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Post by Nako on Aug 13, 2009 20:31:53 GMT -5
Her expression went from horror to confusion as Seth spoke, wide eyed and open-mouthed as the news sunk in. Well, what news he would divulge. What was this about silence? Would he truly think that she'd tell whatever this secret was? It was personal, family business. Of course, the man was probably being cautious.. but a worried, grief stricken woman was not the sort to think about those logics.
Something was mentioned about Pale. What the hell did he have to do with it? Sure, the creature was Rhiannon's summon but...
She quickly advanced on the man, not quite threatening, but... Her good eyes was as dark and black as ever, lips screwing up into a tortured, snarlish looking expression as she grabbed hold of his shirt sleeve to make -sure- he was facing her square. "Quit fuckin' around, mon. You tell me what happened. Tell me." Zuberi was no saint, but then again she rarely was brought to such an emotional state as to swear to harshly. "Damnit Seth, TELL ME. Is she alive or dead!"
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Aug 13, 2009 20:41:43 GMT -5
The abrupt shife in Zuberi's emotions did not go unnoticed, but Seth couldn't react in time to relax her before the flames broke out in full. His red eyes went wide when she grabbed him and he put his hands up, trying to edge her away. Which, in retrospect, seemed like a dumb idea, so he took a step forward and hugged her tightly instead. Hopefully, it would give him a moment to clear his own head in regards to what had happened and how to explain it. Alive or dead was, for once, a bizzare grey area that he was unsure how to define.
Seth sighed as he broke the hug, glancing at the ground, unable to look at Zuberi's pained expression. "I'm not entirely sure of the details, but... Alive. As alive as...[/b]" the color went out of his face and he sat down suddenly, drawing his hand over his face. "Shit, Zub, it doesn't make any sense."
He needed to try again, from the beginning, without worrying about what Apocalypse would think. In this case, he didn't matter. This was an issue between him and a woman who Rhiannon had seen as a secondary mother figure, someone who had loved her deeply. He had to remember how he'd taken the news when he'd first heard it. His first reaction had been to punch someone. Why would he assume it would be any different for Zuberi?
"She left with that lover of hers, Lior, and left her scythe at the palace. After a while he went to go bring her home and when he came back... He's a King of Hearts, and she... This sounds crazy, but you've gotta believe me.[/b]" he looked up at her again, a defeated and haunted expression in his eyes. This was his daughter. His first little girl. She was a Heart, she frightened him sometimes, but he loved her more than anything, as a father was supposed to do. "Rhi's his scythe now.[/b]"
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Post by Nako on Aug 13, 2009 20:48:43 GMT -5
And Zuberi might have very well -started- punching someone, had the hug not caught her off guard. Quietly, she stood there, listening to his rambles, his confusion. It only deepened her concern as her brows furrowed darkly over her mismatched eyes. Then, he suddenly let go of her, sitting down. He suddenly looked much... older than before. Tired.
"..... What?"
Now it was Zuberi who had to sit down, falling back with a heavy thud as if her legs couldn't quite set her down properly. If her tailbone had felt any pain from it, the Midori squirrel hardly noticed it. Should she be horrified? Happy?
Surprisingly, Zuberi was able to speak with a level voice. "You're right. This doesn't make any sense."
She looked up; she had been staring at her webbed hands most distractedly until then. "You can't expect to follow death around and not expect something bad to happen. So they.. traded places?"
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Aug 13, 2009 21:12:14 GMT -5
The bat wasn't surprised when Zuberi sat down as well, and he belatedly realized that it would have been nice if he'd told her to sit down before he'd broken the news. It was weird news, the sort that was difficult to hear and accept. He just hoped that the woman would take his words at face value, rather than ask him for too many details. He was sketchy on most of them, and Apocalypse wasn't exactly spilling the story at every given opportunity. "None at all.[/b]" he said in the same tired voice he'd used before, scratching at the back of his neck.
He caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to look at her, blinking as he made eye contact. He felt... tired. He hadn't really been able to spend time with Pale to get the whole story. After all, the rest of his life was moving on. He couldn't stick behind to figure out Rhiannon's new existence.
"I never liked that Cat,[/b]" he growled softly. He hadn't, either. Rhiannon had hated that fact, but there was something unsettling about him and his bloodly cloak. It was unsettling the way he'd followed Rhiannon around, always looking like he'd been kicked. And he'd been right. He'd done something to her, he didn't know what. "Pale doesn't talk about it. He's a right ass sometimes, but he says it's between the two of them. The one thing he's sure adamant about is that it beats the alternative, which he says is her being dead. I guess... something happened, but I just don't know what it was.[/b]"
He didn't exactly feel helpful.
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Post by Nako on Aug 13, 2009 21:25:12 GMT -5
"A cat, huh?" Zuberi remarked somewhat numbly, not really reacting at all any more. It was all so.. strange, and she didn't know how to feel, how to process it all. "Is that what he turned out to be?"
"And.. to think.. she's controlled by that... that.. c-c-club hater!" And then she lost it, burying her head in her webbed hands as sobs suddenly wracked her body. She couldn't take it; the sudden thought that the bastard now had some... hold on her. Zuberi could tolerate it when he was the weapon.. but now he was the master.. able to control her, to keep her from family and friends...
"H-He's never gonna let m-me see her again!" She felt so sure of it. There was no way the bastard would let Rhi associate with a club.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Aug 13, 2009 21:33:32 GMT -5
The moment Zuberi lost it was the moment Seth shifted, moving to sit next to her. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her against himself, letting her cry and cry, occassionally whispering soothing words and trying to reassure her, when in reality, he'd already learned that the situation was far worse than that.
It was true, Apocalypse hated Clubs. He loathed them. But he wanted Rhiannon to maintain her friendships so that he didn't have to bother with them. It was easier that way, for all involved parties, and it made Seth happy to see. For the most part, it worked wonderfully, Rhiannon assuming a physical form and spending time with whoever wanted to see her while the... ex-weapon went about with whatever it was that he enjoyed doing, which largely seemed to be having sex. It had all gone flawlessly, and everyone was happy.
Until he'd tried it with Hadrian. Then everything had gone terribly, terribly wrong. The moment he'd stopped speaking, she'd lashed out. It was as if she didn't recognize him. This had happened again, with another Club.
"Zub... you shouldn't see her. He'd let you, happily. I'm sure he'll even tell you how she's doing." Seth finally said, giving her a tight squeeze. "She... lashes out now, like he did when he was a weapon still. I'm sure he'd love to let you see her, he wants life to be as normal as possible, but... It's dangrous.[/b]"
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Post by Nako on Aug 13, 2009 21:48:32 GMT -5
Her lip trembled.
"No..." Her deeply tanned skin grew an odd shade of bronzed pale. "No no no...."
This was so, so much worse.
Zuberi didn't cry any more... not sobbing, anyways. Instead, she just let Seth hold her, and the tears merely flowed. Silent. Heavy. Yes, her heart felt -heavy-. She'd not be able to see Rhi again. Not without danger to herself. Not without heartache to Rhiannon. No, it would be... selfish.. selfish of her to expect to be able to see her again. Zuberi didn't know if she'd be able to fight back. If Rhi managed to..... Oh dear, it would break her heart. That is, if she hadn't acquired the loathing in her heart that Pale felt. Even then, she couldn't believe that the child she'd all but helped raise could kill without remorse in some part of her soul.
"But... at least.. she is alive. In some sense of the word. Is... is she happy?"
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Aug 13, 2009 22:30:39 GMT -5
There was nothing more for him to say. Every whispered no broke his heart just a little bit more, and he wished there was something - anything - he could do to help ease her pain. There just wasn't. So he continued to hold her, gently rocking her back and forth, staring over the shock of her pink hair and off into the fading light of the sky. He wasn't sure how long he held her like that, only that he needed it as badly as she did. They'd both lost a child, but Zuberi's loss was much more profound.
If Rhiannon had been dead, that would have been the end of it. As it was, she was trapped in a bizzare state of alive-but-not, and she had to be kept away from the Squirrel for Zuberi's safety and her own mental well-being. That was worse, he knew.
"She is... alive.[/b]" he simpy repeated. She didn't seem happy or sad, but overall, he did get the feeling that she was still around. "Whatever it was that she did, I think she regrets it. But she can't change it, and if what Pale says is true, I agree with him. I'd rather have her in some weird... whatever she is than be dead."
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Post by Nako on Aug 13, 2009 23:00:25 GMT -5
Later that Evening
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Things had settled down from that morning. The evening sun was setting, and to commemorate its amazing, purple glow... The two friends broke into the Morganberry weed that Seth had brought to smoke their troubles away.
"Not bad..." Zuberi squeaked out, careful not to exhale too deeply as she spoke. Taking one last drag and holding it, she passed it over to Seth. A few moments, and she breathed out, coughing only slightly on the tail end. "About time those damned Morganberries did something write. You know, we've got some Morganberry bastard comin' around... wanting to buy Midori land. Can you believe it?? A bunch of selfish gits, they are."
Weed. She didn't like using it as an escape... but some things made it necessary. Oh, she'd cried her tears.. cried as many as she could. Now though.. only acceptance could come of it. Without it.. there'd be no way she could live with herself.
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Post by carcinoGeneticist on Aug 13, 2009 23:12:33 GMT -5
It was amazing how easy it had been to push all of the sadness from earlier away. It happened almost as easily as the smoke left their lungs, curling in the air in front of their faces. His eyes slid shut as he took the joint from her, a small smile curling across his lips as he took a long drag and held it. Then he released as well, watching the smoke drift away slowly. It really was pretty. "Would I ever lead you down the wrong path, Zub?[/b]" he said, and then giggled. The tail end of the giggle collapsed into a small coughing fit, and he passed it back.
Really, he felt much better now. He raised an eyebrow at the woman, then narrowed his eyes. Pheh, Morganberries. That did sound like something they would do, greedy creatures they seemed to be.
Then a strange thought crept into his mind, and he looked at Zuberi, head inclined ever so slightly to the side. "So... waitaminute. Wait.[/b]" he sat forward, rubbing his temples with his fingers, then dropping his hands. "So if he buys land here, which whatever, fine, he can be an ass if he wants. But if he grows Weed... Does that make it Midori or Morganberry?[/b]" he started to giggle again, grinning broadly at himself.
Deep conversation, man.
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