thirteen [voice/action/just terrible]

[imatreenow]

[Mid-morning is drawing near, and the house is too quiet. Martel should have been awake already. Despite the uncertainty that has settled heavily between him and his sister, there are plenty of things Mithos does still know about her, and this is definitely out of the ordinary. Softly, he knocks at her door. No reply. With a knot of worry tightening in his stomach, he carefully pushes the door open to look inside and...

He's greeted by an empty room. No sister, none of her personal possessions. No sign that anyone had ever occupied this space. Only one conclusion sits at the end of this equation. Numbness overtakes his body and heart. Desperate, his mind fights against the truth; he runs for his journal and hastily, shakily, flips it open.]

[VOICE - filtered to Martel | filter VOIDED]

Martel? Martel! Where are--

[--He stops. The filter isn't working. She can't hear this. His journal falls from his hands and the feed ends. The chilling realization that she's gone pierces him as suddenly as the first time she was taken from him. Classic vertigo. He doesn't know how to breathe properly. He forgets how to stand on two feet and slowly crumples to the floor. He doesn't fall to pieces; that would imply that there's something left to break. Whatever remains is quickly grinding to dust. He lets it out, the pain that's rapidly smothering him from the inside. But no matter how much he diffuses, there's still more to take its place.]

[ACTION - AFTERNOON]

[He's scraped himself up off the floor (for now) and run out of tears (for now), and he needs someone to blame. Anyone. He doesn't care. The only truth of the world: Martel is gone, and he deserves compensation for his loss. Everyone owes him something, and he owes them retribution. Mithos prowls the village, looking for any and all opportunities to inflict some of his own pain on a scapegoat.

Later, when he's exhausted his body but his hurt and rage continue to burn, when he's hit the point where he can't feel any emptier, he reaches for the journal again. It's all he can think to do.]

[VOICE - filtered to Kaori| 100%]

...Can I come see you?

[ooc: For my own sake, chronologically the threads flow as follows: Frey, Nephry/Dist, Jeb, Silver, Grune/Dhaos, Kratos, Kaori.]

Comments

[action]

[falenandawn]

[Well, someone is just leaving the shops with a bag of groceries, humming a quiet tune under his breath. He's yet to notice Mithos, too busy balancing the bag of foodstuffs as he heads down the road.]

[action]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[His eyes lock on target almost immediately. Frey, a disgusting human, one that he already holds in high suspicion. He's practically asking to be destroyed. Why should he deserve to be here, when Martel was taken away? It isn't fair.

He steps to the side to let the shadows of a nearby building obscure him a little. Begin channeling mana into a spell, take advantage of the element of surprise. Under his breath:] Thunder blade.

[A large blade of electrically-charged energy will now by hurtling down at you from the sky, Frey. It might hurt a bit. Enjoy. Mithos would have preferred a more powerful spell, to cause greater pain, but without his Cruxis Crystal he has a difficult enough time managing just this.]

[action]

[falenandawn]

[Sadly, Frey doesn't have more warning then the slight smell of ozone before he's hit full on by the attack, dropping his groceries and making a mess as he falls to the ground, biting down a yell of pain while the electricity courses through him and singes his skin.]

[action]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[As the magic strikes Frey down, Mithos launches himself toward him with his sword ready. He wants to see blood. He wants there to be nothing left by the time he's done. It's what Frey deserves, what every human deserves. Nothing less than devastation.]

[action]

[silversnowfall]

[Ah, the afternoon. Nephry needed to get out of the house a bit, today, so she's taking a walk. No business, nothing pressing. Just a walk. She might even nod pleasantly to Mithos as she passes him, if she does pass him the way a normal person might.]

[action]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[That polite nod is more than enough to set him off. Why is she allowed to be so content? It's blasphemous. Nothing is alright with the world, so she shouldn't pretend it is. He flings his left arm out to the side, aiming to shove her to the ground. In the same instant, he pulls out his sword.]

[action]

[silversnowfall]

[Taken by surprise, Nephry stumbles sideways, one ankle turning in a way that leaves her on the ground. Staring up at a drawn sword.

It is a very hard swallow that beats down her rising panic. She keeps her eyes on Mithos' face, not his weapon. But what do you even say to this?

...Something in a calm and steady voice, certainly. Something that Nephry knows is a blatant lie, but might get him to at least desist with the sword.]

I apologize if I was in your way.

[action]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[he holds the sword steady.]

Do you really think apologies can undo anything? It's completely meaningless. [Just like everything else. Does anything matter anymore? How can it?]

[voice]

[tinyjasmine]

.... Mithos? [Something was wrong, she may be young and not yet have experienced what led her to become so close to Mithos, but even without being there with him she can feel something was wrong. It almost made her feel scared.]

Please come see me?

[voice]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

.....Thank you. [He needs her, more than he's ever realized. She's all he has left. Even if she's like this right now...] Wait outside again.

[voice]

[tinyjasmine]

I will. [Her voice is shaky, but filled with determination. She was going to help Mithos no matter what, so she goes out to the front of the house right away.]

[action]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[He'll be there shortly; he was close already, because he refuses to return to an empty house. The thought is too heavy for his frail heart. He looks burned-out, and maybe like he isn't quite all there. Because he isn't -- the biggest part of him is gone. As he approaches, she's not likely to miss the bloodstains on his clothes. Maybe it's his, maybe it's someone else's, or maybe both. Don't mind the bandages either.]

Kaori... [there aren't words]

[action] - guess who loves tormenting you, mithos

[shiningbinds.livejournal.com]

[action] wait I know the answer to this

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[The answer to that question is a resounding no, Kratos. Mithos detects the other's presence and immediately shifts direction, intending to intercept his path. Picking a fight despite the steep disparity in power might seem like a terrible idea, but he's past caring. His anger and despair cannot be contained by the limits of his power. His only goal is the suffering of others, and Kratos is very high on the list.

As he nears Kratos, he prepares his blade. Ambushing with magic isn't feasilble in this dismally weakened state; the seraph would notice before he could accomplish anything. Only his mana signature alerts his former teacher of his presence as he hurtles at him from behind.]

[action]

[shiningbinds.livejournal.com]

[action] hi keywords

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[Their blades lock, as do their glares. He tries to push back against Kratos - nothing should block his path to exacting retribution. Kratos deserves all of this pain and agony, not him. It should be fairly obvious from a glance that this is not the first battle Mithos has engaged himself in recently.]

[action] - me, that's who

[sketchingideals]

[Jeb is minding his own business, on his way to pick up some groceries. He sees Mithos, but since he never saw what he looked like before, he doesn't realize he's the one from the journal conversation about discrimination. The kid doesn't look happy at all, though, so Jeb approaches a little.]

...are you okay?

[action] I aced this test! what do I get???

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[For a paranoid second, he thinks Jeb realizes who he is. But of course not, he couldn't possibly...

Mithos has found his next scapegoat. He's worn down from an afternoon of ceaseless raging, but there's still more pain to pour out and foist on others. The well is bottomless. And this human looks easy to crush. As Jeb nears, he reaches out with both hands to roughly push him away.]

It's none of your business.

[action] - you get jeb's virginity! just kidding.

[sketchingideals]

[Jeb stumbles back before losing his balance entirely and falling on his rear with a startled cry. He looks up at Mithos, confused and looking slightly guilty.]

I'm sorry, you just looked upset and...!

[Action]

[tsuntrader]

[Being in better spirits now that his big sis is here doesn't leave him any less alert, even while minding his own business and passing through the village with Sneasel. He's slightly tense, carefully glances at everyone passing by, avoids eye contact, keeps his thumbs in his pockets, leaving his hands hanging out of them, right next to his Pokéballs, and tries to keep his distance between anyone he passes. Sneasel is more or less the same, only he looks a lot more curious when he looks around.

Passing by Mithos is no different. He does take an extra moment or two to stare and note the fact that he's clearly distressed, but it's automatically shelved under "not his business" and he shifts his gaze elsewhere.]

[Action]

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[Except now it is Silver's business, because he looked. He looked and everything is everyone else's fault and he needs to make sure this human pays up. The monster at his feet can add into the equation too; he doesn't care.

There is a sword coming out right now. You have about five seconds to react.]

[Action]

[tsuntrader]

[The first second? A proper startled reaction. The second is immediately jumping back. The third goes to grabbing Murkrow's Pokéball, a fourth to fixing his position so he can run if or when he needs to, and a fifth to gauging Mithos' reaction and judging just how quickly he needs to start running and what's the best way to do it. Trying to say something doesn't even occur to him.]

[Action] Also, there may be Luceti's OTHER resident unstable blond seraph turning up soon~

[lostinmyway]

[Grune often goes wandering about the village for no other reason than to enjoy the day. Today is no exception. She won't notice the rampaging heartbroken madman right away, but if she sees him before he sees her, she'll approach him with one purpose in mind:

To cheer him up.]

[Action] it's a party then

[imatreenow.livejournal.com]

[That is the worst possible route to take. He's beyond 'cheering up'; the words have no meaning anymore. Some things just can't be rectified, but that doesn't mean he won't try. Especially not when people are just begging for retribution.

His response to her approach is to wield a sword. Probably not what is normally called for in this situation. But normal is such a relative term...]

[Action] And clear thinking isn't invited.

[lostinmyway]

[Especially where Grune is involved. All she does is stop and look at him with mild concern.]

Are you all right? You look a little sad.