decomposed | .aspects game

[ any attempt to strike them just glances right off, and their clawed hands grasp for Giovanni's face - and the moment they make contact it suddenly becomes clear, that feeling didn’t just come from them. it’s theirs. they are in absolute agony and there is nothing.

nothing.

nothing to console them.

everything was taken from them and they have nothing except their own suffering, their hurts and betrayals and anger and failure which haunts them and haunts them and haunts them and why won’t you help them? why did you let this happen? why did you let this happen? surely you could end their pain and yours if you help them help them help them help them help them help them help them ]

[it's too much. it's overwhelming, he's out of his depth and drowning in wave after wave of the beings' suffering and he doesn't know what to do because its endless and someone like him could never console them even if there was a way to do it because he can almost (almost) understand it. Instead all it does is rip a scream right from the bottom of his lungs and up through his chest out of his throat and he'll try, now, to turn and run.

If he can run, his own desperate need to get away will send him further into the forest]

[ he manages to wrench out of his grip and escape. it's slow to recover from being thrown off, and he manages to get some distance as he goes deeper into the forest, where the leaf-cover becomes so thick that it gets dark, and there are a lot more roots and probably ivy and bushes and stuff underfoot. it makes it hard to run. if he looks behind him, he can still make out enough to discern thdir figure pursuing him, less deterred by the uneven ground given the fact that it's floating

and if he looks back ahead of him oh god there's another one ]

[well, fuck. He's just gonna...try lurching off diagonally, away from both of these terrifying beings, but even with his exceptional eyesight it's harder to see in the gathering darkness, and whilst running in a blind panic it's an awful lot more difficult to avoid awkward footing than it may be in a less fear-driven situation.

Eventually he does, unsurprisingly, trip and fall, landing in a thick leafy bush where he immediately curls up in a fetal position because that'll protect him from the wailing specters of suffering, surely...]

[ touching the bush so much does help him feel better, at least, but yeah it probably won't like, stop the ghouls. but as they close in -- Uriel steps between them and Giovanni, and sets a hand on his arm to console him ]

Are you hurt?

[something like relief washes over him then, and still shaking he turns a tear-streaked face towards Uriel. He doesn't appear to be hurt, but the question goes unanswered]

W-what were those things?

[ they're still there, hovering behind him, and the feeling they exude hasn't left or lessened. but with Uriel here they're not advancing. he offers out his hands to help Giovanni up out of the bush, his own presence warm and soothing, like the plants but moreso ]

They are ghouls - souls of those once subject to a cruel torture which stripped them of their sanity and reduced them to this.

[it's a strange position to be in, caught between Uriel's calming warmth and that harrowing pressure from behind them. he keeps his eyes on the ground, afraid to look]

Why would someone do that to another being?

It is the law of Heaven.

[ once Giovanni is on his feet and seems steadier, Uriel turns to one of the ghouls and cups their face in his hands. under his touch, the awful feelings they exude, the pain in Giovanni's chest subsides, as if it's subsided in them as well - but at the same time their figure starts to become more distorted, more monstrous ]

I have made my place here, trying to ease their suffering... but in truth it may be of no help to them.

[he's not sure how to feel about this-- any of this. the thing, the way it warps under Uriel's hands even as the dreadful feeling recedes, what he says about Heaven, they're frightening and difficult to understand]

I thought Heaven was supposed to be a good thing.

[he glances at the distorted creature, then quickly away again]

But...even if what you're doing doesn't help, it's good to try. I think. It seems to me that someone should.

No... it is true that they should not be left to this. But what they need is surely different. I am unfit for the task, yet even so I cannot help myself.

[ even as he speaks, he reaches out for the other, repeating the process ]

[again, he glances at the creature briefly and then away again]

Mmm. They shouldn't be left like this. Only something destructive and twisted could have made them like this.

[which is something for him to think about, isn't it? yes it is]

[ quietly, and slowly, but with an undercurrent of faint mania ]

Many of them... if not all, were sentenced by my hand.

[ he lets go of the ghoul and turns to face Giovanni once more ]

You should leave this forest. I will guide you out. They will not pursue you while you are beside me.

[the revelation hits him like a bullet to the gut because it doesn't fit the schema he's built up around Uriel, and there's a quick inhalation of breath-- but even as it hits him it's slipping away because is it really so strange or impossible to grasp? perhaps not. he's a lot of things he wouldn't once have thought possible himself, after all.

he takes a moment, then nods once in agreement because he doesn't want to be in this place, preferred all along the clear path and the bright flowers, even if walking beside Uriel will make it easier to bear]

Yes.

[he'll follow readily enough, wait a handful of seconds before asking--]

Did you do it under someone else's command, or was the punishment one of your own making? Create those things, I mean. Those ghouls.

[ he goes slow, so Giovanni can watch his step, getting through the thick of the forest. at times he offers out a hand to help steady him through the dips and swells of the uneven footing. he takes a bit of a long time to answer. ]

... I do not recall. Though the law itself is the word of the Lord, as judge and executioner, delivering punishment was my responsibility. Although I have no desire to bring others to harm... perhaps it was I who decided what severity is appropriate for each crime.

[he's silent for a while as they walk, thinking through what's being said, thinking of those things back there and the terrible feelings pouring out of them. he takes the hand whenever it's offered, keeps close, and eventually he speaks again]

I wonder what someone had to do in order for you to think they deserved that.

[it doesn't sound accusatory, though. just curious and concerned and desolate]

Even those who have commit truly heinous crimes, and have remained truly unapologetic to their core... Is this truly what they deserve? Even them, I could not bear to watch suffer.

[ soon they're back out of the forest, and in a few more steps back on the path. the way Uriel is leading him, they'll probably end up back at that staircase. ]

I don't think I'd wish it on anyone.

[somehow, it cuts too close to the bone. he doesn't remember everything about his life, not by a longshot, but there are hints and whispers, enough to know that being reduced down to the most fearful parts of yourself isn't something he could ever consider fair, or just.

he'll keep quiet after that though, will follow Uriel back to the path, and there's visible relief on his face once they're out amidst the wildflowers and the peaceful certainty the path represents]

[ Uriel falls silent as they walk. his expression remains troubled throughout but the journey down the path is soothing, calming, at least for Giovanni. eventually he stops, at the foot of the stairs. ]

Through here, you may leave.

[he's pretty happy to get going honestly. he feels much better than before, but it's still with him, creeping about inside his head, the utter desolation that came from those ghouls.]

All right.

[one foot on the steps, and he glances up at Uriel]

At least you're doing something. For those things.

...

Take care of yourself, as well.

I'll try.

[he lingers for just a moment, eyes on Uriel as though he has something else to say, before heading on up the staircase and out through the door]

.aspects game

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