[ even hearing it sends a chill down xie lian's spine.
he curls his hands into fists, in his lap. you will never protect anyone, xian le. the phrase from the experience last week had been so bone-chillingly familiar, that it has haunted xie lian's nightmares ever since. not, really, that it's ever stopped.
when he explains, his voice is level, but quiet. low, and tension presents in his shoulders. ] ... I'm glad, that you remember. Since I can understand you... that means I haven't forgotten, either.
..There are only three people in any world who know that phrase. Myself, San Lang... and you.
The Human Face Disease... or plague, was the disease that wiped out most of the population of my kingdom. It is what it sounds like; sores open on the body, in the shape of human faces. They sometimes can gasp or moan - I had seen them even chew on fabric, or grass, as if they were animated.
Once one appears, they continue to multiply. If you cut them off, they return. If one appears on someone's leg, and you cut off their leg - it returns. They cause the host body an indescribable amount of pain and suffering, until it eventually ceases to function; and those who survive it are disfigured for life. It is wildly contagious, and even in its 'incubated' form, there is a chance it will always return.
[ lang ying, with those bandages on his face, looking at him desperate as xie lian tried not to flinch, flickers in the back of his mind. it was supposed to be gone, and... it wasn't. a constant reminder awaited him. even though that child tended to disappear at will.
he closes his eyes, briefly. ] ...The plague took hold after I descended from the Heavens. I chose to leave my godhood behind, to try and help the people of my kingdom deal with a war, and a drought from the neighboring kingdom, and a refugee crisis all at once.
I spent much of my time among the people that year, trying to find the cure.
no subject
[ even hearing it sends a chill down xie lian's spine.
he curls his hands into fists, in his lap. you will never protect anyone, xian le. the phrase from the experience last week had been so bone-chillingly familiar, that it has haunted xie lian's nightmares ever since. not, really, that it's ever stopped.
when he explains, his voice is level, but quiet. low, and tension presents in his shoulders. ] ... I'm glad, that you remember. Since I can understand you... that means I haven't forgotten, either.
..There are only three people in any world who know that phrase. Myself, San Lang... and you.
The Human Face Disease... or plague, was the disease that wiped out most of the population of my kingdom. It is what it sounds like; sores open on the body, in the shape of human faces. They sometimes can gasp or moan - I had seen them even chew on fabric, or grass, as if they were animated.
Once one appears, they continue to multiply. If you cut them off, they return. If one appears on someone's leg, and you cut off their leg - it returns. They cause the host body an indescribable amount of pain and suffering, until it eventually ceases to function; and those who survive it are disfigured for life. It is wildly contagious, and even in its 'incubated' form, there is a chance it will always return.
[ lang ying, with those bandages on his face, looking at him desperate as xie lian tried not to flinch, flickers in the back of his mind. it was supposed to be gone, and... it wasn't. a constant reminder awaited him. even though that child tended to disappear at will.
he closes his eyes, briefly. ] ...The plague took hold after I descended from the Heavens. I chose to leave my godhood behind, to try and help the people of my kingdom deal with a war, and a drought from the neighboring kingdom, and a refugee crisis all at once.
I spent much of my time among the people that year, trying to find the cure.