Scene #9066: In the Shadow of Worms

Owner	Pose
Dysnomia	"We should talk." The thought came, in Dysnomia's voice. Pulled at Echo like a gentle lure, like a compass pointing north, out of the camp, over a hill, into the forest. Here, well outside of Jute, where the soot and the raging inferno of that-thing-called-Ain's wrath was but a mere memory in the air, Dysnomia sat on a stump, in an isolated glade. It felt almost transgressive, the way that the shadow-dappled light poured through overhanging branches. In the wake of that horror, it felt wrong that the sun could continue rising, that the birds could continue singing, that the world could continue turning as though nothing had happened. Dysnomia's eyes are closed, when Echo arrives, her hands clasped in her lap. Aprops of nothing, she began to speak... "They say, one thousand years ago, there was a war in Elibe, between humans and dragons. They say, what was at stake was extinction. That humans were the underdogs, and all dragons were their enemies." "Don't know that I believe that." A shadow of a sneer came, underlining understatement. An exhale. "But now, there's no dragons left living...openly...in Elibe. And haven't been, for a thousand years." "...Say what you like." Dysnomia crossed her arms. She still didn't open her eyes. "This isn't like back home. These things aren't natural-born dragons--they're made. The Bernish King, Zephiel, does something to create them like this. There was no mind control. They're like organic machines, with set programming, made for purpose. You felt it, didn't you?" "And. I think..." A moment's hesitation, and then, she actually opened her eyes. Turned them to Echo. "...It shouldn't be up to some human king, to steal their image and take revenge."
Echolalia	Echolalia has buried herself about an inch below the surface of the earth to nurse her injuries. She was really badly burned by the fire dragon and she's in a pretty sour mood about it. Echolalia generally hasn't needed to kill anyone before and while she was hardly a finishing blow, she did continue wailing at it even as it was in its death throws and even tossesd the sword to the person who ended up impaling the dragon killing sword into the dragon. She hasn't really entirely analyzed quite how she feels about that. It shouldn't matter. Dragons--these kinds of dragons--are not actually etherwyrms. But part of Echolalia's Collapse was the fact she found such creatures weirdly majestic and beautiful. She really didn't think about how in fantasy they're usually the bad guys because they literaly sleep on piles of treasure. So much of not a person Flamel couldn't even get in--well Flamel is someone she trusts so it does make it a little easier to swallow. It's in this state she gets the 'We should talk' message. The joy and relief of Dysnomia asking to talk instead of just remaining avoidant is tempered by these moves but she recalls how Lilian said if she loved someone she wouldn't be caught moping. So after a moment to steady herself, she burrows along undergound until she pops her head out of the dirt like a radish, looking up at Dysnomia. Her hair sparks and sputters in numerous conflicting colors. Mia gives a history lesson. Echolalia doesn't interrupt. She isn't sures she's ready to say just what 'these dragons' are like after meeting just one that certainly met that description and she's a little unsure how Dysnomia knows so confidently after only meeting one. Wyverns aren't exactly the same, now are they? But. "It doesn't really matter that they're not like how they are back home or if they're organic machines or that ether wyrms are technically it's own thing. We have an affinity for them that surpasses particulars. And... That war you're talking about. We've had wars like that. Not a thousand years ago nor to extinction, but the struggle is the same." She rests her head on the dirt and adds, "You're right. Zephiel has to be stopped. But you've fought this war before and you regretted it. ''You'' lost your community for fighting for humans. And I lost the most important person in my life who can barely stand talking to me. This doesn't have to be your responsibility and I'm worried it isn't...healthy... And not just because you're fighting dragons again.")] Her hair shifts to a sumber dark blue. "They're already starting to notice. They're gonna figure it out--if they haven't already--and then...Either they forgive you for hiding it and that's great or you lose them and your world gets that much smaller again. I can't stand it if that happens to you. I'll fight. You go stealth mode. I know I can't so it's better if it's me." She must've been thinking about this for some time. Some of that was clearly already on her mind.
Marigold	And there's Marcus, bandaged cut on his face, weary posture, soot on his armor from a secondary fire. Somehow the gray-haired knight has become something like Mia's confidante of late, on top of being Roy's wisest retainer. Maybe he just gravitates into the role. He's a little earlier than Echo is, leaning against a nearby tree. Was he invited? Perhaps he just sensed Mia's mood as she left, and intuited the need for emotional support. "So it's told," he echoes her recounting, with no comment on whether the legends-as-told are true. "Zephiel- or most likely that woman with him, 'Eden' or 'Iðunn'." He pauses for a long moment, and then says in a quiet voice, clear by his tone that he isn't questioning Mia's loyalties: "But is that the only reason? Say there were a real dragon of old with Zephiel. I don't believe, after all this, you'd switch sides." He crosses his arms and winces when Echolalia elaborates. Most of their emotional history he knows nothing about; so it isn't his place to comment on. But-- They're already starting to notice. "I'm sorry. She's right, Mia. I don't think they'd scorn you, after half a year together... but you can't hide it much longer."
Dysnomia	"We've had wars like that. Not a thousand years ago nor to extinction, but the struggle is the same." "Is that was this is?" Dysnomia asked, something squirming against the current in her expression. "I don't think it is. The Moons aren't..." She clutched at her wrist, briefly. "...They don't run the League the same way, Echo... Captain Edctorius would hate the way Roy's operation works. If anything...he'd admire Zephiel's...If not whatever he's aiming for." A thin, mirthless smile. "I've never heard about 'acceptable losses,' here." "...But." A shuddering breath. "I'm not doing this just for humans, you know." "But is that the only reason? Say there were a real dragon of old with Zephiel. I don't believe, after all this, you'd switch sides." Dysnomia grimaces, as her logic is cut through. "If I'd met them first. Maybe." ...But no. Not now. "...I've...had reason to believe, that things aren't quite as simple as they look." She doesn't quite look at Marcus. "And even if some dragons are...That doesn't mean the rest would agree. I think...There have to be at least a few," she said, carefully. "Who'd grieve if everyone Zephiel wanted was put to the torch. And what would it fix, anyway? Anyone who wronged the dragons then is long dead." They're already starting to notice. "I'm sorry. She's right, Mia. "Roy is too sentimental not to stand up for me." That wane little smile forcing itself to the surface is...authentic enough. "And he's in charge of the army. Only that damn archer worries me." She wasn't so quick to forget about how she'd been shot down. "We don't know him." "What I'm more concerned for is troop morale, and perception." Dysnomia sighed. "Zephiel being exposed as marshalling dragons could rally the people against him. But...Roy having dragons in his forces could make us lose that advantage." "I knew it would happen. Eventually." Dysnomia nursed her head in her hands, sighed. Just not like this.
Echolalia	Echolalia doesn't seem to mind Marcus's presence. And when he says ''But you can't hide it much longer.'' Echolalia immediately adds, "And it isn't exactly fair to them to fight with one arm tied behind our back either. Someone could get hurt in a war and it might not be us." ''They don't run the League the same way, Echo...'' "Nah, I mean, like, the war a thousand years before now." Echolalia clarifies. "I know that the League isn't the same. These people actually seem cool, so it's more important we don't fuck around with them." Echolalia, who doesn't have an 'after all this', hesitates at Marcus's question a little more, but not for that much longer. "We are given this blessing to help ourselves and others. Fighting a race war is the opposite Ran would want us to do." That's so ingrained to her belief structure that her hesitance must have been at some other element of the question she thought of. ''Anyone who wronged the dragons then is long dead.'' "Yeah," Echo agrees. "That's way too long to hold a grudge." ''What I'm more concerned for is troop morale, and perception.'' Echolalia bites her lip to let Dysnomia finish but she waits until Dysnomia finishes before exploding out with a, "What's worse for morale? Them finding out on their own or admitting it now while we still can? If you care for these people--and I ''know'' you care for them. Then we need to say it ''now'' when it's still our choice. Sure, maybe some people will leave. But you already accepted ''that'' cost. If we're honest now, then--we're hurting Roy the least we can." She looks to Marcus. "Can you um. Help us... Do this in a way that is maybe...kind to everyone?"
Marigold	"These people actually seem cool" "Roy is too sentimental not to stand up for me." Marcus stifles a fond little laugh, smiling with his arms crossed. He slides back towards 'sympathetically businesslike' after not too long. "In other words... what you want, Mia, is 'a world where humans and dragons can coexist'. And that can't be if humanity is wiped out. I believe I understand." Agreeable, if maybe utopian, he seems to think. Marcus shuts his eyes and thinks. "... You're right, that Roy would stand up for you. And you're right that it would hurt him in the public eye. How that young general 'Klein' would react, I can't know." He opens his eyes and sighs with the effort of working through it. "Echolalia, wasn't it? The longer you hide it, the more goodwill you've bought... but the more risk you've run of being found out on bad terms." "When the time seems right, tell them you aren't like the dragons here. Call yourself a different name if you must. 'The Otherworld is just different'. That's the easiest way. I know you were nothing like that thing in Juteaux; don't let them imagine that you are."
Dysnomia	"In other words... what you want, Mia, is 'a world where humans and dragons can coexist'. And that can't be if humanity is wiped out." A grunt, and Dysnomia made what was meant to be a dismissive wave. "I just know I couldn't stand back and watch this." Her growl was almost comically performative. "Don't read some grand benevolence into it." ... You're right, that Roy would stand up for you. And you're right that it would hurt him in the public eye. "...I'd hoped to keep it under wraps anywhere with too many witnesses. Towns, cities." A sigh. "But Ain was too much to hold back on. And now. Maybe it's too late." "Sure, maybe some people will leave. But you already accepted ''that'' cost. If we're honest now, then--we're hurting Roy the least we can." "When the time seems right, tell them you aren't like the dragons here. Call yourself a different name if you must." Dysnomia hissed through her teeth. Finally, she muttered... "Durandel certainly seemed to think I was close enough. Oh, fine. Fine." She leaned back, leaning a hand on the stump, rubbing her eyes. "It's not like there aren't differences. There's plenty, if they'll listen."
Echolalia	2,")I'm not that good at being subtle..." Echolalia whispers moments before a piece of her hair flies up into the air and then pops into sparks in a flower pattern. ''Durandal certainly seemed to think I was close enough.'' "Yeah but that sword's racist so who cares." Echolalia say. "You don't gotta convince swords designed during an age of extinction set with a mindset to save humanity at any cost--you can just, like, talk to 'em normal like." But bobs her head excitedly now that Dysnomia seems to be accepting, well, the inevitable and willing to act in a way that's most likely to stop stuff from getting too bad. "Yeah yeah yeah! I mean... The big one, uh, you know... Is that we used to be human. I mean, if you don't buy the Integration line..." She pries an arm out of the ground, and pushes herself out the rest of the way. "Okay! I actually feel a lot better now!" She smiles broadly at Marcus. "Yeah we're nothing like that! You're so frickin' wise!!" Her mood has rebounded tremendously. "Yeah yeah yeah...! I think it'll work out, hella hella!" ''Maybe it's too late.'' "One way to find out! Ripping off the bandaid, less goooo..." She throws a few punches in the air and then a roundhouse she's THAT optimistic. "And then we can kick Zephiel in the dick! Twice!"
Marigold	Her growl was almost comically performative. "If you keep making that face, it'll stick," Marcus says. "Mine did." "Durandel certainly seemed to think I was close enough." "Yeah but that sword's racist so who cares." "And if you swing a scythe at me I'll die, so I guess I'm wheat," he says, good-naturedly rolling his eyes. "It's a weapon, not a judge." "One way to find out!" Marcus smiles bittersweetly. He can't hide that he's anxious too. "You used to be human, you're some kind of magic lizard now, and call it something that isn't 'dragon'. It'll be fine." "But I hope you're not planning to go right from battle to discussion on an empty stomach. My treat. I hear Juteaux's cottage pie is to die for, and there's got to be a place still open on the outskirts." He leans off his tree, readying to go.
Dysnomia	"And if you swing a scythe at me I'll die, so I guess I'm wheat," A sharp snort. "Just don't tell them Roland was the one making the call, and it'll be fine. I'm sure." But she was smiling as she said it, this time. "Hard to get that out of my memory." Birdsong cut through the conversation, drawing Dysnomia's eyes up, away from the others. Colorful creatures hopping from branch to branch. "It's funny isn't it, Echo." Dysnomia's voice was bittersweet, with something aching. "Back home, we spent our lives fighting to keep the station filters running, or the ecosystem humming, and the world will end if we don't keep on top of it." "...But out here, the world will keep singing along, no matter what we do." A shaky, unsteady breath. "Doesn't that make you jealous...?" Dysnomia pushed up from the stump. "Pie, huh...?" She pulled up her hood. "...Let's put all this out of mind. For one day longer."
Echolalia	Echolalia feels a little jealous that these people were able to get Dysnomia like this but all she's managed to do as of late is make Dysnomia frown. She can't really blame Marcus for this because he's so freaking scweet. It's an unusual feeling for Echolalia, she doesn't usually. ''But I hope you're not planning to go right from battle to discussion on an empty stomach.'' "What's cottage pie? We gotta eat it! If it's cottage pie, that's HUGE." She is joking, she knows it's not literally cottage sized. Probably. But she's someone who is always willing to chow down on something even if she can feed herself whenever she wants to. "I've got so many questions for this guy...!" ''It's funny isn't it, Echo.'' Echolalia stops and looks over to Dysnomia. Her green eyes look right at her as she speaks about how safer even a world like this compared to the place they are from, even in the midst of war. "I..." ''The world will keep singing along, no matter what we do. Doesn't that make you jealous?'' Echolalia can't help but be honest even when she doesn't want to be. "...I...wouldn't say I'd prefer things to be dangerous, of course, I mean--um. Obviously it's better if life was a little easier for everyone..." A sheepish smile flickers on her features. "I love being able to help them. I feel...like I have a purpose. One that makes people I love feel happier." She is quiet for a moment and adds, "But it's better to have a choice in helping. I'm glad you've found people whom you can help."