EVENT | LANDFALL | KITHIKA | BOTTLE

[cherrywood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: February 12th - 28th
Location: Kithika, inside the bottle
Situation: The discovery of an artifact from the first war against Malicant reveals the land of Kithika within a dimension of the Death Plane... and just happens to be contained inside a bottle.
Warnings/Rating: Please indicate content warnings in subject headers as applicable.

OOC INFORMATION ♦ CITY OF KEELIAI ♦ INSIDE THE BOTTLE ♦ THE WORLD EATER
Arriving in Kithika is unpleasant for the most part. Transport through the glass vessel deposits you in the middle of a thick and murky swamp, with air so hot and humid it feels as though one is breathing through a wet towel. This is a place of perpetual night and there are no celestial bodies visible overhead through the twisted vines to break up the blackness, making the only light visible that which comes clumps of marsh fungus that emit a steady glow in a variety of muted colours: pale blue, whitish green, watery mauve. The only other light comes from those who can generate it themselves and that will reveal numerous broad-leaved trees, in some places standing too thick to move through. Below, knee-deep water laps in swirls at their legs, accompanied by the occasional slithery feel of something moving in the bracken against wet limbs, gone before it can be identified. A variety of strange noises from creatures of the swamp fill the air with buzzing and hoarse croaking, interrupted by the screech of mosquitoes the size of hummingbirds darting past and hungry for a meal.

---

OOC NOTE: Characters will not be able to progress past the Temple and the Grounds for 48 IC hours after which point, the way to continue onward to find the dragon will be discovered. The second log will be posted on the 17th, to help spread out the tagging. Thank you!

---

OOC INFORMATION
Landfall Questions | Approved Item Requests | Player Plot - Kryptonian Rampage OOC

CITY OF KEELIAI
Emperor's Orders: Miasma Explained | Marshaling the Forces | A City Under Siege | Halting the Scourge

INSIDE THE BOTTLE
Crossing the Swamp | Decayed Grounds | The Sullied Temple | Stone Idols | Item Discovery

THE WORLD EATER
Battling the Dragon | Soul's Poison | Kryptonian Rampage | The Guarded Pool | Weighing the Options | Aftermath

Comments

[skybluejeep]

"Oh-...kay."

So, something here is screwing with their perceptions. Probably the statues themselves. Still holding on to Derek's arm, Stiles steps closer to the middle one. The one that looks...most like him. But just a little more mature, an adult instead of a teenager. The others are equally fascinating: a small boy (just about the age he was when his mother died) and an old man, bent and wrinkled and honestly not how he ever envisions himself. Sure, nobody sees themselves old. But Stiles runs with werewolves. Statistically, he's never getting there.

"This is so weird..."

And he reaches out to touch the middle statue.

[garou]

"Stiles, wait—"

Derek reaches out to try and stop him, but it's too late.

[skybluejeep]

The second his fingers brush the statue, the other two crumble away instantly, rubble and rotted plant life. And the adult statue, the one in the middle, it's simultaneously a rock and alive, slowly turning its head toward Stiles and Derek.

And darkness finds them.

Stiles is staring at a figure whose face is wrapped in bandages, except for his mouth. His mouth is unbound, and several very pointed, very silver teeth-...hell, fangs protrude from the opening. And it starts speaking in what sounds like Japanese, shuffling closer towards Stiles and Derek. Stiles backs up, back up against Derek's chest, and he's trembling.

Something about this figure frightens him in a way he cannot explain in the least.

[garou]

He doesn't have time to register anything else, because they're suddenly in darkness.

He doesn't know the smell, but he knows the sight, and when Stiles backs up into him, Derek steps around him, placing himself in front of his boyfriend. He flashes his eyes and snaps back in Japanese, telling it to stop moving.

"Ugokanaide!"

[skybluejeep]

It does stop, but it just laughs. A low, slow, unamused sound, mocking and cruel. Stiles is confused and terrified, a bad combination, and he's very willing to hang out here behind Derek for a bit until they can get this thing gone.

You are always a surprise to us, hisses the thing, its fangs impeding its speech. But then, we like surprises.

"Derek what the hell is it?" Stiles asks, his voice cracking in the middle, fingers now clutching at the back of Derek's shirt.

Tell him, Derek! Tell him what we are! is the encouraging answer. It almost sounds like the thing is smiling.

[garou]

Derek narrows his eyes, a low roar coming from his throat.

"Shut up," he says to it, reaching around to grab at Stiles' arm, to push at him to run. "It's a Nogitsune. A Japanese demon fox."

[skybluejeep]

The thing laughs again, and Stiles is just...baffled.

"Why the hell would a Japanese demon fox appear when I touched a statue of myself?" he asks, stumbling backwards just a bit, but not running yet. Not yet. He has to know, he has to understand.

The figure switches to accented English, turning a blind look on Stiles.

Because this is your present, Stiles. This is your self. Everyone has one, but no one can lose it.

"What the fuck?" he breathes, the air becoming oppressive against his throat now. And he bumps into an intangible wall, his back against something impervious and hard. There's no escape.

[garou]

Derek's nostrils flare, and he shakes his head slowly. "You don't have him yet. I'd be able to see it if you did."

[skybluejeep]

A chill runs down Stiles' spine at Derek's words; that's infinitely more frightening than this thing. That one word. 'YET.' Oh, god. Derek was from a point further along in the timeline, did that mean that the thing was telling the truth?

The Nogitsune tilts its head at Derek, and the silver teeth glint menacingly at them both.

Everyone has one, but no one can lose it. It's his fault, you know. All his fault. He tries so hard, but in the end, we're winning. Answer my riddle, Stiles.

"What riddle? What are you talking about?" His hand on Derek's back is going slack, trembling.

[garou]

"Don't answer it, Stiles," Derek snaps, turning back to snarl at the demon in front of them.

"I said shut up."

[skybluejeep]

Everyone has one, but no one can LOSE it!

The creature in front of them shouts the line again, surging forward toward Stiles and Derek. Stiles reacts with a scream, pulling his dirk out again and pointing it at the Nogitsune.

"A name! A SELF. A shadow! I can keep going, you asshole! There's so many different answers!"

And that makes the figure stop again, and take a step back. But then he points a finger at Derek.

Ah. Now we're getting somewhere. Pick one.

[garou]

Derek roars when the nogitsune moves, taking his own steps forward, though he stops when Stiles speaks, daring a glance at him.

"All of them," Derek snaps around his fangs, baring his teeth.

[skybluejeep]

The roar doesn't even make the creature flinch. Instead, it reaches up and starts unwinding the bandages from its face.

Stiles' breathing ratchets up considerably, and he gasps as he grips on to Derek's waist.

"Derek..."

The Nogitsune snarls, struggling and twitching under the weight of its burden, and looks at Stiles again.

You cannot escape this. This is your destiny. OUR destiny. When is a door not a door?

[garou]

And that does it. He breaks free of Stiles' grasp and shifts, lunging at the nogitsune with a roar.

There's only one thing on his mind right now: Protect. He won't let Stiles get taken by this thing. He won't.

[skybluejeep]

Derek's claws have literally zero effect: This is a vision, and physical attacks are totally useless. There's not even a shimmer or a distortion. The Nogitsune doesn't even flinch, it just continues unraveling those bandages.

A small, worried noise escapes Stiles, as layer after layer of bandage drops to the floor, and he keeps trying to escape.

"Derek...Derek, come on, please, don't..."

[garou]

Derek lands on the ground with a loud grunt, and he gets back to his feet and whirls, trying again, this time with his hands.

He passes through then, too, and he looks down at his claws in confusion and then back up at Stiles.

"Run," he says around a mouth full of teeth, because he doesn't know what else to do, but he doesn't want Stiles here, not when he smells this afraid.

[skybluejeep]

That's all it takes. Just one word, Derek saying 'run.' And he's ready to go.

He spins, knowing that the invisible wall is there to stop him, and he tries to escape. But subconsciously, he doesn't. Not really. He won't leave Derek behind, he won't leave him here against a demon.

Which is what trips him up, causes him to sprawl out along the overgrown lawn with a grunt.

And the Nogitsune just sighs. The last of the bandages hits the ground. And Stiles turns up, faces up to...himself. His face, his voice. His everything. The Japanese demon fox has taken over his life. And that's just fucking impossible.

"No..."

Yes.

[garou]

"Stiles!" Derek roars it out, advancing as quickly as he can to the human on the ground, crouched in front of him.

But he can't do anything and he knows it. It's futile -- whatever this nogitsune is doing, it's not corporeal and he can't kill it, can't make it go away.

So he roars. He vents that frustration, screams it out as loud as he can at the thing in front of them, because he can't even win this fight to save the person he cares about. He won't let it take Stiles.

[skybluejeep]

Stiles flinches.

The Nogitsune does not.

In fact, it cocks its head at Derek, distracted from Stiles for just long enough. And it smirks using his face.

"Derek, how do you sleep at night? Knowing that you're using him? That you're being completely selfish? That you're going to ruin him, like everything you touch? He'll die because of you..."

And Stiles gasps, attempting to scramble away further.

[garou]

It's Derek's turn to flinch, like the nogitsune has physically slapped him, and he shifts back to human, jaw tense. But he doesn't move otherwise, doesn't move away from Stiles.

"I don't," is all he says, glaring up at the thing before him.

[skybluejeep]

Stiles looks up at Derek, then at the Nogitsune. And he snarls to himself, totally done.

"You're full of shit!" he barks, finally standing equal at Derek's side, his face set in a mask of determination. "He's not using me. He would never. Ever. Use me. Japanese fox demon...which I'm guessing means Trickster. Been there, done that. Made friends with a trickster. You stand literally zero chance..."

"...Do we? You're so optimistic. Your mother...she was so ill...and you'll be so ill..."

And that makes Stiles gasp. Low fucking blow.

[garou]

Derek looks up at Stiles sharply, totally and completely surprised by that. Stiles... believed in him? He's not sure how to take that, including the warmth suddenly in his chest at the thought that Stiles trusts him enough to say something like that.

Derek stands fully, fingers flexing. He wants to hit this thing, he really does, but he can't. And it angers him.

"Shut up," he growls again. "If you think Stiles can't beat you then you don't know anything about him at all."

[skybluejeep]

"I don't want him to defeat me," is the answer, an evil smirk curling Stiles' stolen lips up. "I just want him to join me."

Stiles isn't hiding behind Derek. Not really. But he is wanting his boyfriend to make the scary thing go away, wanting his love to win the day.

"Yeah, no. Not a chance. Ever. You wanna do bad? You can do it without me. I'll die before I join you."

And the mocking, cruel laughter begins again, loud and oppressive.

[garou]

Derek steps in front of Stiles again, snarling just a little.

"You'll have to go through me, first."

[skybluejeep]

"Oh. I plan on it, Derek Hale."

Stiles' breathing is now completely out of control, watching his alternate self threaten his love. Oh, fuck. Without a thought, pulls himself to his feet and steps forward again, his jaw set, his shoulders straight. And he's not screwing around anymore.

"No."

"No?"

And then the two versions of Stiles are facing each other down. One is smirking, confident, and totally in control. The other...he's trembling with the effort of it all, because he refuses to give in.

"No. Touch Derek and I'll figure out a way to end you."