VIDEO - 001

[avvakir]

This has got to be some fucked up purgatory, right? [ He rolls his eyes before anyone can show him the guide. He's read it. Thoroughly. And it all sounds like a round of bullshit. But who can call bullshit when you've got a death god on your side, right? Not that Ryuk is here. He clutches a dark, worn notebook to his chest, only the back visible. ]

I mean, I've seen some really fucked up shit, all right? The kind that won't go away or disappear when it's all over. [ He's speaking a little faster now, nervous. ]

Fuck.

I'm in an underground cave that pulls chaotic creatures in through some fucked up Door. [ He shakes his as he laughs in disbelief. ] It's gotta be the fucking morphine.

Also, were those fucking velociraptors?  I have to be fucking dead.

Comments

[puzzlingly]

Then don't call them that. Names have power.

「He knows that, intimately. But he's not about to say why.」

You're the first one I see losing their shit so fast, just saying. But by all means please go on it's a little amusing. Or you could, I don't know, breathe.

「Nope, not good enough to dent that smirk on this one. He's too used to deal with the biggest jerk there has ever been. How does it feel to be mocked by a sixteen year old that looks like twelve anyway?」

[avvakir]

[ At first, Light scowls, side of lip lifted to show a few teeth and then it widens into something of a smile, dark. He has every right to flip his shit. He can't breathe properly with cracked ribs, he ripped the IV from his hand in an attempt to keep from getting eaten, but then that expression shifts.

He grins.

Names do have power. ]

You're right, names do have power. What's yours?

[puzzlingly]

「Shit, stop reminding him of his rival, you, dude... It's not the first time he sees that kind of smirk. Atem stares briefly, a little fascinated at change. There is something amazing to see emotions reflect on little details. He's used to read them thoroughly, he needs to be able to know what's in his opponents minds at times, it's useful. And it's more than obvious something he said just clicked in this guy's mind.」

Ah, and let you have power over me?

「He just teases, his smirk — playful — growing a little wider.

He could have also asked for help and go to the damn clinic instead of panicking in the phone, classic millennial... jUST SAYING.」

It's Atem, yours?

[avvakir]

[ There are few places he wants to visit, let alone the clinic. The guide gave him enough information to understand how the city works, how death works. Light leans forward, the dark circles and bruises marring his face. He keeps from flinching despite the sharp sting in his chest—fracture, maybe.

He can deal with this shit. He was bullied and beaten. A few bruises and breaks ain't shit. ]

Light. [ Easy there, Light. His next words are dark as his expression changes. He won't kill Atem. He won't kill anyone whose innocent, whose done nothing against the law, but fuck if his ego doesn't want to write the name down. Mia would tell him to do it. Kill him. He sounds like a bully. Bullies get what they deserve. ] Light Turner. Tell me, Atem, do you have a last name?

[puzzlingly]

「Ironic, that name, this guy is all the opposite to his name. Unaware of what the other might be thinking, he gives a little shrug.」

No. Just Atem.

「Seeming that he is acting not so crazy than before (or crazier, less frantic), Atem can see how weary he looks now. He turns a little serious.」

You look terrible, you should go to the clinic, specially if you were in a coma. Did you get hurt when escaping from the colosseum?

[avvakir]

[ It's not so unusual for people to have a single name and Light takes note. If Atem is truly this man's name then that means he can use it as leverage in the future, should he require it. But his brows draw down.

Atem. Atem. Egyptian. Variation of Atum, though the other variation escapes him. The question pulls him from his thoughts. ]

You'd be surprised at what a good weapon an IV stand can be. [ And given that, while great hunters, they seemed to prefer easier prey. ] And I think I'll heal fine without going to the clinic. I just spent what may have been my last days in a hospital bed, I'm not going to spend the beginning of crazycakes land in one.

[puzzlingly]

Heh, I'll take your word for it. Do not over do it though. 「HELLO KETTLE I AM POT.」You never know what the demons could toss at you.

「And he smirks a tiny bit.」

I see you're starting to accept the situation, good. You're gonna be fine.

[avvakir]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. [ It's almost sincere. ] I just got to deal with bullshit purgatory that jams a wrench in my life plans. I don't think that's really acceptable just... something I can tolerate as long as I ignore it. [ He's just still in a coma, right? /sobs Nobody knows how hard it is to be a mass murderer! ]

[puzzlingly]

One day at a time, Light.

「You know what? He's heard that word before and he can't say he really knows what it means. Now Light is using it again.」

What do you mean by purgatory anyway?

[avvakir]

[ Yes, please, ask him questions. He likes to show off what he knows. ]

It's where Roman Catholic's, and the various branches of a variety of religions, think they're punished for the sins of their life before they're off to some happy heaven. Definitively, it's the state of temporary misery or suffering.

This place seems to fit the bill pretty well.

[puzzlingly]

「Well, shit, that actually... See this kid's face becoming more serious and more of the worried nature. His own beliefs about the afterlife have been challenged terribly by this place, enough for him to reach the conclusion that he never deserved eternal happiness to begin with. He would have thought that his trials were done. Maybe they weren't. Maybe he was to remain denied of reaching A'aru forever.

Calm down, Atem, he said temporary.」

How do people overcome such place?

[avvakir]

It depends on the religion. In some variation, there is no leaving. In others, they call it cleansing—a washing away of all the sins and crimes you've committed so that you can step into heaven a man with a clear conscious.

Granted, it's often depicted as a place of suffering until those who aren't clean, are.

[ A thoughtful, momentary pause and then, bluntly: ] Religions need to figure their shit out.

[puzzlingly]

Heh, sounds like it...

「 He says with a forced smirk. Tru dat, but he's not about to have a chat about how other handle their religions tyvm. Besides, what he says sounds only logical, OR NOT REALLY BECAUSE WASN'T HE DONE WITH THIS SH--

Breathe, Atem.」

Could be worse.

「Yep.」

[avvakir]

Yeah, maybe, but it's still fucked up.

[puzzlingly]

And, what if you were dead anyway? Would it change anything?

[avvakir]

Other than the fact that I'd be dead? Yeah. [ There goes his dream of ridding the world of roaches, stamping them out until they stick to the dark, their sickness no longer affecting others. ] It'd fuck up my graduation walk and those robes weren't cheap.

[puzzlingly]

Being dead is not that bad.

「Just saying.」