EVENT ★ WINTER WONDERLAND, THE RECKONING

[futurologists]

HAPPY (NONDENOMINATIONAL) HOLIDAYS When recruits arrive back at Oska, they'll find the place already full of other ALASTAIR teams visiting Oska, and the castle and grounds entirely decked out in festive cheer. The castle is draped in purple and white finery, with a light dusting of unmelting snow everywhere -- even inside, somehow. Don't worry, the indoor snow has been enchanted to be strangely warm. Dagny has taken it upon herself to add a little plant life in and around the castle: mistletoe, of course. It can be spotted growing in little sprigs out of chinks in castle walls, around from wooden doorframes, or even sprouting out of other, unrelated trees. You're never really safe from mistletoe. And what would the use of mistletoe be without the enchantment? Dagny has made sure that there are enough variant species of the mistletoe to offer something for everyone. Recruits may find themselves stuck under any manner of mistletoe, trapped until they fulfill the mistletoe geas. The Classic: This is the standard magical mistletoe, that traps people in a lightly shimmering sphere until they exchange a kiss. Any kind of kiss will do, just pucker up! The Papilion: This is similar to the classic, but its berries come in brilliant shades of orange and pink. It will only release its catch after a butterfly kiss. Clinging Merriment: This mistletoe is all wrapped up in itself, and climbs whatever surface it's on in twisting spirals. All it wants from its catch is a hug, but make it a good one! The Lively Stepper: This mistletoe seems to shiver in some unfelt breeze, and if you listen closely enough, there's a gentle chime of bells that fades when you lean away from it again. People stuck under this plant will have to dance together, to whatever music they can find or make. Whispering Mary: This mistletoe comes with deep purple leaves and seems to hide within itself. Only after a secret has been shared from each person trapped under it will it flower open and release them. Evening Gown: This mistletoe is a gaudy display, with brilliant green leaves and splendid white blossoms instead of berries. It will only release its catch after they compliment each other -- and the Evening Gown always knows when it hears a genuine compliment, and accepts no substitutions! Catflowers: Dagny didn't put this kind out, and has named them after the suspected perpetrators. She's been trying to take them down when she finds them, but there might be a few she's missed. This thorny sprig of mistletoe will only release its catch after they've punched each other. Sorry about that. THE WINTER BALL Exciting news, passed from recruit to recruit and team to team: the castle will host a ball soon! It's set to be on the second night of team Audentes's arrival in Oska, and it's going to be a truly extravagant affair. Nothing to wear? No fear! The wardrobes in each recruit's room will open upon an enormous display of fancy clothing in a multitude of styles. Once you've settled on one (and somehow, the wardrobe knows the difference between trying on and settling on), the rest of the outfits vanish the next time it's closed. The festivities start as soon as the sun begins to sink. Music filters through the air, growing louder to guide partygoers through the castle and into the dance hall, which was definitely not a room in existence until today. The music flows from no discernable source, sometimes swirling orchestral pieces, sometimes something with a heavier beat, for a different kind of dancing. The selection is as varied as the ALASTAIR teams tend to be. Listen long enough, and you might even hear something from your own home universe. A large glass flower shimmers in the center of the room, under which various recruits have taken to leaving presents for one another. Be sure to stop by and check the brightly wrapped parcels for your name! Team Audentes in particular gets a special gift. The north side of the room is decorated in an unmistakable Christmas theme, complete with an enormous, glittering tree. The care put into these decorations definitely has a personal touch, it might even outshine the rest of the hall's decor. Each member of the team has a lovingly wrapped box complete with a bow under this tree, and upon opening it will find a small, intricately detailed, never-melting ice sculpture of themselves -- very possibly in a ridiculous pose. Those who were acquainted with former teammate Nicholas St. North will find that their sculpture features two figures: themselves, and North himself. And of course, what party would be complete without the food? The kitchen has really outdone itself with its spread of delicious foods, suited to all appetites and palates. From gently steaming roasted bird to strangely colored foreign piles of tiny quivering spheres, there's something for everyone. Including the alcoholics among us: the punch is delicately spiked with that incredibly strong drink of Nalawi, which leaves a pleasantly fruity aftertaste and an immediate alcoholic burn. (Any children partaking will find that their cups have somehow filtered out any alcohol and are strangely juice-only.) ICE MAZE Outside the castle, the courtyard has been transformed. Giant shimmering ice walls have sprung up seemingly overnight, forming endless, winding pathways: an ice maze. Stepping into this beautiful, gleaming maze immediately cuts off all sound from the castle life around, so loud just a moment ago. Inside the maze is only the crunch of light snow underfoot, the sound of one's own breathing, and the echoes that bounce faintly here and there. Throughout the maze one might find bits of warm, inviting clothing. A pair of bright red mittens, a puffy coat that fits perfectly to the wearer, a scarf woven in brightly colored, warm wool. If a maze-goer chooses to ignore and walk past this clothing, they might find that something begins to follow them. It starts as just an unsettling feeling, but put off accepting the clothing for long enough and it may turn into lurking shadows in the corner of an eye, a black shape that's there in one second and vanished in the next. A faint yowl may float down a corridor, vaguely feline if only it weren't so deep. Whatever that came from must have been large. Accepting and wearing just one of the offered clothing chases away this unwanted visitor immediately, and in just five minutes more the ice maze will finally bring you out the other side. Don't take any of its gifts, though, and the maze may just lead you to meet the Yuletide Cat instead. (Which just so happens to be Cherenkov and Crowley sharing a giant cat costume. Don't laugh, they worked hard on it.) THE VILLAGE Far outside the castle, the village has been brought back to warm, glowing life. Or at least, that seems to be the case. Team Hearthstone was recently on a mission to recover an item called the Time Catch, and has used it to temporarily, visually turn time back to a time when the village of Oska was populated and lively. Humanoid villagers, all in various shades of purple and blue, hurry to and fro, talking and laughing in a language that goes untranslated by the magitek jewelry. They don't react to any of the recruits, though, and trying to touch any of them will have your hands passing straight through them. Even the restored village around them is just an illusion. One can walk straight into one of the villager's houses and find the warmth of the fire and aroma of the roasted fowl to be completely believable -- but trying to take a seat at the set table will send you crashing straight to the ground to sit in the illusion-covered rubble. THE SQUIDGE PARK After the festivities wind down, you may want to visit the newest addition to the Oska grounds -- the brand new squidge park. After Audentes's success in its mission on Zeta-12, ALASTAIR has been gifted with a clutch of squidge eggs to look after. Audentes need not worry about the squidges in their absence; there will always be someone in Oska to make sure the jelly-like aliens are being nurtured properly. The squidge park is located off the greenhouses in the courtyard; it's an enclosure containing many artificial habitats so the squidges may interact with different environments to help them grow. Right now, they are just eggs, but with enough love and care, they may "hatch" (read: their amorphous blob selves will grow limbs and enter the larval stage) before Audentes even ships out again. OOC NOTES Blind date assignments for those working to complete the Lonely Hearts Club bounty can be found here. ICly, the match-ups are publicly posted in the ballroom for all to see. The other ALASTAIR teams present consist of everything from humanoids to strange creatures; feel free to handwave them in your threads! The only stipulation is that transferred characters (ex. those who have dropped) are not present. The party lasts for one night, and the following day the rest of the teams will pack up and leave Oska to Audentes. The ghostly village-that-isn't will revert back to ruins at this point, as well. However, all other winter amenities will remain for the holidays! Following the party, characters can expect to be in Oska for several more weeks, with the next mission starting in late January. A more detailed calendar for next month will be up soon! Questions about this log, Oska, or the game in general should be directed to the FAQ. You may submit mission ideas or player plots at any time.

Comments

( wildcard )

[heelies]

[First of all, I am literally copying and pasting the description I already wrote of Achilles' snappy party duds.

Homer pulled this stunt all the time; thus as Homer did, so shall I.

Eventually, the course of the evening draws him toward Sieglinde, whom he spies perched primly upon a chair in one of the many seating areas placed strategically along the perimeter of the grand ball room. He has sought her for some time, prepared as he is with presents to bestow upon her. With his countenance warmed by a smile he approaches.]

Bright-eyed Sieglinde, the Green Witch - how fare you on this evening of feast and dance?

[His hands remain curiously folded behind his back, for here is where he hides his gifts. Perhaps she shall be distracted for the moment in admiring his manner of dress, which echoes that of a gentleman in an era far beyond his own time. His coat and tails are exquisitely tailored to show off his fit form, cut from fine wool of deep purple and trimmed in gleaming golden buttons. Beneath it he boasts a blue brocade vest, and around his neck is tied a silken ascot in a lighter shade. His shirt collar is crisp white, his slacks slate grey, and his boots sleek and black beneath the hems of his pant legs. His golden curls are pulled away from his face in a half ponytail: that which is bound is braided, but the remainder of his locks spill freely over his shoulders.]

[grunehexe]

[Had Team Squirrel Fucker spiked the punch with something hallucinogenic? Did her eyes deceive her? Sieglinde thought perhaps she was mistaken, that the man in front of her could not be Achilles. Surely not. Except it was, just... dressed... altogether very differently than she had come to expect, and in even finer clothing than the lords she had met had worn...

Emerald eyes widen as she looks him up, down, then back up again, cheeks turning somewhat pink as she struggles for something to say in her momentary shock, quickly trying to smooth her heavy dress and sit up straight, hoping her headdress wasn't askew.]

W- Well met, Achilles, son of Peleus.

[She slips out of the chair quickly, but careful of her balance, gathering up the rich fabric in her hands to curtsy to the man who not long ago she had stood by and watched duel another man, stood by and made sure others did not interfere as best she could, despite the pain it was to see either of them hurt.]

I am well-fed and most entertained. Yourself, my lord?

[Still, she raises her head as confidently as she can.]

[heelies]

[He regally nods to acknowledge her greeting.]

In truth, for all that I have lately suffered I had felt in a mood most unfit for these festivities. Yet now with food and wine filling my belly and this merry music in my ears, I might lay aside such cares for the night. To see a fair young maiden enjoying herself as you do now does soothe a man's jagged breast.

[The beer brewed and favored by the cloven-footed Nalawi is far stronger than the wine mixed by the Achaeans, and so the alcohol's effect has seized him all the more swiftly: he is hardly inebriated, but there certainly is a merry color to his cheeks.]

Moreover, I am told that gifts often accompany this particular feast day - and among the Achaeans too, feasting and gift-giving are as brother and sister. I have just lately acquired something in which you might find delight, so gladly shall I now give this to you.

[So speaking, he reveals what he had been hiding behind his back: in each hand he holds a small aryballos vase. Upon one's curved body is painted the image of Artemis of the silver bow, she who extends her blessing to young maidens, while the other boasts the likeness of the Nereids, among whom stands Achilles' own mother, Thetis the silver-footed goddess.]

[grunehexe]

[Despite her best efforts, there is a little flicker across the expression she tries to keep festive at the mention of Achilles' recent mood, and the cause for it. It brought to mind her fight with Papyrus, trying to prevent the skeleton from interfering in Koltira and Achilles' affair. Brought to mind Olivia, who she felt some pity for, for her heartbreak, but could not bring herself to lay blame, feet planted firmly between the two and refusing a "side".

Brought to mind how Achilles' post on the network had exposed something she found ugly in Audentes, an unwillingness to accept certain things despite how most tried to act as if they were open-minded, accepting of other cultures. (A warning for herself, of what sort of treatment she may expect if she ever made the nature of some of her personal projects public. Affirmation, that maybe she was right to have lied all this time.)

But the last thing she wishes to do is remind Achilles of such things, despite her curiosity and things she wishes to ask, and so Sieglinde is more than happy to be given distraction in the form of... gifts? And such splendid ones as well? Her eyes eyes quickly picked out symbols and imagery, Artemis, and the water nymphs, the size quite fitting for her potions-]

To receive such a thing... and a gift both of great use to me and an equal delight to the eye, with thought to even the design... I am quite honored-

[She reaches out as if to take or touch, then hesitates, as if unsure of procedure. She had received gifts last Yule season, but they had been delivered and handled by her manservant at that time, and to receive directly from the person seemed much more intimate and requiring of- of something...]

May I present you likewise with a token?

[heelies]

[The shadow that flits across her countenance, like a cloud passing before the sun and taking away its light for but a brief moment, does not go unnoticed. He had long since grown to respect Sieglinde for her healing arts and her high status, and so too had he come to care for her, this girl so young and frail for all her power - and at present he feels all the closer to her, drawn toward her with all the force with which he is pushed away by what seems to him an overwhelming faction of the crew.

Such are the feelings that so ardently crackle just below the surface of his pleasant countenance, yet there would soon come a time to make plain that which embroils his heart. For now, he answers her hesitation by simply placing the gifts, these two skillfully crafted vessels, upon the small table that waits beside the chair in which Sieglinde had sat.]

I thought that you might fill these with your potions and salves, and too did I wish that you might then feel the protection of Artemis of the silver bow, as well as that of the Nereids, daughters of the sea, my deathless mother and all her sisters who have long watched over me.

[He had stepped closer to deposit the gifts, but now he takes a polite step back from her.]

As for that which you ask, any token you so wish to grant, I should be delighted to receive.

[grunehexe]

[She had read all about the gods of the Greeks, of the Romans, of the Vikings, of the Sumerians, and of so many people who had come before her, in that vast library she had spent most of her days, feet bound up prettily so that she would turn to study, to devouring all she could to learn of magic (science) and the world. She had believed once, before the lies had been revealed- and in ALASTAIR, perhaps she had no choice but to continue believing.

Gods walked among them, after all.

And they were beautiful things, so she could not help but be pleased, be happy that she had been thought of so specifically, cheeks pink with delight though she had tripped over how to accept such a thing and now struggled to appear ladylike, as if she were used to receiving gifts and giving them in turn.]

They will be perfect for such things... and if I could receive but a sliver of such protections...

[Protection. It's what she needed- not just because of her own physical limitations, great as they were, but for her naivety, her yet ignorance of the Outside World... and the time she needed, to see her spells and research to completion. If she were protected... she could protect everyone else.]

What I have for you is something with similar sentiment-

[She reaches into her sleeve, the pouch she has stored in the long folds of heavy fabric, the one that is larger on the inside, reaching in and coming out with a medallion, made of metal engraved with Theban script and a magic circle, hung on sturdy cord. One she presents to him cupped in both her hands, a bit anxious for his response despite herself. Last this season had come round she had not gifted anything... and the first were always something challenging.]

Blessed by secret ritual on the night of the full moon... it is a talisman of protection that will always enable your companions to find you when aid is needed.

[heelies]

[For all the unfathomable leagues that stretch between this palace and the shadow of Mount Olympus, far across the deep blackness in which float stars and planets, still he honors the deathless gods as if their gaze might reach event these far-flung lands. For all his doubts, for all his supplications gone unanswered, still he awaits the blessings he has so often known throughout his golden life, and these he wishes to extend to those for whom he cares among this crew of foreigners.

He is pleased by her reaction to his gifts, her delight plain upon her features, and this he shall return in kind when from her sleeve she produces the intricately engraved medallion. He plucks it from the bowl of her dainty hands and holds it up that he may better inspect it.]

What a fine treasure this is! May it preserve me when all good fortune has fallen through and I find myself in dire straits.

[He looks then to Sieglinde to seek her advice in how best to utilize the medallion's blessing.]

Ought I to wear it around my neck?

[grunehexe]

That is my dearest hope.

[And she means it, for there is nothing in her voice but sincerity. All her life she had dedicated herself to protecting others. Even if her entire world had turned out to be the most vicious and painful of lies, she had spent her life within it, working each and every day for the sake of her villagers and their safety, for duty and for expectation. ALASTAIR had plucked her up from that wreckage, but she had been set adrift again, now purposeless and without the things she had always had.

Until she found new people to protect. She could not sortie into battle, hold a spear, or triumph over evil- not like the heroes of old, of now, of Audentes. She could only guard, shield, or heal that which was already broken. So she had to do that better than anyone, had to do it perfectly so that-

She stops herself before her fingernails bite into her palms, smiles instead.]

My people wore them so, but as long as it is on your personage, it will still protect you.

[heelies]

Very well-- [Then he catches her eye and his voice twinkles with mirth.] I should hope that on this feast night I shall have no need for it, however.

[So speaking, he carefully slips the talisman's cord over his head, brushing the golden curtain of his hair aside and arranging the medallion to lie just so upon his proud chest. The intricately engraved script he runs his fingers over, knowing not what it means yet feeling its power all the same.]

Shall I join you, that we may take comfort in one another's company?

[He gestures warmly to the chair from which she had risen upon his approach, indicating that she sit once more, and he seats himself in the chair adjacent. His countenance has now sobered and his words bear weight.]

For just as I must thank you for your devotion to the healing arts and your vigilance in protecting others, so too must I extend to you my gratitude for the support you have lent in other matters, bright-eyed Sieglinde. Although you could no more wish for my victory against Koltira than for his against me, being that your loyalty is divided evenly between us, you condemned me not for laying down my challenge. Where others spurned me and ridiculed the principles of my fatherland, you gifted me with understanding such that bespeaks the wisdom you possess beyond your years.

[grunehexe]

[That comment does bring a small curl to the corners of her smile, a rise in her shoulders indicative of a silent laugh, agreement that she hopes the same. At least tonight. Hopefully. (One never knew with ALASTAIR, really.)]

Yes, please-

[She's quick to acquiesce, retaking her seat with a brief pause to arrange her heavy skirts and sleeves. It was not a conversation she wished to hear, simply because it meant it had happened in the first place at all... but there was no helping that now, having already seen that ugly side of ALASTAIR she had naively hoped did not exist. Her expression changes as he speaks, from the smile from before slowly falling to something sad, recovering slightly for an attempt at stalwart, letting out a small sigh.]

... How could I condemn such a thing? Sometimes it seems as if you are the only one whose customs are even remotely familiar to me.

[Even though she was young and curious, and she did so try her best, it was sometimes wearying how strongly more modern members of their team insisted that her view on things was wrong, or that she herself was in some way outdated. While she had thought she could tolerate it... Achilles' post had shown her something.]

The people who spoke to you as they did... they do not understand. About honor, or duty, or courtship... Perhaps they cannot. I had hopes when most of our number accepted that I was a witch that they would be more accepting, but I have been proven wrong.

[Her gaze flutters downwards, but she manages a somewhat bittersweet smile.]

... they do so much seem very dedicated to "Audentes".

[Despite none of them having voluntarily become part of it.]

[heelies]

[He sees her smile wane, usurped by solemnity as would darkness gnaw away the bright light of the moon night by night, and thus it recedes into the sky. For this he holds out his hand in the space between their chairs, his palm broad and callused and open for her to rest her own hand upon.]

To hear you echo the grievances that lie within mine own heart is as a salve for those very injuries I suffer. I have often felt as a stranger in a strange land here among this crew, flung so far from those dear shores I claim for my home. Yet never before have a felt so misplaced as I do now for what has passed.

[How strange too that he should feel this way when at last a part of his home has found its way back to him, a cherished cove to which he can retreat and in which he might forget the burden of his cares.]

Long have I minded the customs that belong to the native lands of others among this crew, trying to see how it is that man might live in different ways. Yet too few have done the same for me - backwards they call my ways and insignificant my pride, that which sustains a man as wind sustains a ship's sails. They speak of the vitality of teamwork, yet they consider not that even an army is composed of individual men, and each man is owed honor for his deeds. Where would have been the thousand ships commanded by Agamemnon, lord of men, if not bound together by this very principle? What man would wish to stake his life on the mortal risks of war when those who purport to be his comrades have spat upon his honor?

Let me tell you this, Green Witch - I have been pelted with stones hurled by my own men, yet even then I did not feel so disrespected as I do now. For then I understood the restless hearts of the Myrmidons, who ached only to leave from the bay of Aulis, that beach over which the air hung so maddeningly still and heavy. Yet now I cannot see into the hearts of those who spurn me, and for this I feel all the more a stranger.

[grunehexe]

[As he offers, she takes, sparing her dress the tight hold of a fingers left to express her dissatisfaction and instead laying them in the the palms he opened for her. There could not be a more different pair, could there be? His hands were large, and calloused, and worn from battle and the clutch of spear and shield and sword. Hers were small, even for her age, pale and unblemished by hardships with the exception of slight damage that came from letting skin soak too long in chemicals and treated bandages.

The words that he gives voice to are ones that she has felt herself, and rarely tried to put into the world for fear it might ruin something, ruin the only chance she had to make a new life, when her old one lay in ashes upon the ground of what she'd once believed to be her village.]

I do not know how they could blame you for these feelings in your heart... or how they can fight for the Nalawi, for the Chantean goblins, and for the Qorral so much more easily than they can open their eyes for one of their own when they espouse so strongly to value teamwork.

[As he said... had they, the more "outdated" members of their ragtag congregation, tried valiantly to understand the majority? Her fingers curl helplessly in Achilles' hands, her mouth turned down in a frown she tried desperately to keep from quivering.]

It pains me that they would mindlessly condemn any fight within their ranks rather than extend the same courtesy of attempting to understand that they would give the inhabitants of worlds we visit. Though I could not give my blessings to either party... though of course the last thing I would wish would be for you or Koltira to be injured... I know that you had your reasons- reasons I should think any man should understand. The fact that people were so quick to dismiss what to you was a grave matter... it makes me uneasy for the future.

[And for what might come were she to do something similar. She had never faced the volume as he'd had to suffer through... but she'd faced similar reactions in the past, regarding some of her... more personal work. Her more dangerous work.]

To be honest... it leaves me afraid to be truthful with them, and I do not know how we are supposed to be a "team" if that is the case.

[Something she had not been able to say in words to anyone but him.]

[heelies]

[Her hand appears so small in the expanse of his, so pale against his bronzed skin, this hand that has borne so great a load for all its daintiness, and he is suddenly overcome by the desire to give a soft squeeze from which she may derive the strength to steady herself. He has no daughter of his own, yet in this moment as she unravels for him her heart he feels as a father must for his daughter.]

These cares that wrack your gentle heart and make grave your countenance do pain me. Know then that should you ever fear to give voice to that which sits in your thoughts, you may air such grievances freely before me - and as you have so done for me, I shall not lay hasty judgments upon your head but rather I shall listen. This I promise unto you.

[For all her youth, she is no longer a child but one on the cusp of womanhood, and thus sincerity braces his words. How far they have come from that muddled first meeting in the hot springs, when he was bewildered that a maiden should speak of lewd matters so freely, that there could stand a house lorded by one such as this. He knows now there is more to behold within her than just this.]

As for the doubts you have for this crew, to this I must say that I have made up my mind: no longer shall I so freely lend my aid in these campaigns on which we are sent. It is true that among the ranks of this crew are scattered a few for whom I care, yet I see not why I should raise spear and shield alongside those who have spat upon me. As such, I cannot be convinced to join all these battles that are hardly mine to fight.

The unity of purpose proclaimed by so many among this crew, and by those of the house of ALASTAIR too, the ease with which they take up this burden that ought not be any man's to shoulder-- This I understand little. Where lies a man's loyalties beyond his kin and those with whom he shares the bonds of guest-friendship? Where is the man whose shield is broad enough that behind it all races may crouch? The cloven-footed Nalawi and the wild-eyed Qorral I have helped for their hospitality, and the squidge race for their helplessness, but what bearing does this have upon fertile Phthia, that land I love with all my heart? Furthermore, how can mortal man guide with his hands that to which only the gods may be stewards?

[grunehexe]

[What a promise that was. A promise to listen, to weigh, rather than react and judge without thought or proper reason... and one given in sincerity, even if it could prove only in the moment. Would it make her happy, to speak of the things that troubled her... the things she told almost no one? To admit to the lies she told everyone, that were so easy to tell because she had believed them all her life, that were so much easier to say and believe than the truth?

It seemed so dark and awful an abyss to look upon and speak of... even though part of her knew it was wrong to continue to try and abandon it, to erase its existence.

She can only nod, and let her fingers tighten upon his hands.]

I do not know.

[And that troubled her most of all, for Sieglinde was all knowledge, all studies and dedication to curiosity and education, but even for all the books she had read and the tomes she had combed through, she still did not know the answer to the question Achilles poses then.]

Though I might understand the motive to help others, the... "greater good"...

[Did she understand it, though? Sure, she had dedicated her life, given up her feet to help the entire village, but that had been her village, the women who looked to her for guidance... could she have done the same for strangers? Was she seeking so desperately for a cure to the poison she had created truly out of selfless desire to save lives, or from pride and shame, seeking to erase what she had done?]

I do not know how they can blindly accept that what ALASTAIR bids them do is "correct", that this "timeline" we are supposed to set anew is something we ought to be meddling with in the first place... that we even have the right to be the ones to decide who in a world not ours is "wrong", who lives or dies...

At the very least, I will attend to the health of those wounded in ALASTAIR's battles... but. Would that I could turn my efforts to other projects. To the duties of the Green Witch.

[It seems much easier to her, to turn one's back on the missions they are assigned, when one is not alone. Though she has not been treated as foully as Achilles... she didn't have the heart to believe in their purpose with ALASTAIR, or to wholeheartedly support it and its goals.

It is difficult, but she does make an effort towards a smile.]

Perhaps we shall be pariahs together.

[heelies]

Indeed, such matters seem too heavy for mortal shoulders to bear and too great for mortal minds to encompass.

[He hails from an era in which men have no reason to consider what would be best for all of mankind, an insular community in which outside threats are sharply real and so each man must first look after his own brood. Thus, the "greater good" hardly encompasses so many lives. Achilles had long since abandoned the hatred he once harbored for ALASTAIR - appeased by the gifts with which the mysterious house have laden him, assured by the promise that binds Uruz to him, and made to see that it as indeed some misstep of Fate that brought him here rather than any insidious machinations - yet even so he cannot fully place his trust in intentions so grand.

Nor can he place his trust in a crew who would revile him so.]

Nevertheless, there is comfort in knowing that I am not alone in these thoughts. Therefore, think of us not as pariahs but as kin. It is not merely for flattery that I once declared I might take you for my son's bride, if ever I chance to be reunited with my dear Neoptolemus here as never I shall upon steep Scyros where his grandfather raises him for me.

[Such a promise might seem blithe for his son's absence here among this crew, so far out of sight and reach, and for how small the odds remain that of all the innumerable people in all the innumerable lands, it might be his own son who slips through the cracks and lands here. Yet greater miracles have come to pass: he has, after all, seen the dead with life in the limbs and breath upon the lips once more. Moreover, he shapes his words only from sincerity and loathes falseness. He would not treat lightly such a matter as this.]

[grunehexe]

[What Achilles reminds her of, those words he had said to her months past, is not something she has ever been able to forget. As long as Sieglinde has lived, (twelve long years)- no, perhaps as long as she has been aware of duty, (nine), she has never realistically imagined for herself a life like the ones she knew women in the Outside World lived. Lives that included things like courtship, a marriage, and children.

A man would be found who had happened upon their hidden village, or her manservant would serve if she threatened to age before an outsider came. She would conceive a child. The child would be a girl, (it had to be), and that child would be her heir. That was all she had in her future, and even with the change of circumstances, ironically, she still feels bound to the idea, to the desperation for an heir to continue her work and find the cure to what she had already wrought in her short life.

But marriage, and family... they were things she did not usually allow herself the luxury of desiring. Something that makes her fingers weak, makes her gaze waver slightly with a sudden wetness she valiantly attempts to contain, her smile trembling at the corners. It has nothing to do with character, even with the identity of the prospective yet surely statistically impossible groom, and everything to do with the fact that someone would say to her that they wished for her to be a member of their family.

Kin.]

How at a loss I am, to find words that could honor the ones you bestow upon me. For the Green Witch to marry... what a day that would be.

[Something like a day where the sunny blue sky produced rain, or when lightning flashed within the fury of a snowstorm. Natural, yet unnatural, and yet some rare thing that one might desire to see for oneself, defying explanation or description.]

... Let us then think of it in that way, for I should be most glad to be kin.

[She, who had no father that she had known beyond words extolling his genius, and who had a woman spun in intelligence and lies who claimed to be her mother, but whom she rejected with all that she was able...

Family, in that warm and fulfilling sense of the word, was too wonderful and fragile a dream to do more than allow it the barest of hope.]

[heelies]

[Long has he regarded with fluidity the matter of kin, that well-woven cloak that unfurls to drape the shoulders of those who are worthy of such love and respect. Patroclus, who was brought into his father's house when the two of them were boys, before which time Achilles can scarce recall, is no less his brother than would be one who shares Peleus' noble blood. Phoenix he loves as a grandfather, the old charioteer upon whose knee he sat as a boy, and when the wine dribbled from his chin it was Phoenix who wiped him clean, and Phoenix who entertained him with endless stories and taught him always to speak well. Chiron is as a father to him, second after Peleus, and Lycomedes of Scyros third for the years he passed among his daughters, as well as for his own son who shares the aging king's blood through fair Deidamia.

He has not known Sieglinde so long, yet nevertheless he finds her deserving of this most sacred designation. At present, when the differences between his culture and the myriad cultures of this crew are palpable, abrasive against his skin, it seems to him paramount that they are of one mind. In this he may solace, and in this she may find protection.]

Then kin we shall be, so long as we remain in the house of ALASTAIR and afterward too.

[So speaking, he squeezes her small hands in his before gently withdrawing to rise from his seat. Where once perched a grimace for his heavy words now sits a soft smile upon his countenance.]

Now, I have seen upon the tables countless sweets that must surely delight the tongue as much as they delight the eyes. Shall I fetch us some of these?

[Although he can see that Sieglinde's legs are growing ever stronger, he would not wish to make her walk any more than she must.]

[grunehexe]

[He has a way of speaking that makes it easy to believe. Much like Gilgamesh, and like Masamune, when they sounded so confident that it allowed her to feel the same way. That if they declared something to be true, it was just a little bit easier for her to think it might be as well. Maybe that made her weak, that sometimes she needed someone else to say something for her to believe it...

But it was still nice. Still something she was grateful for, that she could be given the hope for things it was hard for her to still believe in.

So she squeezes back, her expression melting softly away to something calmer than before, her smile pulling up higher at the corners, her dainty feet swinging inches above the floor.]

It is as if you have peered into my very mind. I would be most amendable to that.

[It was always nicer when tasting new things with someone else, after all.]

1/2

[heelies]

[He thrives when there are those who are depending upon him, when he can offer his golden strength to hold others upright, when he can prove that he is indispensable.]

Very well - then shortly shall I return with sweet things enough to sate your curiosity as well as your craving.

[heelies]

[However, when he makes to walk away, he finds that he cannot: it is as though a wall has sprung up at once, scarce seen by mortal eyes but for a shimmering in the air, the craft of the deathless gods.]

What means this! Might it be the trick of some god or another?

[grunehexe]

[Sweet things... ehe. For a moment there, thankfully as he begins to turn, her expression grows a bit lecherous, recalling the "sweet things" in bed she'd once received from her manor guests, (cheesecake, it was... cheesecake), but.]

Wha-

[But somewhat experienced in this holiday trickery by now, she directs her gaze upwards... and finds herself staring up at a sprig of holly.]

Ah... it seems we are the victims of the palace's machinations.

[heelies]

[His gaze follows hers to find the mischievous spring of greenery that hangs overhead and recognition fills his features.]

Then we must share in a kiss, else we shall be arrested here for the rest of the evening.

[His smile is gentle when his eyes return to her. Having no notions that the kiss required of the enchanted plant must be upon the lips, he remains unabashed and unperturbed.]

Have I not just said that you shall be as kin to me?

[And so speaking, he bends to press his lips to the top of her head, where her dark tresses are swept over her forehead in her neat fashion. From the depths of memory rise the many moments in which, many years ago, he kissed his son in just this manner ere he was put to bed each night.]