#kikoph

Monster – a word she never thought described herself, but here is a man, or rather, an unearthly being, referring to her as such. The look in his eyes stings as much as the word, and she leans back, bumping back against wall as he moves in close. He caught her off guard on her way to her sanctuary from hell, the library, and she feels small in his presence. So close, yet so far – she wants nothing more than to escape.

She may be an honest person, but she doesn’t consider herself brave, and she flinches at his touch, breath catching in her throat. Her mind is scrambled with words, a mess of comebacks and playing it safe, then his last sentence throws her off. Respectable? To ruin others for personal gain? It’s not like she wants to – if she had another option, she’d gladly take it.

Her teeth are clenched and she swallows what feels like a tennis ball before retaliating. Her voice comes out quiet but her words are clear, “It’s really a question of what those with power do with their power… and perspective.”

You, you slash your allies alongside your foes like it’s nothing.

Those words she swallows, but she isn’t even sure of herself. In this type of world, she doesn’t have a choice, right? Ryoko tries to move away, at least to put some distance between them so she can breathe again. Though, if he wanted to kill her, he could’ve done so ten times ( a hundred? ) already.

in the garden of eden, he exists as the serpent. black abysses as eyes and glinting fangs that come to a sharp point— even the holiest of places cannot escape his beady gaze. the strong will overcome by trampling over the weak; it’s always been the survival of the fittest. after all, all warfare is based on deception and this is no different. he keeps scripture on his tongue and recites it like his own, hands clasped together in artful worship. they believe the front he puts up, falls deep into his web of lies and takes the blood apple for their own. what a joke, he muses, to fall for pretty words and strung up facades. to damn yourself for another, to take a bite out of the forbidden fruit and expect to escape unscathed. how foolish.

if he can’t be whole, no one can.

it’s always the purest ones who are the most fun to tear down. she isn’t an exception. he sees the way she operates, out of duty, out of fear. he scoffs. it’s a pathetic excuse for the destruction she’s caused, but he’s too broken to be close to heaven so he supposes he should thank her for damning everyone else to hell with him. it’s not hard to pick out her weaknesses. as with most people, she carries loose baggage around like a ball and chain and lets the noose around her neck guide her. he takes the parts of her that she’s clearly unhappy about and lets them tear her apart; every word chosen carefully to bring across the most pain.

she cowers when he bares his fangs, the retort weak in a way that only makes lysias want to rile her up more. “ah. so you’ve chosen to use your power to control people against their will.. to cause destruction! i can relate.” he laughs then, all teeth and no lips. when he’s done his gaze is blank as a slate, as if he never smiled to begin with. “it’s always selfish desire, isn’t it? i don’t think there’s much perspective you can put into this, miss engineer. it’s clean cut, human greed. i guess if lying to yourself helps you sleep at night, you should continue.. whatever this is.” his fingers come up to gesture at her entirety as he keeps her caged against the wall between his arms.