The best of times, the worst of times

[just_a_minute]

Who: Anyone on the Triton's Mistress!
Where: Triton's Mistress
When: Backdated to June 10th through the 15th,16th?
What:  A combination log to include the following subjects:
             Welcoming a new crew member!!!
             A Casual Dinner Conversation
             The Tragedy of Eternal Bliss
             The copycat destruction of Deesuko Ballia
             And whatever else comes up~!
            
Warnings: Shouldn't be too bad towards the beginning. Language might become an issue in places XD. Pg-13!

When everyone had returned to their own ages, it had been expected by some that things would return to some semblance of normalcy. Unfortunately, there had been a slight hiccup in that plan but by roughly the 7th or 8th that too was put right. The stop at Himmelin had also afforded the crew an opportunity to break into a new line of trading that should fill their pockets with dubloons given enough time and the right connections.

With this stroke of good fortune.. surely more was to come........

[Feel free to make your own threads under the different sections or make a section of your own if you think of something you'd like to add that doesn't fit any of them. Just let us know what it is in the header and we're good to go!

HAVE FUN!]

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[just_a_minute]

The sound of a scuffle had gotten Ban to leave the confines of his cabin and head up to the deck. When he reached the top of the stairs, it was just in time to hear that powerful slap resound throughout the air. For a second, everything seemed to come to a standstill. Halting in his own steps, he surveyed the scene. It didn't take too long to piece together the puzzle.

They were all huddled around the nav, Elissa with a wild look in her eye, and a weapon in her hand. Hawke, Lenalee, and Harlock were probably trying to coax her out of doing something rash.



... She must have heard it then.......... His expression grew very grim. It was terrible to see her this way, and for such an apt reason. The crime that had been committed was a serious one with dire consequences. She'd need to get a hold of herself so she could channel that energy into something more thought out.



Then something else dawned on him. Ban was terrible about using the Nav and not asking for permission. If Elissa saw him, she might put two and two together and that rage might get turned on him. Tensing, he debated turning around and hightailing it. Cough. It might have been him that used it. Maybe. He wasn't going to own up to ANYTHING however. He could send her a message from the privacy and SAFETY of his cabin though.

[orderispeace]

The ruckus on the deck did not go unheard down in the rooms below. Grell's answer to Elissa's challenge. Having heard the message himself he knew that was the cause even before he made it topside to see the chaos being produced by the non-functional Nav. He shot a pointed look at Ban that instead of being accusatory held a measure of gratefulness to it. Wanting to help was one thing but rushing into the middle of a psychotic's vessel would be disastrously dangerous. Thank our hapless slacker for making sure that proved impossible.

"Elissa, enough."

The Grand Master spoke gently but not without a controlled measure of command as if he were speaking to one of his men that had gone too far.

"This will solve nothing."

[madeofswords]

Archer, fixing his glasses, looked down from the crow's nest with idle curiosity. He said nothing, simply wondering if things would peter out as he anticipated. There was a measure of chaos on the ship--and most of it was severely withdrawn.

Though, he wasn't much if he wasn't observant and aware of the habits of human beings. Elissa was the only one whose anger was being verbalized so clearly, if not without its spottiness in phrasing.

[questionablewit]

Hawke kept ahold of Elissa's arm, wondering what in the Void had happened to set her off. If Haytham wasn't able to calm her, they'd need to come up with something more drastic.

On the other hand, with this many people around? They could just sit on her until she calmed down. There were worse methods to get someone under control when they were overwrought.

[arcadiasailor]

This wasn't good he'd only seen the aftermath of the last time Elissa had been desperate to do something. He'd rather not have a dead Elissa again. He hopped that she be slightly more reasonable with the Pirate Witch pushing her buttons. He grabbed Elissa's arm just above where Lenalee had her grip. The poor girl was on the verge of crying. Elissa would certainly take advantage of any opening and he did not want that hammer to connect with his head.

Elissa, the Nav's spent your not going anywhere unless you give me a heading." It was the best he could do here.

[elissacousland]

The fact that Lenalee had slapped her was almost as startling as the slap itself. It was enough to shock Elissa into something less frantic, but the weight of her inability to do anything to help the screaming people in the journal made her sag in the grip of those who held her. Elissa's head fell forward as all of the fight went out of her.

"By the time we get there, they will be gone," she lamented. "We can't save anyone."

Another piercing scream sounded from Elissa's journal where it had landed, open, upon the deck. Even with the wind and the waves to muffle the transmission, the scream's terror was unmistakable.

[bloodheels]

Lenalee kept her eyes to the ground, perhaps slapping was a bad idea, but it seemed to stop the young lady from trying anything else. But Lenalee glanced over towards the journal, the screams couldn't be drowned out and were like daggers to Lenalee's ears. She hate it. She hated hearing such things as it just reminds her what people outside the crew were capable of.

"I'm sorry... I can understand how tough it can be hearing something like that and not being able to do anything." And she was telling the truth. She could recall seeing experiments being carried out on children even when she wasn't suppose to be there most likely. She never figured out what happened some of the time either, but it was never good either way.

Lenalee had gone to close the journal, there was no need to torture ones self any more after all. "I'm sure we can all discus what to do next, right?"

[orderispeace]

The way he stood unmoving on deck undoubtedly looked cold. The mass execution going on over the journal had brought Elissa's demons back to the surface. The ones she had spoken of to him, of the fire and deaths at her familial home or another incident just as terrible that she had not yet mentioned?

For him there had been a fire too. His family had been torn apart in the same way her had been. His father murdered in front of his eyes, mother forever changed by it, and his step sister spirited away to who knows where. Oddly it was not to this incident that his thoughts drifted, it was to Braddock and the retreat at Siege of Bergen op Zoom. A man had asked if he and his family could travel with their retreating forces and Braddock had cut them all down before Haytham could react. Cut down a man and his entire family for daring to ask for safe passage? It was that senseless cruelty that reminded him of Grell. Killing Braddock years later had not atoned for that loss of life but it had been satisfying. Just as Grell's would be.

"We can do little this time."

As Lenalee moved to close the book Haytham stepped into the gap to capture Elissa's arm and attempt to guide her away from the Nav.

"But we can work towards preventing violent acts of this nature in the future."

[questionablewit]

Hawke had supported Elissa after she sagged, when Lenalee released her. She let go when Haytham stepped forward to take over, and looked back towards Lenalee and the book. The screaming book.

Hawke had memories of screaming and fire that haunted her dreams, too.

"Can we find out who it was that did this?" she asked.

She didn't want vengeance, that was a dead end road. She didn't even want justice; it was too hard to define, and as much of a dead end road as vengeance, perhaps even the same road. She just aimed to make sure that people who committed atrocities wouldn't be able to repeat their actions.

Hawke believed in second chances. But not always.

[elissacousland]

Growing rage joined the horror Elissa was feeling and gave strength to her knees. For a moment, she had felt just as bleak as she had at the top of the Tower of Ishal when the darkspawn surged inward, but this time there was no merciful oblivion to follow. This time, there was no way to avoid what had happened.

"I did it," she snapped as she tried to yank her arm free of Haytham's grasp. "It was me. Tis my fault those people are dead."

[questionablewit]

"You didn't attack those people," Hawke said at once. It came out a bit more harshly than she intended; she knew something about blaming yourself for someone else's actions, too.

Even so, she continued. "It's the fault of whoever's done the attacking. No one else's. Don't let anyone trick you into thinking that you're responsible for those deaths. Especially not your own grief. It's not your fault. All you did was write a blighted letter."

That had to be what Elissa meant, after all. There was nothing else it could be.

[bloodheels]

"I have to agree with her in this case." Lenalee said pointing toward Hawke, usually it's the person who does the action that's the problem and she knew people could blame themselves, after all Allen did it an awful lot.

"I mean they reacted to a letter of all things. They were being childish by the sounds of it."

[orderispeace]

Struggle as she might his grip remained firm. He had been expecting some kind of resistance given how driven to leave the ship she had been.

"You spoke out for those who were unable to stand up for themselves. The only thing you might be guilty of is expecting the people here to hold any small measure of concern for others."

The righteous anger he felt began to bleed into his words, becoming harsher, even as he continued the attempt to draw her away from the Nav.

"Far more than a childish temper tantrum that needlessly cruel attack will be dealt with. We can not stop them now but we can act to prevent it's happening again."

[elissacousland]

Elissa relented and went with Haytham's urgings, her arms going limp, though her face was still full of grief and anger. "There will be no stopping them. Don't you see? It is madness."

She looked from Hawke to Harlock to Lenalee and the others before lifting her head to look up at Haytham. "Just... let me go. I do not belong here."

[arcadiasailor]

Harlock had gotten quite. It's so easy with just audio to let your imagination run wild. To easy to see his is own world up in flames.

"This isn't something that's your fault." There's a difference between someone doing something to spite you and say attacking civilians when you thought it was a military base. He's done the latter "You didn't order them out there to do it Elissa. You said you wouldn't stand for this and we won't. Don't say you don't belong here. As long as I'm Captain this ship doesn't turn people away and no one's kicking you off. As long as your in this world this is exactly where you belong" His grip on her tightens she's not going pull this kind crap.

[orderispeace]

Haytham had never thought to hear such a strong sentiment from Captain Harlock or watch him share in the righteous anger all of those trying to stop Elissa's one-woman army from leaving the ship seemed to feel. He was not easily impressed but the small speech had done just that. Who would have thought he would agree so entirely with their pirate Captain?

Nothing could be said to Harlock at present of course, Elissa's haunted eyes and weak plea needed to be dealt with first. Let her go? She didn't belong here? These words were... heartbreaking, if he admitted to the feeling.

"Don't allow the actions one madman to make you forget all that you are..."

His hand dropped away from her arm, freeing her to do what ever she wished.

"Or all that has happened on this ship."

Was there nothing here she needed to stay for?

[questionablewit]

"None of us belong here," Hawke added, her voice quiet and serious. She glanced at the now-closed book, still hearing the screams in her mind; they mixed with other screams she'd heard. From the shadows that crossed the faces of her fellow crew-members while listening, some or all of them had similar things in their own history. From their own homes, before Davy Jones decided to haul them to this crazy place.

Hawke had chosen this ship, this crew, because she'd gotten the impression they didn't stand idly by when something went wrong. That called to her.

She looked back at Elissa. "But that doesn't mean that we're not needed. You included." She tilted her head towards the book. "We can't bring back those lives, but we can fight this madness."

[elissacousland]

The Warden's very first response was to Haytham as his words held special meaning. "I didn't mean it like that," she said to him with a faint, sad smile. Gently, she extricated herself from the others that held her, finally taking the time to actually pay attention to what she held. The tools were poor excuses for weapons, but she would have used them with righteous fury had she been able to travel to the Gilded Rose.

And what would that have brought? Retaliation would provoke another move in an endless cycle that would eventually bring harm to all of those aboard the Mistress. It was inevitable that Grell would seek out the crew in an effort to upset Elissa further. What if they learned her favorite island was Himmelen? What if they found out about Jonas and the children in the Corsair Kingdom? For the first time in a long time, Elissa was truly afraid - and felt helpless.

"I... need time to think. I'm sorry," she apologized before trying to brush past everyone to head below deck.