[Midnight Hotel] January catch-all

[gistful]

Characters: Anyone, everyone.
Date: Month of January, 2016 (2017 in-game).
Location: The Midnight Hotel.
Situation: Catch-all post! Feel free to use this post for anything that happens within the Midnight Hotel during the month, using the subject header to label specific rooms or for specific people. See also the OOC note at the bottom.
Warnings/Rating: Mark your threads if content warnings become applicable, please!

As with last month, the Hotel’s wards are under stress owing to the fog. The effects are more pronounced in January; water temperature, in particular, fluctuates, and the staff will find it necessary to find a different way of disposing of the Hotel’s rubbish due to the incinerator being put out of commission. The doors still only exit onto Central.

Likewise, Anton is off his feet making sure the wards don’t fail altogether, but at least the work has made him too busy to dwell on the things that had been eating at him for the past few months. Even after the swell takes the turtle off the reef, most of Anton’s time will be spent repairing damage to the wards and making sure utilities are up to snuff as soon as possible.

Even still, the doors’ ability to access multiple sectors will remain offline for the remainder of the month, making it two months in a row that the Hotel’s access has been limited to Central.

[ooc: The Midnight Hotel’s status page is available here, with the rules at the top and ongoing status at the bottom. PLEASE POST TO THE STATUS PAGE IF YOUR CHARACTER WOULD LIKE A ROOM, JOB OR AREA IN THE GARAGE, OR ARE MOVING OUT. Anton will manufacture means of payment until Foreigners are able to properly offer recompense or choose to move out.]

Comments

Valdis | Aftermath

[edgeoftheknife]

((ooc: Takes place the same day as this thread, shortly thereafter))

The encounter with the kedan girl seemed to have left Valdis with a new outlook on this whole plan of hers, tracking down the people who'd poisoned Anton. Erskine didn't understand half of it. He hadn't kept up with any of the political maneuverings going on in the city, nor the cultists that Valdis seemed so obsessed about... and on a very basic level, half of the conversation that had taken place in Dardul's apartment had been telepathic, and he'd been left out of the loop.

Still, afterward he'd volunteered to shadow the kedan girl as she'd left the apartment. Letting her go back to her master was risky enough; he'd reasoned that trying to track her couldn't hurt. Unfortunately it hadn't done much good either. Erskine was a good tracker and a good shadow, given his long years in black ops during the war, but the girl was clearly anticipating being tailed. She ducked into a hovel almost straight away and didn't emerge for hours. Finally Erskine gave up and made his way back through the city to the Midnight Hotel, to see how Valdis and Dardul were getting along.

And maybe to prod Valdis for more information on what the hell was going on.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis had spoken to Anton and gotten Dardul settled into a room with Malcil, who assured her that he would look after the very confused Kedan. Then she went down to the lobby to wait for Erskine to come back. Part of her was concerned that he would get lost, but someone had to take Dardul, no, Enon, back to the Hotel for his own safety. But Erskine had been gone for a long time and the anxiety was building. She was just about to head out the door and look for her friend when he walked in.

[edgeoftheknife]

Valdis needn't have been worried this time, although her worries weren't necessarily invalid ones. He'd managed to stay focused this time, and he hadn't gotten lost on his way back to the Hotel. He just hadn't succeeded in his task either, and it showed in the slump of his shoulders and the slight scowl on his face as he stepped into the Hotel.

"She holed up," he groused, shaking his head as soon as he spotted Valdis. "Some hovel not far from where we were. It wasn't where she meant to go, but she knew she was being followed. Knew or strongly suspected."

Maybe he should have waited her out, but something told him at least Anton would have started to worry about him being gone so long.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis wasn't surprised that Indin had gone to ground, the girl wasn't stupid, just stubborn, but she wasn't about to tell Erskine that. He had tried, and she deeply appreciated that.

"Thank you for trying," she replied, relieved that he had found his way back, "I got Dardul settled. He should be safe here."

[edgeoftheknife]

Trying, right. For all the good it had done. Erskine couldn't help but wonder if he was losing his touch after so many months in Keeliai, washing windows and dusting light fixtures in the Hotel. Maybe he ought to get out and do things like this more often. Of course, that would require some kind of objective. Without Valdis he wouldn't have had that at all.

"Good." Erskine frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "Then I don't suppose you'd mind explaining all of this again? Like why this guy is so important, and why we let the girl go?"

He took a few leading steps toward the commons area, hoping Valdis would follow along.

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis froze, not entirely pleased that Erskine wanted to know what was going on. The unfairness of that displeasure grated on her enough that she decided to follow him. She owed him for his help and his patience.

"Again?" She was quite certain that she hadn't explained much to him at all. "Dardul is important," she paused, it would be best if Erskine didn't know about Enon and Yunxu for now, that needed to stay secret until she knew more. "For personal reasons. As for Indin," another pause. "We couldn't exactly hold her against her will as that would most certainly break Anton's rules. In addition, I needed her to carry my message to her master." A third pause, "And she was annoying me."

[edgeoftheknife]

If they were going to discuss important matters like this, Erskine figured they should at least be sitting somewhere comfortable to do it--or perhaps not standing right in the lobby of the Hotel, at any rate. He didn't sink into a chair all at once, but chose one of the more comfortable armchairs and perched against the arm of it.

Valdis hadn't explained much at all, but she'd told him a little in the apartment while they were there with Dardul... or at least he thought she had. That was the problem, he couldn't remember. Surely Valdis would have told him something though, right? So obviously he'd merely forgotten. He would try harder to remember this time.

He chuckled a little at that last bit from Valdis. "Trying to swat a giant hound with a broom handle didn't seem particularly wise, I'll give you that." The laughter trickled away, turned into a sigh. "So we're still no closer to whoever poisoned Anton?"

[redlightgreenlight]

Unlike Erskine, Valdis moved to sit in the armchair, crossing her legs and leaning back, smiling a bit when Erskine laughed at her evaluation of Indin. But his question wiped it from her face instantly.

"Not necessarily," she said slowly, "I gave Indin a message to give to her master. She's so eager to please him and get back at me, us, that she will see it delivered. Hopefully I'll get a bite."

[edgeoftheknife]

Right. Using the girl as bait, of a sort. It was the kind of thing Erskine would have done a year ago--had done, on more than one occasion. Corrival had often claimed that Erskine didn't know the meaning of the word subtle. Erskine had always had a good internal laugh about that.

"Are you expecting retaliation then?" he asked quietly, gaze darting around them to make sure they were alone. "Or are you hoping whoever this master is, that he's reasonable enough to send a telegram?"

It was fairly obvious that there was no sarcasm in the question. He wasn't asking to criticize, he was asking out of worry. For Valdis, although he hadn't yet specified that part.

[redlightgreenlight]

It wasn't so much using the girl as bait as simply baiting her master. The threat hadn't been empty, Valdis was perfectly willing to kill whoever was behind the cultists and the attack on Anton. She arched a brow, just staring at Erskine, extending the silence longer than she needed to.

"No, I'm not expecting retaliation," she replied, "I'm hoping for it, but I doubt that Indin's master will be so easily goaded. They seem quite content to hide in the shadows and have others do their bidding, not unlike Malicant."

Spoilers for Skulduggery Pleasant through the end of book 8

[edgeoftheknife]

There were things broken in Erskine that he knew he couldn't fix, but simple observation was not one of them. He was keenly aware that Valdis was staring at him wordlessly for far too long. Was it something he'd said? After a moment more he dropped his gaze, blinking, and swallowed hard, trying to figure out what he'd said wrong.

Valdis's analysis reminded Erskine that he knew far too little about the situation, or indeed any of the power plays and manipulations going on in Keeliai. Maybe it was for the best. He'd been an excellent player, but the game had broken him.

Well, Darquesse had broken him. But it was pretty much the same thing.

"Do you need me for anything else?"

[redlightgreenlight]

She had done something wrong and she suddenly realized that she had, again, been counting on a broken man. She flinched, not because Erskine's words fazed her, but because she recognized her slip into old habits. Manipulations, using weaknesses against others, hurting people without trying. She could be so terrible, and Erskine didn't deserve to suffer because of her own issues.

"I'll always need you, Erskine," she replied, her gaze softening, "You are my friend and I don't want you getting hurt. The less you know, the better off you will be."

[edgeoftheknife]

...so that was it. It wasn't that he'd done something wrong, it was that Valdis was trying to protect him. Because she thought he needed to be protected. One of the Dead Men. Because she cared about him, against all logic and reason, and because he was broken.

He laughed, softly, but didn't raise his eyes to look at her just yet. "I appreciate the sentiment," he said quietly, "but I can handle more than you think I can. I promise."

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis sighed, shaking her head, "It's not that I don't think you can handle yourself, I'm just...sturdier than you."

It wasn't a comment on his mental state, she was physically sturdier than most people because of her regenerative abilities and being able to revive on her own, made her far better suited to take risks.

[edgeoftheknife]

He knew that she could take a hit, that she was a warrior. He'd seen her after the fight with Bakura, when there had been more of her blood on his jacket than in her body--or so it had seemed at the time. That she could fight he didn't doubt. But--

"Why?" he asked, with genuine interest. They'd been friends--best friends, aside from Anton--for months, and he'd never pressed her for details. "Because you're a shapeshifter? Or is this something to do with the whole 'Queen of Hell' thing?"

She'd told him that once, or something to that effect, back when they'd first met.

Right around the time she'd thrown water at him as if he were an ornery cat.

[redlightgreenlight]

"Why?"

Despite knowing so many things about him, Valdis realized that Erskine knew next to nothing about her. The fact that he trusted her so much and yet knew so little astounded her.

"Yes to both, I suppose," She replied, "I can regenerate from any injury, even fatal ones. I am, for most purposes, immortal."

[edgeoftheknife]

Erskine blinked several times, eyes wide with surprise. Immortal. Erskine himself was of course much longer lived than a mortal, and he would live several hundred years more if he didn't go back to his own world, but regenerating from a fatal injury?

"So that day I brought you here, after the fight with Bakura...?"

Would she have regenerated on her own? Was calling Milyn even necessary?

[redlightgreenlight]

She winced. The fight with Bakura had been a unique circumstance, one she very much liked to avoid speaking of.

"That...yes, eventually," she replied, "What you must understand is that I am a creature of darkness, my sword, which caused that injury, repels darkness. The healing process might have taken days, or at least, it did the last time."

[edgeoftheknife]

A creature of darkness. "No wonder we get along so well," Erskine muttered, under his breath yet easily loud enough for Valdis to hear. The revelation was not wholly a surprise. If he hadn't been able to guess some of it by her actions, the whole "Queen of Hell" thing was a pretty big hint.

It hadn't stopped them from being friends, and it was unlikely to change anything now.

"Is that why I felt sick trying to lift it?" He'd managed well enough, overall, though there had been a distinct case of nausea that accompanied gripping the hilt of the sword. That the weapon was magical was obvious; he simply hadn't known how.

[redlightgreenlight]

She didn't comment on his mutterings, though she did slightly disagree with his assessment.

"Not necessarily," Valdis replied, "Revelations cannot be wielded by any but its master, unless someone is using it on the behalf of the master and is someone that the master trusts. Even then, by its very nature, it still might be difficult for someone with a lot of darkness to wield. The sword was forged by angels after all."

[edgeoftheknife]

"Forged by angels." It wasn't necessarily a question. Erskine knew that in some of the other worlds represented by the Foreigners there were angels and demons--hell, Dove was an angel, wasn't she? That didn't make it any less odd to talk about them as if they existed. Not yet, anyway. Erskine had lived for four hundred years believing that angels and demons weren't real, that the only powers were sorcerers and the other magical creatures out there. Magical, not divine or infernal.

"So how does a Queen of Hell end up holding a sword forged by angels?"

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis sighed. That was the question that had been lingering in the back of her mind since she had claimed the sword.

"If you believe certain parties, it is because I used to be one. But the sword called to me at Evidet and is tied to my soul in some way."

[edgeoftheknife]

He wasn't sure if the name Evidet meant anything. Probably someone had mentioned the word somewhere along the line--maybe when he'd been over at the Welcome Center and Jack had been trying to explain things, not so long ago. Erskine couldn't keep any of that stuff straight.

That wasn't the important part, anyway. The important part was--

"You were an angel?"

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis' eyes narrowed for a few heartbeats, "According to certain parties, yes, I used to be an angel before my soul was shattered and..." she stopped, her hesitation clearly evident as her features softened.

"I suppose there isn't much use denying it, no matter the injury to my pride." She sighed, looking down and crossing her arms. "Once upon a time my name was Meira, I know that, but I don't remember a life before becoming Valdis."

[edgeoftheknife]

Meira. God, that hadn't been all that long ago and he'd nearly forgotten. The memory slid neatly into place now that Valdis had jogged it, and recognition flared briefly on Erskine's face. "So you used to be Meira, and Meira was an angel? But you don't remember being Meira." He paused, thinking back a moment. "How does a soul get 'shattered'? And what do you mean, 'certain parties'?"