Event Nineteen.

[awashmods]

Shall I compare thee to a blasting hot stove? Thou art more scary and more perilous; As thou sit above thy towering treasure trove, Thy breath is bad and thy voice garrulous.

t's yet another day in which a bunch of people ended up in the bottom of the well. It's very, very cold down there, though spring is at least slowly starting to make itself known -- But the people in the Town who would usually come save you might be a little distracted today by the glimmer of scales on the ground, and the unfortunate side effects that come along with them. Don't worry, friends in the well -- as soon as you haul yourself out via magic powers or that convenient rope ladder dangling down into the water, you too can join in the chaos of picking up those sparkly, pretty scales. Welcome to Awash's Nineteenth event log, everyone! Further information on this event can be found here at the OOC post. You are welcome to make your own logs and posts for this event! If there are any questions, please ask them here. Thank you!

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[sirnyxalot]

I. The Well

[Not a bad way to go.

Rule well, young king.

C O L D!

Nyx’s eyes shoot open as his body temperature plummets and his head temporarily sinks beneath frigid, merciless water. His tortured muscles lock up even as he thrashes to escape the sensation, and as he forces himself to his hands and knees he chokes, chest heaving. Steam hisses off his body, a line of smoldering red glowing in a branch up his right cheek fading swiftly as the fire is sapped from his bones.

He can’t breathe. Everything hurts and he shakes violently as he struggles to inhale without coughing.]


II. I’m not dead! I think I’m gonna go for a walk, actually.

[Nyx isn’t sure why he picked it up. He remembers everything now, and knows better than to just mess with something the town drops at their feet, but it was irresistible. Even with the stiffness and pain he still wanted to bend down and collect the yellow scale. It glimmered under the sunlight like flawless gold, drawing the eye so well he stood in place for several minutes stroking it in awe.

Well, he found it. It was his now. That’s the way things worked around here, right? It wasn’t like food that he could share with someone else. It was a trophy. A pretty, colorful trophy. Nyx smiles softly, then realizes he’s been lingering in the middle of the street and looks around, clutching his prize to his chest. There are a few people around, most minding their own business. Some he doesn’t recognize, which he’ll have to rectify soon, but for now he wants to get this somewhere saf-

Something else catches his eye and before he can think about what he’s doing he’s striding over to another resident and reaching out. That thing is his too, why do they have it?!]

Hey, I need that.

III. I regret not knowing you, back when it might have made a difference.

[His body hurt in ways that just a couple hours ago couldn’t penetrate a calm, tired drift into sleep, but now shrieked at him with every beat of his rapid, panicked heart. He’s alive. That’s the only thing this insistent burn could mean, and if Nyx could string more than two thoughts together through the haze he’d be grateful. But he couldn’t succumb to fire, not anymore. He was home.

An entire year rose in his head in stark relief, a sharp reminder that there had been a gaping hole in his memory the entire time he’d been gone. And within that memory all he can see is Noctis. Noctis’s face and words when Nyx told him that his father had been murdered, that Nyx had been there and could do nothing to stop it. Noct’s forgiveness for his failure to protect the King. Noct mourning as a King, having grown up too much in a single moment. Nyx has to find him.

He has to tell him.

Nyx groans as he shakily reaches Bluo house at last. His torn clothes are heavy and cold from the well, but it was soothing on his heated skin. Most of the ash had been washed away, leaving ugly scars branching up his arm, but it left dirty streaks painted across him where it remained. The water seemed to have quenched the fire that had eaten at him, his skin no longer smoldered like coal, but he felt tight and wrong and every step took all his strength.

He leans against the door heavily and catches his breath before mustering up the energy to knock. It’s cold against his face, soothing, and he exhales shakily. It’s so easy to close his eyes. Darkness pulls at the edges of his mind, enticing him to fold, but he can’t. Not yet. He can hold on just a little longer.]

IV. Choose your own adventure!

I.

[alittlespicy]

[ There is a hand that wraps around the front of his ragged uniform, not touching the skin for the moment, which hauls his head over the water effortlessly, the other hand belonging to the same young man adjusting his body so he doesn't choke on the water, but instead it will spill out from his mouth and back into the puddle beneath them. ]

Breathe.

[ One hand still supporting the older man, he observes for a moment and starts tapping acupoints over his chest to begin decreasing the pain that he seems to be observing. ]

[sirnyxalot]

[Nyx flails his arm at the person touching him, startled, and makes a weak attempt to push himself away. No, it’s done. Glauca, Drautos, Captain.... he’s dead. Nyx watched him die. Shit shit shit.....

Abruptly his lungs clear and Nyx is able to cough up the last of the water. His next breath is both sweet and sour. The air is free of the smell of destruction and ash and charred skin, but there’s something familiar about the stale, damp stench. Nyx clutches the stranger’s (Not Drautos, he notes at last. Thank the Six.) shirt, knuckles white, and blinks at the darkness around him. Dazed, sluggish. The cold is starting to sink in deep.]

....wh....at?

[alittlespicy]

[ WangJi's breath trips only slightly, as the tightening in the front of his robes makes the back tighten against his back a little, but his expression doesn't waver, nor does he try to push the other man away. ]

Bottom of well. Cold water. Almost drowned.

[ And then, again. ]

Breathe.

[sirnyxalot]

Well....

[His mind is slow, but when it clicks the memories are suddenly there all at once. A gray, dreary little town that was finally starting to look lived in. The soft noise of a hundred people working to breathe life back into a colorless universe. Chroma. He’s home.

When did he leave? He was just fighting in Insomnia, but that was a year ago. How?

Reeling, he fights to steady his breath even as his limbs start trembling. His left arm hangs uselessly at his side, ash dripping down his skin with the well water. Colorless. Empty. He slowly shakes his head. Focus, Ulric.

Steadily he forces the pain down until it’s just a dull roar in the background. He’s shaking, either from the cold or shock he can’t tell, but years of military drills at least still help him bring his thoughts together.]

Gotta get out of h-here.

[Focus.]

There’ll be help. Up... up in the town.

II

[scourged]

[ Lucky for Nyx when Ardyn had picked up a yellow scale of his own the direction of his own attention had been drawn to other things than said scales. Unluckily for Nyx Ardyn is Ardyn. The scale hadn't been important until approximately two seconds ago, the moment when he hears someone making the smallest of demands.

Well well.

Ardyn turns with the smallest of smiles, peering at Nyx with nothing more than a little interest. Amber eyes flick down to the outstretched hand before glancing back up at the other and Ardyn wonders just how much Nyx wants this small trophy.]

Do you need it? Or do you want it?

[sirnyxalot]

[Nyx takes a step back, flexing the fingers of his left arm reflexively as he squints at the man in front of him. There's something familiar about him, but despite his recent jaunt back to Insomnia it's been a year since he's seen anything of Eos but fire and death.

Ardyn is distinct enough to remember, and in the back of his mind Nyx searches for where he might have seen him while he narrows his eyes distastefully.

The irritation, however, has less to do with who the man might be and everything to do with this thief taking his stuff. What the six, man!? Have you no shame?]

What does it matter? It's mine, so give it back.

[scourged]

[ Ardyn is pretty certain he knows of Nyx, but the other's reaction to him is lacklustre all things considered. No cursing, swearing or taking a swing at the Chancellor of Niflheim? Fascinating.

Still, the whole thing is pretty much sheer entertainment and Ardyn gives the smallest of shrugs at the question Nyx throws back.]

I don't see your name on it. [ All this over something so inconsequential. If Ardyn had to put gil on it then it would have to be the result of those scales scattered around the place.]

And if you're going to be like that, well....[ Ardyn takes his hat off long enough to put the item in it, placing the piece of gear back on his head.] Finders keepers.

[sirnyxalot]

[He's probably going to swing at him for this grave insult sooner than for being a slimy Niff. He'll recall him from the party eventually, but it's hardly important in this moment.

Nyx scowls and shifts one foot back. He's hardly in any kind of fighting shape but this man clearly wants to be a dick.]

Do you write your name on everything you own?

[Idly he knows that this is a really dumb thing to fight about. Even standing here he can see another scale down the street he could pick up, but he wants this one. It's the same color as the one he already found.]

i

[suddenlybees]

[ Perhaps the reason Nyx had so much trouble getting out of the water in the first place is because the weight smothering him isn't that of water, of exhaustion, of pain, but that of another person who gives a yell when Nyx moves and tumbles off his back where he'd been trying to use him as a step stool... sorry... it's dark in here and Kano can't make out the ladders very well. ]

Hey- Hey, that scared me! You're actually alive?! Whew, what a relief!!

[ The boy claps Nyx on the back. Wakey wakey, focus here for a bit. ]

You are alive, right??

[ Please don't be a zombie. He can't handle zombies at the moment. ]

[sirnyxalot]

[Oh what the shit, that hurt.

Nyx gets his breath under control, using his good arm to keep his head above water, and blinks wildly at the guy clapping his back. It takes him a moment to get his thoughts together, steadying himself, and finally he recognizes the bottom of the well.

Chroma? It has to be, right? He's home.

Then the guy's question registers and Nyx groans as he pushes himself up to his knees. The water is freezing but now that he's not choking it's kinda soothing on overheated skin.]

I'd hope so, otherwise this'd be a really fucked up dream.

[A pause.]

Were you standing on me?

[suddenlybees]

[ More speech, coherent and direct, is very good to hear, and even more so when Nyx throws the question at Kano and he just laughs in response— that's all the answer to his question that he gets, because yes, he was standing on Nyx, or trying to, anyways. ]

Sorry, sorry, it's so hard to see down here~!

[ That's... yeah, that's all the excuse Kano can provide, absentmindedly lifting one foot out of the water and then the other, so that both of them aren't submerged and going numb at the same time. ]

I was sort of hoping you were just an uncannily human shaped rock! That would've been really convenient, you know?

[sirnyxalot]

[He can't help the laugh, even though it hurts. Six, he'd forgotten everything about this place while he was gone. It was an emotional whiplash to suddenly realize one has an entire year's worth of memory and experience more than originally thought. It changes things.]

You'd think it'd be more convenient to have a handily human shaped buddy to help you get up, instead.

[He doesn't think about it, amused with the conversation, and brings his right hand up by habit to summon fire in his palm so they can see. The water around them is lit up as the flames dance over his skin and Nyx spots the rope ladder nearby before his arm trembles and a surge of heat shoots through his body.]

Ah!

[The spell dies, but the injury remains glowing as branching scars smolder around his throat from an inner fire.]

Six, that hurts!

IV

[allfornothing]

[ Crowe comes in as she's done over the last few days, after she's done her best to exhaust herself while out and about so she can pass out and not think. It's not been working, but that doesn't stop her from trying.

But. Something's different. The stupid creature that Nyx was keeping is, rather than restless and dejected, actually excited and seemingly pleased to see her. It seems to have pulled something that registers as vaguely familiar on the floor in the middle of the hallway, and she steps around it --

-- when she hears it. Quiet, even snores that are too familiar and make her throat clench up. Slowly, she pushes the door to Nyx's room, to find him curled up on the bed, fast asleep, his skin laced with scars and utter exhaustion writ in every line of his body. ]

What the fuck.

[ Yeah, the whole tired and not slept at all and seventy kinds of upset thing? She's not even fully aware she's said that out loud. ]

[sirnyxalot]

[The most telling part of everything is that, despite all of that--the entrance, Rahm's pleased chirp, the noise of her words--, Nyx doesn't even stir. He hit the bed and was out like a light, dropping into a deep sleep to recover any bit of energy he can now that he's safe.

He'd made some kind of an effort to clean up a bit. He'd changed out of his uniform, leaving scorched and bloody fabric in piles on the floor, and made a half-assed attempt to wipe his face if the ashy shirt next to the bed was any indication. His scars had faded in the last few hours from burning coal to silver, cutting lines like lightning in patterns from his left hand to his face on either side.

Most of the ash wiped off, Nyx's arm looks terrible. There are places where he should logically be bleeding, his skin is so worn and damaged, but instead it just looks dry and gray. It'll be a miracle if he can fight with it in the future.

His hair is short again. Over the past year he couldn't maintain its length without fucking it up, just the sides, but the trip back to Insomnia seemed to have given him a good cut. Probably as an apology for destroying his life. Silver linings, right?

But most importantly Nyx's breathing is steady, and he doesn't seem to be suffering.]

[allfornothing]

[ Crowe rubs her face with both hands, then sits on the ground next to the bed, cross-legged.

Healing isn't her strongest suit, not even close - or she strongly suspects she'd never have seen the front lines - but it's part of the powers that have been granted. So she'll sit and cast Cure until either there don't seem to be any further effects, or Nyx wakes up and stop her. Either will be fine. ]

[sirnyxalot]

[It takes longer than it probably should, but without her help he'd likely have been asleep for the next day and a half. Any pain he'd been feeling in his sleep eases considerably and finally he opens his eyes to blink at her.

While he goes from asleep to awake with little fanfare, he has to take a second to reorient himself as he watches her channeling magic.]

You know, too much of that's gonna kill you.

[Wry humour that lasts only as long as it takes for Rahm to launch herself onto the bed, diving onto him to nuzzle under his chin with insistent mewls. Nyx groans and lifts his face out of the way, slowly being smothered by affection and fur.]

iv

[shizun]

[ Shen Qingqiu has changed his body with Shiho and feeling very uncertain while being in the body of a young teenage girl. This seems like the set up for an anime that I'd write a lot of critique about!

What he doesn't actually know is the young girl has the power of psychometry. Which is to say once he touches someone he has the chance of being able to hear their thoughts. But it isn't that he's all that great of it, or knows how to use it. Instead, he walks very much like a freshly born deer would -- awkward and uncertain how he is supposed to move his limbs at all.

I consider this girl like a daughter to me! This is very weird but I wanted to help her out with a quest and now I'm regretting everything! SOS!! He walks in his awkward fashion and crashes into Nyx as he's stumbling along. ]

[sirnyxalot]

[Nyx had gotten sort of cleaned up since he managed to get out of the well. A change of clothes out of his ruined uniform and a cursory rinse to get most of the battle grime off himself does wonders to make him look less like a disaster, but it doesn't hide the extensive scarring carved like silver lightning across his skin. His left arm is in a makeshift sling.

He's walking down the street, trying to find his friends to let them know he's alive, when a young girl runs into him. Nyx grits his teeth as he shifts without thinking to brace his weight, one hand out to catch her before they both topple over.

Shit, that hurts. Note to self, reflexes are a bitch.

Taking a second to make sure she's steady, Nyx steps back and studies her to see if she's okay. He doesn't recognize her, but he can't tell if she's new or not.]

You okay?

[shizun]

[ Holy fucking shit, my dude! Are you okay?! He is surprised to hear his thoughts in his head, but more than that, he is troubled by what he hears. Lifting his (her) head up, he really doesn't think the man should be asking if he's okay! ]

I'm fine! What about you? [ He reaches out to touch the side of his face. On instinct, he tries to use his powers to heal the wounds. But he's in someone else's body. Oops. And now I'm just groping some dude's face and should probably try to give a reason for it! ] Your ... scars... are really cool... mister.

[ Nailed it. ]

[sirnyxalot]

[The awkwardness probably bleeds from him in the ten seconds following that. He hasn't actually looked at them yet, but by the feel of them they must look a right mess. He can't help the initial reflex to lean back a little from her touch.

Then his mind deliberately shifts with military precision and he gives her a charming grin. Nyx reaches up to take her hand with his good one and tilts his head. It'd be really depressing to tell such a young woman the hell he went through to get them, or how close to death he stands even now because of it.]

Thanks, little lady, that's a very nice thing for you to say.

iii.

[nascere]

[ Noctis is the one that answers the door -- that Nyx has been missing has bothered him to no end; he'd even tried looking around for him. But the glaive had slipped away without a trace. Even so, Noctis still looks for him whenever he can, wondering if he had returned home, and if it was a good thing.

So when someone knocks on the door, Noctis is the first to answer it. What he sees, however, stuns him. Nyx, who looks like hell, like he'd been through a thousand fights and had barely pulled himself together to come here. He realizes what the burn marks are, scorching up his face, veins fanned under his skin. ]

Nyx!

[ He's reaching out for him, automatically moving to come and grasp him firmly, providing him with support. ]

Nyx -- c'mon. Who did this to you?

[sirnyxalot]

[If he were at full health he'd try to cover up the slip of dignity as he almost pratfalls as the door opens on him. He'd been leaning a little heavily, in retrospect, and without that support his balance upends abruptly.

But then he's leaning on Noctis instead, and he groans as a thousand bruises ache in response.

Nyx gets his feet properly under him and lets Noct's words sink in a moment. Would it be a dick move to say he did this to himself? It's not exactly wrong.]

Went home...

[Back to the war. Back to the ring, and his promise. Back to finish his last act of defiance.]

[nascere]

[ Went home. He went home, and this happened to him. He tugs a potion out from the armiger without thinking, breaking it and pressing it against him so that it at least can help him look less like hell. He's going to need more, but it'll be a start, at least.

He's keeping him braced, urging him into the living room so that he can actually settle down on the couch. ]

And?

[ He asks quietly, the word knotting in his throat. Did he remember the promise? Had he killed Glauca, was that why he's like this? ]

[sirnyxalot]

[Oh sweet relief. The potion is chilling on burned skin, the magic targeting the worst of his injuries. Nyx sits gratefully, able to focus a little better on Noctis's face.]

And I finished what I started. He's dead, Noct. Glauca's dead.

[There's a sharp note to his voice, harsh and victorious, as he says it. Nyx has never taken joy in killing, but this one had struck him deeply. A part of him is proud to be able to share this news.]