TDM #3

[aionmods]

TDM #3

DREAMING (new characters)

At first, there is nothing. You are nothing. Whatever existed before ceases to be if for a moment. Then, bit by bit, you start to become aware. Where there was not even darkness now is a dim haze, gentle and almost mist-like. You have limbs again and beneath your feet lays a path of light reaching out like limbs of a great tree beneath you, twisting and climbing out into the horizon.

You take a step forward for what else is there to do? As you walk you begin to remember what it was you were doing before the nothingness; maybe something as simple as chatting with a loved one or close friend. Maybe you were just beginning a great journey or facing off against an old foe. Whatever it was, you get the distinct feeling that wherever and whenever that was, it is not here. Not now.

The path of light twists off into different directions. When you look up you can see that it is not a sky above you but the sky of everything, a grand cosmic tapestry littered with not mere stars but galaxies and clusters of galaxies that gleam like crystals against the velvety backdrop of space. Admire it for a moment, if you will. You don't know how long you will drift here, but you are not alone. Other wanderers will come and go as you bask together in the vastness of creation.

It seems to you that there are two paths to walk in this place, the light and dark beckoning in turn.

❖ THE LIGHT AT THE CENTER
One leads you to the center, splintered fragments folding together and colliding until only one thing remains: a light that speaks to you with the voice of all there is and has ever been. It greets you simultaneously as an old friend and as a lost child, both rejoicing in and mourning your arrival. You remember it too, somehow, with a feeling of complex nostalgia, as if returning to a place recalled from your distant childhood.

You’ll feel the same of the other wanderers that join you in the light; you know their faces, their voices, and as you reflect upon the world of your birth, you may witness fragments of theirs as well. You feel a comradery, then, a synchronicity of thought and emotion. Are the lives of others truly so different from your own? Or are you simply two hands of the same, greater being? Though some individualistic part of you may resist, the longer you spend in the light, the more you will find yourself becoming one with it.

Despite this welcoming call, no matter how eagerly your pursue its embrace, before you can fully submerge yourself in this oneness you will find yourself being torn away. As if seized by the impossibly long, cold arm of a creature unseen, you are plucked from the edge of fulfillment. The last thing you will remember is the sensation of your world, and all the others your experienced here, collapsing into nothingness.

❖ THE DARK OUTSIDE (CW: deep despair, ego death)
The other leads towards the outside, where the splintering becomes so great that the vestiges of reality can do nothing but collapse back into the abyss at the end of everything. As you wander to these barren outskirts, your thoughts will not be drawn to familiarity and oneness, but instead to memories of discontent and waste. The darker the path becomes, the more you find yourself dwelling on life’s disappointments and injustices, of the things about yourself and your world you find wanting.

If you see others here, at first they will feel frightening or contemptible, as if representing to you the worst experiences in your life. Even if they are someone you’re certain you know, that familiarity and affection will be stripped away in the face of the great emptiness before you. In the end, you were all the same. In the end, none of this was worth it. If you approach the end together, you may even form a kind of kinship around this acknowledgment, as the need for paranoia and hatred fades.

Slowly, the darkness encroaches, and you can see it devouring all the things you once knew. Memories of your home, of those you loved, dissolve into nothing, and you can only reflect on the barren emptiness in your heart as you see it happen. In your final moments, though, you feel peace with it all, knowing that there was no other way. You step from the edge of the last dwindling fragment of being and are greeted by silence.

❖ THE END
No matter which way you go, you are left with a single impression: you feel the world you came from die. It's a realization that transcends logic or sense; it weighs on your heart and leaves the vestiges of dark memories dancing in your thoughts like motes of ash. It's a memory of your home crumbling away into nothing as if consumed from within by rot. Returned to the void, all that's left to you is to be reborn.

REBIRTH (new characters)

In a new time and place, you awaken. Stirring within a capsule of warmth and isolation your senses will slowly return, only to observe that you are trapped. Your body, as it wakes, is tangled in close, yours eyes unable to open, as if still within the womb. You are held tight in the embrace of something unyielding, so smothering that at first you only have the strength to struggle for moments at a time. Yet, as you persist, the pressure begins to relent in turn; it may take hours, but eventually you will find the purchase to push, to claw, to fight, and it will all give way.

The chrysalis surrounding you bends like flesh and cracks like glass. It tears as you force your fingers through, finding liberation one inch at a time, until finally you have emerged. As if having undergone metamorphosis, you feel old and new all at once. You are weak, piteously so, but the markings and scars of your previous life remain. As you slump down upon the smooth cavern stone, you realize that you've just wrenched yourself free of gigantic crystal, though its hollow, shimmering form is now in pieces on account of your passing. Somewhere on your body, a shard of similar material remains embedded.

The cave itself looks almost like the inside of a geode, the walls and ceiling bedazzled with greyish crystal that shines with all the colors of the rainbow. While they vary wildly in size and shape, only a few have grown large enough to hold a form like yours, and you can see the one you just escaped isn't the only one bearing a passenger within. They may have already hatched, or they may still be lingering in stasis. Either way, there's enough time that you may have a chance to speak to yours unexpected peers, or to perhaps to struggle to find something to cover your naked body with. You feel the chill of the open air against your moisture laden skin, a distant light trickling in through the cavern's opening.

Make the most of this time. It won't be long before you're interrupted.

[Mod Note: If you don't want to deal with your character being naked in front of the others at that location, feel free to assume they emerge at a different time than the others of their legacy. Characters will be 'hatching' over a period of several hours.]

DREAMING (OLD CHARACTERS)

For those already in Horos, they will find themselves in the same dreamscape as the new arrivals, only, this time, it's familiar. You'll feel more cognizant of your surroundings as you reawaken in this psychedelic realm, more in control of your emotions. What's more, you recognize that light at the center and the darkness at the edge: it's the Pleroma and Kenoma respectively. The one you are attuned to will call our to your soul, and though you are technically free to wander as you please, the closer you get to the force of your opposite sect, the more it will grate against you spiritually. Pleroma attuned nearing the Kenoma will feel as if its presence is desperately trying to tear them apart, and Kenoma attuned nearing the Pleroma will feel as if its light is burning them from the inside out.

More importantly, you notice that entirely new souls are wandering here with faces you didn't see in the cavern. It gradually becomes clear that they are Aions in the same state you were prior to your rebirth, lost and wandering this stretch of the cosmos with no idea what's to come. Maybe this is your chance to ease the confusion of their arrival, or maybe you'd simply like to scope out what kind of people are on their way. It's also possible for you to run into Aions already in Horos, wandering just like you are. Unfortunately, things are a lot less neutral than they are the last time you shared this realm.

No matter what you do, eventually the cosmos above will begin to burn out, just as it did the first time you were here. As darkness swallows reality itself, you will wake with the visceral memory of your world corrupting and breaking apart.

SEARCHING (OLD CHARACTERS)

Soon after the dreams begin, it will become clear that the Aion NPCs of either sect are also aware of what's happening. For those in Achamoth and Greentruth, the imminent arrival of new Aions will become a matter of official discussion. All able Aions will be called upon for their aid, in whatever way they can offer. Getting to the shrines themselves will be easily accomplished via teleportation. What's would be more complicated is ferrying any new arrivals back to a secure location. Thankfully, this is something both sects have already prepared for.

All characters will have the opportunity to acquire a 'returning stone' if they don't already have one. In all cases, this will amount to an amulet made of the same shimmering material as the shrine monuments, though the stylization differs between the Pleroma and the Kenoma. While regular Aion teleportation can bring you to any of the shrines you know the sigil and location of, a returning stone is magically programmed to bring its wearer back to a specific destination to which it is attuned. Normally, these stones will only be able to store enough energy for one 'return' a month, but it turns out that the ambient power created by the shrines being active will temporarily super charge them. Though it's not guaranteed, this means they may generate enough energy to perform multiple returns for TDM purposes. More information about returning stones can be found on the powers page.

Spare returning stones will be issued to all Aions so that they can be used to bring back anyone they collect, as it's possible to bring someone alongside you if they are also wearing a returning stone. Where your stone leads will depend on your sect.

❖ PLEROMA
Tehri will be the one to supply returning stones, based out of Greentruth. She will not travel to Godsblood to deliver returning stones to those that have not visited Greentruth, but it can be assumed that Greentruth's visitors can pass them along to anyone who has been staying in the city. The returning stones are set to bring them to a secure location beneath the water of Godsblood's coast. From there, new arrivals will have to be allowed to rest and then brought up into the city when they're ready.

Greentruth is limited in its resources, but it will attempt to send troops to the Innocent, Seeker, Wanderer, and Firebrand shrines, all of which are close to the forest. Compared to the last attempt, these troops are a bit better armored. Meanwhile, bolstered by recent events in Godsblood, bands of Resistance members and guerrilla fighters will turn up at the Artisan and Sovereign shrines. The Resistance members will work willingly alongside with the Pleroma Aions, but the guerrilla fighters seem to have their own priorities and that is mostly that they have a beef with the Achamites. These reinforcements will struggle against powered Aions, but they might be able to delay any troops sent by Achamoth or Hylici.

❖ KENOMA
Xishen will be handing out returning stones to all Kenoma the day after the dreams begin for the Aions that don't already have one. She'll explain how to use them, and state that the Regent expects for them to head to the shrines once they become fully active. The Kenoma will have whatever mundane weapons or supplies they need at their disposal for this mission, along with minimal Achamite reinforcements. Due to injuries and death in both Godsblood and Venera, many are in recovery or on their return to Achamoth. She'll reiterate not to rely too heavily on them; after all, only the Aions are able to quickly move between the shrines and at the Citadel. The regular troops will have to be deployed by river or by land, and mobilizing them will take time. They will feasible be able to reach all of the shrines to some degree or another, but will more easily populate the shrines of the Martyr, Celebrant, Lover, Champion, Visionary, Sovereign, and Firebrand.

The Hylicians will be called to fill in the ranks of the diminished Achamite troops. They follow the orders that they are given but are very standoffish otherwise, even more than usual for them. Xishen herself says she will be traveling to the shrines and the Kenoma will be expected to communicate their movements to her as they work. Dionys remains in Achamoth to 'keep watch'. All Kenoma Aions will be given a familiar vial of black sludge, and are instructed to feed it to any Aions they capture at the shrines. It will cause the same effects it did in the cavern, though it will resolve in a few days rather than a week.

RETURNED (ALL CHARACTERS)

New characters that are found a the shrines will be brought back to one of two lodestones, depending on which sect they are taken by. This will be accomplished by their escort putting a 'returning stone' around their neck that will enable them to be teleported to a secure area in their sect's territory. It is advised for your character to be taken by whichever sect you'd like them to end up in.

❖ TO THE PLEROMA
In a dazzling flash of psychedelic light, you will find yourself brought to the Pleroma's lodestone: a monolithic rock set in the center of temple-like ruins. The entire cavern is hidden away beneath the ocean waves, just outside of Godsblood, and the ceiling itself is comprised of nothing but a barrier of water, as if held back from filling the space by some unknown force. The waters surrounding the lodestone are exactly body temperature, with swarms of tiny, violently iridescent fish darting through it. Crabs that look as if they're made of pure, clear crystal wander the sparkling, sandy shores.

There isn't much here in the way of accommodations, but it's comfortable enough that the new arrivals brought in by the Pleroma can take a moment to catch their breath. Some relatively plain but assorted new clothing will have been brought to the cavern to make sure they are actually clothed, as well as blankets and basic food items. It's a good time to ask your questions, or if you are an established Pleroma, to help out your freshly arrived peers. After all, their welcome at the shrine may have been a confusing one.

New arrivals will be permitted to leave the lodestone's temple when they are ready. Unfortunately, the only ways out of these place are through your choice of either swimming through pockets of water that eventually lead to the surface, or by spelunking through a series of tunnels to make your way the cliff faces near the city of Godsblood. More information about the city itself can be found on the setting page, though it would be preferable to keep TDM interactions to the lodestone area. As characters emerging from the shrines will start our as Untouched (more info about attunements here) they will not be permitted entry into Greentruth until they have attuned to Pleroma.

❖ TO THE KENOMA
As your returning stone activates, you will feel yourself thrust into a suffocating void, only to emerge just as quickly somewhere else. The most pressing thing on the minds of anyone taken by the Kenoma will be the vial of pitch black sludge they are forced to drink, whether it is before or after their arrival. Maybe their 'escort' from the shrine gave it to them, or perhaps another Kenoma does soon after they arrive. If not, one of the Achamite cultists wandering around definitely will. Dedicated servants to the Regent's will as they are, they are not afraid to gang up on the vulnerable new arrivals and force it down their throats.

Once in your mouth, the potion will slither down your throat as if it's a living thing. The effect takes hold quickly: as this darkness creeps through your insides, it will embolden your darkest and most despair inducing emotions, plaguing your thoughts with the worst sorrows of your life. What's worst, it simultaneously seems to awaken some form of enhanced psychic empathy within you, both projecting your thoughts for others to hear, and allowing you to receive those of the others around you in kind. Black ooze will begin to seep from orifices, or the space around your shard. The effects of this contamination bring out your worst, and its recipients will be forced to live with these effects until they accept the force corrupting them into their souls.

This world is not good enough, a voice speaks to your through the Kenoma. This suffering you feel, the cruelty that has birthed this darkness in you... it is simply the rot that is consuming this existence. A better universe awaits, one forged by your own hand, and all you need do is first bring about this broken reality's end.

How long this goes on will depend on how long the characters is able to fight it. Acceptance of the Kenoma can come as quickly as immediately, if your character is inclined towards it, or it could be drawn out to take a few days. In the meantime, they will have to stay in the barren halls surrounding the Regent's lodestone, and will not be permitted to exit into the greater Citadel as the current Kenoma are. All that will immediately be offered to them down there are stone slabs that can be used as beds and formless white robes that reach down past their knees.

Of course, that doesn't mean the characters that are already of the Kenoma can't do something about that. If they desire it, they will be able to bring food or other supplies to those suffering with their Kenoma infections, and it will be equally within their power to try anything from bullying them into accepting to lovebombing them. Once a character accepts the Kenoma and attunes to it, they will be permitted to leave, but for the sake of the TDM interactions should be kept to the lodestone area.

QUESTIONS

Is this TDM canon?
Mostly! It's part of an in-game event. However, only threads with new players that app and are accepted will be considered game canon. Threads between old characters will all be canon, but threads involving new characters that don't apply or aren't accepted will either need to be tweaked to remove their involvement or made non-canon. New characters will also be able to decide TDM threads aren't canon if they end up changing directions.

Who can toplevel on this post?
Anyone, whether they are a new character or a current one. However, we do ask for current players to do their best to tag new characters. If you are bringing in a new character and want a current character to bring them into your sect of choice, post your request here! ICly, current characters are fighting to claim new arrivals, but it's up to the player of new characters where they ultimately end up going.

When is this TDM taking place chronologically?
The beginning of August. The shrines will be active and forming Aions during that time. The dreams will start around the 29th of July. All current Aions will be able to sense when it's time for the new arrivals to start emerging.

What are the shrines like?
Every shrine is comprised of the crystal-filled cavern character emerge inside and then the massive statue symbolizing the relevant Legacy built on top. More information about each shrine can be found in the "Aion Shrine" section of the setting page.

Are everyone's homeworlds really gone?
That's a complicated issue, and while the fate of their world is not without hope, they may certainly get the impression its been destroyed from the dream they had. Alternatively, they may refuse to believe what they felt and attempt to dismiss it as only a vision. More about this situation will be revealed as the game goes on.

Can I only experience one end of the dream sequence prompt?
New characters may experience one ending, both endings, or neither. If they experience both they will struggle to recall which came first or which feels the most 'true' to them, as both will simultaneously be the thought they are reborn with. If your character refuses to pursue either path they can simply linger in the middle until the infinite worlds above them start being extinguished one by one, eventually expelling them into darkness in a similar style to the light prompt. Which dreams they experience will not dictate their initial sect affiliation.

Is it possible to pull another character back from the end of the light or darkness dreams?
Yes! If your character is able to resist the pull of either end, they will have the chance to try to pull another character back from the edge of the abyss or the edge of oneness. Whether or not they succeed is entirely up to the other character, though.

Do you come out of the chrysalis wet?
For most intents and purposes it's the same experience as hatching out of a real butterfly chrysalis, so yes, a bit.

How does attunement to the Pleroma or Kenoma work for new characters?
More information about sect attunements can be read on their dedicated info page, but in summary: when new characters are brought to Horos, they will be in the state of being "Untouched" meaning they are not attuned to either sect. By the end of their first month in game it is expected they will either attune to Pleroma or Kenoma, though for those taken by the Kenoma's forces, the transition will be forced within the first few days. If taken in by the Pleroma, it may take then some time to attune to Pleroma, depending on the strength of their spirit, but it could also happen almost instantly if they are allowed to. How quickly it happens will depend on how strongly they align with the Pleroma's traits. Characters who have been taken by the Pleroma but that remain Untouched will not be allowed into Greentruth until their attunement to Pleroma is complete.

Can a character taken by one side end up attuning to the sect of the opposite one?
This is theoretically possible, yes: a person taken by the Kenoma could potentially resist the Kenoma's call, and someone taken by the Pleroma could end up falling to the Kenoma while staying with them. Generally, though, we recommend that you have your character be taken by whichever sect you want to end up in, as doing a switcheroo will cause narrative complications that might bog their introduction down in plotting that will need to be done with the mods. It can happen, but it is not to be done lightly!

Comments

bruno madrigal / encanto / the martyr

[fallingsand]

crossroads (dreaming)

[ It feels impossible to move from this spot, standing, frozen in part both horror and awe of the expanse of galaxies spread out all around him.

Both paths — the dark and the light — tug at him but he remains where he is, staring up, watching as, slowly, lights in the distance begin to blink out, one by one. Witnessing it drags up a gut-twisting sensation of dread. He feels as though he's seen this before. He may have. This place feels familiar enough. In a vision, perhaps, once upon a time, but when? Why? Or is it all in his head? ]

They're... they're dying. Why are they dying?

[ He asks in a hushed tone, speaking as though in a church and not wishing to interrupt anyone else. He yearns to know why, why are the lights going out, but, at the same time, he wants to reject any answer that may come.

This isn't real, after all. It can't be. It's only a dream. He needs to wake up. ]

rebirth (shrine of the marytr)

[ Nothing is more traumatic than being hit with the realization that your world is gone. His home, his family, he can't even feel the magic from the miracle anymore, and all three of those crushing realities hit him as he breaks through the crystalline shell and lands wetly on the cold, stony ground of the shrine. That he's lacking in clothes of any sort doesn't break through everything else rushing through his head just yet because all he wants to do is curl up and keen like an injured animal, arms covering his face and fingers threading through his damp hair, gripping clumps of it simply for the sake of having something to hold onto as sobs wrack his small, narrow form.

Things were about to be better. He finally got to go home, for real, to be a part of his family again, to be a part of everything again. There wasn't going to be any more hiding, no more isolation because of his visions, no more... he was finally going to be happy... and now, it was all gone.

It would be sensible to try and figure out what's happened, where he is, anything at all besides weeping in despair, but he can't even consider it right now. It's too much for Bruno. To have everything he could have hoped for one moment and then have it senselessly destroyed the next. ]

returned (kenoma; cw: intrusive thoughts)

[ Let's be honest here, in the state he's in, Bruno was and is an easy mark for the Kenoma, and one would think his despair over the loss of his family would make the odious sludge they've forced down his throat do its work quickly, only therein lies the dilemma. To accept the better universe the whispers offer, one has to desire continued existence in the first place.

Bruno will spend several days pressed against a corner, trying to hide — and failing, there isn't really anywhere to hide. There, he leans against where one wall meets the other to form that corner, legs drawn up to his chest as if trying to make himself as small as possible. Easily done, as he is already a truly small man. There, he sits, still, staring off blankly across the vast room, black ooze rimming his eyelids and slowly dripping down his face.

Sheer misery is all he projects as he's forced to go over and over again everything he must have done wrong in life to deserve this. He was the one who caused trouble. He was the one people feared. Maybe they had been right after all. Why is he still alive, why is he here, why isn't he dead and gone, too? He would at least be with his family then, if he, too, were...

Safe to say, it isn't a fun time to be around him. The thoughts he projects are grim ones, to say the least. ]

rebirth

[arcaneward]

[ He's crying.

It's really all she can think about when she hears it, doesn't even care that he's naked as the day they were both born. She just swallows her own despair and approaches him, kneeling next to him. The movement takes a lot from her, but she manages all the same and gently places a hand on his shoulder. ]

It's going to be alright.

[ Is that a promise she can really make? No, not right now. But if it'll help, even just a little... ]

I'm Aerith. What's your name?

[fallingsand]

[ He gives a start at the gentle hand on his shoulder and instinctively cringes away, afraid, reacting on instinct rather than reason. Any other time, he might appreciate a kind word, but right now, all that discovering he isn't here alone after all inspires is fear. He pulls his arms away from his face, looking up at Aerith, wild-eyed and—

And.

Aaaand suddenly realizing everyone here is naked. ]

Iiii'mmm...

[ Nope. Panic overtakes fear and despair both, at least for a few seconds. From the very depths of sheer embarrassed terror, he'll find the energy to roll over and scramble on hands and knees behind one of the cracked open crystals, cowering behind it and immediately slapping his hands over his eyes. ]

S-sorry, I. I didn't see anything! This is. I. I have no idea what's going on!

[ None of those words are his name. He'll get there eventually. Probably. ]

[arcaneward]

[ Ope.

Aerith removes her hand as he scrambles away, crossing her arms over her chest and sighing a little. ]

It's okay. If it makes you feel better, I didn't see anything, either. I was just too worried... [ Asking if he's okay seems like a moot point, but. ]

I don't think anything here is going to hurt us, at least.

[ She settles down behind another of the cracked crystals, just enough so she can still peek around him. ]

Here, I'm hiding now, too. Is that better?

[fallingsand]

[ Yeah, he isn't okay. None of them are. He sniffles from behind the crystal he's taken shelter behind and waits a few seconds after Aerith's said she's hiding now to before he nervously peeks out from around the edge of the broken crystalline stone. ]

I... I guess? I. I just. I. [ Alright, so he's still embarrassed about it, barely looking out from the edge of the crystal in an unfathomably shy manner. ] Is. Is any of this real? This can't be real, r-right?

dreaming

[bingos]

[ This isn't the first time she's seen a world engulfed in darkness, so soon to blinking out. She wishes it wasn't the last - that that time would have been. But they're here now and it's the image that frightens her. Perhaps, because it's something so viscerally similar to her own past.

A past they were so close to not stopping before. A force engulfing everything in this dream. It keeps her heart in her throat and she's unable to look anymore when the man expresses his thoughts. She can feel Hawkmon's feathers gripping her hands, but doesn't respond. Instead, she shakes her head and answers near as quietly: ]

They're suffering.

[fallingsand]

But from what?

[ What could possibly snuff so many out so swiftly? He cannot fathom what power that could take, and he reaches a hand out towards another patch of lights that begin to die out one by one. There's nothing he can do. He drops his hand back to his side and turns to look at the girl standing there with him instead, her at her... bird?

Honestly, that isn't the strangest thing here. He doesn't think to question it. ]

[bingos]

Darkness?

[ The way she says it is almost as much a question as it is an assertation. It's as if she's not sure she's wrong or she hopes she is - in her own experience that which is before them isn't too far off.

She gives a small shake of her head before canting it in his direction. While she's usually rarely without a smile and brightly cheerful, her expression is more serious with the scene before them. ]

That's what's before us.

[ In the path covered in darkness and light. ]

[fallingsand]

¿La oscuridad? [ The darkness, he asks, as the answer itself puzzles him. ] As in something evil or...?

[ Or something else. Good and evil never felt like a clear one or the other dichotomy to him. There should be grey areas. Only grey areas don't devour the lights of galaxies far beyond his reach, leaving him to simply have to accept the answer since he has no better way to describe it. ]

Or just. The end, I guess. [ He casts his eyes back towards the cosmos surrounding them, to another series of lights being put out one by one. ] Everything ending in darkness, with nothing we can do about it.

Rebirth (8

[zauneyete]

[ It's simple, to move between the shrines these days. Simple, and necessary, and though Silco had barely thought to stop by the shrine of the martyr -- anyone that he irrationally even now hoped to arrive that would remain nameless would likely not be here. However, with their required assignment to be tho find those and bring them back to the Kenoma, Silco did eventually find himself in the shrine.

He found himself looking upon one of the new arrivals, wet and naked as they all had been, and Silco almost dismissed him outright. He was small, shorter than even Silco if he could guess correctly from his hunched frame. There's something that bags at him though. Perhaps it's the hunched slump in his shoulders, or perhaps it's the fact that he's so sad looking, but Silco does stop, and crouch down. ]

Hello there.

It's quite the shock, isn't it?

here silco comes to bully a poor sad man wow

[fallingsand]

[ And Bruno flinched away instinctively. He dragged his arms away from where they covered his face and the blank stare Silco was treated to was with red-rimmed, tear-stained eyes. What was being said to him didn't register immediately because, yes, it was quite the shock. If anything, that had to be an understatement. ]

It's. It. [ It was what, exactly? He couldn't think of exactly what the worst part of the ordeal was without feeling another series of sobs clawing their way up his throat from deep in his chest and he buried his face in his arms again to struggle through them, bear them out, and the words that came after were riddle with attempts to speak through more tears that threatened. ] I should have. I should have seen it. Seen it coming. Before it. Before it happened. Why? Why didn't... why didn't I?

you know he had to do it to him

[zauneyete]

[ Maybe some would respond to those cries, but Silco is less inclined. He tipped his head, measuring a two-tone gaze at the man, with rimmed eyes, looking deeply saddened by what he can only assume is the knowledge that his world is gone. Tragic, yes, and Silco had his own bouts of malaise and fury at the mere prospect of it, but...

But Silco got mad, and furious, and then he wanted to burn the world down, not simply sit here and cry.

His lip curled, just slightly. ]

Yes, it is difficult to predict the outright destruction of the world. [ He says, not understanding that this may be personal for Bruno. ]

However, that doesn't mean one must be stuck in their grief. There... is a way. To make it better, in the end. Soothe the wound.

[fallingsand]

[ At least Silco's misunderstanding drew a new sound out of Bruno. A bitter laugh cut through the sobbing and he finally began to uncurl, at least enough to push himself up onto his knees, although his head remained bowed and back bent, hands still pressed flat against the stone floor. ]

Easy for you to say, you aren't... you aren't meant to see the future. What was the point of all that? Making me suffer through that. That gift. If it didn't help?

[ It might still mean nothing to Silco. It might come off as simply more inane rambling of a deeply bereaved man, struggling to accept this new reality. Whatever Silco thought, it meant very little to Bruno. ]

Ha, make it better. [ Another hollow sound, laughter devoid of any joy or happiness. He shifted his head, turning it enough to squint at Silco once again through the long locks of thick black hair. ] How? How do you make... any of this? Any of this better?

crossroads

[theorems]

All things die. Even stars. Even planets.

[Said simply from behind Bruno, a good two feet away. Out of range, should the stranger in his fear make a dangerous swing. The stranger is afraid, cowardly, and likely easily overpowered. In this state, dream-like as it is, Viktor feels no pain. He feels confidence from that, but still a healthy sense of paranoia enough to keep out of immediate reach.

For some reason, he feels the need to twist the knife a little. It’s a dream, right? Why not embrace that impulse?]

Does that frighten you?

[fallingsand]

[ Bruno gives a slight jump, startled, and whirls around to see just who's there, answering him. He hadn't exactly expected that. ]

Uh, well. I've seen lots of things die. I mean, I've seen the actual death of. The sun? I think? But I never thought... [ He'd be here, watching so many blink out one by one, so abruptly. ] Of course. Why wouldn't it frighten me? We're, um. Everything alive strives to survive, right? As long as they can?

[theorems]

Not everything.

[Being crutch-less is new. He steps forward, just a single step, free of any constraints. Such wide eyes and hunched posture on this man, but the look he gives does seem… haunted. Maybe he has seen as much death as he’s said.]

There are some insects that choose to die, for the greater good of the hive. One could argue they do not know they are dying, but… I think that belittles their sacrifice.

Humans are not much different.

[fallingsand]

[ A gift of prophecy is a heavy burden. He's foreseen enough deaths — of old age or very suddenly, of course, as there was no illness in his village, not so long as his sister and her gift of healing were around — and he's seen more distant, less comprehensible endings, of things he knew he'd never live to see or shouldn't have, a mistake he'll realize after this dream ends.

But he shrugs. Even with all that he's seen and the mark it's left on him in the end, he just... gives a shrug, like he doesn't see the need for a greater debate on the matter. After all, Victor isn't wrong.

He knows of one very specific human who did just that, fifty years ago. It's simply a shame he has no memories of him, apart from what stories his mother would tell. ]

Choosing to die doesn't mean not fearing death or. Or not wanting to continue surviving. You still... do. You just. Well. Have something worth dying for, I guess.

returned

[settingup]

[ Bruno's not the only one who has been having a rough, drawn out go of this one. Atsumu is fine on the whole wanting to continue existing front, but he doesn't have nearly the same level of existential dread to contend with in his young life. There's no prophecies haunting him or the people he cares about from a young age, no hiding in the walls of his own house to not be a burden on his loved ones.

No, he's honestly pretty fine forcing the people around him to deal with him exactly as he is.

But he had the same vision of his world being destroyed, and he's being ripped through by the same oppressive force that wants him to embrace some form of oblivion too, and that's not been an easy thing to be consumed by for days now.

That's all to say that Atsumu is a little on edge at the moment, and the increased empathetic connection that the Kenoma brings with it means he's been feeling Bruno blasting him with misery and self-loathing, and he finally snaps.

From his own spot against the wall he twists his head towards the suffering man, yelling with a lot more oomph than you'd expected from a guy who'd barely slept or eaten in roughly three days. ]

Knock it off already!!

[fallingsand]

[ Wow, okay, that sure snaps Bruno out of his staring contest with the empty air ahead of him. He cringes away from the direction of the shouting and turns, quick and twitchy, to stare wild-eyed at Atsumu. ]

Wh-wh-what? Knock what off? What am I... what am I doing?

[ So mired in his misery, an absolute beacon of every bad emotion and thought he was drowning in, he hardly picked up on how some of those thoughts weren't even his own. Even less had he realized he had been projecting it to everyone around him. ]

[settingup]

[ It's entirely unfair to Bruno, who has no more control of what he's putting out into this psychic air than Atsumu has in receiving it, but Atsumu's not feeling much like being fair at the moment. He's sick and miserable, and lashing out at an innocent person seems like the most cathartic thing to do right now.

So it's kind of annoying that it doesn't bring any sort of relief when Bruno responds in confusion. ]

Like I know!

[ Which isn't untrue. He really doesn't understand any of this, but he lifts a hand to wave it through the air in a gesture that explains absolutely nothing. ]

Whatever the hell you're doin' that's makin' you so loud right now.

[ Not his voice though. Bruno has been pretty quiet, unlike Atsumu himself. That empathetic feedback really is a killer. ]

[fallingsand]

Making me so loud? I. I've barely said anything!

[ That only throws him into further confusion and, on that note, there's a break in the misery and despair as it's replaced by that. Confusion, worry, if he knew what he was doing he would stop it! ]

crossroads

[deushexmachina]

[Never easy to know what to say when a man fractures. Jayce winces, his mouth souring from the memory of brutal visions once inflicted upon him. Reaching out to steady the man, ethereal hand on dreamlike shoulder, he speaks with a softness he hopes reassures:]

Hey, now. [No sudden movement.] What do you see?

[fallingsand]

[ Bruno gives a jump, the touch on his shoulder startling him out of his staring contest with the slowly dying cosmos. He turns towards Jayce. It isn't enough of a movement to dislodge the hand on his shoulder but almost, almost. ]

Wh-what? Why, don't you... don't you see it? [ He waves up towards the sky, all the swirling colors and lights. ] The stars, they're all going dark, like. Like they're dying. That can't be real, right?

[deushexmachina]

[He closes his eyes, taking a breath. His mouth presses into a thin line — resignation, memory, regret.]

We've been debating the reality of it for months now, [he says, his ghostly hand giving the softest squeeze before releasing Bruno's shoulder.] I've come on the side that no, it can't be real. But I don't have any proof to support my theory.

[Quietly:] I'm sorry.

[fallingsand]

Wait, why are you... why are you sorry?

[ This is a dream, that's all. A bizarre, very long, ongoing dream, and all these people aren't real, and this man isn't real, and nothing he says makes any sense. That's what is running through Bruno's mind and, yet, when Jayce says that he's sorry, he can't help but feel a twist of terror in the pit of his stomach. ]