Event Log: A Hope for the Future

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the A Hope for the Future event
Where: All over the city!
When: April 15th-April 19th
Warnings: Stealth Rock

It's finally time to reap the rewards you've earned from all that hard work collecting and returning the Hope orbs! Be careful walking the streets during the small earthquakes, but feel free to admire the scenery as your beautiful city reassembles its way back into its former glory.

There are new houses where the destroyed buildings once were, and they're perfect for a single person or pair of lovebirds. In addition, you'll find that the electricity to these new houses, and all other homes and shops in the city is restored. The food is better, the monsters are gone- hey, this city might be livable again!

To cap it all off, we've got a feast waiting for you on the 19th! Come one, come all, and enjoy all of your favorite foods, drinks, and party games. It's been awhile since we've all gotten together to celebrate something good, so get your party on and toss all your troubles away!

► This log covers April 14th-April 19th.
► 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 hit by levitating rubble or eat a food that wasn't meant for you, please let us know here.

Comments

[abyssalarcana]

Well. I hope I won't have to take you up on that. But - if you do, it might help to know a little more, wouldn't it?

[Time to be forward, evidently. She steps forward toward where he's backed himself against the wall, and reaches forward to place a hand on his arm, if he doesn't run away or something.]

Come with me to somewhere quieter, more private. There's a lot I can show you.

[hot_mes]

[Law stiffens a little, as he do when people invade his personal space without his permission, but he doesn't run. He just stares her down with his usual blank demeanor. He's already turned down one booty call this week...]

Is that supposed to be some sort of innuendo?

[abyssalarcana]

[She grins, leans against him a little, and ugh, she can't believe she's sinking to this level, mortals, really Caedra but this place gives her too few options and - they're not so bad. They look nice, some of them. It's just depressing when she knows she could do so much better. But she laughs anyway because okay, yes, the line was pretty silly, even she'll admit that.]

Yes - yes it was. Is. So come with me, hm?

[hot_mes]

[curse his atrophied libido. gorgeous people throwing themselves at him left and right...]

Maybe some other time.

[it's not a complete shut-down. His words are deliberately chosen. It's not that he doesn't want a hookup or two, just not this week. Not when he's constantly on his guard, afraid to even go to the speakeasy or a party and have a good time.]

I've got a lot on my mind right now, I wouldn't be any fun.

[abyssalarcana]

Mm. [Disappointing, but nothing too terrible. She pats his arm a little and lets go. She's not desperate, hardly, and there are others here who might be more accommodating to her whims.]

Some other time, then. I'll hold you to that.

[hot_mes]

Mm. I don't think I'll forget.

[someday he's going to be ready to tear off his jeans and throw all caution to the wind. Today is not that day. Law tries to cover the awkward aftermath by sinking his nose into his coffee cup]

[abyssalarcana]

[Caedra seems to take it in stride. She's not used to getting turned down, to be honest, but she has so little invested in any of these people that she finds it hard to care one way or another. She shrugs it off entirely and goes to pour herself the last of the coffee and stirs in a generous dollop of cream.]

Then you can do me a different favor tonight. I want to hear about being a pirate! What's your crew like?

[Back to standing across from him as she sips at her drink.]

[hot_mes]

[it's a good place to be, Caedra. Granted, he hasn't made enemies of half the population but Law does keep his investment at a minimum as well]

My crew? The Heart Pirates. There's twenty of them, about half of them are idiots and we're all lucky they're not here with me. [he loves them but...] I don't know how to describe what it's like. It's simply how I live my life.

[abyssalarcana]

The Heart Pirates? Cute. Very un-piratey. Where'd the name come from?

[And he's alone here, then. Worth knowing. It's odd - from what she's gathered there's such a wide mix of possibilities, with some people arriving alone and others somehow managing to have their entire circles of friends and family dragged here.

She's not sure if that would be a good thing or not, really, if someone she recognized were to join her. Most of those she knows she wouldn't necessarily be happy to be stuck here with.]

[hot_mes]

[ahahaha that question. It always sounds so simple to ask, but the answer is so complicated and painful and not something he can even think about. Particularly now, when the antithesis of his reason for the name is somewhere in this very city, possibly even across the room. Law's face drains of any color, and he reminds himself belatedly to scout the room for that giant asshole.

Who are you aiming the satire at? echoes in the back of his mind.

Sorry Caedra, that is the worst question to ask, and it's a few moments before he can dredge up some sort of lame-ass response.]

Someone. Who meant a lot to me, once.

[admittedly there is also the giant heart tattooed on his chest but his button-down hides most of it. Just the top of the curve can be seen between the lapels.]

[abyssalarcana]

[Oof she looks for an easy lay and finds a guy who's still hung up on someone else and manages to remind him of that someone all within the span of a few minutes. Wow. She raises an eyebrow at him and just internally sighs. Still, if she ever needs to piss him off for some reason she knows what angle to push at.]

Right. Then - instead of that. Are you guys the traditional looting-merchants-on-high-seas sort of pirates? I want to hear about adventure. Since you won't tell me what your daily life is like.

[She hasn't set foot on a ship since she was a child, it's all so foreign to her. Her son was never that interested either but her grandson - the boy clearly fancied the life of a pirate, growing up along the docks in Hafeld like he did, and she remembers how he told her he tried to bring his ship with him when he finally came home to them and was so sad it stayed behind. That sextant he doesn't even know how to use is one of his most prized possessions despite everything Amamot ever gave him. It's oddly endearing, really. And so she can't help but ask, finding herself before an actual pirate.]

[hot_mes]

[oh it's not at all like that...the real story is much more horrifying. Child pirates, terminal illness, fratricide, etc.

He shakes it off and comes back to himself with another good gulp of coffee]

Adventure, huh? Yeah, more or less. Looting civilians is so unprofitable, though. It's much more exciting and pays out more to go after other, more powerful pirates. [dryly] The New World is rife with danger, it's ruled by pirates and Marine presence is a joke. I've been a pirate since I was a child, captain for ten years, and I'm barely strong enough to stand on my own in that sea.

[abyssalarcana]

[She nods, a lot of this sounding very familiar to her - just without the ships and seas part. A lawless world where might makes right, where if you're not the strongest then you had at least better be fast or smart to hold your own? Well or be in the good favor of someone who can do all of that for you. Yeah. Sounds like home.]

Ten years! That's a long time for a human. Especially in such a vicious-sounding place. So what's your secret, how do you guys manage to bring down other pirates if everyone's so tough?

[hot_mes]

You just have to be tougher. [okay, that came off pretty smug] Some simply push themselves to be strong fighters, some seek Devil Fruit to give them a leg up, others make all the right alliances. The ability I used to examine you - that's my Devil Fruit ability, and yes, I do use it to fight as much as for medicine.

[he came to the party unarmed against his better judgment, considering that going out unarmed was how he got himself obliterated and missed out on Caedra's demon fun. So right now, he may not look the part of a fighter.]

[abyssalarcana]

[She's okay with smug, so long as it's backed up with real ability. And he may not be armed with that sword she saw in the clinic, but he does still have the build of a man who can throw a solid punch. So many of her own kind prefer combat so close they forego weapons entirely to instead sink claws and teeth into their enemies. Most are intimately familiar with the taste of fresh blood.]

Tell me about the Devil Fruit, then, because as far as I know we have nothing like it where I come from. You insisted at one point that it isn't magic?

[It also doesn't bother her one bit that he seems to say outright that his abilities come from an external source, rather than something he earned through hard work. How could that bother her, when that's exactly what she did for herself? The resulting power and how effectively it is wielded are far more important.]

[hot_mes]

[Since most of what he could explain was, at least where he came from, common knowledge, Law had no problem satisfying her curiosity. He'd told several people about his abilities, though naturally he hadn't yet shared with them his weaknesses. That would just be dumb.]

It isn't. Once you eat a fruit, it becomes a part of you. The superstitious claim a devil comes to live inside you and gives you that power, but I've been reading up on government research so I know it's...well. As far as has been discovered, an actual physiological change. [scoffs] It's not devils. Each one is unique, so no one else can do what I do, no more than I can create fire or ice.

[abyssalarcana]

Devils! [she laughs] Of course not, though I know how superstitious people can be. Even if a devil was somehow bound to such a fruit, you would know it the instant it started trying to bargain with you for the terms of its release. Obnoxious creatures. No creativity.

[Not that she's met many, but it's an instinctual sort of hatred by now. When you're born into a race of people formed from the darkest core of the universe's sentient heart, and when those people have been at war with another race for tens of thousands of years, that hatred gets propagated rampantly. Although her reponse keeps a lot of her previous lighthearted tone, there's a certain intense acidity to her words.]

And so yours gave you the ability to look inside a person and ... manipulate, right? Something like that.

[hot_mes]

[that does amuse him slightly. Apparently myths about devils cross universes.]

True. The only condition you have to deal with is that the fruit tastes like shit. [a taste he won't forget, even after thirteen years] I'm a free-manipulation human. Inside my operating room, I can do anything. Both cut and heal, repair and destroy. Everything inside it, down to the smallest particle, is subject to my whim.

[that does make it sound pretty impressive, doesn't it?]

[abyssalarcana]

[In all the possible drawbacks she's heard of - and experienced - in borrowing power from other sources, a fruit tasting badly has to be one of the lightest. You got off easy, Law. But she smiles over her coffee, nods a little at his explanation, recalling what he had said before as well.]

That's a lot of power over a person if you can keep them contained. You've - you learned I can teleport, clearly, but I imagine otherwise it's the sort of thing a person can't just walk out of, once they're in it?

[hot_mes]

[there is one significant drawback but not telling her isn't the same as lying, is it?]

Oh, no, they can. [with a sly twitch of the eyebrow. Yes, he won't forget her ability to teleport, they could play a fun game of tag with that] But most people don't think of it. The mere presence of the Room sends them into a panic. They don't stop to think about how easy it could be to slip out of my grasp, and fall victim all the same.

[you want adventure, Caedra? He's got a quick related story.] I fought a Vice-Admiral, once, who wasn't stupid. He understood the range and potential of my power, and warned his men to get out of the circle. They all stood there gaping at him like fish, allowing me the moment needed to cut them all down. So, yeah. You can teleport, you could probably get out of the Room in a blink. I'd have to make it large enough that you couldn't get out before I could reach you.

[abyssalarcana]

[Mm, yes, that's more like it. That's the sort of tale that captures her attention, that causes her lips to quirk upward in amusement and hunger. Some day she will find these gods and eviscerate them herself, quickly and mercilessly, robbing them of any opportunity to protect themselves and each other -

She catches herself fantasizing and cuts it off. Focuses back on Law and nods.]

How big could you make it? How many could you kill all at once?

[hot_mes]

[if only he knew he was playing with fire, here...]

It has a limit, but I can make it large enough that the people in it can't see the edges, and therefore don't know they're in it. If I wanted, a good portion of this city could be inside it.

[not addressing the body count because most of the time, he doesn't kill unless necessary. Torture is more effective.]

It's all in how skillful I am with the ability. Raw power can be overcome by good tactics.

[abyssalarcana]

[Wow this is unfair because Law talking about how he could probably kill off most of an entire city of people at once absolutely makes her want to slide back over there and steal him for the night. Curse her everlasting attraction to power and murder.]

That's - fascinating. And you're right, of course, tactics are important. Necessary. But it sounds like you have plenty of both, which is even better.

[hot_mes]

[OH BOY...]

Yeah, well. What about you? I expect...one of those magic types, can do a lot more than just teleport yourself?

[fair's fair...]

[abyssalarcana]

[She's being good. She's staying put. He said no, and she has the common sense not to push. Some of her kin absolutely are not that merciful.

But this question, how do we answer this question. She's proud and tipsy and tempted to just tell him too much, but there's value in being hard to predict. Most of the people here have only the faintest idea of what she's capable of. Even those who know she can summon weaker tanar'ri, those who walked through ink-black clouds of pure madness, even those she has personally killed here know only a fraction of her abilities and she would prefer to keep it that way for now. The things people have seen already, though - word spreads fast. And she is proud.]

You don't spend much time on the network, do you? Here, come with me. I don't mind explaining a few things, but I'd rather not do it in so open and - populated a location. Some people here have decided they are my enemies, evidently.

[Wonder why?? Mortals take things so personally sometimes. She reaches out a hand for him to take, needing contact in order to teleport them both.]