<A> A Council Of Four (Caelia, Isidore, Kyrie, Valyrmora)

[A Wandering Esper]

The beauty of her plan only dawned on her when she actually put it in motion - with Alva around, no one would really think to check on them - there was an adult 'watching' them, after all. So none of the aoidei would truly be the wiser about what they were plotting about.

Gathering her siblings had been easy enough, and Alva had only taken a bit longer
to find and clue in. The 'base of operations' would be her room - it was big enough for all of them, and filled with the things one might expect from a child her age - some toys and a few plush animals, mostly birds. It was painted in bright shades of pinks and purples.

Probably a little nauseating to anyone who wasn't a little girl, honestly.

Augury sat on her bed like an older goddess might have sat atop a throne, usually wide eyes narrow in a serious expression that was rarely seen on her face, the book she had jolted down what she had overheard of the conversation open on her knees. "I heard more last night. I heard mom and dad talk again." That she'd stumbled on a conversation once was a thing her sibilings and Alva were all aware of.

So she would read her notes and tell her siblings and Alva what she'd overhead. The problems. Their father's worries. The Lich King.

Then, she would pause. "We need to do something. That's enough." That much she did know. "Do you have an idea, Isi ?" He was smarter than he, after all. Surely he could think of something ?  

[midnight_medea]

Isidore took up a seat on the floor of his sisters room. Like Caelia he had sensed something not right with his father, he knew he was busy and that he had a lot of work to do. He also knew that he had been home less and less. Isidore didn't like that, he liked spending time with his dad and learning all the things he had to teach him. At his sister's question his expression grew equally serious.
"So dad has to go fight this King." he said thoughtfully, patting Scim's head as the dog chewed on a large bone. "But he has to help the souls too. Maybe we can help the souls?"

Alva sat cross legged on the floor, her arms leaning on her legs she listened carefully and looked to the little boy as he spoke in a way beyond his years just like his sister. Should she be encouraging them not to do anything? Surely their father's work was dangerous, she did not want to be part of getting them hurt.


Val was rather proud of the three of them, they clearly had inherited their mother's meticulous mind, and their father's determination. She knew she had to support them, they could not do anything alone and she feared if she tried to stop them they would do something anyway, though what could they do?"  

[ceedabear]

Kyrie sat on the floor next to Alva with her knees up and her feathered arms wrapped around them. She listened to her sister, then turned her eyes to her brother as he responded. That certainly sounded like the more manageable of the two options. She wasn't too certain she liked the idea of her father having to fight some evil sounding king alone though.

"How do we help them? Don't you help the living more than the dead Isi? And how can you help them Cae? All I know is that Daddy said that the crows sometimes helped him find the souls," she shrugged a little and looked between her siblings.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"That's what I was thinking... But im not sure how." Caelia would admit. "Im not sure there's anything I can do." And, being her father's daughter, it frustrated her, quite terribly in fact.

Caelia really didn't like not being able to do things.

What she could do is make the others aware and maybe think up a plan, so that was the role Augury had settled into for the time being. "Maybe you can ask them to find souls, Ky ? I mean, if they're all in one place then at least dad doesn't have to go looking ?" Certainly they'd do what her sister said, if she asked it. That was her one lead. Crows were, indeed, signs of such things. She knew it well, as she knew many of the lore surrounding the birds she so loved.

It was better than doing nothing, at least.  

[midnight_medea]

"Both really." Isidore said softly as he thought about their plan. "The other day I was at a ceremony and the spirits were there too, I saw them they wanted me to help them. I think maybe they're drawn to funerals at the moment, because dad can't help them all, I think funerals are important to the dead too." He gave a small shrug. "What do we do when we get them here though?" He asked, none of them had ever been to the Underworld and that was where the spirits needed to go.


"You will need a Soul Path." Val said softly, it was certainly one thing to gather the spirits it was quite another to send them on their journey. "I might be able to sense one, find one out that we can use. Sanngrigor could help." Though again she was concerned what would happen when they entered the underworld. No one was there controlling the process, it had to be chaos. "If we can open one then we can direct the spirits down into the underworld."  

[ceedabear]

Kyrie contemplated everything that was said for a long moment. She was fairly certain she couldn't do much to help the spirits once they were gathered. She was much like her sister in that regard. Though perhaps they could make sure that the spirits were happy and comfortable while they waited for Isi and Alva to help them into the Underworld, assuming they needed such things.

"So... it seems that we need to gather the spirits and find them a path. Cae, you could help me with the crows? Daddy said that they lead him to spirits, but what if I could send them out and have them tell the spirits where to come? You could help me figure out a way to tell them to follow them," she suggested, then turned her head to her brother. "You could tell us where to send them for the spirits gathering at funerals Isi."  

[A Wandering Esper]

Oh ! She knew what soul paths were ! "Dad told me about these once. They're like the roads the spirits take to go to the Underworld. Like... though the ground itself, but most people can't see them ? He said that sometimes they just know they're here and follow them on their own, too, like down the world tree. So if we find one, they might just go down on their own ?"

That would certainly be handy, though, she wasn't sure how to find one.

What her brother said made sense to her. "The living care a lot about funerals. Why wouldn't the spirits too ? They'd want their wishes to be fulfilled, right ?" Being closeby was one way to be sure.

Hn. "I'll help, Ky. We'll find a way." In between the five of them, they had to be able to find something that worked, right ? "We can ask the valkyries too. I just wanted to tell you all first."  

[midnight_medea]

Isidore shook his head.
"Not get the spirits from funerals, but maybe we could have a funeral? It might attract some spirits, it might make some of them happier?" It was just a suggestion but in his mind it made sense. "If they're happier they might not be so noisy and then it will be easier for us to get them to go where we want." He was hopeful of course, it seemed like a very good plan in theory, his mother probably would have questioned it however.

Alva listened to the three of them like Isidore she thought it sounded like a rather good plan, perhaps too good. It seemed rather simple.
"So, the girls will use crows to bring the spirits to us, then Isidore, myself and the Valkyries will help to calm them and direct them into the Underworld." She looked up at the ceiling as if contemplating all the eventualities.
"What if there are bad spirits, could they be dangerous?" She asked, supposing someone should be the adult.  

[ceedabear]

"So sort of like inviting everyone to a party," Kyrie declared with a decisive nod. It made perfect sense to her. Send out the crows to send out the invitations and have everyone gather for a service to honor their passing. Though Alva's words brought that line of thought to a screeching halt. You couldn't just invite only nice spirits to an event like this one. That wouldn't really solve their father's problem. In fact, it wouldn't solve anyone's problems. She imagined that bad spirits could cause some serious problems if they were not taken care of properly.

"Can the Valkyries make sure they don't cause trouble?" she asked and looked around for any sort of confirmation or denial.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Caelia hadn't exactly thought that far, to be honest - some spirits were bad, she knew that much at least. Just like people. Her expression turned into a thoughtful pout, and let legs kicked lightly at the side of her bed - the movement made an owl plushie flop over to the side of her pillow.

She honestly had no idea how to try to control what she couldn't see or hear. How could she even know that they were even here ? Kyrie's mention of the valkyries seemed to be the solution.

"Hrist can." She was certain of that much. Hrist was really good at this kinda thing, after all. "And the others can help her."  

[midnight_medea]

"I can a little i think." Isidore said softly, he had managed to calm down the spirits at the funeral in St Kore, perhaps he would be able to calm the ones that were angry, and besides that was the idea behind the funeral. To help relax them and make them want to move on to the Underworld. "We should tell them and ask them if they will help us." The young god paused in his thoughts. "But what if they tell mum and dad, won't they get mad at us?" Their parents would be scarier than any spirit, that he was sure of.

That made Alva smirk a little, surely if their parents would get that mad they probably shouldn't be doing it, though they were not adultless she supposed and if the Valkyries and Val approved, well then there was no real problem.

Val didn't think it was too much of a problem at all. They were smart kids and had thought it through.
"I will speak with the Valkyries, they might be more receptive to me perhaps, less likely to speak with your parents.  

[ceedabear]

"Surely if you tell them how important this is, they will not want to tell Mom and Dad. They're so busy and we can really do this as long as we all work together," Kyrie nodded with conviction. "I think you can do a lot to calm them down Isi. But we'll ask them to be there just in case. Cae, how do you think we can tell the spirits where to go through the crows? Do you think we should make a sign of some kind or something?" She knew signs were her sister's department, though she was not very sure if it worked that way for her. Still, they had to figure out some way to make it obvious to the spirits that the crows were trying to tell them something.  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Yeah, we can pull it off." Caelia was convinced of that much. This was important, more than anything else they had ever done. It was also a display of love - they wouldn't be helping their dad if they were upset with him, after all.

She could never hate her daddy. It was so silly of him to think that, and so they would prove him wrong.

"I think we can. Maybe they'll be able to see the path of their flight. There has to be a way somehow or else it couldn't be done without someone else making it happen, right ?" She saw it that way, at least.  

[midnight_medea]

Again, as was becoming frequent Valyrmora tried to reach in the depths of what little memory she had for something that might be of use to them.
"St Kore." She said throughtfully, it couldn't be a conicidence that the church bore the name of her brother's little plaything. "The church has an entrance to the Underworld via catacombs, it is likely that there is a soul path there too, we could direct the crows and spirits to the church, there Isidore can arrange a funeral and we can open the soul path.

Well that made a lot of sense, Isi kew there was something special about the old church and if there were catacombs under the church then perhaps that was what drew him there.
"Maybe..." He started, looking down at Scim. "Maybe we could tell daddy that we don't mind that he's busy too. If he thinks we're unpset with him. We can tell him that we're not. We could make him something too."

 

[ceedabear]

Kyrie nodded in agreement with her sister. She had never really exercised her connection to her crow brethren, but now was as good of a time as any. The best time, actually, if it was going to help their father. Looking to Alva as Valyrmora spoke, she nodded once more. That sounded like a plan to her and it would be easy to direct the crows to lead the spirits to the church. Her brother's suggestion made her heart soar.
"Yes! I agree Isi," she nodded once more. "It is not his fault that he is so busy and he's still our daddy. That won't change. We could do a special painting or maybe make him something with bones." He liked bones. It made sense that would make a good gift for him.