THE COLD OF YOU

KENNA SOWANDE // SEVERED CHIMERA

age: 27 gender: nonbinary with they/them pronouns sexuality: pansexual loyalty: the seiwa emperor faceclaim: mayowa nicholas

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date : November 13th, Friday, 2180. time : evening, after the sirens location : trapped in the pub with : @severedchimera​

This was the last thing he needed; being trapped with so many people, so many customers, while his cat was home alone - who knows how long will it be before the blasted voice lets them go. Probably once the monster’s hunt down - or killed. He wondered if the latter option might be the better one for the creature in question - he knew well enough what the Emperor’s mercy meant ; he was still paying for it. That dream he once had, of being someone while simultaneously being no one had flown out the window like a butterfly - only to be trapped by a bloody menace, wings utterly ruined in the Other’s hands.

That was alright - he could keep himself deluded that, at least, he had work and a steady income when so many had not have been so… fortunate. Of course, the less fortunate ones did not have their families lives dangling over their heads like a threat and a taunt BI or so he thought. in fact, he didn’t really find himself caring enough to ask just how many others are, or have been, in his exact same situation. ). He kept his head down, sitting in the booth, blissfully alone with his thoughts and his papers. The pro-empire propaganda now seemed both tasteless and taunting, but once he found himself in a lack of choice, he found that lying, and pretending to comply, was the safest option - the path of least resistance meant his parents keep their heads.

For now.

He looked up from his work, dissatisfied as always, in time to see a familiar face stroll in - or barge in, depending on the point of view. Xian had been fairly acquainted with them - and he knew all about their twin and the captivity, and their stories have been… fascinatingly similar. He doesn’t really trust them - the only thing he trust is his fear of incompetence, fear of failure, and his cat.

But, Xian’s eyes locked with Kenna’s and he subtly inclined his head, diverting their attention from the entrance. A wordless invitation, should they choose to accept it - he always found himself enjoying the quiet conversations he had with them; they were a kindred soul, but he wondered if their minds had thought the same, treasonous things as well.

What do years of obedience do to a lonely child? Each heavy footstep made no echo as they met the concrete. The Emperor’s cold eyes as he disapproved of their progress. The cruel lash of the tongue, each threat against their sister opening a thousand wounds anew. The burden fell heavy on the backs of those who had nowhere else to go but forward. If Kenna were to slip out from beneath the Emperor’s thumb, they imagined not where they would run to but where the stone would fall. It would fall to Tanna to pay for their freedom. It would fall to Kenna to win Tanna’s freedom back.

What do years of obedience do to a lonely child? Kenna walked into the club with the confidence of a pet well-kept, and a prisoner well-fed. It turned them into a machine, by all appearances. They sensed it in the eyes of those who recognized them. It turned them into a pawn, but at least a feared one. Perhaps even a revered one, for those who believed Kenna to be a savior. Deliverer of all Night Monsters.

They didn’t see Kenna as a traitor, and perhaps that too, was merely a trick of the light. If Kenna does not see themself as a Night Monster (for they barely see themself as an individual without Tanna to anchor them), then neither do the people of Ilbern.

And what of Xian? There was a cloud forever lingering at the corner of his eyes. A thought, too dangerous to allow seen, and yet — one familiar to Kenna. One they thought they could guess, if a blade were pressed to Tanna’s throat. Without a word, Xian beckoned for Kenna. It was the manner in which he called for them that moved Kenna to oblige, gliding forward like a thread is attached to her ankle and it tugs them forward.

It was not an order — it was, rather, a question. An invitation.

Pawns and pets knew that to be offered anything is a gift of itself.

The dark is thick and traitorous, and comforting all the while. In the same way that they feel the core of them grow still in the center of chaos, the same way that their gut guides each step forward as if in a trance, Kenna becomes the hunt. The night magnifies the senses, and every nerve ending hums with life. They know this dance. They know it well, and they also know in the marrow of their bones that there is more than one Night Monster out tonight.

Guilt is a funny thing. You can cut it to pieces, hold each shard to the light to see how it ticks and it will always elude you. There is no rhyme nor reason to what makes the heart shudder; Kenna knows. They have seen horrible things, sights that can make the human soul shrivel up and fall to the wind. For Kenna, it is all matter of fact. Blood is just blood, and the screams of the captured cannot compare to the silence of their sister.

Sliding in and out through Million’s Square, Kenna’s focus is razor-sharp. They’ve ventured further away from Ujin — if only to be spared the rot of him, which they still find repulsive. He is only a stone’s throw behind them, but even that is enough. They find pleasure in small victories, and this surely counts.

A heartbeat later, they’re grateful Ujin is behind. He always finds a way to ruin this part: the glorious blip of a moment when Kenna, at last, beholds their target. Their lips part to utter a prayer, the same one they cast each time a Night Monster falls into their lap: be spared as Tanna was not.

Kenna’s mark is located just behind their left ear.

Kenna and Tanna’s grandmother and parents were a part of the Madhouse Renegade. Their family has always been deeply entrenched in the politics of the empire, and the politics of the empire has shaped the tragedy of their family. A sister turns against brother for speaking in veiled shadows of the emperor. A brother runs with his wife and twin daughters to hide in the night. His sister reports of treason, and becomes the reason for her brother and sister-in-law’s death. But his children live on, and when they arrive at the sister’s doorstep, her eyes shine unnaturally in the light. The emperor will, at last, appreciate her as one of the elite few who swear unyielding, bloody fealty.

For all of their stoicism and icy veneer, Kenna has a soft spot for sweets. It reminds them of their grandmother, a kind and stern woman who showed her love not with words but with delicately wrapped candies.

Kenna and Tanna share a secret language with their hands. At first, it was only a layer of protection against their grandmother when they wanted to cause trouble, for their grandmother had sharp hearing but weak vision. When their powers came to light, it became a vow: that they would not use their powers against the other, and they would not create puppets of the other.

Kenna’s sense of humor is dry and quite monotone. It often catches people off-guard.

When they lived with their grandmother, Kenna helped with gardening while Tanna took to the kitchen. It suited them both. Kenna working quietly under the sun to rip out every weed and tend to every blossom. Tanna’s laughter as bright as the stars as she cut the vegetables. To this day, Kenna has nurtured their green thumb with an expansive knowledge of plants, though they do not allow themselves the pleasure of tending to their own garden. Not until Tanna is free.

It’s become a kind of ritual. In that small blip of a moment between setting their eyes upon their target and making them captive, Kenna’s lips move soundlessly to utter a short prayer. Please don’t let them become like Tanna. A shell of a star, a weak echo of the girl who once made Kenna laugh so hard they peed.

Kenna sings when they’re alone, now that their sister is not around to fill their life with music and melody. Their voice is not as charismatic or polished as Tanna’s, but they can hold a simple tune well enough.