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tenshinoakuma) wrote2009-05-13 06:06 pm
tenshinoakuma) wrote2009-05-13 06:06 pm
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[Essay] NightEyes and Incantation Samurai (side: Lise)
[note to self: rename Incantation Samurai and Grimtooth]
mmm it's more an essay about Night and his reaction to dying and the centuries after but ehhh.
Immediately after NightEyes was killed by Incantation and he was revived as a ghost by his cursed weapon, Grimtooth, NightEyes basically ignored the existence of the Incantation Samurai. He didn't care that he 'lost' to Incantation even though it was the first time he had really lost; somewhere in the back of his mind, NightEyes knew there would be someone he'd lose to in a fight (though not necessarily die to). Mmm, 'didn't care' isn't quite right. It'd be more accurate to say that it wasn't at the forefront of his mind, because he had other, more important things to take care of, first.
NightEyes basically has a pact with Grimtooth. Let's digress for a bit. Grimtooth is basically a sentient weapon who will revive its user upon death as a ghost. In a sense, it grants immortality to the user. But, Grimtooth wants to die. And the only way to do that is to exorcise both the user and the weapon at the same time. Technically that's not quite right, but we'll leave it at that, for now. In short, NightEyes had a deal with Grimtooth that after NightEyes dies, he will find someone to exorcise them both. Now, in that time period, the only place Grimtooth knows of (not Night, because he's not familiar with any kind of magic AT ALL) is the Pantæon Church, which is across the ocean. Technically there's also the Juno Church branch, but Grimtooth has never been anywhere other than the 'Western' continent.
Pantæon is also close to deNovae, where Night and Adrianna were living.
So Night diplomatically talks Grimtooth into letting him see Adrianna before he dies like. for good. And Grimtooth agrees! Because Grimtooth's a nice guy like that.
Except. There's one problem.
The ancient wards around the dungeon that were placed to trap the Incantation Samurai also trap him in the dungeon. While Night's been 'trapped' in a few places before, he used to make it a game of getting out, because it wasn't particularly important that he bust out soon. But here, Night's calmly freaking out, because not only can he not get out no matter what he tries, the wards are hurting him (and could kill him) every time he tries, and he can't die yet. Grimtooth should've just let Night kill himself (as well as Grimtooth) on the wards, because that's what Grimtooth wants, but he doesn't, because, like I said, Grimtooth's a nice guy. And patient.
With zero luck on the wards, he finally acknowledges Incantation's presense. Incantation, the only other sentient being besides himself and Grimtooth, and goddammit it's the fucking Samurai's fault he's trapped in here. And Night reacts the only way he knows how to when he's angry, and that's to try and kill the object of his anger. But Incantation's better than him, and as much as he keeps trying, unable to accept that Incantation will always best him, the fighting gets boring for Night. The fight loses meaning with Night, because staying alive means less when dying has less meaning; he just comes back. He still hates it, though. Dying. Because it means that he lost, and he hates coming back. His anger towards Incantation just... simmers. He doesn't hate Incantation because Incantaion was the one who killed him (but damn constantly dying to him is getting fucking annoying), but it's because of the wards that trap Night in the dungeon were placed because of the samurai. He remembers this much.
When Night stops trying to kick Incantation in the face, Incantation doesn't try picking a fight with Night. They get to talk a little, in the way that two guys trapped in a place with no one else to talk to do (Grimtooth doesn't make the greatest of conversationalists; it doesn't understand very much of human ways, and is quite focused on dying). Incantation tends to talk about his betrayal, and how he's going to raze Toyokawa to the ground to get back at the government (or something. I didn't really figure the details of why he was so pissed at it), but occasionallly he talks about little scraps of his life. Like how he enjoyed meditating by the river near the bamboo forest, the teas he liked, that kind of thing. At this point, Night doesn't talk to Incantation much; he's still bitter about being stuck in the dungeon. But he listens all the same; there isn't anything else to really catch his attention.
Night didn't give up trying to find a way out, though, accosting the few stray wanderers into the dungeon. But they can't give him the answers he wants, well, they're useless to him otherwise. Pisses him off, and he takes that out on them. The problem is, after a while, he starts to forget about his life before he was dead. It's a common feature of all the cursed undead ghosts. They tend to fixate on their goal, which is, in Night's case, escaping the dungeon to see Adrianna one last time. So he starts to forget about his life before, about who Adrianna was; he only remembers that he wants to see her, but even remembering what she looks like becomes difficult. Night basically degenerates into who he was before he met Buck and Miara, before he met Adrianna: someone who lives their life centered around their compulsions.
Incantation mentions that he hopes to raise more dead, gather enough bodies to bust out of the dungeon. NightEyes shrugs, and continues killing whenever the people who wander in don't give him what he want. As far as Night's concerned, their goals are the same; they both want to get the hell out of this place. It's not that Night helps Incantation with the killing on purpose, he's just doing what he wants and Incantation happens to benefit from it. There is no loyalty or friendliness there.
Then there's the sex. I guess it pretty much happened the same way conversation between them did; there isn't anything to do, and Night finds it fun, Incantation enjoys it. Nothing to lose there. It's just another way to try and fill up the empty spaces with something enjoyable. And, obviously, as Night forgets more, wouldn't it be a good idea to combine the two things he finds fun whenever people come down here? Fighting and sex with the hapless fools who wander down here! GREAT IDEA. It means less bored time, more funtimes.
And that's how it was for Night. He stopped fighting with Incantation because damn the guy's got the same goal as him, so he's not begrudging him that. He talks to the guy every now and again, and Incantation talks to him every now and again, and sometimes they fuck. Night views it as a pretty simple, no-strings attached life, kind of like back in Khemet. Only in Khemet it's less talking and more fighting and fucking. And less times in between where he's bored (or so it seems, hindsight in rose coloured glasses).
And then Lise appears. A woman who looks just like Adrianna.
When Night first sees her, he thinks it's actually her. And, goddammit, he didn't die just to have her come back and be killed by Incantation. So, for the first time in fff decades, centuries, he crosses blades with Incantation.
On NightEyes' side, the sight of Adrianna's face (and that's really how he ragards Lise) is enough to make him stop and think about what he's been doing all this time. A guilty reminder. He wants to hang onto the memories he keeps on forgetting, so he stops hanging out with Incantation for a bit, just... wants to talk to Lise. Pretend she's Adrianna. Pretend she can get him out of here. He should have thought it odd that Incantation left him alone, and left Lise alone, but he didn't even notice. He was too busy trying to remember all the things of the past when Lise wasn't around, and too busy using Lise to remember who Adrianna was when Lise was around. He was mentally comparing Lise and Adrianna in his mind, trying to consolidate that the woman in front of him isn't Adrianna.
And that's all Lise really is to him. A woman who just looks like Adrianna. But Night's greatest weakness is illusions, what he experiences is truth. So while Lise looks like Adrianna, he keeps on believing Lise is her. At least, until she speaks. And even then, it's hard for Night to separate the two, and Lise uses that to her own advantage.
When it comes out that that it's been centuries since he's died, fuck he doesn't want to believe it. But when Grimtooth confirms it's been centuries (Grimtooth doesn't exactly realise humans normally die after a few decades, longer if they're a magic user), and Night throws a hissy fit because JUST WHAT THE HELL HAS HE BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME. Fuck he wants to go die now, but dammit Incantation's coming with him. In a sense, his claims that he wants revenge on Incantation for keeping him here all this time are half true; Night is PISSED at Incantation. But at the same time, in a rare moment of wisdom, Night acknowledges it's time for both of them to move on.
And, in a sense, when he fights Incantation for the last time, despite all his mocking words, he's a little (very, very, little) sad that things have to end this way. With Incantation truly angry at him (a first). Because Night's just a little attached to his cellmate after all these years. And the reverse is more true.
mmm it's more an essay about Night and his reaction to dying and the centuries after but ehhh.
Immediately after NightEyes was killed by Incantation and he was revived as a ghost by his cursed weapon, Grimtooth, NightEyes basically ignored the existence of the Incantation Samurai. He didn't care that he 'lost' to Incantation even though it was the first time he had really lost; somewhere in the back of his mind, NightEyes knew there would be someone he'd lose to in a fight (though not necessarily die to). Mmm, 'didn't care' isn't quite right. It'd be more accurate to say that it wasn't at the forefront of his mind, because he had other, more important things to take care of, first.
NightEyes basically has a pact with Grimtooth. Let's digress for a bit. Grimtooth is basically a sentient weapon who will revive its user upon death as a ghost. In a sense, it grants immortality to the user. But, Grimtooth wants to die. And the only way to do that is to exorcise both the user and the weapon at the same time. Technically that's not quite right, but we'll leave it at that, for now. In short, NightEyes had a deal with Grimtooth that after NightEyes dies, he will find someone to exorcise them both. Now, in that time period, the only place Grimtooth knows of (not Night, because he's not familiar with any kind of magic AT ALL) is the Pantæon Church, which is across the ocean. Technically there's also the Juno Church branch, but Grimtooth has never been anywhere other than the 'Western' continent.
Pantæon is also close to deNovae, where Night and Adrianna were living.
So Night diplomatically talks Grimtooth into letting him see Adrianna before he dies like. for good. And Grimtooth agrees! Because Grimtooth's a nice guy like that.
Except. There's one problem.
The ancient wards around the dungeon that were placed to trap the Incantation Samurai also trap him in the dungeon. While Night's been 'trapped' in a few places before, he used to make it a game of getting out, because it wasn't particularly important that he bust out soon. But here, Night's calmly freaking out, because not only can he not get out no matter what he tries, the wards are hurting him (and could kill him) every time he tries, and he can't die yet. Grimtooth should've just let Night kill himself (as well as Grimtooth) on the wards, because that's what Grimtooth wants, but he doesn't, because, like I said, Grimtooth's a nice guy. And patient.
With zero luck on the wards, he finally acknowledges Incantation's presense. Incantation, the only other sentient being besides himself and Grimtooth, and goddammit it's the fucking Samurai's fault he's trapped in here. And Night reacts the only way he knows how to when he's angry, and that's to try and kill the object of his anger. But Incantation's better than him, and as much as he keeps trying, unable to accept that Incantation will always best him, the fighting gets boring for Night. The fight loses meaning with Night, because staying alive means less when dying has less meaning; he just comes back. He still hates it, though. Dying. Because it means that he lost, and he hates coming back. His anger towards Incantation just... simmers. He doesn't hate Incantation because Incantaion was the one who killed him (but damn constantly dying to him is getting fucking annoying), but it's because of the wards that trap Night in the dungeon were placed because of the samurai. He remembers this much.
When Night stops trying to kick Incantation in the face, Incantation doesn't try picking a fight with Night. They get to talk a little, in the way that two guys trapped in a place with no one else to talk to do (Grimtooth doesn't make the greatest of conversationalists; it doesn't understand very much of human ways, and is quite focused on dying). Incantation tends to talk about his betrayal, and how he's going to raze Toyokawa to the ground to get back at the government (or something. I didn't really figure the details of why he was so pissed at it), but occasionallly he talks about little scraps of his life. Like how he enjoyed meditating by the river near the bamboo forest, the teas he liked, that kind of thing. At this point, Night doesn't talk to Incantation much; he's still bitter about being stuck in the dungeon. But he listens all the same; there isn't anything else to really catch his attention.
Night didn't give up trying to find a way out, though, accosting the few stray wanderers into the dungeon. But they can't give him the answers he wants, well, they're useless to him otherwise. Pisses him off, and he takes that out on them. The problem is, after a while, he starts to forget about his life before he was dead. It's a common feature of all the cursed undead ghosts. They tend to fixate on their goal, which is, in Night's case, escaping the dungeon to see Adrianna one last time. So he starts to forget about his life before, about who Adrianna was; he only remembers that he wants to see her, but even remembering what she looks like becomes difficult. Night basically degenerates into who he was before he met Buck and Miara, before he met Adrianna: someone who lives their life centered around their compulsions.
Incantation mentions that he hopes to raise more dead, gather enough bodies to bust out of the dungeon. NightEyes shrugs, and continues killing whenever the people who wander in don't give him what he want. As far as Night's concerned, their goals are the same; they both want to get the hell out of this place. It's not that Night helps Incantation with the killing on purpose, he's just doing what he wants and Incantation happens to benefit from it. There is no loyalty or friendliness there.
Then there's the sex. I guess it pretty much happened the same way conversation between them did; there isn't anything to do, and Night finds it fun, Incantation enjoys it. Nothing to lose there. It's just another way to try and fill up the empty spaces with something enjoyable. And, obviously, as Night forgets more, wouldn't it be a good idea to combine the two things he finds fun whenever people come down here? Fighting and sex with the hapless fools who wander down here! GREAT IDEA. It means less bored time, more funtimes.
And that's how it was for Night. He stopped fighting with Incantation because damn the guy's got the same goal as him, so he's not begrudging him that. He talks to the guy every now and again, and Incantation talks to him every now and again, and sometimes they fuck. Night views it as a pretty simple, no-strings attached life, kind of like back in Khemet. Only in Khemet it's less talking and more fighting and fucking. And less times in between where he's bored (or so it seems, hindsight in rose coloured glasses).
And then Lise appears. A woman who looks just like Adrianna.
When Night first sees her, he thinks it's actually her. And, goddammit, he didn't die just to have her come back and be killed by Incantation. So, for the first time in fff decades, centuries, he crosses blades with Incantation.
On NightEyes' side, the sight of Adrianna's face (and that's really how he ragards Lise) is enough to make him stop and think about what he's been doing all this time. A guilty reminder. He wants to hang onto the memories he keeps on forgetting, so he stops hanging out with Incantation for a bit, just... wants to talk to Lise. Pretend she's Adrianna. Pretend she can get him out of here. He should have thought it odd that Incantation left him alone, and left Lise alone, but he didn't even notice. He was too busy trying to remember all the things of the past when Lise wasn't around, and too busy using Lise to remember who Adrianna was when Lise was around. He was mentally comparing Lise and Adrianna in his mind, trying to consolidate that the woman in front of him isn't Adrianna.
And that's all Lise really is to him. A woman who just looks like Adrianna. But Night's greatest weakness is illusions, what he experiences is truth. So while Lise looks like Adrianna, he keeps on believing Lise is her. At least, until she speaks. And even then, it's hard for Night to separate the two, and Lise uses that to her own advantage.
When it comes out that that it's been centuries since he's died, fuck he doesn't want to believe it. But when Grimtooth confirms it's been centuries (Grimtooth doesn't exactly realise humans normally die after a few decades, longer if they're a magic user), and Night throws a hissy fit because JUST WHAT THE HELL HAS HE BEEN DOING ALL THIS TIME. Fuck he wants to go die now, but dammit Incantation's coming with him. In a sense, his claims that he wants revenge on Incantation for keeping him here all this time are half true; Night is PISSED at Incantation. But at the same time, in a rare moment of wisdom, Night acknowledges it's time for both of them to move on.
And, in a sense, when he fights Incantation for the last time, despite all his mocking words, he's a little (very, very, little) sad that things have to end this way. With Incantation truly angry at him (a first). Because Night's just a little attached to his cellmate after all these years. And the reverse is more true.