WEEK 4

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WEEK 4

READY, STEADY, GO-KARTS!

After a harrowing week of forced honesty and a surprise attack from the God of Conflict, it seems the Goddess’ “gift” has finally faded - and just in time! Today marks the date of the highly anticipated Go-Kart Race, featuring a whopping twelve teams from the Goddess’ picks and a number of teams comprised of locals. Fortunately the weather is holding up well for the event, with clear skies and a radiant sun beating down on all contestants as they wait to begin, the heat reflecting off the asphalt. Hopefully everyone thought to use sunscreen!

The local arcade has decked out the go-kart track in flags representing the different teams, and some local businesses have set up both a spectator stand area near the finish line, as well as kiosks selling snacks and drinks for the spectators and anyone who happens to wander by! There are also some midway fair game booths and portable game machines if you're not really here for the go-karts and just here for a fun afternoon out. The best part is that everyone who enters the event zone gets three free tokens courtesy of the arcade, so you've got nothing to lose~ Unless you do happen to lose, which means that you'll probably have to purchase more tokens from the distracted teenagers volunteering manning the admin booth.

ALL'S WELL THAT-- HUH?

Eventually, all the preamble is completed, and it’s time for the race! A light counts down from red to yellow to green, and the racers are off!

While the start of the race is a jumble, a few in particular begin to pull ahead of the pack: Spade of the Sea and Kururu and Schneider in particular! Tragically, Team Bloody Angels just can’t seem to get the speed they want and seem to get stalled by various traps, falling further and further behind…

In the middle of the bunch, Atem and Sunrise manage to maintain their speed, while THE CUTIE PATOOTIES, Fire’n Ice, and Aaron and Morgan all struggle to surpass each other - leaving Beautiful, Bright Knights of Lovely Radiance, and Exquisite Midnight Shimmering unfortunately trapped behind the three and unable to pass at all. Towards the back of the group, Badass Ladies compete directly with TEAM ROADKILL for their place, while Frieren and Arven have a leisurely drive by comparison.

The first and second laps go without incident. But on the third…

Something about the local teams changes. Instead of the regular frustration of losing, some of them seem to fall into, well, road rage.

Schneider and Kururu, nearly caught up to Hiiro and Jordi, find their hopes dashed as a woman in a blue bandana bumps them from behind - the impact enough to cut their engine for a moment too long, allowing Hiiro and Jordi to pass the finish line in first place without any trouble.

The middle of the pack gets the worst of it. Jesse and Mafuyu find themselves hounded by a woman in aviators who manages to ram into their Go-Kart hard enough to dent the guard, putting pressure on the wheel - while they cross at the same time as others, they are unable to steer the Go-Kart due to the damages, and find themselves ramming into guardrail. While Mafuyu is miraculously without injury, Jesse takes the brunt of the force and will be feeling that whiplash the next day.

Aaron and Morgan get a brick - a literal brick - chucked at them, and while they manage to avoid getting hit themselves, they have to do a violent swerve to do so. That’ll also be a bit of whiplash for them, too. Badass Ladies get sideswiped by one of the locals and their kart ends up grinding against one of the guardrails. Eek.

The real destruction, however, hits the back end of the group - a man in yellow sneakers manages to bash hard into Eli and Kirumi, pushing them off course. The impact causes them to bump into Aerith and Maika along the way, who lose control of the steering wheel and knock Fray and Argenti into the wall. Fray sustains injuries as he’s dragged against the wall for a moment until Argenti is able to right their path again, pulling them back into the middle of the course. Eli and Kirumi don’t get off so easily, either - the bump against Aerith and Maika isn’t enough to stop their momentum, and Eli cracks his right shoulder against a barrier as Kirumi hits the brakes to prevent further injury. Fray, Argenti, Eli, and Kirumi will be feeling whiplash the next day.

Braphine’s chosen aren’t the only victims, either - a woman with red combat boots and a man in a green jacket each crash into local competitors, and the result is a six-kart pileup.

Frieren and Arven and Team Bloody Angels witness all of this from the back of the race, though neither team can do much except to continue on to the finish line.

What should have been a celebration at the end instead turns into panic as medics are called onto the scene and emergency personnel are summoned to the track. While many of the people in the stands seem roiling with discontent and beginning to argue and fight over the cause of all these injuries, a few of the locals hurry down to the course to help. Schneider, Aaron, Argenti, Aerith, Eli, and Kirumi will find themselves aided by familiar faces - the boutique staff recognized them and are here to lend them and their partners a hand in getting treated for their injuries.

As the racetrack descends into chaos, it soon becomes difficult to keep track of everyone. However, Hiiro, Schneider, Sally, Morgan, Argenti, Aerith, Frieren, and Celeste all notice a figure in a strangely ancient hood standing among the stands, a fierce grin on their face - before the figure turns and disappears into the crowd.

Mina - having come to spectate and cheer on everyone from the stands - gets a rather panicked look on her face as she watches it all unfold. She quickly takes out her phone and begins typing frantically at it, before hitting “send.”

All at once, all of Braphine’s chosen will hear their phones begin to beep.

CALL FOR HELP.

I've added emergency commissions to the app - please take them on if you are able to/need to!

We can get through this if we all work together. So, please... look out for each other out there, okay?

COMMISSIONS

HELPING HAND

Please help the injured! Even if it's as small as first-aid or comforting a scared child who's gotten lost in the aftermath of the go-kart crash, any little bit of help would be appreciated by the overwhelmed medical staff at the scene! Unless you’re already injured, in which case, please allow yourself to be tended to!

(OOC note: For clarity, this commission reward applies both to characters who are helping the injured and those who are injured in the thread!)

HOLY HEALING

The hospital is going to need more supplies. For those who are strong enough, please seek out Archangel Shadows in the Nekyia. They should drop blessed feathers - these feathers then can be taken to Braphine’s Temple, and the priest or priestess there should be able to turn them into medicine for the injured.

RACETRACK REPAIRS

In the aftermath of the go-kart pileup and everything associated with it, it's time for people who are good with their hands to roll up their sleeves and help the locals with repairs - clear the debris off the track and make sure the way is clear for the emergency vehicles and construction crews who need to access the site!

OOC

READ ME!!!!

• Welcome to your Week 4 event log! While this log covers the go-kart race and its immediate aftermath, please feel free to use this log to thread out anything else happening during the week after and we will see you next week for the Week 5 event!
  
• Note to all go-kart participants that there has been some shuffling in the team compositions due to player drops as well as Everything That Happened on Friday. Regardless, you can claim event participation gacha rewards if you signed up and have one thread of at least 10 comments with a go-kart related prompt on this post.
  
• Archangel stats and information have been added to the bestiary!
  
• AC is due end of the month! Make sure you get that in~
  

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Comments

cw: human experimentation

[gardenful]

...You know, I thought it was kinda funny when he told me how he felt about his "research subjects." Who would have thought, the former research subject and the researcher pulled from different worlds would end up rooming together?

[ She looks up at Argenti, a whirlwind of emotions on her face. But of course there would be, given her admission. ]

It's weird. I never felt unsafe. He didn't seem motivated to really do anything here unless he was provoked, after all. I hoped that maybe he would find some kind of meaning here, that he could find some way to be happy... but I don't know how possible that actually was.

Maybe he would've just gone back home and back to his research when all of this was over. I don't know.

[ Aerith shakes her head in an attempt to clear the sheer number of thoughts racing through her mind. ]

All that's to say that... I can't condone what you did, Argenti. But I can't hold it against you either. Every time I get upset on his behalf, I think about what the people he experimented on might feel, how I felt when I was growing up and saw what the researchers back home did and... and I get mad at him instead.

[ She takes a breath, like she wants to say more, but ultimately she doesn't. ]

...Sorry. I've probably said too much.

[incompletely]

[ Has she said too much? Maybe more than what he'd personally say, but that's part of why he respects her. Aerith's heart is kind, but that kindness doesn't mean she's easy to fool, either. And it must be doubly hard on her, given that she'd roomed with Fuyu -- and neutrality is, somehow, something that he admires in this sort of situation.

He looks at her and shakes his head. ]

No. You haven't.

[ Not at all. ]

[gardenful]

[ She smiles, soft yet subdued anyway. ]

Thanks.

[ Really, she means it. ]

I should probably have a stronger opinion on all of this, but...

[ It's hard. Her feelings are too mixed up and tied together for that to happen. ]

[incompletely]

You don't need to. How you're feeling isn't wrong.

[ Especially since she might've been a subject to Fuyu's curiosity -- but who's to say? He's gone because of presumptions that were made about him. Tenn won't voice his thoughts on the deceased. ]

You've been brave enough throughout all of this.

[gardenful]

Brave, huh?

[ It's a huge compliment an done she knows she should thank him for, but it's hard nevertheless. ]

I don't know that it really applies to me. It's not like any of the dangers here are much different than they are back home... Ushirono included in that.

[incompletely]

I don't think that makes you any less courageous. Not everyone would be able to stay kind in the face of everything you've been through, let alone be honest about their experiences by choice.

[ He wants to believe he would, but he also hasn't ever experienced the horrors she has. ]

Regardless...thank you for saying something.

[gardenful]

I wouldn't say that I'm kind, really. But... I do try to be.

[ It's all she can do, to repay everyone for the kindness they've shown her, both here and back home. ]

Thank you, too. For being a good friend.

[bloodandstars]

[ Maika turns to take in Aerith's expression as she speaks, silent as she watches the flicker of conflicting emotions play out across her face. Anger and compassion, kindness. Uncertainty.

It's infinitely more gentle than the warring emotions Maika feels in her own heart. But it's enough to dampen her anger at least for now — refocus it, give it different purpose. ]

It's yours to say, or not. You don't owe anyone your apology or your pain.

[ So if Aerith chose to share it, then it's not too much. There's more Maika wants to ask — but not in a crowd, and possibly not at all. ]

[gardenful]

You don't think so?

[ It's nice to get a reassurance, especially from someone that's as sharp and blunt as Maika. There's a small smile on her face, though it's just for a brief second, before her brows furrow again. ]

I feel like I need to explain why I feel so... conflicted over all of this. Sad, but not too sad. Angry, but not that angry.

[ And none of it really directed toward Argenti either. All she's ended up with is a flurry of emotions in her chest that she doesn't know what to do with. ]

[bloodandstars]

[ Hey, she saw that smile. Someone fluent enough in Maika microexpressions might catch that her own face softens for a second in return. ]

You don't need to know how you feel in a day, or a week. A wound dealt in a moment can be years or lifetimes in the healing. But you already know that, don't you?

[ She's been through much more than she let on behind her sunny smiles, from the sound of it. ]

[gardenful]

[ She's spent enough time around Cloud, who does his best to be Too Cool that she notices that little shift, though just barely. ]

Sure do. It's kinda funny, really, isn't it? You think you're over something, then you meet someone or hear something that makes you feel everything all over again.

[ Fuyu calling escaped research subjects "failures" or something like it, for one. ]

But it's a good thing too, in a way. It reminds us that even the good things can still have an affect on us years down the line.

[ That's how she's trying to see it, and it's worked well enough for her so far. ]

[bloodandstars]

...Mm. The past just becomes part of our bones. Even if you could forget it, you can't escape what's inside of you.

[ That's Trauma for you. Although this time, Maika doesn't try to refute the more optimistic comment from Aerith. She gives a little nod. ]

My mother used to say something like that. "The world breaks us all. But strength can flow from those broken places. Made new, in ways we never dreamed." Maybe she just wanted to believe that it all wasn't such a fucking waste. But I still think she's right.

[gardenful]

[ She clasps her hands together in front of her, almost as if in some sort of prayer. Something so hopeful yet realistic... it reminds her of her own mother, in a way. ]

I like that. We're able to do things we never thought we could after certain hardships. It really doesn't feel like it at the time, but maybe in a few years you'll find yourself looking at the horizon and appreciating it in a way you never would've before... seeing things you wouldn't have even a couple of months ago.

[ That's certainly the case for her. ]

It's not exactly strength exactly, but I think it's close enough anyway.

[imperiosity]

[This is a lot more than he was expecting to hear during this meeting, but it certainly gives a lot more context to her feelings on the matter. Really, the word ‘ambivalence’ feels like an understatement here.]

You just said what you thought you needed to.

[Even if it did seem like she was holding something back at the end there, but that’s her call too.]

[gardenful]

Only to end up saying that I don't now how to feel in the end.

[ But picking through and identifying all of the little different things she feels right now is an insurmountable task, and definitely not one she can do in the middle of a meeting. Maybe later, in her now empty room.

She pauses, clasping her hands together in front of her. ]

You know what's funny? I still feel like I have more I could say too... but I'm not gonna put anyone here through all of that.

[imperiosity]

Things aren't usually that simple when it hits close to home.

[That, and Aerith seems to be willing to give Fuyu the benefit of the doubt in a way that many others haven't, himself included. Whether that's a testament to her compassion, a sign of a decent relationship between the two, or some combination of the two is hard to judge in his position, but regardless, it would certainly be easier if there were fewer things in the mix.

As for that admission--]

Dunno, might be refreshing to hear about these things without all that enforced honesty crap. [okay, but jokes aside.] Besides, it seems like there's at least a few people who'd listen if there's something you wanted to get off your chest.

[Maybe not now in the middle of a meeting, but at some point.]

[gardenful]

[ Her lips quirk up at the corners. Maybe a real, honest moment amongst all of them would be nice, especially if it was completely voluntary. Food for thought, that's for sure. ]

A few people, huh.

[ She's hesitant to put her feelings on other people, but if they volunteer, then it can't be that bad, right? ]

Are you one of those people too?

[imperiosity]

[A normal person would probably just say yes or something, but because he's him:]

Well, if you need someone to hear you out, I'm not gonna leave you high and dry. Wouldn't be the first time I've heard about some heavy stuff.

[Honestly, he is curious about what she has to say, but when it comes to sensitive stuff like this, even he knows not to push it.]

[gardenful]

So what you mean is “yes, Aerith, please open up to me”?

[ That’s how she’s going to interpret that! ]

Wanna go sit outside somewhere? I feel like that’s a lot better than being in here.

[beautifulknight]

[ Well, Argenti more or less opened the floor for people to say their piece; he listens closely to what Aerith says.

Her words, in the end, do not linger towards one side too heavily. At first, he wonders if people might find fault in her for that. But, at the same time, Argenti ends up seeing that such feelings are not exactly merited in the end.

And, more importantly, she communications effectively what she thinks. It isn't something she had to have said, nor revealed given the great personal pain; he doesn't idealize that. But, in the end, Argenti thinks that immense praise ought to be granted to the amount of courage it takes for her to take the position that she does.

He respects that greatly; even finds it admirable. ]

No, you did not.

I believe you spoke well, on what was going on through your mind. You chose how you wished to present yourself, based also on what you were feeling...I would be quite rude to say otherwise. To put you down when all you wish to do is communicate earnestly the words that have been swirling deep within your heart.

I can't claim to ever truly look upon my connection to him as positive, and even though I understand you won't dare to scorn him, I know that not everyone will ever feel the same.

That's why, Lady Aerith...I'm grateful you said as much as you did.

[ There is something there that embodies Beauty all the same. ]

[gardenful]

[ She isn't surprised by his words, or at least she very well shouldn't be, given her impression of him. Argenti is a kind person, something she fully believes even though she doesn't necessarily agree with his actions. After all, kindness can come in forms that others think are wrong—even something that should be so simple can become a tangled mess.

Yet, she's surprised all the same, her eyes widening just a bit before her face settles into a gentle smile. She wants to say more, to explain and tease out her feelings a bit, but now isn't the time or the place, so she gives herself a moment to collect her thoughts again. ]

Thanks. I mean it. It can't be easy to hear what everyone has to say.

[ Though Argenti seems perfectly fine to do so, and he seems to be confident in his decision as well. ]

I appreciate your honesty about all of this, you know.

[beautifulknight]

[ Admittedly, Argenti was a little concerned that his response that he has given to Aerith might have, in kind, not been looked at fondly by her in turn, though he too has had faith that the woman would not at the least think of it as wrong. It is true that they have only spoken still not all that often in the grand scheme of things, but he remembers easily enjoying his company with her greatly.

So, he does manage to grant her a small smile in return when he sees the bit of surprise and the soft smile. ]

A Knight of Beauty must always present themselves in an honorable way, no matter what has transpired. And...

[ It is entirely possible he may, upon Reflection (as a Knight of Beauty should do) look upon this incident differently; either in minute ways, or in significant ones. But at this time, and near future, he will not change how he thinks about what he has done. Confident is indeed right! ]

...For myself to be honest and forthright is a necessary quality to have, given what I have pledged to my Aeon. If I can continue to be that way, then it means I have not strayed from my Path. Though, it makes me very happy that you're able to see that I am at all.

[gardenful]

You could've said nothing, and I don't know that anyone would have investigated much... Ushirono wasn't exactly friendly, and I don't think he had made any friends here.

[ If he did, well, she would be shocked—an even greater surprise than his death. ]

In the end, you did what you felt was right. I can't fault you for that.

[beautifulknight]

[ Yeah, he certainly could've said nothing...that did not occur to him, though, evidently enough.

So, he also appreciates that Aerith is pointing it out. ]

And I can appreciate that much.

...Either way, please do be kind to yourself as well. I know I have not made it easy on everyone, but you have placed quite a great deal of your own self out there, and I understand full well that can be quite a tiring experience.

[gardenful]

Thanks. I appreciate it.

[ Really. It shows in the soft edges of her smile, not nearly as bright as it usually is but just as real. ]

I hope you can get some rest too. It’s not easy putting yourself to trial like this, huh?