Event Log: Bad End

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Bad End event
Where: All over the city!
When: August 23rd-September 5th
Warnings: Bad futures, awkward conversations, smashed mirrors

You wake up to find a mirror at your bedside - a pretty nice one, too, a silver hand mirror perfect for fixing your hair in. Only when you try to do that, it's not your gorgeous reflection that you see. It's something else - a terrible future, just about as bad as anything you could imagine for yourself.

Maybe you see your loved ones dead on the ground, and you know it's your fault. Maybe you see the goal you've been working so hard for pulled out of your reach forever. Maybe you see someone you've hurt in the past ruining your life. Maybe you see your hot girlfriend leaving you to shack up with your worst enemy. Whatever you see, it really sucks, and you know that it's possible. This future could happen if you make the wrong choices, give in to your worst impulses.

Break the mirror if you want, but you'll see the same vision in any reflective surface in the city. You can't break them all, but you can sure try. And what will you do when you see your best friend's vision - and it features you betraying them?

Seek reassurance, give reassurance, lash out, vow to yourself that you'll never let it turn out that way, sink into the depths of sorrow because you feel like the future you see is inevitable. Whatever you do, it won't take away those visions - not until the event is over.

► This log covers August 23rd-September 5th.
► Feel free to make your own logs, as well
► Please tag headers of threads with content warnings where they apply
► Please put your character's name and open/closed in the subject line of your starters!
► If you can't handle the idea of your dark future, or maybe you just accidentally slip and fall on a mirror shard, let us know here.

Comments

daenerys targaryen | ota

[lemontree]

the mad queen

[ Dany hasn't been in Hadriel for very long, but the time that she's spent here has already provided a fair amount of power for Rage. Though she has decided to think of the 'gods' as masters, along the same lines as the cruel lords of Slaver's Bay, rather than deities, that doesn't stop their influence. The young queen has felt restless and agitated since she woke in the Colosseum despite the kindness and aid from the other captives.

The issue is that they're all still captives. Despite her firm vows to find a way to free herself, to free them all, she hasn't made a fraction of progress toward doing that, or even toward forming a feasible plan. Without allies, without dragons or ships or armies, she is the girl that she'd been years and years ago, sold against her will to the Dothraki in exchange for the promise of power.

With this new experience, though - a show of the true strength of the gods - her breath stops. The mirror at her bedside calls to her, compels her to pick it up and examine it, even if she weren't already curious about how it got there. Its surface isn't glassy, though, and instead displays a vision. She nearly drops it in surprise and alarm, but something tightens her grip on the handle, instead, and shows her the kind of future she's dreaded more and more with each new story about her long-dead father.

The scene is of Daenerys herself, silver hair longer and more wild than ever, seated on the Iron Throne. She is dressed in all black, but there are streaks of blood on her face and her hands, too, are coated in scarlet. Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal are in the chambers, able to fit within the walls of the keep because the walls are dilapidated, half-destroyed. Flames lick the corners of the mirror's view, and the wild-eyed Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, alone except for her 'children,' stands and cries out: "Burn them! Burn them all!"

When the trance is broken, Dany flings the mirror across her room where it breaks against the wall. She has to collect herself as fear grips her heart, and it's a while before she can bring herself to dress and leave, stepping hastily over the shards of the mirror as she goes. She's still lost deep in thought about this as she flees her current home and takes to the streets, eyes wide but unseeing, searching desperately for someone to blame for - whatever she's just had to watch.

Dany bumps into someone as she goes, whipping around to look them in the face as she's snapped back to the present. ]

I - apologize. [ She offers, still dazed, still mildly distraught. ]

[skycall]

[ Alice had woken, too, to a mirror. She woke to the image of Yuri, as Death Emperor, ripping apart their small group. He tore apart Zhuzhen, the old man's frail hands barely able to hold his staff out in time to stop the attack. The demon's claw went right through his chest and blood splattered Alice and Keith, the vampire and owner of the current castle. Her mouth opened in a scream and she ran to the old man's side but there was nothing to be done. The dark creature that had once been the man she loved threw her like a ragdoll and pulled Keith's arms from his body.

She wanted to look away but she couldn't. The creature dropped the vampire, the royal violet of his outfit turning dark. Soon, it was upon Alice. The young woman stood up, her head held up, tears in her eyes. She could see that she was trying to talk to Yuri, to the man on the inside of the demon, but it did nothing. He picked her up by the throat and with one swift movement, snapped it.

She returned the mirror to her endtable, her heart pounding a song of mourning. That's not how it was going to end for them, was it? She was going to save him.

She leaves her own home quickly and when Dany bumps into her, Alice finds an apology falls from her own lips just as quickly as the other woman's. Alice's blue eyes are glassy and one hand is gripped tightly around her father's cross. It takes only one look at Daenerys to know the beautiful woman saw something just as horrible. ]

I-It's ok. If you've just seen something as horrible as I have, then I can not blame you.

[lemontree]

[ This is the woman from the hot springs, the well-mannered one who had provided her with so much information. Dany's expression quiets a little, registering immediately the pain that is clearly on Alice's mind. ]

You saw it, too? [ Not the same vision, she imagines, because the other woman looks mournful, not afraid. ] ... What is this magic?

[ She will never become the Mad King. Not with the steady hands of her advisors, at least... ]

Is it the gods of Hadriel?

[skycall]

[ It takes Alice a moment to reply but when she does, it's definitive. This is the power of the gods and she can feel it. She can feel how much she wants to see it again, to gaze into the reflective surface and watch her own death over and over. ] Yes, yes, I do believe this is the gods' doing. I... I do not know what you saw but if it was anything like my own, do not believe it.

[ Her heart aches. It could never be. ] Yuri would never kill me.

[lemontree]

It was not a prophecy, but something instead meant to frighten us. [ That steels her expression into something more angry than afraid, even if the vision still weighs on her. ] That was not my future. It will never be.

[ She won't become what the Mad King had been. That won't be her legacy. ]

They are able to probe our minds, then.

[skycall]

We're continuously affected by them, even when they're not leaving us such... atrocious gifts. [ Alice licks her lips. The things she feels and knows, they're difficult for her to explain. ] Their powers, their very beings, I believe, affect us regardless of our own wills or desires. They... feel very much like the emotions they claim to be.

[lemontree]

Then they are continuously draining us of our strength while they grow in power. [ Every second is to the gods' advantage, and to the captives' detriment. ] What do you mean, they 'feel' like their emotions?

Re: daenerys targaryen | ota

[toiletseat_girl]

[George has just seen herself staying eighteen years old forever, never reaching her quota of souls to be taken, watching her parents and eventually her little sister grow old and wither and die in front of her and she was helpless to comfort them or be there for them in their old age.

she just went on, ageless, all of the other Reapers she knew meeting their quotas and being surrounded by strangers so she didn't even have the small comfort of people she knew being there for her.

it never ended. murders. suicides. accidents. death. everyone but her getting getting their sparkly lights and moving on to the afterlife. everyone but George. there's no way out. there's no relief. all there is is death.

after seeing this in the mirror, George shrieked and left the house, trying to find someone, anyone who might serve as some comfort or at least a distraction. she's not exactly looking where she's going, either, when she runs into Dany]

--shit! No, it's my bad, I was. Distracted. You okay? [George asks because she definitely isn't and Dany doesn't look like she is, either]

[lemontree]

[ Another of her visitors from the hot springs. Dany catches her breath, steeling herself. I must not show tears. ]

Yes. [ No, not really, but she won't share what she'd seen with George. ] I... am still unused to the kinds of experiences that are apparently common in this world.

[ To say the least. ]

You saw them too, then? The visions that the gods so kindly provided for us?

[toiletseat_girl]

[George is still freaked out by her vision, but she's trying to be a better person, so. that involves being kind to people, doesn't it?]

You sure? [trying to be better doesn't get rid of her inherent curiosity] So am I. I've only been here a couple of months, so I'm just kind of. Trying to deal.

[emphasis being on "trying"]

Yeah, I saw 'em. My very own worst nightmare. Being a living dead girl forever with no way out.

[lemontree]

I imagine it's always like this, based on what I've heard since I arrived.

[ Nothing to be happy about. Her jaw is set as she continues trying to banish the images she'd been shown in the mirror, that she's seen in other surfaces since. ]

"A living dead girl?" [ Dany repeats, frowning. ] What do you mean?

[toiletseat_girl]

No. Not always. Last month was kind of nice. We were in this perfect little town and I had a family. So that was good.

[George is trying to seem as calm and collected as possible. she doesn't want to give any gods the satisfaction of knowing they got to her. which they did. a lot.]

Oh! Uh. Well, I'm a Grim Reaper. I died and got drafted into the job. Which involves taking the souls of people who are gonna die and--and sending them on to the afterlife.

[lemontree]

[ "And I had a family." Dany doesn't understand the nature of the event that she'd missed, of course, but the word does conjure distant longing. ]

A Grim Reaper? [ She shakes her head faintly. ] I'm not familiar with the phrase. [ The concept, though... has her stiffen a little. ] You take souls from the dying?

[ So... a member of the House of Black and White? ]

You sound like one of the Faceless Men, of my world.

[doctoral_bird]

[ The poor depth perception given by the man's chilling white plague mask meant his face was absurdly close to Daenery's when she snapped to attention. Really, the mask was what was too close as his beak could almost poke her forehead. The emotionless expression caused by the pair of empty glass lenses stared intensely at the woman, which really didn't help the man's already potentially-unsettling appearance.

What stranger wouldn't want a 6'8" tower of a monster looming so near to them? His voice was hollow. Clearly exhausted by his own recent crying fit. ]

S'alright.

[ It took him a moment to realize he'd never seen this person before. Eventually: ]

A new resident?

[lemontree]

[ This new... man, or beast, startles her. Dany nearly stumbles as she moves away from him, eyes wide with fear and confusion. ]

What - [ Could he possibly be another captive? Or, more likely, a monster sent by the gods? ] ... What are you?

[ If he keeps moving closer, she'll run. It's all she can do at the moment. ]

[doctoral_bird]

[ Malkus clutched at his chest, seemingly taken aback by her question. He tucked his head into his shoulders and puffed up with indignation. ]

Goodness. I happen to be- [ The doctor trembled and felt his shoulders give. He slipped into a deep slouch, far too emotionally exhausted for any further fuss. ]

A potioncraft... Apothecary Malkus.

[ He pressed a palm up to his forehead, or at least where it would be under his mask. ]

My apologies. It has been a harsh, harsh morning.

[lemontree]

Like a maester? [ She deflates a little, calmed, at least in part, by that concept. ] My apologies. You... aren't dress like any maester I've ever met.

[ Of course, that isn't so unusual, considering what Hadriel has turned out to be. ]

It has. [ For everyone, apparently. ] But I meant no offense.

[doctoral_bird]

A- er- Mae-ster? [ Malkus was thrown off a little by the terminology, but he could draw some conclusions. ] Probably not as noble as one you'd be familiar with, but my garb was born out of necessity.

[ He swayed his arm and swooshed it against the oilcloth of his robe. Oddly enough, getting a chance to brag about his outfit always seemed to bring his mood up just a bit. He certainly sounded more awake now. ]

Impenetrable to the plague. Important. But no offense taken. I acknowledge I have a... stature about me. I should be the apologetic one.

[lemontree]

I see. [ The garb is... interesting to say the least. ]

The plague? [ She thinks of Jorah, of the greyscale... and then shakes her head faintly to dismiss the memory. ] I don't know what you mean, what the state of your world is, but thank you for your understanding.

[ He's gracious, at least, if imposing. ]

[claritatis]

[Deep in his own thoughts, and dark as they are in more ways than one, Ignis fails to see her as much as she fails to see him. Knowing that the future he'd seen is not what truly comes to pass doesn't make it any easier to see again, and again, and he has already reached the point where it's all he can see when he closes his eyes.

The bump against his arm, then, is a welcome distraction. A gentle hand goes to her arm to steady her, only for a moment, withdrawn a beat later.]

Not necessary.

[She isn't the first he's seen walking wild-eyed through the streets.]

No harm done.

[lemontree]

Thank you. [ For his calm response, which seems to have a positive effect on Dany. She breathes in and out, trying to quiet her racing heart. ] ... I think that we all are rattled today.

[ Seeing awful visions of your 'future' will have that effect. ]

I will be more careful.

[ She'd lost her composure, but... this interaction has restored some of it, at least. ]

[claritatis]

We are. [Even those who are the best at hiding it seem to be having trouble. No matter how much Ignis tells himself that what he sees isn't what is going to happen - Noctis told him, he knows enough to know that this isn't true - what he sees still bothers him.

He may have to seek out his friend again, just to talk about it.]

And I ought to have been looking where I was going, as well. [Ignis smiles slightly, and gives a short, polite bow to the young woman.]

My name is Ignis. I don't believe we've met.

[lemontree]

[ The bow is familiar and sets her more at ease. She exhales, dipping her chin. ]

I am Daenerys. [ She's since learned to drop the titles that she would have previously attached to her name, strange as it is. ] Have you... been in this place for long?

[ As a prisoner, obviously. ]

[claritatis]

Some weeks now. [But more than long enough to get the measure of the place. She's likely new, if she's asking such a question and he has yet to see her face. He feels he would have noticed a woman who looks like her.

Ignis makes a small gesture for her to walk with him.. if she so desires.]

Would you mind my company, Daenerys? To keep your mind off other things.

[lemontree]

[ She is still unused to being addressed so casually, and there's a brief moment of tension as she grapples with it... but, then she nods, moving as he starts to walk. ]

Thank you. I do need a distraction. [ Very badly, in fact. She imagines most of the other captives feel similarly. ] There are others who claim to have been here for years. Is that true?