![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chieriiTitle: Point of Divergence
Rating: PG for gore. Maybe PG-13.
Source: Nocturne,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
regainedvirtue and human_enough's world.
Summary: The point where Virtue's efforts made their world AU, and yet another damn study of Yosuga.
Warnings: Gore. Written at 5 in the morning on no sleep. You have been warned.
Author's note: Holy crap look at the word repetitions. I suck.
If they hadn’t had to restock on elemental gems lest they suffer a repeat of their battle with Mot, maybe they wouldn’t have seen it, Satoshi thought as he shivered at Black Frost curling up against his leg. At his other side, Uriel shuddered in the midst of uneasy dreams, made worse by the influence of Kagutsuchi’s full light. The demi-fiend put a hand on the Seraph’s shoulder. Then again, if they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have had added someone else to their meager three-person party.
Satoshi should have seen it coming. The graffiti all over the walls of the former Mantra headquarters, mostly in German (he didn’t know how to read it, but he could identify it), and clusters of angels staring at them, some of them looking very uneasy, some of them shaking their heads and muttering to themselves. But because Satoshi and Odin were there to destroy as many of those Manikin-killers as they could, because they were so blinded by their rage, they hadn’t seen the hesitance, and had killed them where they stood. Maybe if he’d asked questions, he would have been prepared for what he’d seen at the base of the Tower of Kagutsuchi that morning. He regretted that killing spree now. It left him with the uneasy feeling that he hadn’t been much better than they, in those moments.
He hadn’t been expecting to come up to the base of the tower alone, but he also hadn’t been expecting to walk in on a mutiny in progress.
Yosuga was divided. Satoshi, Odin, and Black Frost quickly hid behind the nearest obstruction they could to watch angels fighting one another. Gabriel, who had once fought against him alongside Uriel and Raphael, was now fighting against those same two, another Seraph he hadn’t seen before fighting with her. Every so often it seemed they would forget they were fighting their own and several collective Hama spells would be thrown from either side, all ineffective.
Chiaki herself had taken the side of Uriel and Raphael, whatever the divide was. And she didn’t seem to be participating much in the fight, merely watching the angels battle.
That is, until Raphael succumbed to the ring of Powers and Virtues that had surrounded him, when she gave a frustrated growl and raised her arm-wing to cast.
Only the unknown Seraph retained his form. In the place of his allies was a black mass of flies. For a moment, everything was still. And then Chiaki spoke two words, menacing and grave in the still Vortex air.
“Crush them.”
Remaining angels and commander charged in, then, and the flies were eclipsed as the spear-wielding Seraph did his best to defend on his own. Satoshi was waiting for the crowd to thin so he could go through. After all, Yosuga was pretty much built on mutinies and backstabbing. So if it destroyed itself it only proved it wasn’t fit to make a world.
But then the crushed flies turned back into angels.
Satoshi remembered watching with idle curiosity as a fly he’d crushed under his palm lived on with only a half-whole body, remaining wing beating the air fruitlessly as it slowly died. They were pests, insects, spreaders of bacteria.
And now there were all manner of Divines, and Gabriel, too, in this half-whole state, somehow alive and dying an agonizing death, their screams and groans rising into the still air.
Was this karma for the Manikin massacre? But karma or not…who deserved this? The demi-fiend didn’t realize he was slowly standing until Odin put a hand on his shoulder to force him back down. The other Seraph – Michael, Satoshi finally remembered the fourth of the set – knelt down at Gabriel’s side, cradling her head in his arms as her heart, visible through the gore where her other side used to be, beat its last.
“…Chiaki, I’m gonna kill you,” Satoshi growled through gritted teeth, shrugging off Odin’s hand and rising to his feet. A sharp pain in the back of his neck reminded him Sophia didn’t approve of recklessness, but he was just too angry. Just because the Manikins didn’t deserve what happened to them didn’t mean the angels deserved anything like it.
An enraged Michael was decimating what was left of the other side as Satoshi rushed forward in the hopes of joining him, Odin and Black Frost rushing to keep up with their leader.
But Chiaki obviously didn’t intend on letting him get any help. Uriel was floating numbly in the air, looking at the gore as if he hadn’t caused any of it a moment before, eyes wide in terror. He wasn’t fighting, so he was only useful as ammunition. With a sweep of her large wing, Chiaki dazed Uriel with a blow to the head, and then whirled to gather momentum and send him flying at the rushing demonic team.
A split-second command from Sophia - Move! - and Satoshi’s body jerked aside, his legs barely coordinating with the magatama’s manipulations to make a leap out of the way of the dazed Seraph hurtling straight at the ground and crashing into it headfirst. There was a sickening snap, and Uriel sprawled lifelessly on the sand.
Odin helped Satoshi to his feet, but held him in place, stunned as they watched Michael, now the sole living angel on the battlefield, and bleeding from too many wounds to count, flapped his wings in a sudden surge of strength, lunging at Chiaki. There was the sound of metal rending metal, and Chiaki gasped, doubled over…
A low groan behind him drew the demi-fiend’s attention to Uriel. He was still alive. Black Frost was already running to turn the injured Seraph over, and Satoshi and Odin ran to join them.
“I…crushed…” he croaked out.
Satoshi looked at the angel’s face, drawn in pain, fear, and remorse. Sure, they’d done wrong, but was it really the way angels were? Metatron had acted completely unlike any of them, and he’d claimed to be “one with God”. If he really was closest to their source, then were angels really…more like him?
“If I revive you, will you join me?”
It took Uriel a moment he just barely had to comprehend, but at the very least he was able to smile faintly and manage a weak “Ye…”
Satoshi charged up Samarecarm and sent the life-giving magic into the dead Seraph’s body. Uriel drew a deep breath, opening his eyes and looking into the demi-fiend’s still very human gray ones. “I gave my word. I am yours to command.”
Satoshi nodded and helped Uriel to his feet, then wordlessly motioned for the party, now one stronger, to move out.
He stopped by Chiaki’s body where it had fallen, Michael’s slumped over his spear as he’d finally fell victim to blood loss, and knelt to pick up the Heavenstone that lay beside her silver form. Sophia felt he’d need it.
While he was down there, though, he looked at Michael. He’d never seen this Seraph fight with Yosuga. Had he ever been part of it? Could he be trusted? Satoshi began to charge another Samarecarm.
“Save your mana,” Odin said, grabbing his arm. “It’s a long climb.”
And it was only just beginning. Uriel stirred beneath Satoshi’s comforting hand, and looked up at him in the light of the magatsuhi channels running like blood through veins in the Tower’s walls. It was infuriating, not being able to get to it.
“You cannot sleep, either?”
“You’re doing a better job than me.”
“I can’t stop…seeing them.”
“Me neither.”
Uriel was silent for a long time. Satoshi thought he’d gone back to sleep until he spoke again. “…I don’t understand…”
“Understand what?”
“What…what am I supposed to be?”
The demi-fiend gave him a confused look. What kind of question was that? “…Dunno.”
Uriel sighed, and settled closer to his new master. Satoshi patted the angel’s shoulder a final time before settling back and trying to get some sleep. It would be a long climb, after all.
Rating: PG for gore. Maybe PG-13.
Source: Nocturne,
regainedvirtue and human_enough's world.Summary: The point where Virtue's efforts made their world AU, and yet another damn study of Yosuga.
Warnings: Gore. Written at 5 in the morning on no sleep. You have been warned.
Author's note: Holy crap look at the word repetitions. I suck.
If they hadn’t had to restock on elemental gems lest they suffer a repeat of their battle with Mot, maybe they wouldn’t have seen it, Satoshi thought as he shivered at Black Frost curling up against his leg. At his other side, Uriel shuddered in the midst of uneasy dreams, made worse by the influence of Kagutsuchi’s full light. The demi-fiend put a hand on the Seraph’s shoulder. Then again, if they hadn’t, they wouldn’t have had added someone else to their meager three-person party.
Satoshi should have seen it coming. The graffiti all over the walls of the former Mantra headquarters, mostly in German (he didn’t know how to read it, but he could identify it), and clusters of angels staring at them, some of them looking very uneasy, some of them shaking their heads and muttering to themselves. But because Satoshi and Odin were there to destroy as many of those Manikin-killers as they could, because they were so blinded by their rage, they hadn’t seen the hesitance, and had killed them where they stood. Maybe if he’d asked questions, he would have been prepared for what he’d seen at the base of the Tower of Kagutsuchi that morning. He regretted that killing spree now. It left him with the uneasy feeling that he hadn’t been much better than they, in those moments.
He hadn’t been expecting to come up to the base of the tower alone, but he also hadn’t been expecting to walk in on a mutiny in progress.
Yosuga was divided. Satoshi, Odin, and Black Frost quickly hid behind the nearest obstruction they could to watch angels fighting one another. Gabriel, who had once fought against him alongside Uriel and Raphael, was now fighting against those same two, another Seraph he hadn’t seen before fighting with her. Every so often it seemed they would forget they were fighting their own and several collective Hama spells would be thrown from either side, all ineffective.
Chiaki herself had taken the side of Uriel and Raphael, whatever the divide was. And she didn’t seem to be participating much in the fight, merely watching the angels battle.
That is, until Raphael succumbed to the ring of Powers and Virtues that had surrounded him, when she gave a frustrated growl and raised her arm-wing to cast.
Only the unknown Seraph retained his form. In the place of his allies was a black mass of flies. For a moment, everything was still. And then Chiaki spoke two words, menacing and grave in the still Vortex air.
“Crush them.”
Remaining angels and commander charged in, then, and the flies were eclipsed as the spear-wielding Seraph did his best to defend on his own. Satoshi was waiting for the crowd to thin so he could go through. After all, Yosuga was pretty much built on mutinies and backstabbing. So if it destroyed itself it only proved it wasn’t fit to make a world.
But then the crushed flies turned back into angels.
Satoshi remembered watching with idle curiosity as a fly he’d crushed under his palm lived on with only a half-whole body, remaining wing beating the air fruitlessly as it slowly died. They were pests, insects, spreaders of bacteria.
And now there were all manner of Divines, and Gabriel, too, in this half-whole state, somehow alive and dying an agonizing death, their screams and groans rising into the still air.
Was this karma for the Manikin massacre? But karma or not…who deserved this? The demi-fiend didn’t realize he was slowly standing until Odin put a hand on his shoulder to force him back down. The other Seraph – Michael, Satoshi finally remembered the fourth of the set – knelt down at Gabriel’s side, cradling her head in his arms as her heart, visible through the gore where her other side used to be, beat its last.
“…Chiaki, I’m gonna kill you,” Satoshi growled through gritted teeth, shrugging off Odin’s hand and rising to his feet. A sharp pain in the back of his neck reminded him Sophia didn’t approve of recklessness, but he was just too angry. Just because the Manikins didn’t deserve what happened to them didn’t mean the angels deserved anything like it.
An enraged Michael was decimating what was left of the other side as Satoshi rushed forward in the hopes of joining him, Odin and Black Frost rushing to keep up with their leader.
But Chiaki obviously didn’t intend on letting him get any help. Uriel was floating numbly in the air, looking at the gore as if he hadn’t caused any of it a moment before, eyes wide in terror. He wasn’t fighting, so he was only useful as ammunition. With a sweep of her large wing, Chiaki dazed Uriel with a blow to the head, and then whirled to gather momentum and send him flying at the rushing demonic team.
A split-second command from Sophia - Move! - and Satoshi’s body jerked aside, his legs barely coordinating with the magatama’s manipulations to make a leap out of the way of the dazed Seraph hurtling straight at the ground and crashing into it headfirst. There was a sickening snap, and Uriel sprawled lifelessly on the sand.
Odin helped Satoshi to his feet, but held him in place, stunned as they watched Michael, now the sole living angel on the battlefield, and bleeding from too many wounds to count, flapped his wings in a sudden surge of strength, lunging at Chiaki. There was the sound of metal rending metal, and Chiaki gasped, doubled over…
A low groan behind him drew the demi-fiend’s attention to Uriel. He was still alive. Black Frost was already running to turn the injured Seraph over, and Satoshi and Odin ran to join them.
“I…crushed…” he croaked out.
Satoshi looked at the angel’s face, drawn in pain, fear, and remorse. Sure, they’d done wrong, but was it really the way angels were? Metatron had acted completely unlike any of them, and he’d claimed to be “one with God”. If he really was closest to their source, then were angels really…more like him?
“If I revive you, will you join me?”
It took Uriel a moment he just barely had to comprehend, but at the very least he was able to smile faintly and manage a weak “Ye…”
Satoshi charged up Samarecarm and sent the life-giving magic into the dead Seraph’s body. Uriel drew a deep breath, opening his eyes and looking into the demi-fiend’s still very human gray ones. “I gave my word. I am yours to command.”
Satoshi nodded and helped Uriel to his feet, then wordlessly motioned for the party, now one stronger, to move out.
He stopped by Chiaki’s body where it had fallen, Michael’s slumped over his spear as he’d finally fell victim to blood loss, and knelt to pick up the Heavenstone that lay beside her silver form. Sophia felt he’d need it.
While he was down there, though, he looked at Michael. He’d never seen this Seraph fight with Yosuga. Had he ever been part of it? Could he be trusted? Satoshi began to charge another Samarecarm.
“Save your mana,” Odin said, grabbing his arm. “It’s a long climb.”
And it was only just beginning. Uriel stirred beneath Satoshi’s comforting hand, and looked up at him in the light of the magatsuhi channels running like blood through veins in the Tower’s walls. It was infuriating, not being able to get to it.
“You cannot sleep, either?”
“You’re doing a better job than me.”
“I can’t stop…seeing them.”
“Me neither.”
Uriel was silent for a long time. Satoshi thought he’d gone back to sleep until he spoke again. “…I don’t understand…”
“Understand what?”
“What…what am I supposed to be?”
The demi-fiend gave him a confused look. What kind of question was that? “…Dunno.”
Uriel sighed, and settled closer to his new master. Satoshi patted the angel’s shoulder a final time before settling back and trying to get some sleep. It would be a long climb, after all.
