Beau (rivalen) wrote in emillion, @ 2014-04-21 16:48:00 |
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His sword was, for all intends and purposes, not totally out of commission, but Rivalen currently carried a claymore strapped to his back for emergencies. Seeing Scar was not an annoyance in the current situation, lingering with boredom and irritation at the network, city and Mages Guild. The city was the leftover of a battlefield, debris and the stench of death; the sight of their house caused the Samurai to pause in his steps since, well, there was not much left of it. Dispassionately indifferent to the remaining rubble, his sister sitting on the front lawn completed the picture of desolation. Photo perfect example of the reality that faced most of the citizen of Emillion. She was not missing any arms and Rivalen lifted a hand to wave, kicking errant stones along his path to her. Scarlet heard him arrive before she could see him; not many walked this way without some sort of wailing. The entire block had been reduced to, well, this. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to tell her brother that their last remaining parent was dead -- and while parents did die before their children, it seemed unfortunate that it had been so soon. Was she supposed to tell him solemnly, when a part of her felt anger that he had not checked in on their mother since. Had it automatically become her duty? And what if Scarlet had not returned? Would her body be rotting in their home until Rivalen decided he had the time to visit? “She's dead.” To the point. Scarlet finally turned toward her brother. Who remained, in his very true way of being himself: unmoved. Letting their mother’s corpse rot at home would not have been something he did, but Scarlet had always been better at the feeling thing. Well met and to the point. Rivalen was not someone who truly enjoyed pretty words if they were unnecessary. “She’ll be next to dad.” Jaws clenched for a moment before relaxing. She had enough time to come to terms on her own, and perhaps her only uncertainty was waiting on Rivalen and his reactions. But his reactions were as expected, and their mother was still dead. There was little more to be done. Her eyes were slightly red but there were no tears (and would be no more). Scarlet stood up and walked past Rivalen, her eyes focused on straight ahead rather than her brother. She wouldn’t get far though, quick and without finesse Riv snatched her arm turning her so they were facing one another in front of the rubble of their childhood home. There was nothing in his chest, a barely beating heart that served the sole function of keeping him alive. Despite his actions and drawing Scarlet’s face close enough to press their foreheads for a brief moment, they were all impossibly calm. Better comfort would be found in the corpses and while Riv felt nothing, he understood she did and knew what a brother was supposed to do. The wave of emotions was impossible to deny. It would be easier to cry it out, to scream, to blame, to feel guilt. But at the first signs of the beasts, she had defeated the first that stood in her way (with Rivalen no less). When she had arrived here, her mother was already gone. There really was no one to blame, just as there had been no one for her father's death. Perhaps that was meant to be poetic. And whether their mother was dead or not, the city was still under attack and Scarlet was pressed to remember why she fought. If it was to protect the ones that she loved, why continue? Her friends had others to take care of them; after all, she had all but abandoned them several years ago. And so did her brother, who was more capable than her to take care of himself. But still, she fought, having returned only when it all subsided. She allowed the loss to hit her then, before roaming around looking for her last remaining kin. And as she wrapped her arms around Rivalen, burying her head into his shoulder, she realized why she did stay. Perhaps it wasn't that her mother needed her, or her friends, or her guild, or her brother. But maybe she needed each of them in her own way. She exhaled unevenly, clamping her eyes shut for a moment to will any tears away. Finally, she spoke, her voice quiet but steady. "I will never forgive you if you die." “Neither would I.” Rivalen replied quietly, holding her in that moment - acting like a real brother would and comforting his sister. Scarlet was his to kill if there was ever need for that, no one else had that right; those thoughts brushed the surface but faded under a more pressing concern.“If you want to blame someone,” Voice deadly and soft, “Blame the mages, blame those who summon.” Pulling away, Scarlet looked up at Rivalen with steady eyes. "Is that who you blame?" Meeting her eyes with his own, they lacked his usual calm — a wave of something beneath them — something that was present in very rare occasions, that went unseen by even those who had known him for years. What drove Rivalen, the need for more, whatever that more could be. Apparently it had found an outlet of some kind. “Yes.” And in that moment, Scarlet felt a cold from his eyes. A feeling that she could only equate to when she had first dabbled with the Dark, a feeling that had only been a glimpse, only a moment, but gave her a sense of fear, yet was captivating at the same time. Her gaze wavered. “There will be no peace, if we harbor blame or revenge.” Neither agreement nor rebuke. A warning. His laugh was sharp, “Do you think she is at peace after the way she died? Death is not peace, Scar.” But it could be. It should be. She dared not utter those words, not only because she knew Riv would scoff at her, but because she suddenly realized that she didn't quite believe it either. Her eyes darkened. “Revenge is for the living.” “It’s justice, Scar. The mages are responsible, how many were involved besides their fucking Sage? How many are now pretending not to have been in support of that? How can anyone be allowed to have a summon so powerful that it can decimate a city like this?” He swallowed the bile in his throat, unaware that his tone had wavered from his usual calm. His words attached itself to her thoughts quickly, poisoning any inner peace that Scarlet had attempted to achieve. Perhaps it would've came out sooner or later, the anger, but there was no way of knowing now. Somehow, revenge had quickly evolved into justice, though a part of her knew it wasn't quite right. But her brother's emotions were contagious and the void her mother left was begging to be filled with something more. Several seconds had passed before Scarlet noticed the Dark that had been exuding from her, the faint nauseating feeling finally hitting her as she willed it away, her eyes glassy. She looked up to her older brother to continue, for guidance. He was all she had left. “We’ll just help people see the truth and get justice for their loved ones.” At least, that was what Riv was publicly going to do; whatever else came was to be reflected upon later, playing his mother’s death like a card (might as well give it some meaning and make it count). Standing amidst the leftovers of their childhood, the samurai let out a chuckle, resentful and sharp, betraying him to his sister. Regardless of Rivalen’s ways and the truth beneath his mask, his mother is -was- still his mother. Someone would pay and he’d use that to push further. More. |