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Sailor Daphne, Senshi of Kinship, Abzu, Page of Neptune, Mauvian Soleiyu, and a few others are tasked with locating a strange anomaly somewhere within the Hall that is disrupting the electronic transmissions controlling some of the lights.

Inside the lobby, and in some of the halls, and even in the hub of electronics they’ve been stationed in, the power sometimes flickers.

To lose the lights could be catastrophic, and where one disruption is, others might be, too.

There’s no telling what exactly is the source of this anomaly; it might be Chaos, but if it is, it’s small enough that it’s difficult to detect. The group has isolated a single hallway it might be down, but there are easily fifteen dark, dusty rooms to search. They all seem to be offices or meeting rooms, with large tables and chairs, and unreadable books. There's nothing particularly exquisite about it; these rooms once had function but now they had no reason to invest in much upkeep.

The rooms were well furnished, clearly designed to impress, but without diplomats and meetings, Alastor had not spent much time dusting them. Cobwebs gathered in the corners of the rooms, and while not all of them had windows, the ones that did were dusty and difficult to see through.

Once the team finds the disruption, they’ll need to contact the team handling The Lighting to give them as much information as possible to prevent future disruptions. Whatever is interrupting the wireless commands might be powerful enough to shut down all the lights in the complex–and, if so, everyone within the Hall is at risk.

The lights keep the worst of the shadows at bay, but they’re already creeping closer.

Inside, they were safe at least–for the most part. They’d all been equipped with floodlights to chase the shadows away if they encountered it, and hopefully that was enough. The team had split up to search, and each of them was given a small, handheld device that beeps when in the presence of something electronic, magical, or otherwise disruptive.

Something vibrates in the walls, and even if the Hall is fortified, they don’t have much time.

They can’t see the threat, but they can feel it.

The faster they can find the disruption, the faster the lights can be restored.

The better chance they have of making it out of here in one piece.

Soleiyu

“It’s hard to tell,” he answered honestly; he trotted along after her. He hadn’t been equipped with a floodlight; instead, he had an even smaller light designed with the same spread, only he’d made it to clip onto his glasses. One on each side, things were sufficiently illuminated for him–though, his lights didn’t have as much reach as Daphne’s.

“We weren’t able to pick up a reading before there was a large surge of energy, so I think it’s adept at hiding. Best to check in all the corners just to be safe, though. Oh, but let me stay close to you.” It wasn’t really saving much time to have the two of them right on top of each other, but the scurrying in the walls, across the ground, was a bit alarming. He was closer to the floor; if something were to lash out from it, he’d have been the easier target. He didn’t stay right next to her, but he stayed close enough that he knew he could rely on her if something happened.

And, he was worried about it; their GPS markers would occasionally ping with something, but the reading was there and then gone. They rarely got more than a few seconds of something–and judging by the way it was never in the same place for long, Soleiyu was afraid it was playing with them.

He knew their GPS machines weren’t busted; there was a clear, synchronized reading on all the devices.

“I’m sure something is trying to distract us.” He glanced up for a few seconds and shifted on his feet, allowing himself a brief distraction. “Are you doing all right, Daphne? I’m worried about you.”

Thunder, loud and jarring, hit outside, somewhere nearby.

A door slammed shut down the hall, with far more force than necessary. Nobody called for help. No feet plodded through the hallway. The lights in the room flickered off, stayed there for a second, and then returned dimly.

Soleiyu

Soleiyu seemed to realize that him being on her shoulder might have been more for her benefit than his own, so he didn’t protest when she offered. He nuzzled her ankle as she walked, and if he were being honest with himself, he wanted to stay close to her.

He didn’t like the moving shadows, didn’t like the slamming doors, or the trickle of Chaos that kept working its way into his personal space.

“I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I wish I had an answer for you, but so much of these worlds are so different.”

He wanted things to be different for her, and even if his heart was heavy with what seemed like it might be the reality of the situation, he didn't want to give her doubt or grief when things were already so heavy on her shoulders.

“This is all new to me, too.” He peered close when she said she thought she might have found the thing, but as he inched closer to sniff, he caught a foul whiff of something in the air.

Before he could recoil, thunder rumbled through the Hall, and another few doors slammed shut.

But the smell didn’t fade. In fact–it got worse. He didn’t even see when the ceiling began to drip something that looked like tar in the room behind them. A thick, black goop coated the ceiling, and before either of them could react, a shadowy figure shoved past their door and barreled into Daphne, knocking her back against the wall.

The shadow exploded and coated the room in darkness, and the tar-like substance dripped down with sudden enthusiasm. It coated the walls of the room, and built a barrier between Daphne and Solieiyu. It muffled all sounds from outside its self-formed bubble.

Daphne was alone–and then, she wasn’t.

She’d been knocked to the ground from the impact, and sealed into her own little room away from Soleiyu. The darkness faded, and it felt like she was waking from one dream and stepping into a another.

The smell of baked goods filled the air; her father stood in front of her quizzically, holding a plate of fresh bread; the buns were stuffed and the air smelled almost as much of crab as it did bread. “What’s this?” he asked, with an almost amused tenderness. “Have you fallen asleep again? I’ve been looking for you, I’ve made your favorites. Will you wake up for me, while they’re still fresh?”

His hand was in her hair, smoothing it gently out of her face as if he were trying to rouse her from an impromptu nap.

Quote:

The shadows have arrived in the form of a Chaos Manifestation; Another prompt will be posted in ~48 hours; if players post before then I’ll try to write more interaction with the Chaos Manifestation trying to manipulate them; if players are interested in this, please feel free to DM me! If you have any questions or requests, please let me know! Otherwise there will be two more prompts featuring the Chaos Manifestation; the manifestation should be weakening or nearly defeated as of the prompt on the 14th; there will be one prompt after that on the 16th and the 18th is the estimated close date and lead into the closing ORP!

stari_maga

He crouched down, near to her, so he could wrap her in a half embrace while still holding the buns. “Oh, my dear. Come here, let me hold you. It was just a dream. You’re here with me, you’re safe. I’ve got you.”

He rubbed at her back and murmured soft words of comfort. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked, gathering her in his arms as he settled on the ground with her.

He felt real. Kind, and soft, and warm.

He set the tray of buns down next to him and gave her his full attention.

“A thousand years?” he repeated and contemplated briefly before he shook his head. “I used to have dreams like that.”

He kissed atop her head and adjusted her so she could rest against him. He leaned his back against the wall to make sure she was comfortable. “I would dream that I fell asleep outside, under a sunny sky, and when I woke up it was dark, and I was alone. And when I came home, everything was different, and no one recognized me. And when I walked around, they acted like I was a ghost. And sometimes, the dreams were so real, and so horrible, that I thought I was. I used to wake up crying.”

He wiped a gentle thumb over her cheek and smiled kindly. “You must get that from me,” he teased.

The buns were a perfect illusion, crafted from her mind. They were light–lighter than they should be, but they smelled like they should Tasted like they should. “But it’s okay. I’m here.”

He laughed softly and drew her close, tucking his cheek against hers. “I suppose that’s true. The important thing is that I love you very much and I’m sorry you had such a bad dream. You’re here, I’m here. We’re here together. And we can stay here for as long as you want.”

Once more, he shifted positions to make himself a bit more comfortable, but he held her in his arms and didn’t seem like he had any reason to want to let her go.

She could sleep there; it was safe. He kept his arms protectively wrapped around her and closed his eyes. A soft, gentle smile never strayed from his face.

“I don’t have anywhere better to be.”

Avici, Page of Chronos

"Hooh!" Avici pulled himself upright and scooped his mop of hair out of his face. "I didn't consent to get spanked with the door!" He shot back at it in blatant, if exaggerated, affront.

The humor hadn't brightened his heart, however. It would've helped more had he left on time, had he kept up with the other group, but he had to run his mouth a few minutes longer and get himself left behind. It wasn't bad, though — he liked being able to take his time and poke around in the old, dusty ruins of some place that wasn't even on Earth anymore, like, what a shocker that was — but he was definitely out of his element here. No one to impress, no one to mess with, no one to give them any idea where this anomaly thing was, other than somewhere around here.

Too bad no one thought to stick a Tile on it so they could track it on their phones. Missed opportunity.

After rubbing his sore butt, Avici looked about himself. It'd gotten darker, and —

"Do you always have to make jokes like that?" A sigh unfurled from a corner behind Avici, and bare feet shuffled on the dusty floorboards.

"… Cuz?" He turned, half-expecting some disgusting monster to be staring him down while using the voice of his cousin, but — that was Little Li. As opposed to Big Li. Li like 黎, not Li like 丽, though Ju always thought this Li turned out better-looking than the one who was supposed to be better-looking. He just dressed bad, and didn't really understand how to take care of himself, and basically needed an adult 100% of the time, even if he was an adult by now.

"How'd you get up here? Kinda far from home, don't you think?" He summoned his flute to hand, twirled it between his fingers, but he did not approach.

"I don't know." Laike rubbed his eyes but did not rise. He always wore oversized things in muted colors that would help him fade into crowds, but in a place so austere as this, a grey sweatshirt and black sweatpants looked as out of place as a kimono in a crowd of catholic uniformed high schoolers. "But I don't like it here. It's, um. I just. Want to go home."

Then he covered his face in his sleeves, like he always did. Curled in on himself, like he always did. Cried so quietly that the only way Avici could tell was by the sniffles. Just like he always did.

Wow. Pretty awkward to suddenly get confronted with his familial obligations like that. Even if Laike was an adult by now, so much of him was still so obviously kid that Avici couldn't help feeling like he had to put on the role of Responsible Cousin and do something about his mess of a cousin.

He approached, then squatted next to Laike with his attention trained on the ball of hair that peeked out from swathes of sweatshirt. "Hey, if you keep crying like that, Gramma's gonna hear you and tan both of our hides, you know?" He reached out to lay a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder, paused, then thought better of it; Laike was always so people-averse, growing up, that he'd probably find that more distressing.

"Mmm, how about you come with me? I've got something I have to look for, then after? We can both go home, okay? How's that sound?"

Something rumbled in the walls, and at first it wasn’t anything worth noticing, but it grew louder. And louder.

As Abzu searched, the shadows in the room stretched towards him. Discrete. They didn’t demand his attention. Yet.

A few doors slammed shut nearby, and it sounded more like ghosts haunting the Hall than any great Chaos.

But, a foul, sulfurous odor soon spread throughout the room, and it darkened again.

The little device Soleiyu had given him to pick up on the strange anomaly they were searching for pinged once, as if he were near, but something dripped onto his shoulder.

Warm. Sticky. Dark.

And then, more of it. A flood fell from the ceiling, like it had been lying in wait. It clung to him, trying to trap him like a fly in a spiderweb, and–

“Abzu! Get away from there,” Pendour said; she’d shoved open the door and rushed in. The shadows stretched towards her, but the glow from her markings–a little dimmer now than when he’d last seen her–seemed to drive them away.

A tendril of darkness curled around his wrist and tried to pull him up, into the wall, but she swept her hand across it and the darkness scattered. Her other arm wrapped around him and she pulled him back quickly.

“Are you okay? Don’t let it touch you, how long did it have you?”