This is Halloween!

[we_bring_hell]

The Bar loves her holidays, but she is also capable of respecting religious strictures. That's why she put a lot of thought into finding a Halloween costume for Harrow that works with her face paint and general insistence on the monochromatic.

Harrow, for her part, is baffled by the white-pinstriped black suit and the oversized bow, but the gloves are very cool, and the buckled shoes suit as well. She has no idea what's going on but she can live with this.

The Bar seems even more unusually populated than usual, and there are a lot of gourds around. Hm.

Comments

[we_bring_hell]

Harrow looks deeply affronted. "It is not at all the same. Griddle has given me no sign of her affections. We have been doing violence to each other for more than a decade."

They have always been obsessed with each other, though,

[acrookedpath]

"Lan Zhan hated me when we first met," he says with a shrug that stirs the wings at his shoulders. "But -- you are right, I should not tease."

His smile softens.

"I am glad for you. Truly. That you are sworn to each other now in more ways than one."

[we_bring_hell]

"Really? Why would Lan Wangji hate you?"

[acrookedpath]

He laughs. "Because I pestered him incessantly and never met a rule of Gusu Lan's I did not try to break. He drew his sword on me within five minutes of meeting. I cannot count how many times he called me 'obnoxious' and 'boring' when I was at lectures. I think by the time he had known me a year or two, I had climbed in his esteem to 'tolerable, but only just.'"

And then, as the years continued on... well.

[we_bring_hell]

She smiles, and shakes her head.

"Yes, you sound like you a holy terror to rival Griddle."

"Although--I was to blame, too. I would set elaborate traps for her."

[acrookedpath]

Cheerfully, "It must be why I get along with her so well."

Though he has only met Gideon the barest handful of times, they clicked as if they had known each other for ages.

His smile grows more crooked as he adds, "I do remember you saying you cheated, when the two of you fought."

[we_bring_hell]

"The last time she tried to escape, I pretended I didn't see the unscheduled shuttle pickup she had ordered. I confronted her at the last moment and challenged her to a duel, stripping off all the bones I carried so I appeared defenseless."

"But in fact I had stayed up all night burying bones under the earth of the landing field."

She's not proud of it, but she's not... not proud of it.

[acrookedpath]

"Ah." The lopsided smile persists. "That would explain why she asked first if I had sown the field with bones when we sparred."

Honestly, it's the sort of battle strategy Wei Wuxian might use himself, if he had Harrow's particular necromantic talents. Jiang Cheng might have even had to deal with a surprise skeleton jumping out of the ground to startle him every now and then, while Wei Wuxian laughed and laughed out of sight behind a door.

But there is a difference between lighthearted pranks or hard-fought wars, and the acrimony that marked Harrow and Gideon's relationship for so long.

[we_bring_hell]

"Yes, she spoke enthusiastically of your battle with her," Harrow says. "Smoke monsters, I believe?"

[acrookedpath]

His smile, at last, finds secure footing again. "Yes! I did not give the resentful energy too much form for most of it, but I directed it around her to form as many targets as I could. And later she asked if I might recreate the construct from Canaan House. That was..."

He wiggles a hand as if to indicate the degree of difficulty.

"Not as simple. But a great test of how I may control the forest's resentful energy. And I hope it will help, whenever the two of you must return."

[we_bring_hell]

She nods. "It sounds fearsome. But I will not let it be said the Ninth House fell to a bone construct. Not while I have Gideon Nav and her two-hander."

[acrookedpath]

"Between your brilliance and her ferocity," he says, "I am certain you'll triumph."

He grabs one of the cupcakes, unwrapping the circle of pleated paper that covers its base.

"I am still curious about what might be controlling it, though. Or who. It is immensely powerful, from everything Gideon told me."

[we_bring_hell]

"I still suspect Dulcinea Septimus," she says. It can't be jealousy if Gideon is securely on-side, can it? "She has already shown inexplicable power with one construct. Why not two?"

"Perhaps she has harnessed some ancient relic of the castle--hacked its control theorems."

[acrookedpath]

"It could be," he says, thoughtful. "What was the other construct she controlled?"

[we_bring_hell]

"Her dead cavalier."

[acrookedpath]

A soundless ah.

"Yes. That's right. I still think of constructs as entirely bone; I forget it is possible for them to be fierce corpses as well." He rubs the side of his nose. "What would go into... hacking?"

(The context is clear, but the unfamiliar usage of the word tilts Wei Wuxian's voice upward a fraction, uncertain.)

"The theorems?"

[we_bring_hell]

"It is taking unauthorized control of a construct someone else created," she says. "Not a highly valued skill, as our enemies do not use necromancy, but an interesting theoretical exercise."

[acrookedpath]

"And it would require as much power as controlling a fierce corpse? Or more?"

He nibbles the edge of his cupcake.

"I would assume more for this construct in particular, since it is so large, but..."

[we_bring_hell]

"Controlling a body isn't that difficult on the face of it," she explains. "I've done it myself, for extensive periods of time. But Protesilaus Ebdoma passed for alive, for weeks, in front of an audience of the best necromancers in the system. At least I had the excuse of veils and a vow of silence for my charade."

"She claimed to have had help from the best adepts in the Seventh House, but that assistance could not have survived a trip through space. It just doesn't hold up. And when I broke the enchantment on the body, the backlash alone should have killed her. That is where the power discrepancy lies."

"It would require less power to steal the construct than animate it herself, but to control and maintain it would still be a tremendous load. Especially because when it killed the Fifth House representatives, she was still controlling Ebdoma as well."

"That's why I initially theorized she was working with the Sixth. But I've ruled that out. Now I think she must just be some monstrous prodigy."

[acrookedpath]

He nods, chewing on another bite of cupcake as he absorbs this.

"So if you attack her directly to cut off the power at its source, she will certainly have a means to survive the assault." His mouth twists, a little. "I know there have been few alliances, and they are fraught and difficult as is, but is there any chance at all the rest of Canaan House could be united against her, if they knew she has been responsible for the slaughter?"

[we_bring_hell]

"If they knew," she says. "I do not have conclusive proof, but if I could--then yes. The Third might lie back and wait--it is in their nature--but the Second and the Eighth would see it as a matter of duty, and the Sixth would be betrayed."

[acrookedpath]

Another nod.

"You know if there is anything I can do," he says. "Either to gather more proof, or to fight against her should the time come. I will assist however I can."

[we_bring_hell]

"I appreciate it," she says. "I still think the best chance we have is to solve the Lyctoral equation. Then there's nothing she can do."

[acrookedpath]

"Yes," he agrees. Polishing off the cupcake, he leans back to skate two fingers over the bartop. "Madam Bar, some wine, please?"

Pop. The usual white ceramic bottle materializes, with a tiny festive bow tied around its neck. He can't help but grin as he picks it up, inclining his head to Bar in thanks.

"Have you made any more progress there?" he asks as he uncaps the bottle.

[we_bring_hell]

"I have identified among the six theorems I have access to, three dealing with the spirit, and the the flesh," she says.

"I also believe I have identified the beginning and end of the process, and perhaps an intuition as to where it is leading."