Palace Game 6/5

[fujimaru]

The Dreamer In The Grand Temple
Humanity Foundation Value: ????

What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Comments

[messianic]

[ WELL. A few things are happening here in quick succession. The beak gets Minato to wince, but he tries to pull away as best he can, eyes still focused on Kaine and his situation--

And then Kaine grabs the noodle teen (very easy to do, he's scrawny), though Minato is probably accidentally making it harder by reaching for that woman's hand that broke the surface of the blood goop, as if to try to keep her from slipping back under again. ]

[fujimaru]

Dantes's voice is a lightning-crackle, but a beat too late: "Do not--"

Unfortunately, when Minato grabs that hand, it is a lightning-flash, a stabbing pain right behind his eyelids:

She is running, desperate, terrified, occasionally glancing over her shoulder. The entire city is in shambles around her, with strange, twisted things roaming the burning streets. Why? Why is this happening?! Wasn't the King supposed to keep them safe? Weren't the strangers from the other world meant to protect them??

So in that case, why was this happening?!

She skitters around a corner, her breath coming desperate and pained in her lungs--

--and then there is a crunch--

--and she looks down, seeing the massive claw emerging from her chest, a moment before shrill, cackling laughter fills her ears, as the last thing she hears.

[markofkaine]

Minato--!

[Trying to carry him away from the hand, wHY ARE YOU SO NICE. YOU'RE TOO NICE!!]

[messianic]

[ yeah that was a mistake. He lets go as if burned, despite himself, breath hitching in his throat.

HE NEEDS A MINUTE thank god Kaine's got him covered. ]

[fujimaru]

YEAH, THAT'S PROBABLY A GOOD THING,

There are dozens of hands rising up now, grabbing at Kaine's legs as he runs, but they're mostly ineffective, and eventually, they do begin to taper off.

Dantes is waiting for them a short distance ahead. How did he somehow get ahead of them? He's a cheating cheater, that's how. He's got a lit cigarette, watching their approach with narrow eyes.

[markofkaine]

[Running, kicking away hands as he goes until they give up - or thin out. Kaine doesn't let Minato down until they're next to Dantes again, in relative(?) safety. Huff, puff...

Eyes the cigarette with a dry, annoyed look]

Those'll kill you, y'know.

[messianic]

[ Once Kaine puts Minato down, he's at least put together enough to put the memory out of his mind. Instead, he just murmurs a quiet: ]

Thanks, Kaine-san.

[ and will otherwise leave Dantes to Kaine for now. He's totally got this edgy boy covered. ]

[fujimaru]

Dantes just stares, unblinking, and then deliberately exhales his smoke in Kaine's face. There is something that somehow feels just a little amused at the comment, though, for all that it does not manifest in his voice.

"You already walk amongst the dead, in the bowels of Hell itself. There are worse things to worry about than what will kill you more slowly."

His gaze cuts to Minato for a second, his expression hardening.

"Do not indulge them. That is only a path to madness, unless you wish to add your voice among the masses."

[markofkaine]

[can't believe i'm agreeing with the edgelord here]

Seriously. Don't forget, we're here for Ritsuka. You can't befriend every single damned soul on the way, or there'll be nothing of you left.

[messianic]

[ ...... he dips his head in a slight bow, to both Kaine and Dantes. ]

I'm sorry for the trouble.

[ a slow breath in and he straightens. ]

Can we keep going?

[fujimaru]

Dantes exhales another long plume of smoke. "The path back will be bad," he says. "The path forward will be worse. With that in mind, what will you pick?"

[markofkaine]

[Snaps,]

Don't patronize us. We're not going back.

[messianic]

[ Minato just nods quietly but resolutely as well. Kaine's right!!! ]

... We're here to save Ritsuka. That won't change.

[fujimaru]

"You cannot save her from all of this," he says, but he does begin to walk again, the path opening in his wake again. "Even the King of Men is not responsible for the whole of what you have found in this place."

[markofkaine]

[Mutters,]

More cryptic nonsense... Look, she's got her own demons. We're just here to put her back in her body.

[messianic]

[ at least they can move forward again! Minato follows Dantes, sticking close to Kaine.

He'll keep his opinion on whether or not Ritsuka can be saved to himself. That seems like a conversation she should be present for. ]

[fujimaru]

He does not answer, though maybe he doesn't have to. The things in the blood and in the darkness beyond the faint light he casts are still restless, stirring; if either of them look, they can see more body parts that occasionally rise to the surface, reaching and falling away again: a hand, a tentacle, part of a human head, barely more than red skin over a skull.

At one point, though, there is definitely the reflection of huge, huge eyes in the dark--eyes that are probably as big as Minato is tall, and it is staring at them, unblinking.

[markofkaine]

[Kaine glares back at them, hands tightened into fists and ready to usher Minato behind him at the first sign of danger. YOU WANNA GO, PUNK? FUCK YOU.

All this protectiveness is doing a great job of distracting him from the actual fear and guilt bubbling in his heart.]

[messianic]

[ Minato is doing his absolute best to try to avoid looking at the limbs and body parts that reach for them as if it's a cry for help.

... ... ...

He blinks back at the eyes. ]

... Hello?

[fujimaru]

"Do not," Dantes says, without slowing his pace. They can either follow or fall behind, but he does not appear to willing to pause. "There are little worse than that one."

Those eyes do not blink, but they do appear to be moving closer, with an alarming sort of speed. From the way the liquid around their ankles slosh, it's not because the creature is rushing at them, but their footsteps are just that big.

This maybe is a good time to run.

[markofkaine]

I think. We should pick up the pace.

[Whispered urgently to Minato, before he starts to pick up the pace. Just in case, he takes the kid's hand so he doesn't fall behind]

Get a move on, Dantes!

[messianic]

[ Minato just nods firmly, squeezing Kaine's hand to let him know he's there--he'll follow at a run.

SOUNDS LIKE A PLAN TO HIM, even Minato has Limits to things he wants to interact with. ]

[fujimaru]

"Even if we ran, it would be poor luck for us." Dantes does not actually move faster, but his gaze does cut to the side. It's maybe the first sign of real concern he's shown. "Do not make any further eye contact. She may be distracted along the way."

The thing in the dark makes a noise: maybe if it were normal-sized, it would be a sob, or a moan; as it is, it's a roar of raging despair: a mother abandoned by her children, a woman whose family has been torn away, a goddess whose people have long since faded to dust.

[markofkaine]

That really ain't reassuring...

[MINATO. MINATO WE ARE COUNTING ON YOU NOT TO FEEL SORRY FOR THIS THING AND LOOK AT HER.

as it stands, Kaine finds it easy to steel his heart - he who never had a mother to speak of, and thus it is one of the few things he feels no guilt over.]

[messianic]

[ THIS IS ASKING A LOT OF HIM, the bleeding heart protagonist. Still... he can at least recognize that putting Dantes (fake or not) and Kaine (definitely real) at risk just because of that isn't something he can do.

And they really do have to focus on finding Ritsuka... so he presses his lips together tightly and steels himself as best he can and nods. ]

... Okay. Let's keep going.