♪ tenth hymn. [Action/Voice]

[seleniahymn]

[To say that these past weeks have been difficult would be putting it far too lightly, and placing her ongoing situation into a kinder light that hardly matched the turmoil she felt. Everyone she had spoken with had acted so strangely around her that she wasn't sure what to do or what to think, leading her to avoid speaking with anyone

Comments

[ action ]

[mistyarc]

[Tear's a faintly nostalgic and familiar sight to see -- and one that has Hubert also violently stopping in his tracks when he remembers her. Before he can do anything else, he reflexively digs his heel and almost jumps back when Tear starts and calls out --

Uncle? Is that . . .

He has to investigate.]

What is going on here?

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

[Dear Great One she did not expect to run into one of her children here. Nevermind that this bridge is fairly close to their 'home' and she just made a public fool of herself in reaction to Jade's current form. This was not the proper way to act before her son.]

Ah, Hubert... I didn't see you there...[Still keeping an eye on you, Jade. :|]

[Action]

[mistyarc]

[Hubert isn't close enough to see Jade yet, given the distance between them and the angle he's standing at. As a little strange as it is to be speaking with Tear after all that, he can try for her sake. Especially when Tear seems awfully casual about greeting him.]

Is something amiss?

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

Well... [How does one explain that their great uncle may have somehow turned into a shark? If it even was him in the first place, there was no way for her to be sure without confirmation from the creature itself.]

It's nothing that you need to worry about right now, I think...

[Action]

[mistyarc]

[She thinks? As far as he can remember, Tear is more certain than that.]

But it is a potential issue.

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

[Well what would you do if your relative were to suddenly turn into a water-based creature? Regardless she lets out a quiet sigh; Hubert had always been rather perceptive, hadn't he?]

Did you happen to see something in the water, Hubert? Anything out of the ordinary?

[Action]

[mistyarc]

[No clue, okay. Hubert eyes the surface of the water by the bridge when she asks, although he can't really see anything beyond that.]

No . . . did you?

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

I thought I saw... no, I know I saw a shark, but... [Peering into the water again, where could he have gone?]

... It looked eerily like your great uncle...

[Action]

[mistyarc]

[He pauses and almost recoils. Almost.]

Great uncle?

[His great uncle. Tear is --

Right now, his great uncle is Jade. Fine. Because he repeated her words earlier in a tone of confusion, he can use it as a way of indicating that he was surprised rather than bewildered that she'd consider them related.]

. . . is he still there?

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

[Luckily for him Tear doesn't pick up on why he is confused, assuming that it had to do with Jade's state rather than that she isn't his mother.]

I don't see him anymore, perhaps it was a trick of the light. Why would a shark even be in the river?

[Action]

[mistyarc]

Anything is possible in Luceti -- is the general consensus.

[For a good measure, he closes the distance between them, checking the water as he does so. He doesn't see any trace of a . . . great uncle shark.]

Perhaps it was a trick, after all.

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

You're right... [She steps back from the railing with a quiet sigh, closing her eyes so that she may better regain her composure before addressing Hubert properly. Was he really ready for this just yet, having avoided them this long?]

You look well, Hubert...

[Action]

[mistyarc]

. . . well enough. Did you just return?

[It's a question with different meanings depending on where she's coming from. If she's behaving this way but hadn't sought them out earlier, then it could be an effect of a kidnapping and experiment. Or she's just been somewhere else the whole time.]

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

... I'm ashamed to say that it's been a while since I returned. While I remember being part of a battle... I was injured enough that I had to be taken care of by your grandmother for at least a week. [And after that, she'd almost been scared to seek out her family, having noticed all the conflicting information even while injured.]

[Action]

[mistyarc]

. . . a battle?

[With the draft that he was a part of recently and all, he has to search his memory for anything about that. It's proving rather difficult.

But it's good that Nephry -- was it? -- has been taking care of her.]

[Action]

[seleniahymn]

Yes, an escort mission your father was involved in as well. [Though in reality she was recalling the draft in the jungle, from which they suffered from a horrible defeat.]