Wizard's House

[wizardseason]

"Hey"

The Wizard greets the evil-allured knights the same way every night, with the same word, while casually sitting on the steps of the porch outside of her little home. The building looks handmade, like it was built by people who cared about the place they were going to live. Surrounding it on all sides are fields as far as the eye can see. Vegetables of all kinds, with fruit trees and bushes placed throughout the landscape. Closer to the home are bigger trees, willows and others, providing shade from the strange three suns above. Wherever this is, it isn't the world that the knights know.

Plunged into the ground a mere few feet away from the steps leading up to the home is a handwritten sign that states the following:

Knight Rules:
- Tell others if you want
- You can't reveal others
- The world ends this year

Comments

[daddykong]

"You can look like whatever you want," he sounds skeptical of that still, "and you're going to just let him look better? Yeah, okay." And then he rolls his eyes. Get some confidence, Wizard!

"I mean, his powers have higher limits than yours, he looks better, and he's called the Protector." And he starts to smirk! "Are you sure you're not just jealous that the planet likes him more and always will?"

[daddykong]

Garrot wraps that arm around Matilda and gives her a quick little squeezing side-hug. "Time to put your thinkin' cap on, kiddo!" And then he lets go, pats her firmly on the back, and strolls down the stairs and back towards the board.

"Just because you say you're telling the truth doesn't mean you are, Wizard!" His tone is flippant, dismissive, almost playful as he walks. Is he just being casually antagonistic at this point??? Yeah probably. But he doesn't pay Gyre's curiosity any mind, because Garrot asked for the board so he's going to use the board, and specifically that green marker.

"'Scuse me..." He announces his presence before slipping in front of one of the upper corners, biting the cap off the marker and getting to work. And he just starts muttering to himself as taps the back of the marker against his jaw, tuning out the world. "P and W weren't connected until 40 years ago, when they got involved with our planet. They used to be working together, but something turned sour. Now if he dies, she dies for good and the world ends. If she dies, he doesn't die and we get another year of this and she comes back. They worked together because our world was unstable and it's sealed off from... from space." Those words quickly become writing as follows:

Planet unstable (??) and sealed off (??). Can't escape to space.
P + W BOTH wanted to save world, but screwed up somehow. Magical bonding involved.
P + W allied, but (??) made them enemies 40 yrs ago.
If P dies, W dies forever + world dies.
If W dies, life continues + world lives + W comes back.
Animals bonded to planet, not P or W. What do THEY know?

Except it's all in incomprehensible doctor writing, so... good luck with that.

[wizardseason]

She lets him have his jab, she knew it was coming. There was an arrogance to his suggestion that she really didn't care about. Perhaps he'd take note of it, or perhaps he'd dismiss it as nothing. He seemed the sort for details so it was surprising to see him this way.

"You can believe that if you want to." She offers, not faltering in the face of all his assumptions. Have fun, Garrot.

[daddykong]

That is not the reaction he wanted to get! In fact, it's the worst one possible, because she's not defensive. She's not anything! The sight of her makes his blood want to boil and she sounds like she barely cares about anything. It's patronizing, it's annoying, it's-

"Ugh." He rolls his eyes, conceding defeat and shifting gears to a question that matters. "So if you and the Protector weren't connected until your little plan forty years ago, why'd it work out this way?" He brings a hand to his chin, trying to choose his words. "Why aren't you the Protector, and why isn't he the Wizard? Are-" He stutters for a moment. "Are the limits on your powers stopping you from doing whatever he's doing to Protect the planet?"

[tropicalstorm]

She replies to Gyre while Garrot is muttering and scribbling on the white board. She absolutely cannot read his writing and she's not looking forwards to showing how bad her own penmanship is.

"She said that the only way to end the world if for all the knights and the princess to join her before we kill the last monster, then she'll be able to kill the protector and destroy everythin'. As long as even one of us doesn't join, then after we kill the last monster the cycle will start again, we all get to live another year and new knights get picked next time," she explains, tapping a finger on her splayed out hand as she hits each point.

"Basically, the plan is the same. Kill the monsters, protect the Princess and the Protector, and then we all go home."

[wizardseason]

Unfortunately while he takes it as patronizing, she means it in earnest. It wasn't a priority in her life, categorizing herself against others. She simply provided the information as a matter-of-fact observation. He was always more focused on his appearance, more focused on his looks, so of course he'd be the better looker.

He wore makeup in every form, after all.

"Coincidence." She answers, moving herself to walk away from him. Seems like she's planning on ending this conversation. Sorry Garrot.

"He would have to change something for me to try." She adds with her back turned.

[daddykong]

Garrot will always try to get the last word, especially now that he'll be seeing the Wizard every damn night! She didn't clearly answer what the coincidence was, but he sure has a hunch: she could've been the Protector this whole time instead. If she's telling the truth about this, if it's actually possible, then-

"Then we convince him to change something!" He sounds earnest, desperate, hurt. It seems like there's a glimmer of hope, of... compassion. "Maybe you don't both have to die and take the world with you!" Is he just entertaining this for the sake of the rest of the planet? Maybe. He's not sure anymore. "When was the last time you actually had a conversation with him without trying to kill him?"

Ever the optimist, even in the face of his sworn enemy. Because... maybe she doesn't have to be the world's enemy.

[wizardseason]

"Let me know what you find out." She answers, still walking away... until she pauses, turning back towards him. Her smirk is gone but she doesn't sound any less detached than usual.

"He strikes first. I need you, don't let him kill you." And she watches for any reaction he might have, turning away again. In three steps, she's gone. Back to the steps. Away from this conversation.

[scandeled]

Matilda lets out a quiet squeak of noise as Garrot hugs her. If it's out of shock, or that's just the weird sound her lungs make as the air is completely squeezed out of them is anyone's guess, but she doesn't seem like she's too disturbed. She chews on her lip while he scribbles frantically at the bored, glancing at both Gyre and Haizea to see if either of them is going to say anything about his hideous penmanship. No? Okay, great.

She strides to the board, hums to herself for a moment as Haizea answers Gyre's question, and takes her time to pick a pretty color. Green seems lucky, so she picks that one up, and uncaps it. "...Maybe I should write for all of us!" She chrips, standing on her tip-toes to try and reach as high on the board as she can, trying to start and reprint what Garrot had said in excellent penmanship. It's hard to remember though, and she ends up writing

The wizard and protector used to be friends but aren't anymore :(
If the protector dies the world ends AND the wizard dies!! D:
If the wizard dies, the protector lives, but cycle continues!
Space? Cut off?

"But... then this all happens again. And..." She glances back at the wizard, uncertain. "She seems sad about that, I think. And since this isn't actually all television..." She cuts herself off to swallow, feeling extremely insecure.

[scandeled]

"You could?" Matilda asks, tilting her head to the side. "That might help if I can figure out how to actually use a weapon." Again, with the subtle self-deprecation. But she does peer at the Wizard with a bit of suspiciousness at the offer. No one's nice without strings attached.

"Why would you want me to do that?"

[wizardseason]

Conveniently for Gyre, the Wizard also doesn't know that he can't write in common. So his secret dies with him I guess. Her focus is on Garrot's nightmare scribblings. Honestly if she'd needed something deadly to unleash on the knights, maybe his handwriting would've been a better first monster.

She nods along with Haizea's words, confirming that she'd heard correctly and repeated correctly. Nice going, Haizea. Mostly nice, anyway, twelve could be dead when they sided with her. She doesn't answer after the 'plan' part of it, though, leaving it open that she probably disagrees with that plan.

Her eyes follow Matilda as she moves to the board, her characteristic smirk returning when she declares she's going to write for everyone. Good call. Idly, she flicks a finger so the whiteboard conveniently lowers enough for her to access the top without trying too hard. There you go.

"I am sad about that." She answers Matilda, confirming. But her face is unchanged, that same detached, tired look with her smirk.

[wizardseason]

Self-deprecation wasn't really a good look on Matilda, but the Wizard isn't one to tell her as much. It isn't her job to be the supportive helper, that just isn't her jam.

"So you don't die." Her answer comes without any hesitation, but not in an insistent way. Just a telling it how it is way.

[sustainer]

"Oh," he answers Haizea, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He can't help glancing back at the wizard, tilting his head in concern. Is that really what it is? Garrot is never going to be convinced, and that's assuming he can get eleven other people to go along with it. He'll have to talk to her about it when he's not right in front of all these people, he supposes.

It's with that thought, that he turns back to the board, and squints. For just a second, he breathes a sigh of relief that apparently they're writing in the languages they knew growing up. That makes things easier for him at least! And then Matilda is up there, saying she'll write for them, and copying things down?? Was that supposed to be Common, Garrot??

"Uh, that sounds good to me," he says, nodding to Matilda. He could certainly use the help, especially if that's what passes for handwriting amongst some of them, and he takes a few beats to pick his way through what she's written. It takes him a bit, his eyes narrowing as he remembers his Common letters again. It's been a bit, but reading is at least mildly easier then writing for him.

Eventually he raises a hand, pointing at the words at the bottom. "What's that mean?" he asks, taking a few steps forward so he can tap at Space? Cut off?

Then he's looking further up the board at the notes about the Protector, and he frowns deeply. "The Protector... she said we couldn't trust him. He's forcing the cycle to continue for as long as he can." He pauses a beat, then glances around at the three of them. "I'm going to ask the princess if he'll let me talk to him."

[daddykong]

"Of course she wants him to look like the bad guy, she wants him dead!" He scoffs, still very hesitant to buy the agenda the Wizard is selling. But the Wizard sliding down the board for Matilda was, well, insulting. This entire dream venture was just insulting! But Matilda's a good kid and needs a win, and good heavens he may as well have been finger painting. Yikes. But then he gets an idea, one that he has to hold down until he deals with Gyre's idea.

"I don't think that's a good idea right now, you're pretty touchy." Garrot sounds playful, and is even waggling his eyebrows a bit, but he's at least half-serious. "I accidentally piss you off, you're gonna ask him about the end of the world? What if you don't like what you hear?!" He sounds worried with that last remark, but Garrot just takes a deep breath. "Anyway..."

"Our planet is unstable." And he drags the back of his hand, particularly the fuzzy bit, across his doctor-scrawls. Erased! Instead, he starts to draw. "If our planet dies, it either explodes out or collapses in on the Protector." Garrot's drawn a circle, with one slice pushed in and another slightly pulled out. "There's a seal connected to the Wizard and Protector; it's keeping the planet together and keeping us in." He draws a squiggly line around the planet. "It's why nobody ever got into space. It's like..." Garrot's gaze darts around, first to the sky, then to the board, then to Gyre!

"It's like one of your bubbles!" A beat, followed by a look of uncertainty. "I think." Meanwhile, his drawing looks like a pie with a few arrows on it. Except there's a sad stick figure in the middle and a wizard-hatted stick figure in space.

[tropicalstorm]

Oh Matilda you beautiful tropical fish, Haizea is so glad you've volunteered to be the secretary for this whole exercise. She's a little sensitive about revealing that she's technically uneducated and her penmanship is always a giveaway.

She doesn't actually have much of a mind for science, despite her goofing about space with Garrot earlier. As Garrot's explaining how their world works, she instead just looks at Gyre like he's a puzzle to figure out.

"What do you want to talk to the Protector about? Do you think he's untrustworthy too?"

[scandeled]

"See!" Matilda exclaims, throwing an arm out to gesture at the Wizard, who is very obviously sad. "And...maybe sad that she's going to die. I don't know. I can't tell. I'm sad about it." Her voice quickly fades away though, at both Gyre's suggestion and Garrot's rambling, and she has to turn back to the board to try and keep up. She adds a little arrow to Garrot's stick figure, with 'P' written next to it. The wizard seems kind of obvious. Then she smudges out the question marks from her last statement.

PLANS:
NOBODY DIES!
Gyre talks to Protector?

"I think he sounds like a real bully." Matilda adds, because she has...not much else to add.

[scandeled]

"Okay." Matilda says, voice a little hesitant. But with stronger weapons-- she might just stand half a chance. She's positive right now she doesn't. "What do you need me to do?"

[wizardseason]

The Wizard's keeping a mostly observational role as everyone has their discussion. She'll interject when needed. She takes note of Gyre sharing what she'd said about the Protector. She's unsurprised at Garrot's disbelief and rejection of the idea. Even so, he still took what she'd said to heart. He seemed to believe at least as much as surface level, so that was something. His bubble comparison wasn't far from the truth. But Matilda follows Garrot's suspicion with her concerns and the Wizard's left to interject.

"Wait." She adds, slowly rising from the steps to move over to the whiteboard.

She picks up a marker, turquoise in color, and the marker she'd grabbed at on the edge is still sitting there. She'd magicked up a new marker but still gone through the motions of picking one up. She brings her hand up to make a drawing of two stick figures. They have a surprisingly cute style with no extra strokes left over. The one on the left she gives an "X_X" face and draws a stick figure monkey beside it. The one on the right she puts a little "P" beside it like Matilda had done for the other drawing. In the P's hand is a gun and she draws a pink line out of it and through the other figure; when did she change marker colors?

"Don't let him know what you know." She says as she caps the marker and turns around to head back to sitting on the porch step.

[wizardseason]

"When you ask for your next weapon, ask Cif to make it 'magical'." She answers, turning away from Matilda again, looking up towards the sky.

"That's all."

[sustainer]

Garrot. Gyres eyes narrow immediately at Garrot immediately, frustration rising up into his throat almost immediately. He's opening his mouth to snap back when Haizea interrupts with her question and Garrot moves on to his explanation, so he keep his mouth shut for now, gritting his teeth as he turns his attention to Haizea.

"I'm not sure what to think. If she's telling the truth, he's not trustworthy, but..." he shrugs, glancing at the world explanation. "But I'd rather hear both sides first. I have no stake in their fight, so I'd go in it with less bias then, uh, some." He nods his head very slightly towards Garrot, before he turns to take in the new information.

He approaches the board again, setting his marker in the center of the world and drawing the tiniest, most ravenous wolf beside the Protector. "There's something alive inside our world. They're trying to keep it in. There were, uh, 26? 26 seals at first, but they were changed somehow. I don't think they're seals anymore," he murmurs softly.

He's about to add more when the Wizard comes up and adds her own contribution before retreating, and he ends up directly his frustration at Garrot towards her instead, calling after her, "How are we supposed to find anything out then!"

[daddykong]

Garrot just wants to scream as Gyre doodles a little wolf in the middle of the world, at the doodle of him getting shot. He's growling, he wants to start shouting, but then it fades into a whimper. Garrot didn't want any of this, he was supposed to be working with the Protector and honoring his father's memory and saving the world and he misses his kids because he could just send one of them to get him a bottle of water from the fridge or-

Garrot just tetris'd his perspective. So he takes a deep breath out.

"Gyre, you might not have a stake other than living, but with all due respect I doubt you'll keep your cool if he's some pompous prettyboy with his head up his ass. He's always been the better-looking one, and she can change her appearance!" And then he slams his finger right back to Matilda's point. NOBODY DIES! "We have four animals between us. They're old and wise and connected to the world, not either of these two." And then his eyes light up with inspiration! "They might know something!"

"Or we just- we get a proxy, we get someone else to talk to the Protector! We have two of the Princess's Knights, right there on the island!" And then he just starts jumping up and down. "We don't need! To put ourselves! In danger!" Aside from the monsters, but y'know.

[tropicalstorm]

Haizea just kind of looks at them all in disbelief then takes a deep breath.

“Hey, I get that y’all wanna figure shit out, but... we’re the evil knights. The others are gonna think we’re allied with the Wizard if they find out, even if we tell them we’re not. People always assume the worst of those they’ve been taught to distrust.” She shrugs here, she’s pretty used to people thinking of her poorly when they find out about her background.

“I don’t know shit about the Protector, don’t know if he’s good or bad, but I think it’s possible that if he finds out about us, especially if he finds out there’s four of us, he might try to kill us. That’s what you’re trying to tell us, right?” She addresses that last question to the Wizard.

“We need to play it safe for now. Y’all can keep trying to figure out why space travel don’t work or other shit about all this, but keep it on lock. Talking to Luka right now is a bad idea, asking the animals is a better one. They don’t seems to give a shit one way or the other though, I know Fumicq at least is vague as hell.”

[scandeled]

Matilda’s busy feeling jealous of the Wizard’s new colors, before the energy on the porch picks up again. She steps aside of the whiteboard to make room for Gyre, and slowly lowers her goggles back down over her eyes as the others go back and forth, eventually lowering herself onto the step beside the Wizard. She stays quiet for once, not speaking up until Haizea’s done, and quietly.

“I don’t want anyone to find out yet, either. We’re all still getting to know each other. The others might not understand. I think it’s good to talk to the Protector, but only if you think you can make him think you’re on his side too.” But she has no idea how to do that. Gyre doesn’t seem like the autograph seeking type. This entire thing was such a bummer.

[wizardseason]

At Gyre's frustration, she motions at the whiteboard. This is a pretty solid way of gathering information wasn't it? If it wasn't enough, she'd made it clear she would answer questions. But she doesn't say anything, instead just turning to Haizea.

"Correct" She confirms the assumption she'd made. The Protector would absolutely try to kill them. She's amused by Matilda's addition of trying to make him think they're on his side. She wasn't one for those kind of mind games and alliance trickery, but perhaps these four were. She wasn't going to discourage if they wanted to try.

She doesn't chime in at Garrot and Haizea's animal companion inquiry, though she'll be nearby to watch that happen. What sorts of things would they say? She had so few opportunities to talk to them.

[sustainer]

Garrot!!! Gyre actually hisses at him, hands balling up into fists. He wants to freakin fight this dude, but he knows that's not productive, especially not after how weirdly the last apology session had gone. He settles for this, growling back, "You met me yesterday. I'm not interested in how you think I am. I won't get myself killed again."

He forces himself to retreat after that, leaving the board to Garrot and Haizea. He thinks briefly about joining Matilda and the wizard on the porch, but despite himself, he does really want to know what's going on. He doesn't want to align himself with the wrong force for no reason, and that's assuming either of them deserves his loyalty in the first place. He ends up crossing his arms, stopping between the porch and the board and sighing deeply as he looks between the three of them.

"I'll talk to my animal," he says, going along with that part of their plan at least. If they think he's going to drop talking to Luka though, they're extremely wrong. He won't say anything about it though, his skin still crawling with they way they were insisting they knew what he should do better then him. Fuck that. He doesn't need their help.