Vanquish the Darkness
Jul. 23rd, 2024 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madimpossibledreamerMain Points:
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/SMT Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha (Casts Shadows)
Summary: The Duchess Buffy has a choice to make.
Word Count: 1077
Rating: Teen
He is, again, a little useless, but this time he doesn’t feel as restless, because, well, he and his demons had been useful up until this point, so he doesn’t feel as if he’s completely failed his training. He and Nix are trying to keep a slight eye on proceedings, but, well, it seems like Giles happens to have things entirely in hand, and they do need to keep an eye on the hole in the wall, just in case any demons do happen to slip past the blockade.
Fortunately, he’s not one of those who simply sees demons as tools to be bent to his own will—they are creatures of their own, with feelings, aspirations, thoughts, and desires. Their lives matter as well. Which means they are more than just their ability to fight or use skills in his investigations. Given that he doesn’t even have the Mag to switch out his demon at this point, he’s ‘stuck’ with Nix. As if his original demon is any sort of hardship, really. “I don’t remember anything about Janus to be particularly ‘chaos’-like. Tricksters like Loki, maybe, but…” And, of course, Loki is also far above his own pay grade.
Fortunately, his demon is knowledgeable, as well, looking a little thoughtful. “Humans are so obsessed with categorization, requiring labels for existence. Though perhaps that’s due to your reliance on words—and for good reason, since you have demonstrated that language can shape reality itself.” That’s...a good point, actually, with spells and the like. A quick mental consideration of the spells he knows doesn’t turn up anything actually useful for this moment in time, and it’s not like the Yatagarasu approves highly of learning magic unnecessarily, finding that Summoners (among others) quickly become reliant on such for easy solutions rather than honing their own problem-solving skills. Spells and rituals can be learned, if one can convince the Herald it’s suitable for the occasion, but it’s highly unlikely that even if the Herald exists in this world they’ll be able to find her in time for any aid on that front. “He was associated with chaos, yes, but also order. The union of two opposing forces. Rather trickster-like characteristics, though he was seen more as a primordial figure than a true deity as such. And yes—I do believe he’s outside your capabilities, for now.”
He’d suspected, but still, it’s good to hear it for sure. If anyone’s had a front-row seat to his growth, it’s Nix, so, likewise, that’s his best source of an assessment of his skills. “Schrödinger’s alignment, then.” He’s made Nix laugh, and yeah, the water demon is absolutely gorgeous even in this.
And then a sudden clatter draws their attention, mirth disappearing entirely in the face of business, as the sorceror tries one last ploy to maintain his power—negotiation, by the sound of it. It may have made gagging the man a good idea, though that would certainly make an interrogation considerably harder.
“Do you really want to give up your power, Duchess?” he asks, and while it’s maybe a taunt, it—
It is a slightly seductive question. Because yeah, sure, if you’re the good person in all this, the ‘correct’ answer is no, right? Power can corrupt. And yet, if you’re powerless, unable to change events...then what does that make you? You’re merely the bystander in someone else’s story, and it’ll be up to others to change events, to do whatever the hell they like, and all you can offer is a simple protest.
And he—gods he doesn’t want to give up Nix or Encantado or Žiburinis, for the company if nothing else. He hardly knows any of these people. His self, his very existence, is defined by him being the Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha the XVIII. Without it, who is he?
A hand on his, and his mind feels suddenly clearer. “Awaiting your command, Xander.”
It’s a special privilege to be called by his birth name, something that even Nix for all the loyalty he’s earned has never done before. The gentle words, the encouraging smile, the proud look in the demon’s eyes, all add to the meaning of what is being said as much as the words themselves.
Nix trusts him, puts his life in Raidou’s hands as much as the other demons do. If he decided a fusion was necessary, then they would surrender themselves willingly, living on through another. The call is Xander’s as much as it is the decision of Her Grace. And there’s a special kind of certainty there that suggests the demon believes he’ll make the right choice. He wants to ask, to beg for advice, since Gouto isn’t here to tell him what to do—
And yet, no. That’s simply his desire to avoid the consequences for his choice, to foist off any responsibility on another, and Gouto would probably realize that, too.
Perhaps, in some way, this will be his death. Perhaps these are the last minutes of the existence of Raidou Kuzunoha the XVIII. Perhaps another would be called in his stead, or perhaps not.
It doesn’t matter, in the end. He knows his duty—to protect the city, to save civilians. If he must lose the part of him that is Raidou, if he must lose what makes him useful, in this situation...then he must do so, as long as this situation puts others’ lives in danger. He had served well and honorably, and he cannot walk away, cannot turn his back on this. He has to be the voice of reason to Her Grace Buffy.
“Serving the people...is not an easy task. It demands sacrifice.” Over and over, and yet he had done so time and time again to follow this path, choosing to discard his past for the sake of others’ future.
Willow must see something in his eyes that alarms her, because she reaches out a hand, calling out, “...Wait! Duchess, Raidou—”
Her Grace smiles, superior and cold and deadly. “The way I hear it, I already have power,” she asserts, a well-aimed sword strike hitting the statue precisely and smashing it apart, just—
like—
Raidou’s consciousness
Buffy the Vampire Slayer/SMT Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha (Casts Shadows)
Summary: The Duchess Buffy has a choice to make.
Word Count: 1077
Rating: Teen
Janus, if Raidou remembers correctly, has something to do with doorways, beginnings, the calendar, things like that. Giles happens to be busy practically flinging around the sorceror, trying to get him to divulge how to deactivate the spell, so Xander must seek his answers elsewhere for the time being.
He is, again, a little useless, but this time he doesn’t feel as restless, because, well, he and his demons had been useful up until this point, so he doesn’t feel as if he’s completely failed his training. He and Nix are trying to keep a slight eye on proceedings, but, well, it seems like Giles happens to have things entirely in hand, and they do need to keep an eye on the hole in the wall, just in case any demons do happen to slip past the blockade.
Fortunately, he’s not one of those who simply sees demons as tools to be bent to his own will—they are creatures of their own, with feelings, aspirations, thoughts, and desires. Their lives matter as well. Which means they are more than just their ability to fight or use skills in his investigations. Given that he doesn’t even have the Mag to switch out his demon at this point, he’s ‘stuck’ with Nix. As if his original demon is any sort of hardship, really. “I don’t remember anything about Janus to be particularly ‘chaos’-like. Tricksters like Loki, maybe, but…” And, of course, Loki is also far above his own pay grade.
Fortunately, his demon is knowledgeable, as well, looking a little thoughtful. “Humans are so obsessed with categorization, requiring labels for existence. Though perhaps that’s due to your reliance on words—and for good reason, since you have demonstrated that language can shape reality itself.” That’s...a good point, actually, with spells and the like. A quick mental consideration of the spells he knows doesn’t turn up anything actually useful for this moment in time, and it’s not like the Yatagarasu approves highly of learning magic unnecessarily, finding that Summoners (among others) quickly become reliant on such for easy solutions rather than honing their own problem-solving skills. Spells and rituals can be learned, if one can convince the Herald it’s suitable for the occasion, but it’s highly unlikely that even if the Herald exists in this world they’ll be able to find her in time for any aid on that front. “He was associated with chaos, yes, but also order. The union of two opposing forces. Rather trickster-like characteristics, though he was seen more as a primordial figure than a true deity as such. And yes—I do believe he’s outside your capabilities, for now.”
He’d suspected, but still, it’s good to hear it for sure. If anyone’s had a front-row seat to his growth, it’s Nix, so, likewise, that’s his best source of an assessment of his skills. “Schrödinger’s alignment, then.” He’s made Nix laugh, and yeah, the water demon is absolutely gorgeous even in this.
And then a sudden clatter draws their attention, mirth disappearing entirely in the face of business, as the sorceror tries one last ploy to maintain his power—negotiation, by the sound of it. It may have made gagging the man a good idea, though that would certainly make an interrogation considerably harder.
“Do you really want to give up your power, Duchess?” he asks, and while it’s maybe a taunt, it—
It is a slightly seductive question. Because yeah, sure, if you’re the good person in all this, the ‘correct’ answer is no, right? Power can corrupt. And yet, if you’re powerless, unable to change events...then what does that make you? You’re merely the bystander in someone else’s story, and it’ll be up to others to change events, to do whatever the hell they like, and all you can offer is a simple protest.
And he—gods he doesn’t want to give up Nix or Encantado or Žiburinis, for the company if nothing else. He hardly knows any of these people. His self, his very existence, is defined by him being the Devil Summoner Raidou Kuzunoha the XVIII. Without it, who is he?
A hand on his, and his mind feels suddenly clearer. “Awaiting your command, Xander.”
It’s a special privilege to be called by his birth name, something that even Nix for all the loyalty he’s earned has never done before. The gentle words, the encouraging smile, the proud look in the demon’s eyes, all add to the meaning of what is being said as much as the words themselves.
Nix trusts him, puts his life in Raidou’s hands as much as the other demons do. If he decided a fusion was necessary, then they would surrender themselves willingly, living on through another. The call is Xander’s as much as it is the decision of Her Grace. And there’s a special kind of certainty there that suggests the demon believes he’ll make the right choice. He wants to ask, to beg for advice, since Gouto isn’t here to tell him what to do—
And yet, no. That’s simply his desire to avoid the consequences for his choice, to foist off any responsibility on another, and Gouto would probably realize that, too.
Perhaps, in some way, this will be his death. Perhaps these are the last minutes of the existence of Raidou Kuzunoha the XVIII. Perhaps another would be called in his stead, or perhaps not.
It doesn’t matter, in the end. He knows his duty—to protect the city, to save civilians. If he must lose the part of him that is Raidou, if he must lose what makes him useful, in this situation...then he must do so, as long as this situation puts others’ lives in danger. He had served well and honorably, and he cannot walk away, cannot turn his back on this. He has to be the voice of reason to Her Grace Buffy.
“Serving the people...is not an easy task. It demands sacrifice.” Over and over, and yet he had done so time and time again to follow this path, choosing to discard his past for the sake of others’ future.
Willow must see something in his eyes that alarms her, because she reaches out a hand, calling out, “...Wait! Duchess, Raidou—”
Her Grace smiles, superior and cold and deadly. “The way I hear it, I already have power,” she asserts, a well-aimed sword strike hitting the statue precisely and smashing it apart, just—
like—
Raidou’s consciousness
