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 Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2014 5:18 pm
~::The Kids Who Leaped Through Time::~
(Mysterious Plot of Land, Inaba Area - 3:25 PM, After School. September 13, 2012)
In the morning hours over the skies of Okina City at the heart of the Supernatural Hotbed, a gaping, black hole opens...and from within, an unknown number of lights streak down from above, scattering all across the region...figures of unknown origin, unknown make-up, a mystery as true as there ever was...and behind them came the dark, streaks of blackness following behind the lights, dogging their movements in each direction...again, scattered. Where they came from is unknown, and what sort of events their arrival may portend remains a mystery to the few who bore witness to the strange phenomenon in the wee hours of the morning. However, one thing is abundantly clear; something strange is happening in the Supernatural Hotbed, and while that's not entirely unusual for the region, there's something that feels...eerie about the arrival, particularly in the darkness that followed them through the portal that opened itself in the sky. Something wrong...unnatural...but what awaits for those who dare to investigate the phenomenon is a strangeness that must be seen to be believed.
A hope sent out across time and space...the future...
...
One of the streaks of light and dark crashed right at the heart of a mysterious plot of land in the Inaba area during the lunch hour of September 13th...what awaits, however, remains known only to those who dare to discover...
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Posted: Thu Apr 10, 2014 5:10 pm
Narue Taihaku  "Did we make it? Hey! We made it, Aeon! ... ... ... Aeon?" The girl whirled on her place, wide eyes searching, looking for the blue-skinned wizard...the only person who could keep her under control. "Where are you, you talking clock?!" Her voice came out in a high-pitch squeak, the anxiousness growing by the moment. She couldn't be alone! She... she couldn't! "And where are the others?" This was bad. This was soooooo bad. Once again she turned around to gaze her surroundings, barely caring about the clean air and peaceful silence that engulfed that world. The only thing on her mind right now was that her protector wasn't where he was supposed to be... Now she was growing frantic, the glamour made to conceal her true form faltering, almost like a distorted image on a screen, the aura around her growing darker by the moment. With each passing second, her skin grew paler, and little streaks of multicolored hair replaced the dull brown. "San! Please...we have to find them... We have to find him..." At least, San would understand, right? They had been together for so long...If there was anybody...anybody...that actually cared for her, not including Aeon, of course...it would be San. Her hands trembled, and she could feel her control slipping through her fingers. She...she needed to calm down. They would find each other, right? How...how far could they be?
"Alright...we were all together in the Corridor...and we had to run from those freaks chasing us, right? So...we are all in the same world at least." Or at the very least she hoped so. If not, well...she'd doomed this whole world as well. And somehow...that...sounded ironic. Cold giggles erupted from small lips, her shoulders shaking as the laughter grew in volume. Though, if someone where to actually care to look, fear could be reflected in her eyes.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 3:40 pm
 The Last GiantThere was no emotion, no passion... only a terrible sound as an enormous thing lurched forward. It had ridden on the mists of time and emerged with the children who'd jumped through it... and now? It saw people. PEOPLE. To complain about its actions was like complaining about a hurricane or an earthquake - it simply struck, with all of the terrible fury of nature, lashing out towards Narue with one enormous hand. Literally, in fact - said hand was attached to an arm that it had ripped off of its own shoulder and was swinging as a weapon for added reach and power.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 4:47 pm
Narue Taihaku Eyes shifted to the source of the noise the moment it was heard, the portal that had taken them to this world not closing in time, and giving way to a monstrous creature that had been following them inside the Corridor. Anybody else would have reacted to the vicious way the Giant launched forward with a promise of death. Anybody would jump out of the way, hoping that the arm used as a club wouldn't slam and squish them like a fly. The Taihaku girl though, looked at the creature with amused eyes, almost as if expecting...waiting for the perfect moment. Her eye, not unlike her father's, could see the movements of her enemies before time; almost as if the fiend were in the slowest motion; and she could step aside almost effortlessly away from the attack. Giggles escaped her lips the moment the arm-club crashed on the ground, before lips curled down into a frown.
"Tsk tsk... Attacking out of nowhere like that... So rude!" The girl pouted, though, despite the taunts, her hands could be seen trembling, and her entire body tense. "You know, Mr. Monster Giant...this isn't a great time for me... I just got separated from my group and from the only person that can keep me sane..." Her voice seemed to quicken and get higher in pitch with each word, not that the Last Giant cared or understood her distress, though. "And you come here only wanting to squish me with that club of yours... And even if I want to just rip off your other arm and shove it down your throat..." A dark smirk appeared on her lips, her voice turning vicious and dangerous...just like the aura around her. "...My daddy taught me otherwise." In that moment though...a black substance seemed to ooze down her arms...dripping down from her fingers to the grass below.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
A short sword found its way to her hand, and the girl unsheathed it with the utmost care...the only thought that kept clear in her head. Everything else was fuzzy...a bothersome static driving her insane. Aeon...where are you? It wouldn't be much longer before she...
"I'll tell you a secret, though..." Her eyes were wild, her dark smile growing even more. "... My daddy isn't here anymore..."
It was only a whisper...
And then she moved with a speed that should have been impossible for someone as unstable as her...; jumping over the arm, using it as a bridge to get closer to more vital points on the enemy. "Now, DIE!" The sword crackled with electricity as it pierced the skin on the creature's neck...or what appeared to be its neck...and hopefully, it would do as she asked.
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 5:35 pm
 Seo Tachibana-Hakushaku, Demon Lord of Kyushu"Lovely lady, would you like to make an heir with me?"Her speed and reaction were extraordinary; the Giant, lithe as it was for such a massive thing, had no answer for it. Lightning caught in her blade and blood flowed from the neck as the monster stumbled back and away from the young woman oozing more than just power...but her blade's bite hadn't been quite deep enough for her to finish the job in one move. It was angry now, its faceless body screeching in anger and hatred; it reeled back and stood up to its full height at last, towering over her like the looming shadow of cloud reach to strike down upon her in a fury that would hold all the wrath of the Earth within...and then as if to answer the beast's call, a bolt of lightning struck down out of the gathering storm above right down through the top of the head of the monster...tearing through towards the bottom...until at last its cries died and its body ceased to writhe and twitch and jerk in anger...pausing on its feet where it stood as cold and still as icy death.
...And then, as if it had been carved by the knives of the gods themselves...its body rent, perfectly parted down the center...and black-red blood suddenly spewed from the bottom of this giant, rent thing upon the ground and spread out in a vicious pool. If one didn't know any better, they might have thought that the very Earth itself was rebelling against this unnatural thing and split it, killing it where it stood to prevent its corruption.
...To the initiated, however, like Narue Tachibana-Hakushaku...that bolt of lightning and its perfected cut could only mean one thing. One...impossible, serendipitous thing...
...
"Viral, do make a note of this...it's been some time since I could stretch out and walk about outside as I am now," an easygoing, yet trained and lordly voice spoke out above the din of thunder distantly rumbling and the parting of the stormclouds overhead...and in his hand he held a sword that looked so exact to the one within her hands that she might have thought them cloned if she had not come from another place in time...his eye was covered by a talisman and the steel in his hand still crackled with spent lightning, his lips curled into a casual and warm smile as he rolled his shoulder as if easing away months of idle misuse following his initial swing, "And how was it that I was not aware there were giants about? Gyuki! Gyuki?! Where has he gone now..." his uncovered eye twisted about, but he saw no sign of his adviser...for he hadn't even come on this expedition, though his lord had forgotten. "I should know about these things, shouldn't I? Why wasn't I informed? And..."
His rambling train of thought was paused by the sight of a young girl standing with a sword that he wouldn't have overlooked from a distance ten times the current short gait between them. She looked to him quite familiar now that he thought of it...beautiful and young and oozing...wait, oozing?! Now he was really curious! Little did he see that 'oozed' aside from those gelatinous yogurt sticks he had been introduced to by Maigo some time ago...that, and the thick blood from his lungs occasionally when his illness overcame him and he couldn't help but cough it out, but...who was this interesting person? And why did she seem so...well...no, he couldn't think it. But then, he saw her eye, and...his own eye opened in mild wonder, his lips curling into a smile that radiated warmth his blood-splattered clothes and crackling, powerful sword wouldn't have hinted at. In his expression, however, there was nothing but an inviting, wholesome presence...that of a man who cared deeply and loved and had a large family to whom he was intensely loyal. He was...despite his great youth...much like a father in his countenance...a lord, yes, a King perhaps amongst his people. But to her, perhaps, something more...
"My, my...you have the look of someone I can't quite put my finger on. You wouldn't happen to know my lovely Suko-chan, would you?" the Lord asked as he approached the girl with his arms slowly folding before him...the thin blade disappearing back into his sleeve, "Ah, but I forget my manners! My humble greetings, Miss...I am the Lord of the Tachibana-Hakushaku of Kyushu, but you may call me Se-BLARGH!"
...
And just as he made to introduce himself his exertion seemed to have caught up with him, his skin going pale and almost green for a moment as he coughed and seized, bending over at the stomach to spit out a smattering of blood upon the puddle of giant blood that was oozing about their feet. His eye closed warmly as he offered a comforting smile to the girl to keep her at ease...this sort of thing happened fairly often to him, after all, and it wouldn't do if she went and got some wild idea that he might be dying soon or something (which he probably was)...even as the blood stained his chin and cheek to make his smile almost pathetic if not a bit...disturbing. Surely somebody would interrupt him soon before he made a bigger fool of himself, right?
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Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 6:27 pm
Narue Taihaku It was impossible to miss that perfect demonstration of power...that lightning fast attack...precise and deadly. It was impossible to give credit to Nature...for she knew that attack. It was the same she would use...the same she had learn so many years ago; and yet it would seem even child-like, compared to the real deal she had just experienced. It was impossible, though...or well, no. It wasn't impossible...she was back in time, and obviously he would be alive in this space and time...but it seemed impossible for her to meet with someone so important...so close to her heart... Someone she had missed so much ever since he...
"Da...ddy...?" Her voice cracked...words leaving her lips just above a whisper...only for herself to hear. She had been afraid of meeting him...unlike most of the others, who talked about getting reunited with their parents. And the moment she heard that voice...that same voice that had said her name and had cooed comforting and loving words to her...she didn't know what to do. She had been afraid... Perhaps of seeing him again, and remembering that back in her world, he had succumbed to the illness that plagued him after so many years of protecting his family. Perhaps...she was afraid he'd recognize her...and he'd be disappointed on the future that awaited him...Perhaps...she...was just too afraid of showing him what she had become...even if she knew it wouldn't mean anything...since he wouldn't have any idea of who she was.
And so, the Lord of the Taihaku Clan appeared before her, so young...healthier than she had ever seen him...and Narue Tachibana-Hakushaku couldn't help but to freeze in place...staring...wanting to imprint that image on her brain...fighting the tears that threatened on spilling out. He might have been younger...but he acted just the same way she remembered...So carefree...distracted even...And that smile was one she couldn't ever forget...even if she had wanted to. Their eyes met, and Narue jumped, suddenly shy under his gaze. He had taken over her thoughts so, that the static inside of her mind was pushed away to a second plane... her nervousness and stress shifting over to something completely different. It was almost as if she had forgotten where she was...and the situation she was in. Almost as if she was back home and she was a little girl all over again, and she had caused some mischief on the Estate...like hiding Viral's notes...or doodling over some of Gyuki's books...playing with Kappa...
The girl hid her arms behind her back, and shifted slightly on her place as Lord Seo tried placing her, a wry smile curling at her lips at the mention of the little nickname he had for her mother. "N-no... I don't...think I know this person you are talking about..." It would be best to keep to herself for now, wouldn't it? After all...she wouldn't want him to...
Her train of thought was derailed when a coughing fit took over the frail man in front of her, and it was all it took for her defenses to break. For her walls to fall. In an instant, she was by his side, her arms supporting his frame as he cough..."You should be more careful! You can't just carelessly use your power like that! You know how it affects you when you ...-!!" The girl said reproachfully, ripping a piece of her sweater and giving it to him...before reacting to what she had just said...and how that would definitely ruined her plan of staying anonymous.
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 7:43 pm
Seo Tachibana-Hakushaku, Demon Lord of Kyushu"Lovely lady, would you like to make an heir with me?"If there was one small, enjoyable factor to being terminally ill it was most certainly that there was no lack of attention from lovely ladies in his moments of weakness, their kind hearts extending themselves to keep him breathing and on his feet whether for the sake of the family or the goodness within them urging one and another to help a person in need. His one visible eye flashed as he smiled faintly, accepting the gift of cloth from the girl to wipe away the blood from his chin carefully...gaze never leaving the girl, a small something registering within them as she fussed over him. One could say that Lord Seo Taihaku was certainly eccentric and strange, but none who knew him could ever say that the man was a fool...err...in a sense that he was ignorant or unaware of the world around him at least. He was impressively perceptive at all times, a trait imbued within him by his eye and trained to a perfected edge during his youth as he learned to harness the powers of the Mangekyo and the blade of his family. This girl...he hadn't been wrong when he saw her the first time, finding something familiar in the way that she looked, the way that she moved, the way that she spoke, smelled, sounded...his frail fingers found her shoulder and gently used it to steady himself, surprising himself with how natural and practiced the act was for the both of them. She was tender in spite of the distance she had initially tried to keep, and he could tell from her automatic response she had tended to someone like him before...though to him, it felt almost as though she had tended to...him before. Could that be? But he didn't remember...
"My, what a sweet girl you are. I am truly fortunate to have..." the weakened man paused to let his breath catch up with him, still struggling to regain his composure from before after the nasty coughing fit...though his valorous smile made it clear that he was putting on as fit a face as he could so that the girl need not worry about him, "...such a lovely young woman fussing over me. I bet your parents are very proud of you..." His eye followed hers directly as he emphasized a single word in the last part of his sentence, picking up the reaction closely this time...almost as though it had been spoken not just as an honest summation of her generosity (which it was), but as a test of some sorts to judge her...to read deeper into her character, her heart, her identity that she initially tried to keep hidden. Taking in the subtle facial twinges, he looked over his shoulder and spoke again almost offhandedly, addressing the other members of his family that might have been wary about allowing him to stand so close to a stranger in his condition. "Viral, don't you think her parents must be proud of her? Note this..." he spoke up, before glancing back to the girl with this look in his eye that spoke volumes more than anything that needed to be said. His lips curled softly, with a familiarity that must have seemed so usual to her and so strange to everyone else gathered...his other hand found the girl's other shoulder as he squared himself up to face her directly.
If this were anyone else, he had no doubt that this girl might have tossed him away from her...hit him, distanced herself immediately...but Seo was and had always been a Lord, the Lord of the Taihaku to whom hands were not raised inside his house except in jest and humor. And he had a feeling this girl knew just that...he knew, careful and tender as she was, that he didn't need to fear this girl...and as he scanned her over just once his still-sharp mind began to piece together the information before him into something not quite complete as a picture...but something...recognizable. Just who was this girl to him, he wondered...? Only one person knew the answer to that question.
"Your parents...the parents of my savior...I'd very much like to meet them," his noble voice was soft, gentle, almost paternal as he looked at her...suddenly seeming every bit the young lord that he was again, straightening his back against the burning in his lungs protesting against it. His lips were softly set into a smile as he found her eye, that eye, and his thumb raised idly to brush away a lock of stray hair that hung over the symbol that he knew so well. "'You can't just carelessly use your power like that! You know how it affects you when you...' ...You know, I always wished I'd had a sibling, but my parents never had the time after I was born, what with the Shimazu constantly bothering us and the demons raging in Kyushu. My lovely Suko-chan...you'd never know it to see how wonderfully considerate she is now, but she was quite a rebellious one...she caused quite a bit of trouble for our family before I found her. And you have her spirit, I think...and my power..."
His fingers tightened ever-so-slightly on her shoulder, but remained gentle all the time...he didn't say anything further, didn't want to imply or guess or embarrass the girl if the wild idea forming inside of his head was off-base. There was just no way that could be the truth, and yet...he had never been one to mistrust what he could see plainly with his own eyes. Not with his eye...
"May I ask your *HACK*" just a momentary cough this time, though a spattering of crimson stained the cloth of her sweater she had given him...he smiled, wiped his mouth, and never let his countenance slip for even a moment once he had recovered, "...May I ask your name, my lovely lady?"
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Posted: Sat Sep 13, 2014 9:15 pm
Narue Taihaku Her heart was pounding and her stomach was all tied in knots at the sight of the weakened frame of her father, the blood wiped from the corner of the lips, and the sheepish smile he gave her. It had been years since her fathered passed away in her time...and still, seeing him now like this made her mad with worry. As a little girl, she hadn't understood what was going on, and Lord Seo, in his carefree nature, always did the best he could to hide that side of him from his daughter. For years she was blissfully oblivious, always jumping on his back, nuzzling into his neck, demanding piggyback rides and kisses and hugs. And he would never deny her, despite her mother's stern words. It wasn't until she was a bit older than she saw the exhaustion in his body, the grimace hidden behind a smile and a carefree joke, the shaking of his hands...she hadn't had more much time with him after that. The sight of him here and now brought back all those feelings and thoughts; and they hit her so hard it was almost hard to breath. Or perhaps that was just the panic she felt at almost blowing her cover. One of the two. Hopefully, he hadn't heard her, or just took it as normal worry over a sick person.
As improbable as that was. She knew him very well, after all...
She let him use her shoulder as support, helping him to find his balance, a tiny smile meant only for herself peeking at the corner of her lips. Despite everything, being with her father made her incredibly happy. Being this close...being able to talk to him again, even if he didn't know who she was...it was enough for the girl. "It was nothing...d- sir, really..." It was so awkward addressing him so formally; the word 'sir' didn't roll well in her tongue, and it slipped her lips almost clumsily. A sheepish, a bit forced smile formed on her lips as the girl accepted his thanks, only for it to freeze a second later, as he mentioned her parents. A visible flinch shook her body, and Seo would definitely notice. Eyes lowered for a moment, and she gulped, her mouth suddenly dry. Still, she looked back up at him, trying, albeit failing, to keep her paper-thin disguise up...trying to look as casual as much as she could. He was hitting her right at her weaknesses though, and when she opened her mouth to answer, she could almost feel herself choking on the knot in her throat.
"My parents...? Well..." Her gaze had once again lowered to look at her own feet, when, she hadn't even noticed. When she felt a gentle weight on her both her shoulders, Narue looked up, finding the face of someone who was very dear to him. He hadn't really changed much, she could see... Back in the future, he had been paler though.... and well, his eyes now weren't as tired, and the bags under his eyes weren't as dark. He was eighteen or so years younger...but he was still her father. Or well, he would be. And she let him be this close, not moving an inch from where she stood. He looked at her with some recognition, almost as if trying to really remember when he'd see her before. Did he...know?
"My parents..." she tried once again, letting out a soft sigh to calm herself down... "My dad...passed away when I was a little girl..." Her eyes never left his, looking for some kind of reaction in his face, just in the same way he was observing her. "And my mother not long after that..." Maybe...that would direct his attention elsewhere. Perhaps then...he'd stop looking for answers about her identity.
His next words though let the demoness know that she had been found out. Or at least, she knew that the Lord of the Taihaku had some notion of their relation. When his thumb brushed away a lock of hair over her eye, she knew she had been doomed since the start. That eye gave away everything, didn't it? Perhaps she should have covered it...Then again, how could have she known she'd meet with her father a few minutes after she arrived in this Time? Still, he touched her with such tenderness, her body reacted by instinct...her head tilting ever so slightly into that hand...She had forgotten how much she had missed her father. Narue kept quiet all the time, letting him talk and come up with the conclusion on his own. It wasn't the first time he'd mentioned she had her mother's spirit...and somehow that made her smile inwardly. And she did inherit his eye...his power...
The girl just looked at him, as if wanting to memorize this image of him... "My name is..." She looked at him as she tried to make up her mind about her next actions. She couldn't lie to him anymore...and to be completely honest, she didn't really want to. But... the fear still linger...the fear of him not wanting her after finding out what she had become... The fear of not being what he had expected.
A sigh escaped her lips...teal orbs focused on him, and only him.
"Narue...Tachibana-Hakushaku."
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Posted: Tue Sep 30, 2014 7:39 am
Seo Tachibana-Hakushaku, Demon Lord of Kyushu"Lovely lady, would you like to make an heir with me?"Yes, it was pointless to try to deceive the eye of the Lord of the Tachibana-Hakushaku Demon Clan; they could perceive things that any normal person, any normal demon, couldn't even begin to imagine and Narue knew that as well as anybody. The discerning eye of the frail-looking one man seemed to focus on her and look right through her, inquisitive and piercing, and by the time that she had decided that there was on use hiding her identity it was likely already too late. Something seemed to register painfully inside of the young lord's eye as the girl told him that her parents had died when she was young; if it weren't for his certainty that his own family had never had another child apart from himself he would have wondered if she were indeed his long-lost sister...looking so similar to him, possessing that unmistakable eye...but there were parts of her that were so familiar, so close to someone else who was close to him now...it was impossible for the two not to be related to one another. But if she was related to her, and related to himself, and the two hadn't been related in their clans' histories until now...that only meant...but wasn't that?
"Narue...that's a lovely name," the Lord mumbled idly, his thin, pale face curling its lips into a thoughtful expression that was slowly dawning...life creeping into this handsome image of walking death little by little, and...wait, wasn't he supposed to have already figured this out? Why was he looking so pleasantly... "...Tachibana...Ha-kush-a-kuuuOHMY! OHMYOHMYOHMY!"
...Surprised?!
"Are you really...?" he left the question open-ended as his thin, gentle fingers suddenly seized her cheeks in a soft, exploratory gesture and brushed over the skin there...thumb padding over as his eyes searched her thoroughly, feeling, watching, observing like a hawk in case some strange fate might come out of the clouds and tell him that what he was seeing was some kind of strange joke Kappa decided to play on him...but the skin was real, that eye was real, her power that he had witnessed were real, "Goodness, you're lovely...did I really...? Did Suko-chan really...Suko-chan! SUKO-CHAN! MY LOVELY SUKO-CHAN! WE DID I-BLARGH*HACK*COUGH!" Turning dramatically from the girl, he raised his arms to the sky and shouted out his unbridled joy to the heavens so hard that he nearly went into another full convulsion, catching his breath only after a few moments of hacking that brought thick tears to the corner of his crimson eye. Yeah, that was it, the coughing did that...and he'd say as much when he turned around with a mile-wide smile that made him look like a child on Christmas discovering a brand new puppy, shimmering happy tears leaking from the corner of his eye as he looked over the girl one more time, seeing for certain the truth of the matter. Was it crazy? Absolutely...his kid? This old? Logically it didn't make sense, but as a demon he had heard before of the Corridor...of the strange ways that time could bend...had he believed them? ...Well, now he knew. His eye...he couldn't be fooled so easily. And he knew...in his heart, in his mind, he knew that what he saw was the real thing.
And it filled his heart with a pride and joy that could have (and nearly did a moment earlier) stricken him dead on the spot.
"Narue Taihaku!" the small, weak-looking man in the black robes suddenly seized the girl into a hug so tight that he lifted her off of the ground, belying the strength still dormant within his deathly frame...and no sooner had he set her back down than his fingers were poking and touching everywhere...her cheeks, her hair, his thumb even tracing her lips as if to commit every inch of his 'daughter' to memory instantly (which he already had, but his enthusiasm was to be admired)...and engrave upon his mind the truth of what he had, in some world, made in this beautiful child. His child...his heir! He had an heir!! HE HAD AN HEIR!!! "VIRAL! Make note of this...in fact, send out a missive to every demon in Japan! I HAVE AN HEIRESS! A beautiful, strong, wonderful heiress AND ANYBODY THAT TOUCHES HER WILL ANSWER TO ME! *HACK!BLARGH!* ...I HAVE AN HEIRESS!" As he shouted, he spun around the girl in a whir, eventually settling down after a long few moments to settle an arm around the girl's shoulder...before seeming to reconsider and stepping out in front of her, beaming brightly out into the distance and then back at the girl. He seemed so...full of life right now, like his clan had almost never seen him before. All of the melancholy, the guilt, the fear of the future of his clan...of his never finding the courage to have an heir, to hurt a woman by leaving her in his youth with a child because of his illness, his disappointment in his frailty were all melted away by this one face...this one voice...and now in place of that grave man was this thin, brittle ball full of fatherly pride and energy! ...He'd be lucky if he didn't break himself, really.
"Rue-chan!" Baby names already, really? "There's so much to do! I need to introduce you to the others! To your mother! ...Wait, do they already know you? Or...would you know them but they wouldn't...? No matter! Come, hop on Daddy's back!" he beamed brightly, any logical argument or consideration that this entire thing was a hoax long having flown the coop with his enthusiasm in its place...and a smile that was filled to the very brim with unconditional love, "I'm not so frail as I look, really! I'll carry you home! ...I've always wanted to try this!" He laughed, he smiled...and despite the imminent disaster of putting such stress on his body, it just might have been a bit too hard to deny...
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Posted: Mon Oct 13, 2014 7:07 pm
Narue Taihaku Tension took over the girl after the truth of her name left her lips, expecting some huge reaction. Her shoulders tensed, she shrunk into herself, and her eyes closed in a wince. But...no reaction came. The Lord of the Taihaku continued with the conversation as if talking about the weather; so calm and light that Narue questioned for a moment if he had heard her. Ah! No...there it was. Though if the dark haired demoness was being honest, she hadn't been expecting this kind of reaction either. If some stranger came to you and told you their were your daughter from some post apocalyptic future...you'd at least take the news with skepticism. Not Lord Seo. Lord Seo would believe said stranger completely and proceed to memorize her, fingers brushing over skin, eye observing everything about her...and Narue couldn't help the rosy tint creeping into her cheeks. Still, she managed a little nod of confirmation, his happiness and energy turning contagious as a little smile tugged at the corner of the girl's lips.
His excitement was too much though, a coughing fit taking over. "H-hey! Hey be careful! I don't want you to die before ti-EEK!" The embrace took her off guard, and the red color in her face accentuated even more as he continued to poke and touch her hair, cheeks, lips. "No! Don't poke me! I am ticklish and- eep!" She squirmed and shifted...but a smile kept plastered in her face. Was this parental embarassment? And yet, the girl couldn't help the fluttering of her heart with the show of affection...a show of affection she had missed since so long...so many years ago. Narue Taihaku had spent so many years trying to keep people away ever since the incident...and of course people had obliged the moment they had learned she was infected. This though...felt so...nice.
Her father (or who would be her father in the future) looked so ecstatic and proud and so much like a kid right now that Narue couldn't help the chuckles escaping her...before abruptly taking her arms around him, hugging him tightly. "I missed you daddy..." This whole conversation was strange, but she wasn't complaining at all. And surely, Lord Seo wouldn't, either. He had accepted her so easily...and the doubts she had before suddenly seem to disappear. It would be nice to meet the others... Wait. No, no, no! That would be a terrible idea! "They don't, but! It would be best if...-huh?"
"Are you crazy! I would break you!" A piggyback ride? She was all grown up. He couldn't possibly carry her with his condition, could he? Not that he wasn't strong, but... it was better to avoid any unnecessary burdens. But he was practically glowing...
Narue groaned in defeat and just walked over to him, accepting his offer. "Fine. But only for a few steps." Besides...it would be awful if someone where to see the ridiculous show.
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Posted: Sat Oct 25, 2014 7:12 am
Seo Tachibana-Hakushaku, Demon Lord of Kyushu"Lovely lady, would you like to make an heir with me?"Was it crazy to think that this girl might actually be his daughter? Maybe. Was it absolutely insane to think that she was from the future and had somehow managed to pass through the Corridor unscathed in order to find him like this? Probably. Was it out of his freaking mind to accept all of this at face-value just because he could see her and she was telling him this and there was a little bit of circumstantial evidence that supported her claim that she was his and Yasuko's beloved child from the future? Definitely. ...Was any of that going to stop him from believing what his eyes, what his mind, and most importantly, what his heart was telling him was the truth about her parentage and that against all odds, he had...at least in some world...managed to obtain and produce the one thing in this world he'd never dreamed he might call his own? Was he going to let logic get in the way of filling himself to the brim with love for this girl who was his, who was everything that he had ever wanted out of his life, and who he had all but given up hope on actually having because of the distance he'd manufactured, the illness that was eating him up inside, and the ever-threatened world that could destroy his shrinking clan with every passing day? ...If you thought that Lord Seo Tachibana-Hakushaku was the sort who would let such minor trifles stop him from overreacting in the most adorably comedic way possible, well then, you just didn't know him at all.
And so he squee'd, and he pounced with prodding and enthusiasm, and when she pulled him tight and muttered those words that must have been so very painful to her...that must have been holed up inside of her for all the years since she had left him behind in whatever world she had came from, he let himself forget along with her for a few moments that this girl had been born to him in another world...that while she was his own, in a way, she wasn't...and he whispered the comforting words that whatever paternal instincts inside of him all but forced him to whisper as he brushed frail fingers over her back comfortingly, soothingly, "I missed you, too," he'd spoken softly, not mattering that he wasn't the Seo from the other world, and that before just now he'd never met her before in this one...what mattered more than that was the bond between them, of blood, of love, of hope...he'd cast logic to the side and treat the impossible as possible...he'd draw out his blade and he'd pierce the very heavens (wait, what?!) if it would make this girl who shared his blood, his very life and that of his beloved Suko smile...if it would ease her pain. He wasn't that Seo, so what?! She was his daughter, damn it! And now that she was here, she...he'd...right! Piggyback ride!
His was a million-watt smile as she relented and groaned, coming over after they'd split to settle herself onto his thin, weak-looking frame for the father-daughter piggyback ride he'd always wanted (but imagined with a much smaller, much less teenage version of her) to give! Collapse? Break? Just who the Hell did she think her father was?! What sort of Lord of the Taihaku would he be if he couldn't even give his daughter a ride upon his back? His lips curled almost as if in challenge...but instead really just kind of settled into something of a dopey, doting father's grin. One might almost think of him as something of a dork if they didn't know him...or, well, actually...if they knew him, that might be exactly what they'd think. He'd always been rather excitable, but, well, that was their leader. Honestly if he wasn't such a powerful (when healthy) and lovable guy he'd probably have been usurped by now. But that's neither here nor there.
"Don't fret, Rue-chan!" he beamed promisingly over his shoulder, looking almost sprightly if not for the thin dribble of crimson blood still trickling from the corner of his lips after the last coughing fit...oi vey, "Your father is much stronger than he looks. Just hang on..." His one eye flashed with a full, affectionate expression as he tried to fill her with the confidence brimming inside of him. All his life he'd wanted to do this and never dreamed he could...holding his daughter, carrying his daughter, having a daughter...and now, against all odds and across the very bounds of time and space, his dearest wish...he was thankful she was on his back just then, that she'd have to peer over his shoulder if she wanted to see his face. Because the silver stream of his tears, the purest essence of unbridled joy and longing come to bear upon his face, was both heartwarming and rather unsightly at the moment. To distract from the image the young Lord hurriedly lifted the girl onto his back and called out to his blond compatriot...wherever he might have been at the time. "Viral! Lift Gyuki onto your back and get ready!" he commanded, his voice stern and trying desperately not to crack, I'll race you back to the Estate! ...And I'll have you make a note of just how many steps I defeat you by."
...And quick as a flash, before any objections could be raised, the Lord and his daughter were off towards the Estate as quick as the wind.
Against all odds...and against all hope...they were off...together, across time.
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