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 Posted: Sat Nov 20, 2021 10:00 pm
As expected, he reacted with surprise, disgust and incredulity. Not expected, these emotions played themselves out across his face in a most amusing and visible way. He looked about him at the weather-beaten buildings and she could just see the thoughts in his head.
This s**t hole?
She was amused that he took her offer at face value enough to be disgusted about it. Yeah, so, Tanais wasn't exactly a beauty of a city, unless you were the type to like ruins that echoed greek architecture and deserts. It wasn't here to win 'prettiest wonder in the galaxy'. She had barely even scratched the surface of the history buried under the dirt and debri, she could hardly expect him to see any of the bones of the place that she was starting to.
Grinning to herself, Tanais sauntered over to the edge of the fountain and dropped down onto it, kicking her feet out in front of her to cross at the ankles. She braced herself up with leather-wrapped hands on the hot stone and gave him a tilted-head look. She knew he meant the wonder with his question, but she felt like being facetious and obtuse.
"Its not too hard, from what I've heard. I call on Cosmos, she brings her little band of friends, and bing, bang, boom. All the chaos is burned out of you, including all the monstery bits, and you get to be a real boy again, with a shiny new Knight name and a wonder of your own." She said as she waved a hand at her middle, indicating... whatever it was that made flames burn in his gut. Interesting bit of whatever that was. Tanais was almost curious enough to ask how he'd gotten partly youma-ed... but she suspected it wasn't something he would talk about with an enemy, let alone a stranger. "No more quotas. No more General Sovereigns to ask you to give your life for Metallia's insatiable hunger. No more power struggle and office drama. No more mind-warping chaos infecting your brain."
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Posted: Fri Nov 26, 2021 2:38 pm
A flagrant roll of his eyes at her response, and he scoffed. Started pacing, as if there was somewhere to go in this dismal dustbin she called a 'Wonder'. Wonder why it wasn't obliterated a thousand years ago, more like.
"What a ******** deal. Get to be a 'real boy' again, for exactly thirty seconds, before I drop dead because I don't have a liver or kidneys. Can't guarantee that Cosmos will hand me my organs back. Can't say I want an abandoned shitfire at the edge of the galaxy, either. Prefer my office drama and mind-warping chaos." Had a solid team for all of that — Alkmene and Albite for his office drama, Nembus and Lilith to hold it together. His mind was already warped from trying to balance his duties with the insanity of his team, ever pulled and jaunted about between them and Haymitch.
Now there was Mizuki. Lysithea. This one expected him to walk away from all of them.
"Bet you don't know a damn thing about Metallia. Just curse her like all the rest. Sing the praises of the thousand-years dead, as if they're worth remembering.
He spared a crooked smile and opened his hands out to the deserted area. "This place — Tanais —it's lonelier than the Rift."
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Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2021 1:25 pm
Tanais pursed her lips as she watched him. Should she lie? He wouldn't know, most likely. He didn't seem to know who she'd been or what she'd lost when she'd been purified.
"You know there are a lot of turn coats who remember what it was like on the other side, right? You think they keep that to themselves?" She scoffed right back at him. "You'd be surprised at how much purification can fix... you'd never know I used to have horns and a tail. It pulled me back from the brink of going full youma... you think it wouldn't fix you too? Magic is weird like that."
The knight shrugged. "What's so great about what you are anyway? Giving up everyone you remotely cared about and everything you ever worked for in your life to live in the Dark Kingdom. Only able to be a real person for three measly hours a day. Utterly dependent on Metallia's grace for everything you have... the roof over your head, the food you eat, the clothes you wear. Never able to just... turn it off for a while. Hang up your coat at the end of the day and go home. Work always comes with you, 'cause you can't leave it behind like the other officers. My wonder might be run down 'cause I've been gone for a thousand years, but at least that's more than what you've got. Can you even touch people? You're ******** hot as hell... don't you burn them?"
Most of it was things she'd heard, things she'd been told by Gehenna. Some of it she could extrapolate from there. And she didn't bother mentioning that her life wasn't all that much better for work/life balance... but at least that was by choice.
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Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2021 3:33 am
So she was half-youma; he wondered if her braids had something to do with that — dyed for some gaudy reminder about from whence she came. He knew magic managed full youma, sometimes, too; Lysithea told him as much. Lysithea, who was now with them, as his sister.
So he had no reasons to doubt her truth. When he was a hopeful human boy, he would have taken her at her word; now he was a violent, faulty thing that had seen the ways that magic failed people. He'd heard from Ashanite about the empty, haunting nature of his Wonder. He'd seen Lysithea's planet — serene thing — but dead. Dead like this, dead like Tanais. And giving up all those friends and his one and only family member, however false, for a plot of empty, broken land sounded a hundredfold worse than enduring perpetual fire.
But her story corroborated a few thoughts about her. Control meant everything, thus she purified to retain control of her body. They were at her wonder, where she could control the conversation. Control his location. Keep him where she wanted him.
Faustite intertwined his hands behind his back as he walked, kept them immobile while he spoke to her. "Say I purified, then. I'd be what, a Knight like you? Lone Knight, no connections, no identity, no family. Been a General for a while; people would notice I went AWOL. Got a brand on me now. Where does that leave me? Living on my Wonder 'til I come to Earth begging for food? Hoping I don't die by my Negaverse comrades?
"What's to say I get a Wonder?" Though he knew that was guaranteed him. Knew what it was called, what planet with which it was associated. But she wouldn't know by looking at him.whimsical blue b*****d never met her, it's sad he won't recognize who she was >:
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Posted: Tue Dec 21, 2021 10:17 pm
Tanais leaned forward abruptly, her wrapped-hands gripping her knees behind the brass lion heads.
"You'd be a knight like me, yeah. With a wonder. You've been marked with power, you think that just goes away? Of course you'd have a Wonder..." The knight pushed to her feet finally, restless with sitting and this back and forth they were having.
"You can live on it if you want to, but I doubt it'd be comfortable. We'd get you set up with a new identity, if that's what worries you. This isn't exactly the first time we've done this, I should know. But I feel like all of this is sort of beside the point, and probably more about you stalling for time than about actually persuading you." Her hands flexed as she held them up before her, muscle bunching in her arms. Brass flickered to life about them, wrapping them in shining metal. "I'm not a diplomat or a salesman. I'm not really here to sell you anything."
The knight advanced on him, each step deliberate and her gaze trained steadily on him. "You don't really get much of a choice about this. Yeah, I tried to talk it up, just in case you were the easy kind, but honestly it doesn't really matter. You're going to purify. Or you're not going to leave here."
Her hands flexed, metal winking in the harsh sunlight.
"The real choice in this is how difficult you want to make it. Doesn't much matter to me... the easiest way would be to wrap this up with your blackened bones baked by the sun. I just like to give people a chance, you know?"
Dark doorways and empty windows gaped at them, silent witnesses with the ghosts of a dead past in their bellies.
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Posted: Wed Dec 29, 2021 5:03 pm
"Don't know what it does," he admitted through gritted teeth. Could've figured it all went away — no one needed to have been a Knight or a Senshi to join the Negaverse — or that, perhaps, some cosmic power assigned a Wonder to an agent after purification in order to sucker them into service. Tanais must've had one by nature, then, if she purified and spoke so assuredly about it. And Faustite knew of Velvet and his tragic little Wonder —
His body tensed when he saw brass, and he instinctively kept his teeth together. "Good, because you're s**t at it." New dead Wonder, new identity. In all his haste and vitriol, Faustite missed an opportunity to mine her for more information: how much support did they offer turncoats? What happened to them, what did they lose? What did it cost them to wear Order's bright, shining colors?
Purify or die, that was what she offered. Faustite stepped back for her every step forward, making more time for his thoughts. It was an offer he could respect for its simplicity, but even if he went toe-to-toe with her and won, how was he getting off this rock? Could the Negaverse reach him ere, or was that a hollow victory? And what would happen to him if he accepted her offer? At what point would she retract him and simply beat him to death if he couldn't match her, a former Negaverse officer that presumably was trained well?
Another few steps backward. Shadowed doorsteps lit to hollow as the light from his middle caught inside of them.
He knew the fear of it was a temporary thing, easily replaced by fear and pain. He knew that, while he was a General, he wasn't a good one: he lacked Sylvite's guile for getting opponents to dispense information, he was too quick-tempered to lead on a discussion like the one he should've had with Tanais, he wasn't as well-rounded as Jet, he wasn't so knowledgeable about knights like Ashanite, or dependable like Kamacite, and all things considered, he put himself on the same useless tier as Aquamarine. And who would be remiss if Aquamarine died? Only Jet, and while they weren't as close as those two, Faustite figured his counterpart would be Kamacite.
Another step backward. Kamacite made friends after he left Lauri's. He lived with Misha now, he had support. Was it really such a loss, then, to die up here?
"Alright, then, annihilate me. That other self was a fiction anyhow." Doubted she would know it, but it didn't matter; his choice would be in how he lost.
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Posted: Sat Jan 08, 2022 6:27 pm
Tanais shrugged, flexing her hands in her gauntlets. At least they both acknowledged she was s**t at diplomacy. No pretenses there.
When he stepped back, she stepped forward, advancing at a slow, steady, deliberate pace. Dust crunched under her boots and the buildings loomed like ancient, silent watchers, judging the both of them as they played out their little dramatic tableau. No sound but the two of them, no motion save what they made. This was a lonely place to die, really. No one would know he'd been here but her, no maker for his grave. One more ghost to add to the intangible weight of thousands of other ghosts.
She almost hesitated when he challenged her. For all she had delivered the ultimatum, it was one thing to threaten and another to act on it in cold blood rather than the heat of battle. Better dead than on the other side. Better to be on our side, but when that's not a choice, at least he won't be draining energy or killing people. His life, or countless others. Tanais settled that deep into her core and held tight to it. He was a general, no doubt he'd already killed his fair share of people, powered or not. Killing him would be justice. She had to believe that.
Her resolve wound up tight, she launched herself at him suddenly, hands balled tight into fists. The old training grounds loomed behind him, the doorway dark as a yawning mouth.
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Posted: Tue Jan 11, 2022 4:15 pm
He waited. Told himself to wait. A fire brewed within him, roiling and certain. Promising.
He could tell himself to wait. To wait until she was close, until she was on top of him. His body would obey. But when she curled her hands into fists as she ran at him, his body understood what that promised. It wanted to flinch.
He told himself to take the punch. Whatever she would throw at him first, he had to take it. Let her feel an upper hand. Let her taste blood.
Once the lion was maddened with blood, it wouldn't relent until it killed or was killed.
So he waited, raised his arms as if to block, though he had no intention of blocking initially. Counted her steps, watched the whites of her eyes grow closer. Then, when he was sure she would strike out at him, when he knew she'd send him stumbling backward for all his body hadn't weighed, the brewing firestorm would tear out of him. Would paint the walls of her dead dour demesne with searing flame.
So he waited until he burst.whimsical blue Meltdown ;;
Range: 10' radius around user
Duration: Up to 30 seconds
Use Count: Up to 2x
Miss Chance: Escaping range at or before the buildup stage
Effect: By expending some of his core, Faustite can whip up a firestorm on a local area, prefaced by dancing cinders seconds before the burst. Inferno gusts orbit clockwise, burning anyone caught in their whorl. Friendly fire possible.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2022 12:31 pm
The first punch landed, something of a mild surprise that he hadn't tried to dodge her even if he'd tried to block it. She had to wonder if he was just unafraid of her, or if he was too proud to run away, or what. She'd have dodged, probably, though she trusted her own strength and stamina enough to take a hit if it meant she and an opportunity for something else...
Sparks flew around them as she hit him again, taking a small bit of satisfaction in the solid thunk of gauntlet into flesh and bone. All Tanais had to do was hit him hard enough he backed down... cause enough damage to convince him the come around. The knight followed as her quarry stumbled back under her blows, unrelenting and grim. None of this was pleasant, but the end goal would be worth it... and she had enough sin on her ledger that one more act of violence would hardly add to the weight of the rest.
She'd thought he'd been out of tricks after the last flaming form had faded. Considering she'd never seen any one else with that sort of ability, she hadn't thought he'd have more... Not until flames burst from him and everything became light and heat and pain.
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Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2022 10:11 am
She hit like a ******** car. Hit like she was out for blood.
And she got it — thin sprays of it left behind on her gauntleted knuckles. Enough to bruise , bled, crack bone. He'd stumbled back with each blow, felt them echo through his body like it was a vacant space. Felt tissue swell to plug all those holes.
It baited her enough that she felt the fire. Bought him some distance, some time to straighten back up and feel his face and clavicle for anything broken. Nose bled like a faucet; that was answer enough.
"Not interested in being human. Don't want to serve a dead planet, further a derelict cause. Say the Negaverse is draining people, killing people. But what do I care for people? And what do they care for me?" Smiled at her for all that was mirthless and violent.
She already made the wrong choice. She wouldn't understand now. What he would've given for Schörl's clever quips.
Barring those, he charged for her, and swept low to take out her balance.
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Posted: Fri Feb 11, 2022 8:31 pm
The fire seared flesh and crisped hair, drawing out a pained cry she couldn't hold back. It left her with skin that was a raw, angry red where she hadn't covered herself with her gauntlets, and there was definitely inches missing from her hair. It made her angry... angry that he still had enough fight in him to lash out at her. That he'd let her get close enough to burn her.
Tanais bared her teeth at him as he came for her, his words making her growl savagely. The blow to her legs got her down on a knee and she clenched her fists, feeling metal bite into flesh to remind her she wasn't out of weapons just yet either. Her focus shifted for a moment to the ring she wore, hidden beneath her gauntlet, and she reached inside... feeling the power swell.
Her red eyes flashed as she glared up at him, her grin cocky and maybe a little unhinged. Light that was entirely unlike the sun above the lit her all over as magic surged up inside.
"Then die." She rasped as she lunged at him, surging to her feet. Her fists flew faster now, and she pressed him back into the barracks building through the open door. Tanais so rarely used the Aspect of Mars, she'd forgotten the thrill of it, the surges of power that bolstered her every time she took a hit herself... she felt invincible like this.
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Posted: Tue Feb 15, 2022 4:29 am
Faustite couldn't tell what she'd done. Couldn't tell, because he was busy being pushed back, being forced to dodge fist after fist until he realized he was getting boxed in.
He remembered their meeting spot by the fountain. It wasn't far. He tried to teleport —
And was punched in the cheek. He stumbled backward, further into the building; it hadn't worked, and Faustite lacked the time to trouble over it. Lacked the space. He'd have to fight her like this, in narrow close quarters, where she surged with each hit she landed.
Death was looking certain. He tried to catch what punches he could with open palms, direct her momentum away, maybe push her further inside, but some of those attacks leaked through, caught him across the face and shoulders and chest. She was smart enough to avoid aiming for gut punches, though he wished she had.
When she wouldn't redirect, he tried to mix in a few kicks. High kicks, chausson kicks, for so much of her was armored that it was impossible to do much damage.
When even that became too much, he tried returning to primordial fire — he could travel around her without worry that way — but another punch brought him back to his normal form. This was magic, then. Magic to keep him hemmed into place. Magic to wear him down and kill him.
It must've been his human side that feared that dreadful outcome. He'd slowed with each new bloom of pain; it wouldn't be long.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 3:06 pm
He fell back as she hit him and she pressed that, never quite letting up, never giving him a chance to respond with another of his dirty little tricks. The heat of the Mars sun burned inside of her, flowing down her limbs, and delivering Justice. She didn't know how many people he'd killed. She didn't know how many he'd corrupted to his side, how many lies he'd told or what terrible things he might have done since he'd joined the Negaverse. Tanais only knew her own sins, as told to her second hand, and it was those sins she beat out of him now. He was every officer, the whole Negaverse itself, and what she did now would prevent so much more of that in the future.
He was one soul, there were countless others he could destroy if he was left free. She had to believe that.
When the beating knocked him finally to the ground near the wall of the ruined barracks, it was into a pile of rubble and discarded bits of metal that might have once been weapons and armor. She bent as she gave him a few last minutes to recover and her gauntlet closed around the ratty hilt of a rusty sword. Red eyes trained on him, she rose, stretching to her full height as the light of Mars faded from her.
"I hope you find peace in knowing that this way, your starseed will return to the Cauldron, and one day, you'll be reborn again. Better than having it eaten by Metallia with no hope of return. I'm sure you won't forgive me, but I'm hoping too that next life of yours is a ******** lot better than this one turned out to be." She said, her voice low and gravelly. It wasn't a prayer, she didn't pray, but she'd needed something to say...
Muscle bunched as she pulled her arm back and stabbed the ancient Xiphos down into the chest of the fallen General.
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Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2022 5:08 pm
He'd skidded when she knocked him down. His head knocked against the grond, and the momentum across the rough ground tore up the sleeve of his uniform. Cuts bloomed underneath where black leaked out. His head thrummed and his ears sung; the world swayed and churned like a boat on the stormy ocean.
There was so much ache through which to fight. His arm moved incrementally, crept across the ground while he tried to drag it beneath himself. Groaning, Faustite spat a wad of black with a shredded piece of cheek.
It was all he could do to shove against the ground. What else was there? He could seldom move, so beaten and destroyed were his muscles, and he couldn't make sense of his surroundings —
She was talking. He squinted up at her, but black kept pooling into his left eye. His breaths echoed in his ears while he tried to put together what she was saying. The ringing hadn't subsided; he imagined it didn't matter anymore. She fought to kill, hadn't she? He baited her and she fought through fire.
Faustite heard steel shriek against steel while he struggled to move. A terrible sound, and he held his breath, gathered his hands beneath himself to push off the ground —
And he heard the sound — thick, wet. The sound of heavy, blood-soaked meat parting under a knife. Felt a raw, displaced hurt bloom on his left side, a soreness below the shoulder blade.
Feeling faint, he looked down. Saw black-rimmed steel jut down his chest and into the center of his hand. Drawing a breath, then a second, then staccato, airy things, pain began to drown him. All he had to give, now, was a pained, hoarse, wordless sound.
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Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2022 8:08 pm
Muscle memory made her twist the rusty sword, feeling metal grate against bone, before she jerked it free.
The blood that gushed from the wound was dark... Tanais didn't even recognize it as blood at first, but what else could it be? It pumped from the wound, inky black, and as she stared down at him, she wondered if her blood had been that color once. It was red now, of course, she'd seen that... but how fallen these creatures were, the half-youma. So close to their monster sides and so far from humanity... Even if he'd agreed to purification, it would have been a difficult feat to accomplish. It was probably best that it ended like this.
The sword dangled loosely from her fingers as she stood over him. Would it be faster to slit his throat? Stab him again? She hadn't actually... killed anyone in this new life before. Knew, in that second hand way, that she'd killed countless before...
It felt... uneasy. Tanais tossed the bloody sword into the corner before she turned and paced out of the shadow of the building and into the hot sunlight, letting it pour over her like liquid warmth as she closed her eyes. She just… needed some air, to collect her thoughts and purge the queasiness from her stomach.
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