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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))
no subject
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.
no subject
[ It's all Ryoji can do to bite back resentment and regret, and he fails even that. He falls quiet, ashamed at the outburst, and tries to temper his voice to keep it from shaking. ]
...I don't want to be like this- how can I ask anybody else to be alright with it?
no subject
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. ]
no subject
He would never reject Lucian because he knows him, he's his doctor, his confidant, his friend. Turned around, Ryoji has little confidence others regard him the same way, because he can control no other opinion than his own. And with wings of pure white, Lucian could only be regarded as an angel; Ryoji, Thanatos, a creature straight from hell. Appearances do matter, but... in the end, it's the same, isn't it? Both of them, no longer human. ]
...What are you going to do? [ Hide? reject? embrace the changes? Who would he tell? What should Ryoji do? If they're the same, then if he had a role model, then maybe he'd be able to bear it. ]
no subject
At their full length, they would be between three to four metres, but that would be too much space. ]
When I was younger, I served outside of Britain. Do you know about Doctors Without Borders, Ryoji? I spent a good amount of years there. A few months during that period, I was in Sub-Saharan Africa. They needed a specialist for malaria, so I went with a few others into the rural hills.
[ He's not looking at the boy, no. Only out into the distance. ]
When I first started tending to the people there, they would not see me unless they were accompanied by one of the local doctors. Because I was the only staff member who was not from Africa. Because of how I looked, they did not trust me. White people had done them injustice before.
[ It's a reasonable suspicion to have, which is why he didn't hold it against them that much. But it was not conducive to work, no. ]
Your feelings right now - doubt, fear, anxiety - they are every bit as valid as anyone else's feelings. But at the same time, we have people to look after, do we not? Friends, family, the like. What I faced back then was a challenge, but I had to push through for the sake of my duty. I would have found it hard to have faith in myself if I did not have colleagues to support me. And in this same way... I will continue to work despite having these wings.
[ Other people are more important then themselves. ]
Inhuman I may be, but I can still think clearly. Your appearance may have changed, but you are still Ryoji inside. That is what matters the most.
no subject
He has Lucian here now, though, so he turns to him, and faces it again. ]
—it's the thinking clearly that I cannot do, not always. Not when I share in Thanatos' body, and have to temper instinct.
[ He can try to ground, but imagine Thanatos with a fidget spinner as it hacks heads off people's shoulders. ]
no subject
[ At least once, that's what Lucian is banking on to try to be useful in this situation. ]
One would follow the logic that it is possible to improve on control.
no subject
I think... I was most me right before I almost killed Yato, but I couldn't let him die. When Yu broke my heart, gathered it up in his arms, and I loved him. I felt so human.
no subject
[ And the fact that Ryoji was willing to harness that strength was proof that Lucian could not give up on him yet. ]
no subject
...Still, I wish I had more inner strength. Then I could do this on my own, and I wouldn't have to burden people with my problems.
no subject
If I can present my opinion... then I would say that you are doing plenty already, given your circumstance.
[ All words and no solution doesn't sit well with him. ]
We have both been changed. I will make it a point to help you the best I can.
no subject
Ryoji draws a breath and holds it, stopping himself right there before he forgets about hope and trust and all those things he used to believe in. ]
...Thank you. I appreciate the gesture. A surprising number of people have been telling me they want to help too... That "wanting to help" helps a little.
no subject
Wanting is just words, of course. I would like to come up with a concrete plan, as it were. It would help devising a solution if you took notes, as I have done with my condition. Every bit of information will count. Visualize the patterns of behaviour, derive a conclusion.
[ Lucian's voice becomes a little more flat, though this is his instructing voice more than anything else. ]
Logic will not fail anyone who searches for the truth.
no subject
No more. ]
Where do I start? There was a car accident— no, even before that, I've seen this in visions.
no subject
Timeline-wise is a good way to begin. You can list out what you saw in the visions, and what you've experienced in person. And then, see if they match up, so we can see the exact scope and parameter of what is happening to you.
[ Once they have enough information, all should fall into place. ]
no subject
[ He falls silent for a moment, reaching back. It's hard, with so much that's happened in the few months since he'd received that app and the world turned on its head. ]
...I first saw Thanatos around two months ago— the vision was too short for me to glean anything more than what it looked like and what its name is. Then, earlier this month, I saw it fighting. It'd come from Minako. [ He glances up at Lucian, a slight shake of his head telling him that he doesn't understand why or what it means. ] When I first turned to Thanatos, I saw a third vision- the last one so far- and it was of Ryoji. He'd turned to Thanatos, then back, saying they are the same.
no subject
Have you talked about this with Minako?
no subject
no subject
[ Also, giving Ryoji more support from his friends would definitely be beneficial. ]
We would need as many pieces of clues we can get to solve this puzzle.
no subject
...I made her mad, and she's probably still upset at me all this time. But I'll apologize, and I'll ask.
no subject
I am sure she will forgive you. It seems like a good place to start as well.
no subject
I'm not so sure, but I'll try. And I'll let you know what she tells me. Is there anything else you want to know that you think might help?
no subject
It would help if you kept a note of everything on your side, so you can reference it. Perhaps in your phone, or on paper. I have left you a power bank in case you need to use it.
[ Given how supernatural everything is, this seems to be the best for now. ]
no subject
Oh- Yukiko gave me a charger for my phone too, but it's run out, so that will be helpful, thank you. I might type them up on my phone, then I'd be able to text them to you easily?
no subject
That would be good. Thank you.
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