027.1 21

[Corwin]

[20:05] <Kotono> The strategy room is peaceful enough as people file in. Jaela, Afina, Ithea, Tepen and Ilsenine are all there. Elena has set it up nicely - little snacks, pitchers of water and nicely cleaned. Sylvie's there, looking off to the side, pausing only to nod as each person files in. Once the last person is in, "I don't know how much each of you knows, so I'll start from the beginning. I don't want
[20:05] <Kotono> to carry 21 anymore. After the Child of Lifasa, I think I fulfilled what it wanted. It was the point of the entire thing, as the Child's last defense..." A pause here, "Never mind it. I want to give it to someone who can bear its weight and use it responsibly. It's a terrible, wonderful thing to have, equal parts misery, horror, fascinating and rapture."
[20:06] <Afina> "Do you have any idea on who would be best to bear its burden?" Afina prods for everyone else's benefit even though Sylvie's already told her earlier.
[20:07] <Jaela> "Like I told you before, I'm up for it," Jaela responds, not really needing to think much about it. "You told us when we first met that it exposes lies, right? That's something I need so badly I don't care about the downsides. And if it's something that lets you understand evil to kill it, then hell, it might let you understand evil to unravel it instead. Worth a shot, as far as I'm concerned."
[20:08] * Ithea stays quiet for now, knowing Jaela isn't a leading candidate in Sylvie's book, letting Sylvie answer Afina's prodding question instead.
[20:09] <Kotono> "I'd recommend someone pure and strong. A celestial, saint or wise man would be ideal," Sylvie says, smiling just a little bit. A smile that fades as Jaela speaks, "...Jaela, I...hell." Blowing out air and blowing her bangs up, "No. I trust you. Annalise? No. You're too close to that monster." Her face scrunches up, "I don't want her having a chance to get it."
[20:10] <Kotono> Elder Magi Tepen listens quietly for the moment, deep in thought. Meanwhile Queen Ilsenine is likewise content to watch for the moment.
[20:10] <Jaela> "And she'd get it how?" Jaela asks her. "If I'm going to do anything about her, I need a way to handle her tricks. I can do that if I understand her and spot any lie she makes, don't you think?"
[20:15] <Kotono> "With what I've seen of her?" Sylvie just shakes her head, "I'd rather bear it until I die than risk having something like her get a hold of 21. I don't trust her not to find a way to manipulate you or get her hands on it."
[20:17] <Jaela> "But she won't be able to do it to anyone else carrying it? Did she ever manipulate me into something so far?" Jaela raises an eyebrow. "It's about not trusting me. I get it."
[20:17] <Afina> Since that's a dead end, Afina speaks up, "I'm not sure about saints, but as far as Celestials go, at least until Kascha returns, if she does, our only notable ones are Jaela and Hanna."
[20:18] <Jaela> "Mom is not carrying anything," Jaela states.
[20:18] <Ithea> "I did also mention Morniel, though given he's a diplomat and Sylvie said a warrior might be better..." Ithea adds.
[20:19] <Afina> "He's an ambassador working between us and the Triad, not a committed member of the Crusade. Since Tyr could recall him at any time, I'd rather not place 21 in his hands," Afina shakes her head.
[20:19] <Kotono> Here Elder Magi Tepen speaks up, after coughing into his hand and clearing his throat. "More than anything else, what Sylvie says suggests wisdom and restraint as well. Looking at that and personal conditions, I can't think of anyone we have that is ideal to carry it."
[20:20] <Kotono> "I'd considered both of them," Sylvie says, "Why not Hanna, Jaela? I had the same thought on Morniel. I don't think he's much of a warrior, though he may be trustworthy to carry it."
[20:23] <Jaela> "Yeah, look. I don't know what 21 does to a person but you sound all fucked up. It's one thing to volunteer myself and put myself on the line, but I'm not doing it to my mom. And that's even without going into what sort of enemies just having it would give her. If that's still not enough, I can keep on going. And really, just why not me? I'm trusted with the Aurora and with all we know and do, with all of our possessions and decisions, but this is a bridge too far? Because of a maybe, that somehow I'll turn all weak and forget my principles and let Annalise have it? That's bullshit, and I have to say as much."
[20:25] * Afina shrugs, unable to fathom why someone would want such a curse so badly, but since Jaela's unusual tastes are well established she can't really argue it.
[20:28] <Kotono> "Yes, that's exactly what I'm afraid of," Sylvie retorts, with a bit of heat in her voice. "Or worse, one night she'll sink her teeth into you and that's the end of that. I spent years of my life in misery and I'm just now starting to feel like a human being again. I'm not going to pass this off under that sort of risk. Damn it, I can't lie to myself and say that it'll be alright and Annalise
[20:28] <Kotono> will respect you and not be allured by it. After everything, what's the point of finally feeling like I did something that matters a damn if I let a monster run loose with 21?"
[20:29] <Jaela> "I don't know how else I can turn her back! Or how to do anything about those erinyes that followed me here! What am I supposed to do when everyone's turning me away or closing doors in my face? The Seldarine are the only ones working with me, but it's more that they're giving me time than anything real. I can't do it all on my own, so I need something to make it work!"
[20:31] <Afina> "Who cares about devils, we're going to kill them anyway," Afina speaks up, suddenly outraged at the implication Jaela wants to bring them on board. That's a step too far! "And if you can't deal with Annalise without 21, why did you commit to her before we even knew it existed?"
[20:32] <Jaela> "Why do we have to kill them all?" Jaela decides to ask back.
[20:33] * Afina looks at Jaela like she's grown a second head. "They're devils."
[20:33] <Kotono> "Kill them?" Sylvie retorts, "Jaela, they're horrible. Fiends and worse than fiends. I don't give a damn about some quest to try and bring them to the light. Kill them like the other devils."
[20:34] <Ithea> "I'm with Afina. You're taking this redemption thing entirely too far. What next, are you going to try to redeem Bel and Abigor?"
[20:34] <Jaela> "Then why haven't you already?"
[20:35] <Afina> "Because we can't, yet... I thought you were with us on this, Jaela. Are you having second thoughts?" Afina asks worriedly.
[20:38] <Jaela> "It's one thing if it's a battle. But I don't know if it's so wrong to offer someone defeated a chance and see if you can't make it work," Jaela decides, taking a few moments to think it over. "Guys, blind zealotry is bad. It got us this far, but it gave us our share of problems. I think it'd do us a world of good to think about this."
[20:40] * Afina twitches. "Go to Lifasa," she grates out. "Go there and find our people being 're-educated' and turned into lemures. Tell them that we should be giving the devils a chance."
[20:40] <Jaela> "And... you asked about Annalise, Afina. I didn't know what I was getting into at the time. Not really. But what should I do now? Ask fucking Ao for a retake? The way I want to bring her around hasn't changed! But it just looks a lot harder now than it did before. If it's just me doing what I can...."
[20:41] <Ithea> "When we first met, I recall that every single one of us happily picked a fight with those devils in the bar and murdering them. Should we have just given them another chance too, Jaela?"
[20:41] * Jaela gives Afina a glare. "Yeah, I'll get right on that. So since we hate the devils so much to the exclusion of all else--" That same glare goes out to Ithea as well. "Fuck, why not enlist a demon lord or two for the Crusade?"
[20:41] <Kotono> "Can fiends even be changed?" Queen Ilsenine speaks quietly, cutting in amid the others. "I am under the impression fiends and spirits do not change like mortal creatures can."
[20:42] <Jaela> "Yes! They can be!" Jaela insists. "Fuck it, two great deities told me as such! But they said you had to be pretty exceptional for that to work, so that's what I've been trying to become all this time!"
[20:42] <Ithea> "I don't know, you seem happy to forgive devils, vampires and anything else under the sun. Why not forgive a demon lord and enlist them?" Ithea fires right back sarcastically.
[20:43] <Jaela> "So that's a yes for it, then? From you?"
[20:44] <Afina> "We already enlisted a vampire. I even thought it a good idea, but if she's making you lose sight of what we're doing, I'm going to have to reconsider," Afina crosses her arms, this being a totally unexpected direction for the meeting but one she won't shy away from.
[20:44] <Kotono> "They can. One happened in my home town." Sylvie crosses her arms, "They're the exceptions that prove the rule. The one who did it was on her way to becoming a Goddess, too. Maybe you're being Good here," The emphasis virtually speaks out the uppercase, "But damn if I think you're doing the smart thing. Is your love or lust for that vampire clouding your judgment?"
[20:44] <Jaela> "Our enemy is Hell. It's the leaders of Hell," Jaela states. "You mentioned Lifasans turned into lemures, Afina. They're tortured into it, no doubt. Twisted. Should we kill them with glee, too? Or should we look for a way to break them free?"
[20:45] <Jaela> To Sylvie, Jaela says, "All I can say is that I committed to this before I ever felt anything for Annalise. That good enough an answer for you?"
[20:48] <Afina> There's no easy answer to such a question, of course, but nonetheless Afina sticks to her convictions. "They're dead to us, now. We can't treat them any different than the rest, for the sake of those that are still alive."
[20:49] <Jaela> "Guys, our side is losing," Jaela says quietly. "Look out into the planes. The cases of risen fiends are called exceptional, but that's really a trick question. Just count all the celestial that fell. Fuck it, the god of fucking paladins and justice Fell! That's why we're losing! Killing them, however right it is, won't turn the tide! We have only one shot at real victory here!"
[20:50] <Ithea> "What, to make friends with them?" Ithea asks as she crosses her arms, looking doubtful. "Great plan there!"
[20:50] <Kotono> "Jaela," Elder Magi Tepen's voice is slightly clipped, "Our cause is to save our homeworld. For all I agree with the celestials and good, that does not mean our cause is exactly the same as theirs, or that we should take it up in lieu of our Crusade."
[20:51] <Jaela> Ignoring Ithea, Jaela addresses Sylvie directly. "Please, give me the chance. I don't know if I can make it work without 21, because I sure as hell don't understand them without it."
[20:52] <Jaela> Tepen does deserve an answer, and Jaela provides him with one. "It took nine people to destroy Lifasa. Nine people, out of an entire world. What good is winning it back, if it'll just happen again in a generation, once it's been forgotten?"
[20:52] <Afina> "I don't know anything about risen fiends or re-living vampires, but 21 is utterly unique in the planes, and serves our cause best by being the only thing we have capable of slaying an arch-devil. None of the other risen fiends were pulled along by something like 21 - if you're so sure, why do you need it?" Afina challenges, somewhat swayed by Jaela's comment about them losing - it's been patently
[20:52] <Afina> true from the get-go that the Great Wheel is hideously imbalanced in favour of Hell, though Tepen's comment nonetheless remains timely.
[20:53] <Jaela> "Like I said!" Jaela insists. "It pierces their lies! It was made to understand evil! This is my chance at it, without falling or becoming like them myself! If you understand something, you can destroy it. But you destroy something by unraveling it, by remaking it! It's that part that's so vital to me, Afina!"
[20:54] <Kotono> "A problem we can solve once we've restored Lifasa. Once we have our world back, then we can worry about the greater planes." He closes his eyes a moment, "I want to see the sunrise on Lifasa again before I die, not lose ourselves chasing after some great problem's answer that has eluded all the rest of Creation."
[20:54] <Jaela> "That is the sort of attitude we fucking hate the planes for! Oh, Lifasa's being invaded? Not our problem, let us deal with our own issues," Jaela snaps. "Have we been out here so long we're become just like them?"
[20:55] <Ithea> "If Jaela, Morniel and Hanna are all non-options, is there anybody else in Aurora who could take up 21?" Ithea asks Afina, finding this melodrama and obsession of Jaela's to just be ridiculous.
[20:57] <Afina> "we could have Sylvie go through the rest of the Court of Stars contingent," Afina allows, admittedly somewhat swept up in all the passion. "Actually, Sylvie," she decides the rest of the discussion could perhaps wait, "You've said 21 has its own will. Can't you commune with it? Does it respond towards potential hosts?"
[20:58] <Kotono> "I think," Sylvie says, "I'll keep 21 for now, after all." Slowly she rises, "You know what? I lost the man I love, my friends and my happy life because of evil. You think it's a tool to save evil? Fuck that. It can destroy evil and..." Her fists clench, "I'm going to use it to do exactly that. You think everything's going to Hell? Then let's use it for exactly what it should be used for -
[20:58] <Kotono> destroying evil. Abigor, Bel, that damn Duke of Destiny, Senaril, Shar?" The last two are spat out, "Let's show them 21 personally."
[20:59] * Ithea smiles at Sylvie's declaration. "See, -that's- a sentiment I can get behind!"
[21:00] <Jaela> "Do as you like. Free will, free choice." Jaela rises to her feet as well. "For what it's worth, Afina, Tepen? You don't need to worry about me out in the field. No mercy in a fight."
[21:03] <Afina> "That's it decided, then," Afina nods as sternly as her cute countenance will allow. "I do support your efforts with Annalise, Jaela, but in the end I don't care what's in her heart so long as she helps us kill devils."
[21:03] <Jaela> "I understand," Jaela responds. "And I appreciate being given the chance."
[21:05] <Kotono> "Good luck," Sylvie adds, "You'll need it." Glancing to the others, "If you're going to fight evil, call me. I'll be there, and so will 21." She looks down a moment, at her clenched fist, "I'll be in my quarters. I think I need to focus on 21 now after all."
[21:06] <Jaela> "Other plans for now," Jaela responds, glancing at Afina once more. "Rescue's on. Are you ready to go?"
[21:07] <Afina> "Do we have the funds to pay any reasonable ransoms?" the fairy asks, switching gears.
[21:09] <Jaela> "We can tap into the Aurora fund for now, or just pay in either weapons or trade," Jaela responds. "First, we need to know the price, and we'll have Morniel around for that."
[21:10] <Afina> "That's what it's there for."
[21:11] * Jaela nods. "Old man, let's do this like a military operation, since it may well turn into one or we could get attacked. We'll put the Aurora on alert for the time we're gone, and rely on the telepathic link to stay in touch. You good for that?"
[21:17] <Kotono> "Yes," Elder Magi Tepen nods, all business now. "That can be so."