it's a war in there [March OTA, including memshare]

[not_the_last]

Who: Cassandra de Rolo & those visiting her memories / OTA
When: March
Where: Around the Serena Eterna; also Whitestone, at various points in the past
What: Things are beginning to crack
Warnings: Game-typical angst; in memshares, murder, torture, vampirism, mindfuckery both magical and mundane, and potentially noncon/dubcon; other warnings to be added in reply headers as needed

A. you're just like them, you're unprepared

Cassandra's noticed the cracks, of course. Before she brushes against one, they seem alarming and inexplicable; are they a trick, a trap, a sign that this whole little artificial plane is starting to come apart?

(The thought she barely lets herself contemplate: a way out?)

After her first few encounters with them, the nature of them seems more apparent -- although there's no guarantee they aren't also any of her previous thoughts. The first time her own memories double on her, with faces she knows from here appearing in them, she locks herself in her cabin's bathroom and curls up on the floor of the shower, arms wrapped around her knees, struggling not to begin screaming for fear that she might never stop.

[This prompt is for interacting with Cassandra in the present setting! Feel free to run into her anywhere on board, either before or after memshares begin, or PM/ping me on discord to discuss a more specific prompt.]

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B. cause you don't know the terrain

Several cracks about the ship, as it turns out, lead to a world called Exandria and a little city-state called Whitestone. Those who tumble into them will encounter a younger Cassandra at some point in her past.

[Specific pre-discussed prompts are below! If you would like a different one, see the plotting post here or PM/ping me to discuss.]

Comments

[not_the_last]

"Oh, no." Delilah's smile is sharper now. "No, indeed. This we will have out of you, child, one way or another. If you prove too tiresome in life ... I have some skill with corpses, and yours will answer me if I require it. Don't imagine that filth in your blood will prevent me. Even if it heals you, there's only so far it can be made to keep doing that."

As though to illustrate the matter, Sylas taps the blade gently against Natsuno's cheek, just below his eye. Not pressing.

(Behind him, Cassandra is perfectly immobile and silent, as though trying to vanish into the background.)

[neverleave]

Skill with corpses... right, necromancer. Palamedes does it by summoning the dead's soul, but methods must vary across worlds.

Natsuno keeps his expression and voice pointedly unimpressed.

"In that case you should just kill me now. Spare me the pain of listening to you."

Will this memory keep going after he dies? If so, they're in for a massive let down when his corpse explains just how he got there.

[not_the_last]

"Mmm ... I think not." Sylas leans in and carefully, almost fastidiously, drags the knife blade down Natsuno's face and the side of his neck -- the one opposite him, so as to avoid getting any of the glowing blood on himself.

Delilah's laugh is low and velvety, as she glides forward. "You misunderstand the situation gravely, if you think anyone here has any interest in sparing you pain."

(Cassandra's face is so perfectly blank as to be a stone wall, as to erase itself from the scene.)

[neverleave]

Natsuno grimaces when the knife carves a slow, long gash. This one hurt more, though the wound heals just as quickly. Cassandra clearly doesn't want to be there - even if she works for this couple, she doesn't share their cruelty - and Natsuno certainly doesn't want his death to be drawn out.

If you prove too tiresome in life, the necromancer said. Only question is what's 'tiresome' enough to be killed and what warrants more torture.

No other option than try and see what sticks.

Natsuno fangs extend behind tightly-closed lips and bite into his tongue, drawing blood, which he attempts to spit at Sylas's face.

[not_the_last]

Glowing droplets spatter the vampire's face with a faint but clear sizzling sound, and Sylas staggers back a few paces and bares his fangs with a hiss. There's a gasp from behind him, and a breath of outrage from Delilah. "You dare --"

Sylas holds up a hand to her, breathing hard through his teeth. "It's all right, my love. I think we're very nearly through here."

He tosses the dagger aside to clatter across the stone floor, draws a pair of riding gloves from his pocket, closes the distance between himself and Natsuno while pulling one of them on, and deals him a driving backhand blow across the face that would knock him to the floor if he weren't being held upright by the spell.

[neverleave]

He smiles faintly, feeling dark satisfaction at seeing the Sylas's skin sizzle. Very nearly through, huh? Good. At least he got to wipe the smugness off the creep couple's faces. If only he could figure out how to cough up another flare, he could burn the vampire before the necromancer killed him.

Natsuno cries out when the blow connects, pain exploding across his face. Blood drips from his split lip and a bruise blooms on his cheek only to fade moments later. Further rude commentary would have to wait until he stops seeing stars.

[not_the_last]

He may not get the chance to recover that far.

What follows is a brief, brutal exercise in testing the limits of Natsuno's rapid healing. After a handful of scientifically placed blows, including one that breaks his neck and one that fractures his skull (both of which heal), magic enters the picture: a Blight spell that draws half the life out of his chest and arm, leaving the flesh dry and gray and cracking like a withered leaf.

When even that doesn't kill him, the two exchange a glance and a nod, and Sylas steps away to draw a heavy greatsword from its sheath at his back.

"It'll be interesting to see if the blood retains that property afterward," Delilah muses. "Perhaps we'll give a sample to Dr. Ripley to study. Do be sure to keep the skull intact, my love, I'll need it whole to speak."

"Of course," says Sylas, and takes the swing.

(They're going to be very confused in a few minutes, when Delilah casts Speak With Dead and the severed head readily tells them who he was and how he got there.)