daybreakacademy | EVENT - RESIDUAL CHRISTMAS CHEER

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EVENT - RESIDUAL CHRISTMAS CHEER

RESIDUAL CHRISTMAS CHEER
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'Twas the night before the 25th of January, and festively red daemons have descended on shopping centres and other places in Paris, France, to disrupt early celebrations for the Lunar New Year. Intent on causing mischief and ‘ruining Christmas’, despite being a month late (and showing up to a different celebration entirely), it’s up to brave student and faculty volunteers to not only drive the daemons out and back to the Outlands, but make sure it looks convincingly fake in the eyes of civilians accidentally caught in the crossfire.

A. CROWD CONTROL
One of the more difficult tasks assigned to this volunteer task force is blending in and keeping the mundane crowds from noticing anything might be a little off with their celebrations tonight. Students and staff are required to play any number of roles to keep people happy and divert them from getting in the way of daemons - everything from blocking off roads, to causing a scene, to deliberately guiding human performers the wrong way before they get roped into a ritual by their ‘new manager’.

B. DAEMON DANCE
Multiple daemons have shed their Christmas wear and have decided lion and dragon dances are far more interesting and fit to their tastes. Some have decided to take on the appearances of these mythical creatures; others are masquerading as dancers and actors wearing costumes. Still more are simply putting on Christmas-themed performances of their own, apparently under the impression that this is a flawless disguise. Regardless, it falls to staff and students alike to spot the daemonic performers, and lure them away or drive them out before they can claim more victims - by negotiation, bribery, or by old-fashioned festive violence.

C. CLEANING UP
The daemons have left plenty to do in their wake, as is typical of daemons. Not content to leave behind just the general debris and chaos of their trip to Earth, like property damage and shellshocked, confused people, they’ve also dropped cursed toys, trinkets and other miscellaneous items cursed with essentially harmless, annoying effects. From toys like whistles that scream like the damned to accessories like a ring that is never where you last put it, it’s apparent that these were supposed to be ‘gifts’ handed out to unsuspecting passerby.

D. WILDCARD
If you’re more interested in poking around Paris a little and possibly getting inadvisably lost, facing daemons by yourself, or anything else you’d like to do, this prompt is for all of that.

code bases by tricklet

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-A-

Daybreak doesn't want any mortals to see any daemons (for reasons he doesn't QUITE understand?), and it turns out that's pretty easy. Zagreus' experience is that, for some reason, mortals can't see in the dark.

He stepped into the food court as a large daemon got ready to do something ridiculous and raised his hands towards the ceiling. A wave of darkness spread out from him, causing the lights to short out one by one with sparks, until the entire room was plunged into darkness.

Between the ten foot tall Santa Claus cackling something about torturing mortals and then the lights all going out, chaos immediately broke out. Zagreus looked a bit concerned, if anyone could see him like this. "Hmm, I may not have thought this one all the way out."

-B-

In the darkness, Zagreus' power was magnified. A pair of red eyes were the only sign of him to those who couldn't see right now as he tore through the little crowd of inappropriately dressed daemons. In his right hand was a two pronged spear that he wielded with deadly skill. In his left, a large round shield that he used almost as much as a weapon as he did the spear. Both were hard to see, though, as they were also made of darkness, albeit a more solid kind of darkness than normal.

He didn't seem to be going for fatal shots, but he sure was leaving a trail of maimed daemons behind him.

-A-

Kohaku wasn't going near the actual action, she'd had enough of daemons, but she was still helping out. Today, she had on a hard hat and a reflective vest as she informed mall-denizens that no, they could not go down this wing of the mall because there was construction going on and that no she PROMISED that those sounds of shrieking daemons and ringing swords was just a new kind of power tool they were using. Yes it sounds very strange it needs a tuneup real badly. Here's a starbucks gift card why don't you head THAT way and get some shitty coffee and an overpriced cookie.

She glanced over to the other person on deflection duty as a daemon roared about the doom of man in a language forgotten by humanity. "These excuses feel pretty weak, don't they?"

-C-

It was cleanup time, where Kohaku's sharp eyes were well suited for noticing anything that didn't look like it belonged in the mortal world. She was MOSTLY staying on task, but...

"Hey, check this out."

Kohaku, looking kind of gremlin-y, held up fidget spinner and spun it. Immediately, a small whirlwind formed around her. It wasn't NEARLY enough to actually damage anything, but it was definitely strong enough to send anything made of paper flying and get scattered around the area. "And they say these things are supposed to help you relax."

Hazel was cleaning up some of the mess, using a large push-broom to make a large pile to sort through of garbage and debris. She's turn her head just as the whirlwind spirals out, sending some of the paper she'd been sweeping flying away.

"Magical weapons aren't for relaxation," she frowns, brushing hair back out of her face. She's never seen an item like it before, so she doesn't know what it resembles besides some kind of windmill blades. "The daemons sure were careless to leave something like that around."

Giorno looked every part the solicitous aid, down to a kind and sweet smile that he dolled out easily to everyone. Behind them Gold Experience was working withing it's two meters of him to ensure that nothing came their way and subtly blocking things off even more between people trying to head that way.

"You have to let yourself believe it. Make a world in your head where what you are saying is the absolute truth... and then project that onto the world around you. We are here, offering a service, by keeping these people out of construction with dangerous machinery. It does have some odd sounds but we don't really know what the machinery is, so it's hard to say how it's supposed to sound... don't dig yourself into the details any further than you have to, but make it as real as you can." He explains, his voice completely genuine, even as he is talking about making a lie seem all the more believable. "The best cover is something where people can fill in their own spaces."

B
[She's meant nice daemonic people since being at the school, but Hazel still has a great dislike for most daemons. They seem to enjoy causing too much trouble, even when it's not world-ending levels of trouble. There's a fear there, but also a desire to protect. Who knows who they will hurt is they are left alone?

She takes care of some of the other daemons first, the ones who are fighting and causing some mayhem where it's easier to fight them. Then she moves on to the dancers, trying to appear as inconspicuous as possible mixing with the onlookers. She hopes that if she gets close enough to touch one of them, her Flame will activate and scare them off. She just needs a good distraction. She turns to the Academy student nearest to her.]

Can you get their attention long enough for me to get behind them?

C
[These strange items are covered in daemonic energy and Hazel figures that out when she tries to pick up a whistle and the thing is almost immediately set on fire in her hand. She drops it to the ground but it keeps on burning and she looks around, wondering who else just saw that. Hopefully the civilians think it's just a part of the performance.]

I wouldn't touch any of these, just so you know. I don't know which props are still active.

[Maybe she should stick to using the broom.]

[ Hornet is unable to hide her conspicuous horns. More to the point, she doesn't want to hide them, and has no wish to use a glamour in order to do so.

So, instead, she's dressed in gaudy red and gold, like a performer. This bright red is fine; it's not the colour of the weavers, but it's close enough.

She eyes Hazel for a moment, and then nods, her expression unchanging. She darts into the crowd of performers, and there's the momentary shimmer of thread before firecrackers seem to leap off pillars and poles, exploding before they can actually fall onto someone but causing loud, alarming noises, sparkles and smoke, nevertheless.

It's...definitely a distraction...at least... ]

[People are scattering a bit, shocked at the firecrackers and not sure where they might land. No one is hit, but the audience doesn't know how safe it is and people are immediately backing up. This isn't what Hazel had been expecting, but it does the job and she'll take advantage of it.

She moves quickly, getting around the scattering audience toward the group of dancers that don't seem to know just what to do yet. The fact they aren't scrambling like the regular humans lets her know they aren't that good at pretending to be scared. She moves up behind one of them, already pulling out some rune stones she keeps in her pack.]

Come this way! Your costumes could catch on fire!

[Maye she could trick them into isolating them away from the regular humans.]

"If it's a weapon, it's a pretty crappy weapon."

Beat. "Also, uh. Sorry. I guess I kinda made a mess there. I'll help you clean it up."

Kohaku stuck the fidget spinner in her pocket for now, with every intention of having it properly disposed of later, and immediately forgot it was there.

"You've put some thought into this, haven't you?"

Kohaku wasn't a great liar. She could usually tell whenever someone ELSE was lying, so she always felt like whenever she tried it the truth was written on her face and everyone would immediately know. "Let other people fill in the details, huh..."

Maybe there was something to it.

"In the past, yes... now I don't have to think too much on it." That could be taken as she liked.

"Exactly... and if you don't have to lie, don't... misdirection is best when it's done with complete honesty." He offered.

As someone approached he smiled brightly and gestured to the area. "Our apologies, this area is closed for the time being. Please choose another area to shop in, while here at the mall." he said, sounding both apologetic and sincere.

"Wish I'd thought like that when I was a kid."

Arguable that she wasn't a kid now, but most children did sometimes wish they were able to lie to their parents better.

Kohaku deflected the next group, informing them about the construction crew looking into a dangerous mold infestation. Then she glanced sidelong over at Giorno, thoughtfully.

"So where in Italy are you from?"

Edited 2020-01-28 22:01 (UTC)

"It's fine, it's not a big deal," she assures her. "Finish collecting whatever those are, I got this part."

Hazel pushes her bangs away a bit so she can stoop down and start to collect the papers. She doesn't realize that one of the daemonic whistles is mixed in with the papers until one side of the pile suddenly catches fire right when she gets her hands close enough.

"You could have chosen better," Hornet agrees, from behind him somewhere. Coming from her, that's almost a joke, possibly.

Her eyes glow in the dark, reflecting what little light there is. Between the two of them, they're an eerie pair.

"It's stopped talking," she says, in a vaguely conversational sort of way. She's not sure if she likes the artificiality of this place - hard angles that hum and buzz with electricity that sets part of her on edge - but it's a hunting ground now. She gets up on a table, casting her senses out. It shouldn't be that hard to find a ten foot daemon, even in the dark.

[ Hornet sweeps for any stragglers, or any daemons that are smart enough to pretend to be fearful. She doesn't catch any, but it's loud and noisy here, and she's far more used to silence and echoing caverns than bright celebrations like this one.

So she encourages the humans to run the other way, instead, leaving the daemons steadily more isolated. She grips the handle of her needle under her cloak, keeping an eye on Hazel and what she intends to do. ]

[The isolation tactics are working and that means it's the perfect time for Hazel to pull out her big strike. She quickly draws the last rune onto a nearby column with blood from her cut thumb. It glows as it syncs with the other runes she had already put down in three other nearby locations that begin to burn. A fire spreads between the columns fast and the daemons realize they've been tricked. One of them rushes forward, trying to push past the flames, only it too late and their hand is singed before they can pull it back.]

The flames won't hurt anyone but the daemons trapped inside. Do you have anything we could bind them with?

He smiles to her and just nods a bit. She had fallen into the same thing others did, without complaint... filling in the ideas on their own. There was no lie, so there was nothing to him that would seem a liar.

"Napoli. I moved there when I was four. SO to me it is far more vero than where I was born." He offers, tipping his head to her. "And where are you from, signora?"

"Chigasaki."

Though if he's not from Japan, that was probably too specific. "It's just south of Tokyo. Grew up there. I guess I've really lived here for the last two years, though."

The dark held no mysteries to Zagreus, who could see just as well right now as if it were a cloudy day. The fact was that most of the time since he'd come to the surface he'd spent wearing sunglasses.

Not now though. A spear and shield formed out of pure shadowstuff in his hands. "What say we make sure it can't START talking again?"

"Fuck!" Kohaku exclaimed, as the pile of paper suddenly burst into flames. She quickly started stomping out the fire before it could cause any real damage while cursing daemons.

Hazel moves back quickly, not wanting it to be seen that the flames maybe jumped off her fingertips onto the whistle. She was already on edge enough, wanting to make sure they didn't miss anything. Her ingrained fear wasn't helping deal with the daemonic items left behind by the troublemakers.

"Are they supposed to do that?"

"Whistles? No generally not. I think that's another one for the cursed pile."

"Daemonic whistles," she emphasizes, but quietly just in case some civilian stragglers might still be there. "You'll singe more than some nose hairs on that."

She shakes her head and then goes over to dump a garbage full of trash into a different can. She brings the emptied can back to where they are cleaning up.

"Here. This way it doesn't accidentally catch anything else."

Hazel does not try to touch it herself. Just in case.

She just nods at him, unconcerned, before vanishing in a blur of red and white. Zagreus might be more than her match in strength (in a contest of pure brute force, she's certain that she'd lose), but in speed, she comes out ahead.

The daemon looms out of the darkness, eyes aglow, and brings down a weighty hand on where it anticipates she'll be as she swings through the air; she takes a sharp turn, curving her body, and pins one of the daemon's fingers with her needle to distract it and give Zagreus a proper opening to swing at it.

Japan had been a long time ago for him, so her additional information helped him a lot. "I see. Do you miss home when you are here? Or is it all pretty much the same for you?" he asks, smiling in a friendly manner as he watches for anyone else coming their way.

"I miss some things about home, sure. Who wouldn't? I don't miss my old school though."

She gave him a sidelong glance. "There are definitely some things around here that I like a lot better."

"I will say I enjoy the school here much more myself. I don't think I've ever made quite so many friends." he says, smiling in a way that makes his face softer than normal. He had somehow moved just a step or two closer to her, nothing dramatic, and certainly not untoward... but closer than he'd been before.

"Me neither..." He's standing closer. How long does he spend doing his hair like that? No don't think about that! Stay cool Kohaku! "Everyone's so weird at Daybreak, I don't feel like I stand out at all. It's...nice, actually."

"Weird? Is that what you think of me?" he asks, though there's a bit of a smile to his face, while Gold Experience pops in over his shoulder with an interested look. "I don't see why you would way that." He adds with good humor.

While he doesn't explicitly trust her yet, Kohaku is certainly someone he's more comfortable around than he expected, something that he hadn't really anticipated happening. Sure he'd hoped a new place would let him have a bit of a fresh start, but to have that was more surprising than anything.

"I didn't mean- Not in a BAD way. Just, you know-" She waved her arm, embarrassed and trying to search for the right words. "The people here aren't...mean spirited?"

Zagreus didn't think of himself as slow, but Hornet's acrobatics were more than he could keep up with. He felt better with his feet planted on the ground.

As for the daemon, he'd faced worse. His own eyes were glowing just as fiercely as he swung his shield around in an arc to bash the edge of it into the daemon's arm, knocking it off balance, and then thrust with his spear before it could recover.

He smiles just a little more, tipping his head to the side slightly. "I was teasing you." he offers, since she is clearly beyond embarrassed. Then his smile smooths into something more gentle as he nods a little. "But you are right... I've never been quite so easily welcomed, and with so little fuss, in any new place." He admits.

Even a daemon as tall as this one has trouble coping with a two-pronged attack, especially when one of the participants is zipping around its head. Hornet uses her threads to wrap its neck while it's distracted and pulls it down without mercy, using her needle to pin the threads to the ground so Zagreus can get in some more damage.

There might be a little bit of collateral damage, but it's fine, probably.

The important thing is, it's LESS collateral damage than the daemon would have caused on his own. And between the two of them, one daemon honestly wasn't a huge threat. Hornet tied it up so it couldn't stop Zagreus from savagely beating it into submission.

That done, Zagreus glanced around to make sure there weren't any mortals left, then started easing back on the magical darkness. A few of the lights flickered on, fitfully. The rest had exploded.

"Well, that wasn't too hard."

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EVENT - RESIDUAL CHRISTMAS CHEER

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