[Ciara] Ayano is trying to keep faith. Faith in the Council that they will protect her. Faith that she can, in turn, protect the children. She loves them so much already: the Seven of Swords, clever and brave (although still somewhat secretive), the Page of Cups, lively and encouraging (although prone to daydreaming to the point of distraction), and the Sun, calm and steady amidst the chaos (although even she has been showing signs of strain). But every day, the war seems to draw closer. Their resources are limited; even the Council can only send so much, or so they have said. The children know they're part of something bigger and something special and they want to do more, but Ayano lacks the knowledge and skills to teach them. She barely understands her own abilities. So she tries, honestly she does, but there's a frustration building within her, a desire to have *answers*, not promises. She does not expect the Council escort to arrive, the two men in old- fashioned garb whom she has seen once before. The Council Head has summoned her to make a report. The one with the sword will remain behind and watch the children, who eye him with mixed curiosity and suspicion. He bows politely to them and goes to stand outside the doorway, giving Ayano and her charges some privacy. She reassures them that all will be well, that she will return soon, before she leaves with the older man. He takes her arm, gently, and they walk two steps before everything blurs together and Ayano finds herself standing before a pair of large wooden doors. The symbols of the Arcana - the Cup, the Sword, the Wand, the Pentacle - are carved into each one. There is no guard outside; her escort simply nods to her and motions for her to go in. The doors open easily at her touch, and she walks into a room with cold, gray stone walls lined with torches. A large rectangular table, the dark wood polished to a glossy sheen, takes up most of the space. Nine chairs surround the table: four on each of the long sides, with the most elaborate at the head. Each chair has a symbol carved into its back; when occupied, the symbol would be visible just above the head of the person sitting there. Ayano stands at the foot of the table, staring across at the Council Head, the Queen of Wands in her throne. Her staff - her Wand - rests in her right hand. "Hasebe Ayano. I wish to know of your progress." Ayano bows politely to her. "The children are well," she says. "They are in good spirits for the most part and bear their hardship with few complaints-" Yamako Minazuki waves a hand, interrupting her. "The war is hard on all of us. You must continue to keep them hidden and safe at all costs." "I understand, but I fear we may not be able to stay where we are for much longer, and it is getting harder to buy food," Ayano states, her voice rising slightly. "The Council will provide." "You say that, and yet..." Ayano is trying very hard not to clench her hands into fists. There is the sound of a door opening behind her, and Ayano turns to see a man in his mid-20's, handsome in an almost pretty way, wearing the black robe and white clerical collar of a Western priest. He steps into the room, the door closing behind him, and bows deeply to the Queen of Wands. "Minazuki-sama. I did not realize you were holding a private audience." Then he turns to Ayano and bows to her. "I am Komine Isao, the Queen of Cups." Ayano returns the bow. "Hasebe Ayano." She hesitates for a moment. "The Hanged Man." Komine's face breaks into a smile. "Ah, you are Hasebe-san! It is a pleasure to meet you." Taken aback, Ayano blurts out. "You have heard of me?" "Of course! Minazuki-sama has told us of your work watching over the children. Truly, you have a kind heart." He continues to smile as he moves closer to where Minazuki is sitting. "Komine-san." The Queen of Wands' voice is as even as her gaze. "What brings you here today?" Komine reaches one of the chairs with a Cup carved into the back, the one to Ayano's left and Minazuki's right, and carefully sits down. "I have a report to deliver." Minazuki nods. "Very well. I believe Hasebe-san was just about finished." Now Ayano does clench her hands. "You still have not said how the Council will provide us food and shelter if we need to leave our current location." Komine folds his hands and rests them on the table. "If I may? While my church is small and humble, it would be my pleasure to aid Hasebe-san and her charges." "Yes," Minazuki says, dryly. "Your small, humble church. Strange how it continues to do so well despite the current situation." Komine is calm. "We have patrons-" Minazuki's face twists into a smirk. "Of course, your mysterious benefactor. Spare me the attempts at misdirection. We both know who it is." "I assure you that everything goes through the proper Church procedures," Komine replies. Ayano, meanwhile, is growing increasingly more frustrated. Her children are in danger and the Queens are talking politics! But before she can open her mouth to speak, Minazuki nods to Komine. "Very well. I will leave the arrangements to you and Hasebe-san." Then she looks at Ayano. "Be aware that all gifts come with a price. Do not be so quick to fall under the sway of those who have other interests." Ayano hesitates. It is true that she has only just met Komine-san, and despite the fact that he is apparently a member of the Council, the help that he is offering does not appear to have the Council’s full backing, or at least the Council Head’s full backing. There are more factors at play here than she would have suspected. "I ask nothing of Hasebe-san other than she allow me to aid her and her young wards." There is a hint of anger in Komine's voice that shakes Ayano out of her thoughts. "That is all I will ever ask." Before Ayano can respond, Minazuki nods to Komine. "See to it you hold true to that." Then she turns her still-calm gaze to at Ayano. "You must continue to do whatever it takes to keep the children safe. To keep the future safe. You must be willing to sacrifice *anything*, Hasebe-san." The steel of her tone chills Ayano to the very bones, and she opens her mouth to answer- Wataru wakes up. Cold. So cold. Uncontrollable shivers. Why is it so dark? The Council Chambers weren't this dark... wait, these are not the Council Chambers. What has happened? The Queen of Cups, the Queen of Wands... where are they? What of the children? Are they safe? Where is this? It's familiar and yet not familiar. Light. First, find light. --- [Jihatsu] Ayano reaches out blindly, then staggers out of bed, reaching for a candle, for a lamp. Everything her fingers touch is unfamiliar, shapes and textures that are jarringly alien and disorienting. She bumps her knee on the bedside table - where _is_ she?! - and tries to breathe more deeply, tries to still her shivers and her panic. No help to anyone in this state. She has to find the children. She has to make sure they're safe. It's like she's in a dream she can't quite shake, woken at an inopportune juncture, and she half feels like a sleepwalker as she makes her way to the faint outline of an open door. Her fingers find a light switch they've found a hundred times before, and the room is flooded with impossible brightness. Isao-san's church. Are the children there already? She needs to find them, she needs to know he's keeping true to his word. Back towards the Western- style bed, as her memories begin to fragment and fray, she grabs her cell phone, cycling through the contacts. Komine. Komine. Ka ki ku ke komine. She must have it somewhere...! --- [Ciara] Komine, Komine... There is no Komine. Hands shaking, trying again. Ko-mi- ne. Nothing. Ko-mi... not there. Ko... frantic scrolling, but no. Back up. Ka, ki... Ki? --- [Jihatsu] Yes, that's right. That has to be right. She dials the number, heart beating in her chest. --- [Grysar] After a few rings Haruko picks up her phone groggily. "Moshi moshi?" Maki mutters "Mrfh, Harukoooo, I thought you put it on silent," face down from her bed. Her roommate isn't wrong, the phone is silenced, but that doesn't apply to the Arcana crew and her parents. It doesn't apply to Hibiki either at this point, but she doesn't actually get late night calls from him, for better or worse. Haruko slips out of bed in her pajama shorts and tank top with a quick whisper apology and slips into the hallway, heading into the lounge as she listens for a response. --- [Jihatsu] "Komi-" Wataru's voice sounds weird, and Ayano rubs her hand across his face, groggy and still disoriented. "I apologize for waking you at such a late hour, but I'm.." Not sure where I am. "The children, are they with you?" --- [Grysar] Haruko blinks. This isn't entirely unfamiliar to her but she's missing important context and her brain isn't firing on all cylinders yet. "No, it's fine, but just give me a moment to get my bearings, I just woke from a dream." She's stalling for time, but this is strictly speaking true. It involved a beach house, or was it a mountain onsen. She'd been waiting on a futon for Hibiki but he never came. There was a call, and she knew he was going to tell her this wasn't what he wanted. Still, she's having an easier time discerning reality than Wataru, who is obviously worried about something and not entirely himself. "Don't be afraid. Everything is as it should be." She tries to piece together where he, or perhaps they, are mentally right now. She tried deepening her voice a bit for that, recent play practice helps, even if it looks like the dancing male parts all involve singing and are off the table for her. --- [Jihatsu] "She... I'm sure Minazuki-sama's concerns about you were unfounded," Ayano says. "I know it's late, but I need to see them." Why can't she remember where his church is...? What happened to her memory? How long has she been unconscious? "Your church..." The panic she's been fighting rears up strong in her chest. --- [Grysar] Minazuki-sama? That rings a bell and not just a someone else mentioned this bell. So that probably means Council or maybe an ally of Hideo but just grins at the idea of Hideo hanging out with anyone meriting that honorific.Or maybe it's a Christian thing?! Lay it aside. "Thank you for your confidence." She pauses for a moment, a variety of easy lies come to mind. The children are sleeping. The children are safe. The children didn't die, and probably die horribly at the hand of Saki or an atomic bombs decade ago. "I will meet you and escort you to my church...' Haruko tries to make her voice a little deeper but even now speaking of her church gives her slight pause. Get it together girl, act, no, not performing, be Isao and speak for both of them. "We would be honored to host you." Wait, "she" and "Minazuki-sama." That's probably not a Christian bishop or something. The big females earning that honorific in Christianity are basically all named , right? No, that's the Queen of Wands. With that association comes greater confidence and then a note of concern. Minazuki was concerned about Isao-sama? What's that about? This chain of thought goes fairly quickly, but it still means she's quiet for a moment. --- [Jihatsu] Ayano rubs her face again. Something is all wrong. Everything is wrong. Wataru looks around the strange bedroom. "I... Yes," wait, what am I agreeing to...? "I... Wait, we're going to..." Wataru squeezes his eyes shut. What's happening, who is he on the phone with, is he sleepwalking? Shit, shit shit shit who did he call? "Hello?" --- [Grysar] Haruko stifles a yawn and notes the change in speech patterns. "Queen of Cups here." Her tone is sympathetic, if bemused. "I think you may have just woken from a somewhat frightening dream." --- [Jihatsu] "I..." Wataru keeps his eyes closed, trying to calm down. He shakes his head. "I..." A voice in his head keeps being alarmed about children, yes, "Wait, was there something about children..?" The Seven of Swords. The Page of Cups. The Sun. "I remember...." His voice still doesn't sound right. "Am I dreaming now...?" --- [Grysar] Haruko loses the detachment. "No, you're awake. Yes, I believe Isao may have been helping with them, at very least by providing space. That sounds like a vision. I recommend you get a paper and pencil to write it down before you go back to bed. I can walk you through what you said to me if that would help." --- [Jihatsu] "A... Haruko?" He checks the phone, confirming that's the number he dialed. Huh. "I don't remember calling you, Haruko." Wataru sounds scared. --- [Grysar] Haruko grins at that query. "Yeah, a Haruko. I think you..." Haruko mentally searches for the name for a moment, "or rather Hasebe-san called Isao. I know the last time I woke from such a dream the present and past selves were blended together." She gives him a quick run down of the conversation thus far if he lets her. --- [Jihatsu] At some point, Wataru grabs a pencil and starts jotting stuff down on the back of a gas bill. Keep notes. Yes. "Yeah... Man, I'm remembering more now. I'm so sorry, though, this is so embarrassing." --- [Grysar] Haruko laughs. "Well, not exactly the late night call from a guy that I hope for, but I'm fine. Make some food to share with my roommate Maki when you first meet her and you'll pay that debt whether she knows it or not."? She then thinks for a moment. "I'm rather curious what Minazuki-sama's concerns about Isao were, but I didn't really piece anything else together at my end. I guess Isao's church may have been the location of the orphanage, but I suspect Hasebe-san or others were often their day-to-day caretakers at least near the end. I know from Satoshi's vision that Isao went to find the Cup and succeeded, but he couldn't have been doing that while raising the orphans." She yawns again. "But don't be embarrassed, you were acting on a powerful maternal instinct." She sighs. "And we know all to well that the fear of danger wasn't wrong. Obviously Hasebe-san took her responsibilities very seriously and that's a trait that connects with you. I think..." Haruko tries to remember her time in Katie and Kyon's apartment and the mix of relationships. "I think she and Isao may have had a complicated relationship and jealousy may have played a part." She sounds uncertain but she remembers the emotion. "But I know he deeply respected her devotion." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru blushes at about half of what Haruko says, but in the end, he says: "Jealousy?" --- [Grysar] Haruko makes a face. "Well, primarily it was just an emotional echo I noticed." She laughs, a slightly uncomfortable titter, and slightly shifts the subject. "It's an emotion I've felt myself, in various forms over the years. I felt it when we were looking at Hasebe-san, well looking at you but thinking of her." She sits down on a couch laid out in the dorm lounge, doing a routine paranoia check that no one is around. It's late enough that she actually is alone. --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods... "Something to think about later then. Oh, and uh, I don't think you looked after the kids. They were living with me, at least that's how I remember it. But ..." Pieces of the dream come together. "War was coming, food was scarce, Kyon was being iffy with funds and you volunteered to help..." Wataru sighs. "He. Not you. Sorry. It's still a bit..." --- [Grysar] Haruko nods, not even bothered by the name mix up. "My meager dreams had not touched on that at all, but that all sounds plausible." She frowns, "Although beyond a place to go, I would imagine Isao was by no means flush during the war and he could hardly ask the Vatican for more funding, though perhaps his powers helped." She ponders for a moment."Isao and Hideo-san were friends, at least until near the end. If it was a problem of funding, that might have been part of the solution." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru sits, and thinks about that quietly for a bit. "You mentioned... People being worried about my - about uh, about Ayano's influence on Hideo. And Old Lady Kyon was worried about you, maybe that's what it was too. Man, was Satoshi really such a bad guy that the fact that apparently you and I were sort of friends with him or something was actually a problem?" --- [Grysar] Haruko listens and goes huh after the bit about Ayano's influence. That rings a bell but she can't remember saying it, it seems like it would make more sense the other way. However, that's quickly overtaken by Wataru's subsequent question. Haruko's tone remains gentle, but picks up a sudden firmness. "Was Hideo really such a bad guy? The spirit of Isao-sama himself accused *Satoshi* of betrayal and was only placated when he realized that Satoshi and Hideo were very different. Similarly, others' memories have independently verified that he did allow people to die as part of a trap to judge one who looked like Saki and was murdering Arcana. Admittedly, I don't think that was necessarily out of line with past Judgments. The shadows in the World Reversed are the remains of the judged, and there are many shadows." She sighs, "Satoshi isn't really ready to have this conversation, but I think he is too black and white in his view of Hideo. If Isao once saw him as a friend, there must have been more to him than Satoshi sometimes allows. But he was in a real conflict with the Arcana Council, he was dangerous and often cold blooded, and it all ended very badly despite what I'm sure were Isao and Ayano-san's best efforts." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru has a deep breath, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Okay. That's... I mean, I know he and Satoshi are totally different. But that's sort of the feeling I was getting as well. Hideo went somewhere really cold and really dark, but I don't think he was ever evil. I think he meant well. He was just a fucking lunatic." --- [Grysar] Haruko ponders that. "That may be one explanation. We also don't know a lot about the Council. Katie very much wishes a pox on both of their houses, given what her predecessor went through." She takes a moment to contemplate the nature of evil and insanity then switches back to an earlier topic. "So what did I tell you about worrying about Ayano-san's influence on Hideo? Was I channeling then?" --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods, not that Haruko can hear it. "At Katie and Kyon's. You had a dream, and when you woke up..." He chuckles. "I guess it was a lot like this, in reverse. You also dreamt about the old lady." --- [Grysar] Haruko laughs, "Minazuki-sama, old Lady Kyon." She then sobers slightly, "I remember it in broad strokes, the Council Chambers, a show of fire that left me, left Isao, unafraid. Thank you for helping me out of that." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru nods. "Any time. And thanks for repaying the kindness this quickly, although I wasn't expecting this." He sighs. "There's been a lot of dreams lately, hasn't there." --- [Grysar] Haruko hmms quietly. "I didn't have any visions back then. Although Isao-sama was active in the World Reversed. He sacrificed that for us when he handed over the cup." She's quiet for another moment. "I've read some of Kyon's books on tarot and mysticism but there were no clear answers there. Still from what I've read they may build on one another. I think hearing about the lives of others and encountering their present incarnations may make a difference." She shrugs and yawns again. She chooses not to add that she's been wondering if the presence of a new major arcana steeped in magic might act as a catalyst for that process. --- [Jihatsu] "Well, either way I get the feeling that comparing notes and like, building a better picture of what was at play back then, that's probably only gonna do us good. The more you know, right?" --- [Grysar] "Agreed, there are real limits, thanks to the competing conspiracies. If we want to understand the past we'll better understand the World." Haruko yawns. "I've tried making diagrams but the connections are ambiguous and multifaceted, so as soon as I try to get past the obvious it just becomes a mess. So much for my circuitry draftsmanship." --- [Jihatsu] Wataru chuckles. It stresses him out, but he says, "Maybe we can compare notes sometime." --- [Grysar] Haruko processes that with an expanding smile in no way dampened by drooping eyelids. Play it cool, Haruko, real cool. "Hm... yeah, that's probably a good suggestion." --- [Ciara] [While Wataru feels nervous about taking the risk of opening up to Haruko, he's also *really* sleepy. Worrying can wait.] [Thread End!]