Not The News I'd Hoped to Share [End]

[carcinoGeneticist]

As soon as Apocalypse was sure that Heilyn wasn't going to drink herself to death or Xiven was going to keel over from some systematic infection, he left the Court.

There was no way that the three of them could manage on their own. Xiven had too much work to do for her Suit to spend too much time caring for children that weren't even her own. With Bernard's death, Apocalypse was now The King of Hearts, and with Mephit the only other King between both Queens he albino was utterly swamped with work. He tried to help Heilyn, as did Rhiannon, but neither of them was enough to really pick up where Seth's absence left them. There was another issue, too. He adored the little human girl, but when it came to that damn Biped... The fact that it was a Club was bad enough, but the fact that it looked exactly like his Rhiannon... It made his stomach churn, and he simply couldn't manage it. He couldn't give Heilyn the support she needed, and she didn't need him playing favorites.

The purpose of meeting with Zuberi was threefold: He needed to tell her what had happened to her longtime friend, he needed to ask her for her help, and he wanted to keep her close for the end of her pregnancy. The idea of the woman giving birth, alone, in a little hut made him nervous.

It took two full days of travel for him to arrive at the Midori Beach. It was two very uncomfortable days, thanks to the injuries Varestes had managed to give him. His leg hurt from where he'd been forced to use his own teeth on it, but worse than that was the bone-deep throbbing from the spell that had attempted to force him into animal form. Sitting still for an extended period, walking... They all hurt terribly, but this was something he needed to do.

Once there, he was completely reliant on the directions Rhiannon gave him from her own half-memories of her time spent here. When he reached the place, he took a deep breath, limping towards the door and knocking softly.

Now for the really hard part.

[Nako]

Oh, she'd been so -comfortably- sitting down when there was a knock on the door. It was almost too soft to be heard over the snickering of the two skulls prowling around the room. They'd horrified Charlie right out the back door, but Zuberi had neither the energy or desire to fight with the two of them. She was -fat-, she was uncomfortable, and unbelievably tired. Her due date was coming up within weeks, and already she wanted this baby -out-. It didn't help that the child seemed most active when she wanted to sleep. All those kicks were starting to make her ribs feel bruised.

She paused at the sound, as did the skulls. Yes, that was most certainly a knock. "Coming!... Alright you two.. back on.. Now." Her hushed order brought the floating, ghostly things grudgingly back to their place on her wings; with how many clubs resided in this town, she didn't want to cause a scene with these ill-tempered minions of hers.

When she opened a door, she was immediately taken aback. It was Apocalypse... but, what had happened to the man? Immediately, she brought a hand to his tender looking face, looking absolutely horrified. "Migad... What -happened- to you?" The look on his face didn't help her worry. He looked more than just worn from battle. Something was terribly wrong. "What's wrong?"

[carcinoGeneticist]

The sound of a familiar voice floating from inside did wonders to soothe the man, and he relaxed ever so slightly. At least he hadn't stumbled upon the wrong house. That would have likely been more than he could have dealt with, especially since the only Club he could deal with interacting with today was Zuberi. He rested his arm against the frame of the door, rubbing at his injured leg and wincing slightly. Fucker was still tender, and the humidity in the air made it feel even more stiff.

He shifted back out of the way as soon as the door opened, well aware that he looked terrible. But Suits, did he really look that bad? From Zuberi's reaction, he must have. He winced when she touched his cheek - he was still feeling somewhat tender from where one of those damn shadow-beasts had slammed a fist against him.

"It's been a busy week," he said softly, finally leaning into her touch. That was one way to put it, and something in his expression softened as he regarded her. She was pregnant, there was no denying it, and the man was struck oddly by the thought that had circumstances been different, it could have easily been his child growing inside of her. He pushed that thought aside, reaching forward to pull Zuberi into a rather firm hug. Then he took a deep breath.

There was no way to put this that would make it graceful, no way to phrase the words to lessen the sting of them. In some ways, though he'd never been close to the man on a personal level, even Apocalypse was strongly aware of the bat-shaped hole in all of their lives. "...It's Seth."

[Nako]

Zuberi's face was still knit into that of obvious concern when he pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him in reflex, but her body held a tension in it that told of her suspicions that something was amiss. A sigh brushed across her ear, and she whimpered. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong.

She immediately pulled away from him when he spoke Seth's name, eyes wide. She might have grabbed his arm too firmly when she'd done so, and let the appendage go as if it were hot. "W-what about Seth? Did he have his children? Were they okay? Seth.... he's alright, right..."

The look on his face didn't agree with what was coming out of her mouth. It was the look of a person who was bringing news too grim to be sent through mail. An odd, choking sound escaped her, a hand flying to her chest as if she couldn't find her breath. Stumbling... she fell back from the doorway, back into the house. Her weak hand tried to find the corner of the table as she let out a high, strange whine. No. No.. he couldn't be dead.. he couldn't be....

Her useless hand couldn't find the strength to grab for support, sending her crumpling to her knees as a sob wracked her body. "No! NO, he can't... he can't be..." No other words could escape through her wails, curling up around herself as well as she could in her gravid state in her grief. He couldn't be... he just couldn't

[carcinoGeneticist]

What could he do to lessen what she was feeling? They had been close, Apocalypse was only too aware. Seth had threatened him with severe bodily harm when he'd found out that Zuberi had stayed the night in the King's room, but Apocalypse himself was unsure how the bat saw her. There didn't seem to be romantic interest, but there had certainly been something between them...

As Zuberi wrenched herself away from him he winced, turning to look at her when she spoke. Pain showed in his eyes for just a second before he stood straight once more, smoothing his expression over. He wanted to say something, but it would seem that she had caught the look in his eyes and understood what it had meant. Apocalypse took a step forward, extending a hand towards her. "Zuberi..." He said softly, but it was too late.

He hadn't been expecting that, and with his limbs as stiff and sore as they were, his motions were severely slowed and he was unable to catch her. All he could do was watch as the squirrel's world seemed to collapse around her, and he shifted forward to gently wrap his arms around her, kneeling at her side. "I'm sorry. He... the children are all fine, but..." Could anything soothe the hurt she must have been feeling? It didn't seem like it, and it made his heart break to see the strong woman in such a state.

[Nako]

He was talking... saying something. She didn't hear him. The ringing in her ears from the blood pounding in her veins seemed to drown out his voice... the noises of the ocean. Everything was dead to her in that moment and time. Zuberi allowed his touch, but did not acknowledge it; nor did she respond to the word that he'd said.

The sobs just wouldn't stop. She'd not be able to for a good many minutes. Every now and again a word would try to escape only to trail off into a wail that was enough to send ones hair on end. Even Charlie slowly began to make his way back inside, head lowered with worry at the state his master was in. Seth... had been almost everything to Zuberi in a way. Had she not met him, she'd have never met his kids, or Heilyn.. Rhiannon.. or even Apocalypse. He had been her window to the world outside of the sand and sea. Even Pinkbeard hadn't been able to do that for her.

There was no way for her to know how long she had wept; she'd hyperventilated to the point of nearly fainting before finally being able to calm her sobs, which had been rudely interrupted by a sudden dry heave. One could count their blessings that her stomach had been empty. Shaking, whimpering... she slumped against the pale man. It was all... too horrible.

And a thought hit her, and her lips trembled again."Oh Suits... Heilyn... Poor Heilyn.."

[carcinoGeneticist]

It didn't take a genius to realize the truth - nothing could ease Zuberi's pain at this point other than time, and so Apocalypse simply held the woman, his eyes closing as he gently began to rock her. She would have to cry this out, until she was drained of the sorrow that seemed to threaten to overwhelm her. Even though his own eyes were dry, something about Zuberi's sadness was contagious, and he felt himself begin to tremble.

So much pain, so much death, and in such a short time... He could feel the aching of his Weapon, her need to try and comfort the woman she so loved, and he slowly ran his hand through Zuberi's hair in response, lightly kissing the top of her head as he waited out the emotional storm. The hyperventilation worried him, as did the sudden heaving of her form - for a moment, the man was preparing himself to be vomited on, but thankfully nothing came of it.

Her question almost caught him by surprise. "...Heilyn is not well. She has five children who are utterly dependent on her, and... We lost Bernard a few days after Seth." There was no need for him to go into detail there, all Zuberi needed to know was that another potential caregiver was gone as well. Gently, he raised her chin so he could regard her eye-to-eye. "We need your help. Heilyn needs your help. ...I need your help."

[Nako]

"Migad.... Five?" Zuberi managed to choke out, eyes shutting as she absorbed the information. No wonder then man had..... She sniffed heavily, hot and puffy eyes blinking harshly as she attempted to regain some level of composure. All she wanted to do was mourn. Some part of her wanted Apocalypse to just -leave- and let her deal with her grief privately. But she couldn't. Now was obviously not the time to grieve.

She hadn't known Bernard personally, she knew that Seth had also had children with the man; there was no denying the likeness of that Solandrian human girl and the pictures she had seen of the King of Hearts. What a terrible.. terrible blow to Heilyn. Yes, so terrible that it overshadowed even her own grief. That fact caused a certain level of resentment within the Club Queen; she resented that her own grief had to be put aside to deal with someone else's.

But they were family, and that love transcended any negative feelings she could currently feel. She met his gaze with her own, giving a brave attempt at keeping it together as he explained things to her. Immediately, she looked unsure, turning away to look at her home.. her things. How long would she have to stay away?

As long as it took, she decided.

With a clogged nose, and face swollen from tears, she met Apocalypse's gaze once more. She didn't say anything, but instead gave a small nod, and a sad, trembling smile touched her face, forcing the words out that came next through a tight throat. "The children. Are they as lovely as Seth had hoped?"

[carcinoGeneticist]

The man gave a small nod in response to her statement. From what he understood about the situation, the numbers were a large part of the reason that the Bat had perished. Too many developing bodies had needed too many nutrients for the man's system to keep up with. He could see the thoughts racing through her mind, an attempt to decide if she would leave her home and everything that was familiar to assist a group of people who were not related by blood.

But Apocalypse understood that blood wasn't the only thing that made a person family, and he could see from Zuberi's expression that she felt similarly. He stroked her cheek slowly, gently, and then leaned in and pressed his forehead lightly against hers. "Thank you." He said, quietly. Then he paused, a slow smile finding its way to his face.

"They're certainly his children," the man said, then laughed softly. There was a not of sadness there. "There's a biped boy and a human girl... A pair of twins, too, and a little mixed-realm. Seth... He would have been proud. Three are pure Solandrians."

[Nako]

The sucking noise her nose made in an attempt to clear it was probably not very pleasant, but at least her smile was sustained, unable to stop a laugh-sob as she nodded with some sort of vague approval, her hand touching his face again. Goodness... he was in terrible condition. She'd have to ask him what had happened to him at some point. Right now though... Zuberi didn't think she could handle it.

The type of children he had been carrying... goodness. As much sorrow as the creatures had brought coming into the world, Zuberi found herself anxious to meet them; to see that glimmer of Seth that was still alive in their faces. "Aye... so proud." Zuberi agreed.

Bringing her lame left hand up, she harshly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand; her nose a bit too... And Charlie came up beside her with a hanky in his beak. Zuberi graciously accepted it, blowing her nose harshly. "You know... I'm sure Seth wouldn't... want me in this state. He'd probably.. tell us all to suck it up."

The ace chicken blinked, watching the two of them curiously. Zuberi made an offhanded gesture to the card, still blotting her face. "You.. haven't met Charlie."