Snamish

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin stirred from Bryce's lap with a sigh. He'd heard it all. How could he not? The fight had echoed out into the hall, probably through the entire house. There probably wasn't anyone who wasn't aware of the altercation at this point. He didn't meet Bryce's questioning gaze, stepping out into the hallway in time to slip Lillith's arm into his own.

He smiled gently and sadly at her. "I know there's nothing I can do right now to ease your real pain," he said softly as magic danced in the air around them, a charm of unseeing weaving around the three of them that would discourage sight and pursuit. A pass of fingertips just above the skin wiped away the mark on her face. Bryce took her other arm. Apparently he agreed with her as well. "But I'd like to walk with you awhile if that's alright."

[Sareth]

Maduin could feel Lillith trembling against his fingers. The girl's face was wet with tears.

As the two left the building, Lillith hung her head. "I shouldn't have said those things. They were so cruel of me. But how could I not?" She turned to look at Maduin with red rimmed eyes. "They couldn't know if that child would have turned out wrong. Just because a body is wrong does not make a mind so." She wiped her nose with the sleeve of her free arm. "I felt that child's spirit as it left. It didn't even know what had happened to it. It had simply gone to sleep, and then..." She sniffled. "What if that had been my child?"

She stopped and rested her free hand on Maduin's chest. "You understand, don't you?"

[Drannin]

Argus examined his wards carefully and frowned. "Whoever it was, they were stealthy. Not a lot of magical residue, though. So, probably some sort of Gunman who didn't rely on magical abilities. Not much more I can determine, with such simple wards." He sighed, and dropped his hand. "Perhaps Drusia can provide more information later. When, you know, things have quieted down..."

There was a long moment of silence, but Argus shook himself back to the present. "Anyway, where's Kim? Did she see anything?"

[Graybeard]

"Lillith! Wait!" Brad protested, and pushed past Benedict out into the hall, startling the older Snamishite ... but when he got there, he didn't see anything but hallway.

"Wh-- what? Where'd she go?" he sputtered, concern apparent on his face -- to put it mildly.

------------

"Anyway, where's Kim? Did she see anything?"

"A man on horseback, with a rifle," came a voice from beside Argus, as he and Sister Rose became the second and third people of the day to almost fill their britches from Kim's sudden appearance. "Drusia talked to him. He rode away. He hasn't been back."

"Thank you, Kim," Rose said, as soon as her pulse slowed back to normal. Really, somebody needed to teach that girl to announce herself. After giving Kim some fruit she'd brought from the market, she exchanged code words with the parrot ... and received her next surprise of the day, no more pleasant than the first one had been.

(UNCLASSIFIED) Haven't heard from you in a while -- are you avoiding us? I jest, of course, but you're probably not going to like the news of the day. There is good news and there is bad news. The bad news, unfortunately, is something you're going to have to deal with.

(LUMINOSITA'S SECRET) First, the good news. You'll be glad to know, I'm sure, that the Artifact of Absonial has been delivered to Emerylon University, and put under heavy security. The Patriarch himself extends his appreciation to you and your colleagues for the discreet way you handled it, particularly in view of the deaths of too many of the people who were on the dig where it was discovered ... and that brings me to the bad news.

(SECRET) The deaths of Professor Indianel and his student have created quite a crapstorm in Emerylon -- enough of one to catch the attention of the Cardinal Inquisitor. ("Oh, crap," Rose breathed, in a voice loud enough for Argus, Kim and Eli to hear as the parrot went on.) I don't know the details, probably some kind of internal political wrangling inside Xanadu. (Rose's sub-rosa swearing was interrupted by a momentary chuckle; she hadn't realized that Bernie shared her pet name for the "pleasure dome" of the main temple in Emerylon, something connected with some fable lost in antiquity.) He has decided to mount a full-fledged investigation -- and they want to talk to you.

Rose cursed with most un-nun-like fluency; her time in the Special Forces had taught her some words that even her subordinates had found hard to handle. Even the parrot looked stunned for a moment, then it continued.

(CONFIDENTIAL) Of course, the xenophobic old bastard has no intention of leaving Emerylon again so soon; I suspect he's still got dirty underwear from that fiasco in Kiyoka. So he's sending a deputation south on his behalf, and I have been directed to instruct you to meet them on the way. They are just as conservative as Inquisitor Cosmo himself, so they won't be caught dead even in an airship, let alone anything more magical and possibly more sinful. That means they are due in Umbertiel the day after tomorrow.

(CONFIDENTIAL) You have carefully avoided telling us exactly where you are -- you're not running off for a tryst with your Tsuirakuan friend, are you? Once again, I jest, but wherever you are, I assume you can reach Umbertiel in two days' travel. Please proceed there and meet a Father Gaetan and -- I'm not making this up -- his assistant, Sister Bree. Cooperate as fully as possible; they will have the security clearance for you to tell them anything and everything. At least you have the Patriarch's assurance that you will not be subject to neuro-stimulation -- which is probably a blessing of sorts.

(UNCLASSIFIED) Good luck in dealing with this one, and please keep us posted on your progress toward Umbertiel. The people at the mission in Kiyoka send their regards.

Bernie

"Bree?" Kim echoed as the parrot keeled over. "Isn't that some kind of cheese, or something?"

Rose facepalmed. "At the minimum, it sounds like she belongs in the Calfornican denomination, not working for the Cardinal Inquisitor ... but somehow I don't think it's going to work that way. Argus, Eli, we have to talk."

[Porcelain Fish]

"I thought him a wretched thing," Maduin said after a moment, gaze turning inward. "We all did when he came to us. He was such a hideous, disfigured, distorted creature. From the size of his withered body, I thought him a child." He paused, hazel eyes turning to Lillith once more. "At first, I thought as Drusia did. I wondered how such a creature could be left to live, though for a different reason. Surely it would have been kinder to kill it at birth, spare it a thin mockery of life full of nothing but torment."

"I was in my last year of at Dani Mu, and I was in the top of my class, as were the others that Professor Wythe called to attend. The official explanation she gave us was that she wanted us to have a look at his mind. You see, Hakusu Kigarode was born with a talent for mind-magic that the Lifemages had been studying for years. It was stunning in its capacity." Maduin started to walk again, drawing Lillith with him. "He was dying, and it was his last wish that his death have meaning. So he would let us study him as well."

"We were all of us revolted, but for Dr. Wythe. And in the moment we touched his fading thoughts, we discovered that he knew it already. More surprising though, was the fact that he did not resent us for it. He forgave us, unequivocally. He understood." He smiled faintly. "Hakusu's mental strength was prodigious, but he knew nothing of using it for force, had no use for compulsion, though he easily could have bent others to his will." He closed his eyes for a moment, just remembering. "Hakusu had no eyes to see, no fingers to lift a brush, but he dreamed Lillith. From the thoughts and visions of those around him, he crafted ineffable beauty. He was a painter of the mind. Skies so deep and so vast that you felt small, and yet that your heart was about to burst with the majesty of them, sunsets more radiant and vivid and blessedly warm than any witnessed with the naked eye, peach blossoms like silken kisses over fields of sun-golden grass with a perfume that smelled like perfect peace."

Maduin stopped, meeting Lillith's gaze once more. "The pain had taken so much from him, but what was left was so glorious that it was uplifting, and utterly heart-breaking at the same time." He took her hand gently. "We took away his pain, but he - he showed us a vision of paradise. When the last light left his mind, and those perfect places fell into darkness, we held each other and we cried, because we knew that something truly wonderful had passed from this world. Hakusu Kigarode taught us more than the strength of our magic. He taught us to see beyond the limitations and appearances of the flesh, taught us to understand that they are only appearances, but most importantly, that small, crippled man who'd lived for only forty years and loved every moment of it - he taught us compassion."

Maduin leaned forward, pressing his forehead gently to Lillith's, and he let her in, let her see those achingly high skies of unearthly azure, let the sun-kissed fields sweep around her, let her see the peach trees in full bloom, gossamer pink petals drifting on a breeze that carried the light, sweet scent of serenity.

"I cannot remain here," Maduin said softly to her in that place in his memories. "I think you see the same as I do. Drusia will not be swayed. She has become convinced of her own righteousness and will not see beyond it. Here in this village, where her fear holds sway, there is nothing to be done." He let the sky begin to turn, let the radiant sun set in a rush of brilliant, riotous color, until the two of them were left alone in a field of twinkling stars. "But you have a sister in Tsuiraku, one who will wish to see you, one who will welcome you, and before another year is out, Argus too, will return home. You could return home with him."

He let the memory of Hakusu's last, peaceful place go, reality returning once more to surround them, and looked at Lillith with patient hazel eyes, waiting.

[Sareth]

Lillith sobbed, but there was a smile on her face. She wrapped her arms around Maduin in a friendly and grateful embrace.

"Thank you. I was beginning to wonder if the world had gone mad."

She let a silence linger for a bit before she released the embrace and stepped back, wiping her face. "I... think I'd like to meet my sister."

[Porcelain Fish]

Maduin nodded and smiled back, putting her hand on his arm once more. "Tsuiraku will welcome you my dear."

Bryce, ever insightful, glanced up from where he was standing a little ways off to give the two of them some space. "Sounds like it's time to pack up," he said mildly with a lift of his eyebrows. He held out the cone of potato fries. "Fry?"

[Graybeard]

"I think we're going to have to be ready to leave tomorrow morning," Sister Rose said as she disposed of the parrot. (Kim declined it, despite Rose's reassurances that it was actually acceptable eating.) "At least those of us who are leaving will be." She cocked an eye at Eli.

[Jack Rothwell]

"Sorry...uh, Rose? I was miles away." The half-elf shuffled his feet and strived to look attentive. "You wanted to talk?"

OOC Whoops-a-doodle, missed the earlier post./OOC

[Graybeard]

"You wanted to talk?"

Sister Rose was actually glad to see that the young soldier (young? being a half elf, he might well be older than she was) had been woolgathering rather than paying attention to the parrot. Good; that might avoid some awkward explanations.

"My superiors are sending me -- us -- off on another task," she explained. "It's time for us to leave Snamish; most of us, anyway." Suriah had shown all signs of settling in permanently with Drusia, and Brad and Lillith -- well, I hope they're still staying, for their sake. But whatever. "We need to go to a place called Umbertiel, middle-sized town to small city about a day's ride from here. Argus and I are being asked to -- help with an investigation." Truthfully, she had no idea whether the Cardinal Inquisitor was taking an interest in Argus or not; she rather hoped not, but it wouldn't hurt to put him on notice that something was going on. "If you don't mind, maybe you could come along and give us some escort. It'd give you a sense of what the rest of the world is like." She smiled faintly. "Although based on my memories of the place, I'm not sure Umbertiel is going to give you all that positive a sense of the rest of the world..."

She turned to Argus. "I think I've met Father Gaetan before. Typical old-school Orthodox priest, not the brightest light globe in the temple of Luminosita. We can deal with him. I don't know anything about this 'Sister Bree,' though." She chuckled. "I have this mental image of that Church Militant character I pulled on you back at the temple in Kiyoka, when we were casing the Homeland Security operation." She chuckled again to show she wasn't serious ... but not too many days or hours later, she'd look back on this moment and wonder if she'd just revealed a capacity for precognition that she didn't know she had, and would have been very happy to do without.