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deathsmajestyLiliana had been mute for the better part of a week now and she was not enjoying the experience. She wouldn't be even if she didn't have an important conversation in the offing; Liliana silenced, not the other way around. But having to continue to push back that conversation was maddening and she felt her resolve to actually have that conversation drop little by little every day.
Which, she assumed, was the point of it.
But just as Liliana didn't enjoy being mute, she also didn't enjoy being manipulated. Again, that was a thing she did, not a thing done to her. So that evening, while ensconced in her beloved bathtub, she decided that the only way to resolve this particular issue was aggressive confrontation. Fortunately, she excelled at that.
Listen to me, you pack of disembodied blowhards, she thought at the hubbub of whispers that were never silent in her head anymore, I have had enough. It's bad enough that you lot are in my head, but I absolutely refuse to allow you to affect the rest of me. Let me speak or I will drop the Chain Veil down a well and you can mutter to yourselves for the rest of eternity.
And then Liliana heard a sound that chilled her, causing her to break into goosebumps, even though the water around her was hot enough to redden skin. The voices of the Onakke spirits trapped in the Veil were laughing at her.
*Vessel of destruction...* all the voices whispered that, but it sounded like one voice was more prominent than the others, *...it is not our doing that binds your tongue. For the key to that riddle, Vessel, look to your greatest enemy.*
The voices in the Chain Veil had never spoken to her directly before. She was subject to their ceaseless yammering, of course, but that was more like being trapped in a room with a group of people carrying on a conversation about her, not with her. Occasionally they would be cowed into silence when she was particularly provoked, but that was the extent of their interaction.
Had it been the threat? The fact that she had spoken to them first and not simply to command they shut up? Something else?
Who are you? she demanded. How do you know that?
Only the usual whispers answered her, their nonsense words bouncing around her skull. *...nourished at the root...the harbinger...*
Ugh. Fine. That was another knot for her to untangle another day. Far more pressing was the possibility that this was the work of an enemy. Shocking no one, Liliana didn't lack for enemies. She made them far more easily than friends. So which enemy? Nichol Bolas? Tezzeret? Baltrice? Sorin Markov? Avacyn? Had Jace shown his true colors at last?
But no. Because the voice hadn't said an enemy, but her greatest one. And that left only--
Raven Man
Now aware of her quarry, Liliana ruthlessly examined herself, searching for the magic that was affecting her. It was a long hunt, because she was full of restless seething mana, but Liliana could be quite patient and focused when she chose to be.
And she found it. A thin thread of mana around her throat, so tiny she might have missed it entirely had she not been searching. With a silent snarl, she verified that it wasn't connected to any greater magics and then tore it apart.
Immediately she began coughing again, great wracking spasms that started off quiet and then crescendoed into loud barks that echoed through the bathing chamber. And at the end of the fit, she coughed something up from deep in her chest.
A small, glossy black feather, that floated on the surface of the water for a heartbeat or two before dissolving into nothingness.
[For the paramour, please, and a conversation long-delayed.]
Which, she assumed, was the point of it.
But just as Liliana didn't enjoy being mute, she also didn't enjoy being manipulated. Again, that was a thing she did, not a thing done to her. So that evening, while ensconced in her beloved bathtub, she decided that the only way to resolve this particular issue was aggressive confrontation. Fortunately, she excelled at that.
Listen to me, you pack of disembodied blowhards, she thought at the hubbub of whispers that were never silent in her head anymore, I have had enough. It's bad enough that you lot are in my head, but I absolutely refuse to allow you to affect the rest of me. Let me speak or I will drop the Chain Veil down a well and you can mutter to yourselves for the rest of eternity.
And then Liliana heard a sound that chilled her, causing her to break into goosebumps, even though the water around her was hot enough to redden skin. The voices of the Onakke spirits trapped in the Veil were laughing at her.
*Vessel of destruction...* all the voices whispered that, but it sounded like one voice was more prominent than the others, *...it is not our doing that binds your tongue. For the key to that riddle, Vessel, look to your greatest enemy.*
The voices in the Chain Veil had never spoken to her directly before. She was subject to their ceaseless yammering, of course, but that was more like being trapped in a room with a group of people carrying on a conversation about her, not with her. Occasionally they would be cowed into silence when she was particularly provoked, but that was the extent of their interaction.
Had it been the threat? The fact that she had spoken to them first and not simply to command they shut up? Something else?
Who are you? she demanded. How do you know that?
Only the usual whispers answered her, their nonsense words bouncing around her skull. *...nourished at the root...the harbinger...*
Ugh. Fine. That was another knot for her to untangle another day. Far more pressing was the possibility that this was the work of an enemy. Shocking no one, Liliana didn't lack for enemies. She made them far more easily than friends. So which enemy? Nichol Bolas? Tezzeret? Baltrice? Sorin Markov? Avacyn? Had Jace shown his true colors at last?
But no. Because the voice hadn't said an enemy, but her greatest one. And that left only--
Raven Man
Now aware of her quarry, Liliana ruthlessly examined herself, searching for the magic that was affecting her. It was a long hunt, because she was full of restless seething mana, but Liliana could be quite patient and focused when she chose to be.
And she found it. A thin thread of mana around her throat, so tiny she might have missed it entirely had she not been searching. With a silent snarl, she verified that it wasn't connected to any greater magics and then tore it apart.
Immediately she began coughing again, great wracking spasms that started off quiet and then crescendoed into loud barks that echoed through the bathing chamber. And at the end of the fit, she coughed something up from deep in her chest.
A small, glossy black feather, that floated on the surface of the water for a heartbeat or two before dissolving into nothingness.
[For the paramour, please, and a conversation long-delayed.]
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 10:53 am (UTC)He knocked (perhaps somewhat absurdly) lightly before opening the door. "Liliana?" he asked, taking a moment to immediate try to sense anything deeply amiss "Are you alright?"
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 10:58 am (UTC)"Yes."
It worked! It had really worked!
"Hello, Ignis."
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 11:13 am (UTC)"Hello, Liliana," he said back, but his hand was already lifting. "Don't," he added, "say anything else until you've had the steward bring you up some tea or hot water with honey and lemon. No point in straining when we could be soothing first."
By then, he'd made it to the tub, easily, and with a careful guiding hand on the side of it, lowered himself enough to aim a kiss for her forehead.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 11:26 am (UTC)But she was not going to settle for just a kiss to her forehead. If she had to wait, she was at least going to use her mouth for something interesting. Rising up from the water like a mermaid from her ocean, she caught his mouth and kissed him, deep and slow.
She was tempted to try to lure him into the bathtub with her, but that seemed like it would lower their odds of actually talking and that seemed like a poor idea.
Though the longer the kiss went, the better an idea it seemed.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 11:40 am (UTC)He handed Liliana the steaming mug and settled back down beside the tub, pushing up his sleeve and letting an arm drape against the side, to almost idly dip his fingertips into the surface of the water while she drank.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 12:01 pm (UTC)Unspeakably rude to necromancers and yes that had been deliberate.
With a nearly inaudible sigh, Liliana drank her tea, rich with honey, allowing it to soothe her throat which was, she admitted at least to herself, somewhat raw from all that coughing.
And once her cup was empty and set aside, she said, far more normally, "I don't suppose I can convince you to continue on as we were, my darling, hmm?" Though he was saved from that agonizing choice by Liliana pulling the plug to start letting the water out and then rising to her feet to step out.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 12:20 pm (UTC)It wasn't his initial intention. His initial intention was to help her out of the bathtub and then bring to her her robe, but once she spoke, there could be no other response.
"Oh, how I have missed your voice," he murmured, as his other arm joined the first in holding her close, not caring for the dampness of his clothes, only caring to kiss her again. "You could convince me of almost anything, my dear, if it meant getting to hear more."
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 12:40 pm (UTC)Alas, even as those ideas blossomed into such tempting fruit, Liliana knew they were lies. There was no amount of convincing that would make Ignis stop being concerned by something that endangered her and even before her discovery, she'd known the Chain Veil qualified. All she'd be doing was kicking this conversation further down the line and making it all the more fraught by doing so.
And there was that minor detail about wanting to be more honest and open with him because of emotions or whatever, but she was ignoring that.
"I'm sorry for how isolated you must have felt these past few days," she murmured, the apology falling from her lips with ease - helped along, no doubt, by the fact that it was expressing sympathy, not culpability. "I can only imagine how far away I felt, even when tucked against you." Her water-warmed hand traced over his face. "I would like nothing more than to use my voice to seduce you further, but I'm afraid I'll have to use it for unpleasant truths instead." She bit his lip, sulkily. "Your fault. I was perfectly happy to be irresponsible until you showed up."
And then kissed him again to show that she couldn't resent the loss of irresponsibility when she'd gotten him instead.
no subject
Date: 2024-05-09 01:07 pm (UTC)The tightness in his chest matched the tight grip he had on her rather well, didn't it? And he wasn't one prone to delaying things, usually, but he kissed Liliana again to do just that.
"Well," he said, after a moment when he was done, "I certainly hope you're not looking for an apology for it, because you won't find one."
With a great deal of reluctance, he pulled himself away, except for one hand, which drifted down her arm and tethered itself to hers while he went to reach for her robe, to bring it over and help her into it.
"Shall we go lie down?"
NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 01:50 pm (UTC)"So, I finally finished reading the poem," she said quietly. "A very long story short, I - we need to go back to Shandalar. See what else we can find. Because the Chain Veil...it's a prison. A soul prison. And caught inside of it are a million souls. Which explains why Kothophed Soul-Collector wanted it so bad. Or, hmm, perhaps prison isn't exactly the correct translation? A soul...house?"
For a long moment, she was tempted to leave it there, perhaps chasing down the best possible translation for what it was. It would be so easy...
Ugh. "Unfortunately, the Veil isn't just a...container for the trapped souls. Its secondary function is to turn the bearer into a vessel for the Onakke's resurrection. However, that requires a tremendous amount of power, far more power than most people are able to handle at a single time. Which is why it kills most of the people who try to use it, I think. They're just not strong enough to handle it. Which explains what happens to me when I use it, why I bleed."
She was able to preen about how powerful that must make her in front of Jace. She couldn't do the same in front of Ignis.
"Oh, and they've taken to whispering in my head. Very intrusive, quite obnoxious. Though, comparatively, a rather minor side effect."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 04:12 pm (UTC)...well, nothing about this could be called encouraging, but it was...something.
"Mm."
So much infused into such a short, small hum, pulled up from somewhere in Ignis' chest more than from anywhere else; a keen eye would observe the minute way in which his frown deepened, but anyone could now notice his hand had stopped moving, where it instead rested on Liliana's arm and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze, albeit probably far more for himself than for her...
And he knew that what he wanted to say next was probably the worst thing he could say, which left him to just have to trust that Liliana would not be so foolish--
(Would not continue to be so foolish....)
--as to keep using it until they did find out more.
(Was it the magnitude of that level of trust that caused it to hurt as badly as it did? Or just his utter lack of confidence in that trust, ultimately, that did it?)
"Comparatively," he agreed, dismissing another thought that filtered through his head, words that he could have said instead, that would have been used to just appease her, no doubt, but he didn't feel inclined in that direction right now, either, "yes."
And, with so many thoughts and things to say, but none of them seemed to fit quite right, he just...let himself sigh, for a moment, before focusing on that which could, perhaps, be at least productive.
"So," he said, with a careful and measured paused, that seemed to match the careful and measured words themselves, "when do we leave, then?"
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 04:18 pm (UTC)"Whenever we wish, though I would prefer it to not be tonight," Liliana said softly. "We would also have to see if Portalocity is able to connect to it. Shandalar is a moving plane, which is why it took me so long to find it before, on Kothophed's orders. I don't know how Portalocity works."
She sighed and silently ordered more tea for her and coffee for Ignis.
"Would you like to hear the rest?" she asked softly. "Or is this enough for one night?"
Ahahahaha like the master strategist would rather have less information, ahahahaha. Lili was so funny.
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 04:28 pm (UTC)There was no hesitation in Ignis' response this time.
"All of it," he said, while steeling himself for whatever else more there even could be. "Everything you've managed to gather so far, please. The more I know, the better prepared I am to be able to help, Liliana, when we go to find out more....soon."
Which was, yes, to agree that tonight was not the time, and perhaps there was a hint that he might be persuaded to not simply make it a priority first thing tomorrow morning, even, though it would have to be very convincing.
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 04:46 pm (UTC)"In addition to everything else, the Chain Veil is also cursed. Or, well, I believe what happens is a curse? The poem doesn't provide enough context for that. But for those users that the Chain Veil doesn't kill outright, it curses them to turn into a demon. That was what happened to he-who-once-was-a-man, Ob Nixilis. One of the youths from the village found the Chain Veil and put it on in an attempt to fight back against Ob. He died immediately, screaming, and Ob took it. He also put it on, but didn't die - instead, he immediately flung the Veil from his face, turned into a demon, and left the plane. I think it's quite clear that I haven't become a demon, however. There are several possible reasons why, including my demonic contracts protecting their investment and my skill with necromancy diverting a necromantic curse, but I think the most likely explanation is Garruk Wildspeaker."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 04:59 pm (UTC)....actually, on second thought, what were Portalocity's hours? People needed portals at all sorts of time, surely there'd be someone he could talk to tonight after all...
But that was only a fleeting thought, as Ignis, breath inhaled and held to calm himself, only to have to repeat the process a few words after he'd finally exhaled, one worrisome, dreadful detail after the other, and it was a good thing he'd steeled himself for the barrage, wasn't it? Steeled himself and carefully considered various angles, no matter how singularly he might wish to regard the whole matter, before responding.
"That whatever transpired with him," Ignis hedged, still rather hazy on the details there, but it didn't feel like too great a leap of speculation, "is likely causing him to take the brunt of that curse, perhaps?"
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 05:18 pm (UTC)From the doorway, her steward cleared his throat. He was holding a tray with a small pot of tea and a carafe of coffee on it, but that wasn't the reason for his throat clearing. He was looking directly at Liliana, who was looking confusedly back at him.
"What?" she asked.
"It also affects you, Mistress," he said softly.
"Well, yes, the nightmares and the whispering, I went over that--"
He shook his head. "You were gone for months, Mistress."
Liliana paled as much as her milk-white complexion would allow her to. "Oh," she said softly. "Yes. There was that, I suppose. I don't remember it much..."
The steward turned to Ignis. "My Mistress began sleepwalking in the night," he said quietly. "Getting up, putting the Chain Veil on, speaking to people who were not there. One night, she donned it and Planeswalked away. She did not return for nearly six months. Not until September, I believe."
I was unexpectedly called away, she'd said, the night they'd met and he'd heard her stomach rumble, And I simply haven't had a chance to obtain anything new...
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 05:37 pm (UTC)(And even if she had, that small bit of levity keeping him aloft at the moment helpfully supplied, he doubted it would have been anything near as substantial as she'd need...)
His deep frown was back, and as he senses a new...shift in Liliana at the delivery of this information, he wrapped his arms around her a little tighter. "Do you remember enough to recall where you'd gone to?" he asked. "If Shandalar proves to be not as helpful as we might hope, perhaps it might not hurt to turn our attentions there next..."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 05:44 pm (UTC)"Yes," she said. "Vaguely, like remembering a dream. But I...would prefer that we leave that unless we have no other choice."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 05:51 pm (UTC)And, with a small intake of his own, Ignis nodded. Let it out in one of those soft, ponderous hums.
"Mm. And if all signs point to Shandalar, then hopefully there'll be no need."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 05:56 pm (UTC)He could likely feel her regard on him, but she seemed to be weighing something. Waiting for something?
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 06:14 pm (UTC)And, of course, he'd smelled the coffee as well, and he'd tend to his own cup after handing Liliana her cup, leaning in to deliver it with a soft gentle kiss.
Because, of course, he'd also sensed that expectant energy from her as well. And, with the concern for not getting it right tightening the muscles in his shoulders, he figured it would be best to just focus on what he did know.
Even the part of him that wanted to object to having coffee at this hour was quieted by the reminder that he might need it, should it turn into a long night of frustratingly dealing with portalocity gnomes.
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 06:29 pm (UTC)She was tempted to bring up the Raven Man, at least in conjunction with her muteness, but then she would have to explain who he was and their long...association, and likely even his connection with Josu's death and she just...couldn't. Not tonight. And she wasn't sure how much more Ignis was prepared to handle tonight.
Not that he wouldn't try, of course. But she had too much that was precious to her and she feared it breaking under so much pressure.
Like the Raven Man.
Like Tavelia.
"Zib for your thoughts?"
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 06:54 pm (UTC)Right now, I will be sated with the aroma of coffee, that I may at least distinguish myself from a sheep and live one more day, or die, with the aroma of coffee all around me.
And after a slow, careful sip, he shifted the mug to one hand so that he could shift again, opening up his side with the perfect amount of space for Liliana to fit into, if she so chose, and let out a soft huff of a sound at her inquiry.
"Oh," he said, "no. You'll need at least a zino for those, 'Iana."
But, contrary to this claim, he sipped his coffee again and continued.
"But," he said, "I'm...worried. Well, obviously, when aren't I worried, and there is certainly quite a lot to be worried about here. I am....however...grateful, that you've told me, and hopeful, that we have a source and a direction, to find out more. I'd...." He filled his hesitation with an another sip. "....like you to be more cautious, though. Until we have more information."
He'd rather like her to continue being cautious well after that, as well, but bargaining was oftentimes just choosing your battles and knowing where to gain what small victories you can.
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 07:05 pm (UTC)She did sigh. "If it's any consolation, I truly doubt that either fighting one of my demons or breaking down the walls of heaven are going to come up much. But. Yes. I can agree that it would be best if I...take care."
Another pause. And then, very very softly, "I may just return it to where I found it, honestly. It seems a great deal fuss altogether."
Even that softness didn't hide the anguish in her tone and it wasn't just from the clamor the Chain Veil kicked up in her brain about it. The wince for that was, however, and the hand she lifted to her temple.
"I will not trade four masters for a million."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 07:21 pm (UTC)But he quieted again as he took another sip of his coffee with one hand, pulled Liliana closer with his other.
"But, yes," he said, with an inhale of breath to make his words that much more resolute, "leave it, abandon it, destroy it. Whatever it takes..."
Another unspoken option filtered through his head, but he deemed it as wholly unworthy of consideration at this time.
"...we'll rid you of its influence. And the longer you have it, the tighter its grip will likely become..."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 07:28 pm (UTC)"That still leaves me owned by two others," she pointed out, still quiet, still anguished. "And no way to defeat them."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 07:45 pm (UTC)To that thought, however, Ignis did actually click his tongue in a faint, chiding sort of tsk.
"Now, that isn't true at all," he said. "We just having figured out the best strategy yet. We have, admittedly, been a bit....distracted, as well. But when the time is right, and we regain our focus, and the way forward is set before us, we'll take that path with determination and settle those debts, once and for all. Just as we did with Griselbrand."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 07:52 pm (UTC)This was only a setback, obviously. Liliana excelled at getting her own way more than anything else. But right now, it was incredibly difficult seeing how
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 08:05 pm (UTC)To the point where, yes, he sighed almost with resignation with his next swallow of coffee. "And if that means," he said, very carefully, and with a sudden dull pain gathering behind his eyes that he wasn't entirely sure wasn't just psychosomatic, "that the Chain Veil truly is our best tool...then so be it. But not until we've learned everything we possibly can about it, up to and including a sort of...failsafe. To know where the point of no return may be so that we do not cross it."
Or, the little throb behind his eyes seemed to be saying to him, or....or...
He winced a little, shaking his head slightly before continuing. "And not," he added, "until we've exhausted all other possible options.
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 08:19 pm (UTC)A moment later, a cool hand was on his brow, a thumb rubbing his temple. "Do you think we'll get much more out of this?" she asked. "Is there more you think we can discern from what we have?"
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 08:32 pm (UTC)Ignis ducked his head into that cool touch, with a sigh of gratitude for it. Not that it really seemed to be doing much for the sudden strain there, but it was doing enough.
"We can't possibly know," he said, "until we try. Perhaps this truly is all there is out there to glean about the Chain Veil, but we'll at least know that much for sure. And who know what other doors we might open in our search? There's got to be something out there, 'Iana; it's just a matter of finding it. And if not..."
He shifted a moment again, pulling and turning away so he could set down his mug, and then reached for Liliana's hand to wrap with his own. "We'll just have to do the best we can with what's available to us."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 08:49 pm (UTC)She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his temple, her hand falling to his face a moment. "I meant tonight," she said. "Whether you wished to generate a list of further questions, or have me read relevant passages, or..." She trailed off and he felt a finger under his chin, lifting it slightly up. "You have spoken about a lot of things," she murmured. "But not of emotions, at least beyond worry."
And that was so omnipresent it barely counted.
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 09:13 pm (UTC)Which he knew, as he said it, was just more pragmatism, but what did she expect? Laying out a plan, a course of action, made sense to him. Emotions, on the other hand...
A hand drifted up to Liliana's hair, brushing it back as his fingertips trailed along her cheek. No. That wasn't right. The emotions made sense as well, he just didn't have the tools to manage those as well as he could facts and details and plans...
"I think," he said, "that's enough. For tonight. In the morning, I'll go speak with the gnomes about the viability of a portal to Shandalar, but if you're to read anything, I want it to be something where I can just enjoy the sound of you, without having to also think of the Chain veil or daemons or pacts or whatever else. I just want you."
Re: NFB from here, please!
Date: 2024-05-09 09:47 pm (UTC)Liliana was never going to be entirely comfortable with opening herself up this way and just sharing, but every time she did and it didn't go horribly wrong, it made the next time just a tiny bit easier.
Since his face was already tilted towards her anyway, she leaned in and kissed him. It wasn't the immediate fire of their kiss in her bathing chamber, it was more of a banked heat, a slight blowing on coals that were never allowed to go cold to check that they still flared.
"I can read to you, my 'Nys," she said. "I have begun reading Spenser's The Fairie Queene. It may surprise you, but I also have thoughts about faeries. I am the Left Hand of Oona, after all."