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Shadow Hearts 4: Descending Into The Abyss (Athene & Veinexes)

LadyAthene

LadyAthene

Supernova
Joined
May 12, 2015
Location
West Coast, USA
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Author's Note & Disclaimer: This role play is inspired and based off the "Shadow Heart" video games. To keep with the pattern of having these set during historical eras, me and my husband/co-author, Veinexes, agreed if a fourth was ever made, it would likely be during the Second World War.

While this will not be 100% historically accurate, it will have events and even some people/names who did exist during the Holocaust. If you think this thread may offend you or trigger any PTSD, I apologize in advance. I will not, however, hold liability for anyone who opts to read with knowing what this may and can contain.

Read at your own risk. You have officially been warned.

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13th December, 1941
Fürstenberg, Germany
Exact Location: Ravensbrück Concentration Camp
13:29 PM

"Under arrest?! The hell for?! I'm not hiding any Jews, nor does the Star of David label me!"

How long ago had she uttered that same argument? One month ago? Two? Three?

She couldn't remember, and frankly, it didn't matter now. When this war began, tons of rumors rapidly spread throughout the world. No one was safe from the Nazis. Not even Germans. It had been something that Julia originally thought to be an exaggeration. What kind of nonsense was that? Nazis were, mostly, other Germans. So why would they target and hunt their own kin, so to speak? The night she got arrested, that theory got quickly debunked. Now, she was living in the former myths. Well ... as much as one could consider themselves to be 'living' in hell holes like these.

A semi-messy mane of dark brown hair lifted as footfalls echoed throughout the concentration camp. With how long twenty-year-old Julia Winter had been here now, she'd gotten accustomed to a routine of sorts. It was drawing near to that time again. The one where even more experiments would be done on her. The thought made her scowl and grimace.

Wasn't it bad enough they'd literally turned her into a bitch? What more were they even working on? Hadn't they gotten what they wanted? Did she even want to know the answer to any of those questions?

On one hand, she actually did. Even if only to better understand what seemed to be her fate and future, if not both. And at the same time, the dread and fear within Julia was screaming 'Fuck no!'.

Just count your blessings, she inwardly chided herself, hearing an almost immediate scoff echo in her head, followed by another swift quip.

You call this a blessing?

It is when you've been able to avoid rape.

Even still, it didn't change how her life had been since getting sent to Ravensbrück. She should be out and about. On the goddamn frontlines. But not kept in this small-ass cell with barely getting anything. Literally so. Even the essentials such as clothing weren't simply handed to any of the other prisoners. Some could argue Julia had an easier stay since she was German instead of Jewish, but that wasn't true. No one had it 'easy' here. Honestly, that likely applied to any prisoner in any of these damned camps. Regardless, everyone experienced the same sensations as herself; anger, disgust, despair, fear, and that was just the feelings she was immediately able to register swimming through her own brain.

Her head lifted once again as a different set of footfalls caught Julia's attention. This time when she looked up, she saw an armed man standing in front of her cell.

"Guessing it's time?"

Before Julia could hear her captor's response, gun fire caused them both to turn their heads.

... Seriously? Someone's actually attacking this shit hole?!

That's fine. In fact, this was maybe - just maybe - the very opportunity Julia had been waiting months to arrive. Something, anything, that would give her the chance to get out would be a blessing. Sure, it'd come with the risk of dying. But ... that was also more than fine. If she had to be completely honest, there wasn't much of a win-win. Had she stayed here much longer, that probably would have been what these fuckers would have done anyway.

If Death had to be an option ... best to do so on her own terms. In this case, trying to get one of the few things she wanted; freedom.

Before the soldier moved away from her cell, Julia reached through the bars and pulled him back. Hard. Ensuring the back of his head slammed against the metal door. And just for good measure, she pulled him back two more times, allowing the body to slump to the floor.

Whether he was unconscious or outright dead didn't matter. Grabbing the keys and using them to open her door was all she cared about. Julia then reached down, pulling the officer's Luger pistol out from its holster.

And then ... she began to run. Faster than she ever had in her life. This was a 'now or never' moment, and she was not going to waste this opportunity.
 
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Meanwhile....

Outside of the facility ballistics fly from both ends of the battlefield. as soldiers on both sides fight hard against the other. As bodies began to fall on both sides, a group of three soldiers moved undetected for now. Slipping around the side of the camp one of the men produced a set of cutters, using them and pushing through the fence. One of the men in particular, an English soldier named Argus Bain, was here to make sure this joint operation met their objective. The rest of the squad was made up of Americans, the plan needed the overwhelming force they could bring to it, allowing a distraction for the smaller group to sneak inside.

One of the GI's turn back whispering, "So what are we here for again? I mean other then to kick some ass."

Argus sighed, "We're here to liberate this camp, free the prisoners, and locate a certain someone."

"We could just bomb the place and be done with it, cost a lot less manpower."

"We wouldn't be completing the mission then would we?"

"If what were after is that important then maybe it'd be better if we just had blown it away, as for everything else this is war, casualties happen."

Argus furrows his brow, "If you don't want to do the mission right then fine, go on and leave. I'm finishing this mission though and the right way."

After a bit of grumbling the squad moves forward, checking each building until they come to the large medical like building on the camp.

"They should be in here."

The soldiers check their weapons and begin moving into the building.
 

There was perhaps one benefit in being experimented on. Julia was one of the few women who had been picked to endure these bullshit trials. As such, she didn't really envision herself as leaving anyone behind, so to speak. But even then? Whoever had actually arrived and was fighting against the Nazis ... they could deal with that. It was, more likely than not, their job. Julia just needed to get out, and she needed to do so as quickly as humanly possible.

So then ... would it be worth .... ??

... Maybe. It was certainly an option. Just ... not one she wanted to resort to. She hated having to resort to that. Granted, the change did come with perks, but ... it was just so fucking weird and difficult to explain.

"Then again, it's not like anyone can naturally do such shit," she muttered.

Or ... was she wrong about that?

Julia didn't get to linger on that thought for very long before her attention shifted. Although footfalls were echoing loudly in seemingly every direction, there seemed to be a new set coming right for her. And right after she rounded a certain corner, that did seem to be the case. At least ... a first glance implied that could be the case.

The uniform didn't look the exact same as the Nazis, no.

... But that didn't mean shit. For all she knew, they could be impersonators.

Her arms rose, aiming the Luger right at the men as she instinctively spoke, first doing so in her native tongue, "Aus meinem Weg!" While slowly walking around them and keeping the pistol trained on them, she added, "I just want out. I don't want trouble .... "

"Even though that has a very, very annoyingly good knack of finding me ... "

"So just stay there and let me hurry out, then you can resume with whatever. Seem fair enough?"
 
No sooner had the group entered to move around the facility then they encountered a soldier, or at least a German to be sure. As the woman raised her Luger and shouted the group also raised their weapons. Argus pushed on the GI's arm, "Hold your fire!" He shouted as a burst of bullets shot out of the rifle, hitting the wall near and behind the woman. She ducked back behind the corner as more bullets blanketed the wall she had snuck behind The soldiers must have been on edge despite their earlier remarks as the clips emptied on the concrete.

Argus had moved back and away from the firing soldiers to avoid any stray bullets, sinking into a cubby hole off the side of the hall.
 

.... Oh?

That had certainly been the last thing Julia expected to hear. A command, and perhaps the smartest one anybody could have uttered; hold your fire. Then .... did at least one of them somehow understand she wasn't a Nazi?

Well ... that much was great.

But when the others failed to reach the same conclusion?

It was ... hard to have faith in any of those men. Whoever the hell they even were.

"Löse glückliche Idioten aus!" Julia hissed angrily through gritted teeth, shaking her head in annoyance. Shoot first, ask questions later. Go figure. It wouldn't amaze her if these were Americans. Except ... the accent suggested they weren't American. Something else, most definitely.

Then again, that didn't matter. If these fools couldn't control themselves, let alone listen to their superior, then it was probably just for the best that Julia should focus on one single thing; herself.

So back to square one ... back to escaping ...

She slowly nodded, waiting for the bullets to cease firing and the silence to return once again. The Luger would be tossed from around the corner. But it wouldn't be the same woman they saw come from behind it.

Instead, it'd be .... a black dog?

You bastards! How dare you make me change into this cursed form!

It made sense to Julia. It'd confuse them long enough to know how to act. And if any were stupid enough to fire? Well ... that would just show who was truly the animal and who was the more humane individual between herself and these other foreigners.

With the hopes that it wouldn't be only this small group baffled by the new form, Julia ran in the new body. Whoever these guys were ... they weren't after dogs. Nor were Nazis interested in them .... although, to be fair, they may be able to realize this wasn't a dog at all. It was what they created and turned her into; a barghest.

Either way, Julia was internally screaming and praying that while looking like this, no one would pay enough heed to her. Or, if she did grab attention, that no one would shoot.
 
As the bullets ceased Argus sighed, thankful that it looked like they had come to an arrangement as the German had thrown their pistol out. "Alright, lets all calm down and-

A large black dog jumped out and towards the group of soldiers, still reloading from their earlier spray. "-Fuck!" Argus dived to the side as the hound flew past, dodging through and between the soldiers and out the door. The men were all dumbfounded as the beast was gone in an instant.

"Wha..what was that thing?" Asked one of the soldiers as another looked around the corner. "That woman is gone too."

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Meanwhile, sitting alone in a nearby tree sat a sniper watching the base. His name was Samual Price. His job was to observe the operation and report anything that he might see. A boring job to be sure, he sighed as he checked his scope again. "Sorry girl, I know this recon stuff is for the birds, good thing we're in the right place huh?"

Adjusting the focus on the scope he began scanning the camp before sighting something blur across his sights.. On reflex he moved his hand to the trigger and moved to follow it, it was to fast and blended in to well for a clear shot, and he knew that his superiors wouldn't want him wasting ammo, or worse, drawing attention to himself when he wasn't supposed to. "Tch... damn.." He made a note of the creature but that was all he could do at the moment as it disappeared into the forest. It had looked like a wolf or some other sort of canine. He didn't mind dogs, but they were dumb sometimes, hopefully that one wouldn't have to be put down later if it happened to attack anyone.
 

Thank fucking god!

Leaving the concentration camp had been relatively simple, all things considered. The logic behind her transforming had worked, and most people found themselves either able to do much more than gawk in shock and awe. Or, for the few that had recognized and realized who she was, they didn't add two and two together quick enough. It gave her the time she'd hoped for.

Now, she was stuck with the annoying but inevitable rhetorical question; what to do now? Step one, she had to figure out where exactly she was going. It was easy, at least in concept. But in actuality, it wasn't that simple to make a verdict. France had been her very first thought. But the more she kept dwelling on it? Maybe .... somewhere else may be smarter?

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20th December, 1941
Prague, Czech Republic
Exact Location: Undisclosed Inn
11:08 AM

In hindsight, maybe she should have gone to France. Suffice to say, Julia had definitely not known that even the Czech Republic had been conquered by Germany. Part of why she opted to go to Prague instead, however, laid in the simple fact it was much closer. It would have taken a bit over a week to even enter France. And even while running to Prague, she'd had a few close calls with Nazis, both in and out of her barghest form. It seemed smarter to make this detour instead of avoiding it.

As of this moment, though? Julia was definitely having second thoughts about her decision.

Thankfully, her not having any Jewish heritage was helping her out. That plus laying low. If she ever spoke, it was in either English or German, depending on who could understand which tongue, to buy food or a temporary room for herself. And though it probably looked a bit - likely very - suspicious, she had a cloak over her more typically worn clothes.

But now?

She was running low on everything; money, food, the ability to pay for a room. To say it was worrying her was an understatement. It was angering her as much as it scared Julia.

I should be able to be on the goddamn front lines and get financial compensation that way!

Unfortunately, the moment she escaped, it also changed her military status. Even if justified, she was now an AWOL soldier. A bullshit fate, really.

Julia was sitting on her bed, desperately making an effort to think of something. Anything. It was getting dire enough that some part of her was seriously considering whoring herself out.

... No though. Her pride wouldn't tolerate that.

"What though? Gotta do something .... " she muttered to herself, groaning as she plopped down atop her bed, laying on her stomach.
 
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