the river winds move my feet

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

Flowerbirth was coming to a cheerful end, and though tonight would likely be one of the last properly cool nights for a long time, the Lullaby wasn't in any state of mind to enjoy it. With the war on the horizon, his collection of relics growing, and his curious desire to both be nicer paired with a shorter and shorter fuse, Remi was wound as tightly as he ever had been.

The urge to scrub his hands across his face was nearly overwhelming, but, as when one says I just want to scream! doing so never really solved anything. So instead, Remi just looks sternly at the three vials of fluid placed neatly and carefully on one of the tables, before taking a seat himself where he could continue to brood over them while he waited for his co-Guardian to join him.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper arrives promptly, stepping quietly into the treehouse to find Remi looking less than delighted despite the progress made in their quest.

"Hello, Remi." Looking her co-leader over, Juniper notes how tense he looks, which doesn't exactly surprise her. Honestly, she would be more shocked -- and worried -- if Remi seemed relaxed, what with the prospect of war hanging over their heads. Though she wants to find a way to comfort him, she can't seem to think of anything to say besides obvious platitudes. She settles for, "How are you?"

Walking over to the table where the vials sit, Juniper examines them. It's the first time she has ever really seen Ascended fluid up close, and she's surprised by how beautiful it is, the pearly, swirling liquid. Such a little thing to cause so much chaos.

"I hope getting the fluid wasn't too much trouble," Juniper says, very conscious that she wasn't able to help much with that task.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

Glancing over his shoulder at the sound of rustling vines and the faint flutter of wings, Remi exhales and nods in Juniper's direction. "I...have been worse." He replies, offering her a brief but lopsided smile. 'How are you?'

Watching with a predatory intensity as his co-ruler inspects the vials of fluid—not because he doesn't trust her, but merely because of what they had cost him to get—Remi finds himself chuckling under his breath as Juniper seems to reach into his thoughts and give them voice. "Nothing more than I expected." It had severed the remaining threads of his friendship with Isla, had given Neron access to his abilities, and had allowed Nate to be just a bit smugger than he'd cared for, but...well. He'd known it wouldn't be easy the second Ludo had given them their requirements. That was the point of it, he supposed.

"After we mix it, I think all we really need to do is trail the mixture around. I'm not sure about you, but I will sleep a lot sounder when this is done." Which, given that Remi didn't really sleep much these days, was a bit ironic.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"I hope you've been better, too," Juniper says gently. After all, it would be a shame for Remi's current state to be his happiest one. As for herself ... Juniper decided to be open about her feelings. If she couldn't trust her co-leader, then who could she trust? "I'm ... stressed. Frustrated. I wonder every day -- and especially every night -- if there isn't a better path." She didn't mention that sometimes she wanted to give up leadership and flee into the Wilds, where there were no hard decisions to make. That was just cowardice, and she would not give in to it.

Turning back to the vials of fluid, Juniper nodded. "This will help." Provisions for the safety of the Greatwood would certainly make one of Juniper's burdens lighter -- and the fact that the trees were meant to be nonlethal would set her mind at rest, too.

"Let's get started." Juniper had gathered some jars they could use to mix the fluid, and she retrieved the bucket of Drop water from where it had been stored in the treehouse.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

"I have." Remi agrees with as much warmth as he can muster, offering his fellow guardian a warm and appreciative smile. His expression grows sombre though as she shares, and it's with a dark murmur of understanding that he nods. "I...have two of the relics now." He admits softly. "I have wondered if I collect enough of them...if I can put of this war, somehow. If they're the key to it all, and no one has the key? Perhaps nothing can move forward and that particular door will remain closed."

Picking up the vials delicately, Remi waits until Juniper has the bucket and jars ready. Mixing the fluid together—that from the Trinity Temple (he'd not use Isla's), Neron's and Nate's—he watches as they amalgamate into a bright and glistening fluid that beautifully caught the light. Pouring the fluid out into the three jars in equal proportions, Remi then pushes them toward Juniper that she might add the water.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper's eyes widened at Remi's words -- she hadn't realized that he already possessed such powerful weapons. Of course, she shouldn't really be surprised; the Lullaby himself was a powerful weapon. If you were inclined to think of people as things, which Juniper was not.

"Normally I would say that if one side holds an overwhelming advantage, they ought to be able to force a peace -- that even a majority of relics should be able to decide the matter without bloodshed. But the Ascended ..." Juniper sighed. It wasn't even their enemy's fault that war hung over them all. That was the worst part, really. "The Old Gods seem unwilling to accept anything short of their total annihilation, as I understand it. So of course they'll fight, no matter how poor their chances."

Juniper had always thought that if they had to have a war, best to win it quickly and get it over with. But if their victory meant the complete destruction of the Ascended ... sometimes Juniper wondered if she wasn't on the wrong side.

She had to shake her head to bring her thoughts back to the matter at hand. "But if bringing together all the relics somehow can prevent or delay war, you have my full support in the matter. Actually, I might have a lead on one of them -- I went into a magical house in the Feverlands, and a man named Locke exited the place with a strange doll ... "

As she spoke, Juniper began to carefully pour the water from the Drop into the jars -- not directly from the bucket, but using a cup that she dipped into the bucket. She didn't want to spill any precious fluid, and even the water had taken effort to haul here.

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

"As I understand it...we are the ones meant to be doing the fighting, though." Remi interjects with a shrug of his shoulders. "And while we are going to be forced into this one way or another...perhaps if we are not all armed to the teeth there might not be so much bloodshed." Of course that was rich for Remi to say; Remi who was the strongest of them by far, and who couldn't be killed.

"Oh?" Pausing, Remi raised a brow. "I did wonder...I received a note saying to avoid that particular festival. Given that my daughter was killed at such a festival it wasn't a warning I was going to ignore. But...Locke, you said?" Twitching his lips and storing away that particular bit of information for later.

"I made it clear to the ascended I have spoken to that this barrier will not harm them. Just keep them in place if anyone enters where they shouldn't. But...if we do find someone caught, should we agree now to discuss how to handle it, together?"

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"Or being armed to the teeth could help us win the war quickly, and with a minimum of bloodshed." Juniper shrugged helplessly. "I don't know if it's possible to predict the path the future will take ... We have to prepare to the best of our ability, but what are we really preparing for? What does this war look like?"

"I'm sorry to hear about your daughter," Juniper said; the sentiment is no less sincere for being automatic. "But yes, it was Locke. I don't know anything about his allegiance, actually ..."

With the water poured into the jars, she began to stir the mixture with a wooden spoon. "That sounds like a good idea. I should tell you, I sent a letter to the leaders of the Ascended, warning them that we were taking steps to secure the Greatwood. I was mostly referring to the quest Safrin gave me, to stop Ascended from portalling in -- I don't know if she intends that defense to be as harmless as simply grabbing someone." Juniper also didn't know, at this point, if that quest would even be complete in time for the coming war. But it was best to be prepared. "I hope the warning will keep Ascended from casually wandering into the Greatwood. But you're right -- we need to figure out what to do if one does. To simply let them go seems a bit lenient ... Imprisonment, perhaps? We might find it necessary to arrange prisoner exchanges over the course of the war."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

Remi holds his breath. His instinct is to immediately argue, but after many, many talks with Ronin about how to stop coming across like such an asshole, Remi has at least learned to let his thoughts marinate for a few seconds before speaking. So it is that he offers Juniper a thoughtful nod. "Truthfully I don't know. The fact that the demigods have to be involved makes me think this won't just be some turf war." He says carefully, shrugging his shoulders.

Smiling, Remi tries to relax his shoulders from where they've bunched up around his ears. Thinking about Aoife's death tends to do that to him, even when he's the one who has brought it up.

"Oh...right. Ronin had mentioned something about that to me." Raising his eyebrows, the alchemist shakes his head. "With Safrin, I very much doubt it will be painless. It was nice of you to warn them, though."

Scrunching his nose at the thought of imprisonment (where? for how long? what would they trade to get them back?). "Gods it would be so much easier if they would just stay out." He grumbles, not wanting to think of the logistics.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Juniper nodded. She could see how tense Remi was, how he was working to control himself, so she tried to make her words a little gentler, though it's hard to soften such a subject. "I don't think controlling land will be the focus, between the portals and other magical travel. I'm guessing the focus will be on ... powerful individuals." Like Remi. Like the other demigods. "And the relics, of course. But how does either side win this war? Even if the Old Gods kill all the Ascended" -- her voice tightens at the idea -- "how do they stop the Voice from creating new ones?"

Another nod, as Remi confirms Juniper's suspicion that Safrin would make any Ascended who portalled into the Greatwood hurt. And as he gives her too much credit; she hadn't thought of warning the Ascended on her own. "One of the people helping me with the quest made it such a warning a condition of her involvement. Melita."

At Remi's grumbling, Juniper couldn't help laughing a little. "It certainly would. And maybe they will. But we have to be ready for the alternative." She handed him a second wooden spoon so that he could help her stir the jars. "I suppose we could ask the gods to make us a special Ascended prison, but that seems like a whole new ordeal." Especially considering how long Safrin's quest is taking. "But ... I can't accept the idea of simply executing anyone we find, and releasing them seems foolish; they might just learn our defenses and try again."

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

"I...think the goal is to kill the Voice. Without her, the ascended will die out." Remi says in a low and tired voice. "I think that is what it is all for...these relics, us, it is meant to find a way to do that." He didn't know for sure, but as Juniper had so obviously pointed out, a bit of fighting between the factions wasn't ultimately going to do anything at all.

'Melita?' Raising a brow, Remi frowns briefly. "I'm surprised she cares. She's a Ludo follower, after all."

Accepting the spoon with a nod, the Lullaby begins to swirl the liquid together as Juniper was doing. "I agree." He says of a prison, before letting his spoon grow slow, and then stop altogether. "I could...put them to sleep for a time." Licking his lower lip thoughtfully as his eyes narrow, as if in so doing he might be able to see through the consequences of what he was suggesting, he turned his pale gaze to Juniper. "Just by touching someone I can put them into a sleep they can't wake from. Only Ronin can undo it, as far as I know."

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

"Yes ..." Though Juniper knows the Ascended won't just let anyone destroy their goddess, getting rid of the Voice and letting her followers live out their natural lives without creating new Ascended seems like the best solution. Except for this little tidbit she remembers from her conversation with Samuel: "The Ascended need the Voice's fluid to survive, don't they? Without her, they would be doomed regardless." Juniper can imagine that the Ascended would rather die fighting than slowly wither away. "It's not just loyalty or gratitude that ties them to her -- she has them over a barrel."

Juniper shrugs at the question of Melita's involvement. She doesn't know why Melita insisted that she warn the Ascended of the Greatwood's new defenses, and she doesn't really care to speculate.

But at Remi's suggestion, Juniper brightens a little. It seems like a relatively easy solution. "If we could keep someone in an enchanted sleep, we could imprison them easily ..." But she knows better than to be too eager for a simple answer. "Are there side effects?"

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark

REMI

the lullaby

walk me home in the dead of night

For a moment Remi says nothing. His cheeks burn with anger and understanding, and it takes a few seconds before he can nod. "Without her they will die. Or..go offline? There are some who were buried beneath the earth for hundreds of years." That they wouldn't die was no less comforting; not if it meant that they would be gone just the same.

Tilting his head considerately, Remi's eyes wander toward the thatched roof of their treehouse as if the answers to Juniper's questions might be caught in the rafters. "Not...as far as I am aware. Though I have never kept anyone in a dream for that long, and only rarely against their will." It was an ability he had, yes, but there had only been a few times in his past where he'd made use of it. "It was how Ronin and I were able to see one another when he was in Stormbreak and I was here. Or...it was how I would visit Hotaru when she was pregnant but in Halo." Remi explains.

because i can't be alone with all that's on my mind

Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!

JUNIPER

you think i'm happy because i'm smiling,
but it's the easiest thing to do

Sadly, Juniper nods in return. So there is no solution that preserves the Ascended's lives, or at least their existences as people. Unless ... "Is there any chance that the Old Gods could create an alternative to the Voice's fluid? Though ... I doubt they would have much motivation to do so." Juniper can't imagine that the Old Gods would want to aid those who chose to reject them, who fought against them. But perhaps if there were some alternative for the Ascended -- well, at the very least, it would salve Juniper's conscience.

"So it is a potential solution, though there's a chance of unforeseen side effects." At least the Ascended don't need to eat -- otherwise, Juniper would worry that someone in an enchanted sleep might starve. Curious, she added, "You could enter their dreams?"

if you looked a little closer,
you'd find my eyes aren't smiling too.

table by Skylark