"My name is Mina...
Maka did a double take at this, her golden eyes widening slightly. A flicker of confusion crossed her face, quickly replaced by realization as she remembered that Quasit was just a nickname.
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"Hell o." she says, her anxiety level bringing her back to a full standing position and a solid degree of tension. "They found something else."
Something in her voice spiked a surge of anxiety in Sakitu's chest. She jumped to her feet next to Quasit.
"What could they possibly find? I thought we'd already seen the worst of it."
Quasit slides back into the building and Sakitu follows her. It takes a moment to adjust to the darkness after sitting outside for so long but soon her vision resolves to see her friends clustered around a closet and two kids.
Fin and Maka are talking to them before Quasit scoots forward and sits down next to them and starts talking to them in their language.
When she hears her name she smiles and waves at the children hoping to make them feel comfortable.
She moves over to Fin and wraps an arm around him. "Do you know what Quasit is saying?" she whispers?
Anastasia shakes her head slightly. "No, Rasputin told... he... helped us..."
She trails off, frowning. Alexei speaks up. "He helped us when we escaped, and made sure we were okay. But then the shooting started and we looked for a place to hide. It was dark and we didn't see..." He glances behind Maka and shudders.
Maka, Anastasia definitely seems somewhat out of it, but sincere. Alexei... there's something odd about him. Didn't the Tsarina say that only Anastasia was alive of her children?
Maka switched back to Common, glancing toward Quasit. "Quasit, didn’t the ghost say only Anastasia was still alive?" Her tone was low and stead, attempting not to alert the children.
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Maka switched back to Common, glancing toward Quasit. "Quasit, didn’t the ghost say only Anastasia was still alive?" Her tone was low and stead, attempting not to alert the children.
Quasit pauses and thinks, then narrows her eyes as she regards Maka.
”Yeah. Yeah she did.” she murmurs back. She rubs her mouth contemplatively, then turns back to the children, smiling again, and speaks to them again in Russian.
“Alexei, when you talk about being hidden, and then the shooting beginning, you’re talking about when your family was shot by the Bolsheviks, right? That must have been really awful and scary for you. I’m glad Rasputin was able to get you away from there.
“But I’m still not clear on how you came to be here in this closet. Anastasia, how long were you in there? Why did Rasputin leave you in there and then apparently go away, leaving you again in mortal danger? Tell me, how did you get from the shooting of your family to this moment?”
Kalchine convinces himself that he's just doing another, more extreme form of triage surgery. He's easing pain and returning this twisted flesh to the cycle of life and freeing the souls to return to the eternal cycle.
At least, he convinces himself that he's convinced himself. That doesn't explain why his ears strain then droop with each stab and step.
He spins when he hears unfamiliar voices, spear at the ready. Quickly, he lowers it, lest the children see the evidence of the work it has done on it.
Then, he turns his back, tapping into nature to alter his form to one different from his own.
When he turns back, he is no longer a triaxian but a human, though one with a very thick beard, sideburns and hair that leave most of his face hidden behind the white fluff.
“But I’m still not clear on how you came to be here in this closet. Anastasia, how long were you in there? Why did Rasputin leave you in there and then apparently go away, leaving you again in mortal danger? Tell me, how did you get from the shooting of your family to this moment?”
Anastasia frowns and looks down. "I... can't remember..."
Alexei speaks up. "One of our loyal servants managed to sneak us out in the dead of night. We got hurt when we were almost caught again. We're lucky Rasputin rescued us and healed us."
"I think... I think I hit my head," Anastasia murmurs, feeling at her scalp as if searching for a wound. "I haven't... haven't been able to remember..."
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Quasit frowns a little when the girl says she can’t remember anything about how she came here, but she’s a little more successful hiding her doubt when the boy describes the circumstances of their miraculous escape.
”Well. Don’t worry about that now. You got away safe and that’s the main thing. But we can’t have you just hiding in a closet hoping that Rasputin comes back before you starve. Like I said, we’re trying to find him, so you may as well come with us, all right?”
”Here, we’ll have Kalchine look you over and make sure you’re all right, ok?
She gestures for Kalchine to come over and pulls him aside to speak quietly to him in Common.
”Look em over. See if you can figure out how she lost her memory. She’s acting … I don’t know, like maybe her head has been messed with by magic. I dunno. And there’s something about the boy too. For one thing, he’s not supposed to be alive. But I don’t quite trust him. See what you think. Maybe it’s just lack of food and sleep. But I have my doubts.”
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Fin stays back and lets his friends do the questioning as they’re much better dealing with people and words…however, he listens intently at the young couple, focused on their speech and nonverbal cues, as he tries to get a read on the girl…
…and her brother…
She moves over to Fin and wraps an arm around him. "Do you know what Quasit is saying?" she whispers?
”Bits and pieces, Hlao-roo,” Fin murmurs lightly, still reading the kids, as he reciprocates, wrapping an arm around her before playfully pinching her on the rump, without losing his focus…
"Okay..." Anastasia murmurs.
Alexei looks rebellious, but he doesn't speak against it.
Kalchine nods in response to Quasits request, watching the kids over her shoulder.
"Hello, children. Have you been a good boy and girl?" the man with a bushy white beard and hair says. "I have a list of things to check and I'm going to check it twice."
He starts by giving Anastasia a close physical examination.
He does the same to Alexei.
But also expends a small healing spell on him, knowing that if the boy is undead, it will have an obvious effect.
Kalchine doesn't see any signs of a blow to the head on Anastasia... but some of her symptoms would fit with having her life energy reduced due to being resurrected.
Alexei's paleness and weakness seems to be due to some sort of genetic disorder. Neither of them have any adverse reactions to the healing magic.
"Nice, kids!" Kalchine says. "You're both doing very well considering what you've no doubt been through. Stay here for a moment while we make some plans."
He gives them a reassuring smile and his ears wiggle just the slightest bit.
"I suspect the girl has been brought back from the dead in some way similar to our friend Viktor. Her loss of memory may be a side effect of that or she may literally not be able to remember what happened while she was dead. I just can't imagine what it would be like to be brought back to life like that.
"The boy is, unfortunately, just a victim of nature. There's no magic there just the very essence of his physical being causing his strange appearance and lack of strength."
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Quasit listens to Kalchine's analysis of the children's health, nodding and even giving the kids a friendly wave and smile at one point. But then she turns her face away again to answer in Common.
"Well, we know that Rasputin can probably resurrect people if he chooses. If this is his daughter, he may have brought her back from the dead after she was shot like the rest of her family. For dynastic purposes. Only Baba Yaga's female children get to rule in Irrissen. He may plan to double cross Queen Elvanna and then act as Lord Protector in the name of his daughter, who would be Baba Yaga's grand-daughter."
"But the boy still makes me wonder. There'd be no incentive to bring him back to life -- unless he plans to overthrow Russia's current government and reinstate the monarchy single-handed. The fact of the boy's frail congenital health makes that project even less understandable."
"And I still don't quite understand why he'd dump them here. That mad demon wouldn't have thought twice about slicing them up and reassembling them as grotesque meat puppets. And if you were protecting your heir to the degree you'd bring them back from the dead, wouldn't you then stash them in one of your 'Places of Power' where you could keep a personal watch on them?"
"I still think we should keep them with us and watch them. The girl at least we have to give the benefit of the doubt and try to protect her; she may well be entirely innocent."
"Let's take them outside, and finish up giving these poor soldiers their... last rites, I guess we'll call it?"
She turns back to the kids and addresses them in Russian. "Anastasia, Alexei, let's leave this place. We're exploring the camp looking for Rasputin and making sure there are no more monsters or soldiers hiding around here. Stay close to me. Say, do you like chocolate? Aunt Maka here usually has some chocolate."
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Fin gives a properly chastised look after being scolded by Sakitu; he brushes his lips on her forehead before approaching Quasit…
Waiting till they’re outta earshot of the kids, he whispers, ”Something bothers me about the boy, Q. The Tsarina mentioned only Anastasia was still alive and we know she was resurrected; Kal only saw signs of resurrection on the girl, not the boy. So if they were both killed and only the girl resurrected, what does that mean about the boy? He seems quite rebellious, odd for a boy with such a sickly condition…he bears watching, methinks…”
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"He could just be protecting his sister. And perhaps he was healed by Rasputin when he was near death but not yet dead. I agree that he bears watching, but we have no proof that he's anything other than what he says. Yet. I plan to stay close to them and keep asking questions. I'm not sure what else we can do." Quasit whispers back. ”Anastasia might never forgive us if we accuse her protector without any proof.”
Say, do you like chocolate? Aunt Maka here usually has some chocolate."
"It's really good! Chew it up a little, then let it melt on your tongue." Maka said brightly in Russian as she reached into a pocket of her scarf and pulled out a piece of chocolate. With a cheerful smile, she offered it to the children.
Kalchine eyes both kids warily. "If he brought her back to life, he may have bound him to her, somehow. Honestly, the boy worries me less. I suspect he was simply overlooked," Kalchine comments.
Nonetheless, he waits until they're out of the building before going back to work easing the passage of the tormented soldiers. After all, even if one or both of them is part of a trap or plot, they're with Maka who has a much better chance of ending them before they can do any harm than he does.
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Kalchine eyes both kids warily. "If he brought her back to life, he may have bound him to her, somehow. Honestly, the boy worries me less. I suspect he was simply overlooked," Kalchine comments.
Quasit thinks about this and looks at the children again, and nods a little.
"Yeah, maybe. Who knows, right?" she says softly. "It's just a feeling I get about her. But either way, best to keep them where we can see them."
She shepherds the kids out of the building so they don't have to witness Kalchine putting the 'patients' out of their misery.
"Stay close to me." she says in Russian. "There might be more monsters around. I'll do my best to protect you."
"Tell me, have you ever heard of Baba Yaga?"
The children cautiously take the chocolate. While Anastasia chews, Alexei says, "Of course we've heard of Baba Yaga, she's an old witch in the stories!"
They do follow as Quasit leads them out of the building.
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As they go back out into the cold night air, Quasit pulls her blanket out of her pack, and drapes it over the shoulders of the children to help keep them warm.
"Yes, an old witch from children's stories." she says. "But you know, in a lot of old stories, there's often a grain of truth. And that's the case with Baba Yaga. She's actually a real person, very old, and with magical powers, though most of the stories you've heard were just invented to scare little children into behaving."
"We think that not only is Baba Yaga real, but that she is Rasputin's mother. And that's where he gets his own powers. It's part of why we're looking for him. We also think he built this machine..." she looks up toward the tower looming above the burned out abbey, and points out the flashes of magical purple lightning. "And we think he built this army camp around his machine to protect it. Did he say anything to you about it when he brought you here?"
"And we live in her Chicken Hut!" Maka excitedly added, practically bouncing as she spoke. "His name is Cluckers, and he's really sweet. Once he gets used to you that is. He'll really warm up if we can find another bear to feed him." She beamed with pride while talking about the hut.
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"And we live in her Chicken Hut!" Maka excitedly added, practically bouncing as she spoke. "His name is Cluckers, and he's really sweet. Once he gets used to you that is. He'll really warm up if we can find another bear to feed him." She beamed with pride while talking about the hut.
Quasit's eyes widen as she looks at her friend with alarm. She braces herself for the reactions of the children.
Anastasia looks at Quasit and Maka like they're crazy, but her mouth is full of chocolate.
"I don't think you should take Anastasia close to anything that eats bears," Alexei says with all the solemn seriousness of a child convinced the grown-ups are crazy.
"He told me to keep Anastasia safe!" Alexei proclaims.
Anastasia finishes her chocolate. "Rasputin said he would keep us safe and see me gain my rightful throne, nothing more."
Anastasia frowns thoughtfully. "I... yes, that's what he said... but that's not... it *should* be Alexei."
Alexei looks back and shrugs. "That's what Mr. Rasputin said."
"Yeah, it's hard to argue with that." says Quasit to Alexei, though mid-sentence she adds a pointed look at Maka.
"But he's swee..." Maka started to argue, but at Quasit's look, she promptly clamped her mouth shut. She crossed her arms and huffed slightly but held her tongue.
Anastasia frowns thoughtfully. "I... yes, that's what he said... but that's not... it *should* be Alexei."
Quasit looks at Alexei questioningly.
Alexei looks back and shrugs. "That's what Mr. Rasputin said."
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Quasit nods and gives a slight lift of the eyebrows, as if the matter is of no great importance. ”Well… we’ll have to ask him about that when we find him.” she says.
She notes to herself that the children still haven’t answered her about how they came to be in the closet or whether they know anything about the machine. In the case of the girl it might simply be a matter of clouded memory, but the boy seemed mentally clear.
She looks over Alexei. ”Alexei, did Rasputin give you a weapon? How old are you? 9?10? How were you supposed to protect your sister?”
Selena quietly followed behind the group as her blue eyes suspiciously scanned the supposed children. Searching for even a hint of magic.
Bulvi quietly observed, never turning his back on Alexei. He considered what the boy could be if he wasn't what he seemed. An outside? Perhaps an abomination, fey or a spell caster? Perhaps something tasked to keep tabs on her in case she was freed and leave a trail for it's master.
Alexei shuffles his feet uncomfortably, bowing his head. "I don't know, he just said I should..."
"Alexei has an aura of transmutation magic about him, and some sort of suppression affect as well. I suspect he is not what he claims."
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Quasit looks around behind her, expecting to see that Selena has snuck up on her. She blinks in confusion. Was the little witch invisible? Then she spots Selena standing a little ways off, just where she supposed to be, rolling her eyes heroically.
Quasit frowns, and considers the message given to her. She still couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but clearly something was up with Alexei.
”Say… did Rasputin cast any of his magical charms on you? You seem to have some kind of spell on you.” she says suddenly to the boy, trying to catch him off guard.
"It could be a protective ward or something like we saw on Sinverfel a few weeks back." He said while nodding towards Alexei, he purposefully used the Varisian word for predator as a name hoping to clue in Quasit in particular about his suspicions. It was possible the creature might know Taldane or Triaxian but Varissian? Far less likely. For the others the meaning might be less clear but it would point towards falsehood and context would do the rest he hoped.
Bulvi readied himself to grab a hold of the 'boy' if he became aggressive. There was a chance he might just be a petulant little princeling though Bulvi doubted it he was not so confident as to go straight for his blade without more to go on.
Perhaps he's tired of knowing you suspect him, or perhaps he's simply annoyed enough by your questioning that he wants to kill you. Whatever the case, "Alexei" suddenly turns into a massive three-headed dragon.
The dragon surges forward and attacks Quasit with his fangs.
"Leave her alone!" Maka roared as she took to the air and began to blast the dragon with fire.