INBOX.

[helloween]

Comments

communion (to lucien)

[passio]

[ dextera hasn’t had the time or the luxury of worrying about lucien with everything that’s happened since the blight came creeping in over their cities, but there’s a slight lull in the restoration efforts, and it feels right to reach out to the child that reminded him so much of himself.

he doesn’t know whose care lucien has ultimately ended up in, but regardless, dextera doesn’t see him as an enemy. ]

Do you remember me? Did you ever find Yoko?

[helloween]

Dextera...!

[ Lucien is quick to answer because he is excited to hear from him! He's also uncharacteristically chatty, seeming comfortable enough to come out of his shell around Dextera. ]

I didn't find Yoko, but Lady Yima gave me her shard. I've been protecting and taking good care of it. Right now, I live with my friend Rin, but we lost our room in the manor because of all of the plants growing. We're staying at a man named Sebastian's house now. Anyway, I'm okay. I hope you're okay in Springstar?

[passio]

[ the good news is that lucien is well. the bad news is everything else. lucien joined zenith after all—he supposes it’s easier for a child to accept an immediate reward in the form of the shard of a loved one, compared to the distant and lofty goal of the meridian. ]

…I’m fine. Thank you for asking.

[ he’s not going to try to uproot lucien now, considering all that’s going on. ]

I’m sorry to hear about your room. Springstar has had some damage too, but my home is still in tact. Is Rin kind?

[helloween]

Mhm. She's really kind, I think you could be friends with her.

[ Well, if it's up to Rin herself, probably not. Lucien likes to think otherwise, but Rin can be an odd one with those her own size and age. ]

You should come visit me when the Blight is gone, or maybe I could go there.

[passio]

[ dextera doesn’t mind the idea in theory, but in practice, he’s not sure that he would be welcome in highstorm. lucien, on the other hand… he’s just a child. he probably shouldn’t be traveling when they’re clearly on the cusp of a war or something worse, but at least the cornerstones make it easy. ]

I didn’t expect that you would end up living there.

[ a subtler way of wondering aloud how in the world lucien harmonized to zenith. ]

[helloween]

Me neither, not really. I like the sun in Springstar better. I wish Rin and I could move there instead.

[ It's a confusing answer that likely doesn't help Dextera so much. There's a beat of delay, but Lucien eventually continues the thought. It's subtle, but some of him is purposefully dropping a hint. ]

It might have to do with my other shard or something?

[ Because oh you know. Two shards. ]

[passio]

Other?

[ dextera picks up on the oddity immediately, alarmed. he’s never heard of a person having two shards—and he feels that if anyone would have them, he should be the one.

what does he not know about lucien? ]

Were you… did you arrive with two?

communion.

[lockedon]

I heard you're suffering from Discord trouble.

[ Yes, he saw the communion post, no, he didn't feel like going through an intermediary. ]

[helloween]

...A little.

[ Stubbornly. ]

[lockedon]

Enough that someone else felt the need to intervene on your behalf.

[ Stop trying to hide it!!! ]

[helloween]

He didn't need to do that, I could've figured it out by myself.

[ Skulk skulk. ]

I just wound up putting it off. A lot of stuff was happening with that beach trip and the Oracle, and I've been through worse before.

[ Dark Schneider has had his limbs and head torn off, innards eaten, been split clean in half, impaled... so, honestly, what's a little "oh no, I'm cold and apathetic about things!" with his demon pacts visible? This is baby stuff.

Besides, nobody but Silco knows about the dirty work he'd done to land himself in this mess, either. Not even Rin. ]

[lockedon]

[ Eustace, sitting here watching Dokja slowly succumb to his own Discord while Dark claims it ain't all that: okay, sure. ]

And if you don't figure it out? You'd rather wait until things get bad enough to kill you?

[ He doesn't really care about Dark (sorry, buddy) but he does care about Lucien to some degree, and he'd rather not see anything happen to Lucien if he can help it. ]

[helloween]

[ dats bc dokja's a lil bitch, not big and macho like dark is >:) survival of the fittest little lad ]

Okay, Mom.

[ He feels some degree of defensiveness and petulance now as if he's a child reacting to being scolded. Dark's reincarnated soul has only resided in this body for 15 years, after all... some of his new, easily provoked habits tend to show it. ]

Well at least I know what to do. I just need to avoid Iconoclast Meridians and try to snuggle up to some Advocates or Exalt ones instead.

[lockedon]

[ That's 'Dad' to you, young man. Dark can pout all he wants, he's not shaking Eustace off that easily. ]

And have you found any yet?

action!!! whenever dark would have been shopping in springstar for rinchan

[comelately]

[ Pete tenebras.

Is it a coincidence that Johnny's been hearing more from him since he reawakened, or is it a result of someone meddling with his Shard in the months he was "away?" He doesn't know, and - quite frankly - he doesn't really care to find out. The advice is eerie and difficult to understand, as always; he doesn't speak Latin, and considering he's not even able to strive for the rest of the Saint's parts at the moment, he's not even sure what he's being advised on.

Or... is he?

There's a familiar feeling in his arm as he makes his way down one of the busy market streets - one he hasn't felt in ages. Like something unseen is bypassing his skin and tugging directly at his bones. He's in his wheelchair today (not particularly speedy, but less risk of accidentally having his horse step on someone), his groceries neatly packed in a bag he's attached to the back of it, and the sensation together with that phrase again, Pete tenebras, is so sudden and overwhelming that his hand jerks coming off the rim of the wheel. The movement is unconscious - and, unfortunately, it leads to him accidentally smacking a passerby in the ass with his wrist and forearm. ]

S-shit! Sorry. I was, uh...

[ even more unfortunate: that ass belongs to Dark. Johnny is thankful it wasn't a woman, but that also means there's less plausible deniability... ]

extremely delayed!!! october will be hiatus, so slow replies... T_T

[helloween]

[ There’s a lack of surprise when Dark feels his ass hit.

He’s standing otherwise quietly in front of the herb seller at the marketplace, sculpted giant of a man that he is only idly looking back over his shoulder to notice who’d smacked him. His eyes pass over the wheelchair with discord-afflicted indifference; he sees Johnny, but there’s a lack of care or interest. ]

—Don’t hit my ass anymore.

[ Dark’s head turns. The ends of his white hair graze the other’s wrist. There’s a dismissive eye roll from him when he collects the herbs he’d been in need of and he consolidates them into a large, crinkled sack that’d been tucked beneath his tattoo-littered forearm.

Thick chime candles clack and shift together. Just visible to Johnny is an assortment of items needed for rituals. Jesus’ arm isn’t with him today, but still is its magic presence intrinsically connected to Dark in a way that opposites are— earth and air, water and fire. Christ, and the Antichrist. Not that even Dark would understand.

For whatever reason and for the past few days straight now, he's tried resurrecting Jesus through his own means out of curiosity alone.

Not that any of that's Johnny’s business, right? ]

communion/action

[gravings]

[ Gray spots the sinister castle in the sky on one of her jaunts into Highstorm to attend her garden plot in Greenwood Yards. The castle looks a bit different from how she remembers it, but that's probably to be expected after it skydived to dash itself across the earth the first time.

As it's Dark castle, naturally she assumes Dark is back in commission as his human(?) self. Gray quickly tends to her plants at the greenhouse and scuttles on home.

The next day, she heads over to the castle with a picnic basket in arm. As she looks up at the evil-looking structure, she suppresses her innate aversion to the place. As sensitive as she is to magical energy, the magic sustaining the castle is nearly overwhelming if she doesn't consciously work to steady herself.

She tentatively reaches out to Dark via Communion, unsure if he's even there at the moment. ]

Dark? Is it okay if I come up?

[ A bit of trepidation laces her connection. Their last meeting was tumultuous, to say the least, and she isn't sure how he's thought of her since. ]

[helloween]

[ The communion takes him off guard. It only made sense that others would notice his castle go back up, but he hadn't thought they'd contact him first. In the void of the castle he's been working to recreate, he responds after some beats of silence. ]

It's not done, but you can come up.

[ He sounds the way he used to. His mind is intact, a vast improvement from the monstrous state she'd last witnessed. Should Gray make her way into the foyer, she'll see that he's there waiting for her— afflicted by the discord of everything, but at least on two legs and capable of rational thought. A black emptiness where the corridor had been is spinning in front of him, and visions of how he's attempting to reconstruct it flicker in and out of existence, his thoughts clear by what shows. ]

[gravings]

[ She's relieved, at least, to hear his voice, even if it's more serious than she's used to from him. It would have been stranger if he'd sounded completely unaffected after everything he and Lucien went through. She makes her way up to the entrance and carefully invites herself in, trying not to make too much noise despite asking for permission to be here.

When Dark's discord-ridden form comes into view, Gray's eyes widen, but she wouldn't be so gauche as to comment on his appearance unsolicited. She tries to gauge his expression instead, before glancing with passing interest at the scroll of Dark's architectural imaginings flickering in front of him. It's an amazing magical feat, but it isn't what she's here for, so she spends more time thinking about it.

She returns her attention to Dark with solemn concern and decides to start with the basics. ]

How are you feeling?

communion.

[wolfish]

Hey, big guy. You made it back, right?

[ The words come, despite apparent effort, with a distinct undercurrent of concern. Yuri saw for himself what Link had been turned into and how broken up he has been in the aftermath. After hearing that Dark was also experimented on, of course he has to check in and see whether the man has returned in one piece.

Had he fared any better than Link? ]

[helloween]

[ Dark takes time to respond. The last he'd been seen in Kenos, he'd been a monster doing who knows how much damage in Highstorm. He hardly remembers— his mind had been pretty much undone then. It's only thanks to Lucien, Lucifer, now that he understands. ]

Yeah. I'm back.

[ The communion line opens. There's a foreign feeling present, the sense that Dark is embarrassed to answer. Rare that he'd ever feel ashamed. ]

Castle's not done yet. Don't come in.

[wolfish]

[ There comes in turn an air of faint puzzlement, as something does seem different. Had Dark been experimented on the same way that Link had been? Had it affected him just as deeply?

Perhaps time will tell... ]

Good to hear you made it.

[ Back, that is, from whatever had been done to him. ]

I don't believe I've paid any castle a visit...what do you mean by not done?

[helloween]

Nevermind, I thought you were outside my castle for some reason. If you don't what I'm talking about, it's fine.

[ Based on where the conversation's being steered, it seems like Dark doesn't want to talk about the death or his time away from Kenos. ]

[wolfish]

Not in the mood for a visit, huh? That's too bad... I guess I'll just give all these muffins to Byleth.

[ Is he serious? It seems so, but Dark will have to judge for himself. ]

You doing alright though?

[helloween]

What kind of muffins?

[ Muffins seem to be more important to Dark than how he's doing. Either that, or he's clever in deflecting the topic. ]