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Entry tags:
WEEK ZERO EXECUTION
week zero: execution
murder of crows
murder of crows
Hopefully you got a long night of sleep? Barring that, you got whatever answers, or closure, you might have needed. Because it's strangely quiet, the following Sunday morning. Moreso than Cittàgazze typically is. There's something almost oppressive hanging over the city, but it's a bright, clear, Mediterranean day.
Breaking the silence, somewhere, much like the song of Friday, there is the echoing, cruel laughter of voices you should faintly recognize throughout the city. It's followed by humming of that newly familiar song. It's strongest, interestingly, close to the courtyard.
As the clocks of the city strike 1 PM, though, there is a change as the voices fade. While there's no compulsion to investigate it, there's a small gathering in the courtyard. Your three Watchers are here with their daemons, and so are... Qi Rong, and his daemon, front and center of the square. All damages and evidence, anything amiss from the weekend, is all gone, and replaced with the state of the courtyard from the week prior.
Nearby, Baraqiel's daemon is pacing along the edge of the courtyard in tiger form, as if on guard duty. Baraqiel themself is simply keeping an eye on Qi Rong, holding him with one hand around both wrists behind his back, ignoring him otherwise as he rants at the three of them. Gripping hard on their hood and pulling over their face, Shamsiel stands there in relative silence while a small bird circles above their head chirping anxiously. Suriel's daemon is nowhere to be seen, though their hood does shift oddly as they look on, hands clasped before them as if to offer a prayer. The three appear to be having a hushed conversation, in the meantime, but a hurried one, glancing around occasionally or checking on Qi Rong and Xiao Jing. Are they waiting for something..?
And then, another party will be compelled to join them. Xie Lian will find that his feet are carrying him to his destination, San Lang keeping pace with him as they make their way down the streets of Cigazze. Once he passes through the centermost area of the courtyard, past where Suriel and Shamsiel stand, he'll find that he can't go back, and neither can his daemon. Baraqiel and their daemon are unceremoniously expelled from the heart of the courtyard, away from Qi Rong, skidding as they catch themselves, the other two Celestials stabilizing their companion and looking shocked.
Likewise, no one can enter the courtyard further than where the three Watchers stand. There will be no interfering from outside parties, no matter what it is that's about to happen. Any attempts to do so will result in them meeting an invisible barrier, one that rebuffs them with the same amount of force used against it—so take care.
Breaking the silence, somewhere, much like the song of Friday, there is the echoing, cruel laughter of voices you should faintly recognize throughout the city. It's followed by humming of that newly familiar song. It's strongest, interestingly, close to the courtyard.
As the clocks of the city strike 1 PM, though, there is a change as the voices fade. While there's no compulsion to investigate it, there's a small gathering in the courtyard. Your three Watchers are here with their daemons, and so are... Qi Rong, and his daemon, front and center of the square. All damages and evidence, anything amiss from the weekend, is all gone, and replaced with the state of the courtyard from the week prior.
Nearby, Baraqiel's daemon is pacing along the edge of the courtyard in tiger form, as if on guard duty. Baraqiel themself is simply keeping an eye on Qi Rong, holding him with one hand around both wrists behind his back, ignoring him otherwise as he rants at the three of them. Gripping hard on their hood and pulling over their face, Shamsiel stands there in relative silence while a small bird circles above their head chirping anxiously. Suriel's daemon is nowhere to be seen, though their hood does shift oddly as they look on, hands clasped before them as if to offer a prayer. The three appear to be having a hushed conversation, in the meantime, but a hurried one, glancing around occasionally or checking on Qi Rong and Xiao Jing. Are they waiting for something..?
And then, another party will be compelled to join them. Xie Lian will find that his feet are carrying him to his destination, San Lang keeping pace with him as they make their way down the streets of Cigazze. Once he passes through the centermost area of the courtyard, past where Suriel and Shamsiel stand, he'll find that he can't go back, and neither can his daemon. Baraqiel and their daemon are unceremoniously expelled from the heart of the courtyard, away from Qi Rong, skidding as they catch themselves, the other two Celestials stabilizing their companion and looking shocked.
Likewise, no one can enter the courtyard further than where the three Watchers stand. There will be no interfering from outside parties, no matter what it is that's about to happen. Any attempts to do so will result in them meeting an invisible barrier, one that rebuffs them with the same amount of force used against it—so take care.
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private conversations ✨ murder proposals ✨ curfew ✨ daemons ✨
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[ the spectres come closer, starting to press closer to xie lian and qi rong both - goosebumps go up xie lian's arms, and the shout of his cousin's name is somewhere between angry and distressed. san lang presses closer to xie lian's feet, still as a qilin, and the crown prince of xian le decides to swerve into action instead of waiting for qi rong to actually listen.
he jumps, leaping over his daemon in a cloud of white - a holy beacon in the middle of the ominous darkness, and makes it to qi rong, boots landing soundlessly on the cobblestone. the action agitates the wound in his chest - but xie lian ignores it and brings his sword back up, even willingly putting his back in front of qi rong without a second thought.
he's your family. are you alright?
the storm of the spectres makes xie lian's heart pound. he's not afraid, not of these creatures. he's not, he's not.
this could be it - trapped in a box like this, surrounded by the spectres that start to press closer and closer to them. one inky cloud sails over their heads, almost close enough to brush the top of xie lian's bun, and he shivers, racking his brain for something to do. he can't use spells, he can't endow his sword with energy, he can't - what can he even do? ] Stay close to me. Don't move.
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right here, right now. he could do it. his cousin's attention is on the spectres; all it would take would be for him to lift his hand, the one holding the hook, and plunge it into his flesh. would it take that much strength to rip and tear and—?
...but he doesn't move.
maybe he's listening to xie lian, for once in his miserable existence. stay close to me. don't move. he's still close, and he's not moving. it's the creatures around them that are moving, swirling, ducking in close, moving away like a whisper of silk against the air -
but then there's the loud clatter of something. metal on cobblestone, and the onlookers won't have to look far to see what it is: qi rong's grip has gone slack, and he's dropped the hook. it bounces once or twice, then lies motionless at its feet.
one of the spectres has swooped down and attached itself to him, settling itself around his shoulders like a cloak.
he doesn't move.]
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[ because if this ends - if one of them dies right now, what will happen? will the barriers disappear? will these creatures launch themselves at everyone else? a rock and a hard place, a decision on a decision. kill qi rong and complete this task as required - kill his cousin, who took the life of someone else, who deserves it to say the least - and release the spectres? allow the spectres to consume - them? is that what they'll do? (if he looks up too long, the spectres could almost be fluttering, long sleeves in the wind, in a city burning to ashes - they could form the face of of a mask, half smiling, half crying - )
the dread crushes down on xie lian. harder. it presses, pushes - a spectre writhes over xie lian's head - and the words of the white no face start to echo in his head like the siren songs of before. xian le, xian le. you're going to lose. a spectre curls around his waist like an old friend, over the bleeding wound at his chest, down, down, towards san lang. san lang gets lower to the ground, too, curling closer to xie lian's legs, as if he could avoid the touch of the creatures. again.
it's going to happen again. he's going to --
the clatter of the metal hitting the cobblestones strikes through his thoughts.
no.
as the spectres start to grab onto his shoulders and latch on, xie lian pushes back. he fights it, fights the feeling that he's going to be drained dry, that everything is hopeless, because it's not, it's not it's not. not again, xie lian thinks, almost venomously, stubbornly, and he swings his sword in an upwards arc as he whirls around with a shout, a bright beacon of white and silver in a cloud of inky black gray, sending the spectres that are attaching to him scattering back. not again. ]
Go! [ this time, he yells it, and lifts his blade towards qi rong. ] Snap out of it!
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he doesn't spit or curse or scream.
he just stands there, motionless. his expression is blank and his eyes are glassy, and he doesn't seem to be responding to much of anything. like this, he looks more like a ghost than he ever has - devoid of any of the fire and rage and resentment that has fueled him for the last eight hundred years.]
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he sees xiao jing, instead, the little prince. loud. obnoxious. cruel. but sometimes - there were moments where he could have been something else. a child on a swing, a shared meal with his mother nearby, ruffling xiao jing's hair. where things could have been different. eight hundred years have passed, unbeknownst to xie lian, and he's seen the way that they have twisted an already cruel person into a resentful, venomous wreck, a foul-mouthed and furious wrath level ghost, who has committed horrific crimes.
caught between this rock and a hard place, xie lian pauses, for a moment, still bleeding down his front, eyes a little wide, breathing hard.
another spectre swoops in, near his ear. it sounds like familiar laughter. you're going to lose!
for a moment, it feels like time stops. qi rong is miserable. perhaps the spectres draining him like this, motionless and silent, has changed him into the person he really was all along.
he takes a breath, just long enough, and closes his eyes. ]
I'm sorry.
[ sorry for what happened to xian le. sorry, that he failed the prince xiao jing at the start. sorry, that this is what qi rong has become. that he let this happen. that he didn't do more. that he couldn't help him even now, when he's at his least deserving - qi rong is vile and cruel and heartless, but his life is still alife. he's sorry, that things have turned out this way, even if sorry means nothing.
xie lian opens his eyes, and with one graceful swing, he changes his grip on the sword, and drives the point up into qi rong's heart.
perhaps, if nothing else, xie lian can offer the mercy that qi rong never afforded anyone else. ]
REMEMBER -
But the Watchers step forward in unison as the barrier falls, the same as they had with the verdict against Qi Rong. With their presence and a sheen of light and Dust, before the uninvited participants can weave amongst the crowd gathered, the spectres are forced to disperse from the courtyard. Their reactions after the light fades vary - with Shamsiel's seemingly unfocused and distant, Baraqiel's cold fury, Suriel's quiet dismay, but it's clear to them that this is the end.
Qi Rong falls by his cousin's mercy, vacant even before he hits the ground, before the sword takes his life, and Xiao Jing shimmers into golden Dust, fading on the wind. The meat hook and sword both disappear much like the knife had after they were chosen, and it seems like nothing will be left behind.
And that includes the executed, Qi Rong's body turning to Dust much like his daemon - and then there's nothing left.
Qi Rong is dead.
The laughter from before returns, echoing, before the unknown but newly familiar voices turn to song again:
A gruesome sight to see, most grim.
This one refused to take the blame,
But cousin ends the family shame.
And now he pays for his crime -
A type of justice most divine.
After the Dust clears, and the song ends with more of that laughter, the Watchers will disappear in a shift of space around them. Xie Lian and San Lang are left alone in the heart of the courtyard.
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xie lian is still bleeding down his front when the light and the dust all clear, the sword vanishing from xie lian's hand - and all he does is drop to his knees, san lang shifting immediately from qilin to tiny ferret.
ow. ]
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Xie Lian! [he glances back over to everyone else.] Does anyone have their medical supplies!?
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[she's hurrying over and pulling her satchel off her shoulder to dig through it]
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[kim seems to know what he's doing so if he wants to administer first aid rochalizo will let him]
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I - [ wait. ] -- I'm alright. [ he is bleeding
its fine probably ] They're all gone, the spectres? Could you all see them on the other side of the barrier? Ngh.
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My dear fellow, let's get you out of here. To a place where you can rest and get treatment, yes?
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I - oh. Mr. Sholmes... are you alright? [ sir ] I'm alright. It's - it's nothing. Thank you...
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[Kim's gotten over here in a hurry, too.]
Let me see. How bad is it?
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I've had worse... It's fine. Are you all okay? Is everyone alright?
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Mr. Sholmes will help you to the hotel. Sheba has a first aid kit. I will treat your wounds, assuming no one else is qualified to do so.
Put pressure on it in the meantime. We will try to do this quickly.
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Just tell me what you need help with.
[ This is also in part directed to Kim and Sholmes, who are offering aid. ]
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Is everyone else alright? Thank you, Mr. Kotetsu...
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[ shaken in different ways ]
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[and mods said yes we can find them, so hooray]
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I'll get on that.
[ he's glad to have some task of use and any signs of his ache before are being ignored as he runs off with finley to find what's needed ]
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Is... Is there anything I can do for you?