bravenewworld | Descent into Darkness

Descent into Darkness

As the characters arrive, they will find what appears to be a rather deep cavern. Upon entering, the caverns are quite narrow, with twists and turns everywhere and different tunnels that all seem to be interconnected. As characters travel deeper within the caverns, reality around them will start to warp, they will start to see and hear things that aren’t necessarily there - images of old enemies, past failures, voices of condemnation, visions that strike at the soul and core of the characters. Once this begins, it will only increase in power and volume, demanding it be confronted, lest they be trapped within these caves forever.

[OOC: This event will run for a week. All characters who enter the caves will be subject to some of their deepest fears, darkest demons, and most abject failures. To overcome them, characters must help each other out, finding their purpose through strength of character and resolve to move forward. In general, these visions should require characters to come to grips with themselves. Illusory images and voices can and will appear and can take any number of forms, depending on what is most appropriate to a character. Additionally, characters may thread with each other and are encouraged to help each other out to overcome these personal demons. For those who wish to take part, they are able and encouraged to narrate their own personal demons, which will be on display for everyone who enters their thread. IC threads may be made in this post.]

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[After she entered the caves, Mami turned younger. Thanks to the effects of this place, though, she hasn't really noticed. Those who come into this section find that it's still dark, to be sure, and yet different. It's a forest, with tall trees and a canopy that blocks out the sun.]

[She looks fourteen, rather her current eighteen. She also isn't wearing her skirts, shirt, and hat; there's no trappings of being a Valkyrie. She has a simple homespun light yellow robe on, which is torn and nicked by brambles. Her face and hands are the same, and her hair isn't in ringlets, but fallen down.]

[Her eyes are with panicked terror, as she comes to a stop in a clearing. The forest is deeply, eerily quiet.]

Mama! Papa!

[But there's no answer. Save for others, she is quite alone.]

What the hell...

[It had been caves before, but now he finds himself in a forest. Honestly, the image of not being in a cave anymore was more than welcome to the boy from Citadel, and he breathes a sigh of relief, before realizing that this might not be as good as he thinks. It doesn't occur to him that this is an illusion. He doesn't see anyone else, not yet. Getting separated from a lot of the others was a big mistake, and now he doesn't know if he ended up outside of the cave on the other side.

Just as soon as he turns to go back inside the cave system, he catches the sight of a younger girl with a yellow robe on, eyes narrowing as he abandons going back inside to trot lightly up to her.]

Hey, you shouldn't be out here by yourself.

[There's a flicker of recognition on Mami's face, but lost as she is in this place's spell, it doesn't last. It leads her to decide to trust Yosuke, though. She's unmistakably recognizable: this is Mami Tomoe, albeit a very different one.]

Wait! My parents, they're--

[She looks around, her eyes widening.]

--they're not here. No one is. But I have to find them...

[His voice catches in his throat when he realizes who's in front of him. She doesn't seem to recognize him though, and he doesn't have any doubts after a minute of deliberation that it might be because of these caves and what they're doing to people. She's younger, that much is obvious.]

Mami...? [He says softly, in disbelief.] Uhhh...I don't think your parents are gunna be in here. Why don't we head back or something and look for them there?

They... they were that way, but...

[She looks deeper into the forest, with wide eyes. She's frightened out of her mind; the shake of her head is out of fear. And guilt. A lot of guilt.]

...I left them behind. I didn't know what to do. I have to go find them, but...

[His head follows in the direction she indicates- farther in there. He's not too keen on going in there, but there's no way he wouldn't help her out.]

Okay. Let's go get them, and get the hell out of here. I'll go with you. Don't sweat it!

[He tries to be comforting, because it's clear how scared she is- and once they take care of that step, the sooner he can figure out why she's so young and what's going on. He steps off in the direction where her parents supposedly were left behind, hoping she'll follow him.]

...all right.

[Mami swallows. The younger Mami leads the way; she knows the route perfectly, but she's walking in reverse. It's rough. It's through brambles, some places having not really a trail, but rather a path she cleared. There's scraps of fabric on some thorns here and there. It matches her torn dress and robe.]

[And at the end is a small crest at the end of a rise. Here, the trees are torn and broken; some are floating in midair. Some are crashed onto the ground. There is a man, crushed under one; there is also a terrified woman with blonde hair, reaching a hand out towards Mami. She shouts a word:]

Run!

[And behind her is an indistinct, glowing, and enormous Spiritomb. Pulses of dark purple energy shoot out here and there, scoring the ground. The little Mami stares, her lips shaking, her body tensing up, and she freezes up. There's no sound, just a strangled and futile cry in the back of her throat.]

[And then everything freezes more literally. It becomes greyscale slowly, the colors fading; the young Mami is frozen in place. The older Mami, wearing her black, gold, and white outfit, walks up behind Yosuke. She stares, her amber eyes vacant instead of terrified. She is stunned to the point that her mind has simply... disengaged with the situation.]

...I ran. I left them behind.

[He follows, seeing the scraps of fabric left on the vegetation where she'd ran. He almost trips over underbrush where it stuck out from the path she'd made, getting a bad feeling about what she was leading him toward. When they arrive at the crest, his eyes widen in horror at the sight. The floating trees, the man crushed, the woman who tell them to run.

The Spiritomb. Yosuke has never seen one before in his life, and this one takes the cake of freaky experiences in his life. He can feel his own body shake in fear, taking a step back while his mind races with all the possibilities of how he was about to die, but can't seem to make his feet move. When everything freezes, he's not sure what's happened at first, but Mami's voice behind him yanks him out of his shock. He looks behind him to her with confused, terrified eyes.]

Ah... [Is all he manages to get out at first, looking back towards the Spiritomb, her parents, then back to Mami herself.]

What else could you of done? [He asks, composure still a mess.] What is that thing?

...probably nothing.

[But only probably. She has never completely accepted that she could do nothing. She hugs her arms against herself and looks down. She can't blame him for the terrified look on his face. Who wouldn't be scared? The Spiritomb is terrifying; Walpurgis was the worst one that she ever heard of. A terror of the countryside in the north, if there ever was one.]

[At her age, Mami wouldn't have a prayer against it. She doubts that she would now, either.]

A Spiritomb. It's named Walpurgis. It... showed up, while I was out with my parents, and I managed to escape. They didn't. It's the strongest wild Pokemon that I've ever seen.

[He tries not to look at it, but even the greyed image of the Spiritomb floating there so close earned a flick of his eyes back to it every now and again. Just to make sure it's not moving.]

I...had no idea. [His expression drops a little, saddened by that news.] That thing is seriously freaky...you're lucky you're still alive. Mami...I'm sorry. [He doesn't know what else to say. It has to be hard witnessing that again.]

[It isn't moving. Nor is Mami's mother, whose hand is stretched out towards her. Maybe it's how it happened or how it's frozen; maybe it's Mami's memory filling in details. Either way, like this, she looks pleading. Mami's eyes aren't on the Spiritomb, but her mother.]

It's... everyone has things they must deal with, don't they?

[But it sounds weak, when she says it.]

It wasn't that I couldn't fight it. When I saw it, I... started running. I was so scared that I stopped thinking. She--she told me to run, but...

[Her hand balls into a fist and her words come out thick and choked. She pointedly looks at the unblinking memory of her mother, rather than the real person present.]

...even if she begged for help, I would have kept running.

Mami... [He moves towards her, cautiously, not sure if she'd push him away or not. It was heartbreaking to see her like this, and all he wants to do is provide some kind of comfort for her. To see your own parent's demise again, it has to be ripping her apart on the inside.]

If you hadn't run you might be dead too. She knew that. That's why she told you to run.

[That thing, swirling above her mother, he can't imagine anyone could survive that.]

[She doesn't push him away. She wants to be comforted. She doesn't want to want that -- she wants to think that she shouldn't need it. That she doesn't deserve it. She looks down, though, her eyes straight on the ground instead of on her mother.]

I know she did. But... it doesn't make it right, to abandon her like that. I didn't deserve to live when they didn't. I could have changed things.

[Her shoulders slump. Her voice cracks, finally, and it sounds small but thick with emotion. She only barely keeps the sob out of her voice, but she isn't hiding the tears so much as keeping her face pointed down at the ground.]

My first thought was to be selfish. I'm not the person that everyone thinks I am. She... she would hate me, if she knew what I was really like.

open!

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god sorry i s2g my job was awful

No worries at all!!

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It's PMMM so angst just leaks on everything, ever

IT'S OKAY i know but that's why it's so great

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