03152015natesami

 -- arcaneArtisan [AA] began pestering acquiredCarne [AC] at 15:33 --

 [03:35] AA: "Hey." Sami's voice seems to come out of nowhere, as she drifts in out of the sky and gently comes to the ground near Nate.

 [03:36] AA: Her voice is hollow and her eyes all but lifeless.

 [03:36] AA: "You got a minute? We need to talk about the Thiago situation."

 [03:37] AC: Nate stops his run on hearing Thiago's name, "what situation?" his eyes narrow

 [03:37] AA: "Hang on."

 [03:37] AA: Sami waves her hands around, and wind seems to coalesce around them, forming a barrier blocking out all sound.

 [03:38] AA: She gives him a look and says "Cone of Silence" by way of explanation.

 [03:38] AA: "Have you heard yet that his dreamself was already dead?"

 [03:38] AC: "only just, a half hour, ago"

 [03:39] AA: Sami looks around, and seems to wince, and brace herself.

 [03:39] AA: In a very soft voice she says "...it was me."

 [03:39] AC: "haha, funny joke"

 [03:40] AA: Sami looks at him with dead seriousness in her eyes.

 [03:40] AA: She's not crying, but her mascara is running hard enough that it's clear this is a recent development.

 [03:41] AC: "woah, are you serious?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:41] AA: "He became a Lord of Hope. Libby told me about how dangerous they were, and how much of a threat he represented to the team..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:41] AA: "...originally I was just going to put a hex on him, so I could kill him with a command word if he ever got out of hand."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:42] AA: "But Libby pointed out to me that a Lord of Hope....I mean shit, Nate, look what you can do! And you're only a Knight."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:42] AA: "There's no bridle in the world someone with his power couldn't get out of."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:42] AA: "And he started abusing his powers almost immediately..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:43] AC: "heh, I knew something, was up, when he made, a shield"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:43] AA: Sami sighs. "I'm not going to ask you for absolution, or forgiveness. I don't deserve either. But I want you to know I have no intention of letting you take the fall for this."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:44] AA: "And I'm telling you because I want to give you the option. If you want to tell them it was my fault to take the heat off of you....you have every right to do so. I won't try to stop you."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:46] AC: Nate thinks it over for a moment before shaking his head "nah, Knight remember, it's my job, to take the shit, aimed at other people"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:46] AA: Sami looks a little shocked. "I....almost hoped you were going to tell them." There's grief on her face.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:47] AC: "funny thing, about hoping. you can't rely on it, unless you're me, of course"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:47] AA: "Because if I survive all of this....if they keep trusting me....I'm going to have to make decisions like this again. I'm sure this won't be the last teammate whose death I'm responsible for. I think I'm on a pretty dark path, Nate."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:48] AA: "I have to save as many of my friends as I can. And it's looking like that means I'm going to have to do some pretty shitty things from here on in."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:49] AA: "Are you sure it's not more just for the noble Knight to slay the wicked Witch?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:50] AC: "noble? I don't think, anyone would ever, describe me as, noble. noble people, don't have rules, they aren't survivors"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:51] AC: ((wait, noble people HAVE rules))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:51] AA: (( Haha, I was wondering about that. ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:51] AA: Sami sighs. "Death is probably too kind a punishment for me anyway."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:52] AA: "I don't know what to do from here. Do I still try to lead the team? Even being what I am? I know it's going to come out eventually, that I'm the killer. Maybe it would be better if I became the villain they all unite against, rather than the leader they all rally behind."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:53] AC: "and give them, two of us, to distrust?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:53] AA: "Fair point." She sighs. "So I have to keep lying to them then. Pretending to be the good guy."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:54] AA: "When really at best I'm just like the twinks. Just one who happens to want to keep as many of them alive as she can."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:54] AC: "are you really, the bad guy here?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:54] AC: "I mean, most stories, the hero kills, the villain"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:55] AA: "But Thiago was an innocent kid the world kept taking a crap on, Nate!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:55] AA: "He sought out power that was too much for him. Is he really any different than I was?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:56] AC: "no, but the difference, is that we won't let, mistakes like that, happen again"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:56] AA: Sami nods.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:56] AC: "we got lucky, you didn't kill, everyone, when you were all, dark and evil"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:57] AC: "also, Thiago wasn't innocent"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:57] AA: Sami blinks. "Oh god. That's the trick, isn't it? To explaining all this, if I got caught."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:57] AA: "Tell them I went off to grimdark alone....and woke up in Libby's library."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:58] AA: "What do you mean he wasn't innocent?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:59] AC: "when I, caught up to him, he was breaking in, to another player's, room, and rooting through, their shit. I think he, was a thief"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [03:59] AA: Sami takes this all in. "Not really a capital offense. And I didn't know that at the time even if it were."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:02] AC: "all I'm saying is, could you really trust, a Lord of Hope, who went around, looting other people's rooms?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:03] AA: She nods. "It's a fair point. I did something evil, but there's plenty of evidence it was necessary evil."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:04] AA: "...the problem is....there are other Lords. And muses, too."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:04] AC: "are any of them, causing trouble?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:04] AA: "Not at the moment. Hopefully they won't."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:04] AA: "I'm just terrified I'm going to end up doing the same thing to them. I really don't want to."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:05] AA: She sighs. "Not like I could do it to Jack or Rilset anyway. Or like I would feel bad about doing it to Jack."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:05] AA: "Rilset's not going to make any moves against us unless Scarlet tells him to, I think. Which is still entirely possible, but we're pretty fucked if she moves against us with or without Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:06] AC: "hmm well, if you don't want, to kill them, then figure out how, to nip this, problem in the bud, in other ways"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:07] AA: Sami nods. "I think I'm going to have to scare them. I've already scared one of them. I felt horrible to do it, but I don't think she's going to start abusing her powers any time soon."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:07] AA: "Another....I don't think anything in the world could scare her. But someone else will keep her in hand."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:07] AA: "I have no doubt there."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:08] AA: "One of them....is going to die anyway. Unless I die. And even then he still might."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:08] AA: "I don't know who the other two are."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:15] AC: "hmm, well, if they aren't, a threat yet"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:16] AA: "One of them almost has to be one of the veterans though."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:16] AA: "So either she's already dead....or one of us is really good at keeping secrets. Or completely oblivious."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:17] AC: "honestly, I'm skeptical, about them hiding it"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:18] AC: "why would they, know to hide it, right away?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:18] AA: "I don't know. Maybe if someone told them."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:18] AA: "But if they're completely oblivious....it would almost have to be Maenam, wouldn't it?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:18] AC: "maybe"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:21] AA: Sami shakes her head. "Whoever it is, she's gone this long without abusing her powers. I think we can go ahead and assume she's at least as safe as Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:22] AA: "Because I think she must've been a Muse almost as soon as the game started."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:22] AC: "safe, from accidental abuse"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:22] AA: Sami shrugs. "Granted. But do you really think any of the vets are untrustworthy? Aside from me, I mean."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:22] AC: "yes"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:23] AA: "Really? Who?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:23] AC: "they're all a, bunch of loonies, who I wouldn't trust, to kill themselves, properly"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:24] AA: Sami shrugs and gives a chuckle. It's not as mirthful as her laughs used to be. "Guess I'm not surprised you think that way."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:27] AC: "but seriously though, I doubt any of them, would be able to, keep a secret, so well, for so long, y'all are a, chatty bunch"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:28] AA: Sami nods. "That's fair." She thinks for a moment. "Except Meouet, of course."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:28] AA: "And Rilset."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:28] AA: "So whoever it is, she's probably either dead, Maenam, or Meouet."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:29] AC: "what if, it was Beau?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:29] AA: Sami looks sad for a moment. "You....do you think Beau would keep that a secret? Even from me?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:30] AA: Sami thinks about it for a moment. "But....the twinks have a way of learning things. Maybe she would be keeping it a secret not because she didn't want me to know, but because she couldn't risk someone else finding out."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:30] AA: She bites her lower lip. "And Jack did seem to be going after her specifically..."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:31] AA: "...oh god, Nate. What if she was?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:31] AC: "I dunno, I'm just spitballin', ideas here"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:32] AA: "Yeah. You're better at noticing things than any of us though. I'd be an idiot to discount your 'spitballin.'"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:33] AC: "don't mock, how I, speak"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:33] AA: "Sorry."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:34] AC: "hmm, you alright?"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:34] AA: "A Muse of Light, huh? She was always my lucky charm....but it's scary to think that all the stuff that happened to us might count as GOOD luck."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:35] AA: "Or better luck than we would've had without her."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:35] AA: "Oh god....Nate!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:35] AA: "In the fight against Jack!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:36] AA: "He was about to kill me....and then just out of fuckin' nowhere, I got saved by someone who turned out to be Beau's Butler!"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:36] AA: "It was about as lucky a break as I've ever seen."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:36] AA: "Like a borderline Deus Ex Machina situation."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:37] AC: "hmm, this is, interesting, but unfortunately, a moot path, to venture down"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:37] AA: "...yeah. Sorry."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:38] AA: "She's gone now. And I don't think the Beau I'm with now would be a Muse. He would probably have to be a Lord, if anything."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:38] AA: "And if that were the case his Jack would've had to be a Muse."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:38] AA: I think.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:38] AC: "makes sense"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:40] AA: "I guess maybe I'm procrastinating. Because I'm about to have to go out there and face all of my friends, and all of the kids....and pretend to be someone they can trust."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:41] AA: "And lie to them about what happened with Thiago."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:41] AC: "don't worry, people will, forget about this, in a few weeks, tops"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:42] AC: "once we get, back into the, thick of things"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:42] AA: "I just hope I haven't sped up that schism you think is coming."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:43] AA: "Okay. I guess I'm going to have to go out there sometime."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:43] AA: "Thanks for listening, Nate. And....I guess thanks for not turning me in. I kind of want to be punished for this, but I know it's best for the session if I'm not."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:44] AC: "you can bear, your cross, once it's safe to, do so"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:44] AA: Sami nods. "So long, Nate."

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:45] AC: "bye, murderer, I mean, Sami"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:45] AA: Sami winces, but doesn't sass Nate back.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:45] AC: "it was, a joke, sheesh"

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:47] AA: "I know. Just not in the mood for jokes right now." Sami waves to him, and begins to float off into the air. As she exits the bubble, the winds around the two of them dissipate and sound from the outside world begins to flood in again.

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:48] AA: (( I can post. ))

<p style="margin-top:0px;margin-bottom:0px;"> [04:48] AC: ((alright))