Event Log: Fear Itself, Mk II

[hadrielmods]

Who: All characters participating in the event
What: The event log for the Fear Itself Mk II event
Where: All over the city
When: May 19th-26th
Warnings: None

It starts with a sense of dread- something that boils deep in your gut that doesn't quite have a place. For the first few days, you can probably just chalk it up to paranoia and doubt, but it's clear that something is building and ramping up, but you're not quite sure what... or maybe if you've been in this city for long enough, the sensation is just familiar enough that it jogs your memory...

It doesn't matter though because it can't be stopped. It only takes a few days before it comes to a head and you begin to see your worst fears- a person, an event, a monster... the thing you fear most materializes seemingly out of thin air to terrorize you. It's not harmless either, whatever it is can hurt you, even if nobody else can see it or interact with it.

Of course, that doesn't last for long either- soon enough, people around you can see your fear and you can see theirs. Is that better or worse? Maybe both, because your fears will begin to combine after a time into some fucked-up supermonster that will try to hurt or kill you both.

We hope you're ready.

► This log covers May 19th-26th.
► 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 fear winds up ending you, please let us know here.

Comments

Agent Maine | OTA

[bloodbathing]

It's the silence that gets to him the most. The silence and the cold. The absence of the voice and fire that used to be with him every waking moment: Sigma.

Maine knows he made the right choice. He knows that tearing Sigma out of his head was the only thing he could do. He stands by that decision, even if he does keep the A.I.'s chip with him at all times. It doesn't help with the silence or the cold, but it feels better than leaving the chip behind.

He keeps himself occupied. Hunting, mostly. Sometimes for meat. Sometimes for the kill. He thinks that the joy in causing pain is a new thing. Wonders if it was born from his own mind or the one that resided within it.

When the creeping sense of dread begins, Maine barely notices. He continues to move through his days mostly on autopilot: hunting, killing, and hunting again. When he's still, he's often startled out of his thoughts (was he thinking? or was he just staring into space, losing time?) by the feeling that something is behind him. Sometimes he looks first; most times, he swings around with his pistol already in hand.

The hallucination, when it appears, doesn't surprise Maine at all. Nor does he believe it's real. It's massive and white-armored, wearing a gold-domed helmet surrounded by humanoid holograms. It moves jerkily, as though its limbs are being controlled by an unseen hand. In place of its throat is a gaping maw of blood that drip, drip, drips steadily down its chest.

Maine knows it's not real. The Meta follows him anyway. It stands at his shoulder, always keeping itself within his peripheral vision. If he turns away, it appears in front of him. If he tries to fight it, his attacks pass right through. It keeps pace with him. Hunts him. Haunts him.

It's his future, and it is inevitable.


(( ooc: please read my ooc plotting comment if you want to tag the "hallucination" part! i'll match brackets or prose. ))

[uptightness]

There is a strangeness to coming back and finding that everything has changed. That in and of itself isn't new. Over a year she had been trapped in this place, and the scenery had changed. She had seen people come and go, some to return, just to leave again. And it is a dull ache within her, even if that isn't anything new either, knowing that Epsilon had, well, ceased to exist, again. She can't brush off that sensation, but she also doesn't wallow in it.

This place had given her another opportunity with many besides Epsilon. To have been able to see York again... It's bittersweet as well, but she tries to focus on the fact that here she had been given a second chance, even if it had only been for a short time. And, of course, Maine, who'd once had her back no matter the cost to himself, who still bears those mission scars because of it.

It's not hard to spot him, although stealth has never been something that he's been known for. They each have their own strengths and weaknesses, and blow for blow Carolina knows she wouldn't stand a chance against his brute force. Today though he seems... Not quite there? She's noticed it with a few people, although Carolina's brushed it off. Not like she knows too many here that well anymore, but Maine?

"Hey." As he walks right past her as if she had her camouflage on.

the hallucination

[roseofthetyrells]

[despite her delicate, ladylike appearance, Margaery Tyrell is a veteran of the first Null invasion. two weeks of a relentless onslaught, and she survived it while many others fell. and her skills with the sword and hand to hand combat have only increased since then. the Null are no match for the likes of her.

so when she sees the halucination of her friend, she sees nothing more than another enemy to be defeated. by any means necessary. her grandmother made sure to arm her with words as well as deeds.

so as the earth saying goes, "bring it on."]

I suppose you'll want to parlay? Or shall deeds be your first resort?

Trafalgar Law - OPEN

[hot_mes]

[While he wasn't here for the first round, Law's nightmares are nothing new. People who are still here and people who are long gone have seen them before, felt them, known his terror. He's going to be absolutely displeased when he finds out that this one is a lot more real than the last time.]

Phase 1

[the creeping dread gives way to the hallucinations on the 21st, but it isn't until the Bullet String clips his arm and leaves real pain, real blood, in its wake, that Law realizes this isn't the usual vision. It's a few days too late to assume Doflamingo might have been brought back through the Door so what is this? Aside from an immediate need to run the other way.

From the 21st to the 23rd, Law has a problem. He has work to do in the lab and the clinic, trying to create his vaccine and/or bio-weapon. But how can he sit still long enough to do it when he's being stalked by a nine-foot-tall pain in the ass hell-bent on killing the shit out of him? At least being around people abates it for a while, so if you're in the lab or the clinic prepare for a clingy surgeon of death who needs to keep people around so he can work in peace and not go running for his life again. He can also be found anywhere while trying to find someone to help ward off the vision. Too many more Bullet Strings through his limbs and he's going to become pretty useless to anyone.]

Phase 2

[when things change from abatement to enhancement, Law's only thought is to get away. He can be seen literally running through the streets, luring the phantom Doflamingo away from others so that it doesn't get the chance to team up with anything else just as bad. But, of course, even with haki screaming in his mind, pinging with every life sign around him, Law can't just avoid everyone without running into the jungle. If he does that, he will have to face his nemesis on his own. He nearly died last time, and every other time this nightmare has come to life. He'll die this time if left alone. And then comes the second nightmare...

...Kaidou.

Do you want your nightmares teamed up with nine feet of asshole or 30 feet of unstoppable, invincible, able-to-transform-into-a-dragon beastliness? Either way, getting near Law on these three days is going to end badly.]

[ooc: no need to plan just come at me, let's have some fights or just be fucking scared of eveything]

Deputy Pratt || OTA [cw: blood, gore, torture]

[theweakhavepurpose]

Pratt had been doing fine. Actually slightly better than fine, he'd finally been convinced that he wasn't a walking time bomb going to suddenly murder everyone. He'd been stockpiling food for the coming attack, he'd been at the range helping those who needed to learn how to fight back, and mentally he was more stable than he'd ever been.

Until he snapped.

Feelings of unease weren't new to Pratt, he was always a little unsettled and twitchy. But this was such a deep sense of dread that he found himself actually unable to function. He'd holed himself up in his house because whatever was happening was going to be bad.

And oh it was. It was worse than he ever could have expected.

Jacob was here.

In an absolute panic that threw any rational thinking to the side Pratt had bolted away, forgetting that his house only had one entrance and Jacob was between him and the exit.

"Where are you going Peaches?"

Plastered up against the wall Pratt had tried to convince himself that this wasn't real, it couldn't be real. How would Jacob just manifest inside his house without opening the door? But logic was no match for unbridled terror, and Pratt hadn't stood a chance as Jacob had very calmly approached him and grabbed his arm forcing him down onto one of the chairs while Pratt whimpered and stared wide-eyed, too in shock to attack him.

"It's alright Deputy. I'm here now, and we'll start your training up again." From the pocket of Jacob's coat he pulled out a small wooden box and began to wind it. "Don't worry. You'll be strong. I'll make you strong."

[Later Part of the Event]
Pratt has been absent for a few days, which for him isn't really unusual. Maybe nothing is wrong at all?

Though his house now features the message SACRIFICE THE WEAK written in blood across the front of it. Without an actual person the new artwork on the side of it isn't quite as imposing, but there's a training dummy that's been bloodied and trussed up, Eden's Gate crest behind it's head like a halo. And anyone who gets close to it will hear faint music that's oddly distorted. It sounds like it's echoing, almost like being played underwater. There does seem to be a source to the sound, it's emanating from the man standing on Pratt's porch. A tall ginger-haired man in an army jacket who has his arms folded as he surveys the area.

Pratt is nowhere to be seen but there is a trail of blood leading into the house.

Later

[uptightness]

It's another day in paradise for Carolina, with a sarcastic emphasis on the word of paradise. It seems that she had come back at a bad time, which might have been good, and better still that Epsilon, Tucker and Donut were gone. Three less people that she had to worry about dying (again in some cases), even though she missed the former a lot, and okay, the latter two as well, even if she still debated shooting Tucker and Donut on the daily.

Like him, she has been trying to get whatever supplies that she could, anything that would aid in the coming attack, or attacks. She'd been doing that already before her departure, although some of the items had been used, but she had a little cushion, which she knew wasn't enough. It never was, was it...

Unlike others, her feelings are her own, the same that always gnawed at her, that she isn't good enough, that she is going to lose those closest to her again, that- Well, nothing out of the ordinary for Carolina, but she had started to notice that something seemed to be going on, and escalating. And that? The writing on the wall does certainly catch her attention as the armoured woman comes to a stop, regarding the scene.

"... everything okay here?"

Later

[unphase]

[Tinya knows better than that.

she's tried calling him a few times to check up on the deer he rescued and when that didn't work, she flew on over to his house. she likely doesn't look physically imposing, being 5'6" and with a curvaceous build, wearing a ridiculous white sundress and sandals, but there's firm muscle lining her slender arms and legs, muscles honed by the past year, six months as a Legionnaire and six months here.

when she gets to the house and sees the artwork and the training dummy, she swears out curses upon the aliens under her breath.

when she sees the blood trail and the tall man in the army jacket, she immediately goes into a martial arts stance]

Who are you and what have you done with Pratt?

middleish?

[knifecollecting]

[Music is an unusual thing in Hadriel. Only a few people have instruments, and even though she has her one record from home, she misses music in general.

When she hears the music box, Jo pauses outside the house, curious about the source. She considers moving on but she is very curious.

Jo knocks gently on the door, stepping back to give whoever answers some space.]

klaus hargreeves 👻 ota 👻 cw: descriptions of gore / drug use

[substances]

👻 ghosts of the past (sense of dread)

It isn't like Klaus hasn't been able to see them the whole time he's been here, except those few beautiful occasions where he's been high. It isn't like they weren't fucked up then, either - giant snail things with a whole bunch of tentacles, half of them missing their heads or with their shells cracked in and making noises in a language he doesn't understand (or gurgling noises in no language at all, for the ones missing their heads). But they'd mostly left him alone, they didn't seem as obsessed with him as the ghosts back home had been, which was a huge relief.

Still, he starts feeling it build, slowly. More of them showing up, crowding in closer, gurgling and groaning at him, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. One of them brushes close enough to pass through him, and he yelps, his heart starts slamming in his chest and it never really stops. On edge, heart racing, breath coming in sharp little pulls, it's like being a kid again. Like being a helpless kid in a crypt full of screaming people, his whole body on alert just...constantly.

Any time someone bumps into him, he yelps, and it's not exactly uncommon to see him wandering around with his hands on the back of his neck protectively, and mumbling, over and over, "No no no no...no no no no no no..."

Or loudly shouting 'FUCK OFF!' or 'Leave me alone!!!' at thin air.

👻 against an army (physical attacks)

A few days of constant panic is almost as much as Klaus' body can take. He hasn't been sleeping, made obvious by the big dark smudges under his eyes. He hasn't been eating, he's shaking, he's fucking exhausted and moving is hard, he feels sluggish and disoriented and even when he manages to get his hand on some pot and smoke a joint, the fucking things don't go away.

He's trying it again, though, leaning against a wall with his back to it, shakily smoking the stub end of a joint he scraped together from a few roaches he'd kept, green eyes flicking back and forth as he watches them float by, looking at him and making those horrific gory noises, and then...one of them touches him. At first, it's just the brush of a tentacle against his ankle, but the moment it makes contact, it's as if they all realize what they can do, they turn toward him, all attention on him, and start moving toward him. Closing in, slowly but surely, and he drops his joint, still and gasping for breath, eyes wide, frozen.

Then a tentacle closes around his throat, and he screams, abrupt and unashamed and loud, bringing his hands up to claw at the invisible-to-anyone-else appendage that's trying to choke the life out of him. Vision going black around the edges, he starts kicking and slamming his fists until he hits the thing in one of its wounds and it makes a horrific squeal but lets go. Klaus drops to the ground, gagging, trying to get himself together so he can run.

👻 wildcard

Klaus' worst fear is seeing ghosts. For now, he is mostly seeing the previous hosts that were murdered by the Null, but he is also seeing ghosts of people who were killed by or close to the people around him. This could be someone your character killed who wants revenge, someone your character loved who died, or someone they couldn't save. It's pretty open to interpretation. Feel free to drop me a line on discord at coffee #6251 or at caffemisto to plot something, or just throw me a starter with your character hanging out and their own personal ghosts (details on how they look/are injured/what they might say/how they might act would be super helpful!) and I'll have Klaus come interact!

Ghosts of the past

[unphase]

[he doesn't actually bump into her. she phases reflexively and lets him pass on through. but she can see the look on his face, hear the words spilling from him, and she knows that something isn't right. she immediately stops in her path of what she had been doing and comes in along side him with a concerned look on her face.

she moves so she's in front of him, walking backwards, trying to catch his eye]

Klaus? Are you--no, of course you're not all right. Is there anything I can do?

against an army

[knifecollecting]

[The sense of dread never quite left, but Jo hasn't run into any of her fears yet. She dislikes feeling like disaster is right around the corner, but this afternoon it looks like the feeling is accurate.

She turns the corner to Klaus throwing punches - though she isn't sure what he's trying to hit. Instead of doubting it, she assumes there's something new going on. Jo has fought invisible creatures before.

It's hard.

He falls and she runs up, immediately ducking to check on him.]

Are you okay? What's going on? [She doesn't know him well, but she's not one to not help.]

ghosts of the past!

[pocketspa]

[Stands to figure something would start going wrong before the Null see fit to crash into the place. Taako felt like he was braced for it in the ugly way he's always braced for something to go wrong, but that didn't make the sudden shift to shit any better. He still doesn't know what the exact deal is- usually he gets a better clue off the bat- but that means he's on high alert when he does make it out of the house.

What he doesn't realize is that someone like him is a bad, bad person to pick up the dead with.

Taako's ghosts can probably be seen before he can, because he's got a damn lot of them. The immediate ones are expressionless, faces sunken in with something dripping from their mouths like zombies. Others can be found scattered beyond him- a goblin with a broken neck, a number of people heavily burned nearly to their skeleton, wisps of bodies left almost immolated. All in all, easily over a hundred, maybe more.

Meanwhile, Taako's none the wiser to nudge into him, looking down at who he's found and giving him a tilt of his chin.]

Hey, uh-- 'ss just me.

against an army

[braveoff]

Drake has checked in on Klaus a few times since this shit started -- his friend's been getting progressively jumpier, struggling with the increased ghost presence which is completely understandable. He's worried, but there's not much he can actually do besides keep Klaus company after his patrols, try to convince him to focus on something else for awhile. To eat, to try and sleep, all the basics that the other man seems to be forgetting more and more as things progress. Today's been the worst yet, though. Drake's patrol has been full of people getting attacked by their hallucinations, and most of the time he can see them to help but sometimes he can't and just has to hustle them away for some breathing room. It's been a long day of fighting and scrambling and he's sore and tired but not done yet. About another hour on this double shift before he can check in on all his people and try to get some rest himself, hopefully uninterrupted by his own fears attacking.

The scream he hears now is loud and desperate, so despite his exhaustion Drake breaks into a run in that direction, rushing to help. He doesn't actually except for it to be Klaus, suspended in the air clutching at something around his throat that Drake can't see. Shit. Shit, he can't see these. It's got to be the Host ghosts again, but now they're actually making contact, and Drake can't fucking see them to fight. This is going to be dicey. He's almost to Klaus when the other man's fist makes contact with something and it drops him to the ground, choking.

It's a long shot but Drake draws his axe and takes a blind swing at the spot where Klaus just hit something, and his blade sinks in there deep enough he has to rip it free. He knows it's better if he fights them -- it buys more time before the things come back, but odds are they're going to have to just bolt. He stands there with his weapon raised at the ready, unsure where to strike next.

"Where are they, Klaus? Can you get up?"

Kain Highwind | OTA

[dragonsgrasp]

[A creepy figure starts appearing on and off to Kain, dredging up his worst possible memories, making him turn and flee whenever he sees it. The figure does nothing but loom just in the corner of his eye at first, but as soon as others are able to start seeing his visions, things get truly horrible.]

[Zemus towers over Kain, the Lunarian mage zapping him with power and knocking him over with ease. Kain puts his hands to his head as he feels an all too familiar pressure building up in there, the sensation of an outside force invading his head. To make matters worse, as Zemus casts further magic at him, strings shoot out toward Kain, winding around and entrapping him. Zemus pulls and suddenly Kain is all strung up like a marionette, a puppet for Zemus to do with as he will.]

No... Let me go... let me go!

[But it's too late, far too late. Zemus pulls the strings and Kain finds himself moving against his will, the same as he once had done in the past before, only able to watch himself act, unable to stop himself from doing another's bidding...]

Hello, Kain.

[The figure finally speaks, suddenly casting off his cloak and transforming, becoming someone else. The puppetmaster, the one holding the strings, isn't Zemus at all... it's a darker version of Kain himself, identical in almost every way to the dragoon aside from the deeper-colored armor and overall more sinister demeanor.]

It's been a while.

[bloodburdened]

[Mariane comes around the corner in time to see the latter part of what happened, her friend strung up like a puppet and what appears to be another Kain standing before him.

she unsheathes her sword and dagger, both radiating frigid cold, and goes to her friend's side, body held steady in a dueling stance]

Release him. Now.

Lucretia | OTA

[madamdirector]

[ Things had been all right lately. Sure, the Null are coming, but she's not just sitting around waiting for it to happen. Maybe their strategizing and planning will work, maybe it won't, but at least they're doing something to prepare. At least she's involved. She's starting to feel almost hopeful.

And then one day she wakes up and that's all gone. There's a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she just can't seem to relax. Something is wrong, but she doesn't know what.

Until, suddenly, she does. One day she just knows. It's just like before. All the planning, the preparing, is useless. It's not going to work. She tries, or thinks she tries, to call people in a panic - Kate, Alphys, Cecily - but no one takes her calls. Just as she's known they would, they've turned on her. Her ideas aren't good enough. They're going to try something else, and it's going to fail. No one will listen. No one seems to hear her at all.

Things begin to deteriorate quickly after that. At first, running into actual people seems to help. She talks to them and everything is normal, nothing is going to shit, no one's actually dismissing or ignoring her. But that doesn't last long. Soon it's not just the dread of knowing she's going to fail. Soon she's seeing it, in real time. The Null are coming. Her friends, her family, are suffering and dying. And this time, there's no way for Lucretia to take away their pain. There's no way to fix it at all. ]

[restinglichface]

[This is just what Hadriel does to you, Lup and Taako know that intimately by now. Weeks drag on where nothing happens, where you can just live in relative peace, spending time with your loved ones and exploring this new world together. It almost feels right, almost feels like home. You think, just for a moment, that staying in this place wouldn't be the end of everything, that there's peace to be found in the friendships you've made, in the home you've built.

But then the gods of this place remind you again of what they're capable of. Of how easy it is for them to twist thoughts and feelings into real life fears. Barry leaving was never the start of Lup's hate for this place, it's just when she became more vocal about it.

Lup seeks Lucretia out just as she has the last few days, moving to one another out when everything feels like too much, when her chest tightens almost painfully in fear. Those first few days, just seeing Lucretia had been enough to ease the tightness within her, to alleviate some of that built up panic. But now the other woman comes into view and everything feels almost amplified, both of Lup's ears pinning back tight, her brows pinched tightly together.]

You look like shit.

[To be fair, Lup does too, after days of this fear swirling around inside of her.]

[sciencelizard]

[It's always something, with Hadriel. It's just not enough to have the Null coming- Alphys knows better than most that it's always, always something. She can't say she's used to it, or even prepared, but fear is something she's incredibly used to- so what's the difference to her on a normal day?

A lot, apparently. Alphys' fear has never been a person, but a place, because with the actual possibility of leaving brings back the paranoia of where she's actually going. At first it's subtle, a weird noise she can't place until she finally realizes it's rushing water. As it progresses, she knows exactly what it is, catches herself feeling the current around her ankles and the weight it leaves on her lab coat, the ever present dragging of it all down, down, down.

She's just trying to remind herself she needs to get through it. For... a war, sure, but get through it. In times like this, she's hesitant to reach out in case things get worse, but she can't isolate herself with the abject consequences of that materializing around her. So when she sees Lucretia pacing through the city, she pulls against the perceived current dragging on her towards someone else, away from the edge.]

Hey, I, uhm-- a-are you okay? Whatever you're uhm, seeing, it's probably not real, so it's going to be alright...

[roseofthetyrells]

[Hadriel is a wretched bitch of a locale. even at her best, Cersei Lannister could only hope to attain the heights Hadriel could obtain with barely a thought.

she may not be one of the ones Lucretia may have called for, but she's there regardless. to aid those in their time of need. and that is Margaery's purpose, put into place by a long lost love and cemented by another. whatever Lucretia may require, Margaery is here for. thank goodness her long exposure to the wiles of the so-called gods have left her largely unaffected by their actions.

she reaches out]

Lucretia. Take my hand and all will be well. I assure you of it.

taako | ota | taz balance spoilers within!

[pocketspa]

[Here's the thing about fears. Taako has seen so, so many horrible things in his life. He's seen entire worlds consumed and destroyed in mere minutes, he's seen everyone he's loved and cared about killed, he's died in excess of 20 times-- there's more to unpack here than most people have had in a single lifetime. And for those who know Taako, they know he takes most of this in stride. What single thing could possibly do him in? What individual item could be crystallized into something?

Perhaps, it's because he has so much.]

i. [forgetful] my mind is a safe / and if I keep it then we all get rich

[While the chaos of everyone's hallucinations seems to be overtaking the city, for some reason, Taako seems to be absolutely, perfectly chill. He's wandering through the streets, looking at everything as he goes, trying to take notes and speaking not into his phone, but into what seems like a rock in his hand as he goes.]

Hey, one of you fucks better pick up, you can't just leave your wizard in some forest--

[He stops to shake it a little bit, as if that's going to do anything, before sighing and jamming it back into his pocket. Well, that's not working. Turning his head, he points at whoever the nearest person he sees is.]

Hey! Hey, you, why can't I get a signal out of this hell forest? If I'm in this humidity any longer it's gonna kill my complexion.

[No matter who you are, or how you might know him, this Taako will see you with no recognition in his eyes, a flat sort of look that doesn't seem to recall anything, let alone you.

Because of course, what could scare someone more than forgetting everything they had, and remembering all they forgot?]

ii. [forgetting] if home is where the heart is / then we're all just fucked

[When he remembers, he's distraught.

It's the one thing he thought this place could never do-- sure, there were times where he was overridden, but not forgetting Lup. Not going back to the person he was forced to inhabit for so long, a man so distanced from himself it felt unreal. But of course, there's always room for it to get worse, so it does. Because when you'll find Taako next for whatever reason, he'll be a little hard to focus on. It's almost like he's fuzzy around the edges, something not quite right with his grin, or his stance. It doesn't matter if you've found him out shopping, or trying to unwind at the lake with a makeshift fishing pole, things just seem a little... not right.

It's subtle, at first; details are fuzzy, physically or mentally, like they can be seen but not focused on. It'll progress to losing time, forgetting things that were done or gained with him, until eventually you may even begin to physically see the static clouding through your mind.

And unless it can be broken, well. Maybe you'll forget you were speaking to anyone at all.]

iii. [wildcard] i've got a lot of friends who are stars / but some are just black holes

[In basic, Taako's greatest fear is memory and loneliness; he's afraid of being alone, and afraid of forgetting his bonds in the way he was severed from them for a long time back in canon. For the first prompt, he'll have forgotten a large chunk of his memories like he did for most of canon, and in the second it'll be your character slowly forgetting him, instead. Wanna do something else? Something not make sense? Have an idea? Hit me up via PM or cancerously!]

ii.

[bloodburdened]

[Mariane sees him, hears him, but. as much as she searches her mind, she doesn't know him.

he is an elf, that much is plain, but he's not dressed like any elf she's seen from the alienages. so she's fairly confused as to why he's addressing her familiarly]

...I beg your pardon?

i;

[restinglichface]

[What's the worst that could happen when both of the twins' greatest fears combine?

The city's in absolute chaos - again - and Lup manages to find her brother talking into a rock. Great, the perfect start to another Hadriel event.]

I can't believe I let myself be seen with you.

[It's a joke, these types of dumb quips always are, but there's a sharpness to her tone that only her brother would take for the fear that's been curling up tight inside of her the last few days, weighted and heavy against her chest. When she's alone, she sees the inside of that damn umbrella, feels forgotten and alone, thinks that everything that's happened was in her head and that she never actually managed to escape that place at all. That the Hunger is descending upon the world outside of her prison, that she's forced to just sit and listen while everyone she loves is killed by a monster they can't even see.

But then she finds someone and it all goes away, simple as that. Lup finds her breathing comes easier when she's near someone else, that the dark curtains of that room are replaced with this planet's warm sun against her skin, with the reminders that their world is right where they left it, still safe.

So when that tightness creeps up, she goes to find Taako, expecting it to immediately flee in his presence. For once, it does not.

Lup's mouth is already opening, no doubt to deliver another sharp snap back about the rock in his pocket, when her twin brother turns to face her without a hint of recognition for her in his eyes. The fear that's already been swirling inside of her tightens so hard it feels painful to even breathe, both of Lup's long ears pinning back. When she speaks, it's both angry and terrified, a hint of a tremble in her tone.]

Don't be a dick, Taako! This isn't fucking funny.

Fingon | OTA

[utulien_aure]

Dead Winter Reigns

[Did anyone miss the Ice Planet? No?

Fingon didn't either- so when he wakes one morning to find himself covered in frost, it proves a distinctly jarring experience. For a while he manages to beat it off, sticking to the areas near other people- the shooting range, the shops, the Speakeasy.

But around him increasingly the temperature plummets well past freezing, snow begins to coat the ground- and most of all, there's a strange sensation when people walk nearby, as though the ground is ice about to crack. ]

Tears Unnumbered

[It's the last day of this madness and there are corpses all about. No one anyone else in Hadriel knows- although given the bloodied, burnt, caved-in state of the bodies, who could tell anyway?

Either way, perhaps the corpses shouldn't be the biggest concern going at the moment- as looming over them all is a terrible creature made of flame and shadow, holding a great black axe in its grip.

A Balrog has come to Hadriel- and maybe it's for the best that it, and the elf who called it out of ruinous memory, leave the city for now and get out into the jungle....]

Angus McDonald | OTA | CW for bad dads, implied emotional abuse/neglect

[hellosirs]

Earlier

[ Angus doesn't think much of the creeping dread, at first. He's faced his fears several times over in Hadriel, and now that he has a family and future ahead of him, he's pretty sure he can handle whatever comes next... right up until he sees his father's reflection glaring coldly at him from a shop window.

His father, who is just as imposing, strict and disapproving as ever. His father, who barely spoke to him on a good day, and who up until the Voidfish broadcast his de-facto family's adventures across the universe, had still assumed that he was in boarding school for the last year rather than living on the moon (not that the man had ever checked, but Angus is kicking himself now for never having thought of this eventuality). His father, who once expected him to be the perfect trophy son, and who does not look very happy to see him as he approaches.

Angus freezes up for a moment, then bolts.

Over the next few days, anyone who knows Angus will notice that his habitual formality has been turned up to 11; his posture is ramrod straight but full of nervous tension, he's downright obsessive about calling people 'sir' and 'ma'am', and if he is less than meticulously polite to someone, he trips over himself apologizing. More than that, he's extremely jumpy and keeps glancing over his shoulder, like he's being followed. He knows (or at least, really really hopes) that this can't be real, and the more he stays by his friends, the less he sees of his estranged biological family. He'd like to keep it that way. ]


Later on

[ The longer this goes on, the more Angus is convinced that he's either going crazy, or that his father really did turn up here on the last Arrival day. Either way, he can't avoid the man forever, and the next time Angus leaves the house, Mr. McDonald is suddenly there with a hand firmly gripping his shoulder, leading him away down the street.

'What do you think you're doing, young man?" he says, and the words hit Angus like a bucket of ice water. "You are in a lot of trouble. It's time to stop this foolishness and come home."

Angus digs his heels in and shakes his head, and says "I'd really rather not, Sir." It's not much, but it's been so long since they've spoken that it's the best he can manage.

(Needless to say, any help getting out of this situation would be greatly appreciated!) ]

later on

[outofthefire]

[Laura is out and about, on her way to a shift at the Speakeasy when she crosses paths with Angus and--is that his father? she thinks she remembers seeing him in one of the other bits of Hadriel bull.

Angus' dad's attitude is enough to make her grateful that she's started carrying her bow and arrows around with her always.

she doesn't draw yet, hoping that her presence and the fact that she's armed will make the guy back off]

Hey, mister. He said he'd rather not. You might wanna listen to him.

lup l open l taz balance spoilers

[restinglichface]

i. [relief - early on] it's under my skin but out of my hands;

[It starts with a feeling.

Lup's only just begun to feel a touch of relief from her husband's abrupt disappearance when a new sense of dread sets in. It creeps like an icy chill, smothering the fire that's always ruled her life, numbing the woman's every thought. At first, it feels like she's floating by, completely out of touch with the world, trapped in her own head until she can finally find the strength to shake herself free, apprehension heavy like a weight in her belly.

It starts with a feeling, but it quickly shifts into so much more.

As suddenly as it began, Lup sees that black curtained-room, trapped right back inside of it all over again, a sight that leaves her frozen in place. It's as if she's never left, as if everything that's happened over the last year's been in her head. She never actually escaped in time to save the world, did she? Has everything that's happened since just been a hallucination this whole time, making a life in Faerun, her time here in Hadriel, her whole family safe and sound? Is any of it fucking real?

Out and about in the city, Lup can be found in one of these trances, standing completely still besides the tremble in her skinny frame, whether it's in the middle of a busy pathway or out in the jungle itself. She won't snap out of it until someone else appears to finally break her free.]

ii. [trapped - later] i'll tear it apart but i won't understand;

[All it takes is a few days before her hallucination spreads to those around her.

One moment you're in your perfect jungle setting, a little humid but as homey as Hadriel ever is, but coming to the tranced elf takes all of that away. Suddenly, you're trapped in that dark room along with her, the dense trees giving way to heavy curtains, trapping the pair in completely. There's no way out. Tear at the curtains, try to set them aflame, twist your way through them, nothing works.

Lup doesn't look like she'll be much help in getting free of this place, the heels of her palms pressed tight against her eyes, just as she curls downwards towards the ground, trembling in fear.]

No, no, no... Not again, not again.

iii. [wildcard];
[OOC: Hit me up with any prompt or for plotting at meyggy]

later

[knifecollecting]

[Jo doesn't like how still Lup is standing. There's always too much happening in Hadriel for that to be a good sign.

Especially after some of the other things she's heard about this week.

She approaches carefully, trying to figure out if the elf is staring at something specific.]

Lup? [She gets close enough to touch Lup's sleeve and everything disappears. Black...curtains?

What the hell?]

Lup. [Now she's on the ground, so Jo kneels to shake her gently.]