Session III

"My distant love, unto death."

Players Involved: Lokar

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Jonas Flavius is sleeping fitfully the night after the party. Due to the late hour, and the attack on Hazel, he's decided to spend the night in Emeraldine House, and then ride to Flavius Manor in the morning to make a meeting he arranged last evening with Aeternia Lentithe. But right now he's dreaming. In his dreams he's on a hill outside a city. Prion. He recognizes it from before the war, a sprawling landscape of glass and steel and brick, a very different city from the slum stacks and fortified manors of today. Except the dream isn't quite accurate either. The huge laser forts are gone, and the pervasive banners and slogans, the marching crowds, the megaphones, the fanatic energy of the last days of the Republic, all gone. . . instead it looks quiet, serene, peaceful. And on this hill overlooking the city there's a tree over his head, and a blanket, and a basket. . . and a woman. "Sit with me, Jonas," Says Aster Emeraldine, "I think we both have secrets to share."

Jonas remembers this moment, he's relived it many times since then. An endless curse. He sits.

"You look so stiff," Aster says, "Like you do when you have terrible things on your mind." Stretching out on the blanket she elbows him. "So spill. What's eating you, Jonas? You first."

"This is a beautiful world we built." Jonas says. "A true testament to what people can do when allowed to be free. I'd hate to loose it. . . Or you."

She leans closer, sitting on the blanket with her legs tucked to the side, the thin silk sleeves of her light blue dress fluttering in a breeze, her long loose violet hair blowing about her face. "But what if you had to pick one of us, Jonas?"

"I. . ." Jonas is a little flustered. "I won't let that happen." Something's different in the dream this time. It's not as he remembers now, and despite how he curses how this always ends, the possibility of change scares him terribly for some unknown reason.

"Oh Jonas." Aster says. "It may not be your choice alone. Everything changes, we can't always keep it the way we want. . . and we can never get it back." She stretches, reaches over his head and plucks a low hanging apple. This close Jonas can smell the fresh fruity scent of it, and her.

"I suppose." Says Jonas, trying to smile. "Doesn't mean I can't try to shift things in my favor either."

"But," Aster says. "Sometimes we can preserve a seed and plant anew."

"A seed?"

Aster rubs the apple on her sleeve and passes it to him. Jonas looks at it. It's red and gleaming, unblemished.

"No matter what happens I will do everything I can to protect all this." Jonas says. "And you most of all Aster."

"Oh Jonas," She says, "And that's why I have to go." Leaves are falling from the tree now, curled and brown.

"Wait! Don't go!" Jonas grabs her arm, very afraid now.

Aster places a hand over his. "Too long you've been held back, trying to protect something that is dying." Her eyes are glistening.

"I. . ."

His words don't come, so she says them, breaking the curse, and now he knows this is goodbye; "I'm sorry Jonas, I didn't know. But had you asked, I would have said yes. Even over Armiger. But fate was always against us. My fate was with another, and now so is yours."

Jonas' faces falls a little before a realization comes over him, "Who?"

Aster leans in and kisses him as the wind rises in a storm of autumn leaves, and then all he's holding is a silk ribbon. And on the other side of the tree he can see a shadow, a woman's shadow facing away from him, hand on a sword hilt, looking out over the city, for what purpose he can't say. . .

And then the wind carries it all away, and he wakes with a gasp.

It's still early morning, but in the master bedroom, across from the servant's bed where he's sleeping, he can hear Hazel crying in her sleep. He remembers the day from the dream, as it actually happened; Aster, the picnic, the ring in his pocket, the prepared speech for forgiveness, and a future. . . but he hesitated, still ashamed, still undeserving. And so she confessed her secret first; that Armiger was trying to court her, and Jonas, heart sinking with cowardice, told her that Armiger was a good man, the best of friends, and a good choice for her. And so that wound he cut between them with that one drunken night with Hazel remained unhealed. Jonas listens to Hazel crying and whispers; "We all bear the scars."

She's muttering in her sleep, with Lilly curled beside her. Jonas can barely make out the words; ". . . don't go. . . been lost so long. . . so lost. . ." Feeling like crap, Jonas throws some cold water on his face and gets dressed, then gently knocks on the master bedroom door. Lilly answers the door quietly.

"What is it, Uncle? Are you heading back home?"

"Yes Lilly, I'm going to head back to the manor." He says, "I just wanted to make sure that and your mother were okay." Jonas peers through the crack at the door to look at the sleeping form of Hazel.

Lilly looks behind her, then says brightly, "Oh, don't worry uncle. I can look after her fine."

"But who looks after you?" Jonas says.

Her lip quivers a little, and she hastily rubs her eyes. "I can look after myself too."

"Of course... I'm just concerned after last night." Jonas smiles at her warmly. "Perhaps you have your handsome Crusader pay a call to the Castle, he has a lot more free time now you know." He winks.

Lilly blushes a little. "I'm sure I can find something for him to do."

Jonas gives a mischiovs smirk, then goes a bit a sad, "Tell your mother. . . Tell your mother I'm sorry I couldn't say goodbye to her in person but I had business back home. And that I'll be by to visit again soon."

Jonas leaves without waking up Hazel, and wheels his bike out of the Manor to avoid waking the others, before kicking its engine alive and racing at dangerously unsafe speeds through the streets of Theta Ward to Flavius Manor in the Unity District. His goblin manservant Zikzax takes one look at his face as he enters his house, vanishes and returns with - "Wrriskey. Strong. Drink." Jonas takes it; "Yes. . . Yes it is. Fine way to start off the day. You're a good man Zikzax."

Waiting for Aeternia Lentithe, Jonas flips through reports from his men, before feeding them carefully to the furnace. There's one from Alice - she plans to head to Ward 6 today and visit her cousin? sister? Baroness Ingria Samelrand, wounded in a terror attack the night before. Jonas never fought with Ingria Samelrand during the War - he wasn't at Nightfall, when Leliel destroyed Prion - but he met her once before, in the company of Ryzard, and he knew Ryzard Arhyn-Elysenium well. "Bit young for you." He'd said, dissaprovingly, after she'd left and they were sharing drinks at the bar. Ryzard professed innocence and waved it off, but Jonas could tell she was infatuated with him. And why not? Ryzard was larger than life; an aggressive AutoGear ace commander mixed with tinbell star charisma and good looks. Hard drinking, hard charging, with a flair for the daring and dramatic, and a total ladies man. Despite this, Ryzard was actually quite monogamous, but only in serial. He'd fall for one woman after another, and then have a fiery falling out. He liked the crazy ones, liked them dangerous. Rumour is he fathered enough bastards to found his own house.

Jonas wasn't at Nightfall, but he knows the stories. Knows a bit more than most. At the time the Army of the Republic was still in a fighting retreat from the southern beaches, being pounded on by Liah and Auriel, while still trying to bloody and slow the Crusader advance. Ryzard had studied some books the Library had on the Chosen's early campaigns in Mikeala, and so suspected they might try and outflank, so he returned north to Prion to reform a strong reserve. He was there when Leliel manifested over the city. The first warning was a night that didn't end. By midday everyone knew something was really wrong, and general panic set in. The city authorities began an evacuation, when at midnight on 10 Ariel a massive black wormhole appeared over the city - that being the Chosen Leliel - and began spitting forth a fleet of Stratodynes.

Ryzard led the forces he had - milita, police, cadets, the wounded, all based around the massive laser magalith towers the Republic had built as a last strategic line - to deflect the Stratodynes and the troops they were dropping away from the evacuation coridors. His forces managed to inflict some damage on the Crusaders, and held the line for several hours. At which point Leliel grew impatient and descended to finish matters. Which was what Ryzard was apparently waiting for. He'd actually only committed a portion of his forces against the troops and ships, and the moment he had a chance at Leliel he went all out to kill her. Exactly what happened at that point is unclear, but apparently Ryzard's counter attack was serious enough that Leliel went into annihilation mode, and killed vitually everything in the local area - including a lot of her own forces. And following Nightfall the Chosen's rage remained legendary. She nursed a grudge against all who wounded her there right up to the Silent War.

And whatever he did, Ryzard really hurt her. Whenever Leliel manifested, she always had some form of imperfection. A cracked line seeping light when she was a black wormhole, or a scar in her more human forms. Alice once mentioned she was present when Leliel's spirit possessed a Heirophant Priestess to absolve House Samelrand and accept it into Leliel's Zone. The Priestesses eyes turned black, and a halo of star-shot night warped the air behind her, but she also had a livid scar on the right side of her face, and after Leliel was gone, the preistess had to wipe away a stigmata of blood, although there was no wound. Alice also remembers that during this manifestation, Ingria called Leliel "My General" when accepting her position, not "Your Divine Majesty." The priestess was scandalized, but Leliel let it go, strangely. Given that Ingra fought side by side with Ryzard, and may in fact have been part of his final counter attack, this mercy seems out of character for one of the most vengeful and petty of the Chosen.

Jonas is brought out of his reverie by a rasping cough from his goblin butler, Zikzax. "Rady to see you, m'Rord." Due to an old injury Zikzax has particular trouble with "L"s. Goblins are common as slaves in Jibril zones. They have a reputation as being slow and and stupid, but in Jonas' experience they're just careful and mellow. Mostly. People have forgotten they can also be ferocious fighters. But even after several exterminatory cullings, the goblins - or Kabilae as they call themselves - haven't. They're also quite good with their hands, and Zikzax in particular is an excellent electrotechnician. He's also quite loyal to Jonas, for saving his life, and the life of his kin. The rest of his family escaped on the long underground railroad to the Kabilae kingdom of the Zenith Empire, but Zik stayed, not because says he owes Jonas a debt or anything quaint like that, but because Jonas has some wonderful toys, and doesn't know one end of a soldering iron from another.

"Very good Zikzax, see her in." Lady Aeternia Lentithe enters. Zikzax takes her fur coat. She's wearing a long white and gold winter dress underneath, with high leather boots, and a stylish grey silk scarf. She's got her long blonde hair done up in a thick braid that falls over her shoulder and down the left side of her chest. "Ah Lady Aeternia, a sight to behold as always." As Jonas takes her hand he can briefly see the holdout pistol strapped to her wrist within her sleeve. For all her fine clothes this morning, this woman is also the Knight Commander and Defender of House Lentithe, and said to be an Autoclaire pilot of some talent herself.

"Can I get you a drink? Oh and there's no need for that. I'm quite harmless these days." Jonas jokes, dressed rather less formally in his smoking jacket.

"Dal Auriga, if you have it." Aeternia settles into a high backed chair, taking in the old-style decor. "Var Vistus was saying you have an exquisite vintage."

"Stevan loves to drink my liquor and talk about the old days. Takes the edge off the present." Jonas goes to the liquor cabinet and gets the bottle of Dal Auriga and pours out two glasses.

"But you're looking comfortable here Jonas." She says, as she takes the drink, "The picture of a harmless house lord." She sips it, then smiles and closes her eyes. "Quite excellent."

"Thank you." Jonas smiles.

She cocks her head, thinking of something. "No servants? This place does seem very empty, aside from that old lizard you keep around."

"Oh its not totally empty." Jonas says, "My niece comes to visit sometimes, and Miss Samelrand when she's in the Ward." Oh, and there's also that Republic killbot army Zikzax has been working on. Well, call it more of a killbot scout patrol. Restoring them isn't easy. "I've chosen to economize since the War. I'm just one man, don't need all those servants."

"Yes, when you're not gardening." She looks around warily, as if wanting to say more.

"Ah yes my garden. Would you like to see it?"

Jonas takes her arm in a courtly manner, and leads her through Flavius Manor to a green house in the central plaza. Jonas doesn't know much about gardening himself, this is mainly Zikzax's space, full of all kinds of illicit horticulture, no doubt, and also safe from eavesdroppers. Only danger her is a possible short circuit by a gardening killbot. Come to think of it, maybe it's not that safe after all. . .

"You know Lady Aeternia, I've been think a bit about the past recently. Seeing Stevan and poor Lady Aster brought back alot of memories." Jonas says. "Some good. . . Many not so good."

"I know you're close to the Emeraldines," Aeternia says. "What happened must have been hard on them. Have you thought about what she said? At the party?"

"That bit about 'mounting bright steeds to defend what was lost'?" Jonas says

"Sounded quite dramatic, didn't it." Aeternia says.

"Indeed, it would be a wonderful thought if one were to have bright steeds with which to mount." Jonas says, and thinks back to the ranks of camouflage olive drab and slate grey war machines of his past, "Though sometimes bright isn't always necessary or pratical. During the war Legio X were like ghosts. Moving here and there never long enough for the Chosen to get a bead. Appearing from nowhere, striking and then fading away."

"You talk about it like you miss it," She says, looking down at a Rafaelan snapwillow, tapping it to make it snap closed. "I never got to fight. Lentithe sat the war out." She sighs. "Although that does now leave us in a better position than most, including with most of our old stocks of Autoclaires. Our own steeds."

"Well I would say miss it." Jonas says. "Far too many good people died in that war. Far too many. And don't feel bad about not fighting, you're here now and far better company than most nobles."

"But they died for a noble cause, didn't they?" Aeternia says, "I mean, the Chosen said the Republic was man's folly, but then - what example have they actually *set*?"

"Oh yes it was noble." Jonas agrees. "The Republic was probably one of the greatest experiments in history. And of course the Chosen would say that. The idea that man and Fey could chart out their own destiny? Unthinkable!" Jonas glares in mock outrage

She nods. "We've all seen the pettiness of the occupation, the cruelty. I wonder if things were always like that, or if it's as those Librists say, and the Chosen were falling apart since the War. Maybe they really did goven well, once, like the Codex says, but we haven't seen it these past five years. And now, either they're gone, and they weren't the Divine messengers they claimed, or they're playing another cruel trick on us."

"Well the past is the past." Jonas says, "The future is what's important and with the Chosen gone the Republic might, by some chance, get a chance to be born again."

"So you think the Chosen really ARE gone?" She looks at Jonas intently, from across a row of ferns. "Do you have any proof? Everything we know says they're immortal, eternal and indestructible."

"I know the Ascended Isles fell from the sky and things are different. Even the air has a different smell to it." Jonas shakes his head. "The Chosen would not go through that level of trouble just to toy with us here in Prion."

The sprinklers on the back row of pots click on, and Aeternia smoothly ducks back as water droplets sparkle through the air, bumping into Jonas as she does so. Jonas catches her to prevent a stumble, and they are now very close "Oh." Aeternia says. Somewhere by the sprinkler taps a meddling old lizard chuckles "kekekeke."

"Oh." Aeternia says, pressed up against Jonas. She doesn't step back. "Jonas -" she whispers. "*are* you the General Staff's liason in C - in Prion?"

"What? Nononono. I've just a simple old man with garden and his flowers." Jonas tries to change the subject, "Which reminds me. I've heard of weeds growing out in Ward 6-"

"Jonas," Aeternia says, voice low and intense. "You don't have to play games with me. I've SEEN your men. I had oculars on when you moved into the house on Yojimbo. I've never SEEN equipment like that. Or I have, but not in years." She leans in close, looking him in his good eye, daring him to correct her.

"Lady Aeternia, I assure you. I'm not with the General Staff." Jonas says. "I doubt they'd care about an old fool like me."

Aeternia continues over his denial. "I was just a girl, watching the Legions march down Invictus Avenue. But I remember how they looked then. I sat on my father's shoulders and cheered with all the rest." She swallows her emotion and steps away from him, looking crestfallen. "So you still don't trust us then. I suppose the sins of the father."

This isn't what Jonas wanted, "No. . ." She turns to leave, so he steps back in close. "I mean what I said, I am not with the General Staff. I am my own man." He knows she needs this information. "Frost. She is planning something on Gabrelday, and I need help. I don't know what yet at this point. I do know that whatever they are planning they want a high noble." He pauses. "They sent some street toughs to kidnap Lady Hazel."

"What? They dared!?" Aeternia is shocked.

Jonas briefly recounts the encounter at the Emerald Castle, leaving out a few of the more dangerous details. And then tells her of the encounter between Ingria, Frost, and Alice at the ball, and the Suspicion that Samelrand is planning something worse, for next Gabrelday.

"I know that whatever it is, it will be violent." Jonas says. "Frost tried to recruit Miss Samelrand."

"You mean the lost dog who follows you around?" Aeternia says.* "Well, we keep an eye on Samelrand and their Nexlexi puppies as well. We can do some digging of our own."

Agreeing on the gravity of the matter, Aeternia promises to keep a close eye on Samelrand, and the Nexlexi gang, and at Jonas' request also tells him how to contact a large elven street gang, sometimes allies of House Lentithe.

"The Lunar Crew?" She says. "Well, you do have a way with the lesser races Lord Jonas. They're lead by a group that calls themselves the Winter Council. We contact their representatives in a bar off the Graveyard, called the Night Train. Wear Lunar's Eye somewhere on your person to let them know you want to talk." She frowns, "They can be a skittish bunch, and watch your wallet. Pack of theives."

"Don't worry," Jonas smiles. "I have some of the best protection around."

"You do at that." Aeternia says. She looks like she's about to say something more, then steps back. "And if things do happen, I hope you realize you can trust House Lentithe." She swallows. "Now, your pardon, Lord Jonas." She turns and makes her way out of the greenhouse.

Jonas is left in the garden, thinking over her words. He senses she's holding something back, and as Zikzax is helping her into her coat, hat and gloves, he runs after her. If she has further information, it could be important!

"Lady Aeternia!" Jonas calls. "Pardon my bluntness but back in the garden - you appeared to be holding something back."

"I -" She says, looking stunned. "No Jonas, I would have given you everything. It's you who seems to be holding back. I pray that they day comes when you no longer feel the need." She leaves, passing through the door at a pace so fast it's almost at a run, so he doesn't see her cry.

And Jonas can now see it in his mind's eye, as it might have been in hers. Him accepting her into his resistance, her throwing herself down to kneel at his feet, a young knight swearing her undying loyalty, to spend her life gloriously in the service of her hero. And then he spurned her. Unworthy.

Zikzax looks reproachfully at Jonas. "One rie, Ronas, ONE RIE. Rust had to terr her zat you werre Generar Staff, but NO. SOOOOO RONORABLE."

"Its for the best for now." He Jonas says, pained "I don't want her to get the wrong idea and get herself into trouble or die."

The reproachful glare does not leave Zikzax' maroon eyes, then with a deep sigh the lizard turns to begin cleaning up the glasses. "Why I bozzer. . ."

Return to Ascension Isle: Legacy

• [22:53] <Silence> ""You mean the lost dog who follows you around?" totes jealous