PHASE I [ ❓❓❓ ] And then the Flamines are there.
They just appear, suddenly, as if from nowhere. They’re a race of mercenary aliens, and fighting is all they know -- they’re definitely not going to be easy to kill by any means. They seem to have a natural resistance to magic: aside from very specific types of magic (in particular, light magic and anything highly spiritual), they absorb it. Light magic and spiritual magic can harm them, but it will take a lot to take one down.
They can be stabbed, if you can get that close.
But good luck.
Of course, they look like nondescript black shapes with masks until you knock the mask off...and then you can see the true shape of the Flamines.
They’re here to kill you all. :)
PHASE II [ ❓❓❓ ] As if that isn’t enough… it seems the Flamines’ arrival was the last straw for Cerealia and the Nexus Code. There’s a tear in the sky, and from it… the Nexus Code, where all of the lost friends from before, can be seen. It can be entered, even, though remaining there too long can be detrimental to your health.
But people are there.
Old friends, strung up and lifeless, can be seen there, unmoving.
And…
Then some of them move. They open their eyes. They remember how to breathe. And they’re able to return, able to stagger their way back into Cerealia and take their first breath of air in a long, long time.
Welcome back to the chaos of Cerealia, friends.
Unfortunately, you’ve got nothing but the clothes on your back while murderous aliens are rampaging, so hopefully you’re able to think fast. It’d be unfortunate to die so soon after coming back.
As for spiritual and magical characters who were not in the Nexus Code...well, when they return, they’ll find that they’re covered in old, dried blood, and their clothing might have tears in it, as if from a knife.
There are no scars, though, and they’re otherwise fine. Strange.
PHASE III [ ❓❓❓ ] As if this chaos isn’t enough… there are also the masks. Regardless of whether or not characters were around to receive them the first time, regardless what they did with them before, the masks will suddenly reappear in your characters’ hands. They can be tossed aside, but they’ll reappear again eventually, unable to be truly shaken.
Characters who received them before will receive the same mask they had before.
Characters who didn’t receive them before will receive a mask according to the trait that’s more prominent for them.
Either way...it’ll have a profound effect on the Flamines.
They will go after any character with a broken mask in a bloodthirsty rage, intent on murdering them. Characters with a barcode mask or bloody mask will be the next likely to be chased down intently by the Flamines.
Characters with a :( mask will be killed if they get in the Flamines’ way, though they will not go out of their way to chase them down.
Characters with a vine mask or feather mask will be treated with wariness, though they may still be attacked if they get in a Flamines’ way.
Characters with a grey mask will not be killed unless they are first the aggressor, as will characters with a bloody fingerprint mask.
Naturally there will be exceptions to every rule, but the masks will change how the Flamines’ generally act towards characters!
PHASE IV [ ❓❓❓ ] But something’s not quite right.
Regardless of the battles against the Flamines, it seems Cerealia’s just been under too much pressure lately. Something had to give --
And it’s the code building up the characters that really suffers.
Their code has been hanging on by a thread without CERES to maintain it, and now… it’s finally giving out. The glitches that afflicted characters before will be even more prominent now; they might glitch from place to place, or have their powers go totally awry in odd ways. There may be a lack of powers suddenly, or a sudden difficulty staying on the ground as gravity stops working on the character.
They might suddenly be unable to breathe, or go cold, or very nearly die --
But it can be controlled, too, with effort. Characters can learn to control the glitches, gaining an ability to almost teleport, or ways to tweak their powers in exciting new ways.
With a lot of effort, they could even possibly reverse a death -- but only their own, and only once.
BONUS [ ❓❓❓ ] There are also… birds?
Flamingos, to be exact. Who knows where they came from, but either way, there are plastic flamingos chilling all over the place. They’re just normal plastic; they don’t move, they can very easily be destroyed --
But if you touch one with your bare hands… it’ll have an interesting effect.
Characters will suddenly find that they have the abilities or the last person they touched -- but without any of the practice or ability to control it, of course.
Still, it might help with that pesky Flamines problem, right?
[ 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. ] |
Welcome to the beginning of Cerealia's endgame event! Please visit the OOC information here, and should you have any questions, feel free to ask them here! You can also check the FAQ for more general inquiries. This event will begin 11/03, or IC 11/18. Should this event log hit Captcha, there is an all-purpose overflow here. Thank you! |
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[ Jaune looks back at it, forgetting the road for a moment. ] Whoa...
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[ Reaching over, she grabs the steering wheel, only just keeping them from crashing. ]
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Okay-okay, let's just-- deal with one thing at a time then! Are we close to the shop?
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It's up ahead, [ she confirms, once the app locks into their location again, ] turn right-- [ wait ] turn just past that building.
[ She points to demonstrate. ]
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I see it! Hang on!
[ --drives the car through the shop!! Talk about a dramatic entrance. ]
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The car doors open, seemingly of their own volition, and she steps out.
... Well.
Moving further into the store, she lets her eyes skim the walls and shelves of weapons without going near one. Her heart feels lodged in her throat. ]
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Well? Anything we can use here?
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[ Pyrrha wraps her arms around herself for a brief second, and then forces them loose again. This is just... it's nothing. A bad time to get upset over such a material detail, a bad time to let this skewed petulance sink into her bones.
She looks over at him. It helps, somewhat, that he's wiped his face. ]
You should pick for me.
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[ He starts picking things out, while at the same time throwing anything non-metallic to the corner of the room, including cups, brooms and even a plastic Flamingo. ]
Oh! A sawblade...!
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At this pace, it won't take them too long to strip the walls. ]
... Can I make a suggestion?
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[ As if she even needs to ask! He may be team leader but they're also partners - look how beautifully they drove a car together. ]
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Well — the Flamines respond more quickly to different masks. If we keep mine on hand, we could control their movement, possibly lure them into a trap.
[ Up, she's thinking. Up and up, where they're exposed and no one else is - but, for a girl who died on top of a shattered tower, it's not a comfortable suggestion. Another unwinnable fight... ]
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[ That... makes him nervous, understandably. ]
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I'll be fine, Jaune.
[ And then, plaintively: ]
I can't be frightened forever.
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[ Maybe he's been so good at faking courage this whole time that it's not very apparent that he's the one scared something will happen to her. ]
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You know, you're still our leader.
[ She'll listen now, like she hadn't done then. It goes unsaid, but clear. ]
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[ Many others have already sacrificed themselves just for him and Pyrrha to be here right now. For him to not even allow Pyrrha to put herself at risk is entirely selfish, he knows this. ]
Just... I'm gonna be with you every step of the way, got it? We do this together.
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Jaune...
[ No. Not that, not yet. She wants to tell him how grateful she is for him, for the past few months, for the extra time they were able to share.
She wants to ask him to stay, to willingly give up his life on Remnant because hers ended and she isn't sure she remembers how to be happy without him.
She wants to say those words, aloud this time. But they still frighten her, even now.
She doesn't say anything like that, though, because there's a faint scraping noise outside the destroyed shop window. The black shadows of a Flamine cling to a wall across the street, unmoving, its cloud-like mist pulsing. It's almost like the otherworldly being is staring at them.
That's about right. ]
... uh, let's go out the back.
[ THE ROMANCE OF THE CENTURIES, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN ]
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[ Jaune finds the door to the back and opens it for Pyrrha. Once she goes through, he follows as well, not realizing there's a tiny wrench magnetically stuck against his back.
Huh. ]
So they seem to be going after your type of mask, huh?
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One thing Pyrrha hadn't grabbed was the mask, though. That's okay, because it's hanging on a hook just beside the backdoor, and she grabs it pointedly. ]
It's just a theory, but I strongly believe I'm right.
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[ He doesn't say it very proudly. If anything, it just weighs on him more that the only reason he's survived what many haven't so far is that the Flamines don't think he's worth their time.
And so begins their endless stairway climb! ]
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You shouldn't look for a pattern in this chaos. [ Pyrrha hardly thinks she's much of a source for concern to them, either. Look what happened to the dumpster! ] It's not worth your time.
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[ Whether it's masks or elemental effects, Jaune has learned by now that there usually is a pattern even if they can't figure it out. Though, this isn't anything like before, not even close. ]
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[ That, or the main thing separating them now - her death, his life - is the only significant difference she can think of. The thought makes her stomach turn unpleasantly. ]
Sometimes, I wonder if it's simply aimless malice. When they... recovered me -- [ She shakes her head. ]
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We're almost at the top!
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