KENOMA // voice+memory

[devilmancrybaby]

[ This takes place the evening after the first event described in the Event Wrap Up post, the entity having withdrawn its influence from Venera.

Binghe is in a bit of a bad mood, having had to haul Makoto's unconscious body out of the street when he would have preferred to drop him in the ocean, and as things are currently he can't really be bothered to pretend that he's not. There's some attempt to be polite, but mostly he sounds kind of tired and cranky. ]

My apologies for the interruption. I am Luo Binghe. No doubt many of you have heard at least a little of what has happened lately in Venera. I was there for the event at the heart of it, so I thought perhaps it would be of some use to share a few of the details.

I am sure it will not come as any great shock to learn it seems to have been the fault of that dog Estinien Wyrmblood. The spirit that seems to have been responsible for what has been happening was so angered by his death that it appeared to smite anyone who tried to keep it from... I don't know, I think it wanted his shard. I don't know what it would have done with it. Kept him as a pet, perhaps, in one of its illusions.

If I am honest, whatever this thing was it seemed rather simple, like the ghost of a child, but it clearly possessed immense power. The Aions of Pleroma who were there, their unconvincing promises about—taking care of him in its stead, that kind of thing. That was enough to convince it to retreat.

I think it did something to them, though. I'll show you.

[ He shares his memory of this moment, when the mass of wings demanded that those gathered keep their promise, grasping onto those closest to it with its ethereal hands.

The image fades and Binghe's voice resumes: ]

So the problem has been solved, but only temporarily. The spirit was not destroyed, and it seems if these Aions fail to fulfil its whims it may return with something worse. It might not be so easy to persuade next time.

Comments

[affal]

( he really, and for a variety of reasons, hadn't wanted to say anything.

but it really looks like his "saviors" from this whole predicament are determined to be obtuse here, so...

preempted by a derisive mental sigh: ) I killed him.

( and if I hear a single challenging or accusatory word from any of you, I will fucking lose it. )

[vapour]

[ ...bigggggg cheeky smile over here. It can be practically felt in the communion silence that preempts his actual comment. ]

Wow, incredible.

[affal]

...I can't tell if you're being facetious or not.

[vapour]

Oh? Regardless of how you did it, [ which he thinks is bullshit and very not incredible at all, ] you're the first aion in either sect to kill another aion.

You've gotten the otherwise stagnant ball rolling now, so I expect we will be seeing a lot more death after this.

Did you get any satisfaction out of it?

[affal]

( no comments from the peanut gallery, childe. )

Not for want of trying.

( which is just one of the reasons why he's not crowing over his so-called "victory." one among others, but it was still important to remember: there had been plenty to get very close to death, plenty to go after their lives with murderous intent. he had just happened across that finish line first.

he knows that it's luck. luck, and cruelty. the latter he'd always had with him, though fostered more in these last few years than ever before, but the former is... new to him. )

That's a forward question.

( a beat. he continues, but the words are extremely guarded, like someone insisting on speaking behind a partition for anonymity. ) At the end of the last moon, he very nearly killed me. So, yes, it was satisfying to repay that in kind.

[galdorleod]

[ Howl already knows by the time M finally speaks up, but his words capture all of his attention all the same. The presence of the wizard's psyche is apparent, sitting silently in the wake of the brief response, until he finally says something. ]

Are you alright? Are you hurt?

[ What he really wants to ask is what the bloody hell happened, but that can wait. What he's heard so far has him seriously concerned for the demon's well-being, and there have been few details on that particular point. ]

[affal]

( the line of Communion becomes strained, like a violin string drawn so taught it threatens to snap.

this is howl, though, so he is more temperate than he might have been otherwise. )

That is not an easy question to answer.

But I am not injured, no.

[galdorleod]

I see. That's a relief.

[ "Not easy to answer"? Surely, it should be a simple yes or no...? Howl thinks back to the scene shared by Binghe and the bizarre actions of the spirit against the Pleroma who snatched Estinien's Shard. Between that and the spirit "smiting" those responsible for the dragoon's dissipation... What the hell happened, and how did M make it out of that uninjured?

He ponders thoughtfully for a moment, and then withdraws from the public communion space to speak directly to M. ]

not here :)

[epiprocta]

[ Hahaha, for real? M was the one who got his idiot ass laser-beamed for swooping in after he did the dirty work of actually fighting Estinien? ... Eat shit. Serves him right for being such a cowardly little rat, as always.

Maybe Makoto will feel a faint prickle down his spine (or the urge to sneeze) as Gen dwells over this message for a moment. But he has no reason to volunteer any information publicly, so -- there's nothing here, don't worry about it! ]

not real (:

[affal]

( someone sounds jealous ☺️ )

vibes only

[devilmancrybaby]

[ 😡 ]

also vibes

[affal]

( get over it binghe where even were you )

[devilmancrybaby]

[ He has never gotten over anything in his life and he is NOT about to start now ]

[lachtara]

It seems you are hale and whole after the encounter. [ That's about as much acknowledgment as he is willing to offer. ]

I would like to see your memories of what transpired, it will leave room for less needlessly bothersome questions.

[ Is he requesting that he see Estinien die? Yes. It would be the easiest way to piece the information together. ]

[affal]

( he doesn't answer the first statement, though there's a very brittle sensation about that silence — a broad hallway strewn with eggshells.

as for his request...

or is it a demand? either way: )

...No. I would rather not.

( it's a memory. it's not without bias. it's from his perspective, through his eyes, colored with his thoughts and feelings at the time. it's not something he just wants to throw out there to the wolves so that it can be picked apart and criticized through every differing moral lens that those listening in might impose upon it. )

[lachtara]

Ah, something to hide. Very well.

[ There is something of a verbal shrug in response. ]

[affal]

( there's a twinge of irritation. )

There is nothing in the act itself that would provide you with anything you don't already know.

After that, the entity appeared, which I believe all of you already saw from your own perspectives. It was upset. I called out to it, angry at the creature that had caused me a great deal of pain in those few days I was in Venera. It attacked me, and I fell unconscious.

What else do you need to know, which my memories would inform but my words can't? ( the rest, to him, is just a morbid invasion of his privacy. )

[lachtara]

I trust it is not beyond your notice that I did not continue to insist you show me.

[ Oh, that's not to say the words weren't goading in their own way. They were definitely purposeful. ]

I ask to see for clarity, not because I take pleasure in what I see there. With that said, I what additional details you have provided.

[affal]

( dissatisfaction. the emotional feedback equivalent of someone rolling their eyes. )

Mr. Emet-Selch, please. We are both above this.

( he's lived among demons. he knows that what someone says is simply the very surface, and that one has to plunge their hands into the matter of another's intentions to truly get at the heart of it. to remain stubbornly reticent about this would only be digging his own grave among his "allies." )

My memories are my own, and that is all. But if you or anyone else have questions within reason, I will answer.

[fightforthejoyofit]

How?

[He has no bones about just asking, since everyone else seems to be rather dancing around the point. The tone is curious, rather than disbelieving]

[affal]

Why do you need to know?

( the time in which a man takes his revenge is sacred and private? or, well, it should be. it hadn't been, and he's not about to spread about the details himself. )

[fightforthejoyofit]

Professional curiosity.

[Both as to the kill itself, and why he's not reveling more in it. Revenge itself should be an intimate thing, certainly, but given Estinien's reputation amongst the Kenoma (regardless of Zenos' personal feelings as to whether he deserves it) this should be a Triumph]

You are the first of us to claim one of their heads, are you not? It behooves us to learn what we can from that.

[affal]

( well... at least he's honest.

he had reveled in it, but victory sours quickly when tarnished what he had gone through. and now he pays unwilling host to some sort of magical affliction — a curse that imposes its will over his. to makoto, there is nothing worse. to lose his own agency is worse than pain, worse than death. )

There is nothing to learn.

He was wounded and nearly entirely petrified by the time I found him. I simply killed him before that process could complete.

( it had been enjoyable in the moment, but retrospect puts things into perspective; he knows better than to grandstand about this. )

[fightforthejoyofit]

[Ah]

I see.

[Yeah. He wouldn't be crowing about that either, and it's a rather sad indictment of their efforts thus far that this is their first notable kill.]

I suppose I should thank you for the future sport, at least. They will fight that much harder now, and if I know the Warrior of Light at all she is already working to restore him.

[affal]

( gee, thanks...

the moment he had given up on retrieving estinien's shard and tried to retreat, he knew that this would come back to haunt him. the dragoon had nearly killed him for simply speaking to one of his companions before. he can only imagine what rancor he will pursue him with now.

though: )

"Warrior of Light?"