bravenewworld | 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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Choosing to go on a mission with Haruka this time around, Sanae stays close, Moriya the Poliwrath trailing behind. While she didn't have as much experience with reality-warping caves as the older blond might have, the young priestess was not exactly pleased; Moriya seemed, for the most part, his usual self, thoroughly unimpressed by the whole thing.

When things started changing, Sanae pulled her gohei from one of her sleeves, suddenly on guard. Her eyes scan the area, and while she might be a bit freaked out--was that the theater--she wouldn't let her superior officer know. ]

What is this? Are they trying to scare us?

[ They being... well, she wasn't sure. Someone bad, probably! ]

Are you scared? [ There's no censure in Haruka's voice, just a guardedness as she looks around. This is her first time encountering something supernatural with Sanae in tow - something supernatural and potentially hostile, anyway - and while it sounds like the girl's gotten decent results in the past, Haruka doesn't like unknown factors in allies. (Which is why it's good to go together today, but. Leaving that aside.)

Still, being responsible for Sanae helps her be less on edge, and less upset that something might be sorting through their brains, than she might have been alone. The theater? Really? Whoever's doing this - whether these are visions of the future or not - should write said theater's scripts. They have a desperate enough sense of drama. ]

I'm not scared.

[ She answered a bit too quickly. Maybe she was a little bit, but only just so. Holding her gohei in one hand, she took in her surroundings. There was no indication that she was on edge just yet. ]

What do you think it means? Is somebody trying to tell us something?

[ Haruka doesn't really care about what it means so much as figuring out how to make it stop - or, better yet, what it might be masking - so as she keeps walking, she dips her chin. ] Keep your voice down.

[ ...oh, lovely. They're nearing what had been one of Union's many bridges, but the bridge has collapsed. Haruka glances up at her Pidgeot, who flies across to scout the other side, then keeps flying, seeing how high she can go. They were supposed to be in a cave.

But she keeps flying up... ]

[ Sanae quickly draws her lips in, standing a bit more stiffly than before. She gave Haruka a quick nod, falling in step a few feet behind. Standing watch near the bridge, she looked up as Pidgeot began to fly. ]

But that..!

[ Was impossible? Obviously she hadn't been in enough of Union's weird caves. ]

[ Haruka doesn't seem surprised. Grim, but not surprised. Their senses can be manipulated to that extent, huh? That, or this is the future. Neither of those is a pleasant idea, especially since both put them at the mercy of something else. ] We can't trust our eyes. Our any of our senses.

[ Her expression darkens for a moment: that's the optimistic guess, since "this is reality, only it's a world where we failed" is even less pleasant than "there's something in our heads". ] Just keep moving forward.

[ Back comes Pidgeot. She calls that she hasn't seen anything living out there, either. It's all just...city. But the city is so wrong. ]

Then what can we trust?

[ It was a legitimate question, asked by someone who was completely unsure what to do in their currently situation. ]

[ Nothing. They can trust nothing. Haruka makes a point of trusting nothing when she goes on Divine Defense Force missions even before shady who-knows-whats begin messing with them. It's a lesson she knew Sanae hadn't learned yet, and that part of her hadn't wanted Sanae to learn. It's also a conversation she doesn't really want to have in the middle of an emergency situation.

Which this may well be. Rushing Wind settles back to the ground, and Haruka pats her head before turning to Sanae. ] You should climb on.

[ Even if that's just an illusion of a chasm before them, it's best not to find such things out the hard way. ]

[ Sanae looked to the flying type, then back toward Haruka. ]

What about you?

[ She already knew the answer to that question, but even still, she had to ask, and would fight tooth and nail to make sure that no one got left behind. Sanae wouldn't leave without her commanding officer. ]

Get on. [ But to reassure Sanae, she summons a little swirling Gust in one palm. Haruka has her own methods for getting over chasms. ]

Descent into Darkness

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