Day 4: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: August 14th - August 28th, 2019 ]

As the sun sets on Harsen Island and the curtains close on Four's games that abducted all the heroes up into hours of entertainment, things absolutely refuse to wind down.

When the knights return, they'll be placed right where they were when they were added into the game show. The Princess, unfortunately, is the one that doesn't wind up where he was taken from. For everyone else, whether they were climbing up the mountain or existing elsewhere, it looks like all they lost is time.

And maybe a bit of patience.

Every hero that participated in Four's game show reeived a personalized 'Thank you!' card at the end of it, apparently the monster was excited about everyone participating! (Disclaimer: One knight did not receive a thank you card because he refused to participate like a big ole' jerk).

The bright, glowing blue fissures are still open throughout the ground, they haven't gone anywhere while the game show happened. All the cracks originate from the mountain up the slope from Craydon! Social media has finally confirmed that all the cracks converge on one location up the mountain: At a big glowing stone door. It's absolutely not a manmade door and it's definitely magic in some way, but why is it there now?

The Weather
Insects chirping all over.
66°F / 19°C
A surprisingly cool sea breeze.

Prompts:

??:00pm Mountain Door, Craydon: Any heroes still climbing the mountain, or who choose to climb the mountain, can reach the glowing door. As they ascend, they'll have to endure unrelenting wind blowing right in their face the whole way. When they reach the top, send a ping saying "they've reached the door" to receive a description.

6:00pm Rock Sugar Tea Cafe, Bamborough: Not wanting to spend the entire evening in Craydon, the Protector has made his way via train out to Bamborough to find a cafe that serves tea. Three Princesses had come here during previous years and the experiences had been good enough that he sought to try it for himself. He'll be found sitting under an umbrella-covered table outside the cafe, sipping carefully at a nuclear-hot cup of spiced apple tea.

6:30pm Sushi, Far Haven: Of all the places for Ten to end up in all this, he's arrived at the conveyor belt sushi restaurant in Far Haven. Situated off to the side from the lobby of the Crossroads Hotel, the restaurant is simply named 'Sushi' and is filled with numerous tables wedged up against a slowly-progressing conveyor belt filled with plates of sushi. The entire path is in a refrigerated tube to keep the sushi safe to eat, and when a hero arrives they'll see Ten reaching in to obtain a new set of rolls. There are already ten empty plates in front of him: How many more will he eat? Social media is already taking bets on the final count!

7:00pm Door Crater, Craydon: It's the end. Any heroes still lingering at the door on the mountain will be treated to the biggest nightmare of all time: The door starts to emit a high-pitched tone moments before it explodes outwards. Pieces of solid stone go flying outward from the blast, and when the dust clears from the event there's still smoke billowing out from inside of the cave entrance and rising up off of the small crater that the explosion made.

Just inside of the cave entrance is the figure of a child, laying slumped facedown on the ground. They're wearing nothing but tatters over their translucent cyan skin. They look as if they're made of colored glass, their hair looking very much like solid, shiny obsidian but moving as if it wasn't stone at all. Their eyes are closed where they're laying, but there's an unmistakable glow even through their closed eyelids.

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

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"Of course she will," Terrence once again agrees, shrugging in an infuriatingly nonchalant way to match his tone. Even with the Protector's renewed vigor he still didn't seem quite mad yet. Whatever he was getting at, it's clearly not working on this year's rabbit knight.

"That's her role, isn't it..? To end us? Seems a bit easy if all she wants is to kill or get a rise out of us... What I still don't understand is the point of all these theatrics..?"

For all of Terrence's memeing and pressing, the look in his eyes makes his own resolve entirely clear: you can threaten the end of reality all you want, but when multiple generations of people have already faced that very same threat for literally their entire lives multiple times over, there's nothing left you can do to scare us. Bring it.

"Who do you think brought and activated the very thing that now holds the fate of the world in the balance?" He counters Terrence's thoughts.

"How else does one cover up a decision but to make it seem like she is making the choice to end this world? Rather than succumbing to an inevitability? Without a hand to stop it, the world would end without her lifting a finger. She is making a show of it to mask the truth from all of you. She is a liar, a deceiver, and a fool." He reaches over to his cup, flipping it upside down onto the plate. A moment later, he lifts it to reveal a small Wizard doll standing on it and... then he flicks it, making it fall upon the table limply.

"She fools you with power to make you fear, because fear makes you easier to trick."

The Protector's initial outurst is... Frightening, to say the least. He's not particularly stern, nor is he attacking anyone, but just the sheer volume of information he's making available all at once when so little had ever become public before..?

Terrence lets it sit for a bit, dropping his cup back to his saucer in thought for several moments before simply asking, "If she came out of nowhere to us as fear, then what are you..?"

Almost all of what he's saying had been shared before. Almost all of it laid with dead knights, six feet under. The rest was kept silent, kept secret, and left to fade to history. He keeps his gaze level, unwavering as he answers the easiest question he's ever been asked.

"Hope." He's the good guy, after all, what else would he be?

"I should have killed her before this all began. She has always been wrong."

"Could you have..?" Terrence questions, in only two sentences turning the Protector's offensive against himself, seeming to rise in his chair above what his own usual stance would suggest.

"If she was always wrong, then you definitely should have," he offers, doing his best to mimic the Proctector's own usual neutral tone. He's not accusatory, but he's not not accusatory, either..? If the Protector is going to be so judgemental without revealing all the facts, then he's going to have to understand all of the judgement the mortals face, too, even if it happens this way every year.

Mortals aren't known for our empathy.

If the Protector is impressed with Terrence shifting his demeanor, he doesn't show it. If he's phased by Terrence turning the table around, he doesn't show it. If anything he's going to turn it back.

"I disagreed with her much in the way that a colleague does. Our work was separate and should not have ever overlapped." He answers, narrowing his eyes.

"I did not have the moral ground to order or carry out an execution. My ability to have, or not to, are no longer relevant to consider." He flips his cup back on the table just as a waiter comes by to refill it. At the same time, the protector picks up a knife and lifts up the Wizard doll on the tip of it. The doll gets speared and starts sliding down it.

"Dispose of this." He commands to the waiter more than he asks it, then he turns back to Terrence to pose a counter-theoretical.

"If I told you that one of your allies would kill you before this was all over, what would you do?"

"I'd say you're full of shit," Terrence states, almost as stonefaced as the Protector as he grips the Wizard doll and yanks it off of the Protector's knife before anyone else can take it. The islander looks, frankly, lost as fuck and like they have no idea who to obey between the two.

With absolutely no fanfare whatsoever, though, Terrence squishes the effigy between his fingers just like any other clay while staring the Protector in the eyes. For someone just completely winging it, the CEO is pretty much nailing the 'creepy anime badguy' look.

"If you were better than us you'd have won already."

He's sorely tempted to make the Wizard doll crumble to dust in Terrence's grasp but he thinks better of it. Watching it between Terrence's fingers is enough for him for now. He waves off the poor waiter before the situation can get any more confused.

"If I were not locked in by the rules she laid out, I would have." He counters, narrowing his eyes again.

"I cannot win a marathon with my limbs shackled."

"So just like us, you're beholden to her in some way," Terrence extrapolates. Considering how things had played out over the past 40 years it's not exactly a new accusation, but it still felt good to direct it completely at him.

The Protector sighs, leaning back in his seat.

"The word you seek is imprisoned." He clarifies, before adding. "And she chose these awful articles of clothing, too."

Candid as possible!

Now theyre getting somewhere!

"And we're imprisoned because we're amusing, yes..? Or, well, in general, not necessarily every group she imprisons." He muses a bit before continuing, "I assumed it was too boring to kill off any one knight 'offsceen' as it were. That's why I assumed I was safe - attacking her then didn't resolve any storyline and would be a waste to leave so early, especially with a 'character' as popular as myself..."

He's getting a little too meta.

"She will, and has, killed knights away from the public eye." He immediately counters, narrowing his eyes at Terrence's assumption that this is that much of a game. Unreal, Terrence.

"You are imprisoned because the mechanism demands it." He answers, watching Terrence. If he wanted a bombshell, he's about to get it:

"She does not call anyone to this place. So I call heroes to save this world." He says, coldly, watching Terrence for him to freak out or lash out in anger like many others have. He's well aware of the blood on his hands, but it has to be on someone's.

"And the world is grateful for it."

If the Protector is expecting Terrence to freak out, he'll be disappointed. The rabbit knight is surprised, certainly, and his face absolutely shows it... But he's also not particularly upset.

If anything, he's even more curious, since as the Protector himself put it - he'll receive only lies from the Wizard. If he wants answers, he should ask the Protector.

"...We are," he emphasizes in return, staring into his drink idly. "But you have to admit, the very fact I've come up with the scenario I just presented is because of the lack of information you've given us, regardless of why."

He wants answers and he's getting answers. Terrence is in answer city, the city filled with answers. The Protector would much rather answer than have any knight go to the Wizard. She was wrong, she would always be wrong, and he had said as much. And when she was dead and the world spun on, that was all the proof needed that she was wrong. He takes a sip of his tea, shaking his head at Terrence.

"It is not my duty to give a detailed history of this world and our enemy to every hero. She wishes us destroyed. It is your duty to come prepared to save the world. If you need further motivation than the destruction of this planet, it will be given but questioned." He shakes his head.

"And I will not encourage skepticism in the face of Armageddon. Our duty is sound and we must not waver."

Stupid sexy Protector...

That's the first thought that flashes through Terrence's mind as his body moves faster than he can think. If the Protector wants to stop him, he certainly can - hell, if anyone is watching at this point, they could probably stop Terrence, the non-fighter, if they wanted.

It's not so much the actual movement Terrence makes that matters so much as it is the meaning behind it all, as he places his face not even two inches away from the Protector's, holding him by the collar with a free hand, knocking both of their drinks to the floor of the otherwise pristine teahouse.

"Question all you want. Give it."

It's obvious to anyone that Terrence is scared, and in a last-ditch effort he's trying his best to be proactive. Acting uncharacteristically didn't worth with the Wizard, it didn't work with who he thought was one of her Knights, and it's not working now with the Protector. He has nowhere else to go but straight forward.

The rabbit knight hasn't even bothered to pull out any weapons, natural or summoned. He has nothing left.

If Terrence was expecting anything out of that, he's going to be sorely disappointed for roughly ten seconds. His breath is calm, steady and smells vaguely of apples from his tea. At this distance, it's obvious that he didn't even flinch at Terrence's approach. His eyes stay locked on Terrence, searching him and his emotions. It's only after those ten seconds, after he's certain Terrence isn't going to ask for more than that, that he abruptly stands. He grabs Terrence's collar as he stands, fingers gripping into the fabric as he lifts the rabbit knight up with him. He keeps a firm grip on him as he stands, leaving the rabbit knight up on his tiptoes as the Protector lifts him up.

"You know well enough the sordid reputation she's made for herself. What you and the others cannot fathom is who she is. She would sacrifice this whole world, every one of its people, for her fatalistic view that this world must end. She wants to stand at the precipice of oblivion just as it all crumbles." He suddenly releases Terrence, this time allowing a raw hatred to steep into his voice.

"She, and her unthinkable spell trapped us here and she wants us to die here."

Terrence is shocked, but only for a moment. If anything, he seems pleased by the Protector's reaction even as he struggles pathetically against the taller form's grip.

The rabbit knight loudly coughs after falling to his feet, obviously exaggerating just to get the attention of more passersby than would normally hear...

"So you're just as fucked as we are..?" he asks through a strained throat, though his amusement is plain. He doesn't even have to reiterate his previous point about the Wizard's omnipotence and omnipresence rendering their effort pointless.

"No." He answers immediately, the word still dripping with hatred.

"I refuse death. Such a crude method would free me of this cycle, but I will not willingly leave a mountain of bodies behind me." He sighs after he says it, shaking his head.

"None of you will survive without intervention."

"I'm certainly happy for your interference then," Terrence chuckles, still rubbing one black-furred hand on his throat more for theatrics than anything. The Protector was clearly more making a point than actually trying to harm him, after all.

"I'm sure this situation isn't easy for you, either," he acknowledges, moving his seat back to its original position and sinking into it, "but you've got to understand how it makes us feel as well if we're going to work together. Even when we win, it's only because of some weird technicality, or the powers granted to us, or some other form of outside assistance... As you've just said, we have no chance under our own power. We have almost no agency in our own destruction, and that's immeasurably frustrating."

Again, the Protector isn't an idiot. Terrence is sure he understands all of that - but then maybe he's so far removed from humanity that he actually doesn't..? Either way, the rabbit knight is at least in part just using their ally as a sounding board to vent his frustrations in a form of self-therapy.

If there's one thing he specializes in: It's making a point. He watches Terrence as he returns to his seat, curious what the rabbit knight is thinking in this moment. But then he goes off on, honestly, just a ramble? The Protector's eyes narrow as he gives a fairly straightforward response.

"Yes." He confirms, they do have almost no agency in all this.

"Which is why I am here." He watches him with a completely unreadable expression. What did you expect him to say, Terrence?

For once, the rabbit knight's pokerface is absent and his heart is completely on his sleeve. If his speech seems disjointed and rambly, that's only because his thoughts are as well. Still, he seems to be more entertained than anything and in a good enough mood despite it all.

"Not that I'm complaining," Terrence chuckles, "but before you made it sound like you were here for reasons beyond your control. You're helping us now because you're not an asshole, but we're not why you're here in the first place, right..?"

"Correct." He answers, not pulling his gaze away.

"It was the plight of this world that drew me here. It is something beyond my control that keeps me here. But so long as I am successful I will leave when it is all over." He explains simply, leaning back in his seat.

"Despite my accusations and frustrations, I'm really not trying to get rid of you," Terrence offers along with a smile. His tone is quieter and softer than before. "I wish we weren't so dependent upon you, but seeing as we are then I'm glad you're here. I've no ill-will against you personally, either." The CEO chuckles bitterly to himself at his next thought, but his voice stays light. "I'm sure it the idea of me holding a grudge would just keep you up at night for hours."

"I would not lose a moment's sleep." The Protector's overly harsh reply comes without much delay at all. It's hard to tell if he's joking or being serious because he doesn't inflect it either way.

"Our interactions will cease in seven days." He follows it, also equally as harsh. Yikes, dude.

"We are united towards a common goal, no matter our feelings."

"I see where Sucecq gets it now," he mutters, in that 'under-my-breath-but-still-loud-enough-I-obviously-want-you-to-hear-it' kind of voice. "To be fair, though, you didn't seek me out. I've been the one pestering you during a moment of rest."

With a resigned sigh, Terrence rises from his seat to right the table again, assembling the fragments of cup and saucer on top. Included is two-thousand dollars, pinned beneath to stop a breeze from carrying the cash away.

"Any advice before I leave you be?"

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wizardseason - 2019-10-16 19:32 (UTC) - Expand

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fop_lop - 2019-10-18 03:50 (UTC) - Expand

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