Heartless

[22:24] There was so much on her mind, too much for her to actually process. The comfort did help, but not much, so she decided to open up about the issue that was, quite possibly, at the heart of it all:

"...loss is still weighing heavily on me, too."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[22:26] Alita softly nodded her head before a hushed phrase was offered to Lemuria.
(Alita Tym)
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[22:27] Paradox says, "It will take time but.. you get over it."
[22:27] Alita Tym whispers: Every loss you feel weighs on me too. You're not alone in anything.
[22:29] The Demon moved over toward the WItch they were pacted to, seeing that she was suffering. While there was no really true sense of altruism. But Lemuria functioning was core to Metztli's own goals. Comforting her was necessary.

And so the bat extended the arms. Upon sitting on the chair. Moving toward Lemuria and aiming to pull the witch into a hug. "Just scream it out if you need to. Every disorienting thought. Every foul act and event that is bothering you. Scream it out. And if that doesn't work. Break shit."
(Metztli)
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[22:34] Lemuria sat back up and sighed, her expression still blank due to the symphony of conflicting thoughts and feelings that existed within her.

"Scream... huh...?"

She looked at Paradox and Alita and hopped off her seat, gazing over at her shrine.

"You two might want to cover your ears."

This was a convenient excuse for the two of them to step out, no doubt.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[22:35] From there..? They simply take their leave, they gave injuries, but weren't good at fixing them.. So before the sound erupts they seem to just fade into the shadows and were gone entirely.
(Paradox)
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[22:35] Alita chuckled as Lemuria began to contemplate screaming. It was something Alita did very often and she thought that Lem already did such a thing. As Lemuria hopped off her seat, she'd be met with a small peck on her cheek.

"Nah, I'm not stepping out. Release the song of your soul."

Alita then walked over to the bed and laid down to listen before going to sleep.
(Alita Tym)
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[22:36] The bat moved her ponytail to act as a set of earmuffs. Tying it so that the scream was...not going to damage her eardrums.
(Metztli)
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[22:46] Lemuria inhaled, deeply. Her occult aura surrounded her, and she focused her mana into her lungs as much as she could, visualizing herself focusing her regrets, longings, and suffering into her lungs.

And she screamed.

She screamed over Blake.

She screamed over things that she never had the chance to scream over before.

And at the end of it, she was exhausted.

It was a loud scream, no doubt, but something about it felt deeply unsatisfying.

"I am... missing something..."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[22:49] The demon allowed Lemuria to scream, watching over her as was part of their pact. With a tilt of her head. It would seem she grew ever curious of the Augustus's condition. What caused her to feel so much pain... so much agony? Was it just the death of her sister.

"You need to scream what it is. You need to verbalize what it is you hate. Makes you so angry... or perhaps... you need to find something that can make you take from that which has taken from you." I was the only advice Metztli could tink of in this scenario.
(Metztli)
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[23:27] ...Lemuria had an idea.

"No... it is not screaming that I need to do. I need... to see her. To speak to her."

And to act it out, she remembered something she attained a while back. A brooch with a faint connection to the spirit realm, that allowed her to see the faces of her loved ones in it, living or dead. And so, she reached into her pocket, and pulled it out. It was small, radiating a small amount of otherworldly power, with a shimmering, red gemstone. She gazed into it, and-

She saw it.

She saw her.

"...Blake."

Staring right back at her was the face of her dead sibling, Blake Augustus. The visage of Blake spoke, although in a voice that only Lemuria could hear, perhaps solely a construct of her own mind.

'I can tell who is and isn't a bad person by the way they treat me and those I care about.'
'Lemuria is a nice person. She took me in when no one else would.'

At the time, it wasn't true. But maybe... maybe... on some level, Blake brought out the kindness that existed within Lemuria's heart. Maybe machinations that were once intended on being villainous ended up far, far less so than she'd thought. Maybe her actions were more honest than she thought.

"Well, Blake. I suppose you will just have to be cooler."
'I wonder if learning ice magic will make me cooler...'
'Can we go do some more training?'
"After a pun like that? No."

"...I... I am sorry... I am so sorry..."

Maybe, just maybe, someone who was supposed to be a wicked witch, that spread fear and terror across the land...

'I need an adult.'
"You have come to the right place."
'How do I deal with being attracted to people what the heck.'
"You have come to the wrong place."

...has a heart.

"Maybe you would still be alive if I had never met you. The Augustus family name has always been cursed, and so selfish and short-sighted was I that I willingly passed that curse on to you."

"Wait. I just noticed. You are taller than me now."
'WHOSE THE LITTLE SIBLING NOW??'

"Maybe if I refused to teach you occultism, maybe if I would have been more careful, maybe if I would have stuck by your side..."

"Sure. I will pick up the kid if need be."
"I cannot wait to practice my juggling skills with that baby."
'...Lemi I swear...'

Through her friendships and relationships with others, Lemuria grew to understand herself more. She grew to understand that other people did matter, that she did in fact have a heart. A heart that was once obscuredby a haze of uncertainty, lacking the light necessary to even have a silhouette, slowly began to shine, lighting the landscape of her spirit with a newfound warmth and vigor that finally allowed her to see what life could truly be. And while all of the people who contributed to that were important- Blake, Alita, Alyssa, Deimos, Phobos- in their own ways...

"...maybe I would not have lost you."

Blake was different.

"Well. Please, be safe."
'I'll do my best. I love you, Lemi.'
"I love you too, Blake."
"You are the only person I have ever told that in my life. Do not squander it."

Blake was family.

"Blake... Blake... Blake... Blake..."

And in the wake of losing family, especially family that she actually cared about, the heart that she ever-so-meticulously started to allow to shine through...

Began to break.

The weight of a sadness that she had not allowed herself to express until now bore down on her. And because of that weight, cracks began to form within her heart. And within the infinitesimally small spaces created through those cracks...

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

...the flames of the occult flowed.

Her heart was the final bulwark she had against the corrupting influence of the occult, and now, it could not stand strong any longer.

She screamed. She cried. Tears flowed. Flames raged.

The depths of the reach the occult had on Lemuria were absolute, and now, those depths were entirely filled by its corrupting influence.

And, for only a moment, glowing blue eyes shone red.

Her heart was still there. It still existed. It still beat. It still felt.

But now, the only light it shone was justas black as everything else.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[23:29] ...Lemuria had an idea.

"No... it is not screaming that I need to do. I need... to see her. To speak to her."

And to act it out, she remembered something she attained a while back. A brooch with a faint connection to the spirit realm, that allowed her to see the faces of her loved ones in it, living or dead. And so, she reached into her pocket, and pulled it out. It was small, radiating a small amount of otherworldly power, with a shimmering, red gemstone. She gazed into it, and-

She saw it.

She saw her.

"...Blake."

Staring right back at her was the face of her dead sibling, Blake Augustus. The visage of Blake spoke, although in a voice that only Lemuria could hear, perhaps solely a construct of her own mind.

'I can tell who is and isn't a bad person by the way they treat me and those I care about.'
'Lemuria is a nice person. She took me in when no one else would.'

At the time, it wasn't true. But maybe... maybe... on some level, Blake brought out the kindness that existed within Lemuria's heart. Maybe machinations that were once intended on being villainous ended up far, far less so than she'd thought. Maybe her actions were more honest than she thought.

"Well, Blake. I suppose you will just have to be cooler."
'I wonder if learning ice magic will make me cooler...'
'Can we go do some more training?'
"After a pun like that? No."

"...I... I am sorry... I am so sorry..."

Maybe, just maybe, someone who was supposed to be a wicked witch, that spread fear and terror across the land...

'I need an adult.'
"You have come to the right place."
'How do I deal with being attracted to people what the heck.'
"You have come to the wrong place."

...has a heart.

"Maybe you would still be alive if I had never met you. The Augustus family name has always been cursed, and so selfish and short-sighted was I that I willingly passed that curse on to you."

"Wait. I just noticed. You are taller than me now."
'WHOSE THE LITTLE SIBLING NOW??'

"Maybe if I refused to teach you occultism, maybe if I would have been more careful, maybe if I would have stuck by your side..."

"Sure. I will pick up the kid if need be."
"I cannot wait to practice my juggling skills with that baby."
'...Lemi I swear...'

Through her friendships and relationships with others, Lemuria grew to understand herself more. She grew to understand that other people did matter, that she did in fact have a heart. A heart that was once obscuredby a haze of uncertainty, lacking the light necessary to even have a silhouette, slowly began to shine, lighting the landscape of her spirit with a newfound warmth and vigor that finally allowed her to see what life could truly be. And while all of the people who contributed to that were important- Blake, Alita, Alyssa, Deimos, Phobos- in their own ways...

"...maybe I would not have lost you."

Blake was different.

"Well. Please, be safe."
'I'll do my best. I love you, Lemi.'
"I love you too, Blake."
"You are the only person I have ever told that in my life. Do not squander it."

Blake was family.

"Blake... Blake... Blake... Blake..."

And in the wake of losing family, especially family that she actually cared about, the heart that she ever-so-meticulously started to allow to shine through...

Began to break.

The weight of a sadness that she had not allowed herself to express until now bore down on her. And because of that weight, cracks began to form within her heart. And within the infinitesimally small spaces created through those cracks...

"BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAKE!"

...the flames of the occult flowed.

Her heart was the final bulwark she had against the corrupting influence of the occult, and now, it could not stand strong any longer.

She screamed. She cried. Tears flowed. Flames raged.

The depths of the reach the occult had on Lemuria were absolute, and now, those depths were entirely filled by its corrupting influence.

And, for only a moment, glowing blue eyes shone red.

Her heart was still there. It still existed. It still beat. It still felt.

But now, the only light it shone was just as black as everything else.
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[23:39] Lemuria had never let herself cry proper. Did she? She had never let herself grieve. To vent. She never let herself feel what she needed to feel. The Bat allowed her witch to vent, to feel the feelings that needed to be felt. She did not overstep here. She did not move forward. Instead she simply waited.

Waited and allowed the Augustus to cry. To scream. To mourn the loss of a sister that seemed so dear to her.

…

There was a throb that was felt in Metztli's own chest. Their own heart pulsing intensely. An urge. A powerful one at that to approach Lemuria and wrap around her tightly. Occult aura or no the Demoness felt no pain from this energy flowing about. Instead, she simply wanted to stop seeing Lemuria so sad. She wanted to quell her screaming.

Was this some form of empathy? And was it due to the pact between Witch and Demon. "My sweet girl... you never let yourself cry about losing your sister. But you don't have to hold back any more. Indulge in the pain. You need it to grow." Her voice... turned almost motherly. A strange twist in their own intentions that even the bat herself did not expect.

"I am no Blake. But I am here."
(Metztli)
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[23:50] Lemuria cried. And she cried. And she cried. But the comfort helped, a lot. Lemuria, while normally not liking to be touched, accepted the hug and leaned into Metztli, taking all the time she needed to finally calm herself down. And when she did, she spoke, making a declaration:

"Then... let it grow I shall."

And when she opened her eyes, gazing upon Metztli, somehow, the demon looked different. Everything looked different. Not physically, no, but the darkness crushing and consuming her heart gave her something that she hadn't had up until now.

...or rather....

Something she always had on some level, but could never perceive so clearly. The one who taught occultism, who looked for darkness in the hearts of others and sought to draw it out...

"And... indulge I shall."

...could now see it just as clearly as she could see one's spirit.

"For the time for holding back has long since passed."
(Lemuria Augustus)
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[23:53] The Demon wasn't sure if what she was doing was helping, or making things worse for Lemuria. What she did know however, was that the woman seemed to find a level of strength and comfort in her. And that to a degree at least, was good.

She'd let Lemuria cry and speak as she did, holding onto the woman tightly as she vented. It was only when she mentioned not holding back, the Metztli would loosen the grip enough to let her part. "Good."
(Metztli)
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