Written Wonderland

Evan opened his mouth to answer Elaine--begrudgingly--but found himself hesitating, which surprised him. Yeah, it would have been nice to talk to Mizu about it first so they could strategize on framing and how the information should be handled, but with one of the captains asking about it point-blank, it didn't seem worth coming off as keeping secrets. Even so, Evan found himself recalling the sight of the goddess by the cliff, the solemn tone that hung about that conversation... Fuck, who was he kidding, his hesitation wasn't about strategy.

"Honestly? Something real fucking private," he said, trying to muster up an apologetic expression despite the instinct to get defensive. Then, he wondered whether it would be smart to return to another point before inevitably getting slammed on that one.

"And it sounds like that's exactly why the king sealed her away. Not to defend our realm or to serve some cosmic good; just to protect his own selfish ass from the righteous fury of a goddess he betrayed. We free her--which, yes, we know how, and I'm working on it--then justice is what follows, to say nothing of our victory."

Elaine was rather taken aback at Evan's reluctance to answer. She opened and then closed her mouth when he talked about it being private and quieted, recognizing the emotionality in Evan's expression.

Many of the other captains seemed bolstered or even excited by Evan's following statements, however, and Mizu felt a glimmer of hope settle into her heart, though her facial features were unchanging. The older captain who had spoken even nodded his head a few times as though confirming that the description of Uranel certainly fit what they knew of him.

"Is it possible that moving the camp would lessen your ability to maintain a connection to the goddess?" Mizu asked Evan, returning to Elaine's first point.

Evan was immensely relieved that no one pushed back on the details of what the king stole. He didn't relish keeping secrets, but he also didn't exactly enjoy gabbing about shit that wasn't his business. That information would probably still need to come out sometime, but not like this.

He even caught signs that other captains were feeling positively about the situation, which settled a warm note of pride in his chest. Seemed like he'd made his case well. Yukiko even looked proud of him--which, well, was its own mixed bag of emotions, but he was well practiced at shoving those down. Blake of course looked disgusted, but that was arguably, as ever, a perk.

But then Mizu asked about the effect moving would have on Evan's dealings with the goddess, and his pride deflated slightly.

"I don't know." He replied honestly. He could ask the goddess tonight, but they might not want to take that long to make a decision. If it would prevent him from upholding their arrangement, though... no, that wouldn't be acceptable, not to him.

"I could remain behind, if we need to get Ponderance to a safer location. I should only need a few more days."

It was such an easy idea to propose, but after the words were out of his mouth the implications of it sank in like a heavy chill. Mostly, if he was being honest, it was the thought of sending Xavier away that did it. Some selfish part of him wondered whether he could come up with some bullshit excuse for Xavier to stay behind with him, but his men would need some kind of leadership without Evan there. What kind of message would it send to them for both Evan and Xavier to send them away with the rest of camp? He could have his troops stay, maybe play decoy, but that struck even Evan as reckless. Because it wouldn't be actually motivated by strategy; it would be motivated by his godsdamned dick, and he knew it. Ughhhh.

Elaine raised an eyebrow at Evan, but Mizu did not appear surprised. "We will need to factor this into our decision, then. If we are worried about the king sending troops here, leaving Captain Rutliff only further jeopardizes our overall strategy." Mizu looked at Evan for a moment before facing the rest of the captains again. "Captain Rutliff, what is the state of the negotiation with the goddess regarding the Shel'ti?" Evan had been doing well so far in making a case for himself, but she wasn't about to let him get away with everything. The other captains deserved to know where Evan had been faltering, and Mizu herself was curious about whatever he might have attempted with the goddess. If it was unlikely that the Shel'ti would ever be freed, then they had even less reason to stay in their current location.

At that, Evan's expression shifted frustrated, and he lowered his gaze in a way that probably answered Mizu's question on its own. He hoped he could clarify successfully, though.

"Still open." he said as he drew his gaze back to Mizu, and tried to regather confidence in his expression. "I had to prioritize other matters last night, and intend to address that issue with her tonight."

Mizu nodded once and briefly contemplated asking Evan about the likelihood that they would succeed in negotiating for the Shel'ti but figured that Evan might not know and might inflate his answer. If other captains wanted an answer to that question, they could ask Evan directly.

"To summarize then," Mizu said, pausing quickly before she continued, "the king may send a small band of troops to our current location. We are unaware if moving the camp would impact the open negotiations with the goddess and the Shel'ti, and we have little foothold on the reinforcements that might be available to us if we move further into the mountains.

"Coupled with the fact that moving the camp takes a considerable amount of labor, I am inclined to suggest we stay here and simply act with more caution. Are there other matters to bring up before we call for consensus?"

One of the captains who had accompanied Mizu on the negotiation with the Shel'ti spoke up, "Excuse my forwardness, Commander, but be everything as it may, you're telling us that we are working with the Queen of Demons now? How does that make us any better than the king? My retinue isn't going to take that well. There's plenty of reason to be afraid of her."

Mizu compiled a response but left enough room in the conversation for someone else to take this point of debate. Though she was effectively making decisions while they were at war, there was no reason she shouldn't have help shouldering the philosophical weight.

Evan rolled his eyes, and did not even try to make it subtle. It looked like he was about to respond--probably not kindly--but Yukiko jumped into the conversation before he could.

"I see no reason why we shouldn't be able to work with a goddess while remaining better than the king." Yukiko made the statement assertively, but kept her expression light--something she was well-versed in doing.

"Prioritizing the health and happiness of our people is what will make us better than the king. So: what will benefit them, here?" There the captain paused just long enough to cast her gaze about the room, silently inviting the other captains--and their commander--to contemplate that question as she continued.

"It sounds like freeing the goddess will benefit us. The night terrors have stopped; ensuring the king's death would be a boon; and--correct me if I'm wrong, but--as far as I can tell it seems Captain Rutliff is taking on the danger of dealing directly with the goddess onto himself. Presumably we believe that we will benefit our kingdom; that's why we're doing this at all."

With that she paused again, and brought her gaze back to the captain that had voiced the concern, her expression still light, hoping to sound direct but not hostile.

"So, what are your concerns for our kingdom if the goddess is freed, Captain Miller? Or do you worry we're overlooking a danger the goddess poses to us directly--that she wouldn't pose more ferociously were we to cease these dealings with her?"

Truly, she was curious, and did her very best to show that clearly in her expression. She did want to make sure she wasn't overlooking anything here, and hoped that her reputation as eternally curious and rarely defensive would help cut through the miasma of discomfort this goddess seemed to evoke in conversation. She certainly trusted that these sorts of questions would do better coming from her than from Evan for a multitude of reasons, so there was that, at least.

Captain Miller looked at Captain Fujiwara with confusion and then some frustration. He didn't like being called out in a group, certainly, and while Yukiko had a point, it didn't exactly make him look good, and he scrambled for some kind of response but found one, though he had to fall back on his--and many of his soldiers'--personal philosophy.

"The Queen of Demons was cast out of the gods' realms and created her own as blasphemy. She is nothing but heartbreak and trouble, and we will be going against the very nature of things in accepting her help. She's a temptation we must resist. She's described as selfish and relentless, and there's very little that any of us could do to withstand her power. Captain Rutliff included.

"It's a matter of principle," Captain Miller said, looking straight at Evan before turning back to Yukiko, "I, for one, care about my everlasting soul."

Mizu had a difficult time keeping her face neutral through Captain Miller's comments. This is exactly why she hadn't allowed herself to fall prey to the religious myths before: they only seemed to impede action and justice. And yet here Mizu was, defending the goddess whom many people of the kingdom clearly thought was the devil herself. But, she was curious about how Captain Fujiwara would respond. This was so far out of territory where Mizu herself was comfortable.

At first, Evan had been irritated at Yukiko cutting him off, but he had to admit, the arguments she made were certainly stronger than any he'd have prattled off; gods know he wasn't exactly going for sound argument above other more colorful motivations in the initial reply he'd considered.

Then Joseph went and gave a fucking laughable response. Evan's eyebrows raised and his smirk absolutely glowed with amusement, only made brighter when Joseph specifically looked his way. Hah, matters of principle and everlasting souls. Fucking bullshit.

Yukiko raised her hand Evan's direction, keeping her eyes on Captain Miller. Evan's expression grew grumpy again, kind of pissed at Yukiko of all people gesturing for Evan not to speak. He hadn't even been planning on it--he knew full well that anything he had to say in reply to that wouldn't convince anyone who wasn't already in his camp about things--but now he almost wanted to. Good thing Yukiko finally spoke up before Evan figured out anything sufficiently gratifying to say.

"I want to respect your beliefs, Captain Miller, but I also want to win this war. If it came down to working with the goddess or leaving Uranel on the throne, would your soul fare any better letting the king's crimes stand unanswered?"

At first Yukiko was happy to leave it at that, but she realized she'd let a bias creep in there. She softened her expression, and turned her gaze to a couple other captains and Mizu in turn, signalling she wanted to address her next question to the room.

"Unless we have any other ideas on how to stop the goddess' attacks on the Shel'ti by force, or earn their assistance some other way?"

Joseph found himself moved toward silence. While he personally believed that maybe it was better to leave the king on the throne than work with the goddess, he realized such a retort would likely be ill-received in this crowd, especially as no one offered up a better plan than the haphazard demonic one they currently had.

Still, though, he felt Evan's gaze on him in an uncomfortable, nigh-mocking way, and Yukiko had challenged his beliefs. He felt like they should at least have a better idea of why Joseph was uncomfortable. Or did they know all that already? Joseph had read the warning stories about Dehaljadrun hundreds of times as a child. Telling everyone that wasn't going to help, though. But maybe...

Narrowing his gaze at Evan, Joseph asked, "Why don't you tell everyone what kinds of trials she's been putting you through, Captain Rutliff?" At the very least, Joseph wanted to move the attention off him again. He wasn't one to enjoy the spotlight.