Otome has faced all sorts of beings; beings who should've had the power to alter the course of humanity. She's lived through death, and witnessed how the laws of the world aren't so set as the populace believes them to be.
In that way, she has learned that, above all, there is sometimes nothing so powerful as a single person.
The air is cold, and growing colder still. It's not the first time that this has happened with Karl, but at least then, he has had more control—more than he does now, in this storm of ice. At its perimeter, as long as it remains contained, she is relatively safe, even as it chills her to the bone.
That's hardly what matters.
She doesn't have her phone with her: no spells, no demons. Only her, as she is, with nothing to defend herself but skills that matter little in the face of demonic power. As she steps forward, into the freezing tempest, it will have to be enough.
"Otome," Karl says; Otome already knows what his next words will be. He's so predictable, in that sense. "I told you not to—agh... Don't—"
Otome wonders if Karl honestly expects her to listen, or if he even realizes how much he's hurting his case, when pain leaks into his voice or, at the center of the storm, his appearance flashes—from a demon to a human and then back again (but still Karl, most of all). The storm rages on; Otome is calm, even with the steady beating of her pulse.
"Otome!"
Karl really should know by now, that Otome wouldn't think of turning her back on this (on him).
It may not be his decision to make. But in some ways, she thinks it is, or that at the very least, he needs to believe in that much. This isn't an innocent burst of rain, or accidentally attacking someone he thought to be a threat. This is something at the core—she doesn't know how to put it into words, but her will is her weapon and shield, and she believes that it can be his as well, if he'd let it.
And with that, her heart a wall of steel against the ice, she moves forward.
no subject
Don't come near me—
Otome has faced all sorts of beings; beings who should've had the power to alter the course of humanity. She's lived through death, and witnessed how the laws of the world aren't so set as the populace believes them to be.
In that way, she has learned that, above all, there is sometimes nothing so powerful as a single person.
The air is cold, and growing colder still. It's not the first time that this has happened with Karl, but at least then, he has had more control—more than he does now, in this storm of ice. At its perimeter, as long as it remains contained, she is relatively safe, even as it chills her to the bone.
That's hardly what matters.
She doesn't have her phone with her: no spells, no demons. Only her, as she is, with nothing to defend herself but skills that matter little in the face of demonic power. As she steps forward, into the freezing tempest, it will have to be enough.
"Otome," Karl says; Otome already knows what his next words will be. He's so predictable, in that sense. "I told you not to—agh... Don't—"
Otome wonders if Karl honestly expects her to listen, or if he even realizes how much he's hurting his case, when pain leaks into his voice or, at the center of the storm, his appearance flashes—from a demon to a human and then back again (but still Karl, most of all). The storm rages on; Otome is calm, even with the steady beating of her pulse.
"Otome!"
Karl really should know by now, that Otome wouldn't think of turning her back on this (on him).
"I don't want to end up hurting you—"
"Will you?" Otome asks. "Do you really think you'll hurt me?"
It may not be his decision to make. But in some ways, she thinks it is, or that at the very least, he needs to believe in that much. This isn't an innocent burst of rain, or accidentally attacking someone he thought to be a threat. This is something at the core—she doesn't know how to put it into words, but her will is her weapon and shield, and she believes that it can be his as well, if he'd let it.
And with that, her heart a wall of steel against the ice, she moves forward.