You're probably woken up by the explosion first. A loud, deafening boom comes from behind the walls of the residential district. When you look outside your window towards the darker, more secretive area of the city, you might see the structure around it... crumbling, the land falling in on itself slowly but surely. That might be what wakes you up first. If it doesn't, you may be awoken instead by the sudden jerking feeling behind your navel pulling you from where you are to somewhere... else.
It's dark. The first thing you notice is that it's dark -- and then come the scrabbling sounds of creatures in the dark, like metal being dragged across metal, a chilling, sharp sound. The first thing that becomes clear, as your vision adjusts, is that you're on a rickety pathway, metal and rusting and frail, above what appears to be yawning blackness. Far, far below, there's the faint sound of rushing water, a ways away.
The second thing that becomes clear is that you are very much not alone. Something is out there with you, and from the screeching metallic noises that come ever closer, it seems to be stalking you.
Thankfully, you're not alone -- right?  ...
...........
................
:)
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PHASE I [ ??? ] It’s drafty here. You’re below ground, that’s for certain from the echoes of the wind in the darkness. If you continue on forwards along the rickety, metal railing that serves as a walkway, the skittering noises of creatures in the dark follow -- but they don’t appear.
It seems everyone has been dumped along this pathway at random; you may be with friends, with enemies or with someone you’ve never met before, but either way, it soon becomes clear. There are only two ways to go along this path: up or down.
If you choose to take the path that follows a gradual slope down, the sounds of water lapping against a surface increase bit by bit, the air growing heavier and danker, until finally, the metallic platform gives way very suddenly (watch your step!) to a muddy bank. Down here, everything is darker, and not far away there’s the water. It’s cold and frigid and there are unfriendly creatures that await if you choose to delve into it. However, if you brave those creatures, and dive deeply enough, there is a mask. It rests half-buried by silt and rocks, but it’s there, and can be found by any intrepid explorers.
Somehow, it feels a little familiar.
And if you carry on in the cave system underground, eventually you will come across what appears to be an altar. There is blood on it -- not fresh, but not more than a month old -- and pieces of trinkets. Old bits of cloth, locks of hair, and some of them may even be familiar. Any dropped character who has a reasonably large amount of spiritual or magical power may have left scraps, such as pieces of clothing, trinkets, hair, or the sort behind at the altar.
Maybe that's why they weren't in the Nexus Code.
PHASE II [ ??? ] If you go up, you will eventually make your way above ground. It takes some time, and some luck -- you’ll have to avoid rusty railing and pathways, the path crumbling under you and that creeping sensation that something is following and watching you -- and then you’ll suddenly be in fresh air.
Well. It’s not so fresh, really.
The landscape is broken down and crumbled. It may have once been part of the city of Cerealia, but now it is in utter disrepair and decay. Buildings have crumbled, and debris is everywhere. There are signs of the same level of technology that Cerealia has -- but it is all broken down and utterly inaccessible.
And you’re not alone.
It seems the technology and metal and broken down destruction has gained sentience over its time sitting alone, waiting. And it is not happy to be disturbed. The creatures are made of pieces of everything around them, and when cut down, they’ll just slowly rebuild themselves from the debris.
It might be time to run.
They aren't happy about being disturbed, and you're in their way.
PHASE III [ ??? ] Above ground, there are a lot of broken down buildings.
Some can’t be accessed at all; some are too broken, too reduced to rubble. For those looking for shelter, they'll be able to find buildings where the doors can be forced open and they can camp out on the inside to various degrees of stability. Though the ceiling may cave in or the floor fall out from under you at a moment's notice, it's better than being out there. Be careful, because none of the architecture here can be trusted anymore.
And other buildings... are even less trustworthy than that.
There is a series of buildings in the midst of the wasteland, somehow still standing. They stand there silently, towering over the rest of the rubble in their two-story glory, and if the doors are forced open, it soon becomes clear that the building itself is full of mirrors.
Once, the mirrors had perhaps covered the walls and ceiling. Once, this building might have been akin to something of a ballet studio, somewhere to express yourself creatively. But now the mirrors are shattered and broken into pieces and the building lacks the joy it might have once held. Shards of mirror cover the floor, some big, some not so big, but they still hang from the walls as well and everywhere you look, you can see yourself.
And then, the reflection changes. From one blink to the next, you see a memory playing in the mirrors. Your memory. You’ll see a glimpse of one of your most traumatic or life-changing moments, broken up but clear in the shards. Blink and look away, and it’s gone, only to show up again in the next mirror a few moments later. Surely it’s just a trick of the light, right?
Except if someone else is with you, they’ll see it too -- and you might end up seeing a bit of their own past as well. Hope you're fond of sharing.
PHASE IV [ ??? ] If you survive the monsters, the crumbling landscape and the untrustworthy buildings, you may eventually find a terminal. It is buried deep among the rubble. One turn around a corner, one stumble into a hole, and you will find it. It sits there, out in the middle of nowhere; the building in which it used to be housed is apparently long gone, reduced to nothing but rubble.
And if you turn it on, there is a brief message.
Transmission Broadcasting.
Transmission Connected.
And then, there is a face.
BONUS [ ??? ] For those who have been wearing their masks a little too much, they might also start to notice that there are some strange effects attached, which worsen the more they’ve been wearing said masks. How badly they worsen is up to your discretion.
➝ Broken Mask: An intense feeling of paranoia, focused on whoever your character is with. They might also begin to remember fabricated memories of being betrayed by those people.
➝ Barcode Mask: Everything will begin to have value to them. There will be whispers in the back of their mind of the worth of their friends, the worth of a monster, the worth of everything around them. An intense need to own and consume as much as possible and as quickly as possible.
➝ Dripping Blood Mask: An intense lack of self-worth, a hollow feeling and thoughts of being weak and empty. Feeling as disposable as possible and an intense listless along with it.
➝ :( Mask: A need to prove yourself, to show everyone how strong you are as quickly as possible. You can do things, you can be of worth to everyone around you. Why won't they see that? Why?
➝ Ivy Mask: A choking sort of terror from all things metal and technology based, and a need to lash out against it. An intense distrust for anything that they feel is against the laws of nature.
➝ Grey Mask: More personable than normal, more emotional, more empathetic. An intense feeling of kindness and gratitude to those around you and a renewed love of life.
➝ Feather Mask: A dulled, lack of emotion. A detached feeling to everything around you. A sort of bland curiosity towards things without any empathetic reaction.
➝ Bloody Fingerprints Mask: They'll feel absolutely fine. No change.
The effects of the broken mask can stack on top of the others, if they chose to break their mask after the other effects began to appear. No other effects can be stacked, as no other changes can be stacked.
PENALTY [ ??? ] For characters who die while in the dark parts of the city, things will get... a little strange. They will die as normal, but they will wake up almost immediately after their death -- in the Nexus Code. They will have a few surreal moments to be there, to see their friends who have left Cerealia hanging lifelessly from odd, glimmering strands (though there are some faces, of course, that are missing, anyone who was spiritual, or magical, seems strangely absent) and then --
They’re back to being dead.
When characters revive in Cerealia, anywhere from one IC day to three or four IC days later, they will find that things are… not quite right with their code. They’re glitching, for a lack of a better word. Sometimes, their fingers will phase right through an object, their own limbs registering as cold and lifeless. Sometimes, they will see a face watching them -- but when they turn around to try to see who it is, the face will be gone.
These effects will last an IC week, before slowly things go back to normal.
That was strange.
[ 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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no subject
Kashuu can't protect everyone from everything. But he can hold on to what he knows and try his damndest, anyway.]
You're a friend and I wanna keep you safe.
[The hand against her back stops moving, only so it can raise to lightly touch the back of her head instead.
(But what can he really protect in the end?)]
no subject
[Perhaps that's not what's expected of her.
Perhaps what's expected of her is a snappy retort, a quick and offended "We're not friends" but those words don't even occur to her at this moment. In her heart, she knows that she would be far worse off in this world if she hadn't met Kashuu. That's a fact.
But there's also the fact that Yona had gotten hurt because of her.
Strong, faithful, loyal Yona who would wield a sword and use her own body to shield Lili.
It causes more pain than warmth right now to think that Kashuu would be prepared to do the very same.]
I can't just - I can't let you do this...! ["No" had been her response when he'd offered to work together before and she's working herself into another fit like this but when she looks up at him, her head finally rising to meet his eyes, there are tears in her eyes as she frantically tries to explain with what words are available to her.] If you got hurt, I--
[What would she do?]
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But watching Lili cry just dredges up the heaviest of feelings, and when he finally pulls his hand away from her shoulder, it's so he can wipe away the tear streaks across one cheek. There's no way he can even try to joke right now - not when she's so distraught. Not when she's been forced to relive something that's clearly rattled her to the bone (and for good reason, if he's piecing things together right, even though he hopes he isn't--)]
If I got hurt, it would be because of my own decisions. [He can't deny the possibility. Not now. Not after everything that's happened since they've fallen down here.]
But that would hurt you too, right? So you'll just have to trust me when I say I'll do my best not to give you another reason to cry.
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She hears no lie in his words. The most he can do is try his best. There are no false assurances that he'll never be hurt or that he's invincible.
He gives her only the truth.
It only makes her feel all the more fragile. So her fingers find the front of his shirt, curling into the cloth tightly as a tinge of desperation sneaks into her voice:]
But you're not allowed to get hurt because of me. [More certainly, pleading:] Never for me.
Promise me....!
[Promise her that she won't have to watch you fall for her too.]
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[And he knows he wouldn't be able to keep that one - not at all. Death is an awful thing, but it's just as awful to sit idly by when friends and comrades and family are in danger.]
...But I said I'd do my best not to make you cry, right?
["Doing his best" will just have to suffice, and he will do his best.
He just refuses to discount that small margin of possibility that his best simply won't be enough someday.]
I'm sorry that I can't do better than that.
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Kashuu's words strike her like a slap - and her immediate reaction is retaliation. One hand remains clutching onto him, fingers growing numb with how tightly she clings on, but the other works into a fist as she beats at his shoulder in her indignation. Her anger. Her fear.]
Promise me...!
[If she repeats it, would he agree?
But she feels short of breath, now unable to cope with the very idea of this. Why won't he agree? Why does he still not understand--?]
If you don't then I'd - I'd rather never see you again!
[Why do sharp words always roll of her tongue so much easier? Even as new tears prick at the edges of her eyes, her own chest hurting at having to say it.
One hand clutching at him and the other in a fist - she really can't make up her mind about whether she wants him to stay or go, can she?]
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He wonders briefly just how awful he must be to feel a little relief that she would go this far just for the notion of protecting his safety, when there's no guarantee of that in the first place. Certainly not here. Certainly not when he's already made a friend in her. Even if she were to never speak of him or to him or about him again, he would take up arms for her.
That's just how a sword's loyalty is.]
Do you really want me to promise you something like that?
[Something that would only get her hopes up? He can't do it. He won't let her separate herself that easily either, though, because he's a selfish existence in the end. A little more quietly:]
It's more than just my job to protect what's important, you know.
no subject
Except right now, it works against her entirely.
When she looks up at him, her knuckles turning white on both hands, she does so with determination. With fire in her eyes, even as the volume of her voice drops.]
Then when will you realize that I'm not important?
[Not to him - she shouldn't be.]
You have your comrades - you have Haru. [She's seen what happens to an attendant who no longer has the strength to protect their charge because of an injury - she isn't blind to the pain in Tetora's eyes.] Don't be an idiot.
[Despite the sharpness of her words, there's still something about her words that sounds like a plea.
Please understand.]
no subject
[His voice is still quiet, but there's something that edges into his tone this time that resembles steel more closely than the softness that had come before it. He can't stand it when people talk about themselves like this, or hold up their worth against others as if it's something that could be comparable.
But he doesn't know how to put any of these complicated thoughts into words. He doesn't know how to say "you're all important", because he can't really say "you're all equally important". He would only be able to say that he'd risk his life for each one equally, and that's not something Lili wants to hear.]
I have Haruji and I have my comrades- [And god, does it sting to think about what might have happened to some right under his goddamn nose.] -but I have my friends, too. You're all precious to me. I can't just say "this person's worth this, and this person's worth this", get it? So— you're just gonna have to be mad at me.
[But not leave. She can't leave.]
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[A part of her tone is stunned, surprised that she even has to explain it. Ayura and Tetora would die for her - they have sworn themselves to constantly be in the service of the An family, more specifically attending to Lili's every need. In her head, she understood that to be the same of Kashuu.]
You are more than a sword, I still believe that - but you have your loyalty to your master, I understand that or I.... I thought I did. [Why does she keep getting surprised by him? Why does this have to happen?] Nothing should ever be equal to your service to your master and your duty.
[ . . . Right?
A mix between angry and lost, she recognizes now that he's not going to promise that he won't get hurt in an attempt to protect her. There's no promise that he won't leave her alone.
She tries to start the process then, already moving to take a step back away from him, her hands finally unfurling, fingers uncurling from where they went numb from clutching onto him.
If she has to be the one to let go, she will.]
no subject
I would give my life to my master a hundred times over. [There's a "don't get me wrong" there - a sureness with which he speaks that makes it clear he does have his priorities. If he only has one life to give, he would gladly lay it at Haru's feet.
...]
But that doesn't mean I can't try my hardest to protect the other things that are important to me.
[What good would he be, if he couldn't do something like that? He shakes his head, takes a step in after her even though they should be going the other way. The shards of glass around his feet catch and bounce back his reflection.]
Still— he'd be upset if something like that happened. Just like you'd be upset. So I have to be able to protect, but I have to try not to be reckless. [It's a hard balance to strike, especially for a sword.] I still want to try, though. Will you let me?
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Maybe he changed his mind. That's her foolish hope.
He lets her down though - in the way that only Kashuu really can. He lets her down by saying that even though she doesn't want him to, he'll try to protect her and can't promise that he won't get hurt for her. He lets her down by being too selfless and too giving and all the things that drew her to him in the first place when she was lost and alone. He lets her down by being stronger than she could ever hope to emulate.
Something makes it hard to speak then and she tries to pull her hand away from him, taking another step back and ignoring the cracking of the glass underneath her feet.
Her answer is no more than a whisper, her head bowing as tears run down her cheeks.]
No... No, I can't.
[She can't let him do that for her.]
no subject
But he's stubborn in the worst ways at the worst times, so he refuses to back down when there are things worth fighting for.]
Please?
[There's a softness in his tone that's almost at odds with his expression, which is set and determined and just a little rounded at the edges with worry. He never wants to overstep so far that he ruins the important things in his life either, but he's clumsy and bold and honest, and those can be awful traits when it comes to dealing with things peacefully or smoothly.
A part of him reflects back to what he'd just seen, and he wonders if Lili is being so adamant because she understands the flip side of the coin.]
no subject
Instead now she's continuing to step back, slowly and fearfully almost like a cornered animal. She has to turn her back to him. She should turn her back to him, but she can't. When he asks her like that and she still--]
I can't... I can't!
[She raises her voice, a shred of desperation to be found in it as she can't provide any more reasoning than she already has.
He has his duties and he should be focused on those. He shouldn't associate with her when she knows that she's nothing but trouble. He's.... still following her and she can't figure out why and it's just making the tears flow stronger.
The thought occurs to her again: she can't do this.]
1/2...
[A shard of glass shatters beneath the heel of his boot, but his attention is still focused forward like a laser. He stands, shoulders squared, as if daring her to face him down on this matter, even if it might be cruel posturing when she's clearly so upset.]
Just let me try! You're already acting like the worst is what's most inevitable!
[It must scare her a lot, then. That loss--
That loss...]
no subject
But that passing thought, that what is this coming from leads him back to the mirrors, and he doesn't pry on principle in normal circumstances, but--]
That person— Was that your important person?
[This is spoken quietly, without any of the loudness from seconds ago.
He wants to know who she had been, because he feels like this reaction and those fractured shards are connected.]
no subject
The mention of her manages to paralyze Lili, an electric shock throughout her body that keeps her from taking even a single step further. She stops running. She stops breathing. Her tears pause.
Through her tears, she looks up at Kashuu and her stare is almost defiant. Is it what's most inevitable? If it's not, then it's close because Lili is reckless. Lili is troublesome. Lili will always stick her nose into business that doesn't need to be trifled with but Yona-]
Yona is giving. [Her shoulders shake with her sobs but this apparently needs to be said.] Even to someone like me, she would always agree to help! Because.... we were comrades....
[Through her tears, she gasps for breath but her hands are still clenched into fists, knuckles white as she tries and tries to be strong.]
She nearly died and it was -
[It was because of me.
When she speaks again, it's weaker. Fearful.]
... I can't, Kashuu.
[She can't be the cause of someone else's suffering again.]
no subject
No, isn't it stranger still that she'd view a trait like that as admirable in one person, but say something like "even to someone like me"? The brusqueness and arrogance is hard to remember in the face of words like that, and he can't help but wonder what she truly thinks of herself if these are the things she says when under duress.]
...That's what comrades do.
[That's what they both did, by the look of things in those fragmented bits of glass.]
You understand, right? Protecting those important people.
[So he can't apologize. He won't insult her like that, or take back everything he's said, even though he figures just promising from the start would have been much easier (albeit entirely wrong.)]
no subject
[The words fly out of her mouth without permission - all sharp edges and absolute confidence in her words.
They're not. They're not comrades, they'd never agreed to work together on anything because Lili was so careful about that. She's in Kashuu's debt because of how much he's done for her, but he's the one who called them partners, words that Lili could never truly get herself to believe given her own lack of strength. How could she stand beside him?
No. They're not comrades. They're not partners. They might not even be friends - not when the words can't make their way out of Lili's mouth even after everything he's done for her.
There's a long pause as she tries to catch her breath, stop her tears, and when she speaks again it's quiet again.]
It doesn't matter.
Yona doesn't remember me. If I'm lucky - she'll never go through any of this.
[Unlike Kashuu, Lili doesn't know how to cling selfishly to people.
Rather, she's starting to get in the practice of letting them go.]
no subject
But still-- there are other things here that need to be addressed more. Kashuu doesn't want this to spiral any further out of control than it already has, but he's never known when to stop, either.]
It doesn't matter...? [And it's not like he can even pretend he doesn't understand, because his selfish clinging is still far less selfish than his abrupt and complete severance of the bonds he breaks, when he chooses to break them. If someone were to leave and return having forgotten him, would he reach out again? No. No, he wouldn't.
But humans are different. They're fleeting and fragile, with quick, quick lives, and if they let bonds slip through their fingers they'll almost always live just long enough to feel regret for it.]
...Lili- [So what can he say? A question, simple and complex and full of an awful sort of understanding that he wishes he didn't have.] —Doesn't something like that hurt both of you, anyway?
no subject
[Instead of responding with an outburst again, she continues to speak quietly. Her shoulders droop then, her defensive posture turning to something more tired, defeated.]
I'm... I'm trying to get stronger. [He should know that better than anyone - he'd agreed to train her, after all. She's dedicated. She goes to the dojo every single night after her long day because she can't bear the idea of letting a day slip by without trying to improve herself.] But you're already strong.
[A fact. She's not jealous. She's admiring, if anything. But there is a gap between the two of them. A distance that clouds his understanding.]
I can't stop what I do, though. I can't not investigate things that bother me or fix what's wrong. But if Yona comes with me... she has to protect me. How many times.... [It's more of a whisper to herself. How many times has Yona saved her?]
But if she doesn't know me... then she won't have to suffer like that.
[Even if Lili misses her. Even if Lili wants to know what she can do to be there for her. Even if it kills Lili quietly every single day to be away from the one person who inspired her.
Because right now - what does Yona get from being with her? When Lili is still so weak?
Yona deserves more than a world full of troubles.]
no subject
That's not the point he chooses to focus on, though. That's not what he's here to argue. He isn't even here to point out that Lili's rash behavior surely isn't as impossible to tamp down on as she believes - that exercising a little extra caution to keep a loved one from crying is worth it (most times). Instead, with a soft somberness:]
When you talk like that, it sounds like you don't like yourself at all. [She's trying to get stronger and her reasons aren't bad, but what lies between point A and point B--]
There are some things you can't just, like, train away. [He'd said it once before, to a different person.] Protecting those important people... It's more than just being able to fight for them, or to not be the one being protected. And people like that, who protect others - they'll keep doing that no matter what. So what are you accomplishing here?
no subject
What an ugly realization.
It's true that she doesn't like herself very much - not when it comes to things like this. She knows for a fact that she's useless, that she's weak, that when her friends are in trouble, the only thing that she can do for them is throw herself into the line of fire even if might be futile. Even if they could still get hurt.
Even if she trains and tries to get stronger, she can't solve this, can she? Yona will always try to protect her. Kashuu will always try to protect her.
Her answer is sincere, because Lili doesn't know how to be deceitful. It doesn't even occur to her to deflect, tired and shaken as she is.]
If I can't protect her... if I can't get stronger then-
[Lili clings onto hope with everything she has - because Yona is her hope.
Except right now, lost in a maze of mirrors with her ugly, pitiful past all on display and trying to separate herself from the one person that has only shown kindness and consistency to her since the very beginning, she feels truly hopeless.]
What can I do? What.... else can I--?
[Besides cutting these ties so people won't get hurt because of her.
What can someone as weak as her do?]
no subject
[What else is there to do? One can only ever go forward or back, or remain in one place and stagnate. That's it - that's all.]
You find other ways to protect. You work with those people instead of against them, and you learn what balances are easiest for you. It's not the same between any two people 'cause a person's strengths and weaknesses are always different, right? You make a partnership, because just one-sided protection can't keep someone safe forever.
[It's not impossible, if nothing else. It's just - difficult. Even he struggles with it at times. Of course he does; he, like most other swords, has a very low sense of comparative self-worth. Even now, he knows he'd lay his life down easily in the right situation, under the right set of circumstances--
But he's also come to realize just how much that thinking can hurt the ones closest to him, and he knows that realization is the first hurdle.]
You don't have to be by yourself to be strong.
no subject
Of course she knows nothing of that. What Lili knows is minimal. She knows an empty room, save for herself and her two attendants. She knows being locked away from the world every time she tried to free herself from the most beautiful prison in the country. She knows people trying to get on her good side strictly because of her status and not for her.
A part of her still wants to run - to leave this behind, to leave Kashuu behind as he'd still inevitably be safer.
Yet she knows that all the improvement she's had - if there has been any in the first place - is owed to him.
It's hard to imagine bettering herself without him.
When she looks up at him again, she's hurt still. She's pained and she doesn't know how to fix it right now. But she doesn't want to run anymore, there's a different kind of fear in her eyes.]
.... A compromise.
[A proposal. Isn't this what little Lili can do? Isn't this her one skill?]
I need to get stronger, I - I want to stand next to Yona [and you]. But I can't... I can't let her be near me until I get strong enough to protect her too.
[She wants to reach for him. She doesn't.]
Until I.... I'm no longer so weak that I can't stand next to you - please, please don't let yourself get hurt for...
[For someone like me.]
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