15[20:12] The war is over. The battle is won. There remains now the long and painful process of mending the broken and reckoning with the lost. People are being decamped in stages from their Undercity bunkers, families blinking against their first fresh air and sunlight since the siege began some weeks ago. Around the city, its champions and heroes are left, for the first time in a long while, 15[20:12] with no mortal threat hanging over them. What do they do? 15[20:13] Ambassador, Jai, Xia Lan and Tsuka are gathered in the Black Bog, deep in grief and their cups. [20:14] "There's always new wars. Somewhere." 14The Ambassador pours herself a water, this time; she's alternating now to keep a semblance of propriety. "Perhaps I'll just go there." 15[20:15] Keldar, with the recovery effort and his own personal concerns still demanding his attention, has further impositions. First from a handful of Councilors seeking his time: Gen, Hayle, and Ephiselle. 15[20:17] Between triaging the wounded and being plied for the mysteries of what he saw by the city's lesser sorcerers, Xu Sim has stolen a private moment with the Scion of the Sevenfold. [20:19] 10Jai's still drinking, just not with the same frantic urgency to stop feeling things. So it's watered shochu today. "I've been thinking…" [20:19] 13Xia Lan has a payment for the wine she's drunk set out on the bartop while she nurses her own water. It's been a trying time. She's still trying to forget it. "No more wars, please," 13she starts. "Not for a while, at least." 15[20:20] Tsuka, who alone among the mourners is totally sober: "I can't wait for things to settle down." [20:20] 12Keldar's a Councilor himself, and so it's not hard for any of Gen, Hayle, or Ephiselle to make their requirements known. It's slightly harder to actually set the meeting up - there are a lot of fires to put out, and that's if you're restricting yourself to speaking literally. Still, at some point in the next few days Keldar's able to show up for a sit-down in the ruins of the [20:20] 12Council tower, to speak to his fellows either one at a time or as a group, depending on their requirements. [20:21] "Go on," 14The Ambassador says to Jai. 15[20:22] When the three of them finally get Keldar alone, in one of the intact meeting-rooms of the tower's lower levels, they get right to the point. Gen speaks for the trio: "We want to talk about your future." [20:24] 13She hums agreeably. "Maybe by the time I'm ready to come back here it'll be better than new." [20:24] 12Keldar: "'sso bright you gotta squint. But what's your concern with it?" 12He doesn't sound quite as standoffish as one might imagine here, just curious. 15[20:25] Tsuka looks over at her, but Jai's about to speak. [20:25] 10Jai: "Well, it's like this. In the heat of the moment, and the two of you talking about getting out of here, and inviting me along… it's appealing. It's still appealing." 10Pause. "But. there's a lot I could learn from Keldar and Xu Sim, too. Keldar's the greatest fighter I've ever seen, and if I knew a quarter as much as Xu Sim I'd be happy." 10A longer pause. He looks down in his cup. [20:26] 10A deep breath. "And I think I owe it to Stranger, the real Stranger, to try and make what he believed in come to pass." [20:26] "You've only been here a couple days," 14the Ambassador says, "so Keldar hasn't threatened to kill you yet." [20:27] 14Flatly: "You're not qualified to talk about what the real Stranger wanted or didn't want." [20:27] 5The couple having generated some steam of their own already, Xu Sim puffs away at one of her steambreather cartridges (cannabis). "So," 5he begins, passing the device to her after a moment. "Now nothing shall stand in our way, eh?" [20:27] 13Another hum. 15[20:28] Master Gen: "Dawn Sergeant, you were indispensable to the war effort. Nexus would be wiped off the map without you. A true hero for the ages, people are already commissioning statues in your honor. But the mood in the city, among the people, among the Council, is that going forward we need to move beyond a wartime footing." [20:28] 14The Ambassador: "I'm beginning to think I'm not either." 15[20:28] "Nexus survived for centuries with only one of enlightened Essence among its Council. We fear the balance of power between the haves and the have-nots, so to speak, is untenable as long as you and your kith continue to hold high office." [20:29] 10Jai: "…no. I suppose I'm not. And I'-I'm sorry-" [20:29] 14She waves her hand. "You're Solar. Stop fucking apologizing." [20:30] "Maybe if the original Solars had apologized more, the world wouldn't have fallen apart." [20:30] 5Xu Sim, exhaling, "The wonders of the world, at our fingertips. To learn - and exceed!" [20:30] 14She laughs. "Oh, do you think apologies are enough for Heaven?" [20:30] "You'll learn." 15[20:30] Seven seems all-but-perfectly content beside her beloved. After passing the steambreather back, though, she says: "I haven't... felt him. For days. The Mask." [20:30] 12Keldar opens his mouth, closes it again, leans back in his seat. "I hear what you're saying. Here's the thing. What about the balance of power between you guys and the Stranger?" [20:31] 13Xia Lan: "It'll feel like enough, at some point. That's my hope anyway." 15[20:32] Gen: "We can't displace the Emissary - our new Emissary. But if you remain as check on his influence, then the Council of Nine might as well be a Council of Two." [20:33] 10That's a good cue to pour another drink.  [20:33] 13She looks to Tsuka. "You were - about to say something?" [20:33] 12Keldar: "Okay, but if you haven't got, Iunno - me and Xu Sim, at least. He'll ruin us. I still don't know he understands just what a long game needs to be played, here." [20:34] 5Xu Sim: "The last thing he said to me was that we wouldn't see the dawn," 5inhale, pass ... exhale ... a little more hoarsely: "I think Keldar and Jai taught him a lesson. Are you still worried about him? Worried he'll come back?" 15[20:35] Tsuka: "You said 'when you come back'. Is the Council sending you away?" 15[20:37] Seven: "He does not release assets lightly. With Father, the understanding we had was premised on the fact that whatever spirit lingered after his death would return to his service. But to simply leave it?" [20:37] 13She covers up her undignified snort by drinking more water. Then: "No, no. I just -- can't stay here. In Nexus." 13She turns to look at him. "I - if I can't deal with the new Emissary, I just... I don't know where I'll go, but I can't stay here." [20:38] 13Xia Lan: "I haven't told them yet. I guess I should. Um." 15[20:39] Master Gen: "Well... you understand we're not asking you to leave the city. We'd just like you to put forward a mortal candidate to replace you as Dawn Sergeant, so that you can retire to the life of wealth and adventure that befits Nexus's pre-eminent warrior and mercenary lord." 15[20:39] Tsuka, weakly: "Oh." [20:41] 12Keldar: "Hey, sounds great to me. Except, how do we make sure the only remaining Emissary doesn't run straight over you and just shut down all the markets?" 15[20:42] Master Gen: "How would you intend to stop him as Dawn Sergeant if he tried?" [20:43] 12Keldar: "I mean... if I'm actually on the Council, I'm right in the room when some decision comes down the pipe and can't actually get instantly liquefied if I call it stupid, right?" [20:44] 13Xia Lan, suddenly alarmed: "You - I -- oh no," 13She forgot to tell him. She forgot to say anything. "Were you..." 13Going to stay here? With that? Help fix the city? She can't say it. 15[20:44] Master Gen: "At that point, you're talking about open war with our Emissary." [20:44] 5Xu Sim's brows furrow together for a moment. "Does he have other leverage, another hostage to compel your loyalty?" 15[20:45] "An Emissary who has, in this hypothetical, given himself over fully to madness and tyranny. Which, to be clear, he's shown little if any sign of doing." 15[20:45] "This is all a for-instance." 15[20:45] "But, for instance, if it came to blows between you and the Emissary... would it not be proper for you to lead the charge from outside the existing government?" 15[20:46] Tsuka: "...weren't you?" [20:47] 12Keldar: "Hmm. I mean, you're not wrong. I just figure that the less he's able to push the other Councilors around the less likely it'd even come to that. Like, once you've gotten to the point of proclaiming fuckin', Dogma number seven, and then having to retract it or something - well, that's already a huge fuckup." [20:48] 13She looks suddenly, abruptly hopeless. "I was. Then..." 13Then they won, and it wasn't at all what she expected or wanted. 15[20:49] Xia Lan can feel Tsuka's body heat rise beside her. "...we don't need to talk about this now." [20:50] 10Jai gives the Ambassador a glance and a nod. 10Should we give them some privacy? 15[20:50] Seven: "I don't know. That's what worries me." [20:50] "You two," 14the Ambassador says from across the bar, considering the very-much alcoholic she has poured herself, "since you've insisted on having this discussion in public, might want to take some advice from the recently-bereaved." [20:50] "There is a saying that goes, 'if you love something, let it go.'" [20:50] 10Guess not. [20:50] "That is stupid dogshit." [20:51] "Hold on to what you have. Your line may continue. Your exaltation may return to this world once again. But you -- you -- do not come back from the dead." [20:51] 12Keldar works his mouth around a bit, then leans forward. "Although, I dunno. I never got a chance to do this in peacetime - when you people did your thing, and the real Emissary passed ideas down... how did it go? How much input did you take from, like, the Guild, the big traders, whoever?" [20:51] "Even if your body does." [20:53] 14To Jai: "And that goes for you, too. If you still love them, you're not protecting your family by cutting them off from you. Needless abstention in the face of sorrow only trains you to see sorrow as its own reward." [20:53] "I am having, I admit, a very bad couple days." [20:53] "But I had a brilliant few years." 15[20:54] Master Gen: "The Emissary never used to pass ideas down. He would sit in on the meetings and, as the final arbiter of offense against the Dogmas, had a standing veto on what we put forward." [20:54] 5Xu Sim: "I can't bear the thought of you suffering in his service again. It's not right. We could destroy him, I think. The others came close, before. Cast him into Lethe like the ghost he is, or..." 5he scoffs "whatever Oblivion he was raving about. Or lock him up, bind him into something so he can never cause such harm again." [20:54] 14She waves her drink again. "Feel free to ignore me, though. The children of Luna always are." 15[20:54] "We took input from a wide variety of leading citizens," says Gen breezily. [20:56] 10Jai: "Excuse me for doing what I thought was right. I need some fresh air." 10He hasn't got a rejoinder to any of this and just sitting here getting morose isn't helping anyone. He stands and stalks out.  [20:56] 12Keldar draws and releases a breath. "Hmm. Hmm. Alright. If we Councilors can massage the Dogmas into something sane over the next... days, weeks? Then I can step down with the rest of my Circle. I got a few good guardsmen I can recommend." [20:56] 14Booming: "You are excused." [20:56] 14She's had...a lot to drink. 15[20:57] Seven: "I think, right now, he's returned to Thorns. He was always paranoid about invasion, and with the whole Direction united right now, and without his finest general..." [20:57] 10Just for that, he slams the door on the way out. Bottles shake and a glass falls and shatters. 15[20:57] "But in a month? A year? In ten years? I don't know." [20:57] 13Weakly: "We do. Need to talk about this. Tsuka," 13she says, standing up from the barstool. "C'mon." 13The Ambassador is right. About the not coming back part, and also about the doing this all in public - she'll try and lead Tsuka to some back room, to do this privately. [20:58] 14And that leaves the Ambassador alone with the bottle and her own thoughts. If not comfortable, it's at least familiar. [20:58] 13She probably shouldn't leave the Ambassador alone, because - yep. Yep that's pretty much exactly why. 15[20:59] Jai's maybe twenty paces down the road from the Bog when he realizes someone's in step beside him. "I gotta admit, you kicked ass out there, kid." says the Oyabun, still teenaged. His face is dirty and his schoolboy's robe tattered and frayed. 15[21:01] Tsuka will join Xia Lan in privacy. [21:01] 5Xu Sim: "We must go into this with both eyes open. Once we start down that path, there's no going back." 15[21:01] Seven: "Do you feel bound to this place? We would be safer the further we were from Thorns." [21:02] 5Xu Sim: "I'm not bound to any place." [21:03] 10Yeah, it's not much of a surrpise at all. "I stayed above water. That's all." 10The fact that the water, in this case, consisted of a tide of raksha and a fae lord a couple steps down from an Incarna don't enter his mind at this moment. [21:04] 13Xia Lan: "I can't. I don't know where I'm going to go, but I can't stay here," 13she starts. "It. He. I should've told you before. But everything's just been happening so fast..." [21:04] 14It had been...so long. Since she felt she'd had purpose. Oh yes, there were the little intrigues; the skirmishes; the parties that she excused herself from before they turned into orgies. But with him, she felt they were doing something. Together. Reunited across the skein of the years at last, but also lovers and partners for the first time. Beautiful and destined in a way she'd [21:04] 14never known. [21:04] 14And then, over her, he chose. [21:04] 14A fucking city. 15[21:05] Tsuka: "Stranger?" [21:05] 14Not any fucking city: this one. Nexus. A cesspool. One he convinced her only shouldn't be left to die because of the consequences for other, better parts of the world. [21:05] 13Xia Lan: "The Emissary." [21:05] 14And he loved it more than he loved her. [21:05] 14So. [21:05] 14Time for another drink. 15[21:06] Oyabun: "You got that sore-winner kind of face. Something on your mind?" 15[21:06] Tsuka: "I don't understand." 15[21:06] Keldar's response pleases the other Councilors, who leave him to his business. Namely, a meeting with Khelendros, commander of the Green Apples mercenary band. [21:07] 5Xu Sim: "The people of Nexus, yes, I feel some responsibility. But I have faith in Stranger. And I can always come back, do what needs to be done, fix the damn sluices again. But. It's like you said, before. We can leave at a heartbeat's notice and go anywhere you please." 15[21:08] Seven: "There are so many places. Palanquin, Ascension, An-Teng... the world is full of great powers ripe for mastery." [21:08] 13Xia Lan: "He was - I can't even look at him," 13it takes an effort to finish that sentence. "Do - how much do you know about me. Before." 13Before Nexus. Before they started dating. 15[21:09] Tsuka: "Not much." It comes off a little sulky, so he adds: "We've been so focused on what was right in front of us." [21:10] 10Jai: "They won—we won, dammit! And now everyone's snapping at each other, a guy I thought could be a friend paid for it by having his SOUL scooped out, and… and…" [21:11] 5Xu Sim: "We'll exceed them all. And if the Mask ever darkens our horizon again, I'll cast him down, shatter the Juggernaut, dispell his armies forever... I swear it!" [21:11] "Khelendros, you son of a bitch!" 12Keldar's meeting with his old commander opens with a powerful handshake and some good old-fashioned ribbing about who saved whose ass at whatever altercation. Of course, Khelendros has the upper hand in most of these, since for most of their relationship only one of the two men was Chosen. 15[21:12] Ambassador is left to her thoughts and her cups for hours. The sky is dark and the half-moon high overhead when she's roused from her solitude by a steady rap-rap-rap at the window. [21:13] 10Jai squats down and looks his boss right in the eyes. "I thought it'd be different. From all those messes you had me making. Is it always like this?" [21:14] 13Xia Lan: "Good. You wouldn't have wanted to. He was a better dad than my actual father and he's fu- freaking gone now. He left and, I can't pretend it doesn't hurt. So I need to go." 13She searches for another bottle of wine. "I didn't even realize until he was gone," 13she explains, still searching. 15[21:14] Oyabun: "Do you really want to know?" To Jai's recollection, he's never been asked that before. 15[21:15] Tsuka: "Why did you come to Nexus in the first place?" 15[21:16] Khelendros: "And look at you now. Big-timing your old boss. I should've seen this coming. Halfway did. But still, what a fight to go out on." [21:16] 13Xia Lan: "Had to. Met someone who owed Vladok a favor in the south, they tricked me into taking it over for 'em. That's... handled, so." [21:17] "Really thought I was over leaving places like this." 15[21:17] Tsuka: "Is that all this was for you? A rest stop?" [21:18] 10A long moment. "No. Yes. Ughhh, just hit me with it already." [21:19] 13Xia Lan: "...when I came here? Yeah. But then it was - I wanted to live here. To stay." 13Heavy sigh. "I still want to. Then I think about seeing the Emissary." [21:19] "I was going to have a home." 15[21:22] Oyabun: "This is in your nature. Every Chosen of the Sun thinks they're the most special and important person in the world. That's why he chooses them. Without some great fight to unite them, they fall to bickering, feuding, eventually... madness." [21:24] 5Xu Sim: "Yeah... on the Sun, the Moon, Venus, and Saturn, the Emissary, heh, whoever else. And that reminds me," 5he unrolls a bit of parchment from his bricabrac- "Of course, the others have the Sun as their standard, and I do as well, when I'm with them. And you, of course, also have your own sign." 5The stylized -=7=-. "But I wanted to see what you thought of, and if this is [21:24] too much just let me know, well, this, combined standard." 15[21:25] Tsuka: "You still have a home! This place still loves you. I still love you." [21:26] On the parchment is a quick sketch of a navy-and-crimson bursting sunrise-or-set, beneath a stylized red star and inscribed with certain words of the Old Tongue. [21:26] 5On the parchment Xu Sim presents to her is a quick sketch of a navy-and-crimson bursting sunrise-or-set, beneath a stylized red star and inscribed with certain words of the Old Tongue. 15[21:26] Seven: "That's lovely." [21:26] 14Once everyone's gone the crying starts, and the crying lasts long enough for reason to take over, and from reason comes water, and from water comes sleep -- if on a barstool -- so the second time the rapping comes she says, with irritation and without moving, "I heard you the first time and I cannot reasonably give you permission to enter. So use the door or, apparently, the window." [21:26] 13She's not even looking at him. "I thought I was gonna just, drift. Forever. Then I came here, and met you, and wanted to build a life." 13She's managed to find a bottle of wine, and pulls the cork out with her teeth before taking a drink. "I love you. But I tried to love Nexus, and..." [21:27] 13She turns. "Could you leave Nexus? With me? We could, find somewhere new..." [21:28] 14He's an idiot if he says no. But apparently all men are. 15[21:28] There's a lengthy silence before the front door creaks open, and moonlight floods in behind a woman with long, dusty hair and a long, dusty cloak. "Ambassador?" [21:28] 12Keldar: "Haha, yeah. But hey, the Apples did alright, didn't they? 'specially with- wait, go out?" [21:30] 10This squares with some things the Ambassador told him, back when. But not all of them. "And that's why they hunt us down. Or why others try tu use us." 10Jai closes his eyes, rubs the spot on his forehead where his caste mark would appear. "And is there no other way? Nothing left but to become a tool or a demon? That can't be it. That can't be what the Sun wants." [21:30] "Ambassador to what?" 14she calls back, slowly sitting up. "And my impression was I would have at least a day to lick my wounds after ensuring our part in a middlemarch not swallowing half the Threshold." 15[21:34] Khelendros: "I wanted to tell you first, for two reasons. I'm retiring. The first reason is you're my best man, and I thought you deserved to know first. The second is I want to pass the leadership of the company to you." [21:35] 5Xu Sim beams. "I'm glad to hear you think so." [21:36] 12Keldar: "Wait, wait. Why retire? You were just critical to a major victory. Basically got a direct line to the city's coffers." 15[21:38] "I wouldn't know anything about that," Ambassador's interlocutor says. "I just go where they tell me, and they told me that no one but the Ambsassador of Night and Day would do." 15[21:39] Oyabun: "Man... I don't fucking know what the Sun wants. I'm not sure anyone does. All I can tell you is what I know. I owe you that much." [21:40] 14The Ambassador: "Well, then they must need quite the special fool for their guest list." 14She turns to regard the woman, who she assumes she does not recognize, then harrumphs. "Do you want a drink? I'm drinking for--" 14She pauses for a full second at the contemplation of what 'drinking for two' might otherwise have meant. "Drinking for myself, and others." [21:40] 14She pours two glasses of water. 15[21:41] Tsuka: "This place is my home. It saved my life. It brought me you." 15[21:41] "But... I can't lose you." 15[21:41] "I'll follow you anywhere." [21:42] 14She'll put down a third glass for the courier. [21:46] 10Jai nods. "Okay. I guess I'll have to live with that. So, where do we stand here, old man?" [21:46] 13She pulls closer into herself. "I. I wanted this to be my home. I really, really tried. And it was. For a while." 13She looks through her bangs to Tsuka. "Maybe it will be again. Someday. Somewhen. Somehow. And it - gave me so much. It brought us together! I learned how to love again!" 13And yet. "Thank you. I'm sorry." 13She leans into his shoulder. "Thank you. We'll figure this out." 15[21:48] Tsuka: "Again?" 15[21:50] The courier will sit and drink. "Word won't reach the Scavenger lands for a week or more, yet, but war's broken out in Harborhead. Slave uprisings. Satraps and Realm viceroys killed in the street, their bodies strung up like treats for the vultures." 15[21:50] "But here's the bad news." [21:51] 14She's nodding along until then. "There always is." 15[21:52] "The rebels are calling themselves the Lilun. The Children of Lilith. Ordinarily, that's nothing. A flourish. Lilith cults rise and fall every other year." 15[21:53] "But three days ago we got word from the oracles of the Caul. She's actually awake." [21:58] 5Xu Sim: "Just to circle back. I'm curious about something you said. The go-your father. Did you mean his ghost is still... serving the Mask?" [21:59] 13Sharp intake of breath. "Ah. Again. Um." 13Knees to chin. "The Sun chose me, right after. I did say you wouldn't have wanted to know me, before." [22:00] 14The Ambassador: "Well. Fuck. Wouldn't that be a thing. I wonder how often the oracles have been wrong." 14She takes another sip. "If it's 'never,' don't answer that. Am I making contact with the cult or with whoever's left to try to suppress them? I'm guessing our interest is in the elder herself." 15[22:00] Khelendros: "That fight confirmed two things for me. One is that I still got it. I could keep this up for years yet. The other is that I don't want to. I've lost my taste for fighting. It's time for me to retire on top of the pile of money I've already made. And I won't let the Apples turn into some fat fuck's slush fund like the Nighthammers. It needs new blood." 15[22:00] "It needs you." 15[22:02] The courier: "You guess correctly. Our point of contact is within the local government. An officer in the military. But that's just a point of contact. From there you're free to play it as it lays." [22:02] 12Keldar's whip-fast with his answer: "No way, you've still--" 12He pauses. "Oh. ...well. You put it like that..." [22:02] 14The Ambassador: "Do you have an identity dossier for my cover or is it procure on site?" 15[22:03] "Procure on site. We have no idea what her disposition will be towards the Pact, and we don't want to tie your hands." 15[22:03] "The contact will know you by sign." [22:03] 14She nods. "Do I have the Pact's whip, or am I purely. Ah. Exploratory." [22:05] 12Keldar turns away for a moment, putting a hand to his chin. Actually run Ninth Orchard... "...you know, I'd have told you to fuck off a few months back. But after the Guard, just having to stay profitable'd be a relief." 15[22:05] Oyabun: "Well... that's up to you. We still need you, Jai, as many people like you as we can get. But I'm not treating you like a child anymore. Would if I could, believe me." 15[22:06] The courier: "Exploratory to start. We'd like a prelimary report before we know whether our full sanction will help or hurt you." [22:07] 13Xia Lan: "Kana Kavu. She ran the gang. And I loved her, or I thought I did. I don't know anymore. The Ruby Reds are all gone now. And I thought I was --" 13Broken. Lost. Alone. "a goner, until the Sun chose me. And then I came here, and you know the rest." [22:07] 14The Ambassador nods again. "In that case, I need you to relay two things that are conditions of me taking this assignment, and if the elders you report to are insulted enough to send in the killers over it, well, you know which shitty bar to find me in. [22:07] 12The soon-to-be-former Dawn Sergeant clenches a fist. "I can do it. Dunno if this has gotten to you or if it just makes sense, but I won't be on the Council indefinitely. Once we got things squared away here I was gonna get back to proper work - 'cept, of course, who the hell could afford me at this point?" 15[22:08] Khelendros: "The Empress, I suppose." He cackles at his own joke. 15[22:08] The courier: "Okay." [22:09] "The first: I need an elder who is regional and empowered to make on-site decisions for the Pact on a night's notice. This is non-negotiable. I will under no circumstances wait weeks or months for updates from scatterbrained, calcified fools on the pidgeon line. This is too important, if what you say is true. And when I mean elder, I don't mean just a shahan-ya. I mean someone of [22:09] consequence. I will not fly solo here, not on something this important. [22:09] 12Keldar: "Pff, hah, that'd be the day. But no, no - if I got your blessing, I'm in. We can get the paperwork started. I need a bigger stake in this town than one foundry, anyway, things lookin' like they are. And after Nexus itself, nothing'd make me prouder to work on than the Apples." [22:10] "The second: I need whoever gave you this missive to understand that I will not be bringing a team to bear on this mission, and to reconsider the assignment in that light. If this job was given based on my solar mate's ability's, and not mine, I regret to inform you and them that he won't be joining us for the rest of his life." [22:10] "The second: I need whoever gave you this missive to understand that I will not be bringing a team to bear on this mission, and to reconsider the assignment in that light. If this job was given based on my solar mate's abilities, and not mine, I regret to inform you and them that he won't be joining us for the rest of his life." [22:12] 10Jai feels a sudden spike of aggravation. "You're full of shit, old man. But I'll make you a deal. You don't get mixed up in my affairs for five years, I won't get mixed up in yours. At the end of that, we'll meet again. And maybe I'll consider coming back to the Bureau, on my terms." 15[22:12] Seven: "The Mask believes - rightly or wrongly, I cannot say - that he has control over the cycle of incarnation and reincarnation that Chosen of the Incarna take upon the wheel. That a Solar essence bent to his service will return to his service. So not Father himself, but his heir." 15[22:13] Oyabun: "I don't suppose it'd help to tell you that that puts me in deep shit with my boss." 15[22:14] Tsuka: "...I'm sorry." After a pause. "I always assumed it was some grand heroic thing. Saving a wagonload of orphans, singing a raksha prince to sleep forever, something." [22:17] 5Xu Sim reaches for Seven's forehead, his fingertips delicately tracing where he knows her Mark appears in blood. [22:18] 13Xia Lan: "That's what'll go in the books," 13she jokes. It's not a very good joke. "Never understood it. I don't know if I ever will." [22:18] Xu Sim: "And do you believe him?" [22:19] 5Xu Sim: "And do you believe him?" 15[22:20] The courier lets that hang in the air a moment. "I'll go set the wheels in motion. It might take a few days to rouse an elder of the Pact. Where can I find you?" [22:20] 13It saved her, though. It got her here. She pulls closer to Tsuka again. "Do you -- are you all right? I kinda dumped all my baggage on you..." [22:20] 10Jai straightens up and regards Oyabun. "All right, so. How about I help you cover it up? We pretend like this whole escapade was your idea and that it was a trick to get me into the confidence of the other Solars." 15[22:21] Oyabun: "You think we can sell that?" [22:23] 10Jai: "Sure. You planted that report with the encrypted message so it'd be easy for me to crack. Then I run off all half-cocked to Nexus." 15[22:23] Tsuka: "The whole time we were fighting, what kept me going was knowing that after it was over I could be with you. I always assumed it would be here." 15[22:23] "But you're what's important." [22:24] 10Jai's watching Oyabun very carefully, on the off chance this is actually what happened. 15[22:24] Seven, with an edge of bitterness: "I do not believe he would lie to me." [22:26] 10Jai's into this charade now. "And while I'm out there traveling with the Ambassador and Xia Lan, I'll write you some dispatches. I'm not going to rat on them. But if anything interesting happens around us… you'll get a report on it." [22:27] 10Also, he seems to have settled on his decision without realizing it. 15[22:28] Oyabun: "Yeah... yeah... this could work. And you're okay with this?" Jai gets a searching look of his own. [22:28] 5Xu Sim twists the tip of his mustache between thumb and forefinger in thought. "That could be leverage. But perhaps whatever he has twisted around his finger, could be un-twisted. Purely theoretically." [22:29] 13She hums in agreement. "It could've been great." 13And yet. "We'll find somewhere. For us. I love you. I don't think I say that enough." 13Woah, hey, where did half of that bottle of wine go. 15[22:29] Khelendros: "I'm glad to hear it. No one understands Nexus like you do. And there's no finer warrior in the world." 15[22:29] "Don't rest on your laurels, though. Sooner'n you think some scruffy kid fresh from the Arena will start sizing you up. It happened to me." 15[22:31] Tsuka: "Have you thought about where? Will we follow the Ambassador?" [22:31] 10Jai: "I learned a lot while I was working for you, even if I wanted to kick your teeth in half the time. So if I can keep your ass out of the fire while I'm going to fill in the gaps in my education, then the favor's repaid." [22:31] 12Keldar: "Pfheh. I'm the world's greatest monster by the lights of at least two major religions. They can bring it on." [22:33] 13Xia Lan: "I think so. She's - I get the feeling we - you and me and her - can help a lot of people, until we - you and I - find a place to settle down." 15[22:34] Tsuka: "Somewhere sunny." [22:36] 13She nods. "And open. Lots of greenery, too." [22:37] 14The Ambassador sits down behind the bar again. "My dear, with a hook like that, I'm not very well going to run out the line, am I? Most likely I'll be with Qaile's people. Helping pick up the pieces." 15[22:37] "Maybe by a river. A clean river," Tsuka adds. [22:38] "Moon knows they'll need it." [22:38] 14Bitterly: "Sun knows, too." 15[22:38] Seven: "Mastering not just the Mask but the very cycle of life and death itself? So ambitious." She kisses him tenderly. "I love you so." 15[22:39] Oyabun: "It's a deal, then." [22:40] 10Jai sticks out his hand. "Deal." [22:42] 13Xia Lan laughs. "The absolute prettiest place. Riverside, lots of sun, maybe an orchard." 13They'll make it theirs. 15[22:42] Oyabun shakes. [22:43] 5Xu Sim, increasingly distractedly- "Between us, we surely have..." [22:46] 10Jai heads on down the road back to his temporary quarters. He gives the ond-young man a wave and the farewell Oyabun always used to give: "Be seeing you." 15[22:53] And so the Circle, having lost its Center, fails to hold. It separates without amity or enmity, people spent and transformed by a fight that took more than they knew. The people of Nexus, freed from their doom and facing a brand new future, have cause to celebrate, to worry, and to mourn. So too with the city's heroes. 15[22:55] The living arteries of the East, Yellow and Gray, merge into great Yanaze and flow west towards the setting sun. What Nexus rises to meet the coming dawn? No one can fully say. But all know that it will not be the city Balor died to build, and died again to save. It will not be the city Cethleann tore apart in her grief and fury. 15[22:56] Their stories have ended. But the stars turn, and fate proceeds apace... 15[22:56] NEXT TIME: ?