doublecrows: (pic#12329963)
Goro "local murder mascot" Akechi [Cʀᴏᴡ] ([personal profile] doublecrows) wrote2018-07-15 12:15 pm

[Week 5, Sunday: Hikage]

[hi, Hikage. there's a creeper lingering in the shadows of a castle hallway, waiting for the chance to speak with you. Akechi please get a better hobby that doesn't involve stalking people]

Hikage-san.

[so!! pleasant!!]

You're the Alchemist, aren't you?
psychedelica: (i've got the world on my back but)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 06:33 pm (UTC)(link)
[ akechi you weirdo... fortunately, Hikage doesn't even seem moderately surprised to see him or hear his (pleasant!) declaration. He just stares at him for a second before holding his hands out at his sides in a sort of shrug. ]

Congratulations, detective. Although I don't think learning that will be useful at all.
psychedelica: (come with the night)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
The two of them offer me a set of words every week. I pick one, and it has a random effect on the castle inhabitants. For example, those memory pearls this week.

[ that was his fault. ]

... I have no way of knowing what the effects will be. Like I said, it's a useless role. I'm sure they only gave it to me because I'm an actual alchemist.
psychedelica: (echoes of history)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 06:44 pm (UTC)(link)
If there is one, they haven't told me.

[ he's as annoyed as Akechi is, trust me. ]
psychedelica: (i've got the acumen of a seasoned pro)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 07:00 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, it was funny watching you get so serious about it, at least.

[ he'll take his entertainment where he can get it. ]
psychedelica: (i don't seem to care)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 07:12 pm (UTC)(link)
What were you expecting? For me to be some kind of puppetmaster?

[ the smile he wears is sardonic. ]

That was only when I was master of my own domain.
psychedelica: (torn to the flesh)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
So am I.

[ instead, he's in the middle of this mess, with all these... feelings and stuff. ]

I tried. Tiger refused to give me a straight answer. And after that...

[ he trails off. his memories started coming back, and he started changing again. ]
psychedelica: (blossoms the age of greed)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 08:22 pm (UTC)(link)
I was.

[ and he's been taking advantage. It's just that everything he's asked about has been entirely selfish... and the things that didn't relate to him directly aren't things he's particularly interested in sharing with Akechi. ]

So, who are you planning on leaking all this information to now?
psychedelica: (towers of glass and steel)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-15 08:29 pm (UTC)(link)
You have an agenda. And you're not the kind of person whose agenda is to try and save everybody.

[ he knows that because he's the same way. ]

... I wonder what ending you want for this story.
psychedelica: (temples and fragments of memories)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-16 02:35 am (UTC)(link)
[ yikes indeed, but Hikage - again - is the same. Mostly. Is he tired of everything, or does he want to try for happiness one more time? He's afraid to bank completely on the latter; he's lived on lies for too long to try swallowing another potential one. ]

What reward is that?
psychedelica: (blossoms the age of greed)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-16 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
Vengeance, huh...

[ He wonders if that would really make Akechi happy. And the fact that he's even thinking about that shows him how much he's changed. He's become so dependent on this hope of his... ]

I'll be interested in seeing if that satisfies you.
psychedelica: (the science of fighting)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-16 04:46 am (UTC)(link)
[ Hikage can't say for sure that it will or it won't. Maybe the path he's choosing is the wrong one - to stray from his desire from revenge on mankind in hopes of finding a brief happiness elsewhere, to keep from disappointing people he cares about. Only time will tell.

Still, at this moment, he finds himself doubting. ]


You have a strong resolve, if nothing else. Maybe mine was just too weak.

[ or maybe Eichi does nothing to temper Akechi's insanity. After the way he spoke last week, Hikage could believe it. ]
psychedelica: (the conquest of spaces)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-16 05:22 am (UTC)(link)
...

[ should he even tell Akechi this? He doesn't trust him farther than he can throw him, despite everything... But, provided Akechi is serious about his revenge, he can't see any gains he would get from throwing him under the bus. Besides, it would be easy for him to have done that this week, or the week before, had he wanted to. ]

You said you've been perfecting your plan for revenge for three years. I've been perfecting mine ever since I died... That was almost a hundred years ago. I wanted to lash out at this cruel world that kept me existing in limbo, neither living nor dead, remembering nothing and nobody... I wanted all of humanity to suffer the way I was suffering. The thought of that wish being granted was all that could bring me peace. With no future and no past, my resolve to destroy all of you was the only thing that kept me moving forward.

[ he felt nothing but despair, after a while; he lived day by day, hour by hour, feeling like he was being suffocated at the bottom of a lake, alone. To make someone else feel that despair the way he felt it - that was his only pleasure. Even talking about it now makes him remember, makes his skin crawl. He can't. He can't go back there now. ]
Edited 2018-07-16 05:24 (UTC)
psychedelica: (i don't seem to care)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-18 05:44 am (UTC)(link)
Why...?

[ it almost makes him laugh, when he thinks about it that way. He has no grand scheme; he doesn't believe that humanity needs to be punished for its sins. His motivations are entirely selfish. He hurts. He had to watch everyone around him pass on and leave their suffering behind while he could not. That alone made him hate them. ]

You think I need a reason like that? I wanted everyone to be as miserable as I am. Worth and morality have nothing to do with it. The only pleasure I had in my pathetic existence was seeing others fall into despair. It's only natural that my greatest wish would be to inflict as much of it as possible for my own satisfaction. [ a pause. ] ... That's the kind of selfish man I am.

[ there, he doesn't use past tense. that part of him hasn't changed, even if he remembers more now, and even if he's found happiness elsewhere - he doesn't think he'll ever be a "good person." ]
psychedelica: (distorted city grids)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-19 02:37 am (UTC)(link)
[ well, he has that, too... but he didn't even remember the shitty childhood when he began his descent into madness, so it's not really an excuse. It just compounds his feelings now. ]

Why do you think I approached you in the first place?

[ it's true that he thought Akechi's continued survival in the game would be amusing, at the time - he wanted to see the chaos it would sow. However, he hasn't been interested in that for some time now. ]
psychedelica: (by a black hole of vanity)

[personal profile] psychedelica 2018-07-19 05:33 am (UTC)(link)
...

[ he's not going to admit anything; he has too much pride. ]

I don't know what either of us "truly need." Maybe we do need revenge and chaos to be happy. [ despite all his years, he has learned precious little about anything other than hate and suffering. he feels like he barely knew himself - even now, he's only grasped the barest understanding. ] ... I just know there's someone here who loves you. Don't throw his feelings away, or you'll regret it.

[ it's not in his nature to dispense advice like this - he doesn't even like Akechi. Does he like Akechi? He doesn't know. Still, he can't bear to watch someone still alive start making the same mistakes he did so long ago. ]