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the-final-sif · 4 years

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Okay, y’all asked so here’s my first take on Nomu!Jeanist and Katsuki having to handle it;

It starts with Katsuki getting kidnapped by the new and improved LOV, who now have much longer term plans for him. They bring him out to their new hideout which is located in the middle of the woods, and he's put into a cell while stuff gets sorted out. They've also got some sort of quirk canceling/dampening tech on him.

Only, Katsuki manages to get free. He gets out of his chains and cell (and he does it fucking fast), although for whatever reason he can't safely remove the quirk restraint tech. Still though, he's now loose in their base, and he managed to do it without alerting them, meaning he's got about 12 hours to get the fuck out before they realize he's gone.

Being Katsuki, and being sleep deprived and probably a bit drugged up still, he decides it's not good enough to just escape though. He wants information. Or at least something to fuck the league over. So he gets himself down to the labs where he finds the doctor's main computer. It's password protected, but he can tell that it's got master files for all the nomu experiments.

He doesn't have the time or skill to figure out the password, so he does the logical next thing and just steals the whole damn hard drive.

Great! And he also finds out in the process that there's an exit in the labs, one that's currently unguarded and has minimal/no cameras around it.

The only problem is it's through the area where in-progress Nomu are stored.

Still, it's his best chance, so Katsuki takes it, sneaking through the facilities. Just his luck, because all the Nomu seem to be put away or asleep for the moment. He's feet away from the door, when he accidentally bumps something, making a small noise.

And he was totally ready to just run for it.

And then a hauntingly familiar voice calls out curiously, asking if someone's there, and Katsuki finds himself frozen, his blood running cold.

The exit is right there. He knows he should take it. He knows he shouldn't turn back. But he can't bring himself to move forward again. Not when he knows exactly who that voice belongs to.

Taking a deep breath, he does the stupid thing and turns back. It only takes him a minute or two to reach a door with a clipboard out front that tells him everything he needs to know.

Subject: Best Jeanist / Tsunagu Hakamata

New name not assigned.

Progress: Intelligence retained, quirk mastery retained, physical modifications complete, obedience mostly complete, some recurring memories.

Needs training on purpose and first assignments one memories abate completely.

It's so fucking dumb of him, but Katsuki reads through all the info he can and then opens the door to Jeanist's 'room'. To his surprise, isn’t locked, and it's not really much of a room either. It's just got a table and a chair, with a single light and some papers on the table. They appear to be assessments that Nomu!Jeanist was filling out.

The worst part is probably how human he still looks

Jeanist is meant to be a nomu similar to Kurogiri. They wanted to keep his mastery of his quirk, but it's a quirk that requires high levels of thought and planning. So he couldn't be warped too far. He's not the man Katsuki knew though.

Now his hair is dark and long, it seems to be made of some thread like material. His skin is sickly with a purple tinge to it, and he has some newly acquired scars and stitching, but his body is mostly the same. His eyes are the same. Hell, even his outfit hasn't changed that much. It's just dark colored now.

Katsuki is left in a state of shock at the sight, and he just stares for several long seconds before Nomu!Jeanist asks politely if everything's okay, or if he's supposed to do something. In that moment, Katsuki realizes he has a choice to make.

The smart thing to do is to leave Jeanist here. He's not human anymore, and Katsuki has no idea how to get him back. But Katsuki isn't a fucking quitter and he's not a coward either, so he says fuck that and decides to try if nothing else.

He's not dumb about it though. He knows he's got no hope of appealing to Jeanist or magically turning him back to normal, so he goes another route entirely; He lies through his teeth.

See, Jeanist is still in the in-progress phase as indicated by his charts. He hasn't yet been given any singular commander or mission. He also has some vague memories of Katsuki left, making Katsuki feel familiar. It's enough for his programing to assume that Katsuki is someone he's supposed to obey, and Katsuki uses that.

It takes some fast thinking, but Katsuki says that Jeanist has been deemed ready for his mission, and Katsuki is assigned to him. They're leaving right now. His story is that the two of them are meant to go under cover as heroes to get information, and he has a hard drive full of fake information to mislead the heroes.

Only a few high level members know about their mission though, so it doesn't leak out. As such, all of the other league members have been told that they're 'traitors' and to try to capture them so it looks realistic. Jeanist isn't supposed to listen to anyone, even Tomura, unless he's given the codeword. Katsuki is able to play off Jeanist's faint recollections of being a hero, and his memories of Katsuki being one too, and it's enough that's he's convinced and on board with the plan.

Excellent! So he and Katsuki escape together, still currently undetected after Katsuki ensures Jeanist doesn't have a tracker implanted into him or anything.

Only, they're still in the middle of the woods.

It's a 4-5 day trip before they're going to reach civilization again, and thank fuck Katsuki was able to find a map before this to figure that out and where they need to go. Katsuki has a lot of hiking experience and he's good at it, so with Nomu!Jeanist's help, they're making good progress and nearly untrackable. Which is good because once the league finds out they're gone, the hunt for them is on.

What's not so good, is Katsuki is now stuck with Nomu!Jeanist, the shadow of his former mentor, trying to stay alive while his emotions are already pretty fucked up, and he has to pretend everything about the situation is fine. Katsuki is left struggling to hold himself together under the weight of it all.

It's so hard to not break down seeing his former mentor like this and having to nod and smile and agree about the league being so great. During this trip, Jeanist is still kind/polite and his memories are still very faintly there, but he has a lot of big gaps, so he tends to ask questions to try to fill them. Like asking why Katsuki ended up becoming a villain and stuff like that.

Katsuki has to lie and create a fake but believable backstory, and in the process he ends up accidentally putting a lot of truth into it.

When he talks about how traumatizing the sports festival was, about how everyone's always seen him as a villain anyways, about all the negative media attention, the awful messages people send him on social media, how he hears people at school saying he can't be trusted, etc. All of it is true. The only lie is when he says that he gave in to all of it. And at some point he knows he's saying more then he should, but there's all this shit he's never talked to anyone about before. All his fears, pain, trauma, it all just has been sent bubbling to the surface by this fucked up situation.

But of course, it's so easy to talk to Jeanist about all of this because Jeanist isn't a person. He's a Nomu. Katsuki has to remind himself of that constantly. It makes it all feel not real. Like he can say anything and it won't matter, because Jeanist isn't a human anymore. On the flip side though, this Nomu!Jeanist looks and acts so much like the old one, that if Katsuki loses focus or when he's waking up from sleeping, it's so easy to imagine that it's his old mentor there. A few times, Katsuki almost tells him the hero name he chose, but he cuts himself off each time.

Refusing to until Jeanist is really back with him.

It doesn't help that throughout this Katsuki is plagued by nightmares. Or that he told Jeanist his name/alias was "Best Jeanist" so he can't even use a separate name for them to separate the person and the nomu in his mind.

The only separation left for him outside of looking at Jeanist is that Nomu!Jeanist only ever calls him 'Bakugou', and while human!jeanist would also call him 'Bakugou', he'd also taken to teasingly calling him 'Brat', and Nomu!Jeanist never does.

All in all, it's a fucked up situation for Katsuki, but somehow they make it through. They manage to avoid the league and get safely back to civilization. By this point, Katsuki isn't sure who he can trust, and he doesn't trust the league to have not paid off local police departments/heroes, so the two of them put on disguises and take a set of trains until they get all the way back to UA.

Let me tell you, Aizawa by this point has been having one of the worst weeks of his life.

His class was attacked again with several injuries. One of his students was kidnapped again, and this time they didn't have any leads. It's been a week and they have nothing to tell them where Katsuki is or if he's still alive. Worse, he now knows first hand just what the league can do to someone to force them to be on their side. He's pretty much assuming the worst about Katsuki at this point and it's killing him.

Then Katsuki just fucking shows up at UA after a week, having escaped entirely on his own, looking somewhat disheveled, with some weird cuffs on him and clearly having had a very bad week took, but pretty much healthy physically, and he's got the fucking Nomu of Best Jeanist following him.

Ideally, like, Denki or Mina or something is the one to actually spot Katsuki and they're so fucking psyched but then they notice the LARGE probably evil version of what looks like Best Jeanist behind him and they just have a moment of "what the FUCK." before Katsuki is able to indicate to them to go get Aizawa.

Aizawa's in a staff meeting, but they rush in like "Katsuki's back!" and he's not even sure he heard them right, and he can't believe his ears but he races out, and yep, Katsuki somehow found his way back but now he's just got a Nomu following him.

It takes a bit of passing notes and stuff, but Katsuki manages to relay what's going on and convince the teachers/other heroes to at least somewhat play along to keep Nomu!Jeanist under control non-violently. He gives them the hard drive, and they set to decoding it which is going to take time. In the meantime, Katsuki's now stuck basically playing handler for Nomu!Jeanist, getting him to cooperate and trying to see if they can get him back to normal.

It takes them a few weeks to get anywhere with the drive. Every single day Katsuki is working with Jeanist without making much progress and he's left feeling more and more hopeless as the days go by. It doesn't help that Katsuki is the only one Jeanist will listen to, which means everyone's relying on this poor fucking 16 year old to keep this possibly very dangerous creature under control, and Katsuki knows if he stops or fucks up, they might need to kill Nomu!Jeanist since he's nearly impossible to restrain.

Aizawa's super fucking torn because he's trying to be there for Katsuki and support him, and he understands that there's no way in hell that he can convince Katsuki to let Jeanist go when he's right there, not with how hard it is for him to let go of Kurogiri, but he can also see how it's driving Katsuki mad. And it's completely unfair to put a child through that, but at the same time there's no other options and Katsuki refuses to give up. He's come so fucking far, but it's building up, bit by bit.

It's all weighing on Katsuki, and dragging him towards an emotional breakdown he might not come back from this time, but he's made of more stubbornness then there is water in the ocean, so he just keeps slogging his way forward against all odds. Even as he's cracking under the pressure and pain of it all, he's fighting to hold on with tooth and nail because he refuses to fail now. And by some miracle, despite all the responsibility pushed onto his shoulders, Katsuki is not what breaks first.

They get the hard drive decrypted, and thank fucking god they do, because the answers are all on there. It takes a few days, and does require Eri's rewind, but they're able to bring Jeanist back with relative ease because he was a high functioning Nomu and he was a new one. The physical transformations are done within a day, and it takes two more for them to be confident that after his last treatment, his memories should be back and he should be completely free of the Nomu programing, with very minimal side effects expected.

That means Jeanist, who now remembers everything, both from his time as a Nomu and before it, wakes up for the very first time. He's greeted by Aziawa, who fills him in on everything that's happened since he was killed, and he gives Aizawa all the info on the LOV that his Nomu self didn't. That's the easy part. There's silence between them for a few moments before Jeanist finally manages to get out one word that's a question, a statement and a plea all in one.

"Katsuki?"

Aizawa gives a long suffered sigh and lets him know that Katsuki is okay physically and waiting to see him if he feels up to it. They just had to be sure that he was really himself again, since Aizawa refused to crush Katsuki with a false positive. Jeanist of course says he wants to see Katsuki as soon as possible, and after a few more checks from doctors to ensure there isn't any lingering traces of his Nomu self, Katsuki is allowed in with Aizawa escorting him.

When Katsuki comes in, very nervous and unsure after all this time, he pauses and there's quiet for a second before Jeanist breaks down and (very affectionately) calls him a brat which is how Katsuki knows for sure it's really him again.

He ends up getting hugged by Jeanist who absolutely does not want to let go of him after all of this shit that they've both been through. Katsuki is finally able to cry for the first time since this mess started, just full on sobbing because all of this has been crushing him and he's just so fucking happy that for once things kind of worked out.

And there's a whole lot of shit left to get worked out, but Katsuki has had a damn plan in his mind since he heard Jeanist's voice for the first time in the hideout, and he is going to see it the fuck through, so now that he has his mentor back properly he tells Jeanist the hero name he chose & at long last gets his approval. There's still a lot of shit to fix, but for right now that's more than enough for Katsuki.

#best jeanist #nomu!Jeanist #tsunagu hakamata #katsuki bakugou #dadzawa #aizawa shouta #the lov #nomu #bnha #mha #sif speaks #sif writes #my headcanons

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tennyo-elf · 6 years

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Thoughts on Cullen, both negative and positive:

Okay, so life crap aside (’cause if you think my hiatus isn’t life BS, you’d be wrong), I am slowly making my way back to Dragon Age. I started a new play through of DAI and I’m rerolling my Ellana (ofc, I love her too much - AND I have to get back to my last ME3 pt too, ‘cause I want to do a video series with ME after that). So generally, getting back into DA and ME makes me happier.

I’ve always liked Cullen! Ellana romances and marries him! This blogs has reblogged tons of gifs and images of him. But, sadly, I can finally see the haters POV, and pretty clearly too. Yet it all comes from Haven/Pre-Skyhold/that one convo after his Lyrium decision.

First, the way he speaks of Kirkwall, like he mentions only the bad things the mages did, like the templars didn’t have a hand in that chaos, and normally I’d say Cullen is blindsided but he knows better here (I’m thinking/hoping it’s just a knee jerk reaction). Then he speaks about how the mages watch the Templars just as much as the Templars watch the mages and states it pretty cluelessly, as if he doesn’t know why - which he honestly may not (the mages are scared and see you guys a jailers/executioners/oppressors/etc !!***!!). Then later he states he fears for Redcliffe because the rebel mages are there - I know he worries about bad things happening (and bad things did happen, but not because of the mages, because of Alexius) but that means he doesn’t trust mages or think them capable of restraint.. It’s not in your face mage discrimination, but you can clearly see how he still thinks lowly about mages. He is still very much a Templar in thought and action at this time, despite how he wants to get away from the Order. I can see how and why people who don’t like Cullen, would go “ugh” with Cullen and never give him another chance. I’m yelling at Cullen on my screen, because he is too narrow minded during this time (just like I yell at Solas, whom I also love, lol).

I’m so conflicted right now, because I know Cullen gets better, even subtly, later on, but we don’t get the solid details on it. All we get are hints and only if you romance him as a mage. When talking about Maddox and how Meredith wielded the Tranquil brand for far lesser offences, Cullen does seem mad or finds the memory distasteful, but he never tells us what he thinks about it. Unless you count the whole “Meredith’s methods were harsh but they kept people safe” spiel. I don’t like his solution because he ends it with the words “neither freedom nor prison” (dude, your mage gf is right there, you don’t want her free?????). That hints he now realises that it’s a prison for mages or that mages see it that way. That’s something, a start, and it’s a different mindset than at Haven. After that I don’t remember if there is much from Cullen about mages anymore. (His silly worries about the Eluvian is actually pretty funny, because, one, if you joke with him he realizes he shouldn’t worry, and two, he verbally pouts when he states that “he not unreasonable” - it makes me wonder how much contemplation he gives to his opinions or thoughts, because sometimes it seems like he doesnt, while other times he does).

I’ve noticed how he finds it difficult to be or think in someone else’s shoes, not until they knock him over the head with their own experiences. He wrongly thinks about how Tranquillity was created by mages too (the truth is he is very much a parrot to Chantry indoctrination, until otherwise informed but even informed it takes him time to turn around and face the truth). And he is very set in his ways but seems to want to change himself or just not be who he was in DA2. I know he wants to be a good man and wants to protect people (that’s the core of his character and why I like him). He has seen the dangers of magic and I don’t disagree that protections against magical misuse should be in place, but the subject seems to cloud his judgement (and of course it does after what he went through in the Circle of Ferelden). But he doesn’t take nonsense from the Chantry, even though he is very devout, which makes him paradoxical at times too. He is also very unforgiving of those who do wrong, even if it was just an honest mistake, so his mercy bar is low. And yet he needs mercy too, says it himself at the end of the base game (he if it was him, he wouldn’t have given himself another chance).

It’s just, Cullen’s character is layered, and he has done good things (among his bad). And besides Leliana, and besides his botched and ridiculous suggestions for the Clan Lavellan War Tables mission, he actually has some of the best options for a lot of the elvhen centred war table missions. I mean, can someone who wants to change, to be a better person, makes friends with mages, dwarves, qunari, and is around an Inquisitor who makes Leliana Divine, still be stuck in that pre-Skyhold mentality?

I don’t know where I’m going with this. I’m just angry we don’t have a really proper redemption arc for Cullen (and yes, I agree a lot with the idea of DAI only having a recovery arc for him, but that means Cullen still needs a redemption arc and if you don’t want him DA4, how is he going to get that????). We really don’t see him change more from the beginning of the game. Like we get hints, to a subtle shift in his character, and it’s not apparent and can be easily missed or overlooked or even dismissed as Cullen not having changed a bit. It’s so easy to make your own version of Cullen. I choose to see him as changed and that having a Dalish mage lover than later wife, really opens his eyes to a different world he hadn’t seen before due to his insular life as a Templar within a very awful Chantry.

And like, I get the feeling that Cullen can’t shift too fast either because if he acknowledges that “what good he did” as a Templar was just bad/evil like murder evil in general he’d falter or come completely undone, and that can’t happen during DAI because he needs to command the army. Like, hey, that mage that failed her harrowing? If you just dampened her magic for a bit, you could have removed the demon and saved her life (admittingly that risks other lives) but there were options to give mages more chances at life, a better life, within in the Circle. Harrowings are evil, and I want Cullen to get that. Cullen needed more tbh, for him to be more generally likeable. His opinion about mages, in the beginning of DAI, is annoying and infuriating.

Slowly he stops talking about mages and seems slightly more reasonable near the end, but it’s almost too subtle, or just plain unclear just how much he has changed. I understand he won’t be 100% pro-mage because of what happened in the Circle of Ferelden, but like being around mages, free mages no less, who don’t go spewing blood magic or summon demons willy nilly, etc, should have made a dent in his thick skull! I headcanon that it does, because knowing what I know of Cullen, it seems natural to me that he would learn and be better, slowly but surely. His stubborn, very stubborn, but to me his shift from DA2 to DAI means that he is capable of re-evaluating previously held beliefs. So what’s stopping someone like that from learning even more though proper guidance and exposure? He’d always have certain traits, he’d always be devout to the Maker, but wouldn't evidence during DAI show him that mages can be free to govern themselves? We never find out though just how much his opinions can change though. We don’t hear his opinions or thoughts on the matter at all in the end (what does he think about Adamant or Mythal or Solas, on the College of Mages and the allianced mages who successful ran themselves?). That is what frustrates me so much!!! I just want a clear answer, if Cullen is around a pro-mage Inquisitor, who allies with the mages, and then has Leliana Divine, does that help him grow out of all that up there that has me yelling at him? I want it to be so, but that fact is it’s unclear, that DA4 might not mention it, or that if Cullen is in DA4 we won’t get to see how much he changed because he’ll be a quick guest appearance or..?

And throwing this out there, I like how he says to a Dalish LI, “I want your promise to be true” in such a serious tone, when they mention needing Dalish vows. But does that mean he cares about her faith or respects it (which seems like he would do, by this time, he’d need time to respect another faith besides his own at first)? Or he doesn’t care if she like recites some demonic passage to some daedric princes, so long as she marries him....(because he can be a stubborn, ignorant toad sometimes that needs to be taught)? We don’t know because we never get a chance for a Dalish LI to speak with Cullen about faith...

!!***!!Just came to me, Cullen is not very observant/is pretty ignorant about things. I don’t think he lies about things (that would be OOC for him), he just talks erroneously about things he doesn’t know anything about. (Thus, again, he needs better guidance...so would a pro-mage, pro-elf, merciful leader like my Ellana, truly help him change for the better?)

I still love Cullen, but my boy is problematic AF. And I honestly believe bioware didn’t do him right (on point, to my liking, which I know others will disagree). Bioware either brushed off what he did or what he believes since they don’t think it’s a big deal, or because of time and budget, maybe they just couldn’t give him more of an arc. Or maybe Cullen is too much of a side character to get more story. Companions did have more than Advisors, so knowing that, I want Cullen as a companion is DA4 so he can get that arc I want him to have? Wishful thinking, I know. But tin foil hat on, maybe that’s why it’s only a recovery arc now, so later on, they can delve into more of his story? (Doubt it, wishful thinking AGAIN. But if what your Inquisitor did in DAI can vastly change him in DA4 and he has to go through that process of change. I mean, it shows just how much influence the Inquisitor had on her inner-circle and the world of Thedas?)

#dragon age #dragon age inquisition #cullen rutherford #commander cullen #dai #things that frustrate me #I don't like having to headcanon too much #it makes me feel like it's too invalid #regarding characters mostly #Please if you have some more insight #on Cullen or his arc #send it my way #but not hate please #I love Cullen's character #he can be paradoxical #or even contradict himself #is that on purpose #??

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thewolfisawake · 6 years

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There was a prompt for these words that aren’t exactly able to be translated into English. For one, it was a much nicer but sad version of what the original idea was. The premise is the aftermath of Noita getting in a fight with Eric, who wasn’t all himself at the time. And the prompt has him doing a fatal injury to her and he gets to hold her dying. And at this point, they are not involved with each other but they really wanted to before all the awful stuff happened to them. Yeah, it wasn’t happy but I still think it...kinder than the other.

The original idea was that Noita did fight and won to go on to help her friends and all that. However, as is tradition with Noita after climatic battles (god, this is time 3 now?), she is much more injured than believed. The worst of her injuries was the one she took from Eric to get the leg up on him. And because of her genius idea to continue battle than get it treated, it gets worse.

The injury was one that came dangerously close to her spine and the item used to impale her was one that shattered so there’s a lot of it sticking around this area. Tannim wants to heal but is aware that attempting to do healing magic with that shrapnel in there is a bad idea. Zain decides to treat it but noticing how much is either staining her clothes or other things, he’s certain she needs a blood transfusion. But Noita, being from a world prior to any such knowledge, would not know her own blood type and she really doesn’t have the blood to spare to figure that out. So Zain asks his SO, Alouette, who he knows took a sample from her, would know. Because of course she does. Which, by the way, is B negative.

And just because either no time to measure out the proper dosage and/or insert medical reason here, the work Zain is about to do to remove most of the fragments in Noita’s wound, she can’t be sedated. This isn’t to add more angst, what are you on about? But she also can’t be moving around because, not kidding about teh proximity to her spine. As such, Ty gets to hold down her legs and Tannim is who she can hold on. He can handle her grip and the scratching and the like she’s probably doing his arms. Sure, there’s something to bite down on but it’s painful as hell.

During this time, Eric is around. Hurt but not anything he won’t be able to bounce back from with like a week of rest. But he’s also very confused because it’s like waking up in the middle of rush hour traffic. No idea how he ended up in this situation and things are going too fast. But he feels so useless at that time and he keeps getting like the static of her thoughts through the pain.

Eventually, she just passes out from the pain. I know normally you stop if there’s like that situation buuuuut Noita already allowed a lot of time for the wound to start to heal and because of what it is...it can’t stay in her body without causing harm. So it has to go on regardless of if she’s conscious or not. Basically, the wound nor its friends will kill her. However, it has fucked up her body. In short, she can’t put immense strain on her body any more or it might paralyze or kill her next time.

Not the news you want to give to an adventurer. And Noita, being a stubborn being that she is, decides to ‘go out’ just to start regaining that strength. It goes as well as you expect with Eric really just not wanting her not to get herself killed because she’s too prideful to ask for help. And it leads to moments where she almost but makes herself stop from saying something like, ‘this was all your fault’ because she knows it isn’t and she knows he wouldn’t bear the guilt well.

So she never tells him. Even when they’re dating and like committed SOs, she never told him. Doesn’t want to and the longer it went, the harder it got to tell Eric the truth. Then that makes it all the more better to have someone on the outside tell this truth.

The scenario I came up was being captured by generic baddie or whatever you want to go for. Basically, Noita can’t escape the restraints. There is magic dampeners, which is her main way to fight by then, and it is nearly immobilizing for her because the injury makes her having to try to lift the weight of restraints is nearly straining her frame. And this person can see that she has the plan but can’t execute it and that she had to have had the body to pull off what she’s thinking.

And it just becomes that teasing. Like asking how she got it and she won’t answer. So they just guess. A lot of it are shots that good but are not on the nose. At least until it becomes the question of if someone she knew inflicted it. Then it starts narrowing down really quick. While neither she nor the baddie said it, it was brought down in a way that Eric knew. He knew what it meant and phew. good thing I never wrote it because the fall out dealing with that is...woo.

#wolfatrest #yet again #probably makes no sense for most of y'all #but I was thinking of this scene again #and figured to put it down.

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razxion · 7 years

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Monax the Undying: Muscle Memory

It had been years since chains no longer bound him to another’s whim. From the moment Monax could hold a weapon his master had decided his fate: fighting to the death for the entertainment of others. Any weapon he could hold he learned to use, and the sights, the sounds, the movements, were still ingrained in his mind, as that was his life. Even with the odds against him increasing throughout the years, the elf refused to die, and that had earned him a title from spectators in that forced combat: the Undying.

Now those chains hung from his waist; a reminder that those times were in the past, but would never be forgotten. Utilizing what survival skills he had learned in the past for his life now was easy, and even though his sight had changed, the feeling of a weapon in his hands had not. The changes within his body had given him something new to start learning to use in combat: fel fire.

The fights now were his own to choose, and he was starting to enjoy the friendly bouts between allies. The only thing stopping the demon hunter from killing the ones that would stand in front of him was the willingness to follow the rules set beforehand, along with a small desire to not kill unnecessarily as he had taken enough lives just for meaningless entertainment. Restraint was now required in place of the kill-or-be-killed mentality that had been necessary for survival for all those years.

Today, the demon hunter decided to assist illidari at a location he had known personally for some hostilities, not only against his illidari brothers and sisters, but also between the Horde and the Alliance. Summoning the felfire hawk, Valmyzor, in a glorious felfire cyclone which seeped out from permanent openings throughout his body. Casually he hopped up, took the reins, and from atop the floating city’s outskirts, they flew straight to his desired location. The sky began to crowd during the flight, as dense clouds started to form over Azsuna.

It was not long before they had landed at the Felblaze Ingress, flaming fel-green feathers puffing out as there was already a commotion at the flight master's location. A night elf and a worgen, along with a few other traveling companions, were arguing with a couple demon hunters on how they were too similar to the enemy and should just be eradicated along with them. Hands from both sides hovering close to their weapons and magics were being pooled, as their voices grew louder, and their patience thinner.

The felhawk kept quiet while Monax jumped off, landing on the ground with a rattle of chains. Drawing a minor amount of attention from both sides while he had approached the middle ground of the groups, Monax’s blindfolded gaze drifted towards the worgen as it snarled, “Great, another one.”

The two other demon hunters relaxed as Monax approached, as they had remembered him being around before. “Perhaps you can assist us, Undying. They won’t listen to reason enough to leave us alone. There are Legion forces close by that require attention more than this.”

“Your kind is just as dangerous around here as the Legion itself! I do not believe the Wardens to have let you out on purpose.” Anger and distrust laid thick in her voice as the night elf snapped her words out with little care. The worgen agreed, nodding his head and slowly gripping the hilt of the blade on his back. The dwarf that was traveling with them, started to focus on Monax, seeming less likely to strike at the demon hunter than the others the longer he studied the Illidari.

The demon hunter that was quiet before finally spoke up, “This is what we live for, what we sacrificed everything for. We fight the Legion! The Wardens seemed to understand that enough, why the Fel can’t you?”

Snarling and teeth bared, the worgen’s grip on his hilt was tight, and ready to attack at a moment’s notice. “You fucking half-demons can’t control yourselves! I’ve seen your kind kill people on either side. You’re murderers, and should be eradicated.”

Monax snorts, still standing between the groups with his arms lazily by his sides, and gaze locked on the worgen. “You talk about Illidari not being able to control themselves and you’re ready to strike at us? Fucking stupid.” A quick few pats on the worgen’s arm peeled his attention away from the demon hunters, and down to the dwarf that traveled with him. A nod of his head towards Monax and the dwarf whispered. “Duel ‘em, Rogen. Prove each other right or wrong.”

He obviously knew his traveling companion well enough to get a grin from the worgen, even if it was somewhat devious. “Splendid idea! You, half-demon filth, duel me and prove you can control yourself. Better yet, do it with another’s weapon.”

There was a crack from above as the sky darkened, the clouds delivering their gift from the sea. Sizzles and pops as the water droplets danced too close to the felhawk’s flames; and the ground drank up as much as it could, as if it would not rain again.

“Fine.” Monax agreed, and the other demon hunters made room for what was to come. Even the dwarf and night elf stepped back. The worgen yanked the night elf’s staff from her back as she passed and threw the weapon to him.

With the staff coming his way, Monax reached out to grab it. His reactions were quick as he could feel the worgen moving in behind it. A vertical strike from the worgen, and the staff was used to block, though was let go for a brief moment as his hands began to burn. It did not register within Monax’s mind as to why someone else’s weapon was to be used, but now he knew; the staff was imbued with Light, and the worgen was going to use it to his advantage.

Monax had to move fast, his hands won’t be able to handle this for long. A step and a turn, with only one hand on the staff, he aimed for the worgen’s head, only to have it blocked by the blade. A careful jump back on the dampening ground, and Monax dodged the next blade swing. The worgen cackled as he watched Monax’s hands barely able to keep ahold of the staff, confident he’ll be the victor from that advantage alone.

With both hands on the staff, Monax thrusted the end into the worgen’s chest, hard enough to crack the plate. His opponent was stunned, and hearing him gasp, Monax grinned. Before the worgen could regain himself, the blade was removed from his hands and his legs were taken out from under him in one swift motion The worgen fell hard to the rain soaked ground, and Monax stepped on his chest afterwards, with not much force behind it.

The staff was passed from hand to hand, still burning his skin as Monax spoke. “Are you satisfied? Duel’s mine. I won.” The worgen snarled, drawing in a deep breath before he released it. “Fine.” This was all Monax had to hear to lift his foot up and off of his opponent.

Turning his attention to the night elf to throw the staff her way. “Think this is yours. Thanks for letting me borrow it, even if you weren’t asked.” The night elf glared at the demon hunter, taking her staff and returned the weapon to it’s rightful place on her back.

The dwarf cheered, “Now that be the Undyin’ elf I remember! Whatever happened to ye? Sixty years of fightin and you just disappeared from-” “They were killed.” Monax snapped, then took a breath through his nose before continuing with something at least. “I was forced to go with the killers. That simple.”

“Right then. I’m glad ye be fightin still, and fer all of Azeroth. We’ll be goin then, right Rogen?” The dwarf laughed as his traveling companion was grumbling something about losing to some half-demon filth, but the worgen nodded. “Keep fightin. Maybe when all of this is over, we can meet in Dalaran for a drink, Undyin. I’ll pay.” After the worgen grabbed his weapon, the three of them went off.

Monax laughed then shook his head, some memories had resurfaced and he wanted to go deal with them. Giving the two illidari a lazy wave goodbye, he jumped on Valmyzor once more. “Let's go kill some fucking demons.” The felhawk cawed, then blazing wings flapped, lifting them into the air and off to their next choice location.

@thesunguardmg

#monax #monax the undying #prestige class #duelist #the sunguard #sunguard

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xylianna · 6 years

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Awakenings - Chapter 30

AO3: http://archiveofourown.org/works/12806301/chapters/29674980

In the twisted tower a world away from Kohlingen, the self-styled God of Magic was pissed.

Those fucking Returners! Why couldn’t they just die already?!

Kefka raged around the chamber at the pinnacle of his tower, throwing books and magicite around with equal ferocity, kicking at the furniture and tearing down the draperies.

“Hate them,” he spat out angrily. “Hate them so much. Hate. Hate. HATE!”

Doomgaze had been his eye in the sky. A simple minded, if powerful, beast, Kefka had been able to use his superior arcane skills to control the monster, seeing what it would see, directing it where to fly, who to attack, who to destroy…

Ahh… destroy… destroy, destroy, destroy… what a lovely word!

Kekfa giggled happily, scampering to the center of the room where the Statues of the Warring Triad held court amidst a sea of magicite. In his insanity, Kefka had been working on grafting the magicite to the statues directly, but he hadn’t succeeded yet.

He caressed the stone monuments almost lovingly, cooing, “What should we incinerate today, hmm?” He chortled. “Looked like those pests were heading towards Kohlingen. I hope they didn’t have anything important waiting for them there, uwee-hee!” Capering around the room in a deranged jig, Kefka drew on the statues power, shooting powerful beams of light that spanned continents. “Destroy! Kill! BURN!” he chanted merrily, waving his hands around like the conductor of the Jidoorian Opera House, arcs of arcane energy crackling between himself, the statues, and the pile of magicite.

The scattered green gems began to float in the air, glowing with an otherworldly light that refracted off the faceted stones, bathing Kefka’s bizarrely painted face in an icy blue light. As Kefka drew more and more power from the magicite, they began to orbit around the man and the statues at a rapidly increasing pace. Ahh, yes, the power…

If only he could see the inferno through Doomgaze’s eyes.

Those fucking Returners!

The angry thought made him lose his concentration, and the magicite fell the to floor with a clatter.

Kefka figured he had fired off enough Bolts of Judgement to raze Kohlingen to the ground, maybe leaving a pretty crater behind where it once had stood. The thought made him giggle again. “Oooooh, won’t they be upset! How delightful!” Kefka threw his head back, laughing uproariously as he pictured all their sad, pathetic little faces.

“I wonder if they’ll cry?” He wondered aloud mirthfully, starting to dance again. Oh, he was still cross about losing his pet monster, but this day was shaping up better than he could have possibly imagined!

Kefka watched the moon set and the sun begin to rise. Ugh. How bright! Even with his best efforts to rip up the sky, he hadn’t been able to tear down the dratted sun. Yet. Time for him to go to bed. He walked with a spring in his step over to his personal chamber, a small room hung with thick drapes to block out every scrap of that damnable light. Throwing himself fully dressed atop the thick covers, he slept the sleep of the magically exhausted. While his body replenished it’s arcane energy, however, his mind was free to wander into dreams…

Kefka Palazzo had worked hard for this day.

He was a rising star in the Imperial Army, the one the higher-ups had marked as a man to watch. Kefka spent his days in rigorously disciplined training. He studied strategy under the most decorated Generals. Learned to fence from the Vector’s finest swordmasters.

Now, today… he would attain a skill-set no one in the entire Empire had- except perhaps that mewling half-Esper brat, but that remained to be seen.

A year ago, Emperor Gestahl had led a successful raid on the Land of the Espers, bringing back with him a baby, just a few months old, who was said to be the daughter of a human woman and an Esper male. Along with the babe, the soldiers had captured as many Espers as they could, the magical beasts now locked away in Professor Cid’s laboratory. The scientist was tasked with unlocking the secrets of magic, so that the Magitek Empire could truly use magic. They already had better technology than the world had dreamt of in their Magitek Armor, giant mechs piloted by highly trained individuals, the armaments capable of using attacks similar to magic, but not exactly the same.

Kefka had worked with unwavering discipline his entire life for this moment. His friend Leo counseled caution, as he generally did - he was ever the more conservative of the two soldiers, preferring peaceful outcomes to battle, and trying to preserve the lives of as many of their ranks as possible out on the field.

Kekfa wanted more.

He wanted power.

Today… he would finally get it.

The man ran a hand over his bright golden hair, making sure it was still contained in the tight ponytail he wore for training. While too vain to cut off his glorious mane, he wasn’t so stupid as to let it flow free when it could put him at a disadvantage. He didn’t know what to expect to happen at Cid’s lab, so he had prepared himself as if going into battle . Kefka wore his best armor, and had his sword sheathed at his side. His feet had carried him to the lab with military precision. He had marched proudly through Vector, standing tall, filled near to bursting with dreams of the wonders he would perform for the Empire once this Magitek infusion had taken place.

No longer would he be Kefka Palazzo, Imperial Soldier.

He would be Kefka Palazzo, the first Imperial Magitek Knight.

Entering the laboratory, he paid little heed to Cid’s chatter, the scientist all aflutter with nerves as he prepared to inject the blood of an Esepr into Kefka’s veins. Which Esper, the man didn’t know, and he frankly didn’t care. He knew he’d come out of this with magic, and that was all that mattered. He trusted in the Emperor to have chosen a powerful Esper.

Kefka frowned when Cid directed him to a table lined with restraints, but ever the obedient soldier, he obeyed. After he stretched himself out on the table, Cid’s assistants moved in and fastened cuffs around his wrists and ankles. They were made of some sort of metal alloy that was theoretically supposed to dampen his newfound magical powers, in case he was initially unable to control the new abilities.

Whatever. Kefka wished they’d just get on with it, already.

Then he hissed out a sharp breath as a line of fire seemed to be snaking up his arm. Glancing at the painfully throbbing arm, his eyes widened when he saw the needle pulled away from his limb. The blood was in him. It was in him. In him, in him, in him, inhiminhiminhim…

Kefka heard himself laugh, the sound loud and disjointed, as he writhed in agony on the table. His spine spasmed and arched, and his arms and legs were thrown against the restraints so hard he would certainly bruise. Ohhh, but this feeling!

No. He took one steady breath, than another. Cid had warned him that the influx of magic could make him feel… euphoric. It was his duty to fight it, to overcome it.

Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he heard someone giggling incessantly. After a long moment… he realized it was himself.

And that made him laugh even harder than before.

“I’m so sorry,” Cid stammered, wringing his hands nervously. “I’m not sure what happened, My Liege, but Kefka did not come through the process… intact.”

“What does that mean?” Emperor Gestahl demanded, eyes narrowing. This was to have been the first step towards the new world order he planned to impose on the masses. It can’t have failed.

“The infusion worked,” Cid whispered. “Kefka can use magic, oh yes.” The scientist paused, removing his glasses and busying himself with cleaning the lenses. “It’s just, um, his mind. Well, you see…” Cid cleared his throat, replacing his glasses on his face. “I’m afraid the process drove him quite insane.”

Gestahl stared at the Professor.

“Um, yes, he’s sedated now,” Cid babbled, pacing the room. “It’s the only way we could stop…”

The Emperor lost his patience. “Stop what?”

“The laughing”, Cid whispered, a frightened tremor coursing through his stocky frame.

Gestahl frowned, considering. Maybe he could still work with this. Maybe all was not lost.

“Test him. Carefully,” he ordered. “And continue your research. It is absolutely vital we get the Magitek Knight program up and running.”

From the neighboring room, Kefka carefully masked his cackle of delight. His ears seemed to work far better than before, he’d heard every word the Emperor and the Professor had spoken. Insane? Him? Pfft. Cid was just jealous, Kefka decided. He’d show him. He’d show them all.

He wasn’t able to muffle his laughter any longer, and after a lab assistant rushed to his side to jab a needle into his arm, Kefka’s world faded to black.

The next morning Kefka awoke with no recollection of his memory-laden dreams of the night before. He felt amazing! Ooh, he could feel the tingle of power radiating from the Statues and all of his pretty, pretty magicite!

He wandered through his tower chuckling to himself as he wondered how many people his rampage at Kohlingen had killed. That, of course, caused him to remember Doomgaze had been killed, and….

Kefka threw back his head and let out a bloodcurdling scream of anger. It echoed in the large stone chamber. Kefka hoped that it echoed so loudly those nasty Returners could hear it, could feel it skittering along the marrow of their bones.

He’d have to think up something even more special than Kohlingen’s destruction for them, yes, he would!

With that thought, all was right in his world again, and he began to waltz around the Warring Triad with an invisible partner, laughing so hard he cried.

#awakenings_FFVI #FFVI #finalfantasyvi #ao3 #fanfic

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