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Post by mugenginga on Feb 27, 2010 23:48:58 GMT -5
It was around half past seven in the morning when Cain felt his consciousness returning to him. The General of Bel had all but collapsed into the bed the day before after insisting to both his youngest brother and the demon Abel had finished getting him into his room. As such, he was on his side and fully clothed down to the cloak when his eyes opened.
It took him no time to remember the events of the day yesterday. He had suggested that Abel go to see Himitsu. He had suspected her death would be the end result and he had suspected the reaction to the magatsuhi to occur. He had not, however, expected Abel to push Seth away or for the Prince to get himself injured protecting a god and his avatar. He had expected Abel to react poorly and had been braced for torture. He hadn't expected to become a test subject.
A lot was happening lately that Cain wasn't expecting. By this time he was on his feet. He glanced at the wall separating his room from the one his brother's were sharing. There was noise coming from there, and Cain only hesitated for a moment when he realized that it was in the demonic tongue. He recognized both voices. Seth's Garuda and the demonic distortions of Abel's human voice. It didn't sound upset, at least not to anyone that knew the actual tones the language used. He tuned it out.
Abel wasn't dreaming. Cain couldn't guess who had been told that, but he knew it because he knew his brother. Well, the human side. He'd observed him over enough lives. The demon, Abel? Cain rubbed his forehead in memory of the drain. That would take a few more lives at the rate things were going. He was headed to the bathroom when he heard talking coming from the room on his other side followed by an opening and closing door. Judging by the voices, both Atsuro and Kaido were going out. Cain had no intentions of going anywhere unless he was needed.
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Seth had in fact left the earliest of all of them. After a lengthy discussion between himself and Nirad, Abel had requested he leave. Requested. For that fact alone Seth had complied without any further complaints. That had been around fifteen minutes ago. Nirad had been spending the rest of that time trying to explain to Abel the issues of magatsuhi. It hadn't been going well, but no one had gotten angry... yet.
Things did seem to be heading south once Nirad mentioned that the King's options may very well consist of killing or keeping humans hostage. At Seth's order he had not brought up the suggestion that Abel abandoned his humanity. The minor disagreement was escalating and the two were now conversing in tense tones using their instinctive language. It was almost ironic, the demon king slipping into that specific mode to defend not doing so against humans.
Nirad was once again making his point that a few deaths would mean nothing at the rate humans bred and would be more merciful than any method of "farming". Nirad wasn't keeping a high hope for getting through the day alive. At this point, if Abel asked him if he should discard his humanity, he'd give him an honest answer and deal with the Prince's anger later...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 3:21:14 GMT -5
Things had gotten a little heated inside of the twins' room. Things had gone south not too long after Nirad had mentioned that Abel's options were to kill or to farm humans. But because of how young he was, Abel wouldn't have real control over the urges for magatsuhi. He had already known this was the case. Or at least something along those lines.
Abel had sat down on top of Seth's bed and allowed Nirad to speak. It hadn't been until after Nirad had given his suggestions as to what options he had that Abel had stood up in anger. He didn't like those options. He had tried to find out about any other options. There had to be something else he could do besides that. He could just slaughter humans all of the damn time, or he could farm them like sheep. A bunch of lambs to the slaughter who would serve only to feed his urges. Maybe death was more merciful. But Abel didn't want death.
He'd tried to argue his point, a point he only halfheartedly believed. The K1 emotions that were even more prominent than they had the entirety of the previous day didn't want to kill, but they didn't to torture people either, people who would be seeking death just to get away from what this horrible demon was doing to them day after day. He didn't even seem to realize he'd slipped into the demonic tongue as he argued his point. He usually didn't realize it when it happened.
"...I promised that I would protect humanity. That would mean I'd kill the least amount of people as possible. There will be foolish humans who will decide to involve themselves in the war despite the rest of their kind choosing not to involve themselves, but they are casualties of war. Where as if I kill people for my addiction, it's just plain murder," Abel growled. "If I just have one or two people I keep for all of my magatsuhi, wouldn't it just be more efficient that way, instead of killing humans whenever the urge strikes me to?"
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 3:42:49 GMT -5
Nirad wasn't wincing, but he wasn't look Abel in the eyes either. Well, the bird demon wasn't stupid. As Abel talked, Nirad chastised himself. Somewhere along the way he'd let the human allies of the King make him forget the very important fact Abel was a demon. When the choices were between mercy and efficiency, he'd tale the latter. Then again, if he conceded that point, the King might very well jump tracks to defend the mercy angle. And at this point Nirad wasn't sure if it was conflict between his sides or if Abel was just that unbalanced. He wouldn't be the first demon.
"It would be, Your Majesty. Far more efficient, and it is more than possible to keep humans in a near constant state of fear with the right methods. In the long run, it would provide the most aid in getting the cravings under control, for it would allow you to get a better handle on how far you can push humans without killing them. However, and please understand I mean no insult by this, is that level of what humans would consider horrid cruelty something your human emotions can handle?"
Nirad did tense up as he said that. There were subjects that were best not broached around the King of Bel. The top of the list was how his human allies caused him problems, in particular his "attachment" towards the Prince. Next came ordering around his allies/servants (depending on the day). Even they had to step carefully when doing that amongst themselves. After that, his lingering human emotions. Nirad could not get a fix on the situation, but he had a feeling it was closely tied to the first issue. He'd brought the issue up with the Captain of the Royal Guard the day previously, and it had not been treated well. But it did directly relate to the situation at hand, although he had a very strong feeling he would be injured even if he made his way out of this... debate alive.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 5:24:20 GMT -5
"...My... human emotions?"
That statement had been said in Japanese, and it was very clearly K1 speaking there before the Abel emotions regained dominance. If Cain was paying any kind of attention to the goings on next door, he would have very clearly heard that, especially considering it was a very large break from the demonic language Abel and Nirad had both been using.
Abel scowled at the Garuda, and took a couple steps toward Nirad.
"Tell me, Nirad. Just how much of a negative impact do these fragile human emotions have on me? You're a demon, you should know, right?" Abel growled. "Or are you just going to prove yourself to be as useless as Asura had? You agree that these farming techniques would be the most efficient ones for me to use, at least until I can get my cravings for magatsuhi under control. So the only reason you have to not support that is concern for my human side."
Abel placed one palm on Nirad's chest before grasping the demon by the golden faceplate it wore and shoving it back into the wall. A decorative painting that had been hung on the wall fell and landed on the floor. The faceplate itself seemed to have been crushed by some kind of inhuman force... which made sense, considering who had grabbed it. And Abel was starting to look pissed.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 5:52:03 GMT -5
Cain hadn't been paying much attention. To the point that the voices had faded into background noise. He wouldn't have even paused had things started crashing or yelling had occurred. But the shift from demonic tongue to something an exposed or frightened Japanese child might use was akin to a heater turning off in a classroom. Not even aware of the noise to blindingly aware of deafening silence. Or in this case, K1's exposed voice. He stopped half a step into the bathroom and turned towards the wall.
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Nirad found himself flapping his wings to avoid Abel touching his chest. Any chance the attempt at "stepping" back might have had was lost when Abel curled his hands around the helmet-like plating the Garuda race wore. With a strength fitting the demon that was Abel, Nirad found himself flying against the back wall. He hit hard, but was more concerned with the piece of gold shrapnel now imbedded in his face, just above the point where his beak connected. A small amount of dark blood welled up there, refusing to fall.
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Cain narrowed his eyes as the wall shook. There had been some growling before that. Whatever lapse Abel had shown was gone. He closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. He sat down on it and just looked at the wall. Unlike Seth or Atsuro, he wasn't going to run in there. He'd continue to observe as best he could through hearing.
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Nirad lifted up one of his talon like hands and rubbed it across his face. He pulled it down and looked at the blood. He'd thought so. He looked up at Abel and actually had the balls to glare at the King. More than a few demons had died playing the grovelling route. Maybe the King really did need someone to push back for once. He pushed off the wall into a more stable standing position and continued to speak.
"I can't say for sure, I've never been human. But what I do know is that a demon lacking them would not be thinking about methods other than death or torture. He would be thinking about which he would find more enjoyable. I won't presume to think you actually want my opinion on the matter, but if it were me I'd do both. I'd involve children because they're grasp of the 'supernatural' makes them more open to fear. I'd involve parents and loved ones and use those human bonds against them. I would not kill unless I felt they were of no more use to me or began to fail to give a satisfying response to my methods."
"I never said anything about not supporting those methods, Your Majesty. Do not put your human emotions onto me. His Highness requested I not bring this up as did the Captain of your Guard, but if you want the truth, you should discard them. The impact they have is to make you second guess every action you take, to fall into a pointless human depression over what the side you chose to bear craves. It is something the armies of YMVH will use against you and it runs high potential of costing us the entire war. That is what I'm thinking, Your Majesty."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 6:33:23 GMT -5
K1's eyes widened as Nirad spoke. Abel and K1 seemed to be in deep conflict again as Nirad explained, and Abel began reacting in a way he hadn't since before he had returned to his own world. His stance shifted, like he couldn't decide which one he would use. At times it resembled the one he usually worse these days, the one that resembled Cain's. At other times it resembled that of his own when he had still been human. And then it looked like an odd fusion of both.
"That's..." K1 said very quietly.
Atsuro and Seth had both wanted Nirad to not say anything about that. They had both been trying to protect those emotions with the name of Keiichi Kimura. Abel clenched his fists and finally blinked as his pupils slitted. The Abel emotions had been the ones who had finally truly won that fight for dominance. He rushed up to Nirad and knocked the Garuda to the side, sending it off balance enough that he could rush up behind it and grab it by a wing. He was fully prepared to tear it off the same way he had several times before to winged demons.
"You must be the most incredibly stupid demon I have ever met. No care for your own life," Abel growled. He finally did pull, the wing removed with even more force caused by the fact that he'd kicked the demon as he pulled. He looked down at Nirad. "Get the hell out of my room. And while you're out, call up a carpet cleaner. I don't ever want to see you around here again unless you're aiding Seth for some reason. Be glad I left you alive."
At the same time he said that, Abel seemed a tad bit unstable. Like he still didn't know what to do.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 6:53:20 GMT -5
Nirad saw the dominance shifting. He recognized it from before, although it was worse than in his memory of being contracted to one member of Abel's group or another. When the human remnants of Abel spoke, Nirad thought for a moment the teenager was going to break. He kept his eyes locked with the blue haired boy. He wasn't going to give ground to either of his sides.
And then Abel's pupils slitted. Nirad braced for an impact. He hadn't anticipated the other demon's moves right, as instead of a frontal attack he got hit from the side. With legs that were already not well developed for walking, it wasn't much an issue to knock him off balance. It was then that he was "caught" by his right wing. He looked towards Abel with a mixture of surprise and anger, and then Abel spoke... and then kicked and pulled.
It was an almost humorously human reaction. Nirad didn't scream, but it seemed as much because he couldn't than not wanting to. He let out a gasp nothing short of unbridled pain as he thumped against the floor. He hadn't even tried to catch himself, too concerned with the pain and all but spurting blood loss. Nirad felt his consciousness trying to slip and had to work to focus on Abel's next words as the red carpet darkened more than a few shades from the near black demon blood that was flowing to fast for the carpet to simply absorb.
Glad? The King had just cost him the thing his entire race prided themselves on. The ability of flight and (half of) the trait they defined themselves by. It was entirely possible that had been his intent, for that matter. He pushed himself up, feeling his arms trying to buckle. The other issue was blood loss, it could kill demons too. Nirad managed to get himself onto his knees and closed his eyes for a moment. The cast of Diarahan sealed the wound for the most part, but blood still seeped.
"Understood, Your Majesty," he finally managed to get to his feet. He walked towards the door and hesitated before turning towards him. His gaze was critical, but it wasn't agressive. He was also making a point of keeping his eyes averted, "Please accept my deepest apologies for this, but if you do not make a decision it won't be yourself alone it ends up hurting. Whether you view your human servants as friends, allies, or glorified slaves... hesitation on your part could end up harming them as well."
Nirad turned back towards the door. He knew it was possible he'd just signed his own death certificate. At this point he didn't care. Perhaps, and he would have admitted this had it been presented to him, he was trying to get himself killed. He took another step towards the door. There would be no fight if Abel tried to rush him. In all technicality, he had stepped well out of line with that last comment.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 13:28:33 GMT -5
And once again Abel seemed to be having troubles with which emotions were the dominant ones. He seemed to be having that a lot today. He had looked down at the wing he had ripped off, and then over at Nirad as the demon finally managed to get to his feet. He'd ripped one wing clean off, and done probably the closest thing to torture for a flying demon like a Garuda.
He looked away as Nirad spoke. He'd hurt his friends if he didn't make a decision soon. The only reason he wasn't trying to kill Nirad for telling the truth was because the human emotions were trying to keep his temper under control. Cain had told him before that this kind of hesitation over these kind of issues would get people hurt on the battlefield. Most likely killed.
He tossed the wing he had torn from Nirad's body back to the demon. "Just get the hell out. And take this with you; I don't want it."
Abel stayed standing and waited for Nirad to leave. He wasn't going to kill the demon. Not yet. Hadn't he killed enough in the past few days? He didn't need to add Seth's personally contracted Garuda to the pile.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 14:20:08 GMT -5
Nirad head the sound of the now disattached limb moving through the air rather than saw it. He turned just in time to catch it. It was the broken eye contact that told him it wasn't Abel's brand of cruel humor to return the wing to him. Nirad might have scoffed at the emotional issues Abel was having for his humanity at the moment, but it seemed that his death wish wasn't that large. He said nothing as he turned and pushed the door open, heading out into the hall.
Nirad hadn't expected to see Cain standing out there. The silver haired man had stepped out after hearing some of Abel's last words in the demonic tongue. He hadn't heard Nirad's words part as a result of that, having left as soon as Abel told Nirad he was lucky he'd been left alive. The human, who at times Nirad had to consider more demon than Abel's demon vs. human emotional turmoil, simply looked at the injuries.
"Did he make you a target on purpose?" he asked, still carrying not a single emotion.
"If you are curious over the affairs of our king, I see no reason to spare you the asking of him yourself. If you'll excuse me, I have things to do."
Nirad walked towards th stairs. A target. Nirad knew what Cain was referring to, of course. By human standards, the demon races had a rather barbaric pecking order, akin to wild animals. The injured were picked off. An Avian that couldn't fly? Cannon fodder. Nirad reached the stairs and began to descend them. Cain looked at the door for a moment, weighing the options in his head. Finally he knocked upon it.
"Your Majesty, it's Cain."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 15:45:18 GMT -5
Abel had sat down on his bed once Nirad had stepped out of the room. He felt horribly sick with himself, though it seemed different parts of him were sick with himself for different reasons. The human side was balking the fact that he really didn't have any control over himself, his temper was just causing even more trouble all the damn time, and in truth, he was starting to think that side of himself was unneeded, and needed to be discarded if he wanted to ever feel like he was in a stable state of mind again.
He looked up as he heard someone knock on the dood and Cain's announcement that it was him shortly afterwards. Slowly, he lifted himself up off of his bed, and walked over to the door. He hesitated for a moment before turning the knob and pulling it open. His expression didn't change as he saw Cain.
"...I didn't expect you to come see me after what I did yesterday," Abel said regretfully. He looked up at Cain. "What do you want?"
In truth, Cain was the last person he wanted to see right now. But at the same time, Cain was his brother, the person he'd always felt close to, even when they were only cousins in this life. He wanted a human's opinion on this. Seth and Atsuro would be too tied down by their wish to make sure Keiichi wasn't lost, and Kaido wouldn't care.
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 15:55:28 GMT -5
Cain regarded Abel. He'd said his words as if he were trying to apologize. The silver haired man was glad he hadn't. He didn't need to show that weakness. Before responding, he glanced at the puddle of blood in the room. Despite being on a carpet, it was still a puddle. The carpet could only absorb so much. He then looked back at his brother.
"I expected worse," Cain replied in an offhand manner, "Are you alright?"
Whether Cain meant thas as concern for his brother, concern about the situation, or merely a formality was up to Abel's interpertation. Cain didn't give a clear indication in any direction. It was mostly concern about the situation, and not so much concern as keeping tabs on things. There was a bit of concern for Abel as well. Cain would even admit that if forced to, but his tendency to avoid straight answers would leave it open for easy misinterpertation.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 16:39:30 GMT -5
Abel's expression didn't change as Nao--Cain had asked if he was alright. I just ripped off a demon's wing, left him to the wolves, and have been spending the past day or so absorbing various people's fear in order to feed some kind of demonic drug habit. I'm just peachy, Abel thought sarcastically in his head. The question didn't' seem to be merely a formality, but Abel doubted Cain was all that concerned about him.
"I've been better..." Abel said. He moved to the side so that Cain could come into his hotel room.
"Cain... I've been thinking about things," Abel said quietly. He sighed and looked up at Cain. "How much of an option is it to dispose of my humanity altogether? Ever since I took the throne, all my human emotions have done have caused trouble. How much would it help if I just disposed of them altogether?"
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 20:39:47 GMT -5
Cain stood there for a few moments after Abel moved to the side. He looked at his younger brother for a while before walking in. He didn't sit down on the bed or anything, just watched Abel. Abel spoke in an almost whisper and Cain's expression didn't change as he looked up. It was a bit critical, but there was that care within criticism only an older brother could have. He did narrow his eyes a bit and put his hands on Abel's shoulders. He guided him to the bed and sat him down before sitting across from him.
"It's an option. Is it the best option? If you can't accept what you have to do, maybe. Will you end up killing the humans under you? Probably, and I'll likely be the first," Cain didn't seem upset by that. It was a statement of fact, nothing more, "I'll not give you anything a demon would want in an attack on a human, and I won't beg for my life. The fact that I'll be back in under a decade is the kind of thing most demons would use, as well."
"How much would it help? If I were to define Keiichi as your human emotions and Abel as the King of Bel, Abel wouldn't regret it for a moment to lose Keiichi. Atsuro, Kaido, and Seth would either not live long enough to regret it or would learn quickly Keiichi was long dead. I don't doubt "Abel" would use one or more of them for magatsuhi."
"I'll say this. If you don't make the active choice to reconcile the "sides", you'll end up losing your humanity. I'll remain General as long as Abel would let me," Cain gave a psychotic smirk with traces of bitterness, "But I'm not the kind to back down. I doubt I'd last a day, and I wouldn't regret it or grovel no matter what method of torture you used as an attempt."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Feb 28, 2010 22:41:42 GMT -5
Abel didn't object as Cain guided him to the bed, and sat down as he was expected to do. He was quiet as Cain spoke, allowing what his brother was saying to sink in. Abel had always had a hard time accepting his demonic side, no matter how well he had managed to hide it (it helped when his human emotions weren't particularly prominent). Some part of him was making him want to listen, though.
The answers were what Abel had expected. He'd probably end up killing at least one of their little group. Cain was a guaranteed. The other three humans would be kept around for magatsuhi purposes. And of course, there would be no trace of K1 left. Abel wouldn't really give a damn.
He looked down at the floor as Cain finished up. If he didn't accept the fact that he was a demon with both a demonic side and a human side, he'd definitely lose the human side to the demonic side. And in his human mindset, that was the last thing that Abel wanted to do to his friends and family. Kaido didn't really count; Abel doubted Kaido would care either way until it was too late and Keiichi was already gone.
Abel clasped his hands together. "I... see." He looked up at Cain. "...Thanks."
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Post by mugenginga on Feb 28, 2010 23:18:22 GMT -5
Cain had one of his rarest expressions as Abel thanked him, one of shocked suprirse. It wasn't all that uncommon for Abel to thank him, at least within his human emotions and pasts, but this had a different feel to it. It was the way people threw around apologies, thanks, and expressions of love. Few of them had any real weight. But what Abel had just said was full of gratitude. Cain's expression went back to its usual hard to read slight smirk before he spoke again.
"You wouldn't have asked me if you didn't want a straight answer," Cain said and stood up, "I'll head back to my room."
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