Akane Kurashiki [June] (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sesenta) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
melodiesoflife2016-11-22 06:33 am
sesenta) wrote in melodiesoflife2016-11-22 06:33 am
Entry tags:
Withered Flowers Forget What They Wept For Day After Day
WHO: Akane Kurashiki, Aoi Kurashiki
WHAT: Anyone who's gone through what Akane has is bound to have some pretty screwed up things happen to them. Now it's time to let out that darker side in full force.
WHEN: November 22nd
WHERE: Palitutu's Laboratory - Aqures Ixen
WARNINGS: Extreme spoilers for 999: Zero Escape, graphic descriptions of violence
Akane didn't want anyone to see the side of herself she already knew lurked inside of her subconscious. It was shameful, and it was dark. Worst of all, not only was she aware that it existed, she was also certain she'd barely scratched the surface of that horrid Shadow. On the positive side, she could at least be confident that she wouldn't reject that side of herself.
What really frightened her was the thought of accepting it, and still being consumed by all of that darkness. It could still twist her, warp her into a monster just as foul as the people she'd come to hate and loathe.
Ace.
Narasimha.
Drona.
She had the potential to be just as cruel as any of them, maybe worse. That was why she only told her brother what she intended to do. Not only did she trust him to watch over her and keep her sane, but he had the right to know all that she was. If he truly wished to cut his ties with her and live his own life, then seeing what she hid inside might be enough to give him that extra push. He could leave her without a twinge of guilt, for who would want to remain connected to a monster?
When requested, she gave up her crystal: a small, purple five-pointed star. "I'll stay a White Mage," she said, her voice brittle and broken as it stuck in her throat. "If I do fail...if it possesses me...that's the weaker of the two jobs." She turned her eyes to Aoi with a silent, meaningful gaze. If he did wind up having to fight her, she wanted to make sure he had to fear only one of her jobs, the one possessed by her Calamity self.
The figure that appeared before her looked the same, with only two key differences. There was a sharper, more vivid intensity in the Shadow's purple eyes than Akane's for one. For the other, there was a black rage that twisted her pretty face, filled with hate, desperation, and a kind of quiet resignation.
Akane's lips parted as she released a quivering breath, her fingers knotting in the hem of her white robes as she tried to steel herself for what came next. But she wasn't ready.
Her Shadow screamed, a sudden burst of wild desperation and panic exploding from her throat. Her purple eyes bulged as she clutched at her head, fingers knotting in her hair, teetering helplessly on her own two feet. The Moogle at the machine and Keys Kupo both clapped their paws to their ears as they started violently. Akane jumped too.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! Aaaaah.......hhhaaahhhhh.... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" It keened pitifully, over and over as the Shadow staggered back, pushing her shaking shoulders into the wall as if she might be able to shove herself inside if she just pushed hard enough. "I don't want to! I don't want to! No more no more no more no more! Just let them all die, I don't want to do it anymore! Pleeeeeeeeeease!
Akane's chest ached, and her stomach felt heavy. She might have preferred the scathing rebukes that so many others endured. This wild-eyed terrified part of her...it had to stay repressed. For the sake of her sanity, for the sake of her goals, she couldn't ever allow this to come to the surface.
Not ever.
Her shoulders wilted as she cupped her hands to her mouth and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Calamity Akane barely noticed her, babbling about the twisted deformities of Downapolis, the butchered rabbits in the hut, the smell of her own burning flesh... Every nightmare she'd witnessed while she was wide awake had bubbled to the surface.
"I should have realized it would be this way." Her hands slid from her face to drift down to her sides. "I truly am...broken inside. Aren't I."
WHAT: Anyone who's gone through what Akane has is bound to have some pretty screwed up things happen to them. Now it's time to let out that darker side in full force.
WHEN: November 22nd
WHERE: Palitutu's Laboratory - Aqures Ixen
WARNINGS: Extreme spoilers for 999: Zero Escape, graphic descriptions of violence
Akane didn't want anyone to see the side of herself she already knew lurked inside of her subconscious. It was shameful, and it was dark. Worst of all, not only was she aware that it existed, she was also certain she'd barely scratched the surface of that horrid Shadow. On the positive side, she could at least be confident that she wouldn't reject that side of herself.
What really frightened her was the thought of accepting it, and still being consumed by all of that darkness. It could still twist her, warp her into a monster just as foul as the people she'd come to hate and loathe.
Ace.
Narasimha.
Drona.
She had the potential to be just as cruel as any of them, maybe worse. That was why she only told her brother what she intended to do. Not only did she trust him to watch over her and keep her sane, but he had the right to know all that she was. If he truly wished to cut his ties with her and live his own life, then seeing what she hid inside might be enough to give him that extra push. He could leave her without a twinge of guilt, for who would want to remain connected to a monster?
When requested, she gave up her crystal: a small, purple five-pointed star. "I'll stay a White Mage," she said, her voice brittle and broken as it stuck in her throat. "If I do fail...if it possesses me...that's the weaker of the two jobs." She turned her eyes to Aoi with a silent, meaningful gaze. If he did wind up having to fight her, she wanted to make sure he had to fear only one of her jobs, the one possessed by her Calamity self.
The figure that appeared before her looked the same, with only two key differences. There was a sharper, more vivid intensity in the Shadow's purple eyes than Akane's for one. For the other, there was a black rage that twisted her pretty face, filled with hate, desperation, and a kind of quiet resignation.
Akane's lips parted as she released a quivering breath, her fingers knotting in the hem of her white robes as she tried to steel herself for what came next. But she wasn't ready.
Her Shadow screamed, a sudden burst of wild desperation and panic exploding from her throat. Her purple eyes bulged as she clutched at her head, fingers knotting in her hair, teetering helplessly on her own two feet. The Moogle at the machine and Keys Kupo both clapped their paws to their ears as they started violently. Akane jumped too.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! Aaaaah.......hhhaaahhhhh.... AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" It keened pitifully, over and over as the Shadow staggered back, pushing her shaking shoulders into the wall as if she might be able to shove herself inside if she just pushed hard enough. "I don't want to! I don't want to! No more no more no more no more! Just let them all die, I don't want to do it anymore! Pleeeeeeeeeease!
Akane's chest ached, and her stomach felt heavy. She might have preferred the scathing rebukes that so many others endured. This wild-eyed terrified part of her...it had to stay repressed. For the sake of her sanity, for the sake of her goals, she couldn't ever allow this to come to the surface.
Not ever.
Her shoulders wilted as she cupped her hands to her mouth and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. Calamity Akane barely noticed her, babbling about the twisted deformities of Downapolis, the butchered rabbits in the hut, the smell of her own burning flesh... Every nightmare she'd witnessed while she was wide awake had bubbled to the surface.
"I should have realized it would be this way." Her hands slid from her face to drift down to her sides. "I truly am...broken inside. Aren't I."
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"I guess...I have a dark side too. Don't I. I'm not proud of it." There was some small part of her that even considered attacking her shadow and cutting it down, to see if that would make that wretched part of herself go away for good. But life wasn't that easy. There were no shortcuts.
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she let go of her brother and rose to her feet, taking slow, even steps to stand face to face with her other self. "You're hurting, I know. That is...I'm hurting. The things we have to do aren't something I would wish on anyone. But for the sake of the world, and those we love...there's no going back. No giving up. No rest, until that future is safe."
Her shadow's eyes narrowed fractionally. Akane reached out to touch its hands, and grasped them firmly.
"But I promise I won't lose sight of the good things we do still have. Our friends might not be many, but they're loyal, and true. And we have a brother who loves us enough to die for us...even if we don't want him to," she chuckled softly. "I can't forget these things. And Junpei..."
Her shoulders rose and fell. "Maybe, after our work is finished, we can apologize to him properly, and thank him. You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The shadow inclined its head. "I think...I would too," Akane smiled, and closed her eyes. The shadow's body glowed brightly, the flare of white light dispelling every last shape of darkness in the room, before vanishing abruptly.
Left alone, Akane's last reserves of strength finally diminished, and she dropped to her knees, panting wearily. Even the knife was gone. It was just Akane, Duster, and Aoi.
And Keys Kupo, who removed Akane's crystal from the machine, and delivered it securely into the young Hero's cupped palm.
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"You too, man," he continued, turning his head over his shoulder to face Duster. "Bad-ass. Not at the beginning. You kinda sucked, not gonna lie, but you brought it around in the end." So thumbs up there.
Ok, all the appropriate celebratory gestures completed, he slumped over, exhausted.
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Oh well. Duster pulled his hand back and gave him a high-five. Not too strong, but enough that it felt and sounded like one.
And then Aoi also fell. Two Kurashiki siblings on the floor with only one Duster and a few Moogles to help.
"...I can help you guys to a bench and get help."
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Or borrow someone's office to clamber under a desk and get some sleep. It wouldn't be the first time she'd bunked down at the lab after working a really late night.
She closed her eyes, exhaling in contentment to feel the warmth of Aoi's presence reassuring and real against her. "Thank you. Both of you...really...thank you."
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"An' you know you don't gotta say thanks..." No matter what they'd learned and accepted about themselves, Aoi was never going to ask for thanks for taking care of his baby sister.
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