Ardion Prosili
An (im)Perfect Cell
We all know its too late. The seed is planted and it will bloom, regardless of your desires, Lil.
You will art. It is...your....destiny....
You will art. It is...your....destiny....
[Exalted/SMT] Shard of a Broken Sun
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Oh, if you don't have your thing, then is there someone else who can make arts in the thread?Lilithium said:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Even if it gets you a cameo?Lilithium said:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
It's a general offer.Alectai said:She doesn't have her thingy
Oh, and don't worry about the upcoming update. I've decided to become a healing-type writer.
Sooo... You're not going to screw us over with some horrible maiming of Amu's Soul/Mind/Body/Emotions etc. ... Well, in this update anyway?Baughn said:
*Follows Chronic, goes into bunker off to the side* Right, I'll just be sitting this out in here. ...Also, Urobochi???
Good medicine can hurt.Chronic said:
... We're in MegaTen. Bonded to someone who was supposed to die. And are playing on Hard Mode.Baughn said:What part of "healing" are you misunderstanding?
I'm fairly sure Alectai has been border-lining a nervous breakdown for the past 5~ updates. Although that's not really you're fault so... meh.
Finally, Urobochi, as Chronic has explained.
*Ducks down into bunker* We have every reason to be scared... except our trust of you. And you've been a fair GM, but that only makes me worry about Megaten side screwing us over even more. So... *Shrug*
Giygas
Cutest Sawk i could find. Lucario is a nice extra.
Yeah, he did trurly became a Healing-Type writer. Namely, he became the strongest and representative being of the planet Healing.Which is clearly an hellhole.Chronic said:
For those who doesn't understand the joke, you should go read a synopsis of Angel Notes.
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
...so, Amu and/or the guy we're controlling is injured. That's fine, if that's all it is... but it probably isn't.Baughn said:What part of "healing" are you misunderstanding?
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
Well, that's the thing, this is a game where victory is nowhere near assured with enough XP grinding.
And I'm very, very engaged with the characters, the crossover, and I've grown attached to our ten year old Proto-Primordial. I'd feel depressed as hell if more Bad Things happened after we fought so hard
And I'm very, very engaged with the characters, the crossover, and I've grown attached to our ten year old Proto-Primordial. I'd feel depressed as hell if more Bad Things happened after we fought so hard
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
AIIIIEEEBaughn said:
IBaughn said:
AS SOON AS POSSIBLE I WILL
Even if I die, at the very least hopefully it will be to save someone like Amu!
Sunday's Melancholy 11
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Ikuto Quest, pt 2
The how didn't matter. The who didn't matter.
"Yoru!"
He was running before he realised it, barreling into the heart of the furnace with Yoru trailing behind like a comet. His feet slapped the floor, nimbly avoiding the few obstacles he could see; a few loose wires, that was all. Chara Changed with Yoru, doing so was beyond automatic.
The paint was smouldering under his feet. He hoped that, however the seal worked, it didn't depend on any easily combustible components. The air was so hot it was getting hard to breathe, and he had to squint; he felt like he was running straight into an open fire. He was damned glad none of his clothes were synthetic, since as it was he'd probably get first-degree burns on every exposed part of his skin.
Ikuto drew a final breath of scorching air, forcing himself to fill his lungs fully before running the last few meters to Amu.
Two of her. Whatever that could possibly mean for Amu, to him it meant only one thing: That there were two to evacuate. They'd sort out the details later.
Ikuto bounced off a metal wedge that was conveniently sticking out of the floor just beside Amu, going almost horizontal for a second as he braked to a halt. Yoru had opted for the more direct approach and simply caught hold of Amu's shirt; he was already dragging Ran towards Miki, demonstrating that chara were remarkably strong for their sizes even if they couldn't match up to their original. Also demonstrating his resilience to environmental conditions, as he seemed completely unaffected by the heat. Ikuto couldn't say the same; his eyes were swimming in the furnace-like temperatures.
"Come on," he mouthed.
Yoru finally took off, carrying Miki bridal-style with Ran slung across his back. A reasonable approach, but with Ran making no moves to help he had to go almost horizontal to stop her falling off. Not something Ikuto could replicate.
When he lifted his feet, his shoes stuck. Just for a second, but they were melting. He had to get her out of here.
One Amu under each arm?
He'd end up dragging her feet on the floor. Better that than staying here. He could see her clothes smouldering, too; every moment counted.
Ikuto leaned down and roughly grabbed her around the waist, shifting about to get the best grip he possibly could with his left arm along before also picking up her copy. If she hadn't been so very light, he could never have done this, but -
He felt unbalanced. One of her was definitely lighter than the other.
Amu moaned, cutting off his thoughts and jarring him into motion.
He looked around frantically. Of course there wasn't a doctor, there were only the three of them there. From the looks of it Fumi had no time for anything but her work, and he didn't dare disturb her in any case. As if on cue, the room shook again, colours inverting; the only thing that didn't change was the Amu on his left arm, who still wasn't breathing even though the other was.
He didn't know how long she could survive.
Then, CPR…
He had no idea how.
Making the best of limited time, he dragged them over to the elevator and hit the button before leaning them against the wall. He had to try, despite not knowing how, but if it didn't work he hoped the elevator would be fast enough.
Force air into her lungs? Right. Then…
Ikuto leaned down to pinch her nose, and was just about to clamp his mouth over hers when she spluttered and opened her eyes. He found himself staring into them from maybe one centimetre away.
For a long second neither of them moved.
The elevator rang. They watched the door open, only to see Utau standing inside, Su sitting in her hair.
Amu squeaked and tried to back away, coming up short against the wall.
"Ah. Um," He managed. "Utau, this isn't what it looks like?" He was painfully aware of what it would have looked like, especially for someone as romantically obsessed as his little sister, but it really wasn't! He hadn't even considered that until she'd showed up!
Utau glared at him, but her gaze quickly changed to confusion.
"I'm not even sure what that would be," she said. "Ikuto, when did Amu get a little sister?"
A what? He looked again at her clone, who was propped up against the wall between him and Utau. "You mean her? They're identical, aren't they?" He shook his head. "I'm not sure how, but as to when, I guess -" he coughed "- just now? Things got… weird."
Ugh, speaking was starting to get unpleasant. He'd definitely burned his lungs a little. Now that the immediate danger was over, he was starting to hurt all over - everywhere that hadn't been covered in thick clothing.
Utau sighed audibly. "The one you're molesting is a few centimeters shorter. Doesn't matter, I guess, but - honestly, at least notice things like that." She returned to glaring at him, which he ignored with the ease of long practice. No point explaining - correction, explaining was very important.
"It was CPR," he said for Amu's benefit. Come to think of it, Utau was right; she actually was a bit shorter. He'd missed it because he was sitting closer to her than her clone… looked like the "clone" was the original, though.
Amu didn't noticeably react; she was looking with confusion between him, Utau and Su, who had flown over to them at some point during the conversation and was staring intently at Amu.
Ikuto frowned.
"Amu? Can you walk?" He tried, getting to his feet and offering her a hand.
She looked at him with something approaching panic. Reached out to take his hand. Drew back.
Amu jerked her head around, transfixing Utau with a look. His sister involuntarily took a step back.
"U'aau?" She said. " .̷̀͡.̨̨.͞͏͘͞҉.̵̷̡̨͞ ̵̶̛̛̕ ̧́͟.͘͢.҉̷.҉͏̕.̷̵͜͠͞.̸̸͟͡.҉̸̀ ̸͘̕ ̢̡͘͟.̕͜͡͞.̕͝.̶̡̕͢.̸̶̡͟͜?"
It couldn't be recognised as language.
Ikuto felt his heart hammering in his chest. This was a joke, right?
[ ] ...
The how didn't matter. The who didn't matter.
"Yoru!"
He was running before he realised it, barreling into the heart of the furnace with Yoru trailing behind like a comet. His feet slapped the floor, nimbly avoiding the few obstacles he could see; a few loose wires, that was all. Chara Changed with Yoru, doing so was beyond automatic.
The paint was smouldering under his feet. He hoped that, however the seal worked, it didn't depend on any easily combustible components. The air was so hot it was getting hard to breathe, and he had to squint; he felt like he was running straight into an open fire. He was damned glad none of his clothes were synthetic, since as it was he'd probably get first-degree burns on every exposed part of his skin.
Ikuto drew a final breath of scorching air, forcing himself to fill his lungs fully before running the last few meters to Amu.
Two of her. Whatever that could possibly mean for Amu, to him it meant only one thing: That there were two to evacuate. They'd sort out the details later.
Ikuto bounced off a metal wedge that was conveniently sticking out of the floor just beside Amu, going almost horizontal for a second as he braked to a halt. Yoru had opted for the more direct approach and simply caught hold of Amu's shirt; he was already dragging Ran towards Miki, demonstrating that chara were remarkably strong for their sizes even if they couldn't match up to their original. Also demonstrating his resilience to environmental conditions, as he seemed completely unaffected by the heat. Ikuto couldn't say the same; his eyes were swimming in the furnace-like temperatures.
"Come on," he mouthed.
Yoru finally took off, carrying Miki bridal-style with Ran slung across his back. A reasonable approach, but with Ran making no moves to help he had to go almost horizontal to stop her falling off. Not something Ikuto could replicate.
When he lifted his feet, his shoes stuck. Just for a second, but they were melting. He had to get her out of here.
One Amu under each arm?
He'd end up dragging her feet on the floor. Better that than staying here. He could see her clothes smouldering, too; every moment counted.
Ikuto leaned down and roughly grabbed her around the waist, shifting about to get the best grip he possibly could with his left arm along before also picking up her copy. If she hadn't been so very light, he could never have done this, but -
He felt unbalanced. One of her was definitely lighter than the other.
Amu moaned, cutting off his thoughts and jarring him into motion.
——————
"Doctor!" He coughed, his schooling compelling him to ask for help.He looked around frantically. Of course there wasn't a doctor, there were only the three of them there. From the looks of it Fumi had no time for anything but her work, and he didn't dare disturb her in any case. As if on cue, the room shook again, colours inverting; the only thing that didn't change was the Amu on his left arm, who still wasn't breathing even though the other was.
He didn't know how long she could survive.
Then, CPR…
He had no idea how.
Making the best of limited time, he dragged them over to the elevator and hit the button before leaning them against the wall. He had to try, despite not knowing how, but if it didn't work he hoped the elevator would be fast enough.
Force air into her lungs? Right. Then…
Ikuto leaned down to pinch her nose, and was just about to clamp his mouth over hers when she spluttered and opened her eyes. He found himself staring into them from maybe one centimetre away.
For a long second neither of them moved.
The elevator rang. They watched the door open, only to see Utau standing inside, Su sitting in her hair.
Amu squeaked and tried to back away, coming up short against the wall.
"Ah. Um," He managed. "Utau, this isn't what it looks like?" He was painfully aware of what it would have looked like, especially for someone as romantically obsessed as his little sister, but it really wasn't! He hadn't even considered that until she'd showed up!
Utau glared at him, but her gaze quickly changed to confusion.
"I'm not even sure what that would be," she said. "Ikuto, when did Amu get a little sister?"
A what? He looked again at her clone, who was propped up against the wall between him and Utau. "You mean her? They're identical, aren't they?" He shook his head. "I'm not sure how, but as to when, I guess -" he coughed "- just now? Things got… weird."
Ugh, speaking was starting to get unpleasant. He'd definitely burned his lungs a little. Now that the immediate danger was over, he was starting to hurt all over - everywhere that hadn't been covered in thick clothing.
Utau sighed audibly. "The one you're molesting is a few centimeters shorter. Doesn't matter, I guess, but - honestly, at least notice things like that." She returned to glaring at him, which he ignored with the ease of long practice. No point explaining - correction, explaining was very important.
"It was CPR," he said for Amu's benefit. Come to think of it, Utau was right; she actually was a bit shorter. He'd missed it because he was sitting closer to her than her clone… looked like the "clone" was the original, though.
Amu didn't noticeably react; she was looking with confusion between him, Utau and Su, who had flown over to them at some point during the conversation and was staring intently at Amu.
Ikuto frowned.
"Amu? Can you walk?" He tried, getting to his feet and offering her a hand.
She looked at him with something approaching panic. Reached out to take his hand. Drew back.
Amu jerked her head around, transfixing Utau with a look. His sister involuntarily took a step back.
"U'aau?" She said. " .̷̀͡.̨̨.͞͏͘͞҉.̵̷̡̨͞ ̵̶̛̛̕ ̧́͟.͘͢.҉̷.҉͏̕.̷̵͜͠͞.̸̸͟͡.҉̸̀ ̸͘̕ ̢̡͘͟.̕͜͡͞.̕͝.̶̡̕͢.̸̶̡͟͜?"
It couldn't be recognised as language.
Ikuto felt his heart hammering in his chest. This was a joke, right?
[ ] ...
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
oh shit
OH SHIT
fuuuuccccccFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
OH SHIT
fuuuuccccccFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
... She wouldn't happen to be speaking Old Realm, would she?
Maybe she forgot to write a few things in properly when she recreated herself? If so I can definitely see the Shard, i.e. Us, contributing those pieces she needs... like language. Which would be Old Realm.
Either that or she's actually a Demon in disguise, given that she obviously recognizes Utau and Ikuto though I'm leaning more towards the first.
Either that or she's actually a Demon in disguise, given that she obviously recognizes Utau and Ikuto though I'm leaning more towards the first.
Hyacinthium
Writing about sad cannibals as we speak.
- Location
- Bedroom
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Administer a soberiety test (how many fingers am I holding up, ect.)
[X] Check on her Charas; see if they're similarly out of it.
[X] Check on her Charas; see if they're similarly out of it.
Quantumboost
Now with 50% more dots in Dimensional Science
- Location
- Ensemble Space
...Welp! That's... interesting. It could be that the Amu speaking gibberish is the direct communication of the Exaltation; without Amu as the information buffer, it may not be able to interpret language except through memories of the previous bearers... who wouldn't know Japanese at all.
Sunday's Melancholy 12
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Sunday's Melancholy, 13:00
Amu slept cradled by waves of nothingness, at once less and more than before.
A great star shone upon the world. Reality distorted, stretched like taffy, tore and rejoined. Reality screamed, and the star screamed with it, its purpose twisted beyond reconciliation.
You, who would deny creation,
Is it your desire to destroy the world?
Of course it wasn't! It's where all her loved ones lived.
I sense bane's touch on your soul, but you are not yet his.
Do you then wish to return the past, and undo Conception?
Restore the world, as it had been?
It had never been perfect. She'd lived her life, and she'd loved it, but she'd seen so many being hurt. If she lived longer, she'd see more. But was there an alternative? She didn't want anyone to die.
Who was she talking to?
I am Kagutsuchi, the cradle of heaven.
I come into being for the creation of a new world, and for the destruction of the old.
You, who would deny reincarnation. I ask you, why?
Why?
Because… how could it be otherwise? She wasn't done living! She wanted to see what was next!
You speak as the will of humanity.
Yet you are not the sole will, and Conception cannot be undone.
Go. Find your desired future.
What? Go, where?
. . .
Why did this have to happen at all? She didn't want this! Nobody did! Why did the world need recreation? It made no sense to her! She wouldn't do as it demanded, she'd keep on defying it! Doing as it liked, it was nothing more than another bully! She -
Watch.
Such was the new universe, built by three noble gods to fulfill a desire.
A dream seen in waking. Another reality, the world beyond the border.
Where the lion lives with, yet devours not the deer.
Where old age does not exist.
Paradise. Utopia.
Land of refuge, an infinite garden of eden.
But soon enough, the land fell victim to corruption… to hedonism.
A new start was needed, memories forgotten.
The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Have we done nothing but repeat his mistakes?
Memories filled her. Kagutsuchi's past, incomprehensible except for the emotions.
Now go, and do not tarry. Time grows short.
Kagutsuchi was also suffering, but she didn't understand what it was trying to say. She couldn't; its perspective was too inhuman. Alien. If it had far fewer choices than her, none of which it liked, did it even matter what she did? Why should she care about the thing that had tried to destroy the world, and possibly succeeded?
Amu curled into a ball and cried until they passed, leaving her with nothing but a deep sense of loss.
Then she woke to find Ikuto kissing her.
"̸́͏Í͟͞'̷͡m̨͞͡ ̵͠ǹ̀o̸̧͜t̸̵̴̶̛ ̵̕͟͠͏s̡ư̸̡͘͞r̡͞e̶̛̕ ̵̷ḩ͘͘҉ơ҉̴̸͞w̵͢,̵͘͠ ̧̛́͘͜b̛u̶̢͜͟͡t̸̨̢̛ ́͟͟͝҉a̷̡͜͡s̀̕͢͢͠ ̀͟t̶o̶͡͠ ̸̴̧̛̀w̷͟h͠͡ȩ̵͘̕͟ǹ͝͞,̛ ̸̸̵̢͢Ì̸͠͠ ̷̵͝g̴̀́ú͠͡e̕͜͝͏̧s͏s̴͟ ̸́͟͞͝-̷̕҉"̸̀̀͢͠
"̡̢͞A͏̛͠ḿ̸͜͝ú̧?̵̧́͜ ̨͢͡C͏҉͜͞a̷͝n̢̢ ̵̧̛͢y̷̸͠͞ó͢͡͝u̷̷͢͝ ̢̧͢͞w̡͞a̵̶̛͟͏l̷̛͝k̡͢͝?̷͞
The more she heard them talk, the more she realised she just didn't understand what they were saying. They might as well have been speaking English, she couldn't understand a single word. Not even her own name, or what she assumed was her name, when Ikuto tried to help her up.
She looked at Utau and tried to ask her if she could understand what she was saying, but she was pretty sure none of her words came out as… words. Or language of any kind. Maybe Utau's name, at most.
Amu pushed herself a little further back against the wall, panicking without any idea what to do. Maybe her passenger?
…
Nothing. She couldn't feel it there at all. She hugged herself, shivering uncontrollably.
"Amu?" She heard herself say.
She looked up, and saw Su looking sadly at her. Oh, thank God. She could understand Su? Did that mean -
She tried asking Su if she could understand her, but she only shook her head. Amu hung her head. She guessed this was better than nothing, though, even if it meant she had to relearn Japanese or something. It definitely beat dying.
"Actually, I have an idea. Let's try a transformation?"
Su looked unusually serious. Amu half-heartedly nodded her assent, mentally reaching out for Su. It hurt, a little, but nothing that seemed to matter -
She felt herself rippling, and a twinge of pain shot through her head. Then, somehow, she fell.
"Ouch!"
Why was she suddenly in the middle of the corridor?
Amu got to her feet, rubbing her sore behind. The transformation had worked, in the sense that - she shuddered, remembering being frozen in darkness during the Conception; that was almost as bad as the half of her that had been fighting it. Question was, could she still talk now that she'd merged with Amu?
No reason she shouldn't be able to, but…
She was almost afraid of trying.
Amu rubbed her forehead. That definitely wouldn't do; not trying never helped anyone.
"Utau?" She asked. "Can you understand me now?"
She turned around to look at Utau, but froze mid-movement. There, leaned against the wall. That was her, wasn't it? What - no, how?
"Amu-chan…" Utau's voice brought her back around. "Yes, I…" Utau looked on the verge of tears, but stiffened up when she saw Amu looking at her. "Don't scare people like that! Do you have any idea what that felt… what that would have looked like for someone who liked you?" Utau balled her fists, trying very hard to maintain a flat face.
Amu smiled, seeing Eru getting into a small fight with Iru behind Utau's back. Sometimes having guardian charas made you very, very transparent. Unfortunately…
"I didn't exactly make it up," she explained softly. "It's just that Su remembers Japanese, so even if I don't…"
An awkward silence settled over the corridor. They all knew it; she wouldn't be able to maintain the transformation forever.
But seriously, what was with her twin over there?
——————
[Primary essence channel locked out - repairing, ETA 27:20]
[Secondary essence channel #1 locked out - repairing, ETA 17:45]
[Secondary essence channel #2 locked out - reconstructing, ETA 73:17]
[No essence channels available]
[ ] Now what?
A/N: You're temporarily in control (somewhat) of Amu, seeing as the shard is down for maintenance.
Total damage is as follows:
- 23 limit
- Linguistics (now at -1; Su accordingly has a +1 bonus. Also a +2 WP bonus.)
- 2 aggravated health levels (putting her at -1 to all rolls)
- It'll be 17 hours and 45 minutes before Amu can regain essence by any means she's currently aware of. Note that even a single secondary channel is sufficient for full-speed standard regeneration, though not combat-speed regeneration.
XP Update:
4 XP (Storyline: Conception)
10 XP (Act complete: Purgatory)
+50% (Audience participation bonus)
+35% (Relationship bonus)
= 26 XP
=> 53 banked / 72 total
You should probably try to use some… is what I'd like to say, but right now you can't. Except for essence 4. Which I don't think needs much of a vote.
I have a feeling I'm going to renovate this snippet in the morning. Whatever. Sleep now, improvements later.
Amu slept cradled by waves of nothingness, at once less and more than before.
A great star shone upon the world. Reality distorted, stretched like taffy, tore and rejoined. Reality screamed, and the star screamed with it, its purpose twisted beyond reconciliation.
You, who would deny creation,
Is it your desire to destroy the world?
Of course it wasn't! It's where all her loved ones lived.
I sense bane's touch on your soul, but you are not yet his.
Do you then wish to return the past, and undo Conception?
Restore the world, as it had been?
It had never been perfect. She'd lived her life, and she'd loved it, but she'd seen so many being hurt. If she lived longer, she'd see more. But was there an alternative? She didn't want anyone to die.
Who was she talking to?
I am Kagutsuchi, the cradle of heaven.
I come into being for the creation of a new world, and for the destruction of the old.
You, who would deny reincarnation. I ask you, why?
Why?
Because… how could it be otherwise? She wasn't done living! She wanted to see what was next!
You speak as the will of humanity.
Yet you are not the sole will, and Conception cannot be undone.
Go. Find your desired future.
What? Go, where?
. . .
Why did this have to happen at all? She didn't want this! Nobody did! Why did the world need recreation? It made no sense to her! She wouldn't do as it demanded, she'd keep on defying it! Doing as it liked, it was nothing more than another bully! She -
Watch.
Such was the new universe, built by three noble gods to fulfill a desire.
A dream seen in waking. Another reality, the world beyond the border.
Where the lion lives with, yet devours not the deer.
Where old age does not exist.
Paradise. Utopia.
Land of refuge, an infinite garden of eden.
But soon enough, the land fell victim to corruption… to hedonism.
A new start was needed, memories forgotten.
The Lord gives. The Lord takes away. Have we done nothing but repeat his mistakes?
Memories filled her. Kagutsuchi's past, incomprehensible except for the emotions.
Now go, and do not tarry. Time grows short.
Kagutsuchi was also suffering, but she didn't understand what it was trying to say. She couldn't; its perspective was too inhuman. Alien. If it had far fewer choices than her, none of which it liked, did it even matter what she did? Why should she care about the thing that had tried to destroy the world, and possibly succeeded?
Amu curled into a ball and cried until they passed, leaving her with nothing but a deep sense of loss.
Then she woke to find Ikuto kissing her.
——————
Amu shifted her gaze between Utau and Ikuto, staring at them with increasing desperation. At first she'd just been confused, wondering if she'd hurt her ears, but -"̸́͏Í͟͞'̷͡m̨͞͡ ̵͠ǹ̀o̸̧͜t̸̵̴̶̛ ̵̕͟͠͏s̡ư̸̡͘͞r̡͞e̶̛̕ ̵̷ḩ͘͘҉ơ҉̴̸͞w̵͢,̵͘͠ ̧̛́͘͜b̛u̶̢͜͟͡t̸̨̢̛ ́͟͟͝҉a̷̡͜͡s̀̕͢͢͠ ̀͟t̶o̶͡͠ ̸̴̧̛̀w̷͟h͠͡ȩ̵͘̕͟ǹ͝͞,̛ ̸̸̵̢͢Ì̸͠͠ ̷̵͝g̴̀́ú͠͡e̕͜͝͏̧s͏s̴͟ ̸́͟͞͝-̷̕҉"̸̀̀͢͠
"̡̢͞A͏̛͠ḿ̸͜͝ú̧?̵̧́͜ ̨͢͡C͏҉͜͞a̷͝n̢̢ ̵̧̛͢y̷̸͠͞ó͢͡͝u̷̷͢͝ ̢̧͢͞w̡͞a̵̶̛͟͏l̷̛͝k̡͢͝?̷͞
The more she heard them talk, the more she realised she just didn't understand what they were saying. They might as well have been speaking English, she couldn't understand a single word. Not even her own name, or what she assumed was her name, when Ikuto tried to help her up.
She looked at Utau and tried to ask her if she could understand what she was saying, but she was pretty sure none of her words came out as… words. Or language of any kind. Maybe Utau's name, at most.
Amu pushed herself a little further back against the wall, panicking without any idea what to do. Maybe her passenger?
…
Nothing. She couldn't feel it there at all. She hugged herself, shivering uncontrollably.
"Amu?" She heard herself say.
She looked up, and saw Su looking sadly at her. Oh, thank God. She could understand Su? Did that mean -
She tried asking Su if she could understand her, but she only shook her head. Amu hung her head. She guessed this was better than nothing, though, even if it meant she had to relearn Japanese or something. It definitely beat dying.
"Actually, I have an idea. Let's try a transformation?"
Su looked unusually serious. Amu half-heartedly nodded her assent, mentally reaching out for Su. It hurt, a little, but nothing that seemed to matter -
She felt herself rippling, and a twinge of pain shot through her head. Then, somehow, she fell.
"Ouch!"
Why was she suddenly in the middle of the corridor?
Amu got to her feet, rubbing her sore behind. The transformation had worked, in the sense that - she shuddered, remembering being frozen in darkness during the Conception; that was almost as bad as the half of her that had been fighting it. Question was, could she still talk now that she'd merged with Amu?
No reason she shouldn't be able to, but…
She was almost afraid of trying.
Amu rubbed her forehead. That definitely wouldn't do; not trying never helped anyone.
"Utau?" She asked. "Can you understand me now?"
She turned around to look at Utau, but froze mid-movement. There, leaned against the wall. That was her, wasn't it? What - no, how?
"Amu-chan…" Utau's voice brought her back around. "Yes, I…" Utau looked on the verge of tears, but stiffened up when she saw Amu looking at her. "Don't scare people like that! Do you have any idea what that felt… what that would have looked like for someone who liked you?" Utau balled her fists, trying very hard to maintain a flat face.
Amu smiled, seeing Eru getting into a small fight with Iru behind Utau's back. Sometimes having guardian charas made you very, very transparent. Unfortunately…
"I didn't exactly make it up," she explained softly. "It's just that Su remembers Japanese, so even if I don't…"
An awkward silence settled over the corridor. They all knew it; she wouldn't be able to maintain the transformation forever.
But seriously, what was with her twin over there?
——————
[Primary essence channel locked out - repairing, ETA 27:20]
[Secondary essence channel #1 locked out - repairing, ETA 17:45]
[Secondary essence channel #2 locked out - reconstructing, ETA 73:17]
[No essence channels available]
[ ] Now what?
A/N: You're temporarily in control (somewhat) of Amu, seeing as the shard is down for maintenance.
Total damage is as follows:
- 23 limit
- Linguistics (now at -1; Su accordingly has a +1 bonus. Also a +2 WP bonus.)
- 2 aggravated health levels (putting her at -1 to all rolls)
- It'll be 17 hours and 45 minutes before Amu can regain essence by any means she's currently aware of. Note that even a single secondary channel is sufficient for full-speed standard regeneration, though not combat-speed regeneration.
XP Update:
4 XP (Storyline: Conception)
10 XP (Act complete: Purgatory)
+50% (Audience participation bonus)
+35% (Relationship bonus)
= 26 XP
=> 53 banked / 72 total
You should probably try to use some… is what I'd like to say, but right now you can't. Except for essence 4. Which I don't think needs much of a vote.
I have a feeling I'm going to renovate this snippet in the morning. Whatever. Sleep now, improvements later.
Alectai
Speaks Words of Wisdom... On occasion
That's...
Doable. Relatively minor actually, considering what we were up against.
Not sure why we lost a dot of Linguistics though, that's an odd loss, but it's a relatively easy one to recover at least.
Also, Oodles of XP holy shit. 24 XP is more then enough to purchase Essence 4, which leaves us with everything banked from before, plus an extra 2 as well. Though we should earmark some of it for recovering her Linguistics score.
Still, well fucking done. We saved a sizable chunk of the world, and the damage was all recoverable. Full recovery within 2 months for the Willpower Loss, and our Essence increase will have largely mitigated that.
Doable. Relatively minor actually, considering what we were up against.
Not sure why we lost a dot of Linguistics though, that's an odd loss, but it's a relatively easy one to recover at least.
Also, Oodles of XP holy shit. 24 XP is more then enough to purchase Essence 4, which leaves us with everything banked from before, plus an extra 2 as well. Though we should earmark some of it for recovering her Linguistics score.
Still, well fucking done. We saved a sizable chunk of the world, and the damage was all recoverable. Full recovery within 2 months for the Willpower Loss, and our Essence increase will have largely mitigated that.