MISSION 2.C

[adsum]

Participants: Natsume, Komaeda, Hinata, Helena
Location: Fourth Floor
Date: 08/22 - 08/28

(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 4 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.)

Comments

Start

[adsum]

[ Regardless of when they pushed through the door on the fourth floor, each person opens the door to find themselves stepping out into complete darkness, as if sight had been stripped away from them leaving only solid footsteps or bumping into one another to attest to the fact that they have not been thrown into the familiar auditorium void. They find no door when they turn back to where they came, but as soon as all four people have found one another, they can each hear faint hissing in their minds, pulsating with their heartbeats.

A faint light shines from above, miles away as if a singular star in the night sky. They can jump, but they cannot reach it. In an empty abyss of nothingness, it doesn't matter which direction they choose, but they should choose and leave together, because if they split up I'm ditching any stragglers and they'll be stuck in the void forever while the rest of the group moves on. ]

[commences]

( don't know how the group is grouped as in positions, but komaeda's here to take the plunge into death, and no one will stop him. which i mean, he's going to smack someone by accident because he's looking for an arm to latch onto, like the whole hugging their arm to his chest not because it's dark, but because he's here to be annoying. once he finds it... it belongs to him.

roll initiative for who the unlucky person is. )

...I can't see, but at least we can relate to ( there's a rule about saying people's names at night, right? ) A-san.

( it's all about including people, making them feel part of what's going on, things like that. even if this is the second time he's done this to helena, but hey, doesn't matter. )

Well... perhaps not fully.

( anyone else? what's the stitch gang? anyone else see the north star? )

[crystallomancy]

( unfortunately virtue of me tagging next it's natsume, he hates this, he wishes the poison had taken komaeda considering this takes place closer to the end of the month. )

—Can you keep your hands off of me for at least one WEEK, K...-san? ( never mind that this one wasn't actually Deliberate this time. natsume's counting it. he's gonna try and tug his arm away, let go you gnat.

though he's right. it's completely dark... he wishes he had nightvision goggles or something. sigh. ) I suppose that A-san is...

( ...miss helena, but he replaces it with something else: )

Not doing so bad right NOW. ( he'll just— talk. it's fine. ) It's extremely dark at the moMENT, but there's a light far up in the SKY... Or ceiLING, considering this is the SCHOOL. Like the Northern Star, famed for guiding those lost at sea or on LAND, though I can't say whether or not that that one is in any particular cardinal direcTION.

[decrypter]

[it's the hissing she can hear that concerns her most, but since she can't detect more than the four of them, there's nothing to trace it to. nothing yet, at any rate, which means that there's nothing to do but venture forth.]

If that's the state of things, perhaps I should walk a little ahead, since darkness is no great obstacle to me.

[and whoever wants to hold hands that she's near will have one hand slipped into theirs, to stay connected.]

We can stay together easily enough. Hold onto each other, or follow the sound of my cane, whichever is easier for you to do - you won't get too lost like that. Our North Star will oversee our efforts, I'm sure.

[come along then. she won't walk too fast - the steady tap tap of her cane on the ground is done a little more frequently for the others' sake rather than hers. the soundwaves echo off nothing at the moment, but simply going is better than doing nothing at all. this is her territory, nothing more than a large blank space and the four of them, where sound is one's true guide.

but it also means she's very, very aware of the hissing, in time with one's own heart.]

[futurebullets]

[Since Komaeda and Natsume are wrestling (source: ?) up ahead, Hinata can be the one for Helena to grab onto unless she's closer to one of the others. If she does, he'll get pretty flustered, but will hold on securely.]

Holding onto each other might be best, just in case we lose our footing on something we can't see.

[He casts one more look behind him, and- yep, still gone. Hinata swallows hard as they proceed. He's trying very hard to speak calmly, but inside he feels like he's on the brink of panic.]

This is... wrong no matter how you think about it, right? Even the door is gone behind us.

[commences]

It's fine, S-kun! You said you're special back home, so you can touch me all you like... no need to be shy. A-san and H... ( these names have shuuen no shiori vibes, honestly. ) Spiky Ahoge-kun agrees.

( better.

he sighs playfully, though he's paying more attention to their abyss-like surroundings than anyone else — maybe on hinata considering his poor condition. natsume can handle himself, and helena is no child, even if she's unable to see. in a way, this is her playing field so she knows better than them. )

Anyway... ( he presses himself against natsume's arm as they walk together arm in arm... mano e mano... ) There's nothing to worry about, A-san is here for us so you hold on, can't you?

( that's said reassuringly as he looks towards hinata (or where he thinks he is) from the sound of his voice mixed with the tap of the cane. i almost wrote cain, sighs. )

Oh, and the ghosts if there's any.

( casually said, you know he keeps that thang — the megaphone hacking gun — on him. )

let there be light

[adsum]

[ They open their eyes as if waking from a dream, sprawled on the ground in the thickets of a forest with cicadas droning in their ears. To their left is a pile of rocks: a cairn. To their right, far off in the distance, Helena can hear the sound of running water.

Next to Hinata is a backpack, snagged in a tree branch and split open. Inside are two oranges, a pear, and half a box of cinnamon graham crackers. ]

[futurebullets]

What the fuck-

[Protesting and indignant, because Komaeda sure did Do That. the shape of it is still on Hinata's lips as the boys pull themselves to the ground, as Helena reprimands them, even as the sound is stolen from his mouth as a presence makes itself known at their feet. It freezes on him, when he realizes there are blinking golden eyes in the darkness, and the memory of it is finally lost to the cacophony of what follows.

Hinata's limbs are still shaking with adrenaline as he pulls himself up from his position on the ground, looking around disbelievingly at their surroundings. His body aches, and distantly he's aware he's still got a loose grip on Helena, but even with both of those things pressing on his mind, he can't stop his mind from racing and trying to logic out what exactly just happened to them.

...It's impossible. Nothing here makes sense, in a way even worse than Jabberwock. Hinata doesn't think he could figure out what was going on if he tried. There's nothing to be done about that now, though, so he'll do the one thing that he can.]

Hey... Is everybody okay? [Very carefully, in case her hand is hurt, Hinata tugs on Helena's hand.] There was so much happening, I couldn't tell if it got any of us before we...

[Clipped through the earth like they were in a 90s video game, but he doesn't want to say it out loud. That makes it feel too real.]

[commences]

( they're just getting thrown anywhere, but once komaeda manages to get himself together, he'll crawl over to the cairn to rest his back against it. does his head hurt? damn right, but there's no need to complain unless a rock falls and hits him....

anyway, he's going to try and adjust his eyes to the light and their surroundings since they've been in the dark for far too long. is it like early morning? evening? how much sunlight do they have before nightfall, that sort of thing?

maybe this is their alice in wonderland au, you never know hinata, so don't be judgmental about the change! this is normal, it happens in books, and what are their lives if not a story? aside from that, the cicadas sing, and komaeda remains silent like a proper audience while he tries hears hinata speak, but doesn't say much to it. it's probably best to wait for everyone to gather their bearings. if anything he keeps a smile on his face watching them all?? he's done enough mayhem... kind of.

sort of...

looks at the cairn. )

[adsum]

[ It's early morning, at the crack of dawn where warmer hues are just starting to bleed into the sky but the sun hasn't shown its face quite yet.

The cairn... is there. The river is also there. There are a lot of trees and little other sense of where to go besides the two. ]

[crystallomancy]

( the wind knocked out of him and having to let his eyes adjust to the light like he's just woken up from a terrible sleep aside—

natsume is fine. it hurts a little, but nothing he can't work through, sitting up and rolling his shoulder as he takes in the view. they're outside, but is it a real outside, or a fake one? they're inside, but they're outside. ...he should answer hinata, really. )

And with no white rabbit in SIGHT... ( mumbled, but then more clearly: ) More or less alright over HERE, and Komaeda-san seems perfectly fine TOO. How regrettABLE.

( :/ :/ :/ but he'll be a good boy and only let that be his only snipe for the moment, he's here to cooperate (with hinata and helena) )

...Where are WE... ( this is not really a question for any of them to answer considering none of them can, but he'll go to inspect the cairn. the side komaeda isn't resting on. how tall is it, is there anything particularly special about it.

also: nerrrrrrrrrd alerrrrrrrrrrt. ) Cairns — this structure here — are often used as markers for one thing or anoTHER, from safe trails to landmarks proPER, to gravesites and astronoMY. Ancient civilizations would use them to note when the solstices and the equinoxes WERE, particularly for the cultures which those dates were important FOR.

( scots, if he remembers right. but they're still usually doubling as gravesites. )

In a WAY, they're not really unlike our own gorinTOS, albeit larGER.

[decrypter]

[she groans softly as she sits up. not being a stranger to pain didn't make it any more wonderful to experience. words come through slowly, because the world is different - smells, feels, sounds so different to her than where they were before. and taking a deep breath, the biggest thing that comes through is that they're outside. not on the school grounds.

gently, she squeezes Hinata's hand back, to let him know she's fine. somewhat sore, and there's definitely a leaf or two in her hair, but she's alive. nothing feels broken or bleeding. a lot had just occurred - and Helena has only felt something like that movement on her skin when certain hunters take the field - but this place, is it safe? how are they to know?

using her cane to help her get up, she turns in the direction of the river. it's not close, but it's water, and doubtless it's more refreshing than anything they can get in the school. ]

Maybe the cairn's a sign to let us know where we are? If it's just on its own here...but there's a river not far off, I can hear it.

[and if it was a choice between a strange structure or the river, she knows what she'd do. the problem then becomes how to return to this cairn if needed.]

i saw a 10 paragraph dissertation on hope and my eyes glazed over

[adsum]

[ The impact shatters every bone in their bodies, immense pressure on all sides fuses them back together, and they find themselves floating instead of falling, under water instead of in the air.

Those able to swim can fight their way to the surface fifty feet above their heads; those who cannot or are disoriented by the fall find themselves helplessly swept away in a racing current.

The water is frigid, quickly sapping feeling from the extremities, and the light is too bright outside, enough to burn eyes accustomed to the darkness. Snowflakes drift lazily down from the sky above, powdering the trees. ]

[crystallomancy]

( he has komaeda's hands on him, and then the ground disappears beneath him, and he falls—he's mad about it, seething, anger that doesn't dissipate in achingly long time they spend falling in the dark.

anger that disappears when he impacts against something, scream choked in his throat at the shattering, the remaking, the... cold, the dark, the split second realization that flips the switch in his head from irritation to panic. it's not really well-known or anything, and that's deliberate—even only a select number of people at yumenosaki know he can't swim.

so he struggles in the water and barely remembers not to open his fucking mouth or he'll definitely drown, and he flails for anything, anything or anyone to grab onto to help him keep from sinking further or getting pulled away by the current. pwease help )

[commences]

[commences]

( when isn't natsume mad about something.

immediate pain from every bone that breaks is welcomed, painful as they fuse together, and as his mouth parts momentarily to allow air bubbles to drift up above him. his eyes sees them, vision blurry, but that's just being lodged under water. he knows that he can go up, does so as he weighs over the pros and cons of just drifting down to drown. nothing hopeful comes from an easy death, there's more opportunities waiting that'll need his —

a wet whack! right against his head, what is that... converse, natsume what shoes do you wear, but we'll say with all that flailing this is what things have came to. komaeda does smack whatever hits him, and his organic hand brushes against the rubbery sole of a shoe that's attached to an ankle, he moves his hand lower to find a leg? he's not going to try and learn who it is, maybe it's hinata since he grabbed onto komaeda before this descent. all untalented feel the same, lmfaoo!!!

just going to drag natsume up by his leg — sometimes... he'll let go if there's too much flailing, but for the most part he'll grab him again unless someone else wants this messy job! )

[decrypter]

[falling, falling, and the empty space becomes something of a new normal. maybe this is it, to endlessly fall until she dies yet again, with nothing but faith to light the way. and then pain rocketing through every nerve, enough to incapacitate in a flash and even steal the voice from her throat, breaking and reforming. the water is brutally cold, but instinct tells her to swim, to push her way up and up, kicking and moving until she breaks the surface, gasping for air and trying to keep her head up.

whichever way shore is, she doesn't know, but she can keep herself upright, trying to hear or gain hold of something, anything that'll give her any more insight.]

Hajime! Nagito! Natsume!

[if they can hear her, she hopes they'll come. and if someone needs to grab onto her cane to help pull them that last few feet up to the surface, they're welcome to it - Helena's got that in a death grip. everything else, she's willing to lose, except that.]

[futurebullets]

[If Hinata hadn't been under the water's surface and had heard Helena, he'd be embarrassed about his first name, maybe even a little touched as he desperately rushed to her - but he cannot hear because he's been dragged under with Komaeda, and he cannot come to her aid just yet.

When he finally snaps out of it, Hinata realizes he's under the water. The pain throughout his body is excruciating, worse than when they fell through the first time. When he first dropped under the surface, he was holding onto something, onto- Komaeda?! His head whips around to look-

There, at his side, he sees Komaeda grabbing onto Natsume's... foot? That sure is his foot. But he knows that can't possibly be safe, so he forces his aching limbs to move, swims over to grab Natsume around the middle and get him upright. If nothing else, at least, getting him not upside down as they push up has to be safer than the alternative.

Sakasaki... Hold on a little longer...!

If Komaeda moves with them, Hinata will swim them up the surface as best he can.]

[adsum]

[ The river is as wide as it is deep, devoid of fish or frogs or other slimy things, and if one of them looks downstream, they will see that the flow of water breaks off at the horizon, reminiscent of the stream of lights floating down that path and ending in


anyways there's a waterfall in T-minus 2 minutes, and if they don't get out then they're going down and Natsume won't be alone in sinking to the bottom. ]

End

[adsum]

[ They open their eyes, sprawled on their backs and staring up at the blackened boards of the ceiling, bruised and battered with heavy weights upon their hearts. But when they sit up, pushing the pile of rocks off of themselves, it's to find the air much easier to breathe, to sunlight streaming through the windows of the hallway and illuminating the skeleton of a burnt down hall that left only support pillars still standing, held up by the hundreds of thousands of round, grey stones spilling out from what once may have been classroom doors: hundreds upon thousands of broken gorinto, locked up in this hallway and forgotten for innumerable years.

The four of them stand, wet blood on their hands and on their clothes, socks soaked through with melted snow.

On Komaeda's wrist are 10 additional tallies.
On Natsume's wrist are 8 additional tallies.
On Hinata's wrist are 4 additional tallies.
And on Helena's wrist are 7 additional tallies.

From the 28th onward, the fourth floor hallway is open and accessible to all students, from the stairwell to the locked door up to the rooftop. ]

Aftermath

[futurebullets]

[His legs still feel unsteady, feet feeling like they'll barely carry him if he tries to move. And even with that, it hardly feels like the worst thing he's going through right now.

The sound of that small voice, those small feet, still echo in his head. There's empty space in his chase, something ripped raw from him, a vacuum of grief in the pit of his chest. Stuck in the one place they cannot get away from beyond its courtyard, how will they ever get back to the place they must return to? It makes Hinata want to drop to his knees right there and curl up, shut everything out for a few moments until his heart stops hurting.

But Hinata knows that is not an option. They don't have the time to waste on such things.

There is a lot that needs to be discussed.]

Ko- [His voice breaks, weak with relief in spite of everything. He doesn't know what they might've gone through, but the two of them are there. Both still alive.] Komaeda, Sakasaki... Are you both okay?

[commences]

( his body feels heavy, sore to the point he doesn't want to move — it's difficult to breathe, but he finds out the hard way as he uses his organic arm to push something heavy off his chest, and it clatters a thump onto the ground. he blinks once, then twice, his eyes stinging from constant cold to the beaming sunlight glossing against his eyes. it manages a small tear to form, burning, and it rolls down his cheek that catches him off guard —

something warm, unfamiliar when it's not coupled with hope. quickly, he lifts his hand to wipe it away, unfortunately smacking his face, and he exhales at the same time a voice calls out for him, and someone else. hinata-kun, is that you? he wonders (and why, why does he?) why helena's name isn't said as well, but he remembers that it was both him and natsume that left first, an unknown darkness, until a drastic reveal — he doesn't know if his heart hurts, or if he's sick to his stomach that he can feel anything at all.

that's what they get for trying, was that supposed to be some sort of good end? he forces his eyes shut, reminding himself that there's nothing to be concerned over. a memory, it was called, instances familiar that he recalls from... "keigo" themselves, it was like a spoiler before he even lived it. there's no need to fret, it's just the past, and rokuro said it himself — it's something that can't be changed. komaeda's teeth grind together, and it's an uncomfortable feeling that he stops immediately after. he remains on the floor, his organic hand falling onto the ground, and he feels something small close to his fingers. they're hesitant to touch, because he doesn't care to look, but he can feel that it's smooth aside from the ridges...

he grabs it to hold into the palm of his hand.

but then he realizes, they're right there, so he stands up with a sigh, and pale green eyes looks between his company, and he keeps a hold on the wishing stone, the only thing he has next to a certain body he held onto instead. )

Well... quite the turn of events, did everyone have fun? Memory hopping, it felt like we were time travelers.

( yeah, he doesn't take this seriously to recalibrate his i don't care about a damn thing meter. )

[crystallomancy]

( But a memory is a memory, and the past is the past. "What could have been" does not change reality...

He knows that. He knows that, intimately and painfully. His chest feels heavy with it—or maybe it's the rocks, heavy and sad stones he notices once he blearily opens his eyes and lets them adjust to the new normal of a sunbeam in his face. Natsume gently shoves them off, taking a deep breath and immediately regretting it as he coughs slightly from the dust sure to be lurking around. What could have been does not change reality, not in the past, no; but in the present, in the future, with little seeds, the nuance of that reality can be changed...

Well, Rokuro is (was) dead, but they the living—the present—might have changed the nuance of that reality in assisting him to the cabin, even if the result of his life was the same. He's almost too lost thinking on it to hear Hinata or Komaeda speak; almost, but not quite, and despite how quiet his voice is it still carries in the stillness of the hallway. )

I'm FINE, Hinata-kun, and... please shut UP, Komaeda-san... No— ( The hint of a smile tugs at his face, and he continues freeing himself from the rocks, looking around for Helena to get some stones off of her and help her up, too. ) Nagito-kun.

( ohh he is loving this discovery from their mission. best thing he's learned all day, aside from everything else he needs to pick apart and process. )

[decrypter]

[the rocks that cover her, that weigh her down like regret, don't feel heavy enough. she can still hear that little voice in her head, and though she doesn't know it, the red ribbon of her uniform is gone. the boy's words on the past offer only a cold, small comfort - this would always have the end result it did, even if they changed the circumstances. her hands move to push stones off, try to help herself sit up, but it's mechanical - her heart is still back in that cabin.

still, the touch of someone's hand brings her back to the present, and the voices are a reassurance. Hajime, Natsume, Nagito - they're all here. they're all alive. this is relief, and so it steadies what could be heartbreak tumbling down out of her. for now, she can stay strong, even as she grasps for her cane and relies on that hand to help her up. it's Natsume - she knows by the proximity of his voice. a murmured thank you to him as she gets back on her feet, eyes closed to keep herself from wanting to blink away tears.]

I'm glad you're all alive.

[the simplest thing to say, the most honest. hearing their voices was a measure to brace her.]

Through all of that...

[futurebullets]

I'm glad we were able to find you. [A pat to Helena's shoulder, gentle.] I'm glad both of you are okay, but...

[Questions race through his mind, too many to number. If nothing else, it's a distraction from the way his chest aches.]

What... was that? Just now, that boy... He said it was a memory, but how is that possible?

[Unfortunately, Hinata no longer remembers that he had to abandon logic when it comes to Yogen.]