imatreenow | thirteen [voice/action/just terrible]

[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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Jeb screams again, his hand lowering to grasp Mithos' ankle, trying to pull his foot off.]

No! I have to live...! [He's panicking. He's in pain and he can't see because his vision is that blocked by tears. But... he can't let this happen!]

I haven't done anything to you!

Shut up! Who needs you? [because you're not Martel so he definitely doesn't need you and his opinion is the only one that counts]

You're nothing! [He violently jerks his foot up to shake Jeb's grip off and will move to kick again]

[His tears fall from his eyes and down his cheeks, his sobs unable to stay within him.]

That's not true...! [Fighting the inner demons of his own mind causes him to lose grip on Mithos' foot. In a desperate attempt to gain some distance, Jeb rolls to the side.]

[His kick connects with the ground - get back here, miserable human filth. He steps toward him and will try again. Better act fast...]

[Meanwhile, Jeb attempts to scramble back to his feet again. He doesn't understand why the other boy is doing this to him.]

I never... I never meant to offend you, I just--!

Shut up. [As Jeb climbs back up, Mithos backhands him viciously across the face with every intent of forcing him back where he belongs.]

[Another cry of pain escapes Jeb, the boy stumbling, but not falling back down.]

[He strikes again, harder, shoving the boy with his other hand in hopes of taking advantage of that imbalance.]

[It works. Jeb falls back to the ground--soundlessly, as he has the luck to not fall on wings again and instead lands on his side, so any sound he would have made is successfully forced back. Tears are still falling down his face, though.]

[It might have been better to land on those wings. Mithos sees them exposed, so vulnerable and fragile, and instantly decided to slam his foot down. That should hurt a lot more than the attacks to the chest and ribs. So easy to break...]

Worthless!

[It does hurt a lot more--so much more. Jeb screams so loudly that he almost deafens himself with the sound, more tears running down his face.

Oh god, oh god, oh god... it hurts more than it did when he landed on them, hurts more than anything he's ever felt before... part of him wants to scream and beg for his own death but he can't, he can't... that really would make him worthless--!]

Why...? [He didn't do anything, why won't this boy stop?! It hurts, it hurts, it HURTS!]

Because she's gone! [The logic is perfectly sound within the crooked walls of his own mind. He reaches down to try and yank Jeb up by one wing.]

[He moves to slap Mithos' hand away to the best of his ability. He can't take any more of that kind of pain, he can't!]

I... I don't even know what you're talking about, so please stop...!

[He isn't deterred, grabbing hold of the wing and pulling upward.] It doesn't matter! You don't matter! You don't even deserve to exist!

[He attempts to swat Mithos, trying to get him to let go. Oh god, it hurts, it hurts...] That's not true! That's not true, just stop it! [Keeps trying to swat.] Let go of me!

Don't tell me what to do. [He pulls Jeb up most of the way before roughly shoving him back down.]

[Oh, please make this stop...] I'm not, I...

[And he goes silent again. Maybe if he's quiet, Mithos will leave him alone...]

[That theory will be quickly disproved as Mithos grabs for Jeb's wing again. He'll repeat this as many times as he needs to. Break, break, become even less than you already are.]

[His eyes are wide and full of fright. He can't... he can't take any more of this, he just can't...!

In a panicked yell, Jeb moves to slap Mithos across the face. Anything to make him stop just long enough to get away...!]

[He grabs Jeb's wrist with his other hand to stop the assault, then rams his elbow into the other boy's temple.]

[Jeb's instantly knocked out from the elbow forcefully meeting his temple the way it does. That last bit of pain was just too much...]

[And he'll just shove him to the ground. There's no point in continuing if the miserable human can't even respond to the pain. One final kick in the side, and then he lingers a moment to stare coldly at his victim before turning to walk off. As if nothing happened. As far as he's concerned, nothing of note did happen. He's satisfied, but it's only superficial. He still hurts as if everything was ripped out of him...]

thirteen [voice/action/just terrible]

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[action] - AIM just froze again, so you know.

[action] I told it that if it kept making faces like that....