2019.12.02:Apollo's Vision

Apollo's Vision of the Lost Twins
Apollo discovers the lineage of the Sorok Twins.
IC Date	12/2/2019
IC Time	5:37pm
Players	Apollo, Yelena, Katya, Roman
Location	Pennington Tower
Prp/Tp	The String Sisters
Spheres	Gaian

THE VISION OF THE LOST TWINS:

The next night you sleep, you dream. And it's a vivid dream, so intense and real, that when you awake you remember every part of it in clearest detail.

         The first part of your dream, you are resting peacefully in a blackness. You can see nothing. You feel paralyzed. And then you realize your eyes are wide open, and you feel terror. A slow red dust swirls through the inky blackness and moves over you like a red cloud. You breathe it in, and then you are sent spiraling down into another dream that shoves you right into it. 

The 2nd part: You see two young girls the age of 5. Both obvious Silver Fang kinfolk, as they softly speak Russian to one another whispering a secret. They are walking through the woods back to their encampment, and the children pause. Their village is on fire, and you see a horrendous battle ensuing between Gaian and Wyrm. They are overrun by spirals. The girls quickly hide beneath an old pickup truck, but eventually one is dragged out by her feet, and then the other is taken as well. 

The red dust pushes him further into the third stage of the vision as the last horror of the Gaian village falling ends. Now he's seeing a rather old Chinese woman playing Mangala. A spiral brings the girls before the woman, and they look frightened. The twins, look up at the woman, and you see a golden velvet pouch being exchanged to the Spiral who dropped them off to her. And that's when you begin to feel sticky in the dream. Strung up, like you walked into a room of spider webs. You see nothing further, other than hearing the twins softly crying in the distance, so far away, that eventually it fades. 

Fourth part of the dream. The red dust swirls and you suddenly move through a Gala event downtown wearing a tuxedo. You know being here is important but you don't know why. But then you pause as you walk by one of the items on display for the Gala. It looks like this: 
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/DAKT1G/ruby-jewels-of-the-austrian-empress-sisi-is-pictures-as-a-part-of-DAKT1G.j 

The red dust suddenly is seen floating down from the ceiling on top of the crowd all around you, and you know this is very bad. Something urges you to get out of the place, but not quite yet. You feel as if you've lost something and if you don't find it soon, it will be gone forever. You turn around at the party, and you hear a familiar whispering, in Russian. The same words echoed from the twin girls you saw earlier in the vision. You hear it as they pass by you. The girls appear older, but it's distinct that you see their faces. But you know the red dust is closing in, and it feels like Wyrm contagion. It's falling down around them all in the room now, and everyone seems oblivious to it, like they are breathing it in, and still behaving like they don't notice. You sense the red dust is following the girls and you need to go after them, before it contaminates them. The whole place is suffocating, like before a Wyrm attack. There's so much danger, that you wake up feeling horribly sick to your stomach. And for the first time ever, since your shift, you get a nose bleed. And you keep feeling like this awful song is rattling around in your head. A children's sick lyric, 

"Into the soup with you! 
Into the soup an arm and a leg. 
Maybe a head, maybe a toe 
Maybe all of you, in you go!" 

APPROXIMATELY TWO WEEKS LATER

There is a knock at the door. And sure enough, standing there is none other than Apollo, dressed in a nice pair of slacks and a button down shirt. He seems almost... slightly nervous, as if uncertain how he should act when meeting with this newly arrived member of the extended royal families. Yelena greets him with a cereal box in hand and quickly stops snacking from it when she sees whom it is. Her green eyes seem surprised to see the .. "Oracle." She calls him. Perhaps not remembering his rited name at the moment. "Hello, I ... hmm, I told my sister you were wanting to meet us." She glances behind her in the maze of crates. "Would you like to come inside?"

He bows his head, saying softly, "I am known as Apollo. Or Luna's Seer if you wish to use my Rited name. And yes, I would be honored to come in and join you." His eyes focus on your own eyes, although they do drift down momentarily to take in the rest of you for a long moment. After a beat, he says, "It is good to see you in person. Dreams are a poor way to meet someone."

Yelena tells him which twin she is in return. "I am Yelena, or .. as Roman likes to call me Alonya. I am the eldest, by two minutes from my sister Lidya. Luna's Seer'rhya, I do remember you from the restaurant." She offers him inside, and then closes the door once in. She also studies the Theurge over, as if realizing he's a garou with magic abilities. "Apollo is an ancient name." She leads him through the foyer with the crates intentionally stacked to bottleneck any threats. Then they are spit out into the kitchen and the main sitting room. "I believe it is customary to offer a beverage. We only have water, orange juice, or milk." Since they have no identification to buy alcohol.

He bows his head, saying softly, "It is a family name. I am tenth of my name, in fact. Directly descended from the Oracles at Delphi." After a beat, he says softly, "I will take water. Thank you..." He tilts his head, his hands behind his back, the garou very clearly not one to have any physical contact with the person he is meeting. "I have come to see if I can help you... to see if I can learn more and start seeking out your name and birth line... Yelena deposits the cereal box of POPS onto the counter, and pours him and herself a glass of water. When she returns, she sets it down on the sarcophagi coffee table. It looks authentic, yet when she sits down to offer him a seat, he may notice that the entire apartment looks as if it is pieced together from either a museum or an opera house.

	 The older twin smiles a touch, "Eye of the Storm'rhya says that you can call upon an Ancestor Spirit to help us? There are records that may have our names in them. We do not know the best way to go about this, but we are eager to locate lost relatives to let them know we are alive."

He nods his head, saying, "I can. I have called regularly on the Ancestors. For that is what we Oracles do. But you said there are records... the more you can tell me about that village, the better. I will listen to what you can remember, and see if any of the Ancestors will work through me... to recognize that which you tell me..."

<---======##====================[ Dice Roll ]=====================##======---> Apollo rolls Ancestors vs 8 for 1 successes. 1 4 7 +10 10 <-------------=============++++++++++++++++++++++++=============-------------> <OOC> Apollo now has 'Russian Local History Lore 1' for the remainder of this scene...

Yelena nods to him, "Lidya may remember more than me." She warns him, "Or I may recall something she doesn't? But I will do my best." Sipping some water, she sighs as if to remember details. "I remember having a mother and a father when we were taken. I remember holding Lidya's hand the day of the fire. I remember smoke. Everywhere, and it being hard to breathe. We heard fighting and looked for a place to hide. They were rounding up children in the center square. One grabbed my sister and dragged her from our hiding spot, and then they found me. I am not recalling the name of the city, or town. The homes were simple, built of wood. Cabins? I do not remember technology. The roads were ... dirt."

As he listens, the oddest thing happens. Apollo's eyes turn white. Absolutely crystal-perfect white. There is no blue left in it. Instead, he is focused on everything you are saying. He takes it all in, listening carefully. Finally he says softly, "Do not worry about the name. Tell me of the homes, tell me of the patterns, the pattern of the dirt roads. Close your eyes and talk about the way you ran from one place to another." As if the direction of dirt paths could tell him where you were from.

Yelena takes a deep breath and then closes her eyes as he directs her to go further back. She sits upright on the sofa with that glass of water in her hand now, and feels the directions he's been giving her. "It's a smaller village. It's not a city. I feel my sister and I walking down this dirt path between larger trees in the deeper part of the country. The path winds between two creeks and there is a large boulder before breaking into the main courtyard of the cabins. There's an old pickup truck we are running to when we are hearing the growls, the fighting. Screaming. Smoke." She takes in a sharp breath. "The oak... there's a big oaken chair dragged out into the middle of the grounds. A giant wolf is sitting in it and he is not supposed to. All around him, the children are gathered as tithing." She's very upset now, panting almost, and in a near panic.

Apollo shakes his head, saying softly - gently yet firmly - "Stop. Not that day. I want you to think about the village other than that day. Anything you can remember. Anything distinctive. Anything... unique about it. Were the paths of dirt curved or straight? Did they meander through hills or were they in a grid pattern?"

Yelena seems relieved she doesn't need to relive the day they were captured. She takes a deep breath and thinks on the path again. "It is wild and through the mountains. There are no large paved roads or highways. There is only scent of dirt, and the stream. And it curves along the one hill to the left. It is so large, this hill, that one can not see the sun above it, until way after it is risen. There are no farming fields."

Apollo is quiet. He just sits there, listening across from Yelena. Studying her as she speaks. And then, when she is done, he is still quiet. His eyes seem to grow more distant, as he whispers something under his breath. As if he were speaking with someone that nobody else can see or hear. He has not summoned a spirit. There is no ritual per se. Rather, he seems to be in communion with one - his white eyes the telltale giveaway.

After the longest of pauses, he speaks again, and in such a way as to make it clear that the ancestors have spoken to him. "That is not your home. That is not where you were born. Or where your parents lived. That is the encampment of House Gleaming Eye. That is where they hid children of pure breeding while the parents go out to hunt the Wyrm. You were betrayed, for it was a secret place, but more importantly, it means that your parents may not be dead. For they may not have been amongst those there when the forces of the Wyrm raided. But it does mean this. You are House Gleaming Eye - or were under their protection. That is the first step of your path, to learn more of your House."

A soft knock comes at the door, and she waits until she hears an acknowledgement before heading inside. She's got a tray in her hands, a large pot of tea and some cups balanced on it; as well as small containers of cream and sugar. Her eyes seek Apollo first, giving him a soft and warm smile. "Luna's Seer'rhya." Before looking to the young woman he's been speaking to. "Hello. I heard you'd been through a great deal, thought perhaps some tea could soothe the serious talk."

Yelena is entranced by what Apollo is telling her. One hand goes to her throat and then she jumps when there is a soft knock to her front door. She opens her eyes, and then gets up to see Katya inside. There is a row of boxes and crates they are walking through as a maze to bottleneck, and then open up wide in the kitchen area. "Hello, you must be Katya. Luna's Seer'rhya has been telling us much about you. I am Yelena, also known as Alonya, kin to the Silver Fangs as well. My sister is my twin, Lidya, however she is not being here right now." She offers her a seat at the couch, and offers to help with the tray. "It is good to be finally meeting you."

Apollo doesn't see Katya. He sees nothing. His eyes are white - as they are when he Sees into the other world... or when communing with his Ancestors. And the fact that he is not speaking in verse right now makes it clear - at least to Katya - that he is communing. He sits there, stiffly, whispering under his breath, before saying softly yet firmly, "No. You are not Gleaming Eye. You were under the /care/ of Gleaming Eye. I misunderstood. The children of that encampment were not of the house. Rather they were the Aral Sea Caern, for that Sept was also part of the House of the Crescent Moon - my same family. Which means we are most likely /truly/ royal cousins." A beat. "Hello, love." That last to Katya, despite the fact he has not turned around. "Aran Sea Caern was wiped out by Baba Yaga's forces, ending the line of House Wise Heart. But they weren't really destroyed. They were taken to this encampment. Meaning that you were most likely of that house, which is a part of the Clan of the Crescent Moon." A beat. "Your bloodline may be lost. It may not be lost. But that is your family. Yes..."

And then his eyes begin to return its bluish tinge, as he says, "Father-of-Hundreds has spoken, and has left us." He bows his head respectfully, as if saying farewell to his ancestor.

Yelena calls out, "Wait...." in almost a panic. "Please, ask Father-of-Hundreds'rhya to tell us our family name." She suddenly leans forward, as if hungry for this information! "Do not go yet."

Katya murmurs softly to Yelena, "It is a pleasure to meet you." keeping her voice low and respectful as Apollo communes. She hands the tray over to Yelena, reaching to carry the cups to lighten the tray and set them down quietly as he speaks aloud. Only when his eyes have returned to their normal vivid blue does she move to sit next to him, careful not to otherwise disturb him. She watches Yelena with a softly sympathetic look, her hands folding in her lap as she looks to Luna's Seer to see if he has an answer for her.

Apollo turns to look Yelena in the eye, his hands remaining folded in his lap. The silence grows - almost uncomfortably so. Until finally, he holds out his hand, palm up. "Father-of-Hundreds has left us, but there is another way. Give me your hand, girl." Katya is aware of what is going to happen... she's seen it. And knows the toll it takes on the Oracle. But this is who he is. What he is. Luna's Seer is his rited name, after all.

Katya does indeed seem to know, her eyes going a little wider as he asks for the other girls hand. Her fingers fold in her lap as she watches and waits, already a look of concern on her face for the Garou next to her.

Yelena sets the tea tray down upon the sarcophagus coffee table and looks from Katya back to the Oracle. She trusts enough at this time to give him her hand, but touch for her is very difficult. "I do not .. normally, allow others to touch me. I find it disturbing." She offers him her fingers, now palm up. "But I am wanting to know more, than being uncomfortable."

He slowly reaches out to grasp her hand. A grasp that suddenly turns firm. The man begins to glow - a silvery Lambent Flame that flows around him, as a Gift is inadvertently triggered, a look of slight pain appearing on his features as his eyes once again turn pure white. His grip is not painful. Just firm. Locking her hand in his, as he whispers in verse:

Macala done. Madame's last game is played. Wyrm's eight-legged goblin dead, the pair now freed from their lock Past kept quiet, none will seek, but others may if known For girls are rare of of Aral Sea, especially family Sorok.

And with that, he lets go of the hand, the light around him fading, as he shudders with a gasp, the man clearly in some pain as a result, his eyes closing as he slumps against Katya.

Katya is ready for what follows, her arm reaching out to wrap around Apollo's back, holding him to her as he goes a little limp. Her head rests on top of his, other hand stroking gently over his hair as she murmurs softly. "Just relax, I have you now." Implying the vision had him before, which it most certainly did. Where he needs a moment to find his center, it's very clear that to her he *is* her center and she spends the time he needs offering gentle soothing sounds and touches.

Yelena winces visibly when he grips her hand so firmly. Her eyes watch him as he begins to glow and then she looks immediately nervous when the reading is given. She doesn't truly understand this oracle ability, and she looks a touch frightened, until her hand is finally let go! She promptly pulls back when he collapses on his Ward.

	 The Russian twin looks to Katya, "Is he going to be alright?" Not knowing what to do, and still absorbing information, she stretches her legs to pace a bit within the living room, while watching them.

Apollo takes a deep breath, closing his eyes as he regains his composure ever so slowly. His eyes open again - that light blue returning to the intense whites, as he leans in to kiss Katya's cheek. "Thank you, love." And then to Yelena, he says softly, "I do not know what I said. I only know that it was a true Vision. I hope it gave you the answers you seek..." He does not know what he said. How typical of an Oracle. To enter into such a trance that whatever was said is not recollected. And yet there is no doubt that something /real/ happened a moment ago. Katya nods slowly in response to Yelena, a glance over towards her and a reassuring smile. "He will be. It takes a bit out of him." As he comes around enough to give her the kiss her smile warms and she nods, "Of course, always." Her hands slipping away enough to let him sit up on his own, though one remains at his back, slowly rubbing. To Yelena she asks, "Does the name he gave help? Sorok?"

	 Yelena looks deeply worried. "I do not know what these things are meaning. My sister is not here to be hearing all of this either." She considers, pulling out her cell phone from her back pocket. "I do not remember being a Sorok. My sister and I were taken when we were very young, and there are only fragments of memories. Most of what I remember, is our training under the Madame Kumo."

<Phone> (Text to Roman) I need you. It's important. <Phone> (Text from Roman) Phone call important or grab my keys important? <Phone> (Text to Roman) Apollo has had a vision of who we are, and I am not knowing how much trouble we are in. Can you come to the tower, please? <Phone> (Text from Roman) Very well. I will make my way there soon.

Yelena sends off a text on her cell phone.

Apollo is quiet for a long moment, before saying, "Someone repeat back to me that which I had said? For then I may be able to help to analyze it..." He pauses, a wry smile appearing on his face. It's a bit annoying for the trance to be so complete. But this is what Luna gives me. It is why... I do not seek to touch people when I first meet them. A handshake is... not an easy thing for me."

<Phone> (Text to Roman) The door is unlocked. Come in when you get to 204. Apollo and Katya are here.

Katya rests her hand on his shoulder, repeating back the rhyme that he spoke to Yelena a moment ago. Her eyebrow is raised at the end, watching the Silver Fang to see if he has any reaction to the words the vision brought out of him.

There is a rapping at the door before Roman lets himself in as he was instructed, bringing with him a bottle of pretty decent Cabernet Sauvignon and a bottle of very decent Altai vodka, as well as a snack gift basket containting sourdough pretzels, chocolate-covered coffee beans, flavored popcorn, and other assorted ridiculous stuff. Housewarming gifts; he just heads in to place them in the kitchen and get them out of the way, looking around as he does so, and says, "All right, I came over, as requested. I was next door, actually; next building over, anyhow. What, precisely, is the emergency that brings me... /here/?"

Apollo is quiet for a long moment. Listening to the words of his own vision repeated back to him. After a beat, he says softly, "I see. The good news, it says you are safe. And it gave you the family name." He smiles ever so slightly. "It is good to see that something positive comes out of a true Seeing. Far too often it tells of death or battles to come. But the Kumo spider that purchased you is dead. Your name is now known. As is your family. And you know not to spread around your family outside our Sept, for you may be sought after again. And now you can get to creating a life for yourself and your sister." He looks a good bit tired, however, thanks to the exertion that comes from such visions. He looks up from where he sits next to Katya, her hand rubbing the small of his back, as Roman walks in on the tail end of what he is saying.

	 Yelena was pacing the living room floor as Apollo was being comforted by Katya. She's listening but now chewing on her left index finger, as if it were a horrible habit she's had as a child in severe circumstances. Once the rapping is heard on the front door again, she starts to walk that way, but now Roman is seeing himself within. She approaches him and says, "Our family placed Lidya and I in a small hidden village that was run by the..." she looks to Apollo to make sure she is saying it right. "House of Gleaming Eye." 

	 The older twin tells Roman, "They took children into their custody of pure breeding to protect them from Wyrm Agents, that were most likely infiltrating other Caerns. WE were in hiding, when someone betrayed our village. The children placed there were from the Aral Sea Caern and Sept of the ... Crescent Moon." She then says in a worried voice. "My sister and I are survivors from the Aral Sea Caern, if what Apollo says is true. This Caern was wiped out by... what did you say earlier, Luna's Seer'Rhya?"

Katya looks up to the new person entering, watching them curiously before giving a respectful nod since Yelena seems to know them. Then her attention returns to Apollo, and she slips away from rubbing his back long enough to make him a cup of tea from the pot that's sitting on the coffee table. She holds the saucer, but offers him the tea, remaining quiet as they speak of his vision.

Apollo corrects, "Clan of the Crescent Moon. One of the thirteen Great Houses of the Silver Fang. Not Sept of." And then adds, "By the forces of Baba Yaga. Very nasty." He reaches up to take the tea from Katya, a warm smile of gratitude crossing his features. He looks back at Roman, saying, "Greetings, Roman. Have you yet met my ward and partner, Katya?"

Roman only /barely/ catches the tail of what Apollo says, and without any context there's simply nothing there for him to react to, so he's not alarmed by the parts that would have alarmed anyone sensible who'd heard it from the start. He does, however, note Yelena's story carefully and consider her words, biting a glossy lip for a moment and thinking that over. It's an interesting expression on that annoyingly handsome face; it looks like it should be part of an add for an investment bank. "Pieces of this story are familiar to me. Especially House crescent Moon, seeing as it is my family's House among the Silver Fangs. This is not exceptional; ours is among the oldest and most powerful of the Silver Fang Houses, especially in Russia."

But there are introductions to be made, and when Apollo seeks his attention Roman gives it easily and bows his head, looking then to Katya and smiling brilliantly. He really shouldn't turn that thing on unexpectedly; it's entirely too dazzling. "I have not had the pleasure, but it is my great honor to meet you, young lady. I am Roman Arkady Konstantin Nikolaevich Alexeyev Andreov, at your service, of course.". He grants her another warm smile straight off a jewelry ad before turning his mismatched eyes on Yelena and looking at her more seriously. "You mentioned trouble. I'm hearing hints of such, but nothing concrete."

Katya inclines her head to Roman, "I am Katarina Rozhkov, of the Rozkhov Blacksmiths." Well noted for the astonishing weaponsmithing they've kept up over a hundred generations; Their klaives are much sought after. Looking to Yelena she gives her a gentle smile, her hand still rubbing slowly at Apollo's back as he drinks the tea. "What he says is always true, even when we sometimes might wish it otherwise." A teasing look is sent the Theurge's way.

	 Yelena looks from the Oracle and his Ward, back again to Roman once he hears everything. "Our family name is Sorok." She looks to see if the name brings any familiarity to him. If not, she'll continue. "Lidya and I are not being 23 years old. If this Caern of Aral Sea is being destroyed by Baba Yaga, then our parents may still be alive? They would have had to survive if we were born. And if this Baba Yaga, destroyed all of this House of Wise Heart, then Lidya and I are in danger if our name is to be leaving this Sept." 

	 Yelena is still absorbing information. "The Wyrm Agents who sold us as children from this hidden village, also allowed us to remain in hiding. Until now. The Madame Kumo who kept us as Fetches is now dead. The Wyrm Agents now know this. So I ask you, how much trouble are we now in?" The last question goes to Roman, and then she peers back to Katya. "My head is swimming in elements that are difficult to manage." Her hand goes up to the back of her head.

Apollo nods his head to Roman, saying, "And I am also of the Clan of the Crescent Moon." A pause. "Let me clarify and see if I can wrap it all together." A pause. "The House of the Crescent Moon has many families of both royal and cadet lines. One such line - House Wise Heart, and with them Yelena and Lidya's family, the Sorok family - settled at the Aran Sea Caern. When it was wiped out in by Baba Yaga's forces, the pure bred kin were stolen away by allies - by those of House Gleaming Eye of the Silver Fang - and taken to an encampment that was secret. This House guarded the children - for our bloodline is more valuable than any gold - but they were betrayed. Servants of the Wyrm attacked and sold the children into slavery. This young Kin and her sister were sold to a goblin Kumo spider who used her stolen subjects to steal... and her death freed these two to return to the Silver Fang families of our sept." A pause, as he looks right at Yelena. "But you are safe now. It seems like none are chasing you. Baba Yaga does not know there were survivors. The Wyrm Servants will find you valuable, but they'd find any such Kin valuable. But you are now in the protection of a Sept, so most likely are not worth going after - now that the Madam Kumo is dead. So probably no more trouble than the rest of us. The Vision said you were not being Hunted. Then it is a True Vision." He moves to stand, somewhat shakily. "The Ancestors have spoken." And at Katya's words, he looks at her with a warm smile, saying, "So true. It is my curse... and my blessing." A pause. "Shall we go, Katya?"

Katya nods and moves to stand as the words leave Apollo's lips, her hand slipping down to curl her fingers around his; offering support without clinging to him. Her other hand wraps around his bicep, just that little bit extra that leaves it looking as though she's leaning against him instead of helping keep him steady; appearances after all.

"Sorok?" Roman replies to Yelena with thinned eyes, looking then to Apollo. "As in Stepan Sorok Dead Eyes? Zoya Sorok Three Hearts? Panya Sorok the Burning Angel? I know all of these names; they may be familiar to Luna's Seer also, or maybe not. He was not Russian-born. But they are important names. Silver Record names. Old names.'.

Roman strokes his well-manicured beard at that, pacing somewhat. He listens to what Apollo is saying, responding, "Da, da, da; I know some of this story, but not all. Thank you. The details... there are parts of this I heard discussed as a child, when I was in Russia. Nyet, nyet; when I first moved to Alaska. Old stories. Green Gaia, what strange times to be alive."