The children all gather around the shocked teen while trying to comfort him and asking what happened. The boy, for his part, remains mostly unresponsive to it all.

 The mood in the hold was somber with one of the boys having become somewhat Morose and Sal watching over them as Grey and Mistral wandered into the hold bearing cookies. They placed them on the table and Mistral notice that Noah's hoard now had much more in it than it had before (including gemstones and various metal ingots). It was blocked off from the rest of the hold, but still visible from the stairwell.

Mistral kept as low a profile as she could manage (short of using magic) upon entering the hold behind Grey, letting the elfin child-god deliver the cookies to the children with the exuberant charm that she herself very much lacked.  She noticed the new treasures with interest, and wished she had such riches along for the debacle of financing Lola’s high-fashion Parisian adventure.

Mistral inclined her head to Sal, and was interested to see him interacting with the children.  She wondered momentarily if he might be feeding upon them, though she somehow thought not.  Sal had proven more empathetic than anyone could expect of a vampire, and more than herself for certain.  She awaited on the sidelines as the children came for the cookies.

Sal looked up when Grey brought in cookies, he said, with mild sarcasm. "Good, more sweets."

 The rest of the children seemed to share Sal's reaction to the cookies, much to Grey's disappointment. It seems that three days stuck on a boat with no food other than sweets has given them an aversion to pastry.

 Grey approached Mistral looking very much like she wanted to cry. Even her voice sounded like it might almost be on the verge of tears. "My brothers and sisters didn't like our cookies..."

When it was revealed that the children had been subsisting on confectionary pastries and other sweets since their arrival on the S.S. Grey, Mistral was dumbfounded and not pleased.  Not with Grey (how could she know human nutritional needs?), but with herself and the other adults for failing to see to this crucial aspect of the children’s care.  Mistral put a hand on Grey’s shoulder and said quietly, “It is not the cookies they dislike, but that they have had enough sweets already.  Humans cannot subsist on merely sugar and coffee as you do, ma fille.  We require protein and nutrients of various kinds as well.  You could not have known this.”  Mistral looked up to the children and said, “Pardon for failing to provide proper sustenance, children.  We will return soon with food.  I will need a few well-behaved volunteers to help carry groceries.”

Mistral selected a few of the older children who volunteered, and would bring Sal along if he wished to join them on a grocery shopping expedition.  She led them to the door of her cabin below decks, then turned and assured the group, “It will be cold as we pass through, but will be warm enough at our destination.  Bring jackets, if you wish.  Are we all ready?”

Sal comes along, both to help keep an eye on any kids who volunteered, and to help carry things. "Make sure we have money this time, right, Mist?" Sal was clearly getting more comfortable around Mistral, to speak to her so informally-- almost teasingly, even. Or maybe it was his time among the children that made it so.

 In the end, it was the four teenagers who came along (the oldest, an 18 year old boy, seemed somewhat depressed and didn't want to go but nearly all of the other children had volunteered him to come. One of the other children said aloud "It'll help you get your mind off of Amy."), Grey, Sal, and Mistral.

 The children nodded that they'd understood. Any disbelief that'd still held onto had been long shattered in the past months and so they were safe to travel (even awake) via portal.

 There were a couple of surprised yelps at just how cold it was as the group arrived in Mistral's cavern. Grey immediately ran over to the crystalline tass and picked one up. "Yay! Candy! Can I have this?"

 The teenagers (2 girls and 2 boys) looked at each other and then at her incredulously but said nothing.

Sal doesn't quite understand Tass, and wonders what effect it would have on Grey.

At Sal’s question over money Mistral gave a small groan of remembered aggravation from the fashion misadventure with Lola, and something like a smile tugged at her lips.  She passed by a desk in her cabin and withdrew from a drawer a black card and said, “This one is entirely fresh.  We must withdraw cash, but that will not be a problem.”

Mistral went to her closet door and with a command word and a gesture of outspread fingers she opened the portal within its frame, then stepped through into the chilled cave.  With breath steaming in the chill she strode toward the crystal-lined pool at the far end of the cave, saying over a shoulder as she went, “We will be here only but a moment.  Come.”  She stopped at the pool’s edge and began to perform a series of complex circular gestures to re-weave the fabric of space.  As she worked Grey asked if she could eat a tass crystal, which Mistral answered with a single nod while maintaining focus on her invocation.  A round portal limned in glowing supernal vapor opened before her, and Mistral stepped through it, beckoning the others to follow.

They emerged in a dusty, unfinished cellar of bare concrete covered in faded Spanish-language graffiti, old trash strewn in the corners and weeds growing through cracks.  The humid heat in which they found themselves was a stark contrast to the cave’s chill.  Mistral led them to a set of crumbling concrete stairs with faint sunlight filtering in from above, which she began to ascend.  She glanced back to Sal and remarked, “I ought to have warned of sunlight, but I suppose you would be aflame already if that were a problem, non?”  After climbing two floors from the sub-basement they emerged into the bright sunlight of an abandoned construction site, and the sounds of busy streets could be heard nearby.  Mistral led the way out through an alley and onto a run-down street crowded with pedestrians and lined with colorful shopfronts bearing logos and advertisements in Spanish.  Mistral spoke above the clamor, "Welcome to Santiago de Chile.  We are bound for La Vega Central market, over this way.  Keep close, it is un cirque here."  Mistral led them through the bustle toward a covered open-air market with stalls full of exotic fruits and vegetables, fish, spices, and all manner of curious wares.  Delicious fragrances filled the air from street vendors frying up a variety of delicious-smelling local cuisine.  Mistral stopped at a run-down ATM machine and used the card to withdraw a small stack of colorful paper currency.  She passed out a portion of bills to each of the kids and then asked them, "What sorts of food would you like to bring back for your siblings?  There is much variety in cuisine to be found here.  We may only return with what we can carry, mind."

Suddenly realizing that the silver elfin child was likely to call attention to herself, Mistral brought Grey to a clothing vendor to purchase for her some cute little girl clothing.

 Grey crunched on the crystallized tass as though it were rock candy instead of crystal, crunching happily on it as she walked through the portal with the rest of the children.

 The teenagers stared in awe at the sights around them, takin in the sights and especially smells. When given money, most of them immediately headed to a food cart while Mistral left the children under Sal's supervision to clothe Grey. The woman was taken aback at Grey's appearance but Grey immediately began speaking to her in Spanish. The exchange was rapid fire but the shopkeeper quickly began showing off various types of clothing.

 Sal, for his part, now had time to feel the warmth of sun on his skin, hearing the bustle of a day crowd (which was very different from the energy of the night life) and even had the opportunity to hear a few birds sing in between the lulls of human energy.

 This was what all the vampire myths and legends spoke of. Second hand accounts of legendary artifacts allowing one of the Kindred to catch even a glimpse of the sun. The mythological Golconda, transcendence beyond the vampiric curse to allow one to see the world through mortal eyes.

 What he was doing now was a thing spoken of only in Kindred legends, scraped together by those on the verge of despair to allow some hope to cling to in the darkness.

 The teenagers came back to Sal, each holding a meat kebab, with one extra, offering it to him.

Sal's reverie was broken when he was offered food, a stark reminder that there were still aspects of humanity forbidden him. He did in fact, need to feed within the next day or so. But there was no way he would risk the safety of the children to do so. He would have to wait. He said, politely, "no, thank you. I can't eat right now."

Mistral wasn't about to let Grey out of her sight, because who knew what reality-destabilizing trouble might result.  Neither would she lose sight of the teenagers, because if harm came to them new supernal cataclysms would brew the moment Talion learned of it.  Luckily, she had her own means to keep eyes on all of them.

Mistral idly browsed the vibrantly-colorful handmade clothing as Grey chattered in Spanish with the shopkeeper, who gamely welcomed this most unusual customer without much difficulty.  People might see the elfin godling as a body-painted street performer of the sort that acts like a statue for onlookers.  That would be the story, should questions arise.  While looking at a garish rainbow-colored shawl with a woven trim depicting rows of llamas, Mist asked Grey, "How does the clothing suit you?  I guessed that you would like the colors.  There are other shops as well."

As Grey found her fashions, Mistral went the street food vendor in the next stall and negotiated the purchase of two dozen big empanadas cooked in the local square style.  They would take several minutes to cook, and while she waited Mistral went by Sal and asked quietly, "How is it to see the sun again, mon ami?  It has been a long time for you, non?"  She glanced up at the bright sunlight shining through the gaps between the roofs of market stalls and remarked, "I prefer the shadows myself, but to be forbidden the day entirely... it must be difficile."

Mistral watched the sullen teenager who had needed to 'get his mind off Amy' according to the other children.  It had to be the Amy they'd brought back from the Nephandi compound, and she surmised this boy might have been her boyfriend.  She wondered whether progress had been made on Noah and Prometheus's project to restore Amy's consciousness and soul into a synth body.  One way or another, Mistral hoped the boy never learned the details of what had been done to her.

 When she had picked out her purchase (a small silver sundress with sequins and a bottle of silver glitter) Grey looked up at Mistral and reached into an unseen pocket (note that she looks like she's wearing clothes but they're not actually separate things from her body) and pulls out some small gemstones... likely with enough value to buy the entire shop... "I like this one. Can I trade with these?"


 The other kids, meanwhile, eat on their kebabs while waiting on the empanadas. They all seem almost ready to drool at the sound and the smell. The oldest teen still seemed somewhat depressed but followed along with the group and it seemed as though life was returning to him.

Mistral quickly closed Grey's hand around the gemstones and shook her head.  From a jacket pocket she retrieved a paper bill she'd gotten from the local ATM, an orange-colored 20,000 Chilean Peso note.  She placed the bill into Grey's other hand and whispered, "Let us trade only with local currency today, ma fille."  Mistral then stood back to watch Grey negotiate the purchase with the shopkeeper, whom she gave a questioning look.

---

OOC: No idea what inflation has happened over 112 years, but at the current exchange rate 20,000 Chilean Pesos is equivalent to about $26 USD.  This is basically a flea market, so that's probably a generous offer for Grey's merchandise!

 When Grey returned to the counter and, after a bit of back and forth in Spanish, Grey handed the lady the paper money and returned to the dress. She didn't get any change and it is very likely that she's still overpaid for the dress... though, not likely by nearly as much as she would have if she'd done so with the gems.

 As she left the stall, she slipped the tiny silver dress over her head, followed almost instantly by the silver glitter. She now sparkled like a tiny fairy and left a trail of silver glitter on anything she touched. She looked up at you. "What was that paper?"

 The other teens have gotten their empanadas and are now out and about in the market, trying to find food that their siblings would enjoy... and maybe something inexpensive that they could bring back as a souvenir.

Sal smiled, but took on a mildly reproachful tone, "If you really wish to know, I would be happy to discuss my struggles... back on the ship. Among those we trust. You never know what languages a stranger speaks. And the filles don't need to hear it, either."

Mistral couldn’t help but smile at Grey’s glittery transformation, and gives the elfin godling a single nod of approval.  When asked what the paper was, Mistral considered how to explain.  She said, “That was paper money, which is used in trade for goods in the place of gold and gemstones.  Different nations have different currencies, and these are Chilean Pesos.  Each paper note has a different value according to the number printed upon it.”  Mistral took Grey’s hand and conceded, “It makes far less intuitive sense than trading gold and gemstones, I know.  She hoped she didn’t have to explain digital transactions, which amounted to trading arbitrary numbers between virtual ledgers.

A little later Mistral walked with Sal behind the children as they wandered off into the market in search of food to bring back.  She answered Sal’s reproach, “Ah, yes.  Your Masquerade.  I would be interested to hear it.  Nearly as interesting as the idea that you might trust moi.”  She followed the children around a corner in the bustling marketplace, slipping through the crowds like a wraith.  Back to Sal she said, “Best we gather the rest of our groceries and make our return soon.”

Sal smiled at Mist, and said, in a playful tone, "You already know all you need to destroy me. I have little choice but to trust you at this point."


When she suggested finishing up the shopping, Sal said, "I agree. Enjoyable as the Chilean sun is, the other children are waiting for us." And the longer Grey is in public... Sal left the thought unfinished.

 A short time later, the group is back on the ship with no real incident. The children are digging into the empanadas with gusto and a certain cheer had returned to the room.

 As everyone is eating, they hear the telltale thumping of something large climbing onto the deck.

OOC: gonna post this (even if it's a double post) as it's sort of the main resolution to this thread.


 As the kids are eating, a  young woman with dark blonde shoulder length hair walks down the steps. As she did, all of the children stop and stare quietly as the boy stood up and walked over to her. "Amy?"

 She steps a bit closer and smiles slightly bigger. "Yes."

 The boy puts his hand on her cheek, as though testing to see if she's really real. "You're back."

 Amy returns  the gesture, her eyes starting to water up. "I am."

 The boy reaches out and pulls Amy into a mutual hug as the other children put their food down and surround the two, talking, laughing, and cheering her return.

Sal quietly smiled to himself. Maybe those two crazy kids would be alright.

Mistral inclined her head, a slight smile on her lips as she replied quietly, “Bien sûr.  Just as you have terrible things you might do to we who live, if you had a mind to.  Yet, we work together.  Fancy that.”

The return journey went without issue, and soon enough they were safely back on the S.S. Grey with the children eating happily.  Leaning against a wall in the hold, Mistral glanced up at the thump from above, though she was not surprised by the arrival.  She waited until the oddly-familiar girl descended the steps and immediately captured the children’s attention.  It wasn’t until her name was spoken that Mistral recognized that it was the same Amy as the abused and cruelly-butchered waif she’d extricated from a barrel in the Nephandi compound.  Perhaps Amy wouldn’t remember any of that, and judging by her cheer, Noah and Prometheus must have wiped away the trauma, fortunately.  By now she was able to recognize the body as an Ark synth by supernal signature, but it was Amy, soul and all.

Something caught in Mistral’s throat as the hug was joined and the children gathered around, happy and together.  She faded into the margins of the room and watched, happy for this good amidst all the terror they’d faced.

Once Noah was done ensuring that Prom was very well compensated for his time and efforts, even if he had to add more than just objects, he made his way down to where everyone was and hunkered down off to the side. He did take the time to put on his dragon tailored robe and slippers as he sat in his big chair. Mistral entirely escaped his notice as he sat there and sighed. For having Three days off they sure as hell got a lot of stuff done.

He produced a rock candy sucker made out of Mana for Grey.

It was a really good day.

Entering the room just to catch the hug end and the children greet Amy alive and well once more, Prometheus gives a small smile.

Then he walks through the ship to see his other recovering patient. Charlotte would be down for a long while yet, but he wasn't going to let her spend such time alone.

OOC: Fairly sure this is /scene.