To those who fear to cast their eyes to the heavens...Behold

[shadowsincryo]

WHO: Kaeya, Percy, Vax, Alex, Setsu, Fabian, Gorgug, and open.
WHAT: Having a bad time during the event.
WHEN: Time is pretty subjective. This is a monthly catch all.
WHERE: All over Etraya
CONTENT WARNINGS: Psychological horror, hallucinations, paranoia, body horror, cosmic horror, wrecked civs, reality warping, altered perception.



All threads will have their individual warnings on their collapsed formatting. If you want a custom prompt, hit me here or pm. We can work out an idea within this genre.

Comments

[twin_blade]

[ The campfire is clearly in sight now. They're so close to their dest---did Kaeya just call his wings pretty? If he had time, Vas might blush and brush that off, but then there's a sudden lurch in his step as Vax staggers. Embedded in his armor is the script of an ancient language of runes, sketched in paths over and around the leather breastplate and his arm guards. Those runes suddenly begin to glow bright gold. Brighter than his wings when they transformed. There's also a faint hum, like a deep thrumming coming from them.

Confused, Vax gasps, then sucks in a sharp breath as he feels the power begin to pulse through him. His eyes shut tight, and his hand clutches at his chest. What is this? This has never happened before. When they open, his eyes are glowing the same golden light, and when he exhales, he breathes out a name. ]

Haah--Alex...

[ Suddenly, he remembers speaking to Alex before the evening of the fog's arrival. She said she had the power to charge magical objects. Vax thought, sure, why the hell not? She told him it would probably only last for a single discharge. He said to her, Sometimes, all you need is one good shot.

The glowing pulse spreads into his black raven wings, touching every feather right to the tips. Coming down the street, he can hear the rampaging horde. Among them, the dead with their decayed tethers, latching them to the living world, waiting to be cut.

Vax looks suddenly at Kaeya. ]

Stand behind me. Whatever you do, don't come too close.

[shadowsincryo]

[He went from blank to briefly supporting Vax when he stumbles. What. Even with his abilities locked up he can tell something is happening. Anything that causes a glow and a hum is-] - hey, are you-

[His thoughts clear again as a name breaks the air. Ah. That explains a lot. He owes her a Mondstadt special dish. Or a drink. He nods to Vax and falls in step behind him.

With his armor awake, Vax will get a few more details. One goddess of death’s work can recognize another’s. The people who can’t die are cursed by another who rules death. This is a curse that is vicious. It won’t let them die. But they will still erode away into nothing. This far from the source of their suffering with a champion of fate and death so close, they cry for aid in faded voices. They might have been crying this entire time for centuries as they slowly forgot themselves and weakened.]

[twin_blade]

[ Vax appreciates the help Kaeya offers him, then takes several steps down the street to put some room between them. What a horrible fate for those poor souls. He can’t believe anyone deserves this. If he can’t offer them peace, then maybe he can offer them oblivion.

Vax's wings spread, then beat, lifting him off the ground. With each movement, they pulse from black to gold. A beat forward--black. A beat behind him--gold. And with each swing, the size of his wings grows until they've doubled in size.

Whether it's from the charged armor belonging to the Matron of Ravens or some manifestation of the fog, in the sky above them, a white mask the size of a cloud appears, looking down on them. And from it comes a woman's echoing voice. ]

Sever the threads, my champion.

[ Vax's chest is heaving with each breath he takes, as if his lungs might burst. From his height of twenty feet, he can see them down the street, the legion of Kaeya's ancestors, a cursed manifestation of the fog. Tied to each of them is a string, dozens upon dozens of decayed, golden tethers. Vax reaches out and grasps hold of the air. The other end of their tethers appears in his grip, which are also connected to his own chest, as if they had been all along. Perhaps they are connected to Kaeya, too, being his own kin.

With a shuddering breath, Vax's wings reach back, and then in one strong movement, beat forward with all of his strength. ]

AAAAHHH!!

[ The power surge sends an immense column of gold light as a shockwave down the street. It happens in a mere second. When the light races over the ghostly ancestors, every tether snaps at once, and the spirits are no more. There's still plenty of demons and other monsters to contend with, but the deceased souls are gone.

As Vax's wings shrink back to their normal size, he descends. For the last eight feet, though, he just drops out of the air. The wings flash and revert back into his cape before he hits the ground, exhausted. ]

[shadowsincryo]

[There is no time to process what just happened. He will have time later to think of the white mask and how it felt.

Or the fact Vax is tied to it. The armor of the front line of the Abyss litter the ground like snow. The souls that had tirelessly continued to serve even when they forgot themselves are gone.

He doesn’t have to consider their options. He kneels down and scoops Vax up. Armor and all, he is a lot. But they have time to get to the campfire before the new front line hits them. He runs.

The abyss forces scream and howl. The line of the camp is passed and he stumbles as the sense of horror and the abyss is gone. There is only campfires burning against the darkness. He carries Vax to a lone fire and lays him down. Then he sits.] …thank you.

[If his voice is a little shaky. Who cares. It doesn’t matter if this is an illusion. Vax is willing to put his people to rest.]

[twin_blade]

[ Kaeya is impressively strong. That's all Vax can think when he's grabbed and carried to the campfire before the demons can come and devour him.

Once he's down, he opens his eyes and groans. ]

Fuck me, everything hurts.

[ Just.. everything. It felt like that shockwave rattled every single bone in his body. Given that his body is still alive, he was probably not supposed to pull something like that off. Not until he was fully at the Matron's side.

Who knows if he'd ever be able to do it again, but he's not going to try unless he absolutely has to.

And all for what? A fog that's making their nightmares come to life just to see what happens? Fuck this.

Vax's eyes scan the camp to see if any of those people he noticed before are still around like the boy and his father. Then, he glances over at Kaeya. ]

Is that going to happen to you?

[ When Kaeya dies, will he be cursed like his ancestors? ]

[shadowsincryo]

[He stares at the fire. Would it?] I don’t think so.

[The people around the campfires all look like Kaeya. It is clear from the shape of jaws and bodies that they are all of the same bloodline. The clan he was born into. Elders weep and whisper stories. The able adults keep watch. And the tall man they spotted guides the boy’s hand as he writes.

This close Vax will see that the young boy is four year old Kaeya. The present version doesn’t notice the boy and winces at the soreness in his body. He carried Vax but it wasn’t easy. At least he managed it. Desperately so. He blows out a breath.] But that depends on how things end up. Some of my cursed immortal kinsmen are moving plans into place. Including those who are responsible for all of the Abyssal things you saw.

Hard to say what the future holds. For either of us. I can’t help but notice you have ties to the dead and to transition. Those threads you saw on me. How important are they?

[twin_blade]

[ Vax stares at the boy, watching him for a few moments before the question takes his attention. Before he answers, he pushes himself up, little by little, until he's sitting on the ground by the fire. He wishes he could do something about any strain Kaeya went through, but unfortunately, he's not the party healer. ]

They're everything. Your life. Your fate. What ties you to this world and to others you hold dear. Except, I've never seen them appear as shackles before. Not like the ones around you.

[shadowsincryo]

[He rubs his throat. That's...uncomfortable. He grits his teeth then forces a smile on his face. But he can't hold it. It fades fast and he sighs,] I can't help wonder if us being here interferes with that. And since we're being poisoned...I do wonder if this is real or not. A lot of this feels like things I've seen and done and heard.

[But he can't tell. And some part of him feels like he never left this camp. Our of his view, his father takes the finished page and drops it into the fire. Younger Kaeya makes a face. When his father's back is turned, he rescues part of the page and tucks it away.] But that. Mm, I'd say my fate is tied to the clan but also....to where I live these days.

[That feels a bit too vulnerable of an admission. He should joke. He looks at the flames but finally spots the boy. He stares.] When you did that, I saw a vast white mask. Who is that? I got the impression of divinity.

[twin_blade]

I think this fog is fucking with us. You shouldn't consider it real. Anymore than you should consider other things you've seen in it real.

[ Just because Kaeya's threads look like that now doesn't mean it really is that way. There's still a chance, though. But when Vax looks at the younger version of Kaeya, he doesn't see the threads at all.

His eyes turn back to Kaeya again and he nods. ]

You asked about divinities. That was the Matron of Ravens, goddess of death. I don't believe it was the real her, of course. Not here.