| Logs |
2010 June 20
| When The Bough Breaks |
| Realms |
Retired
| Reality Fault |
General Info
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| Realms: Bough Logs |
Sixth Movement, Sixth Verse
In the Cathedral of Twigs, the prison of Cain in Enoch-Nod, the tension is slowly rising. Jareth has just told the group that they should not take Cain with him, and while Cain apparently accepted that in good humor, his demeanor is slowly turning."
"And honestly," Cain is continuing, "what sort of life is it to wander around the desert, herding cattle? Yes, we'd been doing for countless years, but why couldn't there be a way just as good? We planted grain, we harvested wheat, we made bread. We built towns, communities, and we no longer had to worry about getting lost because we were home. I suppose that wasn't good enough for the Bull of Heaven, but we were still faithful to him! Until... until the Havelim mocked us and drove their cattle through our fields, laughingly thanking us for the grain we had planted with our hands and sweat...."
Norris is starting to see, here, that just because someone opposes the Architect, it does not mean that they themselves are the paragons of virtue. He may have understood that already, due to acts of Asmodeus and his kin, but in this case, it's full in his face, far more clear and present.
Jareth is still hugging himself, listening. It's hard to listen to Cain's story. He doesn't know who to side with in this story.
Cain continues on in a similar vein for a little while more, pacing as his voice raises. Finally, he reaches some sort of crescendo, and pauses, trembling a little. Finally he looks over to the mortals. "You're mortal," he says quietly. "You understand what it's like. And I'm willing to say that your weapons aren't merely for show, and have been bloodied at least a few times. And yet you say I should remain here?"
Jareth's voice is softly, "You didn't ask my wi... mate's question."
Norris chooses, for the moment, not to correct Cain. After all...the three of them are mortal. That's just not all they are. "This is not about the Architect or the Metatron any more, Cain." he says firmly. "This is about our responsibility to community and to a greater ethical standard. Mortals have their own rules about how to deal with those that break the laws and codes of humanity too, aside from anything the gods say. And while one could argue that you have paid your penance for your first crime...if you have learned nothing from it, then freeing you makes us responsible for crimes you may commit in the future."
He also wonders...the earth shook when they opened the casket. And yet, nothing more. Will there continue to be nothing? Or are more puissant guardians on the way to find out who has disturbed Enoch-Nod...
Mikal nods silently to Jareth's comment, waiting for an answer from Cain. She wouldn't mind an answer for her questions to the descendents of Cain, but she suspects they won't answer before Cain does. She steps over and gently hugs Jareth, trying to quietly comfort her unhappy mate as she waits.
Cain swipes a hand before him. "What land was theirs to take from them? They were nomads! They wandered throughout the Fertile Crescent. We just wanted one little corner of it to make our own, to build a place where we could live without wondering if some outriders of our caravan were going to be devoured, or if the oasis over the next rise was still there." He looks to Norris. "Community? We were building a community! The nomads like the Havelim... they would have been satisfied to wander around the desert for forty hundred years. Is what we wanted so evil? Is wanting to protect it so bad?"
Mikal sighs and murmurs, "You've yet to answer me; you simply justify. I can only assume your answer is no, in that case." She looks at the choir, adding, "And you? Why do you follow a deity who denies you death, due to the actions of your patriarch -- actions you could not possibly forestall? Does your singing calm him, or what? Why do you appear blind-eyed?"
She stands on tiptoe to whisper just to Jareth, after she asks those public questions. Her expression is troubled, "Mon chat? How am I different than he, please? I've killed, after all?"
Jareth strokes Mikal's hair gently, voice soft, "Your heart is what makes you different, beloved."
Mikal looks relieved, hugging Jareth tightly and leaning against him; he makes her feel more confident. She watches the Cainites warily from beneath her bangs, looking a bit like a wild thing as she does so. She blinks as proper answers to Cain's accusatory questions occur to her. She grins with shy pleasure, hugging Jareth tightly again -- he even helps her think more clearly!
Cain barks a short laugh. "They're blind because they cannot see," he says diffidently. "They have followed the Bull for so long they could no longer recognize what passes for 'truth' if it was right in front of them."
Zillah makes no effort to correct Cain. "We were given the offer to tend to him," she says simply. "He is our patriarch. And so we tend to him. Our singing calms him and lets him think upon his sins. We do not see it as punishment, but our duty. It is what the Bull wishes."
Adah adds, "We have tarried in our singing for overlong. He is not normally this agitated."
Mikal nods to the sister-wives, then looks up at Jareth. Her voice is quiet, "I do not think we can help anyone here. We should go. A moment, please, and I'll be ready." She steps cautiously away from Jareth, moving to stand beside the open coffin and look down at Abel. Reaching her hand in, she brushes gentle fingers across his forehead, singing a soft blessing on his spirit, that he may rest in peace... and perhaps even forgive his brother, and help poor Cain find peace as well.
Norris fights the urge to respond to Cain's belligerant demand with banging his fist against the open coffin. He goes inside, and finds the calm that is still at the heart of who he is, when he was simple and kind and utterly peaceful. "This is not about what you did, Cain. Your act of killing was in covenant with your god. This is about the future. My pack brother says you are dark hearted - what if the next time you raise your hand in anger, it is far less justified? What if the next time, you kill out of simple rage, or jealousy, or pique? You have an intensity in you that is dangerous, and if there are no limits on it, then you will cause irrevocable harm." he replies evenly.
Cain's lips curl, though it's hard to tell if in derision or mockery. "'Justification.' Fine words! Bravo. But who gets to say wether an action is justified or not? You seem to believe the Bull, or the Architect, is not worthy to do so. Who, then? Yourselves?"
Jareth says to Cain, voice as even as he can make it, "We are not who you think we are."
Mikal looks up at Cain, her stormy eyes growing colder. Her fingers are still resting lightly on Abel as she says, "If you had even the slightest feeling for your brother -- if you were told specifically not to slay each other -- why then did you not slay his cattle instead? This is not about justification. It is about your lack of remorse. Do not expect us to carry your guilt, anymore than your brother can." She turns and says to her packmates, "Let's go."
Norris is almost relieved to be given direction by Mikal. It helps him quell the frustration inside, at Cain's refusal to accept responsibility. He picks up his hammer once more, and slings it into the baldric at his back.
Jareth shakes his head, "This doesn't mean you are here forever, child." He doesn't even seem to relaize that the voice coming through is at least half Lilith's.
There is no apparent reaction to Mikal blessing Abel -- or rather, the son of the Havilim chief, which in the Dreamtime, seems to be the same thing.
Cain splutters for a moment, then the choir starts to sing again. "You're not better than the Metatron!" he barks. "Leaving something as inconvenient as the first murderer, the first soldier in the depths of this hell! I am cursed to walk the lands forever, do you think I can live to have that hanging about my neck, to have remorse wanting me to kill myself every day?!" The singing rises in volume, starting to resound loudly through the cathedral; reverberating through the floor; Zillah and Adah and the others are apparently doing their best to get Cain back under 'sedation,' so to speak.
Mikal says simply, "I see no remorse. I see only anger," as she takes Jareth's hand to follow Raphael towards the door.
Jareth has tears standing in his eyes as Cain rages about the injustice of his imprisonment. He squeezes Mikal's hand, murmuring, "It doesn't have to be forever." It's unclear exactly to whom he is speaking.
Mikal smiles at Norris, waving a hand to request the big man follow them as tailguard. She focuses on gently urging poor Jareth out the door, whispering softly to him, "Come, mon chat. We cannot help here; we only worsen his situation, I fear."
Norris has an epiphany now, Cain's words stirring something dark and ugly in him, as well. He wanted to blame this growing anger on Hephaestus, on the god raging for the loss of his family. But he sees, now, that whatever the smith god's feelings, that the anger is in him too. And he will not give in to it, no matter what Cain says. He follows in response to Mikal's handwave.
The big raptor wolf heads for the door in his long-limbed, rangy trot, where he pauses, glancing around alertly and sniffing the air before continuing. He scents nothing unusual or untoward outside.
Cain tries to shout invectives and imprecations after them, but the singing is now shaking the cathedral, and his words are drouned out Bit by bit, his shouting subsides, and the singing slowly returns to the volume the group heard on their arrival.
The little party heads on out, returning along the path by which they arrived. The terrain here is peculiar enough that exploration seems contra-indicated.
Jareth's jaw is set, "I feel... dirty. I feel as if I have betrayed him. But I also feel that we could not have the responsibility of him."
Mikal slides an arm about Jareth's waist as she walks beside him. Her voice is soft, "Lover, how could you possibly have betrayed him? You cannot save everyone."
Norris reaches over and squeezes Jareth's shoulder with his big hand. "We could not fall into the trap of binaries, Cat. Things are always more complicated than simply good, or simply evil. We needed your good sense and your open heart to be reminded of that.
Mikal nods in strong agreement.
Jareth slides one arm around each of the people with him, closing his eyes and feeling their presence and letting his steps follow them. He knows that they will not let him step wrong.
Mikal draws her little pack swiftly along the trail, wanting to be out of this fabricated hell. Stagnant, unnatural places like here, or the so-called Garden of Eden, make her feel itchy and unpleasant. She is a creature of the natural cycles of life; seeing them broken and frozen into one season or environment makes her long to put things back into proper order.
Jareth opens his eyes and looks from one of his companions to the other, "We must step carefully to avoid letting our hearts blacken like that. He sees only the injustice of his imprisonment, and doesn't see how he turned on his own principles." His smile is a little crooked as he looks at Norris, "For a moment, I thought that Tubal-Cain could have been one of your incarnations, sweet smith."
Norris says nothing for a moment. "So did I." he murmurs ruefully.
Mikal murmurs softly, her expression thoughtful as she glances around, "No wonder the Architect is vanished. By choosing an unchanging, unnatural form as he does, he must inevitably have his changing creations grow away from him. How sad that would be... to so lose one's children, and not even be capable of changing enough to mourn..."
The troupe heads up and out of the depths of the caverns beneath Mount Zion. Shortly, they emerge into the grotto of past faiths that the Architect was involved with, emerging from the orange haze of the nether.
And, far off in the echoing caverns, they can hear the calls and tromping feet of soldiers.
Norris sighs. "We're going to have to fight, aren't we." he rumbles unhappily.
Jareth's eyes widen and he tenses, "Baal!"
Mikal glances back at Jareth and smiles encouragingly, "At least we saved Baal Hadad. Now, quick and quietly, my dear ones! We will have to run to get to the turn-off in time, I fear." She waves Raphael back as tailguard, gives Jareth's protection over to Norris, and runs silently ahead to make sure the way is clear. Her bow is in her hand, with an arrow nocked, and she's keeping careful watch for the soldiers.
Norris opens his mouth at Mikal's sudden rushing headlong into danger. "Quickly, Jareth, get the mule...we can't leave her here, that would be cruel..."
The big raptor wolf yodels in soft urgency, nudging them all along before him as best he can.
Norris pulls his mace free in case there is need for fighting. "Maybe I can reshape the tunnel temporarily..." he murmurs, thoughtful, as he hurried on at the vanguard of the rest of the pack.
Jareth knows better than to be in the forefront if there's going to be fighting and lets himself be shunted off to the side.
The group heads up the path. By the time they reach the stone platform where Baal had been imprisoned, they can clearly hear the clanking of armored feet coming down the path.
Mikal glances around swiftly, checking for hiding places.
Norris has an idea. Getting the others to halt, he hisses to Mikal, trying to get her attention, motioning her back if she looks.
Mikal hms thoughtfully -- then hastily directs her little group to stand on the far side of the tunnel -- she pauses, glancing inquiringly at Norris.
Norris attempts to mime the tunnel...and then a wall rising to block it. It's sketchy...the tunnel is man-made, but he's more a god of craft than a god of earth. But if the guards think the tunnel ends there... he couldn't hold it forever, but he wouldn't need to.
Mikal shakes her head -- trapping the Pack underground is a bad idea! She makes a few swift gestures of her own, trying to show how he might make the tunnel look longer than it actually is by about 6' or so on one side (the side further away from Baal's former prison) and about 3' longer on the side closer to the broken seals. That way the Pack can hide behind the longer wall on the far side from the area which will dramatically draw the interest of the soldiers... and once they're occupied, Norris can let the fake wall in front of him and his packmates fall, and they can tiptoe away up the tunnel. She looks inquiringly at the smith, checking to see if he understands.
Norris looks a little blank for a moment. And then Hephaestus chuckles. "Like this." the god says, in his mind, and shows him an image of what Mikal is trying to say. Norris's eyes open in comprehension. And he nods, urging Jareth, Raph, and the steadfast burrow towards the landing.
Mikal beams in relief at Norris -- then hastily helps move her companions to hide while Norris does his magic. Once they're in position, she tears up a bag, tying it about the burro's little hooves in order to muffle any sound as they try to slip away from the soldiers.
Norris kneels out in front of the others, his hands touching the earth. This may be easier, or harder...it's not the same as the Basilica, but there, at least, everything was made by mortal hands. "Help me." he asks the godhead inside him, as he tries to make the earth rise in front of him to make a new tunnel wall that seals them off from the approaching army...
The earth shudders at first, but does not move, recalcitrant, as earth and rock tend to be. And then, in his mind, he can hear Hephaestus...singing? Yes, a song of creation, one taught to him long ago by Hera, one that she knew of old, from many faces back. The earth lurches, and rock arches up from the platform, almost fluid like water, forming a new wall and ceiling to match the tunnel leading to and from the place of the seven seals. Sweat knits his brow, but then it slides into place with a final 'thunk'. He must hold it in place, like before, but it is done.
Mikal whispers in awed pleasure, "Well done!" She says no more, however, not wanting to distract her packmate. Instead she listens carefully for the sound of the soldiers (hopefully) rushing past in dismay at sight of the shattered sigils.
The soldiers seem to pause for a moment with the shaking of the earth, but then their footsteps echo again, and come out onto the stone platform. They sound much more heavily armored, with the clank of steel sabatons upon stone; these are not the Swiss Guard. There are exclamations of dismay as they see the vault, and hurried conversation. One set of footsteps runs back up the tunnel, while the rest charge down the path leading down deeper into the depths.
Mikal peeks cautiously out to make sure no one has been left behind, before she'll wave the okay to Norris to let the wall down.
As before, Norris lets out the crafting carefully, as if worried that if he let go of it too fast, it wouls snap like a rubber band and do some other harm. But the wall sinks back into the earth, and Norris looks relieved at it, even as he was amazed at the power of the earth filling him so. "I will need to rest after this." he mumbles, getting a rag from the burro and wiping his face and brow.
Mikal grins at Norris, whispering, "Soon, packbrother! Run but a short while further, and then we can all rest." She darts ahead again, after making sure Raphael is once again tailguard, to keep an eye out for the soldier who ran ahead, and to make sure the way is clear for her dear comrades.
Norris urges the others in line behind him, feeling at leasr more confident, now, that no blood will be spilt. And wondering, absently, if the swiss guard would dare visit Cain...
The group makes their way up the path to the side tunnel. The follow it along, and shortly find Baal Hadad waiting there, nestled against the wall as inconspicuously as he can. He nods in greeting. "There's light and a fresh breeze coming from the down the way," he murmurs, so his voice won't carry.
Mikal darts ahead to give Baal a quick hug, whispering softly to him, "Give Hephaestus-Bear a hand, please? He's quite tired. Wolf-Loki and I will keep us safe." She continues cautiously scouting ahead, trusting her Pack to follow wisely.
Norris thinks the two of them will support each other...he pulls Baal Hadad to his feet, and urges the poor man on...at least he seems to have recovered a little from his imprisonment.
Hadad nods, moving to help Norris. He himself is still worn, but he is recovering, if slower than the mortals.
The path leads a winding way upward, for quite some time. By the time they reach the mouth of the cave, dawn has broken, the mirrorward sky is a vibrant scintillating orange. Warm, moist air wafts through the mouth of the cave, as it exits behind one of the falls of the Euphrates as it tumbles down from the peaks of Mount Zion. Before them is laid out Babylon in all its early-morning glory.
Down the mountain, in the scholar's quarter, there is some activity; the bells of the Cathedral of St. George are ringing but not to call the faithful to prayer. Neither does it seem to be calling for soldiers, as all the soldiers appear to be within the Basilica itself, or are outside it, standing guard or patrolling around the fortress of the church.
Norris takes deep breathes, relishing the taste of the sweeter air. "So glad to be out of there."
Mikal smiles quietly as she stands and looks down the mountainside towards the Basilica, waiting for her companions to emerge as well. She murmurs softly, "You lock the barn after the horse has been stolen, foolish mortals." She smiles at her companions, taking a moment to gather up all the lanterns, carefully extinguish them, and pack them onto the burro. At Norris's comment she grins, "Indeed!" before pulling out long, hooded robes for everyone. Her grin at the still bare-chested Jareth is teasing as she adds, "Still hungry, pretty honeybee?"
Norris looks sidelong at Hadad, wondering how he feels about being compared to a horse.
Jareth can't help but smile at his beloved Mikal and takes a robe from her, kissing the tip of her nose, "Always, beloved."
Mikal giggles delightedly!
Norris senses it first: light streaming down from above. But it is morning yet, and there should not be light that high in the sky....
Glancing upwards, he sees it: The eternal stormclouds that wreathe the peak of Mount Zion have cracked open a little, and half a dozen angels are descending from on high down to the basilica. As they become close enough to hear the heavy, muffled flapping of their wings, Mikal can pick out the sound over the waterfall as well.
Thank goodness they put out their lanterns! Norris hisses at everyone, making a quiet motion, and then indicates the descending angels.
Mikal nods silently as she gently presses Baal back behind the waterfall again, along with her Packmates. So that's what the Basilica's tolling of the bells was for: not to sound the alarm for soldiers, but to call angels to it. She takes a moment to make sure everyone is in nice, completely covering robes like the Allah-worshippers living within the city, and that any arriving angels have passed and landed already... then the small group heads carefully down the mountainside, back into the city.
Jareth puts his hand on Baal Haddad's shoulder and catches his breath. There's an angel he sent to Saladin down there.
Norris moves up next to Mikal. "Do you think we are even safe in the city? maybe we shouls go right to the docks, and send a messenger to Saladin." he murmurs.
It isn't hard to get down the mountainside, though it's easy to see that it would be virtually impossible to get back up to that cave. It's likewise easy to get down into the city itself; by the time they are noticeable to people in the Quarter, their feet have hit well-worn paths and alleyways. It should not be hard to get around the city now.
As they make their way down, they notice that the six angels seem to have entered the basilica and have not yet emerged. The Swiss Guard seems to be focussed completely upon the basilica itself, as well, and are not in the streets.
Jareth's voice is a bare whisper to Lilith's stepson, "They search for you down there."
Mikal grins at Norris before answering. She can't help it -- she's so happy to have rescued yet another god! "We
Norris wonders, too, if the angels will know he was there...it was dreamshaping that he did, but it was the will of a god behind it. But then, the Metatron already suspects, if their recent experiences of the past are any indication.
Mikal says, "We'll check in with Saladin, see what he thinks. He knows the city best, after all. I suspect he'll suggest we leave immediately, since angels can fly faster than the big air ships, and might start quarantining the city soon."
Hadad makes a quiet sound. "I'll be surprised if they don't tear the roof off of the basilica in their hurry to get back up to Zion and tell Uriel."
Norris smiles. "I'd love to be a fly on the wall in that conversation." he drawls.
Mikal chuckles at that, and is singing a soft, happy song to herself as she patters swiftly through the quiet streets towards Saladin's house. She's got the donkey's lead, coaxing it into trotting briskly along next to her.
Jareth stays near Baal and resists the urge to reach out and take the recently-maddened god's hand. The gesture is almost automatic and he wants to give comfort. Instead, he smiles at Lilith's escaped stepson, "Do you come with us?"
Mikal smiles over her shoulder at the two entities, "Give the poor man a bit to recover, lover, before dragging him off into weird adventures!"
Hadad looks around the street. "I don't see as I have anywhere else to go. I've been... away... since the Godswar ended. I do not know what has happened."
Mikal nods approvingly, "Good thought, Baal. Saladin should be able to help you catch up safely." She pauses in front of the heavy gateway to the well-protected house, rapping the brass door knocker sharply on the wooden door.
The doorkeeper at Saladin's villa -- Alfonso at the moment -- slides open the port briefly, taking in the appearance of the visitiors. His eyes widen a bit, then he opens the door hastily, poking his head out to look around. "Come in, come in!" he says hurriedly, ushering them into the home. "We saw the angels descending. It is a bad omen, my friends, a very bad omen indeed." THe door closes heavilly, the sound of locks being set.
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