Post by Lady Munin on Oct 31, 2019 21:03:51 GMT -5
Why am I here?
The thought must have run through Munin's head a hundred times in the past thirty minutes.
Her eyes lazily drift over the luxuriousness of one of New York's finest restaurants and then back to her “family”.
This was definitely her own private hell.
Her only consolation is knowing her "grandmother" hated being in the same room with her just as much as she hated to be here.
It's with this thought that her eyes meet with the other woman's, which Immediately prompts Munin to slouch deeper into her chair. The woman's nostrils flaring in instant silent fury was like eating icing from a spoon. Immensely satisfying instant gratification.
Krahe chuckles from her side, not even bothering to hide his amusement.
"Munin my dear, you're being awfully quiet. I'm sure you could think of something of substance to say, if you try hard enough."
"I have plenty of things to say Lin...just nothing to say to you."
The older woman gaps at her in outrage.
"How dare you speak to your grandmother with such disrespect! Yo-"
"Step-grandmother, we don’t share blood. Thank god."
It happens all at once. A simple excited movement too close to a glass of water. It's the perfect example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The elbow hits the glass and the water spills out like liquid chaos.
For Munin, it's like watching everything in slow motion. The sudden exclamations of righteous indignation ringing in her ears, and in an instant, she's sucked down the rabbit hole of the past.
Water spilled over the table to drip into her lap. Her small hands clenched tight to hide their shaking while her stomach churned with humiliation.
Immediately she started to brace herself for the backlash from her clumsiness. It wasn't like they would hold back just because of their current visitor.
Great Uncle Jiro may have been a hero to her father, but he was a black sheep to the rest of the family. Unwanted, just like her.
Her stomach churned even more with sudden realization. They were going to make an example of her.
"Atsuko is it not enough that you are a constant source of shame to this family, must you be this clumsy too?"
Munin's teeth gritted together at the use of her middle name.
"My first name is Munin, grandmother. It is the name I would prefer that you use."
An outraged scoff was the not so unexpected reaction.
"How dare you take such a tone with me, you ungrateful child? That ridiculous name has led to enough trouble. Honestly, we would be better off legally removing it entirely. Perhaps that would curtail the petty rebellious tendencies you've been exhibiting."
Munin's breath hitched in her throat at her grandmother's callous smile. Beside her, Hugin shifted in his seat with mounting fury. The restraining hand she put on his knee as the only thing keeping him in check.
"Oh, did you think we wouldn't know? Just because you haven't done anything that can officially be disciplined, doesn't mean your dishonorable conduct has gone unnoticed. In fact, it is my opinion that you're not fit to accept your inheritance in its entirety."
"That will be quite enough of that Lin."
Jiro's rough voice cut through her grandmother's tirade like a blade. The words were spoken calmly, almost dismissively, but they commanded the attention of everyone in the room.
Munin turned her shocked gaze from her grandmother's gaping mouth to look at her Great Uncle with something akin to wonder.
"You've no say in the inheritance of my great-niece. My brother may choose to indulge your petty prattle, but I am sick of it."
Jiro finally lifted his gaze from his plate to meet Munin's wide-eyed gaze across the table.
"Munin, I heard there was an incident at your school. Tell me what happened."
For the first time in weeks, she found herself desperate to tell someone the truth. The need was so strong she could taste it, but when she opened her mouth, out poured the lies.
"I see, it can't be helped then."
Jiro turned his attention back to his food.
"Go to your room, and think about what you have told me. You will not be finishing dinner with the rest of us. No Hugin, you will stay here."
Numbly she pushed away from the table and quietly made her way upstairs.
Forty minutes passed before Uncle Jiro politely knocked on her door. After she gave permission, he opened the door with a gentle smile on his rough face.
"Do you mind if we have a word?"
"I don't mind...sir."
Jiro made his way into the room with measured steps and took a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Do you know why you were sent to your room?"
Munin shrugged her shoulders with a sigh.
"I'm clumsy, and my behavior is offensive."
"You think you were sent to your room because you spilled a glass of water?"
This was uttered with a mixture of disbelief and irritation, which caused Munin to blink in confusion.
"What else would I have been sent away for?"
Her uncle took in a deep breath and rubbed his forehead.
Inside he was furious that his brother would allow his second wife to treat a child so poorly. The bitch deserved to be beaten, but such thoughts wouldn't help the child. At least, not right now.
It took him a moment to compose himself before he turned back to her.
"You were sent to your room for lying to me."
Their eyes met, hers were filled with shock, while his were patient.
"How about you tell me what happened at school one more time."
By the time she had told him everything, silent tears had burned tracks down her face. It was cleansing.
"I take it this other behavior is related?"
She hesitated only a moment before nodding. It was true, all her recent activities could be traced back to that incident.
"I see, can truly validate these punishments?"
"I don't understand."
"That is not surprising. Most people fail to grasp the full concept of punishment, or the responsibility that comes with it. An honorable punishment is motivated by a valid sense of justice, a clear outlook of accountability, and an understanding of absolution.”
“Absolution?”
“Yes my dear, once a person has been punished for their transgression they can not be punished for it again."
"I sent you to your room for lying. That means you were punished and held accountable for your actions. After tonight I will never punish you in any way for lying to me tonight. The slate is wiped clean and you are absolved. Also, your punishment was proportionate to your crime. Sometimes we need punishment for absolution...more than we need it for justice. It allows us to tear down the molehills that we have built into mountains. Do you understand?”
Munin automatically began to nod her head but stopped with a look of concentration.
“I think I understand but...how do I know for sure?”
Jiro’s eyes twinkled with amusement.
“Knowing something isn't the same as understanding it. Some lessons you have to grow into.”
“That makes even less sense."
She said this with frank exasperation that Jiro had to bite back a bark of laughter.
"Wait, you said an honorable punishment, but what about the dishonorable?”
“I'm happy you were paying attention."
He affectionately ruffled her black hair, and after her initial flinch, she relaxed into the touch.
"Some seek to punish others to satisfy their own egotistical sense of power. This power is used as a crutch for their own insecurities and fears. They tell themselves pretty lies to justify their petty actions, build themselves up as some great paragon. When really, they're just malicious cowards.”
“It’s when we find ourselves dealing with such individuals that we are faced with the decision to transcend their petty definition of punishment...or to be dragged down into it.”
His gentle eyes slid towards her somber little face.
“If you were faced with such a person, would you transcend or would you punish someone over a little spilled water?”
That night she and Hugin packed their bags. The next day Uncle Jiro took them home.
A small sniffle beneath the hushed berating voices snaps Munin back to the present.
Her dark eyes focus on the small child, trying not to cry over spilled water. The tiny half sobbed apology is what finally pulls Munin's trigger.
Everyone jumps when a hand slams down on the table.
"You know, I was going to wait till later to shoot my promo. Humor, your pathetic attempts at asinine mind games."
Their eyes widen comically when she climbs onto the table.
"Obviously, I've changed my mind. Krahe, bring the camera closer."
The camera clicks on to reveal a spectacle that few would anticipate.
Munin stands on top of a table, her designer heels firmly planted on the pristine table cloth. Her backdrop is pure dining opulence of New York's Le Bernardin and its many elite patrons gaping at her in disbelief. The Taria clan looks on in horror as she stands above them with a guileless smile.
“I suppose this is where most people insert a cheerful empty greeting or dramatic build-up to what they have to say."
"They're the grind men giving their bally for the sideshow at the carnival. Their sophisticated spiel is specifically designed to lure in their marks, and prepare them to suspend belief...You would be amazed at what people will see when they want to believe."
She begins to pace along the table purposely knocking over glasses of water and wine.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes people just need the chance to believe in something for a while and some people need others to believe in them."
Dark eyes turn back to the camera with a look far from innocent.
"I don't. So instead we’ll cut straight through the fat, and go straight to the bone. This match is about punishment."
“To most of the world the concept of punishment is straightforward and simple. Merriam and Webster define punishment as suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution. My Uncle believed that the concept of punishment was anything but simple..."
A loud scoff has her twisting her head awkwardly to meet the offender's eyes with a cold vicious glare that had them quickly averting their eyes.
“To my uncle, punishment was not only retribution, but a chance for absolution. I know you may think me a monster by the time this is over, but I believe in that.”
She turns her gaze back to the camera completely ignoring the mess that surrounds her in the glares of her family.
“Of course, this absolution isn’t free. I really don’t have to explain this aspect of punishment to you though do I Siberia? No, you know exactly what this match means, and just maybe you realize that you need it even more than I do. I hope you understand what happens afterwards too, because Siberia...this is just the beginning.”
“Oh don’t get me wrong you’re slate will be wiped clean, but you won’t be paying for anyone else's sins. Your family will have to pay their own dues, because I’m knocking down your door to sit pretty at the table, and I am not like any dinner guest you’ve had before.”
She glances around the table as though seeing it for the first time and laughs.
“Well look at the mess, and you idiots wanted to fuss over a little bit of spilled water...yet now you’re all so quiet. Funny how that works.”
The thought must have run through Munin's head a hundred times in the past thirty minutes.
Her eyes lazily drift over the luxuriousness of one of New York's finest restaurants and then back to her “family”.
This was definitely her own private hell.
Her only consolation is knowing her "grandmother" hated being in the same room with her just as much as she hated to be here.
It's with this thought that her eyes meet with the other woman's, which Immediately prompts Munin to slouch deeper into her chair. The woman's nostrils flaring in instant silent fury was like eating icing from a spoon. Immensely satisfying instant gratification.
Krahe chuckles from her side, not even bothering to hide his amusement.
"Munin my dear, you're being awfully quiet. I'm sure you could think of something of substance to say, if you try hard enough."
"I have plenty of things to say Lin...just nothing to say to you."
The older woman gaps at her in outrage.
"How dare you speak to your grandmother with such disrespect! Yo-"
"Step-grandmother, we don’t share blood. Thank god."
It happens all at once. A simple excited movement too close to a glass of water. It's the perfect example of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The elbow hits the glass and the water spills out like liquid chaos.
For Munin, it's like watching everything in slow motion. The sudden exclamations of righteous indignation ringing in her ears, and in an instant, she's sucked down the rabbit hole of the past.
Water spilled over the table to drip into her lap. Her small hands clenched tight to hide their shaking while her stomach churned with humiliation.
Immediately she started to brace herself for the backlash from her clumsiness. It wasn't like they would hold back just because of their current visitor.
Great Uncle Jiro may have been a hero to her father, but he was a black sheep to the rest of the family. Unwanted, just like her.
Her stomach churned even more with sudden realization. They were going to make an example of her.
"Atsuko is it not enough that you are a constant source of shame to this family, must you be this clumsy too?"
Munin's teeth gritted together at the use of her middle name.
"My first name is Munin, grandmother. It is the name I would prefer that you use."
An outraged scoff was the not so unexpected reaction.
"How dare you take such a tone with me, you ungrateful child? That ridiculous name has led to enough trouble. Honestly, we would be better off legally removing it entirely. Perhaps that would curtail the petty rebellious tendencies you've been exhibiting."
Munin's breath hitched in her throat at her grandmother's callous smile. Beside her, Hugin shifted in his seat with mounting fury. The restraining hand she put on his knee as the only thing keeping him in check.
"Oh, did you think we wouldn't know? Just because you haven't done anything that can officially be disciplined, doesn't mean your dishonorable conduct has gone unnoticed. In fact, it is my opinion that you're not fit to accept your inheritance in its entirety."
"That will be quite enough of that Lin."
Jiro's rough voice cut through her grandmother's tirade like a blade. The words were spoken calmly, almost dismissively, but they commanded the attention of everyone in the room.
Munin turned her shocked gaze from her grandmother's gaping mouth to look at her Great Uncle with something akin to wonder.
"You've no say in the inheritance of my great-niece. My brother may choose to indulge your petty prattle, but I am sick of it."
Jiro finally lifted his gaze from his plate to meet Munin's wide-eyed gaze across the table.
"Munin, I heard there was an incident at your school. Tell me what happened."
For the first time in weeks, she found herself desperate to tell someone the truth. The need was so strong she could taste it, but when she opened her mouth, out poured the lies.
"I see, it can't be helped then."
Jiro turned his attention back to his food.
"Go to your room, and think about what you have told me. You will not be finishing dinner with the rest of us. No Hugin, you will stay here."
Numbly she pushed away from the table and quietly made her way upstairs.
Forty minutes passed before Uncle Jiro politely knocked on her door. After she gave permission, he opened the door with a gentle smile on his rough face.
"Do you mind if we have a word?"
"I don't mind...sir."
Jiro made his way into the room with measured steps and took a seat at the foot of the bed.
"Do you know why you were sent to your room?"
Munin shrugged her shoulders with a sigh.
"I'm clumsy, and my behavior is offensive."
"You think you were sent to your room because you spilled a glass of water?"
This was uttered with a mixture of disbelief and irritation, which caused Munin to blink in confusion.
"What else would I have been sent away for?"
Her uncle took in a deep breath and rubbed his forehead.
Inside he was furious that his brother would allow his second wife to treat a child so poorly. The bitch deserved to be beaten, but such thoughts wouldn't help the child. At least, not right now.
It took him a moment to compose himself before he turned back to her.
"You were sent to your room for lying to me."
Their eyes met, hers were filled with shock, while his were patient.
"How about you tell me what happened at school one more time."
By the time she had told him everything, silent tears had burned tracks down her face. It was cleansing.
"I take it this other behavior is related?"
She hesitated only a moment before nodding. It was true, all her recent activities could be traced back to that incident.
"I see, can truly validate these punishments?"
"I don't understand."
"That is not surprising. Most people fail to grasp the full concept of punishment, or the responsibility that comes with it. An honorable punishment is motivated by a valid sense of justice, a clear outlook of accountability, and an understanding of absolution.”
“Absolution?”
“Yes my dear, once a person has been punished for their transgression they can not be punished for it again."
"I sent you to your room for lying. That means you were punished and held accountable for your actions. After tonight I will never punish you in any way for lying to me tonight. The slate is wiped clean and you are absolved. Also, your punishment was proportionate to your crime. Sometimes we need punishment for absolution...more than we need it for justice. It allows us to tear down the molehills that we have built into mountains. Do you understand?”
Munin automatically began to nod her head but stopped with a look of concentration.
“I think I understand but...how do I know for sure?”
Jiro’s eyes twinkled with amusement.
“Knowing something isn't the same as understanding it. Some lessons you have to grow into.”
“That makes even less sense."
She said this with frank exasperation that Jiro had to bite back a bark of laughter.
"Wait, you said an honorable punishment, but what about the dishonorable?”
“I'm happy you were paying attention."
He affectionately ruffled her black hair, and after her initial flinch, she relaxed into the touch.
"Some seek to punish others to satisfy their own egotistical sense of power. This power is used as a crutch for their own insecurities and fears. They tell themselves pretty lies to justify their petty actions, build themselves up as some great paragon. When really, they're just malicious cowards.”
“It’s when we find ourselves dealing with such individuals that we are faced with the decision to transcend their petty definition of punishment...or to be dragged down into it.”
His gentle eyes slid towards her somber little face.
“If you were faced with such a person, would you transcend or would you punish someone over a little spilled water?”
That night she and Hugin packed their bags. The next day Uncle Jiro took them home.
A small sniffle beneath the hushed berating voices snaps Munin back to the present.
Her dark eyes focus on the small child, trying not to cry over spilled water. The tiny half sobbed apology is what finally pulls Munin's trigger.
Everyone jumps when a hand slams down on the table.
"You know, I was going to wait till later to shoot my promo. Humor, your pathetic attempts at asinine mind games."
Their eyes widen comically when she climbs onto the table.
"Obviously, I've changed my mind. Krahe, bring the camera closer."
The camera clicks on to reveal a spectacle that few would anticipate.
Munin stands on top of a table, her designer heels firmly planted on the pristine table cloth. Her backdrop is pure dining opulence of New York's Le Bernardin and its many elite patrons gaping at her in disbelief. The Taria clan looks on in horror as she stands above them with a guileless smile.
“I suppose this is where most people insert a cheerful empty greeting or dramatic build-up to what they have to say."
"They're the grind men giving their bally for the sideshow at the carnival. Their sophisticated spiel is specifically designed to lure in their marks, and prepare them to suspend belief...You would be amazed at what people will see when they want to believe."
She begins to pace along the table purposely knocking over glasses of water and wine.
"It's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes people just need the chance to believe in something for a while and some people need others to believe in them."
Dark eyes turn back to the camera with a look far from innocent.
"I don't. So instead we’ll cut straight through the fat, and go straight to the bone. This match is about punishment."
“To most of the world the concept of punishment is straightforward and simple. Merriam and Webster define punishment as suffering, pain, or loss that serves as retribution. My Uncle believed that the concept of punishment was anything but simple..."
A loud scoff has her twisting her head awkwardly to meet the offender's eyes with a cold vicious glare that had them quickly averting their eyes.
“To my uncle, punishment was not only retribution, but a chance for absolution. I know you may think me a monster by the time this is over, but I believe in that.”
She turns her gaze back to the camera completely ignoring the mess that surrounds her in the glares of her family.
“Of course, this absolution isn’t free. I really don’t have to explain this aspect of punishment to you though do I Siberia? No, you know exactly what this match means, and just maybe you realize that you need it even more than I do. I hope you understand what happens afterwards too, because Siberia...this is just the beginning.”
“Oh don’t get me wrong you’re slate will be wiped clean, but you won’t be paying for anyone else's sins. Your family will have to pay their own dues, because I’m knocking down your door to sit pretty at the table, and I am not like any dinner guest you’ve had before.”
She glances around the table as though seeing it for the first time and laughs.
“Well look at the mess, and you idiots wanted to fuss over a little bit of spilled water...yet now you’re all so quiet. Funny how that works.”
