Even if he could hide the shock on his face, he didn’t think he’d be able to. It wasn’t often that Yuan yelled at him like this. Sure, there were some times when he had instigated it. Some of those times he may have even deserved it. And he hadn’t thought that this time would have been one of those times.

Yggdrasill tried often to make sure he was planning clearly and thoroughly. As always, Yuan had the tact to wait until everyone left the room before going off on his tirade. He heard the words once. Replayed them in his mind a second time. After a moment he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his thighs and rubbing a temple with one of his free hands. He deserved this berating. Yuan was right. He had gotten hasty. Cocky, even, thinking that he’d been one easy step closer to winning over the Renegade through saving his mother. He’d forgotten that the Renegade liked being as such. He wasn’t likely to see his actions as anything other than malicious.

He lost what little remaining bit of composure he had when Yuan brought up the dream.

So. He did know. Yggdrasill had been going off of the fact that those things could be right, not that they actually were. His mother had been a fluke. One he didn’t think would pay off. Did he dare explore what the rest of that meant? He wanted to operate off of the assumption that all humans were bad. They couldn’t possibly be so much like him. So likeable. So close to, maybe, friendship.

“The means to the dream do not matter,” he said quietly. He’d lost his breath. His eyes were darting back and forth as he tried to sort out what to do next. Should he course correct? He already had the woman here, and Alvin already knew things about him that he hadn’t shared for…he couldn’t remember how long.

“All that matters is that I play my next moves very, very carefully.” He looked up at Yuan after a spell, something akin to desperation on his face. “I apologize for doubting you, Yuan. Given your speech I should have known you would want to move things carefully as well. But he knows too much.” And gave Yggdrasill too many feelings about…everything.

“What would you suggest as a next step?”

mithosofcruxis​:

The angel remained unperturbed at the reprimand, simply bowing at the order and leaving the room in a whisper of feathers. His wings flapped mechanically once he was free of the hall. Passing his kin, the other Superior Beings, he made his way to the throne room.

It was in that room that Yggdrasill regarded the human before him. Pronyma had done well finding the base so quickly. It made him wonder why they hadn’t been able to find them sooner. What tactic hadn’t they been implementing that had gotten these results? Or was it the look in his eyes that all but he could see that had given his Cardinals such urgency in the matter?

She looked like the Renegade. It was odd to him that someone so strong could be related to someone so frail, so in need of protection that they would turn to a Renegade. It was due to that frailty that he’d ordered the woman be handled delicately. It had earned a indignant comment guised as concern from Pronyma, to which he had told her this human could help them topple the whole of the Renegade operation.

She’d been blessedly silent after that.

“Lord Yuan advises he shall arrive forthwith, Lord Yggdrasill,” The messenger angel reported.

“Dismissed,” was Yggdrasill’s reply.

He stood and regarded the aging human woman before him. It almost looked like she could blow away at any minute from just a beat of his wings. He couldn’t help but recall the dream, and what Alvin had said about the broken-minded woman.

“She’s been frail for as long as I can remember, and some of the things the doctors tried out to help her didn’t work so well.”

He would imagine it wouldn’t, now that he was looking at her. He had never been as good a healer as Sis was, but he could tell that her Exsphere was causing her trouble. The host did not seem to be strong enough to handle the physical toll of the power that ate at her.

The exsphere looked strangely familiar as well.

He thought, while watching her look around the room in concern, that sick animals should be euthanized. What was keeping him from doing so? It was an easy mercy to give to filth. And yet he remembered the details of the dream. A great cook. The kindest person he knew. A mother that loved her son.

“It is best this prisoner not know what happens here,” he said after a moment of regarding her. “Give her an attending angel, see to meals and cleanliness thrice daily for her. Give her an angel that still has emotions, she may need emotional support as well. She shall stay in the unused medical bay in Welgaia.

"After that we shall connect her to the machines that facilitate physical activity. Yuan shall have several projects to keep him occupied…a fact I am positive he shall enjoy hearing once he finally arrives.”

@mithosofcruxis​ @lightning-of-kharlan​

As Yggdrasill finished speaking, the woman turned her head toward him. Her eyes were gentle when they met his, a blushed maroon two shades warmer than Alvin’s.  

“Thomas?” she asked, her voice soft and surprisingly pure. “Did your mother want to see me? I thought you were coming for dinner at our house tonight. I can’t stay long or the stew will burn, and I know how much you and Alfred were looking forward to it.”

————-

“Thanks for your generosity, Lord Yuan.” It was all Alvin could do to lace the words with a bit of spite, to keep the pretense and take the edge off the shock. Triet. His mother. Alive.

How many of his friends had died, that Yggdrasill could secure his mom? How many more would, as that monster tried to tear the Renegades apart with Alvin as his weapon?

He slid down in the chair as Yuan left the room. The food on the table had rapidly cooled, and nothing seemed edible now, anyway. He got himself another mug of water, and wished the Great Spirits would turn the damn pitcher into bourbon.

No such relief came, of course. Under his shock bloomed a shimmering finger of rage and despair.

He had the cards. He flipped through them, his mind refusing to settle. Distraction wasn’t enough. He needed more.

The books. Yuan had said there was something about Yggdrasill in the books. Any ammunition was better than none. He dragged them over, and began to read. Sharp. Fast. And on a mission.

broadswordandpistol​:

@mithosofcruxis @lightning-of-kharlan

The woman gazed back and forth between the two seraphs, a faintly puzzled look on her face. It slowly dawned into more of a hopeful one, fastened on Yuan.

“Jude, I didn’t know you were playing with Thomas today,” she said, her smile shaded with pleased surprise. “We would have invited you for dinner too. Please come. I know Alfred will be thrilled to have his friends over. … Oh, but we’ll need more potatoes; I don’t have nearly enough if everyone comes,” she realized aloud.

She turned to the young medic expectantly. “Wilred, would you mind running out for extra potatoes for me, please? I’m not sure I can make it to the market myself, today.”

“Yes, ma’am, of course,” the Renegade said, soothingly. “I’ll be back before you know it.”

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, dear,” she said, sagging downward in the chair. She tilted her head up at the captain. “Jack, I’m … very tired. Would you mind set … setting the extra places and stirring the stew for me? I … think I may need to lie down for a while.”

“Of course, ma’am. You just rest easy.” The captain flicked a glance at the seraphs that dared either of them to try anything with his charge. The woman’s eyes slipped slowly closed, and her breathing slowed.

--- --- ---

The tone had been Yuan. The arrogance had been Yuan. To an extent, defending the woman was even Yuan, though it was a stretch since he didn’t seem to realize he was defending a human.

The blatant disagreement was not Yuan.

Yet Yggdrasill continued to let him speak. Despite this oversight, Yuan did not talk to no end. He was attempting to make some sort of point, as he always did. On most days he was tactful and calculating. This was a trait that Yggdrasill appreciated in the older half-elf for many years, and it was he often relied on to make sure his plans were sound enough to work.

Something was off about Yuan in this moment, though. What was it? Disagreement aside, he was almost too to the point. Is that why he was siding with Renegades of all people? Two of the three captured spoke up and seemed to take readily to handling of the human woman.

She also seemed to light up at Yuan. That was a faulty data point, however, as she had also lit up at seeing Yggdrasill. He mentally pushed that non-issue aside.

Pronyma, ever in-tune with Yggdrasill’s whimsical moods, dared to interrupt his reverie. “I know she’s instrumental to what you need, My Lord. I would be happy to lend some of my underlings to assist with her–”

“I do not recall giving you permission to speak,” Yggdrasill retorted, giving her a look that made her wither in place. No Desians save her stepped foot in Welgaia or his throne room. The fact that a human was here already made his skin prickle with discomfort. He watched the Renegades interact with the woman again, eyes sliding over the situation as he pondered how to proceed.

Ah. He had it.

“I suppose I can accommodate your bleeding heart, Yuan,” he finally replied. If the alternative was having Desians in his city of angels, he would prefer the rats stay here and be useful to his plans. He could always kill them once the angels learned how to administer the care.

Despite the concession, Holy Lances surrounded the throne he sat in, glittering menacingly before striking down the third Renegade in the room. If he hadn’t been acknowledged, he was unneeded. His body fell to the floor with a deafening thud.

“My orders still stand,” he said, directing his gaze back to Yuan. “Keep them under control while they operate here. They are to be confined specifically to the medical ward with the lady. Angels shall assist. That is not comprisable.”

Yes, he was allowing this mostly out of spite to Pronyma’s fanaticism. But that didn’t change his view on the matter. “You are all dismissed. All save you, Yuan. I want a report on the business you had before this.”

Yggdrasill paid no heed to the tone in Yuan’s voice. That tone altogether annoyed as well as business-like. Yggdrasill hadn’t known if the interrogation had still been going on when he’d summoned his friend, nor did he particularly care.

He was Martel’s puppy and he would come when commanded.

“A successful hunt,” he replied with a head tilt to Pronyma. “She succeeded in finding a Renegade base in mere weeks. I do not doubt your methods, Yuan, but I must admit that in this moment the Cardinals have prevailed where you have fallen many times.”

“Anything to glorify the cause, My Lord,” came her expected response.

Yggdrasill dignified it with a glance and nothing more, his eyes snapping back to the woman before him. She seemed to be having trouble sitting up, though she’d only been there for a short time. She’d spoken to him. Called him Thomas…? He’d never heard this name before nor did he care to know the person attached to the moniker.

He somehow found it impossible to ignore those eyes. Different color, different mind, yet…

“I apologize for…rushing the matter,” he responded in a voice he’d not used in thousands of years. Soft and patient. He saw Pronyma start with surprise at the change and flicked a warning look at her before continuing, “I have heard your stew is one in a million and I was loathe to miss it. I am going to have you rest with my friends in a more comfortable locale while we…await the stew.”

He turned back to Yuan as the angels began to approach the woman with Alvin’s features. “Get the mana reader and confirm it is in working order. This woman’s exsphere has a secret behind it I am eager to unlock.”

“Ah, no, no.” The rail-thin vendor’s Chinese was inflected with a Cantonese accent. He bowed politely, although he took in Yuan’s face as if it were a subject of study. “These are mine, over here.” He gestured at some of the wall scrolls, which were far more traditional in the stuffy-dining-room sort of way; deliberate partial-knockoffs of pieces that Yuan recognized as historically significant.

He drew closer to Yuan, confiding, “These ones sell,” with a note of disdain. “Inexpensive, easy to copy, and the gwailou snap them up to hang everywhere. You have better taste.”

Retrieving the fan from in front of the woodblock, he folded it with a gentle snap. “A miniature masterpiece, yes? I am lucky when I get one, but this one is already spoken for. I can put your name on my list for the next available.”

mithosofcruxis​:

@broadswordandpistol @lightning-of-kharlan

The communicator in Yuan’s ear lit up with static. Even in the quiet of the interrogation room it would be neigh imperceptible to hear to those without angelic hearing. Likely a detriment of those who may have eyes on the room, the small piece’s audio carried much less easily in this room than any other. The room had been designed to dampen sound. Yggdrasill despised hearing screams most days.

“Lord Yuan,” came the urgent voice of Botta in the Renegade’s ear, “The Triet base has been compromised. We have losses and severe casualties. We’re evacuating now. Orders?”

Mere moments later, a soulless angel knocked on the door and entered. “Lord Yuan, Lord Yggdrasill requests your assistance operating machinery for a captive. Orders?”

@mithosofcruxis​ @lightning-of-kharlan​

Alvin was about to lay one of Frank’s tall tales at Yuan’s feet about Niflheim and a horde of rampaging demonic badgers when Yuan’s gaze went distant and his chin tilted, ever so slightly. Thinking? – No. He knew that one too; that was a listening motion. He put on his own thinking face, in preparation for the tall tale delivery when the call was over.

It never came. Operating machinery … for a captive?

He could only judge by his own captivity, but he was pretty sure machinery wasn’t standard. A cold knot settled in his stomach, and he wished the water pitcher had something a little stronger in it.

“That depends on how long I’ve been out,” Alvin told him candidly. “I’d love to say it was last night, but who knows? I passed out not long after the angels dumped me in the cell. I know I had a busted shoulder then, and I didn’t wake up with one today.

“So as for seeing anyone, no. As for them seeing me? Not a clue. To be fair, all I’ve seen here is the inside of the cell, enough angels that I can’t tell them all apart, and this room and Lord Yggdrasill, when he’s in the mood.”

So Yuan was actually trying to pin something down about the tome, maybe. Well, Alvin had given him nothing but the truth about that thing. Some spy he was, he thought wryly, but it helped that he knew his interrogator wasn’t going to screw him over.