Day 7: Evening

Aftern-Evening: 3pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: January 22 - January 29, 2020. ]

After all of Seven's fights, ending in Luka taking Ten's hand as the other heroes arrive. The knights will be treated to the sight of something entirely unexplainable: Seven is wounded, laying on the asphalt with a bright white crossbow bolt sticking out of their body. They're still pouring black goop off of their body, but they appear to be wrapped in some kind of cloth tarp. Five is kneeling over them, dressed in a skin-covering assassin outfit that only reveals her five eyes peering out. In her hand is a phone, and that's really all that can be seen before she and Seven disappear into a portal in the ground.

Luka, meanwhile, is standing with Ten's hand in his and his crossbow laid on the ground and not in his hand. No matter what the arriving heroes cry out in order to get his attention, it's too late to stop him. Abruptly, the portal opens and both the Princess and Ten disappear into the ground.

Naturally, the hashtag #princessnapped is forged.

That doesn't prove to be the only hashtag to get some heavy use this evening. The #wizardfound and #robotwizard hashtags find a sudden, new reason to actively discuss what's going on.

The remaining heroes: Garrot, Gyre, Haizea, Matilda, Olivia, (and... where's Terrence?) will find that the events from earlier in the day have caught up to them. There's a crack like thunder as both the Wizard and the Protector flicker into existence and both land in the superhero pose in the center of the intersection that Luka just disappeared from.

The Protector, if possible, is looking even worse than before. He's sporting a black eye and numerous cuts on his forehead, cheeks, and arms. It looks like he's been lit on fire at least once, but even so he's holding his rapier out in anticipation of the next strike.

The Wizard, meanwhile, is finally openly visible to everyone after her absence. She looks rough. It's as if the areas where she'd been harmed have been replaced or repaired with robotics. The left side of her face is no longer bandaged, instead revealing that she now has a robotic eye with a glowing yellow ring. The cables that were visible in the video before are very clearly plugged in just behind her ear, trailing down over her shoulder and down her back beneath the robes.

And of course she's still wearing pajamas. But they look like they've seen better days, charred and ripped and shredded at every edge. In her hand, though, is a massive axe. One side of its head is a giant half-circle axe head while the other side is a heavy weight like a hammer. The entire weapon is jet black, but it has a glossy shine.

What's the worst that could happen?

The Weather
Cloudy, breezy.
48°F / 9°C
Brrr.

Prompts:

3:00pm The Garden, Unknown Location: When Luka falls through the portal with Ten, he'll become immediately aware that the monster has slipped himself closer and snuck his feet beneath Luka's to stabilize him. Despite the falling, he seems surprisingly stable in the air.

And then there's the soft crunch of grass beneath his feet and he shifts slightly, waiting for Luka to step back on his own. Wherever they are, the air is filled with the scents of wildflowers and scents that are both beautiful and entrancing in their complexity. It's clear that there are dozens, if not hundreds of flowers and plants in the immediate vicinity. There's the gentle warmth of sunlight on Luka's skin, clearly advertising that they're outside (or in a very clever indoor garden). But most calming is the gentle sounds of moving water. If Luka focuses, he'll be able to pick out that there's a small waterfall, several waterways, and multiple water features with water tumbling down over rocks. And, of course, a pool or a pond with fish gently swimming about beneath the surface.

But he'll be interrupted twice before he can lose himself. The first is Ten.

"We're here." He says, but if Luka's not shaken enough he'll realize that he doesn't hear Seven and his Seven sense isn't going wild. But the second distraction happens as Luka's phone bloops from an unknown sender with a text:

"Welcome to the Garden, Princess." The text reads... with no explanation of who or how they sent him the text. That's totally normal!

3:00pm Street Intersection, Bamborough: With the arrival of the Wizard and the Protector, it's very clear that shit is about to go down. But that absolutely isn't what the Wizard has in mind for this situation. She's the one running this game, and she isn't about to get five heroes wrapped up in her duel with the Protector. Before anyone can take an opportunity to make any attacks, and especially not the Protector, she snaps the fingers of her free hand five times.

And reality fractures. The way that the cracks in midair begin to fold and reflect the area and people around them, it's like the world is folding up into a trick mirror house. It's... actually exactly that. Reality twists and folds, forming reflections and containers out of the air itself until every single hero is enclosed in one. The hero in the middle of their own box, reflected on two opposite walls. But on the opposite two walls, the Wizard is visible beyond in one of them and the Protector is visible beyond in the other room. Uh. This conversation might get awkward. Worse is that they can't get distracted by their Seven senses, because no one can feel them anymore.

3:15pm To Everyone: In the middle of the earlier events, every hero in Bamborough receives a text from an unknown sender. The only one who's spared this text is Luka, because he got a text earlier. The text reads: "I can give you one teleport to anywhere today. Tell me when and to where. Don't be unreasonable!"

8:00pm Onward, Everywhere: The day is done, the events are finished. How does your character get home? Do they go home alone? Do they seek the company of their fellow heroes? Do they stay alone, or do they get a room together? Either way, it's a rough night for everyone.

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.

Activity Check: January 2020

[ IRL Timeframe: January 1st - January 31st, 2020 ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

When Luka falls through the portal with Ten, he'll become immediately aware that the monster has slipped himself closer and snuck his feet beneath Luka's to stabilize him. Despite the falling, he seems surprisingly stable in the air.

And then there's the soft crunch of grass beneath his feet and he shifts slightly, waiting for Luka to step back on his own. Wherever they are, the air is filled with the scents of wildflowers and scents that are both beautiful and entrancing in their complexity. It's clear that there are dozens, if not hundreds of flowers and plants in the immediate vicinity. There's the gentle warmth of sunlight on Luka's skin, clearly advertising that they're outside (or in a very clever indoor garden). But most calming is the gentle sounds of moving water. If Luka focuses, he'll be able to pick out that there's a small waterfall, several waterways, and multiple water features with water tumbling down over rocks. And, of course, a pool or a pond with fish gently swimming about beneath the surface.

But he'll be interrupted twice before he can lose himself. The first is Ten.

"We're here." He says, but if Luka's not shaken enough he'll realize that he doesn't hear Seven and his Seven sense isn't going wild. But the second distraction happens as Luka's phone bloops from an unknown sender with a text:

"Welcome to the Garden, Princess." The text reads... with no explanation of who or how they sent him the text. That's totally normal!

Luka steps down softly into the grass beneath. The falling was much more pleasant than anticipated, thanks to Ten. And the garden's pleasantness was no exaggeration. Luka really wasn't one for the outdoors but this seemed like a place one could stay happily forever. Or maybe he was just glad to be away from everything else.

He was ready to take in the surroundings more when his phone receives the mysterious text message. He gets reception here? Strange.

"... is that Twelve?" He whispers, unsubtle, to Ten after the text reads out.

Ten makes sure that Luka isn't going to lose his balance and fall after the teleport, just in case, but once he's sure that Luka's stable he takes a step back and separates from the Princess.

Two of his eyes peer down at the text Luka got as he asks a... rather understandable question. It's silly to Ten because he knows exactly who that is and the fact that Twelve isn't going to text anyone, but he knows that Luka doesn't know that, so:

"No, she doesn't text. That is Eight." He answers, shifting slightly to look around as a soft breeze makes all the surrounding bushes and flowers rustle.

It'll be fairly obvious that there's a tree nearby, the soft creaking of its branches announcing its presence a handful of yards behind Luka. To his left and right he'll hear bushes, or perhaps big flowers, almost in a ring around him. Like he'd arrived on a landing pad. The ground beneath him is just grass, but if he moves there's a path made up of small rocks that'll lead the way.

But Ten knows this game, and he reaches over to Luka's hand again to guide it to the side to find: A guide wire. It runs along the path for a good amount of the garden perimeter and blends in surprisingly nicely. Someone has kept the bushes and plants that are immediately beside it in impeccable shape so that no part of it is ever overgrown. But the plants are mere inches away, that's some impressive attention to detail.

How convenient!

Luka takes the wire with Ten’s guidance. He’s surprised to find it there. He had imagined the monster’s garden to be less... maintained. Certainly not so accessible. But Luka isn’t complaining.

“What is Eight like?” He asks Ten as he begins to head wherever the path is leading them. “I don’t think I’ve heard a single thing about Eight.”

Most of the remaining monsters were a mystery to him, actually. Except for Ten, he knew very little about anyone else.

Luka's going to learn that this is one of many features in the garden to make it much more than just a simple retreat into nature.

"Scattered. He can't sleep, but he does his best." Ten answers, honestly as he starts walking with Luka.

The pathway leads out of the little arrival area and after a few yards, the wire comes to an end in the side of a circular surface on top of a small pole. The design of it makes Luka's hand slide from the wire and onto the top of it where he'll feel the purpose.

Engraved in the top are four arrows, each with braille to indicate what they are. Assuming that Luka hasn't neglected knowing how to read it, he'll quickly be able to figure out exactly what this little signpost he'd found says. Straight ahead, the arrow says "Home". To the left, it says "Lake", to the right it stays "Veggies", and back where he'd come from it says "Portal".

And while there isn't a wire immediately connected to the three other arrow sides that are pointing away from where he'd come from, he'll find another set of wire guides along the sides of the next three paths if he takes a step or two and reaches for them.

Which path does he take? Also, huh, why would this even be here? Seems like a lot of effort just for Luka.

“Oh, I know a lot of people like that.” He laughs. “Is he nice?”

When Luka’s hand reaches the engraved surface, he immediately recognizes the inscription as Braille. His parents had enrolled him in Braille lessons nearly as soon as he had been cleared from the hospital, and reading it now was no sweat.

“Which way?” He asks Ten. None of the brief descriptions particularly hinted at where the answers were most likely to be found, or where Nine’s machine would be. Probably not in ‘veggies’, but you never know.

Ten is quiet for several moments as he decides what the best way to answer that question is.

"He does his best. Who do you want to see?" He answers the other question, too. 'Which way' was pretty open to interpretation and Ten didn't want to assume which individual Luka wanted to see. Twelve? Eight? Seven? Six? Five?

...

Not Five.

Luka is going to take that for a polite way of saying ‘no’. But at least Eight is apparently trying?

“Who has the most answers? Who has the most knowledge about this supposed plan?” He was very curious about Eight, Nine, Eleven and Twelve, but figuring out how they thought they would end Wizard season forever was the more pressing matter at hand.

If Five has those answers, he’d even choose her. Though it’s unclear how willing she would be to share them with him.

If Ten was pressed on it, he'd emphasize that it isn't "no" but more that it's much more complicated than just being nice or not. Eight had a lot on his plate, arguably more than Nine did, but he wasn't as stubborn as she was about hers.

"The Wizard and Eleven made the plan but they're not here. Eight and Nine are working. Twelve won't talk to you probably." He answers, inserting an artificial pause in the text-to-speech because he knows the phone will just keep talking without pauses otherwise.

"Five is more articulate but hates you. I know most of the plan." He concludes, inserting another pause before finishing:

"Not an easy answer sorry."

That was quite a lot of information at once, and Luka takes a moment to sort it out in his mind. Ten’s mention of the Wizard brings up a lot of questions, and Luka puts a pin in those for later.

“Well, I guess that narrows down my options.” He says, folding his arms. No surprise Five hates him, but somehow Luka manages to be offended by the statement anyway. “Wait, why won’t Twelve talk to me?”

Five would be offended by Luka being offended about her hating him. He's the jerk here!!

There's another pause as Ten decides how to answer, this one a little longer.

"Sometimes she doesn't talk. You could ask her." he offers, he just sort of assumed that Twelve wouldn't talk to the Princess today but maybe he'd be proven wrong.

“Interesting... I can’t say I blame her. Some days you just don’t want to answer any questions.” He shrugs. “Well, in that case, which one is your favorite place? Because I’ll probably end up talking with you.”

Luka waits, listening for the response. He’s curious to find out which, of any, would be Ten’s preferred location. Maybe he would learn something about Ten from it.

That was a decent enough explanation for Ten, so he goes with that. But then Luka asks where Ten's favorite place here is and he thinks for a moment before answering:

"The Lake."

It was a surprising response, at least not the one Luka had pegged Ten to choose. Ten really seemed like a Veggies type of person to him! But he quickly navigates himself in the direction that the sign indicated, reaching out to feel for any guiding lines along that path. He motions for Ten to come along, though he might already be doing so.

“Ten, can you read braille?” He asks, curiously. “I didn’t expect to find it here of all places... unless... did you know I was coming?”

It was one of the many questions that were presently stirring around in Luka’s mind. Perhaps not the most urgent issue at hand, but one that begged asking.

Ten is exclusively a veggies person when he's preparing to cook, but as it stands he's more into the idea of having a conversation at the lake. It's calmer. He moves along with Luka as he starts off in the direction of the lake.

Luka will handily find the guide to the side of the lake path, and once again he'll be able to follow along on the rocky path out towards (presumably) the lake. The more he walks, the stronger the scent of the water will be and the louder the sounds of things moving in the water will get. It'll take them a moment to get there, though.

"No and no. The braille is for Eight." He answers, blinking his eyes in a pattern as he looks over Luka. It made sense that Luka could read it, but he hadn't wanted to assume.

"Eight! Hm." Luka exclaims, breathing deep as the scent of the lake washes over him. It was a nostalgic smell, one that brought back some of Luka's favorite memories, and he instantly relaxes. "I'd like to meet Eight. Is he blind too?"

It's a moment before he picks up on the sound of moving water. It was an unusual sound for a lake, normally they were quite still. He imagines there might be boats on the lake but... it didn't seem like anyone was around the area except for the monsters themselves.

"He is. There is a bench ahead if you want to sit." Ten answers and offers.

Sure enough, the wire guide at the side is momentarily interrupted by another small circular signpost. This one has an arrow pointing to the side with "Bench" in braille. Convenient! Now that they're closer, Luka will pick up on the gentle bubbling of water over rocks, presumably from a small waterway or stream that empties here into the lake.

If someone were to map this entire garden out, they'd find that the waterways formed a massive circle through the entire garden space. Water exited the lake and made its way all the way over to the veggie gardens, running through them like irrigation, and the drained water out from the veggies went all the way around the other side, past water wheels and plants and all sorts of inhabited shallows until draining back into the lake. One big ecosystem.

"Someone else fed the fish already." Ten adds, turning slightly as he looks out at the lake they've arrived at.

"Fish? They sounded big for fish." He notes as he takes a seat on the bench, leaving ample room for Ten to sit if he chooses to.

"Soooo, about this plan. What do you know about it?" Luka wastes no time getting to the point. He had dozens of other questions, but these are the answers he came here for specifically. "You said the Wizard and Eleven came up with it, right?"

The fish were not small, that was... a true statement. Ten's gaze lingers on the water for several moments considering what Luka had said. But he decides to let it rest, gaze turning back to Luka now that he's sat down. He doesn't join the Princess on the bench, instead staying on his feet.

"They did. The plan is for this to be the last year. Then we all get to go free. It has a lot of moving parts." He starts to explain, pausing for a moment.

"The Protector can't hear us here, so we can say anything we want."

"Could... he hear us everywhere else?" Luka's heart sinks at the prospect, and he hopes it's just him misinterpreting Ten's words. He knew the Protector could see almost anything he wanted to, which was risky enough, but if he could hear too...

Luka shakes his head. "Uh, right, the plan... well, how does it work? Does it have something to do with that cave in the mountain that Gyre led us to?"

"Almost. Sometimes we can block him. But it's safer to assume he can hear you." He answers, honestly. That just always seemed the safer bet, not risking being heard by never speaking when there could be the ears of the enemy out there.

Of course, there were other pieces in play that Ten didn't know about that someone else had prepared to keep Luka safe. How nice! But since Ten didn't know that, Luka wouldn't know that... Wack.

"It ends there. We have five more days to get it ready. It would be easier if everyone was working together." He answers, pausing again to make sure it sounds more natural and less like Microsoft Sam belting out words as fast as possible.

"I think we're going to lose our magic when we're all together."

Not exactly the most reassuring answer, and not the one Luka would have ideally liked to hear. He presses a palm to his still bloodied forehead, remembering all his illicit conversations and, then, imagining the Protector being privy to them. If Ten was correct, Luka might be much more of a fool than he'd ever care to imagine.

"Why do you think that?" He asks, eventually, his words soft. He's looking straight ahead, catching the brief flickers of light that reflect off the movement in the lake.

"That you'll lose all your magic." He clarifies. "Gyre and I were working on bringing the group together, kind of... and then Seth got killed. We're not working hard enough."

There's a soft shuffling and then the scent of a little hankerchief as Ten offers one out.

"For your head." Since Luka's sitting now, it was a chance to get cleaned up at least a little. It's just slightly wet enough to help get any dried blood off.

"We think the magic is part of why this happens every year. If this is the last year. The magic won't stay. But this has to end." He explains, but then Luka says that other thing and--

"The Protector killed Seth. He wants everyone to believe it was Seven."

He takes the offered handkerchief, startled a bit at its slight ... wetness? But at least, whatever liquid this was, it didn't burn. He makes use of it and wipes the drying blood from his face. It's a small improvement, but it's something.

"Thanks." He says, though he keeps the handkerchief in his hand for the moment, idly moving it between his fingers.

"Will you be okay when you lose your magic? It's not keeping you alive or anything, right?" It's kind of an odd question, he realizes, when not even hours beforehand he had been trying to murder one of them, technically. And now he asks this as if he's concerned for their well being.

But Ten's next statement is a heavy one, and he sits up straight in the bench, his expression serious.

"Why would he kill Seth? Why would he do that when Seth was recording him?"

"Probably." Ten answers, shifting slightly as he shrugs. He didn't know the answer to that. Would he just fade out of existence without magic? That would suck.

"But we'll do it anyway, it has to be done."

And then Luka asks the heavy question, and... well. Heavy in, heavy out.

"Seth saw him with Seven, we don't think he knew Seth was recording because he always had his phone out." He answers. They had all talked about it at length after seeing the video, it just confirmed that they had to get their plan in motion now. Time was up.

The Weather

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3:00pm The Garden, Unknown Location

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