Ken Amada (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
miseris_socios) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
seaofhearts2016-01-25 03:23 am
miseris_socios) wrote in seaofhearts2016-01-25 03:23 am
i will burn my dread
Who: Everyone!
What: Welcome to the Dark Hour!
Where: In the Strega warehouse.
Warnings: Possible blood and gore, Persona 3/general SMT-level disturbing topics, possible violence (knowing this group). Will edit if needed.
[When he first wakes up, Ken finds himself lying on a bed. That in itself isn't so unfamiliar, but this one has dents where it should, the shape of a small body pressed into it over weeks and months, and the sheets are soft and scratchy in just the right places and -]
[Oh no. He sits up and pulls himself out of bed, reaching almost automatically for Koromaru but... he's not there. Of course not. He'd been expecting the Tower, but this is worse, because they're not here because this is his Heart, not theirs, and because -]
[No. He has to think of what to do. He grabs the dangpa that Shinjiro made him and the copy of Gae Buidhe that Diarmuid gave him, strapping them onto his back. He needs to stay defended in this place, no matter what - the last Heart taught him that much.]
[The familiar pressure of the Dark Hour doesn't bother him, but it's worrying. It should be gone now. They won. It's over. Even in his Heart, it shouldn't be around. But it is, and there's a brief flare of panic before -]
[No. He needs to get going. The puzzles aren't going to find themselves.]
What: Welcome to the Dark Hour!
Where: In the Strega warehouse.
Warnings: Possible blood and gore, Persona 3/general SMT-level disturbing topics, possible violence (knowing this group). Will edit if needed.
[When he first wakes up, Ken finds himself lying on a bed. That in itself isn't so unfamiliar, but this one has dents where it should, the shape of a small body pressed into it over weeks and months, and the sheets are soft and scratchy in just the right places and -]
[Oh no. He sits up and pulls himself out of bed, reaching almost automatically for Koromaru but... he's not there. Of course not. He'd been expecting the Tower, but this is worse, because they're not here because this is his Heart, not theirs, and because -]
[No. He has to think of what to do. He grabs the dangpa that Shinjiro made him and the copy of Gae Buidhe that Diarmuid gave him, strapping them onto his back. He needs to stay defended in this place, no matter what - the last Heart taught him that much.]
[The familiar pressure of the Dark Hour doesn't bother him, but it's worrying. It should be gone now. They won. It's over. Even in his Heart, it shouldn't be around. But it is, and there's a brief flare of panic before -]
[No. He needs to get going. The puzzles aren't going to find themselves.]
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[He shudders and keeps going. He's bothered that he's not bothered by all of this - he should be, but it's a painting. His friends are fine for now at least, and it's not moving, so it's easier to stomach. Bu he should be bothered. And the fact that he's not is abnormal, even if part of him feels sick. He keeps a spear out, continuing through the gallery, trying to find a hint.]
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This one depicts an alleyway. It's empty, save for the obvious tinge of the Dark Hour, and the obvious blood and accompanying smell. The moment they look at it, there is an all-too-realistic sound of something shattering (a noise Ken may find familiar), and then shouting from two vaguely indistinct voices. A loud guttural roar. They can hear a woman's scream, followed by someone cursing, and more indistinct screams and voices, arguing, signs of a struggle.
The alleyway slowly begins to move, like someone is running out of it... footsteps retreating can be heard. The picture stops moving, showing only the battered remains of Ken's deceased mother. As her blood pools, it begins to flow from the portrait itself, onto the walls and floor. It seems it isn't going to stop anytime soon, either. ]
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Mother!
[His voice cracks, and while he tries to put it aside, his heart and his Heart seem to both want to remind him of this. It's not enough that he doesn't have nightmares about it all the time? It's not enough that he feels like he should have been able to do something, that his Persona didn't manifest when it happened? He didn't know about those things until it was too late, but it was a power he had all along, waiting to be manifested - he couldn't have gotten his hands on an Evoker that night and saved her?]
[He knows he wouldn't have been able to. It happened too fast. It was an accident and he knows it, but that small spark inside of him threatens to ignite again. He's put away anger and vengeance for justice and mercy, but it still doesn't stop it from hurting. There's other people here, but they feel far away as his hands and knees are covered in blood and he just starts to sob.]
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Then there's the one where he's been cut open alive, and Rahti in the middle of being cut open alive too. That's an all new level of cruelty altogether, and the putrid stench coming from the pictures adds a certain degree of realism to them. It sends an uncomfortable crawl up his spine, goosebumps popping up his arms and his neck, to see himself all stretched out there with his insides exposed.
He's cut up people in a similar fashion before, his twin axes were designed to get at the chinks in armor, to dig into skin and flesh and rip people apart. But he never left them alive...or did he? That's a question that comes unbidden to him every now and then, and there's really no chance for him to stop and check if every enemy soldier that's crossed his path is dead. All he can do is be efficient, be the weapon his lord wants him to be, and cut down any that get in his way.
When they reach the final painting, Liao gets a bad feeling that this will be the worse of them all and immediately keeps his eyes on Ken. You save the best for last, right? And sure enough, Ken crumples to the ground, a scream of agony and despair tearing out of his throat, crying out for his mother. Liao freezes, not because he's shocked at the boy's sobs, but because he doesn't know what to do. He's the killer of sons. He doesn't know how to comfort children.
So he helplessly glances back at Harley. She looks like she's got the closest relationship to Ken. If she needs any help Liao will give it to her, but in matters of the heart he's really, truly unable to help. Not when his own heart was in such a terrible disarray itself.
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[It's true that Harley has developed a bit of an attachment on Ken; far more than any of the other 'Alices'. Between Ken and Sasuke, she moves resolutely down the hall, and though she tries her best to ignore the paintings, it's clear they are present for a reason and her eyes continuously move back to them.
So, her eyes move over the images as they grow increasingly more and more grotesque, a shudder of revulsion moving down her spine. How hypocritical that she finds herself bothered by victims such as those presented before them. She's been responsible for some pretty fucked up things in her past/present, so could she really judge?
But ya don't leave 'em alive like this... ya ain't never done nothin' like this, Harl.
And then there's the picture with Ivy, limbs sewn off as she lay screaming on a gurney,held down by unrecognizable figures. Harley feels her gorge rise, burning the back of her throat, and can't help then soft whimper that slips past her tightly pressed lips.]
Red... [She can't even help but respond, pulling back her hand just shy of touching the painting that seems more a snapshot of some sick reality.
But then, the piece de resistance appears at the end of the hall, the image moving. Harley watches in horror as Ken's mother is murdered, taking a step back as the blood begins to spread from the wall like a miniature waterfall, spreading around their feet and Ken's hands and knees as he falls to the ground with a scream.
And then he's sobbing and her heart and stomach give equally hard lurches and she looks sidelong at Liao, who has ended up next to her. Then, she's moving and down on her knees next to him. Blood begins to soak through the fabric of her bodysuit, feeling so very real; so undeniably real. She reaches out and touches his shoulders tentatively.
Sure, he'd been through some tough shit, but in the end... he was still a kid. And right now he looked really, really small.]
Ken? [Her voice is soft and soothing. You might not have expected this side of one Harley Quinn... the gentle, mothering part of her, but it was very real. She loved kids and very much wanted one of her own, but Mistah J...
If he doesn't fight her off, and even if he struggles a little, she's going to pull him back gently into her embrace, arms holding him and not seeming to give a lick about the blood and gore around them. If he fights her off, she'll still speak, soft and gentle.]
Ken... Ken, kiddo... don't let 'em win... Don't let 'em break ya... [A soft squeeze.] We need ya... me an' Liao an' Lalli... Sasuke an' Hinata... We can't make this without ya.
[And she wouldn't leave him here, no matter how much they ripped into his innermost heart... She wouldn't let them win.]
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I should have saved her... I didn't get a chance to... but... mm. And no one believed me. No one wanted to listen to me. I ran away.
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Who were they to do this to them? Who were they to have taken them and dragged them into this place, beating their souls and innermost pain for all to see? It was wrong.
But right now wasn't the time to think about that; right now their concern was Ken... her concern was Ken. She soothes her ungloved hand over the small of his back, resting her cheek against the top of his head.]
Ya couldn't'a done more then ya did, Ken... [Her voice is soft, as she might use on her babies if they got worked up.] It ain't yer fault... Ya ain't responsible for those monsters... Ya've done everythin' ya can ta fight 'em... that saves people. [The anger bubbles deep down again.]
cw: patricide and matricide mentions
[ Hinata's words drop cold as his gaze shifts uncomfortable. He swallows hard, before admitting, half to himself, half to Ken as he ignores the familiar faces: ]
It doesn't sound like it could have been prevented. I... don't know what happened to my own parents. It's possible that I even killed them myself. All we can do now is move forward. Right?
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The scream of the final painting, however, breaks even his focus. He stands stunned for a moment as Ken begins to break down, a similar sense of despair eating away at his heart.
He knows this feeling.
The circumstances weren't the same. But he knows this feeling.
Memories of his own mother flicker through his mind for a moment as he turns away, unable to look at Ken head on.
Even if he, too, had lost someone so important - he doesn't know the first thing about giving any comfort. After all, his mother's death only exacerbated problems in his own family - there wasn't any comforting, only an increase in the torture his brother so gleefully doled out.
No. This isn't his place to help. He wouldn't even know where to start.]
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It slides down the wall, revealing a door knob that will take them to a set of stairs up to the next floor.
They can now continue. ]