Pushing his Buttons

[18:30] {LONG DISTANCE FROM: Bei}: I'm going to kill you.
[18:30] Bruno looks at the paper, then up towards Bei.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[18:31] Jianyu Xi exclaims, "Oh!"
[18:31] Jianyu Xi exclaims, "It's a cog!"
[18:31] Bruno pyr Aertas says, "I'm afraid you won't."
[18:31] Jianyu calls him like one would a kitten.
(Jianyu Xi)
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[18:31] Jianyu Xi says, "Pspspsps."
[18:31] Jianyu Xi says, "Come here, little cog."
[18:31] Bruno pyr Aertas asks, "..?"
[18:43] Bei sneers towards Bruno as she walks down the steps the moment he comes into view, the long sleeves of her dress hanging down from her arms as she brought a hand upwards.

Sickly green light appears around her hand as it is brought upwards. "After this, I don't want to see you anymore, Dust Boy. You are delusional, and I find it both pathetic and annoying. Nobody cares about you, your goals, your ideals, or your pain."

"Least of all me." She says towards the young cog. "We are not friends. I don't like you, nor do we have anything in common, however much you desperately cling to such a foolish idea."
(Bei)
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[18:46] The Supreme let their legs lazily hang off the edge of the little temple's platform. For now, nothing other than mocking taunts and cog-calls leave them.

Not often did they get to see Bei in action- Especially with a cog- And 'Dust Boy'? He seems more annoying in person, sad even.

Their gaze shot through him.

Like they invaded his soul. It's an invasive gaze that he's sure to feel. Occult loomed around them faintly.
(Jianyu Xi)
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[18:49] Jianyu Xi says, "Pspspsp..."
[18:50] "Then it seems we are in agreement. I care little for your pain, too. Where you see yourself living on forever with a body that fails you, I only see someone who refuses to move on towards the future."

A hand reaches up over his shoulder, grabbing onto his rifle while she allowed green light to grow within her grasp.

"I seek to right what you have wronged. Nothing more." He declared. Where violence nearly begun the Aertas froze up. He felt the Supreme's gaze, of course, but something greater had taken ahold of him. An expression that betrayed neutrality and a shell of steel, one reminscing more of a normal, innocent, non-soldier child.

".. Your eyes..." He uttered, looking up towards Jianyu rather than the girl who claimed she would take his life. A military mistake.

A weakness unveiled.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[18:52] Naturally, Bei mercilessly attacks Bruno the moment he looks away from her.

There is no need for further words in her mind. Action was all that's left between them. The fool shouldn't have become distracted on the cusp of violence. That will prove to be a bloody mistake on his part.
(Bei)
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[19:03] A battle in the midst of the jungle. Like animals. One in which Bruno seemed to be exchanging blows against Bei fairly - back and forth. It was obvious that they were nearly matched, yet the Aertas still seemed upset. She had struck him when he wasn't ready.

Just as he had.

Merely defeating her was not enough, no, this had to be... greater. He had to crush her, to completely obliterate her. Within his heart burned the desire to bestow upon her a title that would prove her wrong all along the way, from start to finish.

"I expect no apology from you. I expect you to accept reality, to accept I've outgrown you."

Steps crushed branches and leaves alike. The ground beneath Bruno's feet seemed to be affected by more than his steps, however. Critters scurries off, the grass lost its vigor and color turning a dull beige. Alabaster strands were pushed aside with a single hand.

"The future is now. Are you aware, Bei?"
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[19:13] She had looked down on him from the start, it was her nature to do so. Between there fight, she sought for more than just his defeat, she wanted more than just his blood. She wanted to be rid of him forever.

To ensure he understood his place for all time. The sickly green light rippled outwards from her as time distorts the air.

Her cold stare never wavered as the fight went back and forth between them. "If you've outgrown me, then why come here at all? Why keep pestering me?"

"You're trapped in that sweet lie that so many tell themselves. That they can win, that they mean something." The faint traces of the occult slip around her, darkening her thoughts and mind as she walks towards him, hand shrouded by the insidious poison of time. A poison that flies outwards in sharp blades that carve, hew and plague.
(Bei)
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[19:19] Bruno's expression betrayed him at that time. Where all he desired was for her to admit she had made a mistake by giving him that horrid nickname he instead found himself still at the receiving end of her horrid treatment. Occult forces that coated her mind and thoughts was felt. It was like that woman's stare— Bei's was looking at him without an ounce of difference.

She should accept him.
He was winning.
Why wasn't she just... giving in?

As the sickly green poison flew towards him Bruno's voice reached an intensity that hadn't been exposed before.

"Shut up!"

An explosion of horrible magic coated his skin, splitting the poison apart and rendering it to nothing more than a memory before it could strike his body. Occult forces spilled from his being as he stepped closer and closer to Bei, far from his regular methods.

"I wasn't born with them, but being a failureis only temporary!"

A wave of forbidden knowledge washed over the jungle in Bei's direction.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[19:28] At the eruption of the occult forces from Bruno, her eyes seem to faintly glimmer with a passing attention. Yet it passes quickly as her gaze returns to that same cold indifferent stare as always.

He wanted her to admit weakness?

There was a greater chance of her taking her own life before she admitted such a thing. She just laughs towards him before continuing on with her attack.
(Bei)
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[19:30] {Won Dangerous RPB against Bei}
[19:30] ** Bruno pyr Aertas has inflicted an injury upon Bei. ("Temporary Injury", "Temporary Injury", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[19:37] A struggle. A battle that edged further and further into his mind, infecting it with this need to overcome, to show that he wasn't as worthless as she believed - as he believed himself to be. Birthright had skipped him and his siblings but they could not merely give up because they had failed this early.

The shift in Bruno's fighting methods was notable. The weapon within his grasp could barely handle being infused with such vile forces. Lightning from Hel itself rained down upon Bei.

Blue eyes met icy cold hues wearing an expression that indicated that her fears may just be confirmed: Bruno was going to win. To overcome this hurdle and defeat her. To move past her.

His weapon left his grasp, leaving him to channel lightning within his right hand with far more power behind it than ever before. The symphony of a thousand birds chirping at once chased away the ones that remained within the jungle.

Within moments the Aertas' hand was plunged deep into Bei's chest, piercing through her flesh, missing her heart narrowly in the process of doing so. The bloodbath that dripped from his arms was but secondary to the message he had for her, all whispered in her ear.

"The future is now...

Dust Girl."
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[19:48] Bei fought back against Bruno viciously, every single move she made was one meant to take blood. Yet still, she found herself being pushed back by the forces of lightning that swelled through the cog.

An impossible force of arms arrayed against her that repeatedly drowned her in Hel's own lightning, yet she did not scream as pain wracked her. She was used to being shocked, she was used to being hurt.

Ice blue hues widened the moment Bruno's hand found itself lodged in her chest, blood drained from her face as the injury wracked through her body.

She had failed again.

Was she really this weak? That she couldn't even match up to the boy that just one year ago, she had torn apart as easily as though she were swatting a fly?

She coughed, and globs of blood followed along with the rapid expulsion of air.

Ah.. Maybe I am the one who's believing that sweet lie.
(Bei)
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[19:50] Idle hues watch the battle at hand. Two children squabbled with one another... But, this cog was interesting. They could smell something foul off that boy.

Jianyu never knew Barsburg to meddle with the occult and holy. Not once did they witness it one erupt with corruption or faux righteousness.

He has their attention.

Especially when he overpowers their star. It reminds them why they never put all of their eggs in one basket because the one known as Bei started to have holes.

Would the eggs fall? A single crack presented itself and their gaze narrowed. Only at her defeat did they cease their lazing. Perhaps they've been far too lax, too lenient with those who wander.

No matter one's one descent into the depths of Hel, they were still looked upon with clear scrutiny. Their feet hit the ground when they witness the girl struck.

"Now you..." Clawed digits flex, eachone shifting and stretching out as they made their approach. He's in their territory. This is Jianyu's hunting grounds.

Children disappeared from jungles and strange woodlands. Some turned out dead or left with curses. Him? This black clad cog?

"Full of yourself yet hating yourself at the same time. You're an enigma- One who's made a mistake. I'd love, more than ever, to put a little worm like you in his place."

"Come now, dark cog. Give your apologies or I'll force it out of you."

Bei is paid no mind as she was narrowly killed right in front of them.
(Jianyu Xi)
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[19:57] As blood tainted the pair of them further Bruno's judging blue eyes were kept upon Bei the entire time, his hand removing itself from the fresh wound he had created with the very essence she had pulled out of him. More words felt like they could be said, like they needed to be said.

Alas, Jianyu's words drew something out of him that he hadn't quite expected. He was much more reactive, much more unstable, far less composed.

"Mind your business."

He said, turning to face the woman while a single hand held Bei up, preventing her from falling down on the ground. His mind had processed it, leaving that gesture to be but his subconscious being utterly disgusted by the idea of caring so little as one's presumed ally fell. He could have accepted an attack, or them being disappointed, or even if they fled; but to demand an apology and be selfish at a time like this? It was most inappropriate.

Thus, Bei's blood tained the ground from but a distance.

"Her apology never came when she defeated me. Mine won't either. We are even now."

She'd never make excuses about her poor health, she had claimed so herself, yet Bruno was here being both prideful and self-depricating at once; proud of his victory yet treating it like it was wholly earned.

It's no wonder the occult manifested itself within his split heart.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[20:08] Bei stood there with his hand in her chest, blood pouring out from her wound in steady spurts in tune to her heartbeat. Her pale visage looked weak, fragile even, there upon the end of his arm.

Yet she was not trapped.

Anyone else would have been blinded by pain, but her childhood had prepared her for suffering like this.

And he was right. She would never make excuses for having lost, and if they fought again right this instant, she would still not complain about it. The world doesn't accept excuses, you either deal with what you are dealt, or you don't.

So her slender hand moved forwards to grip Bruno's wrist, and she slowly edged herself off of his hand only to immediately crumble to the ground, where she promptly spat out another several mouthfuls of blood.

"I.." She began, only for her words to be halted as another mouthful of blood is coughed upwards. "Hate you." She wheezes, her fragile fury obvious from the raw venomous loathing within her eyes
(Bei)
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[20:09] "There are a lot of things I dislike: Dragons, the Petrakis, open water."

"Yet... What irks me the most is disrespectful children and people causing damage to what I lay claim on."

"I am not above killing children. You're not apologizing to her-- No, no. I don't quite care of your little feud. You wander where you shouldn't."

Electricity hummed around them- Sparking out and collecting together. It's not wild and free yet concentrated, centered. All comes together much like a focused flame, billowing up and around them.

Hiiisss....

Quiet, gentle.

Clawed hands made for their bow.

"I'm okay with force. I'm okay with tricks, lies, and deceit. Do the cogs know about your nature? I'd love to ruin your life."

"Squash it into a million pieces then reject you if you come crawling over here again."

Cards held close. They had an idea and Bruno made a mistake this evening of letting the whispers win.

"I'm not asking again."
(Jianyu Xi)
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[20:16] "I do too."

His answer to Bei came first and foremost, even after she threw herself down on the ground below despite her nature demanding she float above the world. Whether the hatred was reciprocated or agreed with was unclear, but it would matter little at this point. A hand reached for the rifle that had been left behind, pulling it up and adjusting it in the Supreme's direction.

"If she's accepted you laying claim on her then it is clear I should not have come. It wouldn't be worth my time." He said, peering towards the thunderous one's eye and attempting to see through them, to see their nature. He hadn't quite caught on that the land may have been what Jianyu was refering to, yet it mattered little.

He wanted to see if these eyes were different to the ones he possessed not.

"You should not have asked."

He pulled the trigger.
(Bruno pyr Aertas)
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[20:17] Jianyu Xi exclaims, "Ohh!"
[20:19] Jianyu Xi says, "Say it with me! 'I'm sorry, Supreme.'"
[20:19] Bruno pyr Aertas says, "..."
[20:21] {Lost Aggressive RPB against Jianyu Xi}
[20:21] ** Jianyu Xi has inflicted an injury upon Bruno pyr Aertas. ("Temporary Injury", "Temporary Injury", "Temporary", "Duration: Medium (4 days)") **
[20:45] "Go on!"

There's not a fiber in their body against maiming or killing this boy. Bei is claimed by them. Everyone they keep close has given their soul to the serpent eyed witch.

"Apologize, little boy!"

But they know he won't and so? He'll suffer. Not a curse like the boy unfortunate enough to defy them. He crumbles in their presence and so will he.

Disrespectful children are not tolerated.

The two are much the same. Corrupted electricity- Yet theirs far more refined and precise. Age did not quite keep them no. Mostly the lack of armor so his blows had direct contact to their flesh.

How they revel in it.

"But you won't... so it's best you run along home and hug your superior!"

Was he a Corporal? That meant Lieutenant and Captain were above him!

Jianyu powered through Bruno's electricity. The burn fueled them, his occultism only intermingled with theirs and brought out the worst in the witch.

They reach out, neglecting their boy and gripping the boy at the neck--

Crack.

Something broke. Something definitely broke and the witch couldn't hide the slips of laughter from their lips. Bruised vocal chords so he cannot speak.

Their eyes peer towards him and in tandem, echo in his mind came a chant.

"You're so tired of pretending and hiding. You've cast aside this nature for who knows how long... You should go home. Tell them the truth. Tell them who you are with blood... Show them, little cog. Let loose, care not for their screams or their concerns..."

For the first time in a long time, their whispers came out like thralls- Compelling and urging his occultism to run rampant at home.

In Achyon.

He's soon released. A child, one unstable no less, couldn't possibly ignore what's being pushed.
(Jianyu Xi)
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[20:45] Jianyu Xi says in telepathy, You're so tired of pretending and hiding. You've cast aside this nature for who knows how long... You should go home. Tell them the truth. Tell them who you are with blood... Show them, little cog. Let loose, care not for their screams or their concerns...
[20:46] You're so tired of pretending and hiding. You've cast aside this nature for who knows how long... You should go home. Tell them the truth. Tell them who you are with blood... Show them, little cog. Let loose, care not for their screams or their concerns...
[20:52] This was a terrifying time. A horrifying one. Bruno was clearly outmatched by the witch who's experience vastly surpassed his own. Every bolt of lightning he cast was doubled-up by the Supreme.

It was not long before Jianyu claimed victory over him, leaving him to fall forward and be caught - silenced by the red-eyed serpent and compelled to listen to each and every syllable that came from their lips while his body fought against it all.

The weight of independence could hardly measure before the hints spoken through his mind. No words were even spoken towards them, instead an escape was made with a purpose behind it that was not quite his - one that could have horrible rammifications indeed.

Who knows what would come of it?
(Bruno pyr Aertas)