After diffusing the chaotic misconception Nora created, it came time for their mission to be underway. Morrigan and her group were led through the sprawling underground city by Myshkali herself, and an honor guard fit for a royal procession that enraptured the Eskarii populace. The excitement and curiosity superseded their first arrival, now thousands of Eskarii cheering and greeting their regal queen and the alien visitors that accompanied her, telling Morrigan that as mindful and caring as Myshkali was to her people; she was far from the public eye.
However, in the presence of their queen, every Eskarii seemed to welcome them with open arms bringing out a sense of jovial wonder or excitement within her group, especially Yekku and Skoll who vied for as much attention as possible.
Talking was kept to a minimum as everyone basked in the celebratory procession, more so since Queen Myshkali who periodically stopped and greeted a citizen at random, until they reached the underground airfield Morrigan’s dropship sat waiting.
Morrigan’s body hummed with anticipation at the notion of escaping from the barrier she was under and returning to the stars however, there was a sting of disappointment to find Mo’Emori no where in sight. Morrigan had refrained from asking her whereabouts all morning in hopes to see her before they left but to find that she had not been waiting in the airfield made Morrigan worry.
“Where is Mo’Emori?” she finally asked as they crossed the open airfield.
Myshkali side eyed her with a knowing smirk, “I was curious how long it would take for you to ask…” her smirking growing into a smile as Morrigan’s cheeks began to flush, “She mentioned the situation with the Void Star and the need to scavenge for supplies. She was quite adamant that the Eskarii support your mission as well as your ship, not that I disagree, and has spent most of the night and all of this morning having what we could spare sent to your ship.”
“I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. We’ve done well raiding the Federation for supplies but to have actual support truly means a lot to me… as well as the crew of the Archangel. I’m sure they’re ecstatic,” Morrigan commented with relief. She was still disappointed to not see Mo’Emori but couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming appreciation for the quirky alien woman who apparently made it her mission to make sure her ship was supplied.
“As for your mission, I wish you the best of luck, Mori. As you Terrans say, “It’s a goose chase”, but I believe you will succeed,” Myshkali stated with mild levity as they reached her dropship, the pilot leaning against the hull patiently waiting.
Morrigan realized she had completely forgotten about the pilot and wondered what he had done for the days spent sitting around but before she could inquire, Myshkali continued, “The Eskarii do believe in the removal of the Federation however, our kind are a fragile populace such is why I cannot guarantee my fleet to you as of now however, if you do pull this plan of yours off, we will join in the fight to finally free all of our people from the tyranny of the Federation.”
Morrigan turned to the queen and nodded, “I understand. As soon as we have better numbers, I will send word. Until then though I do hope every Eskarii stays safe, and I hope to see and explore this beautiful city in the future.”
“We shall see each other and you will be met with wider arms,” Myshkali simply stated as her smile grew into an amused grin while Morrigan’s face scrunched in abstract scrutiny of her words.
“I can’t tell if you’re purposefully ominous or not…” Morrigan commented before watching out of the corner of her eye everyone say goodbye to her mother.
“Looks like you have no choice than to succeed and find out. However, for now, I shall leave you to say your goodbyes,” the queen said with a small bow, Morrigan smirking at the comment before quickly bowing in return as everyone in her group slowly made their way into the dropship.
As soon as Myshkali stepped away, Helen stepped closer and gave her daughter a true once-over with a proud smile on her face, “Was it all true, what you said?”
The demeanor in which she asked threw Morrigan off, as if it were a casual and vague thing to bring up. After taking a second to think, Morrigan realized that her mother really did push everything she said to the side to process later. Morrigan gave her mother a subtle smile and gently nodded, not wishing to dredge up every bad thing she unloaded onto her mother.
Helen let out a long winded sigh as her shoulders fell. Morrigan could see how much all of that information was a lot for her mother to unpack. However, the look Helen gave her a she took a stoic step forward told an entirely different story. “Good,” she said which was a large shock to Morrigan before Helen continued, “Then what I say next will mean everything…”
Helen took another step closer leaving her at arms length from her confused daughter but allowing Morrigan to see the look of pure determination on her face, “You take care of my baby girl. I don''t care if you''re in her head, if she gets hurt, I will find a way to kick your ass across the galaxy and back.”
Morrigan’s expression shifted to a delighted surprise at the level her mother accepted the concept before Apollyon responded in her head.
Yeah, no worries, boss lady. I''ll keep every hair on her pretty head intact.
Morrigan snorted and tried her best not to laugh as she repeated the deity’s response. Helen simply nodded before rushing Morrigan and wrapping her arms around her daughter with both relief and misery as she prepared to let Morrigan wander off into the stars once again into untold dangers. “One day we will stop saying goodbye like this…” Helen choked out a she felt Morrigan hold her tightly.
“We’ll make sure of it, Mom,” Morrigan responded before pulling away so holding onto her mother''s arms, “You need to stay safe too.”
Truth of the matter was part of Morrigan had no desire to leave. That part of her wanted nothing more than to abandon her path to war and let the galaxy be as it may, spending the remainder of her life amongst friends and family on a world surrounded by a race she truly adored. She was tired of goodbyes, tired of the separation the war grafted into her life. However, she knew she had to see what she started through, to make sure all of the effort committed to ending the bloodshed that threatened to consume the entire galaxy wasn’t wasted even if it took her entire life to see the war concluded.
“How do you think Dad would feel…” Morrigan asked unevenly, knowing the question hurt them both. There had always been a barrier between her and her father, one that she never truly understood.
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The question was open ended however, Helen knew her daughter better than anyone and knew exactly what she wanted to know. “Mori, you know how your father felt about violence,” Helen said softly as she watched Morrigan shift her gaze and purse her lips with a subtle nod.
Helen squeezed her arms though before placing a gentle hand upon her cheek redirecting her daughter’s crimson gaze, “Make no mistake though sweetie, your father loved you and despite not seeing eye to eye, he would be proud of the woman you’ve become and everything you have done. You’re his daughter and there is nothing that could ever change that.”
Morrigan nodded, not quite believing her mother''s response but still took solace in her words. She pulled her mother in for one final hug, “Thanks Mom, I''ll try and come back as soon as I can.”
With a final goodbye, Morrigan turned and approached her dropship, her pilot looking relatively spry as he pushed of the side of the hull. “We good to go, boss? They were nice enough to give us a flight path out of here.”
Morrigan nodded, “Yeah, let’s get going before I change my mind… um, I’m sorry for just kinda leaving you here…” she said shamefully as they walked around the ship to the ramp.
The pilot waved her off though, “No worries. They set me up in the barracks which were surprisingly pretty nice. Granted they all looked at me like an alien, which was fair, but they were pretty chill about me being there.”
Morrigan smirked, relieved that the man had been taken care of while she was away, “Good. Now it’s time to head home.”
“Roger that, Ma’am!” he responded with gusto before jogging his way through the tightly packed group, Skoll’s twin tails slapping against the deck as everyone watched the ramp lift up behind her and seal shut.
Moments later Morrigan watched as the tunnel walls sped past them while everyone talked to one another excitedly about their experience. It was a bittersweet moment for her because she had no desire to leave her family or Mo’Emori, but she finally had a solid direction to move her plans toward as well as escape the suffocating space within the planet. She felt lucky that she didn''t require much use of her power outside of entertaining the young Eskarii girls, keeping the respective pool of energy relatively full, but recognized just how bad the situation could have been if she would have had to fight just like she had within Castile V.
Ultimately though, she felt content about her visit to the true Eskarii home world. Her family was happy and healthy in a royal palace, she had a brand new niece she absolutely adored and made a new ally in the fight against the Federation; assuming the next leg of her journey went well.
You know, I think this is the first time we''ve made friends without nearly committing a diplomatic incident, Apollyon comment in her head.
Morrigan couldn''t help but smirk at the truth in the deity’s observation. On Tik’Taq’To, she nearly incited civil war just by her being there and the Inquisition was a constant pushing of boundaries, ones that could have always landed her in hot water; bringing ancient enemies and hated creatures to a hidden city, nearly assaulting a diplomat, shooting an instructor, massacring dozens of groups of people whether they were pirate or Federation. To say she was lucky may have been an understatement.
“We can never say we don''t have good times…” she responded as she turned to her crew and seeing a smile or happy disposition in each and everyone of them.
The moment the ship broke the surface and began streaking for the atmosphere, a tidal wave of happiness smashed into her. Thankfully, she was leaning against the window before it felt like her brain had been spun as her subconscious sorted out the blast of emotion.
There was something odd though. As Morrigan looked around at everyone she could feel an abundant source of happiness which she originally presumed was Skoll, however, she could feel Skoll’s level of emotion separate from everyone else being as strong as it was. What she felt was different though, like a happiness intermingled with nervous excitement.
She looked around and tried to feel for the wayward emotion, furrowed her brow as she cataloged everyone aboard the ship as it soon began to rattle through the atmosphere. The feeling drew her to a storage chest, one belonging to the Inquisition that was bolted to the side of the hold where extra supplies could be stored which confused her even more.
Everyone went silent as they watched Morrigan stalk closer to the chest, their idle conversation dying in the wake of their curiosity as they watched her reach for the lid.
There was a soft, childish giggle as Morrigan was greeted by an array of pastel teal hair and bright yellow eyes, “How did you find me so fast?”
Morrigan’s eyes went wide in surprise, “Mo’Emori!? How… I mean, what?” She couldn’t think straight as she stared at the wide unbridled smile, thinking that she wouldn’t have been able to say goodbye to her adorable Eskarii friend and yet, of all ways, she found her stowed away aboard her dropship and so many reasons why circulated through her mind.
Nora quickly stepped over and peered over her lover’s shoulder to see a very self-amused Mo’Emori curled up in the storage chest. “Awe, babe, we got a souvenir!” Nora mused as she nudged the side of her temple against Morrigan’s with a bright grin that made Mo’Emori blush and giggle more in amusement before she reached down to help the Eskarii woman out of the box.
Morrigan stepped back and watched Nora help her out, her brain running at speed, “I thought… your mom said you were…” then it dawned on her. Mo’Emori was running from home to join her on her mission without the express permission of her mother, the Queen of the Eskarii. “Your mom is so going to kill us…” she groaned before turning to see a variety of curious faces amongst her crew.
“Mem-eni won’t keep me from you again. She made me leave you but I won’t let that happen again,” Mo’Emori chirped with cheery certainty as she stepped out of the chest with the support of Nora before Nora pulled her close in an exuberant, crushing embrace.
“Can we keep her? I promise to feed her!” Nora mused as Mo’Emori squeaked under her grip. Meanwhile, Morrigan internally panicked inside.
“You were saying?!” Morrigan commented sardonically to the deity in her head as she considered the ramifications for kidnapping or harboring the princess of a foreign power.
Well, we can never say we didn''t go for it, Apollyon snickered in her head in a sarcastic tone, respectively throwing Morrigan’s words back at her.
Morrigan deflated with a sigh, taking a moment to consider Myshkali’s reaction before giving both women a soft smile. Both women, needing no further answer, rushed her and restrained Morrigan within a group hug.
“Hey, uh, is this going to be a problem?” Taylor finally asked from the group of bystanders. Xol humming in thought and equal curiosity as all three women turned towards them.
“No!”
“Maybe…”
“Who cares!”
All three women responded at once only for Stephanie to nudge Taylor and garner his attention. “Does it matter? We''re used to trouble and this is beautiful,” she signed before pointing towards the two women that smothered Morrigan.
Taylor grunted in concession with a small appreciative smile, wrapping his arm around her and saying, “Yeah, you have a point.”
Yekku stepped forward chirping inquisitively focusing solely on Mo’Emori as he rung his hands nervously. “Oh! I think I understood that!” she exclaimed excitedly as she pulled herself away and approached the curious S’randin.
“Yes, I''m here to stay, cutie,” Mo’Emori cooed only for Yekku to let out an ecstatic screech before tackling Mo’Emori in affectionate excitement that made everyone laugh.
“We’re docking in five, Inquisitor,” the pilot chimed in over her comm piece drawing her attention. Moving towards the window, Morrigan looked out the beautiful black ship, her ship, that hung lazily within the orbit of Escostia. At the sight of the Archangel, Morrigan''s excitement began to grow. If all went well, Morrigan could even get ahead of the coming backlash that was bound to happen from Mo’Emori''s absence.
“Shepard, this is Mori, be prepared to get us out of here; we got pirates to hunt,” Morrigan stated over her comm knowing that Sister had been monitoring the communication channels the entire time.
There was a brief pause before she could hear Shepard chuckle over the comm, “Well, as much as I’d love to. What would you like me to do about the incoming messages from the Eskarii queen?”
Busted, Apollyon mused.
Morrigan cursed under her breath as she groaned, turning and glaring at the giggling Eskarii that Yekku continued to smother. Morrigan hoped to avoid that conversation with Myshkali however, out of everything she managed to skirt past in terms of trouble, it appeared her luck ran out when it came to a potentially irate matriarch of an entire species.