beleos: (Default)
beleos ([personal profile] beleos) wrote in [community profile] kenoslogs2023-05-12 05:00 pm

The Seeds of Unrest: the Iconoclast Oracle


RUNNING OUT THE CLOCK
The situation is bleak.

The Blight - and the massive labyrinth of roots tearing both cities asunder, spreading deadly flowers wherever they penetrate - have progressed to a point beyond catastrophe. People are dying in rapid numbers. Bearers are having difficulty keeping up with the spread of infection - even among one another. The collapse of Kenos seems inevitable; a cure will not come in time. You can do nothing but watch as each new day brings further disaster, ticking down the seconds until it all falls apart.

And then, you feel something seize your Shard. As if physical fingers have wrapped around it, as if it is being clutched through you by invisible hands, you feel invaded. You feel wronged. But before you can panic, a voice enters your mind through Communion.

Excuse the dramatics, but there isn’t much time for pleasantries. The Trees are about to hit the point of no return. But there's still work to be done. The Tree of Life will take you where you can find it: the Oracle and the creature causing all this mess. Fix this when you find them. However you'd like.

Have you heard Aetos’ voice before? Perhaps it is the first time; perhaps it is familiar to you. Either way, the last thing you will remember is a confusing jumble: a spell of immense and incredible power, one utilizing the Tree’s strength to shelter you. The sensation of every cell in your body coming alive, yet seeming to break apart and render you into billions and billions of tiny pieces, all hovering in different times and places across all the different iterations, timelines, and realities in which you have ever existed. A voice that speaks not through words asking your forgiveness, unspeakably sad.

And then, there is nothing.

AWAKENING
Your eyes open, gritty with the feeling of a long, deep slumber.

Perhaps it takes a moment to shake off the heavy veil of exhaustion, to recollect what you were doing before you fell into this state of hibernation - but as soon as you do, you feel an immediate sense of foreboding around you. It is thick in the air, oppressive and pervasive, and you aren’t left long to wonder at its source. You lay beneath the branches of the Tree of Life, but as your bleary eyes focus… you see it. The Tree is all but bereft of life. Its bark has withered down to gnarled wood, the soft lichen dried up, and the grass that should be alive beneath you is long dead and gone. There is not so much as a single leaf on its decaying branches.

It has been this way for a long, long time... you realize this with a feeling of intense dread as you see it - the beautiful expanse of stars, of the cosmos, of universes scattered like starlight above the tree's boughs, gone. In its place hangs a sickly, ominously low-hanging, and dying sun ready to sing the end of everything.

You can't help but wonder how long Kenos has been in this state, but a sense of gratitude fills you as you realize that the Tree expended the last of its energies to protect you, the Bearers, during your state of rest. Had Aetos worked with the tree to see you sent here?

The next question comes quickly: how much time do you have left…? And can you find the Oracle before that time expires?

ABANDON HOPE (DAYS 1 & 2)
The cornerstones are still active and will take you to whichever city you wish to see.

Highstorm and Springstar sit like empty monuments to the cities that were once filled with life - yet the first thing you will notice is they are strangely absent the signs of the Tree’s overgrown roots, the Blight, the catastrophic damage that you can recall all too easily. Instead, each city sits as those they were summarily abandoned overnight, leaving nothing but their shells behind. There is a stillness in the air that is unnatural and unsettling. Despite the lack of any sign of the citizens of either city, you cannot help but feel… watched.

Something terrible happened here. Best you find the Oracle before something terrible finds you, instead.

The burning of a dying sun beats down on you wherever you go, unbearable heat sending waves off the aged cobblestone streets. Perhaps it is your instinct to seek refuge in the shade - but linger too long about the shadows and that feeling of eyes on your back, of being unable to breathe, of your world closing in around you will grow untenable and drive you back into the light. If you hope to explore the ghostly shell of your city in search of the Oracle - or to sate your curiosity, some problem-solving might be in order.

And while you acclimate yourself to your circumstances, you cannot help but note you feel wrong inside, somehow…

EXPLORATION

  • If your characters choose to explore previously unreachable areas, please use THIS TOPLEVEL to report when they get there in the thread! We will get back to you with what is discoverable in that location.
  • The following areas are off limits for exploration: below Yima’s Manor; below the Church of Heliopolis; Alenroux; Kowloon.
  • The Great Trees of both Highstorm and Springstar are in a similar state to the Tree of Life and will not respond to Communion.
  • Generally speaking, items will be of poor quality. Most will look as though they’ve aged thousands of years. Others will be in half-decent shape, but sparingly so. Oddly enough, it doesn’t seem like the whole city has aged at the same rate, so especially diligent rummagers can find worthwhile supplies. Please consider this should be rare and don’t go overboard!

NOTES

Here are some prompt reminders - see the full thing at the OOC Summary!
  • Characters will have a diluted connection to the Zenith or Meridian.
  • There will be periods powers are weakened or non-functional during days 1-2 (up to player discretion).
  • The sunlight results in scorching; the shadows cause claustrophobia and fear while outdoors.
THE RITUAL (DAYS 2+)
The place you started your journey to Kenos is also where it seems it will end. As soon as the first Bearer makes contact with the Iconoclast effigy, you are collectively drawn to the roots beneath the Tree - like a pang sent through your Shard. Your objective has been found. The Oracle awaits.

Trusting Aetos seems like a fool's errand, but you must put your hope in the Tree. What choice do you have left? It's time to find what lies at the end of this.

Bearers descend, your steps echoing in the dark, cavernous space. Once brimming with life and vitality, the roots are now dried and brittle like the bones of some ancient leviathan that died long ago. As you make their way deeper into the earth, the deadened roots twist, leading you to a vast chamber deep within it; the air here is thick with the smell of decay, and the faint glow of luminescent fungi and mosses barely illuminates the space.

To your left, the Bearers will notice what has drawn them here - and the object of their search.

An effigy sits on the ground between two darkened tunnels. The effigy is made of gnarled, dead branches woven together in a humanoid shape; its hollow, empty eyes are sightless, yet you cannot help but feel it is watching your every move. Branded on its forehead is the Iconoclast symbol carved into the rough wood.

Once all Bearers are present, the Ritual will begin. Your means of exit have been sealed off, and you are trapped, slowly deteriorating together…

NOTES

  • Bearers will have access to the Ritual Chamber which is a very wide, open space with the effigy situated against the far wall from the entrance. Several smaller tunnels off-shoot from the Ritual Chamber. They all run to dead ends; some are very small or narrow. This may afford you meager privacy away from the group.
  • Once a Bearer steps into the Chamber, they can no longer head back out the way they came. They’ll find themselves automatically walking back into the Chamber as if of their own volition.
  • For brevity’s sake we won’t list them out again here, but the complete description of effects Bearers will experience days 2+ is available in the OOC Summary.
  • The effigy is impervious to damage.
  • It Is Watching You.
  • In a dead-end root tunnel attached to the Iconoclast’s Chamber is the Blighted statue of an Otter that may be familiar to some… Please see THIS TOPLEVEL for more information!
THE PURGE (DAYS 5+)
The sap has festered in your veins for what feels like days. It’s impossible to tell how much time has passed; this place has no sunlight. The effigy watches as you remain trapped, huddled together around it, unable to leave as you find yourself sick with the affliction of the Meridian, Zenith - or both.

And then… something finally gives.

Though it does not move and speaks no words, you feel the effigy offering you guidance. Knowledge. Much like the Tree speaks to you in impressions and feelings, you are conveyed wisdom you did not have before: a way to take what you want and rid yourself of what you do not. A way to make your convictions known to all who would hear them. A way to be known. To write your path in blood, be it yours… or theirs.

When all is said and done, only one force - Zenith or Meridian - will gain its favor.

Show it who you are. Show it what resolve looks like to you - and what you are willing to do to attain it.

NOTES

Here are some prompt reminders - see the full thing at the OOC Summary!
  • You can Purge your alignment through various methods: Trading, Corrupting, or using the Effigy itself.
  • All characters will understand the end goal is for everyone to Harmonize; the alignment with the higher rate of Harmonized Bearers alive when time’s up wins the Oracle’s favor.
NOTES
  • A reminder that the Harmonization tally will take place on Friday, the 19th and be open through Monday, the 29th. The results will be released on Wednesday, the 31st OOCly.
  • Don’t forget to submit any deaths to the Death Tracker, with a gentle reminder characters will remain dead until the event conclusion!
  • Reminder to fill out the SETTING POLL ASAP if you haven't already!
  • Have some MUSIC if you'd like. LYRICS here!
  • HAVE FUN!!
CODING
vapour: (pic#16135422)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-06-11 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
[ No... no, no. No, none of that will work. Childe knows it. Even so, he finds himself slowly reaching for his shard to offer to Zhongli, although there is a tremble in his arm that extends to his hand as he offers it. It could be simply the illness, but it's not that hard to see even in being sick that Childe is nervous and panicked by the idea of giving his shard to anyone. If he can't give it to Zhongli, though... then who? He hates the feeling of his shard being touched. Even if Zhongli's touch is less revolting than anyone else's, it's still unpleasant. It's only made worse now. ]

You... You're not going to leave me, are you?

[ take the shard and leave him, he means. Even if the body is just a husk and "he" is really this rock that he's holding out, it's hard for a mortal to acknowledge that, even one that tries to be a fearless and understanding as possible of their circumstances.

The uncertainty bleeds through their communion barriers, but that isn't needed because it shows even in those lightless eyes of his as he stares up at the other.

(... but in truth, it's all very manipulative and deceptive. The weakness and illness help conceal that, though, even with their minds suffering immense permeability. Childe simply doesn't think any what he's doing as either of those things which helps out fall under the general category of not wanting to die. Even as awful as he feels right now, he doesn't want to die— And if there's one thing has learned (despite constant denial from himself) is that Childe's wellbeing is important to Zhongli. Zhongli goes out of his way when Childe starts acting like someone far closer to his age than he usually does. The more vulnerability present, the more protectiveness it seems to ignite. Not unexpected, given the nature of the god of contracts as a stalwart guardian of his people, but something enough that Childe doesn't have to shrugs with believing or not believing is intricately or emotionally connected beyond the wire-workings that make up the god's very existence.

Being a frightened wounded animal is not him at his most dignified, but letting it out a little won't hurt in this situation. Afterall, the only thing of certainty he feels is that Zhongli would never crush his shard. That alone was already better survival odds than with anyone else here.

That's it. He's totally playing this up; there's no way he can be this ill and this unnerved by it (can...he?)
]
vapour: (pic#15123388)

[personal profile] vapour 2023-06-11 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
[ Childe's head moves along with his attention, eyes going to find the source of words that speak his name. Oh, it almost sounds like Silco is looking out for him.

Admittedly, Childe doesn't think much of what he was projecting, assuming most shardbears would be so put off like they so often are that they'd bolt off as soon as possible. Still, Silco has a point. If something extremely personal were projected and someone got wind of it, Childe would definitely be upset to find out (and what he might do to that individual... well, let's just say the options would have very few limits.)

As for this, though... well, he just can't imagine anybody of the shardbearers being interested. Then again, Childe knows very little about shimmer and those that have used it amongst the shardbearers. If that were different, he would perhaps be more cautious of the ambitions of the shardbearers as a whole, even beyond Silco.

As it is, Childe simply smiles unaware.
]

I guess you have a really good point there. If you hadn't said anything, though, I think I would have not have even realized or considered it... [ which is not exactly a good thing. He would indeed like to have notes on who sees whatever escapes from his head regardless of what the content is. ]

This really sucks. I hate that thing and all of its drawn out jerking us around. [ he thumbs over towards the effigy staring at all of them. ] If only we could just burn the fucker and leave already.

[ Maybe it wouldn't help their situations any , but it would be really therapeutic.

Ultimately, Childe shrugs lightly in defeat with a sigh.
]

Still, sorry for dragging you into that.
bakedapple: (fanart // cursed)

[personal profile] bakedapple 2023-06-11 03:02 am (UTC)(link)
That doesn't make sense either...! You don't... you don't know that!

[ Link shakes his head, his palms still covering his face. A Trade was supposed to make the Zenith go away, to make him feel better, but between its power still flowing through his Shard and Cid's influence permeating and piercing his mind, he finds himself grappling with it even more than before. Why is this happening?

When he speaks again, he isn't just arguing with Cid. He's trying to convince himself, too.
]

What you're talking about doing is creating something completely new, from scratch... who knows what sort of magic that requires? The power needed to do that? Only the Goddesses have ever done such a thing.

[ But fixing what's broken... that seems much simpler to Link. Hell, the priests in Heliopolis are already capable of retrieving things from the timestream, no Oracles needed. ]
youngprodigy: (⊅ that i am just nothing)

[personal profile] youngprodigy 2023-06-11 03:31 am (UTC)(link)
...We come from very different worlds.

[It's said entirely without malice.]

On my star, every god that ever existed was created by man. "Eikons", false gods, they were called. Even the will of the star, that my people would never dream of calling "eikon" was a being created by man. She perished, and I don't know how.

...you're right, the aether involved is entirely unknowable.

But a new world, even if it amounts to stabilizing Kenos, is far easier to attain. This world here can still be saved. I know it can.
erbe: (130)

[personal profile] erbe 2023-06-11 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Why settle for less?

[Her own eyes, not too far off in color from his, purposefully meet his gaze.]

Especially when you can just make your own world where everyone's basic needs are already cared for.
helloween: (013👼)

[personal profile] helloween 2023-06-11 05:03 am (UTC)(link)
[ That's not a quick yes. Lucien's facial expression ripples with worry now, wondering if Rin is subjecting herself to something she actually doesn't enjoy. ]

If you don't like it, maybe you could stop. Your family isn't here to try and force you to continue... so if it's that painful...

[ EXTREMELY WORRIED. ]
consolation: (14)

[personal profile] consolation 2023-06-11 06:34 am (UTC)(link)
[Caren doesn't even need to fully think through what Rin Tohsaka is suggesting to her. Her answer comes immediately, flatly.]

No. I do not think it is a matter of second chances. But the role I fulfill will be the same, regardless. I'm reconsidering my own selfishness.

[She has not once acknowledged the possibility that there is something else into which she might leverage herself, even as a member of Zenith. She has slotted herself into the closest position and expectations as what has always been on her. The occasional night she acted like someone who could desire something for her own sake, it felt like the wish of another person.

Rin comes closer, her gaze a microscope, and Caren's flat golden eyes are unblinking.
]

What are you looking for?
erbe: Flash and the sunlight bursts (039)

[personal profile] erbe 2023-06-11 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
My family wasn't "forcing" me to continue there, either. My family was dead. Being a mage is hard work, and it's different from being a normal human.

[Tohsaka pats his back before shoving him forward a little. Leading him away from the original spot of the effigy, but down an off-shoot tunnel away from the arguing and violence of the main chamber.]
helloween: (002👼)

[personal profile] helloween 2023-06-11 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ This doesn't satisfy his confusion, but Lucien cooperates surely enough, obediently walking in the direction he's been ushered. ]

It doesn't make sense why you would keep being one, then...
cutlery: please do not take! (that's about 10 3/4 fluffs)

[personal profile] cutlery 2023-06-11 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Indeed. The taste is…

[ Sebastian trails off thoughtfully as he considers it. Because it’s something new to him, he’s also not quite sure if he’d be mapping the tastes accurately when his sense of it is so different from humans’ (and, presumably, Set’s), but he’s at least reasonably sure that he’d be close. He never would have guessed that Ciel’s strict standards would have been helpful in this way… ]

Sweet, oddly? Like an overripe fruit on the verge of decay, but there is a metallic tang to it as well. By approximation, at least.

[ Now that they come to another locked door as Sebastian trails off in his description, he nods and steps forward. ]

Allow me. If we find a third, it is clearly yours to handle, Mr. Silco.

[ Teasing, as usual. But since Set went with a kick to simply buckle the first door (which is Sebastian’s first instinct as well), he’ll go for something a little different for door number two. Sebastian grabs the knobs as if he were simply going to just turn it, but with a jerk of his hand upward and a crack of metal, the doorknob simply comes off into his hand. There’s a clang of metal as the other half of the knob falls on the other side of the door, and Sebastian reaches into the hole to just remove the latch from where it’s still embedded in the door. He waves it playfully, but it’s at least as he opens the door for them to go inside. ]

There we are. Quick and easy.
redsoil: (pic#16220705)

[personal profile] redsoil 2023-06-11 08:42 pm (UTC)(link)
Pfft.

[ For all that Set files away what people do say, he also makes note of what is not said, or how someone says it. Not an idiot in the least, however foolhardy and bold he may be at times. He'll have to entice someone into investigating the Below themselves, to seek out the origin of the scent, where it might be coming from — and maybe, perhaps, get their fingers involved in fucking around with Silco as well. Not Sebastian, though.

Fucking with Sebastian is his thing. ]


Mister Silco.

[ Oh, he snickers. Laughs a little, uproarious at the realization that now that he knows the bond between them, Sebastian is going to speak more deferentially to his master. It's so funny to hear, it really is. Of all the things to catch the ear of the war god, it is Mister Silco that brings him the greatest mirth, and allows him to potentially slip under the radar with his own attentiveness. Acting the chaotic beast had its perks, just as being purely diplomatic. ]

Mister Silco, fxck that's good. [ He mumbles on, bringing up the rear as Sebastian deals with the door.

He sweeps up behind Silco, pinning his arms to his sides and lifting him, immediately, to frogmarch him through the door with a joyous knock knock! to whom or whatever might be left within. He's also quick to drop the man, too, and make the most disgruntled sound at the bullshit nothing but decaying paperwork to be found inside. ]


Pick a corner, boys, looks like we have some research to do. And you probably thought I was not going to let you have any fun!
wolof: (Look Away)

[personal profile] wolof 2023-06-11 09:19 pm (UTC)(link)
Is it?

[ She asks. The phantom feeling of pain on her knuckles reverberates through her, from the communion, from the memory of being punished for lying. Really? For lying? She almost snorts, for a Praesi would not be caught lying, and it would be their own fault to accept the consequences if they were. That would be punished, not the lie itself, but she'd heard of other places, like the House of Light, where they punished children from lying, for deceiving, for doing what they should not, and she knows that it happens.

She does not, however, feel much sympathy. It does not reverberate through communion like that, only... somewhere between disdain, and fury, as if she is angry that the girl lets this happen.

Because she does. She can talk of bootstraps all she wants, and the story does punish those too weak to continue -- or even for no reason at all. To become a teacher is to inspire a new hero, and die. To be a lover is to be killed, and die. There are a myriad of ways to simply be killed off by the story, or tortured, or whatever.

It was simply fact. Not something to bemoan. It is not personal, it is... simply what it is. There is no... value judgement from the pattern of creation, no good or bad in that. It happens to Good and Evil alike. She does not know what it is to blame the universe for such punishment, or to experience such misfortune. Akua Saehlian has never allowed things to happen to her.
]

It is nobody's fault, dear. You ascribe punishment, but are you not despairing for this punishment you have for... so little?

At least do something to deserve it, if you think it is deserved. [ Her smile is sharp, knowing. ] If the universe wants to punish you, why not dosomething to deserve it. At least you will enjoy the experience far more than simply... living like this.

[ Pity, that's what the sense is, through communion. It's pity. ]
sharethememory: ([screenshot] 092)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-06-11 09:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Zhongli's hand stops midway from reaching to take Childe's shard, entire being balking at even the thought of leaving the other unattended in such a weakened state. ]

No. No, of course not.

[ Never mind that no one was really capable of leaving anyone here trapped as they were under the roots of the Great Tree. But Zhongli knows that is not what Childe is referring to. He knows that this is some other kind of abandonment that he fears though he is unsure the cause of it. But that doesn't matter. Right now that matters least of all. For just as Childe predicted, Zhongli reacts instinctively to that vulnerability with protection and reassurance. He takes the Shard carefully (reverently), even as he produces his own from above the hollow cavity in his chest.

(He does not see through the act. Not here, where Zhongli does not understand what Childe could gain in deceiving him.)
]

I will stay here with you as long as you wish.

But before then, let us see if we can alleviate some of your symptoms.

[ Zhongli's already cut his palm multiple times now so it takes very little to reopen the wound and press it against Childe's shard, staining it more red than necessary in his hastiness.

If they can just stabilize his energy, then surely---
]
bakedapple: (fanart // sunset)

[personal profile] bakedapple 2023-06-11 10:55 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Those words make Link open his eyes. When he looks to John, there's a subtle and soft but noticeable thread of skepticism on his face. He's... happy that there's hope for him, back in his world...? That strikes him as such a strange thing for a Zenite to say. Happy for you, but looking forward to taking that possibility away at the same time? Or perhaps John is not as committed to Yima's promise as some other Zenites are? He tries to remind himself of that, to tell himself that he knows nothing about this man except that he needs people's fears to survive, but... well. They're here in these tunnels in opposition to each other. And even though the state of this sun-blasted Kenos and the fate of the Tree seems to have foreclosed either of their factions from obtaining their goals, Link's understanding continues to be that if the Zenith wins, he will never see his home again. Not Zelda, not Sidon, not any of the rolling green hills or snow-capped mountains or palm-lined beaches. None of it.

He does not feel anger towards John. The man has done nothing to offend or upset him specifically. It's this damned world and the damned position it's put them all in that has him looking away as John asks his follow-up question. Instead of answering immediately, there is a short silence in which Link begins to rifle through the rocks around his feet, looking for a sharp one to use to draw his blood for their Trade.
]

...yes. Or, that's the idea.

[ ah. here's a good rock. Link holds it up in the low light of the glowing lichen, dragging the pad of his thumb over its sharp, arrowhead-like edge. John's question is... sticking in his mind, actually. He's not done answering it, but he finds himself having to take another moment to choose his words, between his exhaustion and frustration and the influence of the Zenith still tainting his soul. ]

I mean... everything we know about it is from legends... [ he trails off, considering. then: ] It showed itself ten thousand years ago, and was defeated back then as well... and even before that, for thousands of years, over and over. It used to be... a man. Or that's what the myths say. A man who wanted to rule in place of the monarch with divine right, so fervently that his malice stays with him between lifetimes.

[ So in other words, to more directly answer John's question....... no, actually. He would save his Hyrule, but the Hyrule of future generations is cursed to face the same threat over again. But the weight of this does not seem to have struck Link, even after explaining it. It's so inherent to his universe, so central to his own sense of self and his role to play in the Goddesses' eternal conflict, that he has never truly questioned it. ]
Edited 2023-06-11 22:59 (UTC)
sharethememory: MMD by 7Rurutia @ twitter ([MMD] 012)

[personal profile] sharethememory 2023-06-12 06:37 am (UTC)(link)
I am afraid I am having difficulty determining what exactly is mine and what is not. There are distinctly intrusive thoughts that cannot be kept at bay no matter how I try to keep my mind from them.

But perhaps– perhaps in this we might be able to aid each other.

[ Slowly, fingers stiff and aching from lack of movement, he unfurls one hand to offer it to Diluc palm up. Thin lines of dried blood are caked on his palm - the remnants of purifications down with other members of Meridian. For many reasons, there was a lingering discomfort knowing that one of Teyvat's own stood across the divide. More uncomfortable still knowing how close Rosaria and Kaeya are to Diluc. However in moments like this, infrequent as they may be, perhaps they could be of help to each other. ]

I can only ease that feeling of hopelessness, but not extinguish it completely. And it would comfort me greatly if I was able to lighten your burden by any amount. Moreover, I would wish to lessen the sounds of the world that was left behind for my own peace. Those memories do not give me the hope I believe to be intended.

[ The other hand that still holds Childe's shard is brought close to Zhongli's chest, right over the cavity where his heart would be where his shard now serves as substitute. It had not worked with Childe because ultimately their intentions were (should have been) to be on the same side. To both return to Zenith. But there is no ambiguity here with Diluc.

Surely it would work this time.
]
affal: (144)

[personal profile] affal 2023-06-12 07:42 am (UTC)(link)
( would this horrible, heavy, and constricting interpersonal entanglement between them even be a quarter of what it is if that hadn't been the case — if it hadn't been so easy for gen to peer through whatever obfuscation or illusion he might have attempted to try to distract from the fact that his origins are almost insultingly banal. had he even bothered to try and keep it a secret from him for very long? maybe not... it's hazy to try to recall, but he thinks it wouldn't have been so strange for him to give in to admitting to how they might have been peers in another time, another world, another universe — albeit one where their relationship likely still resembled something like this. where, when might made right, gen would always play the bully pitilessly crushing makoto under his heel.

he hates it, of course. he hates him with a readiness and a certainty that is almost liberating. with J, it had always been tangled up in doubt and betrayal, a hurt which emanated from the wound of a promise he felt as though he had been given and then broken in the worst possible way. gen is so direct and so focused with regards to their polar opposition that it almost makes the violence worth stomaching (actually, no, never, but it's an interesting concept, isn't it?) — he at least has the safety and assuredness of knowing there is nothing which lies beneath it. all that he has to fear from the other young man is what he can bring to bear against him.

if he were limited to only speaking this harsh and brutal language which gen uses with him, his options would be slim to none. but that's the trick to someone like makoto, demon or not; perhaps it's a premonition of it that gives gen just the faintest pause now, just an ounce of dread which creeps down his spine like the slow tread of a meandering spider.

there are far more options open to him to plunging gen into misery. he is merely being patient in finding the best and most satisfying one; here and now, he remembers this with certainty.

he huffs a faint, pained laugh, though it ends up into a small series of wheezing coughs. )


What can I say...? You're uniquely persuading.

( he had reached out to gen to provoke him, to incite him, and he is thus able to trick his brain into interpreting the pull away leading directly into his head and arm being pinned painfully to the dirt as some sort of success. but it's still not enough to distract from the horrible symphony that the pain of his various injuries makes; his arms and chest ache, bruised if not broken, and as he's pinned now, the sharp twinges from his neck and wrist are enough to pierce through all else. and he's so tired; the exhaustion from having Zenith flood his shard to the point of its forced acceptance is so deep and pervasive he feels as though doing anything in response to any of this to be a task as insurmountable as climbing a mountain.

so instead he focuses on what is immediate, right before him, with what tiny and feeble strength he has left. he breathes out an oddly-pitched sigh, after a moment speaking in a voice scarcely above a whisper, )
If we must be here in this place together, let us damn one another. ( they seem so specially equipped for it, interlocking in the worst possible ways. makoto forces a grim smile, a harsh slash of the mouth with teeth bared. ) Do your worst while you can, Minegishi. When I force you to repay it, I'll do so with interest.
bakedapple: (fanart // uneasy)

[personal profile] bakedapple 2023-06-13 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ It still doesn't make sense to Link. None of it really makes sense, of course — the whole concept of making new worlds or fixing broken ones, it's all so abstract and unknowable. But if the Zenites make their new universe, this world will be erased like all the other ones, won't it? If making the new didn't get rid of the old, then there would be no need to fight over the Oracles. Only one side can obtain the result they seek.

He swallows dryly and keeps his face hidden in his hands.
]

...I'm never giving up. I will never give up on bringing my world back.
appeale: (on someone else's page)

[personal profile] appeale 2023-06-13 01:15 am (UTC)(link)
[ this is the problem with their Communion in the state it is, uncontrolled and bleeding out – Akua can say aloud that the fault lies with no one, and yet Rudbeckia feels it herself, that contempt, the scorn directed towards her for "allowing" herself to become this way as if there was no cruel hand, no wretched and unending nightmare that shaped her. as though she has any real power to change it. she feels the pity devoid of sympathy or understanding: simply condescension. Ruby has never liked to make assumptions on what others may have suffered through in their life, but this woman—even if she's been through hardship, this is someone who has never known victimhood. helplessness, abandonment, desperation... surely they must just be words on a page to Akua Sahelian.

in return, though Ruby's thoughts have become murky with the intensity of her muddled emotions, a roiling and suffocating tar pit, what Akua will feel and know instinctively from Communion is this: what she intended to be the precision cut of a scalpel may as well have been carving at Rudbeckia with a butcher's cleaver. whether she means kindness by her cruelty, or a lesson to be taught, the only thing her words are achieving on Rudbeckia is harm. she is not a child stubbornly refusing to take her medicine; she is a bleeding, gasping thing, body riddled with arrows.

but none of this is expressed by Ruby herself. she looks at Akua with a dull, weary gaze and she thinks: Why did I try to explain? What good comes from knowing the details? You're supposed to be better than that, idiot. the Zenith influence coursing through her had fooled her, tried to convince her that she could shed that weight and start anew, but she shouldn't have listened. ah, that's right – as much as her words had sparked that anger in Ruby, it's really no fault of Akua. Ruby shouldn't have tried to speak in the first place when she knows better; she wouldn't be scolded if she could just get it right. ]


Because I'm a coward. [ it is a frank, shameless admission spoken in exhaustion. there's no defiance in her expression, and her words are not meant as a defence. she still hasn't moved at all from her place in the dirt, curled up as small as she can make herself. ] Signora, the only thing I want to do is survive. I'm not a greedy person; I know my place.

[ and she is well aware that place will not change; not in her past life, the present, or the future. ]

If my existence is so pathetic to you, then please simply overlook it. I'll try very hard not to be an eyesore in the future.
appeale: (on secondhand sentiments)

[personal profile] appeale 2023-06-13 02:08 am (UTC)(link)
[ yes, she was waiting for the party line to come up – Amos had tried earnestly to convince her to choose Zenith, back when she had yet to Harmonise, and despite his intentions, that conversation had been one of the main factors that drove her to align with Meridian so quickly. it was Amos that led her to realise how the world works in Kenos—reminded her how the world works at all. that she would only be worth something to anyone if she counted among their number. nothing else could protect her.

it's almost funny that, once again, in trying to persuade her, he presents the argument that will push her away the fastest. One way or another, he says, as if that were a comfort, and Rudbeckia knows that with their current state of emotional bleed, she will not need to say a word in answer. like a frightened child, her fear cries out across the Communion: I don't want to go home, please don't make me go back there— and more loudly still: I'm scared. I don't want to die. her sense of helplessness continues unabated, growing unbearable, that tiny little bird held in a fist with no hope of freedom. ]


... I don't think that Zenith is bad. [ she thinks of the people themselves with fear; Amos and Kaeya, most of all, cold and compassionless even though she had done nothing to wrong them. but Zenith itself sits comfortably in her heart, as though it had belonged there all along. ] —But I don't want that.

[ that isn't true. what she should say, instead – what Communion says for her – is that she doesn't believe it. because she looks at all of this, and she knows that the next world will be exactly the same. even if this life ends, she'll just suffer again. ]
youngprodigy: (∄ never cared much for you anyway)

[personal profile] youngprodigy 2023-06-13 02:51 am (UTC)(link)
[His expression is soft, sympathetic.]

I have no desire to convert the unwilling.

[He's silent for a while.]

The remnants of our worlds are like a ship lost at sea. Sometimes, pieces find their way ashore.

[...]

...if you find proof, real proof, and not broken pieces, that our worlds can yet be saved, I will listen.
zauneyete: (Lurch pose)

[personal profile] zauneyete 2023-06-13 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
[ Silco waited while Sebastian broke open the door, his mind turning over the description of the taste in his head. Sweet, like an overripe fruit almost decaying and metallic. It's a rather... detailed description, and Silco was mulling it over, considering the described smell and taste. Being someone from a place so mired in pollution and toxins, Silco thinks it sounds like what he imagines a number of things would taste like.

Mind, he didn't make a habit of doing so, but he knew the myriad of smells, and could imagine how certain chemicals tasted based on that but --

He was not paying attention to Set, or Sebastian, and so he's not expecting it, when Set unceremoniously picked him up, and started frogmarching him through the door -- his annoyed grunt only met with Set dropping him, before he talked about starting to look through papers. Silco's lip curled, and he brushed himself off, before he turned his back to the two, and started shuffling through a pile of papers.
]

I can walk perfectly well on my own, Set.

[ He said, his tone acid. ]
appeale: (it's not enough to save me)

[personal profile] appeale 2023-06-13 03:47 am (UTC)(link)
[ there – she's been waiting for the right opportunity, and she feels that moment arrive like an animal instinct, jolting into motion. when Gen staggers into her reach, she hooks her arm through his without hesitation and pulls at him, while the stubborn bastard is too unsteady to dig in his heels. between the three of them, Communion swims with fear and rage and adrenaline, but there is a thought that rings out clear: I'm not going to die here, so neither are you. ]

Gen! [ not once has she used his name before, and now she snaps it, a sudden and harsh sound. ] He's going to kill you, for God's sake, just run!

[ she doesn't wait for his answer; she makes to break into a sprint herself with his arm still linked in hers, trying to spur him to the same. ]
zauneyete: (Shifts Eyes right)

[personal profile] zauneyete 2023-06-13 03:51 am (UTC)(link)
Hm.

[ He says, in response. Childe might not see the potential, the connection at the moment, but Silco does. Always looking for them, connections, patterns, ways to make something better from what he had to work with. It's fine that Childe doesn't see it, because it makes his questions all the less suspicious, and more the genuine curiosity of someone who had seen something they don't know anything about. ]

Would that we could destroy it. Unfortunately, we are rather powerless, are we not?

[ A beat, and he tipped his head. ]

Though it sounds like this was something some from your world are not unused to. What were those that I saw? The Delusions, exactly? I have a... vague understanding, and yet...
appeale: (screaming hyperactive thought)

[personal profile] appeale 2023-06-13 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
[ at the moment that the feeling of embarrassment hits her, she startles – and then, recognising it as foreign, blinks a few times in surprise before she laughs, a warm and bright sound. it's a false reaction, of course, but the truth is that there is some amount of genuine relief in her heart. so many of the Shard-Bearers have such strong or confusing personalities that it's almost refreshing to encounter someone who would be abashed by something so minor. ]

It's okay! [ she takes both of his hands in her own, small and dainty, her grasp gentle. ] You were just trying to help, I'm grateful. Even if you had picked me right up, I wouldn't have minded.

[ well, maybe she would. everyone does it so often that there's just no point in being bothered by it, though. ]

Truly, I owe you. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here!
eyesite: please dnt! (12)

[personal profile] eyesite 2023-06-13 08:13 am (UTC)(link)
( he doesn't think of it that way. he can't. not because it isn't true or applicable, because it is absolutely both, but if he started to view his decision to strive towards Zenith's ultimate ends as anything but the sole use it is providing for him in drowning his world in Oblivion and ensuring that any and all trace of the Fears go with it, he will end up breaking in a way that's not reparable. he doesn't do this because it will destroy the chance for others to return to their worlds (he doesn't do it in order to ensure such a thing either). it's an unfortunate incidental which he horribly, hypocritically, attempts to wash his hands of.

but it's a knife that cuts both ways. sure, perhaps it is just one world out of an infinite multitude, but would any one Shard-Bearer on Meridian's side like to look john in the eye and personally take the emotional burden of ensuring that every living soul in his world was once more damned to torture and be tortured for the rest of eternity? no, likely not any more than he would like to look link in the eye and consider that his dedication to Zenith would destroy this world that he fought for — that he has already given his life to protect.

it's just too terrible to consider. and so he doesn't.

for just a moment, john is content to let it rest at that. the worlds they leave behind are different, and their circumstances as well; he likes to believe they should be allowed to make whatever decision is best for them, based on what they feel is imperative to deal with this impossible choice they've been given. he doesn't want to force link's hand if that's the width and breadth of it.

but then he continues, and something grows still and dangerous within him, rising from the cavern of his chest to catch somewhere in his throat.

he forces it out as words, somewhat stilted. )
So... Even if you do succeed, it will only be until this, this — evil force which used to be a man returns to threaten your world once more?

( some would argue that ten thousand years is worth such a sacrifice. human history has only been recorded on earth for five thousand short years.

and yet...

something dark and despairing begins to unspool itself from somewhere at his core, something which mixes with the myriad phantom limbs of terror that the statements and resonates with them, with his own experiences — he hadn't even read it, it had been a statement martin had read for peter lukas when researching the Extinction, but he can't help but think of a young man who had wandered into the fields to hear a mysterious broadcast of seemingly random numbers which gave him a deep terror of impending doom. numbers that, when properly decoded, personified that nascent Fear which had never truly been born (or had it been there all along?): THE WORLD IS ALWAYS ENDING. those words have been close to him since arriving in kenos; here, where they feel perched on the precipice of the end of everything, they feel like they're a part of them. the selfsame sense of that impending, inevitable doom seeps into the current of their Communion like toxic runoff into a stream. )


If you can never truly defeat it - ...defeat him, ( he continues, his tone dark, heavy, almost oppressive, ) it's an eventual inevitably that he will one day succeed.

( he says it with unswerving certainty.

because, for as long as the Fears had distilled themselves from the inborn terror of living creatures and for as long as human beings had been aware of them enough to be affected by them, to serve them, to worship them, they have attempted rituals on their behalf. for thousands of years, those rituals have for one reason or another failed. but they could never be cut off at their source because the Dread Powers' influence would always find their way back to the world, so permeable to their blind, instinctual fumbling as it was.

thousands of years of failure, and one might think that they were always doomed to failure. but then jonah magnus had perceived from that quagmire the one pivotal point that they had all failed to miss, the single reason why all those rituals had failed, and he had taken advantage of that to finally enact one that succeeded.

john himself is the key he had forged, and that's why he's able to speak with such certainty right now; down to his very essence, he himself is the proof. )