MISSION 1

[adsum]

Participants: Hanako, Amami, Clamor, Lucifer, Meng Yao, Shinobu, Gundham
Location: Courtyard
Date: 08/07

(ooc notes: I will state any possible content warnings in the subject line of the mod response when it comes up. If anything makes you uncomfortable, please tell me so I can back off and refocus the thread.

There will be no tag order, and a mod response will come after at least 6 player responses OR the next day, whichever is earlier. Please note this means that if you're absent for a day or more, the thread will move on, but I will pace things so that people aren't missing large plot beats.

For this mission, characters will icly split into two groups, and there may be an opportunity to remix groups later in the mission.)

Comments

Strategy meeting

[hanaban]

[ (Pretend he brought this up during the meeting but) Hanako gathers up everybody who had expressed interest in confronting the gardener a little before dusk in the locker area in front of the doors leading out to the courtyard. Two hitodama float around him, and Hanako himself does not hide the kitchen knife he holds in his hands, gesturing broadly with it. ]

Allllllllright!! So this is the group of vigilantes we have to work with, huh? It's okay if you can't fight, 'cause we're also gonna need [ pats Amami on the arm ] bait!

That said... All of you can see him, can't you? If not, let me grant your wish.

[carpevinum]

[belatedly I realised I should've regained Lucifer his sword and not a very cute stuffed animal but fuck it here he is, demoned out for the Aesthetic. shamefully I remembered seconds later that he has a whip and I'm an idiot, I am putting my shame on display, please bully me. Anyway he's wanted to fight this dude for like an eternity so time to fuck shit up.]

I have been fighting since my days serving in Michael's armies. [Shut up.] I'll be fine. It should be a simple matter of me binding this creature and you all killing it, yes?

[Haha, sure.]

[sisters]

( not gonna lie, amami probably peeking at lucifer all decked out in demon mode whenever he thinks the other isn't looking. bro, he thought you were a chuuni, hellooooo... oh, but about the matter at hand, he'll give a wry grin. )

It'd be nice if it was that easy, but it's probably good to have a backup plan too. ( a pause, a glance to hanako. ) Guess I kind of owe you this much after last time, don't I?

( still feeling bad about the imps and it's true, compared to this guy he's not much of a fighter. if bait is still something useful, then bait he supposes he can be. )

[filialdeception]

[ Meng Yao frowns a little. ]

...You are sure about being bait, then?

[ He's just going to check in with him on that, and then he'll look back at Luci. ]

I should hope it'll be that easy, but I agree that it's likely to be much more difficult than that, and we should be prepared in the event that it is.

i hope it's ok for me to start a new thread to make a wish,,

[insecution]

[ Shinobu is aware that, as one of the shortest—if not the shortest—people present, she doesn’t cut an imposing figure. She needs to reassure everybody that she can contribute. She needs to reassure them that she’s not weak. ]

While I know I may not seem it, I assure you that I am a capable fighter in my own right. I can also see to any wounds after we’ve taken care of it… [ Because the gardener is a thing. A monster. A demon. ] … but if we can avoid it, I’d prefer it if nobody was to get hurt.

[ As it stands, though, she’s the only person here that can’t see Kazuki. And she can’t stab what she can’t see. ]

I cannot, however, see the gardener. Do you require anything in exchange, Hanako-kun?

yes, this works!

[hanaban]

[ At least Hanako won't ever mistake height for strength, since— according to their wikis— Shinobu and himself are the same height, and he's the one waving a knife around. ]

I'll also do my best to make sure nobody gets too hurt. In exchange for granting your wish, though... I will be taking your life at the end of two years. So you had better get out of here before then, alright?

[ Nothing like a deadline to get people going. ]

Group 1: Confrontation

[hanaban]

[ Night quickly starts to fall and Hanako is eager to get things going. He heads to the courtyard and lingers outside the door near the student store, as per his promise to stay out of the way, but leaves it to the others to decide whether they want to all be outside at once when the gardener appears and where they want to be, or whether they believe """coincidentally""" approaching one by one would be less suspicious.

At least he has the presence of mind not to have his knife out from the get-go. ]

[sisters]

( well amami is hardly going to stay back for this, that's for sure. maybe waiting on high-alert for him isn't the best idea either though — a middle ground, probably, waiting inside with an adderstone raised to his eye. he'll peer through the small opening and into the courtyard until he spots what he's looking for. gesturing to indicate where once he does, so that clamor and lucifer can double check it, it's only then that he pushes open the doors, heading in the direction that he... believes? kazuki to be in.

listen, isn't he seeing void form through his rock... gotta make certain of these things before he walks up to that. )

[adsum]

[ Yeah, adderstone users get to see his void form (: Void monster unwinding the hose and turning on the spigot in preparation to do his nightly watering. ]

Group 2: Standby

[hanaban]

[ True to his word, Hanako has one of his hitodama remain with this group, floating around people's heads and shoulders as if making rounds to make sure each of them is still there and accounted for, but careful to stay out of sight of the windows: if Hanako can't see it, neither can the gardener.

This group will have to decide where in the school they want to hide, whether together or spread out, and what last minute preparations they want to make, just in case. ]

[filialdeception]

[ Meng Yao is going to prepare by checking his talismans he's already been working on since he got his spirit power back. He doesn't think he's going to be using any talismans that cause any explosive results, but ones that can call fire can work alright.

...

And maybe a ghost-destroying talisman for the spirit. Though he wonders how well it's going to work on something that looked as formidable as it had from the drawing. He'd probably need more than one...well, he's keeping busy anyway and out of sight of the windows.

He's going to also try not to be anxious. Two people at least can protect Amami enough if things go south before any of the second group can run in as backup. ]

[insecution]

[ Unlike Meng Yao, Shinobu doesn’t have to spend the time they have now preparing. So long as she has her sword at her hip, she’s ready to fly through the school’s front doors the moment Hanako says the word.

That means she’s free to stick her nose into whatever she so pleases—and what she so pleases seems to be the papers Meng Yao is currently busying himself with. She leans in, close enough that it borders on obnoxious. ]

You’re the “Hidden Flower,” correct?

[ Her eyes flit from sheet to sheet, but she’s not familiar with any of the characters that’ve been written onto them. They look markedly different from the ones Tamayo’s little gofer boy uses, too. ]

What use do we have of these?

into the void

[adsum]

[ The transformation is immediate, the shadows around the gardener all melding together in the darkness of the courtyard. All light from inside the school is extinguished, leaving only the glow of the moon and that of the wisteria flowers to reveal the form of a monster that stands in the gardener's place.

It towers over the group, easily 15 feet tall from ground to horned skull, no light in the empty sockets as it lets out a screech as it rears. The next moment, it slams its claws down onto the ground where Hanako and Amami had stood seconds before, tearing up grass and dirt, missing the two by inches where they had pulled back, Hanako with his hand clamped over Amami's mouth, dripping knife by his side, hitodama over his heart. ]

feel free to just be like "no lucifer this doesn't work" adklfjskfl

[carpevinum]

[Alright little dude sure go off!

...is what Lucifer would say if he were a fun man, but he's not, and he moves swiftly to put himself between the Gardener's monstrous form and the others, wings outstretched in what can definitely be called a territorial bird display. Whip unfurled, Lucifer stands tall, glowing a distinct purple, spell on his lips.]

"Hear my voice and heed my command. I, Lucifer, the Morning Star and Glory of the Devildom, bind thee with Shadow and Earth, robbing thee of thy will."

[And with that, Lucifer attempts to bind the monster before them all. Should the spell work, the Gardener will be able to move within the confines of the binding circle but not beyond it... should the spell not work, shrugs vaguely, Lucifer's handicapped by the weird school and he'll blame that.

I hate spellcasting in Obey Me it took me 30 minutes and reference materials to come up with this shit.]

party time.........

[sisters]

( first, it's only the cut — the only warning amami gets being the sound of hanako's voice behind him, and as he turns to look, the sharp, piercing pain of the knife cutting into his arm. with a wince, he opens his mouth to say something, only to find himself tugged back with a hand covering it, eyes wide as he watches the ground shred to pieces where he'd stood — a sight quickly blocked by the black wings that spread across his vision.

he only has an instant to be stunned before he moves to pull hanako's hand away. why he doing that... he'll shut up if that's what hanako wants but you don't need to keep it there damn. what happened to the friendly nightmare who only wanted to unravel his hose... miss you king. )

ami whiteknights; cw: uhh body horror, idk how to categorize this

[adsum]

[ The darkness lifts and they find themselves back in the courtyard, the sunlight beating harshly down upon them. It is midday, half their numbers and the gardener are gone, and the wisteria tree

is a people tree. Bodies lay across the branches much like Amami was, but there are dozens, of different ages, different ethnicities, etc, all unclothed and all so tightly packed together that they look fused together. By which I mean they are. Skin melds into skin as if burned and grafted together. Two people share a single eye, another has an extra arm, limb branches into limb branches into limb until the entire tree sags with the weight of the bodies.

Groans fill the air. Incoherent murmurs. A cry for help wheezed out through conjoined windpipes.

Amami is whole and alive. His chest hurts with inexplicable sorrow. ]

[filialdeception]

[ So, Meng Yao had turned his attention back to the two, expression completely horrified until the abrupt change had come upon them all.

Now, he's gazing at the mess.

He still has his sword with him. ]

They're trapped. I think...I think we need to set them free. Amami, do you mind if I examine you quickly?

[ Then he turns away from them to check on Amami, and when he notices the other appears just fine, he still comes closer, reaching forward to see if he can sense how his spirit energy is - if he's allowed to touch him, anyway. ]

I doubt we can do this the traditional method. [ He's thinking of cutting them through, maybe... ] I still have some talismans with me, though I am open to listening to any other ideas you two may have.

[sisters]

( the inner cavity of amami's chest aches hollow, and the pit of his stomach turns in disgust, unable to react through anything more than silent horror as he takes in the sight before them. it's true that he's seen a lot of things before. arguably some terrifying things, too, but this...

there's nothing that could have prepared him for this.

so it's a good thing that meng yao is able to think something rational through it all. even if amami doesn't react at first, expression grim, he swallows hard and turns to face meng yao only when he reaches out. amami doesn't move to stop him, and his voice is low when he speaks — uncertain. )

Set them free...

( it takes a conscious effort for him not to look back to the tree. )

I'm fine. ( physically. comparatively. probably. ) So we need to separate them somehow...?

clamor whiteknights

[adsum]

[ The darkness lifts and each person finds themselves lying on damp grass, trees packed densely all around them, and it looks to be midday.

They are alone— close enough to find one another, but when they open their eyes, it's only them, the trees, and the sound of whistling in the breeze.

Clamor is whole and alive, and has a pounding headache that gets worse when he passes by a spot of sunlight filtering through the trees ]

[carpevinum]

[Holy shit alright Lucifer's had too many heart attacks for a man his age. Clamor and Amami being all fucked up after he undid the spell is burned into his memories, and now he can't find half of their number, but...

they're not in the void? anymore? So he's no longer cut up to fuck and back, but that's not the point.

Clamor immediately gets a very distressed bird demon checking him for further injuries, sorry to derail the drama, your cockatoo weird peacock demon is concerned.]

[sunstead]

[Clamor groans as he comes to, and it's very tempting to just stay there in the grass for awhile... but he remembers seeing Amami in the tree, and then the fight with the gardener, and maybe it's not such a good idea to be staying put right now. He's back on his knees by the time Lucifer swoops in, leaning against the nearest treetrunk for support.]

Ugh... my head is killing me. What happened? [did he get hit by something...? and where the hell are they, this doesn't look like the courtyard. wasn't it evening before??

His monocle catches a bit of sunlight from the ground—he retrieves that first, then his spellbook, which I assume is also here with him. Now what...]

arson time

[adsum]

[ Light flashes inside the swirl of darkness, a storm condensed and rolling towards the building's front door that opens and draws the shadow in, hunger that grows and overwhelms and

tears apart into shreds at the threshold of the door, darkness enveloping the sky above while light swallows the ground below and Clamor, Lucifer, Shinobu, Gundham, Meng Yao, and Amami find themselves face to face with one another once more, the building and its surroundings washing away around them and leaving just them and nothingness and the man that stands between them, hands lifted off his ears and instead pressed over his face— his mask, a thin line running from the marks on his cheeks past the eye that cracks and starts to fall apart the more he tries to keep it together. ]

this isnt arson :(

[sisters]

( well this... is not what he'd expected to happen, or the way he'd thought this scene would unfold at all. the three of them prepared for some kind of epic last-stand with the whole gang, and what they're faced with instead is a blank canvas and a man who gives off an almost pitiful impression with the way he struggles to hold himself together. kind of miss that chance at arson ngl, but it's probably for the best. after a moment, amami takes a step forward, voice tentative. )

...Kazuki-san?

( he has a lot of questions. )

[insecution]

[ Kazuki.

Of course this is his fault. Shinobu had him pegged for a monster from the start. They should’ve dealt with him like he was from the get-go, she thinks, but Clamor and Rantaro didn’t want him dead. They insisted on peaceful alternatives to fighting, even if it almost meant their lives. Even if it almost meant everybody’s lives.

And, in spite of all that, Rantaro still seems to be of the mind that Kazuki should be suffered to live. Shinobu knows she can’t convince him otherwise, so rather than press the point, she keeps her hand on her sword hilt, ready for anything to go wrong. ]

… Be careful, Amami-san. We may have him cornered now, but animals are most dangerous when they have nowhere left to run.

End

[adsum]

[ The first rays of sunlight touch the courtyard, and the gardener is gone. There are butterflies in the garden, drawn to the morning dew, fluttering about in whites and yellows.

On Lucifer's wrist are 2 additional tallies.
On Meng Yao's wrist are 10 additional tallies.
On Shinobu's wrist is 1 additional tally.
On Clamor's wrist is 1 additional tally.
And on Amami's wrist ... They look around, and Amami is nowhere to be seen. And neither is Hanako.

From the 30th onward, the rest of the campus past the courtyard will be accessible to all students, without limitation on exiting the doors and windows into the courtyard. ]