Another log!

[itweresport]

Who: Abigail, Open
What: Searching for the Marquis's dog.
When: Not long after his post.
Where: Level 1, where she saw the dog the first time.

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[son_ofzeus]

This was the first time since arriving that Pollux has emerged from his room with the exception of finding the bathrooms. He had marveled at first at the way this ship was designed. After all, if the entries were to be believed (which, of course, he doubted), then this ship was magical, the people inside of it were varied and more than slightly strange, and unexpected things were common

[itweresport]

Abigail stopped and straightened, looking Pollux over. If she had known that this was the same man who had called her names for being one of the godly, she would have simply ignored him. However, because the journals came with no names or images with the authors of each entry, she was unable to make this leap of intuition and settled instead for a polite smile.

She was becoming used to seeing strangely-dressed men (though she had seen few women since boarding, save in the dining hall, and then no one had spoken to her), but this one seemed rather unkempt. He dragged string from his shoes, and, though she wasn't aware of shoelaces per se, she suspected that wasn't how they ought to look.

"I am tryin' to help search out a bitch that were lost just this mornin'. A black one, nearly two hand high." She bent to show him the dog's size with one hand. "The man who laid claim to it made mention that it come when called, but I think perhaps he were mistaken, or that Renate just be stubborn. She have not come yet, after all."

[son_ofzeus]

Pollux reached up, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly as he was able to fully take this woman-girl- in. Oh yes, he was most certainly hallucinating now. A frown came across his features as he replaced his hand back in his pocket and looked away.

However, when he glanced upon her again, she was still there. Convinced now that he could not trust even his own mind, Pollux tried to talk to this...hallucination of his.

"Renate the dog? Aboard a flying ship. God, just when I thought that I was starting to understand this place." He hesitated before he spoke again, keeping his eyes from her as he didn't want this to be real at all. He was hoping that, if he spoke to her, maybe she would eventually just...disappear. That was the only hope he clung to.

"What makes you think that the dog is even here?"

[itweresport]

"It is best, I think, that you not put so much effort in to comprehension of this place," she said with a smile. "The more thought goes in, the more you feel you might be mad. They tell me I am dead and I think surely it were so - I did have the fever when I last saw land. It is not such a bad thing, if this be the hereafter. There is a marvelous big library."

His next question - and the change of subject - caught her off-guard. "Why, I think Renate be here because I saw her earlier when I was explorin' the ship. It may be she have moved on to some other level, but it were the best place to begin."

[son_ofzeus]

Pollux considered his options. She didn't seem as if she had been here for very long, so she would not be of much use to him, but she certainly seemed as if she had been out and about more. So, there was some use there.

He could leave here there and continue wandering or he could have her tell him what he needed to know. Pollux wasn't manipulative in any sense of the word, of course, but he knew what he needed something. He just didn't exactly know how to go about getting it.

"Death? Yes, of course. It makes sense that I would be dead, too. And..." He forced himself to think on the mutt she was referring to.

"I will help you find the dog...I need to figure this place out anyway." He adjusted his glasses on his nose and considered. "Do you have any food? Even if you see the dog, there's no guarantee that you could catch him."

[itweresport]

Abigail looked surprised at the offer of help, and them smiled her thanks. She began to respond that she was afraid that she would be alone in the venture and unable to control the animal. At his query, however, she reached into her apron pocket and withdrew a bread crust. She was unaware how strange it might seem to others that she carried bits of food in her pockets; it was simply the natural thing to do. "I have a bit of bread, but I never knew any save a starving mongrel to take to it."

She returned it to her apron and shook her head. "I have nought else, but if we be quick upon our feet, perhaps we may catch her yet. She did have a bit of line about her neck."

[son_ofzeus]

Pollux knew that the logical thing to ask would be...why she spoke in such a manner and why she dressed in such a way. however, he was almost afraid of the answer. So, the laces tripping him up only once, he walked over, eyed her bread warily, and shook his head.

"It will have to do. Where...where had you already looked?" Pollux was most certainly not a leader. He wasn't going to pave the way with anything and he wasn't going to take charge. He would follow her direction for the moment, until someone else came along or until he grew bored with it.

"Do you have a name, by the way?" He wasn't sure if hallucinations came with names or not.

[itweresport]

That he thought she was an hallucination would have been of immense hilarity to Abigail, given her own sordid history. However, he acted perfectly normal - for someone who was so far removed from her own time, that was - and it didn't occur to her that he didn't think she existed. Mostly, this was because it didn't occur to her to doubt the existence of this place, herself.

"Of course I have a name. I am Abigail Williams, Sir, and I have looked only here. As I did say, I thought it were best I began where last I saw Renate, and search further from there." She paused, then realized, what with the strange people in this place, that she may have offended him. "Do...do you have a name, Sir?"

[son_ofzeus]

Abigail Williams. Something in that name and the way she was dressed triggered a thought in the back of his mind, but he didn't know why. He was now obsessed with the paranoid niggle in his brain and, distracted, finally realized that she had asked a question.

"Pollux Troy," he answered quickly. He had no thoughts to hide it or lie. He didn't have it in him. Besides, where he was from, he and his brother were famous. They were wanted men, of course and, with his brother's diffusion of the bomb Pollux had created, he had thrust their names even more into the spotlight.

He took a few steps down the hallway and let out a sharp whistle, calling the dog in that way. When he saw nothing, he shook his head. "It isn't really likely that the dog is hiding somewhere. I would say that she probably went to another part of the ship." He paused, waiting for her to give direction.

[itweresport]

"Pollux Troy?" she repeated, following him. "It is a strange name." This last, she said more to herself - it was a statement she had repeated many times since coming aboard. It still shocked her how many people had names that were strange - Luigi, Merlin, Sirrus. In fact, the only people she had met thus far whose names seemed even halfway normal were Emily Prentiss and Edward Sexby.

"Aye, it is likely she is not here," she said in a resigned tone. "Think you we should search the deck? I am much afraid to roam there alone - if it were water, I should not be, but it is void both top and bottom and it does strike me that I might fall and not be recovered."

[son_ofzeus]

Pollux just nodded. "Alright." He would have agreed to almost anything she suggested. He knew that he was a pushover. It was just never any fun to manipulate Pollux Troy.

"My name is from mythology. My mother apparently had a sick sense of humor. My older brother is named Castor." He didn't see the harm in telling a hallucination things of that nature. They really didn't understand them, did they? They really didn't get it or have the ability to pass it along.

Something in what she said bothered him. He didn't think that it was a void, of course, but the fact that there was a deck had never actually occured to him. This was his chance to prove them all wrong.

He allowed her to lead the way.

[itweresport]

"I know nothin' of mythology," she replied, sounding a little too eager for propriety. Things that were forbidden in her village - that is, anything not of the bible or the writings of biblical scholars - fascinated her. However, Tituba had often told her half-remember legends from Barbados. Most of her stories were of witchcraft and what would later be called voodoo, but there were also stories of supernatural beings. She had never head of a Castor or a Pollux, however.

"Tell me," she demanded breathlessly. There was danger in this sort of thing, and to be able to learn about it without fear of recrimination was liberating. "I would hear the myths."

[son_ofzeus]

Pollux really didn't understand why she was asking, but maybe she would go away to her hallucination land when she learned. Maybe that was the point. At the very least, it would pass the time until they were on the deck. He was always keeping an eye out for the dog, however.

Maybe then he could escape back to his room.

"Castor and Pollux were the twin sons of Zeus. Well, Pollux was the son of Zeus while Castor was the son of Tyndareus." He paused, looking around a corner timidly. "They were on an expedition together, as they were never separated, and, during a particularly nasty storm, there was a prayer given to the gods for protection. Stars appeared above the brothers' heads and helped the sailors reach safety. Because of this, they became the patron deities of seamen and voyagers."

Another pause as they headed for the stairs and he gathered his bearings.

"Castor was not immortal, but Pollux was. When Castor died, Pollux begged Zeus to let them stay together in death, so he formed them into the Gemini constellation."

[itweresport]

Abigail listened intently, her eyes locked on Pollux's face as they walked. Girls of Salem had little activity to stave away boredom, especially in the winter, and though the men had skills to occupy their time such as hunting or crafting, women often sat and did the same dull work day after day. To be introduced to an entire new realm of mythology or mysticism was like being handed a diamond ring.

"They became the Gemini constellation," she repeated wonderingly, putting a almost religious emphasis on the words. She had no idea what they meant, having never learned of the Zodiac nor of anything to do with Greek mythology, but they sounded powerful. "Aye, it were a good tale. But where is Castor today? Does he live here, also?"

[son_ofzeus]

"I do not know what happened to my brother. He is not here, which only gives me hope that he is still alive...or that he does not get another chance...if the people on this boat are to be believed."

Pollux blinked, realizing that he had brought out more than he wanted to in that explanation. But there was nothing to do about it now and the hallucination, again, would probably be quiet about the whole thing.

"I...died...during a fight. He was still alive then." The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his death, as he couldn't exactly wrap his mind around the concept. But, if he thought about it, he really couldn't wrap his mind around the concept of his brother switching faces with Archer. And yet, somehow, he had believed Castor when he came to him.

He wasn't really ready to do that here just yet, but...maybe...later.

[itweresport]

"It were the fever for me," she said, trying to commiserate with him. For some reason, knowing she had a second chance made it a bit more bearable to accept that she had died. Knowing her second chance would be infinitely better - and cleaner - than most of her life didn't hurt, either.

"But I left none behind," she added. "I think I know how it is you feel, though I have no knowledge of it." She tried to think of something comforting to say - something that might make him friends with her for her compassion. "It may be that he will come aboard, and then the sons of Zeus will be together, aye?"