Th-Thap! Props slapped a half-empty glass of water onto the mess hall table and slumped into a chair. The mare heaved and wheezed, a frazzled, sweaty mess. "Okay. I give up. Nancy Jane's womb wins."
Booster Spice slumped into the chair next to her. "Yeah..." He adjusted his green goggles. "What she said."
"Surely there must be something you're missing," Pilate said from across the table where he sat with Bellesmith. "You've been able to raise the ship before."
"I had handsome to lend me a cloven hoof before!" Props sputtered, fanning herself with a hoof. "Nnngh... whose blood do I have to drink for some magical air conditioning?"
Zaid slid up in a stool, smirking. "Do you accept volunteers?"
"Mehhhhhhhhhh."
Zaid sighed. "Sorry I'm not the elk, blondie. I wish I knew what doo's to hickey inside the cockpit to help you."
"Not your fault, Zaidy Waidy," Props murmured. "This ship was simply built to cater to one soul's antlers and theirs alone."
"They know we're grounded the longer they keep that reindeer, right?" Josho rasped.
"Who are 'they,' Josho?" Belle asked.
"That Duchess chick and her house of silk-threaded bucks, that's who-they."
"Josho, Floydien has flown thousand of miles to reunite with his family," Belle said. "Even if this wasn't an astronomically amazing coincidence, we still owe Floydien some time to catch up with himself!"
"Doesn't seem to me like he wants to find himself."
"I would venture to say that finding out about his true past is certainly worth the risk!"
"Oh yeah?" Josho frowned. "And what about the risk to us?! Or to Val Roa?! Or any other place being touched by Queen Chrysalis' tentacles?!"
Ebon strolled in from the kitchen with little white bowls. "Mother doesn't have tentacles," he said, placing one dish in front of Josho.
"For Ledo's sake!" Josho grumbled. "Stop calling her that!"
Ebon winced slightly. "I... I-I can't help it."
Josho blinked at the dish. "Now, what the hell's this?"
"Canned peach slices..." Ebon sighed. "Sorry, but with the power dead, it's the best I can muster up."
"Well then..." Josho sighed while he nevertheless levitated a slice to his lips. "Hope the deer of Sehlp need more fertilizer..."
"Floydien has put up with a lot throughout this journey, Josho," Pilate said. "He endured several attacks to his ship. The Jury has had to go through repairs on multiple occasions. The elk lost Simon..."
"Yeah?" Josho gulped a fruity morsel down. "And your point?"
"If there's a chance that he can get the cobwebs untangled from his mind, then I think we owe him this visit in order to assist him with it!"
"So, in other words, we're having another extended stay in Craptown, Nowhere. Is that right?"
"Erm... well..."
"Great!" Josho spat. "That's just perfect! First Abinadi! Then Durandana! Now our little Call of Jury Duty Buck Ops all over this friggin' continent. But noooooo! Let's delay our climactic headbutt with Chrysalis even more!"
"Josho..." Belle sighed.
"Oooh! I know! Next, let's stop by Zebramalia and let Pilate reunite with his extended family!" He slapped a table. "An entire culture of cyborg zebras, bumping blindly into each other—except for three times a day when they all have to bow towards a giant light bulb in the east!"
"Ladies and gentlecolts." Zaid yawned, pointing in Josho's direction. "The pupil has become the master!"
"Nopony's giving up on Val Roa, Mister Josho!" Booster Spice exclaimed.
"Well it sure as Hell seems like it!" Josho frowned. "I mean, why did we come to this 'House of Sehlp' manor to begin with?! To pick out curtains?!"
"Floydien just needs—"
"Let Floydien figure Floydien out on Floydien's own time, Ledo spit it!" Josho went cross-eyed. "Ugh! Listen to me! I'm starting to talk like him!" He frowned at Ebon. "What'd you put into these things?"
Ebon grinned plastically at him. "All of my tender love and devotion."
"Crud. It's poison. I knew it."
Props giggled tiredly, her breath muffled against the table top. "I wonder what Uncky Propsy would do at a time like this..."
"Hopefully shave," Zaid muttered.
Fwooosh! Rainbow Dash flew into the room. "Hey guys?"
Everyone looked over.
"Is it good news?" Booster asked. "Cuz we don't have anything."
"Has Floydien delivered a boy or a girl?" Zaid droned.
"We need to meet up," Rainbow said. "Real quick."
"Well, we are here, aren't we?" Belle asked. "Most of us, at least."
"I don't mean here," Rainbow said. She pointed out the nearest porthole. "In the manor. Arcanista wants to see us."
"Truly?" Pilate leaned his head aside. "What's come up?"
"Well, she wants to discuss Val Roa and the West Gate n'stuff."
"Friggin' finally!" Josho scarfed up the rest of his bowl's worth of fruit, gulped it down, and stood up. "Point and click! I'll gallop there in a blink!"
"What's going on, Dashie?" Props asked. "Is it about Floydien?"
"Well, more or less," Rainbow said. She took a deep breath, rubbing her forelimbs together. "You see, by bringing Floydien here, we've flipped the Duchess' life upside down... but—like—in a good way." She gulped and smiled faintly. "Now, I think she's ready to do us a favor in return."
"You mean..." Booster Spice sat up, blinking wide. "She's going to help us find a way into Val Roa?"
"She won't be helping us anywhere if we're a sweaty, nasty mess." She spun around. "So freshen up! Shower up! Throw up! Whatever it takes! I want us all at the meeting and I want it to go awesomely!"
Belle immediately stood up. "I'll go fetch Kera."
"Roarke's already summoning her and Eagle Eye."
"Yes, but can Roarke give Kera a bath?"
"... ... ...go fetch Kera."
"Thanks, Rainbow."
"The rest of you, put on your game faces." Rainbow pointed at her fuzzy muzzle as she grinned. "Because this is what we've been waiting for..."
Alone in strange bedquarters, the elk sat on his haunches before a sun-lit desk. Floydien's eyes squinted as he clasped another letter in his hooves, unfolded the contents from its envelope, and scanned over the words:
"The dusty plains south of the bulwarks received its first rainfall in years. There was a risk of mudslides, so we evacuated the families along the labor quarter. Their houses aren't as sturdy as the apartments of the Val Roan noble districts in the heart of the city, but we think that they'll hold against the ensuing deluge. Still, it doesn't hurt to be careful. This relocation is merely a precautionary measure more than anything. As much as I treasure the ability to save these equine souls, I still feel the pang in my gut that this is a novice task that could just as easily be carried out by lower-ranking officers. I love my father, but I feel as though he is deliberately relegating me to menial duties when—with my talent and skill—I could be very easily be making a difference along the Southern Front, holding the savage and heartless Cartel at Bay. I have always sympathized with the loss of your forbearers, my love, but there are times when I envy the independence and authority you have as a Duke. One would think that all of these years at the military academy would have afforded me just as much control, but—alas—we both know that is not how the Val Roan system chooses to wor—"
Gritting his teeth, Floydien crumpled the paper up and shuffled to the next. His red eyes darted down the sheet.
"...on nights like these, I think of the time we've spent together, and the future we can still have. You're always so thoughtful, so courageous, and yet there's a sadness about you. It's a mystery to someone like me. I'm used to beating disagreeable things in with a mace or a spear, but with you—I've discovered a delicate balance that I'm terribly afraid of shattering. There are times when I wish you would just share more about yourself, but it feels selfish to ask—"
Seething, Floydien fumbled his way to the next sheet.
"...the other day with General Saikano. I do not understand why he is taking sides with the Chancellor of the High Council. So many politics have polluted the military defense system. It's pathetic. What will happen if we are invaded by the Cartel? Or the Lounge? Will we throw quill and ink at them?! And what of the sandstorms from the Grand Choke—"
"Nnnngh..." Floydien snarled, shuffling through sheets, sheets, sheets. "Floydien doesn't know you..."
"...nightmares of my mother's face from inside the house fire. I remember what you told me that evening in the gardens around the Council Chambers. You were always so understanding of my—"
"Floydien... d-doesn't know you!" He shoved all of the papers onto the floor, knocking over a table in the process. Seething, he clutched at his face while bolts of electricity danced between his antlers. "What... d-does Floydien miss...?" He clenched his eyes shut. "...the sp-spit... or the shimmer...?" He shook his head. "The stabby-stabs took everything... but Nancy Jane... Nancy Jane..."
With an iron-wrought frown, he spun around and marched across the room.
"Floydien doesn't know this Midnite Bastion! H-how can he?!" He snarled loudly, bursting through the door. "Who is this boomer who stabs Floydien so—?!" He froze, blinking.
The parlor room was full of Jurists. Kera sat on a plush stool with freshly braided hair. She grinned, waving ecstatically from beside Pilate and Belle. Rainbow Dash hovered in the corner while Roarke and Josho stood beneath a window. Eagle and Ebon smiled at Floydien's entrance. They sat in a pair of chairs next to a tapestry that overshadowed Booster Spice and Zaid. Props leapt up from Zaid's side, bounced across the room, and practically tackled Floydien with a hug.
"Handsommmme!" She sang. "Heeeeeeee-Heeheehee!" She nuzzled his chest with her silky blonde hair, pausing to smile up at him. "How's it hoofin', big guy?!"
Floydien bit his lip.
Props blinked. Her ears drooped with concern.
The Jurists all stared at the elk.
"Erm..." Floydien's nostrils flared as his antlers dimmed. "Boomers are... smelling fresh fresh today."
"I would certainly hope so," Bellesmith exhaled. Pilate chuckled.
"There's a reason for that, big guy," Rainbow said from where she levitated. "We're having a meeting."
"A circle of spit?"
"So to speak, brother."
Floydien looked across the room.
Duchess Arcanista sat daintily on the edge of a regal sofa, wearing elegant silks. A quartet of guards stood around her as she smiled across the way at her sibling. "Come, join me and your friends." Her eyes narrowed. "We are discussing Val Roa."
Floydien gulped. "Yes yes yes..."
That's my province you're shit-mouthing, Mr. Josho.
Heyyyyyyy! Congrats, Saikano!
Not sure if Saikano will be a gruff father-to-his-men type leader, protecting his/her troops from politics as best s/he can, or evil as shit like Shell. The letters seemed to have a poor view of him, but it could be he was forced into playing the political games against his will.
Let's find out! Next chapter seems like it will begin the main events of the book. Let's fucking go.
Nice to see Floydien calmed down a bit. He seems to be doing better.
Arcanista, Floydien doesn't want to remember for some reason. If you truly love him, let him be.
Twenty-five wide arm pushups, ):(. Knock 'em out!
I believe you can always measure how seriously He is currently taking this series by the amount of meta He puts into each chapter. On a scale from 1 to 10, this chapter is a solid 7. Well, at least the first part is. then things got back to Floydien and like every other time things get back to Floydien, things became beautiful. Oh yes, and congratulations to the Leftover, too!
Dear Skirts, even the narrator is a pessimist now!
No, no, no, you mean Booster Petals.
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5123699 An awful therapist asks for his patients to forget their trauma.
Something tells me that this guy just goes on Elder Scrolls wiki to find names for his stories
5123717
The names for all the Austraeoh series all derive from nordic words, so I can see why you might think that. Austr is East and Eoh is horse, for example.
5123672 I hate to say it, but I agree with Josho. The path east is turning into an ever expanding Sine wave, even though the area with which to Sine is ever decreasing.
I still feel for Floydien. It's clear that a part of him remembers, but it's beyond is recall, and is still paining his heart.
5123716
But it's his choice.
5123716 While that's true, the question will forever be, is this a trauma that Floydien can move onwards from?
More interesting little tidbits from Floydiens past, I just wonder how much he will remember by the end of this.
Now its time for the Jury to finally start getting towards Val Roa, and the goal of saving it.
5123727
I don't begrudge him not wanting to stay, but it's so picturesque, but, like, chill, yo.
5123723 clever, but i think you mean "norse." Nordic would be reffering to skyrim
5123723 clever, but i think you mean "norse." Nordic would be reffering to skyrim
5123760
Ah, fuck, you got skyrim into my head and made me confuse. Damn you, Gadget.
5123772 its ok i make the same mistake all the time
5123736 Just like it's a child's choice to eat that poisonous bug. Floydien is by no means lord of his own senses. He is pushing the memory back because it hurts him. He remembers the pain. But if psychology taught us anything, it is that holding back pain makes it fester and the stronger the trauma, the more urgent its cleansing becomes. He does not want to remember because the truth is a nightmare so he pushes it into the back of his mind and pretends it isn't there. It is. As with any other therapy, someone needs to drag it out from there or it will eventually be the leverage point that will unhinge what little is left of him. Rainbow and the Jury have done their part in healing him but you cannot hope to even remotely fix someone so broken if you don't force them into it.
Still partial to magical platypuses.
5123736 And really, when I said 'an awful therapist' I literally meant the most awful therapist of them all:
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"It's just a memory. Abandon it. It's unproductive. Go... to Wonderland."
Dear heavens, you don't want to be that guy.
5123793
But therapy should only be at the patient's consent. If a patient is of rational mind and is not harming anyone, no one has the right to force them to do anything. If he wants to get better, then go for it! But if he deems it not worth it, or simply chooses not to, you can't force it on him.
5123761
Aren't Norse and Nordic pretty much synonyms?
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But people who are insane often don't make the choices that are best for them, at such a point it is one's responsibility to help them to the degree that they are able. I do, actually, think Floyd wants Arcanista's help, but it still hurts.
5123845 are they?
I mean, what was with the dress? Nancy Jane wouldnt fall for that. Its totally wrong for Floydian. But, what else can we do, we tried everything else, and Dash had to have stern words with Rourke when we suggested a blood sacrifice. And Zaid is so cute as well.
Floydian is nice and calm and reading up letters in the family all about politics. Good Greif, are they trying to make him nuke the place or something? At least theres plenty of inside info to start assembling, A Plan.
A Canal? only if you want to get all palidromic on us. But, Floydian isnt a camel.
Ill just close these polarising filters, then close my eyes, and quietly snooze off while noone is looking and why do I feel Rourkes stiletto blade in my ear.
Josho has a point, even if he's unfortunately trying to stab it with them too hard. Hopefully they listen.
5124212
As soon as you said that my eyes glazed over and I didn't even read the rest of the comment because I was too busy with this mental image.
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Except plastered onto Roarke's head.
I'm completely lost. What did I miss.
An apt enough description of most human politics. Let's hope this council goes a little better than that, shall we?
5124392
I was under the impression that it would be more like the Council of Elrond rather than, you know, politics.
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5124061
To my understanding, and I could be wrong, Norse is used in reference to the people and culture, and nordic is used in reference to the region, ex. Nordic counties. Again, I could be wrong. Also, based on personal experiences, people use the interchangeably, so does it really matter?
5124263
Beware. Pinkie Pronks this Prairie.
Im not getting anymore email updates for this and other stories :( anybody know how to fix that?
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stream1.gifsoup.com/view/668242/what-you-talkin-bout-willis-o.gif
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Click the settings tab, and all shall be made clear.
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Well, the Council of Elrond wasn't without its politics, but I know what you mean. I think we can expect a fair amount of understanding and cooperation in this little pow-wow, and that'll be a blessing, especially for our favorite elk.
5123727
Hey, at least we're moving forward regularly. I abhorred Innavedr for that reason only. I will always consider Innavedr as Austraeoh: The Faffing About Chapter.
5124522 No, i guess not.
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Actually, Innavedr was my favorite until this book.
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Wow, Floydien really repressed those memories didn't he. Maybe he did die, after a fashion.
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i.imgur.com/Gcedg.gif
5124591 im either blind or just stupid. Don't see anything on the emails.
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While I do see your point in some cases, personal experience with trauma also taught me that sometimes the truth is nothing a fragile mind can face without shattering completely. Yes, part of therapy is learning to deal with pain and painful memories, circumstances and situations. But at the same time, bringing up the past, dragging it up forcibly and pushing your nose into the crap your subconcious screams at you to stay away from can go the completely wrong way and may be the final instance that pushes you over the edge into a part of your mind you don't want to end up, ever. Therapy is not something that can be forced upon someone. Without their cooperation and their own desire to change, it's bound to fail in the most horrendous way.
5123838
I am completely on your side on this, if the person wants to do something about their mental state, offer them full support. But don't try and force them into it. I know my view differs quite a bit from the perspective of most North Americans, likely because I hail from Central Europe. But let me throw in this: what I gather from friends in the United States tells me that mental illness is being treated akin to what Europe did decades ago, namely lock away the real bad cases and try to drug the rest into sort-of stable personalities. I don't say the European System is better, not by a long shot, but there's far more possibilities for different approaches to therapy, most focusing not on how to deal with the past but how to accept and live with what the past has shaped you to be, and how to change your present and future life. It certainly has helped me avoid an early grave.
If he's repressed stuff this heavily, bringing it up might not be the best course of action. After all, some things are best left to the darkness
5123838 Floydien is neither not hurting anyone (most especially himself) nor of a rational mind. Giving up anyone to the slavery of his own insanity, to morosity, trauma, depression and degratation in favour of their pretended outer freedom is not a good deal. Floydien has not been free since the day he first lost his mind and he will never be free until it has been returned to him. We are merely leaving him at the mercy of a much harsher master because we do not accept that we can only help him by fighting him.
Of course the dose must be carefully measured. As with everything containing unstable substances, opening the lid slowly is generally a good idea. Opening a freshly-shaken bottle of soda - you know what happens. Quite a fitting allegory altogether, by the way. Opening it at some point will have a violent adverse reaction that must be drawn out to keep it controlled. Alternatively, you can permanently keep the lid shut and just keep shaking until the entire bottle explodes. That effectively achieves the maximal mess.
There is a common German saying that, interestingly enough, has no quite appropriate equivalent in English - the fundamentally differing perception of freedom might just partially have its root in that. It goes along the lines of 'forcing someone towards their own happiness', of course implying 'forcing someone away from their own sorrow' just as much. When a child doesn't feel like going swimming one day because they're feeling lazy and their parents kick them out knowing how much they'll love it once they're there, that's that. When a dog has gone mad with pain and his owner and the vet hold it down and tie it down against all of its struggling and biting to then administer the medicine that will make the worms go away, that's that. When an acting student is dying of stage fright at his final exams and just wants to run away and his friends more or less throw him out onto the stage so he can ace it, that's that. And when a therapist puts their patient through a waking nightmare so that they can live the rest of their life as more than broken wrecks, that is exactly what we are doing here.
If you focus on freedom, instead ask yourself: what answer would a free Floydien give? "Would you rather remain a sputtering ruin or through a painful procedure be given the chance to get better?" No one, but no one in that entire situation is less suited to objectively and reasonably determine whether or not Floydien should undergo that kind of therapy than Floydien himself right now because he is. not. free. How many people did Rainbow bitchslap some sense into by now because they didn't want what was the right thing for them until she forced them into considering it? Leave everyone their right of free choice and Belle and Pilate would now be dead, Imre would've died in Searo, Roarke would've never been redeemed, Elma and Ebon would be sobbing, traumatized, self-loathing wrecks, Eagle Eye fled the group, Floydien threw them all out before Grey Smoke and so on and so forth. We leave people to freely decide what is bad for them, we bear the responsibility of their pain.
5125613
Actually, it's more likely that I'M dumb and blind, because I sent you to the wrong place. I said settings on the toolbar when I should have directed you towards Edit Account under your name in the toolbar.
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Wow, typos ahoy this chapter!
5123672 Hey! Shell wasn't Evil, he was much more True Neutral. (god I hate him tho)
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5124522
5123845
my understanding of it was that norse referred directly to scandinavia, the scandinavian people, their language, etc.
while nordic referred to a broader catergory including the germanic tribes on the main of europe
It's like every chapter, my thoughts on Floydien are being tossed around.
Floydien has the pain-pain in his head and heart.
5123672 We don't even know if this general is still alive. The letters are back from the time of the Floyd.
I hope that one post where I was telling you for how long I have followed the story and all that didn't seem like I was whinning for not being noticed, and thus our dear author ends up giving my name to some unlikeable character or something.
EDIT: Now I read the next chapter, and it seems he's alive.
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I think Rainbow may have hyped that up a bit too much