theafflicted | 04 - week four

04 - week four

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)

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[ That answer doesn't really startle him, aside from the fact that magic isn't supposed to work here.

Then again, no one else is supposed to be alive down here either. ]

...Punishment. I'm down here and Fai is up there.

[ way, way, way up at the top of the tower.

And as far as injuries go, it's obvious that the boy is emaciated. His fingertips are bloody and torn up too, likely because he's been clawing at the walls in an attempt to climb up. ]

[His condition is even worse than Phantom had thought on his first approach, and he tries not to wince a little. Phantom reaches out a hand for Fai's - not Fai's? = and tries to cast a little spell to materialize bandages.]

Let me see these. What's your name? And who is Fai?

[ It works, and his eyes widen as bandages wrap around his fingers. They feel nice... ]

Yuui. [ He looks up at the top of the tower. ] Fai is my twin.

[Oh. Phantom can guess where that's going, and it's nowhere good. Nothing about this place is good. He checks over the bandages and nods before he straightens again and offers Yuui his hand.]

You're looking for a way out, aren't you? You can come with me. I'll do what I can.

[At least getting him away from these bodies, if the memory will allow that much. And to Fai.]

[ Yuui takes it, although he hesitates for a few moments. ]

Okay.

[ He isn't sure what this man is going to do, but he doesn't have a choice. He wants to get out. ]

...Thank you.

It's nothing. We'll see what comes of it. I'll try to take us to Fai.

[He doesn't want to promise more than the memory will let him accomplish. But he holds on to Yuui's hand and stretches out his other to start casting a teleportation, something like a spell circle lighting under their feet.]

[ For just a moment, it seems like the spell is going to work.

Then it doesn't. They stay firmly in that exact same spot. ]

...I'm sorry. I guess that kind of magic won't work...

[ Right back at square one. Yuui shrinks in on himself a little. ]

[Phantom tries a reassuring little smile and squeezes Yuui's hand a little.]

It's alright. We'll think of something else. Let's keep looking.

[ He nods, returning that squeeze. It's a comfort to have someone else here with him. ]

Let's... try climbing. Do you think that will work?

It's worth a try. There must be something over that wall.

[He lifts his free hand and tries his magic again. Exoflecting bandages worked, so maybe he can materialize steps up the wall, instead of the grisly ramp Yuui had been trying to make. He tries not to wince at the awareness of the bodies around them. Were all of these people supposedly here for punishment?]

[ He's more than welcome to ask, but will Phantom like the answer? It's hard to say.

The stairs materialize just fine, winding up the long wall of the tower. ]

It worked...

[Phantom tries not to let out a sigh of relief - surely he can at least look reassuring and calm for a child? - and takes an only slightly tentative step up them.]

It should. I'm a very powerful mage.

[It's more the voice he'd use to tell a child an entertaining story than a boasting voice, as strange as a tone like that might sound coming from Phantom. Trying for tact, he risks pressing a little:]

How long have you been here?

[ The tone sounds comforting to him, although when Fai looks back on this, he'll find it strange.

But for now, Yuui just carefully follows him. ]

...I don't know. Time here flows differently, so it's hard to tell. A few months at least.

[ Or perhaps closer to a few years. ]

[Up they go! Phantom hasn't been through enough portals yet to know how much these allow change. But he lets himself be tentatively hopeful.]

I see. And you and Fai came here together?

[ Yuui nods. ]

We're here as a punishment. Twins are an omen in Valeria, especially twin princes. So... we were sent here to atone for that sin. If we suffer enough, then maybe the omen can turn into a blessing.

What nonsense. It isn't a sin to be born. The only ones who did wrong are those who chose to send children to a place like this.

[Omens and prophecy are one thing, but this...]

...And all these other people?

...The king has started killing everyone because he went insane.

[ He can't help but look out at the piles and piles of bodies. ]

Fai and I... we're the only ones left in this world.

Then we'll find Fai. And go somewhere else. There's no need to go back to a place like that.

[How he's supposed to accomplish this in a memory and without teleportation is a problem for later. He bites his lip, glancing at the bodies despite himself and trying not to look as ill as he feels.]

[ Yuui nods. ]

Let's go.

[ It's a long, long way up, but with enough effort they can make it. They have to.

Yuui starts to make an effort towards climbing up the stairs so that Phantom doesn't have to guide him the whole time. When they've covered a bit of ground, however, the memory shifts in an abrupt way.

It might feel like Phantom is falling off the stairs as they suddenly disappear. He's back on the ground now, but it seems like some time has passed. Yuui looks almost skeletal now, as if he's on the very brink of death but the magic in this tower keeps him from dying. He'll see Yuui speaking to someone in a portal, wide-eyed as he's asked a question.

But before he can answer it, a child looking exactly like Yuui comes hurtling down from the top of the tower. The two make brief eye contact, Yuui's eyes wide as he stares up at his brother. But in an instant, the boy slams into the ground, blood pooling out from underneath him. ]

...Fai...?

[Phantom catches himself on the ground a little shakily, disoriented by the shift. At least it was only the memory moving and he hadn't felt the physical effects of that fall. He looks around for Yuui, his heart still racing.

It isn't enough time to brace himself for how the rest unfolds. Phantom flinches when that small body hits the ground, already well aware from the sickening sound of impact and the blood that there's nothing more he can do. He's not a healer on that sort of scale at all, and this... he strongly suspects none of this can be changed.]

Yuui!

[ Unfortunately, Phantom is right. Some things can't be changed, and Yuui doesn't even see him until after the portal has disappeared.

He clutches Fai close to him. ]

Oh... you're back. I...

[ He doesn't know what to say. What can he say? ]

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04 - week four

cw starvation, injuries

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cw mass death

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cw starvation, child death, blood

cw child death

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