Growing Pains
7th of January 2007 A.D.
Surely the soul of a god of war that dwells in the depths of the sea should taste of brine or of blood, but in truth it tastes of sugar and brandy of flames swallowed whole. Like the fabled mead of poetry it seems to you that though the haze of and twisting flames upon your tongue a verse in seven parts emerges.:
Once there were maidens three of their kind, mourning three sisters lost,
One without name forgotten, two paying war's bitter cost.
The first set to spin destiny's thread, the second to measure,
The last to cut, ending lives with neither sorrow nor pleasure.
But whence came the thread, the world's secret treasure?
Once there were giants of earth and sea, or fire and frost
A bargain now forgotten, a bargain now broken. Lo, they are lost
Regained 2 Essence -> Now at 11/15
As reality reasserts itself, as much as the usual state of affairs in Avalon can be called that you assess the damage... and you do not mean the pieces gouged out of the lake shore. Fear shines bright and frantic in the eyes of the Summer fey, not the wariness you had seen among the White Court, Maeve's entourage or even Adam's gang of ghouls before they joined you. There is a shadow, uncomprehending blindness that does not wish to see. Some of them are looking at you less as a guest, a person and more as one might observe a slide of smallpox, a hateful thing out of a far darker past.
Then Lilly drops her spear into the waiting hands of one of one of her guards and slowly, she starts to clap, sweeping her gaze over centaur and satyr, nymph and dryad with hair in bloom, daring them not follow along. The Court of Summer is many things, but a democracy is not one of them. Reluctant as they might be they pick up what she is putting down, a rumble growing through the crowd as the Queen looks on, her face a regal mask to all save you perhaps. It is there in the tilt of her chin, in the way her eyes are pinned to the movement of Lilly's hands more than her face. There is pride yes, but more than that there is sorrow, the more Lily asserts herself the more the shadow of Aurora fades, like morning mist before the noonday sun.
Quickly turning your head from what suddenly seems like very personal sorrow you land next to the Archive and Kincaid. She seems serene, he like he's upgrading the caliber of bullet to use on you if comes to that. "Good show." He means that in both senses.
***
8th of January 2007 A.D.
It takes you another hour, midnight come to recover the essence you had spent, not respiring the heady perfume of the Avalon's gardens as had been proposed, but rather dwelling in a humble bottle of bleach. Kincaid finds it funny, you can see it in his eyes. Still the time comes to exorcise the poison of Nemesis from the Lords and Ladies of Summer, such as have been found at least. The thought niggles at the back of your mind.
Is Dad OK? Is Lydia, Harry?
Recovered 4 Essence -> Now at 15/15
Each one shall be brought before you, bodies bound in chains of light, expressions empty and vapid as their minds had been set wandering. Titania isn't taking any more chances. Alas asking for more time between exorcisms to recover your essence so if you are going to... consume the Knight's shards you are going to have to do it without undue use of Essence.
"Is that
safe for you?" She sounds only a little dubious after what she had seen.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to hold the thing down?" you ask the nine year old girl walking at your side back towards the lake-shore.
"Yeah, from what I understand there's no space on the inside for anything to mess with me."
"I... I
can't do this for free, it involves considerable use of magic in a potentially dangerous environs. I'd say you could ask Titania to hold those things down but she is not Mab, the most she can do in her own remit is immolate them. By contrast predation is opposed to her nature. The Lady might be able to do it given that Nemesis targeted her in particular, but it will make her few friends."
"Especially after she made them clap for me you mean?" You ask ruefully.
"That was common courtesy." The answer isn't a 'no' you note.
How do you deal with the Nemesis shards?
[] Have the Archive bind them for you to consume (Costs 1 additional Splendor owed to the Ventori bringing the total up to four)
[] Ask Lily to hold the things down (Will harm her reputation among the Summer Court)
[] You are fast enough to do it without a binding (To defeat and be eligible to consume each shard Molly must deliver 7 Wounds to a spirit-form with a Dodge 6 Soak 3 in a single round without Excellencies or other charms)
OOC: I was going to roll through this, but then I realized how tight your Essence budget is for this and the fact that you cannot stop to take a breather after each one