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

[ Jack's fear of Magi is instinctive, beyond sense or reasoning; it's a matter of association. before he came to Union, any thoughts of a Mage were exclusively connected to the Moon Man, to the lab, to waking up screaming and drowning and lost. a Mage is a potential danger to his free will, his identity, everything he has left of the self he has scraped together. Mage just means threat.

he doesn't hesitate to step between Waver and the man that appears. ]

You know, I'm really glad that I keep getting more proof for my theory that every single Mage is an annoying jerk. [ he spins his staff around, frost laced into the grooves of the wood, and points the crook of it in the Magus' face. ] You seem like a smart guy, what do you think? Is it a genetic thing?

You idiot!

[Waver hissed out the words, scrambling to grab Jack's arm and pull him away before anything could happen. Why, oh why all of this was happening was beyond him-- but, he wasn't at a point where he was willing to pick a fight with one of the senior lecturers in the academy right yet.

The apparition seemed to chuckle in amusement, as if he were watching children play.]

"It's all a matter of perspective, Homunculus. And your's bears no consequence here."

[ it isn't real, he knows it isn't real and it's just here to mess with Waver like all the other visions people have been having in these stupid caves - but he still flinches with a Mage staring him down and calling him out as a Homunculus. he shrugs Waver off anyway. this guy is designed to target Waver; it's not Jack he knows inside and out, so Jack isn't the one that's going to get hurt by anything he says. ]

Uh-huh. The thing about that is, outside of Sanctuary? Neither does yours. Without your little Mage club, you and me are on equal standing.

[Waver sighed in frustrated defeat-- it wasn't going to be his fault if Jack somehow got himself killed because of all of this!]

He's got no reason to leave, though, [he said, sighing.] And it's just like I already said. Nothing we say is going to do anything to change anything!

[He shook his head frantically, lanky hair flying in all different directions with the movement.]

[ he's reluctant to turn his back on a Mage, even a fake vision of one, but Jack whirls around to face Waver anyway. this guy is so frustrating! what kind of person just sighs and accepts this kind of thing? ]

Then who cares?! Screw Sanctuary! [ he reaches out with his unarmed hand to grip Waver's shoulder; even through cloth, his touch is cold. ] You're not stuck there anymore, Waver, this guy doesn't mean anything. Leave idiots like this to me.

[ with a promise of violence in his voice. Magi like this one Waver is scared of must be the types he talked about, and they're the ones that have been making the Homunculi, that refuse to drop the experiments at the cost of all else. Jack still fully intends to do something about the Homunculi's situation, and if that means taking these guys on— well, this illusion isn't doing much to convince him that it would be a bad thing. ]

[No one specified that it was willing acceptance; sometimes a person had no choice but to accept their relative unimportance in the larger picture after they have scraped their way through every option. After years of sneaking books out of the library under the pain of retribution if he was ever caught, after selling all of his family's assets and still being denied access because the coin didn't amount to nearly enough to cover tuition, and unwittingly aiding the resistance in the latter days before Union broke through Gigas' seige, Waver had come to learn that there was very little that an Earthkin and would-be Magus whose specialty was teleporting could do.

It still frustrated him, but he rather liked keeping his head on his shoulders.]

Jack, [Waver hissed, starting when the icy chill of Jack's fury touched his skin through the fabric of his clothes,] watch your temper. This is not a good place for something to happen!

[ it isn't so easy to soothe the tight ball of frustration caught in his chest, but - at the warning, he remembers that Waver has seen him at a point of poor control over himself. Jack might not have to worry about the Magus spectre doing anything to hurt them, but he does have to worry about hurting Waver himself if he doesn't try to reign it in a little.

he sighs and tries again, voice tense with forced restraint: ]

Look. Whatever reason you have for being scared of this guy? It's over. He doesn't matter. Seriously, you can just... tell him to get lost.

[ these visions all have a purpose so far, they all end somewhere. it's just difficult for Jack to figure out what they are. Waver had sounded so pleased to be out of Sanctuary, so adamant that he would never return, and that should have concluded it. so why is this haunting him? what is it about this that still bothers him in the same way that Lux had felt trapped by her life, or Robin had feared the truth of his missing past? ]

[Waver regarded Jack uncertainly, torn between arguing with the power of the knowledge that he did have and trusting this flighty individual on his word and his word alone. The Magi were a terrifying thing for the both of them-- for different reasons-- and the fact that Jack hadn't turned the room into a cocoon of ice upon sight was a feat in and of itself.

He grit his teeth against the icy cold of just being near someone whose control of ice was so profound that he may as well be a god of winter himself and released a shuddering breath to expel any further doubts from his mind.]

It's not really that simple, but.... [Facing the apparition now, he held fast to his tiny thread of courage and dug his heels into the flooring beneath them.]

I don't need Sanctuary to change, because I'm changing instead. And then, one day, I...we-- we'll make it work!

Descent into Darkness

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