{ pfsb } a letter and a meeting

[jaskoleczka]

Time is passing strangely for Ciri; it's difficult to tell if she has slept entire days or only a few hours. There is no way to mark the days aside from weather, and that changes quickly enough that it is wholly unreliable.

(The Bar, in her infinite kindness and usual sympathetic meddling, has in fact created a mild time loop in Ciri's room, giving her time to recover and somewhat ignoring the distressed flurry which has emanated out in ripples from her arrival.)

She comes downstairs, therefore, determined to more fully explore this strange place. There are stables she wishes to visit, and the woods remind her very slightly of those around Kaer Morhen...but her plans are abruptly canceled when, along with the strong hot tea she'd ordered, Lady Bar provides her also with a note.

Anyone watching would see Ciri rub at her forehead as if to quell a sudden headache, then lay a hand on the bartop and request something in a soft voice. Quill and pen appear, and she bends her head to write briskly and neatly:

Reverend Daughter,

I am terribly sorry for the distress I have caused. Please know it was not intentional.
I welcome your request for a meeting. I am at your disposal and shall visit Room 99 within the hour.

- Ciri

Folding the note, she looks for a waitrat to charge with its delivery and watches as the messenger scampers up the stairs before she turns with a sigh back to her tea.

Which she is now wishing was something a good deal stronger.

---

It's about half an hour later that she stands at the door of Room 99 with no idea of what to expect, knocking lightly with gloved knuckles.

Comments

[lightamidchaos]

He steps through the portrait from the House of Arch library into the inn's common room and glances around, looking to see if Wei Ying is there, as always.

Instead, he sees Ciri. She looks as though she is recovering from her injury well enough, he notes, and is glad to see it.

"Ciri," he greets her, as he approaches. "You are doing well?"

[jaskoleczka]

"Lan Wangji."

She smiles slightly and indicates a free seat next to her. "Well enough. Although –" She hands him the note from the Reverend Daughter and her smile turns wry. "I see news of my arrival has spread."

[lightamidchaos]

He frowns at the change in her expression, then glances down at her note.

"Ah."

The look in his eyes is a little rueful when he turns his attention back to her.

"You spoke of death related to her. In your prophecy. I -- she needed to know, if she is to prevent it."

[jaskoleczka]

"It's alright," she assures him, taking the note back again and pocketing it. "I would rather she know than not. Lan Wangji – what did I say? You looked..."

She searches for the right words, lands on: "Upset."

[lightamidchaos]

"Yes. I would have."

He takes the seat beside her, finally, and makes a polite request for white tea of Bar-guniang. He turns the cup around in his fingers when it appears, thinking.

"A second death, for Harrow. Weeping and grief -- 'dry your golden eyes, dear child,' you said, and 'she is gone, you have buried her,' among other things."

"For me--"

Tension threads through him. He cannot help it, even though he is far, far less panicked than he had been that day.

"-- to begin, you said that I would lose Wei Ying. He is the one I mentioned, before."

[jaskoleczka]

She sighs, and places a palm on the Bar. "I am sorry," she says, softly. "I hope he is well."

[lightamidchaos]

“He is,” Lan Wangji says.

“And I intend to see to it that he remains so.”

[jaskoleczka]

"Lan Wangji," she says, gently.

"Please, tell me. What did I say to you? What futures did I see?"

[lightamidchaos]

It is the second time she has asked. How must it feel, to know you have spoken prophecy that turns others' lives upside down, yet not be able to recall it?

He nods, and takes a moment to center himself, as though preparing to meditate. His breathing deepens and his eyes close as he casts his thoughts back, striving to recall as accurately as he can.

"Lan Zhan," he murmurs, hearing Ciri's altered voice echo in his mind. "This is not real. You lost him. You found him. You will lose him again. And when you do, the Shadow will fall upon the Twin Jades of Lan. Wei Ying is not yours to keep."

His voice shakes, very slightly. Hearing it, he makes himself draw another breath, slow and deliberate, as tension steals through him, then keeps going.

"He has fallen into mist and shadow, and his soul will heed the call. His brother comes with the scourge, with lightning, with darkness. This waystation is not your home. Look to your world, Lan Zhan."

He opens his eyes and looks at her. Harrow's part of the prophecy still remains to be told, but first--

"I am Lan Zhan," he explains. "It is my personal name. I had not even told you of it. The Twin Jades of Lan are myself and my older brother, Lan Xichen."

His fingers tighten on the teacup. He makes himself loosen his grip.

"Wei Ying-- he did. Fall. Before. From a cliff. It is how he died, and arrived here. I cannot lose him again. I will not."

[we_bring_hell]

She probably does not expect the door to be opened by a spooky scary skeleton.

From beyond the grisly doorman is the sound of a scritching pen, suddenly stopped, and the clank of metal.

[jaskoleczka]

She certainly did not. She steps back involuntarily, hand automatically going to her shoulder where Zireael should be, but isn't.

(At the time she had thought coming unarmed and empty-handed was the better option. Now she's not so sure.)

[we_do_bones]

If she was surprised by the skeleton, then boy howdy will she hate what comes next. A strong hand appears and moves the skeleton out of the way, letting Gideon step forward, arms crossed and jaw set. Her paint is a little smudged from sweat and from pressing it into Harrow's stomach earlier, but that only serves to make it even more sepulchral and horrifying. Her rapier is on her belt, the knuckles nearby and ready for use. (They're both better in close quarters than her longsword.)

She stares at the woman through the door and speaks over her shoulder without breaking eye contact. "Harrow. Visitor."

[we_bring_hell]

Harrow takes her time, putting on her gloves and shouldering into her rusty black robe.

"Who is it, Gideon?" she says in her coolest, Ninthest voice.

[jaskoleczka]

Ciri, utterly taken aback, has to work to find her voice. When she does, she lifts it, trying to speak loud enough that the other individual can hear her. "My name is Ciri," she says, and holds up the note received from the Bar. "I believe my presence was requested?"

The woman in front of her – a little taller than she, broader in the shoulders, with her face painted into a ghastly skull beneath a shock of flaming hair – stands a little straighter. She's wearing some sort of dark glasses, and Ciri can't see her eyes. Between that and the weapons, it isn't hard to surmise this Gideon is not excited to see her.

[we_do_bones]

"Ciri," says Gideon, unimpressed. "The seer."

She glances quickly back into the room, where Harrow is carefully arranging herself in shabby Ninth finery. "Should I let her in?"

[we_bring_hell]

"By all means," Harrow says calmly. As the other woman enters, she bows.

When she's arrayed in all her tarnished glory, it's easy to overlook how short Harrow is, and hard to see how painfully thin. Her hood is up, casting her painted face in shadow; within the black pits around her eyes are brilliant whites and even blacker blacks. Her expressions are blunted by the paint, but she's also poker-faced at the moment.

"Greetings. I am Harrowhark Nonagesimus. Thank you for the gift of your presence."

Her eyes are locked on Ciri's from the moment she enters; without a flicker of her abyssal gaze, she tells the red-haired woman, "Give us our privacy, Gideon. Guard the door."

[we_do_bones]

She stiffens and turns to argue, but at the look on Harrow's face she gives a terse nod and shoulders her way past Ciri and through the door.

She hates this. Shutting the door, and leaving the two of them in there alone...but Harrow is her necro, and Gideon is her cav. She has to obey when it matters.

Still, the only bit of grim pleasure she can hold onto is the knowledge that if this woman does turn out to be a threat...well, she's locked in a room with Harrowhark Nonagesimus.

There's no way that turns out well for her.

[herald_ingress]

Ingress catches Ciri at some point that is not in the midst of the flurry of distress. While she's not as ebullient as she usually is, she's still smiling when she approaches her.

It's been a little while between visits for Ingress, too. She hasn't been able to visit as often as she had been for the past few days.

"Hi, Ciri. Everything all right?"

[jaskoleczka]

"Ingress, hello!"

Between Harrowhark and Gideon the Ninth and even those first few tense moments by the lake, Ciri is grateful to see a friendly face.

She waves the other woman over, indicating a free seat nearby. "I was hoping I'd see you again. How are you?"

[herald_ingress]

“I’m well,” she says, although the way her brow furrows slightly does not line up with her words.

“I’ve been busier than I’d planned and I haven’t been able to get back here to check on my friends until now.”

[jaskoleczka]

Her brow furrows, though she doesn't tense – yet. "Is something wrong?"

[herald_ingress]

“I don’t know. One of my friends received a rather dire prophecy regarding two of our other friends. I’m not well versed on prophecies.”

[jaskoleczka]

Ciri does not put her forehead down on the nice cool surface of the Bar, put her arms over her head, and pretend she isn't there...but it's a near thing.

"Ah," she says, rubbing at her forehead. "Yes. That was...me.

"Sorry."

[herald_ingress]

“Oh!”

Oh, crap.

“I’m- goodness. I wasn’t expecting that, obviously. Are you okay?”

[jaskoleczka]

"I've suffered a bruised ego, but nothing more," she assures the other woman. "Lan Wangji has been very understanding and Wei Wuxian – well, things started off a bit prickly, but it came alright in the end."

She shrugs, slightly wistful. "Gideon the Ninth and the Reverend Daughter, I think, are not very happy with me, but I can't say that I blame them."