PHASE I [ 9 00 ] The peace of the morning in the Residential District shatters just as the wall caves through. It’s a small segment of wall -- no more than five feet across at most. And yet the crash and groan of the metal being stretched is ominously accompanied by the distinct piercing screech of metal and another sound. A raucous noise, a combination of ungodly wailing and sharp, victorious laughter spills forth from the hole left in the wall as a myriad of ghosts and spirits erupt from the newly created exit. Characters with any type of spiritual sense will find themselves nearly overwhelmed by the amount of negative ghostly energy that suddenly floods Cerealia and characters with no sense of preservation will find any attempt to enter the hole blocked by the fiercest of ghosts, met with deadly force if they try to pass, as the ghosts won’t hesitate to do things such as reach straight into your body to try to stop your heart.
These ghosts are out for blood, and they don’t seem to stop no matter how you try to talk to them -- they just hiss out, over and over again, “Murderersmurderersmurderers.”
From there, the ghosts move on. Their true target, after all, is CERES… but to them, there’s no difference between the character players and CERES. They’ll go for whoever gets in their way, phasing through walls and becoming tangible long enough to reach for characters before fading away again. Characters with special abilities will find themselves in a similar state. Their abilities may increase and decrease in power sporadically, or be completely gone. They may attempt to cast a spell only to find that the wrong spell is cast instead, or an attempt at healing may end up a more dangerous spell. Be careful with your own magical skills!
Those with items or powers specifically intended to ward off spirits will still fulfill their intended purposes when used – unless malicious spiritual energy gets to them first.
PHASE II [ 1400 ] It seems the ghosts have more tricks up their sleeves. It seems that a not-so-friendly ghost has decided to play a game with you. It doesn't matter where you are, or what you're doing, because a moment later a voice calls out -- Hey. Can you see me? -- and once you turn your head, you’ll come face to face with a surprise.
Who is it in this world (or your world, or any world) that you have managed to disappoint the most? A family member? A friend? Yourself? They face you now, eyes full of sadness, and they say, “I need you to do something for me.” Without another word, they’ll turn away and begin to walk. Your vision grows foggy, focused solely on the need to do whatever this person wants – they need you, after all. Your legs move to follow them, unless you manage to somehow resist.
But you apparently don’t seem to notice that you’re the only one who can see this person – or that they’re leading you stray toward that monorail track with the sound of the train coming closer, or that busy intersection, or right off the sky bridge.
PHASE III [ 600 ] Other ghosts don’t feel like borrowing faces in order to inflict damage. No, they’ll inflict their damage on a far more personal level. They manifest suddenly and without warning – then all it takes is a simple touch. A ghostly hand reaches out to you and it feels like the cold wraps around your heart, and your vision skews, and then... they leave just as suddenly as they came.
Those who have been around for awhile may very well recognize the ghosts, at that.
But the damage has already been done. Depending on a character’s assigned sense, they will feel one of the following changes:
Sight: Hopefully you aren’t in the habit of bending the truth. Dead men tell no tales, they say. But what happens to a living person unable to tell lies? Any attempt at telling any lie or falsehood will cause the character to feel as though their throat has closed off, and they can do nothing more than choke.
Smell: The cold passes, but in some way that it never really leaves. And then everything seems perfectly normal. Nothing has changed, right? You're fine -- except that in a short period of time with how crazy things are, it becomes apparent that you're unable to feel pain. The damage to your body is the same as ever, but dangerously, you can't feel a thing.
Taste: It would appear as though the ghosts have a sense of humor. From those who rest in eternal slumber, try a few days of being unable to sleep. Everything seems fine at first... but slowly but surely, that lack of sleep will start to take its toll.
Hearing: Most others would feel relief once the ghosts left, finally a moment of peace. But you? You don’t feel anything – nothing kind, anyway. Rather, you have been left unable to feel joy. Everything seems either bleak or as though it simply has no emotional impact at all.
Touch: How many deaths have been caused in the name of heroics? Apparently in an attempt to keep future casualties down (or perhaps for their own laughter), the ghosts have left you unable to be brave. Suddenly, a situation you'd face fearlessly is one that has sent you running, panic sharp in your chest.
These effects will last throughout the event, if a character is caught by them.
PHASE IV [ 1000 ] While chaos erupts throughout the city, some of the more misguided ghosts (but still bloodthirsty, so very bloodthirsty) just happened to run into the wrong part of town and don’t know how to give a proper scaring. One ghost seems to think that it was a great idea to possess a masseusebot from the Spa. You’re grabbed suddenly! You fight for your life but can’t seem to get yourself out of its metal grip! With expert precision that only a robot can mange, it finds your pressure points – and releases all that tension from this Incredibly Bad Day. The ghost inside the robot is confused, distressed -- why is this human suddenly so relaxed? It only wants to murder. But the only illegal thing happening here is how good this massage makes you feel.
Maybe later you’ll walk down the street and get stopped by the ghost that possessed a balloon dispenser. Perhaps a ghost has possessed the friendly McCERES mascot, and is now handing out coupons with murderous intent. And of course, there are always the hug bots...
Look, they tried really hard, okay.
Of course... they might end up possessing technology a little closer to home as well, at which point it's not so funny.
BONUS [ xxxx ] Hopefully you have friends who have ghost-fighting skills. Or ghost-taming skills. Or ghost-bellydancing skills, who knows, we won't judge them if you don't. But what of those poor people who come from worlds where the supernatural is some weird television show?
Worry not, poor souls, for CERES is here to provide! Some time after the ruckus begins, characters will find what looks to be a hand-held vacuum cleaner situated innocuously in their rooms (only one per person, you greedy gus). The logo on the side will helpfully inform you that this is of CERES make, because the paper pamphlet beside your new device? Well, it's more like a picture book. Observe Stick-Man Sully as he uses his vacuum cleaner to capture ghosts! Learn from his stellar example! Do not stick the hose in your mouth or attempt to give the vacuum CPR, there's a big X over that picture. Also of the one where Stick-Man Sully sets his captive ghosts free once more, we don't want that, do we?
Your new ghost vacuum should prove effective against any ghastly ghoul that shoots your way, but beware! Should you capture a ghost and not turn in your vacuum to CERES for weekly ghost disposal, your ghost will serenade you in the wee hours of the morning with its song of choice. If you capture a whole horde of ghosts, well, congratulations. You have a boy band living in your vacuum.
[ Remember to apply proper warnings on threads with sensitive or inappropriate material and do let a mod know if your thread careens off into maiming or canoodling so we can lock the log. ] |
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[If he's offering. She reaches into the bag of chips and pulls one out, popping it in her mouth and munching on it. Edna's not too fond of junk food; she's had (and cooked) better, but it's a snack, so she treats it as such. While munching on the chip though:]
So what's with you?
[She asks, staring at Kazuya rather intently. Edna has many habits, but beating around the bush isn't one of them.
Not really at Kazuya, but rather the sheer mass of malevolence cloaking him. Hellions have already been able to prove themselves capable of infiltrating human society, and in plain sight at times, but only those with resonance can see their true forms.]
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[Kazuya paused with a crisp halfway to his mouth, giving Edna a slow, confused blink. What was with him? What did that mean? Was that, like, asking about his attitude or just a weird way to say a general "so what's up, man?" He had no idea, but that intense stare she was giving him was making him kind of uncomfortable. Great, so a brat and a weirdo]
Uhh, what do you mean? Nothing's "with" me, I think. [he looked about himself, as if expecting to see something strange and bizarre to be sprouting out of his limbs. Nope, still human-shaped] I'm fine? Well, okay, not fine fine, considering the ghost crisis, but, y'know, I'm chill.
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Are you sure? All that malevolence around you says otherwise.
[Edna was never one to dance around the issue. If Kazuya's lying about the spiritual impurity flowing through him, then he might be a hellion with the intent to harm others. If he honestly can't tell, then there might be a chance for him to be purified.]
Or do you think you can fool a seraph? That takes guts.
[Granted, she's not a seraph in the way Kazuya would think of them (she's very, very human-like, for one), but it's probably enough to put him on edge.]
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He went suspiciously still, his expression still set in that look of mild bewilderment even as the cogs in his mind spun wildly. A seraph? But he couldn't sense- there was no way. She didn't feel like the angels he knew, and definitely not like Kevin, who was Big Bad Uriel. She just felt like... a girl?
Well, whatever she was, angel or not, it seemed like she had some supernatural sense. "Malevolence"... first time someone described it like that, but it was obvious she could see the demon that he was somehow. Damn. This was a situation he didn't want to be in at all!]
...well. This is kind of awkward. [He finally eased out of his almost eerie stillness when he realised he'd been quiet for too long, feigning calmness as he nibbled on his crisp] Uhm. I'm not trying to fool anyone here. I'm just... I'm just some guy who wants to help people. No malicious or, uh, 'malevolent' intent here. No way.
[It was difficult to circle a topic without directly discussing it. Even if this girl could sense what he was, he didn't want to come out and say it. She might just see him as a guy with major emotional darkness or something weird like that. He'd take that assumption over coming clean anyday!]
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[Malevolence can be bred from pure intentions, after all. Even the most monstrous of humans can be malevolence-free because they believe so purely and thoroughly in the things they believe in.]
...And you're almost as bad as Sorey is at lying. Almost.
[That takes a special level of being bad at lying. Sadly not "Lastonbell Inspection with Sergei" levels. Yet.]
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[He was indeed a bad liar, though he liked to think he was competent enough to bluff his way out of this kind of situation (he wasn't)! He huffed and grumbled, but quickly deflated from his brief burst of hot air, glumly sticking his hand back into the crisp bag]
What's this "malevolence" stuff you're talking about, anyway? Dark energy? Supernatural angst?
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[It's one thing to feel negative emotions, as nobody is immune to them, but it usually stems from unhealthy amounts.]
And it's our job to deal with those.
[With the flames of purification and magical Sorey transformations.]
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What's a "hellion"? And, "deal with those"? Uh, what?
[Please don't say exorcism. He already had a few years shaved off of his life thanks to Kevin regarding that. But on a serious note, he was sort of guessing she was talking about a weird demon equivalent? Like, some demons can possess humans and were drawn towards powerful negative emotions and desires, so...]
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[She narrows her eyes.]
We deal with them by purifying them.
[...Most of the time. If they can.]
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Purifying them, huh? Is that a nice way of saying "we kill them"? Y'know, redemption and salvation through death, and all that. That's how "purification" goes where I'm from, anyway.
[Because wasn't it a one way thing? When a human got corrupted by a demon... well, geeze, you only had to look at what happened to Amane's dad. Even now the memory of it made him cringe. Seeing a human body explode like that, with a demon eating its way out of him, yeah, there was no way to reverse that]
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Purifying is purifying, and killing is killing.
[...]
Sometimes they're two sides of the same coin. Sometimes they're not.
[The coin of salvation. Edna spares a glance at the vending machine, or rather, the ghost inside it.]
So you haven't given up yet, huh?
[With that, the ghost de-possesses the machine, as its metallic shell is useless to it at this point. It hisses out "murderersmurderersmurderers", over and over again.
fite her 1v1 irl m8]
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You're not-
[But Kaz didn't get much beyond that, because the ghost that he had completely forgotten about suddenly leapt out of the vending machine hissing like a whistling kettle. Kazuya very nearly startled out of his own skin, lashing out without thinking as his battle-honed reflexes quickly identified the threat and moved to eliminate it with extreme prejudice.
In short... he set the ghost on fire.
Or, er, attempted to? Catching the ghost mid-"murderer", the vengeful spirit was suddenly enveloped in a black fireball, the flames greedily trying to devour whatever energy it could from the ghost, with limited success. The malevolence coming off those flames, considering they were completely demonic in nature, was more than a little obvious - and dangerous. Dangerous? Oh, shit, right! His magic was so out of whack recently - he could accidentally blow the both of them up if this fireball decided to explode or something!]
Shit- cancel! Cancel! [Kazuya rapidly waved his hand, dismissing the fire. It vanished in an instant, leaving only a heavy, lingering smell of burning cedar, and a somewhat smoky looking, startled ghost. Ah. Oops]
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...You have got to be the dumbest hellion I've ever met.
[That, or he's good at pretending. Either way, the ghost lunges at the two, its thin claws reaching out for their hearts, but Edna manages to freeze it in its tracks. Quite literally at that, as ice encases the murderous spirit, spikes jutting out at each and every angle.]
Chill out, won't you? Final Embrace!
[With that, the ice shards shatter, and the ghost disappears, dissolving in flames of light blue.]
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I'm not a hellion. [he huffed, bending down to pick up his crisps. He dropped them when the ghost came out, he'd been startled that badly] That was... magic. Like you just did. Should I call you "hellion" too? Huh?
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[And seraphic artes are seraphic artes.]
Seraphim are seraphim, hellions are hellions. Seraphim can turn into hellions, but I'm not going to turn into one.
[Because of who her vessel is. Because of what's already happened to seraphim she knew who turned into hellions, progressing to a stage that it was impossible for them to revert...]
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...angels can turn into demon ghosts?
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...and bops Kazuya on the head with its side.]
Seraphim can turn into hellions. I knew you were kind of slow on the uptake, but not this slow.
[To her, he should've been able to pick it up the moment she said that...! It seem like such an obvious fact to her, an inhabitant of Glenwood and all.]
I'm not speaking for whatever you've got going on where you come from.
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[It didn't hurt that much, but still, what a beastly woman! He rubbed the side of his head with a small pout, giving Edna the stink-eye. Best to take a few steps back here... ah, there we go, out of umbrella range. Perfect]
I don't even get what you mean. Seraphs are a type of angel, right? It's like that for multiple worlds. Or... what, it means something else with you?
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