toku matsudaira, geezermancer (giri) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-01-17 14:34:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, !log, peony min, toku matsudaira |
I will always stand my ground.
Who: Peony Min & Toku Matsudaira
What: Lunch and speculation.
Where: Toku's rooms in the Tower.
When: last Saturday (backdated)
Rating: S for sleuth.
Status: Complete!
It had been some time since Toku had cooked for anyone other than himself. He took a break from the paperwork that respawned periodically on the surface of his desk and ventured outside to buy the necessary ingredients. He found cooking relaxing. Though the reason for Peony's visit was not far from his mind, he focused on the task at hand. There would be time enough to discuss the attack on the city after the meal. Peony arrived at noon, punctual as ever. He was glad to see the food seemed to agree with her tastes. Had it been anybody else, Toku would not have made the mabodofu as spicy as he had, but he knew Peony shared his love of spicy food. They talked of everyday things while they ate (Peony's brothers, the scholars, books they had read recently), rather than let their enjoyment of the meal be marred by the concerns that had prompted their meeting. It was only once they had both finished eating, and were enjoying a cup of tea, that Toku said, "You wished to speak to me about the man we fought during the attack, is that not so?" Peony took her time sipping at her tea before responding. “Yes,” she said. “I had thought to ask Merrion as well, but he appears… distraught by the occurrence. I did not wish to trouble him further.” Merrion’s difficulty with fighting humes was not unknown to her. Better to leave this between the two of them, if at all possible; they were less… sensitive about such matters. Sometimes, difficult tasks had to be done. “I did not encounter the man,” she said at least. “I have only hearsay. But there was a woman, I am told, the night that a similarly massive beast attacked the Tenements. She, too, was slain before she could be questioned.” Toku nodded. He, too, had been concerned about this coincidence, and the possibility that it indicated some manner of correlation between the two attacks. "In an ideal situation, it would have indeed been preferable to bring the man in alive for questioning. Merrion tried synergy to stop him, and it worked well, but with that beast approaching the Tower, there was no time for half measures." It was merely a statement of a fact that Peony understood as well as he did. In an ideal situation, speaking to the man could have proved enlightening, and served to dispel some of their questions. But the situation had been far from ideal. "He was a magic user. A Mystic. I did not notice him calling the monster for aid, though it may well be he did not need to raise his voice to do so." “I see,” she said, then sighed. “The woman in the Tenements was the same—a mage. We may never know if they controlled those beasts, though I think that we can speculate that the answer could be yes. That concerns me. I have asked the peacekeepers for assistance in identifying him and where he came from. I can speculate as to his… trajectory, if not his origins.” And that concerned her more. “Did he say anything?” she asked. “Anything that might have shed light on his motivations.” They had arrived at the root of his worries, at last. Toku was silent for a moment. The words that had troubled him since the day of the battle rang clear in his mind still. "He appeared shaken. Rushed. He shouted at us to step aside, so that he may complete his task. No specifics, though it is not hard to guess the nature of the task, considering the destruction that accompanied him. He gave no reason for his actions." Toku paused and looked down at his reflection in the tea. "What troubles me is what he said, shortly before he died. This won't end here." “Foreboding,” Peony said, “but not entirely surprising.” She paused a few moments, attempting to marshal her thoughts, before offering, “The timing of the plague’s arrival here not long before this seems too… coincidental. The cause was never determined, however we know magicks were involved, and the man, as you said, was a mage.” She spoke quietly now, laying out conjecture. She had had some time to think on this. “Someone brought the illness into the city. If the two events are related…” She trailed off, her brows knitting slightly (for her, an expression of deep distress). “Whoever carried the illness here failed, if his or her task was to poison the city,” she said. Another pause, then, “Did Hippolyta say anything to you? I know she was there, and she speaks more freely with you than with me.” "I have yet to approach her about it. We spoke a few days after the battle, but did not discuss the man. She appears to be fine, however." Distressed that she had been the only one to come out unscathed, perhaps, but injury was a small price to pay for the return of peace to the city. "Though I must admit, there is something else I had planned to speak to her about. It is the beast that ravaged the district, of course." Peony's theory rang true to his ears; he, too, found it hard to believe the events of the past few months bore no relation to each other. He sipped his tea and voiced the idea that had been nagging at him for some time. "The world is made up of dualities. Nothing exists independently, without something else to oppose it. If the guardian Hippolyta harbors is a bringer of health and light, then surely there must exist a bringer of sickness and dark." He paused. The memory of the monster's evil aura lingered like the smell of vinegar in his nostrils. "I wonder if the guardian knows something about it. We have knowledge that a similar plague struck a long time ago, and if the guardian was around then, I see no reason why the bringer of sickness would not have." He found it hard to think of such beings as mortal. Not from the hume perspective of what constituted mortality. If gods died, surely their lifetimes could not be compared to a single hume's. “That is why I asked if you had spoken to her,” Peony said. “If the guardian has any insight, Hippolyta might share it with you.” It was unfortunate, but the only other person she knew harboring such a power could barely care for himself at the moment. He would be of no assistance. “As for this not being the end, however,” she said, “I’ve a theory. A bit outlandish, perhaps, but not, I think, impossible.” She had been thinking about it since realizing the parallels between the two humes who had come along with their monstrous charges. “Some months ago, while you were away, we began to have troubles out at sea,” she said. “First, only there -- then, before long, the city was repeatedly accosted from that direction by a variety of beasts. One particularly large creature nearly destroyed the docks, but when Riyeko examined it mid-battle, she said it was badly hurt, though our forces had only just engaged it. At the time, I thought it might be running from something, and wondered what might hurt something so large. Merrion’s research into this never bore fruit. However, some time after this, the woman came to the Tenements, along with a creature of monstrous size. It ravaged the district. Its attacks were of Water.” The capital was all but audible. “You were here when the first reports of the plague came,” she continued. “Outside the city, but coming closer, not quite magick, not quite poison. And then, some time later, this attack, in which the creature poisoned all in its vicinity.” Too many parallels to be coincidental—far too many. “What I mean to say is that, perhaps, before the next time,” and there would be a next time, Faram protect them all, “if we are wise and vigilant, we may be... forewarned.” Toku did not notice he was tensing up until Peony finished explaining her theory. He let out a breath and nodded. A quiet sort of determination was written plain across his features. “Your theory would make sense,” he agreed. “And it is our best shot at defending this city. We must be prepared. Such a calamity must not be allowed to happen again.” For the moment, they had their work cut out for them. “If you should learn more about the man’s origin, please do let me know. I shall speak to Hippolyta, and hopefully shed some light on the identity of that beast.” “Then it seems we both have tasks before us.” Her expression softened then, and she added, “We are not such easy prey. although we are perhaps learning too slowly. Still, I think that we can protect this city.” And the two of them would be among the first line of defense. It comforted her to know he would stand beside her when the time came. |