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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 24, 2011 22:10:01 GMT -5
An understanding smile crossed Abel's face. So that was the issue? He shook his head and said, "I told you I would protect you." He didn't tell Seth he had his own COMP on him. Though it was currently off, so the Harmonizer wasn't active, making it useless. Luckily he had enough experience with humans he could control his strength for the most part, even with the slips he had lately.
"I can understand why you're nervous, though," Abel added. "...A long time ago, those devices were the only things that kept me and my friends alive."
There was a wistful tone to his voice as he spoke. His memories were hazy, but he could remember using those COMPs once upon a time to protect himself. Now he only kept his for ceremonial purposes. The technology had been refined since then, but only higher ranking members of the kingdom were allowed them.
At least, until copies, strangely reminiscent of copies from the past, started showing up on the streets. That was always when he was forced to go after Cain.
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 27, 2011 0:12:15 GMT -5
Seth tried to look convinced at Abel's words, although it was clear he was hesitant about it as well. He wiped his hand on his shirt again, and was looking down at it as Abel spoke. He blinked and looked up as Abel gave his wistful reminsence. He gave a weak smile, one that seemed just as wistful and quite a bit more pained.
"You mean Atsuro? And... uh... Yu...Yoohoo?"
If how his Abel reacted about Atsuro's decisions was any indication, this Abel would be knocked off balance by the mention. Seth couldn't think of just how Atsuro would have dealt with the decisions made by this Abel. As for Yuzu, he'd never met her. But Atsuro had mentioned her a few times, before things had gotten really bad. That nickname had come up, and Seth had used it on purpose. If Atsuro had been right about Abel's obvious interest in her... the combination of mentioning her and using that familiar nickname would acomplish more than just mentioning Atsuro could ever do.
"...how are they?" Seth asked. Maybe, just maybe, he could get an idea how much time had passed since Abel had made this decision. He'd put it at just short of a decade thanks to Cain, but... Seth had no idea the extra power the followup question would bring to the table.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 28, 2011 3:27:06 GMT -5
The man's eyes slightly widened at Seth's words. Those names... It was obvious why he knew Atsuro from his encounter with him at the shrine. But that nickname for Yuzu... had she stayed with him in that world, despite his transgressions? That surprised him. She had been a strong-willed young woman, and she had been so vehemently against following Naoya. Perhaps the King of Bel had forced her to follow him. Perhaps he'd kept her on as a consort.
"They're dead," Abel said. He didn't want to go into more detail than that. He wasn't sure he could; the many years that had passed had muddled his memories. The wistful look faded to a slight regret at his response to Seth's question.
"I've long outlived everyone I cared about..."
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 28, 2011 3:32:34 GMT -5
Seth blinked in genuine surprise at Abel's short answer. It had come out quickly, as if rushed, and with more emotion than Seth had been expecting. Or the wrong emotion. Maybe it was the words. Seth wasn't quite sure. But dead? He glanced away and it was clear he was thinking of something. Would this Abel have killed them? He doubted it would have been by choice, but would YHVH have... he looked back towards Abel with confusion out weighing worry.
"...outlived?" Seth said, questioning the words. Outlived. That wasn't a terminology that implied death. Not from... but Atsuro was seventeen. Seth was tapping his fingers against his palm quickly and suddenly his eyes widened, "How long have you been the Messiah...?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 28, 2011 3:47:32 GMT -5
Abel slightly turned his head to look at Seth when he posed his question. The King of Bel was a very young demon; it was possible Seth hadn't realized that demons didn't age quite yet. It was an honest mistake anyone could make with human formed demons like himself. He didn't even realize that was the case until a good few years after taking the throne. The humans he'd surrounded himself had visibly aged, while he remained the same as he'd ever been.
"I couldn't give an exact length of time," Abel admitted. "After a while, the years begin to run together... It's been at least four hundred years since I took the throne... likely longer."
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 28, 2011 3:54:04 GMT -5
Seth's eyes widened and his jaw feel slack for a moment before he caught himself. The reaction was enough that if Abel was observing, he might notice a loss of years. Years that he hadn't noticed in Seth's eyes yet, but that indicated an age more than he appeared and generally acted. Cain had the same years, although they were harsher. It only lasted forf a mometn though, because Seth quickly shook his head as if coming out of some sort of state.
When he seemed to recover, the years had fled from his eyes, he seemed but seventeen again. He looked like he was ashamed, as well.
"I'm... I'm sorry. I didn't...." Seth grimaced. He was stuttering again. He forced a smile, "You said a walk?"
How many times has Cain incarnated in that world...?
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 28, 2011 22:26:36 GMT -5
Abel had expected that kind of reaction. No one ever seemed to believe just how old he was... It was one of the many downsides to being immortal in the manner he was. Not that he had any desire to die, but it tended to make things inconvenient.
"It's okay," Abel said. Seth mentioned the walk, and Abel walked to the garden door. He pulled it open and walked through the doorway into the garden. He walked forward until he reached an angel statue. His COMP still lay at its foot. There was a blinking light that indicated there was a new message, but Abel ignored it. He was sure he knew what it was, to begin with.
"This garden... I find it quite calming," Abel said. "My only regret is that it isn't better kept than it is..." He turned toward Seth and smiled. "I think it would be an abuse of my power to summon some angel gardeners."
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 29, 2011 20:20:07 GMT -5
Seth hesitated for a moment before seeming uncomfortable with the distance between him and Abel anything else and quickly catching up with the other blue haired individual. He spared a quick glance over his shoulder and scanned the area, pausing a moment longer over one of the broken stained glass windows... the one that the Power was still hanging outside, to be precise. He shuddered as if he'd sensed something but couldn't quite identify it and darted out the door after Abel.
He almost ran into him, although the Messiah didn't seem to notice as he stepped to the side and followed Abel's indication up towards the top of the angel statue. He frowned deeply for a moment, before shivering and rubbing his arms. It was a fair bit cold outside really, it wasn't as if it was spring yet. He glanced at the flowers for a moment and raised an eyebrow. Come to think of it, the flowers always seemed in bloom here. He seemed in thought for a moment. When he'd come to the Island hadn't it been autumn? And yet the flowers seemed no less vibrant now than before.
He looked towards Abel, "Forgive my presumption, Me... erm, Abel, but..." he gestured towards the blooms, "Doesn't this seem odd if no one's taking care of it?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 29, 2011 22:28:06 GMT -5
Abel gave an amused chuckle. "Yes, that is rather strange, isn't it? This is a blessed place... It does not surprise me that it has such strange properties..."
He walked over to a rosebush. He rested an unbloomed bud in his palm. At once, the petals began to unfurl, until a white rose was revealed. He removed his hand from the flower and began to walk down another path in the garden.
"I was never much of a gardener," Abel admitted. "It was always something Cain cared about more. I always liked animals better..." His smile became slightly pained. "I'd like to try to recreate this place when I return to my world, though."
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 30, 2011 1:37:02 GMT -5
Seth had decided a while ago he really wasn't fond of it when demons chuckled. He frowned a bit at that. No, most of them... seemed perfectly capable of some emotion behind it. As often as not it was deranged, but when Abel laughed it always seemed hollow. A poorly acted laugh rather than a true one. His Abel was better about it, but he had a feeling that his Abel was far more human, despite how easily he could see that slipping lately. Naoki seemed more human than him at ti-Seth swatted away the thought and distracted himself with the way Abel was making the rose bloom.
He was genuinely impressed at that, and found himself walking over to the rose to look at it. He looked over to Abel and looked away at the pained grin. He considered for a moment possible lines and the smile came across as a bit more sincere, "I like animals more too, actually... but don't you think this is more than even Cain could do?"
"I could help with that... Although I don't like the idea of not being able to fight," Seth looked back at Abel. He'd relaxed a touch. Either the place or Abel's words seemed to be having some positive effect on his nervousness, "I don't want people to put themselves in danger for my sake. For my problems. I know that sounds stupid..."
(OOC: PARALLEL TO K1'S HUMAN FEELINGS ALERT. XDD)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Aug 31, 2011 6:30:04 GMT -5
Abel looked quite genuinely surprised when Seth offered to help with the garden. The conversation quickly moved to the COMPs, though. While Seth had only said "fight", Abel knew all too well what the boy meant. It was hard for Abel to keep himself calm on this topic; COMPs were dangerous and only humans he could put his complete faith in deserved one. As such, he gained a rather flat, neutral expression, worse than his usual ones. It would be clear to Seth that he was holding back some kind of anger.
"I'll see what I can do," Abel said. "Though I can't give any guarantees; my Lord is very strict about allowing humans to fight in the way you are thinking of. While I can understand why you wish to fight, you likely have not proven yourself yet in his eyes."
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Post by mugenginga on Aug 31, 2011 19:49:41 GMT -5
(OOC: FF you forgot to capitalize "His" XD)
Seth's expression remained with the traces of relaxed softness they'd gained, but there was a steeled determination and jadedness hidden in his eyes as he said the next part. It didn't waver like the rest of his expression and stance when he tried to justify the reasoning for wanting to fight. There seemed to be effort to hold his ground when Abel's expression tightened in kind, and Seth wasn't able to hold the eye contact even long enough for Abel to say his words. He listened to them with his gaze averted.
He closed his eyes tightly, his hands in fists, his face pained, "I-I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking," he let out a dark chuckle and quickly shook it away with a shake of his head, "Forget I said anything, Yo-I mean Me.... dammit! Abel."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 6, 2011 22:11:12 GMT -5
Abel watched Seth stumble over his title, somewhat intrigued and somewhat pitying at the same time. Yet another sign of his counterpart's abuses. He tightened his fists more, only to suddenly release them. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding until then.
"You don't have to apologize," Abel said, though there was still a hint of bitterness to his voice. "Shall we continue on?"
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Post by mugenginga on Sept 6, 2011 22:30:05 GMT -5
Seth tensed up as he heard Abel breath, and it didn't relax when Abel told him he didn't have to apologize. He didn't think he'd be hit at this point. He didn't know if that bothered him more than the worry of if he'd push a conversation too far or not. He forced his fists to unclench after Abel said those words and was turning back towards him when Abel said they should continue. Or asked.
Seth hesitated. This Abel was harder to read. He'd have to get used to the differing signals. As sign of lack of humanity, or age? He'd dealt with demons before, a lot of them gave signals similar to humans. Guarded nature then? That was possible given YHVH... he suddenly stood up straight as he realized he'd been staring at Abel's chin for a while, not answering. He shook his head and forced a smile.
"O-Of course. Sorry," Seth said.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 10, 2011 0:15:59 GMT -5
Abel nodded and stepped to walk down the pathway once again. He stopped after walking for a bit and turned toward the window. He was sure he knew what was lurking there. An angel that had clearly not learned its place.
He looked toward Seth, and asked, "What did you tell Abel to convince him to let you come here?"
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