10135/What Darkness Through Yonder Window Breaks

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What Darkness Through Yonder Window Breaks
Date of Scene: 15 February 2022
Location: Jubilee and Noriko's Apt - College House
Synopsis: Severina revisits Noriko to work out the terms of their deal, and Noriko learns that she has one missing part of the puzzle piece left to find...then, maybe, things will be okay. Well, for some people.
Cast of Characters: Noriko Ashida, Jubilation Lee




Noriko Ashida has posed:
It is the West, and Jubilation is the moon, arise fair moon...

Noriko is just sitting in the coffin, wistfully staring out at the moon from the bedroom window curled up protectively around The Book.  This place feels so empty without Jubilation.  She tries to think of love and comfort, to stoke them within herself as a way to maybe send Jubes good vibes, but it's like trying to massage yourself or make yourself cry.  The feelings feel further away the harder she tries.

"You're going to fucking pay for this..." Noriko mutters out to the darkness.  "What a fucking poser..." oh she knows...something.  She's no longer speedreading through the book.  "Where are those fucking ravens?"  Noriko /tried/ to 'send' a raven yesterday, which had about the same effect as a vampire trying to use a capacitance based touch screen.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Jubilation Lee, meanwhile, is in her Evening Chambers. The future Dutchess of Prox Manna-hata has been afforded all of the creature comforts normally appropriate to someone of her position, including a luxurious Evening Chamber. This room is one of the few with windows and is normally attended by familiars and ghouls during the daylight hours. Tonight, Jubilee is reclined against the arm of an antique sofa positioned underneath a large, bay window. She's staring out at the moon, glumly. As nice as this place may be, it's missing the one thing needed to make this place home. Noriko.

    ...

    "I do not enjoy being kept waiting, Miss Ashida. It was rumored that you were faster than the others in this prison, but I am left... underwhelmed." Severina the Necromancer is outside again, floating lazily in between the nearby tree and the apartment's window. At some point, the window glass was lifted, though no fingerprints have been left behind.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Apologies.  I couldn't figure out how to use your ravens...and I think I killed some of them trying to."  With that, she demonstrates with a little spark that runs up her metal-cased fingers.  She also tried to track some of the ravens to find Severina, but that was also a waste of time that ended with her up underneath some bridge where the raven's roost was.

The word 'prison' gets Nori's attention, a gentle lift of her eyes.

Curiously, unlike most mortals, Noriko is not startled by Severina's sudden appearance.  "So I've been waiting."  For more ravens, or for Severina herself.  Probably both.

"I'd offer you blood, but mine is reserved and I don't know how to take it yet."  That is, extract it from others.  She is suddenly out of the coffin and the book is nowhere in sight.

"I can see why you came to me," is all Noriko starts with.  "What I don't understand is what happens if he is killed by mortals."  Nori wonders if she missed something, if the book didn't cough up those details because they weren't important, or if vampires just never really expected it or didn't want to acknowledge something like a mortal usurping their power and station.

"I don't have any claim and no mortal would have any claim.  How can I ensure that Jubilation is free to do as she pleases?"  Noriko is, well, playing dumb in one way.  She /knows/ how she's going to make it sure that Jubilation can do as she pleases, but Severina has cards Noriko hasn't seen.  "She is not yet bound to him?"  She obviously means magically, not by any custom.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Noting the speedster's reaction to the word, Severina smiles with some amusement. "Is that not what it is? A prison?" she questions. It's not an important point, but one she seems inclined to press. "Each of you held in state, freedoms given and taken by those who would see themselves as the authority. Each prisoner failing to see the obvious truth that, should they shed their individual notions of self, they could become the authority. It's like every other prison that has come before it."

    The lack of blood on tap gets a dismissive wave from the vampire. "I have already sampled some of the... local flavor," she replies. "I am here solely to discuss our arrangement. Nothing more. Nothing less."

    Noriko's suggestion that the Malefactor might be killed by a mortal earns something of a laugh. It's a single syllable, just one 'ha!' Severina shakes her head, her amused smile continuing. "I can assure you, Miss Ashida, that is not a possibility you need to concern yourself with."

    Severina falls quiet for a few moments, wishing to take her time to watch Noriko. Curious. "Impressive," she decides, though her tone has faint hints of mockery. "You have studied our ways. No, she is not bound to him. But, should that happen, I can assure you, you will have far larger problems than now."

    "Do you know why he seeks her?" Severina asks. The vampire knows, but she's looking to see if Noriko does.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"It's a school.  Same thing I guess, but better than my last prison."  For a speedster, school definitely is prison, and well, it's not like Noriko hasn't had her fair share of imprisonment.  "They feed me as much as I want here.  I stayed for Jubilation."  The truth is, a structured school environment has deteriorated any spark for learning.  She's a constant underachiever for someone of her talents with as much time as she has on her hands, only doing the required work.  "I'm not interested in being anyone's babysitter here.  It's overrated," being the authority.  Noriko has seen some of the strain heaped on Jean and she knows that she hasn't even seen a fraction of it.

"I think you underestimate me," Noriko says plainly, an observation that doesn't contain even a hint of surprise.  "It's not impressive to read a book.  It will only get me so far."

"She gives him a claim."  Noriko will not reveal what appeared to her and Jubilation in the book.  Even if she suspects Severina knows, Nori keeps her cards close to her chest.  "He is a poser.  A sham.  If she is not wed to him, she can destroy him.  If he weds her, he will legitimize him."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "It is a school," Severina repeats, though expanding the contraction to something a bit longer. When you live forever, there's no reason to squash your words. "Yes. So I've seen. I know much about the nature of this 'school' for... abominations. Perversions beyond the natural order of things." As though vampires are natural!

    "Wed or unwed, the future Dutchess may destroy him as she sees fit," Severina corrects, finding the whole thing to be tedious. "But, if she becomes bound to him, there is no turning back from it. It is this fate that binds me. Time brings familiarity, which itself brings contempt."

    "She would hate you, you know, if given the time to do so," Severina warns with a faint smile. "Just as she would hate the Malefactor. Just as I would. If not for the blood." For now, Severina does not comment on Noriko's point about the Malefactor.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Or, me, similar to you, lie outside the natural order of humans."  Noriko's mind also briefly touches on the thought that there aren't many mutants that can just shut her down under any circumstance either.  She has a lot of power in that she could be, nearly untouchable, and it's not something that ever occurred to her.  "You were once human.  I never have been.  Nature made me.  Another once-human made you."  Noriko leaves the unasked question alone, implied, hanging in the air on a flash of silence.

"I will only do this if you will support her claim after you are broken from your bond."  Noriko isn't sending Jubes into a pit of vipers alone, and she certainly isn't expecting Severina to be anything but what she is.

"She will hate all things, as time cheapens everything."  A bit of wisdom a speedster (with any wisdom) would be keen on.  "And its scarcity makes things valuable...You already hate the Malefactor in your body or you wouldn't be here.  You just do not have full control over your ability to exercise it.  It's okay, I plan on dying before she starts peeing in my cheerios."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Child. I will afford you a small benefit in this, as you are clearly more sophisticated in these matters than the rest of the animals in this place. But, do not presume. While I may trace my roots back to a human vessel, we cannot say the same for all."

    "You will only... do /what/ ...if I support her claim?" Severina raises one of her eyebrows and watches the speedster closely.

    "You think she loves you. You do," she accuses, her tone suggesting that perhaps she has some way to know that beyond speculation. "She doesn't. She can't. It is not her nature."

    For the first time in this conversation, Severina seems surprised. She glides closer to the window and places her hand against the frame. "...The future Dutchess micturates?" she asks with a sudden spurt of fascination.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I'll keep that knowledge to myself," though Noriko's not sure what use it will be to her.  "Thank you."  Noriko knows that Severina doesn't have to tell her /anything/ and that it is likely only because Noriko is less boring than a wall that Severina is still talking to her.  Whatever Severina's intentions, it's still passing on knowledge that not everyone knows.

"You get to live through this, unless the freedom of Final Death is what you desire.  You are the bride of her enemy.  What do you think happens to the wives of usurped rulers?  They are deemed enemies, pariahs, re-bonded, exiled, slaughtered.  This is no threat.  You know this.  You are naturally a bigger threat than you are useful, but if you support her claim..."  Noriko is stating these things as facts.  She doesn't lace her tones with threats and is careful to keep herself even keeled, a feat for the speedster.  Severina is annoying, but at least she's more interesting to talk to than most everyone else Nori has to talk to on a given day.

"I do not think.  I know.  It is in her bones, and those haven't changed, regardless of her nature," Noriko says with the kind of confidence that a person rarely finds in their lifetime, let alone a nineteen year old, but it's that youth that emboldens it.

"In any case, I guess we'll find out right?" Noriko smirks wryly.  "What does micturate mean?"  She pronounces it with particular diction, like someone first pronouncing something in another language with textbook pronunciation and accent...a slowed general english accent as her tongue works the syllables over the first time.  "English is not my mother tongue."

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Micturate. In your... 'Cheerios'..." She pronounces the cereal like doing so is making her sick to her stomach. As though the thought of it is the most vile thing.

    Severina belts out another single syllable laugh -- ha!. "You are an amusing one," she decides. "You are suggesting that some harm would come to me? The future Duchess is but a field mouse." She floats backward, approaching the tree branch that hangs lazily near the window so she can take a seat. "I can assure you, I am quite safe."

    "Oh, how fun it must be to be you," Severina jabs. "...So young, so naive. She cannot love you. Just, cannot. Will not. And there will come a night when she can feign it no longer."

    "What I want... in exchange for my support..." Severina folds both of her arms across her chest and stares through the window. She takes a measured beat, just one last chance to consider this arrangement before saying the words. "...is one fewer sister."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"It is an expression.  It means to spoil someone's mood.  It's vile right?"  Noriko says with a smirk, as if this makes it an even more effective phrase.  "It's supposed to be."

"Believe that at your own peril."  It's not as if anyone here is invested in Severina's safety. "And what is to stop us from doing it without you.  It's not as if you're going to be able to help."  She just had to point it out, like scratching an itch, unable to not leverage the point.  She has much to learn.  Maybe she'd 'get along with vampires better than mutants or humans.  She's certainly got the self-important pettiness down.

"Yeah, loads of fun," Noriko yawns, covering her mouth.  It's unclear if this is commentary on the sound of Severina's voice or her own life.  "I figured with the rate of divorce, no one can really love each other, or maybe love just isn't what we think it is.  You don't understand though.  Whether or not she loves me doesn't matter.  I will still love her.  My love isn't conditional.  I don't love her because she loves me.  That is something even her nature cannot destroy."

"You mean the batshit crazy one?..."  Noriko would never ask Jubilation to kill someone, vampire, human, mutant, anything. "I've been meaning to ask you about something.  One of ours was bit by her and she did not close the wound.  It has had an effect on him.  Is she magically ill?"

"As for your sister count.  I cannot broker her delivery of this on behalf of the future Duchess, as I do not hold any just position or standing.  But," Noriko takes a deep breath.  Her own love has doomed her soul for her, and Noriko would gladly trade her own.  "I can personally make sure this happens, but I want to know why."  If Noriko is going to take a life, she's going to bear all of the responsibility and knowledge of it, the entire burden.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "Ah, you see, you believe that you are in a position of power over me," Severina points out, both eyebrows hiked, her mouth curling into a smile. "That you have knowledge that I do not possess. Tell me, child. Have you read the /entire/ book?" Her intonation rises and her smile widens. Unlike Jubilee, Severina's fangs are hidden. She knows the book is missing a page. One has been torn from the binding.

    If Noriko is hiding important information about the strength of her position, Severina is doing the same.

    "There are some among us that use the actions of our progenitors as some sort of canary that can announce our future potential. They would tell you that ours is one that comes with a flaw. They would tell you that... my sister's flaw... is that she has the Sight," Severina explains reluctantly. In other words, batshit crazy. "My sister's kiss brings with it a taste of her gifts. I'm afraid that your compatriot has a truly awful path in front of him."

    When asked why she wants Clemencia gone, Severina rolls her eyes. "Have you not been paying attention?" Severina accuses. Another measured pause. "It is because I hate her."

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"Wouldn't you like to know...what it has revealed to me," Noriko grins, enjoying the dance of her conversation with Severina.  She strongly suspects /no one/ has been able to read the entire book, or at least she can use its nature as a way to create an illusion of something.

"I see."  Noriko's mind easily connects a few concepts, but one, based on the carefully coded language that Severina is used to employing, stands out in Noriko's memory.  She has something to go off of, a clan she remembers that is 'blessed' with a double-edged 'gift.'

"Sorry, it's hard to distinguish all the distinct scents of hate that just roll off of you," Noriko says in facetious deadpan.  "Timing may be difficult.  I do not want to cause problems for Jubilation.  In light of this, do you need anything from me beyond my word?" In other words, what if Nori doesn't have the opportunity to kill Clemencia before Severina's support is needed?  How can Noriko ensure in a way that Severina knows, it will happen.  Noriko is hesitant to use the word contract or to be the one to suggest any type of ritual or collateral.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    Whatever amusement Severina might be getting from this fades the instant Noriko becomes reticent about what she may or may not have learned from the book. The game is over. "The book that you have is incomplete," she snaps. "One page must be returned to the binding should you require a /complete/ picture of things."

    "And you must have a complete picture to do what it is you seek to do."

    Severina doesn't answer Noriko's question just yet. From her point of view, the speedster can't possibly succeed, so what's the point in this bargain?

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I've read what it will show me.  I can read fast.  It's not like you have to think that hard to figure it out," Noriko says with a shrug when the game drops, mildly disappointed and now incredibly bored and wishing Jubilation was here.  She'd still play.  This vampire is lame.  Waaaah.  She gets a flat look in her eyes when Severina dangles more clues.

"I'm not going to state the obvious like some kind of dumb muppet," that she guesses she has to find the stupid page.  "Does he have it?" she hazards a guess though, call it instinctual cultural understanding.  The Malefactor is threatened by the loss of his brides and he would have the most reason to want to protect them.  Clemencia is just batshit crazy so it's not like she even gives a damn about the futures she will see.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "You believe that her claim is stronger than any other..." Severina points out. "...And you believe this due to... what you know about her." She skirts the detail, but at this point it's obvious that the speedster understands what makes Jubilation a target for the Malefactor. It's clear why he needs her.

    "But you fail to understand that this is just one piece. There are others who would seek to take what could be hers and will do so. Easily. While your paramour may have the pedigree, she does not have the power."

    "You see why the Malefactor is seated where he should not be, but you fail to see how he got there," she teases.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"No.  I know this, is just the tip of the iceberg.  That's why I'm speaking to you.  You know more than me," but Nori knows she can't trust Severina.  This isn't about trust.  "But I am speaking that way yes," she admits.  "It's not useful to project doubt about a claim...You're right.  I do not know how he got there, but I'm not an idiot.  I know how people take and wield power."  Her own father is adept at it, beyond adept.  Him and his secret power, a silken glove, an iron fist.

"I appreciate the reminder though," and she does.  It is genuine, but not warm and fuzzy.  "I had ideas of what breadcrumbs he left behind.  I thought it would be best to see who he has wronged, who has been stirring up ideas of revenge and power.  But none of this is recent and none of it can tell me anything but maybe hint at the vestiges of such things," or perhaps, it's just not detailed where she needs it.

Jubilation Lee has posed:
    "If your paramour is to be as we say, the future Dutchess, then she won't be able to do it by pedigree alone," Severina warns. "She will not be welcomed with open arms and must be able to defend her claim against those who are much more powerful. Older. Wiser." She pauses, thinking of the right word. "...Worse." She says it like it's a positive.

    "But I'm afraid your book has omitted the very details that could bring hope to your cause," she adds mournfully. It comes off as a bit condescending, as though she is enjoying it. "I do hope you find what you're looking for. It would be very... interesting."

    "I'll be sure to give her your regards." With that, the shadows move to consume Severina, leaving behind an empty tree and an open window.

Noriko Ashida has posed:
"I understand," the speedster says with a slightly slowed, but purposeful nod.  She shows no feelings either way on the idea or value of Worseness.

"Wait...when is the-" Noriko suddenly is at the window, shut, her gauntlets still resting just so as she squints out the window, scrutinous. "...wedding?  Fuck!" she slams her fists down, gauntlets sending a surge that shatters the pane.  "Fuck!"

A raven cocks its head to the side to get a good look at her from the tree limb.

"Come here you little shit..."  Tiny jagged sprouts of lightning shoot up her fingers, illuminating her face in miniature strobe.  The raven squawks and takes off.

"I bet they are damn spies," Noriko grumbles and then runs back to hop in the coffin to curl up forlornly with the book.  She pulls the lid shut and murmurs in the dark, "I'm not going to let you down."  She's left with the sleepless contemplation of what lies ahead of her...murder.