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RESPITE BARRACKS - MORNING
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Louma settled into her spot behind the usual pile of reports and paperwork an hour or so ago, nearly through reading everything her guards have decided to write about. She's slightly concerned that there have been three reports of young saurs apparently stealing from the market, with no more than three and as few as one witness signature. She sighs quietly, shaking her head a bit.
Nesseth makes his way through the barracks, dressed up like normal again after having changed back to his regular form not too long ago. If there's one thing to be said about his time as an actual lizard, he didn't forget how to present himself properly in appearances. He greets some of the morning guards as he goes, then knocks on Louma's office door once he comes to a stop outside.
Louma sets the reports down after a moment, calling out, "It's open, enter."
Nesseth makes his way into the office with a smile and shuts the door behind him as standard procedure. "Morning, Louma. Sorry to bother, but I was wondering if you had a moment to spare."
Louma hums, nodding a bit as she smiles at Nesseth. "I do, yes. You certainly look taller today, lieutenant. Is Erika back to herself as well?"
Nesseth chuckles and nods as he goes to take a seat across the desk. "Yeah, she took the cure not that long ago, so she's back to normal, too, so no more panicked reports of feral creatures talking perfectly normally."
Louma chuckles, tapping a pile of papers that were set aside. "Good. I already knew to more or les ignore that part of these, but I still had to read them all. Shame, they were usually an amusing part of my morning."
Nesseth shrugs a little. "Well, if we run afoul of the stuff again when we go out to scout locations for a map later on... you'll get to have more fun with that." He sighs a bit, "But for now, I guess you'll have to make do with a little less joy."
Louma smirks, shrugging. "You're more valuable as a guard on two feet than four, so I'm not hurt either way. Did you just come to visit, or were you looking to discuss something?"
Nesseth adjusts his seating a bit, then nods. "Well, both, but more just to discuss something." He pauses for a moment, then continues, "So... you remember from our talks before, not long after the whole thing with the Saurs, about those nightmares I used to have? Like I was going down that tunnel leading to Yzzayt's chamber?"
Louma settles on her coil a bit, her expression shifting to a polite smile rather than a smirk. "I do. Are they still haunting you?"
Nesseth shakes his head. "No, haven't had one for a good while. That's part of why I wanted to talk. I had another one of those dreams, but... it changed, and I don't know why."
Louma hums, tilting her head a little. "I'll help however I can, but I'm still not much of an interpreter of dreams."
Nesseth gives a bit of an awkward half-smile at that. "Well... I know this is going to sound crazy, but, uh..." He shakes his head again a little helplessly, "I... don't think it was a dream, this time."
Louma blinks at him, silent for a beat. "How do you mean, it wasn't a dream? Were you not asleep?"
Nesseth nods. "I was, but I'll get to that. Long story short, I got to the end of that cavern last night while I was sleeping, after having woken up so many times before that. Wasn't exactly what I was expecting, but..." He eyes Louma carefully, "I found Xochi. She's been missing for a while, right?"
Louma tilts her head a little. "No? She's suffered some kind of age regressing magic, I believe, but she's been around, just... Young and how to put it... Ambitious, as well. Wait, Vix brought her to my home, did she not tell you anything?"
Nesseth hums thoughtfully, then nods again. "Mmh... Vix told me this morning, yeah. She's at your place." He sighs quietly and steeples his fingers as he leans forward a bit in his seat, resting his chin on his thumbs, "But... no, that's not the Xochi we know. She's a Xochi, but she's one that should have been if she'd taken an opportunity to escape that she ignored a long time ago."
Louma nods, crossing her hands on top of her tail. "That is where she seems to think she is in time, yes. I apologize, I did assume that Vix would have gossiped about her highness' situation. You not bringing it up at all should have told me otherwise. So this dream... You had without knowing there was anything wrong with Xochi, then?"
Nesseth nods. "I did... or at least, aside from her being missing, as far as I knew. Last I'd heard, she went off to do some kind of ritual with Sammi, that girl with the, er... tentacle hair. That was... gods, months ago, now."
Louma hums, beginning to look concerned. "Gareth has been quite distracted lately, he's mentioned he's looking for Sammi. I've had the guards briefed to report spotting her, and she's certainly hard to miss, but I haven't heard anything come back on that." She sighs. "Gods damned magic... If it's not one thing, it's another."
Nesseth hums. "I remember seeing her during the trip to the west. She spent a lot of time around him, from what I remember." He lets out a sigh of his own, "But... that aside, something must've happened. Xochi... in that 'dream', or whatever it was. She wasn't looking too good, and she said she was running out of time."
Louma grunts. "Fuck." She rubs either side of her bill for a few moments before looking to Nesseth. "I do not want to pile more on your plate, especially since you've just come back. Again. I'm going to figure out how we'll investigate this, but if you are too held up with your previous tasks..."
Nesseth shakes his head at that. "I've gotten some word not that long before I changed that the elemental issue might have resolved itself to some degree. So that's one major issue that we can set aside. We can finally get Cavro back to his forge, too." He glances aside, seeming a little distracted, "Uh... out of curiosity, do Snakes have any legends or myths involving endless black seas swarming with the dead?"
Louma blinks, clearing her throat. "Not... Public legends, no. We don't share our spiritual beliefs much... Well, outside of Xochi, but she is not exactly the best example of social tradition. For your understanding the black sea is equatable to purgatory, though many fear it as if it were damnation. A place to be lost and unable to join our ancestors as stars in the night sky. Those lost there can still catch glimpses of the stars, reminded of where they cannot go yet." She chuckles darkly. "You know I do not believe in such a thing, as much as being in Xochi... And Xochicoatl's company has pried at those barriers."
Nesseth gazes at Louma as he listens, then lowers his head a bit to press his clasped hands against his brow, almost like a prayer, but more just a stress reaction. He stays like that for a few seconds, then looks back up at Louma again. "Shit... so that's what Xochi meant. If we don't figure out a way to get her back, she's gone for good. Where I found her... there were only a few stars in the sky left. The Hunter and a smattering of others. Nothing like the normal skies."
Louma sighs, looking aside for a few moments before returning to the conversation. "I do not know what to think of this. Our best bet would be to get advice from a spiritualist from Orela. I may know the legend, but that does not mean I am correct. Beside that, if she has truly been there so long, our time may not be as limited as the stars hint." She looks to Nesseth as she speaks. "I do not know why you were contacted, if that is what your dream was. Perhaps meet with Aurelius at the library. He has the means to communicate rapidly with the Loremaster in Orela."
Nesseth hums as he scratches at his frills for a few moments. "Right, I forgot Aurelius has a way to reach out across the oceans really fast for information. Either way, the stars aren't the only reason I'm concerned." He gestures at roughly his abdomen, around the point Louma's tail joins with the rest of her body, "Everything below this spot on Xochi was nothing but bones. Everything above it was getting pulled away bit by bit by the dead. I'm probably going to rush to Aurelius, simply because... well... I'm a little afraid of what I might see, if I wind up there a second time."
Louma shudders, glancing at her own tail. "Yes, that would be prudent. I will keep an eye on Xochicoatl, but I do not think I will mention any of this to her. We don't know what she really is, if not actually an age-regressed Xochi." She sighs quietly, shaking her head. "Hindsight wont let me believe I could think this wasn't a serious situation. I've taught her to fly, for the Gods' sake."
Nesseth shakes his head a bit. "I don't know. From what Xochi told me, Xochi...coatl? Xochicoatl is Xochi, somehow pulled out of time and put here, and our Xochi got imprisoned in that black sea as a balance." He pauses, a shiver rolling down his spine, "...And, uh... that reminds me of a couple more things, actually."
Louma leans forward a little. "Oh, really. What else, then?"
Nesseth tilts his head curiously. "Are there any legends that talk about a... I don't know... warden of the black sea? Masked with some kind of indistinct facial features?"
Louma hums, rubbing her chin a bit. "I don't recall much about it other than that there is one. I think the belief behind that is they decide whether or not one has been part of the sea long enough to have earned their place in the stars. Again, I've never been spiritual, so some details are lost on me."
Nesseth hums at that, then decides to file it away for later consideration. "Well... maybe we'll get some info when I go to talk to Aurelius. I'll be sure to relay whatever I find out to you." He pauses for a second, then sniffs as a small smile breaks his contemplative expression, "As for the other thing, well... you might find it a bit comical."
Louma raises an eyebrow at that. "Oh? Well I certainly could use something to take my mind off of your nightmare."
Nesseth can't help but smile a little more at that. "Well... part of the reason I'm pretty sure what I saw was real is because I took a dive into the water to try and get Xochi out. Of course, it didn't work, but... when I woke up - in bed with Erika and Vix, mind - I somehow ended up actually sopping wet, like I just came out of a river."
Louma blinks, giggling a bit. "So that must have been pleasant for them. But ah... Thinking about it, if you were able to bring the water back out with you, perhaps it is a good thing you weren't able to drag Xochi back out in her current condition. Let us take a little more delicate approach to this situation that that, hmm?"
Nesseth nods. "Agreed. Hopefully we can figure out what that delicate approach entails once we get word from Orela." He sighs a little and shakes his head, "If it's not one thing, it's another, like you said."
Louma gives Nesseth an encouraging smile. "I do think we'll manage to get through it. You said the elemental situation seems to have resolved itself? How did that happen, and are you entirely sure?"
Nesseth shrugs. "Been hearing word around town, for the most part, as well as a statement from a wolf named Phoebe, who seems to have interacted with not-Cavro to a pretty large extent. Last I heard, there was an incident at the forge, and Phoebe saved Melia and the fire elemental from a mage."
Louma gives Nesseth a look. "I... Would not consider that resolved, if that is your report. I mean, we've ordered Elizabeth to leave town after attacking the elementals at the forge, but that still leaves it. Melia's proven benign, but I want to know more about the other one's abilities before I file it away."
Nesseth shakes his head. "That's what I mean... The word I've been hearing is that the forge hasn't been as active as of late, and the elemental Cavro hasn't been seen for a bit, now." He hums quietly, "Mmh... I could ask Melia and Phoebe for info, and see what the status of the fire elemental is. Obviously, the town's not burned down despite them getting attacked by a mage."
Louma hums. "It's a fire elemental, then? Did she sufficiently upset it to make it want to burn the town down? I'm sorry to doubt this, but Melia's plants and healing don't concern me as much as the unnamed one's more destructive element."
Nesseth chuckles. "I would figure being attacked would be good cause to fight back, but... well, hard to tell personalities, I guess. I'll go and find Melia and Phoebe and ask them for info, and we can work from there."
Louma nods shifting slightly as she leans forward against the desk again. "I'll leave it up to you, then. I'll also see what I can nudge out of Xochicoatl without prying too hard." She shrugs. "Oh, before I forget, I hope you'll be at the New Year dinner a the Thirsty Minnow tomorrow. We should tap glasses to celebrate surviving yet another year here. If barely."
Nesseth tilts his head, staring blankly at Louma for a few moments. "The New Year dinner?" He then startles, "Oh! That's already happening tomorrow?? Yeah, you can bet I'll be there!"
Louma chuckles, grinning at him. "I suppose being a four legged lizard sunning in a terrarium messes with your perception of time a little bit, hmm?"
Nesseth grins in turn. "Now, see, that's where I lucked out. I didn't actually get stuffed in a terrarium, but just got to lounge on Plume's desk for a week or so." He nods after a moment, "But yeah, time moved a little differently, I think, not to mention perspective in general with my eyes being... what, 2 inches off the ground?"
Louma chuckles. "So how was it, dragging your belly on the ground everywhere you went?"
Nesseth laughs. "Not as bad as you probably think, really. The weirder part was learning how to move like a feral lizard. That wiggling motion is wacky, almost like a..." He pantomimes moving like he had to as a feral lizard, with the primary flex point being his abdomen, "...sort of thing, you know?"
Louma laughs, wriggling her tail in the air. "I think I can understand that pretty well, in fact. Though just learning how to do that as an adult could be a challenge in itself." the two continue on with amicable conversation, not forgetting their earlier discussion, but not letting it weigh too heavily on them for the time being. Good company and good hope to keep spirits up, and all that.