February 11th, 2020 (I suck at dates, proper date is this)
Higgins’ Residence, Dublin
Meeting Collab Part 1 (pre meeting)
Miria never did quite get used to portals. When she thought about it, she'd only experienced portal travel and rifting...four times? And when she thought about it, every time involved Madi in some way. It never felt right to her - not that it involved Madi, but the fact that she was jumping between such far-off locations so suddenly. She wondered if there was any danger of it going badly. Probably best not to think about such things.
The first thing that she did after following Madi in was to slide off her backpack and dig for her tablet. She hadn't used it in ages, it felt like, but she wanted to use it for a specific purpose then. She ran a quick scan, and tried to take some readings to see if she could learn anything about the portal, or if studying the arcane residue of Madi's spells could inspire her in some other way. It only took a moment; she told herself that she would study the results later, when she was alone. She clutched the device close to her chest and finally turned her gaze up, quickly taking in her new surroundings, mostly so that she wouldn't go stumbling into anything that she might not have seen otherwise.
Now...what did she do?
"I was expecting a bigger welcoming party.", She half-joked, unsure if Polly or Kiara even heard her. She hoped they did. She would have felt silly if she spoke to nobody.
Kiara could have given a ten part lecture on the ethics of rapid interdimensional teleportation and the many different strains of spatial decay which might occur following an instantaneous relocation, but she found the subject grim and a little bit boring. Nothing but discussions about the most basic of knowledge, it'd be like trying to teach addition to a professor of mathematics; it'd surely be a bore.
Polly, meanwhile, just held her stomach and leaned against a wall. Too many teleportations, apparently. Kiara would've assumed that she'd have gotten used to it by now.
It was actually a little difficult to escape the feeling of being left behind. The world had moved on quite a bit while they'd been in Dublin, convalescing from all the variably traumatic things that they'd done in months or even weeks past.
"I like the place. It's fancy! Is this what your house looked like, Miri?" Polly's attempt at childish literalism was a conscious one. She wouldn't have asked if the other members of the group hadn't been so reserved.
"Not exactly.", Miria shrugged. "It's close, but this place has different architecture. The estate where I live is a bit brighter. It's probably not as big either. We have a nice garden, though.", She said, looking up and down around the room they'd entered in. She frowned a little. "I hope we don't get in trouble. I would hate to make someone angry for trespassing."
"I think I'd prefer a garden to this place." Polly didn't mean any malice by it. She just found buildings in general a bit constrictive.
“If I ever have the chance to show you, the garden back home is...", Miria paused. "Well, not to brag, but it's quite nice. Lots of flowers, yes.", She nodded. "My favourites are Moon Lotuses and Red Spider Lillies. Moon Lotuses glow in the dark, and Red Spider Lillies are just the perfect shade of red. They're also associated with death", She exclaimed, oddly chipper about the statement, "which is kind of grim, but you see them a lot in period films and dramas and cartoons, when two people are having a duel, and it always looks really cool to see, so-"
She stopped, realizing what she was saying. She didn't want to start rambling! beside that, something about what she was talking about seemed to pique another thought, although she didn't look too excited about whatever it was that she'd been reminded of. "Well, they're cool flowers. Any way~", She thankfully found her train of thought interrupted, as Lee approached. It had been a while since Miria had seen him, or any of the other boys. She was happy to see another familiar face. "Greetings.", She half-drawled, half-whispered, acknowledging him with a lazy little wave - her little burst of energy had died quickly. "How go your recent endeavours?"
"Hello." He gave a little wave in return. Anda had drifted closer to the ceiling and was looking around at all the nooks and crannies up there. "Good so far. I got a text from a construction job I applied to that I got it. A majority of it is to be labor, like moving supplies to where they need to go. Has a decent wage, though, so I'm happy with working that job for the short-term. Hm. Note to self: make sure to pay attention lest any workplace accidents happen. Anyhow, how have things been for y'all?"
"Satisfactory.", Miria lied. No mention of what she was doing before. "But I've determined work here to be unnecessary. I've been inquiring about jobs where I can better apply my own talents from Madison.", She explained, smiling and nodding, and carrying on as though she didn't hate her extremely short (and admittedly probably half-baked) foray into modern Earthen work. However, she was genuinely happy to discuss what she had done afterwards. "The four of us constructed a prosthetic limb for Polly.", She stepped aside to allow Lee a better view of Polly's arm, and to see what Polly and Kiara had to say, themselves.
Polly showed off her new limb, wooden panels underlaid with ceramic sliding over one another, an interior of nerves and magic circuits glistening just beneath the surface, fibrous and black. Her fingers were well articulated, the fingertips perfectly built to replicate the ones on her other hand. They were hard, though, and they clicked whenever she grabbed something brittle. The woman looked sheepish, as she didn't consider the arm to be of her own construction. It wasn't hers to show off, in her mind; it was Kiara and Miria's. "It's super cool. I can barely tell that my actual arm is gone."
Kiara couldn't help but show just the slightest hint of pride. Nothing more significant than a turn of her lip, but it was enough for an astute eye to see. "Polly has been working and I've been reading. Human literature; there's a surprising amount of it. Wouldn't think that any of you would ever dedicate yourselves to writing about events which never occurred, and I some basic facts about the world are repeated millions of times throughout your history."
Lee leaned in to study Polly's arm. Wood, ceramic, and he sensed the magic in the circuits. Little to no metal from what he could tell, which meant it was light and wouldn't tire out who it was meant like if it was heavy. "That's a high quality prosthetic. I'd worry about it catching on fire in a combat situation, but hopefully that won't be for a while." A shift in Kiara's expression in his peripheral caught his attention. Was that a turn of her lip? She should be proud of the work they had done. "Yeah, the imagination has led humans to produce a large amount of fictional stories. Some have the desire to write some of those stories down and share."
The group (minus a few people) were in the Council of State room. There were two sets of couches with two chairs each, multiple desks, a fireplace, and a lot of paintings on the walls. Elliot was sitting on the couch on the back wall, looking up at the seemingly painted ceiling. Above his head was a large painting of suited men seated at a long wooden table. Perhaps the painting subject was of a meeting.
“Historical as well, Lee.” The Hylian leaned forwards a bit. “I’ve been reading this world’s literature as well. Epics, poems, even religious texts. I’m not that religious but figured it’d be interesting to know of different religions... There’s so many here.”
Elliot looked around and noticed the fake arm. “A wooden arm... Amazing.”
"Vicarious enjoyment... bleh." Kiara mumbled to herself. "Personally I'd just find or do whatever was written about."
Polly withdrew her limb, flushed. Bit embarrassed, maybe, that people were gawking. She pulled a black glove from her pocket and pulled it over the fingers, covering her forearm up with her sleeve.
Miria frowned. "There's nothing wrong with enjoying fiction.", She said, shrugging. "I enjoy it. It's a good way to escape from life for a bit. Some people have their lives changed by a good enough game or book."
She noticed Polly's behaviour, but said nothing, not wanting to seem rude. "Learning about this world? Wise.", She complimented Elliot, trying to stay on the topic of stories and entertainment. "I have little interest, personally. Humans are all the same everywhere, really.", Her demeanour seemed to shift once more - again, only for a second. "Any way, I think all of this could be interesting to write about! Don't you guys think?"
“What? That this world seems to be falling apart more every second? I don’t even know why I’m here. I don’t know any of you really, I don’t know much about this world I’m on, I don’t know how to return home....” Elliot noticed what Polly was doing but didn’t mention anything.
“All of you have known each other for several months, and I’ve only been here for... around two weeks.” He paused. “I guess... I feel out of place, is what I’m trying to say.”
"Hard to feel like anything else is the case." Kiara added as she leaned over the back of a chair, absorbing herself in the contour of the tablecloth.
"Nothing wrong with being a misfit," Polly chirped. "And I would love to read about us. It'd be wonderful to hear about all the things you and I did back before whatever happened to me. Still a bit hazy on the details."
Anda was now investigating the fireplace, looking up the chimney. Lee noticed Polly covering her arm. That was fine, whatever made her feel comfortable. It was only recently he had stopped wearing his Hunter's cloak all the time. He agreed with what Miria said about fiction. "Our story? Hm, I think I read about a spell that writes an autobiography of the caster in an old magazine ad once. Said it would include details of memories the caster had forgotten." Elliot ranted a bit. It was clear he was at least a bit stressed. Lee had adapted quickly because he was from another Earth, but Elliot was from Hyrule. It was understandable that it would be hard on anybody. But he didn't know exactly how to help with that, and with this matter saying the wrong thing could make him stress out more. Lee concluded that the possible responses he had come up with were inadequate and said nothing. The others had said what needed to be said so there was no need to push it.
“....” Elliot leaned back into the couch and looked up at the painted ceiling. “....This world is fascinating, though. To know that us humans would progress so much... Would the Shiekah have done all of this if they hadn’t died out...? I mean... they created the State, the Master Cycle, the Divine Beasts.... It’s possible....”
Miria waved her hand and shrugged. "These people still use fossil fuels. It's pretty low-tech from my point of view. I think I can only handle it because I never lived in a developed area to begin with.", She snorted.
Lee thought about it. "It's likely they could've, but every civilization has it's own path of technology or magitechnology it has to progress on. Though in our situation, it's become really muddled so if you wanted to borrow some of the tech here to help your world progress I don't think it would be a bad thing." Miria seemed to have a bit of anger in her. "I'm sure this world will progress to electric vehicles in due time. The Paris climate agreement wants to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2050, and to do that electric vehicles would have to become much more common among other things. My world was at this kind of tech level in it's 1980s. Then a high-level plague mage got out of prison and created a highly sophisticated version of a previously undiscovered virus. Caused the entire world to come to a standstill in human travel as people stayed inside and everyone switched to golems and robots for transporting goods. Then just robots because the virus mutated to use golems as a carrier. A few wars between gods had to be stopped, and some health gods got born out of the hopes and wishes of the infecteds' loved ones and some other unknown factors. The death penalty also got reinstated at the federal level in several countries as an option for people considered to be highly dangerous to society. Changed the perspective of people quite a bit, being stuck inside for two years. Things changed for the better after that with a lot of people realizing what truly mattered to them. Wasn't as bad as the one in the 1850s." He cleared his throat and took a swig of a water bottle from his Inventory before putting it back. "Sorry for going on a bit of a tangent, it's a bit irrelevant to our situation."
Kiara waved it off. "You and your history." She refused to elaborate further. She couldn't help but be dismissive; what other opinion could she possibly hold about human advancement? Most of their theories were crap or incomplete, their technology was ineffectual and they still had yet to find a way to avoid death by natural causes. She would have pitied them, if she hadn't felt so guilty about thinking she was above them. No, of course she wasn't. But knowing everything that she did, and being what she was, it was just... difficult to empathise.
Polly listened to Lee's recount, rapt. "No no, don't apologise, I thought it was very interesting. I wonder if your present is my history? Maybe we're from different points in a single timeline rather than from alternate universes? Oh, I didn't mean to prattle. Did I used to do that a lot? I'm just so excited to be back together with you all."
"History is important to learn about, to keep people from making the same mistakes.", Miria interjected. "A lot of my home's history from before our last World War is lost. We know enough from that to figure that it's best to avoid another Great War, at least. Not that my people had anything to do with it."
She sighed after that. "Sorry if I'm sounding a bit short-tempered. I, um, don't think that rifting agreed with me. I've been dealing with stuff lately. Sorry. So", she slammed one balled fist into the other. "You found yourself useful for your abilities and engineering knowledge. I haven't had such luck with my own skill set. Do you think that I could turn my fortune around while we're here by continuing to study the local magic and muggle technologies?"
Lee didn't know how to respond to Kiara right away, but Polly spoke up. "I do wonder about that. I doubt that we're from the same timeline, from what I've learned about this world and the knowledge I have of mine, the odds would be so highly against it. My connection to Gaia also seems streched out. It takes much more Mana than it usually does when creating an Instant Dungeon. Also takes longer, as if there's a great distance it has to use energy to get across." He listened to Miria talk about her world losing a chunk of history. That was unfortunate, all that knowledge being lost. Then she asked for advice. A response came naturally from within. "I can't guarantee that it will, but it does seem a promising route. There seems to be a low amount of magitech development here. I'm sure you're smart enough to make a change in that, but never discount the value of a fresh set of eyes if you hit a roadblock. The route I'm to take likely involves at least gunsmithing. Maybe vehicle-making because I can no longer see the people from SHIELD on my map, not to mention the two that claimed to be know them got portaled out. So we might be out a flying vehicle. Likely going to need to address that at some point." He devoted some brainpower to think about that. Ball wheels. Aluminum ion-graphene batteries. Electromagnets. Fusion? He filed the base concept away to think about later. He would need to do a bit more research and possibly some experimentation. "Anyways, you should pursue what you want to pursue. Don't be afraid to ask for help. You know, basic friend stuff."
Elliot had decided to give up on understanding a lot about the world he was on and only half listened to the complete strangers talk to each other as if they had been life long friends. He felt completely out of place here, as he had previously said. Eventually, he moved his gaze to the three - no, there were four, the strange adult woman was there too - and decided to speak. “If I’m going to be traveling with you.... I might as well get to know all of you better. So... I guess ask me questions about back home?”
"Hm. Sure." He gave a moment to think about it. "What would you consider to be the best spots to visit in your homeland?"
“Hmmm.... There’s too many to list, unfortunately... Some contenders... could be...” Elliot paused, then took out his Slate and turned it on, then seemed to scroll across the screen, as if he was searching through various pictures. He turned the device around eventually - the group would find themselves looking at a mountain peak with a small lake and multiple cherry blossom trees. They would see some sort of spectral horse floating above the water. “This is Satori Mountain, said to be named for a legendary scholar that died from an unknown illness long ago. There’s a horse god there, named Malayna.”
He then showed them a race of bird people, evidently having a flying competition above a village. “I took this one day when the Ritos were practicing for a flying competition. Races are fun to watch.”
The next picture was of a floating island in the sky, one that had a ruined temple. “This is the Great Plateau.... good place to watch sunrises and sunsets.”
A castle was next. It was in the state of being repaired, but it was still grand to look at. “It’s in somewhat bad shape right now, but this is Hyrule Castle. Original name, I know.”
He then showed a fishing village. “This is Lurelin. There’s an annual fishing competition here.”
He then showed various ruins. “Most of them don’t have names anymore, lost to time, I think.”
Then Elliot showed the group a village that was on a cliff, over looking a sea. In the picture was a cozy house that was painted blue. “This is Hateno. They’re also known for fishing competitions, as well as the wine they make in a nearby orchard. That blue house is mine.... it’s nice... Safe and quiet.”
Miria nodded. "The ruins remind me of Pre-War architecture from Janavaar. Lunar temples and complexes, mostly. there is a tiny patch of ruin near where I live, but I'm one of the only people who goes there, I think. It's a wonderful spot for meditation.", She explained. Having a reminder of home once again seemed to help prompt her to make her own question. "What is the economy like?", She asked, cocking her head to one side. "In my land, we rely heavily on bartering and coinage. There are also plenty of trade guilds and unions that help with different trades and professions.", She said, an enthusiastic twinkle in her eye. "I would hope that such a system is familiar to you?"
"I've always wanted to fish," Polly attached onto Elliot's speech. "Rivers, forests, grass, gosh, they're so much prettier than the city. Not that I don't like this place, of course!" She held up her hands and showed off a patient little smile. "All of you come from such interesting places. I-... I don't really remember what my world looked like. I never left the house or anything. I think there were skyscrapers? Cottages and big rail lines over the city? I'm probably not showing it off very well, but, that's all I can really recall."
Kiara started after a second of silence, only just realising that she was being expected to speak. "Ah, I can't really communicate what my universe is like to you. I suppose the closest comparison to it would be 'everything'?"
“Yeah. We use that system back home. There’s a collection of various banks for each race and town, magic is used to keep it all working and such. As for currency...” Elliot dug around in his knapsack for a second, then took out a dark blue diamond cut gemstone. “This is a Rupee, there’s different values, of course.” He took one of each color out of the knapsack and set the gemstones on the table before him. “Take a look if you want.”
Lee studied the pictures Elliot showed them intently. He was able to fill in a little bit of a mental map of Elliot's Hyrule from the landmarks in the background, but there were some that he couldn't connect together. He listened as Miria and Polly shared a bit. He accepted what Kiara said about her home. "My world is a lot like this one. Multiple countries, multiple cities. I grew up in a relatively rural area, though. Has a nice, small pond surrounded by trees, and forest pretty much all around." He looked at the gemstones Elliot showed them. They were masterfully cut, and something inside him instinctively recognize a certain energy about the Rupees. Maybe there was some energy in them, or something deep in his brain was going 'Ooh, shiny.' He picked up one and touched it to another, listening to the tink it made.
Miria turned her nose up a bit. ”Banks.”, Was all she had to say; they probably weren't something that her people approved of. Oh well, she thought, tapping her chin."Your gems are quite pretty though. It makes me wonder if their value comes from their own rarity, or if they're backed by Gold. I have some of my own currency on me, but it looks nothing like yours."
"Seems a bit heavy, no? In my world we used coins and notes and credit cards, it was a lot more compact. None of it was pretty as this, though." Polly was lost a little in the gemstone's lustre. "It's kind of hard to imagine how everyone could just carry a bunch of gems on them at all times, but I suppose you have to have made it work. What was your job back home, by the way?"
“I did whatever. If people needed a village guard for a day or two, I volunteered. If there needed to be an extra healer for any reason, I was there. I cleaned out monster dens, helped build a few houses, gathered fish, lumber, jobs like that. Also, I had a... I don’t know if you’d call it professional, I was in the process of making my own wine in a cellar in my basement. I’ve also contemplated opening some sort of food store.”
Miria nodded in approval. It seemed as though he had a good work ethic. "Industrious.", She commented. "I would say that I'd love to try your products, but I don't handle alcohol well."
Elliot smiled at that. “Some people don’t. As for me, I sort of do... I think. Haven’t drank enough to really get a feel for what my limit is. Merely sampled here and there. As for wine, I’d gladly let all of you try some, except... one, I’m a complete amateur at making it. Two, I don’t know if this world has even anything close to what I used for ingredients. Three, the process they use to make wine in this world must be highly advanced from how I make it. Therefore, I’d most likely be completely lost and confused.”
"I'm sure the skills you already have could be applied to this universe's indigenous resources. Surprising that humans don't try anything with methanol in it; shame that it's toxic, its texture when frozen is very nice." Kiara absentmindedly added to the conversation, barely a quarter of her attention devoted to following it. "Alcohol is adult juice right? What's it like?" Polly added from the back.
Elliot gazed at Polly for a second. “That’s right, you suffered some sort of event that injured your mind and erased practically all of your memories, I believe. Um... I’ve only sampled wine so I can’t exactly tell you... Wine is... somewhat bitter, usually paired with various fruits to try to make it taste better.”
"It makes everything feel like a dream.", Said Miria. "And it lowers your inhibitions. It makes me feel fuzzy and relaxed."
"What, so like juice?" Polly quirked an eyebrow.
"No, like a neurotoxin," Kiara corrected, leaving the other woman at a brief loss for words.
"Well, it doesn't sound like a very adult thing to drink."
Miria nodded. "Well, it's an adult thing because it messes with you. Ideally you wouldn't drink until you can barely walk like some people do.", She argued. "But I certainly respect people who abstain from alcohol. It's not for everyone."
“Different people have different reactions depending on how much they consume in one sitting. I’d rather not find out what happens to me if I consume... ten glasses of wine, as an example.” Elliot then gazed at Polly. “This might be too much for me to ask, how old are you mentally?”
"Well, hard to say. Ten? Eleven?"
Elliot nodded. “If it were possible, would you want to be younger physically, or stay the way you are?”
Thriller stood off to the side, being nothing more than a prop at the moment as he listened in on the chatter with his arms crossed and getting an understanding of the group he traveled with as well as the individuals who he haven't encountered before but seem familiar with the group. Even with a familiar face, Thriller still felt out of place even more so with current events going on in this time and space. Juliana stood close by her emperor, leaning her back against the wall and checking her PDA (phone) on her arm for any good wi-fi signals.
Polly didn't really know. She wanted to live up to her older self and fill the role that she had for everyone that she knew - in truth she would've asked to have gone home if Miria and Madison hadn't shown such an attachment to her - but to be allowed to be a child again and decide who she wanted to be? She thought of it like a factory reset, not a metamorphosis. If she were to become a child, what would that make her? Just the group's morality pet? She didn't want that. Dependency was all that she feared. "I'm not sure what to tell you. It'd be nice to have a less arthritic body, maybe."
Youth is always preferable, I would say.", Said Miria with a chuckle. "Even if you still had your memories! Although, would you prefer to have those memories back and stay in that body, then?"
Meanwhile, while Thriller and Juliana observed the group, Katya piped up, still quite interested in the whole ordeal. "They're in good spirits.", She told him. "Hmmph!"
"Well, to be honest... I don't know if that would be me." Polly's answer was quiet, noticeably uncomfortable. She was too naive to put on a front for the sake of social lubrication: her perturbation was a genuine reflection of her emotions. "I don't know if that's somebody that I'd want to be, and... I don't know if she'd be disappointed with me or not. Having seen what I've done and how I've changed, I mean."
Miria's demeanour changed just a little. She wasn't satisfied by Polly's answer. She didn't say that put loud, of course. Her enthusiasm seemed to dip just a bit, as she took a moment to speak up again. ,"I see.", She seemed to be trying to say more, but...she was a little stumped. Somehow, just saying that felt worse than saying nothing at all. She didn't want to come off as rude, so she smiled and nodded.
Lee had been quiet for a little while. He only had a blank look that spoke of much internal focus since they mentioned alcohol. He might have or develop a small problem with it. He had been using it to deal with stress, and that was already a bit unhealthy. Should he abstain from alcohol for a while? He concluded he should deal with this problem later, when he wasn't in the middle of a conversation with others. Then he noticed that the subject had become Polly. He had no reason to be involved in that, especially if it concerned who she was before losing her memory. He never knew the old Polly. Though it was about her identity, how she lived compared to the old her. He knew some things about that. Given some thought, he could likely come up with some kind of advice. "Well, all I can really give as advice is to be yourself and try the best you can. Kinda sucks that's all I can really say, but my three days of deep reflection and thinking are the only real experience I have in dealing with mental health."
"I wouldn't say that I'm mentally unhealthy. Y-you know, I'm fine." Words from the soul, more or less. "So ah, why are we here exactly?"
“To be honest... What I understand is the one you’ve been following around the past few months has somehow gotten us into a meeting with this nation’s government. When that meeting is, I have no idea.” Elliot’s gaze flickered between the others in the room. “I suppose since I’ve told you a few things about me, you can do the same...?”
Miria stepped forward, adjusting her glasses. "Madison has been our liaison for other leaders in this world in the past.", She explained. "It's because she's from here. We've been involved in the conflict here for some time, and she's been doing her best to lead us. Now, to answer your second question", She cleared her throat. "I'm a tinker by trade. I can weld, fabricate simple parts, channel aethereum, and do quick smithing jobs. I'm certified as an arcane engineer, and I have a background in aethereum mechanics. Self employed, and run my own shop back home. Officially, I'm just a maid and personal attendant, but my Mistress and adoptive family are quite supportive of me in my personal endeavours."
Rather than offer to shake his hand, she bowed and stepped back. "If there are any projects that you need done, I'm willing to lend a hand. Best to keep my mind sharp for more than just fighting."
"I'm just a kid. Err, I think I used to be a soldier. Or explorer? The details are lost on me." Polly was apologetic about her ignorance as to her own past. "I spent about a year with AEGIS, managed to convince them that they could use my talents. Got away, though, before they asked anything of me."
Kiara took a moment to realise she had to speak too. "I am a Kalmite. That is not the name of a species. In fact, it's a title which you lack the frame of reference to understand. Back home I was a chemist and linguist. Here I am... not much of anything. A pacifist? Someone whose blood you can't look at? I can't call myself anything flattering, is what I'm trying to say."
"You're a good leader!", Miria chirped, wagging her finger.
"I know you aren't, but it doesn't hurt to take precautions considering the situations we've been in over in England could cause those mental issues to develop. No reason to think situations similarly stressful may not happen eventually." He didn't want to make Polly freak out or make her think he thought less of her.
As the others answered, he thought of how to structure his response to Elliot's question. With a base in his head he could work on further while talking, he waited for one of the others to finish so he could give his answer. "In my world, I was a Hunter, as it was called in my region. This entails a fair number of tasks from gathering resources from various aggressive monster species for various industries, to guiding the occasional hordes that pop up away from cities and towns, to clearing the Dungeons they inhabit and sometimes spread from. I mostly took jobs for gathering resources since I didn't have the appropriate Skills to deal with many of the other tasks. Before that, I had planned to become an engineer and had gone a few years of college for it. Then a horde managed to overpower the defenses and killed my parents. Their power had unfortunately waned in their old age. I got angry and made a career change to a Hunter. Before I came to the tavern, I had to have a serious look at the mental landscape of my mind and I've concluded that my decision to become a Hunter was hastily made during a time when I was irrational with a desire for revenge. I've since made some plans to get back into my roots of engineering in ways that should be useful to us."
Thriller gave a nod and said, "Always a good thing to have in times like these. Especially of all that has been happening." Thriller paused for a moment before chiming up again, "So, about 2 decades for me since I last seen you and your sister, how have you two been? Speaking of which, where is your sister?"
(AN: the rper of Thriller and his friend are at the upcoming meeting but are not taking part in it)
Elliot was about to respond to those that answered his question when he heard foot falls to his left.
“Seems you’ve been busy.” Madi was standing there, leaning against the doorway.
"I could say the same.", Miria swung around, rapping her fingers. "You've missed at least a few paragraphs! Your arrangements have been made and words exchanged then, yes?"
"Madison, missed ya." Polly snapped a finger at her. Kiara could see it becoming a habit.
Madi snapped a single finger gun back at Polly. “You too.”
She then dropped her hand to her side and examined the small crowd. “Seems like almost everyone is accounted for, the others are out in the gardens I guess, Colton’s already in the meeting room, I was just sent to get all of you.”
“... I’m still not over the fact that there’s others from my past here.” Elliot commented from the couch he was sitting on.
Madi seemed to examine him before she responded. “You’re going to have to get used to that.”
The Hylian nodded as he stood. “Where is this meeting?”
“Just follow me and I’ll get you there.” Madi waited until the others had collected themselves. “Last minute questions, I guess. Ask away.”
Lee had given a wave to Madi when she arrived. A slightly more comfortable atmosphere had developed since the start of the conversation, he felt. Though the meeting happening now was a bit imposing. They might get some troubling new information in it. Anda came out of the chimney, looking rather clean and not covered in soot surprisingly. Then he had to hit the brakes and switch tracks on his train of thought because Madi had asked for last minute questions. "Are there any customs or titles we should be aware of with Mr. Higgins?"
“As far as I’m aware of, no.” Madi told Lee before she walked everyone to the meeting room.
