flight ♔ pride can stand a thousand trials

[dragonsclaw]

I'm Kissing You - Des'ree

WHO || Failboat [closed]
WHAT || The Knights return in the wake of the Keijen Blade concert, much worse for the wear
WHERE ||On a plane
WHEN || Directly after the concert
HOW || Actionspam or prose

The mood is darker than it's ever been as the Knights' plane takes off from the blackening skies above Los Angeles, which continue to spread out after them.  They expected a trap, they expected the worst, but what actually happened dwarfed even those dire expectations.

Painful revelations about their teammates themselves, followed by the separation of Vi from the team, and then being forced to watch Blade enact a dark ritual in the concert-hall-turned-dark-temple that culminated in the sacrifice of hundreds, including the deaths of those who had been on the mission back-up team were only the beginning.  Realizing at the last moment that Crombe still had no understanding of what Blade was truly doing, the team made a last minute bid to change his mind and get him to stop the ritual, but it was far too late, and as things escalated quickly, the Nightmare God Malaak'a was freed from his prison, the seal broken with the final step - Nadia's death.  The god himself appeared before them, and Blade stood triumphantly behind him - only to use the dagger soaked in Nadia's blood to plunge into his father, and usurp his power for his own, ascending to some sort of deity-like powers himself.  

This scene lies further and further behind them now, the images forever etched in their minds, and the silent forms of two of their teammates - one mysteriously incapacitated, the other dead, act as haunting reminders on their journey back towards the castle of what has befallen and what may be to come.

Comments

[65]

You think so? I'm not so sure any of it was ever in our league to begin with. [ he was always the skeptic, as one of the seeming few to hail from a place without magic. and even with all the power they had, it was never enough. a game they were rigged to lose. ] How many victories have we had, really? And now, Wynn ... [he shakes his head, not able to finish the sentence.]

[postergirl]

A string of failures under our belts. Sounds like us.

[65]

And if there's no chance for us now, what will you do?

[postergirl]

Stay close to the ground, instead of sticking my neck out? I've had quite enough of the latter.

[65]

You're not going back to Keijen, then? Or ... whatever he's become?

[LOOK HE'S NOT GOING TO PRETEND LIKE THAT WOULDN'T BE THE SAFEST PLACE TO FUCKIN BE RIGHT NOW.]

[postergirl]

I'm here, aren't I? If I was intending to stay with Blade, I had every chance to do just that.

[65]

[he nods, letting that be that.] For what it's worth, I'm glad that you're here with us.

[postergirl]

Same. What about you? Are you intending to stick around?

[65]

I wouldn't know where else to go. And even if I wanted to, I wouldn't leave now.

[like hey myri later myri have fun working on ur coma wtf]

[postergirl]

For your daughter's sake, if nothing else, I imagine. [ it comes out as a surprisingly soft-hearted sentiment, and her eyes drop even as she says it, the usual bite gone from her words ]

[65]

Yes, for her. [he glances down, too, riding the fuck out of that feels train. and then he can't stop himself from asking — ]

Have you met her?

[postergirl]

She's a bit hard to miss.

[65]

I can imagine. Myri showed me pictures on the flight over ... I was hoping to get to meet her under better circumstances.

[postergirl]

Things never work out quite the way we imagine.

[65]

[so dry, like maybe 85% normal:] An understatement if I've ever heard one.

[postergirl]

I can't help but wonder, what Wynn's best case scenario was for all that. [ a beat ] Or why I never realized he was actually a dragon before.

[65]

I don't know. Maybe he thought we could have stopped the ritual, or ... [he shakes his head. that's the only assumption he can make and even that feels wild.]

[postergirl]

Have you considered the possibility that he was gunning for that one-on-one fight the entire time?

[65]

[UM NO HE HAD NOT WANTED TO ENTERTAIN THAT POSSIBILITY BUT HE SURE IS NOW.]

Then why bring us along? Smoke and mirrors?

[postergirl]

Because it was the only way to guarantee a front row seat, given Crombe's specifications. Think about it. He's been obsessed for... who knows how long. Decades? Centuries? Longer? That entire collection in the hallway of his, of a prophesied dragon fighting a drow god - perhaps he wasn't looking at that quite so metaphorically.

[65]

[finnick considers this ... then relents with a half-shrug.] I don't like it, but it doesn't surprise me. Everyone has their own agenda. Thinking Wynn is any different is naive. [but he still thinks some of their team would be offended by ... how life actually works.]

None of it was ever really any different. [he glances down at myri, talking more to himself now.] We're just pawns in another game.

[postergirl]

Sometimes the best we can hope for is some say in which game we're going to play.

[65]

I chose this one. I choose this one. I still — [he hesitates, considering that talking about it will make him lose his tenuous grasp on sanity (which must be slipping if he's sharing this with dumage of all people tbh), but then he keeps going.] — I don't know what's real or not. If I'm awake or if this is some kind of dream. Or nightmare. More and more, I think it's a nightmare. But there are things in it worth fighting for.

[postergirl]

Considering the god of Nightmares was just unleashed, you might not be the one who's wrong. I don't think what's real matters anymore - we have to deal with the situation we're in, one way or another.

[65]

But ... How much can people like us do, really? Against any of this?