Day 7: Evening

[wizardseason]

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?

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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.

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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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Activity Check: January 2020

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

Comments

[wizardseason]

Unfortunately for Gyre, she knows enough to know how to tempt him away from here. When he insists that he stay until last, she straightens slightly and finally starts standing on her own.

"I won't die. You should go talk to Twelve."

[sustainer]

He shakes his head immediately. He does want to talk to Twelve, of course. He wants to talk to all of them, but they're the ones who told him the Wizard has to live, or it gets that much harder. Even if he didn't care about keeping her safe, he'd stay here to protect their plan.

"How can you be so certain you won't die?" he asks calmly. "She'll be there later. Once you're safer."

[wizardseason]

"I'm safe." She follows, sounding like she's drifting off to sleep.

"And he can't dodge me right now." She adds, amused, looking Gyre over. She has a theory...

"The Princess is there, with the monsters."

[sustainer]

She is flustering him completely with this! Why won't she let him help, god dang it.

"I know. I watched them go. Ten is with him," he says, tilting his head at her. Did she think he'd be worried about Luka with the monsters? He sometimes doubts Luka's intentions, but he doesn't think the princess would attack any monsters while in their own garden.

"You won't be safe if you fall asleep." He pauses a moment, considering what she actually said as he scans the street again. "What do you mean, he can't dodge you?"

[wizardseason]

Because he can die right now, and she can't.

"He doesn't have a weapon, or a plan. This doesn't miss..." She answers, rocking slightly against her weapon where she's standing.

"...and I can't sleep." She adds, saying it out loud somehow making her look even more tired.

"But you're hurt, so you should go. I'll be there soon with the others."

[sustainer]

He glances down at the rapier when she says the Protector is missing his weapon. He doesn't like the idea of leaving her even with this particularly pointed reassurance, and he bends down with a low hiss to grab the sword.

"I'll take it with me then. Then he won't be able to get it back," he says with a hesitant little tilt of his head. Is that true? He has no idea with these people, and he hesitates for a moment longer. He doesn't want to leave her here looking like this.

"Can you tell someone if you're in trouble? I'll... ask this person to send me back," he offers, pulling his phone out again and waving it slightly.

[wizardseason]

"I can, but leave the blade. He can get it back." She answers, glancing down to the weapon. Then, her gaze shifts over to a nearby curb where Luka's crossbow from the Protector is laying. Both weapons are bright white.

"If you bring it, you'll probably get killed for having it." She explains, glancing down to his pone.

"Go see Eight. He and Nine know I'm here." She answers. She doesn't name Five or Ten because she knows Gyre knows they were here.

[sustainer]

He looks........ miserable about this option. He just wants to make things easier for her, but it feels like there's nothing left for him. He looks down at the sword for a beat, and then scrapes it along the ground, stepping on the tip of it and snapping it in half with a grunt of effort. It feels pointless when she says he can get it back, but it's all he can think to do right now.

"Be safe," he says, giving her a significant stare and dropping the hilt of the sword onto the ground by the broken blade. Once he feels like she's gotten it though, he opens his phone up and speaks into it, unease obvious in his tone.

"《I'd like to go to Twelve's garden, whenever you have a chance.》" A moment later, he puts his phone into his pocket, the ground below him starting to flicker.

"You're important," he adds, hoping to all the gods that she doesn't put herself in danger after nearly dying. She can say her death is impossible all she likes, but he remembers her destroyed house and the silence she left behind.

[wizardseason]

As the portal comes more into view beneath Gyre, the Wizard gives him one last small smirk as she answers his last words. Her? Important?

"Only for now."

And then Gyre drops through the portal.