(no subject)

[twibeast]

[ Content Warnings for parental abuse and light body horror ]


[ It had started out as just a persistent headache.

Beast - now Achilles - had gone through this enough times now to have an idea of what was happening. This sort of headache only came when a memory was also onset, and after the last one being as a big a blow to his identity as it was he decided it was better to just stay home at the Executor house and wait for it to happen. He was trying to avoid Avaritia anyway what with Greta knowing his face, so he would just have to find something to do on this side.

The one thing he didn't notice was all the feathers he was molting everywhere.

He had spent the morning looking through his book of Greek monsters again but come afternoon the headache was at its worst. It felt like his head was about to split apart and he could no longer concentrate on reading. It was when he had gotten up to put the book away though that--



He had been asleep for so, so long now. There was no more village to protect, no more companions to love... he had forced himself into isolation, only waking up and moving every so often to make it harder for anyone that might be looking for him to find him. All he wanted was to be left alone, to sleep in peace.

And yet now there are two figures in front of him, rousing him from his slumber. Queen Rotha of Cygnia herself and her 6 year old child, Odile. She seems to think he's the Beast of Demise from their old prophecy, the one said to end the royal line, and is trying to make some sort of appeal to him. But soon the appeal grows dark, as the queen throws her own child before him, telling him to end the royal line now and leave the rest of Cygnia alone.

...Ah. So that's what this is.

Sacrifice.

What follows isn't pretty. A terrified child crying and begging their own mother for an explanation, resulting in a cold hearted woman who could barely be called a mother unleashing six years worth of hatred and bile at the life she brought into the world. And for what? Because his wings wouldn't grow? Because he wasn't the heir she had wanted and was somehow a failure before ever even being allowed to wear the crown?

"I wish you had never been born--!!"

Those words are the last straw for him. In one swift movement he crushes the queen to death with one enormous, furry, black paw, all life snuffed out of her in an instant.

Wait... a paw?

The rest of it is a bit of a blur. He remembers transforming back into the humanoid form he hadn't used in over a century, hoping to not scare the child any more than he already has. He remembers trying to figure out what to do now, how to make sure the newly orphaned Odile would be safe and not thrown into government turmoil, how to even bring him back home safely without being skewered by every soldier on sight. It's while he was deep in thought that the previously too scared to speak Odile finally says something.

"Um.... M-Mister...?"

"Yes?"

"Your... Your horns..."

"Ah, do they frighten you? I can give myself some wings like yours if that would help-- see?"



--the part of his wing below where he had been injured in the Underside suddenly falls off, landing on the floor with a light thud.

He covers his mouth with one hand as more feathers fall off in big, uneven clumps. But they don't hurt, and unlike before when he was injured there's no pneuma. It's like a prop, a part of a costume, just falling apart after wear and tear. But he had already suspected that's what they were, hadn't he? He had suspected for a while now--

No what hurts... is his head, somehow even more than before. The moment it dawns on him why that is, he's bolting out of the house to find a place to be out of sight, passing anyone who might also be home and leaving a trail of feathers behind him as he does. ]


[OOC: I'd like to try and limit the threads of people chasing after Beast/Achilles to two or three, please! There will be another top level on this post after he's found for everyone else to tag if they want to react to this change, thank you! Limit reached! Here's the top level open to everyone! No content warnings for this part unless otherwise stated in a subject line. ]

Comments

[schardynfreude]

[Chiron has ghosted along as normal, flitting between grifting about in the new layer, the mansion, and the house. He does not necessarily need to eat or sleep, but they're still nice touches, and sometimes he forgets that he doesn't need it and starts to feel the tiredness seeping in or a spot of hunger nipping at him. Sometimes he simply needs away from the rain and the lights, or needs to be nearer the people he cares about.

Achilles he cares about, certainly. And more and more so for the understanding he'd been shown in the face of his wretched mouth and scrambled memories.

So the lack of Achilles...well, hardly a surprise. Plenty of space to roam around. It's the feathers he'd started to see along the floor, like a trail. Alarming. And then...the...

He notes the lack of pneuma. It helps him rein in the shock of the sight. It means it wasn't cut off or severed in some unsightly manner. No struggle, even? But then, how to explain it? And the only one who could explain had either been taken or had removed himself from the equation.

At least there's a trail to follow. He just has to make sure the trail doesn't get trampled or blown away in a breeze. Nearly without thinking, Chiron shifts into Executor form, finding the boost of speed and endurance comforting in case something has happened...]

Be--damn it all, Achilles!

[Surely there can't be that many large black birds around to leave conspicuous feathers. Come on out of hiding. Or let him join you. Certainly Chiron knows the value of being away when it's all too much, but none of his memories had parts falling off.]

1/2

[twibeast]

[ The trail doesn't go too far. An alley a little ways from the house. It's been long enough now from when he initially ran that some of them have scattered, but it's still easy enough to follow. Chiron will find him there, curled up against the wall... his wings completely gone leaving only scars where they were once attached on his exposed back. In its place he seems to have gain a long, serpentine like tail and--

He uncovers his head and looks behind him when he hears someone approaching this time. ]

2/2

[twibeast]

[ Horns.

He has horns now.

Two pairs, one pointing upwards and the other pointing down, all of them pitch black and caked in sparkly pneuma having just come out of his skull in the messiest way possible.

Well the headache's gone at least.

His voice is a little shaken when he speaks, likely because of the shock. ]

Ch... Chiron...?

[schardynfreude]

[There is something about the look that, for a moment...for just a moment, he thinks he sees someone else. Or is reminded of someone? Someone he can't actually see. He isn't sure if it's real, but the flare of something dark and ugly...

...get stifled under the concern for the person in front of him.

He takes a cautious step or two closer. Doesn't want to crowd him.]

That looks like it hurts.

[twibeast]

[ Achilles manages a very shaky exhale, barely even a sigh, when Chiron says that. ]

A bit of an understatement, I would... say...

...But it hurts less than it did before.

[ Only until the shock wears off anyway. ]

[schardynfreude]

I could give you a hand with that? [He can at least try to ease whatever pain there is. Questions, uh. THOSE CAN COME LATER.] Only if you'd like. I could instead provide company. Or...deflect others who might come looking.

[twibeast]

...I would like that. [ wait which one-- ] All three. Or any. Please.

[ He knows he doesn't have to worry about scaring Chiron, so he can feel a bit more at ease letting him see him like this. ]

[schardynfreude]

Alright. I'm going to come sit by you. [And avoid stepping or sitting on that tail, too. Hm! Interesting! And when he settles himself down, he lays a hand gently on Achilles, on his shoulder, with an even gentler glow of healing. To try and ease some pain away if he can.]

Seems you've done some molting.

[twibeast]

[ It helps immediately, the residual pain starting to die down. Achilles sighs in relief, regaining enough energy to do so without it sounding like every ounce of him is trembling.

Now that Chiron is next to him he might notice that it’s not just the loss of wings and new appendages that has changed. There’s a pointed edge to the tips of Achilles’ ears now and somehow he looks... younger? Not too young but while before he looked like he was in his 40’s now he appears to be more in his 30’s.

He looks over his shoulder and down at his back, forming a little at how bare it is. ]

I suppose you could say that...

[ He pauses, looking torn. ]

...I only had them so no one would question the identity I assumed when I adopted my son. Now that I remember that... I suppose my body just saw no more use for them.

[schardynfreude]

You are now as you truly were? Where the wings were merely a facade. You've remembered more.

[He frowns, focused on his healing hand or at least seeming to be.]

Pain and visual identity crisis aside, was it...a memory not worth speaking of?

[twibeast]

Not entirely back to my true self yet [ “yet”.... goddess, now he’s really worried about this happening again when he remembers more about THAT, ugh. ] but... this is the me that Patroclus and his people loved at least.

[ So basically his true self at this point yeah, given how detached he ended up becoming to his home world and beast form.

He goes quiet as he thinks about the memory though... then suddenly his own traitorous mouth blurts out the words: ]

I killed my son’s mother.

[schardynfreude]

[Ah...that sounds much more certain than his pseudo-confession about Aera. It doesn't seem to have any confusion to it at all. Chiron takes that in for a moment, then nods.]

Did she deserve it?

slaps the abuse warning on this tag and onwards

[twibeast]

[ Again he’s quiet but soon enough his eyes narrow and take on a look they have only had once before in this place, when it was just him and Rei and he realized that Esme had poisoned them.

It’s a cold and silent rage. ]

Yes.

[ There’s no hesitation when he says that. ]

She was hurting him. She had been hurting him for a long time. And worst of all, she had made it clear that she was willing to kill him.

He was only six at the time. It made me so furious I couldn’t think straight.

[schardynfreude]

Mm. Sounds like the kind of mother only a child who had never known anything else could love. [It's...flippant, the way he says it, like a joke.]

And this bouncing baby boy, he became your ward, safe from harm and the ills of the world?

[twibeast]

...Essentially.

[ He could... get really into the details but honestly they don’t matter. ]

It didn’t seem right... to leave him alone after I orphaned him like that. Even if she was awful she was still the only parent he had. There wasn’t anyone else in his life.

[ Except the nanny but he doesn’t know right now whether she was hired before or after he became Odile’s dad. ]

[schardynfreude]

You've a good heart, Achilles. It might leave you open to more pain, but also more joy as well. Though it can't have been easy, suddenly having an orphaned lad in your life.

How are you feeling?

1/2

[twibeast]

[ He huffs and smiles. ]

You’re telling me.

[ He doesn’t even want to get into the kind of spell he had to cast to make a whole country think he had always been the dead Queen’s husband or all the politics he had to deal with, good lord. ]

[twibeast]

[ The smile leaves as quickly as it came though. ]

Better. Much better, thank you.

[ ...

Hey speaking of adopted kids— ]

Do you think... it’ll frighten the others? Like Rei?

[schardynfreude]

[His hand stays put, but the rest of Chiron pulls back a hair, looking him in the face, surprised.]

I think the only thing that will be frightening is finding your disembodied wings lying about. It's a change, certainly, but I can't say it's a frightening one. It isn't as though-

[Give him a moment, he has to huff-laugh at his own thought up joke.]

It isn't as though you've morphed into a terrifying beast. You know what I mean.

[twibeast]

...Ah. I... I suppose that’s true.

[ He uncurls a little bit, no longer so hunched up. ]

It’s just... a big change so I was... very worried about it...

[ ...but yeah the wings just lying around are gonna be a lot more unsettling huh UHHHH..... OOPS. ]

[schardynfreude]

It'll be something for everyone to get used to. Like a new name.

Hm...will you look different as an Executor, I wonder?

[twibeast]

...Could it? I imagine I’ll still have the horns and such but truthfully I never considered the possibility that our Executor forms could even change.

[ His has also always been... exceptionally bland and boring, maybe it’ll finally get cool?? ]

[schardynfreude]

Only one way to find out. Though, perhaps let's not try that right now.

[twibeast]

Yes, not right now. I feel utterly exhausted.

[schardynfreude]

I can imagine. [The healing glow ceases, but the hand stays.] Let's stay here a while longer and then get you to bed.