Merric & Nero - Another Log

[Koco]

Part 1:

Nero grins hugely with excitement at Merric's words. "What do you consider an important thing to know!? What do all humans have in common as far as knowledge of things go? I want to be the same to everyone else as.. anyone else would be!!"

"Well it's a lot more complicated than that, I'm afraid - humans only have so much in common with each other that it ultimately useful and beneficial knowledge. They know how to seek out what makes them happy and to avoid what causes them pain. But people are very different from each other when you start to break them down more individually...Something important to know, however...Let me see. What do you know about ethics and morality, Nero? Ever touched on either subject?"



*Nero goes silent for a moment, looking like he's thinking over Merric's words carefully.* "...Nope."

Merric bowed his head and his shoulders shook as though he were laughing - which he was. At himself. He was so used to teaching college level students he realized he had no idea what he was doing now! He had to start smaller... "Um...sorry. Why don't we start with what you DO know. For example, what has Miss Evan taught you already? So I can, you know, get a sense of where you are now and all..."

Nero's expression becomes serious suddenly. "Miss Evan taught me sarcasm, Ace was going to teach me about relationships.. and finally, Swift has been teachinng me about the proper way to behave around other campers is.. including how to keep my abilities hidden. It is hard sometimes... but I suppose it ... might be worth it if they come to like me because of it." He grinned, apparently comfortable enough with Merric already to give away details like these that were supposed to be hush-hush.

"Abilities...?" Merric frowned a little, recalling Evan's evasive tone earlier. He was smart enough to make a few connections already - Nero wanted to know how normal humans behaved. Because he wanted humans to like him. Because, as far as his own educated guess could go, Nero wasn't human. But that had already been a bit obvious from the get go, hadn't it? "All right, Nero. I'm going to teach you what I think you really want to know - what it means to be human."

Nero nodded, clearly ecstatic about the entire thing, overtly happy that Merric was here. What could be better as far as he was concerned? Someone was going to teach him how to be normal, how to be human. This alone was enough to make the little mental demon's heart jump with joy. "Where do we begin?!"

"With human nature." Merric wanted to be glad to see the boy so happy but then again human nature was not something entirely pleasant to discuss, especially to a child. But there were things he really needed to know. "Nero, human beings are very strange, very unpredictable creatures. You told me before that you're happy enough here, right? What is it about this place that makes you happy, for example? And what sort of things, perhaps, don't you like about it?"

Nero took his words in seriously, thinking hard on the question. "...I-I'm happy here because... because..." Nero struggled to find the answer. "I don't know. I-this.. is the only place I've really known. As for what I don't like ... Some here look at me oddly, give me strange and disgusted looks. Especially when I eat, because apparently humans only like certain kinds of food. At least.. I think that's what I was told. I don't think they would like these either, really." Nero stands blank and still as several shadowy forms gather around him for a few seconds before vanishing as if they were never there in the first place.

Merric knit his brow as Nero told him this, and he turned his eyes up toward Evan as she came back. Okay, so Nero wasn't human, that was pretty much obvious. But Merric felt rather strongly now that if he was going to teach Nero anything he had to know what he was and where he'd come from. He'd only seen one other person who could summon shadow before - and by a small technicality, he was that person "I think I need to know more about you, Nero, if I'm going to be able to help you. Right Evan?" And the way he said that last part, he was alluding to the fact he knew she knew something.

Evan was shocked at being mentioned to, and the fact that he knew she knew unnerved her quite a bit... She couldn't just tell Nero's secrets when Nero was right there. "Um... Why doesn't... NERO tell you about himself? I mean surely he knows himself better than I do." she said with a nervous chuckle... She didn't like being put on the spot that much.

Nero shrugged his shoulders. "I don't mind if you know, you're my teacher. He cleared his throat before talking, his voice in a childish tone. "I'm from a dark and hot forest. The forest was always on fire, therefore it was always hot. I am used to the heat, and so when I first got here, I was cold. I still am.. a bit." Nero gestured to his overdone winter outfit, complete with the scarf, hat, and gloves. "The forest was in Jerry's mind. Jerry was my friend, and he imagined me. He used to talk to me all the time... but then one day he stopped." He paused. "I'm not sure why..."

"I suppose." He held an eye-to-eye stare with Evan for a second more before turning to Nero to hear what he might have to say. Merric probably didn't mean to be so overbearing toward Evan, but he was a college professor and it was hard NOT to address people like that sometimes. Listening to Nero's explanation, though, Merric might have then begun to understand why Evan was protecting his secret. "Nero. If you wouldn't call yourself a human, then what would you call yourself?"

Nero knew the answer to this right away. "Jerry took Spanish class in school, and at night he would teach me words. Once he told me that in Spanish, I was a Demonio Sombra. I always remember those words, although I do not know what they mean."

It was hardly unique for any Englishman not to know at least one other language, though Merric would never considered himself fluent in Spanish he was savvy enough to catch what Nero was saying now. He glanced at Evan and then at Nero. Well, if Nero was a demon, then couldn't Merric very well be the same thing? Not technically, no, he was a human however strange his current situation was. But he didn't really feel like he wanted Evan to know that. "I see...and, then, how did you get here?"

Nero pointed to Evan. "She opened a door. I saw her face first, before I saw the way out."

"And that brought you here? To the camp?"

Evan pulled out the psi-portal from her pocket. "This."

Merric looked curiously at the peculiar device Evan retrieved and raised his eyebrow. "And what is that thing?"

"This is a psi-portal... It's how things get into the mind... And out.."

Nero peered at the small device with wide eyes, apparently curious as well.

"Really!" Merric visibly jerked back from the thing as soon as she said it, and just as quickly tried to act like he wasn't suddenly disturbed for some reason. All he knew was that he wanted that thing kept away from him lest Sansifer inside of him decide to get any more ideas! "So - so Nero came from this Jerry kid's imagination and then you made it possible for him to get out into the physical world. I can't say it doesn't sound fantastical, but neither can I say I don't believe it."

"Yes, yes, I let Nero out... He wasn't always the way you see him now though. Well he's an... I believe an imaginary friend from Jerry's mind that was repressed..."

"....Aaaand?" There he goes raising that eyebrow again. Honestly you'd think he was asking Evan why she didn't have her assignment ready to be turned in to him or something.

Evan looks at Nero as if this is his place to explain himself.

"I... I saw the children here. What they looked like. So.. I made myself look like them to be normal."

"I think... I'm the only one who's seen what he really looks like..."

Nero shifted his eyes downward.

"That's enough, then." Merric nodded and held his hand up. "It makes no difference to me, after all - after all, the state he's at, he seems all too appropriate for the body of a child. It's fine." He smiled at Nero, who he had noticed seemed ashamed at any mention of a true form. "I want to show you everything I can about the world you want to learn so much about. Now that I know more about you, I think I can not only do that, but also perhaps relate to you a little more closely than before."

Nero's eyes sparkled with a deep admiration and respect for his new friend, and almost... if just for a moment, he felt his heart leap the way it used to when Jerry would speak to him. "Really? I.." Nero didn't have anymore words. He just stood there, a large sharp-toothed grin on his face.

Evan chuckles a bit at how excited Nero is, of course... When wasn't he excited?

[Koco]

PART 2: (Done in Chatzy so reads a bit differently)

Nero is hanging out in a tree, watching the other campers head off to sleep for the night.

Nero sighs. Why can't he ever get to sleep like the other kids? "Have a good sleep, world. "

Nero hops out of the tree and decides to go exploring---as usual~

Just before Nero can get very far he hears a voice behind him as Merric clears his throat. "Where are you off to?" He's standing with his hands in his pockets and a smile on his face - a genuine one, which is not something he wears very often."

Nero whips around, shocked for a split second there, but quickly grins hugely. "Merric! I was hoping I'd run into you!"

Merric grins a little wider and tilts his head slightly. "Well, I had a feeling since it's nightfall I'd find you out and about."

"Can you teach me something today? Something interesting? Something... *Makes a wavy motion with his hands* mysterriiioouuusssssss.

Merric chuckles a little and nods his head. "Sure thing. I have something I wanted to tell you anyway that might be right up those lines. Let's find a place where we can sit down." Merric gestures in the direction of a few picnic tables. After what he'd learned of Nero already he had a feeling he ought to tell the boy a little about himself as well. If anything, it might help him feel like he wasn't so strange and alone in the human world.

Nero quickly hopped up onto the picnic table and sat down, anxious to know what information Merric had in store for him.

Merric follows Nero at a lacksadaisacal walking pace, sitting across from Nero and folding his hands on the table top. Everyone else, it seemed, was asleep, which was fine, because this was something Merric only wanted Nero to know. "To start, a very quick and simple lesson - human nature, human life. Humans live, and then die. Do you know what that means, Nero?"

Nero fiddles with his fingers. "Does it mean that after a human stops growing, they start getting older? And then after that... they disappear? Jerry told me about that.... But... dying is what it's called, I think."

Merric nods and his happy expression fades into something a little more grim. "Yes, that's right. But it's not just age or growth that stops. Inside all human beings, Nero, is a network of blood, veins, nerves, organs, and functions that makes it possible for them to live. The heart," he said as he laid his hand over his chest, "pumps blood throughout the body. Here." He'd been carrying with him a messenger bag, which he reaches inside of and pulls out a book - human anatomy and physiology. He was no scientist or doctor, but he knew enough to teach Nero what he needed to know. Opening up to a diagram of human organs, Merric points to the heart in the picture. "This is the human heart. Without this, nothing else can work properly. It is one of the most important parts of a human being. Now..."

Nero stared and watched the display with extreme interest. "So all of this is inside them...and they have to have it to live."

Merric points to the brain next. "The heart sends blood, which carries oxygen, to all parts of the human body, but it is the brain that tells everything in the body what to do with it and how. It is also one of the most important parts of a human being. So how do you know if a human being is alive? Obviously, if they are walking and talking to you, that's always a good sign, right? But if not, then there are other ways of telling. When the heart pumps blood to the rest of the body it makes a noticable cadence that can be felt as a pulse either over the chest here, on the wrist here, or on the throat here." which each example, Merric pressed his own pulse points to show Nero. "Without a pulse...then it can be reasoned that any human - or living thing for that matter - is dead."

Nero 's eyes widened as he nodded. He decided to mimic Merric and tried pressing his own pulse points. "I can feel it, yes!" He said with enthusiasm. "It's odd."

Merric smiled at Nero as the boy felt his own pulse for probably the first time, then flipped the book a page over to show the nervous system next. "So between the heart and the brain, everything else finds its function. What you're seeing here is the highway in which the brain sends information to all points of the body - pain, pleasure, hot, cold, touch...That's a very brief description but you see roughly how our bodies work now, right?"

Nero nods. "It's a lot to take in, but I believe I understand!"

Merric closed the book sofly. "I'll explain it better one of these days for you, but Nero, before we get into anything else, I want you to know something about me as well, since you told me all about you." Merric reached over and took Nero's hand, and pressed the boy's fingertips to his wrist in the same spot Nero'd just felt his own pulse before. But what Nero felt this time was a big, noticable nothing. "There are people in this world, Nero, who would say things like you don't belong here because of what you are, because you are not a human being in the proper, biological sense of the word. I was human once - I looked just like those pictures I showed you on the inside. But as you can probably tell now, I have no pulse. I am not alive. I died some time ago. But the difference between me and every other human being is that I haven't left this world after that. My body is no longer composed of human parts and so, in that regard, I suppose I am no longer able to call myself a human being. And some people believe that I, too, do not belong in this world."

Nero fell silent for what would seem like a few long moments. Not human? Merric? Then how could he know so much about--oh yes, Nero thought. He said he was before. But how are you human and suddenly not? Nero's mind raced with many unanswered questions. If Merric came from somewhere else too, then what was he? Did he have another form? "I... how did it happen to you? What are you, then?"

Merric thinned his lips into a harrowed frown and pushed a hand through his hair as he thought about his answer. "It was....well...I was murdered. I got involved in something that was a lot deeper than I could see into and I made some very dangerous enemies. But my situation became unique when the moment I died I was given the chance to refuse my own grave. That was when I met someone who is...ultimately, perhaps, not all that unlike you. He called himself a 'death god,' but I believe more accurately he's something far less divine. Nevertheless, he gave me the chance to deny my own death and I took it, not realizing the cost. What I became was neither living nor dead, and Sansifer, as I came to know this strange entity, reconstructed my entire body so that I was no longer human on the inside." He decided not to tell Nero was a horrid and grotesque process that had been. "I don't know what I am. Or what I'm still doing here. I spent eleven years of my life explaining human nature to students but when it came to my own death it was that very human nature that I fell back on - I was afraid to die. I didn't want to die. And a half-life, a cursed life was apparently worth suffering just to avoid it."

"But Nero, this isn't about me telling you why I was too much of a coward to go the way all human beings go. What I wanted to show you was something a little less obvious, a little more metaphorical that I think you of all people need to hear. What is it that makes us human? Is it our hearts beating in our chests, or our brains sending every signal of function to every part of our bodies? Is it these bodies and nothing else? I don't think that's true. It is our choices, Nero, that make us human. As long as you remember that before anything else I teach you from here on, you'll be able to be human yourself. And, the idea I think is, so will I."

Nero cocked his head to the side, thinking for a moment once again before speaking. "I... I see. So you and I are the same in that sense! We're both going to be human without actually being human psychically, but still, as you say, it's possible." He took a long pause before his face twisted into a cute grin. "You've made me loads happier, Merric. I'm so glad you're my new teacher... although I have one more question..." He said with a curious look. "Where is this 'Sansifer' now?" If he is not human as well, then maybe I could meet him? And then there would be three of us! Not humans that will be humans! I like the sound of that." He said with a chuckle.

Merric rubbed his temple as though he were feeling a headache coming on. And, honestly, that was a pretty good description of Sansifer. "Sansifer is....well, he's what you might call my anchor. I was never religious in life and I don't believe in a soul, but whatever it is that makes each and everyone one of us who we are in life is something that is not touched by the death of our bodies, and disconnects from them after we die. Sansifer is the only thing that keeps my soul - for lack of a better word - here rather than having it go where ever all dead souls go. So Sansifer is here as well - inside of me, part of me, and trust me, you don't want to meet the guy." Merric's expression changed suddenly to that of irritation. "He's loud, and obnoxious, and rude, oh so rude...! Not to mention he's a pervert and a sadist, and ever since I met him he's gotten me into more trouble than I ever could have done on my own! Trust me, it's better off that we try not to get him involved in any of this." Even as he said it, Merric could already hear a slimy voice from inside his head saying something about how could he say such harsh, uncalled for things about his very dearest friend. Merric made a face but otherwise acted like there weren't voices in his head. He'd gotten used to this sort of thing after all.

"In you?" Nero poked Merric's chest. "In there!?" he said with a laughing tone. "That's strange, Merric... But in a way, sort of neat. You're like two people! Two people in one!" He said with an odd amount of enthusiasm before pausing. "But you say these things about him... so I am supposing that you're not very fond of him. That's a shame, really. I wish he was nicer to you so you two could get along better." Nero leaned back against the picnic table a bit. "So I can't ever meet him? Never ever?"

Maybe he would be nice to me. You see... some of the children here at camp... they are mean to me but they are nice to others... like... Miss Evan is nice to me but she is mean to Gervais. Maybe it would be this way with Sansifer. I figure this must be normal human behavior."

Merric pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned his elbow on the picnic table. "Honestly, he's as unpredictable as he is uncouthe. And because of this and the nature of our....accommodations....it's possible that you may very well have an encounter with him here and there. And, well, it's true, I can't stand the guy, but I can't say that I hate him, either. It's a little hard to understand. Hell, I don't understand it most of the time." Merric smirked at that and folded his arms over each other on the table, laying his chin atop his hands. "But for all this strangeness, I still consider myself human, and because I see you are so eager to learn and understand them, I consider you to be as well. It's one of the things that makes humans unique to all other creatures and forces in the world is that they are always trying to find out more about themselves. As for normal human behavior, if you figured that out on your own, then you must be learning something even without my help!"

Nero listened with interest as Merric explained his situation and Sansifer mor eso. "Well, I hope he does show up sometime. It doesn't have to be now or anything, but maybe like you said, I will have an encounter with him sometime! Nero then smiled brightly at Merric's comment of him learning something without his help. "I'm trying! I'm so glad it seems to be working so far." Nero then turned his head in all directions, seemingly checking to see if anyone was watching or out. Noticing the coast to be clear, he began to grow at a fast pace until he was about five feet taller than Merric, as shadows surrounded him of all shapes and sizes, slowly revealing a demon monster fit for the worse nightmare imaginable. For the first time, Nero felt comfortable enough to reveal himself..

Merric would have probably turned around and run from Nero at full speed if he'd seen that before the day he'd died and met Sansifer - now, obviously, Merric was more than used to his share of some rather unsightly horrors. He did stand up as Nero changed, but he never flinched like he might take flight at any moment - after all, he'd mentioned something about a true form before, and Merric said it didn't matter to him. It didn't now, but he had a feeling he shouldn't risk anyone seeing Nero like this either. He also turned his head left and right, apparently a little paranoid that someone would walk outside and see him at any moment. Merric reached and took one of Nero's overlarge, monstrous hands into his own regular human hand and gave him a tug, leading him out of the light, into the shadows being cast by the nearby woods. "Nero - Nero -" he repeated a bit breathlessly as he insisted he come away from the cabin area. "Careful - if anyone sees you like this you'll never be able to show face around here again - trust me, just trust me on this - Nero - it doesn't matter to me what you are or what you look like - but any normal human saw you it could be disasterous for you. Not just that you might frighten them - they would turn their fear into violence and then......My god, you're huge, aren't you?" Merric calmed down a bit, mostly he'd just been freaked out that someone might see Nero, but it wasn't Nero's true form itself that was disturbing him. Once they were out of the light though, and Merric calmed down a bit, he seemed to realize then what he was looking at. Somewhere in his mind, Sansifer was saying something about Nero being a much cuter kid in this form.

Nero listened, understanding. He knew for certain that what Merric said was true. Why hadn't he thought of that possibility? However small it was? He breathed outwards in a sigh and nodded his head before the shadows from before began to surround him once again. "Thank-you, Merric. You're... a real friend. I... thanks. I don't know what I was thinking, forgive me." he said, his small child form restored.

Merric knelt down and laid his hands on Nero's shoulders, meeting his eyes with his own. "It's okay, you don't have to apologize. I just...when we're dealing with humans here, and we aren't quite humans ourselves, I've learned to be careful. Because I've had bad experiences before when people saw me for what I really am...I wouldn't want that to happen to you." Merric didn't really know why, but next thing he knew, he was hugging Nero the way an overprotective parent would, but no matter how much that thought made him feel a little embarrassed, he didn't let go right away. He'd hardly known this kid for even three days or so and already he felt like he was the only one Nero really had in the world that was looking out for him. Merric let go of Nero and cleared his throat. "Heh....yeah...No, it's okay, like I said....you didn't do anything wrong of course. I'm glad you showed me. But.....no matter how much bigger you are than me, you're still a kid at heart, in my book," he added with a smile at the end.

Nero was, at first, startled by the sudden hug, but soon his heart and mind were jumping with joy at the love he felt. He'd never in his life - even with Jerry, felt such friendship and feeling come through from another to him. As Merric let go, Nero just stood there for a moment before cracking one last gleeful smile and hug-squeezing Merric himself. He didn't feel anything else needed to be said. To Nero, a hug was worth a thousand words.

[Koco]

PART 3 - THE PART WHERE YOU PRETEND NONE OF WHAT YOU READ PREVIOUSLY /EVER/ HAPPENED. 8Db RESET!!

Darkness. A deep, black darkness. Darkness that filled his vision until he wasn't even sure where he was any longer. Had he been floating for a moment? Nero couldn't recall. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself in odd and unfamiliar surroundings. Just literally a few seconds ago he had been sitting in the corner of the main cabin of Camp Whispering Rock, a childrens summer camp and the only real home he'd ever known. Away from the others, sketching and scratching in his tiny notebook as usual, he was content. Not as happy as he'd like to be, perhaps. He never did 'fit in' with the other children, as much as he'd try every moment of the day to. He didn't know half the things they knew, and so almost every time he opened his mouth he made a fool of himself. These thoughts were on his mind just before it happened.

Darkness. A deep, black darkness.

Blinking, shivering, he turned his head in every which way, mouth agape. The wind blew fiercly through the tall trees around him. Obviously this was a forest, but no forest he had ever known. "Where... w-where... am...." He trailed off and went silent...

And then he screamed.




Merric tromped through the muddy forest with rather aggitated steps, his fists balled up tightly as a tense expression crossed his face. He was heading for Murrina's cabin, or home as it might as well be called, wondering how he was going to convince Murrina not to go with him into the woods. He knew what trying to convince Murrina not to do something was a good way of getting her to do it, but then again the only other option was not telling her about it at all and he already knew where that would get them. He didn't feel like getting Murrina mad enough to hit him again. But he didn't feel like putting her in danger either. But then AGAIN, they'd already done so much together and really, he knew he would accomplish a lot more with her help. She wasn't just his fiance or his lover - she was his friend, and she was his ally. It was a part of his upbringing that made him not want to put her in harm's way, but then again he knew better than to think Murrina would back down from this just because it would "make him feel better" if she did.

But you're absolutely useless without her! Sansifer's voice blurted into his head, of course. I mean, lookit what happened in Rosencrantz. And she's not exactly made of glass, you know. I say bring her along - or is it because of some other reason you don't want her to come along?

"It's - shut up," Merric snapped, his lip curling slightly before he erased all trace of a reaction on his face. Sansifer was always the one to point these things out, and make them seem so obvious that he needn't do anything else but agree. What was the reason he wanted to go out alone after this Nyin woman and her rotlings? He rather unconsciously rubbed his arm, the one that the rotling disease had entered his body with all those many months ago. It had been over a year to Seamosan time. He wasn't sure anymore what the difference was in Fryja, and honestly, he didn't much care. It had still been long enough. Any amount of time stuck in a strange afterlife with a death god like Sansifer possessing him was long enough. But there was one little payoff that Merric felt more tempted to use than ever before - the full extent of Sansifer's power, while it was nothing he could control, was nevertheless a formidable thing. Sansifer seemed perfectly willing to go as far as possible against any enemy Merric seemed to hate enough. If he found the Nyin woman, Merric was sure of one thing - he didn't want to catch her and question her. He wanted to kill her. Well more like he wanted Sansifer to kill her. But it was still at his own hands, too, in a sense. He wanted to get as ugly as possible to do it and he definitely didn't want Murrina to see something like that.

You're really giving this whole crazed revenge thing a lot of thought, aren't you? Sansifer kept going, sounding giddy about it. And you need me to do that, and soon, in a few short months, that won't be a problem anymore, will it? So now you're thinking - 'I should use Sansifer against my enemies, because in a few short months I won't be able to.' Isn't that right Merric? It's blood you're after. Her blood for your blood. And hey, it's fine, right? Because she hurt Eri and used rotlings to hurt others, Murrina included, and now Dane even, and himself of course. And if she had anything to do with this Dyre guy, then, well, there way no disputing it right? Everyone would be better off with her dead.

But Aiia doesn't want you to kill her, does she? She wants to find out everything she can from this Nyin, isn't that right? Least that's what I thought I gleaned from talking with her. And of course everyone wants to know what exactly happened to poor lil' Eri. Myself included, I might add, Merric.

"What're you saying, you don't want to kill her?!" Merric shouted angrily all of the sudden - he was suddenly desperately angry at Sansifer. He needed Sansifer to feel like he'd really made her pay for what she did to him - killing her any other way just wasn't going to seem like enough to him anymore.

I let her go for a reason when I went to get Eri back from her, Merric. I'm not going to let you ruin this for Fryja just because you have a personal vendetta. We need that Nyin alive to learn more about Dyre. And he's the one that I'm really interested in, I'll tell you right now.

Merric's shoulders were stiff and he stopped walking abruptly, shaking his fists at his side and tucking his chin against his chest. He was just so mad...so mad that someone had done this to him and the idea that he could find that person and make them suffer ten times as worse as he had was just too tempting to resist, especially when one had Sansifer there to back him up. And the thing really was, after all, that if not for Sansifer, Merric probably wouldn't have even dwelt on the idea too long. But despite the fact he knew there were far better reasons to go after the Nyin woman and more good reasons why not to kill her now, Merric wanted to ignore all of that just so he could give her a taste of what she'd done to him. He thought of Murrina recoiling away from his touch or how numb he was to the sensations of the living world anymore, how he felt like he was a ghost most of the time, wandering somewhere he didn't belong anymore.

You know it would have happened no matter how you died right? Sansifer sounded unamused by now. That it could have been anyone or anything and the result would have been the same. You were mine the moment you died and that was true your whole life. So don't do something as foolish as redirect a lot of aggression in the wrong direction and fuck everything else up for a lot of the people you're supposed to care about in your life. Is it just me or are you getting just a tad worked up about this?

Merric shook his head. "No....you're right...," he said rather testily, even though he was agreeing. He seethed a breath in through clenched teeth and let it out slowly through his nose, staring at his shoes. "It's fine. I'll bring Murrina with me. We'll do it your way."

Sansifer, of course, seemed to have been expecting this all along. Even as everyone stood around and agreed that Merric was not a selfish man, he was actively considering making a very selfish choice to exact revenge for his "untimely" demise. He'd seen this sort of thing before, Sansifer had, 3000 years ago, when he'd done the same thing for Iozydel and ended up making a monster. Which was what Sansifer had sort of been afraid of the whole time - that it was his fault. Ioz might have been one strange case, as he hadn't seemed the type who would abuse his power before Sansifer had offered it to him. And Merric he simply hadn't thought was capable of those kinds of thoughts - even without a religion he was still true to his beliefs of moral and ethical responsibility. But even now as Merric barely managed to control the swelling urge to use the power such as what he'd tasted in Seamosa in order to exact revenge for something as ultimately silly and pointless as his own death. Or maybe it was just bounch to happen, because Iozydel and Merric were both simply men when one got down to the bottom of it, and men were capable of defying their own personal nature when given a power greater than they can imagine. It was, perhaps the strongest going reason on Sansifer's agenda that he'd made any suggestion to Ruth and Murrina about making Merric a new body with the Empire's amazing technology before Merric ended up going completely mad and wanting to go down the same crazy route that Ioz did centuries ago. Sansifer had a feeling Murrina wouldn't like the fact that Sansifer was slowly turning Merric crazy, and he'd also decided not to mention

... Sansifer had a feeling Murrina wouldn't like the fact that Sansifer was slowly turning Merric crazy, and he'd also decided not to mention it when he suggested the whole idea of going back in time and getting the blood sample to make a new body from scratch for Merric. Seemed like such a nice and obvious idea that Sansifer was sure no one would ever have to know about the whole slowly gripping madness thing. All he had to do now was find something to disract Merric with while they waited for the new body to be ready.

As if on cue, that was when the sound of a terrified boy's scream knocked Merric's angry glare into a yelp and then a rather frantic spin in a full circle on his heel - which he slipped in on the mud on and promptly landed on his ass in a sloppy puddle. Merric spat mud out as he rather spaztically got back to his feet, now dripping with brown muddy water and slosh and a few new sticks in his hair - well at least his clothes had already looked like crap. But it did suck that he was wet again.

"What was that?!" Merric gasped - as if he had to ask, he thought to himself and wished he knew what direction it had come from. "Hello? Hello!" he called out, turning around and calling again in all directions so that eventually whoever was out there would hear him. "Hey! Where are you?!"

Sansifer, meanwhile, sighed in relief. Ahhhh, it was really just what Merric needed right now to keep his sane, Sansifer was sure of it. And since Murrina sure as hell wasn't going to help him in that depertment (not that it would have really helped now, of course) he'd just have to take matters into his own hands. Nothing like a little kid of his own to have to worry about so he didn't get caught up in such things are his own slowly slipping mental stability. And this ought to be just what he needed to keep Merric stable enough for the last few months that they were stuck together like this.

[Koco]

Nero's mind was now full of every panic induced thought imaginable. What have I found mys-- his trail of thought was cut off suddenly as he heard it. A voice? Somebody else is here?! Maybe they can help me! Help me... find my way back, yes. Back away from here because... Nero shivered. And he knew then for certain at that moment that he was afraid. A new sensation, and a not at all pleasant one.

He paused for a moment, his naive mind not even considering the fact that this voice could be anyone or anything. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before shouting rather loudly. "I'm here!! By..." He turned to study his surroundings. "By this tree with the big black spot on it... it looks strange! Perhaps you know of it?" He hoped whoever spoke was still there, and oh how he hoped it was somebody friendly, and who might possibly know how to get home--No... Camp isn't home. he thought to himself.


The moment he heard a voice once more, Merric darted off toward the direction he'd heard it from, not even really listening to what the kid was saying, just glad that he was talking and drawing him closer to him. Merric couldn't believe what he was hearing - this voice, whoever it belonged to, sounded young, and the idea that somehow there was just some kid alone in woods such as these made him a little frantic. Which was just the way Merric always was, Sansifer knew, and was glad to see that this looked like it would work after all. Hey, it wasn't so bad. He'd at least gone through the trouble of trying to find one Merric would like! He'd been watching this kid for a little while, and had a feeling Merric would get along great with him. That and Sansifer thought the kid was pretty cool, himself. And potentially very dangerous. Sansifer had observed Nero long enough to know that the kid was naive beyond all reason and so dumbly innocent it was bordering on something impure. It would be a good idea that this one get a good lesson early on about the complexity of the human world he had slipped into. Given Nero's unique nature, it had the potential to be a disaster if he let the kid go on like this. Especially with the way some people were in this world.

Merric ran through brush and over rocks, even slipping over some and banging up his knees pretty badly as he went because his shoes were not made for running in the muddy woods in spring. By the time Merric got back home and let Murrina get a good look at him, she was going to wonder if he'd just survived a monsoon or something. Or a mauling. But eventually he came skidding to a halt that nearly sent him flying into a tree, except that he grabbed some vines and brush enough to pull himself to a stop and see a black haired boy standing in a small ravine turning in circles wondering where he was, whose voice he was hearing, and looing completely lost.

"Hey!" Merric called, getting the boy's attention on him as he eased down the side of the ravine and slid next to Nero, managing at least to stay on his feet and not go falling on his ass once more. "Hey...kid....You okay? What're you doing out here by yourself?"

Merric looked at the boy carefully, but he was certain that he didn't come from the Ship's Port area. He didn't have a Westerian accent, he didn't dress much like a Westerian either. Was he from the school? No uniform, but that didn't always mean anything. Merric really didn't recognize him from anywhere. But he could tell the kid was scared and confused, Merric wondered how he'd gotten out here.

Nero whipped around suddenly at the sound of anothers voice so close to him. He wore an expression of surprise for a moment when he saw Merric, but it quickly turned to one of relief as he wrapped his arms around the strange man in a tight hug. "I don't know...I-I don't know..." He said as tears started to fill his eyes slowly. "I... I was just sitting down with my book and then--" He trailed off once again as the tears trickled his down his face.

He didn't know where he was, but he knew what this place reminded him of, and that feeling of rememberance alone terrified Nero. He took a deep breath before letting go of Merric and wiping his eyes on the bright blue scarf he wore. After his face was dried to the best of his ability, he looked back up at Merric with a hopeful tone. "Can you help me?"

[Koco]

Merric couldn't believe what he was seeing even as the boy clung to him and started to cry into his shirt. A kid...he just found a kid alone in the Fryjan woods. What were the odds of that happening? And what were the odds that he would appear just as Merric happened to be nearby? The chances sounded slim just by wondering to himself about it, and then Merric was no idiot, and he may have had no proof, but he did have an innate and admittedly justified suspicion of a certain death god who had been known for mischief, especially the sort that didn't particularly sympathize with the situations and needs of others. A wry and unamused grin stretched over Merric's face even as he gave a comforting pat on the shoulder to the poor kid was starting to dampen his shirt all the way through.

What, you think I have something to do with this? I am so shocked Merric, and hurt that you have such a poor opinion of me!

Whatever, Merric thought, as much as he would have loved to point out every good reason he had to suspect Sansifer of this, clearly he had more on his plate now that needed to be dealt with. And what was he supposed to do, after all? Leave the kid here? Undoubtedly that wasn't possible given Merric's nature, he liked kids more than he liked most adults. Though part of his mind was certainly being wrenched into a knot at the moment, more than anything he wanted to go out and find the Nyin woman and exact the same sort of agonizing death she'd put him through ten times over. Paternal instincts were apparently stronger than creeping madness, however, and the boy let go of Merric after a moment and calmed his tears down a little bit.

"Yes, of course," Merric said gently, kneeling down so that his eyes were more level with the boy's, trying to offer him the most genial and sympathetic smile he could. Poor kid, he was scared out of his wits with no idea where he was...It was enough to move anyone with even half a heart. So surely Murrina wouldn't be that upset when he showed up with a strange young man in tow. He didn't really have a choice, after all. After everything that he'd been putting her through, Merric wondered just how well Murrina was going to respond to this but she would have to understand when he explained to her what happened...

Hey, it sure sounds better than 'sorry honey, I just out lickin' my lips thinkin' about this taste for blood and violence and whatnot. Mind if I leave again to make good on that? Mmmmm, death!'

Merric's face phased into a mad grin for only a second but probably long enough for the boy to notice. Great. This kid needed help, and Merric was coming off as a psychotic schizophrenic sociopath. Well maybe not that strongly but still...and besides, it wouldn't have been that far from the truth at this point. Which didn't make Merric feel any better about himself. So what did that mean? That he needed help? That was no mystery, but what could anyone do? He'd insisted that Murrina would be enough to keep his mind right, and in the beginning she had been. But lately Merric felt dirty just by touching Murrina with his cold, dead flesh. He knew that what she wanted was a warm and tender touch and right now that wasn't something he could offer her. He hated seeing her withdraw from his cold touch, even though he knew it wasn't anything personal. And in the throws of male stupidity, it seemed his only solution at the moment, until his body was ready, was to spend less time around her. Because even though his body wasn't technically human anymore, his soul and his urges still were. It probably would have been a great distraction from his steadily failing sanity to simply romp around with Murrina under the covers every time he thought he might start having unwholesome thoughts, but then there was that whole necrophelia thing, and hadn't they pushed those limits far enough already? Did she even want him like that until he was amongst the living once again?



Nero did notice. That grin on Merric's face was only there for a split second yet anyone could have seen it plain as day there for the moment that it passed. The thing was - Nero wasn't exactly the type to mind such things. He, himself had seen plenty enough twisted things in his short lifetime to where appearances didn't exactly frighten or affect him the way any average child would be affected.

Nero watched Merric carefully, noting that the man seemed to be in deep thought. He was interested in this man, and not only for the reason that he was going to help Nero, but there was something else about him... Nero couldn't exactly pinpoint what it was but it intrigued him enough to stare for an odd amount of time - his bright green eyes fixed on Merric's face for a moment before the man suddenly stretched his hand out towards Nero.

He's going to help me! He's going to take me somewhere - but where exactly ...is not far?

These thoughts quickly passed through Nero's mind but didn't remain there very long, as the young boy was far too relieved to even have ANYONE around, even better that this person was apparently friendly. Nero liked friendly. He had a feeling the two of them would get along just fine, and his face right then brightened into a smile.

Not even hesitating, the boy took Merric's hand in a tight grip, as his smile stretched out even larger, revealing a mouthful of razor-blade sharp teeth that frankly, stood out enough to catch even the most non-observant persons attention.

Merric blinked several times at the grin he recieved from the boy - but then again he'd had a pointed toothy grin on his stomach only hours ago so who was he to judge? One thing suddenly became clear to him though - this wasn't an ordinary kid. So what did Sansifer want with the boy anyway? "My name's Merric," he thought to say before it seemed he was staring overlong at the kid's teeth. With his hand in his, Merric began to lead the way toward Murrina's house, which was probably about a twenty minute walk now. Would have been ten for Merric on his own but he had to shorten the strides of his long legs to make sure the kid didn't end up getting dragged behind him. "What's your name?"

He learned the boy was named Nero, and without the flubbering tears impeding his speech he was able to more coherently explain what had happened. He came from a place called Whispering Rock, some sort of summer camp by the sound of it, and not a normal arts-and-crafts and bird-calls kind of summer camp either, but something a little more specific toward kids of "unusual talent" - whatever that meant. But everything else sounded eerily consistent with Sansifer's tricks - that suddenly darkness swelled over him, followed by a sick rushing sensation that landed Nero in Fryja once it was done. The experience was not unknown to Merric, or Murrina for that matter, as the means in which Sansifer was able to move between worlds and dimensions and realities. Because all worlds had one thing in common and it was that thing that let Sansifer move in such a manner - that all things that live must die. So long as death was part of a world, he could and would be there. But it was Seamosa where he held his domain of power and influence as a "god" so any where else he was just visiting. Sansifer must have pulled Nero through the void dimension of death to get him here. No wonder the kid was so freaked out. The experience had even left Murrina a little rattled the one time she'd gone through it.

All the while, Alasdair Deforge was exchanging a concerned look with Phedre as Murrina conceded to the idea that, of course, she was the one who had to do something about Merric. Neither of them wanted her to feel like this was all on her shoulders of course, especially since she was already feeling like she couldn't do anything more for the man at this point. She had already gone through the trouble of getting the DNA samples that would allow Ruth to make a new, living, albeit artificial body for the guy. But at the same time, until that was ready, they had to do something or Merric might not have any "self" left when that happened.

"Well, let's not...Let's not fret overmuch," Al said, trying to sound a little more encouraging. "I mean, Merric is far from unreachable even at this point, right? And honestly, we have to consider the very human response that is to desire retribution for wrongs done against ourselves. And who here is going to say that he doesn't have a just cause to want such a thing? From what I've heard from you, Phedre, about the nature of his death, it must have been horrible."


"Er...," Al bit his lip and averted his eyes. He'd missed so much, hadn't been a part of any of what he was getting involved with now, and as much as he was trying to come off as sympathetic to the situations that arose all around him there was no compensating for the distance between him and these people. He cleared his throat. "Well then, I guess it would be understandable as to why Merric would want some pay back for something like this....Still, succumbing to one urge is only going to open the door to others. For the sake of his mental health, I say he ought to concentrate on something else for the moment. Once he's in a living, breathing body proper again, perhaps he'll be able to handle this more rationally, without the risk of losing himself."

"But there's just one problem with that," Phedre frowned, standing up to wander to a window, looking out into Fryja's dark woods. "Eri and Kurgan and Dane were all put in danger because of this Nyin woman, and if we don't do something now, Eri is going to continue to be a target and be in danger. How long can we keep her safe? She's already lost her vision. Merric went after the Nyin woman not only because he obviously wants revenge on her, but he's one of the few people who doesn't run the risk of mortal peril in such a pursuit. I don't want him to make any decisions that would be unhealthy to his stability, but we can't very well wait any longer to do something about this villain. Merric told Aiia he'd be going to find the Nyin woman and find out more about what it is she's after regarding Eri. That means capturing her alive. If we let him go out on his own, he's not likely to stick to that promise, is he? But if someone goes with him...He told Cass he was going to ask you, Murrina, to come with him, but I sort of think he only said that to calm her down. And I sure don't see him coming up to the....oh."

Phedre stopped and blinked, squinting through the window as a silhouetted figure moved into view past several trees. It was hard to make out, but after all, they were expecting Merric, weren't they? And, as the figure moved closer, it seemed there was someone else there as well. "Oh, I think that's him! Merric's coming - I think there's someone with him."

"He's wha-?!" Al jumped suddenly as though he had just been caught doing something he ought not be doing, and smushed his nose against the window to see. It was Merric, at his best guess, which meant that if his brother got to the cabin and saw him there his already shaky temper was probably going to boil over. In a very unpriestly manner, Father Deforge cursed and spun around. "I know I expected this but perhaps I ought to leave...? I don't want to make this any harder by making him angry the moment he walks in and sees me!"

"Well, I doubt you'll get out the door without him noticing you," Phedre said wryly. "Any place we can hide this fool? And for that matter, Za, if Merric sees you here he'll probably know his brother is around as well."

Outside, Merric pointed out the cabin to Nero once they were close enough to see the lights through the windows. "Here we are - now, once we get inside, just, er, let me do the talking. I'll explain to Murrina who you are and why you're here. Don't worry, she's probably mad at me but she is actually a very nice woman. So if she seems angry, it's not at you."

He was probably trying to psych himself up more than anything but still...Merric led Nero to the cabin, and wasn't sure what he would find when he opened the door.

[Koco]

“Ahhh shit!” Murrina said as she got up, spilling her coffee in the process. “Goddamn sunova-“ she said as she got up quite quickly went to grab something to wipe it off the floor and her pants for that matter. This was not working out the way she’d planned at all! She set the cup aside so quickly it sloshed over her fingers and onto the drawing she’d been working on. “Crap!” she said again. Merric indeed wouldn’t be happy to see Al there nor would he be happy about Za and that Phedre had spoken to her about all this stuff? Yea no good at all. This was turning out to be a fine afternoon now wasn’t it?!

Thinking quickly she ran to the bathroom and opened the door. It seemed like a good idea didn’t it? Yea—put them in the bathroom that was a good hiding spot… no wait no it wasn’t. What if Merric wants to take a shower after being gone so long? “No wait! I have a better idea,” she said as she went rushing across the floor to the closet. That thing was barely used at this rate and the hidden compartment behind the clothes would provide just enough space right? Right. “In, in, in,” she said as she motioned frantically, first grabbing Phedre and pushing her into it trying not to pay attention to the woman’s protests--- were those protests? Bah it didn’t matter, if they wanted her to talk to Merric without him getting all defensive they were gonna have to put up with this!

“Dark closet is-“ Za started as Murrina grabbed her robe hard enough she dropped her mug of coffee.

“In ya go!” Murrina said with a sound that might have been kind of amused as she went to wedging the woman into the coats. “Now you Al. Butt in closet she said allowing him to walk in. She mashed them together with a little work and managed to slide the door shut. “Phew…” she murmured as she felt like slumping against the wood. It wasn’t that she didn’t care about their discomfort, it was just their discomfort didn’t quite matter as much to her as Merric did.

Trying to calm herself Murrina picked up the cup that Za had dropped and mopped up the coffee sighing at how tight her chest felt for the moment. She didn’t like this at all, but then again when it came to business of this nature when did she like it? That masochistic streak in her kept her from feeling truly out unhappy over it but still! She set the coffee cup down and grabbed a fresh dishcloth, tossing the other one in the sink. Hopefully she’d get everything all cleaned up before he came in. At this rate she’d have to come up with some kind of excuse for why she was cleaning coffee up from across the room. At least it smelled kinda good like medium roast in here.

In the dark pressed between two Phedre and Alasdair, Za grinned. “Finally we are warm enough,” she said sounding creepily satisfied.

“Merric!” Murrina said standing up as she finished mopping up the coffee. “I didn’t-“ She of course completely forgot what she was going to say as he came in leading a kid…. A KID of all things into the cabin with him. That’s not Marlow! was the first thing that popped into her head. She cocked her head off to one side. Well it’s too old to be some kind of lovechild that he spawned while he was--- wait what the hell am I thinking!? she shook her head and rubbed her face, trying ot get back on track. “What’s going on?” she asked thinking she may very well start shaking and shedding her hair.

"Murrina...," Merric blinked as he entered the cabin, letting Nero in ahead of him and shutting the door before any more chilly Fryjan air got in. There were several dark splotches on the floor from the spilled coffee even though Murrina had already wiped up most of the mess, and he noticed the brown stains all over a drawing of her's nearby. Of course, it wasn't completely out of the question that Murrina had simply tripped over her own two feet and made this mess unintentionally, she had a knack for falling down after all. But still, it looked like it was everywhere. "Everything okay...?" he asked a little stupidly, but at this point the question was moot as Murrina was giving Nero a wide and quizzical stare. "Oh, right. Er, Murrina, you're not going to believe this, but....."

He cleared his throat and laid a hand on Nero's shoulder. "While I was on my way back here...well, that was when I happened upon this young man. His name is Nero, he isn't from Fryja but as it happens he somehow ended up here by himself." The way he said that, Murrina would probably catch a hint that maybe it wasn't as mysterious as it seemed. He hadn't told Nero anything about Sansifer or the suspicion he had that the death god was the one responsible for pulling Nero away from his home but he didn't want to say anything until he knew for sure. Murrina, though, knew as well as he did what kind of crap Sansifer liked to pull so maybe she would catch the hint. Maybe not, it was rather vague, but there was a speck of irritation notable of Merric's face as he said it. "Anyway," he softened his features once more. "I mean, I couldn't leave the kid out there of course, so I brought him back with me...I imagine there's got to be a way we can get him home. In the mean time, I.......No, no, I'm gonna back up and ask again. Are you all right? You look like you're about to have a stroke or something..."

Merric made a tight frown right after he asked. Well of course Murrina was probably riding on the end of her wits, after everything he'd put her through lately...And now he comes home not only with a strange kid in tow, but he had to be a sight to behold, his shirt still torn apart and his hair and coat covered in mud and leaves. (Good thing, Murrina was probably thinking, that she didn't put those three in the bathroom after all!) And he felt stupid for even wondering what might be wrong. He imagined her spilling her coffee as she paced the house alone wondering where he was and why she wasn't there with him and what was going to happen next, blah blah blah...Merric scratched his head less from an itch and more from guilt as he turned his eyes toward the wall. "Ah, well, I guess that's a dumb question...A lot's happened, as it were. And you've been here the whole time with no way of knowing any of it...Okay, okay." Merric clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth and looked down at Nero, then back to Murrina. He had to do what was best for these two right now, even though that wretched Nyin was probably getting even further away from him as time went on. And he'd told Aiia he would apprehend the woman as soon as possible...Well it wasn't like Aiia was going to be the sort that wouldn't understand if something came up at home. Hell, she would probably ream his ass if he neglected to handle this situation first. And he would deserve it.

"Let's get you by the fire for starters," Merric said to Nero, and led the boy to the fireplace, then over to the closet where Za, Phedre, and Al were crammed up against each other in an intimately close squeeze. Murrina's heart probably caught in her throat as Merric opened the door and pulled out a spare blanket from the closet (one of the ones she'd requested from their cherry brandy night, oh now there were memories attached to these...!

At least they'd been cleaned since then). Inside, Al and Phedre both had hands over Za's mouth whether she'd been about to say anything or not, and covered their own mouths with their other hands, holding their breath so hard they were turning ruddy in the face. Thank goodness that they were far back enough in the compartment behind the clothes that Merric never noticed anything, shutting the closet door in the same instant that Al and Phedre sighed silently in relief. Merric gave Nero the blanket and set him up to warm himself by the fire. He could only imagine what this kid was thinking of him or Murrina at this point but the important part was that he was safe now. Merric pulled a soggy leaf out of his hair and made a strange smirk.

"...what you must think of me...," he said openly, whether to Murrina or to Nero it wasn't clear, but it was most likely to them both. Inside his head, Sansifer started laughing.


Murrina was about ready to collapse of course. Her knees knocked together more than once as she tried to get her body and mind better arranged as she watched the scene. A kid. A kid?! A flippin kid?! On top of all this stuff he has to bring home another person to deal with! After all the pressure that had already been put on her, her fist reaction was to get angry at the whole situation. But that’s not very fair now is it? she said as she frowned, letting the tightness in her jaw slacken a she saw the kid settle with the blanket she’d actually kept in pretty good condition memories included. She already felt bad for her gut reaction.

Assuming Merric was talking to the kid, whoever he was she resumed cleaning the coffee on the floor and wiping down her drafting board. She was already kinda jealous of the little bugger. Not even a hello kiss. Oh for chrissake Murrina! What the hell was he supposed to do?! she chided herself as soon as she started getting those weird ideas in her head. She already had a notion that Sansifer was behind this. What the hell was he trying to do? Turn them into the model of a perfect family unit?! How the hell am I supposed to confront him on this shit now? she asked herself as she felt like her emotional color wheel had just been spun wildly enough to make Eri (if she’d been there) a bit nauseous.

At least he didn’t find the stow aways… she thought as her eyes darted back to the closet and then to the kid and then to Merric again. He looked too happy to her it seemed. “Merric- what is going on you’re not stealing children are you? Don’t tell me this was Sansifer’s doing... good God we’ve got enough on our hands…” She tried to sound fierce, but her words didn’t really have any bite to them. She sounded more like she was scared than anything else… poor thing. How the hell can I have post-partum depression when the kid’s not even mine and has only been here for like two minutes?! Do I even remember what the hell post-partum depression is? She looked like some kind of robot as she stopped cleaning, started and then stopped again a whole number of jarring thoughts went through her head.

“I’m just fine,” she said a little too glib even though he didn’t seem to really be paying all that much attention to her at the moment. He had that chuckle and that weird sparkly twinkle in his eye that really gave her the creeps. Wow I guess—I guess you’re really trying to be a jackass if you think that you’ve just been replaced Murrina! she thought making a face of disgust at the sketch on the drawing board. “Sorry I made a mess all over the place--- got kinda antsy after a while. I’m almost done getting it all cleaned up though.” Erright Murrina--- when do we get to the part about asking him if he needs help finding that Nyin that killed him again?

[Koco]

Yeah, it was obvious as this point, just by watching Murrina's body language, that she was probably cracking up in the head at this point. Merric did smile and chuckle and it probably did seem rather creepy the way he did it but if anything he was laughing at himself, and not in a pleasant sort of way. By the fireplace, Nero was curled up in the blanket to the point all that could be seen was one shock of black hair sticking out of the top, otherwise he'd rolled into a ball and seemed to have fallen asleep. Probably all that screaming and crying had exhausted him. Just as well, if Merric didn't get the chance to talk to Murrina in private she might have a brain aneurysm right there on the spot. But at the stealing children comment....

"Ahahahahahahahah!!" he laughed enthusiastically, even grabbing the railing over the loft style bed to support himself as he tried to not be too loud. "No, no, I am not stealing children - like I said, I found him in the woods on my way here, scared to death and crying rivers...! I know we've already got a lot on our heads right now but I mean, really, Murrina, what would you have had me do? Leave him out there? Say 'sorry, kid, hope it works out for ya' and stroll on by? And you're right - I think Sansifer does have something to do with this, but I couldn't very well tell him that, could I?"

Obviously not, both of them knew that. Merric shook his head but his smile didn't fade away, only subdued itself slightly enough to notice. Murrina said she was "just fine," exactly the answer he expected to hear but that didn't mean anything. "You don't have to apologize for anything," he said with a small laugh behind it, pushing himself away from the bed and taking casual strides to Murrina while he took the muddied, abused coat off of him. At least most of it was dried so it wasn't dripping more mess everywhere but still he had enough sense not to toss it on the floor, instead slinging over his arm. With his other hand he reached out and snatched Murrina's hand, forcing her away from thinking about anymore cleaning and pulling her hard enough to press her against his body. So what, now, did Merric feel like playing rough? "There's other, more important things at hand than a little coffee spill, right?" He kissed her on the forehead and gave her a strange smile. "Don't worry about it. Everything is going to be just fine."

Whatever that meant. Even in the closet, as Phedre and Al listened to Merric's tone both of them swallowed hard. Maybe he was worse than they'd thought. It was amazing how bad he'd gotten in less than a day, but it was probably because he'd come face to face with the Nyin that had caused him so much grief that he had finally taken the leap off the deep end. But he wasn't without a human compassion, obviously, if he'd decided that helping a poor, lost little kid was more important than his own agenda. So really, it was just plain hard to tell anymore.

"Anyway, sit, sit," Merric beckoned Murrina, letting go of her and proceeding to remove the destroyed turtleneck, leaving him completely shirtless. "I'm a mess but I get to that in a bit. I want to tell you all about what I did today. You won't believe it. But I found my murderer. Only problem is that she got away from me, but it's fine - I'll find her easily enough. Oh yes....," Merric must have meant to think that last part to himself as he licked his lips, moving toward the bathroom to dump his coat in the bathtub where it wouldn't dirty anything else and then coming back out to drop his shirt in the wastebasket. "And when I do, she's gonna know exactly how much I resent every bit of grief she's caused us." He pulled the remaining twigs and leaves out of his hair, so that it was sticking up oddly and doing a wonderful job of making him look even crazier than he was already starting to act.

"Don't worry, Murrina - it must be tough for you right now but once I finish this everything will be great... In a few months, maybe, we can go back to being as happy as we started out...Remember the good times we used to have...I can't wait to feel your warm kiss again..."

Are you trying to freak her out or do you even know how creepy you sound right now? Because you sound like Ioz.

Merric's smile finally lapsed and settled into a grimace. He could hear Ioz's voice saying that he was just like him...Did he sound like that? No way...Sansifer was just saying that because he liked to mess with Merric...He was not like Ioz. He was not like Ioz...

"...I'm slipping," he said in a small voice, and then chuckled again, with a sad gasping sound to follow it. "I don't even recognize my own voice anymore..."

“You’re tellin’ me,” she said with a hint of despair in her voice. It all just kind of welled up at that point. Murrina found herself drawing Merric over to one of the chairs nearby and sitting in it. She pulled him onto the arm of it and sat him down on it so he faced away from her and hugged him around the middle. It was all kind of coming out now wasn’t it? Merric wasn’t the only one that had been going crazy. She’d quietly been going nuts since he’d left her behind and gone back to Seamosa. They came back to clean the cabin only to have him go leaving again with little more than an “I gotta go.”

Her breath was shaky as she tried to get a hold of herself before she could start crying, but it wasn’t really working now was it? Her eyes welled up and her eyes stung as she pressed against Merric’s back. “What happened to us?” she asked as her voice cracked and her mouth turned downward, partially open since her nose was starting to clog. “I was so sure I was enough to keep you from losing it, but you just keep getting worse and worse don’t you? Now you’re talking about going and making someone regret killing you? I’m not going to call it accidental but that’s harsh even for you.”

She was shaking she was so tense, her spine felt like it had fused together with the base of her skull and even though she wasn’t squeezing very hard, the muscles of her arms bunched like she was holding onto him for dear life. “It’s horrible not knowing what to do. I feel like I’m not right anymore, just a side piece in this whole grand scheme you got going, you bring back a kid and you get the look on your face you used to have when you were still living. I dunno what to do, who to blame if I should blame anyone.” By now she was about ready to slur her words and start blowing snot bubbles.

Murrina had done all of this and it hadn’t fixed anything. She’d done all this and they were still at step one. She’d done all of this and Merric was turning into the very same person that had tried to murder her on multiple occasions and succeeded once. He was going crazy before her eyes and she wasn’t making any headway against stopping it. He said he’d bring her in on more things since he got back and that hadn’t happened. She was losing hope and fearing that all of this was going to start crashing down around her. People in the closet be hanged what they thought! Sure she was strong and old and far more experienced in a lot of things but that didn’t make her any less human where it counted and she was scared.

“Don’t go…” she said after a few throaty sobs. “Don’t- go after this woman—Don’t go until your in your living body and you can think more clearly. Please?” Failing that she would have to make him take her with him, but how was that possible when Sansifer let him fritter off into the darkness beyond the capabilities and if they were off on some sort of chase, it would be so easy for him to just be gone into the darkness and leave her behind again. “I’m so freaked I’m gonna lose you at this rate.”

"Miss Evan, I can see the stars. The beautiful stars! They are beautiful after all, aren't they?"

The figure on the side of Nero nodded.

"It's one of the most amazing things I've seen since I got here. Remember when I told you that I didn't sleep in my cabin any longer so I could watch the stars at night? The roof always got in my way, you know? So I climbed up into the trees and found the perfect spot right between the brances to sleep. It's cold, and it makes my back hurt, but it's better than staring up at a roof all day long, right?"

The figure beside him only nodded once again.

Nero sighed to himself, taking in the view once again, talking to himself in a sing-song like tone of voice. Beautiful stars... you fill the sky...with...with.. Nero paused for a moment, clearly thinking of what the heck he was going to add to his amateur song, before finally continuing.

"Apples...!"

Nero grinned hugely. Oh, how he loved apples. It was the first thing Swift had given to him to nibble on when he first arrived at camp. He hadn't found one thing he enjoyed the taste of quite as much since then.

"Beautiful stars... you fill the skyyyyyy... wiiiiIIIIItthhh APP---"

Nero flinched as he felt something bop him on the head suddenly. Leaning over to see what it was - he realized - to his childish delight, that an apple lie at his feet. The boy quickly bent over with excitement to pick it up and opened his mouth wide, about to take a giant chomp out of it, before pausing.

"Miss Evan, you want to share?"

....

.....

....... "Miss Evan?"

The figure who sat there only moments ago was now nowhere to be seen. Nero looked every which way but she was gone. Plain and simple. Surprised as he was, he guessed she had most likely only gone to her cabin for bed, and so he didn't waste any time in turning back to the apple, which to his surprise, had turned to rot in his hands.

Nero peered at the apple with interest before noticing what seemed to be a face forming on the surface of the spoiled fruit. No eyes, just a mouth full of jagged, razor sharp teeth. Positively gruesome to look at.

"Ahhh, no! It's ruined! Face ruined my apple! No! I was hungry, why did you do this, face? I was hungryyyyyy.... WHYYYYYYYYYYY....NOOOO!!! Go away, face! Don't eat it or I'll call somebody! I will!"

The face only remained there on the apple, staring, smiling.
Almost as if it was enjoying tormenting the hungry boy.

And then something fell from the sky. A bowl of punch.

Nero dropped the apple, running over to the bowl of punch. Nero loved punch. He quickly grabbed a tin cup that was laying on the ground, and began to fill it with the fruity mixture, grinning with joy.

Tipping the cup over to let the cold liquid touch his tongue, he paused. Shook the cup a few times, nothing came out. Shook it again, still nothing. Didn't he just fill it? He peered into the cup, and his eyes widened.

The face.

Nero screamed with rage and attempted to toss the cup away only to find out that it was stuck like glue to his palm. To say that he became angry would be understating things. He got angry.
-----------

And beside the heat of the fire, the physical Nero was kicking,
growling, and scratching at the floor in his sleep.

[Koco]

Merric hadn't said a word as Murrina held him tightly and began to make sobbing pleas that he wouldn't go after the Nyin woman, and with his back to her she couldn't see the way his face set into a discomfited frown. He took her arms into his hands gently and coaxed them off of him, standing up to move in front of Murrina, kneeling down in front of her on one knee. Reaching up, he put his hands over her cheeks, wiped some tears off her face, and looked up at her earnestly. He meant this.

"...I used to have only one thing I wanted, more than anything, and that was to be with you, at any and all moments possible...And that hasn't changed, not really, but you're right...I have gotten worse. At first I didn't even notice it but listen to me now...I'm scaring myself and I'm causing you this much dolor...Can't very well go on like this, can we?" He stood up, combing his fingers through her hair and lightly pulling her up against him, moving one hand to her shoulder and squeezing it softly. "I need help...but it's hard to want to ask for it, especially from you, not because I don't think you would or that you could, but I hate to keep putting you in this position...And now that I say that out loud I feel really stupid for even thinking like that. So...I have to fight it harder. If I can or not I don't really know but I can't keep going at the rate I have been or there won't be any of the man you know left when it comes time for that new body..."

Merric took Murrina's elbows and pulled her to her feet, though for the most part he was holding her up himself as he embraced her, seeing as he legs seemed to be barely functional at this point. Truly, he would have rather she hit him like she did before, than have to see her cry. It broke his heart, or it would have had he had one in his chest, and it was a bitter reminder that Murrina was durable but she wasn't unshakable. For someone who had seen centuries come and go enough times that civilizations could rise and fall over and over again throughout the course of it, for someone who had lived and died only to live again and die again and again for a number of reasons impossible to count, she was remarkably soft in the center despite the apparently hard outer shell Not that Merric was trying to compare her to a dessert, but there it was...He tightened his arms around her slightly and kissed the top of her head three consecutive times, rather amazed that once he had her in his arms he felt more like his old self than he had all day. But what would happen when he had to let go?

So what, then, he had to have Murrina around him constantly in order to not go jumping and flipping over the cliff that he called sanity? What did he really want right now? He wanted to live in Fryja, with Murrina, in peace and without fear, to be able to call her his wife and have Marlow come home on the weekends and go to work and come home like he used to...Something stable. Something a little closer to normal. Was it just a sign of his old age, or was it just that he'd had enough excitement lately? Still, nothing was going to change until Sansifer was out of his head, until he could feel a pulse in his chest once more. And right now they were only working on the assumption that a new body would take care of his steadily rising dementia...But what proof was there that would solve anything? And besides, in order to stop the Nyin from doing anymore damage to Fryja, it was extremely useful to him to already be dead. Even the rotlings couldn't do any lasting damage against him. So what did he say to Murrina's begging sobs that he wouldn't go after his murderer? His mind less muddled, he distinctly remembered telling Aiia that he was going to go after the woman and apprehend her to find out what she wanted from Eri, what her intentions for Fryja were, what Dyre had to do with any of this.

Dyre. From what Aiia had told him, Dyre seemed to purport a similar role as the one that Sansifer held in Seamosa, except the difference was that Sansifer at least approached his position with a level headedness and a respect for the balance of nature, life, and death - probably the only thing Sansifer was capable of showing respect for. And what was it that voice had said back then, just before the rotling it came from took a mouthful of lethal doses of Merric's medication and basically melted on the floor of his airship's deck? A darkness not of this world, I see. Help a fellow out, then... That must have been him. That must have been Dyre. The Nyin wouldn't be considered a "fellow darkness," after all. That was their target, after all. That was the real threat that Fryja faced. Nyin be damned, even if they had been the ones that caused the nova, if they had someone like Dyre on their side, well, Merric really didn't want to know what more they could do to this place.

"......I have to go," Merric said eventually, quietly, even remorsefully. "I'm sorry....I want to promise you I won't go after this woman, but I have to.....Or at least, someone has to...But if anyone else goes after her, she could do so much more damage to them than she could do to me. She's already hurt Eri badly, and she's going to keep going after her if someone doesn't get to her first. This woman has constantly been sneaking up, getting the better of us....I think it's about time we went after her for a change...But, at the same time, I'm scared to lose myself out there, if I go after her....I might not come back. At least, not the way I am now. And the way I am now is bad enough, isn't it?"

Inside the closet, Al had his brow knit in hard thought, a hand pulling at his face to cover his frown. Phedre was turning her heel against the floor in an agitated twitch. Well, Merric was right. Someone had to go after the Nyin woman. Letting Merric do it on his own was, of course, out of the question, but how much better would it be if he went out with the company of others, even? There was no evidence to suggest that would do any good and the risk was too great to run just to see if it would make any difference at all. So who should go after the Nyin? And how come neither of them thought to ask the one between them anything about it?

Waitaminnit...

"Ah...," Merric looked up when he heard scuffling noises near the fireplace, and saw Nero kicking and growling in his sleep. Merric frowned, giving Murrina an apologetic look, and let go of her after one more squeeze to go and check on the kid. After all, he'd brought the boy here, and we was sort of his responsibility at the moment. Even if he was....strange. He seemed pretty harmless so far...

"Nero...wake up. Wake up," Merric shook the kid's shoulder lightly. "You're dreaming."


“Merric you can’t-“ Murrina said as she gripped the front of her shirt. “You just can’t. I won’t let you and you’re not leaving me behind again. Did you ever think that maybe you’re not the one that has to go do this?” While she didn’t exactly chase him over to where Nero was she did follow him a step or two in that same direction. She took a step away from the kid when she realized just how close she was coming to him. It wasn’t that Murrina didn’t like kids it was--- just what? Did they scare her? Maybe a little. She’d already proved that she was afraid of the little buggers thanks to Shy.

As Merric roused the kid, Murring took a step back and sighed, unsure of how to handle how she felt about the whole thing and wondering if Aiia felt this kind of stuff when Lone picked Shy up. Wow I’m fucked in the head when it comes to ankle biters… she thought. What if he doesn’t like me and only wants to be with Merric? I’m going to have to deal with that. How the hell am I going to deal with that when it seems like I only see him for an hour at a time once a week as it is? For that matter… Murrina looked at the door to the closet. They were depending on her.

Though she was hardly without empathy completely, Za’s feelings on the matter seemed to hardly scratch the surface of her rapt expression against the doorframe as she heard it all. It was like watching one of the great tragedy plays that the sisterhood used to put on. Thos of course usually involved bathing in blood at one point but since one of the actors was already dead it didn’t seem to matter. Unfortunately in one moment of excitement the Nyin Seer managed to ruin their hide away. “Let the battle for the dead one’s affections commence!” she uttered as she predicted Murrina’s little shock of jealousy and her need to speak on the subject further.

At the words being shouted from the closet Murrina slapped her palm against her forehead with one huge SMACK and made a noise that sounded like someone after they’d eaten the jalapeno cheese and guacamole bean chili dip an hour ago. Well--- those little secrets were blown. “You might as well come out…” she said to her guests in the closet. “Merric… I’m not the only one that’s concerned about you.”

“I smell Dyre’s presence…” Za said as she poked her nose out of the closet. “Mmm it has indeed been a long time since that scent.”

It didn't take much to wake the sleeping boy. His eyelids flew open in half a second as he quickly sat up, turning his gaze this way and that before spotting Merric beside him. "Ahh! Wha--oh...."

Nero wore what looked like a very confused look on his face. He paused, seemingly trying to remember what was going on and exactly where he was. His gaze then shifted to Murrina at the other end of the room, staring her down intently for a prolonged amount of time with a slight glow in his bright green eyes. Who is this? I don't know her... he thought curiously to himself. She must be a friend of his. His gaze shifted back over and up to Merric.

"Dreaming? Oh... Yes. I've... dreamt before... I think. At least... somebody explained to me exactly what it was when it first happened. They also explained that dreams can be forgotten... and I think that in this case I must have..." he said, a bit sadly. "I hate that! I would have really liked to remember it..."

Nero took a moment to observe the room around him, glancing back at the fire, back to Merric, and then finally back to Murrina. A big grin lit up his pale face as he lifted an arm in a small wave. "Hello!"

If the situation hadn’t been so cruddy, someone might have found Murrina’s reaction a bit funny. Just as Nero stared Murrina up and down curiously she too stared back at him with some kind of slack jawed-durr faced look. If Ruth had been there she would have called it ‘deer-caught-in-the-headlights-face’, and the uh-oh look was written all over her. Well- he’s not screaming stranger danger and trying to throw the chair at me… said a teeny tiny relieved voice in the back of her cranium.

That is until his arm shot up to wave to her. Murrina jerked straight up like someone had poked her in the butt with a pin. “Eh- heh- uh- Hi,” she said emulating his wave almost exactly. Sheesh I’m such a retard… she told herself realizing that she was acting like she was afraid of the kid. Well—okay maybe she was. A little. Then again, Murrina also had to admit that she didn’t have the greatest track record with kids. Back home, kids hated her for the pollution their parents fed them, and she was so much bigger than they were- if she wasn’t afraid they were going to leap at her and eat her face off she was afraid she might break them! How was a good question but still since when was Murrina a rational person about her own trivialities.

“Uh-“ She looked at Merric who was currently probably twitching at the three faces poking out of the closet. “Warm over there huh?” she asked Nero trying to come up with something that didn’t sound moronic and failing. He was in front of her fireplace after all.

"Warm? More like toasty! I love it by this fire! It's beyond warm..." Nero replied with a slightly creepy grin. He reached his hands out towards the fire to warm them one last time before giving a giant yawn, and standing.

He suddenly turned and approached Merric, giving him a big hug, oblivious to the guests in the closet. "Thank you for the blanket. It's nice. It's... really warm and nice... and ...fluffy." he said with another smile before letting go of Merric and turning his head back over to Murrina.

"What's your name? I'm Nero. Nero Delvari." he said with a childish gleam in his eyes.

[Koco]

Merric seemed to be catatonic at the moment, even as Nero gave him a big, affectionate hug, and didn't even seem to notice or care that all the reaction the man offered him was to blink down at him and then return his gaze toward the closet, where Al, Phedre, and Za were filing out into the living room. Phedre and Al were looking a little sheepish, and Za was....well, Za was Za.

"...'lo, Mr. Deforge," Phedre said because the silence was more unbearable than the sight of Merric's mouth twitching downward at the corners. His eyebrows were doing the same thing. Please, just start yelling at us and get it over with... ran through Phedre's head.

"Merric...," Al folded his hands together in front of him almost like he were about to say grace. "Please don't be angry...Murrina's right, after all, we were only worried about you, so..."

"I couldn't care less," Merric finally said. He wasn't yelling at least, but neither did he sound happy. "And why the hell are you hiding in the closet?"

"Because-" Phedre started, then looked at Al.
"Well, because...," Al swallowed, then looked at Phedre.
She stepped behind Al and pushed him forward a little bit, hissing something along the lines of "Well?! He's your brother!"
"Don't push me!" Al retorted, rather childishly in fact.

Merric groaned and slapped his hand to his forehead. "Shut up, both of you!" he snapped, and Al and Phedre went rigid like soldiers at attention. Merric scanned his eyes over both of them, and then let a special glare of contempt fly at Za for her little comment about the smell of Dyre. Yeah, he probably smelled like that and a lot of other things right about now! He had just gotten in a wrestling match with a rotling, after all! Once again finding his mobility, Merric made long, strong strides across the room to stand almost nose to nose to his brother (well, except that Al was shorter than him). "I thought I told you to get lost."

"Y-yes you did," Al shrank into his shoulders, looking like he was expecting Merric to hit him again. "B-but I am afraid I really can't do that Merric. I mean, i-it's not just that I did come here looking for Sansifer, b-but even if you hate me, you're still my brother and I want to h-help you...Please don't hit me again."

Al hand his hands up in surrender, or maybe he was just trying to protect his face, either way the poor guy was obviously a little intimidated with Merric standing so close to him. Made one wonder what they must have been like when they were kids. Merric held a scrutinizing stare on Al even as he cowered before him, and Phedre was covering her eyes because she was also quite sure she knew what was coming next. Za, however, must have been disappointed the moment Merric deflated, drooping his shoulders and sighing heavily. No purple faced anger this time, it seemed.

"...oh stop that," Merric grumbled, "You act like I'm going to eat you alive or something."

Al peered out from his wall of hands and swallowed hard. "Well, you DID punch me before..."

"....yeah, well, I suppose I overreacted a bit."
"A bit?"
"Or...well...Okay, quite a bit."
"You gave me a black eye!"
"Okay okay! I"m sorry I hit you! What more do you want from me?!"
"Really? You're sorry? How about a hug for your long lost brother?"

Merric instead grabbed a hold of Al's hood and pulled it over his face completely, then turned his attention toward Za. "Speaking of Dyre, Miss, I wonder what all else you could tell me about him besides what he smells like?" It wasn't really a question as Merric said it, but at least it wasn't coming off like a threat.

While Murrina didn’t shrink back, she didn’t exactly look all relaxed either. Crap he looks just like Merric when he does that… she thought as she once again rethought he possibility that Merric might have had a kid she didn’t know about. It took her remembering how frigid and mean he’d been as a young man to make her rethink those thoughts. “Murrina,” she said looking up and away as she scratched her head in a monkey-like fashion. “Murrina Merosa…” I’m going to be marrying that guy over there so don’t get any ideas about stealing him kid. Twitch. Wait- What the hell am I thinking!? What am I? Jeez Murrina you’re no better than a kid yourself. she said as she flinched and looked back down at him.

On second thought he looks like that demon kind who was screwing with my cabin when I built it…. Did I keep that block of wood he put the hammer in? “Uhh--- are you hungry or something I think I have food or something closely resembling it.” She offered. Well she’d better have food she’d restocked the fridge and the pantry ever since she cleaned out the bread that had grown mushrooms and its own personality and the city of other living creatures that had grown their own private universe therein.
Merric had enough to worry about for the moment. Did he really need another? Errright… You know what to do Murrina! Take one for the team!.... If I had a team that is. I think I spend too much time alone these days! Just take care of the kid—er- Nero and hope that Merric doesn’t deck his brother while you’re back is turned. “I think I have stuff for grilled cheese…” She said as she tried her best to ignore as much of the yelling as she possibly could. At least this was something that might keep him grounded in reality—he loved yelling at people!