yogen | may missions

[ Multiple shards to piece together into a whole... Like a jigsaw puzzle, then, once they locate all the fragments to collect — it's a logical objective. And here they have their confirmation that nothing else will ambush them, at least for now! ]

Really?! That puddle creature isn't hiding anywhere...? What wonderful news, Childe Tartaglia!

[ It is eerily empty all of a sudden... ]

[Giggling at Childe Tartaglia still—

Okay, no, he's good. Noah will resume taking up the back because guarding the rear is important, so everyone else gets to go first. Single-file.]

Alice-hyung, are you okay? You were shouting a lot earlier.

( while noah handles alice, nene gently tugs on childe's sleeve before he can get too far. once he looks behind him, she draws out the shape of the mask before signing out 'why?'? )

You don’t have to…

[The protest at being continuously titled “Childe Tartaglia” trails off into a sigh of acceptance. More pressing matters, after all. He can pull Alice aside later and explain that both are aliases and not the standard forename/surname. He lets his eyes wander as he leads the way, skimming the hall for any hiding adversaries and overall keeping himself on rather high alert.

He also continues to build bridges to help traverse if needed. These ones feel tingly when stepped on, and are liable to leave one static-y once vacated.

Childe only pauses in his surveillance at Nene’s tugging, glancing down at her long enough to gauge her question before he’s breathing out a quiet chuckle and motioning his pinkie to reference the Delusion on his hip.]

You can think of it as safety precautions of a sort. This here is… A man made device that’s prone to backfiring if one doesn’t take the proper steps to protect themself from the detriments. Now isn’t exactly the most opportune time to die, so I follow protocol.

[It’s a barebones explanation, but an explanation nonetheless. He’ll save the specifics of how a Delusion tends to literally leech the life and vitality out of its user for further elaborations.]

[ For his question, Noah receives a surprised look cast over Alice's shoulder. The Maya Arisu monster didn't hurt him at all — Noah Ebalon protected them. He continues to do so.

Even so, the entire encounter was a lot to shout about! It makes the peace now seem highly suspicious, though it's some reprieve while it lasts. ]

You obviously had the situation under control, Noah Ebalon, so the creature didn't land any blows on me. I merely thought to contribute some kind of diversion of my own...

Yeah, I fight stuff like that a lot, [everything this kid says gets weirder,] but you were scared, weren't you?

[He means this not in a passive-aggressive or shameful way, just in the way a worried kid kind of... says the first thing on his mind. And sometimes the first thing on his mind isn't tact or recognizing Alice is trying to mask but rather concern.]

The first time I ever fought something, I was scared too. I clammed up and couldn't move. It's hard. But you don't have to be scared while Childe-hyung and I are here.

Noah Ebalon...

[ He shouldn't keep looking behind him as they walk, but the realization sinks in that these are reassurances offered to put him at ease, since he's plainly out of his element. Noah Ebalon and Childe Tartaglia, on the other hand, are well equipped to vanquish the threats found here — as disturbing as it is to think that fighting horror movie monsters is a real everyday occurrence. What sort of world is that...?

He won't pretend that he wasn't terrified, and it's not a good feeling to see others risk their lives... ]

It's true... I may be a grown man, but I'm not afraid to admit that we've experienced frightening things. However, you and Childe Tartaglia are more than a match for them! They won't defeat you so easily.

[It's a world where everything sucks and is bad and dangerous but Noah's making it, somehow. Do not come to Elrios, there's constantly some glaring problem in the form of war or monstrous creatures or another apocalypse.]

Right, see? We're not going to go down as long as you and Nene are here to protect, and we're not going to let bad things happen to either of you if we can help it.

[And the hope is that the student council room is relatively safe, otherwise...

Anyway, when they get to the student council room, Noah moves to the front of the group to unlock the door, as the key-holder. A very important job. What is within? How fast does his face get eaten—]

Edited (plot advancement) 2022-05-30 02:49 (UTC)

[ Fortunately, there doesn't seem to be any face eating monsters hiding behind the door! The door opens to reveal the Student Council room, as decrepit as the rest of the school. The windows are cracked and shattered in places, letting the cold breeze flow in and leaving the room even more frigid than the rest of the school. Atop the cabinet lays the shadowy figure of a skinny cat, its tail twitching and swishing back and forth, but it seems to be content to simply watch. With it being in a closer proximity, those with spiritual sight will notice that it has a faint sparkling white aura.

Scattered across the desk are several papers. As with the painting in the art room, the papers seem out of place in the void - they're a bit disorganized and have a few red blots on them, but they otherwise seem to be almost brand new. The papers are a crisp white with black ink on them. And as with before, the form off Aiko Okane can be seen - she flickers in and out of existence several times, melding back into the form of a shadow student, before her form finally seems to solidify. She sits bent over, elbow propped on the table, staring down at the desk as her hand runs through her hair.

There's a very, very faint blue aura about her, completely unlike the blue glow seem around ghosts seen in the past, and her figure is thin and translucent. It's nothing more than a shade, a fraction or perhaps just a memory of a soul, but it doesn't immediately disappear as before. There is no malicious intent to be found from her. Their time together will likely be brief, but for the moment they seem to have the former Student Council President before them.

Time marches on. ]

Edited (i meant to remove that last line before hitting send since i didn't like it and thehn i did anyway.... gj me) 2022-05-30 09:34 (UTC)

[He's quiet as he takes in the sight of the room, eyes flickering about behind the crimson mask and settling momentarily on the cat. A glance beside and behind him towards the group, and then he's stepping forward into the room to address Aiko herself.]

I'm sorry if we're intruding on you, but nothing seems to work quite right in here in comparison to what I know of this place. Do you happen to know what's going on?

( hey remember how she kinda latched onto aiko like, hardcore? i don't think this encounter will actually fix anything. she kinda squeezes noah's hand in hers before taking out a small notepad from her pocket and writing. ... you can't trust ghosts to know jsl, you know? once she's written what she wants to say down, she gently slides it across the desk. )

Do you remember what happened to you?

That's the question, isn't it?

[ She takes in a breath, exhales the tired sigh of one whose been dealing with a problem for far too long. Her fingertips brush against the paper that's slid across as her eyes flick across the words. Her brow furrows and a small frown tugs at her lips. Her hand now reaches up to touch the back of her head where it had been struck before, the very memory enough to make it throb, and if she thinks too hard of it she's certain that her body will return to the state it should be in.

So she doesn't. ]

Vaguely. I know I was assaulted in the library. It was by one of you transfer students... Did you ever find out who did it? You should have killed him before he could get to anyone else. You would've saved yourself a lot of trouble.

[ It's harsh and even cold, but the truth often is. ]

It's too late now though. After that incident, I found myself here... I'm not sure how it came into being or even how I came to be here, but if I had to guess... I'd say it's because my contract was broken... You guys did this to yourselves.

[ She shakes her head. There's a soft, humorless laugh. She hadn't wanted to die either, but then she hadn't been given a choice either. ]

I won't bore you with the details, but my contract tied my fate to the school. If I could live until the end of the year, then not only would every third year graduate, we would do away with these anarchic systems of killing and dying for points or because of slight failures. But if I died, then so would everyone else.

[ High risk, high reward. Everyone would survive if she succeed, but everyone would die if she failed. ]

So if you think of the school as being like a sand castle decorated with shells and colored glass, then this place - [ She extends her hand the surrounding area. ] - Might be like the tide coming in to sweep it away bit by bit... Well, that's my best guess anyway.

[The word "contract" pulls a small sigh from Childe's lips, letting his weapons join together into a polearm that he can stab into the ground beside him. Specifically so that he can fold his arms. He's well versed by now in such exchanges, and if whoever it is she'd entered into an agreement with is as final and rigid in such contractional dealings as Zhongli... Well.

If that's the case, they might be already done for.]

Quite a thing to gamble on. Not that I can particularly fault you for taking the risk, but it's a rather bold move. Who holds the other end of your contract? Perhaps the negotiations of a new one are on the table?

Edited 2022-06-02 02:26 (UTC)

[Noah sweating because he healing-potion'ed the guy who did this like... last month, oops. He's always had the sense that Komaeda is not a good egg but his sense of wanting to connect with others is too great. It'll kill him one day.

The good news is everything is Komaeda's fault. The bad news is Noah would still die for him. Or is that the opposite? Maybe it's all bad news. Noah guiltily runs a hand through the back of his hair.]

There are loopholes with contracts. [Noah is a lawyer obviously.] They're kind of like magic circles, right? If you have two magic circles and they're bound together, if you get rid of one of them, the other one might still work. But if you get rid of both of them, then they wouldn't work at all. [No, Noah, that's absolutely not how that works. What makes you think that's how that works. (NPClamor cameo, anyone with supernatural sight gets to hear him probably going NO NOAH THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS AT ALL) (Noah is convinced though).]

...um. [Anyway, more to his point.] If we kill the other contract-holder, the contract is null and void because there's no one to uphold the other end of it. Right?

[No one judge him for this he's trying.]

[ Such chilling words... Alice doesn't recognize the murdered girl beyond today's ghostly glimpses of her, and he knows next to nothing about these contracts — only that they appeal to different people for different reasons — so he stays quiet now, listening. Questions about the shadow students won't change their shared fate; he doesn't ask them. Finding a way to nullify this particular contract altogether, on the other hand, seems to be the right path to take... ]

[ There's a wry smile at the questions. ]

The contract with the school... I don't know exactly who signs off on them. They don't tell us that, so you'd just be guessing... But I guess you could say there is a loophole of a kind.

[ Aiko instead stands up, looking around the roof. It's in shambles, the tree outside withered and dead, an entire world that's devoid of any life save those shades which are trapped within it. There's them, there's her, and then there's the students who keep coming in here and disturbing it.

The cat hops off of the cabinet, scooting behind the desk and pawing at her legs. She glances down, her thoughts of how they might deserve that fate as much as the suggestion that maybe throwing her murderer into the void would be enough - that monster could be their stand in for the other half of her contract. A sacrifice for the great good, if you will, and then the two schools could coexist nicely.

There's a small sigh before she scoops the shadow up. It wiggles in her grasp, but eventually it resigns itself to being held. ]

But where there's life, there's hope, and change only follows action. That's why I took such a risky gamble. It's the same reason that you keep messing around with monsters and dropping victims into the void to try and figure things out, right? That could've backfired pretty spectacularly, you know.

[ She looks to Alice, then Childe, before her eyes finally flick down to Noah's hands. Brusque, cold, distant, those all describe her - but not heartless, and none took such a risky position for the fun of it. ]

Anyway, that's how it is... There's nothing in life that's free, actions have consequences, and sacrifices must be made. The only want to satisfy the contract that I made is to bring an end to the school and everything within it... Do you understand?

[ Do they see why they're here yet? For one reason or another, they're all tied back to this place - people who feel at home and have toyed with it, who want to protect others, and even one thought of her so much despite not knowing her at all. ]

[Dropping victims into the void.

He’s quiet for a moment, but the comment eventually pulls a soft chuckle and a “Fair enough” out of him. He lets her finish speaking before he comments again, however, tapping the toes of his shoe onto the ground and mulling her words over as his eyes drift towards the wisteria outside.]

And if we were to find a way to… Level the playing ground, so to speak. Would that send us all home?

[Noah doesn't look at Childe judgmentally but he's thinking about it.

"Level the playing ground" how? Noah's only thought is that they have to find a way to break the other end of the contract, and he's stuck on "someone or something within this place has it" or other various thoughts. Physical, tangible things, nothing nebulous.]

I don't get it. How are we supposed to do that? [He looks up at Childe for an answer, but if Aiko wants to answer, he'll take that too.]

... Yes, I believe so. You could think of this place as a dream. If you end it, then you'll return to the waking world... Maybe I will too.

[ This year long dream will finally come to an end. It's a terrifying prospect. There's too much that she had still hoped to do. There's too much that she wants to do even now. There's a small part of her that wants to keep it going for that reason alone, for fear of what follows its end when Aiko has no idea of wat comes after. Perhaps her soul will be reduced to nothing but scattered flecks, or she herself will be plunged into the void.

The question then, as Noah said, is of how to level it. She reaches down to pull a desk drawer open, frowning when she finds that it takes several tries for her to manage to do so. She removes one hand from the feline in her arms to reach down to pull a desk drawer open, frowning when she finds that it takes several tries for her to manage to do so. She produces another mirror fragment, placing it on the desk and sliding it across..

Her figure is beginning to grow more translucent. ]

This is--I'm just a piece of my soul... So you'll need to find "me" to do that, but I think you already know where to go.

[ There's no way to say it without it sounding clumsy, so she accepts that. It's a small part of her soul cut off from the rest, but one which will return to the source. As for the how, well... ]

Mirrors are a way of traveling, but they're also sacred objects. They're pretty useful, don't you think? They can release or seal or curse or purify... They're an object that reflects the truth back to you.

[It’s not the first time he’s genuinely considered such sentiments. Ironically enough, it was Komaeda who first pushed the idea that maybe the true way out of Yogen would be to burn it all down, the students included. Part of him blanches at the very notion, at the idea of putting all these kids to death on such flimsy ideals.

They weren’t exactly running on guarantees here, after all.

On the off chance that was the way to go, well… It would be a mercy, wouldn’t it?

This little exchange was certainly leaving him with a lot to think about. The first order of business was still to get Noah and Nene and Alice back to safety, but after? After… After he wanted to see if there was a way to draw up his own contract with this omnipotent and omnipresent being that seemed to preside over all of them with such a note of finality.

For now, he reaches over to pick up the offered mirror shard, glancing down into the reflection at her words to see if he can see anything in this particular shard.]

We’ll find you. I can promise you that much. Beyond that, well… I can’t make any guarantees that we’re going to succeed, but that’s the fun part of life. The struggle, the uphill battle. Wouldn’t you agree?

[ It's disconcerting, the way this girl looks at each of them, uttering those deliberate remarks... Somehow, she knows so much — and she isn't wrong. If no one acts, nothing changes, but what Komaeda said could well be just as true: sometimes progress will upset people. Ending the dream, all of it... That's a frightening thought when they can't say with certainty that they will wake up, or how and where, knowing that they have nothing to return to in the world of the living. And that's only the students who haven't died again here to land in this void realm! Or that wisteria tree?

Letting his gaze drop to the newest mirror shard, Alice nods after a moment. Yes, mirrors are useful... Yes, they'll complete their search. ]

Well then, let us seek the truth...

( nene's been. listening. quiet and simmering in a sea of... something.

she always was one to get hung up on the dead. comes with the territory of having your first love be a ghost.

despite having no real relationship with izumi, she still sees him as a brother- still mourns and aches. despite a lot of things, every loss echoes within. and the girl who didn't want to go yet-

only a year left to live.

let me live ninety more years...

- ... is it any wonder she resonated so strongly with that? things left to do. not being ready yet... life and death are so cruel.

and she's such a stubborn, greedy thing when it comes to grief, she's learned- she can't let go easily at all. it's why every loss burdens her shoulders even more. why she hasn't let go, even now. after a whole year. nene pauses. ...

when she speaks, her voice is soft, like a cracked whisper. )

I'm sorry it took us so long to start finding you.

[ She nods in agreement with Childen's words. Her current state is proof of that, but she'd always known there was no guarantee. It's possible that it was doomed from the start. If not the person who murdered her, it might have been Maya, or any number of other people. Injury and death alike are no stranger to those of Yogen High. But nothing will change so long as they remain still for fear of loss. ]

Yes... It's what makes it all worth it in the end.

[ To the apology she shakes her head to signify that there's no need when they're here now, albeit perhaps not by choice. Her form is fading now, the wall behind her easily seen through. She takes the cat in her hands and sets it on the floor. It pads along the floor back toward the door, tail twitching.

She straightens herself after. If the smile she gives is a bit forced, ]

Thank you for finding me, and thank you for mourning me... Don't make such a sad face, okay? We'll meet again soon, here, and in the waking world.

[ There's no guarantee of that either, but there's an air of certainty to those words - words for comfort for Nene as much as herself. She tilts her head and raises a hand in a smile farewell, offering just a few final words before her body completely fades away, ]

Well then... I'll be waiting.

[ The cat slips under a hole in the door and into the hallway, leaving the group alone once more. The shard that she left behind shimmers in the darkness, and for just a second Childe thinks he can see the student council room of the normal school in its reflection. It's gone in the blink of an eye.

They have now collected all three pieces of the mirror. All that's left is to piece it together. ]

Edited (forgot a couple small details) 2022-06-08 06:16 (UTC)

[His eyes are immediately torn away from the mirror shard as he hears Nene speak up, unable to quell the sudden wave of affection that follows along in the wake of his surprise. On the curtails of that, however, is also guilt; even in a mercy kill he’d have a difficult time dispatching his closest companions in order to carry out the task as presented. Offing Noah during the trip to the amusement park had been difficult enough as it was.

He waits until the specter has vanished, stepping forward to draw closer to the desk and pausing briefly to reach down and give Nene’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Then he’s setting the mirror shard down onto the wood once more, motioning for the others to draw closer.]

C’mon. Bring the other pieces forward, let’s see if they fit.

[Noah who still isn't entirely sure he gets all of this suddenly wakes up from his fugue state of ??? and steps forward to set his shard on the table. It should be pretty easy to put these together, he thinks, so he silently starts trying to connect edges together.]

may missions

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so sorry for the delay!!

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