15[20:19] Plans are laid, wheels are set in motion, and the work of seeding the Garden has begun. Every day now practically fizzes with new challenge and new possibilities. At the same time, this pulls the Four Fangs in different directions, as there is simply too much to do for them to work as a unit, or often even in pairs. But Iselsi Piu is no stranger to lonely work. 15[20:19] What's on her mind? [20:19] 14That she's becoming instead a lonely stranger to work. The strap hasn't shown another name yet, has it? 15[20:21] It has, if she's found the time and place to read it in total darkness, as its mystic ink requires. [20:21] 14Well, let's have it. If only for the back pocket. Which her pants never have. 15[20:24] Beneath 11,5MNEMON DUSK and 11,5MNEMON HEDRIN the list writ in gant bears a new name: 11,5CATHAK BUDOKAN. [20:25] 14Different House at least. And not one in the Hearth. Hopefully the twins won't be too mad or sad. [20:26] 14...Ugh. She needs some air. [20:26] 14Well, what she needs is some direction. But that's hard to come by out here. Especially given that the local handler isn't her handler. [20:26] 14That's either his rival or his son, depending on your definition of the word. 15[20:27] Still, she knows where he lives. And she's given to understand he keeps late nights. [20:28] 14...They've got business to discuss anyhow. She pauses as she dresses -- properly, this time, Silk Shadow and mask -- and wonders if she should tell Caedus. But he would just worry, and she shouldn't confuse the issue of whether she needs to ask his permission. 15[20:34] The trader prince Ialtagan lives in one of Abalone's finest houses, almost rising to the level of the Governor's palace. It's a hauled-stone villa built partially into the mountain, on a cliff overlooking the city. On the way up the winding road (or the sheer cliffside) to the villa, one can look back across the whole city, its lamps and ramparts and foreign lights. The Governor's 15[20:34] palace rises like a sleeping beast in the heart of the city, while other great structures like the Yanagimori Temple, or the Guild Factor's strange home, almost seem to cower out of side, backing directly into the foot of the mountain. [20:35] 14You can run the roofs in some cities, if you're good enough. In most cities, if you're great. Is Abalone a city where she needs to be good or great? 15[20:35] Good gets you to the foot of the mountain. Great gets you to the villa's walls. Legendary gets you inside. [20:35] 14Time to run. [20:48] 14First: get to road. She's run across these roofs before, in greater turmoils, and she is far better than the good they require. Then's the climb -- misleading name, since it's not full vertical, just...leveraged. On a slope. Straight up. With guards. But she's great -- and she moves post to post, landing slightly and silently on each roof before bouncing to the next. Momentum's the [20:48] 14key, and body (and anima) control are the turn. The lock opens, leading her to... [20:49] 14Well, yes. This might require running straight up. [20:50] 14But a closer examination reveals no -- there are no carve-ins, but there is root growth. Not climbable, but anchorable. She won't have to light up to 'run' up the side of this, just twist and push up, again, and again, faster and faster but still silent until she crests the wall (not so great that she silhouettes against low Luna) and lands in... [20:50] 14...a garden. [20:52] 14She will melt into the bonsai. [20:52] 14(Of course this is one of his hobbies.) 15[20:53] The garden is full of immaculately-kept, relentlessly ordered bonsai trees, all imported from the Isle. The artful regularity of them is almost vertiginous - Piu's reminded briefly of that perfect, infinitely-repeating garden she beheld as old Bhàsmhor, in her vision in the witch's hut. [20:54] 14Hh. 15[20:56] There are lights and activity deeper into the property - Piu guesses that some dinner party is wrapping up, nightcaps and pleasantries oiling whoever Lao is entertaining out the door. There are servants afoot, and guards. And somewhere in the mansion is Lao himself, ever-vigilant. 15[20:56] What's her approach? [20:58] 14Well. He's probably left a window tactically open in the room he's in, expecting attackers or, uh, her, to gravitate towards it. Control the funnel. So she'll go inside, up, and through. The staff is going to be showing out some horny drunk women sad he didn't take them to bed anyhow. 15[21:16] Piu clings to shadows as she glides past revelers (who, if they're not Lao's type, are certainly a lot of people's) and guards and into the wider, darker part of the house as servants who know better than to notice things dutifully clean up after the party. She's sure she's got him cornered as he turns off an upstairs corridor into the study she met him in last time... but when she 15[21:16] moves inside, she can't see him. 15[21:16] But reflex kicks in and she immediately whirls around, catching Lao in the shadows the same instant he sees her. 15[21:17] The only noise Lao makes in reply is a very small, controlled sigh. [21:17] 14She's already removed the mask so he can confirm who she is, and then turned away to hide her smile. 15[21:21] "Congratulations," he says. "We all heard about Hedrin. And not about you." [21:22] 14Piu: "Thank you. There were complications after that kill. Mostly theoretical, but concerning. Have you heard about them?" [21:22] "The star children." 15[21:27] Lao's voice is neutral. "Hedrin was protected by Heaven?" [21:27] "Oh no. Not in the slightest." [21:28] "But a Chosen of Endings or what have you had been going around claiming credit for the Dusk kill." [21:28] "And he's still in the play." 15[21:29] "Claiming credit to whom?" [21:29] "His cover." [21:30] "As far as my operative superiors are concerned, he still has it." 15[21:31] "Misdirection, then, from his real agenda. Do you know what it is?" [21:33] 14Piu: "No. He's one of those fanatics; death before revealing Heaven's secrets. We didn't have the resources or, to be frank, hearth temperament to unwillingly extract the information. We know it involves my cover mission regarding Peleps Furia." [21:34] "He's been informed the next time we see him it's on sight." [21:34] "And I expect it will be." 15[21:37] Lao walks to the window at the rear of the study, where the still-rising moon throws its ghostly white light. "If Heaven's involved, that means you're all on to something dangerously real. This is no greasel hunt. Heaven's Chosen are few and overwhelmed; dozens at most. For Control to commit even one is a huge investment." [21:38] 14She sighs, because she's already decided it's worth being honest. "Two." [21:39] "The second is friendly. For the moment." [21:39] "I won't bother you with the specs because they can change and they're a bit hard to remember, but you've got another in your backyard." 15[21:40] Lao doesn't turn around. Instead he leans against the windowsill, arms supporting his weight as his bows his head into the moonlight. Piu sees him bent in silhouette, all arms and broad back. "What do you know about this one?" [21:41] "Do you know who Ted was?" 15[21:42] "The Skullstone spy. Hedrin was monitoring him." [21:45] "He was also Anathema. He's dead now. Killed Hamoji, and 66 -- the other star child -- tracked it back to him. The confrontation was fatal for Ted. The relationship between our friendly -- 49 -- and Ted was, according to Cynis Dryas, motherly, if not directly matrilineal. So she bears the killer no good will." 15[21:46] "And you're working her based on that shared animosity?" [21:46] 14Piu: "No, there is no 'working for.' We're feeling out a mutual arrangement." [21:46] "My hearth is making moves." [21:46] "This is the substance of why I'm here." [21:47] "You're aware of Dryas's entrance into, ah, shipping?" 15[21:49] Lao stands and turns around, still solid black against the moonlight in the dim room. "I'm aware. I'm also aware she snared up the Customs Office and locked her own crew in the harbor another night. Perplexing. And costly." [21:50] 14Piu: "She's taken on a slave cargo and she doesn't want to be a slaver." [21:50] "Curious, for a Cynis, but it is what it is." [21:50] "And I appreciate her more for it." 15[21:51] "I appreciate virtue more than indecision. It's not enough not to want to be something. What will she be instead?" [21:52] 14Piu: "Nn Tloc's killer, I'll wager. Question is how to get her there." [21:52] "Physically and tactically. She's uncomfortable with slavery, not a wilting flower." 15[21:54] "What do you need? Investment? Protection? Political cover?" [21:56] 14Piu: "Yes, no, yes. Mainly we need you to be ready to stabilize the local underworld with a slightly more Guild-friendly face than the Garden will be providing. Pick up contracts. Provide continuity. Expand your operation." 14She taps the mask on his great desk. "In short, be prepared." 15[22:00] Lao: "This is a difficult time for me to sidle up to the Guild. The situation here is febrile - two well-connected Mnemons and a tutelary god are dead. Kou is not long for her post, unless she demonstrates a new and sudden aptitude for friend-making. And the demands Isleside grow by the week." [22:00] 14Piu makes a face. Clinical consideration. "We could just kill them all." [22:01] "The Garden, I mean. Not the House." [22:01] "Wipe the Guild clean from here, for the moment. Allow other mold to grow." [22:02] 14Piu: "I should pass along that Dryas is very interested in preserving Kou as an asset. She's a known quantity, and we've unlocked all the doors regarding her position that are interesting." [22:04] "Starting over again is unfavorable." 15[22:05] "I see the merit. If you succeeded you would both surprise and impress me." 15[22:06] "To unpick the Guild... your hearth is manpower enough. But it's a huge risk when the political situation is so unstable. We could pry the Guild free only to lose everything to the tighter grip of a new, hungrier colonial government. The Ten are beginning to move, very subtly yet, to seize on the weakness in the Water Fleet. Abalone may look very different indeed by the time the rainy 15[22:06] season ends." [22:06] 14Impress you? Oh so good to hear, Uncle Lao. [22:08] 14Piu: "Risk is risk. The squeaky cartwheel scion of House Cynis isn't going to wait, and I remain unconvinced it's advantageous from any reading to try and force her to. The Tepet cousins have proven incredibly useful and reliable, in their quiet ways." [22:09] "And if Abalone doesn't look very different by the end of the rainy season, the Four Fangs will not have done their job." 15[22:11] Lao: "I'll set up a meeting. She'll want a chance to make this pitch herself, I suspect." 15[22:11] "Does she have any reason to connect you to me?" 15[22:12] "Should she?" [22:12] 14Piu: "No, but she's both sly and perceptive. If she intuits we've met, admit it was at a party and imply something lascivious without saying it aloud." [22:13] "Frankly, her knowing we've met makes things easier for me, not harder. The smaller lies are more manageable." 15[22:14] "Speaking of- I understand you've progressed to the next stage of your cover." [22:14] "Caedus, though -- endeavor not to give up that ghost. She can connect me to him. If she can connect the three of us, rather than merely thinking me a floozy..." 15[22:15] "Don't worry about Caedus. I can keep him at arm's length." [22:15] "Yes, I'm aware. Make sure she doesn't detect that instinct, either." 15[22:16] Lao: "Hh." [22:16] 14She heads for that open window. "I think that squares us. Except for the last thing." [22:17] 14Piu raises her left hand when she comes close to Lao, and lights up the Rune. "Ted had a gift." [22:17] "And now it's mine." 15[22:17] "...what is it?" [22:19] 14She grins, but her eyes stay flat. "My foes will pay to find out." [22:19] "Goodnight, Uncle." 15[22:19] "One more thing." [22:19] 14She pauses on the sill. 15[22:21] "Now that your hearth has a better idea what you're capable of - Caedus will have more work for you. Beyond the House List. Less intricate work. V'Neef work. For now, V'Neef's strength is our strength, so any effort you can spare to your adopted House will strengthen your cover and our position." [22:21] 14Piu: "Sensible." [22:22] "I'll check in with him, then." 15[22:22] "Consider it tertiary to your explicit mandates and your hearth's projects. Good night." [22:22] 14NOW it's "Goodnight, Uncle." 14Then off into the dark. 15[22:23] Lao doesn't shut the window. Instead he leans out to look at the moon. 15[22:28] By now it's a couple of days on from the twin meetings with Destiny's agents. A couple of nights where Daizo was left to reflect on what he learned, and what he asked for. To study magic under the servants of the gods directly... he'd be the envy of many who will become his colleagues should he take the vows. 15[22:28] How's he handling it? [22:33] 10The next night after the meeting, Daizo can't sleep at all, his mind spinning in what seems like five directions at once. Was this a good idea? Will she really be in touch? Can I measure up to the standards of an agent of the Perfected Hierarchy? Isn't this technically improper conduct? And so on and so on. [22:36] 10To the observer, this mixture of elation and dread might seem indistinguishable from someone who's just fallen head-over-heels for someone. 15[22:38] One such outside observer - who has several reasons already to guess in that direction - is Daizo's retainer, Seiri. She catches him alone one morning after breakfast. "Just two quick items, if you don't mind, Master Daizo. The first is personal - would you be opposed to be taking a side job for a friend of mine? Just while we're in Abalone, of course. She's starting a business and 15[22:38] needs help with financial planning. Shouldn't be more than a couple of hours a day." [22:42] 10Daizo ponders for a minute. "I don't see any harm in it, as long as everyone's aware that we might have to sail on short notice." 10It's been a while since Ratel's last move. [22:44] 10Then, a second thought: "Really, I should probably have drawn up a schedule for us anyway. Have I, er, neglected to make you feel like you have sufficient free time?" 15[22:45] Seiri: "Oh, no! To the contrary, honestly - seems like there's a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. But that's not coming from you. If there's anything else I can do to help you, please don't hesitate to let me know." 15[22:45] "I find myself thanking you again for your generosity." 15[22:46] "But! Not why I'm here. I got your correspondence. Mostly the usual - receipts and the like. But there was a note waiting for you addressed to a name I've never seen before." A furtive look left and right. "A Master Taiyun?" [22:46] 10Daizo grins. "You've earned it. I don't think my notes have been this well organized since my first year of school." [22:48] 10And boom, all his hair's standing on end. 15[22:49] Seiri's eyes widen. "!!" [22:50] "So she…" 10Daizo clears his throat. "Sorry. It's my birth name. I don't use it very much, so there's only three people in Abalone now that know it. You're the third." [22:51] "I wasn't expecting a reply this soon." 10Daizo lets out a breath. "Thank you. The rest of the day is yours." 15[22:55] Seiri: "Oh, you're so very kind! Tell me, have you seen Sadako yet today?" [22:59] 10Daizo: "I thought I overheard her asking Dryas about shopping of some kind or another, but I don't recall exactly where." [23:03] "Good luck finding them!" 15[23:03] "Good luck to you too, sir. I hope you and your mysterious friend have a lovely time." [23:05] "That remains to be seen. Don't worry. This won't stay secret forever, at least if everything goes according to plan." [23:08] 10Once Seiri's away, he'll crack the seal on the message and read it. 15[23:09] Seiri leaves Daizo to his correspondence. The letter to Taiyun is written on neat graphing paper, with Old Realm characters squeezed painstakingly into the grid. The note is brief: 15[23:12] *49 [23:13] 10That's strange. There's no meeting place specified. Could it be the shrine grounds again in broad daylight? [23:14] 10Or is he being told that it doesn't matter *where* he is? 15[23:15] If he's available in four hours, then he will have followed the letter's instructions. 15[23:15] What does he do in the meantime? Does he spend it alone? [23:24] 10Piu's asked him to come up to the future home of the Garden to inspect something. That was going to be his main task for the day, but this will have to be a cursory glance at best. [23:25] 4It doesn't take long! Because it's-- "See? I told you it's spooky!" [23:25] 4She leads the way out from the now-cleared entrance to the basement beneath the storeroom. [23:27] 10Daizo comes out looking thoroughly troubled. "That's putting it mildly." [23:28] "Mainly I just want whatever's down there gone, but...just excavating and dumping bodies is bad for a number of reasons. Especially if anyone sees us do it." [23:28] "Here's what we do. Get Pud to nail the door shut. Before sunset I'm going to put a salt ward in front of it, and then no one touches it until we've had some time to prepare." [23:28] "Got it!" [23:28] 4She will skip off to do that. [23:29] 10Mental note: it makes the bank account groan, but this calls for the high purity salt. 15[23:30] Pud's more than willing to comply - though he makes a wry joke about not having access to his storeroom come the evening rush. (Piu has never seen more than one or two patrons in any of her visits.) [23:32] 4Sort of makes you wonder how he made any of these backbreaking payments in the first place! [23:32] 14In fact, she's looking into that. [23:33] 4But not right now! 15[23:34] So that business deferred - where are the two of them when the appointed hour strikes? [23:35] 10In the middle of Abalone you can still get salt mined from the Isle, as long as you're willing to pay about ten times the rate of natural sea salt. "We're more concerned about what the storeroom has access to." 10He faces the door, whispers a prayer, and the lline of coarse salt flashes a brilliant pinkish-white for a moment. [23:42] 10There's some less built-up areas a little ways up the mountain where the festival stalls were just a couple weeks ago, and one with a particularly good ocean view.  [23:43] 4Piu will sort of skip and run ahead, then double back, then run up again. Daizo's probably getting to know her well enough by now that he can tell what looks like a childish expenditure of extra energy doubles nicely as point to point scouting. [23:43] 4But it's also still a childish expenditure of extra energy. [23:44] 10During some of the doubling-back: "Thanks for agreeing to watch my back. I trust her. I think I trust her. But…" [23:45] 4Piu: "It's fine! I mean, you shouldn't already trust her though." [23:45] "Well." [23:45] "I wouldn't already trust her." [23:46] "But you're not me and I'm not you!" 4She jumps up on a rock outcropping. "I don't think I've got the mind for magic." 15[23:46] The broad cliffs that hug the winding path up to the caldera are too small for lasting construction, and being directly in the path of Hamoji's potential wrath keeps peasants at bay. Today, the road is barren of pilgrims and the sky is an auspicious gold. Perhaps Mercury herself favors this undertaking. [23:47] 10Daizo: "I'm not sure I do either. But I want to try. I'm never going to get these things off me otherwise. And… I want to be able to look Caxi right in the eye and say 'I don't need your help.'" [23:48] "Is that selfish?" [23:48] 4Piu: "Probably, a little bit. Is that bad?" [23:50] "Don't know. I've already strayed pretty far from what I thought was the true path." [23:51] 4Piu: "I don't think it's bad. I would think it's bad if it's your only reason to do it, though. Same with getting rid of the wings. But! That's up to you." [23:51] "But you know the old Tepet motto. 'Plans never survive first contact with the enemy.'" [23:51] 4Piu: "I didn't!" 15[23:51] Also a very recent Tepet motto. [23:51] "Know that motto, I mean. I've survived first contact with plenty of enemies." [23:52] 10Daizo: "It's all right. The other Houses usually follow it up with 'Neither did the legions.'" [23:53] 4Piu: "Yeeeeah, House V'Neef doesn't usually go in for the history zingers." [23:53] 14Nor does her other House, for different reasons. [23:54] "So. I want to get rid of the wings. I want to surpass Caxi. And I want to do more for my Hearth than hit things and do research." [23:54] "Nice!" 4Primly: "Though there's nothing wrong with just being the one who hits things." 15[23:56] The sun's difficult to track against a sky that outcolors it, if not outshines it. [23:56] 10Daizo: "I don't know. I think even Zhangyu feels a little unfulfilled. Well. There's not a lot I can do about that." [23:57] "He'll find it or he won't." 15[23:59] But the appointed minute comes, the gentle clomp-clomp of hooves in the dirt can be heard coming down the mountain. They both recognize the lady, though she seems older in broad daylight than she did in the dark, with a wide hat guarding her face against the shade. She's singing gently in Low Realm as she descends. 15[00:02] ♫ High on a mountain road / wind blowing free / thinking about the days that used to be ♫ 15[00:02] The donkey she's riding snuffles and stops when Piu and Daizo come into view. 15[00:04] "Whew!" she says as she dismounts far more nimbly than her age and frame would suggest she might. "Beautiful day, isn't it? Not many of those in Abalone this time of year." [00:04] 4Piu is doing standing handstand pushups again. She'll effortlessly go to one hand while upside-down and wave. 15[00:05] Clara waves her hat in Piu's direction. "Ma'am." 15[00:05] She looks Daizo up and down appraisingly. "Picked a lovely spot. I like this view of the ocean." [00:06] 10Daizo: "It is indeed. Good afternoon, Madam Clara, I hope all is well." [00:06] 4Never gonna get used to being called that. [00:06] "When I was younger I always thought the sea looked gloomy and gray. Seeing it like this, though…" 15[00:09] Clara: "You know the Wavecresters have a saying. Poina ke kai i na mea apau. The sea has no memory." 15[00:11] "We don't have that luxury, though, do we? So we look out at this dazzling vista... and we see the stormy sea of our youth." [00:12] 4Rather than continue to be a distraction in the corners of their eye, Piu will slither down into a lotus position. 15[00:13] "What do you know about sorcery?" [00:14] 10Daizo: "But the sea is neither blue nor gray. It simply is, and we bring our own colors to it." [00:16] 10Daizo: "What I have always been taught is that sorcery is the power inherent to Creation itself." [00:17] "Geomancy, dragon lines, Manses—all of these are the natural manifestations of Creation's power." 15[00:17] "Ah! Then you grasp the paradox." [00:18] "The sorcerer draws out the power, and achieves that which would otherwise be impossible." [00:20] "Natural yet unnatural. Possible yet impossible. It should not exist, and yet it does." [00:21] 4Damn. 15[00:21] "Hmm. Maybe I spoke too soon." [00:22] 4That was the wrong answer?? [00:24] 10Daizo: "Then, Teacher, your humble student requests that you forgive my ignorance, and help me to find the right path." [00:25] 10No, seriously, that was the wrong answer? 15[00:25] She waves her hat out at the vista in an expansive gesture. "The world is inherent. It precedes us. It outlasts us. It lives, it dies, it lives again. And yet, the world is imposed. We name our sensations, and put them in orderly array. We are told, we tell in turn, and the story we link together smooths the road between Heaven and here." 15[00:27] "Nothing is unnatural. They are fundamental to the nature of Creation, and creation. But they cannot touch. The imposed and the inherent. Nothing that is can embody the fullness of its name. And no word can circumscribe the thing itself." 15[00:28] "They elude each other eternally, two dragons chasing each other at perfect speed. Never drawing closer. Never drifting apart." 15[00:28] "Sorcery... is the color of the sea." [00:28] 10The shame of being corrected mingles with the realization that he had touched the truth for a moment—until he was asked directly. [00:29] 4Piu doesn't really see the difference...but then, that might be why she's not a sorcerer. [00:32] 10Daizo: "So it must be approached intuitively, and the rote repetition of facts will lead me astray. " 15[00:34] Clara: "But you see the danger. Such a truism is a fact all its own, repeatable by rote, embodiable in habit. To cross the Emerald Arc is to know the truth beyond words." 15[00:34] "Do you know any sorcerers?" [00:36] 10Daizo: "Yes, but also not really." [00:37] "Cynis Caxi travels with us, but I've never really spoken to her about sorcery per se." [00:38] "But she makes it look so damned easy." [00:38] 4Piu's 'tee hee' is vaguely audible. 15[00:39] Clara: "If you ever care to, remember this: there are a thousand crooked roads up the mountain, but they all intersect at two points. That is the bottom, and the top. In my tradition, in the tradition of the Golden Barque, we call them the Moment of Eclipse, and the Moment of the Storm." [00:39] 10Don't scowl dont' scowl don't— 15[00:40] "A moment of total submission, and a moment of perfect equanimity." 15[00:41] "Every being that has immersed in the art holds these two moments in common. Most of us spend the rest of our lives trying to recapture them." 15[00:42] "Because their meaning is elusive. The color of the sea." [00:44] 10Daizo: "So it is a moment that cannot be known until it has already passed." [00:44] "How will I know what to do?" [00:45] 10A foolish question. But if there are stations on this road, there must be an embarkation point. 15[00:45] Clara walks off ahead of Daizo, kneeling down in the dirt. She pulls a flower, a single five-petaled wildflower from the ground. It has no kin up here. 15[00:46] She offers it to Daizo, her face gently shaded by a subtle smile. [00:47] 10He takes the bloom in hand. It's miniscule. 15[00:48] Clara: "I possess true enlightenment. I have beheld the Shape, the true form of the formless. I entrust it to you." 15[00:50] She stretches. Even far away Piu can hear her joints pop. "I'll send another letter when you're ready for the next lesson. Do you-all want some apples? I brought some things from the Isle that are hard to get out here." 15[00:50] "I thought you might like a treat, since you're working so hard." [00:51] 10For just a moment, Daizo has no words. None at all. Language has departed him entirely. [00:51] 4Piu, slightly confused: "Sure!" 15[00:52] What Clara offers them are not apples, exactly, but spherical pies with tender, flaky crusts. A sniff or a bite reveals that the crust encases a whole mountain apple, baked down to a sweet and sticky paste. [00:54] 4Yes!! [00:54] 10He tries to thank Clara, but there is no sound. Then it all comes rushing back.  "Um. Yes. that would be wonderful." [00:55] 4Piu doesn't quite inhale hers. She's a bit more polite than that. 15[00:56] Clara's packing up. "You've got a good heart, Tepet Daizo. You have the makings of a righteous man. If the moment comes that all hope is lost, it won't be a mystery. Don't overthink it. You'll know." 15[00:56] She affixes her hat and touches its brim to Piu. "Ma'am." [00:57] 10Daizo: "Oh, these are fantastic. Thank you again, Madam Clara. And please convey my apologies to Eff for my rudeness at our last meeting." 15[00:58] The donkey chuffs, and its eyes flicker and segment like a dragonfly's, each eye bearing four differently-colored facets. 15[00:58] It winks at Daizo, and then Clara mounts up and begins riding down the mountain. [00:58] 10That's rad!! [01:00] 4Piu, face still with apple on it, will wave again.