hadriel_logs | Event Log: The Hills Are Silent

Entry tags:

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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He leans back against the wall, eyes closed, panting from the exertion of having to run so much. Most of his focus is upon getting his breathing under control, but Mello's slip into British slang is impossible to miss. It's unsettled him this much, has it?

Near waits until his breathing calms somewhat before answering. His eyes open, and for once he's looking directly at Mello, though this is more of a function of the fact he is facing him to begin with than anything else. His gaze is calm and level as always, even through the heavier breaths. "I want to see your phone for backlog."

You will get your answers is implied in that request. Near will answer, but not for free. And even with this payment, Mello may well come out ahead in this exchange.

Edited 2016-06-25 16:09 (UTC)

It's weird, seeing Near look at him directly, like so much of what's happened since they left the house is so far from the ordinary. Mello's breath catches in the back of his throat for a moment, and he quickly makes an effort to push the feeling of absolute disconcert aside, taking steady steps to close the distance between him and Near. He reaches into his jacket pocket and produces his phone, holding it up but not quite out for Near to take - not yet.

"I want the whole story," he says, sure and even. "No convenient omissions, none of your usual evasive bullshit. Answer my questions directly and thoroughly. Deal?"

If Near's making a bargain for this information instead of telling him, that must mean there's something of incredible importance held within whatever story he's willing to tell in exchange for what Mello's phone will tell him.

That there are conditions attached does not surprise him. This is how they work. The conditions are a bit inconvenient, though. Of course they are.

He considers the situation for a moment, holds out his hand. "Deal."

So he says. How well he honours it remains to be seen. There are certain things that he will not divulge when it's not the proper time, but if the subjects never come up, he is not in violation of the agreement.

Most things are a negotiation, for them. Mello is honestly a little surprised Near hasn't already obtained this information elsewhere; he spoke with Ebihara, and she was apparently all too eager to disclose things that Mello would have kept quiet. Surely a girl like that would think nothing of a simple request to borrow her phone.

No matter; this works to Mello's advantage. And Near's agreed to his terms, so Mello places the phone in his outstretched hand.

"Start with explaining what the hell that thing that was following us is and how you know about it."

He'd had other priorities once he'd learned of Mello's presence, of the dreams. What Mello had known of all that had been the thing in need of immediate resolution. After that, he'd hardly left the house; it's rather difficult to borrow things when one stays in an undisclosed location.

Near takes the phone, crouches on the floor, shrugs the satchel off his shoulder. Since his magic is no longer a secret, he pulls one his toy robots from the satchel and holds his hand over it while speaking a single word of command. A calm, clear light emanates from the toy, the brightest of it covering at least twenty feet in every direction. The temple is dark, and normally Near would not be bothered by this, but there is an uncomfortably hollow feeling in his stomach and he thinks the light may alleviate it a little. Fear's influence over the temple, making him feel uneasy, he is sure.

"People plucked from different realities by supernatural beings . . . it isn't my first time." He stretches out on his stomach, flipping the phone open. "That creature is some twisted rendition of something I've encountered during that time -- the Indigo Illuminant, an embodiment of a specific type of magic."

There is an awful lot for Mello to process packed into what Near's just said, and what he does with causing the robot to cast illumination in the temple. His eyes widen behind sunglasses that he quickly removes once it's apparent they're alone in this space, and he allows himself a moment of utter bewilderment as he sits down on the ground facing Near, one arm propped up on a bent knee. He thinks, in a strange wave of detached analysis, that there is something oddly familiar about this arrangement, and he recognizes in the next instant that it's an echo of one of the dreams he'd experienced, the one he hasn't yet been able to neatly classify, with Near as a child, building a Lego maze and racing against him with toy robots.

It's not what's of primary importance, though; he pushes the thought aside and focuses on the questions that need to take precedence. "Where else have you been? Under what circumstances?"

He cycles back through the network on Mello's phone, to the earliest available post.

"Liminal Space -- a place between worlds. But periodically my previous hosts would drop us off for short stays in actual other worlds. To resolve some issue or affect some outcome." And in order to stave off at least one additional question: "It's how I've spent the past year and a half."

If Mello had ever wondered why he'd seemed to so easily believe so many strange things upon his arrival, he has his answer to that. They aren't strange to Near. He's seen them, experienced things like them for some time now.

There isn't much of the archived network available, only about a month's worth of posts. Mello's first appearance occurs in response to an informational broadcast from Chris, who Near will likely recognize from Mello's more recent argument about his proposal on killing Sharon.

A year and a half is a significant amount of time to have spent elsewhere. Mello feels entirely stupid for not having realized it - irrationally so, perhaps, because there is no good reason for Near to have disclosed that to him, and Mello recognizes that. If their circumstances had been switched, he can't say he would have done any differently. Still, a heat of heat irritation crawls up his spine, because he also recognizes that this is just another way in which he is so far behind Near, without hope of ever catching up.

"And one of these places is where you learned magic? How?" There is no doubt in Mello's mind that magic is exactly what he's witnessed. Magic isn't known to exist in their world, outside of the realm of fantasy, but it would be foolish to assume that was true of all realities, especially given the evidence, that Near is clearly capable of performing magic.

He takes his time, meticulously poring over every thread. Because honestly, what else would you expect from Near? Learn as much as possible, gain an overview. Faces, voices, and names are all noted where applicable.

"In these worlds, some of us aren't ourselves; we become the people who are our closest counterparts within them. In the world that creature is from, I wasn't myself. I was a practitioner of the type of magic you saw outside. This," he waves his hand dismissively at the glowing robot while he continues to review, "is a far more broad and basic type than the specific disciplines. Each coded based on colours of the visible spectrum. The one I practiced and still do, is Indigo."

He lets that sink in a moment, allows Mello the time to connect it to what he'd called the creature outside, the one he'd said had definitely been after him.

"When I came back to myself, I'd retained a few spells."

Mello is following all this entirely too well. It sounds like a bad science fiction film, and yet it makes perfect sense. Of course Near would learn magic, why the fuck not. Mello snaps at him, eyes narrowed:

"And when exactly were you planning on telling me you'd turned into fucking Gandalf, Near?" He huffs an irritated, sharp breath through his clenched teeth and rakes his gloved fingers up through his hair.

Near is fully aware of how absurd this all sounds. How much of it Mello believes is up to him, though he's yet to lie or to omit anything. And the fact that he can perform magic is not a thing in dispute. He doesn't flinch at the tone, because of course he doesn't. Mello being snappish at him is completely normal.

"It hadn't been relevant until today."

It's not that Mello doubts the veracity of what Near tells him - the existence of alternate realities is pretty much incontrovertible fact, given the nature of where they are, and he's already seen displays of magic with his own eyes, so that's an obviously true thing, too. It's more that he's stupidly, childishly angry, because it's just yet one more fucking way Near is ahead of him.

He can't really argue with Near's reply, though. It's smart to keep your abilities a secret. But it still pricks at Mello's pride, and he silently clenches his jaw in utter irritation for a long moment, until the wave of anger passes enough for him to continue his line of questioning.

"What can you do with it? Specifically."

Edited 2016-07-07 01:23 (UTC)

Mello does have a tendency to get that way. But it's fine, really. And the familiarity of that childish anger works to soothe the sense of unease the temple has instilled in him. That, and Near's own knowledge of how to deal with small amounts of emotion.

He still doesn't look up from the phone, continuing to peruse the backlog. In getting to the specifics . . . well, he might get to an omission or two. It's not like Mello would know.

"Well, you've seen the light, obviously." The pun is terrible, but also completely unintentional. "Aside from that, the minor tricks include simple things like changing the colour or taste of things, detecting magical energy, and detecting poisons."

He's actually left something out here, the spell that creates imaginary sounds. But he'll just keep that in reserve. Frankly, he's giving out quite enough information as it is.

"As to the Indigo magic . . . What I did outside was a dispel magic spell -- cancelling out nearby magical energies. I can identify magical items, what they do and how to operate them. I can seal doors and windows, and erase text."

There's also the Tactical Precision spell, but Near does not plan on getting himself into situations where he would need to use that, so why bother? There's certainly an overall theme to the types of spells he's listed, though: they're either analytical, utilitarian, or defensive.

In all fairness, Mello only really gets this way around Near, because when he's in his presence, Mello tends to feel overshadowed by him, as small and helpless of a child as he was on the day they first met. It's really no wonder he acts like a child around him.

Mello nearly rolls his eyes over the pun, intentional or not, but makes a quick inventory of the skills Near lists, and arrives at an important conclusion: "Nothing combative?" He notices the pattern, because of course he does.

Regardless of whether Mello gets that way with anyone else, the anger is familiar and comfortable to Near. That's all he needs.

"No. Indigo's themes leave little room for combat." Mental attacks are a different matter, but he no longer has any of those. The problem with the creature outside is that it very well might.

All this information is a fairly large paradigm shift for Mello, and he takes a long moment to silently mull over everything he's seen and heard since they left the house.

"And that thing that was following us" - what did Near call it? - "the Indigo Illuminant. What it said - 'so much less curious this time' - what did that mean?" He knows what the words mean on the surface; what he's asking is for the significance of the statement, an inquiry into Near's history with the thing.

He pauses in his review for a moment, lets out a half-exasperated sigh. It isn't at Mello, though. It's at the person he'd been during that Jaunt, for making the mistake that had lead to so many others. And to the creature outside seeking him out again.

"The person I was that time made an error. He'd known something had been amiss with the situation, but it was interesting and he wasn't going to get any answers if he didn't investigate. So he did, thinking he could handle it if something went awry." Foolish. He's surprised Indigo had found Liam suitable after such carelessness. "He couldn't. Instead, he'd put himself in the position for the Illuminant to possess him. Which is precisely what happened."

Near clamps down on the hollow feeling in his gut as he remembers this, all too vividly recalling his own consciousness being forced down, struggling against the intrusion and failing. Still there, but held down with no escape, no control unless the intruder had been willing to grant it. That's different than Infiltrating had been. Infiltrating is instantaneous, without being cognizant of it happening. Uncomfortable after the fact, but the process is essentially no process at all. Being legitimately possessed is something else entirely.

Not again. Never again.

Mello is, of course, oblivious to any discomfort Near experiences in recalling this episode. What he does latch onto is the fact that Near - or the person he'd turned into, at least - made a significant mistake, and it ended up costing him something important - his autonomy. And there's something viciously satisfying in that knowledge, that even Near is capable of completely fucking things up on occasion. Mello swallows down the urge to say something incredibly nasty, a how does it feel to lose for once? or something similar.

"And what happened when you were possessed by it?"

Near wouldn't have specifically expected Mello to say anything about it, but nor would it have surprised him. There are reasons that he does not let Mello know certain things, and high among them is that he expects Mello to use those things to hurt him.

But Near does make mistakes occasionally. He is human, after all, despite what some idiots wonder. Despite stupid jokes that would be traded through the House. He'd never cared about those jokes and still doesn't, but they do make him mentally roll his eyes on occasion.

"Once the Illuminant 'family' was reunited, they broke into Liminal Space to challenge my previous hosts -- colloquially referred to as the Trumps, as they're representative of the major arcana in tarot. Indigo argued against it, citing limited knowledge and the fact that they would be fighting an enemy they scarcely knew on its own turf. But they would not be swayed, so he joined them."

Out of a sense of pure loyalty. All of Indigo's logic and reason could be put into conflict because of this other intrinsic quality. It had known the battle would more than likely end poorly, but felt incapable of abandoning its cousins.

"The battle was brief. The Trumps pulled us out of our other selves and cast the Illuminants out of Liminal Space."

Indigo's initial actions strike Mello as not straying far from Near's own methods - he has always been too passive, in Mello's opinion, too hesitant, too unwilling to take risks without a guaranteed payoff. Lacking in initiative. Even now, in talking about how to approach Sharon and deal with the nightmare reality she's created, they've disagreed on methods, with Near favoring caution to Mello's action.

"And now one of these Illuminants is here, looking for you again?" He scowls, falling deep into his own thoughts for a moment. If history were to repeat itself, its goal in coming after Near would likely be the same as before. "How exactly did it possess you before?" Knowing its methods is essential in preventing the same thing from happening again.

Edited 2016-07-17 23:53 (UTC)

No, they aren't far off. There is a reason Indigo had possessed him. Or Liam, who may have been more fair-minded than Near, but ultimately little different in personality. An Illuminant seeks a host that best embodies the qualities associated with their magic.

And if Mello had chosen to bring up that little comparison of methodologies, Near may have been inclined to point out that Indigo had been right. The Illuminants had been defeated quickly and soundly, even when outnumbering the Trumps that had been involved in the confrontation. Eight-on-one, they'd made headway. Eight-on-five, they'd been nothing. And that had only been a fraction of the number of Trumps in that game.

"I doubt it's him exactly. He didn't have a physical body at all in that world without possession." That had been the whole point of the possession, after all. "His Source is not here. Going to it had been the mistake. If this creature can still enact possession now, I can only advise not getting too close to him."

It's frustratingly inexact, but it's the best estimate that Near can provide.

An inexact estimate is better than none; it gives Mello a starting point from which to begin working, at least. "So if Hope wasn't wrong, as long as we stay in the temple here until what's going on out there settles down, we should be able to avoid running into the Illuminant again." It's a far less active approach than Mello would like, but it's the best one he's able to come up with with the data available. Near had indicated that shooting it wouldn't do anything to harm it, and that's the best - only - weapon he has.

Unless ...

"You don't know any spells that would work against it?"

"I've told you what I can do."

With a couple of things left out, but even those are nothing that are much help without being able to do sufficient physical harm.

"And it's reasonable to assume that it can do the same things I can; we practice the same magic. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that it can also do quite a bit more. I only retained a small fraction of the number of spells it potentially has available."

Resisting a spell effect is possible; he'd managed to do such a thing before he'd been possessed. Countering and dispelling is possible, but those are defensive measures only. He has nothing that can harm the creature.

"I don't know all the ways your magic works, Near." As much as it pains Mello to admit this - especially to Near - he is completely out of his element when it comes to these kinds of abilities. "You could have a way of weaponizing something that isn't primarily intended to be used as an attack." And even though Near's agreed to full disclosure in this conversation, it's not like Mello is naive enough to believe that he's following through with it entirely.

"You have to consider the unknown variables as well as the constants in any equation. I shouldn't have to tell you that." Unknown variables like a fake notebook - that's what Mello's thinking of, what he doesn't say outright but the meaning of which he's fairly sure Near will catch all the same.

Arguing about this is pretty pointless. Mello sighs loudly. "Then it's settled. We stay here until this blows over, or until another more favorable option presents itself."

"I see. Similar in how I shouldn't have to tell you how to handle people." He isn't precisely offended. It makes sense for Mello to latch onto a mistake that Near himself has acknowledged as a mistake. The words are tossed off carelessly, casually, a reminder that they've both erred in ways that they probably shouldn't have.

"For the moment, that's best." Whether that changes, they will see. It's hardly as if Near would shed any tears over some terrible fate befalling any representation of the Indigo Illuminant. He's almost to the end of the posts pre-dating his arrival by now.

And with that comes: "How nice of you to provide safety for the people who are inclined to satisfy their baser urges while they're here."

... Yep, guess what post he's arrived at.

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torrefied - 2016-07-25 01:19 (UTC) - Expand

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