Can’t Let Go
Emily heard the words the watchdog had said but didn’t really comprehend them until Caleb stepped away, cradling the sword in his hands as he continued to inspect the blade. “That’s it?” she said, not so much expecting to be heard as making sure she was still where she thought she was. What else was she to do? Simon Weatherson was dead, her parents were gone, she’d just been told to go home. “Alright.”
She turned away. away from the two, away from the temple, just away from all of it. Not that home seemed like a better place to be, of course, but it was the only place that made sense, right? She’d just been told -- by a watchdog, even -- that it was time to go home, so shouldn’t she?
But. There was that small “but” in her mind that hadn’t quite given up; there was a little more she could do. Emily turned back around and returned to Taros’ temple. His watchdog was still there, of course, and it was he that Emily targeted. “Have you spoken to Nuumu’s dog about my parents or any of the other people succumbing to Simon’s teachings?” she said. “She said she would, but she had not last night. And, perhaps if she did in the meantime, you would like to see exactly what she was talking about.”
To the Sea
Dia did not react favorably to Olive’s antics. She wasn’t violent about her displeasure, but she did let out an audible “tsk” as he laughed in her face. “When I said to prostrate yourself, to take this seriously, did you think that was just a suggestion?” she said. “Do you think I am somehow lesser than Hinder? Or do you just treat all gods with this same irreverence? Not all of us would grant you this same mercy.”
“I’m here to offer my services,” Olive said. The lead-up to that also seemed a bit like she was being spoken down to, but again Dia was feeling merciful. She did stand up out of the water, though, starting to pace around her pool as Olive continued. “That pearl,” he said, “did your watchdog take it? The people of Galatea have no water and I believe that has a lot to do with it.”
“My watchdog did remove the mother of pearl stone,” Dia said, gesturing at the empty altar, “but this is not what I am asking you to retrieve. The mother of pearl, it’s a nice rock, a good thing to focus prayer on, but it is not the reason Galatea has no water. As you can see, this pool right here in front of you,” she splashed the water again with her toes, “it will likely be used as a reservoir should the drought continue, but would you say that things would change if the mother of pearl stone would return? So few people even enter here, I am not even certain its absence has been noticed.
“No, what my watchdog had determined was that the real place people should be worshiping was the well on the outside of the city. And as it is his will so it is mine. Causing the well to dry up was meant to draw attention to this. But the water did not just disappear; it is still on this island somewhere. My watchdog, meanwhile…” She paused a moment and looked Olive in the eyes. “Do you understand now what I am asking of you?” OOC