lostcarnival | ⇨ EDEN PT. 4 (FINALE)

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⇨ EDEN PT. 4 (FINALE)

Who: Everyone!
When: Day 89
Where: Eden
What: The Mirror is taken by the carnival, and several people from the carnival have been taken by Lilith. As Eden's Architects take sides, the battle for Eden's future is set to reach its conclusion.
Warnings: Violence.

INFINITE↴

When the Silver Mirror is taken, the war truly begins. Lilith had seen fit to take her time, gloating over the enemies she perceived as being no challenge to her power - only to sense the moment that the Ringmaster claimed the Silver Mirror and took the skies in challenge. The Ringmaster has taken on her half beast form, black scaled, winged, and horned, and wielding the Silver Mirror as some kind of shield. Only moments ago, she used it to blast a whole clear through the cathedral.

Lilith, realizing her mistake, has swept up the darkness created by Bezaliel and begun using it as a weapon against the Ringmaster. She has six silver wings that reflect light like mirrors, as well as strange, geometric horns. Ostensibly, part of the Silver Mirror's magic has been taken into herself, which means that even though the Ringmaster has the Mirror, Lilith still has control over it. She scatters the prisms containing her prisoners across Eden while she counters her foe, drawing on their strength to aid her.

Two godlike beings clash in the sky above you. On the ground, a war begins. What do you do?

► FAE VS NEPHALEM: While all of this is going on, the Ringmaster and Lilith are essentially fighting over the Silver Mirror in the sky. It is all very cyclical and unending, and just as outrageous looking as it sounds. They both currently have some degree of hold over the Mirror right now, which means the advantage is wildly vacillating between the two of them. You probably don't want to directly interfere with this, but who knows? Maybe you'd got something really cunning up your sleeve.

► EDEN'S ARCHITECTS: In the aftermath of the Silver Mirror being taken, the Architects of Eden are being forced to choose sides. At first glance, it would appear that Saraqael (wolf), Samyaza (hare), Araqiel (stag), Penemue (raven), and Armaros (spider) have chosen to fight with the Furies of Eden in an attempt to cast Lilith out for good. Bezaliel (bear), Shamshel (tiger), Azazel (crocodile), Chazaqiel (eagle), and Baraqel (stingray) have, alternatively, chosen to defend Lilith, and are attempting to convince as many Honorables to follow in their path as possible. Gadreel (dolphin) and Kakabel (axolotl) seem to be uncomfortably remaining neutral for the moment and seeing how things play out.

Not all Honorables or Scholars have followed the choice of their Architect. Many have been pulled one way or the other regardless of their kind, and are generally being accepted into the fight on their claimed side. You can NPC conflicts with random Honorables, but not the Architects. To interact with those guys, you need to do an investigation.

► PRISM BREAK: All of the carnival members that attended Samyaza's garden party (except Herbert) have been captured by Lilith after falling prey to a trap set by Bezaliel. Each of them has been trapped inside mirrored prisms that are now scattered around hard to access areas of Eden, defended by both Honorables supporting their maker and by mirror eyed dopplegangers. The infinite reflections of the characters inside the prisms are being fed on by Lilith, and she is tearing out as many of those reflections as necessary to do her bidding in the meantime. Each reflection is functionally a magical clone with no true will of its own, but will be able to fully mimic the emotions and powers of the characters they're taken from. They serve Lilith above all.

Each reflection spawned from a prism take a fraction of their host's spiritual energy with them, meaning the more clones that are spawned, the weaker the real version will become. The more powerful a character is, the more energy each reflection takes to make - so if you have a character with lots of powers, they will probably have something like 1-4 dopplegangers spawned, while characters with few or no powers will be going completely quantity over quality and spawn potentially dozens of mirror clones. Clones shatter and vanish when destroyed, though the prisms will keep spawning new ones until the captive is set free.

Captives, it's your job to NPC these clones. Captives will have no idea what's going on outside of their prism besides the abstract idea that these reflections are being harvested from them, and that's bad. The mirror clones will be attempting to protect the source prisms from disruption, as well as generally trying to destroy all enemies. NOTE: all captives will have returned to their natural forms by now (IE are no longer animals) and their clones will reflect this. Those missing "darkness shards" from their chest will also have had those returned.

► EDEN'S FURY: The Furies of Eden are striking back against Lilith at last, and it turns out a lot more of them have lingering rebellious ideas than previously though. Those that take up the cause of the Furies will be fighting on the carnival's side, so you are free to NPC some allied Honorables as well. You can also use the Investigations section to interact with named rebels, if you want, or to get an idea of what they are generally doing. Another potential avenue of investigation is trying to get the Serpent out here, as she'd be undoubtedly a powerful ally if cured of her curse.

You might need it. Now that they know of the fae, the Honorables and Lilith-supporting Architects have no qualms using iron again you! They will be utilizing iron in all possible weaponry.

► NEW, CONFUSED, OR BOTH: Did you just get here? Did you fall behind and now you're terribly lost? Don't sweat it - let your character be as confused as you are. Take the opportunity to make top levels asking other characters what's going on in-game, or check out the original setting info post to catch up. The short version is this: the carnival wanted to steal a powerful artifact called the Silver Mirror from Lilith, which was stashed in her realm called Eden. They did just that, and now Lilith is back and she's pissed!

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"Hmn!" There's no argument to that. Gongenzaka simply nods, firmly. "All I, the man Gongenzaka, am up for at the moment is to ask if I can have a cot placed nearer to the entry! I, the man Gongenzaka, can ask Marishi to keep watch from there!"

And beyond that, it's quite easy to agree to let people deal with it first while forgetting one's own habits. That is hardly the point though. Gongenzaka moves to pull his friend into a hug, not thinking of the hole across his chest. "...I shall remain safe, Yuuya. That...is a promise."

"I think your cot is fine where it is--" Yuya starts to protest before Gongenzaka draws him back into an embrace. His breath hitches briefly at the promise, and then he slides his arms around Gon's shoulders and tangles his fingers into a tight grip in his fur. There's new tears threatening to fall down his face, and he buries his face against Gongenzaka's neck to hide them.

He didn't realize he could miss his heartbeat until it was gone.

"Okay."

The tears have an almost ironic effect- with Gongenzaka holding him more tightly, rubbing his face against the top of the other's head. "...You yourself, will stay safe as well, hn?" he says softly, doing his best to comfort the other.

"...It is useless, if you are unable to return yourself..."

Yuya makes as muffled sound as he's further buried in fur, shaking his head to free his face.

"I will. I'll come back." He reaches awkwardly around to wipe his face dry, before his voice cracks with a light joke. "You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Hah!!" He can't help but laugh at that, but he at least loosens his hold for the other's sake.

"I, the man Gongenzaka, am counting on that, Yuuya..."

Bad joke or not, it works. Yuya smiles a little when Gongenzaka laughs, lingering against him even as his hold loosens. He lets the silence hold the moment a little longer, before he takes a deep breath and pulls back.

He gaze wanders up and down Gon's face, looking for signs of pain, of weakness. But aside from a little weariness it's his same strong smile. He really is still himself, still stable, and still so duty-bound that he's already deciding how he's going to help after being kidnapped and bound.

Yuya looks at him fondly and, absently and without any thought, pulls his hand around to gently touch the side of Gongenzaka's face where the pattern of the fur has changed. It's different, but not in a bad way.

Edited 2018-08-18 02:15 (UTC)

While he brings his hands to his sides again, he blinks slowly, and with curiosity at where Yuuya traces his fingers now. "Mn?" Having not seen anything reflective, he hasn't seen the changed pattern after all- so he's yet to realize his fur is any different up there.

But he doesn't ask. He starts to- but he doesn't, instead simply smiling. After a few moments of silence Gongenzaka will finally speak. "...Saah," he decides. "...Let us see if we can get the bed moved for the moment, hm?"

It's not more than a minute, but the moment feels longer for Yuya. His hand is still, but relaxed, and the tension in his shoulders eases out slowly while they look at each other. Briefly his mind blanks about the rest of the situation, and he grounds himself in Gongenzaka's gaze to stop panicking. That steady presence always helps Yuya anchor himself.

That much is the same. Yuya's gotten used to Gongenzaka's current appearance, because no matter how much the magic changes him his friend still comes through in his expression. That's his smile, the laugh Yuya works so hard to achieve, and the hard and steady grey color of his eye. Yeah, definitely Gongenzaka. His best friend that means so much, that he'd fight so hard to protect. And that's surprisingly strong in the face of what he's suffered, and Yuya's reminded why he looks up to him.

He's sure what he thought before was right. Anyone would be lucky to have Gongenzaka. Yuya would be lucky, to...

He blinks rapidly, suddenly coming to attention that he's just sitting here staring at Gongenzaka and thinking about how much he loves him. He pulls his hand back, looking bewildered and there's a brief blush at his cheeks just as Gongenzaka finally speaks up.

It clears as his gaze drifts sideways, skeptical. "Can you even move enough to push the bed around?"

Suffice to say, Gongenzaka has missed the entire epiphany. Or at least, the most he knows is that Yuuya began blushing for whatever reason, and now it's gone.

It's nothing to worry about, and as it is he has excuses to spit out. "Auh-! O- Of course! All that it is, is cloth and down...bed-frames don't appear to be the most common here, beyond artistic display..."

Communal sleeping means most beds are just pillow and similar. Between that and the fact that Gongenzaka's likely had to be improvised to begin with, it's about as simple as moving a mattress.

Which, granted, is still tricky...

It's the one time they haven't connected their souls, of course.

Yuya still thinks he should just stay where he is, but he'll relent this much since he's so determined. Yuya gently nudges him. "You'll have to get off it."

"AUH-!! O-Obviously!!" Yuuya you're the one who blocked him!!!

As it is, he's getting up. Not to lift it, mind, but to head toward wherever the medics are. "Regardless, I, the man Gongenzaka, must first ask the Doctor if it is even acceptable..." It's not that he would listen to a doctor over Yuuya regularly, but rather, if it means he ends up In The Way...

Well that'd be bad.

Yuya leans back, watching Gon with a hint of wariness for if he struggles to move. But he'll give him the space to go talk to Herbert himself, instead standing to wait by the bed.

The goose is, in fact, mostly staying out of the way due to a great deal of the arriving injuries being iron-based, so Herbert is standing up against a table in a different area than her, taking a moment to ponder whether he should run out and grab more thread again. He's not exactly low on it but there's been a slight lull in arrivals, so perhaps this would be the time?

He really wishes he had radios for communication like back in the Carnival.

As it is, Gon is coming over so it appears to be a moot point for the time being. "Yes?" he asks, pushing off the table to turn and face him.

"I, the man Gongenzaka, must ask a small question," he begins easily, nodding. He has a rather serious expression, and continues. "Given this is the location the injured shall all be housed, it is likely to become a target, yes? I, the man Gongenzaka, wish to ask if it is possible to move my bedding near to one of the doors- I can then send my Daemon outward to keep watch for such dangers."

"That's...the soul animal, yes?" Herbert asks, frowning thoughtfully. "Is it likely to avoid getting attacked--I'm not sure I can provide the, correct medical attention to a soul under these circumstances."

Gongenzaka nods. "Aauh- it is quite easy for her to avoid that; simply dispelling her form would be enough, and I, the man Gongenzaka, would know why she had dispersed herself. She can only move so far from myself however...hence, my request regarding the bed," he adds.

"Theeen as long as you don't exert yourself too extensively feel free," says Herbert, doing sort of a full-body shrug. "We do need the help."

"Hmm! Absolutely!" Gongenzaka replies cheerfully, before pausing. Come to think...

"Auh... ...I, the man Gongenzaka, do have a more medical question, however... ...Yuuya was fairly worried about...this," he gestures, pointing at the hole. "I, the man Gongenzaka, thus wonder...the fact that you have not commented upon it yourself, it must mean that it is nothing 'severe', yes?"

That or you have a great poker face Herbert.

Herbert would be dreadful at poker. He's quiet for a moment, just staring at Gon, but he is, in fact, doing another lookover with his x-ray vision, just in case.

"It's as severe as any of the, 'changes' we find ourselves with, a-as far as I can tell," he says eventually, after reconfirming his earlier assessment. "Your circulatory system appears to have rerouted around your new...orifice, and I believe your secondary heart is, picking up the slack--although I will want to check your blood pressure when I have access to my supplies in the Carnival. I'm sure I could determine a surgical solution, if you find it. Inconvenient." He would absolutely be more than happy to determine some sort of magiscience solution to keep that flesh alive via further arterial reroutes.

Or reagent, the usual fallback.

A surgical solution to a Hole in his chest? He appears to actually consider it for a moment, before furrowing his brows. "Hmmm...Perhaps it would be better to not- depending on what triggered such a change, I, the man Gongenzaka, should believe it better kept than 'forgotten' or removed..."

That said- he's taken the whole other matter of his second heart keeping up rather well. "I, the man Gongenzaka, shall gladly come to the tent for a 'check up' however- it is better to be safe, after all."

Herbert makes a face and raises his eyebrows. Very well! No experimental surgery, fine!

"Very well...I suppose we can't know whether it would reassert itself--after all, that's why I left my wings as they were. Wouldn't want to waste time. But yes, we'll want to be absolutely certain your blood pressure is sufficient, it's hard to tell by just. Looking. You wouldn't want gangrene, I'm sure."

Gongenzaka's expression, as it does every blue moon or so, immediately looks as childish as he actually is old. "D-DEFINITELY NOT..!" he immediately chokes, shaking his head.

"Th-That said...I, the man Gongenzaka, shall move the bedding then..."

That reaction prompts a very small smile from Herbert, although it's in cat terms so it might not be perfectly noticeable to Gon.

"Go ahead," he says, and gestures one paw in a waving motion before hoisting himself back up, looking at the thread again, and then heading off for another search through the temple itself. Possibly he's missed things on previous searches.

"Hmm! Thank you!" And off he'll go then, to do just that.

See Yuuya! IT'S FINE.

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⇨ EDEN PT. 4 (FINALE)

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