"Wh-hut??" Said Yuri through a giggle. "You can't be serious; I'm the one who ceased to exist for a few seconds!" More laughing, until she realised Melanie wasn't smiling. This generation, I swear. Janus was right; they all have entitlement issues. *sigh* Well, cool... Guess I'll just have to be delicate with this one.
And why was that? There was certainly nothing to rival the majesty of Yuri (lol) right now, what with the moon triumphing over the charcoal skyline once again--it had vanished with Yuri, you know, so there really wasn't much to suggest that, even with her new gains, Melanie should outclass or, as it was here, be worthy of such fuss. But, invariably, she was. There was a certain collapse of expectations, as there is whenever someone beneath you, whom you wish to go far, but not farther than you could have ever gone, surpasses you and immediately that gravity draws in a certain amount of jealousy in proportion to the aforementioned collapse; that was the way Yuri held Melanie in her mind for a fraction of a second before smiling.
"Sure! You've got a long road ahead of you."
"... I'm sure the people wouldn't like to lose their moon. I'll have to teach you the hard way, I guess." She pouted slightly, cutely, and snapped her fingers.
"Hang on! What if we go do some illusions? The only thing I know is the music trick, but Janus and the others know a lot. What do you think?" She was already texting them, but sure, give Melanie a choice in the matter.
Quotes
Nebbia d Argento
Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2015 10:11 pm
Melanie Du Coteau Sacred Gear:Vritra's Tail: Devil's spine.
Stealthy, strong, long reach and flexible. The black dragon's tail was one of it's many deadly assets. The tail itself is a wonderful yet terrible weapon. You see, the tail feeds on the host's spine until it completely devours it and takes it place. This not only grants the bearer full use and potential of this gear, but if the tail breaks... well you may get an Idea of that would happen to your body.
It it said that the tail holds a personality of it's own, vicious and vindictive, it requires constant dotting and spoiling to keep it at bay. Legend tells Vritra made people squirm and screech their lifes out of their lungs to ease it's tail and lead it to a tranquil slumber.
Melanie sighed as Yuri kept acting as carefree as always. True that was what she liked about her, but right now it wasn't the moment, at least not for Melanie, to appreciate such traits. "Just as long as you don't threaten your existence or make me believe you do so..." Melanie commented, her mind constantly debating wether or not she should regret having started this training... getting into this camp to begin with.
"... What existence?" Yuri could help but giggle again. "Ok, fine~" She said rolling her eyes. "Janus is coming," said Yuri looking at her phone, which had somehow also made it into and out of the MP3 player. "She said she was worried about the moon disappearing. Isn't that sweet??" This Yuri certainly was more carefree than the others. It became apparent that the music not only transformed her body but mind as well with each new song.
Several moments later Janus' footsteps could be heard through the hall. From the other side, Yuri's side, the entrance didn't seem so grand as climbing a starry staircase to an evening heaven. This would just look like somebody coming down a very wide a dark corridor, which for whatever reasons remained open at all times. It was odd. At some point the tiles seemed to blend into it and become lost, as if they forget or couldn't see the center of the floor and simply lost their way; lost the memory of what made them take that form in the first place. The horizon, the orthogonals, there were a few areas in this world of illusions that held this property.
"I really can't take you anywhere, can I?" Janus said announcing her arrival. Apparently Alicia had business to take care of. "... The moon disappeared. What happened?" Yuri saved Melanie the embarrassment of retelling the story, at which Janus rubbed her temples and sighed.
"Wow... That's awesome!" She said with much sarcasm. "It took me a while to conjure up this illusion, but it didn't take you two nearly that long to destroy it, huh?" Janus waited for their reply with a burning in her eyes not present at any other time Melanie was around.
"Um... Sorry, Janus," was all Yuri could think to say at the moment.
Quotes
Nebbia d Argento
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 12:16 pm
Melanie Du Coteau Sacred Gear:Vritra's Tail: Devil's spine.
Stealthy, strong, long reach and flexible. The black dragon's tail was one of it's many deadly assets. The tail itself is a wonderful yet terrible weapon. You see, the tail feeds on the host's spine until it completely devours it and takes it place. This not only grants the bearer full use and potential of this gear, but if the tail breaks... well you may get an Idea of that would happen to your body.
It it said that the tail holds a personality of it's own, vicious and vindictive, it requires constant dotting and spoiling to keep it at bay. Legend tells Vritra made people squirm and screech their lifes out of their lungs to ease it's tail and lead it to a tranquil slumber.
Despite how adorable Yuri might be, Melanie helped herself to remain as calm as possible, not to fell on the girl's charm, no matter how tempting it was. She was afraid to see Yuri in danger again, so she could not afford to let her guard down. "Good, that would help us" Stated as Janus would soon introduce herself from the darkness of this place. As the demoness would extern her doubt and demanded answers, Melanie would walk towards Janus and would bow towards her. "I'm really sorry, this was all my fault Janus... I let Yuri lead me into a situation I could not control, making her think I was capable off... not only the illusion but Yuri as well was compromised. Please don't take it on Yuri when I was the one who should had been more careful of the two of us."
Abilities on: Rook Blind (f): Janus is blind as a bat, but luckily has their hearing on a demonic scale. Creature of the Night+: Plus illusory magic and hypnosis.
Inventory: Phone {currently texting: }
Health: max Energy: max
"Ok, ok, what happened though?" Said Janus somewhat impatiently.
"I pulled my plug to show her I wasn't real, ma'am." Yuri decided to help out.
[Janus was nodding patiently until Melanie got to the part about Yuri almost erased. She suspected it, but hearing it was a whole new level of aggravating. "YOU WHAT!" She exploded. Immediately the GoD seized Melanie by the shoulders. "Look here, kid!" She barked. "This isn't a game, ok? If Yuri tells you she's fake, she's fake. Got it? That part wasn't an illusion. Jesus (sort of an ironic thing for a demon to say), I thought they taught you kids how to follow blindly in school..." Here she was more or less talking to herself. She sighed and decided it was best to let this one go without anymore shouting. She waved a hand in front of her face.
"Sorry, I'm, I'm done." In her eyes was a disappoint which couldn't be hidden. "I just thought it was pretty clear that some things in this world are fake; this means people too. You can't just go around getting attached to everyone right off the bat; and if you do, you definitely shouldn't call their bluff if you want them to stay... You understand? Yuri only did what she did to prove to you she was an illusion." She gave a glare to Yuri.
"She shouldn't have done that either, but damnit, we can't act this way in the field! We'll get smashed by the other houses. I mean, you've heard the saying weakest link, right? I hate to say it, but right now your the link, Melanie. That's what we're here for; if we can make you a good Succubus in your own right, we'll have a pretty solid house, but right now? ..." She wouldn't finish. She'd already said in every word with tone alone.
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Nebbia d Argento
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 2:14 pm
Melanie Du Coteau Sacred Gear:Vritra's Tail: Devil's spine.
Stealthy, strong, long reach and flexible. The black dragon's tail was one of it's many deadly assets. The tail itself is a wonderful yet terrible weapon. You see, the tail feeds on the host's spine until it completely devours it and takes it place. This not only grants the bearer full use and potential of this gear, but if the tail breaks... well you may get an Idea of that would happen to your body.
It it said that the tail holds a personality of it's own, vicious and vindictive, it requires constant dotting and spoiling to keep it at bay. Legend tells Vritra made people squirm and screech their lifes out of their lungs to ease it's tail and lead it to a tranquil slumber.
As Janus proceeded to lecture Melanie's mistakes there wasn't much for the redhead to do or say rather than just take whatever Janus threw at her and reply "Yes ma'am" and "I'm sorry" on multiple occasions. Innocence has a price, and on the mayor leagues it was sometimes too expensive. They couldn't afford having a weak link... and so far, she was the greatest of them all. "I will do my best to cover up for my flaws... so... please forgive me or spare me from the house, I really don't want to be a burden to you ..." Melanie was sulking within her mind, it was hard to accept she was the most likely to make Lilith's board a useless set.
Abilities on: Rook Blind (f): Janus is blind as a bat, but luckily has their hearing on a demonic scale. Creature of the Night+: Plus illusory magic and hypnosis.
Inventory: Phone {currently texting: }
Health: max Energy: max
The look on Melanie's face told Janus she would beat herself more than she ever would or cared to. But the sadly inevitably truth of the matter was the choice to leave wasn't hers to make.
"I'm sorry, Melanie, but that's not up to you." Janus' face grew more solemn. "You were chosen as one of Lilith's peerage, the top of the top." She sighed and manifest some chairs for the three to sit on.
"Come on, have a seat. You've got a lot to learn." There was no point in trying to be subtle anymore, as that almost undermined the entire camp.
"Here's how it works. The ones with chess pieces are at the top. Lilith will keep them alive no matter what, so we try to be worthy. We don't accept failure around here; we just try again tomorrow. We all have a quota to fill: one hundred souls a day. Those at the bottom are at risk of becoming part of the that one hundred, and so we try to keep a large bass. You won't have to worry about it too much, but Lilith expects you to produce at least another hundred souls just so she knows you're pulling your weight."
Quotes
Nebbia d Argento
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 6:56 pm
Melanie Du Coteau Sacred Gear:Vritra's Tail: Devil's spine.
Stealthy, strong, long reach and flexible. The black dragon's tail was one of it's many deadly assets. The tail itself is a wonderful yet terrible weapon. You see, the tail feeds on the host's spine until it completely devours it and takes it place. This not only grants the bearer full use and potential of this gear, but if the tail breaks... well you may get an Idea of that would happen to your body.
It it said that the tail holds a personality of it's own, vicious and vindictive, it requires constant dotting and spoiling to keep it at bay. Legend tells Vritra made people squirm and screech their lifes out of their lungs to ease it's tail and lead it to a tranquil slumber.
"But how?" While Janus held the reason, to some degree, it was still Melanie's limited mind which kept exerting the pressure on the redhead. "How am I even going to be worth if I can't pull a simple illusion? let alone these... souls quota you mentioned... I'm not good at Illusions like you guys ... neither as pretty... how? Just how am I going to proof myself worthy?" Melanie couldn't handle it anymore and broke into tears, she tried so hard to keep them from Yuri, but, with the addition of Janus's into play, she couldn't keep that strong mask anymore. Covering her shameful face, Melanie didn't understood what a demon was. Illusions, contracts and quotas... they all sounded simple on paper but in practice were a lot different, especially with such exceptional models like Janus, even someone who didn't even exist like Yuri was able to perform them better than she could. It wasn't that hard to look down on one self.
Abilities on: Rook Blind (f): Janus is blind as a bat, but luckily has their hearing on a demonic scale. Creature of the Night+: Plus illusory magic and hypnosis.
Inventory: Phone {currently texting: }
Health: max Energy: max
Janus was thoroughly unimpressed by Melanie's sudden display. This wasn't the strength of House Orino; not by tears did they build an invisible empire in the hearts of men! She grabbed Melanie by the shoulders, shook a few times, saying, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself!" That dead stare of indignation meant to pierce straight to the redhead's soul. "This is why we came, because you don't know how to get souls yet, or pick out illusions for that matter. Now, look at me, ok? I'm going to teach you what I know. Lamia and I? We had to figure this out for ourselves. Lilith was there to teach us, but the system was still new, not as reliably, ya get me? Lilith herself? Forget about it. She had to figure out the best way to rope in new souls FROM SCRATCH!"
"I'm serious. Melanie, we have it down to a science now. We, us, Lamia?" She didn't mention Alicia, at least not by name. "We're all a whole lot better at this than you, it's true, but that just means you get to learn from the best. Now, how much could you have learned about what we do in the time it takes for us to have this talk? ... For Satan's sake don't answer that!" Crying clearly wasn't a get out of scolding free card. Was she doing this because she cared or because her former caring attitude toward the Succubus was an illusion as well?
"...Janus is right." Yuri finally chimed in. "As much as I hate to admit it, you're going to have to start being smarter about this. Think of it like school; you sit there, pay attention, say what they want you to say, all on the faith of their wisdom and that it might pass down to you if you cram hard enough. This is exactly the same. So... You know, go to school." How could she not grasp this metaphor? It was so obvious! Although it did take some getting used to, if Melanie had a real world analog to compare this to, it might become a lot easier... Hopefully.
"Right. School..." Janus said thinking out loud. "Tell you what. This is a lot to take in. I get that. Why don't you go back to school for a while and forget about it. You need some time, so take it. We'll handle your quota until then. Think of it as paid vacation. When your ready, come back for some lessons." She sighed and set her phone on a table which rose out of nothing.
Quotes
Nebbia d Argento
Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 8:42 pm
Melanie Du Coteau Sacred Gear:Vritra's Tail: Devil's spine.
Stealthy, strong, long reach and flexible. The black dragon's tail was one of it's many deadly assets. The tail itself is a wonderful yet terrible weapon. You see, the tail feeds on the host's spine until it completely devours it and takes it place. This not only grants the bearer full use and potential of this gear, but if the tail breaks... well you may get an Idea of that would happen to your body.
It it said that the tail holds a personality of it's own, vicious and vindictive, it requires constant dotting and spoiling to keep it at bay. Legend tells Vritra made people squirm and screech their lifes out of their lungs to ease it's tail and lead it to a tranquil slumber.
Melanie nodded, soon her figure faded away as she left the realm. Perhaps she needed some time to let thinks sink in? While a school would be a terrific metaphor... would it be okay if she was told that by someone who didn't exist? Maybe... Melanie refused to reject this theory, but maybe until she killed off Yuri's existence from her own life, then she would be able to tell from illusions, but that also was something she did not wanted to do. Unreal or not, Yuri was someone dear to Melaine, in this short time she grew to like her, and Alice as well. To just, terminate them, by labeling one as an illusion. She knew how her brain would work. Just as soon as she conceived the idea of Yuri being unreal, it would be just the same as killing her off Melanie's existence. She would not see, hear or feel Yuri again. Which was something that perhaps she gave too much importance, but that along was enough to bring her mind into endless turmoil, once she wished to never show.
Perhaps, this was too much, maybe tomorrow was a better day, for better or worse, she would leave the place.
Abilities on: Rook Blind (f): Janus is blind as a bat, but luckily has their hearing on a demonic scale. Creature of the Night+: Plus illusory magic and hypnosis.
Inventory: Phone {currently texting: }
Health: max Energy: max
With a bright flash of magenta the two entered the Underworld facing a large and scary looking gate. There were shifting structures everywhere on the inside, but the tops of them would be all that could be seen from where they were; if they tried to see what the rest of the buildings were doing through the gaps in the gate they would only see a large, barren square of what looked like an abandoned castle.
"Still doing ok?" Janus checked. "This is my training camp Any succubus that matters has come through here at some point or another. ... You'll get used to all the craziness."
Setsuko was too busy throwing up to answer straight away. The first time she'd been transported Lilith had put her in a daze. So the feeling was rather unpleasant. Wiping her mouth Setsuko looked at Janus. "I'll be okay." It took her a moment to workout where she was. The underworld was brighter than she had expected. "So... Um... This is where we're training?" It was clear from her tone of voice and expression that she found the whole thing a bit intimidating.
Abilities on: Rook Blind (f): Janus is blind as a bat, but luckily has their hearing on a demonic scale. Creature of the Night+: Plus illusory magic and hypnosis.
Inventory: Phone {currently texting: }
Health: max Energy: max
"Ah jeeze..." Janus had to facepalm at this one. She knew this generation was a bit softer than hers, but this was ridiculous. All it was was a little instantaneous movement! She gave the young one a smile, though, as she pulled out some gum from her bag.
"Here." At this point a few maids noticed Janus was here and came to greet the new inductee. They all looked so nice and happy to be there, but busy.
"Like I said, you'll get used to it. Don't worry, though, we'll take it easy for a couple days so this," she said pointing to the puke," doesn't happen again.
"Janus! Setsuko-san!" called the maids as they closed the distance. "It's so nice to see you... You'll be staying longer than last time, I hope?"
"I hope so too," said Janus, hinting at the disaster 'last time' was.
"Please, Let us take your things." The maids worked quick, that's for sure. Janus nodded to follow them into the place
Setsuko took the gum with a smile and handed her bag over to the maid. "I.. I'm okay now. But erm... How do they know my name?" She asked as she followed Janus.
Abilities on: Rook Blind (f): Janus is blind as a bat, but luckily has their hearing on a demonic scale. Creature of the Night+: Plus illusory magic and hypnosis.
Inventory: Phone {currently texting: }
Health: max Energy: max
"Are you kidding?" Said Janus as they clopped first steps into the courtyard. "You think people in the organisation aren't going to know the number four spot? Remember I'm number three; knowing your name is as important to these people as knowing the difference between silverware."
