summonere | noctium inbox

[ Whatever Gwenhwyfar was holding, minus the phone in her lap, is dropped.

Followed by a very audible, dramatic groan. Gwenhwyfar draws a hand down her face and pauses. ]

Did your "brother" consider investing himself in a hobby? And here I thought, "oh, well, seeking a cauldron or grail to survive death is a terrible idea!". How embarrassing. Twice.

No, the occult and the blade have always been Vergil's hobbies.

[ And then a lower murmur, ]

And we have one. A brother, I mean. It has always been Dante who has defeated him. I had enlisted him to help with Urizen, I certainly did not have the strength to defy him.

Spears and occultic magic happen to be my specialties and my favorite practices.

[ If she's particularly salty, it's reminding her far too much of how many people had sought otherworldly treasures. ]

But I feel no need to open gates to the Otherworld.

[ JUST SAYING. ]

Well, thank the gods someone is sensible. You're fortunate, I have a younger half-sister who hasn't yet learned perhaps decapitation isn't the best form of communication.

[ That startles a laugh out of him. Someone calling Dante sensible? ]

Dante is an idiot, but... he has lived among humans and, as you say, has other hobbies. Pizza and rock music, primarily, if I'm understanding him correctly.

[ He also likes tiddy mags? ]

I have no idea what those are.

[ And how the hell do rocks make music? ]

Idiot, yet, the only smart one, someone who understands that humanity is just as important to our existence and not opening up portals. Actually... I would ask who the real idiot is.

Oh... It's him.

[ A weary tone. He will never be convinced that the wacky wahoo pizza man is the smart twin. ]

But he's kind and he loves Vergil, which is really the only hope my original self has for coming back from the brink. That and his son, if Nero is feeling forgiving about having his arm ripped off...

[ Ah, the Sparda family. ]

You're not helping your argument when you mentioned he ripped his child's arm off, annwyl.

[ Should she really be surprised? Something about demonic blood seems to warrant that type of behavior. Gwenhwyfar heaves a loud sigh, again, sinking back against a tree's trunk. ]

I'm glad that the rest of your family is... relatively normal. And mine for that matter, despite my half-sister.

He's still a hateful man, he's just read a book in his life.

[ Unlike Dante. ]

What is her name?

Oh, her?

[ her tone is noncommittal as is the relationship between both of them is complicated. ]

We don't know what her true name is; she can only speak a few phrases and doesn't write. She was given the name "Anima".

[ She follows that with a forced laugh. ]

It was given to her by a little girl to remind her that she still has a soul. She's a revenant, you see. Sacrificed by a sorcerer who wants a mortal body, tossed into the black waters of the Otherworld. Those who are revived by those waters lose the ability to speak. It corrupts them... Strips them of any sense of personhood and leaves them hollow.

It's a miracle she can speak, at all. And while she grates my nerves, I would never lay a hand on them and neither would she rip off anyone's arm unwarranted like your brother.

It wasn't the arm he was after, it was the sword inside of it.

[ An idle correction. ]

I understand her position well. We were such a creature, for a time, under the thrall of the demon king. You saw him, the living armor. Hollow and corrupted, with no sense of self.

[ His tone remains just as idle, almost musical in its story telling. ]

It's an unenviable fate, how did she end up in such a position?

Still, a boy had his own father rip off his own. I'm fairly certain fathers are supposed to prevent that from happening.

[ That's... a new place to find a sword. Then again, there are also strange women in strange lakes distributing swords--

But here her tone changes. Thinking about the very man that hurt her half-sister is a deluge of painful memories. "We". She keeps having to remember that V is some sort of fragment of another person, even if she sees him as his own person.

It's a difficult thought, and she makes that known through the way she breathes in a tense breath. And there is only so much she can tell him, an absolute stranger. Even half-demons sought out this path. ]

He regained it, didn't he.

[ This man who would go as far to open up the gateway to demons, their forefathers, and rip off the arm of his own flesh and blood. ]

I suppose you ought to consider yourself lucky that you're not like her. Maybe.

[ Well, he can talk, he has a concept of self she would argue. ]

He was King Melwas, a man that died centuries ago and was a man that obsessed over the Old Magic. He had a fortress called the "Isle of Glass" in the Otherworld where he was shunned after death. He took bodies of mortal men as his, relied on them for as long as he could before decay and rot sat in... of course he'd rot, he was dead and corrupted. My teacher told me it was some sort of curse... for what, I don't know. Fucking with the gods will do that but that's besides the point.

There is an object in the Otherworld known as the Cauldron of Rebirth. Christians like to call it the "Holy Grail" or some such. It brings the dead back to life, though, hollow and corrupted. Like the lot of you... like her. The reason why he sought it was to restore himself to his former body and power. Why did he involve Anima? Well, according to legend, the one who can obtain the cauldron is the one that sits on the Siege Perilous, made from the stone of the first child killed by the cauldron's kindling fires. A child that could survive death.

It's no ordinary seat, of course, the only one who can sit on it and bring the cauldron is of "pure of heart"-- others had been convinced it would be a knight before him. Oh, no, not to Melwas, he never thought so linearly and he abhorred knights and their kings. He saw no one purer of the heart than children... just like the first boy. So he took dozens of children... each time, he would make them sit on the sister stone of which the Siege Perilous was made, always looking for a child that could survive death uncorrupted. And those the stone would cry out as soon as they were placed on it? He killed them. Like her. Hundreds of children... if he wasn't killing and beheading men bold enough to come to find him.

He there Anima's body in the black waters that once sat in the cauldron when it was whole. That is what corrupted him... and that, in turn, corrupted her. No demon kings, only the Winter King. A man who lost every sense of what makes a mortal -- not just a human -- cruel, selfish, and delusional.

[ Tch. ]

He didn't kill me, though, because he "loved" me. But every night, I would listen to the sounds of all of them dying when he didn't get what he want. Now there is a little girl who has to learn what it's like to be alive, again. I would say I pray that your brother was spared the same fate... but something tells me that's highly unlikely.

[ He is assuredly writing down that story and he's quiet on the other end of the line with focus. It's a fairly complete little entry of lore, he can mostly assemble the rune language to represent it. Although, he leaves notes in the margins as she talks, shapes he already has in the back of his mind to revise and refine. And it could always be made better with more... The little comment at the end distracts him, ]

No, Vergil never remembered. He might, perhaps, if I rejoined with my other half. I have gained enough energy I might revitalize him, but he was crumbling and broken when he cut me out.

[ And what is V doing for Vergil if not relearing how to live? He is a heart gone walking and as much as he has grown more comfortable being an individual... He knows better than ever just what Vergil has lost in losing him. Sometimes he still thinks about going back, if he ever finds a way. ]

Your world has an interesting collection of artifacts. To what is their power attributed?

[ He knows how Christians would frame it. He can envision what these relics would be in his own world: demonic magic and will captured into relic. But he'd rather hear it in her words. ]

Edited 2021-10-27 04:51 (UTC)

And what, pray tell, would happen to you if you were to "rejoin" that other half?

[ Because... Because Gwenhwyfar would be saddened if it were to happen. Vergil, wherever he is, sounds awful like someone she used to know. ]

Would you still tolerate me...?

[ Not a lot of other half-demons see her as a very strong individual because she clings to her humanity and refuses to learn her demonic powers.

It's an easier thought to stomach than Melwas, the Siege Perilous, and the Cauldron of Rebirth. All of those things that she tries to forget. Thankfully, she's not aware of him writing about any of this. While the details of Melwas and the cauldron are well known, there is one thing that not many people know.

Gwenhwyfar knows who is destined to take Siege Perilous and that part she will not tell a soul, not even the child's father. ]

They were once held or belonged to the gods -- they all have similar attributes. Holy objects, they bring fortune to those that hold them, usually. But they also bring misfortune in the hands of their mortal owners if they are misused and not respected. If you're the descendant of the god who held it? Then the misfortunate is negated, somewhat. They're stronger than mortal weapons, of course, they can take down a host or a god. Ultimately, they belong in the Otherworld, not in the realm of the living.

[ He doesn't know. He doesn't know what Vergil would do with the knowledge that V has gained so hard fought. Would he write off V's memories as not being his own, just as V sometimes does with his? Or will he be strong enough to fight back against the half-demon's attempts to push him down again. He should be. He should be more than strong enough. ]

I have to think he would be a better man, that I would demand it. But I can only speculate.

[ He reflects on these things that should be in the realm of the living. It does still sound so much like the demonic artifacts that still circulate his version of the Human Realm. How people there call Sparda a god, a saint. He wonders about the real origin of what she calls gods, about that distinction and it's real meaning.

The Gentry had been godlike in their powers, their control over the castle and the time and seasons within it, but certainly no one gave them such credence. ]

In the realm I come from, powerful individuals can create weapons and artifacts from their will. Parts of themselves that can be wielded and handed down... It's a very specific kind of demonic magic.

[ A pause. ]

What kind of artifact would you leave to posterity, Gwenhwyfar?

Cute. Well, I won't be losing sleep over it.

[ Maybe. Sort of. She grows attached to people fairly quickly and V is becoming one of those people. ]

It would not be out of the realm of possibility for the fair folk to create weapons out of their own will. I am not sure how familiar you are with magic principles, but the oldest form of magic in my world is built on intent and will. Perhaps it's not so different?

[ It's a fascinating concept to her, really, the ability to forge a strong weapon that could only be held by certain hands. Gwenhwyfar hums in thought, finding herself in a debate of how much she wants to share with V again. So far, he seems trustworthy and doesn't seem to know too much about the important treasures in her world. ]

I only know of two, personally. Caledfwlch, it was once Gwyn ap Nudd's sword -- my betrothed is his descendant and that sword is his. And, uh, my spear... it's called "Rhongomyniad".

[ He laughs softly as she references the fair folk. It only speaks further to his question about the true line between demon and fairy and gods. Maybe there isn't one, merely gradiations of one another each fed by a different strain of magic available in each different world. Does that then make the truest gods those strains of magic themselves? The most unknowable of wills? ]

I'm quite familiar, although my knowledge has a bent towards the demonic. Vergil spent his youth buried in the occult, looking for some way to connect with his father's legacy.

[ Perpetually a lost little boy wondering how his father might lift him up. It was certainly a choice to make. ]

When a demon is defeated, it sometimes chooses to compress itself and its will into a weapon. Rather than crystallize. Crystallized demon blood is a currency of offering to the goddess of time for various boons. I've been quite curious to study how this might overlap with the crystals of Noctium, if at all.

[ Fucking nerd. He knows many things and has encountered many myths, especially in the Castle's great library where books from many worlds could sometimes be found in the shifting stacks. He knows about the story Gwen is citing, he doesn't know the words in her language. If she presented them to him in writing... that would change. So instead he focuses upon the obvious, ]

A betrothed, how formal.

Edited 2021-11-03 05:40 (UTC)

Hm.

[ There's that Geralt impression, again. Anyway. ]

They do grant boons, here, whether it be objects or more abilities. I cannot tell you which -- I frankly don't give a damn. Everything comes with a cost. You would have to seek more individuals to find out. Noctium has its fair share of agreeable folk, I'm sure you can find some sort of study or findings fairly easily. So, if crystallized demon blood exists... what about those who are half-blooded? What about them?

[ Being raised as a druid, she listens politely and makes her own notes, although, they're mentally recorded in her mind, not on paper.

But... formal? Gwenhwyfar winces, trying to pass it off as normal. ]

Not really.

[ She is always reluctant to share her royal lineage, out of fear of finding someone that has a grudge against Arthur to take it out on her. Again. ]

It's what my people do, make arrangements with other families. My mother was betrothed and so were many others in my family. It happened before I was born, it was done by my grandfather and Arthur's father. Nothing special.

An interesting question, I've never successfully killed a half-blood. The twins certainly made their attempts, but they never succeeded in killing one another.

[ And he's certainly not going to try to kill Gwen to find out. ]

The cost of boons in the Castle was always our memories and our sense of self. It turned us into all manner of chimera creatures and we were able to be granted new magic. But it also made us pliant, made us forget why we might want to leave. We were also punished severely for trying. My court Gentry turned me into a book and left me lost in the library after I helped someone else foment an escape plan.

[ Really. Noctium doesn't seem so bad, but only under the assumption that Malachite isn't taking something from them they can't replace. V is not entirely certain yet if that's the case, or if what they're losing is something indefinable they don't yet understand. ]

Do you like him, this betrothed?

[ Okay, but hold up. ]

You know, it is considered to be a cardinal sin to kill another half-blood where I come from. It's avoided at all costs, not unless it's the only option to stop them. Why would they do that? What would be the point to kill each other? The most I would do to my half-sister is toss her in a lake or smack her head to knock sense into her. I hope that son is doing better than these two.

[ Hell, she hasn't met Nero and she would buy him a drink. ]

Edited 2021-11-05 00:39 (UTC)

You're in luck, then, no such ground rules or absurd punishments exist here. If only escaping was possible, or knowing what is happening at home would make it bearable.

[ She hopes not; she's already lost too much, not just her right eye. The only sense of security she had was back in Briton. ]

Of course I do. [ It's a little curious that people always seem to ask her that. Gwenhwyfar's voice softens as she continues. ] He is kind to me... he accepts me for what I am. I love him very much.

Vergil has wanted to prove he could survive without the love of his family since our mother died. Besting Dante was merely an extension of that bitterness.

[ This Vergil guy. He sure has some issues. And for all the V differentiates himself from that man, he still calls Eva his mother. Although he no longer remembers the sound of her voice. It was traded away for magic, and perhaps that lifts some of his bitterness as well. The softening of old wounds is a necessary part of healing. ]

Nero does not realize where he comes from. The rest of us know because we know the Yamato, the sword that Vergil's father left him. Nero would never have been able to absorb its power the way that he did if he was not of Sparda's blood. Even I wonder if Dante has told him yet, did they carry on to defeat Urizen without me?

[ Wistful curiosity, but it's been years since he was taken from that place. Either it waits frozen in time, or it has moved on. There are no other options. ]

I'm sorry you're parted from him then, but I'm told love can withstand such trials.

[ For once, in all of her social ineptitude, Gwenhwyfar knows better to make assumptions about whether or not a mother loves her children. ]

Does he know that won't solve anything? No good mother would favor one child over the other and she does not sound like a terrible mother. She loved you all unconditionally.

[ Talking to V gives her hope that somehow, in some way, maybe he does. ]

In that case, I would say have faith. From what you've told me about your brothers, it sounds as if he has a good head on his shoulders. I'm sure he'll find a way to stop it from becoming worse.

[ But it's hard to know for sure, of course, without seeing it for one's self. In this case, V's words are just as viable.

She says it to reassure him. ]

I've been parted from him for three years and my feelings have never changed for him. Humans accepting as he is are hard to come by.

Did she?

[ A contemplative tone. He remembers the taste of the bitterness. How long he held on to the simple reality that he had been alone. But it's a question that can't be answered here and there's no use in arguing with Gwen about it. ]

Well. It's done now. I rather like Nero. He has a girl that he loves. They take in orphaned children and he cares for them so they won't be alone like he was.

[ He had protected the memories of Nero and Nico. Even now he holds their faces in his mind and still sometimes thinks about what life would have been like if he could have simply been another devil hunter to join their crew. ]

You would like him too, I would wager. Kyrie is a human woman, and no matter how long he is parted from her his feelings never seem to change.

Edited 2021-11-05 01:49 (UTC)

If she didn't, I wouldn't be speaking to a man so impassioned by the loss of his mother.

[ To her, she thinks so, much like her own mother, also human and how much of a reflection children are of their mother. ]

Who would have thought humans had that sort of effect on us. Not too many half-bloods feel the same way. Your Nero sounds like the only sensible one aside from you, I like people with common sense, so you're correct.

Who? The Dark Knight Sparda defied the kings of Hell to marry a human woman. He sealed the gates and protected the Human Realm from destruction. Human love is incredibly powerful.

[ As much as he would certainly still bicker with Dante if he was around to bicker with, this V--the one who spent time in a fairy castle with humans and immortals alike--understands rather profoundly why Dante's choices have made him so much stronger than his twin. ]

And I suppose that must have made Eva an incredible woman as well. Truth be told, I don't remember her face or her voice.

[ Only her touch now, the warmth of that window seat where he and his twin brother would sit curled against her on either side. ]

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