Kariya Matou (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vermicompost) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
towerofanimus2013-02-02 03:19 pm
vermicompost) wrote in towerofanimus2013-02-02 03:19 pm
Entry tags:
I've heard the mermaids singing each to each
Characters: Kariya Matou and YOU
Setting: Floor ninety (the lagoon)
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you!
Summary: Kariya is turned into a mermaid. Merman. Merperson. A dangerous merperson. His choice is to drown others or die himself.
Warnings: Blood, possible violence, definite death (for Kariya). And worms. Always worms.
When he'd first found his way to the lagoon floor, Kariya had thought it might be a new peaceful floor where he could rest, like his favorite floor: the meadow. The sound of the falling water was soft and soothing, the water brilliantly clear. The banks were green and dotted with bright flowers. He sat down at the water's edge with a sigh. The effort of making it to this floor had taxed his strength. He was tired. He leaned forward to look into the blue water, reaching out to trail his fingers through the cool liquid.
That was when they struck. Without any warning. His wrist was gripped by a hand, strong as a vise. It hurt, but before he had time to voice a protest, he was dragged down into the water.
He should have died at once. It was the worms inside him that kept him alive. His lungs were aching, but when he opened his mouth in panic and fear, the worms, protecting their host, shot out and fought off the attackers, stinging and striking with their sharp wings and teeth. He managed to struggle to the surface. He was aware of flashing fins, fierce faces, hands pulling him back down. The worms in his lungs felt like they were choking him, but they were sustaining him with prana, life energy. He didn't drown, but his body was wracked with incredible pain. He was used to pain, but this kind was different. It felt like it was twisting his very skin and bones. He gasped, coughing up more worms into the water, along with dark blood.
It felt like it took hours, but it was probably only minutes. When the pain grew less, Kariya finally made his way back to the bank, his gasping and choking easing. He glanced down at his hands. His fingers were cool and had a greenish tinge. His legs felt strange, or rather, they were no longer legs at all. He turned to find himself changed from the torso down: he had a long, scaled greenish length of body ending in a broad, fishlike tail. He looked up. Then he saw the other mermaids clearly, watching him with their dark eyes. They seemed to be smiling at him, swimming in circles nearby but not drawing too near.
He tried to climb up out of the water, but he realized he wouldn't get far without legs. The air felt so dry on his skin. Was he trapped here? He hurt so badly, he only wanted to go back to safer, more familiar floors, and maybe find Ishtar to heal him. He couldn't. He had no way of calling for help. He was alone here, except for the mermaids with their laughing faces and cruel smiles.
Option A: (possible drowning)
There's a new merman swimming in the lagoon, one with the left side of his body veined and scarred, looking for someone, anyone, who can help him. Now and again, he calls out. "Is anyone there? I need your help."
Option B: (after beaching)
Unable to bear his existence as a mermaid, in pain and with the inescapable impulse to drown others, Kariya has made his way up onto the shore. He's lying there, breathing slowly, as his skin dries and cracks. This pain... he'll just have to endure it as he's endured everything else. He hopes it doesn't take too much longer.
[ooc: Kariya is going to be mercy-killed by Diarmuid, but feel free to encounter him before or after he's beached.]
Setting: Floor ninety (the lagoon)
Format: Prose to start, but I'll match you!
Summary: Kariya is turned into a mermaid. Merman. Merperson. A dangerous merperson. His choice is to drown others or die himself.
Warnings: Blood, possible violence, definite death (for Kariya). And worms. Always worms.
When he'd first found his way to the lagoon floor, Kariya had thought it might be a new peaceful floor where he could rest, like his favorite floor: the meadow. The sound of the falling water was soft and soothing, the water brilliantly clear. The banks were green and dotted with bright flowers. He sat down at the water's edge with a sigh. The effort of making it to this floor had taxed his strength. He was tired. He leaned forward to look into the blue water, reaching out to trail his fingers through the cool liquid.
That was when they struck. Without any warning. His wrist was gripped by a hand, strong as a vise. It hurt, but before he had time to voice a protest, he was dragged down into the water.
He should have died at once. It was the worms inside him that kept him alive. His lungs were aching, but when he opened his mouth in panic and fear, the worms, protecting their host, shot out and fought off the attackers, stinging and striking with their sharp wings and teeth. He managed to struggle to the surface. He was aware of flashing fins, fierce faces, hands pulling him back down. The worms in his lungs felt like they were choking him, but they were sustaining him with prana, life energy. He didn't drown, but his body was wracked with incredible pain. He was used to pain, but this kind was different. It felt like it was twisting his very skin and bones. He gasped, coughing up more worms into the water, along with dark blood.
It felt like it took hours, but it was probably only minutes. When the pain grew less, Kariya finally made his way back to the bank, his gasping and choking easing. He glanced down at his hands. His fingers were cool and had a greenish tinge. His legs felt strange, or rather, they were no longer legs at all. He turned to find himself changed from the torso down: he had a long, scaled greenish length of body ending in a broad, fishlike tail. He looked up. Then he saw the other mermaids clearly, watching him with their dark eyes. They seemed to be smiling at him, swimming in circles nearby but not drawing too near.
He tried to climb up out of the water, but he realized he wouldn't get far without legs. The air felt so dry on his skin. Was he trapped here? He hurt so badly, he only wanted to go back to safer, more familiar floors, and maybe find Ishtar to heal him. He couldn't. He had no way of calling for help. He was alone here, except for the mermaids with their laughing faces and cruel smiles.
Option A: (possible drowning)
There's a new merman swimming in the lagoon, one with the left side of his body veined and scarred, looking for someone, anyone, who can help him. Now and again, he calls out. "Is anyone there? I need your help."
Option B: (after beaching)
Unable to bear his existence as a mermaid, in pain and with the inescapable impulse to drown others, Kariya has made his way up onto the shore. He's lying there, breathing slowly, as his skin dries and cracks. This pain... he'll just have to endure it as he's endured everything else. He hopes it doesn't take too much longer.
[ooc: Kariya is going to be mercy-killed by Diarmuid, but feel free to encounter him before or after he's beached.]
no subject
[The word is harsher than he intends because Diarmuid cannot stand the thought of Kariya blaming himself for this--feeling that he deserves to hurt because of what the tower has made him do. He takes a deep breath and calms himself, though, not wanting to upset the man anymore than he already is.]
No, it's not your fault. Didn't you say the things I did during the experiment weren't my fault and that I shouldn't suffer because of them? This is no different. There is no reason to blame yourself or to suffer needlessly.
[Diarmuid pauses as something flickers across his mind. For a moment, the thought repulses him and the hand that isn't stroking Kariya's hair curls into a fist at his side. The thought. It's repulsive and he can't help but wonder if it's merely a way for him to be rid of the proof of his failure to protect Kariya, but at the same time...
It's also right.]
Do you want the pain to go away, Kariya? I-I can....I will release you if you want me to.
no subject
[In his current state, he can't even remember the obvious exception to that statement that is Tokiomi. If he had any tears left, he might weep, but his body is too dry for tears.]
I did say that, but this... How can I forget the way she looked when I held her? She couldn't breathe. [His tail flails a little as he becomes agitated, but he doesn't have the energy to keep it up for more than a moment or two before falling limp again.]
Release...?
[His gaze almost-focuses on Diarmuid, and at first he doesn't know what Diarmuid means, but the realization comes soon enough.]
I can't ask you to do that. It isn't fair.
no subject
[Diarmuid's voice is gentle and tinged with regret. Despite that, it is also firm and unwavering. As much as he hates the idea of killing a friend with his own hands, he hates the idea of letting one suffer even more.]
What is not fair is you having to suffer like this. You having to hurt like this. If you let me do...this when you wake up you can find that girl and you can tell her how sorry you are. I am sure she will understand. There is no reason to stay here and suffer longer.
[The hand that is stroking Kariya's hair drops to gently cup his face.]
However, if you really would rather wait, I will stay here with you until you pass. Listen for as long as you can still speak. The choice is yours. Don't let matters like fairness or selfishness cloud your judgment. Choose what it is you most want to do.
no subject
I've been lying here... I don't know how long. I don't know why I haven't died yet.
[His body just keeps enduring, even as the worms die off. He lets out a long sigh that pains his throat. He coughs, but he hardly has the strength left to do even that, so the sounds come out as little more than a series of wheezes.
He looks up into Diarmuid's eyes as Diarmuid touches his face. It's strange that he had to come to this horrible place to find so much kindness and generosity of spirit. Things he'd lacked at home.]
Diarmuid, you're so kind to me.
[He hesitates, making his choice, though it's not much of a choice he already knows what it is he wants. That's why he crawled up onto this bank to crack and suffer in the open air. He'll die either way. Maybe he can forgive himself enough to choose the quicker way.]
I don't want to live like this anymore.
no subject
I am sure she will forgive you, but let that go for now. Settle yourself.
[Diarmuid fingers gently stroke Kariya's cheek before he rises to his feet.]
Shut your eyes and listen to the song. Let my voice carry you from this pain just as theirs brought you to it.
no subject
He's lucky in a way, to have more time, more friends. Wouldn't Zouken be surprised if he could see how long Kariya could endure? But sometimes he just wants the pain to stop.
Kariya sighs, and even making that noise pains his lungs, his throat, his lips. He closes his eyes as he's bid.]
I like to hear your singing. [It's different than Rat's singing, but it's sweet.] It is like a bird's singing.
I'll see you again soon. [Since death isn't the end here.]
no subject
[That last part is said in a gentle voice that doesn't match the hard look that suddenly fills his eyes. Diarmuid wants to mourn. He wants to rage at how unfair this is, but those things will have to wait until later. Right now, his only focus is making sure Kariya's death is as quick and clean as it can be. It is a courtesy the tower would never willingly allow them. Instead, it is a gift that Diarmuid will give.
After a moment, he begins to sing. The song's words are dramatic and light speaking of a man brave and determined to go on despite being bruised and battered by tragedy. Even death does not slow him. The words are meant to be a reflection--a celebration--of Kariya's life and his will to go on, but they are also a message to the beasts on this floor--a message to the tower and those who run it--that they will not be so easily defeated.
As he nears the end of the song, as he sings of the man's friends wishing him farewell and promising to see him again, Diarmuid summons his spear into his hand posing its point right above Kariya's heart. The strike will be quick. Death instantaneous, especially in Kariya's weakened condition.
Diarmuid sings of the good bye given by the man's best friend. It is the only good bye he will give Kariya in this place that returns those from death just as quickly at it takes them into it. Then, even as the words still linger in the air, he drives the spear into Kariya's chest.
The death is not dramatic. Kariya doesn't even twitch, though the worms do for a moment before falling still. Diarmuid doesn't pull the spear from Kariya's body, instead he just unsummons the weapon. He stares blankly at the body and as he does, he starts to shake eventually falling to his knees when the shakes begin to wrack his whole body.
It was the right thing to do. Why does it hurt so much?
No answer comes even though Diarmuid continues to repeat the question in his head while tears slide down his face. Eventually, the words bleed together into a fog that has no meaning, no beginning, and no ending. And he just sits there in that fog. Sits there and stays with Kariya's body until the drones come to take it away.]