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Sighing, Jester let her hands drop to her sides, her third message spell fizzling out with no response. She’d thought that maybe giving Cree a day would help, but nope!!! The cat lady was unresponsive.
“Well,” she mumbled to the rest of the Nein, who were anxiously watching, waiting for a response, “She’s not responding.”
Immediately, their faces fell. Caduceus stood quietly, patting her shoulder. “It’s okay. From what you’ve told me, she isn’t the most trusting of people.”
“I know, but why would she leave the Gentleman? He’s so cool, and he’s so powerful, why would she give that up?”
“Maybe she got a better job offer elsewhere.”
Jester opened her mouth to respond, and then thought for a second. “D’you reckon that spellcaster lady caught up with her?”
“I mean, it’s possible,” Beau leant back, her face twisted into that look that she has when she’s trying to remember something. “Do we know if De Rogna has left Rexxentrum at all recently?”
“Hm,” Jester plopped herself down on the floor of the central room, crossing her legs and leaning her elbows on her knees, fingers knotted in front of her. “Cree left two months ago, right? This was WAYYYYY before the peace talks.”
“Listen, maybe you could…” Caleb, leaning on the table next to Beau, waved a hand. “Just scry on her? If she won’t respond, it might be the only way. I know we don’t have anything of hers, but-”
“It’s alright! I can probably do it without that. Okay,” Inhaling deeply, jester placed one hand on each knee, closing her eyes. “Here goes.”
The ten minutes it took to cast Scrying was tense - every member kept quiet, although Jester could hear paper rustling and the occasional mutter from Beau as she leafed through her notes, and Caduceus’ quiet, rhythmical breathing. And then, finally, the final minute ticked to a close, and Jester felt a pair of warm hands ghost over hers. She giggled quietly.
“Hey, traveller.”
“Hello, Jester.”
She could hear the smile in his voice as he took her hands and pulled and Jester could feel herself flying through space, infinitely fast, safe and warm in the Traveller’s grasp. She heard a quiet “Be careful with this one, alright?” and then -
Stillness.
Jester cracked open one eye and was instantly thrown by how bright everything was. Glaring white surrounded her on all sides, a flat, hazy, snow-covered landscape stretching out before her. Turning, Jester was greeted by the yawning mouth of a cave, icicles hanging from the edge like razor teeth. And, standing below them, a dark-furred Tabaxi.
Cree didn’t look like she was doing great. She was huddled, cloak pulled around her, eyes constantly scanning the landscape as she shaded them with one paw. As Jester drifted closer, she could tell that Cree was shivering slightly.
The tabaxi remained there for about a minute, before her ears pricked up and her eyes glazed over slightly. Then, without warning, she turned and swiftly plunged into the cave, and Jester followed.
Inside the cave was darkness. Jester could just about see, though the twisting tunnels and branching routes quickly eliminated any of the glaring light that spilled in through the cave mouth. It took another few minutes before Cree stopped, and up ahead, Jester could see a dead end - a completely flat wall, cutting straight through the large, ice littered tunnel. Standing in front of it were two indistinct figures, their forms hidden by thick coats and the grey smudginess of darkvision.
“One of you really should have replaced me on watch, you know,” Cree called out, voice echoing in the space. “We no longer have enough people in the group to be this careless.”
“I know, but he wanted you to come!” One of the figures turned towards Cree, gesturing at the wall in front of them, their voice unfamiliar. “He said that everyone needed to be here, and besides, we can’t go much further in.”
“So it’s here?” Cree shifted warily, and out of the corner of her eye, Jester caught Cree’s hand shifting ever so slightly towards her weapon. “She was telling the truth?”
“Apparently so,” A second voice rang out.
Jester might be resistant to low temperatures, but in that moment, her blood ran colder than it ever had.
She knew that voice.
She remembered that voice perfectly. The accent was off, and the tone much cooler and more reserved than she was used to, but fuck, Jester knew that voice.
The second figure continued, completely unaware of Jester and her growing panic. “I wasn’t sure whether to trust her, seeing as the first time we did, it looked like it got me killed, but it looks like De Rogna’s information was correct after all. This is our ticket there.”
The figure shifted, drawing two blades, and Jester let out a whimper as the two beautiful glass scimitars in the figure’s hands lit up with a familiar, icy glow, silhouetting their holder perfectly. Light glinted off of his unadorned horns as he lifted one to the wall, revealing the intricate web of carvings in its surface. Lines spiralled and cut and ran from nine large gems, set in the wall. Nine beautiful red stones.
The figure turned, and his eyes, red and featureless as the gems set in the wall, gleamed in the low light as he smiled at Cree.
“It’s the city,” Lucien said. “It’s our route to the city.”