[18:31] {LONG DISTANCE TO: Tab Blackdress}: Hello.

I wanted to talk to you. It's ok if you don't want too. But I want to talk to you. And I want to apologize. For everything.

I'll be at my home in Nilharra.

-Maria.
[18:38] PM from (OOC)Tab Blackdress: for the record she has intention of showing up she's just mid-scene rn just so you arent wasting ur time
[18:44] PM to (OOC)Tab Blackdress: thats ok! tyt
[18:44] PM to (OOC)Tab Blackdress: ill be here. and no worries. im just playing games on the side.
[18:55] Rika asks, "Wah?"
[19:14] Maria Malibu exclaims, "!!!"
[19:14] Maria Malibu says, ".."
[19:14] Tab Blackdress says, "..."
[19:31] "..."

It was a quiet evening.

The waves were gentle, a half-moon shining across the azure ocean that surrounded Nilharra. The gunslinger herself could be found swallowing a bottle of whiskey, her gaze fervent and tired, scanning across the stars.

She blinks slowly, holding her bottle of whiskey as she stared at the evening sky. The canary hues waver, a familiar face finally reaching her upon the horizon.

Rising from her seat, she places her bottle on the table. She adjusts her coat, approaching Tab with a piece of paper. She had prepared it beforehand, it's contents reading as follows.

["What I did last night was something I shouldn't have done. I hurt both you and Aricles. I was selfish. And I am just now realizing how much my actions have been hurting people."]

["I don't know what came over me last night. I suppose I am just too young and too naive to understand what love is. I do love you. But what I did was unfair."]

["I am not asking for forgiveness. But I do apologize. I can't forgive myself for hurting you. I've done irreparable damage, and I take full responsibility for my actions."]

["I am not a good person. I am selfish, just like my mother. I desire things that I shouldn't. What I wanted from you was not love. It was something else. It was a lust that I couldn't control."]

["I can only hope that you and Aricles find it in your hearts to forgive me."]

["But I do not blame you if you can't."]

"..."

Those were her words. Maria would not mince words, nor would she deny responsibility for her actions. She takes full responsibility, and knew full well the consequences of what might come.

It broke her heart. Itdefinitely did. But it was of her own making.

A long time coming.

"..."

She stands silently. Her gaze fixated on the ocean in front of her. She couldn't dare meet Tab in the eye. Not like this...

(Maria Malibu)

[19:46] Called by the letter, Tab makes beachhead on the Nilhirran sand.

For hours on end, the other night has looped over and over again. If Maria hadn't sought her out via message, she knew she was going to seek her likewise. It had to be discussed.

Something about Tab - her very presence - has changed, fundamentally, since then. It's both less and more familiar. It's both less and more real.

Her expression is unreadable as she's first handed the paper - a starch contrast to how dramatically expressive her typical demeanour is.

Tab's cloak sways under the half-moon light. She takes the parchment, slowly, carefully.

By her standards - it takes forever to read. (By anyone else's, it's a completely average - fast, even - amount of time to read the paper.) She lingers on a handful of sentences.

At last... she lets out a wistful sigh.

And then smiles, empathetically, towards Maria. There wasn't a shred of resentment, or lingering anger, or the like behind her.

"I'm not mad. I don't blame you. I... didn't know what was happening, at the time."

"It wasn't until later that night that I realized... there's different kinds of love, I guess. And I bet it's something you still gotta figure out, too."

"I love you too. I never stopped."

"But..." She pouts a little. "It took a bit for me to realize that I don't love you, or anyone else, in the same way that I love Aricles. That's a different kind of love, I think." She taps her foot, struggling to continue.

"I love you as a friend, Maria. And I wanna keep bein' your friend. But that's it. And if..." She clears her throat, nervously. "...if you don't want to be my friend, back... that's okay."

She doesn't initially notice the arrival of Aricles behind her. Her attention is focused.
(Tab Blackdress)


[19:52] The Alline rows in from the North, barely out of his boat before his pocketbook is withdrawn and notes return to the page.
His mind is occupied with three.
First, allocating materiel for the war amidst three nations.
Second, finding and ensuring Tab was fine a second day.
Third, finding and speaking with Maria.

He's not even in view before the second and third alert him from his book, senses drawing him towards two. A brief pit of dread in his stomach, then reassurance at Tab's resolute words.

He gazes to the busy nearby square and speaks. His usual affect, if dulled, unlike the rigid cold let loose a moment yesterday.

"Perhaps we should do this inside. The Shigenobu's barracks are unlocked and unoccupied."

This isn't the sort of thing to have out in front of everyone. Nor did he want it taking place in any of their own homes.
(Aricles Alline)


[20:03] Ylith says, "Thanks, nice lady."
[20:04] Tate Brier says, "Mhm"
[20:04] Tate Brier says, "I also deal in ores, since I run the store in Gloom, but uh"
[20:04] Ylith says, "Aricles, I couldn't find Tate"
[20:04] Tate Brier says, "Aricles is probably even - im...thats me"
[20:04] Ylith says, "But this nice lady here helped me."
[20:04] Ylith says, "You're not Aricles, he is Aricles."
[20:04] Tate Brier says, "I'm Tate."
[20:04] Aricles Alline says, "A bit later. That's Tate, and she'll sell at probably the same prices as me. But we can speak another time."
[20:04] Ylith says, "Nice to meet you, Tate."
[20:05] Ylith says, "Oh..."
[20:05] Tate Brier says, "Let me know either way then."
[20:17] "..."

Maria nods. It seems she too was trying to discover what 'love' truly was. Especially so, separating it from lust. The very thing that put her here in the first place.

It wasn't worth it.

The selfishness, the desire to break another's relationship for a few moments of satisfaction.

It wasn't worth it.

Maria gestures to take the paper back, only asking after hearing the woman's words. She writes on the other side.

["I didn't really know what was happening either."]

["I was so overcome by loneliness that I decided it was a good idea to do that. I know now, that it wasn't"]

["It is. It is something I have to figure out too. It's something I still quite don't understand. I love you. But I can't love you in that way. I understand that."]

["It just hurts me. How much I've become like my mother."]

"..."

Maria doesn't beckon a gesture, her gaze fixated on the waves, as she hands the paper back for the woman to read.

["It's all my fault."]

The night had looped over and over in her head for days now. What could she have done differently? Why did she decide to give in to something so fruitless?

She noticed that Tab was...different. Her very presence shone a more real and less familiar state. Something about her seemed off, if not different. For better or worse.

Maria hoped for the better.

She didn't have to make others happy anymore.

"..."

"O-...okay..."

Maria nods, her gaze tenderly gazing toward the side. "I...agree." she says softly, placing a hand on her chest. Maria didn't know truly what love was, or what differentiated it from lust.

They were both similar, yet ever so different feelings.

She places a hand on her chest, grabbing it tightly, as if the very breath was sucked from her soul.

"M-me too.."

"..." She nods, sharing the same sentiments with tab.

Deep down, she wondered if she still deserved it. After all she has done to hurt her.

"I...w-want...w-want...t-too.." her breath echoes, nodding gently at her words.

A gaze darts, toward Aricles who had just made their arrival...

There was a dread in her stomach. A gaze toward that man's armored fixture. She seemed...scared. A hand subtelty near her pistol, as if it were a defense mechanism.

"...I'm sorry." she says toward Aricles. It was the most she can deliver, given her selective muteness.

"Yes..."

"..."

She follows Aricles. The bravado and cockiness of the gunslinger switched for the little girl who was deep inside.

Her true self, it would seem.

A hand was near her pistol. A defense mechanism, more than anything. For when she was scared and anxious...when her heart would beat and the adrenaline was at an all time high.

She did this to herself.

And she wouldn't deny her responsibility to face the consequences.

"...Okay..."

"Aricles..."
(Maria Malibu)


[20:34] Once again, Tab reads the paper all too slowly compared to her normal surreal pace.

Part of her wanted to offer a hug. Another semblance of comfort. Say it wasn't anybody's fault.

But she didn't know how much comfort she could give until it hurt Maria, again. Especially after last night.

Fortunately - or unfortunately - Tab Blackdress is still Tab. If she did not need to make others happy, she would do it anyways because she wants to.

Whatever it took.

Tab makes one comment in sign language. Maria had been through far too much, too. It was a terrible mistake, but an understandable one. It was going to be okay.

But... she smiles. Even brighter this time, if faintly bittersweet. Maria agreed. The idea of losing a friend like this was a subtle terror to Someone, and not one she could face.

They could love each other. As friends do.

Her ears perk at a familiar voice - one that brings forth the other kind of love.

...no greeting? No hello? Aw.

Still, though, she agrees. This matter was not one she was so eager to discuss out in the open. His suggestion of venue causes at least some confusion - but Maria seemed to agree, so sure.

After a bit of indecision, she ends up taking a seat directly adjacent to Aricles. She hoped the gunslinger would understand.

Her eyes trace Maria's, towards Aricles - then to the hand near the weapon.

Tab decides to let him speak, first. But she'd interject, just in a different way. She takes her harp and strums a single note-

and with it, a powerful illusory ripple fills the room, carrying with it a myriad of sensations.

Safety.
Understanding.
Affection. To Maria, friendly; to Aricles, romantic.
Calm.

Everything was going to work out fine, in the end.
(Tab Blackdress)


[20:41] He had hoped to speak with Maria alone. Yet when he'd moved through Nilhirra earlier that day and spotted her, he hesitated. Couldn't bring himself to speak on it just yet.
Now Tab was in the mix - and having met her before him.
An overestimation, an underestimation. She was still standing tall, not wracked as the prior day.

He supposed being here for this might be good for her, even if his words would need further refinement. Better for him as well, no doubt.

'You need to sort yourself out.' turns to "You need to work on yourself."
'You could have killed her.' becomes "You did something wrong."
'You took advantage of the woman I love.' is said as "You stepped into the relationship of two others."

A gauntleted right hand drums its fingers on the table. Though he could crack it in two with a single digit, thedrumming sounds decidedly mild.

Left hand moves to rest on the ground, beside Tab. Offering it if she chooses to take hold.

An exhale.
"Emotions are something we work through all our lives.
It's something we try our best with, mess up at times, learn, and keep trying our best."
Just as he'd explained to Tab.
"I do not hate you." She didn't get off quite as easy as 'I don't blame you.' Aricles could have a little anger. It was right.

"You need to make a plan, and follow it." Just as he always did.
"If this kind of thing is happening, you need to make a promise to yourself, and keep it.
You need to not let yourself get that far involved until you know you have it figured out. Be slow, and thoughtful, and be well-decided at length in advance before you take any such steps with a person.

That is my advice, to avoid things like this from happening again."

"Making a list, and following it. Where the mind fails, calculated steps keep you moving straight."
An internal mantra, now said aloud. The way he dealt with things that would otherwise overwhelm or falter the Alline.

No outward acknowledgement of the hand on Maria's gun. It had been that way the first time they'd met, with him apologizing to Lavenza.
Inward, his mind gave his options as ever. That it was clearly to cope, that he could kill her, that it would move away once she was calmed, that there was no need to acknowledge it.

Tab's note is met with a smile beneath the helm, and his heart beating warmly. Though he could see through most illusions, he welcomed her message. He offers a whisper.
(Aricles Alline)


[20:41] Aricles Alline whispers something.
[20:55] The expressions on Maria's face were evident. Decades of trauma, reaching their climax as the poor little gunslinger delves deep into those memories.

So many people had hurt her, to the point that she hurt another.

But that wasn't who she was, was she?

"..."

It was hard to hold back the tears, the desire to defend yourself, when the entire world was closing in on you. Maria knew what she did was wrong, and that it was selfish.

She knew she was becoming just like her mother.

Chasing temporary pleasures, chasing the thrill of doing something that wasn't right, just so that she can feel something in her soul.

It wasn't right.

Levius and Lavenza would be disappointed in her, for stooping so low.

But not as much as herself.

It was painful, it hurt, the fact that she couldn't even fathom what her mind thought was 'love' was. She shivered, pondering her memories before Aricles eventually spoke.

"..."

She sees Tab's gesture. The smile brought to her face also brought a melancholy one to Maria's own. She smiles, if not briefly. If not catching a small moment of relief.

It was something she hadn't felt before. This kindness was...rare, for Maria. Maybe it would be more common if she wasn't mute, if she wasn't such a freak as she thought she was.

But she wouldn't blame herself.

...Was it truly, all going to be okay?

Maria could not lose a friend dear to her. She'd be willing too to protect them, even if it hurt her. But it wasn't something she wanted.

Maria understood, following the duo as they entered their abode.

Perhaps Maria just wanted the same thing they shared. It was hard for her to explain, but she desired that sort of love that only a duo such as Aricles and Tab had. She knew deeply however, that she wasn't ready.

That she'd break their heart, just as easily.

"..."

She sits down as she enters the abode, a sigh escaping her lips. Yet...a comforting gesture played by Tab. Her hand eventually wavers. No longer inches from her holster.

The illusory ripple calms Maria. Music to fill her soul. A familiar feeling. One so tender to the gunslinger.

She had loved music, even the slightest strum from a harp comforting her as it did all those years ago.

"..."

She calms herself. Even through a flurry of emotions and thoughts, she takes this deep breath. Aricles was far too understanding. A thought graces her mind, as he spoke. Something that she'd find so potent, that it would almost ignore his words.

...She was jealous??

"..."

Canary hues glance toward Aricles. His words do not meet deaf ears, but still the same, would she find her mind dissociating throughout.

"..."

She stared at him blankly. There was a furrow of her brow, as he spoke. As if to say:

["Say what you really want to say."]

"..."

Anything Aricles could and would say was already things Maria had told herself a million times before. She wanted here his true voice, his real thoughts on her.

"I know." Maria says. Her voice was soft and raspy, yet it carried more conviction than she had ever gathered before.

"I know."

"..."

Everything he said, was already marked in her mind. Why did his words make her angry? She felt conflicted. Both the moral and dark parts of Maria's self twisting upon each other like some sort of twisted amalgamation of horrors.

["Why do you deserve to be happy?"]

["And I can't?" her thoughts echoed. If Aricles knew telepathy, he might find them. If not?

Her conflicted expressions might be enough.

There was a darkness lingering in that little gunslinger. One she fought every day. And one that she had failed to withhold, that very same night.

["I am stronger than you..."]

["I can..."]

"..."

No, these thoughts were wrong

"...???"

Maria looks at her palm, a bellowing darkness seeping from the pores in her hand. Shadow magic, of course. Outwardly siphoned by her pain.

...Was it?

Was it just that?

"..."

Maria gazes at that gauntleted palm. Her gaze was wary, darting about like a firefly, as dissociation got the best of her psyche. She tried to listen, she really did...

["It's so easy, isn't it? To say all of this?"]

"..."

"It's so easy...?" she murmurs.

'It's so easy...'

"..."

"Okay."

Maria simply says. She nods at Aricle's advice. A soft smile, as if to extenuate she understood. That she was sorry, which more than anything, she was.

"..."

Again.

"Why..."

"Wh-...why...why..."

"...Why you?" Maria offers. Her thoughts were rapid, at this point. She couldn't control the shadow magic seeping from her palm.

Dripping onto those nice a
(Maria Malibu)


[20:58] >>>

Dripping onto that nice and cleanly floorboards.

"Why...n-not..."

"Me?" she asks. The shadows grow stronger, overwhelming her. It felt different, than shadow magic however. As if it was something innate, deep in her soul that drawn on something else.

She looks at her palm once again. She was trying to stick to her senses, to understand what the man was saying.

Yet jealousy would be at the forefront of her mind.

She didn't want to hurt him...did she?

There was something lurking in that woman's heart. Something much more familiar to her than she had ever thought before.

And it scared her.

"..."

Her eyes look horrified, to see those shadows pour from her palm, dripping onto the floorboards below.

Every single thought, every single insecurity, at the forefront of her mind.

Again.

"Why...you?"

"And not me?"
(Maria Malibu)


[21:52] No acknowledgement was given to the energy roiling within and bubbling over from Maria. Occult energy, extending beyond one's form.

He and Tab had been in more than this, in their own home on the Sapphire. An ascended Atrellyan demon, across the couch, having their emotions boil and spill with such intensity that a true storm of occult energy flooded their home.
A whirlwind of mana, blasting outwards from the Defiant against Fate, she who clawed back from death twice; Ereshikiga.
He was a rock, then, amidst the storm. Standing without acknowledgement as therapy was given.
An anchor for Tab, an anchor for Ereshikiga. An oasis of calm amidst calamitous thunder.

He would be the same here. Those emotions which turn us every which way, those influences which try to dictate us, impact against his form with the strength of a gentle breeze. Unmoving, understanding.

'[And I also see...
That your circuits of communication, your enabling of psionics, are healthier than the average magi's.
By leagues.]'

He was getting there. Aricles had been practicing aspects of psionics for... Seven years? Eight?
Shielding, then sending. Hiding his thoughts, rattling telepaths with mental booms. A cursory sense of other's thoughts, or at least their presence and state, had been there for years, too untapped to make use of consciously.
It was last year he began to practice the third aspect, listening, in earnest, with formal training.
With the aid of a Psion, in more ways than one.

A feather held out.
[Follow the sound of my voice, and put this in your eye.]

A Psion's feather, the same kind which Aricles' sternum now consisted of, was inserted, wrapped around, and melded into the flesh of his left eye.
Like water seeping into soil.

He speaks.
Not with words, but a thought.
Not booming, not gunfire to the senses, as before.
Quiet, just as he'd been practicing. Around Loramelian, around Sterling, around Tab, ever since she'd been knocked out by one of his unrefined early sendings.

"[She makes me better.
She keeps me calm.
What I want to say, and what I should, are different.]"

Eyes shut a moment, an exhale met with an inhale. He was focusing, deeply, to keep his thoughts towards Maria, to keep them quiet.
Not cascading in every direction as before.
There's a tunnel in his mind, from his head to hers. The thoughts pass through there alone, at least within his imagination. The thoughts are delivered not with the weight of bricks, but of mail. Words passed as letters from him to her.
There he is, attempting to envision something. To conjure into reality something through imagining it, a powerful tool, no doubt. The power of imagination, itself, was that of a mystic art, one that could only be fully elaborated upon and utilized by those of the finest. Dream magicians, after all, were the purest manifestations of such an art.

Unrefined yet; it leaks beyond the barrier. No longer a cacophony, no longer striking the sensitive mind of Tab beside him, but yet audible to any telepaths in, or lingering just outside the building.
What matters was that it reached Maria.

"[And so what I have said is what I have wished to say.
Calm yourself, if you do not wish to upset her.
She changes people. She makes them better.
So follow suit.]"

Another breath let out, slowly. That muscle in the back of hismind, those circuits granted in the Mythic Era and left neglected by generations, had been slowly flexed and trained. Endurance, strength, and now coordination.

"I used to be miserable. For many, many years. I had met Tab, and had no inkling of where we would end up, for years.
It was as if in a flash. My understanding changed, and the world began to be seen through a shifting gaze.

Why me? Why anyone. I never expected to find love, and I never expected to find happiness. I thought this rock we call Meranthe a madhouse, and that I could never love one from it.

And where did I end up?"

He looks down at his own right hand. That forever-maimed, imitation of flesh hidden beneath armor. How he hid it for so many years, even from Tab. Until yesterday. His imperfection having been no imperfection to her.

"There is no guide. We step, we stumble, we fall, we climb back up, we step, we stumble. Through our failings, we learn the terrain.
You can never know where you will end up. You can only step forward, give it your best, and walk into your future."

No matter where the path leads you, you wind up somewhere so much farther than where you once were.
(Aricles Alline)


[22:08] The world felt dizzy, in the purview of the Malibu. Nothing felt real, but a mild sense of dissociation, hiding her true self from the world. Her eyes were droopy, caught in nothing but a plethora of confusion and idle thoughts.

It was difficult, to hear what Aricles would say.

She knew he was right. It was most likely, that he was right, after all. Yet the feeling bellowing deep in her soul prevents her from thinking straight. It was as if she was possessed, tired of all the trauma and heartbreak.

She knew what she did was wrong. She knew it was immoral.

Yet was it her fault?

"...?"

"..."

It was true, her psionics were beyond any of that of most magi. It took her merely a few months to be able to speak to others with nothing but a mere touch. Her 'symbiote' and her ability to reach beyond that was reality. It was almost second nature for the gunslinger. That feeling of beyond reality, fervently attached to her soul.

It was almost as if she shouldn't exist.

She tilts her gaze, opening her heart to Aricles. A instinct, she couldn't help but remain curious. She felt and heard his thoughts, her own psionics activating from naught but a mere touch of his own.

A feather followed, writhing in her eye.

She follows...

"..."

Maria was droopy, hearing the sounds of the man's voice, echoing upon her psyche. Was it enough? To hold back the senses and desires in her heart? All of that pain and sorrow?

The unreality that latched to her soul?

"..A-Aricles..." she murmurs, hearing his voice echo upon her soul. Psionics link, circuits combining with one another, from mere feet away.

She can hear him...

But was it enough?

["I know you hate me."]

["I know I've hurt you."]

["I'm sorry. I can't help it..."]

["I am scared."]

Her voice echoes, the shadows in her heart beckon, rising from her chest and into every inch of her circuits.

Pain and sorrow.

What was her path?

Maria did not know.

"..."

She hears, she listens. Every inch of that man's voice. Both psionic and real.

["You hate me...don't you?"]

["She...changes people?"]

"..."

A glance toward Tab. As her mind wavers, following that man's words.

Imperfection...

Something all too familiar to the Malibu.

For what perfect person was left without a voice?

["...Well, what do you want to say?"]

What darkness beckoned him in his own heart?

It's so easy...

It's so easy, when this darkness was not apart of you.

His words are not met to deaf ears. She nods in understanding, her voice still caught in the echoes of waves upon the Lifestream.

You can only step forward, he said...

What was her path?

What was her future?

(Maria Malibu)


[22:11] Who was Maria?

The daughter of a wine seller? The daughter of a selfish, broken woman?

Yet one so kind and loving...

Or something more?

Who was her other parent? Who did her mother fornicate with? To bring to life someone just as broken and filled with trauma as herself?

Meryl Malibu never told Maria of her other mother, did she?

"..."

She never said that she shouldn't exist....

Who was she?

But the daughter of a Witch?

"Mgh-...agh-...agh..."

"AAAAAAAAAGGGGGH!"

Maria holds her palm, the shadows continue to seep, enveloping from a delicate pitch black into a fiery amalgamation of a the void and all it's sorrows.

She closes the base of her palm, holding tight to her wrist as the sorrow quite literally ran from her circuits. It was shadow magic, of course. Was it not?

What else would it be?

"AAAGGGGGGHH"

It reigns supreme over her psyche. Maria holding every inch of her palm toward the table, trying to stop it's flow into her heart.

Every inch of her, stopping herself from hurting the man in front of her.

It was so painful...

Yet it felt so good?

"...Aricles....!!!" she screams. Tears run down her eyes, painted black, as if it were mascara running down the sides of her skin.

"H-help!!"

"HELP!"

She finds her heart beat, the shadow magic, the sorrow overwhelms the poor Maria. It was innate, fueled into her circuits from the very moment she was born

Yet where did it come from? Meryl? Or someone else?

The darkness envelops her. A pure, potent magic. Unlike that of the shadows in one's heart. That fed off the pain that would bellow in one's very soul.

A storm of occult, writhing in her heart. Emotions boil, spilling from every pour in her skin.

She couldn't take it anymore.

Not without help.

"...Agh-...mgh...AAGGGH!"

She screams, her voice echoing through the very island they sat upon.

It wasn't just the shadows, that she was a natural with.

It was magics far beyond moral.

And without proper influence?

She'd lose herself to it's claim.
(Maria Malibu)


[22:27] Hatred was once familiar to him. A constant, even. Hatred for so many. Hatred for every demon, every beast, for every name on his first list - those he sought to kill.

When was the last time he even thought about it? Could he even remember the names? This was a list he kept in his mind, not on paper, and so it had been subject to change.
Agrona was on it. There were many others, but... Who?
He had forgotten. He had less reason to hate.

Demons, beasts, betrayers. He no longer hated. He sought to understand, and to move them forward. The world was too grey to settle on hate.

"I don't hate you. I hate what happened.
There is a distinction.
In people, hate drives apart.
In action, hate tells us where we can change."
"What I want to say, are words which will drive you forward. We are all without benefit when we suffer in our failures.
It is in learning, improving, that things become better.

I have been thrown into despair so many times. We all have. If I had stayed there, I would still be in despair, or taken further into the dark.

But I have not. I am happy, in utter surprise and bewilderment to my past self. Nothing I could have predicted, nothing I could have expected.
Nothing I would have reached if I did not put one foot in front of the other, when all seemed lost."

As the pain overwhelms her, as she starts to scream, a left hand rises to take off his helm. Right extends across the table, offered to Maria.

His face holds a normal expression, if not for eyebrows slightly raised and the inklings of a smile so subtly laid at the corners of his mouth.
He held the appearance of one who was having a decidedly normal day, and yet possessed something within the background of his mind. Hope, for tomorrow. Presenting through his features so subtly, and yet the sort of thing your subconscious still picks up on.
Or your psionic capabilities.
For these emotions were found just as well within his heart and within his mind.

Gauntleted hand awaited hers.
"It's quite alright."
That usual affect.
His first words to Tab, after understanding the situation he'd walked in on.

An oasis of calm, in the most trying situations.
As ever.
"One foot in front of the other."
(Aricles Alline)


[22:35] in the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity

Tab hears the static once more. She feels the wind pick up, once more.

For a while now, she sat, silently. Listening to the words heard. Conscious of the presence of words unheard. Maria was a telepath, right?

She wished she could be a part of this. But she wasn't so strong.

So she listens to what she can in contemplation. They could take as long as they needed, couldn't they? Talk things out. Everything could end with everyone happy. And she had faith in Aricles, to make the right decisions.

The true severity of the situation only hits her when the scream does.

And does it hit her.

It echoes with agony, a flame alight. Every inch of her body is on fire. She wants to scream, shriek too. She is made of dry grass.

And so she ignites, too.

But in an altogether different manner. Where Maria's flame despairs, hers hopes. Where Maria harms, hers mends. It is the antithesis of that occultic passion.

It is calm. But it is not apathetic. It comes from a place of pain, too.

The grey flame understands. Even when Tab does not. It is a canvas grey-white; it is whatever color you paint atop it.

She can't be certain what exactly had happened. They'd spoken, and then Maria hurt.

Everything was too loud, far too loud to make sense of. Words don't come to her. Like Maria - for this moment - she was silenced.

She is all the more appreciative, then, that Aricles is here to do the talking part. But Aricles is silly, sometimes. He doesn't remember his own advice, does he? Sometimes words don't work.

And so - with some awareness of doing so- Tab VWOOP shfits to the other side of the table.

She reaches out and carefully grabs ahold of one of Maria's hands, to calm her.

The grey burns against, with the dark. It hates and it loves it. It pales it with an alien sense of calm, drowning other emotions out.

In some parts, illusory. But illusions are as real as you want them to be, as you believe them to be.

Something chaotic inside Tab wants to fan the flames, to see them grow hotter until everything burns to ash.

But that doesn't happen. There's too much fire and not enough fuel.

Tab gives Maria a look of understanding. She is still silenced, but her eyes say, 'It's okay. I'm here. Take a deep breath.'

She could only hope she could be enough.
(Tab Blackdress)


[22:45] "Mgh-...tch....AGGGGH!"

'One foot in front of the other.'

'Keep your head up.'

As that gunslinger once said to Maria, oh so long ago.

No matter the pain, no matter the sorrow, no matter the aching in your heart.

'You were better than it all'

It ravaged her. Occult rising from her heart, shadowing her voice. The daughter of something beyond this reality, crying black tears as the realization of her existence slowly enters her embrace.

"..."

'You were better than it all.'

"Hah...hah..."

"Ngh...mgh..."

"N-no....NO!"

She pulls her desires. Her hatred, the very same constant once familiar to Aricles. Her sorrow and her insecurity, bellowing deep within her heart.

Maria tries her best tofight back. A failed attempt, if not for the woman right in front of her.

Hatred for so many.

Against the man that killed her brother, the Faeborne that murdered her twin.

Absolute, unadulterated 'hatred'

It would never leave.

Her desire to put a bullet in the Caewynn's skull, to feel naught but a single drop of the suffering she felt when she heard of Lavenza's death.

But she was a gunslinger.

An outlaw.

She was a hero...

'Was she not?'

"...Mhg-..agh..."

She cries. Black tears, bellowed from canary hues.

She listens to Aricles. Each and every single word.

Words that drive her forward, to fight against the aching sorrow in her heart.

She was better than it all.

She was stubborn, she was prideful.

And she did not listen to anything or anyone but herself.

"Mgh-...ugh..."

"...Hah..."

"..."

She listens. A nod escapes her brow. Learning and improving, finding the mistakes and sorrow that change you to become a better person. It wasn't about latching on to that sorrow or those mistakes, it was about...simply learning.

Doing better.

Becoming more than what you think you are.

Aricles offers his hand. Tab too, she takes it. Siphoning her darknened magics into his own heart.

Would he able to take it?

"..."

'It's quite alright.'

'One foot in front of the other.'

A voice lingers from Maria. A single tender, rural little voice, as she echoes her heart.

"I am sorry..."

An oasis of calm, Maria luckily being strong enough to forgo the shadows of her heart.

Every inch of Maria wants to scream. Every inch of her wantsto yell for help. To cry and weep, to echo for some sort of relief admist it all.

A hand graces her. One that felt so familiar and gentle.

Aricles and Tab would both grab her hand. They'd feel her very sorrow. Siphoned away into their hearts. Shadows of her heart, beckoning into her own.

All of that pain, all of the sorrow.

All of that loneliness.

Apart of their own.

Every inch of Maria's body was on fire. The darkened magics taking over her soul, echoing and beckoning her to give in to her desires. A flame alight, purple and potent, to scream and shriek to a world that did not care.

The grey flame beckons her, it understands. Every inch of that pain and sorrow, overflowing Maria's heart until...

It eventually dissipates into nothing.

"..."

She sighs, a deepened, relieved sigh. The shadows of her heart whisked away into the duo.

It was okay

A simple grasp of her palm, was more than enough to fan the flames of shadow.

But not without consequence.

"Ngh...mgh..."

She coughs, throwing up a large amount of blackened goo right on those furnished and bright floors. Maria gasps, holding tight onto Tab's and Aricle's palms.

She fights back, as if her very body was denying the occultic connection that wretched her soul.

An antithesis of passion, more than enough to calm her of her woes. Something that came from a place of pain too, something that told her.

'This wasn't you.'

Maria was not like her mothers.

An alien sense of calm, rattling against her. Maria would begin to siphon this energy out of herself, quite literally throwing up this black goo from the bottom of her heart.

It was...disgusting, as it was relieving.

"Hngh...meh..."

The grey burns against the dark. The very same sorrow, the very same understanding, telling Maria that it was all okay.

That she didn't have to give in.

Maria wanted nothing more to fan the flames, to see it all burn to ash.

But that wasn't her.

A deep breathe, followed against Tab's words.

A single, deep breathe. Enough to curb that darkness.

The flames bellow against the grey.

Maria hugs Tab. Holding her tight.

A single piece of darkness was expelled from her. But not all.

(Maria Malibu)


[22:45]
A single step toward finding her path.

And her purpose.

"I-...i'm sorry!"

"...I...i'm sorry!"

"...L-love...you...Tab..."

"..."
(Maria Malibu)


[22:49] Maria Malibu has inflicted an injury upon Maria Malibu. ("Burned Heart", "Maria's soul and heart would continue to feel a constant, echoing pain. A darkness that was apart of her, more than any other. She'd continue to puke and expel a shadowy, black goo for the coming days. As if Maria's body was denying a very part of herself. The more she expelled this goo, the weaker she'd become. The shadows of her heart needed to be expelled. Lest she give into them. Or die from their embrace.", "Temporary", "Duration: Long (12 days)")
[22:49] Maria Malibu has inflicted an injury upon Maria Malibu. ("Burned Heart", "Maria's soul and heart would continue to feel a constant, echoing pain. A darkness that was apart of her, more than any other. She'd continue to puke and expel a shadowy, black goo for the coming days. As if Maria's body was denying a very part of herself. The more she expelled this goo, the weaker she'd become. The shadows of her heart needed to be expelled. Lest she give into them. Or die from their embrace.", "Temporary", "Duration: Long (12 days)")
[23:04] >Negation.

Suppression.

Eradication.

The grey burns until it runs out of things, of emotions, to consume. Fire burns fire, eating away at the purple-black occultic shroud.

Until only one remains.

On an ordinary day, Tab Blackdress is - at her very best - a hypersensitive, fragile wreck. Every little heartbeat around her is a fresh knife wound. But that's not what she needed to be, not for Maria. So she isn't.

She is calm, because she has faith that everything is going to turn out alright. And because she refuses to let it end differently.

Her canvas bonfire feeds as much as it can, invigorated, until it has taken perhaps a bit too much. A canvas is not meant to paint, it is meant to be painted.

The flame flickers out, for now.

Black goo expels from the gunslingers form, and Tab does her best to look away. Nonjudgemental. Work it out however you have to. She still didn't entirely understand the full depths, the intricacies of what was happening, but that had literally never stopped her from wanting to help before and that sure as heck wasn't going to start now.

When it ends, and Maria embraces her, Tab doesn't waste a second to return it. It is everything a hug should be; it is sweet and comforting and healing. Ephemerally, it is things a hug shouldn't be: it is a swim in a lake, it is a shining moon, it is a picture kept in a little pocket that you look at when you feel alone, with the face of someone you know on it.

With her rural voice, Tab finds the strength to speak again, too.

"It's okay. I love you, too."

In the hug, Tab shoots Aricles a loving and appreciative glance.

'Thank you. I know this is hard for you.'

The rest of the talking can be done by him. He was doing such a good job already.
(Tab Blackdress)


[23:15] With a hand taken, Aricles lets in all that Maria can pass to him.
Pulled through prisminthium, drawn in by willing and open circuits, the occult mana was welcomed.
He was so used to it.
Aricles, the Twice-Branded. His 'Blessings of War' having pulled at him for eight years. The occultic brands of the Demon of War, Agrona, left upon him, never fully excised.
By choice.
He had chosen to keep their remnants, to train on their influences for years past and years to come.

He hadn't found Agrona for the third Blessing. The one taken willingly, with the demon cut and bent to his will.
Would he?
It was in the pursuit of control over himself. To ward against any influences in this world not of his own will.

He believed the third branding necessary. To take on more occult power, to attune to it, to shape and mould it into his own. To become the master of his own emotions.

Was that still necessary?
With nearly a decade of occult influence within him.
With Ereshikiga's faith, that mana said unwieldable by demons, suffused through his body, carrying the immense occultic power of the Defiant within and through his circuits.
With yesterday, when he walked in on his love kissing another. And where did those influences lie? Where, between the occult and what should be the natural horror, hate, despair, anger, fear, did his emotions turn?

He held them, he shaped them. He didn't hate, he didn't despair, he loved. Because that was the right thing to do.
He was patient.
He showed wisdom.
He was honest.
He had humility.
He was clever.
He was brave.
He loved.

Those were the emotions he knew were right. Those were the ones his will decided upon. In spite of how he should feel, Aricles chose.
He spoke with his partner. He shaped his mind and his heart to feel the emotions he believed right; he spoke, he supported her, they worked things through. In spite of a situation that should have broken both.

The occultic mana is not just received, but taken. It is decided that those influences belong within him, because he will shape it to what it should be.
All he can carry for Maria, is taken upon his shoulders, his circuits. In the same breath, Tab burns away at what doesn't come to him.
A hand held with Aricles', as another holds Tab.

He siphons the influence.
She burns it away.
Maria expels the remnants left behind.

A gaze towards Tab, and a strengthened smile. Was it hard for him? In a way, it was. But he was here to be a pillar. To help others move forward.
He'd learnt it from her.
(Aricles Alline)


[23:24] Maria holds tight onto Tab as if it were the last act before she'd leave this world. It was a different sort of love. No lust or desire involved. Merely the embrace of a lovely and kind friend. Darkened tears flow from her hues, dripping onto that bright dress as she hold her tight.

She was sorry.

"I am so...so sorry..."

The shadows of her heart fail to reach her. As hard as they would try.

A mere embrace, as she hugged Tab. She loved her. She realized her selfishness and her pain, all she wanted now was the embrace from a friend.

She couldn't be with her. She couldn't linger a kiss, as much as the deepest recesses of her soul had wanted.

But that was okay.

She'd find someone. Admist this chaotic and terrible world. Tab was her friend. It didn't matter, her mistakes, as long as Maria learned from them

She holds onto this woman tighter than every before. Her occultic influence dissipates, attacked by that greyish aura. Pain and sorrow bellowing in both of their hearts. Their hearts beat in unison, Maria finally finding a part of herself she had never found before.

A friend.

"Hah-...ahaha...ahah" She giggles, at how silly it was. She kept crying and kept weeping. As if she understood the pain in Tab's own heart. She nuzzles her forhead against her own. Holding that poor woman tight against her.

A single, small step on her path. But one that would make her realize who she truly was.

What love really was.

The grey burns. It burns and burns and burns until that darkness and black was no more. Negation, suppression...eradication...

Maria was more similar to Tab than she thought.

Perhaps that was why she wanted to plant a kiss. A love she didn't understand, that she couldn't fathom against lust or true love.

She'd know now.

The grey burns. All of those emotions. All of that pain and sorrow, echoing against her heart, as Maria clung to the Blackdress and her chest.

Their hearts echoing in unison.

Just like her, she refused to let her life begin or end differently.

This magic wasn't her, nor was it what she should be.

"..."

Maria simply embraces the woman. She calms her breathes, allowing herself to forget that hatred. To know that it wasn't her, but merely a product of so much pain and suffering.

Sweet, comforting, healing....

"..."

She cherished every moment.

A shining full moon.

Her rural voice, echoing upon the delicate midnight.

"Ehehehe..."

"Thank you...Tab..." she says. Maria was closer and closer to finding her voice.

Why would she let the darkness interrupt her?

"You too...Aricles."

It was so easy to speak now. It gave her hope, that one dayshe wouldn't be so scared to speak any longer.

She made a mistake, she forgot who she was.

But it didn't mean it was her.

"..."

It was hard for her, more than anything. To open up her heart. To allow herself to be vulnerable to just about anybody.

But she was sorry. And she knew better now.

The gunslinger. With her story just being written. To follow her heart, and follow what she felt was right..

That darkness was not apart of her, as much as it tried it's hardest to be.

She denies it.

Shadows enter Aricles. Prismanthium armor siphoning it directly, that occult magic. It siphons itself away from Maria, shadows of her heart catching that prismanthium palm, directly into his own heart.

Was he strong enough?

"..."

A smile from Maria. To both Tab and Aricles.

Siphoned mana is taken from Maria. That dark, shadowy magic, as she held tight to her palm. Was it right, to let him take the brunt of it all?

It was painful, to allow that mana to siphon into his own. She let's go. Allowing all of that shadow into his own heart. All of the pain, trauma, and sorrow.

To make way for her own voice instead.

Maria expels it all.

But her body hated it. It hated not having a magic that was born with her, so natural to her circuits.

It was thanks to Aricles, that she'd finally move on.

To become the person she wanted to be.

To deny all of the darkness, and fight for what she wanted.

"..."

All of that dark magic is siphoned. Still, some was left in Maria, to be siphoned from a doctor or magi in the coming future. But for now?

She felt happy.

She felt her voice coming...

To emit some words, clear tears bellowing from her features.

"Th-thank you. Both of you..." her rural voice echoes.

Aricles had taken the brunt of her pain, allowed her circuits to echo her voice.

The mute didn't feel scared anymore.

She had found allies...

Friends.

"I-it's...okay?"

"Right?"

(Maria Malibu)


[23:24]
Her voice echoes. A rural little thing. Something that only someone from Nilharra can have.

For the first time in forever.

She felt so brave.

"Tab...Aricles..."

"...Y-you...are still...friends?"

"...Right?"

"..."
(Maria Malibu)


[23:36] His gaze moves from Tab to face Maria once more.
The loving, proud gaze he gave to his fiancée shifts in the movement.

He holds a confident, almost cocky, grin, eyebrows bent slightly inwards and a crook in his smile.

"Aye, gambler. Friends pull us back from the edge. I've had to learn that a few times."
He's gotten so close in the past. To tipping over, to reaching lengths he shouldn't.
Every time, he was dragged back by a loved one.
Snapped back to reality.

"As for me and Tab? Knocked down, yet getting to our feet. Learning from it, and stepping forwards all the same.
The future's bright, and I'm happy."

That was the only way things got better.
You keep moving.
And love was a motivator more powerful than hate, or spite, or anything else.
Because love could never run out.
(Aricles Alline)


[23:44] Tab was unbothered, completely and entirely.

"It's okay. Everything's gonna be okay. I don't blame you."

She holds Maria for exactly as long as she needs, allowing her to find comfort as she's held so so tight. Maria needs this. She does her best to remain comforting.

And Tab giggles, too, even if she doesn't know why, or the context. Laughter was contagious, especially in emotional moments. "It's okay."

Is this what Faith was? To believe everything will work out fine, and then drive that belief forward, no matter what, until it becomes true?

Whatever it was, it felt good.

"Of course. I'll always be here for you. I love you."

She makes no verbal acknowledgement of Maria's growing strength in using her voice - but if the telepath was even SLIGHTLY paying attention, it would sound something like an excited, proud squeal. She truly believes in Maria.

The pain and suffering was terribly familiar. That's why Tab refused to let Maria suffer alone, not if she could help it.

"Do you remember? I said we'd be friends forever." It's her turn to giggle. "Forever means forever and ever and ever. Here-"

She pulls one of her hands back from the hug to reach towards her dress for something- and takes out an orange ribbon before returning to the embrace. With her hands behind Maria's back, she fastens the hair bow.

"I want you to have this, okay? It means a lot to me, but... I think you need it more." She clears her throat. "It's, um. Orange. Cuz orange is for wisdom. So whenever you're finding it hard to know what the right move is, and your emotions get too much... the orange is there for you, you know?"

She once more beams towards Aricles.

"The future's so many different colors. It's like a big rainbow."

A nervous pause.

"I'm sorry, too. But... I'm happy, too."
(Tab Blackdress)


[23:53] {Item} You picked up Familiar Bow - Orange. Dropped by Tab Blackdress..
[23:56] Maria does not see Tab as another figure of lust any longer. Merely a friend. To guide her and echo her sentiments upon the many events that burrowed into this land.

She knew full well now.

It was wrong, to fulfill your desires. It didn't matter how much she loved her.

For others would take her hand instead.

"Hmhm..."

"...Still...remember?" she smiles softly. A cocky grin against her own features. Of the little rebel and gambler that she was when she was a teenager.

Not much as changed, since then.

"Me too." She nods. Nodding at the man's words, knowing full well now, how important it was for friends to pull her back from the edge.

The duo had dragged her from the darkness.

They had dragged her from her heritage. Someone who was so close to the dark.

The future was bright.

And even if it became dark?

She had Lavender Moon at her side to fight against the sorrow.

Love could never run out.

Their own and her stories were just beginning.

Extenuated upon a sigh across her lips.

She exits Tab's embrace. She nods, accepting Tab's words toward her. She'd giggle at her own laughter, finding solace in her words and embrace.

"Hehe..."

"I-...th-..think...think so....too." she nods, following the same words of Tab.

"Love you too."

"I w-will...be the-..s-same..." she nods again, following the same words.

Maria will always be there to protect her. To love her, no matter what the world would give.

She was an outlaw. A gunslinger. Someone who followed her own heart.

And she wouldn't have it any other way.

It felt good, that embrace. Maria eventually exits. Finding her own self admist all off the chaos. A growing strength and conviction, something more than she had ever felt before.

"Friends forever." Maria says. A fervent nod and smile, as she gazed into that woman's eyes.

She didn't have to be alone.

Not anymore

The tension seems to subside. Maria widens her eyes, to find a surprised gesture! A orange bow clasped against her delicate locks of blonde hair.

She found Tab as a sister now. Someone she'd protect just as fervently as her own.

"Hehe. Okay!" she teases. A orange ribbon fixated in her locks. Something she wouldn't simply forget...

"Mm..."

"I know." she says. She nods in a confident manner. That orange bow didn't mean just nothing.

It meant the world to her.

When she was against powerful foes, when the world was against her, just the same as she felt before.

She wouldn't falter.

For she knew what that bow on her hair meant.

"I am..."

"H-happy...too...."

She nods, that bow fixated straight and permanent into her locks.

She wouldn't trek her path without it.

"Thank you...you two..."

"..."

"I have...to go..."

"...I feel..okay."

She smiles, for the first time in forever.

Finding her voice, and fixating that orange bow across her locks.

It fit her well.

Alongside her hat, of course.
(Maria Malibu)


[00:04] The Alline withdraws his hand, leaning against the table.
Another day where, despite all the world's struggles, something good happen. It was always there, if you looked for it. If you kept moving.

Still leaning on his elbow, two fingers - his index and middle - rise to his forehead, and offer something of a fingergun-salute. It looked very weird, coming from him. But the intent was clear - supportive, a bit playful. A nature within himself he had learnt to express from Tab.

"Another journey begins, except it's the one we've been on all our lives.
Never let your steps stop."

The salute falls back to the table, fist to elbow held horizontal as he kept leaning, his gaze now turned to Tab.
A smile as warm as ever.
(Aricles Alline)


[00:17] Tab can't help but pout just a little bit as Maria parts- but she understands. Seeing that orange bow in her hair instantly turns it back into a smile.

"Take care, alright? You can always come and talk to me if you need."

Content, she returns to Aricles' side. (She remembers to walk this time, thankfully.)

She beams more and more. Unmitigated positivity towards Maria, while her right hand reaches to interlock with Aricles' left.

"Forever and ever and ever and ever and ever and ever!"

Friends were there for each other no matter what. Friends helped each other out when they were in need. Friends cared, friends understood.

Someone needed to be the perfect friend. And so she would be.

She quietly squeezes Aricles' hand.

"Never let your steps stop," she repeats in agreement. And then follows it with a whisper to him. "Thank you." Her eyes lock with Aricles' own, but not before turning away to give Maria one last big wave goodbye.

"Bye-bye. I'll see you around."

Her eyes once again return to her fiancé.

This was what Faith was, she was more and more sure of it now. Everything worked out in the end. Everyone was happy. This was worth breaking a Rule for, even if it had killed her to do it.

And there were absolutely no loose ends.

Right?
(Tab Blackdress)


[00:18] Maria Malibu says, "...Y-yes...."
[00:18] Maria Malibu exclaims, "..Forever...a-and...ever!"
[00:18] Tab Blackdress says, "Forever an' ever."
[00:18] Maria Malibu smiles, smiling gently toward Tab.
(Maria Malibu)


[00:19] Tab Blackdress returns the smile as warmly as ever.
(Tab Blackdress)


[00:20] Aricles Alline offers a parting wave as his gaze locks back on Tab's eyes.
(Aricles Alline)
[00:20] Maria Malibu says, "..."
[00:20] Maria Malibu exclaims, "N-night!"
[00:20] Maria Malibu says, "..."
[00:20] Maria Malibu exclaims, "Have fun!"
[19:05]

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Pub: 20 Sep 2024 06:25 UTC
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