Ritual of Destruction

[hearnoplague]

[ So, Kallamar was going to just burn the conques Lobelia left behind in the Seagull cabana, but apparently that's a bad idea.

So instead, he just brought them all in a drawstring backpack and invited people to do as they wished with them. Happy destroying! ]

(OOC Note: The shells will release whatever sound was stored in them upon destruction. Have fun with that. )

Comments

[hearnoplague]

[ If anyone needs Kallamar himself, he will retreat into a nearby sea cave after setting everything up. He is still very rattled, but at least it's over... For now... He settles in the water and stares at the cave ceiling... ]

[idologue]

[ Lacus has managed to stop crying, and she's also managed to take a shower and wash off all the splatter of Lobelia that has landed on her during the events of the trial. Like Kallamar, she has headed to seagull, and saved a single conch.

She won't be found at the afterparty proper, but she remains on the main island. If you go wandering to the far side of the island, away from the group, you'll be able to hear singing. It's specifically the second half of the song: ]

On the day we were born, we were embraced
And now we search for those gentle hands again
The melody of prayer; one vanishes,
And all begins again; a powerless, painful continuation

One day, to that green morning,
We'll cross through all these nights
Because that is the place each one of us searches for

Now, within my own heart,
I want to keep you warm
So dear, and yet so far -
In the name of peace
Fields of Hope

[ She is not looking for company, but can be approached. ]

[idologue]

[ Before the afterparty, Kallamar will run into Lacus at the Seagull cabana. She sees him collecting the conches and for a moment, she just observes him quietly. ]

[stilllovesyou]

[Nona does approach, after she's done singing, because despite everything she loves Lacus' voice. She stands next to her silently before asking the question.]

Did you love him?

[idologue]

[ Nona...

Lacus knows that Nona went through a lot today, and that she was in the right to be hurt. If things had been different, she would have liked to be there for her.

Unfortunately, what Nona is asking about cuts right through the heart of the matter. ]

... I did.

[ If it's between loving and not loving, she loved him. The worst person she has ever loved. ]

[butcherspice]

[After Billy's cleaned off and had his fill of destroying personal property, he takes to a more isolated part of the island, and hears singing. Ah...Lacus. She'd had a lot of interesting things to say back there, but she'd mostly just seemed upset. Can't say he understands, but he can't help commenting.]

...pretty song.

[hearnoplague]

[ Hope you don't mind him collecting all the conques into a drawstring backpack from the gift shop. He was muttering miserably under his breath before he noticed Lacus staring at him. ]

... Yes?

[idologue]

[ Ah, Billy... Lacus feels a little awkward standing before him now. Not because of what he did or said, which was crude but all justified, but because... There is something misplaced about her grief that she'd like to keep from disturbing the others further. ]

Thank you.

[ And still, she can't help asking: ] Are you satisfied?

[plunges]

[ Xiao is absolutely wandering on the far side of the island, later in the day, anduckily, he manages to catch the tail end of her song. Like Haruka, Lacus has a soothing voice, one that's easy to listen to. However, there's something about it that feels...sorrowful. Perhaps it's because he saw her sobbing in the middle of that gruesome mess of a trial.

It's that reaction – her ability to care for someone as vile as Lobelia – that compels Xiao to approach. ]

...I hope I am not interrupting.

[butcherspice]

[Thanks, Kallamar. Billy definitely isn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth if it's the chance to destroy Lobelia's property. Especially given certain people wouldn't let him do the same to the man himself.

Billy tosses one in the air as if it's a baseball, and then swings his crowbar into it, shattering the shell into a million pieces and leaving Haruka's singing voice lingering on the air.

He's gonna grab a few more for smashing purposes, actually. If nobody else comes he's completely willing to take it on himself to break every last one of these.]

[idologue]

You're going to destroy them, aren't you?

[ She's just standing here, making no move to stop him, but there is something in her tone that sounds solemn. ]

[idologue]

[ Lacus would really rather be alone right now. None of what she is feeling and thinking will do any good to share with the rest of the group. She respects their feelings, understands their legitimacy, and still... Her own heart needs a chance to breathe, for just tonight.

Still, she just shakes her head. ]

You're not. I'm just wandering - I don't think I will be able to rest tonight.

[plunges]

I understand.

[ He won't, either, for very different reasons. Still, since he's here, his expression is not one of judgment, pity, or anything of the sort. It's thoughtful, if anything.

He may not be good with socializing, but even he can sense that now would not be a good time to ask her what he'd like to. ]

I won't be here long. I only wanted to see how you were doing, after everything. [ And, for what it's worth: ] And...my condolences.

[hearnoplague]

... Yes. There are people who needed closure.

[ Though he does see she's miserable. ]

Why do you ask?

[idologue]

[ That is... strange to hear, from one who has been sent into a hell dimension by Lobelia just today. After a moment of internal conflict, Lacus decides that she appreciates it. Xiao seems to be saying that their feelings can coexist - she agrees. ]

... thank you. I'll be alright, in due time.

[ She doesn't know when that will be, but by tomorrow she'll have worked out how to fake it. ]

You didn't get hurt too badly, did you?

[idologue]

I'd rather know, before I return to simply find them gone.

[ She is not going to tell him not to do it - many of them should be destroyed by all rights. And still, it's good to understand what happened to them, by whose hand. ]

Watching him die was not closure on its own, then.

[ She understands that, too. It's not really a question. ]

[plunges]

[ That is exactly it. He finds Lobelia distasteful, but from what he could garner, Lacus seemed to be one of those people that he may have cared for, in a way that was significant to him. Xiao won't discount that possibility, and at the very least, he can see that she cared for Lobelia, too. He's not here to invalidate her feelings. ]

No. My injuries weren't anything I couldn't handle.

[ He got beat up pretty badly, but he'll downplay the pain, as always. He'll go ahead and casually shift the conversation. ]

Despite my own personal feelings towards Lobelia, I believe even the darkest of souls have the capacity to leave room for those they care about. [ In whatever way that is, in Lobelia's case. ] You fought hard for him. ... I only wish that things turned out differently, for you and everyone else involved.

[ Differently doesn't necessarily mean better, though. The latter would seem too overly optimistic – he knows that the chances of that would've been slim. ]

[dancing_flames]

[Shuda wasn't looking for company either, which would be why he'd wandered away from everyone else. But it seems as though company has found him, and so he just stands silently to listen to the song in the hopes that it will lighten his mood even the slightest bit.

He doesn't mean to disturb her, but when he moves to step a bit closer so that he can hear better, the crunch of the seashell that gets caught underfoot will no doubt alert her to his presence.]

[idologue]

[ Lacus does not doubt that Lobelia cared for her. Whatever else happened, whatever he might have done to her under other circumstances, the Lobelia that stood in front of her today and embraced her so kindly just this morning... that was real. ]

... did I fight for him, I wonder? I suspected him since this morning. When I woke up today, I knew that one way or another, I had lost him.

[ And maybe that is proof that they did understand one another, in their own strange way. ]

[plunges]

I can only speak from my own perspective, and that was my interpretation, from what little I'd seen of today's trial. You did what you could.

[ He also suspected Lobelia since hearing Haruka's voice on the speakers, but he lets that go unsaid. ]

Loss is not an easy thing to stomach. Regardless, I hope that what happened today won't crush your spirits, after you've taken some time for yourself.

[divector]

[ Moravia hums quietly, a song with no rhyme or reason, as she sets up a bonfire in a fire pit much later in the day. Mimicking a memory is one way to pass the time, and she simply didn't feel like going all the way to the aviary today.

So instead she's carrying over sticks and marshmallows for roasting, before managing to set some dry wood on fire. If anyone else wants to use the fire for something else, they're free to. She's just here to eat marshmallows and look at the evening sky, ever-changing in a way she still can't get used to. ]

cw implied suicide ideation

[butcherspice]

[He genuinely considers the question in a moment of silence.]

...I don't know. [He should be. He sort of is, since Lobelia's dead. That doesn't change that Vergilius is dead, though, or...]

Just makes you sick wonderin' why, don't it? Did he take him up on that duel thinkin' he could take him? Why bother...indulging him in that?

[He'd hoped Verg wouldn't have gotten too tired to stop fighting against the rottens worlds they lived in. Or maybe he had without Billy noticing.

How many times has he been ignorant to how much fight someone would have and lost them as a result?]

[finalmix]

[ he's here once the fire is roaring away merrily and (hopefully) there aren't too many people around, just because.

sometimes you just want to sit in companionable silence with a fellow cabanamate? ]

[hearnoplague]

[ He shakes his head. ]

For me, seeing his singing shells here would only bring back... Unpleasant memories.

[ Some of them unrelated to Lobelia, not that he would admit it. ]

... Is that not the case for you?

[diabolizes]

[ Wei Wuxian makes a point to go seek Lacus out, and when he finds her singing, he’ll wait until she’s done before walking a few steps closer to her. ]

Beautiful song, Lacus.