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 Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:16 am
For a long moment Roch sat in the tree outside the horsemen territory. He wasn't bothering to hide his presence, in fact he was in clear sight, apparently waiting for someone. He'd been thinking. It took him a bit--he was the first to admit he wasn't the brightest guy in the school,. But he'd decided the first way to deal with Amphi's bout of insanity was to get her facts straight. And of all the horsemen, he trusted Invi the most, he thought as he caught sight of the Conquest Horsemen making his rounds. Roch dropped down from the tree, making sure his approach was noticeable--although he knew he didn't need to. Invi had probably known he was there long before he'd come into sight. "Hey, Invictus... can I ask you some questions?" he asked once he got closer.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 9:37 am
He'd known the reaper was on the lands much longer than Roch probably even knew. Waiting for him? That was also not much of a surprise for the Protector, as he seemed to be used to the idea that the students of Amityville had this way of still approaching him.
Perhaps because now he was one of very few familiar faces amongst their ranks. Never the less, Invictus's still kept the same unexpressive look on his face as he always had, giving Roch careful observation as he approached.
"We will allow you more than the first one, yes." he answered.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:21 am
"Thanks--but can I record your answers?" Roch asked, holding up his phone. "I got a ghoulfriend that needs t'hear some things about horsemen. This'll record and play back all the things y'tell me," he explained. "But if y'don't want to, it's fine. I can summarize it." But he hoped he'd get the recording. It might have a better impact--and stop him from losing his temper in the middle of the conversation. "Its about the islands," he added. "An I can figure that might be a bit of a touchy subject, as well, so if y'don't want t'talk about it--"
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 10:33 am
Tiny electronic devices were somewhere in the peripheral of Invictus's knowledge. He knew that they frustrated his own use of them and he had a phone of his own at the bottom of the sea somewhere in the human world....
...
.....
But that was a story for some other time.
"Whichever method is fine." he answered, folding his arms behind his back. The talk of the islands being the subject of discussion brought the slightest pull downward of the corners of his lips. Not quite a frown, but if he was more expressive it would have been.
"What is it you need to know, then? I can only speak of my own home."
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 11:54 am
"You never went t'the other islands?" Roch asked, starting his recording. "I mean, I got t'visit War and Conquest--they were both seriously gorgeous," he said. "I really liked the War ghouls--they let us spar with them, y'know? And the tree house set up was cool. And Conquest was super classy. Your Dad--he was the lead guy in Conquest, right? Did you have more family there?" It almost seemed cruel to be asking these things, he thought guiltily. Remembering the past--it wasn't easy, especially when it was just like, seconds ago to the horseman.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:24 pm
"We have been to the other islands." Invictus answered. "However, the only reasons why we did such were to meet the other heirs, thus the islands themselves do not hold as many memories as those we have met and held onto since." He did not have 'friends' in the other clans from back when he lived on the islands.
"Yes. His Imperial Majesty was our father. To ask 'if' we had other family....well. We have only now a cousin - her name is Lan. We are sure she has been causing ruckus about, but she is what we have at this moment." He frowned - a genuine frown. "Before then...well, we will begin by saying that we do not have full siblings. Our mother..." a brief glance away - strong emotional attachment perhaps - before he looked back to Roch, "Did not have any other children. However, His Imperial Majesty had...many lovers." Oh. Oh. "So we had...many....half siblings. Some were quite close in age to us and well.... we grew up together, in some sense. Not in the same fashion."
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:31 pm
"So lots of half brothers and sisters," Roch said. He figured there was probably some stories there, but eh. "But only a cousin here, now." No father, no mother, either. Yeah, he caught that. "How many people d'y'think were on the Conquest Island when--when it happened?" He'd been there. He'd watched as the islands exploded. He didn't know if Amphi had been--maybe she had been and was just forgetting what happened, or maybe she didn't even get just how many died that day. But he was leading up to that one.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:40 pm
Taking a moment, Invictus appeared to be doing the math in his head for how many would have been just on his home island. "A thousand or so. When we returned home, we were not entirely kept informed of the comings and going of our clan to and from the island. Potentially more, possibly less."
He had tried to not stop and count how many siblings he had, reasonably, before throwing that number out - if he had, he would have made it much higher.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 1:57 pm
"That's just on Conquest, right?" Roch said. "So... y'think we could round out the other clans off around the same? Make it... about four thousand horsemen that were killed," he said quietly. "Probably more, I bet, they seemed pretty busy places." HE was the one that was seeing just how dramatic what had happened had been. "They turned into that big gray insanity bird, right?" The question seemed rough, but the tone was serious as death and taxes. "Have they--I mean, have y'figured out how to get them back?" He'd written Riley off as gone for good. So there was always the small chance, right?
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:13 pm
"Give or take a thousand or more." he agreed to estimate. Not a large number in the scheme of things, but...
"The Phoenix, you mean." Invictus took a moment to press his palm against his chest, as if remembering something - it might have been memorable that in that moment he had a scythe forcibly shoved through his chest and had literally been gone for but a minute shortly before then. "We have had a few of our numbers returned to us. Some loved ones, but none were mine."
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 2:59 pm
"A few, huh?" Roch said. "I guess it's better than losin' all those horsemen entirely. How many are alive now, countin' the ones that you got back?" he asked.
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 6:31 pm
More math. He hadn't really had much of an opportunity to count numbers or anything like that, but a general ballpark wasn't too bad of an idea.
"Less than a tenth of what we had previously would be my estimate. So around 400 at most, we believe."
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 7:22 pm
"Heh," Roch said. Then he looked at Invi. "They only die once," he said blandly. "That's her big deal. Hunters only die once. They wipe out most of an entire species, they destroy four jackin' islands and all the stuff that was on it. They leave some three and a half thousand horsemen as an insanity phoenix. They trapped an' killed an entire class--includin' my uncle," he went on. "They launch attacks on the school on a regular basis--they turn us into weapons, an' stick a jackin' THING inside of her... yet she's so damn stuck on the dyin' once." Then he looked at the new tattoo on his left shoulder. "Not that I like bein' branded," he said thoughtfully. "An' I ain't got a clue what you got some of the students doin' for you," he admitted, looking a bit more serious. "But I do know... y'get t'choose if y'wanna be a horseman lackey, right?"
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2013 8:34 pm
"We only die once too. Even the undead were once something else entirely - would you say that who they are now is who died before? No. Once they have died, that person, those memories, those feelings - they are dead as well." Invictus replied firmly. "There is a difference between changing form, and dying. Your school keeps you safe from true death, but even Halloween can die." Again, his hand went to that spot on his chest.
"What the students do with...." he did not speak of the brand out loud - by choice or by some unknown force would not be clarified at any point, "that is up to them. They have not become slaves. It is not a form of mind control. It is a mutual sign of who is one of.. 'us'. Perhaps not the best wording for it, but... there are those in your numbers who would rather talk to Horsemen than Halloween on some issues. The mark allows them that."
He knew of one young lady who had walked through the clan to speak on the matter of a craving for human flesh, after all.
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Posted: Wed Jan 02, 2013 7:56 am
There was confusion in the expression Roch shot him. He saw no reason why horsemen would understand his problems better than Halloween. Sure, he could figure they'd get losin' the ghoul as well as anyone else in some cases, but it wasn't so special that he'd have to go out of his way to find one--no, the reason he was here was for information. He hesitated, looking at his phone again. "For what they did--t'you, t'your race, I won't blame y'for killin' hunters." Amphi might, but right now he didn't care. "But when they're dead--are y'plannin' on wipin' out all humanity?"
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