ND 2019

[clinical]

[Three men appeared on the Astral Plane--Jade, in civilian clothing, spattered only lightly with blood; Peony, in his official regal attire, albeit stained with some blood spatters that seemed to have long since dried as well as some traces of blood in his hair; Guy dressed like a servant of the Fabre household, also a little decorated with fresh gore, and some dark stain covering one gloved hand. Jade didn’t bother waiting for his companions to get their feet under them.] I’ll return to confirm that it is the Closed Score. Stay here.

[Peony nodded, taking a seat on the Plane floor because he didn’t much feel like standing at the moment] If you still need convincing, be my guest.

[Guy ran a hand through his hair, eyes downcast and hidden, but voice calm.] Seems pretty obvious to me what that was. Should I go with you?

[Jade smiled pleasantly.] Now, now, Guy. We can’t have you developing a phobia of men and small children as well. [Like a knowing cat inverted, his smile vanished a moment before he did.]

[Peony watched Jade drop and then looked up at Guy] He’s not going to find anything he wasn’t aware of by going there, but that kind of guy needs to see those things himself to believe them. [Peony gave a careless shrug, rubbing at a dried spot of blood on his clothes before sighing and laying down, staring up at the stars as he waited for Jade to return] You can go back and check it out if you want to, too. I’ll be fine waiting here.

[Guy looked down at Peony a moment, expression a little blank, before he sat down next to the Emperor, sword across his lap.] Nah. He’d probably ask me to do something dubious. I like the company here better, anyway. [Guy smiled casually, though the expression never quite touched his eyes.]

Why don’t you tell me some embarrassing childhood stories about him or something--I bet that’ll bring him back fast enough.

[Peony laughed] There’s too many stories to choose from. I’d need an entire day to go over them and figure out the best one for the occasion.

Do you think if we got a hold of the people in charge here, we could convince them to hurry this all along? It’s a pain in the ass having to deal with the end of a world that shouldn’t even exist in the first place.

I’m not really against the idea... But I kind of get the feeling they might make it worse out of spite. Call me cynical.

I would ask how it could get worse, but I’ve learned by now that’s just an invitation for them to prove themselves.

[Guy laughed, humorlessly.] On the bright side, it’s a good opportunity to get out of the capital.

[OOC: Peony, Guy, and Jade. It's the Closed Score Hates You for the wishing experiment. Multithreading and threadhopping will be going down; you know the routine.]

Comments

[clinical]

[Jade returns in a fresh new uniform for a colonel of the Malkuth Imperial Forces. Could he have taken the uniform off a dead Kimlascan soldier and thereby ease his movement amongst their ranks? Yes. Would the lack of reputation as Jade the Necromancer in this timeline make it all the easier for him to slip past unnoticed and slaughter them? Yes.

Does he care? No. He wanted his uniform back.]

They'll take Keterberg in no more than three days. If my counterpart remains, he'll take care of Nephry. [And the Professor. Colonel Jade Curtiss has other priorities.] If we intend on returning, we'll have to slip through their ranks. As we're all presumed dead, that shouldn't be too tasking. [It occurs to Jade that destroying Peony's severed head so that the Kimlscans couldn't use it as a trophy was not in fact a wise tactical decision.]

[explains]

We'll need to do something about our appearance.

[Guy doesn't even bother to stand up, or comment on the uniform. He isn't even really looking at Jade, staring off at some tactical map in his head, all of Auldrant laid out and Kimlasca's most likely troop movements outlined.]

I can pose as Kimlascan easily. But even with disguises, you two are going to be a problem.

[At least Peony would. Jade... Well, he was military through and through. Switch the uniforms though, and who would know?]

[clinical]

I acquired a handful of Kimlascan uniforms in our sizes. [He is considering the problem that is Peony as well. Perhaps, if a soldier won't work, he can pose as a servant. There is usually some variety of camp follower, even in those as freely destructive as this. Perhaps especially in these. Jade briefly entertains himself with the thought of having Peony as a camp singer.]

We don't have any neutral allies to rely on in this universe. [They didn't really have anywhere to go.] If I'd been able to confirm my death, I would have suggested Keterberg, but as it stands that may be problematic.

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

[Peony looks as if he's about to say something, but seems to think better of it, sitting up instead and smiles]

I was starting to miss that unfashionable look of yours.

But hey, I guess we're pretty lucky that the Kimlascan forces are so direct and to the point. It saves us the hassle of being hunted down.

[clinical]

[Jade moves closed to Peony, and his gaze is critical--he doesn't trust Peony. He thinks Peony is hiding something.] My, my. You certainly did dress to greet the invaders, Your Majesty.

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

[Asch feels a cold chill wash over him. Seeing the Malkuth people like this... freaks him out. It really does. He stands where he is, thinking he's invisible and yet rooted to the spot, trying to pick the people he knows from the casualties of his timeline.

Everyone is bloody. Everyone is dead. And they're whispering among themselves, hiding secrets from him, judging him.

It's still not over.

The hands at his sides begin to tremble, but he squeezes them into fists and turns away. He doesn't need to see this anymore.]

[ooc: perfect time to come off a ghost experiment, huh.]

[explains]

[Oh. Asch is back from the dead. The information registers a little distantly. Guy realizes he's working from shock, but it's easy to just continue on automatic than deal with that. He gives Peony a glance, another brief visual confirmation to himself that the Emperor is whole.]

[He knows why Jade wanted him to stay. He doesn't disagree with the Necromancer's reasoning. One of them needs to stay with Peony, and of the two of them, Jade's better suited to walking through the sea of corpses and Guy... Guy is better suited to babysitting.]

[Not that he should probably think of it that way. He's not sure how much more horror, familiar faces, he can take right now. Maybe a lot. Maybe he's already at his limit. Regardless, the division of labor makes more sense this way.]

Asch.

[His voice, light, calm, remote--in shock but still running on autopilot.] Got a question for you.

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

[Whoa, Guy shouldn't be able to see him. Asch has to check himself, and then his slightly traumatized expression slides back beneath a scowl.

So it really was just an experiment.]

What the hell is going on?!

[Oh, sorry, Guy had a question? Too bad.]

[clinical]

[Jade has his hands in his pockets when he talks.] As intimate as the sight must seem, you're free to contribute. This is one timeline you can't possibly make worse. [That was an obligatory barb, but there isn't much feeling in it--he is a little too focused on the problem at hand to dedicate himself to shoving a knife into Asch's wounds. He is working on automatic.] Did you need something, Asch?

[promisedsomeone.livejournal.com]

[Asch feels that dig, but he's expecting a lot worse. His situation is possibly one of the better ways this could have turned out. He eases back into his usual bug-eating expression, because like hell he's gonna show just how much he cares about what happens to those people. That world isn't his anymore. He's already damned them twice.

But he still...]

What happened?

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

[his eyes are closed, but he opens one eye to look up at Asch]

When you wear an expression like that, people will start to think this is all your fault.

[is he still annoyed by Asch screwing with timelines? Just a bit, yeah. He's also in a pretty bad mood all around at the moment, so he doesn't particularly feel that charitable towards Asch right now, as unfair as that might be]

[fontechno.livejournal.com]

[Oh yeah, Dist is all up on this. He'd woken up in Keterburg, mighty confused, and Peony and Guy being together on the Plane only makes things worse.]

Is somebody going to tell me what's going on?

[explains]

[Guy half stood, before deciding he didn't have the energy for it. Dist wasn't going to attack them, he was just asking for an explanation. Guy, frankly, wanted one of those too.]

What's going on... What's happened for you? Back home?

[clinical]

[He had wondered about Dist without worrying about him. Dist can't die, after all. Jade's tested it enough times that he's willing to call it a law of physics.] Where are you and what is the situation? [It is Jade's hope that he will be able to get the important part out right now. Then the inevitable devolving to playground mockery and insults will be less of a distraction.]

[imperiator.livejournal.com]

[he sits up, stretching his arms out and then shrugging] It seems like you're actually a hero, Saphir. I might even need to give you a complete and total pardon.

[holmes-fanatic.livejournal.com]

[Guess who is still poking around the Astral Plane, trying to Figure This Out? That's right -- this tiny kid.

The sudden appearance of bloodied figures speaking urgently is attention grabbing, sure, but that same combination is enough to make Conan hesitate to barge in and ask questions. Instead he watches quietly, trying to figure out the situation.]

[explains]

[It takes a minute to percolate to Guy that oh hey there is a child present and he and Peony look a little like they're fresh from filming a snuff project wading hip deep in corpses. Which--well to be fair they actually are. But that doesn't really stop there from being a young boy present.]

[Guy shifts, hiding the gloved hand caked in the worst of it as best he can, stares at Conan without the usual spark he'd try for, but at least what passes for a friendly, reassuring smile.]

Hey...

[Why are there kids on the Plane.]

You alright kid?

[pactum.livejournal.com]

J-- Jade!

[HOLY SHIT BLOOD EVERYWHERE. He looks a little pale despite his tan.]

Oh... he's gone...

[explains]

[Hello blond that sounds like himself if he sounded like a dweeb. Guy startles, hand on his sword before he knows what to do.]

Aster..?

[clinical]

[Jade reappears in his uniform, which puts him a great deal more at ease.] Not to worry, Emil. No one else has killed me yet.

[lamb_of_gold]

[Oh hi, blood! Mu is looking a smidge better than death himself at the moment BUT.]

Are any of you injured?

[Priorities!]

[explains]

[Oh Mu! Guy waves in lazy greeting, but shakes his head seriously enough.]

We're uninjured. Unless Jade picked up any bruises when he went back.

[And a more, actually serious!, look at Mu.]

Are you alright?

[clinical]

I'd like you to look at His Majesty's head. [Did Peony think Jade would miss the blood? Of course not.]

[promisedthem.livejournal.com]

[Blood. Blood. Blood. The black spots of gore, the red stains of a life - or lives that can never be brought back. And they're on Guy, and Jade, and... a man Luke does not recognize. Nor does it really occur to him at the moment.

It's not like Luke hasn't seen something like this before; Nearly every day when they're traveling all of them have blood of some kind of them. Of a monster, of a person, and nearly every day Luke never gets the amount of sleep he should thanks to all of that.

So it's no surprise when the color drains out of Luke's face, and his stomach does a little flip-flop. But this is different and he knows it; instead of his body heating in an attempt to bring down that nauseous feeling, it only chills, as if his own blood runs cold at the sight. Maybe it's because of what happened in his own timeline. So many people died, and though most of the bodies were either destroyed, crushed or sinking in the miasma, a few were still visible, and the slab of rock they were standing on was splattered with blood. Blood he shed.

Luke takes in a shaky breath, fists his hands at his sides and very nearly runs from it. But instead, he gets a grip on himself and holds that breath in his lungs fro a few seconds before letting it out slowly. He can't run. He has to know what's going on.]

G-Guy? [But that doesn't mean he can't get the tremble out of his voice.]

[explains]

[The one person. The one person Guy cannot handle right now. He lets his clean glove cover his face for a moment, takes a deep breath--and he smells like death and decay. He shudders, getting to his feet and leaving the smile off. If he he sets that on, it'll be too painful, too bright and false and brittle. So he leaves the smile aside and stares at Luke.]

Hey.

[He doesn't approach his friend, doesn't reach out. Luke doesn't need more gore smeared on him--judging by Luke's timeline the kid probably has enough nightmares by now as it is. Guy can feel the smile trying to twitch, reflexive, reassuring, at the corners of his mouth. He kills it before it takes root.]

I'm okay.

[The first lie.]

We all are. [The second.] Don't worry about it. We'll be fine. [Untruths abound.]