People you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita frowned, then shook her head.

"No one else received one - at least as far as I know. Which is rather far, especially here."

She watched Laurelai scan the room nervously, coming to the same troubling conclusion Lita had herself considered before the blonde arrived for the day.

"As far as someone overhearing us in here, it is unlikely that I would not notice. With, of course, one notable exception that has already proven to be... exploitable. It is possible that one of the Strangers was in here, listening. And their ability to deliver mail unseen is quite legendary. However, they rarely extend themselves outside of the Alleys, and your residence is a reasonable distance away. It is a possibility I will inquire about with R&D. But till I hear back from them, I would still consider this place one of the safest to discuss our current business."

Lita tapped one finger on her desk, staring pensively at the deep mahogany grain for a moment and considering the possibility that her own office - the inner sanctum of her temple of secrets - was vulnerable. Green eyes narrowed, and she drew open a drawer to her right without looking at it and removed a silver case and lighter. She snapped open the case and withdrew a cigarette, placing it between her teeth and lighting the end. It was a rare day that she chose to smoke inside her office, but the lingering feeling of her nightmare, compounded with the idea that someone could be in here right now listening to them, walking into her room to place cryptic notes while she slept - it was too much. She placed the case and lighter back into their drawer and drew in a breath of smoke, savoring the tin-magnified sensation as she stored enough heat to avoid obvious pain in her throat. She let the smoke out in one long sigh, finally looking up and registering Laurelai's final sentence.

"The Goldfox Tavern?" Lita raised an eyebrow, then looked at the clock. It was barely past nine in the morning. "A lovely place to begin our search. At the worst, we can listen for any city gossip we might have missed. And I suppose if we drink enough, we could see three tails on the fox."

She stood, smiling a smile she only half felt. But it seemed right to do something, to get out of this office and back out into the field for a day. "They do a lovely egg on toast, as I recall. And a lovely whiskey-coffee as well. Come along then, Laurelai. Enlightenment awaits."

@Voidus

[Voidus]

Laurelai's eyes widened a fraction in surprise at Lita's decision, certainly Laurelai herself had been a little tempted when she walked past it but it was still morning and they were working. Though it was true that this was hardly a usual working environment, and Lita was hardly a normal employer, so perhaps this was simply normal here. And as Lita had mentioned there were few places better than a tavern for listening in on gossip.

"Every day a new surprise in this place." Laurelai said, a sly grin chasing the surprise out of her expression. "You are certainly not like other employers ma'am, but I do quite like that."

Standing to follow after Lita, Laurelai's attention slid to the redheads eyes, the very subtle redness and the almost invisible bags beneath them. Over the past few days Lita seemed to have the luck of the damned about her sleep, she either seemed to veritably glow with satisfaction or to be plagued by nightmares. But there were any number of explanations for that, perhaps Lita simply had someone warming her bed who was an occasional snorer. And thankfully, whatever her mood, Lita rarely let it actually obstruct their work. And so, beyond simply trying to keep her employer in a good mood there was little for Laurelai to worry about. Enjoyable as she found Lita's company, at the end of the day Lita was her boss, not her friend.

"And I could certainly do with a little 'enlightenment' this morning I think." Laurelai continued, gloved fingers pressing against her temple as another piercing headache began.

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita waited until Laurelai had followed her out into the Alley beyond her office before locking the door, slipping the key into a pocket and double-checking the small bag she had grabbed from beside her desk. She drew one finger along the cool metal of her bayonet - it felt right to carry it, despite the fact that she barely knew what she'd do with it if the occasion arose. Lita gave a small shrug and let the thought slip from her mind, turning back to Laurelai with a light smile.

"I'm glad you appreciate my unorthodox management style, Laurelai. I of course had my suspicions... but it is always good to have confirmation of a thing, is it not? And besides, you took the time to dress so nicely this morning. It would be a shame to keep you all cooped up in an office with only an audience of one."

She turned and began walking without waiting for a reply, taking another long breath of smoke and letting it curl languidly out of her mouth as she prepared to Alleytravel.

"Follow closely now, please. You've shown remarkable talent in picking up Alleytravel but it is still very easy to get lost. And I'd hate for you to trail all that lovely Elendel silk in caustic molasses or sentient mud, or whatever else those clever, mad fellows in R&D are making these days."

@Voidus

[Voidus]

Laurelai felt a trickle of heat hit her cheeks. The rush of mixed emotions at the very least provided a distraction from her brewing headache. The trickle of pride and pleasure at the compliment was one she always enjoyed, though the twinge of worry that Lita seemed to have picked up on Laurelai's intentions behind choosing this particular dress were a little less so. Bathing over both of them in an embarrassed glow however was Lita's picking apart Laurelai's own words with a subtle twist.

And now your boss is going to think you are outright flirting with her at every opportunity. She chided herself. An infatuated little thing looking overly much into a single encounter.

Laurelai quickly covered the blush with a polite smile and stepped quickly to follow after Lita, wary of being caught alone in one of the Alleys that Lita had mentioned. As they travelled she continued to lose herself in thought, reminding herself that what had happened was a once off event, not to be repeated. And that she certainly did not want to give the impression that she was looking for anything beyond that. Laurelai had no intentions of mixing emotions up with her work.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Stepping under the sign, Laurelai glanced up at it with a smile having finally managed to shake both her intrusive thoughts and her blush. A golden fox posing proudly on a green field stared down at her, only a single tail waving behind it.

"Just the one tail on this one, as I had thought." She commented as she opened the door to the Goldfox Tavern for Lita to enter. "But perhaps once we've had a coffee or two we'll find ourselves enlightened enough to see more."

@ZincAboutIt (Shall we move to the Alleycity thread?)

[18th Shard he/him]

Xanas gently filed the Blade on the table in front of him. The aluminum file, while generally far too soft for ordinary filing, was the only simple method for obtaining samples from physically manifested spren. This Blade, however, was far from simple. It had simply appeared outside his office one evening, for one thing, without provenance or hint of sender. Xanas had heard that a Stranger had malfunctioned in another department, giving a possible explanation for its arrival, but the object itself had far more compelling questions. Firstly, it exactly resembled Tsarik’s typical Blade form. Xanas rarely used his spren as a weapon, and few of those who had ever seen the spren as a Blade were still living. Additionally, the Blade had cracks running through it, flaws and fractures. Xanas had never seen a Blade damaged like this. Inside the cracks, a pulsing white light and inky black darkness interacted, coming into existence and then annihilating nearly instantly, folded tightly like Damascus steel. There wasn’t any Investiture field until you got close enough to the Blade to differentiate the two substances, which implied there was some kind of anti-Investiture involved in it. However, the Investiture didn’t match any known types. There also wasn’t any energy being created by the annihilation.

Xanas gently brushed the shavings of the Blade into a small ceramic dish, then mixed in a few milliliters of solvent. He carefully sucked the solution into a pipette, then added it to a similar solution containing a mix of liquid anti-Stormlight and anti-Lifelight. The suspended particles from the Blade dissolved, producing a few air bubbles and a very slight change in temperature. Xanas made a note, stirred the remaining solution, and then titrated it with liquid Stormlight and Lifelight until he got an entirely neutral solution.

“Slightly more Stormlight than Lifelight required for complete neutralization – about 10 mils. Factoring in the thermal energy output, the mix is almost exactly an inkspren’s composition.” Tsarik listened carefully, frowning.

“How is this?” he asked. “Unaccounted inkspren in the Alleys are not, and the flaws must be from the Alleys.”

Xanas shrugged. “We’ll have to find a way to separate the two substances in the flaws. Until then, we’ll just have another mystery piling up on our desk.”

Tsarik nodded. “I want to see what is under an axon microscope. Perhaps then we may see the structure of the Blade.”

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Bennington floated just behind the Professor's head as he contemplated the Alley before him. That last drink had really done something - something quite spectacular. And the Professor had, as well. He was beginning to remember himself, remember the fact that he was much more than a mild, enthusiastic scholar. Bennington turned a lazy, sated circle and contemplated his next drink. Probably not for a bit. At least... what. A day? Maybe? Now that he'd really started, it would be difficult to stop.

Or it would be easy, but he did not particularly wish to stop. He could tell that the Professor did not wish to stop, either. He had not wished to stop in the cafe, not with all that glorious red. Red, red, red - the loveliest color. That was what Vivica always said. 

Vivica. 

Bennington turned another loop, this one more contemplative. He did not care for her, the way mortals cared for things. The way even this god cared for things, however warped that care may have become over millions of years. But Vivica had belonged to Bennington, and had been taken away. Partly of her own accord, but mostly at the hands of another. Another who continued to blind the Professor's eyes, even as he wiped away the paint of falsehood. And that theft was unforgivable. It was enough to provoke even an endless, ageless thing as himself to action, to a sort of rage that had no name. A wrath that had no definition. It was Nothing, but a hungry Nothing. 

Bennington swam before the Professor's eyes, urging him forward. It was time he washed off some more of that paint. He was looking for water, after all. A water that terrified him. A water that lured him. Bennington was curious about both. But more than that, Bennington was starting to get hungry again. Like usual.

Like always.

- - - - - - - - - - 

Vivica stood near the mouth of an Alley and watched the darkness loop and deepen within Professor Lucien Esserethel. Something had happened when he did it - when he remembered. Remembered how to perfectly place a pin of brass through a living heart. It had been such a beautiful thing to watch, even from the Cognitive Realm, where she could not easily see the red. If she tried very hard, Vivica could remember red. Her own, and that of others. So, so many others, other guests, in the other life.

The darkness was tangling with the light inside of him, deep black coils spiraling over and through the white-gold wire. Some bit of it had begun to darken itself, and Vivica watched it happen with a joy unlike anything she had ever known before in her life. In either life. There was nothing more wondrous than this, than watching someone so perfect remember that perfection, bit by bit. Piece by piece. She would have wept, if she had tears. Instead, the wind obligingly tore away a bit of her cheek and neck. It seemed appropriate - the price to witness such a miracle unfold before her unworthy eyes. 

The Professor moved through the city quickly, as though he had somewhere precise in mind. Vivica followed behind him, watching in awe as the Light Lines began to behave very strangely at his passing. The lightning, which only ever ran in one direction - toward the Worldspike - now changed. Or perhaps, his steps made their own lightning. And this radiated out. Out into the city, out into the world, meeting with its rival lightning deep within the ground in a resounding crack that felt like reality itself beginning to break. It was beautiful, and perfect, like everything about him. The Professor. Nox. A name he had allowed her to give him. Such a privilege, one Vivica did not deserve, and would never deserve, but one she cherished.

Vivica would have followed him forever, if she could.

But she could not. She could see the mouth of the Alley, but it did not reach her. Something about this realm, perhaps something about her specifically, repelled the Alleys. This rejection hurt more than Vivica had expected, though even that pain was... distant. She did not feel much of anything, anymore. Perhaps it was because she was running out of her to feel. There was a great deal missing now. But she remembered him, still. And really, what more did she need to remember? What need had she of her own life, such a plain and lonely thing, in comparison to the dark and lovely creature before her?

He was going to enter the Alley - it was important to him. And that meant it was important to Vivica, though it wrenched something deep within what was left of her to see him go. To give him up again, so soon after finding him. She stepped closer, closer than she'd ever dared when she was alive. Closer than she'd been allowed in the Cognitive Ward, though oh, how she had wished to. What if she never saw him again, after this? What if the wind simply blew her away before he returned?

Vivica was being greedy, she was being presumptive and rude. But something possessed her, just for a moment, to be selfish. So she stepped forward and placed one spectral hand on Nox's shoulder. Just for a moment - a moment she did not feel. But perhaps, she could pretend to feel it. Pretend that it was enough. Maybe it would have to be.

Then, because she could do nothing else, Vivica sat at the mouth of the Alley and waited for her god to return.

@Voidus

[Voidus]

It was an odd thing, Voidus realised, to feel more yourself after losing your mind. He still wasn't entirely himself, barely any at all really, but he remembered a few important things. He remembered the craft that he has spent millennia perfecting. He could remember his name, or at least the name he had worn the longest. He could remember his exhaustion, not the physical kind that he had now relieved himself of by tapping Charlie's Bronzeminds, but the soul-deep emotional and mental weariness of eternity. And he remembered the Alleys.

He smiled as he stepped into the cool darkness between two buildings, the in-between place where reality could be blurred a little more easily and one realm could cross into another. As he stepped into the Alleys for just a fraction of a moment he felt something brush up against him, like a comforting wind it refreshed and encouraged him, took the edge off of his weariness and gave another reason to keep stepping forwards even as he left the sensation behind.

"Was that her?" Voidus asked his silent, hovering companion. "Whatever is left of her? Or was it just a memory?"

Whether some remnant spark of his friend from the hospital or just his own broken memories of her, Voidus felt a thread of Connection between the two of them. It was a tenuous thing, barely even perceivable to him in his current state and certainly not something he could manipulate. But he hoped it would be enough to keep her tethered here, hoped it would let her spirit weather the journey it was on a little better until he could find a solution.

"We'll have her back soon enough." Voidus continued, steps unfaltering as he slid from one Alley to the next. "But best not to rush and jeopardise things further. I have had a great deal taken from me, knowledge, power, people. I intend to take it all back."

With another step he crossed into a quiet and dim cavern, a peaceful, almost meditative place within the Alleys that would bring him calm if it didn't almost immediately fill him with dread. There, beneath the slowly dripping waters of the Chapel of rain stood a figure that did not appear to have moved since he last saw it. Her face still partially tilted up into the waters and partially tilted in his direction, eyes ever watching and filled with horrific knowledge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She was hungry, she was tired, and she was dehydrated. But none of that mattered to Whisper as she waited beneath the waters. She could wait an eternity like this if she needed to. Her gods needed her to be here and so here she would be, until they needed her somewhere else or disposed of her. The waters themselves helped as well, a cool and gentle flood of information, providing her answers as soon as she could even formulate a question.

She turned her attention towards an empty section of the cavern, looking even before he arrive to where she knew one of her gods would appear. As he stepped out from the space between spaces she was struck by how different he was from last time. He was covered in blood now for a start, though that was immaterial to her beyond its implication that he had once more realized his place above the petty moralities of those who lived in the city.

He also stood taller, more proudly, even as his shoulders hunched beneath an unimaginably large weight. But it was none of these physical differences that Whisper cared about. It was the whispers. Once, this man had stood as a bastion of silence in a city that was endlessly chattering. He had been a blank spot in the canvas, an antiphase that silenced even the already existing whispers around him with his presence. Now he had whispers of his own. Not even the magic of all the world could suppress those whispers that spoke to him of his past life. And those whispers pulsed against the world around them now, tearing holes in the fabric of lies.

"So I will be taking knowledge back first." Voidus stated, his gaze drifting to the air next to him as he spoke.

Whisper could not see what it was that he spoke to but she knew what was there all the same. The waters had whispered of this to her, of one of her old gods. They had been forgotten to her in this life, but here at least she could remember and worship correctly. She lowered her head slowly, first towards the dark god of the void, and then to the unseen god of madness that was beside him.

Voidus gave the gesture little notice, only raising a hand in which he held a large gemstone, part of a fabrial it seemed though now it had been pulled free. But it was what she needed, it was Light.

"How much of this did you foresee I wonder." Voidus said, looking to the gemstone in his hand. "It seems far too much of a coincidence that tonight I had both a handy piece of brass at just the right moment and now a full gemstone for you to use."

Whisper gave a tiny smile of satisfaction at the praise, even if she was but an instrument of her gods wills, she did take some pride in how well she had served. She drew in a deep breath, and quickly felt the Light fill her. Immediately it drove her other concerns back, her hunger, exhaustion and thirst quickly abated. With a small sigh of relief, she let some of the Light trickle from her to form words.

"Difficult to use all that the Chapel offers." She spoke, voice echoing from the nearby walls in a grating cacophony. "But I have some talent with patterns at least."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Bennington floated near the man who was returning to being a god. He was no longer the Professor, but he was not yet himself, not in full. Bennington decided to go with the reliable name that both versions of Vivica had given him: Nox. Night. Darkness.

A fitting title. 

Bennington floated beside Nox as he inquired about Vivica’s spirit. He had felt her, moving through the odd simulacrum of the Cognitive Realm that the Strsnger had wrought. Bennington did not like the feel of that place, and he hesitated to look into it. It was not the sort of place to linger , which made Vivica’s presence there a point of concern. But for now, Nox did not appear to be worried. He took them to that place of water and knowledge. The Chapel of Rain.

That was its name. Bennington felt the water whisper it to him as he gazed into the cool blue stream that poured down onto the head of its single occupant. Bennington recognized her from the true world - this little mortal worshipped him there. Bennington had never much understood worship, unless it also involved the consumption of said worshipper’s sanity.

As Nox spoke to the girl, Bennington continued to gaze at the water, which was not really water. It was…everything. It was the manifestation of the greed of thousands growing over millennia. The hunger, the thirst for knowledge, and the terrible price enacted for achieving it.

Bennington did not care for this place, and the waters held no draw for him. But for a creature such as Nox, this was a place both wondrous and perilous. He would have to watch closely, to prevent his own plans from being derailed by a different kind of hunger. Bennington swam a long loop and then flared his tentacles, flushing a deep indigo to indicate danger. As if Nox did not already know. But it was always wise to be thorough.

 @Voidus

[Voidus]

Voidus gave an almost imperceptible nod of agreement at the sudden shift in Bennington's coloration. He was perhaps not as capable as Vivica had been of interpreting the strange creatures attempts at communication but a warning was a simple enough concept to grasp. And one that he most certainly did not need as he felt the draw of the waters on him, already they tugged at his ever curiosity. Whispered to him that it would be so easy for him to remove the small creature that currently received their words and take it for himself. His ever scholarly and scientific curiosity was plucked at once as all the answers he could ever want were only feet away.

"Difficult and dangerous." He stated, keeping his feet solidly where they were. It was far more difficult than he would have liked to admit.

"Very dangerous." The voice agreed, echoing around him as a smile pulled at the small mouth of the girl in front of him. "And very useful. Ask your questions while I still stand beneath the waters."

Voidus frowned at the statement. He was not quite certain how this girl saw him, but something in him grated at what seemed very much to be a demand. But the irritation he felt at those words would only impede him now. He did not have the time to argue.

"My first questions have nothing to do with the waters." He said, voice grave and eyes dark as he stared at the girl. "Who are you and why should I trust you."

"Whisper." The girl said, words escaping her almost before he had finished asking the question. "If a name is required. I am a denizen of the Dark Alleys, in this life and the other. And right now I act as an Oracle for you. I worship the gods of the Alley, and the gods beyond. And while I do my utmost to prove to be of service, I leave the decision of whether to trust me wholly up to you, but at the very least you should use me."

Voidus gave another nod at the statement, glad that she at least had the sense not to presume his good intentions. Especially when so many of his own intentions were still a mystery to himself.

"I intend to." He continued, eyes intent. "I need the fastest way to break this Forgery. I need some resources from the Alleys. I need my memories back."

Again the reply came almost simultaneously with the demand, and he realised indeed that the threads of Stormlight she wove to give reply were already woven when he began to speak, simply giving him time to voice the question that she already knew. He also realized that the immediacy he had mistaken for impatience and rudeness appeared more simply to be an eagerness to be of use. The dark reflection in her eyes that glinted with a hint of worship was enough for him to accept that this was his most useful tool for the moment.

"The Forgery breaks already." The voice stated, echoing from one end of the cavern to the other. "To break it faster would keep you from your other preparations or require you to enter the waters."

He nodded again, accepting the statement as given and already having half-expected such. If he, who had been bound so tightly as one of the cornerstones of this Forgery, had begun regaining his memories then assuredly others had already done so long since, and that process was no doubt continuing exponentially through the city.

"I shall acquire what you need from the Alleys, though I will need to be reminded once I leave these waters." The voice continued, Whisper's face turning with eerie sluggishness to look to him directly. "And your memories will return as the Forgery breaks, that must not be rushed. But as you suspect, some of the resources you require will expedite this progress safely."

His brow furrowed at the words, an innate dislike of having his own plans predicted, especially by one so young as this. But he reminded himself that it was the waters that he really spoke to now, the girl Whisper was merely an intermediary.

"And what you truly need must be the last thing you acquire." The voice continued, cutting off even the question this time. "When your memory is regained two things you will still lack. The first lies at the end of the path we first began taking when we came here. And the other... lies on the weary path. The path you began treading before you even became a god."

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

"I brought something special today, Vivica. I trust you can keep a secret?"

The Professor's green eyes sparkled with mischief as he grinned at her, reaching into his bag and pulling out a small, white box. Vivica felt herself lean forward, biting her lower lip in anticipation, tapping her toes eagerly against the white tile floor of her hospital room.

"Of course I can keep a secret, Professor," she giggled, chewing her lip a bit too hard and tasting a drop of blood on her tongue. That only served to make her more excited as she watched him slowly open the lid of the white box to reveal two perfectly frosted cupcakes.

"Ta-da!" The Professor said, sweeping his opposite hand before the box with a flourish. 

Vivica gasped in delight, laughing and clapping her hands at the sight. "Oh Professor, they're wonderful!"

Professor Esserethel smiled even wider, her joy seeming only to amplify his own. "Of course they are - I couldn't let today go by without bringing something extra special, Vivica."

Vivica cocked her head, trying to remember what day it was. "Today is... special? Is it a full moon? A bank holiday? Oooh - did someone important die today a long time ago, people do love to commemorate those days."

The Professor's brows knit together slightly in a frown. Vivica stifled the impulse to reach out and smooth away that crease in his forehead, feeling anxiety pool in her belly; nothing should cause him distress, least of all her.

"Today is your birthday, Vivica," he said gently, then smiled again. Softer this time. One of his special smiles - warm, patient. So very patient. The sort of smile that stayed with Vivica for days, even days alone. Even days when she had been unpleasant and needed to be strapped into her bed. Vivica felt some of that warmth carry through the air and brush her cheeks, warming them too.

"Oh." Was all she said. Her birthday. "I already received my extra pudding for today."

"Was it the chocolate kind? The sort you like?" The Professor inquired.

Vivica shook her head. The Professor frowned again, muttering under his breath.

"...have to talk to the staff here, food preferences ought to be accounted for, especially on such a landmark day..."

"It's alright," Vivica said, smiling again. "It was nice of them to give me anything extra at all. It's just my birthday."

"And why wouldn't that be important?"

Vivica cocked her head, sighing a little. "Because it isn't real, Nox. I'm not real."

The Professor paused in the middle of lifting one perfect, beautiful cupcake out of the box and onto a plate. Vivica could just see beneath the cloud of white frosting to the cake below. Red velvet. She smiled again, joy filling up her face enough that it threatened to leak out of the corners of her eyes.

"This is real. You are real, Vivica. This world would be far poorer if you were not. I know I would be."

Vivica felt some of that joy streak down her cheek to wet her hair; she wiped it away quickly, not wishing to make him frown again. Not him. Not her Professor.

He smiled his warm, special smile and set the plated cupcake before her as though it were the most important duty of his life. "Happy birthday, Vivica."

And though she knew better, that day at least, Vivica felt real.

- - - - 

Vivica clung to the memory - a false memory. Or was it really false, if it had happened - even in a lie? The way she had grown to care for Nox during this time - to love him - that was real. It was perhaps the realest thing left of her, holding onto the thread connecting them with desiccated fingers. So many holes now, so, so very many. So much that had been torn away, a vicious price exacted in revenge for her refusal to disappear. Vivica was inconvenient even in death. But someone had to look out for Nox until he had everything returned to him. Everything of importance. And when he'd found all that, perhaps he could come searching for her. If there was anything left to find.

The idea terrified her. Not death - she was already dead, after all. But the possibility of disappointing him, of depriving him of something he might want, was unthinkable. She felt horribly presumptive imagining that she might be important to him. But just in case - just in case...

It was best to stay. To wait. To hold on just a bit longer for a chance at being real again for him.

[Voidus]

"... will be the option with the highest chance of success." Whisper concluded.

Voidus, seemingly now accustomed to the manner in which she spoke, gave a hesitant nod at her words. Almost all of his questions now answered, though he seemed unsure what to make of some of the answers that he had been given.

"The last matter then." He said, dark eyes holding hers. "Will be how to pull you from those waters. This was very useful, but I have more need of a denizen with unrestricted access to the Alleys than an Oracle now."

Whisper felt a flush of satisfaction at his words, his confirmation that she had been useful and would be given the opportunity to be so again. Almost it was enough to elicit a gasp from her, but that would lose some of her precious Light.

"I will leave shortly." She said, wearing her usual smile. "But I can manage to do so myself."

"Shortly?" Voidus replied with a dissatisfied frown. "And by yourself? Why? And how?"

"Others will be arriving soon." Whisper replied, eyes flickering to an empty space in the cavern. "I will need to be here for that, and you should not be. The time for that meeting has not quite come."

Voidus' expression darkened a little further, not for the first time irritation flared on his face, a look that would have terrified her into submission even if he had not been her god. But not today, her work was too important, even for this. If he still held this irritation once he regained himself then she would happily allow him whatever retribution he desired. For now however, he was far weaker, more vulnerable. For now he needed to be protected more than he needed to be feared.

"It is almost time." She said simply, facing him fully so that he could read the inevitability in her words. With a final click of the tongue and a last, longing glance towards the waters of the Chapel, Voidus stepped back. He gave her a parting glance, one of suspicion and also trust. A wary alliance that they had struck, but it was perhaps the only one he could manage for now.

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Bennington felt something akin to relief as Nox stepped away from the Chapel and the girl who acted as the mouthpiece for its waters. This was possibly the most dangerous place for him to linger; the temptation would only increase the longer they stayed. He spared a single glance for Whisper, considering visiting her when the Forgery broke and she recalled her reverence of him. Variety in one's diet was important, after all. But that was a thought for another time. For now, he swam ahead of Nox, towards the route back into the Alleys. Anywhere else but here.

They had much to do, and Bennington still had plenty to drink, plenty more cracks to widen in Nox's mind. It was a service, really. Not that he needed such platitudes. But it was polite to give something back in kind; Vivica would have approved. 

@Voidus

[Voidus]

Each step was leaden as he moved away from the waters and the ominous girl who resided in them now. It was an almost physical pain to part from them, but after moving through a pair of abandoned Alleys Voidus felt the connection that drew him to them begfin to thin again. The obsessive need to step into them, to know, began to fade to tolerable levels. Still a distraction, but no longer dangerous at least.

"One trip down Bennington." Voidus said, words echoing between the cold alley walls. "The most dangerous of all of them I think. But the most fruitful as well."

He began mentally compiling the information he had received, shifting each point to an actionable item that needed attending to and prioritized accordingly. The Professor had not always been perfectly methodical in his work, there had been bouts of chaotic, frenzied inspiration. But his best work had always been in this mood. When obsession began to overtake his mind and he became terrifyingly efficient.

"Thank you." Voidus said, a hint of earnesty peering through his coldness. "For staying with me. For helping. You are a good friend Bennington."

Giving a single smile towards the floating creature, Voidus stepped from the Alleys back to the city streets. There was a great deal that had to be done, some of which he could do in the Alleys, but the rest would need to be done here. And most importantly of all...

"An Elsecaller." Voidus muttered, eyes latching onto a passing figure walking straightbacked down the street with a small inkspren perched on their shoulder. "Perfect. Bennington would you like to join me for some more baking?"

[kenod]

"I've kept a watch over this entire city," the fox said with a distinct smile in their voice. "Or at least the being I originated from did. Compared to that placing a letter in someone's room is a minor affair. Lita." After a moment of thought the fox decided not to discuss their little alleycant talk. Much more useful if people didn't know you could listen in on them, after all.

As they walked the alleys slowly shifting around them, until the finally entered an alley of natural stone. The area around them was dark, with blue light seemingly coming from the distance, the playing light showing that they were in a cavern of sooth, rounded stone which danced through the whole area. In the distance, the soft sound of falling water could be heard.
@Voidus@ZincAboutIt

[Voidus]

"The entire city?" Laurelai asked skeptically. "You must realize how suspicious that sounds when what we are dealing with could only be performed by someone with similar abilities to those you-"
Her voice grew steadily quieter, dropping to little more than a murmur and then cutting off entirely as something about this Alley drew her attention. The smooth stone, the distant deep sapphire glow, but more than anything else it was the steady and distant dripping of water. It drew her, mothlike towards the source of this great danger and she unwittingly hastened her step to move in front of the others.

"-those you claim." She continued absently, barely aware that she was speaking as she floated forwards. "Very suspicious."

The sound soothed her anxieties, promising true relief if she approached. Relief not just from headaches and worry, but from all her uncertainties. All her concerns could be washed away if she just stepped into those waters one more time.

@ZincAboutIt @kenod

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Lita heard the water even before she saw the light - blue light, cool and soft, that shimmered over natural stone. But that sound - the sound was what woke her memory first.

Laurelai had stepped ahead of her, but Lita did not mind for the moment. A picture had painted itself over her eyes, that half-remembered vision now sharpening into something crystal clear. Blue light, and falling water. The smell of wet stone, and soft powdery dust beneath her heel. Yes, this was the place. She stepped closer.

Closer.

The Alley widened out at its end to accommodate the waterfall. Lita knew to expect the waterfall before she even saw it, the glowing cascade of water falling from an impossible height to splash softly into the pool below. It would be so easy to simply step in, to push past Laurelai and the Fox creature and tip her face up into the water, to open her mouth and drink it forever, the sweet endless answer to all her questions. Abandon. Completion. She needed to -

Someone was already in the water.

Lita stopped, her arm shooting out to grip Laurelai’s shoulder, fingers pressing into the silk of her dress with enough pressure to hurt. That was out-of-character for Lita, but something told her that only pain would stop the blonde from continuing forward. 

“Laurelai.” Lita hissed, not looking at her, all attention focused on the little figure beneath the water. A familiar figure, one that had been missing for weeks now, waif-like and soaked in glowing blue, eyes wide as saucer plates - wide and terrible. It was Whisper.

Lita knew she should have asked if the girl was alright, if she needed help. Should have asked anything besides the question that tumbled from her lips. But the time for propriety had ended. Now was the time for answers.

”What are you doing in the Chapel, Whisper?”

@Voidus @kenod

[kenod]

"Given the organization you have joined you should have at least an inkling of an idea of what a being with true power is capable of," the fox said to Laurelai. "Or perhaps you haven't figured it out yet. Or perhaps those who reside in the alleys are the ones who have lost understanding. So diminished, so much lost..."

When Lita noticed the presence of Whisper the fox paused slightly in their step, before fading into the shadows. The three of them could handle this from here, at least until they were finished with the water.

@Voidus

[Voidus]

Laurelai was heedless of her footing as she stepped towards the waters, beautiful falling salvation simply awaiting her arrival. It was only a little further, only a few more steps until at last she could receive her answers, receive a reprieve from the pain and worries that had been so persistently-

"Ow." Laurelai rubbed a hand up her arm to the shoulder, long fingers meeting the warmer hand of Lita which caused her to blink out of her focus on the water itself. "Sorry, lost myself a little."

She did her best to look apologetic but that was definitely difficult when her attention was drawn back to the waters so easily, following them down to the pool below and the figure that waited-

The figure?

--------------------------------------------------------------

Whisper gave a haunting smile in the direction of the three approaching figures, her eyes sliding easily past the two women to the fox creature that accompanied them in the shadows. She gave the creature an immediate bow, a little shallower than her earlier one to the pair of gods that had arrived at the Chapel, but appropriate for an avatar. It was only with difficulty that she pulled her eyes from the creature back to the redheaded woman who had asked her a question.

"Waiting." She replied, voice echoing around the room with no obvious source. "I require Light. If you wish to have a conversation here."'

The statement was not strictly true, she had enough Light to speak with for now and would be able to acquire more later. But she knew that both women would be more comfortable if there was an obvious price to their conversation, they were far too suspicious to accept her words if she offered them freely. And she had certain other reasons to request the Light specifically. The god of the Void had brought her enough to sustain and speak, but she needed more if she wished to take any of this knowledge with her when she stepped from beneath these waters.

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Light. She needed light?

Stormlight you idiot, something whispered in her mind. Her own voice this time. Lita took her hand from Laurelai’s shoulder, fingers a bit loathe to part, and dug through her small bag before she found a few spheres at the bottom, diamond broams that she occasionally used for illumination. Lita pulled out three, holding them in her palm, outstretched.

It felt strange to follow the girl’s orders, but something told her that she wasn’t speaking entirely to Whisper - not anymore. The girl was in the water, but the Water was also in the girl. And Lita knew when to push back against power and when to relent. This was a time for the latter.

”Will this suffice?”

@Voidus

[Voidus]

Whisper took a sharp intake of breath, sucking the light in gratefully. The Light flooded into her, and she allowed it to heal some of the damage to her body, the penalty for remaining in these waters such a very long time. But the rest she kept, finally possessing enough to begin the work she had been planning. A dim glow in her eyes formed at the sudden rush of energy, and she turned the two eerily luminescent grey orbs at the blonde woman beside Lita.

She was still not entirely sure how to regard Laurelai, the daughter of Voidus but from when he was a mortal man, not a god. Was she owed respect merely for her relationship? Whisper would protect her at the least, that would be pleasing to her gods, but she had decided for now to treat her similarly to Lita.

"Three Broams. Sapphire." She uttered, voice emerging from all around them.

---------------------------------------

Laurelai stared at the strange girl within the waters, initially curious but that was quickly overtaken by an increasing amount of envy. The calming effect of the waters was beginning to lessen as she simply waited near them, the flow of her tension beginning to reverse and pour back into her and require even more restraint than before not to simply rush into the pool and push the tiny little thing out from them.

She flinched when she was addressed, pulling her eyes from the water to the two shining beacons of silvery light that stared into her. She gave a challenging glance back, trying not to show how unnerving it was to have the contents of her pockets already known. But she was met with utter impassivity, to an almost alarming degree. Reluctantly she reached into a concealed pocket of her dress and pulled the three broams she kept safely tucked in there, for emergencies as either a light source or as currency. Or on occasion simply to add some extra colour to an outfit.

"Very well." She muttered, offering the gems as Lita had and staring as the light was pulled from them, just subtly different enough from the light above them. But similar enough to draw her attention back to the falling waters.

"To your questions then." The figure, Whisper Lita had called them, replied. "Yes, this is the Chapel that you recall. You have been here before, together. An errant strand of fate brought me here and I stayed that I may be of use. The world has been remade and all of us here with it. Many have broken through this facade already, despite efforts to keep all ignorant, more and more have broken free. The Forgery will not last long."

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

7 hours ago, Voidus said:

"To your questions then." The figure, Whisper Lita had called them, replied. "Yes, this is the Chapel that you recall. You have been here before, together. An errant strand of fate brought me here and I stayed that I may be of use. The world has been remade and all of us here with it. Many have broken through this facade already, despite efforts to keep all ignorant, more and more have broken free. The Forgery will not last long."

An ache began to grow in Lita's side as Whisper spoke, that familiar pain between the last two ribs on her right side, growing until it reached a sharpness unlike any she'd felt before. She winced, then felt herself curl inward, groaning, hand clutching the spot until she fell to her knees and saw stars pop before her eyes. Lita hissed breath in and out between clenched teeth as she braced herself on the powdery damp stone, listening to Whisper and pulling her hand away.

It came away wet, and red.

Lita stared at her hand for a moment, not quite sure what she was looking at until it dawned on her. It's blood. I'm bleeding. But from what?

Without even stopping to think, Lita took the fine point of her bayonet and cut a slit into the bodice of her dress, prying the fabric open until her fingers brushed something cold and hard. Metal, metal between her ribs. A spike? How did a spike just appear in her body?

Rain, and a voice like iron. A white smile stretched too wide on a dark face. Two choices offered, and then pain like fire, pain that flared so high and hard that it rounded the horseshoe bend to kiss the feet of pleasure.

Lita looked back to the figure in the water and slowly staggered to her feet, mind too muddled to feel any sort of genuine fear, especially not when half of her still wanted to step into the water and drown herself. She felt the weight of the copper bands on her arms suddenly, as though something within them was dragging at her. Something told her that tapping those memories all at once would be too overwhelming, would break her and leave her incapable of responding to what was happening. So she asked another question.

"What... what do I need to remember, right now, that will help me most?"

@Voidus

[Voidus]

Laurelai, tore her attention free from the cool blue light of the waters as a splash of red entered her peripheral. A steady trickle of blood dripped from Lita's ribs onto the stone below, painting a ghastly and vivid contrast with the azure of the Chapel. Her eyes slid immediately to the redheads face, a rush of concern momentarily overriding Laurelai's obsessive focus on the waters.

"Lita you're... are you alright?" She asked, turning away from the girl beneath the waters and towards Lita. "We should..."

She paused as a wave of confusion rushed through, overruling both concern and obsession as another piercing pain hit her temples. Lita could look after herself surely, Laurelai should be more worried about herself. Certainly Lita was unlikely to appreciate being fawned over by a Denizen she had only known for less than a month. But something within her chest ached a hollow counterpoint with the sharper pain in her head. It was duller, but deeper somehow, a reminder that something was not as it should be.

-------------------------------------------------

"That depends." Whisper said, lips curling into an amused smile. "Upon what you wish my help with. Remembering your time serving wine in Elendel will help you with one task, for instance. Remembering a ring will help you reclaim a friend. Remembering that weapon will help you gain revenge. But if you wish to shake free from the shackles of your false life then you would be best put remembering the one who lingers now in your mind. The one who gave you that spike. The one whose shadow lingers in your dreams. The god they call the Stranger."

A twinge of pain pierced Whispers chest, dulled immediately by the waters but her mind latched onto it immediately and flooded her with guilt. This was wrong, she knew it was. The Stranger was one of her gods just like these others, and here she sought to undo his work for others, to undermine him and even assist those seeking his doom. But two gods had come to visit her already, and now one more. She could disappoint them no more than she could the Stranger. It was her fault, that even within the waters she could find no better way, no more perfect solution. No way to appease them all.

"The Forgery must be broken, the Lonely God restored." She intoned as the pain deepened. "You must reveal that which you conceal, and the one who is your greatest hope must be driven to despair. Two splintered gods, the first to be whole will prevail."

Something other than the rain from above dripped to her cheek, but Whisper paid it little mind. Physical sensation was a distant thing just now. She needed to feel her guilt, and she needed to serve her gods. Nothing else mattered.

@ZincAboutIt

[Voidus]

Laurelai bore through the pain that was now becoming her near-constant companion to stare at the wide-eyed girl beneath the waters. The girl who had just casually mentioned that not one but two of the city's ancient gods were involved with what they were investigating. Laurelai tried to look into those eyes, to determine some deception or exaggeration in the words she spoke. Some indication that the waters did not give all that they promised, that she was simply an eerie denizen that Lita knew who was making claims beyond her knowledge.

Whispers eyes stared back into hers, meeting Laurelai's usually piercing insight and returning it a hundredfold in return. Glowing eyes of steel were looking deep into her and exposing every deception, every facade and digging out every hidden truth. Laurelai stood frozen in place, pinned for what felt like an endless moment before finally it seemed to relax and lessen. Eerily Whisper did not blink once during this exchange, but something about her eyes shifted subtly into a more patient glance. Waiting.

"You can't mean... actual gods." Laurelai said. "That Lita knew a god."

"You both did." Whisper replied, that strange echoing voice sending a shiver down Laurelai's spine. "To differing degrees. And you have met two now in this life. Or a pieces of them at least. As well as a former god."

"Met... two?" Laurelai repeated, stunned. "Gods? Who could possibly... I would have noticed surely?"

"One noticed." Whisper said. "And just as quickly forgotten. Memory placed for safekeeping so that the second would not steal them from you, a task they now abandon."

"Memory placed for... a coppermind?" Laurelai ventured, stifling down a stab of pain at her temple. "Or some form of Fabrial? But where are they? If we left them for safekeeping..."

Her mind ran through a list of possibilities. Her apartment, Lita's office. Somewhere in the Alleys? Or in the city? Maybe an establishment that they would visit again to remember? The wine bar, or her tailor, or...

"Lita wears hers." The voice interrupted. "And yours was lost."

"Lost?" Laurelai said incredulously. "But that's impossible why would I ever..."

A glint of copper flashed in her memory, a ring that she had assumed was from the Alleys. One that she had placed... back with R&D where it had promptly been resorted back into their stocks.

"That's... well I can just wait for the Forgery to crack then. For my memories to-"

Whisper shook her head immediately in response, not even needing to speak for Laurelai to understand. That wouldn't work. From what she'd been told her memories had already been restored and she had simply stored them into a coppermind. The Forgery breaking would not restore anything that she had already given away.

"Rusts." Laurelai hissed. Her teeth ground together as panic and pain both expanded until they consumed her thoughts. "Storming, rusting, Domi-cursed copper!"

Anger flared up, another rush of emotions to add to the growing whirlpool she was holding. A dozen conflicting impulses, a dozen threads pulling her in different directions. All of them pulled taut and straining. She had struggled with just one thread before, and she only managed now by balancing each with the others, trying to control the amount of pull each exerted. But the pressure from the others was not disappearing, it was building. Building into white-hot lances of pain through her brain that were growing more frequent, more intense. It was too much, too many all at once. Only now did she realise that her vision had been fading into tunnels, she could no longer see Lita, no longer see the walls of the cave. All she could see were the waters and the girl who kept her from them.

"Chapel." Laurelai spat. "Can help. Give it back. I remember that. Remember the waters."

They had given her comfort, given her relief from the pain. Given her all the knowledge she could ever want. No need for a coppermind if she had that again, she could remember what had been lost, remember things that even the world itself had forgotten. She could know everything, if only she retook them.

"Mine." Laurelai whispered, her eyes burning as she met Whisper's calm gaze. "They were mine. Are mine."

@ZincAboutIt

[+ZincAboutIt she/her]

Whisper’s words seemed to add even more weight to the copper bands on Lita’s arms. They dragged at her, leaden and heavy, pulling her mind down, down, down into the polished metal and into memory.

She fell in with little resistance, realizing only as she let go how close she already was to surrendering to those memories. Her eyes remained fixed on the girl in the water, but her sight turned inward now, slipping through a thousand thousand images all constellating around that singular figure. The Stranger. 

But was he singular, in truth? Her memories of him twisted and melded with those of his Shade - identical in form but so different in manner. Different, but not altogether disparate either. Both of them eager to make use of her, both unwilling to take full ownership. A hundred whispered promises in her dreams, and silence upon her waking. The luxury of walking in and out of her life on a whim, plucking her off the shelf when it was suitable. Expecting a knife to sharpen itself, clean itself, polish itself - it was enough to drive someone mad. 

The chronology of the memories was out of joint, scenes from her life spilling out in an order that made no sense. The Stranger appearing in the Chapel that first time, when he had been so close to killing her. The Stranger walking on air over a burning city to rip another monster apart. The Stranger whisking her and Laurelai away into the heart of his laboratory, tempting them with the promise of everything they could ever want in exchange for their help. The Stranger driving a spike of steel into her side, eyes cold and pitiless as she was unraveled and remade in an instant. 

A recent memory floated to the surface of her thoughts, that of two women in the 11th floor suite of the Grand Hotel, hair damp from washing, laughing and crying as they recalled themselves in truth. Two friends, and a plan to store their recovered memories in bands of copper to keep themselves safe. Copper on Lita’s arms, and a ring for Laurelai. A ring that she no longer wore - that empty space on her finger which had caught Lita’s eye. The spark of horror, of realization, that had almost pulled her out of the Forgery again just recently.

It pulled her up out of the memories now, gasping as she turned towards Laurelai - her closest friend. Her only friend. A friend who did not know her, now. And might never know her. Lita caught the bare end of Laurelai’s words, saw her move towards the water. Water that would take ahold of her mind like a vice, refusing to let go. Lita would watch her friend die here in this place, if she did nothing now.

”Laurelai,” she called, voice pitifully thin with pain and disorientation, though echoing across the walls. “We’ll find the ring. Just…please. Don’t go in there again.”

@Voidus

[Voidus]

The girl, Whisper, took no actions as Laurelai approached. She did not speak to dissuade her or move to defend herself. She only waited with an infuriating smile. Expectant. Laurelai scowled at her, reaching into one of the pockets of her dress her hand wrapped around something cool and hard. The hilt of the carving knife she used, it was sharpened to cause precise, neat cuts in stone. But it would cut skin and flesh just as easily if it needed to.

Eyes like a winter blizzard locked with the glowing grays of Whisper in the waters. A silent storm of tension springing into existence between them.

"Laurelai" A thin voice called out from behind her. Almost inaudible but for the echoes that carried it. “We’ll find the ring. Just…please. Don’t go in there again.”

The voice was a distant thing. Barely even recognized as her vision constricted until all that she could see was blue. Faintly she recognized it as Lita's, calling to her. So different in tone than it had been earlier. Less confident, a plea rather than a command. But even if she was Laurelai's employer, that was simply a relationship of convenience. They both had things to offer one another and so they had exchanged. But these waters offered so very much more. Whatever could motivate her to abandon this simply because Lita had called her?

The pressure in her mind spiked again, sending a lance of pain that caused her to fumble a step. But that was fine. All she needed was to keep moving, one step after another. Reach the waters, and when she got there...

Laurelai collapsed on her next step, the smooth stone ground seeming almost to fly up to meet her as greedy claws tore her mind apart with gleeful malice. Her vision faded entirely it felt, all she was aware of was the light. And the pain.

"What. Is this?" She asked, her own voice quickly losing its aggression as she stifled a whimper.

"A conflict." The eerie voice retorted, seeming undisturbed and serene. "One Forgery with another. An Identity that cannot coalesce."

Laurelai shook her head then winced as the motion produced another wracking pain. She squeezed her eyes tightly. The light dimmed, and she could feel the welcoming embrace of something that offered release. Not the waters, something simpler and more personal. Unconscious perhaps. Or maybe madness. She suspected that she would not know until she took that offer.

Everything was so difficult now. The world was terrifying, filled with monsters and strangers who claimed to be friends. There was pain, everywhere. What choice did she have? She could not continue for long like this, sooner or later she would need to find respite.

"You are broken, Laurelai Esserethel." The voice continued. "As are you, Lita Attar. Fitting creatures to reside in a world such as this. A beautiful lie. Only when examined closely can you see the flaws, the cracks beneath the surface."

Every word was a dagger into her eyes. Every thought they provoked was a noose around Laurelai's neck, slowly constricting tighter and tighter. There was too much happening, all at once. She just needed... a rest.

"But this world is now breaking. Step into these waters and you may break along with it, shattering into irrecoverable pieces. Or, you may return to the other world, the true world. And both of you will have a chance to receive that which you truly want."

@ZincAboutIt