ritual 25 end

[thelastfirstborn]

WHO: friends :)
WHERE: the beach
WHEN: Day 74, long into the night

[ the cavern walls begin to recede—it seems they were, all this time, the spindly roots of that deep-sea creature—and you can see the starlit sky. ... though, perhaps some of you are busy remembering both sessions and reconciling the strange feeling of the timelines merging. ]


[ the uh . . . creatures . . . they're still around . . . but the baby jellyfish return to their kin as the tide rises to reclaim them. ]

Thank you.
[ with the ritual over, no longer do the words of We Many hurt to listen to—this language is certainly the common language in Sheep—but it's still perhaps a little bit unsettling to hear, for the words of We Many do not come in just one voice. instead, they echo from all the . . . the creatures, some of which seem to have shapeshifted right in front of your very eyes to manifest.

mouths?

. . . some look like human mouths. some look like fish mouths.

and their voices . . . sound like the voices of those who participated in this ritual. just . . . dozens of Angie and Azdaja and Odin and etc voices whispering their thanks . . . ]

Take this, Our gratitude.
[ they leave behind gifts for every flock and participating weed, , ,,, , . . . yayyyy. . .

the creatures of We Many recede back into the waters, leaving the jellyfish behind to glow in the shallows like stars.

Agonies will disappear upon eating the Special Questionable Fish Meat. However, even if you don't eat those, any injuries accrued will heal like normal, and status effects/things that don't just heal on their own will go away anywhere from half an IC day to 3 IC days later. ]

MAIN GAME POST | SCORING | REWARDS?

Comments

[abandon_hope]

[ He lifts his head, but of course he can't see Ceph's face here. it's so hard to judge tone without facial expressions. ]

And she took it over from you?

[audacity]

[ he's good at keeping his voice steady ]

She was running before I could stop her. You have no idea how many times I've wondered what would've happened if I'd just gone instead of explaining the plan to her.

[abandon_hope]

...

[ Kevin's shoulders shake a little. On the one hand, he KNOWS his sister - there's no power that would have stopped her, not even Cepheus. But also ... ]

I wish you hadn't explained it. Yeah. Maybe if she hadn't died ...

[audacity]

[ for a second, he's fourteen years old and saying it should've been me again ]

...It would've been better. I know.

[abandon_hope]

[ percy, ]

She still left me. Nothing erases that. But if she'd lived, maybe we could've - maybe when I was older -

[ he could have come to understand in time. right? ]

[audacity]

[ fuck it, he's pulling kevin into a hug ]

[abandon_hope]

[ he actually yelps at that, startled - literally could not see it coming, and then he's being constrained further - but then he realizes what it is and he clings back.

did you want to hug a crying kevin today. too bad, it's happening. ]

[audacity]

[ he. notices that. but first: hugs ]

I think you could've worked it out. I'm sorry you didn't get the chance.

[abandon_hope]

[ yeah it's good now. you can't let him go even if you wanted to. ]

Y - yeah. I - I know I was a burden. I know it was hard. I just wanted her to try. I -

[ he breaks down a little. ]

I wanted someone to prioritize me.

[audacity]

[ holds on tighter, making little shushing noises like kevin's a wounded pegasus ]

I know. I know.

[abandon_hope]

[ cepheus please. but it does work, if only because he is mildly offended at being shushed like a pegasus. ]

... Sorry. Super not relevant.

[audacity]

[ help he doesn't have sibling experience yet. besides tyson, who is far too big to be hugged and shushed ]

Okay, don't apologize for this.

[abandon_hope]

[ He winds up leaning against Ceph just a little, mostly because hes' fuckin exhausted and he can't see anything and therefore cannot pull away either. ]


It's still not relevant. You didn't ask for this.

[audacity]

[ good, get stuck in his hugs. there are worse places to be, honestly ]

That's kind of the story of our lives? I didn't ask for this and would love a refund.

[abandon_hope]

[ Kevin barks out a laugh. ]

Right. Please. Who even came up with this.

[audacity]

Gods.

[ (derogatory) ]

...so are you going to tell me what else is wigging you out?

[abandon_hope]

[ Uh oh. This is a guilty freeze. ]

I’m not wigging out. You already know about everything going on right now.

[audacity]

[ the great thing about hugs is he can simply refuse to let go until you answer ]

Uh huh.

[abandon_hope]

[ nooooo curse you cepheus lilyson!!

Kevin wriggles experimentally to see if Cepheus might let him go. ]

I'm serious.

[audacity]

[ he does not let go 💖 ]

So am I.

[abandon_hope]

[ ugh. the worst.

but maybe ... there's relief in the way he goes limp. he has no choice, you see. he's not weak if Cepheus tricks him into confessing. ]

I'm not afraid of the dark. Because I can usually see in the dark, if I want to.

[ He shivers a bit, trembling. ]

This is different. It feels like ...

[audacity]

[ gets it instantly. and it's clear in how he exhales, shivers once himself ]

Yeah. I saw you in there once, in a dream. It spooked me, and I wasn't even there.

[abandon_hope]

-- You did?

[ but he slumps a bit, relieved not to have to explain any more out loud. ]

[audacity]

Yeah, I did.

[ definitely not going to push kevin off or anything, but the grip loosens a little so he knows he's free to go. if he wants. ]

[abandon_hope]

[ thanks Cepheus. he winds up clinging to the other demigod's shirt gently. ]

The jar?