video; un: peekaboo

[descendency]

[ the video feed flicks on to a young man's grim, steel-eyed gaze. he strikes as a man who might be more attractive were he not so severe and dour, a natural softness to his features that does not take easily to his fury. rosy lips pulled taut in displeasure, he stares out as though scrutinizing an audience he has not yet gathered, who yet remains unseen. ]

It's Gabriel.

[ he states his own name with distaste, as though he would rather be doing anything but giving his name to these circumstances and that much is the plain truth of the matter. ]

I require the statuses of Beitang Moran [ insufferable know it all ], Wei Wuxian [ insufferable busybody ], and Five [ insufferable ].

As for the rest of you, would someone like to kindly tell me where the fuck we are and what the hell we're doing here?

Comments

[descendency]

Still in the habit of being fashionably late, I see.

[ there's a pause for breath before he answers. ]

That's the thing. I wasn't told anything. I was— We had—

We were... [ there's static in his mind. he can remember the exact moment it felt like he'd just shut his eyes, just for a moment, but everything surrounding it feels like noise. ] ...in Taravast, I was— [ trying, failing, to hold everything, everyone together. ]

I opened my eyes again here. Pocket watch, new— [ he gives his username a glance finally, then his lip curls in distaste. is that a joke? he's never shaken the notion that they are all simply being toyed with, not since leaving sa-hareth. ] —network name, barely recognizing anyone. My things— They're reset.

[ he's probably not making a lot of sense, but he feels like he's actively going out of his mind so that's probably to be expected. ]

What did it look like on your end? Where— [ his voice is tight. he's asking because he needs the information, needs the context it provides. he does not want to hear about fox or lee chang, does not even want to imagine. not yet. he'll unpick that later, unspool it in private next to his sanity, measure and wind them, package them in a way that allows him to keep going. ]

Where have all the others gone?

[weifinder]

Quite the memory gap.

( not dismissive: he frowns, rubbing the side of his chin with the knuckle of one finger. there's been less of this than new faces appearing. )

Most you know went through the gate there, or the gate after, on the island we came to. We've been in Serthica for well over a month. We've been in Ellethia, or what was left, for a month almost... half a year ago? We spent two months traveling by sea from the island and it's three villages, where the Beastmaster pursued his former wife, the Huntress, for her sacrificing of their son when both yet lived. He was... slain, eventually.

[descendency]

[ people going through gates makes less sense than mingyu would like. he puts that information in a box and sets it aside— ]

Half a year?!

[ plus a month, and another month, and another month, and two more months besides that. nearly up to a year. he mops a hand over his face, jaw clenched tight enough to crack.

he takes a breath, then another. ]

This place, Serthica. I presume you don't need me to tell you there's something very wrong with it.

[weifinder]

No, nor anyone else who senses life or death. You can't within the city, but you're here now, so you've a specific reason to say what you say. What is it?

( There's a whole laundry list of wrong things he can and will say, because that's the nature of what needs to be said. Or shared. Or the multitude of wrongs that weave into a tapestry of what may or may not come next. )

[descendency]

The walls here are empty.

[ he gestures to his surroundings in the video, looking around again as lips pull taut. ]

I thought they might have some answers given their condition, but— [ he shakes his head, fixing wei wuxian with his gaze. ]

Some of them have a few years of memories in them at best, others... months, maybe, not even. I've never felt structures like this before. Nothing about this place is right.

[weifinder]

Here, in the Mouse House?

( he pauses in that consideration, eyes narrowing. )

Down here... it's only down here that I've felt any touch of life, or death. Once you're in the port, things become muddied... once in Serthica itself, either side or its slim neutral region, there's nothing. I can feel nothing.

There are magics of some kind sustaining whatever lies keep the city almost functional, and peopled. If stains down here too, but the saturation is less total, I suspect.

[descendency]

If this is as good as I gets, not looking forward to finding out what else this place has to offer.

[ mingyu makes a low noise of frustration, then gets up. ]

I have some business to handle. What's your current pet project, Xian-gege?

[weifinder]

A companion's curse, getting back to Zenobius, assisting in keeping Leonard McCoy from dying from the coal sickness of five years ago. Learning if the hatched dragons live, and freeing the citadel from the illusions that keep it hard to tell who lives, who lives in death, and who is made of dark water.

So, room for more.

[descendency]

That's too many projects. Put some back.

[ it's faint, but there's a hint of humor in mingyu's voice. ]

I'll lend a hand with one of them if I'm able to wrap my business up. Pick your favorite and I'll be back in touch.

[weifinder]

( he laughs, brief and short lived. )

By the time you are, perhaps I will. Take care.