hadriel_logs | Event Log: End of Arc 2

Entry tags:

Event Log: End of Arc 2

Who: All characters
What: The event log for the End of Arc 2
Where: All over the city
When: November 25th-December 12th
Warnings: A full-scale battle, including character death, NPC death, and various other ways to suffer

It was bound to happen. The Null warned you, after all, and this has been building for awhile - and now it's here. First comes the initial attack, the agents of the Null attacking Hope's temple. Then, an SOS, warning the city of what's happened: a betrayal, and Hope being injured. Luckily for everyone, thanks to the actions of his guards Hope survives the attack. Unluckily, his attacker, the goddess Delight, escapes and lets the Null in.

Flooding into the cave, the Null will attack anyone who they believe is resisting them. They'll destroy buildings and deploy dangerous crowd control weapons, in addition to their sheer strength and speed. Confusion empties the monsters in the tunnels into the city, to help distract the Null. Some gods fight, others provide safe havens, but everyone is in danger.

After about a week and a half of the attack, Fear summons enough power to teleport the city. This stops any new Null from arriving through the tunnels, but the remaining Null must be hunted down and destroyed, or else they'll signal their location to the rest of their species. The danger will lessen as Null are taken out, but things won't really be safe until Fear moves the city again, so don't get too comfortable.

What will you do? Run and hide? Fight? Help the fighters? Turn on the gods yourself? Whatever you do, it's time to make a decision.

► This log covers November 25th-December 12th.
► 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 get taken out by the Null, please let us know here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Right. That.]

Think Rage's temple is still in one piece. Could try there.

[Ephemera squeezes Drake's hand again.]

We'll figure this out.

[ They can try, but Drake's having a hard time finding optimism. His mind's already moving on to plan B, containment. ]

There's nowhere secure right now. To lock me up.

[Ephemera tightens his mouth.]

If my armor's not too fucked up, we could try putting you in that. Then locking it down. But I don't know how much damage it took.

It looked okay to me. Some dings and dents and you'll have to repaint, but there wasn't any serious damage.

[ He doesn't want to take Ephemera's armor from him, knowing the other man will still want to fight... ]

If it's the only option. I'll try the other gods, or maybe I can find some bodies.

[ Speaking of needing to eat, though, he refocuses. The Null probably weren't feeding Ephemera while they had him under their control. ]

What about you? You hungry?

Good, good.

[It's already taken a beating. The flamethrowers won't work and though Ephemera's hammered out the dents, there are a couple joints that are starting to weaken. He hasn't found the right tools to fix it.

Worry about that later.

Ephemera grimaces.]

How many did we lose?

[He can't remember killing anyone, but that doesn't mean--

Breathe. Stay here. Focus on the problem in front of you.]

Sort of? I'm pretty out of it, still.

[It's admitted quietly. He feels like shit.]

[ Drake goes quiet for a moment, thumb rubbing against the back of Ephemera's hand. How many? ]

I haven't seen that many actual deaths, but a lot of people are down. The clinic was destroyed and split into two locations and they're both packed. I'd say right now... we've got less than half the fighters we started with, and people are getting tired. If the Null send more reinforcements, we'll be in trouble.

[ He doesn't want Ephemera pushing it because of that, though. Rushing back into the fray too soon will just get him killed, and Drake... couldn't handle that. It was bad enough knowing he'd been taken and there was nothing he could do to help. He'd just killed as many Null as he could in the meantime, hoping that it would make a difference.

Drake lifts his free hand, touching Ephemera's cheek. Relief that he's okay shines in his eyes even now. Even knowing he's about to be the one gone with nothing to do for it. They've got this moment, at least. ]

Don't move, okay? I'll get you something.

[No denying it, that's bad. But it could be worse. They have time to recover and regroup. Assess the damages. Come up with a strategy. Survive.

Ephemera leans into the touch, watching Drake.]

We'll ride it out. Kick some ass. Play cards after. And I'm not going anywhere.

[ He lingers another moment, holding on, smiling faintly. ]

You'd better not. I need you.

[ Whether he's bluffing or not, Ephemera's steady certainty that they'll make it through gives Drake strength. They'll keep fighting. He leans down and presses a kiss to Ephemera's forehead, then lets go. Five minutes, he promises, before slipping away.

When he comes back he's got a bottle of water and a couple of energy bars in one hand, and a can of soup in the other. People have been chipping in supplies to keep the clinic going, it seems. ]

No way to heat it right now, but if you want.

[ He settles back into the seat he was in before Ephemera woke up, offering what he's scavenged. ]

[Hey, food. Food he might be able to keep won.

Ephemera pushes himself up slowly, running a hand through his hair.]

I'll try the water. Go from there. Exciting, yeah?

Little sips. Take your time.

[ He puts the rest down on the edge of the cot and settles a hand on Ephemera's leg, squeezing encouragingly. Needing the contact. ]

[Ephemera nods, closing his good eye. Drinks slow.

It tastes horrible in his throat, like sandpaper or a particularly vengeful hangover, but he manages not to puke.

Awesome.]

Thanks.

[He opens his good eye. Watches Drake.]

You should try and get some sleep, Drake. Might help.

It won't. I'm fine, though. I slept a little while you were out.

[ His fingertips trace a seam on Ephemera's suit idly as he watches the other man sips his water. Keeping it down so far, that's good. ]

...I'm really glad you're okay.

[That's something, Ephemera supposes. He nods just once.]

It got bad, for a minute.

[It might take longer than a minute to sort out Drake's shit.]

Whatever happens, I've got your back.

I know. I trust you, I just...

[ He's always been someone who rolled with things no matter how bad they got. A situation was what it was, you just had to be able to adapt. To suck it up and do what needed to be done. But this. With time ticking down and his options running out? What bothered him wasn't as much what was happening to him as what he was asking of Ephemera because of it. ]

You shouldn't have to deal with this.

[Ephemera huffs.]

Don't do that. I'm here. Not planning on being anywhere else.

[So they'll work through it. Together.]

[ Drake glances away, jaw working. ]

I don't want you to see me like that. The dream was bad enough.

[ Now it's gonna be real. ]

Hey. We're not there yet.

[Ephemera reaches out to grab Drake's arm.]

Look. I'm not good at believing things will work out or shit like that. But we're got there. Not yet.

Not giving up on me, huh?

[ He lifts his head at that, smiling faintly. Ephemera never had before, why start now? ]

[Ephemera flashes him a grin.]

Nah. Not my style.

[ It's contagious. He pushes himself back up from the chair and leans in, not caring who's watching as he gives Ephemera a soft kiss. Stays close, afterwards. ]

Come on, try to eat something.

[Even though he sees it coming, the kiss still catches Ephemera by surprise. He hesitates a moment, then bumps their foreheads together.]

Yeah, yeah. You gonna stick around for a while?

[He hopes the answer is yes.]

Yeah. I'm not leaving you again. Almost couldn't the first time.

[ It was a struggle, staying down. ]

I hated not being able to do anything to get you back.

It was the right move.

[No matter how much it hurt.

Ephemera exhales slowly.]

I know.

[He wants to say that they'll fix it, they'll figure something out, but he doesn't. There's no way to know for sure.]

Hey. I've been in some nasty fixes before. This? This is bad. But we're still here.

[He nods.]

Focus on that. It helps.

I know, it still hurt like hell.

[ He'll be the one to say it, his hand coming up to stroke between Ephemera's shoulders. An excuse to stay close. ]

Just take your time, we'll get back out there soon enough. See it through.

[Ephemera closes his good eye, sighing. Feels his shoulders drop. It's nice like this, having Drake close, and he doesn't want it to end.] Damn right we will. They thought we'd just roll over, but we showed them.

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