Wake Me Up If I'm Healing

Proteus attempts self-care in the mostly-deserted Church of Carmina Gadelica. Baroness Wake and Wynfei drop by.

Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

Proteus hasn't been having the best of times lately. The recent celebrations have left her hobbled and cursed, amongt other things, the sticky status effects keeping her off her feet as she recuperates in the Carmina Gadelica church. She would be making use of the services of the clergy... IF THERE WERE ANY.

Instead, she's mostly kind of sulking there in the nave, sitting on a chair with a box of restoratives on hand as she tries to cure herself, staring irritably at the Chaos Gate.
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    If the Weight of Responsibility were a condition, Wake would have it. To those who aren't very familiar with her or are not looking closely enough, the slightest hint of tension in the corner of her eyes is essentially invisible. There are even more subtle shifts to her posture, making the steel hand hidden in the silk glove (that is the essence of Baroness Wake) a bit more obvious.

    As of late, she's left Eas less for fun but only for purpose. A friend is certainly purpose enough for her to delegate tasks. Well, sort of delegate. Her chimlink has been constantly humming with guidance since she left.

    She enters without ceremony or company. There are probably retainers or some kind of escort, but they are kept outside. There's a moment where she lingers just past the threshold, looking around at the remarkably empty church.

    "When I heard you were recovering, I had thought you would be surrounded by healers, not taking the task on alone," she says as she draws near. She allows a smile to curve her lips ever so slightly.

    "How are you doing, dear?"

Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

Proteus has opinions on such things as Wake's habits. She'll probably comment on them at some point, but right now, there's other things to deal with. Not the least of which, Proteus suddenly turning her head and yelling, "DAMMIT ATT! STOP SNEAKING UP ON ME!" Before Wake even arrives within Proteus' peripheral vision.

Att Syne isn't here.

There is a grumble as she hunches down on her seat, her hands pressing up to the sides of her head and trying to in fact block off said peripheral vision, the Imp seemingly intentionally trying to block everything out. It takes Wake approaching and talking to Proteus directly for her to shift her attention, looking up at the Baroness. "There aren't any healers here. And my guild seems to have vanished into the ether, before you ask. I have no idea what Whiskey would make me drink to solve this, anyway." She mutters. "I apologize if my mood isn't the best, this curse is infuriating, especially lately."

She goes quiet for several seconds, looking down at her hands as they flex closed, then open again, the leather gloves sheathing them creaking. "I seem to have a habit of ending up more or less alone."
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    Wake takes the heat without reaction. There's the slightest rightward tilt in her head when she comes to a stop before Proteus. It's not a weighing look, maybe, but she /is/ weighing the matter carefully.

    "You need not apologize to me, my dear friend. Though I fear your habit of being alone is something that I have no tolerance for. Also this place.. seems like an awful choice for healing. Will you consider relocating? I can call upon several options for healing in Eas and there is much there you can do that you can't here."

    The Baroness bends her left leg and kneels upon it, her eyes tilting up to search Proteus' face. She draws in a breath and lets it slip out quietly. For now, she allows the quiet to slip around her, waiting patiently for her friend to speak.

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    It's been a little while since Wynfei has been in Carmina, but the traveling Monkey is now here. As he walked through the streets, he sighs and stops when he comes to the church. His mind goes back to when Reika died after Ezzo went down. Shaking his head, he walks inside and as he does it takes him a moment as he stopped walking. It's been a while since he's been in a church. Though as he does he smiles and he closes his eyes and offers a small prayer.

    Upon finishing his prayer he walks further into the church, his steps are slow and measured, it was nice being in here. Though a few familiar voices catches his attention. He looks around until he sees Wake and Proteus. He smiles and walks over to them, "Hello." he says to them.
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

Proteus looks back into Wake's face. The sign of the curse can be seen not just in her status, but the way dark shadows claw at the edges of her violet eyes. Nothing lethal, it seems, but incredibly distracting and infuriating to judge the grumpiness of the Imp. She doesn't pause for long, though, shrugging. "If you're offering the help of a place with actual staff, I'd be a fool to turn it down. I'm not here by myself because I want to be."

There is a pause. "... I'm not sure how long I'll be able to stay, though. I have some other conditions you might need to become aware of sooner rather than later. You might remember that Tri-Edge almost assassinated me recently."

It's at that point she glances over and notices someone else who isn't a shadow. Being spoken to helps. "Oh... Hello, Wynfei. It's been a while." She says, cordially. "How have you been?"
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Wake nods to Proteus, "That is exactly what I'm offering. We have a village now, and the outpost is even far nicer than an empty box like this."

    Proteus' comments about not staying long do not seem to trouble the Baroness in the slightest. "You are welcome to stay as long as you like and leave when you will. I only ask that you let Tae pack you something to eat before you go. We do wish to care for our guests as well as we can. As for the other matter, yes.. I have not forgotten it, though the rest of the world has brought on chaos enough to nearly drive it from my mind."

    The measured steps of Wynfei are not missed by Wake. A flick of the eyes and the slightest turn of her head is all she needs to realize he's not a threatening presence.

    She rises smoothly, then glides into a curtsey as he draws near. "It is good to see you, Wynfei. It's odd meeting you in this place."

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Stopping as he is close enough, he bows his head to them both. "Yeah it's been a while Proteus." he smiles to her. He lets out a breath then looks to Wake, "Hello Wake, nice to see you as well." eh says to her. "Yeah, I just got into town and honestly memories brought me back to this place which is why I'm here." he says as he looks to them both. "I hope I'm not disturbing you two." he says.
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

"At the risk of sounding cliche, Baroness, it's not you, it's me." She replies. "I know you and Tae would be happy to have me as long as I wanted to stay there. But there's going to come a time where I'm going to need to stay on the move."

She nods to Wynfei. "Memories are important. Keep holding onto them, Wynfei. It's all we really have in the end." There is a little smile, then. "I'm already pretty disturbed, to hear some talk of it. Don't worry, you're fine. To use another old phrase, stay a while, and listen."

She looks back to the Baroness. "I've set upon a path. I need to follow it where it goes." At that, she reaches down and tugs off the leather glove on one of her hands. Without the covering, it's revealed... Instead of the pale blue flesh of the Imp's hand, the thing is... not a human hand at all. It seems crafted of some kind of gray-black material, the joints clear and defined, like a doll's. Gleaming lines of silver run down along the surface like a circuit-board, accenting the jointwork. "I've stumbled onto something... hidden. And Tri-Edge responded to that with lethal force, hunting me and anyone between it and me."
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    "Your presence is not a disturbance," Wake replies to Wynfei. "Company is something I am quite used to, and considering my previous reputation, find surprisingly welcome."

    She turns her focus back to Proteus and eyes the hand warily. "What is this path, Proteus? Does it lead to the destruction of Tri-Edge?" That would be a worry she'd be delighted to see eliminated from the world. "I fear you are right, though. I cannot count on the walls of Eas to hold at bay someone who can easily move right through such barriers. I wonder what that being even is.. and why does it hunt you? Does it relate to the enigma pieces?"

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Nodding his head, Wynfei is quiet as the two talk. He listens for the time being, though his brow does rise when he hears Wake mention Tri-Edge. "Them." he says. His eyes narrow just slightly. Wynfei shakes his head a little. "What's going on and is it something I can help with?" he asks.
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

There is a low chuckle. "I'm not sure if Tri-Edge /can/ be destroyed. There's some evidence to indicate that it isn't even alive to begin with. Allow me to explain."

Proteus pulls off her other glove, revealing her other hand is in a similar state... and the pattern extends up her sleeves as well. How much of her is changed like this? "There's something inside each Enigma piece. I'm not sure what it is. The outside appearance of each one seems to indicate what effect it has on the world, they have different 'strains' of Enigma. I attempted to combine two of the same type and the outer shells shattered and merged into something. It began... to sing at me. It was something I had never seen. It was utterly unknown."

A pause. "It was... beautiful. So I took it. And it took me." She gestures with her hands. "But at the same time, it caught the attentions of... something. And Tri-Edge began tearing through the Plant Hwyaden HQ. Att Syne and Whiskey put themselves on the line to slow it down, but... they weren't able to stop it. And it was going to hunt me down until there was an... intervention."

She pauses. "It's easy to lose fact that we're still in a computer system. This world... All of it... is data. You can play along. It makes it easier to interact. But never forget that in the end, we're dealing with a computer. And computers have rules. Restrictions. Security. What happens when a program attempts to break out of its assigned role and do things it wasn't supposed to do?"

Her lips twist wryly. "Tri-Edge... might not be a normal PK at all. Which explains some things. It might be... a security function, deleting things that push too far. As far as helping me in this is concerned..." She pauses. "I need to find more Pieces of Enigma of the appropriate type. The kind that alter the environment, the kind that open doors. But if I do, I'm going to become something the system can no longer ignore. Tri-Edge will be hunting me every time I get attention. No place will be safe."
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    This news gives Baroness Wake a lot to think about. She lets silence linger, making no effort to dispell the usual awkwardness and discomfort that goes with it. The wheels, as they say, are spinning.

    "Then we have work to do, and a clear target. A target that may prove useful in defending itself. But tell me, don't you find it rather curious that the rules allow us access to a means of breaking them? A most fascinating contradiction. Perhaps therein lies the way to destroy the enemy. As I have observed through the years, there has been no system that couldn't be hacked. This one will not be the first."

    Wake pauses for a moment, considering a message that has just come in. She decides to swiftly provide a cheery little response that indicates none of what she's truly feeling.

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Wynfei is quiet, he hadn't been apart of a lot of whats been going on. He had a mental break and needed to be away from everything for a while and just explore the game and himself. Though now that he's back, there is so much that has gone on that he's very far out of the loop. His tail sways slowly behind him, and he does keep a vigil around them to make sure they are ok, regardless if they are in a church. Still he continues to listen.
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

"I feel that there's more than one actor working around in the system that knows more about what the system is than any of us do. And they aren't all working together." Proteus replies. "We don't know who the enemy is. Or what fingers are moving behind the scenes. When you can twist one Enigma Piece and cause it to turn foe into friend instantly, who can say if even Landers are immune to such things?"

Proteus nods her head. "But you are right. There is no such thing as a perfect system. Only one that is too difficulty to compromise casually." There is a low chuckle. "But I am anything but casual."
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    "I wouldn't assume Landers are immune. They are mutable, they change, they grow in their own ways. They take in data and react. They.. make me Baroness and call me by that title. It means something. To a few of them, at least."

    Wake smiles at Proteus and offers her hand, "Can you walk? Perhaps we should start our journey. Tae and the others will be happy to see you, and you'll be well tended."

    She turns to watch Wynfei for a moment, smiling. She's grown used to being guarded, but it still has a kind of charm to it. "I wonder if our bodyguard here would like to join us.."

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Wynfei is just taking in the information that is being provided. "Uh...sure." he asys with a laugh. "Umm...I did want to meet up and talk with you as well Baroness." he says to her. He looks to Proteus and moves in behind them to keep an eye on them. "If now isn't the best time, then I can try to meet up with you another time if that is alright." he says as he looks to Wake.

    Wynfei looks to Proteus, "Hey Proteus, sorry for changing gears a little, but are you with a guild or anything?" he asks curiously. He didn't know if that was a bad thing to ask, but honestly he found that being with a guild is pretty useful and honestly he needed to get re-associated with them.
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

"What /is/ a Lander?" Proteus asks. "I wonder. Because you don't just... /create/ a person, you understand. All these people were here before we were. Or were they?" She hums. "What is it about them that makes them what they are? They can't be AIs, are they?"

Proteus takes Wake's hand and stands, albeit with a telltale favoring of a leg. "I can walk... with some effort." She says. "I'd probably best get a Peko or something." The Imp shakes her head to wynfei, and she smiles. "No, please, don't let me make all of this about /me/. Go for it."

There is a question about guild, and Proteus shrugs. "I'm part of Plant Hwyaden, but it's gotten quiet lately. It's mostly just me and Kauchemar doing things since Nureha went quiet. Why do you ask?"
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    Wake shakes her head at Wynfei's comment. "It's not a bad time. Honestly, I'm pretty much always 'on the clock' these days. It's what I wanted, after all. So please, feel free to bring up whatever is on your mind. Oh, one exception. I'm taken."

    Her expression is neutral, and she's not making it clear if the last was a joke or for real. She sets herself at Proteus' side, helping as much as she can.

    With the path set, she starts leading.. well, maybe just guiding the way back out of the church. "Pekos I can arrange easily enough. A runner can be sent for that."

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Wynfei moves infront of both women and open the door. Still he continues to listen until Proteus mentions for him to speak up. "Thank you Protesu." he says. "Baroness, may I?" he asks as he moves to assist Proteus so that Wake didn't have to. He's a gentle-monkey. "I was just curious honestly Proteus, and honestly, I was looking to change guilds honestly." he says. "I heard about the Sleeping Knights and wanted to see who I needed to speak to about joining them." he says.
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

Proteus isn't too proud to take Wake's help as she offers it. She leans on the Baroness, using her as support as they head out. "Being an actual noble comes in handy sometimes, doesn't it?" She jokes.

But then Wynfei moves to help too, and Proteus uses him as a support instead. Whatever works! "If you're looking to join the Sleeping Knights, you'll want to talk to Wake and Yuuki. If you want to join Plant Hwyaden, you'd be looking for me since Nureha isn't around. Simple enough, right?"
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    Wake has learned to let others help when they wish. Besides, something else has her attention and she mutters, in a rather unladylike fashion. "Dammit. The level is cleared."

    She shakes her head to clear it and sighs. "In any case, yes, I'm Yuuki's right hand these days. If you want in, I can set you on the path. Though I have to ask why you would select our guild and how you think we can help you to greatness."

    Once they are out, the Baroness gets the attention of a tall, slender woman. "I need a peko, please. We are returning immediately. Quietly as possible, Marie."

    These orders are met with a nod and the woman races off. She's got her orders and it's clear that quietly doesn't prevent top speed.

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    "I see." he says to both of them. Helping Proteus as Wake called for a Peko, "Well I'm with the Crescent Moon, been with them since I started but I want to help more with clearing levels adn making sure others who aren't fighters are safe." he says to them both. "I thank you both for the information, and I'm not seeking Greatness or riches. As long as I'm alright and have what I need, that's all that really matters." he says. He looks at both Proteus and Wake, "Also I'm not just looking to help the Adventurers, but also the Landers. We're all in this new eco-system, and honestly I like helping others and with our abilities, it makes it easier."
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

Exposition Imp is quiet for the moment as things fall into place, but when it's mentioned that the Tower Floor was cleared, Proteus immediately turns her eyes to the horizon now that they're outside, scanning for the telltale mark of an incipient Wave of Calamity... And when she sees it, she grimaces. "Gggh. Blasted... Scale... Emblem..." She shakes her head.

"It's easier to help the Landers and ecosystem if you understand it." Proteus replies to Wynfei. "If we know what helps the Landers flourish, then we can help them get it... And get things in return. We can work in harmony, but we need to understand it first. Scale Emblem, however..." She mutters.
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    "We must move.. and swiftly. My people are in danger." Wake's voice is different. Her expression more focused even than normal. "They need me. Us. If you can assist." She looks at Proteus seriously. Hopefully whatever the cursse is can be healed swiftly.

    The Baroness has not too long to wait. Not just one peko, but enough for everyone to ride are brought back. "We'll have to move swiftly. Fortunately a very fast ship stands ready."

Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    "I got you and I'm not liking what I'm hearing about Scale." he says as he looks between the two. "I really need to invest in a mount." he sighs a little bit. He keeps to Proteus side, "Is that Peko on the way Baroness, I'm pretty quick on my feet but if we all need mounts let's secure them and get to your people." he says. His deamonor changes into one of a fighter and guardian. "I'm ready!"
Proteus
Carmina Gadelica - Church

"Of course I'm going to help." Proteus replies. "As much as I can." She says little more, going quiet and moving along with them. It's time to get to work.
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Wake mounts up, now that the pekos are here. She will wait just long enough for the others to get on, helping as needed. Once that is achieved, she leads the way, pushing the pekos more and more, but ever with an eye on how Proteus is handling the pace.

    As she rides, she speaks to Wynfei. "The very meaning of a Sleeping Knight is to face the impossible, to be as great as you can at something. We specialize and never settle on anything less than the very best. Not because we must be better than others, but because we must always be better than ourselves. That is what we look for."

    
Wynfei
Carmina Gadelica - Church



    Wynfei eases Proteus up, "I knwo you're going ot help but you will lean on me for the time being." he says to her. He then quickly mount up on a Peko as well. Once he sees that they are ready, he follows in after Wake, "I got that in spades. My walkabout I did showed me I wasn't where I needed to be and it wasn't until I trained with my Patron that I saw what I was lacking and moved to improve upon myself and my skills." he says to her. "If I need to be more, I will be and can push beyond my current limit." he says as he brings up his map to get a sense of where they were going.
Baroness Wake
Carmina Gadelica - Church


    "I'll have to come up with something suitable," says Wake. She turns her eyes to the south and west. "Or perhaps.. something suitable has already presented itself. We all have to do something to get in. Or at least try to."

    The ship is not far away. It stands ready to sail. In fact, the adventurers are barely onboard before it sets off.

    "Baroness Wake," says Marie (the Lander that helped with the pekos), "We will make for home as swiftly as possible."

    Wake shakes her head, glaring at the storm that is gathering power. "We make for Rulid. I have sent the summons. What power Eas has is already making its way to join us there. We sail for the Eye of the Storm. Perhaps the invaders from another world will learn their lesson better this time."