( closed )

[imaginate]

Characters: Kyle & various.
Date: Catch-all log for July.
Location: All around.
Situation: Various.
Warnings/Rating: War horrors, child abuse, mention of torture, physical and psychological.
Notes: [Action] or prose are all good. Ping me if you'd like a specific setup/threadstarter.

Comments

[saved7]

Amused: "That's a complicated question, Kyle."

As dependent as it is on one's definition of monster.

"People like me are easily recognizable by our swords and our uniforms and our silver eyes and people are encouraged to fear us because we're not fully human. There are many subtle ways the Organization employed to keep us thinking ourselves as separate from humans. It's not easy to break free of that." Seven years away from the Organization helped.

"But yoma and Awakened Beings are driven by their hunger. You could say they have to kill: they have no choice. Half-yoma do have that choice. We can make our own decisions about whether or what we kill." Which is why the Organization had to use so many subtle tricks to keep them in line.

More thoughtfully, she continues: "I don't know if that is enough to protect us from the label 'monster,' however."

[imaginate]

He knows, oh he knows. It's not so much definitions as context, and so far, everything about Miria suggests she's as human as he is, at the core. Funny how the people you expected to be most like you weren't, and those you didn't, were.

'It has a very simple answer. What do you do if you realise you cannot control your power, and will Awaken?'

The Organisation might have taught her something else, but he knew she was going to tell him the truth.

CW: Suicide ideation. Again.

[saved7]

She sits and she looks at him for a few seconds, formulating her reply. Eventually she reaches behind her and pulls her sword out of the ground.

"We ask our comrades to end it while we still have control."

With her sword in hand, she unscrews the hilt and produces a rolled up black card, which she shows to him. It bears her individual symbol, the same as the sword and her clothing.

"If there are no comrades around and we feel our control slipping, we might nominate someone to send this card to, and hope she gets to us on time. But..."

She hesitates for the briefest moment, because there is a risk in telling him this.

"...it is possible to pull oneself back from the brink of Awakening. Even afterwards. But the effort involved is incredible."

[imaginate]

His eyes flick to the card, then to her, and then to the card again. Willpower, yes. One last thing they had in common, but he won't comment on that. It's personal, and anyway, it's not his. He doesn't need to know.

'Then you are not a monster, by my definition.'

And it's that simple.

[saved7]

Miria rolls the card up and puts it away. She's never really looked at it before, and having it out and touching it is an unwelcome reminder of her own mortality, and the very specific form the end of her life might take.

"Before you make that decision," she says, "you should know that there is one rule the Organization had for us, something that we are conditioned to think of as unbreakable, the greatest crime a warrior can commit: which is to kill a human, either deliberately or accidentally. It always carried a death sentence for us.

"I've broken that rule."

[imaginate]

He wonders if she realises that every step she takes only inches him further towards the conclusion that she isn't as much of a monster as she thinks she is, or taught to believe she is. The rule is.. just one more way her bosses controlled her.

Curiously, he asks, 'Why did you make that choice?'

[saved7]

Simply: "Revenge.

"And to free my sisters from the Organization's control."

And also because yoma are humans, so technically she's broken that rule a thousand times.

[imaginate]

'You were protecting your own from someone who hurt you. That doesn't make you a monster. It simply means you would kill to prevent more bloodshed.'

Like me is implied.

[saved7]

"I know."

But he's earned the right to make up his own mind on that.

"And now I am here, facing a potentially different enemy, with allies I am having to learn to understand."

[imaginate]

He smiles, accepting her trust for what it is. 'Enemies have to be fought, and allies have to be trusted. Not that different, once you look at it closely. The names and faces change, but nothing else.'

[saved7]

"It is easier when I know exactly what my comrades are capable of," Miria muses. "Everyone here is so different from each other, I will have to get to know each one individually."

[imaginate]

'Time is something we have plenty of,' he remarks, finishing the last sandwich.

And then, he rubs his chin contemplatively. 'Can you show me a little of what you are truly capable of? If it hastens your progress, you don't have to, of course.'

But he would like to see, to judge for himself.

[saved7]

She considers the question only briefly.

"It will be safe to show you something," she says, and stands up.

"Would you like a glimpse of my speed?"

[imaginate]

Without hesitation, he stands, dusts himself, and answers, 'Yes.'

[saved7]

Miria turns her back to him, takes a few steps away and turns back, her sword in hand.

"Among warriors, it is common to work on one particular move, that becomes our signature style. For those of us of a particular rank and reputation, that move becomes how we are known. This is my signature: it has earned the nickname 'Phantom.'

"You will need your ring to attack me. I don't think you can get nearly enough speed on your own."

[imaginate]

He doesn't reply verbally, he simply lashes out immediately with a construct of a large tiger. The only hint the attack was coming was a brief turn of his foot, and him leaning forward just a little.

[saved7]

This is how it looks: for the merest fraction of a second, the tiger's claws pass into Miria and it rips directly through her. To the normal eye there's an instant in which they're occupying the same space.

But that's just an afterimage caused by the speed of her evasion. The next instant the tiger is on the other side of her, and her sword is powering into the construct.

A real tiger would be a bloody mess in a second.

[imaginate]

To him it looks like he's just torn through her, but he's used to speedsters. Wally uses this frequently enough for Kyle not to be freaked out by it, but he does whistle approvingly. The construct vanishes.

'Incredible.'

[saved7]

Her hint of a smile accepts the compliment.

"I had a lot of time to work on it."

And it requires more work if she wants the control Hysteria had. And she definitely wants that control.

[imaginate]

'I'm honoured to cross swords with you, "Phantom".' His smile turns a bit cheeky, remembering the first time the word had come up between them. 'Or do you prefer "Ghost"?'

[saved7]

That provokes another smile.

"I'm not dead yet, Kyle. Let's stick with 'Phantom.'"

[imaginate]

'Phantom it is.'

[saved7]

"But Miria works just as well."

[imaginate]

'Do you like the title?' He's curious. He doesn't like many of his, very much.

[saved7]

"I don't mind it," she says. "I worked for it, after all. But it describes what I can do, and not who I am."

There are titles she prefers more. 'Captain' is one.