Late Autumn, and another guest...

[mosaic_archive]

The rooms in the Black Mage Village's Inn have gotten a lot more use lately than they usually do. The latest visitor has them curious, and slightly wary. Despite Rydia's reassurances, silver hair does make them think of Kuja...

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[made_to_fade]

"Mister Cecil?" asks a quiet voice. "Are you awake?" Mr. 128 doesn't want to wake him if his guess is wrong.

[made_to_fade]

"Oh. I'll get you something. What would you like? There's water, and fruit juice, and milk..." Mr. 128 sticks his head out the room door to let someone else know that Cecil is awake and wants something to drink.

[lil_mage_vivi]

Someone else walks in with a glass of milk for Cecil, allowing Mr. 128 to waddle off in search of Rydia to tell her that their guest is awake.

"Here," says Vivi, placing the glass in one of Cecil's hands. He watches for a moment. "... Maybe it's a spell?" Blind is White Magic in his world, but he's heard that it's considered Black in some others, like the one Rydia's from.

[lil_mage_vivi]

"You're welcome," says Vivi. "One of the Eidolons that Mistral can call can cast Esuna. We could have him try that."

[feathered_mages]

Vivi heads back to the door and says something to someone out there. It's not so hard to search for the oldest Waltz, and less than a minute before he'll head into the room. The bell, with its ribbon looped around his wrist, jingles softly.

With the situation explained, he'll try summoning Unicorn. Then, they'll just have to see if it helps.

[feathered_mages]

There's a disappointed grumble from the young Waltz as well, and a sigh from Vivi.

"Maybe it just needs longer to heal," says Vivi, patting Cecil's arm with a gloved hand. "Do you want something to eat?"

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

"I'll bring something from Mr. 44," says Mistral, ducking out just as Rydia arrives.

She sits in a chair next to the bed, but for a moment isn't sure of what to say.

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

"You're very welcome, Cecil. You should know that."

Vivi seems to agree with Rydia. "It's not an imposition to help a friend, and you're one of Rydia's friends."

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

"The Nexus has ways to identify what universe someone is from," Rydia says. "I already know we're not from the same one." She'd sent and received a few messages while Cecil was out, just to check.

One of the bigger Mages, Mr. 44, waddles up to the door to hand a tray over to Vivi. There's apple juice, a warm bowl of vegetable soup, some cheese, bread, and a softball sized - and shaped - vanilla cake. Vivi will take that over to Cecil. "Mr. 44 brought some food for you."

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

Rydia sighs. "Everyone from my universe is. That's how I know we're not from the same one. We'll need to find out just which timeline you're from, and then search for the others."

"All of the older ones are," says Vivi, "except for me."

"What happened to you, Cecil?" Rydia asks. Knowing what's going on might help.

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

Rydia can't help a shiver at the story. "Well, then we know where to start looking," she says. "Or at least, we should soon. Many people in the Nexus where you were found use a kind of teleportation device called a PINPoint. There are scanners meant to give lost people the PINPoint coordinates to get home. Arashi is trying to see if the scanners need to scan the actual person or just.. something of theirs."

She'd never heard of such things as 'DNA samples' before talking to the Genomes here, but what Arashi had taken to try to get the machines to scan were bits of the cloths that had been used to clean Cecil's injuries.

It's hard to say how long someone's been standing in the doorway during this. She hasn't made a sound until now. But, during the brief pause in conversation, Mikoto comments, "There's no sense in the others unease. He doesn't resemble Kuja that much."

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

"I think if anyone minded they wouldn't have brought you a tray," says Rydia.

Vivi will try to help if needed with finding silverware and such.

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

Rydia stays quiet while he eats, and Mikoto slips back out. The rarity of visitors here is partly to blame for the curiosity.

By the time he's done, Rydia will be speaking quietly to a red-eyed Waltz by the doorway. It seems the PMQ scanners only work for actual people, so they'll have to wait until Cecil's better before they can get coordinates for his world.

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

Rydia returns to her seat and manages a slight smile as well before mentioning things. "As soon as you're recovered we can start searching for the others. You'll need to be with us to get coordinates to your world." She's worried too, though she's hiding it. It may not be her world involved, but what can happen in one can often happen in another if the timelines aren't too far apart.

[feathered_mages]

Arashi chuckles. "It's not far at all, if we use PINPoints. I thought the coordinates might be of use."

Rydia just reaches for Cecil's hand. Guiding him is no problem to her.

((Sorry for delays here. LJ's started using some new popup ad with video that, since I'm on dialup, takes five minutes just to load enough so I can close the popup >.< ))

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

"All right," says Rydia.

Arashi ends up leading the way, and given what was said he decides not to use the PINPoint. It's not all that far walking either. The door that connects the Black Mage Village to the Nexus is only a short distance from the Inn, and the PMQ Scanners that give coordinates for PINPoint use to new arrivals are scattered all over the Nexus. The one nearest their door is only a few yards from it.

Neither Rydia nor Arashi seem to notice they're being quietly followed by a curious Mikoto.

((Yep, Firefox. And I've considered it, but I do a lot of online surveys and am a little wary about something like that managing to block content in them and mess it up. Still, if I see that ad again after the holidays, I think I'll hunt it down and take the chance. I can always uninstall it if it's a problem.))

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

It doesn't take Arashi long to run the scan, once Cecil's near the machine. He'll hand the ticker-tape it prints out to Rydia, though. Black Mage vision doesn't do well with most printed text, unless it's fairly large and bold.

Rydia checks it and nods. "Well, we have coordinates for your world now. And that means we'd have coordinates for Mist..."

Arashi gives Cecil a look as if sizing him up before admitting, with a trace of reluctance, "We shouldn't go alone. Whatever attacked him might still be there."

((Got that installed and then was eaten by the Back Room (Home of the Mold Monsters). Been trying to clean it up, and seems like every time I get caught up enough to try to catch up on emails I hear someone in there go 'oh no' or 'you need to come go through this box'. It's past my bedtime now. >.< Sorry about the really slow replies still. :/ ))

[feathered_mages]

"Going back alone in your condition would be suicide," Arashi points out.

[feathered_mages]

"Dying rarely accomplishes anything constructive," grumbles the Waltz.

Rydia sighs. "If whatever attacked you is still there, then getting attacked by it - whether you wait to recover or not - won't help anyone. The others will be looking for you, too," she doesn't add 'if they survived'. "Maybe the best place to start would be Baron."

[feathered_mages]

"I'll tell my brothers we're leaving," says Arashi. He has doubts Cecil will want to rest first, from what he's heard so far. There's a rustle of wings as the Waltz takes off.

"And if they're not there yet, and Mist isn't safe, it's the best place to start a search from," says Rydia.

[mist-caller.livejournal.com]

"With what you've been through, that's understandable," says Rydia. It doesn't take the Waltzes long to rejoin them, landing nearby. "I'll teleport us," she says to Cecil, and then looks to the three winged Mages. "Are you ready?" She'll tell them the PINPoint coordinates and then they can be off.

Mikoto is still lurking, hiding behind a Nexus Couch. She has no problem overhearing coordinates and, after giving them a minute or two of a head start since she's still not sure she wants to be spotted, she'll follow.

((Sure, if you want :) ))