september dungeon.

[citta]

SEPTEMBER DUNGEON

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→ 9/3 Lockdown

With the heat wave having calmed down, the nights are cool despite the warm summer days, quiet, save for the buzzing of insects and the murmurs of those wandering the streets late into the night. After a month of festivities, the town has gone into a peaceful respite— one that's broken at the stroke of midnight, the wind picking up and drowning out all other sound with howls that pierce the air as if the town itself were screaming. The sliver of moon in the sky offers barely enough light to act as a guide, but the winds are frigid and strong, drawing all that gets caught in the gust towards the heart of the town: the lake.

Some time after Lockdown begins, the Shadows start to emerge from the lake, the same blobs of inky black dragging themselves out onto the surface. These Shadows do not show their true form, intent on entering the town and scouring homes for... whatever they're searching for... Over the course of the month until the dungeon is cleared, a sickness seems to settle back over the town, complaints of chills and bouts of sleepiness culminating into lethargy so severe that people stop responding and cannot care for themselves, a familiar pattern of zombies and disappearances until the boss is dealt with.

Despite the winds, the surface of the lake remains eerily still, a perfect mirror reflecting your face until touched, reflection warped by ripples. Around the perimeter of the lake are the occasional posts staked into the ground with the written warning to stay away from the water, but during Lockdown, there are no townspeople to come rushing forward to shoo you away, so... will you take the risk and plunge into the depths, or turn around and leave?

→ 1st Floor

The lake is chilly when you first step into it, showing nothing past the surface but inky darkness during the night. But once your entire body is submerged, your vision suddenly clears up to reveal a brightly lit lake, the water lukewarm as if it were daytime and the sun is shining directly overhead.

The lake is as wide as ever, sides cut out with Minecraft-level blockiness, and at the bottom, a mere fifty feet below the surface, a dark hole has been cut out from the rest of the stone floor, just large enough for a single person to fit through. Sunken and scattered across the floor lie rusted excavators, drills, a bulldozer with its door shining a bright Velvet Room blue, shovels and pickaxes, swords and shields and battered pieces of armor, and the occasional skeleton that falls apart at the touch, flesh and ligament long since picked clean.

And then there are the Shadows.

IKU-TURSO
Type Shadow	Resists Physical, Dark	Weak Light
As if the poisonous waters weren't bad enough, these rotting Shadows carry a vile and toxic cloud of water wherever they go. Staying too close to them will result in swimmers becoming immediately posioned, causing them to feel severely nauseous and sick to their stomach. These Shadows reach out with their slimy webbed hands and drag any poisoned victims to the depths of the lake with the intent on burying them in the murky sands. If you don't die first from the poison, you'll suffocate from the sand instead. As a result, it's advised to attack these Shadows from afar or to avoid them outright, if you can. Poisonous slime and ragged horns can be collected as loot.

AMEMASU
Type Shadow	Resists Ice	Weak Light
Once you come across an Amemasu, your only option is to either defeat them or run away. These giantic creatures take up entire invisible hallways of the maze and can unhinge its jaw to swallow humans alive. In fact, that's mostly how it attacks; by eating whatever that gets in its path. Unfortunately for it and luckily for everyone else, this creature's sight is not very strong and can only detect moving objects. If you stay perfectly still in these waters, it may completely ignore you. Of course, you'd still have to figure out how to get around this hulking Shadow through the tight corridors of the maze, but surprise attacks will be easier to land, so long as it doesn't catch you moving first. Large scales that shine in the light can be collected as loot.

The Shadows glide through the water as if it were nothing more than air, but for everybody else, swimming in the lake is as slow and cumbersome as ever. Despite the unnatural stillness and clarity of the water, unseen currents flow all throughout the lake and can easily drag you off course if you're caught in them, and invisible walls are set up throughout the area like the most annoying maze in existence where you can't see anything. The walls and the currents confine the Shadows in predetermined routes, but the same goes for you if you try to navigate the maze, crossed paths unavoidable. The walls can be shattered, at the risk of the glass shards getting caught in the currents and slicing you and all your friends up in the process, but seem to be what redirects the currents in the first place.

The longer you stay in the water contemplating how to get down to the hole at the bottom of the lake, the sicker you start to feel; the townspeople were serious about their warnings, and the poison lingers even after you leave the water. Also, most of you can't breathe underwater and have a minute or however long your lung capacity allows. Haha. Good luck.

With a bit of patience, good luck is what comes on the morning of 9/4, when a passing crow swoops down and sets a polished aquamarine charm directly on each character's head. The charm is in the shape of a feather, thin and easily broken if you're not careful, but having it on your person allows you to breathe underwater so long as the charm is intact. Unfortunately, it comes with the downside of having a song stuck in your head, the same way you can't get rid of the music in the Velvet Room, until you're out of the water again. Maybe this is incentive enough to get to that hole as quickly as possible.

As of 10/28: The glass maze inside the lake has been shattered, although shards of glass still float within the water, and the currents have also stopped. During Lockdown, the first floor appears twice as large as the lake normally is, and outside of Lockdown, there is a huge rift spanning the floor of the lake.
As of 10/31: The lake has been purified, and swimming in the water no longer makes people feel sick.

→ 2nd Floor

After reaching the hole at the bottom of the lake and passing through a series of twists and turns, you're spat out onto solid ground and crisp fresh air, refreshing after the pressure of the water and the lingering poison. The ground is solid ice, and whether you kept your clothes on or stripped for the swim, you're in for a miserable time in these sub-zero temperatures unless you dry off quickly, bundle up, and find a way to warm yourself up. This floor doesn't offer much: every direction you look is an expanse of white, almost blinding in the way the sky and the ice share the same lack of color, a complete whiteout with no visible horizon, no borders or end to the world.

With the lack of traction on the smooth and slick ice, it's easy to fall and difficult to brake, unless the terrain is altered to make travel possible. The ice is thick, difficult but not impossible to break, but the temperature is so cold that attempts to melt the ice has the water quickly refreezing. You'll need to find a reliable way to get around, though, seeing as the emptiness is broken up by the Shadows that roam the area, congregated together at the center of this world.

ONIKUMA
Type Shadow	Resists Ice, Physical	Weak None
When you feel the ice shaking underneath your feet, an Onikuma is nearby. These Shadows walk upright on their hind legs and are the very defintion of tanks. They're incredibly strong and a single swipe from their enormous paws is enough to knock an average human out. With their thick fur and skin, they can take an insane amount of damage before they even fall. Without any apparent weaknesses, they are a force to be reckoned with. Luckily, they're solidtary creatures so groups will only have to fight them one at a time. When it's close to dying, it will let out an ear-piercing roar. All those who don't immediately cover their ears will fall under a debilitating rage spell and begin to lash out wildly at both friends and foes. Unlike normal rage ailments that eventually fade away, the only way to recover from this particular affliction is to use a status-healing spell/item (if you're lucky) or to simply knock out the affected person (if you're unlucky). Indescrutible claws can be collected as loot.

ARCTOS
Type Shadow	Resists Ice	Weak Fire
Unless you come across one that wears an Obon lantern around its neck, these wolf-like Shadows are difficult to spot without a keen eye. Their pure snow-white fur easily blends in with the white expanse of their surroundings and they move silently across the ice. If you don't pay close attention, you may find yourself surrounded by a pack. These creatures employ a series of ice-related attacks to freeze their prey in place and to single out the weakest links in a team. They never attack individually, choosing to group together on a single enemy with the hopes of overpowering them. Furthermore, their protruding fangs hold a powerful charm spell that can cause their victims to confuse these Shadows as their allies while perceiving their actual team members as the enemies. A single nick from their fangs is enough to do the trick and when they realize they're up against an opponent that they cannot defeat head-on, they resort to turning their enemies into their allies and attacking them when their backs are turned. Fangs with the ability cause charm and small round gems that heal any status ailment one time each can be collected as loot.

A closer look reveals them to be fighting one another, limbs and heads torn off to splatter black gunk onto the icy ground, only to reform as another Shadow to throw themselves into the fray all over again. Some of the Shadows are carrying lanterns— the same ones hung around town during Obon, with family names etched into the sides and in danger of being dashed into the ground or swallowed whole by the Shadows as they fight. For those who had hung their own lanterns, you might recognize the one for the friend or family of the departed, sent off to rest in this very lake— only to get no rest as they're fought over by the Shadows.

At the center of all things is another hole carved into the ground, where the mass of Shadows is the densest, the most violent, and the most prone to hit you with stray spells that mess with your mind and your vision, turning friend to foe with the illusion that those teammates standing beside you are now Shadows about to rip out your throat. Keep an eye on your friends, along with your enemies.

As of 10/28: Sleet rains constantly on this floor.

→ 3rd Floor

Jumping down through the ice pit, you fall into the darkness and eventually spat out again, this time onto dirt and fallen leaves. The air is blessedly warm and dry again, spots of sunlight filtering through the thick canopy above your head and illuminating the dirt path at your feet. A quick look around reveals the area to be the middle of a forest, with you standing on a wide path surrounded by trees packed together to form a loose wall. One end of the path has been overrun with bramble, the other direction clear.

Visible over the treetops above the blocked end are spires of a castle, and nothing is stopping you from stepping off the path and pushing your way through the bramble and the trees. Except for the razor-sharp leaves and blades of grass that can slice through fabric and skin at the lightest touch, and the thorns hidden in the undergrowth that make you itch like hell when you're pricked, causing your vision and your mind to go hazy in a matter of minutes. Setting the forest on fire will also release these toxins into the air, making you and everybody in the immediate area lethargic, mind numb and difficult to concentrate.

If you choose to continue along the open path instead, you'll get to enjoy a nice stroll for a couple of minutes before the peace is interrupted by a rumble in the background, the mountains behind you falling apart with a landslide racing towards the castle. If it reaches the castle before you do, the rocks are impossible to move or destroy, and you'll have to come back another night for the dungeon to reset and get a second chance. But you'll make it if you stick to the main path and ignore the handful of off-shoots temping people astray; either way, you'll have to make quick work of the Shadows, or find a way to contend with the forest itself to create your own path.

WARAJI
Type Shadow	Resists None	Weak Physical
These tiny creatures, standing only a few inches high, are more of a nusiance than anything else. They're less interested in fighting you and more interested in just making life really annoying. They come out from the bushes and run around wildly with their arms over their heads, hoping to trip anyone that gets in their path. They also reach out with their sharp chicken-like hands and claw at unsuspecting ankles before they retreat back into the bushes with glee in their single eyes. Unfortunately, trying to traverse through these bushes to get your revenge on these despicable minions will be near impossible as these bushes take on the same dangerous properties as the other living green life on this floor. However, if you're really that determined to get proper retribution, you can just wait until they come back, silently screeching like little demons, and simply step on them. They're incredibly weak and once you're not taken by surprise anymore, you can easily just kick them away. Loose pieces of straw rope can be collected as loot.

USHI-ONI
Type Shadow	Resists Dark, Light	Weak Fire
Similarly to the Onmoraki Shadows from the previous dungeon, these rotting Shadows can be smelled miles away before you even see them. Fortunately, they like to keep their distance so their smell is mitigated, but unfortunately, this exact same distance allows it to avoid being easily killed. It uses a wide range of magic-based attacks but primarily focuses on bless and curse skills. It uses one of the many talismans hanging off its body to throw at their enemies and to keep a wide space between itself and others. With its sharp claws, it easily climbs up the side of trees, resting just underneath the razor-sharp leaves, to further increase this distance. Fortunately, it can be easily killed by using a simple fire spell, but be careful not to burn down the tree as well. The fire will spread quickly and release those terrible toxins into the air. A tattered black cape and talismans that cause light bless or curse damage can be collected as loot.

At the end of the winding path stands the castle, a mirror image of Castle Ouma complete with a large black bear(?) snoozing in the middle of the room, the corner of a door cut into the stone floor and visible beneath its front paws. This bear(?) is a light sleeper, lifting its head the moment anybody crosses the threshold into the room and staring down the intruders with glowing, golden eyes. It seems uninterested in fighting, let alone moving, and any attacks on the bear are reflected and returned double, as the bear(?) turns into stone, immovable and indestructible no matter how hard you try to move or break it. Again, another way to screw you and everybody else over for the rest of the night, with the bear(?) shaking itself free of its stone prison by the following night. You'll have to get it to move somehow, if you want to get to that door.

As of 10/28: It will constantly raining on this floor, although the rainfall is light.

→ 4th Floor

Hot. Hot hot hot hot hot.

It's even worse than the heatwave of last month, this oppressive heat that makes breathing difficult and the ground shimmer with a heat haze that ripples across the entire floor with temping puddles of water that aren't there. You find yourself in a rural town like Hirajiro, with empty buildings and empty streets save for the Shadows that patrol through the streets. They're fewer in number than in the other floors, but are much larger than the rest, stronger than the rest, more dangerous, and give chase immediately when somebody crosses their line of sight, unrelenting until they either catch their prey and engage you in battle.

The ground buckles easily when you walk, steam escaping from the cracks as if the stone path were sitting on top of a pool of magma threatening to break apart and melt into the molten rock below. With the sky painted a deep orange-red but missing a sun to beat down on the world below, there is no shade cast from the buildings to offer reprieve from the heat. Along the lakefront, a dozen long, wooden storehouses line the perimeter, with piles of gold and precious metals visible through the open doors, each storehouse guarded by a pair of Shadows on high alert for the faintest sound or smallest movement, and a F.O.E. lurking within one of the buildings to deal with any intruders who slip past.

WRATH
Type Shadow	Absorbs Fire, Physical	Weak None
Underneath their semi-transparent skin, a hot fire burns within these hellish creatures and smoke seeps through openings of their exposed skulls. They gallop through the area, always on high alert and ready to charge at the slightest noise it hears. There are fewer of them in the main town, but they're far more prominent across the lakefront, guarding the storehouses and its treasures. Almost unsurprisingly, they use fire to dispel their enemies, breathing out hot flames. If you, for some godforsaken reason, choose to use fire right back at them, it will only heal them. Less surprisingly, if you also try to use any physical attacks, you'll find that they have no effect against them. For some reason, it only heals them as well. Perhaps they're masochists. Regardless, these Shadows aren't something that you want to fight. Their powerful legs make them fast persuaders and it'd be hard to lose them in a chase so it's best to just steer clear of these Shadows a keep your head low. Horns and sharp ribs can be collected as loot.

ELDRITCH
Type F.O.E.	Nulls Fire, Dark, Physical	Weak None
Lukcily, this singular F.O.E. can only be found if you were to venture into a particular storehouse. It sits silently in the air, waiting for any thieves to steal the treasure within, and when a foolish intruder enters, it locks the door to prevent any last-minute escapes. It's relentless in its curse-based attacks, leaving absolutely no room for a counter, and inflicts a powerful fear status ailment, causing the victim to suddenly become terrified of death. It will beat its victims to near-death before tossing them out of the dungeon, leaving them battered and injured, but hopefully smart enough not to reenter its domain...

And at the center of town, the lake has been drained, fire burning in a deep cavern filled with poisonous gas. Any wind used to blow away the gas only temporarily clears the area until more gas seeps out from the ground below, and serves to fan the flames that lick the rock all the way down to the bottom where a large slab of stone sits, much like the one at Castle Ouma. Instead of four slots, however, there are sixteen: a ring of eight small circles at the center, with a second ring of eight surrounding the first. Of the sixteen slots, ten have already been filled, in no particular order, with shining golden coins.

The toll to pass is six golden coins, and the boss awaits beyond.

As of 10/28: Heavy thunderstorms pour rain down on the floor, quelling some of the flames and especially at the cavern at the center of town, but while the humidity of the other floors have lessened, it remains 122°F/50°C with 100% humidity on this floor.

→ Mod Notes

⬥ There are multiple ways to deal with the dungeon, from clearing out the floors to make them more accessible, getting to the doors to the next floors, and obtaining the coins needed to face the boss. Players are encouraged to come up with their own solutions and may run their plans with the mods in the top level below to discuss results.
⬥ There is no scheduled IC/OOC date for when the boss battle with be posted. In order to access the boss, all six coins must be retrieved and reported to the mod top level below, after which the top level for the boss will go up. Sign-ups for teams is done below.
⬥ To determine the outcome of the boss battle, a minimum of 10 threads across the entire player base from this post is required, with a maximum of 2 threads turned in per player, containing at least 5 comments from you, and may not overlap with coin threads. Threads may involve battling, healing, exploring, discussing, etc as long as the characters interact with the dungeon in some way. Please report your threads in the mod top level below. They are due by the end of the month.
⬥ When knocked out in the dungeon, characters black out and wake up the next morning lying by the lake, fully soaked regardless of what floor they were on and will have chills for the rest of the day unless healed sooner.
⬥ Curing of poison can be hand-waved as provided by the Velvet Room attendants if the character visits them in the Velvet Room accessed from the first floor or outside the dungeon. They will be offered dokudami tea, which has a very pungent odor akin to fish but will cure them of poison, and a warm blanket. It seems like the music has changed since everybody was here last and everybody is required to sing the line "Every day young life Ju-ne-su!" before they're allowed to leave.
⬥ This month, the full moon occurs on 9/13-9/15, and Personas may behave strangely and disobey orders. This is an optional mechanic.
⬥ As of 10/28, floors in this dungeon see constant rainfall. As of 10/31, the lake has been purified and no longer poison people both during Lockdown and outside of it.

Comments

[reveilation]

[ ...Kido hopes Tiamat doesn't expect them to climb into her jaws to be carried, so instead, she sidles a little closer to Kaede's side and just sort of assumes the silences is permission, as she's never actually heard a Persona talk out loud before. ]

I'll help you up. It might be better if you sit up front, and then you and your Persona can navigate things more easily.

[ She gestures a bit towards the castle, and the moment she points her finger towards the building, the tip of the mountain just behind it begins to crumble, starting the countdown. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Climb in the chaos dragon's mouth, it's fine. Probably.]

[Kaede stiffened when she felt someone draw closer to her, and again at the prospect of climbing on Tiamat. The Persona had helped with her wheelchair before, though it was more lifting its back like a cat carting a kitten around.

She couldn't help but follow where Kido was pointing.]

--mountain's coming down.

[Great. Fuck. So much for thinking about that decision. With a grumbled curse, Kaede stumbled towards her Persona, knees stiff. Tiamat didn't protest this action, or when Kaede put her hands on the Persona's head. She didn't help Kaede clamber up, though.

Whatever...starstuff Tiamat was made from felt strange. Solid, but like it shouldn't be, cold and clammy as mist but leaving no trace of condensation on the hands. The only warmth came from the stars--some distant feeling, some close and hot as a light left on too long.]

[reveilation]

Yeah. So we need to hurry. I couldn't make it in time on foot, but maybe with Tiamat...

[ All the other Personas Kido's met have been reasonable, if not nice, so she's less hesitant to get on Tiamat's back once Kaede has. It's a lot different being on Tiamat's back than it is being on Vassago's, though. Vassago is strong and fast and solid, like you've got to hold on tight or else he'll leave you behind; with Tiamat, Kido ends up hanging onto Kaede more than she does the Persona, or it feels like she'd slip on through if she clings too hard. Like her own Persona, which can fade into mist and back, solid only when it wants to be and when it likes somebody enough, that's what Tiamat— and by extension, Kaede- reminds Kido of, somebody who'll slip through if she holds on too hard. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[It was Kaede's first time witnessing the landslide in person--while it was rather understated, for one of these dungeon's usual tricks, it was still distinctly unpleasant.

She was a rather unhelpful handhold when Tiamat rose off of the ground, stiff and tense. When she felt a hand on her shoulder her posture stiffened even further as she willed herself not to react, not to recoil.

A little darting glow on the ground distracted her, though, and Tiamat's beeline for the castle hit a little swirling hitch as Kaede snapped her gaze down at it.]

What's that down there?

[It didn't look like the little scurrying monsters.]

[reveilation]

What's what?

[ Kido leans over to see what Kaede's looking at, and— because she's so used to having her arms wrapped around somebody's torso instead of simply having a hand on their shoulder to steady herself— she slips and falls when Tiamat turns. It takes a second before Nekogami flashes into existence and sprays ice everywhere, and entire sheet of ice to create a slide from the sky to the ground, because slamming on ice is still better than being stabbed full of knife leaves.

The little light flashes for a second, as if whatever it is had stopped and turned to see what had happened, but by the time it moves again, the entire area has been iced off save for the clear path, walls of ice to the left and to the right. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The pressure of a presence vanished from behind her, and initially Kaede thought that was a good thi--

--there went someone she was starting to care about as useful. Oops.

Tiamat's teeth snapped in the air a bit too late to catch Kido as she fell, but they snagged onto the back of her shirt before she got too far down the slide.]

There, that thing.

[Kaede wasn't too perturbed about the whole thing (it wasn't her that was falling, and Kido was...fine, probably), instead pointing at the distracting blob of light.]

[reveilation]

[ Kido lets out a short shout when she suddenly stops sliding a couple of meters in the air, and she... just sort of hangs there, held up by the back of her hood, because she's not brave enough to reach up and put her hands anywhere near Tiamat's teeth in trying to climb back up. Thank you, actually, for not catching her in your mouth, Tiamat.

Trying her best not to move too much Kido squints down at whatever that light is, closer to the ground than Kaede is and so she can more clearly make it out. ]

...It's one of those coins we're looking for. Looks like a small Shadow too, so we can probably defeat it quickly and nab that coin. It hasn't noticed us yet, so if you have any ranged attacks, we'll attack together and bring it down.

[long_live_the_queen]

[She's a chaos god with standards.]

[Violence Kaede could do--without question and with the barest intervening thought. She turned after the fleeing bright Shadow, and Tiamat turned with her gaze.]

Okay.

[Action followed after that brief forewarning. Tiamat's jaws were occupied, but instead of dropping Kido (rude) shards of ice gather out of the wispy gloom the Persona was formed of, like little stars forming out of dust (much cooler). The first few pinged against the icy ground, but started chasing their target more accurately soon afterwards.]

[reveilation]

[ At the confirmation, Nekogami adds his ice and needles into the mix, alternating between the two attacks and trying to pincer the Shadow in between his and Tiamat's. But as close as both of them get to the Shadow, none of them seem to hit— the little thing dances around dodging every single blast, cackling to itself if they were close enough to hear. ]

We're too far! It's no good if it can see our attacks coming. Drop me off here, and you get close to the ground too.

[ Kido calls Nekogami back to create another ice slide; this time, she'll be able to get her footing and use it as a proper slide all the way to the ground, instead of tumbling on it from the sky. There's little room for the Shadow to run, anyways, so all they have to do is close in on it and drive it into a corner, and between the two of them, Kido's confident they can do that. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Was that this floor's other gimmick, Shadows that were also little shits? Kaede wasn't too agitated before, but as every moment went on so too did her annoyance.

She didn't answer in words--Tiamat curled her neck to the side to let Kido down onto the slide, then quick;y darted past the Shadow, overshooting it intentionally. The Persona circled closer to the ground this time, making a shield of its ephemeral coils to herd the thing Kido's way.]

[reveilation]

[ By the time Kido makes it to the ground, the Shadow is more or less trapped, Tiamat behind it and Kido in front, planting her feet and standing her ground as her ghost cat hisses in front of her, ready to pounce.

The Shadow just cackles, hopping from one foot to the other, not losing its balance at all even though it's standing on slick ice.

"Looking to get this, ain'tcha?" the thing snickers, flipping the coin into the air, and it's at that point that Nekogami shoots dream needles out at the Shadow. At this close range, there's no way he can miss— but it's at this close range that Kido can see that the Shadow wasn't dodging in the first place: all of the attacks literally bounce off of it, even the ones that seem to hit it dead on. The Shadow just laughs louder, mocking, "Ooh, nice try, lass!"

They won't be able to defeat it in a fight. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Kaede was glad she wasn't on the ground; even if her knees were getting better, she had no illusions that she wouldn't end up on her ass immediately. Seeing the Shadow prance about down there made her feel a bit jealous, and Tiamat bared her fangs in response.

And then further once Nekogami's needles failed to have any effect at all, her head drifting closer until the serpent was looming overhead with Kaede glowering on its neck.

The Shadows talked sometimes. Usually they weren't quite this irritating about it.]

What if Tiamat just eats you?

[This is how you did negotiation, right.]

[reveilation]

[ The Shadow does a little pirouette, spinning around to face Tiamat, all sharp teeth as it smiles and not flinching at all when Nekogami— who has no concept of fair play— blasts the Shadow's back with ice, only to have the attack part on either side of the Shadow as if it were surrounded by an impenetrable barrier. Nekogami could have been breathing on the back of its neck for all it cares; the result is the same: nothing.

"Hehehe!" Even its laugh is annoying, high-pitched and piercing this close up. "Then you can never hope to reach the Boss Man, can you? Wanna risk it?" The smile turns into a sneer as it flips the coin again. "He's getting stronger by the day, you know. Soon, he'll swallow up everybody in the town... But you'd like that, wouldn'tcha? You don't care about them at all." ]

We care!

[ Or, Kido cares. This monster is just goading them, and she knows it and that pisses her off. ]

Why even show yourself, then, huh? Why wave that thing around in the first place?

[long_live_the_queen]

[...that was fair. Kaede's empathy score was effectively zero, for most of the town. She didn't want them all dead, though--that was far too much energy to consider. Apathy was more like it.

But the one thing that was guaranteed to get her moving again was anger, and her annoyance was steadily building up to that point. Tiamat's spectral jaws flexed in a deepening snarl as Kaede's mood worsened.]

I'd rather them leave me the fuck alone, but they'd need to be alive for that.

[So here she was, apparently saving(?) people she didn't care about and who probably didn't care about her.]

[reveilation]

[ Just leave the important people alive, like the chefs and doctors, huh. Kido doesn't say anything about dead people being able to leave Kaede alone too, crossing her arms and holding tight to her sleeves or otherwise she'll be tempted to start swinging fists.

"Hehe! Ready to play nice, now? You two sure give in easily!" The Shadow laughs cheerfully, flipping the coin in the air, but this time instead of catching it, it drops into the bag on its back— in the split second that it opens, Kido catches the sight of torn limbs and severed heads, none of which have faces she recognizes, but it makes her stomach churn all the same.

"So..." The Shadow's voice drops, drawling. "If you want this coin so badly, I propose a trade. I'll think about hand it over, for the price of one ear. Now, whose is it going to be?" ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[The thread of Kaede's patience snapped. Not at the glimpse of the Shadow's gory belongings, not even really about the coin. The Shadow's last jab was the final stick that goaded a caged tiger.

Tiamat's head lunged down with the speed of a striking snake, its spectral jaws gaped wide. Her fangs slipped off the Shadow--and kept going, closing around it wholesale instead. They even tore away a chunk of ice under the Shadow's feet for good measure.

...despite her threat, Kaede wasn't sure Tiamat ate the thing (how did you observe that on an incorporeal blob of starstuff...) but she did sure feel like she had some brainfreeze coming on.]

[reveilation]

[ Kido lets out a cry of surprise when Tiamat just comes at the Shadow like that to swallow the entire thing whole. ]

H-hey! Didn't you hear what it said?! If Tiamat swallows it— Spit it out! Come on, open!

[ It's the same sort of panic when you see your cat or dog eat something it's not supposed to, but with the added bonus that it's a dragon and even though Kido hand hovers in front of Tiamat's face, she is not about to wrench open her jaws and stick her hand down her throat or anything. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[Tiamat doesn't take offense at Kido's hand waving in front of her mouth, though her eyes focused on the human. She didn't obligingly open her mouth either.

Her master was having a much more difficult time. Kaede's eyes were pinched shut and her hands clamped on her temples--and after another moment, Tiamat flickered and disappeared, leaving Kaede to drop to the ground. It wasn't a big drop, but her legs crumpled under her when she landed, sending her halfway onto her side. That was the least of Kaede's concerns.

At least she could feel the ice and the scrapes on her knees, though.]

...ugh.

[Her head felt like there was some frantic and fluttery pressure bouncing around in her head. And a brainfreeze.

The Shadow didn't reappear, but the coin it was holding dropped out of the air Tiamat had been and pinged loudly against the ice. Kaede grimaced at the sound, but didn't move otherwise.]

[reveilation]

...Ugh.

[ Does she want to touch a coin that's been in a dragon's stomach? No she does not, do she just lets it lie there while she crouches down next to Kaede. ]

Nekogami, dia.

[ The healing spell that washes over Kaede will be warm and comforting, but unfortunately only temporary. Shadows are nasty stuff to eat. ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[It just has some cosmic radiation on it, it's...fine, maybe.]

[The throbbing headache in Kaede's head subsided, though it was still in the background as a lurking, grating feeling in her temples. It was enough to let her focus on other things, like sitting up properly.

She didn't pick the coin up immediately, staring at it with a mix of suspicion and mild disgust.]

Don't remind me that ever happened.

[It'd probably come up again in five minutes. Or the next thread.]

[reveilation]

[ She'll leave Kaede to pick up the coin when she's good and ready. ]

Yeah... Nobody will ever hear about this.

[ The two of them getting jerked around by a Shadow? Pitiful. ]

At least now you know Tiamat can swallow whatever Shadows you're having trouble with...

[ It'll be at the expense of a splitting headache and an overall gross feeling, but it'll work? ]

[long_live_the_queen]

[After a moment Kaede's touched worse. With a final grimace, she picked up the coin; it didn't feel warm or...sticky, just like cold metal from the ice it had been sitting on.]

I'm not planning on doing this again.

[It might still be necessary. But this is not a rabbit hole she wants her thoughts to go down.

...if those were real body parts the Shadow was carrying around, did Tiamat eat those too?

--see, this is why she wanted to stop thinking about it. Shit.

Searching for a distraction, any kind of one--Kaede's head snapped up suddenly.]

The castle--

[reveilation]

[ Think of how funny it would be if Tiamat disappeared, and not only does the coin drop to the floor, but also a bag full of severed limbs. Kido would have fainted on the spot.

Thankfully, the thought doesn't ever come to mind, especially when Kaede brings up the castle and Kido turns around, trying to find what direction it is, but she can't tell when she's surrounded by trees instead of flying above it.

What she can tell, though, is that the rumbling of the landslide has already subsided, which means either the entire mountain has collapsed, or... no, Kido can be as optimistic as she wants, but optimism doesn't equate reality. ]

I'm not too hopeful, but we should check it out anyways. Are you okay to keep going, Kaede? Or we can turn back, and try this again another night.

I can sentences

[long_live_the_queen]

[Kaede's from entirely the wrong genre for optimism, sorry Kido.

The horned girl stood, unsteadily and sluggish in her movements. Her knees wanted to simply collapse again, and the clamor in her head wasn't helping things.

In the midst of all that, though, she looked up at Kido with a confused blink. Someone?? Asking about her wellbeing???]

I'm-- [It took her off guard.] --fine.

[reveilation]

[ Fine, huh? Kaede's reaction says otherwise, with how unsteady she is on her feet. On her part, Kido's alright because she didn't really do anything other than fall and yell, but still... ]

Good to hear. We'll fly out just far enough for the castle to come into view and we can confirm that there's no way forward anymore. If possible, I'd like to rely on you and Tiamat to get us back through the last floor with all the ice, so don't push yourself here.

[ It's for both their sake, really, so there's nothing to prove by exhausting themselves here. They can make a beeline towards the castle, so it's time for Tiamat Express again. ]