Post by kaiju on Apr 7, 2023 18:51:24 GMT
DeVian
It was no secret that Devian and Verin did not like each other. It was no surprise that they often tried to kill each other whenever they found themselves in close proximity. Still, the anger that the death claimant felt when a warhammer went flying past her head was a rival to none she had ever felt before. DeVian restrained herself for one reason: Stasia. It had been so long since they'd seen each other that Dev was desperate to hold onto the moment that they reunited. Besides, Stasia was handling it... Dev couldn't help but find it extremely hot. Verin seemed like she was genuinely afraid that she would be murdered by her older sister.
It took a moment for the rigid hate that had stiffened the Aikekunai of Death's bones to lessen enough to allow her to embrace her wife. When it finally did, Dev allowed her eyes to close, her nose taking in the smell of Stasia's warm skin and her arms pulling Stasia close. If they could've stayed like that and forgotten the mission completely, as cursed as it was to think it, she would've loved to do that. What had they even argued about that caused them not to speak for so long? It seemed so childish to ever let anything as childish as a disagreement keep her from hearing her soulmate's voice.
Hotel Hassler was a dream. Dev was grateful for their early arrival since it meant they got to enjoy each other. Neither of them brought up the fact that they hadn't spoken in months over something trivial; instead, it felt more like getting reacquainted with one another.
It stayed in the back of DeVian's mind that their houses were not allies in Rome. It did not stop her from enjoying her lover, of course, but it did bother her. Not so much in that she felt she was sleeping with the enemy, but more that she wanted to completely experience Stasia and felt that the bracelets kept her from being completely naked. It was small, yes, but it made all the difference to the tech heiress. She could not articulate how much she had missed her soulmate.
As if proving to herself that Stasia was still there, DeVian lazily reached out and draped her arm over her wife's stomach. The Swedish art house designer sighed and Dev's heart fluttered. She was grateful for this moment alone with Stasia, since if Ritunen was here, they'd likely be bickering. Still, though, she looked forward to all of that when this mission was taken care of. She figured it might take a week if it was a bigger problem than she initially thought. Closing her eyes, running her fingers over the soft skin of her lover, DeVian Law allowed herself to drift off to sleep.
Dev couldn't figure out why she was so hungry. Perhaps it was the Void living vicariously through her and making her feel so insatiable, but she was endlessly scarfing down every dish they had ordered. Perhaps it could be blamed on not eating as well in the last few months since not being with Stasia. She didn't know and barely cared. All that mattered was what she was going to eat next.
Their bliss was interrupted multiple times, but there was no cause for alarm until Marjorie and Bruno themselves were the ones interrupting them. Dev was barely clothed, just in her underwear and munching on a greasy slice of pizza when Bruno's name appeared on the screen. She was mildly surprised, but figured if anything, he'd be asking for an update about the state of things. When she was greeted with a frantic Bruno explaining that Kiran had been taken, however, DeVian's mood immediately shifted. She knew from the tone and the fact that they had actually contacted her that there was no doubt about the validity of what they were saying: Rensai had brought Kiran to Rome.
The dark-skinned tech heiress thought she could feel steam coming out of her ears. The disgust and pure hatred she felt now made her feelings toward Verin seem downright lovely. She knew that she and Kiran's biological mothers didn't get along well and certainly didn't see eye-to-eye about parenting, but there was no way to excuse this. Kiran wasn't ready. This was a job for the best a house had to offer, not a teenage boy.
She wasted no time rising from her spot. The woman wiped her mouth, standing from the bed and barked something in ancient tongue that summoned her hell hounds to her. They crawled and screamed and growled their ways out of what seemed like 'the depths of hell,' but really it was more akin to being let out of the Void's mouth. It seemed as if they could sense her mood - while they were usually playful, they sat solemnly at attention to the point it seemed they were afraid to drool on the floor. She hissed another set of instructions to them and they scattered immediately in every direction. She could feel herself getting impulsive with how strongly she felt about this turn of events. She wanted to do worse than just kill Rensai. Not only that, but - did Verin know? Had she laughed in their faces earlier while her crazy bitch wife went to go kidnap their son?
Dev didn't even realize she hadn't said a word in response to the phone call. She had simply summoned her hounds and begun to dress in her battle gear. She stared at the blade of her halberd for a very extended moment. It almost felt like she could hear it whispering to her.
Kill her. Kill her. Kill her.
Kill them both.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH
I am...
Oh god, what is the time?
KILL HER
Hazel eyes blinked. She couldn't tell how long she had gazed into the blade, but she looked up at Stasia. For some reason, she was suddenly a little lost as to how to go forward. All she knew was that she wanted to inflict pain and suffering. And she wanted to get her son back.
"Jag ska söka söderut."
"If I find her first..." she began, but had to stop. Why was her voice shaking? "She'll beg the Void itself to make me kill her." Ah, that was why. She was crying.
DeVian's vision was red. Her jaw was clenched tight enough to shatter it, but she needed to do it to keep some kind of composure. Her hellhound snarled as it raced through the streets. The whispers of ghosts aided the Void pups on their search for Kiran and it wasn't long before the princess of death was racing there as well. Though she was not aware of it, the Void reveled in the chaos its host was experiencing. It fed off of it deliciously, finally feeling like its hunger was on the way to being sated.
The hounds surrounded what Dev discovered was a gang of Earth claimants surrounding her son. She did not hesitate to launch her halberd as hard as she could. If her anger was a fire, it would have set the weapon ablaze. The Void whispered sweet nothings in her ear as she dismounted her hound, promising that she would feel absolutely euphoric after she slaughtered every single wrongdoer before her. But she didn't care. She didn't hear it. All she saw was Kiran.
He was bruised and scraped and looked clearly afraid. Still, Dev couldn't help the relief that flooded through her. He was alive. She hadn't lost him.
Carnage erupted around her, but the Desdon Aikekunai was unfazed. She pulled Kiran into her arms for a moment before deciding they would be better off if they left the scene. Kiran seemed bothered by the void hounds ripping apart his assailants, which was fair. He was escorted back to the hound that had brought her to him and together they left.
DeVian didn't speak for a moment. She tried to focus on saying the right thing, rather than the first thing that came to mind: I am going to rip your mother's throat out.
Working on healing him alongside Stasia was a fun, albeit unwanted, bonding activity. They worked in perfect unison until all he had left were minor scrapes, which were easy to put a bandage on. He was tough. That made Dev proud. She was glad that he was tough and not cocky, because if she had a cocky son, she might've had a dead one.
“If Rensai tries to bring you back here, I will set the hounds on her. Go on.”
He seemed almost surprised by that. “Du är inte arg?”
you're not mad?
Stasia was bewildered that he thought they would be mad at him, which DeVian mirrored. How could they ever be upset with him for being kidnapped? Now if he had died, maybe then Dev would have been mad at him.
"Why would we be mad at you for that? Foolish boy." She struggled to express it, but him thinking that way about them felt like it came out of nowhere. He couldn't be afraid of them... ? "You'll go back with Marjorie while we're busy here, but I'll have Ritunen come and check on you all." She leaned down closer to his level, placing a kiss on his forehead. "We taught you the words to summon us if you ever needed us. Usa-os."
use them.
DeVian didn't know what the hell she was hearing. She'd been lounging on the bed, not doing anything in particular other than dozing off, when she heard what seemed like a screech or a squeal or something. She instantly jumped up, summoning her weapon and running out of the room. Whoever hurt someone she loved next was going to get worse than death. She was going to track their soul down, whether it went to the Void or Elysian, and cut them up all over again. Then again, seeing who was actually the cause of the disturbance just made Dev want to inflict violence even more. It was Nuvat Excia.
Nivan
"Was she ever going to show up?" Luis asked. He sounded exasperated. She couldn't meet his eyes.
"Nuvat's busy that's all," was her soft response.
“You need to stop excusing her behaviour. This isn’t the program anymore.”
“Please, I don’t want to argue.”
The conversation fell flat between them. She wanted to apologize to him, reassure him that she wasn't upset with him, per se; she was just frustrated. And tired. So tired...
The moon claimant known as Nivan glanced up at the sun peeking through an umbrella over her head. Her surroundings had been severely tuned out, but now that she looked up, she heard the streets come back to life little by little. People were walking by, laughing, touching each other, happy. She couldn't quantify it. She felt out of touch, like some kind of alien imported into society. Part of her wanted to understand them and how they could be so ignorant to the horrors of the world while the other part of her just wanted to be them. She wished, more than anything, that she could just forget. But she never did. Every waking moment was one of deja vu, to ensure she would never escape from the cycle of terror that infested her mind.
She was going down that rabbit hole again... Nivan brought the coffee to her lips and took a long sip of it. She wanted to tell Luis her thoughts were getting bad again but she didn't know how to talk to him knowing his house was being extinguished. He was a sensitive, thoughtful man. It would destroy him. And now, since she hadn't told him as soon as she found out, she felt like he'd harbor some resentment toward her. But there was nothing he could do. There was no way to save them.
They could both hear Nuvat approaching before she sat down. Nuvat parted the innocent people in front of her almost violently before pulling a chair up and offering her usual charming smile. Nivan only had the energy to nod when they received their newest member. The woman ordered, full of charisma, and looked back at them expectantly.
"I'm going," Nuvat was saying, prompting her twin sister to take another long sip of her coffee. Of course Nuvat was going - the adrenaline junkie would never be able to turn down such a rush. And with not having told Vetani, it was obvious Nuvat was trying to do something a little sneaky.
A shared look between Luis and Nivan on the subject was more than a thousand words. Luis's attempt to dissuade her went almost unnoticed by her.
Nuvat finally found the energy within herself to say, “If you insist on going, please try to stay under the radar. It’s bad enough that this has caught human attention… we don’t need them witnessing the utter destruction of Rome.”
Nuvat was, at the very least, cavalier about her response: "What are you so worried about? This is the pride and joy of Excia that you're talking to." Her smile actually managed to tug at Nivan's lips. The infectious happiness was working. "It'll be me and Stasia dream teaming our way through Europe."
"You need to tell Vetani. Or I will." Nivan made sure to look up and hold her twin's blazing gaze now, unflinching. Unlike many people, Nivan was not intimidated in the least by her sister. If anything, it was more likely to be the other way around. Nivan's expression made it obvious there was no room for negotiation with this matter.
Nuvat relented visibly, rolling her eyes and flopping back in her chair. Luis smiled at this, reaching out to place a reassuring hand on Nivan's back and lightly rub it. It was soothing. She relaxed into it gradually until he was massaging her back more consciously.
"Fine," the sun claimant sighed. "I'll tell her."
“Before you leave,” Luis stipulated.
Nuvat didn't respond for a lengthy moment. She stared at Luis wordlessly, a small smirk hanging on her lips. Everyone knew what she was thinking: that if he spoke to her again in a way she didn't like, she'd slaughter him. It would be easy. It was her opinion that he lived in the Program for as long as he did out of sheer luck and pity from others. Her bright eyes shifted to her twin, Nivan, who made a slight shake of her head - 'please don't. Please don't say it.'
Nuvat held her tongue. She'd shatter Luis's peace another day. Nuvat wasn't protecting him from being taunted; she was protecting him from being told that a fifth of his house was dead.
"I need a refill," the moon claimant excused herself as she got up to make her way back into the cafe. Luis looked after her, concerned that he wouldn't let him get it for her. But she was like that sometimes when she was stressed: hyperindependent. Both of the most important people in Nivan's life watched her retreat before anyone spoke up.
"Is she still on heroin?" Nuvat burst out. She knew her sister was too embarrassed and ashamed to talk openly about it most of the time.
“Sometimes. To sleep. But she's doing better with it.”
"She doesn't look like she's sleeping."
“Yeah, it's this case... It's really stressing her out and she won't talk to me about some of it. It's like... she does cocaine during the day most of the time and when she's trying to force herself to sleep, it's heroin.”
"Fuck. We might have to go back to rehab."
“I know, but I'm trying to just - I don't want to pull her from this case, either. It means so much to her. I'm trying to hold off until - ” Nivan emerged from the shop again, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she she approached once more. Luis easily changed the point of conversation. “And I'm not dealing with Vetani trying to poison me when she finds out you're gone.”
Nuvat caught on immediately, rolling her eyes at him. "Pussy."
Nuvat
Regardless, the sun claimant was happy to be with her best friend. They clung to each other once more after the Princess of Death retreated back into her room. While Nuvat wasn't too familiar with Swedish--Stasia had taught her some when they were roommates in the Program, of course, but that was a lifetime ago--but she could generally get the idea that she was an unwanted guest. Again, nothing new! In fact, she kind of relished the chaos.
The absence of Dev actually provided Nuvat with an opportunity to speak honestly and ask for advice. Still, Nuvat didn't want to ruin the moment...
"You're probably here for the time-stoppy-thingy, right? Honestly, I think it's pretty cool, if a bit boring," the long-haired woman started. "I'm actually not here for that. If I'm really direct with you, it feels kind of stupid to focus on that when the House of Air is literally being slaughtered, but hey, I'm just a sun claimant." She looked around at the half-finished foods they had sitting on a few tables and counters, judging them all before deciding to pick at a couple of pieces of bacon that had escaped the void's onslaught.
Stasia looked surprised by what Nuvat was saying, which confused the treasure hunter. Wasn't it, like... common knowledge for someone of Stasia's stature? Or was she not supposed to say anything? Fuck, Nivan was going to have her head for this...
"Eh, I'd have gone for the Echowix thing or whatever, but nobody's paying me for that and I dunno who'd buy whatever I got out of it."
Stasia's expression hadn't changed from one of deep concern. "What do you mean, 'the House of Air is being slaughtered?'"
