Video | BACKDATED to early the 11th

[soul_sister]

[It's early Wednesday morning when a new video message turns up on the network. The nun seems to have none of her usual energy and the bags under her eyes are fairly pronounced. Flynn and Fluffy have likely put up with her pacing almost incessantly since dinner time last night, and even now she fidgets in her seat, fingers playing with an ornamental looking watch hanging at her neck.]

Has anyone seen Chrono? Short, grumpy, purple hair. He's usually with me.

... He might have been in some kind of fight, so I'll take anything. Or anyone to help me look.

Comments

[senseandcecilbility]

[He could tell her that her friend is a DEMON, but somehow he doesn't believe she will listen. So instead he merely shrugs and looks away to hide his embarrassment.]

I would be a terrible angel if I passed on the chance of assisting a nun.

[No, it was totally because of her cheating.]

[soul_sister]

Hmm. What kind of missions do you do, anyway?

[senseandcecilbility]

[...]

Oh, each angel has their own purpose. These days I am...retired. My sole mission is to watch over young master.

[soul_sister]

[For once, instead of just asking, she nods. Most of what she'd inquire about, she could infer from what he said or didn't say. Wrong or right as an assumption, it was good enough for now.]

I'd want to meet him sometime, then.

[senseandcecilbility]

I would be glad to introduce you, though perhaps I should warn in advance...young master does not believe in God. Or angels, for that matter.

[He thinks it's all delusions and atoms.]

[soul_sister]

..............




Did you show him the wings? That might help. [Not that, she actually knows for sure that he HAS any, but if the Apostles do, then why not?]

[senseandcecilbility]

[W-wing. Singular.]

It never occurred me to do so. Young master has never wished anything but a normal life.

[I'm also pretending to be some guy named Kevin Cecil.]

[soul_sister]

I see. So the warning isn't for my culture shock, but to spare his. You DO like him.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Well, that is embarrassing..]

It is my duty as young master's butler.

[He is also afraid young master will hate his lying face and join the forces of hell if he finds out.]

[soul_sister]

........


How did you pass as a butler? I've never met one under like... ancient years old.

[senseandcecilbility]

[He actually laughs at that. Not in a mean way. Kevin has the nicest angelic laughter.]

Even the old ones were not born that way.

[soul_sister]

Well....!! Yes. I KNEW that...

[It's a bit like telling a modern school child that teachers don't actually live at school. There's some notion that butlers just pop out of nowhere, fully formed and austere.]

[senseandcecilbility]

[The fallen nun is adorable.

And somehow, they are hiking to Yorkshire, taking advantage of whatever transportation Exsilium may offer. THAT DEMON SHOULD BE GRATEFUL.]

[soul_sister]

[She lets go of his hand, as the footing becomes less stable. Leaving the city was... every level of a culture shock for her, and for quite a ways, she walks in silence, amidst the ruins of what was once the flourishing outskirts of a city, covered in an unhealthy haze. Reminders of lives missing, lost, or simply taken, wildlife has overrun and dismantles the signs of technology... or history in the half structures and skeletal foundations.]

... It's worse than I imagined.

[senseandcecilbility]

[Kevin has gone silent as well. This land was never perfect, but it was his. Or at least it is too close to the one he knows. He had worked on it for centuries, awaking its saints and watching over its fate. This...amount of death...perhaps it is his fault somehow. Was it because he was too distracted with young master? Was it because he was flawed to start with? Has his carelessness caused ripples across the universe, enraged God in any way, so this other Britain would end like this?

He cannot apologize to the dead. Nor receive the punishment they may see fit.]

[soul_sister]

[She has no scope of reference for it, no ability to process it or even relate to it. Her mind keeps seizing on the sheer size and enormity of it all. She's left with the only thing she knows how to do... latch onto the practical. While Kevin stares out over the wreckage, she fishes a couple kerchiefs from her belt and folds them...

She reaches up to tug on his sleeve, and only hesitates a single moment at his somber expression.]

Here... cover your nose. I don't think the air's healthy.

[senseandcecilbility]

[He stares blankly at her for a few seconds, as if trying to remember who she is. Stupid mortals, always making the worst choices, over and over and over. The meaning of all this carnage keeps escaping his grasp. And a part of him just wishes to turn away and fly back to where he came from, to bang his fists against the gates of Heaven until...

He misunderstands her gesture, and unconsciously uses the handkerchief to wipe the tears he has not even noticed yet.]

T-the air?

[soul_sister]

[She doesn't answer in words... because there is more than enough reason around them to need the kerchief for it's more traditional uses, that she's no one to judge. But she ties her own under her hair, veil and coif to cover her mouth and nose.

She steels herself, taking a moment with eyes closed to find resolution out of the twisting of her gut, and starts walking again, back straight.]

You know... I didn't understand it, until now. ... Maybe I still don't.

But if fighting can [She hesitates, can a mistake like this actually be undone? Just wiped away? Even with time travel...] help this. Maybe, it's okay to be here.

[senseandcecilbility]

[He mimics her gesture, covering his mouth and nose with the handkerchief. This reminds him of the plague, and he might not even need the protection. But the nun is all by herself and doing her best to be strong, so he'd better keep her company and help as he promised.]

I-I fear all this might be a little too sudden for me. I mean...the fighting. But we should keep moving ahead and focus on finding your...[What was his name again?]...Chrono, isn't it?

[And true to his words, he holds her hand firmly and steadies his steps.]

[soul_sister]

[She squeezes his lightly, and continues on. Any other time, she would, perhaps, feel strange offering comfort on any level to an angel. But at the moment, he seems the most human right now.

His question meeting a firm nod.]

That's it...

Do you feel anything?

[senseandcecilbility]

[As a reply, he tilts his head, eyes narrowing at the devastation. Now that he is outside the city with its plethora of exotic and supernatural Transports, he can sense things more clearly. Unfortunately, that also permits him to sense the absence of life in the road beyond.

He takes a deep, soothing breath, spreading his awareness further and further.]

Sister, we are going in the wrong direction. He is not in the North.

[He turns around, eyes widening a little.]

In fact, he is not in the island at all.

[soul_sister]

... what do you mean?

[senseandcecilbility]

He is abroad or...

[In hell. Hopefully.]

[soul_sister]

... he's alive. I know he is.

[The grip on his hand is a bit punishing.]

... Lets go back, for now.

[senseandcecilbility]

[He holds her hand back, regardless of how punishing her grip is. He...tries to say something comforting.]

All things considered, he seems a bit too young to pass away.