[ well forget the paintings! the shot goes off and kazunari immediately ducks, covering his head. it's only a few seconds later that he pops his head back over the railing after glancing to see if his fox is okay. ]
Weren't we supposed to avoid property damage? The teacher's gonna kill us!
[ why even look for paintings when that's the obvious answer here! ]
[Bucky why are you like this? This is why dad loved Sylvain more.
The shooting does not drive the demon out. All it does is put a hole in the ceiling. More property damage to explain to the teacher later.
But yes, there is a painting of Molly here. Just sitting here on the wall, doing nothing particularly important. It might be worth looking into! And by 'looking into' I don't mean 'shot at', contain your violence Bucky.]
[ He watches in the aftermath for anything to change, but...it doesn't. ] Damn. [ He sighs. Of course it couldn't be easy. He turns to the others, having not really paid attention earlier. ]
[The fox does the sniffy-thing! And now the fox can actually smell something! But it takes a moment for it to really catch on to the scent, it has to smell around the area to make sure it's catching the smell right.
Meanwhile, the painting of Molly begins to change slightly. In the background a figure appears, walking closer and closer to Molly. Raising their hands towards his neck. Grabbing his neck.
Hands that are trembling, trying to fight back as they are being forced to do something unwanted. And the face of the pink-haired figure is covered in tears, as she tries to fight back against the compulsion to strangle Molly but just can't break free of it.
Estelle is the only one who sees herself murdering Molly in that picture btw, to everyone else the picture still looks like a normal portrait of Molly.
The fox yips, drawing everyone's attention to the painting of Molly. But at the same time, Estelle will feel the unbreakable compulsion to just reach out and silently strangle Sylvain. No screaming allowed, she has to try and stealth-kill while everyone is distracted by the Molly picture!]
[Estelle slinks back too, leaving room for the fox. And as the painting shifts and her eyes widen, she finds herself unable to recoil in terror. Her body resists every impulse she would normally have, as if something's been disconnected.
Something's wrong. She wants to cry for help.
She looks to Sylvain, his back turned as he studies the painting, but she can't get the words out. Her mouth won't move. Instead, she quietly unties the knot of her necktie, and before anyone can wonder why, she suddenly reaches up, wraps it around his throat, and tugs it with all her might.
She doesn't make a sound, and her face shows no emotion. She just does it.]
[ sylvain makes a choked noise of surprise as he feels the sudden pressure cinch around his neck. his hands immediately go to the fabric, trying to pry it off. he takes a step back to try and ram his attacker (he doesn't realize it's estelle just yet and is reacting on blind reflex)—also hoping to create more slack. ]
[ meanwhile, kazunari was following the fox's lead to study the painting, but couldn't find anything weird about it. except that it's molly? why is it always molly? can't the universe leave him alone and stop dragging him into these things?
bucky's cry draws his attention back to the others in an instant. ]
Wha-- H-Hey! Don't hurt her! There's no way she'd do this on purpose!
[ aahhhhh how's he supposed to help? the fox seemed to think it was the painting, so... he's going to see if he can take it off the wall?
whether he can or not... ]
Burn it! [ wait the property damage rule?! quickly he adds - ] But just this one!
[As the fox barks out a little ball of flame to light the painting on fire, the painting screams. Then, a moment later, a shadowy figure quickly dives out of the painting and into another painting further up on the wall.
At that same moment, the force controlling Estelle lets go. She is free to do as she wishes now, there's nothing controlling her anymore!
...the painting is still on fire though. And it's returned to a normal painting of a nondescript woman.]
[Estelle doesn't budge when Sylvain slams into her, and she doesn't respond to Bucky's question. She stumbles when he shoves her, though, one hand still tightly gripping the necktie while the other falls away...
But suddenly, it's as if the puppet strings have snapped, and all in an instant, she's back.
A horrified gasp escapes her lips, her eyes wide with terror. She falls to her knees and throws the necktie aside.]
I...
[Her voice falters. She knows she should go to Sylvain, see what damage she's done. But she doesn't dare. Even though she can move freely again, she feels paralyzed.]
[ he doubles over himself, gasping for breath. his throat stings, skin angry and raw where the wire-thin scabs over his neck have been disturbed. he's able to recover soon enough though, and his gaze falls to estelle with a slight frown. ]
It wasn't you. Don't worry.
[ there isn't much time to reassure her—it'll have to wait until after they finish the job. the demon they're after is already on the move, and there's no chance in hell they're letting it get away.
he thanks the other two for the quick assist, before asking, ] —Did you see where it went?
[ if they're able to locate it, he'll draw his sword and give chase ]
[ he thought burning it would help but!! the art!!! no!!!!
once the fire's simmering down, though, he turns to estelle and sylvain. ]
It went up, but more importantly - are you two okay? Do you need to see a doctor or something? We don't have to deal with the demon right now, it can wait if you both need time.
[Is it alright though? Because as Bucky glances around, he does eventually see a portrait of himself. But it's not himself as he is now, oh no. It's of The Winter Soldier. Emotionless, armed, and ready for murder. And in that portrait, the Winter Soldier turns and starts shooting at someone else off-panel, only for blood to splatter into the portrait's background. At the same time, Bucky will feel the compulsion to wordlessly turn and murder his teammates, starting with Sylvain. Sorry for your shit luck, Sylvain.
And speaking of which, at the very same time, Sylvain won't see Bucky. He sees another face, one much more familiar. And scarred. And menacing. You better be careful Sylvain, it looks like Miklan is finally here to finish you off.
Estelle and Kazu get no portrait-effects for this round of tags though. They're already going to have their hands full. But Kazu does get the fire out?]
[ As he stares into the painting, his gun lowers, more mesmerized by what he sees than focused on his task now.
And then he finds another task.
Sylvain is already right in front of him, conveniently. All he has to do is calmly, quietly, adjust his arm so that it's aiming for the throat. A bullet through the neck severing the brainstem will be a quick and easy way to get Sylvain out of the way so he can move on to the others.
[ —what? is the demon masquerading as miklan, now? (react first, ask questions later.) sylvain moves by battle-honed reflex—and also, because this fucker has tried to kill him so many times before, he knows better than to stand still.
(Why can't you stay dead—)
hopefully, he'll be able to knock away miklan's (bucky's) arm before he gets a bullet through the throat.
and if he's not dead, he'll be returning the favor, attempting to cut down his brother with a vicious, downward slash across his neck and torso ]
[Estelle is still just sitting in a daze. She hears Kazunari, but doesn't react...
But the sound of another gunshot makes her snap out of it, and she jumps to her feet, whipping around to see Bucky and Sylvain trying to kill each other.]
No... stop!
[She's about to interfere, but stops short when Sylvain swings his sword. Instead, she shoots a terrified look at Kazunari.]
The... the paintings... which one was it? If we destroy it, they'll stop, won't they!?
No... [ shakes his head. ] I mean, yeah, but it'll just move like it did before. We have to actually get rid of it. There's a chant for it, right? Can you remember it? And fast?
[ meanwhile kazu's pulling out a new summoning paper, just in case, and looking for his fox friend. ]
Somehow, despite Bucky shooting at point-blank range, he manages to miss Sylvain. Maybe Sylvain bumping Bucky's arm at the last moment did it, or maybe the hallucination was off slightly. Whatever the case, the shot goes wide, and...
COLLATERAL DAMAGE roll: 2 (Kazu)
...hits Kazu in...
LUCK roll: 2
...the side, but I'm making it non-fatal and just really messy because Kazu's luck needs some divine intervention at this point. So it just goes through him shallowly enough to miss all of his internal organs and just make him bleed a lot instead.
Meanwhile Sylvain's 9 is enough for him to get a swipe at Bucky for a shallow cut, but no serious wounds with that. The boys will now have to contend with a fire-breathing fox in the mix though, it's trying to nip at both of them to get them to stop. Nooooo fighting! (The illusion has not shattered yet though, the fox is just trying to stop both of you.)
Estelle's MEMORY check: 13
Estelle has a good idea of what the fatal verse for this demon might be. There's two possibilities and it's a coin-flip between which one is right, but if she fails the coin flip she can also just say the other one right after it if she's wrong. The question is, does she want to spend 2-4 turns chanting with all of this nonsense going on around her?]
[ He grunts--both at his FUCKING IMPOSSIBLE miss, and the cut Sylvain manages to land on him. This is embarrassing. And now there's a fox in play? This is getting messier by the second, he has to get this done fast.
He attempts to punch the fox out of the way--with his left hand, thank you, can't set this arm on fire! And then he jumps back to get out of range of Sylvain's blade, and aims another shot. At the throat again, because he needs this one to be a quick, clean kill already. ]
I, I might know it, but it's going to take too long! Those two, they're...
[She looks back at them in alarm and then yelps when a shot rings out and -- Kazu gets hit!?
She runs over to his side.]
Kazunari, are you -- are you okay!? [Probably not, he just got shot.]
Your familiar... [A look at the poor fox, which is in the middle of this brawl.] Can you try burning the painting again? I'll use a barrier to block the demon. That way, it can't escape into another one!
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
guestservices) wrote2022-06-19 07:55 pm
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Weren't we supposed to avoid property damage? The teacher's gonna kill us!
[ why even look for paintings when that's the obvious answer here! ]
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he'll frown at the painting, next. ]
What's Molly doing here...
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The shooting does not drive the demon out. All it does is put a hole in the ceiling. More property damage to explain to the teacher later.
But yes, there is a painting of Molly here. Just sitting here on the wall, doing nothing particularly important. It might be worth looking into! And by 'looking into' I don't mean 'shot at', contain your violence Bucky.]
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What's this about Molly?
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This painting. It's not especially sinister, but it's the only thing that really stands out...
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[ as he comes back downstairs. ]
Maybe now's the time for the demon detecting thing? [ gesturing vaguely at molly's painting, he says to the fox: ] Think you can sniff it out?
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[ he gives the demon space to approach the painting, but also tries to study the canvas as he waits, to see if there's anything... odd about it? ]
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Meanwhile, the painting of Molly begins to change slightly. In the background a figure appears, walking closer and closer to Molly. Raising their hands towards his neck. Grabbing his neck.
Hands that are trembling, trying to fight back as they are being forced to do something unwanted. And the face of the pink-haired figure is covered in tears, as she tries to fight back against the compulsion to strangle Molly but just can't break free of it.
Estelle is the only one who sees herself murdering Molly in that picture btw, to everyone else the picture still looks like a normal portrait of Molly.
The fox yips, drawing everyone's attention to the painting of Molly. But at the same time, Estelle will feel the unbreakable compulsion to just reach out and silently strangle Sylvain. No screaming allowed, she has to try and stealth-kill while everyone is distracted by the Molly picture!]
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Something's wrong. She wants to cry for help.
She looks to Sylvain, his back turned as he studies the painting, but she can't get the words out. Her mouth won't move. Instead, she quietly unties the knot of her necktie, and before anyone can wonder why, she suddenly reaches up, wraps it around his throat, and tugs it with all her might.
She doesn't make a sound, and her face shows no emotion. She just does it.]
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Gh—
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[ THAT'S HIS BROTHER THERE
He immediately rushes in to shove his arms between the two and try to pry them apart, enough that Estelle's grip on the necktie will snap. ]
What are you doing?!
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bucky's cry draws his attention back to the others in an instant. ]
Wha-- H-Hey! Don't hurt her! There's no way she'd do this on purpose!
[ aahhhhh how's he supposed to help? the fox seemed to think it was the painting, so... he's going to see if he can take it off the wall?
whether he can or not... ]
Burn it! [ wait the property damage rule?! quickly he adds - ] But just this one!
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At that same moment, the force controlling Estelle lets go. She is free to do as she wishes now, there's nothing controlling her anymore!
...the painting is still on fire though. And it's returned to a normal painting of a nondescript woman.]
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But suddenly, it's as if the puppet strings have snapped, and all in an instant, she's back.
A horrified gasp escapes her lips, her eyes wide with terror. She falls to her knees and throws the necktie aside.]
I...
[Her voice falters. She knows she should go to Sylvain, see what damage she's done. But she doesn't dare. Even though she can move freely again, she feels paralyzed.]
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It wasn't you. Don't worry.
[ there isn't much time to reassure her—it'll have to wait until after they finish the job. the demon they're after is already on the move, and there's no chance in hell they're letting it get away.
he thanks the other two for the quick assist, before asking, ] —Did you see where it went?
[ if they're able to locate it, he'll draw his sword and give chase ]
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[ So much is happening!! Bucky drops his hands, no longer pulling Sylvain and Estelle apart. He's instead staring at the wall of paintings. ]
It's nearby! I didn't catch exactly which painting it went into, but it's around here!
[ POINTING HIS GUN AT THESE PAINTINGS ]
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[ he thought burning it would help but!! the art!!! no!!!!
once the fire's simmering down, though, he turns to estelle and sylvain. ]
It went up, but more importantly - are you two okay? Do you need to see a doctor or something? We don't have to deal with the demon right now, it can wait if you both need time.
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And speaking of which, at the very same time, Sylvain won't see Bucky. He sees another face, one much more familiar. And scarred. And menacing. You better be careful Sylvain, it looks like Miklan is finally here to finish you off.
Estelle and Kazu get no portrait-effects for this round of tags though. They're already going to have their hands full. But Kazu does get the fire out?]
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And then he finds another task.
Sylvain is already right in front of him, conveniently. All he has to do is calmly, quietly, adjust his arm so that it's aiming for the throat. A bullet through the neck severing the brainstem will be a quick and easy way to get Sylvain out of the way so he can move on to the others.
He shoots. ]
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(Why can't you stay dead—)
hopefully, he'll be able to knock away miklan's (bucky's) arm before he gets a bullet through the throat.
and if he's not dead, he'll be returning the favor, attempting to cut down his brother with a vicious, downward slash across his neck and torso ]
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But the sound of another gunshot makes her snap out of it, and she jumps to her feet, whipping around to see Bucky and Sylvain trying to kill each other.]
No... stop!
[She's about to interfere, but stops short when Sylvain swings his sword. Instead, she shoots a terrified look at Kazunari.]
The... the paintings... which one was it? If we destroy it, they'll stop, won't they!?
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[ shit! fuck! today just keeps getting worse! ]
No... [ shakes his head. ] I mean, yeah, but it'll just move like it did before. We have to actually get rid of it. There's a chant for it, right? Can you remember it? And fast?
[ meanwhile kazu's pulling out a new summoning paper, just in case, and looking for his fox friend. ]
Keep them apart? Please?
[ HELP ]
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Bucky: 5 (nat 1)
Sylvain: 9
Somehow, despite Bucky shooting at point-blank range, he manages to miss Sylvain. Maybe Sylvain bumping Bucky's arm at the last moment did it, or maybe the hallucination was off slightly. Whatever the case, the shot goes wide, and...
COLLATERAL DAMAGE roll: 2 (Kazu)
...hits Kazu in...
LUCK roll: 2
...the side, but I'm making it non-fatal and just really messy because Kazu's luck needs some divine intervention at this point. So it just goes through him shallowly enough to miss all of his internal organs and just make him bleed a lot instead.
Meanwhile Sylvain's 9 is enough for him to get a swipe at Bucky for a shallow cut, but no serious wounds with that. The boys will now have to contend with a fire-breathing fox in the mix though, it's trying to nip at both of them to get them to stop. Nooooo fighting! (The illusion has not shattered yet though, the fox is just trying to stop both of you.)
Estelle's MEMORY check: 13
Estelle has a good idea of what the fatal verse for this demon might be. There's two possibilities and it's a coin-flip between which one is right, but if she fails the coin flip she can also just say the other one right after it if she's wrong. The question is, does she want to spend 2-4 turns chanting with all of this nonsense going on around her?]
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He attempts to punch the fox out of the way--with his left hand, thank you, can't set this arm on fire! And then he jumps back to get out of range of Sylvain's blade, and aims another shot. At the throat again, because he needs this one to be a quick, clean kill already. ]
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[She looks back at them in alarm and then yelps when a shot rings out and -- Kazu gets hit!?
She runs over to his side.]
Kazunari, are you -- are you okay!? [Probably not, he just got shot.]
Your familiar... [A look at the poor fox, which is in the middle of this brawl.] Can you try burning the painting again? I'll use a barrier to block the demon. That way, it can't escape into another one!
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