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Who: Yona and castmates/adjacent CR
When: The days after the Age-Swap Event
Where: Yona's Temple
What: Catch-all to deal with fallout from the new arrivals and things discovered during the age swap event. Also probably a picnic.

[ The day after time is restored to normal, Yona sticks close to her temple, mind still reeling from what she had learned and the hectic events of the past few days. Between the arrival of her two newest shinki and some of the conversations she'd had with companions over the past few days, taking some time to process it seems the wisest of ideas.

But even though she doesn't venture far from her own temple, it doesn't mean she doesn't welcome anyone who stops by for a visit, clearly happy to greet anyone who stops by. Especially if they are people she needed to talk with anyway.

As for those staying in her temple, she does her best to make sure they get settled and comfortable, answering any questions she can to try and make this new arrangement as smooth as possible. And if there's a sudden resurgence of bad dreams in the aftermath of one particular shinki coming back to live in this place with her... well. She does her best to hide the evidence of it. ]

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[He's just going to make sure the door is closed behind them, just make sure no wandering Hak or Jae-Ha can hear what they say to each other. Just to be safe.

He's about to say he never gave up hope, but that would be a bigger lie than he's comfortable telling. Instead he just shakes his head, jingling Hiryuu's crest.]

Zeno made you wait for him, too, so Zeno can't scold.

[ She doesn't miss the gesture he gives at clutching the crest he's always worn, although now she's paying more attention than she did before. There's more context than she had before, even if she still doesn't understand it all.

She reaches out, taking him by the hand and leading him away from the door and over to the low settee across the room. ]

You had your reasons, I'm certain. Considering I never even knew to look for you, I can hardly hold that against you. I'm just glad you finally sought us out. It wouldn't be the same without you with us, too.

[ She still had so many questions. She didn't know where to start. ]

[He looks at her sideways.]

Zeno... had to be sure. Cruel as it sounds. Miss had to be worthy of the power of the gods before Zeno could give her all of it, but miss also had to be good to the other dragons, the children of my brothers.

[He looks at their hands. That's... a little more revealing than he'd like, but the parade, the reanimated corpses, of them all wasn't that long ago. Can still see them, hear them, begging for reprieve... Guen's and Shu-Ten's faces, looking at their adorable little descendants...

He forces himself to shake off the sudden melancholy. Not fair, not at all fair to Yona.]

Miss was everything Zeno would have hoped for, of course. Whatever it is you choose to do or believe in, Zeno is behind you!

[ His statement has her looking at him fully, searching his face. ]

And you think I'm worthy of something like that? [ She sounds a little confused by that, to be honest. This place aside, she'd never considered herself worthy of the power of any gods back home. She'd sought the strength of the dragons, yes, but out of a desire to survive and to protect those important to her. And later, those who couldn't protect themselves. She still didn't see herself as anyone special. ]

It means everything to me that you and the other dragons have agreed to help me, to stay with me. I've never felt as safe as I do when I'm with all of you. I would do anything to keep all of you safe, and I want to see your smiles.

[ Personally she thought that none of them had had enough reasons to smile in their lives. She wanted to change that. Wanted to give them as many happy memories and lovely days to make up for all the ones they'd spent sad and alone and afraid. Even if she knew that there were likely to be just as many dangerous days full of fear and fighting if they remained at her side. It was a complication she couldn't see a way around but maybe one day... ]

Do you think you're not?

[There's not a lot to see on his face. A serene smile.

Even so, he doesn't give her much opportunity to look, before pulling her close into another hug. He has to. Talking about how she wants to keep them safe!! When that's the opposite of how things are supposed to go. She's so cute...!]

Don't think too deeply about it! It's just Zeno's own opinion, after all.

[She was good to the kids, didn't force them to do anything against their wills and saw them as people foremost, not weapons for her own revenge. Nor did she even really want revenge-- she was mature enough to see the dead end there. She prioritized everyone's needs above her own, well in spite of the heavens who prioritized hers/Hiryuu's needs above them.

Plus, Zeno loved her. How much of that was her and how much was Ouryuu's blood in his veins, he didn't know, and he almost didn't care anymore. Love was the only thing that kept him going, after all. Quite literally; it was the dragon gods' love for Hiryuu that started this whole cycle.]

Keep being the sweet girl who brings relief and aid everywhere she goes, and there will be more smiles. That is a promise.

[ She gives it a moment of serious thought before giving a small sigh. ]

I feel like I have a long way to go before I could ever claim that. I'm not sure I've done nearly enough to make a difference. I want to do more. Sometimes it seems like there's so much, more than I ever imagined. I was so naive to think everyone was so happy and content outside my father's castle. [ She glances around at the comfortable room she'd lived in for most of her life, her only cares revolving around clothes and trinkets and a few childish desires.

Sill, she smiles when he hugs her again, wrapping her arms around him and sinking in against his sturdy hold for a moment, taking comfort in it. ] Zeno's opinion is important to me, too. Always. You see things the others don't, and you're not afraid to tell me difficult things. Everything you say always makes me think, and sometimes be able to look at something a different way I wouldn't have considered otherwise. I'm thankful for that.

[Zeno has his own thoughts and opinions about the things Yona was raised to think, and who raised her that way... but that isn't relevant now.]

Zeno wouldn't say this to everyone, but what missy wants works out, you know. Gathering the Four Dragon Warriors isn't an easy thing to do, but it was done. Think about it-- in two thousand years, no one else did, though Zeno is sure some have tried.

[...though that second part makes him laugh a little, shoulders shaking.]

Zeno's just had too much time to think, that's all. After a while, the other directions a thought can go become natural, and you skip the ones everyone will think of, that's all.

[...that's one rationalization of eccentricity, at least.]

Well, whatever reason, your thoughts are still important to me, and I value your opinion. And your advice. And...

[ She pauses, looking a little sheepish. ]

I'm sorry if I asked too many prying questions about things you wouldn't normally be willing to share. At the time, it caught me so much by surprise that I... I hope you're not angry?

Hmmmm...

[Well, that requires actual thought there. And Zeno thinks out loud for her benefit.]

It's natural! Miss wouldn't be human without asking a few... and it's not... not willingness, exactly.

[We'll take up that thought again in a minute.]

Zeno definitely isn't angry. More likely for missy to be angry that Zeno's kept such a thing hidden!

[But it's so hard to talk about. Not even all that painful anymore. Just hard. It doesn't exactly fit into conversations, after all. It's easier to just let it all stay unsaid; it's not like anything changes whether or not they know.]

Innocent questions about my lord the king... not the worst way Zeno's past has been... mm, animated by this heaven.

[And now that she knows, some of his facade slips ever so slightly. For a moment, he looks tiredly into the middle distance, toward his sense of Kaya and Chise.]

[ She's quick to shake her head. ]

I'm not angry with you, Zeno. Far from it. What you choose to tell me and what you do not is for you to decide - and I'm beginning to realize you have a much greater scope to base that on than I ever could have imagined.

[ It's not often he lets his expression slip in such a way. And this time it is Yona who pulls him back into a hug, because that's not an expression she wants to see on Zeno's face. Not that she wants him to hide it, but that he feels what created it to begin with. ]

Finding out this way isn't so bad.

[He just... leans into the hug for a moment or two. This is what he'd waited two thousand years for. Not just Hiryuu's return, but the human closeness. To know and be known again.]

Greater even than miss is thinking... this is a strange place to call heaven. Not at all how Zeno imagined the repose of the honored dead.

Zeno was asked to serve the gods, but... Zeno was asked. Whatever this life is, I chose it.

[He slips into the I-pronoun almost absentmindedly. He isn't sure he'd make the same choice if he'd known that the end result was an eternal slog across the mortal coil, but maybe he would have. Teenagers are dumb, and how many people get to say they've met their brothers' cute little descendants?]

It's still a step above what they do to shinki. Not just having no choice, but taking away what would inform the choice had it existed in the first place.

[He hugs Yona back, resting his head on top of hers.]

The dragon gods commanded me to love and serve the king, but I was never a tool for him to use. He wouldn't have allowed it.

Edited 2017-06-15 09:40 (UTC)

As he shouldn't. [ Her voice is soft, but a hint of the steely resolution beneath still peeks through. ] You are no one's tool, Zeno. Not then, not now, not ever. I don't know who is responsible for what this has become, but you're right. This is not right.

[ Even Yona had understood that to come to each of them and seek their protection, it had come with the possibility of them refusing. Had Jae-Ha insisted, she would have let him go, though it would have hurt dreadfully to do so. She did not want tools - they were her precious friends now. Her family. ]

If this is a thing I can set to rights, I will do it, Zeno. But first we must discover who is behind it, those who would take away any choice in the matter. And in the meantime...

[ She pauses, and now there's a flicker of sorrow in her gaze as she turns her eyes to the door, to the temple beyond, where her two new shinki are even now stirring for the day. ]

In the meantime, we shall still have to tend to the consequences.

[And that, that quiet little resolve of hers, to allow for the possibility of refusal... that was one of the key reasons none of them had refused, Zeno was certain.]

If miss is proposing a coup... [He laughs, he can't even finish the joke.

Consequences, though... he follows the trail of her gaze and even if it's not in the same direction as his, it was definitely looking for the same answers to the same questions. For that reason, he doesn't immediately jump to explaining exactly how much he can commiserate. She's dealt with enough of his problems lately... not just deaging, but the attack... let this be her own moment for her own thoughts.]

Miss must remember that it's a blessing, too. That's the hard part. Usually, when one dies, that's all there is to it. That we have a second opportunity like this, to see, touch, and know them...

Mm, but that might be the cruelty of it, actually...

[ Her lips twitch into an almost-smile at that as she gives a slight roll of her eyes. ]

Nothing quite that drastic just yet. Besides, if we don't think it's the old gods responsible for this mess, who, then, are we to overthrow? [ Although really, at this point, no one should be surprised if that's what it eventually comes to.

She tears her gaze away from Hak to look back at Zeno. ]

When I first arrived, I found myself desperately wishing he were here. I would like for all of us to be together, of course, but Hak... [ He was different. Special. ] But I never imagined that it would happen like this. I can see how it is a blessing, but it is a painful one all the same.

Is that what we think? No other suspects have presented themselves!

[Though he mostly agrees with her.]

Zeno has no other ideas on that score, is all.

[She doesn't have to elaborate about Hak. Zeno is pretty sure he could elaborate for her much better.]

That's why it's called answering a prayer. Answers aren't necessarily good or bad, kind or cruel. They merely exist, are merely true.

Just because we haven't found them yet doesn't mean they don't exist.

[ That doesn't mean she's ready to place the blame on those who are merely convenient and present. It just meant they had to dig deeper and watch more carefully.

She makes a thoughtful sound at his explanation, letting her gaze drop to her hands in her lap once more. ]

I suppose in the same way the gods were meant to be themselves, hmm?

Of course not. Make things easier if they did. Surely they want the credit for their work eventually? Keeping secrets isn't exactly the most satisfying accomplishment!

[Trust him; he knows.]

We can hope. And, I suppose, wait. Surely there will be some clue eventually if we keep watch for it.

[ She glances up at him again, searching his face a moment before giving him a small smile. ]

Zeno. Thank you. For everything.

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