0 Days Remain

[lightmischief]

After the vision, and realizing that they still have an hour before the curfew, a message shows up on their program...

Luci: Finally! Human minds can be so fragile...

Luci: You saw it, right? What do you think?

Luci: Does it make you angry or terrified?

Luci: I don't really care but if you answered yes to either of those, good!

Luci: I've got presents for you, lambs.

Luci: Once an apple falls from the tree, it's hard to stop gravity.

Luci: They will try.

Luci: Already a few of you didn't make it.

Luci: But you are all stronger than you look! Amazing, I know.

Luci: SO LISTEN UP! See that dot on the map?



Luci: No? Maybe arrows will help?



That's where you saw that vision.

Luci: It's just about twenty minutes away from the central part of Green Valley's fancy-ass school. You know the 'World Famous' apple orchards out in the back? The very first subway station?

Luci: If you want to know more about what you saw and any other questions that might be burning in your mind, I suggest you hop into the underground city subway and wait until midnight strikes then sneak out to it. Don't think the city will care for less than fifty people going there anyway. Staying after darkness is normal anyway, right?

Luci: When we get there, you'll get a brand new message.

Comments

Chikusa Kakimoto ☸ Astaroth

[kokuyoyo]

[Maybe it's selfish of him, to sort of just steal Asher's bathroom after waking up so suddenly, drenched in a cold sweat, heart threatening to leave his chest. There's too much that's striking out in his mind, and yet- past the gore, past the monsters, past the firemen who lived up to their name in an unconventional way...]

[All he can think about is the massive snake-like creature which had met his eyes and dragged him along through it all.]

[Eventually, staring blankly at his phone- he'd known without thinking that there would be a new message- he finally sends out a reply.]

Does anyone plan on bringing anything?

Makoto Fukami ⚔ Marchosias

[transient_specter]

I'm sure we can find something around here. Even just a hammer.

Erika Furudo ⚔ Baalberith

[withoutred]

Duct tape. Supplies. A notebook or two, maybe. Definitely a flashlight. You know, the basics.

What were you thinking, on your end?

Koujirou Genda ⚔ Marchosias

[beastfang]

My parents have one of those large emergency kits people make in case of a natural disaster I think I can carry and still remain mobile if we have to dodge good Samaritans looking to send us home when curfew hits.

Makoto Fukami ⚔ Marchosias

[transient_specter]

And what evidence do we have that what we saw was actually real?

[lightmischief]

Luci: Nothing whatsoever.

Luci: Nothing but how you feel in your heart.

Elizabeth Bathory ⚔ Baal

[umbral_idol]

[...She needs to take the subway to get there, huh... This is the worst. The worst.

She shudders, but... She needs to prepare herself. Whatever's going on here, she needs to see it herself. Like she said before, if it's coming for them either way, it's better to know than to not know...

...Is there really no choice but to take the subway? Maybe she can distract herself from the inevitable horrible feeling of being trapped in the subway by trying to get answers from Luci.]

Then, that vision we saw: The fire on the 20th. I assume the same thing happened then?

[lightmischief]

Luci: Not just on the 20th.

Yuuto Kidou ☸ Eligor

[kouteipenguin]

A few of us didn't make it

You don't mean...

[lightmischief]

Luci: Don't worry.

Luci: They didn't die.

Luci: But their minds couldn't take it.

Luci: And so, they folded.

Koujirou Genda ⚔ Marchosias

[beastfang]

So you're sending us to where we were supposedly almost spotted by those people and thus possibly run into them or be recognized?

Yuuto Kidou ☸ Eligor

[kouteipenguin]

this really is going to kill us.

Kiriya Kujo ⚔ Baalberith

[truthkills]

if anyone wants to meet up at lazer's and go over there in a big group i'm game

I spent most of my teenage years sneaking around and being a little shit on school nights let me share my vast experience with you all

[lightmischief]

Luci: You are probably one of my favorites, kid.

Jirou Sakuma ⚔ Dantalion

[forsteri]

I don't like this at all, but... I feel like I can't not go, either.

[His brother would probably object, but Yoshio has to know. Even if it ruins his whole life, like he's expecting it to... he can't not go. He has to face it.]

Kiriya Kujo ⚔ Baalberith

[truthkills]

it's the uncomfortable must-see event of the year

Lenka Utsugi ⚔ Eligor

[probablynoteren]

[He was out of bed almost before he was actually awake, if he'd ever actually been asleep: the visions had never had Eddan itself as a backdrop, and he can't-- stop hearing the screams, he remembers them from three weeks ago, doesn't he? He doesn't. He knows exactly what it sounds like when someone is torn apart from the feet down and stomach outward, he needs to stop it, he must stop it, he will stop it, that's why he lives--

By the time he realizes he's on his feet and halfway out of the room Haruka also realizes that he doesn't have shoes on, doesn't know where he's going and that his hands are curiously steady when the rest of him isn't.

His phone chimes.

He can barely parse the words on the screen, but that's fine. There's a map. It slows him down enough that he doesn't actually run out of his apartment barefoot and barehanded.]

we can stop it if we go there

that's what you're saying

Cagliostro ⚔ Haagenti

[eyeofcute]

We can stop it

OR just deliver ourselves into death

but honestly if we just sit here and don't do anything, i guess the outcome probably wont be good either

[Cagliostro's in survival mode. Fight or flight. A hallucination shouldn't elicit such a huge emotional response from her, but-- it feels real. Fuck, it is real, isn't it? This whole ordeal-- islands in the sky, people she has to return to, so she can't possibly fucking die here, in this fake city--]

fuck it what's the worst that can happen

how do we stop

those things?

bombs? lights??

Guts ⚔ GLASYA-LABOLAS

[blackdogdown]

[He's honestly not sure how he feels about the vision. Angery? Concerned? Afraid? Even after the scenes of gore and death (familar, to familar) the worst part had been the lack of control. He couldn't do anything. There was no choice to it.

And that pissed him right off. Why show him some horrible murder if he wasn't able to do anything? Suspicious meetup at midnight?? Sure. Even if this was a trap, there was no way he was standing by.

And maybe just maybe, he wanted to beat the one behinds this head in. Just a bit.]

Hey. This idea sucks. The subway is iffy at night, and I know like half of you are kids.

Doubt anyone trusts me. But if they need a ride, I can pick them up. If you get the seats dirty I'm making you walk though.

[withoutred]

I trust you.

[ For what that's worth. ]

I might need a ride, though, if you don't mind someone already taking you up on that. I'm making a detour and would appreciate some help getting the rest of the way.

Rosiel ☸ Belial

[tellmeimbeautiful]

[The phone vibrates. It's the app again, with... an invitation? Morgan always avoids the streets after curfew but this invitation is impossible to resist. Will it explain the strange visions? The eerie feeling of emptiness?

Is it... fate? A terrible, unavoidable fate?

Morgan rips a page out of a grade book and quickly writes a note for the kind old lady who lives down the hall: "If I'm not back by June 5th, please use your spare key to feed Satan. I left his food on the counter as usual. Thank you."]

Somehow I have the feeling that none of us will return from this...

Makoto Fukami ⚔ Marchosias

[transient_specter]

We will.

Kaltz ⚔ Saleos

[dendranthema]

Isn't it likely that we'll be found out? I'd guess they have patrols in the subway to prevent that from happening.

Makoto Fukami ⚔ Marchosias

[transient_specter]

Guess it's time to punch a cop for science.

Mitsuru Kirijo ⚔ Naberius

[1in_perfection]

[Any number of curses, most of them French, play through Michelle's head.

Those... things drift through her brain. Dark, grasping and shadowy hands, and far too many teeth. She swears she's seen them before, as an echo of some hallucination or memory she's tried to bury and ignore in the prior days. But now... maybe it's that the stress of school and visions have finally worn away the last of her resolve. Maybe it's that the news and murders have weighed heavy on her head.

Or maybe she's tired of sitting around, waiting and reacting. She's ready to go out and do something. After sending a few messages, her hands are stable enough that she trusts herself to type something longer.]

For those of us who are students at the academy:

I'm sure you're all familiar with the tunnel system to navigate campus. This said if you don't use the library very often (unthinkable as that is) a few pointers for reaching it. Take the green line corridor from whichever dorm you're based out of. It runs in a ring route along the campus, and eventually leads to the central facilities. If you follow it to the center, you'll find yourself at the library sub-entrance.

If you've reached the cafeteria, turn back.

I... can vouch that if you study or at least act as if you are, the staff won't question you very much. I'll be there myself, initially. I can speak for anyone else there, that we're a group study or similar. At least until the time for... whatever that was comes.

Ankh ☸ Andrealphus

[connivingbird]

I think some of us can get there for study no problem. I'm not sure what the non-students are going to do though.

Gladion ⚔ Camio

[lovelledup]

[It takes him a little while to muster the courage to ask, but eventually he chimes in with a question for this "Luci", or whoever else might have ideas.]

What about the firemen? If they're still there when we go, what are we supposed to do about it?

[From the way that vision went, it doesn't seem like they'll take kindly to intruders, and even if they bring weapons, he's not sure what good it will do against flamethrowers.]

Ankh ☸ Andrealphus

[connivingbird]

Maybe without those creatures there they won't show up?

Jaune Arc ⚔ Eligor 1/2

[sociallyarcward]

[John throws up. He can't help it and he immediately feels bad, wiping some of the spittle from his mouth. Before he even bothers with the app he's cleaning up his mess -- treading carefully through the house. At least, attempting too, he IS still shaking after all.

As soon as the mess is cleaned he returns to his bed, pressing his back to the wall and trying to make himself as small as possible. This...this isn't happening right? He takes out his phone, pulling up the message.

Nope. It's happening. He sucks in a breath, closing his eyes against the screen, before opening them again and typing furiously.

WHAT THE FUCK

2/2

[sociallyarcward]

[Okay, yeah, that wasn't helpful. John tries again after some time and a few deep breaths.]

This is nuts! You can't actually expect us to face those things...none of their weapons even worked! I'm pretty sure I don't have anything better...

[But he already sees everyone making plans, determined for answers and gathering supplies. He sighs, he can't just leave his friends to this and Luci didn't say exactly that they would be facing those...things. Right? Although that vision...that THING that grabbed him...goddamn he can't just let this go. Like he's going to sleep after all that.]

Okay, fine, I'll bring what I can. You'd be surprised what a kitchen can hold. You guys better not do this without me.

Miu Matsuoka ⚔ Beall

[extremelycute]

[How can Ayu even react to a vision like that? None of this feels real. It feels like a story from a manga, which...would be cool. She still spends a lot of her time thinking about what it would be like to live in a manga or video game. Questing, making friends, accidentally turning out to be the villain...the possibilities are endless.

But instead, she locks her door and buries her face in her pillow for a good ten minutes. Eventually, she works up the courage to get back on her phone...are her uncle and her brother going to try and stop her? She stands next to the window, already planning her escape.

She's scared, but she has to know. She doesn't want to left out or feel all alone.]

(;´Д`) What a pain. I've already done so much work this month. I guess I don't really have a choice but to go. That's what I'd like to say, but this feels a lot worse than that. So, how about I liven things up?

...mic check, one, two...

Hey, what's with that time business, huh? That reminds me of something I heard the other day. Did you know that timepieces like to eat, too? 🎤(^‿^✿) It's true! I've seen it myself. I was watching the clock the other day, and do you know what it did when it was really hungry?

[This isn't how she REALLY feels, but...at times like this, she'd rather try to be herself...even if she's already opening the window to sneak outside.]

Kaltz ⚔ Saleos

[dendranthema]

What happened when the clock was hungry?

[He'll be very surprised if it's not "seven eight nine", but Beall has always been so clearly very young...]

Eikichi Mishina ⚔ Beleth

[bossed]

[ why does it have to be this way... he's not the hero type, he's a loner, introverted... nothing like his heart says he is. that vision, it felt too familiar and yet too foreign, uncomfortable and yet just right.

but now, he had to make a choice. a choice that many seemed to have settled on already. takamoto sat on the edge of his bed, consumed with anxiety, with fear.

with uncertainty. ]

are we seriously doing this

is that what's going on

just taking it all at face value

[lightmischief]

Luci: Get with the program, undie boss

Jun Kurosu ⚔ Shax

[onlythankyou]

[It takes him some time to recover; it wasn't as visceral as the others, but it was...it was sure something. By the time he looks at the app, there are already several people talking about it. Huh.]

...We all saw the same thing, this time?

[After what happened a week ago he'd kind of be glad to never use the app in any proximity to Luci again, thanks. But he is smart enough to put two and two together.]

Seems like it isn't related to the rest of them, this time. I'm going. Anyone in the dorms is free to come with.

[As in he is already headed out the door. Not bringing anything in particular. The location is nearby. He...honestly ought to have planned this more, but partof his mind still craves answers. He has to go.]

Alucard ⚔ Marchosias

[draculabackwards]

I am going as well. This is no mere trick of memory.

Raidou Kuzunoha XIV ⚔ Paimon

[capital_asset]

[Rei is mostly thinking "what the actual fuck" after all of that. But it's not like he's forgotten what he saw at the Flower Festival, either - not the monsters, and not that weird quasi-hallucination-cum-flashback thing with Lucifer (really?). So he's not all that surprised when "Luci" pops up. Talking about lambs and apples, no less.

(Rei's done a lot of extracurricular reading over the last few weeks. He's reasonably certain there are people who think he's some kind of Satanist now.)

He feels weirdly calm about this, all things considered.]

How... Biblical.

Alucard ⚔ Marchosias

[draculabackwards]

Well, the person styles himself after Lucifer. May as well take the comparison as far as it will go.

[seasonsofdeath]

[Akira saw it, same as everyone else. And it's definitely not a thing he liked to see. But he feels almost... numb to it. Like it doesn't really matter. And... he feels like he's seen it all before...]

I want to go. Should I just walk?

[lightmischief]

Luci: As long as you get there before nightfall.

Alucard ⚔ Marchosias

[draculabackwards]

[A vision? Or a warning? There are several moments of silence as Adrian contemplates what he's seen. One could certainly stay right here and deny everything.

Or. Just maybe. One could also act in response. If this happened to be a false vision, a false hope, then at the very least he could see with his own eyes that the people of that house were safe. He isn't certain what he should be doing, but he's reminded of a saying. Did he tell it to someone before?

"The only thing evil needs to triumph is for good men to do nothing."

He starts typing.]

When are we going?

Jirou Sakuma ⚔ Dantalion

[forsteri]

As soon as possible, by the sound of it.
I don't think we'll have time to stop anything if we don't go now.

Okuyasu Nijimura ⚔ Marchosias

[catchthishand]

[ Rommy stared up at the ceiling of his dorm room, trying to breath. His arm felt like it should hurt, and he rubs abseltly at the spot where the snake head had lashed out and bit him to drag him through the sky.

This was-

This was so much more bullshit than anything else that'd happened.

Across the room, his brother stirs, and that's enough to get Rommy to grab his phone, looking over the messages.

They'd all seen the same thing, huh? Fine.

He taps out a message before getting to his feet, following his brother out the door ]

if your in the dorms meet us in the lobby
if we all saw the same shit i want to get to the bottom of it
im not waiting around for this thing to jerk us around some more

Koujirou Genda ⚔ Marchosias

[beastfang]

At least take something with you even if just something that can just distract.

Nakigitsune ⚔ Camio

[foxhands]

[He wakes up with a start, staring dazedly up at the ceiling, unsure for a moment whether he's awake or still in a dream (or if he was dreaming to begin with, for that matter). It takes a minute or two for him to notice his phone, barely skimming the message posted on it, eyes narrowing in concentration as he stares at the flashing red arrows on the map.

A destination. A goal. An end? Is sneaking out this late a good idea? Does he care? He's gone a few feet from his room before realizing he probably shouldn't be going empty-handed into the darkness of night towards a suspicious place with the possibility of nightmarish violence, and turns back to try to dig up something in his closet. It's not 'til he's outside that Natsume finally types in an answer on his phone.

...His movements are strangely calm, despite the nervous jumble that is his thoughts.]

i'm going
i don't know what i'm going to find there [or whether he'll survive the encounter] but i need to find out

Nakigitsune ⚔ Camio

[summerorange]

As much as that freaked me out?
I need to find out, too.

[And after a few moments' pause]

need anything to defend yourself with?