2015.02.04: The Children's Crusade 2
| The Children's Crusade 2 | |
|---|---|
| Two months after her mysterious disappearance, the fate of Hilimaz Harkness is finally revealed...by her children. Velok learns more about the mysterious "Nightlong" from his daughter, and Maz's current whereabouts. | |
| IC Date | February 5, 2015 |
| IC Time | Morning |
| Players | Velok, Maz, Misa |
| Location | The Nightlong / The Domus |
Begin Log
All through the night, you watch over the girl who looks so much like the woman who came into your life, only to leave it just as suddenly. Ekaterina seems to sleep deeply, peacefully. Like someone who has finally come home after a long trip away. She managed to dig up one of her Mothers larger sleeping shirts, an unfortunate number with two D-20's on them, with the text that reads "Yes, They're Natural." over the bustline. And so you watch, and you wonder. Sometimes it's hard not to doze off, and somewhere, near dawn, in between eyeblinks, she's there. And then she's gone. Totally gone. Bed made, no trace of her even been there. What the...?!
It would be a joke to think that Velok could go back to sleep, like nothing's happened. A woman showing up who's your daughter is....rather deep event. She looks so remarkably like Maz as he watches her, not exactly worried about how creepy this must be. Or how she's now wearing her mothers clothes and filling them. He stays cross legged on the floor in a meditative stance, the type where you can stay still for quite some time. He watches, and wonders, but doesn't go to lay down with her or anything, that would certainly not end well. His eyes slowly close, lost in thought, and when they open up again and she's gone, he leaps up to his feet. Immediately he's hunting around, looking and searching. "KATE!?" He calls out, rather concerned. How did someone get past him? What's going wrong with him? How is he slipping!?
You pop out of the room and look around in a panic. As soon as you call out again though, she is suddenly right behind you, holding out a tray of waffles, syrup, eggs and bacon. "Oh my Goddess, Daddy. I'm right here!" She has a huge grin on her face, and it's hard to tell if she was actively punking you or not, or even if she's aware of what she just pulled. She's somehow managed to change into a pair of shorts, a pink hoodie, and gym shoes, though you're pretty sure that none of those clothes were Maz's. She puts the tray down and says. "I just went to get breakfast together. Are you hungry." She leans in, giving you a daughterly peck on the cheek, and then starts to lay out food on the coffee table. "Darjeeling or Earl Grey this morning? Or English Breakfast, if we're feeling literal?"
Tray or not, having her suddenly disappear made him unreasonably concerned. Maybe it's because of some
paternal instinct, or maybe it's because of the worry that it was all a dream or, maybe, it was because this
woman might be the hope he has to get Maz back. His arms wrap firmly around Ekaterina when she sets the tray
down, pulling her into a tight, close hug. Yes, he's bare chested, yes he's rather muscled and, yes, he looks
most likely WAY younger than the Velok she knew, but still. His lips press to her cheek as he holds her,
finally releasing and stepping back. He turns a little red in his cheeks, stepping back and dropping his hands
back down to his sides. He looks to the food, then back to her. "What weren't you telling me, last night..."
He says quietly, standing still.
Ekaterina seems more than happy to return an affectionate hug. She laughs liltingly and murmurs, "Sorry. You're...well..you're easier to sneak past than you were in the past. If...that makes any sense at all." She starts to pour some juice out, setting out two plates with food for the both of you. As she sits herself down and gives you what appears to be an honestly confused look. "I'm sorry, come again? What wasn't I tell you about what?"
Velok notes the honestly confused look, even as a plate is set down. Slowly he lowers himself to sit, perhaps feeling a little out of place...in his own home. Sitting at a meal with a daughter who's known him her entire life, yet he only just met several hours ago is...tricky. "You mentioned that she didn't age, then you said it's hard to tell if...and you didn't answer. And..." Velok furrows his brow, unsure slightly as he relaxes a little more into the sofa. He looks over the woman, then back to the food, still not having eaten a bit yet. "I just don't know, this is...quite a bit. But I guess..." He just lets out a slow sigh, nodding and letting his blue eyes find the opposing eyes. "Your mother would have aged a couple months while everyone around her aged...for years and years. She's watched me grow old, watched you two grow up. She might not have aged herself but.." He says, his brow furrowing. "Fifteen years is a long time. I don't think she'd want to even...come back, here."
Ekaterina crosses her legs, picking up her cup of tea and sips delicately, before spearing a piece of sausage with her fork, and eating it. "Oh I....think I just lost my train of thought. I don't even remember what I was going to say. But again, yes, like I said, time as a concept works differently in the Nightlong. And you know Mummy, she always had a vain streak in her, even if she wouldn't confess as such to it. She probably was using her siddis to hide the most obvious signs. You know...not all of us had the priviledge of growing older with dignity. A little grey in the temples, with a bit of a goatee." She grins at you, clearly the one she's refering to.
She then takes a very deep breath, and reaches out to squeeze your hand. "I don't think she knew how to escape. Jonas and I only found a way out quiet recently. Quite a stroke of blind luck really. But...you know, don't be so hard on her, please? Life in the Nightlong could be surprisingly harsh, and she spent all her energies trying to keep us safe and cared for. There were other extenuating circumstances that kept Mummy from being able to spend much time trying to find a way out. Hmmm...perhaps it would be best if I explained the situation in depth then?"
Velok's eyebrows raise, his hand reaching up to rub against his chin where the future grey hairs apparently will be. He does smile at the mention of Maz being vain, shaking his head softly. "Your mother was always very talented in getting people to look where she wanted." With that, his cheeks turn red a little and he looks back away, letting there be a moment before his hand is taken. "I'm not blaming her." He says, squeezing her hand a little. "I'm sure she did spend quite a bit of time trying to get back, but she obviously met me there and I guess I'm...close enough" He smiles a little bit, trying to shrug off the idea that some other man, even if it's totally him, is totally fucking his Maz. What a jerk! He looks back to Ekaterina and nods. "Explain it in depth then, it will quite help."
Ekaterina blinks as she sees exactly where you're going with this, and holds up a hand to cover her mouth, as she starts to giggle. She then shakes her head and murmurs, "Oh Daddy. You have no idea how wrong you are. As you'll soon see. There was no other you. Simply the...hmmm..no I..." She pauses, stuffing the sausage in her mouth, and chewing quickly. "Permission to peep into your brain, sir? It's best that I tell with words AND pictures, since I have the know how."
Velok is now rather confused, confused enough that he still hasn't reached out to take some of the food. Maybe he's not hungry, or maybe he's just so insanely curious. He just nods, his hands reach out towards her, his eyes open, nodding and ready to let her do..what she wants. A rather odd amount of trust so quickly.
Ekaterina closes her eyes and focuses. You can feel her at your mind, at the great and unyielding wall you've set around your brain. You don't even need to open the door for her, she slips through the back way, the little VIP space you set up for Maz, waltzing through like she's done it a thousand times in the past. Which she probably has.
You hear her voice in her head, and see naught by darkness. "There was an accident you see. Something went wrong. Mother was in her sanctum, in Shakti-dhatu, working on some sort of Wonder, something that was going to help keep her safe. But something didn't go as planned, and she was sucked into....someplace else. Your vision swims, until you see Maz, looking rather bedraggled and confused, surrounded by darkness except for a single shaft of orangeish light.
"She found herself trapped in the Nightlong. Someplace else, someplace in the Umbra. It is a realm...it is the place where people like Gaiman and Giger draw their inspiration. That strange, darkling world that may seem strangely beautiful on the outside, but there is ultimately something sinister lurking behind the surface. A dark and curiously bent place, lorded over by a cruel Baroness.
The scene shifts, and Maz is making her way through narrow, twisted allyways. There is an odd sense of the foreign, the Middle Eastern. The places she finds herself in like a curiously retro-futuristic version of venues like Rick's Cafe and The Blue Parot from Casablanca.
"You have to toil and struggle to earn your place in the Nightlong. Mother did what she had to, used her talents to earn what she could, for food and shelter. When she wasn't working, she was trying to find her way out, not realizing the whole realm was like a pitcher plant, designed to trap the unwarry and keep them from leaving. This is important later, when you learn what it is that the Baroness is after, in general.
Scene shift. Maz is dressed in silks, performing an exotic dance routine in a club. Her technical accumen and grace are breathtaking as always, but there is a sadness in her. What passion she manages to evoke comes from the memories of one man. In her mind, she is performing for him alone.
"She might have kept dancing for a while to keep herself supported. But things soon changed..."
Maz is hunched up over what appears to be some sort of toilet, throwing up.
"Once she realized she was pregnant with us, everything changed. She gave up trying to find a way out, and instead found a piece of the Nightlong, a small, untouched corner, yielding, ripe for sculpting, and made a deal with one of the local lords, one of the natives who ruled by the grace of the Baroness.
A gravid Maz is dressed in an oversized sari. She stares hard at a tall dragon-humanoid in Middle Eastern attire. He holds out one scaly hand, and she slowly deposits a bag of crystals into it. The fist closes and he nods once, turning to depart at last, swallowed up in the darkness that is eternal and omnipresent. Maz looks away, and stares into the bleak, blank dark emptiness ahead of her. She smiles very softly then. Closes her eyes, holds up her hands. And then suddenly all is light...
"Unbound by the Consensus of the Tellurian, Mother found it much easier to weave a small sphere of illusions. She drew deeply upon her memories, her creative spark. She swore to keep us safe, and protected from the cruel, unforgiving ways of the Nightlong. And so Mara-dhatu was born: literally the realm of illusion." Maz steps into a version of the Domus. Bright, colorful, and yet not entirely correct. Not in every little detail, at least as far as you percieve. Like she's recalling a memory, and how everyone remembers things differently.
"She made buildings. She made people. She built an entirely self-contained version of Prospect, California for herself, Jonas and I. We were the only real people there."
Maz walks into the living room and straight into your arms. Or rather, the arms of another Velok. She shows him her belly, and he is absolutely delighted to be a father. She seems so relieved, so happy at last. Flashes suddenly come quickly. A wedding on the beach. A simple honeymoon. The twins being birthed in the living room at The Domus, Maz maintaining an absolutely serene look on her face as you hold one of her hands, Misa holding the other.
"There was never another version of you, Father. Not really. There was never a parrellel dimension version of you that Mother settled for. No..it was only the memory of you, that Mother brought to life." "Understand, it would be a very long time before Jonas and I understood the true nature of our existence. Or what it cost Mother to maintain it for us."
And then suddenly it's Christmas. Night time, despite the fact that presents are clearly being opened. A twelve year old Jonas is ripping open the paper of a large wooden box, which he carefully opens, and then gasps, looking at the gleaming bow contained inside. He holds it up reverantly, examining it with a critical, wonderous eye. In the background you see yourself, just a bit older. As promised, there is indeed a tough of grey in the temples, a bit of a Van Dyke around your chin. It makes you look very distinguished, truth be told, while at the same time quite amiable. Fatherhood looks quite good on you.
"Dad! It's...it's amazing! Fantastic! Thank you so much!" Jonas puts down the bow and leans in to give Other You a tight hug. And Other-Velok chuckles and replies, "Well son, be sure to thank your Mum as well. It was as much her efforts as my own."
Maz is over at the door, looking somewhat distracted, frowning for some reason. She half-heartedly replies, "Oh...don't you go giving me too much credit, dear...." She then turns to the door, which is just barely opened a crack, as she hisses low, having an unpleasant conversation with some...thing outside. Tall. Hooded. With multiple glowing eyes. It holds up it's end of whatever conversation is going on in a series of clicks, buzzes and moans.
"Yes! Yes, damnit! I know. Here....HERE. Take what I have now." She shoves another bag of crystals into it's hand. It weighs it, and seems clearly unhappy. Maz replies, "Fuck off! That's all I have! Your bloody fucking Baroness keeps jacking up the rent, doesn't she? Only got so many hours to work. Now...you...you just take that all, and bugger off for now. For Goddess sake, It's...it's Christmas." She looks up, eyes wild, pleading, desperate. The creature-landlore clicks again, and she replies, "Fine! Yes! I'll get you the rest next week. YES, with bloody interest. Now fuck off!" And with that, so closes the door hard, leaning her back against it, and wiping her eyes.
Ekaterina is there, having wandered up to see what was going on. She didn't see it all, but she's seen enough. Doesn't quite understand.
"Mum...are you alright? Everything okay?"
Maz does her best to smile, to put on a show, "What? Yes yes yes. No worries, poppet. Everythings right as rain. Just carolers, you know? They wouldn't take no for an answer. Now lets go back to the living room and see what Santa brought, yeh?"
Kate rolls her eyes, "Mum, I know Santa is just made up. I've known since I was six or seven."
"Pffft! That's what Santa WANTS you to think, that it's just Daddy and I, yeh?"
Misa steps out, dressed in a riduclous looking elf costume, carrying drinks on a tray. "Happy Ex-Mas, all! Muqin's got eggnog for everyone!"
Jonas starts to reach out for it, but Maz gently bats his fingers away, picks up a mug, sips it. "Misa, lovey. This is...strewth! More bourbon than nog! Are you quift daft?"
Misa takes a long pull of her own. "Whaaaat?! C'mon. It's Christmas. Live it up, babe." She tosses a wink to Jonas and Ekaterina, who both giggle.
The scene all fades away...
"Things started to get worse, not long after that. Mother would go off, sometimes for long hours at a time, sometimes the whole day, working at these...jobs. Dancing. Or worse yet, working the Pipe Foundry. Some nights she'd come home from there, and it would be like she was worked almost to death. Trying to earn the currency, trying to earn the rent, and the Akasha to keep Mara-dhatu fueled. That was the trap. To keep her working longer and longer, for fewer and fewer wages, with spiralling costs. All so that sooner or later, she'd be forced to barter with what the Baroness and her little cadre truly craved."
Maz is in a dusty little pawn shop, shelves crammed with all sorts of glimmering crystal spheres. She's holding one out in her hand, offeringly to the wizzened shopkeeper, an old man with a literal birds beak for a nose, who appraises it critically, dryly. Inside the glass sphere is a shimmering image of Maz's parents. He frowns, but nods regardless, and then reaches behind the counter, laying a large sack of crystals before her.
"It was easy at first. She didn't need her memories of her parents. Of life in London. For a while she kept it going. But sooner or later, she had a choice: see us all forced out into the Nightlong, give up the home and family that had bound us for so long, or make greater and greater sacrifices. It took it's toll.
Maz walks into the house, a fifteen year old Kate greeting her. The older woman has an odd, glazed, forgetful expression on her face. Domus has changed. Like a badly remembered copy. The color scheme is all wrong. Furniture is in the wrong place.
"We shared with her, when we could. Our memories. To make up for the ever increasing holes in her own memory, everything that she was drawing upon to give you and Muqin and everything else life. But those are just memories of memories. It became more and more obvious to Jonas and I what was going on. What was really happening."
"Sometimes though, Mother would get lucky. There would be just enough money, something she gambled away, found or stole, and she was able to buy a key memory back. And....and it was Christmas all over again."
Ekaterina finally disengages the mental link, unable to bring herself to give the full sound and vision experience to the rest. "Mother....they took too much from her, ultimately. One day, she left Mara-dhatu, and she...she never came back. Without her to maintain the realm, it faded away, bit by bit, day by day. But you, and she, and Muqin taught us how to take care of ourselves. How to survive. I think in the last year or two, Mum realized that it was coming, and so she worked extra hard to train us up. You all did. She knew that we'd need to be strong, and on our own. And so...here we are. She's been gone at least...well, by my perspective, at least six months. I don't know where she is, but I have some strong suspicions. Jonas and I....we think the Baroness finally took what she wanted. All the memories. Everything that made her...who she is. She is now well, and truly trapped in the Nightlong, and I'm a bit ashamed to admit that as clever and brave and able as we are, even Jonas and I together are not strong enough to face the Baroness, and regain Mothers freedom. But we were able to find one of the rare nexus points. The places the Baroness keeps open, trying to lure in the unwary. We were able to punch through. Once I realized that our entire lives, and you and Muqin were just memories given life...I knew there had to be a REAL version of you out there. I just...hoped against hope that if I could find you, I could convince you to come back, and help us. Help save her.
Misa opens the door and looks around. She leans back agains the wall and crosses her arms. "I understood maybe... ten words..." she mutters.
Most of what just happened happened in Velok's memory, but when Ekaterina pulls away, Velok's eyes are watery and a tear has already rolled down his eyes. He pulls back and immediately reaches up, trapping the woman's hands in his own as he sinks into the sofa. He just holds them, his eyes closing as another tear rolls down, not even recognizing Misa's voice as hers, or real. "I'll do it." Velok finally says, whispering. There's no actual question in his voice after what he just saw, just sadness in it. "I'll go. But...I don't want her to stay there, if we rescue her. Not there."
Ekaterina just smiles wide, a look of utter relief on her face. Not that she had doubts. Well, not many. It's a curious thing being raised by the memory of a man, only to meet the man who inspired the memory. To realize that all her life, until today, the man she called Dad was another womans memory, another version. Close, but not exactly the same. Still...just like Jonas said, just like she hoped, at the core, it's still the same man. She squeezes the hand back and chokes back a soft sob, "Thank you...thank you! And no...no of course not. The point was never actually to STAY there. Please understand, if it had ever been in our power to come find you before now...we would have. Hell, if it had meant tossing Mother alone out, while Jonas and I fended for ourselves...we would have done that as well."
She reaches up, wiping at her eyes, not realizing they ahd become wet. She turns to regard Misa, and gives a little laugh. "Muqin. Come over, and have some breakfast with us, okay?" Sure enough, there's waffles, sausages, juice, tea...enough to feed a small army laid out on the coffee table.
End Log
