[ it would be so much easier to embrace this. you would be with them - the pontiff and crick, at least. you would be able to rest, because aren't you so tired? tired of the deep, yawning loneliness? tired from all these years and the burdens that you've carried? isn't it enough? isn't it enough to just be with them.
it's always been too little, too late.
a hand, in the darkness, as the weight causes his vision to darken at the edges. a smile, soft and familiar, that has never changed in all the years since it first smiled down upon him as a wee babe in a basinet.
May the Sacred Flame ever illuminate your path through the darkness.
the blood loss, the shock from the pain, the way that you can't breathe - gods, it's all probably a hallucination.
but as you rise again, so, too, does the spark of a flame. ]
[ oh he is HALLUCINATING hallucinating. well that's fine. it's probably the pollen? he will think about this later when he's not almost dying
it could be aelfric the flamebringer, couldn't it? it could also be the pontiff. man and god, god through man. his wrinkled, soft palms, the way he stood beside temenos in the catacombs underneath the church, as they talked through roi's disappearance. the look on his face when he anointed temenos as the newest inquisitor, somewhere between sorrow and fierce pride. it could be roi, too, roi who held his hand when he cried, roi who was the paragon of everything godly and good. love, too. the love of a family that he's lost, the love of a family that he has to carry on for.
(the love of a sister, who may be more of a sister than he really knows.)
temenos can't use a divine effulgence - not here, not now. he's going to have to heal if they want to get out of this and back to the ship at all, so instead, temenos channels his energy into igniting that spark into a holy light spell. let the smite come from the heavens. let it pierce through the vines.
holy light, illuminate the darkness. ]
Edited (edits this for the fortieth time im sorry if you tracked the post ) 2024-03-07 16:46 (UTC)
[ as a sudden wave of energy ripples through in a blast, the vines convulse. it doesn't really do temenos much good that they start to flail and whip around, but at least they're not trying to actively crush him or tear him apart any longer.
and the holy light does just what it's meant to, the overgrowth's outer layer sloughing off, turning into ash, joining the pollen and spores in the air as the vines atop him (and the one still gouged through him) are absolutely incinerated.
this time, the voice is more - concrete. a single person, uniform, as the energy that rippled through the area turns into warmth. the smile had matured over the years, but it always remained the same in the end, until you never saw it again, with no answers for what darkness had taken it.
Time to get up. You can't exactly sleep in, this time. ]
[ the pressure relief is unbelievable - this is why you fight in teams. one of them must have gotten to the heartseed. (owner, maybe? kazuki? he hopes.) he gasps, choking on the air that floods into his lungs, and reaches down to grab at his stomach where the vine was. hmm. extra hole! unfortunate. maybe he shouldn't have incinerated that one.
oh well. with 1hp remaining, he starts to try and push himself up to his good knee, but the voice stops him in his tracks, again. maybe - well, he's definitely hallucinating.
(when temenos heard roi mistral's voice last, it was terrified. The church has secrets, Temenos. Extraordinary, terrible secrets. he hears it in his dreams, when he relives the night he disappeared. he hears it in his waking thoughts, every day, as he tracked down the conspiracy and pulled it apart, as he found the secrets and exposed them to the light. there's never been any closure. never any relief. there's no grave for his bones. there's no rest for his soul.)
he lets out a noise. soft, wet, a choked, bloody laugh. this is impossible. why would he do anything but doubt it?
but it's right, is the thing. he has to get up. he reaches for another weak heal, just enough so he doesn't immediately keel over from blood loss - gotta save the rest - and uses the staff of judgement to push himself to his feet. to try and bring his wits around him - to look around. ]
I'm up. [ he says, raspy and soft. "Must I do morning services? You're so much better at them, Roi. Like the sun itself."
[ the voice doesn't come again, but there's a bolstering warmth that courses through your body and fans the sacred flame that trembles so perilously in your chest. two hands, cupping around it to protect it. four hands. six hands.
eight.
you can get up to your feet, as miserable a sensation as that is. you have enough mana that you could heal yourself, at least enough that you aren't bleeding out - and you can taste the blood in your mouth, know it's surely pooling a little from your chin into your helmet - but everything has become so terribly quiet and calm, now.
with a final death rattle, in a way, the vines have gone still. the ship is lowering with just a touch of unsteadiness to land near where one of the tunnels has collapsed, and adrastea's figure can be seen jumping out of the open doorway before it even hits the ground.
[ eight gods, but more importantly - eight travelers. that's what really matters. maybe the final hand is not his own, but roi's, steadying. guiding. leading him to his purpose, leading him to uncover the truth. supporting each other and guiding each other, like they've done since their journey started. in some regards, it's almost a relief when he doesn't hear roi again, as he takes his staff and digs it into the ground, using it like a walking stick, taking stock of what's left and acclimating himself to reality. okay.
the sight of adrastea is a relief, too, even at a distance. there it is - exit. salvation, and hopefully, they are with kazuki, too.
that leaves... where are todomatsu and owner? that's next. he looks up, head turning from side to side, trying to spot the two of them. he got dragged away from todomatsu, and owner - owner was going deeper into the garden, it was the last thing he saw. where are they? time to triage. time to help.
before that, though. are the vines like dead dead or are they twitching. because if one of them is twitching he's going to whack it with his magic steal rod even if it makes him almost fall over. spit out my sp you stupid plant ]
[ todomatsu can be seen hobbling along, making his way towards the collapsed tunnel and the ship that has finally, finally been able to land safely with the wild winds and the vines lashing out everywhere. owner, however, is nowhere to be seen. you remember with your keen inquisitor mind, because we do actually have to go get his stupid ass, that he went tearing off deeper into the gardens. maybe that's where the sudden pulse came from?
anyways no, the vines can be a little bit dead so you can whack them one more time for some more sp. ]
alright. well. instead of going towards the ship like a smart person (20 int?) temenos is not doing that. instead, he is dragging himself towards the center of the garden, towards where he saw owner go running off before shit went sideways. please gods lets hope that owner is not a mile away. he does, at least, have the forethought to mutter: ]
... Owner. I'm... going to find him.
[ into the earpiece. adrastea can probably drive back over here once the normies have been rescued, right ]
there's a beat, before adrastea's un-autotuned voice sighs in temenos' ear: ] Gods, at least I know where three of you are.
[ and that's that! you are hobbling off into the void of the gardens, bleeding out, leg in need of a further heal that will probably have to wait until you all get back.
it's not a mile, probably, but after a little ways temenos gets to just find a severed arm and a crimson red sleeve. so that's progress, at least? ]
[ CAN I GET A WEEK WHERE I DON'T FIND BODY PARTS? JUST ONE?
anyway this is terrible. he is not even remotely thinking about his own blood that he is leaving a horrible trail of right now, focused instead on his slow going journey to get to owner. he looks at the arm.
...
he keeps walking. sorry bro i can't do anything about that one for you
to adrastea: ]
I'll...update you shortly. [ hghk. okay. any blood trails to follow? more body parts? ]
[ :cleric_standing: what does he look like, an apothecary?
adrastea is silent for a little while longer, save for softly talking to kazuki since they don't turn off their feed. but they do eventually respond to him again: ] Just tell me where you are when you stop.
[ temenos gets to keep walking, or a facsimile of it given his current condition. none of the vines do much more than twitch under his feet or the sharp point of his staff, and then...
then, he gets to see the bloodied mass of vines tangled together with a single piece of red fabric sticking out like a bookmark. ]
-- Owner! [ thankfully at least there's adrenaline in there so he can move faster, stumbling over his own injuries and practically flinging himself at the bloodied vines. he's got -- a knife, a little pocket knife? that's better than nothing.
CUTTING AWAY AT THESE VINES - does it look like. safe to. is there anything to do. he does use his brain. ]
The - deeper in the garden, turn... ship around. Ngh. [ HOW BAD DID HE GET SMUSHED ]
[ he got smushed so bad, temenos. and contorted and torn into by the vines, warping his body into something deeply wrong, to the point that perhaps bones were exposed -
at least, you can't help but think that when you finally find him after cutting away and tearing into the vines. they come away, slack, and owner's dead form slumps out in the embrace of a headless skeleton. in his remaining hand is a crushed flower, yellow petals limp and oozing what looks like pus.
[ yeah that's. that's about what he was expecting. it doesn't matter that owner is tiny, but when he slumps out being cuddled by the skeleton, temenos absolutely cannot hold them up so they're all hitting the ground.
however. that's not actually the worst thing in the world if only because he can get him laid out. wounds are - bad, the arm is a lost cause, he's unmoving, dead. okay. he looks up to check if the ship is on its way or heading that way eventually, and then feels around internally for his sacred flame once more. the mana situation is bad. but... with enough planning, now, he should be able to at least...
okay.
he closes his eyes and sets his staff down. fingers lacing together into a prayer, he releases his own injuries and starts to focus. this is going to eat so much of his remaining energy, but it's worth it. sorry, owner - you don't get to die today. ]
temenos gets to witness the fluttering of eyes, and they open fully, and owner is alive. he breathes. he's in pain, because there's still so much broken and oozing and falling apart, but he's alive. and that's all he really needs.
temenos gets to witness something else as well, but this time, it is something much less pleasant. it's watching a body reform, skin getting reattached, the sound of bones snapping back together in place and reforming. every now and then, there are extra eyes and mouths appearing and forming onto his skin, but then they disappear, and then reappear in a new spot, and vanish again. it is, genuinely, horrifying and nauseating to watch occur, something akin to watching a horror movie but worse.
the wounds aren't really healed, and the arm is still missing, but owner manages to stitch together his parts enough that he won't immediately drop dead right after temenos brought the life back into his body. it's enough, for owner to be able to look around and see where they are, and see temenos, and then just
unfortunately this is not that weird for him. this is the first time he's ever seen it reform in reverse, kind of, but people sprouting horrifying body horror additions is just another day in the life of an octopath traveler. he is tense when it first starts, worried, ready to take some kind of action (just in case it happens the way it happens at home) but temenos, perhaps to his credit, he keeps his perfectly calm and placid expression firmly in place when his eyes open. the vibe of Hm. Interesting!
thankfully, though, the revive takes fine. owner laughs, and - he can't help it, letting out a ragged one of his own, shoulders sagging in relief. ]
Bravo, Owner. It seems you've saved us all. Have you considered gardening?
[ is this the time for jokes
but it is genuine, as temenos looks at the stupid flower and his bloodied arm and then back towards where todomatsu and kazuki and the ship are. his other hand goes back to staunch the bleeding on his stomach, and he just kind of gives up. ]
Try not to move, hmm? I only...have enough left to heal once, and I don't know what shape everyone else is in.
[ here comes the craft... it's a soft, whirring sound that announces its arrival, a little banged up on the outside but still good to fly. the gangplank begins to lower, extend, and then adrastea's unhelmeted head pokes out. her eyes aren't bleeding anymore, fortunately, but the wetware is still having trouble focusing - one of the eyes is dimmer than the other, while the other's intake where the pupil would be has dilated so wide it takes up the entire eye while it sparks a little. ]
... gods, alright. Neither of you is going to die if I pick you up, are you?
[ she at least waits until the ship has touched down, this time, to get out. but she will come to assist you two losers. ]
Kazuki and Todomatsu are on board. Let's get you all in one place and out of here before something else happens.
[ thankfully he is not out of it enough to not be able to realize this is adrastea. he will lift a hand in greeting when she arrives, and will thankfully not fucking die when she helps him onto the craft. his one good arm does clutch onto the bones rather tightly though, so it will be the awkward shuffle of helping him with that in the way.
in his actual hand, though, is the heartseed. owner releases his grip enough to show it off to her. ]
[ ghk. temenos is up, too, using his staff like a crutch - his other arm is around his middle, holding the last remains of a vine in a Hole so it doesn't come unplugged. this is fine. everything is fine! adrastea gets a tired smile, and when they get to the craft, he lifts his staff up and murmurs: ]
I deliver unto you a miracle. [ one more time. it's the very last bit of his magic, before they leave this godforsaken planet - one more heal. it's not very strong i would never steal your injuries from you but it is enough to ease some of the pain and get everyone stabilized enough to not fucking die. 1hp remaining as a team. we did it.
with that, he's dropping into a chair, eyes closed. goodbye. ]
[ she just kind of looks at the bones that owner has refused to let go of, decides that she doesn't care enough to ask right now, and instead helps get him on board the ship to his seat with the other two. ]
Mission accomplished. This was a mess, but at least we got that taken care of - the energy blast from whatever you did messed up some of the ship controls and my wetware, but cleared up the spatial disruption.
[ down he goes... and then adrastea fetches temenos, helping grandpa hobble up the gangplank while pressing a gloved hand over his to help stem the bleeding. ]
You really went running off like this. [ still, she stops when he does the group heal, and then - up he gets, into his seat, for his well-earned nap. ] We don't have a complete recharge for a full jump, but it's enough. We'll leave the planet's radius and then I'll activate the lightspeed jump.
Rest, for now. I'll get you back.
[ congratulations on your successful mission! this is, believe it or not, a golden ending. you only get your trauma, your injuries (healed enough that you don't die on the way back, to your preference), any non-weapon gear that you managed to keep your hands on, your fancy fits (as recked as they are), and your newfound bonds after having failed a stealth mission, but... well, you succeeded at what needed to be done, and you didn't succumb to the Hanging Gardens.
up until the beginning of trial, you'll find yourselves having brief coughing fits and spells of exhaustion as the pollen and spores work their way out of your systems. minor hallucinations will also come and go, both auditory and visual, but they're not unpleasant ones and instead leave you feeling overall warm for having experienced them.
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no subject
it's always been too little, too late.
a hand, in the darkness, as the weight causes his vision to darken at the edges. a smile, soft and familiar, that has never changed in all the years since it first smiled down upon him as a wee babe in a basinet.
May the Sacred Flame ever illuminate your path through the darkness.
the blood loss, the shock from the pain, the way that you can't breathe - gods, it's all probably a hallucination.
but as you rise again, so, too, does the spark of a flame. ]
no subject
it could be aelfric the flamebringer, couldn't it? it could also be the pontiff. man and god, god through man. his wrinkled, soft palms, the way he stood beside temenos in the catacombs underneath the church, as they talked through roi's disappearance. the look on his face when he anointed temenos as the newest inquisitor, somewhere between sorrow and fierce pride. it could be roi, too, roi who held his hand when he cried, roi who was the paragon of everything godly and good. love, too. the love of a family that he's lost, the love of a family that he has to carry on for.
(the love of a sister, who may be more of a sister than he really knows.)
temenos can't use a divine effulgence - not here, not now. he's going to have to heal if they want to get out of this and back to the ship at all, so instead, temenos channels his energy into igniting that spark into a holy light spell. let the smite come from the heavens. let it pierce through the vines.
holy light, illuminate the darkness. ]
no subject
and the holy light does just what it's meant to, the overgrowth's outer layer sloughing off, turning into ash, joining the pollen and spores in the air as the vines atop him (and the one still gouged through him) are absolutely incinerated.
this time, the voice is more - concrete. a single person, uniform, as the energy that rippled through the area turns into warmth. the smile had matured over the years, but it always remained the same in the end, until you never saw it again, with no answers for what darkness had taken it.
Time to get up. You can't exactly sleep in, this time. ]
no subject
oh well. with 1hp remaining, he starts to try and push himself up to his good knee, but the voice stops him in his tracks, again. maybe - well, he's definitely hallucinating.
(when temenos heard roi mistral's voice last, it was terrified. The church has secrets, Temenos. Extraordinary, terrible secrets. he hears it in his dreams, when he relives the night he disappeared. he hears it in his waking thoughts, every day, as he tracked down the conspiracy and pulled it apart, as he found the secrets and exposed them to the light. there's never been any closure. never any relief. there's no grave for his bones. there's no rest for his soul.)
he lets out a noise. soft, wet, a choked, bloody laugh. this is impossible. why would he do anything but doubt it?
but it's right, is the thing. he has to get up. he reaches for another weak heal, just enough so he doesn't immediately keel over from blood loss - gotta save the rest - and uses the staff of judgement to push himself to his feet. to try and bring his wits around him - to look around. ]
I'm up. [ he says, raspy and soft. "Must I do morning services? You're so much better at them, Roi. Like the sun itself."
you were always so much better than me. ] Enough.
no subject
eight.
you can get up to your feet, as miserable a sensation as that is. you have enough mana that you could heal yourself, at least enough that you aren't bleeding out - and you can taste the blood in your mouth, know it's surely pooling a little from your chin into your helmet - but everything has become so terribly quiet and calm, now.
with a final death rattle, in a way, the vines have gone still. the ship is lowering with just a touch of unsteadiness to land near where one of the tunnels has collapsed, and adrastea's figure can be seen jumping out of the open doorway before it even hits the ground.
you're enough. ]
no subject
the sight of adrastea is a relief, too, even at a distance. there it is - exit. salvation, and hopefully, they are with kazuki, too.
that leaves... where are todomatsu and owner? that's next. he looks up, head turning from side to side, trying to spot the two of them. he got dragged away from todomatsu, and owner - owner was going deeper into the garden, it was the last thing he saw. where are they? time to triage. time to help.
before that, though. are the vines like dead dead or are they twitching. because if one of them is twitching he's going to whack it with his magic steal rod even if it makes him almost fall over. spit out my sp you stupid plant ]
no subject
anyways no, the vines can be a little bit dead so you can whack them one more time for some more sp. ]
no subject
alright. well. instead of going towards the ship like a smart person (20 int?) temenos is not doing that. instead, he is dragging himself towards the center of the garden, towards where he saw owner go running off before shit went sideways. please gods lets hope that owner is not a mile away. he does, at least, have the forethought to mutter: ]
... Owner. I'm... going to find him.
[ into the earpiece. adrastea can probably drive back over here once the normies have been rescued, right ]
no subject
there's a beat, before adrastea's un-autotuned voice sighs in temenos' ear: ] Gods, at least I know where three of you are.
[ and that's that! you are hobbling off into the void of the gardens, bleeding out, leg in need of a further heal that will probably have to wait until you all get back.
it's not a mile, probably, but after a little ways temenos gets to just find a severed arm and a crimson red sleeve. so that's progress, at least? ]
no subject
anyway this is terrible. he is not even remotely thinking about his own blood that he is leaving a horrible trail of right now, focused instead on his slow going journey to get to owner. he looks at the arm.
...
he keeps walking. sorry bro i can't do anything about that one for you
to adrastea: ]
I'll...update you shortly. [ hghk. okay. any blood trails to follow? more body parts? ]
no subject
adrastea is silent for a little while longer, save for softly talking to kazuki since they don't turn off their feed. but they do eventually respond to him again: ] Just tell me where you are when you stop.
[ temenos gets to keep walking, or a facsimile of it given his current condition. none of the vines do much more than twitch under his feet or the sharp point of his staff, and then...
then, he gets to see the bloodied mass of vines tangled together with a single piece of red fabric sticking out like a bookmark. ]
no subject
-- Owner! [ thankfully at least there's adrenaline in there so he can move faster, stumbling over his own injuries and practically flinging himself at the bloodied vines. he's got -- a knife, a little pocket knife? that's better than nothing.
CUTTING AWAY AT THESE VINES - does it look like. safe to. is there anything to do. he does use his brain. ]
The - deeper in the garden, turn... ship around. Ngh. [ HOW BAD DID HE GET SMUSHED ]
no subject
at least, you can't help but think that when you finally find him after cutting away and tearing into the vines. they come away, slack, and owner's dead form slumps out in the embrace of a headless skeleton. in his remaining hand is a crushed flower, yellow petals limp and oozing what looks like pus.
hm. okay then. what's the plan? ]
no subject
however. that's not actually the worst thing in the world if only because he can get him laid out. wounds are - bad, the arm is a lost cause, he's unmoving, dead. okay. he looks up to check if the ship is on its way or heading that way eventually, and then feels around internally for his sacred flame once more. the mana situation is bad. but... with enough planning, now, he should be able to at least...
okay.
he closes his eyes and sets his staff down. fingers lacing together into a prayer, he releases his own injuries and starts to focus. this is going to eat so much of his remaining energy, but it's worth it. sorry, owner - you don't get to die today. ]
I deliver unto you... a miracle.
[ revive. ]
no subject
temenos gets to witness the fluttering of eyes, and they open fully, and owner is alive. he breathes. he's in pain, because there's still so much broken and oozing and falling apart, but he's alive. and that's all he really needs.
temenos gets to witness something else as well, but this time, it is something much less pleasant. it's watching a body reform, skin getting reattached, the sound of bones snapping back together in place and reforming. every now and then, there are extra eyes and mouths appearing and forming onto his skin, but then they disappear, and then reappear in a new spot, and vanish again. it is, genuinely, horrifying and nauseating to watch occur, something akin to watching a horror movie but worse.
the wounds aren't really healed, and the arm is still missing, but owner manages to stitch together his parts enough that he won't immediately drop dead right after temenos brought the life back into his body. it's enough, for owner to be able to look around and see where they are, and see temenos, and then just
laugh. hysterically. ]
Temenos-sama! Hello!
no subject
unfortunately this is not that weird for him. this is the first time he's ever seen it reform in reverse, kind of, but people sprouting horrifying body horror additions is just another day in the life of an octopath traveler. he is tense when it first starts, worried, ready to take some kind of action (just in case it happens the way it happens at home) but temenos, perhaps to his credit, he keeps his perfectly calm and placid expression firmly in place when his eyes open. the vibe of Hm. Interesting!
thankfully, though, the revive takes fine. owner laughs, and - he can't help it, letting out a ragged one of his own, shoulders sagging in relief. ]
Bravo, Owner. It seems you've saved us all. Have you considered gardening?
[ is this the time for jokes
but it is genuine, as temenos looks at the stupid flower and his bloodied arm and then back towards where todomatsu and kazuki and the ship are. his other hand goes back to staunch the bleeding on his stomach, and he just kind of gives up. ]
Try not to move, hmm? I only...have enough left to heal once, and I don't know what shape everyone else is in.
no subject
[ yeah he's just going to lay on this ground until the ship comes there's not much else to do ]
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mood
he's just dropping down next to owner. goodbye. ]
no subject
[ she at least waits until the ship has touched down, this time, to get out. but she will come to assist you two losers. ]
Kazuki and Todomatsu are on board. Let's get you all in one place and out of here before something else happens.
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[ thankfully he is not out of it enough to not be able to realize this is adrastea. he will lift a hand in greeting when she arrives, and will thankfully not fucking die when she helps him onto the craft. his one good arm does clutch onto the bones rather tightly though, so it will be the awkward shuffle of helping him with that in the way.
in his actual hand, though, is the heartseed. owner releases his grip enough to show it off to her. ]
Mission accomplished.
no subject
[ ghk. temenos is up, too, using his staff like a crutch - his other arm is around his middle, holding the last remains of a vine in a Hole so it doesn't come unplugged. this is fine. everything is fine! adrastea gets a tired smile, and when they get to the craft, he lifts his staff up and murmurs: ]
I deliver unto you a miracle. [ one more time. it's the very last bit of his magic, before they leave this godforsaken planet - one more heal. it's not very strong i would never steal your injuries from you but it is enough to ease some of the pain and get everyone stabilized enough to not fucking die. 1hp remaining as a team. we did it.
with that, he's dropping into a chair, eyes closed. goodbye. ]
no subject
Mission accomplished. This was a mess, but at least we got that taken care of - the energy blast from whatever you did messed up some of the ship controls and my wetware, but cleared up the spatial disruption.
[ down he goes... and then adrastea fetches temenos, helping grandpa hobble up the gangplank while pressing a gloved hand over his to help stem the bleeding. ]
You really went running off like this. [ still, she stops when he does the group heal, and then - up he gets, into his seat, for his well-earned nap. ] We don't have a complete recharge for a full jump, but it's enough. We'll leave the planet's radius and then I'll activate the lightspeed jump.
Rest, for now. I'll get you back.
[ congratulations on your successful mission! this is, believe it or not, a golden ending. you only get your trauma, your injuries (healed enough that you don't die on the way back, to your preference), any non-weapon gear that you managed to keep your hands on, your fancy fits (as recked as they are), and your newfound bonds after having failed a stealth mission, but... well, you succeeded at what needed to be done, and you didn't succumb to the Hanging Gardens.
up until the beginning of trial, you'll find yourselves having brief coughing fits and spells of exhaustion as the pollen and spores work their way out of your systems. minor hallucinations will also come and go, both auditory and visual, but they're not unpleasant ones and instead leave you feeling overall warm for having experienced them.
good job! ]