2024-07-04: Eons of Longing - An Answer Far From Kamogawa
- Log: 2024-07-04: Eons of Longing - An Answer Far From Kamogawa
- Cast: Muginami, "Vox Ignis"
- Where: Kamogawa, Japan
- Date: U.C. 0099 07 04
- Summary: It's said that the orange demon will spew darkness. It's spent so very long keeping what it felt as "darkness" festering in its locked up cage. ...And someone just had to identify that overflowing miasma as something else.
It was almost a joke, how easy it was to infiltrate Pharos.
When Muginami first saw it from afar, she couldn’t help but gain just a little flutter of fear in her heart. A massive mobile fortress like that, and it’s where the feared Vox of legends was housed? A key to the end of the world, or so it was told - surely she had to be unbelievably careful and sneaky.
…And yet, somehow, it was a simple as renting a sea scooter and diving gear from Kamogawa’s scuba shop, setting off early in the morning to make her way towards that distant tower, and climbing up a service ladder - even given the opportunity to change clothes behind a bush.
Muginami had, of course, weaseled her way for thievery and sabotage before. Even down to some pretty daring ship-to-ship infiltration during a tense conflict with the forces of Le Garite! And this one, Pharos, had everything on the line! The very weapon Muginami heard Le Garite was even here on Earth to seize.
With every careful, cautious step deeper in the eerily quiet, empty facilities on Pharos, Muginami could only agonize to herself - just -why- was this so easy? When faced with a door clearly insisting on having some form of keycard, Muginami reeled back and readied herself to kick it down with all her strength…
…but a gut feeling overtook her, and instead, she simply pushed it open, and carefully stepped into Pharos’s labyrinthine halls.
One deep breath, before Muginami muffled her face in her sleeve and fumed out, “What is WRONG with these people?! Huu!”
Mentally mapping out an unfamiliar facility was nothing new either - nor was deducing what direction a space like this might store mobile weapons. After all, if you’re breaking into a ship to sabotage it, you really want to have a great sense of where to make your escape by swiping an enemy’s Heavy Metal!
Not a soul in sight. Not so much as a single security guard’s flashlight between Muginami slipping through vents and access tunnels to make her way to Pharos’s equally unconventional hangar bay.
Vast, empty, and spacious - Muginami’s footfalls were careful to avoid any noise echoing out of control. Eyes slowly adjusting to the light…
And she stopped in place. In the middle of this gigantic hangar, a single swoopy-looking aircraft lurked. Muginami could only tip her head - it was unfamiliar, but also definitely some form of Ovid in design. Was this some sort of loaned defense weapon from Le Garite? Or…
…Was this it?
Carefully, Muginami stepped closer and closer to the enigmatic Ovid. Circling around its coiled up form, the strange-shaped wings grazing against her cheek when she passed them by.
…They left a hot tingle on her skin, and her hand rose to her face - everything FELT normal to the touch…
But from that moment onward, a strange pressure pushed at Muginami somewhere indescribable. The only way she could describe it…
The stirring of a long-sleeping beast in its cage.
That was Muginami’s first instinct. But the second was…
…a resignation to stay in it?
“...hmm? …What a strange feeling…” Muginami whispered under her breath, stepping closer to the core of the aircraft - and reaching up to give its center an experimental poke.
[turn away.]
It wasn’t so much a message, as an echo in Muginami’s own emotions. A sense budding in her that what she ‘should’ want is to ignore this thing, and keep moving along. As soon as she started to pivot around on her toe, though, her lips pursed in defiance.
“No no no, that just won’t do. …I know that this is what I’m looking for. This is that legendary weapon my big brother told me King Dizelmine wanted more than anything, right? I…feel it.”
[inactive.]
That same push into Muginami’s senses - yes, of course, this Ovid wouldn’t fly. It was inert and quiet, that much Muginami could clearly feel.
“...no. That’s wrong. And I know it.” It wasn’t ‘asleep’. Leaning her face forward with narrowed eyes and puffy cheeks, Muginami breathed in, and demanded: “You’ve been keeping yourself held back, haven’t you?”
[!]
A glimmer returned to Muginami’s eyes. Oh, she felt that alright. “Aha, got it in one, didn’t I? You’re containing yourself a whole lot, but it’s like, I can feel the chains stretching and straining whenever you do!~”
“...”
“Wait, what am I talking about!?” Muginami blurted out, before clapping her hands over her face to quiet herself. “This is an Ovid, so why am I talking like this to my…self…?”
She felt a chain grip tight again, and crossed her arms insistently. “...Of course you’re not a regular Ovid. You’re from that legend of destruction everybody always talks about like doom and gloom. Heeeh…?” Tapping a finger to her lips, Muginami cycled what she was seeing compared to what she’d heard about.
“Honestly, it’s one of those fairy tales that always seemed a little weird to me, and I never heard much beyond ‘the demon of whatever will get you for this’ whenever I had to swipe dinner. I figured it was something you told kids to stop them misbehaving. But if the King of Le Garite saw to it that this whole facility was built for your sake, then…I suppose it’s real, in soooome sense…maybe it really is some kind of legendary weapon that did a number on this planet so many thousands of years ago?”
A faint withering feeling hovered through the air, and Muginami, in response, took a step closer to the Vox’s heart.
“Is that -self consciousness-? Wait wait wait. …I caught wind of that. The second I said you did something wrong a long time ago…did you feel BAD about it just now? What in the world…a legendary demon who doesn’t want me to pry in its business?”
“That’s so funny!” Muginami couldn’t help but stifle a little laugh, doubling over to herself, snorting behind the fluffy rim of her jacket. “Earth really is an amazing planet, if its hidden disasters are acting cute!”
The temperature suddenly began to rise rapidly, and Muginami’s laughter halted. The air didn’t change - a fire didn’t light - but every inch of her body suddenly felt sweltering hot.
[none of this is ‘cute’. you wouldn’t understand. step away and leave here.]
[please.]
“Oh no you don’t. I’ve been through worse than /this/, silly!” Not a single step backwards even as it felt like flames licked across Muginami’s skin, like her hair would erupt into an inferno any second. It was all an illusion, that much she was aware of. Her hand insistently reached forward, clasping the rim in front of the Vox Core, knuckles going white with how tightly she held.
[it’s too much it’s too much it’s too much.]
[this is the fire of the disaster that razed the world eons ago, and your kin fled this planet in its wake.]
[it can’t be held back anymore. please!]
The flames licked more intensely, searing enough for Muginami to grimace. She would’ve loved to understand that this thing was a danger to herself, to everyone else. But-
“Holding back!? How long have you been doing that? Do you think that’s good for anyone? You’re just about to explode with it. I’m not afraid, you know!”
A flash of orange surged across the Vox’s shoulders, and a piercing rumble cracked across Muginami’s thoughts - one that felt like Pharos itself was falling apart.
[I WANTED THE WORLD]
[I WANTED EVERYTHING]
[it was too hot to bear, it took everything i had to keep it back.]
[i hated them. I wanted to be whatever hated them the worst. I wanted to be vengeance.]
[I loved them. I wanted to be whatever loved them the best. I wanted to be adoration.]
[I envied them. I wanted to be whatever envied them the most. I wanted I wanted I wanted-]
The out of control inferno pushed Muginami back a half step - and yet she did not dare let go.
[I WANTED TOO MUCH, to make the stars fall at my command, to tell everyone no and grant all their wishes, to punish and reward them, to cradle and kill them, everything, all of it!!!]
[it’s burning, it’s burning, and it’d burn up every last blade of grass on this world. It’s too much to want this. It’d consume everyone. It’d consume you. It’d consume the world you came from]
[make it stop, this is why i held it back, make it stop, this is why you shouldn’t come nearer, you have to run away before i-]
“Aaaaaaaaa, it’s way too hot, this is getting to be-” Muginami finally let go, drenched in sweat, wiping her forehead with a little bit of shakiness. And then-
Bit by bit-
First it was her coat and shoes to be forcefully cast aside.
[...what are you doing-]
…Then, with an unclasping of her heart-shaped belt buckle, Muginami pulled away her corset.
[...what ARE you doing-]
“Aaaaah, it’s kinda embarrassing, but I only brought the one set of clothes, so it's best if I don't work up too bad a sweat before I can wash them!”
A completely different pulse flared from the Vox.
[THIS KIND OF WANTING IS THE WORST, NOT NOW, NOT EVER -]
[it was what had to be contained the most, all this time, every single impulse would’ve been my downfall, no no no no-]
The now utterly undressed Muginami canted her head once - and reached out to pinch the Vox right on its prow.
A smirk crossed her lips.
“Heeeeeh? Is the feared demon of fire embarrassed? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day! You’ve wanted /that/ for so many thousands of years? And /that/ is what’s been eating you up? Aaaaah. Yeah, it gets like that sometimes, doesn’t it?” Eyelids lowering, Muginami’s smile got a little more wistful. “...Feelings you think you can never share with someone, because it’d hurt them to say - it’s a wall of ice when you’ve done it before. If you burned so hot that you hurt a lot of people with just how much you wanted them closer…I can only imagine how lonely it’s been.”
[if the world burned to cinders from every impossible wanting, every irresponsible impulse, then i’d bear it for an eter-]
“Ah ah ah!” Muginami tugged tighter on the steel of the Vox, waggling her other finger. “You’re not gonna burn the world on my watch! I’m here for you, and I really only care that someone I don’t trust can’t exploit you. The universe is a vast enough place to be really selfish and find an outlet for your wants, and I’d be more than happy to find it with you!”
[...]
The fire only intensified. Muginami could feel it -
The distant, hazy shape that was once part of someone, doubled over, amorphous, wanting everything, wanting to -be- everything, and yet confined to oblivion.
[please don’t encourage it.]
“I will!”
[please leave me to endure this alone.]
“I won’t!”
[PLEASE DON’T FALL INTO THE FIRE I’VE KEPT EXTINGUISHED FOR THIS LONG]
[i…want you…to be…]
“My name’s Muginami. You can call me that! Let’s get out of here, together!”
[i’m sorry.]
Something stabbed Muginami in the stomach. She toppled backwards, slipping and falling on her hands and bottom, clutching her belly - and seeing a trail of light coursing between there and the Vox’s core.
It etched something into her.
Eyes wide from the agony of it - deeper than her nerves, latching into her very essence…
Muginami couldn’t help but laugh, knowing just what this is.
“...So this is how you bond, isn’t it? It burns really badly…but I’ll be just fine. I knew you couldn’t take it anymore…it’s a-okay! Let’s get you away from all this mess of calamities and disasters and legends. You can’t be anything worse than the kind of man who’d destroy everyone’s home just to save his own skin, in my books!”
The raging flames subsided, and were replaced with a long, regretful wail, fierce enough to make Muginami shiver as she slowly rose to her feet.
[i’ve done something unforgivable.]
[a curse i can never take back.]
“I forgive you, and it’s a blessing to me! Look, it even looks kinda cute when it glows! Heh. Does this make us partners now? I’m looking forward to working with ya!”
The wail lost any capacity to express words - pure, distilled, shapeless wanting washed like the ocean waves across Muginami, who kept up a warm, gentle smile.
“...to think, I’m the one comforting a legendary demon. Hehe. Just wait till my big brother hears about this!~”
Palm tenderly grazing across the Vox’s chassis, Muginami’s eyes drift across the Ovid, pondering just how exactly she’d get into this thing and mount her escape-
…But at that moment, the distant light of a door suddenly open, and Muginami stifled a gasp. Biting her thumb, she whispered out, “Kch. It’s bad if I’m caught like this. I’ll be back for you, okay? We made a special connection that’s not breaking any time soon, that much I can tell!”
A profound loss of words hollowed the air.
What in this universe could truly put into words the feeling of a sudden fated meeting ending millennia of confinement?
[i’m glad i never let go of that aspiration.]
With a smile that the demon of fire would never forget, Muginami bid farewell to the Vox with a cheery little salute - and ran off with her clothes bundled in her arms.
[...what an unbelievable person…]