◆Question 12: Can we see your Curse Mark?◆
All in all, this was pretty inconsequential. Curse Marks seemed to vary on how telling they were about a person. Sometimes, they had to do with the murder itself, and others it leaned more towards the Fiend’s power. Many theorized that a Lesser’s mark teased their power if they were to one day become a proper Fiend. For the interview, though, the willingness to show their Curse Mark was more important than the Mark itself.
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{No. 44; Kaizu Izuzu - Lesser Fiend | Killed Coworker / Forcefully Accepted / Serial Killer / Condescending / Why is She Here, Exactly? / Professional Hobbyist Serial Killer / Haunted By The Dead / Mass Murderer / Clearly Something Going On / Uhh ??? / Corporate Drone | Hard Worker | Ahvra's Notes: Unnoteworthy}
They had already seen enough of Kaizu’s Marks, so they really didn’t need to see anymore and skipped over this question.
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{No. 29; Asset 29 - Lesser Fiend | Gives Little Info Per Usual / Doesn't Mince Words / And People Say No One Wants to Work Anymore / Needs To Attend a Comedy Course / Wants Purpose / Good With Any Weapon or Tool / Doesn't Dream / Doesn't Understand the Concept of Hobbies / Specialized Contractor | Ahvra's Notes: Too Compliant / Needs Annoyingly Specific Instruction / Dead inside?}
“Hmm,” Asset grunted as he lifted his shirt. Similar to Kaizu, he had multiple, but they were also all combined into one. Instead of strange and meaningful patterns like everyone else, Asset’s were simply tally marks, and currently they added up to 36. Since Asset seemed to have very little emotion if any, it made sense for his Marks to have next to no symbolism as well.
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{No. 152; Chorus Mistrion (The Quick Changer) - Fiend | Killed Corrupt Talent Agent / Is Our New PR Person, I Guess? / Already Suckered Kada / Wants Us To Be Stars? / My Childhood is Being Ruined / Quickly Changes. Spot on Name / Shackled Suitcase / Something About Stars IDK / Looking For Passion / Former Actor/Actress | Ahvra's Notes: My Body is Confused / Smile Haunts Me / Don’t Like. Causes Stress}
“Ah, I’m so used to my face being caked in makeup that I really forget about the thing.” Chorus doused their face in makeup remover which appeared as if from nowhere. After a bit of rubbing, their face was clear, but not much had changed initially. Their face had gotten quite a bit paler and had the outline of a theater mask around it.
Then, they tilted their head. The mask changed color, as did the pattern; from fanciful swirls, to ornate masterpieces, to dramatic demons. Depending on the angle that someone looked at Chorus’ Mark, the mask would change entirely. They all seemed quite similar to the ones Phon used to wear when she was hiding her identity.
After finally settling still, the mask reverted to its plain white, but then it changed a few times even though Chorus wasn’t moving. “It seems that I can control what it looks like if I really focus,” they explained. “I doubt you’ll see it very often, since I stick to my makeup routine. And now if you’ll excuse me…” Chorus vanished into their wardrobe for a bit, reappearing with a freshly made face after just a minute.
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{No. 50; Tize Scound (The Refuge) - Lesser Fiend | Killed Bad Guy in Military / Determined To Prove He's Still Useful / He's Like a Dad / Good at Being Good / Has a Full Arsenal and a Honking Big Shield / Standard Dreams / Too Good of a Person / Ex-Military | Ahvra's Notes: Historically Mistreated / Humble / Stiff Ex-Soldier}
“Hmm, mine’s probably pretty boring in the spectrum of Curse Marks,” Tize braced them for disappointment, and he wasn’t really wrong. The mark itself was located on his upper arm, where many many adults would typically get a tattoo, usually of a stupid symbol or a heart with their mother’s name.
Tize’s Curse Mark was a shield with several bullets flying at it. Inside the shield was a little stick figure of a man. The entire mark was the usual blood red, with the man actually being a cutout of his usual skin.
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{No. 66; Itsy Humdiddy (The Wrecking Ball) - Fiend | Killed Scummy Business Partner, Brutally / I Swear to Cosmos if we don't accept her... / Walking Collateral Damage / Content To Be Ignorant / Strong is Enough for Her / Seriously, like picks up her truck, and just, whamo? I Gotta See This / Likes Monster Trucks and Rocks / Mechanic | Ahvra's Notes: If Joins, Make Sure all Allocated Supplies and Furniture are Reinforced / Too Strong / Big Woman}
“Yall have probably seen it a bit already, but it’s probably hard to see that part from all the way over there,” Itsy wiggled her fingers at them before rolling up her sleeves, giving a better view for the part of her Mark at her elbow. “Every joint on my body is dolled up to look mechanical, like I’m a robot or something. I can show yall the rest, but I betcha get the picture.”
Itsy elaborated a bit further. The mechanical joints appeared on her fingers, wrists, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and toes. They also appeared on her mouth for her jaw, but they were found on the inside of it.
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{No. 118; Gatrim Foilepe (The Memory [TBD]) - Lesser Fiend | Messed Up Family Tradition / Family Issues / Thinks Highly of What We Can Offer / Actually Lives Up to His Boasting / Uses Rapier / A Lot of Pride / Lives Fancily / Oddly Pure / In Training | Ahvra's Notes: Nerves May be a Problem / Secret Power? / Full of Himself. Stop Shaking}
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Gatrim proudly held out the flat of his palm towards them and didn’t say a word. On the palm was a rapier, with sparkling stars around it, all in a Lesser’s trademark blood red.
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{No. 100; Rezin Anish - Fiend | Oops, Accidental Fiend / You Can Do It, Rezin! / Here's Hoping We Don't Corrupt Him / Actually Fun to Play Games With / Hallucinations, yet not quite? Hard to Explain / Pure / Made a Friend / Unemployed / Their Life is Sad | Ahvra's Notes: My Head Hurts / Eyes Playing Tricks / Hard to Pin Down}
“Umm, it’s really creepy. Can I please not show it?” Rezin pleaded.
“C’mon, it can’t be that bad,” Kada encouraged him. “I hid my Curse Mark away for years. Just a peak now and we’ll never bother you about it again.”
“Umm, alright,” Rezin hesitantly slipped off his shoes and socks. He then angled the bare soles of his feet to the group whom all immediately recoiled in disgust and agony.
“Oh Cosmos! Put it away, put it away right now and never show anyone again!” Kada screamed at him.
“I would suggest that you should at the very least use your Curse to hide it,” Xard concurred with the assessment.
“Sorry,” Rezin apologized, clearly downtrodden as he hurried to put his shoes back on.
“Don’t feel bad,” Drim insisted. “It’s not your fault. Whoever gave us these marks is to blame. It’s not that bad after I had a moment to process it, just very shocking initially.”
The horrid Curse Mark in question where dozens of eyes squeezed onto the soles of his feet. Not only was it creepy enough, but it’d trigger even the mildest cases of trypophobia, making those with it crawl in their skin.
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{No. 144; (The Beacon) - Fiend | Ambiguous How They Became a Fiend / Seems To Basically Worship Us / Holds Us in High Regard / Purification! / Behold, The Bauble! / Doesn't Impose Beliefs / Get This Woman Her Own Bath / Monster Hunter | Ahvra's Notes: Unsure if Prayer is part of Curse / Religion is Powerful? / Very Religious. Bad sense of age.}
“As part of my beliefs, I do not remove my clothes. I ask that you respect this,” The Beacon requested. “I’m fine with describing it, though. It’s on—”
“Eh, don’t bother. I can see it plain as day,” Phon interrupted with her eyes closed. “In case you all were wondering, she’s pretty plain looking, not bad I suppose. Her hair is extremely short though, so it’s hard for me to make out the color. As for the Curse Mark, oh how boring. It’s just a standard Cosmos Symbol on her lower back, just above her butt.”
“Wait, aren’t women who have tattoos there genuinely looked down upon for being provocative or something?” Phon opened her eyes and looked to Kada for confirmation.
Kada gleefully smiled and proudly clapped her hands together. “Oh wonderful, you’re learning!”
From the moment Phon had started describing her, The Beacon had attempted to cover her body with her arms in vain; as if anything could hide her from Phon’s eyes.
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{No. 65; Jaid Sparka (The Warrior) - Fiend | Revenge for Mother / Looking to 'Find Herself' / Sentimental / Multi-Jaid / Carries a Big Sword / Wants To Follow Mother's Dream / Likes Alone Time and Outdoors / Made Drim Annoyed at Us :c / Ex-Merc | Ahvra's Notes: Weird About Her Arms / Capable Despite Appearance / Formerly Injured. Fiend Anomaly}
“I’ll do it, but let the record show that I’m firmly against it!” Jaid aired her grievances. “I really hate them. They bother me whenever I look at it. Not only is it weird, it reminds me of the worst time in my life. It’s why I have to always wear long sleeves now. Thankfully, at least with being a Fiend, the warmth of clothes isn’t a factor anymore.”
Jaid very reluctantly rolled up her sleeves and grimaced with her eyes closed for the few seconds she exposed her arms. From her wrists, running all the way up to just below her shoulders were hands. Dozens of hands, all reaching out towards her real ones.
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{No. 121; Niloy 'Nini' Spatzel (The Flesh-Eater) - Fiend | Killed Boyfriend Who Scammed Her Parents / Actually Likes Helping People. Didn't Expect That / Aww, She Called Us Popular / No / Wacky Water (I Hate Whoever Wrote This. Guessing Kada. -Phon) / Uses Waterguns? How does that work? / Happy With Life / Spends All Day on Her Phone / Seeks Affirmation from Others / Freelancer / Bad at Customer Service | Ahvra's Notes: Many Innuendos / Vain / Trying to flirt?}
“Grr, and I used my best makeup today too,” Nini complained as she picked up one of her water pistols. “I’m totally billing you guys for the waste. Sorry if I scare you too. I normally keep it covered since it can make little kids cry pretty easily, though some love it for some reason.”
Niloy squirted her face and arms with water and then the makeup quickly washed away. The other Fiends, Kada in particular, squirmed in their seats a bit when they saw. Even though her Curse definitely had the ability to eat through flesh, it was now undoubtedly certain that her Curse Mark was why she’d gotten her epithet.
Her skin appeared ravaged, as if big chunks of it had been ripped out or bitten off; flesh ripped from bone, strands of muscles torn and visible. It was all surface level, but it looked as real as could be. All up her arms, a few spots on her face and neck, they looked like she’d been eaten alive. There was even one exposed chunk on the side of her mouth, showing fake teeth and gums.
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{No. 89; Roque Personson (The Swindler) - Fiend | Ruined Ex-Wife's Life For Revenge / A Surprisingly Good Guy in the Weirdest Way / Seems to Hate The Rich. Isn't He Rich? / Secret Market Connections / Legal Thievery? / Takes A Lot of Stock in Capitalism / Sorry We Ruined Your Dream! / Follows Trends / Sketchy Businesses | Ahvra's Notes: Sold Blood for Cheap. See if you can Buy More / Shifty. Thief?}
“Well, I’d be happy to show you, if you like. Just don’t have me arrested if I do,” Roque seemed like he was jesting at first, but then started fiddling with his belt. He gave a bit more info before continuing forward. “You see, uhh, my ‘money bags’ have turned into real money bags, if you catch my drift.”
It took some longer than others to finally get the meaning, but once they did, everyone demanded that he cease at once.
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