2019-06-03: Light At Dusk

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<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    The sun is low in the sky along the highroad, gold-red lights catching on the water. Not far from here, down on the beaches, a terrible thing had taken place.
    But those souls are now at rest. So Avril has been lead to understand.

    She stands now, silhouetted against the slowly fading light of the day, beneath the overhang of what may have once been a pavillion. The Highroad is studded with the things -- remnants of a past that has been lost and buried.

    'Sin', was the answer she had gotten when she had asked. Sin comes to punish all those who use technology, more frequently venting its wrath upon the cities and towns of Spira.

    But why had it come to Azado?

    In her arms she bears the mirror, as if she could find within its depths the answer.

    "..."

    She tilts it, ever so slightly. It catches the light.

    When the sunlight hits the mirror, it sets up a flash, bright enough to be seen a distance down the Highroad.
    It may -- inadvertently -- be a cause for some concern, given recent events.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine was a Seraph of Light - light was an intrinsic part of her being. She knew it, the ins and the outs of it - was familiar with the the way it moved and reflected. Mirrors, too, were a specialty of hers.

And so, seeing a bright flash of light, visible from a great distance, was a bit of a surprise and a concern for her. She needed to know what was going on and why.

She had been, at that moment, sunbathing - one of her favorite passtimes - atop one of the many various ruins scattered throughout the Mi'ihen Highroad. It had given her a good view of what happened. So, that, combined with her own know-how, leads her to the location.

Avril will soon sense a presence, and if she is looking in the right direction, will spot a pair of large, golden eyes staring right at her.

Specifically, belonging to the Seraph currently poking her head out around one of the pavilion's columns. She doesn't yet speak, or do anything - just watches curiously.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Avril might hear bootsteps behind her, although they're astoundingly light. As a premotion of someone coming even before a shadow crosses her position. Rebecca finishes walking up to stand up alongside her. Staring out towards the sun - instead of a mirror. It's likely she saw the mirror flash and came to check out of worry. Her eyes don't squint in the low light, it's more like she's admiring a painting in a museum.

She's silent for a few moments, before finally speaking up. "You know sometimes I played a game - whenever I saw you staring into that mirror. I tried to guess - what you were thinking. What you were feeling in those moments where you were this quiet."

There's a prolonged pause, before she turns her head to glance Avril's way, allowing a thin smile to creep onto her lips. Given everything that's happened, a smile feels a little off. Yet there it is.

"Hearing the truth about what the real you is thinking and feeling sounds way better than making a guess though about the you I have in my head - don't you think?"

Her head turns further though after a moment, as if she's realizing the fact that the two aren't as alone as she thought.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Catenna's been out on the highroad, entertaining customers.

On her way back, the Moon Shaman's in her Jean-style dancer's gear, her fans clipped at her hips. But the sight of a glint catches her attention. Frowning, she shields her eyes with one hand.

    ~

"Oh, it's you."

Stepping out from the undergrowth not far from where Avril is standing, Catenna announces herself with the quiet of her voice and the usual mellowness of her movements. She's hardly a threat - she moves into view with her hands out at her sides, a quiet smile at her lips. But it fades as she realizes there's already a conversation under way.

"I hope I have not interrupted some moment of vital introspective," she murmurs as she chases a lock of hair back from her cheek - and her eyes dart towards Avril's mirror, curiosity dancing in her gaze for just a moment.

"...Perhaps I have, at that...."

From Catenna's shoulder, Saarda-Shanta fixes curious eyes on Avril, watching her expression intently.

<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

Now where did he get off to this time...?

It was a nice evening out on the Mi'hen Highroad. Reeds rustling in the wind. Statues jutting out from the winderness. Just far enough away from Luca as to not draw the guard or Yevon fervents to his... existence.

A young man in some kind of two tone blue armor could be seen here and there on the road during the day. Wild black hair and green eyes denote his features other than his high-tech armor. Tech that doesn't seem to belong on this continent.

In his hands is held a helmet, one that is partly damaged. An aquamarine tinted visor is down across the face, but is mostly broken. Something viciously cut through the glass or whatever high grade material made up the one way screen.

A concussion-level impact has also dented the side of the helm. Dash can only groan at the situation. "He had what tools I had...!"

'doit doit doit' go shock absorbers down the road, as the young man peers into nearby ruins with that helm tucked under an arm.

A glint ahead gets his attention. "That could be him...!"

That bright shine could be his little chassis in the fading sun.

It turns out to be... other people. He crests the small hill and gets a better view of others gathering. "...Oh." Asmidge distraught now, he frowns, though his eyes say he is happy to see others. Maybe people that won't point at him angrily.

Actually, isnt one or two of them familiar...? "H... Hey!" he calls.

<Pose Tracker> Prissa has posed.

And meanwhile, in the highroad -

"Hey," Prissa says. "Who's flashing that light up there? We ought to check it out."

"Don't you think, Lydia?" Prissa says to her colleague, currently in front and - down? - relative to her. "And besides, you need to get that extra oopmh, to train yourself, take full advantage of your body in the game!!" Prissa pumps her fist in the air.

"Kweh," agrees the chocobo on which Prissa has been riding.

                https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEUOOgNzOv4

The bird in question is skittish but in good shape. It was the former mount of a Crusader who abruptly, for some reason, needed money. The parting was, Prissa heard, painful, and thus the bird needed exercise. A comfortable experience. A distinct lack of Sin to eat it.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

Lydia Seren is skating in front of Prissa with her RAD SKATES. Trying to outpace a chocobo when she's not especially prone to this level of athleticism is tough but luckily Prissa isn't going at a full gallop here. She exhales when Prissa points out the light to her before adding, "Uhhfff... Do I gotta?" She squints her eyes shut tightly before nodding once and giving a last bit of push for her. "Then I'll do it!"

Kweh, the chocobo agrees.

"Don't you start!"

Eventually Lydia arrives with the rest of the group and she blinks to see that it's Avril, apparently. And Rebecca? And all these other people???

"Ahhh??" She says. "What's goin' on here? Is there some sort of meeting?"

Her eyes widen. "I heard there was some kind of commotion goin' on about the Guard and Yevon or something? Been kinda nervous to head back into a city when that's the talk."

She looks back towards Prissa who has, hopefully, stopped.

<Pose Tracker> Prissa has posed.

Prissa and the chocobo follow after Lydia and when Lydia stops, the chocobo seems eager to stop too. Prissa, who is sitting with her legs over-wing rather than under-wing like a Crusader typically does, crooks one around, suppressing the chocobo goin' for it.

The bird seems confused at the mysterious force-field preventing it from eating Lydia's hair, but not angry.

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    Slowly, a soft shimmering light -- like starlight, nearly -- spills off her body, joining the near-sunset glow. She continues to stare into the mirror's depths.

    There's nothing much to behold in the mirror save her own reflection. However she might gaze into it, all she can sense is the same feeling of forboding that has clung to this land of late. Something is about to happen. Can even the Ley predict it coming? If she could but grasp the shape of it...

    "Oh. Rebecca," Avril says, lowering the mirror. "...Have you? I suppose it must be strange to watch me stare into it so intently. ...I was thinking about Sin," she says, in a turn of phrase that would be strange if it were overheard in any other context than their current one.

    "Something bad is about to happen... but I don't know what it may be, or where it may occur."

    It's Catenna's voice that prompts her to turn. "Oh? Catenna?" Her gaze lifts to the owl on the Shaman's shoulder. "And your friend, too, ah--"

    It seems she has attracted a bit of a crowd -- some known by name and some not, the latter including Clarine and Dash (both of whom feel vaguely familiar to the amnesiac girl) -- including a few who have arrived here a little bit 'at speed'. "Have I interrupted something?" she asks, genuinely at a loss.
    Her gaze them drops to the mirror she holds in her hand.

    A short moment of mental calculation proceeds at pace.

    "...The mirror caught the sunlight. Is that right?" She takes a step forward, smiling ruefully. "My sincere apologies. I did not mean to cause undue concern. This mirror, I suppose you might say it grants me an enhanced spiritual awareness? Though, I am afraid I have little to say. I have discovered nothing at all new."

    Lydia pipes up about the Guard and Yevon, which serves as a sort of focus for Avril's currently somewhat-at-sea state. "...Yes. Perhaps that might be behind what I am now feeling?" Her brow creases and her attention drifts again to the mirror.
    It remains, even now, just a polished piece of glass and metal.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

<One does tend to notice a light in the... is it dark? It does not feel dark.> From Catenna's shoulder, Saarda-Shanta fluffs herself up a little bit.

The appearance of Prissa and Lydia draws a smile from the Moon Shaman; she ducks her head a little. "I think it is an impromptu gathering. I should hope it is not an intrusion...."

As Avril explains the nature of her mirror, Catenna raises her eyebrows ever so slightly, then lets them fall. "There seem to be more than a few mysteries at play lately," she murmurs as she folds her arms beneath the curve of her chest, eyes darting briefly to Lydia.

Catenna grimaces slightly. "Mysteries and politics. Unfortunate to see things break down quite so much. I suppose all we can do is hope that we can avoid being caught up in the worst of the turmoil...."

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"Not strange at all." Rebecca says back almost right away. "It's just you. You're a thoughtful type."

It's hard to say if Rebecca was surprised or not by the idea that Avril was thinking of Sin. Probably not though, it's been on all of their minds after Mi'ihen. "So soon?" She asks quietly, "Can't we all get a grace period or something... after..."

There's a light sigh, but then everyone is making their presence known and she pastes on a smile like it were a sticker right before Avril's eyes. "It's like you sent up a flare or something." Rebecca teases Avril lightly, before saying to Catenna, "Well dunno - up to Avril to decide if it is I guess."

Lydia gets a light wave, "Hey Lydie. Who's your friend? And - I guess there is now." The girl grins back, though her face falls a little like she caught a whiff of a bad smell. It's not really Lydia's fault on that. It's just how that news is. Perhaps because it ties into Avril's prophetically bad feeling, "Yeah. Can't say I'm surprised. Althena's Guard is used to being in charge on their side of the sea. And Yevon is used to being in charge over on their side. Was only a matter of time before they came to blows over it."

Rebecca isn't a religious sort - which is fairly easy to tell by her cynical view that it's just a power game - rather than one over belief.

"Normally I'd say it's not our problem." Rebecca says in a way that perhaps might have been a little cold, "But it'd be pretty heartless of us to say that to the people who are getting caught in the middle - huh?"

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Clarine watches, keenly. To a Seraph, this is ordinary behavior - she doesn't think what she's doing is rude, since they're not behind closed doors or anything. Indeed, others seem to be arriving.

She recognizes...very few of them, actually! There is one person she spots, however, which causes her to say her first word.

"...Ah! You are...Dash, correct?" She asks, to the young man who seems to be trying to get their attention.

But the woman with the mirror speaks and Clarine shakes her head.

"Oh, no, um...pardon me." She says. With a polite bow of her head she steps out into full view.

"...I, um...I am the Seraph of Light, Clarine... I noticed the light emitted by your mirror - and, um...naturally, it caught my interest. You have no need to apologize - I was, um...I was merely curious." She explains. "You say it grants you enhanced spiritual awareness...? Fascinating..."

Clarine takes a brief moment to study it, though she says nothing, instead looking toward the others.

...Her eyes linger on Saarda-Shanta longer than on any of the others, however. She could sense something from the Owlet, though not enough to detect what.

Her expression falters as Althena's Guard is brought up. She doesn't comment on it, though. It's...a difficult topic for her.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

My...mysterious forcefield?! Well if it's protecting Lydia's hair she is ok with it staying a mystery.

"Ehhh...well we gotta do something right? Otherwise we'll just be sitting on our butts while everything gets worse and worse."

She tilts her head. "But it's true isn't it? The Maester blamed the people who tried to stop Sin? It's like kickin' 'em while they're down. I can't really blame Leo for getting pissed, I'd be pissed too." Maybe not insult their entire religion pissed but she can't really even say she wouldn't for sure there. "They even tried to throw more shade on the Al Bhed. It's so gross."

She wrinkles her nose a bit but cuts herself off there because out of all the people shade wasn't thrown at, she was not one of them and she probably shouldn't shove words in the mouths of the victims just because she happens to feel that way herself.

"Enhanced spiritual awareness?" Lydia asks. "Well it makes sense then it didn't show off anything cause everythin' going on has nothin' to do with spirits right?"

She looks towards Rebecca. "Huh? You haven't met Prissa before? Prissa's Prissa. She's thet best swordsmith in the galaxy and she's going to revolutionize the field of stabbings with her work. Also if you have any work let me know cause she's got a debt we're working off."

She nods firmly several times to REbecca's words though. "That's right! It'd be heartless! Er... not that I'd actually call someone who didn't want to be involved heartless cause I mean nobody deserves to say you gotta do something if you're not feeling it, but you get what tI mean. We gotta psych ourselves up so we can!"

<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

Even more folks appear, drawn by the glint of the mirror against the basking sunlight. Dash draws closer as the one holding it, a silver-haired girl, doesn't understand what drew him and others near. "Oh um. Sorta! Yeah." He keeps a kind smile on as he talks. "I am looking for a little monkey about..." he holds a hand over the ground, a little over a foot high. "This high! He has a shiny body, I thought your mirror might have been him."

A look to his helmet. "He has what few tools I have on me." That armor definitely looks like it could need tools for upkeep. It otherwise seems in much better condition than his helmet.

"Hey you!" he says toward Clarine kindly. "Clarine, right? Yeah, that's me!" He remembers her pretty light magics from Gusong. Magic was so neato! Unfortunately not something he can do, but it is cool to watch others use it. There is something about it that makes him want to watch it all the time when it is around. He has to pry his eyes away from it sometimes.

"Glad we got out of there safely," he offers her. It took teamwork to make it through, for certain. "Spiritual awareness?" asks Dash. His question is quizzical, curious. Also with a tone that suggests he hasn't a clue what that might be. "It is still a really nice mirror. Maybe it just has to be at a special place to do its thing? Or maybe held a certain way?"

Some possible ideas. It was important to know how to activate special items!

<Pose Tracker> Prissa has posed.

"Yop," Prissa confirms to Avril. "So you are not in danger or anything?"

The chocobo looks off to the horizon and Prissa relaxes her leg lock. Then the Guard and Yevon come up. Prissa straightens, slackening the reins. "All of you think this is an intrusion! The highroad is not anybody's in particular."

Then she listens to the rest. Spiritual awareness, Prissa thinks, fronwing in thought - then she laughs a little, and leans over off the bird to proffer Rebecca a hand. "I would get off but I am teaching this bird to be ride better," she tells Rebecca. "If I get off, probably she runs for the hills. I cannot blame her. Hi, though. I do swords." She grimaces a little as her 'debt' comes up again.

PRICE OF CHOCOBREAKING: 100 GIL + bonus if birb is well behaved. (Rin does not expect to pay a lot of these bonuses.)

"I am glad," Prissa says, "that the Althena people are here."

Then she looks towards Avril. "So are you divining or something? If you're looking for Sin... Well if I were you I would say, don't, but perhaps you want to know if it is close or not? That's a good idea."

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Yes," Avril answers Rebecca. "It seems that I am. I hope that it proves a good trait, in the end." Her gaze only drifts downwards, her eyelids seemingly heavy, as Rebecca comments that it's 'so soon'.
    They rarely seem to be able to get a break. Perhaps this is the life of a Drifter. But she would have it be no different.

    She shakes her head at Prissa's question. "No, I am not. I apologize if I have been cause for alarm."

    "Yes, it does seem that way," comes the answer to Catenna's statement. "A flare... I suppose I have." Her smile remains a touch rueful. "Though perhaps it may be the right time for it." Something has been set in motion -- and among them now are many of those sensitive to such motions, supernatural and otherwise.

    Such as Clarine. "Clarine. It is good to meet you. I have met other Seraph before, but never one aligned to light." She takes a step forward, offering her mirror. "Would you like to see it? ...I believe it may only function for me."
    (This is because she made it, but wonders may occur anywhere in this world -- worlds -- of theirs.)

    "Dash... It is good to see you. You seem familiar. Have we met?" She tilts her head to one side, as if to take his measure. Has she seen him more recently, or is this...
    "A... monkey?"
    There is a significant pause.
    "No, I have not, I'm afraid. Rebecca, perhaps we should go and help him?" Once they are finished here, at least. "Ah... perhaps?" is the best she can answer about the mirror, and where it must be, or how it might be used. It might even, she thinks then, be the fact that she is on the body it allegedly draws its power from that it is, perhaps, being a bit ellusive at present...

    "Spiritual matters are more than just spirits, are they not?" Avril asks, gazing at Lydia for a moment. "Things such as Fiends." Her eyes hood. "And Sin."

    But there are more than just spiritual matters to attend to. As Rebecca lines out. "..." Avril, discomfited, perhaps, looks askance.

    "...You are right. As the ethos of the Wayside Outreach demands, we must do what we can for those affected by a war."
    In the same breath as the fact that they must return home, must try to stop Vinsfeld's mad plan.
    And she must learn more about herself so she can stop her people from the path they have set upon.

    "Divining... that's a pleasant way to put it, I think." She shakes her head at Prissa's remark. "No. I would not stand a chance against one such as Sin. If, however, the energies of this land might speak more of Sin's nature..."
    But the mirror is mute on the subject, it seems, only reinforcing her general sense of forboding without providing an answer.

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

Avril makes an interesting offer.

"...Well, I would not object..." Clarine stays. She very carefully takes it from Avril's hands, treating it gently.

"The craftsmanship is remarkable...and it seems quite old. I, um, I craft some mirrors of my own, so, um...I have experience with these things." Clarine replies, as she looks it over. And then, experimentally, she channels just a little bit of her own light into it, just to see how it reacts.

Whatever happens, however, she hands it back to Avril afterward, satisfied.

"Thank you for allowing me to take a look at it..." She says, offering a polite bow of her head.

Dash explains why he's here, then, and Clarine takes a moment to think it over.

"A little monkey with a shiny body... This can be a dangerous place. I hope they are alright..." She murmurs. "I have not seen anything matching that description, but, um...perhaps I could help you look...?"

She pauses though as he brings up Gusong. She thinks back to it...and smiles faintly.

"...I am glad, as well. Thank you, for, um...for your assistance in that place..."

There's other conversations going on, too, but she's not entirely sure what she thinks on them so she stays quiet.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


"It is if you think it is." Rebecca answers Avril on whether it's a good time for it.

"I wasn't aware stabbing was a field Lydie." There's a lightness to her tone, as she grins from ear to ear. Before reaching up to take Prissa's hand, "Good to meet you." As she then eyes Clarine, and Dash, "All of you. Huh-"

As she homes in on Clarine in particular, raising both hands with pointer fingers out as she waves them up and down, "-you're a Seraph? Wouldn't have even realized! Guess I'm getting even more resonant these days than I used to be."

Before returning to Prissa, "Oh - no need to dismount on my account if it results on you being sent on a wild Chocobo chase!"

However then Rebecca blinks like a bug flew into her eyes at Dash's comment, "A monkey." It's not drawn out in the same way Avril's is. It sounds a little more dry. "A shiny monkey. Uh..." When Avril asks if they should go help, "We could try to get Dean in on it. Sounds right up his alley to go chasing after a Shiny Monkey Golem." It's said with a certain amount of affection, but perhaps she's ribbing him at the same time too.

"Hey no worries. I get it - I just know what I'm about." She finally offers to Lydie. "Maybe it's Dean and the Outreach... getting to me a little more these days. Need less motivation these days to involve myself than I used to."

But Avril cites the Wayside Outreach herself and Rebecca just has this rueful smile, "No helping it then." Before her eyes trail over to Prissa. "Huh. That's an interesting view." She offers without judgement, "Does that mean you've got a personal stake in them beating Yevon?"

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

"Far be it from me to impose on her if she decides otherwise." Catenna nods to Rebecca gently, clasping her hands at waist level.

Canting her head back towards Avril, Catenna flashes a faint, sympathetic smile. She doesn't say anything at first. The woman's always been a bit of an enigma to her - she crosses her path seldom, and there are things about her she hasn't fully figured out.

"If there is anything that we can do to help you, please let us know," she says, as if it will actually do any good.

The Owlet, for her part, peers back at Clarine, cocking her head a little to the left.

Catenna's hands fall to her hips as she watches Prissa a moment, then looks back to Avril. "I'm not really sure any of us would stand much of a chance against Sin, really...."

<Can we not dwell on that thing?> Saarda-Shanta visibly shudders.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"True and the Guardians and all that, but..." Lydia frowns faintly at the mirror. Then she looks towards Dash. Her eyes widen faintly. Did she see a monkey? No. But that armor ... it does not look familiar at all! What's with this guy??

She nods once to Prissa. It seems that Lydia's read is less 'how tragic' and more 'more like YIKES YEVON'. SHe isn't entirely unsympathetic to certain elements but as far as she can tell she can't tell that Leo said anything wrong there. Ahh, the bias towards the only two beastmen in charge LYdia has known to be in charge of anything really.

"I guess you've got a pretty complicated path ahead of you, Avril." Lydia says, smiling to her friend. "But honestly not even the Elw seem to know much about Clysmians. We gotta find those Guardian Lords to know more, probably, but while we are here maybe we can find a ruin that has more to say on the matter. I mean...the real info about it is probably in a ruin right? I've been searching but no go so far."

Presumably if the Elw don't know jack Halle won't either.

She looks to the owlett but it seems that Catenna doesn't have much further deets on that as of yet. Ugh! Plot gating!

"Doesn't seem like the mirror has much to say." Lydia says. "But I heard there's this place called the Farplane that lets you see dead people. Maybe your mirror will have better luck there?"

<Pose Tracker> Dash Caskett has posed.

Hum. THe girl with the white hair thinks they have met...? He would remember her, wouldn't he? Perhaps in passing somewhere on Filgaia? Dash seems thoughtful for a moment. "Uhhh... maybe somewhere on Filgaia?" he posits. She doesn't seem familiar to him.

Everyone seems baffled to some degree at his mention of a cyber-monkey. "Yeah! His name is Data. He has been all over and seems to take off on me sometimes. I eventually find him again but sometimes I worry."

"Oh, that big scary thing, huh?" he asks when Sin is mentioned. "I don't like that thing."

"Oh, well he is attracted to people! He will run into us more often than the other way around. But if you do see him somewhere, let him know I am looking for him, okay?" He swears that Data can detect where Dash is, but not the other way around for some reason.

Such a mysterious monkey.

3

He hears the red-headed lady call Clarine a Seraph. Wonder what that was? Maybe he can ask about it. Perhaps another time. "Yeah, he's got like a metal body with monkey parts? You'll know him when you see him."

A small wave toward Lydia as she looks over. "Eeeeh, a place you can see dead people?!" he says while wincing. If beings of his caliber could pale, he would be. He can't get any lighter for some reason though! "Sounds scary..."

<Pose Tracker> Prissa has posed.

Prissa ponders this news of a monkey. This troubles her, somehow, more than Sin. Sin is a known quantity, like the weather. A monkey? A monkey could do anything.

"If you did find out how you could track Sin, from far away... I know Yevon would probably throw it out, but, you could make good gil if you sold it to Rin or someone," Prissa says to Avril.

Then to Rebecca. "Heh," she says. Then, "No. They cannot beat Yevon. If they brought entire armies across the ocean then Yevon would be pressed and then they would plead with the summoners. Summoners can beat Sin. The Althenans cannot beat Sin. So, by the properties of mathematics," and here Prissa leans back with her hands behind her head, "Summoners can beat Althenans."

"But it is good they're here! It changes things up. It means they won't blame us so much for Mi'ihen. Maybe they won't start a real persecution before there is another Calm," Prissa concludes, "which would be nice. If things got real bad then I think there might be a migration to try to join you back on Filgaia."

Then she looks towards Catenna-- and the owlet. "... What's up with that?" she asks, with sympathy. Then Lydia proposes something. Prissa considers it. Her suggestion thence: "If you do, be subtle."

<Pose Tracker> Avril Vent Fleur has posed.

    "Then, I think so," Avril responds, appending that statement with a short nod.

     She hands over the mirror without hesitation.
    "Yes, it is," Avril says. Perhaps explaining its provenance might invite more questions than she is really prepared to answer, right this moment at least.
    As light is cast into the depths of the mirror, the magic finds a sort of resonance within: for an instant, the glass is alight with the glow of an aurora, soft and rippling.
    But it fades, the glass growing dark again as if such light had never been.

    Does the light of a Seraph on the moon count as 'moonlight'...?

     "Data. I see. Would he answer if we called his name?" she asks, on the subject of the money. She turns her head towards Rebecca. "Oh, good. Perhaps we should leave shortly? Ah, and if any of you would care to assist, we would welcome it." She looks Catenna's way, as if to rope the Shaman into this bizarre monkey hunt.
    They should go and find Dean first, though. He would be sad to miss out. "Do you think it might truly be a Golem? I suppose it is not unusual that one might take the shape of a monkey." Just what were the ancient Veruni (and Elw) up to...?!

    If it were possible to track Sin, it might be possible to help people.
    Or make a lot of money, as Prissa claims. "Sell it... I do not think..." she murmurs, as if troubled.

    "I understand," she says, on the matter of Sin's Clysmian nature. "Yet, I feel as if the matter of Sin is not something we can afford to ignore. Even if we are unable to harm it or turn it away, perhaps there is something we are missing. As you say, we must seek further information." A ruin may hold the answers they need.
    She takes the mirror back from Clarine, casting just one glance down into its depths. "A place where the dead can be seen... perhaps." She draws the mirror to her, her expression first distant, then pensive.

    Avril clasps her hands over the mirror held against her chest, watching on as Rebecca asks Prissa a particular question.

<Pose Tracker> Lydia Seren has posed.

"Well not exactly Prissa," Lydia points out. "Summoners can defeat Sin...but only if they have the Final Aeon right?" She tilts her head. "So until they have the Final Aeon, we can't really be sure they can beat Althenians. Not to uh... get into a pissing contest about which religious zealots would win the war or anything but I don't think Yevon should consider themselves safe here though they certainly uh have home field advantage if you get my meanin'."

She listens to Prissa's true source of relief and she laughs a bit. "Yeah, maybe. I mean they did try to throw some shade but... I'm guessing they're gonna be more worried about the army than what the salvagers are up to."

She pauses. "I have a hunting cat that can help hunt monkeys."

Her eyes narrow. "I don't know any monkey I haven't been able to find."

<Pose Tracker> Seraph Clarine has posed.

As Saarda-Shanta peers back at her, and tilts her head to the left...Clarine follows suit, tilting her head the same way in a curious manner...and then, smiles fondly.

Her attention is broken by the mirror as she takes it, marvels at the light that appears within, and passes it back.

It truly is fascinating, the way the mirror glows...she is curious as to why it responds the way it does, but even so she returns it and looks toward Dash.

"I see... I shall begin the search. If I see him, I will send up a beacon." She replies. With that said, she heads off. She doesn't bid them farewell, at least not yet - she does expect to see them all later once they've found this 'Data', after all.

<Pose Tracker> Catenna has posed.

Neither Catenna nor Owlet are especially forthcoming. Indeed, the Owlet cocks her head towards Lydia with a slow blink of huge yellow eyes.

"I think, in many ways, Lunar is a little outside the Guardians' detailed knowledge," Catenna murmurs. "Despite the fact that Celesdue can be felt very strongly here."

The Owlet clicks her bill and looks back to Prissa with an almost tangible wince. <...One had rather wished that Obsession no longer lived. I am not happy to be wrong.>

When Avril hands an offer out to her, Catenna ahs, then smiles, clasping her hands neatly together. "I cannot say I am sure what he looks like...." Here she glances at Dash, smiling mutedly. "...but I would help however I can."

Metal-bodied things don't scare her that much. She does live with Lydia.

<Pose Tracker> Rebecca Streisand has posed.


Rebecca watches Avril pass the mirror around, eyeing the light from the mirror with a certain curiosity.

"I'm not sure. Maybe." Rebecca notes to Avril on the idea if Data the Monkey is a Golem. "It's shiny and made of metal though - and has a name like that. So at the very least there's a chance it is?"

She has this knowing smile, like she knows that Dean will flip over the opportunity though. It's not that she's tricking him or anything either.

"So let's give it a go. And hey - if it turns out to be a Golem - Dean'll be over the Moon... while on the Moon."

However then Prissa answers the question, and she crosses her arms. "What you're saying makes a certain sort of sense. Logic like that is rarely as straight forward as people'd like to think though."

As she nods to Lydia as if to acknowledge her point, but she doesn't really know much about Sin and Summoners and Yevon - or anything. So she falls back to what she knows, "The way I figure - Althena's Guard are people - and Yevon are people. And maybe you're right that it changes things up around here - but - still - can't help but think that it just means even more folks are going to get trampled by it."

Holding up a hand in a conciliatory gesture though, she says, "But anyhow - let's go catch a monkey - should give you time to break in that Chocobo of yours while we're searching."