Coincidence and Happenstance (OOC Welcome)

[Coatleque]

Coatleque scoffed once more at being called 'wretch' before backing off to the opposite corner. She also slid down against the wall to sit and draped one arm over a knee as she regarded the woman across from her.

 

"Perhaps not all that you hear is true. In the same way not all that you are told is false either. How much of your precious learning were you given by someone whom you were told to believe without question as if they were infallible in their own presumptions?

 

What has happened is that the Twelve gave me clarity of purpose when I had nothing else in this world. There was a time when I was no better off than those outside the walls. I had resigned myself to death yet it would not come. It was in those darker days that I discovered the true talents Rhalgr and Halone had blessed me with and devoted my life to the service of another.

 

I do not sneer at the less fortunate as you think I do. I sneer at you, and those like you. Those who think blind charity and well meaning words with enough false hope will truly change anything for them. I had none of those when I was in their position, yet I suffered through it just the same. And when Nymeia and Althyk conspired that it was enough, that is when my torment ended - not a moment sooner.

 

You would do well to learn such humility yourself, I think. Perhaps that is why they saw fit to cast you from your 'clouds' as it were to our little shite-hole, as you so called it."

 

With that she closed her eyes, resting her head back in the corner where the walls met and awaited the inevitable angry rebuttal.

[111]

Evangeline listens quietly, then raises her head, "So then Ser Crofte."

 

"You think your experience holds true for all? That our suffering comes from the twelve and our salvation as well?"

 

"What do you suggest then, for those starving outside the walls? Merely that they pray, and hope the twelve take mercy upon them?"

[Coatleque]

"What I suggest, Miss Primrose, is that your charity be made with the understanding that no amount of gil will solve all of their problems. Neither will thrusting the burden of leadership upon those whom are not destined for it make their situation any better.

 

Would that there was enough to go around for all, but in these situations my duty belongs to our own citizenry. It is their responsibility to share what excess they may have. And if they chose not to, who are we to demand what they do with their own things? Nald'Thal will see all accounts reconciled in the end.

 

For your own part, Oschon surely smiles upon your generosity as much as Thaliak would for your teaching. How effective they have made you is yet to be seen."

 

The dim light flickered just then and Coatleque raised one hand up to tightly grip the handrail above her head as a reflex.

[111]

Evangeline shakes her head, "You are a fool Coatleque, and time will prove you wrong." She sighs, "You'd think a Highlander of all people would know."

 

"Ala Mhigo fell because it was divided, and the Garleans found easy influence among the poor and weak. You think me your enemy, Lady Crofte, but if you would only would clear your mind of its preconceptions, you'd realize we should be allies."

 

She waves a defeated hand, "But no, continue mocking me and my attempts for equality. Soon the Garleans will return, or worse. Ul'dah will only survive one of two ways. Either you bring the people up, or you grind them down so far they have no hope of rebelling." Evangeline gives a short ugly laugh, "You can guess which strategy Ishgard takes against the Dravanian threat. I hope you wish to see Garleans roaming the streets of Ul'dah, or the equivalent of Ishgard's Inquisitors."

 

"Bah..." she waves her hand, "Keep your mind filled with petty faiths. They did not help the birthplace of your people, and they will not find your new home either."

 

"Only mortals can do that."

[Coatleque]

Coatleque gave the woman's disbelief a mild shrug. "Mortals can ever only accomplish what the Twelve have allowed. I was not alive when Ala'Mhigo fell. Perhaps the city was brought into judgement for some great evil. If that is the case, then Ul'dah would surely meet the same fate regardless of your efforts.

 

The difference between us is that I know I could never stop it yet I serve regardless, where as you believe our fates can be avoided and chose to strive against providence."

 

She paused for a moment before swallowing hard.

 

"Perhaps we are both fools then."

[111]

Evangeline grins, "Perhaps we are Coatleque. However, indulge my viewpoint just once." She stands, "Think of our fate as Ul'dah, even Eorzea, stuck in a precarious position. Perhaps we shall fall, or perhaps we shall rise."

 

"You would sit and give thanks to the twelve, hoping they will bless us... I tend to be more active in such matters." Evangeline laughs, "Even if it does nothing but speed us towards our eventual fate."

 

She points to the floor, "Kneel, if you would Lady Crofte, I need more height if I am to reach the grates in the ceiling."

[Coatleque]

She threw Evangeline a rather incredulous look before groaning to herself and crawling towards the middle of the lift. There she sat up into a kneeling position with one knee raised flat having her foot on the floor.

 

"Just make it quick. And do not dare to read into this as if it is some sort of symbolism, or so help me I will drop you."

[111]

Evangeline nods, then clambers onto the woman's thigh, then places her other foot onto a shoulder. "I wouldn't dream of it. Though I feel the twelve, in this case the Royal Elevator service, are not responding to prayers until the morrow."

 

With the raspy grate of metal on metal, small bits of rust flicker down as the grate is moved. There is a slight thump as she busies herself, "How good are you at climbing, Coatleque?"

 

"The ropes, not the ranks of course. Unless you can sleep your way up this cable." With a crackling spark, some piece of metal hits something it should not, and the light in the lift flickers before dying.

 

"Er...How good are you at climbing in the dark?"

[Coatleque]

As the light fades she groaned once more. "What... did you do?"

 

She stood slowly while boosting Evangeline up and out of the compartment then looked up after her while squinting into the darkness in vain.

 

"Despite your preconceptions of my personal life, I have not gained any amount of station through such favors. And yes, I can climb. The question is, can you lift? Because now I am stuck down here."

[111]

Evangeline laughs nervously, "Unlike the gods, mortals are fallible. Probably nothing to worry about."

 

With this the elevator gives a suspicious creak, almost sounding like a moan. "We... mortals have limited lifespans as well, we best hurry."

 

"We shall see on my lifting capacity, I have been exercising of late..." With an oof, she pulls herself through the grate, and onto the top of the contraption, long cables trailing up the dark elevator shaft towards the airship dock.

 

"Here, take my hand..." She grins, "Perhaps the only time you'll have the honor."

[Coatleque]

Coatleque reached up and grabbed Evangeline's hand with both of hers. "Alright. On three, I jump - you pull. One... Two... Three!"

 

Pushing off the floor she almost braced herself to fall back down but Evangeline's grip held, and she managed to get high enough to catch the lip of the opening with one hand. With new found leverage now added and the efforts of the other woman Coatleque soon found herself standing but hunched over for breath with no more light than before.

 

The lift groaned beneath them once more and she froze in place trying not to breathe. Steadying herself with one hand gripping a cable she looked in the direction she thought Eva to be standing. "Alright. Now what?"

[111]

Evangeline fiddles around in her coat for a moment before pulling out a small tube. Pulling a cord from it she drops it on the grate. It sputters for a moment then bursts into life, filling the shaft with a bright flickering red glow as it burns.

 

She clears her throat, "See, perfectly legitimate uses for my items. I haven't used those to burn down even one mansion yet."

 

"As for what to do next..." She turns and massages her arm, not wanting Crofte to see, "Erm... I didn't think that far. Could we perhaps climb up to the next landing? Or find a way to lower this contraption gently?"

[Coatleque]

She squinted at the sudden burst of light and looked up the shaft until her eyes adjusted. Surveying the top of the lift all she could do was shrug. "I'm a Paladin, not an engineer." She quipped. "As we cannot go down from here, I think it is safe to say we must go up."

 

Coatleque reached up and wrapped her hands around one of the thick cables before yanking on it. Once she was sure it was secure she jumped and wrapped her legs around to begin her ascent. It was then that a gleam caught her eye off to the side in the dim light.

 

Sliding the meager two fulms back down the cable she pointed off to the side where the maintenance ladder was attached to the wall. "Perhaps climbing would be easier if we used that?"

[111]

Evangeline blinks as well, following Crofte's eyes. "Ah, I think so." She gestures in front of her, "Ladies first of course."

 

"Do not worry Lady Crofte, I shall of course avert mine eyes." Sighing, "Next time I believe I shall take the stairs."

[Coatleque]

"Avert your eyes? As if one such as you would lower her standards enough to bother with one such as I?"

 

The ladder was a little more than a step away from the Elevator itself, and there were no catwalks. It was a maintenance ladder and nothing more, extending from the bottom to the very top of the lift's shaft. Coatleque peered over the edge of the lift into inky blackness before stepping back with a sigh. She stepped forward again and pushed off the lift into a jump, catching the ladder and quickly wrapping her arms around one of the rails to steady herself. A metallic groan echoed down the shaft at the sudden addition of her weight to the rarely used ladder.

 

A moment later she managed a look back to Evangeline. "Alright... it held. Let's get out of here." With that she began to climb.

[111]

"You wound me Lady Crofte, I would oggle you most fiercely, given the chance. Regardless of my issues with your personality."

 

Evangeline tucks her papers into her jacket, and hops onto the ladder as well. "Let us hope you have been going easy on the sweetrolls, lest this quality Ul'dah manufacturing fail us."

 

She climbs after Crofte, "You know, I'm not sure if that underwear is appropriate. Just what sort of gentleman are you meeting?"

[Coatleque]

Her climbing stopped for a moment as her hands gripped the bar of the ladder in a mixture of embarrassment and anger. "So much for averting ones eyes..." She muttered to herself, though it would still echo loud enough.

 

Through some force of will she continued to ascend once again. "Who I am meeting is none of your concern. To be perfectly honest, he may not even be there. Such is the nature of his business." She began to pant from her exertions combined with long-winded explanations. "How bloody high is this place anyway?"

[111]

"High enough to sneer down at the populace from." Evangeline quips absentmindedly, feeling the stress of the climb as well. She pauses to rest for a moment, "I believe I might be out of shape."

 

"Lady Crofte." Evangeline looks up as she readies another flare, "You'll have to tell me what exercises have given you thighs so massive. I believe you could crush my head in betwixt them."

 

"Either way, here, Catch!" She tosses the unlit flare up, "Pull the cord, and keep your hand away from the end, I need to know how much further."

 

She exhales, and rubs an arm, "The life of a scholar does not prepare one for such adventures."

 

"While we are waiting, tell me of this gentleman. He is a businessman? I suppose in U'dah that is as close as one gets to nobility."

[Coatleque]

Coatleque stopped her ascent once more at the quip over her apparently massive thighs and closed her eyes. Her forehead rested momentarily against the cold steel of the gauntlet that gripped the ladder just in front of her before she looked down to Evangeline who had also stopped below. She had no more words, no logical objection or witty retort. She only scowled disapprovingly.

 

Suddenly an incendiary was being lobbed in her direction.

"What? Wait!..." was all she managed to cry out before the flare was almost face-level. The toss was slightly wide, however, and she had to let go of the ladder with one hand and swing out from the wall to reach it. There was a ping as her gauntlet smacked against it, followed by a crack as the flare hit the opposite wall.

 

Coatleque cursed as she clamored back to the ladder. Another metallic groan echoed around them as the hinges protested the sudden shift in weight. A second later a clatter was heard below as the flare presumably landed on the top of the lift.

 

"What are ye doing!?" She cried, heart pounding at having nearly fell. "Ye cannae just hurl things at me like tha!"

[111]

"Ah... my apologies Lady Crofte. I thought you would be apt at grasping phallic objects."

 

Evangeline looks forlornly at the flare sputtering below them, "Let us hope the builders considered fire resistance among their priorities. A faint smell of smoke indicated that might not be the case. The Elezen climbs frantically upwards, almost burying her head in Crofte's skirt, "Let us make haste to be out of this shaft."

 

"I have no desire to be baked."

[Coatleque]

"Oi, I'm goin', I'm goin'!"

Coatleque did not bother to look down again but continued a somewhat quickened ascent up the ladder. She almost had concern over stepping on the other woman's hands before shrugging it off as her own fault if she dared to follow so closely behind. It was not as if she could concentrate on climbing while watching her step below.

 

The shaft only became darker the higher they ascended, and soon the rungs of the ladder were little more than faint grey lines that disappeared if one dared to look away and back again. It was then that she saw the thin white outline of light seeping through cracks in the wall.

 

Coatleque stopped suddenly and called down "Hold! Look, there. Is that a door?"

[111]

Evangeline yelps and shakes her hand as a boot clips a finger, but she does her best to ignore it as she scurries up after Crofte.

 

"The fuck do I know Coatleque!" Evangeline growls, before looking nervously down at the sputtering flames beneath them, "If it's not a door then let's make one!"

 

She prods upwards at Crofts rear, when suddenly, with a crack, one of the rungs of the ladder shatters, sending bits of wood down the shaft.

 

"N-now please!" She clings onto the ladder, huddled against Crofte's skirts.

[Coatleque]

Scanning the wall adjacent to the ladder, Coatleque had to squint in the dim light to make out any kind of a footing. Luckily there was a ledge, though it was barely a full foot's length deep. The ledge ran from the door to the ladder and had a thin arm rail close to the wall above it. Clearly designed for maintenance to be able to reach the ladder from the door without the need to jump and pray for the best.

 

At the zealous urging of the woman below her she carefully stepped out from the ladder with one foot to the ledge while feeling for the hand rails. A slight tug ensured it was secure before she dared push off from the ladder to hug the wall. There was no room to turn even her head to look back without awkwardly leaning away from the precarious ledge, so she hoped for the best for Evangeline as she shimmied along the ledge to the door.

 

From her angle it was even harder to see anything despite the cracks of light peeking through the door. She felt her hand along the seems and between to try and find something to grip but was having very little luck of it.

 

"I don't know... what am I looking for?"

[111]

Evangeline grimaces, and fishes her papers out of her coat, bound to a steel clip board. "I hope you know I am making a severe sacrifice for the revolution."

 

She tears the papers off, the leaves fluttering down the elevator shaft, and she hands the clipboard upwards, "Jam this in the crack and tilt it."

 

"I know you are normally on receiving side of such things, but I'm sure you'll figure it out." Her voice is frantic as she talks, looking suspiciously at the remaining rungs.

[Coatleque]

With no small effort Coatleque managed to shift her grip from one hand to the other, turn enough to take the object from Evangeline, then shift back to the other direction again without dropping it down the shaft. She shimmied back across the ledge to the door and with all the strength she could muster in one hand, jammed it into the crack between the doors.

 

She tried to push on it from the far edge as one would a crowbar. A mistake that was met with the sound of splintering wood as it snapped in half and almost sent her tumbling forward. Cursing Byregot for such shoddy craftsmanship, she steadied herself before pushing against the half that remained, as close to the doors as her hand could manage. It was enough and the doors began to separate.

 

As the gap widened, the other half of the clipboard fell away, but by now it was no longer needed. Coatleque reversed her hand and grabbed the door on the side closest to her and pulled back to open it the rest of the way before wrapping her arm around and stepping out of the lift's shaft. She backed against the wall immediately with a sense of relief before remembering the other woman behind her. Leaning back around into the opening she offered a hand to Evangeline.

 

"We made it! This way, carefully!"