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phantasmalrift2018-12-19 11:39 pm
phantasmods) wrote in phantasmalrift2018-12-19 11:39 pm
DUNGEON - BELLMARE ENCLAVE (BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 2)
The shadows are starting to grow very long as you crest his particular ridge - it's not night yet, but it will be soon. In the shadows of the afternoon, with a tall mountain already blocking the sun, lies a snow-covered valley that is different from the ones you've come across thus far in your investigation.
This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.
Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.
Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.
[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]
This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.
Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.
Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.
[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]
no subject
Whatever happens once Minato returns to Iwatodai, no one here will be able to help.]
No....spring. Moved into the dorm in April. [But there's something that's been eating at him for a long time now.] But Goro said it's over after January. The Dark Hour. ...But that's....off, from what I know.... Shouldn't last any longer than early December.
[Two months unaccounted for. Both of them in winter.]
no subject
So, something might have happened in early December... [ doesn't sound happy to suggest that ] Maybe, it was just a delay - nothing too serious.
[ But... ]
Why do you think it should be ending around early December, at the latest, though?
cw: presence of drugs, presence of revolver jesus
... [He's quiet for a moment. This might....be a lot.] To really explain....going to need to go into the history of the Dark Hour. Have as much information as we do because the Kirijo Group is responsible for it.
All started in 1996. Kirijo Group already split off from Nanjo, I think...? Don't know everything about how, but they discovered creatures capable of manipulating time and space, called Shadows. Started studying them. Eventually thought to use them to create a "time manipulation device". Guess they knew it was dangerous, since they also built Aigis and her sisters...
By 1999, the focus had shifted. All anyone working with Shadows could think of was nihilism. Experiments took place on Tatsumi Port Island, at Gekkoukan High School. [Or...at least what is now the school? He's a little unclear.] Lead researcher was Yukari-chan's father. Realized what they were doing was wrong and took it on himself to destroy it all, before it could go any further. Set off the explosion. ...A lot of people died. [...] My parents included.
Explosion unleashed the Dark Hour. Also destroyed all of Aigis's sisters and badly damaged her. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad now if it hadn't. During the chaos, twelve massive Shadows escaped and disappeared into the city. Bigger than anything else we've ever seen.....powerful, and intelligent, too. Enough to think and plan. Aware of us. ...Last thing he did before blowing everything up, Yukari-chan's father left us a video. Said to eliminate the Dark Hour, we have to defeat all twelve of them.
Started appearing relatively recently, considering the Dark Hour's been a thing for ten years now. Every full moon. Sometimes doubled up. We've executed nine of them. Three to go. Next full moon is October fourth....after that, November third, then December second. Assuming they come at us one at a time, that's our schedule.
...Have to work around Strega, but....it's almost over. Just a few more months. [He says that less like he wants to believe it, somehow, and more like a habit. SEES is more or less a small band of soldiers fighting a secret crusade - is it any wonder he's tired? Keeping up the facade of a normal student, while dealing with this and his own personal issues....is a lot. So maybe that's why he doesn't sound excited about being nearly through with all this.
...
Akira won't have much time to react to all that information, though. A new scene begins to play out. In this vision, Minato looks sick - very sick, close to as sick as Akira has ever seen him. And yet he's in uniform, leaving a school, pushing through as if it's just another day. A man in a hat and coat is waiting for him at the gate.
"Sure took your time, didn't you... What were you up to?"
"Track." Minato doesn't stop for the other teen, just keeps walking with purpose. His companion stubbornly follows.
"Tch... You're running around in this condition? Come on - you're going to bed."
"Can't. Have an errand to run. ...Don't need to blame yourself, senpai."
"So this is because of-- Why the hell did you give them away?! Where did you even get them?!" His voice is low, but agitated, bordering on angry. By now they're out of the more popular areas of town and heading toward some back alleys.
"Should've warned you they'd probably be stronger than what you're used to."
"That's not-- You're dodging the question." He grabs Minato's arm firmly. "You're the goddamn leader, we can't afford to have you half-dead. The full moon is only a few days away and we're still down a man. Explain--"
"So you do care."
"I don't-- Just take them back!" He pulls a pill bottle out of his coat pocket, expertly opens it with one hand, takes a couple of pills out, and closes it again.
"No!" It quickly becomes a struggle as the man tries to force Minato to take them. He's larger and stronger - it's clear who's going to win this. Until everything freezes on the spot when the barrel of a gun taps the back of Minato's head.
"It's been too long, my dear brother." The man is tall and pale, with yellow eyes and easily visible ribs. His presence startles Minato's companion.
"What the hell are you--"
"Where is he?" Minato himself seems hardly phased.
Click, goes the safety in reply.
It's not an Evoker.
....And the scene cuts there.]
Revolver Jesus is the worst CW you could have.
But, then, that's nothing compared to what he feels when he sees this new scene appear and play out... ]
What--...
[ ... the hell? He releases a tense breath, quickly looking to Minato, seeing how he's taking this one, since it was-
Heh, most things synonymous with "bad" feel like an understatement.
There are so many questions he needs to ask, but they can wait. ]
no subject
That.... Is that the future, too...? [That was his summer uniform. Can it be the future, if the next full moon is in October?]
cw: blood, murder, "afterlife"
[ Almost as soon as he's trying to say that last word, there's a crack of thunder.
Just beneath that, a sound of whimpering precedes a horrified cry. There's a young man now on that wall, one that looks very similar to Akira Kurusu, dressed in clothes that look like something incredibly far back into the past from either the real-life Akira or the real-life Minato (even if they are clearly from that of a wealthy family).
Said young man is being chased through the night by a pair of adults (though, they've yet to close much space). Both look incredibly similar to him - just with the father looking most like him out of the two. That is, sans the red eyes they each have. And the fangs that show from their wide-open mouths.
"Ren!?"
A voice both Akira and Minato will recognize: that of Goro Akechi... or, at the least, someone who looks very much like him.
"Goro, run! They've been changed, and I," he starts, and then a breathless sob-like cry threatens to bubble up, "couldn't even save sis from the daughter of the neighbors!"
But, of course, no Goro would ever run when there's the life of someone he cares about on the line, right? That's why this one is quickly moving to place himself in the path, arms spread wide. Ren comes to an abrupt stop, turning to face Goro with a look of disbelief.
"I'll keep them busy for as long as I can. You go and hide."
"I refuse to simply wait around as-!"
Goro's giving a smile that's unseen to Ren - good thing the lucky viewers get to see it, at least?
"I've been bitten, already."
--
Goro's screams can be heard, even from where Ren is hiding in some wooden shed.
His eyes are wide, unseeing, tears pouring out of them. He's holding both hands over his mouth, doing everything to stop any and all sounds from escaping. He doesn't realize the cut he suddenly gets to his leg, just from turning a little sharply (that sure was another scream in the distance), is all that it'll take for him to be found within minutes.
The second they bust their way into the shed, he attempts to fight them off.
Attempts... valiantly, but each of those adults are clearly stronger than him. The tears pour even more freely as those fangs sink into his neck (by the woman) and his shoulder (by the man).
--
Ren's screams fill the night as he writhes in obvious pain, his body moving in... inhuman ways, back arching far too much, joints cracking and popping in protest. It's only after he goes limp that the screams finally stop.
--
When he awakens, the sky is starting to change from black to dark blue.
He releases a tense sound, eyes widening as his hand lifts to his throat. He opens his mouth... closes it. All that's coming out is strangled sounds before he struggles to his feet, instantly struggling to keep his balance - and then failing, just a moment later. He hits the ground with a croak-like, strangled sound escaping him.
And then he begins clawing at his neck and chest a little, a hint of panic hitting him.
He hasn't taken a breath in since he awakened.
--
Ren is running, his skin hissing and sizzling softly under the very dim light of dawn. He's not panting, yet he looks to struggling. He's hurrying inside a house - the one he'd been running from, if that's possible for either real-life person to notice in all this chaos. He's quickly shutting himself into a closet.
He almost instantly falls asleep after his back hits the wall and his head flops against a stack of blankets.
--
It's quite suddenly, Ren is snapping awake. Or maybe that's just how it seems, at first?
Well, it could be a coincidence, but there are sounds of people yelling in the distance. People - lots of them - screaming in what sounds to be agony. He's very slow and careful as he moves from the closet. Suddenly, a man comes running into the room. Ren freezes.
The man hasn't noticed him yet, but Ren sure has noticed him. His eyes widen, his chin lifting, his eyes slowly fluttering closed. It would seem he... smells something? Something... enticing, from the looks of it. Suddenly, his eyes snap open, flashing red. He rushes forward. The man seems the type to remain silent when in total shock. Almost silent. There's a strangled sound as Ren yanks him to the floor, fangs sinking into his neck. ]
...
[ Akira actually... looks uncomfortable (which is putting it in a painfully mild way, given the hint of sweat on his forehead and the color having drained from his face)...? He's just slightly glancing at Minato. ]
no subject
Goro... Oh no. Minato knows what will happen before it happens - because he'd do the same thing. He tears his eyes away from the wall, gritting his teeth together, hands to his ears trying to block out the sound. It's not enough.
He's back to watching when Ren's transformation begins. Tension builds, he starts to shake. He can't...he shouldn't be shutting this out, not when he knows Akira won't be. His hands seek his boyfriend, pulling him close, clinging tight.]
Don't watch. [Let him bear this. Let him be the shield.]
no subject
You shouldn't be watching it, either. [ clenching teeth now, biting back the frustrated sounds ] I can handle it...
[ Nevermind that he's outright jumping a little at the suddenly screaming... ]
no subject
Don't have to handle it. ...Don't want you to.
[Akira is the one who'd been unwilling. He promised not to beat himself up over it. Minato is holding him to that. But that doesn't mean it's okay for him to just....have to watch someone identical to him attack someone else.]
no subject
Please, just let neither of them watch how it ends...?
Of course, it doesn't guarantee he'll be doing it in time to beat the vision's ending. At the very least, they can hold one another even after it's over. ]