immortalpoet: (ruby)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
[It was the other shoe that dropped.]

[He had always expected his sins to catch up to him. The children discovering the truth one day that their parents, their families, loved ones had all been taken from this world by his own vicious hands. Sure, it was for jobs. But it didn't change the fact that the orphanage had existed out of his own spilled blood.]

[Lobelia comes to him, and as he's shaking his head out of the moment, blinking away the horrible scenery, he's leaning into the other man. His arm snakes around him, keeps him close. Vulnerable. That bleeding heart in full force.]


...This damned place. [He's gaining some strength back, pulling himself up - his head presses against the other's. Don't go. Don't go.] Let's get out of here.
Edited 2023-06-14 04:30 (UTC)
immortalpoet: (Default)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 08:05 am (UTC)(link)
...Of course.

[Something in his chest flutters like an impatient butterfly. He listens as the man moves from a whistle to a click - he's really trying his best, isn't he? For his sake, too.]

[That kiss feels so soft against him, yet at the same time it feels like a pleasant burn, filling him with a new warmth. To think that Lobelia of all people would be doing something like this - if he told the Lobelia of the past that something like this would be shared between them, would he have laughed in his face?]

[He nods dimly, starting to extract himself away from the other, but not before a kiss is placed at the junction of Lobelia's jaw over a cheek. His voice sounds renewed, though gravely as always.]


Then let's go. Hell or high waters. Which direction should we take?
immortalpoet: (cardinal)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 03:47 pm (UTC)(link)
Right.

[One step after another. No matter what happens. He might not be in the best mental state right now, having to relive horrific memories, but he's not one to be cowed. He stares straight ahead, focused, hoping this will be over soon-]

[And within Lobelia's grip, with the change in scenery, Vergilius disappears.]

[The magician will find himself in a strange auction room. The walls are covered in off-putting surreal paintings, many of stylized eyes, and....actual eyes, it seems, staring from small holes in the wall. They shift and move, gazing over the crowd of auctiongoers. At the head of the room is a stage, a curtain, and a feminine person with a veil covering their eyes, chatting with someone who looks like he's staff.]

[Lobelia may realize that he's sitting amongst the crowd, a veil covering his head. In fact, almost everyone here is in the same position, their heads bowed, their heads obscured by fabric. The only two who have no head covering are directly to Lobelia's right - his wife, with glasses perched on his nose, and a young nervous-looking man.]

[Vergilius seems to be glancing over the auction placard in his hands, with no awareness of Lobelia sitting next to him.]
immortalpoet: (cardinal)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
[There is a bit of chatter among the staff from the front it seems they're ready to get it started. Before it gets rolling, though, the young person bends in, anxious, to whisper to Vergilius:]

["Sir..."]

[But Vergilius is as calm as ever, only his eyebrows furrowed as he stares at the feminine Maestro of the auction.]

[Don't worry. We don't have to bow down. Rather, they'd be honored to see their works frayed by my gaze.]

[The Maestro steps forward, their voice light, airy - the curtain is drawn back on the first item.]




[A member of the audience raises their placard. Then another. Yet another. 35 million. 40 million. 40 million going once, will anyone give me 45-?]

[Vergilius and the young man don't move. Lobelia should notice that Vergilius isn't staring at the urn, but at a man sitting closer to the front, who also seems to be as still as a statue - his red glasses can almost be seen through the veil.]

[Whatever they're both waiting for, it isn't this.]
Edited 2023-06-14 17:11 (UTC)
immortalpoet: (Default)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 06:07 pm (UTC)(link)
[More items are put up. One of note is a man dancing like a ballerina in a glass box - Mr. Stroud, the Maestro announces, going on for dancing for 3 years now. More bids are made. But still, Vergilius, the young man, and the one he's staring at still do not move, still do not make a bet.]

[We've already reached our final item of the day. It's my favorite one, and one I will expect will sell the highest. I am overjoyed to present this piece to you.]

[Heretofore, an infamous Syndicate known for its brutal reign was wiped out in a single battle. All of its members, including its leader, were annihilated in that carnage.]

[Vergilius notably tenses as the curtain is raised.]

[Since this battle, their names and records have been expunged. Who they were, what they did, whether they deserved their fate....everything about that Syndicate and its members remains a mystery. This painting is painted from the consciousness of the sold survivor unto death after onslaught...]

[A vicious, frenzied painting with thorns, burning red dashes of paint rising from it like fire.]



[The placards are raised, one after the other. Vergilius's eyes narrow. Yes. 1.2 billion. 1.25 billion. 1.3 billion. We have 1.4 billion over there.]

[And then suddenly-]

[The man with the red glasses stands up, his tone stern, serious as anything.]

[10 billion.]

[The audience clamors at the large bid. The young man at Vergilius' side murmurs, looking more nervous - "Is it possible he's after the same thing as us?"]

[And a murmur from Vergilius in return. The corridor of the Ring, access granted to those who win the meister's most cherished work. He's determined to go there no matter what.]

[Vergilius's expression seems especially tight, but the Maestro is already calling for final bids - something must be done.]

[The Red Gaze stands to be lost to another-]
immortalpoet: (cardinal)

cw: death

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 06:38 pm (UTC)(link)
[Vergilius-]


[Stands.]

[More clamoring. The man with the red glasses shouts, clearly shocked - Hold it!! This is not in line with the rules!! Was it not that the group with the highest bid would be allowed in the corridor-?! Even one of the staff, her smirk alighting her half-hidden face, the other half covered with a garish mask, addresses Vergilius.]

[Hey You ought to pay the full price in cash here and now, right?]

[Vergilius opens his mouth.

[I have something more valuable.]

[It's something of a counterfeit, produced by someone's dying mind. I'm sure you know the painting is unfinished. However......what if I could complete it?]

[And then the world shifts. A lurching sensation, as the scene disappears, only to be replaced by something much more macabre - what seems to be a large public bathroom, covered in piles of dead bodies, carnage incarnate. A man stands in the midst of it, glancing towards the movement of a warm body - a much younger Vergilius, his eyes blazing coldly. There's no recognition.]

[Congrats, Lobelia! You've been trapped in a memory within a memory. And it doesn't seem like there's going back - for Vergilius scoffs, readies his sword.]


Ah, I missed one extra.

[And he's going right for Lobelia without even a shift of his expression.]
immortalpoet: (Default)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
[It seems he still has access to his powers - after all, the world of the City graces those who work hard enough (or pay enough) for their troubles, and to have someone manipulating sound is not something extremely miraculous.]

[Only a minute shift of Vergilius's face, as cold as ice, seems to express displeasure as he feels his sword get knocked back, but he's at it again. A veritable weapon. There's no displeasure, no pain, nothing. The raging fire of the man Lobelia knows is simply not there.]

[The heat of his gladius burns the air as he slams it down to try to amputate the man, nimbly stepping in between bodies as he moves.]
immortalpoet: (vermillion)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 08:11 pm (UTC)(link)
[The sound crushing into the sides of his head is the first thing so far to knock him off course - he falls to his knees, hissing and spitting out specks of blood.]

[Even though he falters, his eyes burning so harshly they're like lasers burning through metal, there's something harsh and disbelieving in them, a little hint of humanity behind the cold exterior.]

[His body is shuddering as he keeps ahold of his gladius, staring daggers into the other man.]


Who are...you?
immortalpoet: (Default)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 08:51 pm (UTC)(link)
...

[A scoff comes.]

You have to be kidding me.

[A flicker - he's pushing himself up ever slightly, gritting his teeth. What a joke. A colossal joke.]

[...]

[But there's a pause, a hesitation.]


...You're not part of the Syndicate, are you? Then I don't need to bother with you. I got the code. Lapis.

[.........]

Ha. The name of the boss's daughter.

[Now something seems to change, a mark of sorrow in his eyes, like drops in a well that has just been dug. Vergilius is now struggling to move to his feet.]

Get out of my way.
immortalpoet: (cherry)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 09:41 pm (UTC)(link)
...Why do you care?

[He's moving to shrug the other's grip off, grimacing.]

The job has been done. Kill the Syndicate. Get the code. That's all there is to it.

[......]

[There's something that seems left unsaid.]

[He tries to move past Lobelia.]
immortalpoet: (vermillion)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 09:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Shut up.

[Oh, there's the snapping anger - even if its mild compared to what Lobelia knows, and a bit unnatural coming from that young, almost emotionless face, its classic Vergilius, alright.]

[He's trying to pull away.]


You don't know me.
immortalpoet: (blood)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 10:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Is that so?

[Hi, you're getting the edge of his gladius placed against your throat, there, Lobelia, even with the humming in his veins. Even here and now, at this age, the rebelliousness of wanting to stay alive by any means possible is here, as taut as a steel wire.]

Tell me how you know that, and maybe I'll tell you what you want.
immortalpoet: (wine)

[personal profile] immortalpoet 2023-06-14 10:21 pm (UTC)(link)
...Not really, no.

[At least he's blunt about it.]

[But he stares at Lobelia for a moment, his head hurting, the taste of blood in his mouth, and maybe, just maybe, there's a glimmer of understanding, like a lantern shining briefly off a dark shore.]

[He lowers the sword, shakily..]


Maybe it fits I would have a fallen angel like you. [He spits blood to the side.] I don't...know.

[That slight urge, like a seed in a barren land, starting to bloom.]

I guess I'm...curious about that girl. Lapis.
Edited 2023-06-14 22:21 (UTC)

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