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I spoke to the mouse.

[ It's clear more is incoming, though she needs a while to give the words (thought) voice. ]

... Back at the tree, I planned on leaving before she saw me. I figured it'd be better for both of us. [ She knows Gray would feel differently, but she also thinks Gray is a fool. ] You're the reason things didn't go to plan, but you also helped her make it out okay. So... thanks, or whatever.

[It takes some time for Liem to arrive at the Tree.

He does not know of it immediately when Set passes, as their bond does not connect them in any way beyond the usual; a bond of companionship, sealed by word and deed alone, strengthened by the time they spend in one another’s company. Though he goes days without speaking to the god, it is only when Hayame contacts him to ask after Set that he realizes… he has not seen him in longer than he would normally expect.

(His thirst confirms for him that this is the case. It has been some time since he last supped from the god’s veins.)

So Liem goes looking. At his shrine in the Beyond, where they had shared intimate moments in days past, and where he thinks the thread of communion between them might spark loudest. At his home in Springstar — a place that he had never before visited, and had to be told even existed. He seeks him with his body and his soul, but the god of the desert is nowhere to be found.

And so, in resignation, he eventually finds himself here: at the Tree of Life, wandering its roots in hopeful trepidation of one familiar sight. Guided unerringly by the pull of magic leading him onwards, he searches for the swelling pod of a planted shard, nestled amidst the moss and dirt at the Tree’s roots.]

[ — the point where Communion violently begins is born from the sense of intimate connection developed between two individuals.

It is very obviously a burning, bright thing from Set, whose mind scatters into the corners of those he has forged some sort of companionship with — for duty, for responsibility, for fun, for solemn vow. What arrives is the briefest sense of rising disorientation, woven through with a burst of wrath and grief so white-hot that it might char flesh from bone within seconds, shot through with rapture and the whiplash of love. It rises like a dying, murderous sun ( like Meridian ) — stifling and acute and suffocating — only to be tempered within seconds, by the cool, crisp wash of the dark sea ( like Zenith ), tempered and soothed with all edges laid flat once more.

The Communion plunges into quiet and calm, like a great, purring beast, and ends as abruptly as it began. ]

[ The request for communion is weak; a faint little pulse tapping against Quetzalcoatl's mind. A fragile little beating heart, like a child reaching out for help—

But that was the problem that sent him over the edge, wasn't it. When he feels the connection between them, Amos' voice is quiet. Small. ]

Hey, Sunny. Think I need some help here...

[ She might be able to pick up exactly where he is, body curled up under the covers in his bed in Highstorm, a place she's surely been before, freezing and unable to warm up. There's also the matter of his limbs coming undone, but those are hidden under the blankets for now — as if wrapping himself up in them like a burrito will keep everything where it's supposed to be. Surely. Surely.

It's childish logic, but that's all he has right now, until someone comes to him — and he doesn't know who to reach out to other than her. ]

[ Honestly, he could wear his grudges against a fellow god for centuries, until circumstances required them to align with one another and the grudge would have to be moved aside for a mutual goal. That would be the way of the divine, with minds that were far more complex ( yet, oddly simple ) compared to mortal ones; Quetzalcoatl had returned to Meridian, and spent the next several weeks so morose and damp that it must have been monsoon season in the jungle environment she had manifested in the Beyond.

The poor hummingbirds. They were probably soaking wet.

Set refuses to be the one to go to her, to climb the stairs to the apex of her temple and stand below the Piedra del Sol. He avoids her in the Coliseum, drumming up the narrative that their rivalry had become so heated that were he to see the heroic god again, he would not rest until her blood was soaking into the hypogeum below their stage. It made for a good story, and their fans ate it up with the hunger of those living and striving every day for the revelry. He also, wholeheartedly, keeps his mind tugged away from her in Communion — radiating injury in a way that betrays how heartsick he is. How softly vulnerable he made himself ( he was born to be ).

Eventually, in Alenroux, he cannot dodge her. The flight of her Noble Phantasm draws his eye, to his own irritation, and he is forced to finally step out into the open and allow himself to be seen by her. Dressed in a light robe, clutched tight around his body — he holds the golden laurel of the priests of the Church of Helios loose in his hand, and waits to see if she will take the opportunity he is giving her to approach. Piedra del Sol, as he recalls, would be a useful part to his weapon's plans.

It is worth more than him, and so, he dons a mask he does not often allow himself to wear. The one of someone capable of forgiveness, as he crosses his arms around himself and says, hushed and hard: ] For you to have made an attempt on me as a Zenite would have been flattering and a delight. But you walked up with Amos Burton. That was a similar thing as if I approached you in battle with Tezcatlipoca as mi pareja, and named him as such.

Edited 2023-11-10 20:19 (UTC)

[ After choosing to settle himself within Zenith's power, moving to Highstorm and establishing himself as a Shard-bearer there, he finds that The Beyond is the place he feels most comfortable. He cannot remain there for long periods of time, not because he has any unique duties that keep him from it, but because he is invested in keeping an eye on Highstorm. On ensuring the other Zenite Shard-bearers understand that certain behaviors are not acceptable, even if their leader has promised an unlimited degree of freedom — it has bred cruelty into the population, allowed apathy to spread among the Shard-bearers. Allowed them to accept themselves as expendable.

The Beyond is solace for him, trailing through the dense foliage with silent feet. Clever and nimble and deeply skilled despite the strangeness of the terrain; he is used to the frozen tundras of Icewind Dale, the gloom of the Underdark, the endless trails and roads of the Sword Coast, the deep forests of Faerûn are both like and unlike this area, which reminds him strongly of an above-ground Underdark. And amidst all the cool temperatures, the blast of humidity and dampness he finds among the flora are startlingly unique. He feels something unlike Zenith's calming energy there, something gilt-gold and hot, feeling more like Meridian has found a foothold in a place it should not be.

There is,

an incredible structure built into the woods. One of the temples that the Meridian-aligned gods have come to inhabit, he has heard. At his side, the prowling, sleek length of Guenhwyvar comes to balance herself at his shoulder, dipping her massive head below his dark hand as he looks up, up into the heights of the beautiful temple. Easy, my friend, he urges her, voice so warm and sweet on the great panther ( relieved, at his core, that he could save her above all — ), before he calls out and up. ]

Is this the seat of the god called Quetzalcoatl, or is this the one belonging to Set?

[ He's hoping it's Quetzalcoatl's, honestly. ]

[There's a gentle sensation of knocking. Like someone tapping a door with their knuckles in a way that almost seems like they don't want it to be answered.]

[On the shortest day of the year—or the longest, by Springstar’s calendar—Liem makes his rounds to play Santa himself, though without the red-and-white costume. For the past few months, his regular visits to Springstar’s community centre have been in service of crafting handmade solstice gifts for the people in his life. This time, unlike last winter, he’s prepared.

Some of the items he brings are simply handed over without fuss: a couple fat, pleasantly spiced hand-made candles and a bottle of wine. (He didn’t make the wine, though.) The last item he delivers, with a bit more care, is a plump throw pillow with tassels and an embroidered pattern decorating it. Yes, he did sew it himself.]

[Hayame's sense of Communion is icy and cold, like snowy wind howling through the mountain peaks. The things that are warm, her weaknesses, her cares, they are hidden away and guarded carefully beneath the snow and the craggy rock in caves so dark that the soft fires cannot be easily seen without a break in the blizzard, intentionally hidden (as best she can) from anyone who might try to use this method of Communication to pry into her head or her hearts.

But it is nothing warm and caring that brings her "here" today.]

Sun Goddess.

[... She struggles with pronouncing "Quetzalcoatl" and she isn't about to mess it up right now. Or use someone's proper name when she is this angry with them.]

Where is the shard of that gaki?

[The disappearances happening across Kenos may not be limited to just Alenroux, but Alenroux is, as Liem has come to think of it, rather his responsibility. He pushed for the changes that have resulted in people living there, staying there overnight. With people there vanishing without a trace, he has to do what he can to get to the root of the problem, even if he suspects it won’t be easily found. If nothing else, he must try to find the missing family members of those who have spoken to him during his visits.

To that end… his presence touches Quetzalcoatl’s mind, respectful but still firm in purpose.]

Ma’am… I require aid scouring Alenroux’s nighttime landscape, and seeing if it can be made safer. The resurgence of disappearances there troubles me greatly. Might you be able to lend your assistance?

[ A polite little tap on Quetz's Communion door, akin to a soft tap on the shoulder. When Gray's mental voice follows, it's like a peek through a crack in the doorway. ]

Hello... Miss Quetzalcoatl, would you happen to have a moment?

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BACKDATED TO LATE WARQU, PRE-BEACH.

communion, after killing discord!Dark.

action, after letting her cry for WEEKS LMAO

action,,,, time for advice!

Communion → Post Harbinger Oracle

delivery

slightly backdated communion;