The Grateful (Bloo)

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He looked up at the sky, into the dark clouds above. The moon was very luminescent behind them, showing the forms of each, but it was creating a downpour. He sat there in the rain, his white hair shining a little in the moonlight. Those looking into the cemetery would see forms of figures around him, but upon closer inspection would find nothing out of the ordinary, dismissing it as a figment of their imagination.

Or at least hoping as much.

A bottle of rum soon joined his vision as he gazed up at the moon, drinking deeply from it. He chuckled lightly, it barely even heard by even himself as he looked. A sinister grin taking residence on his face. He liked the taste of rum. Drinking it late at night didn't make him an alcoholic. It made him a pirate. Or something like that.

Eventually, he looked around the cemetery as if just arriving there. He raised a brow in scrutiny.

"...where has the rum gone?" He stretched, hopping down off of the small memorial to...some person. He didn't really care to read the name again right now. "And a little less importantly...why did I come here anyways?"

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

It was that time of the night again for Avarice. Her hunt was hitting a snag, and it was the dead of night so she hardly found it practical to continue chasing leads... so she wandered. She didn't know where her heart was taking her. With the bottle already in her hand, whatever she wanted next was a mystery to her. Shadowy figures dancing caught her eye as she moved with the barest hint of a stumble to her step. Was there someone in that cemetery? She hoped not, because she was being told to cut through it.

With a swig of liquid confidence, she ventured into the land of the dead.

"What could be hiding in here..?" She mused aloud, not expecting an answer... but she heard a voice. It was quiet, distant. Someone was here, but who? She headed towards the voice, hoping it wasn't the same lady from the book store. She spotted hair as white as her own reflecting off the moonlight and immediately took a half step back. It was him. Avarice didn't remember much about the night that she'd met Wrath, most of it was forcibly forgotten... but she remembered that face. It wasn't contorted in anger like last time, this time the man seemed borderline melancholy.

"Drinking alone in a graveyard?" She asked, not quite able to keep the underlying edge of fear out of her voice. "Sounds depressing."

The bottle in her hand showed that she had similar plans. She wasn't sure why her gut was telling her to come here. To see this... but here she was.

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He paused a bit as he heard someone addressing him. He was in an awkward pose, but maintained it, only moving his eyes to acknowledge the being. A woman. If she herself could detect sins, he would similar to a presence like that, but as if there were many compressed into this one entity. She remarked that drinking alone in a graveyard sounded depressing. In the waning light, she saw he seemed to have a bizarre case of heterochromia; his left iris was red and his right was gold.

"Perhaps...though I beg to differ. How can I be alone with so many of the souls of the damned around me?" he asked very seriously, giving her a look with those orbs of his, before a smile broke across his face. Though a tad sinister. Fear was keeping his pheromones suppressed at the moment. But he could smell some fear in her. "...relax. It was just a joke," he said calmly, bringing the bottle up for a sip. He expressed discomfort when nothing came out, dropping the bottle as he smiled eerily at her.

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

Avarice was surprised to see that Wrath had gotten even more terrifying than he had been before. She remembered him angry, violent, but now... was he less sane than before? The Sin considered turning and leaving right then, but her legs wouldn't obey her. Standing firmly in place as he said he was joking, she felt little relief at the knowledge. He tried to drink from his bottle only to find it empty. "...here."
She said softly, then tossed the bottle his direction. It was rum, similar tastes... only her bottle was aged so finely that it was worth a couple grand at this point.

She didn't move, like a deer in headlights at this point. She was scared, yeah. Last time she saw him she almost died. "I'm Avar... Ava. Ava Delacroix. You?"

The question was pointless. She knew who he was already. She just didn't know what else to say.

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

The man blinked a little as she tossed a bottle to him. So generous. He peered at it, opening it and sniffing it. "...huh. So that's where all the rum went," he remarked, taking a sip. "Gods. Did you steal this from Johnny Depp on the set of Pirates? I haven't had rum this good since I crashed a snotty shit's party." He tossed it back to her, that same eerie smile on his face.

He walked towards her as she introduced herself. "You have a very familiar air about you, Avar Delacroix," he said, as if purposefully highlighting her mistake to tell her he noticed it. He stopped in front of her, tilting and taking a whiff of her from the side. "Your fear is palpable; absolutely intoxicating. More intoxicating than the alcohol, ironically."

He blinked, again seeming as if he just woke up and saw where he was, frozen in that tilted forward position. He soon straightened. "My, sorry. My only bedside manner is leaving outfits in crumpled heaps beside it. But I don't want to be rude. My name is Aversity." The sinister grin would intensify. "Ever hear a name like that, darlin'?"

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

Avarice suddenly felt like prey. The man walked into her space, complimenting her taste and... smelling her? Time really had done a number on Wrath, or should she say Aversity? She couldn't exactly blame him. It had done a number on her as well. Maybe that's why her power had led her here? Because she'd finally had enough deep down. It was time to approach one of the few men alive that could end the misery for her. That would make some amount of sense.

"I have heard a name like that before." She answered, starting to feel a little less shaken now that she figured out her subconscious plan. "Avarice. Me and you have met before, you know? You might not remember me. Not like this. You probably thought I was dead. But I'm not. I'm here, same as you."

She frowned, looking up at him with her eyes that seemed to glow in the dark. "And it looks like time has done as much a number on you as it has me."

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He listened as the woman seemed a little more shaken. He inhaled deeply, loving the fear that he was tasting. It was fantastic. He grinned down at her, as she said she had heard a name like that before. She stopped lying and introduced herself as Avarice. But when she said that they had met before, that wiped the grin off his face. He looked at her as if seeing a man you tore to pieces back together again right in front of your eyes. Which for the most part was an accurate analogy.

"Time? Time? Time has no meaning to us." He suddenly seemed serious. Collected. "If we really have met before, then answer me this. The name you had at the time I ripped you apart...was it Blood?"

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

So Adversity remembered her too, then? Even remembered the name she had in the life before this, it seemed. His games were dropped, and it seemed he'd finished being... whatever he was being. Intentionally creepy, maybe? Whatever Adversity was now, it wasn't the same. He seemed to feed off of the fear that ran through her instead of thriving off his own rage. He was business now... that was far more intimidating.

He called her by a name she wasn't sure she'd ever even heard in her life. Blood. The memories washed through her again and she shut her eyes tightly. "...get out of my head." She whimpered quietly as if the images caused her pain. Then she straightened quickly as a portal opened. She reached in and produced another bottle, exactly like the first. She took several generous gulps before her nerves were eased again. She looked to Adversity coolly.

"You killed Blood. Ripped him apart and ate him, but... there was something he knew. To stay alive. It was one of Prides experiments he gambled on. He split the soul in two and sent me off away from the house. I remember dying as Blood. I remember living as Blood. I remember being Blood, for a while... but... now, that's not me. I was reborn that night, holding onto his age and experience. I learned from that night and stayed low. Until tonight I guess. Maybe it's fate that we're back together again. You never did eat the entire soul of Avarice, maybe that's why you're so... how you are. I'm only a part of a soul. Maybe that's why I'm so how I am as well."

She sighed, putting the bottle on a gravestone that was close. "That night was kind of a storm of mishaps. I'm supposed to be dead, and you're supposed to be... something different, I'm sure. No way all of the Sins put together make up some cheesy James Bond like villain. You really smell fear? That was considered a step up from undying rage?"

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

Fear watched as she suddenly closed her eyes, as if in pain, and then whimpered something about getting out of her head. She started drinking another bottle that she fetched from a portal. He quirked a brow. What an interesting ability.

It was then that things got interesting. She recounted a very particular tale. So she was Blood...but not quite. She remembered him killing him, and devouring him, but said that he activated a failsafe. One of Pride's tricks. He split his soul and sent the other half away. It was downright devious. She then told him in spite of all this, she was still her own person, though she remembered everything as Blood.

He considered all of this as she said perhaps it was fate that they met again, because he never devoured her entire soul. A slow smirk built on his face. "What a lovely story!"

She didn't seem impressed, though all of the fear he tasted said otherwise. She wondered how smelling fear was a step up from rage. The smirk intensified into a grin. "Careful, Ava. It's almost as if..." He blinked. Acknowledgment. "...do you think I'm going to kill you?" He smiled a little. Almost genuinely, this time. "I've changed ever since getting the complete set. The only reason I killed my siblings was because they were all conduits for Pride. After all, what he put me through, and then choosing to devour you...it's entirely acceptable to have some side effects, mm?"

"I won't kill you- not without good reason. You...Pride can't use you to reincarnate. And as long as he stays dead, I'm fine with not nabbing that piece of Blood's soul." He ruffled her hair a little. "If you really wanted an answer, though, this is just like an outfit. It comes on and off. I have one for each and every one of you. This form of mine is just like...a bonus for completing the set. I'd show you the real power...but I would prefer to have one other sibling to get along with."

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

Avarice wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed when Wrath ruffled her hair and said he wasnt planning on killing her. Pride was the target of the last attack, which answered a lot of questions she had. When she was Blood, all the experiments had left her feeling less and less like herself... perhaps that was because Pride was imprinting himself on her very soul? She decided to leave the past where it was and stop thinking about it.

"Siblings? Is that what we are?" She asked, raising a brow. She wasn't intimidated by him anymore. If he'd wanted her dead, there was no reason for him to lie about it. "I've never really thought about it like that. I consider us more like... coexisting entities of similar origin. Or something like that. I guess siblings works too."

She was effected by the alcohol officially. It was to be expected of someone her size just drinking straight from aged liquor that had a high content.

"It does sound nice to be on friendly terms with someone that knows what it's like to watch cavemen be amazed with fire. It's amazing how far they've come. All the interesting things they have. I like those things."

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He shrugged a little as Avarice asked if siblings is what they were. "I don't know if you remember everything about the family, but I was part of Pride's family, if we're being politically correct. He called me his brother and so did all of they. I was just saying that if you feel more comfortable having me as a brother, I can be."

She began talking about how humans had evolved from cavemen, how far they'd come, how she liked what they were doing, and stuff like that. It brought a chuckle to him. His golden eye faded into red. He would feel like Wrath again- if she could feel that kind of thing. "I think the rum's gotten to you. Where do you stay? I'll walk you."

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

He explained how he came to the conclusion that they were siblings and Avarice hummed in understanding as she picked the booze up and drank some more. Should she have? Probably not.
Then Wrath's eyes changed and the aura around him felt more familiar now. Less... mutated and strange. When he donned the persona of Fear, to Avarice he seemed more like Pride than any other time, though she wouldn't say that. He was trying to be something he wasnt, sticking his head where it didn't belong... another sip of rum ended the thought.

Wrath had more surprises for her. Not only was he not going to kill her, but he was showing something akin to concern over her.
"If you think the rum has gotten to me, you need more rum." She said through an obvious slur. He was planning to take her home, which was as out of character as she could have imagined. "I haven't decided where Im staying yet."

The answer was smooth and quick, as if she was consciously avoiding the slur now that she'd heard it. "I stay wherever I end up that night usually."

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He blinked a bit, raising a brow when she said that he needed more rum if he was thinking like that, and he took the bottle, taking a swig. "Don't mind if I do." He handed it back to her, he didn't take too much. He started walking, hoping she'd tag along. "Come on then. You can sleep at my place. It's a bit large so there's some room."

He looked towards her, thinking for a few moments. "So did you always duck me just because you thought I'd kill you? I imagine last you saw me I wasn't exactly...man of the hour."

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

Wrath started moving, and Avarice was following before she even realized why. He said that she could stay with him, and she raised a brow. To her, giving someone a place to stay free of charge was a wild concept. Giving anybody anything free was a wild concept. "Is there a bed?"
Yes, even being offered something for free there was no chance that she would settle for less than she was used to.

He looked at her for a moment before asking the question that was clearly on his mind. Was she purposely avoiding him for the last few centuries?
"Yes." She answered honestly. "I was pretty certain you'd kill me. I was pretty sure you'd kill me tonight. I think that's why I found you, honestly. I always find what I want and this time I followed that instinct and was led to you. I don't always understand how it works."

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He looked back at her, smiling gently. "Of course there's a bed. Whatever room you want, other than mine." As he walked with her, hands hung in his pockets, his white hair down and wet against his face, he listened to her as she said that she did think he would kill her, and that was also why she found him.

So she did want to die.

He looked back towards her. "I don't know why you wanted to find me...but perhaps you should be glad that you've surpassed your predecessor. He was a fake sin. You're the first true Avarice."

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

The news didn't seem to shock Wrath, though Avarice was starting to suspect that nothing could shock her melancholy sibling. He himself, however, was full of surprises. He complimented her, saying she was the first real Avarice as rain started to fall on them.

"I'm not sure what you mean by that." And Avarice considered herself intelligent. So if she was falling behind it must have been the drink. Another portal opened and she tossed the bottle in. "Explain it to me. What makes me any more like Avarice than Blood?"
The rain was starting to pick up, though Avarice didnt seem to notice or care.

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He continued to look back towards Avarice as they walked. She said she wasn't sure what he meant when he told her she had surpassed Blood, and asked him to explain it to her. How she was more like Avarice. He chuckled a bit.

"Well for one, Blood wasn't all that greedy. More than anyone in that family, and perhaps high on the list, but he sure didn't have a lot to call himself Greed. But more relevantly, he was, above all else, mortal. Like everyone in the family, impossibly powerful. But mortal. He was not born as Greed, he was born as Blood Vampireal. While you transcended your former shell. You were born Avarice."

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

He explained his reasoning more, and Avarice felt a little better about being confused for the compliment. It seemed like he was thinking metaphysically, and not literally. Much of the flattery left with the realization. She considered trying to ask him if he considered his own form a transcendence, but thought better of it. She didn't want to risk offending the man after he'd offered her a bed. She'd take the bed, then risk offending him. That way, she'd already have the thing he offered...
She was thinking in circles, a sign that the alcohol wasn't going away any time soon.

"That's a really high bar you set, Wrath. Being born with a name like Avarice puts me above a lot of posers who think they understand greed." She admitted before a rather intense yawn. She knew tomorrow she had a day ahead of her... Hopefully she'd find a way to get what she wanted without the help of the annoying librarian.

"You might have information I could use, actually. I'm looking for a sword." She said, the rain making her words a little difficult to pick up on. "Excalibur. Knowing your affliction for swords, maybe that's why I found you now that I think about it. What do you know about Excalibur?"

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

As they spoke, they approached his home. It was a little on the large side, looking like it could house a large family. She said he set a really high standard for them, and that she was above a lot of people who thought that they understood Greed. He chuckled.

"Well, I must admit I'm a little biased. I don't know how much you remember, but I despise that family a slight more than black licorice. So naturally the bar is a little higher than one might expect."

As he let her in, she said she was looking for a sword. When she said the name, apparently the sword. He blinked gently, grinning a little again as she asked what he knew about Excalibur. "My, my. An affliction? I know a little about it. But I wonder if it's worth discussing when you're this drunk."

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

When Wrath led them inside, Avarice was quick to wring her hair out. The rain had left her rather soaked. Her clothes clung coldly to her body, but she fought the urge to shiver. Instead she focused on the conversation, wondering if maybe she wasn't as suicidal as she originally thought. If Wrath could help her find the sword she was hunting, that might be the real reason she found him.

"Hn. I'm not that drunk." She answered back, though the rosey tint to her cheeks begged to differ. She was at least tipsy. "Wrath, you should know I won't stop bugging you until I get what I want."

She said with a laugh, crossing her arms.
"Unless you're waiting for an offer? You have some avarice in you, too. What do you want in exchange for your help?"

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He watched her as she wrung her hair out, and then said she wasn't really drunk. He raised a brow, but didn't respond to the comment. She then informed him that she wouldn't stop bothering him until she got what she wanted, before trying to appease whatever avarice he had. He grinned a little as she asked him what he wanted for the help.

"Well, let's see then...it seems you're led to whatever you want instinctively. But for whatever reason, you can't locate this hallowed blade. What do you think that says about the blade, Ava?" After all, if he couldn't play around with logic, how fun could it be?

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

He didn't answer her question, making her roll her eyes. Wrath was testing her patience, which was fine. She actually had a good amount of that. "My powers are generally absolute. I've never found something quite like this one. Every time I want it, I get pulled in every direction. Then I have to decide that instead, I want something to help me find it. That lead me to a lady in a bookstore, but she wasn't cooperative. Then I found you."

She explained the nitty gritty details first, before she would elaborate on the significance. "It could mean a few things. The sword has the ability not to be found... or that there is some magic going on here. If it's put under enough powerful wards, it could cancel my power."

As she spoke, she undid the front bow of her kimono. She considered herself lucky that it wasn't soaked through. She stripped it off, leaving her in the thinner black hadajuban and koshimaki underclothing. They were still wet, but far less.

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

He nodded as she explained her ability in a bit more detail, saying that it usually led her to it no matter what. She said this had been significantly different. She had been dragged many places instead of the sword, and said it led her to a lady in a bookstore. If she were sharp, she might notice a hint of acknowledgment at the comment. Alice...I see...

She then said that it probably meant that the sword had the ability not to be found, or that if it were put under enough magic, it could negate her magic. And as she spoke, she stripped. Wrath quirked a brow as she took off the kimono. Was she traditionally Japanese, then?

"I see...what about if you want something that doesn't exist in the first place? What if Excalibur didn't exist and it just led you to people that could tell you more about it?" He didn't expect her to take the bait. He knew about it. But whether Alice cared or not was another matter entirely.

Posts : 33 Join date : 2016-08-07

When Avarice mentioned the lady, there was a subtle hint of recognition that jumped across Wrath's features. Avarice certainly noticed, and was already starting to piece some things together in her head. Maybe Wrath really wasn't that knowledgeable about the sword... but he knew the annoying girl from the bookstore, at the least. Maybe well enough to convince her to stop being so... a nice word didn't come to mind, so Avarice dashed the thought.

"If it didn't exist, I'd be pulled in no direction by it when I wanted it. The power is smart enough to understand that." She explained, opening a portal to put the kimono in. "Don't look."

She'd command, then pull a silk nightgown from the portal and start changing right there in the living room. She didn't check to make sure Wrath wasn't looking, either. They were both Sins and she'd honestly be surprised if he didn't. "Tell me what you know about the bookstore woman."

Posts : 52 Join date : 2016-07-09

She explained that she wouldn't be given an indication of where it was if it didn't exist, saying the power was intelligent enough to know that. He didn't want to try and debate on how smart a force could be. She put the kimono in a portal and told him not to look while she changed, which, of course, he didn't comply with. His house anyways.

She was cute. Beautiful, even. When she looked back at him she would see him still looking at her, but then act as if he wasn't with an innocent whistle. Clearly a joke.

"The bookstore woman? Which bookstore was it?" He smiled lightly. "Alice has never been a...polite woman. But she pisses off demons and hell often enough to have some of my respect. I also provided help with a few operations involving her and Project Sentinel a while back. It was fun. But odds are if the sword is hidden, her family did it." He rested his head on his hand, grinning at her. "So...what part of Excalibur is it that you want it for? Its reputation? Its legend? Because I know of another with equal reputation and fame- well, maybe not the fame. Not many people know Excalibur's counterpart."

» En Passant (Bloo)
» Road Trip! (Bloo, Izzy)