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

[spinebuddyandme]

We all hate that feeling. But I don't think you need to be useful all the time, y'know.

[abandon_hope]

Of course we do. You think the gods keep demigods around just to hang out and have fun?

[spinebuddyandme]

[ winces ]

I know the ones from your world aren't that kind, but this isn't Olympus. Me and Lethe and Charon aren't gods.

[abandon_hope]

[ Kevin twitches his shoulders a little. ]

I know that.

[spinebuddyandme]

... Is it really that hard to relax a little? Just while you're here?

[abandon_hope]

[ More light twitching. ]

We've lived our whole lives like this. Cepheus and us both. And every time I remember things being peaceful, it always got ripped away.

[spinebuddyandme]

...Sorry. I know I can't make any promises about the future, but right now it's okay.

[ Reaches out to give him a shoulder squeeze, watching that twitching uncertainly. ]

If you need something, you know you can tell me, right?

[abandon_hope]

[ he jolts in surprise at the touch, but then leans in a little. He's still trembling all over, and now silent a moment as he has an internal debate with himself. ]

You can't do anything to help right now. What's the point in telling you?

[spinebuddyandme]

[ shifts closer so he can slip an arm entirely around his shoulders, holding snugly ]

Maybe it's something I can do something about with enough time. Or maybe it'd just feel better to have a chance to talk about it.

[abandon_hope]

[ oh. that's nice, actually. Kevin winds up turning into that, leaning his head against Ananke's shoulder as a significant amount of his trembling dies back down.

he's still quiet a moment, hesitating. ]

All right.

[spinebuddyandme]

[ Relaxes a little himself, tightening his arm around Kevin a little ]

Was this it...?

[abandon_hope]

[ Kevin sneaks an arm around Ananke in turn. ]

I'm ... afraid of the dark. Or - I'm afraid of the dark I can't see in. Normal darkness is fine because I can see in it, but enclosed spaces are ...

[ He shivers. He's been low key terrified ever since his vision sputtered out. ]

Being in complete darkness, without any idea of what's here - I'm afraid that if I reach out, I'll touch walls all around me.

[ or worse. ]

[spinebuddyandme]

[ If this were anyone else at all, Ananke might sneak in a little teasing here. But for ill-fated demigod Kevin Deathlily, he just rubs his shoulder reassuringly without breaking his hold ]

I think that's pretty easy for us to deal with. We just won't leave you alone.

[abandon_hope]

[ Yeah. This took a lot to confess, so probably for the best.

He blinks fruitlessly at that. ]

What?

[spinebuddyandme]

We'll stay with you. There's four of us — more if Bluebell helps. It won't be hard to make sure someone's always around to let you know you're safe.

[abandon_hope]

But - isn't everyone busy? What about when everyone needs to sleep?

[spinebuddyandme]

Charon doesn't need to sleep, Lethe only needs a few hours, and me and Cepheus can take daylight shifts if you're really worried about it.

[abandon_hope]

Charon doesn't need to sleep?

[spinebuddyandme]

None of the shepherds do.

[abandon_hope]

...........

What's wrong with Tart then!?

[spinebuddyandme]

I think he's just a cat.

[abandon_hope]

He's a lion though.

[ the tangent is helping him relax, thankfully. ]

[spinebuddyandme]

Yeah, and lions love sleeping even more than pet cats.

[abandon_hope]

Oh.

[ he realizes that he really doesn't know anything about lions either, aside from their Mythomagic stats.

anyway, he ducks his head. ]

I ... I would feel a lot better not being alone like this. If they're okay with it.

[spinebuddyandme]

I know they will be.

[ Mostly. He may be making an educated guess about Cepheus. ]