9th l o s t s o u l ~ [Action]

[illusional]

[Are you the sort of person who would approach a strange wingless little girl who looks to be in need of assistance? Then you might be unfortunate enough to come across an illusionist.]

[Appearing to be no older than 6 or 7 with her hands over her eyes, at a glance it might almost seem like she's crying. But for those villagers who aren't very powerful, the closer they get to the girl, the more anxious they may start to feel. Should anyone attempt to touch her, her body will feel cold as ice. And every horrible memory and thought will fill the mind of the one who approached her, amplifying all the negative emotions associated with them.]

[Of course, this is assuming you even make it this far before she opens her eyes and tries to steal your soul.]

--

[And for those who don't want to be affected by an illusionist but still want to see what a "true" illusionist is like, they'll still have the chance. After learning the hard way that killing it only makes it reappear somewhere else, Cheyenne will have captured and blinded the illusionist to keep an eye on it until the experiment ends.]

[Which basically means Cheyenne will be sitting on her usual bridge, holding onto a leash attached to a strange little girl. She's wearing a blindfold too, but seeing as her eyes have been damaged, it's really just for show at this point.]

[And for sake of those who might want to cross the bridge without feeling the illusionist's negative effects, the little girl is instead standing in the water below, occassionally calling out nonsensically at Cheyenne.]



[[ooc note: The only thing the illusionist can do is trap people in illusions of whatever it is they fear the most. Only your character will see the illusion, and they won't be able to move until freed. It can't actually feed on their soul. If your character wears sunglasses/goggles/anything that obscures vision, or is blind, they won't be affected by illusions.

Cheyenne will be busting in to end the illusion after a post or two, so feel free to assume the illusionist looks up at them right away if you want to go that route. It can also regenerate against anything except fire attacks and decapitation, so sensing it is evil and attacking it right away is also fine. |Db]]

Comments

Works for me \o/

[semper_cogitans]

[That sudden touch of shocking cold when Cheyenne brushes past him causes Robert to cry out a moment, more from surprise than anything - and then it turns to outright, blinding terror for a moment as his emotions are essentially ripped from him. The coldness wouldn't have bothered him - after all, he's comfortable with Helios - but it's that sudden despair that grips him in icy fingers, like he should give up and throw himself at the mercy of whatever will inevitably kill him, that really hurts.

It feels much like he felt when he stared down Kusanagi's blades, and he actually sobs before his emotional state lashes back towards neutral. But his rationality keeps him from completely breaking down, and in the meantime he watches just long enough to watch Cheyenne smash the little girl to the ground.

... Yeah, that's horrifying-looking. As is the snap of bone breaking. It's enough that Robert would've vomited if he didn't realize that the figure lacked wings.]

... Wh-what...?!

[illusional]

[The voice throws her off. Cheyenne's head whips around to where Robert is standing, her mouth slightly agape as if she were about to gasp. The illusionist beneath her starts trying to move again, but Cheyenne manages to feel for it's eyes and hold it down. Though the arms, still free, began to scratch and claw at her arms.]

[Cheyenne paid it not mind. Her voice was calm, cold, and steady.]

Who or what is standing there? I cannot see you.

[semper_cogitans]

[It's Cheyenne. He can tell for certain now that she's spoken.]

It is... P-Professor Robert Alexander H-Hastings.

[... She can't see him.

Some part of him is almost gratified by that, because it means he was right.]

... Wh-what... what h-happened...? [Yes, the girl must be a simulation - the smaller one - but what necessitated such a brutal reaction...?]

[illusional]

...Robert. [Still staring. It's not that she's doesn't believe him, but that she's trying see him... well, in whatever way she can. She can still make out his shape in contrast with everything around them, but there was little other distinction aside from that.]

[Her eyes return to the girl below her, who was thrashing about as if she hadn't just cracked her head open moment ago. They tend to heal rather quickly, after all.]

This is an illusionist. One of my kind. Had you approached any further, it would have attempted to feed upon your-

[A pause. Staring at him again. And tilting her head a little.]

...had I allowed it to escape, it might have brought harm to others in the village.

[semper_cogitans]

An... illusionist. [Robert repeats the name with a hint of incredulosity. When Cheyenne had described them to him, he hadn't expected something like a small, delicate child. He hadn't expected something that looked more like Vivi than... well, any monster Robert could think of.]

... They are... v-very small... [Very small and delicate and - well, okay, not necessarily delicate because this one has healed quickly enough for her to already be quite capable of fighting back.]

... This l-latest... bout of simulations is... i-indeed disconcerting. But I am not c-certain how much damage the illusionist could have inflicted, in... in these conditions. Not that... t-testing the hypothesis is warranted...

[He's still more anxious than normal, both because of the situation and because of the close proximity of both somebody he hasn't talked to much and... well, two illusionists.]

[illusional]

I am surprised at the size of this one as well. Enough time has passed in my world since the creation of illusionists that most are a fair bit older than this. I suppose the experiment chose to create one in a form that would be shortly after it had been created.

[Her voice is coming a bit strained, if only because she's still struggling to pin the darn thing. The illusionist scream at her, but there's something... off about it. It isn't screaming because it's in pain. It sounds as though it's just screaming for the sake of screaming.]

[Cheyenne presses the edge of her hand against it's eyes and it cries out again before falling silent and still.]

...I suppose killing it would send it away, though I am uncertain whether I will be able to do so myself.

[semper_cogitans]

[Robert outright shudders at the crying-out, especially when Cheyenne pushes on the eyes of the illusionist. It's painfully disturbing to him, even discounting the intensified levels of anxiety. It is somebody screaming, and to Robert's weak ability to distinguish tone and intent, it sounds bad.]

... S-Simulations... d-do not seem to, d-die in... in the typical sense... [And now he can't help but picture the dirigible jelly's death and it hurts. Simulation or not.]

... They simply... disappear.

[He presses a hand to his face to wipe at the sheen of sweat there. More nervous than he normally is.]

... I... I wish that... th-that there was another way. A less... violent way.

[illusional]

Unfortunately, there is no way to truly kill an illusionist in a way that is not violent. Short of beheading or burning it in some way, it will simply regenerate. [Look at her talk about all these horrible things with a straight face. Her tone doesn't change at all, either.]

Though even if it were possible, I do not understand why such restraint would be necessary. It is a monster, after all.

[semper_cogitans]

... N-Nothing should suffer. Not even m-monsters. [Beheading seems at least somewhat more humane. But both of them are disturbing as hell.]

Inflicting h-harm for the sake of it... is inethical. And... a-and on a sapient, a being c-capable of thought, it is d-disgusting.

[He doesn't know how much an illusionist is aware of, but if Cheyenne is any indication, they are sapients. And no matter what, no sapient should be tortured.]

[illusional]

Hm. [She doesn't seem to agree, but she also sees no reason to insist to disagree. There are still ways around killing the illusionist, after all.]

If I were to allow it to go free, it may very well continue to cause harm. Simply standing near an illusionist can cause emotional distress. Looking into its eyes is far worse.

[A pause. She traces the bottom lid of the illusionist's eye, causing the girl to thrash her legs again.]

...if I were to blind it, it would be incapable of creating illusions. Though I cannot do so without causing it some harm. [She turns to Robert.] Would such a thing be acceptable?

[semper_cogitans]

[That's almost more torturous than just killing it, but Robert knows it's a simulation. It isn't real. It was spontaneously generated. (It all feels like a weak justification to him. How much was the difference between a non-organic sapient and one of these simulations...?)

... Blinding it would protect other people. Would protect the real people in Luceti. But it still felt like an almost arbitrary decision, and the cold detachedness of Cheyenne's talking is... almost more disturbing.

It takes him a few long seconds, but he bites his lip and nods gravely.]

If... if... if there is n-no better alternative, then... d-do what you m-must.

[Thank gods these were simulations. He'd wanted to learn to defend himself, but...]

[illusional]

[Cheyenne turns back to the illusionist for a moment before once more looking at Robert. There's a bit of hesitance before she speaks.]

Save for tearing its eyes out, the only way to blind an illusionist is to burn the outer-most sensitive layer. You would not happen to have any means of doing so safely, would you?

[Given her own aversion to fire, it was the only form of filial magic she outright refused to learn, save perhaps lightning.]

[semper_cogitans]

... [And this is almost one of the times where Robert is reminded of the drug scene and how most people had lighters on hand.]

... At p-present, I do not, but... assuming the Item Shop were, er, to m-materialize long enough, perhaps something like... a lighter?

[... Setting fire to peoples' eyes with lighters. Fun and educational! And by fun and educational one means horrifying.]

[illusional]

...if you could procure such a device, it would be most appreciated. Aside from being far less messy, it would cause the least amount of physical pain to the illusionist. Burns cannot heal to the state they were before, but they will still heal to a state of painlessness. If the eyes are torn out, they will not.

[semper_cogitans]

I could... check for a store...? [Though he has no idea how useful this would be. It's not like Robert owns a lighter himself.

And obviously, if Cheyenne is asking for one, she doesn't have one.]

Provided you could, er, n-neutralize the illusionist in the meantime. [This is so very disturbing - finding a lighter to burn out the eyes of a simulated sapient.]

It would be all up to chance, though... [Or a mun who feels like giving Robert a convenient plot device.]