Description: Blackjack's most recent captive is transported to the Devil of Koga for proper.. interrogation. Truths are unveiled and weaknesses discovered. What dark series of events does this exchange set in motion? ... What IS a Monster, anyway?
"So.. Then."
A feminine voice quietly murmurs. A voice filled with an emotion somewhere between tedium and disappointment.
"This.. Would be the specimen. Hmmmn?" Violet painted nails gently glide over what amounts to an armor-plated sarcophagus. A long gun-metal gray coffin rests heavily upon a sincerely overworked gurney in the middle of the supply room, hastily retro-fited into a preliminary examination chamber. The Capital 7 complex is filled with many such hidden rooms for important behind-the-scenes work. This room smells of freshly cleaned carpets and scrubbed walls, anti-septic in the manner of a hospital. Marise often uses this particularly restricted area for transporting .. perishable goods to deeper levels. A sort of purgatory, in a way. A place where the damned realize the true darkness of their fate or receive a reprieve.. however brief that tends to be.
The dark woman stands beside the coffin, glancing through the bullet-proof glass window along the top. Hidden eyes peering through the dimly lit murk within to partly reveal a form within. The enclosed atmosphere within remains laden with powerful chemicals to keep whatever contents tranquilized for the duration of its trip. At least, while the Devil wishes it to be so.
The tall woman turns her hidden gaze to her younger comrade in arms standing near her, facing her fully as she adds, "He certainly does not seem like much, child.. Are you certain this is the one?" Her lips twisting into a configuration of calm disapproval as her fingertips punch in a quick code in the side of the coffin's controls. The sound of hissing and re-pressurizing air begins to fill the room as the tranquilizers quickly filter out of the containment system. While consciousness may soon follow, the captive will find himself quite suitably bound even within the coffin itself.
%You see, the Devil wishes to interrogate the specimen verbally first before preparing the boy for more.. invasive procedures.
Ayame is as hard to read as ever. Sometimes she's smiling thinly, other times she looks a little nervous. Callus and indifferent to the plight of others as she may be, being around Marise brings a chill to her blood as she looks the Devil woman over. And when those yellow eyes come to focus in full on her, Marise's voice laden with perhaps skepticism about the quality of this specimen, the long haired teen is quick to nod.
"That's him all right." the girl confirms, brow furrowed a little. She's tempted to take a step back, put a little distance between them. After all, she's heard and recorded every rumor that abounds about Marise and in the back of her mind there's some question as to what the creature will do should she not find Jesen as interesting as promised. Why does SHE have to be here to answer for him, Ayame wonders, eyes widening a little.
"I've seen it enough. Has so much power it sometimes drapes over him..." The girl lifts her hands, holding them up at her shoulders, "Like wings almost. And when he fights..." She shakes her head, mind recalling the horrific beast that has been made manifest when she's fought him in the past. "...there's something inside of him. Or he has so much surpluss power he can make it seem that way by energy manipulation alone."
She tears her eyes from Marise to look toward the entombed child, "No, this is definitely him. Y-ou," she shakes her head, catching herself with a rare stammer. Is she that undone by this dark woman? Isn't she just another employee of Elle's? Ayame swallows, forcing her voice to cooperate, "...you'll see, I'm certain."
How long has it been since the figure was unconscious? Too long, actually. It's rather strange, considering that in such a fight, Jesen actually nearly lost it.
% Inside that very tomb is someone alright. A bespectacled, blue haired boy who has been 'asleep' for some time. There are signs of life, as the boy is breathing, yet in some dark sleep. Nevertheless, the boy has not woken up since the time he passed out.
The Devil offers her companion something of a displeased sound, doing nothing to dispel the tension in the young girl's body. The creature's veiled gaze returns to the armored vessel once more, paying the blinking indicators no mind as they go about their duties of purifying the air within.
Power literally emanating from his being visibly? Hnnn. Disturbing. Such capabilities the Devil should be able to perceive.
The Kinmagan has no flaw, no blind spot, no weakness. No spirit, no technique is hidden from her view.
...Except now.
Why does Ayame need to be here? Oh.. there's an explanation. But it's not one the young girl would care to hear, and so Marise sees fit to not speak of it. She's a smart little thing, she'll uncover the truth soon enough, after all.
The uncomfortable silence in the room is broken by a pulsing tone. The air filtration cycle is complete.
"Well.. Then." A clawed fingertip touches a control and the coffin shrieks. The sound of escaping air hisses as the heavy lid begins to rise upwards, swinging away from the horizontal surface to reveal the bound child within, "Let us see for ourselves.. yes?"
Marise steps closer to the prone boy. Looming over him as her bangs part of their own accord, revealing her hellish golden eyes. Those monstrous, inhuman things seem to glitter and glow faintly in the dim light of the room. Slitted pupils shifting back and forth, looking the youth through and through.
...Hmph. Nothing.
Nothing at all.
In her eyes, this boy is a sickly whelp of a thing. Probably will die at a young age from poor constitution or some such. Hardly the puzzling menace that Elle had trumped him up to be.
Slowly, the Devil's gaze slides across the room. Affixing upon Ayame after a long, unamused moment. Sometimes it can be difficult to realize Marise's true emotions. Other times.. she wears her feelings on her sleeve.
"The boy should come around.. shortly." Marise states in a low tone, informative if only grudgedly so.
As Marise steps forward, Ayame hangs back, one hand coming up to rest against the back of her neck beneath her long hair. Watching the coffin lid rise, the girl pales just slightly but it passes quickly enough as she shakes her head. "Yes," she replies quietly as Marise indicates they shall see. What if Jesen's power is gone? What if he isn't what he used to be? How well will the Devil take to her time and expectations being wasted such?
Of course he looks perfectly still right now. Nothing mystical about this prisoner at the moment. "I've fought him quite a few times now... He has many strange powers," she continues, "His... other side attacked me in a concealed room, in and out without ever opening the only door. Sometimes weird things happen with his glasses - they'll be on his face and then the next moment gone." She tried to swipe them once, to no avail.
She exhales a little, watching Jesen. What if he's just dead? The beating, the captivity, the weakening of his body through whatever ordeal it is that plagued him... Maybe a coma he'll never return from. Marise says he'll come around though, so Ayame doesn't voice her speculations. No reason to second guess the pale creature after all.
A voice comes out. It's a little staticy. The telepathic voice spreads through-out the room. It's Jesen's tone alright.
~ ... Where-*static* ---where am I --*static*. So.. ~
Slowly, those yellow eyes open up, looking a little dazed out towards the glass. He is not sure where he is at or how did he get in such a position. However, he makes no effort to move. He is too out of it to really move. The boy is alive.
The Psycho Power slowly emanates, but soon becomes suppressed by the drugs. It's suppression shows by the fact that the energy is a little more mist-form.
Aaaah, if the boy had perished in transit that would certainly be an issue. Elle had desired some research information on the boy at least, and Marise would guess his corpse would reveal little in an autopsy. Not to mention, her own curiosity would go completely unsaited and there are many questions to ask here.
If this is indeed the boy, The Devil does not doubt both Elle and Ayame's word. In truth, while the woman seems to brood darkly it is not over potentially being lied to. No.. The source of her poor humor is something else entirely.
The very possibilities that her eyes may be deceiving her.
"Glasses?" Marise questions quietly as she picks out a particular word from her comrade's description of the boy.
What glasses?
"Aaaaah.." The Devil's lips twist upwards as those little eyes flutter open in a daze, "Khnn.. Welcome back to the world of the living, boya."
Her fingertips gently touch the skin of his chin, lengthy nails parallel over his face. Gently tilting his head to and fro in the manner one would inspect livestock, "Nothing to say for yourself.. Hnn?"
No. The creature makes no indication that static-filled voice was heard. No acknowledgement of the misty power surrounding him..
Utterly unaware..
There it is again. The voice in her head, like when she had rushed out to assault him on the beach. Telepathy, she had determined in an instant when it happened. Never encountered before, but she had to believe it in it once faced with irrefutable proof. "Probably in hell for all it matters, kid," she answers the voice that goes unheard by her cohort.
"Glasses," Ayame repeats back, hand coming up to her face to point at her eyes, as if it wasn't blatently obvious what she was referring to. She actually gives Marise a bit of a strange look for a fleeting moment.
Jesen stirs and Ayame stiffens a little, watching the misty aura around him. "Careful," she adds as it builds up for a moment before reducing a little. At least Marise will see that he's got something going on there! "He was building up something for a bit there, it looked like. I've seen him deal attacks with simply the touch of a finger." The girl lifts her hand, tapping the side of her head.
Her experience with Psycho Power users rivals that of some of the most veteran fighters in the world by now. "...Goes straight to your mind, or something. I'm not quite sure." She lowers her hand to join her other one, clasping them both up behind the back of her head. "Seen quite a few that fight that way. I don't get it."
~ A...ya...*static* ...why... *static* here... ~
His signal, truthfully, is rather weak right now. Considering the struggles earlier and the young boy is doped up at the moment. His breathing is a little slow, but he is still to.
~ Your spirit. ~
The yellow eyes shift towards the demonic woman. It doesn't widen out of shock, but remains as still as it is.
~ ...Corru-- *static* te. Dest--*static*--ath. ~
"Really?"
The Devil calmly asks of her subordinate in a very even tone of voice, utterly belying the growing storm of fury. Lips pressed tightly with baleful eyes all but burrowing holes through the young, bound boy's corpus.
One of two things are happening here. Either this child indeed is empowering himself precisely as her companion is saying.. Or he's exercising a measure of mind-control over her and influencing her curiously panicked reactions without visible cue. In either event, the solution for both would be the same. Without so much as glancing in her direction, the Devil's arm suddenly whips forth with the speed of a striking serpent. Closing the distance to wrap her fingers around Ayame's frail throat and -drag- her over in a most unkind fashion. Not choking the girl, but certainly her cold, oddly clammy grip is not a very comfortable thing to endure.
The Devil holds the young thing partly before her, to keep her within the periphery of her vision as she never takes her eyes of the captive now. If he is indeed radiating some kind of power she cannot see, the girl will serve as a proverbial canary in the cage. If she reacts, she'll know to react as well.
"Well.. Girl.." Marise seethes as her other hand lifts. Two fingertips pointed outstretched with the others closed tightly. Her purple-colored nails slowly extend themselves with the sound of shrieking steel, distressingly close to her held ally. "..We have THAT-"
The Devil -rams- her knife-length nails into the boy's held arm. Impaling his flesh in a region that is very superficial.. if extraordinarily painful, "-Much in common."
Only then does the cruel creature lower herself down more, her tresses slithering over her shoulders as her cruel, spreading grin gleams with fangs, "You have a tongue, boya." Her words punctuated as she -twists- her claws, "...I much suggest using it while you still have it."
The voice once again broadcasts to only one of the two females in the room, leaving Ayame wrestling against the pained, struggling confusion eminating from the restrained youth. "I don't have the answers you're looking for," comes the reply, dodging the question. Why indeed? What exactly is to be answered here? Ayame wants to know why he is diminishing, why he has a half that had brazenly sought to attack her, and why he is Vega's mindless tool. But she suspects that isn't what the dark woman is curious about.
Her thoughts are cut off as she finds herself grabbed by a grip far too swift to slip out of before she's literally yanked across the room toward Marise and held in place. Her hands that were behind her back come up, at first reaching up to clasp the Devil's arms as Ayame gets ready to try and pry her way free, but one look at Marise tells her that would probably not be a good goal and she ends up becoming still, her hands slipping free of Marise's wrists to hang at her sides.
Her breaths coming faster as she widens her eyes, looking at Marise with a visible amount of fear. "It's the truth, I- He can-" she starts to stammer just before Marise impales Jesen's arm with a nail far too long to be human. Her stammering stops when a sudden realization strikes, Ayame staring at Marise with a certain amount of surprise. She figured it out. The woman can't see it. Can't see the misty energy building up around him. For all her cruelity, all the fear she instills in others, she has one wide open weakness and right now Ayame knows what it is. That flaring energy around Jesen and others like him... Those yellow, slitted irises can't see it. At. All. A knowledge she keeps to herself as she buttons up, mouth forming a tight lipped expression.
As the knife-length nails pierces against the boy's held arm, the eyes widen once more. This causes for the body trapped inside the storage to cringe in pain. While the flesh is captured, his eyes shut tightly, then his head lifts up and gazes at the ceiling.
The boy cringes with the twisting added. "I..." The mature tone mumbles while doped up. "....I... where... am I?"
There is not much more that he can do. His senses are stupored and he isn't sure what's going on. But everything feels so odd.
The Devil's attention briefly changes to her held comrade, marking the shift of her expression and her stammering words.
She was going on about something.. 'Answers?' Slowly realization dawns that the boy has been communicating to her somehow. That there was no emission from him.. No visible trail of energies she can perceive to fuel such a communication is completely and utterly maddening!
Knowledge has always been her greatest strength. Her gaze pierces both spirit and flesh, leaving no secret she cannot simply pluck from her enemies. A great power that many would kill to possess, if they knew of it.
But finally.. The Kinmagan has found a new limitation. A secret she cannot pierce with a simple look. And it only enrages her by the second.
The sudden look of revelation on the girl's features isn't missed, but for now the fact that the girl's eyes are clear and most human is the Devil's greatest asset. For now.. Ayame will have to be her eyes. Her interpreter for the unheard.
"..What.. Did he say?" The ghoulish maiden demands of her subordinate. Her fingers shifting over her throat with a measure of impatience.. Openly admitting such ignorance is not something the creature is in the habit of doing. But, for now, she has no choice.
As the young captive finally gains voice, the Devil's claw retracts abruptly. Pulled free as her other hand reaches forth to clutch at his lower jaw. Razored nails hovering over his youthful flesh as her grip dimples his skin painfully. Just high enough to allow him to speak verbally.. If uncomfortably. "Where you are.. Is not your concern boya. Listen to me now very.. very carefully."
Marise's golden, inhuman eyes may be useless against him.. But they're still most intimidating as they dimly glow with unveiled threat, "You will answer every question I have for you. Your lips shall only reveal truth. If you do these things.. I may yet allow your existence to continue. Are we entirely clear, child?"
That's right. Blind to his power, and deaf to his telepathy... Very interesting. Ayame is slowly putting it all together in her head but one would be hard pressed to tell with how impassive her expression is. That is, of course, until Marise applies a touch of pressure to her delicate throat, implying impatience over ANY delay.
"He asked why he's here," the girl states in a hurry. "The rest isn't clear. He spoke of corruption and... death," her brown eyes glance down toward the boy while she remains prefectly still in Marise's grasp. "I think he's talking about you." That part isn't entirely true, but it sounds like a good guess. Ayame suspects he's talking about /herself/. Has she progressed since he last saw her or only continued down the path she chose for herself for better or worse?
"Careful," she states as Marise reaches for his jaw. "I'm not sure if he can conduct his power through places other than his fingers." Part of her suspects that if Marise gets jolted by anything nasty, the woman might just out and out crush her neck as part of the spasm. Thus it behoves the girl to encourage caution, to put it mildly.
Her attention is mostly on Jesen now though. "Just tell her what she wants to know," the girl encourages. Whether Marise has any intent to let him live she is somewhat skeptical of, but it can't hurt to try. Maybe it'll get him through this ordeal swiftly and that'll be the end of it all.
His senses are so much haywire. He can't quite fantom what to make of his predictament. He knows that he is trapped within the hands of the woman, especially considering her cruel manner. There is a bit of relief as she lets go of the arm, but his head is now held uncomfortably. Once given the propersition, the young boy merely looks up at hr, then he slowly starts to nod. "Very... well.."
There is nothing abnormal for now.
The Devil makes a dismissive scoff as the girl translates the captive youth's mental meanderings. To the first, Marise does not dignify with a response. Once she sees fit to give this morsel a shred of information he'll be the first to know. As for the second? ..Keh. Perceptive isn't he?
Perhaps he might be referring to both of them. But then.. if so.. which is which? In either regard, the fact that the boy is quite perceptive of his captors compared to the Ninja's own ignorance is not helping her temper in the slightest.
The warning, however, is heeded. If a very reluctant gesture, as the Devil releases the fallen Angel's chin. Pushing his head to the side a fraction as he agrees to the terms.. at least tentatively.
Fine then. Lets see if he'll be making this easy on himself..
Marise's hand moves from Ayame's throat to merely remain upon her shoulder now. Holding her close by, but no longer with quite the threat behind it as she begins her verbal interrogation, "What is your name.. And where did you receive this power, boya?" Getting right to the heart of the matter..
Ayame's breaths calm slightly as Marise's grip shifts to her shoulder instead of her neck. She doesn't feel that much safer, but there's a certain natural terror in having one's neck held by a creature that seems to move with strength that hardly befits her stature.
Jesen has agreed to speak and Ayame simply hopes the interrogation can be swift and to the point. While she isn't visibly perspiring, the girl feels like she's suffocating in the atmosphere of the room. It may look like simply three individuals having a forced, unpleasant conversation, but to actually be there is to know that there is SO much more in play.
Marise's hand draws back from Jesen and Ayame exhales a little, glancing at him once then avoiding his eyes all together. And Marise's eyes. In fact, there's very little she can find to look at that doesn't feel awkward other than to focus absently on the restrained boy. He was born with it, she ponders to herself, quite certain that that is the answer as she contemplates the visions the mountain showed her a while back. But she leaves it to Jesen to respond to his interrogation, remaining silent herself.
The body remains under its dazed state, unblinking as Marise finally releases his head, even if its pushing his head to the side. The body remains still, until he slowly draws his head forward to see Marise. She is asking for his name.
"Jesen."
Then, there is the question of where his powers came from. "I was born with it. ...It was revealed when my people were first attacked. I drove the soldiers of the post-Kosovo War era away. The rest... came from part of Lord Vega's soul.
However, there is something interesting that Ayame is likely going to tune to. It's hard not to, as the energy becomes haywire. For some reason, what was supposed to be something within Jesen somehow transmits out on a psychic level.
'...You should had let me handle it,' the childish voice states.
Deep within the very depths, that dark plane has a field separating the two shadows.
'I could not, Sanel, it would not had done any good,' the mature voice speaks out.
'...Stupid! This is why I should had taken over! I could had crushed them both! Now look where we are. This cage... I hate it. ...Just let me out of it. Let me feel that freedom once more.'
Jesen, however, speaks. "...Vega infused me with his power, which put me in servitude."
As her little canary quiets herself for this part of the interrogation, The Devil pays her no further mind for the moment.
So she's listening? Yess.. Very good, very resourceful. If the Devil were capable of such a thing, she would be much sorrowful for using the girl as such a shield. She has potential indeed if she's wise enough to shut it and pay very, very careful attention.
Unfortunately, it is far more information than Marise would have desired the girl to know. Weaknesses are not things she sees fit to share with anyone. Even allies. After all, allies are simply enemies whom haven't found a good enough reason to kill you. Yet.
Well now, either this 'Jesen' is an elaborate liar, or he is most forthcoming with particularly damning information. Even the Devil's eyebrows lift as the name 'Lord Vega' is mentioned. Of course, the inner turmoil within his mind is completely missed by the creature as she follows upon the spoken words with a slight tilt over her head. Peering down upon him from an aloof posture, "Well then boya.. It would seem you have a most uncommon pedigree." Even Marise is vaguely aware of the Dictator's great power. She has never seen the man in person, even though she fought for him in his Thailand War. She had seen several of his 'Dolls' in action.. And they seemed competent to her.. Even if, perhaps, she did not see the true strength of their competency.
But Vega's part is not overly what interests her..
"..Tell me. Whom are your birth parents then?" The Devil whispers lowly. Rewarding his current cooperation by not 'inspiring' him to speak up.
"Selna and Erham Ibrahim." Pause. "Both deceased, as well as the entire village."
'....Thanks to those humans,' hisses the younger sounding voice. 'It hurts, this field.'
There is no point of not answering the questions. Everything besides him is dead. Besides, there is no further use of the outdated information in existance. Even he has no idea how why he has such power. All that he knows is that in his current situation, it's best to remain alive. For his brother.
A village? Hmmmm.
"And where is the location of this 'village', boya?" The Devil further questions, her golden eyes narrowing a fraction further.
It seems the direct connection is cut, but no village exists in a vacuum. Not even in the most secluded parts of Japan, China, Europe or this Godless Americas. Genealogical records may exist in adjoining villages. Research could be done. Coupled with copious amounts of blood sampling from the boy and devoted research to the surrounding area.. Perhaps further ancestry could be found.
Or better yet, a 'fingerprint' upon which others like him could be found.
With Vega's death, that lead is.. alas.. quiet dead-ended. Besides, fundamental studies on a creature as powerful as he would be a difficult proposition at best. However... As he was born with part of his power, clearly there are others than Vega and his Dolls with his power. Other lineages.. Perhaps family members the boy himself had never known.
Ayame is a spectre throughout the questioning an answering. There, but lost in thought, paying attention for signs of trouble, but rolling ideas, theories, and machinations around in her head. That Marise is now interested in this boy who bears powers she cannot sense in the slightest is captivating to the girl. It's like standing next to Achilles the very moment his gaping weakness in his heel was discovered. Knowledge like that might be vital someday...
Jesen speaks of his parents and Ayame thinks back to the visions she saw. Marise asks of the village and the girl is silent as she contemplates the massacre there. She's seen it all before - the story he has to tell. But she leaves it to him to volunteer. Why speak of dreams remembered when the source himself lies here before them after all?
She almost mouths 'Albania', but remains silent instead, deciding that for now that would be the most prudent course. A quiet inhale and exhale marks the only sound the girl makes other than shifting her feet a little. He isn't doing anything that warrents being worried. Not righ tnow. Though even she can tell there's a struggle taking place within - one she might have some idea of based on prior interaction.
"...Albania."
The boy answers. Other than that, the young boy remains completely silent, staring at the sky with the currently soulless eyes as the drugs continue to dope him up. He does, however, have his eyes dart around every once in a while.
'Hahahhahaa..... Isn't it funny how the girl that caught your interests is the one that backstabbed you?! How long before that one guy who caught your interests does the same thing?! Huh?! You say humans progress! Where is her progression?! Tell me! Can you tell me where her progression is at? Do you need a knife driven in your back for you to see things how they are?! Humans. Are. All. The. Same.'
'My conviction stands.'
'...Idiot.'
The boy looks up towards Marise at this point, awaiting the next question.
Unfortunately for the Brothers Ibrahim.
Fewer individuals in this room are completely human than they surmise.
Albania hrm?
A moment of recollection and Marise turns her thoughts over those pathetic European countries. Blots on the map filled with barbarians and savages too stupid to realize how meaningless they are in the schemes of the powers around them. A small little country like that, and it should take little effort to uncover the village of which the boy speaks.
Fine then. To the next matter..
"Well now.. Do tell. What did 'Lord Vega' program you to do, boya? Are there records of your orders? A primary base of command? Others in your 'team'? And by all means.."
The Devil calmly slides a nail tip along his leg, gliding over the fabric and cleaving the material with all the ease of a razor. .... Along with a very delicate red trail to arise a second later, "..Do not leave out details.."
While not directly important, perhaps fully understanding what Vega was using the boy for could help give insight if Vega similarly used others like him. If he had teammates or 'batch mates' or some such. Or if there are records of his development in some little-known research facility Shadaloo seems to have sprinkled all over the world.
Elle could use that information. After all, one such cache yielded a surprising bounty.. If reading the summary of the 'Russian Girl' encounter is any indication. Perhaps the two are of a related mission?
The boy falls silent for a few moments, then he shuts his eyes and he listens to her words, "....It... turned me, or part of me into a monster."
'...Don't you -DARE- call me that! Don't. You. DAR---' Singe of crackle heard before a writhing scream escapes from inside.
Jesen, nevertheless, says, "No. There are no records of my orders. All what I've done were kill a few people, some of them small political figures and others espionage." As the nail slides along his leg, the boy feels his clothes ripple as well as the leg bleeding. He cringes slightly, but he does little.
"Monster? Mooonster?"
The Devil drags the word over her tongue as a slow smirk corrupts her expression. Golden eyes slowly lift to the ceiling for a moment, surveying the blank, dimly lit surface as her thoughts wander for the first time in this interrogation. "Keh.. keh ha.."
Eyes then turning to Ayame in full. The dark maiden's smile is a knowing one, a wordless suggestion for the girl to pay attention as her cold hand tightens upon her shoulder just a fraction.
Only then does Marise's attention return to the captive, looking into his own golden eyes as her grin begins to slowly dominate her expression.
"Let me tell you what a monster truly is, boya. Consider it a gift.. a token for being such a cooperative little pet." The woman leans forth again, daringly reaching forth to gently slide her leading finger amidst his cerulean bangs. Her voice becoming a low whisper, letting him in on a little secret. Just amongst the three of them.
"A monster.. Is someone whom does not know what they are. A monster.. sleeps peacefully at night, nestled in all the sweet lies their family sings them. Little lies like, 'Friendship', 'Humanity'." Fingertips dragging along his cheek softly, a delicate.. almost motherly touch, "A monster is a creature that feels secure that they are not one. That in the name of righteousness.. Justice.. Truth.. They can do no wrong. Monsters.."
Her hand cupping his cheek, caressing his lips with her thumb, "..Were your parents. Those villagers. Everyone in your small little existence that told you to believe in the greatest lie of all."
Cold digits curling to clutch at his cheek, dimpling his lips as she forms the word upon her own, "Loooove..."
With a dismissive toss, the Devil simply slaps the side of his face away with enough force to bounce his skull on the coffin beneath him. Straightening, her grin replaced by a cold frown on her plush lips, the creature mutters, "You were born a monster, boya. Vega made you into something better. Do not speak ill of the one thing that makes your miserable existence worthwhile."
The exchange between the two has Ayame captivated. Jesen believing he was turned into a monster while Marise lectures that just the opposite happened. Brown eyes glance back and forth between them, uncertain where she even stands, herself. She definitely believes a lot of what the Devil preaches. Self-righteous sorts bring out a certain anger that is rarely displayed in the girl.
The thought of being stuffed back at home, ignorant of the world due to the obliviousness her parents would have had her accept as truth... That indeed is being a monster in her mind. A useless cretin deserving of nothing but loathing. A faint smile curls at the edge of her mouth, one of her hands tightening. Yes, they here aren't the monsters - /that/ moniker belongs to those she encounters every day. The hopeless masses awash in denial of how the world really works...
She hazards a glance to the side toward the dark woman, however. Is that really what she wants to grow into? Even a girl as lost as she can recognize the gulf that exists between them. When Marise was surrounded by the lavish idols of a wealthy lifestyle Ayame was envious. But here, in this chamber with the woman, the girl finds herself feeling quite different.
The girl's attention is brought back to the present as Marise smacks the poor captured boy. She opens her mouth, about to say something, about to point out that he's cooperating so there isn't any need to slash and slap him so, but thinks better of it, her mouth closing, her smile from a moment before slipping away to be replaced by a tight lipped expression once more. How long can this ordeal possibly last?
Once she laughs, Jesen is soon given the attention as she decides to educate him on the definition of monster. While she reaches to slide the finger along his bangs. As her voice is whispered out, the boy allows her to speak.
Each touch makes him wonder where it leads to. However, it s known that he is to expect the worse. And it is shown after the slap across the face to have his head bounce against the coffin.
"...A monster is that which seeks to snuff out life. ...What causes the destruction. Corruption. Death. War. Those that thrive on horror is what makes the monster."
"That is, what I do not seek."
'Screw this... I'm breaking this barrier.'
'Sanel! No!'
Soon, the 'mist' inside the coffin starts to change color to pitch black. His eyes slowly turn to level straight at Marise. Then, Ayame. The girl is given a glare, but it starts to turn to a pain look as the eyes snap shut. Wincing, his aura fades and actually becomes a bright glow.
Ayame's eyes are focused once again upon the boy as she contemplates his fate. What is to become of him here? Elle's instructions didn't leave a lot of room for flexibility... The mist begins to gather and the young theif speaks up, "He's doing something, a black aura growing stronger," the girl warns, hands coming up as if getting ready to defend herself.
His eyes close and the darkness is replaced with a more pure luminescence. "It's changed now, brighter in color, approaching white..." She glances toward Marise for only a moment before studying Jesen further. Can the woman clearly not see any of this? How is that possible?
"Tch." Marise sniffs with venomous contempt. Lovely lips contorting with disgust at the boy's complete denial of the truth. "I had thought Vega would have taught his toys better than this."
Hmph. No wonder that man is dead if this is the best he can do in minions. The Fallen Miko would make for a better assassin than this boy. Power is one thing. But the will, the drive to use it? Without that.. One is simply fodder for use by others. No matter.. No matter..
The Devil doesn't seem to care much for the boy's mewling and pained flinching.. She has, after all, stabbed him in the arm amongst other lesser violations.. His discomfort is not unexpected.
Her ally's warning, however, steals Marise's attention.
The radiance of the child is completely unseen. Not even a slight cue of recognition passes over Marise's features as Ayame issues the advisory. The words are certainly heeded as Marise's gaze returns to the straining child, frown deepening severely.
Such a change of aura can only mean the boy's intentions are changing. Any change from 'painful submission' is not a good direction in the ghost's book. The youth is too dangerous to allow consciousness. She's verbally heard all she needs from him. Let him go back to sleep and she can carve whatever truth she desires from his flesh and bones at her leisure later.
Immediately, the Devil reaches up and punches a combination upon the keypad on the side of the coffin. Immediately the lid begins to sink downwards with the sound of hissing hydraulics.
"I believe we've heard enough from him, dear." The Devil comments to Ayame as she finally releases her. Stepping back calmly while awaiting the metal device to seal, "..We'll move to the next phase of his.. 'interrogation'.. Keh.."
For the most part, as the boy takes over, Jesen grits his teeth, trying to 'control' that part of him that wants to up and break everything around. This does, nevertheless, causes Jesen to become sealed once more as the lid sinks downward.
However, there is that swirling energy building up inside the boy. That energy is starting to undergo a peak of bursts that keeps striking at the coffin as it is sinking straight to the ground.
The last part, Ayame can hear. It's the unsettling tone of the child as he hisses out, 'You're unfit with your power. I'll take over.'
Soon, that Psycho Power becomes destructive. That destructive power soon radiates a powerful burst into the air, before the mist spreads across the entire coffin, enshrouding it.
Fighting through the drugs still in him, the body finally breaks through the constraints and finally fades out of existance.
Once the mist clears.... the boy is no longer in the coffin.
The Devil then turns her back on the iron coffin as it sinks closed behind her. The hissing sound of tranquilizers fill the air as the contents of that vessel most assuredly are being cast back into oblivion's embrace.. Certainly..
"Hm.. Rather sloppy conditioning.." Marise muses to Ayame as much as herself. Index finger tapping her lower lip a moment as her mind rifles through the possibilities in the wake of the interrogation, "..Unreliable. Useless as an assassin. Clearly why he was sent on so few missions.. He must have been a failed experiment.. However.."
The Devil just begins to further consider other possibilities..
..Until the sound of snapping locks can faintly be heard from within the steel prison.
Instantly the ghost whirls about. Golden eyes flaring with a snarl on her lips.. No flash or destruction can be seen in her eyes. Only the sound of things breaking most audibly.. And with a single step closer she can see that the sole occupant is very much gone.
"...Hnn.." The Devil of Koga murmurs lowly, "...Ayame-san."
Her head slowly tilting to regard the girl once more, "...I have a mission for you.."
As Marise muses out loud, Ayame leans her head to the side, "There is the other side of him," the girl notes. "The part he was fighting against. Perhaps that's where the killer lies. Maybe we were merely speaking to the mask that hides it from the light of day..." Nothing she's seen of the boy Jesen suggests that he would be at all useful to the likes of Vega. Vega wasn't likely in the business of sending his minions out to make a concerted effort to help wayward souls reform after all.
But then there's sounds that don't make any sense coming from the container and Ayame whirls around, expecting an attack only to find the coffin empty. Shoulders relax a little. One way or another, the ordeal is over. The captive is gone, she doesn't have to be Marise's canary now. And, on some level, she doesn't have to worry about the part Elle said would come after Marise got all she wanted. Callus to a fault, there's still some things Ayame isn't particularly keen on bearing witness to. What creative means of ending a life this creature at her side can come up with happens to be among them.
But now the Devil addresses her and Ayame's thoughts shift back to the present. "Yes?" she asks, bowing her head just slightly, brown eyes glancing over Marise's yellow irises before shifting to the floor, unable to meet her gaze for long. "Whatever you need me to do."
Log created on 01:13:44 01/11/2008 by Marise, and last modified on 04:29:25 01/15/2008.