Post by Kaija on Aug 21, 2022 20:34:02 GMT
The two plunge into the void, leaving the catacombs cold and silent.
The phantom slid off of the blade just after entering the endless expanse. The only light that either of them could see emanated from the hunter’s infernal armor and Isaebella’s translucent, luminescent form. The specter’s head, now practically split in half, slumped down onto her ethereal shoulders. Yet still, her body continued to move with purpose.
Though, perhaps not as much focus.
Kore backed away as the roar of gunfire returned to her ears. Haphazardly, the ghost fired round after sporadic round into the abyss in random directions. Funnily enough, none of them seemed to draw particularly close to her actual location. The hunter’s brow furrowed for a moment at the unsettling display, but it quickly became apparent that the ghost’s body was moving without much conscious directive. And, as the scythe in her hands fell apart-
-she let out a sigh of relief.
The hunter continued to watch the rampaging corpse of her injured prey until the roar of gunfire became the light clicking of a trigger pulled on a long-since empty gun. Slowly, her attention shifted away from the necromancer and settled upon the silver fluid leaking from her spectral wounds. More memories from Isabella’s past were painted upon the strange liquid, it seemed. And all of them seemed to revolve around her sister and the relationship between them. Morgan seemed to be the only person that Sugar Skull still seemed to care about in the end. The only one whose phylactery wasn’t bound directly to her own soul. A hero by the name of, uh…
Kore began to squint as she drew closer to one of the memories.
She glanced up at the spirit with a raised brow as it began to disintegrate and fade away, then surveyed a few more of the memories while she still had the chance. Another few minutes would pass before the echo of Isabella and all of her liquid memories simply ceased to exist. All that was left behind was another cursed skull and the shattered remains of a once-cursed scythe. With a wave of her hand, she shunted the artifacts away to their own little pocket within the void where she could call upon them later when needed. Then, the hunter would return to the base of the catacombs.
Alone.
The first thing that she would do with this newfound moment of peace was reach out with her Sin Sense until she felt the familiar soul of a witch a ways off in the distance. A thought occurred to her once more- an explanation for why the ‘unkillable’ echo of Sugar Skull had perished within the void- but she decided not to fixate on it and focus on the task at hand. She took another deep breath, cleared her mind, and surveyed the area around her for anything that might’ve been useful in the days to come. Then?
She opened up another void orb and got to work collecting some of that sweet evidence.
The painting on the ceiling. The shattered remnants of the enchanted guns. Any of the skulls in the wall that came loose. A lighter, a scalpel, a necklace and whatever else might’ve proven useful in the future. All neatly sealed away in the void for later use. And, when she finally felt satisfied? She’d walk into that same dark sphere-
-and emerge next to Silvaria shortly afterwards.
The witch was looking a little rough. And, if she turned and met eyes with the hunter, she’d notice a neutral expression written all over her face. Perhaps tired was a better word to describe it. It certainly wasn’t the kind of look that one wore when they were happy to see a battle come to an end. Her violet eyes would shift away from Silvaria towards the shattered phylactery, only to return to the witch shortly after. It didn’t take long for the devil to figure out what had happened.
Deep underground, the hunter sealed the ghost of Isabella away and neutralized her as a threat without shattering her phylactery. Then, shortly after, Silvaria shattered that very same phylactery, terminated the ghost that had already been incapacitated, and destroyed the last chance that they had to leave with a pristine stone. In light of this realization, Kore simply stood there in silence. Quietly contemplating the events that lead to this current moment until-
She got down and sat on the ground “seiza-style” and met eyes with the young witch. The neutral expression that she wore on her face was probably a bit worrying by this point. Then she sighed, reached out towards the witch, and put a firm hand on each of the girl’s shoulders. She inhaled slightly, as one often did before they said something of utmost importance.
…
The devil was a boldfaced liar today.
But, sometimes, a little white lie carried more goodwill than a harsh truth ever could.
Sure, Silvaria destroying that phylactery was completely unnecessary. In truth, it was a decision that might've ended up setting both of them back quite a bit. But Kore understood why she did it. And she just didn't have anything to gain from being an unreasonable asshole. Sometimes people had to act with limited information and go with their gut in a critical moment. And honestly?
A loyal employee… or, well, a loyal ally was far more valuable to her than one who put the job before the wellbeing of their comrades.
The phantom slid off of the blade just after entering the endless expanse. The only light that either of them could see emanated from the hunter’s infernal armor and Isaebella’s translucent, luminescent form. The specter’s head, now practically split in half, slumped down onto her ethereal shoulders. Yet still, her body continued to move with purpose.
Though, perhaps not as much focus.
Kore backed away as the roar of gunfire returned to her ears. Haphazardly, the ghost fired round after sporadic round into the abyss in random directions. Funnily enough, none of them seemed to draw particularly close to her actual location. The hunter’s brow furrowed for a moment at the unsettling display, but it quickly became apparent that the ghost’s body was moving without much conscious directive. And, as the scythe in her hands fell apart-
-she let out a sigh of relief.
The hunter continued to watch the rampaging corpse of her injured prey until the roar of gunfire became the light clicking of a trigger pulled on a long-since empty gun. Slowly, her attention shifted away from the necromancer and settled upon the silver fluid leaking from her spectral wounds. More memories from Isabella’s past were painted upon the strange liquid, it seemed. And all of them seemed to revolve around her sister and the relationship between them. Morgan seemed to be the only person that Sugar Skull still seemed to care about in the end. The only one whose phylactery wasn’t bound directly to her own soul. A hero by the name of, uh…
Kore began to squint as she drew closer to one of the memories.
"That’s… Memento Mori, huh.”
She glanced up at the spirit with a raised brow as it began to disintegrate and fade away, then surveyed a few more of the memories while she still had the chance. Another few minutes would pass before the echo of Isabella and all of her liquid memories simply ceased to exist. All that was left behind was another cursed skull and the shattered remains of a once-cursed scythe. With a wave of her hand, she shunted the artifacts away to their own little pocket within the void where she could call upon them later when needed. Then, the hunter would return to the base of the catacombs.
Alone.
The first thing that she would do with this newfound moment of peace was reach out with her Sin Sense until she felt the familiar soul of a witch a ways off in the distance. A thought occurred to her once more- an explanation for why the ‘unkillable’ echo of Sugar Skull had perished within the void- but she decided not to fixate on it and focus on the task at hand. She took another deep breath, cleared her mind, and surveyed the area around her for anything that might’ve been useful in the days to come. Then?
She opened up another void orb and got to work collecting some of that sweet evidence.
The painting on the ceiling. The shattered remnants of the enchanted guns. Any of the skulls in the wall that came loose. A lighter, a scalpel, a necklace and whatever else might’ve proven useful in the future. All neatly sealed away in the void for later use. And, when she finally felt satisfied? She’d walk into that same dark sphere-
-and emerge next to Silvaria shortly afterwards.
The witch was looking a little rough. And, if she turned and met eyes with the hunter, she’d notice a neutral expression written all over her face. Perhaps tired was a better word to describe it. It certainly wasn’t the kind of look that one wore when they were happy to see a battle come to an end. Her violet eyes would shift away from Silvaria towards the shattered phylactery, only to return to the witch shortly after. It didn’t take long for the devil to figure out what had happened.
Deep underground, the hunter sealed the ghost of Isabella away and neutralized her as a threat without shattering her phylactery. Then, shortly after, Silvaria shattered that very same phylactery, terminated the ghost that had already been incapacitated, and destroyed the last chance that they had to leave with a pristine stone. In light of this realization, Kore simply stood there in silence. Quietly contemplating the events that lead to this current moment until-
"Silvaria…”
She got down and sat on the ground “seiza-style” and met eyes with the young witch. The neutral expression that she wore on her face was probably a bit worrying by this point. Then she sighed, reached out towards the witch, and put a firm hand on each of the girl’s shoulders. She inhaled slightly, as one often did before they said something of utmost importance.
…
"Thank you,” she leaned forward, pulled the girl in, and gave her a warm hug before returning to arm’s length and flashing her a warm- albeit light- smile, "You saved my life. If you hadn’t smashed that stone when you did, Isabella would’ve blown my head clean off.”
The devil was a boldfaced liar today.
But, sometimes, a little white lie carried more goodwill than a harsh truth ever could.
Sure, Silvaria destroying that phylactery was completely unnecessary. In truth, it was a decision that might've ended up setting both of them back quite a bit. But Kore understood why she did it. And she just didn't have anything to gain from being an unreasonable asshole. Sometimes people had to act with limited information and go with their gut in a critical moment. And honestly?
A loyal employee… or, well, a loyal ally was far more valuable to her than one who put the job before the wellbeing of their comrades.
"You okay? Still got enough strength to walk?” Kore might’ve been disappointed with the outcome, but she was actually a little proud of Silvaria, "Let’s head back and tend to those wounds of yours before we get mixed up in something else, alright?”