The_Prof pages, "Yah. Well, you saw John and the others' reactions. o.o"
to you.

You page, "Wheee. *eyeroll* At least Gaby was able to buffer things up
in Ember, it appears, so Kanna doesn't know about THAT,e ither. *wl*" to
The_Prof.

=================================
=================================

Beowulf remembers that he forgot to ask Mitsune for Morkeleb back...

====
====

Beowulf asks, "OOC Is the Keep close enough to Chaos for Bey to trump
her there?"

John says, "OOC You'd need to hop to Yig."

John says, "OOC Oh wait, Aeris could boost your signal enough"

Beowulf says, "OOC As you prefer it; IIRC her signal-boosting past
normal ranges was pretty noticable, so probably just trump to Yig."

Beowulf says, "OOC Unless he gets any 'bad feelings[tm]' about it.
o.o;;"

John says, "OOC That's fine."

====
====

Beowulf trumps to Yig, then trumps Mitsune.

There's a long pause, but right as you're about to give up, she takes
the call.  Oddly, you can hear her, but you can't see her.  "Hello,
Beowulf," she says softly.

Beowulf says, "Hello, Mitsune," he replies just as softly. Some
embarrassment leaks through the sorrow in his voice. "I forgot to ask
you for Morkeleb back... but maybe that's just as well, because there's
a couple of things I wanted to say." The sorrow takes over his voice
again.

Beowulf says, "I... well, I'm sure you know, but I wanted to say that if
you ever need someone, for anything, your sister and I are here for you.
Always."

She says, "I know.  Thank you, Beowulf.  I'll always come when you need
me if I can."

Beowulf says, "And... I'm not sure I have the right to say this, but
I'll say it anyway."

Her voice is very shakey.

Beowulf says, "I'm... proud..." His voice starts shaking as well.
"...very proud... to have known you, and of what you've done, since you
first came along with us."

Beowulf continues; you can hear the tears in his voice. "I talked to
your father before we left, to see if he had any ideas for talking you
out of coming. I thought you would get yourself or us in trouble. I was
wrong. You proved me wrong in every way."

Beowulf says, "You're... you're one of the best people I've ever known.
With everything that's happened... I wanted to say that. While I still
have the chance. That's all."

She says, "I'm not a very good person.  I try, but..."  She sighs.  "But
thank you, Beowulf.  You're a very good man.  Most of us would have been
dead if you hadn't repeatedly let yourself be hurt instead of us.

She continues, "There aren't many people who can be that selfless."

Beowulf shakes his head. "I tried, but..." He chokes up for a moment,
and stays silent a long time. "A-anyway... you're probably busy or
something, since I can't see you, so I'll let you go." His voice seems
to tear up again. "Take care."

She says, "I'm sort of naked at the moment."  She sounds embarrassed. 
"But hold on, let me get Morkeleb for you."

There's some fumbling noises, and then her hand thrusts out of the
darkness, holding it. "Don't blame yourself, Beowulf.  We never should
have gone there in the first place, but once we did..."  She sighs.  "If
Annadil ever gets out of the Gate of Revolution, I'm going to crawl up
his ass and explode inside him."

Beowulf blushes. A lot. Lily seems to have cured his shyness with her,
but not anyone else... "Um. Right. No need to if you're... um. All
right." He takes Morkeleb.

Her hand brushes against yours for a moment as she passes it.  "I'm in
my vacation house shadow right now, if you need to come find me at some
point, in case I can't take time to answer trumps."

Beowulf says, "If he does, I'll be right there with you, pounding him
from the outside. Heck, if I ever do make it Outside after that fucking
Master Spikard, and run into him, I'll do it then too."

Beowulf nods. "Yes. And, well, Aeris can always find us if you need --"
His voice cracks. "Well, she should always be able to find us if you
need us."

====
====

Beowulf says, "OOC This group is going to have a lot of twitches for
quite some time. ;_;"

Kanna OOCly patpats.

====
====

Mitsune says, "Indeed.  I pray I never walk into a trap like that
again."

Mitsune says, "I pray none of us ever do."

Beowulf says, "I pray to, well, all the Powers of Good that no one ever
walks into a trap like that again. Unfortunately... I doubt that it'll
hold true. I just hope... someone's there to defend them, and that they
can manage to all make it out alive."

Mitsune says, "I suppose in infinite shadow, there's infinite death
traps."  She seems very displeased at the thought.

Beowulf nods slowly. "And there's no hope of ever getting them all. But
at least we can try to destroy the ones we know about. Like the Tharkold
construct... I was going to go after the battleship be-before all this
happened, but now I want to take that thing out. Smash it into the
ground, before it can hurt anyone else."

Beowulf says, "I think Kanna mentioned going to track it down at some
point. I'm going to try and hook up with her after... after..."

Beowulf takes a deep breath, then another. "After the funeral."

Mitsune nods, though you can't see her.  "How soon is the funeral?"

======
======

Beowulf asks, "OOC Do we have a date yet?"

John says, "OOC Not yet, although you might want to do it on day 77, as
the holiday is going to be wrecked anyway and a lot of preps for a big
fancy event is already set up."

Kanna OOCly says, "how convenient."

Beowulf OOCly hmms. What would Lily, as Master of the Revels, think of
that idea?

Beowulf says, "OOC As she would probably be the one deciding on
canceling the holiday."

John says, "OOC Lily thinks that's likely wisest, as no one is going to
be in the mood to celebrate."

Beowulf says, "OOC It sounds like a good idea to me otherwise."

Kanna OOCly says, "(especially when the -other- death gets reported.
-.-; )"

Beowulf OOCly nods, and it would make sense to combine the two, IMHO.

======
======

Beowulf says, "Probably... on the day of the anniversary. As I doubt
anyone will be in the mood to celebrate... though we probably should
have some notice of it, as a reminder that Life Goes On."

Beowulf seems to sag. "It has to. I hope."

Mitsune says, "I should be ready by then."  She sighs.  "Do you need my
help with the preparations?"

Beowulf says, "If you want to help... we'd be honored. But if you need
the time alone, we can probably handle it. Unicorn knows you deserve to
do whatever you want, right now."

She says, "I think I need some more time.  But if you need me, give me a
call."

Beowulf nods. "We'll do that." He makes a mental note to check with Lily
and see if it would be good to pull her in later, to help get her
involved with people again.

"Then I'll see you later, I guess."

Beowulf sighs, and a note of embarrassment creeps into his voice again.
"And I'm probably keeping you from your sleep. Take care, Mitsune."

She says, "Don't worry about it.  See ya, Beowulf."

Beowulf closes the connection.

Okay, what be next?

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC At this point, it's probably more running around with
funeral preperations, checking with the others most involved to see if
they have a problem with having it on the holiday, until we catch up
with Kanna."

Beowulf says, "OOC Other preps, etc. etc. until we catch up with Kanna."

=====
=====

You spend several days making the arrangements.  Yumi and Rimururu also
assist you in this, and tell you that they've arranged for Shizumaru to
get a pass to come to the funeral.

Beowulf nods in gratitude, and asks if anyone had had any luck with
trading the LogrusFoil for Shizumaru's freedom.

"The King is considering the offer."

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "I hadn't expected it to, but the convo also gave a nice
opening to finesse him changing goals from the battleship to Tharkold.
o.o" to you.

You page, "Yay. *wl*" to The_Prof.

=====
=====

Yumi continues, "Oh yes, Kanna has apparently returned successfully from
Cathuria."

She further continues, "Apparently, she's gone down to Chaos, although
I'm not sure why."

Beowulf nods. "Good; I'm glad he's considering it. He deserves his
freedom, and... it's what Moriya would have wanted." He blinks. "She
did? She has?"

Beowulf asks, "Did it seem like she knew.. what happened?"

=====
=====

You page, "[Kanna] No, 'cause her player's a fool who got too far ahead
of everybody else. *fwl* [Philip] Hush, you got enough dramatics out of
things as it is... [Kanna] *bap*" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Heh. :)" to you.

=====
=====

Yumi says, "I don't know if she's heard the news or not."

Beowulf sighs. "I suppose I had best let her know, then." He slumps a
little, then straightens up, an angry determined look on his face. "And
I was hoping I could hook up with her to go after the Tharkold
construct. That thing needs to be wiped from the face of the universe."

Yumi nods. "Yes, it most certainly does need to be removed."

=====
=====

Beowulf asks, "OOC Where are we at the moment?"

John says, "OOC Hrm.  I'm going to say you're probably in Amber."

Kanna OOCly nods.

=====
=====

Akemi pages, "Oh, did I tell you the really silly idea I had about why
Kanna didn't hear about this earlier?" to you.

You page, "Oh?  What would that be? *wl*" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "That the horny patternghosts were still in control of
Amber, and they didn't know about it.  But that they'd worked off their
mad hormones by that point, so they weren't obviously fakes :)" to you.

You page, "(and fyi... more diary entries up, not real timeline update
up, save for placeholders).  Well, I suppose that's plausable enough, as
long as they were cleared out once Kanna started being mobile again with
Ruka, talking to Tylor, etc. *wl* (and also, as I recall, you said Gaby
had prevented the effect from hitting Ember, too, which means Corrine
was just kept out of the loop due to all the ghosts (and her trump to
Tylor would have been normal, so perhaps she heard, or not. *shrug*).)"
to Akemi.

In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC Well. Looks like I'm trumping back to Yig again, as
soon as I finish talking."

John says, "OOC You're just bouncing like a rubberband :)"

=====
=====

Beowulf nods. "I know now isn't a good time, but a-after... if you've
heard anything about it, or your husband has any information that might
be relevant, I'd appreciate it if you could let me know."

She says, "I'm afraid I don't know anything about it, but you never can
be sure what Travis will find on something, so it wouldn't hurt to ask
him."

Beowulf nods. "I'll do that... after."

Beowulf's mind returns to Kanna. "I wonder what Kanna's doing down in
Chaos? I thought after last time, she said she'd never go back unless
the need is urgent." He frowns. "I'd better call her right away; it
sounds like it could be important."

Yumi nods.  "Alright."

Beowulf says, "Please give Lily and the others my apologies; I'll get
back as soon as I find out what's going on."

Yumi says, "Not a problem, Beowulf."

Beowulf nods. "See you in a little bit." He trumps to Yig, and tries
trumping Kanna.

=====
=====

You page, "Would trumping while I'm napping be enough to kick me towards
waking?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Hmm.  Sure, it happened to Merlin once." to you.

You page, "(as I also remember the trumping occoring that morning from
Mystery Trumper #1, which woke Kanna up.)" to Akemi.

=====
=====

You page, "Waiting to see from the GM wether or not trumping could wake
Kanna up from crash-napping. *wl*" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Heh. :)" to you.

The_Prof pages, "Or whether Bey sends himself into trouble again. x.x"
to you.

You page, "No, this wouldn't be sent into trouble.  Gainax, yes, but not
trouble." to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "You'll excuse me if I'm a bit paranoid about the
possibility right now. <twitch>" to you.

======
======

There's no reply for.. rather longer than you might expect.  But before
you can cut the connection out of worry that she might be blocked, the
trump opens up, revealing Kanna, who stares at Beowulf, blue eyes
blurry. "... bey?"

Kanna, from what you can see through the trump connection, appears to be
wrapped in a cocoon of blankets, having just sat up in them.  She
looks... worn down, and the faint smears of tear-streaks mar her cheeks.

Beowulf says, "Kanna?" He mutters curses to himself, seeming to have
made a habit of waking people up when trumping lately. "Are you all
right?" He sounds fairly worried.

Beowulf groans, as he takes in Kanna's appearence. "Something *is*
wrong."

Beowulf says, "I remmeber after the *last* trip, you said you'd probably
not go back to Chaos unless there was something serious going on."

Kanna barks a short, sad, bitter laugh.  "... no bey.  I'm not all
right."  Her free hand reaches out of the connection.  "... and to put
it bluntly... something has."  She winces at her own words.  "Step
through, please.. you need to hear this face to face, not through
trump."  She opens her eyes again, and looks at Beowulf desperately,
almost -pleadingly-.

====
====

You page, "(I guess in this case, Ruka'll be in the room, looking
worriedly at Kanna, then, but not in the trump convo.)" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Yeps" to you.

====
====

Beowulf nods. "Of course." He looks pretty bad, face drawn and weary,
looking much older than you've ever seen him. "I... also have some bad
news that needs to be given face to face." He takes Kanna's hand and
comes through.

Kanna pales, even as she pulls Beowulf through.  "... what?"  She stares
at him, her eyes widening, looking up at him in concern.  Ruka sits
nearby.

Kanna is still wrapped up and tangled in her sheets.  Her sword belt,
the Knife, and her pack leans against the near wall.

Beowulf moves down to their level, seeming to collapse more than sit.
"I... well, there's no good way to sugar-coat this, if you haven't
heard. Moriya was killed a few days ago." His expression goes inwards in
self-reproach. "I wasn't able to save him."

Beowulf looks around, taking in the rest of their surroundings.

Kanna sucks in a breath, her eyes practically widening to saucers. 
"..... -nooo-....." she says, but it's more a whimper of despair as she
trembles slightly, looking at Ruka.

Ruka stares at the floor.  "Not another death," he says dully.

Kanna manages to extricate her other arm to pull Ruka close, to help
support -him- this time around, though she's clearly not in the best of
shape herself.

"Oh, no," Beowulf murmurs quietly, seeming to collapse inwards before
pulling himself up. "Another?

Beowulf moves over to add his support to the two.

Ruka leans against Kanna and says, "Lian is probably dead, lost in the
Abyss.  Of course, without a body we can't be sure, but..."

Kanna finds her voice again.  "Anno... says that Hoard of the Dragon has
been destroyed.   And he fears the worst for Lian."

Kanna swallows, and nods, having said that about the same time Ruka did.

Kanna says, "... he's... trying to find out, but...."  She shudders
again, tears once again collecting near the corner of her eyes.  "... I
-felt- it, Beowulf.  Soon after I got home in Ember."

Beowulf looks on in shock, stunned, his mouth opening and closing with
no words coming out. "...Lian?" finally emerges in a thready whisper.
Then his expression hardens. "How? When?"

Beowulf asks, "How many days ago?"

Kanna says, "... yesterday.  'bout midday or so.  She'd said she was
heading to th' Abyss to try and see about getting Uncle White out... she
apparently got some support from Hendrake, got a few knights... and that
was it."

Kanna says, "we just got here today and found out about Hoard from
Anno-sama, 'cause yesterday I ended up not being in shape to do
-anything-."

Beowulf collapses completely, the self-loathing expression returning
redoubled. "Yesterday. I was going to call her about those microfusion
engines... if I'd called her..." Tears start running down his face.

Kanna doesn't seem to have quite parsed the fact that Moriya Is Dead
yet, but that could be just despair-lag, or the fact that Beowulf needs
more support now.  She works her free arm around to hug him close, on
the opposite side of her from ruka.

====
====

You page, "Thought he already had, and that Lian had picked 'em up for
the Black Moon, actually. *wl*" to Akemi and The_Prof.

You page, "(as there were notes in the Big Log of him having called
while we were in dragon-transit.)" to Akemi and The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Nope... Bey left 'em with Makoto and left with Moriya
immediately, since Moriya'd helped him disassemble the thing." to you
and Akemi.

====
====

Ruka says, "It likely wouldn't have mattered.  Except perhaps to drag
you down into the Abyss with her."

Kanna nods, mutely.

"...and if we'd lost you -and- Lian..." Kanna trembles again.  "... I've
lost one lover, I couldn't stand to lose a brother, too..." She shifts
slightly, and kisses Beowulf on the near cheek.

Beowulf says, "Maybe. Maybe not. When I was up at Panopticon with..." He
chokes up for a moment. "With Moriya, I heard from one of the professors
about a new design for an Abyss diving bell he was working on..."

Kanna whispers, "Damnit.  All but for timing and circumstance. 
-dammnit-..."

Beowulf says, "...and that battleship had an Abyss engine... if I'd just
gone after that *first*, we would have had it to use..."

Beowulf just lies there for a moment. "But it's too late now."

Kanna looks at Beowulf.  "But would we have been able to take it down,
with things as they are?  With its Outsider weaponry and such?  I don't
even know WHAT to do about this situation anymore, it's progressed so
far out of my experience and knowledge..." She nods again, and squeezes
Bey's hand, mostly gently.

Beowulf winces as she squeezes, as arms are a bit of a sensitive subject
right now. "I'm not sure. Heck, after what we did with Mobius' Sphinx,
if we'd had good enough intelligence beforehand, we could have pattern
teleported into it and --" His voice breaks, and he looks like he'd
collapse further if he were'nt already as far down as he could go.

Ruka says, "Most naval vessels are vulnerable to an attack on their
bridge."

"Especially ones involving highly centralized power."

Beowulf recites in a monotone, "Pattern teleport. Bad."

Kanna says, "Provided they don't have a backup."  She frowns.

Kanna blinks at Beowulf.

Beowulf keeps robotically repeating. "Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad. Bad..."

Kanna asks, quietly, carefully.  "... what happened?"

====
====

You page, "Interesting.  The cure for Kanna being hyper-depressed.. give
her somebody else that's going through hell.  Gives her focus. *wl*" to
The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Yah. Always works that way, it seems. Like the other's
misery pulled Bey out of his self-reproach when they arrived bearing
Moriya's body." to you.

====
====

Beowulf starts reciting, quietly, robotically, the entire litany. The
Pattern Teleport into hell. The chase across the desert. The battle
through the campus of Death. The Library. Shinobu Minor's shift into
Utena. Moriya's brave fight against Hemingway. Moriya's death.

Kanna listens stoically... okay, not fully stoically, but not laying
blame or asking prodding annoying questions, either.  Finally, once he's
done, she looks at Beowulf for a long, tense moment.

Kanna then lets go of Ruka, carefully... and pulls Beowulf into a full,
solid hug.

Ruka looks pale after you finish.  "Fires of the blazing desert," he
mumbles, then more clearly says, "What a waste."  He sighs.  "But at
least he got to go down fighting."

Beowulf seems to just hold motionless in Kanna's hug for a moment,
before seeming to come alive and returning the hug.

Beowulf says, "From what Mitsune said... it was an incredible fight, and
he did one of the bravest things I've ever heard of to win it. But going
down fighting... still means going down."

Beowulf bows his head.

Kanna says, "That you got through with as many as you did, Beowulf...
it's a miracle," murmuring softly and running her hand through his hair.
 "... I've lost too many family members in the last week.  One... two...
one is too many, two is too much."  She shudders again.  "...I would not
have wanted to explain to sis that her daughter had died, nor to the
rest..."  She quiets, and bows her head as well.

Ruka nods, sighing.  "Exactly."

=====
=====

Akemi updates her @doing: Miroku needs nookie, badly.

Beowulf OOCly thwaps the GM.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "This is a bad week for Amber. For Chaos. For us all."

Beowulf finally raises his head, and looks around again. "So... you're
here looking to see what you can find out about Lian?"

Kanna sighs, and nods.  "Yes," she murmurs.  "And yet we still go on. 
We HAVE to.  We have no other choice, and it's what they'd have wanted,
what they'd do if one of us had fallen on the same path. I just .. just
wish..."  She shakes her head again, and coughs.

Kanna nods.  "Anno-sama said he was looking into it.  he hopes to have
word in a day... but anything that could have taken out Hoard... I
shudder to think what might have done it."

Kanna says, "Sis is offline to here, so... nobody back home has likely
heard, yet."

Kanna says, "I got a rock to throw into that damnable place in case we
need to get Dread Pirate Demetrius... but given Lian's loss, and now
-Moriya's-..."  She sighs, lookign agreeived.  "... we may very well
have to reevaluate priorities."

Kanna looks sickened that she even has to -say- those words.  Some days
it sucks to be a Crown Princess.

Beowulf nods, slowly. "Yes. Nobody home knows. I've been... helping
organize the funeral, with Lily and Yumi, the last few days."

Kanna says, "Mom probably suspects, but would have been waiting on word.
 As she was there when ... I had my breakdown."  She sighs.  "when's the
funeral scheduled?" she continues, in a quieter voice.

Beowulf sighs. "Yes. Personal isn't the same as important," he says
quietly, staring down at his feet.

Ruka says, "Well, if the pirate can find the White Knight on his own, it
might be best to hire him now while we're already here."

Beowulf says, "It's scheduled for the anniversary day. As... no one
wants to celebrate now, but all the preparations for an... occasion," he
spits the word, "are in place."

Kanna says, "If he comes in a timely fasion.  But I'd be doubtful on
wanting to accompany him just yet.  Or if he comes, hold him in reserve
until we have need of his services, or find other jobs for him."

Kanna sighs again, and hugs Beowulf once more.

Beowulf asks, "I remember you or your mother saying something about this
Abyss Pirate, I think, when we were talking about how to free her
other-universal sisters from Hel... you're ready to do it?"

"It will serve as a reminder, beowulf," she says quietly.  "That ever
success is born on the sacrifice of others... weither in time, energy...
or the ultimate level, of life."

Beowulf nods, and hugs Kanna back, and pauses.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "OOC Ultimate 'leve'? o.o"

Kanna OOCly says, ""Ultimate level""

Beowulf says, "OOC Oh, right. I thought it was a typo for 'ultimate
love', and was trying to figure that one out. o.o"

=====
=====

Kanna looks up at Beowulf again.  "More for the retreival of the White
Knight, who would help to strengthen Tir'na'nog, and the Air pattern,
the element Hel is weakest against.  But if his skills could help in
that matter as well... so much the better."

Beowulf nods. "That... would be helpful. Have you talked to Grandmother
Anthy about it yet?"

Kanna says, "I asked her before... all this.  Back before that damn
game.  She said it couldn't hurt matters any by tossing the rock in and
seeing if he responded."

Kanna says, "My major concern, however, is that last I knew he was in
the universe of Avalon, but..." She shrugs.

Beowulf nods. "I suppose so. Well, there's nothing for it but to try
it."

Kanna nods.  "Yes.  Not just yet, but... soon, I should think."  She
rubs her brow, looking frustrated, and depressed.  "Just a day ago, I
was riding the high of having reached Cathuria, having given Merehallow
to Aunt Juri, having actually MET my real Aunt Juri, and seeing the City
of Dreams, telling mom about what I had seen... and then it all came
crashing down."  She sighs.  "Damnit."

Kanna pauses, as she remembers something. "... i do have a souveneir for
you, though."

=====
=====

You page, "Oh, what's bey's favorite colors?" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Hm. Probably blue and silver." to you.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "But one thing..." He looks over in the direction Kanna
looked at when she mentioned the Abyss. "I am DAMN well not letting you
go down there right now. Not... after losing Lian like that. Not without
making a lot more preparations."

Kanna looks back at Beowulf.  "Like, -DUHHH-?"  A little bit of her old
humor returns to her expression, and the faintest hint of a smile.

Kanna says, "I may be many things, Beowulf Kohl... but momma didn't
raise me to be needlessly suicidal." She looks slightly wry.

Beowulf nods. "And I had just finished taking down Mobius and his
construct, with the best help possible from Shinobu and Keitaro..." a
little smile creeps back into his face. "You should have seen them,
dressed like Chicago mobsters."

Kanna then shifts over, and rummages in her pack while still seated on
the bed. She pulls out a cloth bundle.  She giggles a little bit.  "I
can draw 'em later... I can see it in my mind...."

Kanna then hands the blue-fabric cloth bundle to Beowulf.  There seems
to be something inside it.

Beowulf looks at the bundle, and blinks. "Um?"

Kanna says, "Issa -present-, Beowulf.  G'wan, open it," she says with
exxagerated patience.

Beowulf smiles hesitantly, looking happier then he must have in days.
"Um? OK..." He unwraps the present.

Inside the cloth bundle is a little model flying zeppelin (and yes, it's
capable of flight).  The cloth bundle -itself- is a T-shirt in Bey's
size, silver lettering on blue fabric: "My Aunt and Sister Went To
Cathuria and All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt." (printed in much smaller
text below that is "(and a zeppelin.)" )

Kanna watches, smiling, visibly happy that Bey's looking a bit better
than he was.

Beowulf blinks. Then snerks. Then starts laughing, like someone who
really feels guilty about laughing in the middle of things like this but
really can't help himself, and needed the release. He finally runs down
a few moments later.

Kanna giggles softly, and then then starts to laugh, hugging Ruka as she
laughs some more, calming before Beowulf does, but glad there's at least
-some- light here in all the darkness.

Ruka smiles softly, but does not laugh.

Beowulf collapses back against the nearest bundle of stuff, now actually
looking relaxed instead of just broken. "Thank you. I needed that."

Kanna smiles softly, still hugging ruka.  "I somewhat figured."  She
lets out a breath, and does, indeed, look better that she has in the
past few days.  "We can't change the past... but we can carry on, and
find joy where and how we can, when we can.  Because that's the way life
is... and that's how I think they'd have wanted it."  She smiles over at
Ruka, and then gently kisses him.  Why?  Just because.

Ruka now laughs.  "Thanks."

Beowulf smiles slightly. "I suppose so."

Beowulf takes a deep breath, then lets it out slowly, the drawn look
slowly returning to his face. "Well. So... what now? I need to return to
Amber and finish preparing for the funeral." He closes his eyes and
swallows, then looks at them, sad but more at peace. "A double funeral,
now, it seems."

Beowulf says, "As if anyone tries to suggest that Lian doesn't deserve
to be honored along with Amber's finest, I will personally make them
sorry they *ever* thought that."

Kanna grins.  "You're welcome, dear." She glances over at Beowulf.  "I
know so.  Let's face it, if I stayed too depressed for -too- long, Lian
would come back and kick my ass for being depressed."  She considers
this for a moment.  "Which may be worth it, but..." She shrugs, and
sighs, now looking more thoughtful and pensive.  "How fast do you need
to get back?  I should hope rock-chucking wouldn't take -too- long, but
there's really nothing else I -can- do here... the Abyss is out of my
ambit, and there's too many other things to do."

Kanna nods at Beowulf's words.

====
====

Kanna OOCly says, "(also, it be getting later for the player, here. *wl*
)"

====
====

Ruka says, "I would suggest that we go down to the Abyss as soon as
possible and get it over with."

Beowulf nods. "I think I can stay long enough to chuck the rock; I told
Yumi I was going to find out what happened to you, and she's covering
for me until I get back."

Beowulf asks, "Are you coming back to Amber with me once we do?"

Beowulf blinks, as something strikes him. "Um"

Kanna nods.  "I... will need to tell Thropan on Jade what happened...
but he'll want to attend the funeral.  I can't see him doing otherwise."
She blinks.  "Eh?"

Beowulf asks, "This is one of those
'chuck-the-rock-in-and-wait-for-a-reply' things, right?"

Kanna ehehs.  "As far as I know, yes.  Unless there's parts to it I
don't know -- perhaps Anno-sama could set somebody to keep watch, or
something."

Kanna scratches her cheek.  "Really, the spell was duplicated off of the
pirate's business card, and I wasn't around for it."

Beowulf asks, "Um. And you don't know how long it's going to be, or
where he's going to show up?"

=====
=====

You page, "What DO I know about the business card or the workings of
that spell, -anyway-?  I suppose mom may've told me in her stories,
after she got a chance to have others look at it..." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Basically, you put the spell on a rock and throw it in the
Abyss, and then Demetrius will contact you within a day or two.  Best to
add something to the rock indicating where he should contact you." to
you.

You page, "Like a place-trump or some-such, or instructions on how to
get there via Shadow-walking?" to Akemi.

In a page-pose to you, Akemi nods

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "I have this horrible vision of you chucking the rock in,
and coming up to Amber for the funeral, and having the Abyss Pirate show
up in the middle of it."

Kanna says, "eehheh."

Kanna says, "That would be... unfortuante."

Kanna scratches her cheek again.  "Oh, wait... -now- I remember."

Kanna says, "Basically, you put the spell on a rock, toss it into the
Abyss, and hopefully he'd contact us in a day or two.  Perhaps more,
depending on how far the rock'd have to travel -in- that place. 
However, adding something to the rock indicating where we can be
contacted helps... like a Place-trump, or instructions to a location in
Shadow."

Beowulf nods. "And what is the contact information you put into this
one?"

=====
=====

You page, "when you're saying 'add something to the rock', you mean
strapping something onto it?  or did Corrine already put something on
there for a location to meet?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Strap something on or carve something into the rock." to
you.

You page, "Having demetrius show up in a place where we have control
over the Shadow (like, oh, say, Jade, or Mechanus), where if need be we
could shut off Abyss Power, would be a Good Idea?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "That might be a good idea, yes." to you.

You page, "(and my control-level for Jade/earth-realm/retreat is such
that I -can- flip the powers on and off, yes?)" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "I believe so." to you.

You page, "then that'll be likely... I figure we go and plan specifics
to be encoded next session, as we're getting to 1 am or so right now.
*wl*" to Akemi.

In a page-pose to you, Akemi nopds

=====
=====

Kanna blinks at that, and rummages in her pack for the rock.

Kanna says, "... nothing, yet.  You either need to strap or carve
something into the rock to make the contact information."  She looks
embarrased.  "I'll admit, I wasn't thinking -too- far ahead on this, to
tell the truth, given everything."

Beowulf nods thoughtfully. "I can understand that, given everything. But
perhaps it's for the best."

Beowulf says, "You mentioned that Grandfather might be willing to keep
an eye out for him?" He sighs. "I'm not sure if he's coming for the
funeral... but I'm guessing not. If he's willing, you could put his
information in as the contact."

Kanna nods.  'As far as locations go... a place where we have control
over the Shadow proper... what powers can be used there... would be
best.  Not Amber or Ember... or Chaos... but perhaps Jade, or
Mechanus..." She frowns, as a thought occurs to her.  "More likely
Jade."   She sighs.  "As the last I saw, Mechanus wasn't in the best of
shape."  She then looks over at Beowulf.  "More that I mentioned that I
thought he might.  We'd honestly need to ask him.

Beowulf nods. "I suggest we ask him, then. He might be able to suggest
someone if he can't help himself."

Beowulf freezes, and does a mental double-take. "What happened to
Mechanus?"

Kanna sighs, and takes a deep breath.  "basically... remember the Black
Unicorn folks?"

Beowulf nods. "Um, right?"

Kanna says, "Well, they went and put their entire flawed Amber inside a
Construct War Train, overran Shalomar Naval base to get at Merehallow,
captured myself, Aunt Kozue, and had to hand over Merehallow to get
-out-... and then we set a trap in mechanus to lure them out and get
Aunt Kozue and Merehallow -back-."

Beowulf covers his eyes and sighs. "What fun."

Kanna sighs again.  "Unfortunately, in the process, in trying to stop
the War Train from totally destroying the Metal Rune and the Sunheart,
Motoko and Davros and Kuonji had to nuke and torpedo the war train...
and it ripped apart the main hull of Mechanus."

Kanna says, "Lian had set some stuff up to rebuild things in her
absence, but... for a while there, Alpha complex and the Metal rune were
-orbiting- its sun and broken fire pattern."

Beowulf sighs, but at least this time there's no corrosive undertone to
it. "I see. And the people?"

Kanna says, "For what it's worth, the Black Unicorn is now DEAD.  The
last I saw, its flawed patternss were scattered through shadow."

Kanna says, "Lian evacced everyody before we got down and dirty, yes."

Beowulf snarls. "All dead? *Good.*" You don't recall ever seeing him
snarl at anything, now that you think about it.

Kanna nods, grimly.  She doesn't comment if she has or not, before.

Kanna says, "As far as we know, yes."

Kanna says, "Patternwalking breifly to confirm would be a good idea, but
... later, I should think."

Beowulf nods grimly. "Yes. Later. There are some things out there that
need to be torn into very very small flinders, and any surviving Black
Unicorn things are on that list... but down a bit from the top."

Beowulf looks directly at Kanna. "If I remember correctly, you were
planning on tracking down the Tharkold construct at some point, yes?"

Kanna nods. "Yes.  Lian tried, but got ... side-railed by having to deal
with the Borg, insteaad.  For what it's worth, the Borg are now... well,
were-are-something hers, but I'd be loathe to use them against the
construct given they were led astray once already."

Kanna says, "And we'd probably have to face up against Cthugah -again-,
and without Cousin Hiko to help seal him if he appears... though perhaps
we could get special dispensation from Alars.  I don't know."

Beowulf says, "Indeed. Once burned --" He winces, and rubs his arms.
"Well, not *always* twice shy, but still better not to take chances when
you can avoid it."

Kanna says, "I've already got ONE major Outsider Pissed Off at me, I
don't want to tempt things much fuher."

Ruka nods.  "Quite."

Ruka says, "I have never met an Outsider, and I hope not to meet one."

Kanna shudders, and nods.  "I hope you never end up meeting one either,
Ruka.  Sadly, it seems -my- duty ends up throwing me up against them
more often than I want."

Beowulf nods. "Dealing with the Outsiders is the biggest problem, yes.
We were able to take care of the one that tried to come through when
Mobius' construct was destroyed by pushing through a massive Logrus bomb
that Lily made."

Beowulf looks briefly heavenward. "Thank all the Powers of Good for
Lily."

Kanna mmms.  "We didn't have any Logrus support during the attack on
Tharkold, but at the time, well, perhaps that's for the best.  Any intel
it would've taken from that attack wouldn't count such for later."  She
hehs a bit, and nods at Beyowulf.

=====
=====

You page, "What, Bey didn't notice that kanna commented about having an
outsider personally pissed off at her? :)" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "It hasn't registered yet. o.o" to you.

=====
=====

Beowulf says, "Anyway... I plan on going after the construct after...
after the funeral."

Kanna nods.  "Probably for the best, Bey.  Pyricorn and Serpent knows
we'll need to take a step or two back to regroup and reevaluate our
resources and people available FOR this sort of effort."

Kanna says, "Any aid I or Ember or Jade and Earth-realm can provide,
Beowulf... you shall have it."

Kanna says, "If nothing else, I have the Knife back in my hands.  And
just having it nearby is reassuring."

Ruka says, "I would expect it could be used to prevent an Outsider
breech."

Beowulf nods. "I suppose so. But I'm going after it. Period." He growls
a bit. "I have had enough of deathtraps killing off my family. Or trying
to kill off my family."

Beowulf blinks. "Reassuring?"

Beowulf asks, "Did I miss something?"

=====
=====

The_Prof pages, "This should clue Kanna in that he was preoccupied with
some mental image and Kanna-as-Outsider-bait didn't register. o.o" to
you.

You page, "Ah, right. :)" to The_Prof.

=====
=====

Kanna scratches her cheek.  "What, that the Windwalker was pissed off at
me and Lian for killing his 'Chosen One', and the fact that I later
poked him in the palm with Merehallow on the way to Cathuria probably
didn't help his opinion of me any?"

Beowulf blinks. "You did *what*?!?"

Kanna looks at Beowulf, hands spread out.  "He was blocking the way and
trying to grab our ride through Lian's Elder Sign Shield!  Uncle Touga
-told- me to poke him when he grabbed!  Thank the pyricorn I thought to
strap the patternblade to my wrist... though he almost took my hand off
when he plummeted away...."

Kanna says, "But Lian felt that he'd likely try to come back for an
encore, sooooo....."

Beowulf covers his eyes. "I see. Well."

Kanna looks over at the Knife again.

Beowulf says, "I once had a friend who said that a person's worth was
measured by the caliber of his enemies." He blinks.

=====
=====

You page, "Lian said that, didn't she. *fwl*" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Nope, Mike. :)" to you.

You page, "Ahh. :)" to The_Prof.

=====
=====

Kanna says, "Well, they don't get much higher than the Outsiders. 
Though personally I'd pass on the 'honor' and just toil in obscurity
instead."

Beowulf says, "There are times when I'd rather decline the honor.
Still." He sighs. "I suppose there is some truth to it, in an
uncomfortable fashion."

Beowulf asks, "I take it that means you wouldn't feel comfortable coming
along?"

Kanna shakes her head, and pats Bey on the shoulder.  "No, I mean to say
I want to see this through to the end.  Lian would've wanted it that
way."

Beowulf sighs. "Goodness knows I wouldn't blame you, and I can
understand. But I'd miss having you along."

Kanna says, "'sides, sis would probably want a chance to go and smack
Cthugha down again, and if Windy shows, well..."

Beowulf looks up at her, smiling a bit. "Ahh. Well, I'm glad." He frowns
a bit. "Your sister... well."

Kanna sighs, and pinches the bridge of her nose.  "yes, I know her stock
isn't high.  And I still can't fully fathom why she did what she did
when she did.  But... she's my sister, dammit, and I shall treat her as
such to the end and ask for her aid when it is needed and can be put to
the best use."

Beowulf sighs in return. "I know, and I wouldn't ask you to do
otherwise. I'm not going to try and pick a fight with her. But I'm also
not to the point where I can forgive her, either, especially as long as
she keeps denying that she did anything wrong."

Kanna sighs.  "Which is the crux of the matter, as she can be as
stubborn as anybody else in the family."  She manages a slight, sad
smile.  "Probably the strongest proof she -is- a person, -is- human...
if not the usual way we're accustomed to."

Kanna reaches over, and places a hand on Bewoulf's.  "And I'm not asking
for a miraculous reconciliation, either.... I... I just want the
possibility left open, 'k?  Life's... life's just too damn short to
carry grudges for eternity."

Beowulf nods. "Hell yes. Machines you shut down and debug when they go
bad. People you argue with and try to change their mind. I respect her
that much, at least."

Kanna NODS.

=====
=====

You page, "Don't mind us, just getting Kanna and Bey up to date. *wl*"
to Chris.

In a page-pose to you, Chris grins. "I guessed."

=====
=====

Beowulf sighs. "Anyway. Shall we call Grandfather?"

Kanna says, "Well, we're in Gainax proper.  Probably best to go and
physically look for him.  If we have need of making a trump, Aeris can
pull places from my mind without problems."

Kanna says, "I lived on Jade for twenty years, my memories of the place
are pretty strong."  She grins a bit.

====================================
====================================

Kanna OOCly says, "(translation --- player must head to bed, so we do
anno-hookup/rock-throwing/other things tomorrow/etc.)"

John says, "OOC Righto.  We cut so you sleep, then, I assume? :)"

Kanna OOCly says, "Yesssssss. :)"

Beowulf OOCLy nods. :)

Beowulf says, "OOC I'm a bit better off because the boss said I could
come in late after driving so late, but I should probably sleep soon as
well."

Kanna OOCly nods. Anyway, bed for me and stuff. *wl*

Beowulf says, "OOC Sleep well, then. :)"

Kanna OOCly punches out.

Beowulf OOCly waves.

John says, "OOC G'nite, Phil."

======
======

You page, "Oh, what's the order of the elemental shadows, clockwise,
from the north, in the keep of the five worlds?" to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Hrm, I never thought about it.  ^^;;;" to you.

You page, "As I'm thinking the Moriya/Mitsune Fred Perry pic should be
them on the ramparts of the keep." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "Cool idea." to you.

Akemi pages, "Just make up something that seems right to you :)" to you.

You page, "Well, as I recall from the descriptions of the first keep
assault and what was next to what, it seemed to go : Water, then Wood,
then Metal, then Fire, and the Air ave." to Akemi.

Akemi pages, "I believe that's correct" to you.

=======
=======

You page, "And I wonder when Bey'll parse Kanna's mention of 'I've
already lost one lover, I don't want to lose a brother as well', though
I can understand why it'd be lost int he shuffle. ;)" to The_Prof.

The_Prof pages, "Um, yah. :)" to you.

=======
=======

You page, "Annyway, night. *fwl* seeya whenever, prolly tomorrow night,
depending on time, etc." to Chris.

Chris pages, "G'nite, then. :)" to you.

======
======