The Curse of a Concept | Open

[calmed_demon]

CHARACTERS: Kouma Kishima & Open
DATE: May 15th, 2011
WHERE: The Forests of Ithir, bordering Muir
SUMMARY: Kouma feels a little of his Inversion becoming a problem and decides to snuff it out.
WARNING(S): V for violence in the intro. It could go either way.

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[calmed_demon]

"My clan houses the thickest demonic blood of all current families."

Extending his arm, Kouma held it out at full length. He didn't create flames. Instead--Kouma raised the temperature around his limb enough to make the air waver and flicker, bending his image to the point that his arm looked broken. His tone was droll and even more lifeless than it usually was. Even a man who suppressed every bit of his emotion down to the bone couldn't avoid sounding a little morose in response to such a life.

"I don't dislike destruction, nor do I lament my fate in being born this way," The waves of bending air seemed to grow even more unstable. "Of all 'demons' my clan has housed, I am the most unstable. The most unstable, powerful creatures in hybrid clans are called 'Crimson Vermillion'. Anyone with such a title is fated to become a mindless beast--capable only of destruction and environmental tampering."

He closed his fist and the air cooled immediately. "Clans are bred in order to force production of as many heirs that will become 'Crimson Vermillion' as possible. However, even among thick blooded clans, I am feared. As I last checked--the only time I've ever been contacted by neighboring clans has been for the chance to use me for slaughter."

His bleeding heart? He's never met anyone willing to show him such a grave secret. Just as one releases 'anger' with a punch, Kouma understands that voicing 'reason' and 'grudges' can calm him down.

[evil_groupie]

To be frank, she was hypnotized a moment at that flicker. The hazy illusion was enough to draw Potamos with its intent, though it wasn't aimed at her in the slightest. Kouma was an interesting entity like that. Amazing, a killing machine that was bred for little more than slaughtering, yet had developed such a mind....

"I think I see, now," she hazarded, locking back with that single eye and mess of hair. "I guess it'd be natural to think like that when you're told incorrect information, y'know."

Because who would fear their own weapons? What kind of weak, pathetic clan was he a part of was something she couldn't help but wonder. One that apparently needed a lot of clearing out...if he had not already done so himself, anyway.

"Listen, that's not what a demon is, y'know," She regarded the man quite kindly, thinking it was best to try and chisel as much of that ill-bred dogma out of him as possible. Lucky him. "We aren't God's shadow, and we aren't his imperfect creations. Those creatures are just there--spoiling and hoping to eradicate us one day.

"It's kinda weird that a whole clan would teach that kind of thing--were you guys trapped on Earth, somehow?" That had to be the reason--it seemed more like human depreciation than a distorted demon pride.

[calmed_demon]

Giving himself the time to think, Kouma let his hand settle at his side, limp. There was no reason in his years of living by the rules of his clan and by the rules of hybrids in general for him to believe such odd and encouraging words right away. This woman wanted him to believe that he was a great and admirable creature simply because of what he was. That he was part of a breed that had more that it deserved than it was getting. She sounded vaguely like a revolutionary.

Kouma had every right to disagree. His father would have hissed curses at him. His mother would have done the same--if either were alive. Perhaps Hiromi was right. This woman knew that demons were being threatened, but she must not have realized the level of it. Thoughtlessly, Kouma continued. "I'm unsure what you mean by 'trapped on Earth'. We're spirits of the Earth."

Adding briefly, he felt his wall of knowledge collapse by a single, rigid beam. He was willing to fall for it, even if he knew it was unreasonable. "I understand what you mean. You may be too late, though. As it stands, after the slaughter of the Kishima--I'm the only hybrid of that line left."

[evil_groupie]

The devil girl tilted her head just slightly to this admission. "Slaughter? Did you do it?" It was a question asked with no hesitation. Her mind came naturally to the conclusion: weaklings are to be ruled over or exposed of. What he had told her of their years of attempting to control something stronger than themselves, it made sense to her mind. Yet she wanted the confirmation from his own lips--there was a chance, after all, that those demons had somehow fallen to humans. Potamos had heard of a few spiritually inclined humans from her short stay in Japan. Those who would fight and seal away demons on sight.

The other thought had her pausing to stretch casually, fully certain that this was no more threat. Kouma didn't acknowledge her as an obstacle--her feet, therefore, padded through the snow to close that delicate meter. She wanted to see him up close, after all. He was a devil in a flock of humans. One that was not on assignment from higher powers. That alone was enough to make the little scheming girl's millennium.

"And I think you've got it a bit wrong--I wasn't born on Earth, y'know. For your clan to be, they must have been separated from the demon realm quite some time ago."

[calmed_demon]

He stared at Hiromi in response, though there was a sliver of malice in his eyes. It was something said nonchalantly, but it was one of the things that he realized stunted his growth as a child. Every single day--Kouma was reminded, by being left absolutely alone, that he was dangerous simply because he breathed. The entire clan seemed to realize that if he slipped and turned into a monster, that he would have rubbed their mark off of the world forever.

It made sense, though. She was a true 'demon', after all. If she came from the mythical realm of 'evil', then she would be just as powerful as she showed him. He answered, mentally exhausted, unable to push his line of thought any further.

"No. A human wiped out my clan and took my eye with him."

[evil_groupie]

There were very few things that could have possibly shocked her into outright fear and disbelief at that moment. His words easily slid past Potamos's every defense and soundly turned her entire world on its ear.

"Human!?" Her shock wasn't hidden--every inch of her was visibly shaken. Not a clan of hunters, not angels summoned by humans. One human had laid waste to his entire branch of family and managed to wound him. Were she not something of an empath, she'd have gladly, desperately called him a liar. Yet, the sliver of hostility peeking over the well of Kouma's emotions...

It was true. Unholy gods it was true. Who would even have that kind of strength against demonkind?

[calmed_demon]

The context of the crime didn't matter. Whether or not the members of his clan were easily dispatched and their level of skill didn't trump the fact that it was all done by one man--one man with a level of technique that far surpassed even demonic blood. Psychics were born and bred to remove things such as 'hybrids' from the world, after all.

"Yes," Adding almost weakly, simply to try and keep Hiromi from showing a negative expression any longer, Kouma carried on. "He was still just a human. Of all his clan--I only spared one." It was not his own personal vendetta that he fulfilled. The Tohno clan harbored more hatred than Kouma could have ever felt. The crazed clan-head--even that man managed to worry the thick-blooded hybrid.

[evil_groupie]

Her face was still pensive. The news bothered her, and the reprisal...wasn't much better.

"That's not right--why would you give them that kind of respect?!" Almost as if Kouma had struck her himself, Potamos shrunk in on herself, hugging against a cold that was most definitely not born from the weather. "Humans should never hold that kind of power! You should have murdered the whole lot of them--and I'd been staying among them...how could I have missed this kind of potential?!

"There might be some of them about here, too!" It would have been a far-fetched conclusion normally, but she had already had conversations with those who took magic as commonplace. "No, they probably are. We'll have to be careful. To think those mundane goody goodies even had that kind of ability--it's no wonder the angels sided with them!"

[calmed_demon]

Kouma realized, without a doubt, that Hiromi was no demon-kind that he was familiar with. What monster of chaos would fear for their life and the lives of their kind as if they were a dying breed? Hiromi's shock seemed to cement a conclusion in his mind--that she was tossing about the idea of relying on him. It was nothing new, but it was far from mundane for him. Despite knowing it was cruel to be treated in such a way, it was the only way of life he knew.

Defending those who would rely on him was natural. He was a guardian spirit to be used by the Tohno clan if there was an emergency.

"Pride," Kouma tilted his head and looked past Hiromi, his gaze turning vacant. "He killed my clan, but he was the only man in my entire life who's harmed me in any way. He pierced my steel skin when even creatures of my level have been unable to do it. That man was a monster, but he regarded me as 'interesting' even as I killed his family."

It was a thought he wasn't able to vocalize properly unless presented with the right chance. "If not for that man, I would be a mindless beast who had never felt even a little pain in its life. I spared his son, because I hoped some day he could revive that feeling in me. Believe me--there are no other humans in the world of that man's caliber."

[evil_groupie]

"Oh..." That it was Kouma's words...no, it was Kouma's carefully-controlled feelings that forced her to quietly reconsider sudden plans for a war machine. Humans were still new to the girl--the level of power boasted in a human that could harm a person of Kouma's caliber was something that she could not take lightly, no matter the circumstance.

At the same time, the respect obviously given to that man by Kouma was confounding. No human did anything worthy of respect from Potamos. They were a means to an end, or they were objects in her way. In the quiet of the snow, a seed of curiosity planted itself snuggly in the demon girl's head.

"The only one of this kind, huh?" Her lips pursed together as her thoughts ran with good pacing against Kouma's admission. "It must be a boy thing. Or maybe because I've never had a nemesis that I felt was equal to my power--so I never put time in to make sure they could power up and face me down like two amazing warriors on the field of battle, y'know."

It was, she thought, a little too upfront. Her ways involved subterfuge and trickery. Her opponents were undermined and then tortured for good measure. "Though you're sure about that? No other humans could exist like him? Because this island..."

She looked Kouma in the eyes, trying to convey her meaning. The island was an anomaly. So the chance that a super-powered 'human' could be about was a big possibility. "We should investigate it, y'know. Not just this island, but the people brought here with us. There's lots more to some of them than what they don't talk about."

A smile crossed those lips pinked by the chill in the air. "I bet they're all super interesting."

[calmed_demon]

The least Kouma could do as Hiromi went over her options was to sigh and remain otherwise silent. Though he was certain of his approach, she felt much less trust and, in fact, had become more solidly grounded in her beliefs as a result of his story. He was well aware of the nature and ability of human beings--especially when it came to how they dealt with limitations. There were no other humans like the Nanaya, simply because there were no other humans around that would willingly cast themselves into oblivion for an old, dogmatic belief as they did.

Hiromi must have been given the impression that there were suddenly humans lying in the darkness, waiting to destroy demons with absolute skill and prowess. As little as Kouma had heard about the Church, he was well aware that even weapons of old, incredible power were withdrawn. If 'The Church' were a danger to anyone, it was only a danger to those vampires that plagued Europe--not to the demons of Japan.

Thoughtlessly, Kouma asked the only question that Hiromi presented to him. "What will you do with them once you find them?"

[evil_groupie]

"Well, it depends, y'know?" She answered his question in a light, pondering tone that would not begin to suggest that judgment had not already been cast.

"Because some of them have been bright, cheery, and innocent. But this kind of place...that Arawn fellow has intentions I'm not sure about. He is definitely encouraging a certain kind of behavior, though. People fornicating brings about its own strange power." With no pause, Hiromi put a hand to her chin as if Kouma was one that could naturally catch on to the girl's meaning. After all, he was a demon, so he had to know...love was a strange and most dangerous power. And she'd done enough study to conclude consummation was one thing that couples in love would do.

"So it's no surprise that loooooots of them likely will start playing this little island game to its fullest, probably even forgetting about leaving. That would make them obstacles, y'know." And, often stated as if it were burned into her soul was her leader's doctrine:

If you meet someone in love, you must kill them.

If you meet someone who loves another, you must kill them.

If you meet people to are to be wed, you must kill them both!

"And we can't get what we want if there are obstacles in the way, now can we~?" Sickeningly sweet, she stated that, in fact, judgment had already come and gone. That she would simply be the executioner.

[calmed_demon]

To the demon that Hiromi gazed upon, 'love' did not exist. He had never felt it before she looked at him admiringly and even then, he realized that it was only a sense of appreciation that came from her--not love. There was nothing in his 'world' that indicated such a ridiculous and nonsensical feeling could exist. So, he rejected it without a thought.

"Fornication is something that changes the behavior of humans as well as demons, though rarely positively," He craned his neck and looked at Hiromi, wondering if her disposition was an act or a legitimate push to avoid thinking of her own feelings. If 'love' existed by some strange measure, wouldn't she be capable of it as well, having also known fear and appreciation?

"If you would rather these people be in despair, wouldn't it be efficient to simply allow them to continue as they are?" He begged a question that was purely in league with history and sophistry. Kouma was a pragmatist. "They do not seem to abide by principles that would benefit them. Naturally, as all humans do, they would inevitably destroy themselves without outside assistance."

[evil_groupie]

"Mmm...you have a point." A point Potamos needn't give deep thought too. More destructive and suffering than any creature she'd ever encountered was man. Man could consume, bicker, destroy, and do so with a sense of accomplishment. Their dual nature was hypocritical by and large, which made them a perfect assistant for demon kind, and simultaneously the worst charm against them if touched by angels.

"But, you see, it's time that's the biggest factor for me. Because I was on an assignment before I was taken, y'know." Those pinked lips pursed with the thought. She had been on assignment to do something about taking from the Angels their final bastion of defense. Obtaining the powered talismen known as the Saint Something Four, which helped to rebolster the barrier that protected the Tenshikai. "It's super-crucial and that means to impress my leader, I need to be able to accomplish it lickety-split, y'know?

"Waiting around for these humans to turn on one another isn't an option. It's better to meddle with them and lead them riiiiiiight where I need them to be."

[calmed_demon]

Kouma saw opportunists regularly. Kugamine was the utter embodiment of one such opportunist. While the families of the Tohno clan had often remained far from them for their own safety, Kugamine was a man who decided he would do his best to stow himself away to be remembered--and, to try and marry the next heir for his own benefit.

Kouma could tell that Hiromi was using the same reasoning as that man, but he couldn't quite see why. Though, it was none of his business--this woman's personal motivations. Turning on his heel, he looked aside, towards the mountains. "Very well. I don't know how to handle a demon aside from myself who serves a different lord."

He had no motivation to help her, even if he was entranced by the admiration she put his way. "I cannot help you without my own cause, however. We may have different motivations and desires."