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Post by vincent on Mar 4, 2010 23:48:28 GMT -5
((Vincent/Annabelle))
"Alright, so it's not here, either."
Vincent sighed as he moved from shop stall to shop stall in the little marketplace in Tuono. He'd been venturing around the tribes and seeing all what he could find for things like...well, anything useful. Particularly today he was looking for the centre piece of a rare lily that was commonly found around in the area, hearing that it had some weird healing abilities. Special ones, something about strengthening a person's skin.
Very weird.
Upon passing the eighth stall and still having no luck Vincent shook his head and decided to forget about it, turning to walk around the final stall in the small market square.
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Post by annabelle on Mar 4, 2010 23:50:41 GMT -5
And just because it had to happen this way, Annabelle was wandering in the very same square herself, walking around the very same stall.
She walked right into Vincent, the smaller woman immediately swinging her staff defensively and hitting the tall, blond man in the head with it.
"Watch where you're going, you useless man!" she shrieked abruptly up at him.
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Post by vincent on Mar 4, 2010 23:52:33 GMT -5
"Geez, it's great to see you, too. You stupid old bat," Vincent retorted, having not even budged as Annabelle walked into him only a moment ago. He stood firmly like a wall, raising an eyebrow at the little old lady but then cursing loudly as she smacked him in the head.
"What the hell are you even doing out here?!" he yelled, rubbing his head painfully.
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Post by annabelle on Mar 4, 2010 23:53:55 GMT -5
Annabelle pulled her staff back, her glare solid on Vincent.
"It's none of your business what I'm doing out here and what I'm not. The last thing I need is for you to be meddling in with my plans again, you worthless waste of space!"
Harsh? A bit.
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Post by vincent on Mar 4, 2010 23:56:25 GMT -5
Vincent's eyebrow raised again.
"Wow, that was wonderful. How about another insult? You know, for the road? I can't get enough of them," he sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets, "and I hear Jasmine's been travelling with you as of late? I'm almost worried about how she'll be behaving when I get in contact with her again."
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Post by annabelle on Mar 5, 2010 0:09:54 GMT -5
"You don't know anything! You're useless! Useless man! Useless son-in-law, a useless husband, and an even more useless father just like Reginald was! If I could, I'd give you more than just an insult and a random bruise on your head!"
She continued ranting on like this for a good few minutes, the whole time passers by would slow their pace and stare at the man and elder woman strangely.
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Post by vincent on Apr 12, 2010 12:22:43 GMT -5
"Whoa, settle down!" Vincent raised his voice, caring very little for the audience that was around them, "who the hell is Reginald? It's bad enough you get uppity and blame me for everything as it is, but I think it's just a little unfair of you to compare me to some guy I don't even know!"
And really, he wasn't going to take this from Annabelle, even if she was going to feel the need to pummel his face in with her staff.
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Post by annabelle on Apr 12, 2010 12:28:58 GMT -5
"Shut up! It doesn't matter, you're both the same! Both of you ruining Hala's life and when I try to make it better, one of you manages to screw it all up again! I'm tired of you ruining everything I try to fix, the best I can do is hope and pray to the gods that you won't destroy Jasmine, too!" Annabelle shrieked at Vincent, gripping her staff tightly but surprisingly not taking a swing at him. She gritted her teeth, her features showing she was more than just a little upset at the moment.
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Post by vincent on Apr 12, 2010 12:33:40 GMT -5
Alright, something wasn't right here at all. Vincent wasn't a genius but even he could tell that she was upset by something...or at least if anything she was having a breakdown. Maybe it was an old woman thing. In either case Vincent didn't back down the louder and angrier Annabelle became.
"I'm Hala's husband, my every intention was to make her life while she was alive the most wonderful I could! She wanted children, I gave her a daughter and where I regret not being able to do more, I did the very best I could to keep her and Jasmine alive--what more do you want?! Would you have rathered she died instead?" Vincent spat, trying to keep calm, "I did my best! Quit acting like I didn't even try, you don't even know!"
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Post by annabelle on Apr 12, 2010 12:37:52 GMT -5
"She died anyway, you moron! And it was your fault!"
Annabelle breathed heavily, her grip on her staff tightening so much her knuckles turned white. She glared death at Vincent and while she dropped her voice, it hissed so dangerously as she continued to speak.
"You have no clue what you did to her. You tell me you did everything you could for her, to care and love her and look after her and then try to play the innocent fool when you suddenly show up again after being missing for years and are confused as to why I'm angry at you! I won't ever forgive you for it, you hurt my daughter far more than you can imagine after I had eased her hurting already...that girl did nothing but hurt all her life. ALL OF IT. Because of Reginald AND you!"
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Post by vincent on Apr 12, 2010 12:39:45 GMT -5
Vincent took a deep breath himself, trying to keep his anger in check but it was only too hard at the moment.
"For the last time. Who. is. Reginald?!"
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Post by annabelle on Apr 12, 2010 12:44:30 GMT -5
Annabelle continued to glare, falling silent for a long and uncomfortable moment. Nothing could explain just how much she wanted to beat bruises all over the man in front of he at the moment, she was filled with so much rage. She'd tried to meditate, to pray and keep herself calm like she always did but there was always that odd moment now and then when she rethought the events in her life and it always came down to two people whom she declared "ruined" both hers and Hala's life.
The first was her own husband, Reginald. The second was Hala's husband, Vincent.
And when she got to that conclusion every time like she always did, it seemed like nothing could control her rage and she'd tire herself out yelling or destroying anything she could in her path. No one paid her any mind, she was a 'little old woman' now so it always went almost unnoticed. It was just by chance this time she'd run into Vincent during it.
"Reginald was my husband. My stupid bastard of a husband!" she finally answered Vincent, her voice slowly raising again.
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Post by vincent on Apr 12, 2010 12:47:16 GMT -5
Vincent in response shook his head at Annabelle.
"That was your husband. I'm not your husband, I'm not some guy named Reginald. I'm Vincent Loque, dammit and I don't know what the deal is with you and your husband but it's got nothing to do with me, alright?"
He then blinked, recalling that Annabelle had just for the first time spoke about her husband, Hala's father...
"...wait a minute, why bring him up with such malice? The guy died in battle, Hala adored him. She said even you adored the man, why talk like this at all?"
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Post by annabelle on Apr 12, 2010 13:03:28 GMT -5
Annabelle narrowed her eyes accusingly at Vincent.
"Everything she said wasn't true, Hala knew only lies. She knew them because she didn't know the truth, because as a good mother I kept all of them from her! Reginald wasn't a noble knight who died valiantly in a war, he was a worthless drunk of a hunter! He hurt me, Hala watched, I'd send her away so she wouldn't have to. Send her to bed early before he got home at night, send her out of the house in the morning until he was gone for the day. I finally had to leave because he took it out on her one night instead, beat her so viciously I thought she was dead! S-she probably would have died if I didn't know the few spells I did to care for her!"
Annabelle's lip quivered as she spoke, her shaky hands still trying to hold her staff tightly.
"I put her to sleep, erased her memory, took her away from him and moved to the Shimmering Lake. We built that house together, she knew nothing aside from I was obviously her mother. She was fifteen, she had no clue of anything that hapepned before then; I rebuilt her memory, telling her she fell out of a tree and that's why she couldn't remember her deceased father. I left her there so she could be happy, told her to always pray and always be good, always keep your wits about you. I wanted her to live a happy life, get married and have her children like she wanted..." as she continued to speak, her eyes filled with tears, "...she met you. You both married and she was happy. It made me so happy to see her life working out but then you had to be the stupid bastard and fake your death, then destroyed EVERYTHING I had done to repair that girl's heart! Everything! All that work I did thrown out the window and into the river, because of you! She hurt for years upon years after that, she suffered and...and...and then she died...she died just as miserable as she lived..."
Shaking uncontrollably, Annabelle broke down into loud sobs right then in front of Vincent.
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Post by vincent on Apr 12, 2010 13:15:19 GMT -5
.......wait, was she crying? Vincent had never heard Annabelle cry before, for some time he'd been convinced that she probably never did.
Hearing all of this mortified him, though. Hala's father beat her and she never knew, it was almost eerie to know that she spoke so fondly of a man she never truly knew because the girl who knew the truth had been erased from her entirely.
It was at this time though that Vincent's anger dropped from him entirely himself, despite anything that Annabelle had or probably would say next about him. It actually hurt him in a way to see the older woman sobbing in front of him, and made him feel guilty for everything that had happened in a strange coincidence. In a way, it reminded him of himself, working for years up on years to keep himself hidden from the world so his family would be safe.
...Then in one instance when he let himself show, everything he'd worked hard for was destroyed. It took a lot out of him, knowing the most important woman in the world to him was taken away because he'd tried everything he could to protect her.
"...I never knew. I'm sorry," he spoke genuinely, his voice softened, "if I'd had known any of this, I assure you I wouldn't have put Hala through any of that and left her alone with our daughter. I swear it, I wouldn't have done it. I'm sorry."
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