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

[layonhands]

[ risa looks to topher ] I think I might be able to heal what's missing, but... it's a more delicate procedure than trying to stitch together a broken bone. I'm not sure that her mind wouldn't be affected in the process. I was hoping you might have some ideas.

[andblockbuster]

Uhhh... [He winces and taps a few more commands, making the model a bit more three dimensional and highlighting certain bright areas.] Without a cleric? The theory is there. You'd just have to trick other parts of her brain into believing they're the parts that control all those nifty functions the missing pieces did, but that would take something else away from her. Access to her magic, certain skills, even specific feelings- something. You can't make something out of nothing, annnd I dunno how much a cleric can change that.

[layonhands]

Is that something you can pinpoint? A ... specific area of the brain to redirect that function to? We would have to choose?

[andblockbuster]

[He points to the brightest parts of the brainscan.] These right here- they're mostly her strongest emotions tied to specific people and events. Good news it's nothing she can't live without- bad news is it's something that would suck for her to lose. Like... The Veil takes your memories, but it doesn't take your feelings. Even if you can't remember something, you might still get a weird sense of deja vu or a phantom emotion you can't explain.

But this... This would completely take away those feelings. She'll remember, but she won't... feel anything. She'd have to start over from scratch, and there's a chance she might never really feel the same way again.

[65]

[finnick is crying again, but at least it's quiet crying and not full-scale losing it.]

And there's no other way? Nothing else we could try?

[it's so awful, but at least myri would be alive. she would have a chance to recreate the feelings towards people she lost.]

[layonhands]

He mentioned that instead of feelings, we might be able to target skills, or her ability to use magic.

Finnick... as her husband, you're the closest family she has in this world. You knew her best. We don't have time to debate it for very long, so I think... I think you're the one best suited to decide.

[65]

[he hates having the responsibility, because he's terrified of making the wrong choice. but he also wouldn't trust anyone else to make the choice.]

I — I just want whatever will give her the best chance. The people she could forget will still be here for her. She can relearn skills or magic. She can come back from anything. I know that. But I'm not a doctor, so ... whatever Topher thinks is best, I think he should do.

[andblockbuster]

[Maan why you gotta put him on the spot like this.]

All things considered, her magic is gonnabe the hardest thing to relearn. And speaking from my personal, professional opinion? Taking away a skill that I’ve based my life around would terrify me more than losing a connection. But I’m... also poorly socialized.

[he highlights the bright paths further.] We could take her dedication to the cause.... she seems like a good person. She probably won’t turn sociopath on us. It just means she might do things for herself or her closest friends, not necessarily because she made an Oath.

[ugh] The old people in charge would love that...

[65]

[honestly after failboat just had their big goodbye love moment and wynn is possibly dead, how much of a cause is there really left to fight for??? he won't say that out loud in the light wing in front of people he doesn't know that well though. because uh he'd like to stick around while his wife can't be moved and his daughter is around here somewhere.]

She wouldn't. [he's the sociopath in this fam, fam.] She's so ... she's always been so good. I doubt it would change anything.

[andblockbuster]

....Risa?

[he figures before he cuts her loyalty to her Oath or whatever, he should consult with a senior knight.]

[layonhands]

Isn't there a danger that other things that she ties to her loyalty here might be affected as well?

[andblockbuster]

[he throws his hands up.] There was always gonna be a risk. Loyalty is easy to figure out.

[or so says a mild sociopath.]

[65]

[finnick is kind of done arguing about it as well, not because he's also kind of a sociopath but because the more he thinks about it the more upset he gets and he would like for it to be over one way or another.] Then do it. We don't have endless time to decide which way would be best. This seems safest.

[layonhands]

Alright. [ she meets topher's gaze and nods once ] Let's get this over with.

[ topher is going to need to make a knowledge check to guide risa as she heals, in whatever his neuroscience knowledge is. ]

[andblockbuster]

[he got a 31 so he’s on top of this. and he’s fascinated the whole time. he’s never done this with a cleric before. it’s kinda nifty.]

[65]

[meanwhile finnick is watching them with baited breath and trying to keep it together so they don't throw him out. HE IS TRYING HIS BEST OK.]

[layonhands]

[ no i don't remember - anna ternheim

myri enters into the disorienting timelessness of a dream, in the way that only a dream can make the last moments before it seem to fade from memory for a time - she is firmly rooted in the now suddenly, the present that feels as real to her as anything ever has, a shadow rising up in front of her. a gnarled hand rises towards her chin, and before it grips her sharply, she catches the sight of a crescent scar near the base of the thumb.

"Witchwoman," thrums the familiar, chilling voice, insidiously musical. "Look. Look at the darkness in her aura." his words seem directed beyond her, as if she is being scrutinized, evaluated. "She taints us all with demons."

for a moment, the reality of the moment shifts, to elena pressing a dagger hilt into her hand, of the heat leaving her skin, leaving her insides, of the emptiness filling her up, the horrible wrongness.

moncriith's voice echoes through her head: "Another soulless demon to aid her in her evil practices."

"It's desecrated," elena says, a fierce light in her eyes. "It's part of me."

"Better to die blessed," moncriith hisses, "than to live possessed!" the words seem to burn through her, just as the blade does her own hand, and she drops it. it falls through darkness away from her, as elena seems to fade from view.

"This woman isn't human," he snarls, but now it's hard to tell if that's moncriith speaking or the voice of crombe. "She was born of demons and stole this body." myri hears a squawk of indignation and turns her head to see amaranth flying above her shoulder, protesting. "NOT HUMAN!" shrieks the man, and myri is struck by a voice deep inside of her that does not deny the words. that tells her he is right.

there's an eruption of sparks before her, and then she's staring out the window of the concert box into the scene of lava below, drowning innocents.

wynn's voice, beside her, suddenly, his hand on her shoulder, and when she looks at him, his eyes are pure silver and slitted, and she feels a strong sense of connection to him. "They wait," he says strangely, and then his hand leaves her shoulder, and he steps away and begins to transform, leaving her, and flying out into the ashes. as he leaves, she feels a sense of something deeper leaving her, something that she cannot place, something essential to her.

but a strong sense of purpose rushes into fill that void, a voice resounding in her head, obliterating every other thought.

Go east. Home.

Family.

Find him, Myrilandel.

He waits.

the last powerful thought shatters her out of her dream and her eyes blink open, her body gasping for breath suddenly. ]

[witchwoman]

[Panic is the only way to describe how she feels. Her back arches as her lungs strain for air. Her eyes dart around the room, searching the faces closest to her. There's no recognition as she looks at Topher. None for Risa either, which is odd since they've worked together in the past.]

What-? Who are..? What am I doing here? [Her frantic searching finally lands on a familiar face.]

Finnick... [She reaches for him, doing her best to keep from crying out of confusion and panic and worry.] Where's Shayla? And Amaranth? I told him to keep an eye on her. I told him...

[As if he knew the moment she awoke, there's a squawk from behind the group of them as the flywacket hurries to her. He curls up at her side, fitting in a space that one would think is too small for him. But they've done this a hundred times before. He immediately starts to purr, the deep vibration helping to calm her a little as she tries to understand all of this. And even though she's asked roughly a dozen questions and given no one time to really answer, she'll condense it down to one.]

Please, can someone tell me what's happened?

[andblockbuster]

Uhhhh that’s gonna be something for these guys to explain. [Topher points between Finnick and Risa.]

All I heard was something, something brain stuff, honestly. I’m just here to make sure you don’t filibuster.

[65]

[finnick is trying to get his words together but he's in shock okay. it's taking him a minute.]

The Mind Master tried to kill you. [basically??? does the long of it really matter???] Shayla is fine.

[layonhands]

We had to... take some desperate measures to heal you, Myrilandel, but you're lucky to be alive. We're so glad you are.

[witchwoman]

[Hearing that her daughter is safe brings a little relief, but the confusion is still firmly rooted in place. She doesn't remember any pain, but she's seen enough of the Mind Master's tricks to know that doesn't mean much.]

Thank you. Whatever you did, thank you. [She scoots herself to sit up a bit, keeping one hand on Amaranth as she keeps the other outstretched towards Finnick. She's hoping that the familiarity will ground her.]

The others? Are they..? [Fear chokes the rest of that question off.]

[65]

[he takes her hand, and for a second he can almost pretend things are okay. almost. until the reality of where they are and the gravity of everything going on around them — everything he had tossed to the wayside because myri was his top priority — set in.]

A few knights died. Felicity, some I don't know ... countless civilians. It was a massacre. I don't think there was anything more we could have done. But — we left Wynn. He was fighting Keijen. And no one's seen him since.

[witchwoman]

[Her eyes close briefly at the mention of the deaths. She knew it wouldn't be good news- it never was.

When he mentions Wynn, she opens her eyes. She recognizes the name, of course. But there's an odd sensation, like when you're grasping for a word that you can't quite remember. Or when you're trying to run in a dream, but your legs feel too heavy to lift.]

He's probably dead by now. [She says it so matter of factly. There's no malice. She's certainly not wishing for it to happen, but she's also not twisted up with worry or bolting out of bed to make a plan to find him.] Don't you think?

[65]

[his eyebrows shoot up because damn he was not expecting that. what the fuck??? as much as her impulses to rush into the thick of things and do good was at conflict with his impulses to do the exact opposite, he still never would've changed it about her. because it was her, and he loves her.

never would have changed it about her, but he did. he did this. he made the choice.]

I know everyone wants to hope otherwise, but ... [he shakes his head, keeping all of his surprise at her reaction firmly on the inside after that small lapse in expression.] You're probably right.