chasma | WEEK FIVE EXECUTION

Entry tags:

*execution

WEEK FIVE EXECUTION

week five: execution

i am the manager

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, the everyday background music you've all gotten used to reduced to mere echoes on the wind.

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, out in the tundra.

As time turns to 1 PM, though, there is a change as the voices fade. While there's no compulsion to investigate it, there's a small gathering out in the snow. Your three Watchers are here with their daemons, and so are... Rochalizo, and his daemon, front and center. All damages and evidence, anything amiss from the weekend, is all gone, and replaced with the state of the hotel from the week prior.

Standing close are the Watchers. Satariel is carefully putting a coat around Rochalizo's shoulders, frowning, their daemon bear-formed and pressed close to them to keep them steady. Yomiel stands close by, offering what warmth they can before the barriers rise. Rameel seems to be expressionless as they were yesterday as they watch over what happens next.

And then, another party will be compelled to join them. Kaeya will find that his feet are carrying him to his destination, Polaris sticking close to him as they travel through the barrier. Once he passes through an arbitrarily decided threshold, opposite where Rochalizo stands, he'll find that he can't go back, and neither can his daemon.

Likewise, no one can enter the tundra further than where the Watchers are pushed back to, Satariel having to brace against the bear once more so as not to fall. 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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[ he sees the cough, it makes the whole matter of it even worse. the snow globe hurls itself at him, and his heart leaps up into his throat as he catches it, just barely. the surge of heat blossoms in his chest from the reaction and instantly he darts after him.

rochalízo, who thrust courage into his heart beyond martyrdom, who crawled into the spaces of his brain the days after, who is braver than he knows is possible for someone so young. no wonder xie lian adores him too. this will be another knife between the ribs. kaeya hates that he has been assigned the one to twist it. ]

I know. But if they think I'm going to put that sword to your throat without a fight, you have another thing coming. After everything.

[ he slides quickly in the snow and kicks the sword with the edge of his heel to send it skittering away. ]

No.

[... this really isn't going to be easy. kaeya is far more physically capable than he is, and it's not as if rochalizo has a lot up his sleeve left. (though he doesn't have nothing, either.) and it really is so hard, for a part of him, to not just take kaeya's kindness.

but if he does, this won't end well.

he makes another move to go after the sword—before he stops to cough again. this time, it doesn't quite stop, as he falls to his knees and his arm goes from his mouth to around his abdomen. the coughing then turns into... well, him apparently throwing up, except there isn't much of anything in his stomach these days, and so it just comes out as dry heaving instead.

anyway everything's going great]

[ rochalizo falls to his knees and kaeya twists his momentum to fold downwards as well. the coughing, the scent of bile and whatever sick rochalízo can manage before dry heaving. there are no rules around touching one another, after all.

on his knees, a hand resting in the crook of rochalízo's neck to feel his pulse. his voice is soft for the two of them, the other holding his shoulder. ]

When did you get so sick? What is this?

[ he saw him last night, this isn't how they left him...

polaris, uncharacteristically stock still save to move with kaeya on occasion. his body language is withdrawn, upset, tail twitching. ]

[rochalizo certainly wasn't this sick last kaeya saw him, no.

dully,]

Poisoned last night.

[so how's everyone else's weekend going.

it's tempting to stay like this, pretending this isn't a death match. that the worst of it is that he's ill, with a friend comforting him here now. everything hurts, in more ways than one.

but he knows what he has to do. while kaeya's distracted, even if just for a moment, philia flies to try and retrieve the sword. she's not a particularly large bird, so it's not like she can pick it up, but if she can at least make it easier for rochalizo to reach rather than kaeya...]

[ when she flies down, polaris' head snaps, he darts forward, though kaeya doesn't move, just keeps his eyes on rochalizo, using his interior shirt's sleeve to carefully wipe whatever's away from his chin, a soft blue flannel. a rage boils over inside of him, his posture tense and hunched. rochalízo's pulse is like a bird's, fast and frantic from the heaving, and he's never felt more helpless in his life. poisoned last night. ]

How? Who? Can you say?

[ his voice wavers as he shakes his head slowly, he'll try to look him in the eye. please look him in the eye. he needs you to look at him and tell him who did this to you.

polaris shifts in one great motion, a burst of white feathers that take flight and pounce downwards onto the sword. no. ]

[well, philia's just going to try and fight polaris for it? bird on bird violence!! please understand it probably looks something like this vs this right now but honestly, maybe that's apt.

he looks up at kaeya, but...]

Does it matter? [a pause, as he tries to breathe.] Either they did it for revenge or to protect you.

[before it was clear that rochalizo didn't intend on killing whoever was up against him today. in fact, this is probably hindering that very intention to help the other party thanks to kaeya's refusal, unfortunately.]

[ it's a fight that's about. only as good as philia is putting in. polaris is just defending, there's no claws, just feinting, flapping, a back-winged slap once because stop trying to get at the sword. ]

Of course it matters, don't be a fool, [ he says it sharp and fond rolled into one, shaking his head. this isn't it, this can't be it, this is... ] I need to know who did this, Rochalízo, you can't. [ closer. ] I don't want to fucking be protected.

[ he sinks downwards, his knee in the sick now. he doesn't feel it. polaris screams, and it's not even at philia. it's at the barrier. it's a riled shriek--grief and rage as his feathers flare outwards. he's a blizzard of twisting feathers and grief. ]

I can't do this, Rochalízo, I can't kill you. Not like this, this is... [ this is like slaughtering a sick animal. this is the opposite of what he would ever want to do. his hands are shaking.

kaeya looks out at the barrier just once, tears his gaze away from rochalízo and fixes his singular eye on everyone gathered outside for a moment. his grip tightens on him. kaeya seldom finds himself in this place, a place where he says he can't do something. he prides himself on it, but this? ] This..

[...

he really wishes it was someone else up here. there are enough people here furious at him, so why couldn't it have been one of them instead? then this wouldn't be so painful. he wouldn't have to watch kaeya fracture like this.

he leans forward. his voice quiet,]

It was...

[... but rather than finish that sentence—with what little strength he has, he reaches out to shove kaeya away from him.

specifically? at his left, cursed shoulder. pain flares through his own, but it's fine, it's fine (why couldn't it at least be his useless right, though?), he was braced for it. doing his best to ignore it, he dashes for the sword again.

sorry, kaeya. but he's going to fight dirty, if that's what it takes.]

[ this can't be mercy anymore when rochalízo has been poisoned, kaeya knows this... this is no longer viable, but as he catches xie lian's gaze, his lips parted a moment to take a breath, he feels it--blinding pain like that night in the rain, fire and loss, torn muscle and flesh cleaved apart, flayed alive and cauterized. insult to injury to injury. kaeya reels back and hits the snow hard, blood in a sharp, fresh gush on the ground. the sounds that leaves him is gutted, it hurts, but it mirrors back all the same.

he's mouthing something into the air, but there's no sound, just soft clouds of white breath.

he gets to his hands and knees, seeing rochalízo fight his way to the sword. polaris... polaris is a stone white guardian beside it, even if philia continues to fight at him. he won't fight back now in this moment, the cold tundra air ruffling his feathers. kaeya just clutches his shoulder. the pain radiating outwards as he tries to dig his heels in the snow.

don't let him suffer.

he digs his elbow into the snow, more blood as he lifts himself up. he slowly gets to his feet, dripping downwards as he looks at him, takes a step forward.

but the pace is barely-hearted.

his shoulders drop, and his head lifts. no pain compares to this. to the numbness crawling up his fingers, to the others watching onwards. he moves forward, one step after the other. ]

Rochalízo.

[ his singular eye says one thing: i can't do this. he's been in his head, wound up so tightly around his emotions and impulses, this? this is... impossible.

this is from sheba.

green tea.

oh, enough of this martyr talk!

he swallows tightly. ]

Fine.

[ this. this will hurt. ]

Edited (bah words.) 2021-11-07 20:00 (UTC)

[rochalizo didn't want to be a martyr here either. he's not that selfless. but he doesn't want to hurt another friend (again, and again, and again). and yet, even now, it seems that's all he does.

there's something pathetic about how rochalizo can't even beat a goddamn bird, especially as pain soars through his shoulder, sharp through the nausea and dizziness that plagues him. he unwillingly drops to one knee before polaris, gritting his teeth as he tries to focus. the sword. he has to get the sword before kaeya does.

but all that comes out, rather than another attempt, is a coughing fit. at least then, though, he hears kaeya. finally.]

Edited 2021-11-07 20:04 (UTC)

[ the coughing fit rattles him, truly, as he makes him way towards the sword, towards where polaris simply stands firm, but his gaze is soft at rochalízo as he reaches down, one hand on rochalízo's shoulder, the other on the hilt of the sword as he turns the blade to the ground, stabilization for a moment. please. please don't slip away. ]

I will find out who did this to you.

[ his breath is shuddering. he doesn't seem to care that rochalízo chose to play dirty. he just looks at him, his shuddering coughs. ]

We'll get you back. We'll get all of you back.

[he looks up at kaeya, forcing a weak smile.]

... I'm counting on it.

[this has gone on for long enough. but with that, as kaeya at last braces himself for the kill, it's over.]

[... or so should it be. but in that moment, emerging from the tundra air, something smoke-like curls into the scene. they bring something dark and ominous with them, as they wisp around the ring.

philia lets out a screech of distress. rochalizo's head snaps up.]

Edited 2021-11-07 20:22 (UTC)

Spectres—

[ kaeya's expression shifts to that of immediate action, pushing back every hesitation, every wasted minute, as the smoke-like tendrils begin to curl their wait towards them, splaying out in inky tendrils towards them, towards philia and polaris in kind. in a moment he's moving forward, both grabbing up rochalízo in one arm, the sword in his hand. they roll on the ground, away from the spectres with the force of the shove. polaris at once is a wolf once more, snarling.

the reaction time is good. the surge as they can buy themselves a few seconds from these spectres.

but it isn't good, as polaris snarls. it's unfortunate, kaeya's soul is defiant, willful, and absolutely stupid when it comes to those he loves. polaris just roars, claws digging in as his fur fluffs outwards before they come closer and closer. the despair is a wave, slow at first, and then.

it's a riptide. ]

[ it's defiance met in equal measure with self-loathing and the oppression of being trapped like this in a glass bell jar.

it holds him. snarling teeth and all.

one moment he's getting back up.

and the next:

the sword falls limply from his hand as the spectres swarm. ]

[rochalizo is helpless to do much of anything as kaeya moves them both, philia flying after. he stays on the ground, trying to catch his breath, trying to see through his head spinning and spots dancing in his vision.

the despair doesn't touch him as quickly. he feels it on the edge of his soul—the emptiness, the will to give up—but at least, for a moment longer than kaeya, he can defy it.

a storm of cherry blossoms bursts around kaeya, and rochalizo thinks, ah. he knows what that one does. he can only hope it helps. maybe it's enough. but rochalizo doesn't know, and when desperation seizes him, he doesn't know if he wants to count on it.

he isn't sure of where the sword is. he could barely hear the clang as it fell, his ears ringing. even if he did, he barely has the energy to move, in pain from his lost arm and the poison, and exhausted from the fight being drained from him.

but—just a moment. he has to hold on, even for one.]

Kaeya.

[there are so many things he wants to say that he doesn't have the strength for. he can only hope his thoughts reach kaeya somehow, as futile as he knows it is. kaeya. whatever happens from here, i'm responsible for my own choices. not you.

and what i choose is not to have the both of us die here.

because what he's about to do may be imaginably cruel to kaeya, but right now, he would rather be cold-hearted than drag kaeya down with him.

his hand in his pocket, he focuses.

one, and then two.]

Edited 2021-11-07 20:45 (UTC)

[ somewhere, in a cave, deep and dark, where they're following after one another two by two. the light is dim, the air smells like smoke and burnt flesh, but they are alive.

they are— ]

Edited 2021-11-07 20:47 (UTC)

[ the shower of cherry blossoms litters the snow, a soft and beautiful addition to the macabre spatters of blood he's been leaving behind. at once, he feels it, the swell of strength from some untapped well within as the wind wraps around him, the pink petals strewn in his hair.

a cold fury takes him.

his heart is subzero.

he kicks up the hilt of the sword with liquid ease and catches it.

and with one cold look at rochalízo anastenagmós neiye-imisukin emarika antípatros apó amonlogia, as the spectres swarm, as polaris suddenly snarls and roars behind him at he plunges the sword straight into his throat, a fresh, hot gush of blood onto the snow, onto his boots.

he severs the arteries quickly.

and then spits out violently onto the snow beside rochalízo's head.

his head is bowed, his fist clenched tightly, every muscle in his body drawn tense like a bow string.

polaris lets out one, long, low howl. ]

[amidst the encroaching emptiness, he feels it—the flash of pain as kaeya stabs the sword through his throat without mercy. pain, and then just the briefest flicker of relief. (and an apology to kaeya, and to susato, whose last request he could not fulfill.

while I want this person caught, I also demand of you that you will show them every ounce of compassion that you once showed to me.

in the end, being kind to himself was too difficult.)

but it's a swift death, and so, in that moment, everything goes blank. no more hurting, no more despair, no more grief.

he falls to the ground, blood pooling and dyeing the snow a bright red.

rochalízo apó amonlogia is dead.]

remember

and dust you shall become in the end

The Watchers step forward in unison as the barrier falls, the same as they had with the verdict against Rochalizo. 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 tundra. Their reactions after the light fades vary - Satariel's fist curled tightly at their side, Yomiel frowning in quiet resignation, while Rameel doesn't have anything to say or to add and instead just looks beyond all of this, but it's clear to them that this is the end.

The cherry blossoms come to settle as blood stains the snow, a blending of petals on crisp and stark white, and Philia shimmers into golden Dust, fading on the wind before she even comes to the ground. The sword and snowglobe both disappear much like the broom had after they were chosen, and it seems like nothing will be left behind.

And that includes the executed, Rochalizo's body turning to Dust like much his daemon - and then there's nothing left.

Rochalízo Anastegamós Neiye-Imisukin Emarika Antípatros Apó Amonlogia is dead. He deserves the courtesy, at least, in death.

The laughter from before returns, echoing, before the unknown but newly familiar voices turn to song again:

to grow up selfish is to do what it takes
to get what you want, no matter the stakes.
for country or family, no cost is too great -
except, maybe, the soul, carrying all of that weight.
killing a friend to put the greater good first -
isn't that simply proof that he is the worst?
and yet, when faced with the chance to walk free,
still he fights for what's right, so desperately,
to save another friend who deserves not despair.
this is his courage, how he shows that he cares.
that bears more weight than a mere, fleeting grudge,
for all that this one ever wanted was love.

After the Dust clears, and the song ends with more of that laughter, the Watchers will disappear in a shift of time around them. Kaeya and Polaris are left alone in the heart of the tundra with nothing but anger to keep them warm.

[ when the swarm of cherry blossoms lands in full, when the spectres retreat like a terrible nightmare, and when the barrier goes down and cold tundra hair kicks up once more, kaeya is left empty-handed, polaris at his side, still raised hackles and licking his jaws. he looks down at the dust as it dissipates, down at his boots, at the tumbled shape that rochalízo's body left on the ground.

he steps through it pointedly once, polaris rigid, ears pricked forward and tail straight as he follows not beside kaeya, but behind. he is growling, low and deep as they emerge slowly. ]

Edited 2021-11-07 21:08 (UTC)

[Once the barrier is lifted, Spike has a one track mind...

He rushes into the middle of this ring, to Kaeya's side...]

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cw: emetophobia

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REMEMBER -

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