It's a very very mad world...

[endlesscurse]

[There's a newcomer to this world today. He's mighty confused by the sudden shift; there's definitely no city on the mountain. He'll just kind of stand in the middle of a street with what is blatantly wide-eyed confusion on his face. That is, before it starts turning into panic.

For those sensitive to it, however, there's a definite aura around Red. It's twisted and warped and outright wrong and the closer you get to him the worse the feeling gets. It might be somewhat similar to an Old One - but at the same time there's something decidedly different. Nothing about Ghost is remotely "right", after all.]

Comments

[reliquit]

I said don't panic. Deep breaths. Panicking only gives them a greater hold on you.

I'm not explaining anything until you're breathe properly. Inhale.

[There's no nonsense allowed here, Red, get your shit together.]

[endlesscurse]

[...Oh. You can tell.

Well, that certainly gets a shift. Ghost doesn't like it when people know it's there in advance. Red can feel it trying to take control now. It's second nature to him to immediately focus on trying to hold it off, no no no, he's tired of this, he doesn't want to kill again--!]

...H-How...You're alive? [He sounds about as shaky as his mental condition is, but at least he's measuring his breaths now. Hyperventilating never helps suppress Ghost.]

[reliquit]

Yes, and this is going to be complicated enough, so listen up, both of you.

This isn't your world. The best theory I have is the Beings in the Outer Ring have made enough of a hole that people sometimes fall through into this one. This city is London, the year is 1882, and it's currently late March.

As for him, he may want to lay low because I doubt any of the Outer Gods nor the angels in this city are going to take kindly to him here.

[It's a warning to both of them. She doubts either the high inquisitor would really have any trouble killing a possessed teenager, and no Outer God gets to be that way without being willing to kill when it deemed necessary. Either Ghost doesn't pick a fight with those things, or Red keeps it under control; Knight doesn't particularly care either way.]

[endlesscurse]

[Red...doesn't really understand any of that. Like, not even a little bit other than he is suddenly in a world where he is not the sole remaining human. Red's initial reaction can best be described as a Blue Screen Of Death, but in that second where he's confused enough to stop actively combating Ghost's influence there's a telltale flicker of blood red in his irises.

Red instantly gets back to working against it, but he's wavering now. He knows the warning won't deter Ghost. He's tried to get rid of it every way he can think of, from releasing it to boxing it to throwing the ball into a volcano to attempting suicide. Nothing works. He has no hope that any of these "outer god" or "angel" things you speak of will be able to destroy Ghost.

Maybe they'll be able to kill him, though. Do what he can't.]

...I-It won't lay low. Ghost never does. [And he's struggling to keep control now. He's been weakened to the point where he can't last long.]

[reliquit]

Is that so?

[Knight is fast, and without warning there's a hand on his forehead. She's switched languages abruptly, in a chant that burns across his forehead.]

All hail the glory of Agni, o'm!

[The effect is akin to shoving Ghost in a box. It'll last only until the box is broken, and how long a box lasts depends on the nature of the thing inside it.

Well, it's a temporary solution, at least.]

[endlesscurse]

[WHAT

WHAT

Red can't help but cry out at the sudden contact and seal. He takes an unbalanced step backward and end up falling on his bum, but when he stops freaking out enough to process what just happened...Ghost's influence is gone. He can still sense it, trapped in that box and struggling to get out, but...It's almost like Red is free.

He stares up at you in wonder. He doesn't know what you did, but...he's grateful.] ...Y-You...what did you... How did you...

[reliquit]

I was trained as an exorcist. You, take the time to get a stronger will. I can't tell you how, that depends on you.

I've only bought you time, understand?

[endlesscurse]

...Can't. [That's probably the calmest he's sounded this whole time. If there's one thing he knows for certain, it's that he isn't strong. He's weak, and he always will be. He might have been strong once, but Ghost has broken his spirit, possibly beyond repair.

But he nods, because he does understand. He might be able to do something now. Maybe he can repent.

Maybe he'll finally be allowed to die.

It's been too long, and he can barely tell the difference between himself and Ghost anymore. He hates himself. He's sick of being Ghost's puppet. There's a different kind of willpower to him now, the kind anyone planning suicide has. The strength of will to go through with it.]

[reliquit]

[And he gets swatted with bread again.] Not that, you'll just let him loose again. Is that really what you want now?

[endlesscurse]

...Don't want to live. Don't deserve to live.

[But since when has what Red wants ever mattered?]