[he mutters, shivering after the rain touches him. it's draining, but-- they have to keep going. he needs to. so-
emet-selch musters his strength, fighting against that illness to start working on crossing; he can still manage, with his good arm, to move planks around just long enough to get them settled.
let's get movin'. let's also hope these will, uh, support 500 pounds of person if they're the only way to get across here.]
[ You got me. My entire CYOA is just a horror toilet. But good work on the efficiency guys, just in time because as you barricade, the growling and sounds from the creatures you just trapped within start banging against the doorways in pursuit.
Dragging planks and boards of probably a mixture of the wooden and metallic variety, you can build a kind of bridge over the more narrow parts. It's not the most stable thing you've ever built, but it's passable. You can make your way over it, but the rain will make it very slippery. Joonghyuk and Dimitri can cross over in the interest of saving tag filler space, but as Emet-Selch crosses -- well, the planks don't just snap, but he can be on high guard as the wood bends. Sitting out here in corrosive rain for who-knows-how-long, that's not good. They have a few seconds to realise what's about to happen.
The metal slips and the wood bends under Emet-Selch, and he can make an unsteady leap of faith to get across. It will not be smooth and clean, and he may stumble or get a scrape, need a helping hand, etc. At the same time, the barricade behind you breaks down, all the horrors within spilling out -- no discrimination, just know that they're mindlessly heading after you, though as your bridge snaps and falls into the abyss below you, so do your pursuers. Like a terrible landslide, these corpses, eldritch beings, are so consumed with their need to pursue and kill that they simply fall forward into the ditch, where if you glance down, they simply get swallowed into the whirlpool.
Your guide is still there, turning away and running deeper into the place as you approach closer. A simple barricaded door with nailed wood, it shouldn't be too hard to pry off, and then you can get into the stairwell down to B1F. ]
[ I can’t believe they’re doing weights, but they are doing weights. Joonghyuk will watch and because Emet weighs so much he doesn’t leave to scout ahead.
Once they’re all here and stable, he starts prying off the boards with his sword. Joonghyuk doesn’t care about proper usage of weapons. He would cut vegetables with his sword because it’s efficient. ]
[ Safe passage is a near thing. He helps scramble Emet to safety as the horde behind them plummets to its own doom, not once resting as they reach their limbs towards the three of them.
The tenacity is unnerving. It doesn't even feel like this fall is enough to stop them.
And so they keep moving. He leaves Joonghyuk to misuse his sword as he checks out the stairwell it reveals with narrowed eyes. ]
[he says, gritting out the words. he probably had to use his broken arm to help scrabble for purchase on the other side; it's certainly doing worse, now, but he's here and whole. that's all he needs.
the time spent in the rain still leaves him drained, but he can only hope staying out of it will help recover, the room spinning a little as he stays on his feet and joins them both at the door.]
[ You break the boards with fair ease because Joonghyuk gets to be OP with a big old sword. No splinters for you. And thus begins your final descent.
The stairwell is quiet when the doors shut behind you. You may be together as a group, but as you walk, you feel yourselves growing... distant. Like the other two are miles, worlds apart. For Dimitri and Emet-Selch, the distance makes you ache and feel heavy. For Joonghyuk, he simply feels utterly alone.
You find yourselves in a dimly lit basement, the B1F floor. Your only source of light is the hole in the ceiling, where dim rain falls -- the creatures that were falling in earlier seem mysteriously gone for now. Whether they already all fell in, or if you're simply in a strange space is -- unknown to you. Here, you can see the hole up close, a massive crack in the ground where the black 'water' bubbles and wells. The concrete crackles and falls in, and underneath, you can see red marks on each cardinal direction, forming something that you may assume looks more or less like a cross.
Your strange fellow stands before you, the headless boy, right at the edge of the hole. It points into the hole and gurgles strangely, urgently, and then at you -- accusingly, knowingly. The figure distorts, and finally, you can see their face.
Joonghyuk sees a glitching face he despises, a scar over one eye and their hood blowing back under a pristine white coat, unable to get stained. Someone who got their happy end, just like that, when you tried again and again and again and still continued to fail. When you let so many people die for your cause, people who counted on you. The expression is neutral, but it taunts you, what could be. How far will you go? To what reaches will you go to twist the world for your happiness?
Dimitri sees a vision of what beast he could become should he fester, a version of him twisted with delusion and anger, blood on its hands. It wants him to acknowledge that it is a part of him, out loud, that out of all the people who could have survived, it was him -- someone with a hidden malice in his heart. Is that right? Is anything right? Who gets to decide a thing like that? What could you have done? Can you prove you were worthy to live?
Emet-Selch sees the distortion twist, a man with a bored-looking expression with no joy left in life, only shattered memories and the fate of solitude and responsibility. You may try to deny it to the best of your ability, but it's about time you had to face it. This place will no longer let you hide, forcing you to look at him, tired mirror, your fall of grace. What can you do? How far will you run away, when inevitability comes knocking at your door?
[ Sorry to everyone, but Joonghyuk's instincts tell him to attack. It's easier for him to take reckless actions when he feels that he's alone. He has always been alone, hasn't he? Only he remembers the future to come, the future that has become the past, every single timeline undone lives in his memory alone. Only he stands in the same place as the world changes around him.
The solitude lets his mind stray, thoughts clouding his reasoning. The scars, the veil that sparkles like a starry night... The white coat that he hates—black is the superior color. Black is their theme color. What is white supposed to represent here? Happiness? Change? Detachment?
... It was once that he pitied this person, didn't he? They watched him and his regression where he loses none of his companions. Why is it you, not me? This person envied him, but now—he lets his sword speak. Die. ]
[ There's no reason to apologize, because Dimitri also chooses hostility. He's tired. The rain has washed away the dregs of his patience, the distance from the others makes his heart ache is a visceral way. He stabbed a 'friend' to get here, he faced devils to escape.
And now there's this thing in front of him? No. It's enough. Dimitri already knows who this beast is: the only survivor of a terrible tragedy, a monster left standing when everyone else he loved was burnt to blood and ashes. Malicious, cruel, unkind. Everyone who has seen this beast—this part of him—has shrunk away, afraid.
But Dimitri draws the small blade he's carried this whole while, and lunges forward, body wearied but rage flashing bright in his eyes. Of course he's going to attack. He'll acknowledge this monster with the sharp end of a dagger, and nothing else. This is what it, he—they deserve. ]
[the ache in that distance-- it's not familiar, but someday, it will be. he knows what's to come, knows the weight he is to bear, and seeing it reflected in the man in front of him...
he should do the same as the other two, whether he knows they are or not. destroy the future ere it comes to pass, try to prevent that self from ever existing at all. the events that create the emet-selch of the future are too devastating for anyone to bear and come out the same.
he should. but-
-it's a little strange, but you know what? I can see all the good parts of him in you.
he never wanted to consider this man a part of him.
I just wanted you to know that you don't grow up to be completely irredeemable, Emet-Selch.
he's silent, motionless, for several moments, before he walks up to the edge of the hole.]
Fine. Are we going, or not? Do something decent with yourself.
[ You've made your decisions, and suddenly, you see things with clarity.
The figure sighs, tiredly, even rolls his eyes in a familiar way as Emet-Selch voices his impatience. He makes a motion as if to say 'right this way, then --' but in that moment, Joonghyuk and Dimitri leap forward to stab this thing that represents everything they don't want to face, head and appearance shifting between the pristine white-coated Joonghyuk, the beastly monster that represents hidden violence. And of course, the previously headless boy, some teenager who looks stunned, but grits his teeth, bitter as his body falls backwards into the whirlpool.
There is silence, and then the ground below begins to rumble as the body disappears. The final sacrifice has been made, and something begins crawling out of the hole. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
guestservices) wrote2022-06-12 11:18 pm
no subject
[he mutters, shivering after the rain touches him. it's draining, but-- they have to keep going. he needs to. so-
emet-selch musters his strength, fighting against that illness to start working on crossing; he can still manage, with his good arm, to move planks around just long enough to get them settled.
let's get movin'. let's also hope these will, uh, support 500 pounds of person if they're the only way to get across here.]
no subject
Dragging planks and boards of probably a mixture of the wooden and metallic variety, you can build a kind of bridge over the more narrow parts. It's not the most stable thing you've ever built, but it's passable. You can make your way over it, but the rain will make it very slippery. Joonghyuk and Dimitri can cross over in the interest of saving tag filler space, but as Emet-Selch crosses -- well, the planks don't just snap, but he can be on high guard as the wood bends. Sitting out here in corrosive rain for who-knows-how-long, that's not good. They have a few seconds to realise what's about to happen.
The metal slips and the wood bends under Emet-Selch, and he can make an unsteady leap of faith to get across. It will not be smooth and clean, and he may stumble or get a scrape, need a helping hand, etc. At the same time, the barricade behind you breaks down, all the horrors within spilling out -- no discrimination, just know that they're mindlessly heading after you, though as your bridge snaps and falls into the abyss below you, so do your pursuers. Like a terrible landslide, these corpses, eldritch beings, are so consumed with their need to pursue and kill that they simply fall forward into the ditch, where if you glance down, they simply get swallowed into the whirlpool.
Your guide is still there, turning away and running deeper into the place as you approach closer. A simple barricaded door with nailed wood, it shouldn't be too hard to pry off, and then you can get into the stairwell down to B1F. ]
no subject
Once they’re all here and stable, he starts prying off the boards with his sword. Joonghyuk doesn’t care about proper usage of weapons. He would cut vegetables with his sword because it’s efficient. ]
no subject
The tenacity is unnerving. It doesn't even feel like this fall is enough to stop them.
And so they keep moving. He leaves Joonghyuk to misuse his sword as he checks out the stairwell it reveals with narrowed eyes. ]
We must be getting close.
no subject
[he says, gritting out the words. he probably had to use his broken arm to help scrabble for purchase on the other side; it's certainly doing worse, now, but he's here and whole. that's all he needs.
the time spent in the rain still leaves him drained, but he can only hope staying out of it will help recover, the room spinning a little as he stays on his feet and joins them both at the door.]
no subject
The stairwell is quiet when the doors shut behind you. You may be together as a group, but as you walk, you feel yourselves growing... distant. Like the other two are miles, worlds apart. For Dimitri and Emet-Selch, the distance makes you ache and feel heavy. For Joonghyuk, he simply feels utterly alone.
You find yourselves in a dimly lit basement, the B1F floor. Your only source of light is the hole in the ceiling, where dim rain falls -- the creatures that were falling in earlier seem mysteriously gone for now. Whether they already all fell in, or if you're simply in a strange space is -- unknown to you. Here, you can see the hole up close, a massive crack in the ground where the black 'water' bubbles and wells. The concrete crackles and falls in, and underneath, you can see red marks on each cardinal direction, forming something that you may assume looks more or less like a cross.
Your strange fellow stands before you, the headless boy, right at the edge of the hole. It points into the hole and gurgles strangely, urgently, and then at you -- accusingly, knowingly. The figure distorts, and finally, you can see their face.
Joonghyuk sees a glitching face he despises, a scar over one eye and their hood blowing back under a pristine white coat, unable to get stained. Someone who got their happy end, just like that, when you tried again and again and again and still continued to fail. When you let so many people die for your cause, people who counted on you. The expression is neutral, but it taunts you, what could be. How far will you go? To what reaches will you go to twist the world for your happiness?
Dimitri sees a vision of what beast he could become should he fester, a version of him twisted with delusion and anger, blood on its hands. It wants him to acknowledge that it is a part of him, out loud, that out of all the people who could have survived, it was him -- someone with a hidden malice in his heart. Is that right? Is anything right? Who gets to decide a thing like that? What could you have done? Can you prove you were worthy to live?
Emet-Selch sees the distortion twist, a man with a bored-looking expression with no joy left in life, only shattered memories and the fate of solitude and responsibility. You may try to deny it to the best of your ability, but it's about time you had to face it. This place will no longer let you hide, forcing you to look at him, tired mirror, your fall of grace. What can you do? How far will you run away, when inevitability comes knocking at your door?
You have a decision to make. How do you react? ]
no subject
The solitude lets his mind stray, thoughts clouding his reasoning. The scars, the veil that sparkles like a starry night... The white coat that he hates—black is the superior color. Black is their theme color. What is white supposed to represent here? Happiness? Change? Detachment?
... It was once that he pitied this person, didn't he? They watched him and his regression where he loses none of his companions. Why is it you, not me? This person envied him, but now—he lets his sword speak. Die. ]
no subject
And now there's this thing in front of him? No. It's enough. Dimitri already knows who this beast is: the only survivor of a terrible tragedy, a monster left standing when everyone else he loved was burnt to blood and ashes. Malicious, cruel, unkind. Everyone who has seen this beast—this part of him—has shrunk away, afraid.
But Dimitri draws the small blade he's carried this whole while, and lunges forward, body wearied but rage flashing bright in his eyes. Of course he's going to attack. He'll acknowledge this monster with the sharp end of a dagger, and nothing else. This is what it, he—they deserve. ]
no subject
he should do the same as the other two, whether he knows they are or not. destroy the future ere it comes to pass, try to prevent that self from ever existing at all. the events that create the emet-selch of the future are too devastating for anyone to bear and come out the same.
he should. but-
-it's a little strange, but you know what? I can see all the good parts of him in you.
he never wanted to consider this man a part of him.
I just wanted you to know that you don't grow up to be completely irredeemable, Emet-Selch.
he's silent, motionless, for several moments, before he walks up to the edge of the hole.]
Fine. Are we going, or not? Do something decent with yourself.
[she insists that he can, that he has.]
no subject
The figure sighs, tiredly, even rolls his eyes in a familiar way as Emet-Selch voices his impatience. He makes a motion as if to say 'right this way, then --' but in that moment, Joonghyuk and Dimitri leap forward to stab this thing that represents everything they don't want to face, head and appearance shifting between the pristine white-coated Joonghyuk, the beastly monster that represents hidden violence. And of course, the previously headless boy, some teenager who looks stunned, but grits his teeth, bitter as his body falls backwards into the whirlpool.
There is silence, and then the ground below begins to rumble as the body disappears. The final sacrifice has been made, and something begins crawling out of the hole. ]