What Is Dead, May Never Die

[Faith Augustin]

What is dead, may never die...

Life, Death

&

The In-Between

It was just two trials before that Faith had experienced the death of fourteen souls. Each one of them had been murdered, slain in the name of some sort of twisted science. Faith knew better than to think that there was any part of her which was going to get over this any time soon, but it was her duty, her privilege, to serve Famula, Vri, Moseke, Ymiden and the souls of those who had been murdered in this way. There was no doubting it, Faith thought, the abilities granted to her by the Immortals could be double edged swords and, as PB appeared in front of her with a concerned look on his face, Faith smiled softly. "Do you remember, PB," she asked, her voice low and wistful, "the first time we met?"

"Course I do, love," the bunny said, hopping over to her. "You were a right mess." Never one to pull his punches when he spoke, PB wasn't about to start now. "Owned by that ignorant excuse for skin, Jamal. I'm glad that Kazimere killed him." Faith's eyebrow raised and she looked at PB incredulously. "Paladin?" PB nodded. "You were right, love. O'course Jamal didn' jus' up an' wander off. He weren't bright enough for that the crusty wart on the butt of the world that he was. Paladin liked you, a lot. I think he mighta had a little thing for you. Aaaanyhow, he broke in, killed Jamal in a right messy manner an' then dropped him out to sea." Faith's hand lifted to her mouth and she realised, as she did, that she was trembling. "Oh, you have got to be pullin' my pin? You're like some kind of soft pillow of kind and forgiving and I just want to throw up on you. He was vile. He was worse than vile."

Faith shook her head. "Poor Paladin. To have that on his conscience, on his soul. It isn't fair. He shouldn't have done that."

PB rolled his eyes, then he looked at Faith as she continued to speak. "We've come so far. There's been so much. Sometimes, I feel more surrounded by death, and life, than I was then." PB smiled at her. "You are, love. Much more. Bein' surrounded by life mean bein' surrounded by death, but most people don't see it, cos they don't want to see it." Faith nodded her head and looked at him. "How many?" PB asked and she smiled slightly. "Fourteen," she replied. PB nodded. "That's too much, Faith. You know that, right?"

She shrugged, helplessly. "The answer is here, as much as it can be. I've checked the blood," she said. She looked, she sounded and she was tired. "I just need to sort it, access it." PB nodded. "What did the blood tell you, sugar plum?" Faith's smile at his term of endearment for her was genuine as she answered. "There are definitely two distinct diseases. One of which is not natural, not at all. There is something odd going on with the blood. I don't understand it yet, but I think it's alchemical in nature. It's making their blood behave very oddly, it's visible, though, under the magnifier. So, we will be able to target our treatment and not waste it on those it can not help." Money was a limited commodity, after all, and Faith saw no point in wasting it any more than she wanted to waste time. "So, I have a better idea of what. I just now need to find out how it got there, length of time, that kind of thing. And that, I'll only get when I sort out all this information in my head."

"Well, we'd best get started, then," he said and Faith smiled at him gratefully.

"You know," she said, her voice soft and low. "You were a very poor knitting teacher." It was how they had met, after all. "But you are a very good friend."

And so, they began.

62nd Vhalar, 718

[Faith Augustin]

What is dead, may never die...

Life, Death

&

The In-Between

Fourteen souls she had helped to pass over, fourteen deaths she had experienced. Each one of them, she saw a place; not as they were dying, but once they were dead they were pulled back to that place. It was brightly lit and there were flashes of things which she would recognise, she was sure. It was a lab of some kind; she found it hard to make sense of, to understand. But Faith lowered her head to the parchment on the desk and began noting things down. Some things were those she had seen. Others, things the ghosts had told her. First, she put out fourteen pieces of parchment and she wrote a name on each one. Each person had a name, each one an identity.

Slowly, carefully, she wrote out what she remembered which she thought might be relevant. For each person, she put a small pin in the map of the Dust Quarter on the wall, looking at where they lived. Where they worked, although not all of them did and where they had visited. Then, for each person she wrote down a list of details. Places, snippets she'd seen or they'd told her. Of course, Faith had also been treating these people and so here she gave thanks to Vri for his gifts to her. Thanks to the Immortal of Remembrance, she forgot nothing, no detail was ignored. Faith was meticulous in her note taking and the small death-diri looked at her with concern as she simply continued to work. She was savage in her determination, there was no doubt. PB knew Faith's tendency to ignore her own needs and he sighed, somewhat dramatically as she lowered her head once more to the parchment.

"Padraig's gonna rub me out for sure this time," he sighed and chuckled. "Whatcha doin' now, love?"

Faith glanced up at him and smiled. "Making patterns," she said, softly.

It's the timing which has saved us. They don't know us, they don't fully trust us; at the moment, we are not their first thought when they feel ill. That has, in this circumstance, saved us potentially a lot of time.

Of the fourteen names, all of them had tried other remedies, suggested by other people, first. Eleven of them had gone to the same place. The Herbal Tea, a shop off Cobblestun Street here in the Dust quarter. It is more than possible that the remaining three had, also; communication is difficult at best with them in this state. So, I must begin this investigation there. But before I do, I need to gather more information and put it together from what I have. The analysis of the blood is odd. It tells me many things, but nothing of use. However, it seems to almost be as though the treatments themselves simply can not impact it in any way.

It's like it can't see it.

It's like it can't see it.

Is that what this is? Is it? A disease which mirrors .... that makes sense. In four of the visions of death I saw, Vri was there. But he and the soul did not interact in any way. Crossing them over was hard; but I am mortal so they can see me. They've become ghosts because the Immortal of Death can not see them. And so he can not lead them across.

It's simple, but it's ingenious. Alchemy could do it. Padraig could. But the question remains why? And why is an alchemist doing this? I have to find out.

I have to stop it.

She pushed the piece of parchment away and considered it, thoughtfully. "It's like Lightbane. I have to ... we don't see ghosts, we don't see Immortals unless they choose to show themselves. It's like Lightbane, PB."

The chalk drawn bunny nodded his head, seriously. "Takin' yer word for it love. Takin' yer word."

62nd Vhalar, 718

[Faith Augustin]

What is dead, may never die...

Life, Death

&

The In-Between

Faith looked at the chalk rabbit and she recognised that she was, at best, starting from the middle. "Lightbane is an unhealthy extension of a natural occurrence," she explained. She didn't even launch into what occurrence, so PB figured this one was really winding her up. "That's.. I'm not very good at it, but I've been married to Padraig a long time. I know a little physics, I know a little alchemy." Even in this moment, her eyes softened at the mention of her husband's name.

"Alchemy takes the essence of something and applies it to something else. The light of a glow-worm is used to make a glowing liquid, things like that. You and I are not ... it isn't that Vri can't see us, of course he can. But we're not dead." PB looked down at himself and grinned, but then he arranged his expression into one which was Very Serious Indeed and he nodded. Faith didn't even notice. "And, if I were to take the treatment we've been giving to the patients, it wouldn't do anything. Because it doesn't see what's wrong with me, it has nothing to put right. So, Vri has no one to collect, and the treatment has nothing to put right. That's what they've created." PB nodded his head.

"Alright. I buy that. Question is, though, why?"

Faith nodded. "I don't know.. yet. But I'm starting to get an inkling. I keep seeing a room, I kept seeing it. Just after they died, sometimes just trill after, they went there. Pulled. Just like when I use the ability Famula grants me, the 'Beck and Call'? It's like... PB, what if it's an anchor? What if that's what they're doing? Forcing people to specific anchors. I mean, they're not staying behind for a reason, so the whole usual thing of anchoring to the reason you're staying behind? That doesn't apply here. What if that's what this is for? To find out if you can forcibly create a ghost and anchor it to something of your choosing? "

PB frowned deeply and nodded. "Neither Vri nor Famula are gonna like that. Ashan's not gonna think it's a bundle o' laughs an' I can't see Qylios bein' alright with it, really. Moseke is gonna spit a pine cone, an' Ymiden well he'll squat on the floor an' little nuggets o'surprise'll drop out of his bum-hole. Can you imagine what Xiur's gonna say, an' I mean... a'right, I mean, Cassion might think it's a good story, but I don't see him likin' it. I mean, they're bein' denied that greatest adventure, aren't they? Right. Yeah. Don't list all the Immortals, PB. Shurrup. Shuttin' up." Faith watched him incredulously and then shook her head.

"I can not begin to imagine the damage which could be wrought with this." Faith said, her mind working twenty to the dozen. "They are dead, but will never truly die, never be given the chance to cross over. Eventually, what will happen? How many souls... how many anchors? What about the ectoplasm?" Lowering her head to the parchment, she wrote down all that she had worked out, putting it all together, just in case. "We need to go to that Herbal Tea place. Alissa and I will make our way there. I'll get one of the workers here to fetch some of the Lightning Knights." If they would come or not, Faith wasn't sure. But then, with the alliance between the organisations in Rharne and her relationship with them; also, since she'd been made head of the Order of the Adunih here, she had faith that they would.

She would have to continue to believe that as they couldn't lose a moment. She wrote down, quickly, a note and then grabbed her sword. "Ready?" Faith asked and PB nodded.

"As I'll ever be, love," the chalk bunny said, cheerily. One way or another, there was going to be trouble.

62nd Vhalar, 718

[Arlo Creede]

Faith

Knowledge:
Investigation: Working out how clues fit together in diagnosis.
Investigation: Trying to diagnoses something which has been made by alchemy.
Medicine: Separating out two diseases with similar symptoms
Medicine: Identify weaknesses in treatment regimes.
Surgery: Using a magnifier to run blood tests.
Surgery: Look for similarities between typology of disease.

Points: 10 (These points may not be used for magic)

Comments: Great thread. I enjoy the give and take between PB and Faith, and the way Faith processes her way through a problem. Nice job!


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