2021-06-11: Great is Our Sin
- Log: Great is Our Sin
- Cast: Queen Zephyr, Fei Fong Wong, Elhaym van Houten, Wiseman
- Where: Shevat Palace
- Date: June 11, 2021
- Summary: Fei has a promised audience with Queen Zephyr, who has agreed to tell him the truth about Lacan and the sin committed by Shevat; Elly accompanies him. The truth comes as a surprise to the both of them, as does the surprise entrance of another into the meeting.
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
The palace is buzzing with activity; a government has a lot to do after an attack like the one Odessa plotted on Solaris, and the Queen is no exception. Zephyr has many important things to do, some of which prevented her from immediately following up with people she'd promised to speak with... But including those conversations; they are a part of her responsibilities as well. Especially since some of those people have now risked themselves to protect citizens of Shevat.
The point is there's a lot of stuff going on around, and the audience room is by contrast very quiet. The sky below remains visible just like before, but there are many fewer people inside. Zephyr has invited Fei at his request, and she did not specify that he needed to come alone. She currently sits on her throne, but has had chairs brought in for her guests. She looks young, but also old--young in the face, old in the eyes. It's a contrast that some people may find uncomfortable.
She is dressed as officially as ever, and in fact as Fei and Elly arrive, someone else will be leaving with paperwork and instructions.
But the door's open, and the guards at the door are quick to show them inside...
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong wants to learn the truth about Lacan and...Shevat's DASTARDLY BETRAYAL...even if he's already decided that whatever happened in the past, he kind of has to let bygones be bygones because if he doesn't, well, even worse things are likely to happen. And...well... people forgave him for *checks notes* blowing up multiple hometowns and... Elru. And...
Hm.
Well anyway, forgiveness is an important thing to do but he still wants to be informed. If anything, it just means he's less likely to have an anxiety attack later. Like Thanos, it is inevitable, but he'll take any ally in that battle as he can.
He has asked Elly to come along mostly so he doesn't have to recount everything to her later. She should know!
Fei still somehow manages to come across as a sheepish guy even when demanding an audience with a queen. He kind of ... waves at the guards and shoves his hands in his pockets as he approaches.
He quickly bows to Zephyr, pauses, takes his hands out of his pockets, bows again, and then feels a little awkward for bowing twice and says, "Ah, sorry." and bows a third time.
His face is bright red.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly is just glad nobody's trying to kill them right now.
It is always awful to be reminded of Josie, and of Josie's breach of silent and unspoken trust; and her stern words about Josie's behavior seem to have faded. Chastisement is easy when you're in the heat of battle, it seems.
Of course, there are other topics at hand. Mysteries. Questions. They're scary. That is why she would have likely not come here to speak to the Queen without Fei inviting her along. She looks, mostly, at the floor, although she does give the guardians a respectful nod. In they go, past a departing functionary, and then--
Fei bows, pauses, bobbles back down, bows again, and when he rises, Elly takes his hand and gives it a firm squeeze before smiling at him (having, one presumes, gotten his attention with the squeeze... sneaky...) After this, her grip loosens but doesn't depart, and she dips into a curtsey as well. "Thank you for your hospitality," she addresses Zephyr, eyes half-lowered. After this, back up all the way.
Elly awaits the invitation to sit, her hands clasping before her.
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
"There's no need to apologize," Zephyr answers Fei. "Please have a seat." She gestures to the nearby chairs that she had brought in for both of them--how did she know it was both? Did Fei mention it? Did a messenger work double-time to note that Elly was coming too when they stepped out? It is a mystery for now.
"And you're very welcome," she says to Elly. "You have not only pledged your assistance to us, but shown proof of that intention by risking yourselves for our citzenry." Sure, Odessa probably wouldn't have let them just step aside--but Zephyr appreciates it for what it is, and says as much.
"I regret that I do not have better hospitality at the moment." But they know what's going on. There's a lot. "However... You have asked something of me, and it is something I can provide."
"So let's begin. What would you like to know?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei Fong Wong takes in a deep breath and after letting it out slowly he says, "I want to know what happened to Lacan." Way to narrow it down there buddy. "I don't expect you to know everything but... Apparently I--He betrayed a friend of mine? Or...something happened/ And I know Grahf was up to something around then too and he's after me--"
He shakes his head slowly as he pulls the chair out and sits himself down. He doesn't seem to even realize that maybe Zephyr prepared with multiple chairs here or anything. He's kind of a dumbass sometimes!
He does smile a little when Elly squozes his hand.
"Their story. Sophia's, Lacan's...Siegfried's. How did it go so wrong? It couldn't have been just...some minor argument or disagreement. Something major must have happened. Riesenlied deserves to know too."
He looks to Elly as if to ask if he's doing this okay or if he should shut up but he doesn't actually ask.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly sits down. It is not a complex animation, although the motion is courteous, perhaps even modest. As if she was in a long dress instead of a short-hemmed one-piece dress with leggings.
Be that as it may. Elly looks to Fei as he speaks, and she nods, and then she looks up to the Queen as her hands fold on her knee.
"We have encountered a lot of... traces of things that happened in the past... And they were connected to a 'specific period'. It must have been very expansive... did you know of a 'Metal Dragon' named Lombardia? We encountered her on Lunar. She helped us a great deal..."
"It doesn't seem like any of it is coincidence... but there's so little information about the world beyond the last several hundred years, when the surface's cultures were able to knit themselves together."
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
"...I know much of that story," Zephyr replies solemnly. "And some of your own."
Zephyr at least doesn't tell him to shut up. Or Elly, for that matter. She sits very still, in that way someone can sometimes. "First, the matter of Lombardia... Yes. I have heard of her, though you may know more than me about her, having met her. I know that she was Siegfried's friend. And you are right, that there is little history well-kept of those times. But I do know some of it." She nods then, and looks to both of them, one at a time, evenly, before focusing on Fei for his question.
"But Lacan, Siegfried... Yes. They were friends. I knew them both. But Lacan betrayed us, and others... though not before we betrayed someone else. I will tell you of Shevat's sin."
"I told you before that we initiated a war of independence from Solaris. This is true. However, as the war dragged on... we became overcome with lust for power ourselves. Fearing the war-torn peoples' will would not be with us, but with another, that the people would assemble under this other... The Council of Elders back then made a deal with Solaris."
"This 'other' was the Holy Mother of Nisan, a woman named Sophia, and Solaris too feared the increasing power of the masses under Nisan. Their Gazel Ministry in particular dealt with us then; we would give to them the rebel army assembled in Nisan, and their patron, Sophia... And in return, they would divide up rulership of the world with us."
"Thus, at the final battle we did not participate. The army in Nisan was overwhelmed by the awesome numbers and power of Solaris's army, and was destroyed. Caught up in the middle of this was Lacan, your friend Bart's ancestor Roni and his brother Rene, and... myself."
"Surrounded on all sides, we were prepared to die. But the rebel forces' flagship appeared, with Sophia on board. She sacrificed herself to create a path for our retreat, destroying the enemy's main ship on a suicide mission. Thanks to her sacrifice, we were able to survive. But I could not prevent Sophia's death... and neither could Lacan."
"Siegfried's involvement to this point was as a human named Sigmund. He would later attack the world with the other Metal Demons."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei says, "Lombardia seems pretty rational and sane and so I'm really worried about her." Fei can have a pretty dark sense of humor sometimes.
Zephyr speaks on the precise nature of Shevat's 'sin'. It's hard for him to get too mad about it though. For whatever Zephyr's own situation might be, at least she isn't trying to murder him for things he can barely remember at best and not remember at all at worst. All in all, he's frankly appreciative that she's just being completely forthright with him. It's a kindness even if the context is arguably damning. His eyes widen faintly though--he wasn't expecting to hear about Edgar Roni Figa--Fatima or his muscle-headed brother Sabi--Rene.
Normally right now I'd get a whole bunch of 'i told you sos'.
It's just how humans are. I've been through worse.
Fei grimaces at hearing THAT. Great. WORSE than being betrayed with the woman you love being left for dead and losing your best friend. Great. Perfect.
"I...don't understand. You're...over five hundred years old? Well I guess that's actually pretty normal." Goddamn DC. "But...you're from Shevat aren't you? And they betrayed you and--now you're in charge?"
This might explain why she's so open about all this--they betrayed her too apparently?? Well that's likely to make Fei more inclined to work with Shevat, at least. If the curent ruler was also left to die at least they have something in common.
"...It sounds more like revenge than betrayal." Fei admits. "Though--from what I know of the Nisan religion, I guess him seeking revenge would be a kind of..."
He trails off there. "Siegfried wouldn't have been happy about that either," He understates.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Zephyr tells them a story.
On some level Elly is relieved. The relief of truth and of relaxation from this. The Queen is telling them about her country's sin, in confidence. This is not what a Queen would do if she were lying. This is not what you say about something you are hiding. It is confession, and Elly is, therefore, glad to hear it.
But...
There are two other aspects. Elly's eyes widen. "... *Nisan*...? Really...? Was it a very different place in those times?" Elly asks, sounding shocked, but gently so; the shock of hearing that Old Man Bill was Wild Willy, the gunfighter who slew thirty-six at --
Elly looks towards Fei for a moment.
Then she looks back to Zephyr. Her lips purse. "... You were, personally there? But..."
Elly looks at her knees and raises a hand to squeeze the back of her neck. "... I have to disagree with you, a little, Fei... most of the very old people we've met were, um, machines, or had... what was the term... ferro-organic bodies? Like Riesenlied and everyone... Humans grow old, even elves grow old."
Elly looks up towards Zephyr. Her shoulders square up.
"I'm sorry if this is an offensive question, your highness, but... are you, ah - You see, in Spira we met people who..."
"... had died long ago, but hadn't left the world."
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
Zephyr doesn't comment on the joke. Perhaps that's understandable. She does comment on Nisan, "It was called Nimrod, back then. And it was indeed more prominent. It was renamed Nisan for the religion, under Sophia, and became a center of resistance against Solaris."
"It was my responsibility," she says of being betrayed. "Though I did not make the decision, I was unable to prevent it from happening." But the age thing, she does eventually nod to that--but Elly has a followup question. She waits for her to finish it, and...
"...That is a fair question," she says. "But no, I am not one of these... Unsent of whom we have heard reports. I was given eternal life, that I might live to see the end of the world. This is part of my atonement."
"So yes, I was there. I knew Lacan, as well. And... No, Siegfried was not happy about that, as you put it. But I can only speculate as to his motivations; I did not know him well, though I know he was close to Sophia and Lacan."
"I was princess, back then. My parents died, in time, and I became Queen. Now I work to undo what harm I can that Shevat has inflicted upon the world."
"Betrayal, revenge... the difference can be difficult to see. But that is what happened."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
"Well there's Lily--" Fei says even though that's a machine situation too. "The Seraphim... That weird vampire lady...Lucia..." Yes none of those things (except MAYBE Lily) are human but well, maybe Zephyr isn't human!! Lots of non human people look human!
"...Well, it's not really your fault. Failing just sort of happens. A lot. I can't blame you for that though I guess I was without really knowing things so I'm sorry about that, Zephyr."
Fei's eyes widen when Zephyr claims she has eternal life. Very wide.
"Oh geeze." Fei says.
Woof. What kind of sick bastard would do that?
"Yeah..." Fei says. "Though...if he was just getting revenge... how did they have a falling out in the first place?"
The question is as much to himself as anyone. He thinks abuot it for a long while and doesn't come up with an answer. By the sounds of things, they should be happily burning the world together unless Lacan had second thoughts or something, but it didn't sound like second thoughts.
Ugh. More questions. Siegfried dying was terrible and traumatic and really sad but it was also, and this is important, very bloody inconvenient. Not that Siegfried tended to answer questions.
"I guess we're pretty similar in that regard. Trying to fix what we broke. I hope we can manage it." He smiles faintly.
"Do you know of Grahf? Is he like you? Immortal as some kind of punishment?"
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly seems gently rocked back in her seat at what Zephyr says. She was made immortal... as a punishment.
Would it be a punishment? Elly thinks.
For a moment she imagines Emeralda - Emeralda who may herself be some form of being with an unlimited lifespan - Emeralda staying there and watching as all of them grow, and age, and wither, and in time...
Fei brings up, naturally, the five or six other forms of various immortals, and Elly sort-of-smiles and says, "I wonder if they're attracted to 'being Drifters', or if they just endure the challenges better..."
Back to Zephyr. No wonder she seems sad, Elly thinks.
She seems to have no additions to what Fei is asking at this stage, regarding Zephyr in peace. Her expression turns into a slight frown at the mention of Grahf, but only in the way one might frown at the mention of Satan, or someone else with terrible opinions; he is not here, right? He will not come at the speaking of his name. He is not a demon.
Right?
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
All these immortal possibilities. "I wonder about that," Zephyr answers Elly. "Perhaps it is a habit of the long-lived to lose connection with where they come from... or perhaps age grows with it a desire to influence the world. Maybe they just want something to do." But Zephyr at least claims to be mostly human... and Fei's eyes widen. Ah, yes. That it is. Failing does happen; some things are her fault, and she'll take the blame for more than some might even blame her for. She does not need to answer the apology directly; instead she simply answers Elly and Fei's reaction. Mostly Fei's, because his is more obvious.
"I will continue to do what I can." And then a pause, as she shakes her head. "I don't know how their disagreement began."
Fei's statement is kind, and Zephyr smiles very slightly at it. Similar. "I hope so too," she answers, and there is a certain weight in her statement that might not make sense unless someone remembers that Id existing in Fei is a thing people know.
But Grahf... He asks, and she looks more distant for a moment, nodding but seeming... troubled. "I do," she answers. "It may be a punishment for him, though it is not the same as what was given to me."
She looks to Elly, and then to Fei, but Grahf does not seem to appear. She continues...
"Lacan, resentful of his own lack of power to save Sophia, began a quest for power. ...I do not know all of what he encountered on that quest, but I know its result."
"Grahf and Lacan are the same man. The Day of Collapse was done under his power."
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei figures a long life can be a blessing or a curse depending on any number of circumstances. Emeralda may live for a very long time. Hard to say, really. TEchnically she HAS lived for a very long time but it's hard to say 'living in the tube' counts. And she seems happy NOW. Mostly?
But living in order to atone. That feels like torture to Fei.
"I guess they have a long time to get good at it," He says, smiling at Elly.
But Zephyr seems to have more to say. This time about Grahf. And what she says...
...It shakes Fei to his core. "Wha?" Is the sound that comes out of his mouth.
"But..." Fei begins. Didn't Siegfried say something to him about Lacan once? It's hard to remember in this moment. He tries to focus on it but it kepes slipping. Instead he shifts to focusing on the clear discrepency.
"If he's Grahf...Why do I have some of Lacan's memories...?"
That might explain why Grahf is interested in him to begin with!
He then adds, softly, "Elly..."
He looks to her. "Am I actually a robot?" His eyes are wide.
Fei is definitely not a robot.
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Elly listens to the Queen again. Quietly. Directly. Alertly.
A truth is revealed.
... and she couldn't be more delighted.
Because that means, she thinks, that this is all some kind of strange memory phenomenon. Maybe it's Memory Cubes, she thinks: that would make sense, and we just happened to be lucky, or we matched them, or Fei's amnesia meant that he didn't have a deep grounding.
Elly looks towards Fei, and reaches over to take his hand again, turning, in fact, in her chair, to face him, and says as she clasps his hand in both of hers, "... If you are, I would say that you have made an excellent disguise...!"
The smile again, soft, subtly sad. In profile. This is probably not going to make life easier for Zephyr, but Elly is as ignorant as a baby pig or fish, and so after this perhaps cloying and certainly heartwarming moment, she lowers her hands, letting go of Fei with one and holding on with the other.
"We've experienced these strange memories," Elly tells the Queen: "for some time. It first started, I think, when we encountered a strange tomb in the company of Ms. Everstead-Ray - I think she's around here somewhere, she has a prosthetic arm from a Hyadaen... anyway, it's not quite relevant. Fei has been worried..."
("See? I can feel your heart beating...")
"... I admit that I have been as well. But..."
"How did one person manage to do something like that...?" Elly asks, moving back to the questions of history.
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
Zephyr does not come off as a particularly happy person, as it happens.
But she listens and--Fei is surprised. Elly is surprised, but seemingly happy. It... does not make life easier for Zephyr, that nice moment. It is heartwarming, of course. But Zephyr pauses at Elly's words. Not the part about Fei having a good disguise; at that she smiles politely, because it's a good joke. The part about 'we' have those memories.
"I recall Ms. Everstead-Rey," Zephyr answers of her first. But you say you've experienced strange memories?" She looks at Elly for a moment, thoughtful... and maybe something else, but it's hard to tell what. It is gone in the next moment and she is her usual distance.
"There is something I would like you to see," she says to Elly, "In the hangar. It's nothing to worry about right now, but please go with me there when there is time, before you leave."
Then, "I don't know how he gained such power," Zephyr admits too. "...And I don't know why you," looking to Fei, "Have Lacan's memories. But I do know that you are not a robot. Your father, in fact, was an agent of Shevat, before he disappeared many years ago. I knew him well."
<Pose Tracker> Wiseman has posed.
"Indeed!" says a voice that booms from the entrance to the audience chamber. "He and I were fellow students!"
Fei would know him well: that peculiar carved mask that carries an almost mocking smile. Those robes. Even that way that the man makes his way towards the throne and its occupant.
Wiseman.
"I had heard that you were having an audience, Your Majesty. Normally, I wouldn't get involved, but I had heard who you were having an audience with."
And he arrives at his destination, standing directly behind Fei. "So you have made it. Quite a journey, isn't it, reaching a land like Shevat? But, I've been wondering."
"...Have you learned anything at all from your travels? Do you know what you are fighting for?"
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
I can feel your heart beating...
Fei's cheeks turn bright red which is not really something robots tend to do and he says, "w..well, it can be hard to tell sometimes...!"
He'll leave secretly being a robot as a 'maybe'. But Zephyr seems to have an idea as to what's going on with Elly and Fei nods along with that. Sure, it SEEMS like it's the same deal between them...but maybe not. Or maybe... IT IS A TRAP???
Well regardless, if it's a trap Zephyr has gone to so much trouble being helpful and honest with them that it'd be kind of rude to not step into it so Fei tries not to worry about the bit of mystery there. Sometimes people aren't comfortable with sharing everything immediately. He's grown accustomed to that with Doc.
Your father, in fact, was an agent of Shevat
"Oh I--really?"
He blinks twice. "I actually have a dad? I just sort of..."
His face goes pale as he hears a familiar face.
"Oh no," Fei says softly, covering his face with his hands.
"I'm sorry I was drunk." He adds to Wiseman. "I'm trying to avoid bars now so I don't get in as many barfights because it just ends up being embarrassing I'm sorry."
Thank god, he thinks, that Wiseman is just a FRIEND of his dad and not his actual dad or he'd just die from embarrassment right now.
WIseman asks if he's learned anything.
"I..." Fei says. He thought he did but whenever Wiseman asks him questions like this he starts to second guess everything.
"I just want to be able to live in peace with the people I love." Fei says quietly, nervoulsy as if he expects Wiseman to blast apart his ill reasoning with another soft question.
"You knew my father...? Why did he leave someone like me in a village?" His eyes widen as he realizes he can ACTUALLY KNOW WHO HIS DAD IS NOW. "Wait--are Xantia and I actually siblings? I think her dad is a Shevat agent too. Wow."
He brightens, offering a dorky smile. "That'd be something! Maybe the amnesia IS genetic."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
"Yes," Elly says to Zephyr. "It's connected to... it's hard to explain simply... but Ida remembers something which seemed to be a memory of her ancestor's. I think it's connected to the prosthetic, because it connected to the nervous system... Fei and I also remembered people that this ancestor knew, who were somewhat similar to us at the time! Fei remembered a... warrior, a soldier, and I remembered a Symbologist..."
Elly seems 'interested' but not 'afraid' of this prospect. Then again, maybe she is still relieved to know that...
"The hangar? ... Alright; certainly, your highness," Elly says.
And then...
'Your father, in fact, was an agent of Shevat before--'
Elly's eyes bug out visibly. Her grip on Fei's hand tightens.
'Indeed!'
They get wider! Her head swivels around hard enough to make her hair bounce, possibly whapping Fei in... not the face, but the arm, certainly. There's a lot of it.
Her head whips the other way, to look at Wiseman directly!
Fei speaks in the way he often does, that blunderingly sweet yet powerful way that is curiously enchanting. Elly's face rises to match her hair in hue as he says something terribly, terribly wonderful. Fortunately, before Elly can either erupt entirely in wonderful summerflower petals and/or sparkling pink soap bubbles, another question rises.
"Oh! ... Well, there might be a susceptibility or something like that," Elly echoes, before explaining to the Queen, "I'm sure you know Xantia, but we encountered her... I don't know, she seemed to clearly be a close relative. She was very enigmatic in that peculiar kind of way..." (What does this mean? Maybe it makes more sense if you're a drifter, or if you've had brain injuries -- BUT WE REPEAT OURSELVES?) "It was one of the reasons that we were seeking our way to this land..."
Elly then looks at Wiseman. Her lips purse. Her cheeks puff up slightly. In the end, her chosen statement is:
"... pleased to meet you," though from the smallness of the tone, she might not actually be pleased to meet an enigmatic warrior who has battled Fei multiple times, including when Fei was apparently shitmoused in a bar.
<Pose Tracker> Queen Zephyr has posed.
"I see," Zephyr answers thoughtfully. "That would indeed explain the phenomenon in her, but not in the two of you. You..." Hm. She says no more for now, if there is any more to say.
It can in fact be hard to tell sometimes. And if it is a trap, it's true that she's gone to a lot of trouble... but she doesn't offer any sign that it will be, when Elly answers her. "Thank you," Zephyr answers Elly, and perhaps it will make more sense soon!
But his father--Zephyr nods, when he asks. "Well..."
But here Wiseman steps in, and Zephyr looks to him in her usual distant kind of way. Fei does some second-guessing, and asks about--that's a lot of questions all at once. But Zephyr, while indulgent of this idea, shakes her head slightly.
"Yes, I am aware of Miss Xantia. I had a good conversation with her, as well. But I don't believe you are related, for reasons I explained to her. She did tell me of the individual you encountered; I believe she can tell you more of what I know." Because she isn't going into it all right now.
"...Wiseman. It's not a problem. By all means."
"...I think that's a good wish," Zephyr says of Fei's hope. "And your father's name was Khan Wong. He was my most trusted agent, in fact. ...Perhaps Wiseman can tell you more about him. I am afraid that I am nearing the end of the time I have at the moment; do the two of you have any more questions for now, about back then, or our future?"
<Pose Tracker> Wiseman has posed.
The masked man simply... sighs when Fei explains that he's being more careful. When he says what it is that he wants, rather than what it is that he's fighting for.
Perhaps that might be the worst part of it.
"So you have not found a single thing or cause that you are willing to fight for? Even now you are failing to face forward, towards your future," the enigmatic man booms.
Wiseman glances, once, towards Elly, as if to regard her critically for a moment.
"And your name, young lady?" He's at least polite towards her...
"Hmmm... that is a long story. Your Majesty?" he asks of Zephyr, as if to request her permission to interrupt this audience. "...Very well. I will try to keep this as simple as I am able."
He moves at last from his position behind Fei, striding towards the throne to divert to Zephyr's left-hand side.
"...As I said, your father and I studied under the same master. 'Khan Wong'... he was a powerful man. It was not a surprise that he ended up in the service of Shevat." He nods. "As have I, perhaps. ...It was many years ago that I had word from Khan, requesting my aid. His child had been abducted by a man seeking power his child had within him. Your power. That man was Grahf."
He pauses a moment, folding his arms over his chest. "That man... it took us three years to find you and him. I remember that night well. There had been a terrible storm, of the like that seemed to wish to scour both heaven and earth. I had received word from Khan that he had found you, and hurried there... only to find the both of you, terribly wounded. Grahf was not there. Perhaps he had been driven off." Wiseman shakes his head. "Who can say. Khan asked me to take care of you and he went off, after Grahf. Perhaps he feared his return, if he were not slain." The man sighs out a breath. "I bound your wounds and did what I could. Seeing that you were in need of more aid than I could provide, I took you to a nearby village. ...Yes. Lahan."
He is silent for a moment more. "I have not heard from Khan since that night. Perhaps..."
He doesn't finish the sentence. It may not be a sentence he wishes to finish.
<Pose Tracker> Fei Fong Wong has posed.
Fei says, "To be honest, youv'e given me more answers than I expected." He's not sure if this actually does mean he's actually siblings with Xantia like BIOLOGICALLY or not--HER sister certainly hadn't mentioned anything like that... it doesn't REALLY matter too much since it goes well beyond a matter of blood. Even if it'd be a nice surprise for once. Well, maybe nice? Considering apparently he was...
"Kidnapped...?" Kidnapped by the man who is Lacan. "He...does seem to have some rather strange abilities. It's hard to imagine a man like him needs more power, but that's what he calls himself. A Seeker of Power."
Puzzle pieces are starting to fit. Even for Fei, who isn't exactly Sherlock Holmes, he's starting to get a clearer idea of what happened. Could Grahf have done something like him? Shunted off some of his own memories into him somehow?
"So my dad's name...is Khan Wong." He manages a small smile all hte same. His father, let's face it, he'd be surprised if he saw him alive again if he went after Grahf and, well, Grahf is clearly not dead but... He has a name. "Khan Wong." Fei says, as if trying to commit it to memory. To be fair, Fei has some experience with forgetting.
"And you're why I ended up in Lahan." Fei says. "...I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I did to Lahan. I know now it's...more complicated than any singular person being to blame, but... I'm still sorry for what happened. They're good people. Remarkably forgiving. They've been so kind to me, for the most part, since I've made it here."
He laughs awkwardly, "Honestly... It's a little...strangely kind of traumatic. Maybe traumatic is the wrong word but shocking seems a little tame. It's certainly a relief."
"...You were really annoying, I gotta admit but...If it wasn't for you I'd probably be wallowing in my own guilt even now so--thanks for knocking some sense into me."
Look, you can dread some kind of martial arts lesson but still be grateful for receiving it.
"I understand that--well, it'd be nice if he was alive! but I understand that's not...really too likely. He'd have one of those...transmitters, would have gotten back in touch with you if he just lost track of Grahf. I guess I'm just glad he was a good man who cared about me. There's honestly uh...enough evil dads out there, you know? Honestly, it's kind of embarrassing haha...I was thinking myself cursed all this time but..." He wipes at his eyes. "I was actually...lucky. Having the kind of dad who would come looking for me."
...
"I guess some part of me thought... He just didn't care about saving me, or that he just ... was incapable of trying. I guess that's stupid. Of course he'd do his best. Most parents do."
He rubs at his neck and adds, "I guess he had some sort of luck with that power stuff-"
He frowns a little. "..Oh... Maybe that's how I got the memories, he probably absorbed the power or something and I got some of his memories back. that'd make sense." He frowns. "But it wouldn't explain Elly."
He's kind of going off into the deep end here but he adds, "The...guy who is with me said I wasn't real. I guess it's not that simple. He just remembers."
He lookst o Zephyr and adds, "Anyway, uh--sorry. I'm really sorry. For...being kind of a wreck. I'm working on it. I promise but--I really appreciate everything you're doing for us. For all of us. And I hope we can make this world a little more free, a little more kind. It'd be nice."
<Pose Tracker> Elhaym van Houten has posed.
Moments pass. Wonderful moments. Elly's face crumples up a little, not from embarrassment but from a sentiment that swells up. A *name*. An *explanation*. Wiseman resolves several mysteries with the efficient speed of a true warrior. Elly answers him:
"My name is Elehayym van Houten, sir,"
and then bows in her seat, because it feels like the proper thing to do. She doesn't let go of Fei's hand while doing it. After this, she breathes out with force, trying not to burst into tears. They would be good tears but it feels wrong to do. Hold it in, Elly thinks.
This is all so wonderful.
Of course, details come into focus. Elly burns the name 'Khan Wong' into the back of her brain. She looks at Zephyr, and says to her, "Oh, your highness -- thank you -- I, I don't have anything else I could possibly want to ask. You've done so much."
She looks back to Fei. "You're real," she insists, softly.
... but something bugs her in the back of her mind; a feeling like a fishbone in a filet; the memory of Lahan, looping back to - not Lahan itself - but her bail-out at the time. Why is that coming back to her? The steaming forest? The rankar? Is it just there because that was the way that they met? Her own guilt for her portion of what happened to that village?
Elly banishes the thought. No, she thinks. Not now.
Her eyes do spill over as she looks up at the masked man.
"Thank you," Elly says, "for doing your best for Fei. I..."
The enormity swallows up the rest of her words. She smiles, still with joyful tears on her cheeks, at Fei, at Wiseman, the Queen, the world, the cosmos. All is well, or will be well; and all of this from a chance-meeting!