so good night unto you all - LIBRARY RETURN

[libraryassistants]

Who: The Editors, one and all
What: The fight is over, the pieces remain... and the Editors head back 'home'
When: Dawn of the Final Day Sunrise after the attack
Where: Leaving Montica, back to the Library
Content warnings: Please make sure to put CW in headers!

By the time morning comes around again, the fires are beginning to die down, thanks to the many efforts of the citizenry to keep them under control. The rebel vampires too have been largely dealt with. These two seemingly insurmountable obstacles were only possible thanks to a combination of factors: the Umbra not being as blind to their human servants as their opposition would have thought, defectors from the Orlocks who were able to counter-act some of their magic, the following Amalia gathered and deployed from Laurelthirst, some suspicious (though welcome) help from suspiciously new arrivals, and of course, House Guildulf throwing their own into the fray to ally with the vampires for this confrontation.

A unity the likes of which Montica has never truly seen.

As the sun rises, there are few left who are able to fight at all; the rebels are beaten, and even the forces built up by both the vampires and werewolves are exhausted or diminished, leaving no one able to take advantage. Citizens of both sides flee indoors, and the remaining rebels are forced to vanish into the woods once more, weakened and unable to strike again any time soon. But there are still repairs to be done, physically and otherwise. Will this unity last beyond tonight? Will young love and youthful hope prevail? Those are the questions that settle over a weary Montica, as light pours into the city once more.

And then, the world begins to fade, static taking over the senses, as the Editors return to the Library.

Welcome back, Editors

It looks much the same as they left it, though the makings of a masquerade are no longer arranged as finely, a few scorch marks here and there, and for some reason there’s some amazing optical illusions on the floor panelling that makes them look like actual manhole covers. Alas, no sewers lay beneath. It may still take Actors a bit of time to shake off the old-new memories, and for some reason the fluorescent lighting seems harsher on the skin than it has any right too. Good thing that the stacks cast long shadows.

The customary tea cart is set up in the Lobby again, and it seems some improvements have been made. The coffee still isn’t strong, but’s far more drinkable than it has been, and there’s an added decaf option now! The tea has still been overstepped, and the stale cookies have been replaced by scones that are hard as rocks, but clearly someone’s getting the message that there are improvements needed. Clearly the tea cart was the place to start.

If someone for some reason doesn’t want stale scones, there’s also a child sized food truck in the lobby, with a sign out front boasting a variety of tamales, including: black beans and cheese, birria, chicken, fire scorpion, man suffering to death via battle wound, and beef. Upon approach, what look like fuzzy puppets pop up to… take your order? They don’t say much, or rather, they make a single noise over and over that seems to be them communicating, but the tamales are good. Just… don’t try to look in the truck. They’ll screech, vanish, and then no tamales for you.

Meanwhile, the bulletin board has a cheerful sign decorated with colorful blocks, declaring: “Join us in the Children’s Area for Lego Club!” Upon locating the room in question, Editors will discover boxes among boxes of legos of various shapes and sizes. There are some ‘how to’ guides for various builds (including a ‘research space ship’ and a ‘vampire’s castle’), but also plenty of encouragement for people to make their own creations! Unlike normal creations, these will actually stick around for a while after they’re finished, and there’s a nice little table where people can display and share what they’ve made.

The Assistants, it seems, are nowhere to be seen: the ‘back in 5’ sign is still in place at the help desk. Still, even without their ‘helpful’ guidance, some facets of the Library may come more easily to some in the aftermath of Montica’s troubles.

[Due to the resolution of the Story, any skills tagged Archivist in the skill tree cost one less skill point (minimum of 1) until the next Story. This can stack with a normal Archivist bonus!]

Comments

[codeswitchcraft]

The Garden (Locked to Close CR)

The moment that Siobhan exits from the story she makes a low moan and falls to her knees, but only for a moment before she pushes herself to her feet and tears off blindly into the stacks, opening whichever doors she can find until at last she reaches the garden.

She can be found there, later, by those who are close to her, curled up into a tiny green, gold, and blue ball next to the rose bushes, her monarch-patterned wings doing her best to shield the rest of her from the world.

Tamales and Legos

Later on, after she's finished yelling and crying, Siobhan can be coaxed back into the main library building. She orders her chicken tamales from the truck in perfect Mexican Spanish (rather than Yberian) and takes them with her to the lego room where she is concentrating very hard on making a very particular castle from Mundus--one Hikaru and Laina will recognize, but not the one she was born in.

"Pass me those flower-shaped pieces," she says under her breath, her normal barest hint of a German accent a little bit stronger at the moment. "I need them for the Jardine."

Wildcard

[Have anything else you want to tag about? Hit me up!]

The gardens

[ohaiyo_isekai]

He knew she would be here.

At the beginning of it, he sits next to her, silently offering a hand.

Re: The gardens

[codeswitchcraft]

She doesn't notice he's there at first. Once she does, however, she throws herself against him with a soft thud, burying her face against his neck, which he will sound find is wet from her weeping.

Re: The gardens

[ohaiyo_isekai]

He’ll put her hand on her head, stroke gently, kiss her forehead.

“Sigrid pulled me out of my darkest moment there, you should know,” he says. “With the timely reminder she was not quite you, and that you would return to yourself, and to me, after the end.”

Re: The gardens

[codeswitchcraft]

He's taller than her again now that they're both pixies. There is something reassuring about that.

"Mother was-- she wasn't Mother, but she was-- she hadn't died, not really, Sigrid Guildulf's father hadn't killed her, even Amalia's shadow didn't exactly kill her." A hiccuping sob bursts from her. "Ereblood, Amalia. Gods, Amalia. She was Konrad in a skirt." She makes another noise, almost another sob, almost another laugh. "She was. Gods, Hikaru, she was. 'Twas even her name when she was a little boy."

Legos

[aetherweaver]

Nara'a enters the room and pauses. Should he - well. They're going to have to talk at some point. He quietly sits down near her and watches her for a moment before speaking up.

"... Hello there." He keeps his voice quiet so he doesn't startle her.

Re: Legos

[codeswitchcraft]

"Nara'a," Siobhan says, just as quietly, looking up at him. "I-- This is very awkward. You must understand, I do like you, but only as a friend and compatriot. I do not want for another lover than what I already have."

[aetherweaver]

He lifts his hands in a placating motion. "I do not think of you in that manner either." While she is cute, he has standards.

"I don't want you to think that I'm seeking something of that matter either. But most of all... I wanted to ask how you are doing."

[codeswitchcraft]

She smiles sadly at him.

"I will be better in time," she says. "It is only that Sigrid's life echoed my own in ways I do not like."

The Garden

[terraboo]

... Perhaps it is little surprise that Laina would find Siobhan here.

She approached slowly, cautiously. Her shoes muffled, but not quite inaudible against the stones of the path.

Calmly, she just... Moved to Sio's side, and sat down.

"... Hey," she adds, quietly.

Re: The Garden

[codeswitchcraft]

"Laina?" There is clear guilt in her voice as she uncurls herself to look at her friend. "Oh Laina, I am so sorry that I was so horrid to you all Story."

Re: The Garden

[terraboo]

"That's... Not what I'm worried about," Laina responds.

"Seriously, rival clans, etc., and I was a weirdo by my standards during a lot of that," she says.

"... More than that, are you okay?"

She's being calm here. The less memey side of Laina. Odd to be back to this so soon after getting her jokes back, but...

Re: The Garden

[codeswitchcraft]

"Not really," Siobhan admits, "but Hikaru let me weep on him and that helped. The story... there was too much in it that echoed with our story. Amalia was Konrad in a skirt!"

Legos

[birdchasingecho]

"Sure." Mei is working on her own project-- a similar image of home, but a different one. It's. A house, of a sort. She's starting with the foundations first, of concrete and steel; complete with a thick door that leads into nothing.

In her head, it would be two stories tall, with room enough for everyone to have a private living space of six and a half tatami.

None of them require the flower-shaped pieces, though, and so she hands them over.

Where the hell does she even begin?

Re: Legos

[codeswitchcraft]

Siobhan starts arranging the flower-shaped pieces around her castle, laying out a fine and elegant garden.

"I was betrothed back home," she says, finally. "It was a political match. He was the man my father wished he could have called son. His name was Konrad."

Re: Legos

[birdchasingecho]

In, carefully, the legos of the desk, the furniture. Dad's office. Mom's, far more messy. "... I'm betrothed, too. His name's Ichigo."

And well and truly if THAT doesn't explain a lot. "Though I think we're better friends than you and Konrad."

Re: Legos

[codeswitchcraft]

"We were better friends when we were younger," Siobhan says, "though I never once loved him the way he said he loved me."

legos

[angel_of_baal]

Wait, there's a private place for yelling and crying? Please hook your not-brother up. He could have use of such a room.

He's pacing to try to dispel some nervous energy which brings him near the legos. It's the voice that stops him. Not exactly the same, but something in the timbre, the surety of confidence in the speech, that gets his attention.

He hands her a piece that is part of a flower from a plant on Baal, but it probably looks more a Unikitty Tail than what she might be thinking. "Is this a place you know?" He doesn't want to speak his suspicion...yet. He's made a fool of himself enough these last few months. Maybe a *moment* of caution. For once.

Re: legos

[codeswitchcraft]

There's a place and you were already using it: it's called the garden.

She looks up at him as she takes the piece from him. "Sig-- Sanguinius," she corrects herself. "It has been a long time since we talked, not since before the first story, I think. I was... cruel to the man you were in that story. I am sorry for that." She bites her lip slightly, worries it between her teeth. "Your brother who was our father told me who you were," she explains. "I never had a brother before. I don't think Konrad counts."

[angel_of_baal]

He was using the garden for Ruminating. Quite different. And he got interrupted. What they need, really, is a Sadness Closet or something. Which is probably not a thing, but it should be.

Well, that confirms what he had begun to suspect. He shakes his head. "You were not cruel. At least as I know it." Cruelty looks very different in his world. He offered a half smile. "We fought together well, I think."

Focus on the positive?

"You've met my brothers. It was...not the same." Understatement.

[codeswitchcraft]

"Not the same to have a brother outside the story as it was to have one inside it?" she asks. Then she shakes her head. She had meant she'd been cruel to any bodysnatcher she'd run into during the first story, which she had thought that Sanguinius had been among the group of, but it occurs to her that she might have been wrong in that guess.

She probably ought not argue about it, then. Focus on the things she did know.

"We did fight well together," she says, instead. "I did like having you as a brother. And I am sorry that our father in the story was your true brother—that must be so strange and awkward."

wildcard

[steelfeathered]

Hisako, once her equilibrium is on its way back to normal, seeks Siobhan out and gets her attention by swooping overhead and progressing to catch herself on a ladder - she keeps some distance, she's got a fourteen-foot wingspan and her primary feathers are like swords, she's aware that can be alarming - and clinging to it with both feet and the bone claws on one wing, letting the other drape down.

She calls, "Good morning! So, if you've got wings, how's your flying?"

Re: wildcard

[codeswitchcraft]

She blinks glancing up and up and up.

"I need magical help to properly fly," she calls up, blushing because the one time she did properly fly, it was because Hikaru had wanted to try to see if they could make love on the wing. (They could.)

"I think it has something to do with physics and I'm not at all gifted with that," she adds. "But they're very helpful for hovering for a moment and for gliding my way down from higher places."

She hesitates for a moment, but there's only so many Editors who could be old enough and there is something familiar about the bird woman.

"Were you Jadis?" she calls up. "I was Sigrid Guildulf."

[steelfeathered]

"Such a shame," she says, smiling. "I do use it as a help, or I'd mostly have to glide."

All right then. Hisako sights on a good, clear, large patch of floor, shoves off away from the ladder, spreads her great steel-feathered wings, and lofts down. She holds her wings outstretched and uses magic to control the descent, silhouetting her primary feathers in a red glow with hints of gold. There is still a woosh of displaced air, she comes to a landing fairly quickly instead of spending the energy to float down slow, but it's not the violent breeze that would be kicked up by backwinging. Being a Stormwing means inherent drama, sometimes.

Her claws click against the floor, and Hisako folds her wings at her sides. She's massive, as birds go. Even if she has to stretch really awkwardly to reach four and a half feet she's longer than that from collarbone to tail tip.

"That was me. I'm Hisako Godsup, in the flesh and feathers." She smiles. Steel teeth flash, though she's not baring them enough to make the sharp points obvious. There is some resemblance to Jadis - her eyes look the same, certainly - but it's something like the resemblance between half siblings or cousins. "And I know. I could see you sometimes, behind her. Attached to her. Funny that three people in that household had secret wings, huh?"

Apparently she's talking about 'I', right now, instead of referring to Jadis as a totally separate person.

assuming she's talked to robu and sang first

[codeswitchcraft]

"You, I, and Sigwulf?" she guesses. "Only Fath— Master Guilliman did not." Her cheeks are pink. She really needs to stop calling the man that by accident. He is not her father... even if part of her wishes he were.

"I am Siobhan Greenwood normally," she adds. "Hail and well met, Hisako Godsup. What do you mean, you could see me behind her?"

(Truthfully, Siobhan looks very much like Sigrid, only nineteen inches shorter and with the monarch wings. And dressed in a hunting costume rather than the gowns Sigrid preferred for out of combat.)