lucetilogs | Luceti Valley

Entry tags:

Luceti Valley - The Second Log

Who: Everyone
What: The second part of the experiment. Things begin to unravel.
When: August 7th - August 10th
Where: Luceti itself
Summary: Check out the mod post for more. This covers Day 6-9!
Rating: Varies with thread. Please move explicit stuff to appointments post with appropriate warnings.

Luceti Valley continued in its own merry little way. The rich got richer, the poor got poorer. A new tax hike had ensured increasing animosity between both groups, despite the protests of the every charitable Lord Mayor. But on the sixth day, something happens and people begin to notice things are unusual. Idle thoughts that if thought about too much is bound to get you a visit to the police station for an hour or so. Or worse, it may just get you committed.

Meanwhile, the asylum continues to gain more and more patients. Those that are trapped there will find escaping difficult, but there may be more to this place than they first assumed...

On the tenth, battle breaks out across Luceti Valley. People begin to exhibit powers and abilities they didn't know they had. The police begin rounding up these people to lock up. If they resist, its bound to come to blows. Even though no one has regained their memories of their true self yet, it becomes apparent that some trickery is afoot, even if they might not know the source or why.

Note: This is the second log! There will be a third and final event log for the aftermath. There will also be two separate logs specifically for finding John and defeating Zompano. For those of you that signed up, we'll be randomizing the results and replying to the selected characters later tonight. In the meantime, keep enjoying the event! If you have questions, direct them here.

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I don't know, maybe?! [Elizabeth starts pacing around, wiping her nose with her sleeve. She had a handle on it, and then Gai started asking more questions.]

Uncle Robert said something about constants and variables, and how things hinge on the choices that are variable. So maybe... it's Luceti, but with a wall over there. [She points towards the direction they came from.]

[Elizabeth looks back at Gai, blood down her face and front, clearly trying to keep a handle on her emotions.] Uncle Robert didn't tell me why I could do this, only that I had been doing it since I was young. But I can't remember--!

[She wavers on her feet, covering her ears as a high-pitched whine screams in her head and her vision goes fuzzy.]

[And Gai is right there as she wobbles, catching her in his arms and pulling her against him to steady her, not even caring that she'll likely get blood on his clothes. Asking questions was obviously the wrong approach to take; it's just getting her even more worked up, something he'd like to avoid if possible. As curious as he is, it isn't worth upsetting her in an attempt to get answers.]

Are you all right? Where does it hurt?

[He feels so utterly, disgustingly useless. Elizabeth is bleeding everywhere from some strange otherworldly ability that even she doesn't understand, and the best he can do is hold her and ask her where it hurts? This isn't right. He should be able to do more than this...]

[Elizabeth clings to Gai and the world steadies out. Her relationship to Gai hadn't felt this strong before, it was based on a lie after all. But the longer she holds onto him, the stronger and warmer she feels. It's scary, how hard she's clinging and how deep her feeling suddenly is. She sees fingers laced, feels lips on her neck, hears Gai's voice--]

['Elizabeth...']

Nowhere, it doesn't hurt. [She looks into Gai's eyes--they're so beautiful--and doesn't question it.]

Gai... are you afraid of me?

Of course not. If anything, I'd say you should be afraid of me.

[Surely she'd seen him taking down those strange fighters with nothing more than his bare hands. What if that whatever-it-is ends up being something he can't control either? What if he were to turn on her?

The possibility terrifies him even as he holds her close, smoothing strands of hair away from her face. Right now, what he wants more than anything is to be able to protect her, both from these unknown enemies and her own powers that frighten her.

He just isn't sure that's something that's within his power.]

Edited 2013-08-20 08:05 (UTC)

You aren't tearing holes in reality. [She tries to laugh, tries to nonchalantly wipe a smudge of blood off of him. Yes, Gai's physical prowess wasn't something Elizabeth had expected from him at all. Not the somewhat athletic but terribly aloof son of Tony Stark. But it was impressive, to say the least. Replaying the memory of Gai dancing around his enemies and flooring all of them causes her to, involuntarily of course, press a little closer.]

I'm not afraid of you, either. I feel safer--

[Three cultists drop down out of the trees behind Elizabeth.]

[Once again, instincts kick in before he's even aware of what he's doing. His first move is to turn, shoving her behind him to place his own body between her and them. That accomplished, he goes for the first with a vicious jab to the solar plexus; while the cultist staggers and tries to catch his breath, Gai is on him in a flash, grabbing the man's head and wrenching it until there's a sickening crunch and the body in his arms goes limp.

What was that about feeling safer around him, Elizabeth?]

[Elizabeth does, admittedly, let out a little scream when Gai nearly twists the cultist's head off. It's not pleasant, and she didn't look away in time. But, it could have been worse, says a little voice in her head. His head could have burst like a grape.]

[Ugh, God what a sickening thought.]

[She backs up, feeling more tears starting to spider out from her. Reaching out with her mind, she touches one, sees what's behind it and realizes that Gai could be working much more efficiently.]

[With a little grunt, Elizabeth opens the tear and runs to it. It's a metal box on the ground that, when Elizabeth opens it, she finds contains a pistol.]

Gai, catch!! [She pulls back and lobs it, overhand, to him.]

[Gai reaches up a hand to catch the thrown object without a thought, as if this were a perfectly normal thing for him to be doing even though there's nothing at all normal about this entire situation. He just killed a man, broke his neck, and one part of his mind thinks he should be freaking out a lot more over that than he is right now.

The other part of his mind is detached, almost clinical in its assessment of the situation. That's the part of him that catches the pistol and aims it directly at the head of one of the two remaining cultists. Aims, and fires, and just like that the man drops in his tracks, a bullet cleanly between his eyes.

Gai doesn't even have time to be surprised by that. The other cultist is furious at the death of his comrades and out for blood; throwing caution to the wind, the cultist strikes out at Gai with his spear. Just as before, Gai takes aim and fires, felling the remaining cultist with a shot through the heart.

Stunned, all Gai can do is stand there staring at the bodies of the men. Two shots, two clean kills. There's no way that could be a coincidence...]

[Elizabeth reasons that she should be more shocked as well, also thinks that this can't be beginner's luck. Should she be afraid of Gai? Of his ability to kill three men in under two minutes?]

[She comes up next to him with the metal box in one arm. Her other hand reaches out to touch Gai's elbow, gently, slowly. There's something Elizabeth wants to say, even if it doesn't make sense to her right now. But fighting it might make her nosebleed worse.]

There's a gun in my heart too. I can see dozens of them.

[Now Gai turns to stare down at her, expression still bewildered. Isn't she afraid of him? He just killed three men without hesitation, with precision that was no mere accident.

Who is he? What is he? Those are questions he doesn't feel he can answer right now. All he's certain of is that he's pretty sure he isn't just some aristocrat's son, or if he is, something very strange is going on.

Elizabeth's words stir something inside him, something that almost feels familiar even if the words themselves make no sense to him.]

I've never used a gun before.

[He hasn't. That's why he doesn't understand this.]

I've never torn holes in the world before. [She looks up at him, eyebrows coming together but still calm. Her hand curls around Gai's elbow and she stands there, trying to look away from the dead men. By all rights, Elizabeth should be able to look away from the gruesome sight easily. But she's seen this, accustomed herself to this. When? How?]

Gai. [Elizabeth puts her other hand on Gai's elbow too.] Uncle Robert said that some of my memories weren't true, that I had to question everything. What if... what if our entire lives were handed to us, our real memories pushed out to accommodate a false paradise?

[She tries to make direct eye contact with him, holding his elbow a little more tightly.] Would you want your real life back?

[It takes a moment, but at last Gai relaxes, lowering his hand with the pistol and bringing the other up to rest over Elizabeth's hands. Somehow, just the fact that she's so calm about all of this is helping him to remain level-headed too. That's not to say that he doesn't still have a million questions; no, if anything, he has even more now. But if she's calm, he can stay calm too.]

... I don't know.

[If his real life meant that he was capable of things like that... what must it have been like? What did that say about him? It's unsettling, to say the least.]

[She doesn't know either. Elizabeth doesn't know what she was either, how she could do what she could do. She doesn't know if she wants to go back to that life if something this terrifying was her everyday life.]

I want to know why, at least. If this was hidden from me for a reason, I want to know what that reason is. But I can't go alone. [She looks up at Gai again, squeezes his arm again.] Come with me?

[Quietly, he regards her a bit longer, then nods. She's right, of course. They can't just sit back and act like none of this is happening, try to pretend their lives are still what they were just a few short days ago. It's different now. Everything has changed.

"You are no longer allowed to powerlessly stand by and turn a blind eye to others' lives like you have before."

He isn't sure why those words cross his mind, nor where they come from. Certainly not from anyone he knows. But they feel right somehow, like it's what he has to do.]

I'm not about to sit back and let myself get selected out either. I'm going to fight, and I'm going to find out what's going on.

[Strange phrasing, perhaps, but again it feels natural to him.]

[It does sound a little strange, but considering all they've been through thus far Elizabeth isn't going to wrinkle her nose at a strange piece of phrasing. She nods, shifts her hands down to lightly hold the one holding the pistol.]

Whatever happens, even if we end up strangers tomorrow, you always made me feel like a princess. Even now, with blood down my face.

There might be a lot more blood before all of this is over.

[It's a warning of sorts-- she saw what he just did to those three cultists. If she finds it too upsetting, she's free to leave, and he won't say anything. He won't blame her, not at all.]

I'll make sure none of it is yours.

[She's not going anywhere.]

[Now Gai is reminded of what he had been doing before those cultists so rudely interrupted them. Reaching back into his pocket, he retrieves his handkerchief, then lifts it to Elizabeth's face to begin gently wiping away some of that blood. It won't get all of it - it's already begun to dry and the handkerchief isn't damp - but at least it's better than nothing.]

[Elizabeth tilts her head up to help Gai, smiling faintly as he cleans her up a little. Her nose has been bleeding for hours, she knows it isn't going to completely wipe away.]

I bet you can't wait to ask me to prom, especially looking like this.

[Gai makes a soft sound, perhaps of amusement. His reply comes in the form of bending down to kiss her once he's gotten the worst of the blood cleaned up-- so there may be a bit still left, so what? He doesn't care if she doesn't.

To be honest, he's just grateful that she's willing to stay by his side even after she's seen what he's capable of.]

[Well, this is a little unexpected. Perhaps because they're in the middle of a war zone, but life was strange that way sometimes. Elizabeth curls her hand into Gai's hair, deepens the kiss a little.]

[Now she's afraid. She has to stay with him, absolutely stay with him. Because if Elizabeth loses Gai, now she's certain her heart would break.]

[Mentally Gai curses the fact that he's still holding the pistol and keeping himself from being able to wrap his other arm around her. He'll just have to pull her as close as he can manage with his free hand, securing her against him and allowing her to deepen that kiss as much as she wants.

He can't lose her either. Not now, not during all of this. She's the thing keeping him anchored despite his uncertainty and his fear for his family.

He needs her, and he isn't ashamed to admit it.]

[She doesn't want it to stop. She wants the moment to freeze, just like this, so the world can let them be for just a few minutes longer. As it stands, Elizabeth has to settle for giving Gai a few longing sweeps over Gai's bottom lip with her mouth and tongue before pulling back.]

Someone could catch us unaware here.

[She isn't the only one who doesn't want it to stop-- when she pulls away, Gai lets out a quiet, disappointed sound, though he makes no move to kiss her again.

She's right, of course. As much as he wants to keep kissing her, they're in the middle of a battlefield and could be attacked at any moment, as those cultists proved.]

Mmm. We should go check on our families. They may need our help.

Dad and Uncle Robert are fine... trust me. [Elizabeth lets out a little nervous laugh. Seeing your father set someone on fire will do that.]

What about your family?

Luceti Valley - The Second Log

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