⇨ The Tourist Trap: WEEK 4

[ringleaders]

Who: Anyone, anywhere in Portland.
When: October 22nd - 31st, 2017
Where: In Portland, for the last time.
What: The seasons change as the Winter Court seizes a surprise victory, claiming both the Tree of Life's pendant and the blood catalyst needed to take control of the Severing Ritual. Meanwhile, interdimensional problems are about to get more weird. Check out the conflict results for the attack on the Circle as well as the Beast's attack on the Summer Court here.
Warnings: Individually marked!

DAYS OF WINTER↴ As the end of October nears, so does the grasp of winter. On the night of the 22nd, it will freeze overnight, and the temperature will drop for the following days. As the night grow long, world-wide magic slowly reaches it apex, set to reach it on the night of Halloween. With so many factors at play, knowing what to do with that moment of power may be a challenge. ► FULL CIRCLE: The Angels succeed in their planned attack on the Circle, managing to get to the living quarters of the Council members with the help of Ashleigh Mischief. The plan goes without much resistance from the mages or from the demons attempting to claim the ritual object for their own. Of course, when the fae make a surprise attack on the Angels after they flee the scene, it has the surprise result of the Winter Court ended up with the pendant in their talons. Threads for this attack can be done in this log. If you need mod direction at all, let us know, but otherwise feel free to NPC demons, angels, or random Circle members as you require. ► THE QUEEN'S GARDEN: Realizing that the Rose Queen is distracted with attempting to claim the pendant, the Beast will summon her co-conspirators to raid the Queen's gardens. The ultimate plan seems to be to get the Beast far enough into the gardens to kill the Queen, while also rescuing as many changelings as possible along the way. As it turns out, this doesn't go well. While they do manage to penetrate the gardens with Childermass's help, the Rose Queen, Ignatius, and Nightshade happen to all be there. Seriously outnumbered, even by the Beast's terms, it will take everything the group has to just make it out alive, sustaining heavy injuries as they go. In the end they will manage to rescue Greg universe and four additional changelings that were imprisoned there, but any damage done to the Summer Court itself will be negligible. Threads for this can also be played out here! ► REFLECTIONS: As the ritual draws closer, the line between this reality and the one you came from will also be becoming less clear. Regaining memories is not required, but it will naturally become easier to occur, especially if you're already started receiving them. It's a good time to start making connections, while you still have the chance. ► THE SEVERING: One way or another, the Severing is going to make an impact on both this world and the lives of those trapped inside of it. The Angels are going to be making an attempt to interrupt the Winter Court's ritual, as will the Summer Court and Anath's forces. Whoever comes up on top will be the ones to decide what to be done with it. Yet, with news that the Severing continuing could cause irreversible damage to the planet's spirit, it could feel like there are no perfect options. There will be an event header put up for this by the mods closer to the end of July. (NOTE: canon powers will returning while the ritual is in progress, so keep that in mind for planning - both sets of powers will be active.)

Comments

⇨ INVESTIGATION THREADS

[ringleaders]

This is the final week! No directed prompts at the moment. This is your time to work out any final CR or plot issues before the finale fight comes around.

DON'T BE VAGUE. If you are having your character investigate something, you must explain what your character is specifically doing to find out information. Don't just say "I investigate the posters." You have to be more specific, by saying what your character is doing, such as "My character is going to ask around in X community where a poster was put up, trying to find out if anyone saw who did it." The more specific you are, the better info you will get in return.

You can also confront NPCs by this method, and you'll get summary posts in return explaining how the situation will unfold based on your actions. Investigation is important for this plot! Various boons and advantages will be given out for characters who make a difference.

Please restrict all investigation actions to one or two actions at a time. Please don't give me a laundry list of the five different things your character is doing, because it makes everything too time consuming to get through. Stick to one main thing your character is looking into per tag.

[insidescoop]

Assuming that Demons don't know That Much about the inner workings of Fae, could Carly's earlier investigations uncovering the murder of 'Winter's Claw' potentially lead her to realize that the ones that swooped in for the final steal are likely Winter Court Fae?

Also, could doing another net dive help her to find some way to help Anath's crew chase after those fae?

[hippocarnival]

Yuya, Yugo, & Gon will try and get into contact with Pru a couple days into the week, after the failed assaults and they've had a chance to compare information with other outsiders.

They have some questions: What are the details of the ritual to break the severing and What is the Angel's plan for making it work properly? Basically seeing if they have a solid plan/McGuffin for taking control of the ritual from the Court before they storm it. How confident is she in her current plan, because Yuya's extra worried about what either Court will do with the ritual and doesn't want the Fae to get it.

[kingsroads]

hey Nightshade, it's captain useless, here to bother you again. Strange'll ask Nightshade two questions.
1: cliff notes for the raid on RQ's gardens because he was off getting punched by angels during the item raid and has zero clue what happened but probably heard rumors or something and wtf dragons?
2: does she know where the entrance to the Winter Court's main base is? If questioned further, Strange will phrase this like he wants to be useful and sneak in and get the plot trinket himself, this certainly isn't due to the fact that he's getting memories and his original personality back and is feeling mad guilty about all the shit he put Childermass through during the event, why would you think that.

[whattaprick]

Lambert and Tamaki are teaming up to bug the Earth Spirit after the attack on the Rose Queen, with Tamaki relaying the following messages from Lambert to the Spirit:

1. Do you know a way to enter the Winter Court?
2. I want to help break the spell draining you, but I don't have the power to do it on my own. Is there any way you can lend us some of your power when we attack the Winter Court?

In addition, Tamaki, who hasn't realized he's not from this world yet, asks the Earth Spirit if any of the souls within it match the name/description of his real mother, who he's begun regaining memories of.

[periphrasing]

After the Winter Court attacks the Beast's supporters following their raid on the Summer Court, Peribat will attempt to follow the retreating BIRD SWARM and try to get an approximation of where they're headed/where they land.

[atouts]

And now for your obligatory "Childermass tries and fails to escape on his own if plausible" comment. Will he be at all conscious during his stay with dear old dad or warded and locked down six ways from Sunday?

⇨ RITUAL PLANS

[ringleaders]

When you know what your character, or a group of characters, is going to be trying to attempt when Halloween arrives, please let us know here. This can include things like if you are continuing to support the Angel Team, or if you are trying another route. The Angels will be continuing to ask for help from whoever will give it, and are open to hearing about new information regarding the situation - especially coming from apparent outsiders.

[tacosgay]

Taako and Foster are going to attempt to get control of the situation themselves, or at least to sabotage it so that no one else can; they're obviously going to fail, but they will be attempting it. Taako is obviously going to be splitting off from his previous support of the demons in favor of acting in his own interest, and in Foster's; once they set up their plans in-universe, Foster will be the main one acting, while Taako supports and defends him as best he can.

How exactly this resolves is still up in the air, but I imagine it's not gonna be pretty.

⇨ THE QUEEN'S GARDEN

[atouts]

As mentioned above, the Beast and company try their hand at invading the Rose Queen's garden realm, trying to defeat her or, at the very least, rescue a few changelings (and a certain warlock) that have been imprisoned. Their entry point is a dead-end flower-filled alleyway behind a florist shop rather than the more commonly known entrance. Basically, Childermass is letting them into the realm the "back way".

While they do manage to pull off a rescue mission, they take heavy injury and ultimately lose, even with the Beast probably turning into a cool dragon or something (who even knows). Enemies include loyal changelings, summoned elementals, and vines that would like to crush you.

Their point of exit (unless individuals leave their own routes somehow) will be through Portland's rose garden, as it's the closest and quickest out. Upon exiting, they will be met with a massive flock of corvids (crows, ravens, jays, jackdaws, etc), so many swooping down through their group that it will be monetarily blinding. Once they pass, the group will find one of their less-than-friendly feathered guide missing from amongst them.

[ THIS IS A CATCH-ALL FOR GARDEN ATTACK THREADS (also basically just a recap of what's already written above).

Feel free to thread out any portion of the attack or NPC antagonists here if you'd like. ]

THE BEAST TURNS INTO A COOL DRAGON

[npcarnival]

When the reach the core of the gardens, it becomes clear that the Summer Court fae must be waiting nearby. It's the center, the place that the elementals and killer plants seem to be trying to protect - and that's the exact place the Beast is going.

"I'm coming for you!" she roars, and moments later, she will grow rapidly in size, her body rearranging into the form of an enormous dragon. The remains of her old skin burn away, leaving glowing orange and teal marks run across her dark scales in patterns.

With a flap of her wings that will send those unfortunately enough to be close by flying, she'll take off into the air, dive bombing the central courtyard of the garden.

Yugo

[bananaspeedrider]

A - Setting what is Right [Closed to Carly]

[The Circle didn't see them coming as the angel stormed the place and took the pendant. It was almost too easy so it wasn't too much of a surprise that the demons attacked. And then warriors from the Summer Court added to the chaos. Even as he blasted away an attacker after they scored a vicious slash in the dark hide at his side, one of them caught his eye. Someone that almost felt as familiar as Noboru and Yuya had, but that was impossible, surely!

He had charged and they went back and forth long enough to stray out to the fringes of the fight. Yugo doesn't notice when the battle for the pendant is lost to a fourth contender from the shadows, but the guardian is too busy dueling with the warlock before him. It won't last long, he's exhausted and the wound at his sides burns with a fierceness that he desperately tries to ignore.]

You warlocks are all the same! Thinking a demon is the answer to your problems, when all they ever do is use mortals for their own gain.

[Stupid, is what this angel's implying of her as he snarls like the dragon he appears to be.]

---
B - To Rise Above Defeat [Closed to Gongenzaka and Yuya]

[First, Yugo had needed more time to recover than he thought. Demon poison does that. But once he feels the minimum of functional enough, that marked the time for him to regroup with Yuya and Noboru. However, as Yugo notices when he finally hovers his way into the Sanctuary- Yuya's not looking too well himself. Huh.

But that aside, the angels needed a new plan and maybe between the three of them... it would be easier to figure one out.]

---
C - And What is Wrong [Closed to NPC]

[It was about time, despite the swirling nervousness in his gut. Yugo knew he needed to try making things right with Reina. Emphasis on try, since by the time the angel is finally standing before the dorm's door. Shaking.

He knocks.]

Reina? Are you there?

[Yugo waits but predictably doesn't get an answer. But despite the question, he can sense she is and just ignoring him.]

I... I'm sorry for everything. I couldn't do kill that vampire or... do anything right for you.

And I still don't completely know what's going on, but if that makes it sound like I was lying about myself... I swear I wasn't...! And the more stuff that keeps coming up, the more it seems like I'm not from here entirely... That I'm not a real angel, let alone from heaven at all...!

[Whoops, someone seems to have fallen at last into the "whole life is a lie" realization.]

A-and there's a lot of others with memories that d-don't make sense with their lives here either. But I'm not asking you to help me go h-home. None of that matters if the planet dies because of this spell the Circle made and... I need your help to save it!

[Yugo listens for a moment, but something else comes comes to mind as tears start beading on his face.]

I'm... I'm sorry about Jerry. I swear that... I swear on my oath that all I ever wanted was for you to be happy. Whether I was really there or not, I would've been trying to save you both! I... I can't heal people, but... I would have saved him too if I could...!

... So please! [Definitely crying now.] It doesn't m-matter to me if you... never want to see my f-face again, but I don't want to imagine you being gone...! Not when even now I still love you!

---
D - [Open Wildcard]

[Have something in mind? Come at me!]

B

[hippocarnival]

[Yuya is definitely worse for the wear than when he left them during the fight for the artifact. He's bandaged, and lucky that nothing's broken. It doesn't appease him much, though, and he's slumped in a chair in the room, looking sullen and frustrated.

He gives Yugo a flat look before it registers who just walked in--and then he sits up a little more.] Yugo? Uh, hi.

⇨ THE BEAST: AFTER THE BATTLE (OPEN)

[npcarnival]

To her credit, the Beast doesn't give up easily. Even when it ultimately ends up being three versus one, she fights the other fae brutally, and until there's no possibly chance of recovery. It's only then that she will turn back, carving the way outwards and encouraging the retreat of her followers.

The Rose Queen gives orders not to follow. It isn't worth the risk of being tricked into a one on one, or some other trick the draco-fae may have up her sleeve.

When everyone manages to escape the realm, she doesn't wait up for them either. Those that exit at the same time will see her take to the air - most likely concealed from public eye, but otherwise visible to those with the sight. Her silhouette will grow small, heading back to the forested areas that she came from.

You can find her there after, licking her wounds. You might not want to rub in how terrible that was, though, because it seems like she might be a bit sensitive about it, with how mopey she's acting.

[whattaprick]

Seeing the Beast burst into a much larger form had felt familiar to Lambert, as had inevitably having to throw his poker at some fae monsters eye. In the confusion, he'd recognized her fucking off, but as a result of being somewhat too occupied with the whole business of a kidnapped friend, he hadn't thought to chase after.

So it's not until a few days later that he's hobbling into the woods again, freshly acquired poker in hand (though it would be more menacing if he also wasn't stopping every so often to lean on it and breathe heavily). Humans are so much more fragile than fae, alas, and don't recover nearly as quickly...

Of course, it's just his luck that when he raises his head, she's up in the trees like a sulky cat, and he reaches up to point at her with a scowl.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Closed to Taako

[control_freak]

The first couple of hours after the realisation hits, Foster is an incoherent mess. He destroys his bedroom in an impotent fit of mixed fury and anguish--he rips the sheets off his bed, flings open his drawers and throws their contents over the floor before hurling the drawers themselves to the ground. He brutalises the burnt remains of the pillow he'd inadvertently set alight just a couple of days ago, shredding fabric and cheap cotton fill and even setting them back alight. He does just about everything except punch a hole in the wall. But trashing his own space is just an act of powerlessness, and in the end, he's left sitting on his stripped bed, no more comforted by his pointless acts of destruction than he was before he started. If anything, he might feel worse.

His stomach--no, his entire chest and abdomen, everything inside of him--is just a knotted mess; a pit of horror clenched in his gut, a static wave of discordant reality--too-distant, too-real reality--in his skull. He wants, for a moment, to die.

It's only then that he remembers his phone.

Finding it is a challenge, and when he does, it takes him a couple tries to even pick it up--he's clumsy with rage, but he gets it in his hand and scrolls to the number he wants, his efforts scrambled by his nerveless fingers, but the message is short enough that it almost doesn't matter.

FUVK YOU

Almost.

The first time it contains a typo, but he doesn't even care. He sends another one. And another.

FUCK YOU
FUCK
YOU

[tacosgay]

Cellphones took Taako a little while to get used to. He's had three weeks now, of course, to adjust and attempt to learn how to use them, or at least the one "Justin McElroy" had purchased for his use, but it still catches him off guard when his phone goes off suddenly, buzzing and chirping out of nowhere, dragging him rudely out of his attempts to meditate where he sits on his bed.

He rolls his eyes, sighing heavily, and unfurls himself, reaching out to grab the odd little device from its place on the nightstand and see who the hell could be bothering him. Who even has his number anymore? As far as he can tell, "Justin" doesn't really have a lot of close, personal friends, which has suited his needs just fine so far.

"... ah shit."

Foster. And he's pissed. The question is, what about, exactly?

Taako can't help but feel like he knows exactly what. Still, he tries to play it cool. His response is slow-- he's still adjusting to typing, especially on such a little screen-- and he spills over his bed, preemptively tired from the conversation he instinctively knows is about to happen.

fair enough but refresh my memory whatd i do

Jonathan Strange

[kingsroads]

Team Angels & Team Fae, during the slapfight for the pendant
Strange got yoinked along to help out Team Fae because even though his track record is...less than stellar, it helps to have one person on the team who can actually touch iron. That's Strange's main role in the melee: take out anybody who's got any sort of iron weapon and take them out fast. Of course, he'll happily take out anybody else as well. Strange fires off magical attack after magical attack, mostly relying on force bolts for offense and barrier spells for defense. He plays very dirty and aims for the back of the head when possible. The main problem is that Strange is relying almost entirely on long range attacks. If any angels get in his space and are a little punchy, mage is going down.

ota, after the slapfight for the pendant
The Winter Court?! Out of everything, out of all the players in the field, it's the fucking Winter Court that swoops in and steals that pendant. Strange is livid, partly because everything feels a little bit useless now and partly because what the hell?!

Strange lingers around the area of conflict after the main forces have dispersed. He's casting spell after spell, spells of divination, of tracking, of location, anything to try and trace where the Winter Court birds went and how he can find them. It's not going well. It's not going well at all and Strange is just coming up with nothing. Which of course makes him madder which makes him try harder and cast more spells and forget things like he's in a semi-public place, leaning against a tree, muttering all sorts of nonsense under his breath and making various hand gestures...and also that people from other factions might pop in to see just what happened.

He also has one hell of a black eye that Strange hasn't noticed yet. Who wants to be the poor soul to point that out?

closed to rita, midway through the week
So maaaybe burning all ties with the Circle in a dramatic fashion might have been a bad idea. Especially since the only two people with anything remotely close to a magical library are the Circle and the Sanctuary. And considering that Strange hasn't been able to summon or scry on Childermass for the past few days, he's a little bit worried about where the changeling is. So, he turns to books, swallowing his pride and hoping that the Sanctuary has anything on penetrating wards or stronger scrying spells in the first place (and also won't kick him out instantly considering his...everything).

As he pushes the door open to the Sanctuary library, Strange's expression just turns on a dime. Because oh joy. Rita's here. And that's enough to make Strange just scowl, expression a mixture of anger and annoyance. He really doesn't have the time for this.

"Why does this keep happening to me," he complains to himself, though loud enough that Rita can hear, as he rubs his temple. At least he looks almost as bad as she does: Strange's long sleeves hide most of the bruises but that black eye is still visible and he still looks a bit sickly and pale.

wildcard!
let's rock! Strange can generally be found at his apartment, at the Sanctuary's library, or following birds that may or may not be corvids, heck if Strange knows just what sort of birds the Winter Court has an affinity for.

SLAPFIGHT

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's discovered something new about himself tonight--or remembered something? He's agile. Maybe in that other life he's remembering, he was a gymnast? It's a convenient discovery, because it gives Yuya a power to make some sort of difference: it means he's very good at weaving through the chaos without getting hit.

He's terrible at causing any lasting damage, and he doesn't want to. Even knowing what the Summer Court's done, enacting violence himself just doesn't sit well with him. But the angels were the heavy hitters anyway, and what Yuya can do is be a distraction so it's harder for the Fae to track which angel has the pendant. So he's made his way between the Fae, iron crowbar in hand as he swings at their shins and wrists to dismantle them before running off. Sometimes he'll find a vase and launch it at high speeds with his ESP at the nearest Summer Court, though that's not as effective as the iron.

He has, truthfully, no real direction when he has to keep changing pace to avoid any Fae trying to catch him--but he sees Strange's magic bolts towards the other side of the room and he starts making his way back there.

[amusicaladventure]

So Ash was on Team Angel.

Didn't see that coming. Actually, it kind of bothered her -- angels were goddamn creepy bastards, prone to hiding themselves behind Gothic fonts and good works so no one could see their real agenda. But for now, being on their side was the best available option. Pity they'd screwed it up.

She'd abandoned subtlety entirely; defensive spells and wards wreathed her, crackling with an energy and intensity that made electronics near her flicker and and supernatural senses tingle, and one hand idly toyed with runes and sigils printed on cardstock and cut out like a deck. Every so often, as she stalked the streets of Portland, she paused to murmur a spell of finding, hunting for angels she could ask what the hell was going on.

Her feet led her towards the Sanctuary, hoping she'd find answers there, but she welcomed anyone who dared to approach for any purpose.

[stillwinningthehardway]

Tallisibeth had gotten sunk into a research project all about fiddly detail work and comparing how classical glass versus pyrex performed in high temperature-stress ritual situations. She'd come out of that, dissatisfied with the results, to find that the Circle had been invaded and the mages were floundering around in disarray, some of them loudly making incoherent plans to take back something from... someone, others sunk into depression, or nursing wounds. The magical signatures of the invaders had been confused and chaotic, like they'd been of several kinds, and she couldn't make sense of what she was hearing, so the girl had gone out.

"Ash!" They're not really friendly enough for a first name basis, she thinks, but this looks pretty dire. "What happened?"

Papyrus

[spaghettimonster]

► FULL CIRCLE - for Sans

After more than a week, there's familiar patterns to the noises he can make out through the closed door and walls. Occasional muffled conversations, occasional footsteps, sometimes a distant phone. Today, that pattern breaks. There's outright yelling, and what seems like explosions.

Papyrus listens as carefully as he can for sounds of somebody in the hallway, and eventually starts calling out in hope of drawing someone to his cell.

"HEY! What's going on? Is the building burning down or something??"


► REFLECTIONS - OTA

Between the various vivid dreams, having almost nothing else to occupy himself with, and the astonishingly familiar face of his rescuer (basically accidental rescuer, but results count)... it's clear to Papyrus that he's remembering things from another life, and that he's not alone in this.

He takes a note from the book of whoever ran the animal fair, designs and prints out a poster to hang up all around the usual haunts he remembers seeing other familiar people in; the cat cafe, the various parks, the college. Even the woods where the fair had been held, just in case.

DO YOU RECOGNIZE THIS SKELETON??

(It's a photo manip of a muscular figure with a hand-drawn skull and several pairs of sunglasses added.)

PLEASE CALL (727) 555 - 9787 !!
WE NEED TO TALK!

► WILDCARD - OTA

[If you've got another thought in mind, give it a shot or hit me up via plurk/pm to let me give it a thumbs up]

[osteothropy]

This is actually easier than Sans was expecting, thanks to what was apparently some kind of internal corruption in the Circle - some of the other angels are managing to make a bee line straight for those private chambers, which means that Sans is working on scouting the periphery. Which also means he has some time to snoop around.

Which, he does! The Circle obviously has some secrets they've been keeping, and most of the time a Circle HQ would be off limits, even to an angel. No harm in a little bit of property damage between friends, right? He knows there were going after a ton of randos in the last few weeks, and so when he hears some cries for help and comes across some warded prison cells he can't help but be curious, and at least a bit sympathetic.

He swoops towards the door, and deftly cuts it off its hinges with a swipe of his angelic scythe. As the metal door falls into the hallway, the angel is left floating on the other side, staring in bewilderment at the familiar figure inside.

"...Seriously?" he asks.

⇨ THE EARTH SPIRIT (Peridot, Foster, Miko)

[ringleaders]

In the end, it's not really clear if this is how communing with the Earth Spirit is usually supposed to work. Maybe being from another world makes that impossible. Maybe the circumstances of the month make it easier, or the spiritual aspects of the world more eager. Either way, with the werebeast's efforts, there is the chance for success.

The Spirit will actively reach out to you, drawing your spirit close as you make that connection. It will feel like being in the presence of many and only one at the same time, and words will comes in the forms of pictures and concepts rather than language. Still, it seems like the Earth Spirit will seem capable of making some thing understood.

It will communicate that the world is dying from the strain of the a powerful spell being run off its energies - the Severing. All magic in the world comes from the Earth Spirit, at its source, but the demands put on it by this barrier has been too great, and is coming outright crippling with an influx of dozens of new entities. These strange souls found themselves on Earth, as the Severing had been devised to work from the start.

The spell had been made to protect the world from the fae, but the cost is too great. The mages that devised it could not know the damage it would cause, and their hubris led them astray.

You are not from this world, but the Earth Spirit implores you - please dispel the barrier, and find another way. If this continues, there will be nothing left for the fae to take.

Rita | OTA

[anti_nonsense]

(a: sanctuary, mid-week)

The operation to kill the Rose Queen was a complete failure. Rita was among the wounded, though she was fortunate enough to be taken to safety by her allies.

After a couple days of bed rest, Rita's only now gotten well enough to move around the Sanctuary. She walks slowly, and with a limp, but she manages to get herself to the common areas where other people tend to be. She's dressed in what looks like a loose-fitting set of pajamas, her wounds bandaged underneath. Patches of feathers are missing from her arms, though those spaces are covered by more bandages.

Whether she's sitting in the dining area or standing in the lounge, her restless gaze keeps fixating on the windows. Seeing how the cold settled in so quickly... her mind keeps going to the Winter Court, their abduction of Childermass, and their supposed plans. It's almost unbearable to have to sit around here; she needs to be out there, doing something. She'll usually be found with a book in hand, as the very least she can do is try and study up on some useful spells in preparation for her next move.

(b: wildcard)

At the very beginning of the week, Rita will be stuck in a bed in the medical wing of the Sanctuary, but she's available to characters who might be there, or who might come to visit her. Characters can also reach Rita through her phone to try to arrange meetings, and she'll be back to wandering around town during the latter part of the week, at which time she'll be set on wanting to interfere with the Winter Court's ritual, but may be in search of more info, allies, or tools to help her.

As always, feel free to reply with a different starter, or contact me through PMs or plurk to set up a different scene!

b. text message

[whattaprick]

[ The text message comes a day after the failed attack, if one could call it that. It's simple and to the point: ]

Still alive?

closed to yuya + rita, post-strange kidnapping

[whattaprick]

Lambert should have known that mage couldn't be trusted for anything. So please help me get him back, yeah right! He was an idiot to believe that. After some hours without a response from the mage turn into days, it throws an unfortunate wrench in their plans. At the very least, if Strange is avoiding people, he's not the only one: neither Yuya or Rita can get ahold of him, either.

A flurry of text messages and exchanging addresses later, they're here in Strange's apartment building, standing in front of his currently very locked door, contemplating breaking and entering. It looks ordinary enough from the outside, and there isn't any light coming from underneath, but Lambert thumps the door anyway.

"Strange! Did you accidentally manage to kill yourself?" he calls through the door, heedless of how that sounds. There is, naturally, no response, and he turns to his younger companions with a frown.

"Either of you any good at picking locks? Or do you have other ideas?"

[anti_nonsense]

Rita already vented some of her frustration with Strange to the two accompanying her earlier, so it's no secret that she's irritated with the guy. What kind of person makes a carefully-negotiated alliance with an enemy, then immediately drops contact? That jerk. He'd better be dead.

Picking locks, though? "It's not too hard, with the right spells," Rita replies casually, then says a few words and holds out her hands. This isn't her lock-picking spell, though; it's a magic detection spell. "... Hmph. Just like I thought. The bigger problem's going to be the magic ward he's got set up here." Fortunately, it's not overly dangerous to intruders... but its composition is a bit complex, compared to what Rita's seen before.

"Give me a minute and I'll get rid of it." Rita already used magic to break into the homes of two other magic-users in Portland, tampering with their magic protections along the way. She can probably crack this one, too. Dropping the detection spell, Rita sets about casting a different spell to attempt to dispel the ward.

open, early in the week

[puddingemote]

A: I'm gonna need some coffee and some donuts (outside the Shanghei tunnels)

Tamaki normally isn't the sort of person to take on dangerous missions, or to let himself be relied on by others. Or, at least, he thought he wasn't, but the steady drip of memories of another life returning to him have him going through a bit of an identity crisis.

Regardless of if this is something either himself or Other Tamaki would have done, he agreed to stakeout the Shanghei tunnels, and that's what leads to him floating a bit nearby the entrance, for the moment not doing too much to hide his presence (though he's ready to duck through a wall or possess a nearby potted plant at any moment). While he stands on the sidewalk, people occasionally pass through him and shiver, passing through a spot colder than even the crisp October air.

He's watching the tunnel pretty intently, although he sometimes shifts around and lets his gaze wander to other things. He thought a stakeout would be a lot more... exciting, than this. Movies cut the boring parts.

B: I walked with you once upon a dream (around Portland)

Since learning that his mother, who he now (somewhat disturbingly) clearly remembers dying, is not known to the earth spirit, Tamaki has been remembering more and more things. An orphanage, warmer and kinder than the one he grew up in. A dorm, full of friends who sing and dance and laugh. He thinks he might have been famous.

He doesn't fully understand what the memories mean, but he believes them. He's not supposed to be a foster kid who was abandoned and dead, no, he's somebody else. It's the first thing that's given him hope in a long time.

And along with it all are memories of a carnival. The people who worked there are clearest in his mind, of all the people from his other memories. Maybe he also worked there?

Sometime before his stakeout (or after assuming nothing goes horribly wrong), Tamaki is wandering the streets, trying to answer those questions. It's been some time since he's been able to move freely like this - maybe that's also an effect of his new memories.

And that's when he spots a familiar face; maybe it's a friend, or only someone he's seen in passing, but either way, there's a spark of recognition.

And suddenly, there is a teenager darting across the road to talk to you - luckily, that car that didn't even seem to notice him passed harmlessly through him. He waves an arm.

"Hey!"

B

[hippocarnival]

Yuya's staring, mouth agape as Tamaki crosses the street. Not because the car just passed through him, no, that's expected of a ghost--but they're not even close to the dorms! And he's not possessing anybody! Just how did he get over here?

"Tamaki?!" Yuya doesn't move to meet up with him because Yuya would, in fact, be flattened by cars if he got in their way. So he waits for the ghost to make it to the sidewalk. "How'd you get here?"

closed to sora;

[whattaprick]

[ The text message, when Sora gets it, comes a day after the attack on the Summer Court, as soon as Lambert's able to pull his head together and sort his head out. ]

Your vision's starting to come true. Have you started seeing anything else?

WALKS IN A WEEK LATE WITH STARBUCKS

[destiny_key]

nothing about that no
did something happen???

i know there was something going on but no ones telling me anything
are you okay???
is john okay???

OPEN

[espigeon]

There's a lot going on. Iuliael helped in the raid on the Circle mostly by being distracting, but in fairness being a flying mass of wings and eyes and singing loudly turns a lot of heads, even before you add the little magic he has. No one entrusted him with the artifact, which he'd been just fine about, so it wasn't his fault when it was taken. He still felt bad, and anxious about raiding the Winter Court.

So much more could go wrong but, also, there's the future. Iuliael is going to die, or something like that. When the Severing ends, there are a few possibilities. Perhaps his connection with the Dove of God will return, either immediately or as connections with Heaven are more formally reestablished, and he will once again just be the hand and eye and voice of a ranking seraphim. Or perhaps he's just plain not real and will revert to that werebeast Julien, and be nothing but a memory, he's not entirely sure how all of that works. Either way, he has little hope that anything of him, of the personality and thoughts he collected over the past agonizing quarter century, would survive.

The Winter Court's ritual continuing unopposed would stop avert, as far as he can tell. He'd live. That's not worth it. Even if the Earth Spirit recovered despite the strain, that's not worth it. But the angel is still going to pause and feel melancholy about this, and try to take in the beauty of this world while he's still here to see it.

Before they move on it, before he hears anything about plans, Iuliael takes the time to sit, human-shaped for a bit, admiring the sky and distributing the contents of a supermarket bag of dried lentils to a flock of pigeons. He's singing, of course.

[pipers_son]

Iuliael is singing again. Well. Joker supposes he can't be that surprised.

Tired, out of his mind a bit, and worse for the wear, Joker approaches the other angel (are either of them really?) and flops down to sit besides him. "So," he says, "that was a bloody mess, in all meanings."

Gongenzaka | OTA

[otoko]

[DOCTOR DOCTOR, GIVE ME THE NEWS- | ZECORA]

[As the boys had slowly gathered more points between themselves, Gongenzaka had found himself remembering far more than he thought he should. He had mentioned this, of course-incidents of time marred by what seemed almost like a golden haze and the sensation of being immobilized entirely. But there was nothing to be done for it, save perhaps locating anyone he'd seen in his dreams.

Zecora was one, he had realized. The name was the most familiar part, but the human aspect was something he swore he'd seen at least once. In a white room, surrounded by relative nothingness...

So as they prepare for the final raid they will ever have, Gongenzaka moves into the Hospital one night and asks for the good doctor specifically.

...And waits.]

[And Now The Time For Farewells | Sanctuary]

[He doesn't think he'll be able to take much with him. Such is the nature of dimensional travel, he is certain, but if there is anything he has pledged to be able to bring it is this puppy. The puppy seems relatively dedicated to the idea as well, and as such now has a hidden place inside the front of his jacket, head occasionally peering out as he gathers a few things into a bag. A game or two, a book, certain supplies for Belle-who he suspects may be under the same condition as himself, occasionally, with how she acts.

The bag is almost packed. But for the moment, he needs a break. Gongenzaka moves out from the room, sunglasses firmly in place. It will still be a bit before they leave to track down the Winter Court after all, and-]

MNH! [And someone was around that corner, whoops-]

[In The Den of Holy | Team Angel, Pre-Winter Court Strike]

[He feels out of place. It happened before, of course. A vampire in the den of the holy more or less, but they were so busy getting ready for a fight he'd... ...Well they were still getting ready for a fight, really, so it was just the same.

Gongenzaka anxiously looked from Angelic guise to Angelic guise, his very nerves wondering how fast he'd melt on the spot if every one of them around him released their true forms now.

It's a stressful though, suffice to say. But for more familiar angels, maybe they'll see a familiar face in him as well.]

[Wildcard: Got some other idea? I'm open to plotting, so hit me with whatever!]

[espigeon]

[Iuliael's not keeping to his human guise as well as he should. His clothes and hair are clearly fabriclike wings wrapped or held against a body also made of reshaped wings, shifting subtly and with any number of blue, blue eyes appearing and disappearing. At least the ones on his wings look like printed fabric, but he looks a bit of a resident of the uncanny valley. He's sort of illuminated, too, but that's pretty common in this gathering. At least there's not a big, visible halo.

Across the room he's looking at Gongezaka with confusion, humming something under his breath. Before too long he starts towards him, kind of flowing around people in his way. Many of the angels here aren't looking like normal humans right now anyway, so he doesn't stand out like this.

While the words are almost accusatory, his tone is more bewildered.]

Um. Hello. Aren't you a vampire?

FOR SCOUT - Recovery from mind-control - Probably at Axel's apartment?

[small_reservations]

After altogether too long spent unconscious, Axel blinks awake. He's got a migraine and a half. His body feels like lead. But, for the first time in too long, he's free and awake to appreciate it.

Then he starts to remember the things he did. He groans. Dammit. He hurt people, didn't he. Fuck.

But even that's overshadowed by the dull ache in his wrist and his hunger and thirst. Said wrist is probably handcuffed above his head, by his posture - probably with his own cuffs, which he was hoping to keep from too many people's eyes. He's not sure how long he's been in here, but when he hears the door open, he turns to face the light entering the dark room, squinting. The silhouette is familiar, but it still takes him a moment.

"... Hey sis. Where are we?"

[stillwinningthehardway]

Tallisibeth gives him an unimpressed look. She's draped in so many charms and amulets that she looks like a rack for them and clicks as she moves, her clothes stiff with embroidery. The first thing she does is to check the necklace she'd hooped over Axel's head earlier. The inscriptions on its many beads gleam; they should be inducing heaviness and lassitude to slow him down and make it harder to move, just in case.

"I was in the middle of something when you woke up, you know." There's another symbol pinned to him, alerting her to when he regained consciousness. "You've been out for a while. You'll be glad to know I've barely touched anything in your place, even though I really wanted to. Water? Awkward can-I-trust-you bathroom visit? Or maybe you can explain things for me."

locked to Sora

[pipers_son]

[It's around the time everything is going to complete and utter shit that his luck runs out.]

[Not that Joker really has had too much luck in the first place. But he's managed to scrape by for this whole month with minimal problems. Sure, he's been exhausted, and his mind doesn't know what it's doing half the time or who's most important, and he might have gotten some arrows through his leg at one point before anyone actually started fighting with each other over a magical trinket.... But he's been managing.]

[That stops when his exhaustion means he misses a demon lashing out at him, and the angel- stage manager, maybe- goes crashing to the ground with a curse. Everything is such a chaotic mess, both inside his head and out, and for a second he's stunned.... and vulnerable.]

[destiny_key]

[Maybe it was a bad idea, this whole thing. But Sora's the one who begged Joker to bring him along, and well, now he has to stick it out. But anyway, he wouldn't dream of leaving behind someone who needed help.

Even if that person is his own guardian angel.

He hears the crash, and the cursing, and whirls around to find Joker sprawled on the ground some feet away, and if that isn't the most unnerving sight, he doesn't know what is. Sora races over to Joker, dropping to his knees beside him as the demon backs off for just a second.]

Joker! Joker, are you...?