chapter five ♔ it'll be a day like this one when the sky falls down

[eldritchweaver]

the blues - switchfoot

WHO || The Knights
WHAT || Failboat returns from the disaster in LA as the Knighthood goes on lockdown
WHERE || The castle, London
WHEN || Directly after this, Fall 2017
HOW || Actionspam

Hasmed's announcement does not brook any rebuttal: all Knights are recalled to the Castle, where they must remain until the Section Heads and Jack Chessing have spoken about the events in Los Angeles that have left the Knighthood without their usual leader.  

The entire Los Angeles area is now covered with a dark miasma that has interfered with any signals that might be sent out from phones, etc., leaving the whole world wondering what exactly is happening down there.  Final images showed horrendous monsters, a panic of citizens, looting and violence from humans and Shadowkind alike.  

Hasmed has warned of extra magical wards on the castle, and anyone arriving will immediately take notice of one very prominent one: above the entire roof of the excessively large building hovers a black and red sigil in the air, a pentagram in a circle surrounded by runes or words in an unknown language, stretching for miles.  

[ This is the social log for post-LA lockdown.  Failboat must complete the top log before being allowed to tag outside of it. ]

Comments

MABEL PINES ✿ OTA

[mabeljuice]

✿ (one)

[Not long after the initial broadcast of the great melting on live TV, you can find someone in the girl's bathroom violently throwing up.

It's as disgusting and sad as it sounds.]


✿ (two)

[Following her horrible bathroom excursion, Mabel can be found in the kitchen with several ingredients laid out on the counter, ranging from fruits to a couple energy drinks, to coffee grounds, and.. is that a bag of plastic dinosaurs?

The girl, in question, has bloodshot eyes and dark circles that looks like she's been crying, but for now, she's stoic and engaging in her own personal "will it blend" hell as she makes some sort of drink concoction.]

two }

[likeababyduck]

[While Sweets still isn't "okay" yet, in any sense of the word, he knows that Alice had a squire and someone should be checking on her. He has a feeling that things like that are likely to get lost in the shuffle, and it's part of his job to stay on top of it.

He's not sure he'd be great at his job at the moment, but he can at least see how she's dealing. Alice would do the same for Lorne if the situation were reversed. So he makes his way into the kitchen and eyes the ingredients for the blender for a moment, before turning to the girl to address her.]

Hi. It's Mabel, right? I'm Lance Sweets.

[mabeljuice]

[Mabel adds half a can of Red Bull to her mixture and hits the start button on the blender, holding the lid down and watching as it all turns a frothy pink.]

Uh-huh. [She pours some of the liquid from the blender into a glass.] You're the therapist guy, right?

[likeababyduck]

[He nods in agreement, because yes, it is a true fact about him, but he didn't want to start this off on that foot, so he clears that up from the get go.]

I am, but I'm not here in that capacity. Alice was my best friend.

[So he's not here to shrink her or to provide coping strategies - but he does have those if she wants them. He's just here to check in.]

[mabeljuice]

[That's probably for the best, because she most certainly just added two plastic dinosaurs to the glass as if they were ice cubes before sipping at her hellish concoction.]

Oh. [For a second she looks like she might start crying again.] I... I'm sorry. Were you watching what happened?

[likeababyduck]

[That ... is a drink. But he is immediately distracted from that by the look on her face when he brings up Alice. He shakes his head.]

No, I didn't hear about it until Hasmed's announcement.

[Watching events like that go down from a distance has never really done well for him mentally.]

Were you?

[mabeljuice]

[She grips her glass with two hands and takes another sip.] Y-yeah. [Her chest gets tight. She's seen some bad things- Bill Cipher removing deer teeth with the power of telekinesis, her brother possessed, Toby Determined in a unitard, but she's never seen anything like that.]

Alice wanted me to come with her and the others. [She can just barely get the words out.] But I told her Keijen Blade was a blight to decent music and I thought that before it turned out he got all subliminal message-y with it... and not in the way my brother thinks mainstream pop music does. The real thing.

[So she could have been there. Not only is Alice and the others dead, but she dodged a bullet and that feels... wrong.]

[likeababyduck]

[His face softens a bit, before he moves around the counter so that he's standing next to her.]

First of all, you are absolutely right about Keijen Blade.

[He just wants to make that known.]

Second, survivor's guilt is natural and normal in a situation like this.

[mabeljuice]

I think my whole life since the age of twelve has been all about survivor's guilt, though.

[She's pretty sure she and Dipper survived the destruction OF THEIR ENTIRE WORLD on the other side of the Veil.] Normal, sure. Natural, yeah. And I'm over it.

[likeababyduck]

As over it as you may be, that doesn't always stop it from happening.

[He has experience with that.]

It's always better to work or talk through it than to try and ignore it.

one

[lowvi]

[You know who's not supposed to be in the girl's bathroom? Boys. You know who doesn't care because his sister is miserable and throwing up and anyone who has a problem with it can go find another bathroom?

This specific boy.

He rubs her back, keeping her hair out of the line of fire.]

Hey. You're gonna be okay. It's... it's okay.

[.....nothing about this situation is okay.]

[mabeljuice]

[gagging noises. Mabel's run out of snacks from the viewing party to throw up so she's just shaking and dry heaving now... and crying. so much crying.]

I can't believe he did that. Why would anyone do something like that?

[lowvi]

Because he's evil, Mabel. [So evil it's hard to even wrap his head around. He swallows. He hasn't thrown up himself, but sometimes it's felt like a near thing.] We're gonna stop him. We're gonna make sure he never gets to do anything like that again.

[mabeljuice]

We?! [She pulls back, horrified.] Dipper, we couldn't even stop our own family from being the worst. We decided we'd make a difference in the world we're stuck in, but this... This is nutso.

[lowvi]

[Dipper shifts back, leaning against the stall wall.]

I know, but... what choice do we have?

[mabeljuice]

Anything other than getting involved in a war we didn't ask for? [She sulks, drawing her knees up to her chest.] I dunno.

[lowvi]

[He shifts so he can put an arm around her.] I thought this was gonna be about helping people. I knew fighting was gonna be involved, but....

[He didn't think it was going to be like this.]

[mabeljuice]

If we stay, they're gonna make put us through British boot camp or something.

one)

[moonheart]

[ awkward toilet flushing, and then faith slowly opens the stall door ] Um...




Are you okay?

[mabeljuice]

[Mabel is just sort of sitting next to the toilet with her arms half around it like it is her only friend in the world.]

... I'd lie and say yes, but I hate lying as a general rule, and people who're okay don't sit on dirty bathroom floors with runny make-up and puke breath.

[moonheart]

Do you wanna talk about it?

[mabeljuice]

My mentor knight just burned alive in lava. [MABEL "JUST COMES OUT WITH IT" PINES.] That wasn't really a thing they covered in the Oath-y stuff.

[moonheart]

Your -- hoo boy.

Who, er... can I ask who was it?

[mabeljuice]

Alice Lincoln. [She thuds her head against the stall wall.] She wanted me to come along, but I didn't wanna see stupid Keijen Blade and his stupid tight pants and his stupid loud music.

[moonheart]

I'm... wow, I'm sorry. Were you close?