Hard questions, harder answers

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 10:36 pm

The field was nondescript. The cairn stones around her weren't as magnificent as those at stonehenge, but then again, this secret glade hadn't been sullied by tourism over the years, and she could expect a modicum of privacy.

Victoria stood skyclad, save for a silver chain around her neck bearing a crystal orb, silver dagger in hand. The circle had been drawn to bind the energies she'd be using in these negotiations, and she was finally satisfied that she'd done everything she could to prepare for it. With her movements unnaturally calm, she pierced her hand with the dagger, her blood opening the link. "Fata Morgana, thy pupil entreats thee... to bargain."

by **Narrator** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:04 pm

There was an almost agonizing pause, as if there would be no response.

Then, the wind began to stir, and the stones around her soon followed, assembling into a stairway leading upwards.

It seemed her bargain would be heard... in the flesh.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:13 pm

Victoria had expected this, and started ascending the steps, mist gathering around her as she rose.

by **Narrator** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:18 pm

As the last time she had ascended them, the stones whispered the failings of apprentices past, climbing upwards into the mist until she stood in the stone corridor, facing again that fateful door.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:34 pm

Victoria paused a moment, then entered, walking well into the room and kneeling respectfully.

by **Narrator** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:36 pm

Morgan le Fay had apparently no use for the cauldron this night, instead reclining on a pile of furs.

"Well then, this is a surprise. I had thought your dealings with me had come to an end..."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:40 pm

"My dealings with my mistress are at a close when I serve no further use to her, or am too powerful to be bound to her," Victoria said simply. "As I know that the latter is not true, I would hope that the former is not, either."

by **Narrator** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:42 pm

"Perhaps, but when we last dealt you seemed eager to... stretch your wings, shall we say?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:53 pm

"I can hardly grow if I do not take initiative," Victoria allowed. "However... I must also acknowledge my limitations."

by **Narrator** » Fri Dec 09, 2011 11:55 pm

"And here we get to bargains, again. Are you really so eager?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:07 am

"Oh, of course not. My choices are limited, though, so I see no other course of action."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:12 am

"Mmm, of course you don't."

"You could talk to that surly hedge witch, who walks the Winding Way, or Sekhmet's... latest little project, or that intriguing fresh shoot that sprung from the old Darkholder bloodline stump in Birmingham..."

"...but then you'd have to trust them, wouldn't you? Meanwhile, our relationship is on much firmer ground, as... transactional as it always is."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:21 am

Victoria cocked an eyebrow. "DO mine ears decieve me, or is Fata Morgana suggesting I start owing favors to people I'm not familiar with dealing with?"

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:23 am

"Their prices would be less dear than mine, at the least. You did speak of a lack of options."

"But all the same, I remain more than willing to hear... proposals."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:29 am

"Very well," Victoria said. "My home is warded, as you've taught me. Yet despite the charms in place, and the wards erected, creatures are seeking entry... seeking my daughter. I do not know why, despite my divinations, and thus I do not know what can be done for it." She took a deep breath. "I would know these things, with nothing withheld to gain further debt from me, in return for what I offer."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:32 am

"Mmm, and what do you offer?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:39 am

Victoria's face grew hard as she grasped the crystal sphere. "Knowledge, gained by blood. Sent to me by a Queen of Air and Darkness. You know I can tell you no lie here... for this knowledge, I will give you one Name, one channel you have sought to work your vengeance."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:41 am

"Perhaps you are growing to know me after all. I'll remember that."

"Very well. I accept your offer. Nothing held back. Where would you have me start?"

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 12:46 am

"How are they finding my daughter through the wards. I could accept something trying to strike at me, and her simply being there as well, but they were there specifically for my daughter. The wards should have blocked them... unless something is telling of her presence."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:03 am

"And did you truly think you could hide her from spirits, while she's known to mortals?"

"No, that would be rather a good trick indeed."

"Children are not so different from apprentices, in their way. They're always weapons. Sometimes the weapon is pointed at your enemies, sometimes at you, but it's always pointed somewhere and woe betide those on the receiving end."

"She was conceived under fae glamours, gestated in Avalon, and even in this dreary land of concrete and wire you reside in, it could be told you were hiding something very, very precious to you."

"Small wonder that... interest... has developed."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:10 am

Victoria sighed and nodded. "Indeed, foolish... so that leaves the question, what can I do to guard against them. How can I keep them away from her."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:12 am

"Mmm, perhaps the question you ought to ask is what did you do to keep them away from her?" She quirked a brow suggestively.

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 1:15 am

"I activated my wards and sent... I... oh gods, I sent the N'Gairi away, and that's going to attract even more attention, isn't it..."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 8:16 am

"That's one way to answer, but not quite what I asked..."

"Yes, the N'Garai are now aware that you resisted them. Yes, this will likely reach the ears of Kierrok the Damned. This is a path you may have thought you avoided, but you keep putting your feet back on it, my dear..."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 8:34 am

"And is the answer that if I stop using my power, they'll stop finding her, after we lay low a bit? Because frankly I don't know how possible that is."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:33 am

"It is an answer. Is it your answer? Could you take that path?"

"It is not the path you now walk. That path leads you to Wundagore, hounded by the N'Garai, clutching one of the lost pages of the Darkhold. You accept an offer from the lost elder god Cthon, and become something that will make them tremble, something beautiful and terrible and cold as winter ice. Something that will ensure she will always be safe with you."

"There are many routes to that destination..."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:42 am

Realization hit Victoria like a lump of ice in her stomach. "That... That's the real story behind... this," she said, her hand still clutching the orb dangling from her throat. The name 'Cailleach' played across her lips, though she didn't speak it. "...Standing afraid, desperate for some way to protect my daughter, keep the coming horrors from touching her. The only way to protect her longer was to buy more power." As the voice, spoken in a future that now should not occur, echoed through her mind, Victoria shivered.

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:52 am

"And now you understand. It is not that you cannot protect her, it is what you will do to protect her."

"And perhaps it is not the only way, but given your nature it becomes the only path you can see."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 9:57 am

"Then that is what I'm asking you," Victoria said. "What are the ways I can't see? What are the ways outside my nature."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:00 am

"In a word? Trust. That rarest of things, unknown to magi. This is only your path if you walk it alone..."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:04 am

Victoria frowned. "But... Active, I'm always seen. Even those that would help me care for her wouldn't be able to prevent th-" She broke off as the obvious answer seemed to glare at her from the back of her mind. "...No..."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:08 am

"This is why it is so hard to act against your nature."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:15 am

"But... if I did that... and... wasn't foolish enough to do something to compromise it... she'd be safe from all of this to grow up," Victoria said, her voice sounding hollow.

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:22 am

"Perhaps you are more your mother's daughter than you think."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:26 am

"Yes, the irony is not lost on me, thank you," Victoria snapped. Then she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and bowing her head. "I apologize," she said a few moments later, and to her credit she sounded sincere, "That tone was uncalled for, and... your words perhaps more true than I would like."

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:27 am

"Nothing held back, that was the bargain."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:35 am

"And while some would say that it was poorly worded on my end to allow that, it's necessary." She took a deep breath. "Very well... Indebted I find myself, and now I settle that debt." She stepped forward, leaning close to Morgana's ear, whispering three simple syllables so quietly that Morgana might wonder if she'd imagined it... were she not a half-fey demigoddess who could hear far better than anything that might be present spying.

by **Narrator** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:37 am

"Mmm, and the debt is settled. You may go, my dear."

by **Victoria Valentine** » Sat Dec 10, 2011 10:41 am

Victoria rose, and courtesied in her gown of mist... and when she looked up again, as she expected, she found herself again skyclad in the circle of cairne stones. Walking to the outer ring, she picked up the cotton dress she'd worn out there and, picking it up, sank to the ground, holding it against her chest as she quietly sobbed.

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