Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Mon Jun 28, 2021 2:14 pm

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Artist: Bleach - Song: Soundscape to Ardor

Home, after all this time.

It felt strange to walk in the World of the Living again, after almost a year of being away from it, having disappeared off the face of the Earth with not so much as a trace of him being able to be found in any realm. But, now, he returned. Donning his true form as he approached the entrance to Minatumi City, Henrex's relief and joy to return home quickly began dissolving, replaced with concern and dread.

The city was dim. What was once warm, passionate, and filled with life was now cold, empty, and lifeless. A lump formed in his throat at the feeling -- it was entirely different from what he had known from Minatumi in his time in staying there. Unfurling his wings, and crouching down, Henrex shot off the ground and took to the skies, flying overhead to get to Arianda's home, as it wasn't far from his own.

Stopping above what...was Arianda's home, Henrex stared in disbelief and shock. The house had...melted. He slowly began to lower himself to the ground, seeing someone with a broom amidst the wreckage. His own home didn't seem to be touched, so, whatever had happened was with Arianda, Kitarune, or whoever this newcomer was.

Stifling his concern, fear, and anger at not being able to sense Atsuko or Arianda, Henrex touched down, his wings coiling behind his back as he quietly approached the wreckage and the young woman trying to clean it.

"Hello there. Um...do you know what on Earth happened here? I've been...away for over a year, and I'm trying to find my family. They at least used to live right here, and I live not too far away, practically next door. I can't sense them anywhere here, and I'm worried."

Tue Jun 29, 2021 3:59 pm

ENTER THE DREAMER

A small yawn rolled from the demon's lips as she was busy sweeping together chunks of melted house debris, eyes partly closed as she went along. Sure, yeah, she could magic this all into a nice little pile and not care about it for the rest of the day as she wished it to the nearest dump, eat up her energy and whatnot, but she decided to instead manually deal with at least brushing all the debris together - she wanted some excuse to have to do something monotonous so she could think for a few hours - about Ulv, about her family, just.. Think.

She still felt boiling rage ever so often as she would think about things, though such emotions were layered with her traditional soft and sweet exterior. She hadn't run into anything that truly would cause such feelings to emerge, but they bothered her. Somewhat, scared her, with what she was willing to think about. She wondered, if maybe Ulv rubbed off on her in a way.. No, don't think about that...

She was broken from her self discipline when she felt some presence coming at her, their little internal voice yelping with shockwaves of fear and worry as they approached. The sleepy expression of the demon would look up to watch him come, tilting her head and wondering if he was someone her mom knew.

The following flurry of words indeed proved this, a little more than expected, the demon stopping what she was doing and sighing softly - she wasn't really feeling for a conversation right now but, might as well. He was probably talking about Kita or something, he definitely didn't look or seem familiar to her... Pulling a gentle smile, she'd respond,

"Yeah, don't worry. Everyone who lived here is fine - they're just in a hotel somewhere else for right now. House got melted in an... Incredibly. Dumb accident, and i'm just here to finish up the move out."

She would grip the broom so tightly the wood's straining could be heard, but thankfully it wasn't enough to actually break it. Despite her kinder smile, she was radiating with a sense of heat to her demeanor, like being here lit her,

"If you need directions, here ya go;" She'd pass him a folded up piece of paper with their exact housing for now, "Working on getting us somewhere more permanent but whatever. I have a stupid mess to clean up now so if that's enough to satisfy you, have a good day."

With that, she'd shrug, turn around, and get back to sweeping tinier bits of melted globs and burned wood into the grander pile.

Tue Jun 29, 2021 8:08 pm

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Artist: Persona 5 - Song: Beneath the Mask

The moment he touched down, Henrex noticed the young woman's death grip on the broom and sensing the rather obvious crabbiness in her voice and heart. While it wasn't directed at him, she definitely wasn't too thrilled about something right now. Nevertheless, a warm smile graced his lips, the half-breed breathing a sigh of relief at hearing that Arianda and Atsuko were okay.

"Good, good. I'm glad that they're safe."

He didn't even know what he would have done if Atsuko had been hurt, that she hadn't told him, and that he hadn't been able to do anything about it. But, thankfully, it hadn't happened, and he could rest easy in that regard. He nodded softly, thanking her for the paper with Arianda and Atsuko's location, but he didn't leave right then and there.

Tucking the paper in his pocket, he outstretched his hands, casting Hadō #57: Daichi Tenyo, and causing a decent chunk of leftover debris to be lifted into the air, with Henrex moving his arms and causing the debris to move out of the way and to the pile that the Danava had made. Given that they were all moving to somewhere else, he'd likely have to start working on packing his things as well.

"I can tell you don't want to talk about it, so, here's a different set of questions. How do you know Arianda and my sister, and...what happened to Ulv and Minatumi itself?"

Tue Jun 29, 2021 8:44 pm

ENTER THE DREAMER

She could sense that feeling of relief washing over his senses after her assurance of them being fine. If she weren't in such a bad mood being here, she would've been much more openly curious of this man's story, but instead she merely assumed he wouldn't have much interest in her and just flap off again - not like she even knew the guy, neither had the guy known her. She and Kitarune weren't even on the best of terms - she was happy that her mother found someone who made her happy, but that feeling of reluctant awkwardness was even greater around Kita. She was more like an estranged roommate than family, and she wasn't sure how to even feel about that.

"Yeah. They're fine. I made sure of so."

She would think she would be hearing the flapping of bird wings by now, but instead heard the crumbling and cracking of debris moving, afraid some had gotten dislodged she looked quickly for the source of the noise, only to see a chunk of the scattered remains had joined up and was floating over to the rest of the pile, being set down as if an invisible giant decided to help her, though a quick analyzing would tell her that it was some sort of spell moving it.

Her sweeping stopped, looking over to the very much still here guy, blinking with a puzzled look to her. While by no means did she want to bellyache about the spot of help, she was curious of whatever he decided to stick for, hearing out his question. Her lip wrinkled into a frown, silence for a moment, before taking a deep breath and keeping face, head lifted and eyes shut,

"I'm Arianda's child. Kitarune, who i'm guessing is your sister, is her new girlfriend. No, Kitarune did not have me. Yes, I only found out about a year ago that Arianda was my mom, and she didn't know either. No, I am not very old - i'm only about two or three years old now. Yes, I have grown up quite ridiculously fast - various demons have different growth speeds. My name is Calypso Vael - No I will not share my previous last name, it no longer matters to me."

She tried to hit every follow up question she would assume the man would come up with just to get it out of the way quickly, and get to the really hard to stomach part,

"..The city isn't glowing anymore because..."

She looked visibly pained, as if she were touching at a stubborn wound that had yet to close. Guilt, anger, and more negative emotions made an ugly slurry in her heart as she'd utter what came next,

"...Because... Ulv is dead. Ulv died, I don't know where, and that's why the city isn't glowing anymore."

And I feel like that's my fault that she gave up and vanished to go die alone, no matter how angry she's made me.

Tue Jun 29, 2021 9:41 pm

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Artist: Bloodborne OST - Song: The Night Unfurls

Before Henrex could even ask any question after she answered his initial one, Calypso continued speaking, giving answers to questions he had yet to actually ask. As he opened his mouth to speak, he promptly shut it, blinking a few times as she listed off the answer to just about every question that he could or would have asked.

He looked to the side awkwardly, only giving a brief nod in response and acknowledgment. It made a lot more sense for Arianda to have had her with someone else, because there was no way in any form that he would have believed things had progressed that fast with Arianda and Atsuko. While he didn't press the issue, it didn't take a genius to figure out what her former last name was. Now wasn't the time nor the place to be talking about something like that.

He was a bit surprised to hear that she wasn't that old, but, with the things that he had seen in his life -- especially given the case of Ulv being a test-tube child that was hardly much older than her, it didn't phase him too much.

But, then her expression turned grim, and he could feel the sink in her emotions. His own heart began to drop as the possible realization slowly crept to him. His hands trembled lightly as the Kido spell was dropped, and any debris he had been moving dropped to the ground with a loud thud, breaking the brief silence. His eyes grew wide.

No...

A lump formed in his throat, and those three words cut him like knives, and his heart bled with heartache.

Ulv is dead.

His breathing began to pick up its pace as his hands trembled more and more. He had only been gone for a year -- how could things have gone so far downhill so, so quickly? He didn't want to believe her -- but he could sense her emotions, and he knew she was telling the truth. A torrent of emotions began to bleed from the half-breed as he tried to push down his own emotions -- something that had long since become a defensive reflex. Guilt tugged at his heart as he lowered his head, his own thoughts taunting him.

'You failed again. You couldn't save her. You let her die again, doing nothing about it, and yet you have the audacity to call her a friend?'

Henrex slowly began to back up, finding himself hitting and stabilizing himself against one of the few remaining beams in the house. Unable to form the words to say much, he managed to whisper out:

"Oh, god..."

Wed Jun 30, 2021 12:15 pm

ENTER THE DREAMER

The wood of the broom would groan with stress and strain as the demon's hands grew ever tighter on the cleaning tool, her teeth gritted as she would feel the extent of this man's ugly emotions hit her as well. But rather than falling right along with him, instead she would hit the broom against the ground, a loud growl in her throat,

"CUT THAT SHIT OUT RIGHT NOW!"

She'd snap at him, feeling like her chest was burning, eyes on fire as they threatened to tear up, but no, she had to be the stronger person here if it wasn't gonna be this guy.

"You stop that crap, right now.. Right. Now. Now is not the time to be feeling all sorry and crumbling and all of that!"

It felt painful to talk, but she did it anyway - she would not let the sensation of suffocation get to her.

"You, freaking stop! It's not your fault she's dead, so stop feeling like it is! You think that's any way to live, full of grief and regret? Screw off with that!"

Her eyes would squeeze shut as she would then throw the broom onto the ground, continuing her spat,

"Even if Ulv was dumb and terrible a lot, at the very least she was right in that you had to keep going. SO KEEP GOING. Even if your heart's bleeding and your body hates you, KEEP GOING!"

She was panting a bit as she drew to the end, rubbing her eyes and sniffing softly,

"So get off your ass and help me clean this up. If you have energy to cry, you have energy to work."

Snatching the broom off the ground, she'd get back to sweeping smaller chunks of debris, much more intensely than previous.

Wed Jun 30, 2021 10:20 pm

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Artist: Bloodborne - Song: Hunter's Dream

He snapped back to reality as Calypso shouted at him, telling him to cut it out. He got control of his breathing, taking a deep breath, calming himself down. She was right -- now wasn't the time to grieve. He could tell that she was hurting too, but right now, they needed to clean this up, leave, and then Henrex could reconnect with his family. He took another deep breath, quietly exhaling as he lifted his hands, casting Daichi Tenyo again and picking up the pile of debris he had dropped.

He had to keep going, even if it was hard to accept that Ulv was dead, even if it felt like he was partly responsible for his inaction. He tempered his emotions, setting the group of debris he had lifted on the pile and picking up another set, he began moving them to the pile, having fallen silent not long after Calypso shouting and her throwing the broom to the ground, something that caused him to briefly flinch -- the number of times Ulv decided that the best way to solve his problems were to punch him in the face immediately coming to mind. But, he just focused on moving the debris, before finally speaking a few moments later.

"Sorry about that. But, also, thank you. I needed it."

He tried to offer a warm smile, his demonic power releasing small, gentle pulsations of positive emotions to try and release the tension in the air and to ease the irritation that she felt. It wouldn't be forced, but it was something that he at least attempted to offer to make up for the...rather embarrassing display moments prior, especially for who was basically a step-niece...if that was even a thing.

"If you don't mind asking some other questions, were you...close to Ulv? You were kind of testy about the topic before, but, just now you said she was dumb and terrible, but you're also...upset. What did she do to...to hurt you?"

His expression changed to one of concern. He might have just met her, but, Ari was like a sister to him, and if Calypso was her daughter, she was just as much of a family to him as Atsuko was.

"Another thing...you were able to tell how much that hit me. Even if you were looking at my physical reaction, you still could tell there was more to it. I'm guessing your powers revolve around, or at least have something to do with emotions?"

He paused for a moment, contemplating what he wanted to ask her next. He waited a few moments, before finally speaking, his voice lowering.

"If this is crossing a line, just say so and I won't press about it. Your other parent is Mana Asthavon, isn't it? You renounced the name, but, what made you want to do that?"

It wasn't exactly something that required Sherlock Holmes -- her lack of wanting to share her so-called "former" last name, him knowing Ari fairly well, and knowing what his surrogate little sister had experienced during her time in Shadow Fall, as well as knowing who the organization was headed by. But, it was still something that he knew could be a touchy subject, especially with what she had said before.

Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]

Re: Going Home [Private/Lillian] [Henrex/Calypso]