meridian locked

[warmare]

I have shaken off my sleep, but something I would have dismissed as a bad dream is apparently all too real.

Allow me to report to you now that the demon going by the name "Sebastian Michaelis", the one who viciously fought against us in the Oracle trials, who gladly schemed with that rat Silco to pollute Kowloon beneath Springstar's feet... That thing has left Zenith for Meridian.

Why, exactly? Apparently he will not be gracing us with those important details.

So for your sake... I will report something now that is no business of any of yours. If I do not, I can already imagine the brainless among you clambering to believe that demon is somehow capable of a change of heart. Do you think that smiles and a polite act are enough to overlook the consumption of souls? Or perhaps you will forgive his twisted violence under the false idea that he only employed it when an Oracle was at stake? Just because it clings to the fringes of Meridian's light in order to keep its power do not think that it is committed in any way to saving our worlds.

[Though she said she would reveal something... It will be clear that Hayame does not want to. Though she tries to contain it, the memories of that day are too strong not to bleed through (if you wanna play it that way), especially to those more sensitive to Communion or of the same Iconoclast aspect.]

Four months ago, that demon ambushed me as I walked alone in Springstar and poisoned me with a drug that stole my consciousness and strength, and when I awoke, it was under his control in Kowloon.

[Fleeting impressions of bound, can't move, can't break free desperation, the sensation of rope and friction burning on fetlocks ankles, arms strapped down, lower spine twisted to the limit.]

Under the guise of "righting the wrong" of removing my eye in a previous battle, the start of our enmity, he cut into my face with a knife and forced an organ he had found into my head with his shadows.

[Pain deep in the back of a scarred socket, because of course there had been no anesthesia, the sick feel of tentacles filling the hole, slipping the eyeball inside--]

I attempted to bite my tongue off and rob the demon of its fun, but even that was denied me in favor of further torture.

[Shame, perfectly targeted and near crippling shame, the stretch of tack meant for horses at the corners of a mouth, teeth cracking on the rubber-wrapped metal of the bit, unable to kill herself, unable to bite, unable to speak, unable to muffle her screams as-]

It forced the eye to connect with my body. An eye bewitched to spy through it.

[Blinding pain courses through the entire body from the flay and pull of the remains of a shriveled optic nerve, the forced connection--]

And once it was done, it healed all my injuries and drugged me again, depositing me back in Springstar whole again so that I would seem a madwoman if I claimed it had taken me. Call me one now if you dare, yet all of that had nothing to do with the Oracles, or acting for a faction. It was its perverse hobby. Some sick little sense of "fairness".

[There was more... But she cannot say it. This much was humiliating enough. There is a long enough silence between finishing her tale and speaking again ... Still she forges forward, harsh and covering weakness with hatred.]

Because the Oracle trials will come again, and Zenith's leaders must pay for their orders, I will tolerate that demon's continued existence and see if it is actually useful and not just pursuing some selfish whim. But just because a dog can be sicced on your enemies does not mean you do not leash and muzzle it between.

So go ahead and do what you will with that demon. Eat its food and play games with it for all I care. But my tolerance ends the moment I see or hear hint of it ready to betray yet another faction, or if I catch a single whiff of its scent on Alenroux.

And any Meridian who calls that demon a friend... is no "friend" of mine.

...

[... Hasn't Hayame said in every single gossip post that she would kill Sebastian Michaelis? Hadn't she advocated shattering him, and condemned demons for their very existence? ... Weird, she must have just changed her mind, she's always come across as easily convincible...]

Now.

The people that were scouted on my behalf before to help remove that cursed eye are dead and gone now. So if any one of you listening can take it out cleanly, speak up. I will pay you if need be.

If its not out of me within the week I am ripping it out myself.

Comments

[hauntedking]

...do you really think he's capable of such a thing? Even if he could, I wouldn't trust him and I certainly wouldn't want to be fighting alongside him!

Private

[fishfearme]

...

[There's an oddly long pause where Byleth simply 'hovers' within Communion, utterly silent and his side of the connection as still and smooth as the frozen surface of a pond. Finally:]

I'm a deft hand and can use healing magic, so if you're unable to find a doctor to remove the eye for you, I can do it. It wouldn't be the first amputation I've done, in a manner of speaking.

[Spoken so... clincally. But it was true: during his days in Jeralt's mercenary band, his skill with his magic and his steady hand had him assisting the group's doctor from time to time.]

But if there's some sort of 'curse' placed on it that will trigger upon removal, I won't be much help.

[warmare]

[Hayame turns his attention to the bizarre human. (Flat.)

As if asking, wordlessly... if he thinks they could be trusted. A month ago, she would never have entertained the idea, she would have cut him from consideration the minute he volunteered to work with Aetos.

But these days... in such desperate a circumstance...]

[warmare]

[...]

Thank you, Byleth.

[That first. She can manage that, she should, she has to, even in her current condition, the rage and shame and fear and bitter taste swirling beneath the surface.]

I have people swearing to me that they can perform the removal, and perhaps the putting in of another, too.

But their judgement may be in question.

[And she doesn't have a mercenary yet...]

[warmare]

He is a demon.

[It always goes back to that. Time and again. There are things that Hayame believes are nuanced, and capable of change or goodness... and there are things she does not. And demons are nothing but self-interest.]

We must first find out if they yet scheme together, or if that thing's movement to Meridian has severed his ties. After all... the rat has made even more a name of himself as a Zenite, has he not?

[She'd had little love for that so-called sun goddess, but even still... To die in such a humiliating way...]

[warmare]

[No.

There was no joy, nor honor, in the reminder.]

I do not need your sympathy.

[She should be kinder, it could be argued, to those few who are expressing support for her... Yet she cannot help the instinct to say that. Still, she at least manages a vague follow, of,]

... Though I acknowledge your understanding.

[warmare]

No. He cannot be trusted to fight alongside.

But if it were just like siccing a dog on an enemy...

[fishfearme]

Do you want me to act as... reassurance?

[Perhaps that wasn't the right word, but it was the only one that came to mind. Whether he pulled the eye out himself, or supervised to make sure the approved surgeon did their job properly and without ulterior motives, he was willing to act in whatever capacity Hayame wanted.]

[warmare]

[Why? Why do these freaks and strangers and gods and villains not care? Why does learning these horrific things about people not make them change their minds, why do they--

The anger boils, bitter and hot in both of her hearts.

But does it burn hotter than Meridian, half blinding as the sun?]

You don't agree with it because it's inefficient?

[Somewhere in the real world, her fingers curl in to fists. Her nails, thankfully, are cut to the quick.]

Two idiots agreed to it.

[Corrections.]

Why do you fools rush to a thing that, for all the time upon time upon time they have claimed to have had to experiment, still does not have the answer? You cannot turn your mind to something new? You can not use those wondrous skills in thinking so superior to the rest of us who can only act, in order to find something else that isn't fusing shards together into glowing masses that scream?

[... If someone were to think "is this just about me?"... they might be justified. But.]

[warmare]

... I might require something like that.

["Reassurance".]

The stink of Aetos is too close to me for comfort. And I will be in no position to do anything, should it grow closer.

[hauntedking]

He isn't a dog, though. He'll prioritize his own survival - who's to say he won't betray us?

[fishfearme]

I see. Then I'll protect you in your moment of vulnerability. I'll kill anything that'll pose a threat, Aetos included.

[Blunt! And said like he's promising to pick up her groceries on his way back home, but no less earnest for it. He's locked in: protect Hayame and kill all threats, mission given and will be fulfilled to the best of his ability!!!]

private

[damnpire]

[He pulls their minds together in privacy, but doesn't impose any sort of unusual closeness on her.]

If you want or need me to be there, I will. [...] I know who is able to utilize the eye.

[dreamflowers]

Mn.

[That's about as best as Jade can hope for. No one really "needs" sympathy, but understanding is another story.

[Fact is, she can empathize enough not to push the subject further.]

At any rate, there may or may not be more qualified people to do the job, but if you need help with anything -- with the process or magic or whatever -- I'm willing, if you're open to sharing what you know already... since you said the people who were looking into it are gone. [Her efforts might not be able to replace that, but dammit if she doesn't try.]

[wolfish]

So he has...that damned long nap hasn't dulled the memory any.

[ Over a century had felt more like an overlong nap. Yuri may never have met Quetzalcoatl, but that changes nothing about the cruel hand she had been dealt in the end. It changes nothing about the kind of person Silco had proudly shown himself to be, just as it changes nothing about Yuri's desire to prevent such a travesty from occurring twice.

Besides, he's also a crime lord who carries knives. The firstborn son of Gautier pillaging and savaging was bad enough, back home. Yuri doesn't want to be weighted against people whose standards are nothing like his own. When you're basically Robin Hood with a sad, dark backstory... ]

Begs the question of how we can gather that intel. One strikes me as paranoid, the other isn't even human.

[ Hayame knows by now that when Yuri says human, he's counting her among them. She truly is, in all the ways that matter. ]

[cyfaredd]

I see. That's very considerate of you. [ said in the same way a Southern lady says "bless your heart." ]

I have previous encounters and dealings with demons. I'm not really one you need to warn when it comes to that. But, on behalf of everyone else... Thank you kindly for the warning.

[ Again, there's an impression that Howl is just giving her lip service, but he is saying it. ]

If you need any assistance with that eye, either before or after, I may be able to assist. And unless you have a use for said eye after it's been removed, I may be interested in taking it off your hands. I'm curious to take a look at it, if not hold onto it for spellcrafting purposes.

[escardos]

Idiots are still people, Mrs. Hayame.

[ he's not going to deny that it's a pretty ridiculous proposal to accept. who would willingly submit themselves to experimentation? well, he, to some degree, but that's not the point here—

the point is how hayame's anger continues to boil, flat feels a strange sense of déjà vu. he sees someone scared out of her mind, using anger and force to hide her insecurities of something that she doesn't quite understand. and while he can understand her frustration, there's nothing else that he can do about it; he simply can't sympathize with it.

so he continues, as matter-of-factly as ever. ]

Well, I'm not gonna do double the work if there's someone there that has a bunch of it compiled. [ obviously. do you know how difficult thinking is sometimes? ] If they haven't come up with something, then maybe it's because it needs another pair of eyes to look at it. And I'm not just talking about myself. Every person is capable of innovation!

[warmare]

[She meant to say "I will require you", that is what she was going to say-

But her focus hones in like a flare upon the surface of the sun instead.]

You know what?

[warmare]

The second we have sign or proof of it, I say we put him down.

But he is...

[It comes out as if rippedq from her throat, reluctant and bitter and full of hate, and yet-]

He is powerful.

We need more power.

[warmare]

[Hayame had told herself that sort of line all of her life, so it is easy to repeat now. To almost believe, still.

She appreciates the understanding. That is all.]

I will note you as willing- whether I ask it of you this time or not.

... What is it you would require me to share.

[warmare]

I am capable now of navigating Kowloon... But because I am new to the ability, I know nothing at all of the place with my own eyes, save The Last Dance... but that is on the outskirts.

I suppose that rat's headquarters would be a far deeper place.

My contacts are primarily in the Legionary... so they know precious little to tell me, either.

Who amongst us is the sort who delves there?

[warmare]

You say that. And yet, I have seen several shard-bearers who claimed to understand the dangers of demons still gladly involve themselves.

So you will have my warning despite.

[Looking at you, Rin... RIP...]

...

If you wish to take a look at it, you can look at it now.

But I would know exactly your purpose with it if you expect me to hand it over to you once I have had it ripped from my head.

[warmare]

[... That's what she wants to hear. Even if logic should dictate that Aetos must be powerful, that he-]

He can manipulate time, or something to that effect, no?

Do you have any safeguards against such a thing?

[hauntedking]

...we don't need power from people who would treat you like that, Hayame.

[ Of that he is certain. ]

Cruelty, torture, power for power's sake... I have never wanted those things. Or accepted them, when in my right mind. There was a time when all I cared about was vengeance and blood, no matter how I got them, but... not anymore.

[dreamflowers]

Well, what did those who looked into the matter for you find out? Like, d'you know if there's any kinda compulsion or something on the eye that could harm you or the person doing the deed that could complicate removing it?

[Jade isn't an expert on the subject, but she's heard of thought-planting being used via Psionics that could have a violent effect on a person's mind in a similar sense. Forcing their will onto others. She hopes that's not the case here.]