![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
- !event,
- akashi kaoru,
- akiko yosano,
- akira kurusu,
- aqua (kingdom hearts),
- arsene lupin,
- cairngorm,
- caramia,
- clark kent,
- damian wayne,
- dave strider,
- dextera,
- dirk strider,
- eliot durant,
- elizabeth,
- gaku yaotome,
- gandharva,
- ginko,
- goro akechi,
- guren ichinose,
- haru okumura,
- honebami toushirou,
- ignis scientia,
- izuku midoriya,
- john egbert,
- jonathan kent,
- joshua bright,
- josuke higashikata,
- kairi,
- kamui,
- kei nanjo,
- keigo asano,
- koriel xiii,
- kyrie,
- maribelle,
- maya amano,
- michael mell,
- mikleo,
- minato arisato,
- misaki yata,
- mutsunokami yoshiyuki,
- ochako uraraka,
- okuni kumou,
- okuyasu nijimura,
- percy jackson,
- phoenix,
- prompto argentum,
- riku,
- riku nanase,
- rin okumura,
- ryo asuka,
- saruhiko fushimi,
- selina kyle,
- shiho sannomiya,
- sora,
- sorey,
- summer moran,
- tenn kujo,
- tonbokiri,
- zelda
Event Eight.
 | |
The heart's dearest solace will smile on me there. No more from the cottage again will I roam, Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home. | |
Welcome to Awash's eighth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. | |
he Town is quiet this week. No sudden quests on the forum post, no roars of werewolves in the distance... just peaceful, peaceful quiet. Of course, it's
no subject
He clicks his tongue, because he has to get it out some way, eyebrows furrowed as he stares down. The feeling gets worse and worse, and soon enough, Damian will notice that there's a large door absolutely covered in talismans ahead.]
So that's how you died? Then how did you come back? Something to do with cloning, too?
no subject
There's nothing at all similar, honestly. There was no door, no nothing actually, not when he was lying in a coffin and dead. He hadn't even been alive, awake. But he has dreams about it--nightmares.
A world burning and awful and hellish.] No. It was... the shard... The Chaos Shard... [His skin crawls, and he takes half a step back before becoming rigid with resolve. His eyes don't leave the door. Guren doesn't exist for a moment. He thinks he'll asphyxiate. Darkseid and Ra's and Apokolips all want him to come back. To be dead. To give his body.
His attention snaps to Guren suddenly, pupils large and wild, but slowly calming.] The embryonic womb... my mother used... was powered by a Chaos sliver... Father used another one... to connect them, and the circuit resurrected me.
...What is this place, Ichinose?
no subject
It used to be an underground temple. It was turned into something of a training ground. They kept demons here, of all levels. We're right by the ceremony room for the black demon series weapons.
I've already checked, and the demon weapons are no longer here. The feeling is leftover. To face a demon like this directly and make contact with it, it would feel at least ten times as bad as this.
[Since they go directly into your mind and heart and rip out your worst memories to use them against you.]
If I wanted to, I could release energy like this from my blade, more concentrated. Most people can't stay conscious without the use of protective seals. Inside, it's just an empty old temple with seals on the ground and demon statues.
Do you want to see it?
no subject
But if he can do all of that and keep getting up every morning, this is nothing. If he can die, this is nothing.
The shoulder under Guren's hand is just as tense as it had been. His face crumples irritably when he glances up at Guren, even if the look isn't directed at the man. He's fine. He thinks he can take a demon standing, at least for a little bit.]
Show me.
no subject
This is just the shadow of these demons, anyway. He should be fine, but if he's got that much going on in his head, it's not going to be pleasant.
He steps forward, muttering something under his breath so quickly that it's unclear if it was a spell or just a comment, but the doors open with a push of his hand.
Inside, there are a bunch of demon statues lined up in front of what appear to be some sort of summoning circles or other spellcraft on the ground. The statues are ominous looking, looming around them as well as the ones in front of them, varying in color and shape.
But this room was empty the last time he checked, and now, there's a blade sitting in the middle of one of the circles. It's enough to get Guren to pause.]
no subject
Focused on the statues, Damian nearly runs into Guren's backside when the man stops. He glances up then leans just enough to peer around Guren to the frontside of them. ?? His eyes lift to Guren's face. Guren seems too uncertain.]
What is it?
no subject
[It's beyond just uncertainty now. That wasn't here before. That was never here. He moves his arm back to try and push Damian back behind him, even as he steps into the room.]
Stay back. Don't let it touch you. [Very serious, very paranoid, but he'd thought at first that it was just a hallucination. Now, though... It's not possible that a demon weapon like that could be here really, right? That a demon could be here?
He draws his own katana two steps into the room, black and red, and his whole feel changes. Without hesitating, he throws a handful of fuda at the sword, covering it in paper and leveling his own sword at it—
And nothing happens. Nothing at all. Seems like it really is just an empty sword, even if Guren is glaring holes into it in his paranoia.]
no subject
Suddenly, he's hyper aware of the room, but his eyes don't leave the sword. He watches Guren draw the sword, cover the other in fuda, prepare for something...
...then nothing.
All of the tension drains out of his body, and his face falls flat.] If this is your idea of a joke to try to "scare" me, it's not working, Ichinose. [Guren really isn't acting like it's a joke, BUT STILL. He got worked up for nothing it seems like!]
no subject
[There's no humor in Guren's voice. For a moment, he'd been terrified, and he still doesn't know what this means. Can Mahiru extend her reach like this? Can this world be altered from his memory? Is his demon in his soul changing things? Or did one sword slip through the cracks and hide until now.
He doesn't know. He doesn't like it, and he wasn't about to risk Damian feeling first hand what it's like to face a demon, after all of that talk. He crosses the distance between himself and the sword, steps on it and digs his own katana down into the blade, through the fuda.
It disintegrates, and Guren stares at where it used to be, his sword still stabbed into the ground.
Well, Damian can admire the rest of the room, if he wants. It's all that dark feeling and statues and seals, though. Also... a few blood stains here or there.]
no subject
Slowly, Damian looks around the room again. Even if he's not scared, he has to admit there's an energy embedded in the strangely piercing eyes of which he's not a fan at all.] Oni? Cute. [His eyes drop to the designs on the floor in front of the statues.
It looks like something Klarion would be messing around with. Cultist, witchy shit. Damian frowns.] You didn't have to destroy it. I would have been fine. All of this is just based on memory, right?
How does it work? This room.
no subject
[That's his simple answer, finally, and only then does he sigh out his breath and sheathe his own sword. He glances over to Damian after that.]
Normally, there are weapons laid out here. I'd tell you to pick one that suits your fighting style best, and by touching it, you'd be met face to face with a demon inside of your soul.
It tries to win control of you. By using memories and illusions, it picks at pieces of your soul until you feel like you can't move on. Either you overcome that and wake up, or you become a demon, a maneater, and have to be killed before you kill all of your comrades.
[Usually, that's the case. There are some special Yoichi cases he won't get into because that's a bad lesson. Not everyone can come back.]
no subject
Funny. You just destroyed the only one left out to pick up.
[The eyes shift from the statues to Guren, flick to the place on the floor pointedly, then back up again.]
How many people have you seen become a maneater?
no subject
[Not that he thinks he couldn't be eventually. Just. He doesn't want Damian to die?? Because he was careless himself? Leave him alone.]
...Anyway, too many. I'm not keeping count. [Yes he is but I myself have no idea.] It's very rare that someone succeeds with one of these demons, in particular. The fact that I had three in my last class had all of the Hiiragi family on my ass, accusing me and everyone around me of spying or being a traitor.
It's not usual.
no subject
[But he is a little afraid of dying, ironically enough.]
Maybe you adults simply don't give us the credit we deserve in being able to handle these kinds of tasks. Growing up in a world which has been destroyed by a cataclysm isn't going to make children weaker, only stronger.
If anyone wants to survive, it's us. We're going to change the world when the rest of you are old and decrepit.
forgive me
[He's in a bad mood from the sword, probably, and I'm sorry he's doing this. But he thumbs his own sword back out of its sheathe, and the energy in the room gets that much worse, until he stabs it straight down into the ground and the room seems to erupt with energy. Damian might find that it's actually difficult to stand. There's the sound of screams, of pain, and there's a dark aura coming from Guren's sword as he continues. If you want to see this in action, here is a handy time stamp clip. If he has any sort of psychic resistance, he'll do better. Otherwise, it's entirely based on willpower and strength, so Guren's guess is that he'll stay standing roughly, but feel free to do what you think is right!!]
You should be afraid! I'm not telling you that you're weak, I'm telling you that you're going to throw your life away if you spend all of it thinking that you're already at your best!
If you want to survive, then learn how to take things that are out of your league! I'm not trying to be better than you, you idiot, I'm trying to teach you a lesson!
[Anyway, that's enough. He pulls his sword up and tucks it away, and all at once, that pressure is gone. He's angry, heated— but it's because he's worried about Damian's attitude in other situations.]
Stop thinking that everything is a challenge.
i love it
The strangest part is the weight is all below--no, inside. He's heavy, sinking, with a thousand screams in his ears. The ringing hums with something in his chest.]
You're... wrong...!
[Halfway through Guren's "lesson," he slowly pushes himself back up to a partial stand. The hum is stronger, and he stands straighter. No matter what precautions Bruce has given him for psychics, nothing trumps sleeping in death beside a shard of Chaos, nothing trumps being nurtured by one, being resurrected by one. The relic amplifies energy, and the residue of it starts building a rolling boil against the onslaught from Guren, feeding on Damian's anger. The man gets a mouth full of bared teeth and wild, primal eyes.]
I'm not... afraid of demons... because I'm already a demon! [Guren sheathes the sword and yanks all of the energy away from him. Damian's has nothing to push again anymore, and it pops, staggering him. All of it scatters, rushing up over Guren like the shallows of the ocean tide.]
I don't care what it takes! I'll knock down everything that stands in my way if it means protecting my friends and family! If I have to be a monster so they won't have to, so be it!
no subject
Listen to me. I don't think you should let that determination die. No matter what it takes, hold onto the desire to protect your friends and your family.
[He digs his fingers into his shoulders slightly.]
But your humanity is the last thing you should give away. Don't jump at it. Toe that line if you have to, but never cross it.
[It's not like he's speaking from experience or anything. He releases him after that, standing up straight and looking down at him, concerned.]
That's all I'm trying to say.
no subject
Whew. He hasn't been quite that angry in a long time, and none of it had exactly been directed at Guren. When he lifts his head, his face is pinched, glaring, but that's not directed at Guren either.] Don't be an idiot, Ichinose. [His voice is soft though just as firm and determined.]
I never had any humanity. [He's a bitter little espresso.] My mother made sure of it.
Besides, why should I listen to you? You're not exactly toeing the line. You're standing on the other side of it.
no subject
[That's his quiet response, turning away from Damian and frowning to himself. No, he's frowning pretty pointedly at something— or nothing in particular? It's as if someone is there.]
Your humanity is that desire to help your friends and your family. To keep them safe, no matter what. I don't care how you were born or what sick things your mother did to make you like a weapon. You're still human.
[That's why he wants to say he is, too. He moves forward, and the way he moves his arm almost looks like he's pushing someone out of the way as he heads for the door. Odd.]
Let's get out of here.
no subject
Damian turns halfway to peer at Guren's back, visibly confused and closing his mouth. A cursory assessment is... Guren is hallucinating? Slowly, he glances around the room again, at the statues, the markers. No, something feels... off. The hairs along his arms rise.
And then he
hurriedlycatches up with Guren to get through the door. Some time ago, he shut a similar door on a similar room--a vault full of trophies of all the things he had destroyed with his own two hands.He's not sad to see this one get holed up either. A bit perturbed maybe.]
no subject
But he does speak eventually.]
The rest of this place is just ordinary classrooms, a lab that was used for experimenting on vampires, and the rooftop that gives you a view of what's around us. You can do what you'd like.
[Leave, stay, look around...]
no subject
Upstairs, he glances at the length of what he can of the school from here, and then he glances toward the stairs leading up. For a moment, he stares without saying anything, and then he glances down thoughtfully.]
Guren.
[His face pinches momentarily, and then he quickly lifts his head. Whatever he planned to say, there's no indication what it could be. He just seems as if he's not sure how to say it.] Nevermind.
I'm going on the roof. I don't need you to babysit me.
no subject
Instead, he shrugs, even with his hands pocketed.]
Go ahead. Do whatever you want.
[He needs to deal with Mahiru, anyway, since she apparently won't leave him alone right now, and he doesn't have the heart to make her vanish. So, if Damian wants, he can go right up the stairs and to the roof, where he'll see the well-kept buildings within the wall of the JIDA, and the wreckage of Shibuya around it.
Guren won't follow him up. But he will be sitting on one of the last steps of the stairs.]
no subject
It's a future he's imagined for Gotham a few times. Too many close calls. Too many alternate universes. He had been well on his way to initiating something like this, actually, and perhaps it's this which unnerves him.
Shibuya is how the world was going to look when Ra's and the League of Assassins were finished with it. Are finished with it. Seeing it personally--it rallies him. He'll stop them again and again, even his mother, to make sure the world doesn't look this way. The only thing he can possibly appreciate is maybe the way nature begins to renew as if nothing had been there at all.
His footsteps can be heard coming back down the stairwell after about fifteen minutes. He comes all the way to the bottom step beside Guren, but doesn't sit, just waits.] Finished. [He seems way more settled down now.]
no subject
[Similarly, whatever Guren was so tense about has been pushed back enough that he seems relaxed again when he stands. There's even a small smile on his face as he moves to walk away from the stairs.]
Are you ready to leave?
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)