Atrophy

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

I'll think about Stacey popping up. I'm not sure how to incorporate him into the story line though.

@silvermist1116

Cult Popstar! Cult Popstar!

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

<Snipped quote>
This isnt even... her...final. form...

@Utrax

If we don't have an entire series of three to four posts of Annabelle powering up I quit.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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“Fuck!”

Vashti nearly jumped out of her skin as Isla popped back into the room, blinked through Madison, and introduced herself. She breathed in heavily as her hand clenched her chest, a grimace set on her face in stone. Before Vashti had a second to get over the initial shock Madison had given the girl the boot again, hoisting her out of the beach house like she was a bouncer at her club and Isla was a drunk patron who’d gotten a little too handy in the champagne room. Repeatedly. Vashti called out for Madison to stop, but her voice was dwarfed by the woman calling for Chompy to sic Isla. This was ridiculous. Hardly a minute back with the Coven, and everything was already coming off the rails. She could hear the crashing of waves as her vision began to swim.

Herik stepped in to save the day and intercepted Chompy with pets. His presence reminded Vashti to reach for the quarter in her pocket. She stepped away from the others and stared blankly out the window as she counted the ridges. Vashti wasn’t sure if the coping mechanism actually worked in this situation, because at the sound of Lyss’ voice the Leviathan’s presence dove back into her as her body shuddered. She exhaled slowly and turned back to the group with her arms wrapped around herself. She leaned against the windowsill and continued to collect herself.

The girl who’d joined the Coven moments before the Outsider attacked arrived with Quinn. Vashti was amazed that she’d decided to stick around considering the circumstances of her welcoming party. She mustered up a welcoming smile and an acknowledging wave towards Grace. It was weird seeing someone excited to be around the Coven. It wasn’t like the other girls didn’t have high energy, just...generally, theirs seemed a bit more volitalite than vibrant. It was a nice change. Vashti uncrossed her arms and rested her hands on the ledge, lightly scraping at the paint with her nails as Isla began to chatter yet again.

“I regret to inform you all that a few days ago, she was the one responsible for Izzy’s death. I only discovered this yesterday when Agent Liao approached me.”

Vasthi stopped chipping away at the paint. She didn’t know Izzy that well, but the girl had helped her with her injury on the way to the hospital. Vashti decided to keep her mouth shut, which gave room for her mind to worry. Lyss was spewing some shit to Isla about protecting the Coven with their life so that the Coven would protect them, but had the Coven protected any of them yet? Since she’d joined two girls had died. How many had been lost before she’d come? Taylor had made the right call to cut and run when she did. Vashti’s gut instinct told her that she should do the same. Unfortunately, she couldn’t listen to her instincts anymore because they weren’t her own.

“I’m upset over… what happened to those two, honestly, but that doesn’t mean more of us should expect to sacrifice ourselves too,” said Maya. Emily agreed with her. Hell, Vashti agreed with her. When she’d joined the deal had been to just defend each other. There was nothing about being ready to die for each other. Talk like that sounded more like it belonged in a proper cult than a loosely connected group of chaotic witches. Vashti inhaled deeply and looked at Lyss, but her eyes darted away nervously before settling on the beach outside.

“They’re right. Oh, uh, not about the plant,” added Vashti quickly, glancing at Isla. “Do whatever with it. Although knowing the previous owner, I’d be careful about touching anything in this house. Just...you might wanna wash your hands. Anyway!” She hit each syllable in the word musically as her slitted eyes flicked back over towards the tides. “Normally, I’d be right there with Emily when it comes to not believing a couple of government creeps. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d kill someone and pass the blame onto another. They love using patsies.”

However,” Vashti pivoted back to the point before her tinfoil hat started to poke out from her headscarf, “If Liao wanted to wipe us out then she wouldn’t have taken us to the hospital. She would’ve blasted us in Fantasy Land. Still, if we’re in danger then I think it’s time we’re all filled in on what’s what. Because I did join the Coven for protection.” From herself, mostly. “And I don’t feel like the Coven has held up their side of the deal. So, yeah, please, enlighten us so we can get done with this shit and start focusing on helping each other.”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

Can I join both squads?

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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Vashti never thought she’d put so much value in a quarter. Before, change was one of those things that she always considered inconsequential, a burden that she’d often leave behind in the coin deposit just because she didn’t want to walk around with jingling pockets. Actually, change was one of those things that she never even received, since anything and everything was put on daddy’s little black card and magically paid off by the end of the month. Yet now she kept a quarter with her wherever she went, employing Herik’s trick to keep the Leviathan at bay as liberally as possible. For a couple of days it had worked to help her reach gnosis and keep herself relatively chaos free.

Unfortunately, it didn’t work one hundred percent of the time. As far as she knew she had not injured anyone, but the Dairy Queen on 56th street would be closed until further notice after a “massive alligator” got into their walk-in and devoured all of the ice cream. Meanwhile, Vashti’s search for a Lavender Lux was going about as well as a giant alligator trying to digest tubs of dairy products. There was a creeping feeling of hopelessness that Vashti tried to ignore, just as she tried to ignore the news story from the first about a chihuahua being snapped up by the Gatorboy of Cypress Swamp.

Still, all things considered, just two Leviathan outbursts in a week and some change was pretty good. Except she’d been practically avoiding the Coven during that time, and they certainly elevated the level of chaos around her. Maybe that was why she kept pacing around outside of the beach house instead of going straight in. She was nervous. The last time she had seen the entire Coven she had yelled something to them about an orgy, and from that orgy they had acquired a beach house. The girls had insisted that Blake Schmidt had gifted it to them. Vashti didn’t want to know more. Too many questions were prompted by the idea, and none of them had answers that wouldn’t be upsetting.

However, it wasn’t those questions that were stopping Vashti from entering the beach house. She was worried about Madison. Vashti wanted to try and make amends with her. However, she just felt like there was a storm brewing, and with the Leviathan inside of her she had to keep herself from letting the hurricane out. She gripped the quarter in her pocket and ran her finger along the edge. She decided to do a loop of the neighborhood to give her head some time to clear, and to get the eyes off of her: she swore she saw blinds being peeled apart by suspicious baby boomers concerned by the appearance of a Muslim woman in their idllyic vacation spot.

By the time she was back, the blinds were shut and Emily’s moped was there. Good. With Emily there, Vashti would have some back up if Madison decided to be a hard ass. Even if Emily didn’t actually back her up, it would be nice to have her in the room—maybe Madison would split her fury between the two of them instead of unleashing it on one. Assuming that Madison got angry at all. Vashti shook her head. There was no space for negative thoughts like that. She’d talk to Madison, and they’d be cool. Easy peasy. She stepped up to the door and let herself in.

"Okay, yeah, who the fuck are you? More importantly, why is yo' boney ass here?"

Oh no. So much for catching Madison at a good time. Vashti stayed in the entrance way, lingering near the threshold into the common area. She peeked her head around the corner as the Middle Eastern girl in the yellow beanie talked, and talked, and talked, and—holy shit, did she not need to breath? It was a bit difficult with the accent but it sounded like the girl wanted to join. Why not? Vashti was pretty sure the Coven’s whole screening process was just a little song and dance to make the group seem more legit than it ever could possibly be. She walked around the corner to meet the newest member, the greeting dying in her mouth as Madison and Emily chucked the girl out the backdoor like a bag of garbage.

“Um, what?” Vashti felt her brain break as Madison and Emily gave each other a high five. Vashti, wide-eyed and slack jawed, gestured repeatedly to the door as the English language began to delete itself from her mind. “What-the-fucking, why-would-you-even, I-can’t, so-stupid, I, what? What? What!?”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

I fancied up the tab on Extra-Normals.

@The Ghost Note

I like how it looks. The clean, professional appearance clearly reflects the equally sophisticated contents of the IC.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

<Snipped quote by silvermist1116>

Odessa won't be around to boop tho

@The Ghost Note

Isla still gonna be on eggshells anytime she's around palm trees though.

𝔽𝕦𝕥𝕚𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪: 𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝔾𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕥 𝔾𝕒𝕞𝕖 - Cyberpunk Political Intrigue Roleplay

^{Greater Shill Zone
"NO MAN'S LAND"}

“...You know.”

“I don’t,” said Lott heavily. Finally, she admitted it. Her voice almost sounded human in its defeat. “Josh—”

But Gatch was gone, secretly promoting the facility manager to be the one to fix Lott with a quizzical glance before she returned her eyes to the monitors. Lott ignored both her and the screens. She stared blankly at the double doors while her eyes rewatched her conversation with Gatch. She wasn’t sure if what happened had really happened until she lived it again, and even then she wasn’t sure if she was smart enough to know how to process it. Lott played it again, like that would help her. All it did was elevate her heart rate to dangerously normal levels. Shit, she was panicking. Lott looked around the room. She needed something. She needed…

“...more info about what’s happening, and a drink or something.”

The latter, definitely. Lott mechanically stood from her chair and stiffly walked over to the dry bar. Vodka was too clear for the situation, this kind of thinking required something dark and heavy. The tumbler clacked on the countertop, was filled halfway with a whiskey that smelt either like campfire or a rioter’s molotov, and then drowned in bitters. For the first time in nearly a decade, Lott made a face as the glass touched her lips. It was a fittingly difficult drink to swallow.

Had Gatch really admitted to her that he’d knowingly committed voter fraud to win the last election?

“Yes…”

Lott inhaled. Did APEX know? What was she thinking, of course APEX knew. They hadn’t sent her there to determine whether or not Gatch had broken the rules to win the mayorship. They had sent her there to plug leaks and throw any stowaways overboard, not to question if the captain should be captain. She was the sheet for a magician to throw over and disappear a planted audience member underneath and little more. Lott’s hand shook. She should be honored. “You can see the people on the screens, Ramana.” Gatch was right. She was privileged. Most companies treated people like disposable paper towels, only used once to wipe up some dirt before being thrown into the landfill. Lott was special. She was used repeatedly, much like the tumbler in her hand.

Fuck it. She could feel the eyes on her, casting judgments, as she made another drink.

Lott knew one thing for certain: she had underestimated Gatch. She had never seen him as much of a player. Despite being the most important part of the Game, the king was typically one of the weakest pieces. She looked longingly at her reflection in the mirror over the bar, her eyes seeing ghost images of Gatch standing behind her. Something had changed about him. No, nothing had changed about him. Rather, she had only just realized. He, like Samsara Washington, was dangerous. In fact, he was more dangerous, because unlike Washington he had been able to hide his terrifying nature from her for so long. Perhaps that was why she couldn’t get a word in edgewise. She had been petrified.

Now, she just had to determine if that had been due to love or fear.

“Use the information available...”

A taunt. An invitation. A plea for mercy? She could use the information, but to what end? It couldn’t be enough to take Gatch down. In the end, the truth would bury Lott and Lott alone—unless she found someone else to be the truth for her. It was the right thing to do. Potentially stupid, definitely suicidal, but right. Maybe the only reason Gatch would tell her something like that would be to test her. Check her loyalty. But...maybe he wanted a way out of the Game. She had just been made into a pawn, and already she was unsure if she could keep playing. He’d been in it longer than her. If that was the case, shouldn’t she withhold the information? Keep him in the Game? Punish him for breaking the rules?

“What do they want?”

Lott didn’t know what she wanted to do.

“What do they really want?”

Not just in this situation, either. In everything.

“They want to spill each other’s blood and get away with it.”

The American Dream, right? She had once thought it respectable.

“They want to deface and destroy a corporate faction because it makes them feel powerful.”

But feeling isn’t being. Feeling is a forgery.

“They live all their lives—like us—giving into desires.”

She only desired to be.

“The desires are just different.”

She didn’t want to be a pawn in the Game.

“Is it you?”

But could she be more?

“Take over while I answer HQ.”

Impossible. King was never an option.

“Look at those people—‘at us’...” Us? “You and I...” Us. "—like us—giving into desires.”

Queen, now. Well, if not that then she certainly she could be promoted to a rook.

Lott felt like she was falling. She caught herself on the bar and checked her watch to administer a few doses to keep her equilibrium in check. Lifting her head, she gave the mirror a confident smile before immediately diving into a deep analysis of every single thing that was wrong with her appearance. She needed a haircut, a mud mask, a dangerous blast of uv radiation, and a new suit. She didn’t know where she could buy a personality, so she’d have to fake one. Lott leaned forward and lifted a lid to look at the bloodshot eye. Perhaps she needed to channel Adamantia Steele and have her become a part of her daily life.

The ritual was easy enough.

Lott poured herself another drink, and then whipped one up for Turkish. King’s orders were to become acquainted. Perhaps instead of serving Turkish up as the scapegoat, Lott could use him to help bolster her up a step or two. Lott herself took a topsy-turvy step or two and then she was following in Gatch’s footsteps, stepping out of the room and toward the elevator. She pushed the call button and waited on her opportunity to go down. Reflecting back on it, she didn’t like how the advisor had so easily peeled Gatch away from her. Jealously, for Gatch? Stupid. He had said it himself. Lott and Gatch?

They were an us now.

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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Vashti focused on the quarter that Herik placed in her hand and listened. It was difficult to think of Herik as the kind of guy who’d punch someone else, let alone punch them with enough anger to send them to the hospital. As for his advice, she was already trying something similar with her meditations in search of achieving gnosis. It had even worked a few times before, but being around the Coven made thinking—let alone trying to find an inner peace—impossible. A focal point might just do the trick. Still, she’d have to be cautious. The Leviathan wouldn’t just break a jaw; it’d rip the whole thing off.

“At this point, I’ll try anything. We never even got the chance to bring up finding someone who can break curses,” said Vashti, rubbed her nail against the edge of the quarter. She glanced over at Emily and frowned. Even with the other girl adding her voice to Vashti’s desires to search for an Adept with lavender Lux, she doubted they would be able to convince the rest of the Coven to offer a hand. Vashti was new enough to not yet have a firm grasp of the pecking order, but it was telling how nobody else had come to watchover Emily in case Babylon came back to finish the job.

Jesus, how could she be doing all of this complaining with Emily in the hospital like this? Vashti sighed, annoyed at herself for being so self-absorbed. Then she thought about Herik’s mother, and how being in a hospital must constantly remind him of her. Vashti couldn’t keep throwing herself a lame Leviathan pity party. Still, she had to keep talking, even if it were just to keep Herik distracted or let Emily’s subconscious know that there were people here for her.

“So, when exactly were you going to tell me you had a magical lion?”

Recollections: The Coven [COMPLETED]

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The hospital room was quiet except for the beep of the heart monitor and the nervous tapping of Vashti’s foot as she sat beside Emily. The tapping slowed as Vashti began breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, the annoying mantra of every cheap spa guru ever. Despite the cliche of the whole thing, it did have the calming effect she was looking for to give Vashti enough clarity to realize how big of an asshole she’d just made herself look. Madison had pull when it came to the Coven while Vashti had none. She didn’t regret the things that she said, but the way that she said it…shit. The fact that nobody came to watch over Emily was telling enough. Vashti ran her fingers through her hair and locked them behind her head as she breathed. In, out, in, out, in.

The door opened with a knock. Oh, great, it turned out Vashti was right and Babylon had come back to finish the job. What had been her plan, exactly? The Leviathan was tucked away wherever it went inside of her when it was scared, and even if it was around it wasn’t like Vashti could tell it to protect Emily. She held in her breath and looked up to seem Babylon striking down upon her, but was instead greeted by the sight of Herik limping toward the chair beside her. In a way that was worse than Babylon. Maybe they sent him to tell her that she was out. God, that’d be brutal. She smoothed out her hair to hide her malformed ears and rested her hands on her knees, slowly letting out the breath she had been holding.

She stared at the foot of Emily’s bed. That was the best greeting she could give him as he began to speak about Elise. Vashti frowned. She wasn’t even sure if she had ever truly spoken to Elise. She wasn’t even sure if she knew which girl Elise was, exactly. The blonde one, right? She was about to say something when Herik reached out and grabbed her hand. It shut her right up.

“...It won't get better with this group…”

“I’m getting that impression,” muttered Vashti as Herik continued.

“...I know it's a lot, but I hope you stay."

Vashti sighed, looked at his hand holding hers, and turned to Herik with a sad smile. “Thank you, but I…” Have nowhere else to go? Can’t leave, because it’d be too dangerous for her to be alone again? She continued slowly, “I don’t know if that’s my call anymore.”

In part, she was talking about Madison and the other girls, but there was something else too. Vashti let go of his hand.

“I owe you an explanation.”

She had been avoiding the conversation with Herik since the other night. Even after the doctors had patched her up she had seen to it to never be caught alone with the guy. She fidgeted nervously in her chair as she tried to formulate the thought in her head. She felt nauseous and lowered her head back in the chair until she was staring up at the fluorescent lights. Why was it so difficult to say it? Vashti closed her eyes so tightly that the back of her eyelids turned into a black, starless night sky being bombarded by fireworks.

“Dude, sometimes I think I’m out of control. Like just now? Or when I went off on Madison in the elevator the other day? I used to just shrug shit like that off, man. But ever since getting cursed I’ve...well, I haven’t been me and I’m not talking about the transformations. Herik I know it sounds like an excuse but I—it’s just—how can I…”

Vashti opened her eyes, her slitted pupils dancing around the room in a panicked confusion before she covered them with her hands.

“I know it helped us against the Outsider, but that was just dumb luck. It’s pure chaos. It could do anything, go after anyone. Herik, when I turn into the Leviathan I don’t control it at all. I used to think the reverse of that was true but now...now I’m pretty sure it's always has some sway.”