The Seraph of Retribution

"My my... I really have missed much then, haven't I? Thank goodness the little ones came out ok in the end. It sounds like quite the catastrophe."

*Lucida's tail curls against her side, and it prompts her to take it between her hands to wring and fiddle with as she processed her thoughts.

"...It's funny, isn't it?" She looks to the 'stars' that flickered above them.

"We've outgrown the homes that birthed us. To the point of feeling... out of place."

"Hah! It is a little funny, I suppose..." He lays his hands in his lap, idly scratching the back of one of his hands. "...You know..."

"I think...Deep down, I kind of wanted it. For my timeline to be wiped away. Like you, it...Never really felt like home anymore once I lost Poppy. But...

"I was too scared to run away, too cowardly to accept that I was miserable there, that I hated the responsibilities I forced on myself. So...

"It...It's kind of a relief. I'm actually free now to decide what I want to do, where to go..."

He lets out a sigh, awkwardly smiling. "...That's probably awful of me to say though."

*She... blinks at that.

"Gone?? As in, erased? Completely wiped??? What on earth could have caused that?"

*Hearing that an entire timeline was completely gone was... jarring. Frightening, even.

"My timeline is very much intact, last I checked. I just tore myself out of it to breathe. I suppose I understand your concern from earlier a lot clearer now."

"Yes. Well...Not completely, there were some remains, a chunk of land with my tower. Scribe is to thank for that!

"My children are okay! Thank the stars for that. And so are any visitors I had at the time. However, whats left is cast to the Void...A different layer from this one, as I understand."

"The cause is some...Self proclaimed agent of Time itself! A real, forgive my language, total ass. According to them, my existence was so against whats supposed to happen, my timeline deserved to be destroyed.

"...I can't doubt their power though...Recently, I...Have a hard time recalling large chunks of my life before I became this. And when I visited the universe my timeline originated from, I...Just feel like I don't belong anymore."

"Right..." She sniffled. "I just hate being such a mess..."

*When he finally does release her hands, she takes the time to wipe at her eyes. Calmer now. Picking up the pieces.

*She catches him gesturing to the ground behind bleary eyes, following his hands. Yes, yes, catching up. They had much of it to do.

"...Yes. It seems as though we do, my friend."

*She didn't need much coaxing to seat herself next to him.

"I know, I know, still."

He sits down as she accepts the offer to, legs outstretched with one bent up to rest an arm on. He stares up at the view here, in this space between the worlds.

"Beautiful, is it not? Other worlds, universes...Like stars in the sky. To think so few could ever see anything like this..."

Angelo lets the silence hang for a few moments, mostly thinking how to start...

"There's a...Reason I was concerned about seeing you here.

"...It's gone. My timeline. My world. Wiped away." A slight pause. "Not related to the Garden Wall, if you were wondering. Apparently it was...In motion, ever since the day I became like this.

"So I was worried the same might've happened to you."

*She said nothing, but complied with a nod.

*Lucida would take a deep breath, to the best of her ability between hiccuped sobs, and focused on his heartbeat. Inhale... Exhale...

*Inhale... Exhale... Until her hiccups had finally dried up to mere sniffles.

"I apologize..." The maiden muttered. "I am usally better than this.

It is unlike me to be so.... emotionally distressed in this way."

*And she hated to dump her emotions onto others. She felt so childish, having to drape over others with her woes. Even if Angelo was here to allow her to vent.

"...None of us are better than our own emotions, Luci. From the smallest creature, to ladies of grace like yourself, to even those who approach the realm of divinity. Not one can handle them alone, not forever.

"There's no shame or weakness in sharing the burden. To live is to suffer...But we don't need to suffer alone."

The canine slowly pulls away from the hug, trying to offer a smile, his hands gently grasping onto hers.

"...Remember that. It's a lesson I took much too long to learn, hahah...!"

A pause, before he motions at what they're calling the ground. "Shall we sit? We...Have a few things to catch up on."

"Everything would have been fine... Everything would have returned to normal...

We would have been able to live happily ever after again. Without fear of those wretched SEEDs invading the timeline. Without fear of that nightmarish entity from The Abyss...

Yet in that damned timeline's final moments, it still chose to take one final thing from me...!

Why him?! Why did it have to be him?!"

*It hurt to speak. It hurt to scream. But she had been holding onto this for so long. She was never a woman to spit curses, but this pain had been eating at her for far too long.

"My dearest Ploobie... My dearest, deast friend..."

"I...Know how much it hurts. It's...Indescribable. And it...Hurts far more than it would to cry until you feel like you might die, screech until there's no air left to breathe.

"So please...Let it all out, Luci. Don't hold back a single thing, until there are no more tears, no more words."

Angelo's hand rubs her back, letting her know the he's here for her, for as long as it takes. He can share his own pain later. For now, this moment is hers.

He'll await until she's begins to quiet, speaking softly.

"...If you're ready. Listen to my heartbeat, follow my breath." His heartbeat is a calm rhythm. His breathing is steady, consistent.

"Slow...Steady...Inhale...Exhale..."

*The hug came as a surprise to her, causing the maiden to go stock still.

*Dammit all... to think she put so much effort into holding it together. It was like being wrapped in a fuzzy, weighted blanket meant to squeeze out all of her sorrows.

*Tears poured freely from her eyesockets as she sobbed openly into the Seraph's fur. She wasn't sure when the sorrowful rivers would ever stop. For so long, she had been holding onto this pain. No-one to vent to. Not anyone that would understand, for that matter.

*There was Judge, but he was handling matters off in other worlds. And she didn't have any desire to dump her emotions onto him.

"It's not fair, is it?" Lucida sqeaked. It stung to even speak, despite not having a throat.

"Having everything stripped away because of a godforsaken timeline so fundamentally *flawed* it-"

*A sharp breath.

"And yet the one who crafted it gets to walk away..."

He has experience giving comforting embraces. His children, as they grew, would have occasional nightmares or would learn things of the world they weren't ready to know or would simply be upset about small things that a child would get worked up over.

Of course, he knows he isn't hugging a child of his. This was a fellow adult, who shared some of the same pains as himself. This...Is as much for himself as it is for her, he will admit.

"It's not...None of our hardships are fair or just."

He keeps his words short, to allow her to vent and express her own sorrows. And he'll hold her, just like this, until she is done.

"I can no longer remain at home."

*Her voice is quiet. It takes no special insight to hear that it is pained.

"It's no longer.. 'home.' It is small. Foreign to me.

Not even my loyal companion can console me."

*It's hard. She's trying so damned hard to keep her tears at bay. It's not Angelo's fault for not knowing her pain. It was just unfortunate that their acquaintance sourced from a place where everything went wrong.

"So... I have left it. My home. My timeline. I no longer wish to be there."

Angelo listens, listens to her pain, sees the struggle in her to not break down. He listens...

And he understands.

Not like the other times, where he tries much, much too hard to empathize with situations and feelings that he hasn't even experienced. No, he completely and utterly gets it.

Perhaps there would be a time where he would hesitate to do so, keep a distance through inaction. But right now?

He hugs her. Firm but warm, like a heavy blanket.

"...So have I...I...Also can't go back."

#ribbcn bxnes #IC:Angelo

*Ah, she'd just been looking in the wrong direction. The open space made deciphering the direction a bit odd... although maybe that was just an internal excuse for her to not look like a fool.

*Nevertheless, she turns to the Seraph, having to blink once or twice to make sure she was seeing him correctly. No no, he was familiar! He was... ah. Right. The Garden Wall.

*At the mention of such a place, the seamstress's expression visibly darkens.

"Ah. From there. Yes, I remember clearly." She responded bitterly.

"That wretched place."

Whoops, that was the wrong thing to say. Now he looks the fool for bringing it up! He looks away, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Right...Not exactly a pleasant time, for either of us. Sorry...We won't speak further on it." Keep it simple, move on. It would be an odd conversation to have anyway. He flicks his eyes back to her face.

"Back to the matter at hand! I did mention that you aren't supposed to be here." His expression shifts to concern. "Has...Something happened?"

#ribbcn bxnes #IC:Angelo

"Lucida...? You're not supposed to be here." The voice is calm, curious, but gentle. And perhaps, to her, somewhat familiar.

*She hadn't loong breached the space, now getting a good look at her surroundings. Universes everywhere, scattered all about... She was in awe just staring at it all.

*That was... until a voice spoke up from the blinding white that surrounded her. The maiden jolted, frantically looking about herself. Who else was here? Who else was capable of breaching into an empty plane such as this? Better yet... how did they know her by name?

"H-hello? Who are you??" *The maiden called out.

*How odd that she felt like she should know this voice...

"Stars above, has it been that long? Or maybe...Ah, I should perhaps not presume..." She needn't look around too much to see him, he's doing nothing to hide himself as he approaches on whatever they would mutually call ground in this place.

But he hasn't changed much, if she remembers him when she sees him. More clothing for a change, just typical casual wear. And, in this moment, a warm smile on his face.

"I don't suppose you recall the name Angelo...? Or the Garden Wall?" He asks, looking carefully for recognition, "If not, then, well, nevermind. Apologies! I didn't mean to scare you."

#ribbcn bxnes #IC:Angelo