2024-03-26: A Newtype In the Castle!? Meet The Seekers
- Log: A Newtype in the Castle? Meet The Seekers
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Ingvar Hedlund, Teodor Byquist
- Where: The Silent Castle
- OOC - IC Date: March 26, 2024 (January 0099)
- Summary: Yuliana senses something AMISS in the Silent Castle... but it turns out that it's only its two newest residents.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana fled to the Photon Power Labs after a -- disastrous? Successful? Test of Emptear, but of course she came back for Christmas. She's still here at the start of January, and for the first time in a week she's had more than an hour away from her wife. (Of course Elisa was willing to facilitate her clinginess. She missed her wife.)
Down the hall she walks, having just spent the morning sitting in on Maksim and Makar's playtime. (She did very little sitting, and quite a lot of tossing them up into the air. Luckily, she can both facilitate 'HIGHER!' and also catch them before they hit the ground.) Hands buried in a muff, snakes buried in their own, second, entirely unnecessary muff, her black robes sweep across the stone floor as she walks.
Until she passes an open door -- pauses -- takes a step back --
-- and looks inside. "Who's there?!" She demands, frill flaring. She felt Her gaze in the torn edges, a thing which none of the servants ought to aggravate. They have very particular hiring policies.
No Newtypes.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is back at home, of course. Where is she now? That's not important.
Instead, that open door leads to two individuals who are MINDING THEIR OWN BUSINESS while Yuliana approaches. They are in dark robes as well, as if they belong here; the one, with long blonde hair, Ingvar Hedlund, eyes green as anything not of this world. The other...
The other is the source of the disturbance. With shorter but also blonde hair, he is Teodor Byquist, brought here by a certain will.
"...Mrs. Kafim?" Teodor wonders.
"Ahh," says Ingvar, looking up from their tablet. "It is you."
They rise, and after a moment Teodor rises as well. They both bow.
"I am Teodor Byquist," he introduces himself.
"And I an Ingvar Hedlund. It is an honor to meet you."
"I understand that I have you to thank for the Silence," Teodor says smoothly. "So thank you for that."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
It's fine if Elisa has things to attend to. Yuliana can bear to be apart from her for a little while. Elisa is apart from Yuliana for much longer, after all...
When they introduce themselves, at least, Yuliana's suspicion abates, and her pique fades to a smile. "Ah -- it's you. Elya mentioned you..." She tilts her head, as Teodor thanks her for her Silence, and her smile widens from pleasant to pleased. "Does it make things easier for you? Wonderful." So few appreciate her!
She steps forward, and offers her hand -- first to Ingvar, and then to Teodor. She means to shake them, but she won't object to anything else. "Ingvar, and Teodor... welcome to the Silent Castle. You'll excuse my surprise -- we don't get many new additions, out here. Shall we sit?" They were already sitting, and Yuliana invaded their lounging, but of course she says it as if it's an invitation.
(She's the Gentle Mistress, after all.)
"Elya did say she found some new allies, but... how did you come to find her?" She asks, politely. She's heard Elisa's version of the story, but, well, Yuliana can admit that her wife occasionally struggles to attend to the details of other people.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Ingvar accepts a handshake first; they are the larger and more imposing of the two. Teodor next; their styles are a little different, Teodor's still strong but more graceful, and Ingvar's straightforward.
"It does," Teodor answers with a smile back. Yes, that is good.
"Thank you," Ingvar says for both of them. "Of course. And we are quite new." A nod, then. "Yes." They offer the couch to Yuliana, of course, the best spot, because they are guests but she is the guest in the room at the moment, and a lady of the house.
"Through long study and great toil," Ingvar answers, their voice dramatic but quite serious. "Though in another way, she found me. I have sought the secrets of the Void for some time now, that I might wreak vengeance upon our tormentors. ...But I found them. I tapped into that dimension..."
"And great Elisa found me, in that moment, and was curious. As we spoke, she offered me a place here; I brought Teodor, whose pharmaceutical skills will also serve well here."
Teodor inclines his head. "I met her only later, of course."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana notes their strength; she has strength of her own, of course, but she isn't looking to crush their fingers. Why would she tell Elisa to make friends and then injure those friends?
She notices, as well, that Ingvar speaks for them both when they thank her.
She sits herself down, folding her hands atop her fur muffler; to each side of her, things like snakes lift something akin to their heads to regard Ingvar and Teodor. (They don't have eyes, but there are markings, on their crests, which could pass for them.) She listens, as Ingvar tells their story, tilting her head as she does.
Her smile widens a touch more, to hear them describe her wife that way.
"So, you are Seekers..." She gives weight to the word, as she spreads a scarred hand. It comes to rest atop the crest of one of those snakes, beside her. "There is great power in the Void," she assures Ingvar, as she looks to them. "When the veil was weakened by my second ascension, that is when the Empress gifted these alterations to me, to protect me from Dr. Devi's wretched plot."
She lifts her hand, again, to gesture to Ingvar and Teodor. "Who has wronged you?" She asks, with interest. "Who would you punish?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Not eyes, but like eyes... Ingvar looks with great interest at them. Teodor on the other hand looks once, and then looks back to Yuliana herself. That smile of hers!
"Yes," they both answer that statement. Ingvar hears of Yuliana's assertion, and smiles. "I see," they say. They pause, quiet, at the mention of Dr. Devi, though. And that question--
"...One would be Dr. Devi," Teodor says, "But Ingvar tells me that Elisa has taken are of that one. I regret only that we couldn't have had a hand in it."
Ingvar continues, "And Dr. Marit Zil Kaan. She has as yet escaped vengeance. We intend to ensure that this does not remain true."
"...But any claiming to be of the Titans would be welcome targets," Ingvar admits. "Those are only our most vital. Most.. dear."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Thunderclouds pass over Yuliana's smile as they tell her who they're looking for; Yuliana recognises the other name, of course. "Devi's best friend," she says, lips curling up in a sneer. (Unlike her wife, she has one too many teeth. Look, there -- to the right, a single sharp fang crowding out the usual canine.) "I found their correspondence when I was still serving the Republic. I'd hoped that Kaan had died on Denver Colony. She survived?" A light pause, "... no, of course she did. Fucking cockroaches."
Her hand grasps to a fist, where it settles on her lap again. "I assure you, at least, that Dr. Divya Devi knows a level of torment beyond comprehension. The only way she'll escape is fuelling some greater purpose... we've been in no hurry to resort to such a thing." She isn't bothered by the soul torture, apparently. Could anyone blame her? "Dr. Devi took all she'd learned from the Titans, and brought her methods to the Republic... there, she made me. I've no love for them."
She frowns. "You've a story like it, I suppose?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Yes," Ingvar agrees. Then he notices the extra canine. One too many... Hm.
"She survived," Ingvar answers. "She lives to this day. I confirmed it myself, using the power."
Torment. Teodor, in particular, smiles at that. It is not a very pleasant expression. "Good," he says. "That's very good." Who would be bothered? They deerve it. Clearly.
"We were in their clutches while they still called themselves the Titans," Teodor eplains this time. "And longer, after that. I adopted some of their methods in order to find a way out. ...Ingvar had a different approach."
Ingvar says, "But now it is different. Now we are the hunters. Our story is like it, yes." They lift a mechanical hand. "Crimes of the body, and," they gestures to Teodor, "Crimes of the spirit."
"But I have the strength, now."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Yuliana is pleased to hear Teodor's smiling affirmation. Of course it is good; it is well that he sees this. It is not so well that Kaan survives.
She looks from Ingvar's hand to the scarred absence around Teodor, and nods, tilting her head. "I see, yes... why Elya would favour you. There is something of my own experience in yours... you see, I learned the Republic's methods, just the same. But you found your own way out, did you...?" She smiles, again, gesturing with an open palm. "Impressive." And she is impressed.
"You have been wronged. The Void is friend to all wounded, all who would grasp the strength to destroy those who do them insult. This power is free to all... it is absolute equality. I will not tell you not to seek it... it's too late for you to turn back, anyway." With that ominous portent, she says: "Study well. Elya will show you the way of magic, Ingvar. Though..."
She pauses, looking to their companion. "I am afraid, Teodor, that you may find it more difficult to treat with Her," she points out, gently, and she's nice enough not to point out his gender directly. "But there is strength for you here, regardless. Do you pilot?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Thank you." Ingvar inclines their head. They are proud of their accomplishments--but they know of Yuliana's. The world knows of Yuliana, after all. To impress her would be notable even if it weren't vitally important to their progress here.
Not that that needds to be spelled out in so many words, of course.
But they smile, and like Elisa, they have the correct number of teeth. It is far too late to turn back. "Yes..."
Teodor inclines his head too, with a lopsided smile. "I have... other approaches in mind," he says. "There are realities that work regardless. I think between Ingvar and myself, we can get somewhere interesting. ...Infusing pharmaceuticals with the power i've seen Ingvar wield," he explains. "Elisa tells me it should be possible."
A pause. "But yes, I do pilot."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
If they were not capable of impressing Elisa's wife, they surely would not be worthy of being Elisa's... friends.
But Yuliana is permissive to them, now she's realised that Elisa found them; she does so want her wife to find more people she can rely on, after all. Really, now she's realised they're like her, she's quite favourable! Of course Elisa would associate with people who reminded her of Yuliana. She's always thinking of her...
Luckily, Yuliana isn't so distracted thinking about her beautiful, thoughtful, wonderful wife that she can't listen to Teodor. "Infusing drugs with Power?" She asks, tilting her head. "Fascinating... Elya's never tried it with mine, but you see, it is not a lack of the Void I contend with." She laughs, fingers veiling her lips in a show of modesty.
"But we will grant you a wonderful machine," she assures him, smiling. "Yes... I have Seen that I cannot be satisfied with the earthly weapons I have designed. I must adapt the Abyss Engine for others to use... perhaps this was why. Here you have come to me, seeking this strength... and surely you are not alone."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa does always think of Yuliana. She may be thinking of her even now.
But Teodor nods along when Yuliana sees what he's saying. "Yes, I see," he says. "But I do think there's potential in it. It's a power for all; this could make it more available to those of us who can't follow the sorcerer's path."
But there is so much Void in Yuliana. Ingvar smiles, at this. But they continue to let Teodor take the lead on Teodor's matters.
"Fascinating," he says. "I am very interested in your designs. ...I'm not alone, though. Not in this, or in general, thanks to Ingvar."
"I look forward to seeing your work too."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"You honour the spirit of Void equality in this," Yuliana smiles, to Teodor. She's warmer on him, now, than she was on first sensing him. She can get along with Newtypes these days! Even if... she can feel Her anxiety so much more keenly, though the gaps. "I am glad for it."
She smiles, as well, looking to Ingvar again. "I am pleased you have each other," she says, warmly. "Are you married? It is so important to claim what is most important to you..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Teodor at least appreciates the gift of Silence. There is that. "I am glad to hear that," Teodor says. "I was hoping it was a promising idea."
And Ingvar answers--with a shake of his head. "Not yet. We agreed that we would start our life together once we'd had our revenge. ...That we can move forward without regret, without being chained by our past."
"...But we have thought about it," Teodor adds, pleasantly.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Hmm...?" Yuliana asks, frill fanning, as she tilts her head thoughtfully. "So you've given yourselves a condition like that..."
She stands, gesturing to them. "Then you had best hatch your plans without delay -- for what you do not claim may yet be claimed by something else, in this world. Be it death, or a lover..." Her gaze lids, as she smiles to them. "... I'm sure you'd both find it unacceptable."
With that, she turns, robes sweeping, and exits the room again.
No pressure.