AWAKENING

[cordibus]

Who: Everyone
When: Midnight, June 6th
Where: Green Valley Orchids
What: It is time.

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

The subway stop near the orchards was not the type of place that most people liked to be when darkness fell. The orchards near the school were set up almost like a public park, which wasn’t so bad in and of itself, but it’s also the area where over half of the murders happened before the curfew was first put in place. It was a place people didn't go unless absolutely necessary and most had started taking alternate routes to avoid the stop. As one of the first subway stations built in the city, its architecture didn't really mesh with those that came after it. It had jagged corners where the smell of wet earth lingered, making it unpleasant even for those brave enough to continue to use it, and there had even been talk of closing it permanently once routes and nearby stations had been revamped to be better able to take care of the traffic.

Due to this, it only has the bare-bones of a shelter, fallen into disrepair as the curfew was enforced city-wide, and a couple of night guards, (probably already asleep due to the lack of activity they’re expecting), so characters arriving there will be mostly unnoticed. For a place that had such a bad history, most people rightfully avoid it.

For most of them it will be their first meeting with each other. There will be a bit of time to talk before their phones display a zero. Plenty of time to talk about what they suspect and what might just happen...and that horrible vision they had shared. Then there’s that countdown on their phones...ticking away the last few minutes.

ZERO UNTIL MIDNIGHT

The lights go out when the countdown ends. The lack of sound is, for lack of better word, worrying. Very soon, only the light of the phones serves as makeshift flashlights for the small group. But soon, even as words get displayed, a deep male voice echoes, which could be much more worrying.

FINALLY! Ahahahahah! Ahhh, damn does it feel nice to be able to speak and not
just write. Hey lambs, are you all ready?

Considering the choice of words, that might be Luci.

It's time. Can you feel your heartbeats increasing? Your mind about to explode? Questions swirling in your mind? Just make sure you don't go alone. Groups are
best, go all together and you'll never find the answers.

The voice laughs again.

Not that you have much of a choice at this point! Have fun, give them hell, and tell
them I sent you! I'll be taking care of that pesky guard problem for you.
...Let's go for a night stroll."

Communication ends just as abruptly as it started. No time to back down now, as the door where the guards are staying is quickly locked on its own before the subway system itself appears to be taken over by a virus that flashes on every available screen. With a click, the locked doors to the outside are swung open.

A voice in your mind warns you this might be the biggest mistake you'll be making in your entire life...and yet your heart feels like it's going to burst from your body from the joy you feel...

AWAKENING

It begins with a scream nearby. The same noise that they heard during the vision. The trees begin to turn grey as the sounds of hundred of creatures moving can be heard from all sides. The application opens, displaying them all in real time.

The group is surrounded.

By all logic, they should be running, but their legs feel bolted to the ground. They can't move.

The creatures begin to get closer. The trees start to rot nearby.

Breathing begins to increase. The sound of voices and memories quickly flashing before their eyes that might cause some to clutch at their head...exactly the same thing that the man had been doing back in the vision. If they look down at their hands, they will see them fading, see-through.

Yet for them, something is different. Just as the creatures are about to attack, they stop. A vision of the Velvet Room flashes before the eyes of those gathered as the two attendants silently nod. Then a return to reality as a light of color pierces the night from their hearts. A single voice can be heard, drowning out anything they might be hearing.

The time is now. I am thou, thou art I! Your mind is trapped, but I can set your soul free! My other self, will you die, or fight back?

Accept me for who I am! Forge this contract by letting go of your fears! Revolt against this world, and TEAR OUT YOUR HEART!

It laughs and fades, as time quickly returns to this world. There's only a few seconds to react before it all goes to hell. A faded hand to reach into your chest.

The choice is yours. Death...or Awakening.

THE BATTLE IN APPLE GROVE

It’s a feeling unlike they have ever felt. Never have their bodies been so alive. Their minds fill with lost memories, their bodies adapting into tools to defeat the creatures before them.

Defeat...destroy...unlock the skills of your heart and show them what it means
to cross you."

The voice is encouraging, almost. To those with navigator skills, the voice speaks up once more as well.

Lead them into battle. Hone their skills into true annihilation!"

It’s time to reclaim the night.

[OOC: For the purpose of this battle, the shadows all have 1HP and are strong against nothing. That means any attack will be able to kill them, weapons and guns included. For this log only, CHARACTERS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO COMBINE SPELLS, as knowledge of this will be unlocked later on. There are about a HUNDRED shadows to be defeated, so there are as many needed for your characters to enjoy killing off. You are free to NPC them and to create situations and close calls.

An OOC PLANNING POST can be used to ask questions or to form teams.]

Comments

[probablynoteren]

[To be honest, Haruka probably looks more like he's packing in a day at the greenhouses than a night in the Shadow realm. The more dangerous items are more carefully wrapped to prevent their going off at an inopportune moment, though the general cargo of his scooter likely smells pretty rank. Maybe that's what the mister is for.

He looks around in the dark for a moment, presumably looking for the third member of the gardening party, but it's almost impossible to see or find anyone without either shouting (not recommended) or making a round of the subway.]

Lonán. Lonán and his brother.

[It somehow seems important to add the last part, given that Gen and Ciro are together as well. Familly ties -- something he hadn't thought of in relation to this before recently.]

[kokuyoyo]

Really?

[That catches him off-guard, and he glances around as if he can find him, or Rommy. The latter he'd known- that's how he'd found out about his brother being a part of all of this too. But that there's another... Nervousness starts to thrum through him.]

I wonder... how many people who are related are stuck in this together...?

[probablynoteren]

Eddan isn't a small town.

[So it doesn't make any good sense that so many of them know or at least know of each other, regardless of the acquaintances he's actually made through the app itself. Unless...]

But I've thought about it. Maybe it's families, or the same age range.

[There hadn't been time or ability until recently to conduct any sort of real census, so all they can do is speculate a little at the eleventh hour here. And go off of whoever they can see in their general vicinity; at least the age range guess doesn't seem the most farfetched.]

[kokuyoyo]

....I wonder if there's anyone who goes to a different school. Since a lot of us are teenagers or-

[His mouth twists in discomfort.]

...Younger.

[He's not sure how he feels about the sight of a kid or two that he's seen while him and the others were getting here. This sort of thing... It's clearly dangerous enough for adults. Why little kids...?]

[probablynoteren]

There's more of us at Green Valley.

[That much he's managed to confirm, between Michi, Lonán, Rommy, Ciro himself, John... It's both no surprise and very much of one, given that Green Valley is the largest school in the area -- it's still strange to think that most of these people could be his classmates, or maybe even alumni, though he hasn't thought all that far beyond his own cycle.

Ciro's discomfort gives him pause, mostly at the fact that it hadn't given him pause. There's Michi, and others he'd talked to had sounded even younger, and back when it was merely a creepy app that hadn't been so much of a thing but suddenly Haruka doesn't know why that hasn't changed.

When they're all here doing things no one should have to do.]

... Maybe because of the app. [is what he finally comes up with, lamely, it's a terrible excuse but it's the best he can do for the moment]

[kokuyoyo]

Definitely...

[They're all here, whether child or adult, because the app chose them. For whatever reason, one he still doesn't really understand, they were all chosen. He rubs at one of his arms, head bowing slightly.]

I hope this is the end of it, or at least we get some sort of answer.... One or the other.

[probablynoteren]

[It's hard to tell if they've been chosen so much as dragged, given what the past few weeks have felt like: the continuous encroachment of the app on daily life even as it refuses to be identified or interfered with, like some kind of invisible disease. The thought makes a shiver run through him, but his expression doesn't change.

It doesn't matter anymore right now. Right now there's only a few things they can do, and that's that.]

I think we will.

[That, at least, he can state with some certainty. There have been various hints in what they were given, even if Luci isn't the most forthcoming creature. He keeps further misgivings to himself; he's been digging and pursuing some kind of reasoning behind this, but now that they're here he's... not so sure he wants to know.]

No matter what.

[kokuyoyo]

[A tired smile crosses his face.]

I wish I had your confidence in this kind of thing... All I feel I can do is try to make sure nothing happens to Gen.

[probablynoteren]

[It's not confidence, he wants to say, so much as some kind of resignation, or fatalism, or the knowledge that they're all walking willingly into the jaws of the lion under their own power. He still doesn't believe in fate, but he does know that sometimes many different roads lead to the same conclusion. Because here they all are.

But he doesn't want to add to the weight of that smile Ciro's giving him, so Haruka keeps things simple.]

That's what we're all trying to do. We don't want anything to happen to those we care about. [as long as they're in Eddan, as long as this keeps happening in Eddan then--] I don't want to see that happen to us, or-- or anyone.

[He stumbles briefly over the words. They don't feel entirely right, or perhaps it's that they don't feel entirely like the words he wanted to say. He leaves them as they are.]

[kokuyoyo]

[The stumble draws his attention, and Chikusa's brow furrows.]

Haruka, are you- [Well, he's not alright, but what else to say?] do you need help with anything?

[It's not exactly what he means to say but it's the most he can offer.]

[probablynoteren]

[He gets a tilt of the head in response, too considered to be birdlike, the way Haruka's movements often are. It's been a strange night, and he feels half in and half out of himself, like he's watching their subway drama and confusion from a great height or through an oddly-shaped lens. All the same, it doesn't register at first that it's the wording fumble that has Ciro concerned.

Haruka's never been especially adept with words, even if he normally chooses them with some care. He isn't tonight, and perhaps it's showing, but that seems as unimportant as nearly everything else. Not everything, just... he offers a small smile, a bit wry.]

It's okay. I'm ready. [they're here to make some things okay, even if they aren't, and much of this isn't] I know you have Gen, but are you armed?

[It's what he can offer, even if it's not a particularly pleasant thing to think about; it's a practical one.]

[kokuyoyo]

[Somehow..... He doubts that, honestly. Still, Ciro won't say anything about it. If there's anyone who can't say anything about this sort of behavior...]

...I got a molotov from this girl. [You know. That girl. Yeah.] And I have a baseball bat too, so.... One of my friends plays baseball, so I doubted anyone would really look twice at it.