"I wonder if that place is still there?""Everything dies, in time," the Coffin Man offers, cheerfully.
"Except consequences. The results of our actions make a chain reaction that continues on till the final end of the universe, if there is such an end." Selena replied contemplatively as she walks in the door.
"I cleaned and tested all the new weapons. Anyone who wants one, come and get it." she says as lays several of them down on the table.
Giving Quasit a stern look, Selena asked none too quietly, "Did you talk to someone yet and get yourself sorted out?"
"Having a tail would make wearing pants complicated." is about all she can come up with.
"Naw you just need a hole and have to tie them in the back instead of the front. Dresses are a whole other issue though."
The Flying Saucer Cafe! And the gnome would use a mage hand to deliver cups of coffee to tables sometimes!
"IS THAT WHY IT WAS CALLED THAT!? I just got that, hahaha that's a good name. Maka smiled, happy that Quasit seemed to be relaxing.
Kind of a weirdo, but those cakes! Me and Nevar spent hours in there drinking coffee and talking about everything."
"I got an order of frozen cream rolls after every fight. Oh it was so good, and watching him make it was half the treat." Maka's mouth watered at the memory. She loved the combination of the hot, bitter coffee and the cold, sweet treat.
"I wonder if that place is still there?"
"Of course! When was it ever empty? We'll have to go after all this witch business is done."
"Everything dies, in time," the Coffin Man offers, cheerfully.
"You hush!
"Except consequences. The results of our actions make a chain reaction that continues on till the final end of the universe, if there is such an end." Selena replied contemplatively as she walks in the door.
Maka released an exasperated groan as she rolled her eyes, along with most the rest of her body, at Selena's mood killing contemplation.
Giving Quasit a stern look, Selena asked none too quietly, "Did you talk to someone yet and get yourself sorted out?"
"Can't you just be nice!?" Maka growled at Selena as she stepped in front of Quasit like a loyal hound.
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Maka released an exasperated groan as she rolled her eyes,...
Quasit groans in unison with Maka as her good mood is immediately punctured.
Giving Quasit a stern look, Selena asked none too quietly, "Did you talk to someone yet and get yourself sorted out?""Can't you just be nice!?" Maka growled at Selena as she stepped in front of Quasit like a loyal hound.
"Mind your own beeswax, Short Stuff." snaps the rogue wearily. "I told you I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep. Criminey."
Giving Quasit a stern look, Selena asked none too quietly, "Did you talk to someone yet and get yourself sorted out?""Can't you just be nice!?" Maka growled at Selena as she stepped in front of Quasit like a loyal hound.
"Nice is not always pleasant, nor cruelty always painful."
"Mind your own beeswax, Short Stuff." snaps the rogue wearily. "I told you I'm fine. I just couldn't sleep. Criminey."
"You are my business! And you're not fine!" Selena huffs and storms off to the next room, hopeful that bringing the issue into open will get the others to actually help Quasit.
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"You are my business! And you're not fine!" Selena huffs and storms off to the next room, hopeful that bringing the issue into open will get the others to actually help Quasit.
Quasit glares after Selena as she stomps out of the room, then heaves a deep sigh, and pinches her forehead with the hand not holding her coffee.
"That's the second time today she's snuck up on me and launched a scold-attack." she complains. "And ironically, I think she really does mean well. I just wish she could mean well toward someone else for a while. Like a bear, maybe."
Quasit scoops some porridge into a bowl, being careful to get a lot of little fruit bits, then talks between bites. "Sure, I'm worried about getting into that compound. And I keep having flashbacks of running for my life in those woods yesterday where my heart feels like it wants to bust out of my chest. And I still wanna just curl up in a ball and cry about my dad. But I'm ok. We're all stressed and scared, except maybe you, Maka. I don't think it's all that strange that I'm having trouble sleeping."
"Nice is not always pleasant, nor cruelty always painful."
"That doesn't even make sense!" Maka complained as Selena stormed off.
"That's the second time today she's snuck up on me and launched a scold-attack." she complains. "And ironically, I think she really does mean well. I just wish she could mean well toward someone else for a while. Like a bear, maybe."
"Or a Bull!" Maka said rather excitedly. "I mean, I'll ask Bulvi to help with her."
Quasit scoops some porridge into a bowl, being careful to get a lot of little fruit bits, then talks between bites. "Sure, I'm worried about getting into that compound. And I keep having flashbacks of running for my life in those woods yesterday where my heart feels like it wants to bust out of my chest. And I still wanna just curl up in a ball and cry about my dad. But I'm ok. We're all stressed and scared, except maybe you, Maka. I don't think it's all that strange that I'm having trouble sleeping."
Maka didn't think that Quasit was ok ok, but she did think that Quasit was ok for the situation. "I'd be a lot more worried if you weren't having troubles..."
Maka trailed off as she wrapped an arm around Quasit and pulled her into a side hug. "I'm sorry you can't just lay down and cry about your dad."
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With Sakitu still soundly sleeping and not stirring a bit, even with Bulvi’s snoring raising the roof, Fin rises quietly. He finds a vacant room, avoiding the gingerbread room, strips down, and using some water from his waterskin, washes off, brushing his teeth afterwards. He then gears up and heads to Bones’ room…
Upon entering, seeing Q and Maka in a side hug, he awkwardly murmurs, ”Um…’scuse me, ladies…uh, gonna do a little target practice as the sun rises,” as he hurries out the door…
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Quasit looks around at the elf quickly, not having heard him enter, then says something unexpected.
"Fin! Something I've been meaning to ask you for weeks but keep forgetting -- does your name mean anything? Like, is 'Findurél' elfish for something?"
"The reason I ask, is that in Varisia there were legends about the 'fin-folk'. They lived on islands in the middle of lakes or rivers mostly, and stole children or seduced people and generally were mischievous in a dark creepy sort of way. Sorta like mermaids or river-maidens. Any connection?"
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Fin arches an eyebrow at the unexpected question, then grins sheepishly. ”While I can swim fairly well, there’s no connection…but Findurél does have a meaning…
“Fin simply means ‘hair’ in common. Dur means ‘dark’; it can have a double connotation though, meaning either color or mood, i.e., sombre I think would be closest in human languages. And él means ‘star’; we Elves are fascinated with stars, especially my Mom, as the nights in Kyonin, especially during Midsummers Eve, were lit up by the stars. I was my Mom’s little ‘dark-haired star’…”
He gets lost for a moment recalling his Mom, a single tear, falling from his left eye at the memory…shaking his head after a moment, he murmurs, ”Sorry, that’s not a very interesting answer to your Varisian legend…”
Upon entering, seeing Q and Maka in a side hug, he awkwardly murmurs, ”Um…’scuse me, ladies…uh, gonna do a little target practice as the sun rises,” as he hurries out the door…
"Fin the sun's been up for a while, come have breakfast." Maka waved Fin over.
...I was my Mom’s little ‘dark-haired star’…”
"Aww, that's so cute!" Maka failed to notice Fin's sadness as she prepared him a heaping helping of food.
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He gets lost for a moment recalling his Mom, a single tear, falling from his left eye at the memory…
Quasit seems newly moved at Findurel's obvious sadness, even all these years later. She nods sympathetically and gives a weak smile.
”Sorry, that’s not a very interesting answer to your Varisian legend…”
"Oh, no, the legends are pretty silly. But Varisians are superstitious and they love their boogeymen and hocus pocus. I remembered when one of our little caravans would come across one of these islands where the fin folk were supposed to live, if we had a cleric with us, he'd go out there are drive the fin folk away and consecrate the ground to protect us from their whiles. And then you could use the soil from the island to keep rats and mice away. Complete nonsense, like I said."
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"Oh, no, the legends are pretty silly. But Varisians are superstitious and they love their boogeymen and hocus pocus…"
Fin gives off a slight smile. ”Aye, in my years of trading and rafting in the River Kingdoms, I heard similar tales, mostly told to scare children or to keep away unwanted attention…
“However, there was a small city in the River Kingdoms, a rather unique and odd one by the name of Outsea. That city had parts both above and below the waterline; the merfolk and sahuagin were the majority there, but I also met such creatures as gillmen, water nagas, and even one solitary aquatic elf there. So mayhap some of these legends may have been rooted in truth but then stretched a bit to fit the storyteller’s narrative…”
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"Yeah, maybe. When my mother's dumb boyfriend would wow the yokels with his folk tales, I often found myself wondering if he'd actually heard these stories somewhere or if he was just inventing them all out of whole cloth. I suppose either way, there has to be a nugget of something that gives a person the idea."
"And the Varisians were perfectly capable of abducting children on their own. e.g. - Me. No fairies or rivermaidens necessary."
"And island dirt was terrible at keeping away the mice. Cats worked much better. But then you don't have to actually feed dirt."
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Fin’s smile grows wider as he listens. ”When I was growing up, children were told not to wander too far off, as we could be snatched up by raiders; when I lived in the desert, it was the gnolls, when in Kyonin visiting my grand sire, it was the goblins. Thought they were tall tales as well till I witnessed my first raid; that opened my eyes pretty quick…”
"When my mother's dumb boyfriend…."
Fin turns somber again, asking earnestly. ”Can I ask you a personal question, Q? If you don’t mind, can you tell me how long after your mother and father…separated…before she found a…boyfriend?”
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”Can I ask you a personal question, Q? If you don’t mind, can you tell me how long after your mother and father…separated…before she found a…boyfriend?”
Quasit's eyes flash. "Oh. They were acquainted before my mother left my father. She met him in Cassomir. My dad was out for a lot of the day, and sometimes a lot of the night, so it was pretty easy for her, except for the fact that she had to look after me. So for about a month before she ran off with him, I got left with neighbors or got told to 'go play' while she messed around with Garen. Part of the reason she took me along was that I knew too much about it, I think."
She shakes her head violently. "Oooo, don't get me started."
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She shakes her head violently. "Oooo, don't get me started."
Fin’s eyes are downcast. ”I’m sorry, Q…I didn’t mean to get you worked up…
“I only asked…because…my Mom…uh…never even considered another…mate…after…my Dad was k-k…um…passed…even with several suitors pursuing her. She pined away for over 80 years…until she died…I asked once…she said she had met the one love of her life and wouldn’t sully his memory by settling for another…as her heart could not be reached that way again…
“I think she only lived that long for me…till I reached my majority…sorry again for causing you pain by asking…but I ‘preciate you answering as it gives me a bit of…perspective…in trying to…understand…”
Maka quietly ate her food as the conversation turned to a sensitive topic for her. She wondered how Adula was doing, and again scolded herself for not writing an apology out yet.
“I only asked…because…my Mom…uh…never even considered another…mate…after…my Dad was k-k…um…passed…even with several suitors pursuing her. She pined away for over 80 years…until she died…I asked once…she said she had met the one love of her life and wouldn’t sully his memory by settling for another…as her heart could not be reached that way again…
She pined away for over 80 years
80 years
"SHE WHAT!?" Maka suddenly exclaimed, spitting some of her food out. Her eyes widened like saucers, and her mouth hung agape in shock as Fin's voice still echoed in her mind.
She took a long sip of coffee. "I can understand not falling in love again, but not having sex for 80 years!?" She shook her head in disbelief. "That's...Wow!..."
As the system shock faded, Maka suddenly realized what she had done. "I'm sorry! That was rude; it's just... 80 years!?... Sorry, don't listen to me, I'm dumb. I'm sorry about everyone's parents." Maka threw an arm around Fin and Quasit, drawing them both into a hug.
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”I think it’s romantic.” says Quasit contrarily.
She thinks about this for a few seconds, then amends her opinion.
”Of course that’s elf years, right? It’s about 5 elf-years to a human year, so really it’s only like… what is that?… 16 years?”
She looks back and forth between Maka and Findurel and quickly realizes she’s talking nonsense. She clears her throat and eats a spoonful of porridge.
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She took a long sip of coffee. "I can understand not falling in love again, but not having sex for 80 years!?" She shook her head in disbelief. "That's...Wow!..."
Fin shrugs. ”It’s an Elf thing…while we Elves enjoy sex, if you could ever experience a Midsummer’s Night Eve celebration in Kyonin, you’d see how much we really enjoy it, there’s such an emotional bond between Elven consorts when making love that makes it so much…stronger…that it can be a…hard thing to just shake off when your consort is…no longer with you…most eventually can, but Mom never could…”
”I think it’s romantic.” says Quasit contrarily.
Fin smiles. ”Aye, I think so too…”
She thinks about this for a few seconds, then amends her opinion.
”Of course that’s elf years, right? It’s about 5 elf-years to a human year, so really it’s only like… what is that?… 16 years?”
She looks back and forth between Maka and Findurel and quickly realizes she’s talking nonsense. She clears her throat and eats a spoonful of porridge.
Fin smirks a bit but nods. ”Aye, something like that…”
"I guess its pretty romantic, and sex is always better with that emotional component, and yeah it isn't that long to elves...but I think I'd be unbearable if I went 80 days without sex."
Maka's mind couldn't help but float to the Midsummer's Night Eve that Fin had mentioned multiple times now. "We've really got to visit Fin's home when we get that boat though."
"Sweet dreams!" Maka called after Quasit before turning her attention to the Coffin Man.
"Okay so retreat was otstupleniye and surrender was sdavat'sya. How would you say 'Eat fire jerks!'?" Maka pulled out a Russian cheat sheet she had been working on, ready to add fresh notes.
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Fin nods to Quasit, ”Let Kal and I do this plant travel thing first, just before the rest of you teleport…then we can get to the temple soon after you…
“Kal, I’ll cast blend on myself right before this plant spell and best you be ready to go as whatever small animal you can move best as unseen…”
He casts blend and then nods that he’s ready…once there, he’ll go into Stealth mode and move to the temple to meet the others…
As Fin and Kalchine make their way towards the ruined temple, the rest of the party teleport in. Moments after appearing in the ruins, Rasputin appears before the group.
"Persistent fools, aren't you?" He sneers. "Whatever losses you may cause here are meaningless. You haven't a prayer of reaching me, or your precious 'Grandmother'."
"You misunderstand our objectives. We want Elvanna gone. At the moment we believe that Baba Yaga is the best chance of getting rid of Elvanna, but If you get rid of Elvanna, and let us handle the next queen, then you can keep doing whatever it is you're doing over here. We don't really care that much about you nor what you are up to. Be nice and we could even establish trade between this world and ours. I think there is ripe opportunity there given how different this world is. Doesn't that sound a lot better than fighting us?" Selena immediately counters in her best noble diplomat tone.
Rasputin snorts derisively. "That you would even make such an offer simply displays your ignorance."
"You are clearly just as ignorant if you think we are just to find grandmother. She is not but a step towards our actual goal. So why don't we have a short chit chat about goals? Maybe we can both get what we want?" Selena replies, mimicking her mother's negotiating voice.
"I am not some poorly-written play's villain, waiting to spill my plan to my opponent out of some sense of fair-play or hubris," Rasputin replies, icily. "You know little of my goals, and I prefer it that way."
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Quasit is about to make a pithy retort to Rasputin when Selena begins talking trade deals. Slowly, her head begins to shake back and forth.
"This is the stupidest argument I've ever heard." she whispers to Maka.
Then she decides to butt in with her quip after all.
"Right, we haven't got a chance of finding you, blah blah. So, I guess you have nothing to worry about. You can bugger off now and leave us to our certain doom."
"And yet, here you stand, neither attacking us nor ignoring us, but taking the time to make what appear to be idle boasts and threats," Kalchine comments.
"Either you are stalling for time to enact some other plan or you are trying to bluff us into giving up. In either case, we have not time for it. We would be fools to waste time here and while my mother did raise a fool," he says and pats a pouch where a tiny figurine in the shape of a frost ape lies inanimate and (hopefully) unhearing, "I am not it.
"So, if you are truly hear, make your move or stand aside. If this is another illusion, feel free to dispel it while we go about our business."
Maka growled as Rasputin appeared. Taking a defensive position, she readied herself to attack at the first wrong move Rasputin made.
"This is the stupidest argument I've ever heard." she whispers to Maka.
"It's two witches, what do you expect?"
Maka's glowing eyes swept around the ruined temple, looking for any trickery or threats.
"Why are we fighting then? You have a world here ripe for conquest. You would be stupid to try and conquer our world, though trade would be massively beneficial. So really, I honestly don't see why you think we are your enemy. Grandmother is a means to an end only. If you have a problem with us taking her, that's fine. You can easily fill that role yourself, securing allies that increase your hold on this world. Elvanna might seem powerful now, and she is, but she also has decided to fight the entire world at once. She will lose, either to us or to the combined armies of our world. We present a more secure long term alternative."
Rasputin's sneer develops into a snarl, and he starts chanting a spell.
Selena sighs almost disappointedly as she takes cover and she casts her own spell to fill the room around Rasputin with thick roiling fog like a winter white out.
Why did they poke the Archmage... uhm archwitch? Bulvi was just a little too slow on the draw as the argument turned into a fight.
Rasputin does not emerge from the mist. Instead, he speaks a horrible blasphemy.
Kalchine doesn't exactly understand the true depth of what Rasputin has said and he's used to the normal behavior of a frost ape, so what the sorcerer says doesn't really affect him.
He doesn't want to waste any spells on this guy if he's just an image so he moves forward, drawing Rimeblade from it's sheath strapped across the back of his waist and slashing at Rasputin with the scimitar.
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