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[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))
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)
[
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))
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And the light appeared, shimmering in the air in front of her. Lucy threw herself back, off of the bench, smacking heavily into the ground. That didn't matter, what mattered was getting away, far enough to see what the hell that was.
She rolled to her feet, ignoring the stab of pain in her ankle, and rose to a crouch she could only hold for a few seconds before her sprain couldn't handle it any more. Lucy lurched sideways, landing on the ground again with the bench between them.]
What did—what did you do?!
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[ "I don't know," he wants to claim, the most unconvincing lie he could mutter in this situation. Because the last time he'd seen this, a wall rising to shield him, on the other side was a car, smoking, hood bent, his fault. Whatever it is, it's dangerous. ]
...Don't... touch it...
[ He doesn't think she'd try, that bench between them being more of a protection in this moment. He shifts back from where he sits, and the barrier moves with him, so clearly protecting him from all sides, shimmering thin where the light hits it and darker and stronger where his shadow falls over it. ]
I'm... going to go.
[ Lucy is crippled and can't outrun him. And running from his problems is what he does best. ]
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[Anger flowed in where there was panicked emptiness; familiar and terrible, but something. Something she could do, something that wasn't drowning in her own misery.
Lucy wasn't going to touch the field; she didn't know what it was, it could be dangerous. It probably was. It was certainly beyond her understanding of things (glass? Mist? Light?). But telling her not to do something was a certain way to bring out her spite.]
Stay there!
[She dragged herself up with the bench, enough to reach out a hand for the shimmering wall with a determined grimace.
...but was it really so strange? It only seemed odd because she was on the wrong side; because it should be translucent as a mirror, flickering silver where fingers and hands interwove to keep things away from her.]
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But, he'd made a mistake in backing away from her advance. Stepping away from the bench, behind him is the fence, pressed cold against his back and holding him there, fingers curling around the links of the fence; maybe he should climb it and risk the lions instead.
Grimacing, he wants to shut his eyes and look away. If the intention from Lucy has any sort of ill will towards him, the barrier with repay back the full force of any strike. Otherwise, it might dissolve with no harm. ]
no subject
Lucy crawled the rest of the way onto the bench, swinging her good leg over first before lurching to her feet. Her gait was unbalanced, more of a stumble than properly walking.
And she brushed her fingers against the shimmering light.
It didn't feel like glass; it was too formless. But it was too solid for mist, let alone light. It pushed back at her touch, like a hand nudging her own away; like a parent redirecting a too-inquisitive child. But Lucy stopped there, brows knitting in a frown. She didn't reach for it again, busy scowling down at her own hand.]
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...What is it like?
[ His voice, a whisper, breaks through the tension he holds in him, and the barrier melts into the sunlight. ]
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Cold. Like morning before the sunrise.
[The dawn always came, no matter how dark and miserable the night before. Whenever her shifts ran late, Lucy always tried to time her breaks with the horizon turning red, then peach and shell-pink. It was...calming. And memorable.]
no subject
Still, he's sorry that it happened, and for the initial fright that it caused. He figures he owes Lucy some sort of explanation, as weak as it is from what little he knows of it. ]
It wasn't on purpose. I'd only done it once before, when it'd come up and caused— or saved me from— a car accident. I didn't want to put you in any danger, so... that's why. I'm sorry.
no subject
They gave it to you, didn't they?
[She didn't elaborate on who she was talking about. Retrospec was a convenient punching bag for this sort of thing.]
no subject
But he can tell her some other things, and maybe she'll take the confidence he shares as a sign of trust. Maybe she won't care, but maybe she'll understand him a little better, and that's good too. ]
They gave it to me, and in return, they took away my... heart, or soul, or whatever it is that makes me human.
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She reached out to touch his shoulder. Her, a person that shied away from touch of any kind. But she needed to know.]
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Amusement... regret... some sort of undefined emotion crosses Ryoji's face, briefly, then he brings his hand up to touch a spot on his neck— two fingers over where the carotid artery would lie— then lifts his hand away. If Lucy wants to know, the proof is there, if not directly in his chest. Cool skin despite the warming spring afternoon, and more telling, there is no pulse. ]
no subject
Nothing of the sort did so.
...he was cold. As cold as the dawn.
She pulled her hand back, halfway to her chest. Lucy glanced up to where his hand touched his own throat, still frowning—but shifting on her feet, disquieted. She didn't want to touch anywhere else, but the message was clear.]
...how?
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I don't know. Whether that makes me dead, or not... people.
[ Human. But in Lucy's words, "I don't hate you. You're a person. I don't like people." Only she probably dislikes him more, now, with the way she pulled back from him. He'll have to get used to that reaction, someday. ]
no subject
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.]
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[ So?? He hadn't given much thought to the future; he never does. He'd been busy trying to do damage control, trying to get himself under wraps as best he can before he turns outward and think about what exactly he's supposed to do now, and what it even matters (a lot, to him). ]
So... I don't know. [ It's a flimsy answer, but the truth. ] I'm a danger to people, and shouldn't be around people. But I love them, and I want to. So, I don't know.
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'A problem.'
It was too maddeningly familiar. Lucy shook her head, like the words were cobwebs to be shaken away.]
Running away won't help you forever.
[The voice of reason in her head didn't even need to chime in. She knew the hypocrisy before it came out of her mouth.]
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[ He looks at Lucy for a moment, then off the side of her face, a little over the shoulder. ]
What would you do?
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[Lucy stopped, shifting on her feet again. She was hoping he wouldn't ask that.]
...I don't know.
[Neither of them were precisely looking at each other now, which was good in a depressing way; Lucy was looking at some unremarkable section of fence instead of Ryoji's face. Eye contact now would just make her feel more awkward and uncomfortable.]
The...last thing anyone did for me was getting me a train ticket here. I'm not going to leave.
no subject
But Minako's done a lot for Lucy, he can see that much from the few hours the three of them have been together. Ryoji... tried to do something for Lucy, but he failed that. There must have been others, though, since Lucy arrived in this city? She'd found room mates and had a job, so she must have been here for some time— he has no idea how long. He knows practically nothing about her. Where did she come from? Why is she here? He wants to know. ]
Hmm. It's different for me- I used to be just fine on my own. I lived like that until I moved back here, and then people kept doing stuff for me. You too- [ His gaze passes Lucy's eyes to hover over the other shoulder. ] -mean something to me. So I would hate to leave.
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That view was more complicated to hold now.
She looked directly at him this time, blinking in confusion.]
...why me? All I've been is an asshole.
[She wasn't without self-awareness. Or self-depreciation.]
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Not right now. And not always. Last time we hung out, I could tell you were trying, and I was too. That meant a lot to me.
[ Even thought she probably wasn't doing it for him, but as not to ruin Minako's efforts in having them get along. ]
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I'm not a nice person.
[It was a weaker denial now; she'd said that before, and promptly had that idea shot full of holes. But after so many years of living that concept, it wasn't easy to let go. Lucy wasn't quite at the point of adding Ryoji to the list of people who still wanted to deal with her, in spite of...herself. But she didn't expect Minako to be there, either. Or anyone else.]
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[ It sounds like a lie, coming from him and to anybody who's ever interacted with him. But he's hurt people too, does certain things for his own gains, tries to force other situations. A nice person would have left Lucy alone from the very start after she's expressed her wishes for him to go away. But he's not nice; he's fundamentally selfish. ]
I can be a nice person though, because I make those decisions consciously. Like you can.
[ something something Harry Potter quote about one's choices being what makes a person ]
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[Lucy frowned, shaking her head without looking up. Ryoji was a better person. Annoying, but better than she was. He didn't think scaring people was funny, or considered hitting someone a reasonable unprompted course of action.]
No, you're-
[Not? Or wrong?
...could she do that, though?]
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