ximilia | audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

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audio; un: Sabriel.Abhorsen

[Sabriel's voice is strained and sad as she speaks. and occasionally she pauses, before continuing.]

I'm going to keep this brief.

Minimus and I have found Princess Xoria. But the queen- Xoria wished she'd disappear when they had an argument that night, without understanding what the orb was or what it would do. And the orb is either unable or unwilling to bring her back- believe me, Xoria's certainly tried phrasing her wish every way she can think of.

We'll be returning to the station shortly. I don't think we can do much good by sticking around.

Private to Yzak

If you're still set on your path, here are my coordinates. I'm not going to touch the orb, so once you make your bargain... we'll be sent back to the station.

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It's...accepting a change of hands? Because of...? [of a kneejerk, poorly worded wish?]

Her bargain with the orb is concluded, and the princess agreed to hand it over.

But apparently intent is not a factor in how the orb operates.

Unable or unwilling to undo what was done... [no takebacks? or...]

Only...one deal per being, perhaps?

[perhaps it can't be known.]

What does she mean to do now? The princess. If she has spoken to it to you.

Perhaps. Or the permanence was the price.

[With Remi's spell sealing the orb, it's not like it can tell them.]

She will return to the city, to reunite with her father and grandmother. And hopefully, try to heal from what's happened.

The utter...callousness of these entities. Their morality is truly nothing like our own, if morality is in play at all.

Perhaps...they operate more as pure machines do, bound by their own logic to interpret as they do.

You can't expect something that isn't a person to think like one.

There are... creatures in my world. Free Magic spirits, that seek to act only of their own will, which is often arbitrary and cruel. And like the orbs, they are creatures of chaos.

Chaos, indeed.

[and anything more he has to say on it is worthless speculation. he knows.

so instead:] No others were harmed, yes?

No. And the princess herself- I don't know what price the orb extracted, but she seems unharmed.

To be so lucky in the singular casualty... [is that really luck? maybe, considering their past cases.]

Are you telling me Minimus rules lawyered the orb to just come back with us? [ He assumes, because it's Minimus ]

Well, more that he convinced the princess to hand it over. But after what it did, she's glad to be rid of it.

As tragic as the circumstances are, there was a reason he was our neutral enforcer for so many years.

Nothing we can do for Xoria, then? If he hadn't figured out a way, I suppose it's all gone to pot for these people.

They're in a better position than many places we've been to- they're safe and prosperous, with no nearby enemies.

But- no. All we can do is offer comfort, until we leave.

A succession crisis and a princess whose potentially lost the faith of her people with an innocent mistake.

You're not wrong, but you're not right either. Only time will tell and I'll be glad we'll be long gone.

We know the orbs seek chaos. But her grandmother and father will support her, and- to be honest, give the little this world knows of magic, I don't think what happened will be truly known unless the royal family chooses to share it.

[But still- this is a loss, and they will not be around to see the full extent of what damage has been wrought.]

I almost want to say they don't seek chaos. They just want to bask in the crater of the destruction they leave behind. Grief tourists of their own making.

[ Drift can't pretend he cares much about a monarchy, but this was a tragedy solely because of a child's blunder she'll carry for the rest of her life. ]

Especially when they land in the hands of someone who doesn't understand what they are.

[Because so far, the two most tragic bargainers they've encountered were people unfamiliar with the supernatural, who hadn't even realized they were walking into a bargain.]

It hasn't been the norm, but we should definitely be on the lookout for anyone who seems the most vulnerable. A loaded word, but the orbs just revel in twisting good intentions.

Edited 2022-09-15 02:27 (UTC)

Yes. There have been cases where the orbs have been used for good- like Remi, So-Yeon, and Entr'i... but also cases where they've done nothing but cause pain.

Oh shit, the queen's dead?

I don't know what the orb did, but she's beyond anyone's power to recover.

Damn, that's --

[ crazy? sad? he isn't sure. ]

Awful.

We're just going to leave things like this? If the Princess can't do it, what if someone else can?

Either the price for the wish was that it could not be undone, or the orb was unwilling to do so.

And even if someone else could undo it- what price will the orb demand? If the Queen Mother makes the wish, will we see a repeat of Gyeonje? Or is one of our number willing to make that sacrifice?

[ One of their number... There's a few seconds of silence. ]

The body. Is that gone, too? All of her vanished?

Yes- when Xoria made the wish- it didn't kill the queen, she vanished. To be honest, it's possible that the orb simply teleported her far away.

[But given how cruel some orbs can be, Sabriel doubts this... and giving false hope would be wrong.]

Shit. How's the princess doing?

She's unharmed physically, beyond the exhaustion, but-

She lost her mother, and she blames herself.

I wouldn't expect there's any way for that to go well, no.

You don't think she'll do anything else rash?

She has no desire to make a bargain with the orb. Right now, she just wants to get back to her remaining family.

[Famly who will be able to help her a lot more than any of the orbers can, probably.]

Roger that.

Thanks for the update. Sorry you two had to be the ones to deliver it.

So that assumption was correct, about the wish she made.

[ There's a sigh, almost tired sounding. Emphatic for sure. ]

There are times where my mother can frustrate me to no end. Whether it's the fact that she doesn't seem as keen on getting over herself or the choices - wrong choices - she made during the first war, or hounding me about my personal life. But I'd never want to actually do something like that to her, even if those heated, in-the-moment feelings can come out unintended.

She ... probably hates herself a lot, right now.

Knowing what I know of mothers, Xephia, if she's even in a place where she knows what happened, probably wouldn't want her daughter to have to suffer or give something up for her sake. Because a parent seeing their child in pain like that is unbearable.

...

But the Queen Mother is still part of this picture, too. As is the King. Far be it from me to stop a mother from wanting to help her child if she can. Or a husband his wife. Once they realize what's happened and what's going on here...

[ Well. He stops speaking there. Sabriel knows what he's getting at. ]

None of us want to stay here longer than necessary. Not like last time.

However, I'll follow your coordinates to the location given. And I'll remain on standby until everything is in order. [ "Order" being getting the Princess out of here, speaking to the King and the Queen Mother, informing them what the team decides to inform them of, and whatever may blossom from that. ] And when we're ready to return ... we will.

I know. No parent wants their child to suffer for their sake. Xoria won't be alone, but... even if she's in pain, there's not much we can do. All we can do is try to let her know it's all right, before we leave.

That's why whatever the Queen Mother decides in the end ... I won't argue it. [ If she wants to try to save her own daughter, or if she simply accepts this and does her best to support her granddaughter. It's not like Yzak is in a position to judge right now. ]

Our presence here did not interfere with what's happened - they had these issues before our arrival so this would have happened even if we hadn't come. I'm not sure if that'll be any bit of a solace to the rest of the team, though.

Yes. Will you explain to her, before you depart?

Doing nothing does not suit many of our number. But in this case... I don't know how much we can do, if the orb isn't willing to bargain. It can't communicate with Remi's binding on it, but I don't want to remove that spell.

Of course I will.

Anything you require of me in the coming hours, I'll do. I owe it to you, after all. [ She's doing - she's done so much for him. Sabriel is one of the people he feels he can put a greater amount of trust in because she does the same in turn for him. ]

Maybe this is too obvious, but there isn't any chance the disappearance is just visual, or involving other senses, is there? Does anyone have a way to test if she's present in any way at all?

If she's invisible, then she's also unable to affect the world in any way- there was no trace of her anywhere in the palace.

I believe she is gone. Either teleported somewhere far away, or simply erased from existence, but- in either case, the orb will not bring her back.

Mm.

If she's gone, truly erased, then it wasn't complete. We still remember she existed, and so will her family and this world's people. The things she did in life still have effects.

And perhaps this tells us a little more about the limits of the orbs' power.

Right- individual orbs can't completely rewrite reality. But the orb made whole is supposed to be far more powerful.

Given the deals we've all made, yes.

Which is just the sort of thing to keep a person up at night, isn't it?

Well. Let's hope Degar can keep it contained.

...somehow, this feels worse than the last time.

This feels like Badrock. Someone's made an awful deal, but there's no way to reverse it.

This gig really likes to throw us into no-win scenarios, huh?

Perhaps we shouldn't think of it in terms of winning.

What else is there to think about? Just... I don't know... harm reduction?

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