EVENT #10: AFFLICTION - IC POST

[abraxasmods]

Event #10 - Affliction

go to the OOC event info & plotting post

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With tensions heavy across Abraxas and all the destruction that's happened, it's no surprise that the dark shadows which sweep over the land go unnoticed...at first.

Winds initially stir in Solvunn, where the influence of the Old Gods remains the strongest. Slowly each Herald infects Thorne and the Free Cities, as well. The Summoned are the first to feel its effects and are the most heavily impacted.

Though no one will realize it until well afterwards, Nocwich remains unaffected. After all, the Summoned don't reside there.

NOTE: This event will deal with themes of death (people and animal) and horror imagery.

Emergence

It begins sometime in mid-October, around the 18th. Not everyone will experience it at the same time. You might even believe you're spared until days afterwards when you're visited by an unusually vivid dream.

The dream starts the same for everyone: you are going somewhere, anywhere, walking to your bedroom or enjoying a stroll on the beach. You might be driving down a familiar neighborhood. Wherever you're headed, you eventually come upon a stone tablet engraved with your Arcana. Laid on the tablet are three objects:

◎ A dead moth trapped inside a wilted rose, symbolizing Koth of Festering Lands
◎ A teacup inside which sits a single nightshade berry, symbolizing Adlewyrd of Poisoned Tongues
◎ An ornate cracked hand mirror that contains no reflection, symbolizing Sannleikr of Many Faces

Make a choice. Something inside your soul will be drawn towards one of the objects. Maybe you spend hours in the dream deliberating, but sooner or later, you'll pick one of the items up. The moment you do, the other objects vanish and the chosen Herald appears before you. Where one might expect a god to seek subservience, the strange figure instead extends a friendly hand towards you - as though it's greeting you as an equal.

Whispered around you, you hear its name. Then it fades and with it the dream. You awaken.

Affliction

You go about your day as usual. That's when you realize something isn't right. Creatures and people around you behave strangely. You begin to sense that you are the cause.

Depending on your chosen Herald, you'll experience at least one of its afflictions. The effects might start small, then grow. They might rush you all at once. You can't shake what haunts you, though you can try. Spells, potions, and willpower can help keep the afflictions at bay but you won't ever be completely free.

As the afflictions seep into your mind, you start to find shadows of it following you: a dead moth here, a nightshade bloom there, a cracked mirror elsewhere. You may even wonder if it's following you in the first place. What if instead, you are the one leaving these signs behind?

Corruption

The first time you inflict your ability on someone else, you don't mean to. It might be a stranger, some unsuspecting soul, or it might be another Summoned. Regardless, the afflictions that ail you seem to spread through you into another. Someone falls down as if in the throes of an invisible death or secrets spill. You brush by someone and they're suddenly upset and confused.

The more this happens, intentionally or not, the better you feel. You may grow full of life and energy, gain a renewed strength of heart, or radiate a charm that turns heads and garners compliments. The afflictions haunting you could even start to fade or completely vanish. And if you use your newfound power deliberately? You'll feel better even faster for longer. Of course, these boons are temporary, lasting at most an hour or so. When the feeling wanes, you might miss having it.

You are not possessed. You can't control this power that spreads through you, but how you respond or behave is up to you. You could be attracted to the allure of power, enjoy the boons you are granted, or realize you can gain relief from your afflictions if you choose a victim. Not everyone will fall headfirst into the pull. Some are not easily swayed by power, some struggle to overcome their dark impulses, and others would rather endure their suffering than inflict it on someone else. But others still might succumb to temptation and turn on those around them with purpose: once, twice, multiple times. The choice you make is yours alone.

Blight

With the call of the Herald at your fingertips, the world around you twists. No one knows whether this stems from you and your newly imbued afflictions, or if the Heralds are exerting power on their own. It's for sure easier to think of what occurs as the influence of something monstrous beyond your control. No matter the cause, the earth is changed all the same.

Omens

The omens arrive shortly after the initial Summoned receive their dreams, but they don't come to every faction at once. SOLVUNN is first, being home to the Old Gods' shrines, before THORNE and the FREE CITIES follow only days afterwards. Depending on where you are, the omens will affect things a bit differently.

Solvunn

In Solvunn, the ground stirs. A desiccated hand breaks through the grass, a cloven hoof. Human or animal, they crawl forth, animated against their will. Some might attack, but most do not. At the same time, crops around the settlements begin to fail. Some chickens lay rotten eggs while cows produce spoiled milk. Any livestock that perishes overnight will surface in the mornings with empty eye sockets - pecked out by crows or gnawed on by rats. From a distance, the ocean can be seen bubbling as leviathans beneath thrash.

Worth noting is that many of the dead are concentrated around the shrines, especially the ones deep in the woods. They're too decayed to recognize, and some might not even move from the site, as though they are waiting for the earth to take them again...or as though they once chose to give up their life at this very spot.

Summoned can assist by helping to cast spells or place warding charms around shrines, farms, and gardens to protect crops and livestock. As a commune, the Solvunnites will share their resources as much as possible and would appreciate those who might lend a hand bringing supplies, herbs, and offerings to neighbors who are lacking. The Summoned can also brew a common herbal remedy to aid any animals who have fallen ill or to help purify the well water.

Free Cities

In Libertas, the dead buried under the rubble dig themselves out. More crawl forth from graves in Cadens' cemeteries. Beasts and bandits slain in the desert wilds rise, hungry or searching for the ones who killed them. At the same time, dead fish wash up onto the shores of Aquila while birds fall dead from their perch, dropping like flies from an unknown illness. Vultures and other scavengers begin to prey upon the eyes of the dead, leaving behind hollowed-out corpses.

Worth noting is that in the Badlands, a few very old and skeletal corpses rise with a metal plate or two screwed onto their bones, which are also oddly elongated. Only one or two make their way near the city. The army is quick to dispose of them before many can notice. They will not disclose any information about this and will claim these are just monsters like anything else.

Summoned can assist by going on patrol with the soldiers to put down any risen dead. Merchant caravans are also hiring escorts for their journeys. Additionally, they can help look through any received supplies and packages to make sure the food isn't rotting or worse, use a special dissolving compound to purify the waters, and donate staple food items to refugees and the less fortunate who can't afford the rising prices.

Thorne

In Thorne, the dead emerge only from the outskirts of the castle city. Thanks to information from one of their Summoned and their recent monitoring of the Singularity, Thorne was able to act swiftly and was able to ward any royal or otherwise significant burial sites. Graves and tombs of less importance, though, will not be protected in the same way. There are fewer encounters with eyeless corpses, though some animals might appear outside the castle in such a state. Normally extravagant dishes from the Castle's kitchens use simpler ingredients as they struggle to ration their food stores.

Worth noting is that a few unexpected corpses make their way up from deep under the castle in places beyond the dungeons. These are twisted and mangled, missing limbs, heads, fingers. The castle guards are quick to dispose of them before they get too far into the rest of the castle, but one or two may be spotted.

Summoned can assist by contributing to the wards around Castle Thorne and the city, using spells to put down the dead without mangling the corpse, and taking inventory of food stores. Further, in Nott the situation is more dire for anyone who is traveling there to continue assisting with repairs following the attack. Nott will welcome help with any problems caused by the omens. It'll be clear the kingdom has neglected the city somewhat. Thorne will claim the Castle takes priority, of course, due to King and Queen residing there along with the entire royal court.

Apprehensions

Across the factions, locals are beginning to catch on that something isn't right with you, the Summoned. No one will say it outright, but there's an air of caution and wariness around you where you go. Merchants might be quick to hand you your wares so you'll leave or locals give you a bit of space when they walk by. Chatty innkeepers are more reluctant to hold lengthy conversations.

Much of the time, it may not be conscious. The natives might simply sense something off that instinctually makes them want to put some distance between them and you. The only exception? If you've chosen Sannleikr of Many Faces, you'll continue to exude your charm towards people you encounter. At least for as long as you continue to inflict that ability you've been gifted.

Displacement

Everyone responds differently while in the Horizon. You might exert better willpower over your afflictions or you might feel its effects more strongly. It all depends on the individual and their mindset. Regardless, the Heralds are only one part of the equation. There's a much bigger disturbance going on.

It could happen as soon as you enter or it might be as you're stepping over the threshold into another's domain. Whatever the case, you are suddenly not where you're supposed to be. Instead, you're in one of two places depending: transported into a domain you never meant to go into or in a foreign setting altogether.

Visitation

Whether you're the one transported or someone teleports unexpectedly into your space, the Horizon becomes unpredictable for the next little while. Rooms normally locked to strangers, areas you yourself may not even realize exists - you and your fellow Summoned continue to pop in and out despite your intentions.

The effect isn't painful, just disorienting, like missing a step you didn't see or stumbling through a door into a too-bright room. The person whose domain you've inadvertently visited might sense an unwanted presence, whether they're inside the Horizon or not, or they may be completely oblivious. This will depend on the strength of their connection to the Singularity and the Horizon.

Not to worry. You won't be trapped or anything in these cases...unless the domain you land in happens to seal from the inside. You might stumble on secrets you weren't meant to find, though, locked away in someone else's mind.

Ensnared

The less fortunate will be pulled into a space that they've never encountered before. The bizarreness of it resembles the glitchy visions that flashed through a few months ago, but rather than an image flickering by, you are now inside the space itself.

Trapped between minutes to hours, you can't use the Horizon's creation magic as normal. Attempts will falter or go sideways: trying to fly out might cause you to tumble, tools and objects are broken or not quite right, wounds don't vanish or heal completely, etc. More significantly, you can't seem to send or receive messages through your connection. Anything that manages to come through will be garbled and distorted. It's as though the place you are in is just out of the reach of your control.

Luckily, you may not be alone. Someone else may have gotten lost alongside you. They might already be there when you stumble through or they might arrive after you do. They might even fade out sooner than you, unintentionally leaving you behind.

Eventually, you'll be released back into the Horizon proper, spat out in a random place in the Horizon. While you're stuck, though, you can try to survive, explore, sit and wait it out, or make friends with your fellow trapped partner. Each area has its challenges and quirks that you'll need to deal with.

Scenes to Explore

JUSTICE ◎
FULL IMAGE

High in the clouds, these snowy peaks are as cold as they look. Giant marble hands reach out, though their sheer scale means you might not recognize them as hands from up close. You can scale the mountain, but if you try to go down, the hands will flip the mountain, which sends you tumbling to the top again.

It's up to you whether you can be injured when you fall. Maybe the snow will feel like marshmallows, or you'll break a bone on the jagged rocks. No two experiences are the same. If you have a partner, they could end up faring better than you despite being in the same place.

Conjure some warm clothes or a log cabin even if you wish - they might not manifest perfectly, but it'll be better than nothing. At least the view's fairly nice...while the sun is up. A blizzard will come through by nightfall. With it arrives a strange hovering light that entices you or your friend to follow it into the frozen darkness. What draws you out depends on you. It could be a familiar voice, an image, or a simple compulsion. If you're lucky, the person with you is unaffected and can try to stop you. Or maybe you're the one desperately chasing after the other person?

---

THE CHARIOT ◎
FULL IMAGE

From a distance, it's hard to tell if they're shipping containers or houses stacked atop each other. A gooey mess covers the ground below. Oddly, the smell isn't as unpleasant as the goo looks. It smells like bubblegum or cotton candy, artificial and sweet. When you first fall in, you might land inside one of the homes, on top of the stacked structure, or the ground. You can try to reach anyone else who's there with you, but be careful: the ooze is spreading. Climb if you must or move from room to room. If you don't keep moving, you risk getting sucked into its sticky mass.

Each block of a home is different. Some are furnished, whereas others are empty or filled with strange knickknacks. Some might even have subconscious creations spawned by you. Keep ahead of the gloopy substance, and you'll be fine, probably. Or you can try to fight it back or block its path by sealing yourself in a room or otherwise, which can slow it down significantly. Mostly, you'll have to hope you fade out before the pink mass completely consumes the landscape.

---

THE WORLD ◎
FULL IMAGE

The hazy neon glow obscures a nothingness that seems to extend forever. In the middle of the wet ground are several stacked television sets with wires plugged into nothing. Inexplicably, there's also a cat. At first, it appears perfectly normal, but keen observers will notice that its behavior is on a loop where it will walk a certain path, pause at specific intervals to lick its paws, and meow at set points. It does not acknowledge any of its intruders. You can break its loop by picking it up, at which point it'll go limp as a ragdoll. As soon as you set it down, it'll resume its actions as before.

While you can see the same images as someone else on the screens, it's also possible you'll each see something different despite being in the room together. What you see is up to you. It could be an old fuzzy movie, home videos of your childhood, trivia questions you have to answer correctly, or even a memory or vision you wouldn't want to share. Words or faces taunting you could appear between staticky flickers, or maybe your very thoughts are projected onto the screens for anyone with you to read.

Break the televisions if you want, but given a few short minutes, they'll reform between one blink and the next. Looks like you'll have to keep watching until you're released.

---

THE FOOL ◎
FULL IMAGE

Sprawling and massive, you're unlikely to recognize at first that you're trapped in a labyrinth. Stone walls rise around you, and your surroundings are pitchblack. Manifest a torch or a flashlight if you can, though these will be prone to going out at inopportune times. Escaping over the walls will only send you into another section in the maze.

As you navigate the twisting corridors, you'll encounter any variety of trials and troubles: gaps in the ground, spiked traps, haunting whispers, monsters, decaying corpses. Some of these might've formed from your mind, others might've spawned from anyone else who's trapped with you.

If you aren't alone, do your best to locate your fellow Summoned. Voices do carry and echo over the walls, and there could be landmarks that help you find each other. Finding the exit, however, is another matter. Walk and climb all you want. A way out is impossible until the Horizon chooses to set you free.

Players can pick any scenario that interests them from the four choices above. Unlike the visions from before, characters can accidentally be trapped in as many of the scenes as you want, as many times as you want. Another option is that they can stay trapped in only one scene while a variety of characters fade in and out to join them, or some combination of the two. Choose what works best for your plans.

Each scene will once again carry an associated Arcana etched somewhere inside it, which can change from person to person or instance to instance. It might be on a wall, a table, or on the ground. Characters with a stronger connection to the Horizon are likely to be trapped for longer but the extent of this is your choice and it won't ever exceed a few hours. It's also your choice whether the afflictions continue to haunt them or not. If you want characters to deal with both problems while stuck together, you're welcome to!

Generally speaking, there are no restrictions other than that they won't be able to communicate with anyone outside the area, they can't escape it until the Horizon chooses to release them, and their creation magic will go wrong just enough that it'll make things tricky.

Comments

[ushiri]

You had a boxcutter. Must've created it in self defense.

[ He lowers his hand, glancing around the room. ]

Also, lightning...?

[ But that's gone now too. He frowns, glancing at Jack again. ]

Sit. You might've knocked your head.

[ When he knocked him into the wall, or the floor. Without really waiting for him to agree he puts a hand on Jack's shoulder, leading him to the closest bed to sit down. ]

[ushiri]

[ There's a stark difference in her between then and now, lending credence to what she says. And then there is the dog tail continuing to slowly wag as it looks up at her when she stands.

After a moment he shakes his head. ]

You didn't hurt me. [ A beat. ] So - no harm, no foul.

[ He believes she's being sincere, that she won't hurt him now. Even if he didn't, they're in his own sacred place. Earthquakes and strange humming aside, he's more protected here.

His eyebrows knit together slightly. ]

I'm sorry. [ She said recently but - ] This was before you were Summoned?

[ The youngest of the Summoned that he knows of is Wilhelm, who is nearly a man. He's never heard of anyone younger than that arriving here. ]

[stations]

I had a-

( He starts dimly, distantly, allowing himself to be led along toward his bed. He had a what? Why the fuck would he conjure up a-

It's about then that it all sinks in, that it properly metabolizes. )

Oh, fuck. Oh, shit-

( On instinct, on impulse, his hands tighten around Kyle's forearms. Eyes gone wide with alarm and concern, bright and green as he searches Kyle's expression. )

I came at you with a boxcutter- I didn't-

( Mean to. He didn't mean to, and it's only now that he registers the warm blood on one of his hands. Not his own. Kyle's, from the gash on his arm. From Jack. He moves with a new urgency, pressing a quickly-summoned cloth tightly against the wound to try and stem the bleeding. )

I didn't mean to, I'm sorry, fuck, I'm so sorry, I didn't- I didn't mean to-

( This might actually be the most expressive Kyle's ever seen him, the most distraught. The most emotionally affected. Nervous outright, anxiety quickly climbing.

Because Spencer's whispering in his mind: just like you didn't mean to slit my throat with one either, right Jack?

This isn't the first time this has happened. Maybe Kyle can pick up on that. )

[ushiri]

[ Jack's sudden intense anxiety is palpable, and for a second he can only look back at his wide-eyed expression with alarm and concern again. But he recovers quickly, parsing the level of intensity in his response along with what just happened, and getting the sense that this wasn't a one-off. ]

Hey. It's fine, we're both okay. I've had worse scratches.

[ He lets Jack fuss over his injured arm for the moment, using his free one to clasp the space between his shoulder and neck. His thumb settles in that hollow space above the collarbone, and without thinking too hard about it he gently strokes the ridge of bone, imagining it to be soothing. ]

This happened to you before.

[ Not just blacking out. ]

[stations]

( For one irrational, fleeting moment Jack's instincts scream at him to lie. The thing is, he's never been a particularly good liar (a polite understatement; he's fucking terrible at it), but even if he were... something about lying to Kyle right now feels bad in the simplest sense. Maybe it's because Kyle is his only friend, maybe it's because of the guilt roiling in him. Maybe it's the hand on his shoulder, the thumb brushing his skin.

Whatever the case, he can't bring himself to do it.

All he can really manage to do for a long moment is hang onto the place where he's pressing cloth to wound, clasping Kyle's arm with both hands, and lower his eyes. )

...Yeah.

( The blacking out, the lashing out. Hurting somebody without realizing it or remembering it until later.

All of the above. )

[philancer]

Shit.

[ Sylvain sags against the bar, scraping a hand over his face as he tries to wrap his head around this. It doesn't make any sense, not that much has in this place but this...

He wonders if he's included in that answer. Although Claude hadn't seemed shocked to see him when he'd shown up, not like one would expect, when seeing a ghost. But what did he know? Claude had always been good at hiding his true thoughts about things and maybe Sylvain had been too off his game to notice anything beyond the surface.

He didn't want to think about what this meant for the rest of the Lions. Annette. Mercy. Dedue. Ashe. Ingrid. Dimitri. Felix. He had friends in the other Houses too, of course, but those from Faerghus... many of them he'd grown up with since he was young. And then the years together since then...

He reached for the bottle, refilling his glass again, his expression unusually grim, his eyes a little glassy with emotions he was trying not to let fester right now. The whispers were taunting at the edges of his mind again, that new horrible information something easy to latch onto. To drag through his guilt and regrets all over again. ]

We're going to need a bigger bottle.

[philancer]

[ Huh. Now there's an interesting way to look at it.

Sylvain sinks down on one of the long benches and takes a deep drag of the ale Geralt had given him, even as he studies the pale-haired man. ]

Now that sounds like a statement earned from experience. Unfortunately, I have to agree. That doesn't stop them from trying to demand it and enforce it anyway, you know. Especially if they think they're right. [ He adds quotation marks around that last word, his tone vaguely sarcastic, insinuating the very concept of it is probably ludicrous. ]

[philancer]

[ Sylvain just makes a face at him. ]

You don't have to get all technical on me. It still feels like winter on a mountain, even if I know we're both technically tucked back safe... wherever we started from. But fine. Sure. We'll be insane, lets go climb the mountain and see what's up there. Besides more snow!

[ He may have gestured a bit dramatically through all of that but he's telling himself it will help keep warm. Whatever helps, right? But he doesn't wait for Thancred's response as he turns to try and find the easiest route up from here. Which is when he spots something strange in a window of cloudbreak above them and stops to tilt his head, certain he must be imagining things. ]

...Does that look like a hand to you?

[philancer]

[ Also a waste of a perfectly good redhead.

But he just inclines his head at her decision, lips still twitching in amusement and the urge to just outright smirk as he shakes his head and turns in the opposite direction she'd come from. ]

Sure, as long as you can keep up instead. And yell if you think you see a better direction than the one I'm picking. I don't have a lot of experience with solving mazes, I'm afraid. Do you? [ She probably would have been better off if she'd gotten Claude instead of him, but it looks like she's stuck. ]

[philancer]

[ He would have so many questions if you did, so probably a wise move on your part. ]

Not a fan of people, I take it?

[ He's just guessing here. ]

[aquilus]

All should know some peace in their last moments, and ours may be at hand if we aren't careful.

[He doesn't really believe that — not because it's not true, but because he plans on being very careful. And aggressive. And everything that's necessary to take out a horde of the undead without losing his own life.]

[aquilus]

If you're certain.

[He has no doubt. Alucard has never struck him as one who says anything but what he means...but still, his expression is difficult to forget.]

Now, of all times...while we're trapped here...

[He doesn't like it. Unaware of the source of the vision, he half expects on to descend upon him next, tormenting him in turn.]

[aquilus]

[His mouth tightens at the question, and he suppresses an odd flare of anger. It's too close to questions he's faced in the past about what he and his brothers really are — zealots, murderers, nothing that comes close to the truth.]

An Assassin.

[He goes very still at that, because it is not something he ever intended to say. This is not the Holy Land, where natives and Crusaders alike know and fear the Assassins; he has no certainty that the word would mean anyone here. Yet he's kept it to himself, guarded it as a secret, because he is safer if no one knows him as he is.]

But not here for you. We've come to fight the living dead, and more are on their way.

[lightkeeping]

“Magic? Not so great.”

In that she could probably stand to practice, outside of the Horizon-given tracking ability that has come to replace at least some of the functions of her Focus. Warding is not something she’s explored, not when she has an entire practical skillset to rely on. Now, however, she’s starting to wonder if she shouldn’t have paid a little more attention.

“If you tell me what to do, though, I can try.”

[lightkeeping]

[Well, there goes that idea. She might be more troubled by the fact that they seem to be held captive in a place that belongs to neither of them if she weren’t so focused on what she can do to get out. Perhaps, hopefully, there will be time to unpack this later.

For now, Geralt has a weapon and that’s better than nothing. She’s not about to take anything for granted, right now.]

We’ll see how long it lasts. Want a ride? There’s room.

[If she’s going to find the edge of this thing, it will be faster on the back of a machine.]

Trying to get down just dumps you back at the top. You probably know that already.

[godshattering]

Garrus gets a nod at the smart move comment, mostly because Claude's relieved this was a good move for both of them. And as the other resumes shooting, all those bolts hit true. Range will work out nicely for both of them.

Even if now being at a range doesn't quite explain the feeling Claude has about there having been more corpses around originally than there seem to be now. Something which works out in their favor when the job's to take them out, but he offers Garrus a quick shake of his head. "It seems like it, but I could've sworn there were more a second ago. Guess we've taken down more of the group than we realized, huh?"

Hopefully. He's not eager to find out if this is some other illusion on top of the others he's been experiencing lately. That thought gets shoved firmly aside as he takes another shot and one more of the remaining bodies falls to the ground, and them having a clear (or clear enough) lead over their 'competition' is enough for Claude to sink back into a bit of banter now that things aren't quite so potentially dire. "You feel like sharing what your number is now, or are you gonna make me wait until they're all down?"

[cryptsleeper]

More...hm. [Alucard pauses, trying to explain what it is. There's no parallel, not really.]

I suppose knowing where one's blood is is simply a part of the whole matter. It isn't like I can consult anyone about this, either here or at home. Especially not here, since vampires aren't turned.

[cryptsleeper]

I think we'll have to qualify sarcasm for the time being.

[At least Alucard's tone makes it clear he's being serious. This is a real, genuine problem. He doesn't like it, he doesn't like a lack of control, and he doesn't like the idea of two people without that control together.

Anger though. Alucard breathes out, slowly.] No, that's an astute observation. My father had little control over his fury over the centuries, this is not the most surprising thing that might happen if a lack of control is the issue.

[Delighted. The dhampir's frown deepens.]

The feeling of metal was satisfying, I'd be wrong not to admit that much. That is the greater issue, I think. [fuck.]

Want to start betting on the cause?

[cryptsleeper]

I'm aware! [Alucard's reply is short and snappy and angry now. He doesn't need some stranger showing up behind him and backseat monster slaying! for god's sake.

The point is the pivot. Alucard hasn't withdrawn his sword yet, and that is for a reason. With the thing impaled, he can use his strength to keep moving it, or reorient the thing. It is the latter that happens to be the goal, and Alucard is shameless in making sure it is facing far away from his home. The desert is large, and he essentially uses the sword's point to spin the damn dead thing around, eyes facing northwest. Away from him, away from civilization.

Only then does he pull the sword out, accepting the rotted and blackened blood that pours out. Disgusting, but worth it.]</small. There's nothing in that direction for miles!

[sorser]

[Stephen’s not sure he’ll ever get used to Wanda being in his head, even if it’s for something as simple as communication. But he doesn’t have time to overthink it, his mind churning with the possibilities, a whirring kind of mental movement that she’d no doubt be privy to.

He almost opens his mouth to reply, then shuts it immediately. Noise and temperature. Right. He thinks in return, hoping she’ll catch the words in her telepathic net: So this is our minotaur in the maze. Let’s just keep the way lit and try not to rush it.

Because he’s following suit, his cloak lifting him a few feet in the air, his hands still exerting amber magic to guide them via light. He does not know what lies crawling along these walls, but he does not need to; he can do without the mental image of the thing if it means they get out of here unscathed.

Stephen gestures at her to follow in the opposite sound of the noise. Off they go, gliding away down the narrow path, turning a hard right. They have no choice but to follow, his light illuminating their trail but casting long shadows as they move. Those smooth shadows jitter and raise over the shape of something mound-like ahead. Stephen slows, and has to bite down a noise in the back of his throat when he can make out what it is:

A mound of rotting corpses, piled high, impeding their path not so much physically, but offering up a lurid, disgusting distraction.]

[godshattering]

[ Kyle's voice is a reassurance - it has to be, because surely the Horizon wouldn't make him imagine that. It wouldn't know to recreate that first time they met, surely. The directions are enough to narrow in on where Kyle is. Until that shout of warning has him pause just long enough for the machine to catch up to him, and he turns instead of dodging with the knowledge it's not enough to avoid whatever's coming --

In some strange act of mercy, the Titanus hits him with the flat part of its blade rather than the edge which surely would've cleaved him in two.

It still sends him flying, and Claude hits a wall previously out of his sight with enough force to knock the air out of him. Something in his side gives in a way it shouldn't and sharp pain radiates whenever he takes a breath. But he's survived worse, has had more injuries compounded on top of what has to be a couple broken ribs and something wrong with a shoulder and a knee, and so he gets up with a grimace and his free hand supporting his side.

His vision's blurred slightly but there's no time to think about what that means or wait for it to clear. Freikugel's light reveals Kyle at a distance, he assumes, but then it reveals something else: where the Titanus should be, Nemesis now stands. And as formidable as the tall and rather broad figure is, Nemesis is still only a man. ]

You're still an incredibly crusty old bastard, you know, [ Claude informs him, but the insult's impact is lessened by needing to gasp for air every couple of words. It's fine. He's fine. He raises the axe in both hands as he limps forward and ignores the warnings from his injuries which get muted by adrenaline, and then Nemesis's weapon also glows because of course it does. Thanks a lot, Horizon.

No time to think about where Kyle is though he has to be out of the weapons' ranges as Claude swings the axe at the same time Nemesis goes to strike with his sword. ]

[cryptsleeper]

[He had a feeling.]

I simply find that after a time, I need to be around far fewer people. This place affords that without being desert wilderness.

[cryptsleeper]

[Alucard isn't, but he doesn't have the luxury of choice at the moment. He shudders one more time, a full body thing that starts at his shoulders and moves through him like a wave, and then exhales. He doesn't like this, and worse, he feels the need to ask the other man to walk ahead.

Not ideal, and a little too cowardly. So it is best to focus on what is ahead.]

I can try and throw my coat further down the corridor, to provoke a reaction. Or do you think that will fail to trigger the trap?

[carmesi]

[as they make way against the current of the stream, the draw further away from the settlement's path and towards more wooded area, where vegetation grows wilders, the canopy of the forest incurring a chill despite the sun atop their heads. it's quieter here, but for the tweeting of birds, the scurrying of squirrels and other forest critters.

the stream babbles beside them, growing a little wider and changing their path at times, as they follow it under mossy logs and stones.]

Our connection with the Singularity is still too vague to know exactly how much of an influence we have on it. Or it on us. Still—

[wanda takes a moment to step up onto a sizable rock blocking their path; it strains her knees a bit. she offers her hand back for himeka, who is much shorter, though more than capable.]

I found myself in a room with — TV sets. The object you saw in my memory some months ago, playing out memories, with the buttons and the antenna? There were so many of them, and—

[up she pulls himeka, but she keeps her hand holding her friend's.]

Matt was there. He said... [she shakes her head] things. Things that are true, but I thought, that he— I want to think he didn't mean them, but I'm just ... tired of people hating me. Specially him.

[carmesi]

Wanda helps him, hands on one of his arms, as he pushes back to his feet. She can feel what his reaction will be before he says his words, the mere suggestion of his leaving her here to deal with whatever this is reason enough for him to want to stay.

There's warmth, too, as she gets this unfiltered understanding that she's his friend, that that's enough for him to want to stay.

"I don't want you getting hurt," she pleads, shaking her head, hoping that it would make him understand. "My magic has already hurt enough people, and if it did something to you, even here, I wouldn't be able to — forgive myself for it."

Her magic, which currently stands so fractured, so out of her control, that she doesn't even notice the two kids walking up to them from behind her. The tombstones she had carved for them sit in a grove nearby, but she didn't think that her creation magic would have—

"Mom? We want to help."

Because, despite being constructs of her own magic, they would always be the boys she created with thoughts of Vision and herself in mind, with the love her brother and parents held for her, all that warmth and want to help and be good. Just like she remembers them from Westview. Wanda meets Jayce's eyes, a flutter of eyelids as she tries to keep the tears at bay, back stiff, emotion welling, her voice quiet. She is not facing them, but Jayce could see them from over her shoulder.

"Are they really there?"