vatheon | Exorcism

Entry tags:

Exorcism

Who: Serph, Cielo, Gale, Zelda, Ky
When: May 22nd, early morning
Where: An empty part of the island, away from the abandoned village
Style: Brackets to contain the demons!!
Status: Closed

[Finding a suitable containment vessel was up to Ky, but Zelda considered it her job to make sure that the demon did not escape during the exorcism process. As such, she's been up on the island since an ungodly hour, carefully digging containment runes into the ground. They glow softly when she's finished and she lets out a sigh of relief.

There. Now it's just time to wait for everyone else...]

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[The light from her hand is from the Triforce. Nothing drives a demon out like divinity, after all. Once she finishes the song she kneels next to Gale in a praying position, focusing her own magic and that of the Triforce onto the mark on his leg, willing the demon inside to exit his body. It's true that most of what she's doing is magic, but there's quite a lot of prayer in involved too - to Din, Farore, and Nayru, and to any gods that will listen.]

[It doesn't happen quickly. Despite the calming song, the demon is not easily driven out of Gale. Still, bit by bit, Zelda's magic and the Triforce begin to drive Vayu out. As the demon is removed, the Twister mark on Gale's calf begins to fade- and the bright green of his eyes begins to disappear, replaced instead by uniform gray that covers both his iris and his pupil.]

[The song she's playing becomes a lullaby, directed at the demon. She doesn't sing along this time though, instead raising her eyes to look at Serph and speaking quietly.]

How is he?

[It seemed to be going fine. The fading of the Twister was to be expected; the marks are a symbol of their Atma. If the exorcism is to drive the demon out, then the mark would also be driven out.

But when Serph's gaze goes back up to Gale's expression, his own freezes. It's not the change in eye-colour that he notices, but the tiny change in expression. Or rather, the lack of it.]

Stop.

[He's horrified. He can't muster more words right now. What has he done?]

The demon is outside the body, reversing the process may be difficult unless we can communicate with it... what exactly is wrong with him?

[Zelda doesn't stop playing the harp - it's not to remove the demon, it's just to keep it calm. She tries to peer up into Gale's face, then pulls back with a slightly horrified look. He looks dead.]

[No. No. No no no no no. This can't be happening. Cielo is just as horrified as Serph. Somehow, he manages to pull himself together long enough to answer Zelda's question.]

Our demons. Before we got them we were...empty. No emotions, no thinking for ourselves, no nothing.

[Just automatons who blindly followed Junkyard law. Cielo still remembers the moment he fully awakened - the rush of emotion was almost painful. Everything suddenly seemed more vivid and he began to question things. It was tough and sometimes emotions really hurt, but Cielo never would want to go back to how he used to be.

Before, there wasn't any real proof that demons were linked to their emotions, but this seems pretty telling, doesn't it?

He looks back at Gale.]

Gale?

[Please, Gale. Please be alright. Because Cielo doesn't think he can take it if you're not.]

[Ky freezes himself, at the commotion, his hand going to the hilt of his sword. His eyes meet Gale's, and what he sees there is shocking. Gale looks so empty, as if the demon has taken his soul with him. He stays silent, he's not going to try to wrestle control away from Zelda of the situation just because things are going wrong, not when he doesn't have any idea of how to make them better. But he's here if she has the need to call on him, or if any of the others do.]

[Gale's never been particularly expressive, but there's a complete lack of emotion on his face that is unusual even for him. He glances around at all of them, before speaking, and his voice, too, is completely without any feeling.]

I do not comprehend. What is the problem?

[Something's missing, and he can tell that, but it obviously wasn't anything important. He doesn't have emotions, after all- he can't feel horrified at losing them. What he lost obviously isn't affecting his ability to serve his tribe- if anything, it might have been hindering it, he realizes.]

[Serph isn't about to ignore a question from his strategist. He pushes aside his horror to respond in a manner closer to what this Gale would expect of him.]

You have reverted to your original state. Do not take any action against the two outside the Tribe.

[He keeps his eyes on Gale when he addresses Zelda.]

Put the demon back.

[His words are a request. But will they be met with objections from Ky or Zelda?]

[Zelda won't protest, at least. Some might argue that a nonexistence is better than one shared with a demon, but she is not one of them.]

That will be difficult for me to accomplish. I have little mastery over the shadows. I think our best course of action might be to attempt communication with the demon, to see if it will rejoin with your friend willingly.

[Talk to Vayu?

UM...]

I guess we could but, can you try, Zelda? Please? Gale, he...he's my brother, ja?

[His voice is filled with fear and desperation.

Cielo doesn't even know if it's possible to have meaningful communication with a demon and not only that, Vayu tried to eat him once (and very nearly succeeded), and he's a bit worried that he might try again without Gale controlling him.

But for Gale's sake, he would be all for talking to Vayu. He will talk about memories and beaches and Nirvana and the nature of humans, or demons, if that's what Vayu prefers, if he has to.

And, well, he did bring Shock Bombs.]

[Gale. So his name is Gale. Despite the situation, her mind neatly files that information away. Zelda bites down on her lip anxiously, looking at the box Ky is holding.]

I fear that my presence might anger it. I did trap it, after all, and I am essentially the opposite of a demon in race and in element. If this demon is important to your friend's existence, I think that forcing it into submission should be the last result.

The demon...

[Ky shakes his head, his eyes fixed on Gale. Is it truly better to allow someone else to control him, to live inside him as an unwelcome guest, just so that Gale can feel. But then, what is life without feeling? Would Ky be willing to continue his own existence without the ability to appreciate it? Of course, it wouldn't matter once they were gone, but isn't that part of what's wrong with the automaton they made that looks like him? Aren't feelings the only things that can truly drive him?

But there is a demon, and Ky doesn't really know what that means. It had looked dangerous, different, but so did Gale to some degree. It was only that Gale had himself called it a demon that Ky had thought he would be better off without it, but shouldn't Serph and Cielo know as well?

And if what Zelda called her gods weren't really God then couldn't it be that what Gale called his demon wasn't truly a demon?]

I can talk to it, if it's necessary, if my presence would be somehow easier than Zelda's.

[How the heck can you be the opposite of a demon? And he wasn't aware demons as a whole had an element. Whatever. That stuff doesn't matter right now. Unlike Cielo, there's very little outward change in Serph's demeanour outside the small frown that passes across his expression.]

Demons do not care if you are friend or foe.

[He appreciates Ky's offer, though, and gives him a nod.]

Please do. If speaking to Vayu does not work, we will use force.

[They come from a violent world, after all. If there's one thing that worked against demons, it was force. The other was Sera's song, but she isn't here, is she?]

Force will work.

[Serph sounds outwardly calm, but there's a definite edge to his voice.]

[What is Ky supposed to say to something that calls itself a demon? He can't exactly tell it that he didn't intend it harm, because he did, and he can't say that he's changed his mind because this is only out of necessity, and it's not something that Ky's entirely comfortable with.

Can the demon hear him now? Ky assumes so, since Zelda's magic works with sound. And using force sounds dangerous.]

...Vayu?

We apologize for attempting to remove you from your host. It's clear that your relationship is more...that you both benefit from it. That you give Gale something in return for him hosting you.

With that in mind, it seems like returning the relationship to being what it had been would be advantageous for all parties.

[Throughout the exchange, Gale says nothing, and barely even moves from his position. He has been ordered to take no actions against the other two here, so he doesn't. As for the situation, Serph clearly has it in hand, and no input from him is required.

Vayu, on the other hand, is much more active, despite having been removed from Gale and put into a box. It doesn't speak, because it doesn't have a voice- but it doesn't need to. It has feelings to work with and communicate.

The demon is angry, of course. But it is also eager to return to Gale- and most of all, it is hungry.]

[The feeling of hunger sets the princess on edge. Just what is this thing? Is it really safe to let it return to Gale? She looks over to Serph and Cielo to gauge their reaction to this. After all, they'd know better what was normal for their demons than she would.]

[Man, Vayu, Cielo doesn't blame you for being angry. If he were stuck in a little box like that he'd be grumpy too.]

So that's a yes then? Good, because the other option is to stay in the box and I don't think you want that.

[He doesn't think that Vayu would choose to stay in the box, but what Cielo is mostly worried about is if Gale can't control the demon once it returns. Nobody wants a repeat of what happened the day they got their Atma, but Zelda's rune thingies should keep everyone safe, right?

Cielo makes a mental note that, assuming this goes well, ask Gale if he's hungry later tonight.]

[Ky really doesn't know what to do right now, more disturbed than anything else. How can they choose to keep such creatures inside of them? How can Gale be so empty once the demon has left him?

It's also very clearly not his decision, and he finds no small measure of relief in that fact.]

[Serph watches, unsurprised by Vayu's feelings of anger and hunger. Since Cielo's doing the talking for him, he nods, both to emphasise Cielo's words and as a signal to continue putting the demon back.

As violent as their demons are, this exorcism has proved their vital connection. An existence of sad but necessary killing, or one where killing evokes no feelings at all?

Serph chooses the former.]

[Zelda moves over to take the box from Ky, looking up at him questioningly. Really, she's just as unsure as he is about all of this. The demon won't be able to leave her barrier, but letting it out to go to Gale could mean a fight... her expression steels after a moment.]

Very well, then. I think we should have Gale open the box and hold it where his mark was formerly.

[If there are no objections... Serph turns his attention to Gale and nods, a silent command to follow Zelda's instructions.

He doesn't miss the unsure looks being passed around, but while Serph isn't entirely certain this is the best thing to be doing, he keeps that firmly inside. Outside, he appears calm, but he's ready for a fight if it comes to that.]

[Gale might as well have not heard Zelda, until Serph nods at him. When he gets confirmation from his leader, though, he nods and reaches out to take the box from Zelda.]

[She releases the box to him and takes a few steps back, ready to defend herself and Ky if it goes horribly wrong. Serph and Cielo should be fine, even in this state Gale seems to have some regard for them.]

[Ky can defend himself, thank you very much Zelda. And he doesn't trust that the demon they're putting back won't decide on Serph and Cielo as enemies as well, so his shift in position is towards them, protective.]

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Except Vayu is resistant to Force spells--

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aaagh, so so late, sorry.

No problem!

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whoops yeah I probably should have tagged this earlier

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