Waking the Dead 2.0 || August 13, 2063 || Saturday || The Mordechai Home

[icarusalsoflew]

[So before the real work in Europe starts, you've all got a free day to roam around the Mordechai Home and its rather beautiful surroundings. Everyone is more than welcome to stay the night.

The Cooley Peninsula's a lovely place, and this particular section is even prettier than the rest of the area. The house, in itself, is pretty interesting too.

Knock yourselves out, guys. This is turning out to be a pretty sweet vacation, isn't it?]


DESCRIPTION STUFF:
+ The house is an old-style Irish home made of brick and covered in ivy. It's got two floors (all five bedrooms are upstairs, and each one has a bathroom), an attic, and a basement. Everything's antique in here, and there is pretty much NOTHING Japanese in the house except Hikaru. The binding motifs: Christian symbols with a Celtic twist, blades, brambles and water.
+ First floor's got the kitchen with the dining area right next to it, and the living room with a fireplace. There's a porch up front.
+ The attic is full of old and interesting shit, and looks like a study. Hikaru's Brotherhood of Violence stuff is here.
+ The basement is the strangest area: half of it is a workshop-cum-armory with a map that expands an entire wall. It's full of old notes, post-its and photographs. Observers will note that this was Alistair's project from way back when - the beginnings of how he always managed to keep track of Hikaru. The other half is under lock and key; the door's a vault. It feels cold beyond it. VERY cold.
+ There's a beach that's about a three minute's walk down from the hill that the house is on. The ancestral Mordechai cemetery's a ten minute walk from the house, through rolling hills. Alistair's wife is buried there, as are Maes' wife and kids, Abel, and both Seth Mordechais.
+ ...And then there are fields for miles and miles, and mountains in the distance.
+ The Kearney home is actually a fifteen minute drive away from the Mordechai home. Nobody's in, though.

OTHER OOC NOTES:
+ Feel free to go anywhere you like. Ping me if you need descriptions.
+ Alistair will only return to the house by sunset. He's in the cemetery or roaming around in the forest. until then.
+ Feel free to make your own threads, or pop in to bug the NPCs at the threads I am putting up for them.

Comments

[icarusalsoflew]

Ask away.

[As he's going for another cigarette. Why the hell not, right?]

[ktotheatothez]

I'm... Not sure how to deal with being a Vaizard. If my abilities are fueled by my spirituality. I don't have much of it.

[ Well, he's at a loss for words. ]</small]

[icarusalsoflew]

If you didn't have much of it, you wouldn't even be able to do any of the Benedictions that you constantly pull for the Hounds.

[Glancing over, with a reassuring smile.]

Maybe you need to change the way you think about faith?

[ktotheatothez]

Maybe... I just wouldn't know where to start.

[ He runs a hand through his hair at this point. Bit of a stress tell. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[Definitely picking that up. Okay, here: take a stick from his pack. He'll wait for you to light up before speaking.]

Well, first off: do you believe that there is a God?

[Sounds like a dumb question especially since it's coming from your Aniki, right? Welp. Bear with him here.}

[ktotheatothez]

[ Under normal circumstances, he would joke and say "yes, I'm looking at one.", but not this time. ]

I do. Why?

[icarusalsoflew]

Trust me: I'm going somewhere with this.

[And he actually looks serious.]

Why do you believe that there is a god?

[ktotheatothez]

Okay. Mmh... Because I believe there's something more than just human will. Yeah, Elaine lets us do as we please, but that only gets us so far.

[icarusalsoflew]

[Making a thoughtful noise, and taking a drag from his cigarette.]

But what showed you that in the first place?

[ktotheatothez]

[ That question makes Kaz shift in his seat just a little. That's something he's never had to really think about so he's going to think about it before he says anything more.

When he does finally speak up, it's a little hesitant, but for reasons. ]

I guess the most direct example was when I was mulling over which Cross to pick in the Vault. But that's only too recent. No, not that. There's something in deciding the path you walk, when you choose to walk it.

[icarusalsoflew]

[Drag, exhale.]

And what would that "something" be? Was it a feeling, an experience, or...?

[ktotheatothez]

I would say a combination of both, really.

[ Speaking about his time at St. Quincy's isn't exactly like pulling teeth, but it does get difficult at times. ]

I was nineteen and there was a point that I had a feeling that things weren't going as planned. It wasn't the paranoia that they were out to get me, but I was on the high-pole fight course at school, against some guy who was determined to become number one - not Nico.

[ It didn't occur to him until later what happened next saved him. ]

I know I didn't misstep, but as I reached the pole nearest to him, my staff caught on a misplaced winch and the momentum of it swung be back onto a different pole as the one I was supposed to step on collapsed.

[ A pause as he lifts his cigarette to take a drag. ]

His friends had sabotaged it, along with the rest of the nearby poles. If I'd made that step, I would have fallen and probably died. Winches hadn't been included in the programming for the course at all that day.

[icarusalsoflew]

[Listening to that, and mentally cross-checking it with the things that he's heard, and a few of the things that he's seen himself in reports, in visions.]

What happened after that?

[ktotheatothez]

The simulation bugged out. They said I'd tampered with it, and...

[ Kaz was nineteen and ready to move on from St. Quincy's. He'd also just gone back and, with effort, stayed in the top five. ]

And I decided I'd had enough of playing the pariah. Nico and I were new, and people didn't like the fact that I'd risen from the proverbial ashes. I marched myself into the Dean's office and asked that both our records be examined. As far as moves go, it was basically like demanding trial by combat.

[icarusalsoflew]

Something that I think we ought to go back to, honestly.

[Trial by combat was just so much... clearer.

Anyway.]

Go on.

[ktotheatothez]

To be honest, I wouldn't have minded. But the fact was that... It all felt like something else, s'all. Apart from actually telling Nico that there really is a God.

[ There's a thoughtful pause. ]

At the time, I just believed that there was still more for me to do, because it really wasn't all that long after when I saw the Wings for the first time, and soon after, they started speaking to me.

[icarusalsoflew]

[Making a pensive noise at that. He doesn't speak until he's taken another drag from his cigarette.]

What changed, and when? Since you said "at the time".

[ktotheatothez]

...South Korea.

[ If he diverts his gaze from you, it's because that's the chip on his shoulder. The biggest screw-up he made. ]

I realized then that I didn't have to be amazing, I didn't have to do everything on my own, or be the best at everything to step out of the shadows and into the light.

[ There's a chuckle. ]

And then I figured out that I'd made those shadows myself, with help from Alistair.

[icarusalsoflew]

[Yeah, no need to talk much about South Korea after that, even if it WAS your defining moment, little brother.]

Sounds fair. Where does Elaine come into the picture for you there, though? You've talked a lot about your circumstances, your thoughts, and the people who got you there.

[But how does that connect to faith? That's the real question.]

[ktotheatothez]

Well... My Walk, and strangely... Nico. I know it's stupid and greedy to ask something of God when you're actually supposed to be her soldier in the dark and all that.

[ He's never really admitted these things to anyone. ]

But those were the times I asked for help. The day I went up on those poles, the night before the breakfast at the Spires, and the evening I became a Brother in Violence.

[icarusalsoflew]

So it was about finally letting go of your pride. Acknowledging that there is something bigger out there. Accepting help.

[Leading questions, of course, or simply asking.]

[ktotheatothez]

Funny that. It took me longer before, but it's easier now. I mean... I died. Everything else that doesn't involve life or death situations has to be easier now, right?

[ The smile he throws you is genuine, and he just wants to ensure you that he's okay in the sense of his death and all that. ]

[icarusalsoflew]

[A soft laugh at that.]

In my experience, it's only ever as difficult as you make it out to be. Usually.