2022-07-14: To Catch a Dream
- Log: To Catch a Dream
- Cast: Marivel Armitage, Eleanor Klein
- Where: Crimson Castle
- Date: July 15, 2022
- Summary: After the meeting at the Chateau, Eleanor drops in on Marivel at the Crimson Castle for a visit.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel has moved to the Crimson Castle shortly after the meeting and has been spending her time there. She has deactivated the defenses for the time being so anybody who wants to visit can come by without having to do a whole dig to visit her. Anyway, Eleanor's probably outleveled it by now anyway at least until the postgame when the stronger monsters move in.
Belle, Marivel's lich attendant, is there to wait on Eleanor when she arrives, taking care of any coats, umbrellas, and other paraphenelia Eleanor might have brought along but doesn't want to carry with her the whole time before leading Eleanor into one of the Castle libraries where Marivel is waiting...!
...And sleeping. She is using an opened book about Prophecy Theory as a pillow, her eyes closed as she just...lies there.
Belle quietly excuses herself and steps away after leading Eleanor in.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
It is nice to have an excuse to drop by Marivel's Crimson Castle. Aware of the state of the defenses, she didn't bring other people to help her along, because it wasn't necessary. She didn't bring her boat, because it also wasn't necessary. Eleanor knows how to use a Teleport Gem. It's fine.
So she is walking with her satchel, and she does in fact hand over an umbrella against the rain, smiling at Belle and making small talk with her before they go to the libraries. Whereupon Eleanor sees...
Ah.
"Hello, Marivel," she greets in a conversational tone, and if Marivel doesn't wake up for that she'll just have to wait for her for a bit.
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
YOU CHOOSE TO WAIT.
Time passes.
More time.
And then Marivel slowly opens her eyes, stretches out her arms. She blinks blearily and slooowly turns to look at Eleanor.
This is Eleanor's opportunity to play a prank?! Does she take it???
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor waits. She waits a little longer. More time passes, and she continues to wait. It's actually very relaxing. Until suddenly--Marivel opens her eyes, stretches out, and--
Nah. Eleanor's too nice for that. This time. But she does something worse than playing a prank, worse by far:
She draped her shawl over Marivel like a blanket. Yep. That happened.
"Welcome back to the world of the waking, Marivel," she says pleasantly. "I suppose you were pretty tired!"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel looks to her shoulder and sees the shawl. "......." She isn't going to comment on it but she has definitely SEEN it. she doesn't remove it because that would be suggesting something but commenting on it would also be admitting something so she just lets it pass without saying anything.
"Well you mentioned your prophecies and thought I'd do some personal investigation." Marivel stretches out her arms. "Since despite my whole time travel business I'm not actually a prophet. Unfortunately they say a lot about prophecy and most of it is inaccurate."
"What brings you to my home, Eleanor?" Marivel asks.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Eleanor smiles. Marivel doesn't comment but she sees it. It's fine. Whatever Marivel wants to suggest or not suggest is fine! It's super fine.
"Ah, so?" Eleanor says. "I've only given the one to my knowledge... though considering I didn't remember giving that one I can't rule out that there might be more. Especially now." Pause. "Do they? I suppose it's hard to tell for most when something is a prophecy rather than just a guess. What did you learn?"
A pause, to answer the question. "I wanted to see you," she answers simply. "To talk about what all happened... and to see how you were feeling, since you took the chance to go home."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Crimson Nobles need their Pride, even if it's actually just Crimson Noble needs her pride.
"Mm, I know it's been more than one. Like the one with Link, and there were other times..." Marivel might be using a more generous interpretation of the word prophecy.
"Me? Ah--well," Marivel hesitates and then admits, "Well, I know I've been saying this a lot, but the Time of Promise is happening real soon. I might have to vanish for a time. Hard to say. Perhaps your foresight would help us Connect--"
Special emphasis on that word Connect.
"Endings are always bittersweet, Eleanor, even with the happiest of endings." Marivel says further. "So I am feeling a bit melancholic as my time as a time traveler comes to an end and I am almost in the dark as everyone else, with only history to guide me."
She cracks a smile. "Well, almot everyone else besides you, perhaps."
What happened...
"It was nice to see an Elw again. Likely someone my father new since he was before my time. I could not be sure if he ever knew us as enemies, so I am happy he got to know we were at peace--even if it was post death."
"Have you had any more strange dreams, Eleanor?"
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
It'll be their secret. Eleanor is well accustomed to noble pride. Perhaps even to Crimson noble pride...
"If we're counting any visions of the future at all, then--well, many. But only the lyrical version the once, that I know of." A pause. Marivel answers!! And...
"While I'd love to have a way to keep in touch with you, and will search for it if I can--Well. I'll assume we need to operate without you for a while. Better to be prepared." Connect... yes.
Eleanor smiles back. "He did tell me that my foresight would improve. ...But I think I'll have to be more careful sharing what I've seen, if it does. You've taught me how easy it is to meddle with the future..." A pause. "But I think you'll do fine as merely a powerful sorceress who knows the past like the back of her hand." Grin.
"Hmm... That's possible. I have some of his memories and knowledge now, but that far back, I can't begin to sort out what I know. If I ever figure it out, I'll tell you." A pause. "Yes... He kept on for a long time."
"Dreams?" Eleanor asks. "...Yes, actually. That dream I had of Klein ablaze... it stopped. The final night, Klein wasn't on fire, though there were still Ganondorf's minions invading. Our soldiers were doing better, though. And at the end..."
"Well. Ganondorf 'saw' me. The only time I've noticed someone able to 'notice' me from where I stand in the vision is, well--Ana. And you."
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel says, "Oh I am not a stickler for a rhyming scheme, its honestly overused as a prothetic theme. Frankly if a future vision should come to be, it should count as a prophecy." Marivel pauses. "If you ask me."
She cracks a grin at the idea that she taught Eleanor how easy it is to meddle (in the future) but she does say, "Well, one shouldn't overly rely on it certainly. Time might be an endless sea but sometimes there is a monsoon."
She chuckles at Eleanor's reassurance. "Well you are well on your way to becoming a properly inscrutable sorceress. Between you and Venetia I think the future of magic is in good hands. "
She seems less surprised that Eleanor has her predecessor's knowledge (partial) than you might expect but it doesn't seem to be completely known to her either. Sometimes end results are just reasonable conclusions from prior data. Marivel cups her chin thoughtfully. Why did she ask about dreams? Well she had been researching visions.
Eleanor mentions Klein being set ablaze. Marivel looks stricken and then away from looking directly at Eleanor.
"...Buildings may burn but people are irreplacable." Marivel murmurs. "It would not be the first of the cities of the old alliance to burn. I well remember Adelhyde. I should have been there. I should have saved her father but it was a lynchpin...! I dared not interfere..."
She trails off. She clears her throat. "In any event. Ganon seeing you in a vision, seeing YOU. That is dangerous, my friend. Never forget Ganon too is an extremely powerful sorceror."
"...He may have actually seen you." Marivel murmurs. "...But we need not make it easy on him, no no... Not at all..."
She turns to the book she was reading, flipping through it at a feverish pace.
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
"Hee hee." Eleanor laughs a little at the rhyming. "Fair enough. In that case, I've done rather a lot of it!" She is not going to get tripped up in technicalities at the moment. Instead...
"Yes, I understand." Then a pause. "Oh, good. I do try. And there are a lot of other notable mages in our world, too. ...Hopefully that doesn't end up becoming a problem..." She can think of some powerful sorcerers who would be. Like one who comes up!
Indeed; he said he'd pass on knowledge and power and so he did! That's all it is. But Marivel...
"Yes, it was... heart-wrenching," she says. "But I know now at least--I'm sure of it--that that version of the future was one where I didn't awaken as the Sage. So I know now that we have a fighting chance, at least. But I'm going to make sure our defenses are reinforced, our people protected." Her expression softens. "...Just because you can help doesn't always mean it's the best in the long-term. I'm... coming to understand that. I don't like it very much, but it makes sense."
"...Yes. It was... frightening. He spent the last dreams searching, searching, and now..."
She pauses. "...Hm?"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Hopefully Ganon will be super dead and thus not one Marivel has to worry about. "Mm that's true but that power is a double edged sword. Allltogether possible that if he knows you are a Sage he will come after you with far more than he might have otherwise." She flips through more pages, slowing down now.
And then she stops, a picture of multiple circles made up of string adorned with feathers.
"There!" she says, no doubt glad that Eleanor didn't press her on the matter of Adlehyde. "Tis called a dreamcatcher and is a spiritual artifact of the Baskar people designed to protect one's dreams from Dream Demons--no doubt through spiritual techniques passed down from the Elw."
She pushes the book closer to Eleanor so she can have a better look. She leaves aside the matter of fortified defenses. That never works, not in of itself.
But Eleanor does reassure her that just because you can help does not mean it is the best to do. "...Spoken like a true sorceress." Marivel admits. "But you must never find it justified, Eleanor, however necessary it may have been. It is never necessary. It is simply the best you can do. Often the best we can do is not enough."
She lets that hang for a moment before adding, "Anyway, ah. I can create a dreamcatcher itself but you'll need to find some assistance from a Baskar Shaman."
"Specifically, you need a Baskar Shaman with a pact of a Guardian of Light. Solais Emsu preferably though Rigdobrite might do in a pinch. If neccessary another Guardian should suffice but I say this because ideally you'll eventually be able to support the Dreamcatcher by infusing it with your own power."
She folds her hands. "Rather than needing to go off and get it blessed by a Shaman periodically. Do you understand?"
Another pause. "When was Ganon invading? Perhaps we can come up with a way to evacuate the children from the city."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
Hopefully!! Or sealed. Eleanor is going to work on that. Definitely going to work on that. "That's true," she says. "I can't rule that out. But a fighting chance is all I can ask. It's better than we'd get against the Heimdall Gazzo." She is still... daunted, by that thing's power. And she doesn't know of a way to solve it...
"Hmmm... that's lovely," Eleanor says of the dreamcatcher. And she doesn't press; she could, but she can tell it's sensitive. And she can tell how Marivel feels about it. "I see... a protector of dreams. That would be helpful."
Eleanor thinks that fortified defenses can help them, at least. Even if it won't do the trick on its own. But like a sorceress...
"That's honestly reassuring," Eleanor says. "Failing to help when I could... It might be the 'best' thing I can do, but I never want to grow happy about it. I don't want to be one of those who spends lives like coin."
But the dreamcatcher!!! Hmm. "...That actually--" She considers. "That's very doable. I don't know of any devotees of Solais Emsu, but I do know a shaman of Rigdobrite. ...More than one, actually, but one in particular who I've already discussed my dreams with--she seems to be an expert on the matter. Lan Lilac."
"I do understand. I'll try to do that. Thank you; that reassures me."
But Ganon... "I'm not sure," she admits. "But I took notes on the sky as best I could; I can probably guess at a general timeframe from there. Or..."
She considers. "I think, once I have that dreamcatcher, I'll... try to find that vision again. Rauru said I might be able to do something like that. And then I can isolate the 'when.'"
<Pose Tracker> Marivel Armitage has posed.
Marivel, person who sealed herself away from five thousand years to deal with a problem, doesn't have an issue with seals but naturally for mysterious reasons prefers permanent solutions.
"Oh don't worry too much about Heimdall Gazzo. I'm 100 percent confident in ARMS's ability to handle it." Marivel says. "We've spent all this time preparing for this kind of conflict." She considers. "Though... I suppose if you changed Fate by becoming a Sage, I cannot say for 100 percent sure you'll succeed with the power of time travel but I'm still pretty confident. I mean."
She shrugs both shoulders. "You haven't come so far simply because it was destined after all. If you can break destiny once you can do it again. Just don't break it too hard this time. Some things that happen at Heimdall need to happen."
She probably wouldn't tell this to anybody BUT Eleanor.
"Lan Lilac should do just fine." Marivel says. "No protection is perfect, however. Not for cities or souls. Being inscrutable is one thing but do not forget you are not alone."
She exhales a soft sigh, wondering if a Seraph would be overkill. Best not to stick to orthodox methods until they are proven ineffective at least.
"Then we have an accord. Stay the night. Play some video games. I'll stay up working on the dreamcatcher and send you off with it for when you visit Miss Lilac."
<Pose Tracker> Eleanor Klein has posed.
<poem> Considering that the last seal required a whole circle of Sages, maybe alternate solutions are best...
"Hmm." Eleanor is still pretty worried about it, but... "I guess you're right. This is what we've prepared for. And the worst case scenario is definitely in the worst case. But I can't help but worry some; my family is out there, vulnerable." But the power of time travel... hmmm. Marivel is confident.
"...That's true," she admits. "I--All right. I'll keep that in mind. I'll try not to break it too hard. ...but if I see an opportunity to disable that thing, I will. Destiny or no. I won't risk my family if I can help it."
However, knowing that there's a Plan and that it includes Heimdall Gazzo seems to reassure her, too.
"...Right. I have you. I have Xiumei. I have ARMS... and I have a lot of friends. That's actually... Well. I discussed it with Xiumei, and that's why I'm staying in ARMS. I don't think it contradicts my new responsibilities, and frankly on my own I'm entirely vulnerable to Ganondorf."
She pauses. Video games... "Hmmm, all right. That sounds promising. Thank you, Marivel." She beams.