PFSB: Milliways

[riddleofthebelow]

Tom needed his camera to take yet more pictures of his adorable children, and when he fetched it the evening before, he found something odd he can't explain. It's not a bad odd thing. It's just a puzzling odd thing.

Ingress has some explaining to do.  Or Wei Wuxian. Either one.

So Tom's at a table at Milliways, with an eyebrow raised, and wouldn't mind some company.

Comments

[we_bring_hell]

"Indeed," she agrees. "I have long held the opinion that there is a Ninth theorem; a key of the First House."

"Palamedes Sextus insists the answer lies in the synthesis of all eight. His so-called 'mega-theorem."

[riddleofthebelow]

“Since this is being organized by your Emperor as a test of worthiness, I think it’s wise to pursue more than one theory. I’d also advise examining what might be hidden in plain sight. Designers of challenges love to be clever with that kind of trick.”

[we_bring_hell]

"By my first night in the castle I had charted every door I could find," she says, with justifiable smugness. But then she considers his advice.

What else is in plain sight? The horrid, dead ocean? The decaying marble? The frustratingly perfect constructs that Harrow cannot match no matter how hard she tries?

[riddleofthebelow]

“I would be happy to examine your notes more at length to see if I notice patterns or outliers that you have not. I won’t need to take them with me; I’ve a magical method for reviewing them.”

He hasn’t needed a trip through his Pensieve in a while.

[we_bring_hell]

She gives him a sideways look. "Is it secure?"

Her notes are written in her own code, although she can translate for him.

"Most of all I would like to be able to practice these steps without--well, for instance, transforming my own DNA. Do you have any thoughts as to how we could simulate it?"

[riddleofthebelow]

“Yes, it’s absolutely secure. I have texts I’d like to consult before I can give you my further thoughts, but I assure you, where there is will, Milliways helps one find the way.”

[we_bring_hell]

She makes a decision.

"Yes. I will translate the notes for you, and give you what context I can."

She tips out her box on the desk; yarn, more pins, more index cards, and a pack of tarot cards.

"There were twenty of us in the House at the beginning..."

[riddleofthebelow]

He frowns, because what she doesn't say is how many are left now, but it's clear to him that it's fewer than the full twenty.

"I'm glad you've sought allies to aid you, then. That is the smartest thing one can do when placed in situations like this."

[we_bring_hell]

"In the beginning, we all pursued keys on our own. But now that all of them have been claimed, it comes down to either alliances or fighting. Dueling over keys has already begun."

[riddleofthebelow]

"Does Gideon do the dueling, as your cavalier? Or are you involved?"

Because if she's doing the dueling, the little bit that she is, he's going to need to provide her some battle charms or, at the very least, some dirty fighting tricks to give her an edge.

[we_bring_hell]

"The cavaliers," she says. "It is traditional for necromancers to settle disputes that way, to avoid massive bloodshed. Civility has not unraveled to that degree yet."

[riddleofthebelow]

"Very good."

She may need protective battle charms anyway, and he makes a note to himself to look into some subtle ones that might fit well in her environment.

[we_bring_hell]

"Griddle performed with distinction," she says. And had been actually pleased with her for her support, a rare pleasure.

"The Third made a play, and upset all my calculations about them."

[riddleofthebelow]

He hates to say "never trust anyone" in situations like this, but, well. It's truly the best advice.

"What were the results?"

[we_bring_hell]

"We faced them down," she says, feeling a thrill of smug warmth at the memory.

"But I think I have focused on the wrong twin." She deals out three of her Tarot cards; the Sun, the Moon, and Temperance between them.

[riddleofthebelow]

"Good. Serves them right."

He's never been one for Divination, despite the prophecies and promises laid upon him once he realized how he fit into the WIzarding world. He knows, though, that in the hands of some, divination tools can be wielded with great precision.

"I didn't realize you used Tarot cards."

[we_bring_hell]

"I do not," she says. "But I thought they would be useful for this."

She begins to deal out the Major Arcana in nine groups.

[riddleofthebelow]

He watches, curious.

[we_bring_hell]

She pins them up on the board with steel pins; to the left of the three cards of the Third she places The Lovers.

To the right, the Star and the Chariot; the Emperor and Empress; the Magician and Justice; Strength and the Devil; the Hierophant and the Hanged Man; and finally, the Priestess and the Fool.

She lays the three remaining cards aside for now. She sticks more, colored pins in some of the cards, and stares at the diagram which already looks 70% crazier. Needs some yarn.

[riddleofthebelow]

"What does this tell you?"

He can't make heads or tails; it's been a long, long time since he's paid mind to Tarot cards. It's fascinating watching her methods, though.

[we_bring_hell]

"It represents the Nine Houses," she says. "If it is opaque, that is well. It makes sense to one who knows the cards and the personalities of our competitors."

She draws her athame from her waistband and slices the tip of her finger; crosses red Xes over five of the cards, and a question mark over the Strength card.

[riddleofthebelow]

"Your competitors - what are they like? I mean to say, are they older, younger, more experienced, less so?"

[we_bring_hell]

"They run the gamut," she says.

"The Second are trivial; they are soldiers and believe they are in charge, in the absence of any evidence. I think of them rarely."

"The Third are twins, of an age with me and Gideon I believe. Their cavalier is a ranked duellist. They have appeared disinterested but the smaller one bears watching." She taps the Moon card. "The bigger one draws the attention while she spies."

The Fourth and Fifth are the ones marked out in bloody Xes; she skips them.

"The Sixth are our allies. Palamedes has three keys to our two."

"The Seventh is... highly suspicious. An old woman," she says viciously, "who brought a dead cavalier. She is dying; the Eighth took her keys."

"The Eighth is a child and a zealot. His cavalier is an inbred, braindead battery for his power. He has accumulated three keys through theft. He loathes the Ninth and considers the Sixth blasphemous for cooperating with us."

[riddleofthebelow]

"I take it the Fourth and Fifth are no longer in the competition. Is there any feasible way more could be eliminated? The Eighth sounds like a weak link."

[we_bring_hell]

"The Fourth and Fifth are dead," she says quietly. "And while I'm tempted to kill Silas Oktasiron every time he opens his mouth... he is sixteen."