[ taair looks unbelievably relieved to see the other three at least functioning - his head hurts, and his heart is pounding, but being free of the cage in one way helps to settle some of the horror of... a nightmare? an echo? a fuzzy memory, a lost thing. (not so different than normal, though he's unaware.)
he spares a brief moment to give all three of the others a soft, tired smile, kind in its relief, and tries to conjure his mental image of the map. fifth floor...? dungeons. odd. at least they didn't put us in the basement. ]
Well... perhaps we will frighten the so-called demon by the state of us - or maybe at least by the smell...
[ is this the time for jokes? probably not. with that though, he will start to redistribute the weapons and flint stones back to the group as he sees them, so everyone can get all re-armed. ]
[ Adolphe takes two flint stones because he wants to set stuff on fire to equally match his fury—no, but the ability to make fire is useful, so he'll keep two.
He mumbles a thanks to Taair when he gets his weapons back, and trying not to think of the time when he helped Taair run away from the shame that was their initial angel costumes in their past lives. ]
I can't wait for this contract to end.
[ He wants a bath so bad.
But before that, he pushes the exit door that will take them closer to their goal. He's ready to shank someone. ]
[It's a bitch to lose the lockpicking kit, and he's already sweating the logistics of their escape. Richie makes a face as takes his katana and wakizashi in a hand each, stowing them away. And then he frowns down at his left hand. Flexing it, disbelieving. Turns it over. There's a funny scar running along the palm of it, faint and ancient. He looks to the other hand and finds a twin there.
(—broken coke bottle at dusk, mid-August after the storm—
'Swuh-Swear to muh-me that you'll c-c-c-come buh-back...')
(—a pretty dark haired woman with pointed ears, wrapping bandages over a raw and empty socket—)
Richie doesn't say anything. He just swallows thickly and follows suit.]
[When Adolphe pushes the door open, they all hear echoes of their past lives. Old hurts whispered directly into their ears, just as cutting as they felt the first time around.
"Oh, and prince," a man whispers in Taair's ear, bringing with him a disappointing end to the best two weeks of Taair's life. "You should learn to behave yourself. It might not matter to you if you die, but it matters to everyone else."
"There's no need for you to be kind of Death..." a woman whispers in Adolphe's ear, reminding him of all the ways he's hurt someone he cared about deeply. "I've caused you enough misfortune as it is."
"But if whatever is inside of me is so terrifying to you that you cannot face it, then or now," a man whispers in Hawke's ear, causing all his guilt and heartbreak to bubble up to the surface. "Then I don’t think we are good for one another."
"I changed my mind when I met someone worth a shit," a woman whispers in Richie's ear, rubbing her happiness in his face while reminding him of the fact that he is destined to die alone.
They find themselves in another corridor. Dark, save for a single bright light on the far end of it. A light at the end of the tunnel, if you will.]
nothing brings the echoes of the past back quite like the voice of the mercenary; standing in the leader's office in convallaria town, facing miguel with his rough accent and rowdy laughter, the cruelty in the sharpness of his eyes. he'd treated the statement like it was nothing, because to him, it was. it was all about money. it was all about worth. taair, the little prince, the object. the beautiful bird.
taair's first step from the birdcage ended with a bucket of metaphorical cold water and this is no different.
he had thought, once upon a time, that death could be his escape. in convallaria town, he'd had the chance to make his own choices, and when assassins came for his life, he thought he could step in and turn himself in to protect the precious, dear friends he had made, but miguel made it so that never had to happen, reminded him he'd never had a choice at all.
then, weeks later, he died - leaping in front of the leader of convallaria, and he died with a smile on his face, then woke up in the heavens with the heavy weight of redemption and returning placed upon his shoulders.
never once in his life has he been allowed the luxury of choice. never once in his life have his doors opened - even when he thinks they have, all it is is a larger cage. all taair khalisa nasir is worth to the world that he loves is his bloodline. only this, and nothing more.
he feels ill, suddenly - his hand curls against the sword, and then drops like it's burned him, as it comes with the guilt of the burnt up faces and tongueless mouths - neverah, in a dark and shadowy, sandswept ring, calling him a coward as she slapped him across the face, the light draining from her eyes and his hands on the hilt of the blade that did it, puppeted to fight and forced again and again and again by things beyond his control. taair is not a killer. he is not a mercenary. (Don't start with your righteous morals. You and I aren't that different. We kill people. he had said, to the leader.) taair is...
... he is alive.
he has to live. not for his own sake.
death solves nothing because he is worthless if he is dead. death solves nothing because freedom is an impossibility.
he swallows, hard, and lifts his head, and forces his expression into calm as he continues to walk forward. if you didn't know better, you would think this didn't impact him at all. rather, it just finds its way into the void that he becomes in moments when his emotions are too strong, crawls into the place of acceptance but never towards joy. in the future, he will stop feeling. in the future, it will be easier that way.
i have to keep going. i have to live. i must find redemption. i must return to iria. i must take the throne. i must listen to lady caris. i must, i must, i must. ]
Those words twist something in Adolphe's heart. He thinks he remembers something--in a house that he lived on his own, on the birthday that would finally kill him and end that facade of a life that he led for almost twenty years. It was night. Nothing happened, but everything happened.
He remembers the girl in front of him, his foster sister, he went back on his promise. She put herself down for his sake, for this miserable and useless existence. Why. Why. Why?
It was a laughable idea that an outsider like me could ever fit in this country, even when I hated it so much. It was the only place where I could be. I had no choice. Then this girl comes to ruin everything that I planned--to die a peaceful death. I deserved to die miserably with that dagger to my throat--with the dagger that she gifted me. I wanted a warm place to finally rest in peace. That was all I ever wanted. But. You.
I hate you. I hate you for making me spew out these disgusting emotions.
I knew exactly what it was like to be unwanted, and I swore that I would never inflict that same pain onto you.
That's just how pathetic I am. I went back on my promise and I'll never... I...
"So don't worry about me. If anything happens in the future, you can hate me all you want."
Adolphe feels himself so incredibly close to snapping. He wants to lash out so, so badly. There's nothing for him to attack here. This is all a past life's farce, but why does it hurt so much as if it really matters? The wound feels fresh in his heart. He can't take his anger out on anybody or anything.
He bites his bottom lip to the point that it bleeds, in which the taste of blood finally makes him spring into action.
[ the hits keep coming and they don't stop coming and-
hawke falters for a moment, his eyes drifting to the distance as all too suddenly the past he barely remembers grips his heart just as agonizing as the first time.
he doesn't regret it, telling Anders that after all he had done, after all they experienced, there was and would always be a chance for them to find happiness. their end would not be limited to one attempt and no matter how many times it took, hawke would reach out a hand.
to be told otherwise, to have fears he himself hadn't acknowledged so blatantly thrown in his face... even now it hurts. he's tried to appease those fears, he's tried to wave the concerns away. he's tried to hold on so tightly that there's nothing left to think about and yet.
whatever. whatever!! it doesn't matter. it doesn't! anders isn't here. their story ended another life ago and the hurts he carried into the next can be tucked away right next to the nightmares.
he has other concerns to worry about and three companions to keep alive despite this places best attempts and if he's lucky, enemies to stab until he feels better.
time 2 power walk into the light before he just gives up entirely ]
[Her voice comes like poured poison to his ear, honeyed and thick. Richie cuts a smile as his gaze drifts low.
Oh Sandy baby, you one in a million you. He really could have married you. Came close twice, hands itching passing the downtown jeweller's and sitting stiff next to your father at Christmas. Should I ask your permission, pops? Your daughter's sharp as a tack. Gets the first and last word in, lets the dope smoke curl out of coral lips as she lays down the differences between Maoism and Trotskyism, and he injerects and they spar it out, philosophize and fuck and lock together beneath the sheets wondering what the hell this world is coming to. It's no place to raise a kid, even if we make it official. And the news is coming out now about how dangerous an IUD can be, let me get the procedure. It's only a snip, better me than you.
Then sweet Sandy gets a sweet opportunity out east while Richie lands a hot gig right here in L.A., and isn't he just the biggest chauvanist oinker to be dragging his heels? (Words he'd use to describe the situation to his oldest friends over the carcass of a mid-tier Chinese feast.) And when the bellows were blown and the hurricane halted, Sandy packed her bags and left.
Later, when Richie was informed of his medical miracle — that the procedure took but then somehow reversed — he'd called Sandy to square it up. She was married. She was pregnant. And she'd laughed harder than she ever had in her life. "It's just so wonderful. This time the joke's on you. How many bastards have you sired since I came out east, Rich?"
None, actually, which was the second part of the miracle. Part of the tidy trick to set him up to come east himself, not to Washington but to humble old Derry, Maine. One of the moves made by some great force beyond, setting him and his pals up to be in prime shape to come on home. Kids would be too strong an attachment to sanity, he guesses, too potent a reason to decline.
Richie thought lovers might be too. Except four of the seven of them got married.
How's that for statistics, Rich? crows a hateful voice in his mind, hissing through a bleeding greasepaint grin. Sounds like you have no one to blame but yourself for being all alone. Quick, smoke up another pack, let the cancer take you like it took Mom and Pops! Quick, hurry on home kid! Come on down and face me like a man! Like you were born to. Raised in a feeding pen and led to slaughter, aren't you, you four-eyed fuck? Ain't worth shit else besides. Is that why you do all those voices? You just get so fucking sick of being yourself?
He feels quite cold all over. Grinning at the ground, walking behind with a pensive gait as Adolphe speeds up, as the other boys lose their minds in their own hellish quiet. The sheath of his katana rubs his hip with every step, and he feels so foolish suddenly. What do plan to do with that, chum? Roast shishkabob? Give it up.]
[With Adolphe running towards the light, he is the first one to stumble into a wide, spacious room. Devoid of any furniture, save for the tall candle holders strategically placed around the room and the beautiful candlelit chandelier on the ceiling, designed to provide as much illumination to this empty room as possible.
They can see the staircase leading up to the final floor on the other side of the room.
But while the room may be empty, it is not uninhabited.
Something big, ugly and monstrous descends from the ceiling and takes a swipe at Adolphe. Thankfully, it only rolled a 4 so it fails to gut him, but it still force him to move back to avoid the hit.
When the others make it into the room, they'll find themselves staring up at a 20ft tall chimera. The lower body of a spider, with eight, thick, hairy legs that taper off into claws at the ends. Sharp fangs dripping venom. Several human heads and torsos attached to its body, limbs flailing, mouths spitting blood and seawater, eyes staring at the group accusingly.
I regret to inform you that these faces do not belong to total strangers.
The eleven of them come together in one horrifying beast. It lunges at them with the intent to kill. Not the demon they are here to slay, but its guardian. One last hurdle they must cross to reach their mark.
Welcome to your boss fight! Please look at our discord channel for instructions of how we'll be tackling this.]
[ After moving back to avoid the hit, Adolphe finally looks at the chimera for what it is--a monster. He sees the several human heads and torsos attached to its body with the accusing looks. Accusing looks of what? What did he do?
No. No... He's did plenty wrong. Whatever he's done in the past life, he's paying for it now, he thinks. He must have been such scum back then, and perhaps he still is now. Maybe that has never changed. But when he locks eyes with Yves and Ceres--
Adolphe snaps.
He dashes to the chimera and he grabs Miguel's face to keep himself balanced, but it's barely enough when he tries to shove the lit torch onto Yves's face. Mushroom trip or not, Adolphe is finally going unhinged.
and tbh it feels like a debuff at the moment because
haki 🤦 communal dead malewife Request: [d20] Roll: [6] Result: 6
between the sight of the creature, the absolute whammy of memory and non memory and the mushroom soup of horrors, it is just too much. caris has been a monster taair's entire life. miguel is a cruel, vicious man. neither of them deserve anything like this, either way, and neverah -
it's all just too much.
anyway i am passing this round because as adolphe runs by, he just absolutely bluescreens mentally and no amount of cool and sexy au world ronin skills are gonna do much for that one ]
Except it actually is and Richie's first action is to burst out laughing. Big hyena chuckles, huge guffaws as tears of mirth race down his face. Why would it be anything different? Hello boys, hello girls, hey Eddie hey Sandy, hey every-fucking-body.
Then Adolphe is rushing in on the warpath, and his pulse spikes, brain pumps — just like Bill.]
Addy!
[And Richie rushes in too, blade drawn to slice the first head or leg it meets. Like how he'd wedged between Daigo and Majima.
plabby 📻 russia toaster Request: `[1d20]` Roll: `[8]` Result: `8`
[Adolphe trying to slam a lit torch in sweet Yves's face is truly something. We love an unhinged king even while I'm over here screaming YVES NOOOOOO (this is not the real yves)
Unfortunately, the creature rolls a 16 and parries his attack, smacking the torch out of his hand and sending it flying at one of the candle holders! This will become a problem for later, because in an instant, things start to catch fire as both as knocked to the ground... But they're not trapped in here. Not yet, anyway.
The body with Yves's face gives him a sad, confused look. Then, while this is happening, the one who resembles Ceres tries to rake its claws across Adolphe's face with a 10.
Then we have sweet Taair, who is too frozen to act even against his worst enemies. Unfortunately, the monster has no such reservations and it immediately tries to take a bite out of him with its big ass fucking spider mouth, rolling a 12.
The creature gets a crit fail against Richie's attack! In honor of this, Richie gets to slice through two of its legs. The creature loses its balance slightly, tilting towards one side, but keeps its footing while bleeding heavily from its severed limbs.
One of the remaining legs then tries to stab him in the face, rolling a 14. Watch out.
And the comes Hawke, rolling a nat fucking 20 right out of the gates. He stabs his naginata right into the spider's abdomen, causing it and all the men and women attached to it to scream out in pain and rage. With an 11, both """Leandra""" and """Anders""" try to deck him in the fucking face.]
[ wow i rolled really well even giving myself disadvantage!!!!! tch
it's not so much that he's too frozen to fight against them - it's more that he just won't. a pacifist to his core - even in this alternative life as a mercenary, the honed skills he has are his last resort. he prefers to heal the others when they are hurt, to tend to injuries, to use his charisma and intelligence to help them through battles and situations, and to stay in the back. to stop the fight before it even comes with his words. and in fact, as a ronin, it's actually rather rare that his sword ever leaves its sheath - he relies on the small wakizashi so much more than his actual blade. and in his normal memories, things are not much different. always ready to die more than he is to live.
however! getting bitten by a giant spider will definitely snap you out of dissociating. he does not even try to fight back, still just out of it, as it chomps down on his side - he makes a sharp, high noise of pain, and his memories flood with familiarity, a wolf and a mouth full of flowers, and to feel that same pain twice is pretty fucking agonizing actually so it is enough!
he just kind of swipes at it with whatever he can reach on his person. sword, wakizashi, whatever, he just attempts to hit it so it doesn't eat him. again. too many vores. its a 10. ]
[ Yeah, can you imagine. The guilt is going to eat him alive after this.
But it's fine, because karma comes around. The one who resembles Ceres rakes its claw across Adolphe's face and he can't see. His eyes hurt. Everything is spinning because he's still affected by that psychedelic soup. He's probably bleeding out the nose too. Bloody mouth. That sure is a claw injury diagonally across his face. (3)
He doesn't even pay attention to the fire that's currently spreading. All he wants is this to end. He just wants ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
He attempts to jam his katana into Ceres's face as well, but the blood is getting into his other good eye. He can barely see. (4) ]
[ RUDE. Probably deserved at any other time but not with through this nightmare scenario of haunting faces doing the punching.
he dodges, depth perception entirely fucked but somehow still in tact enough to serve him well (12) and in the same breath, pulls the wakizashi he's hasn't needed this whole time and swings sharply at the nearest of the two (17)
Richie rolls an (8) against the leg attack and, to commiserate with Hawke narrowly avoids being stabbed in the eye, but jerks his head in such a way that it slices diagonally over his face, as near a miss as you can get without needing an eyepatch.
This shoots his fury into high gear.]
Eat my ass, motherfucker!
[He's going to stab for something vital with his (20). Get dunked on.]
[Taair catches the creature across one of its multiple stomachs. Specifically, he slices across Neverah's soft belly, spilling blood all over the spider's side and his own face. It is nowhere near a fatal blow, though, and with an enraged look of betrayal on her face, Neverah tries to deck him in the face with an 11.
Hilariously, Ceres rolls ANOTHER nat 1. Adolphe's sword goes right through her face easily, cutting through flesh, bone and soft, delicate organs like slicing through warm butter. Immediately, she goes limp, falling onto him first and then dangling uselessly from the spider's side.
Enraged by the loss of one of its heads, the spider takes a swipe at Adolphe with one of its remaining legs, rolling a 11.
The creature rolls... yet another crit fail! Why were there two in this batch. Anyway, I'm gonna invert these for a round and say that Hawke easily cuts through the two nearest heads, Zhongli and Leandra, severing their necks from the rest of their bodies. Two down! Anders then tries to fucking knock him away, toward the flames that are slowly consuming this room, with an 11.
Then Richie rolls a Nat 20, slashing across the spider's abdomen. More blood pours out, accompanied by some of its intestines — but the creature does not go down. It's looking real fucked up, though, the faces attached to it pale with the blood loss as the remaining legs wobble precariously.
In retaliation, the spider tries to rip the sword out of his hands with a 15, at the same time trying to stab him with one of its legs (another 15.)]
[ cool!!!! well he has not recovered from week one, let me tell you that! at least the last time when he saw neve they didn't recognize each other and she didn't die so this is like a million times worse. and much like he did not fight there until he was quite literally forced, he's entirely horrified by the look on neverah's face more than he is being covered in blood. i do not know if he is still in its mouth or not but
she can just punch him in the face again, actually! what an improvement from being slapped (?) i rolled a 3 with disadvantage. wahoo ]
[ well. hawke, full of arrows and tripping absolute balls, is absolutely not steady on his feet and thus stumbles and trips backwards (7). the chances of him landing directly on the fire is not low.
that said he recovers well enough and the waki strikes out again, this time aiming for anders (18). pour one out for this poor fuck who once again has to kill the person he deeply cares about. ]
[Hatefully, he rolls a (4) against sword theft, so the spider may have his katana. Fuck you man.
But also he thankfully dodges the next leg stab with a (17), maybe he will survive this after all? Richie follows up with a strike at the hands that stole his sword, slashing with his wakizashi at a (16).]
[ When one wields a sword, the wielder can sometimes feel what the sword touches when it slices through the flesh. Soft, delicate organs. The flesh. The blood it spews do you really think you could have protected her when you can kill her so easily like this what kind of protector are you supposed to be you're pathetic you can't protect anybody you're useless so go ahead and die alone why are you alive and not them maybe you should die and stay dead how would you even reincarnate into a person after everything you did before go reap your karma because it's what you deserve but other than that you don't deserve anything else anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything anything
The end of the spider's leg pierces through Adolphe's torso. (6) His liver is probably fucked from this, but hey it's not vital, right? Right.
Adolphe isn't thinking, so he makes the wound worse by immediately making more movements, but this time, it might actually be more effective offensively. He attempts to slash through multiple torsos at once by putting all he has in the next long swing of his katana. (19) ]
[Wahoo! The spider is still holding Taair in its mouth, yeah. It wags him around like a dog holding its favorite chew toy, before letting go of him and sending him across the room at mach fuck. Watch out for the fire! Because with a roll of 14, Taair is being sent across the room and landing real close to the flames.
The spider once again rolls a Nat Fucking 1. How!!! Anyway, Hawke slices through Ander's body in one, swift movement. Blood and viscera come pouring out as he's bisected by the sharp edge of Hawke's weapon. As the upper half of Anders's body slides off the spider, he looks up at Hawke with betrayal in his eyes, before landing on the ground with a wet squelch.
Then Richie amputates the hands that stole his sword. He finds himself looking up at Claude's face, covered in his own blood and now limbless. Something about the look in his eyes feels... familiar. Almost like something he witnessed in another lifetime, right in front of his doorstep. In retaliation, the spider tries to bite him (13).
Adolphe is......... having a time. Just A Time! It's fine. This is not the time to worry about that. His katana slices through half of the remaining torsos attached to the spider's body, more blood pouring out of it.
Belatedly, I realize I never mentioned these people are probably fucking naked. Oh, well.
Anyway, the spider is looking real fucked up by now. It is not long for this world. And neither are you, actually, because the fire continues spreading. The smoke is building up in the room and their window to escape through the door grows narrower with every passing second.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
holyspirits) wrote2025-03-23 03:12 pm
no subject
he spares a brief moment to give all three of the others a soft, tired smile, kind in its relief, and tries to conjure his mental image of the map. fifth floor...? dungeons. odd. at least they didn't put us in the basement. ]
Well... perhaps we will frighten the so-called demon by the state of us - or maybe at least by the smell...
[ is this the time for jokes? probably not. with that though, he will start to redistribute the weapons and flint stones back to the group as he sees them, so everyone can get all re-armed. ]
no subject
He mumbles a thanks to Taair when he gets his weapons back, and trying not to think of the time when he helped Taair run away from the shame that was their initial angel costumes in their past lives. ]
I can't wait for this contract to end.
[ He wants a bath so bad.
But before that, he pushes the exit door that will take them closer to their goal. He's ready to shank someone. ]
no subject
[ is that from the kirkwall sense memory or the blood/sewer/stank smell of now? who knows! certainly not hawke.
he takes the naginata, his usual hold different for a moment before he frowns and shifts his hand to a more familiar position. it's fine. ]
Let's just get this done with before I truly lose the rest of my blood.
no subject
(—broken coke bottle at dusk, mid-August after the storm—
'Swuh-Swear to muh-me that you'll c-c-c-come buh-back...')
(—a pretty dark haired woman with pointed ears, wrapping bandages over a raw and empty socket—)
Richie doesn't say anything. He just swallows thickly and follows suit.]
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"Oh, and prince," a man whispers in Taair's ear, bringing with him a disappointing end to the best two weeks of Taair's life. "You should learn to behave yourself. It might not matter to you if you die, but it matters to everyone else."
"There's no need for you to be kind of Death..." a woman whispers in Adolphe's ear, reminding him of all the ways he's hurt someone he cared about deeply. "I've caused you enough misfortune as it is."
"But if whatever is inside of me is so terrifying to you that you cannot face it, then or now," a man whispers in Hawke's ear, causing all his guilt and heartbreak to bubble up to the surface. "Then I don’t think we are good for one another."
"I changed my mind when I met someone worth a shit," a woman whispers in Richie's ear, rubbing her happiness in his face while reminding him of the fact that he is destined to die alone.
They find themselves in another corridor. Dark, save for a single bright light on the far end of it. A light at the end of the tunnel, if you will.]
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nothing brings the echoes of the past back quite like the voice of the mercenary; standing in the leader's office in convallaria town, facing miguel with his rough accent and rowdy laughter, the cruelty in the sharpness of his eyes. he'd treated the statement like it was nothing, because to him, it was. it was all about money. it was all about worth. taair, the little prince, the object. the beautiful bird.
taair's first step from the birdcage ended with a bucket of metaphorical cold water and this is no different.
he had thought, once upon a time, that death could be his escape. in convallaria town, he'd had the chance to make his own choices, and when assassins came for his life, he thought he could step in and turn himself in to protect the precious, dear friends he had made, but miguel made it so that never had to happen, reminded him he'd never had a choice at all.
then, weeks later, he died - leaping in front of the leader of convallaria, and he died with a smile on his face, then woke up in the heavens with the heavy weight of redemption and returning placed upon his shoulders.
never once in his life has he been allowed the luxury of choice. never once in his life have his doors opened - even when he thinks they have, all it is is a larger cage. all taair khalisa nasir is worth to the world that he loves is his bloodline. only this, and nothing more.
he feels ill, suddenly - his hand curls against the sword, and then drops like it's burned him, as it comes with the guilt of the burnt up faces and tongueless mouths - neverah, in a dark and shadowy, sandswept ring, calling him a coward as she slapped him across the face, the light draining from her eyes and his hands on the hilt of the blade that did it, puppeted to fight and forced again and again and again by things beyond his control. taair is not a killer. he is not a mercenary. (Don't start with your righteous morals. You and I aren't that different. We kill people. he had said, to the leader.) taair is...
... he is alive.
he has to live. not for his own sake.
death solves nothing because he is worthless if he is dead. death solves nothing because freedom is an impossibility.
he swallows, hard, and lifts his head, and forces his expression into calm as he continues to walk forward. if you didn't know better, you would think this didn't impact him at all. rather, it just finds its way into the void that he becomes in moments when his emotions are too strong, crawls into the place of acceptance but never towards joy. in the future, he will stop feeling. in the future, it will be easier that way.
i have to keep going. i have to live. i must find redemption. i must return to iria. i must take the throne. i must listen to lady caris. i must, i must, i must. ]
cw suicidal ideation
sweats..........
[ Oh.Those words twist something in Adolphe's heart. He thinks he remembers something--in a house that he lived on his own, on the birthday that would finally kill him and end that facade of a life that he led for almost twenty years. It was night. Nothing happened, but everything happened.
He remembers the girl in front of him, his foster sister, he went back on his promise. She put herself down for his sake, for this miserable and useless existence. Why. Why. Why?
It was a laughable idea that an outsider like me could ever fit in this country, even when I hated it so much. It was the only place where I could be. I had no choice. Then this girl comes to ruin everything that I planned--to die a peaceful death. I deserved to die miserably with that dagger to my throat--with the dagger that she gifted me. I wanted a warm place to finally rest in peace. That was all I ever wanted. But. You.
I hate you. I hate you for making me spew out these disgusting emotions.
I knew exactly what it was like to be unwanted, and I swore that I would never inflict that same pain onto you.
That's just how pathetic I am. I went back on my promise and I'll never... I...
"So don't worry about me. If anything happens in the future, you can hate me all you want."
Adolphe feels himself so incredibly close to snapping. He wants to lash out so, so badly. There's nothing for him to attack here. This is all a past life's farce, but why does it hurt so much as if it really matters? The wound feels fresh in his heart. He can't take his anger out on anybody or anything.
He bites his bottom lip to the point that it bleeds, in which the taste of blood finally makes him spring into action.
He runs towards the light at the end. ]
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hawke falters for a moment, his eyes drifting to the distance as all too suddenly the past he barely remembers grips his heart just as agonizing as the first time.
he doesn't regret it, telling Anders that after all he had done, after all they experienced, there was and would always be a chance for them to find happiness. their end would not be limited to one attempt and no matter how many times it took, hawke would reach out a hand.
to be told otherwise, to have fears he himself hadn't acknowledged so blatantly thrown in his face... even now it hurts. he's tried to appease those fears, he's tried to wave the concerns away. he's tried to hold on so tightly that there's nothing left to think about and yet.
whatever. whatever!! it doesn't matter. it doesn't! anders isn't here. their story ended another life ago and the hurts he carried into the next can be tucked away right next to the nightmares.
he has other concerns to worry about and three companions to keep alive despite this places best attempts and if he's lucky, enemies to stab until he feels better.
time 2 power walk into the light before he just gives up entirely ]
Cw: cancer mention
Oh Sandy baby, you one in a million you. He really could have married you. Came close twice, hands itching passing the downtown jeweller's and sitting stiff next to your father at Christmas. Should I ask your permission, pops? Your daughter's sharp as a tack. Gets the first and last word in, lets the dope smoke curl out of coral lips as she lays down the differences between Maoism and Trotskyism, and he injerects and they spar it out, philosophize and fuck and lock together beneath the sheets wondering what the hell this world is coming to. It's no place to raise a kid, even if we make it official. And the news is coming out now about how dangerous an IUD can be, let me get the procedure. It's only a snip, better me than you.
Then sweet Sandy gets a sweet opportunity out east while Richie lands a hot gig right here in L.A., and isn't he just the biggest chauvanist oinker to be dragging his heels? (Words he'd use to describe the situation to his oldest friends over the carcass of a mid-tier Chinese feast.) And when the bellows were blown and the hurricane halted, Sandy packed her bags and left.
Later, when Richie was informed of his medical miracle — that the procedure took but then somehow reversed — he'd called Sandy to square it up. She was married. She was pregnant. And she'd laughed harder than she ever had in her life. "It's just so wonderful. This time the joke's on you. How many bastards have you sired since I came out east, Rich?"
None, actually, which was the second part of the miracle. Part of the tidy trick to set him up to come east himself, not to Washington but to humble old Derry, Maine. One of the moves made by some great force beyond, setting him and his pals up to be in prime shape to come on home. Kids would be too strong an attachment to sanity, he guesses, too potent a reason to decline.
Richie thought lovers might be too. Except four of the seven of them got married.
How's that for statistics, Rich? crows a hateful voice in his mind, hissing through a bleeding greasepaint grin. Sounds like you have no one to blame but yourself for being all alone. Quick, smoke up another pack, let the cancer take you like it took Mom and Pops! Quick, hurry on home kid! Come on down and face me like a man! Like you were born to. Raised in a feeding pen and led to slaughter, aren't you, you four-eyed fuck? Ain't worth shit else besides. Is that why you do all those voices? You just get so fucking sick of being yourself?
He feels quite cold all over. Grinning at the ground, walking behind with a pensive gait as Adolphe speeds up, as the other boys lose their minds in their own hellish quiet. The sheath of his katana rubs his hip with every step, and he feels so foolish suddenly. What do plan to do with that, chum? Roast shishkabob? Give it up.]
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They can see the staircase leading up to the final floor on the other side of the room.
But while the room may be empty, it is not uninhabited.
Something big, ugly and monstrous descends from the ceiling and takes a swipe at Adolphe. Thankfully, it only rolled a 4 so it fails to gut him, but it still force him to move back to avoid the hit.
When the others make it into the room, they'll find themselves staring up at a 20ft tall chimera. The lower body of a spider, with eight, thick, hairy legs that taper off into claws at the ends. Sharp fangs dripping venom. Several human heads and torsos attached to its body, limbs flailing, mouths spitting blood and seawater, eyes staring at the group accusingly.
I regret to inform you that these faces do not belong to total strangers.
Leandra. Anders. Zhongli. Miguel. Caris. Neverah. Claude. Eddie. Sandy. Ceres. Yves.
The eleven of them come together in one horrifying beast. It lunges at them with the intent to kill. Not the demon they are here to slay, but its guardian. One last hurdle they must cross to reach their mark.
Welcome to your boss fight! Please look at our discord channel for instructions of how we'll be tackling this.]
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No. No... He's did plenty wrong. Whatever he's done in the past life, he's paying for it now, he thinks. He must have been such scum back then, and perhaps he still is now. Maybe that has never changed. But when he locks eyes with Yves and Ceres--
Adolphe snaps.
He dashes to the chimera and he grabs Miguel's face to keep himself balanced, but it's barely enough when he tries to shove the lit torch onto Yves's face. Mushroom trip or not, Adolphe is finally going unhinged.
and tbh it feels like a debuff at the moment because
haki 🤦 communal dead malewife Request: [d20] Roll: [6] Result: 6
He also completely ignored the spider legs. ]
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between the sight of the creature, the absolute whammy of memory and non memory and the mushroom soup of horrors, it is just too much. caris has been a monster taair's entire life. miguel is a cruel, vicious man. neither of them deserve anything like this, either way, and neverah -
it's all just too much.
anyway i am passing this round because as adolphe runs by, he just absolutely bluescreens mentally and no amount of cool and sexy au world ronin skills are gonna do much for that one ]
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Except it actually is and Richie's first action is to burst out laughing. Big hyena chuckles, huge guffaws as tears of mirth race down his face. Why would it be anything different? Hello boys, hello girls, hey Eddie hey Sandy, hey every-fucking-body.
Then Adolphe is rushing in on the warpath, and his pulse spikes, brain pumps — just like Bill.]
Addy!
[And Richie rushes in too, blade drawn to slice the first head or leg it meets. Like how he'd wedged between Daigo and Majima.
plabby 📻 russia toaster Request: `[1d20]` Roll: `[8]` Result: `8`
Remember how that went?]
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hawke, absolutely done up to his psychedelic eyebrows, full of spite and arrows, and down one eye, roars back his own challenge.
with his trusty naginatas longer reach, hawke thrusts the blade into the chimera, aiming deep into whichever vital organ he can reach.
ari again🩸dehawked Request: `[1d20]` Roll: `[20]` Result: `20`
who knew spite would work every time ]
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Unfortunately, the creature rolls a 16 and parries his attack, smacking the torch out of his hand and sending it flying at one of the candle holders! This will become a problem for later, because in an instant, things start to catch fire as both as knocked to the ground... But they're not trapped in here. Not yet, anyway.
The body with Yves's face gives him a sad, confused look. Then, while this is happening, the one who resembles Ceres tries to rake its claws across Adolphe's face with a 10.
Then we have sweet Taair, who is too frozen to act even against his worst enemies. Unfortunately, the monster has no such reservations and it immediately tries to take a bite out of him with its big ass fucking spider mouth, rolling a 12.
The creature gets a crit fail against Richie's attack! In honor of this, Richie gets to slice through two of its legs. The creature loses its balance slightly, tilting towards one side, but keeps its footing while bleeding heavily from its severed limbs.
One of the remaining legs then tries to stab him in the face, rolling a 14. Watch out.
And the comes Hawke, rolling a nat fucking 20 right out of the gates. He stabs his naginata right into the spider's abdomen, causing it and all the men and women attached to it to scream out in pain and rage. With an 11, both """Leandra""" and """Anders""" try to deck him in the fucking face.]
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it's not so much that he's too frozen to fight against them - it's more that he just won't. a pacifist to his core - even in this alternative life as a mercenary, the honed skills he has are his last resort. he prefers to heal the others when they are hurt, to tend to injuries, to use his charisma and intelligence to help them through battles and situations, and to stay in the back. to stop the fight before it even comes with his words. and in fact, as a ronin, it's actually rather rare that his sword ever leaves its sheath - he relies on the small wakizashi so much more than his actual blade. and in his normal memories, things are not much different. always ready to die more than he is to live.
however! getting bitten by a giant spider will definitely snap you out of dissociating. he does not even try to fight back, still just out of it, as it chomps down on his side - he makes a sharp, high noise of pain, and his memories flood with familiarity, a wolf and a mouth full of flowers, and to feel that same pain twice is pretty fucking agonizing actually so it is enough!
he just kind of swipes at it with whatever he can reach on his person. sword, wakizashi, whatever, he just attempts to hit it so it doesn't eat him. again. too many vores. its a 10. ]
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But it's fine, because karma comes around. The one who resembles Ceres rakes its claw across Adolphe's face and he can't see. His eyes hurt. Everything is spinning because he's still affected by that psychedelic soup. He's probably bleeding out the nose too. Bloody mouth. That sure is a claw injury diagonally across his face. (3)
He doesn't even pay attention to the fire that's currently spreading. All he wants is this to end. He just wants ▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓
He attempts to jam his katana into Ceres's face as well, but the blood is getting into his other good eye. He can barely see. (4) ]
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he dodges, depth perception entirely fucked but somehow still in tact enough to serve him well (12) and in the same breath, pulls the wakizashi he's hasn't needed this whole time and swings sharply at the nearest of the two (17)
get fucked!!! ]
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Richie rolls an (8) against the leg attack and, to commiserate with Hawke narrowly avoids being stabbed in the eye, but jerks his head in such a way that it slices diagonally over his face, as near a miss as you can get without needing an eyepatch.
This shoots his fury into high gear.]
Eat my ass, motherfucker!
[He's going to stab for something vital with his (20). Get dunked on.]
cw: partial disembowelment
Hilariously, Ceres rolls ANOTHER nat 1. Adolphe's sword goes right through her face easily, cutting through flesh, bone and soft, delicate organs like slicing through warm butter. Immediately, she goes limp, falling onto him first and then dangling uselessly from the spider's side.
Enraged by the loss of one of its heads, the spider takes a swipe at Adolphe with one of its remaining legs, rolling a 11.
The creature rolls... yet another crit fail! Why were there two in this batch. Anyway, I'm gonna invert these for a round and say that Hawke easily cuts through the two nearest heads, Zhongli and Leandra, severing their necks from the rest of their bodies. Two down! Anders then tries to fucking knock him away, toward the flames that are slowly consuming this room, with an 11.
Then Richie rolls a Nat 20, slashing across the spider's abdomen. More blood pours out, accompanied by some of its intestines — but the creature does not go down. It's looking real fucked up, though, the faces attached to it pale with the blood loss as the remaining legs wobble precariously.
In retaliation, the spider tries to rip the sword out of his hands with a 15, at the same time trying to stab him with one of its legs (another 15.)]
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she can just punch him in the face again, actually! what an improvement from being slapped (?) i rolled a 3 with disadvantage. wahoo ]
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that said he recovers well enough and the waki strikes out again, this time aiming for anders (18). pour one out for this poor fuck who once again has to kill the person he deeply cares about. ]
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But also he thankfully dodges the next leg stab with a (17), maybe he will survive this after all? Richie follows up with a strike at the hands that stole his sword, slashing with his wakizashi at a (16).]
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The end of the spider's leg pierces through Adolphe's torso. (6) His liver is probably fucked from this, but hey it's not vital, right? Right.
Adolphe isn't thinking, so he makes the wound worse by immediately making more movements, but this time, it might actually be more effective offensively. He attempts to slash through multiple torsos at once by putting all he has in the next long swing of his katana. (19) ]
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The spider once again rolls a Nat Fucking 1. How!!! Anyway, Hawke slices through Ander's body in one, swift movement. Blood and viscera come pouring out as he's bisected by the sharp edge of Hawke's weapon. As the upper half of Anders's body slides off the spider, he looks up at Hawke with betrayal in his eyes, before landing on the ground with a wet squelch.
Then Richie amputates the hands that stole his sword. He finds himself looking up at Claude's face, covered in his own blood and now limbless. Something about the look in his eyes feels... familiar. Almost like something he witnessed in another lifetime, right in front of his doorstep. In retaliation, the spider tries to bite him (13).
Adolphe is......... having a time. Just A Time! It's fine. This is not the time to worry about that. His katana slices through half of the remaining torsos attached to the spider's body, more blood pouring out of it.
Belatedly, I realize I never mentioned these people are probably fucking naked. Oh, well.
Anyway, the spider is looking real fucked up by now. It is not long for this world. And neither are you, actually, because the fire continues spreading. The smoke is building up in the room and their window to escape through the door grows narrower with every passing second.]
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