IceAndWave/FiveDaysInHell
Five Days of Hell
In which the Elements are broken, blood flows in the streets, and a last dance is held...
The 1st Day of the Calibration, Realm Year 763
The last day of the year was, by Northern standards, scorchingly hot. It was also filled with a sense of forboding, with the Calibration literally just around the corner, even the common people have picked up on the sense of change and danger that seems to fill Creation. Soldiers sweated in their armour as they waited for the sun to fall below the horizon, shopkeepers did what little business they could muster, and even the children were quiet.
The first day of the Calibration dawns quietly. The early morning people go about their business, but there is a disquieting stillness to the air, a lack of wind beyond mere calmness.
Venia is unused to this sort of Calibration, half expecting the usual festivities and wonderfully distracting arrests to start any moment. Instead, there is only quiet, and nothing to distract from the coming changes. It's bad when one is considering visiting Asura to ease your mind, but there the thought is, flickering around in between moments of severe worry about what fate is going to deal her this year.
Cassia is quiet at breakfast time too, her desire to explore Whitewall strangely muted by the pervading stillness.
Sian picks at his food, not feeling much like eating. Bit tired.
Aia starts awake, looking around wild-eyed, "Sian! Something's wrong." She shivers.
Sian lifts an eyebrow, naturally, and wanders over. "Mmm?"
Cassia looks up at Aia, concerned and curious
"Can't you feel it?" she stands up and looks out of the window, "Everything is silent."
"Just the time of year... everyone's quiet at Calibration." He settles his arms around her nonetheless, gazing out at the city.
"It's different..." Aia sighs, "I just wish I knew what it was."
"Mm. It'll be okay."
"I don't ever remember a Calibration this quiet, though," Cassia says softly from the table.
In Tideholme unrest in the street outside the main temples and shrines builds into a small riot, as the keepers and acolytes argue with angry worshippers. The fighting is soon put down by militia, but there is a bad taste in the still air.
Venia eases her mind a bit with some wine, moving downstairs to check on her new hire and how she's handling calibration. If nothing else, she can get her started on some form letters for debt collecting. Who knew taking over someone's business could be so difficult? "The gods have abandoned us!" becomes a cry across the streets, as people begin to realise something - their prayers are not being answered.
Aia whimpers, "I can't feel my mother."
Sian looks somewhat worried, squeezing her a bit for reassurance.
Cassia looks concerned. That wasn't normal, from the very little she knew of Gods.
"Can't you tell?" Aia looks around, "They're all gone. All of the gods have gone!"
Sian asks, "Gone? Where?"
"... Gone?" Cassia echoes.
"I don't know!" Aia whispers, before calming down, "You know when you pray, you can tell that you've been heard? Try it now. There's nothing there!"
Sian looks at her for a moment, then does try, just a basic prayer to no specific god.
It had been a long, long time since Cassia had prayed, her time with Asura not realy encouraging that, but she still remembers the prayers to the city father, and these she whispers softly.
The prayers of the two Dragon-Blooded leave them with nothing but an empty feeling.
Sian frowns, and looks over at the mirror, occult senses sharpening. He sees that every god, least or otherwise, awake or asleep, that should be there - isn't. The room is devoid of divinity. "That's... odd." An understatement, to say the least.
Venia never did much care for gods anyhow, finding money far more reliable, and it's here that she focuses her attention, no doubt to the relief of the new hire, who being Threshold born has never had a Dynastic boss. Poor thing. Eventually she tires of her endless planning, deciding a walk will clear her mind. Check on some of her new holdings, maybe.
The unrest in the streets of Tideholme builds into violence in several places, groups fighting in what seems an abandoned world. The militia break things up, knocking heads together, and keeping order. Venia sees at least one such scuffle as she checks out a warehouse she "acquired" from Gosul's holdings.
Cassia looks at Sian, "What?" Beyond the prayer being dead.
"She's right... there's no gods. Anywhere." He looks around the room, just to be certain.
"Where could they have gone?"
"I have no idea..." A loud knock at Sian's door startles Aia from her contemplation of the tightly-packed streets of Whitewall.
Sian manages not to jump too much, giving her another slight squeeze before going over to see who it is.
It's a soldier, one of the Palace guard. "Sir," he salutes, "We... we need you to come to the Palace. There's something..." he breathes deeply, "They're missing, sir. They Syndics have vanished."
Sian lifts his eyebrows rather a lot, pausing only to grab his coat before returning to the man. "Let's go."
Cassia stands and picks up her own coat.
The Palace of the Syndics is, as always, tall and airy. This time it has an indefinable sense of emptiness about it, and the only sounds beyond those of nervous people shuffling their feet is the faint strains of a harp being played somewhere within the walls.
Sian doesn't even notice Cassia, too busy with making his way to the Syndics' hall.
"...What's that noise?" Cassia asks, briefly concentrating on the noise, hearing it without the impediment of the walls
"Angyalka. A demon." He hurries up the steps.
"Oh. It sounds beautiful," she hurries up after him. Neither of the two demons she'd actually encountered had been, well, scary. Was this common in demons? Now probably wasn't the best time to ask...
The hall of the Syndics is empty, Sliding Joy does not greet Sian as he arrives, nor stop him from walking through the otherwise sealed doors and into the open chamber that the god-kings hold audience in. Sian slows as he enters, entirely aware of how loud his footsteps seem when he isn't concentrating on other, more godly, things.
Cassia follows Sian in, looking around.
The world has never seemed so empty to Sian, one of the major constants in his life - the Syndics - has vanished without trace. Sian just looks over at their three empty seats, trying to ignore the faintly-heard melody.
Venia is jostled by someone running out of the warehouse, carrying a burning torch and giggling madly to himself. Smoke begins to billow out of the open doors. She steps back to regain her balance, taking a moment to calculate the likely response time and damage. Then again, it's not like she has any water-producing charms...
Still, she is exceptionally good at convincing people to do what she wants, quickly organizing the people around to try to keep the fire under control until the real fire brigade appears. That's the trouble with caring about things... you can't skip out and handle your frustrations on arsonists. By the time they get there, she's singed her dress, smears of ash here and there wiped away from her eyes.
Cassia silent for the moment.
The thrones of the Syndics, from which the gods rule over the city of Whitewall, provide no clue as to what has happened to their occupiers. The harp music continues to play, louder here although still faint.
Cassia walks closer to the thrones anyway.
Sian grimaces, and steps away, offering a faint shrug to Cassia as he walks back. "Gone. No idea where."
She looks a bit concerned and puzzled.
Aia looks around, her face a mixture of fear and confusion, "Where have they all gone?" She whispers, "What has gone so terribly wrong?"
"I don't know." He picks her up and holds her to his chest, as much for his sake as hers.
The fire is brought under control with only minimal damage to the warehouse, the cost to Venia's wardrobe is, all things considered, probably higher. Venia'll probably just have the damage fabric cut away. The wonderful thing about being a Cynis is that nobody complains when your dresses suddenly begin to lose fabric. She decides to try to find the lunatic now. Can't hurt her reputation any.
She finds him fairly close by, setting fire to another building, giggling madly, "We're lost! We're abandoned! The world must burn!" Venia takes the torch, grinds it out, and clubs him with it, stepping forward into a fullbodied swing to the chin. As she drags him off and recollects the amateur firefighters, she suddenly wonders whatever happened to that old sports coach that got fired over her and Asura's antics.
Tideholme settles into an uneasy calm, the militia keeping the city quiet and preventing too many arson attacks from people driven over the edge by the divine silence. Venia finally gives in and goes to see Asura, to see if anything can be done to break the calm. If anyone knows about distraction, it's her.
Cassia wishes she had someone to be close to right now, but Venia and Asura were miles away ...
Whitewall, never as comfortable with the thousands of gods that fill Creation, is nonetheless disquieted by the silence from their kings. The stoic nature of the local folk allows them to weather this lack with less unrest, although some soldiers patrol the streets just as a precautionary measure.
Sian is definitely on edge, since his entire life has been based around gods and dealing with them.
Cassia slips off from Sian and Aia, and tries to find the harp player.
In a room at the back of the hall, behind doors of obsidian, a beautiful woman sits on a stool. Chains of orichalcum keep her here, and her fingers, dozens of them, pluck the air itself into a harmony that speaks of time passing and the life held therein.
Cassia makes a small wonderous sound as the music plays about her.
The demon plays its music without paying any attention to the young Dragon-Blood, liquid notes filling the air as she pulls her melody from nothing and shapes it into an everchanging song.
Asura greets Venia with a kiss, "Something is very wrong, isn't it?"
"Even I can't ignore it... we have to do something."
Asura nods, "This is, I think, the start of the changes I mentioned." She sits down, and smiles self-mockingly, "The Immaculate Order is probably enjoying this. Their faith has been enforced on everyone."
"I have never been one for their sort of enjoyment. Or little gods, for that matter. But I'm not sure Tideholme will last the week, much less longer, without some personal interference."
Asura nods, "Calibration is a time of ill omens, and this certainly qualifies."
Venia nods, idly chewing on a nail. "Show of force? The Blooded have things well in hand, all that?"
"Couldn't hurt. Although the soldiers seem to be keeping a lid on things at present."
"It's not the present I'm worried about. If the gods are gone, that leaves us, the Dead, and the demons to turn to. I think it's obvious who I'd rather have as a replacement."
Asura nods again, "True. I wish I knew what had caused this..."
"I'm not sure I do... knowing probably precludes calmly discussing how to handle a city without godlings. Do you have wine? Silly question, I know."
Asura orders wine and the two cousins spend the night drinking and talking, while Creation ponders the sudden absence of its gods. Sian, Aia and Cassia eventually return to the former's apartment, unable to do anything about the disappearance of the Syndics.
A hot wind blows through the night, howling around buildings and making sleep fitful, at best. The next day dawns grey, the sky filled with a fine ash that gathers in doorways and alcoves, and everyone wakes with some in their mouth, spluttering into consciousness.
Cassia makes a face, "The ash doesn't even taste right..."
Sian coughs it out. "This is a bad Calibration."
Aia shakes her head, ash falling out of her hair, "Sian, what's happening? This is just wrong."
Cassia coughs it out too, seeking some water.
"I have honestly no idea." He too gets a drink, for Aia as well.
Aia drinks it happily, spitting the ash out of her mouth repeatedly. "Gah. Horrible."
Venia reaches over Asura to grab at the luckily mostly-full bottle of wine, the taste soon cleansing her palate.
Asura coughs, waking up, "What in the name of Malfeas...?" She wipes her mouth, making a face.
"Bad omens. Or a forest fire or a volcano. One of those. Want some?"
"Yes," she grabs the wine and takes several long gulps. "Better."
"Think the soldiers still have things under control?"
"I should think so. I don't think you'll get many rioters in this, anyway. Look," Asura points out of the window and a slow but constant fall of ash can be seen.
Venia does so. "Mrm. Maybe. There were enough people trying to burn things to ashes before... want to go make ash angels?"
Cassia suddenly looks panicked. She starts to concentrate on something intensely. "...It's not burning."
Sian looks over, "Hrm? What isn't?"
"...No fire!" Cassia starts to search for matches, lamps, anything to make flames.
Sian blinks, and helps her, locating a candle and matches and attempting to light it. The matches grind, but refuse to produce so much as a spark.
Cassia wraps her arms around herself, rubbing her arms.
Sian grimaces. "Looks like no baths to get rid of this ash, then."
One of the staff for the Iceflower Palace comes in and whispers to Asura. "What?" she says, and he replies quietly. "Very well," she nods and turns to Venia, "Well, it doesn't look like arson is going to be a problem, anyway. Nobody can light a fire. Anywhere." She sighs, "Of course, this means we have cold food."
"And cold everything else..." Venia spits a few rather harsh curses. "Whatever happened to Calibrations with a few two-headed calves and demons?"
Asura looks worried, "This is far from a normal Calibration. Something is very badly wrong."
"I know. I'm trying not to think about it, but it's hard not to... something big is coming."
"I should get out." Asura says, standing up and stripping out of her remaining clothes before calling for a maid, "This is worse than the riots."
Cassia looks folornly out of the window, looking for fire.
Sian pats her on the shoulder slightly. "Don't worry. It'll come back."
Whitewall's tightly packed roofs are covered with a thin layer of the ash that seems to keep falling from the sky, the streets too but traffic keeps that down. The sky is an unrelieved grey from horizon to horizon, and the falling grit makes visiblily questionable.
"I wish Asura was here ..or Venia .." she says softly
Sian isn't really sure if he should, but he brushes her cheek anyway. "You can go back, if you like, but you'll have to wait... travelling during Calibration is asking for trouble."
Cassia turns her head into the caress a little, "... I don't want to travel alone..." she says softly.
"Mmm. You'll be okay... promise." He offers a half-smile.
Cassia doesn't quite manage to return it.
Sian gives her a light hug, regardless.
Cassia stands in the embrace until he lets her go.
Sian just nods a little to her, trying to be encouraging. "Might as well get some food. Sandwiches okay?"
Cassia nods, and goes to find her warm coat, wrapiing it around herself.
Sian gets the sandwiches! Mostly just plain fish.
"Thank you," she says, then starts to pick at the sandwichs
Venia nods. "Anything I can do to help?"
Asura shakes her head at Venia, "Unfortunately only one of us is satrap. I expect the king will be out amongst his people, reassuring them." She shrugs, "The least I can do is the same."
Venia nods. "I'll probably try to see if I can keep my new acquisitions... At least moving around should keep me warm." She sighs. "See you later tonight?"
Asura nods, "I think I could do with the company. I expect it's only going to get worse."
Venia nods, and rolls out of the bed to find her own clothing. And probably borrow a coat, too.
Venia mostly doesn't feel much of anything sort of isolated from her actions by the cold and the silence. She drifts along through her day, faking enthusiasm in her occasional speech and trying to make sure those employees who've remained are fine, as are their families.
The madness of the previous day seems to have largely passed - a sense of resignation having settled in across both Tideholme and Whitewall. The gods remain absent and silent, people huddle together for warmth against the sudden chill that sweeps across the land, brushing the ash out into the streets and hoping that tomorrow will be better.
Venia, for once, doesn't sleep alone, though she vaguely considers 5 people being a bit much for one bed. Ah, well, it's Asura, what can you say?
Aia half-heartedly eats the sandwiches placed in front of her, her expression still pre-occupied.
Sian worries about both women in his apartment, but tries to be a generally reassuring male presence.
The fall of ash from the sky stops around noon, the clouds clearing and leaving the sun visible finally. It glows wanly, producing faint shadows, and provides no heat to the cold and silent world.
Sian feels somewhat better, but not much. He makes sure Cassia has plenty of blankets before curling up in bed with Aia.
Cassia curls up alone in the blankets, wrapping herself up as tightly as her flexible frame allows her
The next day isn't really any better, as it turns out. The rain starts just before dawn, a gentle sounding pitter-patter on the rooftops, washing the ash from the previous day away. The dim sunrises give the lie to this, it's faint light shaded red by the clouds that pour blood onto the land.
Sian stirs, startled, clutching at his chest and choking. He rolls out of the bed, heaving and knocking the tables over, drowning suddenly and without cause. He coughs hard, and pints of blood gush out of his lungs, wracking him with pain.
"Sian!" Aia calls out, rushing over to him.
Sian chokes hard on it, one hand going to his throat to try and halt the flow.
"...Sian!" Cassia reaches his side a little after Aia, patting on his back to help him clear the blood.
Sian vomits out the last of it with a truly horrible noise, curling up as the pain starts to fade.
Cassia goes to get him some water... and finds it's blood. She walks back to Sian's side.
Asura spits the wine out, waking Venia, "Ugh! Blood! What the Hell is going on?"
"Hell is... I think..." Venia rolls halfway over. "I wonder what's going to go totally wrong tomorrow?"
Asura winces, "I don't know. I don't know �anything�. What's going on, why it's happening, anything. I hate this."
"Few more days, it's back to normal... And at least blood is drinkable."
Asura offers the bottle to Venia, "Feel free." She grimaces.
Venia sips carefully at it, finding the events, at least for the moment, appropriate. "Can't not drink for days. Besides, aren't we supposed to do this all the time? I forget which Dynast myths are current."
"True. There has to be some drinkable liquids around. Spirits maybe?"
"Worth a try. Dragons, what are the rivers like?"
Asura starts, "Or the sea? I'm not sure I want to know."
"If I was at home, right about now I'd be picking through Peleps manses..." Venia chuckles, "Has to be a downer on those party boats."
Asura grins maliciously, "True."
Sian speaks after a few minutes, wincing a couple of times before getting the words out. "... well. That wasn't fun."
Cassia wraps herself up warmer "...want some food?"
"Not sure I'd keep it down. Ugh..." He carefully pushes himself up, and wipes his mouth.
Cassia nods and curls herself up on the floor.
Aia hugs Sian, "I'm scared," she whimpers.
Sian tries to joke, even as he hugs her. "Try coughing up blood if you want scared."
The rain of blood continues to well past when noon should be, the streets run with it, gutters overflow and spill down the fronts of houses, and everyone huddles inside their homes, hoping and sometimes even praying that this is going to end soon.
The streets smell like a charnelhouse, the blood beginning to harden. The sounds of people in distress fill the towns and, as becomes apparent in later days, the suicide rate shoots upwards as whole families kill themselves rather than face the horrors that are closing in on Creation.
Sian manages to get down a small meal, watching the blood fall. He speaks absently, mostly to himself. "Bone next... then jade..."
"... Bone? Jade?"
"Mrm? Oh." He looks back at her. "Elements of the underworld. Prayer, ash, blood, bone, and jade. They correspond to our elements; air, fire, water, wood, earth. Bone is next... I hope Venia is okay. And Asura." He grimaces as a number of unpleasant images enter his mind.
"Asura? Venia? What will happen to them?" Cassia looks very worried curled up in her blankets
"I don't know, but it probably won't be nice. Won't kill them, though... I hope."
Cassia winces.
"Sorry." He looks apologetic, wrapped in his own blanket with Aia.
Cassia curls herself up tighter, shivering a little.
By the fourth day of the Calibration the people of Tideholme are convinced that the world is coming to an end. Venia and Asura are hardly less convinced of that fact, wracked with pain as their very bones seem to rebel. Points of agony spread through their bodies, and Venia is the first one to see a bone spur literally force its way out through the flesh of her arm.
The ground itself shakes, a long, low rumble that lasts for almost an hour and leaves the few people in the streets wondering what's happening.
Venia really, really shouldn't curse Sextes Jylis, but does anyhow, profusely and inventively.
A dozen, then a score, then many more points of bone pierce their flesh from the inside out. Asura screams with each new one, cursing the Elemental Dragons and wailing, "Why is this happening?"
Venia would answer her, but a spur works its way out of her cheek, and she just falls silent, counting the seconds until the day is over.
Back in Whitewall the gossip tells the tale of the ground rejecting its dead, graveyards being littered with thousands of bones that have been pushed up by the earth itself. Streets are rucked up as long-buried skeletons force their way through the cobbles.
Sian watches from the window of his place, hoping the women in Tideholme are okay.
Cassia curls and shivers, thinking about what Asura and Venia must be going through. And wishing the failure of wood hadn't ruined the bread.
Asura screeches as a series of spurs rip their way out of their back. "Venia... *ungh* What are we becoming?!"
"I don't know. I don't want to know. This is not happening, this is a nightmare."
The blood that had dried onto the streets flakes and peels off, filling them with a sickly red dust that cakes everything, settling onto the bones in a ghastly display. Despite the disappearance of the gods, the temples are full - the people praying for someone, for anyone, to deliver them from the horrors of the world.
The last bone spikes force their way through Asura's and Venia's skin by about noon, leaving them covered with scores of thorns that bleed from the edges of the open wounds they fill.
Venia finally seems to have adjusted to the horrible agony, attempting to crack a joke. She spits out a few bone shards, smiling. "I think... I saw this as porn once. Somebody's happy."
Asura groans, "I hope that whoever it is suffers horribly." She spits blood, moaning.
"I think everyone has at some time this Calibration... it's gotten all of us, hasn't it?"
"Looks like..." Asura looks at her arms, bone thorns protruding through flesh, and chuckles darkly, "I'll ruin most of my clothes looking like this."
"So go naked. For once they have a reason to stare."
"How am I going to find people to dally with when I look like this?" Asura swears again, "I'm not normally one for prayer, but right now... I'm willing to try anything."
"Maybe so... though I wouldn't be surprised if they kicked us out like this."
Aia shivers and hugs Sian, "How are you breathing?"
"Better. Doesn't hurt so much anymore."
Aia kisses Sian softly and smiles, then goes to get another blanket for Cassia. "Thank you," she says softly as Aia wraps the blanket around her, smiling.
Aia goes and gets some food for the two suffering Exalted, including a small plate of sandwiches for herself. She sits next to Sian, and looks out of the window, wondering what is going to happen next.
Sian also checks that Cassia is okay, but mostly sits in silence, eating his food.
"I'm fine. Just cold," she says as she eats.
Sian nods slightly to this. "Only one more day."
Attempts to rebury the bones fail, as the ground refuses to accept them. Remains that are covered with earth simply force their way back out, cairns crumble, tombs crack and shatter, whole mausolea are turned into so much rubble with the bones of ancestors scattered atop the stone.
Eventually the people give up and wait, huddled in their houses and tents, hoping that tomorrow brings the last day of trial for Creation.
The fifth, and final, day of Calibration dawns with clear skies. The sun is still dim and distant, but it shines and brings a little warmth to the world. Perhaps the last day will pass without incident? some people think.
Cassia pulls out her necklace as she shivers in the blanket, frowning at the tarnish on the links, trying to rub it clean with her cold-numbed fingers.
Asura swears profusely as her thorny body rips several expensive silk pillows open, scattering down everywhere. "Damn everything!"
Venia actually goes to Asura, drawing her down ontop of herself and onto the floor. She carefully strokes her cheek around the spines. "Shush, Asura. It's unbecoming of you. Last day, remember?"
"You... we hope." Asura smiles at Venia's touch, "I know I do. I don't think I could stand being like this for much longer."
"Mhm. But you'll have stories for your grandkids, right? And at least you know it won't be happening again..."
"I don't want it happen at all." Asura sighs and walk over to a window, looking out over Tideholme, "It's so quiet. Everyone's waiting for the world to end."
Aia asks Cassia, "What's wrong?"
"...It's tarnished and it won't clean. Jade doesn't tarnish. And it was a gift from her..."
Aia looks at the necklace, then turns to Sian, "Do you have any jade around?"
"Maybe in the wardrobe..." He gestures over to it.
Aia looks in the wardrobe, fishing out the jade pyramids, all five now blackened. Her eyes are wide, "Jade just doesn't tarnish." She breathes slowly.
Sian lifts his eyebrows. "I'm glad I'm not an Earth right now."
"...Sian said Jade was the 5th element..." Cassia nods slowly.
Venia smiles darkly, "If it does tonight, then we don't have to worry about anything, do we?"
Asura chuckles, "Remind me to get you a present, for being such a relentless optimist."
"I'd take you up on it, Asura, if I wasn't expecting you to get out of it when the sun doesn't come back up. Some people are just incorrigible that way."
Asura looks back out over the city, "Just this once, I don't think I will."
The news that jade everywhere has become black and tarnished only cements in the minds of the people that this is the last Calibration any of them will ever see. Quiet crowds gather in squares and plazas as the sun sets, friends talk and hold hands waiting for the end to come.
As midnight approaches a low buzzing sounds can be heard, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. It gets louder as the end of the Calibration approaches, building to painful levels as the last hour closes in.
Venia decides to wreck some of the remaining candles, improvising crude earplugs for herself. It doesn't help much.
Cassia huddles and listens and waits for whatever happens.
Sian is just sitting and holding Aia, trying not to think.
The buzz changes, becoming a scream as of infinite pain, seemly emanating from Creation itself.
And then it stops, leaving a moment of perfect and absolute silence.
And then the world changes - back.
The stillness that has pervaded everything fades, the chill leaves the world. All of the terrible events of the last five days disappear almost instantly, gone as if they had never happened - beyond broken tombs and uneven roads. A massive sense of relief, and joy, sweeps across the North.
Sian lets out his breath, giving Aia a tight hug.
Venia, just for this very special occasion, relaxes some of her self control, laughing with glee at making it through. Maybe her karma's cleansed enough now...
Asura, her body freed of the bone thorns, twirls around with happiness, something she hasn't done since her childhood. She kisses Venia deeply, "We made it!"
Venia nods. "You realize, of course... we're never going to tell anyone about that. And I still expect my present."
Cassia quickly reigns in on the fire that threatens to burst out of her, twisting her way quite inhumanly from the blanket and runs to look up at the and the outside world.
A party has spontaneously broken out in the streets of Whitewall. The normally dour and introverted people drinking and dancing in the streets. Bells ring out in an impromptu display of joy, and even the soldiers are relaxed.
Sian naturally goes out to join them, twirling Aia around with a grin.
Cassia smiles at the pair of them "See you later." then she vanishes into the crowd, looking for someone to dance with. She finds plenty of people willing to dance with her, the celebrations at the start of the year far more sincere and open that usual. Drinks are offered freely, food is shared around, everyone partakes of the same sense of utter relief.
