Corpus Rahkshi

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

She wasn't wrong. He'd continued, he'd beaten Omega senseless multiple times even as she'd begged him not to, even hurting her when she'd tried to stop.

Now the roles had been reversed.

He tried to straighten himself, but he was still shaking. He wanted to run and hide, to kneel and die. But he owed to Omicron to stop her from becoming whatever it was that he was. At the very least, he had to try that. If not...well...

"No. I can't...I won't. You have to stop. Omega would say the same."

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Epsilon... another of your siblings. Is Omega the only family that actually mattered to you?" I offered Omicron a sad smile, "You should be embracing Epsilon, and Alpha, and all the others, enjoying the fact that they're still here... but instead, here we are, playing dress-up in the dark." 

IC - Omicron - Corridor

"OMEGA IS DEAD! HE doesn't HAVE a say any more!" Omicron shouted, anger flaring up like a stray ember setting gas aflame. Her grip on the sword was tight as a vice now.

When Exxan spoke, her fiery gaze moved from Epsilon to him. "I'm not dressing up any more." With one swift motion, Omicron unclasped and threw off her cloak, revealing her smooth crimson armor. It was almost remeniscent of a flayed rahi.

"No more games. No more Orimnoc to hide behind. Here I am, Omicron, in the flesh. And I'm not doing this for anyone but myself."

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

He managed to stand still. 

"No words I'm going to say are going to change your mind, are they?" His green eyes finally focused on his sister, managing to resist the fear.

One last ditch effort, then. If he died here, he'd at least have tried to do something good for once.

His largened left gold hand swung forward in a hook, putting in all the strength he could.

IC - Omicron - Corridor

Without breaking her glare away from Exxan, Omicron swiftly raised her free arm and caught his fist in her hand, revealing she had none the less strength than she had exhibited as Orimnoc before.

Only after catching Epsilon's punch did her eyes move to him. "Not this time. But if you really are so hungry for my attention to attack me with Omega's visage, then I guess I can spare a second to put you in your place!" 

Omicron moved to twist Epsilon's arm to the side before viciously swinging the pommel of her sword at the back of his head.

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

Yeah...that's about what I expected.

He was easily torn off balance by his once weaker sibling and a sound not unlike a loud door knock occurred as the pommel slammed into the back of his already damaged and injured head. He tripped, and fell.

He fell, dressed as his dead brother and being beaten by the sister he used to push around and bully. An end, he supposed, was fitting.

He hit the floor easily, the tape on his jaw ripping as his face skidded across the rock below him. The ongoing leak of blood the tape had been desperately trying to hide was now free to see, a puncture wound from when Omicron hit him earlier.

"...I'm sorry, Exxan..." He pathetically murmured, barely bothering to get up.

IC: Exxan - Corridor

I directed a concentrated surge of air at Omicron's hand, aiming to blast the sword from her grasp, "Enough!" 

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Such a strong blast of wind might readily have worked were Omicron's grip on her sword not like a python crushing its prey. As it was, her hand was instead pushed back, prompting her to move it back behind the rest of her body.

"Everyone is so impatient today. Don't worry, Exxan, you have all of my attention now that this pathetic excuse for a rahkshi is out of the way."

She began to approach him again, her sword hand behind her body. There was only a small hint of hesitation. A regretful glance down to the side at the downed Epsilon as she passed him, so quick it could easily be missed.

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Hold on, I need to understand this," I pleaded, "What made Omega so special? Why is his death worth avenging, if the rest of your family isn't worth anything to you?"

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron stopped. For a moment, she simply stared incredulously at Exxan. Then came laughter. Manic, bellowing laughter. "AAHAHAHAHA! Ohh, sires above! Do you really not comprehend what this is actually about?!"

Her amused expression quickly turned serious again, then just as fast turned enraged. "Are you INCAPABLE OF LISTENING?!! I already explained this isn't about Omega any more!! This is about me and you! You and your disgusting thorn strewn body!! Creeping into my mind, my soul, my every waking hour I see your disgusting thorns!! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!"

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Thorns?" I blinked, frowning in legitimate confusion, "You were the one who covered yourself in spikes, literally and figuratively."

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron nodded frantically.  "I thought they would protect me! Make my stronger! I thought Orimnoc could be my armour, but even from within my faux thorns you gnawed at my mind."

She angrily pointed her sword at him. "Don't act ignorant! All those nights you hid in my room whispering horrors into my ears, telling me what a worthless slug I was, that you would come for me one day. I was a little surprised you didn't recognise me back at the Tournament. Could've sworn you were watching me while I was making my own thorns..."

Her amused expression suddenly returned, a small manic giggle escaping her maw. "For a disgusting brother killer and stalker, you really are inattentive, aren't you?!"

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"You're insane," I sneered, seeing little point in anything other than being as blunt and forthright as possible, "The first time I met you was when we squared off in the tournament. Before then, I'd never seen you before, never crossed your path, never even heard your name."

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

There's little else but a thump as Epsilon tried, and failed to push himself up. The two might have been able to hear something of a murmur, before Epsilon gave up entirely, simply sprawled on the rock.

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron scoffed, stepping closer while spinning her sword in her hand, once more hidden behind her.  "Yet you seemed to know exactly who I was the moment that bolt shattered your knee."

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Because he..." I pointed at the fallen Epsilon, "...said she. You're the only female rahk I know obsessed with Omega... it wasn't difficult to work out."

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron seemed to consider this for a moment, looking behind her at her badly beaten brother, that visage of a fallen Omega starting to really ring in her head. "He did betray me... didn't he?"

This question she asked not in a tone seeking validation, but as if she was finally accepting it as true.

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"You betrayed him, by using him like this." I growled, grabbing onto the wall to pull myself up on my one good leg, "And you betrayed Omega's memory by using his likeness for cheap scare tactics."

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron nodded. "They all betrayed me a long time ago... I was such a fool to ever think anyone could love me. In the end... Omega abandoned me."

She quickly turned to Exxan. "You said it yourself, didn't you? He didn't leave you a choice. He begged you to kill him!"

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"What do you want me to say? Or better yet, what do you even want? Because I'm not convinced you really know." 

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

"...No." Epsilon managed, as he finally steadied himself shakily. 

"Omega never betrayed you. How....why would he? Every time I pushed you around...hit you...Makuta knows he'd be there, ready to hit me right back...." He weakly said, grunting.

IC: Omicron - Corridor

"Wh- I..." Omicron turned to look at Epsilon. "Why... why are you saying that?"

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

He managed to push himself to one knee, with some difficulty. "...What you are...what you've become...that's my fault, in some part..." 

"What you're doing now...you're broken. And I should have been there, but I wasn't. So here I...here I am. He's dead, and I'm not."

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron stared at him, wordless... Before it then turned into a glare. "Don't think I'm going to forgive you over some pretty words, Epsilon!"

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Revenge... forgiveness... why are you so fixated on absolutes?" I asked,  "Let me share with you something I've learned these past few months. You don't have to make peace with the past. You can leave it behind and just walk away. Set aside the guilt, and the pain, and the shame, and find something new." 

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

The Rahkshi nodded, green eyes focusing on his sister.

"I don't want forgiveness, I just want...to be able to make you understand. It won't end with Exxan, nor with me. You'll...just keep going down-" He coughed. "Keep going the line. Is Mu responsible, for not being there...soon enough? What about our other sister, Alpha? Did...did you even meet her? She didn't take her revenge on Exxan either. Would she be responsible?" He explained, brushing some of the blood from his jaw. 

 

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron looked between the two of them, first in clear confusion, then frantically, as she stepped away from the both of them backing into the opposite wall. She raised her sword in front of her, madly swinging it from being pointed at Exxan to being pointed at Epsilon, and then back again. 

"Exxan you've got a lot of nerve calling me insane when it's clear you're the one who's crazy! That goes for both of you, Epsilon! Exxan! Epsilon! What is it with that E?!!"

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"You're right. I must be crazy," I chuckled, "Because instead of blasting you down the corridor the second you shot me, I've tried to talk to you."

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron was shaking now, her grip on the sword loose. "You... don't sound like Exxan..." She muttered, her voice unsure and wavering.

There was a loud clang as the sword dropped to the floor from Omicron's limp grasp. "I... I remember now... Exxan died... I... I felt so sure it was a lie back then, I felt so vindicated when I heard that name in the tournament... but... are... are you even-"

She took a shaky step forward, her hand stretched out, an expression on her face revealing disbelief, uncertainty, as if she no longer quite believed what she was seeing with her own eyes.

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

What?

Epsilon finally managed to push himself to stand properly, shaking as he moved closer to his sister. 

"It's okay. He won't hurt you...neither of us will..."

 

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Oh, I'm definitely me." I shuffled away from her outstretched hand, "I think you're the one whose identity is uncertain right now."

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron recoiled a bit as Exxan retreated from her. She gave him an untrusting grimace.  "I don't believe you. You're hiding something. I don't know what, but... " She stared at him, the disbelief and mistrust clear in her eyes now.

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"I don't have anything left to hide," I spat back, "Everyone knows my stripes, my scars, my story. But you... what's your story going to be?"

IC: Omicron - Corridor

Omicron shook her head. "How can I trust anything you're saying if I don't even know you're real?" She collapsed against the opposite wall again, sliding down to sit by it, her hands holding her head, her expression somewhat distressed. "Is... is any of this real?"

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

He was close to Omicron now. He crouched down, trying not to fall down entirely. 

"Please. Let me help you. Let...let us help you."

IC: Exxan - Corridor

"Oh, this is real. Real choices, real consequences, and it can only end in one of three ways." 

IC: Revenge and Danger-Library

After a long session of training with Danger, Revenge had retired to the library. He was seated at a table, reading his favorite book. Danger was curled up on the couch not to far away. It was hard to tell if he was asleep or not, but the training session had certainly tuckered him out. 

IC: Omicron - Corridor

"... W-what three ways? What are you... talking about??" Despite responding to Exxan, physically she didn't seem to be acknowledging his or Epsilon's presence any more.

IC: Epsilon - Corridor

He experimentally went to grasp Omicron's hand gently. He breathed in, ready in case she freaked out.

IC: Rider - Library

Rider, coincidentally, was also in the library. Seeing Revenge, he smiled, and went to see him. Claws scuttled behind him.

IC: Revenge-Library

As Rider aproached Revenge looked up from his book. "Hey man," He said, turning to face his old friend. "How is it going?"