Oz "Vessalius" (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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deercountry2022-06-09 07:08 pm
swornto) wrote in deercountry2022-06-09 07:08 pm
Entry tags:
it catches up eventually
Who: Oz Vessalius, Xerxes Break, & Close CR
What: Oz becomes corrupted and dies, then Break gets stuck in a miserable timeloop.
When: June 15th (forward-dated)
Where: Pandora House & The Forest Around
Content Warnings: Suicidal Ideation, Beasthood Suicide, Child Endangerment
A Cycle of Misery
Please use the top-levels below, because there are timeloop shenanigans to keep orderly!
What: Oz becomes corrupted and dies, then Break gets stuck in a miserable timeloop.
When: June 15th (forward-dated)
Where: Pandora House & The Forest Around
Content Warnings: Suicidal Ideation, Beasthood Suicide, Child Endangerment
A Cycle of Misery
Please use the top-levels below, because there are timeloop shenanigans to keep orderly!
1st loop / morning off / not erased / open
[It was just a normal Wednesday. Oz typically patrolled as a Hunter, but that morning he had plans to tail Break around. The man was his senior in many ways; Break didn't just look after the kids as a guardian, but he had taught Oz proper swordsmenship and helped him hone his battle instincts. Oz felt like he always learned something from following Break around and watching him work.
But something was weighing on Oz these days. A thought had been put in his head and it was burning a hole through his heart. He'd begun questioning where dispatching Beasts was really the right course of action. At first, Oz signed up as a hunter because he thought it suited him best. He wanted to help people, he had a exclusively violent power, and killing Beasts kept everyone safe. But if Beasts could be saved... Was he really making the right choice? Or was he, once again, becoming a killing tool?
Those dark thoughts clouded his mind as he prepared for the day. Oz stood in the kitchen, mental gears spinning through dark thoughts, and summoned his scythe. As it appeared, Oz felt a strange itch in his mind. He tried to brush it off and smiled instead, waving with his free hand.]
Okay! I'm headed out! Do you need me to pick anything up on my way home?
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But today is a normal Wednesday. Nothing out of the ordinary, and nothing to worry about other than the usual. Gil tries to smooth out his concerned frown so Oz doesn't worried and rushes to finish putting together the container, yelling over his shoulder.]
Oz, wait!
[In a hurry, he runs over to him, holding out the meal he prepared for his trek.]
Don't forget your lunch! If you're going to fight, you need to make sure you're getting all of your nutrients! I tried to make it balance, but I also added a snack in there for later.
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The B-Rabbit can only destroy things anyway.
But he's absolutely here for one of Gilbert's homemade lunches. Oz tucks the scythe under his arm so he can take the lunch box in both hands. Then he looks up at Gilbert with a stubborn expression.]
... Thanks, Gil. You make sure you're eating too. And resting! You just got here, so you should take it easy.
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Gil has been tearing up a lot lately. He's trying to tone it down, but he's just so overjoyed. That stubborn expression brings back memories, so instead of commenting on how Oz handles the scythe, or putting his worrying into words, he laughs quietly and reaches out to ruffle Oz's hair. It feels like old times.]
I'm fine, Oz. [He's always had an abundance of nervous energy, but he's less tired than he's been in years.] I need to learn about this place so I can stand by your side, but thank you. [For always thinking about him.]
[He ruffles his hair again.] Make sure you're back in time for dinner. I'm trying a new recipe and I don't want your food to be cold!
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cw: cigarretes (implied)
cw: cigarretes (implied), smoking addiction
cw: cigarretes (implied), smoking addiction
1st loop / oz's first death / erased by timeloop / CW: Suicide | Closed to Xerxes Break
[They were starting in the wooded area around their house that day. Oz was still carrying his red scythe as he followed Break around, letting the man take the lead. After all, he was supposed to be learning from his senior that day.
But his sharp hearing picked up on something further in the forest. Oz stopped and turned his head.]
Did you hear that... [Wait, of course he did. Oz corrected his question:] Should I go check that out?
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Having him along for something real like this still feels weird, however, and Break is far more solemn now than he was during their training sessions at home, when Break routinely wiped the floor with him and then did obnoxious victory dances about it. In part, he's simply "on duty" at present -- the beast he's been picking up signs of seems particularly nasty, and he's concerned about its possible proximity to the house. In part, honestly, he's a little anxious. Break has never truly been a proper teacher, not the way Qrow is. Renowned for his shitty attitude at Pandora, which was deliberate on his part, nobody ever hated any of the new recruits enough to foist them off on the notoriously foul-tempered Mad Hatter. To that end, he certainly knows what Oz needs to know, and has tried to pass it down. He also knows that if Oz is really going to thrive in this role, he needs to be set free to handle himself from time to time. But has Break done a decent enough job at all this that he can stand to let Oz go now...?
Well. Given that Break has already had to send him off to save the world once, probably sending him off to stalk a single beast is alright. Oz wasn't alone at all then, though...hn.]
We'll approach it from opposite directions. I'll send Baltus with you. [His trusty omen, who he never puts away, moves easily to Oz's side. This is clearly not a request.] If anything happens on either side, he'll be able to connect us quickly.
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So he's surprised when Break gives him permission. Pleasantly so. It's strangely validating, too, like his efforts from the past nine months are being rewarded. But to that same end, he feels that strange mental itch again... Oz adjusts his grip on the B-Rabbit's red scythe and nods.]
Right! I'll meet you at the middle. [With a nod to Baltus, Oz turns to head in 'his' direction.]
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Before he can second-guess himself again, Break sets off too, similarly swift and silent even as he stops often to listen carefully. While he keeps his connection with Baltus open he can't give it his full attention. He's the former Red-Eyed Ghost and he has not lost the skills that made him an excellent hunter back then, in grislier times. But he's certainly not infallible and his prey just now will absolutely kill him if he slips up for even a second.
Hopefully he'll get to the beast before Oz does. Surely then all will be well.]
CW: Bloody Imagry, Animal Transformation
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CW: Horrific Imagry, Mutilated Body
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xerxes break fights an eyeball in a timeloop
final battle / oz dies one last time / cw: suicide | Open!
[It's been a few loops now and the results are always the same.
Oz smiles an empty smile in the morning. His thoughts get darker and darker. He fights, he becomes a Beast, and he dies. Break repeats the day and watches it happen again. And again, and again.
Until one final loop. Oz still runs off to find the Beast near their house. Even after everything, he can't let it get near his new home-- his family. He finds it in the same part of the woods as ever, just as powerful looking as its been every time before. And he knows this time that if he uses his power, he will become a Beast himself and die.
Oz stands on shaking legs, staring down the Beast as an open target. What is he supposed to do?
He doesn't realize that Baltus has alerted the household. Oz thinks he's alone, frozen in place and about to take a swipe from the clawed Beast.]
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Almost silently, Echo leaps from behind Oz and slashes at the Beast's head before landing next to it and immediately hopping backwards to avoid its reach. Her Omen Armelle, looking far more like an adult bear than a cub, tries to push her way inbetween Oz and the Beast.]
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Echo-chan, stay back! This one is really dangerous!
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we'll fuse the threads later time is a social construct
Oz, don't just stand around! You can fight!
[ Echo is also there. She is a little faster and more skilled, which Alice would normally be feeling a little huffy and competitive over. Right now, she's just glad she is there. Acting quickly and decisively in a crisis is a good trait! Oz isn't doing that at all, and it's awfully irritating that he's dithering about instead of defending himself! ]
time is made up
His attention snaps forward, seeing that Echo is taking up most of the fight. Oz's hands tremble. They're empty. If he uses the B-Rabbit, he knows what will happen but... Alice is right. He reads her words as encouraging him to use his power, even when he knows she normally wouldn't approve.]
Okay. Stand back, Alice! I'll hold it down with my chains!
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(cw: creepy imagery, eye gore)
But when Baltus alerts them, he's not thinking about that and is out the door, twin pistols in tow because using the spare would be faster than reloading in battle. Echo and Alice are already helping Oz, thank goodness. While they do that, he focuses on the bond he shares with his chain and calls Raven. The giant bird flaps its monstrous wings, blue flames erupting from its hollow eye sockets. Gil hadn't been sure if he could still summon the chain, but knowing that he can means he's not completely useless here.]
ALICE, ECHO! Keep Oz away!
[Gil warns them sternly, waiting until Alice has pulled Oz away. The last thing he wants is Oz to get hurt in the crossfire.]
Raven!
I understand.
[The blue flames that light up Raven's skull plume out, engulfing the ground to attack the Beast.]
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Then he remembers the Beast and how dangerous it was in the past. Oz snaps out of his daze and calls out to Gilbert.]
Please be careful! I don't think that this one is normal!
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aftermath | Open! No Oz Replies, sorry.
OTA | CW: alcohol
[Break accepts Oz's death. Once they've whittled the whole day down to its barest bones and Oz's final decision becomes his choice and his alone, it's really all he can do. But while that wretched Pthumerian who forced them into the time loop may be satisfied with the results, Break himself is left burning with fury.
Changing the past is something he swore he'd never tamper with ever again. Half the people in this house died to stop someone from obliterating their world in exactly that fashion, himself included. And this subpar little shit of an eyeball thinks she can force him to do such a thing over and over, and drag Oz into facing his own death repeatedly, just because she's not happy with the thoughts Break thinks in the privacy of his own head? He would dearly love to slaughter this eyeball for toying with him so rudely, and the last time he can remember seething this much, he was bleeding all over the floor in front of the Rainsworth gate.
By rights he ought to be pulling himself together for the kids. Most of them had to watch someone they love very much give himself up to keep them safe today. But he's no good to anyone with kill, kill, kill thrumming in the back of his mind and his eyesight gone again, darkened by the intensity of his hatred, and he knows it. Instead, he pops briefly through the lanterns and comes home with a bottle of expensive whiskey, and holes himself up in the library with it. Outside of a few cooking wines, Break does not keep alcohol in the house -- it's not as though he can actually get drunk, and the one person he cares to share a drink with is two years sober, so there's no point. But tonight, what he wants is the nostalgic feel of a good whiskey scorching its way down his throat, the closest thing he can think of that will match the way his anger is eating him from the inside out. Anyone who looks into the library and finds him thus, slumped in an armchair with the open bottle on the side table next to him and his glass in his hand, will note that on top of his plainly sour mood, Break's darkblood is escaping his control.
With the weather warming up, there is no fire in the hearth. The smell and crackling sounds of a fire fill the room anyway, and the shadows in the room are far longer than they should be, sharp and threatening, as though they'd like to escape their rightful places and roam around like horrid ghosts. Baltus, laying dutifully at Break's feet, is not in great shape either. He's blurred at the edges, more darkness than dog, and all of his far too many teeth are exposed in a constant snarl.]
Either join me or get out.
Later That...Week
[It's being around his loved ones that keeps Break's own corruption under control, and several of them waste no time in gluing themselves to his side despite the way his murderous temper has finally shown itself. The anger dies down to a simmer, he manages to recover his eyesight, and mostly he's just grieving and pathetic. The lesson Remina actually wanted him to learn -- that it's hurtful to those around him when he allows himself to become mired in his regrets, and he'll drag them down with him -- is easier to see now. But like hell he knows how he's supposed to simply turn those thoughts off. Even as he's learned the hard way that he has to move on, those thoughts have always been there, so...
Gilbert's arrival and the strange paleblood compulsion to bake that seems to have afflicted him and Ada have meant that Break doesn't have to haunt the kitchen as he has for most of the past year, here lately. He certainly hasn't relinquished it to them entirely, though, and listless in the waiting and bereft of Lysithea's bakery, Break finds that he legitimately misses it. So, one day, when he goes down to forage among the fruit pies and finds no one there, he simply...stays. And starts making dumplings. Because he can, and they haven't any fruit in them, and because these are a food he has learned here in Trench. Something Gilbert doesn't know yet. Something familiar but new, to tether him to the fact that the choices he's made in his new life here matter.
He doesn't have any music on as he works, like he usually does. But he also doesn't snarl at anyone who wanders in, and Baltus has put his teeth away. It's an improvement.]
Later That Night (cw: alcohol, cigarettes & cigarette addiction)
Oz was alive. He was fine this morning. And now he's--
The smell of woodsmoke and familiar voice brings Gil just enough clarity from him to look up and into the library where his friend is. His eyes dart between Break, Baltus, the bottle of whiskey as he brings his cigarette up between his fingers and takes another drag, not really tasting the smoke. Break looks like shit and the room looks like a nightmare. Gil is supposed to be taking care of everyone. He's supposed to be looking after them. But he can't find it in himself to try.]
Break. You need to eat.
[His voice is flat, devoid of any emotion. It's the first thing he's said in hours. He lingers in the doorway, not yet joining him.]
cw: just vices and bad habits through the whole thread, probably
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later that night
So obvious that even Ange, who wasn't a part of any of this, can tell something went down. And when she can't spot at least one person around the house, there's a bit more of an idea of what went down as well, even though she might not know the exact details of the matter.
Still, it has obviously affected pretty much all of the house's original residents. It makes Ange feel a little awkward - mostly since she doesn't know what to do here. Comforting any of the kids would feel weird, since she doesn't feel like she knows any of them well enough to be the right person for that. Surely they'd find more comfort with each other. In this moment she feels more like an outsider staying here with Ruby than she has this entire time, but Ange tries to repress the feeling.
She's got better things than to feel sorry for herself right now, no matter how she may still be hurting.
In an attempt to at least do something, Ange starts wandering through the house. It's not the sort of wandering without aim though. The girl is looking for something as she makes her way around, careful to not get in the way of any of the emotional kids so she won't disturb them, instead looking for someone else.
Someone she ends up finding in the library, in the middle of imaginary fire and very real shadows. It feels like wandering into a storybook - and not in the good sort of way.
But it doesn't scare her. Nor does the way he speaks up like that, or the way Baltus looks in this moment. Maybe it would have scared Ange off a few months earlier, like how skittish she got after he struck down something she said hard back in the Snake Den for a moment, but in this instance Ange manages to endure the sharp edges about everything surrounding her right now for long enough to just wander into the room, closing the door behind her. ]
I'll join you then.
[ Her voice is entirely too calm for the worry - for him, not for herself - she feels in this moment, but Ange is a master at that sort of control when she truly tries. She wants to make sure to first see the shape of Break's hurt before deciding how to exactly approach it, and until then.. she can just be careful. It's not like she hasn't spent years upon years navigating other people's tempers. She's an expert by now.
And in this case there's even less to be afraid of, since Break wouldn't lash out at her in a way he wouldn't severely regret a few moments later, Ange thinks-- hopes-- thinks.
Her gaze falls onto the bottle as she gets closer - ugh, okay, maybe she won't join him in that, thanks - and the scene gets a little bit more clear.
Ange moves all the way through the room until she can sit down in an empty chair, but she keeps an eye out for pretty much anything as she goes, especially anything about Break himself. She's determined to gain as much information as she can here about the man's current condition without outright asking Break about anything just yet, to spare him that.
And at least just her being here means that isn't alone with all of this.
Even if there's nothing else she ends up being able to do - just that is contributing to something, in her opinion. He shouldn't be alone right now, even though Break might have retreated here like this in the first place. ]
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cw: talk of sacrificial suicide
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cw: more talk of sacrificial suicide
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OTA | cw: bleeding, intense pain (she's limited to this too)
[Echo is still on the ground, conscious again after being hit and just in time to witness the end. She managed to prop herself up with her right arm, while her left droops next to her side as both continue to spill her blue blood from their gashes, leaving hardened dams and pearls on the ground around her.
She's just staring in dismay at the spot where Oz had last been. She doesn't seem to be moving or changing her expression, but tears are streaming down her cheeks.]
...
The Next 10 Days
[Echo may have the body of a Sleeper, but it's also still the body of a Baskerville AND she's basically a Chain herself. Getting struck by B-Rabbit, whether he was changed by Trench or not, has done damage like a regular attack of that nature would do to a regular person. It means she's almost entirely stuck in bed for quite a while with her wounds bandaged.
But it's also a bit worse the first two days. She hasn't responded well to being hit by that power in the past, and it's no different this time apart from the fact that there's no dormant personality trying to push itself out in her weakness. During this time, she's a bit harder to interact with. You can witness that she keeps wincing and groaning in pain, and even screams on a handful of occasions as she writhes.
After that, she goes through a mostly normal convalescence apart from some nightmares that are addressed (elsewhere). She's in a fairly somber mood the whole time, and even if she could get up she isn't too interested in doing things like feeding herself or reaching out to people. It may help if you initiate those.
It will take about 10 days of her having almost complete bedrest to get to a point where she can safely go to a "taking it easy" day-to-day life, but as she recuperates she'll start trying to push those boundaries to before she's really ready.]
Let's call this a couple nights after
The omen typically doesn't enter bedrooms unless he senses something amiss, or knows its occupant to be in distress. Echo definitely counts, here. So, when he arrives at her door, he doesn't hesitate to ooze himself through the crack beneath it as a shadow, to see what is to be seen.]
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close enough to the end of the other thread lemme get this onscreeeeen
She keeps making tea at Echo and has not been particularly consistent with how much milk and sugar she adds. And now, she's stepped up her game. She has a tray with a bowl on it. ]
I've made soup. Open up!
[ This is being KIND and NURTURING. She jabs the spoon at Echo's face. ]
yeeeeeeeeeeesssssss!
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OTA
Plus it helped her to focus on every one else than spending time on her own thoughts and feelings. So even though she wasnt still 100% back to normal after her own death she set out to start on various tasks:
A)
[One of the task she had decided to do was the cleaning. Dusting for the most part and making sure that it was at differently done. Going high-end low she hinted down the dust and all the whole she kept quiet having somewhat reverted back to the way she had been at the beginning of the month.
Trying to reach areas that were perhaps a little too high she soon found herself falling to the ground. She was surprised but didn't seem to respond to what happened right away]
B)
[Thanks to being a Pureblood her desire to bake really helped with the distractions and she had instead turned to focus on baking or cooking as much as she could. How much she had managed to make had taken up a whole counter as she was only making more, putting another into the oven to bake before going to mix another batch. Her face was void of emotion as she did, not wanting to worry others and instead doing her best to help]
B
Right now, Gil isn't in the kitchen to bake. He's there because despite how much he's drowning from his own grief, he's more worried about Ada. She's like Oz in that she tries keeping her pain to herself behind a smile or kind actions, and he can't stand to lose her too. He needs to do something.]
Miss Ada.
[He quietly interrupts her, moving closer to her and hesitating, before finally reaching out to put his hand on her shoulder. In normal circumstances, his own shyness and desire to be polite would stop him, but he needs this and suspects she may as well.]
Please, go rest for a moment. I can keep an eye on the kitchen for now.
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CW: mentions of murder
cw: murder talk in this thread
cw: murder talk in this thread
cw: homicidal thoughts
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cw: homicidal thoughts this whole thread probably
cw: homicidal thoughts this whole thread probably
Re: cw: homicidal thoughts this whole thread probably
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