December FamMeet

[cleavethetides]

Who: The Grove
What: Town Hall
When: Mid-Late December
Where: Inn Lobby
Warnings: Child death mentions, torture, body horror all probably will be brought up.

[ In the morning, Irene will trek around the Grove to knock on doors and let everyone know she's setting up a information sharing meeting in the Inn's lobby. She figures there would be best, considering the new fireplace (thread pending on my behalf) set up and the fact it's about as safe as they're going to get.

Irene also lets everyone know that any fights and any blatant drama starters will be met with punishment. She doesn't elaborate on this further. Zahliya is invited. Irene tells Moder if she wants to sit by the door to listen, she can. She does not invite the merchant siblings, however - though she'll make no objections if someone else does.

She seems to be writing things down in their shared journals this meeting so people can reference this later. ]

Comments

[mooninthewater]

[ No, no, no, he doesn’t want anyone to fight. Especially not because of him. He’s not important, why fight over him??

What is he supposed to do?

“Monster,” she says, and this makes him once again back away, slipping from Caoimhe like water and away from Sesa. ]

It’s alright. Please, don’t fight. I can go, that’s okay…

[simplicitas]

[The chaos made Elsword poke his head around the corner even though he really, seriously shouldn't have. Mizuki told him to be away for this discussion.

And then Mizuki gets stabbed. Everyone starts yelling, it's hard to hear anything over that and the voices that are already in Elsword's head since he's corrupted.

Somehow, monster comes through perfectly clearly.

Elsword is downstairs again in a flurry of wings and anger. He hasn't been angry in what feels like months.]

The only monster here is the one that attacked my friend, [staring daggers at Irene,] and if he goes, I go.

This isn't the first time you've attacked someone close to me, after all.

[cleavethetides]

[ To Sesa: ] I am an Inquisitor of the Iberian Inquisition, if there is anyone here to make the judgement on a Seaborn, it's me.

[ And to Elsword: ] You don't understand! [ Why is everyone making her out to be the bad guy here...! ] What Mizuki is isn't too far off from that corruption inside of you. All consuming, hopeless corruption. At least there's still hope for you, but we're dooming ourselves keeping him here!

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki… does his best to laugh it off. He puts up his hands, trying his best to diffuse the situation. He just wants to disappear. He doesn't want to leave and force Elsword to do something dumb on his behalf. Or anyone else. He doesn't want anyone to be mad at Irene, either. ]

I'm alright! Look, it's all healed up, she didn't hurt me that bad — please stop. Irene has every right to be mad at me. I lied. She's right. If I wasn't a monster, there would have been no reason to lie, right?

It's okay.

…I'm sorry…

[oleaeuropaea]

Listen, ma'am...

[Vash isn't stepping in front of her, not when there are so many more faces saying so many things.]

The last thing any of us are gonna do is judge someone for not being human, okay? [He holds up a hand. The space around Vash will glow just a little lighter, just for a second. An incomprehensible array of patterns will span across his skin in bioluminescent light, then disappear.]

So let's calm down and put the weapons away.

[cleavethetides]

[ She's going to just sheath her rapier. She put it down a while ago, why are people arguing with her! Clearly she's in the right!! (She is not-) ]

I would never judge someone for not being human. [ Yes she would. ] It's not... there's been a misunderstanding, listen, Seaborn are...

[ Ugh, why is Elsword yelling at her. ]

cw eye/body horror mentions, suicidal ideation, i'm sorry about this tag

[simplicitas]

You don't understand!

[Elsword earlier: I have no emotions they're hard for me to feel.
Elsword now: Hey look guys I found the emotions!]

You're not the one corrupted! You're not the one with the thing in the woods screaming in your head telling you that it can do whatever it wants to you! You're not the one who has plants coming out of your skin and your skull, you're not the one who's been getting the shit beaten out of him for months, you're not the one with the Forest reminding you that it won't even give you the honour of letting you die!

[Elsword takes a breath. It does absolutely nothing to calm him down.]

Mizuki is nothing like that corruption, but you wouldn't know that because you're not me, and you're not Nene, and you're not Moder or any of the other people out there that have been turned into monsters against their will! Mizuki has been nothing but kind to everyone here, including you.

You don't know a thing about anything anyone has experienced. Not him, and not me.

[cleavethetides]

I- [ This is getting out of her control, she doesn't like it. Weirdly enough, the two non-humans are the only ones being completely reasonable here. Which is a problem. She can't keep sympathizing with the Seaborn. Just remember Endspeaker... ] No, I am not corrupted. But I've had to live in the wake of their destruction!

Seaborn are the type to adapt to their surrounding and lure you in. The type to learn how to speak just to devour you whole - I've SEEN that much. They- [ A small gasp. Her eyes sting and she can feel the emotion pouring out of her, but... she persists. ] The destroy and nullified our energy systems - our CLEAN, Originium-free energy and set us back HUNDREDS of years because of it. Our lighthouses, gone. Our farms, gone. Our civilization, annihilated. Cities, towns, people and homes and families along the coast? Gone. Lands, flooded. Fleets, buried. Our land is constantly infested with their brand.

Iberia used to be the most advanced, most developed country on Terra. People were happy here. Everything was perfect. We had a clean energy source that didn't risk the lives of the people around it, and we were developing a way to combat Catastrophes...

[ Her shoulders slumped. She never got to see Iberia like that. But she knows a lot of Inquisitors who were alive in that era who would give their very lives to return to those days. Irene hasn't even seen it, and she would, too. ]

Seaborn took that away from us, and mock us by taking our free will from us, too. I can't let that happen here - I can't.

[alligatus]

[ The way that hearing all this is enough to mark Mizuki as a number 1 enemy in Lancer/Lancelot's eyes. Anyway don't worry he isn't here to say or do anything unless Elsword or anyone else gets physical. ]

[livlaughlove]

[Livio isn't trying to get physical -- and he could if he wanted to; the gun on his hip is very clearly a gun unlike Wolfwood's -- but good fucking grief, does he want everyone to calm the hell down.]

Did Mizuki have a hand in that? Or are you lumping him in with a group of people he shares a species with? [This sounds all too familiar.]

[cleavethetides]

It's not... [ Sigh. ] Seaborn share a hivemind with one another. Rather, with the "gods" of the Seaborn. I'm only "lumping him in" with them because that's how they work. Believe me, if Mizuki were his own person, his own free thinking individual, I wouldn't be doing any of this.

[livlaughlove]

Hey, I'm not blaming you for wanting to keep people safe. But do you even know that he has access to this hivemind as long as he's here? If I'm understanding correctly, this is another dimension, right?

... There's always the chance someone is an exception, too. There are where I'm from. [He deliberately avoids looking at Vash; that's his part to expand upon, if he chooses to.]

[oleaeuropaea]

I know it must be terrible to have lost all of that. And I know it's so easy to pin blame on someone. But you can't do that. It just - makes it all worse.

[Vash holds both of his hands out to her. It's a peaceful, placating gesture.]

Humans have drained my kind dry for a century. They've been mutilated and tortured by us. Some... some of us even did horrible things back. [He is being purposefully vague.] And as a result, the humans became more reliant, and drained our kind even more. So we got angrier and -

[Vash's laugh is a sad one.]

It's a cycle, Irene. You see that, right? For me and for you.

[His piece having been said, Vash now wraps his arms around himself. He closes his eyes and draws in a deep breath.]

I want you to think about that, okay? Remember what every action brings next. As for me... I think I'm gonna head to bed.

[cleavethetides]

...

[ There's no real response to this. Rather, she stares at the fire flaring up in the fireplace. Part of her wants to argue that this is a war they started, and were she the same Irene from a year ago, she would've thrown that back at Vash immediately.

Now, though? Vash has got a point.

... Maybe when things are less tense, she'll apologize for calling him stupid. ]

[amhran]

[ At this point in her life, Caoimhe needed to hear that - needed to hear someone else other then her say that. Assuming he heads out of the room.... She would awkwardly follow him at least til he left the area and entered into the hall. Where quietly, like a mouse she squeaks out in an attempt to say something - anything ]

UM. [ A pause, she trembles slightly. A hand to her chest as she looks towards Vash hoping he would listen to her. ] W-What you said back there.... Thank you... P-Please... Keep... Saying those things... And... Helping others, overcome themselves... [ And because this was personally all too much for her, and unbeknownst to all. A very sensitive thing to her, old memories brought to mind eat away at her chest. A Fire Druid looking down at her, and saying he would raze the whole continent before he would care to save a single soul over the many. Caoimhe then, apologizes profusely and scurries away back into the room where the rest lingered within. ]

[oleaeuropaea]

[Despite it all, Vash offers a smile. It's gentle, and for all intents and purposes should be warm, except for the fact that it doesn't reach his eyes.]

Of course. I'll never stop spreading the message of love and peace. [He twists his middle and forefinger across one another, forming a heart with them.] You just keep on keeping on, okay?

[amhran]

Mizuki... Lets go, for now - not because you do not belong here. [ The Jelly fish slinks away, but Caoimhe steps closer. Not too close, the space is his to take. She casts an idle look towards Irene, Sesa, and now Elsword as the two exchange words. ] But because things are escalating and - - their tempers need to be calmed down.

[mooninthewater]

I… I want to make sure they don't fight over me…

[amhran]

I understand but... [ Irene is a woman of action, and the harshness behind her threat laid itself bare. ] We should at least respect Irene's request for now, and come back to talk to her once she is settled... I trust Elsword to do the right thing, and everyone here to act how they need to... They are your friends, but right now - Mizuki, you should focus on yourself. Okay?

[ She tries to offer Mizuki a way out, attempts to gently help him get away from this stressful situation where two people are not connecting and the pressure within the room seems so heavy. ]

[livlaughlove]

Hey. You should listen to her.

[Listen, they've bonded over conspiring to commit vandalism. Weird blue "monster" blood or not, Livio doesn't want Mizuki to get hurt.]

If you two get out of dodge for a bit, I'll make sure the one with the temper doesn't follow you. [He is a pretty fucking big roadblock, after all.]

[mooninthewater]

[ …

He's so sorry. He wishes he could just make this all go away. He wishes he wasn't here. He will give both Livio and Caoimhe a hug. A soft apologetic hug, because he doesn't want to say anything else.

He slips away while Irene explains the atrocities.

However, he does know that he shouldn't be away from Elsword for too long… and he also doesn't want him to yell at Irene anymore. She's right, after all. It's not fair she's getting so much flak for his lie. A tentacle will grab his waist and tug him with to go over to the window.

He doesn't know if he can be heard over the storm normally, so that sourceless, echo-y voice of his will be heard briefly. ]

« Mom? Sorry. I-I know the blizzard is really bad, but Elsword and I really have to get back home. Can you help us? »

I'm on my phone no colors for you

[sticksandbonesmods]

[...

She shuffles and opens the door with her weird hands. Well, now she feels bad, this is the second person that asked to leave. Wolfwood don't get mad at her later—]

I will carry you, but you must stay indoors.

[Meaning she will scoop them with her hands and walk them to the house that way.

By the way, the blizzard is a blinding white "you will get frostbite from five minutes of exposure" type of blizzard, so please do not try to brave this yourself thank you.]

[mooninthewater]

[ Great! Mizuki is going to hold onto Elsword so they can try to shield themselves from the snow. At least long enough to get home. They'll have to warm up when they get there - he really needs to ask Ydalir for a heater… ]

[sticksandbonesmods]

[Great. Moder will set them on the porch and Stand There Menacingly until they're inside. Only then will she return back to the inn to make sure everyone is at least Indoors, somehow.

Anyway...]

[amhran]

[ Caoimhe will just send him a sending message to his head, 'I am here, always here for you, if you hear the sounds of music in the night. Know I am playing for you in mind.' A hand to her chest, full of concern for Mizuki as the world around them seems to continue to become heated. ]