♥ April (Lasai) Event Log

[hugtopiamods]

April (Lasai) Event Log
Lasai is a beautiful month. The weather is warmer, the sky is a breathtaking blue again, and with the flowers from Ainir growing nicely, the entire city of Havenwell just feels more alive with every breath. It's a time of renewal, of rebirth, of Ainea's greatest strength as her adherents open the temple gates to invite people and robots from all walks of life to enter and share together. What should be a joyous time, however, is suddenly interrupted as the earthquakes mount day by day through the start of Lasai. Those messages that people have been receiving since Nalom? It seems it's time for the gods to deliver on their promises.

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❥ PROMPT I: The Wild Wild West (East, South and North)

As Ainir gives way to Lasai, one morning the earthquakes, which had been growing more frequent again, suddenly mount in their intensity. The entire city is shaking and the native residents cower despite their faith in their gods' protection. The guards along the wall shout alarm and abandon their posts as the walls start to shift under the strain. When the last of them are safely away from the walls, the barrier and the wall itself quivers. The citizens cry out in alarm and fear until they realize that the walls aren't falling - they're moving. And they're moving further out. As everyone in Havenwell looks on, the walls and its surrounding barrier fluctuates and expands, sliding through the city streets as if on hidden tracks, avoiding buildings and ruins, pushing the toxic air and the storm further away. They finally come to rest and snap back into place, new walls rising from who knows where to fill in the gaps. The barrier strengthens and the earthquakes stop, and as the dust settles, a cheer rises from the citizens.

"Praise the gods! Praise the off-worlders!"

Among the din of their celebration, however, other cries start up among the newly incorporated ruins. Cries that sound like howls and screeches, and certainly do not sound human. Grab your weapons and steel yourselves, off-worlders, with the addition of this new space comes the need to clear it of anything potentially dangerous that got caught up in the expansion. Not all creatures you'll find are hostile, but some certainly are. Docile ones might just fetch a nice price from the Research Towers and the Conservatory if you can capture a mating pair.

OOC: These are the creatures you can encounter in the city as you go through to clear it. It's not an invasion level of infestation, as the majority of creatures will prefer to remain inside their known territory beyond the original barrier, but you will on occasion need to take up arms and fight. Next to their names are the frequency with which you can find them, ranging from common to extremely rare.

• Inky Black Spiders (common - hostile): These relatively small, black spider-like creatures have very basic melee attacks, using their fangs and their sharp legs to bite and claw at people. Those who were around in October when the wall broke will recognize them as the most common enemy back then. Their exoskeletons are hard and when they die, they smash into a black goo. They tend to travel in packs, using sheer numbers to overwhelm their prey.
  
• One-Eyed Lizard (uncommon - docile): An iridescent scaly purple and green lizard approximately 8 to 10cm in length from tip to tail. It has a single eye at the top of its head that can rotate to see 360 degrees around it. This creature's main defenses are its tough hide and a spine on the tip of its tail which it whips at predators to dissuade them from eating it. It's more likely to run than fight, however, and can usually be found sunbathing on exposed rock with its eye closed.
  
• "Bone Giraffe" (extremely rare - hostile): A nearly 20-foot tall, long-necked skeleton of a four-legged creature long dead with a single curved horn protruding from its skull and a sharp snout. It's usually found lying in a heap, as if it laid down and died that way. A black seven-petaled flower sometimes (but not always) grows from the skull and beneath the skeleton is an oily black film. Touching the oil slick activates the creature, which draws the oil up into the skeletal cage. Its main attacks are brute force, using its bony legs and neck to kick and slam against its prey, and its acid breath. It breathes a black fume that sizzles and burns anything it touches.
  
• Rive Talon (rare - hostile - medium): In the past these creatures may have been canines of some form, now they seem to have melded with the detritus of the fallen buildings and creatures of the landscape. Extra spikes, ridges, and protrusions extend from its body at odd angles. Many of them are metal or stone, rather than bone. And some of the bones clearly were not originally its own. (Suggested by Sierra!)
  
• Outskirts Hare (uncommon - docile): A shy creature, roughly the size and shape of an earth hare, covered in fuzzy-looking, curly pink hair and cat-like whiskers. Normally quite timid, this creature's poor eyesight causes it to flee when it feels threatened, and relies largely on a sense of touch to navigate its surroundings. Contact with this creature's fur is markedly pleasant, but its skin discharges an oil that causes mild skin irritation on contact when it's nervous. Active mostly at night time. (Suggested by Mel!)
  
• Ansaurini (rare - annoying): a bipedal feathered bird with sharp claws and teeth good for chomping; some possess flight capabilities, but the majority are prone to a lazy waddle. Mostly harmless and deceptively unassuming until you turn your back- and suddenly it's run off with something it stole off your person! They are excellent at escaping, though they can be traced back to their hoard, and if their collection is raided they will make a lot of noise in protest. Just watch your back- they will try again until you leave their territory. Truly, a horrible thing.
  

❥ PROMPT II: Welcome to the (Urban) Jungle

Once the creatures are mostly taken care of and the newly revealed area is deemed safe enough to venture into, the city council will put out a call for those willing and able to assist the natives with a clean-up effort. The city outside the walls is badly damaged, left to the ravages of the time and the ever-present storm, which means clearing dust, debris, and flotsam is a high priority before people can begin to repair the new districts and salvage material or live there. Thick brown vines cover large parts of the city, grime from the storm is caked onto windows, rocks and scattered rotted bones and twisted metal can be found in roads and crashed through buildings. The atmosphere in this part of the city seems to mirror the decrepit state of the land, too, feeling heavier and grayer and more depressing than it has any right to be. Going out with people and helping together, taking breaks to lean against one another tends to help clear away any negativity that this land seems to bring to your thoughts, however. Since it's dangerous to go alone, be sure to take a friend.

The biggest concern is the vines, so natives offer to lend machetes to the offworlders to help the hack them away. The vines look brown and dead, the leaves withered and curled up. When characters hack into them, the vines release a puff of yellowish dust. Inhale the dust or get it anywhere near your face and over time, you'll begin to get sleepy - very sleepy. It's hard to keep your eyes open, no matter your resistance to poisons or magic, and eventually you'll find yourself falling asleep wherever you are. And once you're asleep? The vines start moving, crawling toward you at a snail's pace. Hopefully you did bring a friend because you'll need their touch to wake up and stay awake long enough to get away from the vines before they pull you deep within their grasp.

❥ PROMPT III: Take a Load Off

Not everyone can fight or clean or even wants to do it, so while those who are more suited to being on the front lines are off doing their thing, those who remain behind must begin the effort of preparing everything that people will need to live in these new areas. At the temples and in the main square, the priests have set up large rest areas with blankets and pillows, and are busily putting together repair kits for mechanics and explorers to use as they go through the ruins. Those who want a place to rest that doesn't require going all the way back to their homes might find these waystations more convenient.

At each, characters can find hot soups with chunks of hearty replicated breads and both hot and cold drinks available for any who wish it. They're trying to replicate pain medications and bandages for people who have been injured while exploring or fighting off the monsters who were unlucky enough to be left inside, and will ask you to try it if you're injured. Taking this medication might have some unintended side effects, however, like a feeling of euphoria or delusions of grandeur or even something as banal as turning your hair a shocking shade of chartreuse - the effect, if you want one, is up to you! The rest areas also have robots "skilled" in giving massages that are looking to test their newly acquired skills and with four pairs of arms, they can work on two people at once! In fact, they're rather insistent about giving you a free massage if they hear even the slightest hint of fatigue in your voice and will usher people into their curtained off booths regardless of whether they know the other occupant or not. These robots are still learning though, so anyone curious enough to try may need to work with their partner to give these robots pointers. They're trying, but not having fragile little flesh bodies is a major obstacle in learning how to have a gentle touch.

❥ PROMPT IV: That Which Remains

With the opening of the city, there seem to be a lot of buildings that need cleaning. Some are so dilapidated that they're better off demolished than repossessed, and most are residential and commercial buildings reminiscent of the ones the offworlders are used to seeing everyday in the Havenwell they've all known up until now. However, among the ruins of these older sections, those intrepid enough to venture and explore may find a few unique gems awaiting them. Just remember: the first rule of urban exploration is to never go alone. You never know what might be lurking in those abandoned buildings or what obstacles might be in your way. Doorways blocked by rubble will need more than one person to remove them. Frightened (and frightening) animals might be lingering in the dark. And, most importantly, you don't want to fall through the floor and vanish into a basement. There seem to be quite a few weakened floors out there. In the following parts of the expanded city, characters can find these interesting ruins:

• Northwest: The Arena - In the northwest of the newly opened area, characters can find what looks to be a ruin of a large open air oval building. The building itself is almost 3 stories tall with walls overgrown with brown vines and dead foliage. There are doorways that have no doors, instead being high archways through which people can access in the interior. Stairs lead up into what looks like worn stone benches and down below is a rubble-strewn open area. Part of the walls have collapsed over time but it's very clear this place was used once as some sort of viewing area. It'll take a bit of work to clear this place until it's usable!
  
  There are archways with stairs that lead downward, but you'll need some help clearing away the rubble to get to what's below! If you're successful in getting beneath the arena, you'll find hallways with empty rooms that vary between large enough to possibly be some sort of training room to small enough to be just enough space for someone to put a slim single cot or bed and maybe a wardrobe to have a small private room. Some rooms have rusted metal that may or may not have been weapons at some point, while others have faded wall paintings, chipped and worn with age. It's hard to make out, but with enough reconstruction work, you may just learn who used to haunt these halls.
  
  
• Southeast: The Baths - In the southeast of the newly opened area, characters will find a domed building unlike the rest of the architecture around it. It's extremely large, for one, and squat, while the rest of Havenwell's buildings seem to be lean and tall. The walls are made of the same stone, but the dome above is broken glass. There are several metal sliding doors set in the walls, but many are fused shut with grime and years of disuse. One main door, larger than the others is sightly ajar, however, and with some help characters may be able to force it open.
  
  Inside, they find an expansive lobby with white floors that must have sparkled before all the grime, dirt, and broken glass took over. The dome overhead reflects the light, making the interior of the building as bright as outside. At the center of the lobby is a dry fountain with two broken statues - four armed humanoids holding urns. Their heads are missing and many of the arms are broken and lying in the dry basin. From the lobby there are alcoves in every direction and two hallways that lead further into the buiding in opposite directions. In each alcove are low stone seats and round basins sunk into the ground that are either dry with a black film around the inside, or full of a dark oily substance that's nearly coagulated.
  
  Go down the hallways and you'll find identical looking chambers. First, you enter an open area with broken sinks and mirrors, with stone cubbies on the walls. Then when you pry open and push past the metal sliding doors, you'll find yourself in a wide open semicircular area filled with baths of different sizes, shapes and depths. Some are free-standing stone tubs, others are large basins sunk into the ground, and still others are rectangular and just big enough for one or two people to lie down in. Each of these basins are like the ones in the lobby, either filled with that same coagulated black ooze or dry with a black film inside. Looks like it's time to get cleaning because each basin also seems like they might be able to be retrofitted to produce water perhaps.
  
  
• Southwest: The Factory - In the southwest, closest to the wall, the characters can find an imposing square building. It has small thin windows and boasts a plethora of chimneys and smokestacks on the roof, some of which are crumbling or broken with age and exposure. There are two square doors, both of which are large enough to drive a truck through and made of metal which needs to be pried open before accessing the inside. Once inside, the characters find a massive operation geared toward ore and mineral processing and metallurgical refinement. The machinery is old, but extremely well laid out, as it seems this plant was used to process huge volumes of minerals and ores before being lost to time. There are stations for every imaginable part of the refining process separated neatly so they can work efficiently, but all of the machines are broken or currently inoperable and will need significant work before they can start functioning again.
  
  Explore the refinery and you may still find one or two of the ores lying about. They contain an unknown metal that gleams a slick oily silver. At the back of the refinery is an industrial elevator which is currently inoperational. Peering down through the cracks, however, reveals that the shaft goes a long way down. The view of just how far is obstructed by a shimmering rainbow-colored barrier, not unlike the one that is just outside the walls.

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This event will run from April 15th to 30th, although due to the areas and effects not technically vanishing, feel free to continue playing with it for some time beyond. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread.

Comments

[carbungle]

Some Messenger...

[It's mumbled, a little sulky. He's not actually mad (she was bound to find out from someone) but there's no harm in letting Carbuncle know it would totally be grounded if he had the power to do so.

He tucks his tags back under his shirt, so they're out of the way.]

Anyway, the timeline's kind of weird- I don't know what counts now. By the Eos calendar, we just passed it.

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ "By the Eos calendar, we just passed it."

Oh.

Oh. ]

You... mean to say--

[iustaegis]

[ She clasps his one hand in both of hers, expression in shock as if this is some sort of unspeakable tragedy. ]

It was your birthday, and we haven't celebrated it yet?!

[carbungle]

[Ah.

He should probably not have said that.]

I mean- it was going to be, kind of, but then I ended up back here. The dates don't line up, so it would be weird to say anything about it.

[What's he going to do, double-dip his birthday? Though considering her joke from earlier, maybe that is her thought.]

[iustaegis]

[ It would have, she understands that, but still. ]

Er--... oh, how about when we all watched that slideshow together. Was it around then? Because the cheesecake could have also counted as a birthday cake-- [ In retrospect, anyway. ]

[carbungle]

...Um.

[Was... it? He was pretty damned out of it for half of the month, and even now is pretending to be normal at least a third of the time. With everything that happened, the idea of celebrating a birthday was the last thing on his mind.]

You know what, let's go with that. Must've been close. So yeah, we already celebrated.

[iustaegis]

[ She's aware-- oh, how she is. It's why she's attempting to keep this levity up, when she knows that back in his world, a true birthday of his there would have been doused a mourning shade of blue in all that had happened. A birthday so soon for him here, too, would be ill-advised. ] What a lucky coincidence!

[ Brought up by dogtags, too, which-- she knows why any hunter would have them, of course, but they're meaningful to him, the rank a sign of his accomplishments. ] A-anyway, why I'm actually bringing it up is-- How many hunters achieve that highest rank by the time they're twenty... one, mm? [ Probably not many. Either by skill or by dy-- oof, she'd like to believe that the hunters' guild or whatever organization it is appropriately assigns the hunts to whatever level a hunter is at. ] You deserve all the pride you feel from that accomplishment.

[carbungle]

[Yeah, probably best not to get into the subject of how many dogtags of dead hunters they'd found in the wild. Lots of 'em don't live that long.

He is proud, though. He lived through it. He may have the benefit of the power of kings, but it was still a lot of work to make it as far as he did. The same for Prompto, Ignis, and Gladio- they'd earned that acknowledgement, and he's happy about that.]

No argument here. And it made for some pretty cool adventures, too. A lot of the photos we saw in Prompto's gallery were from hunts.

[iustaegis]

[ She's glad to hear that he's done this for himself, becoming recognized as a hunter on the side to a destiny. Perhaps it had been a matter of convenience-- he's already going to protect others and slay daemons, might as well make money-- but... he had the opportunity to explore from it. He's happy. That's good.

Five hundred years ago, there were such hunts for the group she had traveled with. There were campfires. There were conversations, complaining, cooking, crafting. There were the mountain-wings of the Titans. There were stars. She hardly appreciated any of it until it was too late. Noctis, on the other hand, doesn't need to be reminded to cherish what he has. Her smile remains the same. ]

"Cool adventures"... including all four of you being cramped in the same tent.

[carbungle]

[His grin is at least halfway a grimace, thinking about it. They did so much camping... so many sore mornings and stiff backs. Though what came after was so miserable he actually misses it. There's no bed in the world better than curling up on a chocobo, either, and they couldn't do that in the hotels.]

You think that's bad, once we camped with Iris so there were five of us. You wouldn't think she'd take up much space, but Gladio stretched out to make a barrier between her and the rest of us, so we all ended up squashed together on one side.

[iustaegis]

[ Sounds fun--

Truly. It does. There's a nostalgic aspect to it with which she can relate, but not too closely. That, and him speaking of his world helps her swat away the intrusive memories of her own. ] I would think Gladio alone would take up half the space in that tent.

[carbungle]

He totally did, but we made it work somehow. Kinda like a puzzle game every night.

[It was pretty spacious, as far as tents go, so it wasn't that terrible, but camping mostly sucks so it wouldn't be right to not complain.]

Speaking of adventures, though-

[He gives her hand a tug, pulling her behind a pile of rubble and jerking a thumb in the direction just north of the way they'd been heading. There's a collection of vines all wound up together into something of a nest, and curled up in the center... a skeleton of a long-necked, long-legged beast, with oozing black liquid in between the bones.]

See anything familiar?

[iustaegis]

[ Tugged by her hand, she ducks with him behind the cover. ] Ah, one of those... [ Bone giraffes. Biraffes?

Her voice lowers as she peeks beyond the pile of rubble. If they're going to head through this area, they'll have to be careful of the skeletal creature should they want to proceed. ] It's right next to that building's door, too.

[ It slumbers soundly for now, the rumbling, bubbly ooze within reminiscent of steady, sleeping breathing. Without wearing the helmet that had protected them the outside, she can smell its acrid stench from here. If they're quiet, they might just be able to sneak past it... but is that what Noctis wishes to do? She turns to look at him, expecting that he might be debating the same: stealthing versus battling it. She's of the mind to attempt the former. Still, she asks, ] Thoughts?

[carbungle]

[Noctis thinks for a moment, brows furrowed. They'd already survived against one before, but Somnus had been with them then, and even so it had been dangerous, and while Pyra is now armed he has limited confidence in her combat abilities. She's good, but he doesn't know how good, yet. Strong as he is, even he'd be wary of trying to take one down solo.]

I think that one's... a level 3 hunt. [He glances sidelong at her, his lips quirking into a little smile.] Sorry, you're not allowed to engage.

[He pulls his communicator out, taking a few photos of the area and the skeleton within so they know where it is. They can come back later with at least a third, maybe Prompto will come along so someone can attack at a safe distance.]

[iustaegis]

[ In other words, this creature is beyond her capabilities with the training she has now. She will not protest. Nodding to him, she crouches as she looks beyond the rubble again. There’s a covered building just beyond it, an industrial warehouse looking structure with smokestacks. ] Let’s find a different way inside that building... the long way around.

[ Better safe than sorry—

Unfortunately as soon as she says this, she hears the crackling of joints as the beast stirs. Pyra whips her head, dipping back down in cover with Noctis. It’s unlikely it heard them, they just have terrible luck. Even behind cover, given how tall it is once it brings its head to its full height, it will be able to see over their cover and the top of their heads. The pebbles upon the ground nearby them shake with its first step outside its nest. Her hand is upon his forearm, as if to steady them both. They have scant seconds now before discovery. ]

Or... we can retreat.

[ Perhaps they have just enough time for her to lend him her power so he can warp them both out of here. ]

[carbungle]

[Noctis grimaces, hearing that as he pulls back; it's not a promising situation. They could just mark the building for later, retreat as she said, but it should be safer inside; it's not like a creature that size could get in. And it would give them cover, something there isn't much of in the immediate area, past where they're currently hiding.]

...Yeah. Just for now, until we- [Woof!] -Umbra?

[He jerks his head back around the corner, just as the creature turns its head to the noise; sure enough, there's Umbra, on the opposite side, scrambling over the rubble and drawing the beast's attention. Across the distance, the dog looks at him with razor focus for a moment before barking again and dancing away. The long-necked creature makes a gurgling noise, drawing its hideous breath, seconds away from expelling the same acid they'd witnessed before.

Umbra's a Messenger of the gods. He's survived crossing continents for over a decade, journeyed past dangerous monsters and enemy territory. He surely knows what he's doing. That's Noct's logic brain talking.

His panic brain is thinking about how, after Luna and Pryna died, Umbra vanished, like in a single day he lost them all, and if he lost him now-]

Umbra!

[There's no thought involved, all logic flung aside as Noctis shoves against the wall, warping first to get closer, then to throw his blade into the back of the monster's skull. He's there in a split-second, shoving all his weight at an angle so the head twists to one side, and the acid spray flies off in a different direction, away from where the dog is crouched.]

[iustaegis]

[ He warps away before she can even think to stop him. With a blink she misses his strike, but she hears it: the crack of steel against bone, the splatter of acid across the area, and the creature's gurgling roar in retaliation. It's a resonate strike that channels the fierce, blinding emotional want to protect Umbra into a critical hit, and the ground rumbles as the beast staggers to the side. From his attack, the bone giraffe flings its long neck to the side as if to shake him off, but this also gives her an opening to follow through.

She springs into action, leaping over the rubble and calling Durandal into her hand. Sprinting forth, she throws the blade at the creature's femur like a harpoon. It deflects leaving only a small, chipping impact fracture; the bone is fossilized enough that true impaling requires far more force, an amount she's not willing to show at this point. Calling the blade back to her while still running in its direction, she leaps up with her sword and slams down her attack, forcibly wedging the blade between femur and tibia. She holds on tightly to the handle, gritting her teeth to twist the blade against whatever fibrous connection keeps its joints together, and with one last thrust she flips off of the limb, landing in a crouch.

The beast stumbles forward, ooze frothing within its ribcage as it balances upon three legs, with the one hindleg remaining attached by a thread of cartilage. Desperately, its bucks out its back legs in retaliation, the crippled one whipping nauseously against the joint. Pyra leaps back, rolling upon the ground and scrambling to her feet. Umbra--

--is just over there. He's fine. She whips her head back to the fight, calling her blade back just in time to hold it up to her as its tail whips at her. A human physique dictates that she shouldn't be able to hold her ground against it, so after a second of struggle she's thrown to the ground. True to her word about having some practice, she's able to roll the fall off and leap back to her feet. ]

[carbungle]

[Noctis fights with a reckless ferocity that's rare for him. He's typically wild to some degree in a normal fight, but it's tempered by years of training and countless battles where he danced his way around death enough times to know better. Now he warps around the beast's head in short bursts, left and right and back again, trying to keep it occupied while Pyra takes apart its legs. It snaps wildly at him with broken teeth, throat gurgling, though no melting spray comes out just yet. Must be a cooldown on that one; it needs time to re-gather more acid in its throat, or something.

He'll take advantage of that; he's warping too much, brushing up against Statis and needing to recharge, so better to do that now and save his magic for when that acid's ready. One last dodge and he lands on its vertebrae, digging his blade in and dragging it down the neck to its back. That same black ichor spills over the bones, staining it and the vines beneath. His smaller sword isn't big enough to tear through the neck, something that had been a challenge even with Somnus' help, and the way it's thrashing around makes the slower, sluggish Mystic too dangerous to use yet.

He casts a quick glance over in Pyra's direction, and she seems to be holding her own well, so he switches Ultima out for his shield and swings back, slamming the edge down with all the force he can muster on its lower back, trying to snap the bones of its hip. It shrieks and hunches over, shaking about and trying to buck him off, and he has to release his weapon back to the armory to hold on.]

[iustaegis]

[ The more the monster moves, the more its steps overturn the ground, making the earth uneven to run across. Loosened dust from its tremendous struggles fills the air. Visibility is lowered, but she can see both the flashes of blue light as he warps in a vicious frenzy of strikes and hear the clang of his hits. She leaps over debris, sliding beneath its underbelly to its other side just narrowly missing a wash of black ooze spilling over her. Pyra spins and tosses her blade into the joint of its opposite hind leg.

She leaps towards her weapon, sinking in the blade further with her weight just beneath the kneecap, causing the beast to howl. It won't be able to buck with neither hind leg functioning. With a heave, she twists Durandal against the fossa of the bone, dislodging it entirely, but the previous spill of its own ooze over its bones causes her footing to slip, and she disengages with an arching flip. That's two limbs down, and she jogs down to disperse her momentum as she calls her blade back, looking for her next target. They're making progress, and it seems that for all of his protective instinct to leap into the battle, they have some sort of strategy going.

The bone giraffe isn't nearly finished, though, and while it cannot completely stand, it can writhe and jut out its bones. Lifting itself up with its forelimbs, it makes to attempt to crush Noctis against its back and a nearby wall. ]

[carbungle]

[Whoops, that's too close. He phases out of the way to avoid getting squashed, flipping around to the opposite side with one hand curled around a rib, his arm clipped by the impact enough to sting but not cause any significant damage. The ooze under the rib is a bigger concern to him, especially with a fingerless glove, so he tries to maneuver himself back on top, swinging his shield against the point of impact when the beast pulls back from the wall.

The already-damaged bones crack and buckle at the point of impact, and it gurgles aggressively again, remnants of fresh acid bubbling at the corners of its mouth, though it doesn't seem to affect the bones the way it ought to. A natural immunity, maybe? He doesn't have time to overthink it right now. He tries to fling his sword back to its skull, to use the same tactic and redirect the acid flow, but at the last second the creature curves its head back around. The blade skirts past its head and his warp takes him instead about 40 feet up in the air, dropping him in a freefall. He spins in midair and jumps right into another warp, but he's not able to angle it properly while falling, so rather than warping back to the fight, he ends up further away. It's too far to do much to help for a handful of seconds, and in combat with a beast like that, a few seconds is all it takes for things to go wrong. He doesn't like her being in there by herself.]

Pyra, regroup...!

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ As the beast tumbles into the wall and Noctis narrowly escapes in a phase and flip, the ground rattles with the impact. Debris falls from the top of the building as it pulls away from the structure, and Pyra leaps out of the way of one falling panel and rolls around the other, calling out her weapon and letting it fly towards the creature. It strikes its torso, gaining its attention, and she calls it back, hurling the blade into one of the vertebrate of its neck.

She sees the flashes of two warps of his in succession, but is unable to trace to where he flies. Distantly, behind her, she hears his voice, her attention called by him in that split second as the dust begins to settle. The acrid smell grows stronger-- it's gotten nearer despite both hind legs crippled, movements erratic and enraged, its focus only on its nearest target: Pyra. ]

[iustaegis]

[ With an furious roar, its jaw unhinges to bellow out a jet of acid than soon fans out like a spray of bullets. She's caught in the area attack, staggering backwards with her arms raised to shield herself, gasping out. The substance chars the ground leaving behind smoking craters; for her, it strips and sears her skin and clothes like liquid fire.

Then, he'll hear her gasp gurgle within her throat, her sword clattering to the ground in the silence that follows the end of acid rain.

Amidst the attack, the beast has swung its head at her, impaling her upon its single horn. It's here that she falls forward, slumping against the bone before she's tossed aside, body slipping from it like a rag doll. Blood follows... but, perhaps, not as much one would expect. ]

[carbungle]

Pyra!!

[Stupid, stupid! He should have been more careful with the warp. This time he is, snapping his sword to the base of its skull where he'd intended to end up before, getting an iron grip on a bone protruding at the back, then slams his blade repeatedly into the bone he'd already damaged in an earlier attack. He remembers distinctly that severing the neck had ended the fight last time, and it needs to end now, so he can get to Pyra. He doesn't know if she's still alive, but he'd feel a severed link in the retainer circle if she was, surely. Right? She has to be. He can't think of it otherwise. He'd jumped into this in a frantic effort to save Umbra, but if starting this meant losing her-

He can't. He won't think of anything except finishing this.

The creature bucks and howls with its mangled throat, trying to tear him free, but he stubbornly clings, switching Ultima for the Blade of the Mystic. Normally it requires two hands, but with how the beast is writhing, he's able to use the momentum of its movement to hammer the edge right into the chasm he's created between the vertebrae. One hit, two, and then a final, roaring third, and the bones snap apart, slicing through the black goo protected within, separating the head from its neck. It sets free a last groan, and while it drops, assuming it to be dead like last time, Noctis flings his sword to warp next to where Pyra had fallen. He reaches out to pull her in and closer to him, trying to be gentle as he can but in too much of a rush to heal her to take it slow and easy.]

Pyra, can you hear me...?

[Please, please don't be dead.]

[iustaegis]

[ She does not so much as stir when he turns her over in his arms, but as soon as he does, he'll be greeted with a light unlike any other in all the places where the acid has burned her skin too deeply. The wounds unveil a brightness. Where the horn had impaled her through her torso lies not any organ, flesh, or blood, but an endless matrix of energy churning as dynamically as the sun's surface. There is nothing beyond it, seemingly depthless and infinite, and it shines--

She shines, this unveiled radiance just barely contained within a silhouette of a woman. The light carries no alignment to it, neither a wash of good nor chill of evil. Or maybe it does, both perhaps at once as well as All, and it emanates without a purpose or creed like a star before mankind would have even dared name it.

What wounds should have been are replaced and filled in by this light: the acid that had burned through the skin on her arms, her stomach, her chest and neck, at least half of her face.... Everying, now shining. Should he be in contact with any of these revelations of light, he'll find that none of it will burn him, but only feel warmer than usual. The seal placed on her is still in effect, after all. That warmth and light is only what is able to leak through it, diminished into a far too flawed and physical form. Moreover, the energy is... unifying, old and new at once. But she appears painless through it all, and it's already rapidly healing, reforming smooth, scarless skin and soft hair through tendrils of light.

A few moments pass in silence as she lies limply in his grasp, but he'll know that she's beginning to rouse by her one eye that still remains intact, showing the crimson iris as she blinks it open, looking up at him. ]

Noct...?

[ Strange how her chest rises and falls without lungs, how she speaks his name without air or vocal cords, or even half her lips. Visually her wounds are all light, and her voice is that same light, sounding both clearer and more distant because of it. She’s coming to, and her hand, shining instead of bleeding, raises. The backs of her fingers, too, upon his cheek may feel strange: it is energy translating into touch, manifesting into the physical, buzzing, careful and soft like a symphony tuning its instruments before the opening of a ballad. ]

[carbungle]

[It's bright, almost blinding. His eyes widen at first in shock before the brightness forces him to squint until he adjusts to it, and for a while all he can do is stare. He knows he should be helping, or healing, or doing something, but... what the hell is he supposed to do? These aren't normal wounds, bleeding injuries to seal off with a potion or a healing boost through the retainer's bond. Nothing about this is normal. She isn't.

It's not like he'd assumed she was human- not for a while now. She had a crystal in her chest after all, and power that seemed to come only from her. But to see it in practice, to see this... he'd never imagined anything like this.

He watches the light pulse and weave back together, beginning to heal her naturally and soothe those wounds with no assistance from him. It reminds him of the Crystal, brilliant and sweetly burning, pure energy sealed within a shell. It almost feels like it, a power otherworldly and without connection to any element. It's pure. It just is. Her light lacks the Crystal's familiar divinity, but he can't shake the sensation anyway.

His arm around her back is trembling a little, still shaken with adrenaline from ending the fight and rushing to her side, and as she touches his cheek he half-lifts a hand up to hers, close but not quite connected. He's afraid to touch her more than he already is, lest he interrupts whatever magic is at work here, whatever's fixing her wounds. It's... strange, but as far as he can tell it's doing a far better job than his own magic could do for her.]

Pyra... what is this? [There's no hiding the conflicting emotions in his voice: horror, that she's been reduced to this state, worry for what's happening, and... awe, too. This light is beautiful as it is frightening- and that, too, is like the Crystal he knows.] What should I do...?