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
milla shifts her weight, a hand settling on the hilt of her blade. she'd never envisioned having this kind of conversation with anyone, nevermind kashuu, and here she is. ]
It's not like it matters much. It's— just history. Facts. If you want to hear about something like that, I don't mind telling you. You saw already.
[ ... ]
And I saw yours. It's fair. That's how friendship works, right?
[ no it's not but maybe if she makes an amazingly wrong comment it'll help defuse this tense knot in her head and chest. ]
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So he nods - because it's the same for him. It's just history (even if they both know that isn't the case) and facts are better to state, because they can come with a sense of depersonalization that is sometimes desperately needed.]
I wanna hear about it, then.
[If they bothered showing it at all, it must still be important, no matter what she says... Right? So - he wants to know, even if part of him wants to seek refuge in the familiar and just carry on like nothing happened.]
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in return: ]
You'll have to tell me about yours too. You're not the only one who wants to know.
[ there. straightforward and honest, if not slightly less sentimental than she feels. she pauses, uncertain if she'd gone too far with that.
no, this is already farther than she'd ever told herself she'd go. milla swore to herself to be apathetic, and look how that was turning out. was she wearing herself out more by fighting it? who knows. she's too tired at this point to try. ]
... Let's move. If we're going to spill life stories, I at least want to find a way back while we do it.
[ or. death's story? hah. it's a tad bitter, but she doesn't wait for his response as she turns to move. it's mostly so she doesn't have to look at his face and think about how she didn't have anything better to say besides "sorry" for what she was shown, or how completely incapable she is then and now, whether it be with the things she had to do or the things she should know to say.
how she probably won't even know what to say when he tells her what happens, too. ]
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[It's not too much, at least. Kashuu is appreciative of how straightforward she is - it gives him something to ground himself with. And-- if he really thinks about it (which he doesn't now, but he might later), he'd find that it's much more reassuring to think that she'll understand more about him instead of just having that fragmented memory to go off of.
When she turns to leave, he sets off after her immediately, following behind her but only slightly. He'll also be silent, waiting for her to start speaking first, not wanting to rush her or seem intrusive. ...Well. More intrusive. He supposes this entire conversation is intrusive by nature.]
no subject
but what she says isn't an explanation. it's not "i was hanging from a pit because i was going to be a sacrifice, and it kind of sucked. it's: ]
How important is duty, Kashuu?
[ it's related to the reasons she let go, but it's also a question she's been asking herself ever since she fell. she needed to die, even if it wasn't there. but would she have done it if she hadn't been forced into that situation?
talking about this with kashuu now reminds her that she's still not sure if she would've been a coward in the end, if she still is. if she was, then. maybe this is when she finds out. ]
no subject
[How important is duty, she asks the sword... His answer probably won't be surprising, but it might be a little surprising that he takes so long to answer. It's not something he's entirely sure about, after all, and since this topic is heavy and serious, he wants to give it his full attention and consideration.
How important is duty?]
...It's really important. [As a sword who protects those who wield it, duty is an intrinsic part of his life.] But— I think it's different for some people. Because sometimes a person's duty isn't the same thing as what's best, right?
[There are always those cases of traitorous people who did what they did to best serve a king or a country or their most loved ones, shoving aside what they were supposed to do for what they felt was right.]
I think it's important, if your duty is something you believe in. If it's like that, it could be the most important thing in the world.
no subject
Good answer.
[ her response is kind of about the same. she knows personally that someone's duty wasn't the best course of action—how getting so blind about a mission could have massive repercussions, and narrowing in on one outcome because it coincided with your beliefs made you ignorant to possibilities.
she also knew not having a duty and purpose was equally terrible. ]
It's complicated, [ milla says again, continuing as even and apathetic as always. ] But I'm not the only Milla. You know about parallel worlds, don't you? I took the place of the... [ here she actually hesitates. real one? ] ... Milla of the world I ended up in after... something happened in mine, and because of me, she couldn't return.
[ she isn't sure how much sense this makes. her situation was just a big mess of things, but she wants to make it as clear as possible. ]
no subject
His brow is furrowed, but he doesn't seem to be too lost, even if he also isn't quite connecting where this is heading just yet. That's more willful ignorance on his part than anything else, though. If he really wanted to, he could easily connect the strings of logic here - but who would want that, with the inevitable outcome?]
Okay... I think I get it so far.
[And then he's waiting for her to continue, like he expects this to somehow be turned around at the last second. Like maybe that long drop into nothingness was just a way home for Milla, rather than the actual conclusion.]
no subject
she's not sure how she's expecting him to react to what she'll tell him, just like she's not sure how she's expecting herself to react to what he'll tell her. it'll hurt, probably. she won't know what to say, probably. and she reminds herself again—history. ]
The "duty" I had before was gone. I didn't have anything to do with the world I was in, except for the duty that came up when they needed that Milla: die, so that she could come back.
[ honestly, that's all she was good for there. she wasn't their real milla, just a fake, and those were facts too. ]
I took too long to decide because I'm a coward, I guess. Someone took it into their own hands. They opened up that pit underneath me. They were going to kill a girl who considered me something more than a flimsy imitation, unless that idiot you saw let go of my hand and moved to save her.
[ he didn't let go, she reminds herself. she's not even keeping her own biases out of her retelling now, the feelings she'd locked away just kind of. spilling out. she shouldn't be showing these weaknesses to anyone. but now that they've been hinted at, she's too worn to put up the walls anymore.
she stops walking. ]
He wouldn't. I was needed there, nowhere else, so I did. I saw that other Milla nod at me as I fell, then nothing.
[ nothing, and so there's nothing more to say, a silent "that's it" drifting in the air. it really is pathetic. ]
no subject
And there's something about that-- about the other Milla just nodding that absolutely sets his blood on fire. A part of him thinks how dare she because that Milla is not the one he's come to know, and therefore is not the one who has his loyalty. His Milla was put into an awful situation and had to cast herself away, and the only acknowledgment she got was a nod? Bullshit.
His fists clench at his side, and he finally breaks his silence with a simple:]
You aren't. [But after a few seconds pass, he manages to scrounge up a few more words.]
...You aren't a coward. If something like that is your "duty", how could you be a coward at all? Wanting to live is natural, isn't it?
no subject
milla knew he wouldn't judge her, even if she found she feared it; the same way elle wouldn't judge her, or ludger wouldn't. the words still sound nice when they come, however — "you aren't a coward", even if she doesn't believe it. "you're my favorite milla," even if she was the only milla elle had known.
she looks at him, and offers him a genuine smile.
it goes unsaid; there's a gratefulness there that she can't express with her clumsiness, her inability with words, for kashuu's kindness and loyalty. that he's even affected by the death of someone who should've probably died a long time ago. ]
I don't think I told you, Kashuu, but I used to be the Lord of Spirits where I was from. Back then, my duty was to protect the world and spirits like you. I wouldn't have hesitated to die if it meant fulfilling my original mission.
[ a title she wore with pride, would still wear with pride if it meant protecting people like kashuu. circumstances may have worn her down into a cynical shadow of the milla she could've been, but if it came down to it now, could she do it again? ]
If a world was going to be destroyed unless I allowed that Milla to return, and I wanted to live just for the sake of living, for nothing, forsaking them and the spirits in it to death — that's cowardly. They needed her to protect that world, I didn't belong there, but I had the opportunity to complete something like my original purpose. There shouldn't have been a reason for me to hesitate.
[ simple as that. ]
no subject
But he can also tell that Milla has gone over this in her head before, who even knows how many times, and that she's come to her own conclusions. Even if he disagrees with them, he won't say as much aloud. Not just yet, anyway.]
It wasn't for nothing. [Living for the sake of living. Human lives are precious, so as far as he's concerned, there is no such thing as just "living for the sake of living".] ...And I still— don't think hesitating was bad. I don't think it's a bad thing that you didn't want to die. I don't think it's weak or wrong - I think almost anyone who would die for their duty would hesitate at least a little, even if it was important to them.
[Even if it's a small, barely-there split second of regret for all of the things that won't ever happen. And things like that aren't uncommon for him as a sword; he's seen people die so many times and he's seen regret in so many, save the very select few who want to, or who somehow fully come to peace with it, but they're the most unusual. Still, even if dying for duty is nothing new to Kashuu--]
...It's unfair that it happened like that.
[Dying for duty is one thing, but Milla's fate is just... cruel.]
no subject
she doesn't think of fighting his point then. that it wasn't a bad thing that she didn't want to die. she ultimately never quite made that decision herself. she'd never know if she would've ever quite gather the courage to do what she should've done, what that milla who they continue to speak of and admire would've done. was that fine? ]
... You know, you make it very hard not to care.
[ that's instead what she admits. when she got here, she was resolved to exist and nothing else, because she was dead, so what was the point?
and then there were people like kashuu; she found she cared when they were hurt, cared what they thought, cared when this stupid place brought up things it shouldn't.
now she was here. ]
Thank you.
[ it doesn't seem like enough, but she says it anyway. ]
no subject
His head dips a little at the thanks, too, because he's not entirely sure what she's thanking him for. But he's also learned by now not to turn down thank-yous, so that's his gentle acknowledgment.]
I just wish I could, like... I dunno. Do more, I guess?
[What a vague thing to say - do more, like there's anything he could do to begin with... But it's still true. He wishes he could help, or ease those painful truths at least a little.]
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