Hunters throughout Deus would find themselves waking up to insistent alarms and the clear, calm voice of Clarice over the PA, "The Crystal Caves have been breached. Secure all exits and portals. The Crystal Caves have been breached. Advanced hunters are needed secure the Caves. The Crystal Caves have been breached. Emergency generators are in use. The Crystal Caves have..."
The message droned on as all over the island, hunters tried to pull themselves back together in the aftermath of Excalibur's mission. Some were still in bed, others were outside, and still more were waking up in the middle of a job or chore of some sort. Time had passed since the Tear had appeared and they answered the call, but obviously nowhere near the length of their journey. Within the main buildings of Deus, the halls were lit with dim red emergency lights while the non-essential buildings of the island were dark and without power.
Getting up, your hunter...
...is on security detail in the northern section of the island...
There are no signs of opened portals, ships, or planes. The area is clear. Edith passes by and tells you and any others to hold position.
...is on security detail in the eastern section of the island...
There are no signs of opened portals, ships, or planes. The area is clear for now, but out in the distance you notice a massive tentacle splash down in the ocean much closer than it should be.
...is on security detail in the southern section of the island...
There are no signs of opened portals, ships, or planes. You notice a strange man passed out on the beach, naked and holding a sword.
...is on security detail in the western section of the island...
There are no signs of opened portals, ships, or planes. You notice a hunter writhing and screaming in pain on the ground, a black mark spreading steadily across their skin.
...runs to secure the Crystal Cave.
A number of hunters are working to gain entrance to the caves, and eventually comes down to weapons drawn and breaking the thing down to splinters. The rush down the stairs is hurried, with order still there but slipping as everyone notices what's waiting at the bottom of the chamber.
In the quickly dimming light of the cave's crystals, there's only a single person watching them approach in wide-eyed sorrow, lab equipment melting into the ground beside her.
There is no protective light from Excalibur, the sword is gone.
There is no malevolent darkness from Merlin, the staff is gone.
Clarice, pale and broken, stares at the gathering, no recognition in her features before stating simply, "I'm sorry." Her voice is rough pain but empty of comprehension as cracks form along the side of her face, thin shafts of light appearing in the gaps. "I'm sorry." More light begins to burst through, from her eyes to her mouth, wide open and thrown back in a wordless cry of pain and confusion. From there it's only a matter of moments for Clarice to burn up from the inside out, consumed by that inner light.
In the end, all the remains is a pile of ash and two hands, one blackened and skeletal, the other a pure and pristine pale blue.
the ooc
Pick your character's locations and proceed in whatever way is IC for them! It's a good idea to include that location in your posts! Cell phones are working, but they seem a bit slower than usual.
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:08 pm
"The Crystal Caves have been breached- The Crystal Caves have been breached-"
Jerry snapped to attention, staring at the PA speaker nearby with a look of horror. Breached how?? By what?? No time for questions. Roar was already summoned as he ran as fast as he could. He hoped to spot other Suns and Moons along the way, anyone to help, but at least Roar could pack a punch if need be-
He arrived just as the Hunters who were already there had broken the door open, scrambling after them as there was a flash of light.... Location: Crystal Cave
It took him a moment to realize that his phone was ringing; an incessant buzzing sound that made his head ring painfully, digging into his skull. Gale pushed himself vertical and made an irritated sound in the back of his throat, throwing off the covers.
"THE CRYSTAL CAVES HAVE BEEN BREACHED THE CRYSTAL CAVES HAVE BEEN BREACHED - "
It was loud; almost deafening, but at the very least it shook him awake properly. He grabbed his coat, tugged it on over his arms, and was out the door within moments, Jinhai already summoned.
Breached? he thought as he ran. What does it mean, breached? Breached by what, exactly?
<< Nothing good, I'm sure. >>
The dragon sounded oddly sleepy inside of Gale's head. He ran a bit faster, picking up speed, the only thing in his head the sound of his feet against the ground. Something felt oddly ill at ease, as though there were a piece of the puzzle in a place that it wasn't quite supposed to be in.
He turned a corner, skidding to a halt on the south side of the beach and spraying sand.
There was a figure on the beach.
He looked unfamiliar to Gale, but since he could see little of the man other than the back of his head (and a great deal more of him than was strictly necessary), he couldn't quite be certain of his identity, or even if he was one of the hunters on the island.
Slightly wary, Gale held Jinhai tightly as he made his way towards the prone figure, kneeling down to get a closer look.
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:21 pm
[ western security detail ]
She blinked and found herself standing outside. The sunlight was a little irritating.
< < Come along, then. > > Thane sounded a little delayed in her head, but no less insistent. < < Your post. > >
R . . . Right.
The alarms could be heard clearly even as she jogged. The Crystal Caves . . . what could have gotten in there? Advanced hunters meant it had to be bad. Please be okay, guys, Stormy prayed quietly as she rounded the way to the western side of the island.
She heard the screaming before she saw the downed hunter, her heart beating faster as she picked up the pace. Something dark was spreading on their skin, and Thane hissed a warning for her to slow down as she approached. Whatever it was might be contagious . . .
medigel
Anxious Spirit
Offline
Grifferie
Crew
Deus Sherry
Offline
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:26 pm
[ Eastern Security Detail ]
The alarms were what woke her. What was she... The blaring over the speakers caught her attention. Oh, hell. The Caves? There was no way that was good.
Sherry jumped to her feet and summoned Armagnac, since it was best to be prepared. There were places to be in times like this, and she wanted to waste no time getting to where she was supposed to be. She kept her eyes open as she moved, the beach to one side and the interior of the island to another.
Things seemed quiet here, aside from the alarms. No portals or other modes of transport, no beings that shouldn't be here. Nothing out of the ordinary. Her eyes scanned the ocean, searching for something. She almost missed the tentacle, though she was certain that's what it was. She also certain she'd never seen anything like that quite so close to shore.
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:28 pm
[ Location: South ]
So many questions, and yet no time to mull over any of them. The moment Eva was jerked out of her daze by the alarms, she pushed herself off of her bed, haphazardly throwing on her coat before rushing out. From the looks of things--and the other, blurry-eyed hunters running alongside her--no one had an entirely clear idea of what was going all.
All they knew was that the caves had been breached. Somehow. She tried to fight the sinking feeling in her stomach as she hurried out to take up station at the southern end of the island. Whether she'd actually find anything there, she didn't know, but--
--ah, that figure up ahead. That was..."Gale!" She felt relief flood through her at the sight of the boy unharmed, but then her gaze flickered downwards. Eyes widening, her run slowed to a walk, and then to a complete stop.
Who--
Why don't you go and find out?
Shaking her head, the young woman jogged over, offering Gale a brief smile before crouching down beside him. "What happened? Who is this?" And most importantly, was he still alive?
Kurotomato
Kaiyumi
Offline
Eight
Fanatical Friend
Offline
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:29 pm
It said to go the Crystal Caves, so she went to the Crystal Caves. Candace wasted no time, throwing on her Hunter coat and grabbing Atropos' rings as she took off running straight for the caves. They were important. Excalibur was there, they needed him. She took the steps down two at a time, summoning Atropos halfway down and simply gliding down the last half of the stairwell instead.
First she noticed the sword. "s**t! Where's Excalibur?!" She cried, her eyes wide. Merlin was also gone. s**t. s**t. Did they fall over or something? How was that even possi--
Candace's reaction was instantaneous. Her stomach tightened and then lurched, threatening to make her throw up. No. No.
No no no no--
"CLARICE!" Candace finally shrieked, running for the woman. No. No. No. Not Clarice. Not her. "Clarice no oh god oh god oh god.." Ignoring the missing sword and staff she instead ran to the woman, stopping with a gasp and covering her eyes when she started to burn.
No.
No.
She turned back to the Life assistant, the kind blonde woman who had been a friend to her and helped her.
"Clarice.."No...
No. This couldn't be real. This was a dream. It wasn't real. It wasn't real.
She reached for one of the hands, the pale blue one. Why was it different? Maybe this wasn't real..
She fell to her knees beside the ashes, her entire body shaking.
"This isn't real.." She whispered. "This isn't real..it's not. This isn't real..."
Excalibur gone. Merlin gone. Clarice.
No. It couldn't be real. This wasn't possible.
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:32 pm
[Caves]
A woman rushed past him and Jerry nearly stumbled, still staring in disbelief at what was happening. Clarice... that had been Clarice.... "G-get back," He managed, shifting his weapon on his shoulder as he moved to put a hand on Candace's, "Whatever it is could be contagious!" He hissed, voice slightly hysteric.
Roar was whipped this way and that, looking for any sign of danger, but besides the missing artifacts, he couldn't tell what to do. They needed orders. But Clarice was...
The light was dimming around them, shadows growing with Jerry's dread.
Otto woke up groggily, slowly. Everything blurred and warbled. At some point or another, he got himself dressed, the events he'd just experienced vivid like a fresh dream and weighing down on his heart.
Without time to think, he left his room, ambling to the southern part of the island. Really, he wanted to see EVa, and he thought he saw her heading that way. He was a bit too shy to just call her out though...
Ugh.. there were too many things to worry about than that right now.
Like a naked man on a beach. Otto groggily stopped pursuing Eva, rubbing his face with a yawn. "Whyshenaked.." He grumbled sleepily.
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:37 pm
The call had come when she was in bed, and as fast as the ugly tear had opened in the sky. She had awoken (alone), and had taken on the responsibility of saving the world that all of them had. (Across factions, across universes, but where was she now, her Goddess, her girlfriend, her everythi-)
The Crystal Caves have been breached.
Clerise yawned, rubbing at her eyes with the palms of her hands. Fishing for her phone, first thing, she fired off a quick text.
Quote:
To: Miss lady From: Clerise
shits gone south, where are you? love you, be safe
(Love you no matter what you do, embedded around the words of the message, a litany of: I will be there, I will never leave you, I-)
Tugging on her attire, Clerise made her way to the point of the breach. There is a crowd, and she runs with them, her pace quickening in time, and they clamoured down the stairs and something was wrong, everything was wrong, because the cave were dark and.
The cave was dark.
The glow was gone and the only one left was Clarice, and the look in her eyes was hollow, the look in her eyes was glass at the breaking point before a shatter, and.
"Clarice?" she asked, her heart pounding, her voice small and alone and lost, and.
She shoved pass Candace and Jerry, running but she was too late, it had been too little and too late, and there was nothing left, there was nothing left but a pair of hands, and.
Clerise was crying, she realized, but there was nothing but a yawning chasm. She was crying but she had lost her other half (her better half). She was crying but there was no point, there was no body to mourn, there were ten fingers and little more, and.
Tears dripping onto the floor near the ashes, Clerise dropped to her knees.
"But I don't understand," she whispered. "I don't understand," she whispered, and she was nothing but a broken shell. She was nothing at all.
The knowledge that she has allowed herself to fall asleep was frustrating enough without the alarms. Now Mimsy had to help clean up someone else's mess, with no time to begin cleaning up the mess in her own head.
Without bothering to smooth her hair change her clothes or do much of anything other than put on her glasses and coat, she stomped off towards the cave. There was a frantic rush to make it down the stairs, and she found herself pushed along with the crowd, all of her energy focused on preventing herself from missing a step, taking one, two, several at a time until she reached the bottom and--
It was wrong. It all looked wrong. And Clarice was there, with a look in her eyes that said that she knew it was wrong, too.
She stared at her, confused by her apology. Had she done this? It made sense, she supposed, considering the woman's appearance and the disappearance of two very important portions of the cave.
Clarice apologized again, and her thoughts were no longer trying to connect the dots, the cry of pain disrupting her concentration. She stared, watching her form burn and disintegrate and ultimately cease to exist (except for a pair of hands, one skeletal, one a brilliant blue).
She was gone.
She was Clerise's girlfriend, the person she loved more than everything, the one entity that kept her heart beating...and she was gone.
Mimsy took one look at the pile of ash, one look at the girl who had fallen to her knees, and buried her face in her hands and laughed.
And laughed.
And laughed.
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:42 pm
[ Security Detail - East ]
He supposed he should be more panicked.
There were people running this way and that, there were shouts and echos and alarms and the sound of a chaotic mess of sound and color and everything was happening all at once and -
- Ian stood silently on the beach, letting the wind tug at his hair. He was not panicking, like some were, he was not running around like a chicken with its head cut off, he was merely standing, his eyes focused on the ocean out in front of him.
Something rose above the water and then disappeared beneath the churning, blue-black surface. Ian's eyes narrowed a little.
I wonder...
{ That was a tentacle. }
Naomi sounded irritable. Ian smiled slightly, the corners of his lips quirking upwards just a little bit. "Cheer up, sunshine," he said lightly, idly curving a hand over the handle of his knife. "We're not dead yet."
{ For all of your disinterest in this place, you might as well be. }
The smile widened.
"Disinterest?" Ian repeated quietly, looking back at the ocean. "No, my dear Naomi. Not disinterest."
Not disinterest at all, he thought.
kuropeco
Dramatic Marshmallow
Offline
[A.V.]
Dangerous Hunter
Offline
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:44 pm
[Location: Crystal Caves]
When Jake awoke, he found himself face down on the floor, runic daggers in hand. With a groan, he sat up, rubbing his eyes, trying to figure out why he was sleeping on the training grounds. Had he really been that tired? He cast a confused look at the daggers. And why was he using these? Didn't he-
"The Crystal Caves have been breached. Secure all exits and portals. The Crystal Caves have been breached. Advanced hunters are needed secure the Caves. The Crystal Caves have been breached. Emergency generators are in use. The Crystal-"
He froze then, remembering some, but not all. Merlin... Excalibur... ... Chester!
That's right, Mark had told him... and he was training... which was why... But then the memory of the crystal caves flashed in his mind, and before he could stop himself, he found himself running in that direction, barely noticing the addition of an intricate smoking black lock with his weapon's totem form, bouncing and rattling as he ran, ran and ran until he arrived at where he thought he might find something to answer his question, completely out of breath.
Instead, he only saw the broken figure of a woman, moments before she just integrated in an explosion of light, leaving behind a pile of ashes and two hands. What... the hell just happened?
Posted: Sun Aug 25, 2013 8:45 pm
[ Eastern Security Detail ]
It wasn't the first time Shiloh had woken up to the red light of alarms during his short stay at Deus. He had awoken groggily outside, Haruko coiled around his feet. It took him a moment to recollect exactly where he was and what was going on, but once he did, he assumed it wasn't good. More zombies?
Seeing someone combing the beach, he jogged over to him, hoping he'd know more about the situation than he did. As he he finally reached the other hunter, however, his greeting died on his lips as he watched the giant thing breach the water, and then smash back down into the ocean, sending cascading waves in all directions. Only one question remained.
"Is that supposed to be happening?" he asked quietly.
Haruko was silent for the moment, but he could feel her curiosity humming.
Bix had been on the toilet when he'd passed out. How weird is that? He'd woken up with his pants aroundhis ankles and his head lolled back to give him a wicked neck cramp. With the alarm blaring he hurried his business (which waslong since finished) and came awkwardly running and buckling himself up as he booked it out to the closest perimeter.
He heard a hunter howling and rushed up with weapon in hand, only to fins Stormy tentatively approaching. What was that black stuff?
"Stormy, you ok?" She was the first person he saw and wondered if there had been a confrontation. "What's going on?" Did this have to do with the caves?
![[A.V.]'s avatar](https://a1cdn.gaiaonline.com/dress-up/avatar/ava/8d/f2/221070ca3ff28d_flip.png?t=1546143856_6.00_11&pl=15)
