oathshackledbird | SoulGemmed Mailbox

...I killed a vampire.

[You asked, Diarmuid.]

[Diarmuid pauses with another bite halfway to his mouth. For a moment, he's not sure if he heard Kakyoin right, then he finally ask a question.]

Fire or stake through the heart?

[His people didn't really have the equivalent of vampires in their myths, but Diarmuid knows enough from the information the Grail gave him to understand those are the two ways people usually kill a vampire.

This is probably not quite the reaction that Kakyoin was expecting.]

Neither.

[All things considered, the idea that Diarmuid wouldn't believe him wasn't even a concern. After Nightmares and whatever the other thing was, vampires almost seemed easier.]

[He sat back slightly, not quite like he wanted to disappear on the spot but more just...out of sheer exhaustion, fiddling with the hat that didn't quite suit him.]

I basically hit him with a family technique that amounts to weaponized sunlight.

[Oh, sunlight. He had forgotten that. The one weakness that all vampires--no matter what type--always have.]

That is one amazing family technique. It is something your family learns as they grow up or is it a special talent that only some get and your family members were the lucky ones?

[His eyes drift to the hat that Kakyoin keeps fiddling with. There are other questions he wants to ask, but he has a feeling he already knows the answers. Why else would Kakyoin bring up this vampire if he wasn't the one who had the time stop ability that killed his best friend and almost killed his grandfather?]

I'm actually not certain, it might be a little of both--Grandfather never explained every detail very clearly. I know that his grandfather learned it from his teacher, and he was always able to use it in some capacity even before being taught. I don't know if my mother can do it or not, and I was...technically only taught some basic aspects. Grandfather said once that I have an affinity for it, which I suppose makes sense.

[Those fate has plans for tend to have affinities that others don't. It's what makes them special. It's the 'gift' to balance out the hardships waiting for them, but Diarmuid doesn't say this out loud, just like he didn't mention who he guessed the vampire was before. Some things are better left unsaid.]

Is that why this vampire was after you? Because your family holds a power that could so easily kill him and you had a special affinity for it?

Not entirely. He was after my family because...we were in his way, basically. He had something that tied us to him in a sense, and none of us were exactly happy with the arrangement. As he got more powerful, we ended up developing abilities to match him whether we liked it or not.

Is that something one of the things you can't talk about right now?

[Diarmuid is trying to not push too hard in certain directions because he knows how touchy the redhead is about them. Whatever that thing that ties Kakyoin's family and the vampire together is, he has a good feeling it probably falls into one of those directions he has to be careful with.

As he reaches for another bite of food, for some reason a memory of their first meeting slides into his mind. Kakyoin had started to call for something then. Something that didn't come.

Is that the ability he's speaking of?]

'Hierophant.' You started to say it when we first met, but stopped yourself. Would I be right to guess that word is tied to the abilities you just mentioned?

It's the kind of thing that would make you think I was crazy. The details aren't important, anyway.

[And honestly, he might have felt insane going into the whole 'a vampire stole my ancestor's body from the neck down' thing.]

...The abilities we got were--are called Stands. Psychic projections, in a sense. They were described to me once as fighting spirit made manifest. Mine was named Hierophant Green--I just got so accustomed to calling him out when I needed him that it's taken a while to remember he doesn't answer anymore.

We're talking about you having killed a vampire and the fact that members of your family tend to be able to focus sunlight through your bodies. If it is that much crazier than that, you're right. I don't think I want to know.

[Diarmuid winces. As odd as it was for him to lose the abilities he had gained as a Servant, once he was without them and he survived just fine. To lose what is basically a part of oneself? How does Kakyoin stand it?]

I have heard of many who talk about their fighting spirit almost as if it is a person, but I've never met someone whose actually was a physical partner. You must feel so empty without him here to fight with you.

I didn't have mine for very long. Three of the people in our group were born with Stands--Grandfather developed his a few months before I did, I think. Hierophant didn't manifest until a couple months before I met Kyubey. So losing him is...weird, but at least he wasn't something I'd lived with for eighteen years.

[Apart from Lisa Lisa (who didn't need one), he'd had his Stand for the shortest amount of time. All things considered, it was probably ideal that it would be him instead of someone like Jotaro.]

Edited 2016-04-07 00:09 (UTC)

You instinctively called for him when you needed help, it was long enough.

[For a moment, Diarmuid sets aside the food he's been munching on and focuses his attention fully on Kakyoin. He sounds a little hesitant when he speaks--like he is worried he is stepping out of line--but it's something he really wants to say.]

This might be a little off topic, but I've noticed that you have a habit of saying or at least implying that as long as it is you something is happening to, it's okay. That's not always true. Just because it might hurt someone else more, doesn't mean the pain or emptiness you feel is any less important.

...

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... <small.[He folded his arms--a gesture of looking for security rather than out of annoyance.]</small>

Maybe I do. I really don't want to get into that right now.

All right, then I won't say anything else.

[Just having him acknowledge it is better than nothing. Diarmuid's not going to push.]

Do you mind me asking what Hierophant Green could do?

He was a long-range Stand--that is, he could still function at a distance from wherever I was. Most of the others' couldn't move very far from their users. Hierophant was very useful for scouting, and when we fought directly it was with projectiles.

Nice!

[Diarmuid seems genuinely impressed. A...Stand--yes, that is what Kakyoin had called it--like that would have been extremely useful. If Diarmuid had one of his own, he would have liked it very much if it was like Hierophant Green.

Of course, just his luck, it would end up being something more akin to his curse than one that would actually be useful to him.]

I am going to guess then, that the ability of the Stand that vampire had was the time stop ability?

...yes. His was a closer-range Stand called 'The World', and as I later learned it could stop time for up to five seconds.

Five seconds. Just like me...

[Diarmuid drops his head into his hands, rubbing at his temples. Of course somewhere deep inside he had realized the length of time had to be the same. Why else would Kakyoin be so focused on it when they argued before? However, finally having that confirmed makes the realization concrete in a way it wasn't before.]

But you did find a way to stop him. After...

[Yeah, he's still not going to direction mention Kakyoin's best friend getting killed. He might have been brave enough to finally bring up the power itself, but that is as far as he is ready to go right now.]

Two of my friends died that night, one killed by that vampire directly. Most of the time it was one of his underlings out for our blood, but this was different. Jotaro must have been a challenge for him.

[He tugged on the hat again, hiding his eyes.]

...Kujo Jotaro. I don't know what happened exactly--the only other person that was there hasn't told me the details. What I know is that Jotaro fought him and figured out what The World was capable of...and then he died. I was told that he could stop time, and then...it was basically just me having to figure out how to beat that on my own.

Edited 2016-04-07 02:00 (UTC)

Kujo Jotaro.

[Diarmuid repeats the name with reverence. It is a strong name. One that makes him want to meet the owner and for more reasons than just the fact that Kakyoin had once, accidentally, called him by the young man's name.]

He must have cared about you a lot to put himself at such risk. I wish he was here to help you now.

[Something tells Diarmuid that the steady strength that would allow someone to stare down almost certain death for a friend would do a lot to help balance Kakyoin out here.]

Will you tell me more about him?

...He'd had a Stand his whole life. 'Star Platinum' was its name. And they were unbelievably powerful--fast, too. We met because he'd gotten into some trouble with that same vampire and you could say I helped get him out of it.

[Yep, right on fidgeting with that hat.]

He was a lot stronger than I was, both with his Stand and just in general.

Strength comes in many forms. I have a feeling his strength was just a different kind than yours. You're a lot stronger than you give yourself credit for.

[Diarmuid nods toward the hat, finally giving into curiosity enough to try and confirm what he has suspected.]

Was that his?

...I'm just holding on to it.

[...]

It was important to him. Someone had to make sure nothing happened to it.

Kakyoin...

[There is a sad, though proud look in his eyes. How he feels when he hears such words from the redhead is not something he really can explain. It is bittersweet, but more.]

You are an amazing person. No matter what happens to you in the future, I hope you will remember that.

Don't. [It lacked any anger or bitterness; Kakyoin just sounded tired.]

I'm sick of hearing how exceptional or amazing or whatever people think I am. I don't want any of that. I just want to be Kakyoin Noriaki, not some heir to my family's legacy or vampire slayer or whatever the hell else I am.

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IT HELPS IF I CAN TYPE

You have other things on your mind. It's fine! :-D

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