Written Wonderland

"Mm," Yukiko nodded in agreement, "That was my thought as well. It would certainly be convenient if we can conclude that binding the goddess was simply another one of his tyrannical acts. As well as, the more recent that action was, then the less we're really... cosmologically changing course, by undoing that action."

Sounded like they'd have to wait on Evan's next meeting with the goddess to be able to base anything else off of those hopes/assumptions, though. In the meantime...

"Suppose we can't come to the conclusion, though... how likely is it that unbinding this goddess would do more cosmological harm than losing this war? Assuming that's the choice." Which, Yukiko certainly hoped would not be the case, but she was trying to be grounded and thorough here; that seemed like the place Mizu needed her to be right now.

"And even then," she added as another thought jumped to mind, though even as she said it she wondered whether it would be more abstract than Mizu was hoping for, "When we're talking about the scale of gods, it may not be our moral duty to weigh everything; we likely aren't capable of weighing everything, and those who come after us can always take action in their own time, just as we did in ours."

Mizu took her time in responding, rolling around what Yukiko had said and trying on various narratives. She hadn't thought about how 10 years measured up to eternity in the eyes of a god. If the goddess had only been bound for 10 years, give or take, then that meant that there was a long stretch of even Mizu's life when the goddess was both unbound and unknown to her. And, if the goddess was unknown to her, then there hadn't been some hysterical mass panic over what the goddess was intervening in.

Then, with regards to the king, if, during the period when he began acting immorally, he bound a goddess--nevermind where her moral standing was--then it is easy to assume that binding the goddess was also an immoral action, which would make unbinding her the moral action. And, morality aside, there was the other question present in Yukiko's thought process. What would be worse? Unbinding a goddess who wasn't restricted in the first place or losing a war to a tyrant who they all knew would continue acting in his best interest? Despite her difficulty in allowing herself to think on a universal level, she was inclined to believe that losing the war would do at least more short-term harm. So, perhaps this was a case of where--regardless of what the goddess did from here out--the end justified the means.

But what about what this meant for Mizu personally? Would condoning the unbinding of this goddess be an unforgivable action in the eyes of whatever might judge her when she dies? Hadn't she done everything possible to be a moral person otherwise? But, then again, if the gods were subject to their own type of corruption or at least had some malleability of whether they themselves acted morally or not, couldn't she argue her case with whatever being would judge her? Surely she would not sit passively on while they condemned her for an action that she genuinely believed had been morally justifiable at the time being.

Adjusting the shoulder that had a long-standing injury, the commander finally looked the captain square in the face with deadpan seriousness and said, "So you believe, in all this, we're doing the right thing." It was half-statement, half-question, but Mizu clearly expected a response and didn't intend to break eye contact until she got one.

Yukiko watched Mizu's subtle changes in expression and posture, curious what her commander was thinking, but patiently waiting for Mizu to share her thoughts when she was ready.

The captain was only slightly caught off guard when Mizu's expression hardened and faced Yukiko head-on. It was tempting to answer the commander's question immediately with an emphatic yes, but Yukiko bit her tongue for half a moment; she wanted to convey thoughtfulness in this instance more than confidence, and so she stalled just long enough to truly check in with herself and leave space for the possibility that she might answer 'I don't know'.

In the end, Yukiko's expression still held a soft hint of a relaxed smile - it was rare that it didn't - but the shape of her eyebrows and the sharpness of her eyes let Mizu know that she was fully present in the seriousness of this question, and that she felt confident and resolved in the reply she was about to give.

"I do."

She considered leaving it at that, but decided to elaborate. In some ways this might be risky, but then again, she and Mizu seemed to be interacting as philosophical peers at the moment, and she hoped her commander would appreciate this kind of candor in this particular space, especially since it was putting words to something Mizu easily may have caught whiffs of from the captain before:

"I don't know if I've ever been expressly candid about this particular thing with you, Mizu, but I'm here precisely and only for the cause--my cause, which happens to also be yours; I don't hang my moral responsibility on you the way many of the other captains do. I want you to know that about me, so you can truly understand my meaning when I tell you that, yes, I believe we are doing the right thing, even if we end up changing the shape of the heavens."

Oh, dear, did she go too far into hubris mode? To be fair, it was partially for dramatic effect. She felt a bit of lightheartedness was called for before she left anything to hang, though, and so she curled her lips and her brow playfully and leaned back a bit in her chair.

"Let's certainly hope that whatever Evan finds out tonight serves to clarify rather than confound that, though."

((OOC: Things I discovered/solidified while writing this post: Yukiko might've been one of the first captains on board with Mizu--or in the very least, she absolutely sought out joining Mizu's cause, and not due to any personal ties other than, presumably, some amount of existing respect. It's also likely that Yukiko has expressed dissent with Mizu at various points during this rebellion, but she certainly likes to think that she'd have done it in tactful ways. Also, Yukiko informs me, she might even have gone behind Mizu's back, but IF she ever did so, she fessed up to it completely voluntarily and would have been prepared to accept whatever consequence Mizu would have levied, and she would've had stronger justifications for her actions than Evan tends to have lol. Anyway, in case any of that metadata would be necessary/useful, figured I'd share.))

Despite the urgency in her expression, Mizu was grateful that Yukiko took her time in responding. It was then she realized that she would have doubted an out-and-out affirmative response, and she appreciated that Yukiko was handling it seriously. So, when Captain Fujiwara said "I do," Mizu allowed herself to whole-heartedly believe it.

She continued listening attentively as Yukiko went on, talking about joining the cause in the first place, and she allowed a small, rare smile to cross her face. Yes, she had made a good decision in putting stock in Yukiko. This was exactly the type of person she wanted on her side: someone who would treat the situation with respect but be unafraid to disagree if they were headed off course of their original intentions. As much as having blind followers was useful for emergency situations, that was not the kind of government she wanted to run long-term, and Yukiko was representative of that. And, Yukiko had a point; if the heavens also had to change to improve their ability to function in the greater world, then so be it.

A slight frown returned to her face when Fujiwara mentioned Evan again, though. She still had major doubts about how much of this depended on him. He was, by far, the most unpredictable piece on the playing field and had been elevated into a central figure. Mizu couldn't say she especially liked where this was headed.

"He has a hell of a lot to make up for. Let's hope he uses this opportunity to do it," Mizu said, offering some casual language in exchange for Yukiko's candidness.

Relieved, proud, elated embers burned in Yukiko's core at the sight of Mizu's smile. There had been an outside chance the commander wouldn't exactly respond well to a captain not hanging their moral responsibility on her. Yukiko had of course judged Mizu not to be such a commander at some point in the past--likely several--but it was deeply gratifying to see confirmation of it again here and now. It re-stoked the fire that had lit Yukiko's decision to join Mizu in the first place, and drew attention back to her own satisfaction and excitement to continue following her commander along this course.

Plus, Mizu's smiles were rare enough, it was quite the treat to behold, and quite a point of pride to have sparked.

That said, it seemed like Yukiko's attempt at levity might have backfired, as Mizu's expression shifted back into a slight frown, though luckily the commander's comment following that clarified what the frown was about. Yukiko's first thought was to inquire about what exactly Evan had to make up for, but then again, she felt she could probably guess the gist of it. After all, he had managed to get in contact with the goddess when Mizu's last instruction regarding the issue was to, well, basically not try to do that.

"He's quite the wild card, for sure," Yukiko nodded with an amused smile, "But from what I know of him, one of the last things he'd want would be to let you down, and he is pretty damn determined to get what he wants."

It crossed her mind that that might be speaking too familiarly about her fellow captain again, but with how nervous Mizu seemed to be about him, it seemed worth it to provide Mizu what reassurances she could, and this was exactly not a space in which Yukiko wanted to censor herself merely for the sake of propriety.

((OOC: PS, Evan felt incredibly seen and deeply gratified to be referred to as the most unpredictable piece on the playing field lol))

The commander was surprised at Yukiko's vote of confidence in Evan, both because of the assertive way Yukiko delivered the remark and because she hadn't thought about the possibility that Evan truly wanted to do right by her. She was certain that she could expect him to act on his own accord, but... come to think of it, he did go above and beyond to justify his actions, and that alone indicated that he cared about what Mizu thought of him beyond just the cause. And, yes, his determination was obvious, even if that's what often frustrated Mizu the most.

Mizu nodded in Yukiko's general direction and let silence stand for a moment. Looking over at her, she said, "Thank you, Captain Fujiwara. You may return to your duties now. Unless there's anything you need from me?" Though Mizu's expression did not change, she found herself surprised that some part of her did not want to be left alone. She fought it off, though, reminding herself that there were plenty of things to do while her calculating mind waited for Evan to leave and return again.

Yuiko gently shook her head and slid up out of her chair. At first the motion was graceful and casual, but as she settled on her feet her posture straightened and began returning to a more formal attitude.

"You sated much of my curiosity about the situation with the night terrors, which had been my strongest want. Ponderance is doing well, and my troops, while certainly feeling their own curiosity about the current situation, are duly focused on protecting our charge. We'll be ready to mobilize at your command."

It might've been a bit more data than Mizu was looking for, but Yukiko figured the brief report couldn't hurt. It was one thing to tell Mizu that she, Yukiko, didn't need anything, but it felt relevant to expand that to also mean she, Captain Fujiawara, as well as the troops she lead. She wanted her commander to rest as easy as she could, given the situation with their location being known and the involvement of the supernatural and the reliance on Evan to navigate it.

Yukiko gave her commander a warm bow, and turned to head back to her troops.

((OOC: She may stop if she picks up on Mizu's desire to not be alone, but if not she'll be merrily on her way~
Edit: Continued in Yukiko & Trevor's thread))

Mizu appreciated the update from Yukiko, and it did put her mind at ease to some degree. At least the currently manageable aspects of the situation where in capable hands; she couldn't ask for much more than that.

When Captain Fujiwara turned to exit, Mizu watched the captain's back, a fleeting sensation of loneliness striking a note in Mizu's nervous system before the captain fully stepped out of the tent. Sitting at the table, Mizu stared at the map blankly, thinking over everything that had happened just in a few short days. It was going to be a lot to process whenever things started slowing down again, but Mizu didn't think that was going to happen any time soon.

--

Dehaljadrun gasped loudly as she came back into her own body, the stone Evan had retrieved clutched against her breasts as she sat up and then moaned even louder. She could still so acutely feel the sensations and electricity swirling in Xavier's body, in Evan's body, in her own mind, and she allowed herself to shudder with pleasure and desire. She moaned again, knowing only her thralls could hear her, and somewhat unconsciously reached down to stroke her exposed cock once down the entire length of it, which sent shivers down her spine. Gods, she wanted Evan so much worse now than she had before she had gotten impatient. How did this help her situation?

But she burst into a sinister smile when she thought about the moment when Evan realized it hadn't been completely Xavier and relished in how close Evan's memories of their night together were in his mind even before she entered Xavier's body. His anger was absolutely delicious. Gods, she hoped he would struggle even harder than he had the previous night. He would need to if he wanted to stay firmly out of thrallhood. And maybe that was exactly what made it worth it to intervene between Evan and Xavier; she needed to make him angry. She needed his fire to burn if he was going to withstand her again and again and again.

At the thought of fire, the lightning band around Evan's cock came potently to mind once more, which sent her into a fresh wave of shivers and moans. Even if that action did throw her out of Xavier's body, it was worth it to feel the potency of Evan's desire as it shook through all three of them. Once the memory had passed, she stood up, gathered her cloak, and looked over to where Nathan still lay. He was cute, in his own way, and he had served her well. Perhaps he would be the last soldier she let go.

Dressing once again and prepared with the newly plucked portals and the stone, the goddess went to go prepare for Evan's return. No matter what Evan did with Xavier from here on out, he would be hers again soon. They had a deal, and she knew the captain would be loathe to break it.

--

Once she had nearly completed the set-up she had planned for Evan, Dehaljadrun took a portal from her pocket and threw it where she wanted him to enter. She focused with all her mental strength to form a link between the human realm and the mist, holding the stone in one hand to gain more access to Evan's location. He was running, sweat dripping down the definition of each of his muscles, which instantly reignited her desire for him. But... she did not want to snatch him so publicly--or make it so easy. No. It would take some doing--and some frustrating patience--but she decided to put the portal inside his tent, the location of which she recognized from his dreams, and wait until Evan returned. She laughed inwardly at the way he would surely panic about finding the portal waiting there, and nonchalantly continued preparing for their second evening together. She could practically taste her name on his lips already.

Evan ran for quite some time, burning through his frustration and anxiety and sweating out at least some measure of relief. He finally started slowing down as his muscles grew sluggish and a pain started jabbing at his side as he breathed. His shirt was pretty well drenched by that point, and he couldn't decide if he was relieved or disappointed that the goddess hadn't snatched him up yet. He did at least feel better now in several respects. For one thing, his cock felt like just another part of his body, finally, rather than a pulsing aching constant pull on his attention. The tension he'd left Xavier's tent with had also mostly worked itself out; while some anxiety about how he and Xavier had left things still buzzed quietly in his mind, it had softened significantly, and left his thoughts feeling clearer and more free.

The captain walked a bit aimlessly along his running path for a bit, lungs catching their breath while he contemplated what to do next. Some part of him had expected to run until the goddess summoned him, but at this point he acknowledged that'd just be self-destructive; he did need to have some energy left in his body when he returned to her. To wit... maybe a nap was in order? He hardly felt like a nap, but perhaps it'd be wise to try one, anyway, even if it just resulted in staring listlessly up at his tent.

With a sigh, the captain veered his saunter in the direction of his tent, doing everything he could to continue signalling unapproachable-ness despite the relaxation in his body from the run. He especially bristled when he met eyes with Yukiko of all people. Usually she'd move the fuck on immediately--they'd had a quiet agreement for some time now to just stay out of each other's sight save for needed military business--but for some goddamn reason today of all days she held his gaze and smiled, and almost looked like she was considering fucking approaching him. Fuck no. Just to make for goddamn sure that she did not, Evan sharply turned his path away from her. It meant going a little out of his way, but it was absolutely fucking worth it; he'd only just gotten control over his current relationship angst, and could not fucking stand the thought of digging up that bag of cats right now.

He finally entered his tent with a huff, looking forward to sloughing himself down on his cot to veg out for a bit. He stopped dead in his tracks, though, at the sight of the portal there, waiting for him. He stepped all the way inside after half a moment of gawking, as he realized he should probably close his tent flap so no one else would pass by and catch glimpse of the portal. In a way, he supposed it was considerate of the goddess not to make a scene of snatching him in camp, though he was surprised by how taken off-guard he was by being given the choice of when precisely to return to her. It meant he had decisions to make, though. If she'd grabbed him while he was running, it would have been her own fault he was sweaty and dishevelled; if he chose to enter the portal that way, then... well, that was a decision. Evan didn't particularly like contemplating these sorts of interpersonal politics, but if he had to acknowledge these things came into play with casual lays, he certainly had to acknowledge it'd come into play for a political ally he was about to go, in all likelihood, fuck.

An ache tugged at his heart as thoughts of how Xavier might feel about this bubbled up. It had been easy enough not to consider that aspect before, when everything had gone unspoken and Evan imagined it was one-sided, but now...

Evan shook his head and rubbed at his hair as he returned his gaze to the portal. He wondered with a low-simmering embarrassment whether the goddess was watching him through it. He didn't like pausing and hesitating and contemplating anyway, and the thought of being observed while doing it--by the person he was about to go struggle with, no less--started winding a knot in his gut again. He glared at the portal, channelling his current embarrassment and frustration into anger as he reminded himself he was fucking pissed with the goddess on the other side. Yeah, no, he was not going to take the time to freshen up for her, even if making her wait was a somewhat appealing thought. Some part of him considered leaving and going for another walk around camp, but he had to admit that was risky. She'd given him the chance, now, to join her tonight, and if she closed it before he took it, that could put their current agreements in danger. Not wanting to risk losing ground, Evan begrudgingly stepped forward into the portal.

The goddess did not have to wait half as long as she was prepared to, and this pleased her deeply, as she had just begun to think that her plan might have backfire if Evan meant to make her wait as well, but she had consoled herself by reminding herself that he needed her to get his soldiers back.

Still, she was not prepared for his entrance. He was a disheveled mess, the hair on his head all over the place as though the two of them had already fucked. And then there was the matter of his sweat-soaked clothes--he clearly hadn't bothered to change after his run--which she would have been insulted by if it weren't for the angry expression on Evan's face and the fact that she could see the sweat still practically glistening on his skin. Oh, how she would like to lick that off, to taste his salt on her tongue...

Not yet. Not for a while yet.

Dehaljadrun stood about 20 feet from the portal in a long, black dress. It had straps running diagonal down over her hips before returning to what appeared to be smooth cloth, and there were deep cut-outs above the straps such that the very far edges of the goddess' breasts were visible. The dress--with tank top straps, a plunging neck line, and a long slit up one side--made her look every inch her goddess self: tall, elegant, and deeply, impressively sensual.

She stood between two of the enthralled soldiers: Philip and a man Evan did not recognize. The unknown man was dark-skinned and of an average build, neither small nor large. His relaxed shoulders and straightforward posture gave the impression that he did not mind being a thrall, at least, not as much as Philip certainly did. Both of them had thin strips of cloth over or connected to their eyes and over their genitals.

In front of the goddess and her thralls, there was a wide metal table about the length of one and half men. The metal shone slightly from the reflection of the purple sky, which was quickly darkening with what appeared to be storm clouds. Behind Dehaljadrun's ensemble was another narrower table on which a number of objects waited. There were bottles of unknown fluids in a variety of colors; intricate ceremonial knives; a curled, glowing whip; three purple stones from the cold pool, one elevated in position in comparison to the other two; and some kind of metal apparatus. There were smaller objects on the table as well, but Evan could not see them from where he was standing.

When Evan walked through the portal, the goddess was paying attention to Philip, who she had pushed against the far end of the metal table. One of her legs entwined around his as she pressed up against him, her lips inches from his face. She had a hold of the back of his neck, and he was practically limp in her hands. As soon as the goddess saw Evan, she had a sudden impulse to throw Philip to the ground as dismissal, but she didn't, not wanting to give Evan the satisfaction of knowing that she wanted him. So. Much. More. Instead, she bit down on the side of his neck and pushed further into his body, feeling into the man's ache as it mixed with her own, and after several moments of this, finally released him, pushing him back toward the other thrall between the two tables.

The goddess leaned over the mirrored metal table, which kept catching the light of the strange fae crescent moon each time it reappeared between clouds, and reached her hands out across it such that her cleavage practically spilled onto its surface. It had the effect of making Dehaljadrun's own skin appear to be glowing slightly, or perhaps it was simply that she was letting her inner electricity run high. Either way, even looking at her sent a shockwave of desire through anyone who dared try it. The goddess raised one eyebrow slightly as she stared on at Evan and finally said, "I don't appreciate being kept waiting."

As if to punctuate her sentence, a loud, quick crack of thunder rang out above them, and it was not entirely unbelievable that the storm was being summoned by the goddess herself. Simultaneously, Dehaljadrun reached into Evan's mind and pulled the memory of snapping his cock ring to the forefront and was happy to discover that, no, Xavier and Evan had not yet fucked. Perhaps her little stunt had taken that option off the table. A smirk slowly spread across her full, swelling lips.