Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
I want you to know that this is both funny, insightful and deeply ironic, but I had to pick one of the three. Also it isn't emotionally healthy to send yourself too many complaints.
Shards of a Broken Sun [Megaten/Shugo Chara/Exalted]
- Thread starter Baughn
- Start date
- Crossover
2 Presence, 0 Socialize. Much better at making people change their worldview (which falls under Presence) than at navigating social situations (which falls under Socialize). At least we're not taking the full 2-die penalty un-exalted characters usually take for trying to use a 0-dot ability in Exalted 2e.
I wonder what the difficulty on that roll was. Hopefully it was 1.
I wonder what the difficulty on that roll was. Hopefully it was 1.
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
It was one, though the system does make it easy to define by how much Amu succeeds. Struggle is usually good for a story, though.
The chapter is with my betas, and should be up later today. In the meantime, here; have a drawing by Ami.
- Location
- Laniakea
Now, hey wait a minute, I only just checked that but.... socialize?
I would've expected it to be using Presence instead. We're not exactly trying to form or advance a relationship with the man here (I mean, if we needed to, that would say horrible things about the guy in general), we were basically trying to bully him into doing something, as bad as that sounds.
That's the sort of thing I would've expected to use Presence instead. Though given how... bully-able.... Amu's papa is, sort of, I would've mainly expected it not to need a roll.
I mean, we're talking about the man who ran away and locked himself in their house's toilet when Amu's mother got pissed at him for tucking that precious photograph into that magazine. Sure, he yelled back a little, but I would've expected him to cave immediately when his daughter is shoving a 30kg human at him (30kg, because I'd expect Saaya to be one of those people who would keep their body mass low for beauty reasons).
EDIT: If this one took Socialize, would trying to negotiate with a demon use Presence or Socialize for it?
I would've expected it to be using Presence instead. We're not exactly trying to form or advance a relationship with the man here (I mean, if we needed to, that would say horrible things about the guy in general), we were basically trying to bully him into doing something, as bad as that sounds.
That's the sort of thing I would've expected to use Presence instead. Though given how... bully-able.... Amu's papa is, sort of, I would've mainly expected it not to need a roll.
I mean, we're talking about the man who ran away and locked himself in their house's toilet when Amu's mother got pissed at him for tucking that precious photograph into that magazine. Sure, he yelled back a little, but I would've expected him to cave immediately when his daughter is shoving a 30kg human at him (30kg, because I'd expect Saaya to be one of those people who would keep their body mass low for beauty reasons).
EDIT: If this one took Socialize, would trying to negotiate with a demon use Presence or Socialize for it?
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Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Yes, that scene was hilarious and not very serious. Not even Amu thought her parents were honestly on the outs; she saw right through them, and she was ten. It doesn't mean he's as bully-able when the stakes are higher than a single photograph.
Either Presence or Socialize would fit. Which one gets picked depends on your approach, and yes, when it comes to demons I don't think I'd recommend relying on Socialize. Mainly because she's terrible at it, but also because... that's just not how most of them work.
As it stands, Amu wasn't trying to bully her father. The thought didn't even occur to her.
As far as I can tell, no, she does not. Saaya's mentality is oddly healthy in a lot of ways; as far as her weight is concerned, she already knows she's pretty and if someone else thinks she ought to be slimmer, that's their problem. It isn't something she'd spend effort on.
That being said, she weighs about the same as Amu—45kg. 30kg would be hugely underweight.
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- Location
- Laniakea
Eh, his tendency to run and hide in a toilet might be exaggerated by the comedy. But even so, I would still have expected the man to be too flabbergasted at suddenly having an injured girl thrust at him by his daughter to do anything but take her and also trusting enough of Amu to accept that she's trying to help someone, when she pleads at him to keep her safe.
I guess whatever reason he showed up at the school must've been urgent if he put up any resistance at all.
But at this point, she's been deteriorating mentally for half a year and I can't imagine her appetite would've been all that great in that time. I'd be surprised if she hadn't lost 5-10 kilos in the whole time she was stewing in anguish. Unless she did, and just used to weigh more overall than Amu?
I guess whatever reason he showed up at the school must've been urgent if he put up any resistance at all.
OK, the 30kg thing was half a joke, but honestly I still expect Saaya to weigh less than Amu at this point. I can fully believe she would normally weigh about the same and also that she'd typically be too self-absorbed to possibly imagine she could be anything other than drop-dead gorgeous, no matter what her figure is actually like in reality.
But at this point, she's been deteriorating mentally for half a year and I can't imagine her appetite would've been all that great in that time. I'd be surprised if she hadn't lost 5-10 kilos in the whole time she was stewing in anguish. Unless she did, and just used to weigh more overall than Amu?
Getting some wild vibes that the old Shards quest ended offscreen with Amu resetting the world, or Amu dying horribly and someone else resetting the world to give her a second chance. And this is the second chance.
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--> # Screencaps From Last Night ...
Was gonna say, if Amu saw her friend that malnourished, she would offer her an egg.
Whoever did it made everyone forget (???), kept all the old problems, and added some more, because it wasn't hard enough. This is why they don't have sense.
Maybe there is a Cassandra or two besides this guy (probably the smt 2 protagonist, which killed god so hard it's still super mad about it and reincarnates him all the time so he can live in apocalypses).
Maybe there is a Cassandra or two besides this guy (probably the smt 2 protagonist, which killed god so hard it's still super mad about it and reincarnates him all the time so he can live in apocalypses).
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Chapter 1.10
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Amu flinched, as Saaya coughed another glob of blood into her hand. She had only a vague idea of what she was trying to do. Su's ability was basically 'fix things', yes. She could put pieces of glass back together. She could glue broken pencils back into shape and yes, she'd fixed scratches on herself before, but there was a world of difference between fixing her own bruises and fixing a hole in someone else's lung.
If she tried, and failed, would it kill her quicker?
The roc once again crashed into the ground, the grass around its neck burning. All around her there was shouting, the wind rising, the earth rumbling, but Amu was focused entirely on the girl in her arms. She couldn't fix Saaya, not completely, not like this. But she had to try.
Saaya looked up at Amu, her eyes swimming. Now that she'd accepted Amu wouldn't let her die, the pain had returned, and with it, the fear. "H-hey," she managed.
"Hey," Amu whispered.
"It hurts."
"I know," said Amu. "Bear with it. I'm going to try something stupid. Don't resist, okay?"
Saaya stared at her for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
Amu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt her own body, and Saaya's, her awareness sinking deeper and deeper. She could compare the one to the other... maybe? She'd never done this before.
There was the damage. Saaya's entire chest was a mess of bruised and damaged flesh, with a dozen veins that had ruptured or had been cut by a rib fragment. Amu wasn't sure how she'd managed to run—had adrenaline overridden the pain?
Her lungs had a hole, her stomach and intestines had several tears, and her heart was pumping blood out of a dozen tiny wounds. And, of course, she was practically all bruise. Bruises on your skin weren't dangerous, even if they hurt, but Amu wasn't sure that worked the same way if it was your kidney. And- Amu clenched her hands.
And she couldn't do this.
She didn't know how.
Yes, blood should stay in the veins, and no, that wasn't how the heart was supposed to look, and no, her stomach definitely shouldn't be leaking like that, but those were the obvious things. There were a hundred thousand smaller parts, a thousand ways they could go wrong. She didn't know what she was doing.
…didn't blood leave veins into smaller veins…?
She felt Saaya's hand tighten.
"Amu," Saaya whispered.
She took it, squeezing back.
But that was fine, right? It had to be. Because she didn't think a hospital could fix this.
The Humpty Lock's energy was a constant buzz in the background, holding Saaya's mind together. That wasn't helping. It was just making the process more painful.
Amu opened her eyes again, imprinting the image of Saaya's face in her mind. The other girl was looking at her, her face pale, her eyes wide, and now that Amu was looking, one of them had blood in it. Just a few burst capillaries, but it was there. Her lips were going white, which Amu wasn't sure, but- right, the blood wasn't getting there. She spent a moment wondering if she should force it, before deciding that would probably hurt Saaya more than help her. The thought made her feel a little sick.
She had to, somehow, do better than she could...
The first time Amu had undergone a chara change, she'd been nine. Too young to understand any part of what was happening or to wonder at how she was suddenly bubbly, confident and outgoing. She'd just known Ran had done it, and part of her was terrified—and part of her, a larger part, had thought it was fun. Hop, step, jump! Forget your embarrassment, you can do this!
She'd gotten used to it, had stopped needing Ran's guidance, but she'd never stopped to think. Never asked herself how Ran's personality had become hers, or where Ran went while they were transformed, or why she could suddenly fly. And to be fair, she'd been nine. Asking a nine-year-old for deep thought wasn't fair.
But she was thirteen years old now, and-
-and she'd seen Utau, what her transformations with Eru and Iru did. Not just the physical changes, though the thought of Utau with wings was still enough to make her giddy. There were mental changes too, and they'd gotten more and more obvious to Amu. Even more so recently. Like Miki's skill with drawing or Ran's at exercise and sports. The skill came from the chara-
But where had the chara gotten it?
Amu reached out into the mental knot surrounding her. The same knot she'd just barely glimpsed before, the web-whirlpool-starry-cloud-pattern-thing that she'd only ever seen clearly when she was chara changed with Dia. She was acting half on wishful thinking, half on intuition, but...
Amu reached out and pulled.
The world spun, and then everything was dark.
It was cold. She couldn't see, or hear, or sense anything, not really. Around here there were points of light, less seen than sensed. They were all around her, a vast sea of distant lights. A universe full of stars.
There were four bright spots in front of her. She could barely make out the first three, a trio of shapes that were almost identical. The fourth was a little fainter, and a little further away.
The world was a sea of darkness, an endless expanse, and the lights were everywhere. A million points of light, each one a mind. A million minds, each one a star, a billion stars, a billion billion, a trillion trillion- a vast road of lights leading into the distance, stretching on and on and on and-
A spiderweb of shining lines.
It was hard to focus. Amu's own mind was fading in and out, and every time it did she was a little more disoriented, a little further from herself. Su overlapped with her, Ran and Dia, their personalities merging and blending together. Miki sat in the distance, the bond stretched and frayed, but still very much there.
And some of the lines-
She reached out as Su, grasping for the minds that had given birth to herself. The sea shifted, most of the lights growing dim, but the ones she'd grabbed flared brighter and- her mind stuttered. And she yanked at them, insistently. They rebuffed her. She was guided by nothing more than intuition and fragments of memory from when she'd been born, but it was all she had. A vast cauldron of souls. Amu's desire, to be like her mother, to- to help people, to be there for them, and-
-it wasn't enough. It was more than her mother, journalist-caring-help-plasters-on-cuts, could fix.
She could fix some scratches, but Saaya needed more. She cried out for help, no longer holding back her emotions, hoping—begging—for the answer to come.
There was no reply, and her panic built.
She couldn't lose her here. Not now, not like this. She'd saved her. She'd held her and said she'd help her and promised and- she didn't care that this wasn't what she was for. She had to save Amu, she had to save Saaya, fixing things was her job, stop holding back, just let go, do it, do it, do it!
Amu screamed, the sound echoing across the sea.
She was falling. She was a rock tumbling through the air, a bird plummeting towards the ocean, a-
-a lost child begging for someone to find her.
Something heard her, and answered.
A light rose up to meet her, the light of an entire nebula, and the universe was gone.
⁂
Su- Amu- opened her eyes, and found herself staring into Saaya's. She was so close their foreheads were almost touching, and-
'Pay careful attention,' a voice whispered.
And she did.
She looked down at Saaya, her vision no longer that of a teenage girl. It would be difficult to explain the difference, except that everything she saw had been imbued with meaning. Every colour, every shape, every curve and line, was a piece of a puzzle, and the puzzle was-
Saaya.
Through this lens she saw not just a wounded girl but a complex biological system in urgent need of repair. Saaya's condition was critical: a pneumothorax, the collapsed lung evident from the ragged tear in the pleura. Her heart was strained, showing signs of traumatic pericarditis, a dangerous inflammation from the blood leaking into the pericardium. Tachycardia; the rapid, thready pulse visible through her throat. A number of lacerated and punctured blood vessels, their bleeding slowing but not stopped. Multiple abraded ribs, some splintered, one driven into her liver. The bruising had spread throughout her entire body, a dark, sharp, ominous red that spoke of internal bleeding and organ damage.
Easy enough to fix.
Her newfound perception didn't stop there. She studied the abdominal trauma, the ruptured intestines and the damaged stomach lining. Every bruise, every internal haemorrhage, was catalogued with an almost clinical detachment, yet underlined with a sense of urgency and care.
Bacterial infection was inevitable, but could be set aside for now. The cardiac seepage was slow, and wouldn't become critical for another five to ten minutes.
The knowledge flooding through her was overwhelming, yet strangely coherent. She understood the intricacies of human anatomy and physiology as if she had spent a dozen lifetimes studying them, but there was a strange sense of lagging-behind. As if Amu's mind wasn't the one thinking these thoughts, but was instead being fed a series of observations, which she then translated into comprehension.
Her focus next turned to the pneumothorax. She knew instinctively that re-expanding the lung was crucial, but also that it needed to be done with utmost care to prevent further damage.
-damage? But why?
A mild sense of consternation.
The answer came instantly. It was possible to simply inflate the lung, but that would put strain on the chest wall, and could rupture the already-weakened pleura, allowing fluid to build up in the chest cavity. 'Fluid' meaning blood.
She would have to drain the excess first.
Amu blinked, her thoughts stalling for a moment, her vision blurring. The sense of urgency increased.
-how, she asked.
She had no tools. Nothing to remove the excess fluid, no way to drain the blood. Her fingers were the only tool she had.
-no.
Was she, or was she not, a telekinetic? Hadn't she healed contusions in the past? Couldn't she do that, only on a larger scale?
-oh, right.
Her hands moved, the air around her shifting. She felt Saaya's body, felt the damaged blood vessels, and-
She focused, and the blood stopped seeping into her lungs. She could feel Saaya's heart beating, could feel the strain it was under. The heart was a pump, and the valves were mechanical, and they were designed to move a certain amount of blood per second, but there wasn't quite enough blood left even after it had pulled as much as it could to her core. It was straining itself, and Amu could feel it starting to falter. She had to-
Amu's hand pressed down on Saaya's chest and the other girl coughed, blood and bile splattering against her shirt. No, no, this wasn't working. She was too slow. It would take long minutes to heal Saaya this way and by that time the heart would fail and then the brain would starve, and-
Amu's hand slid upwards, to Saaya's face, once again brushing the hair away from her eyes. She could feel the other girl's fear, her terror at her own body failing. She could also see her own skin shimmer, as if in a mirage.
-she wasn't human.
-she was a creature of air and water, the light of stars and the flow of blood, and the air was hers to command.
-the air was hers to command, and the blood was hers to command, but Amu couldn't channel the full force of her power, not without killing the girl. She refused to countenance the death of a child.
-so instead-
She rose to her feet, tapping into a secondary aspect of the demon which called itself Su. Amu's clothing faded away, replaced by green robes like those of a Silky. That was good. In Amu's mind it was associated with helpfulness, kindness and comfort. That was better.
She was restricted, in this place, at this time. All she could do was follow in the trails blazed by Amu. However, Amu had a great deal of potential. She could use this. She'd healed before, and one of the... 'attacks', her host would dub it. One of the tricks this child had learned, and called an 'attack'...
-was this a pixie's joke?
The being's eye twitched, as it contemplated the frivolity of children. Very well. Why e'er not. It should work as well as any other story it could tell.
-as you will, the being agreed, and reached out to its host.
⁂
The mental picture of Saaya that she held was one torn apart, damaged and missing shards.
Once upon a time, there had been another picture of someone cherished that Amu had seen torn, damaged and missing bits - a precious photograph of her mother that her father had tucked away in an old magazine, accidentally donated. When she'd found it again, Yoru had fought her bitterly over it, leaving it in tatters by the end. But Amulet Clover had managed to fill the gaps, mend the holes.
Water healed, and what was honey but a stickier form of water?
-there was something wrong with that thought, but Amu couldn't figure out what it was.
Honey healed, honey revitalised. Honey kept bees alive throughout the winter. Like the blood running through a person's veins, no cheap fake could compare to the true thing—and Su made the best honey of them all.
Amu wasn't sure if it was a memory or just an analogy, but either way, it seemed to fit.
The blood that is lost must be replaced.
-the blood was already going back to where it belonged, Amu thought, even as her clothes burst into flickering flames that reformed in the familiar form of Su's transformation, one she hadn't used in months.
Honey healed, and fire burned. Fire purified, fire drove out infection and disease. Blood flowed through the veins, and fire was the fuel of life.
The being's voice was a whisper, a susurration that was barely a part of her, and yet guided her thoughts in a way that felt more like a friend's hand on her own than an instruction.
She knew what to do.
Blood flowed back into the vessels, a trickle becoming a torrent, a river, a stream. Flesh stitched itself together and Amu had never had such perfect control over her abilities before. A dozen tiny lacerations sealed themselves shut, and then a hundred, and then a thousand. Fragments of bone and rib were drawn back together and where the flesh and bone were gone, eaten away by the desolation that this child held at her core, honeyed fire filled the void.
The being's attention lingered on the wounds to the child's abdomen. It was a shame that it could not repair her fully. There was only so much it could do; already Amu was flagging, the energy needed to heal this degree of damage was enormous, the child had reached her limit. It would have to make do.
Amu felt a twinge of regret, then nodded. Yes, it was a shame. But Saaya was breathing easily again, her heart was no longer trembling, and the bruises were superficial. She'd be able to move on her own, and-
The being's attention returned to her abdomen, and a moment later it gave a soft, mental chuckle. Infection would not be an issue. The girl would not bleed out, and would not sicken.
She might be a little hungry, though.
That was okay, in a world as rich as this one.
The being withdrew, satisfied.
⁂
-as Amu found herself standing above Saaya, uncertain what she'd been thinking mere moments before. Her mind felt sluggish and heavy, and her limbs were trembling, but those were the least of her problems.
There was a monster in the middle of the school grounds.
Apparently only seconds had passed, because Nadeshiko was still fighting the roc. A second blade had appeared in her hands, and she was now holding it at the ready while the first hovered, blade towards the demon, a short distance above her. The ground around her was scorched and blackened, the grass dead, and a few nearby trees were burning from—what, precisely? Amu hadn't seen what set them on fire, but it must have been the roc, somehow.
Nadeshiko's head was tilted towards Amu, her attention clearly split between the fight and the two girls behind her. The roc was—was it trying to fly past her, towards Amu? It did, and a second later that indiscretion cost it because Nadeshiko's naginata was in motion, slashing across the bird's chest and leaving a line of black smoke in its wake. The creature screeched, then a moment later another line was scored across its neck. A moment after that Amu had a chance to see where the fires had come from; the roc's blood was literally burning, and when it hit the ground it ignited, leaving a trail of flame.
The creature was badly wounded. Amu could tell it was slowing. It was a matter of moments until it fell, and-
"Saaya!" Amu shouted, finally remembering what she'd been doing. "Are you okay?"
"I... think?"
Saaya slowly rose to her feet and Amu quickly went to help her. She looked pale and unsteady, still covered in bruises, but she was breathing easily and moving. Amu stared at her. She was also covered in honey, like someone had—oh, well, right, yes, she'd done that hadn't she. She couldn't help herself; she started laughing.
"Amu?"
"You're fine," she said.
Saaya brushed herself off, her hands still shaking. "I... don't feel fine," she muttered, "but I'm not..." she shook her head, her hand clutching at her chest. "How am I not dead?"
"Magic," Amu replied, giving her a quick hug. The honey got all over her clothes, but it wasn't like the stains would stick around.
"Magic," Saaya echoed. "Right. That makes perfect sense."
Amu giggled again, and then looked back towards the roc, only to see Nadeshiko had gotten her naginata wedged inside its chest, and was currently holding it aloft by its ribs. The creature had its wings outstretched, its feet clawing at the air, and a moment later Nadeshiko ripped the blade out sideways, slicing through the demon's rib cage. Lava sprayed everywhere, but a second later the creature's entire body began to melt and burn, falling to the ground in a pool of molten stone.
Saaya followed her gaze, and her eyes bugged out.
"Is that-"
"Yes," Amu interrupted. "Don't worry about it."
"But-"
"It's dead, isn't it?"
Saaya hesitated, but nodded. Amu giggled again, then squeezed her harder. Not actually hard. Not enough that the bruises would hurt. But she'd been so sure Saaya might die, and now she was here, and alive, and-
And she was maybe a little bit delirious.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Amu babbled, pulling Saaya closer.
"Um, Amu?" Saaya whispered, the arms settling around her.
"You're a good person. I'm not going to let you die. I'm not."
"O...kay."
Amu looked up, her attention caught by a flicker of light, and found Nadeshiko now- crap- there was another pseudo-roc. This one was smaller than the first, but already well up into the air and flying directly towards them. Nadeshiko was sprinting, but-
-the hovering naginata flew, impaling the demon. Its flight was knocked off course and a moment later Nadeshiko had jumped, catching it mid-air and using it as a foothold, jumping again to plant a second naginata's blade into its back. Wow, Amu thought.
A moment later she realised her mistake. The new pseudo-roc was smaller, yes, but that meant it was faster and more agile. It turned and twisted and a moment later it was facing the same way it'd come and Nadeshiko was in mid-air, and-
"Amu?" Saaya asked. "Are you okay? You're, uh, crying. And your face is covered in blood."
"Yeah," Amu said, a smile blooming on her face. She wiped the tears away and watched as the naginata was wrenched out, and the pseudo-roc crashed to the ground, where it promptly melted. She heard more cries coming from the portal now, from more rocs. This didn't seem like a battle Nadeshiko could win.
"Yeah," she repeated. "I'm going to help. You're okay, right?"
Saaya glanced at the roc. "I guess," she said, taking a step backwards.
"On second thought, I'm taking you to dad." Amu looked down, then blinked, and a second later her transformation faded. So did the honey, leaving Saaya looking mostly human. Mostly. The bruises hadn't faded, but the colour was lighter, and it looked like the swelling had gone down. "I should carry you," she decided, reaching for her.
"Uh," Saaya began, but was cut off by Amu scooping her up and running off.
"Hold on," Amu ordered.
"Wha- hey!" Saaya exclaimed, grabbing onto Amu's shoulders.
"Don't worry," Amu said, smiling down at her. "I'm really, really strong."
"I- okay."
Amu nodded, her smile getting a little lopsided, and a moment later—in Amu time, which right now was very, very irregular—they were near the school entrance. Dad was still arguing with someone, but they weren't important. What was important was that he was right there.
"Dad," she said, skidding to a halt.
She grinned up at him.
—
Now, it would be best to describe her appearance objectively.
Amu felt wired. Not tired at all, but like her brain was buzzing with electricity. Her muscles were full of energy, her lungs were full of air, and her skin was practically humming. That was all good and fine, except she'd just run halfway across the school grounds carrying a girl who was just about her own size.
She'd had a rough afternoon, but she was fine, really.
So why was her dad looking at her like he was going to faint?
She drew a finger across her face. It came away covered in blood. Saaya's, obviously. Her uniform was covered in dust from when the school had been collapsing on her, as well as a few tears from where she'd sprinted past rebar. And she still had some remnants of honey in her hair. Right, yes.
That had been a thing, so Amu looked like she'd just escaped a combat zone. She also looked—and felt—a little loopy. She was slowly starting to realise that.
—
"Hi, dad," Amu said, misplaced grin finally fading to a simple smile. "I need you to look after her. Okay?"
He didn't reply, so she carefully transferred Saaya's weight over to him, glancing worriedly back at Nadeshiko. She seemed to be okay, but beleaguered. There were two pseudo-rocs now, and their attacks were starting to overlap.
"Dad," Amu repeated, tugging on his arm.
"Am... Amu," he whispered.
"Yes," she agreed, nodding. "This is Saaya. She's a classmate, and she's- um." Amu looked at Saaya, who was starting to protest being lifted. "She's injured, but not bad. Can you look after her for a while? Don't let anyone remove the locket she's wearing, that's mine! She has to wear it, or she'll die. And her parents are out of town," she said, which they probably weren't.
"Amu-" he began, and stopped.
"Dad?"
She looked up at him, her thoughts catching up with reality. Dad was not having a good day.
"Amu," he repeated.
"Yes, dad. It's me. I'm here. Everything's okay." Her eyes glistened and her smile faltered. "Um. Except- can you keep an eye on Saaya, and- and tell her everything's okay, and- let me go? Because I still have to fight the, um, big flying things. Because if I don't then my friends might get hurt. Or my classmates. Okay? Please dad."
She rubbed at the blood on her face, smearing it. Why wouldn't this go away?
Her dad nodded, his arms tightening around Saaya. He was staring at Amu like he'd seen a ghost, his expression blank. She smiled again, but the tears were flowing freely, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Amu," he repeated. He'd stopped paying attention to the others, his eyes focusing solely on her.
"Dad?" she said. "It's- it's not my blood, I promise. It's Saaya's, and she's okay now, and- and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't want to scare you, I didn't mean to- I-" she stuttered, her vision blurring. "I'm sorry. But I have to go, okay? I can't- I can't stay here. I'm sorry."
She turned, her feet already in motion, and-
Amu stumbled, and felt her dad's arms close around her. She was enveloped in a warm embrace, her father's breath tickling her ear. She felt him trembling, his grip so tight that her ribs creaked.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice ragged.
She twisted around to look at Saaya, who was standing on her own two feet now, her face set in an odd expression of mixed jealousy and concern.
"Um, dad," Amu managed. "Can you take care of her? Please?"
"I wanted to take you to the park," he whispered.
"Okay. We'll go. And maybe I'll bring Utau? But I have to go."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Okay."
And for a while, the three of them stood together, and Amu did her best to hold it together. But only for a little while, because Nadeshiko was still in danger—acute danger, she literally couldn't stay here—and so she gave her father one last squeeze, and broke away.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Me too," Amu replied, smiling through the tears. She could feel his distress, but the feeling was distant, like she was watching from outside herself. Saaya was holding on to his arm and there was a crowd forming behind them, and mutterings. And one or two camera flashes. There was a part of her that wanted to run and hide, but that would mean letting down her friends. And she wouldn't do that, not ever.
She gave herself a moment to think.
Nadeshiko was fighting, now barely holding her own against two of the things. Kukai was- was on the roof? Was on the roof, carrying third-graders down. Some of the flashes were aimed at him. And Tadase was somewhere. She could still feel him inside, but the response was weaker now, like he was tiring out. She needed to get back to her friends before something happened to them.
"I love you, dad," she said, and then turned away, her legs already moving.
"I love you too," he whispered, but by then she was gone.
= = =
I decided to roll for the social interaction at the end, instead of having an interrupt for the sake of a… two paragraph update. Things seem to be going fine for Amu.
It has now been 5 minutes since the start of this situation.
[ ] Help Nadeshiko
- She's the one in active combat. She's still holding her own against two of the rocs, but who knows for how long?
[ ] Help Tadase
- Finding him is easy. Getting to him might not be, and then how do you help him?
[ ] Help Kukai
- He's searching for students who've been trapped by the collapses. You could do the same, probably better, though you're scared of what you'll find.
[ ] Try to close the rift
- It's incredibly risky, but you're not completely out of ideas. The rift is a hole. You can patch the hole.
- Difficulty 5, Stamina / Occult / Illusion. Amu will be exhausted whether or not it works.
- This is the default approach. A stunt can change how she does it, but will only be accepted if it makes a modicum of sense, and can alter the difficulty.
- What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter how well written the stunt is; you can't resolve this with Bureaucracy. You're not a Sidereal.
[ ] Write-in
If she tried, and failed, would it kill her quicker?
The roc once again crashed into the ground, the grass around its neck burning. All around her there was shouting, the wind rising, the earth rumbling, but Amu was focused entirely on the girl in her arms. She couldn't fix Saaya, not completely, not like this. But she had to try.
Saaya looked up at Amu, her eyes swimming. Now that she'd accepted Amu wouldn't let her die, the pain had returned, and with it, the fear. "H-hey," she managed.
"Hey," Amu whispered.
"It hurts."
"I know," said Amu. "Bear with it. I'm going to try something stupid. Don't resist, okay?"
Saaya stared at her for a moment, then nodded.
"Okay."
Amu closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She felt her own body, and Saaya's, her awareness sinking deeper and deeper. She could compare the one to the other... maybe? She'd never done this before.
There was the damage. Saaya's entire chest was a mess of bruised and damaged flesh, with a dozen veins that had ruptured or had been cut by a rib fragment. Amu wasn't sure how she'd managed to run—had adrenaline overridden the pain?
Her lungs had a hole, her stomach and intestines had several tears, and her heart was pumping blood out of a dozen tiny wounds. And, of course, she was practically all bruise. Bruises on your skin weren't dangerous, even if they hurt, but Amu wasn't sure that worked the same way if it was your kidney. And- Amu clenched her hands.
And she couldn't do this.
She didn't know how.
Yes, blood should stay in the veins, and no, that wasn't how the heart was supposed to look, and no, her stomach definitely shouldn't be leaking like that, but those were the obvious things. There were a hundred thousand smaller parts, a thousand ways they could go wrong. She didn't know what she was doing.
…didn't blood leave veins into smaller veins…?
She felt Saaya's hand tighten.
"Amu," Saaya whispered.
She took it, squeezing back.
But that was fine, right? It had to be. Because she didn't think a hospital could fix this.
The Humpty Lock's energy was a constant buzz in the background, holding Saaya's mind together. That wasn't helping. It was just making the process more painful.
Amu opened her eyes again, imprinting the image of Saaya's face in her mind. The other girl was looking at her, her face pale, her eyes wide, and now that Amu was looking, one of them had blood in it. Just a few burst capillaries, but it was there. Her lips were going white, which Amu wasn't sure, but- right, the blood wasn't getting there. She spent a moment wondering if she should force it, before deciding that would probably hurt Saaya more than help her. The thought made her feel a little sick.
She had to, somehow, do better than she could...
The first time Amu had undergone a chara change, she'd been nine. Too young to understand any part of what was happening or to wonder at how she was suddenly bubbly, confident and outgoing. She'd just known Ran had done it, and part of her was terrified—and part of her, a larger part, had thought it was fun. Hop, step, jump! Forget your embarrassment, you can do this!
She'd gotten used to it, had stopped needing Ran's guidance, but she'd never stopped to think. Never asked herself how Ran's personality had become hers, or where Ran went while they were transformed, or why she could suddenly fly. And to be fair, she'd been nine. Asking a nine-year-old for deep thought wasn't fair.
But she was thirteen years old now, and-
-and she'd seen Utau, what her transformations with Eru and Iru did. Not just the physical changes, though the thought of Utau with wings was still enough to make her giddy. There were mental changes too, and they'd gotten more and more obvious to Amu. Even more so recently. Like Miki's skill with drawing or Ran's at exercise and sports. The skill came from the chara-
But where had the chara gotten it?
Amu reached out into the mental knot surrounding her. The same knot she'd just barely glimpsed before, the web-whirlpool-starry-cloud-pattern-thing that she'd only ever seen clearly when she was chara changed with Dia. She was acting half on wishful thinking, half on intuition, but...
Amu reached out and pulled.
The world spun, and then everything was dark.
It was cold. She couldn't see, or hear, or sense anything, not really. Around here there were points of light, less seen than sensed. They were all around her, a vast sea of distant lights. A universe full of stars.
There were four bright spots in front of her. She could barely make out the first three, a trio of shapes that were almost identical. The fourth was a little fainter, and a little further away.
The world was a sea of darkness, an endless expanse, and the lights were everywhere. A million points of light, each one a mind. A million minds, each one a star, a billion stars, a billion billion, a trillion trillion- a vast road of lights leading into the distance, stretching on and on and on and-
A spiderweb of shining lines.
It was hard to focus. Amu's own mind was fading in and out, and every time it did she was a little more disoriented, a little further from herself. Su overlapped with her, Ran and Dia, their personalities merging and blending together. Miki sat in the distance, the bond stretched and frayed, but still very much there.
And some of the lines-
She reached out as Su, grasping for the minds that had given birth to herself. The sea shifted, most of the lights growing dim, but the ones she'd grabbed flared brighter and- her mind stuttered. And she yanked at them, insistently. They rebuffed her. She was guided by nothing more than intuition and fragments of memory from when she'd been born, but it was all she had. A vast cauldron of souls. Amu's desire, to be like her mother, to- to help people, to be there for them, and-
-it wasn't enough. It was more than her mother, journalist-caring-help-plasters-on-cuts, could fix.
She could fix some scratches, but Saaya needed more. She cried out for help, no longer holding back her emotions, hoping—begging—for the answer to come.
There was no reply, and her panic built.
She couldn't lose her here. Not now, not like this. She'd saved her. She'd held her and said she'd help her and promised and- she didn't care that this wasn't what she was for. She had to save Amu, she had to save Saaya, fixing things was her job, stop holding back, just let go, do it, do it, do it!
Amu screamed, the sound echoing across the sea.
She was falling. She was a rock tumbling through the air, a bird plummeting towards the ocean, a-
-a lost child begging for someone to find her.
Something heard her, and answered.
A light rose up to meet her, the light of an entire nebula, and the universe was gone.
⁂
Su- Amu- opened her eyes, and found herself staring into Saaya's. She was so close their foreheads were almost touching, and-
'Pay careful attention,' a voice whispered.
And she did.
She looked down at Saaya, her vision no longer that of a teenage girl. It would be difficult to explain the difference, except that everything she saw had been imbued with meaning. Every colour, every shape, every curve and line, was a piece of a puzzle, and the puzzle was-
Saaya.
Through this lens she saw not just a wounded girl but a complex biological system in urgent need of repair. Saaya's condition was critical: a pneumothorax, the collapsed lung evident from the ragged tear in the pleura. Her heart was strained, showing signs of traumatic pericarditis, a dangerous inflammation from the blood leaking into the pericardium. Tachycardia; the rapid, thready pulse visible through her throat. A number of lacerated and punctured blood vessels, their bleeding slowing but not stopped. Multiple abraded ribs, some splintered, one driven into her liver. The bruising had spread throughout her entire body, a dark, sharp, ominous red that spoke of internal bleeding and organ damage.
Easy enough to fix.
Her newfound perception didn't stop there. She studied the abdominal trauma, the ruptured intestines and the damaged stomach lining. Every bruise, every internal haemorrhage, was catalogued with an almost clinical detachment, yet underlined with a sense of urgency and care.
Bacterial infection was inevitable, but could be set aside for now. The cardiac seepage was slow, and wouldn't become critical for another five to ten minutes.
The knowledge flooding through her was overwhelming, yet strangely coherent. She understood the intricacies of human anatomy and physiology as if she had spent a dozen lifetimes studying them, but there was a strange sense of lagging-behind. As if Amu's mind wasn't the one thinking these thoughts, but was instead being fed a series of observations, which she then translated into comprehension.
Her focus next turned to the pneumothorax. She knew instinctively that re-expanding the lung was crucial, but also that it needed to be done with utmost care to prevent further damage.
-damage? But why?
A mild sense of consternation.
The answer came instantly. It was possible to simply inflate the lung, but that would put strain on the chest wall, and could rupture the already-weakened pleura, allowing fluid to build up in the chest cavity. 'Fluid' meaning blood.
She would have to drain the excess first.
Amu blinked, her thoughts stalling for a moment, her vision blurring. The sense of urgency increased.
-how, she asked.
She had no tools. Nothing to remove the excess fluid, no way to drain the blood. Her fingers were the only tool she had.
-no.
Was she, or was she not, a telekinetic? Hadn't she healed contusions in the past? Couldn't she do that, only on a larger scale?
-oh, right.
Her hands moved, the air around her shifting. She felt Saaya's body, felt the damaged blood vessels, and-
She focused, and the blood stopped seeping into her lungs. She could feel Saaya's heart beating, could feel the strain it was under. The heart was a pump, and the valves were mechanical, and they were designed to move a certain amount of blood per second, but there wasn't quite enough blood left even after it had pulled as much as it could to her core. It was straining itself, and Amu could feel it starting to falter. She had to-
Amu's hand pressed down on Saaya's chest and the other girl coughed, blood and bile splattering against her shirt. No, no, this wasn't working. She was too slow. It would take long minutes to heal Saaya this way and by that time the heart would fail and then the brain would starve, and-
Amu's hand slid upwards, to Saaya's face, once again brushing the hair away from her eyes. She could feel the other girl's fear, her terror at her own body failing. She could also see her own skin shimmer, as if in a mirage.
-she wasn't human.
-she was a creature of air and water, the light of stars and the flow of blood, and the air was hers to command.
-the air was hers to command, and the blood was hers to command, but Amu couldn't channel the full force of her power, not without killing the girl. She refused to countenance the death of a child.
-so instead-
She rose to her feet, tapping into a secondary aspect of the demon which called itself Su. Amu's clothing faded away, replaced by green robes like those of a Silky. That was good. In Amu's mind it was associated with helpfulness, kindness and comfort. That was better.
She was restricted, in this place, at this time. All she could do was follow in the trails blazed by Amu. However, Amu had a great deal of potential. She could use this. She'd healed before, and one of the... 'attacks', her host would dub it. One of the tricks this child had learned, and called an 'attack'...
-was this a pixie's joke?
The being's eye twitched, as it contemplated the frivolity of children. Very well. Why e'er not. It should work as well as any other story it could tell.
-as you will, the being agreed, and reached out to its host.
⁂
The mental picture of Saaya that she held was one torn apart, damaged and missing shards.
Once upon a time, there had been another picture of someone cherished that Amu had seen torn, damaged and missing bits - a precious photograph of her mother that her father had tucked away in an old magazine, accidentally donated. When she'd found it again, Yoru had fought her bitterly over it, leaving it in tatters by the end. But Amulet Clover had managed to fill the gaps, mend the holes.
Water healed, and what was honey but a stickier form of water?
-there was something wrong with that thought, but Amu couldn't figure out what it was.
Honey healed, honey revitalised. Honey kept bees alive throughout the winter. Like the blood running through a person's veins, no cheap fake could compare to the true thing—and Su made the best honey of them all.
Amu wasn't sure if it was a memory or just an analogy, but either way, it seemed to fit.
The blood that is lost must be replaced.
-the blood was already going back to where it belonged, Amu thought, even as her clothes burst into flickering flames that reformed in the familiar form of Su's transformation, one she hadn't used in months.
Honey healed, and fire burned. Fire purified, fire drove out infection and disease. Blood flowed through the veins, and fire was the fuel of life.
The being's voice was a whisper, a susurration that was barely a part of her, and yet guided her thoughts in a way that felt more like a friend's hand on her own than an instruction.
She knew what to do.
Blood flowed back into the vessels, a trickle becoming a torrent, a river, a stream. Flesh stitched itself together and Amu had never had such perfect control over her abilities before. A dozen tiny lacerations sealed themselves shut, and then a hundred, and then a thousand. Fragments of bone and rib were drawn back together and where the flesh and bone were gone, eaten away by the desolation that this child held at her core, honeyed fire filled the void.
The being's attention lingered on the wounds to the child's abdomen. It was a shame that it could not repair her fully. There was only so much it could do; already Amu was flagging, the energy needed to heal this degree of damage was enormous, the child had reached her limit. It would have to make do.
Amu felt a twinge of regret, then nodded. Yes, it was a shame. But Saaya was breathing easily again, her heart was no longer trembling, and the bruises were superficial. She'd be able to move on her own, and-
The being's attention returned to her abdomen, and a moment later it gave a soft, mental chuckle. Infection would not be an issue. The girl would not bleed out, and would not sicken.
She might be a little hungry, though.
That was okay, in a world as rich as this one.
The being withdrew, satisfied.
⁂
-as Amu found herself standing above Saaya, uncertain what she'd been thinking mere moments before. Her mind felt sluggish and heavy, and her limbs were trembling, but those were the least of her problems.
There was a monster in the middle of the school grounds.
Apparently only seconds had passed, because Nadeshiko was still fighting the roc. A second blade had appeared in her hands, and she was now holding it at the ready while the first hovered, blade towards the demon, a short distance above her. The ground around her was scorched and blackened, the grass dead, and a few nearby trees were burning from—what, precisely? Amu hadn't seen what set them on fire, but it must have been the roc, somehow.
Nadeshiko's head was tilted towards Amu, her attention clearly split between the fight and the two girls behind her. The roc was—was it trying to fly past her, towards Amu? It did, and a second later that indiscretion cost it because Nadeshiko's naginata was in motion, slashing across the bird's chest and leaving a line of black smoke in its wake. The creature screeched, then a moment later another line was scored across its neck. A moment after that Amu had a chance to see where the fires had come from; the roc's blood was literally burning, and when it hit the ground it ignited, leaving a trail of flame.
The creature was badly wounded. Amu could tell it was slowing. It was a matter of moments until it fell, and-
"Saaya!" Amu shouted, finally remembering what she'd been doing. "Are you okay?"
"I... think?"
Saaya slowly rose to her feet and Amu quickly went to help her. She looked pale and unsteady, still covered in bruises, but she was breathing easily and moving. Amu stared at her. She was also covered in honey, like someone had—oh, well, right, yes, she'd done that hadn't she. She couldn't help herself; she started laughing.
"Amu?"
"You're fine," she said.
Saaya brushed herself off, her hands still shaking. "I... don't feel fine," she muttered, "but I'm not..." she shook her head, her hand clutching at her chest. "How am I not dead?"
"Magic," Amu replied, giving her a quick hug. The honey got all over her clothes, but it wasn't like the stains would stick around.
"Magic," Saaya echoed. "Right. That makes perfect sense."
Amu giggled again, and then looked back towards the roc, only to see Nadeshiko had gotten her naginata wedged inside its chest, and was currently holding it aloft by its ribs. The creature had its wings outstretched, its feet clawing at the air, and a moment later Nadeshiko ripped the blade out sideways, slicing through the demon's rib cage. Lava sprayed everywhere, but a second later the creature's entire body began to melt and burn, falling to the ground in a pool of molten stone.
Saaya followed her gaze, and her eyes bugged out.
"Is that-"
"Yes," Amu interrupted. "Don't worry about it."
"But-"
"It's dead, isn't it?"
Saaya hesitated, but nodded. Amu giggled again, then squeezed her harder. Not actually hard. Not enough that the bruises would hurt. But she'd been so sure Saaya might die, and now she was here, and alive, and-
And she was maybe a little bit delirious.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Amu babbled, pulling Saaya closer.
"Um, Amu?" Saaya whispered, the arms settling around her.
"You're a good person. I'm not going to let you die. I'm not."
"O...kay."
Amu looked up, her attention caught by a flicker of light, and found Nadeshiko now- crap- there was another pseudo-roc. This one was smaller than the first, but already well up into the air and flying directly towards them. Nadeshiko was sprinting, but-
-the hovering naginata flew, impaling the demon. Its flight was knocked off course and a moment later Nadeshiko had jumped, catching it mid-air and using it as a foothold, jumping again to plant a second naginata's blade into its back. Wow, Amu thought.
A moment later she realised her mistake. The new pseudo-roc was smaller, yes, but that meant it was faster and more agile. It turned and twisted and a moment later it was facing the same way it'd come and Nadeshiko was in mid-air, and-
"Amu?" Saaya asked. "Are you okay? You're, uh, crying. And your face is covered in blood."
"Yeah," Amu said, a smile blooming on her face. She wiped the tears away and watched as the naginata was wrenched out, and the pseudo-roc crashed to the ground, where it promptly melted. She heard more cries coming from the portal now, from more rocs. This didn't seem like a battle Nadeshiko could win.
"Yeah," she repeated. "I'm going to help. You're okay, right?"
Saaya glanced at the roc. "I guess," she said, taking a step backwards.
"On second thought, I'm taking you to dad." Amu looked down, then blinked, and a second later her transformation faded. So did the honey, leaving Saaya looking mostly human. Mostly. The bruises hadn't faded, but the colour was lighter, and it looked like the swelling had gone down. "I should carry you," she decided, reaching for her.
"Uh," Saaya began, but was cut off by Amu scooping her up and running off.
"Hold on," Amu ordered.
"Wha- hey!" Saaya exclaimed, grabbing onto Amu's shoulders.
"Don't worry," Amu said, smiling down at her. "I'm really, really strong."
"I- okay."
Amu nodded, her smile getting a little lopsided, and a moment later—in Amu time, which right now was very, very irregular—they were near the school entrance. Dad was still arguing with someone, but they weren't important. What was important was that he was right there.
"Dad," she said, skidding to a halt.
She grinned up at him.
—
Now, it would be best to describe her appearance objectively.
Amu felt wired. Not tired at all, but like her brain was buzzing with electricity. Her muscles were full of energy, her lungs were full of air, and her skin was practically humming. That was all good and fine, except she'd just run halfway across the school grounds carrying a girl who was just about her own size.
She'd had a rough afternoon, but she was fine, really.
So why was her dad looking at her like he was going to faint?
She drew a finger across her face. It came away covered in blood. Saaya's, obviously. Her uniform was covered in dust from when the school had been collapsing on her, as well as a few tears from where she'd sprinted past rebar. And she still had some remnants of honey in her hair. Right, yes.
That had been a thing, so Amu looked like she'd just escaped a combat zone. She also looked—and felt—a little loopy. She was slowly starting to realise that.
—
"Hi, dad," Amu said, misplaced grin finally fading to a simple smile. "I need you to look after her. Okay?"
He didn't reply, so she carefully transferred Saaya's weight over to him, glancing worriedly back at Nadeshiko. She seemed to be okay, but beleaguered. There were two pseudo-rocs now, and their attacks were starting to overlap.
"Dad," Amu repeated, tugging on his arm.
"Am... Amu," he whispered.
"Yes," she agreed, nodding. "This is Saaya. She's a classmate, and she's- um." Amu looked at Saaya, who was starting to protest being lifted. "She's injured, but not bad. Can you look after her for a while? Don't let anyone remove the locket she's wearing, that's mine! She has to wear it, or she'll die. And her parents are out of town," she said, which they probably weren't.
"Amu-" he began, and stopped.
"Dad?"
She looked up at him, her thoughts catching up with reality. Dad was not having a good day.
"Amu," he repeated.
"Yes, dad. It's me. I'm here. Everything's okay." Her eyes glistened and her smile faltered. "Um. Except- can you keep an eye on Saaya, and- and tell her everything's okay, and- let me go? Because I still have to fight the, um, big flying things. Because if I don't then my friends might get hurt. Or my classmates. Okay? Please dad."
She rubbed at the blood on her face, smearing it. Why wouldn't this go away?
Her dad nodded, his arms tightening around Saaya. He was staring at Amu like he'd seen a ghost, his expression blank. She smiled again, but the tears were flowing freely, and her breath caught in her throat.
"Amu," he repeated. He'd stopped paying attention to the others, his eyes focusing solely on her.
"Dad?" she said. "It's- it's not my blood, I promise. It's Saaya's, and she's okay now, and- and I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I didn't want to scare you, I didn't mean to- I-" she stuttered, her vision blurring. "I'm sorry. But I have to go, okay? I can't- I can't stay here. I'm sorry."
She turned, her feet already in motion, and-
Amu stumbled, and felt her dad's arms close around her. She was enveloped in a warm embrace, her father's breath tickling her ear. She felt him trembling, his grip so tight that her ribs creaked.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his voice ragged.
She twisted around to look at Saaya, who was standing on her own two feet now, her face set in an odd expression of mixed jealousy and concern.
"Um, dad," Amu managed. "Can you take care of her? Please?"
"I wanted to take you to the park," he whispered.
"Okay. We'll go. And maybe I'll bring Utau? But I have to go."
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Okay."
And for a while, the three of them stood together, and Amu did her best to hold it together. But only for a little while, because Nadeshiko was still in danger—acute danger, she literally couldn't stay here—and so she gave her father one last squeeze, and broke away.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"Me too," Amu replied, smiling through the tears. She could feel his distress, but the feeling was distant, like she was watching from outside herself. Saaya was holding on to his arm and there was a crowd forming behind them, and mutterings. And one or two camera flashes. There was a part of her that wanted to run and hide, but that would mean letting down her friends. And she wouldn't do that, not ever.
She gave herself a moment to think.
Nadeshiko was fighting, now barely holding her own against two of the things. Kukai was- was on the roof? Was on the roof, carrying third-graders down. Some of the flashes were aimed at him. And Tadase was somewhere. She could still feel him inside, but the response was weaker now, like he was tiring out. She needed to get back to her friends before something happened to them.
"I love you, dad," she said, and then turned away, her legs already moving.
"I love you too," he whispered, but by then she was gone.
= = =
I decided to roll for the social interaction at the end, instead of having an interrupt for the sake of a… two paragraph update. Things seem to be going fine for Amu.
It has now been 5 minutes since the start of this situation.
[ ] Help Nadeshiko
- She's the one in active combat. She's still holding her own against two of the rocs, but who knows for how long?
[ ] Help Tadase
- Finding him is easy. Getting to him might not be, and then how do you help him?
[ ] Help Kukai
- He's searching for students who've been trapped by the collapses. You could do the same, probably better, though you're scared of what you'll find.
[ ] Try to close the rift
- It's incredibly risky, but you're not completely out of ideas. The rift is a hole. You can patch the hole.
- Difficulty 5, Stamina / Occult / Illusion. Amu will be exhausted whether or not it works.
- This is the default approach. A stunt can change how she does it, but will only be accepted if it makes a modicum of sense, and can alter the difficulty.
- What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't matter how well written the stunt is; you can't resolve this with Bureaucracy. You're not a Sidereal.
[ ] Write-in
Last edited:
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Appreciation for beta-ing goes to @Nero200, @Kim Bruning and @Quickshot0. Sorry Shadow, I think I forgot to ping you!
But I also think I'm happy with this resul-
What do you mean "that doesn't look entirely safe"? What part of this doesn't look safe?
But I also think I'm happy with this resul-
What do you mean "that doesn't look entirely safe"? What part of this doesn't look safe?
Winged One
Not the Simurgh
- Location
- definitely the ground
- Pronouns
- They/Them/It
Every part? And especially the whole? This seems like a fractal of unsafety, in fact.
Well. Amu lost a significant amount of control there. Good thing whatever she called up was friendly. Having to deal with a hostile in Amu's head would have sucked. Also, damn, Saaya's injuries were seriously awful.
Too bad Amu didn't retain any of her helper's Medicine dots. It sure would be nice to have some of those for later.
(I wonder what it'd take to gain access to Recarm. In the original version of the quest, those kinds of spells were outright resurrection, not just reviving unconscious people. I don't know if that holds this time around. The plot consequences of that kind of thing are massive.)
I sure hope whoever Lulu is sending has a better idea than "feed minds to it".
Too bad Amu didn't retain any of her helper's Medicine dots. It sure would be nice to have some of those for later.
Anyone have any idea what this would be?
Amu is now a lot more exhausted than she realizes. I sure hope backup arrives soon, because Amu probably can't keep acting very long.
And boy, is there a lot of action that needs taking. Turns out it is a continuous stream of these things. Between the demons, the rift, and the collapsing building, I don't think we're getting out of this without further fatalities.
(I wonder what it'd take to gain access to Recarm. In the original version of the quest, those kinds of spells were outright resurrection, not just reviving unconscious people. I don't know if that holds this time around. The plot consequences of that kind of thing are massive.)
So he just showed up because school's out, and he wanted to spend time with Amu.
Surprisingly doable, with an appropriate stunt and WP, though not with anything near reliability. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what we can do about the rift, besides trying to feed our enemies' minds to the thing like Saaya was doing with her mind.
I sure hope whoever Lulu is sending has a better idea than "feed minds to it".
- Location
- Laniakea
The narration mentions her outfit getting temporarily replaced by the robes of a Silky. So...... probably a Silky. They use ice and healing magic in Persona and Devil Survivor.
Which implies the Shugo Chara's Road of Stars is apparently Persona's Sea of Souls ("vast sea cauldron of souls") here, or at least somewhere adjacent enough that Amu could summon a Persona through it. Unless she let an actual Silky possess her and not just the Persona of one, but given the "sea of souls" reference, seems more likely to be the Persona.
....OK, so the reason we needed that Socialize roll is because, despite having 3 dots in Appearance, Amu currently looks like a crazy person and it takes active persuasion to get people to actually listen to you, when you look crazy.
Shame her Transformation appearance couldn't have lasted just a bit longer, to not make her papa cry.
My first guess is that JP's solution might be to use the Dragon Stream to force it shut. In Devil Survivor 2, they had specialized towers set up to project the Dragon Stream's influence over parts of Japan, to stop the "void" from encroaching over it. No idea if the towers themselves have been set up yet, but if the Dragon Stream works against any breaks in reality, they might have some sort of mobile version of the solution they can bring that does something similar.
Of course, that's just a complete guess. Their solution might be to throw Alcor at it.
That sounded more like it was just the standard Amulet Clover transformation, which the helper was comparing to a Silky outfit.
- Location
- Laniakea
Yeah, but the narration then says: "That was good. In Amu's mind it was associated with helpfulness, kindness and comfort. That was better."
One of the only reasons I can think of for the association with Silkies mattering that much is if it was a Silky itself and needed it to strengthen the connection with Amu.
Though I suppose it's possible it could be another fairy-type like Titania instead - it uses ice and wind in Persona and is also an excellent healer. Could be that fairies just need fairy associations in general. Pretty sure it's some type of fairy, given the Silky and Pixie references though.
Looks like this raksha is not a fan of majestic 💜 shaped shaping attacks that change 💕 so they can be healed
Lmao imagine you're a being of pure story stuff in the grimdark apocalypse pileup epic and just notice at the 22th hour that there is a magical girl negativity cleansing child anime that is deeply unedgy going on for years you just missed.
'Is it me that is out of touch? No it's the pixies fault.'
Lmao imagine you're a being of pure story stuff in the grimdark apocalypse pileup epic and just notice at the 22th hour that there is a magical girl negativity cleansing child anime that is deeply unedgy going on for years you just missed.
'Is it me that is out of touch? No it's the pixies fault.'
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Are we exalted as a Sidereal this time? A lot of that felt like fate magic.
It was a application of psionic illusion (the honey to replace blood and burn infection), then the healing psi discipline I think. In this setting high level illusion is more like.... reality shaping (what's called a shaping effect in exalted). There is a post by the author a page or two back about it.
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- Location
- Laniakea
Kinda got the impression demons and Raksha were the same things in this crossover.
Well that's just great, Tadase is now officially out of time. Still no idea what Amu could actually do to help him, except carry him out after he gets exhausted.
There's an endless stream of demons coming out... and our only plan so far is to buy time until JP's gets here. Closing the rift individually does not seem viable at that difficulty level and with the stat combo needed.
@Baughn - Are our Charas still preloaded or did they run out with the transformation?
Baughn
Healing-type writer
- Location
- Dublin
Still preloaded, in the sense that you don't need to take an action to keep them.
(You could of course vote not to keep them, but...)
I'm not completely sure how I want to define "scenes" in the first place, so I'm willing to be talked around on that one. It's a bit more obvious in the game.
But it's been less than five minutes. I've decided they're longer than that.
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