Second Execution

[mayorityvote]

EXECUTION

Another trial, another execution to follow, a terrible routine but routine nonetheless. Come mid morning, the ducks will be out passing out flyers for the sentencing of Beelzebub, to take place in front of the Wizard's Tower. Attendance isn't required, but strongly encouraged.

After how the picnic blankets went over last time they don't make a reappearance, replaced instead by long tables stacked with what appears to be a take on comfort food: various onigiri (tuna, umeboshi, tenmusu, omurice) coupled with an absolutely giant stack of pancakes. Regular pancakes, chocolate chip, blueberry, there's even a funfetti variety, with syrup and butter included, naturally. The beverages this time are coffee, tea, and fruit juices.

At exactly five minutes to noon, the doggy daycare wagon pulls up with several occupants inside: your town representatives of course, the convicted, and the executioner.

(( OOC: Welcome to your second execution! Attendance is not IC'ly mandatory, but there will be a surprise for all characters at its conclusion, regardless of whether they're present or not. ))

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cw suicidal ideation talk continues

[moonblades]

[”Please…finally kill me.” Finally—that finally can be a thing, that the hands around a neck can squeeze so tightly… Mio’s fang cuts into her lower lip, leaving a drop of red. Why?]

How long can this go on? How long is this supposed to continue?!

[She whips around to face the truck, but as she continues to yell, it’ll become very clear very quickly who the recipient of most of her desperation really is. There’s no threatening movements, no acts of violence, just Mio yelling with her hoarse voice, Lucky Seven in hand.]

Adela! I thought you might have given up entirely, but this here, in my hands, is proof to me that you don’t have to. Why? Why would you rather submit to a world where others are forced to stay by your side by choice when you might still be able to change it?! Why haven’t you ever even tried?!

Look at the people in this home of yours! [DON’T WORRY BEELZEBUB SHE HASN’T FORGOTTEN ABOUT YOU YOUR FOOD IS COMING.] He wanted the same thing! To cling to what he had and treasure it! You’re not making people happy to stay behind with you…you’re making them more desperate to do anything to leave it!

[shearcut]

[ much like last time, adela's attention had been focused on the audience; so she startles just a little in being addressed so suddenly. she doesn't jump, but her eyes do grow wide.

and she listens, and listens, because that is one thing she always is and will be: a good listener. when mio's done, she smiles, warm but also with an assurance that's as sharp as a blade. her words are smooth and like velvet. ]

Yes, that's what he wants. But the other side of him has wants too. Does that side not deserve happiness? To be tucked away and hidden, unsightly, and shunned...

It's a difficult balancing act. So to this, you have my apologies: things are far messier, far more unruly than they should be. But it won't be for much longer, I promise.

And then you won't need to worry about this, any of it, all of it. Like fog dispersing into the night, it'll be like it never happened at all.

cw suicidal ideation discussion

[moonblades]

[There's the flash of horror, like touching water one expects to be clear and finding that instead it is completely frozen, and it makes Mio recoil, step after step closer to Beelzebub. But the righteous shouting flares back just as quickly.]

That's horseshit! [Thank you, MDV, for teaching her what horses are so I don't have to use a stupid fantasy animal name.] You don't want to let people to find happiness or obtain their wants, you just want to control them! You think order will fix that? That it'll ever be able to fully grow what's there? That's why this can never last...

[There is one other person here, up here with her, who she might appeal to, even if they only have a few more moments together. So she does, turning to the man still just standing there begging for her to kill him.]

Beelzebub, please! At least - stop acting like the thing you're so eager to surrender isn't just as precious as what you took away! [Just a hint, please, that this absolute chokehold isn't so prettily tied up in the end.]

[shearcut]

[ something about the word control makes her laugh, though she muffles it quickly with a hand to her mouth. ]

No, I'm setting you free. [ and here she glances to beelzebub too; folds her hands neatly on her lap once more, after casting a glance to makima. ]

So please, continue.

cw: suicidal ideation

[sorathvau]

[Setting them free, huh?

Beelzebub looks to Mio as she calls his name. The smile has gone.]

...You can't tell me those two things are of equal worth.

[Why, why should he have to live when those dear to him have died?

His gaze runs cold, and he stares Mio up and down.]

If you're not going to do it...

[Beelzebub takes a step towards her. Then, another. Suddenly, he's close enough to reach out and -]

Then I'll make you.

[- He strikes at her throat.]

[moonblades]

What - ?!

[She stepped too close to him in her appeal, leaving Mio vulnerable. If she weren't so fast, Beelzebub would get right at her throat as he intended. But she is fast, and she manages to spin to the side so he only clips a short, winded grunt out of her, blocking up to his forearm.

She's fast, but Lucky Seven feels heavy in her hand. Almost instinctively, as if she's seen someone do it dozens of times before, she flips the sword to its blunt edge to defend, bringing it up to guard as she swirls into a sidestep. It's not a blade that should be used to spill blood wantonly.

Can she do this? Can she fight someone who's made this choice, knowing what her actions will cause? She may not have any other recourse, but as a tank, she's focused on avoiding his blows for now.]

[sorathvau]

[It's an adjustment, lacking his usual speed and strength. Were he at his full power, maybe this would be over by now. As it was with so many other failed attempts.

That means, there's still a chance.

He doesn't know Mio's history - they never spoke of it - but he could tell, if it weren't obvious now, that she was someone who knew how to fight. He can only place his faith in her now not to disappoint.

He adjusts his footing quickly and lashes his arm out again. Quick, precise. This time his target has changed - no more is he going for her throat, but for the blade - to grab hold, and force her hand.]

[moonblades]

[Mio is fast. Agnians are possessed of strength far surpassing their Kevesi enemies, needing no enhancements to their supernatural skills.

But that’s really the trouble, with being here, isn’t it? There’s no such thing as the supernatural. Even at a normal skill level, Mio is agile, but there are odds against her here. When Beelzebub’s hand goes for the sword itself, her responding motion – to lead with her hips and cut her leg behind his to reverse their positions—is cut short by the unexpected and impressively unstoppable force of his hand.

Now it’s a battle for control between them instead, both going for the same sword, and what happens when you cannot dodge and instead must struggle head-on?]

just kidding it's 1/????

[moonblades]

[He catches her, of course.]

2/????

[sorathvau]

[With the sword in his grasp Beelzebub wastes no time trying to wrangle it from Mio, fighting against her will to keep it in her hands. He struggles against her, blade cutting into his palms as he refuses to relinquish his grip. He pulls it towards him, she pulls it back, the tension between them causing the blade to shake.

Their war of attrition wages on, the blade jerking haphazardly in all directions as each fights over their grip. It's when Beelzebub decides to exert all his strength that the sword gets jutted violently upwards, colliding with Mio's forehead.]

3/3 but please wait warmly for the followup

[moonblades]

[The sound is unreasonably heavy and loud even above the noise of their struggle. Everything goes brilliantly black, like a moonless night when the stars are at their brightest. It is cold and comforting and terrifying.

Mio's legs have failed her before, in brief moments, a sign of her body losing feeling as that fated day came ever closer. Now, both of her legs betray her at the same time, bonelessly. All of her, in this instant, is boneless.

Mio - and the sword - and the still unplayed flute on her belt - hit the ground in a crumple and are completely motionless.]

[sorathvau]

[The sword clatters with Mio, and for a moment Beelzebub simply stands there.

A blow to the head...that was awfully familiar, wasn't it? Or, it should have been.

But Beelzebub can't blame this on any monster in the shadows. Not this time. No - this was all by his hand, in his desperate attempts to get what he wanted.

Lucifer, Azazel, Samael, Bibi, Amy...and now Mio.

There's not much else he does but stare in horror at what he's wrought.]

[moonblades]

[Beelzebub is standing, and Mio is still. For seconds? For minutes? It probably isn't all that long.

It would be difficult to see from the picnic tables. Impossible, maybe, when Mio's arm is angled behind her unmoving body. Or it might look at the wind, whistling through her hair or her stilled ears. This is all happening pretty fast, isn't it? Like life. Maybe you've got other things to worry about over there.

But Beelzebub, standing there, the same way he started this, just standing there, is both close enough and at the right angle to see it very clearly.

Mio's fingers twitch; her hand begins to press against the ground, disoriented.]

1/????

[sorathvau]

[Beelzebub sees it.

Beelzebub sees Mio's hand move, and in an instant, he feels relief. Relief that bubbles over into joy. Even in this moment, when he's walking the path to death, even now, he's glad. This happiness threatens to burst through him, unable to keep a smile at bay as the warmth of it all washes over him.

After all, his friend is still alive.]

[ddestrudo]

[And in a second, when that feeling reaches its peak, Beelzebub goes limp.

The lights leave his eyes as he goes totally vacant, an empty shell.

He staggers, as if about to fall over -

- then something takes hold.]

3/3

[ddestrudo]

[Beelzebub steps forward, heavy. His gait doesn't match what the others would have seen before, his posture not one that they'd recognise as his. Hunched and animalistic, it's clear-

- this is no longer him.

Arms at his sides, poised to attack, he advances towards Mio.]

scuse me pardon me

[revelate]

[His worst fears realize themselves in an instant. He doesn't need to see clearly what's happened to know that it's happening, to know she's dying, to know that there's nothing, nothing, nothing he can do to preserve that precious life he'd fought so hard to protect.

Or can he?]

Mio! Mio—!

[Her name tears out of his throat, guttural and raw and so very, very desperate. A little less than two months left. That's all Mio had. Why, when she was so close to the end, would anyone allow that life to be stolen from her? Why?

It's not too late, it's not too late, it can't be too late. Numbness tingles in Noah's every limb, his body moving on autopilot, anger and rage and raw, agonized emotion ripping out past his lips as he makes a mad dash for the tower.]

I won't let you take her—!

nuh-uh

[theremote]

Oh. Both of you are too rash, aren't you? Mio-kun. Noah-kun. You should know better after last week.

[Makima, who's been more or less respectfully stood upon her wagon to witness this execution, except for the moments when she caught Adela's eye and when they were both watching the goings-on (mostly Mio, really), speaks up for the first time.

Her golden eyes rest squarely on Noah, her movement entirely unhurried as she raises a hand without moving from her spot.

Softly, but clearly:]

Stop. Do not interfere. That's an order.

[Her hand stays in the air, her eyes boring into the boy rushing onto the scene, entirely ignoring the mess of the scene itself.]

[revelate]

Snuff your orders! You're next!

[Go ahead, Makima. Try to stop him. No matter what she might do, nothing is going to stop Noah so long as he has life in him. All that he has belongs to her, so if he can't reach Mio, what does he have? What's left for him but despair? If Mio dies, Noah dies too.

Then he hears it: Noah. He never made it a point to ask Mio why she'd never addressed him by name before. He'd wondered, of course, but asking that question would have meant crossing a line he could never step back from. Hearing her speak his name would have made things too real, wouldn't it?

In reality, they crossed that line a long time ago. Heedless of Makima's warning, he channels every inch of strength in his body into defying her order and rushing towards Mio.]

Just hold on, Mio! I'm almost—!

[revelate]

[—almost there. Wasn't he...?

Noah's mind goes blank. When his vision returns to him, he's right back where he started, but Noah doesn't know that. All Noah knows is that Mio is in grave danger, and if he doesn't get to her soon, she'll die.]

Just hold on, Mio! I'm almost—!

[Almost there. Almost there. Almost there. Over and over, Noah rushes forward only to lose steam, swivel on his heel, and walk right back to where he started. Over and over and over again, Noah runs, stops mid-stride, and returns to the start like an machine programmed to do just that. Every time, he blanks out and forgets what he was doing. Every time, his urgency to save Mio bears down all the more heavily on his shoulders until he can no longer move, attempting another mad dash only to crumble to his knees.]

Why?! Why can't I...

[Why is he so exhausted? Why can't he move?]

gosh why are these two separate comment threads? dwbi

[moonblades]

Noah...?

[She's never let herself say it, has she? Once or twice with others for clarity, but never to him, for him. Never let it be real, even when she should have. She should have called out to him every day.

Noah's voice screaming out for her is enough to stir her fully back from her blacked-out consciousness, though her nerves don't feel like they're working correctly. It's just enough push, just enough time, to take her sword back up and start moving again before Satan fully recovers from his staggered position and moves in for the attack.

Mio starts to rise as fast as she can. She can go just a little further, can't she? That's what her hope has been for such a long time now. She can go a little further.

The blade she hesitated to spill blood with is turned with its sharp, killing edge to strike. It's a sword that shouldn't be used carelessly or unless absolutely necessary, but it's sharp enough to cut the world apart. Hesitating early caused Mio to falter, to make mistakes she otherwise wouldn't have. She's fighting now with lethal force, struggling to her unsteady feet as Satan advances closer and faster. She'll meet him at the very first blow. Beelzebub deserved the friends who loved him; maybe that's what Satan hates the most.]

[ddestrudo]

[Satan has no other priorities than to kill. Nothing holding him back, no desires, no hesitations...only a pure, animalistic, drive.

He rushes in, thrusting a hand out to strike. No less precise than Beelzebub, he takes aim for the target in Mio's chest.

No, not her heart - he learnt the hard way that doesn't work here. It's that glowing crystal in her chest that draws his attention, and that's what he lunges for.]

this might be a little gory idk just a warning jic

[moonblades]

[She's vaguely aware of something happening outside her field of semi-blurred vision, but can't tell what's happening and isn't foolish enough to look away from her enemy. Mio tries to say, "I'm fine; worry about yourself," but just slurs out a concussed little] Nnnngh [instead.

The circumstances of their birth on Aionios are in most ways unfortunate, but the crystal on her chest has always just been a part of her. Under different circumstances, maybe it would be worse to have Satan go to try and tear it out.

It still hurts like hell, especially when the stone cracks under his hand, when the skin around it begins to tear and smear with Beelzebub's blood and her own. Continuing to lift herself up with all that she has left in her, Mio straightens the sword and drives it up at a horrible, askew angle, in through the lower right part of his abdomen and driving diagonally upwards, through all the innards in between, until it emerges from his upper left. Straight through, in the ugliest way possible.

It means she sacrifices being within his reach long enough to finish this, to make an end of it, but just like that, Mio is back to killing to live once more.

She starts to sag again, and if he goes down she'll end up on the ground with him.]

1/2

[ddestrudo]

[The sword drives through his body and for a moment, it seems as if not even that can stop him, as he continues to push through, to reach, to claw, to desperately try and finish the job-]

2/2

[sorathvau]

[- and then, he goes limp, eyes fluttering shut.

With the last vestiges of his strength, Beelzebub opens them again to find himself on the floor, covered in blood.

But this time, he knows, through the reassuring, searing pain coursing through him, that it's his own.]