Setting Some Things Straight [Private/Silvia, Kuanastha]

A portal formed in the midst of the room, and Kuanastha dropped in through it. It was a fairly simple room, decorated to her taste with diverse styles of paintings and creative projects lining the walls and tables, with an easel and large burgandy wing chair in front of it placed at the centre of the room. Things were arranged in a soothing manner, complaint with feng shui practices. Aside from the creative projects splashing the room with colour, the furniture, floors, tasteful carpets, and walls, were all plainer colours. Matted textures and hues with a triad colour scheme. This room was the centre of Kuanastha's abode, a reflection of her mind and thoughts. It was a place she'd feel most at home in, a sense of isolation from the world.

She came straight here from the meeting with her niece. In an attempt to steer herself forward, to clear her mind and alleviate it of the frustrations, the pressure building and boiling up inside. It birthed intrusive, destructive thoughts in her mind that in retrospect she knew would be nothing good. For her, nor anybody else. She spent the next six hours sorting her thoughts out in meditation, occasionally allowing her feelings to burst out onto the canvas. The betrayal. The anger, and the sorrow. The disappointment. The reevaluation of her bonds, her relationships, and what it meant to place faith in people. The self-doubt, whether it was her in the wrong. The expectations. All of it, crawling out from her mind. Trickling in between every crack and crevice of her will were the usual cries of despair of the souls within her, and the vapid nature of her being. There was no balance in her heart, not inherently. It was always herself in control, holding everything together tightly. Challenges to the barriers that maintained her psyche were never easy, but she endured them nonetheless. For the whole six hours, she never failed to remind and reaffirm herself of that. It was the key to maintaining herself, and more relevantly, the key to approaching any matter on the subject of her family.

After the full six hours, things felt calm. There were still questions and uncertainties in her mind, but Kuanastha's feelings were no longer shredding away at her, eating at her conscience. She took a break from the studio and took a brisk shower. She enjoyed these simple routines, both out of habit and appreciation for the act. It helped to keep her grounded, humble and mindful of things. With a change of clothes, she walked through the living room and into her kitchen, pouring a glass of water from a clear glass pitcher. Around this time, she felt her sister's presence approach the vicinity.

"Well... I guess I should go greet her."

Her thoughts were spoken aloud, and she moved from her kitchen to her front-door, opening it to the warm and soft winds of the Vicara Plane. Kuanastha's house was isolated, effectively in the middle of nowhere. For all intents and purposes, the woman lived as a hermit.

The surroundings were a flatland, clear and and mostly rocky. There was plots of vegetation with fruits, vegetables, and grains growing. Behind the house was a full garden, with a gravely stone walkway from the backdoor to a circular centre of the garden, the plants placed in patterns similar to demonic symbols, or an alchemical seal. A few well kept tables and chairs, and a white bench were placed around garden.

If this home were anywhere else in demon world, it would be a wild contrast to everything else. In fact, it was still fairly different from the normal architecture and design of the Vicara Plane. Only a few people really knew where this whole place was, not that it was particularly hidden. Kuanastha just didn't talk about it too often, let alone bring anyone back. Silvia would be one of the few, where she invited her sister to have some tea in the garden with her on a few sparse occasions. Maybe she should've prepared some for Silvia. The topic they were sure to discuss from here probably wouldn't be too pleasant, so the least they could do was have something to sip and munch on while they had it.

Kuanastha waved to her approaching sister, figuring that she could just ask.

"You want some tea?"

She was back to her usual stoic face, the handwave and body movement generally unexpressive. It was this sort of manner of carrying herself that let those who knew her well that Kuanastha was well in control of herself. Hopefully seeing that might be of some reassurance to Silvia.

Soon as she got the response, Kuanastha turned about and into her kitchen. By now, their previous tea dates made it clear that she was open to enter the house and head towards the garden while the refreshments were prepared. Kuanastha heard Silvia's apology but didn't respond to it just yet. She felt some guilt over leaving them hanging, but the hybrid hadn't a response immediately available. She made some resolutions on the event in her mind, but coming to the point of verbalising these things hit a bit differently.

Once things were ready, Kuanastha put some tea cups, plates, and the refreshments onto a platter and walked out into the garden to greet Silvia once more. Hopefully her sister wasn't kept in suspense for too long. Kuanastha poured the tea, a rich oolong tea with hints of lemongrass and sage. Set available were an assortment of bite size pastries, tiny cucumber seared salmon sandwiches, and jelly topped biscuits and cookies. Once everything was set, she finally sat down, enjoyed a sip, and contemplated what to say to her sister.

"... You know I'm not mad at you, Silvia. What happened wasn't your fault. Frankly, to know that you hold that much faith in our blood warms my heart. It's that... I feel like it was taken for granted. To be honest, I'm also mad on your behalf, that Calypso fell short of your expectations for her. You know, a lot of things are falling short of my expectations right now."

In a short interim, she reached for a sandwich to nibble on.

"Speaking of, I hope the sandwiches don't disappoint. I tried some dijon mustard in them as a sharp contrast to the cucumber, but I'm not sure how well they pair with this tea. What do you think?"

With intermittent sips and nibbles, Kuanastha gave heed to Silvia's thoughts. She held her own observations on Algos and Calypso. She was never particularly close to the former; she held a better relationship with Neoveta, her predecessor, and the day she learned of her passing was the same day she grew wild and drunk off Mana's chaos. She hadn't even been able to grieve properly as a result. It was one of those pivotal moments in her life that set Kuana on the path she treaded today. Calypso on the other hand was far more distant. By sheer nature of sharing blood, Kuana held a sense of closeness to her niece. It was the strength of the Asthavon within them. But on an interpersonal level, they weren't very familiar with one another. In no benefit were the events of today--less than hopeful of a first impression.

"Well, family surely is a queer thing altogether, isn't it. Ours, especially."

There was only a corner of her sandwich left. She dipped it in her tea and ate the last bit, inexpressive of the dissatisfaction at the combination. The tea was splendid. The sandwich was nice as well. Cleaning the palette of the strength in the sandwich with the thick feel and clear flavours of the tea worked well. The two at the same time was never meant to be.

"That said, I think what happened today was particularly problematic. I spent some time to sort out my thoughts. I have a few things I feel set on, and a few things I'd want some feedback on; I'd appreciate it if you could humour me."

When she heard Silvia's thoughts on the sandwich, Kuana's eyebrows raised in a subtle expression of surprise. The two had different opinions on the pairing. Then again, that was what experimenting like this was for. You'd find things that worked for just yourself, and sometimes things that worked for everyone but you.

"I'm glad to hear they're good; I'll take the pairing into account next time."

Her hand moved to a pasterie, taking a bite and swallowing before sipping. Kuana's cheeks relaxed and her head nodded in small movements. Silvia was right. Tried and true, pasteries and oolong tea were made to be.

"Knowing Mana, I don't think those two were raised the best. Especially in these troubled times. The severity of their environments were sure to twist them beyond the typical savagery of many demons, and I don't believe Mana's own mania would offer conducive corrections. In fact, I feel that way about a great deal of people in Shadow Fall. I'm still not very fond of the entity as a whole, but I think more pressing are a number of members that further denigrate demon society. I believe Calypso and Algos might just be a product of that. Before I continue, what are your thoughts so far?"

Kuanastha agreed as a whole about the children seeming to lack restraint, clearly inherited by their mother. Similarly, amongst the sisters, most weren't known for much restraint in particular, Nami and the two of them being outliers. That said, even from the other two Kuana was a bit different on that matter. It wasn't so much a sense of discipline and temperance, as much as it was her being not nearly as emotionally attuned or impassioned. Much of that boiled down to a difference of values and her hybridised nature.

"It seems to be more than just a matter of restraint, however. Though I don't relate too deeply, it's an important aspect of our culture to follow your ambitions, your possessive drives. It's the manner in which many demons nowadays, those two included, pursue their desires. The recklessness and disregard for their surroundings. From our encounter, Calypso seemed to be more aware of that, but naive and unassuming of herself. I believe Algos was more self-aware on that front, though that's equally troubling if not moreso."

After finishing her cup, Kuana grabbed the kettle to pour herself another, doing likewise with Silvia if she was open to more. The demonio didn't quite relate on the topic of image; she was never one to care much about that. However, she knew it was a topic of importance to Silvia, so she recognised it as an issue nonetheless, and an objective to correct.

"A lasting peace would probably never be an option for demonkind as a whole. Shadow Fall or not, conflict is a deep-rooted part of our history, and in most denizen's eyes that is by no means a bad thing. What's important now is how to enable that without making an unnecessary mess of things. Honestly, it's a headache to even think of the magnitude of what needs to happen to set things straight."

It was uncharacteristic of Kuana to be so talkative on the topic of demonic anthropology and politics. The former was something she knew as a matter of observation and work when she helped Inami manage Chaya Nation. The latter was a topic she generally held no interests of in the slightest, and even adamantly veered away from, and it truly showed in her reclusive nature. In mentioning these things, it started to become clear what was on her mind.

"That amount of work, to put all those things in motion... I don't think the next generation is equipped to handle it. Mana has most certainly lost interest in it, not that she was a very hands-on ruler. More of a spiritual leader. Inami, well, I'm not actually sure what she's up to, but, I haven't felt her presence in Demon World for a good while. As it stands, I believe Shadow Fall will continue rotting. The only reprise would be if someone stepped in to fix things.

Now, I'm not saying that's us. Of course, if you want to bear that burden, I would support you. But, someone has to step in to at least get things moving in the direction of conducive change. Not just change of management, or infrastructure. Something qualitative. A shift in the paradigm."

It was still something in its infancy. Kuana didn't have all the ideas fleshed out, or whether these ideas were good to begin with. That was part of the reason she wanted to discuss this with Silvia. For the time being, the idea at the forefront of her thoughts concerned a return to her field of work as The Roaming Death God. Something to put some of these demons in their place.

"That's my mistake, then. In retrospect I suppose it was silly to assume you meant "peace". I agree, the turbulence has no benefit. While Mana was active, at least she was consistently turbulent. But pulling out, then engaging again, all seemingly whimsically, won't just rile up Shadow Fall's enemies, but the members within Shadow Fall as well. The uncertainty in direction is never a good thing for demons."

Kuanastha kept pondering her own thoughts and the responses from Silvia, assessing the feedback on her mind. When Silvia touched on the topic of what their role was in what could be a new age, she paused fully. Not even a sip of her tea, or a reach out to the snacks. It was a difficult question. As she said aloud just moments prior: an uncertainty in direction is never a good thing for demons; this included themselves.

"I... don't think we have a place in the new world. Or at least, I'm not sure if we do, and where we would fit in."

The woman looked into her tea as if to find the answers, but in her eyes reflected a world she gazed into far beyond the material realm. Sonnets rang in her ear from the voices of the Nether. They told her things she ignored for the time being. Just as the time of the next generation wasn't quite here, neither was Kuanastha ready to answer the voices calls. Things weren't prepared for either.

"I suppose, if anything, we extend our reach beyond Vicara. We are not a part of Vicara's government or their people. We simply guard it from the influences of the Asthavons. If we were to be guardians of the rest of demons, what would our scope be? Do we guard them from the Asthavons as we do Vicara, or do we include the family into the peoples we defend? Just a few select countries? Demon society as a whole? Where do we step in, and is it in our purview to do so?

When it came to 'people', I only really cared about our family. Seeing what Vicara has shown, I now know what others have to offer. So, even now, I'm not sure if I do this out of a sense of responsibility, or selfishness."

A short pause again. Kuanastha's eyes rose from her tea to stare into Silvia's, as if trying to find the answers to her questions in her sister as well. At first, a sense of listlessness. Then, a world held within them. The immensity of the Nether churned about calling for finality pervaded the hybrid's eyes in a glossy film. Her pupil cut through the film and a clarity to her eyes returned with a small flame. A sense of resolve that needed a push forward to stoke a greater fire.

In Silvia's response, Kuanastha's determination lied. The demonio was always in contention with two sides to herself. A cognitive dissonance that held her back from going all out. Yet, these two sides were also components to a person. Kuana always hesitated to be decisive in fear of losing either part. However, for the tribulations she foresaw, that was insufficient. Something needed to be done. Whichever part was picked would be decided here and now.