Scene Archives

has added fur ruffs to the edges of his coat- along all the edges and around the sleeve endings around the wrist- and a double-layered linen interior as well (diagonally cross stitched, well insulated). A long flowing azure scarf is wrapped around his throat and bottom of his face, billowing dramatically as he confidently strides forward, hands jammed into pockets.

has simply layered a thick woolen cloak over his normal jacket. And much thicker gloves. And a scarf. And a rather adorable knit hat pulled low to cover his ear-tips. Aaaand…he still kind of looks miserable.

: “The lack of heat here is borderline uncomfortable.” Even Luĉja has opted for a heavy serape-like cloak. They had no idea that worlds could lack this much fire.

has changes clothing entirely, knowing the robes and wooden sandals aren’t going to cut it in the snow. Instead, he’s now wearing a pair of jeans and a plain white shirt and a denim jacket replace it, along with a pair of thick leather steel toed boots. He’s still wearing the pince nez, though.

looks up, wonderingly, at the ice. She’s traded in her divided skirt and sheer top for heavy, fur-trimmed boots, a fur-lined cloak, warms trousers and a coat with a gnosis-worked shirt of something that feels a lot like silk underneath—somehow, it remains warm yet comfortably cool against her skin. The gloves the Academy equipped them with keep her hands warm, but are thin enough to allow fine motor control. She’s braided her hair into two thick braids that hang down her back, and a wool scarf, somewhat unevenly woven and dyed a deep red, is wrapped around her neck. Her cloak has a fur-lined hood, and her nose is pink in the cold, despite the attempt to keep the scarf up and over it.

: “Man, you know it’s cold when the Endjinn start complaining.”

walks confidently in front. Whatever answers there are, whatever there is to do next, it begins here. He’s sure of it. His trained eidesis keep his task at the forefront of his mind, scanning his surroundings, pointedly thinking of anything and anyone other than Solei, Synthesis, and Caion. He’s opted for a heavy, wool, fuller-length version of his usual coat, and gave in with only a few squeaks of feigned protest when Caion insisted on wrapping his purple scarf around Archie’s neck. (“See? It even matches!” It was hard to argue.)

: “How are you not cold?” She eyes the denim doubtfully.

: “We are fire. To be this cold is unnatural for Endjinn.”

: “Keep the feet and hands warm and you’re mostly fine.” A pause. “It is cold as shit though, not gunna pretend otherwise.”

: “Hmm…”

: “Mostly fine, save for the nose, ears, mouth…it is cold, why am I dripping?”

: “Well, here’s an idea.” He snaps his fingers in his left hand, igniting a few sparks of burning gnosis.

traces his finger along his clothes, up and down the arms, across the front, down the legs… he can’t quite reach the back, but gnosis-work is hardly limited by physical capability, he points, and it traces along the bluejay on the back. The lines he’s traced are dark, but every now and then pulse with redness.

: “Mmm…”

glances back towards Wolf, before pulling two small, smooth stone with a few red glyphs etched into it out of his pockets and handing them over. “Here, just shove these in your pockets with your hands.”

stares at it, pausing mid-transfer of Aury’s stones to his pockets. “Goddess Bright.”

: “Well, it appears that we will not have to look hard for our destination.”

: “Ohhh that’s a peculiar color and formation, alright.” His shoulders shake in suppressed laughter. “I wonder if it hums like it’s alive.”

: “I am surprised, Friend-Awoken, that you do not wonder if it is alive.”

looks at Awoken. “Does it … kind of look like the metal from your lantern, or is it just me?”

stuffs his hands in his pockets and closes his eyes, listening carefully for a moment–seeing if he can glean a special tone or melody out of this place.

stops walking for the briefest moment, seemingly stunned by the sight, before shaking himself a little and picking up his feet. “I don’t know what I imagined, but it wasn’t this.” He pulls out his glasses from one of his pockets and begins observing the site.

: “Kind of does! Just have to get closer to it.” He looks to Lucja. “It’s complicated!”

opens his eyes, frowning at the place ahead of them. “We should be…careful.”

: “…Hmm…”

: “Hm? I thought we were just going to have Awa charge right in and set off any traps. Just for fun and chaos.” She’s joking, but her lips are chapped and her throat is try so she croaks out the last few words.

: “Works for me.”

: “You got it!” He starts doing a few squats to limber up.

glances at Salme, then goes back to looking at the place, narrow-eyed. “It…it waits. For our song.”

: “This seems unwise.”

: “It was a joke, though perhaps a poor one.” She looks to Archie, though. He’s the expert here.

looks back over his shoulder at Awoken and Salme with a bold grin. “No offense and hate to disappoint, but I intend to do all the needed charging today.” He turns back and begins plowing ahead, blazing a trail towards the site, fueled by urgency and ardent curiosity both.

holds up his hands in front of his face, making a square with this thumbs and pointer fingers, then positions them such that there’s a view of the entire Septentrione contained within them.

: “Ah, see? He’s got it covered! Try to keep up!” He picks up the pace, jogging- and at times, sprinting- to stay behind the gnosis-driven Kushtaka.

holds for a few moments, then nods to himself and shoves his hands back into his jacket pockets before trailing after Archie.

follows swiftly behind Archie, attempting to plow whatever snow remains out of the way of the others.

glances at Wolf. “Do you want the rear, or shall I?”

follows, much more sedately–and cautiously–resisting the urge to hum a particular melody as he nears the structure. “I shall, I think…”

follows carefully, keeping an eye on Wolf behind her. “When you said it waited for our Song, what did you mean?”

: “I wish I knew. All I know is…it doesn’t have a tone or melody of its own. It’s waiting for ours.”

: “…Is that normal?”

: “Is it…like the Sanctuary was?”

: “No. Not like the Sanctuary. Not silent, just…quiet. Waiting. And I don’t know if I could tell you what’s normal and what’s not, here.”

: “For you, from your perspective, I meant. Goddess knows there’s no way of knowing what’s normal for this place in particular.”

: “Ah, yes. Apologies. It is…I don’t know. I do not feel it to be malicious? Just…curious.” He twitches, but keeps walking, as the orbs flare to life. “…unprecedented effects, hm?”

periodically forms that square with his hands as they go, making sure to capture anything of note or interesting looking inside of it while they explore.

looks at the lights as they come to life. “Is it weird to say that feels encouraging?” On a hunch, he pokes a glance at the icosahedron in his pocket, checking to see if it glows, too.

: “‘It’s going to be different this time,’” she murmurs, looking at the orbs. She frowns.

: “We’re special, we get the special treatment,” he says, like he’d state that water was wet or the sky was cloudy.

tucks it back away again carefully, making sure to keep it safe and secure on his person as he continues onward towards the entrance.

presses their hand to the metal, attempting to discern its type and qualities via a quick burst of gnosis.

pats the lantern hanging on his side- he’s added an addtional belt with cross-strap to help hold it in place. “(It’s a much bigger version of you! Maybe!)”

taps his foot against the strange metal–taptap, taptap–chewing idly on his lower lip as he tries to keep himself from humming.

: “Yes, metal can be friendly. What do you think I am?”

wonders what those locked doors look like—and what the keyholes looked like. Wonders if they’d be at all familiar to her, wonders if they’d bite if you tried to stick your finger in a keyhole, then shakes her head because that’s not important.

: “I mean, I think you’re more than just your metal.”

: “Oh yes. Sorry, talking to No one In Particular. But yes, I am more than metal. This metal…is strange, but…friendly?”

: “Follow the lit pathway, I assume?”

nods. “Yeah, some metals are just easier to work with. Lead’s a stubborn one. Mercury’s a weird one. Platinum seems unapproachable but they’re really more like you and me than most!”

nods. “Thank you.”

gives the Awoken a strange look.

: “I would assume so, too. I trust Luĉja’s instincts with the intentions of this metal.” A smile flickers briefly across his face at the sheer ridiculousness of the words he just uttered, but only briefly. It was far from the strangest thing he’d encountered lately.

tries to memorize the path as he goes–and quickly fails, sighing. “Let us pray nothing causes the lights to go out.”

: “Don’t we have some crumbs we can leave as a trail?” He glances at Salme.

: “Oh. Aury, can you call up your Cartogrix?”

sticks her tongue out at Awoken, and then draws it back into her mouth because yikes, it’s cold!

: “Already made a new one when we landed, yeah.”

gives him a brief salute. “May the Light shine upon you, Mister Always Prepared.” She turns to Wolf. “Aurelius will have a map for us at least.”

bows with a slight smile. “My concerns assuaged.”

looks back at the group and forwards towards the path. He’s so eager to learn as much as he can about this place, but the delicate precision of the extant gnosis-work here makes him hesitant to do any workings too large. He satisfies himself with looking at the illuminated path, following it down, one foot in front of the other.

waves at Archie as he looks back, smiling brightly.

smiles and returns the wave, unable to contain the curious excitement in his grin.

thinks that, in some way, the curving, twisting of the path reminds her of the trip to the Sword-Saint’s shrine. The inevitability, if not the dread.

: “Archie. Are your wards different to keep things in versus keep things out?”

.

pulls out the icosahedron in his pocket and shows it to the others. “I assume you all heard that. My current guess would be that this is what’s allowing us safe passage here. It is the kleis, after all.”

: “If this is a ward meant to keep things out, why is it specifically letting us in? Do wards do that?”

: “Wards can keep specific things or people out, or have other conditions that need to be met, sure.”

: “What is a kleis, by the way? I think I remember hearing that term, but I didn’t get it down in the glossary.”

pulls out her Tomestone and a small, delicate crystal stylus.

: “It’s the ancient word for key, but it’s also used both interchangeably with and as a symbol for power and authority. My guess would be that this is the place that it unlocks, so to speak.”

nods and quickly scribbles something down. “So you have the … key and symbol of authority that allows us access.” It’s more a restatement of understanding than a question.

“If this is the room where they found Tasna, should there not be some form of Gate?”

nods to Salme. “And remember, it was with me this whole time. Even when I was abducted and taken to Sanctuary, whatever or whoever did that either didn’t want to or couldn’t separate me from it, and it was part of what allowed us to cross the portal and return.” He looks forward. “Now that… that’s new.”

: “You don’t happen to remember where you got it?”

: “…Hmm… gate’s in the center…?”

: “Suppose that makes sense if that’s where they found her.”

looks over to Luĉja with a slight grimace. “Haven’t the faintest, I’m afraid.”

absently, but carefully, starts to weave a Bubble between her fingers, doubling and re-doubling the threads of pellucid gnosis, but not casting it. Not yet.

chuckles darkly. “Wow that’s a strange feeling. Kind of like when your heart pumps a little too deeply.” He leans forward, sniffing, teasing out the gnoisis from the edge of the presence, like he’s trying to find a thread…

: “Archie,” she asks idly, still weaving, strengthening, amplifying. “Would Bubbling this room interfere with any gnosis-work you wished to do here?”

pops his glasses back on and takes a closer look at the gnosis-work in this particular area to confirm his answer to Salme’s question.

glances around the room a few times, before stepping into it and towards the center of the room, eye shimmering a dull purple intermittently as he does.

closes his eyes briefly–he’s standing towards the edge of the room, nearest the entry–and checks to see if that sense of “waiting” is still there.

: “Got it.“

takes a breath, and lets the pellucid weave dissipate from her fingers.

crosses his arms and nods. “We could make a pretty simple gate, I bet. The ground’s practically begging to be given purpose, and the veil is easier to brush aside than long locks of hair.”

: “This is definitely how she crossed over, too. I think we were pretty sure of that already, but it’s easier to tell for sure after observing it.”

glances back over his shoulder at the Awoken. “And have to deal with the iceberg any time we come back? No, the Gate’s going up on the island.”

: “‘Deal with the iceberg.’ Just dress warmer!”

: “You only say that because you’ve never been to the Beast or Mu before.”

: “Technically, none of us have been to Mu before.”

tilts his head to the side. “Maybe I have and I don’t remember! Also I don’t think you’ve been to Mu, either!”

: “Technically,” she repeats dryly.

nods. “Is there anything we need to do before we open the gate? Other expeditions have come here before and mapped much of the rest of the place. We have the kleis, though. I want to believe that there’s more to learn about what’s happening here. I don’t want to rush through until we’re sure we’ve done all we can for Samudra, for now. If not here, then maybe the answers lie with Tasna, once we find her.”

: “Right, I wasn’t implying I had. Only that I can read.”

leans a hand on the friendly stone, projecting less of a gnosis-work and more of a wish onto it, willing it to light a new path if one need be followed.

scratches the back of his head. “Not unless we’re ready to solve the world’s problems. (Which, I mean… I have some evolving ideas…)”

: “I don’t think there’s really much else we can do at this point. Even if we wanted to build on the island and triple gnosis stuff, we probably need the Gates to and from Beast open for that at bare minimum.”

: “I admit, I am…curious about how it’s ‘waiting for our song.’ I am tempted to try something, but I am doing my best not to be rash.”

: “But, we’re already here, so no harm in exploring a bit further.”

: “Is there something to do with the platform that isn’t the gate?” She walks closer to it, not stepping up on it but looking.

: “I mean, you can just end a song, right? Or just sing it backwards to reverse the effects, yeah?”

blinks, slowly, at the Awoken. “That is not how songs work, no.”

looks to Wolf, but doesn’t look convinced, with eyebrows raised and eyes lidded.

: “Maybe it is,” she murmurs absently. “Maybe if a song exists it is being sung forward and backwards at all times?”

: “…Don’t think he’s familiar with record players, Awa.”

: “It is more that I do not know what will happen if one does sing–or Sing–here.”

: “Archie, any interest in trying your kleis here?”

looks towards the indentation, examining it, the kleis burning a hole in his pocket as he pulls it out, seeing if it lines up.

places it gently inside.

wonders briefly how closely this does or does not resemble the setting for the Mask in the shrine back on Almachadta.

blinks, looking down.

yelps, in a very undignified manner, and manages to keep himself from outright scrambling for the exit.

: “The First City…just like in the song.”

stares in shock and wonder, brief burst of terror forgotten. “Goddess Bright. It’s…beautiful.”

: “Huh. … The entire city’s a fucking sigil.”

: “A what?”

: “Like a rune, but much, much more complex.”

: “You’ve heard of living in a dream, but living in a spell is a whole ‘nother level of magical.”

: “What once was a river is now A River Without Water. Fascinating. I wonder if the City too, is a ward.”

: “An entire city that is also a spell-work. It’s…unbelievable.” He closes his eyes, listening intently once more, seeing if the city has a song, or if it, too, is somehow waiting.

: “Yeah. Yeah, I like to think I’m pretty good at this sort of thing but this is… completely Beyond me.”

: “Who do you think lived here? And what happened to them?”

: “…I think they may have been Ancients.”

nods in agreement.

nods to Wolf. “Probably. We know little and less about them, and that’s coming from someone who’s studied them far more than most.”

: “Archie…you know how to tell how old things are when you look at them…yes?”

: “Who made it? What could they have made it for? Could they have made it… for us?” He puts one hand on his hips, and the other points the palm at the city. Will it move to his Song? He aims a few notes at it- low, high, high, low… low, high, high…

: “Aye. There is also a…lingering tone, that I can hear. And it is the same kind of tone as Zosimos’ song. As ‘Sanctuary’.”

: “Yes I can, though ideally I’d be a little closer. I’m not sure if I can tell the age of the city from here, but I can at least take a reasonable guess at the age of these stones.”

: “Yeah… frozen solid.”

: “In stasis, I’d assume…?”

sidles over next to Wolf, carefully tapping her foot on the … decided lack of ground before she takes each step. “(Do you think … could the inhabitants have ended up as Zosimos did, Wolf?)” She feels ridiculous even asking, but.

leans heavily on Salme, half-staggered, threatening to drop to one knee–his hand goes to his face, because it’s wet; wet with tears he doesn’t remember weeping.

: “…What the FUCK?”

wraps an arm around Wolf. Her eyes are also wet, but she’s grinning, fiercely, proud.

: “What…” Wolf’s voice is ragged. “What are we?”

: “Why does everything stop there?”

: “The weight of a body settling around you like borrowed clothes. That’s… hm.”

slams a fist into an open palm. “What… what a gift!!”

: “Special.“

: “We are… experienced!”

: “What a hilarious thing to have happen right before I was going to explain things.“

: “What a convenient timing, oh Angel of Darkness.”

: “I know Aurelius said he wanted to wait until we got to the void to say what he had to say, but I’m guessing if you’re here, now’s as good a time as any. The quality of the Bubble here should be more than enough for anything you have to throw at us.”

groans. “No. Light. We will be here for eternity.”

: “I mean, I could start show and tale right now, but it might be best to get your goodbyes and Salme's "*surprise*" out of the way first.“ He rolls a shrug.

laughs heartily. “I agree. That’s why we should just make the gate here, for now.”

: “We can make another gate later!”

: “No, I don’t think we want a Gate right on top of the first city, Awa.”

: “Why not!”

: “Enough,” Wolf snaps. “We stick with the plan.”

trembles slightly. “No. Please. If any of what Jorule has to say has anything to do with what’s happening here, I want to hear it now, before we go.” The pace of his speaking picks up. “I was so sure that if we came here, I’d have answers. That we would know what was happening, how to stop it, how to save everyone. And now we’re here, and the only thing greeting us is another gate, like it’s taunting me. Just another chance to run away from my problems, no closer to solutions for them.”

places a hand on Wolf’s shoulder. “Worry not, Friend-Brother-Wolf. We are who we have always been. And perhaps more. The details may change, but our purpose remains. Let us see who we will be. Together.”

glances back and forth between Wolf and Awa, then rolls an apologetic shrug in Awa’ direction.

: “I’m not ready to go. Please. There has to be more here. There has to be.”

: “...I mean, I don't think it really has much to do directly with that but. Well, the visions *end* on the slabs because that was the starting point, at least.“

: “I don’t know everything Jorule has to tell you,” she says softly, “but I don’t think he’s going to be able to give you the kind of answers you want. Not something that will save Samudra.” She looks up at Aurelius, looks at Jorule, curious if that’s about right.

nods at Salme. “Yeah.”

takes a breath, exhales, pushes his hair off his face. He quietly walks forward, rests a hand on Archie’s shoulder. “We are not running away. We have gained much information. I, too, am frustrated at…answers that raise more questions. But…we must walk the path to its end. It…” He grimaces. “It is not going to be that easy.”

goes over to Archie and touches his shoulder, gently, asking if he might want touch. A hug. Connection.

leans his head onto the hand and then rolls his whole body over for a hug, gripping tight, his body slumping into hers.

just rests his hand on the back of Archie’s neck, sighing and closing his own eyes.

clicks his tongue. “It’s only difficult if you make it so. You see suffering because you want to see it,” he nods to Wolf.

visibly bristles, visibly takes a breath, and says, with surprisingly soft gentleness, “Not now, Awa. Please.”

: “Maybe Tasna will know. I just can’t stand the thought of Caion trying to keep everything together here for as long as it might take to get back. But I could think of far worse hands the fate of Samudra could have been left in than ours and his.”

pulls him tight, so tight, and she’s strong and she’s certain about this at least. “You aren’t running away, Archie. It’s just that we’re not lucky enough to achieve answers in one single place, and when your home is threatened, when it’s in danger, when time is running out, that’s horrible and heavy and devastating. But you are doing everything right.”

takes a deep breath, gives Salme one last squeeze, and comes up to full standing. “Well, if the plan is to go, then let’s go. I veto the idea of putting the gate too close to Ripple, but we should be able to put it on the same island at least, make it convenient for us. Maybe I’ll even be able to sneak back for a snack now and then.”

: “I think the idea was … the anchored island near Cloudset. Since it should be stable through even the worst Thoughtstorm.” She, again, looks askance at Aurelius.

: “I was planning on Tulinsuojat; it’s out of the way to not cause problems, but still close enough to be convenient.”

nods. “That’s probably more sensible.”

: “How would we get off the island if we returned?”

: “Tell Silver-Throat Wolf asked for a favor,” she mutters.

gives Salme a bit of an arch look at that, but…he blushes, faintly, and doesn’t argue.

gnosis-laughs so hard they can barely stand

: “The island formed a land bridge to Cloudset, and we have the tomestones to get ahold of Caion.”

: “Oh, many ways, that’s not a problem. We’re close enough to Cloudset to be able to signal them, but even without Aunt Silver-Throat’s ship, I have a few ways of my own to get around.”

: “Or just take the bridge. Yup. That works.”

: “Very well, then. Let us continue. Forward.”

leads the way.

wraps an arm around Awoken’s shoulder before heading outside with him.

shrugs it off as he starts his way back up.

makes a point, as they start to leave, to fall back to the Awoken and give him a bit of a chagrined nod. “My apologies, Awoken. My response was inappropriate. And I would…like to understand better what you meant by what you said. Just…later, if that is alright.”

: “Later, later. Catch me after a meal, yeah?”

nods in assent, and moves on.

does spare a glance at Awoken, but doesn’t attempt to fuss over him. She does give him a small wave and a concerned look as they head out.

pops into the Library for a couple of minutes once they’re back on the ship, then spends a little bit fiddling with his tomestone after returning.

seems amiable enough to the kushtaka. “We’re good! We wouldn’t let some icy beast eat us or nothin’.”

smiles at them as they make their presence known. He’s still getting used to the feeling, but he’s more sure than ever that the warning given by the dream-whales drawing near is not itself the danger warned of in story and song.

nods waterways. “These lads aren’t givin’ you any trouble, are they?”

spends the ride back standing silently in his usual place, watching the Dream-Whales with a pensive expression on his face.

sits next to Aurelius and absolutely does not spend the entire trip trying to watch what he’s doing over his shoulder (she absolutely does).

can’t disembark the ship fast enough, first giving Ksenija an enthusiastic but polite hug, then launching himself at Caion.

: “Sent you a bunch of pictures, if you hadn’t seen that yet.”

returns the hug a bit awkwardly.

has shucked off everything but her trousers, boots, and blouse, and she disembarks, giving Ksenija a tight hug and whispering something in her ear.

: “Yeah, no problem.”

removes a small piece of plating, and hands it to Caion, once the hug is over. “At your convenience, I would like to know how old this is. If you could let me know via the Linkpearl, that would be most appreciated. I know you have an entire Academy to run.”

tilts his head at Lucja’s action. “You had… an extra one?”

claps her hands together and says, “Luĉja, I’ll race you to the top of the hill?”

shifts from foot to foot. She’s … not pacing. Barely.

: “Actually, I’ll race any and all takers.”

looks over to Caion and flashes him a competitive grin. “You’re on.”

smiles slightly, tries for a jaunty wave of his hand. He seems a little…wilted. “I think I’ll walk.”

blinks a few times, shakes it off, and then hops from one foot to the other. “Well now I gotta make it to the top of this hill.”

: “Hold on, let me drop this pack first, Friend-Salme.” They drop into a deep lunge, ready to start.

bounces on the balls of her feet, grin widening as people agree, though she gives Wolf a concerned look. “Luc? Aury?”

: “Less of an extra, and more of a…calculated risk.”

pauses mid pulling out the tomestone to put it back in his pocket. “Oh, alright.”

nods, then says, “Count of three?” She bounces on the balls of her feet, and then says, “One, two,” she starts running on three, and yells it back over her shoulder.

: “Oh hell. Time to cheat.”

: “Screw that, let’s really cheat.” He focuses himself into an orb.

Burns a little hotter than normal and kicks their movement up a gear. Just one though. Salme is blazing ahead of them and it doesn’t look like their longer legs are gonna make up that difference.

looks faintly amused…kneels…and sends flourishing gnosis into the ground, causing it to erupt with roots, vines, and all manner of obstacles in the path of the runners. “Might as well make it interesting…”

leans down and plucks a few, losing no speed whatsoever and laughing.

Lucja’s already taken off, and it’s just time to LAUNCH this baby into the sky- which he does, hurling the orb up high- and at the apex of its height, he stomps his feet as a carpet of obsidian forms…

: “Karma.”

laughs exasperatedly, and follows behind, picking himself a small handful of flowers and idly weaving them into a wreath as he walks. The run is at least now much more fragrant–there’s a ton of lilac and honeysuckle.

sprints forward. Here, while he’s still on Samudra, things make sense to him. He imagines the wind at his back, propelling him forward faster than he could ever have run on his own. A clear path, free of obstacles and danger, waiting to be taken by those who know how to find it.

is laughing and laughing and laughing and she runs into his arms, fully knowing he will catch her.

absolutely did not wait for the orb to land, but even as he catches up to it and the carpet stops- he glides along the air with tenebrous streaking from his feet, cutting air resistence itself into a controlled, skating fall, and comes to a planted stop at the hill, bracing himself for a full-on tackle with arms wide open.

follows along behind, smiling in spite of his grey mood, not entirely immune to the joyful play of his comrades. When he finally makes it to the top of the hill, he takes the flower wreath he’s made and drops it lightly on top of the Awoken’s head. “The victor’s laurels.”

finishes jogging up the hill a little bit after that, roughly at the same time as Lucja. He shakes his head at Awa and Salme, before continuing past them and towards the very top, in the center of the hedge.

pulls away from her Sinitöyhtönärhi after kissing him very thoroughly and waves to everyone who arrives at the top. “I have a surprise for everyone!” Though really, she’s looking at Aurelius, who’s made his way … to the hedge.

looks at her. “That’s a new one! The tone of your voice, not the gift-giving, that is.”

: “…Am I still forgetting the message you sent me?”

goodnaturedly elbows Wolf. “Aw. I can’t really stay rankled at much of anyone, buddy.” And then gives him a quick, hopping side-hug before releasing and giving him a pat on the arm.

rolls her eyes and shakes her head, and gestures Luĉja toward the grill. “I learned from Melpomene,” she tells Archie, then she looks over her shoulder at Aurelius. “And ideally, you’d look around you, but I understand you want to get the gate set, kulta.”

blinks at the hug–he does return it, albeit belatedly and awkwardly, and returns the arm-pat with a shoulder-clasp. Hey, look, he’s learning.

: “Awoken…do you need to throw the orb? Or can anyone throw it, and you teleport to it?” Luĉja has a delighted hue in their ever-glowing eyes.

: “Yes, I saw all the cook out gear, hence the question.”

: “I don’t need to, no. But if you’ve got a great idea that I think you have…” His eyes shine.

goes over to Aurelius. “You said you could really go for a burger.” She’s looking directly and intently in his eyes. “And thus. Burger.”

: “Our conversations purpose has become clear, Friend-Sister-Salme. Truly a magnificent feast you have set before us!”

: “If this is what you arrange for the people you care about, remind me to never make you truly angry,” Wolf says, with distinct note of bemused delight. “My goodness.”

: “Oh… my…” His mouth hangs open, and the next words are more drooly than he expected “-I knew some of thisphffff–“ He wipes his mouth and swallows.

: “I knew about some of this, but to see it all laid out?”

: “You are a very, very silly person Salme. Especially when Beast was right around the corner.” A beat. “But I’m never gunna say no to a good cookout. Thank you.”

joins Caion’s side as he approaches the food, as is his wont, discussing ingredients and toppings.

immediately goes about slightly overcooking a couple of patties (the taste of fire is their favorite, after all) and adding the spiciest toppings and condiments available. They somehow manage to squeeze the burger through their mouth, and you smell a hint of smoke as they eat it in one go.

: “Hey, Aurelius, Second of His Name,” she fists a hand in a shirt so she can, ideally, drag him close enough that only he can hear what she whispers. “(Part of this was to show you how much I care through the sheer effort of it. Part of it, though, was because what you want, what you love, is laughing and eating and just existing with friends. With clan. I’m giving you that).” And then she rises to her tiptoes and kisses him.

returns the kiss with a smile. “It sure does look like you put an astounding amount of effort into this, yes. Very well done.”

Satisfied with their burger, Luĉja snaps a block of stone, and dons their new apron. Brandishing spatula and tongs, they very carefully begin grilling more patties to their friends’ specifications. And grilling a little bit of everything else as well. They can’t help it. Burgers are meant for science.

ends up with a rather massive hamburger, which has–at the very least–the burger itself, that peppery cheese, lettuce, bacon, fried onions, an obscene amount of mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard–plus a pile of fries as big as the burger is. He even has a mug of beer. It looks like he’s going to have to unhinge his jaw to get a bite of the damn thing, but he manages it, though not without dripping a bunch of the condiments onto the fries.

: “The beef and bacon is from Almachadta. The rest of it is from Samudra, except that box of cheese which was … a gift, from someone who loves Awoken very much.” She lets Aurelius go. “Anyway. A cookout. For you.”

: “Okay so this white cheese is provolone, it’s EXCEPTIONALLY good, anyone vaguely cheese-friendly should give it a try–“ He continues on a bit about the flavor profile of provolone while assembling his burger- both sides of the bread slightly toasted, ketchup, mayo, one slice of each cheese, criss-crossing bacon, grilled onions, lettuce, some pungent pickles, and a glass filled with half sweet tea, half water. (It doesn’t cut the flavor at all.)

clumsily tries to steal a pickle off Caion’s plate to continue their ongoing bit and utterly fails, plate clattering loudly against the table as he bumps it but thankfully manages to avoid launching it anywhere. He looks at Caion a little sheepishly for the poor effort and laughs uncontrollably into his own burger, still keeping a piece of pickle on principle.

hooks his arm around Salme’s shoulder to, at least, drag her with him over to the tables. But once they’re there she’ll have to be let go, that way he can direct Lucja in grilling up four different thin patties, all with the Melty Yellow Cheese, before he begins constructing them into a single burger, with just a hint of lettuce, tomato and mayo (on both halves of the bun), before moving on to fill the entire rest of his plate with fries and procure some ale.

watches Luĉja work on Aurelius’ burger, then her own, peering around their shoulder and asking a truly absurd amount of questions. Eventually she comes away with a double-stacked bacon burger with spicy peppers, spicy cheese, a pile of … alarmingly purple lettuce, and a spicy mayo. Then she asks for a second burger, this one with some of the basic toppings set to the side, before she returns to the table, balancing a plate of fries and a glass of dark ale with it. She sets her burger in front of her, and the undressed burger at an occupied seat.

: “Thinking of you, Jorule,” she says to the empty seat, before casting a flick of burning gnosis and sending the burger up in flames, like an offering to an absent deity.

then dumps the plate full of fries into a bowl of butter, garlic and some herbs, before dumping that back into the friers for a bit. And once that is done, it will be time to sit down and Consume A Lot Of Really Good Food. (And then… go back for seconds… which is smaller burgers but with different cheeses and toppings instead of one massive x4 monstrosity)

absolutely does sample Aury and Awa’s burgers. She likes Aurelius’, but the ketchup on Awoken’s makes her frown at him. She does return to nab a slice of provolone cheese.

: “Caion, were you able to get us a mini FU to take with us?” she asks. She knows he wasn’t sure if it could happen, but he was sure as hell willing to try.

dips potato wedges into several different sauces, giving them all a fair shake- mustard is not in his range it seems, but anything with spice he has a growing fondness. He makes much smaller burgers with a slice of fried egg, breaded and fried onions, and ground up bits of pepper.

immediately attempts to make a spicy mustard, using some of the hot peppers, to see where it lands for Awoken.

: “Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm…!!” He takes a drink of the bountiful tea. “51% good. We’re in.”

is working on his second burger now–inspired by Aurelius’ invention, he’s got what looks like a flat, square patty between two less-floofy pieces of bread, with cheese and some sort of vaguely pink sauce, all of which has also been flattened and grilled. Judging by how it’s disappearing into his mouth, it’s delicious.

: “Thank you.” She gets up to give Caion a quick hug, since she missed the chance in all the racing. “You’re the best.” And then, because she’s there, she ruffles Archie’s hair. “You have good taste. Which is more than I can say for myself,” but she’s grinning fondly at Aury and Awa both. She’s almost glowing, maybe flickering with burning gnosis. She is extremely pleased with herself.

: “MY FRIENDS, BEHOLD!” Luĉja has been allowed far too much unsupervised time at the grill. They’ve taken some of the fluff bread, and pulverized it into a crumb. Coating a burger in mustard and mayo and then in the crumb, they plunge it fearlessly into the fryer. After a short while, they remember to use the tongs to remove it - a perfectly golden brown fried burger patty. “The Twice Cooked Burger!”

looks at Luĉja for a moment, and then laughs and laughs and laughs. “Truly, the next Endjinn Iron Chef has been found!”

pauses for a second as he turns to observe Lucja, then begins to laugh.

stares in awe. “…you can just DO that?!”

: “Clearly, anything that is not actively impeded can be done.”

: “Which doesn’t mean you should,” Wolf grumbles, but he’s smiling while he does it.

chops their new creation into quarters, offering to share in their madness, should any wish.

: “At the forefront of burger science, over here.”

: “Truly the mind of a Scholar,” Archie agrees, grabbing a piece.

braves the twice-cooked burger patty. There’s no way this is going to get passed over.

does go over to Wolf and ruffles his hair, which is only possible because he’s in a vulnerable sitting position and she’s standing. “(Thank you for apologizing for your harsh words, brother),” she whispers just to him. “(You probably wouldn’t have liked it if I had gotten truly angry on Sininen’s behalf).” Then she has the audacity to kiss the top of his head.

is compelled to, at least, give it one bite.

: “(I said one harsh word in a state of emotional…dishevelment,)” Wolf retorts, but he looks amused. “(I am a yeresh, we have ethics…)” He gives her a one-armed hug, and goes to try some of the twice-cooked burger. He definitely looks bemused at it, but…it’s not half bad, either.

steals a bite as well, while it’s in her vicinity.

it’s pretty delicious.

looks up, briefly. She could do the same thing she did for Jorule? Would that be … worthwhile at all?

extends the thought of the Twice-Cooked Burger upwards, beyond himself, beyond anything he can see. He imagines it like what it felt like to reach out to the dream-whales for the first time: cautious and uncertain, but friendly and sincere in his intent.

makes his way to the center of the clearing, between the hedges. And once there, he kneels down and pulls out a small knife, and uses that to carve a circle into the ground, and then from there fill it with a select runes and glyphs. Once he’s satisfied with the shape, the knife vanishes and he places both hands upon the magic circle. His hands, eyes, and the circle then flash a dull purple, a brilliant gold, before a brighter purple. And as he stands up, a large golden gate burst forth from the ground. [KGP Gate Formed]

looks to the glyphs. “Your handiwork is as flawless and identifiable as always,” he says, leaning on Caion for a brief moment before approaching the middle of the hill. “So. It’s to be here, then.”

gives a calm, encouraging, round of applause. “Good stuff, Aury!”

: “Whew. Before we leave, is there anyone else we know we might want to have a tomestone here, other than Caion?” He’s mostly looking to Archie for this answer.

thinks about it for a moment. “Aunt Ksenija and Aunt Silver-Throat. Aunt Ksenija did well to keep Aunt Silver-Throat from coming to the geode the first time we disappeared, but now that there’s a giant gleaming door all but begging to be thrown open, it’s probably wise that we make sure we have a way to contact them before any rash decisions get made.”

nods a few times, producing one-two more, then hands them both over to Caion. “Yeah, that makes sense. Just warn ‘em it’ll be filled with Weird Shit before they open the BBS for the first time I guess.”

gives him a look. “I actually haven’t opened it yet either. I’ll go ahead and take the warning for myself, too.” He turns to Caion, resting his head on his chest, looking at the door. “It’s beautiful, isn’t it? A beautiful door that leads to beautiful and sometimes strange places. I wish that you could come with us. But the good thing is that, sometimes, if you’re very lucky, a door like this one just might lead you home. I’ve known this day would come the whole time, though I think neither of us feel ready for it, now. But it’ll be okay. I’ll be back soon, just you see. I’m sorry to make you wait for me again. But if anyone could - if anyone would - it’s you. You’ve already shown me that once. I’ll never forget it, ever again. Promise.”

leans into the hug, and when he pulls away, he’s smiling as wide as anyone has ever seen him.

gives a lazy salute to Caion as they eventually pull apart. “We’ll keep ‘em safe out there for you. And it was nice meeting you; we’ll definitely keep in touch.” He gives another nod to Caion, then turns and disappears through the Gate.

: “Thanks for all the hospitality! And the rooms! And the documents! And the secret experiments!”

claps Caion on the shoulder, gives him a nod. “Fair winds, friend. We’ll be in touch.” He steps up to the Gate…hesitates for a moment on the threshold. He looks out at the ocean again, one last time. Then, with a visible effort, he tears his eyes away and steps through.

wraps up a burger to-go. “Thank you, Friend-Caion, and be well.”

: “Thank you for being the friend I always needed and had never before had.” She leans in and gives him a quick peck on the cheek, then steps through the gate.

: “See ya!” He takes one last big swig of his tea, thinks for a second, fills an empty potion bottle with unaltered, pure Sweet Tea, and then heads through the gate.

is the last one through the gate. A smile, a wave goodbye, a turn, a step, and he’s gone.

sets herself beside Aurelius, wherever he is. She looks … determined and intent, like she might have to protect him from … something?

takes a window seat near the front, leaning against the window and looking out into the Void, clearly lost in thought.

kicks back onto a central part of the seat, arms across the back (also along anyone’s backs that are there).

The wings beat, steady and strong. They take you to your destination, joyous and beautiful.

pulls out the scarf Caion gave him, wraps it loosely around his neck, and watches the scenery, taking him along for the journey in spirit if not in body.

laughs a little at he sees the new Train Schedule. “See, Salme? Shouldn’t be any trouble at all.”

: “Yes. Which also means,” she looks at Archie, “You can peek back in on Samudra whenever we’re stuck spending some time in the Void.”

looks over to her gratefully. As his head rotates and brings his nose closer to the scarf, he notices that it still smells like him, and between that familiar scent, Salme’s reminder, and the sound of rushing water, he feels at ease.

smiles a little as he sees the Ziggurat now bedecked in plants and graceful waterfalls.

: “…Okay, was pretty sure when we came back with an open Gate there’d be pellucid influencing the area but… good to know it happened for sure.”

: “Ahahaha, wow! It’s really glowing up!” He stares at the weird flowers, but holds off on running off to smell them just yet.

: “…Were Ember’s eyes that color before?”

: “No. They were green. And before that, azure.”

: “No, it - yeah.”

: “Good song, too.”

produces a pearl from his pocket, idly rolling it over the knuckles of his hand, taking in the new scenery, listening to the song.

considers for a moment, then produces a tomestone before making his way over to Ember and sliding the device into the pile towards the creature.

places the burger in front of Ember, and unwraps it. “It would be remiss of us to have all feasted together and not brought any for you, Friend-Ember. Thank you for your song.”

walks over to Ember, gently pats the being–or its home, at least?–and peers at the package. “What do you have there, hm?”

blinks, and takes it. “Is…is this for…me?”

goes over to Awoken, and softly touches the back of his hand—the one not holding the pearl. “I’ve been meaning to ask how … you were close with Synthesis.”

finds himself having to rub the back of a hand across his eyes, before he gently unwraps it–carefully preserving the integrity of the paper.

scrunches his lips a bit before answering. “I was pretty shocked. Not that they would leap to the defense of the Academy, just-… they had a unique way of seeing things. Experiencing things. But I know we’ll be back. I know we can fix it.”

looks at him a beat, then takes his hand and briefly squeezes it before turning her attention to the mysterious gift Ember gave to Wolf.

: “What in the…” Wolf turns one of the cards over and his brow furrows deeply. “What? …Awoken, you’re on this card.”

: “Eh?” He advances toward Wolf.

shows Awoken the card–it’s got a beautiful watercolor-esque illustration of a figure leaping off a cliff towards the ocean below. In the background is a stormcloud with a rainbow arcing from it, and at the bottom of the card is a block-letter “0”. The figure is very clearly the Awoken–it’s got the hair trailing behind it and everything.

: “Hah! How about that! What about the rest?”

riffles through the rest of the cards. There seems to be a division between cards with numbers and cards without–24 numbered cards, if you count the 0 and a card marked with the infinity symbol, and 52 without–and while most don’t contain anyone identifiable, the card marked “VIII” clearly shows Wolf in a strangely peaceful wrestling lock with a bear, and “XVI” shows a strange, alabaster-seeming tower being struck by lightning.

Each of the cards is richly detailed, utterly beautiful, but often rather cryptic as well. Less unclear, and more “evocative.”

There’s a flicker, and then Jorule is… floating in the air above Wolf, looking down as the deck of card. “…Tarot cards, really? Who even sent those?”

twitches, and valiantly does not yelp. “Your guess is as good as mine. They are familiar to you?” He frowns. “And you have an explanation to make, now that I think of it.”

: “Huh,” she says, more at Jorule than the cards. “Don’t suppose they came with a weird inverted gold coin, Wolf?”

: “I’m not super familiar with them, but they’re common enough else where I’ve heard of them, at least. And, yeah weird gold check that’s a good question.”

shakes his head. “Not as far as I’m aware?” He shakes out the paper and the green silk wrapping, just to be sure.

: “Anyway, yeah. All things considered this seems like a good time for it. Especially since SQ’ll probably bring it up when we land if I don’t anyway, and that’ll almost certainly be messier.”

: “What a strange present!” He doesn’t bat an eye at Jorule’s sudden appearance. “I’d almost how one uses them, but- right, this bit.”

: “I think I can guess as to their use–there’s some similar divination systems on Almachadta. Still, who sent it?” He shakes his head. “In any case. I would like to understand whether or not we’re actually…” He grimaces. “…people?”

closes her eyes and says several quick prayers to various deities.

: “Agreed. From the flashback we received at the Septentrione, my current guess would be that we’re inhabiting the bodies of people who were pulled from specific places, but that we are not ourselves those people, which is why we don’t remember anything about them from before we started inhabiting them. Which is a strange thing to consider, and raises many more questions, but am I on the right track?”

: “Okay so that’s a really complicated question. To start with, I would like to ask the group - do any of you think you have figured out what the Truth That Burns is yet? Those of you that weren’t explicitly told already.”

: “Well, we do remember…some things. I remember my mentor, for instance, though…” His brow furrows, and he looks almost distraught. “Though I cannot remember her name to save my own life.”

: “I have little interest in guessing that which I have little to no information on.”

nods in agreement. “I’m ready to learn, but do not know.”

: “Okay.” Jorule rotates slightly, sitting up and folding his legs together while pushing his sunglasses up to his forehead.

: “So, the Truth That Burns: It’s basically the opposite of what Archie was thinking. Up until the moment you woke up on those slabs, none of you were even “real”. You were all fictional characters in a story someone else is telling.”

blinks. Slowly.

gives Jorule a tentatively encouraging thumbs up.

nods carefully, considering.

: “Is it NIP’s story?”

: “This is why the rewind stopped at that precise moment. That was the start of the story in earnest.” A pause, as he considers Archie’s question. “Kind of sort of? NIP is the narrator of the story. And, well, you’ve already all interacted with them before but you might as well take a moment to say hello now.”

: “It’s not their story, though. Or at least they claim it isn’t. They claim they have no control, no real foreknowledge, not much of anything at all. Which, is again, what they say.”

: “Are you also aware of what caused us to be, rather than to…be fiction?”

: “Hi again! Much appreciated, if a little baffling. So wait, what does that mean about our worlds, our friends, our relationships?”

sniffs, unbothered.

: “They can see just about anything important you do. And, just so knowledge of this doesn’t come back to bite me in the ass for not mentioning it later: I can also see almost everything the Narrator writes down, too.”

: “Shooting back to Lucja - which, really dude, you literally never felt it was important to mention you remembered your name and other things? - you are still, to a degree, still characters in this story. But someone, somewhere, got a hold of six angels, and those six angels awoke as these six characters. Which is why everyone is so… much more than they were before, now. You’re breathing life into these characters, making things more… real-adjacent.”

: “So…” Wolf squints. “We are…what, spirits, riding bodies that were…fictional?”

: “Yeah. I mean, no, but that’s probably close enough of a frame work to go off of.”

: “So there was a ‘Wolf,’ but he wasn’t…real? And now I…” Wolf looks somewhere between ‘distraught existential crisis’ and ‘impending migraine.’

: “If at any point, you feel like this is all some weird bullshit to ignore- feel free to follow that instinct.”

: “I think,” she says slowly, “it might be more helpful to go on to what a Spark and an Angel is before we get too caught up on this.”

: “There was an idea of a Wolf, in the outline of a story that someone wanted to tell. And your Angel has decided to become them, while they’re in this world, and bring that idea to life.”

: “Hmm. Yeah that’s fair advise, honestly. There’s nothing in the rule book that says you have to give a shit about anything operating on this level of existence.”

: “Like… everything he’s saying is technically true.”

: “But I mean, in the grand scheme of things…? It doesn’t really change what we have to do.”

does go over to Wolf and takes his hand, squeezing it. “You’re real, and you have always been yourself, Wolf.” She looks at Archie and Luĉja. “That’s true of all of us, I think. Or. Well. Jorule can finish telling it, but if you want my take on it I’m happy to provide.”

: “It does not, no, but SQ’s gunna bring it up because that was the Hunter’s character-gen Lore Secret, so. Figured it’d be best to throw it out there before hand.”

: “Which is a decent enough reason to do it now… yeah.”

: “But yeah. I can probably go into a bit more detail on angels and other worlds and a bunch of other random shit… or we can just leave it at that, as you like.”

stares off into the middle distance, thinking about everything he’s just seen and experienced, the things he was made to feel and care about, wondering if any of it even mattered. He shuffles to his feet absently, moving somewhere between as though he were staggering and stunned and as though he were in a trance, grabbing aimlessly at his neck. He lets the scarf his fingers find there drop into the nearest pit of reality mud as he falls to his knees, allowing the rest of his body to follow. Laughter starts to rise from his throat, heartbroken, terrible, as he watches the scarf start to sink.

: bolts for the scarf as he sees it drop, diving into the mud–hip deep, if he has to–to retrieve it.

: “Whoop-“ He rushes over to the two of them, one foot in the mud and one foot on solid ground, to help grab at Wolf if he’s starting to sink too fast.

The scarf rests, untainted, on the surface of the Mud.

also runs to help haul their friends out of the reality-mud.

kneels down next to Archie. “A story isn’t a lie, you know. A story is the truest way we live. We see everything through the lens of narrative. And for what it’s worth, I walked into Samudra knowing this and I loved Caion with all my heart, because he is just as real to me as you are. Your love is real and it is beautiful and it is true and it matters.“

blinks as…something…allows him to simply pluck the scarf–unmuddied, even–from the surface, and, with Awoken’s help, lever himself back onto solid ground.

: “It is as I said before, Friend-Brother-Archie. We are who we have always been. We must see who we will continue to be.”

kneels in front of Archie, mud-spattered, holding the scarf carefully in his hands. “If you do not wish to have it right now, I understand, and I will keep it safe for you. But…” Wolf closes his eyes, clearly hunting for the right words amidst his own turmoil.

: “I am now even more curious as to our…Awakening at the Sanctuary.”

: “Yeah there is… absolutely something fishy going on there. Usually when an angel descends upon a new world, it’s up to them to decide who they’re going to be on that world. Having it already decided for you is… abnormal, at best. And this is the first time I can remember SQ ever being dead certain we were in a story, and not just another new world.”

: “So SQ is one of these angels too, then? And, what, are the Stillness and Song angels, or at least the Architect and Omniclast? Is there any reason we need to keep caring about how this story ends?”

: “SQ is another Angel, whom I’ve known for a few decades. The Stillness and Song are… honestly I have no clue, the metaphysical make up of this world is weird. I think it’s just a name given to the physical and the spiritual, though. Architect and Omniclast… not sure. Didn’t have much time to interact with either, but they’re not anyone I know, at least.”

: “And… well, it’s your story now. That’s reason enough to care, I think. You don’t necessarily have to do whatever the Author wanted you to do… but you’re an angel. So you have the power to do whatever the hell you want to do. To reach out and grab whatever ending you want to see, and be apart of.”

reaches out, gently, to Archie–not touching, but…offering it, if wanted. “We are…who we choose to be. That is always true. No matter what our past is, no matter where we come from. It is still our world. Our story. We are in it. That is always true, no matter what. I believe that.”

: “Wait. If you…being an Angel means you have access to the Linkpearl…and Guignol is an Angel…and has access to the Linkpearl…does that mean that the Scorpion Queen…has access to the Linkpearl?“

: “Wouldn’t put it past her to be able to access it once she notices the signal. She’s not usually too hot on socials tho.”

: “Oh goodness.”

: “I don’t know if that’s how it works? The-character-known-as-Ksenija and the-character-known-as-Silver-Throat both got invites and I don’t think they’re… yeah.”

: “If you aren’t an Angel—which is just another term for Spark, correct Jorule?—I don’t think you can access the Linkpearl without a Tomestone. If you are an Angel, like Guiginol or the Scorpion Queen, they seem to be able to access the Linkpearl without assistance.”

winces, a little, at that very precise naming. “Archie, I have…shared as closely with Silver-Throat as it is possible for another being to share. She was not…hollow. She was not…not a self. Please. Trust me on this.”

nods to Salme.

: “Angels have a bit more freedom with how they’re able to act, but like, that’s not the end-all-be-all.”

: “Also important to note is that the Scorpion Queen is not aware that Jorule is part of this story now. That happened after she shattered Annarr, correct? So when we get to the Beast, that will be a surprise to her.” She’s still kneeling next to Archie, but she doesn’t have the words to help him. She nods at Wolf for his words.

: “I want to believe you, Wolf. More than anything. I just don’t know anymore. I don’t know anything, apparently. All the knowledge I thought I had, just marginal apocrypha in a story somewhere, little bits of lore for the eagle-eyed reader to catch and consider.”

: “Friend-Brother-Archie, at the very least, your knowledge is an entire appendix to the book.”

: “I mean… it worked out okay for Aurelius.”

smiles a sad smile at him.

: “Archie…there is no difference between a ‘story’ and…meaning. All meaning is a story we tell ourselves. It does not make it less meaningful to those who tell it.”

: “Yeah. … Hmm.” Jorule turns back to Archie with a frown. “Well, you’ve got a little while to … digest this. The trip into Beast can wait a bit while you… re-situate yourself. Know, though, that you’re more than you thought you were before, now, and not lesser.”

nods again at Wolf, with some degree of relief.

: “I’ll…” Wolf looks at the scarf in his hands, and his shoulders sag. “I’ll keep this safe for you.”

shrugs, refusing to look at Wolf or the scarf, staring down into the reality-mud. “Do what you’d like. I need to be alone right now. Thanks.” He wanders off towards the ziggurat.

knows that … it’s inadequate, but stands and goes over to Wolf, gives him a brief hug, careful not to disturb the scarf. “I cannot tell you how you should feel, but I know that I matter. I know that who we have been—who we have loved—they matter. All of this matters and nothing is lesser for it.” And then she looks at Jorule, and softly, says. “Thank you, friend. I know you weren’t looking forward to this.”

leans into Salme a little, just looking at the scarf in his hands. And then, he carefully folds it up, and tucks it into one of his belt pouches.

: “…Honestly went better than expected.” He scratches at the back of his head. “…Anyway if you want any clarification or follow ups or whatever, just drop me a line on the BBS I guess. Take care, and keep doing the things you need to do to get to where you wanna go.”

wiggles a hand side to side.

: “We will,” she says, certain and steady.