maskormenace | 04

Entry tags:

04 | voice

I'm sorry to ruin all of the pleasant news that's been shared recently, but this is important.

[this is quite a departure in tone from what people on the network usually hear from Jonathan - it's steely and solemn, no trace of the sunny young man chatting amiably about dogs and lost items.]

A week ago two imPorts were kidnapped by a man named Robert Jennings for the sole purpose of hunting them down like animals. [the disgust in his voice is barely contained] They were rescued and Mr. Jennings himself was apprehended - but a group called the Go Fors whose services he utilized is still operating.

They provided technology which made it possible to spirit the pair of them away without causing suspicion, as well as keep them trapped long enough to be hunted. There were at least six individuals involved; I can provide names and some other information to whoever would like it.

This can't be allowed to happen again. I'll do whatever I can to help anyone interested in taking this up as well, whether through more details or physical assistance, but...in the meantime, please be careful, everyone.

[there's no telling what else they might attempt before they're brought down.]

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[he shrugs with a small smile, happy that the topic has apparently been dropped for good this time. he doesn't like to have upset people, even unintentionally.]

It's entirely possible. I've never been particularly skilled at expressing myself.

[at least from his perspective, anyway. but that's really not all that important at the moment.]

Shall we begin now?

Yeah, let's do it. [ Any last vestiges of annoyance drain away; she moves quickly between emotions, and anger is no exception. ] What's up first?

Something simple, I suppose.

[something simple being, in this case, Jonathan holding up a fist as it literally catches fire]

Haha, what the hell— [ She leans in a little closer, lifting a hand to see if there's heat. ] That's like something from a fantasy movie.

[unlike the usual ripple, this one does indeed carry a significant amount of heat. careful!]

I suppose that it is a bit fantastical if you're not used to it. But it's not so strange when you think about - the ripple's channeling the power of the sun, after all.

[ She definitely notes the heat, and it definitely doesn't stop her from getting closer. In fact, then she's just curious about how hot it is, and hovers both her hands near his to try and figure it out. ]

Yeah, I guess. Why's it called a ripple, anyway?

The energy we channel literally moves in ripples; it's why you can see those patterns when it's used in liquids.

[um, Ramir, please stop that. Jonathan casually moves his fist away from her under the guise of slamming it into a tree to display its destructive capabilities - and it is pretty brutal.]

[ Uh, rude. Man she wishes she could brag about how that totally wouldn't hurt her at all, but that'd be dumb. She's managed to keep her powers under wraps this long, right? And at least she gets to watch a tree get abused. ]

How long'd it take you to learn this stuff?

A month, give or take.

[this is seriously impressive considering that ripple typically takes actual years to perfect, but Jonathan conveniently leaves that out. it feels too much like bragging.]

[ She totally suspects as much; he's an overachiever in every other regard, why shouldn't he be obscenely impressive with this too? Her smile goes wry. ]

Lemme guess — it takes most people way longer. Right?

[he looks a little startled, and then very sheepish. has he been giving off that impression anyway? oh geez.]

It was a very unique situation.

Yeah, I bet. You had to learn it before the invading army struck, or something, right?

...it was a family issue, actually.

Yeah? [ This arch of eyebrows says she's interested, go on. ]

My brother...

[he starts, then stops, hesitance plastered across his face. Dio is gone, but there's still that huge part of Jonathan that wants to respect him, keep this as quiet as it possibly can be. was it really fine to talk about it any in detail here?

he sighs, running a hand through his hair.]

It's very complicated.

[ She's watching him closely again, deciding, reluctantly, that if she wants to know more it will probably take tact, not her usual bullheaded charge. A few tweaks to her brow and a small, downward quirk of her lips has her looking sympathetic, and her voice lowers a little. ]

I guess family stuff usually is. [ The sympathy there is genuine, at least. ] I'd listen if you wanna say more.

[he leans up against the wrecked tree, like he needs some support as he puts his energy into wrestling with this moral quandary. if he got the same promise he had from Killua, it should be fine. this is Jonathan's story too, after all. he has a right to tell it.]

I'd need you not to repeat it to anyone.

[ She drifts nearer, still watching close. There's so much more to be learned about stories and their contexts beyond the words. The trick is just remembering to pay attention to it.

It doesn't take much consideration: ] Alright.

[ And she's pretty sure she means it, too. She likes knowing, but spreading isn't usually to one's advantage. ]

[he trusts her. all he needs is her word to set aside the misgivings immediately and move on to how he should begin. there was so much.]

When I was an infant, my family was in a carriage accident. My mother died protecting me, but my father survived - saved, or so he thought, by a man called Dario Brando. He felt indebted to him, and so when he passed away we took his son Dio into our home.

We clashed immediately. He made it his goal to crush my spirit, and I lost everything to him. The torment only ceased after-

[...he bites his lip, cuts himself off. no, he still can't say it aloud even after all these years. Danny's death had been so cruel, so unnecessary; even worse, it was the first in a long string of loved ones lost to his own inability to protect them.]

There were seven years of peace. I wanted so badly for it to be over, for Dio to have really changed, but...that was too much to ask for. He was poisoning our father, the same way he'd poisoned his own.

When we arrived at the manor to arrest him, he had the ancient stone mask that I'd been researching. In the time I'd been searching for evidence against him, Dio had discovered its true purpose - when splashed with blood, it transformed the wearer into a vampire.

[his eyes drop to half mast, gaze unfocused and impossibly melancholy. it was so easy to see how this story could have ended here and now, instead of proceeding down the path it had.]

...he wanted me as the sacrifice. But my father took the blow instead. Dio slaughtered the police, and I tried to destroy him by setting the manor on fire. It was almost successful, but he escaped at the last moment.

[no word on how he had sacrificed his own home to try and stop him, or how he'd fully expected to perish in that blaze with his brother. Jonathan keeps that to himself, unaware of how obvious the implied sacrifice is.]

When I was recovering I met Mr. Zeppeli, the man who taught me to use the ripple. We and another friend of mine set out to prevent Dio from amassing an army of undead underlings and overrunning the world - that's where the memory you witnessed came from.

[he's looking at nothing in particular, now completely absorbed in his recollections. months had passed here in this universe, but for Jonathan it had only been a day since this confrontation before being brought here.]

...I thought that I'd killed him, when we finally reached Dio. But when I arrived here he told me that he'd survived thanks to an underling, and stolen another man's body to replace the one I'd destroyed.

[and now he's...smiling, the out of place expression a painful combination of bittersweetness and affection. Jonathan shakes himself a little and drops out of his memories and back into reality again. he shrugs softly at Ramir.]

So I suppose the story isn't really over just yet.

[ She's been taught how to make the right noises and expressions to make it seem like she really cares. Not really skills she breaks out often, no, but she still knows them in theory, her grandmother had been good about sharing life skills. For this story, though, there's no acting necessary. She winces sympathetically a few times, particularly at that smile at the end. That's really the worst part.

She drops into a lean against the same tree, bumping his shoulder with hers for a I'm here, that sucks gesture. She's still tactile by nature, even if she's clamped down on it lately. ]

...Wow. Sorry to make you dig that one up.

There's no need to apologize. It's something I'm always living with, whether I discuss it or not.

[it was his past, after all. and while it was unalterable now, he still carried the burden of his mistakes and his pain with him into the future. it was familiar now, a motivation rather than a weight.

he smiles again, somewhere between fond acknowledgement at her sympathetic gesture and an accompanying expression for his next statement.]

And he's still my brother, in the end.

Yeah, I guess. [ She makes a face. She's never had siblings, maybe there's something she's missing there. ] I mean, he's not really your brother, not by blood — and if you didn't like the guy anyway, what's there to tie you to him?

We grew up together, and later we spilled enough blood between us to make up for whatever we originally lacked.

[he tilts his head back, looking up pensively through the leaves of the tree. in many ways they were more legitimate siblings than biological brothers. even after all this time, it was strange to reflect on.]

And I never said I didn't like him. We both love each other very much, as a matter of fact.

[ That doesn't really seem like a healthy way to express familial love. Ramir looks doubtful, but for once, keeps the thought to herself. ]

Alright, if you say so. He seems pretty shitty to me, though.

[if any of this sounds incredibly unhealthy, that's because it SUPER IS. unfortunately the only people who realize this are Not Jonathan And Dio.]

He's a monster. [the answer comes immediately and with complete certainty.] Whatever I feel about him doesn't change that, or what needs to be done.

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tldr whoops sorry

yessss my favorite

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