tampered | Log: Ongoing

Log: Ongoing

When; Just after the blizzard
Rating; PG? G?
Characters;

tiaxdalma Tia Dalma
Summary; After the strange and disturbing events over the past few days, V takes Tia up on the invitation to tea.
Log;

Wrapped in layers of clothing and his wool cloak, V slogged his way down the docks toward where the Black Swann was moored.

Truthfully he was a little dubious about consulting what amounted to a voodoo priestess in matters of the mind, but he had been invited, and it would be rude to put off that invitation when it could be useful to all involved.

There didn't seem to be anyone on deck. Sensible, really, as the temperature was still quite chilly, but also a tad frustrating as he did not want to be rude and simply board without permisson. This was, after all, more than one person's home.

"Hello?" He called. " Is anyone about?"

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A young girl, clothed in what she would have worn if she lived in the Louisiana bayou, ran out to meet V, smiling and carrying a lantern. "This way!" she called. "You come this way!"

She lead V down into the bowels of the ship, past various rooms and hallways - the ship seemed oddly larger inside - and to an oddly marked room. The symbols burned into the door wouldn't be decipherable by anyone in the City (except for perhaps Jack, had he studied harder), but were not foreboding - they were welcoming, even if they appeared strange. The girl stepped back to let V enter, and if he turned to thank her, he'd see that she had apparently vanished.

V followed the girl, though a bit confused. He couldn't recall Captain Sparrow mentioning any children on board? Perhaps he had missed it?

The ships interior dimensions in respect to it's exterior dimensions were not the only oddity in this city, andV supposed it quite handy since Captain Sparrow had so many boarders these days.

The child paused at a door that V found fascinating in decoration, when it swung open with a soft creak on it's hinges. Taking this as invitation, he stepped over the threshold and promptly removed his hat, lest he knock into one of the odd assortement of bottles that dangled from the cieling.

He did glance back in order to thank the little girl, but noticed her absence before the words reached the air.

"Curiouser, and curiouser", he muttered to himself, and reached up to unclasp his cloak.

He moved with lithe grace in and amongst the brick-a-brack that littered the room and lay his cloak and hat over the back of an unocuppied chair.

" Miss Dalma?"

Tia had been waiting, having known of his approach for some time. She'd thought on this elusive man as he was lead to her - and interesting soul. A unique soul.

She smiled when he entered. It was a customary thing with her, a parlor trick of sorts, to greet all strangers by their full names - the simplest thing to divine, and yet to many, it unnerved them or awed them (she was fine with both). But as she divined this, she picked up something else... and she stayed quiet, just nodding her head in greeting. "You make it here in the worst of weather, but it not be so bad here," she said, gesturing for him to sit down. "Tell me how you fair, Sir V."

" I do apologize for any inconvienience, Madam Dalma," he replied with a courtly bow, "But I felt it would be rude to delay your invitation any longer."

A half-truth that suited the moment, true, but from what this enigmatic woman had said and done elsewhere, V felt it best to play things a little closer to the vest until the appropriate time.

He took a seat, and calmly folded his hands in his lap. "I am doing well, thank you. There has been a great deal of upheaval in the tunnels these past few days, but I have remained moderately unaffected by it." He said with a tilt of the mask. A small visual cue that alluded tothe smile that lay underneath.

" And yourself, Madam? I do hope this ghastly weather has not been too unbearable?"

Tia started to respond with her usual banter, when the little signs and voices melted and began to reveal why he'd come to her - this happened to anyone with her, sometimes very strong, sometimes very soft, sometimes clear and direct and sometimes muted whispers. This was loud and violent and direct indeed, all crashing into her mind to show her blood and vengeance and the devil.

The gypsy's smile faded and she sat back in her chair, raising a hand to toy absently at a chain there, looking at V as deeply as if she was looking into his eyes, though there were none. It was now that she'd demand payment up front, for the information she could give him here would be great and grave, but she felt almost compelled to speak. Such instances were so rare that they unnerved her, so she went along.

"You not one of them, not one of hers. She see into you and see your past, see the pain and the suffering and what is there and yet what is not. She see you be wronged and you out to take revenge. She be like this also - burned and burned by her own mother, burned and burned for a witch, as a child. Kept alive by the devil, fed by the devil, gone mad to seek revenge. She not be satisfied now, and she want to consume the earth and avenge all sins. But she not a proper judge, and her jury be as mad as she. You not like the one... dark, rotting, disgusting, the one who serve willingly that mad angel --" Tia's voice was rising, slow but steady, gesturing with her hand. She seemed almost possessed by something otherworldly, moment to moment, as if she was plucking these things out of the air as she went along --"Nothing stop it but proof, human proof, of what it call innocence, thought it be mad, mad, it choose for itself, it choose what you feel. You feel guilt for the lives you take in the name of justice, it seek you out. It not, it leave you be. Sometimes. Sometimes. Sometimes it just.. kill... the angel be a bad, bad sign, not trust it. Use it, if you can, but be wary. I make a deal with this angel, and on my soul be a mark that never come off. Wicked ways, wicked souls, all them! You let them call you what they like, you know, you know it not change you. You know it not change you, never change you, you use it. Use it because them as enemies be the death of you."

Tia fell silent, hand still extended... and she slowly lowered it, leaning back again, looking quietly over at V.

V was a man of many words. For years they had been his only contact with humanity. His only comfort in a lonely and cold existence.

He used them as an artist uses paint to create his work, and had always felt there was no situation where if not his words, then those of men and women far greater than he could apply.

So, if a man like V were to be struck speechless; it was a far stanger and more unsettling moment than most men would ever know in thier entire lifetimes.

For long seconds he could only sit in silence. A stillness that marked him out as something other than human had once agian settled like a mantle around him.
It had been months since he had slipped up so badly in his guise of cordial courtesy, for he had trained himself out of that habit for evey's sake in the months since coming to this vicious carnival.

It had a tendency to unnerve people.

You see, fear was an alien thing to him.
He did not fear Tia Dalma, nor what she said. He did not fear Alessa, or the Pyramid Head.

Both the afore mentioned monstrosities unsettled him for reasons he did not care to admit even to himself, so he settled on the sensation of "dislike" for the entire mad moment.

He disliked both only for the kinship he felt to the latter...which is to say, he disliked himself for his lack of conscience for killing.

Evey did not like his methods in achieving what happened before he, V, had granted her freedom, and for that he had made an effort to feel some sort of remorse.
He couldn't.

No matter how much he tried. He couldn't.

He had always felt himself to be a Judge. The only judge that would ever pass adequate sentencing on those who had not only wronged him, but were drowning in blood that ironically never touched them.

That was his purpose.

.....and this women had seen right through the mask, the idea, and even the man beneath it.

She had seen back through time, and somehow known he despised himself, and despised feeling drawn to both ALessa and the Pyramid Head.

Did that make him fundamentally damned as well? He didn't think even she could answer that..

"Madam", he began slowly. Choosing his words with sibilant tones that would chill most grown men, " I am already dead. I do not approve of the murder of innocents, and I will be the only judge in the matter of who is, and is not innocent amongst those I have taken into my protection. Let angels, and devils be damned."

That stillness that shrouded him seemed for just a moment to vibrate, though he never moved a muscle.

" I do not fear death, and I do not fear them."

"Ahhh..."

Tia Dalma was no grown man. She smiled, her natural grace and offkilter humor returning to her. She leaned forward, resting her chin on one hand and giving V a sparkling, almost flirtatious look that she saved to unnerve or entice (again, she cared not which) the most divine of her guests. She loved the passion she could wring from the most powerful of men.

"Alessa fancies herself a judge. Red Pyramid also. Maybe in this, you like them. It distress you? More than you want to know, I think. But I been wrong before, O Judge. You see .. no fear, ah? But I not speak of your death. It not your life you fight for."

Something subtle, nearly imperceptible shifted and that cold stillness eased to be replaced by an intensity the mask could not hide.

He did not know fear for himself, or his actions.
He hadn't for some time.

But if this woman could see that deeply into his soul, than she would know what did wake him up in the silent eerie hours of the night...what passed for fear in a mind as fractured as his.

..."Evey"... He breathed. Her name a reverent whisper.
It was no secret that he loved her. It was usually written all over both of them when they were in one another's presence.
She had shown him he was capable of love, and with that wonderous gift returned the fear that it would be taken away. Just as everything he had ever cared for had been taken from him somehow, somway.

The low light played tricks with the mask's frozen smile and showed more than it ought to be able to.

The thought of either of those abominations doing something to bring harm to Evey stirred something in him.

A color more than an emotion...a hot twisting thing that raised it's head and growled through his mind that no one and nothing would ever take her away from him.

Unconsciously a gloved hand gripped the chair's armrest until the wood creaked, and that small noise was enough to bring him out of the red haze.

He closed his eyes and counted breaths until he felt more solid, more a man than a weapon.

"She..." he started, but his voice was hoarse, and unnatural to his own ears.
He tried agian.

" She is an innocent by anyone's standards." he managed.
"By thier own twisted rules, she would be untouchable..."

He did not comment on Tia's correct observation that he did feel a connection to the creature. That was a place he did not think he could go to and return the same man.

Tia raised her chin, regarding V. His play of emotions was intense and colorful, the most obvious display she'd seen in some time - obvious through his spirit. It pleased her to know he used his emotions to his advantage, instead of stomping them down and burying them away like so many others in this place. He was powerful, he was a force to be reckoned with - and she could plainly see why.

Evey... Evey... she tilted her head, eyes falling shut for a long moment. Ah yes, a girl, alive in this place, connected to the outside world... her link to V was strong, and Tia could see her ... yes.

"Yes... she be fighting for all human souls, eh? She suffer pain, pain... pain by YOUR hand as well? But she embrace it, ahh.." Tia stood, walking back to a shelf and picking at the various jars and bottles there. "You ruin my chair you get me a new one," she commented lightly, glancing over her shoulder and flashing him a smile.

Seemingly satisfied with the tweaks and turns she made to her display, she sat back down, hands folded on the table.

"So tell me, now... what bring you here? Not courtesy. Maybe you seek answers to questions, answers that will not lay still. Maybe you get them already but I think you still search."

V had the good grace to turn the mask away in a mildly sheepish display for the chair comment.

He rarely forgot his own strength, and that he had done so before a relative stranger was a mark of how unsettled he truly was.
The whole encounter had an edge of surreality to it, but at the same time an oddly familiar air.

Quite like his days in the shadow gallery before evey arrived, conversing with the Lady of Shalot, or Shakespeare. One might call it madness that he held conversations with inanimate objects, but the most stirring and introspective moments he had recollection of were only witnessed by said objects, ergo why not continue such conversations?

In a strange way speaking to Tia held much of that familiarity. Indeed he was somewhat surprised he did not feel the usual discomfort experienced when speaking so frankly about such personal subjects with others.

...and just like that his posture shifted radically back to the cordial, and courteous side of himself he displayed to much of the world.

Yes, V embraced emotion. Nearly all forms of emotion; for he felt himself lacking in many of the fundemental sensations most took for granted, or tried to avoid altogether. So all sensation was precious, and if honed properly; very useful.

" I apologize, Madam." he said in a subdued tone. " I will not show such lack of restraint toward your personal belongings agian."

Leaning back into the chair, his hands resumed their peaceful resting place clasped in his lap.

" I shall not risk understatement by telling you that you are very perceptive, but yes; the reason for my visit was not what we have just....discussed."

No point in being subtle now, he thought.

" I must protest, however, for I did feel it a discourtesy to put off your invitation when such a meeting could prove advantageous to us both."

The masks' lensed eyes followed her as she moved amongst her things. picking up this, or adjusting that.

"I am told you are capable of moving in and out of the city with relative ease. If this is so, may I inquire if this ability can extend to others you deem fit to bestow such a magnanimous favor upon?"

"Ahh..."

Tia wasn't entirely surprised. Sooner or later, someone was going to ask her. She was rather curious that it had taken someone so long - she'd figured that someone would have come bursting into her rooms demanding an exit before now. But perhaps the fear she put in creatures like Rosiel kept them at bay.

"The rumors of my power be much exaggerated," she said, inclining her head. "My link be to my power. My power be in my world. From my world, I can look into many places... but from here? I go home. That be all. I can take my folk back - Sparrow, Turner, the girl, I send the Commodore to and fro as I need him. But you? ... No, no, you not work in the fabric of my world. You not meant to be there, no one meant to be there but those from whence we came."

She fell quiet for a moment, touching her lips thoughtfully. "Maybe.. maybe if I not be inhibited by all that be here, and maybe, maybe if I had another of my kind, a portal could be open to some world. Some world with much energy here."

He sighed wearily.

Of course.
It made too much sense that she would only be able to ferry herself and those from her same world back and forth, but he had to explore every possible avenue of escape.

It had sounded far too good to be true, really, so the dissapointment was minimal, though the frustration with his own inability to find a satisfactory means for Evey to return to thier world increased still further.

...But as she continued that guttering spark of hope flickered once agian.

" One like yourself?....Might you be able to elaborate on what or whom that may be so that I may know what to look for? And I am afraid I do not understand; 'a world with much energy here'. Do you refer to the number of citizens who hail from a common world of origin?"

Inquisitive as ever, V looked past the riddles, and the mysticism to find the practicallity of what was required.

"You not look," she said with a wave of her hand. "I would know. If such a thing happens, it not escape my notice. Not at all. You not have the ability to tell, either way."

Tia was fiddling with one of the baubles on her desk, rolling it about with her fingertips. "Yes. It be easier to tear open a hole to one world than another. Your would... too difficult. Made more so, as you cannot go back."

V nodded slowly, feeling more put out with magic and irrationality lately. It tended to have too many fiddly rules that made little to no sense.

" I know I can not go back, Madam, but Evey can, and this is no place for her when there is much to be done in our world of origin."

The mask turned to look away from tia and take in the dizzyingly ecclectic array of things that cluttered every surface imaginable.

" It is dangerous here. Far too dangerous for her to reach a point of not wishing to return home, and she is sorely needed there" He said quietly, and somewhat tonelessly from trying to keep emotion out of this particular thought pattern.

V shook his head ruefully. No doubt this highly perceptive woman would see his selfishness in wanting to keep her close.
Not in the city necesarily, just close.

This thought he pushed away in favor of the very real desire he harbored to finally achieve his true final rest. Death was supposed to be a release, after all. ( A pity the latter was losing much of it's appeal with each passing day he awoke with Evey in his arms. )

"There not I can do about it," Tia said, a note of finality in her voice. No matter how much of a selfless act it was for V to actively search for a return for Evey, Tia simply could not help him. Maybe, maybe, with help, she could open a door to a world that was not her own, but would have to be a world with so many individuals residing here that their energy could be combined to spurn it on - and they would all have to be alive.

Just Evey ... it wasn't possible. Even if she had a partner to help her, it was simply beyond her reach.

"Would if I could. But it not in my power."

He nodded thoughtfully, and grew quiet once more.

After a moment, he rose to his feet and gave her another bow, this one far lower, and more elegant.

A slight difference in the position of the hands, and the foreward weight marked this gesture out as an obeisance one makes to royalty, or persons of great importance.

"Madam, I can not say it was a pleasure speaking to you, for that would not be truthful. Your uncomfortable...perceptions...however have helped me to reach many previously unknown answers, and for that I thank you."

He straightened to stand at ease. Hands clasped nehind his back, and feet shoulder-width apart.

" But, I can honestly say that you are a goddess among mortals. A creature of rare intelligence an power.
I know we did not discuss payment prior to this conversation, so to make reperations I shall extend you the most vluable thing I have to offer, and hope you accept."

Without further ado, he genuflected before her, and placed his right hand over his heart.

" I do so swear on pain of death to safegaurd your life before my own. To ensure your safety at the cost of all others, save one, and to be at your ever ready call, should you have need of my body or blade."

Bowing his head before her in a traditional display of obedience, he stilled, and hoped she would find the payment acceptable.

Tia laughed to herself, allowing this flattery. It was great praise from a man such a this, who had no extra senses to tell him he wasn't dealing with something above his caste. He amused her and pleased her - it was a pity his heart was so devoted to one, or else she might like to play with him more. But why ruin something so strong? There was no need to meddle in his affairs, seeing what strength they gave him.

"The payment is accepted," she announced. "It be well and good, Sir V, and I know you keep to your word." Tia wondered how far he'd go to keep it - the angel Alexiel had more or less sworn Tia's death for assisting her mad brother. Tia was sure she could handle any such threats - the other woman may have killed a god, but it had been a broken god - but such levels of battle would require she reveal her secret in its entirety, and that was not something she was prepared to do. There was no telling how things would react in this place. It also required the death of her mortal body and soul... no. Such a thing would not take place.

Tia rose to see him out, taking with her a small woven bag full of a special tea mixture. "Take this," she said, "For when your mind trouble you the most. And go safely, always keep out a watchful eye and ear. There be no map here, no edge to trace. Here there be monsters."

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Log: Ongoing

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