04 - week four

[afflictionmods]

WEEK FOUR

Saturday comes to a close, and it’s time for some rest and recovery. Perhaps the TLC you deserve will come this week, or perhaps the nightmare will continue. It’s hard to say with things being so strange around you, from Wei Wuxian’s disappearance to the sudden addition of objects and places and creatures from your homes. Who knows what this week will bring? Nothing ordinary, that’s for sure.

You wake up on Sunday to an increase in those little glimpses you saw yesterday. What were snippets of songs, locations that might’ve seemed familiar, and creatures that were dormant, are now all alive and whole. When you go to the karaoke bar, the songs you once knew are there. Monsters and animals are alive and sentient. New business are abound. Vehicles are operable, and perhaps some of your old belongings are back, too.

However, some of these things aren’t even things that should exist outside of your dreams. They may be far too strange and unusual to be real, or just things you don't remember ever seeing. The only thing you remember about these things in particular is that they were, quite literally, in your dreams this week.

That being said, every few hours, all of these things from your homes and dreams fade out and get replaced by new sounds, places, beasts….only to maybe come back again at another time.

Well. At least there's one constant here: You’ve got a handful of new locations to look at, with the fog having spread once more, and they aren't going anywhere. There aren’t as many new places that are native to Estelline this time around, but that may be for the best, considering everything going on.


SETTING TRACKER

SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY

NEWSPAPER SUBMISSIONS + EDITION #1

SAGE / FLORENCE / LORELEI

MEM SHARE DETAILS

OOC NOTE

OOC: Details on this week can be found here!

Also, we have a lot of participants for the news activity from last week. Neat! Everyone who participated in some capacity will have a small polaroid camera delivered to their doorstep. There's limited film, though - 10 photos per camera. It doesn't seem like there's any extra film at this time, either.

Finally, there will not be any weekly tasks this week. You guys are going to be busy with memshare and dreamscape stuff; instead, enjoy the Estelline University Newspaper!

FULL NAV

(CODE)

Comments

[selfconcept]

[ Hien is really starting to hate this. Even if his powers are blocked, it's fine. It's the part where he can't do anything even without powers when he has the intention of leaving that gets to him.

That also means trying to stack corpses, but maybe this kid is better off without seeing that. ]

Hey, kid. You know any magic? Or does that not work for you either?

[accursedtwin]

It doesn't work here at all. Magic doesn't work in this valley.

[ He pauses. ]

And my name is Yuui.

[selfconcept]

Alright. Yuui then. Close your ears.

[ He looks up and breathes in to yell: ]

Hey!! Fai!! If you can hear me, drop a strand of your hair!

[ God. His throat hurts because he's not the type to yell often, if at all. ]

[accursedtwin]

[ Yuui does as he's told and claps his hands over his ears.

...

It takes a few minutes, but a few strands of long, blond hair float down from the top. ]

There!

[ Yuui points it out so Hien can go grab it.

But while Hien is distracted with that, someone topples over the top of the tower, landing in a heap near Yuui. The figure immediately reaches out to grab Yuui's ankle to keep him in place. Yuui screams, trying to get away, but all he can do is fall down onto the ground. If Hien tries get the figure's attention, it won't work. He'll also pass right through them too. He might as well be a ghost right now.

It's as if this memory is not allowed to be changed. ]

[selfconcept]

[ This feels like it's straight out of a horror scenario. Hien tries to get the corpse off, but his hands just go through... he frowns. ]

Yuui, stop screaming. Just... take a moment. It's okay. Quietly breathe in... and out... and pry off the hand.

cw suicide, blood

[accursedtwin]

[ Yuui nods, trying to take a deep breath in before letting it out.

He reaches to take the hand off of his leg, but suddenly what seemed like a corpse isn't, in fact, at all. The figure lifts his head up, his long white hair almost obscuring his face as he brandishes a sword in his free hand. ]

It's all... a calamity that you brought! The birth of you two was the start of all sorrow.

[ He stands, looming over Yuui as he holds the sword up. ]

Now, the only ones left in this country who breathe are you two... and me. This is where it all ends!

[ The opulent crown on the man's head glints in the dim light of the tower as he brandishes his sword towards Yuui, before suddenly turning it on himself and slicing clean against his neck. Blood sprays in all directions, spilling onto the ground and onto Yuui himself as he watches on in horror. ]

The only ones left now... are the two of you. Live, and attempt to atone for your guilt...

[ He falls onto the ground in a heap as Yuui screams again. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Well, that is absolutely not child-friendly. Hien Just stares at the man crumple over in silence before walking over to Yuui, hugging him and putting his hand over his eyes. He can deal with Yuui screaming into his ear more. It's fine. ]

You two didn't do anything.

[ He tries to be as firm as he can, even though he doesn't know what the hell is going on. ]

There's no atoning. No guilt. It's not your fault.

[accursedtwin]

[ Thankfully for Hien, Yuui stops screaming when Hien hugs him. He doesn't move, though, as he just shakes in Hien's hold. ]

But we were born... we caused all of this... no one is alive in Valeria because of us.

cw suicide mention

[selfconcept]

You didn't kill anyone. Like this man you just saw--he killed himself. You didn't do anything. You didn't take that sword and stab it into his gut. That was all him. You didn't do anything. Being born itself doesn't do anything.

[ He tightens his hold around Yuui, but tries to be comforting at the same time. He knows it's hard to feel comforted in this sort of environment, but he's doing his best. ]

cw suicide mention

[accursedtwin]

It... it doesn't? But our father fell ill right after we were born... our mother ended her own life because of us.

[ Yuui wants to be comforted, but he feels like there's too much evidence for him to be.

He needs to feel the guilt to he can absolve himself of his crimes. ]

[selfconcept]

You didn't do anything. Those were just coincidences. That's not what your mother thought as she left.

[ He's piling lie on top of lie, but he can't help it in front of Yuui. He's just a traumatized child. There's no need to make it worse. ]

[accursedtwin]

Then why did she leave us? Why do we have to be here?

[ Tears start to silently fall as he sniffles. ]

I just want... to go somewhere else with Fai. Somewhere we won't be hated.

[selfconcept]

It's because they believed it. They believed in something that wasn't real. We may never know why your mother left, but I'm sure she still loved you.

[ Please. ]

You can come with me, both of you. We can go to a place where you won't be hated just because you exist.

[accursedtwin]

[ More tears fall. Yuui doesn't bother wiping them away.

He doesn't believe that his mother loved them, but he doesn't have the strength to argue either. ]

We won't? Are you sure...

[selfconcept]

I'm sure. They'll love you and your brother.

[ He tries to comfortingly pat the back of his head. ]

[accursedtwin]

[ Yuui is silent for a long while before he finally nods. ]

Take us there... please.

[ Hien will find that his powers now suddenly work, as if the tower has granted him permission to use them. ]

[selfconcept]

Alright.

[ While still hugging Yuui, Hien tries to teleport up the tower. He's sure the brother is up there too. ]

cw starvation

[accursedtwin]

[ It works, and a boy that looks just like Yuui turns around from the barred window he was looking out of. ]

Fai!

[ And suddenly everything around him melts, and Hien finds himself back down at the bottom of the tower.

It seems like time has passed, as Yuui now looks much more gaunt, his face practically skeletal and his hair even longer than before. He lays on the ground, curled up as snow falls down on him. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Frustration rises again when Hien finds himself back down. Did he do something wrong? Did he unintentionally do this? He frowns and goes up to Yuui. He was so close. So close. ]

Yuui? Yuui. Snap out of it. It's me.

[ He looks so... ugh, he can't even complete the thought. He wants to get out of here with the boys. ]

[accursedtwin]

[ Yuui finally blinks awake, sitting up in surprise when he sees Hien. ]

You're alive... I thought... I thought you got hurt when everything went dark and I woke up and you were gone.

[selfconcept]

I don't die. What happened? Suddenly, things just... I was getting you and your brother out a second ago.

[ God. He doesn't like this. ]

[accursedtwin]

[ He shakes his head. ]

I don't know. I—

[ Yuui doesn't get the chance to finish that sentence, as a portal opens up next to them. ]

Do you want to leave this place?

[ A deep voice booms from the portal, authoritative and powerful. ]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien immediately gets in the way between the portal and Yuui. He doesn't trust that voice... it's probably that voice Fai talked about. In which case, he hates it even more. ]

Fuck off.

[ He growls out. ]

[accursedtwin]

[ The man beyond the portal affixes Hien with a bored stare before using magic to fling Hien to the side and into the wall of the tower.

Yuui yells after him, but the man starts talking to get his attention. ]

As I was saying... do you want to leave this place?

[ Yuui stares blankly ahead. ]

I want to leave. I want to go somewhere else.

I can grant your wish. But you must choose between you and the other one!

[selfconcept]

[ THIS BITCH BE HELLA RUDE--Hien is unfortunately flung off to the side and slammed into the wall. Ow?? ]

You don't need to choose! This man is lying! He has the power to take both! If he can make portals, he can at least do that much--