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ximilialog2021-07-04 05:26 pm
- ! event log,
- ! open,
- caos: zelda spellman,
- doctor who: clara oswald,
- doctor who: river song,
- doctor who: the doctor (11),
- grishaverse: the darkling,
- gundam seed/destiny: yzak jule,
- mcu: daisy johnson,
- mcu: erik stevens,
- original: dusty fields,
- pacific rim: newton geiszler,
- ratchet and clank: ratchet,
- star trek aos: james t. kirk,
- the untamed: jiang yanli,
- the untamed: wen qing,
- undertale: sans,
- voltron: lance
MISSION: GHOST GIRL
● ● ● M I S S I O N 1 . 1
Finally, after weeks of radio silence, Viveca’s voice filters through the earpieces.
The other thing I’ve been busy doing is scanning for the closest orb signal, and the good news is that we’ve got a strong one, finally. I’ve connected the platform, so we’re ready to go. I’ve sent files about your mission to all of you, so read it carefully. We sent a vision of sorts to those who are in charge of the city you’ll be going to, so they know to expect you… we had to get a bit creative, there, but I’m sure you’ll be fine.
They’ve got some expectations of you, but it’s up to you if you want to work with them or not. As long as you get the orb and do the task it has given you, that’s enough. When you have the orb, I’ll get you all back to the station.
But before you go, there's something you should know. If you die during a mission, there’s nothing I can do to help you… so be careful. We don’t want to lose anyone.
After Viveca’s closing statement, a message alerts the team to the fact that they do, in fact, have a file labeled Gyeongje Orb waiting for them. After they have familiarised themselves with the situation, they should pick up their things, whatever they think they need on the mission, and head to the center of the station.
There, the previously-quiet platform is whirring with power, bright lights on the floor making your clothes seem darker than they are. When the last person in the team steps on it, suddenly the hum of the machine amps up until the sound is almost unbearable, the lights burning so bright they hurt your eyes, so bright you have to close them —
When you do, there’s a voice; no, multiple voices, like a chorus of sounds that form words but aren’t quite human. What this chorus tells you is a goal: one goal you must complete in exchange for power.
And then the sounds die away, leaving you with a one-sided demand… when you open your eyes, you’re not on the station anymore.
Around you, a courtyard opens up, surrounded by the tall peaks of a palace that rises sky-high, its golden roofs glinting in the sunlight. There’s not much time to look around, though, as the team is surrounded by guards in red uniforms, the arrows they point crackling with purple energy and the blades of their swords elaborately carved.
One guard steps forward.
“At peace! These are the ones who were promised. Our Lady has given orders to bring them to her… unharmed.”
She looks at the rest of the guards, and slowly, they lower their weapons and step back in two neat lines, leaving the way to the staircase that rises towards the palace free.
“Our honored saviors, please follow me.”
The captain will not wait, but starts leading the way up the stairs — the staircase rises steeply to a heavy, reinforced door that is still beautifully decorated. The door leads into the palace proper; there, the team is led to a large room with two thrones at the back of the room.
On the thrones, two people rise to greet them. The captain of the guard introduces them as Lady Jeung-Sun and Lord Suk-Ju.
The lord steps forward, arms open with a wide smile.
He then steps back with a gesture to his wife. She, in turn, is not smiling; instead, her voice is quiet and serious when she starts to speak.
With those words and a look at the captain of her guard, she sits down; it is clear this audience is over.
1.0 The captain leads the team to an open hallway full of rooms. In each room, there are lanterns illuminating it, with low-lying furniture and two beds… which means if you were one of the lucky ones on the station to not have a roommate, no such luck here! The rooms are large enough that you could drag in an extra bed and make it a room for three, though the guards may give you some strange looks.
However, not all of the rooms are in pristine condition. It seems that as the rulers didn’t quite believe the “vision” they received, they also didn’t prepare for this many people to arrive. As such, some of the rooms have dust gathering in the corners, perhaps some cobwebs, and the bedding may have seen some rats during its lifetime.
If you’re not stuck with a room that needs cleaning, you may wander to the small courtyard that the hallways circle; there, you will find enough space to get in some training or light sparring, or just find a bench and enjoy the clean air!
2.0 That evening, you will be led to a large hall: it seems it is time for the promised banquet! Eat to your heart’s content, taste the traditional foods that are served… the music played is perhaps not the best for dancing, but why not try? Or maybe, if you’re skilled like that, you can take over for the musicians and provide your own music. Whatever you decide to do, you'll find the nobles invited are quite curious about their prophesized saviors, and with a few drinks in, perhaps it would be a good time to get cozy and chat.
3.0 Should you wander outside the banquet, though, that evening or any day after, you will find that while some parts of the palace welcome their supposed saviors with open arms, like the kitchens or the courtyard where the guards go to train, some do not. The guards’ quarters will only accept inside those who don the guards’ red uniform, and the throne room and the rulers’ personal quarters behind it are guarded at most times of the day and night. It is not impossible to enter them, though: those crafty enough may find a way in.
You’ll find that if you want to leave the palace, it is not easy — it seems Lady Jeung-Sun was serious when she said outside the palace is not safe. But when there’s a will, there’s a way: follow the servants into the tunnels beneath the palace, duck behind corners to not be seen and make your way to a back alley in the merchant district; or if you’re good at disguises, dress up as a servant or a guard and simply walk out. Just be careful not to get caught; though the guards aren't angry if they catch you, they will start to follow you around until you return to the palace. Or perhaps you come up with some other way to leave...
… and if you do, the city of Gyeongje is open to explore. Right outside the palace within the inner city the houses are large, the people dressed well — and if you are not, or haven’t changed to fit in, you will be on the receiving end of some very judgmental looks.
4.0 However, once you leave the inner city and enter the merchant district, the inhabitants are far more welcoming. Some start immediately waving the new travelers to their shops, where you can find intricately carved wooden items, beautiful swords and other weapons, and clothes that will make you fit in instantly — if you have the money to pay for them. If you don’t have silver or gold from your homeworld with you, hope you took something valuable from the palace to barter with!
5.0 And though the houses in the merchant district bear no signs of battle like the inner city does, not everything is perfect. There are people who have built little huts of rags and wooden logs wherever they fit, huddling underneath. Their shouts echo after you: Please, lend us a hand, we can’t live like this!
There are beggars, too, homeless people on the streets with tattered clothes, who turn their tired eyes to you as you walk past. Some will try to grab your clothes or legs, whispering Help me, they drove me from my home... others do nothing, like they don’t even have the strength to ask for help. Whether you stay and try to get them food, drink or a place to stay is up to you — but if the guards see you doing so, they will take you back to the palace with a stern warning to not interact with “the outer ones”.
6.0 Once you walk far enough, you will come face to face with a tall, wooden fence that bears bright red markings — those warning of plague. And though the guards patrol the area, there is a chance to sneak inside, though at the risk of getting caught and spending a night in the palace’s magically reinforced cells.
If you do sneak past, you will find that some houses have the same red mark on their doors and walls, and are in terrible condition: doors ajar, windows broken, scratch marks on the floors — but no signs of an illness having been treated. Outside, the streets are empty, and further inspection of the houses not bearing a mark shows that people have left in a hurry… or have been forced to leave. Upon further inspection, it seems there is not one living or dead soul in the entire outer district… unless you’re very lucky, and happen to catch the sight of someone dressed in white entering one of the houses.
From both the merchant district and the outer district, there is a way to the woods surrounding the city. The trees grow thick and heavy, the air under them still with waiting. There are no paths in the forest, at least none easily seen, and though there are animals like birds and squirrels, they seem easily spooked.
Once you have had your fill of exploring the city, it’s time to get to what you’ve come here for.
An informal council, attended by both the Lord and Lady of Gyeongje, is held in one of the larger war rooms, a space big enough to accommodate a greater party than expected, and to demonstrate how desperate the city is for help as well as their trust in you, regardless of whether you’ve really shown you deserve it. There is an expansive map of the city spread over a table in the middle of the room with small red flags pinned across it. The discussion is aggressive, fear of the Ghost Girl and her army being the driving force behind the intensity of speech, but the important thing is that there have been plenty of recorded sightings of the Ghost Girl worth investigating with one area in particular noted by a small cluster of red flags at one end of the map. Perhaps it is you who points this out curiously, but before the captain of the guard can elaborate, a sharp horn pierces the quiet tension of the palace with urgency, followed by several more in succession: the palace is under attack.
7.a Some of you might be more keen than others to take initiative and investigate the new commotion within the palace. Pushing the doors open onto the courtyard will offer you a first glimpse of the infiltration over the fortified palace walls, and they are creatures that could make your skin crawl, or at the very least cause you to do a double-take. The captain of the guard bravely leads the charge, pushing forward and calling the rest of her army to her with the intent to protect the Lord and Lady of the palace with their lives. There is nothing being said to actually enact any kind of violence, even while the guards have their weapons drawn before them, but there is clear posturing between the two parties — strange. The monsters turn their sights on you instead, twisting their misshapen heads to meet your eyes, mouths open and full of teeth as though to speak, but nothing comes out except a guttural growl.
And then they launch themselves forward.
7.b If you prefer to stay within the war room, you won’t be alone. A cluster of the guard have taken to assembling a kind of protective shield from the oncoming monsters, and it becomes clear quite quickly that the monsters are here for one thing — the Lord and Lady themselves. The monsters within the room are more hostile, intent on getting to their target now that they’re so close. They clamber past the threshold, a mass of different discernible shapes, colours, sizes, and smells. (Yeah, smells. Gross.) One of them steps away from the cluster, a blue cloak draped over its shoulders — it’s distinct; familiar in some way.
Either way, the creatures amble towards you with heavy, weighted steps, and are more than willing to exact their aggression on you without a thought as though purely running on some primal instinct. After all, you are just one more obstacle in the way of them reaching their goal. Their punches are heavy, and some of the creatures have sharp teeth eager to sink themselves into whatever soft and fleshy part they can find of you. If you try and call one of the guard for help, you’ll find them hesitant to come to your aid, partially because they are afraid but there’s something else there too — a reluctance to fight them at all. What will you do now?
7.c Whether you’ve decided to defend the palace from the courtyard (or other locations in and around the palace) or choose to stay with the Lord and Lady of Gyeongje, the monsters have fully invaded the walls and are everywhere to be found.
If you’re lucky, you’ll live for another few minutes but your victory if you choose to kill one of the monsters is met with a haunting message, an uttered warning (some might tell you ‘it wasn’t fair’ or ‘this is all their fault’) or an apology (a simple: ‘I’m sorry’ before their last breath), clearer in your ears than anything you might have otherwise heard from them this day.
You might try to fend for yourself, your fellow orbers, or the guards, with some amount of success, escaping the sharp teeth and claws from catching onto you — but not all of you will be so fortunate. In your attempt to dodge an attack or defend yourself, you might be ambushed by a sneak attack from behind, or perhaps it is your trusty weapon that fails you. Either way, you’ve been wounded. Instantly you’ll notice one thing — where once your skin was healthy and, well, skin-coloured, it has now started to turn dark and unnatural, accompanied by a scent you might recognize from earlier. It’s a little too sweet, a little too strange, like something rotting. Only now it’s a part of you. You’ve been infected.
In the short reprieve between one fight to another, you may lift your eyes towards the ramparts and spot a figure standing with her back straight, her expression vague and unyielding. White fabric flows and unfolds around her like ribbons, and you can immediately put a name to the figure — this is the Ghost Girl you’ve heard so much about. She will suddenly meet your eyes with unreadable stoicism that reflects the rest of her posture before she turns away and vanishes, tortured cries and calls following in her wake. With her disappearance past the palace walls comes a slowdown of the fighting, as though the creatures no longer feel the same vigor they came in with … and soon they begin to retreat, climbing the walls and over clay tile to follow their leader.
The fight is over — for now.
We’ll leave it up to you to decide the difficulty and success of defeating a monster of your choosing for that Dramatic Effect.
Shortly after the palace has been cleared of monsters and the guards can look after their own, the captain approaches to assess the orbers.
8.0 The Wounded (CW: body horror): Those who have been significantly wounded in the fights against the creatures will find that they simply aren’t feeling well, and it’s going to be difficult to hide the black wound-marks or the smell. Lord Suk-Ju immediately summons the captain and orders her to take the wounded to the Infirmary, assuring them that they will be taken care of there.
If you were wounded, you and your fellow wounded Orbers will be led through a series of corridors towards one end of the palace with a large set of gates guarding a formidable wood door painted black. Hmm — ominous. Within it are the usual comforts of a medieval hospital: beds, vials of medicine, bedpans, the works. You are assured you will join your non-wounded comrades soon and you go along with the procedures. But as the hours pass, you’ll find your symptoms begin to worsen. Some of you will find painful growths starting from your hands and your feet as they begin to form sharp claws, tearing through the fabric of your clothes or the leather of your shoes. Some of you will feel your mouths become fuller as your teeth begin to grow. Other transformations will begin to change your body from what you remember, eyes turning red or jet-black, or your skin changing colour and texture, turning you into something else, something other.
Before you can let the panic overtake you, someone administers a powerful draught to help you sleep — or maybe to subdue you — and then you begin to dream.
In this dream, you are standing on a wooden balcony and in front of you stands a girl dressed in white; her dress billows around her, and her dark hair is long and hangs unbound. When she turns, revealing her face… you see that up close, she is certainly nothing like the rulers would have had you believe: young, her expression unthreatening.
They say I command the monsters, but that isn’t true. I help them. I’m the only one who helps them. It’s a sickness, and it’s been passed to you. Soon, the Lord and the Lady will turn on you, too. They will try to kill you the way they have tried to kill everyone else like you. But I am offering you sanctuary. Leave the palace and come to me. In Yuryeong I will protect you.
When the effect of the draught wears off and you blink back to awareness, you realize that there is a map in your head: the knowledge of exactly which path to take to reach what the Ghost Girl — So-Yeon — called Yuryeong. The only decision you need to make is whether to go, with whom… and whether you do it as a friend or a foe. But take note — there are guards abound and the wooden door heavy with locks. It becomes quite clear that this room is meant for people to come in… but not to come out.
9.0 The Survived: Those who have managed to avoid taking any damage are escorted back to their rooms and reassured that the rest of their team are in good hands, that they have nothing to worry about, and that they will be fine. Of course if you make any attempts to ask about visiting any of them, you’ll be told — in a not-so-gentle manner — that it simply isn’t possible, not at this time. And any further attempts to ask to see them will be met with a firm “no” and nothing else. Finally, if you try to leave the quarters to see the wounded orbers, the captain’s guards will forcibly stop you.
“It’s for your own good,” they’ll say.
Later, out of sight of the guards, you might try and make your way over to the hospital wing anyway but this seems to be a fool’s errand. Not only are the corridors more confusing than they should be, as though someone has done this on purpose, but when you’ve finally found the door, you’ll find that it’s impossible to open it or break it down. At least the comms devices in your ear will still work so there is some line of communication between you and your wounded friends, right? Better yet, if you happen to have some teleportation abilities or something similar … well, it wouldn’t hurt to give that a go either, would it? After all, the enforcement spell isn’t familiar with such things — best not to get caught in the process, however, and test the ‘generosity’ provided to you through the rulers of this land… right?
F Y I
• As each event log and interaction may bring about more information regarding the mission, players are highly encouraged to continue using the OOC plotting post. It will be the only mod-created one for the mission until the voting begins on July 18.
• If you have questions about any of the prompts or the mission in general, please direct them here.
• To submit a search request regarding speaking to any of the NPCs, or exploring a specific part of the palace or any of the districts, please do so here.
• From the intro onwards, Viveca is back, meaning that characters may speak to her whenever they want. You can thread that out here if you want.
• Voting about the actions the characters will take regarding the Ghost Girl, the monsters and the rulers will go up July 18. Though voting will be done in an OOC post, it is an IC vote in the sense that you should pick a choice your character would ICly make. What the characters choose to do will determine the direction of the second log, as well as the conclusion of the mission.
• And finally, have a soundtrack for this log (parts I, II and III, respectively)! ♪ ♪ ♪
ghost girl thread 1: closed to SANS (@skelepun)
Suddenly, though, her head snaps up as if hearing something — and regardless of if you've made a single sound or not, she whirls around to look at where you are hidden, as if sensing your presence.
1/2 vibrates out of my nonexistant skin
Making himself scarce came easy. It wouldn't be right to say he was proud of it, but he was good at it. Quietly shadowing their tracks, staying just close enough to get a good look, staying just far enough to never be obligated to help if things went south.
Unfortunately for him, being good at staying hidden meant Sans wasn't quite sure how to react when he very suddenly wasn't.
2/2
Rapping his knuckles twice against the window pane with a broad grin that came oh-so-naturally, Sans raises a his voice a little to be heard from outside.
"Knock knock."
no subject
Then, she smiles slightly.
"Aren't you polite," she answers, her voice lilting and bright, very unlike that of a ghostly commander.
"You will fit better through the door." Then she turns, picks up the rest of the clothes (a green jeogori, a cream-colored chima and a blue cloak) and folds them over her arm.
She'll be done once he makes it inside, should he choose to talk to her in the house and not through the window, waiting with her head tilted with curiosity.
no subject
"Your line was 'who's there', but don't sweat it. Your joke was way funnier."
The next moment he's at the door, faster than would seem possible for someone who crosses the threshold into the abandoned home as languidly and unhurried as Sans does.
"Not to be nosy, but-" He indicates the richly colored cloth folded over in her arms with a quick gesture. "Who's the drip for?"
no subject
She answers him with her back still turned; clearly she doesn't feel too threatened by him. Perhaps it is his manner, or the way he looks, or both combined.
She glances down at the clothes when he indicates them, and sighs.
"Those who need a reminder of who they are."
no subject
What did come as a surprise was her answer. Or maybe, more specifically, the thoughtful way she speaks it. Sans takes another step into the room, careful to keep himself between her and the door
"Listen, whatever you may've heard about the strangers around town, my loyalties aren't with the Lordship." He holds up a hand, knocking lightly on his own skull. "I'm a monster, too. I'm just trying to figure out why the monsters here are following you."
He indicates the clothes again.
"Keepin' all that in mind... who's they?"
no subject
What she hoped for she does not say, however; instead, she trails off and focuses on the rest of his words. When he states he's a monster, she nods, as if she'd been expecting that.
At his question, she raises one brow.
"Can you not guess? You wear clothes, too, after all. Why should monsters go without? It is my hope that by bringing these to their owners, they will recover a part of them that is now lost."
no subject
I had hoped...
Sans cants his head to the side, thoughtful. He filed the statement away. Something to bring up later, when he felt more confident he'd get a straight answer.
"So you're giving them dignity."
It's not really a question, more an observed fact. He respects that, even more than his even tone demonstrates. Embracing the monstrous didn't come easily to humans, in his experience. It starts the gears turning, eye sockets narrowing just slightly in curiosity.
"Sorry for the bluntness here, sweetheart, but... why you?"
no subject
Yes, curse; others may speak of plague, but she has her own name for the affliction.
His question gets her to smile.
"Why not me? Someone had to do something. If I hadn't, they would all be dead."
Slowly, she presses her free hand to her chest — and just as slowly, it begins to glow. For a moment, Sans can see through her: and right in the middle of her chest, there is a ball of light, a little larger than a golf ball.
When the light dies down, she looks human once more.
"I took what was needed for me to help them."
no subject
Whatever response Sans has dies behind his teeth at the sudden glow. As someone born and raised in the culture of monsters, the immediate association his mind jumps to is a soul. It's a fleeting thought though, replaced by the fact that whatever was going on here just got a whole lot bigger than monsters and humans.
"Heh... You sure know how to shed light on things, dontcha?" He rubs the back of his skull, shaking his head a little as he absorbs it. "Lemme see if I've got this right."
He gestures at her chest, eyelights meeting her eyes.
"You're special, somehow. That, or you took something that didn't belong to you. And however you came to possess that little light, it... paused the effects of the curse? Spared them from some sort of imminent death?"
He pauses, brow bone furrowing.
"Or is the death you're talking about actually murder?"
no subject
There, she looks at him in silence for a moment, her demeanor suddenly far more tired, almost resigned.
"You must come from a better place, if monsters may walk the streets without fear for their lives."
She falls silent again, regarding him — assessing, determining whether she should speak more, how much to reveal. If she can trust him or not. Eventually, she must come to a conclusion, as she motions for him to sit as she does so, too, folding her long white robe underneath her before taking a seat on the floor.
"Do you really want to know what happened? Very well... perhaps you, a monster yourself, will understand. They would have burned down the entire outer district. I heard them discuss it, to be rid of the plague once and for all. Should I have let them? All the families, both those affected and not, barricaded here and burned for something the greed of those in power brought upon them?"
1/2
Sans recalls the town he'd walked through to find the girl here. Similarities were just stacking up, weren't they? In the silent assessment that follows, Sans offers no story or elaboration -- just a quick wink and a shrugging smile.
"Something like that"
2/2
Focused attuned back to the matter at hand, Sans follows her lead and sits, the cracking of his joints loud in the otherwise quiet room.
For the rest of her story, though, you could hear a pin drop. Serious expressions didn't come naturally to a skeleton with a fixed rictus grin like his, but he manages a fair facsimile of one as her story comes to a grim close.
"You did what you had to do to help them." Again, more statement than question. He understood. Once again, he was impressed. Maybe he was a soft hearted old monster about certain things, but this? Well, it was the kind of thing that got to a guy. "So I guess I've only got one question left for you, kiddo."
He flicks a hand, magical gravity lifting the corner of one of the frocks she carries up from where it accidentally dragged on the floor, redraping it safely over her arm.
"What can I do to help you help them?"
no subject
She looks up as if startled when the garment lifts itself over her arm again... and then she smiles. Bright and wide.
"You do want to help! I had hoped, when I heard of the divine visitors, that if you truly were here to stop the attacks... that there might be some of you who would listen. Who would understand. I will tell you what I plan to do to help them all... but first —"
The bow she makes is a tad awkward, sitting down as she is, but still she manages to make it very polite.
"I'm So-Yeon. And who am I speaking to?"
one prank down, one to go
Her sweet, almost bubbly demeanor stood in stark juxtaposition to her regal bearing and formal mannerisms. She was a far cry from the stoic pillar of white Sans followed through town less than an hour before; attending to her tasks with determined quickness.
He wondered if his previous assessment of her was a miscalculation on his part, colored by stories he now saw as nothing short of uninformed rumor or, worse, knowing misdirection of their team.
Either way, it was sweet. Whatever small misgivings he had were burned away by her earnestness. He responds to her custom with one of his own, extending a hand to shake.
"Hey, So-Yeon. The name's Sans."
If she does take his outstretched hand (and if she's corporeal enough to trigger it) So-Yeon will hear the soft pfft of a handheld whoopie cushion. If she triggers it, Sans cracks grin at the rude sound, otherwise carrying on as if nothing had happened at all.
"Now, what's this plan?"
i can't believe this..... what a gift
She seems amused, though, not offended — her manner relaxed instead of taught with wariness as it had been upon his entering the house.
She looks at the offered hand with curiosity, before taking it and starting to say, "Sans, then, that is —" but just what is that is drowned under a sound not made in polite circles (so clearly, at least in this particular moment, she is corporeal enough).
So-Yeon pauses, blinks, eyes wide with mortification. But when she looks at his grin and puts two and two together... suddenly she releases his hand to bring hers to cover her mouth, and stifle a stream of giggles.
As they die down, a small smile lingers on her lips as she starts to tell him of her plan; but it does not remain long. Her entire demeanor, in fact, slips back to what he may have thought of her at first; a straight spine, fire in her eyes.
"I want everyone to be able to return home. I want the rest of the city to know the truth. It will not be easy, to make this a city where humans and monsters live side by side, but my power grants them the clarity of mind, at least for a time, and I believe we will be able to find a proper cure, eventually — the only thing keeping all of us out are the guards, commanded by the Lord and the Lady."
Her voice grows stronger, and her words almost seem to echo with the voices of many others.
"We will have our revenge, Suk-Ju and Jeung-Sun will die, and the palace will be run by the guards with us, those who know the truth. I will speak to the people, and reveal what has happened. I will not have kin slaying kin, friend turning against friend for no other reason than fear and lies."
i'd die for her, truly
Her laughter broadens his own grin considerably, pleased and maybe even relieved by it. His grin holds steady as she begins to speak, but it's not long into her plan that the corners of it begin to tighten.
By the time So-Yeon finishes relaying her plan, Sans isn't smiling so much as grimacing.
How often had he heard those words -- a world where monsters and humans live side by side -- spoken by his king? And how often had Sans selfishly shielded that king, his little brother, from the realities of what happened when that sort of idealism turned sour? It was too painful, imagining how he might react. How any of them might react.
But So-Yeon wasn't family, no matter how bright and clear her laughter was or how much he respected her. Sans heaves a sigh, glancing away from her for a moment, before letting his eyelights travel back to her gaze.
"Listen, kid... you're angry. I get it." Sans pinches his nasal bone, sockets squeezed briefly shut. "Believe me, I get it. But this isn't the way to get the peaceful world you're after. I need you to trust me on this, revenge won't bring you and the monsters that follow you anything but more pain."
no subject
Her voice shakes, but not with anger — no, it is desperation that drives her, the beast that nips at her heels. Leadership is a lonely mantle to wear; she has no one to counsel her, no one to turn to.
Which, perhaps, is why she looks at Sans with wide eyes, a little golden circle burning bright within the blue — as if he holds the answer to the question that's so eluded her.
"You say you understand. Then tell me, what else is there to do? I tried curing them, but my power was not enough. Should I give up? Let the Lord and the Lady get away with what they've done, let everyone in Gyeongje think their friends and loved ones are dead? Escape into the woods? No, I will not fail them. I can see but one path, and that leads to the palace."
no subject
And he did understand, perhaps more than she could possibly realize. Crowns sat heaviest on the heads of those who desperately, desperately wanted to good for the people they'd sworn to protect. You did what you had to, no matter how dim the outcome.
Or, if you were him, you didn't do anything at all. Sans grit his teeth, voice gentler when he continues but no less insistent.
"I told you I'd help you. I wouldn't be here right now if I broke my promises." All too true, unfortunately. "It doesn't matter how much they've hurt you, you hurt them back and that's all the people of this town will ever remember. People will find any excuse to hate what they can't understand, kid. You do this, I can't protect you from what happens next."
He pauses a beat, thinking, before an idea comes to him. It's imperfect, but so was everything else about the quandary they found themselves in.
"We've got pull with the Lord and Lady. They think we were sent to help them defeat you. You tell my people what you told me and we'll figure out another plan." He takes her hand, less out of comfort and more in anticipation of transporting her alongside him. "I can take you to the palace right now."
Maybe it was how much she reminded him of his brother and the king that preceded him. Maybe it was that he just liked her, was worried about her, could see the grim writing on the wall that her passion blinded her to.
Whatever the reason, it never even occurred to Sans just how much this sounded like a trap.
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How could it possibly get worse? She must try, for the sake of all of them. Her mouth twists in a humorless smile.
"And you can't protect me regardless."
It's a quiet thing, admitting that; but she doesn't elaborate, and anyway he thinks and then speaks, and she falls quiet as she listens. He takes her hand, intent on taking her along with him... but even as he touches his boned hand to hers, abruptly it falls through. When he focuses his eyes upon her, he'll notice he can see through her, a dresser and the wall behind her.
Her smile turns sad as she looks at him.
"Take me to the palace? Yes, so they could imprison me, or kill me, and leave my people without refuge. You think I have not tried? I've spoken to Jeung-Sun." Even if she is intangible to him, herself she can touch, and so she pulls aside the fabric at her neck, revealing a red burn mark upon her skin.
"I believed you, you know. But I will not let kind words or sympathy trap me in the palace. No, brother Sans, you can't protect me, and yet I must protect those who have no protection."
Slowly, she fades more and more, until there's but a whisper left.
"Even if you seek to trap me... I thank you for making me laugh. I'd forgotten how. For that... once you hear the siren, do not come to the courtyard. Stay away from my people, for your own safety."
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"Wait--" He begins, eyes darting from between where her hand should be and her face, serene in its quiet disappointment. She's speaking, but Sans is barely listening, too preoccupied with the mounting realization that he wasn't going to get another chance to talk her out of this. "Hold on a sec--"
The reveal burn mark is enough to steal the rest of his words away, leaving him silent as she continues. I believed you.
Shit, shit, shit--
"Kid, listen to me, you turn these people into martyrs and it won't matter how just your cause is. They will kill you, and they'll call themselves heroes for it!"
He couldn't see her anymore, his own words reverberating off the thin empty walls of the abandoned house.
"Kid?" A beat, then a little louder. "So-Yeon?"
No response. Sans hisses, frustrated and worried.
"Welp. That's just great."