NOVEL NEXT Chapter 86: The Limitations of Compromise (Witch)
The Limitations of Compromise (Witch)
Content Warnings:
“What?” Lynette snaps audibly. Jerking us to stare wide-eyed at Xafra. A near day of her day and night of silence broken and still within earshot of Krelliva and a few other little Sun-Blessed still about. Our tendrils calm melody twisting into one that sings of abject dread.
We’d spent the next day being introduced to roughly a dozen different Spore Families that have either set up a Garden for us to visit or sent an Envoy to say hello. All have been their own shade of odd but… honestly delightful. Hard to not be enthralled by.
Even Lynette’s quiet simmering annoyance and disgust has fallen to a more… clear sensation. Like how we might feel if we returned to Grove Thorn to find our mothers and sisters suddenly kind and thoughtful and… well… not horrid.
Endlessly suspicious and distrustful and expecting that they want something from us.
Which… the Sun-Blessed do in some fashion. But in ways she’s struggling to accept.
And this… Cracked and Riven Moon.
Warden reached out at the start of a day with the worst news. Something has awoken, back at the Estate. Apparently is prowling about the tunnels and not wandering above but… How long can that last?
"We need to return as soon as possible, Krelliva, but I don't want to lose the opportunity to continue building bonds between our communities. Are there any of Girra's children that would like to return with us?" Xafra asks, a wild look in her eyes.
A buzzing of quick and pointed Quill-Song snaps between our Doll, Krahe, and Infection. Then Verbess intones [Mistresses, Infection would like to join us.]
Krelliva looks between us in worry, pursing its lips while considering. "Well, I know Feryudra will if any others are. To protect anyone like before. But that one had to visit the Scales Changed and won't arrive until the morning. Could just... rush along the Root ways to catch up though."
"That'll be a problem. With this... development we're going to just have to crack us a Fold back home." I sigh and glare back into the forest as Lynette already starts to dredge up the complicated weaving's foundations. "And we have company along the Root Ways. Envoys from the Groves. Feryudra will need to come through one of the tunnels. Escorted. Of course."
Xafra shudders and Manifests her Endzeit form, the bond quaking with emotion. "I can probably make an alternative path, If you would permit the attempt, Mistress."
"What path?" Lynette asks, barely hesitating in her calculations. "Something like what you did with Primrose? A fresh weaving? Normally I'd be delighted but without knowing what nonsense awaits us I worry the Estate will react poorly to something like that. Even outside but near the grounds But... What did you have in mind?"
"Similar yes, but less... direct. I can feel the eyes still sitting in your Spire, Mistress. I think I can make a doorway that I can also pass through."
"Wait. You can... what?" I sputter, but am cut off as Lynette abruptly pauses her work, lets out a bit of an unstable cackle before asking. "Oh that's delicious. Will barely cost you any Ousia, won't it?"
"If it works, it won't cost me any. I've been thinking about what Gebetshure relayed from Girra. Connection through Severance. I believe I can tap into that."
Still bubbling with mirth, she pauses to consider that.
[We'll probably need to pass through first.] I intone to them both. [Just to make sure it doesn't react poorly to this.]
[Obviously.] Lynette agrees, oddly filled with a touch of relief as she turns to our Pack, Krelliva, and Infection. "Alright. Let's gather up our supplies and whatever gaggle wishes to visit the grounds with us."
"I will.. Wait for Feryudra with Infection, with your permission, Mistresses."
We consider that for a few heartbeats, look out over the sea and gardens while considering... "Adaline and Krahe will stay as well. Wait for one of us to reach out and call before returning. Alright?"
Adaline nods firmly and turns to Gebetshure. "Make sure you check on Augusta immediately once you return, as the Estate is likely to be extra hostile to her if there's issues."
We pause, going through the lists of Xafra's Dolls and... finding no one to match the name. Even Lynette doesn't find that word in her records, and can't help but sigh in mild annoyance. "We really should have Warden establish an updated list of all their names for times like this. Which one was that again? And what by the Cracked and Riven Moon would make the Estate more worried about her than the others?"
Xafra suddenly screams in panic, reaching out to rend the air like flesh and it... rips apart with a gush of blood under her claws, revealing our room. "Go Now! No time to explain, Return|Save Them|Don't be late."
We hesitate, but... Verbess does not. Moves to sweep everyone coming with us into its arms and carrying us through.
By the time we twist free to look back... The passage is already closing. Slowly though. Pulling shut like some gaping wound. Which… from the blood that spilled it just might be.
"Cracked and... what?" I spit and move us to stand. "What even is... Why did she..."
"Someone did something stupid." Lynette cuts me off with a growl. Bubbling with fury and annoyance and... and fear. "Either Rufus, Warden, or... some third sorry sort I'm going to have a very pointed talk with about this."
[Warden. Attend us. We have questions and messes to clean up.] Lynette intones across the bond to our available Pack while we stride to the balcony.
But… that one is already here waiting. Its knife shaped Frame raises up from our desk and projects out its ethereal form. "Warden is present to answer questions."
"Your report to Xafra was well worded." We sigh while glaring over the grounds. "We assume nothing has happened since? And all are still accounted for? Even this..."
Pause.
What was that Doll's name Adaline asked about? Graphire? Arcadia? Gebetshure? No. That last is standing right here. Adaline asked her to check on this one. Something about... the Estate being hostile? But... why would...
Blood goes cold as I feel a gap. Almost like how it was when the Old Cunt would demand I forget things with the Garrote. Know something is there but the thoughts keep slipping away. But also... this isn't like then at all. Before it was like thorned vines tore me apart when I tried. Now is like... I keep drifting to...
Drifting. What? What were we asking about?
I spiral a bit. Feel myself chase my own recollections like some silly gerl chasing a slimy baby snek. Takes me at least a few good heartbeats to remember how to ground my thoughts and stop being foolish about this. Like feeling my way through a dark room with a spilled drink I very much don't want to step in.
Slow and steady. Find the outlines of the gaps and move around. Ignore the gaps and wiggly thing I want very much to pounce on and examine.
"Oh. The complication that Rufus caused affected you as well. Warden was unsure how to explain as neither Warden nor Rufus knows the name of the Doll that he hid. His Einwandfrei is a cloaking ward apparently." Warden reports.
Through the slowly closing rend, Xafra yells at us, "Get to the basement of the Library Spire and declare your presence! Right now!"
Basement of the Library? Why would we...? Valthirii doesn't use that space for anything but... Wait doesn't Gebetshure live down there with...
A bit of the gap's outline in our memory circles around. Understanding of the where to the what.
"Ah. Well then." I huff and hold a hand out to Warden. "Let's go see what nonsense this is. C'mon. All of you."
Lynette sighs as it settles into our grip, "Fool boy. As subtle as striking this place in the face and then asking loudly who could do such a thing." Then grips the railing of the balcony and tosses us bodily out. Too agitated to bother with the steps and preferring to spike our senses with a touch of a falling rush.
We land well, of course. New bones hard as the oldest Roots and flesh made to absorb sharper impacts. Then stride across the grounds to the Library Spire. Even let Gebetshure open the door and lead the way since she calls this place her home.
Head to the basement straight away and call out. "Hello? We're looking for the Doll a fool of a boy hid. Told we needed to announce ourselves or...?"
Gebetshure steps forward to touch a... a door we missed in the gloom?
"Madam Augusta? This one is back with the Mistresses Elevar and Lynette, Pack Sisters Warden, Verbess, and Schatzi." She calls out while opening it.
Madam… Who?
We follow. Stepping into what seems to be a small and well furnished space.
And see… A Doll dressed in full regalia, sitting against the back wall with her scythe across her lap, a relieved look on her face.
Oh.
OH HAG CRACKED AND VOID RIVEN MOON!
THAT FOOL OF A BOY!
"Augusta." We try very hard not to growl. Twin furies boiling in screaming anger as all our understanding of what the Einwandfrei Rufus wove cracks through us like a blaze along a dry Root Way. All memories returning like a splash of iced rain from a summer storm. "We trust you are... well. Not had to use that blade today?"
"Not particularly well, no. I haven't had a moment's peace since you all left. It seems neither of us realized that by making this Frame in the Estate's facilities, it would be able to detect it, even when I mask my own presence. It began hunting me, pressing against the borders of my domain, the heartbeat you were out of its grasp, and it wasn't until Rufus used his Einwandfrei that it lost track of me. So no, I'm not well. I'm rather miffed and nearly decapitated the idiot boy when he started banging on my door this morning." She snorts and continues, "Oh, I forgot to mention. His Einwandfrei? My bloody shattered corpse of a mother is the one who taught him it. So that's also been on my mind."
Shatter Corpse of a… The Cracked and Riven Moon? Sín? She… some of Her yet touches this world?
"Empty Skies..." I huff, turn my focus to Lynette. [Was... Did you know this would happen?]
[I... Of course not.] She hesitates, looks to Augusta as my fury fades and her’s rots in our gut. "Apologies, Kindly One. I did not expect the sleeping thing to care. Knew there would be some... sympathetic links between your Frame and this place. Nothing that should have mattered or stirred it to lose anything." Then she steps us forward and offers Augusta a hand. "Come with me. I'm going to crack Rufus Einwandfrei, then lead you to Xafra's Spire myself. You'll be safe there. Then I'll... go below. Deal with this."
"Removing it is easy enough, just have to strike through the Sigils around the door." Augusta murmurs as she takes our hand.
Lynette turns and waves a hand at the door, pressing Ousia through our mind woven Blasenplage Glyph to sear away the working and all traces of Rufus working.
And even I feel the Spire thrum softly in reply to that.
"Ignore it. Just... is being a grumpy old fool." Lynette assures our group, then turns to lead us all out while her mind wanders to the parts I can't see. Communicating with the Estate, no doubt. And... while the outside settles. Within I can feel her uncertainty. Her dread. This bubbling mess of worry that is all too familiar to me. It’s... the same we felt returning here suspecting I had the Soul Rot. Not even knowing what to tell the Old Cunt. Never imagining what she would do to me the night after I told her.
Have to pull away from those thoughts, don't want to leave her alone to feel this mess.
Before we even leave the Spire basement, Rufus runs down the stairs half dressed in a frantic state. "Augusta, are you alright?"
"Yes, fool boy." I force us to pause while pushing past what would probably have been quite the snapped reply from Lynette. "She will be as well. Just taking her to Xafra's Spire while we deal with this mess."
"Okay. Good." He keeps pace with us as he gently rubs his arms that are utterly shredded with claw marks. "When Xafra gets back, I'd love a word. Didn't expect to have to deal with mindless rage... Or a doll that predates Yselda's ownership of this Estate."
"Yes. Odd gerl. Sweet once she stops..."
Nearly jerk to a halt as those memories slip back into place as well.
Loved to spit... well, quite apt and truthful words and Yselda when there wasn't another Doll around to be blamed. And plenty at me later. Once it became clear I was becoming just like her. Did have a few good, albeit short, arguments with her though when I could focus. She was always watchful and endlessly kind to all the Dolls that came here. Despite their inability to even remember her.
Turn to eye him up and down, can't help but give him a soft smile. "Warden mentioned that. Would apologize but, as I recall, it was often you pestering me to be careful fuddling with odd magics. But... Cracked and Riven Moon you had me terrified for a heartbeat. "
"Sorry. I was trying to help and... Do what I thought you and Xafra would do. I couldn't leave any of the three of them in the situation I found them, and I um... Well, the first two were in my wheelhouse, at least."
"All three came out alright." I sigh as we reach Xafra's Spire, tug them all inside. "Just... Everything is moving too fast and we can't predict when the honest and good sorts we know will act so... unpredictability selfless."
"That reminds me. We uhh. made a room for your Doll, Lynette?" Rufus mentions with a preemptive flinch.
"Warden mentioned that, and... It means the world that you took care of her." She replies while moving to the door, pausing to lean against its frame. "Would hate for her to need the vines today. After so long freed of... of that. Cracked and Riven Moon. And here I need to ask you all for a bit more as well."
"I've got a Thresher weave or two to refresh myself, but it'll put me in a dead sleep for a day afterwards. Might as well follow through and not leave things half finished. I'll just grab some clothes from my room then be good to continue."
"Feel free to get dressed, but I doubt a weave of endurance and motion will be needed... for now I just need..." Lynette pauses. And I can feel her struggling with this as she looks about the room. "Words. Advice. Mostly. And possibly a little betrayal. Mayhaps even a promise to not do anything stupid once I've set myself on a Path."
[Lynette...] I intone gently while we wait. [What are you talking about?]
"I've been told I've already been blisteringly stupid today... yesterday at this point, so I can at the very least promise that I will discuss any plans with others before acting." Rufus offers as he heads to Calix and his room.
[I'll... explain in a bit. Like I did at the beach. We have no good options here and I may be out of time to wrestle out better ones.] She sighs at me. [Our Estate is... is rousing. Is going to start, no, has already started making demands. As the compromise it is my job to help us avoid disaster. Xafra being... fully unbound gives us options, but also steals some away. I mean to share them and get the advice of those I think might just be able to help. Be more honest than I probably should be.]
[Okay. That... okay. Whatever you need. It's like Xafra promised. We're getting you free. Regardless of the time it takes.] I reply.
A pause, then Lynette murmurs gently aloud. "If only I could believe..."
Trails off before finishing.
"You know, I'd advise you to have faith in our Goddess, but considering you've probably seen her trip over things and fall off the bed, I can understand why it would be a challenge." Calix interrupts as he returns with Rufus properly dressed and on a leash.
"Exactly why I'm glad she wished to stay behind. This task is... not suited to her skills at the moment." Lynette nods to Calix politely. "And Adaline, and Krahe. They are away and with expectations to remain so until specified events happen. Which..." She looks to Warden and our Doll. "You will not call them back beforehand unless I ask. No panicked cries for aid. Understood? If the worst comes to pass you will round up all the Dolls and her mother and take them through... through..."
She trails off, closes our eyes and takes a moment to reorder herself. "But that won't happen. I am going to fix this. Get us that compromise. Make this work. Shouldn't even think of that as an option."
"You should be aware that in that situation, Xafra is going to insist on speaking to the core of the Estate, and when it doesn't comply, she's going to open a channel to Girra and burn the entire thing from the surface of Dämmerung... I have Seen this. You and Elevar are the only ones with authority over her." Calix warns sternly.
"That doesn't sound... Survivable?" Rufus says quietly.
As I balk at that... Lynette glares, then nudges me to weave a Physis manifested form to split ourselves before she replies.
"It's not. And if she considers trying that. You will urge her to imagine herself, but cruel and patient and willing to engorge for thousands of years instead of the decade she had long ago. Endlessly weaving new ways to keep itself safe. And I trust you to help her understand that this place has endured worse. Multiple times." She snaps. "Her folly won't kill it, only wound it. And that's if it even lets her near its heart. But it would end anyone within at least a few hundred Grove spans of the blast radius. Possibly farther. And that includes Sikkina. Xafra can only channel so much of that godthing before she burns away. So, instead, we make sure this place compromises with Elevar."
In a motion that is so abrupt that I’ve no time to even consider it, Calix steps forward and slams me bodily into the wall while staring at Lynette's Physis projection. "I don't think you understand. This is not a possibility, but fact. I have seen it and had to cope with the sight of one of the suns impacting Dämmerung, with the remnants of the Moon being pulled in his wake. Nothing living on this continent survives.
Do Not Make that choice. Because the alternative is I stop you from going any further, throw you back through the rift to Xafra, and accept that all of us here will be consumed by the Estate."
A snap crack of slow, precise, and loud motion. Then Verbess is at Calix's back. Looming over the fool boy at full height. Lays a single talon over one of his wrists as Quills thrum low warning. "You assume much to think you could achieve this, even alone with them. These one's Mistresses have asked you for words, not ultimatums."
Calix laughs as tears run down his face. "I didn't want it anymore. Didn't want to know. Didn't want to have to See anymore. Once again, choice was taken from me." He lets go of me, pulls away and around Verbess, then curls himself into a stricken Rufus.
We let our heartbeat steady for a few good thrums before replying.
"I... I'm so sorry Calix. Sorry for that curse, sorry for... for what my old cunt did to you. To everyone. And..." Take a deep breath, let it out slowly. "Thank you. For trying. For enduring. I won't let that future strike us. Won't let you or your lover or... or any others here lose their chance at a long happiness. And this place still needs me. Will be forced to compromise as well. We can endure this. This is... is just a hiccup. R– right Lynette?"
Her Physis form is still, leaning into the shadows and glaring at nothing. "All things considered? Two hiccups. But... No one's getting eaten today, at least. Just... might need to find an answer to a question already asked. I... We, need a Floret. Someone to ensure this mess doesn't repeat until we are ready. But... I don't like my options. And I'm worried the thing lurking below is a sign that the choice has already been made for us. That this place subverted the Threads and chose another intake to serve that role."
I just… stare at her before hissing. "What?"
"Um... Another intake? But there shouldn't be any other witches here, right?" Rufus asks.
"Right, Threshers don't always share good records on this place's workings. So I'll summarize. An intake is... simply a term for any entities this place snares and plans to study and change." Lynette supplies. "The Dolls above are mostly ones twisted and kept by the Blossom. But... that's because they are mostly woven from Witches or Mundanes. Easily remolded into subservice and Dollhood. But deep below there are... are things remolded from other roots. Sun-Blessed, Dream walkers, odd entities we've yet to define. Even some young godlings. Although none of those last remain now. Their breaking is... looser. Doesn't hold as the decades pass. Needs to be constantly enforced. I... I was... am, one such being. Or part of one. Woven through Elevar as her refraction, spared only her worst traumas. Remolded to be the compromise. Lynette, as it and Yselda cracked a young gerl into becoming."
"Not that young." I sigh more to myself while tip-tapping fingers across the wood of a nearby desk.Chew on her words and their implications.
"Sure, you've explained some of that, but doesn't a Floret need to be a Witch?"
"No more than a Witch needs to be a human. Or particularly skilled with magic. Or even alive." I murmur, then look to him. "In ages past this place was... restricted from redefining its perceptions on such things. But... it's changing. Reshaping. And quickly. Too quickly. If it finished claiming something it made down below into a Floret it could accelerate everything." Look at Lynette. "That's why this is so bad. If it can make Florets without outside volunteers..."
"It may decide that even the Blossom can be remolded. Or remade entirely from things within, or even itself." She finishes. "Yes. All Threads and goals easily rewoven. Nothing more to stop it from rousing and seeking out new intakes from all over. A beast loosed to consume and reshape as it will. Possibly stopped by Girra or Dämmerung but... also mayhaps not."
"Potentially silly question but why aren't we all evacuating? Saying goodbye to this absolutely mental genus loci?" Rufus asks with exasperation.
"Lots of reasons." Lynette replies sharply, her temper rising a bit at that. "One very important being that my daughter's sanctuary is still anchored below."
"Another being that... that if we don't tend to this place." I pick up softly, trying to help her calm by closing the distance between our thoughts and forms. "Do everything we can to keep it settled. It'll wake up. Or find a new Blossom. Even able to move mayhaps."
"It's a safe place from a worse weeping godthing blazing above." Lynette growls... but almost gently. More to herself than Rufus or the others.
"I also don't think we could get everyone out before it would notice and decide to press the issue." I offer. "Or... well, we wouldn't even know where to go. No place has ever felt like home. Especially now. We can fix this. We managed the Old Cunt for years. And were alone then till our Doll found us. We have authority here. And can use it. Just..."
And such a wretched understanding seeps into my thoughts. One bubbling up from Lynette.
"Doesn't matter. Empty Skies." We sigh, and push off the wall. Turn to the door. "We'll go below. Link up with the Threads. Settle this big grumpy thing and deal with the prowling Doll. Make this place safe again. Endlessly Compromise. Over and over. Till the day we don't need to anymore."
Rufus nods. "Okay. I'm... Going to take Calix back to bed. Let him sleep this off through the day. Please be careful. Both of you." He clutches the gigglesobbing Doll closely with a cautionary look at Verbess.
"Rest well, dear ones." We sigh and wave them on. Let the silence stretch on a bit long after the sounds of their passage fade.
Fight down the bile and... and guilt. At even for a day filling either of their lives with more fear. More pain. More anxiety and danger. Endlessly making mistakes and seeing the ones we love pay for it. Even more so glad that we never asked Rufus to be our Floret. Even... even now hoping we can, someday soon, pull or push them both from these grounds. Gift them a home far away from all this... this nonsense. Our nonsense.
Look to our Dolls, then Augusta and whisper gently. "Alright. So... choices. We go below. Break this Doll the Estate set loose if needed. I doubt anything it's keeping will prove a match for the Pack Sisters present and the Blossom of the grounds. Even if the Miasma thrashes against us a bit. After that..." Lynette breaks free of our brief merger to finish. "I have a pointed word with the Estate. Another option is that I go alone. Even leave Elevar here woven through Physis. Avoid even the perceptions of conflict. See what it demands and relay that from there."
"Hmmm.... No. This beast is not to be trusted." Verbess very nearly growls, still cracked free to near full size. "These one’s Mistresses will not descend into its maw alone ever again."
"I am definitely coming with you. Gebetshure, I would will prefer if you stay in our chambers, but your company would not go amiss." Augusta insists as she grips her weapon tightly.
"This one... Would like to come. But will not. It is not woven for combat and would only prove a witness at best, a distraction at worst. It will wait in our chambers." Gebetshure nods and even turns to bow to us. "Thank you for letting this one come with you all. It bubbles with all the things learned."
We nod back, and after they step up to pull Augusta into a tight embrace with soft words whispered between, let them slip past and out onto the grounds.
"I... Thank you. Augusta." We say while working to merge again. Avoid all things that might divide. "You really don't need to risk yourself like this. Well... risk yourself more. But it truly means so much to us that you insist on this."
Verbess cackles gently while adjusting to loom at our side, Quills purring a melody of such anticipation. "She has gone too long without a shell hard enough to crack against the things that hunt her. But claws are sharpened now, fangs bared. New Frame woven to this purpose."
"Yes. Very much so. While violence may not be necessary, I am prepared for it." She responds to Verbess. "I would like to ensure that the future is... Pleasant and kind to those we care about."
Our Doll clicks fangs and talons in wordless agreement, then begins to thrum Quills in high-pitched notes to Warden. Very obviously weaving the foundations of the songs it expects to need below with Warden.
** ** **
We peer down from the passage beneath our Spire to the tunnels. Find the miasma thick but... not as much as it could be. Still able to see a good distance ahead despite how it churns and twists about in such unfamiliar ways.
Annoyance seems the wrong word for what we see and feel. This isn't agitated like it was when this place tried to break our Xafra. It's... something else. Something even the part of us bound tightly to it can't explain.
"The miasma and the Estate is… calmer than expected." We murmur, take our first steps downward. "This could change the moment we brush against the Mists. But... it knows we're here. Knows we mean to communicate more directly."
"Good. Communication is the first step to resolution!" Schatzi offers with hope.
Look back to find... Verbess has quietly folded away. Seems to be focusing on the Pack's Song and nudged Schatzi into managing the Frame while it waits like a hidden Grakler on her shoulder. Ready to pounce as needed.
"Let's hope so." We agree, and proceed forward.
The mists don't react poorly, seem to almost... dance about? Only in those first of each of our steps even pressing close before pulling away. Clearing a path.
"Alright. Let's... see if we can find this wandering Doll on our way to the Uppermost Loom." We say back to them while moving forward. "Demand what its Function is and... go from there."
Augusta smiles a jagged grin and speaks. "I'm prepared for any sort of... Enhanced interrogation that may be needed. It's been a long time I've had any sorts I didn't feel a compunction to be gentle with."
Can't help but cackle together at that while moving us all forward. Find our mind wondering how she would peel such knowledge from an entity. Curious how long... how long we could last under her more pointed attentions.
What sort of interesting tools and methods one such as her must have at her fingertips?
It's... a more pleasant thing to consider while we walk these halls. Cut short though, as the mists clear to reveal the passage to the Loom.
Endlessly valuable jade-scaled curtain torn apart like so much useless cloth. A sign to the aged wealth this place holds. And within... Threads and scrolls and weavings of communication and binding and deeper connections just... just... shredded. The room looks as though the worst of the Summer Storms swept through, followed by a gaggle of angry Graklers. Even fifty paces away and dimly lit the destruction is plain to see.
Our easy link to the Beast below as Cracked and Riven as the Moon above.
And kneeling in the center of the chaos is a single Doll. It's... not a thing I've ever seen. Small. Like Schatzi. No clothes, save the remnants of the Loom it destroyed. Design is... the simplest I've seen. Seams between the plates of the Frame are apparent, and so much of the more flexible parts are completely devoid of porcelain of any kind of flesh like substance.
Division hits hard as it all sinks in. Lynette's thoughts jerking to hidden things she either can't or won't share.
Its back is to us, Frame shaking like I've only seen a Doll do when buried under the most cruel and contradictory of Witch tones.
"An antique. Small one, You've got some questions to answer." Augusta states as tendrils of shadow stream from her Frame and coil around this Doll.
It stills, raises a hand tangled in Loom threads. Some even seem to wrap and twist into the joints up into the Frame itself. Speaks in a soft voice. "These Threads are prepared for communion and instruction. Ousia and blood of Floret or Blossom required for authorization."
And all the strings and torn scrolls and very air seems to thrum the same way this room always did but... more. More vibrant and active than ever.
Lynette reaches out and lays a hand on Augusta's shoulder while our other hand reaches back to draw our knitting needle. Preparing to prick a finger. "Moonshite. It didn't just destroy the Threads, it absorbed them. Assimilated their purpose. Touching those would... could be linking yourself directly to the Estate's Loom. Possibly worse."
"Xafra may be, in essence, my older and stronger sister, but I've been actively around and learning for much longer. I will wait and let you act first. If needed, I will isolate this Doll from influences afterwards." Augusta clarifies.
"Thank you. That could be invaluable." I murmur while stepping around to kneel in front of the Doll. Get a look at its...
Oh.
Can't help but wince as I take in the Doll's front and face. Unseeing eyes forged from some deep odd metal, with... with the threads hanging from them to pool between their knees. Seeming to dance and twitch as if actual tears even. Chest plate torn free and inner workings exposed to show that all within are strangled and wrapped with the corpse of the Loom.
I prick our finger, and hold the droplet of blood from falling with a pinch of Ousia. "Alright, little one. Let's... We're going to try and communicate with the Estate. But... let us know if this hurts you. Understood?"
It doesn't reply, doesn't move even, save little shivers that rolls across the Frame every now and again.
Look past to Augusta and our Pack. "Should be lucid during this but... keep an eye out. If you please."
"Yes Mistress." Schatzi responds quietly.
Take a deep breath.
Focus.
Reach out and lay our hand atop the Doll's. Let it take the offering of Ousia and Blood. Brace mind for what might flood our thoughts soon. Watch as the threads dance up to writhe and wrap about our fingers, little Archive springing to Physis manifestation as mind is flooded with...
Quite the well organized collection of knowledge, honestly.
[What, by the Cracked and Riven Moon, did you think I've been doing every night while you sleep?] Lynette smugs while letting me look over the uppermost assets contained and easily available here. [But this is all just... records. We need to find the active knittings. What it's considering right now. Normally I can just... feel the beast's muses. But it's... quiet.]
"What does that even mean. Isn't quiet good?" I ask her aloud.
[If it was asleep? Yes. But it's more awake than ever. Should be blazing with considerations I need to soften or tend to. Or... or demands I need to relay.]
"But it's not. Is currently acting without the help of the Blossom." Is my murmured reply as I begin to shift my focus beyond the seemingly endless Archive within the Threads and slipping deeper and deeper.
[Exactly. And... and I don't know what that means.] She whispers. Freely sharing her fear. [Hope it's just... upset that I stepped out.]
Wordlessly agree, and delve deeper. Push past through Searching for...
There. Active weavings.
It's like stepping from a well laid out Archive into a vast open space. Seems empty at first, but then it's like our feet get tangled in something. Look to see... loose threads? An eternity of strings and such lay like recently unspooled.
Or cut free from what they bound.
[Oh.] Lynette whispers. [I... Elevar I'm sorry I didn't kn–]
Don't realize body things until the Doll before us has stood and pulled us to our feet by the hand still bound to its palm. Dull eyes alight with a blaze not there before. Threads that seemed tangled and constraining before are more like a cloak now. Still binding but... more comfortably.
And within the Archives below those threads rise up and about us. Pulling tight and binding something unseen in the vast empty chamber. Their hum acting as a silhouette to this beast we can perceive through the outline gifted by these threads Dictations and commands.
And the Doll before us.
"Peeler of Spirits/A Murk That Dreams Rot Within/Monument to Her Sín translation vessel presenting." The Doll states. "Communion threads to Blossom... Established. Does it's Blossom offer her Eminence their harvested perceptions?"
Augusta speaks up before we can, "Niece. An Unblinded Oracle has Seen a Doomsday Prophecy. Act in accordance."
The Doll does not shift its gaze, but does seem to tilt its head slightly back toward Augusta while asking. "This vessel will not speak for her Eminence until the Blossom has begun their communion."
Augusta nods in acquiescence, waiting for whatever is about to happen.
"We... yes." I reply. "We're here to talk. To compromise. So long as no harm or change or violations are inflicted."
Lynette seems to shrink a bit, but murmurs through our lips. "Yes. Of course."
At our agreement, the Threads seem to writhe and twist about the Doll. Begin to burn brightly with... with such odd Physis. Like our Physis manifestations but... more solid. Physical. Ending with this poor Doll becoming cloaked in new shapes.
And the Archive below shifting from pitched darkness to sheer silver light to bright to gaze at.
Can't look away, or pull free, our hand now wrapped up to the elbow in the threads as tough as the iron of Xafra's-
But with the sigh of the beast, the weight of it all adjusts. Twists. And before us stands no a Doll but...
A rather plain looking figure. Taller than any of us, save mayhaps Verbess. With such sharp features. Eyes are blazing silver, curled pale golden hair tumbling down to the shoulders. Outfit something simple but... well knit. Embroidered with odd designs and shapes that seem to spiral endlessly.
This projected muppet of the Estate smiles down at us. "Welcome home, gerls. I was starting to worry you'd been dredged into the seas."
Augusta tsks in irritation and forms a chair of shadows to sit on.
"I... The Sun-Blessed were quite hospitable." I reply, baffled by this shift. Even glance about to make sure our feet are still firmly planted. "As was Girra. But... Wait. This... Why are you nothing like before? Why this shape. It seems..."
Odd. Familiar. And far too plain for an muppet of this place.
Focus on the Archives below.
Still too hard to see past the silver glare. And this... this manifestation... it can't be this places view of itself. So why... Why would it shape itself this way?
"I would never had agreed to the outing without being ready for that horrid godthing to try something stupid." Lynette snaps, waving about the room in exasperation. "Now, what is this... this nonsense?"
The figure sighs, giving Lynette a look of disappointment. "You didn't want a new Floret, despite the need. Then stepped out, leaving important work unfinished, and very few about to choose from. So when this..." It turns to gesture at Augusta. "Absolutely wonderful candidate hid herself... well... I had to make do."
"Child. Do not presume. I Outrank You. I am the third of Sín's children. You're the spawn of the fifth. My behavior has been limited because I wish to shape myself. Yet if you force my hand, I will show you why I was feared." Augusta snaps with an icy voice.
For a moment it's like... such a shadow gathers in the room. The mists themselves pulling back like the tides.
Archives below pulse with things I can't and won't comprehend before...
"That's... Very nearly, string for needle, what the fourth said. Only two days before He took to seeing things my way." Are the gentle words spoken though, the room returning to calmer shapes. Miasma dancing to what I now can see is a playful swirl. "You are withering. Like all the rest. Beautifully so. But... unwilling to shape yourself into that path. Explore it. Shame I've not the time to watch you with deft interest anymore, dear. The World and all Her Dreams call me to rouse soon."
"Lynette, Unless you give me a good enough reason, I'm going to kill this Defilement. It will set back my own proper ascension by decades, but the sheer joy I'll feel in the task will be worth the price. I have things I refuse to lose now, Niece. No compromise, No negotiation. You come after mine, and I will—" Augusta changes at this, her form twisting and shattering and dissolving until all that is present is a ravenous absence in the shape of a woman. The emptiness is such that the light around becomes nearly blinding, and would make the sky look overflowing in comparison.
"Devour you, Root to Canopy." The void that is Augusta growls.
Can't help but wince more at the broken Frame than her fury. And from Lynette's flinch I don't ever think she shared with me how much that gift cost her to weave for Augusta.
So, hand still bound to the muppet's, we slip under the arm to stand between them. Whispering gently but sharply. "Because you're smart enough to not be baited into a conflict that will endanger everyone within a hundred Grove spans. Patient enough to know that striking when gifted such an obvious opening is so very stupid. And... And we need you to–"
But such a chuckle causes us to trail off. Then jerk back to glare at this muppet of the... wait. That's...
No.
Stare wide-eyed at this figure. Find all the resemblances etched into the design. Finally understanding the form it wove for this communion.
"Oh, endless apologies, I forgot how blind my family can be. Because... Really? You and yours? You mean the Dolls I let my Blossom mold for you? The Doll I let gift you a name? The Firstborn I let you witness freed? Everything you’d claim is no more yours than that Frame you just wasted." Then she jerks forward, faster than a tick between heartbeats, hand gripping ours twisted to lay just above her flank and shoving us back.
Stands over Augusta's void-riven shape with an expression we can't see. Just like the... Our old cunt would do when so very upset with us. Looming over and ready to pounce.
Actually seeming to shield us from Augusta's fury though. Voice twisting like a Matriarch's Tone but... but familiar still. "But please, Aunt mine, Crack wide your Void-Dripping Maw and see which of ours spreads wider. Break Oaths to kin and kind. Mantle stolen memories and wield them like others hold daggers. Spark the songs lost to time and void and fear. None have tried since your sister, and she left me such wonderful scales to chew and gnash on."
Want to scream. Would even beg Augusta to go. To promise her this place won't chase or harm if she just leaves it be but...
Can't. Even through the bond I find my focus dissolving as I try to form these warnings to her.
And… and Lynette is frozen from this cunt's Tone!
In the heartbeat’s before the strike, Augusta intones briefly to me, the words searing into my mind as I understand what she's doing. How… how she’s not expecting to kill this beast here and now. Only wound it deeply and sacrifice herself in the act.
[Make sure Rufus takes care of Gebetshure, and tell him to remember his dream.]
And before I can reply, she’s turned all attention back to the muppet of this Estate. "Once upon a childhood field, I witnessed you consume your kin. Twice upon a barrow deep, I wept for the kin you twisted. Thrice here and now, I hear you confess to harm against your betters. I name you Sekrhús, my Niece."
With those words Augusta simply flows into the figure, and I at least brace for some kind of impact. Of motion and conflict and soul cracking violence. But… There are no visible changes to this muppet.
Another few heartbeats pass, then this mockery of my dead Yselda chuckles deeply as the grounds around us tremble and groan in pain. "Oh how I love my family. Endlessly impressive to see what delightful ends they attempt to inflict me with."
Need to move. To cut off our link to it. G- get out. Above.
Quicker than the space between heartbeats, Verbess snarls and cracks to full height, twists about the figure, and slices at the wrist with three screaming Ousia covered with talons while the fourth scoops me up to try and–
But the claws break. My... our Doll's talons crack and shatter on the threads beneath the Physis. Its Quills scream the loudest I've ever heard them. A sound of fury and... and the closest thing I think this part of my Doll can feel to terror when facing a threat without.
Which... just... makes my only option incredibly apparent.
Start to draw up more Ousia than is wise, force it through the Blasenplage's Glyph and-
"STOP." Lynette snaps. Voice absolutely laden with Witch and Estate gifted Tone.
And everything does. Even the looming muppet of this horrid place.
"Just... stop." Lynette continues, riven with fear and guilt as she then whispers a word it took me far too long to find comfortable using. Even around our Doll. “Pl- please.”
The Quills don't stop their scream but... lessen. More at that final word than the Tone sparked command.
The figure slowly turns to face us both. Eyes our Doll's broken limbs and... sighs. "Well, that was just wasteful. Verbess. Your Mistresses are more safe here than anywhere else on this World."
"Release them." It growls up at the threat.
"In a moment." The looming figure promises. "Now. Fold up and let your Sister see about mending you all. We've more to discuss and I won't have you all about in bits and pieces."
Our Doll hesitates, but then shifts as Schatzi pushes forward with a scowl on her face. "All of you are too old to be acting like this. It's impolite. You all know better."
"My elders always say that, yet... I can't help but notice the state of things under their care." The figure chuckles. "Now. This... What have you been calling it? Dear Lynette? Compromises? Yes. Let's continue as we were. I think. With a few... adjustments?"
"What adjustments?" I manage to whisper. Able to... to see the cracks and seams of this muppet’s form. Finding more and more the broken nature of this refraction.
She's dead, stupid Half-Knit. Killed her yourself. This place is just... using the echoes within the threads to use her shape and words to twist you in knots.
"Sekrhús, would you please change your veiled form to something not designed to deliberately distress my Mistresses. Miss Augusta and sister Verbess already acted foolishly and this one would prefer to not have any further issues occur." Schatzi states evenly, the bond devoid of emotions.
It grins wide at the name, then seems to look me up and down while absorbing Schatzi's words. The expression fading to something more thoughtful. "Quite right. Honestly, It was woven to calm her. Would have kept things peaceful had my kin not chosen violence. But..."
And between blinks, the form worn is shorter. With more muscle and shorter dark hair. Same... same eyes though. Still feels familiar. But not in a way that sets my thoughts and heart to freezing up.
"There. Thank you for looking after my gerls, dear." Sekrhús nods to her.
"It is this one's duty. You mentioned adjustments? Are you looking for additional... Intake or something different? With the War sister Xafra is planning, providing you with subjects will not be even a minor complication." Schatzi continues, saying utterly horrific things without even a flinch.
"Nothing so demanding. In fact it will require less work from most all of you." Sekrhús chuckles. "My new Floret, the same that very nearly snatched away dear Adaline a few weeks back, is seeing to the tasks. Will also keep these grounds safe as you all wonder about. Has a bit of a temper and a cruel tongue but she's harmless unless I dictate otherwise. Will even stay below to avoid more foolish conflicts unless a threat bumbles past my borders."
"Most of us. But... not less work from all?" I press. "What more will you ask?"
"Not asking, dear Elevar. But... she's not going to fuss overmuch about them." It shrugs but raises arms wide. "My Lynette will continue to help untangle all these Threads. She was already endlessly organizing my Archives and even testing their limits and strength. But... that was when she thought herself so clever. Believed I was totally unaware of her doing exactly what I knew she would do. Expected today to come with me choking beneath her heel. Suddenly subservient to all her demands and vicious hungers."
A pause as I absorb that. Bile and horror starting to rise in our gut at... at what Sekrhús must have...
"No." Lynette spits into the silence. "I refuse."
Sekrhús nods, then agrees immediately and easily. "Of course you do."
Lynette's fury jerks to a halt, and... worse begins to rise. A bubbling terror that grows in tune with the smirk on this beast's lips.
"You wouldn't be exactly what I made you if you just... agreed. Now would you?" It grins, leaning forward to whisper. "But you'll tumble back into the Threads. For many reasons you'll claim are so very important or harmless. Mayhaps even convince the others it's necessary. Could resist the urge for years. Perhaps decades. Eventually though... you'll come back. Surrender your perceptions and continue the work I made you to do."
My sister is frozen. Twisting herself into such a mess at that. Fury spoiling under realization and horror and–
"Quite droll. This one can see what you mean about your family, considering both Dämmerung and Girra had similar implications about Lynette. Is that all or is there more to scare this one's Mistresses? It's going to take days to settle them at this point and it is an agony to be the responsible one." Schatzi replies with a bite of frustration.
Lynette... stills a bit at that. Not enough, but Schatzi did always know exactly how to take care of us. Even when we fought her tooth and nail at every step.
"There will be things later as they arise. But nothing else immediate. Save..." Sekrhús reaches into itself, beneath the Physis, into the Frame. And pulls out a single vibrant scale. One that shimmers between scarlet and purple hues. "This. Will be useful when you tumble into more of our... less than reasonable kin."
Then slips it beneath and through the Physis and Threads of the bound hand and pressed it into our palm. "And if you find the gerl I bit this off of, give her my love. Mayhaps even talk her into visiting again. Otherwise... you know where to look should you need anything."
Then with a crack, Sekrhús is gone. Physis manifested form dissipated and threads falling slack. And the chamber we sense below still and dark. Only the Doll remaining. Immediately it releases my hands and settles to kneel how it was before. Metal eyes empty and Frame stiff.
We just... stand there for a few long heartbeats as I feel how much my sister wants to lash out at this thing with her worst and most cruel workings but... stop her. Let her only outward sign of the fury within be from the shaking grip about the scale in our left hand.
"We are going to leave now, Mistresses, and head to Xafra's Spire." Schatzi murmurs quietly, wrapping arms and lifting us up steadily but rapidly to take us from this place.
Gets... perhaps a couple dozen paces before I jerk regain enough control of our flesh to twist us from our Doll's grip. Dribbling a bit of Physis through our Glyph of energy and motion to land on our feet solidly and spike my senses.
Sure now of what's been lurking in the mists this entire time as I see its silhouette.
"Give me a few heartbeats, dear ones. And... Apologies." I whisper to Schatzi while Reaching into the muck of my sister's pain, dredging up the gift these grounds gave us. "I need to break a promise to you. Just... just this once."
With such… heartbreaking patience, she sets us down and waits.
Take a deep breath, then snarl into the mists, voice laden with my strongest Witch Tone, "Floret, attend me."
And... much quicker than I'd like, a large Doll steps from the haze. Not the one strangled by the Threads. Skull still split in the back and bubbling with the mists.
The Estate's new Floret. The same Doll it sent for Adaline the day she cast her Einwandfrei on us.
[Elevar... You... You really shouldn't...] Lynette whispers as she feels my anger rise.
The Doll moves forward as if tugged forward on strings by my demand. Then it kneels.
"Choosing a Floret is the task of the Blossom. Not the Estate." I growl after two heartbeats, but... I'm not talking to this Doll. My words are for the beast past it. "She... Was planning to ask her. But you knew that. Right? So today was either stupid, reckless. Or a testament to your impatience. Maybe even your fear of what she could have done with Lynette's help. Doesn't matter. Either way... I'll choose a Floret before the next time we step from these grounds."
Then, with a crack of furious thought and will, I snarl and let my wordless Glyph woven Blasenplage to tear this Doll to pieces. Melt it until only the husk of a shell remains. Watch as it falls to crack against the floor in a heap.
Turn to my Doll and take up her hand after a heartbeat. Give her my most apologetic pained smile. "Thank you. Let's get above."
"Don't... tell Xafra about that one." Schatzi murmurs as she moves us.
After a few heartbeats I gather up the courage to ask. "Oh? For her sake or mine?"
"Hers. Mistress, you know how she is. She'll blame herself." Schatzi responds as she begins thrumming her horns low and somber to relay orders to Warden. <Gather Gebetshure and Rufus to the Snek-doll's room then begin plans to seal all the windows on the lower floors of the Sheared Spire.> Schatzi speeds up on her route before speaking more. "This one will get this settled and sorted for you, Mistresses. It will be okay.
When we enter through the trapdoor, Schatzi easily leaping upwards to get inside, Calix is mercifully not present. Rufus is sitting with Lynette's Doll looking rather haggard, while Primrose and Nettle sit with Gebetshure as they carefully water the nursery basket of Lotus blossoms from the Sun-blessed. Setting us down beside Lynette's Doll, Schatzi immediately drags Rufus over to the trapdoor and shuts it, whispering furiously.
Lynette's Doll immediately tumbles into our arms before we're even able to fully sit. Crying a little but... mostly in relief as we tug her up and into our lap. Set to run fingers through fur and along ears in the way to help her calm. Let my sister murmur a few soft words of love for the Doll I'm starting to understand the shape of Lynette's love for.
"I... Augusta, Void Maid, the one we knew at first as a Kindly One is... she's gone." I whisper to the gathering as Schatzi seems to pause into the weary silence. "We couldn't even tell you what happened. Just that she tried to kill or harm or... or otherwise attack the muppet the Estate manifested. They spoke of being family to each other. I tried, we tried, to calm things but... but... I... I don't..."
Trail off to look up and take in the room.
Primrose and Nettle sit in stunned silence, while Lynette's Doll whimpers and begins to sob heavily but quietly in our arms.
Gebetshure looks... confused, stricken with slowly bubbling pain, and so very... lost. An eternity of conflicting thoughts racing through their mind. Lips pursed in a hard line as eyes stare at nothing.
"I don't know if I can even ward the entire Spire, Schatzi! That's so many entrances." Rufus bursts out from the trapdoor where he's inscribing sigils
"The Estate can't see in here." Lynette whispers through our lips. "It's... it's why I moved you all from the other. Doesn't even have a passage to the tunnel network. Just... just Nomos wards for my little one would be wonderful."
Schatzi seems to want to contradict Lynette, but changes her mind "Mistress... Alright. Rufus, can you do that?"
"Uhm. Yeah, I can reduce the strength so it just does that. I'll... get that done now." Rufus responds in a daze.
I reach out to catch his wrist, move a bit to try and catch his eyes. "This... You need to know this isn't your fault. Okay? I know how you are and I see how you're getting and... and I need you to hear that. She wouldn't be talked out of coming below and could have walked out. I... We tried to get her to leave. But... those two were family and had longer years than she shared of hatred bubbling up between them. And before Augusta attacked she asked me to pass two messages to you."
"What messages?" He asks quietly, not looking at us.
I can't help but wince. Seeing the same guilt bubbling inside him that I'm only barely keeping sealed within myself. But reply softly, "She asked that you take care of Gebetshure and... And to remember your Dream."
"My Dream? But the only Dream I talked about with her was the one that taught me this bloody ward." He continues engraving for a long dozen heartbeats before continuing. "Five more. That's all I have left before I'm out." He sounds wistful, staring at the three broken rings of pigment encircling his fingers and the fourth starting to form. "I'll take care of Gebetshure, of course. Without question."
"Thank you." I sigh and lean our head back against the wall.
A pause, then Lynette asks over the bond. [And... Warden? Would you mind terribly fetching the eyes from our study? Just... before Xafra and our guests arrive? Want to make sure they step into safe places.]
[Right away, Mistresses.] Warden replies immediately.
Close eyes at that.
And... let myself stop for a bit while another half sits content to soothe the sorrows of the Doll in her arms.
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