=>[MINI-META] The Leaning East Outgrowth

[purplerosesbeauty]

Acteon was in awe as the ghost materialized and spoke. Quite extensively at that, about all sorts of things but mainly his obsession with immortality, it seemed. That was Gerard? He approached Eridia first, of course. The purpleblood really could say a mouthful, but they thought her voice was lovely, a lilting thing. His ghostly form reaching for her... how exciting! How heart-pounding! They watched eagerly, bouncing slightly in their boots, rocking back and forth.

Ghosts were incredible! Acteon was determined to commit this ghost's voice to memory, him and all the eerie noises of the night. They had to have it!

Gerard turned his ire on the redblood adult and Acteon's eyes were wide as saucers, they pushed a hand against Guo, trying to get his attention, and in a hushed whisper spoke to him. "Oh my god, oh my god, do you think she'll straight up kill him?" The grin on their face was stuck, their mind racing. "Wanna bet on the number of fatalities tonight?"

 

[Gl!tch~]

Oh. Oh god. Now Guouli was truly living. It took everything in him not to cackle at the melodrama unfolding. Blood-faker and his fangirl killing a redblood. God, this was the best thing he ever signed up for.

And the twerp was bugging him, also into the scene going on. They weren't too bad, all things considered. "Let the bodies hit the floor," he whispered back, smirking.  

[Micillia]

Chiara Moteku Zindel Tagino
??? Summoning
Eridia was just having the time of her life during this thing, wasn't she? Chiara stood to the side, not really interested. She was kinda doing this for Zindel anyway, didn't Gerard like him or something? Whatever. She frowned as Gerard tried to convince Eridia to let the ghost have her body. Yeah... Thats not good. Chiara figured if it really got that far she could shout out or something. Sure, her feelings with Eridia were a whole... thing. But lets be honest, Chiara still loved her. Not that those words would ever be spoken.

Eridia was getting dangerously close to something, and Zindel took a few steps forward. This didn't look like it was going too well. Then, of course, Gerard pointed his ethereal finger at him.

Chiara, or Zindel, paled as the words were spoken. Panic started to rise as the glass shards rose into the air. It was death no matter how things looked. She could not afford to get cut, she was mad at Zindel but keeping him safe from an illegal act like "hiding his blood color" would mean death.

She had one idea, and a bad one at that. Chiara used kid Chiara's voice, and shouted out. Desperate for Eridia to feel something in her plumpbiscuit. "Eridia no!" A young blueblood's voice said out of a redblood's body.  

[seekingCylem]

Unlike the hypnotic festivities of Comedi's seance, this was exactly like the spectral encounters Oisier had read about in their storybooks scientific literature. Oisier realized soon after that this probably wasn't a good thing.

Gerard's shamelessness and ambition permeated the air. Oisier wondered if this was what he was like in life. It was difficult to imagine such a brash midblooded troll existing unbolstered by otherworldly energies. Nothing bad had happened yet, but Oisier's spine felt cold. They tried to catch Reisio's eye without losing their attention on Gerard, and by extension, Eridia.

"What do we do?" Oisier's fear was unspoken, but clear to Reisio. They grasped their twin's hand, ready to pull or be pulled in either direction should the need arise.  

[Sypon]

Reisio went cold. They felt their twin wrap their hand around theirs, and tried to swallow a sharp knot in their throat. Something was about to snap.

"We... I... Don't... Know..." Reisio responded, lip quivering. "Don't like this."

This was terrifying. Oisier was more of the resident ghost expert - and even then, they were... Children. Fortunately, Flatparent began to quietly flutter around the twins, joining the other flatworm.

Their gaze shifted downward, as their parent started to curl around them - covering them, ready to defend. Hair stood on end.  

[DraconicFeline]

Sephos shuddered as the room darkened, his skin prickling with a wintry chill. The following lightshow resonated from his sightstalks to his guts, making him ill, not unlike a wigglerhood attempt to spin very fast.

Seeing his first ghost rise from the miscellanious items strewn about, seeing that skull rise of its own accord, hearing the speech of something dead... Sephos wanted to both stand still and run, run for the door and leave to quiver nauseously somewhere.

In the end, he favored stillness. And, in that pulse-pounding stillness, he noticed Eridia. An awful lot was being said, but Sephos wasn't entirely sure what was happening. "Is he going to hurt you?" he asked, forcing himself to move closer to Eridia. Some of what the ghost had said had seemed that way, but other parts... Sephos wasn't sure.

What he was sure of was that he didn't want her to be hurt. He'd established that, with the others, long ago.  

[ImaginationsParadise]

"He would never hurt me." She replied before looking back at Gerard. Eridia sighed, feeling relieved she wouldn't be sacrificing her own body. Really those novels really have misinformed her. She hated sounding stupid and uncultured though, specially in front of the ghost. "Oh, alright. Sorry for misunderstanding you Mister Rutven." She smiled a bit. The highblood was oblivious of the bets, the worries... She was only focused on Gerard, he deserved all the attention she could muster.

He wanted her to kill Zindel.

"My pleasure." Eridia looked back at the pathetic redblood, remembering how he had laughed at her back at the trashbeast seance... How he started up the rumor. The blood drained from her face as she slid the daggers rings into each palm, flicking her wrist so they could both spin. A nasty smirk appear on her face as her slow walk became a jog, and later a run. She wanted him lying dead on the floor. She HATED Zindel and since Gerard hated him, Eridia hated him more. She felt how her anger made her heart pang against her chest, how it made her eyes lock with the target in sight.

But then she stopped. She knew that voice... Chiara...

"What..." She panted. "What kind of spectra s**t is this?" She seemed even angrier now. Did he have the same abilities Acteon possessed? Incredible. "Don't you dare think that voice will change my mind. Don't you DARE using her voice Tagino!" She cried out. "She's not to be compared to a dirty rat like you! She's everything I could've ask for as a friend, she's someone that will never return to my life because..." It hurt, things would never be the same. Eridia shook the thoughts away, giving Zindel a deadly stare. "I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO USE HER VOICE EVER AGAIN." Eridia hollered. "You, YOU are the reason we changed. It was you who separated her from me! If she would've let you suffer the concequences, we would still be together... You are the cause of all of this and you will PAY. You will pay for what you've done in the previous seance and for what you've to ME."

She slowly laughed until she boomed. "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW TAGINO? ISN'T THIS FUN? THIS SURE IS HIIIILARIOUS." She screamed, spinning her daggers one more time before striking. Gerard would be happy, she knew it. She would do anything for him. Eridia sure seemed to be more bark than anything else, but she did deliver. She always did.

Eridia always did what her heart told her, and this... She clearly wanted it.  

[DraconicFeline]

"Oh, all right then." That cleared things up. That meant he didn't need to be concerned... right? Eridia was safe, and she clearly knew what she was doing.

Except, well, that redblood looked like he was about to get seriously hurt or killed, by the ghost or by Eridia. He didn't know that troll, not at all, but at the same time, something was definitely off.

He knew how Eridia could get, sometimes. She was energetic, vibrant, full - too full - of vigor.

She was like those blooming vines he cultivated in his garden - delicate of flower, but, if left alone, they would tangle each other and choke themselves... and anything around them. He knew nothing about ghosts - or Gerard - but he didn't think that this would help the process any. It didn't feel right.

A lot of things didn't feel right in that room. The chill, for one thing. The demand of the ghost to kill (that felt unbalanced, somehow). The voice from the redblood didn't sound right, either. "Hang on...!" he said frantically, moving to try to stop her. If he could get between her, hold her off somehow, that would be perfect. "It's not right - somethings not right here."

Maybe he could stop her long enough to figure out what, exactly that was...  

[Sypon]

"Ah, ah, ah, not so fast, darling," Gerard interjected. "This isn't your moment."

The greenblood was the first to make a move against his wishes, and naturally that was not in the cards.

With a flourish of his finger tips, the idle glass shards around the room gravitated toward each other - picking up momentum until they shot in a lightning-quick flurry at Sephos.

DraconicFeline

your characters getting stabbed, chapter 2

 

[nepsah]

Mihail was pretty sure he didn't like Eridia from the last seance, but this really sealed the deal. The insanity of what the ghost was talk about was just... ridiculous. And she was eating it up! She was supposed to be in charge here but was clearly not cut out for it. Gerard's command for her to kill the redblood sent a shiver down his spine. This just got way over his head, way over most of their heads. Looking around the room it seemed that a fair amount of the trolls present were kids around his own age.

Aligaa rumbled a low growl as he lumbered forward, knocking Mihail back and out of immediate harm as soon as glass went flying for the greenblood that tried to intervene. The large alligator hissed in warning as he moved into a defensive stance. Mihail toppled over, then scrambled to his feet to peer over the top of his lusus' back, eyes wide as he took in the scene. This wasn't going to go very well at all- they needed the communicator to talk to Glamis. Could the blueblood do something to stop the ghost? He'd said to use it if something happened, right? Fear was making it hard to think straight, which grew into frustration. This was the sort of thing he wanted to be good at.


 

[Micillia]

Chiara Moteku Zindel Tagino
??? Summoning
Chiara froze. Eridia's words rang true and loud. It was Zindel that had driven them apart that very first time. It was Zindel that had made Eridia and Chiara drift apart as Chiara perused the dance battle industry, having little time for Eridia. It was Zindel who did it all. Her anger and hate at the redblood grew. She had given him so very much. Everything he had in the world was thanks to her, and what did he do with it? He drove her and Eridia apart. They were going to be morails! Chiara felt feelings, it was gross, she didn't want them. Feelings were for weak trolls, and the blueblood already decided that any pink or red feelings were a waste of time, but Eridia and Zindel feelings collided and it, well, it was gross.

Chiara was frozen in some sort of feeling tornado, open to any and all attacks Eridia would make, when a greenblood stepped up... and took the attacks... Chiara's eyes widened, and she realized she wanted that troll very much to be her bodyguard.  

[ImaginationsParadise]

Oh so Sephos wasn't letting her kill Zindel? Fine. "Then so be it. Join him in the path of slaughter!" She yelled. She jabbed the greenblood after Gerard's attack and stopped to look around. Who else would try to stop her. "Does this all scare you? Keep you on your toes? You are all criticizing me, but this... This is necessary." She asked as she moved on to her next target-- Zindel. "For him, it will always be necessary."

"I couldn't do s**t when Gerard was alive, I was too weak but now..." She looked at the children. "As long as I am breathing, in my eyes, I am just beginning.”

"I'm doing what is right, can't you all see? You are all just criticizing the moment as you all think you have found a weak spot in me-- you haven't. Part of my killosophy." She hissed, pacing around. Who else would dare to stop her? WHO! "At first, you'll only dislike what I say, but the more correct I start sounding the more you'll dislike me." She didn't mind, she didn't care, this always happened. That was why she was bestowed with the spades symbol. When good people consider you the bad guy, you develop a heart to help the bad ones. You actually understand them. Eridia understood what was it to be pointed at, thought to be the villain. "So YES, call me a villain, call me a crook! Even as I kept searching for sympathy..." As a justification for her actions. "... It's not like this is the first time I've been left standing alone when I really need help.”

"I'm not doing this for him only. I'm doing this for her, for myself and for what is right. This will hurt me more than it'll hurt you redblood. As you will not live long enough to suffer." She looked back again. "Do you think I'm being a fool? Petty." She laughed once more, spinning her daggers. "I'm trying to do something good. But doing good is rarely easy, and some think no weapons has ever stopped a war. Think again.” There was no going back now, Eridia had built the guts to do something, anything, regarding this, she knew better, she'd save enough to face the consequences later. But as they say... "The harder I fall, the heavier my heart; the heavier my heart, the stronger I'll climb; the stronger I'll climb..." She smirked. "The higher my pedestal." And with that, she attacked the redblood with a slash before she could be stopped again.

All she could hear was: Hack, kill, hate, bleed, die, die, DIE!

"Off with his HEAD!"  

[purplerosesbeauty]

Acteon tilted their head when they heard a strange voice come from the redblood. A psionic? How did he do the same thing they do? If he wasn't about to die, they might have asked. Now, they didn't understand anything that was going on between the redblood and Eridia and Gerard, but it really didn't matter, what mattered was this was entertaining, it was exciting.

They nudged Guoli once more. "150 beetles there'll be three corpses, my final bet, Ghost-punch," they said quietly to the blueblood teen.

Glass shards, threats of violence, some descent into what appeared to be clear madness. Their lusus perhaps did not find the situation as funny and tensed up, standing on his tippy toes ready to move at the slightest threat to his charge. Acteon leaned against their lusus, one arm draped over his furry back. They listened raptly as Eridia monologued. An actual monologue! This purpleblood was... incredible.

But an idea formed in their head as they watched her readily slice into the redblood. Of course, what use was their powers if they couldn't make things better? More fun? It was their right to do whatever they wanted!

"Excellent, darling!" The girl called to her, their voice in the high timbre of Gerard himself. They tried not to tremble, to keep their poise as they casually spoke to Eridia. "Incredible job, blackheart... Off with his head!" They repeated Eridia's words in his voice, his cadence, playing idly with their hair as they looked at the trolls in front of them as she egged on Eridia.

 

[Sypon]

Gerard turned in the air, cocking his head at the small blueblood from which his lilting voice emerged.

"Hmm!" His eyelashes fluttered, crossing his legs at the ankles in the air as he considered. "They say imitation is the finest form of flattery, but I don't think that's what you're playing at, little pup. Don't forget that I've finished the stories of scores of trolls; are you sure this is where you'd like for yours to end?"

After a moment of thought, Gerard shrugged. "Ah! But you are so young, with so much vigor. I suppose you can't be blamed for poor upbringing. A gentleman does not misplace their pique when the culprit stands quietly before them, facilitating their disrespect."

Releasing Sephos of his prior assault, Gerard flicked a finger up and towards Steppy. The broken metal ladder that hung dangerously from the ceiling came crashing down, guillotine-like, followed by the slashing swarm of green-tinted glass.  

[purplerosesbeauty]

Acteon's crooked smile was interrupted as the ghost approached them. So he didn't think it was funny? They were just cheering her on, but they should have expected a ghost like him could never understand them. They were about to say something more, to talk back to Gerard again. Then he pointed up.

They stood defiant against the ghost, their lusus tenser than ever, his muzzle warm against her spongeclots as he breathed. Acteon, what have you done? their Stepdad hissed as the ladder came crashing down. He picked them up by the scruff of their jacket, in true crocotta handling and tossed them as hard as they could to the side.

As Acteon crashed into Guouli from the force of their lusus' throw, they looked to see the sharp metal dig into Steppy's neck, before he utilized his dancing prowess and agile limbs to twist and duck his way out of the what would certainly be much more mortal peril. The ladder crashed to the floor, bent metal twisted in a sick way. No weapon of steel can overcome- Steppy coughed, the blue blood staining his ruff and lips as he hacked and struggled to speak.

"Oh s**t," they said, holding their head. Maybe... this wasn't worth sticking around for. Their eyes were wide. They didn't... expect that.