Week Six

[letsplayamod]

You've survived, for lack of better wording, the latest week of trials and tribulations. This one had been more costly than most: Typhon's machinations have brought your group to nearly half the size it was when Athena first brought you to this island. Whether it ends with him or with you is still too soon to make out. One thing's for certain. Things cannot be allowed to continue as they are.

Speaking of continuing, the next floor has been revealed to you. Just how far down this island goes is a bit of a mystery, but you get the feeling that you're close to something important. Maybe that thing Athena wanted you to find before Typhon does. You can ruminate on that as you watch the waters below. Waves still lap at the cliffs, but it all seems lower than it did weeks ago. Like the ocean itself is shrinking...

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Quark's Bar

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[stringup]

[ It's hard to say if that was intentional or if she just happened to fumble into it as an unintended result of hiding her face against his neck, let's be honest here. ]

Should I no longer call you "von Aegir"?

[markofnobility]

I am not ashamed of it- my family did many great things over the last thousand years. But I will be the last... it is sad. And also rather freeing, I think.

[ pressed this close he can not turn to look at her, but his eyes flick toward her hidden face]

You... have always been the best at seeing what parts of me are name and what aren't. You know obligation well?

[ there's so much he still doesn't know about her life. But as one pressured child to another, he can see the signs like tattoos on the skin]

[stringup]

And I assume you have no intention of taking up even a byname?

[ She's asking more so out of curiosity, given the finality of what he's saying.

At his question, she stays quiet for a moment before she pulls out where she's tucked herself into his neck, instead settling for resting her head against his collar. ]

I did say I learnt artifice from the Lover, but...before that, crafts and engineering were my family's trade.

[ She thinks he can get an idea from that much. ]

[markofnobility]

Maybe if something inspires me. Or I inspire someone else- isn't that usually how such things go?

[ he picks it up well enough, especially with what she said about traveling, or not doing so, before]

Ah. You are the eldest then?

[ or only, he supposes, like himself. But that was not though lack of trying on his father's part.]

[stringup]

[ There's a small, wry smile. ]

You'd better hope it's a good one, then.

...I was the eldest, yes. I had a brother and much younger sister.

[ At least now it might make sense why she wasn't worried about the Winions rough housing each other? ]

[markofnobility]

[ he huffs at the first bit- of course it will be good! He deserves only the best!

But-]

Was.

[ inching on dangerous territory. But he trusts if this is a no-go topic she will tell him so]

[stringup]

...Yes.

[ Velvet briefly sits up straight to look around.

...Well, if the horrors do end up creeping in, it'd probably be pretty funny for the sirens to get caught up in them, at least. ]

You can ask whatever you'd like. [ She's sure he has questions about her life. ] Though I'm sorry to say I probably don't have many happy answers to give.

[markofnobility]

I already suspected as much. But... I want to know what happened. How the Lover was able to tempt you.

['what happend to your family']

[stringup]

Do you want to get comfortable first?

[markofnobility]

How could I be more comfortable than you leaning against me?

[stringup]

Hmph. Your tongue is as honeyed as ever.

[ She says while snuggling closer to him like a cat. ]

...My family came from a long line of craftsman and engineers. We weren't particularly wealthy, but the name held some prestige for our contributions. My great-grandfather developed an improved heating system using underground hot spring water to heat the floor in homes, and the rest of the town eventually all had it installed.

My mother...was also of equal caliber, in that regard. She was always working on projects, whether her personal research or ones for clients and patrons. To the exclusion of nearly everything else, you could say. She had no patience for politicking and just as little social grace. Only took on commissions that she considered worthwhile.

One day, some Dynast from...I think it was House Cathak? Or was it House Cynis? In any case, she came offering to be a long-term patron in exchange for an exclusivity contract, though I'm still not sure what the exact terms were. [ Though the way Velvet says it, it seems she has some suspicions. ] My mother shot her down almost immediately and told her to get out if there was nothing else to discuss.

[markofnobility]

Ah.

[ said in a tone that suggests familiarity]

A snub many nobles would not take well.

[stringup]

Yes. And...I don't know how much of a role this played, if it did at all, but a couple of weeks later, someone from House Ragara approached me and made a similar offer. It would've been enough income that I wouldn't have to worry about household upkeep for years. My brother could even get an apprenticeship at a Ragara bank if he proved capable. I just had to agree to take commissions from them exclusively.

I didn't agree right away, but I told them I would consider it. And I really was considering it.

It was a few weeks after that when some mercenaries set our workshop and laboratory in the middle of the night. [ She bites her lower lip. ] I found out later they had sacked the town, too. My mother...was still inside at the time, as usual, and I happened to be there to deliver some snacks before going to bed. She...

[ Her voice trails off for a moment, like she isn't sure if she wants to talk about this particular part. Or rather, how much she wants to. ]

She told me to take whatever research I could and run while she fought off the mercenaries outside to cover me. But I don't think either of us realised they weren't there just for the workshop.

[markofnobility]

[Ferdinand's gaze starts to turn icy as she talks. Goddess... he's heard of similar tales playing out before. Did the first House hear that Ragara had sniped the craftsman they wanted right out from under them? Did they even know it was the daughter? Did they even care? Maybe they did know and knew that all Velvet's mothers techniques were passed down to her. They surely did not see them as different in any way that mattered- just a set of skills they were denied.

That iciness hardens even more when Velvet mentions her mother's command. Maybe the other children were elsewhere. Maybe it isn't how it sounds.

But how it sounds makes him clench his fist regardless]

They could not allow a rival to have something they were denied.

cw: graphic injury description

[stringup]

Mm. Sometimes I wonder if what they really wanted was my mother's research, and they couldn't allow a rival to get their hands on it. I don't know all the complicated politics, but I can say that...House Ragara is the Great House most of the others have to deal with, which is also why they are greatly disliked. [ To put it mildly.

She runs a thumb over Ferdinand's clenched fist, like she's trying to get him to let go. The rest of this story would have him drawing blood from his palms otherwise, she's sure. ]

I ran straight back to the main building to grab my siblings, and found that it was set on fire. My sister was calling for help because she was trapped in her room. And I heard my brother telling her to hang on, then...something crashing, and him making the most awful noise I ever heard from him.

[ It is probably familiar to Ferdinand how her gaze is starting to become somewhat unfocused. He's likely seen it before in plenty of other people, himself included. ]

So I went to look for them, but—you know how it is when a building is on fire. Structures start to fail. Support beams and load-bearing pillars collapse. It turns out one can be heavy enough to crush a person's ribs if it falls on them.

[markofnobility]

[he does let go, but only to clutch at her sleeve instead. He knows that look very well indeed. Can she hear that awful noise? He thinks he can- he's heard men and women crushed and burned before. The undignified yalp like a kicked dog, the squealing. No one is noble sounding in death. It is all live meat.

So this is the death the Lover came to 'save' her from. ]

... you wanted to save them. That's why.

[Because of course she did. His heart breaks and he could not love her more than he does right now]

cw: more graphic injury description

[stringup]

It's just...I could feel my back getting seared to a crisp and my ribs sticking into my lungs but not my legs. Mizuki was still crying for me and Touya to save her. But I was stuck under that pillar, dying like a dog.

...When I heard the Lover talk to me and told me I could still live, I didn't think twice before saying "yes". Even though she told me outright that I would have to deliver all life to its end in exchange.

[ "Are you sure?" the Lover had asked her back then, when ██████ had answered within seconds of her telling her what the price was.

"Yes, anything! Just let me save them!" ]

So I drew my Last Breath and something terrible and powerful wracked through me, but—

[ Ah, when did she start trembling? ]

—I blacked out like a useless piece of shit.

1/2

[markofnobility]

[The scar on her back, that he felt through her clothing. Saints...]

That... that bitch-

[markofnobility]

She knew you would not be revived fast enough to do a damned thing- it was all a trick!!

[His rage is palpable]

[stringup]

I don't know if she knew.

[ She says this distantly. Not to protest his anger, per say, but because she knew certain things that robbed her of even that justification. ]

I know...at least some Abyssals have a different experience. Though it just meant one of them went on a rampage and slaughtered everyone in sight.

I was just some girl who hadn't slept well for the past week, didn't go out much besides, and had only moments ago left her mother to die. Would someone like that be able to handle death's power pouring into her?

[markofnobility]

[ he can't quite buy the idea that this was not some larger conspiracy- maybe he had spent too long digging through cover ups while prosecuting his father and it made him see intent where there was none. Maybe he was just too furious at the injustice of it all.

The crimes purely being greedy, prideful men, the same kind of people that raised him and that were likely long gone from his fury's reach... It was too frustrating to bear.

But his anger is not helpful right now. So even while he is still trembling with it he takes her in his arms. Not as tight as he wants; in case the memory of the crushing beams and choking smoke was too real and she needed to breathe, but enough to offer anchoring in the now.]

Oh Vel... I am so sorry...

[ going right from such horror to the Lover's service... he wonders if she ever had a chance to grieve. He doubts she was encouraged to at the very least- maybe even told some filth to justify it all. Children dying in a fire was surely kinder than the long drawn out horrors of this world! Sothis, he could vomit with the very idea of it.]

[stringup]

[ Some other time, Velvet would appreciate Ferdinand's consideration to not hug her too tightly. At first she seems to just numbly allow herself to be pulled into his arms, like she barely realised it was happening, but gradually relaxes as she leans into him.

(Sometimes, she wondered if things would have gone differently if she had met someone like Ferdinand sooner. Or at least, someone who would have empathised with her anger and grief back then.) ]

...Do you want me to continue?

[ There's more? ]

[markofnobility]

[ "There's more?" indeed. The nauseated feeling ramps up, and Ferdinand unthinkingly starts to chew on his lip scar, a new habit settling into his repertoire.]

If you want to tell it, yes. If you think I should know.

[ "what does it matter what you know?" his heart scolds, tone as always somewhere between his horde of childhood governesses and Hubert von fucking Vestra "you will not be here to help her with it! Selfish, idiot child that you are, you could at least not cause more damage while you are at it!"

And as always he does not argue it. But maybe if he can help even in this moment, then maybe Velvet can find a little peace. And if she needs someone more worthwhile to hold her through it, she certainly would have no issue finding them. Who could not wish for his place for a woman like this?

(he tries to ignore the way his heart rails and gnashes at the idea. Hates a person he imagined and put here! Truely a ridiculous man)

He strokes her back lightly, waiting for her choice]

cw: referenced animal death, body horror

[stringup]

[ She turns her head to see the new bad habit Ferdinand's picked up, and one hand reaches up to touch at the lip scar to try and get him to stop that. Don't open up a new wound there.

It takes her a while to continue. Both because she finds that she wants to stay in Ferdinand's arms a while longer and because she has to find the words for what she wants to tell. She's never actually expressed...any of what had happened that night. The incident came and passed, and she just kept all its dark details to herself. Surely no one would want to listen, and no one should have to be burdened by the knowledge.

(And privately a part of her also feared, what if after hearing it all, they would see her for the stupid, short-sighted and awful girl she was? Trading the world away from the sake of two people.) ]

...When I woke up, the fire had died out. I managed to drag myself out from underneath. I could...still walk, somehow, even if it hurt. Maybe they managed to survive, or...if nothing else, I could find their bodies. I heard Kogoro barking, so I thought at least he was safe, but...

Some of the mercenaries had stayed behind to loot through what was left. Of course he'd keep barking at them. He... They...

[ Her voice trails off. She doesn't want to recount that particular scene, but the silence probably says everything. ]

...You know, there's a particular necromancy spell. With a single syllable, you can brand someone and make their skeleton roil and writhe beneath their skin, until it tears itself out.

I did it to all of them.

[markofnobility]

[her hand stops his gnawing, the scar tissue and the skin around it already red and puffy from his efforts.

He tries to picture what that spell would look like. Worse, what it would feel like. His imagination is happy to supply some possibilities. Horror roils in his guts- of course it does, he is still human.

But he finds he can not muster much disgust at her doing so. The noble thing to do would be to sympathize but not condone such brutality. A noble kills when it's needed with clean efficiency and he certainly does not enjoy it.

Instead all that comes out of his chewed lips is:]

Good.

[ he's not a noble anymore, so to hell what they would find the proper responce]