mochizuki ryoji ([personal profile] appraiser) wrote in [community profile] recolle2017-05-16 03:46 pm

[semi-open] harbinger of suffering and grief

WHO: Ryoji and whoever doesn't sleep at night, I guess
WHERE: Apprassage to various places around the city, Recollé Woods
WHEN: midnight 5/17 and onward towards the end of the month
WHAT: Ryoji regains his Thanatos form; unable to control his powers, he flees, leaving destruction in his wake. He's generally very upset about it all. Please help.
WARNINGS: fighting, violence, mentions of death and suicide

[ —a screech pierces the stillness of night over the quiet streets of Apprassage, the bite of burnt rubber and asphalt filling in the space where a car now lies turned around and stalling traffic, shattered windshields spilling glass onto the street and the crumpled hood sending smoke into the air. The blaring of the car alarm falls on deaf ears of the boy standing before it, eyes wide and unseeing as he clutches his head and screams, the shimmering barrier around him dissolving back into darkness and then— ]

A. midnight, 5/17, various (CLOSED to those I talked to on May's plotting post here)
[ A brilliant flash lights up the sky outside, brief, overwhelming, then everything is plunged back into darkness. Whether the noise had woken you up, or you were awake in the dead of night to begin with, eyes lifted towards the sky might spot a shadow take off past the rooftops, deep rumble felt through the earth behind it.

Those who venture closer— the curious, the brave, the foolish— would find deep gashes on the roads, dragged long as if a sword pulled across the ground, scattered potholes still burning with the last wisps of an eerie glow. The sky flashes again, the shadow in the middle a dark hole that swallows up all light, monstrous figure apparent with the stark contrast that makes it easy to follow; even blind, one can do so by listening for the unearthly wail that cuts through the air and may dizzy the mind even from so far.

Close, it's hard to see, harder to believe: a sharp white mask reflecting the moonlight; serrated sword out of its scabbard and caked with dirt and rubble; coffins draped across its shoulder, rattling and coming for you. Every encounter brings it further and further out away from the innermost parts of the city, and each time, Thanatos stops and turns, breath visible as it chills the very air around it, waiting.

>> Hollingberry Field
>> Recollé Woods
>> Peach Beach
>> The ocean
>> ???

Select your arena, and let's go. ]


B. nights, 5/18 onward, Recollé woods (CLOSED to those above, and anybody who has interacted with Ryoji at least once before)
[ The pain disappears faster than it should have, but Ryoji would have preferred it to the emptiness in his chest, the way his hands won't stop shaking. He fumbles with his phone, startling when a twig snaps underfoot and he throws it from himself as if it burnt his hands.

He leaves the phone there for the time being, nestled on top of damp, rotting leaves as he picks his way a little deeper into the woods, a mutter under his breath: "Keep yourself together." Because whatever... whatever happened yesterday, he can't let it happen again, losing control and hurting others— killing, for all he knows, because he'd fled to the woods and hasn't gone back since the night before, hasn't talked to anybody in person except for some texts on the phone.

He's got to figure it out. Somehow.

It's here in the woods he'll stay until he can, out of the way and hoping nobody would come near after the unnerving draw of the woods earlier in the month, practicing under the veil of night. He'll manage it eventually, the flicker of shadow and a rumble, a light show, the splintering crack of felled trees. He's not as careful as he could be, frustrated, exhausted, distracted enough not to notice whoever approaches to see the arched back of a boy, head bowed and clutching his knees as he struggles back to his feet... or the back of a monster, sword in hand gleaming with the moon. ]


C. days, 5/22 onward, various (OTA)
[ Days pass, and it feels like he understands less and less of who and what he is... and why... The first time it happened, only a handful of days ago, it was a car accident. He'd frozen there in the middle of the street, staring down the pair of headlights as they approached. He had not died. He should have...

...Ryoji shakes the thought out of his head. Something had protected him, a power that welled up from within and then- gone. He couldn't do it again, hold out his hands and block the fluttering of petals onto his head in the park, or the cat that meets him on the road, rubbing its head against his ankles twice and then runs.

Maybe it had to be something similar, either to the situation or the feeling; there's no way he can know but to try, reckless and stupid as he stands by the busy streets of Tisse contemplating stepping out into traffic; holds a switchblade in his hand on the rooftop of an apartment building in Apprassage, flicking the blade in, out, in, out; up high on the bridges of the Towers, leaning dangerously over the edge as he stares down at the ground far, far below; at the zoo in front of the lion's cage trying to get it to wake up so he can climb the fence and stick his head inside its mouth; he doesn't know, nothing's working and he needs to know. ]


D. 5/26 onward, various (OTA)
[ the one lighter prompt, save me ]

Hey. Hold out your hand for a moment? I want your opinion on something.

[ If you comply, Ryoji tugs out from beneath his collar a thin silver chain, on the end of which a gold ring dangles momentarily before he presses it into the palm of your hand, closing your fingers back over it. Despite having been tucked under his shirt, the ring is cold against your skin, a faint glow emitting from in between your fingers while no sun reaches it inside your hand. ]

...How does this make you feel?

[ Stupid, probably, as if holding a ring would evoke some sort of emotion, but that's what it does for Ryoji, looking equal parts expectant and hopeful as he looks from you, to the ring delivered to his door courtesy of Retrospec, and then back. ]

--
( ooc: Aside from being able to shift into the form of Thanatos, Ryoji's powers include: ghastly wail (fearful opponents fall unconscious), tempest slash (sword attack), megidola (almighty magic attack), moonless gown (barrier that reflects all attacks, max three activation per day))
true_noir: (Introspection)

[personal profile] true_noir 2017-05-23 12:47 am (UTC)(link)
... I've actually never heard of that. I mean, I like the idea that we're all connected somehow, but I've never heard of this six degrees of separation idea.

And, it would, but ... [She frowned then.] If there's a chance that we might forget at any time, there shouldn't be simply one of us. We can't rely upon any one person. That's part of the problem, part that I don't think anyone's thought of or talked about yet.
notbunaga: (Default)

[personal profile] notbunaga 2017-05-23 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
[The one thing that's saving her for the moment is her identity; she isn't aware of this, but if she were, she couldn't do anything about the fact that when her eyes focus on the monster before her, it's hard to call those eyes Aki's at all. The way the moonlight reflects against her red irises displays them even more clearly in the darkness of the night, but they're cruel. They aren't the eyes of a human, even if the rest of her is; they're the eyes of an honest to god demon, a woman vilified after her death and twisted into a demonic spirit by the belief of the very people she fought to protect. The epitaph of Demon King was no longer a mere lie.

But the moment is brief, and there isn't time to dwell on it. She doesn't know what this monster is or why it's frozen in place, but she takes advantage of the situation almost immediately and raises her sword, hilt gripped tightly with both hands, to plunge the blade into its neck.

For good measure, she removes the sword and stabs it in the chest.

Again.

And again.

And again.

The whole time, she yells out into the otherwise silent forest. In this very moment, the appearance of a monster like this represents everything that's happened. How things have changed. How things are going to keep changing. How the once peaceful city of recolle is sinking further into the realm of fantasy, with no end in sight. How it's hurting all the people she knows and she feels powerless to stop it.

Maybe Thanatos isn't the cause. Maybe it's just one small ripple in a much larger wave.

But she's taking out all her anger and frustration on it now, relentlessly slicing into its body with no remorse or hesitation.
]

Die...!! Die, die, just die already...!! Die and take retrospec with you, you...!! You...!

[She doesn't really know what else she wants to say, so she just yells again, frustrated and incoherent, all the while stabbing him over and over.

To think not too long ago, she couldn't ever imagine herself hurting anyone.
]
burningblossoms: (Bwuh?)

[personal profile] burningblossoms 2017-05-23 02:16 am (UTC)(link)
[She understands the name too. Shorthand for Sume-o-Mikami. Another name for Amaterasu. That's perhaps as jarring to her as the fight itself. The patron deity of Japan is her guardian angel? But she's an American now...And that...

wait.

Wait.

She stops when Ryoji tells her it's name, and that it's a Shadow. She doesn't know what a Shadow is, but she knows what Thanatos is.]


A Greek god? The personification of Death.

[Her head cants to one side, considering him.]

You know. You're right. It did feel similar. Maybe it's...the same? Only, I think mine killed it? At least temporarily.
notbunaga: (Default)

[personal profile] notbunaga 2017-05-23 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
[It'd be a lie to say what follows was entirely on his behalf. It's true that the sight of him shocks her; all the anger washes away in an instant, replaced by a numb sensation in her chest and a sudden pain in her head that shakes her to her very core.

"Will you promise you won't hurt him?"

It was something that had upset her, for reasons she never bothered to bring up. She just ignored how she'd felt and pressed on in the hopes she wouldn't ruin Yuuko's night.

"Thank you, Nobu. You don't know how much that means to me."

All she can see is Yuuko's smile. The relief that set in when she'd "approved" of their relationship. That there was no threat of her bringing any harm to Ryoji, a promise she had made entirely sincere with every intention of keeping.

But seeing him on the ground in sheer agony, she drops her sword to the ground. She can't even process this, now that some faceless creature has a face and a voice and an identity to him that are so very real.

She moves closer and practically falls to her knees beside him, unable - unwilling - to hide the fact she's actually crying.
]

...why?

[Her hands move outwards and hover over his body, as if there were something she could do...but there isn't. She's sick to her stomach. She can't even touch him.]

How? What have I...?
accordance: (01)

[personal profile] accordance 2017-05-23 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
[ It's safe, but it also mires one in regret. Lucian's expression becomes more thoughtful. ]

Then you should change that.

[ Running away is also irresponsible, but this is hardly the time to scold him. ]

Honesty is always the best policy. True friends will never reject you for being yourself.
gudaguda: (pic#11127621)

i'm so sorry, the notif went missing!

[personal profile] gudaguda 2017-05-23 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
You sound like the lead guy in a romance manga. I think you're going to make someone really happy some day.

[ Her frame of reference is really that of fiction - because she's relatively inexperienced when it comes to actual romance. Still, she'll be enthusiastic and carry on this conversation because Ryoji sounds interesting. Interesting people are always worth knowing. ]

Yup! I'm Japanese. Ehehe... my name is Sakura Fujiwara! It's nice to meet you, Mr Ring.
long_live_the_queen: (no don't open that)

[personal profile] long_live_the_queen 2017-05-23 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[Lucy wasn't exactly an expert on human corpses, as far as she could remember. But she was fairly sure they shouldn't be talking. Or walking, or moving, or...whatever Ryoji just did, with the light. So he couldn't be dead, her mind just...refused to comprehend that. But there was one concept she did understand—because she'd been through the same thing herself.]

So you're not normal. So what?

[She...didn't have anything that major to deal with. But Lucy always had the nagging feeling she wasn't normal either, not like others. Other people found homes. Other people didn't kick and hiss and throw tantrums if someone got close. Other people fit, instead of feeling like some broken puzzle piece that never should have been let out of the factory.]
accordance: (02)

[personal profile] accordance 2017-05-23 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ There is little that he can find to say to that. He's a physician first and foremost; someone trained in the arts of handling physical and not emotional pain. Perhaps a psychologist might have handled this better, but he still has to try. Even if the mind of another will never be something he can properly understand - even if the minds of ʜᴜᴍᴀɴs are not something that cannot be understood.

So in absence of a reply he merely takes off his trenchcoat, revealing a pair of pure white wings folded against his back. Ryoji's response to that would let him gauge the conversation better. ]
thesettingsun: smile (every fiber of my being)

[personal profile] thesettingsun 2017-05-23 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
[Yes. Very cute.]

Why can't you stick to normal animals like puppies or something?
goen: (let's conspire to ignite)

[personal profile] goen 2017-05-23 06:21 am (UTC)(link)
I'm not killing anyone!

[ Fists clenched, voice sharp. Because this is Ryoji doing things halfway again, planning to fail. And because Yato refuses to recreate the ugliness in his memories, the same ugliness seeping into his dreams. If it's something he can resist, he'll resist with all his might. Killing in self-defense is one thing. Becoming an executioner is another. ]

I'll help you. I'll work with you. But I won't be your safety net! Why do you refuse to have faith in yourself? You can do it! The proof is right here!

[ He gestures widely at the ground around them, the circle of dirt and grass unmarred amid a sea of magic-scorched earth. ]

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