[ This could have ended differently, Blade!! It could have!!
Now The Mountain of Smiling Bodies is completely unaffected by the slash and attaches itself onto Blade like a sticky thing that won't let go. One of the mouths open and bites into Blade's right eye and promptly proceeds to crush the upper right part of his head with its jaws.
Blade can take a moment to ponder on his life before the settings disintegrates and Blade is (unfortunately) alive in the void, completely healed as if all that never happened. ]
Blade!!
[ Yuri immediately rushes up to him. ]
My goodness, you're not hurt... Did you really have a death wish?!
Anyway Blade is not unfamiliar to pain. Excruciating, even; it is enough to make his awareness blot out in a familiar red haze of searing agony that makes his mind quiet.
He is then back alive, holding his head, laughing, laughing, laughing...and then he calms down. For a given value of that. ]
Yuri...
Perhaps I thought I could defeat it. What a terrible creature it was...what was all that, hm?
Instead, his eyes sweep on over to Yuri who so happens to be wearing that gauze of hers. ]
I also assume it was a memory of yours, given the current pattern.
...Is your gauze supposed to—
[ Even though Blade asked like that because he might figure it could be a curse thing (is it with any tact? Perhaps not, but...), the memories that dare to attack others right or left do not exactly seem intent on offering much reprieve.
'To breathe is to suffocate, to live is to struggle endlessly, looking for a reprieve that arrives, only to be cut shot. Agony swells until it feels incomprehensible; the ability to shatter, pieces falling at one's feet with no one to pick up the jagged blades except one's own hand. These are the thoughts that swell pervasively cling to the body of this corpse that still walks forward—no not quite that, but a weapon.
One seeking total oblivion, complete release from this mortal coil...but not only that.
VENGEANCE.
Who else would it be? The drag of these feet across many worlds, across many stars, across many cities, and places and the dregs — and his mind stops whirling, as his steps cease to creep in the darkness. There is a man who continues to run from his past.
There is a man who insists that what has happened has nothing to do with him. In the distant background, of words being repeated, recounting the sins, as if commanding him to remember them, there is one who knows the truth. One this man refuses to face...Dan Feng, who now dares to call himself Dan Heng.
There he stands, steps taken perhaps careless or cautiously — perhaps he already knows.
That Blade is tailing him. Has been, ever since he has landed upon this wretched world, where the skyscrapers reach into a sky that seems to be covered by the night of darkness; only illuminated by bright city lights. The place is inconsequential. This isn't the first time Blade has set upon him, after all.
His crimson sword feels weightless in his hands as he steps closer, and closer, and closer still — then the young man (the ancient Viyadhara) turns to face Blade clear in the face, shouting meaningless protests. His words are drowned out by the red haze in his head, slowly driving him towards a destination even he cannot name.
Air almost seems to give as Blade's sword can only slice towards this one. The one he'd hunt to the ends of the universe. One he'd always recognize that would dare to obscure himself from his culpability.
This one.
They dance, and maybe Blade says something. He doesn't remember.
"Enough hiding. It's futile...you must know it."
That is all he says. That is all he needs to say. The man seems rife, finally, from a certain apoplexy granted to him because of the simple fact he is made to confront this past again and again. It fuels the way he fights expertly with that polearm of his, twirling it, striking back at Blade mercilessly, without any desire to give quarter. So much unlike their first fight, where Blade had to keep pushing him to make him realize he must fell him properly to stop the battle.
But, surely, he remembers? The muscle memory, that real memory, it drives Dan Feng to unequivocal victory, as the spear sails through the air, its target true, piercing painfully through Blade's chest. No matter how many times, no matter how much pain runs through this broken body...
Blood spills inelegantly to the ground.
And as for Blade, he laughs, again and again, ignoring the look of horror on the other's face. Or is it a form of dismay? It's a pity that this time, his efforts truly didn't stick.
He can only wonder...would it ever?
Either way, he watches the way the other pulls the spear out, the taste of blood thick in his mouth, the way his body slumps to the ground, vision sweeped in red as the other retreats is clear.
No hiding. No hiding...does he think he can hide for long?
No one can hide from him. No one can hide forever. That is the truth; this is what Blade thinks as he feels the claws of death temporarily grip a hold of him, before they are inevitable to release him again, thanks to what is inside of him—'
And just like that, the memory ends, practically rude of it to begin in the middle of a conversation, but that is just how it is, it seems. ]
However...I can't forgive what has been done to me, either.
[ His weak will to live remains even so, though. So in the end, Blade still does not envision himself surviving this, assuming that his drive to see his own end will lead him to oblivion. ]
Working at L Corp had some sort of prestige back in the day. However, it fell... as you saw. And anyone associated with L Corp was branded as an outcast. It was a dream job for some people... I only knew what I was getting into to an extent, but I didn't think it would have been... like that.
... What is it about the Abundance that makes you hate it?
It was the potential for glory and making a name for yourself that attracted you to it.
Still, it seems that your drive for survival meant you made certain sacrifices yourself.
[ Blade, unlike most people perhaps, does not judge Yuri for needing to leave behind her comrades. ]
As for the Abundance...think of it like that creature in the memory. Those born from it only desire to keep taking and taking, in some form. But, in the guise of 'granting' a blessing of eternal life.
That Aeon is one you will never wish to meet should you want to have a hope of retaining your mind.
[ Oh. That's the first time anyone said that to her straight without an uncertain tone. That's... new. Refreshing. What Blade says after that gives her paise though. ]
... I'm nobody special, so I'm sure... I would never meet someone like that. From what you tell me, I would be better off anyway.
There's a moment where Blade actually might look briefly surprised, startled enough that he's trying to get together a logical response. But only something simpler comes out instead. ]
[ Whenever he is talking to her, really. Since there appears to indeed be a pattern of some sort. With her pointing it out, he can't hide it, even if he wants to.
Someone like him can't be soft; only sharp around the edges. ]
Don't get too accustomed to it, as it isn't my 'thing', as it were.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cw eye violence, gore, blood, VIOLENCE IN GENERAL BLADE CHOSE THIS
Now The Mountain of Smiling Bodies is completely unaffected by the slash and attaches itself onto Blade like a sticky thing that won't let go. One of the mouths open and bites into Blade's right eye and promptly proceeds to crush the upper right part of his head with its jaws.
Blade can take a moment to ponder on his life before the settings disintegrates and Blade is (unfortunately) alive in the void, completely healed as if all that never happened. ]
Blade!!
[ Yuri immediately rushes up to him. ]
My goodness, you're not hurt... Did you really have a death wish?!
he truly did
Anyway Blade is not unfamiliar to pain. Excruciating, even; it is enough to make his awareness blot out in a familiar red haze of searing agony that makes his mind quiet.
He is then back alive, holding his head, laughing, laughing, laughing...and then he calms down. For a given value of that. ]
Yuri...
Perhaps I thought I could defeat it. What a terrible creature it was...what was all that, hm?
no subject
[ Yuri stays quiet during that entire time Blade laughed. ]
There was no way that it would have happened.
[ Blade is free to notice that Yuri's gauze has a decal of three icicles over it. Nothing special, but it's different. ]
cw: suicidal ideation, violence
[ Not that Blade seems bothered by it.
Instead, his eyes sweep on over to Yuri who so happens to be wearing that gauze of hers. ]
I also assume it was a memory of yours, given the current pattern.
...Is your gauze supposed to—
[ Even though Blade asked like that because he might figure it could be a curse thing (is it with any tact? Perhaps not, but...), the memories that dare to attack others right or left do not exactly seem intent on offering much reprieve.
'To breathe is to suffocate, to live is to struggle endlessly, looking for a reprieve that arrives, only to be cut shot. Agony swells until it feels incomprehensible; the ability to shatter, pieces falling at one's feet with no one to pick up the jagged blades except one's own hand. These are the thoughts that swell pervasively cling to the body of this corpse that still walks forward—no not quite that, but a weapon.
One seeking total oblivion, complete release from this mortal coil...but not only that.
VENGEANCE.
Who else would it be? The drag of these feet across many worlds, across many stars, across many cities, and places and the dregs — and his mind stops whirling, as his steps cease to creep in the darkness. There is a man who continues to run from his past.
There is a man who insists that what has happened has nothing to do with him. In the distant background, of words being repeated, recounting the sins, as if commanding him to remember them, there is one who knows the truth. One this man refuses to face...Dan Feng, who now dares to call himself Dan Heng.
There he stands, steps taken perhaps careless or cautiously — perhaps he already knows.
That Blade is tailing him. Has been, ever since he has landed upon this wretched world, where the skyscrapers reach into a sky that seems to be covered by the night of darkness; only illuminated by bright city lights. The place is inconsequential. This isn't the first time Blade has set upon him, after all.
His crimson sword feels weightless in his hands as he steps closer, and closer, and closer still — then the young man (the ancient Viyadhara) turns to face Blade clear in the face, shouting meaningless protests. His words are drowned out by the red haze in his head, slowly driving him towards a destination even he cannot name.
Air almost seems to give as Blade's sword can only slice towards this one. The one he'd hunt to the ends of the universe. One he'd always recognize that would dare to obscure himself from his culpability.
This one.
They dance, and maybe Blade says something. He doesn't remember.
"Enough hiding. It's futile...you must know it."
That is all he says. That is all he needs to say. The man seems rife, finally, from a certain apoplexy granted to him because of the simple fact he is made to confront this past again and again. It fuels the way he fights expertly with that polearm of his, twirling it, striking back at Blade mercilessly, without any desire to give quarter. So much unlike their first fight, where Blade had to keep pushing him to make him realize he must fell him properly to stop the battle.
But, surely, he remembers? The muscle memory, that real memory, it drives Dan Feng to unequivocal victory, as the spear sails through the air, its target true, piercing painfully through Blade's chest. No matter how many times, no matter how much pain runs through this broken body...
Blood spills inelegantly to the ground.
And as for Blade, he laughs, again and again, ignoring the look of horror on the other's face. Or is it a form of dismay? It's a pity that this time, his efforts truly didn't stick.
He can only wonder...would it ever?
Either way, he watches the way the other pulls the spear out, the taste of blood thick in his mouth, the way his body slumps to the ground, vision sweeped in red as the other retreats is clear.
No hiding. No hiding...does he think he can hide for long?
No one can hide from him. No one can hide forever. That is the truth; this is what Blade thinks as he feels the claws of death temporarily grip a hold of him, before they are inevitable to release him again, thanks to what is inside of him—'
And just like that, the memory ends, practically rude of it to begin in the middle of a conversation, but that is just how it is, it seems. ]
no subject
... Blade.
[ Her voice is quiet. It's not laced with pity, but a question. ]
Are you tired?
no subject
The resolve every single one of you has ... is absent within me.
[ Yet, Blade is still standing here, even so. ]
no subject
And you're... looking for something that will actually kill you? Is that why you're with a group?
no subject
However...I can't forgive what has been done to me, either.
[ His weak will to live remains even so, though. So in the end, Blade still does not envision himself surviving this, assuming that his drive to see his own end will lead him to oblivion. ]
no subject
[ Congrats to nanites for making Blade finally killable. ]
no subject
But, anyway, he gives a laugh, you know, one of those...certainly an indication he's unstable, but she already knew that. ]
Something more powerful than any single one of you could even imagine...
no subject
So... something like a god, then?
[ She sounds unimpressed. ]
no subject
More like an abomination of creation. Such is the correct term for something that was once a denizen of the Abundance.
Speaking of abominations...what were you doing there? In the middle of such danger?
no subject
But yes, it's exactly the "speaking of abominations" part that Yuri doesn't seem very affected by Blade's claim of "abomination of creation". ]
I worked there.
[ Yeah. That's why. ]
That was my old job. I had to manage Abnormalities every day.
no subject
That said, he finds it odd she would pick up something so dangerous. But one can never tell what another may prefer. ]
...What made you take up that job?
no subject
... What is it about the Abundance that makes you hate it?
no subject
Still, it seems that your drive for survival meant you made certain sacrifices yourself.
[ Blade, unlike most people perhaps, does not judge Yuri for needing to leave behind her comrades. ]
As for the Abundance...think of it like that creature in the memory. Those born from it only desire to keep taking and taking, in some form. But, in the guise of 'granting' a blessing of eternal life.
That Aeon is one you will never wish to meet should you want to have a hope of retaining your mind.
no subject
... I'm nobody special, so I'm sure... I would never meet someone like that. From what you tell me, I would be better off anyway.
no subject
He also wonders if he should have expected that she said that sort of thing. ]
...You would be. There are benefits to simply being who you are. [ ... ] Even without being extraordinary.
no subject
Blade, you're... good at cheering people up, even if you're not aware of it.
no subject
There's a moment where Blade actually might look briefly surprised, startled enough that he's trying to get together a logical response. But only something simpler comes out instead. ]
...I am?
no subject
[ Welcome to your new profound talent, Blade. ]
Sorry, is that weird? It doesn't seem to be like your thing.
no subject
For some reason, it has ended up that way.
[ Whenever he is talking to her, really. Since there appears to indeed be a pattern of some sort. With her pointing it out, he can't hide it, even if he wants to.
Someone like him can't be soft; only sharp around the edges. ]
Don't get too accustomed to it, as it isn't my 'thing', as it were.
no subject
I won't. After all, its rarity is what makes it even better.
no subject
Hmph...
I should go.
[ Has anyone told Yuri her smiles are illegal. Bye. He is going now. Can't catch him! ]
no subject
:D ]