Private In This World Or The Next

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani nearly stopped in her tracks. “He… he did?”

Far from feeling jealousy or even really surprised by the revelation, she felt warm all over. He had said she was his one and only…

Head out of the clouds, she had a Shadow to catch. Alina was quite helpful in that regard, entrapping the entity in an alleyway. Ishani completed the cinch, standing behind it.

“I have a question for you.”

In response, the Shadow simply phased through a wall. Ishani made a vain gesture as if to grab its ghostly tail, but the being was incorporeal. “Damn it!” Yet even as she swore, she turned to run around to the front of the building, throwing open the ancient wooden hinge-door.

No sooner had she crossed the threshold, she knew she had made a mistake. Her feet seemed fused to the floor, unable to take another step. She heard disembodied laughter, high and giggly as a girl’s.

“Hey!” she exclaimed. “If you’re going to trap me here, at least show yourself!”

<As you wish.> The voice came from inside her head, invasive in that way that only telepathy could be. Sure enough, the Shadow reappeared, a dark shape floating in midair with two glowing pinpoints for eyes. Unlike the forms of Kal or Dis , this one was distinctly feminine, with an hourglass figure and an inky waterfall of “hair” trailing from its head.

<I’m not entrapping you, I’m just keeping you from going any further in here,> the Shadow said. <Your friend’s the same way. You’re both welcome to leave, but you can’t take another step inside this place.>

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Wait.

Shit, right. Shadows. They could- For fucks sake. Alina rushed forward, trying to take hold of the shadow before they disappeared. Only, they were gone. She was fine with giving up though. There were plenty of others to talk to, and y'know, hounding after a shadow that was trying to get away might get the local guard on their asse- Oh Ishani Dinn wandered into the building.

And got stuck.

Alina let out an annoyed sigh as she leaned in the doorway. They couldn't go in further, huh? Exclusive club. Part of her wanted to just prove the shadow woman thing wrong, but she bit her tongue.

"Well, you can talk at least." Silver linings. Alina offered Ishani a shrug before waving her forward. Might as well ask whatever it was she needed to ask.

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Alina was gesturing emphatically, as though trying to hurry things along. The Shadow just kept right on floating, seemingly unbothered by anything going on around it… around her? She had drifted toward a shelf, plucking up a golden apple by its stem and twirling it between two fingers so that it spun, the shiny surface reflecting the light streaming in through the shop windows. The place was filled with piles of random knickknacks and assorted junk, evidently collected over a period of time and stored here.

Clearing her throat, Ishani started to speak. “I’m looking for someone—”

<Oh, I know all about that,> the Shadow interrupted. <You’re trying to find Arcturus Thesh. Everyone in the Nether knows that by now.>

“Uh… yeah.” Ishani wet her lips. Everyone in the Nether? Oh great. “Do you know where he is? Or have you heard anything about him?”

The Shadow stopped twirling the apple. <I’m not supposed to tell you anything.>

“I know,” Ishani whispered, though it came out as a hiss. “What would it take for you, or someone like you, to tell me where Arc is?”

<He’d have to ask one of us to tell you where he is.>

And Arc would never ask that as long as he was convinced she was better off without him. Okay. Think positive, Ish. Don’t give up hope yet. “What if I wanted to send him a message?” she asked.

The Shadow shrugged. <Depends. What would you give in return?>

“What would you like from me?”

<Not from you. You don’t have anything to offer us except entertainment.>

“Entertainment?”

The Shadow giggled. <You’re an emotional, superstitious organic who distrusts and dislikes this whole place on principle alone, but came here anyway to catch and drag back a romantic interest. Very entertaining, yes.>

“A romantic interest? I was going to marry him!” she blurted. It was true. They’d discussed it. Sort of. But that had been four years ago, back at the Academy, in the heat of the moment. She was still clinging to that dream like a lifeline even now. “Is there something I could do for you? A quest to complete, or something along those lines?”

But the Shadow grew more attentive once she mentioned marriage. <Marry?> she echoed, the word reverberating through Ishani’s skull like church bells. <Why would you marry? Not for money or status... you wanted to marry for love, didn’t you? Or just to raise the children in a proper home, with a mother and a father?>

Her interest was clinical, but Ishani was stopped in her tracks by it. “I… it’s none of your business,” she stammered, her voice weak.

<But it is,> the Shadow cooed. <We love memories, experiences. We treat them like currency. Maybe if you gave me your memories of love—>

“No!” The word tore itself from her throat. “I don’t want you slithering around inside my head!”

<It isn’t as if you’d forget it,> the Shadow persisted. <I just want to see it and study it.>

It might be astonishing to an observer just how worked up Ishani was getting over this. The woman was panting, her breath coming in short gasps; her face was flushed and her eyes glistened with the beginnings of tears. Yet she had nothing to lose from this arrangement. So what was the big deal?

She’d known a compromise of her principles would be necessary in order to do what she came here to do. But what this Shadow was asking of her was akin to allowing her love for Arcturus to be weighed and measured, its worth determined by a species which could not feel as humans did. Every moment they had spent together; every night spent pining for him; every smile, every tear shed, every promise and hope and quarrel. They were asking to vivisect her heart, if not her soul.

Holding her head in her hands, Ishani finally spat out, “Fine. Fine, yes! Do it now, and quickly!”

Looking very pleased with herself, the Shadow tossed aside the golden apple and retrieved a gray crystal roughly the size of a fist. In this she gathered Ishani’s memories, or copies thereof, for her studies. <Thank you,> the Shadow said. <Now, what was your message?...>

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Giving up her memory huh? .. No, not giving up memory. Copying? Interesting that such a skill existed, but at the same time this was the land of the dead. .. And whatever the Shadows counted as. For Alina though, was this something she could allow herself? Her memories of Quinn Varanin , on display for this shadow and whomever else they show. Was that something she'd allow?

Didn't matter. Ishani Dinn did allow it. The memory was taken, and the message waited to be delivered. At least that meant they'd leave hell soon enough.

 

[Ishani Dinn]

For a few moments, Ishani’s head felt foggy, and she was afraid that the Shadow had done something to her mind or memories. But the cloudiness soon cleared, leaving behind only a crippling sense of humiliation and a vacuum where her dignity had once been.

There were worse things she could’ve been asked to do or give up, she knew, but this stung all the same. She had no way of knowing what would become of her copied memories, what they would be used for, or who might have access to them. Imagining the possibilities was enough to make her want to curl up and die.

But she had a message to compose now. Ishani gathered her wits about her.

“ Arcturus Dinn …” That was all she could manage before her throat closed up, and all thought of words left her head. She had campaigned for this chance, had literally gone through hell to gain this opportunity, and yet in all that time she hadn’t stopped to work out what she wanted to say to him.

“We both knew that one more night wasn’t going to be enough,” she finally said, her voice sounding hoarse. “And while I appreciate the offer, no, I can’t ever forget you. So now I’m here, in Masque, looking for a way back to you. I’ve made my choice. Whether you want to try and stop me or not, you’ll have to talk to me first. No more running.” She swallowed. “I love you.”

That was that. Turning around, Ishani left the shop, passing Alina by without really seeing her, and kept walking down the street, intent only on getting the hell out of there.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina looked off. Tried not to listen to Ishani Dinn 's message. It was personal. Even though it'd probably get shared around the Shadows she was asking for help to send it in the first place, the Vampiress still felt bad about listening in. It was a shorter message than the thought it'd be, though. As Ishani walked past, Alina just nodded her own thanks to the woman shadow thing.

Then followed after her friend.

"So.. Is that it? We going home now?"

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Ishani halted and blinked, startled by the sound of Alina's voice. Her vacant gaze, locked down within herself, started to refocus again as she turned toward the vampiress.

"Yeah," she replied, swallowing. "For now." She shrugged, though the gesture looked more like her shoulders were hunching up. "I don't know what else to do."

Provided Alina didn't stop her, she'd resume walking, headed back toward the gate where Arlo was waiting for them.

Alina Tremiru​

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Alina watched, listened. More to her heartbeat than her actual words. Then sighed and nodded. "Yeah, lets get the hell out of hell. Then we can figure out what to do next, alright?" Sides, now she was worried about Arlo. He seemed too keen on using his powers to cut people from the Force earlier. And if the Shadows here thought to toy with him.. Ah, panic. How she missed that for the two seconds she hadn't been feeling it.

She followed along after Ishani Dinn , hurrying as much as she could. It was time to leave.