226 replies to this topic

[Thugren]

he cant.... He doesnt have the capacity."

 

aura says , watching how the man seemed to flow out from zeros attacks, as if he knew them... As if he saw them coming.

 

"They do this each time....."

 

shango says with a breathy sigh as she fans herself, a slight look of irritation her face.

 

"A swprd cannot beat a sheild..... ive said this." 

 

the older man ducks into zeros swing, stopping his arm at the apex of the attack and subdues the younger man with ease, a smile on his face.

 

"youre upsetting vale.. Enough."

 

with  a causal flick he sends zero tumbling as he fixes his coat. Shango huffs at this as the figure comes over and kneels in front of vale.

 

"Hey... Its nice to meet you young madam."

[Oce]

Vale doesn't look to Aurora for a clarification, instead frowning as Zero is nearly sent flying. She tenses in her chair, fingers curling into the arms as she glared warily at the approaching man. Chalice moves to intercept him and buy the girl some space, before rolling her eyes and striding towards Zero to check on him. Vale's unspoken request to let her handle the introduction was reasonable enough, considering Aurora and Shango both knew this guy. But the girl still wanted to check that Zero was alright, thus sending Chalice to him. 

 

Vale smothers the urge to shift closer to Shango before taking a deep breath and forcing herself to relax. Pretend. Everything is fine, she told herself on a loop until she managed to melt back into her chair, calmly reaching out to pick up her tea. She's proud when her hand doesn't shake as she carefully takes a sip. 

 

As he kneels in front of her, she doesn't speak. She barely deigns to wave an indifferent greeting. The man seemed overly familiar in many ways; acting as if he understood her fears, his voice, his mannerisms.. She was curious, but at the same time skeptical and wary.

[Thugren]

She won’t know xero...”

Shango breathes as she packs a pipe witch cherry scented tobacco , lighting it and letting out a log inhale as the man smiles, cocking his head.

“ it’s nice to ... meet you vale.”

The man says with a smile .

“ or ... speak to you really ...... my younger self can’t properly.”

He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small bag , and in it are some odd little dumplings that look sticky and sweet.

“ I am lady shangos sword.... it’s nice to meet you.”

Zero growls as aurora comes close, and you can see the dolls arms are popped out of their sockets. The older warrior knew exactly where to hit him to disable zero effectively, and the glare on the young boys face spoke of infahimable hatred and disgust

[Oce]

Chalice rolls her eyes as she reaches out to Zero to pop his joints back in place. "Behave," she grumbled to him before tilting her head as she reconsidered. "Might want to stop Vale from assaulting the other you, though.." 

Vale was pressed back into her chair, curled into herself defensively as she half glared at Xero. He was far too close, and Zero wasn't fond of him so why should she be? This seemed beyond just trying to prove himself, Vale thought. "Zero does enough," she said through clenched teeth, baring them slightly like a feral animal. 

[Thugren]

The older man frowns , as if hurt as he backs up.

“ I’m... I’m sorry . I was just happy to finally meet you.”

Shango smiles and puts a bit of ash out.

“ a young boy is so much smarter than his older self... “

The older man chews his lip as he backs up out of bales breathing space as zero comes back, earning a glare from shango.

“ these are both... the same person.”

[Oce]

Vale doesn't relax as Xero moves away; her eyes continue following his every movement warily. An adult version of Zero. On one hand, she adored Zero, valued him as one of her very limited friends, but on the other it was always adults who had ruined and tortured her. It was primarily their influence and encouragement that led the kids to follow. This wasn't the same as having two Zeros around. Xero would have lost his innocence by definition, and the chance of him only putting up a cheery facade was high. Between that and Zero's obvious dislike for his older self.. Vale felt easier around Aurora. 

 

"Doubt it," she muttered under her breath in response, finally lowering her gaze to the floor. 

[Thugren]

He is older .... but you can trust him.”

Shango says with a smile as the older man sits beside shango, lowering his skull faced hood to reveal zeros face , but his eyes are covered in thin cloth.

“ he handles the work when I need a mans touch.... and a lot more people dead.”

Aurora chuckles a bit and smiles.

“ he’s still a big baby.”

[Oce]

Vale shook her head, wrapping her arms around herself. She wasn't going to get her hopes up just to be betrayed, not again. She couldn't deal with another stab in the back. Feeling the impending dread of anxiety creeping up her spine made her freeze, even going as far as to hold her breath. Stop it. You're overreacting. Stop it. Stop it, Stopitstopitstopitstopit. She kept spiraling from there, unable to stop herself. Until a heavy weight fell into her lap. 

 

Blinking, she stared blankly at Chalice who was now perched casually in her lap. The doll wasn't looking at her, but she was pushy, practically pushing Vale's arms apart to allow herself more room. The girl uncertainly wrapped her arms around Chalice's waist, her face hidden behind Chalice's shoulder. It was cover, she supposed, as well as a distraction. 

 

"Sword and a shield? My, aren't we greedy," Chalice teased with a lopsided smirk towards Shango. 

[Thugren]

Zero comes over , and he sits beside the young girl. His face was a mask of hatred. Not of the person in front of him , but of something more guttural . The issue that bothered him was not one of not trusting the figure, it’s as if his entire existence offended him , like staring into the future and hating what he saw.

“ where as zero is capable of incredible violence , he is still stifled by the fact he has a young mans moraity...”

Shango turns her head to the older man.

“ my sword needs to be able to be indiscriminate ...... if I send him into a church, I need the tabernacle to run red.... zero cannot do that.”

The smaller man winces, but the older man shrugs.

“ soon my little one... you’ll see.”

[Oce]

Vale huffs, unwinding one arm to rest her hand on Zero's in an effort to calm him. Chalice had helped, though she appeared indifferent at the entire scenario. "I suppose that makes sense. I'm certain you will ask similar things of me, which Vale might have difficulties approving. Though she .." The doll paused to consider her words. Vale's fingers dug into her side a bit before the girl shook her head in disapproval. 

[Thugren]

I will never do anything my daughter cannot handle."

 

Shango says as she stands and snaps, having xero take bags as she goes inside, clicking her fan in a manner that told everyone to get inside.

 

"its time to talk about why we are here.... And how my beautiful family can help me."

[Oce]

"Beautiful? You shouldn't really stoke Aurora's ego more than absolutely necessary. And Zero is more on the cute side if anything..." Chalice chuckled, removing herself from Vale's lap before turning to offer the girl her hand. It was an unnecessary chivalrous act, but when Vale laced their fingers together rather than pulling away, Chalice shot her a small smile rather than a smirk. It was genuine without an arrogant front, and it came with surprising ease. While Chalice may not have a solid opinion on the others, Vale was special to her. The girl reminded Chalice of her younger sister, before she was taken away. It made her endearing, and the need to protect her overrode practically everything else.

 

Vale felt calm, especially as she lightly leaned against Chalice's arm as they trailed behind Shango, eyes still flicking to Xero in distrust. Most of her worries had been quelled, but experience forced her to stay on guard around him. 

[Thugren]

Shango sits in a large warm chair , removing her feathered boa and relaxing . She is brought some tea as she lights a cigarette .

“ so.... vale my dear.... you will be going with my dolls to a nearby academy .... they are making dolls with forbidden Magic’s.... I want this put an end to.”

Zero stands to protest but zero stops him.

“ this is a better job for zero and...”

Shango shakes her head.

“ vale and chalice will do it woth you..... chalice needs to grow , and she needs to learn to trust you.”

[Oce]

Vale wasn't one to speak up when things made her uncomfortable so it was of no surprise when Chalice was the one who questioned it. "Can't we just go with Zero again and call it a day? In an out?" They both were fine with their assigned task, after all with the way the world reacted to Ida's creation it was easy to imagine the worst. "Hell, send Aurora with us. Maybe her snootiness will be enough to keep the peasants away."

[Thugren]

Shango raises an eyebrow .”

We could ... it’s a possibility yes .”

She says with a breathy sigh she would give a spider before she hit it with a book.

“ I do however want this done a certain way.... and xero is a far better choice for what I want done .... am I clear.”

She smiles as zero nods begrudgingly

[Oce]

Vale would have pouted if she weren't as tense as she was. She was old enough to know better to throw a fit to get her way, but at the same time something seemed off about Xero and it made her stomach clench in anxiety. She realized that she was most likely being paranoid, after all this was essentially an adult Zero. Adults made her skin crawl, Aurora and Shango being the only exceptions in the world. But she trusted Zero, and she trusted Shango's opinion. She needed to get over it, and she knew it. 

 

Chalice simply had an eyebrow raised towards their mistress, staring blankly as she felt Vale's internal distress beside her. The girl was smart, and she needed to be at least somewhat independent. She couldn't fix everything for the girl. 

[Thugren]

Zero sighs , his voice hollow as he stands and xero kips up.

“ well this artwork won’t get done if we just sit around .... let’s go.”

He smiles as aurora chuckles.

“ shall I go with them?”

The doll maker nods as zero sits beside shango like an annoyed puppy.

“ do me proud vale..”

Shango says as she plays with his hair

[Oce]

Vale hovers between Aurora and Chalice, using the former as a buffer between herself and Xero. She glanced back at Zero with a weak smile and a wave of farewell before locking eyes for a second with Shango. She nodded firmly at the parting words, knowing already that she would do her absolute best to do well by Shango. She doesn't reach out towards Chalice as she turns around to follow the other two dolls, instead trying to focus on their upcoming task. She wondered what they were doing exactly to try to create their own dolls.

[Thugren]

As they take to the streets ,, xero seems to vanish as aurora leads them through the town calmly .

“Do you want to see something amazing....”

She asks vale as she stops and looks over her shoulder.

“ want to see where we where born?”

[Oce]

Chalice kept her eyes glued to Xero as she calmly trailed behind the others, pursing her lips as he veers away subtly, before stepping forward to casually fling an arm over Vale's shoulder and shooting an overly wide grin at Aurora. "We'd love to," she answers for Vale, before the younger girl could respond on her own. 

 

Vale shot a halfhearted glare at the doll, but didn't complain, idly leaning into her side a bit as they continued to walk.