expiationlogs | { Player Event } What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well

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{ Player Event } What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well

Who: You. (Open to all)
Where: All over Aldrip.
What: This is the log for what we’ve been affectionately dubbing The Organ Player Plot. Various places around Aldrip are facing dangerous supernatural occurrences. It’s a scavenger hunt in some way.
Warnings: MANY SNAKES, Body Horror, Organ Trafficking, Horror Themes, Violence, and we will be updating this as we go along.

A waking scream in the darkness is the first unheard omen.

Snakes, hundreds if not thousands, slither forth from the depths of Lorentia Cave and swiftly invade Aldrip. They are the heralds of the terrible things to come, and there are no corners safe from their encroachment. The serpents come in all shape and sizes, venomous or not, and are quick to become agitated if approached. Their readiness to strike and unwillingness to back off once provoked indicates the lack of survival instinct to flee. They are on the search for what's missing, and they will put up a fight.

An invisible haze sets upon the city , filled with anguish and fury, afflicting residents as it washes through the air and buildings. Children, the elderly, and the sickly are the first to complain of ailment. Within the next few days, patients begin to flood the doors of any hospital or clinic with more serious conditions-- fevers burning from them inside out and excruciating phantom pains that make them writhe in bed.

The longer what's stolen is not returned, the worse things get. Who knows how many bodies will pile high from these plagues if nothing gets done...

ooc//
[ Dara is currently locked behind a barrier in Lorentia Cave to stave off the further spread of deadly miasma. Please retrieve a protection talisman from Seimei and retrieve what she’s lost (and hopefully return it…) !

How This Works–
To begin the search for the supernatural sources a participant can select a number that corresponds to one of the squares on the map (seen below). To go on a route head on down to the numbered top levels in the comments and reply to it. This is your character kicking off their investigation. Some routes will lead to nowhere, some to something, and others to ;)? You’ll find out.

During exploration you will receive responses from either

quizpersona or

cursegod. This is not an interaction with that particular character unless indicated otherwise.

This event will handwave wrap up by the 20th if no conclusion is reached before then because Dara needs her poor organs back. ]

The Map

Happy Belated Easter lol

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Akechi falls back the instant that the hand lets go off him. Screwing his eyes tightly shut to prevent any more of the hot tears slipping past his guard, he curls up on the ground. His breathing is abrupt as he keeps gasping for air while holding his injured arm close to his body.

The pain is almost too much, threatening to overwhelm all his senses. But then there is the distant scream, one that is cut short before it even properly begins, trashing sounds from water. Akechi can guess what is going on. And more importantly he knows what he needs to do, damned be the pain!

Taking a deep breath, Akechi grits his teeth together and clumsily pushes him up. The movement feels like sharp daggers on his wrist, radiating the sting all over his arm. Then, placing his left hand on top of the crate to gain some support, he jumps quickly from behind his hiding place to face Gogol properly. For a brief, yet heavey moment, the angry red eyes glare right at his opponent. The idiot was going to regret leaving his left hand working.]

Let's go, Loki! [He shouts and all of the sudden blue flames appear underneath his feet, snaking up along his body. And in the blink of an eye his usual attire changes, turning into a black and grey body suit, with a beak-like mask covering his face. From the flames a twisted looking figure morphs behind him. Sitting leisurely on top of his sword, grinning an ugly red smile down at the humans under him.

The pained grimace on Akechi's lips is gone, replaced by equally sadistic grin as what Gogol had worn just a moment ago.]

Get ready-- [Akechi growls, his healthy hand reaching to grab on the edge of his mask only to tear it off.] Laevatein!

[And with that command Loki moves, swiftly jumping up from his gigantic blade and turning it on Gogol. The sword swings in the air and is aiming to hit the opponent. Better move quickly, Clown! ]

[ Well. This is a problem. Because he hadn't come here with the intentions of killing anyone needlessly. These two sure are making it very difficult not to take that much easier route though, because they're starting to make it very needed. As if to punctuate the very thought as Gogol has it he feels the piercing of his own flesh through the Overcoat.

That's not good, that's not a good place to bleed from. A pained, shaky inhale through his teeth almost covers up the whimper of pain. Time enough to think is becoming a luxury. Speaking of— ]

Oh! No thank you.

[ There's just enough time for him to let go of his restraining grasp again to use the Overcoat for his own survival by whisking up into its depths with a sweep of his arm. A certified vanishing act, if only for a moment. Gogol can only go so far.

The next time the Overcoat opens it deposits Gogol partway along the wharf. When it opens again subsequently after during the confusion he's using it to dump a mini van's worth of the tainted ocean water overhead on Akechi. Scooped up within the square footage is Rolo–he expects the kid hasn't had the opportunity to drown just yet.]

Ehehehe!

[It's a miracle Rolo manages to keep a hold on his knife as the world suddenly spins wildly again, and then there's air again but he's falling–

The impact with another body is unavoidable in his state, and while it's better than drowning it's definitely not pleasant. His injured leg screams with pain. For a few moments, all he can do is cough up water and grope blindly with his free hand in an attempt to ground himself. This has gone so bad so quickly and the threat probably hasn't vanished in the past few seconds, but it's all happened too fast to keep up with–

Belatedly, he registers the feeling of another person beneath him, and he grips at them on instinct.]

[Of course he hadn't been able to sit still. Not at the news that Dara had been disemboweled and dismembered and planted as a catalyst for the sickness overtaking people. Again put into a position of harming others due to what she is, with no regard for her own will or feelings. It hadn't been more than a few weeks ago that send been on the verge of leaving and isolating herself out of fear of the threat she posed to others (to him)--

But at least he has the small snake that had slithered its way past all its brethren and sought him out. It acts as a ward, almost, keeping the rest of the serpents at arms-length, and stays coiled loosely around his fingers as he pauses at an intersection, pausing only to make sure Minato and Koromaru are still with him.]

C'mon, I think-

[Whatever he thought doesn't really matter, though. The sharp noise of a gunshot echos easily through the empty streets from the direction of the water– and then the screams (a few different voices? Familiar, maybe?) are all but a giant neon sign pointing at where the action is.

The huge Persona, one he doesn't recognize, is almost unnecessary at that point.]

This way!

[Sorry, leader- he doesn't wait for confirmation or orders, simply adjusting the axe in his non-snake holding hand and starting off at a run: a bit of impetuousness he doesn't typically display without a fair bit of goading. But it's a short dash to the dock, tucking that tiny snake friend away in the pocket with his talisman-- though arriving doesn't explain a whole lot.

Some dude in a catsuit with a sword. Wild. More likely to be their persona user than the kid on the ground coughing up the vile, oily mess of seawater. And then, decked out in white and flair as though the ringleader of this impromptu show–

Is some clown.

Goddamn this place is weird. And yet he's still dashing to get between the soaked and injured on the dock and who he can only assume is their aggressor– driven mad by the Miasma, maybe?]

The hell's going on?

[He doesn't even know who he's asking. Whoever wants to give them an answer??]

[ Shinjiro's the one who's asked him to come along. That's why Minato didn't have any questions for him before agreeing to join in his investigation. And because it's Shinjiro who'd asked, Koromaru also accompanied them without hesitation.

He takes quick stock of the scene on the docks. There's a cheerful-looking man in a top hat, and is that -- Akechi? And Rolo?

It doesn't actually matter who it is. Minato's instinct is to save whoever's in front of him. He grabs his Evoker and pulls the trigger with the device's barrel against his temple. His Persona, Orpheus, manifests in a burst of energy and strums his lyre. The sound reverberates in the air, soothing Akechi's and Rolo's wounds while providing them and Shinjiro with the confidence to dodge out of future attacks. ]

Senpai, I'll back you up.

[ It's probably more efficient that way, and Minato wants Shinjiro to know he trusts his old teammate's judgment. It'll be fine, probably, and it looks like he might have his hands full making sure Akechi and Rolo are all right. Best to reassure Shinjiro he's free to let loose if necessary.

But just in case, he adds: ]

If something goes wrong, I'll handle it.

[ Koromaru springs into action too, howling and summoning Cerberus to his side. The canine Persona snarls, breathing fire in Gogol's direction.

[And so Loki misses. Today really is not his day, you know. Akechi grits his teeth when Gogol moves, managing to avoid his attack. He really needs to do something to that agility of his.

His hand is already reaching back to his mask, all ready to rip it off and launch an another attack at Gogol, he's very determined not to let the clown get time to take break. He's just about to shout yet another command to his Persona when a gallon of filthy water is suddenly dumbed on him, slowing him briefly down. And as if that wasn't enough, the clown has the audacity to drop a bony-ass child on him. How dare!

Grunting loudly, Akechi is forced down and to drop his sword so that he can push Rolo away from him.]

Get out of the way, brat!! [He growls at Rolo, grabbing the back of his neck and tossing him out of the way. Sorry, kid. Your pain is none of his concern. It be like that.

With no moment to waste Akechi stands back up to his feet, trying to shake off the disorientation and spot the enemy. He needs to attack before the Clown comes up with other whacky scenarios.]

Loki--!!! [He is readying himself for another attack but then he is suddenly filled with a very familiar rejuvenating sensation of a healing spell. After that? Everything happens so fast. Suddenly there is a dog summoning yet another Persona and breathing fire. Somewhere back in his mind he remembers Kotone telling him about her teammate that was a dog---, wait no, focus Akechi. Details can come later, right now they need to beat their enemy.]

You two! Look sharp, he works with teleportation magic!

[ Whether they like it or not Gogol gets a second to breathe; he spends it trying to stem the bleeding from his hand. But of course, there's more to this off kilter circus act. At least for a second it really seems like he's about to encounter a voice of reason. He makes eye contact with Shinjiro and opens his mouth to respond—

Only for his eyes to be immediately drawn to the freaky little shit who shoots himself in the head without hesitation and doesn't die. It truly does seem like an improper circus proper when his gawking is interrupted by the fire that licks at his ankles. For the record: it is a shriek, genuine or not, that Gogol lets out as his hands reach out by instinct to intercede the sack of human that's being tossed (again). ]

Ohshit! Did you really just throw this guy?

[ It's not really dignified: the way Gogol has to shake out his leg to try to put out the fire, while shifting Rolo to hold him like a sack of potatoes with one arm. He looks down at him so incredulously. ]

Hey pipsqueak, look sharp. This would be so much easier if I just killed you.

[ Akechi is wise to sound the alarm on his ability—he'll give him that. Speaking of the Overcoat it looks like he doesn't even need his hands to activate it. He so graciously gives the other three a demonstration. A rowboat careens through the air from the right of them. One second passes as the portal relocates below. Sharp ornate fencing rockets up from below their feet. Another second must pass— A boulder smashes into the ground behind, sending the majority of the mass and all the little pieces of rocky shrapnel skidding forward. ]

[The screaming, throbbing pain in his leg recedes just briefly with the healing. Not that he can even really understand what exactly just happened there. Shakily pushing himself off the other guy, he has just enough time to take in the reinforcements, some familiar faces included, and some kind of...monster things just suddenly appearing, and then the soothing of the healing is pretty much negated by the guy that just bodily throws him off.

Rude.

Rolo yelps at the continued manhandling, and the brief relief of someone else catching him before his leg can hit the ground quickly dies off when he realizes just who has caught him. He struggles against the grip, not even dignifying the lunatic with a verbal response. He should really just punish the close proximity with more stabbing, but he'd lost his grip on his knife at some point while getting tossed around.

When it becomes clear that escape will be difficult with a bum leg, he gives up on the attempt to wriggle free and shifts his attention back to the strange squad of guys and their summoned monster things. That's a mystery he can solve later. For now, he unfortunately doesn't have a lot of options. Reluctantly, Rolo activates his Geass again.

For the boys, all left outside the range of the effect this time, they can actually see the way one of his eyes lights up a pinkish-red color as a similarly colored field of some kind suddenly expands outward in a tight orb around him and the clown. Everything freezes for Gogol in that moment, his sense of time suspended.

Teeth grit against the pain in his leg and now his chest as well, he shouts to the others.]

You have five seconds!

[A complete shitshow. That's what the hell is going on. Akechi snarling and throwing a kid, the guy he's fighting can apparently attack with teleporting? And--

An entire rowboat is jettisoned towards him??]

Shit!

[Instinct helps him throw himself to the side, and a quick flash of light disturbs it's trajectory, as though it had hit a solid object and rebounded-- one obstacle down, but as he rushes forward in the boats wake, sharp metal cracks up with enough force to rip through leather and cloth and flesh alike, gashing and ripping up a calf.

Shinjiro chokes back whatever noise he might have made at that-- it's agonizing, but whatever, it's a fight. He's bled before, he'll bleed again, and it's nowhere near the worst pain he's ever felt. Shut it out.

The kid is yelling about time, something huge is crashing behind him and he's just going to have to trust Akechi's judgment that the clown is the antagonist here. 5 seconds? Alright.

It's just enough time to cross that distance, hobbled as he is by the jagged tear from the offensive fences, and shout to Rolo.]

Be ready to move, kid!

[Because he is going to swing that huge fucking battle axe right as their time elapses, and would really prefer if the hostage weren't in the way.]

[ Akechi's warning is immediately confirmed by a rowboat hurtling through the air. Fortunately, Orpheus's earlier spell makes Minato and Koromaru a bit quicker on their feet. They dive out of the rowboat's way, narrowly missing the sharpened fence too. The metal catches on Minato's sleeve, leaving behind a superficial cut.

It's unfortunate confirmation that, indeed, everything being teleported at them is very real and very solid.

The shrapnel is less expected, razor-sharp pieces scattering everywhere. It's harder to predict where each piece will go, forcing Minato and Koromaru to dodge separate ways. And though there's a stinging in Minato's arm, that's not what's presently important to him.

Koromaru's talisman lies shredded on the ground. Perhaps they should be thankful only the talisman suffered damage, given how Minato had tucked it underneath Koromaru's collar. ]

Koromaru, over here --!

[ The dog gathers the talisman's pieces in his mouth and scampers over to Minato on command. He drops the paper on the floor with a small whine. Maybe he's disappointed in himself for losing the talisman, or maybe Koromaru's upset by the state of Minato's arm. Minato can't really tell. Not does he have time to dwell on it, barely five seconds based on Rolo's warnings. ]

It's okay, hang on --

[ He reaches into his pocket and withdraws his own talisman. Minato folds it over a couple times before tucking it under Koromaru's collar. ]

It's okay. I'll be fine.

[ After all, between the two of them, he'd prefer it be Koromaru who's protected from the miasma. Minato doesn't give Koromaru the chance to object either, pulling the trigger on his Evoker and summoning Pixie. Her body glows, casting a spell to reduce Gogol's defenses.

Koromaru howls again, Cerberus reappearing to cast a spell as well, one that heightens everyone's focus. They'll find it a little easier for their attacks to find their marks.

Make this count, Aragaki-senpai!! ]

[Oh. That sure is a rowboat?? That this idiot just pulls out of his coat?? Sure, ok. Akechi guesses he's seen weirder hit happen in Metaverse, so better not to dwell in the absurdity of it. But this confirms one fact: that the coat appears to be the source of Gogol's powers. Dismantling him should take a priority.

Easier said than done, though. They sure have a bunch of ragtag super powered teens fighting a clown. While they really are unbalanced when it comes to numbers, five(?) against one they are still outmatched -- at least as long a they stay uncoordinated like this, going blindly against their opponent without having a proper plan of action.

Akechi struggles back to his feet, clutching on his injured hand next to his own body. Loki, however, has assumed back to his leisured position on top of his sword, grinning at the chaos spread out in front of him. His lip, sown tightly shut, keep pulling on the sutures as he cackles silently at the silly humans.

'Is it truly this man you are mad at? Or the powers in this world?' The Persona whispers to Akechi's mind, who is now breathing hard and glaring angrily at Gogol, feeling the madness bloom within him. 'If that is so, we have a way to tear him into pieces - along with the rest of them.' And that is the final push he need. He might have lost his weapons but it doesn't mean he's completely out of the game yet, not at all.]

Aragaki--, Aim for his arm. [He growls a direction as the other Persona user is rushing towards him, swinging that axe of his. Then with a deep laughter he turns his attention back to Gogol.]

Loki, break him! [And with that command the Demon moves again, swinging the gigantic blade at Gogol -- this time aiming at the fabric of the cape, uncaring about any collateral damage the blade could cause. Sorry Rolo.]

[Even without the warning, Rolo can tell the trajectory of those attacks – he's half expecting the other crazy in the mask to just go through him anyway after he was tossed around like that.

Ugh. This is why he normally works alone.

Rolo holds out until they're almost on the guy and then elbows his way out of the clown's grip – far easier against an unresistant timestopped enemy – dropping to the ground and rolling away as best he can given the state of his leg. In the same movement, he deactivates his Geass.

From Gogol's perspective, everyone's positions are suddenly shifted in the same moment like an odd little stutter of reality, his hostage somehow already on the ground, a fact that might hopefully help as a distraction, and the two older teens suddenly already upon him.]

[ Time progresses but it's only him that it leaves behind. Any thought towards his own defence have become sluggish. Too slow to react, and that's what matters in the end. Something as simple as an elbow to the side is enough to push him out of ideal alignment to dodge anything anymore.

The demonic blade slices through the clavicle like butter. The upwards curve of it catches on the clasp keeping the Overcoat attached. The very last thing that the platinum haired man is able to do with any strategic thought in mind is reach one last time through his Ability to snatch Akechi's talisman. Both his hand and the protective paper are pulled back through as the mantle is peeled from him. The momentum of the metal flings it off to the side and instead of holding on Nikolai lets it find salvation from what's about to happen.

It isn't until the axe skirts just barely past his arm and instead embeds itself into his abdomen that he knows he's going to die. His arm lifts to push the axe from the flesh but the motion is aborted halfway: he knows with that kind of bodily trauma his own blood is quickly beginning to pool inside the cut through and ruptured internals.

It's painful, very painful. Not the most pain he's been in but notable in its brutality. He chokes on his laughter for as long as he's able to. Shinji is really the only one who decided to take him on in close proximity so he reaches his less mangled arm out to try to grab at him with all his strength. If he can manage to grab him by the neck he will. The intention is to hold him in place.

Gogol pushes a mouthful of bright red blood out from his humorlessly curled lips as to make it trickle in a steady stream to the phtalo green water gathering around their feet. Making eye contact with Shinji Gogol mouths something inaudible with a strained grin.

"Good luck☆" ]

[ Something is wrong.

It's in the way the torn up pieces of what was once Koromaru's talisman curl in on themselves before sizzling loudly with a blackened flame. Almost simultaneously the ambient temperature in the air plummets several degrees. A low pitched humming pulses from the deep as the surface tension out a few meters from the docks rises at a centralized place. At all of their feet the water begins to rise up to the ankles-- with the water at the clown's feet beginning to bubble as the trickle of blood hits the surface.

It happens first at Minato's feet: for he was first to lose his protection from the miasma. Pale and purpling hands, dirtied with flaking infectious blood under the nails and gathered at the knuckles, begin to drag themselves from the water using the hems of clothing.

Like a dam being opened the very second the Talisman is torn from Akechi is when another swarm of the limbs burst from the water's surface to grab at him. Should those hands touch any bare flesh there will be a pain comparable to a hot iron on unprotected flesh.

A discordant weeping sings. A sad siren's song. Let us in. ]

[He'd expected the crunching of ribs- and probably the guy being knocked down onto the dock incapacitated for enough time for them to grab Rolo and regroup. After all: nothing he'd ever fought had gone down that easily--

But maybe he's just never fought a normal human like this: with a weapon, going all out with the assumption that they were overpowered. The weight of the axe head sinks, meeting and eliminating the thin resistance of flesh and viscera, bringing them unfortunately face to face. (Had this how he looked when he'd died, too? Self-satisfied, nearly content?)

The hand gripping his neck is barely noticed as they go down with the force of the swing, his eyes locked onto Gogol's expression with a confusion that seems to edge on horror, but not quite making the cross. While the guy still breathes, he sure did just kill him.

...Was this what he'd meant by collateral damage? Clearly not. There's no way he would have known who would arrive. Anyway, thinking and processing is for later-- he pulls and steps back, letting the axe fall to his side to offer a hand to Rolo just as the water begins to roil and swell and push, surging up higher to their ankles, inky and chtonic and dangerous.]

There's still the Miasma to deal with--

[Hands. Singing. A horrific sound and a terrifying sight as Minato and Akechi are grasped at. Maybe this is really the phase 2.]

[Huh. That sure was pretty anticlimactic? He (and apparently everyone else) had thought Gogol to be made of something more durable. But in hindsight they probably should've seen this coming - Gogol had been relying solely on his stupid coat during their fight. So it only makes sense that without it he's nothing but a misplaced weirdo in a clown suit.

Anyway, they don't have much time to linger on the morality of their actions. The tide is rising, bringing grisly souvenir with it. The grim, decaying hands reaches up to him, successfully grabbing on his ankle and pulling him back on down -- probably aiming to take him underwater. The hold is surprisingly strong, feeling more like a sharp shackle than a grip, burning despite his outfit covering all of his body.]

-- Fuck!! [He growls, trying to reach for his displaced sword.]

[ The man in the top hat goes down. The blade cleaved through him like butter. Forget about the strange magician, Minato's attention is wholly turned to Shinjiro. Even from a distance, he thinks he can see Shinjiro paling as the consequences of his actions slowly settle into place.

Maybe the miasma and cursed hands grabbing at them aren't so bad if they provide Shinjiro a temporary distraction.

Minato swiftly lifts Koromaru into his arms, out of reach of the outstretched hands. One of them wraps their fingers around his ankle, nails digging into the bare flesh there. It burns like a hot iron curled around his limb, squeezing hard enough where he thinks trying to wrest himself free might risk him losing the leg altogether.

Koromaru whines and paws desperately at Minato's arm, vying for Minato's attention. The dog tilts his head back and sniffs the air before letting out an urgent bark. He wriggles and thrashes until he finally breaks free, aided by Minato's fading strength. And then he's off, sprinting as fast as his four legs will carry him.

Minato doesn't call for Koromaru. There must be a reason why he's run off. Instead, he focuses on trying to stay on two feet. Getting dragged underwater by the hands seems like a death sentence, given how it feels like his ankle is on fire.

Akechi's yelling commands his attention, and it's right then where he spots it: the glint of Akechi's sword, just barely within reach. Grabbing it risks losing his own arm to the hands. Fortunately for Akechi, Minato decides it's worth the tradeoff. He swiftly snatches the sword from one of the hands' grasp. ]

Akechi! Catch!

[ He throws it over just in time before another hand attaches itself to his forearm.

Meanwhile, Koromaru weaves in and out, dodging around the cursed hands until he's standing a few feet away from Shinjiro and Rolo. He barks at them urgently, jumping up and down to get their attention.

It looks like there's something important under the water. ]

[The clown goes down in a spray of blood that rains down on Rolo where he's lying on the ground, but that's so far from being a concern right now. The guy that had nearly axed him along with the crazy guy at least has the decency to offer a hand, and Rolo begrudgingly accepts it. He doesn't have much of a choice right now. It's an awkward effort to get up without the use of one leg, and every time his knee drags along the ground he hisses in pain through his teeth.

So with that said, it's probably a good thing the disembodied hands aren't coming after him right now.

There's not much he can do against...whatever those are. it's some kinda magic bullshit. Do they even have a mind he could affect with his Geass? He leans heavily into Shinjiro to keep the weight off his bad leg, and focuses instead on the dog going nuts.

Ah, hell.]

If the organ is down there, there no way I can get it right now.

[ In the frenzy the hands squeeze and crush all handfuls of flesh they can get in their grip. The possibility that these hands could squeeze viscera and bone alike into mush feels real. Although the rising levels of water is rooted in reality: for those who are unprotected will begin to feel hallucinations assaulting them as if they were real.

The more adventurous hands catch the scent of various injuries Akechi and Minato have obtained during the scuffle. Even for something as mild as a scratch the fingers begin to convulse wildly before rapidly crawling the try to slip under his clothes and incessantly pull and tug and scratch at damaged skin to tear it apart further. To get the infected water inside.

For all that have a talisman: which means Shinji, Rolo, and Koromaru—it's as if the hands can't even sense their presence. At least, not at the moment. For those searching for the organ they will observe that the darkened clouds above slowly swirl like the eye of a storm above the bulging waters below. The melancholic wailing has lowered to a buzzing hum originating from the very same area—a few meters from the docks. Are they willing to go for a swim? ]

[Akechi and Minato are being clawed at- possibly clawed apart. Rolo's leg is all but destroyed. Koromaru is barking incessantly at the water, likely to where the part of Dara was stashed. That's where the surge of filthy rotting water is coming from, right? And the hands?

Seimei said not to touch it. But the small snake that had shown up had already devoured his piece of Dara's tongue, that she had used to create a charm for him so many months ago.]

Koromaru, help get them out of here.

[His own legs are gashed open from the fence, but he's more mobile than the rest right now. He's immediately drawing the guardian serpent from the pocket and shedding the coat to the dock. A giant hunk of wool would just help him drown, after all.

Half to Rolo, half to himself:]

Let's hope this shit stops if we get it...

[And he will absolutely jump in. Y'all got weapons and Personas, y'all figure out the hands. He's gonna try and bring that snake to wherever the origin of all this fucking nonsense is and further postpone his mental processing of Clown Murder.]

[Thank you for quick thinking, Minato. Akechi manages to grab on the the blade just before he is pulled fully into the disgusting, murky water. The clammy hands take a hold on the edges of his helmet to pull him under -- all while the two other pairs grab on his injured wrist and begins to pull and twist.

The pain alone makes him see white and head spin. The water somehow feels far more deeper and darker than what it really is. It's as if he keeps falling and falling further in the stormy abyss. He's lost in the world of disorienting pain, hot white flares licking over his body as the hands try tear him apart, suffocating him. There's really no way telling what is real and what's not anymore.

Honestly? The anguish he's in is rivaling to the that time when he had been shot. When the bullet had pierced his lung and slowly drowned him. But back then there had been something to comfort him. A.. thought, a knowledge, that his final wish had been listened to and that his death wouldn't be in vain. But what about now? If he were to die here what it'd be for? For a petty revenge on a man who he just happened to dislike? Wanting to save the good-for nothing shit-stain of useless deity?

No. None of those were good enough for him. He didn't give rat's ass about either of them. If he's really going to die here, he better take everything with him.

Then, he feels the pressure inside his skull again. A eerily familiar pulse along with a rush of adrenaline pumping through his body, pushing him to ignore the pain and fight. There is sudden burst of red flames surrounding his body as Loki activates his ability, giving Akechi the desperate boost he needs to get up. And with that the Persona disappears into thing air. ]

Hahahaha--!! [Swinging his blade manically he actually manages to cut down the hands trying to claw at his body again. After he's free from their grasp he quickly surges forward, right at the closest person to him -- who just happens to be Minato. He raises his arm again to strike down at the hands grasping at the other teen. Again and again. He keeps bringing down his weapon --- not really caring about Minato's safety anymore at his point]

[ Koromaru offers Shinjiro a small nod and an "arf arf!" before turning to Rolo. He barks at the teen sharply and nudges at his good leg's shin. The water's rising fast. Fortunately, Koromaru's a strong swimmer. If Rolo hangs onto him, he'll start doggy paddling them to safety, trusting Shinjiro to handle the organ down below.

Minato fares worse, miasma hands digging into the flesh of his leg. His will to wrest himself free fades as something whispers in his ear to succumb, to give himself to the abyss. But then there's maniacal laughter, a sound so unlike the quiet words that promised to shield him from the terrors of the world by turning his back to it all.

The hands suddenly let go of him accompanied with a shrill screech, finding themselves stabbed over and over again. Minato uses that opening to move out of the way of Akechi's onslaught, but not before the blade's driven itself through his shoulder. He barely feels it; the pain blurs in combination with how much everything else hurts too. It's why he can't necessarily say throwing Akechi his sword was a bad idea, given that the other teen's attack freed him from the hands. He's perfectly content to trade the single wound for escaping the cursed hands.

Akechi doesn't get any words of gratitude. Instead, Minato retrieves his Evoker with his good arm to summon Horus. The giant bird circles overhead and drops pillars of light on the hands closest to Minato and Akechi.

The water's not receding. Lingering about any longer means the hands' attacks will continue, and it doesn't look like Akechi's particularly invested in trying to get away. At this rate, the other teen will meet his demise here too. Reasoning with him seems futile, but Minato tries anyways: ]

Akechi! We have to go!

[ The hands are back and clawing at him, but he can't tell anymore whether they're real or not. ]

[It's an odd benefit of the rising water that it makes moving much easier for Rolo – certainly less painful at least, being able to just float and let the dog tow him than it would have been to hobble along dragging a wrecked leg along the ground. He hooks one hand through Koromaru's collar to better secure himself, leaning against the furry body as the dark waters rise up around them.

He can't see Shinjiro underwater at all. And one glance at the others is about all the attention he can stand to give that mess right now – there's watery curse hands and giant floating spirit monster things and beams of light and shit. The guy with the mask is either helping Minato or trying to kill him. It's just...a lot.]

L-let's go.

[And he's talking to a dog now. At least it's one that seems to actually understand speech. With his free hand, Rolo gives Koromaru an awkward pat on the head in thanks.]

[ Akechi can slash at the hands if he wants, and for a moment perhaps they disappear, but he is more likely to be striking his own flesh and the flesh of others to achieve that momentary reprieve. Each time one of the illusionary hands is slashed it bursts into water. Very effectively ensuring that they are getting soaked through their clothing the more it happens.

Those talisman aren't water proof. The first time Rolo had been very lucky that his was intact after being submerged at the beginning. Alas, the prolonged exposure to the water makes the ink fade more and more until finally the hands can sense them. Both Shinji and Rolo will begin to feel the sensation of the hallucinations trying to tear at their wounds now too. It's not real... It's not real... Surely it's not real?

For them all, with the more infectious miasma that gets in the more they will feel that their body has already passed on to the afterlife. The physical body is feeling more and more foreign; the soul desires deliverance from that fleshy mortal prison. As if in direct response to Minato's verbal attempt to devise a way to survive this the hands renew their efforts tenfold on him. One gently grasps him at the jaw. A show of desperation to coax him to give up and accept this fate.

After Shinji takes the plunge all the sounds of the chaos around him lessen drastically in volume. From that gashed open wound on his leg he'll feel the infection crawling through the opening, under the skin, and taking hold.

But ahead of him he'll see it. The spleen floats suspended in the water. Not yet in reach but reachable if he guns for it. ]

[Compared to the surface, it's oddly quiet under the water. Not quite serene with the rotting water burning at his wounds, or the heavy mental dread building as the ink bleeds from the talisman-- but there sure is a lot less screaming and stabbing. Instead there's a heavy pressure all around as he kicks his screaming legs to propel towards the half-floating sack of flesh that must be a part of Dara.

He should probably feel alarmed at the heat clawing into his torn skin and muscles, feeling like a slow, flooding fever as it progresses. The burning in his eyes, opennas he tries to see through the turbulent, ill-coloured wated. At the way his chest tightens as he swims, a reminder of the time limit on his breath. At the surreal idea and sensation of fingers, picking at any wound they can find like it's a scab not-quite-healed but impossible to resist pulling apart and open. But instead of distressing him, the idea of it feels... familiar.

Just like when he'd died right? Searing pain. Difficulty breathing. Consciousness harder and harder to hold to. A natural release from life. One he'd done before, and wouldn't be afraid of facing again.

Once close enough, and he'll hold out the hand with his small, guardian snake-friend, as though willing it to strike and take the organ within itself.]

{ Player Event } What's true of all the evils in the world is true of the plague as well

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Boss fight phase 2???

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boss fight!!

This isn't even my final form (spoilers: sadly it is)

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CW: if ya squeamish stop reading here

The Disembodied Voice of Narration

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🌊👋

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cw: past-character death?

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CW: current character death

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