No.764657[Last 50 Posts]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYoZgpAEkFsYou hear peaceful sounds. Birds call, and leafy branches, idly stirred by a languid breeze, whisper a soft response.
>[..] is gone. In its […] breaking […]. […] the sky and […] Dim radiance […] holy protection […] of the earth…
>And […] horizon. […]
>[…] millions of paths […] in […] millions and millions of […] every path […] a spiral, […] dancing […]You have been walking through these sounds for quite some time.
>[…] has […] prove to […] Yet […]
>[…] fading […]
>All […]
> […] dancing themselves to […] […] [……………………]Colors, sounds, wind and light blend, turning and swirling before, around and within you, like dark tea, stirred in crystalline glassware. Yet, this synesthesia is all of the world, to you. This chaotic reality, contrasted against the solidity of warm, hard-packed dirt beneath you. A path, a long, long path, walked by countless many alters…
No.764658
>>764657Deadweight walks the path. Life has always been chaotic for her, and she's just glad the ground's comfortable to walk on.
No.764659
>>764657>>764658Lost's gait along this path is one of trepidation, and of loneliness, but with time she speeds up to match Deadweight, step by step, along side her.
No.764660
>>764657I continue to walk it unburdened by how strange this path feels.
No.764661
>>764659>>764658>>764660Dirt gives way to stone… and the presence of a multitude vibrates about you. Innumerable souls of many kind and kin. So disparate in appearance, so strange and so familiar, so different. And yet, so unified, all, by the sheer fact of their living, and the interminable journey that they and you have found themselves upon, woken up upon, as if til this very moment you had been but dreaming, one dream, then another.
A violent crack shatters the synesthesia.
It is the sound– of a wooden baseball bat upon a ball.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIVUMayW0XoYou stand before a great drawbridge, which passes over a mighty river that streams down from a great waterfall. The drawbridge leads to an enormous gateway. Beyond the gateway, an incredible city-state, constructed into the side of a mighty mountain; thousands of domed roofs are visible from here.
This is… right! You were walking with everyone here for a while now. You'd gotten invitations– from Queens Selene and Majesty. This is none other than Canterbury. The city-state bustles with a festival's energy, and has the traffic to boot! There's even a baseball game going on, audible in the distance!
No.764662
>>764661Lost glanced to the side, to the sounds of the game, but she moved with Deadweight, giving her control of their direction
No.764663
>>764659>>764662Deadweight smiles at Lost at her side. "Let's not make the Queens wait; they're royalty!" she says. She then assures her, "We can probably catch another game later."
No.764664
>>764661A smile spreads across my face as I perk up at the violent crack of spectator sport! I wait for the drawbridge to lower so I can continue ahead with everyone into this quaint city-state, eager to catch sight of the royalty in addition to its festivities.
No.764665
>>764663"Alright Weighty." she smiled back at her.
No.764666
>>764663>>764664>>764662As you navigate the great multitude into the city proper, you are nearly overwhelmed by all that it has to offer. Confection stands and street performers, carnival rides and vendor booths, muralists and inventors showing off the latest gizmos wrought from their workshops.
Xu looks at her invitation in puzzlement.
"Didn't this… say something about a quest…?" she mutters to herself.
Those of you who check your invitations find that the words are muddled, the characters unrecognizable.
But– you don't need to check them, after all. You know it plain, it's obvious to anyone. This is the–
>[…]–thousandth year of the Summer Sun and Moon Celebration!
In this sequence, you may interview any character in the game, living, dead or otherwise.When you are ready for the final curtain, approach the central Royal Castle. This decision must be unanimous.Until then, enjoy this Summer Sun and Moon Celebration.Say, which thousandth year was it again? No.764667
>>764665>>764666When it occurs to her, Deadweight says, "Wait, we're here for the Summer Sun and Moon Celebration! We can chill." She asks Lost, "Do you see anyone you know?"
No.764668
>>764666Lost hummed, finding herself looking for two rabbits in particular, though she wasn't entirely sure why. She also looked for her family.
No.764711
>>764666>>764668Deadweight tails Lost.
No.764712
>>764667>>764668>>764711Engulfed by the crowd in attendance, you stick together as close as you can with your entourage, weaving around the passerby. Yet, even when it seems that you are to bump into somebody, your form passes through theirs, easy as can be. For whatever reason, this hardly registers in your mind– nothing to fret over…
Some time later, you espy a large tent ramada with a couple queues lined up to go into it. Behind several tables, you see a team of Lagomos, rabbit-folk. Many of them are grouped up in pairs, preparing mochi in the traditional fashion, with one pounding the mochi, the other wetting and turning it. It's a little out-of-season, what with mochi being more of a New Year's delicacy, but tasty enough that there's a demand for it anyway.
Toward the back, you see a familiar pair on break, drinking lemonade. One of them, Mogao, the other–
>[…]. No.764713
>>764666I'm not going to interview anyone but I will walk through this place with my grandpopsI'm going to visit the confection stands, vendor booths, and watch inventors present their pieces.
No.764714
>>764668>>764712"Hey, they look familiar," Deadweight says. She waves a forehoof high in the air to get their attention.
No.764715
>>764712Lost trotted over to the duo, preferring to be direct instead of signalling from across the room.
No.764716
>>764712And me! Sitting next to my new buddy Mogao.
No.764717
>>764713There is no small amount of vendors and attractions on display. Candy made in the shape of the Ele[…] of […]mony… ikons of past Agate[…] royalty… some peculiar contraption called the Super Speedy Cider Squeezy 9000… no matter what, you've got just enough pocket change – never more, never less – to satisfy whatever little craving strikes you.
Here and there in the crowd, you and your grandpop see figures you recognize, enjoying themselves. Figures, even, you had once believed to no longer be with you in this world…
>>764714>>764715>>764716Seeing you, they wave, and signal for you to enter the ramada from the side. You follow their directions, and enter the shaded area.
"Want some mochi?" Mogao asks, rather cheery.
The other Lagomos, wrapped up in a rather noteworthy black tattered cloak, is gazing out over the crowd with a distant expression.
No.764718
>>764717Lost nodded to the offer of the mochi, before sitting next to the Lagomorph looking out "Something on your mind?"
No.764719
>>764714>>764715"What are you two doing here?"
I pop a mochi ball into my mouth.
"It's been…awhile, I think?"
No.764720
>>764715>>764717Deadweight follows Lost into the ramada. "Yeah! I love Japonese treats," Deadweight answers enthusiastically.
>>764719"Huh? We all got summons from the Queens, remember?" Deadweight says as she munches on her mochi.
No.764721
>>764720"Huh?"
I pop more mochi into my mouth and chew.
"Oh 'ah! An in'itation!"
No.764722
>>764721"It's nice to see you again by the way."
No.764723
>>764721"Yeah yeah yeah," Deadweight says, nodding as she chews the mochi.
>>764721>>764722Deadweight swallows then says solemnly, "You saved us. All of us. You're a true hero, and I can't adequately express my gratitude for what you did," Deadweight says, but then she tilts her head, looking into the distance as if the answer to her question was there. "You saved us from…? Oh yeah, we almost got lost in the crowd! Yeah."
No.764724
>>764717I will wander this place with more of my family, joined by Steadfast who has a deep purple unicorn at his side.
No.764725
>>764722>>764723I nod.
"Sure is, and I sure did. You'd all better appreciate what me and Mogao did with the…crowd?"
I frown for a few seconds then pop more mochi into my mouth and shrug.
"Must have been a big crowd."
No.764726
>>764718"This is… what awaited… after Ragnarok?" the Lagomos mutters under his breath. You can't be sure if that's exactly what he said… and no sooner than he says it, is the memory blending into others in your mind.
"Ah– sorry," he says, eyes wide with a little surprise, as if he'd just now noticed you enter. "Busy day."
>>764719>>764718>>764720Mogao gets Lost and Deadweight some mochi.
"Must've been a long trip," Mogao notes. "I was already in town. I go to school at the Crystal… Tower… here…"
He blinks, then narrows his eyes, as if confused. "Man, no, the traffic coming here from Ponyville was something else, yeah."
Those of you who had happened to be looking at the horizon when Mogao was speaking see now the Crystal Tower in the distance, where it was not before. Quite far, and yet, still within Canterbury's domain…
>>764724>>764721Perceptive as always, Firmgold and Conflagration catch one another's eye from across the crowd. For a moment, a brightness overtakes Firmgold's senses, a peculiarly familiar radiance, golden in hue… then in the next moment, all is well again, and she's in a staring contest with a familiar traveling buddy.
No.764727
>>764725"Yeah, big crowd," Deadweight says with another nod.
No.764728
>>764726She was quiet for a second before she wrapped a hoof around him in a small but friendly hug "Things don't always turn out the way we want, but this… this seems like a nice place to be." she said with a soft smile. She felt a very odd mix of emotions but she decided to try and simply help him enjoy things with the rest of them.
She looked to the tower, just staring for a while, before she popped one of the Mochi in her mouth.
"I never got your name by the way."
No.764729
>>764726I give Firmgold a wave.
"Nice to see you and your husband again. Um, Steadfast, right? Who's your friend?"
>>764727>>764728"So what have you two been up to? I've spent all my time foraging in the Outlands and researching my finds here in Canterbury."
No.764730
>>764726I will squint at how bright this pony got and get closer.
>>764725"Ah, sir Conflagration! It's been too long!"
No.764731
>>764728The Lagomos accepts the hug without resistance, a bit surprised but not displeased. The sensation of closeness is strangely familiar to you.
Then, as you ask his name, his eyes shrink, the way that eyes are wont to shrink, when one is asked a question which one has not even the slightest clue how to answer.
Yet, the panic passes, replaced by sudden recollection, and he answers with confidence: "The Antlers. Uh, you can just call me Antlers."
>>764729>>764730>>764728>>764727As you catch up, you see Cautaa check his magicomp. He says something to Xu and Huitlapan, and they leave the tent with him, saying something about being back in a moment.
No.764732
>>764731"An odd name, but given how ponies are named, it's not entirely fair of me to judge." she joked petting his shoulder a bit before she sighed and looked around
"I wonder if Dhampir is gonna be around soon. Feel like you two could be friends"
No.764733
>>764732[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 5 = 5 No.764734
>>764726>>764728Deadweight nods again in agreement with Lost's words.
>>764729"Same ol' weather stuff. Got a pretty sick kunai recently, though."
>>764731Deadweight casually waves at her friends when they say they'll be right back.
No.764735
>>764730"It certainly has, old friend. Feels like eons."
>>764734"No idea what that is, but good for you!"
No.764736
>>764730>>764735"Huh? We walked here together, didn't we?" Deadweight says, a little confused.
>>764735Deadweight chuckles. "It's like a little Japonese knife."
No.764737
>>764731I look back and see that most of my family has moved back to the festivities, and I wave them off.
>>764735"It's strange, we haven't been away that long either. How have you been by the way?"
>>764736"Well… yes we did, I apologize this place is so
exciting!"
No.764738
>>764732Antlers scoffs, taking the joke in stride. "Yeah, you've got a Queen named Majesty. Little on the snout there isn't it?"
>>764734>>764732>>764735>>764737Some time later, you see through the gap in the tent that the trio has met up with a pair of mares, both with quite long, fluffy – and identical – hairstyles. In fact, the two are perfect mirrors of each other, with the exception of one being red-haired, and the other blue-haired. Player One and Player Two colors, so to speak. Cautaa and Huitlapan are quite nervous about speaking to the duo, much to the amusement of the duo and of Xu.
No.764739
>>764736"I don't think so? I was waiting for you all to catch up."
>>764737"Oh, pretty good. The sun's nice and warm and there's plenty to study."
>>764738I give each of them a friendly wave.
No.764740
>>764738"Fair." she laughed back as she offered one of her mochi to him "It's… a shame we couldn't have had more friendly meetings. Making more friends is nice."
She sighed and looked to Deadweight for a bit "But I am content with how things turned out."
She looked to the newcomers, She couldn't quite place their names.
No.764741
>>764737Deadweight smirks. "No need to apologize, this place sure is bustling."
>>764739"Oh yeah," Deadweight says, remembering now.
>>764740Deadweight nods and smiles.
>>764738>>764740"Oh hey, they look familiar, too!" Deadweight says, pointing at the mare pair. She asks the crystal pony, "You ready to go, Lost?"
No.764742
>>764741"We should probably look for my family before we go meet them, but yeah."
No.764743
>>764738I make side-eye glances at Huitlapan and Cautaa.
>>764739>>764740>>764741"Since we're here, what have been your distractions? As of late I'm greatly interested in the inventions!"
No.764744
>>764740"I'm hitting the clubs tonight with a few friends," Antlers says, trading your piece of mochi for one of his own (as there are many flavors to try). "You're welcome to dance with us."
>>764741>>764740>>764739>>764743Mogao and The Antlers down the rest of their drinks.
"Let's meet up later, maybe at the club," Mogao says, and gestures to a mochi-making station. "We've gotta get back to our shift. Uh…"
He pauses to think.
"There was something I was gonna tell you about… eh, I'll remember it later."
No.764745
>>764743"The inventions are pretty neat but mostly it's been research, fireworks, and sunbathing."
>>764744"You two have fun."
No.764746
>>764743"Nothing much, we've just been catching up with, uh…" Deadweight says, forgetting their names. How embarrassing. "Our old friends. We might try to catch the baseball game."
>>764744"Sure thing, don't get too wild," Deadweight says with a smirk.
>>764742"Sounds good," Deadweight says cheerily.
No.764747
>>764744I smile at Mogao and Antlers in acknowledgement.
No.764748
>>764744She nodded "We'll see you guys there." she said as she hopped down and began to go looking for her family with Deadweight
No.764749
>>764744>>764745>>764747"We're gonna go find Lost's family, catch y'all in a bit," Deadweight tells the group with a salute before leaving with Lost.
No.764750
>>764748>>764749"Be careful you two!"
I will turn and join Xu, Huitlapan and Cautaa.
No.764751
>>764750"We'll try," Deadweight says over her shoulder.
No.764752
>>764745>>764747You go over to where Huitlapan, Xu and Cautaa have sat with the mare pair. The names come to you quite gradually, like a loading bar approaching its 100% mark… Ruby! And Sapphire, right? Or wasn't she also Ruby…?
>"I was, but you guys renamed me Sapphire," the blue one says."Hey, interrupting the narration's my thing," the red one says.
>"But I do it better," Sapphire brags."Gah!" Ruby gasps.
>>764749>>764748Heading south to one of the researcher performance-lectures, you see two families, sitting together in the shaded bleachers. Each of you recognizes one family, quite plainly. Of particular note is the tall mare in Lost's family. Of all the people gathered at the performance-lecture, she is the most entranced by what she sees. So much so, that she does not even look at Lost as she approaches.
No.764753
>>764752Lost walked up and gently poked her side "Hi mom."
No.764754
>>764752Deadweight tails Lost and makes sure she's on her best behavior, straightening her neck a little and smiling just the right amount.
No.764755
>>764752"I'm glad you two are getting along."
No.764756
>>764752"Apologies for the interruption- It's so good to see you two out and about! How is Miss Preserve doing?"
No.764757
>>764755"Yeah, finally taught her some manners," Ruby says.
>"More like begged me for a temporary truce," Sapphire says."One you're not exactly respecting…"
>"Oh please, you'll know when I'm back to kicking your ass.">>764756>>764755"Amber's run off here somewhere," Ruby sighs. "We kept playing phone tag with her trying to meet up."
>"Relaaaax, she'll be fine," Sapphire says. "We don't have to keep babysitting her.""We were quite literally programmed to do that," Ruby complains.
"If you need others to help look–" Cautaa begins.
>"You two wanna split off to search on your own?" Sapphire suggests."Yes," "Yes," Ruby and Cautaa say, without hesitation.
Huitlapan and Xu practically choke laughing.
>>764754Your family waves you over giddily, heedless of Lost's.
>>764753https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DeLfY1foYYLady Offbeaten Path nods, but does not turn her head. She squints at the lecture, and smiles. You can sense, as plainly as you see her, that if she were to do anything else, a dam would shatter within. This is all she can do to hold herself together, having lost something irreplaceable– and having regained something irreplaceable, at the very same time.
Your sister, and one of your broth–
>[…]Your younger br–
>[…] […] […]Lazy Days and Good Intentions sit beside her, as does your father. As for–
>[…]…Someone else is missing.
>roll perception No.764758
>>764757"You two are so cute."
No.764759
>>764757[1d10] Perception
She frowned and looked around… trying to find what or who was missing.
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.764760
>>764753>>764757Deadweight notices her family waving her over. "Oh, I'll be right back, Lost, I'm just gonna say hi to my parents real quick," she says, not believing the words that came out of her mouth for a split second, but never mind that. She trots over to them.
She sees an older, bulky blue stallion with a gray mane and tail and an older, but graceful white mare with a mane and tail even more silvery than her own, and she inexplicably starts to tear up. When she reaches them, she clears her throat. "Hi, mom. Hi, dad."
"Hey, baby girl," a gruff voice says.
"Hi, sweetie," a soothing voice says.
Teras start welling up in Deadweight's eyes again. She hugs her mom suddenly, and her mom returns the hug.
"I… missed you," Deadweight says, muffled by her mom's shoulder.
"I missed you, too, princess," her mom says, rubbing her daughter's back.
No.764761
>>764759Amid the crowd, at a great distance, you catch two figures from behind. One of them, a peculiar mer-mare, in shades of teal and green, with sharpened teeth, and a fraught wild mane that looks like it would devour any comb or scissors that tried to tame it.
She walks beside a stallion, orange of hue in coat, and violet in mane, a mane that curls in a particular distinctive way over one eye of his. He wears a most peculiar, bespoke armorsuit… perhaps he is working security. The two appear quite happy together, the mer-mare tugging at his arm and bonking him playfully with a prop staff, likely won at a carnival game.
>>764758>>764756Withering under the teasing, Ruby and Cautaa exchange glances, and walk off in search of Amber… who knows what may happen there.
>Sapphire sits back and kicks her hooves. "…is she like my sister or my mom or something?""You mean you don't know!?" Xu exclaims.
>"AI relationships are weird, bro," Sapphire says with a shrug."Are new AI delivered by a digital stork?" Huitlapan asks.
>"It's more like a gacha game. I'm a five-star, of course." No.764762
>>764761"I'm pretty sure you're two distinct entities branching off from a point of shared memories. That's how it works in some of the sci-fi books I read. So basically siblings, yeah."
No.764763
>>764761She felt an… odd connection to the stallion, and immediately began to bolt towards the duo.
No.764764
>>764762Sapphire giggles and snorts at the word 'branch' as if you just made the most hilarious innuendo. Huitlapan and Xu look at each other for a translation, but finding none, shrug.
>>764763As you split off to pursue the duo, the stallion, sensing you just as easily as you sensed him, turns to face you from the great distance. With an annoyed grimace, he sticks his tongue out and gestures for you to buzz back off to Mom.
Then, Dhampir chortles, and smirks at you with a bully's swagger… but you sense not even the slightest drop of malice. Still, you get the notion that he's not eager to have his date interrupted. Shikka tugs at his arm, pointing with single-minded excitement at some other attraction down the way.
No.764765
>>764760>>764761After a long moment, Deadweight pulls herself from her mom and sees her smiling at her.
"What have you been up to?" the white mare asks.
The waterworks keep coming, and Deadweight can't figure out why. She didn't move that far away from them. In fact, they visited her just last, uh… recently. "I… I met somepony."
Her mom's eyes brighten. "Oh? What's his name?"
"Her…"
The stallion chuckles in a way that says
I knew it. The white mare smiles. "What's her name?"
Deadweight squints, and a tear runs down her face. "Her name's Lost Hope."
"What a beautiful name! What's she like?"
Deadweight smiles and blushes slightly. "She's amazing. She's so kind and loving and caring and gentle. And she's so adorable when she's flustered." She blushes more, then points to Lost with her family. "She's right there, actually." They all then see her bolt towards someone in the crowd.
Her mom giggles elegantly, as if she was a Queen herself. "She sounds like fun."
"She is."
No.764766
>>764764I glance at Huitlapan and Xu too, and join them in shrugging.
"Well, I'm glad you survived the, um, shoot, whatever risky business we were in."
No.764767
>>764764She slowed her trot before she stopped and stared at him for a moment, distance still between them. She frowned and sighed and let him go.
She slowly returned to her family, leaning her head against her mother. She was happy he was happy, and yet… she felt hollow again.
She looked up to her mother, just staring quietly as she enjoyed the proximity, it dulled the feeling a bit.
No.764768
>>764764I keep my smile even though I'm as clueless about the 'joke' as Xu and Huitlapan.
No.764769
>>764767Offbeaten Path shudders as you lean against her… but not in a reaction against unpleasantness… rather, in gratitude.
"…Say, Charity," she whispers.
She addresses you, and none other, with this strange name.
"Who's your friend?" she asks, looking at Deadweight.
>>764766>>764768>"Yeah it was a…"Sapphire narrows her eyes, blinking.
>"A, uh… fuggin, uh…""Language," Huitlapan says, but doesn't look any more sure of what events you're referring to.
"T-traffic," Xu suddenly submits. "There was a line out the friggin' countryside to get into Canterbury. Just how many people did the Queens invite?"
"Ah…" Huitlapan says. "Well, it is the Summer Sun and Moon Celebration, after all. Invitations or no, all of Ironcastle would try to make it out."
>"Gesundheit," Sapphire says.Huitlapan blinks. "…All of Equestria would try to make it out."
"Geez, who spiked the mochi?" Xu jokes.
No.764770
>>764764>>764765"Hey, don't I get a hug?" the stallion says with his forelegs stretched wide.
Deadweight chuckles and hugs him, too. "Good seeing you too, dad."
"Been staying in shape, kiddo?"
Deadweight leaps into the air and hovers with a pose. "Can't you tell?"
"That's my girl. Don't waste what we gave you," he says with a smile. "I still remember that night," he then says, looking at the white mare with infatuated eyes. The white mare looks back at him with the same look.
"Ew, guys, no, gross," Deadweight says, putting her hooves up to shield herself from the PDA.
Her parents start laughing.
No.764771
>>764769"Charity? My names Lost Hope." she said confused before looking over "That's Deadweight… She's my girlfriend." she said with a small but proud smile.
No.764772
>>764769"Probably Mogao. Still as sneaky as ever, that guy."
No.764773
>>764769"I heard no one sneeze. What's the matter, is Ironcastle not permitted?"
No.764774
>>764769>>764770"Aaanyway," Deadweight then says with an eye roll as she lands, "I'm gonna meet back up with Lost."
"Okay, sweetheart," her mom says. She's kept her composure so far, but now her own eyes start to water. "I'm glad we got to see you."
Deadweight bites her lips together, then says, "I'm glad, too. It was really good seeing you guys." She doesn't know why it's so hard to pull herself away from them. They don't live too far from her. She gives each of them one last hug, then waves goodbye, and they both return the wave.
>>764769>>764771Deadweight walks up to Lost. "Hey, Lost. Didn't have too much fun while I was away, did ya?"
No.764775
>>764772>>764773>"Ironcastle… is that foreign?" Sapphire asks."…About halfway between… Agatecastle and the Crystal Empire," Huitlapan says, sounding at first unsure, then more confident, as if his statement was common knowledge.
>"Oh…" Sapphire says, and blinks with confusion. "Uh… yeah, right.">>764771"Then make sure you treat her right," Path says, not addressing the change of name. "I might have trained you in combat, but I also trained you in good manners. Make wise decisions…"
She scoffs, and cuts herself off. You can sense that she could lecture you with words of wisdom all festival, if she were so inclined. She contents herself with smoothing out stray hairs in your mane, to make you presentable as Deadweight approaches.
No.764776
>>764775>>764773"Should we go and meet the Queens now?"
No.764777
>>764775"Oh here she comes, Deadweight this is my Mom, Offbeaten Path." she said not bothering with formalities like titles "The giant stallion next to her is my dad."
She looked up back to her mother before hugging her. She just felt… felt like it was something they both could use right now.
No.764778
>>764775>>764776"Yes, perhaps for the best."
No.764779
>>764775>>764777Deadweight straightens her neck. "It's good to meet you, Offbeaten Path and Lost Hope's dad," Deadweight says with a smile and a nod.
No.764780
>>764774>>764777>>764779Steel Unyielding, the big guy, cracks open an energy drink as Deadweight approaches. Path rolls her eyes. "I knew you were saving that one this whole time for a reason…"
Steel puts on his sunglasses and takes a sip, while Path cajoles Lazy and Good into introducing themselves to Deadweight as well. Path then reciprocates Lost's hug, and gives one to Deadweight too– a quite strong one, enough to pop vertebrae. It feels pretty good, but also serves as a staunch caution to be good to her daughter.
>>764776>>764778The others grab their things and polish off their snacks, as they make ready to head for the Royal Castle.
>This will initiate the final sequence of The Castle of Silence. Several posts will play in succession, and not all will have a chance for response. Are you sure you wish to proceed? No.764783
>>764780Lazy gave a wave, she seemed to be more interested in playing with her handheld.
Good meanwhile was ever the polite colt and approached, bowing his head before giving Deadweight a smile "I feel as if we've met before, but it's still nice to meet you."
Lost for her part looked over to Steel. Unlike her mother or brother she barely knew him "Hello daddy. It's nice to see you it's… been a very long time."
No.764784
>>764779>>764783Forgot to tag Deadweight
No.764785
>>764783Steel sighs, and pulls you in to sit close to him. "Yeah, it has… sometimes I wish I could take more time off work to visit you… still, place would fall apart if I wasn't there to keep an eye on it. Don't think that means I'm not proud of you, always. Your Mom keeps me up to date on all your adventures. Keep yourself safe so you can have a lot more, alright?"
In the recesses of his deep, and booming voice, you can tell he is getting a little choked up.
No.764786
>>764780Deadweight can't help but scrunch her mouth as he opens the energy drink. Did she mess something up already? Was the joke too disrespectful? She shakes her head before she spirals.
She's not weak or anything, but when Path hugs Deadweight, she wasn't expecting it to be so firm. She tries to keep her composure and gingerly pats Path on the back before she's released from her secure hold.
>>764780>>764783She greets Lost's siblings when they introduce themselves to her. To Good, she bows her head, too, and says, "Oh yeah, you look familiar. We've probably met at some point. Good to meet you formally—I mean, nice to meet you formally," punctuating her sentence with a chuckle.
No.764787
>>764785Much like her mother, she embraced him, though she did so as tight as she could. The first time she could ever remember hugging her father, she was going to take every moment she could to do it.
>>764786Good let out a laugh "Well I think you and my sister are perfect for each other. And I hope you both are happy together.
Lazy perked up and nodded as well "Yeah, you two dorks are way compatible." she said before going back to her game.
No.764788
>>764786>>764787Steel reciprocates, with an all-encompassing, yet infinitely gentle hug. He passes his energy drink to his free hoof and scoops Deadweight in as well.
No.764789
>>764788Lost was about as happy as she could be, similarly pulling Weighty against herself in the triple hug.
No.764790
>>764787Deadweight blushes at Good's words. "Thanks," she says to him. When Lazy says her piece, Deadweight blushes even more and scrunches her mouth again.
>>764788Before Deadweight can regain her composure, she's pulled into a group hug by Steel. After taking a split second to realize what's happening, she returns the hug, wrapping her forelegs around Steel and Lost. A smile naturally forms on her face.
No.764791
>>764790>>764789>>764788After a long while Lost slowly pulled away, a genuine smile from ear to ear on her face "Alright." she sniffled a bit and wiped her nose "Lets get going to meet the queens."
No.764792
>>764788>>764791Deadweight pulls herself away when Lost does, and Lost can see a gentle smile on Deadweight's face. She nods and says, "Sounds good."
No.764793
>>764788>>764791"It was very good to meet you all, Offbeaten Path, Steel Unyielding, Lazy Days, and Good Intentions," Deadweight says to them with a little bow.
No.764794
>>764791>>764790>>764782>>764781Time passes, and you learn in your festival-going that the Queens wish to have their honored guests assembled at the Royal Castle – or as near as they can get to it – at the cusp of nightfall, when sun and moon are to trade their watch over all the land and skies. You occupy yourselves until then, meeting faces new and old, playing games, trying snacks, collecting souvenirs and making fond memories.
At the promised time, you gather before the Royal Castle, where a magnificent stage has been established on an upper balcony overlooking the grounds. Two great places have been set, one for each Queen, and another between them, for a guest not yet known. Thousands, if not hundreds of thousands–
>[…] millions and millions […]–of Souls have gathered before the great Castle, of every walk of life–
>[…] born here, or others came to it, whether from another Castle, or even, as the rumors go, from elsewhere in the […] And the air is palpable with a great and fervent anticipation of what this festival, this–
>[34{>62w467#@$^]–thousandth year will herald for the land of–
>[…]…
>Part 1/? No.764795
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzv4rXeZV0gAs a certain weariness briefly overtakes you, you become aware of three figures in the crowd, some distance ahead. A certain visual grain, a kind of static, covers their forms, as if they were superimposed upon the scene from an old VCR recording.
As for their appearances, they are hard to make out. For, you see, a kind of mist covers them as well, from head to about midway down their shins. It radiates out from the figure in the center.
The central figure is a tall, bipedal figure. He wears a heavy coat, yet, from the great tail extending from his backside, you can tell he is a dragon. He carries a briefcase at his side.
To his left is a quadrupedal figure. You cannot tell their race, only that they are mighty of stature. Their fore and hind hooves are made of high-end, military grade cybernetics.
To his right is another quadrupedal figure. This one is modestly dressed, covered even to the legs in a classy hybrid of dress and suit. Yet, from the part of her hooves you can see, you can tell she is a changeling nymph. She must have incredibly long hair, for two strands, twintails, extend to about her shin-height.
After the figures have registered in your field of view, you become aware also of another peculiar imposition. Canterbury, it seems, has been blended with the streets of another mighty city. Buildings, intersecting streets, signs and other fixtures of city life are laid atop one another, like clipping computer-game models. Nobody, not even the three occulted figures, seems to notice this strange visual error.
A door upon the balcony opens, and out march the Queens, to much fanfare and heraldry. Yet, the three occulted figures pay no heed to it.
For, concurrent with the appearance of the Queens, another door has opened– a door of Agate, overlaid onto the base of the Queens' Royal Castle.
Out from that door steps an entourage of gray-suited figures, some quadrupedal, some bipedal. Their appearances are unmemorable– so much so that they do not even register in your minds. These, agents the Lux Deorum. They accompany a portly and old crystal pony, dressed in royal finery, and topped with a great crown. No queen, nor princes nor princesses, accompany this Agate King. He is all alone, half-staggering and drunk.
Though you cannot see his face, the central occulted figure – the Dragon – has his eye upon the Agate King.
>To be continued… No.764796
>>764795What a strange trio. These queens are something, but the trio is mysterious. I keep my eye on them.
No.764809
>>764795Those three are bad news; she can feel it in her gut. She decides to follow them.
No.764861
>>764795Lost follows along, sensing something off about them.
No.764862
>>764795I look to my old members and see what their intent is, and follow my group in whatever they do. This strange bunch has my attention now, however.
No.764863
>>764796>>764797>>764861>>764862The dragon and the two quadrupeds offer a saluting half-bow to the Agate King, demonstrating their knowledge of protocol for when meeting a Royal not of one's own Castle – an exceedingly rare instance, knowledge therefore irrelevant to the overwhelming majority of all Ironcastle's citizens, and indeed, even most the Nobles and Royals themselves, except the most exalted of dignitaries. The Agate King does not reciprocate this dedication to decorum with the traditional response of a King to foreigners, merely waving them off with unmasked annoyance.
Plastic greetings are exchanged between the groups, and yet, you can hear no word of them. Indeed, something is quite different about these apparitions than the ones before. The film grain covering the trio also covers the Agate King, his entourage, and even the glimpses of Agatecastle's architecture visible while superimposed onto the scene of Canterbury. Conflagration, straying too close, notices that the Dragon's tail sweeps toward him, and retreats too late– yet, the tail passes through his forearm without making contact, as if this scene were nothing more than a hologram. It calls to mind the security footage that Mogao presented when trying to implicate Ironcastle in the destruction of Agatecastle. Indeed, is undoubtedly that very scene, recreated from the past– by none other than the Backstage.
The Agate King, continuing to swagger and complain – judging by his silent, drunken movements – motions for the dragon and the two quadrupeds to follow him, into the opened doors, into the depths of Agatecastle. So too do you.
Their trajectory takes them down through the Layers of Agatecastle, by elevator, trolley and private car. The Observatorium; the Barracks; the Commons; the Technicarum; the Aetherium; the Magesterium; the Orchards; the Noblesse; down, even, to the Palace. Nine Layers, with nine Floors each, housing close to one billion living souls. Every one, assigned an inviolable Caste, and with it, an inescapable lot in life…
Forty-five Lux Deorum agents escort the Agate King and his Iron entourage to a secure meeting-hall, and in turn into a secure meeting-chamber. It is, in an instant, familiar to you– you swore your fealty to Iron King Ischyros in a chamber exactly identical to this one, in order to be officiated as a member of this Investigation. But, rather than swear fealty to the Agate King, the occulted trio sit, as directed to by the Agate King.
>Part 1/? No.764864
https://youtu.be/ZzzBmRkrpj0?t=90The Dragon opens his briefcase, withdrawing a sizable stack of folders and papers, all stamped with an official Ironcastle wax seal. The papers deal with the consumption of energy converted from the Light Undefiled – the holy Light produced by the Heart of every Castle. Prior to your departure upon the Investigation, eco-terrorist provocateurs had stirred up trouble in Ironcastle by claiming that this Light was not infinite, as was commonly believed, and was soon to be all spent. They nearly caused mass panic, but the claims were quickly debunked by official sources. Yet, judging by the energy conservation plans detailed in the Dragon's papers, Ironcastle's authorities were taking the concerns gravely seriously.
Though you cannot see the faces of the trio, the Dragon is large enough that you can read his gestures. He is clearly passionate about the subject, and with carefully-rehearsed movements, seems to be trying to persuade the Agate King about the veracity of the energy crisis, and the proposed counter-measures.
Yet for all the Dragon's passion, the Agate King clearly could not care less. He continues to pour himself drinks, and lazily snack upon richly-decorated confections that a Commoner's annual wages could never hope to purchase. He frequently interrupts, his countenance mocking, his gestures flippant. The Dragon persists, consulting charts, projections, proposals, scenarios and mathematics. The scene fast-forwards for a period of indeterminate time spent negotiating, perhaps even for a week, with neither party giving an inch…
Until, it resumes at a normal speed. The Agate King, his hedonistic indulgences having brought him to a severe state of inebriation, is unstable, his patience expired. He gestures for a Lux Deorum agent, who brings him a folder of his own. The Agate King, with an arrogant smirk, presents it to the negotiators. The outside is nearly black with ink stamps – LEVEL ZERO SECURITY CLEARANCE. None except the very Royal Agate Family itself is to lay eyes upon it. The negotiators are shocked as the Agate King throws it open in his drunken pride. Inside there lays a document, entitled–
PROTOCOL: ANNIHILATION
No.764865
With growing horror, the trio of negotiators read through the folder, headless of the security violation punishable by their deaths. Every page outlines a simple core plan, in response to the extinguishment of the Light Undefiled: The arming of the Sword of the Five Gods – and Agatecastle's total nuclear self-destruction.
The Agate King boasts of the Protocol, at times bold, at times disparaging and contemptuous, at times bitter and melancholic, at times vindictive and giddy. The Dragon tries to interrupt in protest, gesturing desperately to his own documents of energetic conservation, a slim hope of life, but the Agate King hears nothing of it in his perverted reveries, and the argument, once diplomatic and calm, dissolves into overlapping shouts.
At once, the Dragon stands in molten fury, his claws trembling as his chair clatters to the ground. The changeling nymph moves to restrain him, but the Lux Deorum of Agatecastle have already mobilized, reaching for their guns. The figure with the mechanical body stands as well, and the Dragon nods at them. In an instant, they have leapt to the other side of the room– and the Lux Deorum, 45 members strong, are bashed to pieces, dissolving into floating, neon lines of code as they perish.
The Agate King, realizing far, far too late the gravity of what he has invoked, can only stare down the Dragon with snarling contempt as he approaches. The Dragon, animated now by undilutable wrath, hesitates not for an instant. His arm streaks through the air– and shreds the Agate King into a shower of gore.
https://youtu.be/pwOujMUJIJo?t=66At the very moment that the Dragon annihilates the Agate King, gray static rips through the Nine Layers of Agatecastle. Reality itself cracks like glass dashed upon stone. Every fragment distorts, rending into myriad disasters, each of its own sort, descending onto the people of Agatecastle. Infernos, quakes, hurricanes and tsunamis; siege engine invasions; disesases of the body and mind; terrorist bombings; mass hysteria and mob violence; meteors and cosmic terrors; the mutation of citizens into the Dreaded Ones– every catastrophe imaginable twists its way into reality, an amalgamate apocalypse. As screams, sirens, smoke and blood engulf the dream of Agatecastle's demise… gray static mercifully drowns your senses.
The source– none other than the unrestrained Heart of Agatecastle.
No.764866
>>764861>>764863Observing this, Deadweight keeps her cool, but she can't help but feel distressed inside. What is reality? She know what she wants it to be, and she's afraid that it isn't. This all makes too much sense, and it doesn't make sense that it does. She looks around, then when she finds Lost Hope, she wordlessly grabs her before reality unravels.
No.764867
I watch this happen and wonder if someone else should have been seeing it as well.
No.764868
>>764865>>764809Lost slowly looked over to Deadweight unsure, she would have quite a few questions for her mother about this but given everything they had seen… she couldn't help but think perhaps this actually had happened.
No.764869
>>764863>>764864>>764865"That's disturbing, isn't it?"
No.764870
>>764869"It is, Sir Conflagration, as it also means this final protocol failed in its purpose."
No.764871
>>764866>>764867>>764868>>764869Drowning beneath static, all sensation dissipates, one by one, like theatre lights blinking out… one by one, sight, sound, smell, taste, touch, movement, and spirit fade away, leaving you with a placid void, an empty peace…
…until you feel yourself, once more, upon an endless path.
…
…
…
Through restless dreams, Firmgold, Deadweight, Steadfast, Lost Hope, Xu, Cautaa and Huitlapan awaken in Layer Nine, Floor Seven, where the Agatecastle Investigation Team has established the barracks and medical ward of its Forward Operating Base.
Judging by the time, only about four hours remain until you are due to attend a Team-wide debriefing regarding all that has transpired thus far. You've slept nearly fourteen hours, and quite frankly, you feel like you could sleep for ten more.
No.764872
>>764871Lying in her bed, Deadweight grits her teeth and squeezes her eyes shut, then she takes a deep breath. She gets up and goes to the mess hall to get something to eat.
No.764873
>>764871I set an in-helmet alarm and close my eyes for another 3 hours. Waking up the last so I can freshen up and eat for the debriefing.
No.764874
>>764871Lost was very slow, the hollow feeling was still there but it was… a bit better. She sighed and simply wondered why the world had to be so nasty, why they couldn't have a happy life where everyone didn't have to fight to survive.
She rubbed her puffy eyes and slowly dragged herself to the mess hall to get some food
No.764875
>>764874>>764872In the mess hall, it looks like most other staff members – those well enough to walk – aren't faring much better. The kitchen staff have opted to serve only the easiest meals, but the rest of the staff aren't complaining, as even eating in this state proves a difficult task. Plenty of staff members break the one-tray-per-member rule, in order to bring breakfast to those stuck in the infirmary.
>>764872>>764873>>764874Eventually, the time for debriefing comes, as scheduled, and despite your stupors, you manage to make it to attendance.
Like the previous team-wide meetings, this is led by Seneschal Colonnade Reprise and Knight-Brother Mountain. Staff members are invited to speak each in turn to give their respective accounts of the fight between the Necromancer and Mogao, as well as the aftermath.
However, every time that a Staff member attempts to broach the subject of the strange dreams – Seneschal Reprise affixes her gaze right upon them, and her spiral-pattern eyes seem, for a time, impossible to look away from. Each time this happens, the staff member quickly changes the subject away from the dreams, and the rest of the staff soon gets the picture.
When all accounts of the battle are gathered, Mountain announces that the Moon and Sun Staves have been placed into Priority Zero storage, along with the body of Mogao, as well as Conflagration's personal effects. Conflagration, as it will be no surprise to hear, shall be nominated for Martyr of the Abbey, alongside everyone else who died during the battle.
Perhaps, if Lost were inclined, Dhampir could receive such an honor as well…
Conflagration, however, will also be submitted for canonization as Saint of the Abbey for his apparent miracle in dispelling the strange apparition that appeared over the battlefield, which saved everyone's life. It is, technically, a bit early, given no miracles have come from his intercession
after his… disappearance from this world… but there is quite a bit of confidence among the gathered that the case will succeed.
Furthermore, your team in particular have been chosen for special honors for your slaying of the Necromancer, and for Lost's exceptional service in saving the injured following the battle. Special medallions will be prepared for you in Ironcastle, and shipped to Agatecastle on a future supply delivery run. Alongside this announcement, you learn that your fellow staff members have begun calling you the Mourning Lights, as a sort of collective team name. A bit shakesponian, but it sounds like the name is sticking.
The Seneschal invites you here to say a few words, if you are so inclined.
No.764876
>>764875When it's Deadweight's turn to speak, she simply debriefs her side of the battle, laconic and austere with her words. She doesn't forget to commend her team and the rest of the Castle who fought in the fierce battle, especially those who lost their lives, including her comrades Dhampir and Conflagration. After she's done, she walks back to her seat, still stony-faced.
No.764878
>>764875"I… would like to request that my partner and brother Dhampir receive a commendation, a military reward, he wasn't one for faith so I think it would be more… appropriate for him. I wouldn't have been able to save everyone. I mean no offense to the abbey I just… feel like it would honor his memory best." she said softly, the pain evident in her voice.
She looked to the Seneschal, staring into those swirling eyes with a mixture of pain and resolve, as she gave her final words for this.
"The highs and lows, the darkness and the light, everything I have seen here… it has changed me in ways I don't think I'll ever truly recover from, but…" she looked to Deadweight and she smiled softly before looking back "I shall not lie about what I saw. I won't lose my hope of understanding and finding out how to save our people and this world." she said before she left.
No.764879
>>764875I decline any words.
No.764880
>>764878When Deadweight sees Lost smiling at her, she smiles back. Though it's faint, it's the first smile she's made today.
No.764881
>>764878Seneschal Reprise nods. "Meet me later, and we'll put in the paperwork for his commendations on the next supply run. Thank you."
>>764878>>764876>>764879The Seneschal thanks you again. Xu, Deadweight and Huitlapan each add a little bit themselves, but as they are quite drained, they mostly co-sign what has been said already.
When at last you go back to your seats, the leaders quickly wrap up the debriefing. You are all told that you're in for two weeks' paid vacation, as well as a special bonus.
Just as the meeting is nearly done, someone tries to ask whether or not it is possible for an Investigation Team member to withdraw from the effort, and be sent back to Ironcastle.
…The Seneschal, having hit that staff member too late with her spiral eyes, does not directly answer their question, but assures them that their concerns will be taken into consideration.
With that, the debriefing ends, and you are dismissed, to do as you wish.
>timeskip to two weeks from now available No.764882
>>764878>>764881When Deadweight and Lost are alone, Deadweight
breaks her stony exterior and sobs. Still not speaking a word, she grabs onto Lost, seeking comfort.
>Timeskip No.764883
>>764882Lost just helps her.
Holding her tight and letting her have all the time she needed
>timeskip No.764884
>>764881I will go to distract myself with making sure my underground trade lines weren't discovered or gone-after, and then start making small trades of things that I believe would be valuable for small comforts for myself and Steadfast while we're still here.
Timeskip No.764885
You spend your paid vacation as you will. Not many places to go to in the FOB, but Xu is very generous with her gaming collection. Inspired by her example, other staff members orchestrate get-togethers of their own, sharing hobbies of this sort and the other; crochet, card games, cookouts, the painting of wargame miniatures, and many kinds of sports.
All too soon, two weeks pass…
…And the supply ships come in.
The supply runs are more of the logistical team's responsibility, but this time, something of a commotion gets your attention on the runway…
Alongside the supply ships, three Ironcastle Lux Deorum ships have arrived. The intelligence agency of Ironcastle… and as you saw in your dream, also of Agatecastle. These Lux Deorum members look identical to the ones you saw massacred by the negotiator with the mechanical body… gray suit, gray tie, gray coat, gray hat, unremarkable features…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jG-3jOZ-0JsThey are busy speaking with Seneschal Colonnade Reprise, and Knight-Brother Mountain. Though the latter two are stone-faced, confronted by these intelligence agents, you've gotten to know them well enough to sense, albeit vaguely, when they are disconcerted.
The talks end between them, and Reprise and Mountain head to the Storage Areas. The Lux Deorum immediately begin to refuel their ships with the assistance of the shipyard team.
A Concord message pings in your inboxes.
>RE: Continuation of Investigation Duties>Seneschal and I are getting recalled to Ironcastle. The King would like to personally hear about our progress so far. Vacation's been extended by a week until replacement leadership can be dispatched. Yes, it is still paid. You are still barred from leaving the FOB until the next leadership says otherwise.>In the Name of Iron.>K-B M. No.764886
>>764883"Why couldn't we stay there?" she whimpers in between sobs.>>764885Deadweight furrows her brows at her magicomp. Something seems amiss.
>Perception[1d10]
Roll #1 8 = 8 No.764887
>>764885I make sure there are other stashable weapons and bugout kits reachable and hidden away.
No.764888
>>764885Lost was apprehensive around the Lux, she had seen them get angry and the fallout of thier mission here. She watched them with narrowed eyes under her helmet.
She scanned the area for signs of something amiss.
[1d10] Perception
Roll #1 3 = 3 No.764889
>>764887Sensing something in the air, you ensure your 'just in case' preparations are top of the line…
>>764888>>764886You see that the shipyard team is hauling crates from the Priority Zero Storage. Though you aren't certain which crate contains which from this distance, you simply know, through a gut feeling, that the crates, in total, contain Mogao's body, Conflagration's belongings, and the twin Staves of the Sun and Moon.
A Lux Deorum agent attempts to direct the shipyard staff to load it onto one of their own ships, but Mountain is quick to intercept, and has the staff change course. The staff instead load the crates onto Mountain and Reprise's personal skiff – the very one you rode into Agatecastle. A brief argument follows between Mountain and the Lux Deorum agent… but Mountain seems to win, as the agent ceases their argument.
Shipyard staff remain posted around Mountain and Reprise's personal skiff. They look confused, but remain at their posts while the two leaders, or rather, former leaders, load up their personal belongings onto the ship. They seem to be taking quite a lot for a temporary trip back home…
Eventually, loading is complete. The shipyard staff move from their watch-posts, and prepare to see off the four ships, on their return trip to Ironcastle.
The sole staff member who wished to go home watches the ships depart with a forlorn look in her eyes.
>Now, what is Conflagration up to…? No.764891
I am enjoying myself immensely sunning myself, barbecuing, honing my magic, and generally enjoying my retirement. Whether it's Ironcastle or Canterbury doesn't really matter much. It's a tall, tiered city just like I'm used to but open to a world of sunshine and nature rather than darkness and devastation. My friends never come to visit me, of course, but I've got the sneaking suspicion that's a good thing. Or maybe not. This place is much nicer than wherever I used to be.
No.764892
>>764889Lost opted to try and slip into the shadows
[1d10] Stealth
Roll #1 10 = 10 No.764893
>>764889Deadweight walks up to the lone staff member. "Yo, those crates looked heavy. I broke a sweat just watching 'em gettin' carried to the ships."
>Gib info[1d10]
Roll #1 4 = 4 No.764894
>>764889Once they leave I return to doing not much else, as there's no going out of the FoB that means there's no trade going through either, on any channel.
No.764895
>>764891Equestria is certainly an eclectic land, and her people do not always get along – to say nothing of how they get along with the people of the neighboring lands – but it is a good and prosperous home for you. Nothing's ever too difficult to get over with a little ingenuity and a little help from your friends – new friends met in this town or another.
Every now and then, a strange feeling bothers you, like you're forgetting something… but the feeling drifts away, time and again. It does happen, now and then, that you catch a strange craving for mochi. The store-bought stuff is just crap, as you know; you've got to get the real, traditionally-made stuff. Canterbury's got a good festival scene. Maybe something there…
>>764893The lone staff member curls up into a ball and cries.
>>764890>>764892>>764894As for you, you would have to wait for the arrival of your next set of leaders before you could learn more of the truth of Agatecastle's fate…
…Alas, your epilogues will have to remain unwritten for the time being…
>Part 1/? No.764896
An Ironcastle armored skiff flies low over the black landscape of the Outlands, concealed by a cloaking device. Inside, the two occupants sit in silence. Knight-Brother Mountain, and Seneschal Colonnade Reprise, former leaders of the clandestine Castle of Silence Investigation… as of less than three hours prior, they have been temporarily relieved of their duties, and summoned back to Ironcastle, to give a report in person to Iron King Ischyros.
Three Lux Deorum gunships trail them, holding an escort pattern behind their ship. These members of Ironcastle's intelligence agency had been the very messengers to relieve the two leaders of their duties. Despite having just endured a week-long trip by ship to Agatecastle from Ironcastle, the Lux insisted upon taking the two leaders back to Ironcastle the very moment that refueling was complete.
So it has unfolded.
Inside the armored skiff, Reprise flits her eyes toward Mountain, and then to one of the camera feeds– the one displaying the Lux Deorum escort.
Mountain shakes his head. "I've checked every inch of the ship thrice over – software, too. Not a single monitoring device. It's safe to talk."
Reprise practically collapses in her chair from relief. "Finally… I've been ruminating on that dream the entire vacation. Thankfully, I don't think the Lux saw any of the written reports we got about it. I confiscated every one before the ink was even dry."
Mountain sips a bit of coffee from a thermos. "Well, where should we begin?"
No.764897
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4NDU9kWrBc"That dream…" Reprise mutters. "Is it safe to assume that that was the Interior Castle giving us a glimpse into the past?"
Mountain nods. "Mogao and his Moon cult refer to the Interior Castle as 'the Backstage,' going by the Concord voice data harvested from the Mourning Lights. But, same idea."
"I figured," Reprise says. "Then, it wasn't just a mere dream, but genuine history… That was how Agatecastle was destroyed. And, as for those three figures…"
"I'd bet my last schilling that they belonged to the Thorns," Mountain says.
"Let's not paint with too broad a brush," Reprise says. "The Dragon who flew into a rage– he's definitely a Thorn. Seemed like an ideologue, for him to have gone berserk like that. There could still be a chance that those other two were just high-level mercenaries – especially the one with the mechanical body."
"Maybe," Mountain admits. "But, the Thorns historically don't accompany their own mercenaries. It's either all Thorns, or all mercenaries… though, I suppose that makes the two of us exceptions to the rule."
"Fair enough," Reprise says. "Next question, then: To what faction do they belong?"
"Either the Ecumenists, or the Syncretists," Mountain says. "I'm sure of it."
"Not the Dogmatics?"
Mountain shakes his head. "A Dogmatic wouldn't lose his composure at the thought of Annihilationists getting ready to destroy themselves. First and foremost, those three went to Agatecastle to convince the Agate King of something. It was only after the Agate King revealed the Annihilation Protocol that the Dragon flew off the handle. Genuine Dogmatics wouldn't waste their time trying to parley with Annihilationists. Not even to get them to surrender their Light Undefiled – it'd be a lost cause."
"I see…" Reprise says. "Then, in that case, they're either Ecumenists or Syncretists– and moreover, they weren't aware of the existence of the Annihilationists in the first place. The mere concept was enough to send the Dragon over the edge after all that negotiating… I'd bet they're Syncretists, in that case. Out of all the factions we know about, they're the biggest bleeding hearts."
"Sounds about right," Mountain says.
"And, I think it's all but certain that they really were from Ironcastle," Reprise notes, her countenance grim.
No.764898
"How do you figure?"
"The wax seal on their documents could have been, in theory, forged," Reprise says. "So, here's the real damning evidence: The contradictory reports from both inside and outside Agatecastle about when, precisely, it fell.
"When the Agate King died, the Agate Heart instantly broke free of its Ribcage, and went into meltdown. Time, causality and history within Agatecastle distorted at random, leaving the survivors with all manner of contradictory memories about the timeframe of Agatecastle's collapse. With that in mind, I see three scenarios possible:
"The first, that Agatecastle really did collapse ten thousand years ago, and that the Dragon's team reported it as such to the Iron Monarchy of ten thousand years ago.
"The second, that Agatecastle collapsed not very long ago, but was falsely reported as having been collapsed for ten thousand years, either by the Dragon's team, or someone working for them.
"The third… that the Dragon's team never formally reported Agatecastle's collapse. They escaped Agatecastle at the very moment that the time and history inside Agatecastle distorted, such that Agatecastle 'collapsed ten thousand years ago.' Then, upon the team's return to Ironcastle… the Iron Heart extracted the Data that 'Agatecastle collapsed ten thousand years ago' from the team's personal Data Fields. With that Data being the most recent Data regarding Agatecastle, Ironcastle's history revised itself to be consistent with that Data."
No.764899
Mountain scratches his chin in thought. "Hmm… if they're the same saboteurs behind the shortages of Ironcastle's Crystal Heart supply, then it's the second or third scenario we're looking at."
"But now this has me thinking," Reprise continues. "I find it hard to believe that the murder of the Agate King was enough for the Agate Heart to break free of its Ribcage. Yet, reality descended into madness the moment that the Agate King died. That was undoubtedly a meltdown we saw. But, there had to have been more failsafes in place… right?"
"I would think so…" Mountain says. "But consider this. It was clear that the Agate King lived in a state of perpetual hedonia, to be so drunk and gluttonous in front of foreign dignitaries. There wasn't any Royal Family with him. Not even any Nobles, nor proper royal guards. The only ones he kept around him were the rank-and-file of the Lux Deorum. Since we can assume that they're the same as Ironcastle's Lux Deorum… it means that he kept himself surrounded with agents that lacked any kind of free will or sapient thought. In other words– the Agate King kept nobody in his inner circle who could tell him 'No.'"
Reprise slowly nods as she pieces together the picture. "So, you think he'd turned into a tyrant as a result of falling in with the Annihilationists?"
Mountain nods. "It's a bit chicken-or-the-egg to say, but that's the idea. Having anyone else be a failsafe would have been a check on his own power and pleasure. Remember just how ecstatic he looked when he explained the Annihilation Protocol to the Dragon. It's easy to imagine he loved the idea of being the one thing holding Agatecastle back from the complete distortion of its inner reality."
"But Agatecastle more or less stands," Reprise observes. "Inside, reality is mostly stable. The Papillions must have gotten the Agate Heart back under some kind of emergency restraints not too long after the Dragon killed the Agate King… so just what in the world are those two Staves, then?"
The Staff of the Moon, and the Staff of the Sun… both, along with Mogao's comatose body, and Conflagration's personal effects, are kept in the storage unit of the skiff.
No.764900
"Probably the work of rogue Papillions," Mountain suggests. "They would know how to craft machinations like that, and how to hide them in the Interior Castle. Or, to use Mogao's preferred metaphor: How to stash props in the Backstage."
"I could see that," Reprise continues. "Assuming they weren't sympathetic to the Annihilationist cause, Papillions would have the means and the will to foment mutiny… and that would probably explain why they didn't activate the Sword of the Five Gods when the Dreaded Ones were detected inside Agatecastle."
"There may still be a few holding out inside the lowermost Layers," Mountain agrees. "Wonder if they picked up on the Investigation team's presence."
"If they did, they may try to make contact…" Reprise says. "But if word got out that the Agate King was murdered by an Ironcastle operative, that contact just might turn ugly…" She sighs. "No use worrying about it now. At the very least In any case… Was that really was the Archetype of the Moon that Mogao summoned?"
"Not just the Archetype," Mountain says. "That Moon was coming down to collapse onto some kind of gargantuan monster – the monster appeared not long after the Moon got close to the battlefield. That too… was an historical event. Mogao didn't just summon the concept of the Moon– he summoned a particular Moon, from a particular World."
"A World in which the Moon was made into a weapon… the situation must have been hopeless," Reprise observes. "That isn't just mass destruction… that's mutually assured destruction."
Mountain nods, and the two are silent in thought for awhile, sipping their coffee.
Behind their armored skiff, the three Ironcastle Lux Deorum gunships follow along. Ostensibly, an escort back to Ironcastle…
No.764901
"By the way…" Reprise begins. "Between the Agate Alters that Mogao summoned… and the ones we saw Backstage… Did you see any Alters that looked like either of us?"
"No," Mountain says, without hesitation.
Better to confront fate directly.
"I'd wager no Alters exist of either of us, anymore," he concludes.
"So, the Rite worked," Reprise sighs. "Damnatio Memoriae… we really are genuine Thorns." She laughs a bitter laugh… and half-mutters, half-sings, "Nothing can stop us from becoming nothing now…"
"I've got that cassette around here somewhere if you wanna pop it in," Mountain says.
Reprise scoffs and gestures around the cockpit's messy interior. "Buried under all your energy drink cans."
"I'm saving them," Mountain says. "That's good money if you take 'em to the recycling center. Could buy us lunch on it."
"Could you, now…" Reprise says. She looks into the rear-view camera feed, her eyes on the three Lux Deorum ships. Inch by inch, with mathematical precision, those three ships are moving into an attack formation on the down-low.
"Too bad we aren't going to make it back to Ironcastle, then," Reprise says.
"We've been married ten years and you still don't trust my piloting," Mountain chides.
"It's the traffic I'm more concerned about," Reprise says.
"Dickheads," Mountain snorts, glancing at the camera feed. "Passing lane's right there, guys. Go around me."
"…They're going to try to kill the Mourning Lights too, aren't they?" Reprise says.
"Not directly," Mountain says. "The Lights aren't Thorns, but they saw the Annihilation Protocol, and the murder of the Agate King. They know too much. It's more likely that the Lights will suffer a very tragic accident the next time they descend into Agatecastle."
"I just hope the Lights find the dead mare's switch I made," Reprise says.
Mountain nods. "They'll be fine,"
"And I hope the Lux Deorum find the dead mare's switches I made for them," Reprise adds with a cruel grin.
Mountain smirks. "Now them, they're fucked." His hoof goes to the autocannon controls. "As for these guys…"
Reprise nods, and grabs the controls for the ship's secondary guns.
Somewhere in the Outlands, four armored skiffs exchange a cavalcade of silent hardlight gunfire. Over an impossible distance… a lone figure – a Dragon, occulted by static – observes the exchange.
No.764902
>Iron King Ischyros, the Far Seeker, sets down the fourth and final Report of the Agatecastle Investigation, and sips the coffee Sister Root had set before him. They are the only ones to occupy the conference room on this Cycle.
>Mabin, High Director of the Lux Deorum, is uncharacteristically absent.
>"Sister," Ischyros says, keen to take his mind off anything other than his confidant's absence. "Make a note about this Concord program. It desperately needs some security updates. I mean, have you read this Report? Seems just about everyone's exploiting it one way or another."
>"Yes, sire," the Sister says. She casts another glance at the conference room's sealed and enchanted door. "…Th-this Report was late in coming, I note. Do you think Mabin's absence may be–"
>Before she can finish that sentence, the door flies open. With quick and long strides, a lanky white Diamond Dog, his clothing ruffled and stained by dried blood, enters the room. Sister Root gasps, fishing for the medical supplies she always carries in her saddlebag.
>"You must forgive my tardiness, your Majesty," High Director Mabin says as he takes a seat, taking care to not let the dried blood flake off as he fishes his cigarettes from his coat pocket. "I had an unexpected rendezvous with a certain Noble and spent the past hours in a most gripping discussion."
>Iron King Ischyros scoffs. "Surely we have known each other long enough that you do not need to hide your personal affairs behind euphemisms!" he says. "Truly, it seems the missus was–"
>"No, no," Mabin interrupts. "I speak plainly, but allow me to be even clearer. The Noble who accosted me was none other than Lady Offbeaten Path, of House Titanite."
No.764903
Ischyros launches up from his chair, shocking Sister Root as she dabs at Mabin's injuries with a wet cloth. "That incorrigible… she's been interfering with the Agatecastle Investigation from the very first, and now she assails my right-hand dog. I'll have her–"
"Arrested? Tried? Jailed?" Mabin scoffs. "Sire, please save yourself the time, trouble and personnel. Now that my conversation with her is complete, I have no doubt she could elude us at every step if she were so inclinded – she may even have done so under a different name, a different body, perhaps even under a different Royal Family."
Ischyros blinks in shock. "You mean to say – she may even be from a different Castle?"
"We've other matters to discuss first, sire," Mabin says. "It is for the best that she captured and interrogated me, actually. I believe she was on the hunt for high-ranking members of the Lux Deorum, in order to obtain the Reports of the Agatecastle Investigation. I know now that I am one of the very few who could have survived such an encounter. Had she needed to capture others, they in their loyalty would not have submitted to her interrogation – and we would have lost countless valuable agents. But I am arrogant, prideful and reckless, and so I told her what she wished to know. In the end, I am certain I surrendered nothing that she would not have been able to learn through other, bloodier means. And for my collaboration, I managed to obtain information I sought as well."
"An Iron Hero as ever, High Director," Ischyros sighs. "Now: What is her obsession with the Agatecastle Investigation?"
"Her interest was less about Agatecastle," Mabin says. "And more about her very flesh and blood… her magnum opus."
"Her estranged daughter, Lost Hope?" Ischyros asks.
Mabin is silent, and does not answer for a time. "…I shall begin with a review of her interference in the Investigation.
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"Lost Hope, as you know, was not on the initial list of personnel we selected when planning the Investigation. We only discovered that she had been surreptitiously added to the list of vetted and approved personnel mere hours before they were scheduled to be sworn to secrecy, debriefed and deployed. With my staff otherwise occupied, and under a time crunch, I opted to verify her files myself. This was my error, no doubt deliberately engineered by Lady Path. When Lost's files, by my hasty review, appeared to be clean of red flags, I convinced myself that I had simply missed her vetting while juggling my countless other duties and stressors in the months leading up to the Investigation. Therefore, I did not cancel her deployment.
"But I could not shake the feeling that I was missing something. Thus, I passed along her files for a more thorough verification by the Lux Deorum's typical vetting procedures. The Lady is crafty beyond peer… but even she could not hide from the Light of the Gods forever. They discovered that Lost Hope's records, down to her very birth certificate, were a truly convincing forgery. Near-perfect pastiches, down to the very chemical composition of the ink and paper upon which they were printed… I considered having Lady Path arrested and questioned, but I was not confident such an attempt would succeed. Besides, she wounded my pride. I did not want to retaliate with brute force where she had succeeded with guile. Truly, sire, she would make a better High Director than I–"
"Cease that kowtowing," Ischyros snaps. "What happened next?"
"…Right. I deployed my very best agent, my personal bodyguard, on a covert mission into the Manor Titanite. If any trace whatsoever were left – an indentation on a rug, a fallen hair, even discarded skin cells – I feared we would be found out… but the mission was flawless. My agent discovered that not even Lady Path was without a heart. They captured a snapshot of a pair of genuine documents, worn down by years of reading and rereading… two certificates of death, both issued on the same date.
"The first, for a filly, who had almost reached the age of two. The second, for a colt, who had just turned four. Their names, respectively, were Charity and Hope."
No.764905
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34o_qruv1lwFor a moment, none can speak. Mabin drags on his cigarette, and continues.
"We used the notarization on these genuine certificates to continue our investigation… As you know, the blessed internment of the dead is a matter of the utmost severity in Ironcastle. No death certificate exists that is not linked to a corresponding certificate of cremation… or so we believed. When we found the cremation certificates linked to the deaths of those foals… we found that, like Lost's records, they were forgeries."
"The bodies were never cremated?" Ischyros asks.
"Correct," Mabin answers.
"Then, the bodies…"
"The search continued even deeper into the criminal underworld of Ironcastle. I specially appointed another of my personal retinue to spearhead this search. The Lux Deorum rank-and-file are less suited for negotiating criminal activities than we would like to admit. The Lux Deorum thrives on numbers, data, patterns, statistics. The criminal underworld operates on personality, suggestion, unspoken words… this required a personal touch.
"The investigation slowed nearly to a crawl… until we uncovered a lead, from an old soul at the heart of a smuggler's network. An old soul who had seen, and done, far too much in the Outlands. My agent could threaten him with nothing that could shake him. He laughed in their face, and volunteered the lead freely.
"It was a rumor.
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"A rumor of a surgeon. They possessed incredible influence and wealth – most likely a Noble – and commissioned the smuggling of a very specific species of Dreaded One into Ironcastle. The most unthinkable of crimes, the only crime punishable by the Nonagintimation: The execution of the criminal and a random ninety percent of all living Souls who have any relation, blood or personal, to the criminal, regardless of stratum, occupation, or age. It is the most grotesque of all punishments conceivable, more deterrent than threat… and yet, this surgeon was rumored to have defied it.
"It wasn't much to go on, but we would not be called the Light of the Gods if that were enough to halt us. Following that rumor and related ones to their sources, my agents grafted together a loose narrative of whispers.
"Of a surgeon Noble, who paid an unthinkable sum commissioning an unthinkable smuggling…
"Of a clandestine hospital, deep in the unmapped expanses of the Noblesse, whose staff consisted of a single surgeon…
"Of a congenital disease, once believed incurable, and one hundred percent fatal…
"Of an impossible event, wrought not by a miracle, but unspeakable, blasphemous science…
"Of the true reversal of death itself."
Ischyros sits there, pale-faced, his pupils small and dark. "Then…"
"This was the heart of my conversation with Lady Offbeaten Path," Mabin says. "The symbiotic lifeform codenamed 'Dhampir,' begotten of the fusion of Hope's corpse with that of a Dreaded One. Iron Soul Lost Hope inherited her life, power, and name from Dhampir – twice over. First, when Lady Path surgically implanted Dhampir into Charity's central nervous system, reviving the filly anew under the name 'Lost Hope,' nearly seventeen years ago. And again, when Dhampir sacrificed his life to restore Lost Hope's, in order that she could save their allies from the falling of the false Moon.
"I confirmed that Lady Path cured her other two children, Good Intentions and Lazy Days, of their congenital diseases using Dhampir's cells. They also owe their health and lives to him… to the original Hope."
No.764907
"…I've a question," Sister Root says. "In order for flesh to live, it requires a soul. The soul remains in the body for three Cycles after death, before it returns to the Light Undefiled… if it is not first consumed by a Dreaded. All arcane knowledge on the soul attests to this. Only necromancy's most forbidden rituals can detain a soul from this departure, but they must be done immediately after death to be efficacious. How then, did Lady Path forge a living consciousness from… well, to be blunt, from two corpses and a soulless abomination?"
"That, I do not know, for she did not confess," Mabin says. "And at this point, I do not know if any speculation I can dream of is too wild for Lady Path's capabilities… However, she named her youngest daughter 'Lazy Days,' a most unusual expression. The term 'Day' is the supposed name of the country of the mythical 'King of the Sun.' Why then would there be 'Days,' as in more than one? How can a country be 'Lazy?' It may be that Lady Path has an inkling of the true secret of the Castles, just as Mogao and Mendicant Rudolph did."
Ischyros leans upon the table, face obscured by his interlocked fingers, and is silent for much time, while Sister Root continues to clean Mabin's injuries.
"…I would have her summoned here," Ischyros finally says.
"As I have warned before, an attempt at arrest would probably backfire," Mabin says.
"I do not want her arrested," Ischyros says. "I want her recruited into the Thorns."
Mabin lets the cigarette droop, his eyebrows arched so high they might leave his forehead. Eventually he sighs, extinguishes what remains of the butt, then stands and bows. "I shall extend thy inviation, sire."
"Thank you," Ischyros says. "And then you are to take two weeks' vacation, to be punished by two more weeks, if you are caught doing so much as checking your e-mails. You too, Sister Root."
Sister Root nods silently, and then glances at Mabin, whose mouth is already open to form a protest. Mabin, feeling the stare of the Sister and the King weigh upon him, sighs again. The old spymaster allows himself to relax, if only a little, and if only under orders. "As you wish, your Majesty… thank you."
>So reads the End of the report of the Castle of Silence.
>Thank you for playing.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0IBs44d4cVc
