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[AndromacheNY]

When the mist clears, Helix finds himself standing on the side of one of the canals of Venice as the sun peeks over the horizon, touching the rooftops with gold.  His Elizabethan garb has shifted to an older style of Venetian formal wear. To his left is a large building with "Accademia di La Bella Verda" in extravagent script on the sign outside and to his right is a large manor with a brightly glowing lantern in the front window.

A figure approaches him wearing the dress of the nobility. She is uncommonly tall, perhaps a little over six feet in her slightly heeled shoes. She wears a blue velvet cloak over her shoulders but pushes the hood back as she comes closer. Even under the layers of late 16th century finery, she appears to have a remarkably athletic build. Her skin is a warm Mediterranean bronze. Her hair is the thick blue-black seen on many natives of the Greek islands. Part of it is pulled up into an elaborate series of looping braids, but most of it still falls in thick waves down her back. Her eyes are the sparkling deep ultramarine of the ocean.

She smiles at him and puts a finger to her lips. "Greetings Helix." She says in a soft tone. She gestures toward the manor with her eyes. "The household still sleeps; and as the butler is a sweet man and rather old, I would just as soon not disturb him."

The overdress she's wearing is made of silk taffeta that shifts from violet to turquoise in the early morning light. The slashes in her sleeves reveal tufts of a silvery white fabric beneath. The open front in the skirt of the dress reveals layers of petticoats underneath and the foremost layer is brocade the same Delphi-blue as her cloak and woven with an intricate lattice pattern of interlacing green and silver roses. A silver rose hangs on a long silver chain around her neck -- the stem dipping into her ample bodice. A leaping silver dolphin dangles delicately from a pearl at the lobe of each ear.

"I am Andromache Chthoniaos, Head of House Delphi. In the absence of our host, it is my pleasure to welcome you to Venice. If you'll keep your voice low and give me your hand I'll take you directly to the library where we can speak in comfort without waking anyone."

The hand she offers him is large but graceful, and the ring on her finger bears the symbol of Delphi.

[stargazerspike]

Helix looks around at the city, and then he smiles and takes her hand.

"I'm Helix.  But you already knew that," he whispers and then looks back at the mist, and then back at the city, and back at the mist.  Then he shrugs a bit and starts to follow.

[AndromacheNY]

As Helix takes her hand a glint of the rising sun (off the roof perhaps? or the water?) hits his eyes and for a moment he is blinded by the light and forced to blink. As his vision clears, the lapping sounds and briny smell of the canal is now muted and distant. Looking around, he finds himself no longer on the street, but now in the beautiful library which is the pride of House Delphi.

Countless hours of voracious research touch this place with quiet passion. The room is large but still cozy and floor to ceiling books, like you'd expect a european noble with access to the multiverse to build. The early morning light slants through the luxurious picture windows, illuminating the window seats' inviting cushions.There is a great deal of shining polished wood including large tables stacked with books. The rest of the decor is done in shades of Delphi blue, grey, and cream.  The floor is covered with beautiful rugs and the aroma of the aromatic herbs spread beneath the carpets mingles with the scents of old paper, velum, and leather. Everything feels warm and welcoming and lovingly used.

"Spring mornings can be quite chilly on the canal." Andromache says removing her cloak and draping it over one of the large chairs. She calmly sets to work waking the fire which was banked for the night in the large fireplace.  As she teases the fire back to life, Helix has a little time to glance around. There is an elegant globe, opulently inlaid with gold, but a little examination reveals that it's not the Terran Earth. Pots of budding daffodils adorn a few surfaces.  A little harpsichord waits on one side of the room, with two wine glasses, both empty, and a layer of dust to indicate that NOBODY touches the instrument.

 With flames crackling merrily in the hearth once more, the Head of House Delphi steps back and gestures to a large comfortable chair by the fire. "Please, make yourself comfortable." Assuming he will sit by and by, she doesn't wait but settles into the chair facing his and glances up fondly by reflex at the painted ceiling adorned with dramatic scenes of what can only be great moments in Nexal History.

Looking back to him, she smiles welcomingly. "Now, how can I be of help to you?"

[stargazerspike]

While Andromache builds the fire, Helix walks over to the globe and leans over to examine it.  He bites his lip just a bit and then shakes his head and turns to glance at some of the books on the shelves.  Then when called over, he walks to one of the chairs and sits down, sitting in the forward half of the chair, almost as if he's afraid to actually sit in it.  He puts the leather bag on the ground next to hip and then glances up at the ceiling and then over to her.

"This is a very nice library.  The city sort of reminds me of...a place I used to go as a child, but it's not really that important.  Anyway, I wanted to find out a bit more about this."

He leans over and digs around in the leather bag for a few minutes before handing her an Ace of Spades playing card.

"I understand this belonged to someone named Tybalt, but that's all I know about it.  It was left for me.  I was just hoping you knew more about what it means and what this Tybalt person was like."

[AndromacheNY]

Andromache takes the card and for a moment it seems that a chill runs through her, but she examines it in silence. Softly her eyebrow raises though it seems more a response to an interior dialog than anything Helix has said.

"Tybalt Capulet. Prince of Cats. Visionary. Mad man. Lover, fighter. Inspiration and frustration. Father, brother, infamous cousin. Ally and enemy. Sage on occasion, rogue whenever he was awake. Regent of Venice. Builder of this library. And according to our best records, Progenitor of not one but two of the greatest houses of the Nexus (in my admittedly biased opinion). But this..." she holds up the card, "is not his. Was it your ride to the Venetian border who told you so?"

[stargazerspike]

Helix listens politely, leaning forward a bit as Andromache talks.

"Yes.  She said it was his calling card.  Which is why I wanted to come to a library, since I figured knowing what's going on is...better than not.  So if it's not his, do you know who it's from?"

[AndromacheNY]

"That's admirable." Andromache nods approvingly. "So few avatars seem willing to do their own research these days. My house is endlessly called upon by those who are too impatient or lazy to do even the basic leg work themselves." She sighs. "But in this case I think I can help you. The ancient history of the Nexus and our Progenitors has been a passion of mine since I first learned of their existence. I hardly know all there is to know, but I suspect at this point, I may know more than most of us who remain in circulation."

"Now, as to your artifact..." She hands the card back to Helix. "It's an understandable mistake certainly. The card is from a Progenitor. And Tybalt was one of hers for a time, as was I. He may have used this symbol as his own before, but the actual owner of this card predates him. I imagine she predates almost everyone. She has has more than one name-- many of them do, but she is most well known as Persephone, and she is the Progenitor of House Lightfoot."

[stargazerspike]

Helix takes the card and turns it over in his hands a few times, looking at the back and then the front, before slipping it into the bag again.

"Sorry, this may be a really simple question, but I've heard people say Progenitor a lot.  I even found their Stronghold.  But what are they?  Are they like...the Founders of the different Houses?  Or is it something more than that?"

He looks around at the library again and shrugs.

"I found it after the Ritual I helped with and after I went to the Bazaar.  I guess it means that she's at least got her eye on me...and that Cutthroat may actually have a point..."

[AndromacheNY]

Andromache snorts softly. "There's nothing wrong with a simple question. If it's the right one, then it's the best kind. And I'll gladly answer it for you, but I want you to understand this before we speak a moment further. I was a Lightfoot for years. I was theirs from the first night I woke up on their beach and staggered confused towards their Cove. They claimed me and I allowed myself to be claimed. It was stupid. From the moment you say yes, you belong to them and to demand your freedom back is to forfeit your life. They don't care why you want to leave. It's counted as an insult and an act of betrayal that must be paid for in your blood."

"But I fell in love with someone from another house-- a Galahad of all things! I was going to have a child. The looks I got from the head of the house made it clear I wasn't safe among them anymore, but even when I respectfully petitioned to leave, explaining that I couldn't raise my child into a life of violence and intimidation, I didn't have his permission. I had the audacity to leave anyway, pregnant with twins and terrified at the thought that I couldn't protect them from the very avatars who had sworn they would protect me when I first joined them. I went to Lilith hoping that their then-Head Valeria and her influence with Bron would protect me, but it did no good. Ultimately it was Cutthroat who shot me with his plasma rifle and killed me." She shakes her head and smirks. "Hurt like a bitch."

She looks at him and a quiet blue fire glows in her eyes.

"But that was the moment I was free. The moment I had feared most had passed. The Nexus protected my children when I could not. They weren't touched. I was resurrected, and suddenly I understood there was nothing worse that they could do. They could hunt me. They could hurt me. They could kill me. But death is only a very painful inconvenience here. I never let their fear tactics control me again. And eventually they left me more or less alone."

"Yes," she nods. "Persephone began House Lightfoot. She consecrated it's establishment in the ultimate act of murder and betrayal. I'll tell you whole story if you want to hear it. And yes. Her message is clear. She has claimed you for her own. But let me be absolutely clear.  In the Lightfoot old days, we were fond of saying, 'Anything that isn't nailed down is mine. Anything that's nailed down, can be pried up.' Lightfoot claim everything. It means nothing. You are your own person. If you want to run with them and live their brutal life of violence and greed, then do so. You will have my blessing and my pity. But only do it if your heart tells your it's right for you. The day you say yes, they will think they own you. Their talk of lawless freedom is just the speech that gets you in their door. But if you join them, remember you are only another's property until the day you refuse to be a single moment longer. I had to learn it the hard way. It would be gratifying if my folly can help you, but ultimately, Helix, the knowledge is mine to share, but the decision is yours and yours alone to make."

[stargazerspike]

Helix listens to her story.  When she finishes, he seems to look anywhere but at her.  His eyes settle on the harpsichord in the corner, and very slowly, three white dots appear over his head ". . ."  They stay there for nearly half a minute, before he turns back and finally looks at her and the dots disappear.

"I'm sorry that happened to you.  Death is something that's...strange.  I've died before, but all I remember is this strange sense of the world going black and then almost a feeling of deja vu.  Like...when I continued on, I'd done everything before, and at times, it seemed like I knew what was going to happen..."

He pauses.

"Not that that has anything to do with your story.  But..I'm sorry.  It's a strange thing the way things works out.  When I showed up here, I didn't know where I was.  So I asked around, and monsters and treasure seemed to be here to, so I just did what I always do...

And...I would like to hear the story of the beginning of Lightfoot.  If you have the time."

[AndromacheNY]

"Thank you. It's all in the past now. And ultimately it was the beginning of my redemption although I couldn't see it at the time." She smiles. "I make a point of educating avatars who are truly seeking knowledge." She pauses. "You must break the habit of devaluing your past. It's where you come from and it brought you here. You have great potential, Helix, but part of your journey will be accepting and learning from your own history."

[stargazerspike]

"Oh it's not that.  It's that, since I've been here, my primary concern had always been getting back home, but I'm realizing that that's not really possible.  And even if I get there, it may not be the place I left.  I guess that pushing it aside is a way to try to...deal with it."

Helix looks over again at the harpsichord and seems confused for a minute.

"Do you hear that?"

[AndromacheNY]

"Trust me when I say that pushing it aside will only delay the inevitable and make it hurt more." Andromache looks at him. "You hear the harpsichord?"

[stargazerspike]

Helix nods.

"I think so.  I'm not sure.  It's hard to tell...and a tapping on the floor as well."

[wcshoe]

Ultimately it was Cutthroat who shot me with his plasma rifle and killed me." She shakes her head and smirks. "Hurt like a bitch."

OOC: You make Cutthroat sound like a bad guy here!