Chapter II: Gravity

Completed chapters of the serial storyline are stored here after completion.
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TennyoCeres84
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Aislinn visibly winced at the idea of physically traveling to the Infernal plane and nodded. "Let's just stick with an astral trip. It's an eye-opener, to say the least, and we don't need to chance being actually there," she stated.

"Right," agreed Neasa. "We'll do all that we can to help." Ciaran nodded. "That's what we signed up for."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Archie parted with a satisfied sigh. "Well then, seeing as we've settled matters and someone has seen it fitting to burden my front lawn with reveling seventeenth-century maritime brigands, I suspect we've earned ourselves as much rest and leisure as we could desire... The night being fairly advanced, I would be remiss to ask you all to return to your homes; feel free to use the guest rooms if you wish - those of you on my payroll can expect a blessedly late shift tomorrow."

"Woot!" weakly cried Aidan, fist-pumping with one hand while another politely concealed a yawn. "How does ten-thirty sound?" asked the Clank, "If you sleep here, you'll have ample time to sleep in and digest all this curry," Archie added, looking to what was left of Tom and Aislinn's prepared Butter Chicken.

He then looked to Meris. "Shall I hail you a cab, Meris?
- There is no need," reassured Naberius, who lightly patted one of Meris' forearms. "I've a car around the bend. So to speak.
- Capital," the spy said, "will I be infringing protocol if I retire early? Aislinn and Tom were your hosts, after all."

The Steward smirked. "Others would have offended me in suggesting this, but you've outdone yourselves, mister Holden. I would be remiss to keep you from what is left of the night; we've all crafted busy schedules for one another, and for the next several weeks."

Sam looked a bit distraught. "But I's brought out all those apples! Biscuits n' rum an' salted pork!"

Archie straightened his waistcoat as he stood up and offered the captain an encouraging smile. "Leave a barrel here, along with sheets for one of your boatswain's shanties. There will be other occasions for shared revelry, my dear captain - I shall endeavor to show you that I know my way around more than simply Chopin, like any good airship captain."

Samigina briefly looked like an impressed child, his yellow eyes gleaming. "Ye sailed 'fore? In them clouds?
- Aye, matey," replied Archie, winking for effect, "but this sea dog needs a few hours of rest and a wound-up main spring... If your shore leave is not too limiting, feel free to stay the night. We'll swap stories over coffee in the morning."

From disappointment, Samigina moved to taut elation. "Ye's a true mate, Archie Holden," he said, bringing the spy in for an elbow clasp, "Queenie's lucky t'have ye."

While the demon was a bit too preoccupied with his own sharkish glee, Archie sent Preston a look, the gloved hand that wasn't locked on Sam's elbow patting one of the short pockets on his waistcoat. He'd noticed Preston's note, at the very least, a mustache twitch adding implicit understanding. They'd talked so much and received so much information that the spy had had ample time to read the hacker's note. All he'd needed had been the occasional silence, the errant moments in which nobody had paid attention to him.
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Nodding to Naberius, Meris smiled and stood up from her seat, collecting her small handbag and the gifted bottles of wine and rum. To the aquatic demon, she said with a grin, "There'll be time tae dance wi' yer new Queen, Cap'n Sam, time tae recall ol' adventures an' catch up on th' newer memories. 'Twas a joy tae see ye again," she told him fondly, her dialect returning.

She turned to her grandchildren and couldn't bear a prouder smile. "You three have no idea how happy you've made me in such a short time. I'm glad to see Kai's bloodline produced such intelligent, strong-spirited, and bonnie children as you," she whispered to them, somehow managing to pull all of them into a tight and loving hug befitting a grandmother.

Neasa, Ciaran, and Aislinn returned the embrace, remaining in that position for a few moments. They collectively felt as though they had a piece of the past standing there with them and could sense all her hope, despair, happiness, and most of all, her tenacity to persevere through horrors they could hardly imagine. The siblings each murmured, "I love you, M'laru."

Feeling her emotions swelling from the affectionate term for grandmother, the matriarch pulled back slightly from them, shimmering tears brimming in her eyes. "I love ye, too, bairns," she whispered, kissing them on their foreheads. They released each other, and the archmage looked to the incubus. "I have to thank you, Tom, for you inviting me for a lovely dinner and company, as well as an esteemed occasion to reconnect with my family."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Tom shook her hand. "I like to think you'd have done the same for me," he explained. "This frustrated lounge lizard is just glad he's had an evening to spend with a pleasant group of people, however productive that group happened to be."

Three smirked. "So you weren't kidding when you said social interactions were as worthwhile as what incubi usually feed from...
- To a refined palate like mine?" replied Tom, false pretentiousness and a bit of real pride poking through, "The proverbial deed is a Big Mac, and I've just spent the evening dining on metaphorical caviar, champagne and filet mignon. You have no idea how much I'll relish our work coming to a head and the Prince getting his just deserts, my friend - no idea at all.

Archie seemed amused. "Actually, based on the acutely villainous relish you exhibited when we tweaked Eliphas' curse in his favor, I think we do."

The Infernalist couldn't repress a bit of a dark chuckle at that, and a satisfied sigh. "It's nice to have people around who understand. I'll leave the higher principles to you, I'm just happy with the thought of Samoset and the Black Goat having their respective parties crashed."

Gubbin's voice seemed to break through the levity with the sharpness of a scalpel. "But what of Lambert's Triad?"

Silence fell for an instant, Tom being the one who broke it. "Once Mary will have helped me, Gubbin, I'll have one foot of my own in the criminal underworld. Past that, it shouldn't be too hard for me to ply my gifts in order to influence a sizable cipher of the Russian mob, add a dash of nobility and purpose to it where Lambert's allowed some of Hong Kong's sons to be corrupted and, well, complicate things for Hardy & Jameson's rivals."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Aislinn nodded in agreement with Tom's statement. "Within the next few weeks, we should be able to delve into his triad even more. We've barely scratched the surface," she said to Gubbin. "And Tom's involvement will give us more to work with."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Oh great, the Eastern Bloc was about to get an influx of sexy. Mary got a feeling in her guts that said she maybe should have thought this whole thing through a little more carefully. Oh well. "I'm sure Auntie or myself can help with that," she told Aislinn. "Triads are our specialty, after all."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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"What about quads?" asked Three, "'cause they're, y'know, what comes after triads."

Archie's eye-roll was fairly audible, his facial mechanisms whirring for a second or two. "At least the superheroes of my day were ladies and gentlemen. Now I've inherited what can best be described as a Postmodern kindergarten for metahumans!"

Three scoffed. "Okay, two things. One, I'm tired as shit. Two, I'm a formerly mundane guy who used to have zero prospects, and now he's some sort of weird cross between Max Payne and freaking Chtulhu. We've got archmages and demons coming out the wazoo, some corporeal and non-corporeal," he said, nodding to Naberius, "and a few months ago the local Summer Lady said my friends and I were a credit to the local law enforcement effort. I'm sorry for not packing your respective centuries or millennia," he said, looking at the older faces in the crowd, Jenkins included, "but I'm nearing my thirties and people who aren't commanding officers in the Marines just dumped a shitload of responsibilities on me after my spending years being told all I needed to do was point my gun at the right people. I'm still a dishonorable discharge thanks to fucking Azardad, and you're all just going Yeah, go Team Meris! Woo!"

He sighed, stuck his hands on his hips and hung his head. "Forgive me for trying to find at least some sort of way to maintain some semblance of sanity - humor's what I've got. It's corny, poorly-timed and maybe actually rude, but it's either that or I take Sam's stories about the Universe shrinking, pop a case of Lovecraftian cosmic horror, and shoot myself in the head.

I'm not like you, Archie. I'm not going to retire a hundred years from now and drown my hysterical giggles and fractured memories behind my expensively-furnished drinks cabinet. I won't get to spend a few lifetimes pining for the Right One to emotionally unload on, like you. Odds are you're all going to bury me at some point, unless Doctor X has got some serious shit up his sleeves."

Perhaps unexpectedly, Tom was the one who seemed to grasp at Three's issues the first. "It's a lot to take in, isn't it?" he rhetorically asked, his voice quiet. He briefly squeezed Aislinn's hand and then stepped away from her, stopping in front of the soldier. 

"One day at a time, soldier," he said, his tone as soothing as he could manage. "The stakes are high, but break them down into individually achievable elements, and it'll all make a lot more sense. If Mary had focused on her company's future from Day One, she would've ended up in a padded cell long ago. The future's something you glimpse at, and then you're back to putting one foot in front of the other, no matter if you're pushing thirty or three thousand years old. Archie only makes it seem like time doesn't so much as faze him - you should've seen him right before his first date with Crystal."

The warthog looked to the goat. "The same applies to you, mister Ephesian. Break the month down to individual objectives, stay focused on the immediate, and we'll rub the Black Goat's face in the dirt before the last week ends."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Meris was the next one to add to the peptalk with Aidan and Ephesian, joining Tom at his side. Her tone remained level and soft. "Aidan, Mr. Ephesian, I apologize for the exposition and the sheer magnitude of events that seem to be playing out at a rapid-fire pace. I've been where you're at, and I still have to work from a mortal's timeframe, even if I've been given glimpses into potential events. The Darkhallow gave me scenes of you and Aislinn hundreds of years before even before your great-grandparents were a glimmer in their parents' eyes. I knew of you, but you were still what-ifs. When I came here tonight, I had no idea all of you would be here tonight. It didn't go according to protocol, but I'm very glad it went the way it did."

She sighed lightly, pursing her lips. "I've had to learn to accept drastic changes because I was essentially shoved into a deep pool of chaos, a city so large it makes Hope and New York City look like hamlets and Darlarath's murder rate makes their murder rates look like child's play. One morning I'm having breakfast with Urthar and Kai, and later that day, I'm dragged to a submerged city to be a healer for a Void Weaver who I'd eventually come to love. I was given glimpses of who I might become; some of it was accurate, but the rest wasn't. I wasn't given the day I was supposed to die and ascend. I wasn't prepared to have the Chamberlain's flintlock hit my femoral artery or have his cutlass impaled into my ribcage. I took it one minute and one second at a time, and I still am."

"I've been given a very fortunate boon, but we have no certainty of anything yet. The odds are just stacked a little more in our favor than they were a few hours ago, but we have a long way ahead of us, with every single step being important. And each step can only be dealt with in that moment, regardless of Angel Time or the Darkhallow."

She placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "The only difference between you and me is I've had more experience with handling info dumps and and fast changes. I still prefer to have a quiet breakfast with friends, sate my creativity with music, and savor the quiet moments in between battles. They are precious and dear to me, and they keep me going. They are what keep me from losing my humanity and thinking I'm a god on Earth. That is what keeps me sane while I've had to stop some fool of a Squid from bringing the Others to our realm. I'm a mortal with a hell of an insurance plan; that's all."

"I need your help because I am only one person and the existing resistance is limited on what they can do. It's only together will we stand a chance, and that requires taking each day, each hour, and each minute a little at a time. So, don't think you're alone in thinking, "What the hell have I gotten myself into?""

Neasa, Ciaran, and Aislinn ventured closer to the human. "We're in the same age group as you, Three. Only reason we knew about Void Weavers is the fact they're actual, cultural boogeyman who like to use surface dwellers like cattle," Aislinn commented. "I'm still terrified by what's coming, but we're what Hope's got. I need to be at my best, and, like you, if being a sarcasm-spouting tattooist helps me get through this whole mess, so be it. When the fogeys are drinking brandy or snoozing, we'll be here to play against you in a video game and munching on pizza and soda."

Her twin smirked. "The heartwarming group hug's optional, of course," he joked.

Neasa scoffed and chuckled. "Just wait a sec while I get my phone to capture that Kodak moment."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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While none of this stopped Three's head from spinning, it did help to realize that he wasn't alone in floundering in the middle of notions few mundanes ever had to grasp. Hearing Meris confirm Tom's approach also sealed it; it wasn't often that you heard immortals skip on certain tired aphorisms along the lines of Things were better in my day or heard one confirm that they got up on workday mornings with the same lack of enthusiasm as anyone else.

Of course, seeing as some people in the room could still relate to simpler things, it make the experience easier to quantify. "Thanks, guys," he said, offering an apologetic smile to the roanes, "I'll appreciate a bit of non-universe-redefining R&R every once in a while."

While Sam had briefly looked troubled at the mention of Meris' death, he perked up quickly and laid a hand on the soldier's shoulder. "We's all got our creature comforts, lad," he said. "Ye've already seen me go at a bottle o' rum, an' I'm pretty familiar with the quieter hours at sea, too. Liar's dice, horseshoes, cards - we's commandeered an old cruise ship one time, so we got ourselves a fully-featured casino, too! Can't gamble what ye canna' spend, sure, but all me arcade machines're on Full Tilt anyways."

Three blinked. "Wait - there's a cruise ship in the Last Fleet?
- An old one, aye - the SS Phaeton. Sunwings Travel Agency in her heyday, caught by air n' sea pirates off the coast o' Joburg in 2021. She sank, aye, an' all them Afrikaans scalliwags too, but she'd been off t'her last voyage 'nyways, ready to be sunk t' supplement the coral reefs offa Madagascar. Grabbed 'er shade, found enough supplies in me other ships t'fix 'er up, focused enough magic t'make it look good, so now she's where we hold conference outside o' Tortuga. Petty crew gets a run o' the coin-ops - nobody's beat me score on House o' the Dead 2."

Drake smirked. "Could Meris host parties there?
- Don't see why not - me fleet's hers t' command, after all. If she gives ye lot special permission, we'll find some excuse t' drop anchor an' let ye sip strawberry daquiris someplace nice n' warm, where there's a coupla palm trees t' gawk at. It'd be nice t' see the pool an' easy chairs get some use."
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Re: Chapter II: Gravity

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Meris chuckled. "I'll have to keep the idea of an impromptu spring break on the list of things all of you can do to unwind, should we have assignments abroad, which we probably will," she mused, then contemplating other things. She wondered if it would be a good hideway whenever they freed Nereus. That had been one of their dreams, to travel the world together. What better way than to sail on a ghostly cruise ship, being able to remain concealed from nosy individuals? Sam might've figured out her train of thought, since she had a small smile on her face, almost as though she was daydreaming in the middle of the night.
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