⛧ Aʟʟᴇɴ "ɴᴏᴛ ᴀ ᴘʀɪᴇsᴛ" Wᴀʟᴋᴇʀ ★ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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thenearshore2017-03-12 07:54 pm
likethelight) wrote in thenearshore2017-03-12 07:54 pm
Prayer #06: a quiet death hanging imminently
Who: Allen Walker and Lux Crownguard
Where: Some ominous hospital in Tokyo
When: June 20th
Summary: In the inevitable follow-up after their first prayer... God and shinki also fight together for the first time since the mass suicides a few days prior, which she... may or may not still be miffed at him from for the rough handling... which he may or may not be feeling guilty for, he kind of sucks at normal swordsmanship..
[ Not long after the first man they'd helped, there were more reports of a strange rash of deaths and sickness in the elderly. Reports on the news (Victorian shounen hero meets 24/7 news cycle: who let that happen, really), growing fear among those who had elderly relatives. And yet no common disease among any of them, just...
Just one particular part of the city it all seemed to occur in.
Which is what brings the two of them atop this particular hospital this evening. Yes, atop, as Allen is currently scanning the concrete horizon and trying to keep his eyes from watering at the gale that's begun to pick up. (A coming storm?)
And maybe giving her a slightly confused look over his shoulder as he does so if she seems to be hanging back at all.What? What's strange about going in via rooftop? You can see things!! ]
Where: Some ominous hospital in Tokyo
When: June 20th
Summary: In the inevitable follow-up after their first prayer... God and shinki also fight together for the first time since the mass suicides a few days prior, which she... may or may not still be miffed at him from for the rough handling... which he may or may not be feeling guilty for, he kind of sucks at normal swordsmanship..
[ Not long after the first man they'd helped, there were more reports of a strange rash of deaths and sickness in the elderly. Reports on the news (Victorian shounen hero meets 24/7 news cycle: who let that happen, really), growing fear among those who had elderly relatives. And yet no common disease among any of them, just...
Just one particular part of the city it all seemed to occur in.
Which is what brings the two of them atop this particular hospital this evening. Yes, atop, as Allen is currently scanning the concrete horizon and trying to keep his eyes from watering at the gale that's begun to pick up. (A coming storm?)
And maybe giving her a slightly confused look over his shoulder as he does so if she seems to be hanging back at all.
Allen are you trying to be Batman what is this.
But looking out at the sky, the sun setting in the distance, something felt... off. An ominous wind blew, and with it was the almost queasy feeling that there was something wrong in the air.
If she was hanging back, it was not out of disrespect, but because with this sort of wind, and with no way to really pull herself back up should something happen, standing so close to the edge made her a bit uneasy. Like some fell wind might sweep her up and throw her over the edge. But swallowing that back, the shinki took a few steps forward, white cloak billowing and flapping in the ill wind. ]
Do you see anything?
he has the cloak for it ok. #thewhitebat
He'd already begun to turn to her to respond when he blinks suddenly, chin lifting towards the wind—and the white of his left eye washes red and then black. Pupil dilating and shifting blood red. Like a lens suddenly focusing, almost—and trained directly on the giant, almost serpentine ayakashi that parts the clouds as it crests over them.
Like a giant whale in the sky, riding some supernatural wind on an otherwise warm and balmy summer night. It seems almost peaceable though, cruising far above them and impossibly large, crooning some soft dirge that's enough to make one sober with a chill.
An ill omen? ]
Nothing that will attack us. [ Or is immediately malicious, rather. He's quick to say it, attention (and mismatched gaze) shifting back to her.
It doesn't even dawn on him he shifted to touch the back of her wrist lightly the moment she stepped up. Complete reflex. ]
We should get inside.
the white bat that's so lame... also [1/2]
And watching his eye actually shift as it did, Lux paused. It wasn't something she hadn't seen before--his eye had changed before, when an ayakashi was around--but it did still give her pause. His eye, that claw-like arm of his; things that should seem more demonic than angelic, that should probably bother her because of that...
But were a part of him still. Unexpected but--
Was that why he could fight the way he did? Because of his eye? Because of his arm? She was still a bit prickled at him from the last time, but if that was the case... Mm. Maybe it was because of that--because of the way he fought, he felt as she understood it--that he was here.
That he could fight in a way that only Allen Walker could. And that she would need to learn how to keep up. To be a weapon that would save the world...
But seeing that great whale of an ayakashi break through the clouds, the shinki took in a deep, sharp breath, staring wide-eyed at the thing as it seemed to claim that sky as its own.
Nothing that will attack us, he said. Somehow that was still less than reassuring. ]
[2/2]
Why did something like that... why did it suddenly center her? Like a gentle pull back to reality.
Her eyes closed then. A breath, in and out, then a nod. ]
You're right. We need to figure out a plan before we even begin to approach this.
[ Lead the way, then. ]
no subject
If he knew that's what she thought of herself...
Just enough of an implication perhaps in how she turns so suddenly to look at him. Because of the ayakashi of course, except for how she's looking at him. (His eye, maybe?) He wouldn't blame her; of course it's unsettling to most people and not the easiest thing to get used to. And even before... before his powers had been sealed, she never saw in Enprise. Just--
"Then is it really such a curse? To be able to see the good in something so many see as only evil. To be able to see them as still human, despite everything.
"Isn't that, in some ways, a gift?"
It makes him hesitate for a moment, lingering just a moment too long, before he gives her a nod in return and looks skyward again. Heralding what's going on below it, perhaps... Admittedly he doesn't yet understand ayakashi like he does akuma or did the poor souls that became dungeon cores, but his instinct--that one above isn't causing the deaths. Or anything yet, perhaps, save for blanketing the city in a somber air.
(Not all of them are immediately dangerous...? Like the small one on that man's shoulder that had harmless fallen away when he shook his depression off.)
He turns back to her with a quieter expression. Softly sober. ]
Let's go, then. [ As for how... There's a faint glow as his own cloak invokes and spreads down his shoulders in a whirl, white and ethereal, leaving his left arm bare and clawed now in weapon form.
After all, rooftop access is locked of course. And while admittedly he could pick it with enough time and finagling... ]
Just hold on.
[ Is he offering her his hand? (The human, white-gloved one. Softly glowing as well as his cloak has wound all about him like a well-fitted armor. ) Yes, yes he is. ]
foreshadowing like an mf [1/2]
Could he really deny that they weren't in some ways far more similar now than then?
(Would he get just as angry at the world for her as she had for him?)
His gaze lingered, and for a moment she searched for something to say before he finally broke away. What wasn't he saying here? The sudden quiet smoothness of his countenance only sparked her curiosity more.
What were you keeping so tightly held to your chest, Allen Walker?
And while she had seen Crown Clown before, in somewhat similar but altogether different circumstances, Lux stopped abruptly. That ethereal light billowing around him like it had a mind of its own, she stood with her back almost rigidly straight, brows rising gently, that when he offered his hand--
Her expression almost seemed to haze over, like she was trying to see something over the horizon just out of view. Her eyes trailing down to his gloved hand unblinkingly, that cloudy look overtaking her for a moment. She... ]
[2/2]
What?
[ Putting her hand in his without thinking, she blinked once, twice. ]
Hold on to what?
[ Allen, now wasn't the time to be whimsical, what was he doing..? ]
no subject
...or practical?
Perhaps neither, given with the positively brilliant way in which he smiles for a moment. Like the most cheerful devil dressed in white, his thumb closing over her hand. Warm and secure. Lighthearted. Safe. ]
♥ [ Safe.
And then he hops over the edge and tugs her along with him.
Don't worry, Lux. The moment he does he'll wrap his arm more snugly around you as gravity takes hold. The left, actually, being ever mindful of the elongated claws of it. And wow does gravity ever, given how it seems like he doesn't seem to mind at all that they're in freefall without so much as a tether in sight as the windows of the hospital begin to flash past them as they plummet... and Allen?
Smiling through it all, actually, as the wind whips both their cloaks up in a deafening ripple. In such a bright-eyed and what he would assure you is entirely guileless sort of way. ]
no subject
No.
He wouldn't. ]
Wait--
[ He did. ]
ALLEN--!
[ Her own cloak whipping behind her as the two began to plummet, she let proximity and manners and a whole manner of other things take a back seat, wrapping both arms around him in a secure, fearful grip, burying her face into his upper chest. Dear gods above--way above because they were falling!?--what in heaven or hell had you gotten her into when you paired them together?!
He was going to kill them a second time! ]
no subject
Once before actually, when he asked her to trust him before he swept her up and leaped over the side of a castle. But it's not like he meant to scare her then or now. Just... it's alright. Trust him?
(Can she still trust him?)
Maybe she'll feel him smile near her ear in response when he tucks his chin, maybe she won't. Something a little softer and reassuring; something he means to try and convey in how securely he has his arm looped around her but it's hard to with how loudly the wind tears at them. Especially when—since he is paying shrewd attention to it—the balcony he had in mind when he first jumped is fast approaching and his cloak above them parts suddenly. Like a spider's web that fans out—or ragged wings that spread wide as parts of his cloak seem to shard off in jagged glowing feathers from the cowl around his neck. Spreading out in ribbons above—that snag onto a jutting flagpole above them. And what come down to a tetherpoint on his wrist which, with a sudden tug—brings them to a soft and somewhat buoyant stop above the railing on one balcony with an open door.
Like it's nothing at all. Like it wasn't just a freefall that could kill them both.
It's okay, Lux. He balances for a moment with his heels just touching along the railing like it's a high wire act before he begins to help her balance as well. Like puppets on strings. ]
Sorry... [ It's a gentler smile now, softly glowing ribbons of Innnocence still helping to balance the both of them as he starts to let her go, just helping to steady her with the inside of his wrists carefully bracing her elbows. One gloved white and human, the other devilishly black and with a gold crown guarding his wrist like a crossguard that matches the ring she has on her hand. ]
Are you alright?
okay first you're Batman now you're Spiderman make up your damn mind Allen.
Despite the wind, the deafening sound of cloth whipping in the midst of free fall, and any number of things that should hold her senses and keep her in that state of heightened panic, she could feel that. The way his lips curled close to the shell of her ear, breath calm and even.
Opening her eyes, she attempted to look up, to try to see his face.
He was—
Then all at once, something changed. They were still falling, but the sound, it was... different? Wait, what was— ]
—!
[ Head lifting from his shoulder in time to see what almost looked like feathers dancing on the wind. Then all at once, they were moving in a completely different direction.
Up.
It wasn't a scream this time, but a deep gasp, her grip still tight around him but not as urgent. Looking up at him with wide eyes as he carried them both through the air. Almost like they were flying...
They were flying.
(With strings attached, but details.)
And as they vaulted through the sky almost weightlessly, her heart raced. For what felt like absolute terror before, knowing that he was in control the whole time (hence the smile... cheeky bastard), it changed quickly to wonderment, her head turning out to try to see as much as she could.
Enjoying it? Maybe a little. Or more than a little, considering how positively transfixed she seemed to be in that moment.
And in a moment that strangely felt like it both spanned the breadth of a second and an eternity, he steadied her, her feet finally touching something solid again. Holding on to his left arm to help steady herself—it's not as hard as she thought it might be, but she still seemed a little unsure of her footing—she kept a hand there, near the crook of his elbow as if it were nothing unusual at all. Looking up at him, it took her a moment to find her voice. ]
I... yes. Yes, I'm all right.
[ It was a bit breathless, the sound of her heart racing in her ears and the rush beginning to subside. The adrenaline high, however...
How did you—
No, there were more pressing matters. The ayakashi, and getting inside unnoticed, which she hopefully hadn't ruined by screaming bloody murder like that. She probably did, didn't she... ]
yo have you read Ark Arc... 9.9 6.6
He probably shouldn't, but it's hard not to. To respond like he once did or to try and act like he doesn't remember the last year either. Like he doesn't know all these things already because they already happened and that if he was honest with himself.. Lux was probably the person that he knew best. Understood best and was understood by. Because to keep acting like that was entirely unfair to her, both in general and on principle of not wanting to lead her to believe things that would be dangerous for her, but...
...
But the last thing Allen Walker will ever be able to do is not act on his feelings. Even if some—wanting to protect someone—trump others. It's the only way he knows how to live.
(And maybe with the hope she'll begin to remember and not lose herself in the process.)
So in response he just gets a funny sort of smile and steps down first, from railing to ground, and helps her down as well. He lets go of his invocation in the process, Crown Clown disappearing in a swirl that leaves his left arm once again appear normal beneath his sleeve. The sliding door behind them is cracked open; it'll be an easy way in.
Even if she says she's alright— ]
I didn't mean to scare you.
Yeah ok point........
But the way he smiled close to the shell of her ear, and how he seemed quick to pull her into his world just then, like some trained performer who knew his audience so well. A clown who wore a crown.
He did it on purpose--even as he apologized, and her hand fell away from his arm once he helped her back to solid ground. Every movement almost felt methodical. Purposeful. Another layer to the performance. And while her heart still raced, the high of falling then rappelling through the sky beginning to subside, she couldn't help but be caught staring as he passed.
It was like... like he wanted to reach out, but was afraid to. Pulling her in enough to make the world feel like a rush of color, then quickly retreating. Was he... was he afraid? Of what?
(Don't let him go, don't let him retreat within himself. Take his hand and hold it tight. Don't let this one disappear.) ]
Scared?
[ Anapping to attention, realizing, ah, was she staring, she jogged a few steps to catch up. ]
No, that--well, all right, yes you did. But it--
[ Craning her head to look at him, an almost girlish smile on her face. ]
That was amazing.
1/2
She managed to catch him offguard there. ]
Ah? [ He's pale, so the small flush of color is unfortunately visible. Even if it fades after a moment as he blinks a couple times.
Did she always think it was amazing...?]2/2
"Amazing"... [ It's so sheepish as what's a very—no, you no, we're not even going to try to name it. This is just a very squirmy kind of smile as he tugs her along.
Right, there's a mission, let's do that.............. ]
[1/2]
Allen, were you blushing? What? ]
Ah, well...
[ SHE PROBABLY SHOULDN'T DWELL ON IT especially with that hard to pin down sort of smile and the almost "hai, hai" kind of way that he was trying to guide her through the door, like a shepherd awkwardly leading his flock--
Also it's catching just a little. ]
[2/2]
moreawkward fast! ]Yes?
[ Not that. Maybe try something else. ]
...Why wouldn't someone think so? Being able to do something like that, floating through the air like that. It's amazing, really. Something like that...
[ And then suddenly, her hand brushing up against the door frame, she looked back at him. Smiling perhaps a bit mischievously, yet still slightly punctuated by a gentle dusting of color on her own face; ]
It suits you.
[ Turnabout is fair play, Allen. ]
1/2
THAT IS ENTIRELY UNFAIR, MISS.
She earns herself a very blustered huff from him. Decidedly red-faced this time. ]
What sort of—
2/2
Well, incredible failed anything-but attempts at a tapdanced courtship that Will Never Be aside, all of that is going to have to wait for now. Given that Allen cuts himself short and focuses suddenly on something past the doorway just over Lux's shoulder—and so does his left eye again. Focusing and refocusing like a camera lens that washes a sudden blood red and black.
Just like before with the ayakashi on the roof.
He'll have to apologize for it later, but it's why he dives towards her suddenly and will grab for her shoulder and as gently as he can but still rather roughly—pull the shinki down with him. Right before a giant ethereal arm lashes out where their heads had been, crumpling in the wall in a sudden slide of rubble. ]
Watch out—! [ Because he'll reflexively try to cover her in the shower of rubble. Because the room they'd just landed on the balcony of...
A wizened and bent ayakashi with arms that are too long is beginning to rise from what's the newest deathbed it's claimed and turned its sleepy eyes towards them. ]
no subject
Letting out a startled yelp, she pulls one arm around her cloak and over her head, further shielding herself from the rubble, dust and debris. A few seconds pass before she finally peeks her head out, looking out toward the newly-formed hole in the wall to find-- ]
An ayakashi...
[ Somewhat breathless, her eyes are wide as she stares at it. Bulbous joints that don't quite lay right, eyes (more than there should be...) sunken and somewhat discolored, and an almost listless look about it as the thing begins to awaken, its hunched back beginning to straighten as its theoretical backbone stacks one piece on top of the next. The ayakashi they dealt with before had been small and numerous, but this one was...
Staring right at them, drawing its twisted arm back, rolling what looked to be its shoulders, the ayakashi rises from the hospital bed, slow-moving for now, but seeming unencumbered by its withered and wizen form. ]
no subject
(Bitter agony. Twisted regrets of a life misspent.)
A bearing which has Allen's own immediately sobering as well, well-ingrained battle instincts kicking in and causing him to quiet. So that he doesn't take his eyes off the spirit even as he slowly begins to stand again, watching for its response. Carefully; no sudden movements.
And fingertips not-quite brushing Lux's shoulder—the proximity of it more than anything—as he does in what's perhaps both reassurance and a heads-up. ]
Lux— [ be ready ]
no subject
Along with a slight chill of fear that works its way down her spine.
Lumbering, it seems slow-moving enough--
Until, with a sudden lurch, it propels itself forward, breaking through the wall in front of them, a gnarled hand grabbing for either god or shinki and coming up short. With suddenly more than enough room, the ayakashi lengthens, stretching out to its full height, towering over and easily taking up much of the balcony on which they stood.
Lux jumps back, her sword immediately drawn and back very nearly against the railing. ]
no subject
...where did he go?
(More importantly, especially when Lux has just backed herself against a railing?)
Up, apparently. Given that in one moment he's nowhere in sight, having dodged out of the way of the spirit as it crashed through the wall—and the next there's a faint glow from above, from a small but solid frame suspended briefly in the air. Fully resplendent in Crown Clown once again—
—before slamming down upon the spirit's back with the gravity of a small meteor. Palms down, the sheen of an ethereal cross within a shield beneath his hands; the one armored in white and the other sharply demonic in appearance, starkly black and white.
And while existing for akuma, Innocence will meet with ayakashi with a resounding and almost electric white-gold crackle. ]
no subject
The ayakashi did not see this coming and, slamming into its back, the spirit hunches down, its back shaking from not only the force of impact, but the added pressure that the shield adds. And while it does seem that there is some kind of reaction, the phantom letting out an almost alien shriek, it fights back against it. Pushing against him, its back rising and bringing the Exorcist up with him.
(He could probably hear them, the whispered voices from inside. Pain. Suffering. Anguish. Regret. All feeding into this one centralized force of negativity given physical form.)
Drawing an arm back to grab for the pest currently digging his palms into its back to fling him off the side.
Using this moment of distraction to move, the hilt of her blade winking to life with a gentle, subtle glow, Lux pushes off the lower edge of the railing like a sprinter's block. Propelling herself forward, light trailing behind her, swiping at the ayakashi's side with Radiance--
And feeling a strange sort of feedback.
Shrieking again, the ayakashi pitched; if it hadn't already grabbed Allen by now, it's going to try to buck him off, into the wall behind. ]
Allen! We can't fight it up here! We need to get it away somehow!
[ Not to mention she was certain that another impact like the one before might endanger them even further. ]