week 2 ( thursday );

[reidentify]

[It can't be here. It can't.

Even knowing that—and that everyone is seeing illusions—the sight preys on so many of the fears that Lief has had the past two weeks. Worry about why he was here, at first, and worry about his home.

Desperate for some peace, as he avoids looking up at the sky, he finds himself at the oasis. He knows he can't stay for long, when he needs to be ready for the stakeout that Prussia's organized, but he's of no use if he's already rattled.

...

Not caring about the possibility of contamination at the moment, he splashes his face with some water.]

Comments

[hydrazine]

[It's been a trying day for everyone, but Raven feels as though she's less troubled by what's going on than the others. This isn't the first time she's dealt with hallucinations like this, and she tries to spend her time tending to others. At a certain point, though, it gets to be a bit much for even her. That's when she heads to the oasis, and there's a pause when she sees Lief.]

...Can I assume you're real, kid?

[There's a small amount of humor, even if it's weak.]

[reidentify]

[He smiles, likewise however weakly.]

Do not pinch me—that is all I ask.

[hydrazine]

I think I can manage that.

[She continues on.]

You want to talk about it?

[reidentify]

[He takes in a breath. This... isn't really a secret, so.]

Have I ever told you anything about my home?

[hydrazine]

[A small nod.]

Yeah. You mentioned the famine, but nothing else.

[reidentify]

[Hesitantly, he looks up at the sky, before he averts his gaze away from it.]

... Much like how your Earth did not fall due to natural causes, the famine plaguing my home did not occur through misfortune. Our land is—cursed.

[hydrazine]

[After a pause:]

What kind of curse?

[She can't help the small amount of skepticism in her voice; it's a byproduct of being someone who's been studying and excelling in scientific fields since she was young. The idea of curses and magic sounds impossible to her. Still, now isn't the time to contradict him.]

[reidentify]

... Little grew on the land. Fish and game were scarce. Things like that. And the lighthouse was—not functional for the last eighteen years, so no trade ships would come.

[The lighthouse is a long story, hence the pause.

His voice is low, perhaps even with a tinge of anger.]

Invading our country was not enough for the Enemy; it wanted to know that, should it ever be banished as came to be, then it could watch us slowly die, none the wiser as to why. Until recently, we were not aware that the famine was unnatural.

[Though ultimately, in terms of his story, the famine isn't important. The Enemy is, for that's what his illusions deal with.]

[hydrazine]

[That's what strikes her interest the most - what he says about the ill effect on his country is troubling, but the enemy he mentions is the biggest blind spot she has here.]

Was it another army, or... Some kind of being?

[The first would make more sense to her, but the second would fit more with the kind of curse he's describing, she thinks.]

[reidentify]

... Some kind of being, though it has created armies of monsters to do its bidding. To be honest, I could not hope to describe it—while it was human once, I do not know if it truly even has a form anymore.

[Now, it's just a living force of evil, envy, and wrath. Something that can never be truly stopped or killed, only held at bay.]

[hydrazine]

[It's hard for her to imagine any of that; an army of monsters, a being without a form. All the same, she continues on.]

So, you were trying to break whatever curse it put on your country?

[reidentify]

... Yes. That is what we are trying to do. Thankfully, most of the land has been freed and the lighthouse is active once more, so even if we fail to cure the remaining quarter, the country will no longer starve, but...

[...]

I would rather see all traces of it gone from the country. It has sunk its claws into us for long enough.

[He looks up at the sky again, before closing his eyes. Dully, he speaks.]

The invasion took place shortly before I was born. I have heard stories of what life was like before then, but the Enemy's rule was all I had known—until a few years ago. I was given an opportunity to drive it out, and by the end, we succeeded. We are free, and things are supposed to be getting better.

[At this point, he's no longer pretending to be an ordinary citizen, away from the life of quests and heroics. He's too tired to keep up the pretense.]

[hydrazine]

...Good. It must have been hard to fix, so I'm glad you did.

[Something tugs at her, though. She's noticed something he said that strikes her as peculiar.]

Supposed to be getting better?

[reidentify]

Well, there is the famine, for one.

... And though the Enemy cannot reach directly in our land, there are traitors among us who serve it nevertheless. Most people are unaware and believe that these are now times of peace, but—danger is still very much present.

It would not take much for the Enemy to be able to enter the country again.

[hydrazine]

...Why would anyone do that?

[It's not a question asked with any measure of shock; she's not naive enough to believe that nobody would do so with the proper incentive. It's more that she's curious about what that incentive was.]

[reidentify]

For power. The Enemy offers to reward them beyond their wildest dreams if they serve it. At the very least, it can provide skills of sorcery to those who form such a contract.

... Some desire power for malicious purposes, perhaps. For greed, for glory. But there are also those who merely—wish to no longer suffer, and will take anything that promises to fill the void.

[hydrazine]

Figures.

[It's what she was guessing, so it's not hard to believe.]

So... If he doesn't a real form, what're you seeing?

[reidentify]

... It has a brand—one placed on all that it owns, from buildings to trees to even people.

[His tone is bitter, as he thinks of all who were branded in the Enemy's time.]

In its territory, the sky is marked by it. [He's seen said sky once, in the one and only time he'll ever enter the Shadowlands, hopefully.] And there are—signs of its presence. Like a storm coming.

[hydrazine]

Does that at least make it easier to figure out who might be working against you?

[It depends on how easily it can be hidden, she imagines.]

[reidentify]

[He shakes his head.]

While I have seen a few of its servants who carry its brand, I do not know if all of them do. [...] When I say that he placed its mark on people, I mean—those who defied it and were punished.

[hydrazine]

...Oh.

[That's significantly more yikes.]

I'm guessing that getting branded wasn't the most pleasant feeling for anyone who got that mark.

[reidentify]

I was lucky enough to avoid that fate, so I have only witnessed the process. I cannot say what it was like.

... Most of those who were branded—and not promptly executed—were those who were taken away and made slaves in the Enemy's territory. They were rescued only about a year ago.

[By him and his friends, personally, but he isn't sure if he should say that part. Either way, compared to them, he and the rest living in Deltora were perhaps lucky, as an oppressive regime is still better than the horrors in the Shadowlands.]

[hydrazine]

Well, the rescue part is at least a plus.

[Even if the rest is horrifying.]

[reidentify]

Yes. As far as most of the country believes, we have been at peace for a year now.

[Better than nothing.]

[hydrazine]

[A nod.]

So. How are you planning it on getting it out of the last quarter of the country?

[reidentify]

... The same way we have done for the rest of the country. The curse is caused by a—I do not know what to call it, beyond its name of "Sister". You can think of it as a false gem that sings what, all my life, I thought was the sound of silence, cursing the land as it does so.

[A low humming that has always been there since he was born.]

There was one at every corner of the land: east, north, west, and south. We have destroyed the first three. I was in the process of defeating the last, hidden in the capital, before arriving here.

[hydrazine]

Silence is overrated, anyways.

[Although maybe not compared to... that.]

How does destroying them work?

[reidentify]

[...

Sorry, Raven. The story gets weirder.]

With dragons.

[hydrazine]

...Are you sure you aren't retroactively hallucinating?

[Let her have this.]

[reidentify]

[Lief groans, because he knows how weird everything is.]

Most people where I am from would likely ask the same.

[hydrazine]

Is it not a well known fact?

[reidentify]

Dragons were thought to be extinct. The last of them were persuaded, long ago, to go into hiding and enter an enchanted sleep—until the day came when we no longer had to fear the Enemy.

[Until the promised king—him—arrived, but he doesn't say that part.]

As you know, that day still has not come, but the Enemy's reach is lesser now, at least. The few of us who know that the famine is not of natural means have been reawakening the dragons, for they are the only beings in Deltora powerful enough to destroy the Sisters.

... I suppose they are not so secret now that one has been sighted at the capital, but they have an ill reputation, however undeserved I feel it may be, and so we could hardly have told everyone about them before then.

[Life would be (mildly) easier if people in the capital would stop trying to kill the one ally he desperately needs, even if it's a little sweet that everyone is so ready to fight one of the strongest monsters in the country for his sake.]

[hydrazine]

Why do they have a poor reputation if they're supposed to help save you all?

[Everything that he's saying interests her, but that sticks out in particular.]

[reidentify]

Many tales portray them as hostile, all the more so when we are unsure of their diet—though having met them personally, I do not know of one that feeds on people.

[He lets out a light sigh.]

But again, as few even knew they were still alive, even fewer know that they are allies. At this point, I do not think it is solely anyone's fault. Many people would most likely attack a dragon on sight, believing it to be a threat, and thus, the dragons do not think highly of most humans.

[hydrazine]

Sounds like a mess on both sides, then. Well, hopefully the people catch on easily enough that you both want the same thing.

[Even if she's still very ??? about this whole thing.]