Part the North (3)
The AMS Dao II is hanging in mid air, engines idling. Outside the storm, the hideous storm filled with strange beasts has passd. The stars are out and the captain has given the all clear but inside the public lounge things are far from calm. Marduke has barely just survived being sliced in half by the Scythe of Arugal, now safely back in the Handmaiden's hands. Of course Videl is currently wearing well.... a cushion held demurely in front of him and most of the furnishings in the room are crispy or ples of smouldering ash after several people got fire happy on the projected illusion of Shemhazai. It is that quiet moment after the storm... the stars are out, everyone is alive and the Whisperer has let them all know she is watching and whispering.....
"Right," Silmeria says, casting a glance around the room and returning the scythe to its resting place between moments. "So. Now the stakes are known." Closing her eyes for a moment, she mutters something to the effect of 'punch the bitch in the teeth' as she kneels beside Marduke, slipping an arm under his shoulders. "You called this madness, Master Videl. From here on, I suppose, we leave madness behind and skip into complete lunacy. If you'd like to stay aboard the Dao when we land, and seek passage back, I'm certain we'd all understand. Up you get, Summoner... let's find you your cabin, hm?"
Marduke is a bit pale right now and still looking uneasy. He has not moved from the pool of his own blood as he lays there, a hand over his stomach. After a few moments rest he opens his eyes and say quietly, "Water, I am going to need water." He allows Silmeria to hoist him up, "Yea rest, but work to be done. Not that easy... check the ship. Has the storm passed, has she left?" The summoner still trying to get his bearins, "There is more to this, check everything."
"No no, complete lunacy was giving up your fire!" The dimunitive figure shouts behind his cushion, oddly pointed ears wiggling from behind the garment with the words. The very tips gleamed slightly in the dim light. "Madness was freeing a lucavi! Insanity was trusting a lucavi!" Videl waves his ash stricken hand in the air. "From here on, we are prepared. From here on, we are prepared for the most important thing...!" He pauses, lowering his hand. "Now we are ready for Science. And more fireballs. Fire from all sides! Perfect!"
Lee, in the absence of Shemhazai, huffs and grumbles, though stays close to Ainsley, at-the-ready to play go-fer and fetch anything she might need or want while the scholar and everyone else administer aid to Marduke. Silmeria's mumble doesn't escape him, and he lets slip a dry chuckle, pointing to his head, then to Silmeria, and back a couple times, "Eh-heh? Ah? Right? Great minds, an' all that." At mention of water being required, he begins a hunt of the room for any such that might not have been destroyed, "Science an' fireballs? All good an' well, but I'd settle fer some good ol'fashioned, satisfyin' hooligan violence, m'self, if th'bitch'd jus' sit still an' let 'erself be hit, but nooOOOoooo~, she's gotta play 'ard t'get an' be a smarmy, insufferable prig..." He pauses, glancing to Marduke, "Eh, uhm... Once we get checkin' "everythin'", an' all that, what is it we'll be lookin' fer, eh'zactly?"
Ainsley has come down from her fury in the absence of a Lucavi to direct it at, and is instead seeming very tired and aged about twenty years as a result. As a lizard woman who is already graying around the feathered crown, this results in an exaggerated frown for the rest of the night. This frown is turned toward Videl as he exclaims odd things to the room as a whole. "First: Freeing the Lucavi was the result of being incredibly hungover, dizzy, tired, and pliable to her whispers. Second: I have never trusted a Lucavi. I don't trust Spirits very much, either, for putting dangerous things in the reach of people who can fumble with them and create apocalyptic errors. Third: If I shoot a fireball, and it fails, the answer to the situation is not 'more fire.' I will throw you into the frozen ocean, or off the bloody airship, if I nearly get hit by you being overzealous again." Her hardened features softened, as she realizes her own error. "... Also, sorry about the hat. I can make a new one for you, if you like? There should be sufficient materials available on the ship /somewhere/." She looks over to Lee, and her brows perk. "Well, considering the airship's lack of a deck, and thus outside visibility, I would say... probably the beasts that we saw in the storm a few moments ago. They may be piggybacking on the vessel." She puffs a sigh, and turns to look for the Captain of the ship so she can inform him of the possibility of clinging beasties.
Kiyo just stood there for a time after the absence of that Shemhazai character... but after about half a minute, he does finally put away the Pistol and grumble some. "THAT'S the thing we're trying to seal up, Kupo? Why didn't you tell me he was a creepy psycho who could teleport everywhere?!" He shivers. "I feel dirty for him having even TOUCHED me!" He says he feels dirty, and yet... he's covered in black soot... what a concept. He sighs and looks outside. "Well... storm seems to be gone... we're almost to our destination, Kupo... I suppose it's about time to get the ship moving again..." He shivers again. "... never be able to get that slime off of me..." He mumbled to himself... there was no slime on his body... must have been a metaphor. With that, he would head back down to the Engine room to help the other Moogles down there to get the ship started up once more.
As the party help Marduke up and as Kiyo moves toward the door it opens and Captain Farquan sticks his head inside and looks around. He tips his head back at the sight of Videl and his pillow... the singed furniture and then removes his hat. "I can see I will be adding refurbishing this room to your bill." he looks around and then walks in further, "So my next question is... after that storm of insane madness... and the... whatever those things were... where are we?"
"Feel free, Captain," Silmeria answers with a sigh, "and if someone could help Summoner Marduke to his cabin and make sure there's water for him?" Turning to face the rest of the room, the priestess clasps her hands behind her back. "That was an illusion, Master Kiyo," she says, pursing her lips. "And our quarry subscribes very well to 'the best lie has a grain of truth within.' If it helps, I suppose, it was only her will that touched you." She seems about to go on, but pauses, mouth half-open, she turns to face the Captain. "...You *don't know where we are?*"
Marduke frowns a moment, "Where are we? Was that the play?" He finds himself a table to lean against, refusing to leave just yet. Closing his eyes he takes a deep breath and shakes his head slowly, "The lost could be the illusion as well. The stars are out, can you place your location off those captain? Ainsley I am sure could help with that. As for what to look for Lee, I have no clue. Just something, I don't trust her just leaving, relocating or not. Water, anybody water?"
"That is why you are never hungover when you drink for science." Videl points out, before continuing to answer to Ainsley, "And a hat is only /appropriate/ after-" He abruptly stops, and then his cushion turns towards the captain, much of his oddly partly gleaming body shrouded in darkness. "Hat! Hat! Relinguish the hat now or prepare to be fired! I don't care about the costs you care to name in your feeble panic, I must have the hat!"
Kiyo takes a step back as the Captain enters the bridge... he smiles. For once, something wasn't his fault in the fire department... Marduke seemed to be out of sorts by the attack that had hit him. All he seemed to be asking for was water... he didn't have any water, but he had something almost as good... maybe... he grabs his Toolbox and roots through it a bit before pulling out a sealed thermos. He opens it up, ignoring the ramblings of the Black Mage, and pours a brown-ish substance into the cup of said thermos. He'd then offer it to Marduke. "Here. Drink this, Kupo. It's not water, but you'll feel a good deal better afterwards."
Lee combs gloved fingers through his hair, puffing out a breath and nodding to Ainsley about beasties on the hull, "Aye, s'pose I could give a 'and by takin' a quick step outside t'ave a look-see, since th'sun is down..." And then, even as Ainsley starts to leave to find the Captain, there the Captain is, and his remark about "where are we?" has him confused, even with Silmeria's own request for clarification, he can't help but add, "Fer th'record, are y'speakin' figuratively, metaphorically, or... Are we actually *displaced* somewhere?" He cocks his head slightly, and looks to Marduke, while Kiyo roots in his toolbox and produces coffee for the summoner, "Aye, Ainsley could, or m'self; since I can only really fl-er, travel at night, done a good deal o'star navigation m'self in years past. I could give it a go, if we've been moved whole-cloth from where we were."
Captain Farquan walks further into the room, "We have checked and double checked....." he trails off and stares across the room at Videl, "My hat master mage is for the moogle, I do not think it would fit you at all." he puts it firmly back atop his head, plume flowing back behind him and seems quite, quite affronted by the suggestion. One simply does not demand a Moogle's hat! "As I was saying, we have checked, the instruments all read madness and the sky... well this is no illusion. I suggest you all retire to your cabins, refresh yourselves and get dressed and join me on the upper deck. We can go out on the bridge deck and you can see." with that he turns and strides out of the lounge in somewhat of a huff!
"...Well lovely," Silmeria says after a moment, staring at the Captain's retreating back, then rubbing at the bridge of her nose. "Thank you ever so much, you horrible, traitorous, *lazy* th--" Bringing herself up short, she waves a hand in the vague direction of Lee and Ainsley. "Well, I suppose now we have our obstacle. Master Videl, let's find you some clothes, and Summoner Marduke, I'll make sure there's water for you when you're done with your coffee. So. Let's take a breather, then see what in *Hades' name* our enemy has done to us, shall we?" Her smile is a brittle, frustrated thing, as she bobs a shallow curtsy to the room, then sweeps toward her chambers.
Marduke takes the cup from Kiyo and drowns it, to almost spit it all back up, "Coffee? Ugh." Yet he drinks more of it, desperate for liquids, even one he highly dislikes. A glance over to Videl and a frowns, hoping the construct does not decide to take a crazy action towards the captain. Slowly he closes his eyes as he finishes off the coffee more slowly, "Instruments going crazy, nothing making sense? A massive purple cloud of fiends and suddenly we are missing... Could we... no impossible." Eyes glancing to Silmeria, "I have a thought, and I really hope it is not in her power to cast us off into the spirit realms. Somebody mind grabbing me my staff, I am going to go get changed real quick." Setting the cup down, "Thank you for the drink Kiyo."
Videl attempts to heat up his fingers enough to give the Captain a zap - but he disappears before he manages to do it. "Ach, conkytonkers!" He mutters, continuing to hold onto the cushion for modesty. Or perhaps just preference. "That is all fine and just, but if you all could simply disappear so that I can appropriately equip myself to deal with the heart of this matter, " He waves impatiently towards Silmeria and the rest of the assembled party. "That would be expedient."
Lee seems to have the same reaction to the Captain's explanation as Silmeria, though silently, looking to the Handmaiden, "Remind me t'buy you a bottle o'scotch after this, Silmeria..." And with a nod to everyone, and a smile and pat to Ainsley's shoulder, even as Videl starts waving people off, "I've no need t'refresh, so I'll head along t'tha Bridge after th'Captain, an' see everyone there." And out the door he goes.
Kiyo nods to Marduke with a smile. "Yup, coffee. The sweet nectar of Blacksmiths." He'd take the cup once Marduke was finished with it, screwing it back to the top of the thermos and stowing it away. "You're quite welcome, Kupo!" He looks at himself a bit... he seemed to have everything on him... seemed as good a time as any... "I think I'll just head up to the upper deck to meet with the Captain, Kupo. I already have everything of mine I'll need." And with that, he'd begin to make his way up to the Upper Deck to see just what was going on.
Twenty minutes later, refreshed, changed, full of water and thankfully a hat procured by the deft work of the scholar Ainsley and the wicker-work from a chair in the morning lounge. The captain and his crew of moogles are gathered around a series of instruments and the large open hatchway onto the usually inaccessible top deck. "Ah everyone come on out." he leads the way through the doorway and stops and stares around. "So... you are the well travelled masters and all that... where are we?" he gestures.... above are the stars... maginificent, beautiful, burning bright things whilst below is a silent, shadowed world of blue/white ice and snow and it stretches out in all directions as sub artic winds blow all around.
"We-e-ell," Silmeria begins, slowly approaching the edge of the deck to peer down at the world below them, then up at the stars... "I haven't the faintest *idea* where we might be. Marduke, Ainsley? Lee? Perhaps any of you have a better idea?"
Marduke makes his way out onto the deck. The summoner still looks pale, but at least his clothers are no longer covered in blood or torn. He also has a cookie he is nibbling on, water and food. He glances around at the sky and the ground. He starts to step near the edge, then stops as he feels his own balance uneasy. He kneels down where he is and closes his eyes, slowly shaking his head, "Nope no spirit realm, at least none that are known. Not Blizzna been there and this place doens't feel like it. Reminds me of the Kodiac Peaks if anything, there was a massive plateu. We are most liekly transported somewhere in the material world. Ainsley, I suspect someplace far north. Any ideas?" Then takes another bite of his cookie.
Videl is also in the deck, freshly clad in at one word, garish clothing. Wide flat shoulderpaldrons stretch out either side of him, with purple, red and naturally, blue patterned clothing hanging off them. The new wicker hat looks definitely illplaced on him as hobbles along with his oddly shaped boots. "It is not the realm of fire." He grunts with obvious distaste, his arms hidden under the large flap hanging from one shoulder down his front and back.
Lee follows everyone out to the deck, looking up at the stars, eyes searching... and searching... and searching... After a long while, he looks down at the deck, scratching his head, then looks up again, as if the sky might have changed when he looked away. He even turns in a slow circle, looking at the stars... Eventually, he huffs, gauntleted hands on his hips, muttering to himself, "That can't be right... There's no pole star. An' I can't find any o'tha usual constellations..." At a loss, he looks to Silmeria, then Marduke, then the Captain, then at the stars again, as if he thinks looking longer would suddenly make everything recognizable.
The lizard girl is VERY GOOD at tailoring, and other arts and crafts sort of activities, if given some sufficient materials to improvise. She probably managed a cloth-bound wicker hat for Videl that'll suit him just fine. But what Ainsley is doing when she sees the flight instruments might be a smidgen unnerving. She taps one of the glass protective casings, and turns to look at another reading. She rubs the greying purple-blue feathers on her head, and then turns to look at the night sky. then find a place out on the deck, so she can turn in a full circle, getting a proper look at the stars as a whole. She would return shortly, frowning thinly, but her brows raised in surprise. "We're at the southern pole," she tells the party. "Shemhazai is terrified. We're winning, and she's resorting to drastic measures to stop us." She spares a meaningful look to Marduke, as if meaning the scythe violence was part of that desperation. "Regardless... we need to find the nearest safe airport, because otherwise we are going to be freezing our tails and poms off." She stares at Marduke for a beat. "You can probably commune with Shiva here very easily, if you have any sort of good relationship with her at all. She may be able to grant us a boon to help us on our way, if you explain how we ended up in this frigid wasteland." She thoughtfully thumbs the trinket on her necklace that Mog gave to her, back when he and Andromeda spoke to her. She still has that favor she can ask, but she wants to make sure she keeps her trump cards until she absolutely needs them.
Kiyo was just completely lost at all the magical talk... not his cup of coffee, as it were. He looked around at the area somewhat... the cold here didn't seem to bother him. Probably because of the soot covering his body... but, no. Now he was actually starting to get hit by a few rogue icy winds that actually cause him to shiver slightly. "Okay... the sooner we can find our heading, the sooner we can get back to where we need to be, Kupo..." He shivers. "If I'm not needed at all, I'll be in the Engine Room... much warmer there..." He'd then start making his way back towards the Engine Room, unless he were stopped by someone or... something...
The engine room is indeed warm and Kiyo is permitted to head off down there. The room is quite a mess, wires and cabling tumbled all around! Someone ripped out nearly all the control linkages and the whole thing is a mess..... it'll take hours to get running again. Meanwhile up on the deck things are cold, very cold and worse the Dao is starting to settle out of the air... dropping down inch by inch in a slow spin toward landing. The crew go frantic but the first office can't seem to do anything about it as news comes in from the engine room that things have been sabotaged.... The airship slowly settles and lands on the ice. Overhead the stars shine brilliantly and the icy wind howls around the ship and the bridge.. Captain Farquan stares and shivers, pulling his coat around himself tighter. "Ok.... well if we are dead south then every direction is north... I just don't know which direction is Rozzaria and which direction is the unknown....."
Marduke stands on the deck, the entire time frowning. He finishes off the cookie and finds himself a place to sit while the airship falls down to the ground. He doesn't bother getting up for a few minutes after the ship settles in, nor does he bother switching out to warmer clothing. Slowly he stands up and sighs softly and nods, "Indeed, I shall call upon Queen Shiva." A glance to Silmeria, "I would advise not calling her Lady." A touch of a smirk, trying to add some humor. he walks over to the edge of the deck, still a bit wobbly from the blood lose. He starts to chant slowly, taking the summoning slower then he normally would. Four trails of icy orbs circle around him, adding a new trail of frost by his feet. Holding up his staff, "Queen of the Ice, I call upon thee." The orbs flying up to the sky, Marduke waiting by, clearly a bit uncertain of what is about to happen.
For a moment as Marduke prays the lights flicker and pulse in the air above.... they shine and shimmer and then fade out with no response forthcoming... perhaps Marduke can try again but for now his prayer seems to have not reached her. Maybe the deck of the ship impedes his thoughts and prayer to the Queen, or maybe she is distracted elsewhere.... In a page-pose to you, Marduke will try again of course. though I think I shall head off the ship, into the ice around us, surrounding myself in her domain for a little extra boost.
Videl tilts his head between Ainsley, Silmeria and Marduke, before he suddenly lifts up his small hands from between the massive cloth he is wrapped in. "That's it, I'm done." The mage construct starts to stomp away, heading into the ship. "Pistol moogle, come help me set the fire to the ship when we are ready to Science!" Videl quips as he waves his hands.
Lee blinks and looks down again, to Ainsley once more as she identifies where the ship has ended up, looking up at the stars one more time, "Huh... Who'da thunk it..." The assessment of how big a threat the group and it's goals are, though, makes him frown, "Sumfin' about that dun add up, though, Silm... If we were a big enough threat, nevermind Shem crushin' hard on m'Ainsley, th'safest bet'd be just t'destroy us an' be done wif it. So, either she *can't*, or she *won't*, an' tha only real reason she wouldn't would be either that we aren't *that* big a threat in her mind, fer whatever reason. Overconfidence, underestimatin' us, not wantin' t'toast Ains, whatever." He scratches his head as he makes his way back into the bridge and leaving Marduke alone for the moment, even as the ship settles to the snowy ice below, "Ah, mebbe I'm overthinkin' it..." He nods to Silmeria, "I've no objection t'takin a trek out an' takin' a flight, if'n y'feel it's needed. Dark enough down 'ere that I'd 'ave little trouble, but dunno how far I'd need ta go, or how long I'd be out." He blinks, holding up a hand after Videl, eyebrows raised, "Oy! 'Ere now, let's not be destroyin' any more o'tha good Captain's ship if'n we don't gotta, yeah? That room'll cost us enuff as it is!"
Ainsley watches as Marduke's attempt to contact Shiva... fails. The lizard woman frowns at the sight for a few beats. She looks out over the ice, and back to Marduke. "It might be easier if you find a ladder, and stand on the ice, while you do that." She points down at the ice. "If you're going to try it again, that is. This entire airship is made of metal, and powered by heat and magical stones." She smiles at him, though, as it's only a suggestion, and she pats his arm once. "I'm going to help Kiyo. Or try to, at least. There must be something I can do to complement his skills." She nods to the rest of the party, and motions for Lee to follow her, if he so desires. "Spirits, and Lucavi, may be similar in some ways. Spirits are rarely so direct as to just smite someone. A mortal is 'beneath' them, as is the natural order of things." She shrugs her shoulders. "Usually, at least. A Lucavi is not going to /admit/ that we are a threat, that would be far too honest. I do not relish the idea that we are winning just because a demon has a crush on me."
Kiyo gives the pyromaniacal Black Mage a VERY confused look, mixed in with shock. "Are you INSANE, KUPO?! No way in all of the Kupo hells are you setting fire to this ship! I intend to be going back to the Emberstrand at some point, and it'd be VERY difficult to do so with the ship ablaze!" He starts mumbling and grumbling. "Stupid... fire-crazy... Kupo-kicking..."
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