glastonbury ♔ they came snapping at your heels

[behindcloseddoors]

See You Soon- Coldplay

WHO || Faye, Lila, Gold? [closed]
WHAT || Faye finally has a clue to Gold's location, and goes to confront him about his absence
WHERE || Glastonbury, England
WHEN || After this
HOW || Actionspam

[ Gold's been gone now for long enough to leave most people assuming that he isn't going to come back. Driven off by confirmation that he was, in fact, the Dark One from the Enchanted Forest by Gaston and Emma, the only indication that he's even alive came in a dream delivered to Belle, where he admitted that he was looking to understand more about this Dark One, perhaps seeking a way to refute the claims of the others. Plenty of people are worried, however, about what direction his search might take him. Others, however, are just plain pissed that he would abandon them without a word - and it's that anger that drove Faye to ally with GLADOS to discover that he was in Glastonbury, and with Lila's help enlist Zero to pinpoint his exact last known whereabouts, at a shitty motel. Together, the girls take a car and head out, hoping to find him once and for all.

There's only one car in the lot when they pull in, the VACANCY sign flashing forlornly above the office door. No lights are visible in any of the rooms, but a COKE machine provides some illumination, along with the lone pair of streetlamps that dully lighten the parking lot. ]

Comments

[undealt]

[Apparently, paranoia and power make Gold's will saves better, because he rolled a 32 like an asshole. He jerks away from Lila's touch, snarling, as his spell from before sears her with acid and fire again (4 fire damage, 3 acid damage, 17 fort for half). At least it has one effect- it singles her out and keeps him away from Faye.

On the plus side, he doesn't directly attack her, and, instead, casts a fire shield on himself to dissuade her from touching him again, which gives him the impression of being wreathed in violet-red flames.]

[herebemonsters]

[ both of faye's rays burn into the thing, blasting it with powerful magic that seems to tear away parts of it. but it's still up and fighting and it focuses its magic on faye in retaliation. she feels a darkness descending all around her... feels something literally trying to snuff the life out of her, and it's only a supreme act of fortitude that pushes away the force attempting to shut down her body (nat 20 fort vs circle of death).

but those shadows are still up and they come up behind the girls to attack them (one at faye: atk 18, dmg 12/ one at lila: atk 21, dmg 10) ]

[bittersweeter]

[ a scream pulls past her lips as the flames and acid continue to slowly kill her. (fort save 22) instead of shooting him in the face like she wants to do, lila casts an invisibility spell on herself, using the rest of her dwindling energy to move toward faye. her words are still obviously meant for gold, however. ]

They're killing Faye. Faye. If you care about her even a little bit, you fucking snap out of this right now and save her. [ she pours every bit of her love for faye into the words, hoping against all practicality that it can break him out of this somehow. every note is tinged with desperation and despair, voice breaking. (diplomacy nat 20, 76 total) ] You have to help her. Please. If you want to prove you can be the good man she believes you can be then save her! Fight back!

[reallywicked]

[That hit really hurts. Like one third of her HP hurts. Lila's worse off by far, but this is not going to be fun for any of them if they have to keep going like this. Faye launches out two more scorching rays since that worked out so well last time. (ranged touch attacks 16 and 15?? If those hit, 12 and 17 damage.

She only barely registers Lila's pleas to Gold, can't focus on too much other than trying to kill this asshole fey bitch before it has the chance to hurt Lila again.]

[undealt]

[the flames reflect coldly in Gold's eyes for a moment as he tries to search out Lila, though once they fall on poor Faye, the severity of the words slowly pull him out of the chokehold this darkness has over him, and for a moment he looks utterly horrified. (will save 27)]

Faye.

[He swallows, his voice not quite sounding like his own, caught in the whirlwind of the whispering voices in his head that are starting to sound less like the fey creatures and more like something strange and familiar, but too far out of reach to cling to. An ethereal chorus, calling him back into the shadows.

He steps forward in front of the girls, dismissing the spell over Lila as he passes, and stares down the beasts with cold eyes, the violet flames still licking harmlessly over his body.]

You should know I'm not going to enjoy this. [It's directed at the fey creature leering at them, as he raises his hand again and

well faye and lila weren't on Andres when Gold unleashed that horrifying column of white flame, so this is probably gonna be a surprise for them. He focuses the burst at the primary creature and it explodes in a ten foot radius, likely hitting all three in the blast... and probably the well too. and the trees. it's just... it's not very pretty. everything in the blast takes 45 damage (reflex 20 dc to halve it)]

[herebemonsters]

[ after the storm - mumford & sons

the creature twists and avoids both of faye's rays this time, determined to kill them once and for all... until gold breaks free, and that blinding, burning light fills the clearing. a ten foot radius won't hit them all, but it will hit the creature, the well, lila, and gold... and the creature lets out a horrible wail as it's literally shorn away by the light piece by piece until it's entirely gone, and there's a tremendous cracking noise as the well itself is broken, collapsing in on itself. the other shadowy figures vanish, and the trees unfurl, and they're left feeling that oppressive evilness of the area evaporating around them. ]

[bittersweeter]

[ lila barely makes it next to faye before she crumples to her knees as the fire and acid finally ebbs. the blast happens a moment later but she genuinely doesn't care about gold's grand display of magic that explodes in a rush of heat that makes the burns across her skin sting wildly, clouding her mind with nearly all encompassing pain and it's all she can do to pull a cure light wounds potion from her bag and press it, still invisible, into faye's hand. ]

[undealt]

[well, uh, Gold got hit with the full backlash of his own spell because that's what happens when you CAST HELLFIRE RIGHT IN YOUR OWN FUCKING FACE, so... ow most of him. Luckily, he succeeded in his massive damage save, so he's just in rough shape and ends up, leaning heavily on his cane, burnt and bleeding. That'll teach him a valuable lesson, and he doesn't even look remotely sorry for it.]

Lila needs a cleric. [he swallows, unable to bring himself to actually apologize properly, because hahahaha wow this is awkward. it's easier to focus on the practical things now.] We all do.

[reallywicked]

[It all happens very fast. Lila disappears and Gold unleashes unholy fury on the battlefield. The creature is dead, but at what cost? She can see the way Gold was burned by his own spell, and she has no idea where Lila is until she feels a familiar hand press a small vial into her hand.]

Lila? [There's panic in her voice, fear for what state her friend is in.] Lila, it's dead- please.

[She needs to see her, to know she's okay. As her gaze sweeps the clearing, she locks eyes with Gold. There's fear in her eyes, but not for what he's done. She's afraid of losing the people she cares about, him included. Afraid that what's happened here will cause him to just run off again. She nods at his words, numb but understanding that he's right.]

[bittersweeter]

[ it takes her a second to focus enough to dismiss the spell and she is in... well, the shape one is in when they've been repeatedly burned by fire, acid, and electricity until they're at a total of 3 hit points. honestly, faye should have let her stay invisible for the five more minutes the spell would have lasted because it's a horrifying sight.

she murmurs something in russian, fingers lifting to grip her father's diamond. ]

Call Wynn. Teleport scroll. I want Solace. [ she ain't fucking around with anyone that isn't the best and the best is solace. ]

[undealt]

We don't need a scroll. [He's done enough damage with magic today, but at least he can't do anything worse with this one. He kneels down, laying a hand on Faye and another on Lila.] Keep a hold of her, Faye.

[and since he can definitely carry two people and GLASTONBURY ISN'T THAT FAR. Thank God he didn't travel to fucking Australia guys... He can... just teleport them inside the castle presumably, which is pretty hilarious when you consider how Gold hasn't been there in a year. Like man I bet this looks really great to everyone standing in the lobby right now.]

[autorevive]

[nathan just happened to be looking for his lemur in the lobby (while wearing a beanie and looking like he's cosplaying jesse pinkman) when he sees ... this merry crew teleport on in.]

Fuck, you lot look like shit!

[ welcome home, gold :') ]

[impetere]

[Oh hey it's Gold.

Not that she's ever met the guy to know, but she's guessing by scent basically (survival 14). She doesn't dwell on it much however because she's more concerned about horrifically injured Lila at the moment and will be cutting past Nathan to get to her.]

What happened?

[She won't wait to be given permission and just reach forward to pull Lila's pain as gently as possible - she looks like the worst off out of the three of them. Lila is also probably in more pain than Cora should really be taking, but at least she's taking some of the edge off.]

[reallywicked]

[Faye is still prickly about what Cora said to her the last time they spoke, so she's got an instinct that she has to fight back- one that involves smacking Cora to get the hell away from Lila. But she doesn't do that, thankfully. Visibly shaking from the whole ordeal, she shakes her head. There's no time to get into it.]

Solace. We need Solace.

[She looks at Nathan like excuse, why aren't you moving yet?]

Now!

[bittersweeter]

[ lila is the one that smacks cora's hand away, honestly. her eyes are glazed over with pain and she's trembling from the effort of keeping her grip on her weapons piled in her lap so she doesn't lose them and as something to focus on, meaning cora probably gets whacked with the barrel and not lila's blood slick burned hands, small miracles. but nope, not letting the wolf touch her. ] Don't be stupid.

[impetere]

[Cora knows Faye isn't happy with her, but that's something they can hash out later. Right now, her focus is on Lila and making sure she doesn't suffer just because she's trying to look out for Cora's well being (diplomacy 20 total).]

You're hurting. I can handle it.

[She doesn't force her, but she will hold out a hand for her to take if she changes her mind. Her baby diplomacy will do nothing against Lila's hella high will save mod, but she's going to try.]

Just until Solace gets here.

[So you better be moving, Nathan.]

[bittersweeter]

[ yeah, lila's will save was actually only a 22, she's flagging and fast but she is not going to let cora touch her. she is fairly certain the pain is all that is keeping her conscious at the moment. ]

Just get Solace! [ it's a barked rasp, lungs burning from all the acid and flame she's inhaled. ] Faye needs Anastacia. Or Risa. [ faye gets the other best, the bastions of good and light. gold gets... well, lila doesn't request anyone for him. :) ]

[undealt]

[Gold is just quiet over here, concentrating on breathing in and out. The pain isn't really what's bothering him- it's more of an afterthought. It's everything else that's weighing on him, so as Lila lists off clerics, the only thing he manages to spit out is:]

Get Belle. [he can take the pain, but Belle needs to know he's back.]

[impetere]

[Cora grits her teeth, but she'll do as she's asked, pushing to her feet and getting ready to turn and head towards the cleric's wing until Gold says that and she stops, turning back to look at him for a moment. Part of her doesn't want to simply because he's asked but she also knows that Belle would want to see him - she was going to tell her that he was back anyway.

Also his son. And his grandson.

So for right now, she'll just nod to him and then turn back to Lila and Faye.]

I'll be right back.

[And with that, off she goes to the Dragon's Light to find Solace and whatever other clerics are available. She'll go find Belle after that's done.]

[undealt]

[Once she's gone, Gold slumps a bit on the floor, glancing over to Faye and then to Lila... before glancing at the floor.]

I know it likely doesn't mean anything, but... thank you, Lila. [the next part is a struggle to get out, because it just doesn't feel like it carries any weight. he succumbed and he nearly killed both of them for the sake of that corrupting darkness. If Lila hadn't snapped him out, he'd be lost and they'd be dead, and he probably wouldn't care enough to feel much of anything for it, and here these girls took it upon themselves to bring him back. He has no illusions about who Lila did it for. Faye deserves for more than what she got going into this.] And I'm sorry. [his eyes fall on Faye again and he looks like he might be considering reaching out to her, but he holds back.] I'm sorry I put you through that, Faye.

[reallywicked]

[As Cora takes off to get the clerics, Faye just slumps next to Lila and tries not to think about how close of a call that was. This is why caring about people is dangerous. This is why it's always made her uncomfortable. She finally tears her eyes away from her broken and bloody best friend to meet Gold's gaze.]

We're not done here. [The way he asked for Belle already gives her the impression that he's probably going to run off to explain himself to her fairly soon while they get themselves patched up. But Faye isn't done with this conversation and she's not going to try to have it while Lila is laying injured on the floor and she can't give it her full attention.]

There's a lot we need to talk about.

[Emma. Jordan. The fact that glados is going to want payment for her part in finding him and Faye can't exactly make good on that now. Basically everything sucks and she wants him to really understand that. And then help her fix it.]

[undealt]

[he nods somberly.] I know. I'm not going anywhere.

[bittersweeter]

You're welcome. [ it's delayed because her throat hurts, but she refrains from adding that she only did it for faye because she knows he is well aware of her motivations for "rescuing" him.

and she can always shoot him later. ]

[sirsolace]

[ solace arrives not much later, hurrying along, and raises a hand instantly to cast a mass cure critical wounds on them, restoring 43 hp to them each. ] Let's get you all upstairs.

[bittersweeter]

[ lila audibly sighs as some of the pain fades, or at least stills to the point that she doesn't feel like she's still on fire, and the raw and bleeding skin begins the slow process of knitting itself together, turning pink and shiny instead of red and bloody. finally having the strength to put her weapons away, she does that before leaning on faye to stand up. it's gonna be slow goin' y'all. ]