The End Of All Days

MordredRaal · Jul 18, 2023

Content Warning:

This Quest will heavily feature: Grief, hate-crimes, Mass-slaughter, genocide.

I will endeavor to include a post-specific content warning (Like the one below) at the top of every post requiring one. If I forget or overlook something please point it out to me.

This Chapter includes: Grief, Hate-crimes, Suicidal Intent

The End of All Days

It's 2055 and the world is ending.

At least that's the common sentiment.

Over the past few decades Humanity has proven to be incapable of surmounting the challenges put before it.

The American and Russian Collapses. Climate Change, the millions it displaced and the many, many atrocities committed against them. The Isolationism of the EU and China, closing their borders as the world burns down. And, of course, the rise of far right terror as an every day occurrence, not even notable anymore, just another statistic for the people it doesn't effect.

All that and more makes it seem like the end of the world is just around the corner.

Which is, unfortunately, true, as you recently found out.

As HOPE tells it, the problem is this:

There is a goddess. The Goddess of the Apocalypse. Named, fittingly, The End Of All Days.

She's sleeping, currently. But because people believe The End is approaching she is getting stronger, closer to waking up. And it's happening... fast? They weren't really clear on that.
In any case. When she wakes up? The World Ends. Instantly.

No final battle. No defeating her in a last stand. Everything is just over all at once.

To prevent that, the Spirits descended. To choose Guardians, who can ideally unfuck the world fast enough to prevent The End Of All Days from waking up.

Spirits like HOPE... and Guardians like you. Right, you should... talk about... that.

Because more important than any of that, more important than the End of the World, is this:

You are Amanda Kindling and your world already ended 7 days ago.

You were living with your girlfriend Sarah for several years. It wasn't a good life in any objective sense, but being with her... you still felt like you couldn't have been any luckier in a million lifetimes.

It was hard sometimes but the two of you got by. Until... Sarah didn't come home.

It was a sickening feeling. You already knew what happened, deep down. You were very close to just running out. Searching up and down her way home in the hope that maybe if you were fast enough... you could still make a difference. Save her. Make this nightmare stop.

Maybe you could have. But you didn't.

Instead you just sat in your home like an Idiot. Hoping that what you knew happened instead just,... didn't.

You sat like that through the whole night and most of the next day.

Your useless vigil was broken by the cop at the door.

She was beaten to death on her way home. Right on the street.

You didn't ask where exactly. Partially because of shock, partially because it didn't matter anymore, did it? But mostly because you were afraid of the answer.

You didn't ask who did it either. You knew, and the cop knew, and you also knew that he didn't give a single shit. A Gay Trans girl gets beaten to death by a bunch of FUCKING NAZIS!... Happens every day in this city. Maybe he'd even done it before. Maybe he was remembering your face and address and next time you left the house it'd be you who wouldn't come home.

In the moment you really didn't care.

You not sure how that exchange ended. You think you just kind of stood there until he left, muttering curses and worse about you.

Eventually you closed the door and went back to your room to cry.

The days after, passed in a malaise.

It was hard to move. Hard to do anything but think, really.

You didn't leave your room, except to mechanically shovel food into you and to vomit it back up a few hours later.

Mostly you just lay in bed and pondered The Question.

What would you do?

There were only ever two options in your mind. What you should do, and what you wanted to do.

What you should do, is kill those fuckers. Track them down and take as many of them with you as you can.

What you wanted to do is... be with her again. Every moment you were here and she wasn't, was agony. You wanted to see her again. Wanted to just... go to her. Directly.

Those two paths forward struggled, as you lay there struggling to even breath.

...It was no contest ultimately. You had no clue who or where they even were. You knew what they were but that didn't narrow it down much, not these days. You didn't even know where to start.

But going to Her? You knew exactly how you'd do it and... you missed her. So Much.

So even as you were dragging it out, you knew what you'd decide on, in the end.

Until HOPE showed up.

They showed up, and did this whole song and dance about how the world was gonna end and you could save it. They did that and never even mentioned how they'd found you, or what you were about to decide.

They knew, you knew, but they didn't mention it.

So they gave you the power, and nominally the mission, to save the world.

Naturally the first thing you did was track down Sarah's killers.
Burning them to ash, and less than ash, was satisfying.

Which takes you to now.

Standing in the remains of the ones who took everything from you, you turn to HOPE expectantly.

Even though HOPE must have known what you would do, you still kind of expect them to take your power away. To insist that it was wrong and that they hadn't given you this power to kill people, no matter how much they deserved it.

That doesn't happen. All you feel from HOPE is a grim satisfaction that mirrors your own. That, and a desire for more.

GOOD START

You feel like laughing. And crying. And a bit like throwing up, but only a bit.

HOPE radiates amusement.

FEEL BETTER?

Do you?

You breath in.

And out.

Then you calm down a bit, for the first time in a week, and consider the question.

Finally you answer over your bond.

Yes. A Bit.

GOOD

You just kind of stand there for a while. Letting everything sink in.

Finally HOPE breaks the silence.

WHAT NOW?

That's a good question. Surprisingly, you know the answer.

Where Will You Go?:

[] The Russian Collapse: Russia collapsed hard and fast. Being thrown directly from the fires of the Russo-Ukrainian War into the fires of the Russian Civil War, things were already looking bleak. When the first contender chose to take out his rivals with nuclear fire rather than accept his looming defeat, the fate of Russia was sealed.

The taboo was broken. There was no going back.

While no nuclear weapons have been been fired at targets outside of Russia, not even at Ukraine, strangely, that is of little comfort to the people in Russia. In the years since, the number of nuclear weapons used in anger rose from Two Too Many to Way Too Many. Moscow has been nuked on four separate occasions.

There will be no peace here… unless something fundamental changes. Many Guardians have come here, trying to effect that fundamental change. Trying to reseal Pandora's box and right the wrong that many see as the tipping point, where a better world seemed to slip out of our grasp for good.

So far, none have succeeded. But they're doing good work. And this means that in going here you will be working with the greatest concentration of Guardians on the planet. All working together to bring the world back from the brink.

Features of the Region:
- Anywhere But Here: The streams of refugees have never ceased over the many decades of the Russian Civil War. The tendency of warlords to keep their manpower by any means necessarily and the constant creation of new devastated areas has ensured that there are always new people desperately trying to get out. Helping them, by protecting them from the warlords and getting them enough supplies to survive, will be a vital part of your mission here. It's the most direct way to help the people trapped in this nightmare.
- Nuclear Disarmament: All the work you do here is stemming the bleeding. But things won't get better until people stop stabbing. Nuclear Weapons are still fired sporadically. A year rarely goes by without footage of new Mushroom Clouds rising over Russia. If Russia is ever to know peace again, these weapons must go. It's a slow process, any strike needing to carefully weigh the risk of escalation by the warlord target or his rivals. But It Must Be Done, and so, It Will Be Done.
- Nothing here but Grief, No one here but Devils, Nowhere to go but Hell: A major complicating factor in the Russian Collapse is that to be blunt, all the surviving factions suck. A Lot. Any faction we might be tempted to work with has been destroyed in nuclear fire, usually because one warlord or another decided that they didn't have the guts to return nuclear fire. Sometimes that was true, sometimes it wasn't, but whether they enforced MAD or didn't, they're still dead. And we are without anyone to work with in the region.

[] The American Collapse: The American Collapse mirrored the Russian Collapse in many ways. But they diverge in several key ways.

For one the American Collapse was slow. It took decades to play out. The steady deterioration of the physical and social structures holding the US together was something that everyone saw happening, but political deadlock and profiteering prevented any actions against it. So the country slowly slid apart.

It was a quiet collapse.

Until it wasn't.

One day a nuclear weapon detonated in Washington D.C. An American one as it would later turn out. No one knows who did it exactly, that still isn't clear today.

But it happened, and it signaled the death of the USA.

The Federal Government limped on for a few years after that. In this period it made the greatest contribution to Humanity it had ever managed.

It hid the US's nuclear arsenal.

Sure they said that they'd "properly secure and destroy these weapons that took so much from us", but no one believes that.

Still, the nuclear weapons weren't just out in the country where anyone can grab them, which has saved untold millions.

Most of the people who were the government back then are dead now and if anyone has found their stashes they haven't used them yet.

That hasn't stopped the former US from turning into a hellscape of course, but it could have been so much worse.

Features of the Region:
- Ecological Restoration: The landscape of the US has not weathered climate change and the collapse well. Large parts of the former country are wastelands, stripped of the capacity to sustain their ecosystems. Some Guardians are trying to reverse the damage humanity has inflicted on this land. Seems reasonable. People are less likely to expect the apocalypse to happen if they don't have a post-apocalyptic wasteland right next door. You're not sure how much you can help with this, but trying might teach you something.
- From the Ashes: Unlike in the Russian Collapse there are good people here, who, importantly, are both in power and not radioactive ash. The Coalition for Justice are a loose alliance of people who aren't constantly engaged in a genocidal war... Well, they aren't the aggressors of a constant genocidal war. They are kept together, not terrible, and as safe as can be, by most of the Guardians operating in the former US. This is their home, so obviously you'll be working with them. Their territory is also where you will be arriving.
- A Thousand Atrocities: While the former US has been spared a nuclear hell, that hasn't stopped it's worst residents from trying to turning it into hell the old fashioned way. The old fashioned way in this case meaning slavery, zealotry and genocide. So, so much genocide. It is an unacceptable stain on the world. One that you intent to stamp out.

[] The Corpse You've Lived Your Life In: The European Union. Physically, it's weathered the many crises of the world quite well.

Physically.

In a deeper sense, it's already dead. The charade of it's not-life is merely kept up by the parasites it sustains.

The EU of today has closed itself off, as it has done before. But the end of the world has a way of intensifying bad behaviors.

The economic, ideological, and physical barriers the EU has erected between itself and the world, have harden so far that it's citizens are barely aware of the world outside it.

Though that is not entirely true or accurate.

The citizens largely choose to be unaware of the world. It is never good news that greets them after all.

And their own misery provides plenty of reasons to be distracted.

The economic and social climate of the EU is... lacking, to say the least.

Poverty is widespread. Social progress has come to a screeching halt. And reactionaries have rallied.

This is where you grew up.

You really, really don't want to stay here.

But... you also feel nauseous at the idea of just letting things go on as they have been.

It isn't the smart choice.

You will be able to do less here, for a greater effort.

Not only are The Powers That Be your enemy, they are more unified and powerful here than your enemies in either of the other regions.

But you could still try to start here.

For Hatred's sake.

Features of the Region:
- The Ones Who Took Her From You: While the reactionaries have not achieved political success per se, since any open attempt to encroach on the influence of The Powers That Be has been forcefully crushed, that has not stopped them from infesting every other space within the rotting EU. You will kill them. All of them preferably, though you will accept "enough", if you have to. Maybe.
- An End To Business As Usual: The Powers That Be are ultimately to blame for the rot that has infested your life. They are your enemy. That is true whether you stay here or not. But staying here means that they are aware that you are their enemy. And they are powerful. Maybe not powerful enough to kill a Guardian on suspicion and whim alone,... but maybe they are that powerful. They certainly try to project that image.
- The Dogs of Capital: The reason that The Power That Be are even a threat to you in any way, aside from you maybe dying if they hit you with a nuke, is that... they have Guardians working for them. HOPE has been cagey on why. The Spirits must have some standard, since the open fascists don't have any Guardians... usually. But regardless of why, if you stay here, there is a real chance that you will have to fight other Guardians. Since Guardians are the only "reliable" way to kill other Guardians, this region is de facto the most dangerous one for you.

VOTING OPEN FOR THE NEXT THREE DAYS

MordredRaal · Jul 18, 2023

I have a channel on the Wordsmiths Discord called MordredRaal's writing. If you talk to me there I'll probably see it sooner than if you do it in the thread.

Link: (Ping me if the link is expired): Join the Wordsmiths Discord Server!

MordredRaal · Jul 18, 2023

This was asked on Discord, and since it might be relevant I'll post the info here too.

I don't keep behind the scenes stats for Guardians.

How fights are determined is mostly based on match up and skill.

Amanda has fire based powers. She only just got them, so she isn't very skilled yet, but fire isn't very hard to use for straight up fighting so you're a bit safer than the average newbie.

Guardian power-sets are varied and depending on the match up you get, combat can turn out very differently.

Of course, Guardians don't advertise their powers much. Especially the ones working for states, like the EU, try to keep their card close to their chests. So you probably won't often be able to know for sure if you could take someone, unless you gathered intel first. (Very unlikely to be the case if you are being attacked, of course)

Also Guardians are very hard to put down.

You usually need a numbers advantage to actually kill one. Or a power that is extremely good at cutting off escape.

To put some very theoretical and non-binding numbers on it:

Assuming no powers that can cut off escape, a guardian can somewhat reliably be killed by a team of 3 Guardian of roughly equal skill.

Depending on match ups this can vary from 3-5 Guardians. If you somehow manage to only have bad or awful match ups then the number could go higher, but at 5 Guardians you are extremely unlikely to only have bad match ups.

If one of the team has a power to cut off escape, then they might only need two. (Since the one cutting off escape usually can't win a one on one at the same time)

IF the one with the power to cut off escape is more skilled or has an extremely deadly match up, then they might be able to achieve a kill on their own.

Now, that's all assuming that the kill team are as skilled or better than the target. If the target is more skilled then the numbers are very hard to predict.

Now, having said all that, remember that these are very theoretical numbers and that Amanda literally just got her powers today. So equal skill is unlikely.

MordredRaal · Jul 21, 2023

Scheduled vote count started by MordredRaal on Jul 18, 2023 at 12:23 PM, finished with 16 posts and 9 votes.

4 people have voted
[X] The Corpse You've Lived Your Life In
3 people have voted
[X] The Russian Collapse
1 people have voted
[X] The Corpse You've Lived Your Life In: The European Union. Physically, it's weathered the many crises of the world quite well.
- Woltaire

MordredRaal · Jul 22, 2023

Content Warning:

This chapter includes: Mentions and evidence of Hate-crimes

[X] The Corpse You've Lived Your Life In

You'll stay here.

It's a hard decision, and the consequences will be manifold.

The most immediate consequence was, of course, that you had to walk... Home.

Well,"walk". Walking is how you started your trek back.

Thankfully HOPE quickly pointed out that just walking straight from the crime scene to your home, while still transformed, was... not smart. And also that walking through these streets again was bringing your mood down.

You acknowledged the first of those points and continued on the roof tops instead.

Unfortunately it appears that HOPE doesn't have a clever solution for your current problem.

Cause you've already finished your way back. You arrived at your... Home, roughly an hour ago.

Or, to be more precise, you arrived at the rooftop opposite of the apartment building you were living in. And you've been staring at the building ever since.

Your current staring position is lying on the ground in such a way that you can just barely see the door you'll have to walk through.

You've already cycled through many positions, but somehow, staring at a building for an hour appears to not be productive, no matter what convoluted position you do it in.

The reason why you are staring isn't that there is some thing out of place, but rather that there isn't.

It looks exactly as it has for the last few years, slightly run down, but still livable.

It looks exactly like it looked seven days ago. Which makes it hard. To go through that door again.

And it becomes even more difficult, considering what entering it would entail.

There are two ways to enter the building.

There is the option of going in as a Guardian, just grabbing anything you can carry, and leaving. And alerting everyone and their grandmother that Amanda Kindling became a Guardian.

And probably leaving stuff behind that you'll never get back. Because the authorities are gonna come in. And they're gonna take everything that you don't take. And you can't take everything that mattered to Sarah with you. And they'll get stuff that means so much to her. And they'll take it and throw it in the trash or some evidence locker, to get stolen. Or they'll destroy it and then they'll shove it in your face. That you couldn't even protect her memory from them.

…

…

…

Not an option.

The other way to get inside is... to detransform and walk in like a normal fucking person.

Just detransform. Just take this power that has been burning in your chest and... not have it anymore.

That's not true, of course. HOPE said that going into disguise doesn't diminish your power at all. It'll still be there.

You just have to hide it. Just hide it. Just shove it all back into you.

Just not have it around you like a warm assurance that you're here and you're not there anymore and you're not going back there,... even though you are. Going Back.

Dammit. Why is this so fucking hard.

You get up from the ground and start pacing once again.

Why can't you do this? What the fuck is wrong with you? You lived your whole live like … that. So why? Why is it so fucking hard. To. Just... Go Back?

You briefly try to silence your internal frustration by turning your steps into stomps, but you immediately stop again when you remember that one of your stomps could probably go through this roof if you are going at full force.

Wasn't working anyway.

Before you can restart your pacing with normal, boring, not-building-shattering steps, HOPE speaks up.

AMANDA

You turn to them.

YOU NEED TO SLEEP

Huh?

I do?

YES

Getting exasperation beamed straight into your soul is a weeeiiird feeling.

GUARDIANS CAN GO WITHOUT SLEEP.

BUT IT WEARS YOU DOWN.

Huh?

Fuck. You didn't mean to send that. Now they are staring at you. They don't even have eyes! How does an incorporeal ball of light stare at you?!

IT. WEARS. YOU. DOWN.

MAINLY YOUR MIND.

Ah!

Ah! Wait, fuck! Again. Whatever.

You see this lifeline for what it is.

Clearly you didn't have a problem with... Going Back.

You were just tired. Yes. Just tired.

When did you last sleep?

…

Uhhhhhh.

…

Uhhhhhhh.

…

Maybe, like, two days ago? Maybe?

It's kinda hard to remember.

Cause you were in bed for days. But, you didn't, really, sleep.

YOU NEED TO SLEEP.

Yes. Yes. You need to sleep.

So. Just. Go... Home.

…

…

…

YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS TODAY. YOU KNOW?

…

I don't?

NO.

THEY DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE YET.

You can tell that they left out a "probably" there, but whatever.

THEY PROBABLY KNOW THAT THERE IS A GUARDIAN IN THIS CITY.

From the arson.

FROM THE ARSON.

BUT THEY DON'T KNOW IT'S YOU.

SO...

YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS TODAY.

… Right.

But I need to sleep.

TODAY.

...Where?

ANYWHERE.

YOU ARE A GUARDIAN. THIS CITY IS YOURS. FOR TONIGHT AT LEAST.

Somehow you are both sickened by the idea that this city is your city, and by the idea that it wouldn't be yours for long.

But, still.

Point taken.

Drawing in a breath, you turn away from HOPE, and back towards the city.

In this city, finding a place to sleep, when you don't already have one, is difficult.

This is by design.

"Modern" cities do everything in their power to prevent people without a home from existing within them.

Decades of anti-homeless measures have turned every place where one might be able to take shelter or just rest for a moment into a mess of spikes, bars or other hostile architecture.

You can't walk a minute in a public area without seeing some kind of architectural atrocity burrowed into a once pleasant or at least usable space.

The only places that aren't infested with hostile architecture are the ones rich enough to hire "active deterrence".

Not that the rich areas are the only ones where being seen as a homeless person is a death sentence.

The local reactionaries are always looking for more victims, and while they prefer to murder minorities, they know that even the "good" cops(meaning cops who don't personally enjoy murdering) aren't gonna bother investigating the death of a homeless person.

Besides, there is plenty of overlap between being a minority and being homeless.

Just thinking about this is enough to make you want to look for some of these groups.

Unfortunately, as you recently found out, you do actually have limits. So you content yourself with opportunistically ripping out or melting hostile architecture as you continue looking for a place to sleep.

This, thankfully, isn't as difficult for you as it would be for a normal person.

Mainly because you can easily get up to, and move between, rooftops.

There are fewer deliberate obstacles on this level. Presumably because the city reasons that people aren't gonna climb onto buildings every day. Judging by the resting places and tents you find, they are mistaken, which is a relief.

Still, you don't want to infringe on someone else's space, and you really don't want to have to explain yourself to a stranger.

So you keep looking and eventually you find something. A rooftop greenhouse.

Besides the being-on-top-of-a-four-story-building, and the clearly-still-in-use, the sigil-of-some-kinda-Nazi-gang-plastered-on-everything provides plenty of explanation on why no one has taken up this place, yet.

You briefly consider going into the building and killing whoever put up all this Nazi shit, but discard that idea after realizing that you probably shouldn't literally fall asleep at your own crime scene.

You go into the greenhouse and while it is a reprieve from the chill of the night, it isn't a reprieve from weird reactionary paraphernalia.

Apparently whoever is using this greenhouse also likes being in it, cause there is some kinda shrine here. Or maybe prayer spot? There is a cross here so you assume it's some kinda christian cult, and christians aren't supposed to have idols, you think?

But there are definitively idols here. Namely, a bunch of... things? And photos.

The photos are showing the bloodied corpses the things came from.

Needless to say, you burn all of it.

Some of the flames spread to the nearby plants and you reflexively put those out.

Then you look at the burning... things again, and restart those fires.

It is pretty hard to not damage the greenhouse, while burning everything in it, but you manage,... more or less. It'll hold for tonight at least, which is all that matters.

Once you are done you lay down on the ground to sleep. At first you try to find a spot that isn't covered in ash, but that is pretty much impossible. Besides, the warmth of the ash is actually really pleasant.

As you finally start drifting off, your brain tries to conjure up images of you detransforming in your sleep and getting murdered by the Nazi who's shit you just burned, but for once those are easy to shake.

The heat in your soul sings merrily with the heat of the ash around you. The warmth reminds you of better nights and better days.

What will you do tomorrow?:

[] Going Back: While you maybe don't need to get the stuff from your apartment immediately, you still need to get it soon. It's only a matter of time until the authorities put two and two together. And by then you need to have gotten everything. Before going to your home, you will spend the rest of the day searching for a more "permanent" shelter, so you can stash everything without it being stolen. That this allows you to put off going back for most of the day is merely a happy coincidence. Get everything important from your old life. Remove a constant worry from the back of your mind. Get over your fear of detransforming.

[] Literally One Day of Training: Your powers are pretty great. And from what you've heard they are relatively straight forward as powers go. But you also have no real experience with them. You are capable of burning what you want to burn, assuming it's inanimate, or frozen in shock, or trapped in a small room with you and the rest of their rotten gang. And you can stop burning stuff that you don't want to burn, mostly, sometimes, eventually. But you are no good in a real fight, yet. So find a place that you can test out your powers in. That'll also double as your shelter for the moment, though it'll probably be unpleasant. Get experience with your powers. Find a place to train without being found.

[] Talking To People: You had friends, of course. Mostly from the meetings for queer people that Sarah had a real talent in finding. You should talk to them. Not only because you need the information they have, but also because they should know that you are alright,... and that Sarah isn't. You don't know if they know, yet. You should have called them. But you didn't. Fuck. Talk to a human person for the first time in a week. Give emotional closure to people who are supposed to be your friends, you selfish idiot. Take the first step towards actually starting this fight.

VOTE OPEN FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS

MordredRaal · Jul 24, 2023

Scheduled vote count started by MordredRaal on Jul 22, 2023 at 8:00 AM, finished with 6 posts and 5 votes.

4 people have voted
[X] Going Back
1 people have voted
[X] Talking To People
- FatLeek

MordredRaal · Jul 29, 2023

[X] Going Back

Waking up is a mixed experience.

On the one hand, holy shit you needed that! HOPE was not kidding about going without sleep wearing you down. You feel much better.

On the other hand, the fucking sun! It's shining right in your face.

You do the objectively correct thing.

You turn around and try to go back to sleep.

Unfortunately, that means getting a face full of ash. Which is not nearly as pleasant, now that it's cooled.

Ughhh.

You feel your attempt to leave this mortal plane failing miserable, as the events of last night come rushing back into your mind.

...

You're still alive, huh?

Weird.

It kinda felt like an end.

Despair. HOPE. Vengeance. Curtain Call.

But then again, you aren't done yet, are you?

You slowly get up, HOPE hovering just above you.

Has the Nazi shown himself?

NO. I WOULD HAVE WOKEN YOU

HOPE is a reassuring presence in your mind. It's good to have someone watching your back. Makes it all feel a little less impossible.

You briefly consider waiting for the Nazi to check on his garden, to give him the same treatment you'd given to his shrine. But, no. You don't know when he'd show up. Besides, someone else could be using this roof. Not being willing to piss of a Nazi who knows where you live is understandable after all.

Hmmm.

The thought of people being afraid is almost enough to make you reconsider, but there are practical reasons for why you shouldn't spend who-knows-how-long to kill one asshole in specific.

You need to do... a lot, today.

You'll just have to swing by here again some other time. Judging by how this garden was... decorated, it shouldn't be hard to find out which apartment is his.

You brush the ash off of yourself as best you can and step out onto the roof.

The search for a more permanent shelter turns out to be unfortunately brief.

An abandoned building near where you lived serves well enough.

It is unusually well barred off, with locks and chains all throughout the first and second floor. That and the fact that there isn't a way to climb up to the higher levels has prevented anyone from coming here for a few years at least, judging by all the dust.

You picked out a room with no windows and a door you can bar with some nearby pipes for the place where you will stash everything you gather today.

Then your excuse to delay had run it's course and you returned to your staring roof from the night before.

It's a bit less comfortable during the day, but you're pretty sure that no one can see you up here, so it'll do.

You're breathing quite heavily. Your attempts have been... draining. But you think you've finally got it.

You slow down your breathing. You stand up as straight as you can. Then you begin to push yourself out.

Gradually your awareness of your body retracts.

You know from prior attempts that it starts in your hands and feet, but you don't look down to see it. Seeing your body always messes you up.

It is harder because of the pain.

As your power recedes, the pain comes back. All the aches and discomforts that one accrues with their body are suddenly brought into focus as they return to you.

You're up to your arms and hips now, and it hurts! The sudden fragility and weakness is painful. It feels like the heat of the sun is gonna kill you. Like you're about to catch fire, and not in a good way!

Still, you keep going. You hadn't gotten this far before.

And it turns out that this is the worst part!

As the wave of misery creeps through your torso your organs one by one start straining. What was effortless before suddenly feels impossible.

Your heart feels like it's about to stop. Your breaths become labored as you struggle to get any air at all.

You start to feel your balance fail.

As you fall over, you still keep going.

The pain starts to fade. Your muscles feel leaded instead of like they're burning. Your organs settle into a low, low hum.

You briefly wonder when your head is gonna detransform and how bad that will be.

Then you realize that your head already is transformed, which freaks you out.

It didn't feel like your power went anywhere in your body. It didn't feel like it retreated into your heart or your brain or anything like that.

It feels like it just left.

You feel like you should cry, but your body isn't obeying you on this issue.

Your face in general feels numb. Even more than the rest of your body. Like you are wearing a mask of someone else's face.

You lie there for a while. Staring at the sky. Feeling your body, or, more accurately, not feeling it.

Eventually HOPE flies into your field into view.

You can tell that they want to congratulate you. You're glad that they don't. You don't think you could keep yourself from screaming at them.

After a few seconds you try to order your face into affecting something which could be construed as a smile. You're very certain you don't succeed.

Worked?

...YEAH

Seems like you deflated their excitement about your... accomplishment. Fuck.

You don't know how to get things back on track so instead you try to divert the topic.

You do this by forcing your body to get up, which it does with some difficulty. It looks more like a puppet getting pulled up than anything self motivated.

You intent to immediately go to your apartment, but discover a problem.

You're on a roof.

Maybe, in hindsight, not the smartest location to get rid of your ability to traverse vertical space.

Looking on the bright side you can confirm that standing on the edge of a roof sucks ass again!

You go back to that puppet metaphor and think about test dummies getting thrown out of planes.

The long, long, long fall.

Turning in the wind.

The Impact.

You throw yourself backwards, away from the ledge and back to the roof.

You even manage to avoid falling over again!

HOPE is close to you now. Trying their best to imitate a hug.

You draw in a few breaths and shutter as you consider the possibility that you have to do this all over again. Thankfully, a ladder at the back of the building saves you from that, for now.

You climb down the ladder, shaky hands struggling with even that much.

You cross the street, the sun shining a judging heat on you.

You go up the steps.

You open the door.

You hurry up the steps, desperate, clumsy and endlessly grateful that no one else is on the staircase right now.

You are standing in front of the door to your apartment.

You search for your key in a panic.

Found it!

You shove the key in, turn it and fall through the door.

You are almost physically hit by the air that greets you.

You didn't exactly concern yourself with air quality while you were wasting away. It's a wonder you didn't suffocate. You feel nauseous as you slam the door closed.

You are almost tempted to stay there, as far away from the rest of the apartment as you can be, but no!

You rush through the rooms dropping the curtains and blinds on what few windows there are in your home.

Once you got the last one you take a step back.

Back on that roof it felt like your power just left. You were afraid that getting it back would be just as painful as the detransformation was.

But now that you are standing in your cramped home, with barely breathable air and shut off from the world, that concern vanishes.

You're so fucking angry.

You want to scream.

Instead, you set yourself on fire.

In a good way.

The flames grow from your whole body, all at once.

And from one moment to the next...

You're You again.

You take quick, desperate breaths. The air is still extremely shit, but it doesn't bother you as much anymore.

You feel good again. Hell, you feel again.

The shock is almost enough to knock you off your feet.

You brace yourself on a wall and try to calm down.

HOPE is next to you. They followed you into the apartment.

And isn't that a thing. The apartment.

It, just like the building, is exactly as it was seven days ago.

You thought that it'd sicken you, and well, it did. But the transformation washed that away.

You can handle this. You can!

First things first, you get the coffers. Thankfully they are in the living room. You had to go into the bedroom to cover the windows and you aren't sure if you're ready to go in there again for more than running in and out.

Then you start gathering the things that you cannot leave behind. It takes a while. Weight isn't a consideration for you and if you had infinite time you could probably carry the whole apartment away in a few trips.

But you're only taking the stuff that matters. Which is itself a contemplative and freeing experience. You go through memories as you go through things.

It hurts less, now. You really had a good few years. Not nearly enough years. And not nearly enough good. But you wouldn't trade them for anything. Not even your powers or your life.

When you're done with the living room you sit at the dinner table. Facing the door like usual. It feels so familiar. Sitting here, exhausted from something that really shouldn't be exhausting at all. Thinking. Soon she'd come through the door.

Amanda is sitting in the living room, a melancholic and contemplative expression on her face.

The turning of a key is heard and Sarah enters.

Amanda blinks as Sarah approaches the table.

Sarah's expression is somewhere between amused and wistful.

Sarah: "Thinking again?"

A slight smile starts to form on Amanda's face.

Amanda: "Always."

S: "About?"

A: joking tone "You, of course!"

S: "You always say that."

A: "Cause it's true."

S: sighs and sits down beside Amanda "Only when I'm gone."

A slight pause.

A: "...Yeah."

S: "So. You're a Guardian now?"

A: "Yeah. I don't really know how that happened."

S: "'Cause you needed it. And the world needed you."

A: "I guess. But didn't you need it?"

S: "Probably. But I still had you, didn't I?"

A: "A lot of good that did you."

S: "You know it isn't your fault."

A: "You say that like it changes anything."

S: "I know. I'm sorry for leaving."

A: "I'm sorry."

A: "I'm sorry."

A: "I'm sorry."

…

Sarah takes Amanda's hand in her own.

S: "I know."

They wait a moment.

A: "Do you think this is maybe kinda fucked up?"

S: "Thinking up conversations with your dead girlfriend? Maybe a little. But you did it before, right?"

A: "Yeah. But that wasn't the same. I was just thinking about you. Now it feels like I'm putting words in your mouth."

Sarah thinks about that for a second then goes in for a hug.

S: "It's ok. You know I wouldn't mind. Not if it helps you."

A: "... I miss you a lot, you know?"

S: "I know. I miss you too."

...

You let your mind take you back to reality.

You feel... a lot.

You reach up to your face, but nope. No tears. You've probably shed all the tears you had already.

All that's left is... Longing. Longing and Memories.

You let out a long heavy breath and get up.

You've still got a lot to do.

Stuffing things into coffers, most immediately.

[] Literally One Day of Training: Your powers are pretty great. And from what you've heard they are relatively straight forward as powers go. But you also have no real experience with them. You are capable of burning what you want to burn, assuming it's inanimate, or frozen in shock, or trapped in a small room with you and the rest of their rotten gang. And you can stop burning stuff that you don't want to burn, mostly, sometimes, eventually. But you are no good in a real fight, yet. So find a place that you can test out your powers in. Get experience with your powers. Find a place to train without being found.

[] Talking To People: You had friends, of course. Mostly from the meetings for queer people that Sarah had a real talent in finding. You should talk to them. Not only because you need the information they have, but also because they should know that you are alright,... and that Sarah isn't. You don't know if they know, yet. You should have called them. But you didn't. Fuck. Talk to a human person for the first time in a week. Give emotional closure to people who are supposed to be your friends, you selfish idiot. Take the first step towards actually starting this fight.

[] Knowledge: You didn't follow up with the police about Sarah's death at all. You knew it wouldn't work and you really didn't have the energy to pretend otherwise at the time. But now you no longer have to pretend. You did the follow up yourself. Well, one part of the follow up. You hadn't... gone to see Sarah's body. You didn't want to and you still don't want to. But,... you don't know what happened to it. And you want to know, even if you don't know what you'll do with that knowledge yet. So you'll go to the local police station and from there to where she has been buried... if she has been buried. That said, you probably won't go about your search quietly, entering a police station without burning it down would be quite strange, after all. This will probably reveal your identity very quickly. And there isn't any time pressure... Except the pressure of not knowing, of course. Knowledge. Closure. Not just leaving Sarah's remains to the system, never to be found, or cared about, again.

VOTE OPEN FOR THE NEXT TWO DAYS

Author's note: I hope this wasn't too weird.

Also. Regardless of what you vote for, the next Update will be an interlude and we'll proceed with the action you've voted for after that.

MordredRaal · Jul 31, 2023

Scheduled vote count started by MordredRaal on Jul 29, 2023 at 12:52 PM, finished with 6 posts and 6 votes.

5 people have voted
[X] Talking To People: You had friends, of course. Mostly from the meetings for queer people that Sarah had a real talent in finding. You should talk to them. Not only because you need the information they have, but also because they should know that you are alright,... and that Sarah isn't. You don't know if they know, yet. You should have called them. But you didn't. Fuck. Talk to a human person for the first time in a week. Give emotional closure to people who are supposed to be your friends, you selfish idiot. Take the first step towards actually starting this fight.
1 people have voted
[X] Talking To People
- Nevis

MordredRaal · Aug 6, 2023

In the Headquarters of European Ministry of Internal Security, there is an office.

It is extremely sparse. No furniture besides a desk and a single chair. There are no decorations of any kind. Dust has been allowed to accumulate deliberately, and is currently stacked in the four corners of the room in an equally deliberate way.

It exists behind a series of rooms that are far more lively. Those rooms are filled with some of the most frustrated aides in the entire bureaucratic apparatus of the EU. The source of their frustration is immediately obvious to anyone familiar with modern work environments. In addition to the usual work computers, these offices are also filled with more paper than anyone besides a paper manufacturer has to deal with. Most of the paper is located in the various trash cans, with only a relatively small amount actually being processed.

Only very rarely does a document penetrate this chaos to land in the office that all this paperwork nominally serves.

One such exceptional document is currently on that usually empty desk in that usually empty office.

It is doubly exceptional because this is the second time it has reached this desk. Unusual, because the expected destination after this desk is a trash can.

The owner of this office is currently deeply regretting not following her usual routine the first time this document entered her life. Truly, the desire to be witty continues to cause her much suffering.

After an eternity of banging her head against her desk she deigns to once again read the document and it's new... addendum.

Deployment Orders:

From: Office of the Director of EMIS Heinrich Erhart
To: EMIS Operative Hannah Rabe aka Guardian Fleeting Wind

Miss Rabe,

as of receiving this document you are ordered to investigate anomalous magical activities in the city of Frankfurt-am-Main. Recent occurrences of property destruction, trespassing, arson and multiple fire-related deaths are believed to be the result of a newly awakened Guardian. No other power effects have been observed.

Quick Response forces did not detect the Guardian leaving the city via high throughput travel areas. It is therefore believed that the Guardian is still in the city.

You have been assigned to locate and identify the Guardian and if possible determine their stance towards the institutions of the European Union.

As far as we know, the Guardian has not attacked any EU institutions directly, limiting their attacks to local non-government forces and property damage of negligible importance. Therefore hostilities with the Guardian are to be avoided if at all possible.

Once you have completed the objectives of this deployment, report back to EMIS and monitor the Guardian until a long term surveillance team relieves you of your duties.

A plane has been arranged to transport you to Frankfurt-am-Main this evening. Local accommodations are already prepared. Liaison with EMIS will be handled as usual.

Office of the Director of EMIS Heinrich Erhart

So far, so annoying. But the real source of her suffering comes from the hand-written note that had been haphazardly stapled to the back of the document

Fleeting Wind,

I do not think that I have to explain why simply highlighting two words in your deployment orders and sending the document back to my office is not an adequate procedure for registering concerns. Nor is it an adequate justification for disobeying orders and wasting Ministry resources.

My office is well aware that your powers are likely to match up poorly with the Guardian you are sent to investigate. We have assigned you anyway for reasons you are well aware of.

Connecting Stream is busy dealing with the drought in Spain and Lingering Shadow's powers are even worse when it comes to magical fire. You are the most suited Guardian available for this operation, otherwise we would not have assigned you to it.

Your plane is still waiting on you. I expect you to be on it before the day is out.

Director Heinrich Erhart

Urgggh.

Given that he understood her complaints perfectly, Hannah would argue that, it was, in fact, adequate procedure!

Unfortunately, this note, despite being obviously factually incorrect and morally bankrupt, did mean that she actually had to obey orders for once. All her methods to make herself as difficult to manage as possible failed in the face their one weakness:

Direct, non-bureaucratic, communication! Cursed thing. Didn't whoever invented it realize that it would allow people to actually get stuff done?

Despite her lamentations Hannah eventually gets up from her chair. She signals FREEDOM, who is floating high above the dreary room, that she is done and makes to leave the room. On her way out she returns the dust to every surface of her office.

At least the flight will be pleasant.

The End Of All Days

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

MordredRaal

Agitating

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks

Recent threadmarks