Everything Falls | Viper + Abel + Vinzent + ... | Library Car

Roadie 🪶Jack

Vinzent Mayer Vinzent gave a little nod of acknowledgement to Mathias, before muttering a polite goodbye and closing the book,

As usual, the spectre vanished upon the book’s closing. See you space cowboy.

Vinzent Mayer Aaaaaaaaaaaand he’s off before Jack wakes up any time now.

Huge nyoom! Though it didn’t seem like there was a lot to be worried about, since Jack had yet to show even the smallest twitch of the eyelids. But better safe than sorry.

Viper Once the other ghosts were successfully back in their books and not at risk of fighting with the woman who had scared their other little friend, she opens Elucia’s book.

“…Heyyyy, sorry ’bout randomly shutting ya back in earlier.” She greets, “That was like, real rude of us.”

Elucia rematerialized, still with green hair and still 41-ish. She didn’t seem to be taken as off-guard as before, though.

Wow, an actual apology! Maybe she’d have been impressed if she was someone else entirely. Instead she scoffed. “Guess I’ve seen ruder.” She gave Jack’s body a pointed glance before folding her arms. “Fishing for a discount or something?”

Viper

“Discount? Nah.” Viper waved her hand dismissively. “I got ’nuff ta pay ya well.” She hoped that maybe, just maybe, she’d be more inclined to talk if she didn’t think Viper was trying to get a discount out of her.

“I jus’ wanna know more about Jagal, about ya home… I ain’t been there ‘fore an’ from what I hear, sounds like there’s, like, some appealin’ things there ta go see.” Shes at least trying her best to not completely shoot herself in the foot this time.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “Discount? Nah.” Viper waved her hand dismissively. “I got ’nuff ta pay ya well.”

Elucia just huffed, like it was a joke. Well, considering she was dead… Yeah. Pretty much a joke.

Viper “I jus’ wanna know more about Jagal, about ya home… I ain’t been there ‘fore an’ from what I hear, sounds like there’s, like, some appealin’ things there ta go see.”

Jagal, huh. Hadn’t heard that one in a while. “What’s there to know about him that you can’t figure out at a glance?” She peered over at his lifeless form. “Worthless lackadaisy, can’t follow directions, and what is that hair stripe about? Ya look like one of them email boys, or whatever.”

She waved him off—as if he’d remotely responded in any way—and squinted back at Viper.

“I sure hope ya haven’t been to my home. Look like you’d rob the place.” Especially if she thought there were things to see.

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack “Worthless lackadaisy, can’t follow directions, and what is that hair stripe about? Ya look like one of them email boys, or whatever.”

Email boys. He looks at Jack very intently for a moment. He’s got…. NO Clue what that might mean but it… Doesn’t matter.

He does eye her hair for a moment after. Is it the same shade of green as Jack’s stripe? Are these related to each other? He could get that- if his hair hadn’t been ginger naturally he probably would have been dying it. Not only because Lazari don’t have other hair colors- but also just… To look more like Marius.

So, he’s making an assumption about Jack- even if he can’t confidently say he gets it with how she’s acting.

Roadie 🪶Jack “I sure hope ya haven’t been to my home. Look like you’d rob the place.” Especially if she thought there were things to see.

He snorts before reaching for Elucia’s book. “Can I see that, Viper?” If he’s committing to staying nosy….

Viper

“Email boys…?” Viper parrots, brows raised. “Ya mean like… e-boys…?” It’s hard to not start snickering. The idea of Jack of all people being an eboy was… cursed. Sure, he had the affinity for wanting money for doing nothing, but… he was far too masc and macho to be a delicate little e-boy.

Roadie 🪶Jack “I sure hope ya haven’t been to my home. Look like you’d rob the place.” Especially if she thought there were things to see.

“Wha- like, rude!” Viper replies, absolutely bewildered that someone had read her so well. She absolutely would have stolen something if she were there.

“Look, ’nuff ‘bout like… me…an’ all…but…” She waves her hand, passing the book over to Abel in the process. “I jus’ wanna know more. What’s it like there? ’S it like… super peaceful? Th’opposite?” Maybe if she focused questions less on Jagal, she could truly perceive just how different his life would have been after his parents’ deaths.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “Email boys…?” Viper parrots, brows raised. “Ya mean like… e-boys…?”

Elucia squinted, then shrugged. “Iunno. You people change whatcha call everybody every coupla months, anyway.”

Viper “Wha- like, rude!”

She just laughed. I Calls Em Likes I Sees Em.

Abel Lazarus He does eye her hair for a moment after. Is it the same shade of green as Jack’s stripe?

It was hard to be sure given the see-through-ness of the spectre, but it was at least close.

She idly watched the book pass to Abel’s hands, but better his than the email girl’s. Probably.

Viper “I jus’ wanna know more. What’s it like there? ’S it like… super peaceful? Th’opposite?”

Her brow furrowed. “Wait, which home are we talking about, here? You mean the old country, heck if I know what they’re up to these days. Otherwise, eh. Been gone a while from there, too, I guess. Visit it yourself, make some tourist trappers happy.”

Viper

Viper’s pretty easy to call, in some respects… her affinity for picking things up that weren’t hers… one of the easiest things to identify about her. But hey, she’ll take being called an ‘email girl’… even if only mentally by Elucia.

“Uhhh… both?” She fishes, before looking back over at Jagal and after a brief pause she pipes up with-

“Ya don’t really seem ta like him too much. Any particular reason? ‘s it what he does, or jus’ his… self.” She wants to know… so bad. “An’… how old is Jagal anyway? Kinda hard ta tell. He’s gotta be thirty at least, he’s, like, def older than me.”

Roadie 🪶Jack

Viper “Uhhh… both?”

Elucia continued to squint. What was she, a tourist brochure? Be a pretty hefty volume for one of those. And not a whole lot of popular points.

Viper “Ya don’t really seem ta like him too much. Any particular reason? ‘s it what he does, or jus’ his… self.”

A bitter laugh. “Well he did kill me. Kinda puts a little damper on things, don’tcha think?” She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Not that I’d call his ‘self’ pleasant, either, but it’s a little hard to compare.”

Viper An’… how old is Jagal anyway? Kinda hard ta tell. He’s gotta be thirty at least, he’s, like, def older than me.”

She cast another look at him, more neutrally, but that wasn’t exactly the best way to estimate. “Couldn’t guess. What year is it now?”

Assuming someone answered truthfully, she just laughed. “Thirty, huh? Not even close. Or do numbers work different these days, too?”

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack “Well he did kill me. Kinda puts a little damper on things, don’tcha think?” She tossed her braid over her shoulder. “Not that I’d call his ‘self’ pleasant, either, but it’s a little hard to compare.”

Abel’s eyebrows shoot up and he buries his nose in her book for a moment. He tries to find information on her death- how long ago it was and how it happened. He could like. Ask her directly or whatever but that would require talking to her and. He’s good just reading about her instead. Much better use of his time he thinks.

Roadie 🪶Jack “Couldn’t guess. What year is it now?”

Abel would know this info but I wouldn’t! He offers the info but he figures they probably won’t get a very straight answer after his attempt to get it from Ibah went so sideways.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus Abel’s eyebrows shoot up and he buries his nose in her book for a moment. He tries to find information on her death- how long ago it was and how it happened.

Well, pretty easy to find the end of the book! …Maybe slightly less easy with it changing languages and directions partway through, but he’s good at books, it’s fine.

Looked like she died… about five years ago? Hmm. Apparently in the absolute dead of night, if the worthless dark final picture of her is to be believed. Took an arrow straight through the head in her own backyard and had just a little time to try to figure out what happened before slipping away. Whether or not she’d been aware her nephew had come to her side at the end wasn’t entirely clear, but that’s what was written. Didn’t look like they exchanged any words or anything. Just paralyzed silence.

Abel Lazarus

Roadie 🪶Jack he’s good at books, it’s fine.

If he knew you thought this about him he’d be so happy. It’s true and he likes to have his positives acknowledged for once.

Roadie 🪶Jack five years ago?

….. maybe I’m just not remembering things so well, but hasn’t Jack been on the train for 7 years? Had he lied? Mixed time up?

Roadie 🪶Jack Whether or not she’d been aware her nephew had come to her side at the end wasn’t entirely clear, but that’s what was written.

… he makes sure said nephew is Jack. Like double checks all over again. Maybe he’s assuming! Unless… we’ll. He searches for more details to clarify things about her death before flipping back towards Ibah’s death time. Does Jack seem to disappear? Or is he still around until Elucia’s death?

Is this some horrifying train stuff? Did he get off the train just to kill her and return? Perhaps he is thinking about this a bit too much but he (and I) are not sure.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Abel Lazarus ….. maybe I’m just not remembering things so well, but hasn’t Jack been on the train for 7 years?

Narrator “Gotta be goin’ on seven, eight years now?”

Haha yeah, that sure doesn’t add up mathematically does it!

Abel Lazarus He searches for more details to clarify things about her death before flipping back towards Ibah’s death time. Does Jack seem to disappear? Or is he still around until Elucia’s death?

Just poking around close to the date of death made it pretty clear Jack (and Nazir, apparently) was living with her at the time. And Elucia actually worked as an archery instructor, not that she kept much around the house. Just a few old targets out back that she couldn’t actually shoot at because that was in fact not legal in her neighborhood. For all this family cared about laws. There’s really not much helpful detail around the time of death, unless you count her going outside at that hour because she thought she maybe heard that stupid cat on her property again.

Either way, she clearly had only one sister and never married, so that pretty much left just the one nephew. No mentions of Jagal on the date of Ibah’s death or in fact the entirety of the English section before that.

Viper “I’unno if ya know, like, why he did it?

“Because he’s a moron who can’t follow simple instructions or just use his own head for anything!” She’s practically gnashing her teeth, but, well, understandable in context. Clearly she considered her death purely his fault.

Viper But what happened with Ibah? I heard that there was an…. archery accident.”

Her brow furrowed. Either the email girl had a lotta stuff mixed up, or maybe dying messed up her hearing somehow. “No idea what you’re talkin’ about, kid. Some kinda long-haul sickness complications got her—according to him, at least. Seemed genuine.” She absently rolled one of her wrists.

Viper “An’ I forget… ’s this after their parents died or before?”

“Oh, well after.” She scoff-laughed. “H-lluva way to find out your sister’s dead. ‘Surprise! Here, take an entire child’!—Moody teenager. Whatever. Nothing I asked for.”

Viper “He closer ta forty? Fifty even? Kinda looks young for fifty at least.”

“Ha! Honey, I didn’t even make it to fifty.” She folded her arms. “Unless both of you are just real bad at calendars, he oughta be 23.”

Viper

Viper raises her brows. I mean, Jack… she had to admit, she had initially been so determined to stick up for him and believe he had never killed before, but now… she was seeing she was wrong. If she were more willing to admit she had made that mistake she’d probably apologise to some people. But this was Viper we’re talking about, she’s not going to dance around and apologise for being wrong.

She does, however, feel like there was at least a motive behind what happened. That Jagal at least had a reason for it besides not liking her. Perhaps…

“I’unno if ya know, like, why he did it? But what happened with Ibah? I heard that there was an…. archery accident.” If Elucia was honest about this at least, perhaps it would shed some light for her own personal curiosity. “An’ I forget… ’s this after their parents died or before?” She wonders if the spirits had just communicated or if they had still been alive to witness it. Because I too, forget if that was clarified or not.

But he wasn’t even close to thirty??? Was it more train mumbo jumbo or… she wonders.

She gives Elucia the current year- whatever year it is in game.

“He closer ta forty? Fifty even? Kinda looks young for fifty at least.”

Viper

“Heard that… Ibah at least got injured once in an archery incident, figued maybe this was some, like… revenge type deal? I mean, glad ta know it wasn’t really… th’case. What did happen? ’Cause it was their dad that told us ’bout what happened.” Viper is so… she’s trying so hard to put the pieces together- by this point, she’d started fiddling with Atsuko’s lighter again- not an ideal thing to fiddle with in a library, but she was being careful.

That was, until, Elucia dropped the biggest bombshell of the whole thing. The lighter clattered to the ground- luckily not setting fire to anything, and Viper’s eyes widened and her face paled.

“…Whuh????” Oh man. What? “My god- he’s HOW OLD????!” Elucia you’ve broken her a little. Her head finds its way into her hands and she straight-up looks like she’s having an existential crisis. “…What the f-ck he looks like he’s in his thirties??!!! Like, damn, that sh-t’s rough- but- wh… HE’S YOUNGER THAN ME??????????????”

Sorry, Viper.

… And sorry Jagal too she’s kinda implying you’re an uggo in a way.

Roadie 🪶Jack

Elucia clearly had no idea what that was all about—she’d remember if she’d hit her own niece, please and thanks—but of course had to make a snide comment that taking revenge required some modicum of motivation, so definitely impossible for him.

And a cackle at the reaction there. Why not give strangers existential crises? Didn’t even have to lie.

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