023.4 Ithea

[Corwin]

[20:19] <Tiny_Ko_Army> Heartbeat. The throbbing of Ithea's heart as it hammers in her chest, joining the cold sweat that coats her body and soaks her bed. Sleep-crusted eyes bust open as a cavalcade of images flash in Ithea's mind. The vermin, crawling along. The dozens of lifeless clones and dolls, staring at her with lifeless eyes. The faces of the Nightmare-In-Chains, crying as blade and glaive cut them apart.
[20:25] * Ithea grumbles as she wipes the sweat off her brow and stands off her bed. She doesn't think she'll be going back to sleep for a while.
[20:27] <Tiny_Ko_Army> At some point 27 found its way to Ithea's quarters. It's curled up at the foot of her bed, silently slumbering. Otherwise her room is peaceful and unremarkable.
[20:28] <Ithea> Upon noticing 27 sleeping there, Ithea's head begins to look around the room for more of 27's artwork defacing the room.
[20:36] <Tiny_Ko_Army> No sign of it. Looks like Elena got it all.
[20:39] * Ithea sighs with relief and moves to the edge of her bed, getting up and squatting next to 27 to see if he's got any mysterious new prophecies written or if he's just sleeping. Wouldn't hurt to examine the changes he'd gone through a little more either while he's sleeping.
[20:41] <Tiny_Ko_Army> No sign of any more prophecies. He's certainly grown in size. His skeletal wings have no sign fo flesh at all - pure bone. His heart is thicker, beating stronger and looking as armored as a knight on horseback. Occasionally the front of the heart parts, the very tip of his second 'sword' jutting out.
[20:45] * Ithea wonders what exactly prompted this...well, evolution, on 27. Was it really just finding 21? While the questions dance in her head, she has no desire to awaken the creature, deciding to let it rest there as she grabs an extra blanket and drapes it on him. She's not going to need it, and she can go for a walk to clear her head or maybe a dip in the warm hot springs might help.
[20:46] <Tiny_Ko_Army> Once 27 is blanketed, the entire creature shudders. A look of fear crosses its face, as it curls into a ball. "Tannin," it whimpers, voice full of complete, loathing terror.
[20:48] * Ithea sighs quietly at that, wishing she really understood just where his fear of Tannin stemmed from. Patting it gently in the head to try and calm it's dreams, she ponders her own nightmares.
[20:49] <Tiny_Ko_Army> The nightmare comes back in flashes. Flashes of the Screaming Gate, flashes of terror that stir her heart into panic. At the same time 27 whimpers aloud, "Tannin," it groans, starting to thrash as it curls in tighter on itself.
[20:50] <Ithea> Changing her mind on waking 27, deciding he might also want to clear his head with a walk or a warm dip, she pushes on 27's shoulder gently as she tries to wake him up. "27, wake up, it's just a dream..." she says softly.
[20:52] <Tiny_Ko_Army> 27 leaps up in a tangle of blanket and slaad, spinning about and landing feet first like a cat. "ANARCH!" he screams, shuddering all over. 27 looks around wildly, heart-blade sticking fully out.
[20:53] <Ithea> "Calm down, it was just a dream," Ithea repeats.
[20:56] <Tiny_Ko_Army> 27 stares at Ithea for a few seconds, before retracting its heart-blade. "Anarch?" It asks.
[20:57] <Ithea> "You looked like you were having problems with your dreams, so I woke you up. I woke up because of my own dreams," Ithea explains. "I was thinking of going for a walk, see if that helped clear my head up so I could go back to sleep. Want to join me?"
[21:03] <Tiny_Ko_Army> "Okay," 27 says, getting up and standing. "I'll follow."
[21:08] * Ithea tosses on something a bit more presentable quickly and heads outside, letting 27 follow her. She doesn't really have any plans or direction, just heading towards the courtyard, maybe head afterwards to the hot springs like she'd originally thought.
[21:14] <Tiny_Ko_Army> Wandering a bit lets Ithea cool off and calm down. As she meanders through the courtyard, she finds the Master. He sits cross-legged in the courtyard, levitating about a foot off the ground. Not too far away Arrel perches, head down and looking asleep. Above you can see Baleruk flying about, endlessly exploring around the ship.
[21:14] <Tiny_Ko_Army> *fortress.
[21:17] <Ithea> Since Baleruk and Arrel haven't tried to kill each other, Ithea assumes someone has talked to Arrel by now about the whole bahamut/tiamat tantrum, and that's about all the thought she spends on that matter. She does cast detect magic out of curiosity at the levitation the Master is pulling off, wondering if he's doing that with magic since he hadn't seemed a magic user from her initial impression.
[21:22] <Tiny_Ko_Army> There is magic around the Master.
[21:24] <Ithea> "...huh," Ithea mutters before shrugging and continuing on her walk.
[21:27] <Tiny_Ko_Army> On Ithea wanders. On the other side of the courtyard she finds Elrisa's tower. As she passes, she can faintly hear the sound of song, from above.
[21:28] * Ithea looks up, wondering if it's Misalea, and paying attention to the song, focusing on it.
[21:35] <Tiny_Ko_Army> OOC: Listen check?
[21:36] <Ithea> roll d20+40
[21:36] * Hatbot --> "Ithea rolls d20+40 and gets 56." [d20=16]
[21:38] <Tiny_Ko_Army> Ithea can hear it well enough. It's a song of mourning and revenge, sung in a soft, wistful way. Above you can see Misaela sitting atop the tower, gaze to the sky as she sings.
[21:40] * Ithea goes lean against the tower's wall and closes her eyes as she thinks of Lifasa while listening to Misalea's song.
[21:47] <Tiny_Ko_Army> The song brings to mind lost memories. Memories of days long gone, days of sunlight and living. Days of your world being whole. As you savor this, 27 murmurs, "The Child..."
[21:48] * Ithea opens one eyelid and glances at 27 at his first statement since they went out walking, though she doesn't add anything.
[21:53] <Tiny_Ko_Army> "I keep dreaming of the Child," 27 goes on, "The Child of Lifasa. The Tyrant. He'll rule your bodies if you fail. He'll rule Lifasa."
[21:56] <Ithea> "He won't. We'll stop him," Ithea replies. "We're not going to fail."
[22:15] <Tiny_Ko_Army> 27 nods to that, as the song comes to an end above.
[22:16] <Ithea> With the song finished, Ithea pushes away from the wall and continues on her walk, until she's satisfied she can go back to sleep.