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

cw gore, blood, death

[selfconcept]

[ Unfortunately, that won't happen. When Hien finishes that sentence, the memory grows distorted and then eventually, into television static. When it clears, the first thing Phantom will witness is the splotch of blood in the back of the tent. There's a blood trail on the snowy ground that leads to the exit of the driveway, in which there is a man who looks very similar to Ren, but only older. But perhaps it's a feeling he gets... that's not the older brother Ren was so afraid of. Phantom would know this best, after all. The man looks like an older Ren.

Off to the side is Hien, who is currently staked onto the ground through the center of the torso. He screams, but it's not because of the pain--it's because he's forced to see the other man tear Ren's heart out of his chest. Perhaps it's one of the most emotional moments that Phantom has ever seen Hien in, because there's an endless stream of tears streaming down his face along with the pitiful way he begged the other person not to kill Ren, only for him to brutally murder him on the spot. ]

Ren...

[exofractured]

[The distorting of the memory is unpleasantly familiar to him. And when it comes clear again...

This isn't what he'd expected for what happened to Ren at all. It's wrenching to see, and all the more so to see Hien in so much pain. This is perhaps even worse than the hollowness he glimpsed in him that once weeks ago. Phantom isn't brave, and it's only a memory. But he hurries to try to put himself between Hien and the sight of Ren, even though he blanches too.]

Hien!

[He lifts his hand, prepared to cast towards the duplicate Ren. He can sense that similarity very clearly, but more than anyone, that wouldn't stop him from fighting.]

[selfconcept]

[ Hien is a wreck. All he can do is quietly sob while still being staked to the ground, but he eventually gathers himself and lowly growls out: ]

Renatus...

[ The older Ren, or Renatus, as Hien calls him, starts walking towards the two with a smile on his face. There's malice hidden behind it.

"Oh, Hien~ you even brought a friend. Did you want to set a memorial day together? I understand, since you might have been lonely, doing this over and over again. How many times has it been... maybe over several thousands? But you keep insisting and I'll come here every. Single. Time. It's no wonder your heart's a wreck—you try this every time after you force yourself to forget." ]

[exofractured]

[Phantom has about a million questions to ask Hien later, but now isn't the time. Thousands of times, living through this? In his own world the kind of damage that would have done to a mental landscape would be very literal and very tangible. He doesn't want to think about that yet.]

What are you? Stay back-

[Not that the damage isn't clearly already done. Phantom conjures a quick wave of light to try to shove Renatus back in his approach. If this is something like what Hien had said he was - and Hien used to be human, hadn't he? Was that what happened? Phantom is trying not to panic, one thought chasing another.]

[selfconcept]

[ Renatus tanks through it, but it gets him to stop to shoot an amused look at Phantom.

"Me? I'm an Overseer. Fellow monsters should stick together... right, Hien?"

Hien doesn't look up. ]

[exofractured]

Hien's not like you.

[Well, in the literal overseer sense, but. Phantom is reflexively defensive, moving back a step closer to Hien. He can't fight something like that. Can he even teleport Hien while he's still staked? It's a memory so it doesn't matter, but... he can't do nothing.]

Why did you kill Ren? What do you want?

[Maybe if he can at least keep him talking, he can buy himself time to think of something smarter. Or Hien will start recovering...]

[selfconcept]

[ "I want Hien to give up." But Renatus smiles anyway in a sort of twisted, gleeful manner.

"But it's nice to have him think about me all the time☆"

And with that, Renatus is gone. Since he's gone, Hien is no longer weakened by him and gets the pole out of his abdomen. That hurts... but he's no longer weak now. It's fine. ]

... Thanks, Philip.

[ But he still has a hard time lifting his head. Little Ren is still there, lifeless. ]

[exofractured]

[Phantom's shoulders slump and he finally turns back to Hien to check on Hien's injury. And then Ren. Trying to heal first is just common sense, since he hasn't seen Hien regenerate before.]

There's nothing to thank me for. I wasn't able to do anything.

[Although he pauses. Maybe, considering how many times Hien has been through this, that's not the best choice of words.]

[selfconcept]

[ Luckily for Phantom, the wound is closing up very nicely, now that there isn't anything in the way. Hien shakily breathes out. ]

... You tried to defend me.

[ He'd say that's something, but his gaze looks so lost as he looks over in the direction of where Ren is. ]

[exofractured]

That was...

[Probably slightly pointless, all in all. He can maybe recognize that, now that he's calming down. He follows Hien's look and finally makes his way over to kneel by Ren, wincing a little at the gore. This is clearly past what he can heal. His hands hover a little helplessly over the body before he finally closes Ren's eyes. He should do... something. Phil's memories are so useless here, too.]

He... You did everything you could, too.

[selfconcept]

[ Phantom is right.

...

Right?

Hien can't help but to doubt that. He couldn't even get the smallest lead over Renatus. Perhaps that would make sense, because while Hien would erase his memories between each try, Renatus wouldn't. He'd know. ]

Sorry, that you had to see this.

[ That's the only thing Phantom will hear Hien say before the memory statics out again and he'll catch a glimpse of the very familiar Estelline University's lecture hall before the memory kicks him out. It was the most recent memory before Hien came here. ]

[exofractured]

It's not-

[Whatever it's not is lost to the distortion of the memory, and Phantom winces a little more at that now that it's clear what the cause of that is.

And then the University. What the hell, Hien. Phantom is just going to sit down by this portal and absorb all of that for a while. Maybe he'll talk to Hien about this later. Maybe they'll never talk about this. He needs a while to unpack things.]