I put an axe in my baby's head, I'm gonna end up doing time [SEMI-CLOSED]

[heretic_blade]

Who ⬤ Okada Izō and various
What ⬤ Nightmare curse rain fun times!
When ⬤ June
Where ⬤ Various
Content Warnings ⬤ Violence and trauma at a minimum


(( OOC: These are prompts for the curse release and blood rain from the June event. If you want a custom prompt, PM me here or on discord glitzkrieg#0673! ))

Comments

[heretic_blade]

[ Izō sits by the door like a dog waiting for its owner. The feeling of loneliness is oppressive. Faceless people move by in the streets, but no one pays Izō any mind. The faceless man that shut the door in his face re-emerges and ignores him just as before, aside from a motion for Izō to follow him.

Childe's threat barely registers as he gets to his feet. Who dares threaten a hitokiri like Izō? ...Well, it'd be different if he had his swords. He looks unimpressed by the threat nonetheless. ]

Th' fuck are ya doin' here? [ There's no way Childe should be here. Jigokucho is gone, as far as he's concerned. ] Get goin'...

[narbrawl]

[Real. That was real. While the visions he's been having are convincing, he's somewhat learned to pick out the parts that are definitively there and Izō is one of them. So, while Childe's body language stays guarded, his expression softens just slightly. There's something strangely melancholic about the way the other man is just sat here, something that strikes him as lost.]

Same thing as you. [His stare flickers back up to the door as it opens again, lingering briefly on the faceless man before returning to Izō.] Where are we?

[Perhaps more importantly, why?]

[heretic_blade]

[ Always the obedient dog, he follows after -- he has to. He doesn't ignore Childe, though. ]

Kyō. [ Like that means anything to Childe. ] Did most'a my work here.

[ "Work" meaning assassinations in the name of divine punishment, of course. ]

Jus' doin' what I'm told to. Ain't smart enough for th' politics or anythin'...

[ Lonely. His usual pride and bluster are subdued. ]

[narbrawl]

[The name means nothing, sure, but the explanation that follows solidifies his suspicions that they're in a world more of Izō's making than his own. That the Abyss is starting to encroach upon it is another matter altogether- and one that he doesn't get much time to think on before he's distracted by the assassin's words.

Signora's voice rings in his ears, curved and sweetened by the condescension in her smile. The laugh that so clearly said "of course, we didn't let you in on the plan" and "you're a liability". Like she was talking to a sulking boy rather than a capable warrior.

He aches in sympathy.]

... wind us up, watch us go. [Vaguely, he thinks of Teucer's toy soldiers: all you need is the key and a strong enough hand.] It's not so bad though, is it? Being a weapon.

[heretic_blade]

Ya get used to it...Bein' told who t' kill ain't so bad. Takechi-sensei always tells me I'm doin' what's best.

[ It keeps him obedient. Izō doesn't seem to notice Childe's nightmare encroaching on his own. The cursed energy in the particular place is so strong, who's to say how bad them meeting will be?

Another door shuts in his face and Izō sits down the same way as before. ]

...Yer like me, ain't ya?

[narbrawl]

[Like him... surely not. He's not an assassin: he's a war machine, the blade the Tsaritsa wields from her throne in Zapolyarny Palace, and more than that, he's a conqueror. He's destined for something grand and violent and thrilling- that's what she saw in him, isn't it? Yes, as long as he is whetted and his bloodlust sated, he's content to be a weapon. The sharpest, the deadliest, the strongest.

Right?

But what of Izō? Childe expects to feel some kind of contempt for him and his bruised and beaten obedience but he doesn't. Maybe he's gotten too fond of the other man or maybe the strain of being under this curse has made him more vulerable but it's surprisingly hard to see him like this. As much as he wants to comfort him, however, he can't bring himself to close the emotional gap between them, for both of their sakes.

In the end, he can only sit down beside him and conclude:]

There's no one like either of us. [A pause.] Takechi was your master, then.

[heretic_blade]

[ He expects contempt and derision. That's just what happens. No matter what, he's treated like a stooge, an idiot who should know better than to let himself be used. A useful idiot to some, just an idiot to others.

He smiles just slightly when Childe speaks. ]

Yeah...ain't no one like me. [ It's comforting in its own way. Izō kicks the dirt in front of him. ] An' yeah, he is. Tells me who I need t' kill an' I do it. I wouldn't be shit without him...Woulda never gotten outta Tosa.

[ Wouldn't have been cast aside like a sick dog and tortured for his troubles. Wouldn't have been almost poisoned in jail. Would've lived a longer life. ]

[narbrawl]

[Childe says nothing at first. He looks around the bleak little room and wonders about the plots that might have been concocted within its walls. There's little in the way of a resistance in Snezhnaya and, indifferent as he is to politics, he's never had much contact with the Fatui cells working to undermine governments abroad.

It seems the two of them were made for simpler things.

When he glances back over at Izō, he's even more subdued.]

How many? [He leans back on the palms of his hands, head back. His voice is without judgement and, more unusually, hubris.] I lost count.

[Behind them, the fabric of the illusion holding the building together cracks and dark, viscous mud begins to ooze out from beneath the sliding door. Slowly but surely, the Abyss is breaking in.]

[heretic_blade]

Nine. [ He shrugs. ] Plus three more when I was a bodyguard.

[ Those were excusable. Those were done in the service of protection, not in the name of sowing terror.

Izō looks down at the mud oozing through and scoots away from it instinctively. That isn't normal, even in this severely abnormal place. ]

...Th' fuck is that?

[ Something tells him he shouldn't touch it and yet...what does he have to lose? ]

[narbrawl]

[Nine, twelve... the numbers don't really leave as much of an impact on him as the ease with which Izō replies. Childe isn't so naive as to think that either of them have a healthy relationship with death but there's a certain kinship to be found in it. Killing is a necessity but battle is a calling- no, a compulsion. Sometimes the two intertwine and sometimes they don't, and he takes no pleasure in the latter, in cold executions.

(No wonder his subordinates never meet his eyes. No wonder his mother can't hug him the same way she used to, though Archons know she tries her best. The scent of blood must be overwhelming.)

The mud pools in the gaps in the wooden floor and soaks into the tatami- and that's when he feels it. The presence of the Abyss stirs Foul Legacy from deep within him and it howls and rages like a caged beast, making Childe's head spin as he scrambles to his feel.]

Don't touch it. It's- [He presses a hand to his forehead, groaning.] ... it's pure corruption. I- we- we need to go.

[... Izō won't try to stay and wait for his master, will he?]

[heretic_blade]

[ Was it like the mud that flowed from the Holy Grail, then? Izō stops short of touching it. No one needs to know what he's like under the influence of that kind of corruption.

He looks over at Childe and shakes his head. ]

Can't. Gotta wait...

[ Like it'll matter. Even in a nightmarish scenario like this, he's too obedient for his own good. Maybe it'll change things if he just behaves like he should, do as he's told, and keeps his head down. He knows the past won't change, but maybe, just maybe he'll be told he's worth something for once. ]

[narbrawl]

[... of course he will. Of course. Childe toys with abandoning him, even turning towards the opposite door as if to leave, before shaking his head. In between the pounding and roaring in his head and the nausea, he's starting to lose not only his patience but his grip on reality; it's getting harder to make himself believe that this is all an illusion. It all feels too real and his reflexes- or rather, those of a boy from many years ago- respond in kind.]

Don't make me drag you out of here- [He seizes Izō by the scarf and yanks him forward with shaking hands.] - because I will, and I'll run whatever that is pretending to be your master through if I have to.

[Mages chitter in the next room over, their voices mingling with the low murmurings of revolutionaries.]

[heretic_blade]

[ He can hear that noise now. It's not...normal. None of this is. It doesn't quite snap him out of it and he yells at Childe when he gets jerked forward. ]

Th' fuck's gotten into ya?! [ He snarls, standing up straight. ] Don't think I'll just let ya get away with that!

[ Now is not the time, Izō! ]