Rachel & Soleil, 12/8/2002

• Rachel_ sleeps, ignorant (thankfully?) of whatever is about to befall her.

<Elanya> (That can just eb what Rachel was dreaming about, prior to the interruption ;) <Soleil> (n) Rachel is sleeping peacefully, dreaming about dancing with Nikolai at Beltaine, before things got weird. <Soleil> (n) or possibly, boobies. <Rachel_> (I have boring dreams...) <Rachel_> (Not boobies) <Rachel_> (Just *dancing* with Nikolai?  ;^D) <Soleil> (well, that would be less boring, I'd think ;D) <Rachel_> (man things would be more interesting) <Soleil> (n) she looks up at her beloved, but instead sees... <Elanya> (PENISES) <Soleil> Hello, my pet. <Soleil> Sleeping well? <Elanya> (I like my answer better ;)

• Rachel_ breaks away from Soleil if she can.
• Soleil lets go of her.

<Soleil> (n) The courtyard is now empty of other revellers.

• Rachel_ eyes him.
• Soleil eyes her back. ;)
• Rachel_ isn't quite sure if she's just dreaming, or if he has dreamcraft or something.

<Rachel_> . o O (I guess it's one of the same...) <Rachel_> . o O (Except that *I'd* be in control if I were just dreaming. <Rachel_> ... <Soleil> Aberystwyth in spring... quite lovely <Rachel_> . o O (And it would still be Nik there, if I were in control...)

• Soleil looks around...

<Rachel_> Soleil... <Soleil> Yes, my dove? <Rachel_> What do you want?

• Rachel_ says, resigned.

<Soleil> What do I want? <Soleil> You said you wanted to see, later. <Soleil> It is later, now.

• Soleil quirks his head to one side.

<Rachel_> I said I *maybe* wanted to see... <Soleil> Maybe, maybe... indecision ill becomes you.

• Soleil waves his hand dismissively.

<Rachel_> Soleil -

• Soleil clicks his right thumbnail together with his silver hook, and looks expectantly at Rachel.

<Rachel_> What else can you do? I want to know *now*. <Soleil> Oh that isn't interesting.

• Soleil looks bored.

<Rachel_> Yes. It is. <Soleil> I have such sights to show you... <Soleil> And you just want to play 'I'll show you mine, if you show me yours'...

• Soleil looks disappointed.
• Rachel_ 's face twists into a disapproving expression.
• Soleil flops down onto a bench.
• Rachel_ turns a cold shoulder to him and walks away a short distance.
• Soleil taps his claw on the bench a few times.

<Rachel_> . o O (I am in way above my head.) <Soleil> (bah, nothing one couldn't do with a couple levels of Dreamcraft) <Rachel_> (I know, but she has no way of doing anything to him.) <Rachel_> (He's infuriating.) <Soleil> So pretty... <Rachel_> (Taking such liberties.) <Soleil> But a pale reflection... <Soleil> of the real thing...

• Soleil taps his claw again, and the ground beneath your feet begins to ice over...

<Soleil> (n) At least, that's what it looks like at first... <Soleil> (n) It isn't cold... <Soleil> (n) It's some kind of crystal.

• Rachel_ turns and looks back at him, glaring.
• Rachel_ crosses her arms.

<Rachel_> I see that you are going to force me to come with you whether I wish it or not. <Soleil> Come with me? <Soleil> We aren't going anywhere... <Rachel_> Well. Good. <Soleil> You're sleeping snug in your little bed, poppet; and all of this is but a dream. <Rachel_> It is not *my* dream though. <Rachel_> You are controlling it. Just being here. <Soleil> Well, it was.

• Soleil shrugs.

<Soleil> Are you finished looking at my horse's teeth yet? <Rachel_> No. I am not. <Soleil> Oh, bother. <Soleil> Well, do let me know.

• Soleil reclines on the bench, stretching out his legs.

<Rachel_> Soleil, I will repeat: what do you want from me? <Rachel_> "I am here for you. I am yours. I live to serve." <Soleil> I want to give you a present!

• Soleil says brightly.

<Rachel_> So you just force your way into my mind. My innermost thoughts. <Rachel_> Well thank you very much but I don't think I wish to receive a gift from one who is little better than a rapist. <Soleil> Have you ever enchanted anyone? <Rachel_> It's not the same thing. <Soleil> Careful how you sling your mud, my dear... <Soleil> Some is like to splash back on your face... <Rachel_> It is not the same thing.

• Soleil hops up and stands on the back of the bench, holding his arms out for balance.

<Soleil> Some would differ... <BalthCat> (Like me!) <Rachel_> When a person is enchanted, you don't break in to their mind. <Rachel_> It is external.

• Soleil looks rather cheerful and untroubled.

<Soleil> Don't you? <Soleil> You tear down barriers which they have carefully erected, through the centuries, to protect their very sanity... <Soleil> And when it is over, they are confused and disoriented... unable to even understand what has happened to them. <Soleil> My little present will have no such unpleasant side effects!

• Soleil skips.

<Rachel_> ... <Rachel_> Won't it? <Soleil> it is, as I said, just a dream... <Rachel_> How can I ever trust you, knowing you can slip into my thoughts whenever you wish? <Rachel_> How can I ever feel secure, knowing you are around? <Soleil> Oh, not whenever I wish... <Soleil> It requires a great deal of effort <Soleil> I would never harm you. <Soleil> Whether you believe that or not, it is true all the same. <Rachel_> You keep *saying* that. But what good is the word of a ghost. <Soleil> The proof is in the pudding, my dear Rachel <Soleil> If you'd care to partake. :) <Soleil> Oh let's do have just a little look-see, shall we?

• Soleil hops off the bench, and walls of crystal spring up around you.
• Rachel_ 's eyes glitter coldly and angrily.

<Soleil> Count Anathene's Crystal Hall... <Rachel_> I presumed as much.

• Rachel_ says tersely.

<Soleil> Pretty, isn't it? <Rachel_> Not nearly so pretty as my father's garden.

• Soleil laughs lightly.

<Soleil> An unnecessary boast... <Rachel_> Laugh if you will. <Soleil> Now, one of the rare creatures who inhabits these hallowed halls... <Rachel_> My father's garden is alive and vibrant. <Rachel_> This place is cold and dead, like you.

• • • BalthCat is now known as Jennie

<Soleil> It is now... sadly <Soleil> Really... Arcadia doesn't impress you as much as it ought. :P <Soleil> Your father would be green with envy. <Rachel_> This isn't really Arcadia. <Soleil> But no matter! <Soleil> A dream is better than nothing... <Soleil> There are fae who would kill for a dream as real as this. <Soleil> The fae have forgotten... <Soleil> But the dead remember. <Rachel_> Not all of them. <Soleil> Now where was I... <Soleil> Ah yes, our Lady Diamond.

• • • Sascha has joined #changeling
    • ChanServ sets mode: +o Sascha
• Rachel_ waits impassively.
  • • Sascha is now known as Lady_Diamond
• Lady_Diamond appears between the two of you.
• Lady_Diamond does not appear to see either of you, or indeed anything at all.
• Lady_Diamond seems younger than she does now, and even more resplendent...
• Rachel_ does not appear impressed. She is determined not to have fun.
• Lady_Diamond appears to have been frozen in the midst of some dance; a veil of diamonds arcs through the air behind her as she spins balanced on one toe. Six beautiful iridescent wings spring from her back, her crowning glory.

<Soleil> Oh, don't pout. I know you want to learn what I have to tell you. <Soleil> It's in your blood. <Soleil> It *burns* within you. The desire, the thirst for knowledge... <Rachel_> I would prefer to learn it on *my* terms.

• Rachel_ says viciously.

<Soleil> This is the only way.

• Soleil says with an untroubled shrug.

<Soleil> Phantom Shadows and other tricks of Chicanery are sadly lost to me. <Rachel_> What about courtesy? <Soleil> What of it? :) <Soleil> Surely we can dispense with stuffy formalities. Isn't that what you wish from your family? <Soleil> Oh, I prithee, my lady Baroness, to grant me an audience... etc, etc...

• Soleil seems to be in quite an upbeat mood this evening.

<Rachel_> That is not what I mean and you know it. <Soleil> I'm not psychic, either. <Soleil> More's the pity...

• Soleil watches Diamond spin in place.
• Rachel_ shakes her head.

<Rachel_> I do not believe the dead could be so dense, being intangible. <Soleil> Were you never taught to respect your elders? Such manners. <Soleil> Will you really throw away your only chance to see her as she was?

• Soleil seems curious

<Soleil> For the sake of your pride?

• Rachel_ 's features darken.

<Rachel_> If it's my *only* chance, then I suppose I have no choice. As with everything else involving you. <Rachel_> Go on then. <Soleil> You do have a choice, my dear. <Soleil> You can stay, or you can leave.

• Soleil indicates the door leading out of the high hall.

<Soleil> Leave, and go back into the arms of dear old Nikolai. <Soleil> Or stay, and enjoy my pageant of ghosts! <Soleil> :) <Rachel_> What sort of choice is that? <Soleil> A simple one? <Rachel_> . o O (I hate you.) <Rachel_> You know my House. Thus: no choice at all, really. <Soleil> (hey, you could make a willpower roll ;D) <Rachel_> (No.) <Soleil> As I said, a simple one. <Soleil> Goody-goody!

• Soleil claps his hands together.
• Rachel_ shows no sign of any emotion save her annoyance and anger towards Soleil.

<Soleil> Let's start at the beginning, shall we... <Rachel_> It's the very best place to start.

• Soleil disappears, as does the image of the young Diamond.
• Rachel_ says dryly.

<Soleil> In the dead of the lingering winter...

• Soleil sounds far away.

<Soleil> (n) suddenly your surroundings shift, as capriciously as they might in the dreaming... <Soleil> (n) You are in a stone room, lit by torchlight. <Soleil> (n) A group of women are huddled around a figure reclining on a cot or table, murmuring softly. There are three boggans, dressed in simple grey gowns, and two eshu.

• Griselda is a grump eshu, with frizzy gray hair that seems to form a curly

triangle around her leathery face.

• Rachel_ tries to see the reclining figure's face. She assumes it is a female ancestor in childbirth.

<Griselda> Fomaline, take the child... <Griselda> (n) One of the boggans, a portly brunette wilder, lifts up a tiny red creature with six wings, screeching mightily and beating its tiny fists in the air. <Rachel_> . o O (Babies are so ugly.)

• Tamara is a sidhe woman, thin as a rail, with shimmery, iridescent hair.
• Tamara 's eyes are glazed with pain; her arms flail weakly at the air until she is restrained by the other two boggans. The gown she is wearing, white linen, is soaked red from the waist down.

<Tamara> no, no, no... <Tamara> (n) <Boggan> It won't stop... <Griselda> Do your best.

• Rachel_ feels sick in spite of herself.

<Tamara> please, no... <Griselda> (n) the Eshu and Boggans appear to be casting cantrip after cantrip, but still the blood comes. <Griselda> (q) frost and snow...

• Griselda curses.

<Tamara> where... where <Griselda> Hush, my lady... save your strength.

• Griselda says gently.
• Griselda sponges the woman's brow.
• Tamara looks up at her with wild crystal violet eyes.

<Tamara> baby...

• Tamara rasps.

<Griselda> <w> A girl, your excellency... a beautiful child.

• Michael_ opens the door.

<Michael_> (n) the boggan who was cleaning up the baby looks up and gasps. <Michael_> <Boggan> You can't come in..! <Griselda> Look to my lady,

• Griselda says to the other eshu, who seems to be her apprentice.
• Griselda strides over to the sidhe lord, heedless of the fact that she's steeped to the elbows in blood.
• Michael_ looks much younger, a wilder. He looks very like the portrait in Diamond's hall; tall and dark and strong. He clutches in his hand the scythe you recognize as your father's.
• Michael_ looks the old woman up and down.

<Michael_> The Countess?

• Michael_ asks tersely.

<Rachel_> (he was way older than Diamond, ew...) <Griselda> My lord, she will not live.

• Michael_ frowns.

<Griselda> We have cast all the magicks we can... <Griselda> But we cannot put the blood back into her.

• Griselda whispers.

<Griselda> It is fate. <Michael_> The child, then?

• Michael_ asks in a business-like manner

<Tamara> my baby, my baby...

• Griselda looks back over her shoulder at the countess.
• Tamara starts flailing around weakly.

<Tamara> where is she... <Tamara> Where is she, my precious, my precious jewel, my diamond... <Tamara> (n) The boggans try to calm her down, while Michael looks disapproving. <Griselda> The child will live.

• Rachel_ might smirk if she were in a better mood.

<Griselda> She is strong. <Michael_> A girl... <Michael_> His excellency will be disappointed. <Griselda> ... <Michael_> Have the child cleaned up, and then bring it to me. <Rachel_> (Soleil is forcing family history on Rachel)

• Michael_ exits, closing the door behind him.

<Michael_> (n) The scene fades away.

• Diamond_ sits in her bedroom, draped in a shimmery cloak/robe thing.
• Diamond_ stares into her mirror, looking petulant.
• Rachel_ does smirk this time...
• Diamond_ flutters her wings.

<Rachel_> (how old is Diamond here?)

• Diamond_ sighs expansively and puts her chin on her hand.

<Diamond_> (She looks about sixteen.)

• Griselda bustles into the room.
• Diamond_ looks over her shoulder.

<Diamond_> Oh, don't you ever knock?

• Diamond_ doesn't sound terribly troubled.

<Griselda> You haven't got anything I've not seen, my lady. <Diamond_> Ugh.

• Diamond_ rolls her eyes.
• Griselda looks Diamond up and down.

<Griselda> You'd best hurry up, you've not even brushed your hair! <Diamond_> Pfah, I care not. <Diamond_> I'll not brush my hair, I'll not put on that silly frock, I'll not wear any of that ridiculous paint, and I'll not go out at all! <Rachel_> . o O (And she thinks I'm a brat...) <Griselda> *I'll* brush it, then.

• Griselda starts unbraiding Diamond's long shimmery hair.

<Griselda> It won't be so bad, dear. <Griselda> Not so bad as... well, we'll not say that.

• Diamond_ lets the eshu brush her hair.

<Diamond_> I don't want to do it.

• Rachel_ 's anger is wearing off, now that she's seeing Diamond actually... "human".

<Diamond_> I feel like... <Diamond_> Like a prize sow on display at the fair! <Diamond_> Trotting me out for his boorish friends, again <Griselda> Don't you like to dance, my lady?

• Diamond_ purses her lips.

<Diamond_> Not for them. I loathe it! <Diamond_> And he knows I do, that's why he does it. <Griselda> You mustn't say such things, dear. <Diamond_> Oh, he loves me not!

• Diamond_ says angrily.

<Diamond_> I curse my mother for dying and leaving me with such an oaf for a father. <Griselda> Wisht.

• Griselda says sharply.

<Griselda> You know what will happen if he hears you speaking thus!

• Diamond_ shrinks a bit.

<Diamond_> ... <Diamond_> Will Lord Adshe be there this evening? <Griselda> I expect so, dear. <Diamond_> HE always is, to inspect his prize cow :P <Griselda> Now now, the two of you have been betrothed since you were both babes in arms, and he has no more say in it than you.

• Griselda reproaches.

<Diamond_> Well, I hope he chokes. <Griselda> Lady Diamond, that is quite enough of that!

• Diamond_ sighs unhappily.

<Diamond_> I am sorry... <Diamond_> I ... I loathe the thought of all of them watching me. <Rachel_> . o O (Why does she remind me of Isabel?) <Diamond_> I am but a toy to them. <Diamond_> A pretty little toy. <Diamond_> I can feel their eyes already... It makes my skin crawl. <Diamond_> Even when I'm not on display he has me watched, you know.

• Griselda lets her prattle on.

<Diamond_> His wizard has spies everywhere, I'm certain... <Diamond_> Such cold black eyes... Blue is by far a gentler hue. <Griselda> Lord Ashe's eyes are blue. <Diamond_> Bah... His are like... cheap painted glass compared to my dear one!

• Griselda shakes her head.

<Griselda> I like not the path you tread... <Griselda> It leads to ... dark places.

• Diamond_ hmfs.

<Diamond_> I wish I had a brother. Then I wouldn't be bothered with this nonsense, and Father would let me alone.

• Rachel_ starts looking at other things in Diamond's room. She knows all this already.

<Diamond_> (It's clean...) <Rachel_> (Any stuffies? ^-^) <Diamond_> Oh, when I am Countess, I shall have all of those eyes... to command, or to feed to the ravens. <Griselda> You don't mean that... <Diamond_> no...

• Diamond_ looks sad.

<Diamond_> But I wish I did. <Diamond_> (no :/) <Rachel_> (Anything out in the open?) <Diamond_> (like what?) <Diamond_> (There are a lot of books with titles you don't recognize, stacks of sheet music... she has some paintings) <Diamond_> (There are prisms dangling in the windows :D) <Rachel_> (A book next to the bed, a necklace on a stand near the mirror, anything that might be a prized possession?) <Diamond_> (Her dressing table is cluttered with *stuff*, including a silver jewel box) <Rachel_> (Anything I recognize that she has now, in the real world?) <Diamond_> (I don't believe you've been in her bedroom ;) <Rachel_> (Are you sure? Not even as a little girl adoring her beautiful grandma?) <Diamond_> (yes) <Rachel_> (She's such a bitch... ^-^) <Diamond_> (n) things fade away again...

<Soleil> Enjoying the show?

• Rachel_ is jolted back into annoyance by the ghost's presence.

<Rachel_> Some of it.

• Rachel_ admits.

<Soleil> Oh, I'm glad.

• Soleil says, sounding sincere.

<Soleil> But, unless you wish to sleep the day away, this is where it ends. <Rachel_> ... <Soleil> I can show you more at another time... <Soleil> If you so desire. <Soleil> Think on thy answer. <Rachel_> . o O (He could just be making everything up...) <Rachel_> If we do it again, I would like to know in advance.

• Rachel_ says finally.

<Soleil> Oh, that will never work. <Soleil> With all the excitement, you'd not be able to sleep! <Rachel_> Soleil, I get excited when I know Nikolai will be visiting. I am sorry to tell you that you don't have quite the same effect. <Soleil> Will you go? Yes or no? <Rachel_> ...

• Rachel_ searches Soleil's gaze, hoping to find something there. What, she's not sure.

<Rachel_> Why are you so anxious to do this?

• Soleil looks eager.

<Soleil> Call me nostalgic. <Rachel_> Nostalgic? <Rachel_> Weren't you dead long before my grandmother's time? <Soleil> Well, I'm sure you wouldn't be interested in *that* <Rachel_> You aren't psychic. How would you know what interests me, and what doesn't? <Soleil> Their names and deeds would mean nothing to you.

• Soleil shrugs.

<Rachel_> Frankly, tonight's little display has showed me nothing I didn't really know already. <Rachel_> Except maybe that the countess was, once, "human." <Rachel_> Things I don't already know interest me more. <Soleil> So, is that a yes, or a no? <Rachel_> Must I answer you now? <Rachel_> You did tell me to think on it. <Soleil> Hmmm, I think so. <Rachel_> Why.

• Rachel_ is losing her patience once more...

<Soleil> Oh, because it bores me to argue it over and over, mostly. <Rachel_> How would my thinking about it and then giving you an answer at a later date construe arguing it over and over? <Soleil> Of course... you could always *command* me to show you something later <Soleil> Your ladyship. <Soleil> Oh it will never be so quick.

• Soleil says with a frown.

<Soleil> Mulling it this way and that, asking me question after question... <Soleil> on and on <Soleil> My, whatever would you do if you really had to make a snap decision? <Soleil> ... Is that a bird I hear?

• Rachel_ 's eyes darken to a deep red angrily.

<Soleil> * distant chirping* <Rachel_> I make snap decisions often. <Soleil> Until next time, poppet... <Soleil> <bird> *chirp* <Rachel_> But not when they involve a creature whose intentions I still cannot be sure of, who speaks only in riddles, and whose sole joy in afterlife is making my life a misery.

• • • Soleil is now known as A_Bird
• A_Bird is chirping outside Rachel's window

<Rachel_> . o O (Kill it.) <A_Bird> chirpy-chirp chirp

• Rachel_ sits up and opens her eyes.
• A_Bird trills a happy little bird tune
• A_Bird hops lightly from branch to branch, singing
• Rachel_ doesn't feel rested at all.