photonicfighter | Chapter 3

[Action A | Saturday, Sept. 17th, mid-day onwards, Around Mayfield]

[Undeath wasn't agreeing with Dakki. She had "died" before, or at least gotten extremely close to it, and this didn't compare on an "oh Holy Light it hurts" level. In fact, she felt numb. Quite the blessing, given the poor state of her left calf and the gnawed mess that was her neck.

It's little comfort. She failed, and traumatized Aurica, and left Gat alone, and now she's like this. And hungry. And too damned stubborn to give into it. Instead? She's off roaming the town, frying pan in hand, bashing in the skulls of any other undead that shamble her way.

She's very obviously infected. Her skin is already starting to discolor, and a neck injury as bad as that would hamper a living person considerably more.]

HAAH!!!

[CLANG-splat, and down goes another zombie. Regardless of her fate and her failure, she'll try to be useful as long as she can.]

[Action B | Sunday, Sept. 18th and onwards, Also Around Mayfield]

[Hunger delayed is hunger that only compounds itself. And Dakki has finally fallen to irresistible undead hunger. If you get within her field of vision, and you look edible? Then you'll have a drooling, snarling, blank-eyed and bloody-mouthed blonde lady upon you.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Hitting an invisible wall at full-tilt is bad for most creatures. Dakki smacks against it, rebounds, and staggers backwards with a blood-and-spittle tinged snarl. She's not comprehending what had hit, not sure where it came from even as she rolls her milky eyes upwards.

Her well-worn instinct to figure out what unseen thing was attacking her was still present, even in her hunger-crazed state.

The thing on the lamppost was on a lamppost. The thing on the ground was huge. Huge meant better eating. She could crack it open and get a bite, of course. Ciel was disregarded. She set off for Garviel again.]

[There's a small shake of her head that he may or may not be able to see from her altitude.] My help would be useless to you. You can well finish this on your own, but I have to interfere upon a request made by someone else.

[Dakki won't be allowed the luxury of movement as three more Keys rain down from above, forming a cross-shaped pattern with the first and effectively trapping her in the center with a binding spell. With a light hop, Ciel jumps down to land back on ground level.

She takes a step forward to where the undead stood paralyzed.]

Do you honor the fallen, Garviel?

Of course. I honor the fallen, and their wargear. To do otherwise would be disrespectful of your foe, or your comrades. In fact... treating fallen brothers with proper respect is the only way we Astartes can make more of ourselves.

[ He looks at the paralyzed undead quizzically, before looking back to Ciel. ]

At any rate, why do you ask about this at this time? I intend to give her the Emperor's Mercy, as Aurica requested.

[ He looks back to Dakki, drawing his bolter from the mag-clamps on his legs. ]

[Ciel's got that zombie-Dakki well pinned down. Surrounded by such blinding, holy light, all she can do is cringe and shudder and weakly try to wave her broken mop handle at it all.]

Haaaahh....

H-hungry....!

[The moan that she lets out is terrible.]

[She keeps pacing calmly towards the screeching being, its cries barely intelligible. Is it really voicing its hunger, or is it begging for release?]

When Terra was still known as Earth, according proper respect to the dead is part of the duty that religion fulfills for the people. Secular as you are - please allow me to take care of this. That body needs not be desecrated any further than it already has been.

[She'll finally stop half a dozen feet away, directly in front of the decaying woman. Raising one empty hand, she will draw a cross in thin air, though white lines will somehow remain visible to the naked eye as she closes her eyes and quietly begins to chant in Latin.

The tone is solemn and soft. Even if it's out in the streets filled with the stench of blood and decay, this would still instill a ceremonious sense of peace to those whose ears it may reach. The prayer in question is a Ten-Count Aria, shortened to Five in accordance to the situation at hand. The farther she got, the brighter the cross that bound Dakki became, until eventually, the body is almost entirely swallowed by light. She won't even feel pain; just a numbing of her remaining senses while everything seems to grow lighter, in terms of weight. And towards the end...]

Kyrie eleison. Amen.

[A final flash and the whole body vanishes in one single instant, turned to ash that's just as quickly blown away by the evening breeze. Finally lowering her hand, she dismisses all 4 Keys in one gesture, turning the blades back to the Bible pages that they were originally created from. Only then do her shoulders slump a little and she turns around. With the lingering afterglows fading fast, there soon won't be a single trace remaining here, of what's just happened mere moments ago.

All that's left now is to hear from Garviel; she's done what she has been asked of.]

[ Adds his own brief invocation to this event, strange for a secular man, but not unusual, not for him. ]

The Emperor knows her name.

[ He looks around, some of the other zombies and drones closing in, and says to Ciel. ]

Well, it would seem I'm good bait. Between the two of us, we will make a clean sweep, no?

[The light was bad, the light was bad, it kept her from eating, it kept her from filling the hole that needed filling, the light was bad, the...

...the light was good. The light made it all stop. It made the hunger go away. It made things clear again, if just for an instant. Her head rolled gently upright, and a look of faint awe came to her face.]

H-holy Light...

[And then it consumed her, and she felt nothing at all.]

[By then, everything's completely faded. For a proclaimed woman of faith, even Ciel had her doubts about God, especially within Mayfield. The Burial Agency wasn't built for its faith, after all. Still, faith is the source of their power and Christianity has a firm reach within America, so maybe just knowing that...

Regardless, this has had its share of emotional strain, but now that this is done with, she should get back and let Aurica know - if she's still awake. If there's anything more that she can do to set the younger girl's heart and mind at ease, she'll try her best.

Though that's planning ahead. As for their immediate situation...

She'll allow a small questioning smile to crack through.]

I don't mind, this will be over quick, but would you really need my help? [He has more than enough skill and means to take care of this on his own, that she knows. But isn't he still conflicted about her ways in general?]

[ He shakes his head, and levels his bolter at the incoming horde. ]

No. I suppose I would not... but that leads me to question why you interceded on behalf of this one to begin with.

It's as I've said - I acted upon the request of another. We have spoken to the same person, though you would have done it differently, would you not?

Oh.... you must mean Aurica, then. Strange that she would not trust me to finish the task. [ He nods his helmeted head, in between short bolter bursts that tear the zombies apart in showers of gore and pink mist. ]

I would have used my bolter, then burned the corpse as is respectful among the Legiones Astartes. We leave nothing for the scavengers to feast on.

It's not a matter of trust. What's respectful is not the same for everyone; I'm the one who convinced her of an alternative to brute force.

It matters not. The deed is done, that is the important thing. She has peace now.

Yes. The end has been reached, regardless of the means. [This isn't the time for an argument of faith; such things most likely wouldn't achieve any results with him under peacetime anyway.

Hands behind her back, she takes a step backward.]

I need to head back and keep watch. [...] Please take care.

[With lowered eyes and a small nod, she'll hop back onto a nearby lamppost before quickly disappearing into the night, as quickly as she came.]

Chapter 3 - Infection

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject