{SE} A place of grief

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah grinned, a small burst of laughter coming from him before he replied. "Of course. I should have guessed. Though revenge is certainly a valid reason." In all honesty, Sah had pursued revenge in the past himself. It had been satisfying to see it come to pass. Mabel certainly had the presence of an angry revenge-bent teen. It made Sah wonder about just what drove her thirst for justice. But she was too much of a stranger for him to ask something so personal. "Just don't forget to plan for what comes after you've succeeded. You'll only have let them destroy you if destroy you're own future in the process. Besides that..." Sah's grin turned feral. "Give 'em hell." sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

MABEL

Mabel very rarely said anything funny, and deigned to furrow and pinch her features together in a distinct frown as the round of laughter pierced through. She’d meant what she said, and couldn’t fathom why it had orchestrated chuckles and mirth. Did he not think she was capable?

Because she was. Or, would be, given enough time and training. Given enough weapons and opportunities. Would take down her sister’s killer. Would make them pay. How hadn’t exactly been thought out or arranged, but the Ascended youth figured it would all come together in some way, shape, or form. And when the opportunity came, then she’d strike – to and through the heart.

She continued to scrutinize him in her queenly pose, however, on the finishing statements. Because she hadn’t thought about thereafter. “Oh.” She leaned back a little, cocking her head, arms folding over her chest. “I could just take more of them out.” Them – enemies, adversaries, those who didn’t follow the call of the Voice.

If you dig under my feet
You will find things that you don't want to see

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah tilted his head again in slight confusion. "More of them? Do you foresee needing to dish out further revenge beyond your current targets?" His eyes had narrowed, going from playful to expressionless instantaneously. Was Mabel planning something big? Something that she foresaw would lead to the creation of a vast measure of enemies? Sah really didn't want to have to deal with a war, especially one started by a angsty teenager. "Whatever you plan on doing, tread carefully. If you create too many enemies, you'll run out of allies and find yourself vastly outnumbered and outmatched." The words were spoken both as a warning and a threat, but his body language remained non-threatening. He wasn't picking a fight, merely speaking from experience. Sah had seen people and creatures fall down that path before. Their ends were always rather gruesome. sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

MABEL

That same lofty positioned maintained itself on her juvenile features; all the more implored into their seditious efforts by the weight of his question. Perhaps he didn’t know. Perhaps his head had been lodged along the snow in Halo, and he’d missed the abhorrence, the hatred, the wrath, and the contempt stirring again. Maybe because Mabel had been in the crossfire of LongNight, or listening to the meetings at hand, she’d been made aware of inklings outside these mournful gallows and honeysuckle flowers. “Haven’t you heard?” Quiet, but with a depth of eerie, enigmatic quandaries, as if she were the witch conjuring it all – when she too would be merely a pawn if she couldn’t get her act together. “War is coming.”

But his next inkling set her back some, so that the eldritch containments lost their edge with the weight of her brows furrowing in thought. It wasn’t something she’d considered; young, intrepid, emboldened, but applying strategy and notions only to where she saw fit. “I don’t have many friends,” she uttered, maybe more a whisper in the opulence; not certain she wanted this stranger to hear that. Aamu and Azrael were certainly companions, with Henry…somewhere, and she was uncertain about where other Ascended fell in the shape of it all.

Then again, Mabel had never really tried to find allies. On a tilt of her head, eyes lingering back up to survey the grounds, the petals softly stirred by the gentle evening breeze, she had to wonder out loud again. “Do you?” Did Outlanders find it easier? Joining together because they didn't know what they were doing a majority of the time?

If you dig under my feet
You will find things that you don't want to see

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah raised an eyebrow. "If by war you mean the pointless tension brewing between the Ascended and the ignorant fucks who think they're the enemy? If so, then yes, I've heard." He shook his head, plain disgust on his face. "I've never understood the way that you humans divide yourselves across such bizarre lines. If it's not for resources or survival it seems so pointless to me. So many of your wars are for such arbitrary reasons. Or were you talking about some other war I've yet to hear of?" Sah's expression turned into melancholy at Mabel's next inquiry. "Friends?" He asked softly. Letting out a long sigh, he looked back at the moon in dramatic contemplation. "None still alive or in this world. In Caido I have a few acquaintances that I guess I could tentatively call friends. But no one I'm close to or truly trust." His eyes returned to the Ascended. "Friends are good to have though. I hope one day I'll have some again." In all honesty, Sah wasn't even sure if he was ready to have friends again in the first place. It had been a few months yes. And he had said his goodbyes, but still. He didn't' think he was ready. sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

MABEL

It was a rarity – but once Sah’s description lofted into the air – she laughed. It wasn’t melodic, it wasn’t sublime, but it wasn’t wretched either – something conjured in the depths of solitude and ill will, mocking and diplomatic all in the same breadth. Not towards him, but everything in general, by the statements pressed against her ears, by the state of things spent and sent amidst this galley of mourning flowers and decadent shadow. Then she leaned in closer, eerie all the more, her smile twisted into something eldritch and fiendish. “The Old will always be afraid of the New. Because we are better, grander, and greater.” Improved, capable, without pain, without torment, without the need for anything but the Voice. And their Vi, their Mort, their precious Rae, had been threatened by what she could do.

How absolutely wonderful.

The smirk deepened, the tilt of her head following suit. “You’re human too. And you’ll do the same. We all will.” She hummed under her breath. “You’ll have a choice, and that will be that.” Fights and onslaughts – a history due to be repeated.

Then it was gone, neutral stance in her composition, in the way she still owned and occupied the stone bench. That he didn’t have any friends either didn’t help her cause, and she nearly frowned, irritated by the lack of assisting nuances. Eventually, she could only shrug her shoulders, cross her arms over her chest. “Maybe it’ll just happen.” Which sounded like lack of effort on her part – but unless it consisted of vengeance and some dominion of how to gain more power, more persuasion, the youth was relatively idle.

If you dig under my feet
You will find things that you don't want to see

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah let out a deep sigh, glancing at the sky contemplatively. "So it would seem." A cynical grin on his face at the thought of being pulled into yet another war. But Mabel was right. Should the tension lead to true violence, all would have to pick a side. Sah, being still new to this world wasn't sure where he would fall. As to him being human, was he truly? Physically, yes. Mentally and emotionally? Most likely, but not wholly. Even his transformation into an Abandoned couldn't fully eliminate the deep seated instincts in him. The need to hunt, to fight, to lead. The desire for the open air and untamed wilderness. They were all still there, a bit muted, but ever present. A feral nature that would always be visible should one look for it. One visible in his eyes now as they met Mabel's after a moment. "I will never truly be human." Sah shrugged, some of the tension bleeding out of him. "Perhaps. At least, I hope it will." He didn't wish to speak more on the matter so instead, a change in topic. "You speak highly of the Voice. Have you ever met her personally?" sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

MABEL

“If you say so,” she remarked offhandedly, as if the motion, the notion, didn’t bother her at all. And it didn’t – handwaved away on paltry, trifle, trivial pursuits. Let him have his delusions. Maybe she wasn’t fully human any longer either. Perhaps it didn’t matter in the long run, when they were all parted and placed, when drums roared in the back of their minds, and their worlds imploded.

Then she sat back again, mildly piqued that he hadn’t risen to her bait – which was too bad, because she could guess and estimate others would’ve shown their hackles at such ventures and statements. Instead, he happened to round over into something that still brought her a weight of uncertainty – not in her faith, but in her abilities, in her efforts, in her time. Mild bouts of the trepidation came out in the intermingling of her fingers, twitching and folding over one another, clasped together in her lap, and then not, back and forth. “Yes, when I first Ascended.” When she and Evelyn had come begging on their hands and knees, when they’d buried the last of their family, when they’d heard their last god damned oath to the Old ones sputtered out and vacant from the lips of their parents. “But not since.” Which made her wonder, vaguely, if she was worthy. “Perhaps I’m not deserving enough yet.” But it wouldn’t cease or bind her determination.

She’d simply try again.

“And you?” Mabel added, shrugging the attention away from her. “Have they paid attention to your Abandoned existence?”

If you dig under my feet
You will find things that you don't want to see

"If I can't move the heavens above, I will move Hell" Sah's eyes narrowed as Mabel spoke of worthiness, but chose not to comment on it. The minds of gods were complicated things and Sah knew far too little about the Voice to even speculate on her intentions. That and his companion didn't seem like the kind of person who would appreciate such reassurances. He had to bite back a grin as Mabel tried once more to get a rise out of him. The previous attempts hadn't gone unnoticed. And although it was mildly irritating, it was mostly just entertaining to see her keep trying. He briefly wondered if she'd lose her temper if he kept at it. But the phrase 'Abandoned existence' got to him. "If your Gods didn't want me to live, they shouldn't have saved my life. If they didn't want me in Caido, then they shouldn't have brought me here." He spoke bluntly, his voice cold. "It may have been unintentional, the fallout of other actions, but it was their mistake, not mine." sah There stood the wolf in the winter wind Full of fearsome might There stood the wolf in the winter wind King of the winter night. -Tim Vallie

MABEL

Had the Voice saved his life? What an interesting thought. “Maybe you were a mistake,” and she lingered there, in the threads of the potential onslaught, domineering and haughty, superior and seditious. “But now you have to find a way to live with it.” Choose his path, riddle and ramble down through the corridors, either in distaste or disaster; it mattered little to her. She muffled a hollow little laugh, impudent and proud, at the way his voice altered, changed. What will you do with your rage? she wondered, but not out loud. That’d be for another time, another place.

Her eyes flickered to the horizon, now beginning its gentle glow. Before long it would be morning, and the darkness would thread away, leaving her vulnerable. Eventually, she’d be strong enough to withstand some proportion of its midst. Just not now. “I must be going,” she prospered abruptly, and with little explanation, standing from the stone bench, an eldritch, ethereal being in the mourning essence of the world and wake. “Good luck,” was an offering, but clearly had little well wishes behind its tone. Then she drifted, out and away, leaving Sah to his own devices, just as he’d snagged before.

{FIN}

If you dig under my feet
You will find things that you don't want to see