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(no subject)
[ 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. ]
[ 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:
no subject
Y–your wings...! I saw all the feathers, but I didn't think– are you okay? You didn't get hurt again, did you?!
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[ He uncovers his horns now and just... lets her finally see them. ]
There are some things about me I should tell you. Some things I have not been completely honest about.
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Instead, she just sits and takes a moment to stare at him. This is... kind of a lot. ]
You... remembered something. Right?
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I... was never a feathered. The wings were just something I gave myself when I adopted Odile. In truth I am not even humanoid, but a being that is capable of changing its appearance when it so chooses.
Even this right now... is not what I originally looked like. The horns and tail are part of my real appearance, but this human looking form is just a preference.
no subject
And really, it's fine. It doesn't matter to Rei what he looks like, so long as one thing remains constant.
Her brow creases, just a touch. ]
You're still... Achilles, though, right? That hasn't changed?
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[ He says it a little too quickly, and there’s a part of him that wonders: is he really? But he feels this strongly. After all if he doesn’t believe himself still be the same man then what does that make him. ]
I’m still that person... even if I’m not really a man. I swear that.
[ But then he looks down. ]
But there are a few things in my past... that may change how you feel about this person that I am.
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[ Like Achilles, she gives the answer perhaps a bit too quickly, but it's only because of how strongly she feels about it.
After all... Achilles had said the same thing to her, hadn't he? ]
Even... even if you did something bad when you were alive... that wouldn't change things and it wouldn't push me away. I wouldn't let it.
internally:
externally:
He feels silly... yet relieved. ]
Are you... absolutely sure? Because once I tell you Rei... there's no going back.
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[ Her eyes are clear and sharp. Whatever Achilles is so afraid of telling her, Rei isn't afraid of hearing it. ]
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[ You might... want to sit down for this Rei. Because you are getting everything. Or at least a good chunk of it.
He tells her about how he arrived in Rhearth and was found by Patroclus. How he was originally a literal Beast, with horns and fur. How he learned to become a man by being around Patroclus and the other Beastials... and how in turn the Beastials became more like him. How he watch Patroclus die after breaking his heart, how he promised to protect the Beastials afterwards and did so for hundreds - no thousands of years, while also traveling the world... until that abruptly came to an end.
He doesn't tell her why yet. He hasn't told anyone about the fire yet. He doesn't know if he can. But it's a good start. ]
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Hundreds of years. Thousands the idea of it makes her feel deeply uneasy in a way she can't quite pin down or identify. Thousands of years spent protecting a whole race of people... and he still ended up here.
It takes her a while before she can respond. ]
... I'm sorry. [ For Patroclus. For all those friends he must have lost across all those thousands of years. For all of it. ] It... must be a lot to try and keep straight in your head, after remembering it so suddenly.
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It... certainly has been. It started coming back after my injury in the underside...
[ Which probably explains a lot about how he was acting. ]
But I have... most of it straight now I think. Though obviously there are still countless gaps.
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But he's still Achilles. He'd assured her of that and Rei believes in him. ]
If there's gaps... do you not remember how you ended up with your wings?
[ Since he hasn't explained that part yet, it's her first assumption. ]
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[ He hesitates for a moment but eventually continues, telling her about how he went to sleep and was eventually woken up by Rotha and Odile and... what all happened then. ]
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Rei blinks at him a few times, with very visible surprise – not quite the deer-in-headlights look she occasionally gets, but close. It takes her a few moments to digest what he's said, but when she does finally reply, the first thing she says is; ]
Is that what you were so worried about telling me? [ She realizes a moment too late how callous that sounds and hastens to clarify. ] W–what I mean is... you saved him, didn't you? How could that be a bad thing?
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You... are all certainly taking the news that I crushed someone to death out of blind rage in front of a small child much better than I would have ever thought, you know.
[ Which like. Probably a GOOD thing because yeah, Rotha's the actual worst and he did save Odile's life but devil's in the details!! ]
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[ IT KIND OF REALLY IS, REI ]
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[ THEY'RE.... VERY DIFFERENT REI... ]
Regardless that... was still Odile's mother. And despite how she treated him, he still loved her and desperately wanted her to love him back.
I am more... concerned about how the whole experience might have traumatized him. And how he actually felt towards me.
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Are you... worried that he was afraid of you?