ceto angst.... smtg to do w her rancor?
Hmmmm I'll toss her back to the light house for this one lmao. Its been awhile since I last played Ceto's event but I did recently her interrogation. I swear, they needed like something where we can view about rancors or any terms used in PTN, I know they already have it but felt like it wasn't up to date as much I wanted... Anyways the writing is below the cut, I hope it fits :3
To Live Another Day
Word Count: 1 151
Ceto-centric, just another night with the tide crawlers and her thoughts.
“Kill them all!”
Rain. Thunder claps at the distance. A lightning strikes the ocean forming a clawed hand in that brief moment. The smell of sea breeze, the howling wind whipping Ceto's hair in all directions and the recognizable shrill of the tide crawlers. Tonight wasn't her night at all.
“Such a pathetic being, no wonder you're the only one left.”
“Feed us, feed us!”
“Shut up!” Holding the blade tightly in her palm as she slashed an incoming tide crawler into two. Using her momentum, she side stepped and plunged the sword into a second, then the third, fourth, fifth—it never ends. Never will be until the sun comes up, but today felt heavier, difficult. The scent of blood spurred the blade, latching itself tightly until it crawled and twist around her forearm.
A maniacal laughter bubbled out as she cleaved another tide crawler and another one lunged right in front of her. Ceto's whole body flied few inches off the ground, a sputtered cough but the smile—grin remained. Immediately, she stabbed it right under its chin. Eyes ablaze with mania and madness. Bathed with monster flesh; wipe away the excess with her bloody hands. Get up and do it all over again.
More... More. More.
The blade calls for her.
Let her body be thrown like a ragdoll, chewed like a dog's bone and be slammed until she heard a crack deep in her ears. An endless horde every night, but that's fine. Everything will all be healed. She wasn't meant to die. Never meant to die. Will never die. She can't die. Atone for her sins. Atone to be the weakest link and the only one left standing. Atone for her cowardice and her inaction.
They would never say that. Maybe they will.
Ceto's consciousness kept flickering. Thoughts raced for hundred miles and yet, time within her vision seemed so slow. There goes her left arm, limping and her skin chewed open. Blood oozing beneath her feet. She clamped her mouth shut at the enticing smell; so sweet and delicious. Her stomach grumbled in hunger. No, she shouldn't—Her right arm moved to slash an incoming target, her target cut to pieces of meat. Keep moving like she was merely a puppet on strings. The blade, the whispers, everything pressed down on her to break.
Stop. Her blade stabbed a tide crawler at its forehead.
I'm tired. Her voice, not her own, laughed with glee.
Let me rest. Her feet carried her to the next horde.
Just a passenger of her own body.
“Surrender to us.”
“It will be far quicker... Easier.”
"Be one with us.”
“Like your mentor, Fy—”
That memory burned like a beacon flashed in her eyes. She could never forget that moment, could never forget her words and her promises. Through gritted teeth, she spoke: “She never joined you.” and never will be.
“She died because you're weak.”
“A miserable one.”
“Your life is meaningless without us.”
No she wasn't, and yet, her whole vision shifted. She fell on her knees. The dark sky blurred to white, the monsters became shadows of her former comrades, her family. Each one looked at her with a disapproving glare, a disappointed sigh or barely acknowledging her existence. Nothing left protecting except her own and the memories she held dear, no home to return to except the lighthouse.
There was no one waiting for her. No one knows her anymore; forgotten as everyone else.
The voices grew louder and belittled every single moment she could remember from them. All the things she held so dear were nothing in the grand scheme of things. She tried to stand up much more, battered and bruised her body, but the shadows closed on her. Wrap its dark tendrils around her neck with mocking glee.
She already tried this before.
A scream tore out of her throat. Desperate, guilt, longing to be free and the regret she shouldered.
When will it be the end?
Her hands fell on her side. The sun was already rising from the horizon when her consciousness came back. Standing on a pile of dead tide crawlers, Ceto felt the buzzing of the blade. It was still insisting to fight, but its whispers had been reduced to a garble of murmurs. The wounds all over her body ached, her body heavy with exhaustion as she slowly fell flat on her back. Blue sky, and barely clouds on sight; there won't be a storm anytime soon.
2 015th time.
She lived another day.
A blaring horn brought her back to the present. Rhythmic. People. She slowly got up, staring at disbelief at the ocean. Despite the protest of her body, she quickly got up and ran towards the light house. Up where the beacon lies, she used her telescope to spot the incoming ship.
A rescue after all these years? How? What? Were her answers finally answered?
Searching through the deck, she spotted a crew working and using their own telescope to look at the lighthouse—at them. No cannons on their ship, it was filled with crates and other technologies she doesn't know. She spotted one of them dressed in white, skirt black as the night and carried such elegance that no ordinary sailor has.
The woman looked at her as if she could see her. Ceto felt her gaze, so warm and inviting. The ship blared its horn again signalling for a landfall. Skepticism rose like the whispers of her blade, but it was overridden by the simple fact someone has visited this place after all these years. She went over to what was left of the port, trying to fix up as best she could for the upcoming people, her visitors.
One by one, the new faces, these strangers boarded out of the ship and asked Ceto numerous questions about the island and her work. All meant with a steel gaze as her hand itched to attack.
The elegant woman stepped out of the crowd. They shut up. Good, this must be their captain.
“Hm, we never thought we'd find this island.” The woman mused, glancing past Ceto and back at her. Her brows furrowed with worry and concern. “You need some medical assistance, quickly.”
“You skipped the introductions. State your name and your business.” Ceto tried to hold back her sneer as much as she could. There were too many people for her liking. Each one filled with curiosity or bare their own skepticism.
“Ah my apologies,” The woman bowed, “My name is Shin, I'm an oceanographer. We only came here because of curiosity, we never saw this on our map. So, we decided to check it.”
It could be a lie. All of her instincts were telling her that this woman and her crew were dangerous. Did the world truly forget their sacrifices to keep DisCity safe?
“And you must be?”