Susato Mikotoba 🌸 御琴羽 寿沙都 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
judicialassistant) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
dreamcrystals2023-01-09 08:01 pm
judicialassistant) wrote in dreamcrystals2023-01-09 08:01 pm
[02] three lies, one truth
Sender: Susato Mikotoba
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.
When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.
There's movement like a shaky camera, and you... no, Susato is looking into the eyes of one man who looks almost surprised to see her. As if he hadn't been the one to put her there.
"Mr Vigil?"
The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.
Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.
You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.
* * * * *
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
When the dream spits you out, you can taste a mixture of blood and dirt as you blink your eyes open. They sting like you've been crying, and when you bring your filthy hands up to look at them, you can see the pink of your kimono sleeves. The loops in your air feel looser and messier than usual as you can feel the terrifying glare of a man before you, bleeding and in chains, and yet no less threatening.
All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:
"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"
You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.
But it's too late.
A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.
* * * * *
The laughter transforms into something else, another voice. It is almost pleasant; and the scene is entirely different now. A gorgeous ballroom surrounds you with an air of celebration, you are humbled, taking the man before you in a dance. Here is the face that everyone says you can trust, and yet you can hear suspicious whispers coming from the walls.
Something is wrong.
You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.
"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."
But even if you wanted to, you can't.
Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.
There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.
* * * * *
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.
Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.
* * * * *
[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.
......All she can do is breathe. ]
(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive dream recording
Warning: Descriptions of death (specifically: falling/burning, stabbing, freezing, drowning) and the crippling fear that comes with that.
When Susato is first seen, she is nigh unrecognizable. There's only a glimpse of her. Her hair is frazzled, long well past her shoulders, and the white dress she wears, accented by pinks, does not match the grim darkness of the cage she is in. Seconds later, there's a loud metallic clang as the cage is shut.
"Mr Vigil?"
The voice is small and cracks like glass over the flames below.
Before he can respond, there's the sound of a lever and a deafening scream as a feeling of terrifying weightlessness takes over your body.
You're falling, and you don't know when you'll stop.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire.
All around you are corpses. You just barely manage to struggle to your feet when he moves to strike you down with alarming quickness, his blade and scythe at his call. Something hard and sharp pierces your stomach as his voice booms:
"You will not tarnish... my brother's memory...!"
You were so close. You can see some of the broken chains you worked so hard at; he was almost free.
But it's too late.
A laughter seems to be coming from the noble in the portrait behind the Reaper, and an eerie red glow bleeds out from the canvas as your consciousness fades.
Something is wrong.
You feel cold in a way that is inexplicable. Your very core is frozen, and it feels like you will never get warm. suddenly it's a struggle just to move with the music; but eventually you stop listening to that, too.
"Don't struggle." The king pulls you close in what is most certainly a threatening manner. Beneath your gloves, your fingers have already become ice. "Your death is inevitable now. Accept it with grace, and don't scream."
But even if you wanted to, you can't.
Pathetic gurgles escape your throat as ice travels up your chest and your neck. A piece of your white hair falls across your face, but when you go to brush it away, your hands won't move. Nothing will.
There is stillness. For a moment, you have hope, because you can still move your terrified, wide eyes, but soon that too is gone.
In that moment, you're not able to look at anything else.
Your neck is craned upwards and suddenly, the dream has shifted one final time. You're staring at the surface of the freezing cold water from below, unable to breathe, but the Gods above have mercy on you, and it doesn't last long. A glaring white starts to creep into the corners of your vision, filling everything in haze, and the dream ends as suddenly as it began.
[ Back in the comparative comforts of her home, Susato awakes with a start. She gasps for breath like she's just been held underwater, sitting up and gripping at her blankets. For all she knows, they are her lifeline. She is shaking, the faded memories of dreamscapes past rushing back to her, and she feels her arm knock something off the bed she's on.
......All she can do is breathe. ]
(( ooc: tl;dr, just a fun throwback to the fun deaths i've been able to put her through this past year. <3 please assume delayed responses where appropriate/etc. ))
no subject
...Thank you for coming.
[ It was very nearly an apology... but her gratitude is more important, she decides. ]
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Of course. Whenever you need me, Susato-san. I meant it.
[The smile fades slightly, some of the worry coming back.]
You're sure you're alright, though? That was... Well. It seemed like quite the nightmare.
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I am better now.
[ The words are spoken like a promise, though as an answer, she realizes it is not very specific. So after a pause, she continues: ]
Have you ever dreamwalked, Naruhodo-san?
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He sets it down briefly though, in order to reply. He starts to shake his head 'no' at first, but doubles back and does a little nod, correcting himself.]
Just once. It was a few weeks ago... I found myself in a dream belonging to Lord van Zieks, of all the people.
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"Of all the people," indeed. ]
I see.
[ Well, that at least spares her some explanation... ]
What you saw... at least in part... was another dream of his, from last year. It was one of the few times I was able to dreamwalk on purpose.
no subject
[Ryunosuke takes a moment to mull that over. Barok's part in Susato's dream tonight is the aspect he's been most hesitant to examine, truthfully. That the man he stood up for in court, and REPEATEDLY insisted would never take a life... Had actually gone and hurt Susato? It makes his stomach twist to contemplate.
It being a dream... It doesn't exactly make it better, but it does re-contextualize things a bit.]
...When I first encountered him in this recent dream, he... Didn't seem to fully be himself, at first. Were circumstances similar back then?
no subject
Yes... There were creatures that appeared. "Bleeding hearts," we called them. Once they took hold of you, it could amplify your feelings or change them completely.
An old friend of mine back then made it our mission to eliminate them, but...
One took hold of Lord van Zieks, and his heart was twisted so severely that he fell into a deep sleep. His home became encased in ice with him still inside, and the only way to get to him was through his dream. [ His nightmare. ]
no subject
I see... So you tried to help by dreamwalking to him? And that's when...
[He trails off. He doesn't want to say it. They both know what he means.]
1/2
Yes. In that dream, he had become the terrifying Reaper that the people of Britain made him to be.
His feelings... His devotion to his brother had become corrupted. I think...
no subject
[ Does she mean his feelings towards his brother? Or killing her? Or both? Even after she saw him as an adorable cat, it is clearly baggage he will carry with him for a long time to come. ]
no subject
...But what about you? I mean... Even if the effect wasn't actually permanent... You still had that experience.
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[ That much, she can admit. She breathes out deeply as she does, though she has always known that on some level, it was real. ]
He was even more terrifying than he was in court. The chains that bound him—I was so close to cutting him free. Free from that nightmare.
no subject
[Ryunosuke tries to say it with the cadence of a joke, but it doesn't feel very funny... Just a desperate attempt to bring some levity to a very serious topic. He lets it drop, frowning at Susato sympathetically.]
...Are you still afraid of him now? [It would be incredibly understandable if she was.] I've noticed he doesn't tend to come around here very often... Or at all, really.
[Though... That might just be van Zieks being van Zieks.]
no subject
[ Yet the implication seems to be that she isn't. Susato thinks back on their conversation at opening of his bar afterwards, and she recalls that she still had it in her to call him out on avoiding her at the time.
A sigh. And, speaking of the bar... ]
He has his own establishment to run, and he no longer has a partner, so he is likely busier than usual. [ AKA: definitely van Zieks being van Zieks, and also Kazuma being Kazuma, probably. ]
no subject
Oh! That's right... I nearly forgot he has his own business here.
[Again, kind of hard to imagine the regal prosecutor running a simple bar, but then again, Ryunosuke hasn't seen what kind of place it is for himself yet.]
What happened to his partner...?
no subject
He's woken up, I'm afraid. His name was... rather unique. [ Read: hard to pronounce. At least, his last name. ] Mr Diluc.
We did not speak much, but he made quite the tasty Rosé Bloom.
no subject
When has Ryunosuke ever been able to resist heckling the grieving with his nosiness?]Ah... Well that's certainly unfortunate. [Poor Lord van Zieks.] I wonder... Do you think it would be overstepping to put a stone out in the garden for him?
no subject
......Yeah, that's probably good. Susato seems to tilt her head, as if she hadn't quite thought of that before now. ]
Actually, I think that is a wonderful idea. I'll speak to Kazuma about it, as I think they were acquainted as well.
[ Though her expression turns thoughtful a moment later. Should she also ask Lord van Zieks himself? She wonders if the man has even seen the garden, or whether he would appreciate such a thing. ]
no subject
Ryunosuke smiles briefly and nods, glad to see his idea isn't a terrible one. His thoughts are drifting elsewhere, though... Back to the nightmare that brought them both down here in the first place. His happy expression fades slowly.]
You'll have to forgive me, as I know it's not my place to pry, but... I recall there were other faces in your dream as well. At least one of which I recognized very well...
[What was up with that Daley Vigil?]
1/2
[ ...Susato, having appeared slightly distracted until that moment, looks at him as his words slowly register. Which face? It truly had been a while since she's talked about poor Daley Vigil, but the truth is that his dreamscape and Lord van Zieks' had happened in the same month. ]
Oh. Yes, of course... You mean Mr Vigil, don't you?
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[Strange to think, when he personally scarcely knows Mr Vigil beyond his involvement in that final case in London.]
But if that's the case then, why...?
[Why was he there when you died?]
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I dreamwalked into his prison, and he was merely doing his job. I didn't really question it. [ Why she was there, the crime she'd committed, or why she was wearing that. ]
In fact... I don't think I was quite myself at all.
no subject
[He hasn't gone through all those storybook missions yet, at this point in time. So the concept is fairly foreign to him. And an unsettling one, to boot... He has to suppress a shudder.]
no subject
[ Was she possessed? For all the impossible things she's seen in Reverein, she'd never considered it. Not that it matters much anymore. The details are fuzzy at best aside from what small glimpse her subconscious has shown here.
Before that cage, she remembers being in a cell, but that felt like a different place entirely. ]
I don't remember much. Just that I missed Iris... very much.
[ Iris... ]
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