singlelogbridge | Open Post: Yiling Patriarch Edition

[He tracks Wen Chao and his personal guard to an isolated compound in a remote mountain in rural Japan. From the looks of it, they'd secured the location as some sort of safehouse long ago, likely anticipating the legal fallout from what they'd done and assuming they could ride out the storm there. The Wen connections run deep—deep enough that Wei Ying knows they will never face justice within the legal system—but inquiries will still be made and investigation teams will go through the motions. Of course they'd want to lie low during the mess of aftermath.

In a year, the investigation will close; the evidence "inconclusive." The massacre at Lotus Pier will be known only as the tragic slaughter of a prominent family at the hands of a vicious street gang out to prove some kind of point. Any connections to the Wen family name will have faded into rumors by then.

But none of that matters to Wei Ying. He'd stopped looking to the legal system for any kind of real justice a long time ago.

Now he stands in front of their safehouse, his lips pulled up into a mockery of his old smile. The fire licking away at the compound has been carefully contained by talismans and meticulously drawn arrays. The Wen will burn and suffer, but they will not take anyone else with them. Resentful energy curls lovingly around his fingers as they dance along his flute, shrill notes filling the night with eerie music.

The guards are dead now, he knows, can feel their energy added to his power after each burns and dies. A merciful death for those who didn't deserve one, but his focus lies elsewhere.

Wei Ying stands in the long driveway of the compound as he plays, Wen Chao bloodied and burned but still breathing crawling before him on his hands and knees like a dog begging for scraps.]

Anything! I can get you anything you want! Please, please, I swear! I'll make you rich, I-I'll get you cars and houses, whatever you want!

[I want my family, Wei Ying does not say, intent on his playing. I want my shidi and shimei. I want to hear their laughter echoing through the halls while I sit with my stupid stubborn brother and he isn't bowed under the weight of the world. He does not waste his breath with these words that would be lost on Wen Chao.

Instead, he plays. He plays and a corpse hobbles out of the fire, intent on Wen Chao's huddled pathetic form. It doesn't take long for his begging to turn to screams, for those screams to turn to whimpers, and then for those whimpers to fade to nothing at all.

Chenqing falls to his side but Wei Ying does not move from his spot. He stands and watches it all burn.]

[ it was supposed to be a vacation.

minako's mother won a contest so the entire family—mom, dad, minako and artemis—had to pack into their tiny car and drive four hours to a tinier inn in the not so tiny mountains. minako had to hurl artemis out the window before the innkeeper heard the cat bemoaning how he had to leave luna, and minako herself remained antsy. her stupid mom couldn't have won a contest with a prize closer to tokyo! or at least let her only daughter bring her friends along, no.

at least the mountains were pretty. the innkeeper warned them not to cross the property line—apparently, the next door neighbor was notoriously private. minako claimed a headache, waited until her mom and dad headed to the hot springs, then hopped the fence with artemis on her shoulder.

the mountains had been pretty.

minako broke into a run when artemis spotted the black plume of smoke rising. she ran faster when she heard the tinny sound of far away screams. she bursts into a scene from a disaster. the heat hits her like she ran into a wall. the anguished sound of the screams crawl under her skin. but her eyes are sweeping the scarlet talismans with a horrified realization. she does not know what they mean, rei would, but she knows this was deliberate. this was planned. ]

Go around! See if you can find a way in or who's responsible! [ she orders artemis.

the white cat peels off, though not before warning her to be careful. minako is beyond those worries. she throws her hand into the air. ]

Venus Crystal Power, Make Up!

[ sailor venus leaps onto the wall of the compound. before she can jump inside, she notices a lone figure standing a short distance away. watching. her anger burns white-hot.

his only warning — ] Venus Love and Beauty Shock! [ — before a blinding beam of yellow light blasts toward him. ]

[The shout pulls him from his reverie and he dives out of the way of the light on instinct, rolling to a clumsy stop before shooting to his feet. Chenqing is already at his lips again when his gaze shifts to take in the new arrival and he falters, fingers stilling on the flute.

It's...a young girl? Maybe his age, maybe younger. Definitely not a Wen.

Still a threat, angered voices whisper in his head and he narrows his eyes at the scorch marks on the ground from the energy blast she'd sent out. She doesn't look like a cultivator but he isn't stupid enough to think cultivators are the only people who still know how to draw on power.

He gathers resentful energy around his body and fixes her with a hard look.]

Who the hell are you?

[ venus draws herself up. she cannot both help the survivors and fight this man. whoever he is (and why are the good-looking ones always evil?), she cannot let him escape. trusting artemis to find a way through (and keep himself safe), venus dedicates herself to her favorite part: beating up enemies. ]

I am the Pretty Guardian who fights for Love and Beauty! [ her voice booms above the chaos, a commander even without her troops. ] I am Sailor Venus! In the name of Venus, I will punish you with the power of love!

Rolling Heart Vibration!

[ a dark yellow heart appears between her hands. she thrusts it toward him. ]

[Wei Ying sits down and lets sparkly shoujo death come. That's it, that's the most his brain can do in this situation.]

[ chalk another one for the good guys. ]

[It's difficult to comprehend the words without feeling like he's going crazy. Crazier. The girl isn't a Wen or a cultivator, but she's trying to kill him. That much at least affirms the resentful spirits still whispering into his ears.

The second attack (it's a heart, he very dimly processes, like an actual heart shaped attack) heads towards him and anger swirls in his gut, spreading into his chest and lungs and making his vision go red. He stumbles out of the way and whistles for the closest corpse—the one that had taken Wen Chao's life—to rise again and come to his aid.

Enemy. Whoever she is, she's an enemy.

Kill her.

Make her suffer.

End her.

He clutches at his head and wills the voices to shut up for five fucking minutes so he can try to figure out what's happening.]

[ he's experienced, she will give him that. he is also stumbling already. she thinks he may be getting tired. venus' expression hardens. good. she can tire him out. as soon as she finds her opening, she will vaporize him.

the crunch of a footstep rings to her right. venus whips her head around in time to see a body—a dead body!—swipe at her. ] Eugh! [ her kick sends the body crashing into the wall. the wood splinters upon impact, but the corpse does not notice. it staggers toward her again with blind eyes. hideous black veins carve through its skin. ]

How dare you puppet the dead? You take the life of men only to manipulate them in death? I won't forgive you!

[ the corpse lunges at her, but venus deftly side steps it. one hand grabs it by the back of the neck, another by the jacket at the small of its back. with a scream of rage, she raises it above her head. one, two steps, she throws it with all of her strength in the puppeteer's direction. ]

[Brow furrowing, he has enough time to puzzle briefly over the fact that she doesn't know who he is or who the men in this manor were from the sounds of it. She's not here on the Wen's behalf at all then. Then why...?

His contemplation is cut short by the sight of his corpse being picked up and tossed at him in the air.

What the actual f—

It lands on him.

Wei Ying lets out a sharp yelp and crumples beneath its weight.]

[ well. that was anticlimactic.

still.

venus: 1. pyromanic psycho murderer: 0. ]

Stay down if you know what's good for you! [ she hates turning her back on an opponent. but her concern for those inside, and her fear for artemis, are stronger still. venus races to the entrance. her arms come up to protect her face from the intense heat. no matter where she looks, she cannot find a small white cat. ]

Artemis! Artemis, where are you?

[ only the snap of the fire and the cracking of beams answers her. before panic can coil in her chest, she hears a distant cough and the sound of her name. a strange shadow lumbers toward her out of the smoke. dashing forward, she seizes the body artemis had been painstakingly dragging out.

she drops the man on the cool grass outside the blazing compound. his breathing is shallow, his once fine suit burnt. the skin revealed by the ruined clothing has darkened to a furious red, blistering before her eyes.

beside him, artemis drops heavily onto his haunches. his usually pristine white fur is blackened by ash; he coughs into his paw: "he was the only one. everyone else is dead." artemis' head hangs despondently. venus lays a hand between his ears. ]

[The girl...goddess...whatever she is, stops attacking him after he goes down, and it gives him the time he needs to try processing again. The corpse is heavy and his coreless body weak, but he slowly begins to wiggle out from beneath the weight. At least she's leaving him alone for now.

The sound of her calling out to someone else has him snapping his head back up. She has a partner with her? His eyes land on the girl and he doesn't see a partner, but he does watch as she pulls a (living breathing) body from out of the flames. The guttural sound of rage that emerges from the back of his throat is instinctive and he shoves harder at the body weighing him down.]

Leave him in there! [This time the anger is buffered by something desperate and raw. None of them are allowed to survive. Not on his watch.]

Fuck, just let him burn! [Chenqing is out of his reach, rolled away when he fell to the ground, but he has enough room to reach into his robes now to grab a talisman. He slaps the yellow paper onto the body holding him down and shoves it off to rise to a shaky stand.

After snatching Chenqing again, he fixes his gaze back on the girl now moved to the grass and moves in her direction.]

I don't know who you are or what you want, but he deserves it! They all did! Kill me, I don't fucking care, but don't save him!

[ venus' head snaps up at the shouting. artemis is faster, though. before the man takes a second step, the cat has already raced between them, ears flat to his head, teeth and claws exposed: "keep away from her!" it'd be funny—artemis, whom she regularly stuffs into her hamper when he annoys her, rushing to her defense—if she were not seriously concerned about this guy's mental state. she can take a hit or twelve. artemis…not so much.

she also has a victim who needs emergency medical attention, and a fire raging hotter, and there is only one of her because her team is back in tokyo and she is here. venus grits her teeth so hard she fears her molars might crack.

priorities. first, neutralize remaining threats.

she rises smoothly. her hands go to the whip around her waist. her voice is cold, as cold as her expression when she demands, ] Who the hell are you? Why are you doing this?

Edited 2021-04-28 00:17 (UTC)

[Her partner is a cat. It's. He pauses in his steps, once again thrown by what's happening. The cat is definitely defending her. Maybe it's a familiar. Maybe a spiritual cat or...something. He blinks down at the cat and then, with a slightly dazed incredulous tone responds—] I'm not going to hurt her. I don't even know who you people are.

[He brings his gaze back up to the girl then, his brow furrowed. Girl goddess with a cat familiar. She doesn't know anything. She just...stumbled in and saw him...saw him slaughtering a house full of people. Probably. She's...she's trying to do good, he thinks. Trying to help someone in need.

Wei Ying's exhaustion catches up with him suddenly and he lets himself fall to his knees. If she's a threat to him then it'll only be because he deserves it, but...that's alright. As long as the Wen don't escape justice.]

Why...[The echo is hollow, his eyes unfocused. The smoke makes him tear up but he blinks them away.]

They're mercenaries and thugs. They killed—[His voice breaks and the flames catch in his eyes, turning them red even as he pauses to swallow past the lump in his throat.

These days, cultivations sects didn't always live in one compound like they did in ancient times. Sometimes the younger ones lived with their parents nearby and the older students often had their own apartments. Only the blood family always stayed together, and the few students who chose to board. But the Wen had come deliberately during training. They had made sure as many disciples were present as possible. Most of the youngest juniors were there that day.]

Everyone. My parents. The students. [A bright hysterical laugh bubbles out of his throat and he brings up a hand to stifle it.] There were so many kids...

Edited 2021-04-28 01:15 (UTC)

[ venus starts. surprise slices through her anger enough to stop her where she stands. her hand, now empty, rises to her chest. artemis looks over at her, perplexed, but she can only return the sentiment. whatever she expected, this was not it.

as she looks over the stranger with new eyes, it hits her suddenly. he cannot be that much older than she is. he looks younger still slumped in the grass like a marionette with its strings cut. he looks like she felt when she saw usagi turn the sword on herself. she looks down at the burned man. had she borne witness, she might agree that they deserved this and worse. she might have helped. ]

That's awful. [ her eyes are wide and very, very blue. sorrow furrows her brow. ] I'm so sorry. Are—

[ an explosion swallows the end of her question. venus whirls to see the side of the compound has blown out. the fire licks greedily at the grass, and stretches scarlet fingers to leaves and trees. the sigils on that side of the compound are scattered—by the explosion, by her feet, by artemis. with a sense of horror, she realizes what they were probably for. ]

Oh, no.

[ the fire stretches east. the inn. the houses she passed on the drive. her parents. no, no, no— ]

Artemis! Stay here! [ she is running even as she is shouting commands. ] You!

[ she points at the man. ]

Those things on the ground! Were you using them to keep the fire contained?

Edited 2021-04-28 01:42 (UTC)

[His gaze snaps up at the sound of the explosions and he stares foggily for a moment before jumping to his feet, stumbling for just a second before he catches up to her.]

They were. [And if she's asking, they were disturbed. He frowns and sprints to one of the sections where the fire has expanded, stepping just out of reach of the flame. It's much harder to stop a fire than to contain it and let itself burn out, but he can expand the boundaries now and try to contain it in a larger area if he can work fast enough to get ahead of it.

Pre-made talismans gone, he bites at his thumb before dragging it through the air in a complicated series of movements. Red energy follows his thumb's wake and leaves a bright red sigil behind that he casts into the ground. Without waiting, he moves on to begin the same process in another section.]

How many of them are gone? [Actually] Forget that, which sections? Are all of them gone?

No idea!

[ missing rei more than ever, venus peels ahead. mars would have known immediately what they were. she could help seal it now. that particular skill isn't inside venus' wheelhouse. but she's not out of tricks, either. ]

I'll take a lap around and look! Contain as much of it as you can; I'll handle the rest!

[Wei Ying doesn't waste any time doing exactly that, covering every thirty feet or so with a new talisman. Drawing the resentful energy to create them is taxing which is why he'd come with pre made ones, but it's not like he has a choice now. He's on his sixth when he feels his energy wane and he drops to his hands and knees, the world tilting beneath him. It takes him precious minutes to regain himself. He's already used so much energy on the fight and summoning the corpses.

After another minute he rises and begins to continue but his hands are shaking and he has to stop again when a coughing fit has him spitting up blood. He finishes one more and then rises to look for the girl, hoping she'll bring back better news about how many more sections are vulnerable.]

[ good news: around half the compound is covered. bad news: around half isn't, and venus and artemis played a role between stepping and jumping on them. the realization only further hardens her resolve. the fire has to be out out. now ]

Hey! Hey, guy! Oh, what? Don't tell me you're dying too!

[ against his pallor, the bright red drops dribbling past his chin are a stark contrast. she can't have two dying guys to look after; her luck cannot possibly be that bad. (a voice eerily reminiscent of artemis reminds her that it is.)

venus grabs him by the arm— ] Let's go, you're not going to want to be anywhere near— [ and, after wrapping her arm around his back in support, bodily hauls him out of the (literal) line of fire. ]

[Wei Ying goes with a grunt, letting out a frustrated sound and shrugging her off once he's clear of the fire.]

'm fine, not dying. Show me where I need to work. [He swipes at the blood on his lips and chin and wipes it off on his pants.]

Oh, you're not working. [ despite their surroundings and the circumstances in which they met, sailor venus winks at him. ] This is my show now.

[ she takes position before the fire, a teenage girl against an inferno. the orange skirt of her sailor uniform ripples against her thighs. the heat is intense; it prickles at her skin. the firelight catches her hair; for a moment, she looks crowned in gold. closing her eyes, she inhales.

her eyes snap open. ]

Venus Power! [ she cries, her gloved hands thrown open to the sky. her planet heeds her call; she thrills at the familiar heat, the purity of the light that pours within her. she is a chalice. she is a channel. she is venus. ]

Love Crescent Shower!

[ golden light pours like rain from the heavens. everywhere it touches the fire, the flames hiss and snap and are extinguished. even with the new borders, the fire claimed a wide area and over a wide area she calls down the purifying rain.

a few pockets of fire remain as the beams of light fade, small, not likely to become a danger to the others on this mountain.

sailor venus slowly lowers her arms. a fine tremble takes her limbs. she was full: full of power, full of energy, full of life, of love. now, she feels oddly empty as she only does when she overexerts herself. she gazes upon the destroyed compound. it sits blackened and smoking. the acrid smell lies thick in the air. there is nothing left here but ruin and death.

"sailor venus!"

her job isn't finished. rather than drop to the ground, venus pushes against it in a run. ]

[It's beautiful honestly, in spite of the smoke and flame. Another time he'd be staring in awe. Now his wonder is a quiet relieved thing inside of him instead. She alleviates the danger and puts out most of the fire at once, and what's left will burn out on its own soon enough. Girl goddess indeed, the goddess of love herself perhaps? He doesn't know, only knows that he's grateful.

The golden light falls on his shoulders and head, pulling a sigh of relief from him. It's purifying; he can feel it. It washes away the resentment trying to take root inside of him, purging the supernatural drain and restoring his energy levels.

It's what gives him the strength to go after her when she runs to the voice—her cat, he thinks.]

Hey, wait!

[ her cat, indeed. venus hears him call, but does not slow or stop. there was a worrisome note in artemis' voice, an undercurrent she did not like. she is not surprised when she reaches him and artemis turns to her, face grave, to tell her the man is dying.

venus kneels. his pulse, once she finds it, is thready. a faint whistle reaches her ears with every shallow breath he takes. aside from his burns, which are considerable, a pool of blood extends beneath him from an injury she had not noticed he had. she does not need artemis to tell her that he won't live long enough to even try to get emergency services on the line. neither does she feel bad. not really. if pyro guy is telling the truth, this man was involved in the murder of innocents, children among them. so it is not pity she feels. ]

He's agonizing, [ she says out loud. her voice is steady. ] Will you end it?

[ she grabs one end of her chain; it locks into the shape of a long, rose-decorated dagger. her other hand slips around the man's. it's weak, but she feels his fingers close a little around her own. ]

[It's not what he deserves and the sentiment is clear in his eyes. They hadn't cared to ease the suffering of any of Lotus Pier, so why shouldn't he return the favor now? But with the resentment clear from his meridians, he gives the man a searching gaze. It's no one he recognizes, even if the burns conceal most of his features. Just one of many loyal Wen soldiers. He deserves death, of that Wei Ying is sure. Maybe he even deserves to suffer. Probably he does.

But he watches the way she takes his hand and is suddenly viscerally reminded of Yanli. With a sigh, he kneels and summons a haze of dark resentful energy. The tendril slips inside the man's nasal cavity and for a moment nothing happens. A few seconds later he twitches once and then goes still, his breathing ceased. The energy emerges and dissipates into the air.]

He's gone. [He settles back onto the ground and brings both hands up to rub at tired eyes. The purifying energy that had flowed inside of him has helped, but it can't entirely wipe the exhaustion from his frame, especially not the parts of it that had nothing to do with his physical body.]

It's done. [Not over, but this much at least was done.]

Is it?

[ the man's dead. everyone who was in the compound is dead. only their killer remains, and sailor venus can focus on him finally. young, exhausted, driven by rage—all traits she can identify with.

she knows her limits, though. she doesn't know his.

her hands are empty, at her sides again. her chain is again only a chain wound around her waist. her eyes are as blue and as hard as sapphires when she puts to him, ] What's the plan? You have your vengeance. What's next?

[He shrugs, eyes locked onto something in the distance before they migrate back to her. Eventually he shakes his head.]

You can kill me now if you want to. I won't fight. [There's no point now. He's done what he needed to do. Wen Chao is dead. Jiang Cheng has a core. He has very little use to offer them now. If he dies too, maybe it'll be for the best. But...]

If you don't, then I'll go back to protect what's left of my family. My brother is angry and...and in a lot of pain, not that he'll ever admit it. My sister is grieving and trying to take care of him. I'll look after them. They're all I have left.

[ artemis hangs back, quiet. they do not need to speak for her to know artemis does not like or trust this guy. she does not know that she can, either. two bodies lie near her, the one artemis rescued, and the one puppeted against her. more lie at her back in the smoking ruins.

he does not flinch when she rises to her feet. he does not beg or put his arms up or move against her. she studies him for a long moment, kneeling on the grass. the wind pulls at her hair and his.

sailor venus offers him a gloved hand. ] You haven't said your name.

[ her grave expression has cleared. her smile, though small, is warm—sunlight peering out behind storm clouds. ]

Open Post: Yiling Patriarch Edition

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