ENDPLOT | ROLL THE BONES, PART 1

[ironwood]

Characters: ALL!
Date: Early/Mid November
Location: Under the shell
Situation: It's either Malicant or the Foreigners... and their worlds.
Warnings/Rating: Add warnings as needed.

The Foreigners had begun their counterattack by trying to possess the Great Turtle whom Malicant had taken, and although the movement had failed, some vital information had been uncovered. Under the shell lay Malicant's weakness, and inside the Dreaming was where he could be fought.

Any help from the kedan is uncommon. They're wary, watching, as a group beginning to lose sight of the community. Their family groups are more tightly-knit than ever, and any approach from the Foreigners is answered by suspicion at best and violence at worst. That makes daily life difficult, when the majority of the city refuses to have much to do with them. Why aren't you doing anything? they seem to say. What good are any of you? All you've done is make things worse. We'd be better if you'd never come.

The Foreigners are unwelcome in Keeliai. The cultists are becoming a majority. Now is the time.

There aren't many left of the Foreigners left, but inside the Dreaming the limitations of the waking world no longer exist. For every Foreigner and their worlds, their loved ones, this is the chance to make themselves safe for good. And all of them will be needed.

---

LINKS
Beneath The Shell/Midnight Hotel | Malicant’s Tools/The Vilii Stone | OOC Plot Post

OOC
There are two main headers, one for preparation at the Hotel where Milyn and Eva will be available to speak with The second section where they will be able to search the caves beneath the Shell inside the Dreaming to find the Vilii Stone, and where the boon'd characters will be affected. If you are threading something that doesn't fit one of those categories, just add it to the bottom of the post. Questions go to the plotting post, please! Once the Stone has been acquired the second half of the plot will go live in the logs comm.

Comments

outside of the hotel ?? | boon, baby | ota i guess??

[akito]

Akito knows right away that something is wrong. He's lived in his mind more often than he's lived in his body for the past few years, and when something is amiss he's the first to know. Realizing what was happening didn't give him much of an advantage - quite the opposite, in fact. At least at first. It was cripplingly terrifying, because it was so similar to when Agito or Lind was in control of their body, yet not.

It takes only a couple of minutes for Akito to regain his composure, and a few more after that to put up blocks in his mind; metal bars and chains to keep things out. He'll drown the uninvited in the black pools of his mind if need be. He's had years of practice wrestling back control of his body, though never for this particular reason.

Once he no longer feels distanced from himself he falls to his knees (feels it too, though ignores the discomfort). He's shaking and scared and on the brink of a panic attack. He wasn't tainted by the cultists' blades. He's sure of that. So what could it have been?

There are some clues he could piece together if he tried, and he has an inkling, but for the moment would rather not think about it. He'll focus instead on not falling apart before he can be of use to anyone, though he thinks that now he might be better off strapped into his straitjacket and kept locked away until everything is over.

[skeletonenigma]

Akito's one of the people Skulduggery seeks out, partly for his knowledge of the Vilii and partly because Skulduggery doesn't think Quintus would be very happy with only one foster parent. Manipulating water was Akito's boon, he remembers. At least Skulduggery knows how to counter that, if it comes to a fight.

It doesn't look like it will. When Skulduggery finds Akito, the teenager is either fighting the mental battle of his life, or he's succeeded and hasn't yet recovered from the shock. Until Skulduggery's sure, he stays a short distance away, wary.

"Akito?" He hesitates a moment, and then adds, "Gazelle?"

[akito]

While normally Akito is very good at not being caught off-guard by someone's presence, he isn't currently in any state to pay attention to his surroundings. He's focused almost entirely on his mental defenses, with what little attention he has left to spare being paid to trying to keep his breathing calm and steady.

Skulduggery goes unnoticed, at least until he says his name - Akito doesn't really comprehend what's being said so much as he just instinctively recognizes the sound.

"Go away," he breathes, and though it's quiet his panic is evident all the same. He digs his fingertips into his scalp, as though that will help get rid of any other presence in his mind. That the pain will make him stop feeling so disgusting and used; just another broken tool. He had been so happy to be able to help heal people, because what else could he even do? But it's becoming more and more evident to him that it was all just an elaborate trap. "Go away."

[skeletonenigma]

If he's still fighting, at least he's winning. Skulduggery is by no means an expert, but the speeding rate of Akito's breathing suggests some form of anxiety attack. He can guess what triggered it, but he's not sure exactly how, and so only takes a single step forward.

That single step, however, is firm and unwavering. "I'm sorry," Skulduggery says evenly, "but I can't do that. Are you compromised?"

A direct question, as far as questions go, but it serves its purpose well enough.

[akito]

The step doesn't go unnoticed, nor does it do anything to help with the panic. Skulduggery is large and intimidating - maybe not bulky, but tall like how Kaito is tall and lithe. He doesn't want anyone to be near him because he doesn't know. He can't be positive he isn't compromised, because it isn't like he thought he was compromised before.

His attempt to tell Skulduggery to leave him alone again falls flat - nothing but a wheezed out whimper from lungs rebelling against him in his continued panic. It's too much. Too much. Toomuchtoomuch. He thought he could handle this war, but he can't. He's too weak. He's not made to be a strong person.

[skeletonenigma]

He could be fighting.

He could also be having trouble breathing. And if that's the case, Skulduggery has an idea about how to help.

"We're here for the stone," he says without moving forward or kneeling down. "The stone belonging to the people you know more about than anyone else here. I'd like your help finding it. Count out each breath. In for two beats, out for two beats. Don't give up yet. Not when we're so close to winning."

[akito]

Breathing shouldn't be hard. But it is, and it makes Akito feel even more pathetic. Not only is he compromised - tainted - but he can't even breathe properly. And he doesn't know more than anyone else - shakes his head in disagreement. "Told everyone," he huffs between wheezes; forehead pressed securely against his knees. "Everything."

He emphasizes this fact by waving his hand in a dismissive, jerky fashion.

Counting helps though - keep counting beats. He can focus on that instead of how pathetic his breathing is.

[skeletonenigma]

"That's it, then?" Skulduggery asks. "You believe your role in this is over? If I can't change your mind, I'm not going to try. But if you want to see this fight won, you're not finished yet. You pursued the Vilii first. Make it count for something. See it through to the end."

[akito]

"'m compromised," he argues after a moment, his breathing slowing down to something with more than a passing resemblance to human respiration. "He was in my head."

[skeletonenigma]

His breathing is less worrying, and that's what keeps Skulduggery there more than Akito's words themselves. Regardless of what Akito may believe, some part of him is willing to keep going; some part of him is calming down. Some part of him can be reached.

"Many of us were," Skulduggery tells him. "He was in my head too. I fought him out. I watched two friends of mine fight him out. If I'm not mistaken, I narrowly missed watching you fight him out."

[akito]

Akito doesn't know why Malicant would bother trying to get into his head again - he's not very useful, after all - but the fear is still there. His breathing continues to even out, though he begins digging his nails into his skin instead, needing a focus. "I don't think I could do it again," he says. "I'm not good at... At moving the chains around. Not like..." Like Lind. Lind could trap them in their mind with a disconcerting ease; a knowledge of the depths of their mind that not even Akito could ever hope to achieve.

It Malicant tried again, he fears his defenses wouldn't work a second time. He shivers, the lingering terror leaving him chilled. "He was... My mind. That's- Only Agito..." Only Agito is allowed in so deep.

He feels so used - dirty. He scratches at his skin some more. "I'm not... I would just be a hindrance. I'm no good at- Ah.. This sort of thing."

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery fought Malicant out of his mind a while ago now. He hasn't felt even the beginnings of a re-possession attempt. He hesitates before explaining that, however, concerned that just pointing out the fallacy might be enough to draw Malicant's attention to it.

Then he decides the benefits outweigh the risks. "If this pattern holds," Skulduggery tells Akito, "it won't happen again. If it does, I'll be here to stop it long before you become a hindrance."

Stop you is the unsaid addition to that sentence. While Skulduggery will do everything in his power to keep Akito alive, he still has his revolver.

[akito]

That is... good to know. The information surprises him enough that he's no longer digging into his flesh, though pinpricks of blood ooze from the crescent shaped cuts his nails left behind.

"You'll kill me." It's not a question, nor a statement so much as it's a demand. "If it happens again, shoot me in the head."

Because if he's going to die via gunshot it may as well be in the head, like Gazelle. Though she pulled the trigger herself. The thought that if something happens his life will end full-circle it kind of comforting.

[skeletonenigma]

Skulduggery nods. "Alright."

He doesn't know if Akito's given any thought to the idea he might survive it, given how ambiguous death is in Keeliai. But if the teenager's only capable of fighting off Malicant's influence once, then Skulduggery would rather take the risk of a permanent death than have an ally permanently turned. Akito's volunteering only makes the decision easier.

"I'm going after the stone," he adds after a brief silence. "Can you stand?"

[akito]

"I'm not crippled," he grouches, though makes no move to stand up just yet. If he needs to stand, he'll stand - he's not worried about that. He just needs a moment to gather his nerves again and stop shaking.

"Has anyone formulated a plan of attack on how to get to the stone?"