#ryujin ☨ 001

[uegg]

Uegg was a devil of the highest order. He'd collected many souls during his time in this realm and would collect even more as he worked with the Vanguard of Light. Ryujin was just one man, one soul he already had, just one. None of the other darkfriends Dantalion made received so much attention, and arguably spending time with one who held a grudge was dangerous to his plans. So why? Why risk everything to come see Ryu? Why taunt and pester and push him ever closer to a breaking point? Out of the two of them, Dantalion had the most to lose. So why?

The answer could be found in the Captain's outburst. That high-pitched, sinister giggle sounded again from the throat that previously had a rapier pressed into it. Ryu was so entertaining, a welcome respite from the dull nature of existing within the Vanguard of the Light. Hedonism and high-stakes games were the cornerstones of Uegg's identity as a demon. He was a gambler, fraud, and a cheat in the mortal life he can't remember and used those very qualities to climb out of the trenches Ryu would find himself in eventually. His sick infatuation with the other stemmed from the fact that Ryujin still refused to play, which made Dantalion want to play with him even more. "That's right, you don't have power, control, or choice here. You sealed your fate that night I found you at your lowest. It was so easy you practically handed over your soul!" Dantalion says excitedly, chasing after Ryu as he often did. It didn't matter how odd it would look for a crusader to be following a raider around like a giddy kid, clearly his boredom was much greater than he initially knew. Dantalion wouldn't let Ryu walk away, not just yet. "But that's what makes you so fascinating. You're mine, yet you refuse me. You don't have a future, yet you keep sailing off towards one. I don't understand you at all, which makes me want you so bad. Isn't that crazy? You're mine, and I still want you!" His infernal hedonism was starting to bleed through his cover as it often did when Ryujin was involved. "You really think you have no idea what makes me tick, don't you? My Ryu, so adorable. We could spread darkness in this realm together, or I could pit the Vanguard against your crew! We could go to war or corrupt entire fields or start destroying nations. Whatever you want, just play with me. My games have gone stale but you know how to liven things up, don't you Ryu? Ryu? Ryu!" Yes, he was obsessed and it showed.

That flicker of ire with Ryu's pressing questions was important to the captain, however subtle, it had offered Ryu a truth not expended to him before. Uegg was a deceiver, everything between them built on a lie that manipulated the course of the last few years for Ryu. Where the sea once proved as this calming ground, the waves of the Azure Sea rocking against the monstrosity that was the Leviathan, Ryu had been restless, unable to sleep, as the thought of this deceiver kept him awake often. His soul sold to the Dark, something indelibly marred until his death would allow him to greet the flames in which he'd been delivered to. Ryu tried to hide the biting smile he felt at even the smallest clue as to who Uegg was behind the abyssal entity he'd since become.

As Uegg pressed against the tip of the rapier, Ryu pressed ever slightly his jaw knit in that palpable frustration; there was something to be said about trying to kill your demons, but this was a damned devil and Ryu had a hunch he'd simply come back with a further vengeance to destroy the wish Ryu had bargained for in his formerly drunken stupor. "Fuck!" In a swift movement, Ryu sheathed the rapier, stalking past the devil and off his sacred ship. Tense fingertips pulled through his hair, tucking frayed tendrils behind his ear; the devil didn't have to follow him of Ryu's ship, but he had to hope Uegg's pursuit was so intense that he simply would oblige. "Would if I could, damned if I don't, right?" Scathing venom laced his words as he stalked to the edge of the port, dark eyes staring out into the vast darkness of the Azure Sea this time of night. Each boat and ship he passed seemed abandoned under the celebratory nature of Neptunalia and he hoped no others had decided to stay behind within their ships as well. "Do I not have any bargaining power in this relationship?" Sourly retorted, it seemed the pirate would bite through the tip of his tongue from the way iron coated the tarmac of it, yet it seemed impossible to purge whatever ire roared inside him now.

[uegg]

Dantalion took his role as deceiver very seriously. Deceptions of quality required careful phrasing and situational control. It's why it was so easy to view lesser beings as mere pawns for his amusement because the mentality was an expression of who he was at his core beneath the twisted, abyssal soul.

He peered into others, but he did not appreciate when others tried to peer into him. The smile remained, the look in his eyes turned dangerous, but while Uegg was a monster Dantalion was a saint. He'd walked the tightrope successfully with harsher deterrents before. "I'd love for you to get to know me, the real me. And the best way to do so would be to serve me. You will eventually, so why not start now?" Yes, a measured, avoidant response was best. He couldn't let Ryu get a rise out of him. Dantalion has grown restless and one errant word could have him burning his favorite toy along with the ship he covets.

"There he is, my Ryu," he coos in response to the captain lifting the veil on his anger. He turns his head to stare down at the point of the rapier with a gleeful expression, unable to contain his maniacal giggling. That's right, Ryujin had to live out his days fully. He wouldn't be as fun to watch down in the Abyss toiling for centuries. Here in the mortal realm, his toiling held far more possibility. "As irritating as you can be, you're my absolute favorite. When you look at me like that, with hatred that burns in the soul you gave me, oooh it fills me with such a thrill. Would you really hurt me if you could? My Ryu..." Dantalion only came to push his buttons and cause a little. As expected, Ryu was entertaining. If he'd been boring then naturally the devil would have to punish him. "I suppose I can let you keep your little ship for now since it means so much. It'll be better to destroy it once it means even more to you, when you're desperate for it and need it above all," he says, a warm affection spreading across his face as he turned his body fully to the other, pressing his adam's apple against the rapier. "You know me better than that Ryu. I'd never inspire you to do anything. Backing you into a corner, testing your resolve, and breaking you are more my style. To see you devastated by my hand would be wonderful, but I understand where your strength comes from. You have much you cherish despite your circumstances."

He wondered often of what true monstrosities lay behind a pretty face and charming grin; even a sober Ryu could see why his drunken confession of vying towards leadership had escaped so easily. That alone provoked the thought of if he truly deserved such role, standing before a motley gang of pirates, those who'd been fiercely dedicated to his father and only turning to Ryu once it was clear their Captain was not returning from a pitfall of death. Your turn - Ryu stood a little taller at that, it was a secret a vague nudge towards an inner truth, and if Ryu's innate corruption taught him anything, it was that it'd do him best to expose that towards his own benefits.

"When it's my turn? What - you're saying you were once flesh and blood like me?" The captain not really known much about what he walked into, and Ryu never expected a devil to earnestly explain it to him, but it couldn't hurt to fucking ask. Ryu watched Dantalion carefully now, hoping to preen any tells, any weakness, as though he wasn't standing before a gods-knows-how-old devil who'd mastered the art of deception. Ryu originally figured his soul being promised to the Dark One was less about being a soldier granted opportunities and more so about being held in unrelenting torture within an afterlife he couldn't fathom; what else could be worse than such reality he was to live right now?

The ship was the last piece of his father, something that would live on long after Ryu was promised to the abyss. His rapier was lifted; it'd have been a losing battle to face Dantalion but fierce devotion to his ship left little room for jokes - though Ryu was certain that the devil actually wouldn't be joking about a small spree of arson where Ryu was concerned. Dantalion hadn't even given the Seaborn the grace of facing him, Ryu wielding the weapon to the back of the devil, nostrils flared with anger. Nothing would change what was already fated to be; perhaps Dantalion was correct that it was useless to resist it. "Would that be so smart of you? Tear every bit and piece of my life apart as though that'd inspire me to follow you? Sounds more like a temper tantrum." Ryu was obviously still sulking about the entire scenario and maybe it wasn't best to piss off the Devil that cursed him to the Dark One's favor, but, it was too late to take anything he'd said back.

[uegg]

His skin was just a modification of his essence. In Uegg's ring of the Abyss his actions had value. He was the one to crush and dominate, to deceive and destroy. The King of frauds, Dantalion Althais fit him quite well. Though he knew he could get nowhere purely on his own.. The legions he boasted were proof of that, and while he was not discerning with who he damned, Dantalion always developed a sort of affection for those who ask him for a wish. They were, by nature, beneath him. Pitiable creatures who existed for his amusement and use.

"You'll see when it's your turn to dredge yourself through the hellfire trenches that the only higher power you need to worry about is me." Perhaps it was a side effect of Ryu's line of work, but Dantalion had never seen a hint of despair grace the faimen's features. He was so stoic Dantalion couldn't maintain a stern countenance either. A smile cracked, Ryu never changed. It was all so simply amusing. "That's what I like about you, Ryu. I'm obsessed really. You've accepted your fate and yet you resist it. I wonder if that means you have something more to live for than eternity under me. Don't make me jealous," he jests, glancing sinisterly at the strapping captain from the corner of his eye.

Of course, his delight not being properly reciprocated hurt. Dantalion fully expected prostrating or even a fight, but to be shrugged off as if Ryu didn't care ... it seemed he didn't like that. "Hooray! So you wouldn't mind if I burn this silly little ship down then, right?" he tosses out without turning around, though the smile in his tone was clear. "If you truly wanted to experience all the fun I've been having, you wouldn't have time to be a pirate any longer."

Whatever the sea had mercilessly cast his way was nothing compared to the fury of a devil nor the malignant hold of the Dark One. Ryu learned to fend away sleep, there was a faint line of sanity that came from evasion, however scant, but now his wretched dream was stood before him gloating at all which Ryu had been granted. Ungrateful - the Dark One seemed to scream within his mind - all Ryu had ever wished for had been granted, even if he did not know the stakes, he understood the cost; a favor for a favor. Ryu nearly flinched, a scathing reminder resounded in his mind, something he intimately understood, but the Leviathan's captain stood tall in the face of the creature he was infinitely indebted to.

"Does the Dark One appreciate gloating?" Ryu roused a contemptuous smile and though a captain would always fight until the end, Ryu let his hand slip from his weapon as his arms crossed; a subtle act of compliance as the other stepped comfortably onto the ship. The ship his father had repaired board by board, lifted up into a powerful Armada and commanded as a respected pirate of the sea. Traitor - it was whispered onto the shell of Ryu's ear, a reminder of his betrayal that festered each time he strolled forth pretending he was a captain deserving of the very title. Pirates lied, the pilfered, plundered, and cheated the stakes of life - but even pirates had rules in the game.

Wretched contempt battled with the warm gaze Dantalion had set upon Ryu; as though he was this decadent creation and not a mortal now cursed to a dark sacrament for the Dark One to employ. He clicked his tongue, a fragment of a sigh leaving him, "I'm sure you say that to all the creatures you've enslaved to the Abyss." Nonchalance bled from him despite the fact that, internally, he was certainly screaming. There was this itching within his skin, this screaming and damning thought that he certainly did not wish for Dantalion to be on the Leviathan any longer. The faimen bravely stepped forward, jaw terse as he made a point to breeze past the devil that had damned him so easily - an utter fool Ryu had always been, too focused on the goal instead of the inbetweens. "I'll go so long as it gets you off of my ship."

[uegg]

It had been ages since he last laid eyes on Ryu, not since he had the pleasure of granting the Seaborn's wish. His friend looked well, strong, and as resilient as ever. The mere sight of him with that necklace dangling off him brought back such joyous memories that a sinister, gleeful cackle bubbled up from the depths of some genuine place of emotion. Those who knew Dantalion as the loyal crusader would've been shocked and horrified to hear such a tone. But he didn't have to hide himself from Ryu. They knew each other too well for that which was why the devil walked the deck like he owned the Leviathan.

"Oh Ryujin how I've missed you! Just look at you, look at all you've become! Does that amulet remind you of your sin? How many lies did you have to tell your crew to cover up your treachery? Can you even look them in the eyes? Can you even get close to anyone?" Like an excited kid, Dantalion rattled off his questions, his voice getting so high his pitch neared a squeal. The warmth with which he gazed at the Captain was uniquely twisted because whatever pain Ryujin had endured since their pact Dantalion reveled in. Sure his soul would be twisted in the Abyss, but an already rotten one would serve as a much better foundation than the fools he's claimed through his work as the Vanguard.

Despite the way Ryu reached for the hilt of his sword, Dantalion reached out his hand to the other, a gesture that proved he in no way took the Seaborn's hostility seriously. "Come now, I do plenty well for myself. You're my favorite, I mean look at you! A true pirate commanding a massive ship, just like you wanted. All the pain you bring to this realm will follow you when you return to me on the other side. I can wait, but I don't want to. Abandon your ship and come play with me! I have so many fun games in motion now, oh you'd be delighted I'm sure. I know you way better than those you command."

starter for @uegg.

where: on the leviathan, docked somewhere

when: current timeline

note: ah hee hee hee

Crew under the command of the Leviathan had filtered out to taverns which would supplement them for the night; Neptunalia was around the corner, but many started to trickle into revelry early and even a pirate was not above nor beneath the idea of a raucous celebration. Where Ryu once would have celebrated, lost in drunken madness in a sense of unity with his crew, the Captain now sat on the empty ship. The memories here were stark, each shift and groan in the tide of the water spoke a song that tormented Ryu. His beginning, his father's end; each revolved around this very ship and the Seaborn could only twist the rings on calloused fingers, hold the amulet his father once wore round his neck, and hope it was worth obtaining all he ever once dreamed of.

The glamour had fallen; much like when he was a young boy enamored with the grit of Caribella, Ryu inevitably woke up to the true darkness that swirled around. Caribella entertained the sordid troubles of any man, but Ryu had invited darkness into his life, onto the Leviathan and it had been repaid handsomely, at the cost of any comfort to Ryu. Change was meant to be uncomfortable and life on the sea was an ever moving puzzle, but the very fate he'd locked himself upon proved unbearable.

A footstep resounded on the path, Ryu turning to the figure that leapt onto the deck, "I thought I'd told you all to take leave until the festival was through." The seas were ultimately calm as all poured into Lysara to drink themselves into oblivion or venerate the sea Gods; it was once something of fascination to Ryu and yet now he sat in solitary aboard the ship he once obsessed to rule over. He stood as he realized this was not a crew member but unfortunately one who was familiar to him in a much more wretched regard, "Dantalion." His hand drifted over the pommel of his sword; the devil had swept through his life, cashed in upon the lucrative disaster he'd granted, and left. The Captain tried to remain impassive, his mind had been plagued by the Dark One since but weakness was a lethal fault amongst the sea and one had to figure it was the same where a devil was to be concerned. "You're missing out on plenty of business endeavors as we speak." Another life to twist and mold to the Dark One's design, another naive mind to bend to their will.