I Got Smarter

[redlightgreenlight]

Who: Tiamat (Valdis) and Open with Some Closed
What: Thanks to Harvey, Tiamat has taken control of Valdis and is having a great time
When: Beginning of October (Valdis gets control back after about 2 weeks)
Where: All over
Warnings: People are gonna die. Also some general warnings about Tiamat being a chaotic, manipulative bitch.



Honey, I rose up from the dead | Erin and Max | CW: As Necessary

It’s a strange feeling, being entirely in control, not having to fight for it or watching the host make such a fool of herself. Yet when she takes a breath it feels good, invigorating. She never wants to let go of this feeling. She’ll have to eventually, but for now she’s not sure how much she can or should hide. Another breath and then she opens her eyes to see the changeling and the human. Of course they are here, why wouldn’t they be? They love her. She’s surprised that werewolf boy isn’t here too, but she’ll mess with him later.

“Max?” she whispers, “Erin?”

I do it all the time | Ash | CW: Tiamat being a bitch

Time to ruin some lives, break some trust and make people doubt themselves, starting with the lovestruck werewolf. The poor boy is so worried about losing love, likely been convinced it’s his fault in the past. Something fun to play with at the very least. She’s been awake long enough that she can act the part as much as needed. Until it’s not fun anymore or if she thinks revealing herself is better.

Ugh. Valdis was so much better at interpreting people because she actually had feelings, but whatever. Time to see where this goes. Hopefully Erin hasn’t blabbed all over the ship yet.

Tiamat knocks on Ash’s door, her voice quiet, vulnerable, “Ash, it’s me. I’m back.”

I’ve got a list of names | Open | Around the ship | CW: As Necessary

1) Chatterbox

This is the best life. Singing all the songs she’s heard over the years to anyone who might listen. Who knew having a body again could be so fun? Not having a body was very boring. But here? Here she can eat and drink and laugh and dance and just be whoever she wants to be.

Who knows, maybe she’ll take over this fucking ship and depose the Captain. She’d have to learn to run it first, but the idea has potential.

“Hey, you!” she calls to whoever happens to walk past, “Sing a duet with me.”

Somehow it sounds more like a command than a request.

2) Stan the Man

Tiamat is behind the bar, mixing drinks and testing them out, occasionally offering them to others passing through. They are actually good because Valdis isn’t aimlessly trying to get drunk and the Goddess of Destruction just wants to have a good time.

“Here, try this one.” She’ll slide a glass over, somehow she’s nailed whatever drink you might fancy.

If you are underage, it will be non-alcoholic.

3) Island Gems

She contemplates the jewels behind the glass cases, tapping her long fingernails against the glass. There’s power just beyond this unbreakable barrier, but try as she might, she can’t get through it. Special souls perhaps? What madness prompted their captor to keep these poor individuals from the Nothing and out of their own unique realms. Were they unique somehow?

She hums softly, trying to reach through the glass with her powers again. Trying to reach those precious souls. But. She. Can’t.

“Ugh,” she snarls, snatching up a chair and trying to break the case open.

The chair is what breaks.

“This is disgusting. What is so important about these souls.”

She wants to eat them.

4) Fate’s Design

Gambling? The last time she’d gambled she’d lost and been broken into pieces, but now she has a new body and it’s not like she can be broken again. The host’s body is pretty safe, even from murderous changelings. Mostly because people stupidly care.

She’s playing blackjack on her own, counting cards as she goes. It’s not a real casino and there’s no real money involved so it’s just an exercise in numbers. It’s getting boring though.

“Hey,” she’ll throw her arm around the shoulders of anyone who might wander in. “How about we play for some real stakes.”

Your soul. She wants your soul.

Yours is in Red underlined | Nobunaga and Siffleur | CW: Individual

Nobunaga | CW: Murder

This one is easy. He’s a fool, both in mind and title. He’s also a massive hothead who can’t even begin to fathom how stupid he is. He’s here on the sports deck, waiting for her as always so they can practice sword forms. Idiot. He’ll offer energy first as always, it’s just sword forms after all. Unless he already heard from Erin. Then he’ll probably be hostile and she’ll just get it over with. Worthless humans always bite off more than they can chew.

Siffleur | CW: Murder

Tiamat knows for a fact that Siffleur has likely already caught wind that Valdis is no longer in control. It’s not like she’s been hiding since Ash figured it out, there’s really no point in pretending. It’s not fun to pretend either. She sees him sitting in Sand Dollars, talking to his cursed mother again in that unsettling way. She slips into the seat across from him.

“Siffleur,” she says with a pleasant smile. “I recall you had a deal with my host.”

I check it once, then I check it twice | Ava and Peter | CW: Attempted Murder

She’d failed to destroy this relationship earlier, though it had triggered a very interesting rise in the strange unstable woman. Text hadn’t told her much, but Ava seemed to struggle with her husband’s death so much. Going so far as to want to blame others, but been unable to do so. Well. She’d come close enough the last time, she may as well try again. The annoying human spy could give her a solid boost of energy if nothing else, so she’d sent him a text.

Peter. I need to talk to you. Please meet me in the Library.

Oh! Look What You Made Me Do | Wildcard | Open | CW: Many Options

Want to meet Tiamat the very nerfed Goddess of Destruction? PM to discuss or just go for it! She’ll be all over for a bit.

Comments

[be_seeing_you]

Needs to talk to him? Call him paranoid but that seems suspicious given how their last conversation ended. Never the less, he will text back this reply:

I will be there shortly.
- P. Starr

He will arrive in the library less than ten minutes later, but not before telling Ava where he's gone and why. The air tag synced to Ava's phone is active in his pocket, just in case.

"You wanted to speak with me?"

[redlightgreenlight]

Valdis is waiting for him, or well, Tiamat is. Since he seems to not know about her yet, she supposes she'd best explain, setting her book aside, she leans forward.

"I felt you might want to meet the individual responsible for killing you in the Melee," she smirks at him. "It's nice to finally meet you, Number 6."

[be_seeing_you]

His eyes narrow to angry slits the moment she starts talking. And when she calls him by that number, anger bursts bright in his chest.

"Don't you ever call me that again. I don't care who you are or who you appear to be."

[redlightgreenlight]

"Oh, did I strike a nerve?"

She must have considering the anger burning in his soul.

"I'm afraid I don't care as much about your feelings as my host did, so you'll just have to hear me say it."

She sits back in her chair.

"If you care to discuss terms, well, You can feel free to take a seat."

[be_seeing_you]

"Your host? You are not Valdis?"

He circles around to where she is sitting slowly, eyeing the seat in front of him as if it were a snake about to strike.

"Terms? Of what?"

[redlightgreenlight]

"I am Tiamat, Goddess of Destruction and I have killed you before. There is nothing stopping me from killing you again."

She taps her nails against the arm of the chair.

"No, I'm here to talk about Ava."

[be_seeing_you]

"I would say it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Tiamat, but it's unwise to tell falsehoods to an empath."

The mention of Ava does get him to take the seat.

"What about her?"

[redlightgreenlight]

"Oh, I'm not an empath, you'd have to actually care to be a empath, I do still feel all your silly little emotions though."

She takes a breath when he sits.

"You were a spy, something spies do is destroy power bases. They isolate targets. They use the people around them to accomplish goals."

[be_seeing_you]

"I was, yes." None of what she says is wrong, but nor is it comforting to hear her phrase it that way.

"What goal are you looking to accomplish?"

[redlightgreenlight]

"How horrible does your death have to be to ensure Ava never trusts someone again?"

[be_seeing_you]

"Oh, I don't think that's going to work like you hope it will."

[redlightgreenlight]

Tiamat sighs, the amusement leaving her eyes.

"Of course the mere human would be one of the problem ones."

It doesn't quite sound like she's talking to him, but soon enough her gaze returns to his.

"And why is that, Number 6?"

[be_seeing_you]

"You almost sounded like Valdis just then." He says, voice light as if they are merely exchanging friendly jokes.

"Why? Because Ava happens to be listening to this entire conversation."

He pulls a compact mirror from his pocket and points it forward for Tiamat to see.

"I think I'll let her speak for herself now."

[decohere]

She's lingering nearby within the glimmer of a mirror, glad she trusted her husband's instinct that something was off with the message to meet up. Going into October has put Ava on edge with anticipation of seasonal fuckery, making it difficult to distinguish actual danger from her mind creating it from every corner.

But she's been especially on high alert since Valdis's death. The woman warned her of what might take over if she lost control. Hearing it make threats through the familiar voice has her skin prickling at the wrongness, but Ava restrains herself for as long as possible throughout the exchange in case anything crucial is revealed. But she knows enough.

She's curious why she's being dragged into this at all, what she's done to become a target of Tiamat destroying her trust in not only Valdis but others completely. Perhaps as a way to further isolate Valdis from her allies.

But Ava is done being used, having her pain twisted against her for somebody else's gain. Won't watch her husband be torn apart... again. As if he's just some prop in the greater scheme.

He pulls out the mirror, and Ava knows that's the signal. A newly gained power of hers, along with the white samurai costume she wears, Ava transports herself between the reflections. Appearing protectively between them, flickering.

"Give her back."

[redlightgreenlight]

Of course the human spy would have some sort of gadget to make her life harder, but she doesn't expect Ava to actually travel through the mirror or be prepared for an actual fight. Tiamat tips her head, looking between the two of them as she tries to formulate a plan. She can drop Peter within a breath, but she's never dealt with someone like Ava before, doesn't even know if she can grab onto the woman's soul with how it shifts and morphs.

"I can't."

Her claws dig into Peter's soul, not to consume it, but to cause pain and hopefully distract Ava.

"Because I don't want to."

[be_seeing_you]

Number 6 clutches at his chest and hunches forward, grunting from the pain. But he doesn't drop the compact. He was never going to be the real fighter in this battle. That's up to his wife.

[decohere]

"Nobody cares what you want," she hisses, her form splintering into several shades of disjointed movement. Coming closer, from behind, the side, and all at once dissolving into nowhere at all. Her souls slips easily through reality like fine grains of sand as the rest of her. She's not unaware of the pain inflicted upon 6, but she uses that as determination to break Tiamat's focus rather than losing her own.

Valdis prepared her for this, after all. Trusted her. Provided her with a name, in the chance that something like this occurred. She hadn't wanted it to ever come to this, hadn't felt comfortable with the implications of controlling somebody even with permission. But if it's what it takes to break through to her friend, she believes she has to be somewhere within there. Valdis is too strong to simply break and give up to this monster.

Long red claws sneak up through the floor, wrapping around the woman's ankles. "ÅNDELIG," she invokes. No matter where she is, Valdis promised to hear her.

[redlightgreenlight]

Ava is fast and clearly not distracted, but Tiamat still manages to slip out of her grasp at the last second. She laughs loudly, digging deeper into Peter's soul.

"How pathetic, that's not going to..." Damn. She retreats across the room, gritting her teeth against the sudden pressure.

The claws in Peter's soul forcibly release as her head explodes with pain. Tiamat falls to her knees, clutching her head between her hands as Valdis fights for control. It shouldn't be working. That damned woman shouldn't be able to call through her control but she can. This power makes no sense.

"Go back to your cage," Tiamat seethes, eyes glowing red as blood begins dripping from her nose.

[be_seeing_you]

The pain recedes enough that he can look up with a Cheshire cat grin. It's nice to see a plan come together.

"Perhaps you are the one who should go back to her cage."

To Ava, he says, "Finish her off. I'm confident this is what Valdis would want."

[decohere]

For a moment she almost believes the derision, braces herself that it won't work and she's once more failed. But her faith is renewed as Tiamat retreats. Valdis can hear her.

She allows herself a brief glance back to check on her husband, still breathing, and exhales in audible relief. He's encouraging her to carry through, what needs to be done. Ava nods at the directive, refocusing her gaze on the fallen Tiamat. Ava stalks forward, vanishing from view. And reappears from behind to wrap claws around her neck. She drags the sharp tips through the blood, across the woman's cheek.

Last October she watched as her friends were possessed by the souls of former passengers. She sympathized with their plight, wanted better for them than their tortured fates. But she regrets having allowed them to use stolen bodies to take over more and more of the ship, when she could have ended things. Freed them. She can't imagine there's any sob story that Tiamat can sway her otherwise.

"Valdis," she whispers. "Listen to me, Valdis. Fight her."

[redlightgreenlight]

Tiamat bites back a shriek of pain as the Hellhound tries to tear herself free. The claws, both internal from her host and external in the form of Ava, don't give her much room for leverage. She knows Valdis would rather die, but she desperately needs to kill Harvey before she can return control. She's been playing far too much. Ava is an anomaly she can't predict, maybe if Valdis had spent more time analyzing the souls around her this wouldn't be an issue, but death wasn't her host's goal here.

"No," she spits.

Her soul lashes out at Valdis and the body vomits blood onto the floor of the library, but Valdis gives enough that Tiamat can dive back into Peter's soul and start to tear it out of him. She rips at the mortal essence with the power she's stolen from the Angel of Death, trying to cause as much damage and pain as possible while draining his life force quickly enough to draw Ava's attention.

[be_seeing_you]

"AH!" This time, the pain is so unbearable he can't help but cry out. The blood has instantly drained from his face, and he's starting to slump sideways out of his chair, his forehead shiny with cold sweat.

[decohere]

The blood is gruesome, but she doesn't relent until she hears Peter's pained scream. It's a nasty trick, unfortunately far more effective than attacking her directly. But it seems that Valdis' protection hasn't worked after all, that Ava must not have been strong enough to use the name gifted to her. All the good qualities that Valdis had attributed to her... none of it's true. She's failed again and always.

"Stop!" Ava demands and pleads, slicing into her chest with intangible claws. "Stop hurting him! I don't know what you want with me, but please!"

[redlightgreenlight]

"Let me go," Tiamat snarls, her voice pained.

The wound left by Ava's claws begins to heal, but she can feel the pain of Valdis and herself. It's different than before, when she could just transfer it all to the host. The fact that they were able to bring her to her knees is infuriating.

"And I'll leave him alive."

[decohere]

It doesn't feel right to have Tiamat in her clutches and simply let her go free. Valdis deserves better than a friend that will give in so easily.

"You'll give Valdis her body back or I'll rip you from it," Ava snarls right back, reaching into her with twisting claws. She can't quite block out her awareness of Peter suffering nearby, knows that the threat isn't a bluff. She will kill him...