Who: Audrey, Toku, Merri, and Peony What: An interview with Shiva Where: The Mages’ Guild Tower When: Backdated to the week of 6/2 Rating: Tame Status: Complete
The investigation into the magical beasts that had so often spearheaded attacks on the city in the recent year had been yielding less satisfactory results than Toku had hoped. They at least had some promising leads, however, and the young lady across from him was particularly so. It had been fortunate that Merrion had been acquainted with her, and even more that she had agreed to this interview. He had feared she might not be at ease being interviewed by three people at once, two of whom she had never met before, and so Toku resolved to do what he could to set her at ease. His first step had been to prepare tea before her arrival, and Peony had contributed pastries to the cause, yet he had no doubt that Merrion’s presence would be the biggest help to that end.
“Thank you for coming today,” he said, with a bow of his head and a polite smile. “We are grateful that you made time for this. Your assistance in this matter is very much appreciated.”
The small blonde fiddled with her hands, eyes glimpsing from the man in front of her to the softer female and then finally to Merri. She had always found Merri to be so whimsical, lacking the respect the other two councilors commanded. They stood poised, strong and composed whereas she’d often find Merri fiddling with words. Why are you scared, child? There is no need. I will protect you. The chill she felt caused her to shiver, reaching out for the tea Toku had been so kind to pour her. She merely held it, opting not to drink it. “Of course,” she finally spoke, offering the Sage and the councillors a forced smile. “I am unsure if I can help, but I will try.”
The young woman appeared nervous. Peony could understand why she would be -- she supposed that however friendly their faces, the three of them made an imposing panel of inquisitors regardless of the tea and pastries. Even so, she pushed the plate very slightly towards their visitor, as if to encourage her to help herself, and said, in her most soothing voice, “That you are willing to speak with us is aid enough.” And if any new information came to light -- however small the breakthrough -- they would all be better for it.
Merri had been relieved when Audrey had agreed to speak with the Council and Toku. Considering everything that had happened, he would not have been surprised if she had refused (and this was the first time he had approached someone about a summon before; in the past, they had come to him, for reasons Merri still could not fathom; surely they all would have had better sources for help, not that Merri was displeased to do what little he could to help them, of course!), but they promised confidentiality and all of them would uphold it. None of them were the types to back out of their words, after all.
“If you get uncomfortable or… well.” He glanced over at Toku and Peony. “You aren’t here against your will. We’ll do all we can to make sure this meeting won’t be unbearable, but if it does become… that, we understand if you feel like you need to go.” He offered a smile. “But we’re glad you’re here, and thank you for agreeing to meet with us. That-- she… said some things in that battle that we have questions about. We think she’s the best lead we have for being able to do something about the next attack.”
The only lead they could follow at that time, in fact. Remembering his conversation, some months ago, with Asura (and Hippolyta's unease during it), Toku made his tone as courteous as he could.
"As you know, yours is not an isolated case. We are aware of the existence of other summoners - to give this ability a name - and have been able to speak with one of them so far, before yourself. The information her guardian carried, unfortunately, was not as extensive as we may have hoped." He paused, trying to word the question as broadly as possible. "Councilor Priddy said the guardian you are now cohabitating with made mention of other beasts. These beasts that have been attacking the city in the past year are of course a matter of great concern to us, and we would be honored to hear what this guardian has to say about them, if she is willing to share her knowledge with us."
It is none of their concern. the growl echoed in her head. Audrey only frowned, her eyes dropping towards the floor. A hand had reached out for one of the pastries, taking the banana nut bread in her hand and munching on it first before responding to them. “She says it’s none of your concern what they do. This a fight between gods and immortals.” Her voice echoed as though she was giving them a memorized textbook response to their question. “We shouldn’t be intervening in their affairs.” The blonde set the bread down, her hands wrapping around the teacup, hoping the warmth would keep Shiva’s frigid disposition away.
“Many people have lost their lives, still others have lost loved ones, homes, other property,” Peony said, keeping her tone gentle. “It is difficult to say that this is no affair of humes; the casualties have caused us understandable concern.” She paused a moment before venturing, “If I understand correctly, she was aiming towards the city and had to be… dissuaded from coming here.” But her words, as Peony recalled from Merrion’s explanation, had not been the words of a creature bent on mindless destruction. “Would she be willing to share why this is?” Was there something in the city she had been attempting to reach, and if so, what was it? How did it tie into all of this? “Perhaps our aims are not so different.”
The blonde shivered, shaking her head fervently. “She doesn’t want to talk about it.” Picking the cup up, she took a sip, feeling the warmth of the tea calm her down. Blinking she looked towards the Sage and Merri, “Anything else?”
Merri frowned. He didn't understand; why didn't she want to talk about it? True, she hadn't been forthcoming during the battle, dismissing their questions with a simple This does not concern you, but if she had chosen to... inhabit the mind of a mortal hume, surely she had to know she was involving them as much as the other attackers had.
Which made him worry not for the first time, and not for the last, for Audrey. "How are you?" he asked slowly. "I mean, is she... trying to... talk to you, make you do things? I know that most other summoners aren't dealing with that, at least not yet, but I just want to be sure that... You're okay. Are you okay?" Tlisa had been sure that her beast did not seem intent on attacking the city again, the last time they'd talked, and he trusted her, as he'd trust Audrey if she assured him that the ice woman would be the same.
The question had caught her a bit off guard, blinking as she looked at him. “I’m fine, yes.” Shiva wasn’t mean, not the way Ari told her about Ifrit. Even then, she didn’t believe Ifrit to be telling Ari to be doing bad things. Though his commentary brought concern to her. An icy laugh echoed in her mind. I will not hurt you, child. Do not think such things. “It’s a bit awkward to gossip about someone who’s in my head,” she struggled with her smirk.
“I can only imagine,” Toku said, wry. Talking about the guardian herself would indeed be difficult, as he assumed she heard everything her host. It seemed talking about the guardian’s purposes did not make her any happier, but he had no option but to press the issue. “Our aim in this is merely to protect the city and the people in it from further harm. If by doing so we are meddling in the affairs of gods, then it would seem our aims and theirs have some measure of overlap. Would she be willing to explain what she is referring to, when she speaks of these affairs of gods?”
Audrey’s arm had twitched as if reaching to hold her head, but she refrained from the movement halfway placing her hand on the arm of the chair. “With so many loved ones lost, she says you know exactly what you’re interfering with.” The blonde had closed her mouth momentarily. “She’s getting upset.”
“We are sorry,” Peony said. “Our aim is not to upset either of you.” And if they angered the creature…
Well, no good would come of this interview, but some measure of ill might instead.
“If,” she said as delicately as she could, attempting to phrase the question now to appease the creature housed within the young woman’s mind, “we were to heed her wish and not interfere -- is there anything she can think of that we could do instead to, perhaps, to keep this city in particular from attracting this manner of… attention?” It was not ideal, but if the battle were only waged elsewhere, they might have some space to breathe as they worked out what could or should be done about it.
Audrey shook her head. “There’s nothing we can do.” Reaching to finish the last of the banana nut bread, Audrey continued to shake her head. “She’s gone. I’m sorry I couldn’t be of much help.”
Toku could not help feeling slightly disappointed. The information he had obtained from Asura through Hippolyta, though vague, had shed some light on the situation, though Hippolyta had hosted her guardian for longer than Merrion's friend at the time of the conversation. He wondered if that played a role, but whatever the case, pressing the issue would get them nowhere. There was nothing to do but offer a slight bow and say, "Not at all. We appreciate that you agreed to speak to us, as well as convey our questions. Thank you for your cooperation, Lady Coulombe."
He could only hope that soon they would find a way to anticipate and stop the attacks on the city. To prove this guardian wrong, and hope the gods she spoke of did not have a habit of violent retaliation against those who meddled in their so-called affairs.