Northstar Vale Just let [m]e liberate you

read only, posted with permission from Noki. very MATURE warning for discussion of assault, gore, language, etc.
I CANT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPENNING ; __ ; WHY
also i think for this post in particular its worth mentioning I often use unreliable narration from my characters perspective so um yea.

 

Soon enough Takeshi had returned. He knew in his heart that he had to head home, and at some point he had had his fill of evil deeds. He made his way into the vale quietly at night, trying to clear his brain from everything he had done. Like a kid corrupted by grotesque things on the Internet: Shi could not look at the world in the same way. He had always been a misogynist, and had forced himself onto his fiance. But now he made the final step, in his head, towards becoming a devil. Perhaps there was a little crack under the door where light might filter through, and he could grasp at it, pull himself towards opening his eyes and mind and being a good father, a reinvented husband. 

But who was he kidding? 

Takeshi knew there was no coming back from what he'd done. Best to shove those skeletons in the dark closet and put on a mask. 

The emperor made his way to the den. Here he squinted in; found the children asleep near their mother. Her own eyes were open, kept awake by a whirring mind set about with worry. Of course his absence had been noticed: but @Reiko was not worried about him. She worried over the things he was doing. Only she had seen the darkest sides of him, and although she had not witnessed those past few weeks of "vacation", she could very well take a guess at what kind of things had been going on. 

And she did. 

Her little whispered suggestion seemed tame in comparison, but she was not far off the mark. Already Takeshi was huffing out a heavy sigh, frustrated and remembering again why he had left. A beautiful woman who fucking hated him. That was his wife. A frown marking his features quickly, he invited her outside to talk. She stepped gingerly past the children, and he watched her with a sort of awe, even as her hackles bristled slightly, tense in every way. 

In truth, Takeshi had wanted to talk. He really had. But he was a toxic man whose heart had been painted black; desensitized to violence upon women, upon anyone. Shi had never been one who could deal with his emotions well. And so when she accused him of things that made him angry, he snapped. In truth, it didn't matter what the specifics of the things she said were anyway. All he wanted was to be welcomed home by his family, and instead he found himself in another arguement. He had become too accustomed to the game that took place beyond the Empire. Here, it was very much a reality which would effect him, but the emperor was blind to that in this moment. 

They had fought before, and now they fought again- Takeshi, strengthened by weeks of travel and fighting. Reiko was strong in her own way: determined, confident, every ounce of hate for her husband made her into a kind of beast. Even with her smaller size, she put up a fight that was difficult for Takeshi. And though she never truly made a wrong move, the emperor happened to make a lucky one right in a moment that her reaction came too slow. Even as the battle had only been meant to silence her, perhaps take her again as he once had when they conceived their children, the emotions overcame him, and he was far more forceful than he meant to be with his attack. 

In that moment, Reiko's throat was torn from her body. 

A sudden silence fell over them, and even as Takeshi had not yet realized what had happened, and still shook his jaws back and forth like a rabid dog, her body began to slump. He coughed, spat out the blood that was streaming into his throat, took a sudden step back. Her body fell to the earth with a little THUD. It took a moment for him to process the situation, as he blinked dumbly, jaw fallen open with shock. 

What the fuck? 

What had he done? It was another arguement just like any other, and any other day he would expect he could beat her and have her submit and get to hear her songs again, get to watch her teach the children as she smiled gently down at them. Get to pretend they were a happy and functioning family; the way things should've been. 

But no. Here she lay, a pale, beautiful angel, washed in blood as it seeped from the deep wound in her throat. 

At once he felt the emotion hit him. One could point at Takeshi and accuse him of wanting this all along, but all he had ever really wanted was to control her. To keep her in her place, where she belonged. And now she was fucking dead, and he was a cold-blooded murderer. He had to strangle the sob that wanted to rise in his throat - what if he woke the children? What if the noise of battle had them blinking their eyes open right now? No, he had to be quick. A crime scene was here, blood pooling in a round puddle, staining Takeshi's face too. He reached over to her as tears set in down his cheeks, intending to drag her by the nape, instead finding her neck too limp. It felt as if it might rip and decapitate her completely if he pulled too much there, and so instead he dragged her by the tail, trying not to think of the pain it might've caused if she were still alive. 

He was not sure where she wanted to be lain to rest; had never really taken the time to get to know her better. But he had few options anyway: he had to ensure her body would not be found. His scent, and some of his own blood was all over her. 

Here in the vale there was another grave he had been told of: for some woman who had lived here before, an Andraste, whose grave was little and largely untouched. Takeshi did not want to disturb that stranger, but the graveyard would begin here. And even if he was the only one who would know of it... he set to work digging beside the first grave. There was no such thing as six foot under for the wolves; the corpses always laid somewhat shallow- if they were buried alive, they could dig their way back out. 

Takeshi wished she would resurrect, come out of her grave the next morning as if this was some nightmare. Maybe then he might learn to respect her, to treat her like an equal rather than a servant. 

Soon enough a sizeable dip had been established. In the dark of night there, he dragged the body of that angel beneath the earth, though her soul was only headed upwards. He leaned in, lapping blood away from her cheeks in a final kiss that she likely wouldn't have wanted anyway. And then he was kicking dirt back over her. 

The bad thing about the rain was that the dirt was softened in a way almost like mud. The good thing was that it might wash away the trail of blood, let it seep into the earth before dawn came. And with dawn came the wolves- and he knew there would have to be an explanation. Or none at all... perhaps she could've just "gone missing". It was suspicious for anyone who had seen even a moment of Takeshi's behavior- but he would stick to that lie. He sat a vigil with her for some long minutes, feeling still as if this was a sick illusion of his own creation. Like things weren't real right now. 

In the moment he left her grave to return to the sleeping children, he knew this was real. All too real. 

The rain washed blood off of him as he walked, and even the puddle that had formed near the den was being washed off, or seeping into the ground. The evidence would be gone by morning. The emperor did not want to wait for his own evidence to wash away naturally; and so he found his way to a pond where he bathed himself, trying to ignore the sting of his own wounds. The last wounds Reiko would ever give him. 

Once he was clean, the murderer would return to his den, squint inside to see the little sleeping chikdren again.

And here he would step over them as neatly as she had earlier in that night, and assume her place beside them.