you led me to the slaughter;

“Say, miss Takatsuki... what do you think of humans?” Sudden as her question could be, it was something that had become a constant thought in her mind. Because as of late, her own identity was becoming a blur. No matter where Argilla looked, she had yet to find someplace she could belong without the Embryon.

She could not speak of such topic with anyone, neither she considered many as trustworthy nor smart enough to clear her doubts. 

Only Takatsuki Sen fit the criteria she was searching for. 

District Kappa showed itself less welcoming than it seemed. Despite seeming colorful, its open arms were aimed to everything but them. She could understand fear for the unknown (they were not human after all) but this sudden rejection didn’t feel natural, specially for the inhabitants that ignored fully who they were.

Before violence could spur even further, she was quite glad that their berserk-like state prevented her from becoming self-conscious of her atma avatar. Given she couldn’t hesitate when it came to protecting a comrade, it was obvious she had to go all out. No matter if this would be the very first time for Naki to see an actual demon. Prithivi could manage better any horde of enraged humans better than her usual form, anyway.

Argilla had created a wall between them and their assailants by raising the earth with a Materadyne spell, but only to give them a momentary break before they could reach an actual shelter.

“Hey, Naki...”

Liquid drips from the corner of her mouth -- wide open, trying to get rid of the taste. Her tongue hung out, akin to a kid in need to express loudly her disgust. No matter how much time she had spent living among actual humans and creatures of the sort. Alcohol remained a terrible topic for the Asura, she had yet to handle strong flavours. Ah, but the burning sensation in her throat was truly disgusting.

Unfortunately, she had spat her beverage on the face of a stranger. Not only that, but the person was fairly drunk and the reaction wasn’t exactly something she could laugh at. 

A chair was flung on Argilla’s way, though she had gracefully avoided it by kneeling down. However, it had fallen on another victim. Revenge awoke within them and so on. In a second, she already had lost count of how many ended joining for the sake of violence alone. 

“Oh.” 

umm, i’m trying to get back into the swing of citta so like for a mini? i’m capping at 4. 

“Checking out...? Your boy?” Eyes wide open, a pause in order to take properly the hint. Oblivious as the Ai could be to certain social cues, she eventually nods after processing the information. Connection two plus two could be a tad difficult once unaware of certain relationships outside her small circle.

“Oh! Oh, you mean Naki?” They must be part of the same tribe.

“Ghouls are supposed to be cruel, idiot!” Naki said, suddenly wanting to headbutt her again. He was sure she was a ghoul, yet this woman did not act anything like it. She was neither cruel, nor vicious like big bro was. 

That being sad, for a girl Naki also had no idea how he was supposed to judge her. He thought the women he was supposed to like were exactly like big bro, mannish, macho, and tough. It was not like he was so oblivious though, he knew what kisisng was. He was an adult after all. It was not like he disliked her either. He felt a spontaneous moment of curiousity, like a child might. 

So Naki leaned in and kissed her briefly, nothing more than the tiniest of pecks on the lips before withdrawing. 

“So I won’t get sick from something like that?” Naki said tilting his head and making a cracked smile. “I still don’t think I understand what you’re talking about, though.”

An eyebrows raises in confusion. “Supposed to be cruel? Who decides that?” She can understand the notion but it’s not one she is willing to accept, despite she is not a ghoul -- of course she has fought them, eaten them but in a sense they were no different to an Asura. Some Asura were ghouls. Argilla had been somehow lucky to be an unique sort of demon. 

“You’re not cruel. You are definitively not.  Someone cruel wouldn’t save a starving monster like me.” And it was not necessary to be dumbfounded by the arrow of a cupid to reach such conclusion. She can be an hypocrite in this regard, dreading the fact they had to devour in order to survive and rejecting it till losing someone dear. Her first cry, the first tears shed. It was no use to pretend someone was solely cruel or good. “...Naki?” He didn’t say anything for a bit and the fact he was leaning close only deepened her confusion. 

To her surprise, he had kissed her. Despite it was innocent as ever, her experience was null here. Argilla died too early to experience it herself, even when the real one must have known every spectrum of it.

“You think that? In the Junkyard they did their best to conceal them. They thought it showed weakness. I see my own as the opposite, I won’t hide what I’ve earned.”

“You should just drink blood wine instead. It’s like a bloody mary, but with actual blood and no mary.”

Naki had no idea how to be charming. It was strange then how he managed to attract these type of people to him. Maybe he produced a type of pheremone exclusively for pink haired women. 

“Why is your face all red are you sick?” Naki questioned as he dealt with the uncomfortable sensation of suddenly being manhandled. He did not know what this feeling was, but it sure was weird. Naki wanted to investigate though, so he suddenly leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers. It was almost romantic for a brief moment, until he finished the gesture by headbutting their foreheads together and rebounded off of her. 

“Yeah, your face feels hot, and there’s way more bloodflow then there should be. Like hell I’m going to share a vein with you, you’re going to make me sick too!” Naki said as he rubbed his own forehead, a small red path appearing on it. That woman Argilla must have been strong if she could disurpt the skin of a ghoul, that was all he was thinking at the moment. Apparently she had other things on her mind. 

Her admiration sometimes developed a clearer shape. Here, she couldn’t tell apart her hazy feelings for Naki -- he was the most understanding yet managed to be so clueless, which only deepened both her confusion and awe toward him. With their foreheads close, Argilla remained looking at him, dazed. His roughish features were already a huge charming part of his and having them closer than ever left her speechless. 

She was someone that disregarded often physical contact with ease but now, somehow she couldn’t ignore his stare. Pink eyes avert nervously till he breaks away contact, abruptly as ever.

 “My face is red because you were close. I’m not sick.” She places a hand on her forehead, a little red from the sudden headbutt. “I could kiss you and you wouldn’t get sick because, again, I’m not sick. This is just something that happens.”

“ what are these things, anyways? ” she’s trying to fend off a drone that had cornered a civilian, but there’s only so much she can do with a wooden naginata. she could really use some help.

“They’re machines!!” With her explanation, a black orb had been summoned mid-air --  destroying the drones by absorbing their pieces and breaking them apart as the overwhelming force released. She can’t stand seeing a girl fighting helplessly with such a ... breakable weapon.

ARGILLA from DIGITAL DEVIL SAGA!!

play dds it’s on the psn

Argilla comes from the very foundations of a war simulation program. 

Gaining sentiency and emotions after getting infected by the Atma Virus, Argilla sets her goal to become ‘normal’ again -- totally unaware of her true nature as Ai at first.

Actually 4 years old. Doesn’t know too much of the world but the basics.

A natural big sister for all.

Her girlfriend is fucking dead.

Incredibly loyal to her peers and tribe altogether, she is willing to sacrifice everything for the Embryon and Sera.

Can turn into a demon called Prithivi.

 A literal boob monster.

Her main strength lies on magic and healing abilities.

Because of the Atma Virus, Argilla must consume either human or demon flesh in order to control the virus. Otherwise, she may go berserk and lose herself entirely.

A cannibal that hates cannibalism. Even when struggling with her real identity and doing her best to keep it down, she remains a hunter and the responsible of NPCs disappearing.

Can actually eat ‘normal food’.

A complete pacifist, Argilla hates violence but won’t scorn the idea if it comes to fight for her comrades and what’s precious to her.

Unless you’re the demifiend, she can kick your ass.

@dhrithri

Naki walked down the alleyway with a red heart in his hands. It would have been a normal valentine’s day gift, if that heart were not an actual human heart still fresh. He tossed it up into the air and caught it a few times as he walked along. He was incredibly casual, but this was normal life for a ghoul.

“Yo, Argilla you there? I brought you a present!” He called out with his usual excitement. Of course one could easily mistake this for a romantic intention, especially in between ghouls but, in actuality Naki had no idea what the day today was. He thought maybe it was a tuesday, but he wasn’t completely sure on that front. The man in the white suit was merely keping his promise from earlier. 

“It’s a heart, but you can also use it as a straw. There are two veins leading out, so the two of us could split a blood smoothie if you wanted.” He put one of the major arteries in his mouth to demonstrate, then left it hanging there with his jaw too as it started to go slack. “Uhhh, Argilla why are you staring at me like that?”

“Naki, wait--” A rain of hearts sprouts out of the wound, only to vanish eventually. She stares longly at the fact no scratch was left by the arrow.

                                                [ Argilla has been charmed. ]

This sensation wasn’t a common one, despite fully recognising the symptoms of the ailment. Chest heavy, face hot and bothered by the very presence of another. More often than not this should make her bend at the will of the caster, seems it had a different effect than the one she actually knew. 

But, was it important? Once realising that Naki was there with a ripped out and bloody heart for her, she couldn’t focus and neither think logically. 

Naki knew everything about camaraderie. He was the leader of the white suits, they were his companions his everything. Perhaps that was why he had risked so much for a fellow cannibal.

“Tribe? What do you mean by that? Are you one of Miza’s? That would explain the pink hair, though you’re supposed to be way shorter. Still, the pink hair is pretty.”

Naki started rambling without even explaining what he meant. Unfortunately, the problem with being a scatterbrain like him was that he tended to go off on his own tangents. He sat up then, crossing his legs underneath him, as he watched her start to adjust. He reached out for that same pretty hair and held it between his fingers for a moment as he thought. If she was a ghoul, she must have been new to the city, or at least have just been brought back here. That was the only reason he could think of for not eating so long. 

He would have opened his mouth to say someting again, when suddenly she reached out to it. Unused to the contact Naki froze entirely. he was just unused to it, he had no idea how to react. His own wounds though, began to knit themselves back up on his shoulder, much faster than they would have normally. 

“Whazzat, huh?”

“If you had just asked for help in the first place you wouldn’ta needed to eat me, so yeah sure I’ll help you.”

Wasn’t it strange to find the meaning behind comradeship when losing any sense of humanity? Peculiar, as she thought the word human certainly didn’t fit either. Yet, it encapsulated the very essence of both rational thinking and emotion. She would have ignored them if it had not been for the fact she became a demon in the first place. And even before, she was simply data. That cannot be considered human.

“Sorry, I don’t know who Miza is. I wish I did, though.” Anything that connected her with another living being would certainly help, something that didn’t make her feel so... alone. Among flesh-eating monsters, she remains as one of a kind. “Is it bad I am tall? I know it can be a little intimidating but I think it has charm.” It’s nice at the very least to talk without restraining herself and hiding away every detail of herself. 

“You saved me so there shouldn’t be any problem now, right?”