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 Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:03 pm
In terms of how days went, this one wasn't anything special. The sky was clear and the birds sang, loud and lovely, somewhere deep within the forest behind the HQ, but that was where it ended. There was nothing else remarkable, nothing else to behold.
Nika, long and lean, was stretched out comfortably on the porch swing, with one arm slung over his eyes, shielding them from the heat of sun. He appeared to be sleeping, but, in reality, the young man was deep in thought. Nika was considering all of the things that Sei had told him, all of the things that he needed to know before going through with his intentions. He'd never thought it would be this difficult; deciding whether or not somebody was ready to take that next and final step out of the darkness and into freedom.
It had been long enough. He couldn't wait any longer. It wasn't fair to the others. They deserved this. They needed this.
A small, wooden box with intricite designs carved into the sides was tucked safely between his body and the back of the porch swing. It's precense there reminded Nika of the task at hand.
He prayed that his decision was the right one.
Ashirha, one half of the Whimsy Masques, should be arriving any moment.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 1:52 am
And the Whimsy girl came along after a time that wasn't all too long, hair tied back and wearing work clothes and looking rather anything other than her title. She'd prefer to be coming up with entertainments with Fauve or just hanging out with friends, but life such as it was with them having to basically set the foundations for rebuilding a world and keeping their small part in order kept them all busy. She also had a lot of what looked like flour powdered across her clothing.
"Hey Nika! ...Is it bad news then? You look like you just found out the moon was going to crash down on top of us." She waved a dismissive hand at her clothing. "And if you're wondering... well, I am too. I have no idea how he did it, but Tavil's not allowed to cook anymore. He managed to explode a big bag of flower in the kitchen, it got EVERYWHERE. Got it cleaned up now, though."
Her Hatchi "cousin" had more sense than "Uncle" Verran, but it seemed that Verran had strong points where Tavil was weak as well as the other way around. Haisyn mentioned that Verran actually could cook, and rather well, but he utterly lacked the motivation to do so even for his own benefit most of the time.
She stepped up on the porch and leaned over the swing to look down at her friend. "Seriously, what's up? You know I hate seeing any of you walking around with expressions like that. Don't make me start doing tricks with the silverware!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:06 am
A smile lit up half of his handsome face at the sound of her voice. The other half was still hidden by the arm that covered his eyes like a shield. He shifted on the bench and popped one eye open to look at her. Nika burst out laughing at the sight of her covered in flour and, was equally pleased when he didn't have to ask for an explanation. She just came right out with one.
"I'm glad you've got that mess cleaned up," he smiled kindly at Ashi and sat up, discreetly pushing the wooden box behind his back as he did so. They would get to that soon enough. Now, there was enough room for her to sit beside him.
The Whimsy girl had always had a way of making him feel better, no matter what kind of worries or woes weighed upon his mind. Nika chuckled and shook his head.
"I didn't mean to look so serious," The maskless boy flashed a toothy grin up at her, and patted the open space beside him, gesturing for her to sit down, "I'm sorry."
This was a very serious matter. He didn't want to do anything wrong. He didn't want to have to deal with the consequences, though he wasn't sure that there were any.
"I'll have to take you up on that offer some other time," he said softly, eyes crinkled upwards into a smile, "I'd love to see what you can do with a fork. Just, promise me you won't be offended if I stand back."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:17 am
"If it's forks? You can stand back. I might get offended if you start being paranoid about the spoons, though." If she could have stuck her tongue out at him then, she would have. She was sure the feeling of it went across though. And while she could tell there was something serious bothering him... well, making people smile and gasp and forget their worries, or at least make them seem less worrisome for a time, was part of who she was. And she was pretty sure part of who she had been. Though the thrill of juggling forks had to be enough to tempt just about anyone. Snicker.
She took the offered seat with boneless grace and obvious weariness. She had a newfound respect for scullery maids and the like. Keeping things clean was a lot harder than enjoying the fact they were clean! She wasn't so tired that she couldn't turn a now serious gaze at Nika, however. "So what exactly has you expecting the moon to fall and forks to rain from the sky?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:36 am
"Fair enough," he stifled a yawn with the back of his hand, suddenly feeling the full force of his thoughts. It would do him some good to take a nap here, later, and catch up on the sleep he hadn't been able to catch the night before. He'd been far too concerned about what he planned to do today.
It shouldn't have been this difficult, he knew. It was a simple enough thing, but he desperately didn't want to screw anything up. Nika wouldn't have been able to stand the guilt.
The light haired young man noticed how tired she looked and had a feeling he knew why. It was obvious, after all, from the look of her clothes and the way she moved. Ashi had been working.
He was startled by her suddenly serious expression and tone of voice. She was almost never serious. In fact, Nika couldn't even begin to remember the last time he'd seen her with such a sober look on her face.
"It's nothing as bad as all of that," he shook his head and offered her a half-hearted smile, feeling responsible for her change of mood. Time didn't want his concerns to bother anybody else. The wooden box, tucked neatly behind his back, burned through the cotton of his t-shirt and reminded him why he'd asked her to join him there that day.
As if he could have forgotten.
"I've been thinking a lot about the past," Nika said honestly, looking her in the eye, "I wanted to ask you what you remembered about it, wanted to see if there was anything else you needed to know?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 2:54 am
"I don't have many specific memories. I do remember Fauve and I growing up with Io and Zahar. And you were kinda like a second father to us when kingly things didn't keep you busy, which I guess is why you brought us in to keep them company in the first place. Growing up with the Court and wanting to learn dancing and singing and the juggling and all... I guess I always liked being a spectacle then and now. And 'cause I liked to make you all smile. Seems like we needed more of those then and now, too." She thought briefly, though her expression had softened with her musings. "I vaguely remember the thing with the announcement at the end and that it was about Zahar and Kasai, and a flash of light."
She drew her feet up on the bench with her, wrapped her arms around her legs, and rested her chin on her knees. "I'd like to remember... everything, really. It's weird... like having a bunch of holes in me. But you know what? I'm not going to let it get in the way of what we have now. Maybe we can resurrect our people, but we can't just make things back the way they were." She glanced off toward the ruins of what had once been a grand palace. "I want to know who we were... so I know what we're trying to reclaim. And it might help if I run into someone that didn't like me for some reason... I also suppose that in a lot of ways we're still the same people, but I'm sure we're also different. I guess before I ramble too much more I can sum it up by saying I'd like to know, for safety and to know for sure who we were and what we're fighting for, but I'm not going to let things like petty rivalries from the past get in the way here. Those type of things... don't matter any more." She made as much of a silly face as she was able beneath the mask. "See? That's why I like being an entertainer. I don't feel nearly as stupid when I'm talking too much while doing a skit, and people don't ask you think deep thoughts when they're trying to figure out how many torches or knifes or forks of doom you've actually got in the air."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:14 am
Nika was blown away by the amount of information she'd just unloaded. He hadn't expected an answer as long and as serious as the one she'd given. Clearly, she'd done a lot of thinking about the past, more than he, or anybody else, for that matter, had given her credit for. There was a lot more to Ashi than juggling and fireworks.
He smiled at her, blue eyes trailing along the edges of her mask. It wouldn't be fair to keep her this way for much longer. She and the others were entitled to their memories. Nika already felt incredibly guilty for keeping the contents of his wooden box a secret for as long as he had. It wasn't his right to keep it from them.
His defense, no matter how weak, was that he'd been protecting them, watching them for every single sign of growth and new strength. Of which, Ashi had in bushels. It was obvious in the way she'd come to care for her new family and all of the other people in their little community.
He remembered the day he'd been freed of the curse like it was yesterday. He'd been incredibly frightened and nervous. Hell, if it hadn't been for Sei's understanding nature, Nika probably would have made a different decision. At the time, it hadn't been very difficult to choose and now, capable of using his voicebox and feeling the wind against his face, Nika felt no regrets.
He would give Ashi the same option Sei had given him. Very soon. First, she needed to know what had happened that night.
"Zahar was the flash of light," he sighed softly and ignored the feel of the wooden box against his back, "She caught Kasai out on the balcony with Io and, attempted a rather difficult bit of magic that her aunt had taught her. She was jealous. I hadn't known she'd been talking to Lyra. Zahar didn't know what she was doing. The spell she cast was the source of our curse and all of that destruction."
Nika felt the sudden need to justify his youngest daughter's actions.
"She didn't mean to do it. Not this," He gestured at the mask on Ashi's face with a dark blue hand.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 3:42 am
Just because Ash tended to try and live in the moment - and did a good job of it most of the time - by no means meant that she didn't think about things from time to time. And after finding out that some of the others had gotten their masks removed and more of their memories as well... that had been most of what she'd thought about. Well... that and Haisyn's paranoid anti-socialism.
What he said next caught her completely off-guard though, and it took several moments of blank staring before she responded. You could almost hear the gears churning while she thought that one through.
"...I never would have thought Zahar would do something like this to us on purpose. I can't... imagine her wanting to curse us." And it was the honest truth. What she could remember of Zahar, and the brief encounters with her here... she'd been shy, maybe even a little fearful when Ash got that brief look at her when she got back from whatever happened in the catacombs, but there was nothing about her that was malicious like that. Lyra... she couldn't remember Lyra specifically but the name left her uneasy. Lyra she had a feeling she could have believed that of. "It's more than just Zahar's power that's Light about her... you know?"
There were other... subtler consequences to this knowledge. She was going to have to have a talk with Kasai when he... and hopefully Fauve... came back. "It's nice to know what happened, though... and... I think I need to chat with Kasai when I see him again." There was a particular glint her eye that occured only when she was being protective of Fauve, and it definitely shown now. She knew people could change, and Kasai might be nothing like the apparent two-timer he'd been before. She'd give him the benefit of the doubt, but she had to check.
But... all in all, there was little enough point in being angry with anyone about the past. Unless that person had been utterly unworthy of trust. They had more than enough by way of problems without arguing over past mistakes that no one could do anything about now. "I don't guess you really know anything else about me that I didn't mention? And... I admit I'm wondering why exactly you decided to ask me about all this... and tell me that... now."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:34 pm
Nika fidgeted with the collar of his t-shirt while he waited for her to digest the information he'd just told her. He knew what it was like to hear the full details of that night so long ago, for the very first time. It could be difficult to comprehened. Impossible, even.
His main concern was for Zahar's reputation. He wanted to protect his daughter from as much hardship as he possibly could. Light didn't deserve that. She'd only be a jealous child, after all.
He was relieved to know that Whimsy wasn't angry at his Zahar, and he understood her sudden interest, or lack there of, in Kasai. Nika remembered the way he had felt towards Fire when he'd first found out the truth. Anger had been a very prominent emotion. To his great surprise, however, the old King had been able to forgive and forget. Kasai was not the same man he had been then. None of them were exactly like their former selves. Though, certain familiar abilities and personality traits did shine through. Like Ashi's cheerful, destructive nature and her fascination with making people laugh. A thoughtful smile decorated Nika's face. She'd always been an entertainer.
"Kasai may not remember what Fire did. I'm not going to forbid you from speaking with him, because I know how protective you are of your sister," Nika said slowly, carefully choosing his words, "but, if you do decide to go through with it, all I ask is that you go about it delicately. I think you'll find that he won't very willing to talk about the past... especially if he does remember."
In order for him to complete the task Sei had given him, Nika had to know for sure that the rest had remembered the past and moved on, to bigger and better things. His future was with Shiva. What would Ashi do next?
"I know as much about you as you already know," Nika shrugged and, finally relieved his lower back from the heat of the wooden box by pulling it out from behind him and placing it, carefully, on his lap.
"Everything I haven't already told you, or that you can't remember for yourself, will be revealed once your mask is removed. What I want to know, is what you intend to do with your future? You are going to stay here? Maybe, finally force Haisyn into that dress?" Nika chuckled and winked, playfully, at the young lady beside him.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 6:59 pm
Kasai may not remember, hm? Well... mostly she was concerned with whether his feelings for Fauve were true or not. She could perhaps avoid bringing up the past entirely. She just... had to make sure. She hadn't been able to keep the things from happening that caused Kasai to leave the planet and Fauve to follow him, and she'd known Fauve was heart-broken whether she wanted to admit it or not. If they got back together, she was going to make sure nothing like that happened again. She might not make Kasai pay for past mistakes; hell, they'd all already more than payed their dues. But she would make him pay for the here and now if he hurt Fauve again.
Ash "grinned" at Nika's little joke, though she was definitely giving his questions serious thought. "I'm going to stay here... Hais needs me, and you guys need me. You all are my family. I mean, yeah, I'll probably go galavanting off-world from time to time since I've been given the option, but I'll come back. Probably with presents. I guess Io might not have felt like she had a place here any more... but I do. I may not be a genius architect or have elemental powers, but I'm good at booby traps and I can hold my own in a fight now. And more importantly, I can keep you all from stressing out all the time and killing eachother with a well placed joke. Maybe one day I'll move off somewhere, but not yet... I've got friends and family here, or coming back here, and there's other masks to find." She glanced at him slyly and added with vehemence, "And I'm getting Haisyn in that dress if it's the last thing I do!"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:19 pm
A relieved sigh slipped between his parted lips as Ashi explained all about her future intentions, her plans and her goals. It was excellent to hear all about them, and, he was even more delighted by how many there were. She'd clearly done a lot of thinking about the subject. A lot more than he had, when the same question had been proposed to him.
Whimsy seemed to know what she wanted and how, exactly, she was going to get it. Nika found it comforting to be beside somebody so confident and determined to rebuild there world. It was people like her that would make this process, however long, easier.
All at once, Nika knew he'd made the right choice. She was ready for this.
"I know you'll make some wonderful contributions to our planet," he told her kindly, "I can see you leading some wild expeditions. You'll most likely discover a ton of things hidden here, forgotten even before our time."
That was, if there had been a time before his family, the elementals, had ruled over the planet. It was likely. Nika sighed and ran his finger across the runes on the side of the box he was holding. If there was one thing her regretted most about their curse, it was the loss and destruction of all the lives, literature and history. There was so much left to discover. He hoped that she would be there when it finally was.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:38 pm
Ash gave a short, and perhaps a bit nervous, mental laugh. "I never really thought of myself as a leader... It was always me and Fauve, and maybe I'd have an idea for one of the other entertainers but I always let them take care of it after I passed an idea along. I guess I could do it if I needed to... I suppose I disliked it after a fashion before, because of how trapped you were sometimes. I know you would have liked a bit more free time at least to spend with Io and Zahar. But things are different there this time, too, aren't they? We're all too busy for political machinations, at least..."
She shook her head after trailing off. "Lookit me, rambling. I guess that just proves I don't get to talk to any of you often enough." She peered down at the box, giving it a rather obvious examination. "Is that it, then? Whatever takes the masks off? ...I can't remember what my voice sounds like, come to think of it. Maybe I'll ramble at you some more after I get it off so I can figure it out."
She stretched her legs out, still looking at the box speculatively. "So what happens when it comes off? Something like when I passed out when I grew?"
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:54 pm
Nika smiled thoughtfull at all of the memories her words brought to the surface. She remembered him well. He was flattered that she'd taken the time to notice. There was nothing he would have liked more, in the past, then being able to spend more time with his children.
Ah. Well. The past was the past. If he, already maskless, still hadn't let it go entirely, how could he expect the rest of them to?
"I think you'd be better suited to leading than you give yourself credit for," he said calmly, "Just look at the way you've grown, already. You've started taking care of Haisyn and the rest of your family. If that's not a true leader, somebody who can take charge, I don't know what is."
When she finally asked about the box, Nika nodded his head and looked down at it. He'd been waiting, somewhat anxiously, for this moment. He hoped that everything worked the way it was supposed to.
"This box contains something very precious. Sei gave it to me just before he left," Nika explained slowly. He was nervous. Could she tell?
"When your mask comes of, you will pass out, but that is to be expected. As the curse is lifted, the barrier blocking your mind from your memories will dissapear. They'll come rushing at you all at once, very much like a stampede. It will hurt, so much that you'll be knocked unconscious."
The way he had felt when Sei removed his mask came back to him in one vivid swirl memory. He'd forgotten the pain, the horrible headache, until now.
"Would you like to be able to hear your voice again, Whimsy?" he asked her softly and his blue eyes locked onto hers. This was it. He was giving her a choice.
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:31 pm
Ash was quiet for several long moments. "What happens to the mask afterward?" Somehow it seemed important to know what was going to happen to the thing that had become so much a part of her. Even if the way it happened wasn't exactly a good circumstance. "It might sound weird but I don't want to get rid of it if I don't have to. Or have a copy of it made if I do. I mean... when it happened it was a bad thing, and the masks have given us all a lot of heartache, but... they also gave us a second chance, you know? To do the things we couldn't before, and to learn things about ourselves I doubt we would have found out otherwise. Maybe it's just my eternal optimism but I can't help thinking that what happened might not have been an entirely bad thing."
She stood up then and moved down to sit on the porch itself. "But yeah... I do want to hear my voice again. One of those weird little things I miss is singing. Though I guess I ought to learn some new songs..." She rested her back against the porch railing. "Now I don't have to worry about falling... let me get Haisyn to head over here just in case I don't come to for a while so she can take me home."
Hais? Can you come over to Main? I might need your help. Nika will explain when you get here.
You're not in trouble are you? No... you're being too serious. Did something happen?
Not yet. But something's about to. It's not bad, though. I just might need some help after.
...Alright, sweets, but I better get an explanation when I get there since you're obviously not going to give one now.
You will. Promise. Give it about 10 minutes and head over.
Sure. Give me a chance to finish my sandwich, anyway.
Ash came back from that slightly far away look that signified she'd been talking with someone who wasn't nearby. "Ok, she'll be here in 10 minutes or so. I guess I'm about as ready as I'll get."
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Posted: Mon Aug 06, 2007 10:21 pm
"They are usually destroyed," he inclined his head in her direction, understanding her attachment to the thing that shielded their faces from the world and hid their emotions, "The magic performed to remove the curse only silences the magic connecting your face to the mask. It does not get rid of the curse completely. To be on the safe side, it's better to break them."
Gee had been very upset when he'd returned without his own mask. Not because she wasn't happy for him, but because she'd wanted to hold onto it. As a keep sake and a symbol; of how much her baby had grown and survived. Nika wasn't sure if any of the other gaurdians had or would, for that matter, react the way she had. It wasn't his concern. His primary responsibility was to make sure that, when they were ready and as long as they wanted to, the curse was lifted.
"Do you want to do this before or after Haisyn gets here?" He asked her calmly as he, still holding the box, shifted down to sit on the porch in front of her.
It wouldn't be long before she'd be able to speak, out loud, again. He was happy for her.
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