bellelurette | INVESTIGATION I

Investigation

Psst. Were you enjoying your peaceful, sleepy spring morning, blanketed in magic and mystery? Alas, the times they are a-changin’ – that is to say, everyone will get a rude wake-up call from a sleep they may not remember falling into at precisely 8 o’clock AM on the dot, every single grandfather clock clanging out the hour once again. It’s truly a grand and terrible orchestra, made perhaps just a bit worse by the state some of you may be waking up in.

Now, is this better or worse than your last magical wake-up?

Only time will tell.

(( OOC: Comment to this entry with where your character is going in the morning. A mod response will let you know if there’s anything to be found there! The Investigation is a free-for-all until all bodies have been found.

Once the victim(s) have been identified, there will be an IC announcement, and mods will provide Investigation sub-headers for the relevant locations and up to three characters are welcome to investigate under each header unless indicated otherwise. ))

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[ yeah, actually.

ish eases into a smile, just short of a full on grin. ]

Must I spell it out simple for you? Fine. [ as if he hadn't wrapped most of his words in needless chatter and lies when it was convenient. ]

I do not feel remorse for taking or endangering a life, dear wizard, and yes I do actually know what despair and agony feel like. I don't lack empathy, but I have cast it away as something not useful to me.

And like you, and like everyone else here, I have desires, realized or not. And for mine, I'll do anything for it, though really, this isn't much of an ask at all. If anything, it's karma and nothing more.

[ Ish talks and really, the way he talks tells him everything he needs to know: he can't win against him. If he had no powers, Cain would close in on him in a second and subdue him, present him to everyone else. But he clearly has all of the magic left in this place (or however magic in this "pocket dimension" is meant to work), leaving none for the rest to share. He'd never lost with this sword before Owen, but things, in all ways, have been different since Owen.

He hates the snakes. His skin crawls, his shoulders heave, but he remembers the snake he subdued in the oasis (~~omg where tatakhun went on that date~~) and he reminds himself he can do this.

Still he circles, sword in hand. ]

Nobody here did anything to deserve this. Especially not Tiamat.

[ Said mostly to himself. ]

But you don't care about that, do you? We don't mean anything to you.

I mean...you are my diligent workers! So in that way I do care about you. I fed you and kept you alive until recently, didn't I?

[ ish doesn't move, but the serpents continue to follow cain's movemenets. ]

That hardly means anything—

[ Maybe it's the fear. Maybe it's the way the snakes look at him. The way he reflexively wants them to go away, somewhere far away, where he can't see them. The shock of losing an acquaintance, the feeling of weightlessness having one's trajectory changed has him off balance. He forgets to breathe.

His composure crumbles. Owen would be disappointed. But suddenly, he cares so much more about every life in this castle, and he's angry. ]

—if you want us to kill each other!

[ He shouts as he lunges forward, speed surprising for a depowered wizard, sword brandished.

He doesn't slice to kill, but to discourage, or displace, send a message. ]

[ ish doesn't move and though the serpents do seem to agitate a bit, ultimately they don't press forward into cain. he'll feel that there's something to them when he goes through them, but like tar, the gaps fill in quickly, ebony black and purple. as for ish himself, cain just goes right through him, like he's made of air. ]

Ooooh, careful with that! You might take an eye out.

[ is that a coincidence or purposeful? ]

Though if you're really feeling that murderous, save it for the executioner, hm? They'll have to die by one of your hands, after all.

[ He sails past the shadows and the snakes and he knows that sensation, of his blade hitting substance, but his eyes widen in dismay when his blade goes through them like smoke. His eyes snap to Ish's, at last, when he sails through him.

It's like he thought. Either he's not here; or the only way to get to him is beyond them without powers, or a puzzle they need to solve.

Still, frustration and disappointment rule Cain's heart right now.

The eye comment. Cain narrows his. He's going to take it on purpose, since Ish apparently knows everything else about them anyway. It makes him angry for reasons he can't identify right away, so he sets it aside. ]

You're making us kill the guilty party? [ Of course. Why would he expect any less at this point? ] You're sick.

Hahaha, so I'm told!

I am what I am, the Witch of Ruin, though really, that's just a title that was given to me.

[ ish vibes on the other hand are ✨✨✨. ]

All titles come from somewhere.

[ He sure knows Oz's title of demon king doesn't come from nowhere.

He stares at Ish, imprinting his image to memory while he can still see him. The smile irritates him, partially because it reminds him of Owen, nearer the time they first met, and Owen is different now, and thinking of Owen has been irritating him lately.

He isn't sure if being here is much more use of his time. He's learned all he can, he thinks. But part of him feels unsatisfied, his blade not hitting anything solid.

He's angry, frustrated. ]

This image of you—your real self is somewhere else, isn't it?

[ He remembers what Yoru told him. ]

Does it need to be that complicated? Since this is my pocket dimension, I can do what I want in it. Interact how I want, leave how I want.

[ it's not a no, but it's not a full on yes either. ]

[ Cain stares at Ish, guard still up, and he realizes, at this point, that he has no hope against him like this.

He's in charge of this dimension. Sure. He knows everything about all of them, feels no remorse for anything he's done with and to them.

This isn't a fight he can win alone. A knight knows when he can't win, when to retreat and regroup. Today's not the day.

There's no belt for the bare sword Cain carries. Instead, with a flourish similar to sheathing, he transfers the sword to his other hand, blade pointing down and behind him. ]

I see.

[ From the outside it may have been a fruitless interaction. But Cain's learned a lot, and he's fine with that. He keeps it in his mind to share later. ]

Then we're done here. If all you're going to do now is boast and goad me, then this conversation is over.

[ He gives Ish one last look before whirling around and marching to the exit. His attention still fully on Ish, though, in case he tries anything funny. ]

[ ish waves cheerfully. he's said his piece (said way too much), but he won't draw this out any further in words or actions. ]

Bye-bye!

INVESTIGATION I

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