If the olympics were like that every year, Ayr didn't necessarily want to go back.

Walking back into Eridanus ignited some flame within the unicorn's chest-- a flame wanting to go back to her den and sleep for several cycles, but her legs were taking her to Mercurius' garden instead, with the lion, a deer, and a horse in tow. Ayr had no idea who two out of the three gembound were, which isn't exactly the best position to be in.

Mercurius had called over the stag, so as far as Ayr was concerned, that was his issue to deal with. As for the traumatized horse-- "have you been here before?" She asked friendly enough, turning her head over towards Khloros. "To Eridanus, of course."

Light conversation helped to disguise that she was half-wary, of course, of any other stag following suit. Ayr wasn't one for combat and she suspected that Mercurius wasn't either. The lion had assured her that this other stag (Proud, or some such?) was at least capable of 'dangerous magics.'

Ayr didn't necessarily want to find out what that meant.

Either way, the group seemed to be safe from Astraea's visible presence for now. If he had other means than physically watching them, Ayr did not know. Or want to find that one out, either.

Her ears flicked briefly. "Ahh-- my name is Ayr, if I did not introduce myself already?" It was half a question, partnered with "I do not recall," because she did not, at least, remember Pride of Khloros introducing themselves. It was equally as unclear to which she was referring to.

Probably both.

@Mercurius

Thank Caves that debacle was over with.

Mercurius followed some ways behind the unicorn's heels, head carried low and speaking in a careful, hushed whisper for two reasons: one, not to interrupt the other two's conversation and, two, not to dredge up any negative response in the yet-unnamed horse. Perhaps, I should have issued some introductions, he had thought, just as he set foot in Eridanus. Regardless, his whisperings were reserved for Pride, giving meaning to images sent prior via another mental link --- the old lion had a headache from all of the mind-based communication, by the way.

Only his slightly furrowed brow and wrinkled forehead showed this.

"I had reason to believe that what he saw, Pride, was not some figment of one's imagination. Would you say that," the storyteller's voice faltered, if for a moment, "the sight of that... being in the blank white... is perhaps one that we should not know?" If he had words to describe that sensation, he would consider it a divine revelation --- perhaps, not too far from the truth. "There is something beyond death, but what?"

He hoped that Pride could unravel this... quandary and perhaps do something with it.

@Pride

Pride walked sedately along, each graceful step perfectly-placed. He moved alongside Mercurius, yet he took some comfort, somehow, in Ayr's presence. It was strange, to have another being so like himself--pristine white, graceful, though she bore a horn to his antlers. Ahh, well, nobody's perfect. Well, nobody else, he thought, amused.

His (not at all serious) humor rapidly faded, however, as Mercurius began to share his visions. He spoke absently as they began--realizing that he ought to be more polite to the strangers. "And I am Pride. It is good to meet you both." Then he fell silent, though his senses remained alert to potential dangers outside his mind.

As Mercurius's link faded, Pride exhaled softly.

He had to think about the white lion's question, for a moment (and what an odd group we make--the white, white, white and black) before he could formulate a response. This was primarily because he wanted to truly give the question the consideration it deserved.

In a nearly-equally hushed murmur, his voice soft but melodic, he replied. "'Should?' I think we 'should' know all that we can--we should strive to learn--but it is always possible that there is someone who does not wish us to know. I suspect the stag--the one that drove him into the Spire," Pride went on thoughtfully--and as he did so, he spoke a little louder, though not much, but so all three could hear--"I suspect it is the same stag who supposedly trapped the Three Kings of Orion. Or rather, claimed to have a way to free them, and apparently made some sort of deal--he gloated to a few gembound that he'd tricked them, that they were easily-used. The Kings are still captive here, and I find no offense in them--they are kind, and free with knowledge. One who is cruel to them cannot be a good being--not if they find pleasure in it." He paused, thinking. "But what does that mean for us? --I suggest we keep the horse hidden, for now, at least. If the stag truly was at the games, he may have been watching, and may be looking to finish the job." Pride said this with a warning glance toward Khloros, and a thoughtful one toward Mercurius. After all, being a hospitable host was one thing--harboring a fugitive against the Elders of the caves, quite another.

Khloros stepped along quietly, his own gait subdued. His head was low, the liquid brown of his eyes warm and distant, and foreign. No part of him was him. No part of him was right, and this still had his mind balking, checking, every time he saw his own legs or caught scent of his own warm and healthy odor. He barely heard the others speaking, though it was not out of disregard for them; his mind was simply lost, as would be expected after waking from one's own death.

"I am Khloros," he answered Pride mildly enough, and absently--he'd considered not giving his name at all, but now had answered so automatically that there was no taking it back. Ahh, well.

He hadn't thought about revenge, yet--he felt no anger. He felt nothing but bewilderment, really.

He felt very, very lost.

Khloros did however feel some gratitude, however faint--gratefulness that in this terribly-baffled state, he'd gotten aid from others who seemed willing to not only take him somewhere safe, but--kill me? Will they have some ulterior mot--... They are not Louie--stop it, he chided himself. No; they were kind, it seemed, genuinely kind, and were likely taking him somewhere safe. And what if they are taking me straight to the stag? What then? I still cannot call upon my magic, to fight him, he thought worriedly.

He remembered plaguing the deer--had it suffered? He hoped, in a vague and earnest sense, that Astraea had died. The stag's beliefs and values had been vague, but clear enough to judge him by: domination, power, slavery to some cause or other. The ownership of others' very lives.

Pride's words drew him from his reveries. The stag's thoughtful logic made the horse believe more truly that they meant him no harm; it would be a hell of a charade to bother with thinking over these details.

Quietly, with dark humor, Khloros responded. "The horse," he said, echoing Pride's words to some extent, "would like to be hidden, yes--until the horse can come to terms with what's happened." He flashed a sad, amused look at the others, continuing his slow stride behind them.

@Ayr

Ayr gave a gentle nod towards Khloros and Pride as they offered their names, inclining her head delicately before looking forward again, wandering around the outskirts of Mercurius' garden.

"That, ahh, was the plan, I believe," the unicorn said gently towards Pride. "Oliver spoke of a kingdom, of sorts, lingering here. I'm sure that they'd be willing to help someone in need, yes?"

It should be noted that, aside from Oliver and Mercurius, Ayr had never actually met any of them. She put blind faith into the gembound residing in Eridanus to just help someone in need and not sell anyone out to Astraea. This thought didn't even cross the unicorn's mind, but why should it? Ayr had no reason to believe that anyone else aside from Astraea (and perhaps some Bloodberries) were actively looking to do harm.

And even then, Ayr often wondered if they could be changed. Shown another way. Learn to be kind and gentle to others instead of-... what was that about trapping three kings?

"Perhaps The Horse," she said, not without humour, "should rest for a while? Do you need anything more-- food, water?"

She took a hesitant glance back towards Pride, tail flicking back and forth briefly as she considered her next words. "What do we do about Astraea himself?" Ayr asked very gently. "What if he, ah.. harms another? Should we not try to put a stop to that?"

@Mercurius

Knowledge is key, yes, but... Mercurius thought to himself, ears flicking back as he furrowed his brow --- "some seem to desire that knowledge comes at a risk, then." It was a sad realization, born only of a dictatorship. He rumbled softly, musing over the topic, the idea that such a benevolent-seeming stag could take such a turn. Something must have occurred to have turn such a Gembound toward that path --- it was rarely without cause. Vazi had fallen into a spiral when he found himself unable to cope with the loss of his brother and Mercurius's very existence. The events that followed? Well, they had served only as catalysts to further struggle. If only he could have saved himself, the old lion's mind murmured, not for the first time; he had managed to stop blaming himself long ago.

"The Ancients have never been particularly loose-lipped, or... involved in our activities as the stag has," Mercurius nodded, moonlit eyes flicking to the rest of the group as he, too, raised his voice, "to keep others imprisoned like one does a bird --- the Three Kings..." His voice faltered, lost in a complex web of thoughts. The storyteller wished he had explored more in his youth, to provide more than philosophy.

They passed into the grove, still obscured and guarded by various thickly-grown plant life. The thorns seemed imposing, yet hosted no signs of breaking-in. Mercurius trotted a little faster --- against the will of his tired old joints --- and took the lead. He rounded the outer edge of the fringe, then pressed further on. Moonlit eyes found the faint glow of the baubles within, and paused before the grove's gate. "It would be a risk to keep Khloros here, yes," he murmured softly, looking back at his companions, "but where else? The Kingdom could enlist the aid of protectors, though its numbers are new and rather small." There was also the matter of the ex-Bloodberry children.

Every seemed to love happening at once, didn't it?

@Pride

As they approached Mercurius's pleasant sanctuary glade, Pride listened quietly and closely.

"I do not know about loose-lipped," he offered, once the others had said their bits. "I have never even seen him, if it comes to that. Have you spoken to the Kings? They are open with information--they seem benevolent, if anything. Helpful, talkative--if philosophical about their imprisonment and having been so cruelly tricked. I think I would be far more bitter and wistful, were it I. They spoke of a great expanse called Sky," he went on, though he knew that Mercurius, at least, had heard this before; "a thing they used to teach to sing and dance with beautiful lights." Ahh, but this was pointless meandering, at least as far as conversation went. They had far more important things to address.

"And yes, Ayr--there is a Kingdom here, of which Mercurius is indeed a part. But they are, as he says, new, without many combatants. I hate to say it, but a handful of fighters nearly obliterated the majority of them. What about Cetus?" he suggested, thoughtfully. "Their so-called Children of Rot claim to be keepers of knowledge, secret-seekers--and to, and please do not repeat this, but to distrust the Elders. Perhaps Khloros would be safe with them. Perhaps they might even value him, for what secrets he himself has seen--that I do not know. It would be wise to ask them, first--I can do that if you wish--to forestall displeasure at potentially drawing the Elders' eyes to them."

"As far as battling this 'Astraea' goes, that is a bridge that we shall have to cross, I suppose, when we come to it. If he truly wishes us harm then we must put a stop to it, of course. But it is difficult to pick reality from guesswork when we truly know so little." This was said in rather a mournful tone of voice, as if Pride lamented their lack of information, when it came right down to it.

Khloros listened quietly, and a little blankly. It went without saying that he was still emotionally-stunned by all that had went on. It was as though the slow torpor had been a protective shroud with which he'd cloaked himself ever since Louie's betrayal--and now that had been torn rather violently away. Rather than stoically distant, aloof, confident in his purpose and powers, the black horse was now lost and feeling surprisingly... vulnerable.

He let out a soft sigh, as Pride finished speaking--and it was both wistful and bittersweet.

"I am all right, thank you," he answered Ayr, first, with a nod her way. "As for Cetus--well, I will go anywhere you three think is best, though I will need to rest, I think, before beginning that travel. It is far." Distant memories flickered through his mind--himself, pastern-deep in cold mud, moving through mist, offering his blessed plague to a white cub that wandered there. To carry, to spread.

He wondered what had become of it. And would that plague--his very own creation--kill him, now? He still could not call upon his magic, no matter how he tried.

"I would like to... thank you three," he said abruptly, and very softly. "I have seen kindness in my life, when young--but it was all twisted by betrayal and... very grim minds. I did not truly think it possible for true benevolence to still exist; I am glad to be proven wrong." Another image appeared, unbidden, in his mind: the white centaur-like being cradling his head, its gentle expression nothing but benevolent.

He was glad for it, though he did not know quite what it had meant.

"I still can't... cast magic. I fear I have lost it," Khloros told them, a tremor in his voice. "But the one who I saw in the white--in the blank white place--she said that I ought to help others see as I do. It might... be good to tell you what happened, once I'm resting--unless you have a way to see it more clearly. The 'seeing' that she mentioned." He looked questioningly to Mercurius.

Perhaps if one of them could read his mind, and... show the others, somehow? Khloros was unsure, but he knew he had to spread this being's word, at least--or try. The offer was made, in any case. "Whatever this being was, it was kind, and it was supportive of my words and viewpoint, which are what angered the stag. Astraea," he added, testing the new name on his tongue, fixing it in his memory to the image of the violent red-eyed beast. "I don't know, it might be worth looking at it, going over it--just to know what it was that set him off."

@Ayr

Ayr shifted to allow Mercurius to take the lead, but she slipped in by the lion's side, half-warily, prepared to try to aid him if he fell over or had some other arthritis-related accident. Her ears, however, were mostly focused between Pride and Khloros.

She had no idea who he was asking when Pride referred to the Kings, but politely, Ayr shook her head. She'd never heard of them, even, nor of the Sky, but it did sound quite fantasical. Perhaps she should make a note to seek them out and ask about it.

At the very least, Elspet would probably find it interesting, too.

"Ah... Cetus?" She parroted a little absently, almost dreamily so. She knew Cetus was a swamp, but not much further than that. "I do not know any of these Children but if you think it best, then I will trust you on that. Err-- after a rest, of course."

She wished she could have added something useful to the topic of Astraea, but Ayr simply didn't know enough. Perhaps even less so than everyone else, that is. Nor was violence or battle really her thing, she could only offer to heal after it was all said and done.

For a moment, the unicorn was silent-- then her ears flickered towards Khloros. Was it possible for a gembound to lose their magic entirely? She would have frowned, if a horse-face could do such a thing. "Take your time," she added quietly. "You don't have to tell us everything right away, your head has to recover as well."

Ayr took a brief once-over Eridanus, half-searching for signs of Astraea, before looking back at the small group she'd found herself with. She felt, perhaps just a little, out of place. She did not know much and she was comparatively fairly young.

The unicorn shook it off, quickly, and fell silent, watching and listening.

@Mercurius

"Ah, maybe loose-lipped wasn't the right word," Mercurius murmured, mostly to himself. He was otherwise silent, focusing on shooing away some of the thorny thicket from the grotto's entrance. When a cast of magic failed, the old storyteller just set to pushing them away to the best of his abilities. With a steady paw, he nudged the briars and brackens away, avoiding every pointy bit with practiced ease. A huff, and he was done: the garden's entrance was wide enough to easily allow Khloros's entry, even with a raised head.

Rounded ears flicked toward Pride, moonlit gaze rapt. The Children of Rot remained, yet? Ah, they had been around for a long time. Did they still run beneath the same leader... Dragon, was it? Mercurius had never met the alligator, but knew that his abilities were mighty. To survive so long seeking lore, one had to be. The storyteller glanced to his other companions, before bowing his head in a deep nod. "Perhaps, the swamp would be a good idea---" Mercy indicated with a sway of his head, "come in, come in." Trotting in, he added, "rest your hooves, friends."

The garden was immaculate as always, nurtured by gently glowing baubles and flowers. Azizos and Arsu's beds remained in tip-top condition, well-cared for. Mercurius passed by either, tilting his head toward them as he went; the boys wouldn't mind their being used, he did not think. He settled down rather easily atop his own cushy bedding: prime loaf position, entered. "It would be wise to speak to them first, before bringing Khloros all that way," he rumbled agreeably, adjusting his posture slightly, "perhaps, we should go while he rests." We possibly including himself --- he'd have to see how his arthritis reacted, first.

Also, Khloros would need to rest, first, for however long he needed. The black stallion was grateful, if worried about his lack of magic. "You're welcome," Mercy began, simply, "you may just need to rest, sleep properly." There was a suggestion of prying into minds, but Mercurius found that rather exhausting. Moonlit eyes glanced over to Pride, much more practiced with such a spell. "I don't believe I need to see further into your mind, no. I can show Pride and Ayr what I saw. Do you need any food or water?"

@Pride