lostcarnival | ⇨ HELL

Entry tags:

⇨ HELL

Who: Vampire prisoners and rescue squad.
When: Evening Day 67 - Day 68
Where: Vampire Hell
What: The rescuers go to hell. Top levels are in approximate chronological order.
Warnings: Violence, torture, tryhard demons who aren't very creative.

RESCUE MISSION: HELL↴

The air smolders as you travel through the star-shaped portal the Ringmaster has opened - the gateway to the hell dimension that has taken so many if you. Ahead, you can see the grand entrance to Morningstar's fortress, a single point of civilization in the center of a barren, lava drenched hellscape. Of course, you won't be entering from the front. That would be stupid.

The Ringmaster's plan is simply in explanation but far more difficult in execution. Her instructions are that she will attack the fortress directly, and that the rescue team is to enter inconspicuously and rescue who they can while she engages Morningstar. She has provided you with silver weapons - daggers, swords, and some projectiles - which you may or may not choose to use. Shedding a trail of orange and green embers, the Ringmaster will sprout her dark, feathery wings and take to the air, leaving the rescuers to contemplate their instructions now that they've arrived.

The fortress is large, and as such there are many potential side entrances to find. It will take some doing, but the group will be able to accomplish it. Meanwhile, many of the vampires within will be distracted by the Ringmaster's now very audible arrival, and don't seem to be expecting a secondary attack. The initiative is yours, and the captives are there to be found... but will you succeed?

► GATEKEEPING: For those who don't trust their mettle enough to travel all the way to hell, there is an important job to be done back at the carnival. The Ringmaster's obsidian daggers have opened a portal there, but while the rescuers enter that portal must be protected - both to keep it from collapsing and stranding everyone there, and to prevent anything demonic from escaping onto the carnival grounds and causing havoc. If you need to take it easy but still want to help, this is a good place to be. It's also a good place for nervous hand-wringing about whether any of your friends will make it back alive.

► PLAYPEN: The cavernous pits where the neonate vampires are dumped, in order to engage in a survival of the fittest style battle royale where only the strongest and most cunning will emerge. Those that were turned during the masquerade were dropped down here a couple days ago, and so someone needs to go collect them. Try not to get eaten by the hordes of other starving neonate vampires down there while you're at it. Maybe you could even try to save some of them, if any seem worth redemption.

► CAPTIVES: While the supervisors were initially all caged together in large cell surrounded with a moat of lava, it seems that most of them have now been moved elsewhere. Where they have ended up is a puzzle you'll have to solve quickly - there are plenty of vampire sentries about to try to get in your way, and some of the prisoners may already be significantly worse for wear. If anyone has any powers that help them find people, this would be the time to use them.

► MINIBOSSES: Unfortunately, the enemies here aren't only capable of damaging the body, but the mind, too. In these particular cases, that corruption of the mind has been used pointedly to Morningstar's advantage - two of the carnival's most dangerous members have now been turned against it. If you want to get out of here alive, you'll have to go through them. If you're really lucky, you'll get them out alive, too.

► BOSS FIGHT: Before the rescuers and the rescued can escape, Lord Morningstar will arrive to corner them, with an entourage of elders. Let's hope that she gloats long enough for something to turn the tables.

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Well, he's probably not wrong. Sora's gotten knocked around pretty good the last few days, it wouldn't surprise him if he's hit his head once or twice.

He leaps forward, bashing a few more vampires out of the way as he goes. Geeze, how many more of these guys were there? He knew the neonate pit was overcrowded, but this is ridiculous.

"Haha, yeah..." he replies halfheartedly. Would Axel/Lea hate him when he figured it out? That was a dangerous line of thinking, and he knows it's not true, but in the back of his head, the niggling thought remains. They'd come to rescue them, hadn't they? "They really suck, huh?"

He's never too down for bad jokes, though.

Axel tugs down his hood as the wave of flame keeps the vampires back, and laughs. It's tough, maintaining this. If he were anyone else, the heat would wear him down, too. At least Sora can keep a light heart about it.

"Yeah, they do! When the wards broke, I thought I'd be run right over and drained dry!" Axel grins at Sora, ignoring the vampires leaping over the flames and... basically finding they're very, very hot. His smile fades only slightly as he flicks one of his chakrams at the now-burning enemies, not even looking as it severs their hamstrings and knocks them to the ground. "And they're loud, too." He frowns a little at the screaming, and calls out to the burning vampires. "Just roll around! You've got stop and drop down!"

The screaming is the thing he doesn't really like. Heartless and Nobodies don't scream, they're not human anymore, they don't even have the vocal cords to scream. And when he beats them, they disappear, not just... lie there.

Vampires are nothing like that at all. He winces at the screams, but he has to keep a clear head. He has to keep going, or else they'll never make it out.

"How did you guys break the wards?" he asks shakily, taking down a few more on-fire vamps, and then stepping back towards the center. He's pretty sure it's just adrenaline keeping him upright at this point.

Hey, hey, Nobodies may not be human but some of them have vocal cords. Some of them even overuse them.

"We took out the vampires maintaining them." A simple and elegant solution, but not a nonviolent one. It took careful planning and wasn't easy, but it's done now. "We're gonna get everyone out of here."

Axel, it seems, is having no trouble keeping a clear head. "C'mon, we have to get out of here. That scream will have gotten everybody from here to Hades on their way. If the others are still in there, we don't have long to find them."

"Oh," is Sora's response to that. "Wish we'd thought of that..."

But he nods at Axel's suggestion and beacons him to follow. He knows where everyone is, or at least an approximation. He'll keep going until he drops, if he has to.

"Be careful. Some of us are okay, but some of us have gone a little... crazy, I guess."

Axel didn't miss the we or the us there, and pauses, but follows. Behind them, them, the firewall sputters, but most of the neonates aren't interested in stalking them back into the caves, only in feeding on the other fighters (who are more than capable of holding their own, thankfully) or escaping on their own. Axel's blood, while drinkable, isn't the best smelling there is. Certainly not as good as a human's. It's not worth being trapped again for.

"I missed out on what led up to this. You've got a story to tell while we walk." He's not smiling now, the teal-ish glow in his eyes more visible in the dim light of the caverns. His hooves clop against the floor, and he has to duck now and again when the ceilings threaten to bump his horns, but he keeps his eyes on Sora.

"Yeah... I guess you just got to the Carnival recently, huh?"

There's no real point in hiding it, since Axel would find out sooner or later. And he doesn't think he can lie to his friend for that long anyway. He keeps walking, leading Axel through the caves to where he thinks the others might be hiding, but they haven't seen anyone yet.

"The Ringmaster was really pleased with our hard work, so she sent us to this... party world, for a week. For a vacation, you know? Except weird stuff kept happening... and on the last day, the vampires attacked, and..."

He doesn't think he can say it. He can't even look at Axel. Sora's memories of that night are fuzzy and jumbled, and he doesn't remember a good chunk of it. But Xabat biting into his neck is burned into his mind, and it makes him a little sick. Or maybe that's just his stomach rebelling against the lack of food.

"I got back this morning. I was home for a couple weeks in between. And last time I was here was right after a vampire attack, too."

He's not mad at Sora, believe it or not. He's starting to understand what happened, and he knows this wasn't his fault. He's mad at the other vampires, though, those that are little more than ravening dogs, and those that planned the attack.

"Lemme guess. They waited until you thought everything was ok, that you were all in the clear, and struck? That's their usual MO." He sighs and runs a hand through his hair, claws clicking when they bump his horns.

"Last time the vampires attacked, they almost killed me. That's why I got to go home. I really don't like what they do, but... I don't hate you, ok?" He's starting to figure out how his earlier statement could be taken. Even if Sora's got a lot to answer for, he can't hate him exactly. Even if he took Roxas away.

"Yeah, they... caught me off guard," Sora admits quietly. He doesn't like admitting it; hadn't he just spent the better part of two years on his guard? And he let himself go, just like that?

He doesn't look around at Axel again until he says he doesn't hate him. "Thanks, Axel," he smiles sadly. He knows how hard it must be for him to say that. But then, how many times had Axel saved him already? It was stupid of him to think he'd hate him.

There was a time Axel did kind of hate Sora, for needing Roxas, for taking him away. Now is not that time, and the memories thereof bring him guilt. It's not exactly something he's prod of feeling.

"Hey, they caught us off guard too, when they came last. It's not a big deal." He smiles back, even though Sora's grin is... toothy. Fangy, even. It's ok, though, the kid is doing well. Helps that Axel's not appetizing, of course, but he's got a feeling Sora would hold back even if he were.

Sora's grin widens at Axel's returning smile, then he turns back to continue leading. He stops, every so often, waiting for Axel to catch up with his gangly limbs, then moves ahead again, listening.

They move further down the tunnels, still not spotting a soul. Sora takes another look around, then sighs tiredly and rubs at one eye with a fist. They came all this way, and no one was even here. "I guess they've all gotten out already."

"Good that we checked, at least." He looks around. He sees pretty well in dim light, but this deep it's more than dim. He'll have to take Sora's word for it.

"We should get out of here before they manage to seal the wards again." Axel turns to face the way they came, but... It all looks the same. "... Do you remember the way out?"

Sora nods, turning to face Axel, then realizes that he probably can't see him. "Yeah," he answers, turning around and pointing. "Shouldn't take too long, I think."

Lightly, he takes Axel's arm and begins pulling him towards where he's pretty sure the exit is. The sooner they can get out of here, the better.

When someone touches his arm, he blinks, eyes glowing faintly even through the lids. He's about to smite when he realizes it's Sora. This place has him on edge; probably because of what happened last time.

"Good, 'cause I sure don't." He'll follow along, obediently, but... Sora will be able to feel, through his coat, his 'blood' pumping in his arm. It may not smell particularly good, but it's definitely there.

He can feel it, alright, and the only thing keeping him from losing it right now is that he can't smell it. Axel's 'blood' just smells like... nothing.

Axel could probably feel it too, how tense Sora is, how even through a light grip his muscles are straining and his knuckles are white. He's been on edge for days now, but he won't let himself hurt anyone else.

He doesn't say anything more, and doesn't let go of Axel until light begins to return and the sounds of the continuing battle reach their ears.

He can definitely tell his friend is tense, but Axel's not sure what to do about it. Feeding Sora's a risk, and he might react badly to Nobody blood anyway. It's not worth trying.

Instead, he just lifts his now-free hand to Sora's shoulder, and pauses a moment. "Are you gonna be ok to fight?"

Sora grins half-heartedly up at Axel, taking his hands back and digging them into his sides again. Honestly, he wasn't sure of the answer to that, but he had to try.

"Yup! I'll be fine."

"If you're sure." Sora doesn't sound sure, but Axel smiles at him anyway before wading back into the fray. "If everyone's out, we just need to fight our way through!"

"R-right!" Sora calls back, summoning the keyblade to hand and falling into a fighting stance. It was the least he could do to help.

With that said, Axel summons his chakrams, and the fight begins once more. He's glad he has someone he can trust to watch his back, it makes him feel that much safer. However, he is curious about one thing.

"Are you ok using that? I mean, light and all. Doesn't mix well with vampirism, does it?"

It does tingle in his hands, but it doesn't hurt. Not really, not the way Light would hurt. But he knows, can feel in his bones what could happen if he's not careful.

"It's fine, as long as I don't do any light spells."

No Light Barrier, no Spark, and definitely absolutely no Holy. Even Cure is more draining than usual. But he can handle it.

"Got it. Well, let's do this thing!"

As he speaks, he flicks his chakrams at a vampire. It's not a pretty sight, but as it was a starved neonate ravening towards Axel, it also isn't particularly gory. There's just no blood there.

"We've gotta get out before they call in elders or something!"

"Elders?"

Sora follows Axel's lead towards the exit, keyblade swinging. Out here, Axel's much more of an asset than Sora is right now, and mostly he's just bashing whatever the redhead misses.

... Which isn't much. Axel's been fighting with chakrams in some form or another for more than 10 years. These are faster targets than most and don't go down easy, though, so he's welcoming the help.

The exit is close, so close... And then they're out, out of the playpen. "Elders. Old vampires. Dangerous, they're very strong. We took one out last time, and they brought hell."

"You don't think they'd send them after us, do you?" Sora calls, right on the redhead's tail. It's much brighter out here, and Sora has to squint a little in the light, after being in semi-darkness for so long. He's completely disoriented, and in a reverse situation from earlier, completely reliant on Axel to lead him.

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small_reservations - 2017-05-02 18:13 (UTC) - Expand

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