hadriel_logs | my heart is a furnace

Entry tags:

my heart is a furnace

Who: Fox and Caedra (edit: plus whoever's here for the fallout!)
What: For all Caedra's done to make the residents of Hadriel suffer, Fox takes revenge.
Where: The north island
When: Post-monster event, nighttime
Warnings: Violence, body horror, mentions of character death, allusions to childhood abuse.

It's a dangerous plan. Fox knows it is, but he knows he's all out of other options. So with the ring given to him by Rage hanging around his neck, and his katana in hand, the masked teenager has to face the confrontation that's been eating away at him for months. He hasn't even sent a calling card-- he's not stealing a heart this time, and while this may be about justice, he's acting alone, not on the behest of the Phantom Thieves.

It takes time to track down Caedra: her movements are unpredictable, and it's made all the more difficult by the city being split into islands, and by his preference to move under the cover of darkness. After a few nights of unsuccessful searching, he manages to track her down to one of the rocky beaches where they're surrounded by sea -- where there's nowhere for her to run except to the water, or through him.

He steels himself, and emerges from the shadows, eyes bright with anger behind his kitsune mask.

"Caedra! Your cruelty ends here."

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There are no pleasant nights in this town. As day turns to night and the mortals retire, Caedra simply continues her wandering and writing and alternates between reflecting on the misery of a place where the dead come back to life and their souls are held beyond her reach, and actively trying to avoid thinking about the tedium such a place lends to her life. She's a caged creature here with everything she wants - food, freedom, and loved ones - just outside the impermeable bars.

The voice that announces itself isn't likely to change that, she figures, but at least it breaks the monotony. She turns toward him with the sea at her back, more amused than threatened, but she summons her sword to her hand nonetheless. It's an effective warning, as it fills out its shape in the air and settles comfortably in her palm. It reminds some of these idiots that she'll gladly draw it on them even if their deaths are temporary, because at least their screams and the scent of blood are entertaining if not fulfilling.

"Does it? That's a bold claim. Who are you to make such a dramatic statement?"

She can see perfectly in the dark, of course - a power granted long ago by someone she misses dearly. But it doesn't help her identify this person. Even without the mask, she might not recognize him beyond the general vague familiarity that everyone has here from being contained in a few small islands.

As she summons her sword, one hand goes to the hilt of his katana, but his grip is -- for now -- relaxed. Despite his anger, his voice is restrained.

"Fox, of the Phantom Thieves," he answers coldly. "You've stolen too much, from too many people, and you've been allowed to revel in your bloodshed for far too long. Now it's my turn to take something from you."

He takes a step toward her to show he isn't afraid. Even though he's heard the stories, seen what she's capable of first hand, knows that he should be. He's too angry to stop, the weight of the ring around his neck tells him he can't.

The name and his associated group mean nothing to her. A shame - she'll have to see if there are others of these "Phantom Thieves" here after she's done with this one. Perhaps leaving mangled bits of his corpse hanging in front of their doorsteps would give her something to do one of these nights before Hope takes the pieces back for himself.

"Careful there, boy, or you'll lose more than you're looking to take," she scoffs, watching his movements carefully as he attempts to move closer. As a precaution should he be serious about striking, though, she gestures with the tip of her sword and speaks a few words of Abyssal, letting the harsh, guttural syllables roll off her tongue as she stares him down. The hex settles in, hopefully to muddle his mind and movements and keep him from possibly outspeeding her should he raise that sword of his.

No explanations, no excuses, no justifications for her crimes. Caedra absolutely wasn't human, and it would almost be refreshing compared to the terrible humans whose hearts he'd stolen. Almost, but in a way, it's a reminder that she's more monstrous than all of them.

It's not immediately clear to him what the hex does. He grits his teeth and shakes his head as if to clear it, and when that doesn't work, lifts his blade to dart at her. His movements feel sluggish, but he's already committed -- he has to at least try to land a hit or two before she dodges away. Against an enemy more powerful than him, he knows he has to be fast, and figure out a way to outsmart her with his plan before she can destroy him.

It's remarkable how quick he still is. Caedra darts to the side, circling rather than trying to retreat from that long blade, and tries to dart behind him, hoping to drive the point of her rapier into his retreating back. It's not an ideal target, there won't be much force to the strike if it connects, but she can already imagine the necrotizing effect of the blade itself tunneling its way into his flesh and killing the tissue of his kidney, his liver.

If she hits, that is. And in case she doesn't, she makes a quick swipe with her hand, cutting the air and triggering a single second of head-splitting psychic pain from the hex.

"Put your toy down and I'll show you mercy," she calls out, insistent. An utter lie.

Fox sheathes his sword after he misses the hit, and twists away as he sees her moving to try to pierce him from behind. He avoids it successfully, but snarls at the psychic pain from the hex, clutching his head.

He has to do something about the hex, even if he can't lift it. So he draws on his Persona, his mask vanishing in blue flame to materialise an ethereal robed figure behind him.

"Come, Goemon!"

With a sweeping gesture, Goemon casts a Sukukaja spell on Fox, before disappearing again, the mask rematerialising. When the thief next turns to strike again at Caedra, the sluggishness behind his movements is gone.

The appearance of such a creature is enough to cause Caedra to stumble backward along the cobbles before she quickly regains her footing and crouches as if ready to spring, though she has a hand held outstretched rather than her sword. But before she can try to immolate both of them in catastrophic fire, the second, larger, creature vanishes again. An illusion? Must be, since the mask is the constant - it isn't something simply lurking invisibly behind the boy for backup.

But she knows now that she needs to take this far more seriously than she had been. This isn't just a swordsman, he's a spellcaster - and she was not anticipating the effect of the casting. Yusuke's sword catches her across that arm as she tries to twist away, slicing her sleeve and sending drops of black liquid flying through the air and onto the rocks.

She stands with her back to the water again now, having dodged the swing, and she's eager to finish this quickly before the boy can do serious damage, as who knows what other magic he possesses? She draws energy from her ring, from the gift bestowed on her by the demon lord she loves, and darkness rushes up the blade to cloak her in shadows, granting her what appear to be a pair of broad ethereal wings. Again, she drives the rapier toward him, seeking blood, ready to force all of this gathered power straight into him should she succeed in making contact.

There's a feral grin on his face as he sees her stumble, taken offguard by the appearance of his Persona. The rush is almost as gratifying as when he'd seen the fear in the eyes of Madarame -- when he'd first called Goemon and forged the contract. I am thou, thou art I. The world is filled with both beauty and vice...

Fox can't enjoy the upper hand for long when he sees the darkness cloaking her, and he shifts immediately to the defensive. He's able to raise his blade, but with a katana it's impossible to parry the brunt of the hit; instead he quickly sidesteps, looking to slam the pommel of his katana into her stomach hard while holding the sheath to guard his flank from her rapier.

He doesn't want to kill her. Driving her back is the goal, and so he can't let her gain ground for an instant.

Curse that newfound speed of his. She'd been impressed that he could compensate well enough on his own but this boost of power is still something she'll have to learn to take into account - and quickly.

The pommel slams into her and she grunts with the impact, taking another step back toward the ocean from the sheer force, before she whirls and tries to stab right up into his gut, seeking any opening she can find. Thrust, twist, thrust again until her blade finds him one way or another as if the blade itself thirsts for his mortal life, to rot away at the flesh itself. Meanwhile those illusory wings of hers stir the air as if ready to leap right at him - animate darkness that seeks to rush right back down that blade and crush every bone in his body.

Yusuke has fought against Shadows and monsters plenty, but a more intelligent foe like this is taking all his concentration to even keep up with. Even with the boost from Goemon, dodging and riposting against her attacks is the most he can do, and at one point he's a fraction too slow, a burning pain biting through him as the blade gouges through his side. He can smell rotting flesh, and ordinarily the knowledge would make him retch, but the adrenaline is already making him feel disconnected from it. He can't stop.

The leaping attack sends him knocked off his feet as he staggers to dodge, his blade clattering from his hands. He tries to sweep Caedra off balance as she lands with a low kick, before rolling to one side to grab his sword before she can land a finishing blow.

So too is Caedra not quite used to fighting someone of this level of talent. A swordsman who fights honorably might find it refreshing but for her it's just frustrating. Isn't he dead yet? She felt her blade sink in, knows that it's more than enough to cripple most people. But whatever he had cast earlier seems to help him roll away alive and well, though likely gravely wounded.

She's so relieved to have landed the hit that she mis-times the jump over his kick, for the boy has long, long legs and is moving much too quickly. As she stumbles over his leg she tucks and rolls to the side, landing in shallow water though back on her feet. The shock of the cold sea is a surprise too, but she overcomes it as quickly as she can and holds her sword ready should he somehow get up and come after her, while once again triggering the psychic shock from her hex with a wave of her hand. With any luck, that will keep him down long enough for her to get back over there and finish him off.

The moment she's pushed into the water had been the perfect opportunity. Had been, but a trigger of that psychic energy sends him staggering, interrupting the concentration he needs to summon Goemon and finish this.

"You-- won't win! I won't let you!" he snarls at her, hoping to make her hesitate. If he can just buy a second or two of time...

Ha - as if he has the power to allow or deny her victory. It's a ridiculous notion to her, one who both revels in chaos and makes her own fortune through it all with sheer skill and willpower. So what if he's fast and carries a sword? She's killed countless others like him before. He's just a swordsman with haste. Annoying, but not dangerous.

Encouraged by that stagger, and by that silly habit of talking while fighting and therefore distracting himself, she rushes him, splashing through the shallow water with her rapier poised at his heart to strike him dead - or so she hopes.

She doesn't trigger the hex again, and that's all the opening he needs. He knows he needs to act now, or he won't get another dodge in, the rotting wound in his side and the spell wearing off will all slow him to a fatal end.

"Goemon! Now!" He raises his blade, but it's just a distraction, a last-ditch means to defend himself if this fails. His mask melts away in blue flame once more and Goemon appears, casting a Bufudyne spell on their foe, sending a huge tree-like pattern of ice shooting out of the water and shattering painfully into its target with the force of knives or cold shards of glass. Starting with her feet and the water around her, the ice freezes, too, aiming to immobilise her just out of reach.

Caedra raises her rapier swiftly as if to parry but realizes too late the movement was a bluff. Even before the false gods ripped away some of her innate defenses, cold was something she never fully adapted to defending against and the shards strike well as they shatter and slice, hissing and steaming as they contact black ichor.

The pain is agonizing and Caedra screeches in horror and tries to teleport away, thinking of nothing more now but to flee and return to finish this idiot off later, but the ice races upward before she has time to act. It coats her in a thick fractal network of frost, and she is held in place. Her feet are anchored to the beach by the thinnest sheet of a frozen wave - but the ice holds firm.

Fox's Persona vanishes once more, and he can only stare for a second in disbelief, as if frozen in place himself. Against all the odds, it had worked.

When he's sure she's immobilised, he sheathes his blade in a swift movement, then retrieves the bone ring carried around his neck. He slips the ring onto one of her fingers, so that -- if it works -- she will remain frozen for a month.

It may only be temporary justice. But it is, finally, justice of some kind.

[This is your chance, folks. She's not going anywhere (unless someone moves her) and she can't fight back.]

Some vigilante made an announcement about your reign of tyranny ending.

[He had to satisfy his curiosity, even with that particular network post coming across as unbelievably unimpressive. Nate himself has a track record of picking fights with people in weight classes that could easily crush him, but given that the solution here is effectively a Band-Aid over what he would argue will become a festering, vengeful demon, it all feels a bit...ineffective.

Temporary posturing does not a viable solution make, which is something he's thankfully learned in the last few years, but that doesn't mean he didn't come armed with his sketchbook and an apple that he takes a bite out of before looking over the dense frost that cements her in place.]

Yeah, this looks like...quite the pickle.

After the fight with Caedra, Yusuke reverts back to his usual clothes, hides his sword in a safe place on the island, and makes for the clinic, clutching the wound at his side. Adrenaline keeps him going, but with the blade turning the wound instantly necrotic, he can feel the effects already beginning to set in.

When he arrives, he's already in rough shape even from the walk alone, feeling more lightheaded and feverish by the second. The smell of decaying flesh is something he's trying not to think about.

In a small voice, he announces his arrival: "Can someone help me? Please..."

Of all the people to be on call at that time of night...

Law has actually been at the clinic at erratic hours, thanks to his work with Sorrow and the Door, so anyone showing up with necrotized tissue damage is is good hands. He feels a living presence at the door about the same time as he hears the voice, and puts aside his research notes to come and have a look. The monster infestation seems to have passed so this couldn't be monster damage, unless...

Nope that definitely isn't monster damage.

"Get in here," he implores, moving out of the way to make a clear path to the nearest cot. "Let me take a look.

"Very well," Yusuke says weakly, stumbling over to the cot to sit. If he were thinking more clearly he might realise that Law being involved could prove to be an issue, but for now, he's just relieved that someone is around at this hour. "It's here."

He indicates the wound at his side -- and though his clothes had changed, he'd made an effort to tear at the fabric with his own blade to artfully arrange himself as though he'd been attacked in his normal clothes. Hopefully it would avoid arousing more suspicion than the wound on its own already does.

Fortunately, Law blazes right past the clothing without noticing and zeroes straight in on the wound itself. He knows this damage, he's seen it in creatures great and small that he and Caedra have worked to kill. It's a good thing, in terms of Yusuke's state of health, because Law has already been both theorizing and practicing how to repair such damage should anyone get on her bad side in his vicinity. He is probably the only physician in town that can even do it, but it requires quick action and some hardcore surgery. He'll worry about the why and how later.

He goes swiftly to work without a word, just a stern and anxious expression on his sour face. First, a Room, so he doesn't have to waste time walking across the clinic to get supplies - he can just Shambles or Takt them to hand, grabbing antiseptic, purified water, gauze, his scalpel, needles, trays, gloves, all of it. "This isn't going to be pretty," he warns as he starts by cleaning blood and other matter away. "The flesh is necrotizing, I have to actually cut it out before it spreads and then work to repair the gap left. Lucky for you, it won't hurt. Lay down if you can."

The wonder and splendor of the Ope-Ope Fruit is swift, precise incision and excising, painless and bloodless. He literally cuts Yusuke apart at the seams so that the dead and dying flesh is removed and the process halts at those incisions. That doesn't mean it's not horrible to watch, it's quite nasty to know that's a piece of yourself, but it doesn't hurt. Patching that up is going to be the real hard work, and require every resource at hand as well as working all the way down to the molecular level to stimulate platelets, redirect adrenaline, and redirect the nerves still in that area to stop firing so that the pain around the area doesn't interfere. It's all very technical and drastic and intense, and even with his level of talent Law sweats a bit under his fuzzy hat.

Yusuke winces as he starts cleaning the wound, and the insistence that the experience will be painless when he's talking about cutting out enough flesh to leave a gap... is hardly reassuring. It sounds like anything a doctor should be trained to say to stop a patient freaking out, even if it actually is painful.

But he has to give him the benefit of the doubt. "All right." He lays down gingerly, easing himself onto the cot, and braces himself, becoming very still in preparation for inevitable agony. It doesn't come, however, so he just alternates between watching in faint interest alternating to horrified revulsion as Law operates. Is he bleeding? Could he die? What if Law's powers suddenly stop working? His hands ball into fists, and he has to will himself not to tremble while Law operates.

"...Is it bad?" An obvious question with an obvious answer, but he can't help but seek some kind of reassurance nonetheless.

"It's not good..." Law is laser-focused on what he's doing, hands working swiftly, aura of power shimmering silently around them, but as he answers, a thrilled smirk starts to take over his face. It's terrible and touch-and-go and all those other things, but for him, it's also awesome. To be so in control of life, to wield his brain and his power together as the greatest medical tools ever...and so on.

"...but in my hands you'll not only live, you'll recover," he finishes, flicking a finger to set his scalpel on the table beside him. "I can't guarantee there won't be a scar, but there won't be a net loss of muscle if I have anything to say about it."

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my heart is a furnace

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Oct. 21 | Open popsicle harassment thread

oct. 21 onward - clinic threads

action;

Trafalgar Law

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cw: body horror just in case

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