Event Log: Flu Season

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters
What: The event log for the Flu Season event
Where: All over the city
When: March 20th-March 30th
Warnings: Gross sneezing, sick people, and paranoia

It starts with a cough, a sneeze, a sore throat - something small and simple, easily ignored. But then your symptoms get worse. It's probably been awhile since you've been sick, that sort of thing doesn't usually happen here. You might be able to raid the shops for some tissues and tea before it gets too bad, and hopefully you've got a friend to help out until you get better. Surely it'll be over soon, right?

Until the fever sets in, and you start to understand why your friend is really there. They don't want to take care of you. They want to make sure this is the last anyone will ever see of you. They want to learn all your secrets. They want to steal your most precious possession. You know they're plotting against you, you know they're keeping something from you. What will you do to find out what it is?

Then, as the sickness fades, you realize it was all in your mind. Let's hope you didn't do or say anything too awful. But that friend of yours... they seem to have picked up your cough. Maybe you should help them out?

► This log covers March 20th-March 30th.
► 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 your paranoia ends in murder, please let us know here.

Comments

serah farron / closed

[odinbolt]

( ooc/ prompts below! )

delmar/

[odinbolt]

( She feels a cough start one morning, just after leaving the study building, building up at the back of her throat until she can't help but splutter into her hand. Feels the sudden movement in her temples, an unpleasant twinge, and frowns. That... can't be good. But it's only a couple of symptoms, something she can treat with the right drinks and taking it easy. She'll just have to go to the shops and see what she can find, then bundle up at home until this goes away.

It's a good enough plan. Unfortunately, Cure works on injuries, not the impending sniffles, otherwise this would be much easier. So, she makes her way towards the shops, carefully shifting the cloth she drapes around herself as protection from the harsh sunlight so it can easily cover her mouth in case she starts coughing again.

Which she does, and the twinge in her temples gets worse, making Serah cringe as the sun bounces off the stained glass windows of a storefront. )

...Ow.

( She presses herself against the door of the store, hand shading her eyes from the sun and tries to push away the oncoming headache with her fingers. )

[imhisaunt]

[Delmar has mercifully been spared from the grasp of this strange flu, but he's not missed the signs. The people moving past as though drugged or half-asleep. It's very worrying and he is not so subtly fretting as he walks around town feeling both concerned and at a loss for how to help.

And that is when he spots the young lady leaning into a storefront, clearly weak on her feet]

Oh! You need to be careful [He hurries close] If that door opens you'll fall right over and you're in no state for that....

[odinbolt]

( He's a stranger, and the oncoming flu which battles for control of her body is a bit of a pain, but that doesn't mean that Serah won't offer a smile and shift away from the door as he approaches. )

I'm okay. ( Not really, but it could be worse. Always remind yourself of that, Serah. ) Um... do you have any painkillers? ( It would be nice to get rid of this headache, at least. )

rita/

[odinbolt]

( The edges of her vision swim.

... No, wait. That isn't right. Everything's swirling, and her steps weigh heavy, as though she carries lead around her ankles. Serah pushes herself out of her house with a jolt, heart racing and head spinning.

No. This isn't right. This can't be right. It's a dream, or it's Caius. The Historia Crux...

A million things. But she's not meant to be here. This is another place like the Void Beyond, it has to be. That's why everything is moving so strangely. She just... needs to find her way out. Get home before something worse happens. )

Come on... ( She talks to herself, misses the people around her and never quite pushes her walk into a run because her head keeps spinning. Just keep moving.

She seems more startled than anything else when she bumps into someone, nearly saying sorry but then staring with wide blue eyes.

They're not real. They can't be. They're just part of whatever this is. )

[unheeled]

[This place has got to be yet another of her dad's secrets, some new part of HQ set up to confuse and exhaust potential escapees until he sends someone to get them. Wouldn't be the cruelest thing he's done, to her or anyone else. If there's one thing Vaughn is good at, it's destoying the things that get in his way.

Like zombies.

Like Rita.

She jumps when she's bumped into, ready to run off before she's caught or the Romero side of her takes the choice away from her. Pink hair, though? She doesn't know of anyone in corporate with pink hair, or in the inner circle. That means this must be one of her dad's enforcers, as quiet as a shadow, and as easy to pass by as one.

Except the woman with pink hair also looks afraid.]

Did he send you?

TIME FOR PAIN (:

[odinbolt]

( This place feels so surreal, she's sure nothing here can possibly be real. That it's something the changes to the timeline have caused. But this woman speaks to her, feels so vivid that Serah flinches back and stares for a good minute before the words actually process. )

What? Who? ... No. No one sent me.

( She just turned up here. Because everything she's done has messed things up back home. )

cries

[unheeled]

Vaughn.

[...bullshit he didn't. Her dad doesn't leave behind messes. Hell, if she'd just let him murder all those people, she would never have been scratched.

Zombies dye their hair normal colors, not pink. They try to blend in, act human. And they don't-- they all know someone's out there killing them off. The Chaos Killer. Major.]

Stay away, or I swear to god I'll scratch you.

[Maybe another target will take Vaughn's attention off Rita long enough that she can escape.]

[odinbolt]

What are you talking about?

( Her voice is tense, a string about to snap in fear and confusion. What would scratching Serah do anyway? What sort of abilities does this woman have? Did Caius send her to stop them?

No, he wouldn't. He'd just do it himself, but that's what Serah would expect right, and if you truly want to catch someone off guard, you'd do the opposite of what they expect.

She shrinks back, her hand curling as if she's grasping for something that isn't there. )

[unheeled]

[Playing dumb. She's playing dumb. Vaughn must've hired actors with ass-kicking on their résumés. Rita doesn't know how to fight, but she doesn't need to. She has the advantage here. Janko only got her because he had the element of surprise, but this woman here is playing a different game. Trying to psych Rita out so she can send her right back into her holding cell for Vaughn to gas properly.

Not gonna happen.]

The virus. One scratch, and he'll turn on you, too.

[If he could kill his own flesh and blood, this woman is even more expendable.]

[odinbolt]

( This makes so little sense, and her skin prickles despite the heat of the fever coursing through her body. This is all wrong. All of it. It must be some ploy of Caius', as though simply fighting her wouldn't be enough. Maybe he's--

Noel. Of course. He's after Noel and she's not there to help. She's here, with this woman who keeps talking about someone else and a virus Serah doesn't understand.

She's alone, afraid, and all but certain she's failed now. But this woman seems no better off than she is, and maybe-

Could Caius be working with this Vaughn person? Trying to deal with both their problem? Breathe, Serah, and try to look past the urge to call her out. They've both got someone messing with them. )

Okay... So, what does the virus do?

( This is a terrible idea, cries the animal part of her brain. )

[unheeled]

[She's stalling, waiting for backup. For scientists with tasers and sedatives. Rita's breathing quickens. The physical symptoms are gone; now it's the paranoia that reigns supreme.]

It turns you into a zombie. A problem.

[And Vaughn hates problems.

(She's not a problem, though. For fuck's sake, she's been trying to solve it right there with him all year. She's a victim here, and all she wants is to be herself again. Who cares if she can't have kids once she's cured? She never wanted kids anyway.)

Rita moves towards the nearest building, a broken thing that won't offer any shelter from the elements but sure as hell gives her escape routes for when the reinforcements come.]

I don't-- wanna die like this.

[So she'll fight. Whoever comes for her, she'll fight them like she fought the monster that wanted to eat her.]

[odinbolt]

A zombie? But they're--

( Fictional. Things for books and shows and movies. Not an actual problem. Though, up until Noel appeared, Serah would have said the same thing about time travel. She spent three years hearing about how her memories of Lightning on the surface of Gran Pulse, smiling as she finally accepted Serah's engagement to Snow, weren't real. How they were just desperate wishes of a girl who lost the last surviving member of her family.

The important thing, right now, is that Serah's neck still prickles with the sensation of being unsafe. Of being watched. They're in the wrong place and they need to get out.

Both of them. )

We've gotta get out of here. ( At least Serah doesn't think Rita is part of Caius' plan. She's just someone as scared as Serah herself is. )

[unheeled]

[This may be a trap, or this woman may really be as terrified as Rita is -- either way, she's better off going with her to hide. If they're found, Rita will leave her behind. If it is a trap, Rita can kill her and run, maybe even eat her brains and hope for a vision of how to get out of here.

So they hide. It's no more put together than the building Rita had been going for at first, but it's in another city block. That should help a little, and at the least, it gives Rita a chance to breathe and fight off a little of the fear pumping through her with every slow heartbeat.]

So who are you?

[odinbolt]

( They find a place and Serah can breathe for a moment, can try and push the terror out of her mind.

Maybe she should barricade the windows and doors of this place, just in case.

But how do you even do that? Lightning would know, if only Lighting were here... )

Serah. Serah Farron. And you're...?

[unheeled]

[ Serah Farron. Not a name Rita recognizes from Max Rager or the zombie kill list. That's probably good, or at least not bad. ]

Rita. [ And because she wants Serah fully on her side here, she keeps going. ] Rita Du Clark. Vaughn's daughter.

[ If Serah's working for him, she knew that already. If not, then now she knows just how badly Vaughn wants the problem gone. ]

How'd you get in here? Can you find the way out? I have to get out of here before he finds me.

[odinbolt]

( Vaughn's daughter? The horror that dawns on Serah's face at the pieces falling into place is simply too genuine to be faked, wide-eyed and slowly blossoming over her expression.

She wants to ask a million questions but Rita asks her own and all Serah can do is slowly shake her head. ) I don't know.

( Either answer. ) I thought it was just a mistake, but...

( She shudders. The feeling of this being a trap presses down on her until it feels hard to breathe. )

[unheeled]

No. Nothing that happens here is a mistake.

[ Which makes her slow heartbeat go a little faster. He's planning something. He's going to kill her.

She's got to get out. ]

[odinbolt]

( It has to be a trap, and Serah nods slowly in response, every movement feeling unnatural with the way her mind spins and tells her to be terrified, to not trust a single part of this city. That Caius will come for her soon, or maybe just leave her here like this, scared and parted from Noel and Mog, with no hope of saving Lightning or Snow. )

You're right. This has to be deliberate.

( And they have to find a way out. A tear in time, or something. )

[unheeled]

[ Her fears confirmed, Rita shudders. ]

If you see a soldier-- kill me. Don't let them do it.

[ Don't give Vaughn the satisfaction of being in control. ]

[odinbolt]

I--

( She's never been asked such a thing before. She's hunted and killed monsters, defended herself against things which have attacked, but never been asked to kill someone before.

The shaking, the terror which doesn't seem to have left her since she stumbled out of the house, seems to stop. She can't kill someone, not if they aren't fighting back. Not when she's been told to travel through time and save the future, the people. She doesn't have her bow but she should still have her magic, right? Caius can't take that away. )

No. If they come... I'll fight.

[unheeled]

[ What the fuck. ]

They have guns.

[ And if they kill Serah, they can get to Rita. ]

Just do it, okay? I don't want Vaughn to feel like he's in control of me anymore.

noctis/

[odinbolt]

( She can't find a way out. And the swirling won't stop, the world in front of her as surreal as it's been all day long. Like a dream, a nightmare.

A punishment? Maybe that's it. Their actions necessitated the strictest sanctions. And what could be stricter than leaving her here, without a way back to the timeline, stuck thinking about everything she should be doing and her sister in an endless loop in Valhalla. )

Lightning...

( The word comes out choked and small, and Serah collapses to her knees with a sob.

Why can't she do anything? )

... Help me.

[nascere]

[ Lightning? Lightning where?

That it could be the name of someone Serah cares for flies right over his head. He finds her on her knees, nonexistent weather phenomenon notwithstanding. She looks like death, like she's barely keeping on, and it's her next words that has him running to her, crouching before her in open concern. ]

Serah. Serah, hey.

[ His hand comes to delicately cup her chin, tipping her face up to his. Her eyes are unfocused, and he stiffens, alarmed. Is it heatstroke? If it is, he needs to get her out of here quickly. What does heatstroke even look like? ] Hey, can you hear me? It's me, Noctis.

[odinbolt]

( People in this city seem like they're in a fog, the same way New Bodhum looked after the first time distortion. They're there, but... not really. She feels a world away from them. So being touched is like ice against her skin, enough to shock the tears into stopping, her name pulling her back to something like ground. )

Why isn't there a Time Gate?

( Does he know? There has to be a way out if there's a way in. )