abraxaslogs | [ CLOSED ] tooth and nail, tooth and nail

[ That gets a raised eyebrow right back. But there's a rhythm to this conversation, and arguing his point of view isn't necessarily part of it. Besides, he's used to being surrounded by non-believers.

He's a fanatic, not a preacher.

At this question, rounding them right back to where they started, he sucks in a breath, lowering his eyes. ]

The church had a use for witches, or any woman with witch's blood. [ There wasn't a difference to them. ] They were called holy bones, or Oracles. The nuns stripped the flesh from their bodies, carved runes into them. They were kept alive like that, able to see into time and make prophecies. [ Past, present, future. ] They were needed to control a gate between worlds.

[ To bond the Kahlil to the Rifter, though space and time, so that one day he might bring him back to their world, or kill him.

Kahlil's gaze shifts to the dog again, his expression distant. ] My sister was taken to the convent when we were young, to become an Oracle.

Edited (weird typos) 2022-12-17 07:02 (UTC)

[ For a second or two, Geralt isn't certain he'll receive an answer. Which is fine. It's an intimate question, one he is not owed.

In a way, he almost might've preferred being denied the truth. Not that he's a stranger to ugly cruelty. Doesn't mean he likes hearing of it. And it hits close to home. Controlling gates. Stolen youths. The desire to use a girl because of what she can do. Because of a prophecies and doorways between realms.

Sympathies feel hollow. He doesn't offer them, though the distaste in the shift of his expression isn't hard to miss.

A faint wrinkle mars his brows as he watches Kyle look between him and the motionless dog. Sister. Kyle had called the dog Rousma. Its voice had been undeniably childlike. It had cowered in that corridor. ]

What was her name?

[ He's not expecting or wanting sympathy. But it's easier to spill secrets in this place, where reality feels more tenuous, and memory becomes almost tangible.

Understanding is good enough. Whether Geralt believes in coincidences or not, he still sees their meeting as driven by his god's will. ]

Rousma. [ He confirms, gaze still on the dog. It doesn't move because she's not here, the dog just a skin she can wear or slip out of at will. She's probably off in Wanda's domain, playing with her memory-children. ] She followed me back from that place.

[ This, he doesn't know, isn't exactly true. But it's how it seemed, and how he continues to interpret her reappearance in his domain with him when they both ran through the locked door. ]

[ Geralt, too, watches the dog. Uncertainty colours his expression. He's not unsettled by the creature. He's seen stranger. It's more—all of it. The oracles, the bones, the children. The fact that Kyle has seemingly used a dog as a vessel for his sister. Who is...not dead. Caught between worlds? Without a corporeal form?

He glances back at Kyle. Does Kyle mean that literally? Is that possible? He pauses, but it feels like a point that's not worth belabouring. ] Things often do.

[ Memories or people. They've haunted him from the moment he set foot in the Horizon. And yet. Here he is. Still visiting.

In any case. A promise is a promise. ]

What is it you wanted to know? About Thorne?

[ He thinks of his conversation with Wanda. Of memory, of home, of the dangers in losing touch with reality. They're all drawn to Horizon, one way or another. He might've put if off for longer, if not for Jack, but eventually he would've succumbed to his curiosity.

Kahlil's yet to hear of a Summoned who refused the connection entirely.

At the question, he frowns in thought. What does he want to know? Probably more than Geralt has time or will to explain. ]

What was Thorne like when you arrived? [ A beat. ] And what made them change?

[ He's only gleaned bits and pieces about the first question. He knows nothing about the second. Another pause. ]

I'm used to being able to go wherever I like, unseen. [ As Geralt noticed back in the hunting grounds. ] But the castle is magically protected in a way that makes that frustratingly impossible at the moment.

[ He suspects there are many secrets in the castle. It's something he's talked to Lucifer about, but neither of them have had any luck breaching them. ]

[ He remembers Kyle asking why he was chosen, and answering I wasn't. Beyond that, he'd said little of his time in Thorne. Including the fact that the first of them were never given the option to refuse the connection. ]

We were divided. Those unwanted were sent to the dungeons. The rest were guests. As you are. [ No changes there, in how they treat the Summoned they approved of. ] Some months in, the castle was breached. Interrupted an execution. I don't know who they are but—they opened portals. We fled through them. Others chose to stay.

[ He's never seen Oliver again. With so much going on, the question of the mage has truthfully been pushed aside for more pressing matters. But he can't help wondering where the man vanished to. Why free the prisoners, then disappear? For what purpose? ]

My time was too restricted to identify Thorne's protections. [ He leans forward. ] But their reach is enough to have taken me a second time, outside their borders.

[ Interrupted an execution. Something about that makes him think of the Fai'daum. The memory scratches at the back of his mind, but here with Geralt he's too unsure to reach out and open that door. He doesn't need to stumble through that maze right now.

His mouth forms a line, then pulls down at one side. ]

When the dead were rising - there was whispers that some mangled bodies crawled up from beneath the castle. [ The dungeons or below. He doesn't know if that's related to anything with Geralt's time there - he hopes not, but it feels worth mentioning.

His brow furrows. ]

A second time? [ His eyebrows knit further together. ] And they've never contacted you again?

[ His head tilts. That's new. Not surprising, but new. The truth is, his experience in the dungeons wasn't awful. Not the first time. He's been held in worse conditions. Thorne's formal policies appear to be one thing. The decisions of the queen is—something else.

He pauses. This is information he's shared with almost no one. He's been uncertain what use it even is. ]

Queen Ellya once sent guards to retrieve a prisoner. I spoke to the girl after. She said—the Queen conducted an experiment using her. It resulted in a man's death.

[ Which leads him to— ]

They weren't seeking contact. The Queen had...certain ambitions. I'm lucky I heal fast. [ He's skirting, a little, the reasons why he was captured. Even now, Yennefer's position is precarious. And he didn't earn those scars for nothing. ] If you ask me, Thorne has not changed. Not while she sits on the throne.

Is the king that spineless? Or are they in agreement? [ Even so, the situation would be unheard of in Basawar. No gaunsho would allow any of his wives to openly hold any kind of power. He understands it's different in other worlds, but it still seems. Odd.

At I heal fast, he gives Geralt a curious look. Another side effect of his mutations, he thinks. How he survived his youth. Healing fast is a lucky thing in some ways, but he imagines there are unfortunate ways for such a power to be exploited, especially by anyone with cruelty in mind. ]

Then they seek to oppose her, or Thorne. [ If they weren't seeking contact. Why else cause what must have been chaos? Another frown. ] What was this experiment?

If they're in agreement, it's only because she has his balls.

[ The situation isn't as unusual for Geralt, but the lack of a united front is. No matter who truly holds power behind the curtain, the crown tends to appear together. But he's rarely seen the king stand by his wife's side, nor she his. He has to wonder how much of that is to do with her uncle. There's undeniable value in having the army in your pocket. ]

Likely. [ If Kyle is referring to Oliver, then. Yes. At the very least, they were there to stir shit up, and they succeeded. The other nations had not summoned anyone of their own until they realized Thorne was successful.

He shrugs. The precise details are vague. Relena disappeared soon after. Among others. Now there are...what. Five? Six? Who were there at the time? As far as he knows, only he and one other remain who spoke to Relena about what happened. ] She tried to transfer our connection to the Singularity into one of her own. It failed. Spectacularly, I'm told.

[ Whatever he might've guessed, it isn't that. His eyes widen slightly in surprise at the description of the experiment - then immediately narrow again.

The queen's desires are putting them all at risk on multiple fronts. She will need to be removed, somehow. A big somehow. He has no doubt he's far from the first person to come to this conclusion. If it could be easily accomplished, she wouldn't still be breathing.

He switches gears for a second, thoughtfully: ]

Do you have any reason to believe the ones that helped you escape might've been involved in what happened at Nocwich?

[ He blinks. Somehow, that question catches him off guard. It isn't that he doesn't care what happened. He's close to the three injured. Jaskier spent a week recovering; Yennefer longer. But it'd been about politics. A catalyst for war. It almost didn't matter who was responsible because to him, the point isn't who did it or why. It's that it happened at all.

The dam's broken. It's too fucking late to undo the flood. Even should they uncover the truth, then what? Will Libertas forgive Thorne's hasty decision to burn their city to the ground? Will Thorne forgive the Free Cities for a starved winter? ]

I don't know. [ His brows furrow. ] They protected Thorne's people from harm even while intervening. If they've decided to instigate bloodshed, I couldn't tell you why.

[ Does he trust Oliver? No. It's more that—nothing quite adds up. They're missing too much. ]

The castle was also compromised. What's Thorne said about that?

[ That had to be someone on it inside. Or someone powerful enough to get in and out without been seen. ]

[ The damage is done, but identifying those responsible still matters. Retribution for all those lives would only be a personal reason, there's more than that. It's information that can potentially be used, whether in the form of the truth or manipulated in a way to get the needed outcome. And it helps him figure out where this person or people stand.

Geralt doesn't have much of an answer, but the detail about protecting the natives gives some context to consider.

At the question he raises an eyebrow. ]

You mean the queen's mage? As much as you expect. [ Which is, next to nothing. ] They said his protections failed or backfired. [ He shakes his head. ] If they suspected anyone still within the castle...

[ They wouldn't have escaped the queen's rage. Maybe it's cooled since then, but he remembers her eyes that day she burned a city. ]

[ For a minute or so, Geralt doesn't answer. Talk of Thorne has taken him back to matters he'd largely left behind. Or tried to. Moving on seemed the better choice, the thing he's always done through the years.

Eventually, he sits back. ]

There's a woman. Himeka. She shared a cell with the girl. They escaped to Solvunn together.

[ Geralt only knew Relena in passing. But she and Himeka were friends, and he knows Himeka's chatty nature means she might've learned things about Oliver he may not have.

And unlike Geralt, Himeka will confess to a dozen things at the drop of a hat. ]

Tell her you spoke to me.

[ His eyebrows raise and there's a brief look of recognition at Himeka's name. He doesn't know her well, but he's spoken to her once now about the gods. He didn't know she'd been here that long. After a second he gives a nod. ]

I will, thank you.

[ He cocks his head slightly. ]

If there's anything I might be able to do for you here, please let me know.

[ Geralt has given him something to work with. He'd like to offer the same at some point, even though he isn't sure how. ]

[ Ah. So they've met. That makes it simpler.

He inclines his head. ] I will. Thorne's of interest to me.

[ An implicit request, that he'd appreciate any information about Thorne Kyle believes is worth noting.

He straightens up. ] Be careful.

[ He's sure Kyle will, but it bears repeating. Then he's gone, out the door without a glance back. ]

[ CLOSED ] tooth and nail, tooth and nail

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