|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2010 17:39:45 GMT -5
Atsuro gave a small nod at Seth's words. Without saying anything else, he pulled out his COMP and pressed a couple buttons, summoning a Cerberus in front of him. The demon shook itself and gave a low growl at the sight of Kaido's dead body. Cerberus knew that man; he was one of the Court of Bel.
"Seth, stand back," Atsuro said. "Cerberus, I need you to burn Kaido's body. It would be best if you could do it thoroughly enough that the bones wouldn't be left, but it's alright if that doesn't work."
Cerberus nodded and stepped forward before opening its mouth and sending a stream of blue colored flames onto Kaido's body, catching it aflame. Atsuro looked away from the scene. He wasn't going to watch Kaido burn.
---------------
Abel had tried to take a step back from Cain, but the man had moved faster than he'd expected in order to grasp the two sides of his face. Abel didn't struggle, but he still looked angry. His expression shifted to a rather guilty one at Cain's words, though. He tried to look away, but the angle Cain was holding his own head meant he couldn't quite look away from Cain's eyes.
"...Yeah. It's been constant ever since I broke my limiter," Abel said.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2010 18:27:34 GMT -5
Seth felt a margin of relief at Atsuro's nod. He had worried Atsuro was going to argue his point. The Prince of Bel had seen enough in the past few months to convince him that a dead body should never be left. Human, demon, or angel. The fights hadn't been all that numerous. Seth had run it over in his head many times. One could probably blame the lack of fights (at least from the angels) on Abel's slower development.
The blue haired man looked up as Atsuro addressed him, pulled out of his thoughts by it. He nodded and took a few steps back. He winced as the white lion-like demon released the stream of fire onto Kaido's body. He watched for a few seconds more then Atsuro, but he had to turn his head away. He lifted a hand and covered his mouth similar to a mask. The stench of... burnt pork. It smelled like burnt pork. His upper body gave a single spasm as his gag reflex tried to kick in.
The intense flames quickly spread over Kaido's body. It was eating away at the flesh with remarkable speed, the result of the fire being hotter than most natural flames. In five minutes, there would be nothing but ash where Kaido's body had lain moments earlier. Seth hoped Atsuro wouldn't feel the need to leave. Someone needed to stay behind to confirm the condition of the body when the flames burned themselves out, and he didn't want to be stuck with that duty.
-----
Cain's expression didn't change at the response. That detail confirmed what he had suspected. Abel's body was becoming more demonic by the day. A simple and altogether human migraine didn't seem likely. He loosened his grip enough that Abel could turn his head if he wished it.
"Is this where it's centered?"
Cain gave a light tap on Abel's right temple. The kind of tap that would cause excruciating pain on a person with inflamed sinuses, but would be barely noticeable under other circumstances. Cain had seen the way Abel had been holding his head since the limiter broke, and was testing a theory.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2010 18:43:29 GMT -5
Atsuro covered his mouth as well when his own gag reflex tried to kick in. He didn't think he'd ever get used to the smell of burning flesh like that... especially burnt human flesh. This wasn't the first time he'd smelled it, and it was almost ironic to Atsuro that this was how they were disposing of Kaido's body.
He wanted to leave, but he felt that part of this had been his own fault. He'd wished for Kaido to die more than once in the past. Call it lingering hate over what had happened to Keisuke, but he'd wished for Kaido to die before. And now he was dead.
The body was beginning to burn itself into ash when Atsuro spoke up again. "Seth, I'll stay here. Go on ahead."
----------------
Abel gave a hiss at the tap. Just that little tap had sent waves of excruciating pain through his head. He gave a small nod, even though he knew Cain had gotten his answer just from his reaction to the tap.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2010 19:32:38 GMT -5
Seth still had his face turned away when Atsuro spoke up again. He wasn't sure how much time had passed. He seemed surprised at the offer. Seth almost took it, too. He managed to breath in a bit of the smell and he made a garbled gag sound and clamped his hand over his mouth. Even in the few cases this had happened in the past from the Court's limited actions in the human realm, he hadn't been so close. When he spoke, it was muffled by his hand.
"I'm not leaving you by yourself," Seth stated.
-----
"Both sides."
It hadn't been a question. Cain had glanced at the left side of Abel's head. He knew it was connected to the changes Abel's body was undergoing. Both temples, weakest part of the skull... Cain's frown slightly deepened. He reached under his haori to the back of his pants. Abel knew that was one of the common places for him to keep his dagger, and the body movements did indicate he was grabbing it. He wasn't offering an explanation at that exact moment, either.
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2010 19:48:21 GMT -5
Atsuro didn't object. He didn't want to be alone, not with Kaido's killer still on the lose. It was likely they'd targeted Kaido because he'd been alone.
Another minute passed, and the bones crumbled into ashes. The embers of the flames still burned, but for the most part, the body was gone. Cerberus prodded the ashes with its nose.
"The body is thoroughly incinerated, Captain," Cerberus stated. It seemed to have no problem with the smell of burnt flesh.
--------------
"What are you doing?" Abel asked. Cain was reaching toward one of the common places he kept his dagger. There were only a few reasons Abel could think Cain would be reaching for his dagger.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2010 20:24:35 GMT -5
Seth had caught sight of the incinerating body when he'd answered Atsuro's question. He couldn't look away from it now that he'd seen it. It was most of the way gone in any case. He didn't say anything further after Atsuro seemed to accept his rebuke. After a minute or so, Cerberus walked up to the ashes and pushed its nose through the ashes and reported the situation to Atsuro. The smell still lingered in the air.
The Prince of Bel couldn't find anything to say. A few thoughts sprung up in his mind, but nothing seemed right. Apologies for what happened, or even condolonces. Questions about where Atsuro intended on going now, questions about Abel's possible destination, even something as simple as asking Atsuro if he was alright. It all rang false, so he just stood there with a sympathetic and pained expression on his face. His eyes were fairly in focus.
-----
Cain had removed his focus from Abel to grab the dagger. He turned it back to Abel as he asked his question. The flow of his movement didn't stop, and he had the long dagger out before he answered. He lifted it up and pointed at his left temple.
"I think it's part of your transformation. It's likely you're developing horns. When I tapped your temple, the resistance was wrong," Cain said. His expression was less somber than before, but he hadn't quite hit smirking, "It'll relieve some of the pressure if I make incisions for them to come out through."
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2010 21:01:26 GMT -5
Atsuro returned the demon to his COMP before looking at Seth. It was only a moment before he started walking out of the alley. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now, not even Seth. He needed to deal with this on his own.
--------------
"What?!"
Abel took a step back. He was... growing horns?! And Cain was going to cut open his skull to relieve the pressure!? He took another step away from Cain, and was shaking his head very slowly, which sent fresh waves of pain through his skull. The expression on his face indicated he was about to bolt.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 12, 2010 21:22:38 GMT -5
Seth hung his head in response to Atsuro's reaction. He hadn't been able to think of anything to say, and now Atsuro was leaving without a word. The thought that Atsuro was having a similar set of issues didn't really occur to him, and even the idea that he was sorting through things in his own head was distant. The blue haired young man had jumped straight to assuming it was his fault for not inputting. He gave a final look at the ashes on the ground, his mind running in circles about what would happen to most of their group when they died, before turning and heading after Atsuro. It still wasn't a good idea for any of them to be alone.
-----
Cain didn't move from where he stood at Abel's reaction. He spun the blade around in his hand so that the point was facing down and stuck it into the side of his pants. He broke eye contact, in in a way communicated without words that he was going to neither force Abel to take the cuts or stop him if he bolted. He looked back up.
"It's your choice if you want to let the horns force their way out of your skin, little brother," Cain spoke, "But the pain you're feeling know is only going to get worse."
|
|
|
|
Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Sept 12, 2010 21:38:42 GMT -5
Abel hesitated for a moment at Cain's words. If he was really growing horns (even the way he thought it in his head sounded disbelieving) then wouldn't it be easier if he just let Cain do that? And Abel knew the pain was only going to get worse. But even still he was apprehensive.
He took another step back, and finally did bolt, running still at that slower speed but fast enough Cain wouldn't be able to catch up with him. Abel doubted Cain would follow after anyways. Cain hadn't shown anything that said he was going to force him to take those cuts. Maybe Abel was being stubborn like this, but he was pretty much in denial. He was just finding a hard time believing half of the stuff that had been happening to him lately.
|
|
|
|
Post by mugenginga on Sept 13, 2010 17:18:52 GMT -5
Cain's smirk returned as Abel bolted off. The enhanced speed meant Abel was turned before even the first signs of the smirk had shown. Abel was, even with everything that had happened, in denial of the situation. It was likely he was torn up over Kaido's death, as well. Cain adjusted the dagger back to its original position.
It was to be expected, one couldn't ask for everything to happen at once. Cain found himself regretting he hadn't gone out with the others. That had been a tactical mistake of sorts, but nothing that couldn't be recovered from. He had a few ideas how the older of his two brothers had reacted to the death by how Abel had looked when he ran into him again. Things were going just fine.
|
|
