The Hearts of Men (1x1 with Eternal Chronicler)

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack smiled back at Ilyia. "It is no trouble," He said before sitting on his chair, setting a stack of papers on the desk. The room was starting to appear in better array than it had been. He set his arm on the desk and leaned his head on his hand, obviously exhausted. The ship itself was being guided into the cove but Jack had no energy to look over the proceedings. "I think that is good for now," He said to Ilyia.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

_,.-~*'`'*~-.,_Ilyia Nerian_,.-~*'`'*~-.,_

I may be the hand of Mystriel...

I may be her instrument of justice.

I realize I am forever her servant.

I will still stand for what I believe.

If there are those who will oppose her,

They must stand against me.

I will not give in.

Despite Jack's mention that her work was finished Ilyia maintained her pace for several seconds before leaning up against the wall, watching as the last sparks of her injuries fell away.
"Regardless, if I am needed by all means, ask." A thought occurred to her for a moment, "Might I have a moment to search out where Tessa has gone to though? If all this racket hasn't been enough to rouse her I doubt her living spirit is even here anymore, off on its own search for answers... I can't say I'm instilled with too much confidence in that light."

Order Of Chaos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"You aren't under my orders to do anything Ilyia, you needn't ask. You are a guest," Jack said with a slight smile. "By all means though, I worry about her, it would do good to finally have answers," He said, massaging above his brow with his thumb and forefinger. He reached for his rum bottle and cursed under his breath when he remembered what happened to it. "Ah, excuse me for a moment," He said before going down to the rum cellar. He spent several minutes down there before returning, drinking from a fresh bottle and sitting in his chair, willing himself awake.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

Ilyia stepped over to Tessa and rested a hand on her shoulder, encompassing them both briefly in a silver light, and for several moments the Creation focused on searching the whereabouts of all existence to find Tessa's spirit, though after a time she dropped to the floor, still encompassed. A reddish image of herself and Tessa appeared at the center of the room several seconds later, and Ilyia's body slowly built its own injuries from her own spirit's departure.
"What are you doing so far from the living, Tessa?" She cried out from the image.
"Ilyia!" Tessa's figure looked to Ilyia's with sudden surprise, "I... can't believe they would have willed any of this; someone else must be behind it, yes?"
"Yes, but this is the netherworld! Why would you search for the souls of your friends in place of finding the culprit?"
"Because it's their bodies being taken; they have to have some resonance here, don't they?"
"But this place will kill you!"
"These are my closest friends, I'd rather die for them than -"
"Than Jack?"
Tessa paused for several moments and nodded her head shortly thereafter in agreement with the logic she had presumed of Ilyia's rhetoric.
"They can't be too far lower, can they?"
"Illumine was the one responsible for their deaths, Tessa. I doubt they could have made it this far below."
She held out her hand and indicated the space around her, and sighed, "We should be getting out of here. It's too dangerous to wander this far from the living anyway. Come on..."
By now Ilyia's injuries for her material body had escalated to a rapid cracking about her, and as she opened her eyes again she barely had strength enough to gasp.
Tessa on the other hand sat up slowly in the bed and ran a hand through her hair, still somewhat puzzled by what had happened. Still on seeing Ilyia so near to death on the floor beside her she leapt from the bed and came to a crouch at her side.
"For the love of all life, you said it would kill me?"  

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack sat and bore witness to the events portrayed, a dull headache resulting. He sighed as Tessa went to Ilyia's side. He stayed otherwise silent for several moments more before his weary anger opened his mouth. "So. You could have just never woken up? That's strange," He remarked taking another sip of his rum, letting his eyes run over the desk table.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa froze. Jack's particular tone denoted to her well enough of a time passed already, and already at a loss for how to explain herself she hung her head silently for several moments.
"I..." her voice was already broken and barely audible as it was.
It wouldn't get any better from there, she realized. He had witnessed their exchange, and she held no faith in her ability to appease him at that point. She looked down at her ring for a moment, and again froze.
"Jack, I didn't mean to worry you..." she whispered, "I held the soul of a goddess intact; I know what it is to have your life force tested with its removal. I would have come back if it had started to dwindle..."

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

"Even still, you could have at least told me the risk, instead of feeling concerned about my well-being," Jack said, not bothering to look up from the desk, instead shifting his gaze to letters retrieved from his coat. He read through the varying scripts silently, tossing each one as he read it on the desk until he had reached the last one. This too he tossed onto the table, and he drank from his bottle before looking up at Tessa. "She will be ok, right?" He asked.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

"Aye..." Tessa said softly, "she'll make it. She was alive enough to pull me out, so I can only guess she's alive now."
She looked out through the balcony doorway for a moment and wiped a tear from each eye before going for a small hidden bag of her belongings below the bed. She pulled a small diary and a pen from it and began to write on a page near to the end of it.
"I did find out a few things though," she said after she finished, "foremost among them that the others have no apparent ties to the afterlife. Something happened to them on a different manner of scales, something involving more of them than... either material or spiritual, but how?"

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

With a shrug, Jack tipped back his chair slightly, hooking his foot around the leg of the desk to keep from going backwards completely. He closed his eyes, his thoughts traveling. "How should I know? Perhaps you should talk to my mother, or Adeska. They would know more I am sure," He said, still feeling rather bruised from not knowing what Tessa had been up to.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

"Or who?"
Tessa tilted her head to the side in confusion at the name of Adeska. She closed the diary and reopened it to the front inside cover, only to take a small piece of paper from it and unfold it. Her breath stopped for several seconds and another tear fell from her eye, unhindered. She shook her head free of her thoughts and looked back up to Jack, still curious.
"Who is Adeska?"

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Jack------------------------------------------
------------------- Cortez

Of Blood and Gold I know,
of the freedom of a ship,
and only the wind holding you back.

Jack's chair clicked back onto the ground as he sat up. "Oh, that is right. You haven't met my half sister, have you?" He said, apparently slightly amused by this. "The one that hosted Isobel for several hundred years. She is out on deck I presume," He said drinking from his bottle again, before setting down the bottle, a small thud resulting. He fastened down a map to the desk before going out to the balcony, looking to either side, attempting to remember what ships had been in service before his exile as he inspected the ones that the Duchess was docked next to.

This is what I loved...And lost.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa stood and stowed away the diary and pen back into her bag while keeping the smaller page in her hand, and in fact laid it out on the table for Jack to read as she made her way to the doorway, but again she paused.
"Thank you, Jack... I'm sorry I worried you."
She continued out onto deck in search of any unfamiliar faces...

Tessa,
I don't think I'll ever be able to say this to you in person, for the sheer pace we keep at, so I thought to write them down in the event you manage to find a moment in your spare time to think about all of us again. I just wanted to say thank you for always being there for me. Try as I might I doubt I could ever hold up to your standards of virtue, and it's given me a lot of time to reflect on the Elven ideals and our self-image. I am truly gifted to know you as a friend, as a Sister of the Slaughter. Even with all of my clumsy mistakes that you were always the first to catch me from, even with the differences we've had I know if there were only one I could keep with me in memory once I'm gone, Tessa it would be you. I know life is hard on you, but I can't stand to see you so down all the time. Please, if not for our sake than for your own, find some way to keep cheerful.
--Vanessa Halderi


Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Adeska------------------------------------------
-------------------Nessin

I was a child of sin.
I carry my mother's power.
I was possessed.

Adeska hugged her right knee and let her other leg dangle over the side of the railing. She looked out at the ship to the left of the Duchess. It was a pretty vessel, lightweight, with ivory sails and a black flag embroidered with a red skull. She then looked over to her right, looking at the small junk with dark gray sails that seemed to be built like dragon wings. The girl was absorbing all that she could, making up for time lost.

This is no more.
I am my own master.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]
 

[Kares-Eternal Chronicler]

--<._.-'--.__Tessa Cortez__.--'-._.>--

So cold...

All the same, all about me.

The wit, the wisdom.

Here I stand,

Here I live...

The truth of a revelation, frozen in fear.

Slowly dying...

Tessa's search ended at the girl on the railing, and she promptly made her way to Adeska and deftly balanced herself on both feet between the railing and the rigging she angled behind her. After a careful moment, she came down into a sidelong crouch and looked over to Adeska with a curious smile.
"I can't say I'm used to having more than one newcomer here at a time," she said with a faint laugh, "might I ask your name?"

Obliteration On Cheetos:
 

[The_Scarlet_Lark]

Adeska------------------------------------------
-------------------Nessin

I was a child of sin.
I carry my mother's power.
I was possessed.

Adeska broke off her thought, her eyes settling on a deep blue, the color of the sea at dawn, and looked over at the woman who came to join her. Noticing the ring on her finger and concluding that Jack's matching ring meant there was marriage between them. "My name is Adeska. You are the captain's wife, yes?" She asked curiously.

This is no more.
I am my own master.
[OutrageousObliviousCats: ---]