TRP: Gavi, Goro, and Luci (Weird Dream)

**ABBY**

[Setting: Castle, day 282.]

Tikva'd fallen asleep, and as much as Gavi wished she could
keep packing the baby around, she knew that Tikva would sleep best in her own
crib. So she'd tucked her in, left Raef and Az to watch her, and wandered off
to find Luci. She had some shit to share.

It took her a minute but she finally went to looking in the
dungeon. Heard some noises coming from a nearby room and poked her head in.
Sure enough there was Luci, hanging out with Goro. And a body.

"The fuck?" she called, staring at it. Looking at
Goro, Luci, and then back to the body. "What in the ever loving
fuck?"

**LINA**

"Natural causes," Goro said immediately, then went
back to the book he'd been thumbing through.

**IZZY**

Luci nodded without looking up.

**ABBY**

That didn't explain what they were doing with it-- but eh.
It was dead already. Gavi shrugged and stepped into the room. "Hey Luci!
Wanna hear 'bout my dream?" she asked, planting her hands on the table and
grinning at the younger cleric-- keeping her between Gavi and Goro.

**IZZY**

Luci did look up, then, puzzled. "Not ... particularly
...?"

**ABBY**

Gavi suppressed a grin-- badly. "Aw. Well guess I'll
just pass on the message and leave you to whatever it is you're doing,"
she said, gesturing at the corpse. "Hey, Goro," she called.
"Mask said to tell ya he'd love to help with killing Gruumsh but he don't
know how at the moment. On probation and shit."

**LINA**

Goro blinked at his book a few times. He squinted at Gavi.
"What?"

**ABBY**

"Mask said to tell ya he'd love to help kill Gruumsh
but he's on probation," Gavi repeated. Wasn't trying to hide her grin now.
This shit was hilarious.

**IZZY**

Luci leaned across the table to press the back of her hand
against Gavi's forehead. "Gavi, are you feeling okay?"

**LINA**

Goro stared for a moment, rolled his eyes, and went back to
his book.

**ABBY**

Gavi cracked a grin. "Ehh," she said, waggling her
hand in a 'so-so' gesture. "No worse'n usual though. But hey apparently I
get to be a god soon enough, that oughta be a cure for the fucking rot."

**IZZY**

Luci frowned, and looked to Goro. She didn't know much about
bone rot. Maybe it was ... getting worse. Causing other problems. She wasn't
sure how to handle this.

**LINA**

Goro raised an eyebrow. Alright, that was enough to make him
set his book aside.

"If this is a joke, Gavi, it ain't fucking funny.
Something wrong with your head?"

**ABBY**

Ah shit. Gavi better start behaving now. "I ain't
joking," she said, meeting Goro's eyes. "That dream I mentioned? It
was Mask and Iomedae, coming to talk to me. Cause when I touched Luthic's bones
in that cave..." she rubbed at her scarred hand. "What made her a god
passed on to me."

**IZZY**

Luci hesitated. It wasn't ... impossible. She ran through
possibilities in her head. It seemed more likely that a deceased deity's power
hadn't been passed on to Gavi, and she hadn't received a vision from two other
gods at once, and instead, Gavi was very sick, and very stressed, and her mind
had manufactured something that would make her feel better, if only in a dream.

But it wasn't impossible.

"Why ... would Mask speak to you?" she asked
carefully. Iomedae, she could understand -- Gavi had taken up worship of Joan
Ripley's goddess. It made sense from either perspective. Mask, as far as she
could tell, made sense from neither.

**ABBY**

"I think he was the one who figured out what was up?
Told Iomedae about it." Recalling some of the things he said Gavi's eyes
flashed with annoyance. "Talked about killin' me and finding someone
better," she grumbled. "Didn't though, I guess that counts for
something."

**LINA**

"Hey, quick fuckin' question, Gavi," Goro said.
"What the hell made you think your weirdass dream has anything to do with
reality?"

**ABBY**

Gavi started to say something and stopped. She was
for-fucking-sure her dream was real but how to convince Goro of that.
"It... felt real? I was really me there. Not just... all dream fuzzy and
distorted and shit. Joan was there too. Slept the whole time but I saw her.
Io... she sure sounded like a fucking god. That's all I got yeah."

**COYOTE**

A very quiet and familiar voice in Goro's ear said,
"She's not kidding." It sounded like the drawl of a certain young
street urchin. It felt like something was breathing on his neck.

Then it was gone.

**LINA**

"What the fuck." Goro hopped out of his chair,
hands clapped over his ears, skipping away from where he'd been sitting and
eyeing the space there warily. "What the fuck!"

**IZZY**

Alarmed, Luci took a couple steps closer to him, looking
between him and the spot where he'd been. "What?"

**ABBY**

Gavi stood up, reaching for her axe. "I didn't see
nothin," she said, scanning the area. "Did you?"

**LINA**

Goro sank into a crouch, wincing, rubbing his ears.

**IZZY**

Luci kept looking around, frowning. "There's
nothing." She tapped her staff on the floor anxiously, and tapped Goro's
shoulder. "What's wrong? Goro."

**ABBY**

Gavi glanced at Goro and then back around the room. Well,
keeping alert and her axe handy wouldn't hurt anything.

**LINA**

The ache was wearing off now. Goro eased his hands away,
eyes darting between Gavi and Luci. He started chewing his fingernails.

"She's right," he said to Luci, around a mouthful
of nails.

**IZZY**

Luci's frown deepened. She knelt down beside Goro and looped
her arm around his to pull his hand away from his teeth. "Don't do that.
What are you talking about?" She was feeling lost here, and it annoyed
her.

**LINA**

"Hey," he said softly at having his hand pulled
away. "Uh. Listen, Luci. You ever get, uh... y'know, a feeling of... how
do you say it, divine presence?"

**IZZY**

She hesitated. "Not ... really."

**ABBY**

Divine presence. So Mask'd decided to show up for a second
huh. "For me it was like... feelin' something that wasn't me, but inside
me," she said. "Something real strong, and I knew that
whatever-it-was that it told me to do, that was what I needed to be
doing." And now that she thought about it-- it was different now. Power,
sure, but no guidance.

**LINA**

"Uh, yeah, no, that's all well and good, but nah, what
I mean is, Mask just spoke into my fucking ear."

**IZZY**

Luci's brow furrowed. "He -- said Gavi was right?"

**ABBY**

"Told you so."

**LINA**

Goro gave Gavi an exasperated look, then said to Luci,
"Uh, well, yeah. He said, 'She's not kidding.'" A beat later he
added, "I recognized his voice. I spoke to him when I died, back on the
ship."

**IZZY**

"Oh." She blinked at him, then blinked at Gavi.
"Oh." She stood up, propping her staff where Goro could it as
leverage to stand back up, and blinked again. "Oh."

**ABBY**

"You okay there motek?" Gavi asked, reaching for
her elbow and stopping just short of grasping it.

**IZZY**

"Uh," Luci said. "Mmhm."

**ABBY**

Gavi studied Luci for a second. Yeah she couldn't fuckin'
tell if Luci really was okay or not. "You wanna sit down for a
second?" Gavi said. "I'll get you some water. Both of you some water.
Look like you fucking need it."

**LINA**

Goro didn't know what exactly was going on with Luci, but he
didn't think she was the type to lie and say she was okay if she really wasn't.
Probably just... thinking, or some shit.

He blinked at Gavi. Weirdly generous. "Yeah, sure.
Thanks."

**IZZY**

"It could've been me," Luci said abruptly.

**ABBY**

Gavi was still hovering, not quite ready to go when Luci
spoke. Could've been her-- oh. With the spark. "Yeah," Gavi agreed.
"Coulda been. Does that... bother you?"

**LINA**

Goro squinted. "What do you mean, coulda been
you?"

**IZZY**

Luci blinked again, locked up between responding to both of
them. She tried to straighten the tracks out in her head and shook it.
"No," she said first. "I mean -- it could have been me. We both
heard Luthic's call. But no, it doesn't bother me. Why would I be
bothered?" Was there a legitimate cause to be bothered, she wondered? She
wasn't. What was she, instead? Unsettled, perhaps. Shocked.

**ABBY**

"Hell if I know," Gavi said with a shrug.
"It's a lotta power-- but it means giving up a lot too." Luci didn't
seem the type to be all that interested in the power though. "Near miss
for you then," she said, lightly teasing.

**LINA**

"Hang on." Goro rubbed his eyes. "Back the
fuck up. Start over. I wasn't really listening, before. What happened in your
dream? What'd they say?"

**ABBY**

"Hey one sec," Gavi said. She glanced over at
Luci. "You ready to hear or you need a minute? Seemed like some shit you'd
be real into."

**IZZY**

She blinked, again. "I'm ... fine. Carry on." She
would process as she went. There was no need to wait.

**ABBY**

Gavi wasn't sure how much she bought it-- but it wouldn't do
any good to keep badgering Luci. "All right. I'll start from the beginning
then, yeah?"

"Well I was asleep and there was this big old feast
hall. Joan was there, and Mask and Io. I didn't know who she was at first, she
kept trying to touch me. Didn't let her till she said she was Iomedae."
Gavi rubbed at her chest, where whatever-it-was had seared her. "Sure did
something to me. And then they started talking about the Gate and the Calamity
and shit."

Now that had been the interesting part. Gavi looked back to
Luci. "Yeah so apparently, what caused the Calamity four hundred years ago
was that Gate separating gods and mortals got busted open. Big old war and
shit. It's closed now, and there's a treaty. Gods stay on their side, and
mortals on the other. Except now there's an exception." Gavi grinned wryly
and gestured at herself. "I gotta go cross that gate before gettin' too
much attention my way."

**LINA**

Goro narrowed his eyes. "How do you cross the
gate?"

**ABBY**

Gavi knew that was dangerous information for people to have.
Nobody wanted another Calamity. But these people hated Gruumsh just as much as
she did, so she wasn't about to keep it back. "I'm supposed to head up to
Dragonspine Mountains. Peak of the volcano there. Mask said they'd open the way
for me."

**IZZY**

Luci cut her eyes at Goro briefly, then looked back to Gavi.
She bit her tongue a moment. "Gavi," she said slowly. "Once
you're on the other side of the gate -- will you be able to open it, too?"

**ABBY**

"I'd guess so," Gavi said. "Be useful for
when you decide to go take out someone's eye, eh?"

**LINA**

Goro bobbed his eyebrows a couple times. "Fuckin'
indeed. What else did Mask say?"

**ABBY**

"Not much. Said to tell you that thing about wanting to
help but being on probation, and then Iomedae woke me up."

**LINA**

"The hell's he mean, probation? How the fuck's a god
get put on probation?"

**ABBY**

"I don't fucking know. I think he mighta been involved
in some other god dying in the Calamity? Maybe that pissed the rest of 'em
off."

**IZZY**

"Ohh," Luci said. "I read that Mask killed
Helm. It's ... speculation, but. Well." That seemed to be evidence. Unless
there was some other god that Mask had simply gotten away with the murder of.
It wasn't his dominion, murder -- that was more Bane, or Bhaal -- so it seemed
more likely he was only responsible for one deicide.

**LINA**

Goro stared at Luci for a moment, then cracked a grin.
"Oh, yeah. Well, the way Joan told it, he got Iomedae to kill him. Either
way. Hey, I wanna read whatever book you saw that in." He pointed at her.

**ABBY**

"Huh. I ain't heard anything about that before,"
Gavi commented. Sure was an interesting story. "That might fit with what I
saw. They seemed kinda friendly for it but guess a century or two s'plenty of
time to let go of grudges."

**IZZY**

"Three," Luci put in. She was still adjusting to
this. "Three centuries. Approximately. If -- when we kill Gruumsh
..."

She trailed off. There would still be some remaining divine
essence. Someone would have to take it, as Gavi had with Luthic.

**LINA**

"When we kill Gruumsh, what?" Goro was pretty sure
he was already on board, but he had to make sure he knew what for.

**ABBY**

Gavi met Luci's eyes. "There's gonna be a Divine Spark
up for grabs," she said. "And somebody's gonna have to take it."

**IZZY**

Luci nodded, frowning.

**LINA**

Goro stared blankly for a second, then started shaking his
head. "No. No. Nuh uh. You remember, don't you? When we did Speak With
Dead on that bitch's corpse. She said--" He'd read his notes so many
times, he had it memorized, or something close anyway. "Cross the gate,
slay the orc, steal the spark, seal the spark. Dunno what the hell sealing it
means, but. Eh, I guess it could be giving it to someone else."

**ABBY**

"Or sealing it inside someone," Gavi said grimly,
tapping her chest for emphasis. "Io did say she could take mine from me--
maybe I could take it from you." She frowned, crossing her arms. "But
maybe I won't be able to take the Spark on the other side of that fucking
Gate."

**IZZY**

"I guess you can ... you can ask Iomedae when you ...
get there," Luci said doubtfully. Ah, she didn't enjoy thinking in those
terms, though. She liked certainty, for one thing; she didn't like not knowing
exactly what would happen once Gruumsh was dead.

Also, she didn't like the fact that Gavi would be ... gone,
soon, irrevocably, and she didn't like the idea that it might happen to someone
else. It might happen to Hansel. It might happen to Jonn or Roddy, or Goro or
Mishka. It was only chance it hadn't been her instead of Gavi -- fifty-fifty
odds, the flip of a coin. There were too many people who could end up with
Gruumsh's spark who she didn't want to lose.

She frowned, and chewed on her thumbnail.

**LINA**

"I could ask Mask too, I guess. Commune with him, and all."
Goro scowled and tugged on his ear. "And hope it doesn't trigger that shit
again."

**ABBY**

Gavi glanced over at Goro briefly, and then back at Luci.
For once Luci was making a facial expression-- and it wasn't a good one.
"Hey Goro's got a good idea," she said, hoping that'd be comforting.
"I'll do what I can too but communication might be a fuckin' problem. But
hey don't worry about it. You two brainiacs outghta be able to think up
somethin."

**LINA**

Goro frowned up at Luci. He got to his feet, gently took her
by the wrist, and guided her hand away from her mouth.

Not that he saw anything wrong with nail-biting, but pfff,
double standards.

**IZZY**

Luci blinked a couple times, then curled her hand around her
staff and nodded. "Yes. I suppose we'll come up with something."

**LINA**

Goro jerked his chin at Gavi. "So you got a deadline
you need to be at that volcano by, or what?"

**ABBY**

"Not exactly, but I don't think it's a good idea to be
hanging around for too long. You might not want my Spark but there are others
that would."

**IZZY**

Ah. Hm. Luci wondered if they could locate someone who was
trustworthy to have the spark, but wouldn't be missed on the mortal plane so
much.

"What about Timur?" she blurted.

**ABBY**

Eh? "What about Timur?" Gavi asked.

**LINA**

"Oh. To get Gruumsh's spark?" Goro frowned
slightly. He had nothing against Timur, but for fuck's sake, there was only so
many Gavi-family members he felt comfortable having ascend to godhood.

**IZZY**

"No, I --." She had left the conversation behind.
She did that, sometimes. "What I mean is, um. What ... will happen to him.
You'll be gone."

**ABBY**

Gavi shook her head, pushing out that thought Goro'd planted
in her head. Timur was a sweet kid, but Gavi didn't want him forced to lead the
orcs-- much less the responsibility of godhood. "He'll be fine," she
said softly. "I married Josiah, his dad, so that-- I had someone to leave
behind." She gave a soft, sad smile. "The two of 'em get along good.
They'll be all right."

**IZZY**

"Oh," Luci said softly. Maybe she had asked the
wrong question. She did that, sometimes, too. Because she didn't think she
meant, Where will Timur go? Who will take care of him? What are the logistics?

She was fairly sure that what she meant was, But won't his
mother leaving him and becoming a goddess who can never speak to him again
without harming him damage him? Aren't you supposed to stay with your family?

It was, she supposed, moot. The decision had been made. Gavi
didn't need second and third opinions; she had already arranged for her child
and her people to be tended to.

"Okay," she said. "Well. I'll miss you."
She turned back to the table and looked back to her book.

**ABBY**

Gavi half-grinned. Yeah. That was Luci for ya.
"Hey," she said. "I dunno if Elistraee'd mind but-- if she
doesn't I wouldn't mind hearing from you now and again. I'll miss you
too."

**IZZY**

"Okay," Luci said quietly.

**LINA**

Goro looked between them, thinking he ought to step in
before this got any more awkward. He gave Gavi a fake salute. "Eh, uh.
Don't fuck with my god, and we should be good."

**ABBY**

Gavi took a second to respond. Just watching Luci for a
second. The auntie in her wanted to bundle her up, squeeze her tight, soothe
her tears. Gavi knew that Luci... may not appreciate all that attention. She
turned and leaned against the table, close to Luci's elbow, and faced Goro. She
snorted. "Your god is a fucking ass, but he is doing me a pretty big
favor. I figure it's only fair to play nice."

**LINA**

Goro scoffed. Like Gavi as a god was gonna be a fucking
sweetheart. But he figured it was best not to antagonize her, so he kept that
thought to himself. "Yeah. Well. Good luck with everything. Dragonspine
mountains, hm. Might wanna tag along, just so we can see the lay of the place.
Once it comes time for Gruumsh-killin'."

**ABBY**

"I wouldn't mind. Would be handy for sure. Hey how
close you figure Mishka can get to there?"

**LINA**

"Ain't got a fucking clue."

**ABBY**

Gavi pushed off from the table. "Well, guess I better
go ask him then." She hesitated though, glancing back at Luci. Oughta be
something she could fucking do for her. She glanced at her wrist, at a silver
chain and pendant she wore looped around it. "Here," she said, taking
it off and leaving it on the table. "This is one of the few things I got
from my ma. It's some sort of good luck charm or something. Pretty sure it's
not actually magical, just some feel-good shit you know? I'd like you to have
it."

And with that done Gavi headed for the door. "Seeya
around, you two!" she called cheerily, lifting a hand in good-bye.

**IZZY**

Luci cut her eyes back up to watch Gavi go, raising her hand
a little. It seemed like a meaningless gesture. She would feel bad not
responding at all, though.

She curled her hand around the silver chain, squeezing it
for a moment before slipping it into her pocket. Gavi's wrists were much larger
than hers; she would have to do something else with it. She would keep it,
though. For good luck.

**LINA**

[end]

**IZZY**

Title: Weird Dream. Summary: Gavi tells Luci and Goro about
her impending godhood. Luci is sad. Goro gets a message from Mask.