2500/2500 words wrote:"Do you know how much I love you?"Nisemono shuddered as he took his first pawstep out of the forest, squinting under the rainfall as drops crashed down onto his face, his fur, washing his soft fur as he shut his eyes, tipping his head back.
Release. He was finally free from this prison he'd caught himself in. It was for the best -- for both of them, surely.
Humid air battered away at his pelt as he flicked his ears back to shoo away the water threatening to trickle inside, his mane clinging to his frame as he shook his head and trotted onward carelessly.
Now that it's over, I can pursue my own interests, he thought smugly, contentedly; really, he felt so at peace to be on his own again.
"Nise...don't you tell me that enough?" Her soft, pretty voice released a giggle. "Come on, don't be lazy. Help me finish packing up for our picnic~"
"What if it rains, doll~? Why not just stay in?" Hm. If it rained, huh...
"It's summer! There's not a cloud in the sky, either. I'm sure it won't rain. But...if it does, fine. I'll even let you lounge around after we eat if I'm wrong."Thunder crashed down, the brutal crackling roar thrumming in his ears as he glanced back over his shoulder, watching the bright streaks claw their way across the sky as if the very heavens were showing their wrath.
It had been nice enough, but it was still a distraction from his
real goals.
If it rains, we weren't meant to be. Simple as that, he'd finally told himself that morning while nestled into the soft, familiar fur of his girlfriend.
Love was a powerful force -- something that made him so
weak, and one of the many things that he'd gotten from that wretched angel that he couldn't stand. All of his weakness - every fibre of hesitation he felt, every useless piece of longing when he tried to leave her, every time his breath caught when he looked into her eyes was because of
Yuri and his pathetic need to love and connect and be
with someone. It was...pathetic. Revolting.
Disgusting.
Nisemono's jaw snapped shut and his teeth gritted, his heart pounding in his chest.
Take it back, part of him begged.
Go back to what you had. Only anger brewed within his body at the thought, the
longing, and he snarled low in his throat.
No -- I'm not weak
like him!! I'm supposed to be perfect, independent, unstoppable
in my goals!! She was only dragging me down!"Oh...this is...awful. I really thought it wasn't...going to be rainy..."
"C'mon. You couldn't have known." Just ignore it. Move on. Forget the thought. "Hey...how about we try the forest, babe? I'm sure there's plenty of shade in there."
"But...won't we catch cold?"
"Nah, you've got me to keep you warm, don'tcha? I won't let you get sick~"
She giggled softly. "...okay. Thank you for being so sweet."
"I don't know what you're talking about~ I just wanted a day out of that den is all." Don't...Shaking his head, he picked himself back up and started onward again. No, he'd made the right decision; now he lacked the blockades that had held him back from wreaking the havoc he was born to spread. It would be easy to go hunt down the pathetic little nephilim Yuri had made with the earth goddess in some weak attempt to stop him and to snuff out the little mewling ball of pup-fluff to ensure he had no lasting threats to his power, to his freedom to do what he wanted. Then, he could...
Then...
"..." What was there to do once he was unstoppable? He'd had thoughts of taking care of business, bringing his girlfriend to a higher standard in life, and living with her in luxury and merciless bliss. She had no idea who he really was, of course, but she would have grown to accept him anyway. Right?
No, that's useless!! I don't need her -- I never did. All I need is my power. I'll kill and rampage and do whatever I want, with or without her, he thought angrily.
But another part of him was crushing itself, stricken, longing, causing a brutal storm of emotions inside of him that brewed even more furiously than the thunderstorm overhead.
But she was right. It was so clear this morning. Where did all of this rain come from? he thought almost hysterically as he stared up at the thundering clouds, his jaw parting slightly in helpless disbelief.
"It was supposed to be beautiful today," he seethed quietly, his voice a brutish bellow up at the clouds.
It was that little rat, wasn't it? Was he watching him that closely? Had he been waiting for a moment of weakness like this to try and break him? How
dare he make such a decision for him!?
"
You did this to me, didn't you!? This is all
your fault!!" he roared, tail lashing. "Why don't you come down here and face me like a man, you
coward!"
But there was no answer from above aside from the constant downpour, the echoing blasts of thunder around him. His shoulders sank, and he stared, his breathing slow.
What's wrong with me? he demanded.
I should be stronger without her! I should be happy!! I just cast out a weakness! he thought furiously, tossing his head and gripping the sides of his face with his tensed claws, ignoring the pain that blazed into his fur as a helpless cry left him.
He panted and dropped into the mud on his paws, staring down into nothing but the splashing rain. Just hours ago, he'd had resolve, even if held back by her beautiful eyes and her soft voice and her sweet scent, everything that made him love her so much he could barely breathe if not by her side. He loved her more than he could ever love himself -- which was a powerful, almost impossible feat, but it made her that much more perfect.
"It's kind of creepy in here. Can't we just go back home?" She didn't sound very cheerful anymore.
"C'mon, babe, I promise it'll be worth it."
"Nise, I'm serious. I'm scared...""I take it back," he whispered, his voice broken and helpless and so uncertain that he couldn't even recognize it as the flashes of memory sparked in his head, driving him deeper and deeper into his crumbling sanity. "I promise -- I swear I'll take it back -"
"Take me home!! This isn't funny anymore!"
He stared at her, heart swelling with emotions. Love, affection, a need to protect her -- but what outranked all...
"...N-Nise...?" Her eyes were scared, and she cowered as his intense gaze and moving paws cornered her back against the thick trunk of a tree.
"I really do love you, babe," he said softly, but his voice was sharp, hollow, smug, "but I just can't let you hold me back anymore."
...was a need to rip out any and all weakness.Her scream had been drowned in the echoing roars of thunder as he'd ripped apart his links to useless, pathetic softness, hatred for how much he loved her fueling every slash of claws and every snap of teeth. He'd stumbled out of the forest, his pelt streaked with water and blood as he'd felt the first sparks of freedom.
And now...within minutes, he'd...
"I'm sorry," he cried, his voice twisting with despair and wrath. "I'm
sorry!! I-" Thunder crashed and silenced him as he felt his tears mix with the rain, a roar of anguish splitting his jaws as he felt his heart throb and twist in agony.
Not once in his life had he felt so broken and helpless -- not once had he ever regretted a decision so much that it hurt.
I'm sorry, he thought, his eyes squeezing shut as he tossed his head.
I'm so sorry-In his pain, there was fury again -- hatred for Yuri. He'd done this, hadn't he? Yuri knew his own weaknesses, surely - he even disguised himself as something weak and pathetic, but he must have been some sort of mastermind to so closely analyze him. Had he done this before, perhaps? Did he know the uncertainty this caused?
I want to kill him, he seethed.
I want to rip apart every last little rat he's had before ripping his mate in two and diving right up to the heavens to do it all over again. He'll pay
.Panting in furious bloodlust, he pushed himself to his paws with a snarl, his tail lashing and back arched in a feral display of utter rage, his gray eyes blazing with hysterical fury. He'd find Yuri's pathetic family
right now --
A body rammed into him, toppling him over as he snapped in a startled manner, teeth just barely missing his attacker's throat. He was pinned for a split second before he tossed the viscet off of him and smashed a paw down over her throat, pinning her with sheer strength. Crazed with outrage, he glared down into her eyes with his normally long and silky mane tangled and scattered across his face and through his horns, his breaths shallow and furious. He
craved to see fear in her eyes -- but instead met a cold, indifferent stare.
Had he truly become so weak that he no longer incited fear?
But she was scared of me before I killed her. His heart twisted and his expression crumpled into a weak display of helplessness, giving the angel an opening to throw him off.
"You're
pathetic," she stated in a tone even colder than her eyes.
I know. "Says who? You don't know a damn thing about me, you
heaven scum," he spat with every ounce of malice he could scrap together. "Did Yuri send you? Because I'll gladly go up and visit him with the shreds of whatever's left of you once I'm done." His voice was rough, husked with raw anger, but she hardly seemed to care at all, and it pissed him off even
more.
"I haven't spoken to Yuri in a long time. Even if I had, I wouldn't let you near him. I've just been watching you, Nisemono." The way she said his name, with every ounce of disgust she could muster, sparked interest in him. She hated him more than he did right now -- and that was close enough to replace the pain of losing the rush of love in his life. He stared at her as she continued, breaths thin and ragged while she tore into him with her hateful speech.
"You make me
sick. You just throw away anything that isn't useful to you anymore," she snarled. "I thought that maybe -
maybe - there was something in you that could be salvaged for good because of the material you came from, but there's so much of Uriel in you that I can't even look at you without my stomach turning. I
tested you; oh, you think the rain was Yuri's fault?" she laughed, cold and humorless, and Nisemono felt so pathetic after he flinched from the biting reaction that he felt his throat tighten. "I gave you a chance to make a decision. I can't believe I had any hope for you."
Her eyes bored into him with disgust, and with so much anger that it far surpassed the frantic rage he'd felt moments ago. "I can't believe you killed the one good thing you had in life. You may as well just be a demon," she spat, her voice shaking as if he weren't only speaking to him anymore. "I'd kill you right now if I had the power to."
He stared for a moment longer before he gave her a shaky grin, sidling forward. "...oh, so you made a mistake like me, didn't you? I can help you forget all about him. And you can help me forget her. You're feisty like she was," he purred, pressing so close to her that their noses were almost touching -- before her expression twisted into more emotions than she could properly display and she slashed across his face so ruthlessly that he landed in a puddle of mud on the ground, grunting with pain.
"...look how
pathetic you've become," she snarled. "You're disgusting and you always have been. I would
never try to forget her or the mistakes I made -- but you trying to
right after you killed her just - " Her teeth clicked shut in a tight, furious grit, tears welling in her eyes. "I
hate you. I can't wait for the day I see you fall," she seethed furiously. "I'm so sorry that I let her die because I believed you could be anything other than
evil and selfish." Her body thinned, letting him see the forest behind her as he felt himself crumbling further at her words, brought down to a point so low he couldn't help but beg her for help.
"Can -- can't you help her?" he asked hoarsely, his emotions erratic - desperate to forget, to move on, to have her back, to be angry at something, to
kill something - he didn't even have a grip on himself anymore.
"No. She's not in the heavens," she said coldly. "And she's not in the underworld, either. I don't know where you've sent her, but I would
never put her back in your arms.
Goodbye, Nisemono. I hope you
rot." She vanished before he could speak, but he felt so numb that he doubted he could anyway.
What have I done? He knew he wasn't good. He knew he would never be good, and he embraced it, but he'd thrown away the one thing that gave him a sense of comfort -- he'd tossed her aside like a rotting animal.
He was
Nisemono, the cruel, charming, wicked Nephilim that didn't care about things like purpose or meaning or anything but power and crushing whoever he wanted -- but now, he...
What had become of him?
The anger to press on and force down this pathetic streak brewed within him, even as he sank into the mud with strangled gasps and sobs of grief. He would rise from the ashes of this mistake, hardened and even more cruel than he'd been before without softness keeping him at bay. He would find Yuri's family and make them
suffer. And then, he would find that little Nephilim and rip her to shreds -- her
and the snarky little angel who had humiliated him.
But for now... he would grieve.
"I..."
"I love you, Nise."
"...I love you too, babe. More than anything in the world.""I'm so sorry..."
viscets involved:
nisemono,
evangeline