voicetest the voiceless

[focusedvoid]

They're not dead.

Less dead than they'd felt, at least. Their shell doesn't normally take so long to reform.

Then again. Their shell doesn't usually break of their own violation as they ascended in a boiling rage, ate at least one realm, a god, and all the Godseekers.

(That last point is debatable, actually. There's some odd sense, deep under their...shell? Void? Wherever they once stored things like Isma's Tear, much deeper now...that the sea-mind is still there, sluggish and held in a stasis. They're already adjusting enough, and they don't seem to be dying or trying to kill them, so that problem is neatly sorted as 'for later'.)

They push their body to stand. Their horn clangs uncomfortably loudly against the grate they've apparently woken up beneath. They're somewhere in the Royal Waterways. A quick check of the map--or, not so quick, as it takes time to locate where it had been--shows they've risen about halfway through, closer to the City of Tears than the White Palace. They'll go to the Stag Station in the City Storerooms next.

So they think. Complications arise on the way.

The Infection is gone, leaving dead Flukes, Pilflips, and Hwurmps in piles enough it takes time to force their way past. Their body seems too small. No, their body is fine--there's something wrong with perception itself. That will take time to adjust to.

Then, they discover the Monarch Wings now stretch and warp when used, twisting around the nearest pipes after landing before the Knight forcibly calls them back. Shade Wings, they decide to call these.

Once they're high enough to hear the rain above, they realize a noise they'd ascribed to water running in the distance is, in fact, something swirling behind their mask. Many somethings. All the fragments of Siblings with enough self left, staring out from their eyes. It's disconcerting.

By the time they actually get out of the Waterways, they're using their Shade Wings to grip ledges and drag themselves up, with those holding onto things better than their own arms are with the Mantis Claw. 

The Knight faceplants awkwardly onto the floor of the building Lemm's shop is in. If the City is the same as below, there's little left to try killing them in the area.

They'll just take a moment here, thanks.

Comments

[capitalcurator]

He squeezes the rain out of his beard rather thoroughly once they step out of the elevator, having noticed halfway up how much water he's carrying with him by the pool forming at his feet. The rest of the walk is spent running his hand almost obsessively through his beard the whole time, though it does little to dry him out any further and seems to just be a tic he's fallen into.

Lemm does chatter a bit, but markedly less than before. Mostly he just namedrops bugs whose graves he thinks might be up here, and even this filters into purposeful silence when they get close to the Seer's place.

He rallies, in the tunnel. His stride gets a little more deliberate, his shoulders come back just a notch - barely - and the Knight could mistake him for someone who knows what he's doing when it comes to meeting other people, if they didn't know better.

This all falls rather flat when he finds himself standing by a stone grave and following the Knight's gaze up at a rather daunting-looking climb. He had rather neglected to think about this part.

"Hm." A long pause. "Don't, um. Know another way up. By any chance." Is he going to have to... Right. Of course. Any possible way life could make this meeting more difficult, yes.

[focusedvoid]

...They had also neglected to think about this part.

My apologies. I forgot the jumps it takes. Calling her down--would be rude to her, in all honesty. This is going to be a strange enough interaction. Dragging her out of the comfort of her home would make it worse.

At least there's no real hurry. It's not until they got close that they could hear her, so it should be the other way around.

The Knight hops up the first ledge, and pauses expectantly. They're not going to leave Lemm behind.

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He sags slightly.

"...Tallest damned front porch I've ever seen," he mutters poisonously, and pulls out the grapple rope.

It is slow going, as it always is when Lemm has to climb up anywhere. There are too many overhangs and nowhere to put his feet, so he just has to haul himself straight up the rope for the most part - he is clearly not pleased about it. And the places he might step have mask motifs on them, beautifully done, dating back to - it doesn't matter when they date back to, he's not using them as climbing aids. Among other things, a Relic Seeker's job is largely to make life difficult for himself.

The Knight may catch snippets of increasingly bad-tempered mumbling on the way up: Kingdom for damned alates and s'an undignified sort of a house visit isn't it and, if they're really trying to hear, put a saddle on you if I didn't think you'd go so damned fast...

[focusedvoid]

The Knight helps where they can with the rope, but it's mostly up to him. He doesn't seem to care for using the masks as footholds, which they don't understand, but decide against wasting paper to argue.

The idea of 'break' doesn't pass through their horns this time. Once they're nearly there, they stop and pat the Whispering Root to give Lemm a few moments. It hums under their paw.

Where he can see, they swipe the Dream Nail through it, and transcribe the clinging concepts. '...Dead remembered.../...Penitent Moth.../...Dreams revered...' The dreams of an area cling to these Whispering Roots, it seems.

[capitalcurator]

He's a little averse to being helped, anyway. They've done nothing to raise his ire here, but when he pulls himself up over the edge of the next-to-last tier, there's a tension to his shoulders when he registers they've stopped. Obviously not for their sake.

...This is flattened quickly, and a disgruntled Lemm clambers to his feet and dusts himself down for the excuse of looking like he's doing something other than catching his breath.

The strange growth is peered at quizzically. Ah. That's why.

"Aye, that... tracks." Penitent. Hm. "D'you think I can...?" Lemm extends a hand at the root and waggles his fingers slightly, asking permission first.

[focusedvoid]

The Knight shrugs and pats it again. They don't see why not.

Nothing they've learned about the Roots seemed dangerous, only strange. Whispering.

...Cornifer found it interesting or unsettling enough to pass it along to Iselda, and they produce one of those pins to show as well. Iselda does good work from descriptions.

[capitalcurator]

He peers at the pin, first. It's a good approximation, and his eyes flick to the real thing and back and he gives an approving little hm. (He is familiar with her work! - This is a polite way of saying he likes it very much.)

Lemm turns his full attention to the Whispering Root and sort of. Awkwardly inches his hand closer, until it touches. Like he's expecting something to happen.

The surface shimmers, he can see now that he's close. And that's all... ah, no. There's sound there somewhere. He tricked himself very quickly into thinking it was background noise.

He takes his hand back and rests it on his bag strap instead, puzzled.

"Sounds like voices," he reports, and he's even very unsure about that. "From far away. Or underwater. Can't make out a word, though." If he hadn't been looking for it he'd have missed it, maybe. "Guess you've seen others, then."

[focusedvoid]

They nod. 'Whispering Roots.' They produce a handful of Essence around the area when struck with the Dream Nail for the first time. There are several throughout the kingdom, and each say different things related to where they are.
I took the pins off after I did so, so I only remember the locations of a few, they admit.

The Knight makes a sketch of what they looked like and label it Unawakened(?)

(They're not going to push on until Lemm suggests. They want him to be recovered from the climb.

And perhaps they're slightly anxious about the visit.)

[capitalcurator]

"Still unclear on what Essence is," he admits, folding his arms. "Though I bet I'm soon for a crash course, given who we're seeing."

It might be helpful if any of it felt particularly magical or significant to him. But the Dream Nail had felt like nothing, and he doesn't even know what he expected from the room-with-a-ghost-in-it at the Pleasure House but he'd gotten absolutely nothing there too. Mostly, knowing about Dream has been an exercise in dull disappointment. It's a novelty that the Whispering Root gave him anything at all, though Lemm is privately pleased that it did.

"Can't imagine they're all that important." He squints at the drawing. "Looks like a wind chime, or something like one."

He's actually eager to at least get to the top, if only so that the climb can be over. They're so close, too. Lemm steps towards the edge and mildly sizes up the distance, grapple in hand, though he doesn't move to throw it yet.

"I wonder how many, then?" He's curious. Then, with a look back at the Knight, he makes a small connection. "You said you heard - something, in the Artisans Bureau."

[focusedvoid]

Pieces of dreams/memories, I believe. I needed a high amount to 'Awaken' the Dream Nail. It had 'dulled' somehow. Awakening it let me get into the White Palace's Dream. Somehow. They hadn't got a thorough explanation either.

They follow at a trot to the edge, showing him the paper as they feel around for their pins. The organization is accidental, but their used pins aren't in the same place as their spares, so they pull out pawful after pawful. (Right out of their chest, barely beneath their wings.)

All together with the one before, they set rows in a good fifteen. They'll give Lemm a moment look those over before sweeping them back up.

Essence is a physical glowing orb? I didn't see any in the Bureau. But I didn't find any in the Queen's Station, and I wasn't alone in noticing. Perhaps it was too hidden to find, or too open to grow a Root? I don't know. Something we could ask if we get to it.
Seer called Hallownest a place full of old memories, beautiful and grotesque. I agree.

[capitalcurator]

He knew he was out of his depth, that was never in question. Learning about Dream and Essence and spirits and the like has been a case of learning a whole new field just to put a couple of things in context. Void, too, is on that list.

As a Relic Seeker, this is not his first deep dive into subjects he's never tapped before. Lemm peers down at the Knight's pins, cogs turning as the facts slip into place. Dreams and memories; Essence is physical, but he can't see it. The Dream Nail uses it, and things can be awakened - things can be Awakened. Again, he's getting the gist, but there are things the Knight doesn't know. He was always going to have to talk to the Moth eventually.

"...Maddeningly tempting to get off-track, isn't it?"

It's a gentle reminder to both of them that they came here for a more important reason. He can agree on this, though, as they gather up their pins again.

"S'a good way of putting it. That's what drew me here, in a way. You've let me in on a strange part of the Kingdom, Knight, I'm seeing different facets of it than I ever would've suspected." Lemm takes a moment to stare at the Whispering Root again, thinking, and then shakes his head. The grapple clanks to the floor. "Nuisance though it is." Shall they.

[focusedvoid]

The Knight dips awkwardly. It is easy. Hallownest is full of grotesque and beautiful distractions, and ways to leap upon them.

...They are nervous. They're not going to write it out, but they can privately admit it.

They snag the grapple and flutter up to the topmost platform. After making sure it's secure, they risk a glance back--Seer's abode is open to them, and it looks like she and the Winged Sentry are present. Not the big one, though, which brings them a shocking level of relief.

The Knight offers Seer a nod and turns back to be sure Lemm makes it up.

[capitalcurator]

They're not the only one. Lemm's nerves may show in his lack of decorum when he's almost to the top and his foot slips a bit - an inconvenience, not a disaster - and he makes a rather irritable rrrgh sort of exclamation about it like it was someone else's mistake.

"...Rotten Kingdom and its wing bias -" he grinds out, before hauling himself the rest of the way up through brute force and sprawling face-first on the ground. Maybe he lingers there for a second longer than he has to, before he sighs into the dirt and pushes himself to his feet, dusting at his beard and fussing at the ends.

Seer doesn't get up to greet them. She does seem to be politely watching the whole thing from her seat, though.

She subtly inclines her head to the Knight, and turns aside to place a hand on the shoulder of the Sentry sitting cross-legged beside her, muttering a short warning. Both of them are holding small cups of what is probably tea.

[focusedvoid]

The slip is too quick to inspire a reaction, luckily; they've shot off ledges in panic all on their own before. They manage to stay steady where they are, for Lemm to grab or lean on or ignore.

After, they turn and offer Seer a deeper bow. They tried to do as much each visit. They owe their life to her, technically; a rare thing, matched by Hornet alone in a time even before returning to Hallownest.

They'd never written to her before, however. Not to anyone. That count is still lower than the population of Dirtmouth.

They walk into the room at a careful pace--they already have their small letter prepared, but the predicted Winged Sentry jars them anyway.

(That she turns to look at them with eyes that hold nothing--they're too busy pulling out paper to notice.)

Greetings, Seer. I am the Knight, this is Lemm Relic Seeker Lemm. We have some things to ask, but I would like to request privacy if possible first. And you may do the same. They're fairly sure Lemm won't mind. Or at least won't protest. They let him look at it first anyway; he's a fast reader.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm opts for 'ignore'. Not on purpose, he's just distracted and irritable - and after a glance up, absolutely realising he has just acted this way in full view of the Seer. He coughs lightly and gathers himself as he follows the Knight inside, though the brief flicker of bravado in the tunnel fails to make a reappearance just yet.

He's happy to leave, if asked - this was a possibility he'd already considered, and mentally agreed to already. (That someone else would introduce him... He's not quite sure how he feels about that and now isn't the time to unpack, but he suspects the uncertainty is mostly positive.) The paper gets a nod.

Seer is immediately and obviously curious about the paper, enough to forego greeting them for a moment - she has her suspicion... And it's correct: they have greeted her first.

"Ahh, Wielder, what a surprise to see this! And you've brought a guest..." Her antennae twitch. "Something very strange must be afoot." An understatement, and she seems to know it. Evidently communicating like this is suddenly important for some reason.

(And Lemm nods, if only to agree that she isn't the only one who has been somewhat shocked to witness the Knight writing.)

Seer touches lightly at the Sentry's shoulder, and murmurs a quiet dismissal into her ear that might sound something like take a break. The winged bug's hands are trembling slightly around the cup, and without a word she gives a stiff nod, rises, and disappears through what appears to be several curtains - feeling her way through them more than not.

"She won't disturb us, you can be certain of it. If you brought this one with you," she turns her head to Lemm, who goes tense, "then it is up to you what he witnesses. I have very few secrets left to keep." Seer takes a sip from her tea, her small hand poking out daintily from behind her closed wings, and then withdraws it to presumably rest the cup in her lap. "Now... Ask your questions freely, Wielder. I will answer if I can."

[focusedvoid]

The choice is yours, but I don't mind. He has many of mine. They write this out and nod deliberately at Lemm. He knows...a lot. More than anyone else, they abruptly realize, though it doesn't stop them. Thank you. I pre-wrote some to explain the current situation.

The Knight pulls out the letter. The Dream Nail appears reflectively in their paw as well. They pass the paper over and let the hilt linger between their claws, just in case she wants to see it, and for some sort of comfort. It's a Nail, even if it isn't a metal Nail.

Clarification can be asked to either of us, they add. Lemm had agreed to that much, though they'll still let him read between their horns if he comes close enough.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm doesn't outwardly react, not even with a nod. What they've written is as simple as that: he does. (Inwardly, there is a nice little flicker of pride-and-protectiveness that he lets sit.) ...Ah, no, there is a slight outward response: his shoulders come back a little. The Knight trusts him with all that, he can manage a social encounter.

Seer slips a hand out of her wings to take the letter. "Please, both of you. Sit," she offers, dipping the paper in a slight gesture.

Lemm unloops his bag from his shoulder and comes to sit, with a glance at the pile of pillows behind her, which she hasn't offered. They're big enough that there would be an awkward height difference, anyway. He settles for the floor, putting his bag in his lap and resting his arms on top. Seer gets a stiff nod. He doesn't need to read; he knows what's going on already.

She is quiet for some time, and oddly still as she reads. They may get the sense that she is looking at them, even if her attention is on the paper.

...

She's quiet for a long time, and Lemm's itch to say something finally wins over.

"It's an unbelievable lot, if not for the proof I've seen..."

"A moment, please," Seer asks. She's not done.

Lemm apologetically clears his throat and lets her finish reading. Instead he watches the Knight as closely as he dares without resorting to staring. He knows they must be uncomfortable with this.

[focusedvoid]

They politely settle when offered, shifting to roughly match with Lemm.

The Knight feels watched, but they often do around others. They are a strange being. Seer is only learning how much so by being told directly, rather than being informed by others, or following instinct.

They keep from staring her down as she reads. Their gaze settles vaguely between her and wherever that Sentry had disappeared to. There are strands of something hanging from the ceiling. Visually, it reminds them of bells. There were objects like it in the Dream Realm, during their most difficult battles.

They tilt their head slightly when Lemm interrupts, but no more.

Their claws lightly flex around the Dream Nail. They aren't impatient for themselves, but they do wonder...perhaps they should have written their glyphs larger. They'd considered that before. In their haste to get here, they hadn't.

[capitalcurator]

Seer eventually settles the paper against the front of her wings, not-quite holding it to her heart, and stares into space for a moment.

Then she tilts her head back up, aiming a distinctive look at the Knight.

"Lord of Shades," she says, quietly. There's nothing to be gleaned from her tone - it's measured, carefully, as she addresses them again. Testing, maybe. "The Knight."

She's still processing, naturally. And it's slow - there is a lot to be considered in just this letter. First things first.

"The Dream Nail found its Wielder in a Higher Being," she tries, still testing. No, that doesn't feel quite right. "Or perhaps - no... The Dream Nail found a Higher Being in its Wielder? You've opened many gates with it, it seems." Seer folds forward, in a more exaggerated mirror of their earlier sweeping bow, her antennae following forwards to almost touch at the ground. "Lord of Shades, it is an honour to be called upon -"

"There'll be none of that," Lemm cuts in, not unkindly.

Seer stills, then hesitantly peels herself back up. She looks from the Relic Seeker to the Knight, seeking confirmation.

[focusedvoid]

The Knight is motionless.

Seer had never seemed devout, and seeing it, even for a moment--watching her bow, not in respect, but supplication--they greatly dislike it.

They don't know how to react. Lemm's words reach them from a distance, and when she looks up, they jolt into head-shaking motion.

She's no Godseeker. Allowing her to act like it is an insult to them both.

They put a paper in front of them, but they're fully at a loss. They stare it down and desperately hope Lemm has more words to say while they try to form their own.

[capitalcurator]

That's. Unusual. Seer remains still, searching them both - mostly the Knight - for anything else to go on.

"...Ahh..." she tries after a moment or two, uncertain.

Lemm gives a sidelong glance down at their empty page, and comes to the rescue.

"Just Knight," he offers, flagging a hand at her in a way that is decidedly too casual. "Or whatever you said before. I like to go with bothersome little nuisance when they're being difficult. Which is often."

Risky, to go that far, and it's possible it might not go down well with the Knight themselves. But it seems to have the intended effect on Seer - this is not how one talks about a Higher Being, any way you look at it, and she rallies as she realises what's being communicated.

"...Ah? What a curious case..." They don't want veneration, then? She has to grapple with a few things here, but she attempts to make a save. "Higher Being or not, I suppose we are all something different to every soul we meet." That sounds appropriately vague. Seer nods, carefully. "To me... Wielder is a title worthy of my respect to you, though hardly worthy of a god. Maybe I would be better sticking with that, hmm?"

It's tentative, but it's a compromise.

[focusedvoid]

They leap on it like a lifeline, stretching out and swatting Lemm's hand with the soft half of their quill. Doesn't matter it wasn't at the Knight, it's a playful move without consequence for unimportant rudeness.

Ascending to become a Higher Being wasn't the goal, I only wished to find and rescue my sibling. I don't need or want to be treated as a god ^{or king or anything similar} and certainly not by (the briefest hesitation) my allies. I'd rather few know at all, if possible.

(With Lemm at their side, they nearly wrote out 'friends' rather than 'allies'. They don't believe they're such with her.)

Wielder is entirely fine. Thank you.

[capitalcurator]

Lemm is equally casual when he flutters his hand at their quill in response, shooing them off. Yes, no Higher Beings here, socially speaking - just the grubby little wanderer who comes to sell him relics.

Put the way they've written it, their Ascension seems almost... inadvertent.

Seer eases into this understanding slowly, scanning their page with barely a motion. But it's clear, at least - the Wielder apparently does not mince words. She settles the rest of the way back into place. The prewritten letter disappears inside her wings.

"It felt customary..." To bow to a new god she knows so little of, and introduced for the first time - technically - of course it did. But by her tone, it's nothing personal. She inclines her head. "I will keep your title to myself."

...On, then, as strange as it feels. Seer thinks for a moment, going back over what they've told her. Low and wilting, her antennae give a minute shiver.

"You carry a Dream realm inside you," she reiterates, just to bring that properly to light. "As many of us do, surely as we carry Essence... But you! You've managed to tangle another mind in yours, and how vast it must be now!"

She lowers her head, as if this next part might be insensitive - but at least she says it. Pragmatism is probably best, in the case of this new god who doesn't want the added decorum.

"How did you take her?"

[focusedvoid]

They nod shortly. No hard feelings, and her word is appreciated.

Oh, she has no idea.

They lift their quill to start to explain that part, but it's cut off with a question. A question that still won't make sense if they don't explain, somewhat.

Unpleasantly, they answer bluntly, first. As warning. And I cannot remember it all, but please ask as much elaboration as you need. This was stated already, but they stress it. They forget some things. Lemm is here to help, but some things even he doesn't know.

They explain first how they found Myla. How they had been furious. How they wanted her out and everyone that had hurt her gone.

That there was Void in place of Infection. That they had a form made of it, much larger now. That they had taken it from all those and destroyed them.

This is where they lose the thread. They carried her out of the Colosseum, as well as a few others--they hadn't realized it at the time, but these were others kept in cages, same as her. The world blurred and they blacked out until they were nearly to Dirtmouth, with Myla insensible in their hands. The others were there too, tangled in them. Their form is somewhat like a liquid. A Mantis Traitor, and a few others, left when they brought Myla to their home.

They started to realize it was more than her previous injuries and fear when she hadn't completely woken. She'd been afraid of the dark for a while, until they found her in Godhome again. They had internal assistance from that, from the other Vessels in the Void. They don't expect Seer to know about that, but they aren't sure what she's aware of.

Unpleasant indeed.

And they are trying to be tactful for certain things, but if the Seer knew the source of the Infection...it's possible to read between the lines.

I'm fairly sure I didn't use the Dream Nail itself at any point, they finish simply.

When they shift the paper for her to read, they make a point to, once again, tap the line about asking.

[capitalcurator]

Seer is quiet, unless you count the soft hum of contemplation now and then when they pass over a particularly prudent detail.

The part about Void gives her minute pause, and her head turns just slightly as if she might look over her shoulder at where the curtains lead deeper into her home, though she doesn't completely act on it.

She has said nothing of it yet, but she has had a few of her own suspicions before the Knight and their... and the Relic Seeker had come here. Now she has more pieces to the puzzle, and the shape it takes is much clearer.

Seer is, as she has been since they arrived, deeply thoughtful. Slow to react.

Lemm has been quiet, too, but there's a tension in him that wasn't there before they began their explanation. He keeps flipping between watching them write and fixing Seer with an unreadable stare - unreadable because he's doing his very best to mask what he's actually thinking. It's unfair to try to guess how she might react.

"The fury of a god is nothing to go unheeded," she eventually says, and it seems like she's choosing her words carefully. Still, there's no avoiding it now. "The fate that was cast upon this Kingdom is proof, as I'm certain you understand by now..."

She hesitates. Lemm is still staring at her, and some of the internal intensity has started to bleed out into his expression.

"By the shadow's hand Her light was extinguished," she says, simply. There. The boofly in the room has been addressed. "If you hold the same fury inside you, it may be a sheer thing..." Seer trails off, uncertain. This probably requires some input from the Wielder before she can continue.

Lemm clearly wants to say something. He waits, instead, with some effort; his hands have tangled themselves tightly in the fabric of the bag on his lap.