[Nexus] Riverside VIII: A New Side

[happyturtle]

House of Virtues

Vita dabs at her eyes. "I... I don't know. So many of the functions of the Vestales are public matters, to do with the administration of the city. Those I could not perform here." But she's obviously thinking of it. And a few sparks float up from her burnt hand.

[Shadowcaller]

[Moth Park]

"I asked him if I could do anything for him and he said that I could read his subconscious to grant it. But really, he didn't want any of that. He just though he did. People don't really want what they ask for, it's weird. All those powers I have at my beck and call feels pretty useless as they don't seem to have any real limit. It's too much you know? I need to be grounded as otherwise... I dunno. I'm not sure what to do." She admits.

[Exbourne Manor]

Astrana picks up what appears to be a human skull with a third eye socket in it's forehead. and places it on the table in front of Eadelain. Then she picks up one of her books and takes a seat on a chair next to the skull, looking up at Eadelain. "Nirhua accus..." She mumbles as the skulls eyes flare open.

"Perfect, so tell me everything you know about what plagues you. The skull will record everything for future references. Meanwhile I shall try to find anything about ink-related entities."

[Suncrest Manor]

Hrm, she needed to get rid of this phone and replace it with a cellphone. Stationary phones were so last century.

"She's here." Irena tells the phone lady as she turns to Nadia. "Some wqman who wants to speak with you apparently. Should I tell them to call later?" She asks while covering the phone with her hand.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Oh. Well, may I speak with her?" The woman asks.

"Nah, I'll get it." Nadia rolls off the coush and goes to take the phone from Irena.

"Hello.
...
Mom! How are you calling?
...
No, nothing's wrong. Just surprised.
...
Oh... When?
...
No no, it'll be nice to see you.
...
Alright, see you soon. Bye."

Nadia hangs up and slumps against the wall. "****."

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"What? What did she say?" Irena asks with some concern in her voice, not really using to hearing Nadia swearing.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Mom and Dad are coming for a visit in two days." Nadia replies. She looks very worried. She's been dreading this encounter for a long time now, and there's no more putting it off.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Oh, phew. Just that? I thought it was something serious." Irena replies, obviously relived. "So why are they coming?" Nadia was just overreacting. Silly Nadia.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Just to visit. I haven't seen them in a long time." Nadia twists her hair around her fingers agitatedly. "Irena, I... haven't told them about you yet." She admits the last in a mutter, looking down at her feet.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena looks at Nadia in confusion, "So? Why does it matter? If you don't want them here just tell them no." She grabs a handful chips and takes a seat in the couch once again.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I can't just tell them to not come. They're my parents." Nadia sits down as well and leans against Irena. "I needed to tell them eventually. I just don't know if they'll accept us being together." She sighs.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena still seem rather calm about it and waits until she chewed down some more snacks before she replies. "If they don't accept us, so what? I bet there are a lot of nut jobs out there who do the same. I don't care about any of them." Though she would be quite willing to defend herself if they decided to confront her with their opinions.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"I know, but this is different. I mean, they raised me for over half my life, and I love them, even if they're tough to deal with sometimes." Nadia says, trying to explain. She knows the Irena has absolutely no experience with what she's talking about.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena sigh, guessed she had to deal with this as well. It was important to nadia after all. "How different? What happens if they don't approve? Or if they do?"

[Lost_Deep]

[Moth Park]

"I asked him if I could do anything for him and he said that I could read his subconscious to grant it. But really, he didn't want any of that. He just though he did. People don't really want what they ask for, it's weird. All those powers I have at my beck and call feels pretty useless as they don't seem to have any real limit. It's too much you know? I need to be grounded as otherwise... I dunno. I'm not sure what to do." She admits.

[Exbourne Manor]

Astrana picks up what appears to be a human skull with a third eye socket in it's forehead. and places it on the table in front of Eadelain. Then she picks up one of her books and takes a seat on a chair next to the skull, looking up at Eadelain. "Nirhua accus..." She mumbles as the skulls eyes flare open.

"Perfect, so tell me everything you know about what plagues you. The skull will record everything for future references. Meanwhile I shall try to find anything about ink-related entities."

Moth Park

Copi nods. "What people want, as opposed to what they think they want. The classic paradox, and the time-old tale of a wish that comes around to bite you. That's one of the problems with wishes, as you have noticed."

"This can be explained as a matter of conscious versus subconscious and how they interact. Bear with me as I detail on things which may yet be disproved. The notion is that in the subconscious mind is who we really are, while the conscious mind is refined and controlled so that it actually works. As a result, only a few people know what they really want. Throw wishes into the mix, and the result is chaos. And the occasional learning experience."

"Kate decided that what she wanted was to accomplish things, not have things. While the Nexus seems determined to give her things whether she wants them or not, that's not going to stop her from doing her best, finding a job, and paying her rent. While I admit I have been accepting a large amount of charity recently, I endeavor to similarly earn things."

"In any case, I applaud you, admittedly not literally, on noticing the signs and realizing these things yourself. some people spend their whole life without realizing that they need to be grounded. You not only realize that you have no real purpose in life, but that you need a purpose in life or else life is going to be... empty, correct?"

Copi is smiling, and shakes her head.

"Truthfully, I would love to help you, perhaps give you a hint or a bit of wisdom to help you along, but I will be the first to say that I'm in a similar situation. I'm here, I exist, but what am I to do with myself? What can I go out and earn? I don't need to worry about survival nor do I need a home, I could very well spend my whole life counting grains of sand or something similarly useless."

Exbourne Manor

Eadelain examines the skull. Well... okay.

"I don't have any memory before I woke up in Light's Heart. Nothing attempted has been able to bring my memory back. The other noticeable problem is that ink seems to spill on me a lot. If liquid ink near me gets moved at all, it will... it's almost like ink is actively trying to spill on me."

"Beyond that, I react poorly to magic. I've been under magical effects twice now, and both times have resulted in the darkness inside of me fighting back. Both times I passed out afterward."

[Reinholdt]

[Outside Riverside]

"I'd assume they are different yeah. We don't even call them vampires and they might not even exist for all I know. These ones obviously do however so let's have a look around." The dragons says before she goes towards Riverside. They might eventually end up at the manor unless something happens on the way there.

[Westside]

But as they travel towards the manor, something does happen!

In particular they are approached by a deaf man, a blind man, and a mute man. Wordlessly, they are offered a pamphlet.

Spoiler

Show

Stresses of an abnormal life wearing you out? Feel out of place? Do magical gremlins keep you up at night?

To solve these problems and more, visit
Doctor Stroffelnburg's Psychiatric Clinic

We promise normalcy in your daily life or your money back.

In fact, this trio seems to be passing the pamphlets out to just about everyone that passes them.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena sigh, guessed she had to deal with this as well. It was important to nadia after all. "How different? What happens if they don't approve? Or if they do?"

[Suncrest Manor]

"It's different because I can't just kick them out of my life if things don't go well. If it does go well, then there's nothing to worry about. "If it doesn't... well, I'll need to talk some sense into them." Nadia doesn't sound very confident.

[McBish]

\
[Eastside Rooftops]

"'Fun' is not what this one do. But it watches other people. Other people who enjoy what Alex creates. It recognizes this as something good for city and it tries to encourage this." The bird explains.

Eastside Rooftops

Well thanks for the encouragement. I guess I will probably be able to reuse a lot of my equipment and put out some more stuff fairly soon.

Alex smiles a bit as his mind starts turning trying to come up with a new plan.

[Shadowcaller]

[Eastside Rooftops]

"If this one could suggest a location for your next show. Could it so boldly suggest the citadel which this one lives in? It's not that far from here." It points one of it's wings towards a large structure rising above most of the smaller houses in eastside.

[Moth Park]

"Yeah... I mean, I'm not sure how to live a 'normal' life yet. Or if I even want to." Hannah sigh, a park bench appearing right behind the two. No one seems to notice this though, as far as they are concerned, it have always been there.

She takes a seat. "I wanted to start a party so I spoke to a woman named Jezebel about it. Now I'm not sure though. Is that what I really want? Or is that just another wish? How can you limit yourself? Should you? Grah! I should have given all these stupid powers to that mad woman. She's insane enough to think about stuff like this." She says, waving around her arms in the air in a dramatic fashion.

[Exbourne Manor]

"Reacting poorly to 'magic' you say? What kind of 'magic'?" Astrana asks as she looks up at Eadelain.

[Westside]

The dragon looks in surprise at the men approaching her. In her current form she wasn't all that good and using pamphlets, but the greater surprise was that these men actually tried to give a dragon a pamphlet.

There were both disadvantages and advantages about being normalized.

She peers over at the pamphlet which was given to Harnel and raises an eyebrow. "Strange. Those men were rather odd. Were they your vampires?"

[Suncrest Manor]

"I could do it for you if you want. I'm not afraid to speak my mind, especially not about our relationship." Irena offers.

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

Nadia smiles and takes Irena's hand. "How about we do it together?" She suggests. It's reassuring that Irena isn't worried about this like she is.

[AmberVael]

[Radiant Ocean]

Quite some time later...

Naethalee will find that she's alone in the small living area, but that there are sounds of someone else relatively nearby. A blanket has been draped over her to keep her warm, and her clothing has been neatly stacked nearby. The level of light would seem to indicate that it is much later in the day.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

Irena returns her smile and squeezes her hand slightly. "If that makes you feel better."

[Gullara]

[Suncrest Manor]

"Thanks. Come on, let's finish the movie." Nadia lies down and tries to pull Irena down alongside her.

[Shadowcaller]

[Suncrest Manor]

"We've missed like 15 minutes already though..." Irena tells her but doesn't resist being pulled down alongside her girlfriend.

[McBish]

[Eastside Rooftops]

"If this one could suggest a location for your next show. Could it so boldly suggest the citadel which this one lives in? It's not that far from here." It points one of it's wings towards a large structure rising above most of the smaller houses in eastside.

Eastside Rooftops

Yeah you don't think anyone would mind. I wouldn't want to piss anyone off. But it is a big canvas, I could do a lot with that.

He looks over at the citadel thoughtfully standing on the edge of the rooftop.

[UncleWolf]

House Of Virtues

"Well, what else do you do? Perhaps you might ask your Goddess for guidance?" Razorfang suggests with a slight smile, knowing she's piqued Vita's interest. "I think you should be our Priestess for us. Just because we are of a different faith doesn't mean you can't practice your own or that we won't listen."

[The Bushranger]

[Radiant Ocean]

Quite some time later...

Naethalee will find that she's alone in the small living area, but that there are sounds of someone else relatively nearby. A blanket has been draped over her to keep her warm, and her clothing has been neatly stacked nearby. The level of light would seem to indicate that it is much later in the day.

Naethalee shivers as she finds herself drifting slowly back up into consiousness. Sighing softly, finding herself unwilling to get out of her comfortable bed, yet at the same time eager to, desirsous of sensation...

...and so the half-drowess compromises, quietly lifting her head and yawning as she looks around the room to see who is there.

[happyturtle]

House of Virtues

"That is very kind of you. But isn't Pet your priest?" Vita asks.

[Lost_Deep]

[Moth Park]

"Yeah... I mean, I'm not sure how to live a 'normal' life yet. Or if I even want to." Hannah sigh, a park bench appearing right behind the two. No one seems to notice this though, as far as they are concerned, it have always been there.

She takes a seat. "I wanted to start a party so I spoke to a woman named Jezebel about it. Now I'm not sure though. Is that what I really want? Or is that just another wish? How can you limit yourself? Should you? Grah! I should have given all these stupid powers to that mad woman. She's insane enough to think about stuff like this." She says, waving around her arms in the air in a dramatic fashion.

[Exbourne Manor]

"Reacting poorly to 'magic' you say? What kind of 'magic'?" Astrana asks as she looks up at Eadelain.

Moth Park

"She was a threat to everyone around her. I'm relieved that she died, even if she didn't stay that way. I've heard stories about what she's done... even if you don't want those powers, it's better than that she has them. Maybe it would be better if no one had that kind of power. I don't suppose you know any details about how your powers work? Perhaps we could end what might very well be some kind of weird cycle?"

[Exbourne Manor]

"Once was pixie magic. Apperantly I messed up the game and... the magic tried to change me. All of a sudden, I seemed to be oozing ink, and it was staining the ground, and then I began vomiting it... it didn't hurt, but it felt terrible and I passed out."

Eadelain takes a deep breath here. "The other time I came into contact with magic was the flame at light's heart..."

[Slii Arhem]

Riverside Hospital

Shayan arrives here, presumably accompanied by her associates Cin and Becky. She's once more donned a heavy turtleneck sweater and accosted a wheelchair out of an orderly, as her continued use of the disguise is necessary to keep the trust of her volunteers. It won't be long until she's arrived at the terminal illness ward, and begins greeting the patients with compassion and care. Cin will detect a small hint of floral musk in the air, beyond the natural scent of Shayan's flowers, that she's slowly releasing as she wheels from person to person. It's undetectable to normal human noses, but his werewolf olfactory senses can easily pick it up.

"I've spoken to you all about the risks involved in the procedure, and some of the process, which will require sedation and a spinal injection. I would like to know now if any of you wish to take part in today's trials now that you've had a night to think it over and speak with any family about your decision." Shayan knows this part is only a formality. There are only three people desperate enough for this process, one because his disease, while treatable, will leave him crippled and in short health for the remainder of his life otherwise, and the other two will legitimately never recover, and are far too poor to purchase the services of a disreputable healer. Out of these three, only two have no family to survive them if things go awry, and the last is willing to sign any waver necessary if it means an end to his suffering, through death or recovery.

It's amazing what an unmonitored day with these people could tell you about their personalities and struggles. She knows the last man, Ferdinand, already has the waver signed in the drawer beside his hospital cot, and that he hadn't bothered to look at the legalese beyond the first paragraph, as it made his head hurt.

Once these three are confirmed, she collects their wavers, two of which are freshly signed, and speaks up again.

"To ensure no complications arise, fatal or otherwise, I've asked Dr. Cin to watch as I perform the procedure and monitor your health through it." She may be assuming he'll participate without a fuss, but considering his own interest in her project, it isn't too far of a stretch to make.

Becky, before coming to the ward, would have been handed a labcoat that she can wear over her usual attire if she wishes to look more professional.

((Just speeding things along through the cutsceney bits. Feel free to jump in at any point through this.))

[The Bushranger]

[Riverside Hospital]

Becky will have accepted the labcoat, with some reluctance, since given her usual dress she might raise eyebrows. And she hangs around as a general 'associate helper type person'.

Although she does fidget a bit. She'd forgotten how she disliked hospitals.

[Reinholdt]

[Westside]

The dragon looks in surprise at the men approaching her. In her current form she wasn't all that good and using pamphlets, but the greater surprise was that these men actually tried to give a dragon a pamphlet.

There were both disadvantages and advantages about being normalized.

She peers over at the pamphlet which was given to Harnel and raises an eyebrow. "Strange. Those men were rather odd. Were they your vampires?"

[Westside]

Harnel gives her a confused look and shakes his head with a shrug.

"Not like any vampire I've heard about. Granted, I'm not exactly an expert, but I'm pretty sure they weren't it..." Creepy weirdos, that's what they were.

*****

Said weirdos pass out pamphlets to anyone that happens to pass them in the streets.