Open Post: The Arms of the Emperor are Never Idle

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon spends her mornings in the practice yard, bright and early, despite the cold. She jogs and stretches to get her blood pumping and her muscles warm before she draws her sword, and then after drills she brings Tally her coffee, and then after that it's back to more sword—unless Tally hauls her off to some other activity, which she pretends to hate but is secretly devastatingly grateful for. The absolute worst part of this place is all the time. Endless stretches of time, with barely any work to be done.

In some ways it's just like the Ninth—except on the Ninth she knew her exits. They were few, sure, and near-impossible, but she knew them: buy her way out, fight her way out, trick her way out, or truly earn it.

None of those apply, here.

She breaks for lunch, and wanders the halls trying to locate various Clues and Mysteries that might end up giving her a way out, and mostly just finds people. More and more people.

She's not antisocial. She likes the people here, more than she's openly liked anyone in her life, individually or as a group. But a gnawing restlessness keeps her on the move rather than letting her time fill up with idle conversation as so many here do. She's always hunting for something to keep her busy, to wear out her body so that when she sleeps her mind is forced to rest rather than serving her a lovely buffet of the worst things she's ever seen and even worse things she hasn't, the things she was yoinked away just in time to miss.

Sometimes it even works.

[This post is open in perpetuity until something happens to make me close it, at which point I will edit it and say so! Feel free to find Gideon in the morning doing sword drills, or tooling around inside, opening and closing drawers and trying peel the wallpaper off in case there's flesh underneath.]

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[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji battles back a pang of something sorrowful, reflecting on how very young Gideon is. "That was its answer. When I speak with spirits in this way, they are unable to lie to me."

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon looks down at her sword, frowning. "But--" The only people who could blame her for their deaths would be Harrow's parents, who were tied way too tight to their own hideous corpses to take a joyride off-planet in her sword, and--"No way it's Ortus," she says, disbelieving. That sentence it'd claimed to be named did kind of sound like an excerpt from one of his bad poems,¹ but he would never introduce himself without a proud of the Ninth on the end, like a kicked dog still looking for treats.

¹ With apologies to Mr. Shakespeare.

[lightbearinglord]

Obviously, Lan Wangji is incapable of having any opinion on the likelihood of this spirit being or not being Ortus. He keeps a level gaze trained on Gideon. "What else would you have me ask?"

[ninth_cavalier]

"Ah, hell, I don't know," says Gideon. "Is there a way to tell if it's, like--is it just hanging out? Does it want revenge on me for killing it?" She kind of wants it out, but if it's contained right now and letting it out would un-contain it, that's bad, and on the other hand if letting it out would dissipate it...well, it's sort of her only thing, right? From home? Not just the Ninth, fuck the Ninth, but--from her whole dimension.

[lightbearinglord]

It seems unlikely that the sword would cooperate with Gideon if it wanted vengeance on her, but then, as ever, Lan Wangji must remind himself that he knows only the rules for one specific world. He draws up a little additional qi to touch Wangji's strings as he asks the next question, enough to ensure without a doubt that the answer is compelled and that it is truthful. What do you want?

This question often takes some additional time. Spirits cannot refuse him, but sometimes even they do not know what it is that ties them to the world of the living beyond death. Lan Wangji waits until, at last, his qin begins to respond.

"It wants to kill God," he informs Gideon calmly.

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon goes wide-eyed. "It--son of a bitch. It gave me the gun."

For the first time in her life, she kind of wants to drop her sword. Instead she lifts it, holding it out in front of her. "Listen. Whoever you are. You gotta calm down with that. We're not even in the same universe as the Emperor Undying. Also, you didn't give me any fucking bullets. So I don't know what you expect me to do with all that, anyway. But if you just--chill out and keep being a part of me, we're gonna get back there, and then maybe we can work something out. After the part where I save Harrow's life and she grovels in front of me for a month. Capisce?"

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji knows exactly enough about guns to be aware that they are unreasonably dangerous. He also knows that Gideon's claim about getting back to where she came from is almost certainly untrue. With his hands poised still above the qin, he looks quietly at Gideon. "Do you know the spirit's identity now?"

[ninth_cavalier]

"Not exactly," says Gideon, "but I know enough." Whatever revenant is attached to her blade is clearly a member of Blood of Eden. Presumably they'd been held in the prison on the Ninth, and died in captivity, and it had managed to hop off and hitch a ride with her when its skeleton had been taken for boiling and processing before being sent to work. "The only thing I don't get is why it thinks I killed it. I've never even been to the prison section of the Ninth."

[lightbearinglord]

A dead prisoner? How gruesome. Lan Wangji eyes Gideon's blade with subdued interest. "Is Gideon a common given name in your world? It said only that, with no family name."

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon shakes her head. "No. I mean—I don't know. Not on the Ninth, it isn't. Nav, my last name, the Ninth House gave me that. But my mom named me Gideon." Sort of.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji hesitates. Anyone can lie, but he is inclined to believe Gideon's stammering denial that she has ever killed anyone. For all her bravado and irreverence, he has thought mostly of her desperation and vulnerability since their first meeting. "For most spirits, the first step is liberation. That entails resolving whatever business keeps them from moving into the reincarnation cycle." He intends this evocative silence to, essentially, mean I doubt we can kill God, in this case.

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon sighs. "So I'm stuck with it." That's probably fine—like she said, it's kind of her only link back to her actual dimension. "At least I know it's there? I guess? In case it decides to stop cooperating sometime?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." At that, Lan Wangji is quiet for a careful stretch. He has his hands hovering over Wangji's strings still, mostly out of habit. "Unless you want me to try to suppress or eliminate it."

[ninth_cavalier]

"Oh," says Gideon. "I—no. Not yet, anyway? It seems to be working with me for now. And I might think of other stuff I want to ask it?"

[lightbearinglord]

"Do you have further questions now?" Lan Wangji asks. He would, if under another truth spell just now, be forced to admit to some private but deep satisfaction at having a chance to use Wangji in this way, for the first time in many months.

[ninth_cavalier]

If Gideon were home, she'd have a lot, because the answers would be strategically necessary; she'd ask about Blood of Eden plans, about strongholds, about numbers, because if Gideon were home, she'd be with Harrow, and Harrow would be a Saint, and the Saints were dedicated to the protection of the Emperor. But Gideon is not home, and that's another reason to keep the ghost around—it's basically her prisoner, right now, and when she gets home she'll be able to get someone to channel it and learn all that anyway.

But that means her questions now get to be more selfish. "Can you ask it if it's been helping me? Like, with my swordplay?" If the answer's yes she's going to feel so fucking cheated.

[lightbearinglord]

Lan Wangji immediately grasps the urgency of the question. If he discovered that his own ability with a sword was somehow augmented by a force beyond his cultivation, he would be indescribably dissatisfied. He gives Gideon a curt nod and touches fingers to strings to convey the question with care.

This time, the response comes quickly, and in the form of a single note. Almost amused, but also relieved on Gideon's behalf, he says, "No."

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon sags, immensely relieved. "Great. Okay. Hoo." She looks down at her sword again. "Um—I think that's it for now? I'd kind of like to try sparring again, if you're still interested? It's cool if you're not, though—I know our little aborted bout wasn't exactly impressive on my part."

[lightbearinglord]

"I am," Lan Wangji assures her. He retrieves his qin's covering from within his sleeve and, with the efficiency of someone who has done this more times than he can possibly count, bundles up the instrument and slings it back into place on his back. "We have determined that you cannot disarm me. That doesn't preclude further learning."

[ninth_cavalier]

"Right," agrees Gideon, adjusting her grip. "There's other ways to win a fight." She and Luo Binghe had fought til first blood, but it doesn't seem advisable to tell Lan Wangji that--he seems concerned about stuff like blood and death and shit.

[lightbearinglord]

Several other ways, but they should likely stick with swords for today. Lan Wangji draws Bichen again. He lets a pause pass between them before asking, in his most inscrutable voice, "Would you like me to do flips?"

[ninth_cavalier]

Gideon laughs. "Yeah," she says. "I mean, maybe not immediately. But feel free to sprinkle 'em in, keep me on my toes." She makes a face. "Probably literally."

[lightbearinglord]

"Mn." Lan Wangji considers her. There seems no reason to waste time on further niceties, so he brings Bichen to bear, closing the distance between them. This time, he approaches on the offensive, Bichen a flurry of clean slices, although he does not yet intend to disarm Gideon himself. His aim is to see how she responds.

[ninth_cavalier]

Lan Wangji is fast, and Gideon gets the sense that he's not even particularly trying to be--that if he'd wanted to cut her, he would have cut her, and this is more him taking her measure. She's glad of this little bit of mercy, because it gives her a chance to reacquaint herself with her sword.

It feels the same, when she swings it to block his strikes. It feels like it always has, ever since Aiglemene's advice really clicked and she managed to swing with real purpose, to put herself into the metal and let it connect to her. Just because someone else has a hand on the blade doesn't make it any less hers. In fact, and she might totally be making this up, but it feels more like there's someone standing behind her, resting a hand between her shoulder-blades, than it does anyone wrestling her for the sword.

She shakes herself and concentrates on the fight--not trying, yet, to gain the offensive, but seeing what she can read from Lan Wangji's posture about where he might aim next. He fights with shocking fluidity for someone who, when still, looks like he might be carved of marble, and the fluttering robes obscure a lot--but he still has muscle, under his layers of robes, and muscle is Gideon's native tongue.

[lightbearinglord]

Indeed, if Lan Wangji wanted to win this fight decisively, he is certain that he could. It would not be effortless: Gideon is formidable in her own right, rooted in her physical strength along with the sheer size of her sword. But he could, if that became his purpose.

Since it is not, he continues as he began. Again, Bichen becomes an extension of his arm and of his qi. He does not yet do any flips, as they are not yet necessary, but he whirls easily in place to continue his measured onslaught. Gideon may notice that each time he moves, he places most of his weight on one foot, using that as an anchor for the subsequent swing of his sword.