i've flown so far away

[lil_ladypoison]

Who: Merry Weather, Cain, and anyone else in Emmeline's house!
What: Time for a family reunion ♥
When: Afternoon-ish.
Where: Emmeline's house.
Rating: G, probably!

Comments

[cursed_by_birth]

Cain wrapped arms around her when he felt Merry cling to him. "Don't cry Merry. It's really me." The words themselves seem inadequate and he just tightened his arms around her. He'd never honestly expected to see her again and now...

[lil_ladypoison]

She was quiet for a moment, simply reveling in his voice. And then she started crying again, because she had nearly forgotten the regal, almost haughty lilt of it, after only a year. She had tried to cling to that and many other things, but as everything does, it had faded with time. But it was returning to her now, and she was all the more grateful for it.

"Then what are you doing here, Older Brother?" Merry rubbed at her eyes before peeking up at him properly. "What am I doing here? I...don't know where this is."

[cursed_by_birth]

"..I arrived here not long ago myself, Merry. It's a city..but it's not like London. A lot of people from home are here as well, though." Cain guided her into a room to sit down with her so they could talk.

[lil_ladypoison]

Merry dipped her head in slight understanding. She was, at least, glad that she was still in a semblance of society instead of some remote place. But it was too strange. Everything felt different.

She sat down on a couch, her brow furrowing at the mention of others from home. "I know Oscar is here. I heard him over that strange telephone thing in the room. But who else...?" She trailed off, unsure if she should bring up Riff. Was he here as well?

[cursed_by_birth]

"..Riff, Dominic Crehador, Emmeline Rotterdale," Cain wasn't going to bring up the other two yet, although his fingers closed briefly around the cross he wore. "Those are the only ones you need to be concerned with right now, Merry. After..we parted, can you tell me what happened?"

[lil_ladypoison]

Her eyes widened at the list. It wasn't too much of a surprise that Riff was here...she knew that the faithful butler, their Riff, would follow him wherever he went. Crehador had mysteriously disappeared after that incident, so knowing that he was here as well was...fine. But Emmeline...she was dead. They had attended her funeral--! How was it that she could be here?

Merry gave him an uncertain look after the names, but decided not to question it right now. It still gave her the chills to think that Emmeline might have...come back from the dead? Like Aunt Augusta? She tried to hide her uncomfortable shudder before answering his question.

"I was appointed head of the Hargreaves family," she said quietly. "It's...only been about a year since you've gone, so not much has happened."

[cursed_by_birth]

"A year. I see. Uncle Neil was assisting you as well, I hope. I had left the paperwork and everything to make the title yours." Cain paused for a moment before sighing. "..What happened ..after I left you? We stopped Delilah but.. after that.."

[tea_is_served]

"There you a-"

He had been looking for Cain. It was harder to let the young man out of his sight after spending so much time apart from him. It simply made him uneasy, like some underlying fear that if he wasn't watching him, he might disappear. But when he rounded the corner, the last thing he expected was to find Merryweather as well.

The butler rushed towards the two and kneeled down in front of her, still a bit shocked. The last time he had seen her she had gone away with... Ashura, was it? That strange friend of Cain's that he was sure Cain wouldn't remember if he asked him at this time. She looked different now though, not significantly, but notably.

[lil_ladypoison]

Merry was about to answer her brother's question when she heard a familiar voice behind them. She was almost hesitant, but she determinedly turned her head to look at Riff, her blue eyes watching him steadily and critically. Any doubts that she had about his character were cleared up when he knelt before her, and the little girl was relieved and happy to see the same gentle (though right now it was a little shocked) gaze of the Hargreaves butler she had grown to know so well.

"Hello Riff," she said quietly, a small smile on her lips. She noticed, this time, when she started crying again. She couldn't help it-- she was getting her family back. "Are you doing well?"

[tea_is_served]

"Quite well," he said after brushing some of her tears away with the back of his hand.

He was only well because of what Cain had endured to give him this new body.
It occurred to him how lucky it was that she'd gone before it had begun to fail him, and was back now that it was 'fixed'; that he could greet her like this, and not as Riffael or some abomination that was falling apart at every seam. He wouldn't have wanted to trouble her with such awful knowledge.

"It's so good to see you again, Miss Merryweather."

[cursed_by_birth]

Cain watched the two of them quietly, his expression briefly unreadable before he relaxed slightly.

[lil_ladypoison]

Merry smiled more brightly at Riff's answer, surprised but not ungrateful for his kind gesture. She rubbed the last tears off of her face before she pursed her lips, trying to look serious despite her happiness at seeing the two of them again.

"I'm very glad to see you too, Riff. And Older Brother too. I'm so very happy to see you both again." She clutched at her dress, her brow furrowing in concentration as she tried to figure out how to word her question. "But I don't understand. It's been a year, is this where you two have been? And how is...how is Emmeline here too? Isn't she...?"

She trailed off before shaking her head, giving them a direct look. "Don't hide it from me, or I'll get mad at you two. And I'll have to go ask Oscar." And by the pouty look on her face after she declared this, it was obvious she would rather not go that far.

[cursed_by_birth]

"...I've only been here about two weeks, Merry." Cain answered after a moment. "Emmeline, Oscar and Riff are from around the time we went to the Rotterdale estate regarding my engagement. The last thing I remember before coming here was the tower collapsing, and you say you came from a year later? It seems very confusing that they would pull us from different points like that."

[tea_is_served]

Riff straightened back up to a standing position and smoothed down his pants while Cain began to explain.

"This place knows no logic... It's true that the last thing I remember of home was the time Cain spoke of. But I've been here... for years," he admitted quietly. "And Cain, and Miss Merryweather; you were both here once before."

[lil_ladypoison]

That...was just confusing. Merry held her head, scrunching her face into an almost comical expression. "What?" she finally asked, which nearly aptly summarized her feelings on it. "Different times? I've been here before?" It was almost like a story from her books-- like Alice visiting Wonderland, only more confusing.

Oh wait, if she thought of it like that...

Oh. It made more sense now. So this place wasn't Earth-- what she knew to be Earth, anyways.

"Then what brought us here...?"

[tea_is_served]

"No one has even come close to answering that question, at least not in time I've been here," Riff responded honestly. She had many valid questions, but there were just so few answers to go around.

It was all quite mysterious and out of their control really. So the residents of this place either eventually learned to remain calm and take whichever path was placed in front of them, or ... lost their sanity entirely.
He had to admit though, that it felt so strange to tell them they had visited this place before, while he was sure neither remembered. He wondered if it had even been them then, or if it was truly them now. But those were always dangerous questions to ask oneself, and he quickly pushed them to the back of his mind.