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.]

Comments

[goteachother]

I'm sure you will, honey.

[A smile, offering the pen back with one hand, the other skimming down his arm, casual touches, overflowing affection at all times.]

I told ya, I can do somethin like that too with my wand and well- [Oh lookie, wand~]

[scourgingstars]

[He took the pen back with a light smirk, twirling it in one hand before returning it to an inside pocket of his vest.]

Is that what that sound was?

[goteachother]

Mmmhmm... sure was.

Not the easiest thing ta hide but most no-maj's in the city don' think nothin of it.

[scourgingstars]

It sounded easy enough to pass off as an engine backfiring, so I can't imagine it would draw much attention in a larger city.

[goteachother]

[She tilts her head, stares at him for a moment and then-]

oh! Automobiles! Yes, certainly. They do make an awful racket don't they?

[scourgingstars]

[there are like eight varying levels of temporal hijinks going on here]

I found mine more than reliable, but there's always someone a bit less fortunate.

[goteachother]

They're real new in my time... Leonard says they get better, though?

Sooo... do ya always have to follow something to warp? Doesn't that tell yer enemy where you're going?

[scourgingstars]

They did improve significantly over time, at least in my world.

[A shrug.]

I do, but more often it's a sword I'm throwing. Bit more dangerous for an enemy than a pen, and it's not all that easy to catch me in the process.

[goteachother]

Hmmm.... wonder which one's faster?

Wanna see?

[scourgingstars]

...That does actually sound interesting.

[goteachother]

[She grins and steps back so she's just in front of the back wall.]

Can you do the full length of the room? Here to the door?

[scourgingstars]

Hm...like this, I think that may be pushing the limits of what I'm capable of. But that's hardly any reason not to try.

[goteachother]

[Excited squeal and- she readies her wand.]

Tha's the spirit! C'mon.

[scourgingstars]

Very well. [He took out the pen again and tossed it to himself a couple of times.]

Would you care to give us a countdown?

[goteachother]

Mmm... [She's practically bouncing in her stylish heels with excitement.]

One...

Twooooo~


GO!

CRACK!!

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn threw the pen clear across the room, disappearing in the same outline and red trail. If the difference in time was anything a human could measure, he reappeared barely a fraction of an instant behind her, bracing his hand on the wall just slightly out of breath.]

[Dammit, out of MP again.]

...I couldn't tell which of us got here first. [With a slight laugh, he called to the bird still perched near his coat.] I don't suppose you saw otherwise, Luscinia?

[To which she simply ruffled her feathers and refused to call it either way. On account of being a pigeon.]

Traitor. And here I thought she'd side with me.

[goteachother]

[She grins at him, glances around for the camera and cocks a brow. She certainly knew someone who could tell them but she was also pretty sure PAL would side with her.]

It was a good effort either way. And look how far you came!

[She leans against the wall beside him, puts her hand on his arm again, smiling encouragingly.]

If you do shorter distances is it easier?

[scourgingstars]

[everyone is against him, geez it's like he's an awful person or something]

Usually, yes. It's generally taking more energy than it should to travel farther than a mere several feet--I came here to practice and see if I could get a better idea of what level I was dealing with. [Ardyn glanced back the trail and afterimage already having vanished.]

That's nowhere near what I should be capable of, but it wasn't a complete disappointment.

[goteachother]

I suppose that means playing tag is out of the question, hmm?

[Because she wants to, gosh she wants to. Anything to use her magic again. She's been cut off from so many of her abilities for so long.

She's afraid to do too much at once, just slowly easing up to bigger and bigger spells.]

Pity.

[scourgingstars]

Another time, perhaps. Once I've a better handle on this.

[goteachother]

Mmm... probably fer the best. I have dresses to make and you have a wedding to do

[scourgingstars]

[Ardyn laughed to himself, dropping to sit down with his back to the wall.]

We'll see about that once we get out of here. I'd have to remember how to even officiate one in the first place, it's been a very long time. The last wedding I attended was...

[Trailing off like he'd forgotten where that sentence was going to end, Ardyn brought a hand to his head. He could focus enough to try and keep himself out of his own memories, for now. They were both here, Queenie was alive, they were getting through this somehow.]

...n-never mind that, right now.

[goteachother]

[He drifts and she simply reaches out, touches his cheek, light but hopefully grounding. If he didn't wear so much damn clothing she'd do something a little less intimate than touching his face but she wants the skin to skin contact. Warm and gentle.

Her smile never falters, she doesn't say anything, doesn't call him out on it or ask questions. She just waits for him to come back and gently steers the conversation away from what was apparently a bad memory.]

It's awful romantic, though. Arianna and Clarith they deserve it. I can't understand why Yuuri and Junpei are so opposed to it though.

[scourgingstars]

I suppose they just want to handle matters on their own terms. [He smiled faintly without questioning the touch. Physical affection seemed like Queenie's favored language, even if it was one Ardyn was trying to get used to.]

...Short as human lives may be, they'll have an abundance of time to determine what to do once we're out of this place.

[goteachother]

[She can't help it, she's a very tactile person. She's lost most of her personal boundaries a long time ago.]

I s'pose I just don't see the point in waiting? And they're acting like they hardly know each other. They've been swooning over each other since the first week we got here, goodness.