(Closed) I Don't Know What's Right and What's Real Anymore

[sirnyxalot]

Who: Nyx, Noctis, Ignis, Prompto, Estelle, and Caramia
What: The bogeyman has followed residents back to Chroma and needs to be chased away
Where: Primarily Bluo
When: Early to mid-June, at night. After the first encounter with the monster but before it's defeated
Warnings: Nightmares, PTSD, potentially disturbing imagery. The bogeyman will be drawing on some deep fears.


Patrol ran late tonight, Nyx spending much of the time trying to clear out a large hall to use as a warehouse for building supplies. He sets out to get ready to crash and get what sleep he can before the morning, but something itches across the back of his neck.

Folding his shirt in his hands, Nyx wanders barefoot to his window and glances back out at the canal. For some reason he can't cut the feeling that something's out there watching, though no matter how hard he tries he can't see anything out of the ordinary. Shaking his head, Nyx quietly scolds himself for indulging his paranoia. He's about to return to the bed when a splash catches his attention.

Leaning out the window, Nyx notices something drifting in the canal. It's too dark to really make it out but it kind of looks like-

It hits him in an instant what he's looking at. Nyx's heart constricts in his chest as the body becomes clear; Noctis, floating face down, is painfully still. Throttling the panic rising up his throat, Nyx vaults out the window and breaks into a run. As he reaches the house Noctis should be in, he shouts for help.

"SCIENTIA!"

Comments

[nascere]

Noctis hears the shout of Ignis' name, the abrupt burst of it shattering the silence of the evening. It's been a lazy evening for a late dinner with his friends, a rare moment of downtime, hard-won and hard-earned.

Even so, when he hears it, instinct propels him to move forward. He recognises that voice, the sharp, harried tone of it from that single word -- two syllables.

"Nyx?"

He exchanges glances with the person in question; why on Eos (and whatever this place is) would he be yelling for him at this time of night? He's heading over to the door to open it, ready to answer.

[brightlyshines]

Estelle looks a little like she'd just been about to get to sleep herself, dressed down in an old fashioned, linen nightdress when she hears the scream. It's enough to set off mental alarm bells, and she steps out of her shared room to follow Noctis to the door, brows furrowed in concern.

"Noctis? Did something happen....? That scream--"

She'll take a moment to peer out the window while Noctis opens the door.

[unfatalist]

The person in question shares that same glance right back with Noctis, equally perplexed yet equally intent on responding to it. The one area where Ignis differs from the others, however, is that Ignis reaches immediately for one of his daggers, drawing it out of the armiger and keeping it loosely at his side as he moves for the door Noct is preparing to open.

Glancing over at both Estelle and Noctis, he makes a slight staying motion with his hand, automatically moving to be the first one out the door — in part because he's the one being called for, and in part because he's already got his weapon in hand in preparation of his exit.

It may be nothing. Surely there are any number of reasons why Nyx Ulric might be calling his name in the dead of night, however bizarre or unprecedented. But Ignis wouldn't be Ignis if his first instinct in a moment like this wasn't immediately preparing to defend against any possible danger that may arise.

"I'll go have a look. If you're coming, stay close to me. If not, keep your guard up," he says, directing that to the both of them.

[photoshooter]

At the same time, Prompto rolls out of the bathroom, hair dripping wet, dressed only in his red shirt and black shorts, alerted by the shout but unclear what's happening. Instead of joining the others at the door, he ducks into bros' shared room; it's closer.

He trips over something but it just gets him where he wants to be faster--low to the floor, under the window. Unaware that Ignis has drawn weapon at the door, too, he pulls his gun from the Armiger and sidles up to the wall, heart pounding in his throat. The last time he heard that tone of voice, danger voice, was in the dark.

Without raising his head over the sill, he reaches up to unlatch and open the window so he can hear. And aim. If necessary.

[ifionlyhadthecourage]

Unlike all these other losers actual humans, Caramia, being nocturnal, thrived at this time, using it to do his own patrols he was so used to doing when he was back home. Not that he was dressed in anything nice-- while his own clothes were being washed he was stuck in the hideous peasant clothes, but he didn't actually mind all that much. It's not like it was easy for others to see in the dark, anyway.

Impeccable hearing made it hard to miss the very clear shouting happening towards Bluo, and it certainly didn't sound like whoever was yelling was having a fun time. Without giving a second thought, the lion sprints towards the sound to investigate.

[sirnyxalot]

He's unaware of Noctis actually being safe in the house behind him. If he'd given it an extra moment of thought he might actually have noticed something fishy about this, too. After all it's not like Noctis was left alone long enough to get attacked by something big enough to take him down. Nyx is perfectly aware of how strong the kid is now.

But panic is clogging his throat, adrenaline pushing him faster until he's at the edge of the canal close to the body. Nyx wastes no time diving in. He can once again hear his sister's voice in his head, shouting for him. He can't lose someone again, not like this. He should have been there. Should have tried harder.

Nyx reaches 'Noctis' and gets an arm under him. God, he's so still. Is he breathing?

"Nonono, come on. Hang in there, kid. You're gonna be okay."

The cloud of panic is so thick Nyx can't even pause to think how difficult it is to shut it off until later when he has the luxury to deal with it. Rescue first, break down later. He's done it a million times before. But his thoughts are little more than scattered negatives and empty reassurances.

[nascere]

"I don't know, we're gonna find out."

Noctis says very quietly to Estelle, nodding at Ignis and Prompto, both of whom are so easily slipping into their roles -- they've done this before, synchronised without even words. He's sticking close to Ignis, understanding that they will have to take his cue; he's not sure if it's a trap, like some sort of lure outside beyond the house.

But they're stepping out, and beyond Nyx carrying... someone? Caramia is bounding over to them, and Noctis acknowledges his presence before he's starting to close the distance towards Nyx, confused. He's not letting his guard down, but he's coming close enough to realise just who he's holding.

"What the --"

[brightlyshines]

Estelle isn't too far behind Ignis and Prompto. Once she realizes it's Nyx, she's shoving her feet into her sneakers near the door, tying her nightdress off to the side. It'll only get in the way if someone is injure-- And with that thought in mind, she's going to grab her orbment up from where she'd left it on the kitchen table, just in case.

"Who is that he's carrying? And is that Caramia I see?"

Was Kyrie hurt? Or... who?

[unfatalist]

It's something about the way they're all converging on Nyx that's starting to set off instinctive warning bells in the back of Ignis's mind, though at first he can't quite place why. He's still moving rapidly through the night, dagger at the ready and attention divided between what's in front of him and the others following behind, when gradually it starts to occur to him:

They're converging. The lot of them, they're all coming together on a singular point. And the point that they're converging on is Nyx, and more importantly whatever it is that Nyx is holding —

Black hair. Black boots. One telltale black glove on the one hand.

And that can't be right, because Noctis is already right here, next to them.

"Nyx!"

He doesn't know what it means. He doesn't have to, in order to properly react. He simply draws from the armiger, bringing his dagger count up to two, and gets ready for anything.

[photoshooter]

With Noctis and Ignis taking point, Prompto's left behind to answer Estelle. He finally lifts his line of sight over the sill, gun steady in his hands, peering out into the night.

"I... think so, yeah? Man, it's too dark to see--"

But he hears Noct and Ignis react, sees Ignis call his second dagger to hand, and actually, Prompto would know that crumpled form anywhere, he has more pictures of him in his camera and in his memories than anything else, the most important thing in his life.

He recognizes the warning in Ignis's voice, and he raises his own. "Nyx, dude, get away from there, that's not Noct!"

The hunt begins - Nyx/Estelle/Prompto

[sirnyxalot]

It's not as if there had been any way for Nyx to have known about the monster lurking around Chroma. It's entire existence thrived on exploiting a person's deepest fears, and it couldn't have picked a better one to use on their street. If Noct hadn't been at home in that moment Nyx is sure both Ignis and Prompto would have had similar reactions.

At least, he's telling himself they would.

In reality they both would have known better and reasoned it out properly before diving right into an enemy's clutches. Add the thrum of Nyx's shattered nerves and the man is just shy of being an actual mess. But a job's a job and he's nothing if not efficient.

The pain of reliving the attack on Galahd, the anger at himself for falling into a trap like an idiot; all of that gets pushed aside and buried as far as it will go. He can deal with it later when he's alone and that thing isn't still free to roam around the city.

Nyx scolds himself for leaving it all behind as he changes out of his wet pants and throws his gear back on. Not that having a blade would have really changed anything, but he might have been more useful...

Shaking his head and ready for battle, Nyx returns to the other house and waits for the other two.

[photoshooter]

If Prompto had any idea Nyx was beating himself up like that in his inner monologue, he'd put a stop to it right away. "They both would have known better and reasoned it out properly"? Prompto doesn't know reason from raisins. He's spent more time in the enemy's clutches than he likes to remember. He's quicksilver, reactive and reactionary.

Still, at least that quickness means he hasn't taken long to get dressed and ready, a slim shadow in Crownsguard black. He's even skipped styling his hair, more worried about the tricks something like that can pull--and, gods, does he know about the tricks something like that can pull--on the people he knows.

It's too much like the train. He fidgets, pacing the ground floor, but when he catches sight of Nyx outside he pops out, disappearing the gun he's been summoning in and out of existence for now.

"Hey." He nods, anxious but resolute. "Ready when you are, sir."

[brightlyshines]

Estelle likewise would have chided Nyx for thinking that way. Emotion and reason didn't always play nice, and in Estelle's case she knew she could be very much the former over the latter. And she also knew it wasn't something to necessarily be ashamed of, either.

In the time they're given before heading out, Estelle changes, grabs her jacket, shoving her arms through the sleeves and stuffing one of the pockets with her orbment. Last but not least, she tugs her hair up into a loose tail to keep it out of the way. She doesn't take time to add the rest of her outer layers or style her hair per usual, instead snatching up her staff before finally joining Prompto and Nyx, glancing at them both with a questioning, serious look in her red eyes.

"Same here. We good to go?"

[sirnyxalot]

"No need to call me 'sir', kid." Nyx nods at the two of them.

"Alright, listen. This thing can't have gone far. If it's looking for prey then there're only three places it could be hiding." He ticks them off his fingers. "Ruga's circle, the inhabited cottages of Flavo, or somewhere in the surrounding streets here. It can clearly change it's shape at will, but we have an advantage in knowing what it wants.

"Trust your instincts. If you start to feel afraid, if you see anything that feels wrong, do not engage on your own. With any luck, we'll come across it without having to split up again."

[photoshooter]

Prompto makes kind of a face--how's he supposed to start feeling afraid when fear is basically his default state of being?--but nods again.

"Yeah, splitting up is a super bad idea when it comes to, like, illusions and stuff. But," he says, leaning forward, arms crossed, eyebrows drawn in, "maybe one of us should go a little ahead? Draw it out? You know, like... bait."

He's seen Noct fish often enough. He's sure he understands the theory.

[brightlyshines]

"I don't like the idea of using anyone as bait, but...." She glances at Prompto and Nyx. She'll go for it if they want to do so, but... she never likes putting someone deliberately up as a target if it wasn't the absolute last resort.

"If one of us is going to be bait, we've got to be sure to pull them out immediately when and if it shows up." Let it take the bait, but not eat it. Definitely not eat it.

"And... I'll provide a shield, if one of us does. It'll take one hit for you, but that's it. Got it?" She still doesn't like this, but she's willing to try.

[sirnyxalot]

"I don't like it, but we don't have a lot of options. But if we do that we need to be more than just careful." He was almost its food, so he knows full well just how strong it can be.

Of course, he's not going to put either of the other two in front to take that risk. They're more than capable of taking care of themselves, but he's going to protect them anyway.

"I want to check out Ruga, first. There are more people there, which would make it a good secondary target. All else fails we can meet up with the other three in Flavo and take it out together."