01 ⚡ Wandering Relic

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[Jade is at his desk, which is a welcome change. He hasn't been able to sit at his desk in his office in months, or what feels like months, thanks to an extended stay in the magical musical city of Elegy. Yes, a very welcome change from dealing with irritating employees and the constant music. So welcome, in fact, that he's actually dreaming about it.]

[Looking back, it's probably one of the better dreams he's ever had.]

[He is reading through the stack of reports and memos that have accumulated since he left for Kimlasca (for the Harmony seems to have put his life on hold right as he went on a week-long vacation), alone in his office at the Malkuth Imperial Forces' headquarters in Grand Chokmah. It's a tidy place, save for the corner nearest the door that His Majesty's pet rappigs like. He really would see about getting it cleaned up, but it would be a futile effort. He seems almost oblivious to the presence of another person in the room... seems being the key word.]

[And what's this? You seem to have yet another report for him. Won't you give it to him?]

Comments

[goldenpacifist.livejournal.com]

[Cain smiles brightly. He's perfectly happy here even if he doesn't know where here is. It seems safe enough making this dream more welcome than the others he had been having as of late.]

Jade! I have a report for you! [He holds it out.]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[Jade looks up and, for just a fraction of a second, gives Cain a look that would put a basilisk to shame. He quickly adjusts his glasses, hiding his eyes behind the glare.]

Just leave it on my desk. [He gestures vaguely toward the stack of papers toward his left.]

[Damn. Is this just another trick of the Harmony? Did he really return to Malkuth, or is he still in the city?]

[goldenpacifist.livejournal.com]

[Cain chuckles nervously. Is it getting colder in here...? Nevertheless he's setting it down.]

Everything okay?

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

Everything is fine, Cain. [Except that you're somehow in his office. He remains eerily calm, even so.]

Thank you. Why don't you run along now? I'm afraid that there's very little that should keep you here.

[goldenpacifist.livejournal.com]

Ah... well I'd like to but, you see... [Cain pauses for a good minute before grabbing onto Jade's shoulder.]

I have no idea where I am! What if scary people are outside that door, Jade?! Who will protect me?!

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[Eew, physical contact. He brushes away Cain's hand.]

You're in my office, at the Imperial Forces headquarters in Grand Chokmah. If you're so worried about what's outside, perhaps I should call in a couple of soldiers to escort you to a holding cell.

[He's joking about that, right?]

[goldenpacifist.livejournal.com]

[Cain shakes his hands.] Jade we both know I can't handle a life in prison! What would my poor little sister think of me?

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

I can't say for certain that she would be more impressed with you for being afraid of a new city.

[He shuffles the papers he was reading and sets them in a neat pile on his desk, then turns his attention back to Cain.]

Anyway, there's a much larger problem at hand. Why are you here? The train should have returned you to your own world, not to Auldrant.

[goldenpacifist.livejournal.com]

Oh well about that.... [LONG PAUSE] I have no idea why I'm here.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[In the dream, it doesn't occur to her to wonder why she's reporting to a man she suddenly knows, instead of to Kunzite as usual, or her superiors at the hospital. Ami simply steps forward to the desk and holds out a small sheaf of papers.]

Everything is there in proper order. The latest data.

[She waits expectantly, for approval or further instruction.]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[He takes the papers without really looking at her, glances at it, and gives a small sigh. He takes a small envelope that has been paperclipped to the report in hand, and twirls it idly.]

... You're new here, aren't you? Have you ever been to the Intelligence Division's wing?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[A crisp nod; she's new.]

Not yet. I know the way, though. [Building layout maps are lovely things.]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[Normally, he'd just give it to her and tell her to deliver the letter to the unlucky soul it's supposed to go to, and tell her to figure it out for herself, but dream logic is exactly that. It is imparative that he show her the Intelligence wing of the building. He stands up, gives her the letter, and goes to open the door.]

Well, it's a start. Come with me, and don't lose that.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[She nods, and waits attentively until Jade is ready. She moves to follow him once he passes her on the way to the door.]

I expected an eventful first day. [Her tone is deliberately too even to tell whether this is shaping up to meet those expectations, or the opposite.]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

Oh no, not for us. If you were looking for excitement, you should have chosen a different occupation. [And yet, the way he says it suggests that someone else will be having plenty of 'fun' soon.]

This way. [He turns and begins to walk through the waiting lobby, and toward a hallway on the other side.]

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Ami follows Jade and eyes the surroundings with open interest; the dream makes them familiar but a part of her still knows they're not. She likes new places.]

My profession is something I wanted ever since I was young. I'm not going to choose a different one now.

[But something feels puzzling even as she says it. Was this really that goal she worked towards all her life? Was it something else?]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[He finally gives her a look that might be considered interested.]

Dedicated to the Empire, are you? How admirable of you.

You aren't a fonist, by any chance?

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[The dream gives her to understand the term to mean something like elementalist - in short, her connection to the Water. But she's slightly guarded, so she plays it off as half a joke.]

And if I was? What then?

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[His tone is flat now. Not only because it's time to be blunt, but because newbies shouldn't be so cheeky around an officer.]

Then I would advise you to take up something else, at least on the side. By the time you're my age, the demand for fonists will be so low that you likely won't be able to hold a steady job.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

[Please. Her first day in the Dark Kingdom had involved telling off Queen Beryl to her face. Beryl had not been amused. Mercury hadn't particularly cared - and more importantly, neither had Kunzite, the one to bring Mercury there.]

My interest is medicine.

[This still avoids the question of whether she is, in fact, a fonist. But it works.]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

Ah~ A noble calling. Are you studying at the Academy?

[Because if she is, he can just look up her school records instead of asking directly. Not to be nosy, but because it bothers him to not know his underlings.]

[And anyway, they've reached the Intelligence wing. Jade stops at one of the offices, which appears to be locked up. There's a mail slot on the door, and a brass nameplate that reads 'Cadogan.']

Here we are. Just drop that envelope in the slot and be on your way.

[waterfell.livejournal.com]

No. I'm ready for practice.

[Confident in herself, for someone who the dream may or may not have provided academy records for. Ami slips the envelope into the slot.]

Shall I go now?

[He can always ask directly, really. She likes the interest.]

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

[Report? What report? Given that this is Seth dealing with Jade those may have simple vanished(because certainly she's not going to be play nice even in his dreams). Instead of actually addressing him, she's going to spend her time poking about the office, looking for something interesting. Or incriminating. Why what better way to get to know him then dig through his mind office?]

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

Seth, stop that.

[Because he really doesn't like to have people rifling through his stuff, even if he doesn't keep anything damning in there. Except for his doctoral dissertation, maybe. Wait, Seth? What?]

... For that matter, just stop altogether. What are you doing here?

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

[Drat. She will stop and straighten up with an ear-to-ear grin.]

You know it's be so terribly boring around the home I decided to pay you a visit.

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised that security even let in someone as suspicious as you. I won't have to sweep up the guards, will I?

[Because it'd totally ruin his day to have to clean up his own vaporised soldiers.]

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

Let's re-correct that. To people who don't know me like you, I'm simply that charming and cute girl. And no your guards are perfectly fine.

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

That charming and cute girl who has neither an appointment with me nor the security clearance to poke around this building.

[But at least she didn't kill his men, so that's a plus.]

Still, you haven't answered my question. Why are you on Auldrant?

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

[Sigh. Oh answers that don't exist are always a bother.]

Don't suppose you'd accept some reason other then "Why not"?

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

No, I would not.

1/2

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

Then I suppose I should go ahead and tell you the truth, huh?

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

I have no idea.

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

[Well, this is just peachy, isn't it? It's like the universe is playing a nasty prank on him and doing a fine job of it.]

Could it be the Harmony?

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

I somewhat doubt that. Unless it now spreads from simply the city to every single spot in all of the worlds. Might be the cause then.

[maddening-gale.livejournal.com]

That would be unlikely, yes, but the Harmony has caused us to hallucinate before. It would not be impossible for this to be an illusion.

[daha-az-tanrica.livejournal.com]

It seems pretty simple for an illusion. While I can't say for certain if it is or not, this is your world. I'd hope you could tell the difference between a copy and the real one.