Balem Abrasax (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
entitles) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
undergrounds2015-08-05 08:38 pm
entitles) wrote in undergrounds2015-08-05 08:38 pm
Entry tags:
WHO YOU GONNA CALL? [closed to Azula and Aradia]
Balem wasn't keen on helping vampires. Not in the slightest.
But, in this case, there was something he wanted out of the deal enough that he'd put his differences aside. The Bexley takeover had clearly taken a lot out of him and it was beginning to wear him down. He stood now with wisps of grey in his hair, visible wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.
No, that would not do. He could siphon some youth from unsuspecting passer-bys, but that would take time and more effort than he could expend right now. No, he needed a soul. And none of the ones pledged to him were due just yet, so he took this job.
It seemed that a young vampire named Clementine had fed off of and killed a man she met at a nightclub, and his spirit decided to stick around and make life tough for her. Seeing an easy opportunity for a free soul, Balem answered the call to get rid of it. He invited Azula along, because he already knew that she was a fellow soul-eater and wouldn't get worked up about it like some did.
Balem knocked on the old wooden doorway, "I hope she remembered that we need to be invited and can't just barge in. She should be used to that."
But, in this case, there was something he wanted out of the deal enough that he'd put his differences aside. The Bexley takeover had clearly taken a lot out of him and it was beginning to wear him down. He stood now with wisps of grey in his hair, visible wrinkles around his eyes and mouth.
No, that would not do. He could siphon some youth from unsuspecting passer-bys, but that would take time and more effort than he could expend right now. No, he needed a soul. And none of the ones pledged to him were due just yet, so he took this job.
It seemed that a young vampire named Clementine had fed off of and killed a man she met at a nightclub, and his spirit decided to stick around and make life tough for her. Seeing an easy opportunity for a free soul, Balem answered the call to get rid of it. He invited Azula along, because he already knew that she was a fellow soul-eater and wouldn't get worked up about it like some did.
Balem knocked on the old wooden doorway, "I hope she remembered that we need to be invited and can't just barge in. She should be used to that."
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"Well, if she forgot that, then she isn't really worth helping, is she?"
And then she'd have to offer to go on the hunt with him for a soul or two. Because if she was going to go hunting, she was going to get one herself too.
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It also freed her up to start snooping around again, a hobby she'd really missed over the past two years of undeath. A few early trails lead to dead ends, but one absentminded comment overheard on a street corner finally lead to this - someone complaining about a fresh ghost causing too much trouble, clearly in need of someone to show it the ropes before it ended up banished.
Which was a job she felt perfectly suited for, really, though any hope of peacefully talking to the other ghost fled when she saw the two strangers headed for the same building. Crap.
Aradia skidded to a halt, reflexively anchoring herself to a nearby street lamp. They could be mortals and therefor unable to see her, admittedly, but something was making her anxious enough to be wary. And it doesn't cost her anything to be cautious, so what's the harm in watching first?
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"Where is he?" Balem asked.
"In the basement," she said, "Always in the basement. It's the one place in this house with no windows. Go, get rid of it."
"I see," Balem said, because while ghosts didn't care about windows, it was likely a vampire spent a large portion of the day in their basement and perhaps even slept there, "Do you care how I dispose of your little annoyance?"
"No, no, do what you like," she said, waving him off.
He grinned and motioned for Azula to follow him as he went down the stairs. Clementine stayed upstairs, as it was nightime and there was no danger of being hit with sunlight.
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"This is why you always make sure you actually get rid of someone."
Ghosts were irritating to others. To her, they were something else. Meals. One pest, yes, but one wasn't indicative of the others.
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That wouldn't do. That wouldn't do at all.
By the time she's peeled herself off the street lamp the strangers are nowhere to be found, so she risks it and dashes through the intervening space where she remembers them standing. Thankfully, ghosts don't catch on thresholds, and if she's lucky they won't realize she's following.
Hopefully.
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He held up the bottle of vampire blood, offering it to Azula, "You may take this, if you wish, since I'm taking the other reward. We may not need it much, but you could always use it for a bribe on a human. I thank you for your understand, by the way, normally I'd share but it's been so long since I last regenerated I'm starting to look my age."
So there were a few more bits of information: they weren't human, and Balem was planning on taking some reward that would allow him to rejuvenate his magic. Souls were very good for that, one soul could last him quite a long time.
"Alright, I know you're here, come out, come out," Balem said, trying to draw the ghost out of hiding.
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She follows up his remark with one of her own, "The harder you make this, the worst it'll be. We're far better than an exorcist, trust me."
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Wait.
They knew she was there.
Aradia froze mid-step in her attempt to trail the pair, suddenly thankful that breathing was only an old habit for ghosts. Speaking up was out of the question, since even snapping back would confirm where she was standing and that would be a stupid mistake. There's still a chance they don't know about her for sure, and it's a chance she's willing to bet on.
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As he spoke there was a crash from across the room as a wine glass was flung onto the floor. Balem turned to look - and there was the ghost he was looking for.
"Ah, there's mine."
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She smiled. The look of a cat watching a plump canary if ever there was one.
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Aradia spins around, her gaze snapping between the strangers and the not-quite-visible flicker of the other ghost, and does her best to keep calm in the face of a steadily worsening situation. Sure, her control's getting better, but losing her cool and detonating a lightbulb would probably break the tension into outright chaos.
"I'm not your friend," and she bites her cheek a second later because why does she always start off on the wrong foot. It's not like they're already eying her like sharks near blood or anything. "I was here to talk to him - what do you two want? He wasn't hurting anyone."
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"She killed me!" the other ghost yelled, the lights flickering, "I'll make her life hell!"
"Oh, I beg to differ," Balem said, licking his lips and turning back to Aradia, "And you...well, we weren't contracted to deal with you, but it's lovely that you're here."
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Then, her eyes flick back to Aradia. She resists the urge to draw closer, but her muscles are preparing for it. Getting ready to lunge her forward. A pity she doesn't know her name. That would make this easier.
"Why don't you and I go somewhere else? Leave the boys to their chat."
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It takes her a heartbeat to scoot closer to the poor nameless ghost. Another to grit her teeth, square her shoulders, and look Azula dead in the eye with all the stubborn defiance she can muster. Balem's getting ignored for now, how sad. "I'm not going anywhere."
Aradia no.
"If he was bothering her, then she had it coming - and neither of you have any right to hurt him, deal or no deal." This is the worst decision she's made in weeks, Aradia no. The realization of that fact comes too late to help and speeds up her tone with the first hints of panic, but she's in too deep now. "He didn't deserve to die!"
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He had used being ignored to his advantage; by the time he spoke the other ghost was nothing but a ball of light in one of his palms, which he poured into his mouth and down his throat like thick honey.
His chest glowed brightly, seen even through the seams of the dark black cloak he was wearing. There was a heat coming from him, too, so he appeared to be steaming in the otherwise cold room.
"One down..."
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She even licks her lips a little at the idea of the a morsel.
i'm pretty sure balem and azula are making the exact same expression in those icons and its amazing
She whirled around when she felt the barely perceptible presence of the other ghost vanish, staring in growing horror as it's reduced to light and... liquified? The sight hits her like a punch to the gut, her anger temporarily put aside in favour of trying to comprehend what that meant. Eating ghosts can't be an actual thing that happens, right?
Instinctively, she begins to back away from Balem - and unknowingly edges closer to Azula in the process, her focus on manifesting beginning to weaken under the emotional strain. "S-surviving shouldn't mean you need to ruin other people's lives to get by. It's not right."
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As the light in his chest dimmed, his hair became sleek and brown again, his wrinkles disappearing until he looked like a young man once more, so free of blemishes that he was almost statuesque.
"We don't really have a taste for your flesh, or your blood, but your souls...quite delicious, unfortunately for you."
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That fell to fae.
At least in her opinion.
Azula said nothing, then, lunging like a cat toward a mouse. Her nails -- sharp enough to rip flesh -- dart forward. She has no doubt this will be a slow process -- playing with her food, chasing it down -- but she can at least try for a taste now. Collect a bit of the ghost's energy. If Aradia isn't quick enough to get away.
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The rest of her sentence goes unsaid. Unfortunately for her, she's not quite quick enough to dodge, especially distracted by conversation as she is - Azula's lunge had hit home when the ghost tried to reply to Balem, shoving her forward in a daze and ripping sections of her back and arm open neatly.
The wound stings, an oddly vivid sensation that shatters her focus completely, and Aradia can't help but stare at her arm in shock. That's- that shouldn't be possible. Today is full of unwelcome surprises, and it's only going to get worse from here.
But it doesn't take long for the mix of surprise and fear to turn to fury, at the situation and the other ghost's misfortune and everything in between. She forces her gaze away from her arm, stumbles back out of immediate range, and reaches out for something - anything - in range to throw at Azula as a defense. Which only amounts to a sad little lightbulb exploding, but that's to be expected from a ghost who hasn't really learned how to fight.
"Stop! I'm not- I'm not prey," and even if she's only expecting to get taunted further, it's not her nature to flee without trying to fight back. She has to try. "That's just sick."
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