towerofanimus | There is no repentance.

Characters: Enoch and anyone
Setting: All around the tower, Oct 24 until the end of the event (please note a day or range of days and floor in your subject line!)
Format: I'm starting in prose, but I'll match you
Summary: After two encounters, Enoch's finally succumbed completely(or nearly so) to his transformation's urges, going after people who he knows have sinned. Or those who do so in front of him...
Warnings: There will be violence if confronted with a known "sinner", maybe death?

It took a couple of encounters and a little over a week of time. But Enoch isn't hiding anymore. He wanders the stairs with his Arch out and held in one hand, his stride confident and purposeful. He has a stern look fixed on his face, though his eyes may at times appear troubled.

He's searching for sinners. He hasn't yet realized there are no other means of getting candy than stealing, which is a good thing; that would make everyone in a costume guilty of the sins of theft and knowingly condemning another to die. As it is, there are people he knows who he will attack on sight: Those who he knows have signed away their souls. Those who would take them. He who has stolen. He who has killed God. He who allies with a demon. They who are demons. And those who torture, harm children, attempt to kill - he makes a detour to a terminal for those before continuing his patrol.

But he isn't without some piece of himself left, as his sometimes-troubled eyes might hint. Somewhere inside, he doesn't want to kill. So he does all he can. He shouts a warning, the only warning that makes any sense to his warped mind.

"All you who have sinned, your time for judgment has come!"

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Tohko sighed and followed the guy. If she did, and couldn't talk him out of this, then maybe she could prevent a death or two. "Immortality is painful, but..there may be people that start to like the cycle, or can't be killed normally."

"I can't make exceptions for them." Enoch slowed to watch whatever he saw during his travels. It still hurt, after the fact, but he had no doubts he was doing the right thing.

"What I'm trying to say is that if it won't work on those people, why don't you make a solution that will work on everyone?"

"I can't."

There was something so inherently wrong in his own answer Enoch stopped short.

"I...I can't..."

His way was right, he knew it, he knew it the same way he knew his own alphabet, the same way he knew his Arch would fall if he let go of it, the same way he knew animals went quiet when danger was near.

He also knew, on some level, that this was not a normal way of thought. And with that knowledge, he knew he couldn't think any other way, somewhere in there. And while it was still all too subconscious to realize what, exactly, was wrong, there was something unsettling enough to bring him to a halt.

Tohko quickly spat out "Why not? What can't you do?" before putting gently putting a hand on his back. While it didn't tear into him, she hoped the gesture would calm him down. "Are you alright? Maybe we should go to the infirmary.." Enoch looked like he was going to throw up or collapse.

"You...you're courageous, to come after me, knowing what you know I'm aware of..."

Enoch took a step up, away from her hand. "To kill sinners is what I must do. I feel very strongly this is true. I know it is true..."

Tohko sighed and smiled sadly. "Thank you..but I'm not brave at all. I just didn't want you to do something rash that you'd regret. You..seem like an okay guy, and if you killed someone because of your costume, you'd regret it later." Tohko spoke from experience. She had to apologize to three people when this was all over.

Tohko let her hand fall to her side. "What if that feeling isn't true? What if your gut is telling you a lie? And..even if it is telling you the truth, is that something that you really want to do?"

"What I want doesn't matter. I can't do what I want...I must do what's right."

Enoch looked over his shoulder. "I meant...when I told you writing was sacred...that should imply its destruction is a sin."

"But you have free will. You can make your own decisions. And what if this isn't what's right? What if you're wrong?"

Tohko froze. Oh god.."Even..even if it's your only food? Even if the alternative is sand? And besides..if destroying writing is a sin, than wouldn't killing lives be even more sinful?"

...That's what was so wrong. In that he felt he was undeniably right and couldn't say why, even in the face of things he couldn't argue against. In the fact that even though he felt sympathy for the sinners and the pain he would inflict, he didn't doubt. He was too used to doubt; this lack of severity in his pain...

He could only fail to doubt this if it was not his choice.

"...I can't discriminate between sins. I can't. Not anymore." It was soft, almost in apology. "You understood things more than most mortals. I...regret this." Slowly, deliberately slow, he turned...

"Then don't discriminate between them. However, instead of killing every sinner, help every sinner. Let them live." At that final sentence, Tohko stared at Enoch turned. She knew what was coming..so, she quickly managed to scream, "And..you don't seem to understand at all!" Before turning around and running. She'd hide in the chapel. She'd have to be quiet and clever, but if she was lucky..she might make it. Might.

"I can't...I need to..."

Enoch leapt lightly from the stairs, gliding down to land softly on the floor below. He took a couple of faltering steps, and his legs failed him. He fell to his knees, holding himself up with both hands on the middle of the Arch, one of its tips pressed to the ground.

"I don't...have a choice...anymore."

And the worst part of that was knowing he should. The part of him that hurt, that doubted, was an ineffective presence at the very back of his mind when it made itself known at all. He knew this must be what separated him from a true angel right now...

Darn. Her luck had run out. Enoch had managed to land on the floor before she got there..but he looked horrible. He was on his knees, a look of pain and maybe..confusion on his face. Knowing full well what would happen, Tohko didn't run the other way. Instead, she walked towards him. "One always has a choice. It doesn't mean that the choice will be easy though." Tohko then sighed.

"If I let you kill me..will you promise not to tell anyone about my..appetite? And will you let me take you to the infirmary? Or your dorm room? You look horrible. Maybe some rest or pills would help."

He shook his head. He didn't have a choice... This wasn't like the change in Meridian, where the candy (always candy, was this stuff meant to be cursed?) had just twisted his existing feelings. This was something he could clearly remember being firmly against, and yet...

"I don't..." Enoch lunged forward, still on his knees, Arch lashing out as Tohko drew near.

Tohko sighed, closed her eyes, and braced herself. The Arch cleaved her in half, and she felt one moment of searing, horrible pain, before dying.

---

The next day, Tohko woke up and promised herself that she would avoid Enoch at all costs. He wasn't going to listen, and it was dangerous being near him. After all, he could spill her secret, and being around him would make it even easier.

There is no repentance.

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