logsinthenight | EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

characters: everyone.
location: around town.
date/time: january 20-29.
content: the lanterns begin to malfunction.
warnings: body horror and psychological horror. please cw tags appropriately.

you'll become one

January 20th arrives the same as all the days before it. There's no great pulse of warning that throbs through the air, no ominous wind that causes the bonfire to shudder. The spirits are neither agitated nor do they hide. You could almost miss the change, if the lanterns weren't always by your side. There's no explanation that comes with the way that it's changed, but it's impossible not to worry when it's happened so suddenly.

Maybe it takes a few days, or maybe it only takes a few hours, but suddenly it isn't just the lanterns that have changed. You, yourself, have become somehow different. It's possible that you won't even have the right state of mind to wonder how long it will last. At the very least, it appears you aren't alone. All across Beacon, lanterns are changing, and changing the people with them.

Out in the distance, the lighthouse's beam has turned green.

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[ Inches.

That's how close the rock comes to making contact with Ellever's too-cold skin, as she walks along, but she doesn't react at all. She's out on one of her many recent wanderings, now that she feels free and clear-headed for the first time in what seems like an eternity. Always crushed into another shape, always supposed to be palatable and friendly for everyone else. Now she has her real self on display, without a scarf around her head: black eyes, black gums, black teeth, black tongue, everything dark below the surface. That's how it always is, but Ellever has been camouflaged since childhood. Purposeful, back then, an unconscious survival technique among another species, but now just a habit.

She turns her head and stares down the pier, the movement oddly butter-smooth. Recognizing the figure on it, she slowly makes her way onto the wooden structure. Her voice is low and far too calm as she asks, ]

Does throwing stones help?

[ This is not a practice she's familiar with. ]

[ to his credit, kol doesn't flinch when he sees elle. his sharp sense of smell and the fact he actually takes note on how people sound easily tells him who it is beneath all of the monstrous black.

he can't even really call it monstrous, can he? he's seen his own reflection over the years, with his skin clean and sometimes coated in thick layers of blood. looking like a monster is far more deeper than an ugly, non-human face. it sometimes wear something human, even that of a very handsome and not at all arrogant young man.

letting out a breath, he lets his shoulders slump. peering out at the water, then at his hand where he has another stone in his palm, he shrugs. ]

Not really.

[ he'd wanted to say yes, but he hardly feels like that will make him feel better, too. ]

Sorry if I almost hit you. [ he means it. he doesn't mind elle—she's funny and likeable. ] I have a very good arm.

[ Her head tilts to the side, for a moment, as he answers. This is a normal movement for Elle, but the way she does it now makes it look calculated. She continues to walk down the pier but does it slowly, her deep red lantern dangling heavily from one hand. ]

You didn't. [ Matter-of-fact. Why apologize for something that didn't happen? Her voice has a calm, lazy quality.

When she stops talking and closes her eyes, Ellever appears her normal self. She does this as she finally stops a few strides away from Kol, breathing in the smell of the water. It's deep, rich, earthy; undertones that mark this particular layer of reality. This is another reason she's been wandering so much lately. It keeps her grounded. But then her eyes open, glistening darkness where her brown eyes normally are. ]

But yes. What were you trying to hit?

[ Her mind has expanded, and yet, because of her limited experiences, Ellever still feels as though she's grasping at straws when it comes to the behavior of others. Even now with this feeling of deep serenity in her chest, warm and heavy, like sitting in front of a roaring fire. ]

[ it's almost like watching his own reflection. his own brown eyes would disappear into pools of black, with his eyes outlined by the disgusting crackling of dark veins appearing underneath his skin. he'd always thought his face wasn't as charming when he was a vampire, but seeing elle's face… he can't quite say she wears it with pride, but right now, with the red lantern by her side, she appears more calm and comfortable wearing it.

as curious as he is to pry, kol doesn't. he has an imagination that knows no bounds, but, unlike his brothers and sister who demand everything and anything like they're entitled to the answers, he tries to remain careful and meticulous when seeking further information. it's a rarity that he wants to know more about her with no real self-serving endgame in mind.

inhaling deeply, he exhales, annoyed that it does nothing to ripple the realm around them. ]

Anything. Everything. [ he shrugs, feeling even that doesn't particularly fulfil him as a satisfying movement. ] I'm a little tired of feeling stagnant, so I wanted to disturb everything else around me. f you came down to do the same thing, I'm sorry to say that it's not working. [ it's said lightly and playfully. ]

When I was little I would scream out into the void. But not now.

[ Ellever keenly remembers all of the rage and frustration she'd bottled inside, trying to deal with it, before it had popped like a balloon at the age of ten with Circe's revelations. Everything had seemed to make a depressing amount of sense, back then. Now she only has more questions.

But here, now, it's like the questions can't bother her. She settles down at the end of the pier, legs over the water. It doesn't even occur to her to ask if he wants her to stay. Social norms are too small to see, at the moment.

Then she looks back up at Kol. ]

Why do you feel stagnant?

[ It's an intriguing word, for a being whose other half isn't even wired for verbal language. ]

[ sometimes kol wishes he was the type to say he's fine and remain strong in his composure. but he isn't elijah, who comes off as though nothing can topple him. he has always been too highly strung and too emotional, and it often leads him into tricky situations.

answering a question shouldn't make him feel cornered.

remaining standing for a moment, kol walks the short distance to sit beside her on the pier. his stones click and rattle as he places them delicately down onto the wood.

although he doesn't quite know elle from the stones in his hands, he likes her. she seems different today; it isn't a horrible kind of different.

with one stone in his hand, he plays with it. thinking over her response and his potential answer, he inhales and then says, ] Did you ever not scream into the void despite wanting to?

[ She's completely and utterly silent as she waits for him to chew on the words and breathe them into the air, her gaze on the water. Time has been incredibly fluid for her for the past couple of days. The lack of a day and night cycle doesn't help, but as she sits there, she isn't sure if an hour passes or just a minute.

And that's fine. She'll be here. She's dead and, before that, she was eternal. ]

Yes. [ Normally there'd be some sort of guile or hesitation to her voice, struggling to spit out anything related to such a need and desire. But it's gone now. Her voice is just soft, calm. ] When I was ten, when I learned what I am, I decided that I should be more like everyone else and less like me. My human father agreed it would be for the best.

[ Human father. Ezra would be saddened to hear this. Good thing he isn't here. Ellever shrugs her shoulders loosely. ]

So then I was quiet. I understood that I was — am — a fuse. And if lit, catastrophic.

[ that's how his entire family has treated him, like a bomb waiting to go off. can any of them blame him? he hadn't been ten when he'd been turned into a vampire; he'd been older and far capable in understanding what had been forced upon him. he can't imagine what it'd be like if he was ten and forced to hide his true self. he already had enough difficulty as an adult.

looking at elle curiously, ] So you have another father?

[ given their conversations about the supernatural… kol hadn't quite put together perhaps she was one of them, just like him. the revelation is a surprise that he doesn't wear. a lot of people walk around dressed in human skin because it's far more palatable than wearing anything true. ]

What would he say? The non-human one.

[ This question causes Ellever's expression to shift thoughtfully, forehead wrinkling as she looks out over the water and thinks over this question. She's heard her father's voice before, but she's tried her best to bury it in her memories. Much like whenever she hears any of the Nine. ]

Conquest wanted me to bring him to our realm. According to a prophecy, if he comes, he'll begin the subjugation of the world. He'd want me to be like this half. [ She raises a hand and briefly gestures to her black eyes, her black teeth, before lowering it. ] But now I'm dead. Maybe that began the End, or maybe it didn't.

[ It doesn't matter anymore; the thought comes and seems to lighten her, like a massage getting rid of tension in the shoulders. She's here. She has this to figure out, now. Everything she left behind is irrelevant. Ellever glances back at Kol. ]

I have a big family. [ Two fathers, eight 'uncles', eleven cousins, and who knows what else. ] Do you?

[ that sounds incredibly apocalyptic. it reminds him of silas; kol had been adamant in protecting his immortality and ensuring nothing close to the world ending would ever happen. one doesn't live as long as him and have so-so feelings towards the beginning of the literal end.

but the world hasn't ended. perhaps elle's has, although her use of "have" begs to differ. it's far easier to think of everything as a separate entity; kol doesn't particularly want to waste time on semantics when it'll drive him insane. ]

Unfortunately. [ or "fortunately"? does it really count as a big family if half of them are now permanently dead? esther, mikael, aunt dahlia, henrik, finn, his older sister… despite his next words sounding derisive, he delivers them with an exasperated fondness, ] I had seven siblings. All bloody annoying to deal with. I like that my afterlife is far more peaceful than my actual life.

[ Despite them both having large families, the fondness in Kol's words suggest that he grew up with them or knows them quite well. Ellever only knew of her adoptive father until she was ten, and it took longer for her to learn of her cousins. They're all essentially strangers, but technically family.

She tilts her head to the side, thoughtful. ]

You like your... life better without them?

[ Life, unlife, whatever this is. Even with her mind expanded like this, pushing outward with no boundaries, Ellever doesn't know if this is the afterlife proper or something Else. ]

I miss my human father sometimes. But he'd be miserable here.

[ Poor vision, poor health. Ezra is much better off wherever he is. ]

[ holding his hand flat, he places a stone against his knuckles, trying to keep it still. ]

Sometimes. Sometimes I don't. Sometimes I do. It's all a little complicated. [ perhaps far more than complicated? does anything exist beyond being incredibly complex?

with a sigh, he looks down at his hand and moves his fingers gently, watching as the stone threatens to fall off. ] My brothers and sister sometimes grow tired of my antics, so they like to punish me for it. I'm only good for entertainment or to rile another up. My oldest brother… [ his tone turns harder, ] He's a miserable sod. A real prick.

[ kol frowns, disliking the words he says, the easiness he feels in actually saying them. a weight hasn't quite been lifted from his shoulders or chest, but something's shifting, making him feel just a touch lighter. ]

He'd make your human father so miserable it cancels out his misery.

That's family for you: complicated. I don't have the Nine to loom over my head. ...Unless I want them to.

[ This she says softly, thoughtfully. Ellever had had so many questions as a child regarding her birth. No one had explained a thing until she'd been ten — and then they'd explained far too much at once, as if to make up for the lack. She'd at least been isolated enough to not know she should ask about her mother, and why they didn't have other family, but as a teenager that had been a bitter memory to look back on. ]

So I suppose you can make a clean break here. Forge whatever identity you want, away from their punishments. Or expectations.

[ When Ellever smiles at him briefly, it's different than the expressions of serenity and bliss that she's shown others for days now. It's smaller, sympathetic. She has a different understanding than most about "family," since she grew up with one who found her. The obligation quality most have isn't there. Family is for support, in her mind. Nurturing. ]

Family shouldn't be entertainment.

You'd think. [ with an overarm throw, he pelts a stone into the water, satisfied by the loud splash it makes.

the mikaelson family isn't exactly a normal family, and maybe that's a comment on how old and dysfunctional they all are. but that entitlement they'd all experienced and embodied over the centuries has come out in their treatment of one another.

elle's right—no family member should be treated as entertainment. despite it being a thought of his over the years whenever it's been obvious he's been undaggered for that purpose, it hits him harder hearing it from someone else.

best to be distracted, so kol looks at elle with a quizzical furrow to his brow. ] What's the Nine? Sounds very ominous.

[ Friends are entertainment, but friends also come with a lot of other things. Or they should. Even in Ellever's current mindset, so far removed from her usual thoughts, she knows that you shouldn't just be around someone because you like watching them squirm or fail.

Some employees have tried to treat Ellever this way. They've all since been fired or let go, for other reasons.

She hums quietly at the question. ]

Nine entities who reside in a different plane of existence, or dimension; however you'd like to think of it. Saying their true name is supposed to bring bad luck, so we simply call them the Nine. Those who know about them all have a slightly different idea of what they are. They're the same... race, if you want to call it that, and seem to think of each other as family. My cousin, Ambarish, came up with human names for them. Before that, they were probably some of the inspiration for the worlds' myths and legends.

[ Ellever pauses. ]

My father, Conquest, is one of them. Ambarish's father is Falsehood. They each have at least one child on Earth.

[ kol frowns thoughtfully. ] Conquest is a Horseman of the Apocalypse.

[ wait a second… no, kol can't quite presume that this is the legend she speaks of. didn't she just say that they had inspired some of the myths and legends? just like his existence inspired vampires and bloody twilight?

arching his brow, he asks rather passionately, ] Are you bloody telling me your father inspired that entire mythology?

[ A slow, hesitant smile spreads across Ellever's face at his question, as she answers, ]

Yes.

[ Hopefully it can't hear this conversation. It doesn't need the ego. ]

The Nine appear on Earth intermittently. But not all of them; they're just shades of their true selves. There's something about them that makes it hard for them to fully cross over. So people see them and have... invented stories around them. But they may very well have done the things in those stories. It's hard to know. Every culture thinks something different about them.

[ hmm. out of all the stories he's heard over the centuries, this one definitely sits very high on his list of stories that have actually left him feeling impressed. he's been alive too long, finding that even when he misses a century's worth of fun and history that he's still right back to where he started—bored.

narrowing his eyes in thought, he looks her up and down. ]

So are you Conquest Jr? Are you going to ride in on one of those coloured horses and wreck havoc?

I'm supposed to.

[ She says it almost fondly, before her expression shifts into a slight grimace. More of her is slowly ebbing back into the between-state that Ellever's found herself in, staring at her face in mirrors and reflections. ]

According to... damn near everyone. I do something to bring Dear Old Dad onto the physical realm, and then it's all downhill from there.

[ That's the line she's been read since she was a kid. Everyone expects her to do it. Ambarish calls her the Endbringer. And yet, she's spent all of her life studying and being fascinated with the Earth. Why the hell would she destroy it? ]

But, no. Even before I died, I wasn't going to. I don't even know how I'd do it. [ She arches her brows wryly at Kol. ] Here I am, nothin' but a failure to my old man.

[ kol cocks his head as if toasting. here, here, he'd say, the most depressing two words that he's ever had to utter in his entire life.

he does consider for a moment what he wants to tell elle. he could simply give her the equivalent to a pat on the shoulder in comfort and say that he understands without going into detail, but she's trusted him with information about her that she hadn't felt pertinent to share before. maybe he should take a leap of faith, too. ]

Well, if it makes you feel better, my father hates what I am and has hunted my siblings and I for centuries. Self-hate, projection… [ he smiles, shaking his head. his light is laugh and derisive, but it's still mirthful, ] My family is very, very healthy.

[ if he mentions his mother wanting to kill them out of shame for the creatures she'd created, he has a feeling elle would simply pity him. he does, and not in a good way. ]

Perhaps your family and mine should have Sunday dinner together one day. We can go into detail about how fucked up we all are.

[ Hunted is an evocative, terrible word, and Ellever frowns even if Kol's tone is light while he talks about it. Ezra isn't exactly Father of the Year, but at least he's had (what he's felt is) Ellever's best interests at heart.

She makes a low noise in the back of her throat, shaking her head. ]

I have a feeling that would end with the destruction of one world or another. [ The Abyss Lords care nothing of the struggles of those on the physical plane. She knows that for a fact, now. ] I'm sorry.

[ Ellever says it simply, genuinely, her expression softening a few shades. Some might throw more warmth for effect or make it saccharine. For her, it's just a statement of fact. ]

That's a lot of time to have to deal with an abusive jackass.

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EVENT LOG: TURN THE LIGHTS OFF

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