[Open] The Mark of the Herald

[thewatchers]

Mark of the Herald Part I
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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.

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[stavros]

[She frowns and looks it all over.] This certainly is dream logic... well, let us see. [She'll try the first door; maybe there's something useful in there.]

[standless]

[Well, the first door simply goes to a sitting area for guests. There's certainly no one in here, and the vines simply pass through to another door back out into the hall it would seem. It may do Kokoro better to try moving further into the house- through the halls or stairs.

As it is, perhaps there's something in this room after all. There are a few books and photos scattered upon the table, tucked under the vines. At first glance, they seem empty.]

[stavros]

[Ah, dream logic. She gently pushes the vines to the side to inspect the books and pictures.]

My apologies for the intrusion, Mr. Joestar.

[standless]

[There doesn't seem to be much reaction initially. The books are all rather generic- topics of archaeology, which Jonathan had interest in.

The photos are blank- until Kokoro's apology. Then, the vines shine just briefly, and one of the images appears to portray someone giving the indication that things are 'alright'-!

It appears that while limited, he's able to communicate, and doesn't mind her presence at all.]

[stavros]

[She smiles for half a second and nods.]

I will retrieve you, worry not.

[After checking the room over, Kokoro will return to the main hall and go up the stairs; maybe there's something up there.]

[standless]

[For a moment there's a photo of questioning. Jonathan's apparently not actually sure what's going on, or where he even is. But alright, he'll run with it.

For a brief instant, only a few of the vines in the hall shine- their residual glow from the use of power trickling away. They go up that stairway and down to the left hall, but if Kokoro doesn't move very quickly they'll quickly fade before she's up there.]

[stavros]

[She picks up the pace and runs up the stairs, then slides down the hallway, almost like she isn't there until she skids to a stop. For a moment even Kokoro herself looks confused at what she just did, but she proceeds down the hall indicated.]

If they lead this way, and they lead to Mr. Joestar, then...

[standless]

[Hmm. The tricky bit. The hall seems especially amalgamated with the boat imagery. Portholes instead of windows, oddly paced among the portraits remaining from the manor itself between them. There are a great number of doors along the hall however- Kokoro could take the first one, certainly, but maybe it would be better to pass by them all to the end of the hall?]

[stavros]

[She hesitates, but starts to walk down the hall to the end.]

Dream logic for certain... what's going on in here?

[standless]

[Nothing that makes sense, that's for sure. There's not a whole lot of doors around this corner, but notably there's not as many frenzied vines either. Much more of the place can be seen- though it glows with an unnatural light. The sounds of a scuffle can be heard distantly, behind another door- and the vines seem to be there.]

[stavros]

[Kokoro frowns and runs to the next door. She listens at it to try and see what's going on before she tries the door.]

Come on, come on...

[standless]

[The door opens easily enough-

The handle is also rather warm.

The room inside looks like a boiler room, despite the fact that the location should have been something akin to a bedroom. There is no fire, but there is immense heat-

There are also a lot of plants. Thorny vines, all converging toward one spot within the room, a great mass growing up there to lock something into place. Whatever was here, it's apparently supposed to stay here.

Or it would have, but that's something Kokoro should probably change.]

[stavros]

[Kokoro pauses to look it over, then bolts in, aiming right at the vines. She reaches out to grab one.]

Even if you weren't hostile, you led me here for a reason, did you not? What is this?

[And she's going to try to clear them out, but just by pulling, trying not to damage them after the incident before.]

Mr. Joestar!

dw kokoro u'll get 2 him

[standless]

[The vines shimmer a bit, and shudder as they are pulled. Kokoro will feel a sense of sadness from the vines- the idea of an end that 'could not' be avoided, or at the very least some sort of duty that drove things to an end. It is not quite crushing, but it is certainly exhausting, emotionally speaking. This is not a happy dream, and while something moves within the vines, they are still quite firm.]

[stavros]

[Kokoro holds the vines, takes in the message. She nods, but doesn't back down.]

...I understand.

[She, and 926 years' worth of ancestors whose stories didn't always end quite as well.]

[standless]

[He was supposed to stay here- at least, in the round where it went this way.

If she uses the care that understanding would take, the vines will be easier to move. Like rifling through a bush, without breaking a single twig. She just needs to do that until she uncovers the center- and what a center it is.

Jonathan isn't really a person anymore in the waking world after all, and the vines coming off from him all have to spring from one tiny stem as a result. He's just a tiny bat- a tiny bat, holding what looks to be a fortunately unconscious vampiric head.

His eyes are closed, but he's not sleeping- if anything he's holding them shut, as if dreading what follows. But it will be easy enough to speak to him now.]

[stavros]

!

[Kokoro steps back with a gasp. Slowly, carefully, she comes forward again and addresses the bat.]

Mr. Joestar? It is I. You've been... unconscious for some time. You can wake up now. I know our trials are difficult, and what you have seen, I know not. But... We are here.

[standless]

...I didn't feel like a dream.

[He slowly opens his eyes, but he doesn't release the head. It looks as if he might have been weeping.] ...It felt like everything all over again, if I'm truly honest. I can't say that I made a mistake...and yet even without doing that, I caused so much pain regardless...

[If Kokoro knows the story of Dio, she can likely make the guess from here; but the fact is, there are few who know that part of the tale. Dio was infamous as a vampire yes.

Not likely so much as the thief of Jonathan Joestar's body from the neck down.] ...I don't even know how it is that I can wake...

[stavros]

[Kokoro shakes her head and offers out a hand.]

You hold onto the past that locked you into a strange form far from your own time. Surely I would have done something much the same. Perhaps that is the solution.

[standless]

I held him, because I was meant to stop him.

...Instead, I gave him what he used to continue his actions...

[He's not moving- but then, nor will he provide resistance if he's simply plucked off the head instead.]

[stavros]

[She breathes in slowly and then goes to lift Jonathan out of his place.]

Sometimes we fail. Sometimes they take from us. Do you believe I of all people would blame you? I won't, nor would anyone.

[standless]

It can hardly be about blame, can it? [The bat is crying- tiny, tiny little tears as he's lifted upward, the head clunking upon the floor with no more sound.] But in trying to stop him, I allowed him to terrorize so much of the world- for longer than he even had when I first faced him...

There is no sense in dwelling upon it. No way for it to be taken back. Yet here in this dream as it seems to be...I can't help but wonder what could have been...

[stavros]

[This cannot stand. It's hug time, small bat, even if it's awkward and soft.]

As I'm sure many do. ...You know, there was somebody once who was stolen from her life much the same.

[It's an old story, and one she's heard and memorized over the years.]

Used as a pawn to move others along the path that would make a bitter and power-hungry man into a monster. And while her beloved gave up everything to fight, she still could not be saved. Yet thanks to an alchemist, her soul was bound to something that could, and was able to continue the fight for hundreds of years against the man who had sealed her fate and many others over time.

Perhaps you're much the same. Yet you aren't sitting in my big brother's weapon locker. You are yourself, time-displaced bat or not, and you fight for the world as you always have. I do wish you'd had a happier ending. Yet you still may, the way things are now, as may this world.

[standless]

[....

He does not, actually, know the story. The consequences of being out of sorts for a century! But he won't insult Kokoro with such a correction. Instead...the vines start to fade, as the tiny bat is held close in a hug.

He doesn't say anything, but... ...it does feel like things are getting lighter at least.

Perhaps they'll get to wake up soon?]