Existentially Bound: Part 4
Signals of Hope
If Rodia Raventear had to describe it, she would have called the village of Garenhoff small -not spooky, ill-fated, or ominously dangerous as it was viewed now-a-days. But to the norn, the cliff-built port overlooking the bay of Wizard's Fief was just small. As with most of her kind, open spaces, particularly in the wilds of the north or open seas of the unending ocean were preferred: the captain rarely ever stayed below deck of her own vessel too long. Thus, she was somewhat anxious to get back underway, despite having found kinship with her commander.
As if they had known each other for years, Paige smiled and nodded to the captain. "You don't like this place do you?"
Rodia shook her head a bit as she transferred Shiera's body weight to Taliha, who received her. "No, I don't. Other than the unsettling feeling in my gut, I feel there's not a lot of room here to defend against incoming cannon fire or from land grubbers pushing south. Give me plains to evade attacks or forests for cover any day."
"You know, it used to not be like this. There was a time where this was a popular destination and with Isgarren's elemental golems protecting the area, it was safe."
"Yes," the norn said, unloading a few supplies brought back from Elona, "but I have also heard of missing children paid for that protection. Surprised, actually, that this is where a noble like yourself would hail from after…" she paused a moment, not knowing how to continue. She was still not quite used to speaking to nobility, and it was a stark contrast from that of her crew.
Paige frowned a moment at the thought, but washed it from her face, ensuring Rodia did not mistake it for disparagement at her candor. "It's okay; you can say it: after the manor and vineyards were destroyed." She inadvertantly paused, but catching herself, she cleared her throat and pressed on. "Well, this is only temporary. Because of those rumors, I procured an establishment within Garenhoff, and the proximity to the bay makes it ideal for a shipping venture to start up. Once we're to a point where we can move operations, we can settle into a much more… reputable locale."
A grin was plastered across Rodia's face, seeing the wide-eyed optimism from the woman. In the short time they had known each other, it wasn't difficult for the norn to see just why Lady Paige Dejarin garnered the following she had. The woman practically exuded a graceful confidence (whether she knew it or not).
"Well, I'm glad to have met you, Lady Paige. And, I do look forward to seeing how much of your plan will take flight."
Paige blinked a moment, then grinned at her new friend with an eyebrow raised. "Take flight?"
Rodia turned, began to ascend to her ship. "Aye. Upon Raven's wings." She winked, continued upward, already giving orders to her crew.
The others had begun the journey up the cliff to House Dejarin's temporarily displaced lodge. Paige caught up to the group, assisting Taliha with Shiera. The woman was heavy due to the armor and there were many steps and winding paths leading up to their base. They each took a turn bracing the woman, Ember with longer shifts than the others.
It was apparent to Paige that she cared a great deal for the Number, yet she wasn't told to what extent and found herself consistently questioning if Shiera, was indeed, severed from Kievaa's hold. Furthermore, the inquisitive woman kept asking herself if the device they were transporting, the beacon as Shiera had called it, was also disabled. If it was not, the outcome of bringing it to their location could be a disastrously bad decision. Yet, their journey hadn't included anyone familiar enough with magitech to ascertain the device's threat level.
Paige needed an engineer. First, she had thought about using Nalla's communication device to contact her sister Lexxie, as the small asura was brilliant with technology, but her communication skills were lacking and it was sometimes difficult to get straight answers… and Paige needed answers. She also knew of the engineer Lucia Sylas. She had been an asset on the few missions they had been on together, but since the House Guard had been disassembled after the fall of the estate, she had gone off with Ariadne and Talisin to discover minerals used in armor crafting in the name of House Dejarin. It was Paige's hope that wherever their adventure take them, they stay safe. The only other person under their banner was a small (somewhat cooky) asura named Jinx. But the little one hadn't been active with the house in such a long time, Paige wasn't even sure where to begin to go about finding her.
Thus her mind wandered, the scenarios and puzzle pieces floating around her head… until she almost ran into the door of their establishment.
"Hurry and open the door," Ember said, irritably. She was uncomfortable with the place; it held with it darkness from the woman's past. Since their merger, the two women had become intertwined, sharing thoughts and memories freely, but there was one part of Ember's memories the ice queen couldn't access. Similarly, pieces of Valandra's past (namely those deplorable nights with her captor Palawa Joko) were shrouded from Ember. But, each knew the other's reservation, hesitation and fright when it came to those uncomfortable pasts, thus neither pressed the issue. Valandra offered Ember a sympathetic and comforting hug, but it still did little to settle the woman's unrest.
"I'm sorry Emily," Paige said, seeing the woman's apprehension. One didn't have to be an empath like Demitra was to see the inner turmoil within her friend. "I know this wasn't your first choice, but the docks and boats were affordable with what was left over from the estate after paying reparations to families, and the shipping lanes were profitable. I think that-"
"Wish my hair wasn't white again," she grumbled. "Hope nobody recognizes me after everythi-"
Valandra inturrupted her words, clearing Ember's own throat, stopping her from going down a thought path she was certain wouldn't end well. "Let's just get inside."
Lady Paige nodded understandingly, opened the door, then invited everyone in. Taliha entered, stumbling in with a barely conscious armor-disabled Shiera. Ember took a breath before entering into the small lodge. Its walls were garnished with various Elonian decorations, in contrast to the Krytan-designed walls and architecture. The smell of spices hung in the air, wafting from a nearby low-burning pot over a small contained fire, and the entire place was illuminated by the flickers of the flames.
"I… I know it's not quite like the manor, but…" Paige looked sheepish."It is a lovely home," Taliha said, leaving both Paige and Emily to wonder what the Whisperer could actually see of the establishment.
Ember slightly grinned glancing around. "It reminds me of my old home. We… We could have been neighbors, Lady Paige."
"This is where you came from? I thought you were of nobility." Valandra whispered into Ember's ear.
"I am; House Drakenfist is… was extremely wealthy. I mean, we still have some money, but… Well, my father and I aren't exactly… Look, all you need to know is that I was here for a while when I was teaching. I had a place. It was like this. Okay?" Ember's otherwise frosty cheeks grew flustered.
Paige hadn't meant to roll her eyes, but the one-sided bickering was often tiresome. She decided to change the topic. "Smell's good. Looks like someone is here; Perhaps father is here. I sent him a key, but I've been away for a bit and never properly welcomed him."
Shiera looked upward, eyes of coal staring at the floor above. "Someone is here. One story up. One voice; a small one… Asura."
Ember spun around, a spoon she'd already had with a scoop of stew quickly dropped to the floor. "Kievaa?"
Shiera shook her head 'no,' an effort which depleted her strength, forcing her head to drop and lean more heavily on Talhia, who grunted at the weight.
"Then who?" Paige listened as the commotion grew louder.
"No! I said 3.78. Are you trying to blow us up?" the asuran voice argued.
Emily rose her eyebrow. "We… We know this voice. It is familiar," she said in the voice of both women.
Paige's shoulders dropped with relief and a knowing smile came across her face. It was one of the very engineers she needed to help with Shiera and the device: Jinx Fizzlespring.
"Wait… What do you mean 'possibly' radioactive. It either is or it isn't! Your notes certainly didn't mention anything about that! No. No! It wasn't in the notes!"
A recollection solidified causing Emily's eyes to roll. "The skritt from the beach? The one with the damned chicken? The one that talked to herself?"
Paige darted a glance at her friend which conveyed the irony of her own statement. "Well, I've known this Asura for a while and she is exactly what we need to help us with Shiera."
Valandra actually agreed, forcing Ember's head to nod. "This was the same skr- Asura which helped us before. She got us out of those damned suits; maybe such expertise could be used upon your friend."
Ember glanced to Shiera. The woman was barely able to stand on her own volition and if it were possible, her skin seemed even paler. "I promised I'd save her… If that means putting up with yet another asura crazy, then… well, let's try."
"Jinx is that you up there?"
A delighted voice returned, "Miss Paige? Yes it's me! Well, me and-" The asura's voice petered off a moment, "Yes, I'm introducing you right now! How often have I not? With the incalculable number of people we've met, I always introduce-"
Paige looked to the stairs. "Is that father with you? This stew smells like his own doing."
Jinx poked her head from the opening at the stairwell above; beside her was the head of a chicken. "Larid? I don't know. I think he and Dark Flower left!" The chicken balked. "I dunno what her silly moniker is! You know, I would expect such titles from asura, but from a sylvari? It's a bit strange, is all I'm saying. Yes it is! Is so! Is so infinity!" Both heads disappeared, continuing their previous solo argument.
Paige looked back to both women with a shrug. "Genius is often masked by what others perceive as eccentric. Let's see what she can do for her. After which, there are beds on the third floor. We can let Fift- Shiera rest there."
The group made their way up the stairs, where Paige expected to see her desk and office where she tended to the affairs of the estate (such as it were); however, her jaw dropped upon sight of the gadgets and asuran tech which had been stuffed into the small loft. Diodes flickered, buttons blinked and holographic images danced around with asuran code and images. Jinx was busily interacting with said buttons, holographic keypads and switches and looked as though she hadn't just had a conversation with the group. This was confirmed as the small bald asura jumped when Paige spoke.
The chicken was of the same mindset as Jinx and let out a 'Bacawk!' at the sudden surprising intruders.
"If there were still gods left on Tyria, I would ask them to kill me," Ember grumbled.
Jinx adjusted her glasses, realized there were no lenses in them and tossed them aside, using her hands as rings around her eyes to focus on Ember. "Oh it's you! Or should I say you both? Wow! Truly remarkable. Did the variance of the harmonics of the suits cause you two to become one? Or was the exchange of the raw emotion which caused the suits to collide… Or- Wait! Where are the suits? Okay, so you got them off, but somehow you're together?"
Emily exhaled a deep chill. "Yeah, you're our savior. Let's just leave it at that."
Lady Paige's diplomacy took hold and interrupted what could be a lengthy or heated exchange. "Everyone, this is Jinx. Jinx this is Emb- Emily, Tahlia and the one in the middle in the armor is…"
"Hmmm... Sixteen Omega?" Jinx was already in front of Shiera examining the suit.
"That's what the damned asura calls her. Her name is Shiera," Ember growled.
"But there's a label here," Jinx pointed at a near microscopic etching on the suit.
Emily shrugged. "She's got a brand on her neck up here too. It's much larger and easily seen (by the taller of us.) But that doesn't mean that's who she is!"
Jinx didn't pay attention to the insult, instead regarded her chicken. "You're right Mr. Cluckles! I almost forgot!" She paused her examination, stood at attention. "Nice to meet you all. Jinx Fizzlespring at your service! (Yes, of THE Fizzlesprings!) And, this here is my colleague, Mr. Cluckles!"
Valandra scowled as Ember frowned; together they created a disdainful, disapproving look. "We know this already! Just… Can you-"
Jinx sidestepped to Emily, produced a rather large monocle from an unknown source, and stared at the woman. "Just who is asking?"
Paige tapped her foot loud enough to draw a cluck from Mr. Cluckles. "There's… a lot to explain, but suffice-it-to-say, we need your help. Shiera here is hurt and none of us know much about these suits."
"We were hoping you could help her," Ember began with Valandra's voice finishing, "the way you helped us out of our suits."
Jinx stared at Shiera for a few minutes, stroking her chin until the chicken pecked her foot. "Stop that! I'm trying to thin- Oh! You're right Mr. Cluckles. I'd better tell them before we all blow up right?"
"All blow up?" Talhia asked, unsure if she actually wanted to know the answer to her question.
Jinx waddled over past Paige, began pressing buttons calling forth a few holographic waveforms. When no answer came, the Whisperer regarded Emily.
"When I… When Valandra and Ember were stuck in suits similar to this, there was a very real chance of the damn things exploding," Emily offered in explanation.
"Blamo!" said Jinx mimicking the sound of an explosion. "But before we run that risk- Yes, I'm getting to it!" she said, waving the chicken away. "Mister Cluckles is quite adamant that we share our findings."
Paige glanced back to see her own worry reflected in eyes of obsidian as Shiera picked up her head weakly. Without her visor, all colors were completely washed out with such a high saturation, barely any objects could be discerned.
"As long as you tell us quickly, Jinx. I don't know how much longer…"
Jinx nodded so violently, the goggles atop her head fell onto her nose. "Understood Miss Paige. So, Mr. Cluckles and I have been working on our new scanners. I'm not sure if you knew or not but I had quite a few security measurements installed at the manor the last time I was there. They were active, but I hadn't gotten around to showing you all, because someone lost the technical documentation I worked so tirelessly on!"
Mister Cluckles retorted. "Bwaak, bwaak, bwcawk!"
Jinx rolled her eyes, secured her goggles, then shrugged. "Yes, well, we won't get into that again. But anyway," she said in sing-song, "I've managed to isolate a signal that the cretin Lennk used during the attack on the manor." She pointed to a hologram of a few wavy oscillating lines. "You see? You see it don't you? It's quite unique! The wavelength is quite something; fascinating actually!"
Everyone stared at the fluctuating lines waiting for Jinx to continue. When it was obvious she wasn't going to, all women urged her on in unison.
"Okay! Okay! Let me try to explain a bit more. See, I happened t-" The chicken pecked her. "Ouch! Okay WE happened to find something interesting. It was another signal; one that matched the wave you see in front of you. A wave which was the same as Lennk's signal when he broadcasted the destruction of the manor! And this signal only just appeared a few days ago. Jinx nodded violently, again causing her goggles to fall. "So since the signals match, we can say with 99.9832% certainty that it's definitely Lennk. Or at least one of the Twelve, or maybe…"
"Six?" Paige asked with a sorrowful hole in her heart which could only be filled by her friend's rescue.
"Maybe," Jinx said rubbing her chin; the chicken seemed to agree. Then both tilted their heads. "Wait… Six is gone?"
Lady Paige sighed and nodded, looking down with the most apologetic hazel eyes. "She was… she was taken, Jinx, by Lennk and Kievaa. And we've since failed… (I've since failed) to find her and save her. Father's not been himself since. I haven't seen a lot of him, but… I dunno… I feel like this loss has affected Harid a lot more than he lets on."
Jinx blinked a few times. "Ah, yes. Poor Garid. I was hoping to give him a hand…" Suddenly the asura burst into laughter. "I didn't mean a hand… Oh Mister Cluckles, why didn't you censor me there? I can't believe you let me fall into that one! You know… Because his hand. Well, you see…"
Paige huffed. "Still refusing to see an asuran doctor about a prosthetic? Well, I'll have another talk with him soon. No doubt it'll end in another argument. But, that's for another time." She leaned forward, forcing her mind to return to the task at hand. As the holographic waves synchronized, a thought occurred to her. "Jinx, can the signal be traced?"
"A trap," Ember and Valandra both said.
"Agreed," Paige nodded, "But you know, right now it's really our only lead. And, we have to hope Six is with them still… We have to rescue her. We owe it to her to rescue her!"
"You and I both know her," Valandra whispered to Ember. "That piece of skritt would never allow something so simple to alert us of their presence and not know about it. Kievaa's plans have plans; she's maniacal. (And this is coming from me!)"
Ember nodded, again reiterating, "This has to be a trap."
"Is there anything you can tell us about what's there, or what to expect?" Paige asked hopefully.
Jinx shook her head. "Hard to say. You know what happened when the Twelve… Well, you know. You remember. I remember. (I think we all want to not remember.) And now he has Six back. She was the most powerful. I doubt we would have won against the rest of the Twelve back then without her. Lennk will have the upper hand."
Mister Cluckles echoed the statement.
Paige sighed. "And that's what I can't piece together: Why are they still bothering with us? I mean, I know Lennk has a beef with the Dejarins, and my father… But, what could they possibly have to gain? They already destroyed our estate! House Dejarin is only a shadow of its former self, and yet they keep-"
The chicken clucked.
"Oh! That is true; thank you Mister Cluckles. You know, I haven't seen any large energy spikes in the area since 5 minutes after the signal appeared. That may mean that activities are dormant there now… (Maybe they left?)" Jinx stroked her chin a moment. "It is like someone turned on the signal and then left."
Paige looked at Ember with renewed enthusiasm. "Maybe it's not a trap, Emily. Maybe it is Six helping us to find her!"
Ember blinked a few times, perplexed. She was worried Paige's faith outweighed the reality of their situation. Whether it was Valandra's cynicism or their combined experience with Kievaa, it was difficult to believe that anything but the most dastardly traps awaited them. In this situation, Paige would have to have enough conviction for them all.
Mister Cluckles thought so too.
[To Be Continued...]
