Volatile Muses

The words were pleasant, but they were just words. Marisa would require actions to see if they were true. She shrugs. “You are the least egregious offender. And now you and I are at least on a relatively equal footing. So I don’t think that you’ll have to worry about it as much.” The past is in the past and though Marisa was bound to bring it up later, she wanted Astra to move on. Her whole trip up this way would be for nought if she couldn’t get what she wanted out of the woman. 

Marisa gives a small derisive snort at the question. “We’re in a tent made for one person with an amberic light right next to me. If I keep that on,” she nods down towards the cloak. “I’ll overheat if anything. I’ve always preferred being on the colder side.” She’s doing her best to take this slowly. It hadn’t been lost on her, how Astra’s eyes had glanced at her, but the lack of movement tells Marisa everything she needs to know. “I took a gamble convincing the college that there was something worth studying here. I mostly took it to be able to see you.” She knows that Astra could fly to her wherever, but she’s just going to ignore that piece of knowledge for now. 

Though it’s unlikely Astra will stop worrying about it altogether, she gives an affirming nod regardless; if Marisa doesn’t begrudge her the least she can do is try not to begrudge herself.

“Whatever way that you have of masking yourself, I don’t know how it relates to your connection with Dust. Most of my own research has been quite on the practical side of things and while I trust your ability with magic, we are dealing with the unknown. So be careful.” Normally she would be more careful about letting anyone observe her theoretical tests, but they certainly didn’t have any time to do anything else and perhaps Astra would actually understand in a way others might not. 

Marisa turns from Astra, looking at the golden monkey. There is clearly an exchange between the two of them before she offers up a hand and he leaps onto her shoulder. Without so much as another word to Astra, she sweeps out of the door into the city. She wanted, no, needed to find one of the adults who’d been effected. Every part of her ideas hinged on whether or not he was similar to the adults she’d seen severed. It doesn’t take long to find him, standing there with a vacant expression. Marisa smiles and starts to walk around, observing.

“Of course,” Astra returns with a nod. Careful had always been in the plans, but she is nonetheless confident her abilities will keep not only herself but potentially both of them safe; she’s never met a creature faster than herself after all. The anticipation of danger prompts a dull throb at the back of her neck that reminds her running is not her only option. She could fight them, possibly overpower them. She can sense Nox’s distant concern, but Astra reassures him quickly with a resolve not to tap into such darkness. Not while she has other options.

@volatile-muses

“You know, I’ve never tested these things on an alien before.” Probably because she didn’t meet too many. “I wonder what sort of effects it might have? I suppose I should probably make some notes…” She’s trailing off. But then, she has a realization. “Oh. Right. Make sure not to touch anything. They might explode.” Who’s they? Why all these giant marshmallow looking things! 

A strong, but well manicured hand goes to Astra’s arm, a look of concern on Marisa’s face. She does realize that perhaps she hadn’t done much to prepare Astra for the entire nature of everything. Thankfully her very merely human bodyguard didn’t faint. That would have been an embarrassment. 

For the most part Tvalin looks unfazed by the interaction. Just glancing towards Marisa who gives a small nod. “Of course, of course,” he says. “I don’t really do much with humans nowadays anyway. It’s mostly preventative anyways.” He doesn’t really specify what it’s preventing though. 

“But as you can see, this is the main research area. I don’t think we need an extensive tour. It might be a bit much at this point in time,” Marisa continues. “But I trust the current initiatives are going well?”

A small hairy nod is given. “When it comes to making sure our people stay hidden, yes we are up to date on current technological solutions. I believe, Astra, if you are going to be helping keep Mrs. Coulter from the view of others that you shall be in need of a few of the things I’ve worked on in the past. So here’s hoping for a good working relationship.”

Astra nods her agreement along with that; an extensive tour may very well reveal things that... She’s not sure what would happen if her sanity failed her, but nothing good, that much she’s certain of. This particular research, at least, sounded very reasonable; technology to keep their existence hidden from... Well, people like herself. How unfortunate it hadn’t fixed their situation a couple days ago.

“Mad?” Marisa returned, narrowing her eyes slightly. “It isn’t madness if there are easily understood mechanics. Dust is an elementary particle, the spectres are beings that prey on it and therefore are bound by the same laws. As are all of us.” It is a bit of a familiar speech, one that she has had to give to those who have doubted her. She is vaguely aware that that isn’t entirely the case with Astra, but being called mad is never a compliment. “Everything has rules. You just have to find them in order to use them.”

But her elation hasn’t fully ended. “Have you finished the potion? Once I investigate the lead we have, I still think it is best if we use that. The more options that we have, the better.” She stretches and then starts towards the door. “I feel like you may want to keep your distance while I do. Until there is an assurance of your safety at least.” 

A light surprise took the place of the lightheartedness from before, eyebrows twitching up. But as Astra listened, a soft smile found its way back on her lips regardless and, when Marisa finished, she then moved to gently cup the woman’s jaw and run a thumb over her cheek, saying, “Of course. I meant no offense, I merely meant it as a testament to your boldness. No other would dare pursue this.” For good reason, she felt Nox remark; a concern she couldn’t argue with.

“No no, nothing on the loose. We wouldn’t do that. I just want to make sure that you aren’t overly squeamish. Prior bodyguards aren’t allowed here in the first place, so I am not really sure how you’ll take it.” Marisa gives a shrug. She’s just doing what she wants to and hopefully Astra will be able to take it. The door groans shut behind them as they walk down another flight of stairs. The next door is just a simple keycard swipe and opens onto a large floor. 

If the energy weren’t already tense, this room certainly would have made it so. There are pockets of it that are well lit and others that are dark, almost no light at all. It’s clearly a research facility of some sort, the dull sounds of beeping from computers and papers being shuffled being a dead giveaway. That and tables filled with a variety of medical implements. Some desks have plants behind glass, others small animals and in the back are a row of cages for larger, humanoid creatures. Even though there is so much going on, there is an eerie silence that resonates around the room. A smaller creature, standing on two legs, but covered with fur and wearing a lab coat, shuffles towards the two women. “Director Coulter, so pleasant for you to visit,” it snivels. “I don’t recall getting notice that you would be coming and not with a guest.” It peers at Astra curiously. “She doesn’t look like she’s for us.” 

Marisa almost rolls her eyes. “No, she’s one of mine. A human under contract. So play nice. I’m giving her a bit of a tour. I’m assuming things are coming along here.” The beast thing nods its head. “Wonderful. Astra, this is Tvalin, one of my lead researchers. You won’t be seeing much of each other, hopefully.” 

Astra nods a slow, understanding nod. That made sense; she’s seen more than her fair share of bloodshed, even excluding two nights ago, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. It doesn’t sit well with her that her sanity is effectively a test subject, but she’ll just have to learn to live with such feelings in this company. She doesn’t let it keep her regardless. Unsure what to encounter, Astra makes sure to stick relatively close.

Prepared for the worst, the cages in the room don’t faze her. She doesn’t let it. This is just expected. It comes with their job. The smaller furry creature that approaches though, when it speaks, that she wasn’t prepared for. The apparent expectation of humans being brought here to be for them doesn’t help the situation, and Astra has to stop herself from staring for too long. Of course. Of course the staff down here has a diversity she can’t even being to imagine. A beastly creature speaks English and is a lead researcher. Of course. She’s had stranger dreams and thought nothing of it then, why think anything of it now?

Well, because it’s not a dream, that’s why. Still.

Marisa laughs, almost giddy with the knowledge that she has. “Think about it, Astra,” she says, walking forward to run a hand along the witch’s arm. “What thing goes after adults and ignores children. What thing am I one of the leading experts in? Dust. It’s all connected back to that substance.” Her hand dances to the center of the shirt she’d picked out for Astra, balling the fabric in her fist. With a tug, Marisa pulls her in for a quick, but passionate kiss. 

She draws back and tilts her head to speak into Astra’s ear. “Apparently my daughter let their older brother get attacked by those spectre’s. I’m going to go find him. Test my theory. I’m right, I know I am. If you understand something, you can control it. I’m going to forge us some new allies.” She finally releases Astra, excitement written all over her face. 

The good mood hadn’t gone unnoticed, but the intensity of it catches Astra by surprise when she hears Marisa’s laugh. It’s a sudden reminder of who the woman truly is at heart: an experimental theologist, eager for knowledge. She plays the part of diplomat so well it’s easy to forget sometimes. Dust. Amusement pulls at her lips when Marisa pulls her in for a kiss, indulging her without complaint; if this mystery is what fuels her passion, perhaps it wouldn’t be such a waste of time after all. The draught won’t spoil any time soon regardless.

There is a difference in Marisa’s countenance now. Where as before she was worked up, almost frantic to get to Lyra, now Marisa is almost languid in her movements. “Oh she was very helpful indeed. It seems my lovely daughter has a knack for leaving enemies in all the wrong places. I have a lead. Several in fact. We’ll still need your draught, but if it turns out it doesn’t have the desired effect then at least we aren’t completely lost.” That isn’t the only reason why Marisa looks like a cat who’s caught the canary, but she’s going to leave the part about the spectres to herself for now. Well, not every part. She needed Astra to be the appropriate amount of cautious. “Which is a great reassurance. It is interesting as well that we are the only adults for miles in this city. They’ve all ran away from an entity the child called “spectres”. It’s those that prey on us. The details are fuzzy, but you and Nox should stay close. Just in case.” 

An eyebrow raises slightly upon hearing her daughter made enemies here; for all Astra knows, she doesn’t know much about what Lyra is like, and this is a very interesting indication. Like mother like daughter, she supposes. So long as it works for them -- for Marisa and herself, that is, to track her; it clearly doesn’t work for them entirely or her draught would not have been based around Lyra’s negative connection towards her mother. It’s good to have a back-up plan, but it only makes Astra want for her solution to work even more. And it will. It must.

Amused by the reaction, Marisa and Atius wait for the others to be done, though the monkey is anything but still. He’s still constantly moving around the tent, head low as he listens carefully to the outside, not wanting any movement outside of them to be missed. Neither is really particularly bothered by the revelation, Marisa having had it herself when she was 17. This was old news for them and it was interesting in a way that it was not for Astra. Strange that the witch hadn’t once considered it. Well, no matter. It was, after all, something that they could use. 

Marisa shrugs. “You aren’t the first person in my life to think solely of themselves and I highly doubt that you’ll be the last.” Her tone is mostly light, but there is no mistaking the slight edge within it. It isn’t direct at Astra, but it’s just a pure sliver of anger and distaste at the world, really. “Besides, without you, who knows? I might not have come to such an understanding with Atius as I do now. What’s done is done and all we can do now is move forward.” It’s now that she slides the cloak off her shoulders, still keeping it near her, but allowing Astra to see more of her than in the dark of the cold night. It’s not the best lighting, the amberic lantern in the corner of her tent only giving off a dull glow. That didn’t matter quite so much though, Marisa knew enough of the world now to know the worth of her appearance. If the idea of having her was enough to soothe the egos of the arctic institute philosophers, then it would certainly have a stronger one on the witch who was designated by fate to be hers. 

Hearing the bitter edge make nostrils flare; it’s bad enough she’s made an error in her oversight, other humans really should not make a habit out of doing the same. “I may not be able to prevent others from being selfish, but I won’t allow myself to be so inconsiderate again.” She’ll be damned if she lets her own bond go through that kind of isolation. Everyone deserves to have someone on their side -- wasn’t that the whole point of having a bond in the first place? On the general, short-lives should live and die with their bonds without ever experiencing the kind of loneliness Astra herself has experienced.

Honey dripped words fall from Marisa’s lips as she speaks with the child. It’s easy to see that she was desperate for any sort of adult female approval. She gains so much information in mere moments, even gleaning some information about Lyra. But what fascinated her most was the more detailed description of the threat that was held in this city. The spectres were surely some strange phenomenon. Had they had more time, perhaps Marisa would have studied them. She had quite a few ideas. But soon enough, the girl got slightly too worried and she scurried away, leaving Marisa to mull things over, rejoining Astra after some time. The witch was still in the midst of her ritual, so Marisa just waited. She was patient enough when it came to things that benefited her end goals.

“I’m happy to give you whatever time you need,” Marisa returns with a small smile. “I’ll handle our guest.” Besides, she needed something to do at least. With a slight nod of her head, Marisa turns and walks towards the door. At once, the golden monkey makes himself known to the child. She’s cautious at first, but as the monkey starts to roll around and act foolish, she starts to giggle. The girl is getting pulled in by the act and when he darts away, she can’t help but follow. The monkey dæmon reaches his human counterpart and leaps up onto her and the girl freezes, but Marisa bends down, her face softening. It wouldn’t be long until she’d get what she wanted. 

“That is exactly what I’ve seen in my life for sure.” She’s seen so many people brought to their knees due to their own hearts being so painfully easy to read. Fear and desire were her own playgrounds and Marisa was more than a little thrilled to have someone else who understood the base of human nature near her. It was sheer arrogance to think that perhaps she’d been able to fool this woman as well. Astra’s words showed such a similar world view and insight, and yet the witch remained steadfast despite Marisa’s own tendencies. 

She would have watched more, said something else, but there was a tug on the connection that she had with the monkey. Marisa shut her eyes and focused, leaning to the feeling of being two, but one. She frowned. There had surely been someone following them indeed. A child. It looked dirty, impoverished. The frown deepened. Disgusting. But, someone who lived here could be helpful. “How long will that take?” Marisa asked, trying not to betray any level of impatience or possibility of another plan. 

There were more things that she could say about Boreal. Frankly Marisa was fairly tempted to do so. It seemed that every time she did, Astra not only made a sort of retort, but then she did indeed become far more amenable to the various things that Marisa suggested. Was it perhaps jealousy? The idea that she’d managed to cultivate such a reaction did wonders for Marisa’s ego. 

She’s content to let Astra scramble around the building, gathering what she needed. Marisa, instead, turns her focus to observing what she can outside. The golden monkey slunk away back outside, taking Nox’s example. While he couldn’t go quite as far as the witch’s dæmon, he could still gain information, make sure that this safe place was truly safe. A monkey alone was less suspicious. 

Marisa turned her head when Astra spoke, letting out a small “Hm?” and then smiled, seeing how far the progress on trying this spell was. “I would very much consider my attachment to her to be positive,” she answers. “It would rely on how I feel about the situation, wouldn’t it?” It would be interesting to see if there was a different logic than what she had assumed. 

Astra gave a small nod before she added the nettle to the ingredients: that should just about do it for the adjustments. It’s still a question of whether or not it would work though. Best to go over it once more. She waves a dismissive hand as she does so. “The attachment in the depth of one’s heart isn’t that fickle. It isn’t even a matter of love or hate, though it can feed it. It’s fear,” the witch picks up the mineral dust for emphasis, then lowers it back down as she raises the nettle when she continues, “and desire. They create the push and pull.”

Rather than shed Astra’s cloak, Marisa keeps it on as she settles down in her tent. She doesn’t want to admit that the warmth of it feels comforting, especially with how much she’d traveled to get here. Atius hops down from her shoulder and begins pacing the tent, tail raised. It’s both anticipation and protectiveness. He must be on alert for if any of the other explorers wake up. There would be hell to pay if they saw them both with an actual witch. 

Marisa quirks up an eyebrow. “I’m sorry, but do soulmates mean something different to your people or does the changing of one’s dæmon make a child suddenly available to the full suite of what it means to be an adult?” The question is delivered with speed that betrays just how much Marisa has been thinking about this moment since she’d sent Astra away. How she’d anticipated the reaction from the witch. “Our connection was triggered early and by the cruelty of my mother. At least one out of the four of us had the foresight to understand what it meant.” At his mention the monkey turned to Marisa, a quiet acknowledgment passing between them. 

The cloak remaining on feels like a small victory; appearances or not, she’s not rejecting her help -- not rejecting her, not this time. But it’s only a slight benefit to the situation. Astra’s eyes widen at the question; is this what Marisa thought of her and her people? “What, no, of course not!” She barely manages to keep her voice down, the whisper coming out in a harsh outrage. “I would’ve--” Waited? She takes a deep breath, letting the chill settle in her lungs, and clenches her jaw for a moment. Of course she would have waited, she had waited, hadn’t she? But would we really have been able to do so?

There is a small skittering from the far rooftops as Marisa allows herself to be tugged in the opposite direction. The golden monkey, leaping after them, lets out a small hiss of displeasure. This whole place felt empty and wrong and there were threats that neither he nor Marisa fully understood. They needed to find a local or someone to pry this information out of. Boreal’s one warning had been of the “Specters”, but his warning had been vague and unhelpful at best. While she did have a vague plan to deal with them, it wasn’t something that she fully trusted, not that had ever stopped her before.

Stumbling into the building, Marisa latches the door behind them and wrinkles her nose. There is the stench of rotten and dust surrounding the inside here. How unappealing. She naturally moves closer to Astra and lets out a small cough. “How irritating of Carlos to leave out the lack of any help. Whatever it is that was watching us, I’m sure it won’t be long until it comes for us. I had been hoping that we’d at least be able to find a sign of Lyra here.” Clearly both Marisa and the golden monkey are slightly agitated, the monkey pacing with his tail up and her jaw clenching and unclenching. 

The building might feel safer, but it’s certainly not more pleasing to the senses on the general; Astra’s face scrunches in slight disgust as well, eyes remaining narrowed. Nox chooses to remain outside to keep an eye out. The mention of Carlos has her scoff. “I’m sure he’d planned to be the help, that man tries much too hard to appeal to you. Beyond reason.” Unlike him, the witch did have ways to help that Marisa herself couldn’t utilize. She moves to stand in front of her, places a hand softly against her upper arm. “Regardless, we’ve only just arrived here. There may very well be a sign of her around these parts, waiting to be found.” The hand raises, gesturing for a pause, accompanied by a small smile. “If need be.”

Astra turns and approaches the nearby table, then places her bag on top of it, riffling through it to find her ingredient pack. It’s always been much easier to think -- to plan when the subject of contemplation was in sight. She sets aside the ordinary ingredients of the spell first; one nettle is discarded almost immediately, substituted by the dust of some mineral. The easy part. Now to make it applicable to a human... “Usually you’d douse the object in a mixture of this,” she explains, before picking up a poisonous herb from the ingredients. “But, I believe this one is only here as compensation. Can’t feed an object, after all.” That is returned to the stash and, after a brief contemplation, a root takes its place.

It’s almost amusing to watch Astra figure out what she’d meant. For her part, Marisa was quite content to just lean against a building and watch her companion mull over the potential consequences of potentially using a person rather than an object. What Astra didn’t know is that she was letting small bits and pieces of information leak that really only served to bolster Marisa into thinking that she had no drawbacks to doing this. 

She lets Astra pace for a few more moments, her own eyes more so concerned with the way that she could feel something watching them. Even if she wanted this spell cast, doing it here wouldn’t be wise. Still, there was the matter of getting Astra to agree. Marisa pushed her way off the wall and grabbed Astra’s wrist, roughly pulling the other woman towards her, her other hand coming up to cup the witch’s face softly. “Astra. I know there are risks. I don’t mean for us to do this now, but I need to find her. I need to and you are the only one who can help me. Please… think about it. I doubt there are any connections in my heart that is stronger than the one I have to Lyra.” She leans upwards and presses a kiss to Astra’s cheek before pulling away. “For now, I think we have to move. It doesn’t feel right here.” 

Thoughts grind to a halt upon being, quite literally, pulled out of them; muscles tense at the unexpected motion, instinctively ready to fight. Seeing Marisa in front of her, feeling the soft touch, relaxes them once again, put into context. Astra wants to argue; it’s not about risk; there is a time pressure; it’s not about the attachments Marisa has to others -- well, actually, that might come in useful, that’s something the witch stores in the back of her mind.

She doesn’t argue, though.

“And yet sometimes we pay them anyways,” Marisa responds. She tries to give it an appropriate sigh, but it’s not genuine. Her interests are ones that she put a great deal of time and effort into and the only thing that Marisa would ever really want to change is Lyra ending up seeing what she’d done. She regrets that Asriel had used her research to make his own and that is really the driving force for any sort of sorrow that is on her face. 

She continued forward, wondering if they didn’t have any way to find Lyra if they’d ever be able to. Sure, her daughter tended to leave behind many problems behind her, but this was a whole city, despite how empty it was. “Does the emotional attachment have to be positive for the spell to work?” Marisa questioned, already regretting asking, but knowing that she should use every possible advantage she has to find her daughter. 

Had Astra been her calculating self, it would have been easy to see something suspicious about the response. But she isn’t. She is too wrapped up in her past to truly take note of Marisa beyond her words. It’s the words that ask about the emotional attachment that shake her out of it, unsettled. “Well, it’s not conventional by any means, but an attachment is an attachment. People just don’t typically hold grudges against objects, they don’t do-” Realization shuts her up, and her eyes widen at Marisa. “You mean yourself, don’t you?”

Shaking her head, the witch turns away, pacing a few steps. “This is madness. There’s a reason we use an object for this. Objects are a simple focus, they typically only have one attachment that truly stands out. Living beings, let alone humans?” She turns to Marisa for a moment, gesturing at her. “You have hundreds of attachments. Granted, there are few that stand out. Family, friends, personal enemies. Even then! Best case scenario there will be two, Asriel and Lyra, and we don’t know where either of them are. And that’s not to mention they may not even be in this world! I can’t be sure the spell even reaches far enough.”