Week Five

[letsplayamod]

Two more have left your side, gone to wherever Typhon has whisked them away to. And, no matter how little you might care about his threats, it seems that he's got no intention of stopping them anytime soon. Unfortunately, there's no sign of Athena on the horizon either, but perhaps those statues that bear a remarkable similarity to her might be the key you need to overthrowing the Titan before things get worse.

In better news, a new floor has once again revealed itself. You're free to venture further down into the island - perhaps further than you'd think was possible.

Even the less perceptive among you might notice how all around you, things seem to be... healing. Even your living area has experienced a noticeable shift. Plants are greener, a few flowers are in bloom. The sun shines bright. Despite it all, life continues alongside you. Or, perhaps, because of you.

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Quark's Bar

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cw: blood

[stringup]

[ Well. That all happened.

Velvet is about to...well, she's torn between accosting a certain robot for Reasons, or letting her head cool off first by heading back to the crafts room to put some finishing touches on her latest project, if she's being honest.

She doesn't really get to make a decision because not long after the battle, she feels an unfortunately-familiar stinging sensation in her palms. When she looks down, she sees the skin has split open, blood just...spilling and dripping seemingly endlessly from both hands. ]

Oh, come on—

[ This is unfortunately inevitable, which she already knew, but she was hoping she didn't have to deal with it this soon.

You might find her making her way to one of the bathrooms with her sleeves utterly soaked in blood, trying to not lead a misleading trail.

Later, once she has acquired bandages (that are nonetheless getting soaked through), she is going out to vaguely where she knows Omega and Ferdinand's usual patrol routes are. She's decided she's pretty mad, actually! ]

Omega! We need to fucking talk!

[eeeonetwothree]

[ Omega takes some looking for to find, but she eventually finds him...on the fringes of those routes.

On the sound of her approach, he looks up at her, damaged eye still sparking and leaking fluid...and immediately begins walking in the other direction. ]

[stringup]

Oh, so now you're being a coward?

[ Don't think she's not going to follow after you, Omega! ]

[eeeonetwothree]

[ Omega does not stop but he's also not walking fast enough to lose her. He does say something, though: ]

I DO NOT WISH TO HEAR SOMEONE WHO HAS COME TO FIGHT FERDINAND'S BATTLES FOR HIM.

[stringup]

He can fight his battles himself. But I think I do have the right to know what the hell that was all about.

[eeeonetwothree]

[ Okay, now Omega stops. There's a point where his hand visibly clenches into a fist, and his head rotates around to visibly face her. ]

YOU WANT THE TRUTH, VELVET? THE REAL, TERRIBLE TRUTH?

[ He wants so badly to tell her. ]

...THE TRUTH IS, I'VE GOTTEN WEAK. NOT EVEN BEFORE I CAME HERE. EVEN BEFORE THIS PLACE. EVEN BACK WHEN I WAS IN TEAM DARK. I LET MYSELF GROW ATTACHED. I LET MYSELF FORM CONNECTIONS.

I LET MYSELF FORGET THAT HATRED WAS WHAT DROVE ME, GAVE ME POWER. AND I LET INTANGIBLE THINGS LIKE FRIENDSHIP MAKE ME SOFT AND DISTRACT ME. I ALMOST FORGOT WHAT MY PURPOSE WAS...THAT I WANTED TO DESTROY MY CREATOR. THAT I WANT TO KILL TYPHON.

I CAN'T DO THAT IF I'M DISTRACTED BY WEAKNESSES. I CAN'T DO THAT IF I'M RELIANT ON OTHERS TO SAVE ME FROM INJURY. I MUST STAND ALONE. COMPLETELY. IF I HAVE TO DO OR SAY THINGS TO MAKE PEOPLE STAY AWAY FROM ME, I'LL DO WHATEVER IT TAKES.

[stringup]

[ Throughout that entire outburst, Velvet doesn't look impressed. In fact, for a moment at the beginning, she looks irritated, only smoothing out into something between frustration and disappointment as he goes on.

It's almost laughable that she's hearing this, given what she used to do. The real, terrible truth, her foot. ]

Putting aside the matter of bonds, if you were really committed to making people stay away from you, you wouldn't have protected Astarion when he was incapacitated earlier. Or given a damn about collateral damage, since you sure as hell could have hurt a lot of us in the process if you hadn't.

[eeeonetwothree]

[ …

His head spins around away from Velvet, and he stays silent before saying: ]

WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE? JUST BECAUSE I INJURED FERDINAND?

[stringup]

Partially because you did, and partially because this is such a sudden change that I have to wonder what the hell is really going on.

[eeeonetwothree]

[ … ]

I AM SCARED. THERE, ARE YOU HAPPY?

I AM SCARED OF HOW THIS ALL MAKES ME FEEL.

I CANNOT FULLY DIVORCE MYSELF FROM MY FEELINGS, SO I SPARE YOU ALL DAMAGE, I DEFEND ASTARION, BUT I…I AM AFRAID OF WHAT I AM BECOMING. I AM AFRAID OF WHAT THIS PLACE IS ASKING ME TO DO. I AM AFRAID OF CARING ABOUT ALL OF YOU.

SO. THERE YOU HAVE IT. I AM PUSHING YOU AWAY BECAUSE I AM A COWARD.

[stringup]

[ Reflexively, a part of her wants to be furious with Omega. Over how stupid an idea this is, that it doesn't work like that unless you're the specific sort of insane that renders you without empathy, that this is a doomed enterprise that will accomplish nothing except more unproductive hurt.

But at the same time, that anger deflates, because she remembers a lesson etched into her bones and carved into her soul: death sunders all such bonds; to cling to them is foolish and brings only suffering. ]

Look, I won't tell you to let go of your hatred, or your desire to destroy your creator. And...I understand being afraid of what bonds can do to you.

But please, please believe me when I say you should not push everyone away and try to make them hate you.

[eeeonetwothree]

VELVET.

[ If you only knew Velvet. If you only knew the burden he was carrying. ]

LOOK AT ME!

[ He opens himself up, and while there’s been some obvious work done in the form of a jury-rigged new weapon, or at least the beginnings of one, he’s brimming with weapons from head to toe. This is the first he’s ever shown all of them. ]

I AM A KILLING MACHINE! TO MAKE ME ANYTHING ELSE WOULD HOLLOW ME OUT, CHANGE WHO AND WHAT I AM COMPLETELY!

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO BE ANYTHING ELSE, VELVET! I don’t…I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore than I’m already going to by being myself…

[stringup]

[ Velvet takes a good, long look. She doesn't necessarily seem surprised so much as she is trying to appraise how much work has been done. For Heaven's sake— ]

...So your answer to not wanting to hurt anyone further is to hurt them until they hate you?

cw: blood! blood! gallons of the stuff!

[latinumsbetter]

[alright that's not exactly what he expected to see coming up to change before he cleans the bar, but also not terribly shocked.]

You weren't kiddin' about the whole hand bleeding thing, huh?

[he's already pulling a few rags out of the inside of his jacket, for all the brief, momentarily good they'll do]

C'mon, kid, lets get you to a sink.

[stringup]

[ Velvet almost wants to protest being called a kid, before remembering that...well, she would seem one from Quark's perspective, huh. She takes the rags to press against her palms, though they get soaked pretty fast. ]

Not the first time it's happened, unfortunately.

[latinumsbetter]

Was it the battle that set it off?

[he'll start moving towards the washroom, pushing the door open for her]

[stringup]

[ She'll duck in and head over to a wash basin to start running the water. ]

I...might have pushed Aglaea out of a blade's way...

[latinumsbetter]

[he'll let the door swing shut, moving to lean his hip against another wash basin as he folds his arms]

Preserving life.

[...]

This whole Abyssal Exalted thing. How does someone actually become one of those?

[stringup]

[ For a moment there's just the sound of water splashing into the basin, like she's considering whether she should answer. ]

You have to swear an oath to end all life, essentially.

[latinumsbetter]

Right. And what does swearing an oath entail, exactly?

[stringup]

How do I put this...it means I swore to carry out the will of a bunch of very old gods who are stuck in a state of dying endlessly without actually becoming dead. The tenets of what they want make up what's called the "chivalry of death".

...but really it boils down to making the living suffer, falling the mighty before the weak, and spreading death.

[latinumsbetter]

...uh huh. [He Is Considering] So it's a verbal contract, I'm assuming.

[stringup]

I...guess so?

[latinumsbetter]

Do you remember what the terms are exactly?

1/3

[stringup]