♥ 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]

[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...?

[iustaegis]

[ Already the shallower wounds have healed over, the structure and features of her face are returning, and the gaping site from the horn that tore through her chest is closing.... (It’s slower than what it’s normally take, she realizes. And she’s still in something sort daze, as if waking from sleep.)

She hears him, adjusting slightly, her hand dropping from his cheek to his chest, and she closes her eyes again. Pyra draws no breath because she doesn’t need to, yet her shoulders sag as if in a weary sigh. His expression of horror and awe tells all: now, he knows the extent of her inhumanity, the mere construct of a body that she wears. Now he knows she doesn’t even have a heart. Now he knows she’s been hiding this the entire time. Unsealed her power creates universes and anoints gods from men, but here this light seems to cause him to tremble in hesitation... Fear? And that’s all that matters.

“What should I do?”

Her eye widens just as the other comes into form, then her expression relaxes. Pyra’s touch enacts the same upon his chest, palm pressing lightly to his shirt. ]

....Breathe.

[ It’s just as their first time training together, voice soft to reassure him, ground him. This power and light, contained in this state, won’t actually cause harm, won’t consume him, pull at him... if that is what seems to be gripping him. And she truly seems to worry that he is afraid— or that perhaps he has all the right to be, should be.

So she speaks again, this time as calmly as she can— ] I’m not going to hurt you.

[ —because selfishly she so desperately hopes this won’t push him away. ]

[carbungle]

[Breathe. The words are resonant, familiar, and he exhales a breath he'd been holding subconsciously as he waited for her reply. He's still worried, of course, watching her body reform with bleak fascination, but the panic is beginning to give way for some semblance of relief. He's seen some awful injuries before, blood spilling, flesh seared, and seeing her burned and impaled had terrified him, but wounds, he could deal with. As long as they still breathed, he could deal with it. But those wounds were nothing like this. Still, she might... be okay. It's difficult to fathom, no one he knew could heal themselves from this, not without help. Yet here she is.]

I know that.

[His words are half-mumbled; it wasn't her hurting him that had him worried, but with her reassurance his free hand shifts to curl around hers, the one pressed against his chest. He focuses his magic the same way she'd done for him not so long ago and pushes it outwards and into her, trying to heal her wounds, or at least lend her some energy if she's consuming her own to mend the damage. Or perhaps she's- this light is her, made of energy, and she's consuming herself to fix it. He can't tell without her input, but that's his best guess, and if there's anything he can do to help with that, he'll do it. His gaze dances to and from each point of damage, checking for signs that his power might be interfering with hers, watching the wounds as they gradually heal.

As his eyes wander, it's hard to pull them away from that light, glimmering and contrasting against the pale visual of her skin. There's something strangely soothing about it, warm and inviting, as if trying his nerves even as fear over her injuries continues to hold on to his emotions. He kind of wants to touch it, but his concern over her condition is thankfully overruling that; it would be awkward, considering it's apparently her insides. He wonders if this is normal for her world. He has... no idea how to ask.]

I-is this supposed to happen? I've got potions, if you need more... [Or would an ether have been better? Shit, he should have brought ethers.] I don't know how to help you.

[iustaegis]

[ He's staying.

Not only is he staying, he's worried for her, the concern raw and genuine. Furthermore he lends her his magic in return, energy that molds into her like rain drops into a lake. She feels it as surely as his arm supporting her, imbuing her with a gentle familiarity of energy that she's come to know only as him. In this form she does consume energy, and it helps, complementing her own. Amazingly, this is the first time someone has lent power to her so that her body might repair itself. Granted, there hadn't been a need before, too quick she had been to heal in her other form... but neither had there ever been a means for another to do this in her world. ] N-no, you're... this is--

[ "--fine." He's fine. This is suppose to happen, she's healing, and would have been healing on her own without his help. Her fingers curl into his hand. Go she should tell him. Stay away, she should also say. Do not hold me, do not care. That would be best, in the end. Yet how can she say that when he looks upon her so ardently, and she feels his very essence pass from him to her in a magical warmth he gives freely, urgently, and offers more despite not knowing what else he can do. He wants to help her.

The realization is nauseating. Of course he does, he doesn't know the full truth. But oddly enough, this-- seeing her like this... it isn't pushing him away. ] It feels...

[ Between what her body has done on its own and his magic, the deepest wound is closing beneath tattered remnants of her shirt. She's practically healed, but her eyes remain on him. Slowly, she brings their clasped hands towards her. Then adjusting their grip, she presses his hand just over the closing site with a gentle pressure. It won't hurt him, and he'll feel as if there's an invisible field containing the power within, confined to this form she takes. The last of light peeking through the filter of their fingers together. She murmurs: ] ...nice.

[ Both his magic, of course, and knowing that he cares. Unsurprisingly, guilt accompanies this thought: she's wholly undeserving of it. Surprisingly, this thought is quieter in the face of his earnestness.

...She's fully healed now, not in terms of energy, but in her form. It's as if the attack had never happened. ]

[carbungle]

[Nice. Not bad, not wrong, not painful. His power isn't hurting her. There's no words to describe the palpable way his shoulders slump with relief when the healing is completed and her body is reformed to the state it was before the attack. Whatever happened, whatever she did (they did? no, he barely did a damn thing, this is practically a miracle) worked and she's full and whole again. He felt that light under his hand, warm and soft and inviting. How could anyone believe that a light like that could hurt them? It feels nothing like the painful crystalline glow that he's used to. His hand isn't burning at all, it isn't being yanked inside and stretched apart.

...his hand... on her chest... just under very ripped and ruined clothes. Shit.

With a mumbled apology he gently shifts position so she's propped up by his leg behind her, then slips both hands free and shrugs out of his jacket which he drapes over her chest where the worst of the damage was done. It isn't much, but she can at least button it up until they get back and she can find a change of clothes. When the damage is covered, the situation feels almost... normal again, and he's able to shake away the lingering shellshock and lean in, scrutinizing every inch of the reformed body for flaws or lingering wounds.]

Are you- okay? Anything else hurt? Can you move?

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ Before she knows it, he withdraws her hand and he's draping his jacket over her. The added weight of her shoulders realizes that she's been dazed by both the attack, the slowed recovery, and then his subsequent care. She'll reform her typical outfit in a moment, but before then...

...She's reminded of how quickly he leapt into battle after Umbra, throwing his all into an initial attack to deflect the monster's acid spray away from his Messenger. He hadn't wanted to lose Umbra, because he had lost others already, he had blamed himself for the pain of others because he wasn't there for him. The last thing she wants him to think is that he is the cause for her own damage. These are the thoughts she has as he looks over her body for any remaining wounds-- which he won't find. He won't find.

While he's distracted, her expression briefly falls. The guilt persists.
 
Had their roles been reversed and it would be him mortally wounded, she wouldn't have called upon more power to save his life. Of course she would have done what she could with what power he had given her. She would have used potions, or attempted to bring him to someone who could heal more-- but if it came down to it... If given the choice of his life or breaking a seal to use more of her own power to heal him... She would have let him die.  

This man who so many love here, with a family who adores him-- she wouldn't have saved. She fears too much, she loves the world too much, to risk it all for one. How dare she have his concern at all. ] Noct...

[iustaegis]

[ Pyra lifts a hand to his shoulder, leaning in. He's still so concerned, and it would be endearing if not for how much it pains her to see him worry. ]

Shhh... Breathe. I'm here. [ She urges gently, dipping her head to look at him, to catch his eye as he continues to look over her. Her eyes are up here. ] All better. [ Her fingers drum upon that same shoulder, as if to showcase control of all five digits. ]

See? [ It's said lightly, as if there is no need for worry. ]

[carbungle]

[He meets her gaze for just a moment- a few seconds at most, to take in her quiet words and the softness of her expression. All better. He lets those words circle around in his mind a few times, forcing them to sink in and become reality, mesh with what he sees rather than the horrible memory of her body burned and impaled. When the moment passes and the reassurance sinks in that she is safe, she is healthy, she is alive and not going to die, that he hadn't been helpless and useless to stop it again-

He reaches up and drags her into a hug, holding her close, his grip tight and trembling, face buried against her shoulder. Like this, he can feel her, warm and alive and moving. He can feel a heartbeat pounding- is it hers? Is it his? He can't tell anymore. He doesn't care if it's fake, if she's been hiding or lying or whatever, it doesn't matter. She's here. She's here. Just like she said, she's here. She can talk and smile and live-

With a shudder, he follows her words: he breathes. He breathes, and he holds on, lest she slip from his fingers and be lost to him.]

1/2

[iustaegis]

[ The sudden embrace leaves her speechless, suddenly limp as her hand falls from his shoulder. His arms hold her fast to him, his head buries into her shoulder, his breath rattles close to her ear.

Her expression, so tightly controlled and ready to proceed with the usual calm and gentle status quo, shatters on the spot. ]

[iustaegis]

[ She worried him. She worried him more than she thought she ever would. She can practically feel that worry, with his chest against hers as he holds her, the shudder of his shoulders with his exhale apparent with grief. Is this embrace really for her, or the result of all that he's experienced before, culminating to this point?

A month ago-- even a few weeks ago, before he had left-- she wouldn't ever have imagined him to be capable of something like this. But now he's here, clinging to her desperately. He now knows of her immortality, he knows that she's well, she's fine, yet still he holds her as if she could have vanished... or as if she still could disappear upon the spot, right here, right now, right from his arms.

Her thoughts race and whirl and tumble over each other like a storm at sea, and Pyra doesn't know where to begin with them. This shouldn't be happening, she's grateful all the same, again, again, how dare she hold him; one after another, these feelings crash against each other in a tempest that capsizes her capability, leaving her too exhausted to sort through them all... But she can focus on him. ]

It's... okay. [ Slowly, her own arms raise. She hesitates, but then proceeds to carefully reciprocate the embrace, one moving carefully about his upper back, and the other falling over his shoulder. She needs this, too. ] It's okay. [ This comes out shaken, more emotional than she thought it would be, with guilt and sorrow weaving throughout her tone. She's wronged him, here, causing such grief and shock by not being truthful. She could have spared him this, yet she didn't. She had been a coward all along. ] I'm here. I'm here. [ The storm continues: she shouldn't be here. She is here. She shouldn't, but she is. Over and over again. She shouldn't, she is.

Her power is useless if cannot protect that for which she cares. This is something she's known for five centuries, it's part of the reason she remains hesitant on using them. But her arms are good for embracing him, and her hand is good for going to the back of his head, holding him to her in tender acceptance. ]

[carbungle]

[For a while, he just holds her like that, quietly indulging in the embrace she's allowing him, all the while listening to the sound of her soothing voice. There is some guilt in that- that she's comforting him, when she's the one who was so gravely wounded. It's the same as before, when he awoke a matter of weeks ago and leaned on her for support, allowed her to console him when she herself was still grieving the absence of a loved one. It's selfish. He's far too selfish. He knows this.

Yet he holds on to her, just the same, afraid she'll vanish beneath his fingertips the moment he drops contact.

Eventually he forces himself to pull back, carefully extracting himself and resting his hands on her shoulders so he can look at her, really look at her. It might be unexpected, but his eyes are dry. They still carry a deep urgency, however, and a lingering concern. Even if she's alright, that was... a lot, and most of it he really doesn't understand.]

I'm glad you're safe. [So, so glad she's still alive. He opens his mouth again, hesitates, then forges on ahead.] Am I... allowed to ask what just happened?

[iustaegis]

[ There are no tears from him, just relief and earnest care that she is well. In contrast her own are misting, and she quickly blinks the almost-overwhelming emotions away as he pulls back to look at her. However there's no hiding the guilt and sorrow within her expression, complicated only by the conflict she feels.

How had their friendship gotten to this point, that he feels he needs to ask her even if he's allowed to ask? She's the one who did this, not ready to reveal, fearful. He's simply graciously adapted to it, patient.

Her gaze drops from his, and her touch slackens upon his shoulders. He deserves answers, at the very least. But like all of the answers that she gives, they are delivered piecemeal, slowly, hesitantly, as if she's treading upon new, unknown territory. ] My body... reconstructed. I'm not human. [ Perhaps that's the wrong thing to say. There are many here who are not physically human, but that's not what she means. She's not mortal. She's not dead. There are few times she believes she's alive, but only because if it's true that she is living, it follows there could be a means for death-- if only she could return to her Father and beg him for it, if it's possible at all. She wants to live, even-- and incredibly she's starting to feel as if she is living the more she spends time in this world-- but oblivion would mean salvation for all that she loves.

She doesn't know what he felt from her energy just moments ago, but they've linked plenty of times before. The same question burns: ] You're not... afraid?

[carbungle]

[Afraid, she asks. As if this one moment could undo months of kind words and held hands, mutual support in darker days, training and silly jokes and fishing trips. The way she smiles at him. As if it could undo the little tether of his soul around hers, connecting them.

It's not funny, but a part of him wants to laugh, anyway. Afraid.]

I grew up with talking animals, teleporting spirits, magic swords. I can speak with dead people through a ring. My crystal ate me last month. [He musters a smile, wobbly and tentative, hoping she might find it comforting anyway.] You think this is the weirdest thing in my life?

[His grip on her arms tightens just a little, enough to be noticed but not to hurt.]

I'm not scared of you, Pyra. Your light didn't hurt me. You've never hurt me. Why would I be?

[iustaegis]

[ He's not unsused to interacting with those who are not human... or even those who are divine. ("Ate him"? What does that even mean.) For a split second she entertains the idea that he would still accept her if she told him everything, for all that they've shared together so far, but then--

"Then you conquer them," someone said.

Another: "I do not think the gods understand or care."

Her shoulders rise, then fall. Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised.

She's never hurt him, but she would let harm come to him instead of doing more. What he's giving to her and others, giving his all to help them, protect them-- she cannot give in the same way in return. The truest way to protect him, and those like him, is to return to her world and proceed forward to an end.

She cannot say this to him. Unable to look at him any longer, she bows her head. ] A-all this time... [ She shakes her head slowly, attempting a small but well-meaning smile. If she answered the question of "why would I be", it would only incur more questions. ] ...I've hid this from you. [ He's probably guessed at it, anyway. Yet there's still more she keeps to herself. Still she can hardly believe it, he's staying. This much, she should be grateful for. ] It seems that I'm the one who is afraid.

[ She shuts her eyes. ] I'm sorry, Noct.

[carbungle]

Pyra...

[He's no stranger to secrets. People have been hiding things from him his entire life. Those who knew of the prophecy and let him live on in blissful ignorance, the fate of an Oracle who forges the covenants, the treaty between Niflheim and Lucis being a lie, the whole wedding pretense. Izunia's identity. Gentiana's. ...Ignis. There's been so many things hidden from him that he can't even count them all.

He doesn't hate them for it, though. There is more conflict for some than for others, and his feelings are complicated of course, but they're still precious to him in some way or another. To begrudge them would be unfair. And most of them, he's known for years.

A secret held for six months is nothing, balanced against the scales of all of that. How could he blame her for it, and not them?]

I won't lie, it... explains a lot. [Her wealth of energy, for one.] But it's not like I asked, either. I'm sure you have your reasons.

[He leaves it open, if she wants to say more about that- unless fear is the only thing that held her back, and that... hurts, though he tries not to let it show. That she might think of him as someone who'd care about this is a hard pill to swallow. But he's noticed before that sometimes she is limited by more than feelings, there being a particular way she conveys her thoughts to him; specific words that gave him pause, fed into his suspicions. A few times he'd come to suspect what she is not, rather than what she is.]

I'm sorry you were forced into it, that... this was how I found out.

[iustaegis]

[ Even now, he remains patient with her. How long can she keep this up, that what great kindness he gives to her, she can't reciprocate?

Looking back, she could have spared him a few moments of grief and panic if she had just told him she would have been fine after an attack like that. She could say sorry again for that, but an apology simply wouldn't be true. She isn't sorry for hiding, only that her hiding had hurt him. ]

Is there a... ah, silver lining? Now you know, you won't have to worry for me in battle. [ Because she's quite the tank-- and yes, she knows, this is a grim way to look at it, so it's spoken more wistful in tone than before.

But her tone changes again, and her eyes soften, although she's still looking down between them. There's a soft tremble in her voice. ]

You won't... tell anyone, will you?

[carbungle]

I don't care if you can heal, or if you're immortal, or not human, or whatever. I'll still worry, geez. Even if it's fixed now, that didn't look great.

[He doesn't know if it consumes energy to restore her flesh, but it has to come from somewhere, right? And it must have been painful for her, one way or another. It was definitely painful to watch; knowing what he knows now, he can't see how it would be any easier to witness a repeat despite all that.

Her hesitance, as she asks that question, makes him pause before he can give a flippant reply. She's still afraid of what others might think if they saw this, or if they knew the truth, even what little he understands of it. That she has to ask him just shows how afraid of it she is.]

Of course I won't. What a thing to ask...

[Okay, perhaps it's still a little flippant. But his tone is sure, not an ounce of deception to be found there. Just because he thinks it unnecessary to ask him doesn't mean he won't give her the reassurance of an earnest answer.]

[iustaegis]

[ In her world, centuries ago after the fall of the kingdom, she and Addam had taken great lengths to bury her-- it, the legendary Aegis, weapon of the Architect. A battleship wouldn't be needed now that there was nothing left to protect, and he acquired it to make it her coffin. She had stepped inside a chamber, she had fallen asleep. And it is there, sunken beneath the Cloud Sea, that she still remains entombed... Yet it won't be for long, because she's seen the future to come. All of Addam's careful work will be nothing, but she hadn't the heart to tell him then: she will be found.

In her world, there is a saying that the next Aegis War wouldn't be fought with it, but rather over it. Of who would claim it, wield it. She feels it already through her connection to the Titans, the mobilization of armies and empires and sects, all looking for an ultimate power they mean to claim as theirs as their continents die, destroying their world on their own in the process. It's as if none remember the stories, the warnings, the destruction. Who she burned, who she took. As if any of them ever would be worthy, anyway.

In her world, she's waited five hundred years for the coming of the next human to choose to give her power. For those long five hundred years, she's already known who it will be: a mere boy, so young, and she's going to choose him. She had known him, his name, the color of his eyes before he had even been born. She's so close to that end.

But here... there's not any of that conflict but the fear that she might be discovered, or that someone of her own world may appear here and recognize her.

What relief it is to hear him say that he won't tell anyone what he's seen, even if he doesn't know exactly what she is. Finally her eyes raise to meet his, and he'll see the solemn wariness within, apologetic as if she had burdened him. In some ways, it's relieving that someone else knows this about her... At least with him, she won't have to hide or be continue to remain buried beneath all of these secrets.

Pyra raises a hand to her cheek, wiping beneath her eye. Looks like a few fell without her realizing, but at least her smile is a little more genuine. She pauses here as if considering something. How odd: moments ago, she had spoken of fear, but with his reassurance, she feels a little braver, and with him, she feels-- safer. ] Mm... Noct?

Will you... be able to keep another secret?

[ SEE-- she's trying. ]