Descent into Darkness

[bravenewmods]

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.]

Comments

[rainsrespite]

"Exactly!" the female voice adds. "And the only thing that brings lasting piece is power. A few ruined lives, a few weaklings, but you both took power. And you both used it."

Those words draw Yuuna up short, her eyes widening as she recognizes the voice. Sinbad might as well, given that it's her own. Her hands on his shoulder tighten, desperate fear and denial there.

"No. No that's not true..."

"Yes! Yes it is! You can't change the world without some sort of power. That's why you're always out training, isn't it? That's why you've been gathering strong Pokemon..."

[conquerorofwaves]

He winces, hissing softly in pain in as her grip tightens.

"What's wrong with that? You can't change the world with nothing." He whispered. "Why is ambition considered evil? What is wrong with making things better?" Sinbad stepped off the golden road and out of her grip - trying to still his pounding heart, and shut out the prickling of Yuuna's terror brushing against the back of his neck. Keep calm, keep calm - he chants to himself. Badr continues to rub against him, trying to coo.

"Know your place Ex-Patriot." A different voice calls out as the palace and towers crumbled into dust, becoming mere hovels. "Playing at merchant, seeking to become a king? Lofty goals for a mere child. No wonder you keep using others - you're just a boy playing at grown up, you can't do anything on your own. You can't escape what you are..."

A clack of wood hits the ground in a rhythmic fashion, as a man strolls in from the darkness, leaning heavily on a crude walking staff. It was hard to tell with his long robe, but it seems he was missing a leg from how he leaned, his cropped violet hair framing bright, golden eyes. He stops in mid-step, and stares at them, shoulders slumping as he slowly shook his head.

"...Da...Daddy?"

[rainsrespite]

Calm, calm, calm...Yuuna repeats the word in her mind's eye, trying to focus, to overcome those thoughts. She didn't want to believe this, not a word. She wasn't looking for power, she never wanted to be anything like that voice. So...cruel...

"Deny it all you want, Yuuna. But you...hah, you're just like this kid. Pretending to care, but all you want is powerful Pokemon. Powerful pets, powerful people like Merrill who'll do your bidding. You're scared because you feel irrelevant, and it's kinda pathetic how you keep lying to yourself and everyone around you."

Then the specter appears, and Yuuna quickly darts ahead, taking a wary stance between Sinbad and the figure. He might be crippled, but something about him, something about all of this? Made her wary.

"Sinbad," she says quietly, "This isn't him. This is just an illusion."

"Is it?" asks the female voice, "Do you really think that, weakling?"

[conquerorofwaves]

"I'm not pretending! I do care!" He shouted as he covers his mouth, fighting back a sob. "Daddy... I'm so sorry, daddy." He shook his head, the tip of his tail curling around his ankle. "I just wanted... I don't want anyone else hurt like you were. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Then why do you keep fighting? You saw what happened when I try to resist." The man hobbles forward. "Trying to change things just caused so much pain, you're dragging people and pokemon down with you for a silly child's dream of a shiny little castle and gold-lined streets. If you really cared, you would stop. Go home."

Badr slithers off of Sinbad and circles around him - the gem sparking in warning. If you are the man he named me for, you'd go away! The man he told me about would never make his son cry!

"Daddy... please. I want power to make things better not just for power! but it doesn't mean I don't care! If I didn't care... I wouldn't I -" He kneels, covering his face, shoulders racking as he lets out loud, ugly, hiccuping sobs. "I... please, help me."

[rainsrespite]

"Take a cue from Sinbad, Yuuna," her own specter adds, finally appearing out on that golden road. Taller, more muscular, more lined and hard, she strides forward to stand beside Sinbad's father, arms folded across her breasts as she stares imperiously at the pair. "Keep on this path and you'll become a real killer."

A hand reaches out, a small image dancing on the double's palm. An image of Yuuna and Merrill, embroiled in a battle. The image sworls, shifting and twisting weirdly as the figures flow through combat. A knife flies from nowhere, aimed at Yuuna's back. And Merrill dives in front of it, taking the blade through the chest.

Yuuna's eyes go wide, and she drops to her knees beside Sinbad as a gasp of shock is torn from her lips. No! It couldn't be. But...the image shifts again, the scene replaying with Waver, with Ami, with Haruka, with Ryugazaki and Blue. Even Goku. Tears begin to stream down her face, hot with rage and fear. The two babies rush to her side, the Shelgon propping up her head while the Gabite nuzzles her with it's head.

Stop it! Stop bothering her!

"This quest for power...it's going to get friends killed. You may as well accept that, if you're going to pursue it. Because you can't save anyone, not like you are. You're holding them back, and if you really cared about them you'd stop. You'd accept that you're just a detriment. Or you'll just embrace it, admit it, and maybe you can change this."

[conquerorofwaves]

Sin, snap out of it! You can't give up now. Yuuna, talk sense into him!

The original Badr steps in front of the pair, looking down at them with an expression of fatherly disappointment.

"That's right, Sin. Go home - surrender the idea of seeing the world, be a good boy."

"...My father never called me that." Sinbad's breath hitched, swallowing another sob as he peeked through his eyes in quiet disbelief.

[rainsrespite]

"That's right, Yuuna. Either go home, or reach out and take that power. Give into yourself, and stop pretending."

A booted foot lashed out at Yuuna, slamming into her shoulder and knocking her back. The phantom double pressed a heel into her as she lay there, looking up in complete and total silence. The two Dragon-Type Pokemon charge in, but slam against an invisible wall, bouncing away only to charge again.

"See, look at you. Pitiful, really. But only you can help yourself. And only if you admit you're lying to yourself."

The boot digs in further, eliciting a sharp cry of pain from the Ranger.

"Gods! No! I won't! I won't become like you! I won't...I refuse! You...you're nothing like me! I don't want to be stronger if it means being...like this!"

Another twist, followed by the rasp of a blade being drawn...

"Even if it means dying?"

[conquerorofwaves]

"Yu... Yuuna!" He cries out as she's slammed against the floor, a flash of anger bubbling up in his chest, and he lunges himself at the doppelganger before he even realizes it - working on instinct alone, his vision too blurred by tears at the moment to get an accurate sight of what is going on around him, relying on his waves. "Get the hell off of her!"

This was why he tried so hard, why he sought out so many people, because someone needs to help. Someone needs to fight the bullies and tyrants. Badr whistles as he snakes between the illusion of Sinbad's father and the rest of them.

See? This isn't your father, he's doing nothing while she's getting hurt!

[rainsrespite]

"Ah!" Yuuna cries out as the shade falls away, the boot leaving her shoulder and sword clattering to the ground. She scrambles to her feet and clutches her bruised skin. "Badr's right! That's not your dad! None of this is real!"

Her eyes find her double, looking at it through bleary, tearful eyes.

"And...Sinbad's proof you're wrong! And you too!" She points without looking at the clone of his father. "He helped me, and now I'm going to help him! I don't have to be cruel like you to be strong! That's not what I grew up believing in!"

She takes a step forward and offers Sinbad her hand, pulling him to his feet. "Sinbad, tell me what your dad would really say? Would he...want you to give up on exploring and go back to wherever this is? Would he want you to have let me die?"

[conquerorofwaves]

He lands between Yuuna and her copy on all fours, tail thrashing behind him like an unusually fat snake.

"Sinbad. Are you really going to be so Tauros-headed-"

"Quiet! Father - Daddy told me to be brave, he told me he could tell I'm suppose to be doing something great." He hisses as he rises up to his feet at the ranger's touch. "He died because he wanted to save me."

He shouted. "My father was a brave soldier who stood up to everyone that called him for a coward for opposing more war! He would never, ever tell me to give up! My ambition is a world where no one had to suffer like he did - is that so wrong?"

[rainsrespite]

“Then, remember that. Not this…fake,” Yuuna all but growled, spinning Sinbad around to face her, pulling him tight into a hug against her chest. She glared at the two doubles, eyes gleaming an unearthly cobalt blue for just a moment before fading to their usual brown. Her lip all but peeled back into a snarl, tearstained cheeks flushed with mounting rage.

“Begone, away with you, fakes. You’re not real, and I refuse to listen to this anymore. No father should tell his child to give up, especially on a dream so noble as that. And nobody should take power just so they can hurt people. That’s all wrong, and you’re both full of Boufallant chips!”