multiversallogs | How many goodly creatures are there here!

How many goodly creatures are there here! :: GAME OPENER

Welcome to Baedal.

These are the first words newcomers hear when the door opens and they are invited into their new world. Some fuss, some fight, some need time before they have the courage to step outside. Others, shell-shocked or jaded, go quietly along with the proceedings.

They are given brief instructions; a repeat of what's described in the pamphlet and a door key.

Please stay in your room. There will be dinner soon.

It's been almost a day for some. For others, only an hour's wait. The latest newcomer is lead straight from the arrival room to the dining hall where candles and lanterns have been set out to compensate for failing electricity. (Those who have been here longer explain about rolling blackouts.) The food, however, is warm, varied and plentiful. Seating is open, and less conventional chair are available to those who need them.

There are many strange faces around the table, the majority of these recent arrivals. The proprietor of the Valhalla Inn is here, as is some of her staff. The Sheriff of Mog Hill is introduced, his function detailed. The reason for the dinner is explained:

It's a celebration. A new cohort has finally been officiated; CeidaryBlue523. Your cohort. Please. Introduce yourself. Mingle. Get to know your fellows, they will be your brothers and sisters for as long as you live in this city.

((OOC post for discussion and coordination.))

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Truthfully, Cassandra had stopped caring long ago about Ianto's--or rather, the previous two Iantos--blundering attempts to tell her about her own life. It was sort of amusing, in retrospect. But she couldn't help but appreciate this Ianto's diplomacy. Perhaps, she reasoned, she had come upon a slightly younger, less jaded version. That idea had some appeal, actually. After getting used to the previous Iantos, she almost liked them. Maybe a little less sarcasm and moping would make a difference.

"My name is Cassandra," she said bluntly. "I come from a city west of the Persian Empire called Troy." There, she had said it. "It doesn't exist in your time. You come from a good three thousand years after me. But we've met, twice." Her dark eyes flashed up at him again. "Yes. I am that Cassandra."

Ianto had the absurd feeling that he needed to sit down. This was a little much, really. Being kidnapped into some kind of prison-city was something he could deal with. He worked for Torchwood, after all, and one had to expect that they could at some point be taken by the rift, or held captive, or both. It wasn't pleasant, but he could man up and deal. But to then run into someone who knew him from two separate alternate realities, only to discover that she was the true and actual Cassandra of Troy... Well. Ianto was really beginning to think he ought to hole up in his room for a while.

"Right. Cassandra. Hello." In retrospect, awkward had been an understatement. "I don't suppose any introductions are necessary on my end. You know Jack as well, then?"

Ianto was dealing with this curiously. Cassandra definitely wanted to know this version better. Three whole minutes of conversation and not a snide remark or aside. She found herself letting go of a breath she had been unconsciously holding. Out of respect for him, she decided, she would try to dial back the madness as much as she could.

"Yes," she said in a calmer tone of voice. "I know Jack. Two different versions of him. One charming and insincere, the other somewhat...reclusive. I liked that second one better. Far more honest and forthright." Not to mention the fact that the second version had been the only version to show even the remotest spark of human compassion.

"About two years ago I was abducted to a place called Rowan," she explained quietly. "Along with several dozen other people like myself known as worldwalkers. Jack was our appointed leader in that world. You were his secretary. Then, about a year ago, I was taken to another world called Willaknapp. That was the world in which he was the recluse." She paused, wondering if she ought to share the next part. But being Cassandra, she was painfully honest. "You wanted nothing to do with him there."

She paused again. "This is a lot of information." Another mad laugh. They were like hiccups sometimes. She couldn't stop them. "Then again, you are one of the smartest people I've ever met."

This Ianto still does snide remarks and asides, but he isn't feeling very snarky right now. He's feeling out of his depth, which is really rather remarkable, considering.

"I-- Thank you?" She was complimenting him, but she still seemed half-mad, despite making perfect sense. Well, sort of perfect sense. Perfect sense for people whose lives aren't remotely normal in the first place. He could even imagine a world in which he wanted nothing to do with Jack, if things had gone differently, if Jack were a different person. But he wouldn't dwell on it. It wasn't him or his world, and he had too many other things to worry about right now to dwell on alternate realities.

"Look, I've only just been getting used to the whole being abducted thing. Jack is here, he was taken the same time I was, but it doesn't sound like the Jacks you knew are quite like him. For that matter, I may not be quite like the other Iantos. Can we maybe just forget about them for now and have a fresh start?"

Jack was here. Cassandra felt her lips curl into another smile that did not reach her eyes. She should have known. It seemed that her eternal damnation, if this was Tartarus, was to be forever tied to Captain Jack Harkness. This time, she didn't know whether to laugh or cry, so she did neither. She just shook her head slightly. "Of course Jack's here," she murmured.

Well, best to deal with Ianto first, as she was standing in front of him.

"Yes," she said, a bit less distant, "I think it would be best to start over. Although I can't obviously forget everything I already know. Amnesia is so rarely convenient, like that." She ran a hand through her wild curls. "Introduce yourself to me as you would normally be introduced."

In fact, Ianto knows just how convenient amnesia can be if you have the right pill and a glass of water, but now really isn't the time to go off on that particular tangent. Instead, he puts on a smile that, while forced, feels about right for an introduction and holds out a hand to shake.

"Hi. Ianto Jones. And you are?" It felt a little surreal to be doing this, but still much less surreal than his initial introduction to Cassandra.

Cassandra looked at his hand, then turned up to his face. "Hello, Ianto Jones," she said, almost sounding normal, in spite of her mania. She flashed an equally forced smile. "My name is Cassandra. I come from a city to the west of Persia, called Troy." She dipped into a bit of a curtsy, the kind she had seen Cordelia do with the customers back in Rowan. It was supposedly charming, although Cris told her once or twice it was just to give men the opportunity to look down ladies' blouses.

But Ianto wasn't interested in those sorts of things.

Was he?

Exactly how different was this version of Ianto?

She stood up again, tilting her head curiously. "Is this better?" she asked. "Are we doing well?"

Ianto dropped his hand, and did not look down Cassandra's blouse. Not because he wasn't inclined or didn't think Cassandra was lovely, but because circumstances had floored him enough that his mind just wasn't wandering in that direction. Later on, he'd happily appreciate her assets while doing absolutely nothing about it. He was a taken man, after all.

"Much better. This is the part where I'm surprised and say, 'the Cassandra of Troy?'" He affected a dramatic countenance. "And then I ask you various questions and accidentally tell you about things that haven't happened to you yet. But we can skip that bit, if it's all the same to you?"

She actually laughed at that. "I never minded them telling me about my life so much as the fact that they always got it wrong," she replied, a bit fondly. This was Ianto after all. "What was my favorite one? Let me think." She pursed her lips together for a moment. "Yes, there was the story about how I achieved prophecy because I fell asleep in the temple of Apollo and snakes licked my ears, allowing me to 'hear' the future." Cassandra rolled her eyes. "That never happened."

Her smile faded slowly. Old instincts were kicking in again and she couldn't fight them well. "I suppose I should warn you that he's here," she murmured. "Apollo. And many of the stories you might have heard about him are true." A series of bloody images flashed before her eyes. She shook her head to cast them aside. "I imagine you'll find him quite fascinating, so I won't try to stop you from speaking with him, but I will advise caution."

"...You're telling me Apollo actually--" exists "--was abducted with the rest of us?" Ianto had never believed the Greek gods had really existed in any form, but now the possibility that the gods had been real people was forming in his mind and demanding explanations. Were they aliens who got a kick out of controlling humans? Something more elemental, like the Mara?

He wouldn't ask Cassandra. She obviously believed Apollo was truly a god, and who was Ianto to say otherwise? But he could speculate, and he could be extremely cautious with any dealings having to do with people who could do things like what was done to Cassandra.

"Yes."

It really wasn't much of a startling revelation for Cassandra, probably because this was the second round for Apollo. Still, she had to admit, Willaknapp had been a surprise. "I did not think it would be possible for something to abduct someone capable of teleporting at will, but the universe can be a funny thing." She shrugged. "And his abilities are amusingly reduced. I rather enjoy seeing him brought down to our level."

She paused, debating whether or not to bring up the next point. "Jack wasn't too keen on him, in Willaknapp. Then again, he wasn't too keen on anyone. But he was particularly annoyed by some of Apollo's antics. I wonder if the version we've been...gifted with, here, has any memories from Troy."

"Ah," he said, feeling suddenly inarticulate. "Memories from Troy? I'm not sure. But I'll be sure to advise him of the situation." It was the best he could do, really. Jack didn't often talk about his time-traveling adventures except in amusing anecdotes, and as far as he could recall, Troy hadn't come up. He'd remember if it had.

"Other than teleportation, how are Apollo's abilities reduced?" That could be extremely important information, after all.

Cassandra shrugged. It was something she seemed to be doing a lot of, these days. "I don't really know," she admitted. "Everything just seems...diminished. Before, he could teleport himself from one end of the world to another. Now, little more than a few paces. Then again, I haven't tested it out thoroughly." She smirked. "Men get a bit sensitive about these things, after all. If you're ever in a public place and happen to see me speaking with an irritating blond man, mark him carefully."

She supposed she could arrange something. A meeting with Apollo that Ianto could be aware of, so that he could observe. Ianto was clever. And probably almost as good at watching and taking note as Cassandra was. Well...at least the last two Iantos had been. It was all turning into a headache, trying to keep score, trying to keep everything straight. But Cassandra knew it was important. Perhaps she'd try writing some of it down this time around.

"I must sound utterly mad," she mused. "I'm surprised you haven't run away in terror yet. Most people do."

Ianto sighed and shook his head. "You don't sound mad. Well...no more mad than I'm accustomed to." Working for Torchwood, Ianto had built up an immunity to the strange and impossible. He practically anticipated it. So Cassandra sounded downright reasonable -- if just slightly unhinged -- to Ianto's ears. That said, this was hands down one of the most outlandish situations he'd ever found himself in, so he was still having a bit of trouble really grasping onto the concept of Apollo as a proper deity. Just as well he was powered down.

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How many goodly creatures are there here! :: GAME OPENER

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