[b] obsessed with this [guinevere/shoqafa/izanami]

[Noir Songbird]

It was like a game, to Guinevere. Go out, gather energy, compete with herself to see how much and how easily she could get it. It had gotten easier and easier in the months since she'd been taken into Chaos.

But there was a line she hadn't yet crossed again, not since she'd gotten into so much trouble for pulling that alien's starseed. What if she did it again on accident, after all, or accidentally got a fellow officer? But she'd found a pretty Senshi with long white hair, and that Senshi hadn't been able to fight back, and so she'd reached into her chest and pulled her starseed. Setnading over the unconscious body, she turned it over in her hands, and hummed.

What to do, what to do. She could haul her in for corruption, certainly, and that was probably the wiser choice--but she could also simply leave her to die.

That would be fun, too.

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

Something, something felt off as Lucis had been walking, feeling a sense of purpose, but not knowing why. Not until he turned a corner and saw something clearly wrong, causing him to pull back, back against brick wall, fist clenched as he called for his weapon -- or what passed for a weapon. Someday, he'd get something better. Something more useful.

But he didn't have time to wait, Shoqafa quickly stepping out, running over without letting out a sound, though surely his feet hitting the pavement beneath him was more than enough of a tell that someone was coming.

As he got close, only then did he open his mouth.

"Drop that, drop her, and leave." His voice was cold, rough as he glared at the corrupt senshi, arms up and ready to strike if needed.

....but he wanted to give this woman the chance to give the...whatever that was back without hassle. The length of cane that passed for a weapon was still in his hand, and judging by the fighting stance he had fallen into...

He was not messing around.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Oh. There was someone here who wanted to pick a fight with her. How absolutely troublesome. But Guinevere smiled anyway, and shook her head.

"Afraid I can't do that," she said, as brightly as she could. She juggled the starseed to her opposite hand, and blew a kiss. "Haunting Obsession!"

It would probably make him want to fight her even more, but that was the fun part. He would walk right into her magic, and she could get his starseed, too, and then she would have two people to bring back to the Negaverse! Oh, she was so smart, and so good at her job, she couldn't help but giggle.

"Come and get it from me, big boy!"

Quote:

Guinevere speaks the name of her attack, and blows a kiss. A little broken heart made of pink smoke appears on the edge of her fingers, and then bursts, filling the air around her with sweet-smelling pink fog. The fog extends to an eight-foot radius around her, and everyone in the fog except for Guinevere finds that suddenly, they are extremely obsessed with something--a person, a place, a plot hole in their favorite TV show, it can be anything--and they are convinced that the first other person in the fog they see has it, can give it to them, and they must fight for it. It is possible to resist the urge, especially if a character is higher ranked than Guinevere, but fighting it will result in the fog becoming choking, and characters may feel lightheaded and unable to breathe. These effects last for 30 seconds. Guinevere can use this attack three times per battle.

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

He was just barely outside the circle of pink smoke, mind moving fast, calculating, wanting a plan of attack first, but there wasn't time. And he was being lured into a trap, but there was nothing for it, feet moving quickly, though he made a face at the smell, hating how it seemed to cling to everything, it was all he could see, could smell, and now...

...now he needed her, and he wasn't taking no for an answer, getting in closer, close enough that the corrupt senshi was in reach, fingers reaching out for her hair, grabbing harshly and pulling her close by her hair, tugging down in an attempt to force her head back, to startle her.

"Lookie here, seems I got myself a little prize~"

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Yes, there it was, the obsession, the rage--Guinevere grinned, and while she made a token effort to get away from the hand that twisted in her hair, it really was just token. He yanked her over, and she giggled. Now she was right. Within. Reach.

"Ooh, sorry, not into that kind of thing," she said, and she snapped a hand out towards his chest, aiming to shove it in--to grab his starseed too. "Well, not with men, at least."

Maybe if he was a cute girl, she'd have let this go on a little bit longer, but as it was, best to be efficient about the whole thing.

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

Unluckily for Guinevere, Shoqafa was not the typical page. Even obsessed as he was in the moment with her, with the thing she was holding, he was still a fighter at heart. So the moment her hand moved to his chest, his own grabbed her wrist, tightly, turning it out and away as his hand moved up to grab the hair at the base of her head.

"No one says you have to be in it, now are you going to give it over nice and easy, or am I going to have to truly teach you a lesson?" His voice was still cold, rough, expression sharp, lips pulled down into a scowl as he looked down the very slight difference between them in height.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Guinevere squeaked in pain when he grabbed her wrist, hissing unhappily. This was not what she'd wanted or planned; he was quick with his reactions, and that was a little outside her parameters. Still, there was something she could do, and so she held up the starseed in her free hand.

"You want it so bad?" She said, cheerily, and then she tossed it away. "Go get it! You sohuld be quick, though, I dunno how long that poor girl has!" Her tone was light, cheery, like this was all a joke.

To her, it was.

She didn't care what happened to him, or to the Senshi whose starseed she'd pulled. What she cared about was the power she'd gotten from it.

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

Had he been less obsessed, he likely would've been...less harsh. But as it was, he yanked her hair again, pulling back on it and shoving her wrist into her body, an attempt to knock her down before running after the thing -- the starseed. He had no idea what to do with it, what it was, but it -- it was important, or at least it seemed to be.

Still, he was wary, careful, making sure not to expose his back to the woman, carefully scooping up the starseed and going to the senshi it had been taken from.

....but what the hell was he supposed to do with it?

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Guinevere giggled. Oh, he was so confused--she wondere dif he had any idea at all what he was doing with that starseed. That precious little thing, a girl's life in his hands.

She hoped not.

Certainly, she could have tried to interfere with what he was doing, but it was much more interesting just to watch, as the fog of her magic began to disperse. What would he do? What would her victim do? So many interesting possibilities, and Guinevere wanted to see exactly what played out!

It was fortunate, for Kom el Shoqafa, that the starseed in his hands wanted to return home. Once it was close to Izanami's chest, it floated back in, and she took a deep breath, jolting upright into a sitting position. Her heart was still racing--the shocking adrenaline of the battle not having entirely left her system, even while she lay lifeless on the alley floor.

It had been a certain special kind of terror that she experienced, being cornered by the pretty, bouncy Corrupt in pink and blue. Izanami had gotten quite used to fighting, certainly, and she was always eager to go another round, but this time--this time her opponent had been utterly merciless, and when her magic did as it sometimes did and failed to come to hand, the Corrupt had darted in, and a hand shoved into her chest.

The cold horror had lasted for only a moment before her starseed was ripped from her, but it had suffused her entire being with a radiant chill that she still hadn't quite shaken off.

There was something nightmarish about understanding your own vulnerability in such a visceral way.

When she came back to consciousness, she asked no questions. She only narrowed her eyes, leaned around the Knight that was, apparently, her savior, and hissed "Cremation Blaze."

This time, her magic came. This time, she slung it with force and malice at the Corrupt, rage burning in her heart, and prayed that it sent her fleeing as fast and far as she could go.

Guinevere sohuld have anticipated this. She sohuld have been prepared for the other Senshi's magic--but she'd hoped that she would be dazed, confused, hesitant. Or that her magic was something useless.

Instead, it was fire.

Guinevere cried out in pain, and turned, and fled, because that seemed the only reasonable response.

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

He had no idea what he was doing with it, instead feeling his heart beating rapidly in his chest. He had no magic, nothing he could call on, not really, just a cold anger within seeing someone hurt -- someone presumably good if not innocent, laying on the ground.

When the starseed did it's thing, he let out a palpable sigh of relief, relaxing for a moment before turning his gaze back towards the corrupt senshi.

Instead of himself moving to chase the chaos senshi away, however, the one who'd been laying on the ground was up and casting magic, his own eyes widening, watching, taking note in his mind, both committing the corrupt senshi's appearance to mind and then crouching down and offering a hand to the one whom he'd helped.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner," he said softly. "Are you alright? Do you need a hand up? What....what was that, the...thing? She took?"

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

It was over. The Corrupt had fled, driven off by Izanami's magic, and she let out a relieved breath before turning to the Knight.

"You got here precisely on time," she said. On time enough to ensure that she was still alive when all was said and done. Alive and, importantly, uncorrupted, because she would have been a sitting duck for it if that Senshi had called for a superior officer. But this Knight--he seemed confused, and Izanami shifted into a more comfortable sitting position.

"The thing she took from me is called a starseed. It is--your soul, given physical form, would be the simplest explanation." It was difficult to believe he didn't know that, but she knew almost nothing about Knights--perhaps they did not have helpful, fluffy Guardian Cats to tell them all the important information. "If she had kept hold of it for long enough, I would have died. Soul-body separation is not ideal, you see." She raised her eyebrows with some amusement. "But you were able to get it back, and put it where it belongs, so all's well that ends well."

Well, so far. She still had to manage standing up. But that could wait a moment.

"I'm Izanami. Thank you for saving me, even without knowing that was what you were doing."

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

He shifted, carefully rolling his feet until he was on the balls of his feet, crouching down and remaining there as he listened, though he also kept an eye out to ensure that nothing else came their way looking for trouble.

He couldn't help but flash a small smile, letting out a soft huff. "Yeah, I...there aren't exactly classes teaching this sort of thing at the college, or I'm sure I would've heard of it before. But...I can understand that. Your soul is your very self, the core of your being...it's a miracle that it wasn't...wasn't instantly..."

He couldn't say it. He was sure she understood, though, even as he cleared his throat. Certainly no helpful, fluffy cats. He hadn't seen any, met any, just...a stick of freshly cut cane and a rampaging reindeer and now this.

"So, basically, see that, put it near chest of the person it came from, and all is well? Simple enough to remember. Though, truthfully, I hope I never see that again, knowing now...."

He shook his head, putting a soft, warm smile on his face. "Ah, I'm Shoqafa. Well. Kom El Shoqafa, but that's a mouthful." Shoqafa was a mouthful alone, but that was simply how things were. "And I could hardly just...not help. It's not in my nature, not in the slightest. I'm just glad you're alright."

His hand was still held in front of him, offering it to Izanami, to help her stand whenever she chose.

Noir Songbird

 

[Noir Songbird]

Izanami nodded. "This whole thing....it's all a guarded secret," she explained. "I'm sure you've read a novel or two where there's a supernatural masquerade, yes? Ordinary people aren't allowed to know about magic? Same deal here," she said.

She exhaled.

"I also hope you never have to rescue a starseed again. But you will. The Negaverse--the organization that woman is from--they steal them, and they steal energy, from ordinary people in order to power their war machine." She took his hand, and used it to stand, making sure her feet were under her.

"Let's get out of here," she said. "No need to risk that woman coming back."

lyricalballads

 

[lyricalballads]

"I suppose it would need to be. If people knew, there would probably be chaos all over the place and no one needs that. The world is scary enough without adding in the knowledge of souls being able to be taken out of a person."

There were a couple pops as he gently pulled her up as he stood, holding on for a moment to be sure she was steady before letting go. "Then I suppose I'll be seeing them again and again. Could...be worse." At least he vaguely knew what was going on there.

"Yeah, her coming back or worse -- coming back with reinforcements. C'mon, let's head this way, hardly anyone comes through here." He gestured towards the way he'd come from, casting a look over his shoulder before moving.

Better safe than sorry, after all.

Noir Songbird

FIN