yogen | may missions

Childe-hyung, what was the intent of that? [A nod over to Alice. You're gonna explain while they follow the cat, bud, you're gonna tell them what's on your mind.]

[Before he can protest and state that he doesn’t need the healing — he can’t exactly feel the pain in his hands anyway, so just some staunching of the bleeding would have worked fine - Noah’s already gone and closed the wound, so arguing it feels like a bit of a moot point. He pushes himself up, dusting his pants off with a soft hum and nodding at Nene’s insistent little tugs. Art room, after the cat. Sounds like a plan.]

Dunno! To be honest, I was mostly chasing a hunch. Breaking mirrors send us back usually, yeah? It’s a logical conclusion to think that maybe in a mirrored version of this place, blood would send us back instead. It didn’t, obviously, but we did get some new information out of it, so it wasn’t exactly a fruitless venture in my eyes.

[ Fortunately, the creature forming itself is rather slow, and it seems to lose interest in following them the moment they leave the hallway.

When the group enters the art room, they'll find the shadow cat rubbing against the legs of the same figure that was seen in the clock tower - Aiko Okane, the former student council president, frozen in time as her brush strokes across the canvas. It's a simple landscaping portrait ahead of her depicting a nighttime scene of the wisteria tree in the courtyard. Her work will continue until they begin to approach, at which point the brush will fall out of her hands and clatter to the ground.

"Hey, don't sneak up on me like that! ... Hold on, why are you here? You're not supposed to be here..."

The meaning behind those words is left for the group to figure out, as the figure fades away like a wisp of smoke, and once it's gone the black cat scampers off and disappears into the shadows in turn. The painting remains behind. It's out of place in the decrepit school, the canvas looking to be brand new, and the paint on it is still wet. It looks to have just been completed. The same can be said of the brush on the floor, with dark blue paint splattered on the ground.

The supply closet rattles, then falls still. ]

[Noah, immediately removing all emotion from the situation for himself because he Will be sad and unproductive if he Doesn't shut off, tunes in to the rattling supply closet and makes a shushing motion. Like I'm assuming no one talked over that but if y'all did you get shushed by a short kid with shadow magic.

He points to the supply closet, and then at the painting. "Check that, check this" essentially, but in case something's in the closet that responds to noise, y'all best shut up.]

( ah- not again... and then, she's gone... again. ...

right. the painting.

but a few things are simmering in nene's heart right now.

anyways, she probably shouldn't be the one to check the closet! so! yeah. nene is going to observe the painting. she might be a bit dazed right now give her a sec- )

[ Even more unnerving... Now Alice falls silent, eyes wide, but he gives Noah a nod in agreement. Stealth is very much a good idea, and they won't foolishly draw attention to themselves!

Presumably they're forming pairs to examine the painting and that ominous supply closet. Thus, floorboard in hand and gripped tightly, Alice slowly inches closer and closer to the closet's doors. Is it locked? ]

[Childe also falls silent upon the rattling, deciding that should definitely be dealt with first before they investigate the painting in full. He sidesteps his way closer to the painting, spinning his polearm within his grasp and willing it to change shape in his grasp once more. It molds and shifts, taking the form of an ornate bow.

He draws the string back, one eye closed and training his sights on the supply closet, planting himself between Nene and the doors just in case he needs to intervene and shoot whatever is in there before it can rush out and attack. For now, however, he’s waiting in the wings, trusting Noah and Alice to deal with it for the moment. He’ll cover a Nen.]

[ Rattle, rattle...

The supply closet opens up, and a body comes tumbling out, though it can barely be said to be human anymore. The muscles and joints are contorted to the point where it's a wonder it can move at all. No blood spills from its joints despite the dozens of places where it's pierced, and pieces of it seem to shift in and out of shape. Even the familiar face of Maya Aritsu, the second student council president, isn't quite right, the features not quite symmetrical, the eyes a shining gold. It's as though someone were trying to reform the shape of a person and not quite managing to do so properly.

Hopefully Alice and Noah are quick because while she can be damaged by conventional methods, she is quick, and she won't hesitate to attack the person who opens the door for her.

Meanwhile, it's fortunate that Childe is supporting Nene, as he'll no doubt notice the shadowy figure that slips up beneath her. It has no discernible form, no more than any of the other shadows in the other school do, but it appears to raising some blunt instrument high over its head.

It would be wise not to wait and see what happens once it drops. ]

[Hey hey Noah remembers those shining gold eyes from the battle royale that Ishimaru had to do isn't this just grand?

I have no intelligent way of wording this but there's a blink and suddenly Noah is gone and replaced with like, so many shadow Noahs that attempt to beat the shit out of whatever mutated monstrosity this is supposed to be.]

[Peripheral vision is a gift, one that Childe is very well versed in utilizing. Granted, our friend emerging from the supply closet is quite commanding in its presence, and he'd hate turning his back on it if he wasn't confident in Noah's ability to handle it.

They'd trained together in their free time, after all. Childe knows what a holy terror Noah can be when pressed.

So instead he twists to focus his attention on the figure attacking Nene, firing the held shot square into the thing's chest and stepping forward to draw it away from her if it recovers enough for another attack.]

Keep behind me now rybka, okay?

( --that sure is clattering and metal and air moving distantly behind her. and that sure is the twang of a bowstring and something getting hit directly behind her- and then childe is there and? there's? a shadow person thing?

?????????

HELLO???

nene scrambles back a bit, eyes wide and heart pounding- uh. uH- there's got to be something she can- oh, hey, that's familiar. nene grabs a paint knife, old and probably a little rusty- but the thing is, dull metal's more dangerous, even she knows that. and she's got strong arms. but also childe's probably got this? yeah. )

[ They might have been braced for something, but this is truly horror movie jumpscare material, and no one asked to be brought to the void for that! The rattling on its own was a recipe for mounting tension, and then comes the sudden movement of the misshapen not-quite person bursting out from the closet, and the vicious attack—

Noah's swift response keeps the abomination from striking Alice. The thing is surrounded — it should be overpowered, outnumbered by all those figures pummeling it — but between that and the commotion unfolding near the painting, so soon after the puddle and the shifting shadows, Alice has really had enough.

That said, all he can do is position himself to swing his piece of wood at some part of the potential zombie that happens to come within reach in the midst of the Noahs darting around. Enough is the thought that drives it; his nerves are pulled too taut, and they snap all at once in the face of the closet fright startling them so badly. ]

Stop it... All of this... STOP IT!!

[ It's exactly the type of scene one would expect from a low-budget horror movie, or to see in the nightmares of a person who had made the mistake of watching one too many, save for how real it is. It's fortunate, then, that unlike the creature in the hallway both creatures are capable of being disposed of.

Maya, or rather the thing wearing Maya's skin, proves to be surprisingly sturdy. It claws and rends despite the lack of either, clumsy movements done with limbs that don't seem like they should be able to move at all, and as it does so Noah will feel as though pieces himself are being chipped away at. It's incredibly painful, like having skin and flesh ripped off layer by layer, but if he can withstand that he'll find that pieces of if break off and scatter like the dust stirred up by their movements.

It may take some effort, but if he can hang in there, the creature can be disposed of, and it will leave behind a pile of something that looks like looks like a pile of ashes.

Childe will fair better. It seems the shadow figure that had set its eyes on Nene is weaker in nature, or perhaps it's just less formed. Its form seems to try and shift into something more solid as it stumbles back in response to the arrow that pieces its chest, changing between shapes, as though it can't decide on a form and each time hitting on something that resembles one of the generic students. It's as though the creature is trying to remember what it should be, but not quite succeeding.

One more good shot should do it, as long as his aim is good, and that would be enough to grant Alice's wish, leading to a quiet and empty room. ]

[It's a good thing Noah has probably endured worse (?) given that Elrios is how it is, but — but ow?? Still, he's pressing on, because if this thing is tearing him to pieces, there's no way he's letting it get anyone else. He hack-hack-hacks with sickle-Clamor and shadow magic until it hopefully stops moving.]

[It’s much faster to manually throw the next hydro arrow rather than waste the time it takes to nock it and draw the string back, so that’s precisely what he does. Because according to the Genshin fandom’s mathematicians, he can throw those suckers at 75mph. Winding up and tossing it towards his target, aiming for the center of its chest once more, a slight smirk crossing his face as he does.

It’s been a while since the last time he had a good fight, and it feels a little like getting to indulge after withdrawals.

He hasn’t noticed Noah’s predicament just yet, but as he turns his head and does just that that smirk immediately slips off his face. The moment he’s sure Nen is safe and they’re not still under attack he’s gonna rush over and check on Noah.]

[ They're clearly fortunate to have Noah Ebalon on their side, fending off that creature despite its unrelenting attacks, but how long can anyone keep this up? Even his abilities don't make him impervious to harm...

A broken floorboard stands no real chance — all the same, at some point before everything finally stops, Alice flings it at their opponent's head in frantic, frustrated desperation. ]

Damn you...!!

[ And then, when it's quiet at last, that becomes worrying. Are they even safe now? Nene Yashiro and Childe Tartaglia may be unharmed, but... Alice glances in Noah's direction. ]

( fuck the painting, boyfriend is hurt- nene runs over immediately, whining quietly as she fusses otherwise quietly. thankfully mod-narration says it only... feels? like being ripped apart? but ALSO YIKES )

[well first and foremost I hope the thing is dead BEFORE Nene rushes over and also

how fucked up is Noah right now? ~~I hope he's actually torn the fuck up a little bit~~]

[ The thrown arrow will in fact do the trick! The second shadow fades out, and it's as though that space had been empty to begin with.

Their combined efforts are rewarded. The thrown floorboard does knock it off balance, and that should be enough to assist Noah, and the end result is that the room is as empty and quiet as promised. There is the group, the canvas, the supply closet, and a pile of ashes.

But this isn't the first time a body of a student council member has been hidden in here.

Noah is fortunate in that the damage isn't extensive. It was without a doubt painful, but between the clumsy movements of the creature and Noah being a more skilled fighter than most, he's able to avoid the worst of it. He'll be left with scratches that didn't break the skin, marks that will later turn into bruises, and nicks on his skin. He'll find himself sporting a lacerations in a few spots as well (or possibly more but a few swipes of claws is the minimum the blood god requires today,) but fortunately they seem to be relatively shallow.

Do try not to bleed too much. ]

[Noah honestly takes a second to fully come out of combat mode, eyes darting around like he's expecting more to pop out at him. He does not, in fact, register the worried group of friends (and probably doesn't register NPC-sickle Clamor yelling in his head either) until a solid minute after the fight is over.

That's when all of the pain actually starts to kick his ass a little bit. Hi, hello. Wow! He never liked Maya and then her mangled shadow-corpse kicked his ass and that feels bad. He got the last hit in but still. Anyway, he stands there for a moment to assess damage...]

I'm alright.

[Everything hurts but yeah. He's alright. He wants to say "I've had worse" but that probably won't help, and he shuts his mouth when he sees everyone's faces. Wordlessly, he starts trying to heal the larger cuts, though it's gonna take him a minute.]

[Childe stops short of rushing over himself, allowing Nene to handle that front instead. He doesn’t want to intrude on their moment, and Noah seems like he’s alright… Shaken and a little roughed up, but nothing to be too concerned over. He huffs out a sigh of relief, tossing the bow aside and allowing it to dissipate into a shower of mist.]

Thought she’d gotten you pretty good there, kiddo. I was afraid you were losing your touch. Told you that’d come in handy. [He motions to Alice’s handy dandy floorboard, the ghost of a smile on his lips as he idly reaches down to hook his thumb against the edge of his Vision. With a careful push it rotates, the blue of the Hydro symbol sliding around and out of view as the maroon-red of his Delusion takes its place.

He needs it right about now so that he can be faster, especially if he wants to keep up with protecting everyone as best as he can. He stoops down to pick up the discarded paintbrush, reaching up to slide his mask down and over his face as he does.]

Seems like quite a fuss to kick up over a modern art fixture.

I've fought worse. Titania dropped a whole building on my head.

[Which is ostensibly worse than a flailing mutant corpse shadow thingy that's just really really pointy. Noah's quite busy making sure he's not going to bleed on the floors, though, not wanting to set off another round of shadow hands.

He does look up at Childe as Childe does his Delusion shift and thinks to himself, Childe-hyung is so cool. Anyway, back to healing.]

Will you guys check the painting? Maybe it's... I don't know, relevant somehow. I'll check the pile of ashes and see if there's anything in that when I'm done.

[He doubts it, but weirder things have happened.]

( nene does not squeak sadly at the thought of noah getting a building dropped on him, but she does seem reluctant to leave his side. but... the painting. right. she was doing that. she might as well get back to that. what's the painting hold for us, boss? and will spirit sight differentiate anything? )

[ The paint is still drying on the canvas. It shows the wisteria tree at night. It's a completed version of Aiko Okane's final painting, which now hangs in the dorms. When one looks at it, a lonely and wistful feeling overcomes them. It's the sort of nostalgia that comes with remembering better days that have long since passed and the regrets that accompany missed opportunities.

Spiritual sight will reveal that the wisteria have a faint blue glow to them, but that may just be one of the oddities of the other school, or perhaps it's just that whoever made it put a piece of themselves into it. But it will reveal something else, a shimmering object hidden among the colors and tools. There is another mirror fragment here, cool to the touch but providing a small shine and glow in the darkness of the school.

On the other hand, the ashes are warm to the touch, like the ashes left behind by the final burning embers of a fire. Hidden amongst them is a key to the student council room. ]

[When Noah is done gluing himself back together (he ignores the non-bloody scratches and the bruises because like... whatever, you know) he'll rummage in the ashes and pick that key up.]

Found a key. [He shoves it into his coat pocket and makes his way over to the painting.] Did you guys find anything cool?

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ignore how i died at the end of this gif i took this for Doppelganger Sibling purposes originally

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roll: 16 / 12

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covid vax is kicking my ass rn so I hope this makes sense

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roll: 7

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