XENOSAGA EPISODE VI: Elsewhen -- 3/?? -- COMPLETE
[ADAM] ::Adiemus narrowed his eyes when he entered the kitchen. The kitchen was less of a kitchen and more of a cafeteria; every building and establishment in Kukai Castell was built to support tens upon tens of people--or in the Cathedral's case, hundreds. Only nobles were able to live lives separate from their relatives, enjoying gigantic homes with only nuclear families. The middle and lower classes were forced to live together as one gigantic unit, where sisters and brothers and parents and cousins and nephews and friends would work and live together just to make end's meat. --The Cathedral of Sophia was little different. Everyone needed to help, including the Lord, in order to make things work.::
Father Demetrius.
[DMITRI] ::Demetrius turned around. He appeared slightly startled. He pulled his fingers away from his chin.:: Adam.
[ADAM] Are you.. okay?
[RAZZ] ::Click. Click. Razz clicked his way into the cafeteria. He spared Demetrius only one glance; they were more than familiar with each other. He went over to the hot line (a row of sinks where food could be warmed and served) on the far side of the cafeteria, to light the coals. He wasn't tall enough to actually serve on the hot line, but he knew how to set the cafeteria up. He was usually the first one awake, so he did it every morning. His work ethic was one of the reasons the priests were willing to deal with his eccentric behavior.::
[DMITRI] I'm fine. Y is getting worse. I'm just worried, that's all. He's stopped eating.
[ADAM] Oh. ::Adiemus' gaze fell downward, to the cafeteria floor. The only reason they didn't allow people to sleep in the cafeteria was because of their rat infestation. The rats had grown so big and feral that they were more than willing to eat a sleeping person alive. --And even in the best case scenario, one bite could spread sickness like wildfire. And it was not a wildfire that could easily be stopped, especially when the Cathedral had deemed most alchemy practices unholy.:: Well--
[DMITRI] ::His tired, old eyes settled on Seth at the doorway. Though he was only 39, Demetrius would die in a few years. Few of the modern world lived beyond 40, and only the lucky would be able to reach 45. His hunch in his back and walk were easy to see when he made his way around one of the long tables. He didn't need a cane yet, but he had recently been considering getting one.::
Oh? I don't believe I've met this one.
[ADAM] That's.. Seth Kukai, Dmitri--he's been here for a few days. ::Or weeks. Adam wasn't completely sure. Time flies by when your country is falling apart.::
[DMITRI] Seth Kukai, eh? A big name for such a lanky young lad. ::Dmitri reached out to squeeze one of Seth's arms when he got there.:: Welcome to the Cathedral of Sophia. I'm Demetrius.
[ADAM] Lord Demetrius, ::Adam tacked on.:: High Priest Demetrius if you want to get fancy.
[DMITRI] Don't listen to him. He's just a grizzled old man. --But not as grizzled as I am!
[SETH] ::Seth wasn't uncomfortable around other people, which was uncharacteristic for someone being tormented by demons. Those locked in a battle for their mind and soul tended to be eccentric introverts up until they either won or lost the war, from which few people recovered even when they did win. He smiled wanly when Demetrius introduced himself. "Lanky" was too kind an adjective to describe just how skinny he was--and he wasn't tall, at least compared to these men. Everyone looked much older than they really were, but Seth seemed to reflect his age well: late teens, maybe early 20s. This was middle age; he had already lived half of his life. And his hair was still way too long for his age.::
Lord Demetrius, ::he repeated, using the honorific.:: Thank you, and good morning.
[CAIN] ::Cain finished scraping out the powdery ash and used charcoal bits. This was a job that he tended to let pile up and up and up until someone bitched him out over it, and it seemed like today was the day that he had had to get up extra fucking early to clean the ovens and other devices. The more refuse, the dirtier the food tended to be--and while it was going to be dirty anyway, there was a limit.
He glanced over at Razz, who was always wakeful and ready to get to work, and Cain figured out where that annoying as fuck clicking noise was coming from. He said something under his breath--and it wasn't a prayer--as he started hauling the big bin of ashen waste away.::
[RAZZ] What? ::Razz looked over his shoulder when Cain started to retreat.:: Want me to stab you?
::And it wasn't exactly an idle threat, considering Razz was holding five items: two of them were magnets, one of them was a slab of almost-white rock, one of them was some tinder fungus, and one of them was A KNIFE. To be specific, it was a katar--an extremely short, extremely sharp knife specifically meant to stab right through even the thickest of armor. According to Adiemus, it was a knife from the far east. According to Razz, it was sharp, and that was good enough.
Razz licked his lips before ducking down to the underneath of the basins. TACK, TACK, TACK. The noise was loud, and it echoed a little, but the Cathedral was so large that there was no chance of it waking anyone up. Razz slammed the knife against the rock repeatedly, and when the rock was hot enough, he placed the tinder on the very edge where he had been knifing. TACK, TACK, TACK. A new source of light--a small fire--came from that part of the room.::
Set you on fire, ::Razz whispered to himself as he held the flaming tinder up with one hand and hurled new coals in with his other hand.:: Melt magnets.
::He paused for a second, looked down at his magnets on the floor, and wondered what they would taste like.::
[DMITRI] Good morning. If you'll excuse me. ::Dmitri pounded his own back to attempt to straighten himself out a bit. Then he left the cafeteria.::
[ADAM] ::Adam was counting the tables. He was estimating how many people would be able to squeeze onto the seats. He wanted to avoid having people eat in other rooms if at all possible, to keep the rats from spreading. While rubbing the back of his neck, he turned to Seth--and saw Cain behind him.::
Hey Cain, could you show Seth how to make a stock--aw-- ::He stopped himself there, because swearing out loud wouldn't look very professional.:: Nevermind. We don't have any fish bones. ::He licked his chapped lips.::
Seth, you wouldn't happen to know how to fish, would you?
[CAIN] Relax, Damien. ::Cain would have bet all the money he had--not that he had any, since he had taken the religious vow of poverty--on Razz being the son of Satan. The kid did his fair share, but he did it while wielding knives and being insufferable. Not to mention, his punctuality was making Cain look bad.
When Adam turned back toward him, Cain stopped shoving the bin along and tried to express how hard he was working by wiping a sooty hand across his forehead. Phiew! That thing must weigh.. six pounds!!:: Told you that last night, ::he said, squinting. Had Adam stayed up again?::
[SETH] ::Seth had eaten in here before, of course, but he hadn't been up this early to see how things were set up ahead of time. It wasn't his fault: until just recently, he had been too exhausted to crawl out of his sleeping bag before midday. He watched Razz start a fire, and unlike Cain, he wasn't worried that the kid was going to set fire to them all.::
Fish? ::he asked, focusing on Adiemus again.:: I do, actually. How many do you need me to catch?
::Those 33 days had been beyond hellish: crops died, livestock died, and wild game became the only real source of food. Anyone who didn't know how to fish was at a severe disadvantage. Only some of the stringiest fish were nocturnal, but they were still edible.::
[ADAM] Just a few--five at the most. They don't need to be big. We're just after the bones. I'm sure Cain would be happy to prepare the meat for you as well, however.
::They generally didn't use fish as an immediate food resource, because there was only one type of fish that was willing to live in a waterfall: salmon. They were also extremely difficult to catch, simply because of their speed and the fact that the waterfall was nothing short of dangerous. One stumble over the water's edge, and you'd fall a few miles down into the Flamberge Forge. Magma or concrete: take your pick.::
Oh! --Excuse me, I'm a little out of it.
::He stepped forward and motioned in Cain's direction.:: Seth, this is Cain. Cain, this is Seth. Cain has been with us for a very long time; he's a farmer, and we actually get a large amount of our produce from his farmstead.
::He continued to the back of the room, until he reached a tall cabinet. He pulled it open and took out two custom-made (not because they were special, but because they were cheap) fishing poles, with lines already attached. One for Seth to lose to the waterfall, and the other for Seth to--hopefully--catch a fish, and not die doing so.::
There are worms all along the banks. You can go out into the Cathedral's Courtyard to the water's edge, or you can go upstairs and fish from the bridge. Either way, ::Adam said as he shoved both of the fishing poles into Seth's hands.:: Don't fall off the edge.
[RAZZ] The Flamberge Forge uses the water from the falls to cool their steel. If you fall, every bone in your body will break, but you might still be awake. You'll think you're safe because you're in the water, and then you'll be pulled into one of the magma pits.
::Razz stood up with the fire rolling under the basins. He smacked his two magnets together.:: Cheez-It.
[SETH] Hi.
[CAIN] Charmed. ::Cain smirked, but didn't comment on whatever made him smirk. Like it or not, he owed the Church a great deal for saving him from certain death when the 33 days of darkness ruined his entire farmstead. Before the darkness, he had cultivated some of the best fruits and vegetables in this entire region. The Church had also gotten him back on his feet, donating dry seeds and other things to him that had been preserved, and after a month, things were back to normal. Or as normal as they could get anymore.::
If you want the meat, I'll cook it too. Otherwise I'm gonna salt it and preserve it.
[SETH] ::Seth shook his head.:: I try not to eat meat.
[CAIN] ::Cain eyed him as he began shoving the bin away again. Not eating meat was unheard of. Vegetarians didn't exist because you couldn't be a vegetarian without losing out on some very important vitamins and minerals, as the alchemists liked to say. Maybe that was why Seth was so ridiculously frail-looking.::
[SETH] ::He took the fishing poles into his arms and said,:: I'm going to the water's edge. ::It was easier to catch fish that were farther out when you could go into the water after them, but it was also fucking dangerous. One misstep and you'd slip, fall, get swept under, go over the falls, fall into the Flamberge Forge--and Razz had already elaborated on what happened after that. He didn't seem worried, despite Razz's doom and gloom.::
If.. anyone comes looking for me. ::Not that anyone would, right?
He sunk his fingers into the perpetually moist dirt and fought with another handful of wriggling worms. It was times like these he wished he could just toss a net into the water and get 153 fish back in an instant.::
[DMITRI] ::Demetrius chuckled softly when he realized who else was in the Courtyard: Seth Kukai, Mr. Lanky. He (and the man in the wheelchair he was holding) had just been admiring the sunrise.:: I see Adam's already got you doing errands.
::The sunrise. Even Demetrius, a "holy man", had not been aware of just how beautiful the sunrise was until it had been lost for 33 days. Since then, a day or night had not passed without Demetrius coming out to the Courtyard to admire the world--to admire how luck they all were, even in such terrible times.
He and his crippled friend were nowhere near the water's edge. They preferred to stay in the center of the Courtyard, among the half-dead (but, fortunately, regrowing) plant life and vegetation. It had once been a magnificent garden full of fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices, but it had been reduced to muddy waste during the Dark Month.::
Careful, now. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how dangerous the Gladius Falls is.
[Y] ::The wheelchaired man--face disguised by long, pure white, unwashed hair--turned his head ever so slightly and slowly when he spotted Seth.::
[SETH] ::Seth only took as many worms as he thought he'd need and returned the rest to the earth once more. If he needed more, he could always come back for them--in the meantime, he wasn't going to torture the poor creatures any more than their brothers were about to be. It was an idea that alchemy had latched onto, but had always been prevalent: equivalent exchange. The life of a human necessitated the death of a fish, which necessitated the death of a worm, etc.
Gross, sticky worm blood got on his fingers when he began impaling worms onto one of the pole's hooks. One worm wasn't going to catch a salmon; he'd have to use several all at once.::
Uh? ::He looked in Demetrius' direction, blinked, and then waved with a dirty hand.:: I'm happy to be of service! I've been feeling like a leech since I got here.
::He lowered his eyes to the disabled man, waved at him too, and then approached the water's edge.:: I know. Razz gave me the play-by-play.
::The water was moving so fast that it was impossible to tell where the fish might be hiding out. After plucking the line to see how strong it was--and it had to be strong if it had any hope of reeling in a fish against that current--he cast the hook as far as he could reach without getting his feet wet.::
I'll be careful, ::he added, but his voice was too soft now to be heard.::
[DMITRI] ::Demetrius glanced up for a moment, at the silhouette that was standing on the edge of the bridge in the far distance.::
[RUBEDO] ::Rubedo waved his hand--and his bow--in the air when he spotted who was in the Courtyard.::
[DMITRI] ::He grinned to himself and lifted a hand in return.:: Hmm. Hope, indeed.
[RUBEDO] ::Rubedo brought his bow back down to his side when he realized that he had been recognized. He smiled to himself and then turned back to the Ricassian carriage he had been escorting.::
[DMITRI] ::He walked around the wheelchair and turned it around, and then he pushed it forward, back into the Cathedral.:: So long as the sun rises, and so long as it sets. We're both looking up at the same sky, aren't we?
[TITLE] ACT I: TERRA
Father Demetrius.
[DMITRI] ::Demetrius turned around. He appeared slightly startled. He pulled his fingers away from his chin.:: Adam.
[ADAM] Are you.. okay?
[RAZZ] ::Click. Click. Razz clicked his way into the cafeteria. He spared Demetrius only one glance; they were more than familiar with each other. He went over to the hot line (a row of sinks where food could be warmed and served) on the far side of the cafeteria, to light the coals. He wasn't tall enough to actually serve on the hot line, but he knew how to set the cafeteria up. He was usually the first one awake, so he did it every morning. His work ethic was one of the reasons the priests were willing to deal with his eccentric behavior.::
[DMITRI] I'm fine. Y is getting worse. I'm just worried, that's all. He's stopped eating.
[ADAM] Oh. ::Adiemus' gaze fell downward, to the cafeteria floor. The only reason they didn't allow people to sleep in the cafeteria was because of their rat infestation. The rats had grown so big and feral that they were more than willing to eat a sleeping person alive. --And even in the best case scenario, one bite could spread sickness like wildfire. And it was not a wildfire that could easily be stopped, especially when the Cathedral had deemed most alchemy practices unholy.:: Well--
[DMITRI] ::His tired, old eyes settled on Seth at the doorway. Though he was only 39, Demetrius would die in a few years. Few of the modern world lived beyond 40, and only the lucky would be able to reach 45. His hunch in his back and walk were easy to see when he made his way around one of the long tables. He didn't need a cane yet, but he had recently been considering getting one.::
Oh? I don't believe I've met this one.
[ADAM] That's.. Seth Kukai, Dmitri--he's been here for a few days. ::Or weeks. Adam wasn't completely sure. Time flies by when your country is falling apart.::
[DMITRI] Seth Kukai, eh? A big name for such a lanky young lad. ::Dmitri reached out to squeeze one of Seth's arms when he got there.:: Welcome to the Cathedral of Sophia. I'm Demetrius.
[ADAM] Lord Demetrius, ::Adam tacked on.:: High Priest Demetrius if you want to get fancy.
[DMITRI] Don't listen to him. He's just a grizzled old man. --But not as grizzled as I am!
[SETH] ::Seth wasn't uncomfortable around other people, which was uncharacteristic for someone being tormented by demons. Those locked in a battle for their mind and soul tended to be eccentric introverts up until they either won or lost the war, from which few people recovered even when they did win. He smiled wanly when Demetrius introduced himself. "Lanky" was too kind an adjective to describe just how skinny he was--and he wasn't tall, at least compared to these men. Everyone looked much older than they really were, but Seth seemed to reflect his age well: late teens, maybe early 20s. This was middle age; he had already lived half of his life. And his hair was still way too long for his age.::
Lord Demetrius, ::he repeated, using the honorific.:: Thank you, and good morning.
[CAIN] ::Cain finished scraping out the powdery ash and used charcoal bits. This was a job that he tended to let pile up and up and up until someone bitched him out over it, and it seemed like today was the day that he had had to get up extra fucking early to clean the ovens and other devices. The more refuse, the dirtier the food tended to be--and while it was going to be dirty anyway, there was a limit.
He glanced over at Razz, who was always wakeful and ready to get to work, and Cain figured out where that annoying as fuck clicking noise was coming from. He said something under his breath--and it wasn't a prayer--as he started hauling the big bin of ashen waste away.::
[RAZZ] What? ::Razz looked over his shoulder when Cain started to retreat.:: Want me to stab you?
::And it wasn't exactly an idle threat, considering Razz was holding five items: two of them were magnets, one of them was a slab of almost-white rock, one of them was some tinder fungus, and one of them was A KNIFE. To be specific, it was a katar--an extremely short, extremely sharp knife specifically meant to stab right through even the thickest of armor. According to Adiemus, it was a knife from the far east. According to Razz, it was sharp, and that was good enough.
Razz licked his lips before ducking down to the underneath of the basins. TACK, TACK, TACK. The noise was loud, and it echoed a little, but the Cathedral was so large that there was no chance of it waking anyone up. Razz slammed the knife against the rock repeatedly, and when the rock was hot enough, he placed the tinder on the very edge where he had been knifing. TACK, TACK, TACK. A new source of light--a small fire--came from that part of the room.::
Set you on fire, ::Razz whispered to himself as he held the flaming tinder up with one hand and hurled new coals in with his other hand.:: Melt magnets.
::He paused for a second, looked down at his magnets on the floor, and wondered what they would taste like.::
[DMITRI] Good morning. If you'll excuse me. ::Dmitri pounded his own back to attempt to straighten himself out a bit. Then he left the cafeteria.::
[ADAM] ::Adam was counting the tables. He was estimating how many people would be able to squeeze onto the seats. He wanted to avoid having people eat in other rooms if at all possible, to keep the rats from spreading. While rubbing the back of his neck, he turned to Seth--and saw Cain behind him.::
Hey Cain, could you show Seth how to make a stock--aw-- ::He stopped himself there, because swearing out loud wouldn't look very professional.:: Nevermind. We don't have any fish bones. ::He licked his chapped lips.::
Seth, you wouldn't happen to know how to fish, would you?
[CAIN] Relax, Damien. ::Cain would have bet all the money he had--not that he had any, since he had taken the religious vow of poverty--on Razz being the son of Satan. The kid did his fair share, but he did it while wielding knives and being insufferable. Not to mention, his punctuality was making Cain look bad.
When Adam turned back toward him, Cain stopped shoving the bin along and tried to express how hard he was working by wiping a sooty hand across his forehead. Phiew! That thing must weigh.. six pounds!!:: Told you that last night, ::he said, squinting. Had Adam stayed up again?::
[SETH] ::Seth had eaten in here before, of course, but he hadn't been up this early to see how things were set up ahead of time. It wasn't his fault: until just recently, he had been too exhausted to crawl out of his sleeping bag before midday. He watched Razz start a fire, and unlike Cain, he wasn't worried that the kid was going to set fire to them all.::
Fish? ::he asked, focusing on Adiemus again.:: I do, actually. How many do you need me to catch?
::Those 33 days had been beyond hellish: crops died, livestock died, and wild game became the only real source of food. Anyone who didn't know how to fish was at a severe disadvantage. Only some of the stringiest fish were nocturnal, but they were still edible.::
[ADAM] Just a few--five at the most. They don't need to be big. We're just after the bones. I'm sure Cain would be happy to prepare the meat for you as well, however.
::They generally didn't use fish as an immediate food resource, because there was only one type of fish that was willing to live in a waterfall: salmon. They were also extremely difficult to catch, simply because of their speed and the fact that the waterfall was nothing short of dangerous. One stumble over the water's edge, and you'd fall a few miles down into the Flamberge Forge. Magma or concrete: take your pick.::
Oh! --Excuse me, I'm a little out of it.
::He stepped forward and motioned in Cain's direction.:: Seth, this is Cain. Cain, this is Seth. Cain has been with us for a very long time; he's a farmer, and we actually get a large amount of our produce from his farmstead.
::He continued to the back of the room, until he reached a tall cabinet. He pulled it open and took out two custom-made (not because they were special, but because they were cheap) fishing poles, with lines already attached. One for Seth to lose to the waterfall, and the other for Seth to--hopefully--catch a fish, and not die doing so.::
There are worms all along the banks. You can go out into the Cathedral's Courtyard to the water's edge, or you can go upstairs and fish from the bridge. Either way, ::Adam said as he shoved both of the fishing poles into Seth's hands.:: Don't fall off the edge.
[RAZZ] The Flamberge Forge uses the water from the falls to cool their steel. If you fall, every bone in your body will break, but you might still be awake. You'll think you're safe because you're in the water, and then you'll be pulled into one of the magma pits.
::Razz stood up with the fire rolling under the basins. He smacked his two magnets together.:: Cheez-It.
[SETH] Hi.
[CAIN] Charmed. ::Cain smirked, but didn't comment on whatever made him smirk. Like it or not, he owed the Church a great deal for saving him from certain death when the 33 days of darkness ruined his entire farmstead. Before the darkness, he had cultivated some of the best fruits and vegetables in this entire region. The Church had also gotten him back on his feet, donating dry seeds and other things to him that had been preserved, and after a month, things were back to normal. Or as normal as they could get anymore.::
If you want the meat, I'll cook it too. Otherwise I'm gonna salt it and preserve it.
[SETH] ::Seth shook his head.:: I try not to eat meat.
[CAIN] ::Cain eyed him as he began shoving the bin away again. Not eating meat was unheard of. Vegetarians didn't exist because you couldn't be a vegetarian without losing out on some very important vitamins and minerals, as the alchemists liked to say. Maybe that was why Seth was so ridiculously frail-looking.::
[SETH] ::He took the fishing poles into his arms and said,:: I'm going to the water's edge. ::It was easier to catch fish that were farther out when you could go into the water after them, but it was also fucking dangerous. One misstep and you'd slip, fall, get swept under, go over the falls, fall into the Flamberge Forge--and Razz had already elaborated on what happened after that. He didn't seem worried, despite Razz's doom and gloom.::
If.. anyone comes looking for me. ::Not that anyone would, right?
He sunk his fingers into the perpetually moist dirt and fought with another handful of wriggling worms. It was times like these he wished he could just toss a net into the water and get 153 fish back in an instant.::
[DMITRI] ::Demetrius chuckled softly when he realized who else was in the Courtyard: Seth Kukai, Mr. Lanky. He (and the man in the wheelchair he was holding) had just been admiring the sunrise.:: I see Adam's already got you doing errands.
::The sunrise. Even Demetrius, a "holy man", had not been aware of just how beautiful the sunrise was until it had been lost for 33 days. Since then, a day or night had not passed without Demetrius coming out to the Courtyard to admire the world--to admire how luck they all were, even in such terrible times.
He and his crippled friend were nowhere near the water's edge. They preferred to stay in the center of the Courtyard, among the half-dead (but, fortunately, regrowing) plant life and vegetation. It had once been a magnificent garden full of fruits and vegetables and herbs and spices, but it had been reduced to muddy waste during the Dark Month.::
Careful, now. I'm sure I don't need to tell you how dangerous the Gladius Falls is.
[Y] ::The wheelchaired man--face disguised by long, pure white, unwashed hair--turned his head ever so slightly and slowly when he spotted Seth.::
[SETH] ::Seth only took as many worms as he thought he'd need and returned the rest to the earth once more. If he needed more, he could always come back for them--in the meantime, he wasn't going to torture the poor creatures any more than their brothers were about to be. It was an idea that alchemy had latched onto, but had always been prevalent: equivalent exchange. The life of a human necessitated the death of a fish, which necessitated the death of a worm, etc.
Gross, sticky worm blood got on his fingers when he began impaling worms onto one of the pole's hooks. One worm wasn't going to catch a salmon; he'd have to use several all at once.::
Uh? ::He looked in Demetrius' direction, blinked, and then waved with a dirty hand.:: I'm happy to be of service! I've been feeling like a leech since I got here.
::He lowered his eyes to the disabled man, waved at him too, and then approached the water's edge.:: I know. Razz gave me the play-by-play.
::The water was moving so fast that it was impossible to tell where the fish might be hiding out. After plucking the line to see how strong it was--and it had to be strong if it had any hope of reeling in a fish against that current--he cast the hook as far as he could reach without getting his feet wet.::
I'll be careful, ::he added, but his voice was too soft now to be heard.::
[DMITRI] ::Demetrius glanced up for a moment, at the silhouette that was standing on the edge of the bridge in the far distance.::
[RUBEDO] ::Rubedo waved his hand--and his bow--in the air when he spotted who was in the Courtyard.::
[DMITRI] ::He grinned to himself and lifted a hand in return.:: Hmm. Hope, indeed.
[RUBEDO] ::Rubedo brought his bow back down to his side when he realized that he had been recognized. He smiled to himself and then turned back to the Ricassian carriage he had been escorting.::
[DMITRI] ::He walked around the wheelchair and turned it around, and then he pushed it forward, back into the Cathedral.:: So long as the sun rises, and so long as it sets. We're both looking up at the same sky, aren't we?
[TITLE] ACT I: TERRA