RP:Juliette's Choice

During a fight between Ymheshphilun and Juliette, Ym infected Julie with a slow-acting venom that would leave her weakened and short of breath. Here, he catches up with her...

The RP

Juliette is leaning against a tree outside her home, nearly doubled over and breathing hard to try to get a good breath of air. She has her eyes closed, and is extremely pale. All this thanks to the stupid venom that was injected into her.

Ymheshphilun unfortunately caught up with her at that moment. He stayed hidden in the undergrowth, but peeked out through the grass at her with his infrared vision. He didn't want to approach just yet, but he did feel like she should know some things. That way, she could despair and fall alone, with no help of rescue. ~And how are you doing today?~ he whispered to her, being careful to not give away his position with the broadcast.

Juliette 's eyes snap open and she pushes off from the tree, swaying a bit. She looks around frantically for any sign of Ymheshphilun, sniffing the air as best she can to try to catch a scent. "No, leave me alone," she says, her voice soft and filled with the thing he probably likes most: fear.

Ymheshphilun began circling, still trying to remain hidden in the bushes, reveling in her apparent fear, basking in it. ~I will, don't worry. But there are some things you should know first...~ He slid out into plain sight, still circling semi-hypnotically, eyes boring into her own.

Juliette blinks and gazes up at Ymheshphilun, her eyes slightly droopy and glazed over. She gulps hard, "W--what do you want? What do you want with me?"

Ymheshphilun was getting nearer with every circle--not quickly, he just was. His satisfaction was leaking into the air. ~Were you aware that preklek are quite... flammable?~ he said, tone dripping with malicious relishing. ~Your guardian nearly exploded when he touched my flame.~

Juliette narrows her eyes, trying to push her fear to a small corner of her brain and face this foe head on. Not an easy task when one can barely focus on what's in front of them for more than a few minutes at a time. She only knows one preklek, of course, but would far from consider him her "guardian," and therefore decides to play dumb. "What are you talking about?"

Ymheshphilun stopped circling and faced her directly, eyes remorseless and blank. ~Large triangular feathered cloth on his head? Black fabric clothing, crossbow? The one lying in the bed next to yours. He's dead. I killed him.~ The centipede thrummed, a sonic vibration that could possibly get into her head and eventually wear down on her willpower.

Juliette gulps again and begins to slightly hyperventilate. She doesn't want to believe that what he's saying could be true. She blinks a few times. She didn't even want to try in front of Taikahn, she sure doesn't want to cry in front of this creature. Shaking her head, she says in a shaky voice, "You're lying. Zat is a lie."

Ymheshphilun moved forward, claws spreading, exoskeletal plates shifting positions, spreading a nearly cobra-like hood over his body. He was attempting to blot out the sun to her vision, spread and use perception to try to triple in size--to her, of course, not in reality. ~I'll show you.~ He shoved a vision towards her head--it was from Ym's point of view. Fire sprayed from a mouth mounted below the eyes. It flew forward and covered the target--a preklek, Taikahn--and incinerated him immediately. ~You see?~

Juliette slowly recoils as he appears to get larger before her, leaning against the tree and slowly sliding down it into a sitting position. When the image is projected into her mind of Taikahn being incinerated, Juliette lets out a terrified cry and clutches at her head. "No, no...no..." she mutters to herself. She does't want to believe it's true but the evidence is all right there. There's the high possibility that it could be just another fake illusion put into her head, but she's a bit out of it at the moment and doesn't know what to believe.

Ymheshphilun continued advancing towards her, getting ever nearer. ~It's true,~ he whispered. ~He's gone.~ And really, Ym's memory didn't carry any trace of falsification. He really thought that Taik had been burned to ashes. One of his antennae reached out and attempted to brush her cheek. ~Now you're all alone here, with me.~

Juliette starts and pushes the antennae away, pushing herself backward away from him. "No! Stay away from me! Get away!" She slowly gets to her feet, grabbing her serpent staff from its holder on her back. What she's going to do, she has no idea. She's really weak, for crying out loud! It's just mostly an impulse than anything else. "I won't let you 'ave me again!"

Ymheshphilun pulled back a little ways, allowing her to rise and step away from the tree. He strafed a little bit, then darted forward at a time when she was hopefully in midstep. His claws attempted to latch onto the staff and jerk it away from her, trying to take advantage of her current situation. ~And how do you plan to stop me?~ he said, maliciously, tauntingly. ~Your body is failing you.~

Juliette has the staff torn away from her and falls forward onto her knees with a grunt. She closes her eyes, preparing for the worst. "Why...?" she eventually asks in a voice barely above a whisper, "Why would you kill 'im? Why Taikahn, of all people?"

Ymheshphilun tossed the staff away and tried to grab her across her neck and torso. He only applied enough pressure to make sure she would hold still as his antennae moved over her face as if trying to decide where to enter. ~He was in my way,~ he said, flatly, ~so I removed him.~

Juliette lets out a small scream as she's lifted off the ground, her eyes opening and going wide as she stares at the giant centipede. She hates that he's managed to defeat her on three separate occasions, and she really hates that he's killed one of her friends. Right now, however, she's just terrified of what he's going to do to her. And yes, she is crying, despite her best efforts to hide it. "Please...don't kill me," she says to him, her voice full of emotion and weak, "...please..."

Ymheshphilun decided on an opening. Her body was weak, thus her jaws would be weaker than they usually were. As she uttered the last "please," he shoved his feelers for her mouth, trying to shove them in and down her throat, possibly triggering a retching reflex but not letting anything out, probably stretching her cheeks to uncomfortable levels and definitely tasting nasty. ~You won't die,~ he thrummed. ~Immediately.~

Juliette gags. Several times, actually, before making a very uncomfortable sounding choking noise. Her eyes widen a fraction more before she squeezes them shut, allowing more tears to slide down her cheeks. The thought hasn't occured to her to communicate with him using her mind at this point, so she simply says nothing and just cries, terrified of what he's got planned.

Ymheshphilun tried to push outward from inside her esophagus, trying to stretch it, possibly rupture it. Worst case of heartburn -ever-. Should he actually manage to pierce it, he'd continue to shove his way out, pushing his feelers around inside her ribcage or trying to, poking at lungs and other things that shouldn't feel anything touch them. On the outside, the claw around her torso let go and tried to grip a leg instead. He'd try to reorient her sideways, to where she was parallel with the ground... and then he'd pull on her like on a rack, one claw on her neck, the other on her leg. Not enough to break anything, but just enough to probably hurt really badly. ~Eventually you'll forget,~ he whispered. ~Forget the life you had before. Forget pleasure. Forget those you cared about. My touch will bring you agony, but you'll love it all the same because you know nothing else...~

Juliette tries to let out a scream, but it comes out as nothing more than an agonized sounding choke as he begins trying to rip her in two. Or at least that's what it feels like. She begins to claw at the appendages holding her, trying to get them away from her, to get them to let go. In her mind, she begins yelling out for him to stop, to let her live, to have mercy on her and just leave her alone. ~I'll do whatever you want!~ she says in her panic, ~Just, please, let me go! Please!~

Ymheshphilun clamped down on her neck with one claw, beginning to apply more pressure. His antennae attempted to wrap themselves around her lungs and squeeze the air out of them. Her pulling at his limbs did little, and would likely tire her out further. ~You're doing exactly what I want,~ thrummed the centipede, in a bit of a sing-song, hypnotic tone. ~You're afraid. You're in pain. For now that will suffice.~ He had plans—oh, he had plans—but at the moment he was just enjoying torturing her.

Juliette tightens her grip on Ymheshphilun, most likely not doing any lasting damage thanks to the fact that she's incredibly weak. More choking noises in place of screams leave her throat and her eyes widen in pain. He's going to kill her, and she can't do anything about it but cry! How pathetic is this? At the moment, she truly hates herself and the thing that's inside her, ripping her apart. ~Let me go, please! Please! I'll do anything...~

Ymheshphilun suddenly got a terrible idea. He attempted to shove his antennae even deeper down her throat, and unwound them from around her lungs. Then he'd curve them upwards, circling around her heart. She'd likely feel the hard exoskeleton with every beat. They continued circling upwards, up the outside of her windpipe, up the back of her neck and digging in under the skull, right where the jaw connects. He'd attempt to reach her mind right about there, trying to intercept her body's signals and amplify them, trying to make everything that hurt a thousand times worse. ~Anything, you say?~

Juliette lets out another strangled scream and every muscle in her body tenses as the pain amplifies. She squeezes her eyes shut tightly until spots erupt into her vision. ~Anything!~ she squeals inside her head, ~Anything!~

Ymheshphilun left his antennae inside her body, but stopped stretching her out with his claws and slacked his grip slightly. ~Does that anything include losing your free will?~

Juliette keeps her eyes shut and relaxes as he stops ripping at her. He can probably feel her hatred of him by this point, as anyone who's not even connected to her would feel it radiating. But she has no choice at this point. She has to give in, or he may kill her. Spouting a few curse words in her head, she finally lets out a shaky sigh and nods as best she can. ~Fine.~

Ymheshphilun could feel her hatred, but also heard her agreement. He projected an image into her head--a half-human, half-insectoid hybrid, a grotesque thing that might seem to warp the mind just by being there. ~You accept servanthood, then. You admit my superiority and forfeit your life into my claws. You surrender your free will to me, fully and totally. This is what you are agreeing to not just do, but be. Do you understand and accept?~ The narrator just wishes to say that moments like this really freak him out.

Juliette lets out a cry of dispair. No, that's not what she wants to be. She doesn't want to be a slave to this...thing that has her in its claws. For a moment, she considers giving up her life and just saying no, but she knows she could never do that. She's never had the strength to give up when it benefited her most. She would gulp if she could, but as it were she has a huge bug antennae down her throat and so she can't. She takes a few deep breaths to steady herself, for all the good they do her, and nods again. ~Yes.~

Ymheshphilun thrummed. This was most likely painful for her. ~Very well.~ That was when he started trying to tinker with her brain's chemistry. He tried to adjust several settings, chief of which was her reaction to his appearance. He attempted to make her brain dump large amounts of dopamine and serotonin into her biochemistry upon seeing him--this would, should it be successful, induce a sort of trance-like state during which she'd be extremely open to suggestion--again, should it work. She'd act normal away from his influence, and the memories of what she did while in the trance would become fuzzy and move to the back of her mind--that is, until she would go into withdrawal in a few days. Ym didn't want to take any chances.

Juliette tenses again at the painful thrum in her mind. She winces a bit upon feeling the thing inside her move into her brain once more. She can feel it moving around, but doesn't know what's going on. After a short time, she seems to relax, her eyes slowly opening.

Ymheshphilun decided to test to see whether or not his changes had taken root once she relaxed and opened her eyes. Continuing to suspend her with his antennae inside her body, he commanded, ~Cease breathing until I say otherwise.~ His emotions were leaking through--but they were rather indecipherable, inhuman.

Juliette takes a deep breath and simply holds it, awaiting the order to resume breathing again. The longer she holds it, the harder it becomes to hold, and she begins to strain for oxygen. Way in the back of her mind comes the question of why exactly she's doing this, but it's so far back and such a quiet voice that she doesn't listen to it.

Ymheshphilun finally, after being satisfied that he'd succeeded here, (which was probably a little after she started turning blue) said, ~You may breathe again.~ He sent a wave of tingly pleasure down his antennae, trying to give her brain positive reinforcement for doing what he said, trying to deepen the neural paths he'd made. Then he slowly lowered her to the ground and pulled his antennae out of her, in the correct way. ~Now, get on your knees. Bow your head and say it out loud: I am your servant.~ The centipede was really into this whole domination/servitude thing. *shudder*

Juliette shudders slightly as the antennae is removed, mostly because it feels incredibly funny. Bowing her head, she gets down onto her knees and says, in an almost zombie-like tone, "I am your servant."

Ymheshphilun gently caressed her face with an antenna again as she spoke and bowed down. He was basking in his apparent control over her. ~Good,~ he thrummed, pushing a vision of relaxing in a beautiful field of flowers towards her mind.

Juliette lets out an almost relieved sigh as the vision hits her mind, all thoughts of pain forgotten for now. Though she'll probably feel it all later, when she wakes up the next morning.

Ymheshphilun really wanted to test out how much control he had over her exactly, but didn't want to break the hold. Eventually, he cut off the vision. ~I want to heal you of the venom I put into you,~ he said. ~You will be of more use to me without it in your blood. Hold out your arm, palm up and open. Keep your head bowed. Say 'yes, master' if you understand.~

Juliette keeps her head bowed toward the ground and extends her arm, palm up toward Ymheshphilun. "Yes, master."

Ymheshphilun lowered his head further towards her hand. ~This will hurt,~ he said. His jaws opened and that tongue needle flicked out, attempting to bury itself into her wrist. The first thing he did, should he make contact, was drink. Long and deep. It would likely make Juliette go more pale than before and maybe nearly cause her to black out. Once he'd finished pulling at her blood, which would probably take several minutes, he'd begin shooting a fluid into her body that would most probably burn like acid as it flowed through her, though it would do no lasting damage. The pain would likely be excruciating, but as he injected, he explained, ~This liquid will heal you. You will return to normal in a day or two.~

Juliette winces and closes her eyes, keeping her head bowed toward the ground. She falls backward against a tree as he sucks her blood, trying not to move her arm too awfully much to allow him to do what he needs to do. She fights to urge to let out a scream when the acidic fluid is injected, digging her nails into the tree and fighting the transformation that's daring to come from the pain.

Ymheshphilun finally finished up, retracting the needle and closing his jaws. The "healing" solution would still burn for several minutes more, but eventually she'd find herself returning to normal. Since it would be hard to recall this event later, most likely, she may find herself thinking the weakness was merely a disease that her body fought off. ~I am finished healing you. Did you enjoy the process?~ A claw snapped idly, for no apparent reason. The centipede was truly enjoying this--having a real, living servant, not just zombies. There was so much more he could do with a live person.

Juliette nods in response, withdrawling her arm and rubbing it slightly where the needle had pierced her skin, "Yes. Merci, for 'elping moi."

Ymheshphilun had not expected her to say yes--something that painful generally generated a no. Her correct response the first time prompted Ym to send her back to the field of flowers, once more serene meditation. He left it on for a minute or so then shut it off. ~Sleep well tonight, Juliette. It will hasten your recovery.~ He paused. ~I have a way to aid you with restful sleep. Do you wish my aid?~

Juliette hesitantly looks up at him and gulps. She blinks a few times, then nods. "Oui. Yes."

Ymheshphilun thrummed. ~Rise,~ he commanded. This was going to be fun. ~Do not resist.~ His antennae reached for her ears, and attempted to push their way into her head. It was probably painful, but better than having them wrapped around her heart and shoved down her throat. Should he reach her, he'd attempt to manipulate several glands--trying to produce a sleep-inducing drug cocktail with her own head. It would take several minutes to take effect, though. ~What do you wish to dream about?~ he asked.

Juliette closes her eyes, tears slowly streaming down her cheeks as he enters her head. This is as much from the pain as from the small voice in the back of her head telling her she needs to resist this and find someone, anyone, who can help her. Protect her. She sniffles and swallows hard, "'ome," she manages to say, "I want to dream of my 'ome." The last place she felt safe and loved before coming to Hollow.

Ymheshphilun shifted his antennae around inside, searching for the correct memories. He couldn't help but find some other ones in there, but eventually got to what he needed. He did a little bit of neural rewiring--she'd most likely dream about that tonight. He then attempted to send another tingle of electric pleasure through his antennae and into her mind. ~Do you want me to stay with you and hold you through the night?~

Juliette honestly really doesn't want that, and Ym would probably know it. She again closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, "Only if you wish it...master." Even under his spell, the word feels weird to say.

Ymheshphilun really sort of did want that, mostly because he knew she didn't want it. But he also had other things to attend to. Plus, she already seemed to be getting the hang of the "master" business. ~I believe for now I shall leave you,~ he said, pulling his antennae from her ears. ~Kneel again until I leave. Make a suggestion as to how you can repay me for my kindness to you.~

Juliette gets onto her knees, once again bowing her head and closing her eyes. "I will do anything to repay you. You spared my life, it is ze least I can do." Boy, is she ever hooked.

Ymheshphilun radiated his satisfaction into the air. ~Very good. You please me greatly, Juliette.~ He backed away, lowered himself to the ground, and rumbled off somewhere, rapidly dropping out of sight. He was already pondering potential uses for her.