Day 151

[bastionmods]

Who: Zia, Zulf + the NPCs Nathaniel, Zanya, Zahi + YOU
Open: Open
When: Day 151
Where: Throughout the Bastion
What: Tension has fallen over the Bastion, and it's time to sort out truth and anger.
Format: Any
Warnings: Drama

A few days ago, some residents of the Bastion might have become aware of a confrontation happening at a certain Ura's humble abode. There was some yelling- although not clear- and the result was a very harried looking Rin Okumura forcibly dragging away resident Mancer Nathaniel. The next couple of days have been quiet, but today... Well, if anyone wants to ask about and see what the deal was, it seems like today is the day.

It seems like Nathaniel has finally quit his own self imposed isolation, if only so that he doesn't starve to death. Apparently anger can only sustain a man for so long. He can be seen storming through the Bastion, a thundercloud practically gathered about him, or at the eating area looking very much like he wants to be left alone.

Zulf has been less of a hermit. Anyone who has seen him since the argument has probably noticed his black eye and sore nose. He seems angry as well, although it's quieter and colder underneath all his civility. More noticeably, he's been hard at work building a few fences near the edges of the Bastion- mostly near his tent but also in other areas as well. They're not the best fences, but they're good enough, hopefully. You can approach him at the shrine, his tent, or anywhere, really... He's as available as he's always been. He might even approach you, just to warn about falling off the edge of the Bastion.

Seriously, this place has needed safety railings for ages now. Who's bright idea was it not to include safety railings? RUCKS...

Anyone wandering by the Kitchens today will notice... Damn, that's a lot of yelling. And slamming of things. Should knives be used to chop that hard...? That's right, Rin is in a bad mood and anyone who comes near will immediately know it. The excess swearing is probably a good clue. Unlike the other two, she's unleashing her temper with wild abandon in the sanctity of her kitchen where no one will bug her. Well. Unless YOU bug her...

Of course, these three aren't the only ones noticeable about the Bastion today! It looks like the Ura residents are just coming out of the woodwork.

Anyone who's talked to either of the latest Ura additions knows that Zulf came in with Zia. While not involved with the row from a few days ago, she seems just as worried as Zulf seems angry. It's possible to see her wandering about with her pet Pecker chick. Might see her coming away after a discussion with Zulf, too... Maybe she knows what's going on?

There's also Zanya and her father Zahi who have been apparently a bit more sociable these last few days. There's apparently a subject they're both interested in which they'll approach people about, although they'll do so differently. Zahi will strike up friendly conversation, but Zanya will simply get right to the point: do you have any idea what happened?

Feel free to strike up conversation with any of them, or even try and talk to everyone if you wish.

[ooc: This is your characters chance to investigate just what the drama is all about! In such a small place as the Bastion, it's a bit hard to miss... Feel free to have your characters speculate or gossip with the Ura NPCs about what may have happened or if they caught onto a sliver of what happened (like Zulf and Nathaniel falling off the edge of the Bastion), or for them to go the more direct route by talking to either Nathaniel, Zulf, Rin, or Zia.]

[Long story short is that Rin went to get Venn's journal from Nathaniel. Upon realizing who exactly wanted it, Nathaniel went to confront Zulf. There was an argument on just who and what caused the Calamity... and then Nat punched Zulf in the face, they rolled off the edge of the Bastion, and Rin separated them after they got blown back up.]

[As a reminder! Mod Mandy plays NPC!Nathaniel and NPC!Zahi. Mod Jeni plays NPC!Zanya and Rin. Birdmod James plays Zulf. Helpful player Courtney plays Zia. We'll all get to you on our own individual time, and as soon as possible! Just make sure it's clear in your post who your character is approaching.]

Comments

[fuckthemancers]

...Still considerably less strange than the fact that we live with a giant dragon, to be quite honest.

[hellpyre]

... t-true...

[right then...]

It's not like I knew. I was raised human. But my powers were sealed when I was born, so I could be hidden. Yuki wasn't born with any powers at all. But... we still had to be kept secret, more or less. 'cause the demon responsible for... well, me... he was the lord of Gehenna. Satan. Basically, where I'm from, that's like the worst thing ever to be related to. He caused a lotta problems in Assiah, a lotta deaths, some of them family to friends I have, including Bon.

He is the most hated being in existence in Assiah. No one wants him around, and exorcists are there to keep him and his minions from fuckin' up Assiah too much.

Take a wild guess what their reaction was to findin' out the daughter of Satan lived when she was supposed to be executed as a baby.

[fuckthemancers]

[It's... not something he thinks he completely understands. It's from an entirely different world, far beyond Caelondia or the Terminals. Still, he gets the basic idea of it.]

Hatred, fear, anger... Those are what come to mind immediately.

[hellpyre]

Yeah. Pretty much.

[She lets out a breath at that, glancing away from the tent. Bon was... somewhere right then, but she was thinking of him.]

With my friends... I think they were more mad that I lied. Everyone else, though... it's not like a choose to be like this! I didn't ask for him to be my father! But that's not what people hear. Or see. They see the flames, they think of Blue Night, when all those Clergymen and their families died. They hear "Satan" and they only think somethin' that needs to be taken out.

I ain't like him. But there was this... thing that happened... in Kyoto, a few months back. Everythin' was just pilin' on me, everyone's feelings about it, all this weight to prove I was somethin' different... the Vatican found out about me, and ordered me to complete my exorcist exam in a certain amount of time, or they were gonna execute me. Just like that!

Nothin' was goin' right... and the next thing I knew, I couldn't pull the sword anymore. I couldn't get my flames out. I couldn't do anythin'. Shura -- my sword teacher, she said I'd lost confidence in myself. I'unno, maybe I did... I didn't really understand.

Suddenly I was tossed in a prison on Vatican orders while all my friends were tryin' to deal with a really, really nasty demon called the Impure King and a whole buncha other shit, and... all I could do while I sat there in it was think...

"Why? Why did the old man save me? Why did he go against every single order from the Vatican to take me in, raise me as human, give me a life and then save that life by givin' up his own?"

I still... don't know why. I don't have an answer. I'll probably never get one.

[fuckthemancers]

[Guilt by association, boulder after boulder of pressure, loss of strength and control... It's a heavy story, and Zulf knows he's not the one who can really help her with all of it. Not right now, at any rate.]

[But the last bit... Maybe.]

Having unanswered questions like that in regards to something so heavy tends to weigh you down. I think you already know that. Clearly, I've never met your father so my words might not be accurate or appropriate. Still...

Do you have good memories of your father?

[hellpyre]

Of the old man? Well... yeah. 'course I do. I mean he was a pain in the ass when I was older but part of that was just me fuckin' up everythin' I tried to do...

[fuckthemancers]

Then... I would like to believe that at some point- perhaps not at the beginning but certainly later- everything he did for you was because he did care for you.

If you take care of a child, guide them and make them smile, for so long... Then I refuse to believe that you wouldn't care about them in some way. Perhaps there was some ulterior motive, but that wouldn't nearly be enough to make him want to leave such good memories with you.

Ah- but that is only what I believe and what I've discovered from my own experiences. I hope you don't think me rude.

[hellpyre]

[Rin listened to Zulf again, actually thinking about what he was saying. They butted heads, to be sure. Her teenage years had been especially difficult due to the constant comparisons to Yuki and her accomplishments. But for all of that, for all their arguments and yelling and disagreements, he had never, ever said he didn't care for her. In fact that was all he ever said.

"I'm just looking out for you, Rin..."

Even during that last day, when tempers rose to the point where he finally, for the first time ever, lashed out at her...]

... one of the last things I said to him... was that he shouldn't call himself my father anymore...

[Oh god. God. Why did she have to remember that?

She's just going to... curl her knees up to her chest and bury her face in them.]

I thought he was sick of me and was throwing me out! Really he was just tryin' to tell me the truth about everythin'...

[fuckthemancers]

We all... say things we regret in arguments. It sounds as though it was just a heated moment. There was no way you could have known what would happen.

I think he would have understood. That's what I would like to think.

[hellpyre]

He still... still saved me after... from Satan. He tried to come and get me, a-and possessed the old man to do it. B-but he... killed himself. To stop it.

"That girl is my daughter, and I'm taking her back."

Stupid old man... !

[fuckthemancers]

[Gently, Zulf closes his album and sets it to the side. This leaves his hands free to gently take Rin by the shoulders and guide her until her face is against his own shoulder.]

Maybe he was stupid, but it sounds as though he cared about you an enormous deal. I think now, that's all that matters. [A small squeeze to her shoulder.] Have you been holding all of this inside since you've come here?

If you just want to let it out... I won't say a word.

[And with that offer given, he'll start to hum a certain song under his breath.]

[hellpyre]

K-kinda...

[In that she hasn't really spoken much about Shiro outside of the occasional praise of how cool he was, or a select few memories. There was the discussion with Colin not that long ago, about her decision to become an exorcist upon his death to save herself from being executed and to avenge him.

But really... yes. She was so focused on moving forward that she wonders sometimes if she ever really grieved, outside of that weak moment in the prison.

She hates crying. She didn't even shed tears at his funeral. She was so determined to show him what kind of person she could really be even after he was gone...

But there are tears already in her eyes as Zulf pulls her close and starts to hum, and she can't push them back any further inside.]

[fuckthemancers]

[There's just a rub at her back, a silent encouragement to let it all out. This sort of grieving is what's needed, sometimes. All that pain and regret and sadness, needing a chance to spill forth so that it doesn't stay locked inside and slowly start to rot.]

[And he just keeps on humming that song.]

[hellpyre]

[Which it really has been doing to her, even if she won't admit it. Moving forward is all fine and good, but she's had a lot of setbacks, too, and a lot of them probably could have been avoided if she'd just deal with her survivor's guilt in a healthier way.

Not that Okumuras know anything about "healthy ways of dealing with things".

She doesn't outright sob or anything, but there's a few hiccups here and there, and sniffling as she finally lets the tears roll down her cheeks freely.]

[fuckthemancers]

[Okumuras, please.]

[Zulf keeps up the soothing actions for a good long while. Eventually, he does stop.]

...How are you feeling?

[hellpyre]

[They're Catholic. Guilt is sort of A Thing with them.]

Better...

[For as stuffy and headachey as she is now.]

[fuckthemancers]

[Weirdass foreign religions.]

Good. You can always come to me to talk, you know. Now... There's a hot springs here, isn't there? Maybe it might help if you went in there for just a short while.

It's... been quite a day. You deserve to relax and have a moment to yourself.

[hellpyre]

[You don't know the half of it, Zulf.]

Yeah... I haven't felt this crappy in a while...

[fuckthemancers]

Well, come on then. [He starts to get up and tries to help Rin with it too.] No point in delaying a good bit of rest.

[hellpyre]

Thanks...

[Yeah, bath sounds good. Her head is hurting after that, and she kind of just wants to find Bon later and cling to him.]