hellonspectacles | Once more into the breach, dear friends

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Once more into the breach, dear friends

It is nighttime, or what passes for nighttime in space, and the ship Mount Ida is quiet.

It isn’t a particularly large vessel. There are berths for a dozen crew members and private rooms for the ship’s two officers, a mess hall, a med bay, an armory, a brig. Nothing about it is particularly luxurious—Blood of Eden doesn’t go in for luxury, and the members of Troia Cell are no different—but everything is functional and well maintained. The ship hums faintly with the sound of engines and life support and electric lights, a but most of the crew don’t notice it anymore.

Near the officer’s cabins is another berth, occupied (or so it seems) by a single person. It contains a bed, and a sink, and a table on which, strangely, sits the perfectly formed skeleton of a human hand. The door is locked from the outside and a crew member stands guard. Are these precautions to keep the person inside from escaping, or to protect them from coming to harm? No one is sure anymore.

The crew member, Sergeant Hot Coals of Vengeance, is bored. Their shift is almost over, they need a piss, and they’re not even sure what the point of this assignment is anyway. Sure, the room’s occupant might be a zombie lover, and she might be a little weird. And sure, she did dislocate Lieutenant Pash’s arm when they tried to take that gross little bag of bones from her, but that was months ago. These days, she’s polite, and she spends long hours in secret meetings with the Commander, and she always asks for an escort when she needs to leave the room.

Coals really needs to piss. They peek through the little window in the door.

Inside, Camilla Hect is curled up on a narrow bed, breathing steadily. She’s asleep, and anyway, the door is locked. What’s the worst that could happen if they stepped away for a few minutes?

Coals leaves their post, and Camilla sleeps on—or so it seems.

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Palamedes stands alert in the middle of the locked room, head cocked to the side slightly and listening closely for Valdis’ approach. Her steps are soft, but as she grows closer, they echo in the quiet ship. When she speaks, just outside the door, he smirks.

He finds a couple scraps of plex, writes something down on each of them, and then slips them under the door.

The first one reads, I can, but you probably won’t like it. :) The second one has a series of numbers on it, the code for the touchpad beside the door.

Valdis swoops down to pick up the scraps, rolls her eyes at the well-known snark. He had to add a smiley face too. The second scrap contains numbers. She glances through the window. The woman on the other side is unfamiliar, but she feels like Palamedes. With a breath, she jabs the numbers into the keypad. Hopefully she's not releasing some sort of necromancy monster, but considering how she herself feels, Valdis doesn't think she will be in any danger.

"I probably won't, but I'm listening," she says as the door slides open.

There are people who might say that Valdis is about to release some kind of necromancy monster. Others, including the crew of the Mount Ida, would insist that all necromancers are monsters.

But even if that were true, this monster happens to be a very dear friend of hers as well.

The person Valdis finds inside appears to be a woman. They're muscular and of medium height, with brown hair cut bluntly at the chin and brown eyes. They're rocking on the balls of their feet, and they're beaming.

After a moment they fly at Valdis and wrap her in a fierce, and likely startling, hug.

"In the name of Cassiopeia the First, it is good to see you."

Edited 2023-06-04 20:42 (UTC)

This both is and is not Palamedes, a dichotomy she will have to examine later, because her former roommate has flung his arms around her and is squeezing tightly. Palamedes had never been one to show her that kind of affection before, so she freezes in his arms. The bewilderment lasts for only a breath.

"I don't know who that is, but I suppose I'm glad to see you too." Valdis briefly returns the squeeze, "Though it appears you have a lot of explaining to do and we may not have a whole lot of time."

“No one knows much about her, but what I do know inclines me to believe that you would find her interesting,” Palamedes answers, full of nerd facts even under such unusual circumstances.

He pulls back, still beaming, and points to her sword. “You’re probably looking for that. Cam says she didn’t touch it, which honestly speaks to her miraculous level of restraint. Do you know how long it’s been since either of us saw a sword?”

But this isn’t the time for smalltalk, and Valdis is looking for answers. “First things first: we’re on a ship called Mount Ida, crewed by a paramilitary cell belonging to the anti-imperial terrorist organization Blood of Eden. Camilla has been a prisoner here, or something like it, for about a year. They still don’t trust her—which is fair, honestly, the feeling is mutual—but we have proven to be useful enough that they are no longer keeping her chained up.”

A dark smile flickers on his lips and his eyes briefly harden. Despite his light tone, the young man is furious about what happened to his cavalier in his absence.

Sharp as always, if Pal thinks she would find someone or something interesting, it's best to pay attention. Cam was right to not touch Revelations, but Valdis makes no move to retrieve the soul bound blade just yet, listening to his quick rundown. The brief story induces no small amount of rage, and from the look in his eyes and the spike of anger from him, they are in agreement.

"Anti-imperial and paranoid. Sounds like I've walked into a less than ideal situation. They probably won't be pleased by the appearance of someone unknown, much less someone with powerful necromantic abilities."

She slips past him to grab her sword. That woman from his memory, she had been severely ill, but formidable. If these rebels were going up again the God of this world, they would probably need one of their own to help them.

"How foolishly are they likely to react?"

“They are fearless, but their Commander believes in living to fight another day. If we present the situation properly, we may be able to convince them not to shoot you on the spot. Best that you keep your abilities to yourself, though.”

He pauses, looking at his friend through eyes that are not his own.

“I realize that I have brought you here without explanation or permission, and am asking you to take significant risks just by your presence on this ship. If you would prefer, I can help you get away, and ensure that you find somewhere relatively safe to live. I may even be able to send you back to the Serena Eterna, though I’m afraid I cannot guarantee that it will work. Sorry.”

"Well, if they do decide to shoot, it's going to be hard to hide them considering I will heal on my own within moments."

She can feel the powers she had been lacking slowing drawing back, like the energy is just waiting for her to reclaim it. But she's not sure she should.

"While I have the utmost faith in your abilities I'd rather take something known than unknown." she reaches out across the ship, feeling and learning about each soul on board as she speaks. "Besides, I am nothing if not adaptable."

Her gaze drops to regard the body Palamedes is possessing.

"Is this what was supposed to happen when you died?"

Somehow she's not sure his plan for immortality worked the way he meant it to.

“Another good reason to convince them not to,” Pal says with a wry smile that is fully devoid of humor.

He knows Valdis well enough to understand she’s doing something to gather more information, though what, exactly, he isn’t sure. Pal had never fully understood the bounds of his roommate’s powers. The reverse, he supposes, is probably true.

Along with the crew, all human and relatively unremarkable, Valdis is likely to encounter a few anomalies in her search for souls. There’s a necromancer in the sickbay, a seriously injured woman stubbornly clinging to life. And then there are two people, both currently asleep, both possessing bodies that do not belong to them.

Pal looks at Valdis with a flat expression. “My current state was not meant to be the modus operandi, no.”

The humans are uninteresting, but she focuses briefly on the injured necromancer, then moves her senses to the two unconscious souls sleeping inside mismatched bodies. She frowns at the sensation, then directs her focus away and back to her friend.

"You aren't the only one like this." She says softly. Pal is slightly different though because he has another soul with him and they are switching back and forth. "These people, they must distrust you if they keep you locked up, are the others also restrained, or are they just asleep."

Her focus is only half on him, back to exploring the humans more closely. Unremarkable, yes, but they must be important somehow if Palamedes is working with them.

Palamedes lifts an eyebrow, impressed. “I should have assumed you might figure that out. One of them is under surveillance. She has some sort of leverage I don’t entirely understand. It’s political. Ancient and political.”

Then he hesitates. The other person is still a mystery wrapped in an enigma, and Pal is awfully afraid of what Blood of Eden might do if they ever manage to solve the mystery. “The other one is barely conscious. I mean that literally—they barely possess consciousness." His gaze goes a bit distance. “But they're important, Valdis. They may be the most important person in the universe.”

Then he blinks and brings himself back to the present. “You can ask me questions, you know. Instead of poking around.”

"I'm also ancient and political," Valdis muses, pulling all her senses back to herself and Palamedes.

She thinks about what he is saying, about the person who is lying unconscious below them.

"Important? Have you tried examining the soul that still lingers?"

She hasn't done it in so long that she's almost afraid to offer. Walking in someone's soul is dangerous. For her and potentially for them. Perhaps changing the subject might help her focus a bit. Trying to rattle him was always so fun before.

"You look very attractive now by the way."

“Well then, maybe I should introduce you,” Pal shoots back. He still isn’t sure what to make of the person who is not quite a Lyctor but something like it, who has even more enemies on this ship than he does, and yet managed to talk their way out of being tossed out the airlock. He does know that they seem as instinctively protective of the girl he has begun to call Nona as he is.

“I have. It isn’t—I can’t get a read.” He presses his lips into an irritated line. If only he could get more time alone with the girl, maybe he could figure out who she was. “Her body belongs to a friend of mine. Her soul likely belongs to one of two people, though either one will have been knocked about something awful, which would account for her current state.” For a moment he pauses, seeming to weigh explaining further. “Or it’s a secret third thing, but if it’s that, then I really am going to have to look into posthumous publication because I’ll need to write at least six different papers, all overturning thousands of years of necromantic theory.”

He stops and cocks an eyebrow, faintly amused. “Some advice: don’t say that where Cam can hear.”

Valdis rolls her eyes at him comment about Cam, she's not interested in either of them so it's hardly worth teasing further.

"Maybe we can figure it out together."

Since they both embody different aspects of death and their abilities might mesh well. Or horribly, but they'd have to try it to know. She considers the not insignificant amount of information he's relayed.

"So why are you in a cell and this ancient and political being isn't?"

And how much time do they have before someone comes looking?

“That is why I brought you here,” says Pal. “I could do with someone ancient and political in my corner. Someone else.”

Because he thinks that Pyrrha Dve might be in his corner, too. Pal isn’t sure he trusts her yet, and he knows Cam trusts her even less, but they all want to protect the girl in the infirmary with the baffling soul, and that’s enough to hold them together for now.

And speaking of— “Like I said, it’s political. I don’t entirely understand it, but I do think she can help us.” A beat. “And Camilla’s tenure here has not been entirely smooth. There’s things she has done to protect me that have not endeared her to our hosts.”

He doesn’t say Camilla was tortured. He doesn’t say, she carried fragments of my skull in a canvas bag and nearly killed the people who tried to take them away. He doesn’t say that Camilla Hect will always be a sort of race traitor to Blood of Eden, and that is almost worse than anything else.

"So, in addition to being tied to Camilla's soul and sharing a body with her through necromancy, you have figured out how to summon souls from across realities? Truly the greatest necromancer of your time."

She's half teasing, especially considering she hasn't actually met any other necromancers despite Pal believing her abilities to be similar to some amongst his kind.

"Well, I am certainly in your corner and far less restricted than I was on board the Serena Eterna. I do hope I don't have to use any of those abilities, but I will if necessary."

Palamedes allows himself a tiny grin. “You bet I did. Though when it comes to other displays of supernatural abilities, do be careful,” he warns. “These people have been fighting necromancers for most of their lives, and their people have been fighting for thousands of years. They’ve picked up a few stupid ideas along the way, but they aren’t stupid.”

A beat. “And even if they can’t hurt you, they are very willing to hurt this body. I won’t let that happen, you understand.”

"That's why you summoned me, isn't it?" Valdis asks, placing her hand on the hilt of Revelations. "To protect you in whatever foolhardy endeavor you have chosen to pursue?"

He never did get a chance to see her actually fight or wield her powers in any meaningful way.

"And even if their people have been fighting necromancers for thousands of years, I have lived for thousands of years. I might be younger than that woman I confronted in your memory, but I outclassed her then, and you know I still do now."

Valdis glances behind where they are standing.

"I do hope you have a plan to get us through this voyage though, I don't know your universe and word games tend to go better when there is knowledge behind them."

“Did no one tell you that would become your job indefinitely when you were assigned to be my roommate?” Palamedes shoots back. Oh, he has missed Valdis—more than he will likely ever admit.

“I can’t stay much longer, I’m afraid. The time I remain conscious must naturally be limited, and Cam needs her beauty rest.” Pal doesn’t explain why, exactly, he has to limit his time in Camilla’s body. He has neither the time nor the inclination to listen to another lecture about his hubris. “But I’ll be back in the morning when we go to see the Commander.”

"No, but I'm sure I'm up to the task."

She has noticed something strange going on in Camilla's body as Palamedes is conscious, but he clearly knows so she doesn't comment and instead gestures to the door she had unlocked.

"Do I need to lock that again?" She asks. "And how upset will they be if I explore a little? I don't plan on being caught, but you never know what might happen."

“Hah. Probably should lock it, just to keep up appearances.” He gives a huff of a sigh at her request. “Valdis, if you wanted to explore, I couldn’t stop you. But for the record, they would be quite upset.” He smirks a little.  “So don’t get caught.”

"Admittedly very few could stop me from doing what I want to do."

It's probably the kind of statement he expects from her, but that doesn't mean she's not right.

"I'll do my best to not get caught and will avoid using necromancy." Because that's the word he prefers for what they both do. "I'll also lock you in, but just so you are aware, I take guard duty very seriously so try not to die while I'm gone."

"We've stayed alive this long, Valdis. We won't die after a few hours alone in the dark. Have fun exploring."

Pal waits until she's gone, and then goes to the desk and records his meeting with Valdis in as much detail as possible. Then Cam returns to her body, and finding herself still in front of the desk with the notebook open, begins to read with interest.

"Yeah, yeah."

She locks the door behind them, heading down the corridor to explore. She keeps all her senses open, locking on to every soul on the ship and tracking them as they move in relation to her. Many are asleep, some are patrolling, others are clustered in one area. Then there are the ones Palamedes mentioned. The important ones. There's the ones that don't match their bodies, the one he says he thinks is on their side and the unconscious one. She naturally gravitates toward both, but the draw of one is stronger than the other, if only because the soul is awake.

She stops outside the door, curious about the mismatch, but she'd told Palamedes she wouldn't get caught, so she starts to move on without investigating further.

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Once more into the breach, dear friends

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Heading deeper into spoiler territory! lmk if I should keep things vague

I don't mind spoilers, I will catch up as fast as I can

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