Up Through the Ashes (Shy/Core/Open at Request)

[Claire]

Claire’s eyes narrowed a little at Core as he danced around the question with pretty words, his hair floating between her fingers like they did not even exist. Her physical presence did not seem to do much- he could not feel her touch, apparently. She pulled her hand back a little, fingers curling in mid-air. When Rivers spoke about chasing phantoms her expression twisted into sort of a snarl and she frowned over at him. “Do not think that if you use your pretty words that I will not follow you. Do not speak of me like I am not in front of you- Ah-” when Core spoke again of soul mate she looked over to him, eyes wide in shock. The man, spirit, whatever he was spoke with such boldness about her, of his certainty that she was his. Claire felt heat flood her face and she ground her teeth, fighting back a glower. It would do her no good to get into such a personal fight with him in front of all these people- that would have to be a fight they would have privately. But irritation was clearly rolling off her in waves.

Claire snapped her head over to look back at Rivers when he spoke once more. “She chose to stay? After what happened there? Why?” of all people, she did not expect Aria to not believe her story of what happened to her at the castle and choose to stay there. “She is plotting to bring them down from within, right? That is what she is doing? Why would she think she could do that on her own?” her voice was hinged on the edge of desperation- that had to be what she was doing. Right?

At Shy’s urging Claire lowered the sword a bit, sinking down to sit in a chair. She leaned forward a little against the sword, letting out a huff of a sigh. “He is- was- some sort of King of Thieves. Correct?” she looked back up at Core, her expression twisting into an all-too familiar frustrated frown. “Those tattoos on Aria, do you remember Seanait?” she looked back over to her. “Those black marks of blades on her skin. She has this sort of… magic to hold a blade within her skin. And this man-” she gestured up to Core, “This man perished in some sort of calamity in the place where Aria is from. And his soul became bound with this.” She drummed her fingers against the pommel of the sword, raising an eyebrow up at him.

“If I am recalling correctly, that is. But it is strange magic. Strange and powerful magic.”

[Rivers]

Rivers gives Shy an apologetic smile as she looks at Claire and the sword. Well better you know now than let it drag on longer. He thinks, then reprimands himself for being presumptuous. This was really none of his business.

Though as Core mentions that Rivers warning sounds like it is from the voice of experience he frowns. “A life of 50 years may not seem long in comparison to yours, but moving from world to world teaches one things.” He replies in a somewhat bitter tone that was at odds with his normal demeanor and how he generally presented his experiences.

“...but yes it is from experience.” He admits.

Though Rivers bitter expression became neutral as Claire went on a sudden tirade as he reveals what he learned regarding Aria. Brow furrowing he replies “I think you are confused about something, Boss does not hate the royals, maybe some of the things they represent, but she is not a revolutionary. Or at least does not see the need at the moment. My stunt at Gallows was explicitly against her instructions and she damn near didn't forgive me.”

Letting out a sigh he sits and shakes his head. “I am afraid I cannot tell you two everything of what is going on. I am sorry. That being said...Core, you are under none of the restrictions I am chained by.” He points out and signals to the phantom to explain if it wished.

[Claire]

“Doesn’t hate them?” Claire looked back to Rivers, fingers gripping tightly on the hilt of the sword. The tension there was palpable- a flurry of emotions, completely unchecked, flowed through her. “She- she knows what they did to me. That- that monster would have killed me. Worse than just killed me-” her fingers were shaking, memories of that night flooding through her, the fear and the rage and the helplessness. “And after? In that pit for Mother knows how long and then driven out? To my death? And she looked at me with such- with such hatred that-”

Claire shook her head, distress clear in her voice. Aria had prioritized that man- the one with the eyepatch that looked so much like Core and that monster that wore the face of a man. She grit her teeth. “I do not understand what I did to make her loathe me so. To the point of befriending the man who would have-” she couldn’t finish what she was saying. “How could she not hate them? It’s not… it’s not revolutionary, it’s-”

She swallowed hard, looking down at the hilt of the sword, trying to collect her thoughts. Her grip on the thing was like a vice, her hand shaking. “What is the name of that man that she loves. The man with the eyepatch. The one that she is willing to throw away all moral decency for.”