text — un: starburst.

[valeas]

Not long after Yancai went back in time, I became convinced the two moons that steward the village were not real. I couldn't tell you where this feeling came from, beyond a connection I have to the celestial. 

I know I was not alone in my conviction.

It led Lan Wangji and myself to Storm's Sage — specifically, to a room that was filled with runes. It looked to me like it was once an observatory, except now it has a gaping hole in its ceiling that allows moonlight to shine down into a large bowl of water directly underneath it.

The magic exuding from the bowl did not register malicious to me, but it did seem constant, as though it could not and must not be interrupted. It also came with some fragments of memories, though they were disjointed and incoherent.

( To the best of her abilities, Emilia describes every fragment she was privy to. )

I realise how absurd this may sound, but it truly did feel as though the moon was in the room. In the water.

Comments

[valeas]

What did it say?

Wrathion mentioned she is greatly interested in eternal youth and beauty, and in a fit of vanity, went searching for the Huntress.

( She will not weigh in on Miang-Si's priorities, but... the young woman is nothing if not determined. )

[somebadnews]

Much of the same. She was fascinated by a beautiful woman that visited, and she presumably wanted to be like her. The date could be arbitrary, but it might put us in the ballpark.

She's the most accessible. Her servants didn't even blink before they let me into her room.

[valeas]

Accessible, but single-minded, and if the Huntress promised her what her heart desires most, she might not give her answers so easily. Do you think we'd find something if we snooped again?

( her room, that is... just a little breaking and entering amongst friends. )

[somebadnews]

[ It is extraordinarily easy to break back in, but if he's honest... ]

Not unless you've got another idea. I had enough time to do a thorough search, but I didn't cast any spells. [ He doesn't mean that sarcastically. Emilia has a skillset that he doesn't, and he's fine with that. ]

That was the only reference I could find to the Huntress. I can't say if she actually had contact with her.

[valeas]

My main idea — my wish — is to find a way to interrupt the spell. When I told you I felt the moon, I also felt its resistance. It does not wish to be captured for such a ritual.

( And Yancai cannot simply go back and forth five years for eternity. )

But doing so does would risk leaving Yancai to face the undead again, which isn't an option, either. Hatisse ( ugh ) claims the Huntress, or another of the lieges, might have left anchors. If we find and disrupt them, as well? ( They might not need Miang-Si. )

[somebadnews]

[ ...That's interesting. He wonders if it's like the way he can feel time, and how it pushes back when he tries to manipulate it. Even when he succeeds, it has a way of making him regret it. ]

Then it's a matter of finding them and hoping that righting time doesn't destroy us in the process.

Does she still think they're body parts, or does she have another theory?

[valeas]

Body parts, last I was able to hear.

With a tongue and a beating heart at our disposal, it is not so far-fetched to imagine that may be the case again. ( They're just ... going to keep collecting them, eh? )

[somebadnews]

Does having them make the others easier to track down?

[ No idea where the heart ended up, but he keeps the tongue (and a finger) pretty close at hand. ]

[valeas]

( A finger, hm? )

The tracking spell I'm familiar with works when the caster is in possession of something that belongs to the target, if not its blood. But it only works for the target, not others in relation to them.

[somebadnews]

[ The finger that has no wards on it, because he knows where it came from and thus it's completely safe.

Speaking of though... he's heard stories about that heart. ]

In theory, you could find the owners of the ones we have?

[valeas]

I've never tried it in this lifetime.

( She ... knows he and Wrath talk, okay. So Emilia just kind of assumes he knows about her curse. )

We would need an authentic map of Akhuras first.

[somebadnews]

I took some books on geography and other citadels from Miang-Si's room. There might be something you can use in there.

[ Fully ransacked the place for anything useful. Who wants to bet if she notices? ]

[valeas]

I'd be happy to take a look.

You were not lying. They truly were cavalier about letting you into her room. I would have thought you teleported.

[somebadnews]

I didn't have to. They left me alone in her room while she was gone, and gave me money for Kathoo'lul when I left. It's a wonder she needs to sneak out with a staff like that.

I left the books with Allison to look over, but it's worth exploring if we find any others. If we're able to track who they belong to, it'll give us time to prepare.

[valeas]

I'll help her look them over, though I'm curious to her possessing them in the first place. ( Does she have the heart of a wanderer? Does she mean to leave yancai? Did she strike a deal with the huntress to that end?

Sigh.

Emilia considers something else. )

Is it like this in your world? The time traveling.

private. audio.

[inferus]

( Wrath has been watching this missive. He does with all that come across his pendant, but he especially does when his wife is the one sharing information. He knows her connection to the moon, knows how deeply she must feel its resistance. They will prevent this ritual from occurring one way or another. )

It would disrupt the power she has over this area if we did, and it would prevent the need for their desperate and unnatural spell to begin with.

I imagine the anchors are likely to be the Huntress'. Her husband was mentioned, but she was the one luring people into the forest as a siren might lead men into the sea.

private. audio.

[valeas]

( Emilia expected Wrath to be on top of things, in general, but especially where the Huntress is concerned. They have failsafes for the possibility of encountering her again, but they're almost as intolerable to her as they are to him. )

How do we know those anchors will not have the same effect on you that she does?

( The mere thought tenses her shoulders, clenches her jaw. )

[inferus]

( Wrath does not want to be trapped in a circle again. He does not want to be kept from his wife when he should be fighting at her side especially with the moon in trouble as it is. However, he trusts her too to know when to use them, to make certain he remains in control of himself. He went through a great deal to have the power to choose, and he refuses to be lost to her.

He hears the worry in her voice. )

I was able to resist her control for a time previously. I do not think her body parts will be more powerful than she is. And if it comes to it, I trust you to do what is necessary as you did before. You saved me, Emilia.

[valeas]

( I caged you, she wants to say, but that is an argument they've already had.

In his position, she would have asked him to do the same. It doesn't mean she likes it any, a position she would not have dreamed of holding when they first (re)met. She did trap him in her summoning circle for days on end, and relished it. )

They're powerful enough to serve as anchors, if Hatisse ( ugh ) is right.

[inferus]

I believe, unfortunately, she may be right.

( Since they are on this private feed, Wrath allows himself to grimace openly, showing his dislike for the woman. He read her missive as well - the way she mentioned him multiple times. And promptly ignored it. )

It means we should be able to sense these anchors, but I have been through the village and the forest, and I have not specifically sensed her, her power. It would feel like her, and I would know it.

[valeas]

( He would.

More than almost anyone in their group, he would. The ghosts and souls of the dead is his sort of his main business. It's partly why the Huntress has such a pull with him, and Emilia absolutely hates it. She hates the way this world leaves them so vulnerable. )

Do you think she is able to do the equivalent of a cloaking spell?

[inferus]

It is possible. I dislike how truly little we know of her abilities, of her weaknesses.

( Given she is their enemy, Wrath would want to have more advantages over her than what they have. )

But it is also possible time caused them to become more obscure especially with the effects the anchors have. ( There is a longer pause. ) If we find one of her anchors, if it is the Huntress', Emilia, we could use it against her.

( Beyond being able to stop the undead here, they could have a way to weaken her. )

[valeas]

All right.

( They already have a tongue, a beating heart, and apparently a finger, not that she knows of the latter. What is more? Vittoria would be thrilled with the tokens, would want them in her jars for keepsake. A memory that ... she does not linger on, not right now.

She must prioritise the Huntress, the caged moon. The beacon. Her husband's vulnerability. )

If you mean to seek them out, I will be going with you.

[inferus]

( There is a soft smile upon his face as he hears her voice - the determination, the fury beneath it. He does love her, and it comes through in the tone of his voice when he speaks: )

There is nowhere else I would want my wife to be but at my side.

( He trusts her. He needs her there in a place where he is vulnerable especially if the Huntress were to show up. She will save him again should he need it though blood and bones, he hopes he does not need it again. )

We will seek them out together.

[valeas]

( Some of the tension is sapped from her shoulders.

Emilia doesn't know why she expected some opposition. They certainly could not come to an agreement to save their lives once, but that was long enough ago — back when she saw him as her enemy and not her partner. )

You should speak with Wei Wuxian, as well. He has as many reasons as you do to want the Huntress weakened. And I trust him. ( Both in terms of his skill, and in his sense of justice and goals. )