auroraexpress | Event: Mirror Image

Entry tags:

Event: Mirror Image

Who: everyone!
When: Day 19 evening and on
Where: outside

[As darkness falls in the jungle, an unusually chill breeze rustles through the trees. In its wake is silence, the purified fauna going quiet as if in dread.

Is it just you, or is the night darker tonight?

You may find the cause if you leave the train. Those who are caught alone outside will see the shadows grow suddenly long. The darkness coalesces into a vaguely human form, vague and faceless but radiating cold.

Before you can react the shadows surround you. Deep within, your most bitter, unpleasant feelings rise up in your chest. It's overwhelming, threatening to consume you, but just before it can it suddenly stops. The shadows recoil, dissipating into the jungle.

You're safe, but those negative feelings might be closer to the surface than usual.

Good luck, especially if you're one of the newbies just waking up.]

[NOTES: This event will OOCly end on Wednesday, but feel free to ICly push time forward as much as you like. There will be a followup post at that time, and you can schedule player-run trials any time after.

The emotional effect of this event can be as severe as you want. Your character could just be a bit grumpy, or they could find their emotions totally out of control. The effect lasts a couple of hours or until the character counters it with happier feelings.]

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[Hlasoh is relaxing in the Lounge, after some entertaining activities with a teammate earlier and seems to have been in a rather pleasant mood, when the Shadow hits, and the feeling is... familiar to her. It's the feeling of the Abyssal magic churning inside her when she's in her darkest moods, an urge to destroy and break and hate and negate herself. Not now. Please, not now.

She doubles over, grasping her head as she feels a headache, and all those terrible feelings coming on.]

N-No! No! Stop it!

[Naeva's cranky, and tired, and very familiar with the darkness, but the real problem is, the noise is like nails on a chalkboard to her.

So she just stalks over, grabs Hlasoh by the back of her shirt and hefts her up, dangling her. What she intends to do with her now is unclear.]

Stop.

[Sorry, she's gonna just scream startled for a moment- and then shout a couple of words and try to fly away from her grip!]

[Well, Naeva's grip is like a vise, so it'll rip the shirt right off her if she's got the velocity to escape it. Oops.]

...Hlasoh.

[This is an unfortunately familiar reaction.]

[See, the aggressive cornered animal instincts are replaced momentarily by her being a flustery dork because now she's outdoors in her bra and realizing what's happening, and giving a mortified shriek as she hovers in the air! Her azure tattoos shimmer iridescent for a moment, quite visible on her mostly bare torso.

She's very much not averse to attractive women undressing her, but she prefers it to be in private!

However she is also reflexively chanting another few words, and a shimmering blade of iridescent energy flows from the tattos on her arm to her hand.]

W-What are you doing?!

Put that down.

[Her eyes are instantly on the blade, bright and glowing. Her words come with a surge of magic, weaving it's way into Hlasoh's blood, trying to freeze her up, keep her from attacking, hold her still. It's a reflexive, defensive instinct, that will in no way make this situation worse!]

[Unfortunately, Hlasoh isn't very good at thinking things through clearly right now. What she sees is somebody who she (almost) trusted trying to use compulsion magic on her, trying to control her, violate her will, erase her ability to act and choose and reflexively feelings of fear and rage surge up.

She struggles against the magic, screaming rage and frustration, and flies suddenly at Naeva, swinging her blade of light as rage clouds her thoughts.]

[It's just mroe than a graze, and it sizzles on naeva's skin. Light, heat, sunlight, it burns make it stop make them stop take them out--

Naeva's hand closes on Hlasoh's wrist with the strength of an alligator's jaws. It is a miracle of control she doesn't try to crush it. her eyes flicker red, there is blood in her nose but she is trained for this. She has trained for this. She will not follow through.]

Hlasoh.

[She shudders violently. She doesn't want to be taken again. She doesn't want to be controlled. She howls in fury and terror, and already the blade is fading from the grabbed hand to appear in her free hand.]

Let me go! Let me go!

And let you hurt yourself? Let you hurt anyone else? [She grabs for the other hand, holding it away and apart, picking up Hlasoh so she's at eye level.]

What do you think you're going to do with that?

[Dimly she starts to recognize what's going on, but she can't yet- she's still afraid, she still feels betrayed-]

W-Why did you attack me?! Why are you trying to control me?

Because you're losing control.

[Right she's just gonna dangle here until you are feeling less stabby.]

I can stop you. Do you think Kiryuu could? Crow could? How do you think that would end?

[She struggles for a moment, and the she realizes who is in front of her, who the names Kiryuu and Crow refer to, and she goes limp. Ah, and she's bleeding too. Oh.

But the Curse keeps churning inside of her, relentlessly. There's a look of terrible pain and fear on her face, a different type of fear than before. An existential sort of dread.]

I- N-No... It can't be taking control like this so soon, so why-

I don't know.

[Right, she's stopped struggling. Naeva's just slinging her over her shoulder and heading inside. She has a Plan. It's not a good plan but it's hers so here we go.]

But we have to deal with what's happening before the why.

[She can't bring herself to be ashamed or flustered or anything else right now, because she's afraid. Afraid that the Abyssal magic will take control of her, turn into a monster, erase who she is. She's so afraid.]

[Well, naeva takes her to licorice's car because I don't know if Lucien's passed out in his car or in Naeva's, and dropped down in a chair briefly before Naeva pulls all the blankets off the bed and just.

Swaddles Hlasoh in them. Tight enough to bind movement, or so she hopes.]

Can you break out of that or do I need more.

I won't attack again. D-Don't imprison me.

[But she doesn't struggle. She just looks numb and far away.]

The blankets make the second part easier.

[The second part?

Oh. She just turned into a jackal. Hopped up and just. flopped on her.

you're trapped.]

...I appreciate this, but don't bind me. It brings up very bad memories. Wake up screaming nightmare sort of memories.

Pop your elbows out and wiggle your arms up, it'll loosen the blankets.

[Gently papping her face with a paw.] Then go to sleep.

[She does so, but squirms some more.]

Um, I appreciate your concern, but I'm not going to attack again. I'm, um- just tired right now. But I'd rather not be constrained like this. P-Please.

[BIG HEAVY DOG SIGH. She rolls over, grabs the edge of the blanket in her teeth, and pulls it right out.

She made sure Hlasoh would be rolled out towards the wall and not onto the floor.]

...Sorry. Um.

[She sighs as well. The anxiety is too thick and oppressive for her to sleep.]

I think I mentioned being imprisoned before, and er, mind-control magic, so there are things that have a very bad reaction to.

[WUMP. DOG ON YOU.

...or, well, next to you. Look, she is tired and you burned her it's naptime.]

It was your blood, not your mind.

[Guilt and anxiety bubble up in her mind, as she reflects on what has happened.]

Well, it felt like you were trying to control me. But, I imagine that was partially your instincts as well.

I saw something outside. Maybe that was Malice, and it was strengthening the power of the Abyssal Curse.

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Event: Mirror Image

cw: potential self harm

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