nighttimecatplayer
~Stay Purrfect!
Carmen.
“The Musically Insane."
Post Number:
1#.
(Introduction).
Location:
The ruined cathedral.
(Virtue's summoning location).
Character Interactions:
Virtue, Rook, Mother Voorjaar, Zane, Ashe.
Incidental Theme:
Incidental Theme:
- - -
Somewhere in an alternate universe...
I silently walked through the endless white halls with Maxwell in tow, my heart and mind racing as my shadowy companion chewed my ear off for letting us fall so easily into government hands.
Usually, I would brush off Maxwell's insults with a lighthearted laugh and retort with something smart or witty, but there was a permanent scowl on my face as the guards led me to my death.
Maxwell was right. After decades of living freely and uncontested, I was stupid enough to wander into a trap designed for children. I was utterly disgusted with myself, even if it partially wasn't my fault.
...At least that little girl was safe. It was wrong of me to drag a child into my foolish affairs, but why do I care so much? I murder children in cold blood, for Christ's sake!
. . .
...And yet, I still went out of my way to protect a child that I barely even knew.
Was it because of her childlike innocence, her enrapturing smile, her mystifying laugh, or perhaps it was because I could relate to her when I was younger?
I could not wrap my head around it, and it was driving me mad. Why did I care?
Why did I, of all people, care about one feeble-minded child?
Why did I care?
I was supposed to be cold, cruel, uncaring, and sadistic! My NAME invokes fear in others, and I was going to let something like THIS be my downfall?
The great Carmen!?
No, I would not stand for such a humiliating fate!
I felt my confidence returning, but it was short-lived when one of the guards rudely shoved me out of my thoughts, reminding me of my grim situation.
There was not much that I could do with these magical cuffs preventing me from using my powers (Not to mention they were digging into my wrists), and I could not fly away with my wings shackled.
I considered trying to break free from the guards and making a run for it, but I knew it would be pointless when I was already in the belly of the beast.
My only other options were to let Maxwell posses me even if he would achieve little, or wait for Samuel to come back. Unfortunately, neither of those options seemed very promising, especially considering Samuel was nowhere near my location.
Knowing that I was stuck, I sighed and chose not to stir the pot. It would be rash to provoke the people who had the authority to end my life in a heartbeat.
"Why are you so quiet shit for brains? Aren't you supposed to be cursing our names by now or making some retarded comment about how you'll escape and make us rue capturing you?"
My breath hitched in my throat, and I instinctively grinned at the guard, who only shot me a strange look and turned away.
"Leave the guy alone. We all know he's a disgusting piece of shit, but no need to kick the man while he's down."
I was annoyed by the guard's pathetic attempt to make himself feel better by using my misfortune as a hopeless excuse. One way or another, we were both murderers who killed for a living.
"Are you even hearing yourself right now? How could you defend this psychopath? Do you have any idea what this guy's done? The amount of pain and sorrow so many people have to endure because of one self-absorbed chucklefuck? Why do you think the president wanted us to capture him? This guy's crimes go way beyond jail time."
I blankly stared forward, tuning out the rest of the guard's conversation about how awful I was. There was no use adding fuel to the fire or wallowing in self-pity.
Eventually, we reached a giant set of doors, and both Maxwell and the guards fell silent.
Before I could even register what was happening, the guards shoved me into a courtroom full of people and forced me to my knees in front of a familiar black mirror.
I felt my eyes widen, and my breaths became shallow and uneven as people whispered and glared at me, and I tried to ignore staring at my own twisted reflection.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Why?!
Why now of all times?!
How is it still here?!
I destroyed that mirror decades ago!
Pull yourself together, Carmen! You've performed in front of thousands of people countless times, and you ADORE being the center of attention. You cannot let this be your final moments! DO NOT let this be your final moments! Quit being such an incompetent fool!
Despite my best efforts to keep the scopophobia and paranoia at bay, there was nothing I could do when the guards forced me to look at the mirror, and the jury beside me slowly morphed into taunting shadows who insulted me at every unforgiving turn.
"Calvin Fordyce, for your many crimes against humanity and God himself, how do you plead?"
Maxwell was trying to grab my attention, but I did not acknowledge him as the long-forgotten painful memories resurfaced, and I began to shake and uncharacteristically cry as salty wet tears slid down from underneath my mask.
How could I be so weak? Were all their deaths for naught? Was this really how it was going to end?
My eyes flickered around the room as the shadows laughed and pointed at me, mocking me for sniveling like a child and being unable to form even the most basic sentence.
I was too emotionally distraught to notice my when my grey flesh began ripping open, and painful bleeding sores popped up all over my body, drenching my suit with my own black blood and staining the white marble courtroom floor.
...It was that mirror, that accursed black mirror. It caused all of this. It did this to me.
I need to break it, I need to break free, I need to...
My thoughts became lost in the madness, and I thrashed against my restraints as the guards struggled to hold me still.
"AhAhAhAhAh! God?! GOD?! Do you all truly believe you are deserving of your god's praise when you try to play the judge and prosecute me for MY crimes whilst ignoring your own?! Have you not overlooked the women and children who are starving to death on the streets because you are too busy committing war crimes and lining your own pockets?! Have you no sense of decency?! This is outrageous, an absolute blasphemy! Once I get out of these binds, I will personally make every last one of you suffer for your transgressions! The whole world will know my name, and I will make you all grovel at MY feet! You cannot run from the truth forever, you cann-"
My breathless ranting and manic laughter came to a halt when a sharp object pierced through my neck, and my head detached from my body and rolled onto the floor.
The last thing I saw was my headless body slumping over and Maxwell glaring down at me in disappointment before everything faded to black.
- - -
"C--m--, --t u-."
"Ca-me-, g-t up."
"Carmen, get up, you lazy piece of trash. There's a literal giant chess piece screaming at a deity, and you're still sleeping. Do I seriously need to possess your pathetic ass already? Fucking hell, even in a completely different universe, I still get stuck with you."
My eyes immediately snapped open at Maxwell's tirade of insults, and I sat up with a sinister grin.
I was going to respond to the creature with some rather colorful French vocabulary when I realized I was surrounded by foreigners who were most certainly not from my world.
One glance around my ruined environment was enough to put me on high alert, and I hastily stood up, summoning my black cane from my pocket dimension and leaning on it.
I observed the colorful cast with confusion, my memories and mind foggy until my piercing red eyes landed on an exquisitely captivating deity, and everything came flooding back all at once.
My grip on my cane tightened, and there was a flash of hurt in my eyes, though I was able to control the influx of emotions much easier now that I was no longer under the influence of that wretched mirror.
Much to my annoyance, I had perished in my old world due to a careless mistake, but I was fortunate enough to be revived by a Divine Goddess who now wanted me to partake in global conquest to unite this world on peaceful terms.
Wiping a tear out of my eye, I couldn't help but laugh at Virtue's fruitless demands. While I did agree with the concept of social equality, I knew it was pointless to unite a world when disorder and dysfunction would always ensue.
People have different views, different upbringings, different personalities, and different lives.
The world thrives on chaos, and it was much more entertaining to let life play out on its own instead of trying to play God and eventually be overthrown by your subordinates.
Furthermore, I highly doubt that every "Summoned" would share the same ideals, me being one of them.
Although I was grateful for the deity giving me a second chance, it would be boring to take over the world, and it was laughable that Virtue thought I would assist them with her trivial matters.
Surely a Divine Goddess would already know who I am, so why choose to summon someone who will blatantly ignore your cause?
Still, the idea of having a whole new world at my fingertips was exhilarating, and I found it hard to contain my excitement.
There were new faces to befriend, new hopes to crush, and new souls to painfully erase from existence.
Ah, yes. What a brilliant time to be alive!
"Are you done?"
My gaze shifted over to Maxwell, who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.
"Whatever do you mean, my pessimistic friend?"
I innocently smirked at the creature, knowing that playing the naïve card would get under his skin.
"You've been standing here staring off into space and talking to yourself for the past ten minutes. People are going to start thinking you're on drugs or something, dipshit."
Maxwell was clearly displeased with my feigned innocence, but before I could respond with another humorous comment, he continued with something alarming.
"Have you not even noticed that your power feels different, or maybe how Samuel is gone? You're the one who went and made yourself spiritually tied to them. Shouldn't you be concerned that your extra pair of eyes is missing?"
My smile dropped when I realized that there was indeed something wrong with my powers.
How could I have not noticed before?
Unfortunately, I could not pinpoint the root of the problem, but I knew I would need to test out my abilities later to see what has changed.
As for Samuel, I was admittedly worried for the avian. Not only was Samuel a valuable asset, but he was also a close friend.
...My only friend.
Maxwell looked conflicted (As he always did when I made such personal remarks) though what surprised me was when there was a loud squawk, and a familiar blackbird flew down from one of the broken cathedral walls and perched itself on my shoulder.
My heart swelled with delight, and I immediately grabbed Samuel and nuzzled my beak against his forehead.
"Samuel! My wondrous feathered friend! You are alive and well! You gave me quite the scare back there! Do not ever abandon me again, haha!"
Maxwell muttered something under his breath, and Samuel struggled to get out of my grasp.
He was never the most affectionate bird.
Re-establishing my spiritual connection with Samuel, I grinned when my second field of vision appeared, and I let Samuel take his rightful place back on my shoulder.
"You're a moron."
I laughed and directed my attention back toward the deity, who was conversing with the other Summoned.
"So you've told me many times, my dear Maxwell!"
Maxwell followed my gaze and stood next to me.
"So, what do you plan on doing now?"
A devilish glint appeared in my eyes, and I began walking toward the self-proclaimed Virtue with a spring in my step.
"Why I am going to thank Virtue for allowing me to cheat death and giving me another opportunity to prove my superiority to the world, and then I will be on my way to see how this Castellan siege plays out!"
Maxwell did not respond, though it was safe for me to assume that he rolled his eyes at my comment.
As I got closer to the deity, I noticed that she was talking to a cybernetic boy and looked as if she was revving up for an attack.
Quickly ducking, I watched as the poor kid flew over my head and crashed into a now very unhappy dragon.
I would have cracked a joke about how the boy was reaching for new heights, but with the unfortunate series of events that were unfolding, I chose to ignore the chaos and used this opportunity to introduce myself to Virtue.
Bowing politely, I offered a hand to the Goddess and gave her my signature grin.
"He-"
Before I could even get halfway through my sentence, a hard object rammed into my side, causing Samuel to fly away in a panic as I was knocked away from the deity and launched toward another unsuspecting soul.
- - -
I stared up at the smoke-filled skies, dazed from the impact of barreling into a hard surface.
Although I was certain I was going to crash into another Summoned, I smashed into a wall instead, most likely breaking several of my bones in the process.
Thankfully, I could not feel any of the pain brought on by my injuries, but now there was a metallic halfwit babbling on top of me and putting pressure on my ribs.
I tried to tell the cybernetic boy to get off of me, but no words came out of my mouth, and my body was too weak to push him off.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Maxwell hunched over laughing at my compromising position, but for some odd reason, instead of being angry, I felt like I was floating on air.
That is when I noticed there was a sticky wet substance pooling around my head, and my vision began to blur.
The next thing I knew, my head fell back, and I slipped into unconsciousness.
- - -
Somewhere in an alternate universe...
I silently walked through the endless white halls with Maxwell in tow, my heart and mind racing as my shadowy companion chewed my ear off for letting us fall so easily into government hands.
Usually, I would brush off Maxwell's insults with a lighthearted laugh and retort with something smart or witty, but there was a permanent scowl on my face as the guards led me to my death.
Maxwell was right. After decades of living freely and uncontested, I was stupid enough to wander into a trap designed for children. I was utterly disgusted with myself, even if it partially wasn't my fault.
...At least that little girl was safe. It was wrong of me to drag a child into my foolish affairs, but why do I care so much? I murder children in cold blood, for Christ's sake!
. . .
...And yet, I still went out of my way to protect a child that I barely even knew.
Was it because of her childlike innocence, her enrapturing smile, her mystifying laugh, or perhaps it was because I could relate to her when I was younger?
I could not wrap my head around it, and it was driving me mad. Why did I care?
Why did I, of all people, care about one feeble-minded child?
Why did I care?
I was supposed to be cold, cruel, uncaring, and sadistic! My NAME invokes fear in others, and I was going to let something like THIS be my downfall?
The great Carmen!?
No, I would not stand for such a humiliating fate!
I felt my confidence returning, but it was short-lived when one of the guards rudely shoved me out of my thoughts, reminding me of my grim situation.
There was not much that I could do with these magical cuffs preventing me from using my powers (Not to mention they were digging into my wrists), and I could not fly away with my wings shackled.
I considered trying to break free from the guards and making a run for it, but I knew it would be pointless when I was already in the belly of the beast.
My only other options were to let Maxwell posses me even if he would achieve little, or wait for Samuel to come back. Unfortunately, neither of those options seemed very promising, especially considering Samuel was nowhere near my location.
Knowing that I was stuck, I sighed and chose not to stir the pot. It would be rash to provoke the people who had the authority to end my life in a heartbeat.
"Why are you so quiet shit for brains? Aren't you supposed to be cursing our names by now or making some retarded comment about how you'll escape and make us rue capturing you?"
My breath hitched in my throat, and I instinctively grinned at the guard, who only shot me a strange look and turned away.
"Leave the guy alone. We all know he's a disgusting piece of shit, but no need to kick the man while he's down."
I was annoyed by the guard's pathetic attempt to make himself feel better by using my misfortune as a hopeless excuse. One way or another, we were both murderers who killed for a living.
"Are you even hearing yourself right now? How could you defend this psychopath? Do you have any idea what this guy's done? The amount of pain and sorrow so many people have to endure because of one self-absorbed chucklefuck? Why do you think the president wanted us to capture him? This guy's crimes go way beyond jail time."
I blankly stared forward, tuning out the rest of the guard's conversation about how awful I was. There was no use adding fuel to the fire or wallowing in self-pity.
Eventually, we reached a giant set of doors, and both Maxwell and the guards fell silent.
Before I could even register what was happening, the guards shoved me into a courtroom full of people and forced me to my knees in front of a familiar black mirror.
I felt my eyes widen, and my breaths became shallow and uneven as people whispered and glared at me, and I tried to ignore staring at my own twisted reflection.
No.
No, no, no, no, no.
Why?!
Why now of all times?!
How is it still here?!
I destroyed that mirror decades ago!
Pull yourself together, Carmen! You've performed in front of thousands of people countless times, and you ADORE being the center of attention. You cannot let this be your final moments! DO NOT let this be your final moments! Quit being such an incompetent fool!
Despite my best efforts to keep the scopophobia and paranoia at bay, there was nothing I could do when the guards forced me to look at the mirror, and the jury beside me slowly morphed into taunting shadows who insulted me at every unforgiving turn.
"Calvin Fordyce, for your many crimes against humanity and God himself, how do you plead?"
Maxwell was trying to grab my attention, but I did not acknowledge him as the long-forgotten painful memories resurfaced, and I began to shake and uncharacteristically cry as salty wet tears slid down from underneath my mask.
How could I be so weak? Were all their deaths for naught? Was this really how it was going to end?
My eyes flickered around the room as the shadows laughed and pointed at me, mocking me for sniveling like a child and being unable to form even the most basic sentence.
I was too emotionally distraught to notice my when my grey flesh began ripping open, and painful bleeding sores popped up all over my body, drenching my suit with my own black blood and staining the white marble courtroom floor.
...It was that mirror, that accursed black mirror. It caused all of this. It did this to me.
I need to break it, I need to break free, I need to...
My thoughts became lost in the madness, and I thrashed against my restraints as the guards struggled to hold me still.
"AhAhAhAhAh! God?! GOD?! Do you all truly believe you are deserving of your god's praise when you try to play the judge and prosecute me for MY crimes whilst ignoring your own?! Have you not overlooked the women and children who are starving to death on the streets because you are too busy committing war crimes and lining your own pockets?! Have you no sense of decency?! This is outrageous, an absolute blasphemy! Once I get out of these binds, I will personally make every last one of you suffer for your transgressions! The whole world will know my name, and I will make you all grovel at MY feet! You cannot run from the truth forever, you cann-"
My breathless ranting and manic laughter came to a halt when a sharp object pierced through my neck, and my head detached from my body and rolled onto the floor.
The last thing I saw was my headless body slumping over and Maxwell glaring down at me in disappointment before everything faded to black.
- - -
"C--m--, --t u-."
"Ca-me-, g-t up."
"Carmen, get up, you lazy piece of trash. There's a literal giant chess piece screaming at a deity, and you're still sleeping. Do I seriously need to possess your pathetic ass already? Fucking hell, even in a completely different universe, I still get stuck with you."
My eyes immediately snapped open at Maxwell's tirade of insults, and I sat up with a sinister grin.
I was going to respond to the creature with some rather colorful French vocabulary when I realized I was surrounded by foreigners who were most certainly not from my world.
One glance around my ruined environment was enough to put me on high alert, and I hastily stood up, summoning my black cane from my pocket dimension and leaning on it.
I observed the colorful cast with confusion, my memories and mind foggy until my piercing red eyes landed on an exquisitely captivating deity, and everything came flooding back all at once.
My grip on my cane tightened, and there was a flash of hurt in my eyes, though I was able to control the influx of emotions much easier now that I was no longer under the influence of that wretched mirror.
Much to my annoyance, I had perished in my old world due to a careless mistake, but I was fortunate enough to be revived by a Divine Goddess who now wanted me to partake in global conquest to unite this world on peaceful terms.
Wiping a tear out of my eye, I couldn't help but laugh at Virtue's fruitless demands. While I did agree with the concept of social equality, I knew it was pointless to unite a world when disorder and dysfunction would always ensue.
People have different views, different upbringings, different personalities, and different lives.
The world thrives on chaos, and it was much more entertaining to let life play out on its own instead of trying to play God and eventually be overthrown by your subordinates.
Furthermore, I highly doubt that every "Summoned" would share the same ideals, me being one of them.
Although I was grateful for the deity giving me a second chance, it would be boring to take over the world, and it was laughable that Virtue thought I would assist them with her trivial matters.
Surely a Divine Goddess would already know who I am, so why choose to summon someone who will blatantly ignore your cause?
Still, the idea of having a whole new world at my fingertips was exhilarating, and I found it hard to contain my excitement.
There were new faces to befriend, new hopes to crush, and new souls to painfully erase from existence.
Ah, yes. What a brilliant time to be alive!
"Are you done?"
My gaze shifted over to Maxwell, who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed.
"Whatever do you mean, my pessimistic friend?"
I innocently smirked at the creature, knowing that playing the naïve card would get under his skin.
"You've been standing here staring off into space and talking to yourself for the past ten minutes. People are going to start thinking you're on drugs or something, dipshit."
Maxwell was clearly displeased with my feigned innocence, but before I could respond with another humorous comment, he continued with something alarming.
"Have you not even noticed that your power feels different, or maybe how Samuel is gone? You're the one who went and made yourself spiritually tied to them. Shouldn't you be concerned that your extra pair of eyes is missing?"
My smile dropped when I realized that there was indeed something wrong with my powers.
How could I have not noticed before?
Unfortunately, I could not pinpoint the root of the problem, but I knew I would need to test out my abilities later to see what has changed.
As for Samuel, I was admittedly worried for the avian. Not only was Samuel a valuable asset, but he was also a close friend.
...My only friend.
Maxwell looked conflicted (As he always did when I made such personal remarks) though what surprised me was when there was a loud squawk, and a familiar blackbird flew down from one of the broken cathedral walls and perched itself on my shoulder.
My heart swelled with delight, and I immediately grabbed Samuel and nuzzled my beak against his forehead.
"Samuel! My wondrous feathered friend! You are alive and well! You gave me quite the scare back there! Do not ever abandon me again, haha!"
Maxwell muttered something under his breath, and Samuel struggled to get out of my grasp.
He was never the most affectionate bird.
Re-establishing my spiritual connection with Samuel, I grinned when my second field of vision appeared, and I let Samuel take his rightful place back on my shoulder.
"You're a moron."
I laughed and directed my attention back toward the deity, who was conversing with the other Summoned.
"So you've told me many times, my dear Maxwell!"
Maxwell followed my gaze and stood next to me.
"So, what do you plan on doing now?"
A devilish glint appeared in my eyes, and I began walking toward the self-proclaimed Virtue with a spring in my step.
"Why I am going to thank Virtue for allowing me to cheat death and giving me another opportunity to prove my superiority to the world, and then I will be on my way to see how this Castellan siege plays out!"
Maxwell did not respond, though it was safe for me to assume that he rolled his eyes at my comment.
As I got closer to the deity, I noticed that she was talking to a cybernetic boy and looked as if she was revving up for an attack.
Quickly ducking, I watched as the poor kid flew over my head and crashed into a now very unhappy dragon.
I would have cracked a joke about how the boy was reaching for new heights, but with the unfortunate series of events that were unfolding, I chose to ignore the chaos and used this opportunity to introduce myself to Virtue.
Bowing politely, I offered a hand to the Goddess and gave her my signature grin.
"He-"
Before I could even get halfway through my sentence, a hard object rammed into my side, causing Samuel to fly away in a panic as I was knocked away from the deity and launched toward another unsuspecting soul.
- - -
I stared up at the smoke-filled skies, dazed from the impact of barreling into a hard surface.
Although I was certain I was going to crash into another Summoned, I smashed into a wall instead, most likely breaking several of my bones in the process.
Thankfully, I could not feel any of the pain brought on by my injuries, but now there was a metallic halfwit babbling on top of me and putting pressure on my ribs.
I tried to tell the cybernetic boy to get off of me, but no words came out of my mouth, and my body was too weak to push him off.
Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Maxwell hunched over laughing at my compromising position, but for some odd reason, instead of being angry, I felt like I was floating on air.
That is when I noticed there was a sticky wet substance pooling around my head, and my vision began to blur.
The next thing I knew, my head fell back, and I slipped into unconsciousness.
- - -
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