Fantasy ReverseStuck π: Here We Go Again (Again x 2)

[Lyro]

====> Soreim: Pick up where you left off

Woah. What just happened? A lot of things, actually. Too many to list off right now. Not that anyone here needs a recap, obviously - after all, you all lived through the myriad of wonderful and terrible shenanigans that definitely happened over the past few perigrees. But to answer your question within a more immediate context, it looks like you just spaced out for a sec. And this is not a good time to space out.

====> Rogue: Focus

You are the ROGUE OF LIFE, and you are getting a serious workout right now. When Japhos handed you a note on which he had written down the amount of energy that would be required to blast out of this session, you had just shrugged and smiled. Only now, as you struggle to wring out every last iota of life force from the inhabitants of your land, do you truly appreciate just how much power that note's calculations represented. The budding rogue you were at the start of this game wouldn't have been able to handle a fraction of it, and even now it was taking all of your concentration to keep holding on to it. Only at Japhos's signal would you release it into the engines of the makeshift interstellar cruiser you had helped construct.

"/k-katrin\" you shout towards the nearby seadweller, shivering with the intensity of holding in so much energy at once. "/h-how are the s-souls coming al-long\ <=> this is getting to be a b-bit much for me <- ahaha"

 

[Lad]

====> Katrin: Collect Souls

There is a crowd of translucent pink souls pulled from their bodies in time to survive the life being drained to power your ship. You are racing between them flitting from one to the next pushing them into their new stuffed bodies without explanation and securing them there with a few quick basting stitches before pushing them off into the right direction toward the ship where the rest f the consorts had already been gathered.

"…In you go...hurry up now.…Almost ! A few more!" You call back puling a few quick sloppy stitches to secure the latest soul in place - There will be plenty of time to get them fixed up more securely later. As long as they're held together right now they'll be fine, and you need to hurry up for Soreim! You shove the last two into forms pulling just a stitch or two to keep them in place and then snatch them up in your arm. They start to move experimentally with their new limbs and make exclamations of excitement and confusion that you don't have time to fully listen to aside from a few hushing noises in an attempt to comfort them quickly as you carry them up with you fly onto the ship, " Shsh you're finna be okay.... Sor!...I'm finished!......ah-Japhy.…how're you doing?"

 

[TripTripleTimes]

====> Japhos

You mind buzzes in the millions of thoughts swirling in your think pan. All the possibilities from the result of this single event are like the cacophony of branches of a tree and of a river’s delta; the image is plastered into your mind.

You take a deep breath, clearing the headache thoughts as you do. You concentrate on your body as it moves with the air, expanding and then sinking as you breath out. It is ok. Everything will be fine. The future ahead of you may feel bleak but you are sure that everything will be okay. You have Katrin and Soreim with you and you have all been preparing for this day. You all have been building up power and resources; you have to build a grand ship that could have rivaled the great heiress's battleship and you have created a comfortable habitat for all the consorts in their miniature bodies.

Speaking of which, the line of consorts entering the ship seems to thin out. Looking out to the field, you see Katrin flying towards the ship with two dolls in her arms. With everything secured inside, the wings behind your back shimmer for flight and then they flutter and lift you off from the ground. You leave the ship meeting the seadweller midway.

“ Preparat!●ns !ns!de are all d●ne ,” You reply to Katrin’s questions. “ L!ke we have planned , ! w!ll reach ●ut t● the c●ns●rt just bef●re launch . That sh●uld keep the maj●r!ty ●f them calm , h●pefully .” Looking down at the dolls in Katrin’s arms, you lift your hands up to her and motion her to pass the consorts to you. “ ! can take them up t● the deck and y●u can head t●wards the br!dge . We sh●uld n●t let S●re!m wa!t!ng .”

With your mind open, your mind reaches out towards the rogue and poke her subconsciousness, reminding Soreim that you and Katrin are connected to each others' mind. You poke Katrin also.

 

[Lyro]

====> Soreim: Remain focused

It sure would be a lot easier to remain focused if your entire psyche wasn't being prodded right now. Oh, but it's okay, you're used to Japhos's weird little tricks nowadays. It was weird at first, even the tiniest bit unsettling, to suddenly hear his voice in your head, but you got used to it sooner than later - not like you had much choice, anyway.

Between Katrin's yell and Japhos's poke, anyway, you've decided it's time, and try to broadcast a thought back to Japhos (you're still not entirely sure if or how that works, but you might as well try): alright => <here we go>

You take a few steps back as you finish sucking up all the life force you can from your land. It looks a lot sadder now, unfortunately - a side-effect from draining all of its energy - but you have already convinced yourself of its necessity.

"yo-you're sure you'll be fine => /right\" you ask of the floating sprite beside you - the one that looks just like you, albeit with slightly graying hair and minus a few body parts, following your second prototyping of your sprite and your corpse.

"<pretty sure>" she replies with a grin that perfectly mirrors your own. "i'd bore you with the details but they bore me too <=> so i might disappear for a bit at some point => but <i'll be back>"

"s-sweet" you manage, grinning back despite the increasingly violent throes shaking your body. Your sprite winks, waves goodbye, and floats up and aboard the ship. Right. This is it, for real now. You close your eyes, breathe in deeply, then grab on to the ship and pour in all the energy you had accumulated, just like you used to pour your energy into your land's stars. Immediately the ship begins to light up as its engines rev up, indicators blink wildly and several alarms go off (as expected, thankfully). Slowly, ever so slowly, the ship begins to move forward, hovering gently off the ground, and you shuffle along behind it, still holding on to it for dear Life.

"strap yourselves in" you yell, forgetting all about a mental link as you struggle to maintain control over your energy output. Your eyes are glowing green while your entire body is sparking. Huge electric arcs begin coursing around the ship as it acquires more and more power.

 

[TripTripleTimes]

====> Japhos

As you wait for Katrin’s reply, from the corner of your eyes, you notice the last remaining colours of the planet vanish. As dull as the world was before it is now completely lifeless. Soon after, with your attention now on the indigo troll, the large ship radiants brilliantly and then stirs from its stasis.

The display of power is kind of beautiful and awe-inspiring. You nod and turn your back as soon as Soreim yells at the two of you. She is right, it is not the time to dawdle.

“ Snap ●ut ●f !t , Katr!n. “ You look at the sea dweller and then quickly scope out the two dolls from her arms. “ Y●u can k!ss that d●rk all y●u want later .”

With that, you quickly make your way inside the ship and seal the passenger's entrance close with all the consorts safely inside. You dropped the two dolls gently on the ground with whom you assume to be their kins (by the rushed stitching around the joints) and make your way deeper inside the ship, by flying to avoid stepping on the little ones. As you glide deeper into the ship, your eyes shut close and your right hand reaches out to the side, brushing against the cool metal wall of the ship’s hall. You let your touch guide you as you let your mind crackle and then let free.

The feeling of excitement washes over you as your mind reach out to the passengers of the ship. With the onslaught of the feelings, you quickly can it out from yourself and instead reach out to all as a presence of insurance and safety, muffling out of worry and discord that may appear during the take off.

“ Greet!ng every●ne . Th!s !s y●ur He!r speak!ng .” Your announcement starts. “ Welc●me ab●ard and ! h●pe y●u are enj●y!ng y●ur t!me ●n ●ur humble l!ttle cru!se sh!p s● far . The sh!p !s ready!ng t● launch and leave the sess!●n . The sh!p w!ll s●●n ga!n speed and y●u may n●t!ce the !n!t!al start ●f the launch . There are plenty ●f seats thr●ugh●ut the sh!p and f●r y●ur safety , please h●ld ●n t● the handra!ls when g●!ng up and d●wn the sta!rs .”

You pop your eyes open, pausing in your announcement. Oh boy, you almost went overboard and went on a long spiel with your greetings. You will have to end your speech here.

“ F●r m●re !nf●rmat!●n , please l●cate and c●ntact the !nf●rmat!●n b●●th ●r p!ck up a pamphlet read!ly pr●v!ded thr●ugh●ut the sh!p .”

“ S● lad!es , gentlemen , and ●thers , ! h●pe y●u s!t back and relax . Let ‘ s enj●y y●ur cru!se thr●ugh space w!th us .”

 

[Lyro]

====> Soreim: Accelerate

It doesn't take long before you are running to keep up with the ship. And as it keeps picking up speed, you have to divert more and more of the energy to your own muscles in an attempt to hold it down. In order to break away from your land's gravity, the ship needs to attain escape velocity, which will only happen once you have infused it with enough energy to fully power up its thrusters. Therefore you can't allow the ship to fly off now, as it would just fall back down and waste energy if it's too early. And so you struggle to hold on to it, while also starting to move faster than any troll has a right to be.

Distantly you hear Japhos's announcement, like a faint buzzing in your head, but your senses are too overwhelmed right now to make sense of what he is saying. It sounds like he's providing the consorts with safety instructions, which is just adorable of him. You'll have to remember to tease him about that later on. Right now, though, you have other things you should be focusing on. Like the fact that you are now running five times faster than normal while holding on to a ship that is constantly trying to pry itself away from your prongs.

"h-halfway there" you shout, not even sure if anyone can still hear you over the roar of the thrusters. You are starting to feel their heat even from this distance, which is of some concern to you.

 

[TripTripleTimes]

====> Soreim: Accelerate

It doesn't take long before you are running to keep up with the ship. And as it keeps picking up speed, you have to divert more and more of the energy to your own muscles in an attempt to hold it down. In order to break away from your land's gravity, the ship needs to attain escape velocity, which will only happen once you have infused it with enough energy to fully power up its thrusters. Therefore you can't allow the ship to fly off now, as it would just fall back down and waste energy if it's too early. And so you struggle to hold on to it, while also starting to move faster than any troll has a right to be.

Distantly you hear Japhos's announcement, like a faint buzzing in your head, but your senses are too overwhelmed right now to make sense of what he is saying. It sounds like he's providing the consorts with safety instructions, which is just adorable of him. You'll have to remember to tease him about that later on. Right now, though, you have other things you should be focusing on. Like the fact that you are now running five times faster than normal while holding on to a ship that is constantly trying to pry itself away from your prongs.

"h-halfway there" you shout, not even sure if anyone can still hear you over the roar of the thrusters. You are starting to feel their heat even from this distance, which is of some concern to you.

====> Japhos

As the ship purrs beneath your fingertips, you sense that something's amiss. You are not familiar with the mechanics of a cruise ship (or any of the water ship in that matter) but you are certain that something is wrong. Perhaps, it is not the ship itself that is wrong but you are not sure, so you search deeper within yourself and sense out to the population of the ship to figure what is eating at your subconscious.

The web of minds in the ship is immense but you eventually comb out the ship and see in your mind’s eye that there is a small group of consorts gathered outside of the engine room. They are panicking and you can tell that some of them are jumping up and down to get to the door handle and some of them have climb on top of each other to make a doll ladder to reach it. You go towards them.

Down you go and the distance between you and Soreim grows shorter as you near the engine room. She must be right outside of the room, running herself nuts with keeping the ship going and maintaining enough energy for the take off.

You reach out to the door handle and slide open it. Seeing that the door open, many of the concorts rush inside and then becomes louder upon seeing the machine at work. A hand full of the concorts from the doll ladder manages to jump and cling on to your long hood and rides with you inside the room.

Soriem is definitely outside somewhere by the engen. And the strained mind of her’s is enough for you to stop and pause, unsure what you can do to help her. Soreim have told you before that you are like a support of a video game troop. Not like a healer, like Soreim and Katrin’s aspect, but similar to those buff casters or something (wizard?). You don’t understand too much of the video nerd jargon but now you hope that you can help without being an annoying presence.

You can sense her struggle of keeping focus and the overwhelming power stored within her. Slowly, as you can behind the ship’s steel wall and without disturbing her concentration, you strengthen her mind and fortitude. You do not know the buff status but hope it can help out however way it can to her. You will be there to adjust whatever help you can, of course.

 

[Lyro]

====> Soreim: Lift off

Your mind feels like it's quickly spinning out of control. It is all you can do to just keep running and holding on to the ship. You're close now, so very close... or are you? You're having trouble telling. There was a precise moment where you were supposed to push off - did you miss it? Or is there still time? You attempt a laugh but it only comes out as more ragged breathing. Your vision blurs, a mishmash of shapes and colors flying past you. When does it end?

And then you feel it, like a bucket of ice cold water dumped on your mind. Your head clears up just enough for you to remember the last steps of the plan. You crane your neck to look to the side of the ship, and you see it: the point where you are supposed to lift off the planet, a tall, sloping hill. You all participated in it and double-checked each other's calculations: this was the optimal launch point to aim the ship on a trajectory out of your session. You're almost there. You grit your teeth and finish transferring the remainder of your stored Life into the ship, keeping only the tiny amount required to keep you running.

"<taking off in 5>" you shout, still unsure if you can be heard but finding it reassuring to count to yourself either way. "<4>" Your feet are starting to leave the ground more as the ship struggles to break free from your grasp. "<3>" You tighten your grip on the ship's sides. "<2>" You'll have to act quickly once you break free from the planet's gravity, pulling yourself along the ladder rungs built into the side of the ship to get to the entrance hatch. "<1>" This is it. You begin climbing up the slope of the hill, maneuvering the ship into position. "Lift-off!"

Your feet leave the ground along with the ship as you begin to break free from the bonds of gravity. You hang on with all your remaining strength to the ladder rung you grabbed, and try to pull yourself up the rungs as quickly as you can. Below you, your Land quickly begins to shrink away as the ship, now traveling faster in the thinner interplanetary atmosphere, speeds away from it and towards the boundary of your session. As the acceleration diminishes, it's easier for you to climb the remaining rungs, and within seconds you have passed through the hatch and closed it behind you. You sink down to the floor with closed eyes and a relieved sigh, shaking from the experience.

 

[TripTripleTimes]

====> Japhos: Maintain Composure

You watched as Demoma fell to her knees, with a slash across her chest and a grin that matched the weeping wound. Like the star that she always proclaimed, the royal was a hero shining brightly to the bitter end. Her death would be a heroic and nothing would bring her back from the dead. She knew from the moment when Jack steps foot in front of her and you to the path of escape. He had grown too strong and he and his crew killed many of your friends. It was then or never would his reign of terror end.

You guided her to her end. Powerless you were compared to the tanks that stood beside you but you have influence over the hearts and into the mind of many, and with your strength, you matched Demoma to all the best possible route to defeating Jack. You did well. She did well, so very well, but that did not stop your vision from getting blurry as you held her in your arms and saying goodbye for the very last time.

You have failed to guide your juniors and you have failed the Heiress. Your act to be the advisor to the last royal was all but not as it was too late in the end. You were the fault to Aphoph’s death, as he was buried alive and crushed by a ton of logs. Beewan went missing and you did not care; Soreim went crazy and you killed Katrin’s morial. You were tired, oh so tired but no sleep would have cured your heavy mind for the longest of time.

With Demoma gone, it seemed as if all hope was lost. Only five of the twelve of the players that were originally supposed to enter the Medium made into the game and from that measly five, only three of you made it close to the end. Guilt weighed heavily on you. So you hide beneath your planet’s mission. Alone, until your remaining teammates went to fetch you.

====> Japhos: Maintain Composure IN THE NOW

You are trying very hard to keep a straight face as the ruckus of the ship’s engine rattled your think pan and the little concorts running around the engine block. You have no idea what they are doing, but more than once have you catch them before they meet their fate with the whirling pumps.

“Take ●ff at f!ve !” You repeat out Soreim’s countdown to the crews working about in the room. With your connection to Soreim’s mind, you count with her exactly and you watch the consorts going crazier.

As the countdown nears its end, the room rumbles harder than before until you can bear no more and cover your ears with the palms of your hand. You can feel the intensity of the engine running its power for the takeoff. It is a stressful moment for all on board as the chance of failing was still too high and the end would be sealed, but fortunately for all, the ship has lifted off and their Life hero is on board.

All the tension on your shoulders releases with the safety of the ship and its passengers are now at ease, and like Soreim, you too want to sink down to the ground and breath easy. The consorts around you cheers and lays down around you in exhaustion. They will be okay, so you leave the engine room and head up towards Soreim, with your connection to the mind guiding you to her.