Furor Teutonicus [C]

[Aegon]

I	AM THE ONLY DRAGON YOU NEED

The small expeditions we partook in the forests when we were still young.

The small discoveries we made.

The many sparkling junk spoils we called our own.

In the evening…staring up from the under the canopy of pines and greenery, where the sun never shines, I saw something.

Shimmering against the setting sun, it was the brightest thing I had ever seen.

I made up my mind. The junk I would get for myself…would be that thing.

---

Darkness; emptiness without a trace of light. Cold, frigid wind eviscerating any semblance of comfort. In this void there is nothing in sight. All that remains is the indefinite afterimage of something not at all formed but most certainly implied. Merely the lingering sensation of finality filling the nothingness.

How it came to be—one would not know. But a sense of disparity enlightened one to the change occurring.

A vivid blue shadow against an orange, searing sky of indigo. That was all there was to it. Was it dusk or dawn; he could not tell, all twilight seemed the same to him.

In an odd sense of irony, the contrasted colors repeated themselves. Against the pale, milk-like skin of his face, two perfectly-shaped splits appeared, gazing directly at the burning horizon, blocked only by the indigo shade.

The blue shape retained much more clarity than the distant horizon, yet it was far less enthralling than the blazing end of the earth, which flared out brightly against it. Thus, even before knowing what each one really was, his choice was already made.

Rather than an awakening, the process which his body underwent at that moment was something more likened to that of resurrection. The entirely still body, lying on its left side, continued to lie still, the only movement it made merely being the flickering of long eyelashes as its owner focused his vision upon the world in front of him.

It was cold, dark, and blue where he was. He wondered why. But that question was immediately answered after that.

A flower; an indigo, night-colored one with petals that resembled wine in the dark. It grew, lonesome and hardy, up here. It was truly a beautiful thing, if enigmatic. One would have to imagine how hard it must have been for the many seeds to have fallen up here on high, and for the most adamant one to have spread its roots here. It was quite melancholy, in a way.

And yet it did not compare at all to that which lay beyond it.

His eyes, after an eternity of looking at the enigma, gazed upon the aforementioned beyond. It was a simple sunrise. Yet to him, it was the only comfort he currently had. It awoke him and spread heat within him like a wildfire, shattering the cold which preceded the moment.

It gave rise to disparity. For the past, it was darkness, and now there was light. Heat and cold, there was a difference now. He realized this and made his body as a whole move, prepared to begin the day. But it was odd. It felt as though his whole body and form was a nerve, and moving at all sent chills down his spine, which it didn’t before. Though—that was to be expected. This body didn’t know what cold was before the sun rose.

From their position upon the ground, lying on their side, they rose onto a knee, being knighted by the beams of sunlight which flared upon his shoulders, giving even his dull metal armor an empyreal sheen to its form.

Staring upon the dirt, in which the flower grew, Aegon rose.

---

Now standing, he realized quickly enough where he was. It was the steeple of a church—he could tell of its sanctity due to the music playing on an organ somewhere deep below him, as most things were at this point. It seemed that there were very few buildings around him that even slightly matched this one’s height. All else seemed in ruin, broken and decrepit.

Yet, for all of that, he seemed clean and well. Even with enough dirt for plants to grow at this height—namely the aforementioned flower—this ecclesial building retained a pristine air about it, even despite being in such a ruined state. Perhaps it was not the building itself, but he who stood atop it, as he was radiant in the dawn.

However—it wouldn’t last, as it didn’t need to last. He felt over his body. It was heavy, garbed in a chainmail hauberk and with metal armor covering his major areas, mainly his shins, elbows, and knees. He lacked a helm, but he wore a tunic of black wool over oiled steel ringlets and a long dark cloak even over that. At his side was an iron sword, somewhat rusted and with a stiff form, pieced together completely out of iron with merely a few strips of dried leather over the hilt to make up a handle.

It had no sheathe, as it was without a need for one, as was commonplace for such a shoddy sword. In any case, he felt at his opposite, left side, and found a small dirk latched there, within a small canvas sheathe. It was held toughly in there and wouldn’t come out easily, he presumed. However, as he preferred wielding a sword in two hands when he could, it wasn’t truly necessary at the moment. He kept it in mind, though, his calm, calm mind.

Yes…why was he calm? It was odd. He was in a place he didn’t recognize, wearing clothes not of his own, and the world surrounding him was in ruins. So why did he wear a cool, knowing smile at this time? He could not give an answer to that inquiry, even to his own self.

However, after what seemed like an hour of staring at the horizon, he decided to go forth and see what he could accomplish in this world. After all, the day was long, and furthermore he had to make use of what he could to gain a deeper understanding of what had happened to him.

He had been quite hazy when his friend had made a call to him on the phone and pleaded to update his video game on the computer, and yet it was quite odd. He had a very good memory, but could not truly remember what he had done after that. Perhaps he hadn’t rested well enough.

In any case, he realized that behind him, a ladder lay, and so he found it clear what needed to be done. His body was weight, yet it moved well. He was quite healthy last he checked, so this was of no surprise to him. However, he felt a shift of dissonance between his movements and his mind. These actions felt far more natural than that of earlier days.

He didn’t put this off in his mind, and decided to see its capabilities.

Along with his aforementioned garb, he wore leather boots and fingerless leather gloves. The ladder was of rough make, and had splinters clearly at the top. He stepped over the shattered door that led downward, kicked it aside, and jumped directly down into the hole.

Now—this was not to say he was without caution. He realized that he might mess up and fail at what he hoped to achieve. Well, that was not truthful at all. He had wholehearted confidence in his own body, even if he had just gained it a few moments ago.

About halfway down from what he guessed was the first floor, he stuck both his left foot and hand out, gripping onto the wooden ladder with tornado-like force. He lulled to a stop just before the ground, hopping gently onto the stony, tiled flooring, enlightened and curious at the capacities of his body.

He knew he weighed in at a healthy 64 kilograms the last time he checked, most of it lean muscle. He guessed that with all this clothing on, he must have weighed in at well over ninety. He narrowed his eyes, trying to understand how he was able to move so well, despite the weight.

The lull of silence was once again broken. Both by the bell, which heralded seven ‘o clock, and by the loud organs which he could hear clearly, playing a tune of unknown origin. It made it quite clear what he had to do, and knocked him out of his delirium.

That was right; he had to move. At the very least, he made way to the source of the music, walking through the large, arched hallways and avoiding the rubble which lay in his way.

---

After a few minutes of transgressing through the corridors, dark and dim, save for a few lit torches and the sunlight peeking through the holes in the ceiling and broken windows, he came upon a large gate in the main hall of the abbey, the music’s player being behind a large, locked gate and fence. Finding no other pathways outside from this large, heavy-looking mass of ancient wood, he pressed both of his hands against each side of it and pushed forward, opening the gates to the outside world.

LAIKA OF GS!

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

London had never been home. Although Ria had spent the majority of her teenage years living and going to school within the city, she’d never really felt as though she’d entirely belonged there. However, while she had not quite accepted the city, it hadn’t exactly rejected her either. At least it was a familiar place, one that she was comfortable navigating. Or at least it should be.

Despite the familiar landmarks, this London wasn’t really London at all. A city was more than its architecture; it was the people that truly characterized the metropolis. This London was nothing more than a shoddy replica. Even at this hour the city should have plenty of people out and about, but there was nobody in sight. Not that London was completely abandoned; there were the People of the Land that populated the area, but they didn’t fill the city the same way. At this hour people should begin the rush to school or work, the subways should be rushing along under the city and the classic red double-decker busses bustling through the streets above. There should be the sounds of honking horns, annoyed drivers, and thousands of conversations being carried on all at the same time. Instead, there was an eerie silence as most of the adventurers and NPCs had yet to wake.

Ria had been unable to sleep; she was still struggling to come to terms with the fact that she was now stuck in some weird video game or something. It simply seemed far too unreal to be possible, though clearly it was. Despite finding the quiet disturbing, she had always found the early morning to be enjoyable, though that was mainly because she liked watching the world wake up and come to life. Trying to sleep back at the inn had been futile, so she had slipped out early in order to go for a walk.

She strode down Whitehall, her eyes straining to pick out familiar landmarks that might help to reassure her that she might actually be somewhere familiar. While she’d had no particular destination in mind when she’d set out, Ria decided that she might as well head down towards the Thames. Unlike the decrepit buildings, that couldn’t have changed too much. Realizing that she was staring at the skyline, Ria allowed herself a slight frown, nobody was around after all, and realized what it was missing. Unless she’d managed to become completely turned around, which she doubted, the iconic shadow of Big Ben should be jutting up right over there, not far from the river. Perhaps some remnant of the clock tower remained, but it clearly was not as tall or impressive as it had been before.

Her desire to swing by the river evaporated and Ria found herself turning the opposite way at the next intersection. While she could check her surroundings on her mini-map, she didn’t need to. Up ahead was Westminster Abbey, which wasn’t exactly a difficult landmark to find, if it was still there.

As she approached, the bells suddenly rang out, cutting through the silence and causing her to jump slightly. Once she’d recovered, Ria found a smile beginning to creep across her face. If the bells were still working, then the building must at least be in decent condition. This was confirmed as the structure came into view; while it was looking a little worse for the wear, it was still standing and was in a much better condition than most of the surrounding buildings.

Perhaps this was what she needed to kick her melancholy: something that seemed rather familiar. Churches were generally quiet places anyway, so she wouldn’t feel the loss of the numerous people who should be out on the streets. Besides, churches were pretty good places to go when one was lost. And while she didn’t want to admit it, Ria was lost. Of course, she knew exactly where she was, but this whole stuck in a video game thing was a bit beyond her. Maybe she would become accustomed to this place before long, but right now she just wanted to go home. Ria wasn’t exactly a religious person, aside from Christmas and Easter when her parents tended to drag her along to church with them, she didn’t usually attend church. Still, maybe just sitting in the naturally peaceful environment would help her to get her head on straight. After all, she couldn’t keep on being mopey. Even if she didn’t allow anyone to see her when she was feeling slightly depressed, acting like everything was normal over the last day or so had been rather stressful.

The lawn had grown over the walkway that led to the front of the church and Ria wondered if the door might be rusted shut. As she approached, she began to hear the sounds of an organ playing inside the church. Ria paused, having expected that the place would be silent and empty, aside from the ringing bells which had since faded away. Had someone else had the idea to visit the church since it was still in decent condition? It seemed odd that someone would come all the way out to the Abbey just to play the organ, though Ria had to admit that she’d come on a whim as well. While she half wanted to leave the organist in peace and continue on her way, she was also curious as to who the musician might be.

With this decision in mind, Ria reached up to try the heavy oak door. However, just as she gripped the handle of one of the doors, it swung open. Ria was slightly off balance since she had leaned forward to grasp at the door handle, so when it opened she stumbled back in surprise. She recovered quickly and regained her balance, her hand automatically dropping towards where she would typically find her duty belt. Of course, she didn’t have it in this world so her hand landed on one of her two swords instead.

She glanced at the young man who had just swung open the doors and found herself sizing him up. Ria had to admit that he wasn’t a bad looking fellow; he was rather tall and had silvery hair. However, she was more concerned with the sword he was carrying. Noting that it strapped to his right side, Ria guessed that the fellow was left handed. That would be good to know if she ended up having to defend herself.

It was rather annoying how everyone carried weapons in this game; it made it a bit difficult to judge who might want to use one on her. Ria reminded herself that she probably didn’t have to be quite so cautious; not everyone was a potential threat and since she wasn’t in a police officer’s uniform, she wasn’t a target either. Still, he had startled her slightly.

Realizing that she probably should say something, Ria opened her mouth and said, “Hello there. I don’t believe we’ve met. At least, your face doesn’t ring a bell.” Ria flashed a grin before she realized that he probably wouldn’t get it; she’d still had the church bells on her mind when she’d decided to speak. For a moment she considered trying to explain herself, but then decided against it. The situation would simply become more awkward if she attempted to clarify her lame joke.

She almost asked if he had been the one playing the organ, but the music was still echoing through the church, so it had to be someone else. “Do you know who’s playing that music?” she asked instead, “I’m surprised that the organ still works, given the state of everything else.”

Word Count: 1283
Notes:
Tags:

[Aegon]

I	AM THE ONLY DRAGON YOU NEED

And then there was light. Though previously he had experienced the brightest of sunshine glaring in his face at dawn, spending an excessive amount of time staring back at it, that was merely like looking into a hole, like a sort of well. In this case, after opening the massive, oaken doors that creaked loud enough to be on par with screaming banshees, the world in front of him seemed to light up and become clear and vivid as d—

“…” A small noise of discontent and surprise was made from him as he pulled up his head to look up closer at the world outside the gates. What caused his surprise was the woman who seemed just as astonished as he was at that moment.

It was not the astonishment she bore on her face, nor the fact that she was—in all sense of the word—quite comely, but rather that she resembled what he had awoken to: that indigo, beautiful flower, with a contrasted background behind it. It was an odd sense of déjà vu, however, he somewhat appreciated the sight of her, perhaps simply because of that.

It looked as though she was just as interested in him as he was in her. As she looked him up and down—they were nearly on equal heights—he did the same to her. Coolly assessing her size, stance, and the very short seconds he had seen her move, he determined that she was a bit under the weather, perhaps a bit stiff because of it. He wondered what to say to her to allow her to be at ease, but she herself broke the silence.

With a spare few words, she had lightened up the short few minutes of day he had been already awake. The pun—he didn’t know if it was intentional or not, but he judged that by the smile, it must have been a joke—was quite a humorous one, if in the category of “so bad that it’s good.”

He did realize that the bells echoed hard in his ears, even still. Perhaps that was because he had seemingly slept directly under them, in the top tower—the steeple—of the stony church that he stood just outside of. For a moment, he was tempted to give further thought on that topic; however, saner, more prevalent thoughts prevailed.

Smiling slightly at the joke and nodding passively to express his understanding of the jape itself, he did his best to put her at ease with just a single gesture. Even just a simple movement of his head—it was performed so cleanly and smoothly that it could probably be called “graceful.”

After listening to her inquiries on the music, he was a bit surprised once more. Not that he was an egocentric fellow, but he was quite surprised that they had not first exchanged names before engaging in conversation. That would need to come in time, however. As for now, it seemed that she had different priorities than his own.

“A pleasant morning to you as well, my lady.” He articulated to her with another calm, knowing nod and agreeable smile. “I do not know who is mandated the place of the melodious arts in this church; sad to say, I did not give it much thought as I awoke merely moments ago. For truth, I can not answer your question, to my own dismay.

“As for the issue of how the state of ruin is…as I do not know more of the current situation, I can not say for sure what has happened and what has not. However,” he glanced backwards. “It seems that this place of worship has been spared the burden of turmoil, does it not seem?”

Looking back on his path, though many arches were broken and smashed into rubble, those were all merely pieces to a whole. Furthermore, they were all near to edge of the building and open to the sky. Perhaps some sort of air raid took place and turned the world to ruin. Moreover, most of the decay he had seen was more similar to inattentiveness rather than the work of mankind…he would need to find more information beyond his own hypotheses—though they were founded on good intuition.

With a quick breath, he turned back the beautiful and unnamed woman. He had a slightly more amused look on his face now—just slightly, his eyebrows just a bit higher than they were when he turned.

“Do you like the music? If so, would you care to join me for a walk? Though I have just left, it seems I am already pandering to return to the church’s innards, heh.”

He turned, his sable-colored cloak slightly fluttering at its ends in the morning breeze.

“Shall we?”

LAIKA OF GS!

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

At least Ria had managed to get a smile and a nod out of this bloke; that was always better than the blank stares she often received when she told one of her jokes. She allowed herself to calm down somewhat; chances were that this was just a normal guy that had wound up at the church at the same time as she had happened by. In a city of this size, that was a little unlikely, but certainly not impossible. Chances were that he’d noticed that the abbey was in fairly decent condition and had decided to take a look around.

However, the idea that the guy might be normal flew out of her head the moment he opened his mouth. To say that his speech was flowery was a massive understatement; Ria had to wonder if the fellow had been reading a little too much Shakespeare. Or maybe he was just really into this whole medieval fantasy setting. From what she had gathered from the people she had spoken to since ending up in Elder Tale, most of the others that had wound up here were really into games; as someone who had hardly touched a game in years, she was in the minority.

Either way, it took Ria a moment to become accustomed to his way of speaking, although she was careful not to show her surprise or confusion on her face, instead maintaining a friendly smile. It took her a second to process that he neither knew where the music was coming from nor what had happened to all of them. Ria was surprised; if he’d just woken up and found himself here, then he was certainly taking this whole situation rather well. Most people would be a bit more concerned that when they suddenly woke up in a strange place dressed in clothing that hadn’t been fashionable for half a millennium.

If that was the case, then Ria figured that she would have to fill the man in on what she knew; still, that was not exactly an easy conversation to start. Who would actually believe her when she told them that they’d become stuck in a video game? It still sounded completely absurd to her, even though she’d basically been able to confirm it through numerous means.

Before Ria could come up with a way to introduce the subject, the man invited her to go for a walk inside the church. She half wondered whether he was flirting with her; that was generally the case when guys suggested things like walks. Yet, Ria somehow had the impression that this was just the way the man was. Of course, it could be dangerous going somewhere alone with a fellow she’d just met, but Ria figured that it would be no more dangerous than where they were now. Besides, she could handle herself.

Ria also had to admit that she was curious as to the source of the music. While she wasn’t exactly a fan of solemn church hymns, the sound of the organ was somehow enticing. Her desire to explore the church still remained as well, even if she’d initially planned to wander in alone.

“Might as well,” Ria said with a shrug. “I was planning on taking a look around myself anyways and I would like to find the source of that music.”

She took a step forward, then paused. “Besides, if you just got here, then I probably need to fill you in on what’s going on.” Thoughtfully, Ria tucked a stray lock of hair behind an ear before continuing, “It’s sort of an absurd story and you probably won’t believe the half of it. Still, we might as well walk and talk at the same time.”

Stepping up beside him, Ria realized that he wasn’t quite as tall as she had initially believed; it was more the way that he carried himself. With the additional inches she’d gained by coming to this world, she wasn’t much shorter than he was. Of course, she hadn’t completely become accustomed to being somewhat taller than she’d been for years.

Before she continued on, Ria realized that she hadn’t introduced herself yet. Well, neither had the man, but she figured that if they were going to go for a walk she should know the fellow’s name, or at least have some way of addressing him. “I’m Ria by the way,” holding out her hand for a handshake. Ria consciously chose to give her in game name as just about everyone she’d met so far had elected to go by the monikers they’d given their avatars. Since ‘Ria’ was a name she commonly went by back home, she figured that she might as well use it instead of her full name.

“I’m pleased to make your acquaintance.” Ria had to suppress a chuckle; now he had her speaking as though she was some sort of toff.

Word Count: 819
Notes: No pun this time...
Tags:

[Capsule]

If there was one thing Capsule disliked, it was dank, dark places like these. The redhead was bundled up in her blanket and wading through filth that reached up to her shins. That parts of her legs were soaked through to the bone, but hours of walking had kept her warm thus far - or as warm as one could be in this miserable little hole. The smell was of far greater concern, though. It was no longer as overwhelming and nauseating as when she first started, but every few minutes or so, her nostrils would be assailed with the foulness left to sit for centuries. "Achoo!" The woman dabbed gingerly at her dripping nose with a clean corner of her blanket, thankful that she had had the mind to wrap it around herself before descending into what she now referred to as the Tunnels.

The Tunnels were essentially the "sewers" of London, though no evidence of pipes or piles of human waste were seen. It was mostly a series of interconnecting tunnels that led to secret passages all over London, used almost exclusively by the street rats or homeless denizens of London. It was also a favorite of wild rats and other small animals and insects. Like the bums that lived down here in the day, the small creatures that inhabited the area hated light, and shirked away from Capsule and the glow cast by her Magic Light. The ball of light wore a look of distress, a gross exaggeration of its owner's. Capsule was frustrated by her lack of direction underground, but she was far from panicking.

Rather than running in every which way and losing herself further to the darkness and confines of the area, Capsule chose to continue forward. The tunnel she was following was bound to end somewhere, and if not, there was bound to be someone around who could help her. However, with every step she took, the odds of running into another person lessened more and more. How long ago had it been since she last passed by the man and woman engaged in the dance of lovers? It was surely before the puddles of water turned into a tiny stream, was it not? So why should she expect to meet someone new, unless they were aboard a tiny raft and demanding a ferry fee for her passage.

While some might find it illogical for her to feel so, Capsule couldn't help but worry about dying in this miserable little hole she had wandered into. 'Dying will hurt,' she thought as a shiver violently worked its way down her spine. Had she known that fleeing into the Tunnels would turn out like this, Capsule may have fled in another direction, or risk getting captured. 'But no,' she thought. 'You just had to steal that loaf of bread, didn't you?' Yes, yes she did. It was real food, and she was starving. She also couldn't afford the absurd price the chef had it marked for, and did not even bother with haggling. While he was dealing with another customer, Capsule had reached up and absconded with the long loaf bread.

She did not regret a single moment of it, either. Having a stomach full of warm, fresh bread was incredibly comforting. Her stomach gave a content little buzz just at the thought. 'I'd steal a thousand more times, if it meant not having to starve.' The look on the chef's face was absolutely priceless, for one. He was a heavy set fellow, and had given up on catching her when she went down the grate that led her to the Tunnels. There was no way a man of his girth would have been able to get in, but Capsule slid was able to do so with little trouble at all. She had chosen an avatar with her same build, after all.

"Pa-pa-pow," she said now, thrusting the tip of her wand out at nothing in particular. The air of confidence she gave off right now had little to do with her success of thievery, and more to do with her most recent discovery - a hole in the wall. It was not a manmade hole, as she would discover upon approaching it, but a hole caused by decay and poor management. It was also smaller than the grate, but Capsule was able to squeeze through after the removal of her blanket and top garments.

The woman looked even thinner without the top half of her cloth armor, but at least she was in a basement of sorts, even if it did appear to be abandoned. She went about reapplying her gear and blanket, for now that she was out of the water she found herself to be chilled, when her Magic Light shone on something she wish it hadn't - a series of skulls embedded into the walls around her. "Urk-" Capsule's stomach churned, threatening to upchuck the bread she had ingested a few hours ago. Was she in some madman's or war hero's trophy room?! 'No…'

The room was littered with what looked like pieces of bones, rat dung, and a few crumbling tombstones. It was either under a cemetery, or within the catacombs of a church. 'That must mean that Westminster Abbey is somewhere nearby...or even above me.' If that was true, she was as good as out of here. 'I just have to find a way out.'

Finding a way out was easier said than done. All around her, all Capsule saw was an endless stream of preserved bodies, most of which were buried with shining crowns or rotten capes and other royal fabrics. Once, she was even "blessed" with the sight of a rat popping its way free from some long forgotten king's vacant eye socket. Another rat was lingering inside the skeleton's head, manipulating the jaw into moving whenever it kicked back its hind legs. Capsule had not seen the rats at first, and had mistaken the skeleton for a rising zombie. In her panic, she brought down an old scepter onto the skeleton's neck, shattering the bones there.

After what felt like an eternity, the woman came to a solitary door that was a bit dusty, but spoke of recent use. It was a heavy, iron door that she was lucky to find unlocked; else she would have been forced to backtrack and find another way out through the Tunnels. There was nary a soul lingering near the presumed forbidden area, so no one saw Capsule scuttle out of the catacombs and into an adjacent room, which stored a large basin of what appeared to be water. Without stopping to consider if the little pool of water was of holy affinity, Capsule quickly stripped down, and bathed herself in the water.

When she stepped out of the room she did not look like a woman who had just schlepped through miles of filth, but her clothes were still reeking and stained in places. It didn't really matter either way to her. People would automatically assume that she was one of those fools who had died while fighting out in the muck, since dying and reviving was pretty normal in this world. No one would expect the thin looking redhead to have entered by way of tunnels that lay under the church.

"You! What are you doing back here?!"

Except maybe that one asshole, and the four other clergymen that joined his side. If Capsule had the ability to make a soundtrack of her life play at any relevant moment, the Benny Hill theme would be following her and the clergymen around as they ducked in and out of random rooms, the latter trying their best to follow the redheaded intruder and her Magic Light.

It was a search that resulted in the men being pointed outside, past two figures just outside the church's doors. The fellow clergymen lowered the black, leather bound book he held in one hand, and breathed a sigh of relief as the men filed outside. The Magic Light drifted from behind Capsule's back, who was currently wearing black clothing similar to the men that were chasing her a moment ago. Her red hair was spilling down on her shoulders, and a set of small, lensless glasses were perched on the bridge of her nose. The glasses that she now pushed up with one finger would have flashed in the low light.

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Words:
1407

Muse:
Stage 1-1 (Go Straight)

Notes:
( ￣┏＿┓￣)

Tags:
Aegon, Ria

coded by & for benetnasch of ET

[Aegon]

I	AM THE ONLY DRAGON YOU NEED

There was truly a minimal amount of difficulty received by Aegon from the girl who he had offered a mutual companionship—for the time being. Though she seemed quite the medley of demeanors at the moment, what with her switching from wariness to being seemingly carefree with every gesture, he didn’t make much out of it. After all, the morning was young and it was expected of an average person to be less than at their peak of senses at this point in the day. He didn’t think any less of her for it—not that he would, even normally.

He just noted it. That’s all there was to it. In any case, he was quite pleased to see her friendly—and once again, comely—smile lighten up her previously cautious look, which he continued to repay in turn, his own head turning around and looking forward. He began walking with a cool, collected gait down the center aisle with the pleasant-looking woman just behind him, making sure to not go too far ahead to not be able to hold a proper sense of conversation.

Turning his head sideways, he noticed that she wasn’t really walking as fast as he would have expected, but he understood why as she spoke cryptically-meant words, which even he could just barely understand. As she moved some of her quite dark and oddly-color—but still quite fittingly-colored—hair, he could only help but have a somewhat curious look about him for a moment, only abating at the sign of further-pressed chatting.

As she met his pace and walked further forward, he noted that there were two swords belted at her side, and that their armors were quite similar. It was a bit strange, as he hadn’t quite fully grasped an understanding of why he was like such, but he did not let it trouble him—he surmised that she would explain fully in a moment.

And then she introduced herself. Her name was short and curt, but he found that it suited her well. He didn’t take her for someone who enjoyed haughty and fancy things too much. But it was common nature to shake hands after an introduction. Realizing this, he half-turned to the now-named comely woman who named herself “Ria,” and moved his right hand from the pommel of his sword to just barely touching the cusp of her courtesy.

His hesitation was clearly obvious. But more than being obvious, it was quite warranted. He looked as if he were about to just reply with his own name—his mouth was half-opened and his hands lingered in the air for a moment—but stopped at the last moment, giving a very slightly irritated look—in reality it wasn’t really “irritated,” just less passive and pleasant than before—to nothing in particular.

However, with a small sigh, he shook his head quietly in a sign of apology to Ria before fully turning back to the front. He felt a bit disappointed that he wouldn’t be able to repay her courtesy just as of yet, but he would do so in time. For now—they seemed to have company, and infuriated company at that.

---

A small glint of light in the shadows; that flare was a clear enough signal in Aegon’s head to enlighten him to the gist of the situation. After all, it wasn’t difficult to correlate two things with each other. In the dim distance, he saw a lithe, redheaded person hiding in the dark, the light off of their glasses immediately giving him the impression that they were looking in his own direction.

Along with that, the small troupe of priests and holy men that were stumbling along the carpet towards himself and Ria alerted him of a sense of hostility by way of their expressions. It was not often that peaceable men such as these were as irritated as their faces would imply.

And that was enough for him to understand, enough for him to find a solution, enough for him to open his mouth and speak in just as calm and eloquent a manner as he had been previously.

“Good morrow, my dearest Fathers, Brothers. Though I would have hoped you to have a pleasant dawn as I have just to my acquaintance here, it seems I would be very mistaken in that aspect. Pray, tell me what troubles you, Your Reverences?”

If they were irritated before, it would be truly a feat to tell that through the clergymen’s faces now. Shifting first from aggravation to surprise, and from that towards a semblance of dutiful certainty, the demeanor of the group changed upon interaction with the silver-haired figure that stood before them.

The tallest, thinnest, and most ascetic of the group stepped forward and with a light bow and push of his (cracked) glasses upwards, he spoke in a voice that spoke for all of his men.

“As well as it would be to immediately answer, I would hope first that you address and introduce yourself for us all to hear, in which the Lord Above could tell for truth whether you are who you say you are. Furthermore…before that, a single more inquiry…are you not…an Adventurer?”

—Adventurer.

That was a simple term, set into a simple question, but he could not help but feel as if more weight was meant by it than what he had originally implied. In fact, he was quite assured that if he answered positively to that question, he would most certainly be met with opposition by the men in front of him. Did he even need to answer that in a direct manner? He did not know the answer, but as it was a fifty-fifty chance to be right, he decided it was quite risky. One little mistake might make ruin of him and his companion. However, that did not stop him by even a moment.

“I…”

He spoke, his voice resonating in the silence as the wind outside lulled, and gave way to stillness of the air. As such, the formerly cloudy and drab sky parted, making way to morning white sunlight to filter through the windows. And though the age-old stained glass was shattered in many places otherwise, the ones directly on the sides of him were perfectly in-line with where he now took a step forward to confront all of the men at once. Light filtered through the windows and gave him a dawn-colored air about him, the light reflecting off of his dull armor and clothing to give the impression of something far more fine than it actually was. Though shorter, outnumbered, and younger, he spoke with the confidence of someone greater.

“…am Aegon, first Adventurer of my name and I hereby swear under the roof of this divine establishment that no falsehoods shall pass my tongue as long as I abide by the shelter given me here formerly and present.”

Furthermore hoping to appease the group—and also not wanting to be interrupted for fear of breaking the charismatic momentum that he was currently building up—he introduced his companion as well, still speaking as coolly and assertively as ever.

“I am joined by my companion here, Ria, also in our group of Adventurers. Our purpose here would be to take shelter—“

He noted, at this point, that most every of the men in the group looked a lot sterner at the mention of “shelter,” keeping it in the back of his mind that that may be a bad thing to say. But there was nothing for it, he continued without a single, noticeable break.

“—In this house of worship for the time being, until we can establish a few matters concerning out curiosity. That is not to say that we hoped to take advantage of the abbey itself, just that it was a useful place that piqued our curiosity.”

It wasn’t a lie, just making use of the words he was saying as best as he could. It was true that the place made them interested and that it was a useful place because they both shared a curiosity as for what was going on inside. So it was merely him just saying things in the right way.

With a passive, cool grin, he nodded in assent to the clergymen, signaling the end of his own speech and his affirmation that he was ready to hear theirs. Light still shone on him as the seemingly acting head of the church began to speak in his detached and disinterested voice once more.

“Well, Sir Aegon—“ The way he was addressed made Aegon smile just slightly, out of amusement. “It would seem that we have a trespasser upon our holy grounds. Earlier this morning, before I was even awake, my Brothers alerted me to this trespasser. It was made apparent that they had taken holy water from the basin near the mortuary and made it unsanctified, unholy, and filthy at that.

“Furthermore, when found out, they fled with fleet feet to the area near here, supposedly, and thus we were directed towards you and your companion. I do believe that’s the whole situation lain out for you to understand. Now, if you have seen this person, please assist us in—“

The plea for help was put to rest by Aegon raising his hand in a notion of curt comprehension. He knew what they were going to say, even if he waited a bit, so he decided to cut it short and allow him to interrupt and break their logic down on them.

“Please forgive my interlude and allow me to give you my thoughts on this matter firstly, before making any promises towards your group with which I would later be unable to follow through. I would bring to attention…” he said as he knelt down on the dusty, stone ground and picked up from beneath a fallen piece of brick, a ragged-looking, but still readable version of the Holy Bible.

“The Parable of the Good Samaritan. ’A certain man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who both stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. By chance a certain priest was going down that way. When he saw him, he passed by on the other side. In the same way a Levite also, when he came to the place, and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he travelled, came where he was. When he saw him, he was moved with compassion, came to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. He set him on his own animal, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, and gave them to the host, and said to him, 'Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’

“Luke, ten-thirty…now, tell me, you must certainly understand what I mean by this, do you not? After all, ecclesiastical men such as yourselves must certainly have all of these lines memorized.”

He was met by silence, but it was the silence of people who were listening to him, a sign of deference until the proper time. He took it as such and continued, intoning in his calm voice.

“In that case, I shall further elaborate.” He took a breath, looked down at the book, and closed it in his hands before handing it to the Father closest to him. Raising his head, he continued.

“Love your neighbor as yourself—this is one of your faith’s many worthy virtues, is it not? So tell me—give me reasoning proper—that you are so apprehensive to follow through on it?”

He spoke rhetorically, but seemingly effectively. His point was to bring the priests to recall their ways and, to be blunt: guilt them into absolving their “trespasser” of the false judgments placed upon them.

“Well, I wouldn’t know…merely a few moments ago I was awoken with news of a ‘trespassing Adventurer,’ and thereafter came upon you and your friend, alas,” the head said. “You speak the truth—though how are we—what are we to do now? Even if we wished to forgive this tres…person, where would we go? We came looking for her—“ At this point, Aegon noted that the speaking priest referenced the trespasser as a woman, immediately trying to find some way to make use of that.

“—But came upon you. So what are we to do? Apologize to the air, and be done with it?”

“As for that, my Father, I must say that you should get your glasses fixed posthaste.”

Aegon looked at the area where he had seen a glint of light out of the corner of his eye, and intoned coolly, “Should—would—men of the faith such as yourselves deny an innocent woman, a maiden at that, refuge from the cold and grim outside? To dub her a sinner for merely cleansing herself when most likely stained with filth from journeying hard?”

Saying as such, he turned fully to the girl who he had seen from afar, giving her a kind, knowing smile, and asking:

“I do presume you are a maiden, true, my lady?”

---

Notes: I rolled a twenty for this post when doing Aegon’s Charisma check, y’all got nothing on him. B|

LAIKA OF GS!

[Ria]

LIFE IS A TRICK

and you only get one chance to learn it

Although the young man had been perfectly courteous up to this point, Ria couldn’t stop her suspicions from rising when he refused to give his name. Yet, maybe refused wasn’t exactly the right way to put it. His expression looked almost as if he was ready to speak, but it was as if something prevented him from doing so. That was odd, to say the least. However, he didn’t look furtive or as if he was trying to withhold information. That expression she was familiar with, but he looked almost annoyed for a moment before apologetically shaking his head.

Clearly the polite thing to do in this situation was to let it slide, so Ria moved to press the issue. After all, if something was wrong, then she wanted to know. If everything was fine, well she wanted to know anyways. However, before she could actually pose a question, they were interrupted by a cluster of irate priests.

So this place wasn’t abandoned after all; Ria had been under the impression that the church was empty aside from the two adventurers and whoever was playing that organ. However, it looked as though some People of the Land also resided within. Perhaps Westminster Abbey was a more important place in this game world than she had realized. Still, did that mean that she and her newfound companion were trespassing? It was a church though, so they should be welcoming to outsiders, at least if the clergy in this world were similar to those back home. Maybe the place just wasn’t open yet; it was still rather early in the morning. The door had been unlocked though, and wandering in didn’t seem to be an offense that merited anger.

It wasn’t until they responded to her new acquaintance’s question that Ria realized that the priests weren’t annoyed at them. In fact, they almost seemed surprised at their presence, though their response might as well be due to the man’s question. This emotion also seemed to pass quickly, and a moment later both the anger and surprise had vanished from their faces. However, even if they didn’t show it, Ria was certain that they were still rather ticked off.

Fortunately, it seemed as though the clergymen paid more attention to the man standing next to her than they did to Ria. It was probably the guy’s flowery speech; that sort of thing was a bit hard to ignore. However, the priests appeared to accept his promise not to lie as they didn’t look to her to see if she agreed. While Ria didn’t really intend to lie, swearing to tell only the truth was not a promise she wanted to make when she didn’t know the situation or what they might be asked. Not to mention that although she was generally an advocate for the truth, sometimes twisting it was for the best. She tended to avoid lying when she could, but sometimes one just couldn’t lie and couldn’t tell the truth. Besides, the priests weren’t exactly making the same promise in return. Maybe it was cynical to suspect a group of priests of choosing not to tell the truth, but Ria knew that sometimes clergymen lied worse than the sinners they were supposed to be saving.

Since none of the priests were focusing on Ria, it also allowed her to observe them more closely. Though honestly, they weren’t exactly difficult to read. The way their expressions darkened when the word “shelter” was mentioned couldn’t have been missed by a half blind rhinoceros. Ria had to wonder if some other Adventurers had tried to move in to the church prior to their arrival; it would make sense that the clergymen wouldn’t exactly appreciate squatters in such prime real estate.

However, as one of the priests explained, that wasn’t quite the case. Apparently someone had messed with their holy water. Ria had to struggle from commenting that they should just re-sanctify it or whatever and be done with it. For some reason, she felt that such a comment wouldn’t exactly be fitting for this situation. Instead she turned her thoughts towards considering where the person might have fled to; Ria was fairly certain she would have noticed someone sprinting past. Chances were that they had managed to give the priests the slip somewhere along the way and had doubled back. In a church of this size, there were probably plenty of hiding spots.

Her train of thought was momentarily derailed when her companion started reading bible verses. For a moment, she inwardly tensed. This could potentially be disastrous; religious folk didn’t always like their own doctrine used against them. Instead of flaring up or giving an alternate explanation of what the verse meant, the clergymen almost looked contrite. Well, perhaps that gamble paid off. Ria added another nugget of information to her file on her companion; chances were that he had some sort of religious background, at least to the extent that he knew the Bible well enough since even if he had to read the passage, the guy had known exactly where to look.

As the conversation turned towards forgiveness, Ria noticed a flash out of the corner of her eye. Furtively, she glanced over in that direction. So there was the fugitive. Ria half wanted to crack a smile; so the woman hadn’t taken the priests’ distraction as an opportunity to escape, even if it would have given her the perfect opportunity to do so. That was interesting.

Ria’s eyes flicked back to the conversation; she wasn’t about to give the woman away if she wanted to stay hidden. Her companion, however, didn’t seem to have any qualms with revealing the woman though, calling out a question that could be easily misconstrued as offensive. At this, Ria realized that she was completely sick of staying silent.
“Hey, you can’t just up and ask a girl that,” Ria scolded, though her tone wasn’t exactly harsh. “Unless you really want to tick someone off that is.”

Ria turned so she could see both the clergymen and her companion clearly, a note of seriousness entering her voice. “Besides, neither gender or virginity should matter, way I see it. A person’s a person no matter how small, that sort of thing.”

Realizing that the priests were now staring at her, Ria flashed her trademark awkward grin. “Well, anyways, now you can all kiss and make up and we can just go for breakfast?”She was only partially joking about the possibility of breakfast. If these priests really were going to be hospitable, perhaps it wasn’t exactly an outlandish idea. Of course, the food would be horrible, but her stomach was beginning to remind her that she hadn’t eaten yet this morning. Even if the food was completely awful, Ria wouldn’t find eating something that would tide her over until she was able to find a chef that was willing to cook her something decent.

Maybe she shouldn’t be thinking of food right now though; this whole situation hadn’t been completely resolved yet. Raising an arm, Ria waved for the woman to join them. At least this whole mess would be resolved before long, though she couldn’t help but feel that there could have been an easier way to fix everything. It would have been simple to point off in a random direction when the priests had approached them and told them that the person they were chasing had run off. Ria was fairly certain that was the standard way of doing things. Regardless, it at least seemed as though this was all going to turn out just fine.

Word Count: 1272
Notes:
Tags:

[Capsule]

Escape was still very much on Capsule's mind at the moment. The only thing stopping her, however, was the small crowd of clergymen up front, plugging the exit with their bodies as they stopped to question the two Adventurers there. The redhead was uncertain of her ability to pass off as a male priest at a closer range, so she kept her distance - for now. It helped to have a thin and boyish figure that was concealed by the stolen garb of priests, but it would have been better if she had been able to keep her hair pinned up. 'Just shove off already,' she thought in growing agitation as the group continued their incessant chatter. Beside her, her Magic Light quivered in agitation. She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, silently willing her face to remain neutral. All she had to do was wait this out and bolt when the coast was clear.

When Capsule attempted to push the borrowed glasses up once more, she misfired and poked her finger through the space where a lens should have been. She reflexively shut her eye and stopped her finger just a hairsbreadth away. 'Damn it. I forgot these were lensless.' Why someone would wear glasses when they did not need them or without the lens was beyond her. 'For fashion, I guess.' It would be really curious if one of the clergymen were vain enough to care about fashion or looking "smart" by wearing faux glasses. 'Unless…'

There was some light shuffling as a player materialized into the Cathedral, looking disoriented and singed in a few places. 'Oh, of course.' The glasses she had found may have been dropped by a fellow Adventurer and forgotten about. In fact, that could explain the lack of lens. The frames themselves were also a bit cruddy, leading her to believe that this was an item crafted by a low level Artisan or whoever made little accessories like these.

Capsule's hand hovered just over the frames, and then thought better of removing them. Without any lens and a prescription (assuming such a thing was possible to achieve at this level), the glasses would not aggravate her vision. They would just be a bit of a nuisance for her until she could ditch them. Besides, for cheap frames they did accent her features. She had caught a good look at herself in a mirror before distracting the clergymen, and had almost stopped to check herself out, much like a certain rper who likes examining his hair in the mirror he carries around with him at all times.

The redhead lowered the holy book she had been pretending to read in favor of the scene that was slowly unraveling before her eyes. The clergymen were talking to a young man with a babyface, who was accompanied by a woman with blue hair. The church was quiet enough for Capsule to pick up some of what the men were discussing, though she couldn't help but suppress a light snort at the young man's foppish speech patterns. It was too flowery for her ears, and though she had a tendency to pussyfoot around when she was nervous or flabbergasted, it was rather annoying to witness. He reminded her of Indy, in a way; well-off and probably fussy over things like mud and grit. He seemed to be arguing her case, though, so she couldn't fault him much for that - 'Don't look over here, you moron.'. The woman flinched back and made a low noise that was a cross between a growl and a hiss when he addressed her, and had the gall to ask the state of her maidenhood.

The look she and her Magic Light wore was that of indignation and embarrassment. Now she felt certain that he was mocking her along with the priests, and wanted to crawl back into the tunnel from whence she had came. Instead of fleeing and drawing further attention to herself, however, Capsule raised the book in her hand to shield her face. "Wichser," she muttered in exasperation. She wasn't even going to dignify that question with a proper response. 'Really. The nerve of some people.'

The blue haired woman spoke up next, saying a few of the things that Capsule was thinking as well. At least one of them had some common sense. That didn't mean that she felt comfortable with joining them when she was invited by the other woman. If anything, she wanted to stay away from the pervert and his shameless questions. There were several things you should not ask a person when first meeting them, unless there were intentions of "hooking up." Sex was definitely one of those.

She stared at the girl for a moment, then with a rapidly paling face, backed up a few steps until her back was firmly implanted into the wall. The Magic Light mimicked the look of horror and revulsion stamped on her face, but did not mimic the frantic head shaking she was now performing. A string of "nope nope nope" filled her addled mind. She was well aware of the men that sought out virgin girls or women with the goal of deflowering them before any other man.

There were two options available to her at this moment: risking running into the two Adventurers to flee to safety, or staying here until they left. Inversion would come in handy, as she could use the harmless spell to force the man's direction away from her. The thought made her dizzy just thinking about it. What if her aim failed and he just reached out to grab her? The guy was likely roleplaying, anyway, so the odds of him being some sexual deviant was not out of the question.

In the end, Capsule chose not to act and simply stood still, the book held painfully close to her chest. Her Magic Light was cowering just over her shoulder, its expression frozen in a similar mask of terror.

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Words:
1000

Muse:
Bela Lugosi's Dead

Notes:
STRANGER DANGER

Tags:
Aegon, Ria

coded by & for benetnasch of ET

[Aegon]

I	AM THE ONLY DRAGON YOU NEED

I had expected this from the beginning—intervention from Ria—but I hadn’t had a proper estimate of when it would come. I thought it would have been something earlier, but obviously not, as she only spoke up now, as I was nearly making my way into the winner’s circle in this argument, but nothing for it now.

In any case, the only reason I was so tentatively speaking with such mannerisms in the first place was because the setting seemed apt for it, and in unknown territories, one had to be as cautious and careful possible, lest misfortune and death be upon them like starving wolves. At this point I realize I had the choice to further strengthen the dissonance between myself and the normal “Adventurers” that were Ria and this other woman. I’m given a choice. I—

1.) Haven’t a reason to stop, do I?
2.) Is that really the way…?

Then again, limiting myself to merely two choices is as sensible as implying absolutes about pathways. So I will continue the bluff until the priests are gone and then profusely apologize to the two women, make them breakfast, and attempt to gain a better understanding of what sort of world I’m in.

I thought all of that in a matter of seconds as Ria spoke. She was behind me, so she probably couldn’t see my pleasant expression from there, but I make a small turn with my head as she finished off and give her an apathetic look that implied I was a bit disappointed with her. In reality, I had already known that she would come in at some point, but I was a bit hopeful that since I was so close to finishing, she wouldn’t. But there’s no helping it at this point.

Turning my head back to face the men and their woman, I made note that she seemed visibly irritated at my presence at this point. I suppose, for the question I had previously made, had it been the era I was expecting…yes, she wouldn’t have been this way. I guessed something similar to the medieval era, in which women were quite meek, but I guess it must be some mix that isn’t sensible in the slightest. I really need to educate myself once this is through.

I returned to my youthful expression before I had faced them, so they saw nothing change, merely me turning to Ria quickly and turning back. At this point, I make a small shrug in reference to what Ria said earlier, and then nod my head, before putting my arms into a makeshift thinker’s pose, albeit standing up.

“…Yes, well, as much as that thought is alluring, so much so that I nearly feel the need to sate my own hunger,” I say, before being interred by one of the rounder men’s stomach growling. “…it seems I am not alone in that aspect.”

I step forward and meet the men, who are all of a height similar to me. However, it seems that I am an opposing force that’s nearly intimidating, to the point where my stance makes me seem higher in their eyes. I then bow slightly, and with my own head held low and my right hand held on my sword, my left over my chest.

“If her maidenhood does not matter, taking into account my acquaintance’s theory, then I shall therefore pay to your church a fee to replace the water that your ‘trespasser’ ‘sullied’ and I make a promise to ensure that it she will not do it again,” I raise myself lithely and look at the leader head on, while smoothly pulling a bag off of my belt which holds a fair amount of coinage. I throw it to the man in charge, not truly caring for the amount, so long as the money’s enough.

“I hope that will suffice?”

“…Truly, however,” the leader spoke, for the first time in a while. “This is a substantial amount. Far more than you need pay, sir—“

“Worry not; take the rest as payment for your time spent here, and the rest as a donation to your holy church. Now, if that’s truly enough, then you need be preparing for a morning service, am I mistaken? Dawn was not too long ago, and though this discussion was long, I don’t think it need shatter the plans you held for later this day, correct? Then enjoy the day, Father, for it is a beautiful one.”

With words of strong finality, I completely annul whatever “crimes” the redhead had committed with a lot more effort and payment than was necessary, but—it worked. That’s all that really mattered. In any case, the man pushed his glasses upwards one last time, nodded towards the back entrance of the keep, and left with his brothers.

Once they were out of sight, I let out a heavy-hearted sigh and felt myself become a tad bit lightheaded. At this point, I turn around, back towards Ria, and lightly place myself on one of the wooden benches, which are in decent condition. I breathe heartily, but it is even and paced, not making me seem winded, but it’s enough to help calm me.

That was quite intense, but it’s over, at least. I am struggling to truly understand what’s happened to the world I knew, but I’m taking it surprisingly well, I suppose. From what I’m guessing, there are two separate factions, one of which has people who are named “Adventurers.” The other hasn’t been made mention of yet, but I’m guessing that since the men referenced me and the two women as “Adventurers,” then they must have been part of the other one.

In which case, it seems that both myself, Ria, and the unnamed woman who I just saved for no reason in particular, are “Adventurers”—at this point, I’m guessing those two are similar to me, just slightly more weathered in this world. This guess is mainly due to the speech patterns. I suppose my attempt at faking ancient speech patterns was good enough to allude the men at first, until I proved otherwise. But I think if I hadn’t, they’d have mistaken me.

So there are two factions, one consisting of people who would be considered “normal” in my eyes, and the other would be made up of…people with ancient culture, I’m guessing. All right; that’s simple enough to understand. But I don’t want to make any guesses or assumptions, so I—

1.) I ask Ria for an explanation.
2.) I ask the unnamed redhead for insight.

At this point, my judgment must be a bit muddled from the situation just earlier. I feel bad for the woman who I just publicly displaced, especially considering that she was of an age similar to myself, that is, from the same era. She must have misunderstood what I meant by the question, then.

“…” I look at her, take a quick breath, and give her an embarrassed, sheepish expression.

“Sorry about that, I wasn’t sure what to expect when I first woke up on that tower there,” I say, pointing with my finger upwards to the steeple. I’m currently leaning on my thighs with my elbows, a common sitting position when a chair has no back. I don’t need to move my arms to point, so I don’t.

“I guess it was a bit embarrassing; ‘wischer,’ eh? Yeah, I guess I deserved that. Well, I am truly apologetic for it. I didn’t understand the situation well enough to get who was who, so I would hope you’ll forgive me for my transgressions, heh.

“Can I have your name? Mine’s Aegon, as you should know. Not that it’s my real name, but I feel like since I’ve already introduced myself as that, let’s just go with that. And the interrupter over there is Ria, and I’m sure you’ll get along. Anyway, I think that you won’t be troubled by those guys anymore.

“I don’t really understand how I got here, but from what I remember, I was last heading to bed and then I woke up upon that steeple. I guessed from the archaic surroundings that I must have been in some sort of lucid dream, and that it was set in medieval London, but I’ve realized now that I’ve gotten that wrong. The medieval thought was why I was speaking so out of order, as well, if that helps. A bluff, I’d guess.

“In any case, I’d really like to know your accounts so far. Both of yours,” I say, giving Ria a quick glance before returning to musing in my calm, pleasant voice. “I don’t like to be left to my own tune, not understanding what’s going on. If I could get some help, that would be appreciated.”

LAIKA OF GS!