In Lieu of Formalities

Zariah was displeased, but it was some sort of compromise, she supposed. And as much as it grated her nerves she could play nice in the sandbox with Loren for the purposes of Neron's rule over Halo. She simply made a mental note to give a big, fat 'I told you so' to Neron once his twin failed him, as Loren was apt to do in everything he did. "Nothing else on the topic of Loren. I've other things to discuss." she said, hazel eyes pinning him with a look. "I had a very interesting chat with the soul-collector, Ludo. They are a curious, but lovely deity. I see why they've so many followers." she said conversationally, head tilting to the side, watching him closely. "Though I am very curious to hear from you...tell me more about this...Eirachi, as she is apparently called?" zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

Oh good. The subject of Loren was safely tucked into bed for now, then - but obviously Zariah had more to say. Slouching somewhat in his chair, he regarded her with hooded, steely eyes as the name Eirachi passed her lips. "My, but you like to dig," he drawled. "You already know all that I am willing to tell you about the creature. The goddess, as I'm sure you are aware now." Neron shrugged. "I was thrown into the Tundra alone. She appeared, we made a deal, and this is the result of it."

Tilting his head at her, he raised his eyebrows. "If you would hear more, you are very welcome to go and find out for yourself. There is a shrine upon the Sea of Glass where she is rumoured to appear. Ask her your questions, though I would remind you of what curiosity did to the cat."

Zariah couldn't help her smirk at the slouch and the slight cold glare she received as she broke a new topic he was oh so pleased to discuss. As icy cold as the Warden was, even he could get his feathers ruffled if one knew how. Listening as he spoke, she walked over to his bed of all things and perched herself there, crossing her legs and leaning on her hands. In silence she considered her, a brow raised on her otherwise expressionless face. "And I would remind you what satisfaction did for the cat." she said, shrugging a bit. "As it stands, Ludo answered all I needed to know. That you won't say more is...well...your business I suppose. But..." she sighed, straightening and clasping her hands over her knee before considering him more seriously. "You were tossed here alone, and so forced to take on this chain, merely exchanging one of the other." she said slowly, leading him down her path of thought with care. "I have promised our family I would not see them so bound again, and I failed you in that. So there are two options that have been presented to me to free you. The first would be to take on your debt." she said softly. zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

”I well know what satisfaction did. Whether you will find yourself satisfied is another matter entirely.” Risqué perhaps, given the Merciless’s trajectory to his bed of all places, but it was nonetheless out there. It was enough for her to concede that he had his own business, rather than laying claim to anything Launceleyn related, and Neron relaxed (if not somewhat grumpily). And yet - and yet here she was poking her nose in regardless.

”It has not occurred to you that I am quite content with my chain now?” he asked, tilting his head. ”That I, a former lawyer, did not navigate the deal I was given to bring myself the best options?” He raised his eyebrows. ”Zariah, you are introducing Jace to the rest of Halo as your son, and he will be taken from you if you inherit this debt. Are you thinking clearly?”

”I am rarely satisfied.” Zariah said with a hint of a smirk but it faded quickly as he spoke on the matter at hand, expression falling entirely to a perfect porcelain mask. ”Jace is not my first child, Beatrix is.” she said quietly, looking down at her hands. She had indeed thought long on the options, and she knew that in taking on the debt she would lose her first child – his half-sister. She might not be her biological mother, no, but Beatrix was as much in danger as Jace, depending on how the Eirachi defined first born. Whether it was a price she was willing to pay, Zariah did not say. ”And I am certain you negotiated the best deal possible, and yes you seem content. But a chain is a chain, and it is my duty to see you freed, is it not?” she said, looking back up at him, a hint of her fire glinting in her hazel gaze. ”I am indeed thinking clearly, and it is for the reasons you’ve stated that option two seems the more reasonable…though it might be a suicide mission.” zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

It was unfortunate that they were not under better circumstances to enjoy the flirting that had suddenly started up between them, and rather than warm to Zariah’s comment, Neron could only narrow his eyes coldly at her at the reminder that Beatrix technically counted as her own. She might not have confirmed anything, but the suggestion was there. She could absolutely decide to pay out one child in exchange for a freedom that Neron didn’t believe he needed.

”And it appears that your duty trumps the fact that it is not your business,” he said, not trying to disguise the drawl in his tone. ”If you are expected me to be waiting on baited breath, Zariah, you are mistaken. What suicide mission?” This was like pulling teeth.

She raised a brow at him, unperturbed for the moment by his snark, if only because it was him. "Now, now, you know better than this. You are family. Your burdens are my burdens, it is my business. None of us bear anything alone." she said almost gently. The only exception to the rule was that of the Family Head, who had a duty to look out for all. Zariah sighed and tilted her head back to stare at the ceiling. "I did not expect you to wait on baited breath, but that you'd be clever enough that I need not be so blunt." she said dryly, head rolling to the side to look upon his face again. And once he heard it, he might realize exactly why she didn't wish to speak it aloud. "The only other solution is to do away with the one who holds your chains." she said quietly. zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

As time went on, it would appear that Neron would only grow icier and icier, and he held Zariah's gaze without any hint of amusement or curiosity now. She had made her case clear - that regardless of the fact that Neron had made his deal, made his bed and was (quite happily, he might add) laying in it, she would interfere on his behalf. Because of course she would. That was, after all, the Launceleyn way. And much as he might understand it, a year without his shackles made it a difficult pill to swallow.

To kill the Eirachi then, was her plan, if not to take on Neron's debt herself. It was a rock and a hard place, and the Warden had asked for neither. "It has become apparent that whatever I think or say does not particularly matter to you. What would you prefer to do? I would like it stated now that I want no part of it, please."

Zariah stared at him, unsure where this ire was coming from. One brother criticized her for not being kind enough, not helping enough, and this brother seemed to resent it. It seemed no matter what she did her family was bound to be angry with her and it was incredibly frustrating. ”Why?” she said, her frustration clear in her tone. ”You just chastised me for not helping enough, and now here I am trying to help and you’re clearly displeased.” she said, a hint of her fiery temper flaring in the wake of his cool, icy demeanor. ”What I would prefer to do is that which keeps our family safe, which sees us reach the heights of power we were always destined for, without the burden of chains to some other power that couldn’t care less about us.” Her lips pursed, hazel eyes flaring though she held back the potential explosion of rage she was infamous for. zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

Neron was both a fool and not - as the likelihood of a volcanic outburst seemed likely from Zariah, he forced himself to soften somewhat. Unfortunately, his words were not quite so meek. ”I have never said you cannot help. You are the Archmage of the Citadel in a place so cold and bleak that one wave of your hand would raise the Launceleyn reputation with the masses.” He frowned gently.

”But you are unable to do what you would prefer to in this instance, Zariah, because I am saying no. I survived this long without any of you and I’m reaping those rewards. Stay out of my business, and stay out of the deal I have made with Eirachi. Are we clear?” Consider his death warrant signed.

Her lips remained pursed as he spoke, and though his words remained pointed, his slightly less frigid demeanor did temper her fire. Things did not need to reach a fever pitch, and for the moment they did not. "I am not particularly concerned with our reputation amongst the people - I am aware that is secured." she said. Because unlike the people of the Hollowed Ground, the people of Halo appreciated the doers of the world that worked to make life easier. What a novel concept. "You survived this long because you are one us, Neron, and now you would do away with the way of being that made you so capable?" she said, a brow raising slightly. "I am not asking you to give up your power or that which you've attained on your own. I'm saying..." she stopped herself short. Hazel eyes closed, breathing out her nose like the dragoness she was, cooling the fire building within if only through discipline and force of will alone. "So long as someone holds your chains, Neron, they hold chains on us all. Not just the family, but all of Halo." she said, a cool calmness falling over her. "What happens when her price changes? What happens when she grows impatient that you are actively avoiding paying her sum?" she asked pointedly. "If you want me to help raise Halo to great heights, your name risen to glory, fine. This deal is a threat." zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

To hear that it confirmed that their reputation among the people of Halo was secure - or at least had not suffered with the arrival of the rest of the family - was a reassurance. It was one that Neron had expected from speaking to Ingrid along with others, but still. It did not, however, bridge the gap regarding the other matters. (The personal ones. The Zariah ones.)

She spoke of family, of the way that he was, and suggested that his singular conduct affected the lot of them. A muscle tightened in Neron’s jaw. ”I feel as though you have forgotten that I spent much of my life as a lawyer before being dropped here in the mountains,” he remarked, the suggestion clear; she did not think him capable of loopholes, which had been the ironic mark of his trade.

”Then take on the debt yourself and sacrifice Beatrix or Jace. Or try and kill a goddess. I’ll say it again Zariah - I will have no part in it. Just because you are still willing to do disgraceful things in the name of this family does not mean I follow suit.”

Zariah had been patient. Oh, so very, very patient. Far more patient than she had been with pretty much anyone in this world called Caido. And now here Neron sat, on his little throne of manly pride, a whole nation now bowing to his whim, and he had the audacity to mistake her patience for weakness. Her love for complacency. Oh no, no, no. This would simply not do. ”Oh, I have forgotten, have I? You are mistaken, my dear.” she said, the tone of her voice taking on a biting edge despite her lack of volume. Slowly she slid off the bed, eyes locked on him like a lioness on the prowl. ”I remember the man from Northwind. Talented. Charming. Capable. And lazy. So lazy in fact that his untalented, unremarkable, incapable twin brother surpassed him. So lazy it took me nearly drowning him to get him off his sorry ass and live up to his potential and stop being an embarrassment to our family name.” She took a step forward and as she did, lightning danced across the floor then up the legs of the chair upon which Neron sat, causing them to explode from the force of the energy, sending the Warden to the floor. But he wouldn’t be there for long. Zariah grabbed his face, hand under his chin while her pointed nails dug in along his jawline. The Archmage tugged him foreword so their faces were side by side, her lips brushing against his ear as she whispered harshly. ”You sit on your throne above Halo, patting your own back, pretending you did this all on your own. You forget that the only reason you have it is because some half-goddess saved you through your own enslavement, and the only reason you were awake long enough to realize you weren’t in Northwind anymore was because of me.” Zariah shoved him back again, electricity sparking and nails dragging along his skin, straightening up to look down on him, fire raging behind her eyes as she glared. ”The only disgraceful act in this family is the way in which you boys seem to have forgotten your place.” zariah If it is danger you seek, come on over. I covet tranquility but beget the tempest storm.

the hailstorm

Had Neron always planned, subconsciously, to piss Zariah off enough that she would hurt him? He didn’t know, that was for sure. Granted, given his track record, it seemed gods damned likely (wasn’t seeking out punishment his favourite?), but since reaching Halo he thought perhaps he might have grown out of it. Whoops.

The chair splintered out from beneath him - not the most subtle noise to go echoing about the room, but hey - and the floor met his back a second later. He felt the ozone in the air, the crackle of electricity upon his skin promising pain; and oh, did Zariah deliver.

Once a Launceleyn, always a Launceleyn, no matter how hard you try. Like a trained animal, Neron was silent and still throughout the Archmage’s tirade, even as her nails bit into his jaw. Electricity charged through him, locking his limbs in place, and his lips parted to force shallow breaths into his lungs. As her words ran out, he regarded her sharply, cheeks flushed, a mix of fury and something definitely-not-fury in his expression.

”If you are quite done, you can leave,” he panted.