tushanshu_logs | A Revelation in the Light of Day (January Catch All)

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A Revelation in the Light of Day (January Catch All)

Characters: Valdis and Open
Date: January "2017"
Location: Throughout Keeliai
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: In Starters

Her memory loss in November hadn't left any visible scars, but its return had been less than pleasant. Thus, apart from spending time with the kedanese children, she had mostly kept to herself in December. Trying to sort out the conflicting memories that belonged to her and those that belonged to Meira. In the end, the memories had merged and she was able to recall in detail the events of November. Some of those she wished she didn't, but others might prove useful.

Now that she was back together, she could focus on what she really cared about, getting back to work at the Dojo and hunting down the cultists. The Cultists had been fairly silent throughout the Chihuelans visit and the Turtle Move, but she didn't suspect they would be for long. Then there was the matter of Yunxu's salt hoarding, Jintou's current state, her hunt for Celaunn and conflict with Zanru, not to mention those zombie kedan who had tried to take her soul gem and the visions from the turtle. She barely had time to think about anything else when her head was spinning with so many thoughts. There was so much to be done and she couldn't do it alone.

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Valdis still harbored doubts about this particular plan, but Jacob was hardy and she doubted that he would offer if he thought the risk was significant. He had spoken with Raine and both of them were supposed to be arriving soon. She hated to draw Raine away from the Healer's Guild, but with the fog messing with their powers, she thought the Hotel would be safer.

Soulwalking deep enough to get beyond jumbled thoughts and confusion hadn't been possible with Enon, but with a being as old as Jacob, it could be just as hard. She had no idea what she would find and the prospect was as worrisome as intriguing.

It wasn't as though Cain was nervous. He'd said it before and he would say it many more times to come: he had nothing to truly hide. There were things he would rather not say, and things he would want to say for himself rather than have it found out, but secrecy was very overrated at this point in his life. If anyone had shit to stir about who he was or what he had done, then let them. Whatever.

Still... his soul was a mystery, and even more so while on the turtle, what with its death-repelling nature and whatever else might come with that. There were things he didn't know and couldn't possibly predict and he wasn't sure a word of warning would be sufficient. Wasn't something going wrong the risk you ran with anyone's soul? He wasn't that much different.

He was possibly thinking too much about this. Around the appointed time, he met up with Raine outside before heading to Valdis' room and knocking. Looking prepared — being prepared — helped confidence. They were all going to need some of that.

"It's us, Valdis. Open sesame."

Raine was beside Cain, though a step behind, and her staff was in hand, angled out of the way. She still wasn't over-fond of this idea, but she'd rather be present for it than not.

All the same, her bearing was neutrally polite when Valdis answered the door, and she greeted the other woman with a little nod. "Good afternoon, Valdis," she said. "Cain filled me in on what the two of you have planned, for the most part. Is there anything else I should know?"

Valdis stood aside to let them enter, interestingly not as nervous as she had been a few moments before.

"I told Anton what we were doing so he won't be concerned if we accidentally set off the wards."

Emotions could spike at any time, especially when she was walking through the soul of an immortal. Of all the people to practice with, an immortal was probably the most complex, more memory, more emotion, more life. She shook her head and gestured to the bed.

"Cain, you can sit there or lie down. Raine?" she looked at the woman, "And, well, you probably aren't going to like this, but if something goes wrong, then you'll need to summon me back."

Easy enough instructions to follow. Cain stepped inside and placed himself on the bed, shifting his shoes off (what? He didn't want to get them on Valdis' covers) before turning and stretching out on his back. He was, perhaps, erring too far into cavalier about all of this but there was no right way to act. He had every intention of not making things difficult for Valdis if any control was going to be retained, but sometimes... sometimes these sorts of things didn't go as planned. He knew that.

Still, he was full of so much in his soul that the good definitely outnumbered the bad. The weight itself was a different question. What was the chance of her wandering into all the dark corners right off the bat?

"What sort of somethings are we expecting?" asked Cain. There was no distrust in the tone; he was well aware they were practicing for a reason. Knowing the wrong outcomes would make it easier to try and shore them up.

"That's good," Raine said, a note of approval in her voice. She'd hate to have to explain this to Anton if something went wrong. Certainly, they were likely the two most durable people in the city, but all the same, there was Valdis' relationship with Anton to consider, and Anton's dedication to maintaining the sanctity of the Hotel.

She moved to take up a position leaning against a wall, where she could see the bed clearly and was out of the swing of the door, and nodded. "Summon you back how?" she asked, eyes sharp. "I assume, if you say I won't like it, it will involve hurting one of you."

Valdis settled in a chair next to the bed, not answering Raine right away in favor of keeping an eye on Jacob.

"The first time I did this on purpose," the non-purposeful time being in her fight with Anton, "I couldn't pull out and it took an injury to return my consciousness to my body." Now she looked at Raine, "The time I did it with Vergil I was able to return, and every time since then."

She sighed, "With my alliance with the Void, it should be easy to come back, but if it isn't, then..." She indicated the dagger on the bedside table, "Or you can hit me with your staff, that might work too."

"As for affects on you, Jacob," she continued, "There are none that I know of, other than the chance that the Void might try to pull your soul away, but that is unlikely. If you do start to feel pain, then tell Raine and she'll pull me out."

She wasn't anticipating trouble with the Void, but it never hurt to be prepared.

"Any other questions?"

Cain merely raised a brow for the instructions. It seemed to be dependent on Valdis' own control, or he would have definitely suggested using him to knock her out of it instead. Injury to Valdis was healed on energy that didn't belong to her. Knowing Raine, however, she would go for the least-damaging option possible to still get the job done. No need for overkill in this case.

"How conscious am I going to be for this?" he asked. His awareness was very likely going to be incomplete during their experiment, but he had originally been assuming it would take his consciousness. Maybe it wouldn't. The idea of the Void trying to steal away his soul would have been intimidating had he not been aware how laughable it really was. Whatever power was ensuring he would live until the end of his time was likely not going to allow a Reaper-wannabe creature simply take him away.

Raine's expression settled back into careful neutrality, and she nodded assent. "Understood," she said, brisk. "I'll keep an eye on both of you."

She wasn't sure she trusted Cain to say something if it hurt. If he reached a limit, yes, but Cain's tolerance for pain was a peculiar thing. She resolved to be especially watchful, and subsided. "Unless you can point out any specific danger signs for which I should be alert, that's all."

Valdis looked at Cain, "I don't know. You might have full consciousness or you might fall unconscious, I can't really tell when I'm on the spirit plane. Raine, symptoms to look for, according to...Dante...were extreme paleness, shaking, unsteady breathing...but part of this is seeing how much control I have, please don't do anything unless absolutely certain."

Despite everything, she knew the Void had a vested interest in keeping her alive, after all, if she died, so did it.

"Are you ready?"

Cain allowed himself a moment to shift, look to Raine himself. He gave her a smile, not necessarily meant to reassure her or anyone in the room, just a confirmation that she was there. They were all there. This was how they were apparently going to spend their day. Just a lovely walk into his soul to practice information-gathering techniques usually unheard of in sane world, but this place was anything but that.

Moments later, he settled. Hands down by his sides until he thought better of the current mental association and threaded them over his abdomen. He stilled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good now. Whenever you're ready."

"All right," Raine said, level. There was a brief flicker of surprise, that Valdis had actually said Dante's name, but it was likely immaterial at the moment, and she would focus on the matter at hand. "I'll be sure."

She offered Cain a little smile in return -- not an exceptionally happy one, but in similar sentiment and solidarity. She would look after things to the best of her ability, and he knew that. Raine waited, and watched.

Valdis took a deep breath and reached out to lightly touch Jacob's shoulder with her hand. Then she closed her eyes and reached for the darkness. The Void rose up, almost eagerly, its dark tendrils reaching back and then moving, unseen through the touch and poked at the spirit plane within the man. There was a moment of resistance and then the separation fell away. She could hear the gleeful laugh of the darkness as it opened the door for her and with another breath, she followed it inside.

Cain shuddered at the feeling, not unlike grease being soaked in deeper than skin. It wasn't anything he had felt before and yet he had an inkling what it was. As the feeling continued, slipshod through him, he felt the tethers that kept him in the moment start to loosen, his mind falling adrift with shock to the intrusion. He was allowing it. That didn't mean he could control his own natural reactions.

At first, everything was too large. Too vast. Existence merely was. Nothing there. Things began to coalesce as if moving under her feet, like a ripple forming back into a still lake where reflection could be found. Whiteness around, the tang of sterility on the air, no anything made concrete. Thoughts crept through, senseless murmurs at a heightened pitch. Definitely Cain's voice.

Where are we going? Not there. Not there. Let's not. Not there, okay?

It was almost like when she had tried to possess the turtle with Wan, the eerie vastness of Tu Vishan's consciousness on a smaller scale. But memories began to form, faint, distant and she pushed onward. The scent of a lab stung her nose, the blinding whiteness hurting her eyes until she began to blink it away. Cain's voice, soft, worried sounded in her own consciousness.

What are you hiding, O'immortal one? a short laugh punctuated with a hiss was the reply, not from Valdis but from the darkness around her. Valdis pulled back from the memory, but the Void's curiosity got the better of her and pulled the memory closer.

This one. It purred, We want to see this one.

Stop!

The voice couldn't do anything. There was no power to be had in his own soul, no control. Whatever was there merely was and he happened to own it. There was nothing to be done as they moved further and drew upon that thing his mind had only moments ago tried to shove away.

It was bright. The lights were always on, no sense of time or day, and everything was just muted at the edges. Not enough. Never enough. He was opened up, cruel plier-like devices holding his skin and bone away before it could reform. Someone was at his side, digging around and prodding every which way they could imagine. It was carte blanche as long as they recorded what they found. This one was methodical, rough and uncaring. Cain had lost the energy to scream ages past; everything was soaked in pain just before the release of numbness. He was strapped down, unable to even shift and possibly throw the scientist off in what he was doing.

There was medication in his veins, possibly the only reason he was still so docile. Things were blurry but there and he hated every minute of it. Most of all because there was worry clawing at the back of his mind amidst the anguish and torture, a pain that had nothing to do with the hands reaching inside of him.

Get out. Get out.

Get out.

The sight was horrifying as the memory became all too clear. If this had been on the physical plane, her stomach would be churning at the sight of the man laid open on the table. Her mind began to bend, the feelings of helplessness, pain and fear, twisting her own emotions to match.

Interesting, the Void whispered.

This is... she replied, horrible beyond words. How could anyone do that?

She yanked sharply on the tendrils, trying to force the darkness to obey. It shifted, grabbing hold of the memory for a moment longer and then releasing it.

As you wish. The memory began to fade, but something else had caught the attention of the suddenly child-like Void. Here It said, dragging her along to a different memory. Let's go here!

She let it pull her along, still shocked by the painful memory they had just left.

What? That one is...

There was a wash of confusion, shame, pain and loneliness all wrapped hot and tight. Cain saw where the Void was going, what trail of thoughts it had followed. It was different here. Dim light, musty air, just too warm to be comfortable and something crawling through his blood like ants. Nothing was comfortable and he couldn't focus on a single moment. The scene itself was confused, torn between what Cain remembered and what he knew.

Phantoms of people came in and out, ghosts leaving trails of anxiety in their wake. They prodded at him sometimes. Scientific curiosity only every now and then; measured wounds meant for pain and discomfort more often than not. Forcing him to bleed, to feel the knife in his throat, to watch his own heart beat its last until it was done all over again. He couldn't focus, couldn't understand what was happening.

Please.

„Heel! Do you hear me? Heel like the mutt you are.“

Stop. What is this? I don't...

This memory was foggy, unclear, flashes of weakness and miserable acceptance. She heard the giggles of the Void. Of course it would be drawn to this memory, it thrived on suffering and chaos. How Jacob was even sane after this much, she didn't know.

Mutt? This was so confusing. He was in pain and she couldn't help. Please, don't make us stay here.

The Void released the memory, letting it fade back into the vast haze. She could feel it pouting and then it latched onto something else, throwing her into the next memory that it wanted to see.

Edited (typo) 2016-01-23 20:27 (UTC)

More was happening, jumbles and crumbling thoughts all held together in that memory. Something was wrong with it, that much was definite, and perhaps attributed to his still-sane state. Or his ability to pretend at sanity, rather, where he didn't have to look back every moment of the day at pain and suffering. Cain did not want to think about it, and something about it...

What was that?

... was simply out of his reach. It left his mind trembling, helplessly pulled along at the Void's whims digging further and further. It had found something very dangerous to latch onto and the transition between the memories became tense, air cooling significantly and filled with terror giving way to excitement. It was dark. Old. Should have been worn, yet kept in the best condition yet. There was no way he would forget this moment.

Everything was strong here. Vibrant and lush, the great outdoors, two young men running with jangling bags tied over their shoulders. Their faces were the same, no difference between them. It shifted, sudden, fear for their lives turning the scene sharp and harsh. Dogs. There were dogs barking, clamoring, catching up.

No. You can't be here. You can't see this.

It was a younger voice. Still the same man, but someone else. Romulus. Just a boy, really, scared and defensive and withdrawn. They were coming up on something terrible, and one of the boys — Romulus — looked aside to see the golden clock ticking down to mere moments left on his brother's neck. This was his fault, his fault, everything was his fault, why hadn't he said—

STOP!

This was the beginning of fear and Valdis' shock held her in place. The Void wrapped itself tightly around the memory, the clarity so much stronger than any of the other memories. This had been a mistake. If she had known about this suffering, she never would have agreed to try. She knew the Void, knew what it was drawn to, he should have warned her, but it was too late now, because now they were both reliving the pain of his distant past.

Let go, she ordered, desperately trying to return to her own body, but Jacob's pain strengthened the hold of the Void.

On the physical plane, she shivered and began to pale as she fought with her own darkness.

Things could only escalate from there. Burdened as they were, they wouldn't make it far enough fast enough. Remus stopped them only briefly, handing his back over to Romulus and pushing him forward with a harsh shove. "Keep going!" he demanded. Romulus was stuck in place as if the very earth had swallowed his feet to capture him. Seeing the hesitation, Remus returned to him, held his brother's face in his hands and spoke sternly. "Ruva, you must go. You will make the city we dreamed of. Our city. I will be fine."

It wasn't easy. Heart torn in two, eyes watering, Romulus only moved when Remus shoved him again and started running in the opposite direction. Toward the hunters. Romulus only made it as far as a few steps when he heard Remus yelling, taking the dogs head on in an effort to buy his younger brother time.

No. You have to stop.

Time he was wasting, watching in the distance as the dogs came upon Remus. He saw it, his throat going raw from screaming as the dogs descended upon Remus to shred him apart and devour him. There was nothing he could do. He had failed; he'd lied all of their life and had never told Remus of this moment, never warned him. This was it. No going back.

Everything was different.

It was a powerful moment, every piece of shame and misery and self-loathing, not even a shred of positivity, all pinned to this exact instant. Thousands of years of built up emotions, failure, pain and loss, accumulated in this death he would never forget. It was the start of his immortality, but the end of the only life he had ever wanted to fight for.

GET OUT!

Rushing power, a force so strong powered by urgency and protectiveness. Cain pushed, shoved, gave everything he didn't know he had into making them leave this darkest moment. Everything else was uncomfortable. This single thing was unacceptable. Sharing it on such a personal level was not supposed to happen.

The horror and influx of negative emotions caused her to falter in her attempts to retreat. No wonder he hated dogs, no wonder he was so terrified of them. He had watched them tear apart someone he loved. Then a force shoved at her, like a strong wind and the Void's hold weakened. The force grew stronger, punctuated by words in Jacob's voice. The Void released the memory, gripping Jacob's essence, his consciousness in an attempt to stay, but the only result was that he was being dragged with them, back through flashes of unintelligible words and blurry sights. Then the Void screeched in triumph as the man was drawn through the path with them, but it's triumph shifted to panic as they suddenly dropped into darkness.

Amos, what are you doing? The voice would be familiar to Jacob as that of Valdis, but younger and filled with fear.

He was more conscious here. Less of an aimless guide and more of a force given form inside their minds. This was not what he expected, still disoriented and confused over what had just happened. His body was quiet and serene while his mind was a whirlwind without safety. So much in so little time only let him without anchor and this change, this abrupt being, left him speechless.

This was not where he should be and he had to find his way back. But it was so dark, and there was nowhere to go... After a moment, he called out for the voice. "Valdis?"

The darkness turned to a grey haze and the image began to grow clearer. Two dark haired men in what looked like a dank room with stone walls. Valdis cowered on the floor, one of the men gripping her arm tightly and trying to drag her to the base of the dais when the man called Amos sat.

Calm, Meira, Amos' voice was soft, soothing, It won't hurt.

The man grabbed her other arm and lifted her from the ground, tossing her closer to where Amos sat. She scrambled away, but the man grabbed her again and forced her to her knees.

'What is this?' Valdis' voice, shocked, older than the girl on the floor, floated toward him.

Michael will kill you, Meira spat, trying to jerk away.

Laughter filled the air as another man entered, his eyes bright red.

I don't think he will get the chance. The newcomer said, crouching in front of her. Amos watched as the man reached out and pressed his hand to Meira's chest. She screamed as the man slowly drew his hand back and he smiled at the glowing silver orb he now held.

The girl went limp as the man closed his fingers around it, squeezing tightly. The orb shattered, the sound of breaking crystal filling the air. Immediately shadowy tendrils shot out from a dark corridor, catching the shining pieces and curling around them.

No, Valdis' voice again, terrified and echoed by the seven voices of the Void.

How dare you, It shrieked alone, releasing Jacob's consciousness.

And the vision began to fade.

Edited (typo) 2016-01-23 22:36 (UTC)

Cain and Raine | Midnight Hotel: Valdis' Room | CW: None yet

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cw: images of torture

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CW for terrible things

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CW: Soul shattering stuff