beiwe said help those kids so buddy that's what we're doing

[aneikonic]

Who: Clive, Joshua, Mizuki, Elsword vibrating in a t-pose
What: Beiwe gave Clive Ominous Words and now they're trying to do something about it
When: The day after the Town Meeting
Where: McMansion
Warnings: Oh lordy. It's the Mansion. The Kids Are Dying. There's prolly gonna be monsters and gore and etc it's a horror show in there

[ As promised, Clive and Joshua will make their way to the Mansion to meet with Mizuki and Elsword early in the morning. After breakfast, because Clive will insist upon it and Mizuki was right, it's just a good idea. They have no idea how long this will take - or what they will discover - and they're going to need the energy.

And speaking of, Clive will pause at the fencing around the Mansion to eye it, then turn towards Joshua and hand him the small bag of potions that came with him. There's a few of his medicine vials stuck in there as well. ]

You already know what I'm going to say.

Comments

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki is not having a fun time with the wobbling, either. Hhh, dizzy... Is there anything around that might help with this? Mizuki knows how to... make a small shield with his moon magic, but he doesn't think that would help any here.

They said not to go up the stairs, but maybe Mizuki could throw a noodle upstairs? Camouflage and go anyway? That seems bad, too. Hm hm hm. Thinking......... ]

[simplicitas]

If we go down, I'll catch all of you. But they had faith in our survival for so long, and it's our turn to have faith that they can do...

[Heroics stopped, Elsword is confused:]

...whatever it is they're doing, heh.

[aneikonic]

[ Clive is confused too, glancing up towards the ceiling. ]

Fighting amongst themselves, I would assume... They seem split on the idea of letting us help.

[sticksandbonesmods]

The manor is. Deeply unstable.

Through flashes they can hear the siblings arguing, Rillian in favor of allowing help and Evan scared, paranoid- the loss of their youngest did things to him. But then Rillian says something- "We can't keep doing this, we're both running out of time, I'm-"

And then everything seems to warp. Halls twist, spikes shoot out from every which way, up is down and down is up, and the chaos could end a life if it continues.

It doesn't.

The manor settles just as quickly, with the remnants of history gone and the truth as it is for everyone to see: the portraits of the family, older and together and happy, rather than vulnerable children.

A new voice speaks, a young man rather than a boy.

Whichever one of you's a healer, get up here. Now. She's too unstable to move.

[kingincognito]

[ Oh, Flames. That warping alone makes Joshua tense, not to mention the eruption of spikes everywhere. He's extremely close to throwing a shield up around the four of them--

And then it stops. And the voice calling makes his heart leap into his throat.

They're running out of time.

He doesn't even attempt to speak. He simply looks back at Clive, silently advising on what he's about to do. And then, hand on the bag containing the potion bottles, he takes off up the stairs. ]

[aneikonic]

[ Oh thank god he can still dodge, managing not to get spiked but fuck the sudden twisting of the house and-

and then it just stops and someone is calling for help upstairs. ]

Mizuki, please... go with him?

[ He doesn't try to stop his brother from heading upstairs; he has the cache of potions Clive brought into the world with him, he has sinnan's water in there, and if that fails the Phoenix's fire but- ]

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki nods, following after Joshua. He... wishes he could do a little more. Mizuki can only heal so much. And it's really only small wounds and such. He's really not used to this whole magic thing. He couldn't even use Arts back home.

Regardless, he'll help the best he can. Maybe, if nothing else, a magic of this world will be useful? ]

[simplicitas]

[When Mizuki's gone and his immediate eyesight ends, Elsword just shuffles closer to Clive like :) he is seeing Upstairs now, the rest of this area is a whole-ass mystery.]

[aneikonic]

[ Clive will blink and ???? put his sword away to hold Elswords hand? He'd rather the guy be guided than lost. ]

[simplicitas]

[Hooray!]

You don't have to worry about me, Clive-hyung.

[He says, and then follows that up with:]

I can't see the immediate area. If something happens, you might need to get my attention.

I can see upstairs though. [what] Joshua and Mizuki have it under control... I think.

[aneikonic]

Right... Mizuki is your eyes. It works over a distance? And it's just Clive.

[ He doesn't know what hyung is and why it's tacked on but he'll say that, and if Elsword likes to continue to add it, he'll let him. He's Mr. Knight to Ain after all. ]

Anything you see that might look worrisome but Mizuki might not see it as such?

[simplicitas]

Mizuki is my eyes, and yeah, it does. And "hyung" is "big brother".

[Clive-hyung :) ]

There's a lot worrying. The "kids" are "adults", and they're talking about a space created by emotional perception, and how that might've warped stuff. The spell they're maintaining uses a lot of mana, and Evan-hyung wants Mizuki and Joshua-hyung to leave with Rillian-noona, and leave him behind. And also, Evan-hyung thinks that refilling noona's mana right now would be a bad idea.

[aneikonic]

Oh.

[ Okay, he'll take that with a little nod.

He listens to what Elsword spills, frowning at nothing in particular. ]

Not surprised, and it might be. Yet Beiwe said to get them both out.

[ He tilts his head up to the ceiling, he hopes Joshua doesn't let himself be swayed or he's going up there. ]

cw: ritualistic self harm

[sticksandbonesmods]

The way up to the attic is uneventful, quiet.

The steps are already pulled down, a trap-door open, and it smells like blood.

Perhaps you were expecting children. But instead a young man- malnourished, sleep deprived and haunted- with brown hair and green eyes, cracked glasses and pale skin cradles a young woman with long red hair. You may assume her eyes are also green, and she's paler than her brother by far. Their clothes are blood-stained, and injuries hide under there, too.

Cuts mar both their arms, blood feeds into an elaborate magic circle that covers the floor, the walls, even part of the ceiling. Was this, too, drawn in blood? It's hard to tell. It's been centuries, after all.

The air feels strange, stopped, still, stale. And Evan is very... very tired.

[kingincognito]

By the Founder.

[ It's like a curse, whispered quietly and sharply. Joshua hadn't known what to expect exactly outside of some very vague idea, but even that is being thrown out the window. These are not children. The children have... grown? Trapped in here like this?

He pulls in a shaking breath, ignoring the staleness in the air for the moment as he moves quickly to kneel beside the woman, careful not to step on or disrupt any of the circle if he can.

A potion will not be enough. Not for her. For that, he pulls the bottle of Sinann's water from the bag - the one he'd obtained prior to the assault on the temple, which he had never used. He looks to the man, holding the bottle before him. ]

She must drink this. If she cannot, we have to help her. Whatever we can manage. It should heal her - and if it does not, I will take over.

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki's eyes scan the scene, slowly taking it in as he's been doing this whole time. After a moment of trying to put all of this together, Mizuki joins Joshua, standing next to him as Mizuki fiddles with the handle of his harpoon-umbrella for just a moment before he starts to sign, stops, and just holds his hand out to try and take hers.

He will... attempt to use the small amount of healing he knows how to use. It's nothing big, but... damn, he really needs to talk to Ourania about this. ]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Evan accepts the bottle, idly popping it open with one hand and slowly pouring some into Rillian's mouth. She's frail. He's tired. But somehow... somehow of the three siblings, he's the one who's okay despite them all taking equal part in it all. So he's the one who has to take care of them.

"... This is what happened with Audrey, too. We took turns fueling the spell, to prevent this sort of thing. Think it just- saps a bunch of mana all at once, y'know?" He says, voice a little raspy.

... Rillian's complexion seems to shift, and Mizuki and the water combined at least heal surface wounds.

[kingincognito]

[ "A bunch of mana"... Joshua frowns, watching as the water and Mizuki's healing seems to at least have some effect. But mana... Mana, Prana, Aether, whatever one might call it, he doubts that the water will restore it.

Healing may not be enough. If they could transfer some aether...

He fishes a small bottle of blue liquid out of the bag, handing it to Evan. ]

This is for you. Please, drink it. It should restore some of your energy. If it helps you, we can give one to her, too.

[ This whole thing... He doesn't like the feel of it. These children, now adults, being bled both of their blood and their aether to fuel this spell. One of them dead because of it. ]

We were told you were children. Did something happen?

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki can't use his pendant to speak in more than one person's head, sadly, but he'll ask Ivan in his head: ] What else can we do to help? Does she need food??

[sticksandbonesmods]

Evan jolts a bit, blinking at Mizuki-

"Uh- I mean, we've been sustained by magic, so- probably?"

And then he turns back to Joshua, taking the bottle and popping that open too- oh, mana potion.

"Weird. I was old enough to go to university when this all ended. ... My best guess is- this building is semi built from... perception and feelings? Especially after Bri. We felt like helpless kids... So that's what everyone saw. Anyways, Rillian... I don't know if refilling her mana would be... wise, right now.

I want you to get her out of here. But I'm staying. She might have hope, but..."

... Evan.

[kingincognito]

... semi-built from perception and feelings...?

[ How does that work? How can a building be built partially by something that isn't physical, tangible? Almost as if it is a construct of the mind, rather than an actual place.

He wants to ask. But now is not the time. After, when they get both of them out of here, then he will ask. ]

No. We were told to help the both of you. We cannot leave you - you must come with us. Please. We will find another way.

[sticksandbonesmods]

"Warped may be a better word? Like, its our house, but it's been seeped in magic so long and things just- changed. How you saw the world changed. How we perceived things changed. And so, we changed. Does that make more sense?"

Evan hesitates, though.

"Are these things even set up yet? Your alternatives, I mean."

[mooninthewater]

We have everything in order, we just need to make the actual magic circle itself, and active it. Miss Ydalir and I have been working on that, but we were told we needed to get you out first.

[kingincognito]

Ah. It does, yes.

[ To an extent, at any rate. He understands it in theory.

To back up Mizuki's words, Joshua nods. ]

It sounds as though things cannot progress until the two of you are safe.

[sticksandbonesmods]

...

Evan sighs.

"Help me walk, someone. And Ril's gonn' need someone to carry her."