yogen | MISSION 1

Entry tags:

MISSION 1

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.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ The imps are gone and as much as they look around the general area for anybody else, it seems like it's only the three of them. The breeze carries the sound of whistling all around them, but if they stop and listen closely, they can hear it loudest from the relative north, while a bright blue butterfly flits through the trees towards their relative east. ]

[clamor, unfortunately oblivious to the sheer display of power in getting the demon of pride to apologize to him... he just smiles and waves his free hand] You did what you thought would help! And I'm fine now, so you don't need to apologize... Elria knows what would've happened if we'd both dissolved back there. Thank you for your quick thinking, Lucifer.

[Tempting as that butterfly may be, they do have a (half-)elf in their midst. Clamor perks his ears, hiding from the streaks of light under the shade of Lucifer's wings.]

... There's something this way. I hear whistling.

[You know I honestly feel bad for Shinobu third-wheeling for this shit, but the ear perking has Lucifer's attention so much, like, the set of wings that isn't currently shielding Clamor from the dangers of the world give a very eager little flutter before he resumes trying to pretend he's cool at all.

Anyway.]

I heard it as well. Do we follow it?

[The butterfly is cute, too, but...]

[ Without the keen ears of someone like Clamor or Zenitsu, Shinobu can’t hone in on the sound and its source as well as they can. She’s more drawn to what color she can see dancing between the trees. ]

There was something hiding in the thicket to the east…

[ As much as she’d like to break off and investigate, though… ]

… but splitting up now seems unwise. Clamor-san is unable to walk on his own, and with you helping him, that leaves me as the only person equipped to deal with an ambush. Shall I guard the rear?

Yeah... let's not split up. We're divided enough as is.

[... he'd really like to say he can walk on his own, it's not like his legs are damaged in any way, but having someone next to him for balance is helpful. And, well, he's in no rush to put distance between himself and Lucifer. He turns his head north, following the source of the sound.]

Right. That sounds like a good idea. [guarding the rear. Lucifer can probably keep an eye on things up front.] It's this way. I'll let you know if it starts moving.

[ It does seem to be moving, but not so fast that the group can't catch up to it; whatever is making the noise moves at a leisurely pace, and after a while, they can hear the sound of twigs and dry leaves crunched underfoot by something that doesn't seem very large or heavy.

The song being whistled may or may not be one that any of them recognize, but it is the children's counting song, Zui Zui Zukkorobashi.

Another bright blue butterfly, and another, can be spotted in their periphery, both heading east. ]

Clamor — if I begin to walk too fast, let me know. I don't need you straining yourself. Shinobu — thank you for guarding the rear for us. I appreciate it.

[But, hmm, concerning. Lucifer doesn't recognize the song and looks back at Shinobu, hoping maybe she recognizes it? Other than that, though, he stays quiet. Don't want to talk over the suspicious sounds... where are the butterflies off to, what are they doing...]

[Yeah, that song is completely unfamiliar to Clamor too, for obvious reasons. It's all up to Shinobu on that one.]

It's moving... this way. [is it headed in the same direction as the butterflies are going, or away from it?] I hear footsteps... a person?

[It's tempting to try and call out to them in case it's one of their own... but this whole situation is also insane, so it's just as likely to be the gardener or a monster or something like that. He settles into a slight frown, trying to walk a little more carefully so as not to make unnecessary noise.

kinda hard when you have a massive headache from getting your head cracked open, tho]

[ Fortunately for the two of them, Shinobu does recognize what song they’re singing. Somewhat less fortunately, she’s also aware of the multiple implications the song has, and none of them promise anything good. ]

I believe there may be more than one. They’re singing a song children do when picking somebody to be ‘it’ in a game of tag or hide-and-seek.

[ Which begs the question: is one of them ‘it’? Her eyes dart from Clamor to Lucifer then back, unsure of whether to be wary of one, the other, or both. ]

[ (:

The whistling and the footsteps stop. And then comes the sound of snapped branches and rustling leaves that tells of something moving very quickly their direction.

The butterflies are just flying around, doing butterfly things, having been flying left to right from the point of view they were headed, but right now, they can't see any. ]

[Red fucking alert: Lucifer's "oh fuck" senses are tingling, and he usually only gets that sense when Satan and Belphegor are about to prank him.]

Brace yourselves.

[...and then Lucifer picks up Clamor in a bridal carry because he gets the sense they're going to have to fucking book it.]

[—well at least he doesn't need to say where it is now

Clamor doesn't get much of a say in being picked up, but he does fumble for his spellbook, flipping through pages to the most-mobile protective ward he can remember on the fly. He'd have a limited duration to work with so he won't activate it yet, but if anything comes flying out at them... he'll be ready to do something, he hopes.]

[ Whatever it is in the woods with them, they’re close—and loud—enough that Shinobu doesn’t need the warning. With her hands at her scabbard, she dips low, ready to spring forward and skewer the next thing she sees. ]

If you need to, run. I’ll hold them off here for as long as I’m able.

I won't abandon you to die here. If you need to run, run.

[Lucifer isn't in the habit of splitting the party, sorry. He may be holding one scrawny mage, but this is for the scrawny mage's protection... and if Shinobu wants to play tag, well, he can back her up with spells.]

You had our backs. I'll have yours.

[ As Lucifer and Clamor put distance away from Shinobu and whatever is coming their way, they'll notice that the wind has stopped and the forest is still, silent save for the two running away from Shinobu and the one running towards.

I hope Shinobu is a "stab first ask questions later" person, because what bursts through the underbrush is

a high school boy in all black. ]

[ Of all the things Shinobu expects Lucifer to say in response, ‘I won’t abandon you’ isn’t one of them. What does he care whether she lives or dies? He’s a demon. She’s human. All he should care about is what good she does for his stomach.

Maybe Kanae was right. Maybe—

A rustling bush sends her train of thought careening off its rails. She’s been caught off-guard. If she hesitates, she risks putting the three of them in danger.

So she doesn’t. She surges forward, not once stopping to assess the threat, and plunges her blade deep into the boy’s gut. The way his flesh gives… is he human? ]

—?!

[ Who did she stab? How much is she going to regret what she’s just done? ]

[ The boy isn't anybody the three of them recognize, wearing a black hakama instead of Yogen's uniform, with wide eyes staring at nothing, perhaps too surprised to process what had just happened. When he does, a look of horror dawns on his face and his eyes snap to meet Shinobu's, mouth open and—-

before he can utter a single word, a dark shadow swoops down from the trees like a gale, passing between the two of them and Shinobu's sword suddenly feels light again: the boy's knees hit the ground as the darkness slips away, torso falling forward and intestines unraveling and spilling out onto the ground that soaks through with blood and bile and shredded organs. Everything from the ribs up is gone.

One by one the blue butterflies return, half a dozen floating down to land on the boy's remains, dipping their heads, and sucking his blood. ]

[It all goes by too quickly for Clamor to process. He sees the boy, sees Shinobu thrusting her blade forward, the shadow, the sound of a bloody torso hitting grass...

it's probably a good thing Shinobu is standing between them to block the view, that his head is throbbing too much to focus on it, and that the adrenaline is pumping enough that his thoughts are on a much more pressing topic: the thing that did that is still here]

We need to move, now! [they are not fighting that, what the fuck]

[Holy fuck alright I woke up to this so that bodes well, before Lucifer takes off running in a direction however can he see where the fuck that shadow went?]

[ It went right. Into a bunch of trees. They can't see it anymore, nor can they hear footsteps or movement, just butterflies coming to feast. ]

[Aight so

Let's not provoke attacks here. Lucifer moves cautiously to the left, looking to Shinobu like, hey let's not fuck with the thing that just ate a man. Back away slowly, you know the drill.

Is there anything else in the area that looks like it might be worth going to, or are we just flying by the seat of our pants here?]

[ There is nothing in the immediate area that would prompt one direction over another. All they know is that the boy came from further north, the butterflies were heading east, and that thing also headed east. If they linger long enough, they'll start to hear whistling again, coming from the west. ]

[ A logical voice in the back of her head—one that sounds like Clamor—tells Shinobu to run, but cold horror keeps her frozen in place. That was a human. That was a living, breathing person, and she killed them. She watched them die, too. Let it happen, even.

No matter what Clamor and Lucifer think is the right thing to do, she can’t run from this. She made a promise. She swore to protect everyone. ]

… We can’t.

[ She’s not sure she can muster the will to look at either of them. Not if it means letting them see her all glassy-eyed and guilty. She keeps her head down and her eyes on whatever’s left of the poor boy instead. ]

We can’t leave. If there are other people lost in this forest, we’d be leaving them to die, too.

[He doesn't want to activate Dad Voice on her. Lucifer should, rightfully, leave the demon-killer to die, but...

Well, she hasn't stabbed him in the back yet, and the greedier part of Lucifer thinks he should just keep Shinobu around so that she can watch their backs, and then... for the millionth time he can hear Barbatos in the back of his mind telling him he's gotten soft, since he thinks he might actually give a shit about the life of someone he should reasonably be throttling or getting into a death-battle with.

At the end of the day, it's his pride that gets in the way. She's protected them; it would go against Lucifer's rigid principles to not return the favour. But he's not about to stand here and let them all perish, either.]

Shinobu. [He frowns. Shakes his head.] What's to say that those people aren't already dead? We could be trapped in an illusion. Remember, it was nighttime when we left the school. We blink, and it's daytime — I don't believe for a moment that this is truly how this realm operates.

[Actually, he doesn't know what to think, but for now he'll say that.]

Perhaps this isn't what you want to hear, but I'll say it regardless: There are people waiting on our safe return. You have to choose who to save. Are you going to save Amami, Gundham, Meng Yao, and Clamor? [Notably, he doesn't name himself; maybe because Lucifer thinks he doesn't need saving, or because he's trying to get a point across.] Or are you going to save unknown students who may or may not even be real? More importantly — will you live with the guilt of being unable to save unnamed students, or will you live with the guilt of being unable to save your friends?

Unfortunately, life is unkind, as I'm sure you've learnt. No matter what choice you make, [it's foolish to try and save those unknown students, Shinobu, please don't—] there will be consequences you must live with, sins you must weigh, and regret that suffocates you.

[he's trying really hard to stay calm and quiet and not panic, and this is all very touching and inspirational, but also

guys,] Can we maybe talk about this after we get away from here?!

[but since he's still being carried right now and doesn't feel any more comfortable walking, he's going to start thumbing quickly through his spellbook—none of his wards are going to do shit about an attack like that. he needs a plan B.

also: paying very close attention to that whistling now, because it can't be a coincidence that it stopped right before the last attack.]

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