2023-04-18: In Time, All Things
- Log: In Time, All Things
- Cast: Lan Lilac, Leah Sadalbari
- Where: Sylvaland City - Eastwise Lake
- Date: April 18, 2023
- Summary: Leah Sadalbari entrusts part of the future to a friend.
======================<* Sylvaland City - Eastwise Lake *>====================== Eastwise Lake sits on the eastern side of Sylvaland. The lake is a popular recreational area for Sylvalanders. A few very wealthy homes sit on it, but vast portions have been left open as parks by royal order. Boats can be rented, to take a pleasant trip out on the lake. Additionally, small stands sell refreshments to those enjoying some recreation. The far shore is wooded and unsettled, providing a pleasant natural view. BGM: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up5HeIWeOMI
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It's really lovely in Sylvaland. Lan doesn't think she'll ever get tired of places like this, where green stuff just grows without being obsessively cultivated. She kind of hopes she never gets used to it! It would take all the special-ness away!
And just as special as fields of wet green grass: an actual room at an actual inn, and not just putting up her tent like usual. It's all paid for, and Lan dropped off most of her things (and paid to have her clothes washed because Luxury) before taking some of her handmade lace to the tailor's shop to barter. She's spent a few weeks just really going after it in the evenings and had yards of it to sell as a result. It's definitely better money than herb-gathering, especially in such an herb-rich part of the world.
With the lace sold and a few new spools of cotton bought, Lan is feeling pretty good about things in general. Seated at a wooden table outside of a small restaurant, she's watching people go about their lives while enjoying the afternoon sunshine. An empty teacup rests near her elbow, along with a short stack of postcards ready to be written on. (She's slacking about writing home.)
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
It is often lovely in Sylvaland, particularly now that the city hasn't been destroyed by the Heimdall Gazzo. That was a concern, after all. But the brave heroes averted that possibility...
And a room at an inn.
But just now, there is a quiet set of noises in the bustling city, and the afternoon sunshine warms the blue hair of a figure approaching.
Step-step, step-step. Leah Sadalbari comes, and takes a seat at the table across from Lan, as she people-watches.
"It's one of the most vibrant destinations in Aquvy, I think. Sylvaland. And full of rich history."
Pause. "Hello, Lan."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Step-step. Step-step. Lan hears Leah before she sees her; Leah probably meant for it to be that way. It's nice of her to not surprise Lan.
Well, in the sense that Leah did not pop out of nowhere and yell BOO and throw a net over her or something. It's still pretty surprising in general to see Leah in this part of Filgaia. "Leah!" Lan greets her, and while she does sit up straight in her chair Lan also doesn't jump up and take off running or anything. The last few times they've run into each other have been on digs or during battles, so this is a new kind of climate for them to speak in.
But while she is understandably wary of Leah's ability, Lan isn't afraid of her. Not when Leah has been as much of a friend as Lan thinks she can be, for as long as Lan has known her. "What brings you out here? The history?" Leah likes archaeology. She probably knows more about Filgaia's history and customs than Lan does, by now. --Actually scratch that, she definitely does.
"They have really nice drinks here, with honey if you like it. Want a cup of tea? My treat." Because Lan is Lan.
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
Leah's walk is conspicuous. Her heavy limbs always seem to give her that gait. ...But it's a fair bet, indeed, that this was intentional today.
She nods back at the return greeting, reserved but not unfriendly in the moment; she actually smiles briefly. There are many reasons to be wary of her... but if she'd wanted to do Lan harm, she certainly didn't need to walk up and sit down at her table.
She does not require fear, either. Not of Lan.
"That would be a good reason," Leah answers. "The increased traffic to the forest on the part of Drifters has unearthed a lot of interesting archaeological finds there. There's much to learn." She pauses.
"But that's not why." She lets that hang a moment before, "I would like that, thank you."
Then, once the tea is secured, Leah will make an answer. "...Instead, I came to see you. I would like to stop and handle pleasantries... But there is something else important I want to tell you, first."
"It's a burden," she says. "And I will require that you not tell Loren. But if you're willing to accept it, I can tell you why I came to see you."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Leah is not the kind of person who needs you to fear her, no.
Once Lan has returned with two mugs of tea - chamomile for herself, black tea for Leah, and a little jar of honey. "It tastes different than the honey from Adelhyde, because the bees eat different flowers here. But honey is honey, so..." Lan trails off, settling back down. She thought it was a neat thing, is all, and wondered if Leah thought so too. She always notices little details like that; it's something that Lan appreciates about her even now.
She'll let her cup cool for a few minutes before trying to drink it.
Something else important... Concern coils lazily in her gut. "...Will not telling Loren hurt him?" Of course, this wouldn't be the only thing Lan hasn't told him. There are things she can't say, because he's with Solaris. There are things she can't say because he won't understand, or because Lan knows he can't stand to hear them. That's part of being someone's friend, too.
She thinks about it. Weighs the idea of it. Of a burden. "But I guess... you wouldn't come all this way to tell me, if it wasn't important."
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
Leah, in fact, does use the honey. She takes a spoon and includes a small amount in her tea. "I see," she answers of the honey. "I'll look forward to trying it with that in mind." While she doesn't say as much, she sounds engaged; she appreciates those details, after all. It's true.
She doesn't wait long to drink; apparently she has a higher tolerance for heat than many. Or maybe there are other reasons.
"Not directly. It will hurt him eventually, but if you tell him about it, he'll hurt sooner." There are many things that can't be said to him. But not all of them are his business anyway; or about him.
"No," Leah answers, "I wouldn't. While I welcome the chance to see you, I imagine that a visit from me isn't likely to be without some stress."
A pause. "...I'll leave it to you, in the end."
Leah pauses again. "...You've proven yourself a force for your own way in the world. You may well oppose what I'm planning. Regardless, I wanted you to know this."
"The prosthetics have nearly finished poisoning my blood. I have months, perhaps a year, to finish my work."
<Characters> Eleanor Klein says, "ok gonna go have a look"
<Characters> Seraph Ragnell says, "yayy"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
What could it be? It's entirely like Leah to keep secrets, sure, but it's got to be something really grave if--
It will be her choice, in the end. Because Leah is... Lan stills, eyes wide and pale in her tawny face. "...Oh."
They're poisoning her. All this time, they were... Lan's gaze travels from Leah's face, down her arm, to the gloved hand holding the teacup. She's silent, lips barely parted but nothing coming out. The words have been stripped from her.
All this time, Leah wasn't just in pain. She knew, in an offhand way, that Leah took medication. Lan had spent all that time with her and Loren, and it hadn't seemed important - just unfortunate. A result of the accident, but normal for the result of such an accident. Lan's uncle Gil walks with a limp from a bad injury on a Dig; one of her grannies used a cane before her hair turned grey. If it weren't for Solaris's technology, Leah would have been bedbound, if she'd lived at all.
(If it weren't for Solaris's technology, nobody would have been in a Gear that day.)
"...Leah, are you," Lan finally convinces her mouth to work again. "Are you saying that you're..."
<Characters> Eleanor Klein says, "since"
<Characters> Eleanor Klein says, "lightning is going to Empower her"
<Characters> Seraph Ragnell says, "So it would remove the debuffs and then all the damage comes down?"
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
Leah watches Lan's reaction. It is nice, in a way; one appreciates being cared for in that respect. But she waits. She lifts her tea to her lips to take a sip, as calmly and evenly as if she were discussing the weather. The medications are a known factor; it's an issue, but normal enough.
However...
(It's true, of the technology.)
"I am," Leah answers. "I'm dying."
"...I don't particularly mind," she says. "Except insofar as I have a lot left to do. And some of that may well depend on you. I didn't come to you only because of your connection with Loren. You've proven yourself in your own right, too."
"And I need people in the world acting on their convictions, if I am to achieve my goals."
<Characters> Eleanor Klein says, "Excellent"
<Characters> Seraph Ragnell says, "and lean more into low-FP Deathblows"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Dying. Leah, who had always seemed as immense and powerful as a desert thunderstorm, is dying.
Everything dies. Except the gods and the Guardians. Even rocks are worn into sand. It's just that Lan had thought there would be more time, is all. Time to make everything all right. Time to save everyone.
But if there was something that medicine and science could do, it would have been done already. It has been done already. Leah doesn't mind; she's had plenty of time, Lan suspects, to come to terms with the idea of it. Probably as far back as the day she woke up missing an arm and both legs, an eye, a husband.
But it's a comfort, of sorts, that the ambition inside of Leah still burns bright and hot. Because Lan has wondered, in the months and months since she woke up, what Leah Sadalbari's goal is.
She just didn't think this was how she was going to find out.
Lan settles both hands on the edge of the table, palms down. The calluses on her knuckles are still there. "I always wanted to know what they were. Your goals, I mean," Lan admits, inclining her head briefly. "...I guess I could've just asked. But, uh..." Well, Leah is intimidating! She looks up. "What do you want me to do? What is your goal?"
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
Sometimes, even things that must never die do. That is part of the problem, after all. But Leah would not say that it is possible to save everyone. But the fact that Lan would try is... worthwhile.
Leah lowers her mug, to take an inhalation of the rich scent; the tea is something that should be savored as much for that as for taste. Then, she sets it down.
"You could have," Leah asys, "But I probably wouldn't have told you. Even now, there are things I must hold back, but I have arranged a message to explain further, when the time comes."
"My goal is to bring life to this barren world. As you know, this world is fallen. The desert grows every year; even our memories are tainted, thanks to the machinations of the Prophets. Slow death approaches, and the people suffer."
"The cruelties, the sacrifices... They are all in service to this one goal. Solaris persists because we require the resources of empire in order to bring about change. It is not the end in itself."
"...It is only the mechanism that I must keep secret, for now."
"I do not know that you will ever have the hardness of heart required to pursue my goals directly--to pursue what I know is the greatest good. But should you at least continue pursuing your own form of 'justice', perhaps that will be enough from you."
<Characters> Eleanor Klein says, "14"
<Characters> Seraph Ragnell says, "Rad, TY"
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It doesn't occur to Lan that perhaps Leah might be lying. Playing to her bleeding heart, pointing a too-gullible Drifter at a problem and turning her loose. While Leah has held things close to her chest before, she has always told Lan that she can't or won't tell her; as far as Lan knows, Leah Sadalbari has never, ever felt the need to lie to her.
"I guess it's good to know that I didn't miss out, then." It's still not much comfort! Neither is the idea of a 'message' for when the time comes. But Lan has to accept that it's what she will get. "...The Badlands get closer to Little Firelight every year," she nods. "It's already hard to scrape out a living in Ignas. Once that happens..." And it'll happen to every other village on the continent. Maybe even Aquvy, one day... Lan looks around, as if realizing what Sylvaland would look like with all of its green blasted and scorched away. These people, too... Only the Seed Cities would be left, for a while.
"Wait, even Solaris... Etrenank, that's not the goal? Not just for 'some' people to be comfortable?" It's bigger than that.
A thought comes to her cloaked in the Stranger's voice. It's just the brain.
"I don't... want to. Be capable of that kind of thing." But she could be. Lan tries very hard not to think about what it would take, to be capable. It's asleep in her veins.
"Um, but that means it is possible? Solaris knows a way?" A way that Leah can't or won't tell her about, but... it exists. Maybe. A tangle of emotions, of words and thoughts, threatens to choke her. Lan clears her throat weakly and reaches for her teacup.
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
It's possible, certainly; Leah has demonstrated a capacity to manipulate and deceive. Take the fact that she has this Drifter's guise at all, for instance. ...But at the same time, Lan's experiences are telling. She has no need to lie, in general.
"It will. And it will grow worse. In time, even Adelhyde will feel the wastes." She does not need to read minds to imagine what Lan is thinking; 'this place, too.'
"Correct," Leah says. "They aren't prepared to understand this, because they aren't meant to understand it. Etrenank, too, is a means to an end. If we wished only to safeguard a small part of the population in safety and comfort, we would already have succeeded. No, I wish to revive the 'world'."
The brain...
"That's fine," Leah says. "It is not so bad, to want to preserve your 'heart'. I don't begrudge you that. Not all of us can do so. Some of us... cannot."
She nods, then. "Yes. Most of Solaris does not. But there is a way. A way to fulfill this planet's destiny, and bring the bounty of this world to the surface. Not all will see it; sacrifices will be made. Sacrifices have been made."
"...But this 'world', and 'humanity', will have a chance to recover. And when that comes about, we will need people of strong character, to help guide the people."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
The world...
All of it, green and glowing with dew. Farmland, soil black with vitality. Forests so thick that sound gets lost in the trees. Rivers and streams filled with cool, clear water that's safe to drink. Animals thriving.
People, thriving.
Wouldn't that be worth a heart? If she were really as good as her word, wouldn't Lan throw hers away?
...But it remains. She doesn't want to. She and Gwen had promised each other. That no matter what happened, they would become stronger and kinder for it. Does she still believe that she can move mountains with a kind word and sincerity?
...Lan does. Yes, she does.
Because the alternative may be too awful to entertain the notion of. "Sacrifices..." Like the Third Class. Like the Worker Bees. Like the Lambs.
"I want to save them," comes tumbling out of her mouth. Because Leah is going to die. Because Leah trusted Lan with this. Because maybe Leah will understand her foolish dream.
"All of them. Everybody in Solaris. I want them to live on the surface with us. I want them to know what rain smells like. I want them to eat things they grew. I want them to... to be people. With the rest of us."
Lan horks down a mouthful of tea, finally. "And I... I want to save Loren! From Solaris!"
There. She said it.
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
That, too, is a form of integrity. That, too, is a form of strength. Leah does not require Lan to change who she is. ...As useful as it might be, had she done so. Perhaps there are some things that are worth a loss in utility.
Perhaps there is necessity for such a heart, as well.
Lan wants to save them. Leah smiles, briefly. As she speaks her foolish dream. The things that she wants...
And Loren, of course. To 'save' him from Solaris.
"You see it, then. You see that the gilded cage is a cage nevertheless. That we take away their chance to be with others, in order to accomplish our needs. ...And so they grow insufferable. They grow cruel. They grow indolent. But how can they be otherwise, when we give them such things?"
Leah shakes her head. "I... cannot be the one to save Etrenank. I hate them too much for that."
"But perhaps you can. In time."
"As for Loren..." Leah shakes her head. "That will be up to him. So much rides on his shoulders--all of it his choice, in the end. He will succeed, or he will fail. It is not up to me, or to you."
"But if he fails," she says, "I ask you to 'save' him. If he should fail to live up to his destiny, help him to be a 'person' instead. I ask this of you, because you wish it yourself."
"...So that is what you can do. Be yourself. The world will have need of you. Soon, my work will be done. And I will rest."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
Leah hates them too much. Lan did too, once. She still hates the city. It smolders in her chest, someone else's banked ember. The system that... that... She tries to grasp it and can't. That hurt her, and him. Leah and Loren. An entire population nursed on poison.
"Even if it's not the way you would've done it, I swear I'll do my best. He's my friend." Destiny, destiny... the destiny of the planet. The destiny of a nerd that Lan is fond of. "What is his destiny?"
Isn't it a scary thing, to be pulled along on strings made of fate? Or is it scarier to know that even with those very forces pushing and pulling you into place, it's still possible to fail??
"...But even if he goofs it, I'll still be there for him," Lan promises. "So will Gwen. He can be a person, if he wants to."
Lan sits back in her chair, teacup in her hands. She stares down into its pale depths, watching the leaves without really seeing them. She's thinking of what the future looks like, perhaps harder than usual.
"...Engil is waiting for you," she says suddenly, and immediately feels stupid. She only ever even saw him in the Dreaming, and that was a memory. Loren's memory. But Lan believes it, even so. "We meet our loved ones again, after."
<Pose Tracker> Leah Sadalbari has posed.
A friend. Yes, maybe that's enough. "That I won't say," Leah says of Loren's destiny. "Yet. But in order to pursue it he needs to be able to cast off the assumptions he's learned. He needs to grow. It's at the razor's edge. He may succeed... and he may break."
It's hard to say which is more frightening; Leah does not seem to fear either. But Lan, and Gwen... "Good," Leah says, and she looks relieved, if such a thing is possible. "...Whatever his outcome, he is... the legacy of our family. He would hate to think of it in that way, but it's true. He is the future. If he cannot succeed..."
"Then perhaps Solaris does not deserve to."
But Lan says it quickly--she says it quickly, and Leah smiles. It is not mysterious; it is not 'knowing'. It is simply genuine, for once. "...Yes," she says. "That is what I believe, as well."
"Soon, then." She looks down at her mug, and raises it to her lips once again.
"...Thank you for the tea," Leah says, and begins to rise, to go.
"We'll speak again. At least one more time."
<Pose Tracker> Lan Lilac has posed.
It couldn't be as easy as just asking, but Lan had to try. "He's already grown a lot." Even if Leah might not see the final outcome, she can be reassured by the progress Loren has made. "I mean, I don't think I've heard him say Lamb in years." Is that really a yardstick to measure someone by...?!
"...I told him once that when it was all over, he could come and live in Little Firelight. With me and my family. Even if it didn't work out that way, he could still visit." Lan had said that Leah could too. But... it doesn't seem like that will happen. At least not unless saving the world suddenly gets much faster and easier.
Leah stands to leave then, and Lan blinks up at her--
--before rising to her feet, and rounding the table to pull Leah Sadalbari into a hug. "Okay. Leah-- take care of yourself, as much as you can," Lan tells her as she pulls away. "It's okay to rest a little before, too."