"think so".
[X] You have a pocket full of seals. Time to use them. Lock down whatever is inside the governor, and see if the man himself is more amenable to conversation afterwards.
Seeing Chaos: A Jujutsu Kaisen/WH40K Quest
- Thread starter Azremodehar
- Start date
[X] You have a pocket full of seals. Time to use them. Lock down whatever is inside the governor, and see if the man himself is more amenable to conversation afterwards.
[X] You have a pocket full of seals. Time to use them. Lock down whatever is inside the governor, and see if the man himself is more amenable to conversation afterwards.
- Location
- The Internet
Thank you; fixed.
- Location
- The Internet
Vote closed.
- Location
- The Internet
Happy Christmas everyone! I'm working on this as I have a chance to, but, well. You know.
Blackangel
Preacher of the dice gods
Merry Christmas! Praise the dice gods!
33
- Location
- The Internet
The random seals you happen to have shoved in your pocket aren't really much of anything to speak of, but they are enough to contain a weak (by your standards) cursed spirit. You meet Elias' eyes, and look at the governor's ears. Elias flicks his eyes in acknowledgement, and you can see the adjustment he makes to his technique; as you suspected, it can be used to block the target's ears as well. Very nice.
"So it's not just paralysis then, but control over bodily systems," you observe. "Nice. Anyway, don't react, but he's totally possessed. I'm going to seal it and see if the governor's more willing to talk without the influence of the daemon."
Elias is very good at controlling himself, because he doesn't so much as blink at your words; just gives you a little nod.
Out come the seals then, and you set them up in the third standard array, a hexagram inside an octagon, following some principle first developed by some guy a million years ago, blah blah blah you don't care, you never cared; you could remember the details of course if you wanted to, but the important thing is that it's the seal configuration that will work best to counter and contain the energy rising in the governor even as you work.
It all comes together with a pleasing snap, and an electric jolt through the governor.
"I have never seen seals like that before, but they do seem effective," Elias comments.
"They get the job done," you agree. "Whatever's possessing him isn't very strong-" you can see the thing inside him straining and struggling against the seals "-so this much is enough." Tears are leaking out of the governor's eyes, running down his face, but you can see the rage there still. Damn. You had kind of hoped that the hostillity had come from the curse--daemon--but you guess not.
Oh well.
You tried.
Sucks to be him.
The two of you both regard the governer for a moment, before Elias makes another adjustment to his technique, releasing the governor's ears and tongue.
"How dare you!" the governor shrieks. "Release us at once! We will devour your faces--" Elias cuts him off there, and frowns.
"It does not seem to have helped. The opposite, in fact."
"Guess it's time to start breaking things, then." Starting with the daemon itself, since you doubt it will care about the human it's currently living in.
"Just like that?" Elias sounds almost amused. You shrug.
"They're obviously working together," you point out. "I was going to give the governor a chance, but I don't think there's any point to that now."
"The governor could still repent," Elias says. "He could still tell us what we need to know, and gain the Emperor's forgiveness." The thing inside the governor rails at that; you can almost imagine it hissing and spitting its rage and defiance at you. It it also actively working to try and circumvent the containment of the seals, though you know without looking that it will have no luck there, because you chose the array specifically to counter its cursed energy. Every time it seems to find a circumvention, it leads right into another part of the greater seal, and channels the energy back 'down', keeping it locked in place no matter what it tries.
"He could," you allow, while an image of a glowing golden throne flits through your head; something from that moment as you were leaving the Prison Realm. You wonder if it's a metaphor, or something more literal; now is not the time to ask, but you add it to the ever-increasing list of things to bother Elias about, as soon as the current situation is resolved. "But will he?"
The look in the man's hateful eyes--the whites gone yellow, the irises gone a sickly, toxic green, you notice, despite the seals keeping the daemon contained--says 'no.'
"No," Elias says, with a somewhat put-upon sigh. "I do not believe that he will. He flxes his cursed energy, and the governor contorts under the influence of his technique. "Contrary to popular belief, I genuinely do not enjoy this part. I find the process odious and unpleasant, and the necessity offensive." He flexes his cursed energy again, and you can see it skittering through the governor's body; it must hurt like hell. Much easier and cleaner than breaking things, you have to admit.
"It's boring," you agree. "And torture isn't really a great way to get accurate information--from people, anyway. It works on daemons sometimes, though."
"In my experience, it works well enough on people," Elias replies, arching an eyebrow. "Perhaps the people where you are from are merely made from sterner stuff."
You consider the average mortal civilian non-sorcerer on the street, and shake your head.
"I think most people are the same anywhere," you say. "This one, though..." You lean in closer, and deliberately meet the governor's--former governor's?--eyes, matching his artificially unblinking stare with your own naturally unsettling gaze. "I think," you say, speaking to the man as much as to Elias. "That he's weak. I've seen what it looks like when a strong person is serving as a vessel." And what had happened to Yuuji, with you gone? Had he been executed? Gone on the run? What about Megumi? Had the Zen'in taken him? Nobara, Maki, Panda--all of the kids. What--
No.
You can't afford to think about them right now; you need to focus, to keep an eye on the daemon inside the governor.
"And?" Elias asks.
"This isn't it." You poke the governor again, and Elias times his flex of power with your poke; this one looks like starbursts at certain points along the man's meridians. If he had any cursed energy of his own worth speaking of, it would have churned and shocked it, and been ever-so-much-more effective. It still looks incredibly painful. And boring. This is so boring. You could start breaking bones. Or maybe... You have an idea.
You poke the governor again, and this time you use a little cursed energy to reach inside to the daemon, and give it a poke too.
Those hate-filled eyes fill then with something else: fear. And it's not the governor's fear you're seeing, you can tell. The man is too ignorant to be afraid. But the daemon's fear is rising in him. It may be sealed down, but it can still see you, still sense your cursed energy, and you think it knows just how fucked it is.
"You see me, don't you?" you ask quietly, holding up a hand to halt Elias from going any further for the moment. "You know I'm bigger than you. Tell your host to talk to us, or you'll find out just how much bigger I really am." Still staring into the governor's eyes, into the daemon's eyes, let your cursed energy go, let it rise up out of your body and soul and fill the whole room, the whole building, futher, bigger, more--
Elias startles, staring at you for a moment, before returning his attention to the governor.
A bead of sweat runs down the governor's face, and the thing inside it curls up, and stops trying to press against the seals, afraid. So very, very afraid. Good. You shut down your energy in an instant.
"Well!" You lean back on your heels, grinning again. "I think we finally have an understanding." The fear has not abated; it is clear in the governor's eyes, and shining through from the daemon inside him. "Let it talk."
"The daemon," Elias clarifies. You nod.
"I don't think the governor is smart enough to tell us anything, but the daemon? If it knows what's good for it, it'll talk. Otherwise, I'll do worse than exorcise it." Elias shifts his cursed energy, and you do likewise, making a subtle alteration to the seals, and returning speech to the daemon.
"I will talk," a gurgling, inhuman sound says, spilling from the governor's mouth along with a string of thick saliva. "I know when I am--" You look at Elias, and nod, and he obligingly sparks the governor's meridians again, dragging a horrid rasping scream from the man's throat. The daemon glares at you through the governor's eyes, and you continue to grin at it.
"You know when you're beat," you finish for it. "But do you really? We'll see. Let's start with..."
[] "Your name."
[] "How long you've been pals with the governor here."
[] "Who started this whole mess."
[] "Any living co-conspirators."
[] Something else? (Write-in.)
"So it's not just paralysis then, but control over bodily systems," you observe. "Nice. Anyway, don't react, but he's totally possessed. I'm going to seal it and see if the governor's more willing to talk without the influence of the daemon."
Elias is very good at controlling himself, because he doesn't so much as blink at your words; just gives you a little nod.
Out come the seals then, and you set them up in the third standard array, a hexagram inside an octagon, following some principle first developed by some guy a million years ago, blah blah blah you don't care, you never cared; you could remember the details of course if you wanted to, but the important thing is that it's the seal configuration that will work best to counter and contain the energy rising in the governor even as you work.
It all comes together with a pleasing snap, and an electric jolt through the governor.
"I have never seen seals like that before, but they do seem effective," Elias comments.
"They get the job done," you agree. "Whatever's possessing him isn't very strong-" you can see the thing inside him straining and struggling against the seals "-so this much is enough." Tears are leaking out of the governor's eyes, running down his face, but you can see the rage there still. Damn. You had kind of hoped that the hostillity had come from the curse--daemon--but you guess not.
Oh well.
You tried.
Sucks to be him.
The two of you both regard the governer for a moment, before Elias makes another adjustment to his technique, releasing the governor's ears and tongue.
"How dare you!" the governor shrieks. "Release us at once! We will devour your faces--" Elias cuts him off there, and frowns.
"It does not seem to have helped. The opposite, in fact."
"Guess it's time to start breaking things, then." Starting with the daemon itself, since you doubt it will care about the human it's currently living in.
"Just like that?" Elias sounds almost amused. You shrug.
"They're obviously working together," you point out. "I was going to give the governor a chance, but I don't think there's any point to that now."
"The governor could still repent," Elias says. "He could still tell us what we need to know, and gain the Emperor's forgiveness." The thing inside the governor rails at that; you can almost imagine it hissing and spitting its rage and defiance at you. It it also actively working to try and circumvent the containment of the seals, though you know without looking that it will have no luck there, because you chose the array specifically to counter its cursed energy. Every time it seems to find a circumvention, it leads right into another part of the greater seal, and channels the energy back 'down', keeping it locked in place no matter what it tries.
"He could," you allow, while an image of a glowing golden throne flits through your head; something from that moment as you were leaving the Prison Realm. You wonder if it's a metaphor, or something more literal; now is not the time to ask, but you add it to the ever-increasing list of things to bother Elias about, as soon as the current situation is resolved. "But will he?"
The look in the man's hateful eyes--the whites gone yellow, the irises gone a sickly, toxic green, you notice, despite the seals keeping the daemon contained--says 'no.'
"No," Elias says, with a somewhat put-upon sigh. "I do not believe that he will. He flxes his cursed energy, and the governor contorts under the influence of his technique. "Contrary to popular belief, I genuinely do not enjoy this part. I find the process odious and unpleasant, and the necessity offensive." He flexes his cursed energy again, and you can see it skittering through the governor's body; it must hurt like hell. Much easier and cleaner than breaking things, you have to admit.
"It's boring," you agree. "And torture isn't really a great way to get accurate information--from people, anyway. It works on daemons sometimes, though."
"In my experience, it works well enough on people," Elias replies, arching an eyebrow. "Perhaps the people where you are from are merely made from sterner stuff."
You consider the average mortal civilian non-sorcerer on the street, and shake your head.
"I think most people are the same anywhere," you say. "This one, though..." You lean in closer, and deliberately meet the governor's--former governor's?--eyes, matching his artificially unblinking stare with your own naturally unsettling gaze. "I think," you say, speaking to the man as much as to Elias. "That he's weak. I've seen what it looks like when a strong person is serving as a vessel." And what had happened to Yuuji, with you gone? Had he been executed? Gone on the run? What about Megumi? Had the Zen'in taken him? Nobara, Maki, Panda--all of the kids. What--
No.
You can't afford to think about them right now; you need to focus, to keep an eye on the daemon inside the governor.
"And?" Elias asks.
"This isn't it." You poke the governor again, and Elias times his flex of power with your poke; this one looks like starbursts at certain points along the man's meridians. If he had any cursed energy of his own worth speaking of, it would have churned and shocked it, and been ever-so-much-more effective. It still looks incredibly painful. And boring. This is so boring. You could start breaking bones. Or maybe... You have an idea.
You poke the governor again, and this time you use a little cursed energy to reach inside to the daemon, and give it a poke too.
Those hate-filled eyes fill then with something else: fear. And it's not the governor's fear you're seeing, you can tell. The man is too ignorant to be afraid. But the daemon's fear is rising in him. It may be sealed down, but it can still see you, still sense your cursed energy, and you think it knows just how fucked it is.
"You see me, don't you?" you ask quietly, holding up a hand to halt Elias from going any further for the moment. "You know I'm bigger than you. Tell your host to talk to us, or you'll find out just how much bigger I really am." Still staring into the governor's eyes, into the daemon's eyes, let your cursed energy go, let it rise up out of your body and soul and fill the whole room, the whole building, futher, bigger, more--
Elias startles, staring at you for a moment, before returning his attention to the governor.
A bead of sweat runs down the governor's face, and the thing inside it curls up, and stops trying to press against the seals, afraid. So very, very afraid. Good. You shut down your energy in an instant.
"Well!" You lean back on your heels, grinning again. "I think we finally have an understanding." The fear has not abated; it is clear in the governor's eyes, and shining through from the daemon inside him. "Let it talk."
"The daemon," Elias clarifies. You nod.
"I don't think the governor is smart enough to tell us anything, but the daemon? If it knows what's good for it, it'll talk. Otherwise, I'll do worse than exorcise it." Elias shifts his cursed energy, and you do likewise, making a subtle alteration to the seals, and returning speech to the daemon.
"I will talk," a gurgling, inhuman sound says, spilling from the governor's mouth along with a string of thick saliva. "I know when I am--" You look at Elias, and nod, and he obligingly sparks the governor's meridians again, dragging a horrid rasping scream from the man's throat. The daemon glares at you through the governor's eyes, and you continue to grin at it.
"You know when you're beat," you finish for it. "But do you really? We'll see. Let's start with..."
[] "Your name."
[] "How long you've been pals with the governor here."
[] "Who started this whole mess."
[] "Any living co-conspirators."
[] Something else? (Write-in.)
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Probably this. More info on the governor would be nice, but rooting out any surviving taint is important.
- Location
- India
I think start with True name is best.
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
The practicalities relevant to our situation first.
The practicalities relevant to our situation first.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
- Location
- USA
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
- Pronouns
- He
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Got recced this today and binged it in between hanging with family and opening presents and such. A fun ride.
*distractions
*obvious
Being interrupted.
Just a suggestion, though.
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
There's an orphaned "I" at the end.
*know that it was
*that feels like
Needs a space after the closing quote.
*assist
*assistance
*whose mind
*exciting
*almost look like
*to be drawn
*distractions
*there are billions
Needs a space between "all" and "the".
*repeat
*opposing
*brushes your thoughts
*Exhilarating.
*siege
*fueled explosion
*exhilaration.
*the right word
*Your mind
*is missing
*glimpse
*to yourself since
*survivors
*lesser man might be
*obvious
*a pretty sharp
*enlisted
*it is very
*principle, in this context.
*daemon
It would be more typical to use a hyphen/dash to convey that rather than a period - conveying that the thought is not being concluded normally, but rather is-
Being interrupted.
Just a suggestion, though.
I enjoy how much this has the same energy as Abridged!Alucard saying he intends to take an enthusiastic walk.
Terrible news, bestie - it's more like this myriad.
In fact, I'm afraid it's only gotten worse.
FWIW, I followed the intended meaning fine when reading it.
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
- Location
- Earth
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They/Them
[X] "How long you've been pals with the governor here."
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
Ando Owen
Yandere Illya is watching you.
- Location
- Montpellier
A principle is different from a principal.
As for the vote, I would say :
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
There is little purpose asking for a daemon's name, it's useful to bind it or if we suspect we had faced it before but we are a new guy here and we might be on a timer. Better ask the immediately pertinent questions.
- Location
- The Internet
Welcome to the party, glad you're enjoying the ride.
Thank you for the typos etc.; they should all be fixed now.
- Location
- The Internet
[X] "Any living co-conspirators."
- Location
- The Internet
Vote closed.
Fayhem
Definitely not an escaped SCP
- Location
- At large
- Pronouns
- He/Him
As somebody who recently caught up, it would be really nice to have the winning vote in a spoiler at the top of the next update, or at least included in the "vote closed" post. Sometimes it's immediately obvious from context what won, but sometimes it's really not.
- Location
- The Internet
You know what? That's a good point. Going forward, I'm going to try to remember to do that.