[Haruka is pretty brave to be running into and past Lumen's personal space like this. But when he gets to his destination and opens the umbrella above his head, Haruka will find that sparkles all from it, and all Utility characters may recognize the yellow sparkles as the effects of Me Patra. More than that! The tile Haruka is standing on is cleared of algae, and Haruka himself has been cleared of any status ailment he may still be suffering from. Now they have their answer.
An answer that enrages Lumen, who takes a stab at Haruka with his harpoon, and manages to graze his arm (12). He clicks his tongue in annoyance, murmuring a swear in Spanish Iberian, but he can't keep dwelling on that because he spots more people surrounding the enclosure and his lantern, and he's being swarmed.
First is Yoon, who he spots assisting others, and sends a spell towards him in punishment (16). Next is Joshua, who is far enough that he doesn't get a strong spell (11). Better than how he handles one other, honestly, as he completely misses Sunrise with the same spell (6). Lumen blames being distracted for that, and he has to deal with the distraction first-- he takes a good stab at Aaron in the leg (15) with a variety of colorful words, including "puto".
Then, he once again summons a monster to die for him, and this time, it dies much closer to the enclosure, leaving a spot of the algae right there, because he knows he needs to hustle now. How lucky for him that it managed to get there before dying!
That done, he sees an opportunity, and he damn well takes it, even if he should be embarrassed at the lack of proper outerwear thanks to Celeste. The cloak is ripped off of him, revealing an extremely simple ensemble, some trousers and an old poet's shirt-- or pirate shirt, as many would like to call it-- the string worn and the neckline plunging. Secondhand, old, and reveals more scales and the effects of the night's events-- electric blue scales, bruises, wounds and a lot of that sludgy blue blood. There may or may not be a hint of something monstrous underneath as well. Uncaring about the cloak, he gives Celeste a good kick while he's on the ground (20) and then puts a booted foot on his neck in an attempt to keep him down.
He's about to finish the vampire off, but then-- questions. Important questions are asked of him, and he looks up at Soujuurou and Sayaka, eyes wide. He lowers the harpoon, but keeps his foot on Celeste.]
The bangle? [Soujuurou's question first while he is still calm.] It was my mother's, and passed to me when she left. This shirt, I believe it was hers as well.
[He would have said more on the topic, but Sayaka speaks to him, and he cannot resist the chance for a little more exposition (7).]
¿Que? Revenge? That does nothing, in the end. No, it is more accurate to say that I have given up on people. They are greedy, selfish, and quite willing to tear down others for no discernable reason-- or even no reason at all. [Then he flicks his hand, a simple gesture as if swatting a fly. In Aaron's direction, no less.] So! You really shouldn't concern yourself with the wishes of the dead. They are, after all, dead.
The Many doesn't care much, but physical things are more useful than abstract concepts, don't you think? Our dead gives themselves to us, so we can grow even further, and then we share that with the rest, so we may all grow together. I would consider that a proper community.
[Through it all, the lantern stays the same. It has not brightened, but it hasn't dimmed any further, either. It's something.]
...Or, well, more accurately, he can, literally, in this case.
He's just about to stand again, as Yoon cleanses him of the despair, when Lumen's kick meets his ribs with a sickening series of cracks and he finally fully hits the ground. The boot on his neck for good measure gets a string of colorful language from the floor, as well, similar, but not quite the same from that above.
He is not; however, prepared to take his fate lying down, and as Soujuurou and Sayaka get him talking, Celeste shifts his body into a slightly better position, braces himself for the pain his next action will surely cause himself, and waits for a good moment to move. AKA, once he's done with his exposition.
When he does, it's to whip his legs up behind Lumen, wrapping them around his waist while pushing down on the floor with his hands, hoping to get just enough leverage to get out from under his foot, so he can pull himself up the rest of the way onto Lumen's back (15).
If Lumen stays standing: He'll continue the motion by hooking one arm around his neck once he is high enough to do so, and will be trying to grab the arm holding the harpoon with the other.
If Lumen topples: He'll unwrap one leg from around his waist to step on the wrist of the hand holding the harpoon, and put his hands on his shoulders, intending to try and keep him pinned to the floor.
In either case, he will end up spitting some blood off to the side with another muttered curse.
Maybe now the squad can focus on getting more exposition from him and also cleansing the algae, if he's distracted and/or restrained enough???]
[ Unlike Céleste, Yoon doesn't hear a crack, a snap or anything of the sort – he hears himself yell as he collapses. Beating after beating. This place is way less smooth sailing than Aubrey's, and with the fear of possibly dying here encroaching on him as well as the pain accompanying it, he realizes that he'd better make any action of his count – and just like that, there's an opportunity.
He can recognize the Me Patra glowing on the tiles. Yoon cleanses the tile south of Haruka with Me Patra to clear a path for him to escape.
There's a moment in which he wants to heal himself again, and his body desperately needs it – but if there's anyone who will end this, it won't be him. Someone else needs it more than he does. Therefore...Yoon will cast Media on Céleste one more time. ]
[ McGillis inwardly sends thanks to Celeste for keeping Lumen confined to one space rather than flitting about... That gratitude makes him at least consider the possibility that he might injure Celeste with what he will next attempt. The consideration is immediately discarded though because Celeste is a vampire and probably going to be fine, and also because McGillis doesn't care that much compared to the more pressing issue of taking Lumen out before the algae consumes the lamp.
It's time for the next part in his attempt to find Lumen's vital zones - shooting him straight in the head. (17)
The fact that this is still Jordi and he might just be risking his life by doing this doesn't concern McGillis all that much anymore - though others are free to yell about it. ]
[ soujuurou’s voice is weak as he looks between both sides, with jordi attacking celseste so mercilessly and the others retaliating with even more powerful attacks. he sees so many ugly aspects of human modernity inside this room. guns, spells— even his own fists, bruised and bloody, are nothing but ugly. the ugliness that he could only see from the window out, is now in front of his face for him to see.
having listened to jordi’s story with rapt attention, soujuurou feels his will to physically fight evaporate. it’s not the damage from the algae or the hunger, though the latter does make his wish all that more desperate. he shouldn’t want, he musn’t want and yet he does. he wants and wants and wants and that’s why he was considered flawed! he can’t help but want and what he wants now is— ]
Stop. FIGHTING!
[ for the naturally soft spoken soujuurou, yelling is not his strong suit. and yet he yells not only at jordi, but at everyone else in the room. maybe it’s foolish— he’s never been in one of these before, after all. but he can’t continue fighting. so he simply talks (20). ]
I don’t think you’re wrong. [ people are greedy, they are selfish, and they are self-interested to the point if it being detrimental to themselves. it’s what has terrified soujuurou the most since coming down to the city, and what keeps being proven over and over again to him in this place. ]
But you’re also a person, aren’t you? The last of your kind. [ he thinks of kumari’s story of the passenger pigeon, of poor little martha, the last of her kind, who died all alone in the cincinatti zoo. ] You’ll probably never find anyone like yourself anymore, Jordi. That’s probably why you wear your mom’s shirt— because otherwise you’re alone, whether its here or in some other place surrounded by strangers you don’t understand.
[ soujuurou understands, deep down, that maybe he’s just projecting his own insecurities. this may just serve to irritate jordi further. but he’s so sick of fighting.
he continues holding the bangle out to him, arm straight and steady. ]
But if you tell us more about yourself, then maybe we can come to understand you. I’m sorry if I’m concerning myself with the dead when you said not to, but that’s one of my bad habits. [ he laughs, soft yet full of self-derision and bitterness. it’s yet another blight on him, another imperfection. ah well. ] Take it— I think, as I am now, I’m nothing more than a wraith, so it should be fine to take from me, right?
[ Argenti himself isn't exactly the type of person to do much else except fighting the man...as fighting happens to be exactly the kind of thing he is skilled at.
First of all, before he does anything else? Aaron has really been taking a beating and received no healing, so he tosses a Dia his way.
Second of all his eyes narrow as he listens to the man's words in response to Sayaka. He will be trying to persuade the man to listen or to have it offer it as distraction (13), either result is fine, even if his words are likely to fall on deaf ears. He has no problems with fighting him to bring him back to his senses, but all the same, he wishes to try to talk some sense into him as well. ]
Jordi!
[ And then at some point in all of this, McGillis shoots Jordi in the head, making him take in a breath, half wanting to yell at the man, yet also reminding himself this shouldn't be fatal (funnily enough, he thinks Boothill would've done the same, actually. What a time to receive a reminder) This is all alongside Soujuurou’s words reading out to him as well, whichever order these come in. If anything, the other man asking everyone to stop fighting inspires him even more, by even a smidgen! ]
You call all of this that you have right now a proper community? I cannot help but believe what you have done here embodies that opposite of that...and it lies in direct opposition to Beauty!
You must understand, that while people are indeed capable of such ugly things - such is the terrible truth of many a place in the galaxy - they are also capable of beautiful actions as well.
In the end, a proper community is one that is able to bond even closer to one another, beyond the usage of physical things - it is where hearts join together in harmony, in order to try to understand one another! And truthfully, I wish to understand you even more.
Have you not ever wished for that yourself? To have others know you? Understand you? Befriend you?
It is not too late! You can still have that chance. And, I firmly believe with all of my heart, that I am not the only one who wishes for this.
[ Trepidation rises in his throat, but he pushes past it, determined and stubborn as ever- ]
Well, it does, so he goes down with a curse for now, crouching on the ground with one of his swords being used as something of a support for his upper body as he deals with the pain. He’s honestly more pissed off from the stabbing than the insult, but he fires back anyway with a cào nǐ mā when Jordi gestures at him mid-exposition.
Anyways, while Céleste does his best to hold Jordi down, Aaron is able to rally thanks to Argenti’s timely Dia, and he goes for a deep stab to Jordi’s flank, right under the lowest rib (16). At this point, the priority is getting everyone else out alive, Jordi be damned. Besides, considering he’s managed to heal everything else up until now, Aaron’s not really expecting this to stick anyway, unless McGillis’ shot actually kills him.]
[ son of a-- joshua curses, because the spell clips him as he attempts to dive out of the way onto a tile that doesn't have algae on it, and maybe it's because he's underlevelled but it hits harder than expected. he ends up having to cast a dia on himself so that he doesn't actually pass out from low hp ]
Sounds like some fucked up hivemind you've got there, actually.
[ i'm sorry josh is not joining in the heartfelt attempts at talking reason to jordi ]
[ instead he's using the distraction to blast another kouha spell at the tile nearest the lantern. try to create a scorched ring of fire and all that. what's the worst that could happen?? ]
[He was expecting some sort of retaliation, so it's not a surprise when Lumen slashes at him. The pain still makes him flinch, but it could be so much worse. He could be getting stepped on like that super pasty guy.
He takes a step to the side, throwing the umbrella (15) at Lumen's back while everyone else monologues at him. (Personally, he doesn't think that's going to be super successful, but some people are skeptics.) He glances to the lantern he's now in front of, and maybe this won't do anything at all, but... he casts Me Patra on the lantern. It works on the algae, so it could? Do something?
[Arven watches, stupefied, as the effects of Me Patra come out of that umbrella and cleanse the algae.]
...Are you serious right now...
[Ugh. Well, better to learn now than after it's too late. Still, he can't help but stomp the ground where he's standing.
Then he hears a whole bunch of scandalous curses from Lumen and watches Celeste get further messed up (among others) and he almost lets out a Spanish curse of his own.]
Please still be okay...please still be okay...
[He sends a Diarama in Celeste's direction to hopefully top him off from what Yoon already sent over. Next, he knows what his job is for the foreseeable future: cleansing the algae. He uses Me Patra on a tile with algae closest to the lantern. May as well clear the immediate area first before working his way back.
This is going to take so much out of him. But he has to keep pushing himself.]
[Sayaka doesn't know how much danger she's in. She steps forward, still unarmed, and still tries to talk. (5)]
...I'm not going to disagree that people can be like that. I've seen plenty of it myself, and I'm not going to deny that you have a point. People can be deeply selfish, horrible, and petty for reasons that will never be justified. Considering what you've been through...I truly can't blame you for thinking that. And I can't say I blame the Many for valuing what you can physically see and touch over immaterial things.
But people...people can be kind. There is so much more to people than their cruelty, their pettiness--they can be kind, too. They can love, and there are plenty of those that care with all of their heart still. And that love, that care--is that immaterial thing not valuable too?
...What do you intend to do with this algae, to everyone? What is it going to do to us, if we're allowed to let it spread?
[ Nevermind, Sunrise should have buffed Yoon earlier, her mouth pressing into a thin line as she hears him yell. She casts Dia on Yoon, for what little good this tiny heal will do.
Then, she turns her attention to Richard, takes a deep breath and tries to slap him awake. It seems that everyone who could otherwise heal him has more dire things to handle, and Sunrise isn't going to get in the way of that, but it's going to suck if he doesn't wake up. ]
[Fortunately, this time it actually works, and Richard jolts awake with a start, instinctively trying to pull away and reach for his sword at the same time.]
Stay away from me!!!
[Yeah, he's still more than a little out of it here.]
[ ...She should have expected this (and she sort of did), but... Not a reaction this strong.
(She knows Richard doesn't mean it that way, plus she can hardly blame him given the circumstances, but... Even though this isn't the first and won't be the last time someone said those words to her, it still stings a little.)
She steps back to give Richard space. ]
Mr. Richard...
Edited (Sooo many typo crimes) 2024-09-06 17:56 (UTC)
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COMBAT, ROUND 8
An answer that enrages Lumen, who takes a stab at Haruka with his harpoon, and manages to graze his arm (12). He clicks his tongue in annoyance, murmuring a swear in
SpanishIberian, but he can't keep dwelling on that because he spots more people surrounding the enclosure and his lantern, and he's being swarmed.First is Yoon, who he spots assisting others, and sends a spell towards him in punishment (16). Next is Joshua, who is far enough that he doesn't get a strong spell (11). Better than how he handles one other, honestly, as he completely misses Sunrise with the same spell (6). Lumen blames being distracted for that, and he has to deal with the distraction first-- he takes a good stab at Aaron in the leg (15) with a variety of colorful words, including "puto".
Then, he once again summons a monster to die for him, and this time, it dies much closer to the enclosure, leaving a spot of the algae right there, because he knows he needs to hustle now. How lucky for him that it managed to get there before dying!
That done, he sees an opportunity, and he damn well takes it, even if he should be embarrassed at the lack of proper outerwear thanks to Celeste. The cloak is ripped off of him, revealing an extremely simple ensemble, some trousers and an old poet's shirt-- or pirate shirt, as many would like to call it-- the string worn and the neckline plunging. Secondhand, old, and reveals more scales and the effects of the night's events-- electric blue scales, bruises, wounds and a lot of that sludgy blue blood. There may or may not be a hint of something monstrous underneath as well. Uncaring about the cloak, he gives Celeste a good kick while he's on the ground (20) and then puts a booted foot on his neck in an attempt to keep him down.
He's about to finish the vampire off, but then-- questions. Important questions are asked of him, and he looks up at Soujuurou and Sayaka, eyes wide. He lowers the harpoon, but keeps his foot on Celeste.]
The bangle? [Soujuurou's question first while he is still calm.] It was my mother's, and passed to me when she left. This shirt, I believe it was hers as well.
[He would have said more on the topic, but Sayaka speaks to him, and he cannot resist the chance for a little more exposition (7).]
¿Que? Revenge? That does nothing, in the end. No, it is more accurate to say that I have given up on people. They are greedy, selfish, and quite willing to tear down others for no discernable reason-- or even no reason at all. [Then he flicks his hand, a simple gesture as if swatting a fly. In Aaron's direction, no less.] So! You really shouldn't concern yourself with the wishes of the dead. They are, after all, dead.
The Many doesn't care much, but physical things are more useful than abstract concepts, don't you think? Our dead gives themselves to us, so we can grow even further, and then we share that with the rest, so we may all grow together. I would consider that a proper community.
[Through it all, the lantern stays the same. It has not brightened, but it hasn't dimmed any further, either. It's something.]
no subject
...Or, well, more accurately, he can, literally, in this case.
He's just about to stand again, as Yoon cleanses him of the despair, when Lumen's kick meets his ribs with a sickening series of cracks and he finally fully hits the ground. The boot on his neck for good measure gets a string of colorful language from the floor, as well, similar, but not quite the same from that above.
He is not; however, prepared to take his fate lying down, and as Soujuurou and Sayaka get him talking, Celeste shifts his body into a slightly better position, braces himself for the pain his next action will surely cause himself, and waits for a good moment to move.
AKA, once he's done with his exposition.When he does, it's to whip his legs up behind Lumen, wrapping them around his waist while pushing down on the floor with his hands, hoping to get just enough leverage to get out from under his foot, so he can pull himself up the rest of the way onto Lumen's back (15).
If Lumen stays standing: He'll continue the motion by hooking one arm around his neck once he is high enough to do so, and will be trying to grab the arm holding the harpoon with the other.
If Lumen topples: He'll unwrap one leg from around his waist to step on the wrist of the hand holding the harpoon, and put his hands on his shoulders, intending to try and keep him pinned to the floor.
In either case, he will end up spitting some blood off to the side with another muttered curse.
Maybe now the squad can focus on getting more exposition from him and also cleansing the algae, if he's distracted and/or restrained enough???]
no subject
He can recognize the Me Patra glowing on the tiles. Yoon cleanses the tile south of Haruka with Me Patra to clear a path for him to escape.
There's a moment in which he wants to heal himself again, and his body desperately needs it – but if there's anyone who will end this, it won't be him. Someone else needs it more than he does. Therefore...Yoon will cast Media on Céleste one more time. ]
no subject
It's time for the next part in his attempt to find Lumen's vital zones - shooting him straight in the head. (17)
The fact that this is still Jordi and he might just be risking his life by doing this doesn't concern McGillis all that much anymore - though others are free to yell about it. ]
no subject
[ soujuurou’s voice is weak as he looks between both sides, with jordi attacking celseste so mercilessly and the others retaliating with even more powerful attacks. he sees so many ugly aspects of human modernity inside this room. guns, spells— even his own fists, bruised and bloody, are nothing but ugly. the ugliness that he could only see from the window out, is now in front of his face for him to see.
having listened to jordi’s story with rapt attention, soujuurou feels his will to physically fight evaporate. it’s not the damage from the algae or the hunger, though the latter does make his wish all that more desperate. he shouldn’t want, he musn’t want and yet he does. he wants and wants and wants and that’s why he was considered flawed! he can’t help but want and what he wants now is— ]
Stop. FIGHTING!
[ for the naturally soft spoken soujuurou, yelling is not his strong suit. and yet he yells not only at jordi, but at everyone else in the room. maybe it’s foolish— he’s never been in one of these before, after all. but he can’t continue fighting. so he simply talks (20). ]
I don’t think you’re wrong. [ people are greedy, they are selfish, and they are self-interested to the point if it being detrimental to themselves. it’s what has terrified soujuurou the most since coming down to the city, and what keeps being proven over and over again to him in this place. ]
But you’re also a person, aren’t you? The last of your kind. [ he thinks of kumari’s story of the passenger pigeon, of poor little martha, the last of her kind, who died all alone in the cincinatti zoo. ] You’ll probably never find anyone like yourself anymore, Jordi. That’s probably why you wear your mom’s shirt— because otherwise you’re alone, whether its here or in some other place surrounded by strangers you don’t understand.
[ soujuurou understands, deep down, that maybe he’s just projecting his own insecurities. this may just serve to irritate jordi further. but he’s so sick of fighting.
he continues holding the bangle out to him, arm straight and steady. ]
But if you tell us more about yourself, then maybe we can come to understand you. I’m sorry if I’m concerning myself with the dead when you said not to, but that’s one of my bad habits. [ he laughs, soft yet full of self-derision and bitterness. it’s yet another blight on him, another imperfection. ah well. ] Take it— I think, as I am now, I’m nothing more than a wraith, so it should be fine to take from me, right?
no subject
First of all, before he does anything else? Aaron has really been taking a beating and received no healing, so he tosses a Dia his way.
Second of all his eyes narrow as he listens to the man's words in response to Sayaka. He will be trying to persuade the man to listen or to have it offer it as distraction (13), either result is fine, even if his words are likely to fall on deaf ears. He has no problems with fighting him to bring him back to his senses, but all the same, he wishes to try to talk some sense into him as well. ]
Jordi!
[ And then at some point in all of this, McGillis shoots Jordi in the head, making him take in a breath, half wanting to yell at the man, yet also reminding himself this shouldn't be fatal (funnily enough, he thinks Boothill would've done the same, actually. What a time to receive a reminder) This is all alongside Soujuurou’s words reading out to him as well, whichever order these come in. If anything, the other man asking everyone to stop fighting inspires him even more, by even a smidgen! ]
You call all of this that you have right now a proper community? I cannot help but believe what you have done here embodies that opposite of that...and it lies in direct opposition to Beauty!
You must understand, that while people are indeed capable of such ugly things - such is the terrible truth of many a place in the galaxy - they are also capable of beautiful actions as well.
In the end, a proper community is one that is able to bond even closer to one another, beyond the usage of physical things - it is where hearts join together in harmony, in order to try to understand one another! And truthfully, I wish to understand you even more.
Have you not ever wished for that yourself? To have others know you? Understand you? Befriend you?
It is not too late! You can still have that chance. And, I firmly believe with all of my heart, that I am not the only one who wishes for this.
[ Trepidation rises in his throat, but he pushes past it, determined and stubborn as ever- ]
Will you not reach out for it, my dear friend?!
no subject
Well, it does, so he goes down with a curse for now, crouching on the ground with one of his swords being used as something of a support for his upper body as he deals with the pain. He’s honestly more pissed off from the stabbing than the insult, but he fires back anyway with a cào nǐ mā when Jordi gestures at him mid-exposition.
Anyways, while Céleste does his best to hold Jordi down, Aaron is able to rally thanks to Argenti’s timely Dia, and he goes for a deep stab to Jordi’s flank, right under the lowest rib (16). At this point, the priority is getting everyone else out alive, Jordi be damned. Besides, considering he’s managed to heal everything else up until now, Aaron’s not really expecting this to stick anyway, unless McGillis’ shot actually kills him.]
no subject
Sounds like some fucked up hivemind you've got there, actually.
[ i'm sorry josh is not joining in the heartfelt attempts at talking reason to jordi ]
[ instead he's using the distraction to blast another kouha spell at the tile nearest the lantern. try to create a scorched ring of fire and all that. what's the worst that could happen?? ]
no subject
He takes a step to the side, throwing the umbrella (15) at Lumen's back while everyone else monologues at him. (Personally, he doesn't think that's going to be super successful, but some people are skeptics.) He glances to the lantern he's now in front of, and maybe this won't do anything at all, but... he casts Me Patra on the lantern. It works on the algae, so it could? Do something?
Or it could make things worse. Who can say?]
no subject
...Are you serious right now...
[Ugh. Well, better to learn now than after it's too late. Still, he can't help but stomp the ground where he's standing.
Then he hears a whole bunch of scandalous curses from Lumen and watches Celeste get further messed up (among others) and he almost lets out a Spanish curse of his own.]
Please still be okay...please still be okay...
[He sends a Diarama in Celeste's direction to hopefully top him off from what Yoon already sent over. Next, he knows what his job is for the foreseeable future: cleansing the algae. He uses Me Patra on a tile with algae closest to the lantern. May as well clear the immediate area first before working his way back.
This is going to take so much out of him. But he has to keep pushing himself.]
no subject
...I'm not going to disagree that people can be like that. I've seen plenty of it myself, and I'm not going to deny that you have a point. People can be deeply selfish, horrible, and petty for reasons that will never be justified. Considering what you've been through...I truly can't blame you for thinking that. And I can't say I blame the Many for valuing what you can physically see and touch over immaterial things.
But people...people can be kind. There is so much more to people than their cruelty, their pettiness--they can be kind, too. They can love, and there are plenty of those that care with all of their heart still. And that love, that care--is that immaterial thing not valuable too?
...What do you intend to do with this algae, to everyone? What is it going to do to us, if we're allowed to let it spread?
no subject
Then, she turns her attention to Richard, takes a deep breath and tries to slap him awake. It seems that everyone who could otherwise heal him has more dire things to handle, and Sunrise isn't going to get in the way of that, but it's going to suck if he doesn't wake up. ]
no subject
Stay away from me!!!
[Yeah, he's still more than a little out of it here.]
no subject
(She knows Richard doesn't mean it that way, plus she can hardly blame him given the circumstances, but... Even though this isn't the first and won't be the last time someone said those words to her, it still stings a little.)
She steps back to give Richard space. ]
Mr. Richard...