[PRP] Migration (Renard/Rabbit)

[Smerdle]

Rabbit had never been to the Shore Estate as far as he knew, and as he stepped up onto the porch and knocked at the door he felt exposed, as if someone or something might snipe him from the trees. He didn't turn to cast suspicious glances at them even so, standing straight and waiting bravely for some sort of reply.

He had questions for the man who liked to bleed. He just hoped they weren't dangerous ones.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard opened the door. He eyeballed Rabbit; they were of a height, even if they were definitely not of an aesthetic. "Mr. Vaughn," he said. Somehow he sounded like the suspicious butler from a Victorian-era drama. Or like... Alan Rickman, with a slightly higher pitch. "What can I do for you."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Of course he knew his name. Renard knew everything, right? He'd been friends with people Rabbit had never even seen him speak to in this world, and he showed up in the most unexpected of places.

Rabbit cleared his throat, but his voice still came out thin. At least he was able to look into Renard's eyes.

"I've been doing some research on sirens for quite a while now—you know, noble stuff—and I just learned the other day that you made them, which, all right, cool. But I was wondering if you knew anything about what they had become? What kinds of magic they have? Because Alwise seemed a little fragile on his own. Before he... died."

Rabbit wrapped his left hand around his right fist and pushed both lightly into his sternum, as if he was turning off his vapid rambling function. He took a breath and stood a little taller.

"I just wanted to ask you for a little information, if you have the time. Sir."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I'm afraid you're mistaken," said Renard. He didn't sound unkind. "I don't recall making anything like the sirens. I do know about them, however, and I've time to answer any questions you have..."

He stepped back, allowing Rabbit inside. "Please take off your shoes. The rug is an antique."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

"Oh." Rabbit's lips stayed pursed for a moment as he thought, his face falling slack again as he stepped inside, toeing off his shoes. Was this Renard not their Renard? He hadn't considered that, and as such hadn't thought at all about what that might mean for their sigil. Bad things. That was what it meant.

"All right. Thank you. Anything you can tell me would be great."

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

Renard led Rabbit into what looked like a finely-appointed dining room, except the table was covered in papers and a laptop computer. "Pardon the mess," he said, "My daughter's writing a paper on modern eschatology and she hasn't quite cottoned on to the fact that she can't just leave the table looking like this." He sighed, and took a seat at the cleaner end.

"From what I understand, the creatures you call sirens were created to preserve your old world's cage?"

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

His daughter. Sonny now. Rabbit nodded, careful not to touch any of the eschatology as he sat nearby.

"To 'warn against the otherworld's demise'." It had seemed like such a lofty job for such little balls of feathers, which was probably why he'd never forget it. "But if the cage keeps the cycles going, and the otherworld relies on the cycles in some way, then I guess it would be the same thing." Rabbit's brows furrowed a bit. He hadn't thought of that.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"And they were created from blood and dirt," said Renard. "How heavy-handed. I've no idea about your cage or its creation or its cycles, only what I've determined from looking at what fallout I can find from your introduction to this world, so that's quite delightful. But an alarm system built into a cage would necessarily have to be dismantled to destroy it and prevent the end of the cycles. I suppose that's what you've come to ask about? Whether you can destroy the cage without destroying the children?"

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

A low wave of adrenaline swept through him, making Rabbit want to bolt out of this quaint house and run home to check on his kids. He folded his hands instead, resting them on his thighs, then his knees, then his thighs again.

"I'd wanted to be more sneaky about asking, but sure. Yeah. Yes, that's what I'd like to know. That and whether or not they can learn magic on their own. And I guess now I want to know if there's anything in this town you don't know about." It was more awed than accusatory, and as he leaned forward, Rabbit's hands slid back to his knees once more.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"There's no doubt they could learn magic if you chose to teach them," said Renard. "And I'm quite old. If there's anything in this town I don't know, it's probably not worth knowing about." He shrugged. "I won't be able to give you a definitive answer on whether or not the cage's survival is predicated on the survival of the children until I see the remaining fragments together in one place, whatever those are."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Rabbit nodded, though it was more inwardly focused than meant as any sort of response. One positive, one... eh, and one entry for creepypasta.

"How do you feel about people trying to break our cage? You don't have to answer or anything, but if all the, um, fragments were brought to you, would you try to smash them? ...Do you think."

It was an idiotic question, rife with the potential for an answering lie, but there it was.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"I spent almost two decades of my life trying to prevent the outcome that I now find myself faced with," said Renard. "Two decades in extreme emotional pain and physical exertion, fighting my own unwillingness to carry a living being inside myself and my knowledge that it had to be done. All so that I wouldn't be trapped in your world's endless Nascar race of a cage, and for nothing..."

He trailed off.

"Upstairs," he said, "There is a room full of the corpses of my children who didn't make it to term. Dozens of them, Mr. Vaughn. I carried them all right here, beneath my heart--" He pressed a palm against his chest "--I shared with them my magic and my body--And you ask me if I would hesitate to destroy the cage that robbed their deaths of any purpose?"

He shook his head. "I know what it is to lose a child. Two children, three, ten... I would not harm your children. As much as their existence hurts me."

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Okay, so this wasn't just an entry for creepypasta, it was a five part saga, 10 out of 10, would read again, movie deal horror story. Fetuses in the guest room. The magical man who had forcibly created them. And all of it for nothing. Maybe. Rabbit did want the cage to be broken in theory, but he wanted the sirens to live more. What their lives would become if the world reset was another problem altogether, one that he had only recently begun to think about. That was fine, but he probably shouldn't have been doing so now. Rabbit realized he was staring and made himself straighten and blink.

"I'm sorry," he said, and he meant it. Most of the time when he apologized, what he really meant to convey was sympathy. This time, he'd had a direct hand in ******** everything up. "And thank you. People are... working on it, I think. If I can, I'll try to get you in to look at what they find." He'd have to ask around first, because this version of Renard was frankly still terrifying and Rabbit wasn't sure if he could be trusted any more than the other one, but he would see what he could do.

shibrogane

 

[shibrogane]

"Thank you," said Renard. "It is... appreciated. Though..."

He appeared to reconsider whatever it was he was going to say.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?"

Smerdle

 

[Smerdle]

Rabbit noted the pause, but without further context or greater bravery he saw no way to pursue it. In another minute it didn't seem all that important anyway.

"No, that's all. I mostly wanted to find out if I could teach them magic without them ending up disappointed or messed up somehow. And I can, so..." He sprung up from where he was perched and bowed forward about three inches or so. "I won't keep you."

shibrogane