Jonnie ⚜ Merritt (angryjonnie) wrote in thegalaxy, @ 2016-06-06 09:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | !locale: naboo, dee, madalena, mezikiah |
your tongue is a rudder, it steers the whole ship
Who: Dee, Madalena, and Mezikiah
What: An awkward reunion and a ceremonial death mask...
When: a few nights after this
Where: Naboo
Rating: TBD
Status: updated / incomplete
They stood at the entrance to the refugee village, staring out in the dusty, cramped place they had once called home. Dee held her hands close before her, fingers twisting, her nerves on fire. She chewed the swell of her lip. She could not rightly say why she was nervous. They had fought well together to save Palisade, and parted on good terms afterward. She had not left his realm of her own volition. She had not truly abandoned him or the faith they tenuously shared. There was of course the minor issue of her wanting to slay the god he thought he worshipped, but that was nothing that needed discussion now. And still she could not bring herself to move forward into the town.
"I don't know about this," she said. She turned her head to look at Madalena, both their faces hidden in shadow beneath their upraised hoods. "What if he insists I stay? Or what if he won't give me the Haruspex Requiem?"
Madalena snorted. “Dee,” she said. “Then you fucking make him.” She smiled and reached for Dee’s hand. A sigh. “Listen,” Madalena continued. “I’m sure this will be difficult. But look what you’ve already accomplished! Such greatness in such a short time. And there will only be more to come.” She gave Dee’s hand a reassuring squeeze.
The priestess could not help the smile that came. Madalena's confidence bolstered her own; Issan was not with them, but they had one another. If their recent sacrifice and spellwork had given Dee nothing else, it had certainly instilled in her a confidence that they were more together than they were apart. She had felt nothing like it since her time with the Rat Queens, and she had missed it more dearly than she had realized.
She drew a long, deep breath, exhaling slowly. "All right. But you have to step in if things go bad. If I look like I'm going to back down, you have to help me. Promise me."
“Of course. I promise,” Madalena said with a smile. “So.” She scanned the crowd, the rows of refugee housing stretching before them. “I, um --” she laughed nervously. “I’ve no idea who I’m looking for, but let’s just dive in,” she said, stepping out into the waves of lost souls.
"You'll know him when you see him," Dee answered. "He'll be unhappy I'm not wearing my markings, but I can't afford to here."
She moved away from Madalena, leading her down crooked, narrow alleyways. She had spoken with Mezikiah, knew where she would find him, but she found herself taking a circuitous route. Her approach worked. By the time they reached the little home Naboo had made her husband's -- temporarily, at least -- she felt more composed than before. After one small, weak moment of hesitation, she raised her hand and knocked at the door.
This place and this situation vexed Mezikiah to the point that even his bones ached. A fact only worsened by the knowledge that Dee was somewhere out in the vastness of this galaxy and no one really knew where. It was familiar in broad strokes if not in details. He sat alone in the home provided him, arms resting on his knees. It was his usual way of spending the evenings… solitary and deep in thought, the Haruspex Requiem sitting idly on a table. So habitual was it, that when a knock echoed from the door, Mezikiah flinched.
Rising to his feet, he strode over and unlocked the door. Tentatively pulling it open, once he recognized Dee’s features, Mezikiah flung it the rest of the way. “Where have you been?” he asked, eyebrows rising high on his forehead, only to furrow deeply when he realized she no longer wore her markings. “And what have you done?” he asked, eyes shifting after a moment from his wife to the woman she traveled with.
Dee's eyes cast downward, a sad furrow marring her brow. "I'll explain," she said, "just let us come in." She did not wait for an answer. She shouldered past him, leading Madalena inside. At once her eyes fixed on the death mask. Small hairs rose on her arms in its presence. How easily the memories flooded back, how vividly the lifetimes she had witnessed returned to her. She visibly shuddered, and put her back to the terrible artifact.
Once the door was firmly shut, she drew a deep breath and tried to find the best place to begin. "I have to hide," she said. "Someone from the First Order is looking for me. This..." She gestured to the white marks drawn onto his rugged face. "Is just too obvious. I wish you'd remove your own, as well. At least until we can get you somewhere safer."
Mezikiah opened the door wider as Dee moved past him, his attention lingering on the stranger momentarily. Long enough that he missed Dee’s reaction to the death mask, though even as she turned her back to it, Mezikiah glanced to it beyond her. Perhaps out in the open wasn’t the safest place for it.
“This is a part of me,” he pointed out. “In a whole galaxy where everything is foreign, why should I give up any part of myself?” He frowned sympathetically at her, “Why should you?” The First Order, whoever they might be, couldn’t possibly be so dangerous as anything Dee had faced before. “Naboo seems most likely to facilitate a way home. What place could be safer?”
"There are lots of places," she said. "There are worlds here, Kiah. Entire planets. Some of them are barely inhabited, or are and have been neutral for centuries. But here… the First Order have operatives here. The leader of one of their factions was here, and tried to…" She raised a hand to her temple, rubbing at the first stirrings of a headache. "Just trust me. This place is not as safe as you think it is, and unless you take action, you will not remain unnoticed for long."
He frowned, arms folding across his chest as he looked Dee over. He knew she believed what she was saying and while he knew she was right about all these worlds scattered across the galaxy - Mezikiah wasn’t sure he bought into the idea of this powerful First Order. Nevertheless, he sighed. She was his wife, however estranged they had become.
“What do you suggest? What have you come here for?” he asked. Surely if she was returning to this planet after having left for her own safety, she had to have a plan in mind.
The color in her cheeks deepened. "I... those are two very different questions," she said. She looked to Madalena, anxiety kicking up a tumult in her stomach. "I suggest you let me book you passage off this planet. I know a pilot who could take you somewhere safe." If she'll still speak to me, Dee thought, but could not say. "I came here to tell you that, but also…" She glanced to the mask, her chin tipping in its direction. "I need that."
“I’ll consider it,” he commented on her offer to book him passage elsewhere. The thought was derailed, however, by her next statement. Brow furrowing, Mezikiah let out a heavy sigh laden with frustration. He knew she wanted distance from him and all he reminded her of, even if he couldn’t truly understand it completely. But to appear only to warn him of danger, suggest he leave, and then take the Haruspex Requiem? He swiped a hand over his face and turned toward the death mask. Mezikiah fetched it from where it rested, holding it carefully in both hands.
“Why would you need this, Dee?” he asked warily. A myriad of reasons to not let her have the mask floated through his mind right alongside the reasons he should give it to her. So he spared her friend another look, suspicion drifting fleetingly across his face.
Madalena spoke up. “We can keep it safe. It will be easy to conceal and protect.” She paused dramatically before waving a hand in Mezikiah’s direction. “A whole person, though, is much more difficult to conceal. Things are a bit volatile here, and of course Dee is worried about your safety. We can get you somewhere quieter, but your traveling with that will only draw you unwanted attention.”
Dee bit back an audible sigh of relief at the lifeline Madalena offered. She latched onto it quickly. "She's right. It has power enough on its own to be noticed without significant protection. Near you, it's as good as a beacon to the Order. Until you're safe and we're certain they're no longer a threat, it's best kept secure."
She stepped closer to him. Her hand came to rest on his arm, one small grasp away from the mask itself. Dee felt it radiating toward her, its malevolence unabated since she had last worn it. "Besides," she said, her voice softer now. "I'm still the High Priest. It is mine by right."
Mezikiah frowned deeply. Dee was right - as High Priest the mask was more hers than it was his own. He wasn’t quite convinced of the fact he was in true danger, but he was even less convinced that Dee would come here and lie directly to him. They may be estranged spouses, but he thought they parted on good terms and that had to mean something. Perhaps it meant extending his trust to her in this matter. He regarded the mask where it sat in his hands, feeling somewhat reluctant to let it go and yet, it almost seemed to pulse with a want to be in her hands and not his own.
A sigh and he offered it up to Dee. “I’ll go along with this,” he agreed, “But you must keep in touch. Don’t disappear. If this is a beacon to the Order as you say - it puts you in danger as well. You might need my help.”
She nodded. Her shoulders slumped as she took the mask, waves of alternating relief and fresh fear washing over her in turns. She felt certain she exchanged one problem for another. But Issan would know what to do; Issan would guide her to the proper path. She felt some guilt over her lie of omission, but there was too much at stake to be entirely open. He was in danger; they all were, until the threat of N'Rygoth was entirely removed.
Dee slipped the mask beneath the folds of her cloak, into a pack hidden away in the cloth. "Thank you," she said, her hand squeezing his arm. "You'll be safer away from me, but I will stay in contact with you this time, I swear." Her thumb passed soft over his arm, a small caress from a time long passed. "I worked with a pilot here called Liriael D'Lander. I've… caused her some difficulty, but she may still be willing to help get you off Naboo, to somewhere safe. I urge you to remove your signs, but even if you refuse, she may still be able to help."