[IC] Mey Hem: Submitted For Your Disapproval (cont.)

[The Doctor Who]

"In-indeed..." Beathra said with much effort. "There is no fate... No predestined path we" He faltered and leaned on his staff, nearly dropping the ring. "No path we must walk."

With great effort, Beathra composed himself and stood upright, though he shook with pain, drawing heavy breaths.

"Life is as flowing water... It shapes the earth even- even as the earth shapes it. An interaction of force... and counterforce. Creation and destruction. Life and death."

Beathra gave an ironic laugh, though it ended in a painful groan.

"So many that live... They seek death... Chase it. Believe they must cause it. But death is... Death is part of life. All that lives will die in time... Why chase it, when it will come to you when it is ready?"

Spoiler

Endurance Check:
Roll(1d20)+5:
15+5
Total:20
19+25=44 fatal damage.

 

[Patch]

"Friday!" she gasped as the digital apparition appeared. As Friday spoke, Patch's body seemed to shudder, her facial expression shifting from one of shock to one of anguish. She looked as though her eyes might begin tearing up at any moment, if her magically altered body had the ability to do.

"Friday... I'm so sorry..." Patch's voice had changed, sounding much more human than it had just a moment before. "I'm so sorry that I let you down. I wanted to live up to your expectations for me. I wanted to make the world a better place... but I failed. No... worse than failed." She looked at EB and Beathra, struggling against the aura coming from her own presence. "I don't want to hurt everyone like this. I'm scared of what I've become. And I'm terrified that there's a part of me that isn't scared of it. But no part of me sees any future ahead that's worthwhile anymore. I only want this to end. I might not be able to undo the hurt I've already caused, but I have to prevent any more of it from happening."

She paused. "I don't really know what will happen if I take ahold of that ring. Maybe I'm too far gone and a sufficiently strong purification would simply tear me apart. But..." she looked at Beathra, "...if you say there really is hope... I can't say for certain that you're wrong. Either way, I have to act."

She took the ring from Beathra's hand.

There was a blinding flash of light. Her screams of pain echoed down the hallways.

Moments later, the human Patch fell the floor, unconscious... but breathing.

 

[The Doctor Who]

"Where there is life, there is always hope..." Beathra murmured.

So saying, he half kneeled, half collapsed beside Patch, checking her pulse, a smile coming to his face to see she was still with them. Turning towards the younger man, he called out, "EB, if you still have strength enough, could you move her to a more comfortable position..." here he pulled off his cloak and began bundling it into a makeshift pillow. "Friday, if you haven't already, contact Kage and give him the news: Patch is cured, alive but unconscious and I suspect all three of us need medical attention."

Slumping against the opposite corridor wall, Beathra levered himself upright into a kneeling posture. "Meanwhile, I will see what I can do about our injuries for the moment. I make no promises... this body is in much pain."

Bowing his head, he muttered inaudibly in his native tongue[1], though he fought to keep focus.

Spoiler

[1]Emergency Treatment (0) – At Will [GM Created] Target: EB
Preparation Time: 30 Minutes
With careful procedure and the utmost care, you may diagnose and treat great injuries by removing Fatal Damage. Make a Heal check and remove Fatal Damage equal to the following results:
DC 15 = Remove 5 Fatal Damage
DC 25 = Remove 10 Fatal Damage
DC 30 = Remove 15 Fatal Damage
DC 35 = Remove 20 Fatal Damage
DC 40 = Remove 25 Fatal Damage
DC 60 = Remove 50 Fatal Damage

Roll(1d20)+5:
12,+5
Total:17

15 Fatal Damage Removed From EB

Beathra Fatal Damage: 44

If we don't technically have the time for this, then let's just say that he's too injured himself to make it work.

 

[GodSentinelOmega]

Kage tilted his head at the guard.

”Perhaps if you asked a little more nicely? Monday did seem like a bit of a brat when i met her.” Then he turned to Sue’zhan and nodded. “As i thought. You need to be careful here. Those who put you and others into Holiday Island have been hunting for you for some time. Speaking of Holiday Island. What was it really for? What happened to make YPNR abandon it? And how does Correspondent 251 connect tomit?” Looking to the guard he had spoken to before, he added. “Please, do not interrupt until she is done. I know you will be certain that nothing is true. But it is. it—!”

There was a blinding flash of light from down the hall and an echoing scream.

”Jive!

What just—?”

For a few seconds, Kage hesitated, frozen in indecision as he tried to figure out what to do for the best.

I…
Want to check on her. But…
We need to keep this Sue’zhan safe from any more unwelcome guards with set ideas.
So do both.
Both?

Spinning on his heel, Kage gestured back the way they’d come.

”Lady Destron, please guard Sue’zhan. She stays with us. Night Cap, i believe your medic skills may help. The rest of you wait here and please don’t let Ronny or Palin do anything stupid should they regain consciousness.”

 

[Destron D-69]

Dee felt as if the air she was breathing had gotten lighter... this inturn put new strength into her body, nodding to the knight with her chin -in the language of man- she acknowledged his request and focused her eyes on her new charge.

"Miss, are you comfortable standing, or do you require my spare shoulder?" she asked, this good feeling she had escaping in a soft chuckle as well.

 

[CoffeeHorse]

But we just got here =<

Still, his knightly duty calls. Night Cap follows Kage.

 

[MEDdMI]

EB shielded his eyes at the blast. By the time his eyes adjusted, Patch was on the floor and Beathra was slumped against the wall.
"Is it... is it over?" He nodded at Beathra, feeling a bit better. He took Beathra's coat-pillow and put Patch's head on it, laying on her back and checking her for any injuries he could treat.

Spoiler

Heal check on Patch, if needed:
Rolled 1 D20 +7: 20 + 7 = 27

 

[Zamuel]

When Patch grabbed the galvorn ring, she felt an intense burning sensation travel from her hand to the rest of her body. Yet, was a cleansing sensation akin to a hot shower instead of flames. Her body could feel the inhuman features be washed away. However, her mind was a different story. The silent whisper in the back of her mind shifted to something similar to Tijuego's voice but...wrong. Regardless of prior deceptions and assumptions, Patch now fully knew this was Moscareina. And yet, the voice grew more and more distant with each word, her rage subtly taking on a tone of desperation. "HOW DARE YOU! I WAS SO CLOSE TO BREACHING YOUR WORLD AND YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO HAVING YOUR REVENGE! WHY? BUT...you could still reach out to my power. With things I've summoned to the world you can regain so much if you just..."

And then Moscareina was gone.

The whole physical and mental ordeal on Patch happened in under 6 seconds. Now returned to normal, the only visual remnant of her ordeal was a permanent dark mark in her palm from the galvorn ring. As Kage and Night Cap rushed in, Friday said, "Patch is gonna be okay. We're all probably going to need to rest after this."

---

Sue'zhan replied to Dee, "I might fall asleep if I lean on someone's shoulder but if you'll allow me, I'll stand back to back. It's getting even harder to stay awake." After standing against Dee's back, Sue'zhan asked, "Uh, one question. Why does your sword have a slight chill to it? It's not winter and the air in here is fine."

 

[Destron D-69]

"My sword has been passed from mother to daughter for generations, long into the past where memory moves through lore into myth. It holds within it the memory of battles waged by all the hands who have born it. It was carved from the horn of an ancient narwalrus." Dee moves to draw the sword and hand it to Sue'zhan.

 

[GodSentinelOmega]

Kage twitched briefly as he saw Patch and the others on the floor. Then Friday appeared and a small bit of the tension he’d been feeling since arriving up in this flying fortress city unwound. But onky a tiny but. Though this outcome seemed positive, what the results may be were still unclear.

And there was still the matters of the children, the manipulative higher ups in YPNR, obstructionary guards and YPNRs general disdain for magic.. nodding to Friday, the Omega Knight sighed.

”Some rest is needed, however, the dangers we face may actually have increased. Patch must be protected from any who may seek to take her from us now. Moreso should anybody recognise her. The woman EB recognised, Sue’zhan, is also in danger here. Partly because she was working with SAVAGE. But mostly because we know that those within the upper echelons of YPNR have been seeking her for some time…”

Trailing off, the Knight then looked at his hands, reflexively clenching/unclenching them as he tried to control his worries and building paranoia. Then he abruptly disconnected and pulled off his capr, moving to wrap it sround the unconscious Patch so that hid her face and covered her as much as possible. Then a thought nudged his brain.

”Your AI ‘little sister’ March Monday is not responding to the calls of YPNR. This is curious.”

Standing, Kage moved over to Friday and Beathra, not wanting to disturb Patch any more than he had.

 

[The Doctor Who]

Beathra nodded to his friend and struggled to his feet.

"It was close, but she did choose her own path in the end. Though... maybe we ought not to cover her entirely, lest someone believe she is expired." He gave a chuckle which ended in a fit of coughing. "Last I saw Monday, it seemed like she was developing a rebellious streak. I think she may be working for more than one master."

 

[CoffeeHorse]

"Maybe we should bug out of here. We're not in much shape for another fight."

 

[GodSentinelOmega]

Kage cocked his head, then looked over at Patch.

”Ah, yeah.” Moving over, he shifted his cloak so that her face was still mostly hidden, but that her mouth was visible and thus showed her still (if softly) breathing. Then he returned to Beathra.

”That… is both kindof unsurprising and yet unsettling. What was she like when you spoke to her then…” Trailing off, Kage considered the implications of Beathras comment of ‘developing’. Speaking slowly as his thoughts formed, Kage looked iver at Friday. “If she is more rebellious than before… Could whatever transcended Friday… have somehow affected her too? Monday is, as far as i can tell, a, for lack of a better term, later model version of the orogram Friday was originally created as. Could she be getting her own ‘life’ because if interacting with Friday before?

I mean, that or i am putting way too much thought into this.

Are you ok Friday?

The vast majority if YPNRs citizenry are completely unaware of the darker machinations at work, such as the maginappings, Holiday Island and its true purpose. Even Iro, EBs ‘little bro’. His existence somehow connects to here too.”

Looking down at Night Cap, Kage shook his head..

“Whether we can find some place up here to rest and recover is one thing. But there is no way to ‘bug out’. We. Got here through the YPNR hover platforms autopilot. This place is as self contained as it gets. Maybe if we can talk some of the guards into helping us find that Chief Librarian you met earlier. But we can’t leave. And any attempt to do so might backfire and turn all of YPNR against us.”

 

[Zamuel]

Friday said, "I'm okay. While the rest of you are asleep, I'll probably take a break from searching YPNR systems so I can better compile the information. There's...oddities. Though we need to get Dee and Sue'zhan before we rest. And someone will need to carry Patch."

---

Sue'zhan held and inspected Dee's sword with curiosity. She didn't recoil in pain from the nevermeltice core like most people did. Replying, she said, "Hmm. I heard about something like that from my grandmother once about a land that she moved from. Viz...no, Viknadia. But I always thought they were just stories. I mean, if they're true, you're probably some sort of princess and this sword is made from dragonwhale bone instead of narwalrus."

 

[Destron D-69]

"Indeed, my apologies cousin. it is my comb that is of Narwalrus bone... it has been such a day." Dee puts her hand to her face, dragging it down as if she could wipe away the lingering tiredness...

 

[GodSentinelOmega]

”I know this may sound a little hypocritical of me, since i’ve been asking too much of you for most of our time up here. But don’t overtax yourself Friday.

So then, let us get the gang back together and…”

Kage looked from Friday, to Beathra, to EB. Then down at Patch.

”Oh, yeah. I didn’t really think about that.
….

Well then… I’ll try not to wake her up while we try and got everyone together and safe.”

Walking over, Kage leaned down apprehensively and (very carefully) eased his arms around Patchs shoulders and under her knees. Then gently lifted. Looking to the others he said.

”Shall we?”

 

[MEDdMI]

Standing up took more effort than he wanted to admit. He handed Beathra's cloak back.
"What about the kids?"

 

[GodSentinelOmega]

“We need to be alive to go hunting. You and Beathra and Night Cap need to heal. Patch must be safe, as must Sue’zhan. If we can get some of those in YPNR we’ve met to help do that. Perhaps i can carry on searching in the meantime.”

 

[MEDdMI]

EB stared at Kage with a very flat expression.
"...no. If we need rest, so do you. If you try to sneak off while we're sleeping, I'm knocking you out myself."

He dragged himself over to the others.
"Is there a sick room or somethin' we can all sleep in?"

 

[The Doctor Who]

"That is assuming our presence here will be tolerated." Beathra interjected. "We have rather tipped our collective hands in regards to our powers. I would not be surprised to find our hosts more than a little wary of us."