Act 2: Upheaval I - The Werewolf

11:48 PM, 3rd of April 422
At sea, near Myr

Steve, Konrad and Mihai all wake up at the same time in their respective quarters.

It's close to midnight and the Vulcan is cruising at a smooth pace. The rocking of the boat would usually feel soothing if it wasn't for the dream they've just had. The agents of the ISA's 17th squad had gone to Shadowstep and encountered fairies as well as their creators, the Elementals. The end of the dream was hazy; the squad had dispersed to carry out the colonel's orders and Jacob went to comfort his siblings, who were still deeply distressed after their arduous ordeal.

This dream felt so real, but unlike the one they've had after Snicker was defeated; their personality hadn't been changed by this. All of this had happened to someone else, and the feelings they experienced during this vision of the past would soon fade out, just like any normal dream.

Then, the party members realized that they had already met Jacob; back when they boarded a Coins ship to meet the Endless in Zest's Gate. Blackcliff had come with a fairy who called himself Felix.

Steve wakes up from the dream disconcerted. And with the taste of wine in his mouth which causes him to make a face and head for the galley to find something to wash the taste out with. He also finds himself hungry so midnight snack is the word.

When he arrives he pours himself a glass of water and sets to work making breakfast for himself. Anyone else who arrives will find him cooking and singing to himself in Harmony to pass the time.

Konrad's vision goes dark and he feels himself go stiff as a board, until he realizes he's in bed in his quarters. He claws at his head for a second.

"Is this how it goes?" he calls aloud. "Wait until we fall asleep, then hijack our memories and supplant them with your own? Never! I will avoid rest if that's what it takes to keep you from rooting around in there!"

He takes a bath and eats some dried food and then goes for a stroll with a normal ring in his hand, hoping he might run into the others.

Mihai wakes up with a gasp. He sits up, and proceeds to stare into space, bug-eyed. He gets up, paces around in exasperation. He grits his teeth and clenches his fists, and would punch the wall in anger, were Amber not sleeping in the next cabin. Then he becomes horrified, and suppresses it with further anger.

Once he calms himself down, he gets dressed and walks out. He glances around the ship.

Steve is already eating his toasts when his two companions enter the galley at the same time.

Konrad sits down with his ring in front of him and begins to start weaving. "I see you're all awake as well. We're coming up on Myr. How did you sleep?"

He starts trying to weave an effect into the ring.

Weaving 19

Mihai is walks in, but remains silent.

Steve takes a bite of toast and says, "It's midnight. How do you think? I've been having the craziest dream about a drunk Lorinthian woman who punches earth elementals."

Konrad's eyes move toward the black mage as he eats his jam-covered toast.

"Was her name...'May Breuer'?"

The black mage's nose scrunches up in confusion. "Yes. She spoke in the third person and drank a lot of wine. How do you know that?"

"I had a dream too, as clear in my mind as though it were yesterday. In it, I was a pencil-pushing surveillance agent who fenced as a hobby, and a woman, of all things. It had to be the person in my head, it couldn't be any other explanation. I learned some terrible things while I watched her memories play out from behind her eyes."

He looks at Mihai, trying to read him. Clearly he had just woken up as well, everyone had that same morning look. "You were there too, weren't you? Of course what we saw was real, it's just uncanny that we were all there as different people."

"If we'd all been there as the same person, i'd be even more worried." - he shrugs - "Though being two people at once felt a little overkill."

"Then green mages really are elemental slaves then. Will Amber be okay?" He looks at Mihai.

Konrad frowns. "I don't think so. Where is she now?"

Mihai shoots Konrad a look - "Leave her alone. She's had an Orb for months now."

Konrad waves it off dismissively. "Relax, I wouldn't hurt her. Just lock her in and be done with it. So, she has one too? Oh, what am I saying, of course she does. They gave her one after the demon turned on us, right?"

"I gave her one. Too many mindfuckers prowling around for me not to be careful."

"I suppose you're right. It's not really something I needed to know earlier, but good on you. Here's to your smart thinking." It's no toast, as he has no cup to raise.

"Hear, hear. To Mihai's good sense." Steve raises his toast before finishing it. After a drink of water he says, "Wait a minute. If I was May and Konrad was Sam, then who were you Mihai?"

Mihai sighs - "Nick and Smirk."

"That's rough. But I have to ask what was Nick like? Was he as snarky as Smirk implied?"

"Hmm..." - he considers - "The sense of humor was his, but not the way he went about it. When Smirk talked about Nick's thoughts like they were outrageous, that was mostly just him messing. He did that a lot to pull his leg, but..." - he tries to word it right - "...it's like he was trying to liven him up."

Then his mood goes darker.

"Phil put a damper on that pretty quick, though."

"They must have been successful in thwarting the elementals' plans. If they hadn't, would we be in this situation now? Would Jasmine have had an air elemental with her when she helped us fight in the 'dream land'?"

Konrad returns with vigor to his attempt to weave the ring in front of him.

"Successful?" - Mihai asks, bewildered - "Have you stopped to think about what's on the other side of the Dome right now?"

"So the Dome is a prison for elementals and that's why they want to bring it down? I mean, that's a kind of victory but they lost all their land and however many people were trapped there, right? Yeah, let's not win like that."