[ This is actually the first time he's seen the full force of Luocha's healing capabilities. It seems unreal. So far from what Lynx and Natasha do; so far, even, from what Bailu does. Watching Xueyi's parts slide into place, knowing that it means Luocha is not just capable of healing people but things. The idea that Caelus ever thought he was simply a friendly traveling merchant who dabbled in healing seems laughable now. What is this man if not some scion of a god?
Caelus knows it's stupid. He knows it's incredibly, incredibly stupid. But he can't help the way he feels, anyway: as Luocha raises his rapier, plunging it into the ground, the Trailblazer can't help but think to himself: there goes the most beautiful man in the world.
And it's stupid. Right? When Luocha probably hates him now. When he'd looked at Caelus, inscrutable, as though he'd seen something no more interesting than an insect or a bit of dirt clinging to his shoe. When Caelus is fully aware of the crimes he's committed to land himself in this sort of place — and yet, and yet, and yet. Can't help it, when the familiar scent of pale flowers clings to the inside of his throat, and a Pavlovian response at the back of Caelus's brain associates the relief from the warm touch of Luocha's healing to the same sort of relief he'd gotten each time the man brought him to completion. He still remembers that, try as he might to forget it. That Luocha taught him how to crave that cycle of pain and pleasure from the absence of pain.
(And he wasn't — wholly complicit. Right? On that day of madness — was it really all his fault? There had been a give and take to that, even then. He had...)
Moze's voice interrupts Caelus's thoughts.
"I have a plan," the hooded envoy says, breaking the silence. "Though you don't have to like it."
There's another slight pause, at which point Dan Heng asks, "What's the plan?"
Moze turns to Hanya, who is now cradling Xueyi's body. "Judge," he says curtly. "The Luofu's prison and the Yaoqing's prison are different, but both are of Vidyadharan make. Am I correct in assuming there's a function that seals all the floors from each other?"
Hanya stares at Moze with an expression that is quite possibly more expressionless than her usual expressionless face. It is possible that she is understandably disconcerted by Moze's apparent familiarity with prisons, and also by his disrespect, which is probably due to his familiarity with prisons. "The Shackling Prison does have such a function, for use in the exact scenario of a riot," she says slowly. "But it requires authorization by a judge at the central terminal, and acceptance by two wardens in Grimfrost and Pyroscape Hold respectively."
"In other words, we'd have to split into three separate groups. You'd be at the central terminal, and two of us would have to pose as your wardens and initiate the acceptance protocol."
"Yes. What are you planning? Xueyi has likely alerted the Seat of Divine Foresight by now, so we've foiled the borisin on that front. But they likely also wish to seal the prison and take it over for use as a fortress. Would we not be playing into their hands by sealing it entirely?"
"Hoolay's forces are currently spread throughout the prison, massacring your colleagues. If we seal off their movements and create three separate 'tiers,' that gives our teams in tiers 1 and 2 an opportunity to pick off the borisin while they're confused and locked into place on their floors. It also gives us an opportunity to rescue any survivors among the Wardens while we're at it." Moze shakes his head, patiently explanatory. "Oh, just so you know, I won't volunteer for the team that will be locked in at the bottom with Hoolay. Even if Jiaoqiu is still alive, he won't be of much help to you, so you'll be on your own with the Warhead. Who is almost certain to kill you."
The crowfeathered assassin catches an inquisitive look from Luocha, and elaborates, for his benefit: "Jiaoqiu is my friend — another messenger from the Yaoqing. The borisin took him as a hostage. If they're smart, they've kept him alive for negotiations, and if they're idiots, they've roasted him over an open fire and are currently enjoying Foxian steaks. Best to recover him alive if possible, but don't linger much on it if he's already gone." One-shouldered, the envoy shrugs, and then continues: "Anyway, if no one else has any other ideas, I propose three teams: the judge and her sister for the central terminal, Dan Heng and I for Grimfrost Hold, and the other two for Pyroscape Hold."
Dan Heng's tone is sharp. "I object," he says swiftly. "Hanya and Xueyi make sense. But why split me and Caelus? We're both Nameless from the Astral Express, and we know each other well. He and I can take Hoolay, if that's your consideration, and you could take Luocha to Grimfrost Hold."
"Skill mismatch," Moze replies immediately, as if he expected this particular objection. "I'm an assassin — I won't need the prisoner's healing skills. I'll work better with someone who can handle a crowd of borisin on his own. Which, of the six of us — really only leaves you, doesn't it, Imbibitor Lunae?"
Dan Heng falls silent, but the glare in his green eyes speaks volumes. For one thing, he probably doesn't like Moze knowing more about him than he knows about Moze.
Moze shrugs it off. "Look, it's also better for your friend," he says, with a slight bit of softness in his blunt voice. "He lost his head to borisin pheromones twice getting down here, and both times he did, he took a swing at you. I assume the healer will help him with that."
Though he's been silent thus far, Caelus flushes slightly in shame. Moze's assessment is only the truth, of course. He's not afraid of the borisin, but breathing around them does something to his body that he can't explain to himself — and he had attacked Dan Heng in a panic, partly because Dan Heng was the most familiar object in his vicinity at the time.
Dan Heng is still scowling. "I don't want him paired with Luocha," he says flatly, which is getting closer to the truth of things.
Moze, unfortunately, seems to be the argumentative type. "Why? What is he, an ex?" he deadpans, impeccably funny.
Caelus has half a mind to take the man to one of Back'n and Forth's shows to have him give the comedians a run for their money. He would laugh if it weren't so close to the truth. ]
...It's okay, Dan Heng. Moze's right. It's for the best. [ Caelus's voice feels husky from disuse; he clears his throat before he continues. ] Of the six of us, Luocha and I are probably the least likely to die fighting Hoolay. For different reasons, yeah... but if I die before the generals get here, then the Stellaron explodes, and that takes care of that problem. You know?
[ Moze's eyes widen slightly, in a way that suggests the question What Stellaron? — which is interesting, and means that wasn't in the report to the Yaoqing. But whatever, Caelus figures. It's not really that big of a secret, in a life-or-death situation like this.
"You are not going to explode," Dan Heng says, affronted. "You're coming home with me. Don't even joke about that." ]
I'm not joking...
[ Sighing — he knows how Dan Heng gets when he's like this, and Caelus loves him, but now really isn't the time — the gray-haired Trailblazer turns to the one man he's been avoiding this entire time, this despite the fact that Caelus himself was the one who suggested roping him into this whole mess. ]
...Luocha? Are you... okay with this?
[ And it's stupid — this isn't the time for this, and Luocha kind of is an ex — but, all the same, Caelus has never felt so nervous in his life.
no subject
Caelus knows it's stupid. He knows it's incredibly, incredibly stupid. But he can't help the way he feels, anyway: as Luocha raises his rapier, plunging it into the ground, the Trailblazer can't help but think to himself: there goes the most beautiful man in the world.
And it's stupid. Right? When Luocha probably hates him now. When he'd looked at Caelus, inscrutable, as though he'd seen something no more interesting than an insect or a bit of dirt clinging to his shoe. When Caelus is fully aware of the crimes he's committed to land himself in this sort of place — and yet, and yet, and yet. Can't help it, when the familiar scent of pale flowers clings to the inside of his throat, and a Pavlovian response at the back of Caelus's brain associates the relief from the warm touch of Luocha's healing to the same sort of relief he'd gotten each time the man brought him to completion. He still remembers that, try as he might to forget it. That Luocha taught him how to crave that cycle of pain and pleasure from the absence of pain.
(And he wasn't — wholly complicit. Right? On that day of madness — was it really all his fault? There had been a give and take to that, even then. He had...)
Moze's voice interrupts Caelus's thoughts.
"I have a plan," the hooded envoy says, breaking the silence. "Though you don't have to like it."
There's another slight pause, at which point Dan Heng asks, "What's the plan?"
Moze turns to Hanya, who is now cradling Xueyi's body. "Judge," he says curtly. "The Luofu's prison and the Yaoqing's prison are different, but both are of Vidyadharan make. Am I correct in assuming there's a function that seals all the floors from each other?"
Hanya stares at Moze with an expression that is quite possibly more expressionless than her usual expressionless face. It is possible that she is understandably disconcerted by Moze's apparent familiarity with prisons, and also by his disrespect, which is probably due to his familiarity with prisons. "The Shackling Prison does have such a function, for use in the exact scenario of a riot," she says slowly. "But it requires authorization by a judge at the central terminal, and acceptance by two wardens in Grimfrost and Pyroscape Hold respectively."
"In other words, we'd have to split into three separate groups. You'd be at the central terminal, and two of us would have to pose as your wardens and initiate the acceptance protocol."
"Yes. What are you planning? Xueyi has likely alerted the Seat of Divine Foresight by now, so we've foiled the borisin on that front. But they likely also wish to seal the prison and take it over for use as a fortress. Would we not be playing into their hands by sealing it entirely?"
"Hoolay's forces are currently spread throughout the prison, massacring your colleagues. If we seal off their movements and create three separate 'tiers,' that gives our teams in tiers 1 and 2 an opportunity to pick off the borisin while they're confused and locked into place on their floors. It also gives us an opportunity to rescue any survivors among the Wardens while we're at it." Moze shakes his head, patiently explanatory. "Oh, just so you know, I won't volunteer for the team that will be locked in at the bottom with Hoolay. Even if Jiaoqiu is still alive, he won't be of much help to you, so you'll be on your own with the Warhead. Who is almost certain to kill you."
The crowfeathered assassin catches an inquisitive look from Luocha, and elaborates, for his benefit: "Jiaoqiu is my friend — another messenger from the Yaoqing. The borisin took him as a hostage. If they're smart, they've kept him alive for negotiations, and if they're idiots, they've roasted him over an open fire and are currently enjoying Foxian steaks. Best to recover him alive if possible, but don't linger much on it if he's already gone." One-shouldered, the envoy shrugs, and then continues: "Anyway, if no one else has any other ideas, I propose three teams: the judge and her sister for the central terminal, Dan Heng and I for Grimfrost Hold, and the other two for Pyroscape Hold."
Dan Heng's tone is sharp. "I object," he says swiftly. "Hanya and Xueyi make sense. But why split me and Caelus? We're both Nameless from the Astral Express, and we know each other well. He and I can take Hoolay, if that's your consideration, and you could take Luocha to Grimfrost Hold."
"Skill mismatch," Moze replies immediately, as if he expected this particular objection. "I'm an assassin — I won't need the prisoner's healing skills. I'll work better with someone who can handle a crowd of borisin on his own. Which, of the six of us — really only leaves you, doesn't it, Imbibitor Lunae?"
Dan Heng falls silent, but the glare in his green eyes speaks volumes. For one thing, he probably doesn't like Moze knowing more about him than he knows about Moze.
Moze shrugs it off. "Look, it's also better for your friend," he says, with a slight bit of softness in his blunt voice. "He lost his head to borisin pheromones twice getting down here, and both times he did, he took a swing at you. I assume the healer will help him with that."
Though he's been silent thus far, Caelus flushes slightly in shame. Moze's assessment is only the truth, of course. He's not afraid of the borisin, but breathing around them does something to his body that he can't explain to himself — and he had attacked Dan Heng in a panic, partly because Dan Heng was the most familiar object in his vicinity at the time.
Dan Heng is still scowling. "I don't want him paired with Luocha," he says flatly, which is getting closer to the truth of things.
Moze, unfortunately, seems to be the argumentative type. "Why? What is he, an ex?" he deadpans, impeccably funny.
Caelus has half a mind to take the man to one of Back'n and Forth's shows to have him give the comedians a run for their money. He would laugh if it weren't so close to the truth. ]
...It's okay, Dan Heng. Moze's right. It's for the best. [ Caelus's voice feels husky from disuse; he clears his throat before he continues. ] Of the six of us, Luocha and I are probably the least likely to die fighting Hoolay. For different reasons, yeah... but if I die before the generals get here, then the Stellaron explodes, and that takes care of that problem. You know?
[ Moze's eyes widen slightly, in a way that suggests the question What Stellaron? — which is interesting, and means that wasn't in the report to the Yaoqing. But whatever, Caelus figures. It's not really that big of a secret, in a life-or-death situation like this.
"You are not going to explode," Dan Heng says, affronted. "You're coming home with me. Don't even joke about that." ]
I'm not joking...
[ Sighing — he knows how Dan Heng gets when he's like this, and Caelus loves him, but now really isn't the time — the gray-haired Trailblazer turns to the one man he's been avoiding this entire time, this despite the fact that Caelus himself was the one who suggested roping him into this whole mess. ]
...Luocha? Are you... okay with this?
[ And it's stupid — this isn't the time for this, and Luocha kind of is an ex — but, all the same, Caelus has never felt so nervous in his life.
(The Stellaron's bass-pulse is racing.) ]