At some point, Jiaying got a garbage text last night from Norie. It looked like a cat walked across her phone. If Jiaying replied- she didn't reply last night. If Jiaying went looking- she didn't find her.
At some point the next day, Jiaying get's a text.
'We need to talk. Now. Basement. Manor.'
Well that's onimous.
The basement is a large area under the manor. It's sectioned into small storage rooms. A bigger section at the far end contains a large coffin and a table near it. The coffin is currently open, it has a purple lining.
Lacrima is pacing back and forth. This is usually a bad sign. The worse sign is that she's doing so by melting into the floor into a werid blade shadow puddle, zipping across the floor. Reforming. Reverting and rapidly moving across the room.
The anxeity in this room is utterly palpable and feels oppresive at the edges of the bigger section. Not even in the metaphorical sense.
Jiaying Maki actually kind of took her time getting there, not out of any spite or anything else, but because she was preparing for the worst. What the worst would be, she's not sure. This means she's got a small poster container that anyone with a good nose would be able to identify as containing peachwood. She's got that sealed up pretty good and she's got it tilted away from herself. She's got a few premade charms, she's even gother robes on, disguised to look like a normal coat through illusion for the time being!
When she arrives, she checks the various wards and warnings she'd put up to see what broke free with the experiments or what as she makes her way towards the basement. Stepping into the room, she asks, "What happened?" while staying at the base of the stairs.
The Wards are there. But Jiaying can see and sense they're being /pushed/. It's just this field of weird anxeity and oppression that is radiating from Lacrima and it's obviously because she's barely keeping herself in check right now.
Lacrima turns to face Jiaying and she zips over. That weird puddle before as she reforms in front of Jiaying.
"...Wh--Did I text anything else to you last night? Did I call you directly? Jia..." she says franctically. "This is really important." she says as she moves to graps Jia by the sholders. If Jia lets her she just /grasps/.
"I need to know." she says with wide pleading eyes that are practically begging for her to know something, anything.
Jiaying most certainly doesn't know anything about this.
Jiaying Maki looks down at the puddle curiously, pointing to it even and ignoring the grip to her shoulders. "That's a new one." Said in a tone that seems flat, and emotionless. It almost seems like she might be up to something trying to divert the attention. The pressure on the wards, the new magic and the strange message her her wondering what's happening clearly! "That text is the only one you sent Norie and I received nothing else even after I sent you a reply." The reply was in Chinese and was just 'Wo bu ming bai', but she has a habit of replying to what she saw as gibberish with a joke... that may not be readable.
The reaction now though, she kind of wishes she had tried a little harder to find the girl, what with how she's acting now. She looks at those hands, then back to Norie before asking, "What do you think happened?" Well, start wtih the simplest place. Besides maybe she's not thinking hard enough that something rattles loose!
Lacrima is shaking now. This isn't good. Jiaying knows it isn't good.
"I.. I was.. in the park." she says. "And... Alexis. Found me? We were .. discussing this sign." she says. "And...." she sort of grates her teeth a little. "It was a-- warning.. I think to.. people. That the ice on the pond wasn't safe..." she mutters.
"I..."
"I don't know. What happened next." she says. "I woke up suddenly. And it was dark. And my phone was a few feet from me. And me and Alexis are laying in the snow." she says. "and I thought maybe I had a.. a .. starvation? Reaction? But I was fine before I-- don't remember things." she says. "And I was fine when I woke up." she says.
"I..."
"Alexis.. was acting odd and-- and--"
She squeezes Jia's shoulders harder. Not painfully, it's more. She's reaching. Like she's using Jia as an anchor maybe of some sort on some level.
"I.. I think. I turned Alexis. I don't.. Why..." she says. She's starting to cry again-- purple tears and all.
Jiaying Maki tilts her head from one side to the other as she listens to the story. "What sign?" She asks after a moment's thought before Norie starts crying at least. She's already muttering in Chinese and if Norie's picked up enough living with them, she'd know she's making a mental checklist of where to go looking for evidence of something and where to poke around the local supernatural for maybe witnesses!
Then Norie squeezes her shoulder tight and she winces while saying, "Gently please." Though she doesn't pull away quite yet. It's only after she says that she may have turned Alex that Norie gets a scowl from the girl. There's also a subtle gesture that reveals the peachwood branch, wrapped and covered in various things to help against the supernatural. There's also a grip for Jia as anyone that's seen her handle it would know that she's allergic to it herself! She doesn't act yet, but she asks flatly, "Where's Alex now?" Her features have taken on a harder look. Her tone is short and clipped as well. "He's aggressive enough as is, I need to find out." Beat, "I need to find out if you lost control to your other side and if it can happen again." Is this damage control?
Lacrima is shaking. "He went out. He came back with me. He isn't... when he drained. Energy from my necklace. That I keep for emergencies...? He started acting normal again. He.. I don't know." she says.
"He doesn't.. hate me? He's scared too." she says. "We both don't remember anything and we both remember the same things before we both we blacked out." she says still shaking.
She does, hesitantly, loosen her grip on Jia before well.. that Peachwood actually drives her back- and it puts her more on edge as she keeps three feet away from Jiaying.
"Y..you're not going to..." she says carefully.
Okay so Jiaying isn't about to try to kill her. At least right now. Good.
"I couldn't keep him here. He needs to feed too, you know, now, too." she says quietly. "and I can't feed him like that. For obvious reasons.. he..."
"He's still.. a being?" she asks. "He still has a body." she says quietly.
"I.. had. A talk.. about. Things.. I... Needed to.. show him.. how to..."
"Be this /thing/ and..."
This is obviously not something she wants and that much is evident.
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "No." keeping the tone the same, though she does add, "But if your other side is taking a more dominant role.. Maybe this will keep it at bay." That's a good lie, partially because she thinks it might help and partially because it's better than admitting she may have to do worse if that is happening.
The cover for the peachwood is left open and while it does seem to bother Jia, she also seems better at ignoring it. "I'm going to ask you again Norie, where is he?" She's already twisted, saying something quickly in Chinese to her Shadow, which didn't move with her, having picked up on her mood. The ghost rises out of it and the two converse briefly before she points towards the direction of the ECFH. "I've heard some rumors that those two broke up, Meifeng's going to see if she can find him there." She scowls, "I need to start riling up others I think."
She tenses up and clenches her hands, then says, "Focus, find out where he is before he does something terrible. He was punchy and aggressive BEFORE he had any kind of power to back it up."
Lacrima tenses. "I told you I don't know." she says. "I'm not his mother!...." she says.
She turns back into a puddle and she shoots across the room and reforms. Again.
"Y--yes they did. Naru-chan asked me to talk to Alexis-kun and watch over him." she says. "And I did and everything is fine now with that." she says.
Zipping across the room again. "My other side?..." she gets angry at this. "If I have another side, /neither of us/ wanted this!" she says angrily.
Jiaying Maki shakes her head and says, "There are two sides to you and the other one supresses happiness and other things and SHOWED you how to do it while also trying to get you to do worse. If it's upset that this happened, it's for something I can't figure out." She points at Norie and says, "And right now, I'm not in the mood to argue this again, I know what I saw and it's the biggest reason I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt after you swore you'd never use that curse."
Jia's clearly on edge with Norie's aggression and behavious as mist has gathered around the girl, clinging at her robes and trailing behind her as she moves around, coalescing near her fingers briefly before fading away again. "And no, you're not his mother, but you are his keeper now. Isn't that what it implied?"
'You are his keeper now'. This does bring her pause and it causes her to shake again. She's.. frustrated and agitated. "I..I don't.. even know. I..." she slides back over to Jiaying. "I don't even know.. why I'm doing this. This..."
She does the shadow slide thing into a corner and just lets herself collpase, finally still into a heap as she buries her head into her knees. "I don't know where he is. He has his wits about him. He should be back here soon. I don't know how long he's going to be out. I didn't think this through and--and--and--and----"
"Everyone's going to come for me... I had to tell Naru.. Naru knows... I..."
Jiaying Maki hesitates and says, "And you're sure he doesn't remember it at all either?" finding that the strangest part. Either she's lying, he's lying or they both are. "I don't either" She then shakes her head slowly and gestures upstairs, "You'd better make sure he doesn't get himself in over his head." She sighs and adds, "So that it's easier to convince the others to not jump you instead alright?"
Lacrima keeps in her corner. "I don't remember. He doesn't remember. We just...woke up. In the woods. In the snow." she says. "And hours have passed." she says. "--and he said he felt odd and he sounded wrong and--and I could sense... that and--- his voice and tone were all wrong..." she sort of grates her teeth as she keeps her head buried into her knees.
"I told him.. to tell me. If he feels burning..or he hears a voice.. or thinks of himself in a different name.. or.. that's.. that's stuff.. I went through.. when..." she says.
"This month has been so confusing...I hate it! J..just when! When everything is starting to turn okay!...." she mutters.
Well. At least now she's panicing about other stuff too now?
Jiaying Maki sighs and crouches down, resting her arms on her knees. "What were you two doing out there, why did you both wake in the snow? Was there anything else that you noticed? Colors, smells, was he soaked through?"
The mention that he may feel burning or hear voices gets a pinch of the bridge of her nose. "If any of that happens, I don't know if he'll have any of your restraint." There's a quiet moment of thought, "Let's try to make sure he doesn't do anything dumb yet."
Then there's a confused sound from her, "What else has happened this month?"
Lacrima kind of bites her lip..."People...saying that... they loved me.. I..."
"...I don't understand..how... anyone can.. when I can't love back... when I can't..."
She sort of buries herself. "I don't know. I. haven't. Been back there yet.. I took him straight here... with.. with a dusk step we didn't walk through..." she mutters.
"I'm getting tired again..." she says.
"I know I'm leaking...something...I'm sorry about that. It's.. this. State.. this... agitation..." she says through her teeth.