Phantasmal Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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phantasmalrift2018-04-19 11:46 pm
phantasmods) wrote in phantasmalrift2018-04-19 11:46 pm
Entry tags:
DUNGEON LOG: AMESTA FOREST
Hello everyone!
Up and the others think that we have enough stabilizers ready for the next expedition! We're going to the forest to the south this time, but it shouldn't be too far for anyone to walk. If you're REALLY going to complain, you can talk to Top on the roof and catch a ride on one of the drones like before.
The scenery's really nice, but there's definitely some kind of magical effect going on in there - as far as we can tell, the day doesn't progress inside the forest. It's stuck a little while after sunset - probably when the Fissure first appeared? (°ヘ°)
Be careful out there! Don't be afraid to call for help if you need it and we'll send a drone your way! o(^▽^)o And Strange says no stupid stunts this time, got it? (；¬д¬)
You'll probably see a big tree on your way there, before you're under the cover of the forest! That's the Infinity Tree, it's a really big willow. Charm can probably tell you more about the mythology if you're interested. He's gonna meet you guys there at the end of the expedition, so try to work your way in that direction as you go!
(｡･ω･｡)ﾉ See you when you get back!
After Down's message, characters will find things set up much the way they were last time on the roof. Top is making last-minute adjustments to the drones, and there's tables with food and medical supplies set out - the latter a little sparse compared to last time, so hopefully you kept your first aid kits from before. The table of stabilizers, on the other hand, is much more full.
On your way, you might also see some of what the construction drones have been putting together so noisily these last few days - there's the metal shell of a building, similar to but smaller than the Station, to the immediate west, just off your path to the forest in the distance. Nothing much indicates its function as of yet, though there are significantly more windows.
To the southwest stretches the border of Amesta Forest - about a mile distant, though still easily within sight. As promised, the Infinity Tree sticks up from the far edge, easily visible for those who need a landmark either now or later in the dungeon. If you get lost, you can probably find your way up a tree somewhere to get a perspective on it, and which direction to head in.
The silver mist doesn't begin until some distance into the forest, the time of day gradually changing to the eternal twilight mentioned as you approach the boundary of the Fissure itself. There's no distinct border, just a slow shading towards late afternoon and then sunset while the mist increases around you.
And as the mist wraps around you, and exhaustion you might have felt from the walk out here starts to evaporate... You've well and truly arrived, now. Better keep your eyes open.
Up and the others think that we have enough stabilizers ready for the next expedition! We're going to the forest to the south this time, but it shouldn't be too far for anyone to walk. If you're REALLY going to complain, you can talk to Top on the roof and catch a ride on one of the drones like before.
The scenery's really nice, but there's definitely some kind of magical effect going on in there - as far as we can tell, the day doesn't progress inside the forest. It's stuck a little while after sunset - probably when the Fissure first appeared? (°ヘ°)
Be careful out there! Don't be afraid to call for help if you need it and we'll send a drone your way! o(^▽^)o And Strange says no stupid stunts this time, got it? (；¬д¬)
You'll probably see a big tree on your way there, before you're under the cover of the forest! That's the Infinity Tree, it's a really big willow. Charm can probably tell you more about the mythology if you're interested. He's gonna meet you guys there at the end of the expedition, so try to work your way in that direction as you go!
(｡･ω･｡)ﾉ See you when you get back!
After Down's message, characters will find things set up much the way they were last time on the roof. Top is making last-minute adjustments to the drones, and there's tables with food and medical supplies set out - the latter a little sparse compared to last time, so hopefully you kept your first aid kits from before. The table of stabilizers, on the other hand, is much more full.
On your way, you might also see some of what the construction drones have been putting together so noisily these last few days - there's the metal shell of a building, similar to but smaller than the Station, to the immediate west, just off your path to the forest in the distance. Nothing much indicates its function as of yet, though there are significantly more windows.
To the southwest stretches the border of Amesta Forest - about a mile distant, though still easily within sight. As promised, the Infinity Tree sticks up from the far edge, easily visible for those who need a landmark either now or later in the dungeon. If you get lost, you can probably find your way up a tree somewhere to get a perspective on it, and which direction to head in.
The silver mist doesn't begin until some distance into the forest, the time of day gradually changing to the eternal twilight mentioned as you approach the boundary of the Fissure itself. There's no distinct border, just a slow shading towards late afternoon and then sunset while the mist increases around you.
And as the mist wraps around you, and exhaustion you might have felt from the walk out here starts to evaporate... You've well and truly arrived, now. Better keep your eyes open.
Infinity Tree
It's all right here. Everything she told him--her service, her Major, the war--it's all here. Prompto takes all of it in and understands what chaos is, what hell is, because he's been in battles before and he's killed someone, but he's never seen war.
Not like this.
There Violet is, tiny and unblinking with her blade as she opens people up to let their life out on the ground. There she is, skirts gathered as she runs and splashes into--that was the lake, he's sure of it, and as soon as she wails he's running. Running toward her.]
Violet!
[He doesn't think about the color of the--the water, this time. He splashes in and gets his arms around her, even though the evidence for how dangerous is lies around and behind him, a child's carnage. Desperate, he calls out as he tows her back towards the shore:]
Violet, it's me, it's Prompto, I won't hurt you! The shore's this way, I-I got you!
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[ Her voice is so close to being a snarl, it's frightening. It's something on the cusp of being savage and animalistic and that isn't helped by the way she squirms and struggles and even kicks to get away from him. There's no logic to her protest and even less logic to her struggles when she knows that if she keeps struggling and wading out deeper, she's likely to drown.
But right now, all Violet knows is that the Major is out there, hurt, and Prompto is dragging her away from him. ]
He's there! Major Gilbert– the Major is out there! I have to– he's– Let me go!
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[Prompto holds on, even though it's like he's wrapped himself around some feral Duscaean hunter. If Violet were even remotely thinking right now, he'd be dead, he knows it in the lump in his throat.]
H-he isn't... That's, that's not your Major. Vi, listen, is this place even real? Can you really be here?!
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... He was calling me... Major Gilbert. He was calling for me. He hasn't called for me in so long, a–and I...
[ Her throat tightens too much for her to continue speaking and with another one of those wheezy breaths, she ducks her head. ]
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Prompto's grip shifts from holding her back to holding her up. It's a hug, now. Violet Evergarden is finally getting one absolutely necessary hug.]
I know. I'm sorry, but... but you just ran into the lake, and it's dangerous. Or I wouldn't try to stop you from. From going to him.
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If she understood the heart breaking in her chest right now, then maybe she'd recognize that pressure as the onset of tears. But you don't teach a dog why it wags its tail. Why would anyone bother to teach Gilbert's dog what it meant when she needed to cry? ]
Why isn't he here? If I was taken, then why not the Major, also? I can only go where the Major goes, s–so why... why was I brought here, when he was not? I don't... I don't understand!
no subject
[He's becoming aware, now, that her arms are hard and heavy against his, within her sleeves. He knows the press of metal anywhere. But her back is as warm and alive as any other girl's, there's nothing more human than the way her breath catches on the breaking point of sorrow; Prompto doesn't want to think about what it means for her to dream of this battlefield, but he thinks anyway, and he thinks he knows. He swallows and catches his breath against her back, too.]
Violet, sometimes--
[But the words die in his mouth like ash. They're all platitudes he's memorized from TV, read in books, heard on the radio: sad love songs and fictions trying to make sense out of absence. Here, though, amidst the flames and gunfire, holding a little girl in his arms crying for a rank instead of a father, a brother--
No. No, he won't be part of that lie, won't pretend you can make a narrative out of loss and understand it, not when Noct slipped right through his fingers at the heart of Zegnautus Keep.]
I don't know. N-no one ever told me, either. But please, we need to get back to shore. You're going to catch a cold if you don't dry off and get warm.
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But logical and straightforward is the last thing Violet feels right now. Even if it's an illusion and no more tangible than smoke in the wind, she can still see Major Gilbert's body slumped and broken on the staircase. She opens her mouth to call out to him one last time, to beg him to respond but what comes out instead is-- ]
Can... c–can you assist me? I'm not sure if I can....
[ She's not sure where that sentence was supposed to lead and it hangs unfinished in the air. But maybe that's all she needs to say. ]
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[Prompto assesses and considers, given the weight of her wet clothing, given that he's always been the smallest and weakest of the guys himself, built for speed and not for strength.
But he's hefted weapons heavier than Violet Evergarden.
After a moment of deliberation, he lifts her not like a maiden but a child, safe against his chest.]
Here, just put your arms around me. It's okay.
[And, whether he meant to allow it or not, she can watch the vision of hell recede over his shoulder as he wades back towards the lake shore.]
no subject
That's the thought that fills Violet's head, as she watches the nightmare fade into the mist. Even if it's only an illusion, she'd been convinced for a wild moment that if she could reach him somehow, then he'd be here. If she'd been quick enough or brave enough then she could've done what she failed to do for him back then and finally dragged him to safety.
But there's nothing and no one to save here in this forest. Just a vision that would bleed through her fingers if ever she managed to reach it.
So why does it hurt so much to be leaving it behind?
Her arms creak unpleasantly as her fingers latch onto his shirt and she tries to focus on that instead of the lie she watches slip away into nothing as they wade away to shore. ]
I... apologize. Th–this is not something you should have to see.
no subject
[It was always there, beyond the blank, oppressive safety of the Wall. Everyone knew how lucky they were, despite the isolation, despite the race tensions between native Insomnians and Galahdians and those other refugees who made it under King Regis's protection.
Driving out of the city that day only brought it into focus. Ensured he couldn't look away, no matter how much he wanted to.
He took pictures of Altissia before the Empire attacked Leviathan. He has photos of a city that doesn't even exist anymore, that's been replaced with mud and rubble.]
I've seen similar.
[Not worse. Never worse. All those bodies, a blade splattered darkly in the hand of a child--for all he's seen after leaving Insomnia, none of it was worse.]
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[ But Violet knows better.
The war will never be over. The fighting will stop and the bloodshed will end but the war itself will never truly come to a close. Not so long as there are soldiers like Hodgins and Spencer still bearing their scars for the world to see. Not so long as there are mothers missing their sons, women missing their husbands or children not understanding why their father won't ever be coming home again.
A war doesn't end. The soldiers just stop fighting.
As they broach the shore, the red water, she reminds herself, just water, begins to clear. And with the wash of colour leaving, so too does that staircase up to hell. Violet can't tell if she's glad to see it go or not. But she does know that she still can't make herself stop looking. ]
What of the soldiers? Are all of them still fighting?
no subject
Without a word, he slips out of his sleeveless jacket and wraps it around Violet instead, arranging it so the wet flappy part doesn't touch her.
Eventually, there's nothing more he can do, and he just crouches there, arms resting on his knees, looking at the memory of death in the streets they've returned to. Eventually, eventually, he sighs and turns his back on it so he can sit beside Violet, looking out at the misty lake instead.]
Yeah. We are.
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Soldiers.
She shudders and it's unclear if it's with the cold or something else. ]
How long for?
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Till it's over, I guess.
[Until Noct takes the throne and his birthright of death, until he answers the prophecy that took his whole life away by giving his life over. Prompto lets out a shaky breath.]
We can't stop. There's too much at stake, too many people counting on us. And the--the ones we're fighting, they'll never stop coming. I don't think they can.
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It... it would solve a great many of our problems if the two of us were able to trade places, it seems.
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[He puts his hand on her arm, and he feels it now, the cold, hard metal, and he doesn't flinch away.]
I wouldn't send my w-worst enemy back to--back to that. Back... to this.
[To the burning in the dark. To children with blades, children made blades.]
Don't even think it, Vi. You don't have to, to be a weapon anymore.
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But this is not what you want. You do not wish to fight a war and I–
[ Does she want to fight a war?
Whatever she was about to say dies on her tongue when she realizes she doesn't know the answer to that anymore. It's simpler and easier. It's what she knows and understands. But with so much time passed between Violet in the battlefield and Violet sitting down to write letters for heavy-hearted strangers, she finds herself suddenly wondering... does she want to go back to that?
Is it even possible?
She swallows. Whatever her words were going to be flutter back down her throat and into her stomach. ]
... it would be easier. For me.
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[His hand is shaking on her arm.]
If it's the first thing, it's okay, Vi. I... I chose to fight. I chose to stand by Noct's side. [Just like she'd choose to be with the Major, no matter what depths she had to cross. He swallows.] If it's the second thing...
[The words start to taste like ash and blood in his mouth, but he's studying Violet's face, looking for those little cues beyond her smooth, doll-like features. His own expression is drawn, and pained, and searching.]
...I. I can't think that's really true, Violet. That you'd rather go back to this than do that work that's so important to you. Writing letters for people. Helping them say what they need to.