the final week

[airlockedmods]

[Eight weeks. Eight weeks of friendship and love, death and loss, hope and despair all muddled together in a cocktail that's too sweet on the tongue and leaves an acid-y pit in the stomach. With nine of them left (ten counting their dear but lone surviving host), things look darker than ever. Come Sunday morning the last of the Champions missing memories will be returned to them while they sleep. For some of them this will reveal answers, for others it might just be a fate worse than death. They could even be death.

But how does the song go? "It's always darkest before the dawn"?

There are no announcements from PAL this week. Not even morning and evening announcements.

Sunday Monday Tuesday



[ooc: Welcome to endgame, everyone! We're all very proud of you for making it all the way to the end. As you can see this is going to be a short IC week but we promise things will not be going down until this weekend (7/7-7/9). On Tuesday we'll be unveiling the OOC post for what to expect during the final investigation. There is no official AC this week, just a check-in and as mentioned above characters will be at their true canon points on Sunday morning.

Buckle up, kids, the ride's not over yet.]

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MONDAY

[airlockedmods]

[scourgingstars]

[Sunday came and went in much the same way as a Thundaga. Sudden, bright, and with a lot of ensuing chaos.]

[But all things considered, when Monday rolled around Ardyn seemed in reasonably good spirits; the occasional blank looks and general distant stares seemed mostly under control as he went to the kitchen early in the morning. It occasionally registered as strange that he had to actually eat and sleep again--memories of living so long otherwise tended to make one forget--but heaven forbid he fail to take advantage of the others' cooking.]

[For most of the afternoon, Ardyn was in the dance studio. The glass vase with its flowers was set outside the door (it seemed a waste to risk damaging it) and his black coat was left draped over the bar with Luscinia perched beside it.]

[Ardyn himself would be standing at one end of the hall, taking careful aim at an invisible target...and then throwing an ordinary pen like it was a knife or a dart. Normal enough, until the next fraction of a second when he disappeared in an outline and trail of bright red light, reappearing only a few feet away and catching the pen out of midair.]

[He'd glance back at where he'd come from every time, as though evaluating the vanishing trail left behind. Ardyn went back and forth that same way four or five throws at a time, and whenever he stopped he was out of breath but confident in whatever results he was looking for.]

Dance Studio

[goteachother]

[Queenie had come up here to collect a bottle of lavender oil from the spa. Tani had said it was his favorite and now it seemed appropriate to use it as perfume. But the flowers in the hall made her curious and then...

She smiles, watches the first couple passes he makes. Then the next time he caught the pen, before he moved to throw it once more there was a soft crack from the hallway and following not a moment later a sharper crack! directly behind him, echoing slightly in the open space and Queenie was directly behind him, plucking the pen from his hand.]

[scourgingstars]

[He was starting to run out of energy--damned power limiting, this used to be much easier--so maybe just one or two more and-]

[...the question of 'what was that noise' had only barely registered before he realized his makeshift weapon was missing, and he turned to face Queenie in slight confusion.]

My dear, I am liable to need that back. Where did you come from?

dance studio

[serrata]

[ Yuuri isn't going to be able to escape weddings this week. At least this one isn't hers but she still feels a little awkward about the whole thing. But lord above, her little sister is getting married today apparently and she's going to make damn well sure she looks the part of the beautiful blushing bride.

She's actually on her way to the spa when she spots the flowers sitting outside the dance studio and pauses, giving them a little frown. Those had never been moved outside, had they? So she peeks inside to see what manner of fuckery is going on today. She's half expecting to see Church lube-skating again so when she sees Ardyn it's a bit of a-- WHOA, OKAY, THERE HE GOES. ]

Wh-- so that's warp-striking?

[ YOU DIDN'T TELL HER IT LOOKED AS COOL AS IT SOUNDED ]

[scourgingstars]

Less 'striking' and more just warping. But the difference is a matter of semantics.

[He tossed the pen to himself with a worn out but confident smirk, flipping it in the air and catching it again.]

Junpei didn't show you while he could? What a wasted opportunity.

[motherfucking_ghost]

[Church is much more out and about today, at least compared to the chaos of yesterday (and the chaos of the day before that). His head is clearer--not clear, but clearer, and he doesn't look like he's ready to murder.

So naturally his piss-poor sense of timing has to come back in full swing. There is a moment when he knows someone is in the dance hall and moves through the door to greet them, a moment when Ardyn has already let go of the pen that, should it complete its trajectory, would whiz past his ear, and a moment when what was Ardyn becomes an afterimage of magenta and then Ardyn reconstitutes right into him.

Congrats on a successful warp strike?]

[scourgingstars]

[DAMAGE x1.5]

[Or it would have been, were that an actual weapon and not a damn pen.]

[Ardyn himself snapped back into existence in the manner he'd least expected, colliding directly with Church and sending them both crashing to the floor in a tangled mess. Once he was over the brief moment of being stunned and set aside the combat instinct that briefly showed itself, Ardyn spoke up in confusion:]

Where did you come from-?! [Ardyn propped himself up on one hand, all concern and a little annoyance with a magenta aura leaving him like the rising embers of an extinguished fire.]

I'm sorry--are you hurt?

[This could not get more shojo anime.]

Dance Studio

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Oh my what is this poofing lightshow nonsense. Junpei pokes his head into the studio.]

Oooh, so that still works. Good to know, good to know.

[Someone may or may not be sustaining himself these days with vivid imaginings of how to systematically raze this place to earth. Or, well, not-earth. Considering.]

Just you, or can you do the thing like you could with your army? Asking for a friend. The friend is me.

[scourgingstars]

I think it's just me. I can barely manage more than a few feet at a time, right now.

Of course, you'll be the first to know if that should change.

WEDDING CATCH-ALL

[desperateprayer]

[ By evening, the garden is done up real nice. Some chairs have been dragged out, so those who aren't actively participating can sit, and they're set up so that the couple can get wed an improvised flower arch--courtesy of Nari. The pigeons are cooing in the background, as if trying to decide what would be an appropriate song for this event. There are bluebell flames set up around the garden to give it a lovely glow.

In the karaoke bar, there is food set out, ready to be eaten as soon as the ceremony is over. Included in this is a lovely wedding cake. There's also a bottle of Yatski Lopera on one of the tables--the one that seems to be for the brides. Again, there are bluebell flames at the tables, and there's small bouquets in bowls to give it a more formal air.

All that's being waited on are the brides and guests to arrive.

Before the wedding, Clarith can be found in Cece's room getting ready. Arianna has been taken off by Yuuri to get ready. ]

Cece's Room

[desperateprayer]

[ This plan backfired. What the fuck. She's not sure what is even going on anymore, but apparently she's getting married. This is a ride. She's breathing, but it's a whirl of emotion. She's trusting Cece to take care of her. ]

[theundertaker]

[Cece is more than happy to take care of her. While Clarith is a whirl of emotion, Cece is a whirl of activity as she whips from Clarith to her closet with accessories in between adding small touches of make-up to her face.]

Blue, blue, blue, I have to have something blue in here.

[Blue goes best with red and white after all.]

[goteachother]

[When Queenie ducks into the room she has a stack of papers with her, graphite smeared up to her wrists and a little smudge on her cheek where she'd brushed her hair back.]

Alright, Clarith, sweetie? I know most of your dresses are A-lines but that's not a style thing it's a simplicity thing....

How d'ya feel about a sheath dress? [And she flashes a grin over at Cece. Help with the convincing, honey.]

Yuuri's Room

[daughterofthemark]

[ALKSFJASKL;FJ;ASLKFJAS;FKLJASFKL;JAS;FKLAJSFKL;SJAFKL;ASF

It's not that she doesn't want to marry Clarith, she does, she is 897% okay with that, she even definitely wants to do it right now (which is one reason she hasn't recognized the irony here), but EVERYTHING IS HAPPENING SO MUCH]

[serrata]

See how you like it, you little menace.

[ But Yuuri doesn't sound even the slightest bit mad. She's got Arianna sat at her dresser in front of the mirror and she's carefully brushing all that long, thick hair, making sure it's smooth and neat before she starts doing the real work. With all those flowers she's got in the mixing bowl sat on the desk. ]

How are you feeling? Nervous?

[goteachother]

Ariaaaannaaaaa~~

[Queenie's practically vibrating with excitement. She's got a pile of papers with her and has clearly spent most of the early morning sketching out dress elements for them. She tucks one stack out of the way though, no peaking!

And fans out a few different A line and ballgown ideas right away.]

I have so many ideas!

[shikosuki]

[ Choromatsu has been such an emotional wreck the past few days (different emotions different days) that he never checked the dumbwaiter in his room. Today though he finally goes and checks, first feeling ecstatic because of his CD player... then being overcome with horror at what was underneath everything else.

Fuck.

Well. He's a man of his word. So for the entire day, Choromatsu is dressed only in the green version of this lingerie and the green armwarmers he got last week to cover his scars. He's... taking it well at least. Acting like absolutely nothing is off and he's just wearing what he's always worn. Absolutely nothing weird or embarrassing about this! Though maybe the deadpan, resigned expression he sometimes has says everything on its own.

He can be found in the dining room in the morning, snacking on breakfast, listening to his CD player with his headphones on and working on something. It looks like he's... braiding ribbon together?

Later in the day though he's in the tattoo parlor, looking around thoughtfully. ]

Dining room

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei walks out of the kitchen and immediately spits out his soda everywhere and starts coughing and dying.

DING DONG, A BODY HAS BEEN DISCOVERED.]

[shikosuki]

[ He hears the commotion even over his music, so he stops what he's doing, takes his headphones off and turns to look at Junpei. ]

Uh. Are you okay?

Dining room

[goteachother]

[There's a high pitched squeal, muffled by hands and headphones and she really hopes he didn't notice that. Because a moment later she is leaning over the back of his chair, arms draped over his shoulders, crossing over his chest, one finger tracing the lacy edge of the top.]

This is adorable.

[shikosuki]

[ Choromatsu doesn't notice thankfully, too absorbed in finally hearing Nyaa-chan again and focused on what he's doing. He definitely notices when her arms come around him though, and the music isn't so high that he can't hear her once she's so close.

Immediately his face turns beet red and every hair on his body stands on end. He practically rips the headphones off in his panic. ]

Q-Q-Q-Q-Queenie!?!?

Dining Room

[serrata]

[ she just wanted some breakfast. that was all. just a nice breakfast after the goddamn rollercoaster this week has been.

and of course, she nearly drops the entire thing when she comes out of the kitchen and spots him. IS.... IS THAT...??? ]

WH-WH-WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!

[shikosuki]

...Same place you got yours?

[motherfucking_ghost]

[At some point, Church sees Choro in the lingerie, and then immediately walks back out.

And later? Guess what, Church is also wearing the lingerie, just blue-tinted. Because fuck it, might the hell as well.]