Getsemiel

[Graybeard]

[OOC: The conclusion of Rose's flashback...]

“Everything’s ready to go,” Kenny said. Military formalities were useless now; in addition to the … relationship between the CO and her exec, the team was functioning at its peak, too busy with the important things to worry about minutiae like rank and courtesies.

Almost, anyway. Rose turned to the youngest man in the unit, a corporal from somewhere way down on the southern coast of Veracia. He was a bit wet behind the ears, and very raw, but he had obvious magical aptitude that Rose thought might make him a very useful Special Ops man some day. Unfortunately, while he’d picked up a basic Divination spell incredibly rapidly, he hadn’t learned the Affinities test yet. It would be best to get him out of the way for the moment. Rose thought for a second or two, then issued an order. “Snuffy, I want you hunkered down behind our safety screen while we do this.” (In the present day, Rose could still see that pair of trees, inland from the waterfront by fifty yards or so.) “Move on out before we cast this thing.”

Corporal Clariel blinked at his commanding officer; he’d never taken orders from a woman before. “Ma’am? I don’t think I understand. Shouldn’t I …”

“No, you shouldn’t, Corporal,” Rose interrupted, just the slightest edge in her voice now. “Do as I say.” Then she relented and explained. “See, if things turn completely to crap here, we want to make sure there’s one survivor who can tell the clean-up squad what happened.” The young man paled, gulped, saluted, said “Yes’m,” and moved inland.

Rose made one last inspection of the scene. One thing concerned her. “Kenny? How’d you get that piece of the Thing into the bag? Tell me you didn’t touch it, did you?”

Lieutenant Kenny Lucas beamed with pride; he did feel proud of the improvisation he’d come up with. “See that?” he said, pointing to a small dimple in the sandy shore. “We put the bag down there, right next to the piece, and then used a little earth-moving spell to just dig under it, so that it got unbalanced and slid right into the bag without anyone touching it. Worked slick as could be. Snuffy’s idea to use the earth-moving, by the way.”

Rose beamed back at her husband. “Wow. Well done, with a nice light touch. Of course, you’ve always had that kind of delicate way of doing things.” She vowed to take … full advantage … of that light, delicate touch tonight, when they returned to quarters. The timing couldn’t be better; they’d decided it was time to start a family, and she was pretty sure she was about to ovulate …

Back to the present, she scolded herself. “Let’s do it.” Double entendre dealt with, the five soldiers remaining at the Thing focused their attention on the Affinities spell, Sergeant Coydia and another enlisted man standing watch as Rose and Kenny and another young lieutenant from up north poured magical energy into the sample bag. As soon as they were done, Rose stood up. “Now we give it fifteen minutes, and then see what we’ve learned.” She waved the young corporal back down to the working point; there were other spells to be cast while this one “cooked.”

Even in the field, there was always paperwork to do. Rose excused herself and moved to the safety shield to make an entry in the mission report, using a cryptography spell; everything about this operation was LUMINOSITA’S TOP SECRET, after all. She was still writing a description when young Corporal Clariel joined her. “Ma’am?” he said. “I got a quick Divination on this piece of seaweed that was hangin’ off the Thing. It’s weird, ma’am. I don’t think it be from around here. It’s almost like –“

He never finished the sentence, as Sergeant Coydia’s voice boomed at them from the direction of the working point. ”EVERYBODY! GET DOWN, NOW!”

Reflexes and training kicked in, and Rose dove behind the screen, followed a split second later by her sergeant. The young corporal, however, hadn’t yet learned one of the fundamental truths of EOD operations: first, survive, because you can’t do your job if you’re dead. Rather than ducking for cover, he stood and looked back toward the shore. “What? I –“

That was as far as he got before the universe was filled with white, magical light.

Rose would be forever unable to remember the next few seconds (or were they minutes?) as the torrent of magic raged around them. When it passed, she became aware of three things. There was screaming coming from back in the direction of the Thing – but only in one voice. Closer at hand, Snuffy Clariel was screaming, too, and she could see why: his face had been seared with magical energy, and his eyes … they were simply gone.

And the third thing was Sergeant Coydia’s hand on her back, trembling.

“Aw, shit, ma’am,” the old enlisted man sobbed. “Th’ damn thing went off … and I don’t be thinkin’ the lieutenants made it.”

Suddenly the paperwork didn’t really matter any more.


That touch ... so much like Sergeant Coydia's ...

Sister Rose could stand it no longer. She turned around, and collapsed into Argus' arms, sobbing.

[Jack Rothwell]

"I'm... yes, I'm okay. Just thinking about my life. And my mother's life, I guess."

"It would make one hell of a tale." Eli said, returning his gaze to the big blue body of water in front of them. "Do you think you'll see her again any time soon? Much as i hate to admit it, a full blood elf would come in handy against mages with death magic."

The half-elf was dimly aware of Sister Rose collapsing into tears at the same time she collapsed into Argus' arms further up the coast. Eli frowned, breaking down in public like that was something he couldn't relate to. He doubted it was coincidence that the woman chose that man to be the receiver of the outburst of emotion, he wasn't blind to the way they looked at each other.

"I wish they'd just climb on top of each other and get it over with." He muttered.

[Drannin]

What could he do? What could he say?

Argus had known that this site was something Rose was sensitive to, he understood that all to well. And he understood all to well what she was going through. He understood; during this journey, Argus had confronted most of his old demons and emerged triumphant, stronger for it. With his baggage of hate and regret behind him, he could feel himself growing stronger every day.

Rose was now facing demons she had tried, very hard, to leave buried. The emotional toll was catastrophic.

Argus had known this, of course. Had known how Rose would react. Knew she needed to get this out of her system, to confront the past in order to finally come to terms with it. But even with all that, he hadn't adequately prepared himself for this moment.

Not that one really could, to be honest.

So Argus simply put his arms around Rose and held her, stroking her hair, and murmuring gently, letting her grief pass through her, understanding and sharing her grief in a way that only one who had suffered bereavement could.

It was all he could do. There was nothing, really, he could say.

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose and Argus held the embrace for a long, long time.

Looking back on it later, she couldn't be sure whether it finally came to an end because she was afraid she was hurting his shoulder, or she was getting over the memory, or they were just getting tired. Maybe it was the mantra she'd read in one of the fantasy novels she'd been addicted to as a girl. She couldn't remember who the hero was that said it, Wu-Lee or something like that, but it had stuck in her mind: I'll have to get over this sooner or later. Why not now? Anyway, she stepped back and wiped her tears on her sleeve. "Thank you, from every fiber of my being," she said, and somehow succeeded in mustering a weak smile.

She turned to look at the spit of land on the far side of the bay, where the two (other?) couples had been sitting. Brad and Lillith were no longer there; aha, there they were, making their way over to this site. But Eli and Desiree...

Something needed to be done.

"Can I ask you one more favor?" she said timidly as her gaze met Argus' again. "Drusia said that -- Desiree has some 'issues' that she needs to work through. It -- finally sank in on me that those issues involved me, and particularly, they involved Kenny. They were close before he and I ever met." (She was beginning to suspect, in fact, that "close" didn't really capture it.) She took a deep breath...

"I think Desiree probably needs to see this place too. It'll hurt her, maybe almost as much as it hurts me. But she needs to. So..." Another deep breath. "Could you be a complete dear, and fetch her over here so she can see it?" She smiled wanly. "I'll be waiting, to mark the spot ... and I won't be crying any more, I promise."

[Drannin]

Argus nodded solemnly. "I'll be right back."

A short walk later, he came upon Eli and Desiree standing alone together, talking quietly. He'd never really taken the time to speak to the two of them; they had always seemed a little withdrawn, a little wary of their companions. Argus supposed he couldn't blame them: they'd lived a live fearful of the consequences of discovery. Thus, he had respected what he had perceived as their desire for privacy.

Still, right now there was something that Desiree needed to see.

He cleared his throat. "I apologize for interrupting the two of you," he said, "But there is something... that Desiree may need to take a look at."

[Graybeard]

Sister Rose watched Argus go, grateful beyond her ability to express. It was entirely possible that Desiree wasn't going to like coming over to see where her friend -- lover? Rose still didn't want to think about that -- had been killed. She was pretty sure, however, that it was going to be necessary, sooner or later.

As she watched the Tsuirakuan make his way around the inlet, she stooped again to look for a skimming rock or two, just as she had a few days earlier at the lake by Snamish. She idly skipped the stones out into the water, remembering the way her husband had taught her how to do it. So many things, so much bonding of souls ... Dammit, I am NOT going to start crying again!

There, Argus was talking to the half-elf couple. It was too far for her to see how the conversation was going, but by now she could read Argus' body language well enough to know that he was uncomfortable getting it started ... but he was doing it anyway. For her.

She stared back out into the ocean, and found herself talking to -- well, she wasn't exactly sure who or what, if to anyone other than herself, but talking, anyway.

"You'd like him, Kenny."

[Drusia]

"I wish they'd just climb on top of each other and get it over with." He muttered.

I can't help it - I laugh. "Yeah. I'm not sure why they haven't yet." I shake my head.

I look out at the ocean again. "I was just wondering what it would be like to live out there."

I think Eli is about to say something, but just then Argus shows up.

He cleared his throat. "I apologize for interrupting the two of you," he said, "But there is something... that Desiree may need to take a look at."

"Okay," I say nervously. I glance at Eli, then back at Argus. "Can Eli come too? Or... just me?"

-- Desiree

[Alberich]

Tim saw some emotional scenes were going on down the shoreline, no doubt connected with whatever business Rose had been emoting about so much earlier on. He didn't join them. If she was really seeing something useful, she'd report it in time, and there wasn't anything else useful to do right now.

And naturally they'd all gone off in their couples - Lillith and Brad, Rose and Argus, Desiree and Eli (yes, yes, that's how it had to be), funny boy B riding off to find funny boy A. Now that Argus had come out in the open, everyone in this group was romantically paired off. Except Tim himself and Harker. Urrrkkkk!!!!! Thinkofsomethingelse. Wow, look at all this driftwood...

He kept on with his own job of examining the shoreline for clues, not really expecting to find any.

[Graybeard]

Luminosita, give me strength, Sister Rose prayed silently as Argus, Desiree and Eli approached.

From the looks on their faces, it appeared that Argus hadn't told the half elves exactly what they were coming over here to see. Rose wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or not. The ensuing conversation was going to be ... awkward either way. However, she'd become increasingly convinced that it was the reason why Drusia had asked her to take Desiree along, so it had to be done ... no matter how painful it was. For both participants.

She took a deep breath as the trio reached the half-submerged crater, then began. "Desiree, I think your mother wanted you -- no, wanted us -- to see where the accident happened. She was hoping that we'd find something that made it all easier to understand. I just don't think there is any such thing."

She pointed at the crater rim with her toe. "There was a naval mine here. We find those now and then, left-overs from the Mage-Priest Wars. It was one of our jobs in Special Ops to get rid of them safely. We'd done it before ... but this time, something went wrong. Three people were killed. Another was maimed for life. We never did find out why, or how, or exactly what it was that went wrong. It just ... did."

Her voice got very soft as she fought back tears. "I'm terribly sorry, Desiree. I know he meant a lot to you too..."

[Jack Rothwell]

Eli kept his face impassive. He still hadn't heard the full story behind the man that both Desiree and Rose had lost, but the awkwardness between the two of them was something that needed to be resolved. Even so, the half-elf pondered the necessity of him being there to hear the tale.

A mean thought struck him; did Desiree even need to hear it? Given her promiscuity in the name of her deity Eli found himself doubting that Desiree ever had a real emotional connection to that man. And even if she had she'd certainly 'moved on' since then...

He shook himself mentally. No, that wasn't fair. She was a caring, generous person, not some whore determined to get through as many partners as possible, hadn't she been exclusive with him since they'd first gone to bed?

She had.

...hadn't she?

Eli watched the exchange of dialogue silently. At his sides, his hands clasped unconsciously tighter.

OOC Edit- species change of Kenny./OOC