hadriel_logs | Event Log: The Hills Are Silent

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Event Log: The Hills Are Silent

Who: Everyone!
What: The Silent Hill event
Where: Throughout the city
When: June 15th-20th
Warnings: Silent Hill comes to Hadriel, and with it, a few personalized monsters

On the morning of June 15th, a thick fog rolls into Hadriel. There's nothing quite terrifying about it yet, but it manages to drain the city of color, forcing a grey backdrop onto everything behind it. Feel free to go try to check it out if you want, just be careful, because it won't be too long until the sirens start blaring.

There's not exactly a reasonable explanation for where the sound is coming from: Hadriel doesn't have a speaker system, or any warning sirens in place for when something horrible happens. But you'd better find cover quickly, because shortly after the sirens start wailing, the city begins to change. Walls and furniture start to peel, revealing a bloody, hellish version of the city that you once knew. In addition, the monsters from the bestiary will roam the city, as well as a few other monsters that might hit a little closer to home.

Some characters may run into monsters which embody their own sins or insecurities. Some characters may be pursued by their friends' hellish mirrors. One thing is clear: you don't want any of these things catching you. Luckily, it isn't long before Hope makes a post, declaring the god temples as safe zones from all the creatures that are now loose upon the city.

The sirens will fade within a few hours, and the city will fall back to normal, the monsters will retreat back into the fog as if they were never there, and everything seems to be fine again, as if that terrifying experience was just some kind of twisted dream. You can tell yourself that, if you like... but that won't help much the next time the sirens start again.

► This log covers June 15th-20th.
► 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!
► Any number of things could murder you here. If you wind up on the unfortunate end of Pyramid Head's chain, please remember to hit up our death post!

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It's dark in the temple. Others are probably brighter; it makes sense for Fear's to be like this, though, preying on an instinctive apprehension about the dark and what lurks within it. But there's something that breaks through it a bit now.

A clear light shines off the toy robot that Near has sitting next to him, brightening a good twenty feet around him, then its reach gradually fading beyond that. He and Mello have had this discussion already; Near's magic isn't a secret anymore, even if some of his other abilities still are. Full disclosure is an anathema to them, who have been raised to keep things close, to deceive and mislead.

He's building with his cards again, of course. There isn't much else to do while he's here and it's an activity that usually keeps him content enough besides. He briefly glances in Mello's direction at those words, notes the set of his jaw.

"I have no intention of leaving." A statement of the obvious. "Where are you going?"

The fact that a) magic exists and 2) Near knows how to work it is weird, and something that Mello is still getting used to. He drums his fingers along the side of his leg, considering how to answer the question. If he tells Near what he's thinking, it will likely erupt into an argument. If he lies, Near will likely be able to tell.

"I told you - out." Mello shoves his hands into his jacket pockets, fingers closing around the handle of his pistol inside. "If I say anything else, you're going to try to stop me, and that's going to be a waste of time for both of us."

Considering where they are and how they've come to be here, that it exists shouldn't be a particular surprise anymore. But there had been no reason until the past few days to believe that Near would work it himself, to be fair. His life had taken more of a turn for the bizarre than Mello could have anticipated.

The answer to his question is a telling one; Mello has to know that, doesn't he?

"Fifth floor, spire three?" He calmly recites the location of the girl who had started this nonsense. No harshness, judgement, or annoyance in his tone this time.

"It's necessary." Mello doesn't look at Near when he replies, but what he says is as good as acknowledging that Near's guess is correct. "It's been several days. The gods have had time to come up with a solution, and they haven't. Neither has the city guard. Someone has to do something about this."

And that someone apparently has to be him. Again.

"Considering these facts, and a later review of what was said on the girl's post, I may be willing to revise my position on this."

Killing may not be Near's go-to solution for a problem, but he is no saint. On a personal or moral level, the girl's life means nothing to him. Much of his objection had stood from the belief that Mello had been acting on insufficient information. He still is not convinced what Mello plans to do is smart, but it's a far better thing than what he'd later seen unfold on the network.

He does not understand how people can be that stupid.

Mello doesn't expect Near to actually agree with him. This time, he does look back to Near, puzzlement written in his expression.

"What came up in the review of her post that made you change your mind?" Mello's been busy with other things, and while he's been monitoring the network for new posts, he hadn't gone back to Sharon's original message, even though (he realizes, now that Near's mentioned it) he should have.

Yes, he expects that Mello might be surprised by the shift in his opinion. But he keeps building. Calmly, steadily, no tremble in the fingers even through the enhanced fear effect in this place.

"There was talk of channeling and bolstering her power." He frowns subtly at this, an expression of disdain. "This is already out of control, and they decided to strengthen it."

How no one seemed to think this was a bad idea is something that Near has difficulty comprehending. If the idea had been well thought-out in the first place, he might have been more supportive of the strategy. But this way . . . this way hardly qualifies as strategy at all. There could still be untoward consequences to killing the girl; Near has not abandoned that belief. But they had to be better than what would come from amplifying the power that is already threatening them all.

Mello's expression darkens immediately, and he curses under his breath. Those idiots. Of course someone would think that was a good idea. Of course someone would let their hatred of the gods overwrite common fucking sense.

"I don't wanna hear any more bullshit from you about me being impulsive," he snaps. There's no strategy in this at all that he can see - he told Sharon that what was she was doing amounted to throwing a tantrum, and he stands by that analysis. Anyone with even half a brain should have been able to realize that creating a nightmare reality would only serve to frighten the people here, and that would give Fear exactly what he wants - power. Amplifying that effect is like dousing a forest fire with kerosene.

Mello sighs loudly. "Well, that settles it. She has to be stopped."

Edited 2016-06-19 16:22 (UTC)

"When I think you're being impulsive, I will say so." He will make no apology for what he said. He isn't sorry. Simply because somebody else made an even more reckless decision does not make Mello's rush to action any less than that -- a rush.

Near had never disagreed that Sharon is an idiot throwing a temper tantrum. But saying that to her had not been going to get any information from her, and information is something they'd needed. His assessment of the overall situation had been the same, the difference had lain in their approach to handling it, as so often happens with them.

"There could still be some negative consequence relating to her power if she's killed." Nothing defensive in his voice, because of course there isn't. Just a steady, even statement like he always does. "But in my estimation, it can only be more manageable ones than what amplifying it would cause."

He pauses in his building for a moment, a finger winding into his hair instead. "There may be at least two others with her. And she's stated she has a guardian that appears when she's in over her head."

If Mello is going to do this, then he should have the relevant information at hand. Have his bases covered before he is in that situation, minimize the risk. Mello so often fails to consider enough angles before he does something. Near is not immune to overlooking things -- he admittedly had missed something important back home -- but he is less prone to it than Mello is.

Edited 2016-06-19 19:01 (UTC)

Mello doesn't really expect an apology from Near, or that he'll say anything except exactly what's on his mind. He's grumbling out of frustration, and it's ultimately unimportant.

"It makes the most sense that if Sharon is the source of all of this, stopping her will put an end to these effects as well." That's the line of logic he's following - simple cause and effect.

Mello sighs again, digs out his phone from his pocket, and starts scrolling back through the network posts to Sharon's, chewing lightly on his bottom lip. "Did you catch any names? Or a description of what this guardian looks like?"

"It's not an unreasonable conclusion." That much, he can concede. It is a sensible thing to think, but it's still only one angle. "Or she simply started it rather than being a continuous power source and she would be needed to actively turn it off. Whatever limited control she does have could be broken with her death and matters become more chaotic than they were."

His finger keeps winding through his hair. This habit can be representative of many things for him: boredom, deep thought . . . worry. Not that many people would ascribe that last one to him. He feels a bit of it here, though. And he isn't sure if it's because of the temple's effect or Mello's plan.

"Kate. The other's name I do not know. No description of the guardian."

Utter disgust works its way into Mello's expression. He knows Kate - not well, but she'd seemed smart, even strategic, going off the dream they'd shared. Then again, that dream had involved blowing a hole in the rock ceiling over Hadriel. If dreams are an expression of desires, that suggests Kate's desire to escape is a strong one. Maybe she believed Sharon has the ability to harm the gods enough to force a way out. Mello can follow the logic of that line of thought, even if the premise is inherently flawed.

"In any case, I don't think it's going to make things any worse than they already are." Mello stuffs his phone back into his pocket. If Near's already read through and found the relevant information, there's no need for Mello to duplicate his efforts. "And the chance that Sharon's death will improve the conditions makes the risk worthwhile." So he's going. End of story.

He notices the expression of disgust out of the corner of his eyes. An indication that Mello knows that woman, or has at least observed how she behaves. Whether he'd had a low opinion of her to begin with or expected better of her is unclear.

"I dislike operating at this level of uncertainty." That should come as no surprise at all to Mello. It's the way he has always been. The fact that he is willing to entertain the idea at all is the strange thing. "You're clearly resolved in this and nothing I say is going to stop you. So you should at minimum do this as intelligently as possible."

It could almost come off as caring what happens to Mello. And the truth of the matter is that Near does. But Mello doesn't know that, and there is another way his statement can be taken and likely will: do what yields the best possible outcome. That much is certainly how Near thinks in general.

"We can't always have perfect conditions to work with, Near." That's a given for Mello, how he operates - make the best of a bad situation. And there's no denying this is a bad situation.

There is a third way that do this as intelligently as possible can be taken - as indirect criticism. That's how Mello hears what Near says, because of course he does. Mello knows his methods are extreme, and Near isn't the only one who has vocally objected to them, in this particular situation or in the past. Mello raises an eyebrow in response, expression immediately defensive. "Do I need to submit detailed schematics for what I intend to do here? We're wasting time."

The fact is that both of their approaches have their own merits, that sometimes one or the other is required, and sometimes a balance of both is necessary. Near had seen the wisdom in that when he'd been as young as thirteen, but seeing the wisdom and putting it into practice are different things. The case had only gradually proven that even further. Neither one of them would have come as far as they had without the other.

Near almost rolls his eyes as the defensiveness. Instead, he just unwinds his fingers from his hair.

"I'm not keeping you." He pulls more cards from the deck and resumes building. The additional information he'd provided had been for Mello to use as he sees fit, in order to proceed in the most intelligent manner as he'd just said. If Mello fails to see that, it's his own problem. "And as you've pointed out already, you are the expert in this area."

It still sounds like criticism to Mello's ears, but Near is right about two things, at least - Mello is better suited to this sort of task, and Near really isn't keeping him from performing it. Mello could argue further, but as he said, this is wasting his time. The sooner he gets this over with, the better.

"Fine. Don't leave." It's probably a superfluous thing to say, but he says it anyway, then turns on his heel to head toward the door.

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Event Log: The Hills Are Silent

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