14th Inversion - Video

[ritsu_kouyou]

[The Vine opens a mirror to anyone passing by it to show the inside of an empty building. A place of finery, there was no movement. No sound. Nothing...

The mirror closes and a few moments later, it opens again, to show the inside of the same building, but a different place. A room untouched. A bed unmade. Trinkets around, but there was a thin layer of dust on them.

Again, the mirror closes and reopens a bit later to show the outside of this building. The gardens. They were untended, but finally there was so movement. Barely visible was a distressed looking Hoppip waving its fronds at something with cries of 'Hoppip! Hoppip!'

A voice responds, quiet but with a cruel edge to it, finally identifying the seemingly abandoned building as the Tohno Mansion.]

Your cries mean nothing to me. She's gone. They're all gone. You should leave, too, before I eat you.

[The Hoppip continues to cry out and draw close until it screams as one frond catches on fire. It flails about, putting the fire out before retreating. To the viewers of the mirror, it was hiding in the garden out of sight of Akiha.]

Go... leave.

[There's movement then as Akiha passes by the mirror, heavy streaks of vermillion running through her black hair. When she glances over at it, there is something distinctly non-human in her eyes. She narrows them, but says nothing, continuing on her way. A few seconds later, the mirror closes.]

Comments

[ritsu_kouyou]

No... You can't...

[Those words were whispered, breath on Katina's neck, just before Akiha bit. Her small fangs cut in and blood welled up to fill AKIHA's mouth. She shuddered a bit in the intensity of pleasure, having hot, fresh delicious blood again.]

[grandtheftmecha]

[ As the fangs cut her neck, Katina shuddered as well. She'd forgotten what it felt like - Akiha's small, sharp fangs cutting her, letting her blood flow free, taking it into her mouth.

A hand reached up to tangle into her love's red hair. ]

And I wouldn't want to...

[ritsu_kouyou]

[Arms going about Katina, AKIHA held her tightly as she drank her blood. Her cold body warmed up and the muscles of her back even relaxed. But that predatory air about her did not change. A lack of blood wasn't what had caused this inversion. It was deeper than that.

It was like Akiha was curled up inside, letting the demon protect her from more hurt. More loss. She'd retreated and relinquished control.

She lifted her head enough to talk, blood sliding down Katina's neck.]

If you try to leave me, I will kill you... and enjoy it.

[Her tongue lapped at the blood.] Because I love you, and killing you would be so intimate...

[grandtheftmecha]

[ Her warmth flowed into Akiha, her lover drinking the blood that kept her alive, growing warmer and stronger from it, and Katina couldn't do anything but lose herself in the sensation for a long moment.

She felt warmth running down her neck, head lolling to the side as she looked at AKIHA. How long would she be like this? No... it didn't matter. Katina could stay with her regardless. ]

...you won't... ever have to worry about being intimate like that. Just... if the Queen takes me away from you...

...do exactly what comes naturally to you. [ To hell with you Queenie. ]

[ritsu_kouyou]

I'll kill her before she can take you from me. [She lapped more blood up.] I'll be the one to rule this Garden. Make them kneal before me.

[Her teeth sunk in again, biting once more into Katina's neck. She drank a few more mouthfuls before speaking again.]

You know... she used to write stories. In them you were a warlord. Dark, powerful, strong...

[grandtheftmecha]

[ A tyrant. With Katina by her side. She could do that, too, especially with the many people who had disappeared since then.

Katina groaned as Akiha drank from her, but what she said caught her attention. ]

...me? And... what did that make her, in those stories?

[ritsu_kouyou]

She was a noble woman. The warlord was trying to claim her land through many means.

[She paused to drink more blood.]

She resisted so much.

[grandtheftmecha]

[ Katina's heart beat more loudly at that. Akiha, resisting the irresistible - as Katina claimed her.

At the same time, Katina felt like she was the one being pulled in by Akiha. Was this inevitable? ]

She... didn't have to.

[ritsu_kouyou]

Yes, she did. In her own mind.

[AKIHA paused again, drinking more and pressing her tongue hard against the bite to help slow the blood flow to something manageable. When she raised her head, she licked her lips, though some blood still clung to them.]

Because of me. Because the last one she loved... I tried to kill him. [She drew close to Katina's lips, her breath easily felt as she spoke.] Because he loved another and tried to leave us.

So she did have to resist the warlord.

[grandtheftmecha]

I know. She told me... all about it, you know. How dangerous she is, when she's jealous.

[ Katina ached for those lips, so close to hers, even if it wasn't the Akiha she wanted to kiss. AKIHA wasn't... the same person, and yet she was an integral part of Akiha as well. ]

But she didn't kill me when I two-timed her, and then played it up for as much drama as possible. I trust Akiha... I trust you.

[ritsu_kouyou]

Oh, I wanted to kill you. So much I could practically taste it. But she wouldn't let me. [AKIHA chuckled darkly.] I consumed half her will as consolation.

But now you're mine, only mine... and I'm not a noble. [And that was when the demon took Katina's lips in a possessive kiss.]

[grandtheftmecha]

She's... [ Her Akiha is in there. That is the Akiha she wants to kiss, and possess and be possessed by, not this violent, dark side of her, but if she has to have both of them in equal measures?

Katina can with that. While her thoughts are of who she wants, she's easily swept away into kissing the demon, restraint utterly gone. ]

[ritsu_kouyou]

[The taste of Katina's blood was there on AKIHA's tongue, on her lips, as she kissed her deeply. Somewhere in there was love, though unless Katina was looking for it, it wasn't easy to pick up underneath all the possessiveness and the dominance. AKIHA was -claiming- Katina with the kiss and that was quite clear.

When she pulled back, her hair was black again, but that inhuman glint was still in her eyes.]

[grandtheftmecha]

[ Katina's tasted her own blood before. This is nothing new - being dominated is nothing new - but there's such a strong, possessive presence coming from AKIHA that Katina can do nothing but reciprocate.

Her eyes opened as she pulled away, to black hair. Akiha. ]

...is that you?

[ritsu_kouyou]

Y-- no. Maybe. I don't know.

[Both sides were there, but Akiha didn't have the will... or the desire to try to suppress her blood. It made it hard to find a balance. She was liable to have violent mood swings like this.]

[grandtheftmecha]

[ ...she didn't want to hear that.

Akiha's too hurt now. Did her idiocy weaken Akiha at all for this? Is this at all her fault? Katina would... like to know... even if it'll hurt. ]

I'm here for you. No matter who or what you are, Akiha, I love you.

[ Katina reached out to her, to pull her into a hug - if she didn't pull away. ]

[ritsu_kouyou]

[Akiha lets herself be pulled into the hug but she doesn't respond right away. Then she brings her arms up and drops down to her knees so she would fit against Katina the way she was supposed to.]

I love you... I'm scared... I want to kill you...

[grandtheftmecha]

[ There isn't much she can do for Akiha, other than being there. A familiar feeling of helplessness.

Too bad she can't punch the demon out of her. ]

I believe in you. You aren't going to kill me, Akiha.

[ritsu_kouyou]

Then don't provoke me to it. [Some vermillion creeps back into her hair and the edge was back in her voice.]

[grandtheftmecha]

I'm gonna stay by your side, and I'm not going to do anything as awful as what I did. Don't worry about that.

[ For both their sake, she needs to make sure Akiha doesn't go that out of control. ]

[ritsu_kouyou]

[Her nails dug painfully into Katina's back.] Are you going to try to stop me from destroying this place?

[grandtheftmecha]

I'd help if I could. [ She's sick of all the emotional jerking around. ]

Mind if I keep bystanders out of the crossfire? You can raise hell on the Queen and her little entourage.

[ritsu_kouyou]

I want them all to die. Everyone.

[But there was a shakiness to that last word that gave away the internal struggle.]

[grandtheftmecha]

You don't sound totally sure of that.

[ Akiha's not a mindless killer. A mindful killer, maybe, but not someone who would slaughter everyone wantonly.

AKIHA though... ]

[ritsu_kouyou]

[AKIHA was the monster. No, she was worse than the monster, because she is cruel in her thirst for blood and death. Had she not killed her brother, absorbed his concept and his madness, AKIHA wouldn't exist and it would be a silent, almost innocent monster that knew nothing other than killing. AKIHA was far worse...]

I know what I want. And I want you to say it to me again - what you will do, what you feel.