Amberfall Village

[Koneko Kuromira]

"Hidari wa nani mo arimasen, arimasen, arimasen~." The slow, sing-song chant drifted through the air of the otherwise silent village. A lone figure moved slowly down the main street, the blood-soaked sands squelching beneath her feet. Her long black skirt fluttered in the slight breeze and she shivered slightly as the air chilled her bloodied skin. Still, though, she danced and twirled carefully between and over the countless bodies that littered the street, singing all the way. "Hidari wa nani mo arimasen, Ja-shin-sama~."

Laughter bubbled from her chest as she bounced up to spin around a light post. When she lost momentum, she lifted one hand to her ear and closed her eyes, an expression of glee on her face. After several seconds, she hopped down and continued through the now-dead town. "Ima, karera wa shizukadesu, shizukadesu, shizukadesu. Ima, karera wa shizukadesu, Jashin-sama~."

The young woman -- seeming no more than a teenager despite her white bone hair (stained red and sticking to her skin in places) -- turned her face to the sky and spun in a circle, arms out and fingers splayed. "Anata wa manzoku shiteimasu ka, shiteimasu ka, shiteimasu, ka~?" Her haunting song continued, as if she had not a care in the world. Men and women -- young and old -- cluttered nearly every corner of the village. Not a single soul -- beyond her own -- lived, though one might argue that they all lived within her -- their life forces drawn out to fuel her own. "Anata wa manzoku shiteimasu ka, Ja-shin-sama~?"

No hitai-ate identified her. Only the blood red rosary, ending in a silver circle surrounding a point-down triangle, would give any hint as to her identity. Her clothes -- save the skirt -- clung to her like a second skin, almost seeming to be a part of her. No light reflected from the black material, and no shadows marked it, either, making the almost other-worldly material appear to be made of the purest, darkest shadows. The young woman paused in her dance to couch over one of the fallen, dipping her fingers in his blood. "Watashi wa watashi ga shitte iru, shitte iru, shitte iru~." She slowly began to trace patterns across his skin, treating the splattered blood as a twisted sort of connect-the-dots puzzle. "Watashi wa watashi ga shitte iru, Ja-shin-sama~."

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 500

((Translation time!
As per usual, to the tune of "London Bridge is Falling Down."
"Hidari wa nani mo arimasen." = There is nothing left.
"Ima, karera wa shizukadesu." = Now they are silent.
"Anata wa manzoku shiteimasu ka?" = Are you pleased?
"Watashi wa watashi ga shitte iru." = I know I am.

Yay! Crazy Rini's back~!))

 

[The Wild Hunt]

KLEINE HEILAND

stronger than you. faster than you. better than you. bloodier than you.

XXX
XXX
XXX

私は決して実際に私の行為を説明する必要がなかった。 私はちょうどそれらをした。それらは公正だったか。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその威厳、その日によって見たとき、私は自由にできなかった理由を私は疑問に、なぜ私は空を歩き回ると、ワシのような海に乱入することができませんでした。
それらは不人情だったか。 私は知らない。 そしてその時に; 私は気遣わなかった。しかし時間後に、これらの事は私で痛み始めた。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、単に人間のために、より優れていることになっていた、と、まだ、人間の法律は私を量りていた。
痛みは、しかし自分自身で停止しなかった。 それは時間によって停止しなかった。従って私はそれを殺した。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその法律を取り除くになりたかった。
私はそれに停止をした。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXlXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、美徳を取り除く、道徳の排除になりたかった。

As darkness falls, silence rises;
''Jesus Christ, woman," The boy muttered as he stood over the corpses of his countrymen, ''You're as vile as ever." Well, certainly -- under normal circumstances -- she should be beheaded by now. But then, it's not like beheading her would even work. Stupid Jashinists and their stupid rituals and their stupid immortality. ''By the way, what happened to your hair? It was all... black, and stuff. Now it's all... white, and stuff. Just like mine! 'Cept, mine is prettier... 'cause it's not stained with blood." He spoke his words slowly, only because often times; his eyes were elsewhere. He... observed her; watched her as the moments passed. He wanted to make sure her movements were clean, secure. Rini coming back... could be assumed as either one of two things; a problem, or a boon. The problem would lie in if she continued to perform sacrifices. If that continued to happen...
The only sacrifice... would be her.

⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱

XXXXXXXXXXXXdon't resist. cease to exist.

 

[Koneko Kuromira]

"Hm?" Rini lifted her head from her puzzle, one bloody finger at her lips as if she had been chewing her nail. She blinked wide turquoise eyes at him in confusion that slowly turned to something akin to glee. "You're still alive!" The young woman bounced to her bare feet and flowed toward him, eyes flicking up and down his body as if drinking in every detail.

Her smile widened. "You're a pretty one." She clasped her hands behind her back when she stopped a few feet in front of him and leaned forward, head tilted to one side. "I could have fun with you," she said softly, almost thoughtfully. After a moment, she blinked in realization and straightened. "You're touched. Oh! That's wonderful!" She moved to throw her arms around his neck, giggling. "That means I don't have to kill you!"

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 499

 

[Alicia Joana]

-|Queen of Dragons|-||Nayely Hatake Dragconic||-|SS-Ranked|-
-|Akatsuki Leader|-|Amekage|-


__________________________________________________

Nayely came running towards them. "KLEINE!! GET OVER HERE!!!" She yelled as she continued to approach him. "We have a family discussion to talk about little brother." She said as she popped her knuckles.

 

[The Wild Hunt]

KLEINE HEILAND

stronger than you. faster than you. better than you. bloodier than you.

XXX
XXX
XXX

私は決して実際に私の行為を説明する必要がなかった。 私はちょうどそれらをした。それらは公正だったか。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその威厳、その日によって見たとき、私は自由にできなかった理由を私は疑問に、なぜ私は空を歩き回ると、ワシのような海に乱入することができませんでした。
それらは不人情だったか。 私は知らない。 そしてその時に; 私は気遣わなかった。しかし時間後に、これらの事は私で痛み始めた。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、単に人間のために、より優れていることになっていた、と、まだ、人間の法律は私を量りていた。
痛みは、しかし自分自身で停止しなかった。 それは時間によって停止しなかった。従って私はそれを殺した。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその法律を取り除くになりたかった。
私はそれに停止をした。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXlXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、美徳を取り除く、道徳の排除になりたかった。

しかしすぐに、私は自分の視線の私が取り除くが見つかりました。
If one woman harassing him wasn't enough... ''Sister..." He said, while trying -- albeit failing -- to ignore the presence of the girl; who was so close to him. ''There isn't much to say." He knew that he probably made a mockery out of the death of their father -- at least in her eyes -- just from looking back at what happened in Ame, but he... he just... didn't want to talk about it anymore. So much pain... was spent on such a fleeting emotion. ''I take it... you're not here to battle me, are you?" He asked Nayley once; before averting his eyes to the other girl, the one who strangely seemed to be infatuating herself. ''I see Jashin hasn't wasted any time in unscrewing the last remaining corks..." Yep, it was obvious, after all was said and done; Rini had went absolutely insane. ''Unlike you, though; I've changed. So please, try not to overstep your bounds. These people are mine. They are not Jashin's."

⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱

XXXXXXXXXXXXdon't resist. cease to exist.

 

[Koneko Kuromira]

Rini peeked over Kleine's shoulder at the approaching woman. She wrinkled her nose slightly. "Ew. Pink." She studied Nayley critically, and bristled slightly when the woman's footsteps smeared one of the blood trails across the street. The High Priestess released Kleine and took a step away from him to jab a finger toward Nayley. "Oy! Watch where you're stepping! You're messing up my art! I worked hard to get it just right, and now you're ruining it!" After a pause, she added, almost as an afterthought, "Jerk."

She turned her attention back to Kleine. He had called the other woman 'sister,' so he probably would not be happy if Rini tried to kill her and use her blood to fix the 'art' she had made of the village. Instead, she listened intently to his words and frowned in slight confusion. "But you belong to him, so if they belong to you then they belong to him, too, by proxy . . . right?" Rini chewed on one of her knuckles. He was saying that what she did was wrong, but why? It had pleased Jashin. Why would it not have pleased one of His Chosen? She peered more closely at him. He did not carry Jashin's mark, though he carried His essence around him -- almost like some unseen mantle -- a bloody one, at that.

"Makes no sense." Her frown deepened. "You're soaked in blood but won't touch it. Makes no sense. Why?" She touched his cheek, leaving a smear of blood. "You'd look so good in red."

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 498

 

[Alicia Joana]

-|Queen of Dragons|-||Nayely Hatake Dragconic||-|SS-Ranked|-
-|Akatsuki Leader|-|Amekage|-


__________________________________________________

Nayely looked at Kleine. "I will definitely give you the worst slap of your life." She said threatening Kleine. She then looked at Rini. "I wouldn't point...and you have all the blood still around, it wont take that long to redo a slight line...and besides...why would you put it on a walkway?" She asked.

 

[The Wild Hunt]

KLEINE HEILAND

stronger than you. faster than you. better than you. bloodier than you.

XXX
XXX
XXX

私は決して実際に私の行為を説明する必要がなかった。 私はちょうどそれらをした。それらは公正だったか。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその威厳、その日によって見たとき、私は自由にできなかった理由を私は疑問に、なぜ私は空を歩き回ると、ワシのような海に乱入することができませんでした。
それらは不人情だったか。 私は知らない。 そしてその時に; 私は気遣わなかった。しかし時間後に、これらの事は私で痛み始めた。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、単に人間のために、より優れていることになっていた、と、まだ、人間の法律は私を量りていた。
痛みは、しかし自分自身で停止しなかった。 それは時間によって停止しなかった。従って私はそれを殺した。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその法律を取り除くになりたかった。
私はそれに停止をした。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXlXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、美徳を取り除く、道徳の排除になりたかった。

しかしすぐに、私は自分の視線の私が取り除くが見つかりました。
He didn't like it... when she spoke to him as if he was owned; as if he was a pawn, a slave. That struck him more than anything else said -- even her maddened ranting over the floors being ruined. ''The servant of the servant is not the servant of the master. I am exactly that -- a "servant", not a slave. Servants can have their own belongings. Those belongings... are not his. I worked for them with my own blood, sweat and courage; he has no claims over them." Really, it became confusing, after a time. Nayley's threats didn't seem serious... yet did? Rini's playful "jests" didn't seem so playful... and each time he looked upon the blood-stained floors, it felt like the blood was only increasing; piling up until it would drown him within. His head felt... light. He didn't want this anymore; didn't want this empty and forsaken desire. ''But maybe I... would look a little nice in red." If it were up to him, he'd sarcastically remark that he looked good in everything; but strangely, he knew -- somewhere -- within him, that he was being consumed. ''Nayley..." The boy started, looking back to the girl who was claimed to be his sister. ''...Please leave." He didn't want any of this, anymore; any of the hustle and the bustle, the pride and the folly. He just wanted... to close his eyes... and awake to be what he once was. And suddenly; he found himself craving the firm hold of the girl. In a way, he felt that it was the closest he would come to -- once again -- being wrapped in the affection of the Lord. He slid the blood along his cheek onto the very tip of his pointer-finger, and as he lifted it downwards -- into his mouth -- he closed his eyes to succor the only short moment of enjoyment that he could have. ''I haven't tasted it... in such a long time; the velvet shade."

⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱

XXXXXXXXXXXXdon't resist. cease to exist.

 

[Koneko Kuromira]

Rini rolled her eyes at Nayley. "Because there was no one here, at the time, to walk on it. They're all asleep." She smiled warmly and bent by one of the corpses "Quiet. No more blabbing. No more complaining. No more noise." She lifted the man off the ground, supporting him as one might an unconscious dance partner. She took a few twirling steps with him, giggling lightly. "But they made such beautiful music when they died."

When she came close to Kleine, she slowed to a stop and tilted her head in thought. "I guess you have a point . . . sort of. A servant, not a slave." Rini straightened her head to regard the man -- the corpse -- in her arms. "You, sir, are not a very good dance partner." She released her hold on him and gave a little push so that he crumpled backwards to the dust.

Rini slid back over to Kleine and draped here arms around his shoulders. "You're not mad at me, are you? They were just little mice. Weren't doing anything terribly important. I swear. Cross my heart and hope to -- um -- live?" She drew an X above her heart and smiled hopefully up at him. "Oh! I can make it up to you! I can -- um -- I can . . ." Her expression crumpled in thought.

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 497

 

[The Wild Hunt]

KLEINE HEILAND

stronger than you. faster than you. better than you. bloodier than you.

XXX
XXX
XXX

私は決して実際に私の行為を説明する必要がなかった。 私はちょうどそれらをした。それらは公正だったか。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその威厳、その日によって見たとき、私は自由にできなかった理由を私は疑問に、なぜ私は空を歩き回ると、ワシのような海に乱入することができませんでした。
それらは不人情だったか。 私は知らない。 そしてその時に; 私は気遣わなかった。しかし時間後に、これらの事は私で痛み始めた。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、単に人間のために、より優れていることになっていた、と、まだ、人間の法律は私を量りていた。
痛みは、しかし自分自身で停止しなかった。 それは時間によって停止しなかった。従って私はそれを殺した。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその法律を取り除くになりたかった。
私はそれに停止をした。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXlXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、美徳を取り除く、道徳の排除になりたかった。

As darkness falls, silence rises;
''You can . . .?" He asked, trying hard to free himself from her hold; though carefully just enough as to not look as if he began to squirm. Clearly, it was a great idea to hold someone in your arms right after doing the same to a bloody corpse. He really... needed to just... fall into a nearby lake. Maybe that'd cleanse him from all of this rat-way filth. ''Do you want honesty, or kindness? Because; I'll give you both answers. My honest answer is that I'm pissed. They were doing things just as important as any other. They're still living, breathing creatures; not something you can just... discard." That -- in its entirety -- was only a fraction of the reality; the truth. What laid hidden behind his words was that -- for a bare moment -- he almost considered ending her life. He thought of her as the past; and the grave poison of past evils was far more than anything he could handle right now. He wanted to shut it out. He wanted to make it go away. ''And the kind yet false answer is that I believe your love for the Lord justifies your actions. Unfortunately, that's not what I believe. It's become coherently obvious to me that in your seclusion, you've gone completely over. How would you "make it up to me"? By killing my enemies? I have no enemies. I just want to protect these lands -- something you just violated."

⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱

XXXXXXXXXXXXdon't resist. cease to exist.

 

[Koneko Kuromira]

Rini did not fight to hold Kleine, letting him slip from her grasp. Her gaze and shoulders slowly dropped as he spoke, seeming to curl in upon herself like a child being chastised by a parent. She slid one foot back and then the other, staring down at her bloodied hands. Was it not a good thing she had done? They were just mice. Why did he care what happened to them? Her heel met her previous dancing partner and her eyes moved to the lifeless corpse and then the blood that stained the streets. "I don't understand. I thought -- I thought you'd be pleased. You were -- you are -- what changed?"

She looked to him, eyes full of a child's confusion. "You killed the bloody flea -- consumed him -- became him -- but you're not anymore. Why? I thought -- I thought you wanted -- you -- but --" Her words fell helplessly short as a tear slipped down one cheek. Rini blinked and lifted a hand to catch and stare at it. "I'm leaking. Why am I -- what did you --?" She hiccuped slightly, pressing her hands to her eyes. "Why? I'm not supposed to -- to feel -- bad. Not about this. This is -- this was --" Her fingers rose to her hair, tearing through her bloodied locks. "What's wrong with me?!"

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 496

 

[The Wild Hunt]

KLEINE HEILAND

stronger than you. faster than you. better than you. bloodier than you.

XXX
XXX
XXX

私は決して実際に私の行為を説明する必要がなかった。 私はちょうどそれらをした。それらは公正だったか。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその威厳、その日によって見たとき、私は自由にできなかった理由を私は疑問に、なぜ私は空を歩き回ると、ワシのような海に乱入することができませんでした。
それらは不人情だったか。 私は知らない。 そしてその時に; 私は気遣わなかった。しかし時間後に、これらの事は私で痛み始めた。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、単に人間のために、より優れていることになっていた、と、まだ、人間の法律は私を量りていた。
痛みは、しかし自分自身で停止しなかった。 それは時間によって停止しなかった。従って私はそれを殺した。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその法律を取り除くになりたかった。
私はそれに停止をした。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXlXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、美徳を取り除く、道徳の排除になりたかった。

As darkness falls, silence rises;
''It's called guilt," He said -- staring upon the girl with eyes of both malice and understanding. Eyes that would pierce yet comfort her; eyes that would only -- in the end -- confuse her more. ''Something you'll feel a lot if you do not change." He saw it, now; what Rini was, inside. A little girl; subjecting herself to the only thing she had known. When she killed, she saw it as no more than ripping the wings off of an insect. But, just because she was naive, that did not mean that her actions were excused, were they...? He wanted to believe that she could change and everything could become better, again; like how it was in the beginning... but that was... that was before... she was hurt. Yes, he remembered, now. It was all his fault. Everything... was at the fault of Kaisen. She was not to blame. And yet, at the same time, she was subject to no change; doomed from the start. ''But please... don't cry, okay, Rini? I know..." He started, walking back to hold her once more; ''That we all struggle with our nature."

⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱

XXXXXXXXXXXXdon't resist. cease to exist.

 

[Koneko Kuromira]

"Guilt." Rini frowned, mulling over the word as one might consider a new flavor of spice. "I don't like it. It's annoying -- gets in the way. He said this was good. He said it had to happen. They had to die. Sacrifices to make things better. Good not bad. Right not wrong. Why am I guilty, then?"

When Kleine moved to hold her, she dropped her hands to wrap around her waist and leaned against him. Her head fell on his shoulder. "I don't like it." The way he looked at her confused her -- made her feel so small and lost. It was as if he knew her, but she did not know him -- not completely. He was familiar, and some part of her mind knew enough of him to supply small details -- flashes of a face -- of a conversation -- of a feeling and a nature that were now all but gone. Shreds of them still clung to him like strands of a broken spider web, but even they were fading to nothing, leaving only a shadow of recognition behind. But he knew her. He knew her, and that fact was as terrifying as it was comforting.

"Don't like feeling lost," she said, voice barely above a whisper.

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 495

 

[The Wild Hunt]

KLEINE HEILAND

stronger than you. faster than you. better than you. bloodier than you.

XXX
XXX
XXX

私は決して実際に私の行為を説明する必要がなかった。 私はちょうどそれらをした。それらは公正だったか。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその威厳、その日によって見たとき、私は自由にできなかった理由を私は疑問に、なぜ私は空を歩き回ると、ワシのような海に乱入することができませんでした。
それらは不人情だったか。 私は知らない。 そしてその時に; 私は気遣わなかった。しかし時間後に、これらの事は私で痛み始めた。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、単に人間のために、より優れていることになっていた、と、まだ、人間の法律は私を量りていた。
痛みは、しかし自分自身で停止しなかった。 それは時間によって停止しなかった。従って私はそれを殺した。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私はその法律を取り除くになりたかった。
私はそれに停止をした。XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXlXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX私は、美徳を取り除く、道徳の排除になりたかった。

As darkness falls, silence rises;
As he held onto her -- hearing the words as she spoke, words so much like his own -- he felt both estranged yet comforted; afraid yet fulfilled. Maybe, this was the reason he wanted to become a better person; not for others but for himself, so that he may always feel this way. The feeling of being treasured, and treasuring others all the same. ''To find our way... don't we have to lose it first?" He whispered into her ear, as his hands softly paced through her back. ''Tell me, Rini -- has Jashin ever supplied a real reason to you as to why it was good to take life -- precious life -- away? Is there anything grand to be gained from it? Does he not damn the souls given to him to eternal suffering? There is nothing fair about it; and there is no justice for those who have been lost. Unknowingly, you have been feeding the insatiable hunger of a deceptive and wretched evil. A puppeteer -- who will toy with the strings until they are spent. And when that time comes -- when they are still loyal yet withering away--" He said, his eyes looking up from her shoulders and to the sky above-- ''They will be devoured, just the same as anyone else. You are his fork and his spoon, Rini; his chopsticks and his knife. He will wash you, clean you, admire your craftsmanship; but when you grow dull, or when another comes to replace you: you will be thrown like garbage."

⊰━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━⊱

XXXXXXXXXXXXdon't resist. cease to exist.

 

[Koneko Kuromira]

Rini stilled when he began to speak -- when he began to question Jashin's will. She started to slowly shake her head, muttering under her breath. "No. No. You're lying. That's not true. Shut up! That's not true!" She pushed away from him, her hands shaking even as she swept them through the air in motions of denial. "Their deaths are strength -- they're security -- their blood washes away everything -- everything. They feed Him and He feeds me. He'll never turn his back on me, so long as I serve, and I do. I do. I always do."

Her heavy breathing slowly settled as she stared down into the glassy eyes of a nearby corpse -- this one a woman, probably in her mid-thirties. After several heartbeats, Rini spoke again, this time more calmly. "I know what I do -- what it means for them -- but I -- I can't care. I'm free, thanks to him. Free. Everyone's afraid of something, but I don't have to be." A smile touched her lips and a laugh rose from her chest. "Do you have any idea how amazing that feels? To be free from all of it? It's -- perfection." Her smile became wry, and she lifted her hands to study the now-dry blood staining her skin. "Break something into small enough pieces and it can never be broken again."

-o-o-o-

Points Remaining: 494