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Thread: PITCH BLACK〔M〕「Hoef & Hannelorian」

  1. #201
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    Hachi did not fault her for her cold and callous nature. They've seen Hell in all of its colors. They've beaten Hell and all of its demons, at least for now. So to see her face, and hear her opinion only confirmed to Hachi what he had already suspected. He could only really smirk as the woman he had come to love fully was a viper with lethal venom. She was dangerous, and he found that rather hot. Especially when that miscreant, Aiko, was mentioned. He had to admit that he had his own misgivings about her, and was definitely keen on seeing that beatdown if it ever came to pass.

    He watched as Nora led the way and entered the passageways. "To the kitchen indeed," he took the lead and moved ahead of her. He then thought about possible locations for Professor Nabuo, and only smiled at the likeliest place. "This place has to have a library right? A personal one surely. Chances are he's held up there." He entered the nexus once more and took the path that connected to the kitchen. This path was lit up with various bedrooms, which is where Hachi stopped for a moment to check one.

    He paused at one where he saw Keiko and one of the remain servants cowering in fear. Hachi only shook his head and sighed. He stepped away from the door, and pulled back into the shadows to continue on to the kitchen.

    The kitchen itself was vacant of anyone and anything. It was a large room that consisted of two separate islands for meal prep. There were pantries and cabinets filled to the brim with nonperishables and non-refrigerated goods. The walk in refigerator, however, was half-full. The few areas where windows were permitted were boarded, leaving parts of the room in disarray.

    Hachi took stock of everything and then said aloud, "Look around.. Take what's useful, it's going to be a long trip." He started looking through some nearby cabinets.

  2. #202
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    "If a house like this didn't have a library I'd be entirely shocked." Nora said with a bit of a flourish and a flash of a smile as she now followed behind Hachi, doing as he did and peeking through peep holes carved into the walls and gently opening an assortment of doors as they trod forward. "It would actually be quite a shame, every good house deserves a library. A room of knowledge alone. The old fashioned's very own Lilith." That too made Nora giggle just a bit more as they advanced. "Hell, if it weren't the end of the world I'd spend my time there too. Just trying to absorb everything I could. A scientist's wet dream." There was more of a freedom in Nora's words. Not that there hand't been before, but this time it was relaxed. All pretense of their social order had devolved into a great nothing and so now Nora was just Nora.

    She said what she wanted to, when she wanted to. She needn't need to use fancy language or press to appear to be the smartest in the room, even though she often was. When they emerged into the Kitchen, Nora had the revelation she didn't really know how to cook. "This is arguably my worst nightmare." The levity she was seeking to bring was for herself, and to an extent for Hachi. "Do you cook, Hachi?" Nora stepped toward cabinets and began to open them. Some were absolutely filled to the brim with assorted dishes and trays, things fit for all manners of serving. Others held dry and non-perishable goods, things like tinned food which seemed... rather upsetting but even Nora couldn't fuck up reheating a tin.

    "I'd probably kill you if I tried. To cook that is." Nora had people to cook for her, or she had restaurants to go to, dinners to be at, parties. Things of that nature that ensured she was a useless domestic servant, her only use was her brain in a lab where she could make advances in science beyond all belief. But a kitchen? That would defeat her, oh yes it would defeat her every time. On one of the walls a simple hook that held a variety of cloth bags, intended for shopping. Nora took one of them and began to throw items into it, gently. Things that seemed like they would last, or at least provide them with some sustenance. In pulling drawers she looked for things like can openers, knives, useful items.
    Thanks to Hayabusa/Ryoku for the set.

  3. #203
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    As he went about storing whatever foods he could find, his mind snagged a mulligan. The echoes of a stew his father used to make, rippled across his taste buds. He smirked and leaned against a counter-top, "My father was good friends with our head chief. The two of them were an unstoppable cooking duo. I would always watch their sessions, and was mesmerized..So I had to have my cake and eat it too," he faced Nora and winked, "I know a handful of my favorite dishes they used to cook." He chuckled, thinking on the other dishes he attempted. "Anything outside of that is really pushing it."

    He then had a thought that bothered him, he fell quiet as a result. However that thought didn't last long, and whatever was there did not surface. Instead, he forced it back down and turned his attention to the refigerator. He walked over and stood before it. He then opened it, and observed that there were two rows of perishable food. Although, most of it was vegetables and fruits. All of the meat was scavenged. Most of the dairy was gone, leaving butter and cheese.

    He went for one of those bags that Nora spotted, and proceeded to stuff the bag full of fruits and vegetables. Afterwhich, he grabbed whatever else was capable of sustaining them longterm. He came back out and said, "Well.. There were fruits and vegetables in there, and no meat. There's really only butter and cheese in there. I'm not lactose, but.. There was an unforgiving amount of cheese leftover.. Do Imperials not like cheese??" He laughed a little at that, his smile remaining thereafter.

  4. #204
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    "There are so many things, I never learned." Nora admitted, which was something she divulged with a great degree of difficulty. It was unlike her to have to ever say something even close to that. Admitting she was wrong, that was unheard of. Admitting there were things she couldn't do, that had been unheard of until now. "I suppose I was content... to let the men do everything." And everything they did. Her father cooked, cleaned, kept the house. Her brother took care of her laundry, her dry cleaning. Everything that she could have ever needed. Women like her didn't have to leave home until marriage because everything had to be taken care of.

    "A handful of dishes is better than none." Nora reckoned she could boil water, and perhaps cook rice if truly pressed. But beyond those basic tasks, she had been missing an entire skillset. "I remember my mother cooked once." Nora was recalling something perhaps for the first time with a degree of fondness. "She was so mad at my father, she swore she could do it better than he could. Arrogant. You can imagine the type." Her mother was a walking nightmare, a woman so brilliant and so blinded by her ambition. That sounded familiar when she thought about.

    Nora cracked a smile as she took a seat at the large kitchen island, one of them anyway. "My brother and I swore she was going to burn the entire house down." A giggle, a genuine giggle. "She didn't of course, but she gave up half way. Said it was beneath her." Nora had spent her entire life harboring a kind of hatred for her mother, for her sisters. Yet the more and more she thought about it, for all of her rebelling she still had been just like them. Just like Kei.

    Hachi mentioned cheese, and Nora shook her head. "She's the only Imperial I've met, so beats me." Nora spoke the words, believing them but also deep in her own thoughts. "Hachi..." Nora began a sentence and then stopped herself, slowing down her speech, her train of thought. "How can you stand to be with me? To love me as you do?" She understood she was bringing down the bright mood Hachi had so kindly attempted to foster. "I'm just like them all, Kei, my mother. I lived in arrogance and thrived on my own achievement, not giving a damn about men... or dragging down women who stood in my path."

    Raising a hand, Nora had summoned an apple, and once within her grasp she closed her hands around it, holding it tightly, but not tight enough to break the delicate skin. "If there is a God is this not the justice that I deserve?" Nora had swept the notion of God under the rug, cast it off as nothing but a fallacy to make people feel better about things that were unexplainable, unfair, or just simply beyond their own control. But this kind of occurrence, now that encouraged one to seek explanations beyond the ordinary, beyond the realm of understanding.

    "Kei and I... are two halves of the same. We fought for all the same things, worked as hard as we could... no, I never kept secrets the way she had... but if I had been in on it, I can't say I wouldn't have done the same." Nora knew herself, if she had been included, she would have kept the party line. That was her nature. But now all she could feel was rage, and love. Two things that blended together.
    Thanks to Hayabusa/Ryoku for the set.

  5. #205
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    Default What does it mean to Love? No one knows...and yet we all try to answer...



    Hachi's smile faded. The once bright mood had became a dimly lit overcast.

    He stood there for a moment; absorbed each and every word she spoke.

    She ripped away a band-aid on a wound that had been festering long before he had even met her. He didn't even want to acknowledge it at first but as these hours became days, it only really enlightened him to possibility that his mind was far too...mentally disfigured...for there be any rational explanation behind why he decided that she was the one he fell for. He wanted to say it was survival, that these emotions and feelings were merely ways to surpass the lethal obstacles put before him, but that wouldn't be true. There was something else, something that added a deeper truth. A deeper reality that went beyond merely just using her for survival.

    "Ya know Nora..No..Eleanor. Part of me wanted to wait just a little bit longer before I had to say something about it.. But since it had to be now, I can't really escape it anymore. You're right. You and Kei are two halves of the same coin. Two halves of the same, damn, woman. Kei killed something in me, but you resuscitated it." He had taken a few steps toward her, and gave her a look of sheer pain.

    "These feelings were unleashed by your hand. Metaphorical speaking, you broke my chains. What you've given me was freedom. Not by saying I was no-one's master, but by allowing me to think for myself when not a soul would. From the cradle I was raised pampered, like the wealthy family's prized dog. Kei always had a reason to hate me, to loathe my very existence. She never gave me the same respect you did. And the same can be said about every other woman I've come across, but you...Nora...Somehow you only ignored me.. And that was enough, because everyone else spoke ill of me. To you, I didn't exist. I was not in your sphere of reality not just from a departmental standpoint, but look at us. We live in two different worlds that would've NEVER MET had it not been for our circumstances right now."

    He was now in front of Nora. He stared her down, with an intense look on his face.

    "These circumstances brought us together for a reason.. I can't quite make out what it is yet, but I have had that gut feeling ever since this all started. So, what I'm getting at is this thing, these emotions, their blended together.. Seamlessly. One part of me wants to swear you off for being the other half of a woman my heart despises, but another part of me wants to embrace you and never let go. Your rage, your sorrow and happiness, all of it became a part of me the night we made love. Our energies combined to create something truly boundless.. and it's tied me to you.. I can't leave.. No matter what I do, what I say, it will never do you harm... If I so much as think about doing harm to you, my brain twinges and pain comes.. I'm sure you feel it too.. It's unwavering...borderline detrimental... A need to be there, always. That feeling exists in me, and its maddening.. I've never fallen so in love with anyone, but you... Eleanor Sakai.. You clearly ascend beyond what anyone would consider a lover."

    He huffed, that look being released from his face. A bliss crept into his expression. A dopey smile one might say.

    "You are my life, my way. What trepidation I have is settled by your gentle hand. What murderous intent I may harbor you enflame or cool in instant. But, as corny as it sounds, we found each other.. At the right moment, at the right time. And I would rather have you than anyone else, because I don't think anyone else is psychic." He winked, and had laugh that brought warmth to this cold kitchen. "You have way too many advantages for me to pass you up."

  6. #206
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    Default "Ya know Nora..No..Eleanor."

    "Ya know Nora..No..Eleanor."

    To hear Hachiro use her full first name was strange. He had never called her that. Not even when they first met. She had always been Nora. She let him use that name before she never knew him. Perhaps a part of her was destined to be drawn to him. Something she couldn't have fathomed at the time, but maybe this was the way it was meant to be. Immediately she allowed herself to Nora. That hadn't dawned on her before, and now it seemed to make sense.

    Eleanor was commanding. Eleanor was the strong scientist. Eleanor was the eldest daughter, the smartest, the most gifted. Eleanor was the accomplished doctor, she was brilliant, beautiful and strong. Eleanor despised the men beneath her, and sought only the best for herself. Eleanor was Kei's best friend. Eleanor was unkind, unfeeling.

    Nora was vulnerable. Nora was friendly and approachable. Nora always had a smile on her face. Nora loved her father, her brother. Nora despised her sisters and their petty ways. Nora resented her mother. Nora felt love, Nora gave love freely and without question. Nora felt deep anger and rage. Nora felt happiness and elation that Eleanor couldn't.

    But Eleanor and Nora were the same person. Two halves fighting against each other, and suddenly they were in collision with one another and gradually integrating. Because Hachi forced this woman to have a brand new perspective, to see herself in a different light. To see him in a different light. And here he was pouring his heart out to her, and she felt herself melting even further into him, because of him.

    No man, hell, no person had ever shared these kinds of thoughts and feelings with her, had confided in her so deeply. So honestly, and shared so much with her. One night had changed everything, their souls combined, they became on entity and fought to support one another. Nora felt the tears well in her eyes and after all she said, all she could do was move forward and wrap her arms around Hachi, holding him so tightly, so close, almost like she could suffocate him. Crush him into her.

    "I love you." Was all she could say, this was the core of what she wanted to say, what she wanted to show and no amount of words could express the way she felt. He had laughed, he brought his warmth and presence, and she breathed out a sigh of relief, something that said her worries about the two of them had evaporated, she was ready to put her preconceived notions behind her. "Okay... we should... do something with those vegetables... they won't last long." This was Nora's way of saying she was okay, ready to move on and do what she needed.
    Thanks to Hayabusa/Ryoku for the set.

  7. #207
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    Default The Magical Three Words

    Three words... That's all it took.

    "I love you."

    There was meaning, intent, understanding. Never had those words rung so concussively inside his head, never had they been directed at him. It was like he got sucker-punched in the face. His mind was running, but they all came to the same conclusion. The same answer every, single, time. "I love you too."

    He shared a smile when relief came to her face. His focus thenshifted to the vegetables and raised a brow, "Right.. Hm.. I might have something for this. It's a ritual that I had learned while studying under sensei Tree." He then realized how absurd that statement was, "Well.. I mean, his name was Hideki Miura, but me and his other students just called him Sensei Tree. Of course, we never really told him that to his face because his punishments are a little...rough shall we say." He had a nervous laugh, the memory having a bit of a sting to it.

    "But anyway," eagerly moving the subject, "I'll just need a few things, and a few minutes."

    He proceeded to set the vegetables down on a counter-top, and moved over to various cabinets to rummage through them. He was looking for three specific items, one of which was some loose wood to use as material. The second was a clump of ice from the walk-in refigerator, and finally the third was one of the vegetables.

    He arranged them neatly, they being stacked ontop of each other in the middle of a magick circle that he began to draw with sugar and salt. The same salt and sugar he found while scouring the cabinets.

    After the circle was drawn, Hachi proceeded to recite an incantation. The incantation was spoken in a language considered old among the Iznatsu, but had reverberated power throughout the room.

    In one instant, there was a bright flash.

    In the next, there was a wooden box that was one meter cubed and was featureless. The box stood where the neat stack previously was. And when Hachi picked up the box, magickal circles similar to the one made on the floor appeared upon each face of the box. The top then opened, and revealed an empty, dark, space, within that blew cold, arctic, air.

    "This is what he called a 'Dimensional Refigerator'. You can put any organic food item in here so long as it is in the same food group as the item you did the ritual with." He explained, and as he explained he started putting all the vegetables into the box. "If we wanted anything else, I'd have to do another one."
    Last edited by Dire Hoef; 11-11-2023 at 09:27 PM.

  8. #208
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    For a time, this all almost seemed normal. Nora found herself seated neatly at one of the kitchen islands, indulging in sweet conversation with a loved one. Hachi went about his business of looking and gathering. But Hachi wasn't hurried, there was no frantic energy or tone to his voice. It was slow, calm, almost like one would be if they were simply preparing their next meal. Nora marveled at how even in the darkest of times, there seemed to be a few things could appear almost normal, and that almost was what made it feel so special. It was a moment that formed a memory, one Nora would hold on to and evoke when things seemed too bleak or uncertain.

    "That's one hell of a trick, Hachi." Nora said with a smile as she examined the box, the cold air that blew from it was amusing, like something of a novelty item. But it was more than that, it was hope of a sort. Hope that they would live long enough to need a dimension refrigeration device. "I suppose it's a good thing our vegetable options are limited." Nora laughed lightly and stood up from her seat, her eyes looking around, like she had just remembered something.

    "The time has come to exorcise our demon friend." Nora knew the creature was not a demon, and that there would be no exorcism, but the sentiment still held. She was ready to vanquish an enemy, to at least bring some calm and safety to this manor house, at least those who still survived would have a chance to live another day. "We have to draw it out, none of this eyes in the walls shit. So... I'm going to do something stupid." Nora still had a smile, even though she candidly admitted that she was at least aware of how crazy she sounded. "All of the creatures we've encountered, they do possess minds, thought. To varying degrees, granted. So, let's ask it to come play."

    Nora made her way to the door of the kitchen, and pushing it opened she peered out. Immediately she could feel it. This was not an internal corridor, but one intended for regular use. The feeling descended slowly, from the ends of her hair all the down to the tips of her toes, slowly moving as though her body was being scanned. Stepping back inside, she closed the door. "So when you're ready. I'm going to attempt to communicate with it. Talk to it..." Naturally Nora did not mean using actual words, but rather relying on her psionic abilities. If she could get a better sense of what it was, what it wanted, she might be able to draw it out long enough for them to consider how to kill it.

    "But it's everywhere, it has a deep energy... like a web.. or the central nervous system. This isn't quite like what we've seen before." This force, this entity felt different, it felt smarter some how, and it seemed to play the long game.
    Thanks to Hayabusa/Ryoku for the set.

  9. #209
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    Default the Time has come to Exorcise another Demon




    Hachiro smiled as he tucked the box under his arm. However, his face slowly soured when Nora remembered something. His face only doured the more she explained the situation and her plan. About her plan, "I don't like it. However, you're onto something with drawing it out using your psionic abilities. So, fuck it. I'll support it. However, do becareful in there. Really careful."

    Hachi understood that the mind was a delicate thing, but he was unaware of the true limits of psychics. He had confidence that Nora was aware of these things, and didn't exactly stress over it. However, it was a persistent anxiety that crept at him. He remembered how he was locked in his mind temporarily, and it wasn't even that long ago either. He didn't want that same fear to take hold of her, but what eased him the most was that she had a far stronger mind than him. Such mental fortitude was rare.

    He then had an idea of his own, "Let me add something to your plan to really make sure this thing gets pulled out into the 'lime-light.'" He stepped over to the door where he creaked it open just enough to be able to see down the hallway. He then brought forth several magick circles that all collapsed into one over his right hand. He extended his hand forward and several meters down the hall, within eyesight, an illusory image of Hachi stood in the middle of the hallway.

    The feeling, the ever-encroaching sense of death, that Nora felt came to Hachi gradually and then suddenly as a whoosh of air turned the corridor into a brief wind tunnel. The debris and wind had made it hard for Hachi to see what was really going on, but he saw the outline of the creature standing next to the illusory image. However, in that next moment, the wind stopped. Both the creature and the image were gone. All of that happened so fast, that Hachi wasn't able to get a good look at creature.

    "Well," he then slammed the door shut when he felt the feeling again, "So I, now, know how it kills.. It discombulates before striking. However, considering how it discombulates, it's far more destructive. So perhaps its using the wind and debris as a smoke screen so that it can focus on one individual..? No.. That doesn't sound right."

    He looked back at the door, "If you have to step out into the corridor, I can make it so that we're safe in a sectioned off area of the corridor. That way, we can position ourselves in front of a door and escape into this room or another room if it breaks through my solid walls."

  10. #210
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    Nora paused to think for a moment, having witnessed Hachi's tactics. It was entirely reasonable to think that the confusion of wind and debris to strike, however, it's purpose seemed a bit harder to abstract. "It likely uses those forces to cover itself, shield itself. Likely there is a weakness to be found." There was always a weakness, and as always Nora seemed entirely confident in herself and her own conclusions. "It is more of a psychological predator, than anything else." Nora opened the door to the hall once more, and took another peak out, clearly in thought.

    "What if we attempted a combined approach?" Nora closed the door once again and turned to look at Hachiro. "You can generate the image, I can give it life." Nora was mostly thinking aloud, not entirely sure if what she was about to suggest was entirely possible. "I can give it the presence of thought, and act through the image. We just have to hold it long enough to see it, get across the hall and then move to strike first. Or... we hunt."

    Nora's eyes looked toward the walk in, and slipping inside quickly she returned with a container filled with a red liquid. "Blood." Animal blood was often saved, used for assorted purposes, but in this instance it would allow them to tag their target. "We tag it, follow it back to it's hiding place." Raising her hand, Nora set the doors flying opened, look at Hachi she nodded and waited for him to generate the image of either himself, her, or something else entirely. Once it was there, Nora would channel her thoughts into it, bits of her power, enough to give illusion a kind of life. The ability to move, impulses, electrical signals... or rather the illusion of such.

    There was a certain foolhardy quality in these actions. Nora had no guarantee that any of this would work, that they could distract it long enough with an image, to splatter it with blood, hide and wait long enough to follow the trail through the halls. But more so, even if the creature had a physical body, it too seemed to be able to play some kind of psychic game, or perhaps it was simply Nora's hyper awareness that made it feel as such. It was waiting for them, and they were waiting for it.
    Thanks to Hayabusa/Ryoku for the set.

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