[CRP] Inner Demons

[Aishe]

Date: January 26, 1658

Nothing.

That's all there was. An empty darkness surrounded her essence. There was no promised, fabled peace or feeling of rest. There was just... Nothing. Was that all death was, or was it because of what she was? What if a monster doesn't get some sort of afterlife? But, then, who decides what is a monster?

With sudden force, air rushed into her lungs with a loud, gasping inhale. Danger. Bright eyes flew open to blinding light, while every nerve in her body tingled with an intensity she'd never felt before. There was danger. She wiggled her fingers to make sure they were there, that they were hers, as the body felt like it belonged to someone else. With a certain disconnect, her mind sat in a fog, yet it was clear as ever as images began to filter back from moments ago. There was the black haired beauty with matching, fully black eyes, laughing and taunting... A sharp pain that started in her chest, chased by a cold unlike any she had felt before. Then, the void of nothing. The laughs echoed in her buzzing ears, unable to hear much else from the present. She knew what had happened, and yet, her dazed mind could not comprehend.

The above all happened within seconds, though to her, time stood still. Her gaze was finally able to focus, settling on a familiar face above her. Danger. Time finally spurred forward again when the woman blinked, opening her mouth to speak. Aishe did not give her the opportunity to say a syllable; her hand shot upwards with speed and force, her fingers wrapping around the fragile neck belonging to said danger. While the grip tightened, the vampire sat up, pushing the other woman onto her back much like how she had been moments before. Her fangs were fully extended and she had every intention to rip out her wife's throat until a chortle from behind shed some light into the fog.

This was not her wife. This was her sister-in-law. Immediately, she released Sokanon and jumped to her feet, spinning around. There stood an all-too-gleeful Akos, eyes fully immersed in the darkness that was spiraling within her soul. Growling lowly, she sprung forward without any hesitation. Being faster and stronger, the necromancer had little time to react as petite hands found the back of her head and her jaw. She gave no chance for Akos to raise her hands to defend herself before there was a very loud, solid crack and the dark haired beauty collapsed to the ground.

Heaving slightly from the adrenaline, Aishe turned back to face Sokanon, who hadn't yet had time to stand back up. The bloodthirsty, angry monster faded from Aishe's expression, fangs retracting back to a human's canine. She searched over the bewildered twin, looking for any signs of injury and coming up empty. Inhaling sharply, she searched for her voice while she licked her lips, mouth dry.

You're fine. I'm fine. She'll be fine.

Despite all that had just transpired, Aishe seemed oddly calm. Perhaps it was the 'coming back to life' aftereffects, or perhaps it was because she had had a plan in place for this moment for many months now. She knew that, some day, Zachrin's gift would wear off. The time in the Nether, those thirteen years, seemed to have used up a good portion of the Mage's magic. It could only contain the darkness for so long. A long term solution would be needed and so she had searched. It took a while and it was a stressful period, but with some help, that solution was found. There was a price, but all things came with a price.

Clearing her throat, she turned back to Akos and reached down to pick her up. She froze for a moment, finally taking in the appearance of her hands and fingers. Her skin was an odd grey, lacking in colour much like a corpse, with each vein showing through the transparent skin. Her brows knitted together, twisting her hands to look at them as the colour continued to slowly reclaim each inch of her skin.

Is this how I look when I'm dead?

The words were mostly to herself, dumbfounded and hurt. There was something about that appearance that made her uneasy. Of course, who likes to think of what they look like when they are dead? No one, but she had always just assumed she'd be just like any other human, particularly since she was born human. She sincerely hoped her children would never have to see her looking like that while the last bit faded back to normal. Huffing slightly, she picked up her wife and tossed her over her shoulder. Her body still tingled with electricity, but she had to hurry. There was no telling how quickly Akos would bring herself back from the Nether or what state she would be in when she returned from death.

Go home. I've got to go fix this. I'll find you later.

She did not give Sokanon the chance to object before she sprinted away. With the clock ticking, the vampire took no detours as she ran for the royal castle. She arrived unhindered and proceeded through the stone halls, still moving as fast as she could manage. The blonde blur first stopped in at the the King's office, but found it empty. With an irritated growl, she kept going. He was not in the Royal Court, nor the private nobility halls, and he was not eating his afternoon meal. She finally came to his living quarters and did not bother to offer any sort of notice before barging in, hearing a heartbeat from within the room. An audible sigh of relief left her lips as she confirmed it was the King, not a servant, before she continued forward to the bed. Perhaps a bit roughly, she dropped her wife down onto the mattress, trying to catch her breath. Some of the calm she had had with Soka was slipping to her own bewilderment as she turned.

Akos killed me, so I killed her. The explanation was said as normally as if it was the weather as she ran her fingers through her long, tangled locks. Zachrin's magic is gone. The darkness has returned. I don't know how long we have until Akos comes back, but I will bet it won't be the Akos we know and love.

Her lips pursed. Yep, there was the panic, slowly rising up to swallow her whole. The nerves she had once had about the situation began to return. After all, there was no guarantee the plan would actually work. Her hands began to shake slightly, be it from her resurrection or the unknown outcome. At the end of the day, she could very much be a widow.

Looks like it's now or never, Z.




OOC: Permission to godmod Ako and Zuan.

[Zuan]

He had seen many things in his time, and experienced many other things, yet here was something entirely new to him, even if he did know the circumstances surrounding the situation, but yet as he lay upon his bed, wearing naught but a simple white peasant shirt and black breeches, reading a tome from some long dead philosopher of the realm he found himself seeing that new thing. Entering into the chamber was Aishe carrying the lifeless body of Akos and she casually placed the body upon the bed as if it was something one often did during their working day. To place the body of their dead wife upon the bed of their liege and monarch, however he did not start nor even jump from the bed as the body was placed upon it. Instead giving an exasperated sigh he pushed some of his dark unkempt hair out of his face and looked directly into Aishe’s eyes as he got to his feet and held up the book. ”And I was just getting to the good bit…” He said sarcastically. Before throwing the book lazily upon the bedside table and moving over to examine the body of Akos, running a hand across her cheek before looking over at Aishe and muttering. ”I don’t need the details, nor quite frankly do I want them, apart from the important bit, how long ago did you kill her and more to the point how many people noticed you running a corpse to my chamber?” He said awfully calmly.

It was perhaps odd for anyone else to speak so calmly in this situation, yet for him death was nothing new, quite frankly death was the one thing he understood better than most, perhaps even more than the necromancers of worlds past and the philosophers in his books that spoke of second and future lives. Yet it had been on the beach all those months ago, when Aishe had revealed the situation to him that he had presented her with the plan, the plan he had constructed not for her and not for Akos but for one love lost so many years ago. Yet the principles were the same. Akos had lost too much humanity, the monster was heavier upon the scales of control than whatever humanity remained within her, and because of that, well the monster was free to roam and reign. He did not say another word as he walked passed Aishe and toward a bolted chest in the corner of his room. Pulling a dagger from the nearby table which had until now been buried in a point on a map, he pricked the tip of his finger with the blade and pressed the now bleeding finger to the lock of the chest, and with a satisfying click it opened. The lid swung upward to reveal the insides, and within it was vials, hundreds of little vials all filled with the same black liquid, along with the vials there was several pieces of interlocking glass tubing and a small needle.

It did not take him long to set it up, after all he had it designed to be constructed in a matter of moments, given the nature of the situation, and so it was not long before he pressed the needle into the arm of Akos, securing it in place with one of his shirts, knotting it around her arm before turning toward Aishe. ”Well now comes the difficult bit, in that chest is enough vials to last five thousand years, needless to say that has cut my own life expectancy down a similar amount, but that’s not important. What is important is that you realize that by giving her my humanity her future will be tied to my own. If I was to die, my blood within her veins would lose its humanity, thus she would become the monster again, and if anything it would only empower her further as what I give is more than humanity, it is the curse of my existence and that you know, by doing this, you condemn us all to the same ending.” He sighed as he tied another shirt around her lower arm to provide support for the construct, lest she move her arm and cause the construct to fracture. ”I tell you this Aishe as a final warning, this is a solution that is only as permanent as I am, what is in that chest is not just a supply in the event we need to provide her with more humanity, which while unlikely would not be implausible, but it is also our failsafe in the event she becomes uncontrollable….So….” He turned from Akos’ side to look up into Aishe’s eyes. ”If you wish to go ahead with it, uncork ten vials and pour the liquid into the construct, it will enter her veins and with any luck, her humanity will be stronger than ever before…” Now was time to see, would she go through with it, would she condemn Akos to life, but a life near as hollow as his own, or would she simply do what she should have done all those years ago and kill the woman she loved for good. He already knew the answer, but it was hers to give not his, and thus he waited in those seconds to see what would happen next, and to see what would become of their futures.

[Aishe]

The word 'corpse' hit her like a giant wave. It certainly knocked the remaining calm away, despite her silent reassurance of the fact Akos was not dead. Well, not dead dead. She'd come back. Yet, that word, which left his mouth so calmly, sprung a seed of doubt. What if this didn't work? She forced out an answer to the first part of the question, mind spiraling with possible outcomes.

It's not been long.. Came straight here.

Blue eyes flitted to her wife's still face as the Fenian monarch moved past her. What if this plan went haywire and she effectively killed them both? Permanently, in some way or another? The possibility of losing them both in moments from now, however slight the chance, was drawing her near to a panic. The quickened breath from her lungs filled her eardrums in the deafly quiet bedroom. That is, until Zuan began to explain it all one last time.

His words caught her full attention, tearing her gaze away from Akos and back to him. It was getting difficult to breathe, the air thick and stale. Every word the king spoke was a repeat from the last several weeks. Their fates would be tied. It was that simple. Some day, during her immortal life, she'd come to lose them both and that was something she was going to have to live with. What was important was, right now, Akos would be safe and healthy. The rest could be dealt with later. Perhaps they'd eventually find some way to maintain without such a finite link - despite how impossible Zuan believed it to be. It was that optimism she tried to hold on to as her eyes fell onto the vials.

As far as I'm concerned, you two will be bothering me for a very long time to come. The shaken words were accompanied by the slightest twitch of her lips. Pretty sure 'till death do we part' isn't part of the vow.

Silently, she retreated to the chest. Her hands trembled when she reached down, plucking up two handfuls with various 'clink's. Forcing a slow breath, she returned to the bedside and sat the small bottles down. Gently, she caressed her wife's chilled cheek while leaning forward, forehead pressed to hers. It was then the tears began to fall. None of this had gone without extensive discussion while Akos had been of sound mind. Zuan called the chest their failsafe, but to them, this plan was the failsafe. It was the last resort that they hoped to not have to reach, or at least not for a long time to come. The positives far outweighed the negatives, and yet, Aishe felt a burden of guilt in that moment. Still, just as Akos did not hesitate to beg Lucifer to save her, Aishe picked a vial back up.

I love you.

The words were whispered as she pulled back. Using her thumb, she popped off the cork while her free, trembling hand reached for Zuan's. Looking to him, she searched for words just as soft as she had whispered seconds ago. Yet, there came the sound she was hoping not to hear yet. A quiet, irregular drum was picked up by her sensitive ears and her eyes darted back to Akos. Without hesitation, the vial was poured down into the contraption and empty bottle replaced with the second of ten.

[Akos]

The first sign that she was returning to her body was a subtle, involuntary twitching of her right eyelid. It was a tangible, and slightly irritating, moment that nudged Akos towards full comprehension of her return to a physical form. The strong, steady beat of her heart thumped loudly in her ears as it worked to push blood through her veins and restore colour to limbs that had turned waxy and grey. Oxygen flowed through strengthening lungs as she inhaled deeply, expanding her chest and giving rise to her shoulders as though she’d just awakened from a night of sleep.

She hadn’t just been asleep though, and Akos shot upright as the memory of past events flooded her mind. She’d been dead. Her eyes widened, alert to the potential of any threats as she attempted to make sense of her surroundings. Dying wasn’t exactly much of a problem given her skill set but it also wasn’t a pleasant experience, so she was rather keen to avoid it again. Dark eyes quickly scanned the chamber - she was no longer in her own home - but that mattered little as they settled upon a more immediate threat: her wife.

Akos went to scramble backwards, but the pain that shot up her arm at the action stilled her movements. It was only then that she noticed the burn throughout her entire body as Zuan’s elixir swirled through her system, changing and subduing the dark elements of her being. Akos groaned loudly as she slumped back into a surprisingly soft bed, throwing her unhindered arm across her eyes, I think I’d have preferred it if you’d just killed me again.

[Aishe]

Aishe moved swiftly from the moment she heard that first beat. There was no telling which Akos would return from the Nether, though it would most likely not be her wife. She imagined if evil was so easy to defeat, then they'd not be in this predicament. The tenth bottle was poured as Akos tried to move away, causing her to nearly spill the liquid. Her eyebrows knitted together, tossing the bottle aside, before she went to reach out to still the woman. However, Akos stopped the struggle herself.

Breath caught in her lungs, the vampire smirked slightly at the remark, but otherwise remained still. Blue eyes were fixated on Akos with anticipation, as her beating heart pumped the 'cure' through her veins. The seconds passed by, her hand subconsciously tightening around Zuan's. She was bracing herself for.. It. Something. Anything. She wasn't sure what she expected, but Akos just laid there with the occasional irritated groan, arm draped over her face like a dramatic teenager.

Yet, nothing big and dramatic happened.

Forehead wrinkled, she dared to glance away and up to the King. Her body was still tense, ready to handle some sort of explosion of Akos, while her expression was perplexed.

Is this it? Rather... Anticlimactic.