2023-04-04: What Vengeance Begets
- Log: 2023-04-04: What Vengeance Begets
- Cast: Mineva Lao Zabi, Emilia Eschonbach
- Where: Tokyo, Free Japan
- OOC - IC Date:April 4, 0097
- Summary: Mineva tells Emilia the truth about how their family died. Emilia takes it poorly.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
How do you tell someone something this difficult?
It's something Mineva has known for a long time. Char told her a lot of his secrets. She'd planned to tell Emmy the truth of her father's death, but...
Well. The circumstances of their families made it complicated, to say the least.
But the Red Comet has returned. He may have failed to pull down Palau, but... he's in the wind now, and his past feels... much more real, now, than it did just a few days ago.
So she's extended Emilia Eschonbach--No, her cousin, Emilia Zabi--an invitation to karaoke. Something fun, but more importantly... something private. Somewhere they can talk alone.
Mineva arrived a little early, telling the clerk at the main desk to direct Emmy to her when she got here; after a quick sweep for bugs, she waits, perusing the setlist idly. And when her companion arrives, she's greeted with a warm smile and a hug. "I hope you've been holding up okay..."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
To <3 Milly <3:
>>Meeting A in Tokyo. Address attached. Call Mr Z or Prof A or even Miss K if I don't check in. Love you, see you when I get home.
To: Q-1
>>Meeting A in Tokyo. Bracelet is on, broadcasting. My next check in time is 16:30.
To Sousuke:
>>Going to a meeting, need to dissuade eavesdroppers. Advice?
To Ranka:
>>help audrey invited me to karaoke and you know i can't sing, what do i do????
Emmy showed up at Karaoke parlour on time, her long lavender hair in a ponytail tucked under her hoodie, with a pink beanie over it, her handbag and a small gift bag (it's reused).
When she meets Mineva, Emmy returns the hug enthusiastically. "I-I'm... o-okay. It w-w-was p-pretty scary... the past few d-days. But. W-we're okay."
She looks up at her cousin, releasing the hug. "Oh, u-um, I kn-know it's late but. Um. M-merry Christmas!"
She hands Mineva the gift bag- inside it a hand mage beanie like the one Emmy wears, warm and great for hiding hair, but in a familiar green. Emmy thought the colour suited her.
"S-s-so, um. Y-y-you d-don't mind singing f-f-first, do you?" Karaoke... a terrifying family event.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva nods, "Good. I'm glad." Taking the gift bag, she smiles widely, "Oh! I love it!" She puts it on quickly, holding her phone up so she can get a look at her reflection. "Ooh, it's really cute... thank you, Emmy!"
She takes a few more moments to look it over, then takes it off and sets it aside. "Can't wait to show it to the others... and don't worry, I already checked the room. We're not bugged."
"Anyway, I was thinking... maybe we could sing together? I promise, it's not about your singing voice, it's about having fun. Feeling the emotions through our voices." If Emmy refuses, she doesn't push, but she does encourage her. The set starts with a few of her favorites--among them, some Sheryl Nome hits along with a classic called 'Judgment'--and if Emmy's willing, she gets a few choices of her own.
But once it's all over with, and she sits back down, setting aside the microphone... "I'm really glad to be able to do this with you... the past couple of weeks have been especially hard for me." There's a long, silent moment. "... I was raised by Char Aznable. For everything he is, for everything he's *done*... he was like a father to me, too."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Emmy's smile gets wider at Mineva's acceptance of the gift. "I'm g-g-glad you like it!" When Mineva confirms the room is bugged, Emmy is slightly relieved she doesn't have to bust out the white noise generator. Or the EMP generator.
"Um, o-okay. I'll t-t-t-try. R-Ranka s-s-said something l-like that." Emmy doesn't know many of Mineva's favourites- but being exposed to new music is always a good experience. She does her best for the duet- even if she has to drop words to keep up with the song, or stop midline and catch up.
But once it stops, and serious topics come up, Emmy pauses. Char... raised her? Emmy's speechless for a bit. Char Aznable. Raised her. "Th-th-that's... s-s-so much..." She reaches into to hug Mineva. "It's... r-r-really him, then? He r-really didn't d-die?" There's so much here Emilia doesn't grasp.
"D-did...." She an Ai weren't that far through their detailed history lessons. "Did he s-save you? A-after the White B-B-Base... killed your family?" Britannian history books are a nightmare.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva's patient, and more than happy to go along at Emmy's pace; it's important that they both have fun, especially given the subject they're about to broach.
She nods, "It is. I felt him when he first came to Earth, and... again, at Palau. It's really him." There's a... silence, though, at Emmy's other question, and she shakes her head, taking a breath.
Hoo boy.
"The White Base didn't kill our families, Emmy... it was..." Fuck. How do I say this? "... Char... held the Zabis responsible for the death of his father. Zeon Zum Deikun. So he murdered them."
She lets that hang in the air a moment. She's holding Emmy's hand tight. Clinging. A little scared.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
Felt him? What does that mean? But... Mineva seems genuinely convinced. Wait. At Palau? "M-Mineva... Did y-you..." It makes sense. She's the princess of the sleeves. She would have to be there.r
And then Emilia's eyes widen, her pupils shrink. Her whole body freezes. Her hand in Mineva's clings tightly, her knuckles going white.
"B-But... the f-f-federation. E-e-e-e-everyone knows that... D-d-d-dad was murdered b-b-by the White Base. E-e-even the. F-f-f-federation s-said." It's not just despair... anger is boiling into Emmy's voice.
The concept that... everything that drove her was wrong. Her hatred of the federation, her hatred of Britannia.... They were all that kept her going after she found out. Was she wrong?
"H-h-how!?" Her voice is rising- that anger boiling. "How d-d-did he!?" She's shaking. "M-Miss Killy... S-she t-told me that D-d-d-d-dad was the best hope for peace! H-he... he t-took MY WHOLE L-L-LIFE FROM ME before I w-w-w-was even born!" Tears stream down her face as she gets angrier and angrier. More and more distressed. "If h-he hadn't... The f-f-federation wouldn't be in charge! M-m-mom wouldn't have died! Dad would still b-b-be here! I could... I c-c-could have g-grown up kn-knowing you! Why!?!?"
She *slams* her other hand into the glass table, the instruments atop rattling. The tears become full heaving sobs. "Why... y-your 'f-f-father' killed our f-f-family!! So h-h-how come... How come your f-father gets to l-live and keep t-t-trying to kill everyone? How come YOU get to have a d-dad and I d-d-d-d-d-don't!"
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
"No. I was fighting him. Trying to stop him." She closes her eyes, taking in Emmy's anger, her breathing shaky. She winces as she hears the girl's fist hit the table.
Why?
"I don't know," she says quietly. "Whoever he is now... I think... the Char I knew died before Axis fell."
She feels the weight pressing down on her shoulders, now. The sins of the father weigh heavy on her, a responsibility to someone wronged by another before she was even aware.
Finally, she opens her eyes. "Emmy... no, Emilia Zabi." She looks the girl in the eye. "I swear to you. I will do everything I can to make sure he can answer to you. He..." She pauses. "He's possessed by something, right now. It's made him fatalistic. Completely omnicidal... moreso than he was four years ago. As long as he survives, and we can purge whatever this is out of him... we'll make sure he knows what he's done."
"... and... I want to help you. In any way I can. You're right... he robbed the Earth Sphere of a good man, and stole the life you should have had from you. I've said this before, but... if there's anything I can do, anything at all, to help you... please. Tell me. I'll do whatever I can, Emmy."
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
%Mineva tries to comfort her. To support her. It stings. But it hurts Mineva too. The fist hits the table again, Emilia struggling to express how she feels.
"H-how can... you be so k-k-kind ab--out this? H-h-how?" She gives way fully to sobs now, leaning forward towards Mineva. She can't really process this right now. What it means that he's possessed. Is that possible? Is that something newtypes do? Does it matter? He just tried to a take a second run at Axis. Third time could be the charm.
"H-he kn-kn-knows. What he's d-d-done." Her voice is quiet. As a whisper. Mineva offers to help but... she can't ask that. She can't. She can't ask Mineva to help her with what her heart screams out for. She can't know. "I... I d-d-don't..."
The news just delivered hurts her heart so much she doesn't know what she needs. She wants Milly here, with her. She doesn't want to be left alone. She doesn't want Mineva to realize what she's thinking. She kind of wishes she hadn't been told.
It is unfortunate, that the person who most understands what she wants- what she needs- is the man she hates most in the world now. But she needs it the same way he did. She needs to make Char Aznable pay for what he did. She needed revenge.
Wordlessly, Emmy continues to sob, as anger and despair overtake her fully, her body curling small and tight. Next to her only family, who she's going to have to hurt if she gets what she needs.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
How can Mineva be so kind?
That's a complicated question.
"You're someone I care about, for one thing," she begins, hugging Emmy close to her. "Someone who shouldn't be stuck in the life she's in..."
She pauses, thinking back to the orders she gave to the Garencieres' former crew. "And... Char Aznable died four years ago. The person he once was to me is gone... and nothing short of maximum force can stop him in his current state."
It's difficult to say how deeply she feels this... but she already gave Zinnerman and his men the order to go all-out.
"Nothing can excuse what he did to your father," she adds quietly.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
To Emmy, that feels like an excuse. A justification to make Mineva feel better. She finally wraps her arms around Mineva. They both know *who* is responsible for their current lives.
"...th-that's not... that's not h-how it works," Emmy finally says, through sobs. "I... d-d-didn't even m-meet my d-d-dad. And. I m-miss him s-so much."
She looks up at her cousin. "If... h-h-h-he's your f-f-father. Wouldn't y-y-you do a-a-anything to have him. B-b-b-back?" The question is heavy, and Emilia knows it. But she has to ask.
"W-w-would you r-really be okay. If he. D-died again?" There's something underlying that question, in Emmy's mind- something she doesn't think she has to hide. Newtypes are just combat pilots, after all.
'Would you hate me if I got my revenge?'
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva's quiet for a long moment... and her shoulders slump, slightly, as she exhales.
Be honest. Now isn't the time to be strong.
"They say he can be saved," she says quietly. "That they can purge what's... making him like this. Honestly, I'd be lying if I said I didn't want that. I miss him... I want him back. I want to understand why he tried to drop Axis, why he did any of the things he did."
"I want him to be proud of the girl he left behind."
She closes her eyes, and shakes her head. "But... I know what he's done. What he's capable of, even without the power he's wielding now, or the way it's warped his mind." Slowly, a tear traces a path down her cheek. Her voice is quavering. "And I know that the man I knew as a father is the man who killed our family, the man who nearly caused a Fourth Impact..."
"As much as I wish I could..." She starts to sob a little. "I can't be that selfish..." She squeezes Emmy close.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
There's so much that isn't fair here. That maybe Char can be saved. That Mineva *wants* to save him, despite everything. The fact that she won't let herself hope. The squeeze atround her... doesn't feel right.
Firmly, Emmy grips Mineva's shoulders and pushes her to sit down. She's surprisingly strong for her size. Emilia doesn't say anything but the look on her face, despite the tearstreaks down it, is... determined. Angry. Forceful.
"D-don't f-fight him."
Those words come out hard, despite the care behind him. "If... Sp-spacenoids need P-Princess Mineva. And I n-n-need. My c-cousin. If y-y-you aren't determined. You'll d-d-die. And so w-w-will Zeon's h-hopes." Her history is only up to the one year war, but some of Zeon's grievances were real and justified and showed again with ZAFT.
"If y-you c-can't be selfish. I will." The fire in Emmy's eyes is almost scary. "I'll a-a-avenge our f-family. I'll avenge th-the lives w-we lost. I'll m-m-make him pay for what he did to me 'and to you." She looks toward the door, before looking back at Mineva.
"I'll. K-Kill Char Aznable."
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Those first three words hit Mineva hard, the way they're delivered, the care and intensity behind them.
But she's right, and Minnie knows it. She hugs her elbows, looking up at her cousin as she listens, and thinks.
She's living for more than just herself, and everything she is, everything she represents... she's living for too many people to throw herself into that kind of battle, without the determination to do what needs to be done.
Too many times, she's scolded Banagher for doing the same thing. Taking stupid risks that could endanger far too much. She thinks about a future where she falls; a double takes her place, parroting the ideals of Full Frontal and his benefactors... or, like Emmy says, Zeon's will would be broken by her loss. The same capitulation Full Frontal fears.
Leina loses any hope for change. The same disillusionment that spurred her brother to leave for Jupiter. And Banagher... would he really have the strength to see the rest of the hunt through alone?
The world is on a knife's edge... if there's any hope for change, she can't throw away her life so casually.
'I'll kill Char Aznable.'
She screws her eyes shut a moment at that, leaving them closed as she nods. She only opens them a few seconds later, looking up at Emmy. That fire, that intensity... she feels it pouring off the girl in waves. Mineva may be conflicted, but Emmy... is absolutely sure.
What can she say right now...?
It doesn't take her long to decide, in the end. She grows more stern, more serious. She regards Emmy with the eyes of a commander.
"Then hold nothing back," she tells her, as though she's giving her cousin an order.
The same order she gave to Marida Cruz, Captain Zinnerman, and his crew.
<Pose Tracker> Emilia Eschonbach has posed.
She had the same kind of determination when she told Zero she wanted to make Britannia pay. Now she has a chance for revenge. To ease not only the new cut on her heart, but all the old ones that just burst open.
She has no way to plan an ambush. No way to prepare. She just has to hope the opportunity arises before any else can.
She knows she still has time today. Time she could spend with her cousin. But she can't now. Not after that declaration. If she stays any longer... one of their resolves might break. She can't risk it.
She walks toward's the door- and stops before opening it, turning back to face Mineva. "C-Captain Zinnerman... didn't t-t-tell you? I'm. A Black Knight." She turns back to the door. "We d-d-don't get. To hold back."
And with that, Emilia Zabi pushes open the door and walks out- fury and revenge guiding her steps as she leaves Mineva behind.
After all, Emilia knows deep in her heart there's no way Mineva could ever forgive her father's killer.