dear_mun | Re: Mirror of Fate

...Interesting. [Whether the meaning is genuine or sarcastic is anyone's guess, however.] But I would never wish my fate upon anyone, much less you, old friend.

Only time will tell, I suppose.

[A smile upon that scarred face. Who could guess indeed? Little wonder Grant kept trying to break that reticence of yours, Al.]

Neither would I, Adrian.

...I've always felt your burden was greater than the both of us combined.

[It can't be easy, having the Dark Lord for your own father.]

[Ah, Grant. Alucard would never admit it, but his efforts were a little amusing. He remains quiet for a moment after Trevor speaks; he does not dare trivialize the burden of the Belmont family.]

We both carry heavy duties to mankind, one no more than the other. I will always admire your bloodline for its steadfast selflessness.

[A beat.]

Though we are not the same as those incarnations and I am thankful for this... if the predictions are true, I cannot deny: it would be an honor to be counted one and the same as you.

[Alucard had always been the quiet one in their little band, true. But in the end? He always did know what to say. Then, and especially now.]

Just as it will be mine to carry your name and everything it stands for.

[For in their world no name captures being part of the deepest darkness, yet defying it, better than 'Alucard'.]

For that reason alone, I can look ahead with no fear for my reflection. I prefer the same for you, old friend. It should be fun, if nothing else.

[There’s a wry quirk to his smile.]

If there is some truth to this prediction of your dear mundane’s, then there is one less of you to have to scrape off the sole of my boot at the day’s end.

[But mean-spirited joke aside, he’s not particularly looking for trouble (or so he might claim) now that he is quite finished with Dracula. What Belmonts and their allies do is their business so long as they do not nose into his own. His guard now is as high as ever, yet he doesn’t quite cut an imposing figure sprawled out on a couch as he is.

It’s Sypha’s hair he notices first with that video... but he refrains from commenting on it.]

Indeed, teach your kin early the ways of smiting the most wicked of creatures. Should I wake in the small hours of the morning to find him poised to drive a stake in my breast, I shall know to whom I am to send the body of that little mongrel.

But no less of an enemy to you and yours. Ergo, nothing changes.

[You're one to talk about mongrels, Isaac. But Trevor's in not much of a mood either. Don't ask where that tavern stool came from.]

Or you would, had your Dark Lord's lapdog used the better Devil Forgemaster.

[Free of the curse, clear-minded, and taking control of his own life once more, to be reminded of his inferiority as a Forgemaster didn’t sting as it once had. But his smile sharpens and tightens in a warning all the same.]

My Dark Lord? [His eyebrows lift in a theatrical display of surprise. For a moment, he taps a finger to his tattooed cheek as if he’s drawing a blank as to who this might be referring to.] Ah, yes… As much lovingly mine as a pustulent boil upon my ass.

[As charming as ever, truly.]

[Never change. Curse or no. On that:]

I see Hector's final Forge freed more than just this land.

[The Forgemaster huffs a faint, mirthless laugh, glancing aside for a moment.]

So that may be. [A beat.] I did not live to see much of it... [Smiling still, absently, distantly.] Though I imagine I missed very little of interest.

[No malice, no mocking. Just matter of factly:]

You would be right. A world devoid of strife and bloodshed hardly sounds like your idea of Paradise.

[Unless that too was the curse. Not damn likely though.]

You know me so very well, don't you?

[A soft, unamused snort.]

Without strife and bloodshed... what purpose would you serve? Who could call upon you? You would waste away in your uselessness, restless for the chance to throw yourself into battle and prove yourself once more. Restless for the thrill of it all. [He cants his head.] ...Or am I wrong?

[Oh Ise. One look into those stormy blue eyes, which you can see reflected in that axeblade Trev's regarding himself with, and you know you're partially right.]

There's nary a hunter that doesn't revel in the kill. Think you I am any different?

[Keyword: partially.]

But I revel far more in the thought of never having to be called upon. No matter how few and far between those moments might be.

[A muted ‘hmph’ is his answer, for the Belmont’s words aren’t quite as pleasing as he would have liked. But he will indulge in the satisfaction of having not been wrong in his judgment.]

I should hope your woman – rather, your beloved Sypha as was seen in the moving pictures – is capable of protecting herself when you are away. What ever is she to do without you should a throng of villagers frothing at the mouth burst through the doors, thirsting for blood? Humans are rather good at it, I find. The business of amassing themselves and destroying what they see fit, of course.

[As he proved so well when he ruined Hector's life. But this isn't about him. Hold onto that satisfaction, Ise. You describe many a husband's worst nightmare, but it ain't getting a rise out of this one. Just lazily folded arms and DAT EYEBROW.]

You forget who I married, Forgemaster. My wife is more than capable of looking after herself.

Not that I fear she'll have to. My family be in mankind's good graces for a long while to come, if what I know of my descendants is any indication.

[~~Lower those eyebrows Milhouse. AND the other one.~~]

Oh yes, how ever could I have forgotten? Masterful sorceress that she was, was she not turned to stone before even reaching the castle?

[He had been in pursuit of Hector, then, but what remained of Dracula’s army in the wake of the dark lord’s defeat had then served as his eyes and ears and had often enough been a source of anecdotes.]

But I speak now of your... second wife, hapless enough to have been born with a head of hair quite like my own. [He rolls his eyes, as if that much should have been obvious. And then with a sort of fiendish delight, he adds, in a low, husky voice:]

You know what it is they shall do when they lay their hands upon her.

You were never the only one who could make claims to 'mere twists of fortune'.

[The irony isn't lost on him. Cue his own quiet mirthless laugh. Then a look of the hardest stone to match that fiendish delight.]

And what of it? Her fate-- along with the fates of everyone in that reflection of our world-- is out of my hands.

[As truly as regrettable as that would be, as much as it would indirectly affect him, he know what you doin' Ise. Not today.]

Besides: you should know by now that even the foulest most tragic of deeds work towards the greater good. Sooner or later.

[His eyes widen in an exaggerated look of astonishment and he glances beside himself as if to gauge the reaction of others and see if they were equally moved by the statement.]

Is that so~? [A thin smile spoils the look and he nods in a slow, gentle way as if everything is well. Then, in a calm, honeyed tone:]

Then, I prithee… what good comes of hundreds of men and women being tortured in God’s name with all manner of inventive implements, flesh stripped from charred bones for the purpose of extracting false confessions?

[His upper lip curls in the beginnings of a snarl, and his gaze sharpens, intensely predatory.]

What good comes of being hanged, bound to a stake, or torn apart by that accursed pear, as your loving, compassionate God would seem to want of me? A moment's respite from the madness and hysteria you breed amongst yourselves, perhaps? [There's a flash of teeth shining with spit, his nose wrinkling.] Ah, yes, indeed, how forgetful of me.

Indeed. How forgetful.

[As stone-faced as that visage stays, there's a resigned sort of pity on it now. The man you could've been, Isaac, had your passions not turned out the way they did.]

That for every hundred men who hail the death of innocents, one will defy the madness and keep it from swallowing others.

That for every hundred dabblers in the dark ways, one will renounce his path and in time, free a nation of more than just a Dark lord.

And that for every hundred butchers who ever ran a man through and left him for dead, one will have a sister who fails to see things his way.

[Yes. Your own sister saved his life. And Trev owes her for it.]

Evil begets evil, Forgemaster. But it begets good too. Good that eventually undermines the darkness that spawned it. 'Tis the way of things.

[So... the Belmont owed his survival to Julia. It didn't matter much anymore. Typical of her]

Tell me, Belmont… [His smile softens, crooked and pinched at the corners, but his eyes are still sharp with accusation, shining like broken glass.]

Where was that one, shining beacon of light, that hope, if I am to use that damned, pathetic word, when I needed it?

[A muscle ripples in his jaw - and in the time it takes to blink, his composure crumbles away and his voice crescendoes into a fierce snarl.]

…Where was it?!

[The question lingers in the air like a threat as he stares expectantly, almost desperately, his chest heaving. He then quickly glances aside as if the sight of Trevor was too disgusting to bear.]

Edited (welp, wording) 2013-01-24 06:31 (UTC)

[A window of humanity in that feral hatred, gone in the turn of a neck. Trevor regards him steadily, never averting his own gaze. What happened to you, Isaac? How did you and Hector turn out so diferently?]

You ask me, an adversary, to enlighten you?

[It's tempting to dub this a 'ridiculous notion', just like a descendant of his three hundred years down the line. But you know what they say: a man is best evaluated by his enemies.]

Very well. Mayhap it was there, at some point in your wretched life. But you were blind to it. Or you rejected it. Or chased it away with grievous harm.

[No, he doesn't claim to know who or what that light could've been. He sure wouldn't put all three of the above past you though.]

((OOC: Yeah my turn. =/))

Edited 2013-01-24 08:06 (UTC)

[Not good enough. The answer isn’t good enough. His expression dissolves into a smile and he laughs thickly to himself, a low, breathless sound, because of course it’s his own goddamn fault. It’s a dangerously foolish thing, showing his back to an enemy – but in the heat of the moment, this he only remembers after he’s already turned away, his jaw working in silence and his throat tightening viciously as he gazes unseeingly at the wall ahead. A moment of passion is gone as quickly as it came, a tenuous, deathly calm in the way he answers the other man.]

Of course.

Edited (hurrhurr, changed my mind) 2013-01-24 21:32 (UTC)

Not seeing eye to eye with the missus, huh? [He cracks a wry, sympathetic smile. Yeaaah, he doesn’t remain silent and leave the question hanging for long, though, since he's not looking to pry.]

You know, my mundane’s been a little unsure about this whole reboot. Maybe I’m assuming too much from this one clip – and you know what they say about making assumptions. But this doesn’t seem like it’s too bad. Can't say I'm very familiar with your canon, though.

[His mundane does blather on about it, though, and then there's also that weird guy up in this here headspace who keeps eyeballing him.]

[A knowing grin and shake of the head. Yeah, henpecked husband here. And ignore that 'weird guy', Spence. You're too good to be sharing space with him.]

As the mundane learned. He hated this version of our world, at first. Now he is much more tolerant of it, having 'experienced' the first chapter for himself.

He said much the same about the latest chapter in yours.

[The grimdark dreadlocks one.]

My latest chapter?

[Yeah, about that--

A beat passes and he flicks a glance over his shoulder to his mun, who promptly quits frantically waving her hands about and sits perfectly still as if the picture of innocence. Something she no doubt learned from Isaac.]

...right. [Yep. Definitely not following. One day, him and the mundane shall be having a difficult chat about... his future.]

[He doesn't know yet?! OH SHI-]

...the first one! He meant the retelling of your first one.

[Sure he did.]

He had doubts it could be revived. But look at him now. Giddy and acting half his age over it and everything else to come.

[He's already dreading that talk you'll have with your mundane, Radd.]

[Nice save. A niggling something feels off, but he decides he'll let it slide and question the mundane later. No sense in pressing the issue with a stranger before talking to the lady in charge and seeing what's up.]

Not sure how I feel about the giddy part, but your mundane’s got good taste. Infiltrating enemy lines, rescuing a living legend, and taking down a megalomaniac with a rocket to the face, all to a kick-ass soundtrack? What’s there not to like? [Not to trivialize his experience, though. Some good people were lost in the effort to stop the Imperial threat. Like Haley.]

Not a one. After all, some of us can identify.

[Especially the kickass soundtrack bit. Bleep bloop bleep bloop.]

And all that with an arm of steel to see you through? Quite impressive.

[He looks to the arm, metal fingers flexing and curling fluidly.] This arm's gotten me out of a pinch more times than I count. But it took more than just this to secure our victory against the Imperials.

[~~Like having a pair to match. BIONIC BAAALL--~~ No, but seriously, he had the support of fellow agents and Joe to join him in their efforts to sink that floating fortress.]

I wasn't alone.

Neither was I.

[What hero ever really is?]

And far too many of them never lived to see the end.

Sometimes I wonder... if it should have been me who fell and not they.

[He solemnly purses his lips.]

…I get that.

[Survivor’s guilt. Happens to the best of us.]

But you know you can’t go dwelling on what ifs for the rest of your life. You owe it to your fallen allies to keep strong and keep going, continuing to fight for what you believe in. Wherever they are now… I'm sure they’re glad you pulled through for them.

Edited (wording, welp) 2013-01-23 05:47 (UTC)

[He speaks true. Cowards and deserters aside, it's the real reason why anyone survives the bloodiest battles. To ensure the loss of the fallen means something, in the end. One sigh for those no longer with them before that scarred face brightens some.]

You are right, of course. I know I would be, in their place.

[A chuckle.]

Now if I could just find a way to deal with the attention. Three years on and it hounds me still.

Attention? [He sees how it could become tiring.] Sounds like you pulled off a pretty big feat. If it bothers you that much, maybe you should consider heading off on a vacation for a while if you haven't already. Give yourself room to breathe.

[It's... almost like the heavens opened up and the Light of Cosmic Wisdom came flooding down.]

A man after my own heart. Mayhap it is time saw it once more, with my wife beside me.

[Preferably where no one's even heard of the name Belmont. Prolly a lot of that out West.]

And you, sir? Have you any place to escape? Anyone to escape to it with?

[His lips part, first, before the answer comes. Freeze-frame.

a) [...]
b) My wife and I, we used to...
c) Not really.
d) Doesn't really matter.]

Not really. [He hesitates a beat longer than he means to, and that in itself might suggest that it's a complicated matter.] I guess I find it relaxing just to run through some virtual training simulations alone, or to head out and get some fresh air.

[On the worst of days, his escape tends to be a glass or two of beer. Cigarette breaks used to be a common thing before the accident; he hadn't meant to boot the habit quite so abruptly, but smoking and post-op convalescence made for a bad mix.]

Keeping it simple. [Flying off to another part of the country, or to another country altogether lost much of its appeal over the course of two years. He didn't want to be too far from the compound, either.]

I see.

[How to tell him what their mundanes both know without actually telling him? Damn.]

Then again, with an arm like that, there's hardly much more to want, is there?

[This is as close as he'll have to get.]

[I want her back. I want Em back, he wants to say, despite himself. Is it too much to want more, still, when he has received more than he could ever ask for? Hell, more than many people would ever know? He could never dispute the fact that bionics program had given him his life back – but God, what he wouldn’t do, some days, just to go back to when things had been blissfully uncomplicated and he hadn’t known how good he had it. He missed the little things more than ever. The quick, carelessly stolen kisses before work; the way they had to maneuver themselves around each other while sharing a single bathroom, brushing elbows and mumbling apologies; the way she'd pout and feign annoyance when she'd step out of the shower and catch him looking at her in the mirror while he'd shaved. He can't say he knows why he remembers these sort of moments more vividly than anything else.]

I owe TASC’s engineers my life.

[It's no direct answer, but it's among the best he could offer within the limits of his comfort zone.]

[Owes them... in more ways than one huh?]

That you do. I've a feeling your world will owe you theirs many times over, in the years ahead.

[A grin of encouragement for a fellow badass.]

Then hold tight to that arm. It may yet guide you to your destiny.

Just doing my job.

[By fighting for the FSA and its freedom, he had been fighting for Em, for them and their future. Something she hadn't seemed to understand when they had argued with increasing bitterness. What about now, she'd asked. What if you go, and we no longer have a future? What then? What am I supposed to do? He hadn't had an answer for her beyond telling her he'd come back, and he'd be okay. That the situation was larger than themselves and their wants and their needs, and this was something he felt he had to do.]

And don’t worry –- [He pats his arm with a faint, lopsided grin.] -- this ain’t going anywhere if I can help it.

Re: Mirror of Fate

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warning to anyone else reading for gore, religious irreverence, and such

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I GAVE YOU MY CURSE

double dipping this here entry and I don't even care

/last person who'll ever say no to dat BIONIC CHAAARM

OH BB

WHOOPS

Lol, no worries at all, my good man.

Phew!

Oh you. :3c

\o\ /o/

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Eh? I didn't see nothin'.

That's 'cause I'm a ninja.

Wait'll ya meet mine.

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