The Watchers of Night ([personal profile] thewatchers) wrote in [community profile] daybreakacademy2020-08-03 03:47 pm

[Open] The Mark of the Herald


Mark of the Herald Part I
Log Comm | Network Comm | OOC Comm | Navigation


Despite certain disruptive events and ominous visions in the preceding month, August is seemingly still free of any problems.

That’s quick to change, however. Starting from the third of the month, strange, circular marks begin to appear on human students around the school - and, indeed, humans around the world. Those affected begin to feel incurably drowsy, something that no magical or mundane solution can seem to cure or relieve; eventually, they’ll fall asleep entirely, whether they want to or not, and enter a state of magical stasis. Not even nonhumans are immune, though whether they’re marked seems to be much more erratic.

Those who remain awake or are otherwise spared by the mark are free to do as they wish - the Academy won’t ask them to do more than keep themselves safe. But where each marked person falls in slumber, a portal will form; a strange tear in reality, offering glimpses of a surreal, nightmarish plane that differs vastly from individual to individual. One thing is certain; the cause of a victim’s seemingly endless sleep and these portals are linked somehow, and the only way to find out exactly how is to go through...and the only ones capable of doing so are those who are still awake.

This log can be used as a catch-all for event-related threads. The information for this event is here.

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-06 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
[The girl in saree and boy both look up, breaking from their whispering.

The girl's brow is furrowed, eyes slightly narrowed with the concentration of someone who didn't quite catch what was said. With looking up, she reveals a deep patch of scarring on one half of her face and down her neck, though it glitters now with stars, the work of an old glamor spell making the wound something pretty.

Next to the bright pink of the girl's saree, the boy in suspenders looks washed out. There's a sigil on his arm half-hidden under the sleeve, the only thing that reveals him close to mages, if not one himself. His mouth is a bow shape and his eyes are sharp. He speaks in a heavily accented English.]


Who're you?
spelleton: consumed by the earth (☀ set forth a soldier)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-06 05:58 pm (UTC)(link)
A visitor, nothing more and nothing less. [ He speaks honestly. After all, this is Sira's dream, and at worst they view him as an interloper or an aggressor. Either way, it's best not to speak with too much familiarity or obscurity. ]

Who might you be? Or is that not allowed? [ Daemons tend to guard information rather jealously, after all. Sira is an exception in many ways, with their love of sharing. ]

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-06 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
[The boy's head tilts. He mutters to the girl what might be a translation and she looks uncertain as well.

Both of them pause and look at each other before the boy speaks again.]


...Gehfried. Aarohi. That is who we were.

[The past tense seems deliberate.]

Don't think there's a rule against it.
spelleton: (☀ our idolized sun has burned out)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-12 05:01 pm (UTC)(link)
Gehfried and Aarohi, then. It's a pleasure, though I suppose we've met in less than ideal circumstances.

[ He pauses, considering his next question. In the end, he keeps it vague. ]

What direction should I go to find something interesting?

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-13 10:29 am (UTC)(link)
[Gehfried shrugs.]

We would meet no other way.

[Aarohi's mouth twitches, as though amused, but it only lasts half a second.]

Ask the wrong reflection and the answer might be everywhere.

[But, having said that, Gehfried whispers in Aarohi's ear and she nods. A moment later her eyes are closing. She whistles. The sound seems distant and yet echoing. Mirrors flash with light but only down a single path, one after another.]

Reckon you want to go that way. Watch for the hungry ones. Only one will be happy to see you and you'll not want to meet 'em.

[Aarohi lifts her hand in a small wave.]
spelleton: that you hear on the breeze (☀ i sing the songs)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-14 04:49 am (UTC)(link)
I suppose that's true, too. [ He concedes that point, at least. ]

[ He bows to the reflections in the mirror, thanking them for their patience with him, and then heads down the path they indicated to him. Even if it's the 'wrong' way - well, it's still important to be polite.

He's not afraid of dreams. His own are often far worse.
]

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-14 09:44 am (UTC)(link)
[Eventually, all that reflecting light fades from the path that Ekkehardt was directed to venture down. For all that, it seems to grow even darker than it had been before.

It is deathly quiet. Ekkehardt may notice that in some of those dark reflections, there are spatters of blood, some small, some large pools on the reflected floor. Up ahead is a straight path with but one turn. In the reflections, some huge thing pads around that corner. He could go ahead, following the children's advice. Or, he could try and get a better look at the thing. Going along with either choice brings sound, one, the mutterings of a rhyme in two voices, the other, growling.]
spelleton: and i don't want to leave (☀ i was born on the lake)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-17 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
[ He avoids stepping in the blood. Best not to leave a trail, even in a dream.

Perhaps he should follow the children's advice. But on the other hand, this is a reflection of Sira's subconscious; that large, imposing presence might well be something that they fear.

He pauses, for a moment, and then makes his decision; he doesn't quite turn the corner, but he hovers at the edge, trying to get a better glimpse of whatever is there without outright provoking it.
]
emergensirations: (Discomfort)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-17 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
[Ekkehardt's stealth will grant him much. Perhaps more than he bargained for.

The thing around the corner is a chimera, though hardly the traditional sort. Its haunches are elongated and bent. Two more arms pad the ground on each side of the creatures, clawed in varying lengths. There's a swing of tails in all different kinds, moving like the swaying heads of a hydra. Different discoloured wings twitch and flare as it rises to stand on its back two feet. Despite looking like an animal, it is dressed to some degree. Some loose white tunic, ragged and old and ill-fit, settles over the creature, tie with layer after layer of different coloured fabric below the waist, from era after era, giving the impression of a chaotic cloak. It does not hide the strength in that form, in each lean and inhuman arm. Upon the creature's head is a crown of horns stretching as tall as a forearm, all alike despite the mismatched appearance over the rest of the thing. Around it's fast is a draping curtain of soft blonde hair.

It gives an impression of being a lumbering thing, up until it moves like lightning to the next mirror pane. And in it, its claws slam down a girl. Past the curtain of light hair, a grin can be seen, full of jagged teeth. Two, in fact, smiling in unison, blood there as well as upon those claws.

The girl cries out and then curses, trying to shimmy only to be pinned down harder. There's a crack and she coughs. And then the creature speaks.]


WHERE?

[It's just one word, but it echoes off the walls. It is a chorus of voices, a mob, but far less human. It's a shriek and a hiss and a low growl and every little thing between. It's agonized howling and lilting song at once. It may as well be the screams of the damned.

The girl flinches. Her hair the same blonde as the monster. Her face, however, is all her own, quickly twisting into a haughty snarl. She spits.]


Eat me.

[The creature's twin grins waver. It presses down more. The girl lets out a cry and the grits her teeth to prevent any more from slipping out. A knife sits by her hand, but it's just out of reach and useless besides. She lets her glare do the cutting for her.]

They'll kill you. We'll kill you! They're going to get strong and we'll kill you!

[This gets the creature moving back a little. Its head tilts, curious, and in doing so it shows a little more of its face. Eyes shining in Sira's pink.]

We? You think it will be a joint effort? How quaint. You were consumed. You. Are. Nothing. And they are alone. You know that. Don't you? No one here really matters.

[They mimic the girl's lofty tone perfectly. Her eyes go wide.]

How--

[The creature snaps then.]

I know everything! In a way, it's a good thing you were right. Otherwise, you could assume that I am simply you and the one about to kill you is your beloved Sira also.

[The creature's terrible chorus tones down, still a collective of voices, but less, younger somehow. The voice is a sorrowful plea.]

We had so much fun together, I don't want you to go... Hm, like a little children's book. How were the words? I'll eat you whole...
Edited 2020-08-17 03:46 (UTC)
spelleton: (☀ oh the reckoning begins)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-19 05:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ Being unable to turn away from someone in pain has been both an asset and a burden, at times. Which one it is here, he can't say.

Is this part of Sira, made manifest, turned loose to hunger and feast on the memories of the people they loved so much they destroyed? Or is it a memory of someone or something worse, more powerful, that drowns them in a shadow of fear?

This is a dream, so he can look like whatever he wants. As assassin or healer, he is still ill-equipped to mount a frontal assault.

When he steps out from behind the corner, his mask and clothes are something else. He has a spear in hand, redder than blood.

Without a word, he moves swiftly, a flash of scarlet cloth and veil. He stabs at the chimera, not expecting to hit, only to take its attention off its intended victim.
]
emergensirations: (Sharp look)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-19 10:30 am (UTC)(link)
[Perhaps it's a question saved for Sire themself. If Ekkehardt can get that far.

The spear hits and yet doesn't. It cracks against the pane of glass that the creature is settled in, sending splinters through. And yet, the creature howls, it's jaws having been only seconds from sinking into flesh.

Its head whips and its claws lift from the girl in the mirror. It seems to step closer, moving until it's stepping out of the mirror. Those bloody claws mark the ground. It's back haunch, still appears fractured somehow, as if a part of the mirror come to life. It bleeds from each crack, but its attentions are on the knight before it. Six eyes narrow while a seventh at the forehead sits wide with fury.

The girl rushes to her feet too. However, she can only slam her fists against the mirror.]


NO! What are you doing!? Get out of here!

[That appears to be for Ekkehardt's benefit. The latter is for the monster.]

Hey! HEY! Come back and fight me, you ugly old bastard!

[The creature ignores her. It focuses on Ekkehardt.]

You're interfering
spelleton: (☀ i will carry the light)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-19 12:15 pm (UTC)(link)
[ It certainly looks like a monster, but Ekkehardt has met enough monsters, even in what he'd consider a short life, to not be terribly impressed. ]

Of course I am.

[ No one here really matters, the girl had said, the creature standing before him had echoed. But they exist here, in the abyss of Sira's nightmares, in their memory, and that's enough. ]

I can't let you torment these beloved memories, can I?
emergensirations: (Smile)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-19 12:34 pm (UTC)(link)
[The monster's head tilts. Then it laughs. It's a terrible sound.]

Memories.

[The monster croons the word.]

If that is what you're concerned with, I assure you, they'll all be safe with me. I remember all the lives I take into my own. Perhaps you'd care to join them!

[It lunges.]
spelleton: (☀ oh the reckoning begins)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-26 06:27 am (UTC)(link)
[ He leaps to the side; that lunge only grazes him. He remembers other memories - back when he wasn't quite this light, when he still had flesh and breath to worry about.

He lunges himself, aiming to drive the spear into the monster's side, to knock it off balance.
]

Nothing here can kill me. You, least of all. [ Sira wasn't able to do much to him; he doesn't expect a monster born from Sira's subconscious to be able to do much to him either, mostly because he's taking a gamble that it only knows as much as Sira themselves does. He has the advantage in experience, and the difference in size doesn't bother him in the least. ]
emergensirations: (Sharp look)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-26 08:38 am (UTC)(link)
[The spear drives in. It pierces through fabric and into Frankenstein flesh, a corpse made of corpses. The creature lets out a chorus of a scream akin to claws raking down walls. Its body slams glass, bringing forth blood on the other side.

It pants. And then it laughs. If not removed already, it reaches back and rips the spear out itself. And then, there in that spot it seems to glow. It is a golden orange light that sparkles into dust. It's familiar, though impossible to say why, even as that portion of the body dissolves to bone, stops, then reforms again good as new.

The monster's voices weave together in a tired but gleeful hiss.]


You're right. We were so close to memories of you. They were so close to such brilliant power. But they just couldn't hold on long enough for even the slightest merge. They lost. And the stupid brat chose a colorful pattern over what might actually be useful keep. If they were brighter, I would think they did it on purpose to thwart me by proxy.

But they're not. The question is whether or not you have any wisdom to you. Would you heed my advice if I gave it...?

[The girl in the far mirror rises unsteadly. There is fear in her face as she whispers a faint no. One of the creature's twisting tails rises and smashes the mirror, leaving nothing but a dark space.]

Well?
spelleton: becomes infernal (☀ life unchecked)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-26 08:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ His armor dissolves as the beast speaks, making him just himself again; his glance flicks over to the girl in the mirror just before it's smashed.

He steps close, within range, like he's ready to listen, and the spear seemingly dissolves. His expression is impassive.

(This patchwork creature makes the memories of those Sira has taken into themselves cower in fear. They are stronger and more powerful, seemingly wiser and more knowing than Sira themselves.

He doesn't know who or what this is. But he can guess, well enough, who this spectre might be a shadow of.

Not every parent is suited to the responsibility of a child. And daemons, just like any other creature, are born.)
]

I want nothing from someone like you.

[ Metal flashes like a mirror's shard as he drives the knife into the monster's face. As soon as his hand empties, another one is there; in a dream, the weapon most familiar to him is always ready and waiting in his grasp.

That might not kill it; he doesn't know the anatomy of this creature. But he'll always have more knives.
]

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-26 09:19 am (UTC)(link)
[The beast doesn't shriek. The knife cracks bone and all seven eyes are flared with pain and shock. The chorus of voices keen, then narrow down. This time the voices are of a smaller, more familiar set, one single note on top stronger than the others but young.]

You fool. They will die. You didn't have to bring everyone down with them.

[And then the keening is back, the snarling, and the creature is tearing at the knife, trying to back its way into the mirrorscape, removing itself from Ekkehardt's reach.

Or perhaps into the trap. Ekkehardt will have seconds, but only that, to smash the mirror or leave it be.]
spelleton: there are rules (☀ oh you fool)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-26 09:36 am (UTC)(link)
[ Has he made the right decision? It's not something he can take back, either way. He glances at the mirror, remembering what it holds, that kaleidoscope of memories. Remembers what this creature was doing, before he came.

Wounded creatures are dangerous to anything that approaches them. (He himself had been proof of that.)

He yanks the knife out, only to shatter the mirror it's trying to back into, the blade flying true. After that, he turns his head, to see what's become of the rest of this dream while he wasn't looking at it. He's wary of any movement from the enemy, but he's curious to see how this has affected everything else.
]
Edited 2020-08-26 09:37 (UTC)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-26 09:45 am (UTC)(link)
[The mirror shatters. The creature is gone. There seems to be nothing changed at all in the dream except for the fact that now all is deathly quiet.

Perhaps it wasn't the dream that the creature was referring to.

It's no matter now. There is still that path that Ekkehardt was directed to take, waiting where it was. Or he could continue elsewhere.]
spelleton: (☀ our idolized sun has burned out)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-26 09:48 am (UTC)(link)
[ Sira is still here, somewhere, so onward he goes. He seems to have changed things just by exploring, so he strays back onto the path he was directed to.

He has plenty of time to think, at least, now that everything is quiet. He begins to hum, quietly, as a way of filling the silence.

All the songs he knows best are the ones that children love, or funereal. Perhaps not the best choice, either way, but he'll commit regardless.
]
emergensirations: (Minion Body)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-26 10:03 am (UTC)(link)
[Off the walls and mirror panes, the songs echo. It takes time but eventually a hushed voice can be heard. The voice seems to be speaking only to itself. It breaks off conversation to hum along with the song that's heard, but once close enough, the voice is back to whispers.]

There he is...! He's coming...! Shh!

[And then, at last, Ekkehardt will find the source. Or rather, the sources.

They are perfect twins, two young girls in prim upper-class school attire. They look up at the very same moment, one girl inside the mirror, the other, outside it and settled on the path. Both girls extend a hand out to meet in the middle of them, where the glass divides.]


... Hello.

[They greet him together.]

You're looking for the exit?
Edited 2020-08-26 10:04 (UTC)
spelleton: (☀ to this lone wolf afraid)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-26 10:07 am (UTC)(link)
Well, I'm looking for someone, if that counts as the exit.

[ He looks between them, his voice and demeanor polite. ] They're asleep right now, and I was hoping to wake them. And I'd rather not intrude on their dreams more than I have already.

[ He might have stabbed something he shouldn't have but OH WELL. ]
emergensirations: (Minion Body)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-26 10:19 am (UTC)(link)
[The girls look at one another. Their palms press harder on either side, like they want to curl their fingers around each other's but can't. They look back up.]

Sira doesn't want to leave. Not yet. They want to stay here. With...

[Both girls bear a trembling lip each. They both blink hard as they look away.

Then with their free hands, they point. The girl outside points in front, to the mirror before her. The girl inside points behind.]


The exit's here. Sira is too. But only one of us can go with you. And you can choose only one path.

Please choose.
Edited 2020-08-26 10:19 (UTC)
spelleton: and i don't want to leave (☀ i was born on the lake)

[personal profile] spelleton 2020-08-28 12:52 pm (UTC)(link)
[ He looks between them with a slight frown. ]

Is there a reason why I can choose only one of you? [ He'll follow the rules of the dream - he doesn't think he has any other choice - but, still, he feels he has to ask. ]
emergensirations: (Minion Body)

[personal profile] emergensirations 2020-08-28 01:12 pm (UTC)(link)
[The girls break their synchronicity yet again when the girl outside turns a grieving, agonized look on the one in the mirror. The one in the mirror closes her eyes with a quiet resignation, then both look up once more.]

If you choose my exit, she cannot follow through the mirror.

[So says the one inside.]

If you choose to take mine, she can't leave her place.

[So says the one outside.]

A path ahead and a reflection back, but not both. It's not a choice of morality on your part. Neither of us will die. It's simply a choice.