”Luca,” Luca said quietly, grimacing at the raw pain in his throat when he tried to talk.
Luca was unable to look away as Sloane was healed. He forced himself to watch the gruesome process of all her flesh regrowing, the sick feeling in the pit off his stomach barely dampened by relief. Then she looked at him with pained eyes filled with condemnation. She shook her head at him. He understood. It was all his fault. He should've been more careful. He shouldn't have gotten so close to her. If he hadn’t gone near her then she wouldn’t be hurt like this.
His heart sunk further, to depths he didn’t even know were possible, when Jasper approached Sloane first. Of course. Of course. It all made sense. Jasper’s ‘hatred’ was just a coverup… he was straight, after all, and Sloane liked him too. They would be good for each other. Sloane, under all that harsh exterior, was a nice person. She wasn’t dying, like he was. They could have a future together. Luca would take his leave like he should’ve long ago.
He shouldn’t have come back. This - hurting someone - was always going to be the result.
Luca painfully pushed himself to his feet, arms flapping to the side to balance himself. It was like there was a heavy weight pulling him down, a constant burning against his skin… But it was fine. The physical feelings were normal, just worse again. It was what had happened that hurt more… and the hope for something more, something that couldn’t be.
He’d just need an hour alone to recover, then he’d be fine again.
Luca looked around, lips twisting into a pained frown as he caught sight of Lila. She looked… bad. In so much pain. She needed help - but he couldn’t help her right now. He’d just hurt her more. Maybe later, they could talk. Hopefully someone like Britney could actually help her, and Sully would at least help with the pain.
He took a step backwards, head tilting and catching Jasper’s gaze as it moved towards him. His heart thudded painfully in his chest… He couldn’t talk to Jasper right now. Not after all of that. Luca shook his head slightly, turning around and fleeing as quickly as he could towards the edge of the trees. He ignored the pain in his legs and the burning in his lungs. He needed to go home… to get out of the way.
With that in mind, he changed direction slightly… Approaching Ken and Lynn, still away from the group. He paused far enough away from them both that there was no chance of his aura catching him. Lynn was… crying. She wasn’t in a good state either. Luca bit his lip, before forcing what he hoped was a comforting smile. As if he was fine.
”Lynn…” he said softly, trailing off. He didn’t know what to say to her. He could only imagine what she’d seen in that hallucination. Right now, what was there he could say to help? ”If you need anything, you know where to find me.”
Luca then turned to Ken with an attempted brighter smile. It wasn’t quite possible to cover up the distress in his eyes or the rotting green flecks floating across them, and the festering wounds across his bare arms. ”Ken, when you have a moment, can you take me home? I need… some time to get things back under control. It’s too risky for me to stay.”
Hopefully Ken would be able to do just that without hurting himself - he was the best option, in Luca’s mind, since he had ways of separating them physically with magic. He couldn’t go back in Jasper’s car. He might hurt any of the other three, and he really needed that time to himself.
”I’ll just wait over here!”
"You certainly won't. You'll not be crying without my company, dear one." There was a ripple, and an unkillable, unrottable wall of nothing but pure pressure that Luca would've nearly slammed into were it not for its elastic nature errupted around him. The gentle stretching sensation turned into a hammock of air, with a calm and consistent stream blowing upward into the air. After that, all the voices would be a little bit muffled, but Ken still spoke to him through the thin veil. "You will stay with me where you won't be consumed. I'll only be a moment."
”Sloane!” Anya was right behind Sully, hanging back so she didn’t get in the way when he shoved the Chalice into her friend's face. Normally she'd find his brutish way of going about it irritating, but in the case it didn't matter. Sloane needed the elixir one way or another. A soft sigh of relief escaped her slightly parted lips as the horrible rotting receded, muscle and skin reforming and her movements getting stronger. She was going to be alright, it seemed, as she got enough strength to push away Sully.
Good. It would be a shame to lose someone like her.
Anya waited until Sully stepped away to get closer, crouching beside Drake and Sloane with a furrowed brow and concerned expression. A genuinely concerned one, not hidden behind all the layers of false kindness she normally wore.
”Here, take this.” She took off her long, light grey wool jacket and draped it over Sloane. It was damp but not quite soaked through… It would do. She was glad she'd worn one that went down to her knees today, with the two of them being about the same height; anything shorter wouldn't do much for Sloane.
She then looked at Drake, almost smiling. ”This certainly is one way to apologise to Sloane.”
While Anya wasn’t particularly friendly with Jade, and thus didn’t have the (formerly) good opinions of Drake that Sloane did. But he had rushed over as soon as she was hurt… And helped Sully made sure she got healed.
”Anya,” she eventually replied to Auri’s request, tilting her head towards her, feeling it was a little ridiculous. Couldn't she manually count? Or ask Greyson to check that everyone was there?
Ah, he’d made a beeline right for Britney… of course. Anya’s lip curled up in disdain for just a moment as she watched him. Love really did make you weak.
Is that not what’s happening to you with Sloane? The more you care about her the weaker you get… Ah, but that’s not it. I didn’t care enough to sever.
She forced her gaze off Greyson, and her thoughts off that, skimming over other nearby coven members. Linqian, near naked, Aryin, near naked, Jasper… near naked. Sloane was right, what the fuck happened to everyone’s clothes?
”Maybe the winds blew them off,” Anya said drily, a delayed response to Sloane’s question. She bit her lip, continuing in a surprisingly soft tone. ”How did you get here, Sloane? I brought my care, so I can take you home? Maybe… you can come with us, Drake?”
Interactions: Britney @Shin Ghost Note, Greyson @AtomicEmperor Linqian’s Home -> A Place Where Her Home No Longer Exists
Linqian was in the kitchen. She didn’t remember how she’d moved there - no, she did. The hallucination had shifted, changed. She was younger. Huanyi played on the floor a few steps away from her, pushing his toy cars around with dramatic sound effects. He looked to be only eleven… which would make her nineteen.
She remembered the tiredness of those years. Two full time jobs, with barely any time to sleep in between. But she couldn’t feel the tiredness. This wasn’t real.
In a way, things had been easier then. She didn’t have to think as much, and-
”I said I’d make dinner, Qian-er,” Jinhai’s voice came from right beside her, as he leaned against the counter with a smile.
Jinhai was still there.
”And let you burn the house down? I don’t think so.” Linqian rolled her eyes, bumping her hip against him to try and shove him away so she could cut the vegetables in front of her. He laughed, stepping slightly to the side but still leaning over her. Fucking… he really used those extra four inches of height he had to be a pain. ”I will shove this knife in your eye, Jinhai.”
A brief flash, Jinhai’s eyes lost all life. Blood stained his white shirt. A knife was in his chest. She shook her head, the image disappeared. It wasn’t real in here.
”You’d miss me too much,” Jinhai teased, but he still stepped properly back with his hands up. Linqian wanted to wipe the smug grin off his face, but she also wanted to take a photo so she could remember it forever. She wanted to remember his smile. Not… not the end. ”And who would make sure Yi-er does all his homework?”
”I can do that,” Linqian rolled her eyes, not looking away as she started cutting the vegetables. She did it perfectly - because this was a perfect world. What she wanted. ”Just cause I can’t help him doesn’t mean I don’t make him do it.”
”You never did your homework,” he grinned. "I remember you came up with the worst excuses, then stopped bothering altogether.”
”I'm not Yi-er, he's smart. I'd never let him-”
A smouldering smell overwhelmed the freshly chopped vegetables. Shouting… No. She shouldn’t be able to hear the outside.
No, no, no, ”no, no, no, please let me-”
Once again, Jinhai disappeared in front of her eyes.
”- stay.”
But it was gone. He was gone.
Linqian didn’t even bother looking around. She didn’t care. She couldn’t give less of a fuck about whether everyone was alright. Jinhai wasn’t. Jinhai was dead. And she might as well be, with the fucking life she was living- she wanted to be. Why couldn’t she be? Why must she suffer- She wanted to go back. She’d give anything to go back.
There was a chill in the air that prickled against her skin, but she barely felt it. All she felt was numbness. Nothing.
She was still crying.
Linqian turned to look at Britney as she grabbed her shoulders, then at Greyson when he appeared out of nowhere. Had he been here the whole time? No, probably not. He was worried? Probably not about her… Ah, it didn’t matter. The tears didn’t stop, and she didn’t bother trying to stop them.
You couldn’t close to the floodgates when they were open, not without a bit of force.
She removed Britney’s hands from her shoulders to take Greyson’s jacket, pulling it on and closed to properly cover herself up. No snide comment, no eyerolls, none of the normal shit she'd give him.
”Am I okay?” Linqian echoed them both. Of course she wasn’t. It was obvious that she wasn’t. Who would be fucking okay after that?! After losing the only person she could depend on… one of the two people she had left. Then having to see him again, as if he hadn’t gone. She wanted to stay in that hallucination forever. Fuck, she wanted to see him again. ”Yeah, I’m fucking great.”
Linqian suddenly turned around and punched the vine wall beside her. She punched it again and again until her knuckles were scraped raw, blood sluggishly trickling down them. She then pulled her hands back, shaking them as the blood splattered onto muddy ground.
The pain gave her some clarity - and with it came the rest. An explosion of pain across her face where Vashti’s skull had smashed into it. A hazy dizziness still at the back of her skull. A dull ache in her whole body from falling to the ground, wrestling with Vashti in the mud. But it didn’t get rid of the pain that bothered her the most. The agony deep inside of her where it felt her soul had been ripped out. It would never come back. But it was enough to stop the tears, the weak things she hated shedding so much.
She turned back to Britney and Greyson as if nothing had happened. As if she hadn’t just been crying, and as if she hadn’t punched something until her hands bled. She raised a bloody hand to wipe away the tears, lips pulling up into a smile. It didn't reach her eyes.
It was an incredibly jarring shift.
”Well, that was a fucking bust,” Linqian grimaced, acting if everything was okay. She actively avoided looking over at anyone else, even as she finally replied to Auri’s stupid shout. ”Linqian.”
She then tilted her head up to properly look at Britney and Greyson. She should just go, make sure Huanyi was alright… but he’d said he’d be out again tonight, probably not back until midnight. The house would be empty. She couldn’t handle that emptiness. Not where there should be four other people- not where he should be. Not in that house filled with memories that was no longer a home. She couldn't. ”Either of you have plans for after this? I need to-”
What did she need? A drink, but she couldn’t have that, she had a ten hour shift tomorrow. It was a bad idea, anyway. Some fun? Sure, but that wasn’t really it. That would just be a want. No, this was a need, she-
”I need to not be alone.”
The words came out as a hoarse whisper that only Britney and Greyson would be able to hear. She bit down on her lip, eyes dropping to the floor. Fuck. She hadn’t meant to say that… or had she?
No, she hadn’t.
"Father Wolf is still around, y’know, and we don't all have a live-in ex boyfriend for protection." At least she assumed that was why Greyson was staying with Britney.
It was a pathetic excuse, playing it off as a joke, when she’d gladly welcome his knife. At least then, she’d know peace - either in the nothingness that came after, or joining Jinhai in the afterlife. Was there any point in delaying the inevitable sweet release? Why couldn't Vashti have given her that today?
Her smile dropped again, only making what she'd meant clearer.
There was a part of her that for once didn’t care if they saw just how broken she was. Vulnerability made her weak - but it was fine. Let them take advantage of it if they wanted to. Use her, kill her, she didn’t care. How could it get any worse?
The worst had already happened. Twice.
They probably had plans anyway. Britney would check on Lila, she assumed, and Greyson... Well he'd want to spend time with just Britney. There was always Aryin- Linqian caught sight of Aryin leaving out of the corner of her eye.
Nevermind.
”Don’t worry about it, you probably have plans.”
A lack of the usual confidence. She didn’t have the energy to keep it up. Not here, not now.
It was fine if she went back to the empty house.
Either she’d die quickly when Father Wolf finally came for her, or she’d suffer hours alone until her next shift, when she had to be fine again.
Interactions: Sully @Atrophy A Minor Moral Dilemma
It was so nice to be at the top of the world. Everyone bowed at her feet as they should. They followed her rule without questions and allowed her to do anything she wanted. Every powerful man- now, person, that had ever been in her life. All beneath her feet, with Sloane the only one by her side.
Ah. Did she really care enough about Sloane to keep her around like this?
The thought jolted her out of what she’d realised was a hallucination, the prostrate body of Ezra Vanburen sadly disappearing and being replaced by a disappointingly boring fallen tree trunk. Anya frowned, one hand raising to the bridge of her nose and pinching it.
At least no one had been around to see that… And she hadn’t said anything to give away what she’d seen.
Some parts of it had surprised her. The power, not so much… but how it had manifested? Unusual. She hadn’t expected to enjoy something like that so much.
And Sloane’s involvement in something so tempting for her? Something so irresistible?
That was what she found strangest of all. When had she stopped thinking of her future as solely her own, without the need for anyone else? When had she decided, somewhere deep down, that Sloane would always be there? That she, perhaps, needed her only friend to remain.
She wasn’t sure, and that made her uncomfortable.
Anya turned around towards what had been a battlefield, and turned to a chaotic mess of hallucinating Sycamore members and jiving zombies. It wasn’t dangerous anymore. The largest undead creature had been taken care of… or at least, lay fallen on the ground. With a slight sigh of relief, Anya put her Channeller back in her pocket and made her way out of the tree she’d been sheltering behind.
Her head snapped around as she tried to account for everyone useful in the group. Greyson, finally there but trapped in a hallucination of his own. Jack… where was Jack? She couldn’t see him anywhere. Likely hiding in the shadows. Stormy’s glowing shield gave him away. Britney, safe beside people Anya had no interest in going near.
Sloane, where was Sloane-
Anya stopped, breath catching in her throat. It was the closest she’d felt to panic since fighting the Stygian Snake. Sloane’s body- what was left of it- held limp in the strange child’s arms. It was rotting away, and Anya couldn’t tell if she was still breathing. Was she gone? No, she had to still be alive.
They only had one healer.
Anya spun on her heel, storming up to Sully. He was caught in the illusion, doing god knows what. She didn’t care. She snatched the Chalice from his hands, fingers curling around it as she made to go towards Sloane and Clancy.
She wouldn’t be able to use it. To use it, she’d have to sever herself from her lux. Her lux, that was everything to her. As important as her own life. More important than Sloane’s? She may be too far gone to save. Without her lux, Anya had no future. No job, no money, no security team from Ezra. It would be a fate worse than death.
Anya should, and could. It would possibly save Sloane’s life. A sacrifice many would make, she was sure.
But not Anya. Sloane was important to her, but not more important than herself or her magic.
”Sully- Sullivan!” Anya snapped explosively. She shifted the Chalice so she could clap her hands together right in front of his face, hoping to drag him out of it with sound alone. ”Sullivan McPherson, snap out of it. Do something useful with your useless life!”
It wasn’t working. Her magic was useless in this situation. She didn’t have the pink lux spells to breach a waking mind. She’d tried to develop them, tried to learn from Greyson, but it had never succeeded.
Anya gritted her teeth, closing her eyes for a moment. This wasn’t something she wanted to do. It would look bad. But it was for Sloane. To get the one person that could save her - the absolute imbecile that couldn’t even do his own job - back from his likely unachievable fantasies.
She raised the Chalice, and tried to smash it over Sully’s head. At the same time, an elbow went for his gut. If he snapped out of it in time to avoid it… fine. If not, hopefully it would drag him out.
Sloane didn’t let go. The pain didn’t pull her out of the hallucination. It only pushed her forward as Luca desperately tried to get away, heavy sickness clawing at his throat as Sloane stroked his cheek. The smell of rotting flesh filled his senses, the sights that normally filled his nightmares becoming a reality. Skin peeling off and dissolving, muscle melting away to reveal the bone. A horrible, dark rot setting across a still living body. A familiar sight on his own, a horrifying one on another.
Dark blood splattered across his dirty face. It oxidised and rusted immediately, brown specks flaking off his face and scattering to the ground as Sloane slumped towards it. He went to catch her, then stopped. It would be worse. Touching her more would be worse. Falling to the ground was less deadly. He was the real danger.
He was killing her. He was- he was doing the one thing he’d never wanted to do. It didn’t matter that it was the exact same process happening to him, that it was a cruel burden for him to bear- it was his to bear alone, to die alone, to suffer through the pain while protecting everyone else but… he’d failed at that. And now Sloane was dying. Her blood was on his hands.
He was a killer, a glorious bringer of rot and decay.
Luca didn’t resist as the kid- not a child- pulled Sloane off him and pushed Luca away. The constant rotting across his skin ate away at Clancy’s flesh, revealing the dark shadows within. The Rot inside Luca physically recoiled with a distasteful tut. It wasn’t appealing, or something he could easily destroy - even as the touch would subtly weaken Clancy’s abstraction.
Clancy’s look, the feral glare that seemed filled with loathing towards him, had Luca backing away. He stumbled, slumping down onto the ground. He kicked his legs out to continue to push himself back while sitting. Far enough away there was no risk of even his aura touching Sloane. So he couldn’t hurt her again. Far enough away from everyone else, so he couldn’t hurt them either. He’d been too complacent.
”I didn’t mean to,” he choked out. To who, he didn’t know. Clancy, Sloane, himself? ”I can’t help… I’ll only make it worse…”
The flesh of fallen zombies sizzled around him, Sloane’s blood staining his worn, green pants a darker brown. Festering wounds spread across his arms, skin darkening as sickly purple spread through his veins. It matched the decay of Sloane’s body. The rot that was slowly eating away at him was devouring her. It was horrible- it was beautiful.
They needed to get her to a healer. Miranda- Miranda could heal her, if he phoned her… no, he’d destroy his phone, and it would kill her instead. Shit. A teleporter- Jack, where was Jack?! But where would he take her? Shit, what about the 317 healer- what was their name? It didn’t matter! Just someone, anyone, to help her. He couldn’t. He couldn’t do anything. He only hurt everyone.
Why was he even here? Why was he holding on, when it brought nothing but pain?
Just give in. I want to give up.
Luca backed away further, putrid green flickering across the edges of his eyes and creeping inwards towards his pupil. It was difficult to breathe. Why? Why could it not just kill him, why did he have to suffer this slow decay as everything he touched turned to dust?
Why, why, why-
”I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to,” Luca gasped, hands digging into the corpse covered ground beside him. He stared at Sloane’s limp body, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. Dirty water turned to a horrible yellow pus that wept from wounds forming around his lashes. Everything hurt, but it didn’t matter. He didn’t care. The pain was what he deserved. ”She needs- she needs a healer… someone… I can’t… I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”
Panic filled his chest, static filled his mind, but Luca was still in control. The Rot was content within him, fueled by the flesh it had eaten and the chaos it was sowing. It was all Luca.
If Sloane died, he would be the one that killed her.
Very true. Dean won't make it easy for him. She hopes Linqian doesn't mind out. She's not trying to get her killed.
Yeahhhhh... Someone will really have to hold Linqian back if that happens before she goes gets herself shot (Thankfully she's not the one of the two with the mind reading...)
@FernStone Honestly, if he does that, all is forgiven and she'll love him forever. We can totally make that happen.
He's probably the one coven member with the best shot at it thanks to his mafia connections... (Tbh Linqian finds out about Dean and she'll go try beat his ass anyway, edict can take the credit)
x years ago… ”What? Why the fuck are you asking about Britney? Fucking hell, its been years.”
”I contacted her today.”
”... So? Why the fuck would I care?”
”Because you got pissy that I contacted Sloane, Qian-er. I don’t want to deal with that again.”
”Fuck off, Jinhai, I barely know Britney! Talk to her, don’t talk to her, I don’t care. You’re close, you like her, you think she’s oh so smart even after all she fucking did. I don’t care. Don’t talk like I’m fucking controlling or anything.”
”Well, you did-”
”Nope, stop right there. I have no opinions about her, okay? Happy. Let’s end this fucking conversation.” current day… ”It’s funny, Hai-er, but I think that me and Britney might be starting to become friends… Strange how things work, isn’t it? She’s helped me a few times now… And I’m confident she’ll have my back. I’ll have hers, too, and not just because of the whole… situation with Greyson. I like her. I can see why you were friends. I really do. I’m glad that we’re growing closer. I still don’t entirely trust her, but who do I fucking trust? Not a lot of people. I do get the feeling she looks down on me… but that’s fine. She’s probably right to. In what world do I live up to you? I’ll accept being the inferior version, always.”
Drake.Blackmore
"He realllyyy hated Jinhai, but we got on so well I had to ignore it." _______________________________________________
”Huh? I’m not just allowed to crack open a fucking beer without it being for something?”
”... It’s a Wednesday night.”
”Fucking- stop with the judgement. I was just remembering shit, okay. All those parties we used to have with the coven… Made me want a beer. Shit isn’t as interesting here, though. There used to be all sorts of shit to watch- like whenever Drake would get smashed and start fights. Fuck, I remember one time when he was going on a proper rampage against anyone who pissed him off.”
”We remember that very differently. I was one of the people he was pissed off at.”
”... Yeah, that was why it was so fun to watch.” current day… ”Drake hasn’t changed. You wouldn’t be surprised. Bet you would be all snobby about him punching Sloane in the face, saying something about how ‘you always knew he was the type to hit women.’ I think she fucking deserved it, fucking bitch… But I get it. He hated you, like I hated Victoria, and you didn’t like him. But he’s my friend, whatever you think. Thought. Fuck. He’s lost someone too. Jade was… well, I imagine he’s feeling the same as me. His future, gone. Fucking suck. But we’ll make him pay. I swear, we’ll fuck him so hard with a lightning dildo that he’ll wish we’d killed him right away.”
”One of Britney’s victims. Quite curious, actually, what he was adjoined with. Could rot near anything away. Would solve a fair few problems we have with plastic waste… Perhaps I should see if I can get in contact with him.”
”... you know what, I don’t care.”
Sloane.Faris
"Well, she still has a massive stick up her ass." _______________________________________________
”I think that Sloane has something important to tell me. Her texts have been a bit odd lately.”
”So? Why the fuck would I care?”
”Oh, I can’t talk to you about my concerns? Why don’t I go talk to someone else, then, like Anya-”
”Fuck no, you promised you wouldn’t contact that bitch…its been ten fucking years. Alright. What’re you so concerned about?”
”It’s just interesting. Maybe it's about the murders, or all those artifacts she’s been hoarding.”
”Hahaha, that’s boring shit, why wouldn’t she just come out with it? Maybe- maybe she’s going to fucking confess to you. Imagine that, emotionless Sloane having fucking feelings!”
”You might be onto something... It’s not a surprise, with looks and brains like mine. Anyone would want to date me. So many did during college, it was a real pain to turn them all down.”
”Oh shut up, there’s no fucking way. It's been ten years- and even if she did, you wouldn’t say yes, would you? Fuck, have some standards, Jinhai.” current day… ”You know who else hasn’t changed? Sloane. She’s still just as stuck up as she was ten years ago. With that fucking boring expression and constant judgments. The other day, she told me that I had to take responsibility for how fucked up my life was. Hah. I’d like to see her live a day in my shoes, do a day of actual fucking work. But you know what? She backed off when I said you’re- you’re- well, you know. She offered to pay for the funeral. I accepted, because it’s not about me. It’s about you. Giving you the goodbye you deserve the… fuck. I don’t want to. I’m glad that even though she’s the worst, she values your friendship. Most of your other friends didn’t, fucking assholes. I still don’t like Sloane, but she’s slightly less shit. It is still so fucking hard to not slap her. You aren’t even here to stop me, but I’ve fucking managed it- better than Drake, hah. But she needs to fucking watch herself… because I can only hold myself back so much.”
Linqian really didn’t get on with Sloane, and that hasn’t changed. She did try to get on with her ten years ago, because Jinhai did, but she just couldn’t. Sloane was stuck up, ruined everything fun with her permanently dead facial expressions and dished out constant critiques towards Linqian and many others. The arguments between the two of them were some of the fiercest, because Sloane was a constant fucking inconvenience to Linqian’s life. She seemed to take issue with Linqian just existing, and Linqian took great issue with her attitude. A fair few times it almost devolved into a physical fight (on Linqian’s half, at least), and the only thing that stopped it was Jinhai physically dragging her away.
Tayla.Choi
"Hey, want to grab another drink? Just us this time, I promise." _______________________________________________
current day… ”Fuck, Tayla’s changed a lot. You’d hardly recognise her. She’s been through some shit… I don’t know the half of it, but I can see why she’s fucked up if what Greyson brought up is part of it. She even has a kid now- he’s super cute, honestly, made me miss when Yi-er wasn’t a fucking nightmare. We’re similar, cause we’ve got a lot to fucking protect and we’ve lost so much shit… I feel bad for taking Greyson’s side, sorta, when shit happened. I mean, he was just being his normal dickish self and she tried to fucking smash a bottle over his head. Fucking hell, it was bad… Hopefully that shit just blows over. Course I’ll choose Greyson- he’s my friend and fucking paying me- but I don’t want Tayla to get hurt. Her kid doesn’t deserve that… she doesn’t deserve that. I’ll make sure she survives, if I can.”
"Edict".Devola
"How the fuck does he keep pulling out more stacks of cash from his pockets." _______________________________________________
10 years ago, post leaving the coven… ”What the fuck is this?”
”An agreement that you won’t contact Greyson now that we’ve left Sycamore.”
”Are you fucking with me? You wrote a whole legal agreement shit- I already agreed not to, can’t you take my word for it? Fucking hell- what is your fucking problem with Greyson? I get that you hate him, but this shit is going too far, Jinhai. He’s not even that bad!”
”And that’s the fucking problem, Linqian. You don’t think he’s that bad. He’s a criminal who can get inside your mind. But you just see him as some fun friend - one that you can hook up with now that Bianca’s out of the picture.”
”Keep Bianca fucking out of this, Jinhai.”
”I’m not wrong. I’m being pretty reasonable, letting you keep in contact with people almost as bad. But Greyson- Greyson’s a dangerous creep. I don’t want you around him.”
”’Let me’? You’ll let me, will you? Just like I let you be around Sloane and Anya and all those other fake bitches- I’m not stupid. I know what he’s like. Why the fuck would I even sign this?”
”Perhaps I’ll finally ask Anya out for dinner like I was considering… I’m sure you’d love to have her in your life more, right, Meimei? Or, I never see her again.”
”Knock it off with the ‘meimei’ shit, you ass, I’m minutes younger… Fine. Fine! You don’t see Anya, I don’t see Greyson. None of that shit you’re worried about would happen, but whatever. Even if I wanted to, I don’t have the fucking time to see him right now… And you’re wasting my precious time off with this shit. Just give me the pen.” current day… ”If you were here, you’d be so fucking pissed at me. I mean, if you were here this wouldn’t even be happening… Haha. I’m hanging around Greyson again. Well, more than that- yes we finally fucked, I can tell you’re judging from up there, fuck off, Jinhai- but I’m also working for him. Look. I need the money, he has the money. No, I don’t fucking trust him completely. But he’s my friend as well as my boss, technically. Would’ve still been all these years if you hadn’t fucking- well, whatever. He can take all the shit I throw and throw it back. I like that. It’s not fun being around people who just get upset when I’m a bit mean to them, or get pissy over all the little shit. He gives back as good as he gets, y’know? I can actually fucking relax a bit around him, which I need. I feel a little more like someone with their own fucking life when we hang out… I can forget about all the shit responsibilities a bit even without letting him in my brain. Sure, he’s a dick, but so am I. You know how many people can put up with me? It’s not fucking many. And he’s good company. You’re not here to stop me anyway.
But don’t worry. I’ll keep him away from Yi-er.”
Jack.Hawthorne
"Another one that got on better with my brother than me." _______________________________________________
”I can’t believe he actually did it. He’s insane.”
”Huh, who?”
”Jack. He went into the Void… he’s basically throwing his life away.”
”Oh yeah, that’s fucked- what’s the void again?”
”... It’s a space outside of reality, between different universes. Filled with horrors that make the apparitions we fought look tame. Going into it is an awful idea. It’s suicidal.”
”So we won’t see him again? Oh well… he was fucking edgy anyway. I don’t know why you’re so bothered by it, he chose to do it. Let him die in the fucking Void or whatever.”
”Do I look bothered? I just think he’s out of his mind, but if he dies, well…”
”His own fucking fault, right?”
”Exactly”
current day… ”Jack’s still edgy as shit, but he’s more tolerable now. That’s growth for you- which one of us grew, who knows. Also he made it back from the Void! I know you were fucking convinced he’d died... But he did it. Survived and all that. He’s going around checking on us daily and shit. We still don't have a lot in common, and he’s friends with Sloane and Anya but… I don’t care as long as he helps me kill the fucker the killed you.”
"Sully".McPherson
"If I missed anything about the coven, it was the beer Sully provided. Well, Sully too." _______________________________________________
x years ago ”You know who I miss from the Coven? Sully. Fuck, that free beer… Shit’s so expensive.”
”You got these for free from work, didn’t you?”
”Yeah but its like piss water- fucking flavourless, barely any alcohol… I want the good shit, but we can’t fucking afford it! Didn’t have to worry about that with Sully around. I can’t believe we could drink more easily as teens… fuck.”
”Yeah, shit was pretty wild then… But at least Sully was there to stop you killing anyone when drunk.”
”I never tried to kill anyone- punch them, yeah, but I didn’t try fucking murder.”
”But you might have if Sully wasn’t there to stop you when I couldn’t, right? Hey, hey, stop heating up, you really can’t take a joke anymore, Qian-er. You’ll ruin your beer… Look, I’ll get you a nice one with my next paycheck, alright?”
current day… ”Fucking hell, I haven’t had the chance to talk to Sully cause shit keeps happening. First, we all got shot- I was seriously considering risking my life for that guy, cause he was in a bad spot… But then, next time I see him he throws a fucking toga in my face! You should’ve seen it, a whole fucking toga conga line. It was embarrassing as hell- and Sully tried to throw me right in the middle of it. With, guess who, Vashti fucking Nour! She’s kinda- no, fuck, I’m not talking to you about that shit. When there’s the chance, I need to drag him out for a drink and actually catch up… not fucking togas or conga lines, just a shit ton of free booze. I’ve fucking missed that.“
Leon.Richoux
"As long as he keeps his wolf form and his cult away from me, we’re good." _______________________________________________
current day… ”Hai-er, you might really judge me for saying this… but… I just can’t keep it from you… Leon’s mom is really fucking hot. Soooo fucking hot, I almost joined their cult- that’s a joke, I’d never join a fucking cult. Did you know Leon’s family ran one? Of course not, you would’ve told me… it was fucking weird. Makes me want to be around Leon even less. At least he replaced the car he destroyed! I’ll be fucking civil, because he’s strong which we need… if only he wasn’t such a stuck up asshole. Fuck, I think he’s worse from before. He fucking lectured me over shouting at him- yeah, I know, gotta work on my temper, fuck off- as if he hadn’t just nearly crushed my car. With how his mom is no wonder he feels so fucking superior- that cult gave weird vibes. I ain’t going near that again.”
Stormy.Carson
"Not sure I can talk to a college professor." _______________________________________________
”Ah, Qian-er, before I forget - do you want to sign this card I got?”
”Huh? What’s the occasion?”
”Stormy just became a Professor. It’s quite a competitive role, you know. I figured it would be a nice gesture to send him a congratulations card. He did so much for us all, after all.”
”Fuck off, you just want to stay in his good books in case there’s something else like the Stygian Snake so you can hide behind his shields.”
”You know I never got close enough to the fight to need his shields.”
”Course you fucking didn’t… but don’t think I can’t see you, Han Jinhai. You can’t hide your shit from me.”
”Think whatever you want, Meimei. Are you signing or not?”
”... Sign for me. My handwriting’s awful.” current day… ”Stormy’s still the same, I think. I didn’t really know him that well. He absolutely went for Britney when he first arrived, which fucking hell… not the time. But he’s still doing all he can to protect us, I guess. His shields certainly haven’t changed! But fuck, he’s too smart for me. I’m sure you guys would get along more now… Well, he’s fine.”
Anya.Baksh
"She won’t feel superior when I burn her face off." _______________________________________________
x years ago ”Hai-er, be honest with me, you’re still in touch with Anya, aren’t you?”
”No. I signed the same contract you did, do you really think I’d break it? Here, check my phone if you want to be sure.”
”I know there won’t be anything fucking there- in dreams! You can talk in fucking dreams!”
”We don’t… What brought this on? It’s been years.”
”Because my dreams have been fucked recently, and I can tell she’s fucking taunting me. It’s shit with you and Yi-er- fuck she was in them once too! It was a fucking nightmare! I hadn’t even thought about how she could just jump in them, and how you could be getting around that fucking contract you made me sign… which i still think is fucking ridiculous, you could’ve trusted me, but fuck- You really aren’t? If I find out she’s in your dreams, I swear, I’ll fucking end both of you.”
”I’m really not, I swear. Trust me.”
current day… ”Fuck, I was so happy when Anya didn’t turn up to the first meeting… but then she fucking turned up to the second one! Dealing with Sloane was bad enough, but both of them? Fuck, I hate her so much. She’s so much fucking worse than Sloane- at least Sloane argues with me. Anya just fucking ignores me. She treats me like I’m nothing. I can’t believe you were friends with her. At least Sloane is doing something for that. But Anya? She’s done fuck all. Hasn’t said a word to me, that bitch.”
current day… ”I can’t- I fucking can’t. It’s so fucking hard to say to you, fuck… Evelynn, that fucking bitch, I hate her guts. She said- fuck- she said that I deserved to lose you… That you deserved to fucking die. You didn’t deserve it. Fuck, maybe I deserve the worst, but you don’t. You should still be fucking alive- I fucking hate her. She’s the fucking worst, the next time I see her I’m going to make her wish she was dead. She’ll be in so much pain that she won’t be able to move, all she’ll be able to do is beg for me to put her out of her misery and I fucking won’t. I’ll make her regret it. Fuck, I can’t believe she said that… I hate her. I hate her so fucking much. You didn’t deserve it. If anyone deserved it, it was me. I don’t care what people say about me, but you? You were fucking everything… But she used you to hurt me. She fucking trampled all over your memory. I’m barely fucking holding on, Ge. I think I might fucking kill her… And I wouldn’t regret it. She’d deserve it. Fuck…”
current day… ”You know who’s grown a fucking backbone? Lila! Uh- you know, kid with the crows. I’m not an asshole, I won’t use her old name. Fuck, she’s changed so much… She was one of the only ones with the balls to tell Meifeng to go fuck herself. The PRA leader- absolute bitch. There’s a shit ton more crows now, though… I sure hope they don’t shit on me. I don’t have the time to clean the shit out.”
Jasper.Wilde
"Man, anyone can tell you have the hots for Luca. Don’t deny it." _______________________________________________
x years ago ”Ohhhh shit! Jasper’s got a proper exhibition now! With some fucking, I dunno, art gallery in St Portwell? I don’t fucking know- but it looks cool.”
”Let me see- oh, you’re right. The art they’ve chosen has quite the melancholic feel to it… The tragic artist, I suppose. Have you been in touch with him lately?”
”No- and I don’t understand any of that shit. Art is art, all I see is some fucking cool colours. You smart types can talk about that shit without involving me. Maybe I should text him, it’s been a while… He was always so chill. I miss bitching about Sloane with him, cause you won’t fucking do it with me.”
”You’ve never tried. There’s plenty about Sloane I could bitch about, even if we’re friends. But if you want hatred… You’ll have to go to Jasper.”
”Heh, yeah, he really goes above and beyond with that! Fuck, some of the things he said… When I get time I’ll shoot him a text.”
Adora.Phoenix-Prescott
"You’re not special because you lost something. The rest of us just had to get on with it because we didn’t have any choice." _______________________________________________
current day… ”Adora came back, what a fucking surprise. I thought she’d be hiding away somewhere, cause we all bring back bad memories or something… Whatever. I’m willing to put it all to the side. Sure, we fought all the fucking time before, because she was a judgmental bitch. When she called you a coward… Fuck, I was ready to burn her skin off. But as long as she doesn’t act like that, I’ll be civil. We both got bigger fucking problems to deal with. I don’t have time to deal with her problems, because I’ve lost you… Fuck, at least I’m not making it everyone else’s problem, too.”
Layla.Hyacinthus
"She’s fucking latched onto me now, hasn’t she?" _______________________________________________
current day… ”That little asshole, Yi-er, tried to teach Layla to say Jiejie when we were partying… If you heard how she was saying it you’d hate it just as much as I do. She butchers it so badly… I don’t even want to be around her. She’s annoying and whiney, but she’s latched onto Britney and Greyson is doing some mind shit on her so now I’m also stuck with her. So got really fucking clingy, too, what if she’s attached? I don’t have the energy to deal with another young adult, especially if she wants support. I can’t deal with that shit right now.”
Clancy.Patrick
"Wasn’t this kid shot?!" _______________________________________________
current day… ”You’re not going to fucking believe this, Hai-er… Ashley had a cousin! He’s like, ten or something! Cute little kid if you ignore him surviving being shot… But fuck, I’m not sure how to feel about a kid hanging around with us. We’re not exactly good influences. Eh, he seemed like he could handle himself. I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
”I think Kenshiro’s starting to get used to America more…”
”Course he is! I’ve been doing my fucking hardest to help him with the culture differences… I took him out for some proper, shit fast food burgers yesterday. Dunno how they’re still running with the Stygian Snake destroying the place.”
”Heh, of course they’re still open. There’s still a few difficulties when we’re planning… People say things he doesn’t quite understand, but I’ve always managed to smooth it over.”
”You always fucking do. Y’know, he’s wayyy better at explaining magic than you are. I’m actually getting better- which you didn’t help with at all!”
”There’s only so much I can do for a student as bad as you…”
current day… ”Fuck, Kenshiro’s gotten more dramatic… He’s lost a lot, I guess. Honestly, I was kind of jealous when he just started crying over Kari. I wish I could do that. I don’t have the time to cry over you. But, he was still the same Ken in a way, speaking way too fast about shit I didn’t understand. I kinda missed it.”
Aaron/Aryin.Thorne
"The fuck, you’ve gone all artsy and shit? Oh, you were always artsy and shit? Can you still take a punch, then?" _______________________________________________
3 years ago… ”Fuck, you know what Aryin just texted me- and it’s definitely Aryin, cause Aaron doesn’t fucking shit talk like this.”
”Yeah?”
”’Seven fucking years. Seven…fucking…years. That’s how long I’ve had the displeasure of knowing you. From the day we met I knew we’d never be friends. I made sure of that when I pushed back and forced you to fight me-”
”Fuck, how long is this?”
”Shut up- ‘Some would say I won that fight, some would say we tied, but you know what I’d say? I think that you fucking lost that fight but won the war because I fucking love you bro. Seven fucking years, here’s to seven fucking more.’ This fucking bitch, I didn’t lose the fucking fight! When are we next going to St Portwell, I need to beat her fucking ass.”
”You can just say you miss her, Qian-er, it’s alright, I won’t judge you for going soft.”
”Oh fuck you, Jinhai.”
”I think it’s sweet. All your other ‘friends’ from Sycamore barely- Alright, cool down, I won’t shit talk them. But you can actually depend on them.”
”Yeah, yeah, you’re right… I do trust that fucker more than I do anyone else. Don’t tell them I said that.”
”Heh, I’ll consider it… Well, what did you do for your ‘friend anniversary’ or whatever this is.”
”I sent them a letter.”
”... Wow, I’m surprised, you can still write?”
”You fucking- yes I can. All it said was, ‘seven years, fuck you’ with a heart, anyway.” current day… ”You were right, y’know. Well… you were always right. But I can depend on Aryin… Aaron too, obviously. Fuck, y’know I wasn’t sure because they’ve been so fucking busy since I came back. But as soon as I saw them again, that was it. Like ten fucking years hadn’t passed. I need someone I can actually trust, because you’re not- fuck. I just can’t trust anyone else right now. They’d be fine around Yi-er, too- and you now how much I don’t want fucking coven members around him. You were the same, even with your friends… Whatever. I know they’ll have my back without any fucking conditions. Maybe it’ll be the same for Britney… and Greyson. But I can depend on them. Fuck, it really is good to see them again. They actually fucking understand shit! Not that I’m unloading all my problems on them- you know I can’t do that- but they get the money shit. Fucking sucks. I forgot how strong Aryin’s punch was after ten years of texting and calls… Fuck, I think it might bruise. Definitely don’t tell them- oh. You can’t. Haha. Well, don’t worry. With this bitch on my side, I won’t be joining you anytime soon.”
Amara.King
"She keeps giving me this flirty look… Sorry, you don’t have a chance. Go fuck Bianca or something." _______________________________________________
”So I heard the strangest thing about you, Bianca and Amara…”
”Huh?”
”Supposedly the three of you… had a bit of fun-”
”Stop right there. Who the fuck told you that?”
”Amara herself was bragging about it.”
”That fucking- I’m going to fucking end her. Nothing happened! Fuck. That bitch. Don’t listen to anything she says about us, okay! Fucking telling my brother… bitch… ugh…”
”Luna”.Inoue
"I don’t give a fuck about the whole mafia thing, I dislike her as a person. She’s fucking boring." _______________________________________________
”I always knew there was something suspicious about Luna… But trying to get people to join her mafia group? I couldn’t have guessed it was something so stupid.”
”Heh, funny story…”
”What?”
”A couple of days ago she tried to approach me with that. She was going on about how she could give me another family and some shit about money, I don’t remember. It was boring as fuck. I just told her to fuck right off… I don’t want to join some shitty mafia. If I was going to it would be Grey- well, I wouldn’t, obviously. I didn’t bother saying cause it didn’t seem important.”
”Are you fucking with me, Linqian? You didn’t think it seemed important? That someone tried to get you to join a mafia.”
”Tried. As if she could make me. She ran away soon as I told her too, fucking coward.”
”I’m going to kill her.”
”Oh c’mon, Ge, stop being so dramatic. She didn’t do shit, and she’s gone now. Chill- heh, ironic I’m telling you that. You get real pissed when it comes to this kinda shit with me, don’t you? Don’t worry, if I see her again, I’ll kick her ass.”
Aislin.Rose
"Start talking about dreams again and I’ll show you my fucking dreams." _______________________________________________
Current day… ”So, Aislin came back too. She’s… the exact fucking same. It didn’t bother me as much back then, cause I was a teen without all this shit on me. But now it fucking pissed me off. I live in the real world with a shit ton of responsibilities, and she’s out here smoking fucking weed while we trying to find the person who killed you. Next thing she’ll be talking about how we should forgive and forget or some other fucking shit. Idealism doesn’t get you anywhere. I can’t eat dreams and good karma for dinner. Fuck, I’m getting more pissed off just thinking about it… I don’t have time for her idealistic shit.”
Bé.Rochefoucauld
"I’m glad he’s not come back." _______________________________________________
x years ago… ”Are you still in touch with Bé?” ”... Why are you asking now?” ”Cause I was thinking about the coven and I just remembered that asshole. You used to be friendly with and, fuck, I wanted to make sure I won’t have to see him again.” ”We’re not. We lost contact a few years ago… But Sloane’s still in contact with him, I can get his number from-” ”Don’t you fucking dare. Hearing about her is already bad enough.”
Anddd Luca & Anya got updates, with new characters / some old ones they've had changes of relationships with!
Britney.Williams
"She ruined my life in ways she’ll never know." _______________________________________________
October 10. Recently, I’ve been forgetting things I don’t want to forget. Sometimes I worry that I’ll forget all those people I fought with ten years ago… So I’m going to write about them. I’ll start with Britney.
I bet everyone else thinks I hate Britney. I did, once. I was furious when she admitted to what she’d done, and made sure she got kicked out… I couldn’t stand to be around her. But it’s fine now. Really. I don’t remember when my feelings cooled down, but it was a while ago. Maybe when I found out I was dying. There’s just no point in devoting so much energy towards her, y’know? Actually, writing this is the last time I’m going to think about her, cause honestly I don’t feel anything about her at all.
She did save me. But can it be considered saving me if I’m barely able to live? Sometimes I wish she hadn’t.
How intelligent. I will decay her last, as thanks for setting me free.
Drake.Blackmore
"I wish my abstraction let me make swords and shit." _______________________________________________
October 11. Drake. I looked up to Drake, but I was also jealous of him. Sorta. It’s hard to explain! I wanted to be like him, I suppose. Athletic, cool… He reminds me a lot of the guys I used to play football with, when I could. I was jealous of them too. It's a gender thing, really. We barely talked, anyway, he left so early.
Man, I really hope we can hang out this time around.
October 23. I can’t believe he punched Sloane. I really can’t. I looked up to him.. I mean, I still think he’s a good guy. He’s going through a lot, I get that. Sloane was out of line. She was so out of line! But that didn’t mean he could just punch her… It was such a shitshow. Hopefully Drake cools off before he comes back. He should apologise to Sloane… though she should also apologise to him. I can’t believe things got so heated day one. I wish I could’ve stopped it.
I still respect him, just… Not as much.
Stupid. I’m sure I can corrupt this one first.
Linqian.Han
"Phew, just must be exhausted finding problems in everything." _______________________________________________
October 12. Linqian… Another person I didn’t really talk to! I watched a lot of her arguments, though, wow. She could’ve done with stepping back a few times. Her brother seemed sound. Shame about him… Well, yeah. I wonder how she’s doing. Maybe she’ll be a bit nicer this time round. I don’t think she even knew I existed, back then. Can’t blame her!
Inane. An easy one to get rid of.
Sloane.Faris
"I hope she’s learned how to smile." _______________________________________________
October 13. Sloane. I have never seen someone smile so little! And it’s been ten years! Not that I get out much… Last time we talked, like really talked, it wasn’t great. Understatement of the century, Luca. It was pretty shit. She did not approve of me wanting to get rid of the rot. Really didn’t hold back when telling me that either. She’s lucky I’m such a nice guy! Anyway, I understood where she was coming from. There’d be more threats coming and all, so we should use our powers against them, or something. She didn’t know it was killing me! Nor did I, actually. It was just an inconvenience then.
She really was a downer, though. Could’ve done with some positivity. I’ll try pass that on if I see her again.
October 23. Sloane… really hasn't changed. You’d think after ten years you’d learn there’s some things you don’t say, but Sloane hasn’t! I can’t believe she thought it was Drake’s fault. I understand what it's like, wanting someone else to blame so you don’t have to deal with all the feelings… but it never helps. She needs to accept that it's no one's fault and that sometimes you can’t change things. It will make everything easier. Maybe I should try talk to her about it?
I don’t think she’ll talk to me, though.
Interesting. Could be of use.
Tayla.Choi
"She deserves peace, after what she went through." _______________________________________________
October 14. Tayla. I really didn’t know Tayla, but it must’ve been horrible going through what she did. I heard from Olivia that she was in a real bad place after, too. Man, she deserved better, she seemed so fun.
Blind. She will decay with the rest of the world..
"Edict".Devola
"Was he really part of the mafia?" _______________________________________________
October 15. Greyson. Gonna be controversial for all the people who’ll never read this, but I didn’t mind being around him. Even when he used his cozy centre thing on me. It was kind of nice. Not that I have many negative thoughts towards him, or at all, but it really helped get rid of the few I did have! Should’ve thanked him for that… Actually, I don’t think that would’ve gone down well. If he comes back I hope he brings his money… Just joking! I wouldn’t make him buy me that new bed I really need, anyway.
Useful. He will help me crack this body.
Kali.Mahendra
"I can’t believe he’s dead.." _______________________________________________
October 17. Jack. He straight up disappeared! I’ve heard about everyone else every now and then, thanks to Olivia really, but not him. I think he went into the void… I didn’t know what it was then, but I do now. Can’t wait to hear all about it when he comes back.
Assuming he comes back. He will be back!
Dangerous. Must have seen so much destruction.
"Sully".McPherson
"You still a good shot?" _______________________________________________
October 18. Sully! Aw man, I miss Sully! He always knew how to lighten up the mood, we could talk about anything back in the day. I wonder how he’s doing… Haven’t heard from him, but I haven't heard from anyone. Hard to keep in touch when I keep destroying phones. He always threw the best parties. Well, I couldn’t really participate, but they seemed it. He really was a breath of fresh air when everyone else was so negative. I’m looking forward to seeing him again.
(I was jealous of him too, for a bit. I wish I could be part of their group. At least he treats me like one of the guys, mostly)
Hindrance. The body is too happy around him.
Leon.Richoux
"We’re pretty similar, even if he doesn’t know that yet." _______________________________________________
October 19. Leon… Uh, wow, this is a hard one. I hardly knew Leon, but I was around when he got adjoined. Well not part of the group that did it, but still in the coven. I really understand what it’s like not quite being in control. Having something so malevolent trapped inside of him must be a nightmare. At least I sort of coexist with the rot, he doesn’t seem to at all… He was nice to me back in the day as well. I wonder if he’s worried about losing himself too… Maybe I can talk to him, and help a bit. As someone who understands. I should be concerned about myself first.
Will lose himself before this body does.
Stormy.Carson
"I wonder if he ever made that magic condom..." _______________________________________________
October 20. Stormy. Uh, Stormy saved my ass a couple of times during the battle against the Stygian Snake. He saved everyone’s asses, really, but I probably would be dead without him. For a while I thought he’d be able to help me with my problem… Unfortunately, it wasn’t really a permanent fix, or one I wanted. He tried, though! I appreciated that. Stormy was a good guy. Is! He isn’t dead, haha. I hope. Yeah, no, I’m pretty sure he isn’t. If anyone’s still alive, it’ll be Stormy.
November 1st. I can’t thank Stormy enough for what he did yesterday. Without him, I might not have regained control. I would be in an even worse state today as well. It was so nice to have some time without the Rot! Stormy really hasn’t changed. He’s still that reliable protector. It was really nice actually spending time with him, having him round to my place… And not just because he could help with the Rot. I hope we can spend more time together. I know that if I ever need help, I can go to Stormy. He’s a good guy - and a good friend.
Dangerous. Too well protected to get rid of easily.
October 21. Anya. I don’t like Anya. It’s really hard for me to not like someone, but I don’t like her. She was never outright nasty but I could always tell she was looking down on me. I’d rather not have someone like that in my life… There’s enough going on without being judged. But hey, maybe she’s nicer now! You never know!
Not a threat. Easy to corrupt.
Evelynn.Serenelight
"Please don’t look into my future. I don’t want you to what will happen more than once." _______________________________________________
October 23. I saw Lynn today! Honestly, I didn’t expect her to come back… and she kind of didn’t? But she turned up at Dairy Queen, so it basically counts. She’s still the same Lynn, I think. She did have a flask on her… I’m sure it's nothing bad. It was so nice to see her again, seriously! I wish I’d kept in touch… But that was hard with anyone other than Olivia. I can’t explain it, it just was. It’s so much harder to hide it from so many people.
I hope she didn’t pay attention to what Greta said. I’m sure she took it to mean because of Father Wolf, not anything else. I also hope she doesn’t look into my future. Not because I don’t want her to know… I just don’t want her to get hurt. It would be too horrible for her to see my death more than once. I’m sure it’s in all my futures… Please save yourself the pain, Lynn.
One to watch. I’m sure she sees the destruction I’ll cause in the future.
Lila.Blackwood
"If you need any bird shit cleaned up, I’m your man! I’ll try not to rot away whatever it’s on too…" _______________________________________________
October 23. Wow, Lila has changed - for a moment I almost didn’t recognise her! But she looks so much happier, and I’m so happy for her. Like, I get it, of course. We talked about it before. I’m glad she can be who she always was. Really, really glad. She deserves it. I’m so glad to see her… It’s been too long. I’d forgotten how much I missed her company. Hopefully, this time we’ll be able to keep in contact till… Well. Y’know. But that doesn’t matter. We’re hanging out again, and I’m so happy about it.
I do hope Britney was able to help her with the Maiden she was talking about. Having something talking in your head is scary! I know that better than most. Really fucks with you, and Lila deserves to have her mind free of anything like that. And if it works… Maybe I’ll contact Britney too. I really hope it works because I’m selfish for Lila!
November 1st. The Maiden wasn’t sealed, and she knows the Rot somehow. I don’t… really understand. I feel really bad for Lila. She doesn’t deserve to be dealing with this. Those feathers looked so painful. Hopefully we can figure it out. Lila is one of my closest friends. I’m going to do everything I can to help her. I’ll put all of my energy into finding Father Wolf and helping her handle the Maiden! Because she deserves to live the life she wants to. I just hope she doesn’t hate me for still liking some of 8th Street.
The Maiden has chosen a good host. I’m sure together they’ll do much for us.
Jasper.Wilde
"How do I even begin to describe Jasper? He’s… He’s just Jasper." _______________________________________________
October 22. Jasper, phew! Getting to the good ones huh… Jasper’s great. I hope he’s doing well. I haven’t heard from him since he left… Well I haven’t heard of anyone that didn’t join another coven, unless Olivia passed something on. Unless it’s online I won’t see it! I can’t blame him for leaving the coven before it got even worse, either, or for not keeping in touch. I didn’t do my part either. I hope he’s there tomorrow! I’d love to see anything he’s drawn recently, from a safe distance of course. I wouldn’t want to ruin that.
I really can’t wait to see him.
November 2nd.
It’s been a week since Jasper came back into my life. I couldn’t be happier, honestly. I feel so comfortable around him. I feel more than comfortable. At first, it was like having another best friend. But now it's something more. My heart races when I’m with him, I blush, and I feel all sorts of strange feelings. It's similar to the constant rotting, but pleasant. Lila says it's because I like him. I think she’s right. I do like Jasper. I just want to spend all my time with him, he makes me so happy.
It’s a shame we could never be together. With the Rot, and him being straight… But it’s alright! I’m just happy being with him! Every moment spent together brings me joy. I’m actually happy when I’m with him. I’m so glad Jasper’s in my life again… Even if we keep having to fight that weird skeleton.
A nuisance to get rid of, before he causes this body too much joy.
Adora.Phoenix-Prescott
"I’m sorry, I wish I could’ve been there for you. I’ll never stop missing Lisa too." _______________________________________________
October 22. Adora. … It’s hard to write about Adora without remembering Lisa, and whenever I remember Lisa… Ah, it’s hard. She suffered so much, and she didn’t deserve it. She was one of the best of us. So was Adora. Adora saved me so many times… Like that time we were flying away from Scott Reese, me dangling from Lisa’s spider, and almost fell to our deaths! I wish I could look back on that fondly, but it only makes me sad. Lisa also saved me then. You both did.
I hope that Adora’s doing alright. She deserves peace, and to be doing better. I hope she doesn’t come back tomorrow… Not because I don’t want to see her! Of course I do! But I don’t think it’ll be good for her. Everything will be a reminder. I understand that. It’s difficult even without… That. But if she does come back, I’ll try to let her know I’m here for her, as much as I can be.
Once so strong, now so weak, no longer a threat. Can be dealt with later.
Layla.Hyacinthus
"Don’t listen to it, Layla. It won’t work out." _______________________________________________
October 24. I… honestly didn’t remember Layla. She was hardly around me, and it’s been so long. I can’t believe she’s adjoined with the void now. No one should be adjoined with the void. It’s horrible, with what it did to Alizee… You don’t deserve that. You’re too young. Believe me, it’s not worth it.
The void is so quick to find another victim. Good.
Clancy.Patrick
"Please, go home where it’s safe." _______________________________________________
October 24. There was a kid at the meeting? What the fuck? I think he said his name’s Clancy and he’s Ashley’s cousin… But still, he shouldn’t be here! Does he not know how dangerous it could be? Does he even have magic? Shit, I should keep my distance just in case.
Hardly a child.
Kenshiro.Murakin
"Kennnn! Bro, it’s so nice to see you! How was, uh, I don’t remember the other universes name, but how was it?" _______________________________________________
October 25. Oh man, Ken. I love Ken. I didn’t have a chance to write about him before… honestly, he’s one of the coven members who's freshest in my memory. He’s a good friend, and visits me quite regularly when he’s not off in other worlds. Which are super cool to hear about! He keeps bringing me back stuff that he think will help with my pain and the rot… Sometimes it helps with the pain, but my meds already do that. None of it has affected the rot, but I don’t mind! I’m just glad he’s trying to help and visits me.
He’s… probably seen me deteriorate more than anyone. I don’t think it’s obvious yet, but he might have guessed. He knows how much pain I’m in, at least, which I’ve tried to hide. He doesn’t know I’m dying. I hope he doesn’t find out. He’s too nice to have to carry that, and he’s already lost so many. I hope that my death doesn’t become another burden he has to carry.
A possible threat. Unlikely to find a cure, but always a chance.
Aaron/Aryin.Thorne
"I heard you’re in 317 like Jasper! What’s he like at work?" _______________________________________________
October 26. Me and Aaron got on, but weren’t really close… He was good friends with Ella, though, so I knew him a bit through her! Honestly… it makes it hard to think about him. I miss Ella. I’m sure he does too. I had less in common with Aryin. She was much friendlier with people like Linqian. It’s a shame, because maybe she’s the one person I could get close to- haha… we’re not that similar though.
Too stupid to be an issue.
Amara.King
"Exactly how many of you are there?" _______________________________________________
October 26. Amara’s another one I didn’t know very well. She was always planning, then fighting on the front lines with her army of one. I thought she was- is- cool. I liked how chill she was. I always felt like I could relax around her… I didn’t have to worry so much. I hope that she’s alright, since she hasn’t come back. Maybe she’ll join later?
An interesting abstraction, leaving the original lacking…
”Luna”.Inoue
"Maybe you need help, but we can’t help you." _______________________________________________
October 27. I didn’t know Luna long before she was kicked out. She seemed nice… but how much of that was fake? She didn’t try to approach me, but she did others. We were teenagers who’d already been through enough, how could she try to recruit us into a mafia of all things.
Even someone like me can’t have a positive opinion of someone like her.
Will rot with the rest, along with her group.
Aislin.Rose
"Do you mind, uh, taking that elsewhere- cough- I have asthma! Sorry, Aislin!" _______________________________________________
October 27. Aislin… oh, what’s Aislin up to, I wonder? I haven’t seen her since the coven broke up, but I really liked her. She was always so cheerful and optimistic… It was nice to have someone else who saw the bright side of things! There weren't a lot of us. Aislin was always easy to be around, when she wasn’t smoking. It wasn’t so bad then but now… I don’t think I’d be able to handle it. My lungs aren’t what they used to be even then it hurt. I really hope she’s doing well! I’d love to see her again.
To naive to pose a threat.
Bé.Rochefoucauld
"We’ve all been hurt. That doesn’t give you an excuse to hurt other’s." _______________________________________________
October 28. I hardly knew Bé, and I’m glad. He was like Anya, but at least she tried to hide her true feelings. He didn’t bother. Maybe I should respect his honesty? But it’s difficult to when he’s so cold. I hope that he’s grown, and found some positivity in his life.
Oh, corruption runs deep in this one.
Kari.Wilson
"You’ll never know how sorry I am. " _______________________________________________
October 10. I… I wish things were different. I should have listened to you, Kari. I should have given you more time. I didn’t. I didn’t and now you’re gone. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that you were dead. Of course you’re dead. If anyone could stop Father Wolf, it would be you. I’m sorry I couldn’t do anything about it.
And I’m so sorry I worked with Emily. You were right. Emily isn’t a good person. I never thought she was, but I thought there was a chance. She only got worse. I tried to stop it, but it didn’t work. And she’s stringing along so many people who need help… She was pretending to help me and Carol, but she wasn’t doing anything. I’m- I’m not sorry for joining 8th Street. Some of them were- are- like family to me. I love them. But I loved you too. And now you’re gone. I’m so sorry. But… I’m also glad you won’t have to see me go. Like Lisa, Saskia and Ella… I’m sure you don’t care for me as much. Not after I betrayed you.
But I’ll do my best to make sure no one else dies. I’ll stay hopeful even when no one else does. There’s a way out of this. I hope you’re happy, in whatever there is afterwards, with Lisa, Ella and Saskia. Thank you for trying. I hope you know just how much you did for us- for me. I’ll miss you.
All good things rot eventually.
Drake.Blackmore
"I don’t understand what Jade saw in him." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 4/10. Strong, but too reckless. Refuses to listen to those that know better than him.
Drake was a typical case of someone with a strong abstraction who couldn’t use it wisely. Instead he would just run headfirst into danger and drag everyone else along with him. No wonder his wife died. Anya feels sympathetic for what happened, but it doesn’t change her dislike for Drake. His inability to stop and think frustrated Anya to no end. She hopes he’s matured after all these years, but doesn’t particularly want to meet him again anyway.
Britney.Williams
"She has nothing to feel guilty for." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 8/10. Smart, resourceful, does what needs to be done.
Once it came out that Britney had been adjoining other people non consensually, Anya was one of her few supporters. While she wasn’t especially vocal about it, as that would be a bad look for her in the group, she was very clear with Britney privately that she didn’t see a problem with what she’d done and tried to talk more neutral members of the group around. Anya honestly doesn’t think Britney did anything wrong. She did what had to be done under the circumstances. Really, she’d saved many people’s lives. Everyone else just didn’t have the guts to do it.
Alizée.Altieri
"All that power yet she can’t decide what to do with it." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 2/10. Her personality destroys any use her abstraction would bring.
Anya doesn’t understand how such a man as smart as Jinhai could have such a stupid, irritating twin. Perhaps something went wrong when they were both developing. Anya has practically no good opinions about Linqian - not only is she a bitch, but she wields her abstraction with little thought to the consequences. While Anya was saddened to hear of Jinhai’s death, as he was one of the best of the group, she has no plans to offer sympathies to someone like Linqian. It was a shame she didn’t die instead.
Luca.Oliviera
"Ah, poor Luca. If only he’d move on and use the gift Britney gave him." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 3/10. Too much of a coward to fully use his power. Pathetic.
Another one of Britney’s “victims”. Anya doesn’t know Luca well, since he joined late and she didn’t last that long in the coven afterwards. It was clear he wanted rid of the apparition and Anya didn’t approve of that. Surely he could learn to control it if he tried hard enough? Though his dreams recently have been quite disturbing, so maybe there’s something going on there.
Sloane.Faris
"It's a shame that Sloane doesn’t know how to fake friendliness. She’d get so far if she could." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 8/10. Would be more beneficial if she learned tact. One of the most useful abstractions.
While Anya disagrees with Sloane’s idea that it was their duty to protect St Portwell, there were plenty of other things they saw eye to eye on. There was a shared “sympathy” (as much as either could feel that) over the state of their abstractions during the Stygian Snake era, with Sloane having lux types that were difficult to blend and Anya having so many she didn’t know what to do with them. However Sloane thought too little of her contributions, which frustrated Anya, and Anya thought too much of her own. Anya kept in touch with Sloane after the coven dissolved, as she was useful. It was a mutually beneficial relationship when Anya returned to St Portwell - through her dream visits Anya could help persuade former coven members to hand over their artifacts, and could use it to find others that needed to be stored away. Anya agreed that it was best they were in the hands of someone sensible, but didn’t want to take the risk on herself. Sloane was the perfect choice. This eventually grew into a genuine friendship. Anya has a good opinion of Sloane, and is unbothered by her demeanour. She’s learned to easily read the small changes in Sloane’s facial expressions, and understands her completely. She’s likely the only person Anya considers a friend.
Lately, Anya’s slightly concerned that she’s growing to care for Sloane too much.
Tayla.Choi
"Without lux she doesn’t exist to me." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 0/10. Severed herself from her lux, useless.
Anya knows that Tayla no longer has an abstraction thanks to visiting her dreams, and thus has a very low opinion of her. She’s just resigned herself to a life on the bottom rung without an abstraction, and has made herself incredibly vulnerable. Anya hopes for all of their sakes that she doesn’t come back.
"Edict".Devola
"It’s a shame the old leaders were too virtuous to see his uses." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 7/10. Knows how to use what he has to his advantage.
Anya and Edict have a mutually beneficial agreement to work together, and have kept in contact for the past ten years. They meet in his dreams, resulting in knowing things about each other that normally wouldn’t be shared. Anya doesn’t trust Edict and knows he doesn’t tell her everything, but the reverse is true as well. He is one of the few people she can truly be herself around - he knows what she’s really like, and there’s no problem there. There’s mutual respect between the two, and they work well together. It’s difficult for Anya to tell whether she actually likes Edict, or merely views him as a business partner. His company can be enjoyable, but equally irritating. But overall they get on well, and there’s an ease between them. Their close relationship and working together is kept secret from everyone else, however, as it benefits neither of them for it to be out in the open right now.
Kali.Mahendra
"Shame, that he died.." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 9/10. Strong abstraction and knowledge, too much of an ego.
Jack is one of the few people in the coven that Anya “gets on with”, in that she can have an equal conversation with him where she’s normally looking down on everyone else. If anyone’s close to her equal it would be Jack. Back in the day she was happy to pass on what she’d learned from her family to him, spending time together pouring over books and trying to figure out new spells. They had incredibly similar passions, and egos - which is the main area they clashed. There were some heated arguments between Jack and Anya about who’s way was best, who’s idea was right, but that’s water under the bridge. The fact that Anya actually deigned to have arguments with him, rather than just dismissing him, show’s how much she thinks of him. It’s not so much a past friendship, though, as a mutually beneficial partnership to improve their magic and knowledge.
"Sully".McPherson
"I can’t believe Sloane let him take the chalice back. It was much safer with her." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 0/10. A bumbling fool. The chalice would be better used in another’s hands.
The only positive thing Anya has to say for Sully is that he supported Britney near the end of the coven, the only time he actually used his single brain cell. Otherwise Anya has nothing but disdain for him. He used an ancient artifact to provide teenagers with beer, turning the coven into a party house when it should have been a place for learning and getting rid of paranormal threats. He was incredibly unreliable and ran when the going got tough. All in all, it would have been better for everyone if someone more sensible had the chalice.
Everleigh.Thorn
"I’m sure prison will treat her well." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 4/10. Strong but uncontrollable. Just as likely to be a danger as it is to be an aid.
Ten years ago, Anya both got on with and clashed with Leon. They had their similarities coming from long, proud lines of adepts, and his mastery of orange lux ultimately helped her figure out hers when it was the one she struggled with most. However, his self decided role of an enforcer was just irritating. When you put two people with superiority complexes in the same room it’s difficult for either of them to come out happy. So while Anya would go to him (reluctantly) for help with her orange lux, she also disliked the way he acted superior (ironically) and pushed his ideals on others. When he sacrificed his lux to seal Lady Lelou inside of him, she lost most of the good opinions she had of him. Adjoined had their places, but his lux had been too impressive to be worth the sacrifice.
Stormy.Carson
"He pushes his morals on all of us as if we should care." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 7/10. A strong protection is needed for others to shine.
Anya feels mostly neutral towards Stormy. He was smarter than the other “jocks” of the group, and less reckless - along with being irreplaceable in the battle against the snake. However, he was one of the most vocal against Britney. Morals always got in the way of strength, and Stormy was the type to not back down when he’d decided something was wrong. Anya just couldn’t get along with someone like that.
"Lyss".Burns
"I enjoy visiting her dreams." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 6/10. A personal army she could easily turn against us if she wished to.
Lyss’ dreams are some of the more interesting ones, so Anya does enjoy visiting them. Lyss didn’t socialise much in the old coven, and she always held back a bit - which Anya didn’t approve of. But her abstraction was a strong one, used relatively well. She isn’t one for moral grandstanding like many of the others, which does improve Anya’s opinion of her slightly. They didn’t talk too much, so Anya views Lyss mostly neutrally - if with the view she could do more with her lux.
Evelynn.Serenelight
"I suppose your opinion is formed from a supposed future? But what about the ones you’re not telling us about?" _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 0/10. A false prophet, rarely predicting anything useful.
Evelynn seems to hate Anya, and Anya thinks very little of her. As a result, Evelynn’s opinions of her also matter little. Ten years ago Evelynn “used” her abstraction to help them see future possibilities and draw up plans, but so often it didn’t lead to an outcome any better than one without them. And how much was she keeping from them? And now? Is Evelynn foreseeing all of their deaths and keeping it to herself? Anya doesn’t trust Evelynn, though she keeps this to herself and just treats her coolly. There’s no point giving someone like her the time of the day.
Lila.Blackwood
"If you have a problem, I will try to help. No, I don’t mind that your friend dislikes me." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 5/10. Has so much potential, but refuses to use it.
Anya has a relatively neutral, if barely existent, opinion of Lila. She didn’t do anything notable ten years ago, and Anya only knew she existed because she made it her job to know and remember everyone. She’s changed a lot since she came back, it seems. There’s more crows, and more of a backbone. Anya plans to observe her - both in the waking and dreaming world - to see if she could be an ally when away from her antagonistic friends.
Jasper.Wilde
"It’s alright. Many don’t recognise brilliance until it hits them in the face." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 2/10. Wastes his talent by fixating on a hatred for someone much better than him.
Just as Jasper dislikes Anya by association, Anya dislikes Jasper for his hatred of Sloane. It’s unfounded and quite frankly incredibly irritating. What little goodwill she had towards him was quickly destroyed by his actions, and she still doesn’t have good opinions of him. She would gladly knock him down a peg or two, but generally treats him as she does everyone else - diplomatically, with a few snide jabs. It’s not her fault he’s not smart enough to see who are the ones in this coven who can truly help them all, and who have been holding everything together for the past ten years. There’s no use wasting her time on the opinion of the weak.
Adora.Phoenix-Prescott
"Yes, Lisa’s death was your fault. What are you doing to fix that?" _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 1/10. Too busy wallowing in self pity to do anything useful.
Anya once had a high opinion of Adora. Along with Clementine and Vanessa, she was a powerhouse of the coven. It’s safe to say they wouldn’t have survived without those three. But after Lisa’s death she abandoned her abstraction, and has barely progressed from there. If she feels so guilty, why not do something about it? What is there to grieve ten years over? Anya doesn’t understand, and just finds her pathetic. She needs to move on and do something with herself. Thankfully, her dreams are more interesting than the rest of her life - and have given Anya plenty of material to work with.
Layla.Hyacinthus
"I’m afraid you chose to side with the wrong Apparition." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 1/10. Not much of an issue before, more dangerous now. Painfully naive and easy to manipulate.
Anya viewed Layla as little more than one of the many fighters in their ranks, hardly remembering her name and face. She contributed very little against the Stygian Snake and came with issues too annoying to be dealt with. Her opinion of her has only grown lower upon finding out how easily she was manipulated by the Void, and the House of Cards in turn. While Anya wouldn’t care, she agrees with Greyson that the House of Cards will be a problem - and Layla could be, in turn, so she’ll work with him to deal with it. Whether that means manipulating Layla herself… well, that’s something she’s considering.
Clancy.Patrick
"I’m sorry for your loss, at such a young age." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: ?/10. An unknown. Needs more investigation.
Anya didn’t know Ashley had a cousin, even with all her dreamwalking. On the outside, she’s welcoming to him - taking his leads and offering condolences. But she’s suspicious of him, and plans to keep an eye on him even if he’s just a kid. Most kids don’t climb down from a church’s rafters.
Kenshiro.Murakin
"His adventures in other realms are sometimes more interesting than dreams." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 8/10. Strong, well trained. Lacks some flexibility and has grown reckless.
While Anya and Kenshiro aren’t particularly friendly, he is one of the few people she respects. Just like her, he comes from a long lineage of adepts. That gave a base level of respect, and his strong magic made him someone Anya viewed as an equal. There was a hint of jealousy there, too, for how easily Kenshiro seemed to be able to use his gold lux - the one type Anya was unable to tap into during the Stygian Snake, even with help from people like him. But she kept this hidden. After all, they were very different magically. Kenshiro learned spells from spellbooks passed down from his family, and Anya had to develop her own. Anya views Kenshiro as one of the more useful, and tolerable, members of the old coven.
Aaron/Aryin.Thorne
"Like attracts like, no wonder they’re so close to Linqian." _______________________________________________
Anya doesn’t have a particularly positive view of Aaron/Aryin - especially as Aryin. The restriction of lux type to form seems ridiculously limiting to her. While how it works is interesting, Anya doesn’t particularly care past that. They were in different circles and had very little reason to interact ten years ago. She hopes to keep it that way.
Amara.King
"Her dreams are a little difficult, with so many of her." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 7/10. Strong abstraction, dangerous side effects.
Anya and Amara got on reasonably well, ten years ago. Amara came up with good battle plans which Anya agreed with, and was strong enough in a fight to gain some respect that way. Her friendliness with everyone was always something Anya found… irritating. Perhaps because she didn’t understand it.
”Luna”.Inoue
"A spy among our ranks that we don’t need back." _______________________________________________
Anya never trusted Luna, and was never friendly with her. This worked in her favour when it was revealed she was working for a St Portwell mafia recruiting teenagers. This tarnished Anya’s view of her further, along with the House of Cards itself. What kind of group needed barely functional teenagers to keep running?
Knowing that the House of Cards is causing issues makes Luna a person of interest for her right now.
Bé.Rochefoucauld
"He’s a kindred spirit, I suppose. We understand each other were others do not." _______________________________________________
Usefulness: 8/10. Smart, useful abstraction, like Sloane could learn some tact.
Anya and Bé understand each other, even if they’re not exactly friends. With them both lacking in empathy there just isn’t that need there for them to get emotionally close to each other. But they’re very similar, and Bé is one of the few people Anya can be a bit more of herself around without the friendly and good facade she’s built up. She does find the fact he doesn’t bother to hide it like she does a bit infuriating, while simultaneously being jealous of it. She doesn’t have the family money to fall back on - or family at all. But overall, Anya has a positive view of Bé - he’s one of the people in the previous coven she was closest to.
[@Punished GN] As promised, Caelea & Rien as NPCs...
One new wolfpack NPC and one new 317 NPC!
Caelea.Baird
26 | Caelea Muireann Baird | She/Her "Call me cute one more time and I’ll fuck you up so badly you’ll regret being born."
Description:
Caelea is someone who’s known violence her whole life.
A mistake born nearly ten years after her older brother in St. Portwell, Caelea was just another mouth to feed in a poor family. She spent her early years experiencing her mom’s heavy mood swings before she ultimately abandoned them when Caelea was five, leaving her dad to support both kids while blaming her for it. She was neglected at best, beaten more often than not over the smallest of things. From a young age she spent her time on the streets - tussling with other kids and learning how to fight (and how to fight dirty). Her only solace was school gymnastics classes, and the ones she was able to attend with money she stole.
Caelea was relatively young when she kindled - a fight that went wrong with a much larger boy at twelve resulting in her blasting him across the street with air. From there she only used her abstraction to fight more, and to beat every piece of shit that thought she made fun of her and thought she was weak. She no longer had to take any shit from her dad, either, because he couldn’t win against her anymore. In school Caelea was viewed as a bully - which she was, but she wasn’t the typical kind picking on nerds and the like. That was boring.
Instead she beat up all the boys that thought they were superior just cause of what they had in their pants, showing them that they weren’t all that great. It was this fighting that led to her making one friend - Hagan Rosefey.
Then the Stygian Snake attacked. At first, Caelea ignored it, beyond finding off the apparitions she came across. She couldn’t care less that other people were dying. But then Hagan was nearly enthralled by it, and was dragged into the Sycamore Tree Coven. It seemed like a fun way to kill time and avoid being at home. Caelea wasn’t well liked in the coven - she was abrasive, standoffish, and a general asshole to everyone else. She started fights with other members almost every day.
So when the Stygian Snake was beaten, Caelea was voted (and chased) out near immediately when she violently fought with multiple members. Quite simply not giving a fuck, Caelea went back to her normal life - skipping school, occasionally attending gymnastic classes and beating people up on the street. Eventually this progressed to a ‘career’ of beating people up for money - first essentially mugging, then for tiny groups in St Portwell. The criminal underworld of St. Portwell was a tough place for a woman to be, but with her abstraction Caelea didn’t lose fights to the Blind and just thrashed anyone who tried something on her. Eventually she joined the Wolf Pack… practically fighting her way in after a confrontation between the group she was with, and the Wolf Pack. Jumping ship was aided by Hagan’s presence in the Wolf Pack. She has been operating in the most violent capacity she can in the group since.
Caelea is tiny at four-eleven with a slight build. She has longer blond hair often tied back, very pale skin and light blue eyes. She’s incredibly flexible thanks to years of gymnastics used to aid her fighting. She often gets mistaken for a child - something that pisses her off to no end. Her appearance may be cute, but her personality is far from it. Caelea is incredibly cold towards other people, caring about very few of them, and harsh. She solves things with her fists and is aggressive to the point of brutality.
Abstraction: Adept - Red & Purple Lux. Channeler: worn hand wraps
Air Blast: Caelea’s primary spell, she controls air to create powerful blasts of air out of her hands or feet. This has the range of about a foot, but is honed to a high level of power, allowing her to knock over almost any object or person while also causing a lot of damage.
Air Strike: Caelea’s primary spell in fights with the Blind, where she uses air to enhance her strikes by using the air in a field around whatever she uses to attack. This makes her strikes hit much harder, while not appearing much different than normal. This is combined with her Purple-Lux to make her air enhanced attacks super fast, while also being incredibly hard hitting.
Fly: using a combination of her Purple and Red lux, Caelea can launch herself around using air blasts combined with purple lux enhanced movement. This allows her to practically fly through the sky (without actually traditionally flying), get up to places she normally couldn’t, and travel around a battlefield incredibly quickly. It makes her very manoeuvrable and near impossible to pin down.
Crush: Caelea uses her Red and Purple lux to put a large amount of pressure on one person, essentially trying to crush them with an incredibly heavy weight of compressed air combined with telekinetic weight.
Air Burst: Caelea forms a dense shield of air around her and, combined with telekinesis, launches it outwards. This knocks back any objects (and people) coming towards her - being able to stop and propel back even bullets.
Breathlessness: An incredibly brutal spell, and one she doesn’t use often, Caelea can suck the air out of a tiny area around someone’s head to create a vacuum that will cause suffocation. She has to be close to the target to do this, and it has similar effects on her, making it something she only uses if really needed.
Rien.Driessan
25 | Marijn “Rien” Elian Driessan | They/Them "If you're looking for someone who cares, keeping looking. You won't find that here."
Description:
Born and raised in the Netherlands, Rien spent their early childhood shifting between foster homes along with their twin sister, Katja. As a result the two were incredibly close - they were practically all they had. Things got easier when they were adopted at ten. Both were incredibly artistic, with Rien leaning towards painting and Katja towards music.
But as they both got older Katja got more sickly, before being diagnosed with a terminal, degenerative illness. At fifteen, just a few weeks after their birthday, she passed away. This caused Rien’s kindling event - suddenly they’d lost the only person that mattered to them, and were thrown into a world of magic they hadn’t known about. Using their black lux Rien desperately tried to find some kind of remnant of Katja… but she’d moved on. A year later, their adoptive parents decided it would be best to get a fresh start, and moved to St. Portwell, USA (just a year after the Stygian Snake’s rampage).
While studying art at university, Rien joined 317. It was a place were they found some solace and understanding. However Rien is generally a detached and uncaring individual, fearing growing attached and losing someone again. They take carefree to the extreme, to the point of seeming to not care about anything. Rien is five-four with dyed hair and multiple piercings. They also have various tattoos - most importantly to them, a treble clef on their chest (above their heart) that curls into a K. Rien acts as 317’s sealer, when the need arises… and when they’re not getting high.
Abstraction: Adept - Black & Gold Lux. Channeler: an old, fraying friendship bracelet.
Rien is a Black and Gold Lux adept who primarily specialises in trapping and sealing Apparitions in paintings, before summoning them back out of the paintings. They have four primary spells.
Seek: Rien can use their painting to hunt down nearby Apparitions. They essentially channel their black lux as they paint, pointing them towards any Apparitions in the nearby area.
Enrapture: Using their black lux, Rien is able to manipulate Apparitions to make them easier to seal. They use the painting they plan to seal the Apparition into for this, luring them towards it and forcing them to be enthralled by it.
Trap: Using their paintings and black lux, Rien has a much easier time sealing Apparitions. This spell enhances their sealing, making it much more likely to succeed. It reduces the size of sigil needed for sealing, allowing them to use smaller canvas even for powerful apparitions.
Pull: Rien pulls a sealed apparition out of the canvas they sealed it in. Using a combination of their Gold and Black lux they’re able to control it to do their bidding. Once they’re done with it, they can easily put it back inside the canvas. They can only summon two apparitions at a time, and to summon another after that they must put one of the active ones back in a painting.
Some of the most notable Apparitions that Rien has in their collection of sealed paintings.
Amanita
Description:
A small, unassuming Apparition that appears harmless but is actually one of Rien’s strongest. Amanita was one they sealed early on, when they just moved to the States. They are… somewhat attached to this apparition because of it. Rien always carries Amanita’s painting with them, thanks to its surprisingly small size (it can fit in any backpack, or a large front pocket). Amanita is very intelligent and seemingly friendly when talking to Rien… but she definitely harbours some dangerous intentions.
Amanita’s abstraction comes in two parts.
Deadly Spores: Amanita spreads spores in an area around her. These spores can be carried by the wind, and spread naturally. There are three types of spores she can spread - paralytic, toxic and hallucinogenic. The paralytic spores cause paralysis. This starts at the extremities before spreading to the whole body. The toxic spores cause a series of effects the longer they’re inhaled. This starts with delirium before moving to sickness, vomiting, intense pain and thirst, then convulsions, and then death by liver and kidney failure. The hallucinogenic spores cause vivid hallucinations - random and uncontrollable, just like drug induced ones. Emotional fields offer some defence.
Mycelia: Aside from her spores, Amanita can also spread Mycelia out through the ground. These allow her to find anything touching the ground and can be controlled to wrap around things. She can use her mycelia to inject the same toxins as with her spores. The mycelia have to penetrate the skin, but completely bypass emotional fields. This is incredibly potent, and a much more effective and deadly use (speeding up the process greatly) - what truly makes Amanita so dangerous.
Panoptes
Description:
Panoptes, or Pan as Rien often calls her, is an apparition born upon the death of a controlling, scorned woman who lost everything. Rien sealed her seven years ago, the second strong apparition they sealed after Amanita. She was a malevolent apparition that’s somewhat ‘settled’ down after sealing.
Pan has a powerful psychic and sight based abstraction. She has multiple abilities under this.
Telekinetic Control: The primary part of Pan’s Abstraction, Pan has an incredibly strong form of telekinesis. While its raw power seems weak, it is incredibly well controlled. She can use it to control multiple objects to go in different directions or do different things, to act as if it was a hand and, most devastatingly, to control a human body. This isn’t mind control - the person is completely aware, the control of their body is just taken away from them. Or, she can control just parts of a body. Against blinds, she can do this on a mass scale - against those with emotional fields it is more difficult, but possible with how strong of an apparition she is.
All-Seeing Eyes: She has supernatural eyes all over her hair and body that she can see through. She can psychically “detach” one of her many eyes, sending it a long distance from herself as a form of clairvoyance. She can see through this eye as if it were still attached.
Psychic Beam: Technically part of her all-seeing eyes, Pan can shoot a raw beam of psychic power out of any of her eyes.
Telepathy: Pan has a more rudimentary form of telepathy. She can ‘talk’ with another person in their mind, placing her thoughts into theirs and reading the thoughts directed back to her. There needs to be a specific link formed - someone she’s touched, or knows - for this.
The Terror of.The Night
Description:
The Terror of the Night, or just Night as Rien tends to call it, is Rien’s strongest apparition and one they only sealed a year ago. He’s an apparition born out of nightmares and the collective fear people have of the night and the dark. He has a powerful, and varied, abstraction. At a base level he is physically very strong with sharp claws and teeth, durable enough to take a lot of magical hits and can fly. He’s large enough that Rien can ride on his back and could easily level a small building.
Night Terrors: The ability that gave him his name, the Terror of the Night can cause mass hallucinatory nightmares. This is most effective at night but can work during the day. It can do this on a wide, “weaker” scale or more targeted - where the more targeted, of up to ten individuals, completely bypasses emotional fields. It forces people to witness their worst nightmare… though it is possible for them to escape.
Night Teleportation: At night, he can teleport long distances. This is enough to get from one end of a city to another… but only at night. It doesn’t work during the day.
Shadow Breath: Like the dragon he looks like, the Terror of the Night can breath out a deadly beam of shadow. This is incredibly cold, freezing anything it hits, while also being life draining. Anyone without an emotional field hit by it will quickly perish, and those with it will suffer greatly.
Kludde.
Description:
An apparition born of Dutch and Belgium folklore, Kludde was an apparition that Rien captured and sealed just before leaving the Netherlands. He was a malicious, tormenting Apparition who moved through rivers, lived under bridges and pulled unsuspecting Blinds in. He can be one of the harder to control Apparitions, and only listens to Rien when they command him in Dutch.
He has various magical abilities, inspired by the legends about Kludde. In his natural form, he’s a large wolf-like creature with scaled wings. He can fly, but not particularly quickly, but on the ground has supernatural speed. His sharp bear claws and fangs easily rip through non protected flesh. He does have one, strange weakness inspired by the legends: if he sees a handkerchief he has no choice but to carefully rip it apart.
Shapeshifting: Kludde can shapeshift into a few other animals: horses, ravens, snakes, cats, frog, bats and even trees. In these forms he’s still very fast, but has reduced strength.
Weight Increasing: Kludde can increase his weight exponentially at will, from his normal weight to heavy enough to crush someone. His favourite thing is to jump on someone’s back and weigh them down.
Fire Breath: Kludde has a short ranged fire breath, which he can use infrequently.
Grash
Description:
Grash is a malevolent Apparition that Rien sealed a couple of years ago. It was going on a mash rampage in a small town before they sealed it, and subsequently made it an apparition they could summon. While it has a relatively simple Abstraction, it’s a strong physical fighter.
Grash has supernatural speed, with the ability to form its own body in a variety of different ways. It can lengthen its fingers into incredibly sharp claws, separate its body to avoid getting hit. It can turn into a shadowy mist to move from one place to another very quickly. It’s a strong and formidable foe.
Interactions: Ken @AtomicEmperor Outside Kari's House -> The Fuck Out Of Here
Ken was strong.
That only made things more fun for Maya. She didn’t let him move an inch towards Carol - attack met with attack, leaving her own ears ringing.
A shower of rocks shot in her face, shattering as they hit the constant static around her. They burst into millions of tiny pieces, splattering across her harmlessly, and screeching loudly in her ears. She winced, forcefully dampening the sound.
It distracted her long enough for Ken to summon a bunch of frogs… that immediately went after Carol. Whatever. It wasn’t like she could die.
Maya grinned as Ken jumped towards her again, hands clapping together all the sound waves around them got increasingly loud and painful. Her breathing grew painful as a heavy pressure pushed on her from all around, then the back. She narrowed her eyes, shield of physical sound bursting out around her and slamming into anything close enough to her.
Including the hourglass coming towards her head. The sound blast completely shattered it, tinkling glass falling into her long hair and across the ground.
“Has anyone ever told you how lame you sound?” Maya sneered, spinning around with another blast of sound. “You should-”
She cut herself off as everything went to shit near Nadine’s undead bullet sponge which… really wasn’t doing its job very well at all. Great plan, Emily. Totally worked.
“Awwww,” Maya looked up at the sky, and the burning cross blazing across it. She jumped back, putting a bit of distance between herself and Ken, and pulled a gas mask from her hip. The ugly thing was shoved over her face as pink mist spread across the battlefield.
Emily always had to go and ruin her fun, whether it was telling her not to steal a dead girl's underwear (which she did anyway) or stopping what was starting to look like a really fun fight. As much as she’d love to continue, she knew Emily would just leave her behind… and fuck that!
She wanted Dairy Queen… and to see Phoebe again. It felt like it had been hours apart.
“Too bad,” she sighed. Her accent, the inflections that made it obvious English wasn’t her first language, was clearer with her own hearing dampened. She got in close to Ken again. As he got caught by the pink mist’s hallucinations, she slipped a piece of paper (with her number on it) in one of the more obvious pockets of his vest. She patted it and smirked underneath her mask. “We can continue later, yeah?”
Her hand lingered for a moment, before she turned and ran towards and through Brianna’s portal.
Sending her summon after Sloane had been the right call.
Before the summon itself came back, one of Amara’s clones appeared. Anya let out a sigh of relief, properly standing and brushing off dirt from her soaked trousers. She smiled at the phantom, even though she doubted it felt much at all.
”Thank you,” she said, gesturing back towards the battlefield. With it with her, she could rest easy knowing it would at least sacrifice itself for her. ”Take me to my… companion, then.”
As she was about to let it escort her, Anya’s summon came bounding back towards her as if being chased by something. It jumped into her arms and dissipated in a puff of black smoke.
Immediately behind it came a rapidly thickening pink mist. It covered the entire forest in no time. Anya immediately stopped breathing, hands clenching into her thighs. What kind of abstraction was this? Was there someone in 8th Street with this kind of magic… She didn’t know, and she didn’t have time to figure it out. She raised an hand to her mouth and nose, trying to cover them with the fabric of her jacket.
It wasn’t enough to protect her when she couldn’t hold her breath any longer, and inhaling the smoke.
The forest changed subtly before her eyes. Rain stopped, the sun shone, the trees were more spaced out. She knew, somehow, that she owned this place. This land. The whole town. She was the most important and powerful person in it.
Her head tilted to the side, catching sight of Sloane standing nearby. When had she gotten so close? She was giving Anya that look again, like the drunken one at the festival - one filled with pure adoration and love. As if Anya was the best person to ever exist. And it didn't make Anya feel uncomfortable at all.
Because she was.
Smiling at her closest friend, Anya’s gaze then trailed downwards.
In front of her were various powerful (in different ways) men in her life. Ezra Vanburen, Greyson Devola, Jack Hawthorne, Drake Blackmore… the heads bowing down to her went on and on. Seeing them all at her feet was so empowering. This was how it should be.
Everyone bowing at her feet.
She raised on a heeled boot carefully, before bringing it down on the back of the nearest man kneeling at her feet. Ezra, it seemed. It didn’t matter. They were all the same to her.
Just people to be stepped on for her own success. To be used until she no longer needed them. Even the richest and arguably most powerful man in the city… No, that was her title now.
Because how could he be, beneath her feet like this?
The feeling was thrilling, and addictive. She knew at the back of her mind that this wasn’t quite real - like the dreams she visited. But oh, was it sweet. To exert her power- power she deserved- over them all, with the one person she’d chosen by her side.
Everything she’d ever desired was hers, and it made her feel more than she’d ever felt before.
Interactions: Sloane @Atrophy Hallucinations: Jasper, Carol, Olivia Cringe Central
Still pushing through zombies, Luca’s head swivelled around as he tried to figure out the best past out. As he did, in the corner of his eyes he saw Carol fall to the ground. The bullet hadn’t come from Edict, who appeared and started spraying afterwards. Nobody else had a gun.
But someone could make one.
Luca’s heart sank. Carol would be alive, but dying still hurt her. It was a horrible fate, to eternally die and come back. She didn’t deserve it.
But he didn’t have time to dwell on it. He had to clear a proper path for him and Sloane, getting rid of as many zombies as he could. It was easy as their hands grasped at him only to immediately rot off. They were almost-
Luca tripped over a zombie foot that suddenly stuck out in front of him as it started dancing. He caught the zombie, collapsing on top of it, its soft, rapidly decaying flesh stopping him from breaking anything. But it still fucking hurt. Luca groaned, rolling off it and gagging as the stench of death filled his senses.
He could never get used to it.
Before he could get up, pink mist rapidly spread across them all. Luca’s eyes widened. A probably dangerous mist- shit, shit, he couldn’t hold his breath for long, he was already starting to struggle, shit-
The pink mist was sucked into his damaged lungs, quickly superimposing images in front of what was really happening.
A hand appeared in front of him to help him up. He hesitated, breathing quickening, but felt the urge to take it even with the Rot. His fingers lightly touched the much bigger hand… and the skin remained unmarred by decay. Luca’s eyes widened, shooting up to look at Jasper’s smiling face.
He beamed back, taking his hand, getting to his feet. He held up their joint hands between them, marvelling at it for a moment. He was touching something without destroying it. He was able to hold the hand of the man he liked… elation bubbled in his chest.
Carol was in the background, teasingly calling him motherfucker - she looked older, free of the hourglass. Olivia was beside her, curly hair tied back into a ponytail and soft smile on her lips. Both alive and well, free of their apparitions.
He was free of the Rot too. There was no more pain. For the first time in ten years, he was free of it. His limbs felt like his own. He could breathe easily. There wasn’t that constant burning of his insides rotting away. He wasn’t dying.
Luca jumped forward, wrapping his arms around Jasper in a proper hug. A hug without hurting him. A hug that he could have again and again and again. They could cuddle while they watched movies, in bed, they could- Luca blushed, not wanting to go down that route.
Jasper hugged him back. It was so warm.
So perfect.
Luca smiled, a smile so wide his cheeks began to hurt. Tears of joy shone in his eyes.
Softly, so quietly that only someone right next to him could hear, he whispered, ”I’m so glad. I’m not dying anymore… I didn’t want to. I’d accepted it, but I really didn’t want to. Not after I met you again. For the first time since I found out, I actually wanted to live again.”
Jasper’s arms around him tightened. “I’m glad too. If anyone deserves to live it's you, Luca. I… everyone likes you so much.”
”Really?” Luca tilted his head up, chin resting against Jasper’s (strangely) clothed chest. There was something more to that. Something… he’d always hoped for.
”Yes, really. Now that you have your whole life ahead of you- a life you can spend with someone- I have something to tell you.”
”What is it?” Luca asked, breath catching in his throat and heart rate increasing - but for once it wasn’t because of his illness.
“I painted something to show my feelings,” Jasper smiled, one arm loosening from around Luca to hold up his canvas.
It was an idyllic scene of a flowering meadow. Jasper and Luca stood next to each other in it, arms wrapped around each other. Jasper was looking at Luca with a look so soft, so warm, that was replicated by the ‘real’ Jasper holding him right now. Luca was smiling so brightly that it was represented by sunbeams shining out from him.
An angelic light bathed them both from the heavens. Roses bloomed at their feet. Their thorny, red flower adorned vines curved up and around them like a wedding altar. Beautiful white doves rested on them, their beaks opened in a beautiful song Luca could practically hear coming from the painting. A soft, fluffy cloud in the brilliant blue sky arced over them in the shape of a heart.
“Luca,” Jasper said, letting go of him, only to get down on one knee. He held up the canvas as if it was an engagement ring. With the other hand he pulled out his paintbrush, adding the final touches to the painting - a ring painted around Luca’s finger. With the signature glow of his magic, Jasper pulled it out of the canvas. Both were offered to Luca, whose eyes went wide.
“Will you be my boyfriend?”
Luca’s mind ground to a halt. Be Jasper’s boyfriend? He’d love to be Jasper’s boyfriend - even if the method was incredibly cringey, but… wait. Jasper was straight. He didn’t like Luca in that way - he only saw him as a friend. He’d never ask him out.
And he’d definitely never draw something like that.
The hallucination crumbled before Luca could say yes as he realised it wasn’t real. Illusion Jasper crumbled, disappearing along with Carol and Olivia, bringing him back to reality. He was immediately faced with someone’s forehead. His arms were wrapped around someone that was much shorter, and much less muscular, than Jasper.
It felt like a knife in his gut, shoved in and twisting, as he tried to pull back and realised what had happened. He was hugging Sloane. Everywhere his bare arms, neck and face touched was rotting away - through her clothes to her skin. His breathing grew shallower as panic captured him, completely washing away the burgeoning joy he’d felt moments ago. He felt physically ill. It was like a weight was crushing him, horror filling him as the Rot's gleeful laughter echoed in his mind.
He was hurting her. He was doing exactly what he didn’t want to do. The one thing he feared the most.
Luca tried to pull back, but he couldn’t, because Sloane was hugging him back. He pulled back as much as he could, raising his arms in the air to try and avoid touching her. Trying to avoid further hurting her.
His own flesh was peeled back and rotting in various places, dark blood dripping sluggishly down his arms. All the pain had come back- sharp stabs in his chest, harsh scrapes in his lungs, and a constant dull ache in his limbs. It was all amplified by the wounds he’d gained as the rotting quickened during the illusion. When he’d had no control. When the Rot was able to exert his influence.
But he didn’t care about his own pain. It was his normal. Dying was his normal.
All he cared about right now was trying to get away from Sloane, before the damage was irreversible.
Interactions: Britney @Punished GN Hallucinations: Jinhai, Huanyi & Who Knows~ Linqian's Home
Not leaving Lila behind was fine. Linqian was fine to save her bird ass- unless pink mist washed over them. Linqian bit down her lip, holding her breath and jerking her head towards Britney.
”What the fuck-”
Talking was a mistake, pink mist getting into her mouth as soon as it opened and travelling down her throat. Instantly, everything around her changed. Britney and Aryin disappeared from her vision, and the burning house and forest was replaced.
She was in a small living room - the living room of the apartment she’d lived in for years. Clothes were strewn across a worn, dark blue sofa. The clacking of a controller and muted video game sounds, punctuated by occasional static, came from the television behind her. She knew if she turned around she would see Huanyi playing whatever game he was most into now on the PS2 she’d bought him for his 16th. But it wasn’t her younger brother that took up her attention, for once.
At the small table in the corner of the room sat Jinhai, lazily typing on the laptop she scrounged together money to buy. Soft light gently highlighted his defined cheekbones, dappling his long, curly hair. Feeling her gaze he paused what he was writing, turning to her with a raised eyebrow and questioning smile.
Tears started rolling down her cheeks.
”... Ge?” she choked out.
”Huh? What’s gotten into you?” Jinhai snorted, smiling becoming more taunting. ”You never call me that, huh, Meimei?”
”Shut up,” Linqian replied in Chinese, without the normal bite to it. She couldn’t bring herself to snap at him. Because he was there, right in front of him. Like he was alive. Like he’d never… like she’d never… like that day had never happened.
The worst day of her life.
Right then, she knew this wasn’t real. Jinhai was dead. She’d seen his dead body, seen the blood staining the carpet that she could feel beneath her bare feet. She’d held his cold body and begged him to come back. He hadn’t, and he wouldn’t.
This wasn’t real.
But she didn’t care.
Linqian forcefully caught hold of the illusion before it broke. Like a protective blanket it resettled, the slight wavering subsiding. She didn’t want to leave. She refused to leave.
Because even if it wasn’t real, even if it was all a hallucination, Jinhai was here. She was back home - in her actual home, with her two brothers. The two people she loved more than anything. She didn’t want to leave them.
She didn’t want to lose him again.
”Why are you crying, Qian-er?” Jinhai asked, closing his laptop. He gave her that little concerned look he always used to when he knew something was up, but also knew she’d bristle as soon as he pushed. He always knew. Nobody knew her like Jinhai did.
Nobody would ever know her like he had. Because no one had been there like him - from the moment her life began. He was supposed to be there until it ended, too. But he’d gone first, leaving her gasping for air.
It was so cruel. A hollow feeling in her chest that kept the tears streaming down her face even as she held onto the lifeline that had been thrown to her, even knowing it would snap beneath her grasp.
He looked so real. He was as real as she was going to get. She moved forward a couple of steps and he stood, head tilted in confusion. Hesitantly, Linqian hugged him.
He felt real, too. Solid. Breathing. Heart beating. Alive.
”Qian-er?”
”I’m fine,” Linqian smiled, dropping her arms and taking a few steps back again. ”Your face is just so ugly, I had to make sure it was really you… cause fuck, how can we be related when you look like that?“
”That makes no sense,” Jinhai rolled his eyes at her, disdain crossing his eyes before disappearing again. ”We’ve got similar genes, you want to go tell mom and dad they’re ugly? Go on.”
He gestured to the shrine in the corner.
Even in this hallucination, her parents weren’t alive. Maybe… because she couldn’t remember them so well. For the past ten years it had only been the three of them. The future to her had been the three of them.
Until it wasn’t. Until it was just the two of them.
Short lived joy sputtered out, sucked in by that empty void even as she tried to cling to it. Everything was a reminder that this wasn’t real. She couldn’t bring her actual brother back. Jinhai would always be dead.
But she still didn’t care. She still didn’t want to leave this place.
It was better than the reality where she had nothing at all.
”You think they’d care? Come on, Hai-er, they’d always tell us not to come to them with our stupid arguments,” Linqian laughed lightly, shaking her head.
”But they always took my side... Obviously, since I was the better child.”
”Oh shut up. They’re not here anymore to do that,” Linqian rolled her eyes at him, even as they stung with continually shed tears. ”It’s just you and me now, and you know I can beat your ass.”
If only it was still you and me. Now it’s just me, making all the decisions alone. I don’t want to make them alone.
”Hey, there’s me too!” Huanyi piped up cheerfully. Linqian tilted her head to look at him, still playing a video game she didn’t recognise. She’d never had the time to have an interest in these things. ”I get a say in who wins arguments too!”
”You wish, Yi-er,” Linqian sneered.
”She’s right. The adults get to make those kinds of decisions.” Jinhai chuckled.
”I’m eighteen, I’m an adult!” Huanyi whined.
”We’ll treat you like an adult when you don’t need an allowance anymore.”
”... aw, come on, Ge, that isn’t how the law works. I become an adult at eighteen, allowance or not.”
”Legally, perhaps, but not in this house, didi.”
Linqian couldn’t help but smile. It was so familiar. The back and forth between the two of them, how easily Jinhai handled Huanyi without losing his temper. They were so close… and that had been taken away from Huanyi. She couldn’t replace Jinhai for him, no matter how hard she tried.
She couldn’t be there as much as she wanted to be. She never could be. Linqian didn’t regret it. If she didn’t work so hard, so often, they might not even be here. But she’d missed out so much. So many moments with the little brother she loved more than anything, so much time with Jinhai she’d always thought she could make up for…
Now it was too late.
”But I’d be taking your side! Do you really think I’d take Jie’s? She’s always-”
”Keep talking that way and see if you ever get dinner again.”
Henri pouted, holding up his hands.
”Alright, I’ll take your side, Jie! You’re my favourite, don’t worry.”
”Hey, look,” Jinhai laughed, corners of his eyes creasing in a way that lit up his handsome face. A happy look that Linqian missed so much. ”You’re everyone's favourite in this house.”
“She’s mine too.” Another voice suddenly appeared. It felt like she should recognise it, but she couldn’t put a name to it. Suddenly there was someone pressing against her back - someone roughly the same height as her, soft yet rough at the same time. Scarred arms wrapped around her waist, tattoos covering them blurry.
“Hey, babe,” the soft, strangely familiar voice whispered in her ear. She couldn’t quite place it, or the arms she’d definitely seen before. She decided to not turn around and look… in case she didn’t like what it showed her. Did it really matter, anyway? “You left dinner in the oven.”
”Oh…” Linqian said. It was something so mundane. Peaceful. Just a normal life and a normal, unknown, slightly familiar partner… with her two brothers. She didn’t want to go and turn off the oven. It wasn’t even real. And because it wasn’t real, Jinhai might disappear if she looked away from him. ”Can you get it for me? I’ll sort it in a minute.”
“Sure thing, bro,” came the slightly teasing reply, along with a light kiss to her earlobe that turned into a sharp bite. Linqian bit her lip, resisting the urge to turn around, as the warmth at her back disappeared and her mysterious lover disappeared.
Maybe it was Bianca. Bianca never called her bro… well, that was just weird anyway. Not something to dwell on.
It didn’t matter. It just added warmth to the situation. Not only were her brother’s there, alive and well, but she was with someone who seemed to care for her. Who would turn off the oven for her. Such a small, simple thing… But so impactful.
It was all that she’d ever wanted, and everything that she’d never have.
”Jinhai.”
”Yes?”
”Hai-er.”
”... Yes?”
”Ge.”
”What is it, Linqian?”
”I’ve missed you. I’ve missed you so much, you have no idea.” Linqian closed her eyes for a moment, before opening them. Jinhai was still there. He was still standing right in front of her. She smiled softly, eyes filling with sorrowful happiness. More than anything, she wanted this to be real. She wanted it so badly that it hurt.
”Every day I wake up and expect to see you there, like this. Sitting at the table, working on something I don’t understand while making judgemental comments. I never thought I’d miss it. There’s so much I regret. So much that I didn’t tell you, Ge. Like how much I love you. I love you and Yi-er more than anything. You’re everything to me. Living without you is like living without a part of myself. I don’t feel whole. Sometimes, I just feel like giving up. Every single day I wish it was me. It should have been me. And I know you aren’t real. I don’t care. I miss you, and all I want is for you to come back. Please come back.”
In reality, Linqian hardly moved as she softly spoke in her mother tongue, lips pulled up into a gentle smile and tears a river cascading down her already drenched cheeks. Anguish filled her eyes, the deep sorrow she’d held in coming so visibly to the surface like it never had before.
Still, she stayed in the hallucination, knowing that her grief could be easily seen. It didn’t matter. Staying with Jinhai, for as long as she could, was all that mattered.
Because she wasn’t sure if she could cope with him being torn away from her again.
Fire, then a glowing green shield saving them from an inevitable death. Luca let out a sigh of relief.
He at least wanted the year or so he had left.
”I'll get out of the way.”
The shield dropped, and Luca ran away from the group... Not at a particularly fast pace. He didn't want to collapse, his lungs already protesting going any faster than a walk. But he didn't want to flee. He may be a burden on the battlefield, but maybe he could protect someone... Luca stopped jogging as he almost tripped over a body. What the fuck?
Zombies were falling from the sky. Luca looked up, shielding his eyes from the bright light of the portal. Brianna's portal, Nadine's undead. Shit.
He wasn't worried about himself. The aura around him already started to hurt them, and a single touch would destroy them. It was the others he was worried about. People who didn't have a body that destroyed anything it touched - so close to being just like those zombies, dead and rotten from inside and out.
A zombie meandered near him, and he stepped out of the way, hand shooting up to catch it. The flesh rotted further beneath his fingers, travelling down the undead creature before it was destroyed.
Luca grimaced. He pulled off his button down shirt, strengthening the decay in his hands so it disintegrated beneath his fingers. Underneath was a loose tank top - leaving his shoulders and arms bare. His shoulder bones were prominent, arms skinny but currently undamaged aside from a myriad of scars he couldn't even remember the origin of. More skin to touch, and to rot them away.
Another zombie came for him, and Luca just raised a bare arm. It went for it... and already rotting flesh disintegrated in moments.
Without much to worry about himself, Luca quickly looked around. His head went towards Linqian first - plenty of people there, she was awake, they were fine... Jasper was there too. Jasper was topless. Luca had seen it before when he'd rotted off Jasper's shirt when terrified by Skelly but... With the effect of the rain it looked- stop looking at Jasper's chest!
Luca tore his gaze away and caught sight of Sloane, surrounded by zombies. Sloane didn't have an offensive abstraction. She was close enough for him to help. Luca changed direction, and started to run towards him. He didn't bother avoiding the zombies - rotting his way through them, ignoring the pain that came whenever they managed to touch him. The healing elixir had given him enough strength to be more functional than he had in a long time.
”Sloane!” Luca shouted. He shoved his whole body through the zombies - the moment they touched him, they rotted away in a gory display of peeling flesh revealing muscle and bone until it all turned to dust. Another lunged for him. Luca didn't bother to move as it crashed into his shoulder, causing him to wobble as it decayed. Even as it died his skin tore from the impact, blood dripping down his arm. He caught himself on another zombie, grimacing at the feeling of already decomposed skin turning soft beneath his fingers. He ignored the bleeding - a surface level wound, not something that would kill him.
Luca properly pushed through the undead surrounding Sloane, getting close enough that she'd feel his aura prickling against her. Only a step away - closer than he tended to get to people.
”They can't hurt me,” he panted, ignoring what felt like glass shards scraping his lungs. The running, the rain... It was taking its toll on his weak organs. But it was a base level pain that he was used to, and an improvement over the last few days.
Left.
Hearing the Rot's warning he twisted around, arm shooting out to catch a zombie that lunged for Sloane. He was so close to her now, just narrowly avoiding brushing against her as the zombies rotting flesh peeled off and dropped to the mud covered floor with a wet plop. He smiled at her as the rest of it was easily destroyed.
”I'll clear us a path. Stay close to me... But not too close, I can't choose what I rot. It's cooperating right now, but...” he pointed to his left eye, hints of putrid green tendrils pushing at the edges of his iris. The effect of actively choosing to use his rotting, giving the Rot the destruction it desired. He would have to suppress it to turn off his rotting touch, and that would take concentration and energy he didn't have. He needed to stay in control, but he couldn't guarantee it. ”If it gets worse, get away from me too. Just in case! I'm in control, and it rarely gets through- so it'll be fine! Just make sure not to touch me.”
He turned back around, hands pushing forward through the nearest zombies, forcing an opening where there hadn't been one before.
[center][img]http://i.imgur.com/uUydHWE.png[/img]
[color=SeaGreen]They/He|UK(GMT)
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[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/162255-fernstones-character-archive/ooc][color=MediumSeaGreen]Character Archive[/color][/url][/center][hr][hr]
Mid 20s. Been here a long time, generally only join friend's rps. Constantly tired. Masc nonbinary, preference for they pronouns but he are ok too!
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;"><div class="bb-center"><img src="http://i.imgur.com/uUydHWE.png" /><br><font color="seagreen">They/He|UK(GMT)</font><br><a href="https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/162255-fernstones-character-archive/ooc"><font color="mediumseagreen">Character Archive</font></a></div><hr class="bb-hr"><hr class="bb-hr"><br>Mid 20s. Been here a long time, generally only join friend's rps. Constantly tired. Masc nonbinary, preference for they pronouns but he are ok too!<br><br></div>
Mixtape Ghost N
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