Nope's Peak r2 - Day 1

[flamingprick]

[Rin will go ahead and drag Allen up to the aquarium tunnel on the fourth floor then.]

Here! We'll have plenty of privacy up here. We can hear anyone coming this way, plus nobody really comes up here anyway.

Comments

[flamingprick]

[Well that's. A thing.]

I'm pretty sure God didn't spare Noah and his family just so they could destroy the world.

[He is anime!Catholic so he knows enough to know that particular story at least.]

[lefthandpath]

I'm not really sure how it got to this point. I'm still... learning a lot about it.

[flamingprick]

It sounds like they're causing you a lot of trouble.

[What with how serious Allen looks right now and all.]

[lefthandpath]

Haa... they cause a lot of people a lot of grief. I think that's part of the Noah thing.

[flamingprick]

Must be. The 'demon generals' or whatever they're called do that in my world. They have a bunch of names but like hell am I gonna remember them all. They're just all huge jerks who want to take over the world.

[lefthandpath]

How original.

[ugh...]

[flamingprick]

Yeah. What is it with bad guys wanting to take over the world?

[lefthandpath]

Or destroy the world.

It's very cliched.

[flamingprick]

It really is.

So...the 'akuma', I'm guessing those are your world's demons?

[lefthandpath]

Er... right.

They're not really... demons from Hell. Or anything like that.

They're actually machines. Machines that are powered by the souls of the dead called back to earth by the ones they've left behind.

... who the Millennium Earl uses as a way to. Hide these machines, these weapons. After killing them.

[yeah, it's. horrific.]

[flamingprick]

[Holy fucking shit that is some serious body horror right there.

Give him a moment to process all of that.]

What the fuck?

[Yeah, that. Yeah.]

[lefthandpath]

[yeah, if you think that's bad, this is going to be. a long. story.]

That last part is why people who the Millennium Earl con into creating akuma aren't known to live.

[flamingprick]

Yeah, no kidding! I mean, demons take over people's bodies in my world too, but the people live through it usually! An exorcist can kick the demon out without hurting the human.

[lefthandpath]

Mostly, the Exorcists of the Black Order cull the numbers of akuma--at least until we can defeat the Millennium Earl and his Noah.

Akuma evolve when they take human lives. With each evolution, the soul trapped inside degrades. Only Exorcists who can wield Innocence against akuma are able to free the souls without destroying them completely.

[flamingprick]

I wonder if that's anything like the demon weapons we get.

[He pulls the sword-bag off of his shoulder and unzips it. Then he removes the sword from the bag and shows it to Allen, though he keeps it in its sheath.]

Like this one, it's my sword. We can use regular weapons to weaken demons, but you need special ones to get rid of the demons entirely.

[lefthandpath]

Innocence can be forged into a weapon like that.

But normal weapons are basically useless against akuma.

[flamingprick]

They don't even help weaken them? That sucks! We use grenades and rocket launchers and stuff and it really helps.

[lefthandpath]

Well, they can distract, but...

Anyway, it's just generally not a good idea to have regular people try to fight akuma.

[flamingprick]

Regular people can't even see demons in my world. Can anyone see them in yours?

[lefthandpath]

They can.

But since the akuma disguise themselves in the corpses of the person who called for the soul... most people don't realize they're there.

So then they kill more people, create more tragedies and akuma...

[flamingprick]

Yeah, that sounds like it's serious.

[He pauses for a moment, considering something.]

I dunno if I could actually go there or not, but is there anything I can do to help?

[lefthandpath]

[just... kind of sighs a bit.]

It helps to have someone to vent to, a little.

I haven't had a lot of time to stop and breath in the past three months, so... I've actually been... pretty on edge. So this helps.

[flamingprick]

Well I'm here whenever you need that. Our worlds aren't exactly the same, but they're similar enough that I think I get where you're coming from.

[lefthandpath]

[rubs his right hand against his left.]

... the actual reason I said this could use some privacy... I didn't go prematurely gray or anything like that. And you weren't wrong to assume it had to do with akuma.

[flamingprick]

[Oh, he didn't expect this to come up already. Maybe Allen is more comfortable around him than he thought. Which is a nice thought, actually, because that totally makes them friends. And Rin will definitely be there for a friend.]

What happened?

[lefthandpath]

[poor Rin. this is like Allen Walker 101 with Exorcists what with akuma always yelling about his crime. and sometimes... it's just easier to get it out of the way.

he smiles. because that's just what he knows best how to do to keep an even tone and expression.]

A few years ago, my father died.

And when the Millennium Earl came and told me that I could bring him back... I was selfish enough to call his name.

[flamingprick]

[From that first sentence, Rin can already tell this is going to be a trip. Dead parents are something he can definitely sympathize with.

But then Allen continues and his sympathetic look turns to one of shock.]

You...are you an akuma, then?

[lefthandpath]

[aaaaahhhhahaha cryyyyyyy i mean he's not wrong? he's not wrong but like.

shakes his head, still smiling.]

No. You see, my left arm was always kind of useless, just ugly, heavy weight. [pulls off his glove so he can show the cross embedded in the back of his hand, show how inhuman it actually is, joints like rivets.] But after Mana cut my face, cursed me to see the suffering of the souls trapped within the akuma... he was going to kill me by order of the Earl, but my left arm moved. For the first time.

It destroyed the akuma I had created. I survived, but afterwards, this became my appearance.

[flamingprick]

So that...

[He reaches out for a moment, like he's going to touch Allen's hand, but stops short. He remembers Allen's warning, about how that hand might hurt him. So he pulls his hand back instead.]

That's his gift to you, then. The arm that you can use to protect yourself with.

[Since only Innocence can destroy akuma, right?]

[lefthandpath]

[i hope u r learning to appreciate patented Allen Walker I'm Not Crying You're Crying smiles.

because like.

yeah.

Rin gets it.

and that's so rare for someone to just. get it.]

That's right.

[flamingprick]

[He is definitely appreciating these smiles, because genuine smiles look good on Allen. And it gets a gentle smile from Rin in return.]

Just before he died, my dad gave me this sword.

[The one he put back on his shoulder not too long ago, he means.]

I wasn't able to save him with it, but because of that gift I can save others. So believe me when I say 'I get where you're coming from.'

[lefthandpath]

I know. I can tell.

You have a terrible poker face.

[hi this is what being friends with Allen Walker is like.]

[flamingprick]

[WHOOPS

There's no denying that at least.]

That's not my fault, you know! It's just how I am.

[He's not actually mad or anything, just a touch embarrassed by it. He knows it's true, he's a bad liar.]

[lefthandpath]

[laughs a bit, sounding like he very much needed it.]

It's not really such a bad thing.

[flamingprick]

Well...I guess not, no. But it makes it harder to keep up with people who are good at hiding their feelings.

[lefthandpath]

[ganba, Rin.]

That makes sense--that it'd be frustrating, I mean.

[flamingprick]

[FROWNNNNN but it's not a serious one.]

I'll just have to beanbag-tackle people into submission again, I guess. If they won't be honest with their feelings, there's ways to get 'em to loosen up.