|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:17 am
The shriek that ripped from this throat was animalistic, vile, full of rage. Bazzite stood before a beautiful fountain, one made of marble and its centerpiece was a lovely woman. A goddess, perhaps? In her hands she held a vase from which poured a large spout. The sound of the water gurgling in the fountain’s pool was meant to be soothing to all who heard it. But not tonight. Bazzite was unable to enjoy simple pleasures like this fountain, instead pouring all his anger and disgust into the necklace tied around his neck. It was such a tiny thing, a precious gift given to him by his master, General Benitoite. Within it was harbored a power both divine and terrible, coaxing the former human mind forward through the thicket of animalistic hunger and a drive for wanton destruction. Bazzite’s mind was only freed for a short period - long enough to give the gifts of both joy and immense pain to Benitoite. If only the youma could figure out the mechanism through which the evil thing worked, maybe he could turn it “on” more often, and make the blonde happy again. When the youma and the darkness within gripped his brain, he would forget many of the revelations he would have while under the necklace’s influence. However, a scant few happened to stay, wedged within the recesses of his mind, buried deep. Desire that crept beyond the simple fulfillment of base needs. This both terrified Bazzite, and utterly confused him. Holding the necklace’s charm in his huge, clawed hands, Bazzite shook it, screeching. “You worked before!! You made Beni so happy, now do it again!!” Maybe, if it worked through sheer force of will, the youma could return to the Rift and seek out his master. Maybe they could spend time talking as two peers instead of master and his slave, maybe… The youma’s long ears twitched and the boiling hot rage that seeped through his veins seemed to cool for a moment. What… what was this feeling? His vision seemed less murky, now. Bazzite’s powder blue eyebrows touched for a fraction of a second. It was then that the park grew quiet and Bazzite found himself oddly fascinated by the fountain.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:19 am
The initial realization that he was, in fact, powered took a long time to register in Manu’s mind. He had always found himself the kind of individual who protected others, sought out how to soothe and comfort rather than hurt, but now there was magic involved? Not that he could use it just yet, or so he had been told. He was new, fresh, and untainted by the bias and hate that flooded the world, and even if he acted alone some nights like tonight, he knew what his focus was. He wanted to help. It was that very desire to do so that had him head towards the shrieking voice rather than flee from it. The energy he felt seemed to be chaotic but… It didn’t feel incredibly threatening, like it wasn’t out on the prowl like some others would be, searching Were someone to ask him, there’d be no way in the world he could describe what it was. Maybe something along the lines of a wounded animal, one large and ferocious, willing to kill and maim but still hurt all the same. Manu just couldn’t ignore it. Worse case scenario would put him into the maws of a monster, but if there was even the smallest chance someone needed him, he’d give it his all, nonetheless. The closer he drew, the more frightened he felt, however, and he heard another screech, frustrated in it’s sound and loud enough that for a brief moment, Manu hesitated. He could see what was speaking at this point… Or maybe it was a who. The creature seemed to speak more than just an average mindless drone did, so it couldn’t have been like any other youma he had encountered thus far in his short time of adventuring. To his own relief, the youma seemed to calm and still, looking back toward the fountain that Manu just noticed being the focus of it’s attention now. It didn’t explain just what the creature was screeching about previously, but with that calmness, Manu found his courage to approach, weapon put away so that he didn’t seem threatening. Just how one would approach a frightened animal, he drew closer, steps and sounds made deliberately to let the other know just exactly where he was. “Are you alright….?” Finally speaking up once within range, Manu stopped his approach, standing calmly with his hands in a neutral position. “Do you need any help?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:28 am
The noise that indicated the youma was startled was heinous at best, a throaty hiss as he turned around to see who dared to approach. Who was foolish enough? With some of the haze cleared from his mind, Bazzite realized just how dangerous he was, and took note of how even the simplest of squirrels and birds gave him a very wide berth. All animals had left the immediate area upon his arrival and he hadn’t noticed it until then.
Whirling around, teeth bared in an instinctual fashion, wings flared out to their full diameter to make himself look even bigger. As a predator, his mental radar for powered individuals was always on, but the distraction of the fountain and the influence of the necklace dulled his senses somewhat. Bazzite was very perplexed to find a Page standing before him. This Page approached him, approached a creature that could very easily rip him to shreds and devour him whole. Bazzite was a proud General’s youma, with the power to back up that position.
The youma’s confusion wore plainly on his face.
Talk to him? Who is this fool? Doesn’t he know what he’s getting into? He’s a Page, just a baby. I could eat him… I’m hungry, but… No, I shouldn’t. Right? That makes Beni very sad… He hates it when I eat people but… I have to, don’t I? Maybe…? What if Beni saw me, would he be upset? I got the necklace to work, but how?
Something wasn’t right here. Against his usual youma instinct to pounce and devour, Bazzite actually took a step back, away from this strange and foolhardy man. “You… don’t know… what you’re doing, do you?” There wasn’t any derision in Bazzite’s alien and metallic voice. No, he was genuinely confused. “You know what I am. You all know… but you’re approaching me. Why? Don’t you know I can eat several of you very easily? Are you… suicidal? Did nobody tell you how dangerous we are?”
Then the Page asked if he needed any help. That confirmed, to Bazzite, that this Page was very clearly suicidal. The youma seemed very agitated by that very question. “...you can’t help me.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:39 am
Manu couldn’t believe his eyes when the youma turned around, spreading out to a huge size, making even his large form seem small in comparison. And it did, in fact, frighten him that he nearly winced at the sight of the teeth, prepared to be attacked, knowing that if this creature wanted to kill him then and there, it would.
Yet it didn’t, and only looked baffled that he stood here.
“I suppose the answer is no, I don’t… “ Manu confessed softly, but smiling at the creature. “I’ve fought youma before but this is the first time I’ve encountered one who talked… So I suppose I don’t know who you are.”
Specifically deciding to go with who rather than what, Manu moved his arms to cross in front of this chest, a bit more protective than his previous openness. Yes, he felt threatened, but he still did his best to seem at least a little lax.
“And I did approach you, yes. You were screeching, and sounded… Well, kinda frustrated. I just wanted to see what was wrong and, like I said, help… If I can’t help, may I ask why you were upset? Sometimes just talking about it helps, even if it can’t be solved…”
Pausing, he frowned for just a brief moment, wondering just how foolish he was being right now. The answer was of course he was being foolish! This was more than likely to get him killed, but just how was he supposed to ignore someone calling out like that? The more he thought about it, the more he realized just how stupid this was, but in the end, he just smiled once more. Oh well, if it was time for him to die, than so be it.
“Should I leave you be then? I’m sorry if I’ve bothered you. I’d rather this not end in a fight…”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:54 am
He’d never encountered a youma who spoke. Hardly any of them did. Bazzite found himself longing for the lowered intelligence of feral youma, so that he would not have to endure the mental anguish that came with the necklace’s magic. Around Benitoite, things were fine, but the youma could not seem to activate the special power consistently. The blonde so enjoyed speaking to him as if he were a person and that joy is what kept Bazzite from smashing the necklace against a rock and burying it, never to see it again.
Ever so slightly, the blue locust beasts’ demeanor softened when he realized he was being called a who, and not a what.
So many of them called him it or thing, which caused the youma to fly into a rage.
“You’re a very strange Page.” came a quiet reply. Quadruplicate wings folded down into their normal, relaxed position between Bazzite’s shoulder blades though the youma did not physically relax fully. “I would eat you on sight, normally…” Brows furrowed again and Bazzite seemed utterly confused. Normally, he wouldn’t even be thinking about whether or not to devour someone. It was the cursed necklace that lifted the psychological fog from his brain. It was the necklace’s fault. “...Pages should stay away from monsters like me. The ones that don’t talk are very dangerous, but the ones who do talk are even more so… Normally.”
There was a perplexing desperation taking him over now, Bazzite simultaneously wishing to drive the Page away so he could survive another night and asking him to stay for the scant few moments of clarity. Bazzite didn’t get to have very many conversations. The creature seemed exhausted then and sat down on the edge of the fountain, clawed hands in his powder blue hair. It was a remnant of what he used to be. “...normally… nothing is normal, not anymore. You probably have a family, right? Don’t tell me. When my brain goes back, I’ll probably go find them. You don’t want that, Page. Normally, we don’t talk to you. We just eat and eat and eat and follow orders because we have to. Normally… normally…”
Another anguished wail came from his lungs, though it was much quieter than the wrathful shriek earlier. Bazzite shook his head forcibly. How many families had he devoured without even realizing it?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 7:57 am
“Very strange, possibly? And very stupid. But I’d like to think I have my uses from time to time.” With the sight of Bazzite’s wings vanishing, Manu relaxed a bit more himself, taking it as a sign that the youma didn’t really want to fight either. At least not yet.
It was both interesting and distressing as Bazzite seemed to change his expression multiple times, and as he did so, Manu risked attack again by drawing closer and taking a seat next to him on the fountain, an arms length away, just out of reach. The word normally stuck fast, and his own eyebrow raised in a worried confusion. So this wasn’t normal… What would have caused it then?
“What is normal for you? What isn’t normal? The talking? Or the not wanting to eat me right away?” The action of his hands in his hair was just… It felt human. A natural thing to do, because why else would a youma touch the hair on their head? It didn’t seem like a natural thing to do, besides an itch or two. But… Maybe he was reading too much into things. Which was likely since he tended to over think a lot of things when they were bad.
The wail that came forth made him jump, and he wanted so badly to find a way to help the poor creature but what could he even do? What would even happen if he tried to come close? This certainly didn’t seem like a frenzied beast, not that Manu had encountered many in the first place.
“I have a name,” he finally spoke again after a moment of silence and fighting off the urge to pat the other’s shoulder. As much as he wanted to help, he didn’t want to lose an arm to those claws. “It’s Manu. I’m a Page of Chronos. What’s your name? Do you have one?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:09 am
The fact that Manu had sat near him was lost on the youma, who seemed quite focused on the thoughts rushing through his head. A connected to B much quicker and more precisely than it did earlier, and Bazzite found the change to be uncomfortable and disturbing. Not because it was happening, but because it didn’t happen before.
“Normal is…” The creature seemed to struggle to find the right words, as if he was wading through a cascade of thoughts his mind wasn’t accustomed to. “...I talk, always. Always could speak. I miss Beni, I like talking to Beni… but… normally, I want to eat. Eat and eat. I eat everyone, but the tastier people… they are like you. The starseed in their chest, youma eat those. Then you’re gone forever...” How many have I eaten?
It seemed to surprise him that Manu would give up his name. Putting a name to himself practically painted a target on his back, in Bazzite’s mind, and the thought was frightening. Manu could not outrun a General’s youma. Manu could not overpower Bazzite in the slightest. What if he lost the clarity from the necklace, and devoured Manu whole? Would Bazzite even remember speaking to him in the first place? “I…. the animal youma, they don’t usually talk. Sometimes, like parrots, they’ll talk back to you but it’s not like me. The people-shaped youma can plot and plan and sometimes they are partners to Generals, like me. Like me and Beni. Sort of… now, because of this necklace… I’m Bazzite, but that wasn’t my name before… what was my name before?”
The creature scratched at his head, as if to dig out the answers he thought might be buried deep inside. Wings buzzed briefly from frustration, but otherwise the youma didn’t move from his spot on the lip of the fountain. “I had a different name before. I’m sure of it, but… I don’t know why.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:12 am
“So normal is to eat. And to only eat and only think of eating? And normal is also to talk, to think, to work, but eating is priority. Always wanting to eat, always thinking about eating and finding those who taste the best…” Manu was slowly piecing together the bits and pieces of information he had, liking it to the “who am I?” books he remembered reading to his nieces and nephews not too long ago. It felt like there were clues hidden in his words that helding the answers to a question he didn’t know. Something was there, something that meant something but neither of which he could identify. All he knew was that the youma before him seemed to be even more lost than he was.
He paused and looked the struggling creature over once more, trying to think and decide what to ask while they still had a brief moment of peace between them.
“You’re Bazzite, but you weren’t always Bazzite… A different name? Like… A human name? You are not like the animal youma, like you said, you’re people shaped and can think and do and work together. Does that mean you were human too? Can that happen to people, being turned into youma? Is that what all youma are? People…? If that’s the case, then the thing you eat, the starseeds, do all youma have them too? Or only the people ones.” Manu tried his best to wrap his mind around it, his brows furrowing in a pained sort of manner as he did his best to figure out what exactly this all meant. Yet all he found himself doing was parroting the other’s thoughts back at him.
“So… You can think now, your mind isn’t clouded and…If you were human before, could you be human again? Human like me, or Human-ish like the half youmas… Would you want to? … Are you scared?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:15 am
So many questions. Bazzite felt overwhelmed for a few moments and snarled in response. Not at Manu in particular, but at the fact that now he was asking himself all these questions. Things that, as a youma, one never thought about in the first place. A youma did not ask itself why it ate, or who it ate, or what family they’d ripped apart. It did not think of where to leave a soulless body, or why certain starseeds tasted better than others. They did not think of whether they themselves had starseeds, or what life was like before they were what they were, if they even had a life before this one…
“Beni made me this way.”
That thought seemed to be a realization to Bazzite, though he instinctively always knew this was the truth, the lack of clouding in his mind allowed him to actually analyze that fact. His memory surrounding the incident were still incredibly fractured. He knew he was Bazzite, but not this tall. He was smaller, like Beni. Benitoite shrank one day. “...Beni… he said he was sorry, and I don’t hate him.”
Brows furrowed and Bazzite didn’t look up at Manu. He sighed deeply into his hands, breath quickening. “I don’t know. I don’t know. Starseeds in us too? I don’t know. I don’t wanna know.” The creature seemed to grow increasingly distressed by the thought of cannibalising other starseeds if he happened to possess one himself. “I was… I was a Captain. I was Beni’s Captain and then I wasn’t. I was like this.”
Bazzite pulled his hands away from his face and examined them, shoulders slumping as he turned clawed paws over. His skin was blue and mottled. It wasn’t always like this. “I was a person before this. General Wolfeite, he’s half. He has a tail and ears and sharp teeth, but I have to do what he says, even if I don’t want to. I don’t know if youma are people… I don’t know… I just know, me, I was… a long time ago. I don’t know.”
Another distressed wail came from him, and the youma fidgeted under his own mental scrutiny.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:18 am
Too much, Manu…. It’s too much… As apologetically as he could, Manu murmured a soft ‘I’m sorry..” After the snarl was heard. Granted, he wasn’t sure if it was his fault or not, but most things tended to be, one way or another. Not that they were always bad.
“So it was an accident. You didn’t want to be like this? Or do… “ It seemed like Manu took the moment to trail off and focus on solely Bazzite’s hands, or claws. There were so large, inhuman, but… There was no way Bazzite could really be a monster, could he? Did monsters have existential crises? Maybe in the sense of Frankenstein, where life was given to them but without a purpose or a goal it meant nothing. Maybe it was that urge to just eat that allowed him to function… None of it made sense, atleast not enough to Manu and it continued not to.
“What do you know then, Bazzite? If you know you, do you have any idea what you want to do?”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:20 am
“Why are you asking me these things, Manu?”
Bazzite opened his eyes and turned to really look at Manu, rather than simply seeing him as a Page. The youma couldn’t recall seeing another Page dressed like him, in those colors. He knew bits and pieces about Knights, especially from what his beloved General had told him. Sea colors for Neptune, bright colors for Venus, red is for Mars. It wasn’t useful information, all in all - Knights were for eating, not for speaking to. Bazzite never had long, drawn-out conversations with someone unless they were a Negaverse agent.
He never had any reason to.
“Maybe… maybe…” came the reply, Bazzite turning away from Manu again to stare at his hands. Brows furrowed, trying to remember the events that led up to him becoming… like this. Bazzite found he couldn’t piece anything of note together that would explain how he woke up as a youma. He couldn’t really even recall much of his life as a Captain. He only knew he was a Captain for certain because Benitoite told him so. The blonde had pointed out the tattered remains of the uniform Bazzite wore were the remnants of when he was a human boy. “...Beni said he was sorry, he asked me not to hate him, and I don’t…”
What did he want? Did youma do such a thing as desire something greater than their next meal and a safe place to sleep? Bazzite wasn’t the brightest among Captains, nor was he the brightest among humanoid youma. He’d never even considered wanting anything other than to please his General, and spend time with him. Perhaps other humanoid youma with considerable intelligence had higher, more abstract desires than he did, but he didn’t know them. He only knew himself.
“What I want to do?” The creature seemed genuinely confused, carefully mulling over his monstrous hands. “Want…? I… want to make Beni happy, but…”
The youma emitted a grunt of pain, clutching his head. Something felt wrong.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:22 am
“I ask because your opinion matters right? If you can think right now, what you want is important, I think.” Manu probably wasn’t making any sense at all so he smiled sheepishly when Bazzite turned his gaze on him. “It’s like what they say, to err is to be human. If you’re thinking about what you’ve done before, and if it’s wrong or it sits uneasy, doesn’t that make you more human than you think?”
It was a comforting thought, that even a youma could think and at least be uncomfortable with what they had done. Maybe they could be saved or helped in some way.
Beni’s name came up over and over again, and he wanted to ask just who Beni was, but that just wasn’t an issue right now. Who would have thought that this night would have ended up with Manu talking philosophy with a Youma?
“Would making him happy make you ---” In a panic at seeing Bazzite clutch his head, Manu instinctively drew closer, and arm reaching out to hold onto the other’s shoulder in a comforting but firm manner.
“Hey! Are you alright!? What’s wrong?!”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:26 am
The necklace’s curse seemed to have been fading then, the creeping, insane hunger clouding Bazzite’s mind. The instinct to instantly maul Manu was growing by the moment and the youma knew he had to get away from the Page before he completely lost control of his faculties. Before he could stop himself, the beast contorted to lock his jaw into Manu’s outstretched arm.
Warm, thick blood filled his mouth. With a heinous shriek, appalled at what he’d done, Bazzite dropped to the ground and started backing away from Manu quickly. “G-get away… I can’t… I’ll eat you! Get away!!” Scraping his face against the ground, the youma hoped to drive the intrusive, unholy thoughts from his mind. It was no use. Eyes glassing over, the philosophical, human part of himself was being buried again.
Another, deafening roar escaped his maw and the creature bolted on all fours, desperate to put as much distance between himself and the Page as possible. He didn’t trust that he would not seek out and devour Manu, now that the hunger had taken him again…
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 8:28 am
Having his arm suddenly filled with teeth wasn’t the least expected outcome of Manu’s attempt to reach out to help, but it still came as a surprise, enough so that he found himself unable to move after a pained gasp escaped from his lips. Despite that pain that shot through his arm, the flesh there being torn away so easily, scraping up bits and pieces of what once was a rather intricate tattoo, he made no attempt in beating the other off. He doesn’t mean it! He screamed inside of his head over and over again, as the teeth remained there, feeling blood well up then drip out of the mouth that had him trapped. And just as suddenly as it happened, he was let go and the arm immediately came against his chest in a protective manner. Worry for Bazzite rather than himself still took priority in this situation, even as he felt the pain sink deeper into the very muscle of his arm. “B-bazzite…” Whatever had caused the youma to calm enough to talk now was quickly fading away, and at this point, Manu just knew there wasn’t anything else he could do, especially when the youma started to scream at him to run. And so he did, afraid of being hurt further, but terrified of having Bazzite end up doing something he truly didn’t wish to do. For now, what else was there except to flee as far away as he could to spare the youma of that pain. Maybe oneday, if he came around here again he could see Bazzite in that state of human contemplation once more.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
