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video — un: starburst.
( Hello, Eastbounders.
Once again, a dynamic and alarming duo greets you, with no better news than last time.
In fact, it doesn't seem to be an announcement at all.
The first thing the jostled communicator picks up is... a sound. Guttural, croaked, agonising. It belongs to Lady Arabella, throwing herself upon what becomes quite obviously Wrath's frame. Her mouth opens wider, and wider still, as though she might want to swallow him whole.
The sound becomes a scream, unending.
Wrath's golden gaze stares at Arabella like one might survey a mildly interesting change in the scenery — his own expression impassive as her grip tears the buttons from his shirt.
His companion, on the other hand, reacts a bit more angrily, Emilia's initial concern shifting into something more vicious. As Arabella attempts to latch on to Wrath however she can, Emilia strikes back at her, prepared for a fight. Except it never quite comes: no sooner Arabella is thrown off, she stops,
backpedaling into the communicator that turns the video black. )
NOTE: Again, the second link leads to Grudge-y things. The video is short and choppy and hectic, taking place not long after the assassination attempt on Arabella. Wrath and Emilia helped in the rescue efforts and were, uh, rewarded. For more details, feel free to read here.
Once again, a dynamic and alarming duo greets you, with no better news than last time.
In fact, it doesn't seem to be an announcement at all.
The first thing the jostled communicator picks up is... a sound. Guttural, croaked, agonising. It belongs to Lady Arabella, throwing herself upon what becomes quite obviously Wrath's frame. Her mouth opens wider, and wider still, as though she might want to swallow him whole.
The sound becomes a scream, unending.
Wrath's golden gaze stares at Arabella like one might survey a mildly interesting change in the scenery — his own expression impassive as her grip tears the buttons from his shirt.
His companion, on the other hand, reacts a bit more angrily, Emilia's initial concern shifting into something more vicious. As Arabella attempts to latch on to Wrath however she can, Emilia strikes back at her, prepared for a fight. Except it never quite comes: no sooner Arabella is thrown off, she stops,
backpedaling into the communicator that turns the video black. )
NOTE: Again, the second link leads to Grudge-y things. The video is short and choppy and hectic, taking place not long after the assassination attempt on Arabella. Wrath and Emilia helped in the rescue efforts and were, uh, rewarded. For more details, feel free to read here.
no subject
The Lady Arabella returned to her senses as soon as Emilia tossed her from me. It may be she was attempting to eat me, which would have been an impossible task as is.
We have been treated with kindness by her attendants. She appears to not remember the incident herself, but it was triggered by the reading of a handwritten card, which came with a bouquet of lilies.
no subject
( look this isn't the first time someone of the leaders either was under control of some other force, out to kill or consume them in some form, or was perhaps not fully alive.
sadly, reflecting on that won't change anything now, and he's nothing if not to the point. flowers? sure. maybe there's unique sellers, or a memory of those sold earlier today, if they're not magically preserved. but a handwritten card, an activation phrase?
feels more and more like the particulars of a curse, plucked by someone's knowing hands.
and this is just day one. )
no subject
instead, she lifts the note so that he can read it for himself:
dolly, back in your dollhouse. )
Arabella claims she received this bouquet a week ago, and that lilies are alien to Minaras. ( she'd just been relaying her concerns to him about the plant life, too. might be she'll need to poke at this further. if not minaras, is it native to eidris or elsewhere? when they wilt, will they feel differently? )
no subject
I spoke it out loud merely to see if she had any thoughts about what had been written there.
( obviously, arabella did not quite have thoughts, but she had... whatever this was. he still doesn't know what to call it, what came over her. the sound and the action did not appear to be human but some other type of creature.
and then she returned to her senses as if nothing at all had happened. he plans to reach out to her again once she's had the space and time to recover. she may not know more but more could be learned by speaking to her. )
no subject
( said a touch wryly, and he smiles, even when he's thinking over this... and the headache of the day. )
These people attacked the event with fear as a weapon, and the mists as well. Something interrupted the, ah, manner of people's actions, and was immediately ignored by all who witnessed it. I don't think her lapse in manner was quite the same as that, too many of her staff seem aware, even if she doesn't.
( a tap of his finger against his chin, before he adds: )
Sounds like the suggestion is she's being played. Alas, ( he says, with a small laugh ) it seems like the wine's going to have to wait again, ah?
( WHEN FIRST WE TRY, TRY, TRY AGIAN )
no subject
( some of their powers have been dampened in this world, but this one of wrath's remains intact: he would have been able to sense if arabella was lying. the situation reminds her of vannozza in some ways. not quite the same, either, but there are enough parallels that make this that much more insidious.
with a sigh, she offers him a small and tight smile. frustration pinches it at the corners, though it's clear she isn't aiming her wrath at him. )
It seems so. If this is what we can expect on our first day ... ( truly only going to get more maddening from hereon out. )
no subject
( he pauses, rubbing his face and tiredly smiling in return. )
In different circumstances, I could try to feel if she's been emptied enough to be a vessel... not that it's necessary, depending. As it is, we'll need to hear on any logics behind her targeting from those who question those caught. Then prepare for whatever the following days generate.
Less assassination attempts, one might hope. I didn't miss that about Taravast, nor the fox weddings of Ke-Waihu.
no subject
( an activation tied to something already inside of Arabella. )
There was no magic to the note itself that we could glean, nor the lilies beyond the charm to preserve them, so the words themselves were the activation. Something tied to her that left me unaffected.
( assassination attempts, dark waters, mirrors, possessions. variations on a theme. she's not a fan, either.
with a sigh, she looks to him. )
Should I find anything else of note, I will let you know.
no subject