pop rocks

[cutlery]

[ By the time Sebastian reaches out in Communion, he’s already felt the fullness of his rage and taken it out. Viciously. It’s an occasion where he’s grateful for what Ryad provides, lest he had to express it in a more troublesome way.

Sebastian’s usual affect is warm and friendly, if with a polite distance, but today, it’s ice cold. His Communion is always expressed as something dark, but there’s a secondary sensation that comes today as well. It’s the unsettling sensation of being watched that makes someone’s hair raise. After all, there’s uncountable eyes in that abyssal dark. ]

I shall be brief. Someone broke into my home a few days ago and left a “gift” most unwelcome. A Shard belonging to someone from my home. Yet, though I kept it isolated to inspect it further, that did not seem to matter. It infected the Shard that Lady Yima gave me. A Shard that is now no more, for it burst. The soul that was in that little rock is no more.

[ His voice becomes more tense at that last sentence. It’s clear he’s very intentionally holding back his temper significantly. ]

I make this announcement for my fellow Zenites’ sake that they might destroy any they come upon immediately. Also to inform them that there is a way for these Shards to be tampered with that has been exploited. But let me also be clear.

I will find whoever was unwise enough to step into my home and play with my pet. I went through great lengths to obtain that soul, and I do not take kindly to being robbed of it. But there is no need for threats beyond that, is there?

[ So he says, but it’s crystal clear—Whoever it was, they’re in grave danger if they’re discovered. ]

Comments

[bakedapple]

[ Whatever uneasiness Link might have felt from the unnerving tone of Sebastian's mental voice is immediately forgotten by the content of his message. Link responds with alarm, with the distinct sound of a strong, chilly wind blowing around him — the same sound surrounding him where he stands in the physical world, leaking into Communion space in his unfocused shock. ]

What?

It — it burst? That... who would do such a thing??

[ That means the person is gone. Forever. A Shard retrieved from the Timestream, destroyed forever. ]

H-How is that even possible? What do you mean, infected? Where did you keep it — how far away was it from the bad Shard? It took a few days, you said? And it — what, it exploded?

[ He needs all the details, now. ]

[cutlery]

[ The rush of questions and the implications that Sebastian uncharitably hears in them are met with a spike of hostile irritation, but it is only a spike. He’s worked out his aggression twice over now (thanks Set), so there’s a sense of Sebastian intentionally finding his calm again. The unsettling feeling retreats somewhat as well, though not fully. ]

—I do not know. I have my suspicions, but they are only that.

[ Honestly, Silco was at the top of the list. But even if no one else had, Sebastian had felt his reaction to this revelation… And Silco was a wretched thing. He wouldn’t be able to resist gloating about this if he had done it. ]

I found the Shard in my home, but I could tell immediately that it was off, in a way. Something had latched onto the soul inside it. I kept it in my wine cellar to study it. Mine was— [ He pauses and makes a sound of irritation, because this wasn’t something he wanted to reveal. Now it doesn’t matter, though. ] The third story of my home, in my study.

[bakedapple]

Wine cellar, to the third story...? That's...

[ So far. Even if that Shard was tainted with something, how could it travel such a distance and be potent enough to actually make another Shard explode?

This is terrifying. Nobody's gifted Shard is safe. Link is shocked, and desperate for information, and filled with sympathy — but all of those feelings are quickly dwarfed by the anger that surges into his mind and out into Communion. ]

It was the Meridian. It has to be, doesn't it? Somebody over there — somebody had to have planted it in your house knowing this would happen.

[ Anyone aligned with the Zenith, whether Shard-Bearer or native, doing something like this is totally inconceivable. While their goal is creating a new world, the Shards that Yima gives to those who choose to follow her are like totems of that promise. They are not only cherished individuals from home (whatever one's meaning of "cherished" might be, in this instance) but proof of Yima's power itself. ]

If they've figured out a way to do something like this...

[cutlery]

[ Truthfully, there is one Zenite that Sebastian thinks could have done it and absolutely would have, if he had the ability to. But the fact that Silco fled with the sort of fear in his heart that Sebastian knows the source of exonerates him. And later, the fact that Rin and Kiritsubo were also targets will too. ]

Presumably. They have reason to. Besides whatever personal grudges exist, I am known as a powerful Zenite.

[ He’s not bragging here, it’s perfectly factual. Largely because Set says it every time he gets a chance??? ]

…Not that my ability matters, I do not think. It is merely that is targeted so, and unacceptable.