video; un: blade

[unreachableside]

WHO: Blade (?) and you
WHERE: The network
WHEN: Some time after the Zodiac network post
WHAT: Kicking off the possession plot for Blade. A log for his labyrinth will go up this Friday!
WARNINGS: Threats of violence, death, kidnapping, torture, stalking, blood, language (probably in comments). Will add more if necessary.

[video;]

[Blade doesn't make video posts often, which might make it clear that this is probably not a usual Blade post. The feed is grainy and dark, and difficult to make out at first. There are unidentifiable shapes, shuffling, and what sounds like sharp steel on concrete.

Then the light snaps on.

The room is some kind of underground, forgotten-about basement. A couple sits in two chairs, though something is wrong about their posture; they appear to be unconscious or perhaps even dead, if the amount of blood on them is any indication. They have been tied together as well as to their seats, so it looks like they're holding hands. The young woman, a college sophomore, wears a plain white dress. Her boyfriend wears a white suit that doesn't seem to fit him, and he appears to have been stabbed at some point. They aren't app users, but they attend Kaisou University as science majors: Cara, biology, and Nicholas, chemistry.

A deep and depraved voice narrates from off screen. It's Blade, no longer pretending to be friendly.]

This reminds me... of an old poem.

Since our hair was plaited and we became man and wife
the love between us was never broken by doubt.
So let us be merry this night together,
Feasting and playing while the good time lasts...

['Blade' appears in the frame with his jet black sword. He uses it to lift the young woman's chin. Quiet and trembling, she begins to cry.]

Do not worry, ['Blade' says, his voice low and mocking.] You will soon join your beloved in the afterlife.

['Blade' walks over to the phone and knocks it over so it's pointing at the ceiling. Then he kneels and peers into it. His eyes have turned completely black to match his loose dark hair, giving the sense of gazing into the void.]

You have taken something from me, Imbibitor Lunae. I have taken it back, and I am collecting interest. These are your precious students, are they not? Their blood shall whet my appetite before the main course.

My foolish, cowardly little Yingxing. How he cried and pleaded for a second chance. Old souls like his are rare, but so delicious after the wait. What could I do but grant his wish?

Let this be a lesson to you, now and forever. Know it well should you try to save this cursed vessel.

[He laughs like a mad thing.]

None of you should have ever touched w̵̧̛̥͈̟͐̂̔̐̓h̸̨̝͇̙̟͇̜͆̅̄ā̸͖͈̪̜̠͌t̵̔͊͊͋ͅ ̷̝͚̒̿͋̇̌̀͘w̶͓̓̈́̏̿̄̉ą̶̱͓͎̲͚͘ͅs̶̖̹̰͎͜͝ͅ ̵͈̓̒̒͛͆̚ṁ̷̺̹̦̫̹i̵̡͇͖̞͒͊͠ǹ̴̪͔͋̄̓͠ͅẽ̸͎͎̜̲̠̻͆̅͋̀̚ͅ.̵̣̹͊͆̔̈.

[He brings the sword down, and the feed cuts off.]

[ooc: Blade will not be responding. Their bodies will turn up in Kanto sometime after this post.]

Comments

[scourgingstars]

We all have those difficult coworkers now and then.

[Ardyn, no.]

Who can say? Generally, these situations don't end particularly cleanly.

[illucesco]

November one of those situations then? [Shit. He hadn't meant to let that slip through. He breathes in then out, trying to get a hold of himself, then:]

If this is your job, I'm guessing you're going in, too. [A pause.] You going to kill him anyway, or stay your hand?

[scourgingstars]

I will certainly grant November got quite out of hand. I was, however, only newly dispatched at the time, so I would assign blame to the others if I were you.

As to the young man's fate, who knows? People seem quite insistent on the alternative, so if more permanent measures prove necessary I suppose that will have to fall to those of us lacking such boundless optimism.

[illucesco]

[God, he wants to. He wants to blame someone for all of that, and demand to know why they didn't prevent that in the first place, why the casualty rate was so high. But it wouldn't—it wouldn't bring his father back. So he drags in a deep breath, again. Breathes out.

It takes effort for him to speak again.]

Blame won't do anything. Won't fix—all that happened, then. [A silence.] You stuck around for the fallout, this time, apparently. Why?

[This guy is weird.]

Hope it all works out and there's enough of him to bring back from beyond, but... [He doubts it.]

[scourgingstars]

I didn't have a terrible amount of choice, what with the city being consigned to hell for a month or so. As to why I'm still here, well, that's just my assignment. If I wander on back to headquarters I might never hear the end if it. Or worse, be reassigned to Florida.

...Generally speaking, possession incidents such as this rarely end well. But what else can be done, really? Better to die as a monster than live beneath the weight of what he's done.

[illucesco]

Florida's bad, but it isn't that bad. I play D&D with someone from Tampa.

[He says without realizing just how bad it actually is.]

Or better for his soul to find some peace than to have a demon swallow it and the souls of everyone else he loves.