melodiesofeternity | The Heroes of Light vs. The Sakura Forest (round 1)

The Heroes of Light vs. The Sakura Forest (round 1)

Who: Everyone who signed up!
When: October 10
Where: The Sakura forest
What: There's supposed to be an Eidolon here! Lets go find it!
Warnings/Notes: it's October and there are supposedly mimics in here.

This morning is damp and foggy, lingering swaths of mist a testament to the rapid changes in temperature that always seem a hallmark of the fall season. The sunlight is still too new to burn it away, and the world seems hazy and lavender.

It would be beautiful, if it wasn’t so eerie. Perhaps it’s simply the morning chill, but skin prickling up to gooseflesh seems to be a common occurrence amongst the gathered crowd, and Castor herself, standing at the head and sorting people into teams, is not immune to this.

Behind her stands the southwestern edge of the Sakura forest. The fog within seems particularly dense, and as it diffuses the morning light, the forest seems almost otherworldly; a glimpse at something fey and unknowable and eternal. It’s likewise eerily quiet; even accounting for the fog smothering all but the closest noise, there are no audible signs of life from within the forest’s boundaries.

If the hair on the back of your neck is slowly raising, you’re probably not alone in that, either.

“Alright!” Castor calls, once she’s finished organizing people, “That should be the lot’ve ye! We don’t know what all’s about in there, and I’ve had word that the local wildlife has been ornery of late, so keep yer wits about ye, and stay close te your mates!

“I’ve given each of ye a handful of ribbon…” she pauses to hold up a handful of her own, a cheery red that somehow looks ominous in this atmosphere. “A colour te each team! Use ‘em to mark yer way in; I don’t want te have te go fishin’ fer lost souls when all’s said and done, and if ye find somethin’ ye’ll leave an easy way back.

“I’d advise ye sort someone te keep an eye on the Slates. Twelve willin’ they work more’n ten fulms into the wood, stay in touch best ye can over the network. And don’t hesitate te turn back if ye feel things’re goin’ poorly fer you an’ yours. I’d rather ye come back alive and emptyhanded.”

Here she pauses again, seeming to count something out on her fingers. “I think that’s the last of what I’ve got te say. Try and be back ‘fore sundown, yeah?”

[ooc: And go! I will be endeavouring to reply to each party at least ONCE daily, regardless of who’s posted in the meantime (we’ll see how it goes)!]

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The surprise spell made Papyrus jump, eye sockets BIG AND GOOGLY. The panic that follow certainly doesn't help. Nor does the... ominous trombone music.

Trombone.

Tidus raises a good point, however, and it's enough to drag him out of his stupor. "THAT ALL DEPENDS. DOES ANYONE ELSE HEAR EXTREMELY INAPPROPRIATE AND INCIDENTAL MUSIC?"

"Yipes!" Uendo almost leaps right out of his skin at the explosion -- so badly startled that he inadvertently switches out with Patches. That is not the kind of expression he ever expected to see on Kuja's face.

"I-I don't hear anything..."

Poor tree.

Garland's laughter scatters in the blowback of the spell leaving silence fo Kuja, but it seems to stir up a few more ghosts. Uendo and his alters hear an old man gasp - the last breath as the life is choked from a frail body. Tidus hears his own old man, yelling for him in that belligerent tone he always had seemed to use.

Snow White, though he starts for Kuja, may pause as he hears Otogi Grimm cry for help somewhere in the distance and Klonoa...Klonoa doesn't hear anything with those ears of his but instead finds himself overtaken by a sudden vertigo; as though he were standing on the precipice of a tall cliff and a stiff breeze could send him over the edge.

For Papyrus, the tromboning continues, more inappropriate and incidental (and ominious) as ever.

The rage fades, and Kuja is left breathing heavily, looking disconcerted and uncertain and- surely he's not going mad- But no, others are hearing things too, which means he's not going insane.

"Ahaha. Ahah. I... ah." Kuja clears his throat, adjusts his hair. "I thought- I heard-"
He inhales, exhales. He's composed now, re[Focus]ing himself. Probably. "That, of course, was inexcusable. My sincerest apologies, I- well, I take it the rest of you are hearing things too. Stupid, really, should have known that it couldn't be possible." Try as he might to save face, it's unlikely it's going to work, here. He glances, briefly, at Klonoa and Snow White. "Understand, I- I heard Garland. I'm sorry."

Klonoa gasps, putting a hand on his chest as he sinks down to his knees, panting openly. It's like he's off balance, and he can't fully stand without feeling like he's about to fall over. They're getting attacked, that's certain, but how and by what, he has no idea. There's not much he can think of to do about it, either.

There's only one option he can think of, and with his head swimming, he's not in any position to be targeting anyone but himself. He shakily tries to pull his hand away from his chest before pressing it back, a glowing, wispy aura of cleansing white Esuna emanating through his body. He's not even sure if it'll work--they warned him about how ineffective it can be, but there's not much choice if there's even a chance of it helping them out here.

Frisk, of course, knows that this is probably the forest's way of messing with them. The fact that they were apparently immune (at least for now) did not stop this from being freaky as the rest of the party descends into madness around them.

The fact that Kuja was the first to snap didn't help their panic. He was always... well, Kuja was cool. Cool in a different way than Papyrus, but still really cool! And seeing him go ballistic like that... it terrified Frisk.

Klonoa and Papyrus going nuts is almost enough to make Frisk completely freeze up... but the grit their teeth, get to their feet, and start yelling.

"HEY! Whatever you guys are hearing or seeing or whatever, it is not real! If you hear something that makes you want to flip out, just do everybody a favor and double-check with the nearest person to see if they hear it too. If they are, then tell the rest of the party and we can all flip out together. Got it?"

Having said their piece, Frisk rushes over to Kuja's side, clamping their hand on his. They don't say anything for a moment, they just look up at him, eyes wide open for once. She sometimes needed help like this whenever she was having a panic attack (ones that Frisk, unfortunately, was often the root cause of), so hopefully this would help. Maybe. "Kuja. Look at me. Focus on my hand. Breathe deep. I'm here." Was it unnecessary? Probably, but they couldn't just do nothing.

This is getting frustrating. And in their frustration, Chara finds themself beginning to get angry. They remain quiet through the quick series of events, of everyone dealing with their own fears and rages. None of it is is real, but they realize just saying that isn't going to matter much to someone who is so sure of its reality. That Sense Earth isn't bringing anything up at all doesn't help either. Whoever is doing this, they could be anywhere.

"Whoever or whatever this is, it's trying to delay us and box us in," Chara says. "We have to keep moving forward, or this is going to tear us apart."

"I'm fine. Quite disgusted with myself, flying off the handle at the first illusion like a first-year apprentice, but otherwise... fine."
At some point, he realizes that his hand is being held. "... Ah. Yes. No need to worry, I forgot myself a moment there." Somewhat jerkily, it's retrieved from Frisk's, and he looks around to find that everything is very quickly going to hell. "I agree. If anyone sees or hears anything, immediately verify with someone else instead of... doing the exact thing I just did."

Kuja may have a harder time extricating himself from Snow White. The demon's grip tightened to a clamp on Kuja's arm as Snow heard the cries of his ~~lunch~~ boy in pain.

"Otogi?" He stared out at the trees, his hold on Kuja no longer to keep the mage here but to ground himself.

"It... It's not real..." he murmured to himself, trying to listen to the others, trying to focus. But it sounded so close, like Otogi was just out of sight and needed him!

Patches stands very, very still. The others in his head are likewise deathly silent. The sound of a gasping breath is almost too quiet to catch, but they instantly know who it came from.

"Shisho...?" No no, that can't be right, their master is already... Thankfully Frisk's shouting sinks in, and he shakes his head sharply.

"R-Right, let's not stick around here! Can't find that Eidolon if we all go off our Kupo Nuts!" He forces a grin and goes to help Klonoa stand. "Hey, are you okay to move?"

Almost everything said goes in one ear and out the other.

"You shut your mouth, old man!"

Tidus might have just offended half the group there, but the remark isn't intended for any of them. It's Jecht, here to tell him that he's a failure, again...it made him want to toss that old doll he'd kept out the window. He stepped forward, following the echo of laughter into nowhere.

Oops.

Klonoa pants, and pulls himself up with Uendo's help, leaning slightly against him as his head clears.

Just in time to watch Tidus just waltz off into the woods.

"Hey, hey! Come back!" He calls out, starting to step forwards towards him as he breaks free from Uendo. This isn't the best situation; at least Kuja's response of instant and immediate force didn't separate them out like this!

As far as spooky forests go, this one is pretty impressive. And while she's been keeping to herself and mostly been alternating between keeping an eye on her iMog and tying lengths of ribbon to a branch on occasion, what really gets her attention is the sudden sound of a very familiar voice.

"... Matt?"

There's no way he could be here. She would've known... right? Still, she's not taking any chances. Not after she lost him once. Unfortunately, this means she's about to shift her plans from keeping an eye on things to... straight up taking off in the direction she's sure that voice came from!

Tidus is swallowed up by the fog almost instantly, and seconds later Pidge is as well as she dashes off in a completely different direction. In their wake is a ringing, deafening oppressive silence.

...for everyone except Uendo.

Somewhere in the back of his head wherein all the Asterisk powers seem to come from, there's just a slight tug, like an invitation to continue the way they'd been going before the hallucinations had begun. There's no urgency; just the equivalent of a tap on the shoulder.

Pidge and Tidus find nothing at the end of their own dashes; just the same silence and no visual contact with their party. Whatever had caused those noises is long gone now, leaving them all alone. All. Alone.

And of course everything's gone straight to hell. Two people running off, half the group losing their damned minds, and this is probably his fault to boot. Somebody has to take charge.

Kuja snaps his fingers, making a spark. There's nothing major to it, just a very loud bang. "Listen to me. The next person to run off on their own can expect to be struck in the backside with a Thunder spell. Whatever this is is tearing us all to pieces and we haven't even made it ten feet into the damned forest! Order of business the first: as a group, we collect Tidus and then Pidge." He pulls out his Slate, exchanges Black Mage for White Mage. "Anybody capable of White Magic, with me. Clear this damned Mist."

Edited 2018-10-18 04:42 (UTC)

"Huh...?"

Patches is distracted by the... sensation? It's not a sound this time, and no one's touching him, but something is definitely calling him. He stares off into the fog, completely silent, while mentally consulting his headmates. It wasn't any of them, but the invitation went directly into their head, so that must mean...

And then he jumps at the loud bang. Kuja's going to give him a heart attack one day.

"My tushie does not need charging, thank you! But, um..." He looks off to the direction they were going again. "I... can sense the Eidolon up ahead. I think."

Snow White snapped to attention. Letting go of Kuja's arm, he took a deep breath and nodded. None of the voices were real -- they couldn't be. He knew it, deep in his chest.

He knew, because Otogi would never call him like that. Not the way he'd call for Cinderella first.

"Alright." He set his jaw and cast Vent, then Sacre with his Dualcast, to try to clear their way. "I'll do what I can. We stick together!"

Edited 2018-10-18 14:48 (UTC)

"We are not leaving them behind!" Frisk snaps in Uendo's general direction, then winces, regretting their words almost immediately. "Sorry. Just kinda... stressed. But we aren't moving on until we find them. I say we go after Tidus first, Pidge probably has enough sense to stop running sooner than sportsball teen." Frisk snaps their fingers, and a kunai made out of flame appears in their hand, the Fire Ninjitsu lighting the area like a torch.

This is going all to hell. Chara fights to keep from scowling at how poorly this has all gone. They look as if they’re almost retracting into their hoodie, letting it swallow them to try and hide their growing discomfort and pleasure. This was the problem with big groups. Let alone big groups that barely knew each other, or had the more selfish nature most humans seemed to have.

...Chara knows deep down they can’t judge that much. After all, if it was up to them, they’d argue for pursuing the Eidolon over finding Tidus and Pidge. It was nothing personal, but they came here with a purpose. They NEED to focus on that purpose. That Chara didn’t know Tidus or Pidge helped as well, despite the small ball of guilt they still felt at their thoughts.

“Alright,” Chara says, voice blunt and dull. “I can sense people and layout about a hundred feet away. Once we start moving we shouldn’t have too hard a time finding them. Let’s get them then hope we can still move on the Eidolon.”

Kuja, frankly, is all for just letting them go off on their own and feed the local wildlife. But there's still the faintly-annoying sense that that wouldn't be 'the right thing to do'.

He moves with Snow White, moving at a brisk pace in the direction Tidus had run off in, casting [Aero] in front of himself when the fog begins closing in once more.

Papyrus, still unnerved and startled by this whole mess, nods to the others' remarks. They're a group. They need to work as a team. They can't afford to lose anyone.

Unfortunately, his job selection didn't offer much in the way of magic for illumination. However, he did have his Treasure Hunter skill as a Chemist, which he proceeds to activate, just in case it can someone provide any clues, either to the direction they should proceed, or toward the others.

For now, he'll keep close to Frisk- he can already tell they're raring to play rescue, and he really can't blame them.

"I SUPPOSE IF IT COMES DOWN TO IT, I COULD SWITCH TO MAGITEK KNIGHT, BUT THE ELEMENTAL SKILLS FOR THAT CLASS ARE BEST USED AS ATTACKS RATHER THAN A LIGHT SOURCE..."

Patches holds up both hands when Frisk snaps at him. "Easy kiddo, I'm not saying we should leave without them! I just meant we're on the right track. Despite, y'know, all of this. And..."

He glances away at the foggy path once more. "I'm preeeetty sure it's not in any rush. I dunno, that's just the feeling I get."

There's not a whole lot he can do to help clear away the mist, so he'll just keep tying those ribbons as they walk and doing his best to keep track of what direction they were going before.

That damned laughter echos in his ears, pushing him forward until it evaporates. And he's alone, having done exactly what the enemy wanted him to do. Well that's just perfect. He buries his head in his hands and lets out a long groan.

But that isn't exactly productive, is it? He knows he has little chance of escaping on his own, and there's little chance that the others will find him, since he'd neglected to use any ribbons. What can he do, then?

After a few moments of thought (and some serious bad vibes), he crouches, picks up a stray stick, and attempts to light the end with a fire spell. It takes several tries, but eventually he gets it, trying to find the delicate magical balance between a visible flame and scorching his hand.

Though he'd probably deserve that, he thinks, letting out a humorless laugh with a strange, sharp sound to it. It's almost like a crow's call.

Most of the time, Pidge likes to think that she does a good job of thinking things through. She tries to be sensible about things, until or unless her family is involved, because that's when all rational behavior goes out the window.

Case in point, she's now completely alone, and chasing the sound of her brother's voice when there's no way he can actually be here. It's just not possible for him to have shown up in this world without her knowing about it.

But it was adrenaline and instinct driving her now, and the intense need to make sure her family is safe. Which is why she seems to be growing increasingly frustrated the longer she's running. She's sure it was coming from this direction! Shouldn't she have found him by now?

"Hello? Matt?"

Pidge gets no reply; just the echo of her own voice ringing back at her. Wherever she is, she's here alone, far out of sight and earshot of her party...but it looks like there's something up ahead - something dark and looming. Good thing her iMog slate still seems to have reception.

Wind spells do well to clear the mist in the short term, though it seems to filter back in before long; The mist here wishes to occupy this space, and no silly spells will chase it off for long. Tidus' sharp laughter cuts through the forest but it echoes amongst the trees and muddies his location. Thankfully, Chara's Earth Sense seems to sense...well, something, on the very edge of it's range. It's fuzzy and as hard to make out as anything else here, but as far as leads go, it's the best they've got.

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