.6th Fantasy Impromptu [open]

[sakedrinking]

[Haku had gone further than she'd ever gone in the castle.

Bit by bit, in the days following her transformation and the loss of her sister and Kadar, she'd distanced herself from the rest of the castle occupants. She quietly faded herself out of the picture in hopes that no one would notice how... different she was, and thus not ask all the questions she couldn't answer.

So she kept going further. She avoided shadows, finding places to hide rather than try and fight them off, and it seemed to be working for the time being. Which was how she found herself here, in the graveyard, staring down at the darkness beyond a gravestone that had mysteriously moved.

She stood over it, her now human heart hammering nervously in her chest. Something about it just felt... wrong. Like a sick sensation crawling up her spine. A part of her wanted to go down, to see what it was that had her so afraid, but she couldn't urge her feet to move.

So she just stood there. Watching.

Waiting.

Wondering.]

Comments

[sakedrinking]

"Leave me alone, Duo!"

Haku's voice echoed through the graveyard, startling a flock of nearby birds in to flight. If Duo listened closely enough, and had enough attention to realize it amongst everything else that was going on, there would be a distinct lack of that tinny, mechanical tone to her voice.

There was, however, a thickness that only came with tears.

"... p-please... just leave... forget about me..."

[stillshinigami]

Duo is taken aback by that, and it does strike him. That lack of mechanical voice, the tone of her skin, the change from that near perfect placement of each synthetic strand of her hair among other things. But he didn't move, he just stared at her, forced to try to comprehend his observations verses her tearful request.

"Wha... Haku. Hey!" Okay. Something was wrong, and he didn't do anything. He needs to get to the bottom of this so he takes her by both shoulders.

"No! Okay? I'm not leaving until you tell me what's going on. 'Forget me' nothing. If I did something? You tell me. If something else happened? Tell me and we'll get through it. I'm not leaving."

[sakedrinking]

Haku tensed at his touch, and though she wanted to push him away she didn't She would feel warm under his fingers, and that close there were other things that would start to be noticed. Red-raw palms, scratches and abrasions on her bare shoulders and beneath the dirty, torn hem of her skirt, even a bruise here and there. The hue of her eyes were even different - closer to brown than red now.

"You... didn't do anything..." she finally answered, gaze shifting down in shame. "I did."

[stillshinigami]

Duo was staring. What's more? She was breathing. H-how? He couldn't get his eyes off of her.

"Oh... you're human...! How?!"

[sakedrinking]

Haku shook her head frantically, burying her face in her hands.

"I... I died... I fell and... I died..."

[stillshinigami]

And just evokes more staring, and fumbling with words. "Ah. Ho- w.. Y-you died?" He stammered, his breathing near breathing as he stared at her.

After a long hesitation he just drew her into his arms to hug her. "I'm sorry, Haku." Sympathetic. He couldn't have done anything to stop it.

[sakedrinking]

A pained sob escaped the now human Vocaloid. She didn't hug back, though.

Oh, she wanted to. He was warm and solid and real, a human touch on skin that had never felt one before. She wanted to cling to him and listen to his heart beat, and cry that hers sounded the same now.

But she couldn't.

"There's--... that's... not all..."

She put her hands on his chest and pushed him back.

"It was Harth... he... he did this to me. Because I agreed to it."

She knew she wasn't supposed to tell, but Duo wouldn't leave her alone until he knew everything.

[stillshinigami]

Duo turned his head down, still holding her tight to him. He didn't know how to feel about this, but he felt a sense of dispair, a sense of confusion and just the fact that he barely understood. It was impossible, right? Wasn't it?

"Harth?" He asked, an eyebrow raised now, utterly confused on the name. Eh. Toph mentioned him too.

"Wait... Haku? Who's this guy? How'd he turn you human?"

[sakedrinking]

"I-I don't... really know..." she shook her head, no longer resisting his embrace. Afraid as she was of him getting involved, the desire for comfort was very quickly winning out over any other emotion.

"I met him in a dream-- a memory, actually... right before I found you... right before I saw..."

He knew what she saw. She had told him. It didn't need to be repeated.

"He killed Toph... he was the reason she was a shadow... He rescued me from the same thing and he said if I agreed to this in exchange for bringing be back he would use a... spell of his to turn me human and then he wouldn't hurt anyone else."

She paused, looking up at him with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"You can't tell anyone! And you can't go after him! Promise me, Duo! Please!"

[stillshinigami]

Every time she says something all he can do is stare. Dreams, memories, seeing him there. The implication was obvious. Did that mean Harth was somehow involved with that? Did he make it so Haku saw his memories? He shook that off, only to be pelted with the news about Toph and everything else? Everything else just went red with fury. He backed away, stumbling a bit as he reached for his head.

"Hol...Fuck! Are you serious?! That little shrimp!? He killed Toph--How?! Why?!"

[sakedrinking]

"He's a vampire, Duo! That's how he killed her, and if you go after him he'll do the same to you!" Haku cried out frantically, grabbing his hand and holding on to it tightly. For how frail she looked, her grip was shockingly strong.

"Please don't... please... I did this to keep everyone safe from him! I'm the only one that needs to be his victim!"

[stillshinigami]

"...Vampire?" Duo was taken aback by that alone, but then her grip on him just kept him from panicking. It still scared him more than she may have realized.

"Haku! Dude, you know how..." He shook his head, grabbing her hand and holding it. "Do you know how monumentally stupid it is to... No. Okay? No. We're not doing this 'for everyone elses' safety thing. You get me? We're gonna deal with him." Doesn't mean he has to do it on his own.

[sakedrinking]

"B... but..."

She didn't understand. Wasn't it a good thing to be selfless? To want your friends safe? To do something to keep the people you cared about from getting hurt? It didn't make any sense, and his upset towards it made even less sense to her.

"I-... I just... wanted to protect you... I didn't want to see anyone else get hurt..."

[stillshinigami]

"But nothin'. We're all alone here and if a guy like that is out killing people? He needs to be stopped. End of story." Duo reached for her shoulders, giving her right one a squeeze.

"I know you did, and I appreciate it, Haku. We all do. But he's going to .... I don't know! Okay? You can't go into something like that without knowing what's that's at stake, and my guess? You life! He'll kill you! Again! And probably a thousand times over! We gotta stop it now." And he has no idea how.

"But... Look. I won't go after him."

[sakedrinking]

Her shoulders were trembling fiercely, shaking hands clasped in front of her chest and tears rolling down her reddened cheeks. Tiny sobs escaped as Duo spoke to her, resulting in nothing but a few nods as responses. What was he going to do, if he wasn't going to go after Harth directly?

[stillshinigami]

He had no idea what to do, but he'll think of something. It was all he could do. "Haku... Let's just go back. C'mon. I won't let him hurt you."

[sakedrinking]

"I-I don't-- ... wh-what if it's too dangerous... just me being there... ?" she asked uncertainly, voice tiny and afraid.

[stillshinigami]

His eyes were intense on her now. "Don't even. If you start thinking that worse things will happen. Listen, Haku. We're in this together. You, me, Quatre, Toph... We can't function if you're going to sacrifice yourself---and not even for a worthy cause! Don't waste your life because someone else says so."

[sakedrinking]

"... didn't I already, though?"

[stillshinigami]

"Dead or not. This is a second chance. Don't waste it."

[sakedrinking]

"I'm... so tired... I don't know how to be human, Duo..."

Her shoulders slumped, hands coming to rest on his chest and forehead dropping down. She hadn't slept more than a few hours at a time on any given day, and she couldn't remember the last time she actually ate. Not a few weeks in and she was already falling apart.

"How is this a second chance... ? Nothing feels right anymore..."

[stillshinigami]

..."Well...if that's the case be thankful you have good teachers." Duo said, pulling her into another hug to comfort her.

"You were tired to start with, Haku. Everyone is. Come with me. We"ll try fixin' you up." Either that ot they explore this area. Him? He was still kind of in shock regarding Toph and Harth.

[sakedrinking]

The curiosity was still there, but they could come back to it another day, right? She slumped against Duo, exhaustion finally showing through.

"Okay..."

[stillshinigami]

Duo pulled her to her feet, pulling her up and an arm around his shoulder. It was a plus that she was lighter now, easier to carry, but wonder if any of that robot strength even went away?

On the other hand, he was trying to wrap his mind around what he had to do. He couldn't just say he knew, not when that little shrimp could kill him and do whatever vampires do. He had to think of something.

[sakedrinking]

Getting picked up like that earned a bit of a surprised squeak, but she was too tired to protest or insist that she could just as easily walk herself back. Being held like that was a strange comfort, though, and soon enough she was completely relaxed against him, listening to his heart beat and being lulled by the rhythm of it.

"Duo..." she mumbled quietly, eyes half closed.