DEMON EATER
VICE CAPTAIN. NB. ( 29 ) Jung Hoyeon TW: war, death, ptsd
HISTORY
IS THIS WHAT IT IS LIKE, TO CARRY THE BURDENS OF DECIMATING GLORY? In broad daylight as the sun shone, you stood witness to the unraveling of war. Always watching, you observed the mannerisms of predator and prey where the one who survived was deemed the champion. In the reflection of a pool of blood, it began with a childhood friend, then a beloved grandparent; slowly the river styx took your closest family. You became hardened by the pain and grief, as a child, something desperate grew. Every day you wore your coat of knives, the blades sharp enough to pierce anything that wanted to crawl beneath your skin; friend and foe alike. There is a hollowness in your eyes when you swing your hilt, the bite of your metal striking always first. You understand what is required to live, so you fight without an ounce of hesitation. Others praise your resilience, your lack of hesitation and all the mechanisms that physically compete to be near flawless. But you feel nothing and that is the price of your invulnerability.
What becomes of you in the comfort of your cynical indifference and your apathetic nature? The sweet inhalation of smoke and memories that trickle down your eyes without a single sound from your lips. At the seams of your metallic skin, you feel the beginning of your undoing. The clangs of metal ring louder and something demonic gnaws at your humanity, war does not determine victors, that you have learned, war only results in those who remain. And in the path that you have walked with your grimy feet, you stand alone in what began as despair. You win and you weep. But what is left to save in a graveyard of abandoned hopes and discarded memories? You do not know, and on your knees, you pray for everything to dissipate.
CONNECTIONS
BLOOD THIEF ⌱ THE SHARPEST WEAPON IS FORGED BY SILENCE
The scent of decay and death never escapes you and you are reminded of all that you have lost. You’ve grown numb to the way in which you must kill and no one else dares approach the killer of millions. When you meet her, she is unlike all others who have gone to war. Some do it for madness, others for duty, and the remainder are ravaged by grief. But BLOOD THIEF stood tall and looked you in the eye when she journeyed by your side. She held her head high, eyes hardened with stubborn resolve. She doesn’t beg for your mercy nor your help. Instead she gambles her life, by approaching you when no one else dared to. The past awakens from the slumbers of the cold, a silent obligation made in the dreams that visit you in the night - no matter what, you wanted to see her alive. She chooses to walk down a dangerous path that will send her to her last breath. You know how it all ends, and for once, you refuse to receive another nightmare of a lost soul. She has given you an invaluable reminder of a purpose, a survival, a hope.
MASTER OF DEATH ⌱ IT IS THE WORLD THAT IS CRUEL
Loneliness is like a cloth that is stuck to your skin. You had accepted your fate to survive and succumb to the ravages of war on your own. He was one of the very few that managed to leave an impression, one that began to unlock the memories of your past. You found yourself pouring your soul out to him about the people in your past, the lives you had taken, the future that stared at you murky and hollow. You spoke of every consequence that befell you as a result, every consequence that you deserved. He spoke warmly and kindly, and broke through to the way you had always seen yourself and it reminded you of your humanity. You feared becoming a burden and slowly began to withdraw from him. His kindness and aide was a gift and you would not allow yourself to outstay your welcome. And perhaps that was what led you to perpetual death's doorstep. You knew if he saw you in that state he never would have left. So you lied through your teeth, making sure he would know that you were dead. He would be free of your troubles and you would carry on without the fear of losing him.
CURSED SOLDIER ⌱ WHAT IS EVIL BUT A PERSON WHO NEVER TASTED GOOD?
They smelled like rot and looked like scum. Your distaste was made the moment you faced them on the battlefield. You fought for your life while he fought for his and perhaps the Gods deemed you equally worthy to live another day. You have witnessed horrors and gruesome acts like none other and there was a loathing that churned from within you for bearing witness to it all with your head lowered. You tolerated it all as a means to preserve what little sanity still clung to the fragments of your mind. Unlike you who hid from reality, he wore every crime with impenetrable skin. While he continued to be the hideous beast he was, you saw a glimpse beneath the flesh. He is a monster that devours other brutes. He was as terrible as he was good; a dichotomy that you knew all too well and despised seeing in him. You refuse to share these similarities and he continues to provoke you in a way that lessens the invisible barrier that separates you from him. One day the scales will tip and you will accept a fate worse than the emptiness you live in and you will bare your fangs in hunger.
GOD KILLER ⌱ TOILING THE SOIL TO DISTRACT MYSELF FROM THE SORROWS
The arrangement was a simple one to begin with - you needed a means to keep yourself alive and he provided you with a position to do so. You never yearned for power nor did you seek to overstep the lines and this sense of neutrality gained his trust. While you worked for him, you never questioned any of his plans and went along with it so long as you were paid. No payment ever came late. However, the more you began to earn, the more you were forced into shouldering heavier burdens. While you rarely exchanged vocal opinions with each other; a silent understanding began to grow between the cracks. More often than not, you were the peace to his chaos and inevitably, the one to clean up the messes that came from his decisions. You’ve grown accustomed to his mannerisms and even find yourself chuckling fondly when his temper flares. Neither of you would ever admit it but there’s a friendship that ties the two of you together. You’ve contemplated leaving to pursue a new adventure but there’s a sense of guilt that chews on the paper thin edges of your being. Everyone else was so easy to leave, but why not him? Perhaps it was pity or familiarity.
DEMON EATER IS CLOSED & THEIR SPECIAL STAT IS STRENGTH.