[CLOSED/TBA for now?] august mayhem log

[weenwoon]

🧙 WHO: Hythlodaeus and the close CR! maybe others later, who knows.
⚔️️ WHAT: Recovering after his revival, fluff, trying to trail his murderhusband.
🕒 WHEN: First half of August.
🗺️ WHERE: Red Spring, Camelot
⚠️ WARNINGS: None as of yet, will likely have references to gore/abuse in the future.



A. Camelot; Polydegmon's

[TBA, I'm so sorry I just want to throw this at Chips before I go to bed]

B. Red Spring

[TBA]

C. Trailing (The First)

As Hythlodaeus's recovery progresses, his mind grows clearer. It's still a slow process, of course, but the treatments at the resort, the peaceful atmosphere and the security his friends' presence brings all work towards restoring not just his body, but his heart as well.

Unfortunately, that also means he is now in a state to notice things around him more. And one of them is the strangely late time that Hades returns to their apartment one night, as though he'd been out almost until dawn. It's quite hard to tell by his appearance, given that Hades looks exhausted at the best of times, but Hythlodaeus has been his friend for eons, and the many little cues are still noticeable to him. Despite his dodging and statements to the contrary, Hades is tired and clearly worried about something.

But the conversations don't lead to anything much, and so the next time Hythlodaeus resigns to try and follow his friend. He stays in bed for long enough that Hades would believe him to be asleep, then quickly gets up and gets dressed, his new familiar keeping watch of the street from the windowsill. Once he's ready, Hythlodaeus slips out of the house - just in time to see Hades turn into a darker alley at the far end of the street.

Heart pounding with worry, he tries to follow - but he's not so good at concealment, not in these circumstances. Though he tries to keep to the shadows and step quietly, an all too-obvious pool of silence and tension follows him. It's only a matter of time before Hades would notice he's being trailed.

Comments

cw emeto, suicidal thoughts kinda, mentions of gore, etc

[weenwoon]

This... theater of the grotesque is finally too much for Hythlodaeus to bear and he has to turn away as the contents of his own stomach rush up. He coughs and gags after throwing up, tears of horror and despair streaming down his face. The fae's screams and crying still echo in his ears, even after they'd grown silent, and in the moment it feels like they will never leave Hythlodaeus's mind. The final horrific blow in a series of suffering and misfortune, delivered - somehow - by the man he loves.

Slowly, Hythlodaeus forces himself to turn back to Hades and the... the body. The noise of the crowd rises again, some people hurrying off to find knights to apprehend the madman, others simply voicing their shock and disgust and anger. Oblivious to all that, Hythlodaeus shuffles numbly forward. He isn't thinking, not as such, it's much too hard right now, but he wants - he needs an answer, any answer. All this still seems so... impossible. Hades has ever been one of the kindest, most caring people Hythlodaeus has ever known. Even after so long among the horrors of the mortal world, under the thrall of Zodiark, Hythlodaeus believed - no, knew that his friend was still himself, deep down. Wanting to protect others, wanting the world to be kinder.

A cruel and sad thing to do, Hythlodaeus had said about him snuffing out the original Solus Galvus's soul. But now, with this macabre, foul display before him, Hythlodaeus finally understands what cruelty, true cruelty is. Watching it, and watching it happen by Hades's hand... it leaves him feeling as though he would rather die. He would rather have gone through his imprisonment again. No matter how terrible it had been, it was better than this.

Feeling his vision grow darker, Hythlodaeus finally falls to his knees not too far away from the corpse. Moving is so hard, but he manages to force himself to look up at Hades - and anything is better than looking at the body.

"Why?.." he repeats, voice hoarse from crying and barely above a whisper. "Agesandros, what have you done?.."

[emet_sulk]

Hades is hardly a better sight: flecked with indescribable muck from his little torture session, barely recognisable from the fusion with his familiar. The name somehow manages to catch his attention where nothing else had. He flinches and looks to Hythlodaeus, eyes growing wide and face paling.

"Why--? I put in more than usual. You should still be sleeping," he whispers. He hasn't been afraid of much in his life but terror paralyses him now. Hythlodaeus is not supposed to see this. Hythlodaeus should have woken up later, after Hades had returned home sans the evidence of his gory deed.

What has he done? He drops his gaze to the corpse he's sitting on and stares at his bloodied hands. He starts shaking, eyes growing hot with tears. This is a dream, isn't it? A nightmare. Hythlodaeus can't be here. No. No, no, no no--!

The draconic features recede as Nyx parts from him, hopping away with a small shake and a tired growl. Her absence leaves him drained and he sways, overcome by a bout of fatigue made worse by the departure of adrenaline. If she's leaving him now, then...

Far away, something breaks. He doubles over with a muffled cry, clutching his side. Blood seeps from beneath his fingers, staining his shirt deep red. Elsewhere on his body, other wounds appear just as rapidly and without warning. Bruises, gashes, other injuries inflicted by the fae as they ran from him. All hitting him at once.

Hades sways and collapses off to the side, breathing shallowly. Heavy, metallic footsteps approach, although he cannot discern them in his fading vision. The rest of the Camelot knights, he presumes.

"My friends..." he mumbles. "My brethren... Can I join you now...?"

[weenwoon]

More than usual. You should still be sleeping.

There's barely enough time for the words to register, but they do. So... Hades planned for this. And the sleeping potions were not just there to soothe Hythlodaeus's nightmares. Dimly, some part of Hythlodaeus wonders at just how much his friend's talent for planning ahead has grown, but the rest of him is numbed by the realization that this was done with intent. To think that Hades would want to do this, that it's not merely a flash of anger that he's prone to now...

Impossible, his mind whispers. Even with the evidence so plain before him, Hythlodaeus simply cannot fathom the thought that his friend would willingly engage in such cruelty. He stares at Hades in incomprehension, eyes searching the other man's face for... for any clue, any answer as to why he would do this. Killing this fae would not achieve anything, and the manner in which it was done only further emphasized the pointlessness of it. Was it--was it really because Hades wanted to make them suffer?

That thought feels like a blade stabbing through Hythlodaeus, taking away his breath as he gives a choked half-gasp, half-sob, reaching out with trembling fingers towards his... his friend. He wants to hope that they are still that, that Hades is still someone he knows--

But the moment of suspension is shattered when the man suddenly doubles over, blood seeping through his clothes, injuries appearing everywhere - and they bring a new kind of terror with them, a realization that Hythlodaeus might lose his friend not just spiritually, but physically as well.

"Hades!" His voice is a frantic scream as Hythlodaeus tries to move forward, panic and fear spreading through him like a wildfire; he can't, he can't, he can't lose him, he doesn't want to be alone, he doesn't want to know what it's like to watch someone you love die. "No, no, no, no, no, Hades, no--!!"

Someone grabs Hythlodaeus by the arm, pulling him up as others cluster around Hades, weapons drawn. Hythlodaeus does not notice, trying to struggle out of the grasp, still screaming - incomprehensible at this point, losing words and sense, merely anguish and terror given voice. The person holding him is shouting something, but he's not in a state to understand, eyes locked to Hades even as his own vision blurs with tears and fades as they're both dragged away from each other.