Fantasy EMOTIONS LIKE TWISTING VINES | private |

[LONELYRAIN]

"Melancholia" Music Box [second half of post]
Haru cleared his throat, hoping that would ease the embarrassment suddenly laying siege to his heart, once more reduced to a mute observer as he couldn't look at Mitsuko directly, for she was shining annoyingly again before his eyes. Nonetheless, a smile did wiggle its way upon his face as she had protested, saying that they were ganging up on her. An astute observation of course, but perhaps the Seer didn't want Mitsuko to reject the gift that his mother had lovingly crafted for her; or for more selfish reasons, he wanted to see how she looked like in the kimono. Not that he would ever verbalize such a desire out loud! Certainly not! Crimson eyes lowered to the floorboards as the cheerful chatter between both his mother and Mitsuko proceeded, struggling to push down as much of these unruly emotions within himself till he could no longer feel the pull-

"Huh?" Haru's head jerked up at the sound of his name, having reduced the sound of the conversation to mere background noise as his eyes fixated upon the sight of Honomi assisting Mitsuko with wrapping the kimono back up, only for the next flow of conversation to turn to Sorai and fishing. Fishing... huh? The expression upon the man's face was blank for a few seconds, only for a faint smile to cross his face. How many years had it been since he last fished with his brother? It felt like too long for him to count, perhaps it would be nice indeed to do such a thing again... granted he doubted he would be doing much fishing himself as his body had deteriorated too much, but having some peace and quiet from the turmoil within his mind would be... nice.

"If I don't, I know Sorai will pester me until I give in." Haru chuckled as he placed down the cup of tea before him, "I'll go, if only to make sure he doesn't act like a fool." After all, knowing his brother, the man would cling to Haru and pester him as much as possible, far be it from he to deny his younger brother anyways, and with the two weeks that Haru had spent avoiding everyone, it wasn't as if he would be able to sneak away without Sorai to charge after him and make him stay. He was tired of running off anyways.

It wouldn't be too long until Sorai's familiar shape would come looming in the doorway, with a makeshift set of fishing poles in hand for both himself and Mitsuko and an empty bag to hold whatever fish that they would happen across; a big, goofy grin upon his cheerful face as he would start his usual greeting, only for it to die in his chest and immediately launch himself at Haru, crushing the poor man within a muscular embrace and blubbering over how worried he was over his brother; where had he been, why hadn't he eaten, and why did he seem to shrink - though that last question was met with a light knock to the head by Haru out of stung pride. The flurry of activity once more had brought life to the previously empty home, and with it Sorai leading the way on their expedition to the river, beginning to turn his attention to Mitsuko then to chatter incessantly, the air being cheerful between the three youths as Haru gazed contentedly at the sight of Sorai and Mitsuko, trailing behind them in his usual uneven steps.

The thought of, I can get used to this. Had crossed the Seer's mind as he hurried his steps to catch up, speaking a playful complaint about being mindful of one's elders and spotting the flustered, apologetic expression upon Sorai's face in turn had made Haru break out into a broad grin as bright laughter finally managed to peek through the self-imposed gloom that had assaulted him earlier.

Yes, he really could get used to this happiness. This bliss.

He never wanted this end.

...​

Honomi's shape lingered near the entrance of her home as she watched with gentle eyes the sight of her two boys along with her adopted daughter, until they became little specks and altogether vanished from her sight. It was a sobering sight, one which would be released in a quiet sigh as she turned her back and retreated within her abode, a soft hum leaving her lips as she set about gathering the remnants of the breakfast that they had partaken before, brown eyes turning toward the bundle of white which had been left behind, Well now, I can finish Haru's gift. After all, not only would she give a gift to Mitsuko, she wanted to give her eldest boy a gift as well for that nagging feeling of her boy drifting away from her fingers would not leave. At the very least, if he were to depart, she desired for him to bring a reminder of home with him as well.

On creaking joints and and aching knees, Honomi had retreated into her room, shifting about within the confines of her room as she soon snagged fabric, thick and dark crimson in color, lips pursing as she gazed at her handiwork so far. It was halfway done, barely half the length of what would be an appropriate scarf but durable enough; or so she had hoped if her boy set out to wander again. Trembling fingers then searched for her needle and thread, a pleasant tune leaving her lips as she sought to spend the next few hours awaiting for her little endearing children to return to her. Little did she know, instead as the sun was bleeding by in the bright skies above, that instead a demon was to come to darken the woman's abode.

There was a knock. Knock. Knock. The sound made Honomi's head snap up, eyebrows furrowing as trembling hands lowered the scarf to the floor. Was it one of the other slaves? Surely her wayward children hadn't come back to her yet, it seemed far too early and it wasn't as if they typically would knock-

Knock. Knock.

The knocking echoed again, a chill running down her spine as she called out, "I'm coming!" Perhaps it was a fellow slave after all, did someone get injured by another overseer? Her fingers released the hold upon the scarf within her grasp, bones aching and creaking as a huff of breath left her lips, only for her to freeze as she heard the sound of something dragging; clicking.

Clack. Clack. Was that the sound of a sword? Clack. Clack. The footsteps now was approaching her shoji door, the woman freezing as she felt her blood run cold. Something wasn't right, something felt so very, very wrong. Brown eyes settled upon the sliding paper screen, a dark shadow coming into view as silence lay heavy within the atmosphere, she dared not breathe as the shadow seemed incomprehensible at first to her gaze, barely humanoid as the figure raised a hand and slowly the shoji door slid open revealing the demon laying on the other side, the pale face set underneath a mockery of a wedding veil, clad in a wedding shiromuku, as pristine white as the first winter snows, and yet the face that gazed back at her was one that Honomi thought she wouldn't see again.

"Hello, mother dearest." The soft voice of the ghost cooed, her steps light as Honomi took a step back in response, jaw clenching as Mai-Jing's red painted lips curved in a wide, bright smile, "I was hoping that I would find Haru here with you, did you see him?" Honomi's eyes flickered to the katana at the ready within the demon's pale hands, the chills going through her body betraying her to the unnatural situation. The former empress was dead, this she knew well enough, so why..? Was this a foul spirit? Her lips pressed in a tight line as she lifted her head stubbornly, schooling facial muscles into apathy, "I know not what you're talking about. You spirited him away three years ago, and I've not seen him since - though, I am surprised to see you alive and well. However, I don't remember giving you permission to call me 'mother', demon."

The demon cocked her head to one side, veil swaying in the movement as her smile twitched, "..My death was greatly exaggerated." The dark doll eyes that peered ominously behind the veil as her fingers curled tighter around the sheathed blade at her side, "I thought I was being polite, considering you are the mother to my beloved... but very well, I'll drop the formalities considering you seem quite determined to lie to me." It was a flurry of movement, one that Honomi could not track as the demon moved, cold hand wrapping around the startled priestess's neck and driving her head into the wall behind her, the smell of death mixed in jasmine filling her nose, pain flaring from the back of the woman's head as Honomi struggled to bring in breath to her lungs. The demon leaned closer, the lovely face breaking the facade of kindness as a demented expression crossed her face, "One thing I hate more than anything are liars, Honomi."

Her fingers clenched tighter, a choked sound leaving Honomi's lips as Mai-Jing cooed, "I smell him on you, his scent is everywhere. Now, I will ask you again. Where. Is. Haru?" Honomi's throat strained for air as her trembling fingers clenched into tight fists, tears springing to life in the depths of her brown eyes as the eerie lifeless doll gazed back into her own. What kind of mother would ever betray her child? She had failed once, she would not fail him again, never would she surrender him to another monster, especially not this wicked creature.

"...I.. don't... know." She spat out, defiance in the fragmented sentence causing the doll's demented expression to twist in further rage, "You filthy bitch." Honomi's body slammed against the wall once more, her head colliding harshly as the wood splintered under the blow, her vision blackening for a second as she could see stars, the demon before her seething, "Well, if you're going to be so stubborn, I guess I'll just have to dispose of you. There's no need in keeping around pawns who won't do as they're told, right?!" The sound of the sheath sliding away and hitting the floor in a solid clang could be heard, and then pain.

The blade sunk in deep to Honomi's stomach, a choked cry leaving the woman's lips as Mai-Jing continued to push, push further deeper until the blade protruded out the other side of the woman's skewered stomach, blood swelling from the entry wound as Mai-Jing cooed, "Did you know... refusing to assist the imperial family can be punished by way of seppuku." The blade twisted, Mai-Jing's hand guiding the katana to turn slowly in the pierced abdomen of the struggling woman as tears of agony sprung to life and trickled down her cheeks, "A-augh!"

"Shh... shh, none of that. I'm honoring you now, dearest Honomi. At least, your sins will be washed away with this one brave act. You should be proud!" The blade slowly slid backward, no longer puncturing through the woman's back as Honomi's trembling hands struggled to push away the demon, however her grip upon Honomi's neck was far too strong, nor did the flesh yield like that of a normal human's, instead was hard like clay. "Fear not, you won't die alone! I'm here with you! In fact, both of us can wait together until Haru comes back! Isn't that wonderful!?" Honomi's vision was blurring as the monster grinned brightly at her, warmth in the twisted face of the younger woman, "That is... if you don't bleed out first!"

"A-auaah!" The cry of agony ripped free from her lips as the blade fully twisted, then ripped diagonally through the woman's abdomen, a spray of blood and innards revealed in the vicious movement as Mai-Jing's hand left the woman's neck, the gentle soul known as Honomi crumpling against the wall Mai-Jing had pinned her to, chest heaving in quickened weak breaths as tears were streaming down her face. She could feel her blood seeping out, it hurt... it hurt...

Mai-Jing crouched down before her, "Hahah! How pretty... I wonder if Haru's insides will look the same?"

No... I can't...

Haru...

The brown eyes of the woman could only stare at the demon watching her with pleasure in her gaze, vision blurring with the weight of tears and slowly darkening.

Run... Haru... r...u...

 

[Sei Shonagon]

Kanamori no Mitsuko
Vocab:

Theme: idk creepy music

---

A heel deposited its full weight on the strip of bare soil that oversaw their path ahead. CRCK. It snapped the silence's back in half under the pretence of a branch. The sound startled the frontier of tree stems to life and they took to the skies on the mute beat of her heart. KRAA, KRAA, KRAA. The cacophony of caws rammed the asphyxiation down her throat and fanned up a maelstrom that draped over the horizon. Mitsuko filtered through the black wings that sludged towards the blue heavens.

She saw the heel first, then dark trouser legs, then weathered hands- and the overlapping hems of a yukata and a sculpted jaw that mirrored collarbones below. The caws ebbed out and her pulse ushered back in as the blue heavens above came crashing down over her. THUMP. The short black hair that had been cut to frazzled edges could’ve fooled her, had it not been for the cinereous eyes that accompanied it. Ashen, like her own which stared straight into the jaws of an urn.

No, instead it was:

“Brother.”

There was no fooling the gaze that saw the purple markings that had been etched across his neck to the image of a collar. An all too familiar stain, an all too familiar chain that had her reach to rattle her own. Her nails burrowed into the fabric between the flesh and the blood they sought to free from the confines of skin.

The very same skin that crawled when he asserted his very real presence.

“Mitsuko.”

—
They had come to fish, nothing more and nothing less. Sorai had ventured off to dig up worms for bait and Mitsuko had taken the opportunity to douse her face with the river. Then 5 minutes had passed, then another 5. Worried that he might have stepped into a trap, which was not an uncommon occurrence around the parts apparently, they had followed in his footsteps. And the footsteps had led them out on a road that was far from any rivers and any fish they could capture.
—

Ichiro was, unlike what his name implied, not the eldest child or the first son of the Akase household. He was in fact the 4th oldest and the senior of Mitsuko by six years. Six long years that had never seen them exchange a single word. Their fists had spoken on the behalf of the siblings instead. Raw grit and knuckles that solicited pangs of pain upon flexed jaw and crushed nose. All too often it had been only her nose and jaw that had been on the receiving end of the scolding. And all of those moments converged upon Sorai who acted as a mirror image of her younger self.

He dragged behind Sorai, upheld by the collar and with streaks of red dribbling down from his crooked nose.

There was no time to ponder how it had come to this, only how they would get out of it.

Mitsuko shifted her hand for her sword, the one that was not at its place at her waist, and fingers clenched down around air. Ichiro trailed a cursory glance to her knuckles that whitened under the pressure.

“I see I have caught you off guard.” The matter of factly way he spoke disclosed neither surprise nor disappointment. All it took, however, was for a brow to quirk to understand that he was in fact mocking her.

Mitsuko answered with biting nothingness.

“Have you, in addition to your sword, forgotten how to speak as well?”.

She opened her mouth this time “We never did before, why now?”.

Her quip appeared to have struck a chord with the monotone man. He wordlessly looked down at the battered Sorai in his hands. “True.” Ichiro curled him in and Mitsuko inhaled sharply through her nostrils “This one did certainly not need any words”.

He rattled Sorai gently, but the way the head of the unconscious man swayed made it seem all the crueller. As if he was showing off the protruding flesh around eyes and the swollen lip that had imploded in on itself. “He rushed me headfirst in such a nostalgic way that I almost struck him down right there and then.” Sorai nodded to and fro and let out an absent-minded whimper between the shakes. It put an emphasis on almost.

“But he’s not your target, is he?” No, she knew the truth like her own flesh and blood- quickly rendering to callous stone while breaths were drawn out-

And judging by his gaze he knew it as well. His eyes were intent and riveted to her frame, or more specifically her throat. “No,” Ichiro repeated her thoughts aloud and unlatched from Sorai. The latter collapsed onto the ground with a thud.

“He’s not.”

He stood unwavering on the spot, seconds away from snuffing the light out of her name. Mitsuko could only think of one thing to say as he did.

“Run Haru.”

A hand shot out to bar him from approaching, or to shield him from her brother who eyed him curiously over her shoulder. Mitsuko stood her ground with increasing strength.

“Get back to the house, now. Honomi might be in danger”.

 

[LONELYRAIN]

The Fox's Wedding - Masa Works Design [for when Mai-Jing shows up and does things]
It was supposed to be a day that was peaceful, a reprieve from the stress and pressure that the self from within was placing upon his own soul. It was going to be an outing that would perhaps be filled with Sorai's and Mitsuko's antics, carefree and without the burden of danger. So why? Why had it come to this?

...​

To the Seer, his brother wandering off was not something that was unusual, as the younger man could get himself distracted very quickly. So at first, his presence - or lack thereof hadn't raised any alarm bells in the man's head, instead allowing himself to relax with the sounds of the river water and the comfort of having Mitsuko nearby. However, five minutes passed, then ten and he knew that was far too long to gather just a few worms. So, when he and Mitsuko went to search for their missing third companion, he didn't expect to come across the sight that would chill him to the bone. Some man, some stranger was holding Sorai, his dearest younger brother who was unconscious to the world, bloodied nose and all. Seeing him so limp had made the carefree feelings dissipate, skin paling as the world threatened to grow dark.

Something vile was beginning to surge in his chest as crimson eyes trembled, incomprehensible the sight being to his own eyes until words were to be exchanged between Mitsuko and this man - her brother. Throat tightening, the Seer bristled, his weak body trembling under the weight of the surge of foulness beginning to swell in his chest as the man deposited his brother to the floor, and the chilling words that followed made Haru truly feel like reality was beginning to crumble. No, no he wouldn't allow it. He couldn't allow it! He-

“Run Haru.”

The words from Mitsuko's lips were so ridiculous to his own ears as she shot out her hand, a barrier between himself and the danger across from him. "What-" He began, a protest swelling upon his lips. As if he would allow her to face this on her own! What kind of man would he be to abandon her to whatever fate awaited her?! Damn it! The visions before his eyes were useless and- wait. They were being... snuffed out? The sense of wrongness permeated his being as Mitsuko's following sentence had slammed into him as if she had struck him then and there.

“Get back to the house, now. Honomi might be in danger”.

The man's jaw clenched as crimson eyes narrowed, eyes flashing over to the man across from them and with a hiss he turned on his heel, "Be careful, Mitsuko." That was all he could say, for he knew she was right. At the very least, Mitsuko knew how to defend herself, Haru could be of no true aid to her if things were to get to close hand combat for Byakko was not there and.. and...

Damn it all!

...​

The Seer's legs were burning, each breath coming in desperate huffs. He could smell smoke on the breeze, distant it seemed for now from the familiar pathway to Honomi's abode, but the visions assaulting him told him enough. Something was happening, and it was certainly nothing good. An invasion? But from where? No, that didn't matter right now, his mother mattered far more in this moment than anything else. She was weak, she couldn't hold a sword in her hands anymore, nor a bow. "Mother!?" He shouted out as he approached the front of the home, wheezing as he nearly doubled over, adrenaline pumping in the man's veins as his eyes flickered to the slightly open shoji toward the back of the home: Honomi's room.

The eerie silence was unusual, Honomi would have responded or at least have already been rushing out to her son if he called for her. Then he smelled it, an unmistakable smell of blood. It lay heavy, thick in the air causing the man to stumble forward, "Mother?" His voice cracked, fear beginning to rise in his chest, his legs buckling and stumbling in exhausted lurches as he neared paper screen, his fingers gripping the edge and pulled-

"Mot-" The call died on his tongue, his blood running cold as he stared at the slumped shape toward the back of the room. Brown eyes lacking life, her stomach split open, her intestines spilling out in a gross display, and the blood... there was so much blood. "M-m-" His lips struggled to move, stumbling forward, "No.. no no no.." He didn't want to believe it. This wasn't real, it can't be real! Slam.

The shoji door slammed shut behind him as a chilling voice cooed, soft and warm to his ears. A voice that at one point, he had desired to hear more than anything else, but now.., "I was wondering whether you'd show up at all, Haru." The Seer's eyes slowly turned to the woman clad in wedding attire, the shiromuku splattered with blood, dark in color as it had dried, her hand gripping an unsheathed katana still stained with Honomi's blood as her other hand had reached for the veil covering her face, revealing a grin so callous and cold, as equally cold like the dark eyes that peered down at him, "It's quite cruel to leave your aging mother alone."

His mind struggled to pick up the pieces before him, eyes wide in shock as tears began to swell within them, "..You.. don't tell me.. you.." Her footsteps echoed loud in the room as she approached the trembling Seer, the iciness in her eyes twisting to warm delight as she beamed, a thin hand reaching up to caress the thin cheek of the stunned man, "I killed her." The words were spoken as if she had said something innocent, an absurdity to it all in the statement as Haru's jaw clenched tight, his chest heaving, "Why? Why- why would you-" He couldn't understand, how could she do something so cruel? "Why-" The sentence, the words wouldn't leave him as he hiccupped, tears beginning to stream down his face as his legs wobbled from underneath him, falling to the ground as his hands pressed against his own chest. He couldn't breathe.

The quickened breaths, pitiful in succession was beginning to swell in the midst of his panic.

"Why?" She echoed the question, the woman slipping down to her knees before the hyperventilating Seer, a thin finger coming underneath his chin, forcing his head to tilt upward so she could look upon the tear streaked, pitiful face of her beloved Haru. "..Because disobedience must be punished, that's why. Did you honestly expect for your actions to not have consequences? For you to wag your tail at another woman and expect me to not retaliate?" Mai-Jing leaned closer, the smell of jasmine choking the man as his vision kept blurring in and out of focus, "Haru, your unfaithfulness is disheartening. You only have one master, and that master will always be me. Not that imposter, but me." A cold smile curved across red painted lips as her fingers caressed protruding cheekbones, slick with his tears, "But fear not, since I'm a generous master. I'll simply have to overwrite everything that woman had done to you."

No. The thought rang clear as fear surged within his heaving chest, "N-no-" The weak protest left him as he knew he had to move, everything in his body was telling him to run as the sinister whispers began to echo in his back of his mind. They screamed traitor, they screamed betrayer: he needed to run. The man's hands shoved against the woman, her eyes widening in shock as the Seer surged to his feet, his steps staggering toward the closed shoji. He needed to get out of here, if he could find Mitsuko he could get her, maybe even save Sorai and his family, he just needed to-

"AAAAHHH!" A scream of pain left him as his bad leg snapped, body falling forward as the sheath of Mai-Jing katana struck against the already malformed leg, the inhuman strength behind in snapping the femur and causing the man to fall face first, the collision making waves of pain rush through his body, "A-auugh... hic.. auugh-" The pitiful sounds left his lips as tears streamed anew down his face, a fist grabbing hold of his hair and yanking his head roughly back to peer up at the face now void of her previous gentleness, an insanity in the dark depths, "Where do you think you're going? Are you trying to run back to that whore?" The sentences were spoken so coldly as he choked, thin fingers scratching at the unyielding grip of her icy hand as she dragged him away from the promise of freedom until he was deposited upon Honomi's futon, the waves of rage coming off from Mai-Jing making him shrink back, his leg throbbing anew with fresh pain as whimpers and sobs left the Seer's terrified lips.

The woman's cold body settled above him, straddling the crippled man as her hands came to frame his face in a mockery of a loving touch, "You're so very lucky that you look so cute like this, otherwise I would have already bashed your head in." Her dark eyes scanned over the mottled tear-streaked face of her beloved, her mouth watering at the sight, "I'm quite glad that father already predicted something like this might happen." The woman moved her hand to reach in between the folds of the shiromuku, producing a vial gleaming with black liquid, something that looked too eerily similar to the very same blood that Haru seemed to cough up. The smell hit him first; it was rancid as the woman tipped the vial to her lips, draining it of the contents and then descending that very same reddened mouth against his own, blocking and subduing his crying as the vial liquid spilled past her lips into his mouth, tongue sweeping within as her fingers clutched the Seer's verdant locks.

"Mmmph! Mmmph!" The protesting sounds left the Seer as his hands came up to try and shove her away, "Mmmph!" The monster would not release him, the tainted sludge being forced down his throat and settling deep within him, and something... something cracked. It was as if a flow of disorientating sensations had gripped the man, robbing him of the edge of terror as his mind was growing sluggish, his struggling slowing down, his breaths slowing... slowing..

Haru's eyelids were growing heavy as Mai-Jing leaned away, tongue disconnecting from his own as the woman's hands slid down from his hair and slowly down his neck, "There, there... was that so hard? Honestly, you've gotten so much more difficult to deal with!" Cold fingers gripped the collar of his kimono, ripping the material down to expose more of the man's heaving torso, a bit of saliva dripping past the edge of a hungry mouth as her fingers trailed over the thin body beneath her. Ah, how it smelled so heavenly now! That fresh smell of a vanilla, it was oozing from his pores~! Was it stronger now that she had given him the vial? Oh, it most certainly was! His kiss was also so very, very delightful, the divinity in him felt stronger, more potent than it ever had before! She wondered... was that due to another divine beast at work? No matter, it smelled wonderful, it felt wonderful!

...Her father wouldn't mind if she just took a little sample first of her beloved first, right? After all, it mattered not who would bed the Seer first, as long as he was still alive when she was done then...

That wicked little smile of hers grew, hands coming to drop the veil to the ground as she watched his teary crimson eyes watching her, the dullness to the rubies showing little sparks of terror that made shivers go down her spine as slowly but surely she disrobed before him, the cold body looming over the motionless man beneath her, her hand grabbing his chin and turning his head to look at his dearly departed mother, "Isn't this exciting, Haru? You get to have your first time~" The man whimpered, his lips moving in a weak protest, the pitiful whimper sending shivers down her spine as her smile grew broader. Ah, she loved his little bits of terror, his misery! Oh, was he crying again? Lips descended down upon the Seer's fresh tears, the salty taste sending more shivers through her body as a shuddering breath left her lips. Oh my, even the Phoenix's tears were so very potent.

... Trigger warning: implications of assault/mutilation...​

One. "A-aauhh!" His voice strained as his hip snapped, the cold body pressing his head into the futon as his eyes were forced to look at the cold corpse of his mother. He could barely distinguish her from the backdrop anymore, his tears tainting his vision as his body didn't respond to his will, the crazed monster above him breathing in heavy pants as her body was draining him, her roughness forcing out sounds of agony to rip past his lips. He didn't want this! The lifeless eyes of his mother was burning him, as if in silent condemnation of the horrid depravity occurring before her corpse. Help me... someone please, help me. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Two. The broken hip was one thing, his pelvis was another. The subsequent snap made his body jolt, another scream ripping free from his lips as Mai-Jing's heavy breaths echoed in his ears, her fingers were tearing into his flesh, ripping him apart as her teeth met his skin, sinking deep. "AAHUGH!" The scream left him as flesh began to tear away, her teeth grinding splitting open the soft thin membrane that was his skin to reveal the precious organs underneath, "A-aha~ I never felt so full~ More~!" Her delight rang in his ears as her assault was unrelenting, and yet at the command his body would not obey the urge for self-preservation. He couldn't run, he couldn't escape.

Three. Her teeth had taken to chewing at his left shoulder, her body unrelenting in its hold on him as his body quivered with false euphoria, "U-ugh.." A muffled sound as her hand pressed his head into the futon again to once more stare at the dead body within the room. He could tell that the body of his mother had already stiffened, in the beginnings of decomposition. It was a passing thought in the midst of all the pain his body was being subjected to as Mai-Jing continued to tear, continued to violate... would he end up the same? Certainly in a far more disgraceful position but... he just wondered when it will end? Did the monster enjoy eating his flesh? No, he knew that already... he knew...

His eyes threatened to close as more tears dripped down his face as his body continued to rock to and fro upon the futon as he could feel more of his blood swelling from the open wounds she was leaving on his flesh. No one was... coming to help him were they?

Four. Haru had already reached his limit, nothing was making sense to him, he couldn't feel his stomach anymore, his arm... was it still there? A tentative struggle of the limb shown no response. So.. it wasn't. Hahaha. Crimson eyes slowly slid to look to the woman above him, her mouth coated in his blood, saliva dripping down the parted lips as her eyes rolled back in ecstasy. His vision was blurring again, a heaviness settling within him as his mind was trying to block it all out. Yes... he couldn't take this. This was... too much. Did he have to die like this again? The monster's hands framed his face as her lips curved up in a demented smile, "I love you~! Hah~ Haru~!" Love? She loved him?

F̶̲̙̺̺͑́͝i̵͍̗̼̐l̴̖̮̑̉̾̕͘ṫ̷͎̗̙̃̌h̷̠̅̀̌̽͜ý̵̥̺͔͎̋ ̷̡̯̫̰̔̉l̴̡̥͕̱̾̈́i̷̤̝͉̠̿̌̕͜ã̴͈͆͝r̸̡̨͇̪͗.̷̤̻͎̗͐̂̋̃

Five. "Hah~ Haru? Haru? Mnn~" The monster's filthy moan echoed above him as he felt his head being angled up, forced to look with bleary, bloodshot eyes at the woman who cooed, "Mmn~ I still need... hah.. one little t-thing." What more did she need? He.. there was nothing of him left- "AAAHHH!" The scream ripped past him in visceral agony as sharp fingernails dug into his left eye, a giggle leaving her lips, "I just need this one little thing, father wants them you know? I can't say that I blame him. You have such beautiful eyes!"

...​

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

Was he dead?

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

It felt as if he couldn't feel anything anymore, the remaining ruby in his skull to the unprepared would view the eye being lifeless, lacking intelligence or the usual brilliant luster that was so characteristic of the man they belonged to, what had once been so very much Haru.

Tick. Tock. Ṱ̵̪̰̮̜͛̈́̾i̵̺̔͜c̶̼̦̅̇͊̀k̶̗̺̲̲̽͐.̷̝̋̈́̋̒ ̷̳̦͖͌̈́̍̾͝T̷͖̉̐͂͐̌o̷̤͍͊̈̔c̴͉̎͜k̶̘̭̫͓͌̂̆̀.̶̲̘̄͑͋͂͝

Though his body was unresponsive and most certainly would be considered dead, his soul clung stubbornly to the unrecognizable husk, the stomach having been pried open in a horrendous display of violence exposing innards half-eaten, his left arm chewed and ripped apart, deep enough to reveal the bone, left eye now a bloodied marble within the monster's hand which had now severed the connection between herself and the unfortunate victim. Leg, broken once more, and hip showing contortion in the unnatural sign of it too having been broken, one cheek having been gnawed on and exposing the reddish inside of what was supposed to be soft, unblemished skin. Surely, one would take one look at what was once the Seer and proclaim that he indeed had expired a long time ago. For any normal mortal that would be very, very true.

But the man was not a normal mortal, for the celestial beast that was the Phoenix inhabited the battered mortal shell, and due to such a soul it would not be quick to leave its hold upon the mortal body it was tied to... as horrifically disfigured the body was.

Ṱ̵̪̰̮̜͛̈́̾i̵̺̔͜c̶̼̦̅̇͊̀k̶̗̺̲̲̽͐.̷̝̋̈́̋̒ ̷̳̦͖͌̈́̍̾͝T̷͖̉̐͂͐̌o̷̤͍͊̈̔c̴͉̎͜k̶̘̭̫͓͌̂̆̀.̶̲̘̄͑͋͂͝Ṱ̵̪̰̮̜͛̈́̾i̵̺̔͜c̶̼̦̅̇͊̀k̶̗̺̲̲̽͐.̷̝̋̈́̋̒ ̷̳̦͖͌̈́̍̾͝T̷͖̉̐͂͐̌o̷̤͍͊̈̔c̴͉̎͜k̶̘̭̫͓͌̂̆̀.̶̲̘̄͑͋͂͝

Haru could vaguely still hear, a muffled voice and the sound of shifting clothes as the monster named Mai-Jing had covered herself, "Hmm... I wonder where father is now?" He felt her gaze upon him, the sound of her footsteps echoing in his ears as she then crouched down beside him, rolling his stolen eye about in her palm as she hummed, "I know you're still in there Haru, playing dead isn't going to help you right now~" G̴̺̬̤̾̚͝ẻ̵̢̖̣̠̜̉͆̂̉t̴̫̆́̐̕̚ ̴̧̨̦̞͈̒̏͝ą̶͓͚̓̽͛̀͛͜ẅ̴̹̬̜͓̝͑̄̑͝ǎ̸̦̦̖̦y̷͇̪͎͜͠ ̸̨̧̫̆̏͂f̸̢̟̭͛͝ͅr̶̭̝̃ỏ̸̧̲͎m̸̡̟̰͇̪̾̈́ ̷̧̺̟̱̥̎̀͋m̷̱̃́e̶̢̢͚̙͐̾̈́̄͒,̴͕͙͗ ̶̢̠̰̪̌y̷̤̞͛̋̎͗͠o̵̢͔̣͕̳͌̃͛͗̍ů̸͎̠̭̲͋͋̑̀ ̵͖̖͈͔̈́ͅb̶̲̖̲̉a̴̧̠̰̞̭̿s̶͇̱͖̿͘̕ẗ̴̖͍̪̟͍́͒͑ą̷͖̖̺̞̈́̕r̷̡͍̾̾d̸̨͚̘̗̙̆.̴̯͗̔̌ The one eye remaining turned to look at the woman he once loved as she leaned over and placed her bloodied lips upon his own, smearing the paling rose petals with his own blood and whatever lipstick that still remained underneath the iron tang. The Seer's right hand twitched, the only feeling remaining in his body as her lips parted from his own, a mocking expression crossing Mai-Jing's face, "Love you~!"

Rage. Oh the rage was filling his dying body. Love? LOVE?! She dare spoke of love when she had done this to him?! How dare she?! H̷̥̭̣͠ợ̶̈w̶̡̰̝̻̍ ̴̞̣̽̇d̵͖̹̓̃͑̈́a̶̢̩̭̯͋̌̐̕͘r̵͈̅̿e̴̛̱͇͎̞̺̓̽ ̶̖͈̰́s̸̥̰͛̓̚ȟ̶̗̽̿e̵̟̟̥͛̒̽͜͝?̵̣̅̐!̶͔͐́̽̌

Yet, the still body did not move, ever so slight was the chest that rose and fell as she caressed underneath his chin and down his pale neck, "Now that we've had our fun... tch!" The sudden harsh click of her tongue punctuated the air as he saw the monster whip around, her hand dropping the ruined eye and instead picking up her blade, expression embittered. "Oh, it's you. I'm afraid you're a bit too late... Mitsuko, was it?" Mit...suko...

Don't... look... Tears swelled in the one eye remaining, the Seer unable to move his head to even look to see what was happening. Ah.. he was... slipping... Don't... look... at.. me... His throat felt itself tightening, a strangled sound leaving him, evident of the life that still remained as it mimicked a weak cry. "G-guugh.." Get away. Haru's eyelid was growing heavier, the other a useless flap over an empty socket. Cruel, this was cruel. Of course the one person that could possibly make a difference in this scenario had arrived far too late to help him. But, perhaps all the same... at least she had showed up at all. He could take comfort in that... could he?

It was... getting harder to think...

 

[Sei Shonagon]

Kanamori no Mitsuko
Vocab:

Theme: KikuoHana - ヒビダラケの眼

---

Careful was correct. She would have to be careful with the vulture that would not wait for her death to start prying her rib cage open. Brazen knuckles gripped tighter around the hilt of his sword in wordless preparation of the like. Mitsuko held her stunted breath while beads of perspiration counted the seconds down her back. “What do we do? You have no sword, little sister.” Ichiro tilted his head and pivoted his full weight onto the hilt, the metal jangled tauntingly in its sheath. The motion was reminiscent of a shishi-odoshi, cRRing, except it didn’t have the effect of sending her scurrying for her life. Instead, she anchored her gaze on the neck that saw him lilt the other way.

“Should I even out the odds?”

“You’re being noisy” Her brows snapped in their furrows.

Indeed, he was being unusually talkative for a man who had never cared about fairness before; When he brought his fists down on her cowering form and beat the trembles out of her at the feet of their father. A farce, his veiled silence was a farce meant to mock her. It couldn’t be anything else as he eventually agreed with the unsheathing of his blade. The metal sang against the edge of the sheath and cleaved the final note in half when it flicked into the air.

“I suppose I am. Forgive me for being excited over the reunion with my little sister,” The perpetual dryness was as tone-deaf as his stony expression.

He had never asked for forgiveness before.

Earth crunched under his sole and the wind split apart before his hands. The blade lashed out at her in an extension of the knuckles that would’ve otherwise barreled into her face. Mitsuko weaved away and spun at the tip of her toes. His swings barraged her one-sidedly, literally as they only seemed to target her undamaged arm, and she danced along; the sword her only lead for the pace of the rhythm.

Ichiro’s slicing was clean-cut and neat, always within the intended frame of motion and never wasting an ounce of energy on flailing. He did waste breath on needless words, however. “You’ve gotten quite good at running.” He voiced out on the descent of his blade, it brushed past her side and immediately turned over to swish above her head. Mitsuko dodged accordingly, not quite sure whether he was referring to their current standoff or any past standoffs.

The details didn’t matter all too much as she decided to flip the script and dropped to the ground. Her leg swooped out at his feet and he jerked back. “So eager to hide your secrets that you sent him back alone?” A moment of reprieve was granted from the continuous swings and Mitsuko reined the appeal for oxygen back in under clenched jaws.

“What do you mean?” Her composure cracked and she breathed out, hot and harshly.

Upper lip curled back to flash enamel which curdled hatred between gritted teeth. Ichiro brought his blade up to his face and bared the pointed edge at her.

“You know what I mean.” His response reverberated coldly through the singing metal. The sound was strangled to a thin falsetto and focalised at the tip that spearheaded towards her. Steel stared her pupil in the eye, head on, and drilled forward. Her brain connected the dots with the spark of a gasp.

Haru.

The spark caught fire and an explosion rippled through her muscles. Soundless booms propelled her limbs ahead and blared against the bounds of flesh. She honed in on the incoming impalement with all her mass and the vibrations pierced her to the very core- blurred out the edges of her silhouette that mirrored the blade.

Ichiro triangulated down his sister, brows, mouth and hands driving the blade suddenly shouldering a new weight upon steep features. A heavy one that laced jaws shut tightly. The foolish girl hadn’t learned a thing. She was still throwing herself headfirst, still being puppeteered by emotions that were dedicated to others. Fine. He would just have to beat it out of her again, this sense of duty that saw her throw away self-preservation even while faced with the prospect of being skewered. He leaned his weight into the jab and shifted his feet, prepared to steer away at the very last second.

Instead, she ducked and her hand (the one that he hadn’t seen her moving before now) shot out. It grappled his elbow from below and pushed up. Steered him away by herself until Mitsuko closed the gap with her other palm against his throat.

Lies.

She wasn’t injured at all.
—


Haru.

Gut-wrenching, heart pumping- her legs thrust forward through the waves of lactic acid. They ached and hammered feet down into the substrate of mud that splashed up her calves.

Haru.

Her hair whipped at her face, a tangled mess that had seen hands pull at it until prone to fall out, and her face was equally in a disarray. Smeared with blood that was both her own, and not.

In the distance towered pillars of smoke from the village below. Mitsuko had never been one to say prayers, but she did chant a quiet one at the back of her mind as she crashed towards the porch.

“HARU! HONOMI!” His name came out loud this time. With a pair of stomps that knocked upon wooden floorboards and ragged breaths that threw her at the walls. First at the entrance, she tumbled to the floor in the drawing room and scrambled back up, then at the wall beside Honomi’s bedroom.

Mitsuko ripped the shoji door open. She was blue, then white. The trembles that rattled the sword in her hand died out into complete stillness. There was nothing pristine or regal about the way she hung from the wall before the scene of red.

Honomi was red, Haru was red, and the body that she had painted the gold inlaid stairs to the throne with- was red. Red with their red.

The cut on her cheek was nothing in comparison to the carnage at her feet. Mitsuko’s face crumbled under the shadows of black.

It clicked, or snapped really. The raking indentations of teeth on his shoulder and the missing strips of flesh- it was Mai-Jing. It had been Mai-Jing all along. “How…?” The air scraped hoarsely against her vocal cords.

The phantom burst out in a peal of cackles. “Does it matter how?” The, once upon a time, white shiromuku trailed over the creaking floorboards. Ironic, since it was hardly a wedding and more akin to a funeral.

The walking corpse bridged the gap between them and placed a very corporeal hand on her chin. “So this is the whore who almost snatched you away from me?” Venomous words followed the thumb that harshly turned her face by the chin. “Now that I think about it, I had almost forgotten your face. You had such a disgustingly pitiful look on it that I couldn’t bear to look at it.” Up, down and side to side. Mai-Jing snorted at the conclusion of her inspection “It’s not anything special. How come you almost fell for this, Haru?”.

She had a point. It didn’t matter how she was still here- only how Mitsuko would make it undone again.

Her hand blinked past Mai-Jing’s outstretched arm. “Guh-!?” She hooked on faster than Mai-Jing could react and squeezed down.

“Is there anyone else here?” Iron fingers clasped around the woman’s pallid throat with such inhuman strength that it cinched shut. A row of gagging noises and feral clawing at her hand followed until the choke hold had drained all of her energy. Mai-Jing’s brown eyes bulged and lolled back in their sockets that faced the ceiling.

“I’ll ask again-” Mitsuko eased up on the collar “Did you come alone?”.

Mai-Jing gasped and nodded with such fervour that drool spittled all over her clothes.

“Good. How nice of you to come alone this time, I don’t have to deal with your entourage this way.”

Mitsuko raised her sword and burrowed the blade into the gut of the woman within the blink of an eye. “GHAH!” The woman’s sword clattered to the ground with a dissonant jangle and she spewed a handful of black sludge onto Mitsuko’s hand- the hand that had pushed the sword up to its hilt inside of innards.

The brunette placed a foot on her hip and twisted the handle. Resistance met the blade in the form of muscle and tendons that strained against ladle. She stirred the insides some more before she forcibly removed the plug with a kick. Mai-Jing was thrust to the floor, stomach gaping and leaking like a shattered vase. Gargles stocked in the woman’s throat and spilt out over the floor that had seen more than enough blood for a lifetime. She dragged her palms across it, trying desperately to gain some traction and distance from her observer.

No, this wasn’t anything like a funeral at all. It was an execution, and Mitsuko was the executioner.

She hovered above the mangled mess of her victim with the impending certainty of a guillotine. “Y’know,” A somewhat tangled sigh fought its way out of the brunette. She crouched down, eyes whittling away at the twined ropes of the imaginary blade that she hung above Mai-Jing’s head. “-I don’t really like this new discovery. I don’t know who pieced you back together, but it makes me unsure on how I should kill you.” Mitsuko poked at the woman with her blade “Do I have to tear you apart, piece for piece, to make it so that they can’t sew you up or do I just simply burn you to ashes?”.

Mai-Jing’s bloodshot eyes projected out of her skull while her jaw emptied scoops of liquid on the floor.

“I suppose I could do both.”

Mitsuko kneeled forward and bent her fingers to a claw.

“Let’s start with your eyes, shall we?”.

—


The sunset lowered itself with a cry of defeat over the village that provided the ash to flaming fire hearth. She cradled the remains of the last shattered pieces of her heart in her arms, a pitiful excuse of a husk that had once been her lettuce head. Beside her sat another husk, someone she had been urged to call mother and was, just like her real mother, no more.

A caw rang out from the open porch. Mitsuko stroked the matted green hair back into clotted obedience and peered down at the green, almost brown, strands. “...God, is that you?” She wheezed out quietly from punctured lungs. A whimper whistled forth from the hole. “Of course, it isn’t…” The silence that met the sound only cemented her solitude. Haru’s shredded torso had stopped bleeding all over her long ago and the stains were now dry.

Much like her eyes that strained unblinking into nothingness.

“....haha”

 

[LONELYRAIN]

Lilium - Elfen Lied OST
Was he alive? Or was he dead? Did he finally achieve the oblivion that he sought? No longer could he feel his limbs, nor could he hear the drone of voices echoing nearby. The darkness pulled, dragged at the consciousness, the soul as his vision - or what remained was overcome with the pitch black emptiness, only to be dumped in a place that only visited him in nightmares: the recesses of his own mind where the other him, that was all the same not him but was had awaited him.

The Seer's eyes fixated on the bloody mass of twisted flesh, making up a mockery of the Phoenix as the broken head of the beast swayed to and fro like a pendulum, hypnotic in the spurts of blood that freed itself from between severed legs and pulsing amalgamations of flesh. "..Oblivion, oblivion is here." The familiar woman's voice whispered in the darkness, a voice as sinister as the whispers within his soul. Ever so slowly as the Phoenix stirred, the sound of wet, gushing blood met the Seer's ears as he watched the beast approach, its flesh splitting open to mirror his own, the wet sound splintering and tearing open as innards spilled forward in between the fleshy mess of hands and legs as the Phoenix's wings wrapped around him in a similar action, an embrace.

"We have been betrayed." It cooed, "Raped, devoured, left for dead. 'Tis our fate, 'tis our burden." Haru's lips parted as he struggled to speak, the soft flesh of the beast's wings, hands of lives past had begun to grab at his body, "..I'm tired." He whimpered, tears beginning to blur his vision at the admission as he gazed up at the twisted nightmare before him, "...I'm so tired... of all of this. Why?" It was cruel, yet the question left his lips before he could stop it, a question he had posed time and time again and even to the Phoenix itself prior to knowing, prior to being cursed with more burdens than he could take, more burdens that he could carry. The Phoenix's twisted neck swayed once more until the beast's head loomed directly above the Seer beginning to be pressed against the split stomach, its bloody embrace a mockery of the matron it was supposed to be, what it had been depicted as. There was silence to meet his question, as if it would not answer, for if Haru had no answer - neither did it. His lips trembled as his tears began cascading more, hands coming up to cradle his head as his body sagged forward, flickers of of the horror he had experienced beginning to surge to the surface in horrifying clarity.

"Why? Why? Why? Why?!" Haru's throat strained, wails leaving the man as his hands released his head and began striking at the soft, fleshy mass before him, "WHY?! WHY?! WHY!!?" The Phoenix's body did not yield, and Haru could feel pain upon his own torso from where he struck at the beast, but did it matter? NOTHING DID. "WHY?!" He heaved, his lips spitting a spray of black fluid as fingernails raked down the silent beast before him, "AaAaAaaaa.... hic... aaaaaa...!" The inhuman cries left him in the dark, his own self-pity reflecting back in the Phoenix's embrace which tightened around him, the grip of previous lives' hands beginning to try and soothe, to pat at broken, mutilated flesh as within the mindscape, Haru's body was splintering as he could feel the old spray of injuries that mingled with the new, old wounds layered upon each other in countless succession, until his entire body felt like it was being shredded. "I don't want to- to reincarnate! NO MORE! I CAN'T!" He screamed at the beast, punching at the flesh, fingers tearing out fleshy chunks as hysteria guided his frenzied hands. He could hear the Phoenix groan, a low groan of agony, one that rippled through his own lips. But did he care?

No.

"No more! NO MORE! NO MORE! -hic- I CAN'T DO THIS ANYMORE! AaAAaaaAAaAAa! Hahaaha..." The Seer's head slammed into the stinking flesh, rotting and putrid as his broken sobs devolved into laughter. Oh, it was painful. It was so, so painful. "...Mitsuko... I'm scared.." He whimpered, "I'm.. so scared... It hurts... I-It hurts..." The Phoenix's wings tightened around him as the beast finally spoke, "Weary child, allow me to take up the burden." Haru's crimson eyes flickered upward to the Phoenix as the head of the beast swayed into focus before his eyes, "The pain, the suffering, I can take it all. I will make them suffer, and I will bring us justice." The man's eyes blurred as his hands came out to shakily grab hold of the swaying head, stabilizing it, the woman's voice that belonged to him and not him continued, "After, we can slumber for as long as you desire. This life, this pain will be forgotten, it will all be as if it were a bad dream. Simply give control to me, and I will see to it that we will never suffer again."

No more... suffering? Flickers of ghosts settled before Haru's eyes, strangers whose faces were once his, they were... beckoning. The Seer's eyelids were beginning to feel heavy as his head slumped forward into the split chest of the best, the wings of the Phoenix wrapping tightly around him as he was pressed deep, the woman's voice echoing in the voice of a gentle mother, "There, there. Rest your weary head. I̴̧̔̚t̷͎͊̓̚'̷̬͝l̴̠̜̜̾͘ľ̴̨̨͎̣̎̉ ̷̥̪̭̎ã̵͎͖̉͋̀l̷̨̙̼̦͂̓͊̍͆ḻ̵͉̲̀̂͘ ̶̥̲̝̝̊͑͊b̶̜͐͋̓ȩ̸͚̠͖̀͑̍ ̵̲̦̌̈o̴̥͌̌̈́̚͝v̶̨̞̳̾é̵͓̹͔̿̓r̶̲̃ ̵̨͊ṡ̵͉̘̫͇̬̏ỗ̴͍̻͂ő̴̗̟̜̏͂͂n̸̨̺̙̓̓̅̄̃.̸̛͎̃͌̓͠ͅ"
The Seer's eyelids fluttered close, in his last seconds of consciousness, he failed to realize that the woman's voice that had been so characteristically the Phoenix had turned into a man's voice, one that haunted his every life like a shadow. The hunter had laid the trap.

...​

Arceus Battle Theme - Pokemon Diamond, Pearl & Platinum OST
The trap had been laid. Eizan's eyes slowly opened as dark eyes settled upon the sight of the slave providence before him. From what little he could actually manipulate from this distance, it seemed as if his failure of a daughter had not completely destroyed his plans. She left not one drop. Perhaps, I might feel merciful later. The soul he had felt depart as soon as her clay body had been destroyed, though the man in stolen beast's flesh could guess quite well who was responsible for the sudden severing of his puppet from his grasp. Normally, such boldness would be met with the man being enraged beyond his own limits, however it seemed like even with this minor setback; the man had the upper hand. It mattered not if he lost the pawn again, for she had served her purpose, a gateway into his prey's mind, and oh.. how broken indeed was the soul that he had looked down upon in the midst of a dark, broken dreamscape. His beloved in a mere boy's body, screaming and weeping. Although it was a fraction of control, it was enough to override whatever paltry control that pitiful Chizusu- Haru still had.

A smile crossed the handsome face as he peered at the destruction from the safety of the grand ship, seeing the scattering of slaves and overseers alike underneath the wave of his forces. The sight was... amusing, as amusing as gazing upon ants as they scurried. Soon, he would have his beloved back in his grasp and soon he would be able to feast upon her again; yet not before forcing the creature that was his beloved to provide some entertainment for himself. After all, if he were to be lord over the beasts, it was certainly about time that he would exert dominion over the beings that were celestial beasts. After all, in the many lifetimes of his beloved Phoenix, he always felt their presence near, felt their rage, their hatred. Perhaps he was asking for the rage of the gods to come down upon him, but if so then so be it! Was he not a god himself!? Was he not their supreme ruler in the end!?

Eizan's head tilted back to gaze up at the crimson skies, breathing in deep the smell of smoke, of blood. He drank in the sounds of steel coming down upon flesh, the screams and cries that came with battle, and with it sent shivers down his spine. His lips parted; the man reaching for the glow of power slumbering within his soul, the stolen power sparking to life underneath his will as he uttered a single command to a beast beginning to awaken from slumber: "Kill." He whispered.

The man turned his head then to the skies beyond the village, a flow of goosebumps flowing over his skin. There was... motes of energy, even though it was faint, he could feel them approaching. Very well. The wicked man's body pivoted as his next decision settled on, should he continue to watch from the safety of his refuge of a ship? Or should he take the more exciting option of awaiting to see who would reach him first; his beloved, or the three raging celestial beasts whose bloodlust he could feel as if it were his own. How exciting!

...​

Return to Oblivion (Eden's Verse: Refulgence Shiva Theme) - FFXIV: Shadowbringers OST
The corpse had grown cold in Mitsuko's grasp, no breath to stir the lungs and the eye which gazed upon nothing held no recognition of the woman cradling him. Haru truly was dead in this moment, all life having been drained as soon as his blood had stopped flowing... and yet the soul remained. As the sun began to die within the skies, it was as simple as a gentle warm breeze had passed and a sudden surfeit of rancid blood flowing upward past the Seer's lips as the body began to stir. On stiff muscles had the body begun to shift within Mitsuko's grasp, no breath gracing the corpse as it lurched upward, a crimson glow sparking to life in the remaining eye. Kill. The voice echoed in the Phoenix's mind, a twisted rage filling the breast and flowing through every vein, every stiff muscle as the Seer in unnatural movements had surge to his feet - an action that resulted in a collapsing of the corpse immediately at the poor state it had been left in.

Kill. The man's voice echoed in the Phoenix's head again as it lay limply upon the floor, the eerie glow to the beast's eyes intensifying as the Seer's right arm now gripped at the floorboards, dragging the desecrated body over the floorboards as the body's previously frigid surface now was beginning to flare with fresh heat, with fresh fire. Kill. The aramitama within the body was spilling through the open wounds, black, reeking ichor pouring through any open orifice as the corpse continued its pitiful crawl, unresponsive to the world around it, lips parting as vocal chords were tested, "AaAaAaAAaaa-" Gargled, strained and painful it decided upon testing the result. Haru's voice- their voice was so very, very spent, not a true surprise considering how much they had screamed and cried earlier. No matter, there was no need to use such a voice anymore.

It had a burden, their burden to lessen. No time for such foolishness as testing this mortal body, mortal flesh.

The moving corpse had came to a halt as soon as it reached outside of Honomi's abode, as if it suddenly had lost whatever witchcraft that had taken hold of it... until it began to twitch. Twitch, snap, crack - slowly the body was beginning to swell as the heat emanating from the body was beginning to become unbearable, as if a scalding fire had suddenly sparked to life right then and there, and fire did swell from the body, sparking free from underneath battered, bloodied skin as the shape that was Haru was becoming unrecognizable, far more disturbing than the mere desecrated corpse as slowly but surely, something was beginning to form in its place. It was... a large bird, or it was supposed to be. What made up the creature was flesh, broken, bleeding and pulsing flesh, disgusting and reeking. The wounds that lined the Phoenix made of flesh were not only the fresh ones that Haru had suffered, but old ones as well, oozing the toxic sludge that was aramitama. Kill.

The Phoenix's head snapped, popped and twitched as the nightmare beast from Haru's dreams had become reality, its twisted wings spreading wide as a bellowing, enraged cry left the beast's maw, a sound that shook the earth and pierced the firmament:


Ȩ̸̼̗͐́̐̓ͅȩ̵̦̫̫͈͙͎̍̃̊̆́̀̈́̾͝e̷̬̬̽̆̅͗̽͂̌̍̋̄ȩ̷̱͎̻̻̹̻̱̳̐̌̃͑̍̚͘͠ḙ̶̗͙̙͚̯̻͍̍̈́͘͝i̵͉͕̟͂̂̍̽̅̔̈́͌͂͑z̴̩̙͈̟̣̪͖͚͆̓̊̀̾͊̚͜͝a̷̪̹̬͓͊́͊̂̿̈̄̈́͒̕a̵̢̤͙̪̥͔̬̞͆̇̃͋̅͆̽̽̃̚a̸̺͕̤̻̲̗̯̹̔́̾͗́̉̏̔̈͝a̶̧͓̘̱̯̩̩̹͕̻̓̌ǎ̵̲̭̲͓̊̎̈͛̇͝a̴̢̢̼̤̖͚͕̗͂ń̴̖̫̳̥͍͖̟̓̏͌̓͝!̶̦̺͙͌̇ͅ


The rage that filled the uttered scream of the name of a man who once lived six thousand years ago, so hate-filled, so enraged was the beast that it screamed the man's name out loud now, that it raged against the command that Eizan had given it. No more... no more! It wanted no more! The self that lived now, and the self that clung to the past did not want any part in whatever horrendous future that Eizan desired to give it. It must... it must burn everything. Burn everything and then... then it would be safe? It would be safe! Yes!