[Chapter 7] The Deep Throne

[Game Master]

When Ariadne’s sight takes in a reading of the throne room, several things become apparent at once. There is only one exit, in the direction from which the vampires and human came. There are no traps, no pitfalls. There is plentiful loot, which seems to be of good value, though otherwise unremarkable. The treasures seem to be directly guarded over by Theodosia’s personal knights - which are monstrous undead creatures.

She considers the question only for a moment.

“Shatter an urn filled with ashes, and no matter how well you fit the pieces back together; its cracks will still and always show. Nor would you use it for the function it once served. You have spoken to the tricksters?”

And as the word ‘trickster’ moved into the mind of those in the chamber, so too were other words whispered along with it: demons, murderers, monsters, illusionists, servants, demi-fae.

“To try and seal that doorway would weaken us all. The growth and strength of the abilities gifted to you would decline. Your immortality would falter. Your freedom would recede. History would begin to loop upon itself. The peace which is your only shield from true death is insubstantial. Even from my throne, I see the seeds of its demise propagating, growing, and spreading daily. What you suggest would be the equivalent of slicing a man’s hamstring and sending him into battle with no sword. I can show you the preparations which must be made.“

[Every]

The answer that the undead queen gave to Ariadne was too quick for Every's liking. She had always been skeptical about the rift, how it could be sealed, but as it was said, she believed it just slightly. Even shattered urns could be shattered once more, sometimes even beyond repair and as the shadow considered their options, she hoped she wasn't the only one that would need more information before acting. If the moment had been written in the stars long before they were of existence, then it could wait a bit longer before a decision came to light.

It didn't escape Every's notice, too, that the majority of words spoken in regards to the demifae reflected upon vampires, as well. She'd been called enough of them that she knew there was always more to meet the eye - even if she didn't like the creatures. Would they really be weaker if it closed? She recalled the fractures again - the power that some had felt when absorbing it had been so signficant. It'd been almost heartbreaking in the end to see the masquerade fall after everything that she and the others in her family had put forth in trying to protect it all.

There had been more than vampire life at stake and deep down, Every still knew that she didn't quite think a larger scale rift would be beneficial. She recalled the conversation she'd had with Jesse. "If not for you, do it for me." Hazel eyes moved to Freyja as she looked at her friend and considered the blondes feelings on the matter. She knew that Freyja wished for it to be open, but would the freedom be worth it, in the end? Her lips turned downward into a fall. Although she'd developed more friendships as the masquerade fell... survival was much more important to her.

"What will happen if choose to open the rift between the two realms?" There was the knowledge it would be the opposite - the rift opening would allow them to become more powerful, but the devil is in the details.

[Game Master]

The questions were coming one at a time, though Theodosia had expected no less. What she had proposed to them was a game of sorts, one which put a premium on the value of knowledge and the best way to ensure a lack of redundant information was to take what the group had learned and apply it to future questions, with each successive answer. It was a toothless way to approach the situation, so she was ultimately fine with obliging.

The next question was opposite to the first, though it would have been the same to have asked what would have happened if they agreed to give her blood. The two options were one and the same.

“You are men and women born and raised in a prison with no sight, no sound, and no means of escape. You do not see your restraints because you have worn them for so long. You do not know freedom because you have not tasted it. Right now, your understanding of things is limited to your lifetime, a viewpoint of weeks and months and years. I wish to unlock the puzzle of eternity, which may only be done with your help.”

[Every]

”With all due respect, your highness,” Every had the mental image of being killed twice in two weeks time, ”that doesn’t quite answer my question. Yes, freedom is a nice benefit, but it hardly scrapes the bottom of a barrel.” The words were spoken clearly despite the little voice of ‘what the hell are you doing?’ whispered in the back of her head. It wasn’t a question asked once more, so the rules still would remain in play.

Right?

Her hand went to where she kept her blade, an unconscious action that she stopped when caught. There was no need for her nerves, for her instincts to be slowly setting back into place. The queen herself had mentioned she was answering on good faith, and in good faith, Every felt if they were to act, answers were needed. Then again... did she know the answer that the shadow had wanted? Was she unaware of what the rift protected the mortal realm from?

Her thumb and forefinger moved over the relic worn on her hand. At least she’d get a little warning, all else failed.

[Game Master]

Freedom is a nice benefit. Said as if it were an afterthought, perhaps the way one might have described something which was not inherently of great value, but was worth humoring someone else over. Or the way one might have played down the value of something to better barter for it. However the topic was not one which was only of importance to Theodosia, and it was not a negotiation. Though the comment did illustrate exactly what the ancient vampire had been describing. They were still very much inside of their own lifetimes. Held back by familiarity to a life that would one day fade into nothingness. Would they choose to stagnate their own growth or would they choose to embrace the power that was their inheritance?

“Two questions have been asked, three remain. Have you more specific concerns, I will address those."

[Amalea]

The woman seated upon the stone throne certainly showed her age, physically. There was no doubt that this was a rather emaciated form of what was likely a formable woman in her prime. The bejeweled cuff was testament to that; it had the red-head wondering if it was just a status symbol from her human life or if it was some unknown relic. Given the headache she was currently nursing thanks to trying to peer into the woman’s mind, she sincerely hoped it was just jewelry.

Don’t try to appraise her, she warned the other keyholders with a light touch to their minds. All you get for it is a nasty headache.

Well, she certainly had some sort of telepathic capability judging from her method of conveyance for her words. Not that made Amalea feel any better about this situation; she’d seen The Mummy too many times for that. Being told that this group was the ones that destiny chose did little to ease her mind particularly coupled with the images that accompanied the thought. A couple had caught her attention making her wary of their host.

Christ this woman seemed to speak in riddles. Granted, Amalea, herself believed in and practiced the art of divination, but she’d never say things like that. If the mummy-woman was to be believed, they were all meant to find the keys that had brought them here and had been for several years. She wasn’t keen on the idea, if she was honest, but what had occurred was done. It was time to focus on the present and the challenges being presented.

At the mention of human blood, Amalea took a half step behind Ariadne and Every. Of course it would require human blood, she had suspected that based on what they had been shown. But whatever happened to using goat blood for **** like this? It wasn’t like she ever put up a fuss about someone asking her for a pint or so of blood, but this was different. This was a woman who obviously hadn’t fed in years, for one. For two, she wasn’t really too specific on the details of needing blood.

Granted the throne sitter was offering to allow them a question each, but that seemed a bit stingy to the human given the decision they were being asked to make. There was a distinct lack of information about the rift and there was no real way to cover every detail needed of the possible choices and the mechanics of the choice in a mere five questions. That assumed the answers were even honest.

Ari’s question was a sound one. The offer to close the rift wasn’t one on the table, but given the Administrator’s claim that the Sirens wanted to close it, she could see the relevance. She had her own thoughts on the benefits and consequences, but she was interesting in the ancient one’s reply.

She smiled for a moment at the idea presented by Every. It was sound and gave them the best chance at acquiring the greatest amount of information from this mystery woman. I can certainly concur with that plan. No sense in duplicating questions when we get so few. She replied with a gentle brush into the mind of the other keyholders. Eve’s comment about the heart of vampirism caused her pause as she considered the possibility. While perhaps not the literal heart as it was rumored vampires had originated in Europe, she supposed it was possible that this was the vampire responsible for bringing it to the Americas.

She had to give the woman credit once she began to reply to Ari’s question. The image of a shattered urn always having cracks made sense; it was usually impossible to repair something in such a way to make it like new again. The red-head had doubted that the rift could be completely closed, but had to wonder if the small cracks would be enough to allow escape from the dreaded Shadow Realm. If this being was to be believed, their power (hers included, she assumed) was drawn from the SR. At face value it all made sense, but was it accurate? She couldn’t really argue with the fragileness of the peace currently uneasily settled over the city, but the rest was out of her depths.

Of course, she had her own opinions on the rift. Someone with her knowledge and longevity in the city always would unless they were oblivious to the happenings around them. Whatever happened to it would affect the entirety of the city, not just the vampires, which she hoped those around her would keep in mind. It was a multi-faceted issue that was complicated even if it looked straightforward at first.

Every asking the opposite version of Ari’s question made complete sense. Of course, one would think that such information would have been volunteered by their host when she had made her offer to widen the rift. At least, the positive bits, anyway, as a way to entice them to want to take her up on her offer. But alas, it had come to the need to ask about both sides of the coin.

The red-head was rather disappointed with the answer that was given mainly because it was such an incomplete answer that didn’t come close to providing the requested information. It was as if she was telling them freedom was what they would get not that they understood anything about that. That was fine but it didn’t tell them about the cost of that freedom or its parameters. Was it the ability to go anywhere without fear? Was it greater power? But at what cost?

Her breath was held as Every informed her highness that the answer wasn’t really acceptable; politely, of course. She was certainly a brave woman to poke at the ancient in such a matter; Lea hoped the vampire wouldn’t be making a return trip to the Shadow Realm for it though. The ancient’s reply wasn’t exactly unexpected, after all, they were playing by her rules here and she had given what she thought was a complete answer. The red-head could understand how she likely saw freedom as the only information that was needed; wars had been fought over it in the past after all. But, at the same time, there were just five of them trying to make the best possible decision for their community.

She frowned lightly as she realized that she, herself, was no closer to choosing a question to ask of their host. She had too much she wanted to know and no way of asking it all. Things like how much blood, what did the woman get from opening the rift aside from the blood, what were the bounds of the proposed freedom and many others. She hoped one of the other two would ask their question soon and that it helped her narrow her choices down. Otherwise, she might be flipping a mental coin.

[Llangort (DELETED 6420)]

Llangort shrugged uncertainly then turns to the others.
"Given the amount of thinking going on, I am starting to suspect that I am quite definitely the newest of our merry bunch of champions, and I hope to hell that one, preferably more of you have a clue what those two answers meant. I am very deliberately speaking in sentences, statements, even if I end up rambling, for fear of wasting, I assume my, question. So for now, unless anyone has objections”, then with a quick glance at Theodosia “or even free information regarding the matter”, before facing the group again, “I will shortly present a question intended to clarify the details around the aforementioned requirement for human blood, as that is the only part of this thing I can yet quantify a response to”.

[Freyja]

Flicking her tongue at the butt of her cigarette, Freyja remained quiet for the question, listening. Slowly, the ash from the end of her smoke drifted to the floor, the dead remains crumbling to dust against the dusty stone.

The question was relatively vague, and the answer, as she listened, was even more vague. Almost worthless, both. The purchase did not live up to its value. The currency that they had traded didn’t match the value of what they had been given. It was a coin wasted, a priceless gem tossed into the black depths of the sea of time. Who is to say that such an opportunity would ever arise for any one of them ever again?

She lifted a hand to her lips, plucking the filter from her mouth to trace the nail of her thumb along its length. “That might be a good idea,” she began as she flicked the cigarette butt into her palm, grinding what little ember remained from existence, tucking the discarded filter into her half-empty pack and lifting her hand to pull the bandolier from her shoulder, the butt of her rifle resting against the stone floor alongside her. “We’ve only a very small handful of questions. We should probably try to keep them as specific as possible, given the broad nature of these answers.” She lifted the toe of her boot, nudging the bolt of her rifle open. A single round clicked against the action as it was shoved into place, awaiting the bolt’s closing stroke.

Running her tongue along the inside of her teeth, Freyja stood, her sharp eyes appraising the withered woman, glancing at the redhead standing alongside her and the rest of their party. She had never been so happy to not have the psychic voodoo that so many of her friends had. It seemed more painful than she would have liked to endure if she could help it, just to inspect the woman’s prowess. “I’ve questions of my own. I’ve yet to decide which is most important, though. Be it about the rift, which she has been relatively tight-lipped about to this point, or about the power she promises?” She lifted a hand and raked a nail against the line of her jaw.

“I have answers for almost any of the conditions her payment might carry, to be honest. Type and quantity, if you feel like that might help alleviate your worry, and free up another question you might have.” she murmured to the only male in their party. She had resources. Resources that offered her a steady stream of blood by several means, physical and magical, instant and time-intensive.

She glanced at the others and lifted a brow. "I, for one, am interested in just exactly how this will change things. How far, how fast, how long? Most importantly, though," she said to the group as she let her gaze slide to the woman on the throne, "is what she intends to do, once the deed is done. Does she intend to vanish into the night, or will she be here to teach us what she knows?"

She let her gaze flick back to the group and gave a shrug. "Sounds good?"

[Game Master]

Her observation was the silent and patient starvation of a spider in the middle of its web. In the short time she had known her key holders, they had made no move to aid her. Perhaps they were of a cautionary nature, but history did not remember those who could not make bold and decisive moves. They had been gift wrapped a position that many would have died, and died again for a chance at, and they were talking about the best way to pump her for information. Would she have done the same in her time period? Most likely not, but it had also been another era. The way her key holders handled the situation was a perfect reflection of how times had changed. One was mortal who spoke to the trayontes with no fear, and they seemingly protected her. They worked in cooperation, some complicit in the tacit nature of their inaction.

This was a game of mirrors and light. Where things appeared to be one way, but were another. Her key holders were distracted by what they thought was right, without reaching out to grasp their own destinies. Were all of her kind like this? She could already foresee what their future held - an endless string of demands from the masses of humanity to which the trayontes were little more than barely tolerated guests. The changes would be small at first. Little demands that her kind would acquiesce to for the sake of peace keeping. Then each passing gesture would need to grow larger out of necessity, until one day they were sub-human. Kept in camps. Identified with numbers. Emaciated and dessicated. Allowed only to survive on the blood of rats as they scurried. Laws of the land to control if and who they could welcome to the darkness. And if even the smallest of infractions occured, dragged away from the rift and ended. Truly ended.

Did they think that humans were not already looking for permanent ways to destroy them behind closed doors?

Humanity did not like to be a prey animal.

And while hers were doing nothing save for trying to play along with this game of mirrors, they were oblivious to the machinations of those with power over the ones who outnumbered them by a factor of tens of millions to one.

She heard a series of questions, though she knew they were not intended for her directly.

“I am most comfortable surrounded by my creations. So long as I am allowed to continue my work in peace, I may be reached by those here. I will share what knowledge I can, but I warn that there are some lessons which take both time and patience to understand.”

And some lessons required personal loss and error of judgment.

There had been a time when she had wanted to make her own childer. The fae had robbed her of them. Perhaps this was a step towards reclaiming what had been taken from her.

[Freyja]

The tall Norsewoman gave a short, quiet laugh and gave the old vampire a twist of her lips, a wry smile given to the ancient as Freyja accepted that her question had been satisfactory. The answer, while as short as any that they had been given, had been exactly what she had hoped for.

It wasn’t intended that they were given this great power, to be set loose upon the world without any knowledge of how to use it. They had access to the mind of its architect, to open discourse with a mind with whole lifetimes of experience on subjects of great and terrible power. That was exactly the sort of thing that Freyja had always hoped to stumble across. That was the language she understood best. Power.

Her smile widened and she lowered her head in a show of respect for the woman that had fashioned herself Queen of the Dead. “Thank you, your Grace. I look forward to the possibility of learning from you.” She turned to the rest of their group, then, and lifted a fine, fair brow as she placed a hand on her hip, the toe of her boot shoving the bolt of her rifle back into place as she offered them each a grin. “I’ve heard all I need to hear. I know what I came for.”

She tipped her head toward the throne and shrugged a shoulder. “I say we help the woman. I say we free ourselves. We learn. We grow. We survive. Power is how we do that.” She grinned, and gave an idle flourish of her hand at her side. “Ask your questions, but my mind is made.”