hex+telepathy

[17:07] Upon Cicero opening the door, he immediately would look much different from their last meeting. With an anti-magic collar tightly secured around his neck, and casual indoor clothing being worn instead of his armor.

But, the most notable of any differences had to be the left side of his face. One of his eyes was now yellow instead of blue, with a scar that cut through it. It extended from his left eyebrow, through his eyelids, down into his cheek.

"August?" he asked. "I didn't expect to see you here."
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[17:10] Lemuria rose an eyebrow at the presence of an anti-magic collar, rose it even higher at the presence of the scar, and higher still at the presence of the strangely colored eye.

"Yes, I grew bored and decided to come visit, and..."

The curiosity within her was burning too hard to ignore. Especially at the presence of the collar...

"...what happened, exactly?"
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[17:12] Vasili stood nearby to the small meeting, keeping close to Lord Morneau with a gentle smile to his face. His hands would be clasped before him in a calm fashion as he just stood at the ready.

He'd keep quiet, not wishing to interrupt the conversation.
(Vasili Chrysanthos)
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[17:13] "Oh, this?" he replied, instinctively reaching up to tug at his anti-magic collar. Only to immediately regret his actions, wincing as the spikes dug themselves into his skin.

"I'm under house arrest. It's a long story." he spoke in a downtrodden tone, letting out a sigh. It would explain why he kept every part of his body within the confines of his home right now, not leaving the doorway.

"Do you want to come in?"
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[17:13] Lemuria Augustus says, "Yes."
[17:15] Lemuria Augustus says, "Nice place you have here."
[17:15] Cicero cos Morneau says, "Thank you."
[17:16] Cicero cos Morneau says, ".. It's better than a cell."
[17:16] Lemuria Augustus says, "Yes."
[17:16] Lemuria Augustus says, "Now."
[17:16] Lemuria Augustus says, "I am in the mood for a long story."
[17:17] Cicero cos Morneau says, "I suppose I owe you one, after looking like this."
[17:18] Vasili Chrysanthos asks, "Shall I get some tea brewing, Sir?"
[17:18] Cicero cos Morneau says, "Sure."
[17:18] Vasili Chrysanthos asks, "Peppermint?"
[17:18] Lemuria tried to sit down in the chair, but unfortunately, the potion she drank was still active.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[17:18] Cicero nodded.
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[17:23] Cicero situated himself down by the coffee table, sitting cross-legged across from Lemuria. And with a somber tone, he started explaining how he got himself into this mess.

"It happened at the park. I.. suppose before I arrived, a friend of mine named Asphira assaulted someone. I had shown up just in time to see her arm get mangled by a City Watch member. Seeing this.. it sent me into an uncontrollable rage, and I attacked him."

Very protective of his friends to the point of emotional outbursts, it seemed. Even in blatant defiance of the law. "I must have taken him down, because a Knight had to fight me afterwards. So, I lost that battle. And, I was taken to prison for the assault of two officers." he explained.

".. Then, there's the eye." he paused, allowing the first half of his story to sink in.
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[17:28] Lemuria took a sip of the tea that would probably be delivered before this post was done, and listened intently to every word Cicero said. Her facial expression remained unchanging, showing a total lack of surprise at anything that just transpired. However, she was slightly taken aback by the fact that he claimed to have flown into an uncontrollable rage, as she didn't bill him as the kind of person that'd do it.

"And what happened to that eye?"

Her eyes remained locked onto his, carefully analyzing every word he spoke, and every change in expression he made. She was looking for something, but what that something was remained unexpressed.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[17:30] Leaving the Lord and his Guest to their conversation, Vasili would make his way into the kitchen area to prepare the tea. Setting a serving platter to the side he'd move to fill up the tea-kettle with water and place the peppermint leaves into such.

He'd allow it to boil for a good while, ensuring that the tea would be quite hot. As he waited he'd move to set a jar of honey, two saucers, two cups, and some small spoons onto the serving tray.

Once the tea was done, he'd move to set a generous spoonful of honey into each cup, to then PERFECTLY pour the tea into the cup - right up to the brim. It wasn't cheating because he was using his water magic to help. Totally not.

So he'd quietly re-enter the room and set the tray down so he could offer each individual a cup. "Enjoy."
(Vasili Chrysanthos)
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[17:35] "After I was left in that cell for a bit, a.. group of knights, came to question me. It's all a bit hard to remember, but I think that's when we agreed to place me under house arrest." he continued. A cup was taken from Vasili and set down onto the counter in front of him, not yet drinking it so as to not burn his tongue.

A nod of gratitude was given towards his retainer. Then, it was on with his story. "They spoke.. very ominously and vaguely about Asphira's fate. I later learned that they had demoted her from being a Knight, but at the time they phrased it in a way that I thought they had.. executed her."

"I panicked. Everything is a bit blurry after that point, but I wanted to run away. And, someone must have stopped me. So, we fought. I don't really remember much about it, but I woke up in my bedroom in an anti-magic collar and my eye like this. Erika, a doctor and Knight, supposedly stopped me." he explained, reaching up to hover his hand over his eye.

".. And, I suppose the fight had gotten so serious, that she had gouged out my eye while trying to stop me."
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[17:41] Another sip, and her expression remained unchanged. As expected of someone who was ostensibly from an opposing village, none of this came as a surprise to her. At the very least, she wasn't judging him for this.

"And how do you feel about all this? Do you think it was necessary?"

She didn't know any of the people involved; all she wanted to know was how Cicero felt about any of this.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[17:47] "I.. think I acted foolishly, without full context of the situation. All of this could have been avoided, had I not been so reckless. I've disgraced my guild, my family, and myself as an individual. And, I've come to deeply regret how I behaved." he responded to Lemuria, frowning.

His rational mind was conflicting with his instinct, a clash of intellect and underlying mental illness. "I just wish I could have stopped myself, at any point. It was unacceptable."
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[17:51] Vasili moved to rest his right hand upon Cicero's left shoulder for a moment, offering a gentle squeeze. He'd leave the hand there for a moment , before returning it back before him.
(Vasili Chrysanthos)
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[17:53] "Without full context, hm...?"

As someone who preferred working with herself than against herself, such a loss of control on one's end was rather difficult for her to grasp. She was mild mannered, and very slow to anger, but if she was, she'd own up to it, too, but she wouldn't necessarily see it as a bad thing. No, her instinct was to blame the person who goaded her.

"What means have you to control it? What's the root cause of such an action?"

She still had more questions to ask either way.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[17:58] The reassuring squeeze from Vasili was comforting in this moment, if not the slightest bit unexpected. It caused him to jump slightly, before deflating as he let out a sigh.

"Well. I suppose it was seeing her in that state, and believing that she was dead. If I had fully understood what had happened in both instances, I wouldn't have gotten into this mess. But, whenever I have these panic attacks, I can't seem to calm myself down.

It's like anxiety. Or, I guess, it is anxiety. I don't know."
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[18:02] "Anxiety? It sounds like something more..."

Anxiety didn't cause people to do such things. It caused them to lash out, sure, and it caused all manner of other unpleasant things. But flying into a rage was something that Lemuria did not feel as if it caused. And as such, she pressed on.

"Can you hope to self-examine over it? Or are you filled with too much shame to try? This sounds like something you need to understand, but shame and guilt are excellent ways to stifle the process of understanding oneself."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[18:09] "I don't like to think about it. I seem to have everything under control, until.. everything goes wrong, and I fly off the handle. And, I don't like talking about it either. I have an image to keep up, you know? I don't have time for things like this."

Any excuse he could make to not get to the heart of his faults, he would. His guild, his reputation, his friendships. His shame. All of these things felt like barriers that he'd rather turn away from and neglect instead of facing himself.

"I should be fine now. I am fine. There's just no logical reason that I'd do any of this again, after all I've gone through."
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[18:17] "There's something I want you to know."

Lemuria gazed down for a moment, but her eyes once more locked with his own. This time, though, there was something slightly different about her gaze. It was hard- nay, impossible to place one's finger on just what it was, but it felt strangely... ominous. But the words she said shortly after flew in the face of all that.

"It's not your fault."

...strange.

Those words clashed entirely with the air she gave off, perhaps enough to undo it completely. But, for some reason, the words she just told him would almost certainly cut through any reflexive mental defenses against such things. He might even find himself repeating "it's not his fault" in his own internal voice, but it was his choice on whether or not he'd actually listen to it.

But hey, what did she know? All she did was look him in the eyes... right? Besides, it's not like she was very practiced at this whole 'therapy' thing.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[18:26] Cicero found himself entranced into maintaining eye contact with Lemuria in a peculiar way, his gaze fixated on her for the longest time yet in this conversation. Instead of his typical reaction of averting his gaze and looking down and away from such a strong stare, he looked right back.

".. It's not?"

Her voice seemed to bypass the several mental barriers he had raised between his inner psyche and the outside world. It spoke directly to who Cicero was at his core, a lonely and confused coward who was anxious about every little detail.

Unused to being spoken to so directly, the Lord reached up to hover his hand over his head and broke the stare, looking down towards his own reflection within his tea glass. Those words she spoke were repeated within his mind, as if it was a thought that came from within.

The man looked back up, a confused expression on his face. If Lemuria was going to convince him that it wasn't his fault, he needed the answer to another question that stopped him from fully believing it. He looked directly to her for answers, believing that she had some kind of transcendent wisdom that could give him the answer to his problems.

"If it's not my fault, then whose is it?"
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[18:26] Vasili Chrysanthos asks, "Sir- if I may. .?"
[18:27] Cicero cos Morneau says, ".. I need to hear it from her, Vasili. Then, you may."
[18:28] Vasili gave a nod, going silent once more.
(Vasili Chrysanthos)
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[18:33] ...she did it.

"It's their fault."

It actually worked. She actually got through. It took every ounce of mental strength she had to not smirk. And yet, she resisted.

"You have every right to protect your friends, just as they have every right to defend themselves. The ones who leveraged the arms of the law against you when responsibility was purely personal are at fault."

Lemuria was not oblivious to the anarchistic implications of her statement, but she wasn't apt to address those.

"The ones at fault are those who try to make others look or feel evil for fighting for what they believe in. That's what I believe."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[18:40] After Lemuria spoke her piece, Vasili stepped up to the base, so to speak. Gentle and gilded eyes moved down to Cicero as he spoke softly. ". .not every situation is based around one's faults or another's faults. Placing the blame on yourself or other individuals can. ." A glance was given to Lemuria, before returning to the lord. ". .set the foundations for hatred, be it of the self or others- or other negative feelings and ideals."

The Retainer would fall to a knee beside Cicero, looking at the man in a more leveled manner as he continued. "Life is a precarious balance between Order and Chaos, M'lord. We, as people, can bring about either forces in larger quantities to our lives or anyone else's life."

A gentle exhale followed. . ". .I believe that there only thing that there shouldn't be a . . blame game to be played here. It was simply a series of misunderstandings and miscommunications." His eyes focused on Cicero's on for a final moment. "But I could be wrong- you are far more intelligent than I, Lord Morneau. You are more than capable of seeing YOUR truth."

With his piece given, He'd rise back to his feet and return to his pervious position.
(Vasili Chrysanthos)
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[18:50] ".. Their fault."

He echoed this sentiment aloud. The thought that he wasn't to blame and that he could simply shift it to his enemies was strangely comforting. Uplifting in a sense, as the burden of guilt was removed from his own shoulders. This weight that he insisted on carrying himself for as long as he was alive.

"Maybe you're right. I.. couldn't control myself, how could it have been my fault? I wasn't thinking straight. It wasn't me. They made me that way, didn't they? I-.." he went off on a train of thought that was potentially self destructive, but a more comforting alternative than the pain he endured before.

Then, Vasili interjected.

The words of his faithful butler caused this train of thought to derail, as he shook his head. "No, you must be right. It can't be their fault either. They were simply doing their jobs. They needed to stop me after how I acted." he returned to his rational thinking mind, his mental barriers quickly built back up.

"I'll have to think about this more. You both gave me some interesting things to ponder, that's for sure."
(Cicero cos Morneau)
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[20:36]
{LOAD GAME}

[20:41] Lemuria tented her fingers in silent contemplation upon having realized that Vasili threw a bit of a wrench into her efforts. Oh well... the fact that she managed to implant the thought into his head was enough. So, she smiled, took another sip of her (probably cool by now) tea.

"Think all you desire! You have all the time in the world to consider my words."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[20:44] That was close. Considering Cicero's vulnerable emotional state, he was more susceptible to such efforts. And with the anti-magic collar around his neck, his fortitude was at an all time low. Luckily, Vasili was here to derail that downward spiral from fully coming into fruition.

Still, a seed was planted. There was a voice in his mind that kept repeating those words, that it wasn't his fault. It sounded like his own inner thoughts, something that he didn't pay much mind to. And, something that would influence his behavior in the future, unbeknownst to him.

"Well. Thank you for listening to me, August. Although, there must be another reason why you came here. Right?"
(Cicero cos Morneau)