thebastion | [Day 225] [EVENT] A sinking feeling

[Day 225] [EVENT] A sinking feeling

Who: Anyone and everyone
Open: Open
When: Early morning on Day 225
Where: Everywhere in the Bastion
What: Remember how cores used to be a thing? Yeah, they're still important.
Format: any
Warnings: terrible modpuns

[Early in the morning on Day 225, most people are probably asleep. For the couple of stragglers who may still be awake so late, though, they may notice something strange. At 2:31 am, any lights that are on start to hum, and flicker in and out of dimness.

At 2:32 am, every light in the Bastion (excluding the emergency lights) shuts off entirely.

At 2:33 am, a horrible grinding noise can be heard throughout the Bastion, seemingly coming from everywhere at once. This sound continues on for several minutes, throughout everything else that begins to happen.

At 2:34 am, for anyone outside Nathaniel can be seen running from the Apartments towards the Monument as if his life depended on it.

At 2:35 am, ever so slowly, sections of the Bastion begin to sink.

What do you do?]

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[Others may be trying to settle down, but Anya hasn't even pulled the clothes out of her bag yet. She has, however, pulled some kind of powder out and is making a careful circuit of the makeshift camp with it. Anyone who knows anything about witchcraft ought to recognize a protective circle in the making. Unless they're too distracted by the part where she's still naked.]

[Saix is unfazed by Anya's blatant nudity, possibly because he's seen it so many times he's lost the ability to spare what miniscule amounts of caring he's capable of. He just comes close enough to observe what she's doing.]

A spell? [He's not too familiar with them- he's a warrior when you get down to it- but he has some faint idea.]

Yes. I don't know about you, but I'd like to get back to sleep, and I need peace of mind for that. These things usually don't just stop with a little the-ground-might-be-falling scare.

They don't.

[Aah, to be end of the world veterans. Still, with her saying that, he removes the coat he has slung over one of his arms and drapes it over her shoulders.]

It'll probably be easier for you to go to sleep if you're warm, then. And not laying on dirt.

[At that, Anya pauses what she's doing to quirk an eyebrow at him.]

Are you trying to be a gentleman?

[Aaaaand awkward turtle.]

Should I not?

[Isn't this what friends do? Trying to care is the worst.]

No, it's cute. Keep it up.

[She adjusts the coat on her shoulders before resuming what she's doing.]

I'll do my best.

Anything we can do to improve that circle, then?

I don't think your moon powers are exactly compatible with what I'm doing.

[...plus there's no moon out here.]

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[Yukio doesn't know much about witchcraft, but he knows a protective circle when he sees one. Because it's not witchcraft when exorcists are doing it, right? Right.

Unfortunately for him, he's still a fifteen-year-old boy who can't yet deal with the very obvious presence of a very naked woman, so when he sees the beginnings of the circle and tracks it to Anya, the about-face he pulls is almost painful looking.]

... Will that circle allow projectiles through from the inside?

[Trying to speak calmly while keeping his back to the person he's speaking to. Very good, Yukio.]

[It's really confusing how humans freak out about seeing people naked in person but also want to see them naked in pornos and things. Anya doesn't understand.]

It should. I don't have the power to make this a very strong protective barrier on my own.

[It's okay, most humans can't offer very good explanations either. There's a very thin line between "almost naked" and "naked", and man, the shit that can fly when someone trips over that line...

At least this one isn't freaking out? Not outwardly, anyway. He's just politely averting his eyes. Along with the rest of his body.]

How long do you think it will hold?

[Yeah, carrying on a conversation with his back turned, he's not freaking out at all.]

Until something big enough tries to force its way in. It's not going to keep those large hooded things out, but we'll at least get a warning.

[As it turns out, Anya isn't the only one who has more important things to do than be bothered with clothes. Like helping out with protective spells, and seeing how long it takes for someone to tell him to put some pants on.]

Anything I can do to assist?

[Oh, hello. Anya gives him a once-over before answering.]

Maybe. Have you ever done magic as part of a circle?

Ages ago, but I'm rather good at learning on the fly.

[Beauty, brains, and not the slightest hint of modesty.]

[It's like looking into a mirror. Figuratively speaking. She doesn't have that weird face thing going on.]

We'll give it a try. If you've done it before, it won't be difficult to remember how. It's just that half the people here use magic that follows different rules, and the other half have never heard of it.

[If he has his way, he's going to exploit the way shards can buy pretty much anything to take care of that.

He shrugs lightly.]

The mechanisms of control may differ, but as far as I've seen, the magic itself is largely the same.

[But then, this is also coming from someone who had no idea that magic is not something the other races of Lunar can use instinctively until he was seventeen. Does that effect his accuracy now? That's a good question.]

[He's going to buy half a face? Really?]

Maybe you're right, but some of the spells people here can cast without incantations would be the mark of high level witches or warlocks in my universe. So either the rules are different in theirs or we have an alarming number of people capable of destroying what's left of the world.

[Of course. Why should he leave his face in its current condition when he can have the entirety of it be his face?]

I suppose it could be a matter of natural affinity. As I have mentioned, only the most powerful of Lunar's magic users were able to to cast without incantations. The only exceptions to this rule are my people, who have no need of incantations no matter our level of skill. ...I cannot deny that in my case at least, I could destroy the remains of the world if I were idiotic enough to desire it.

[He's mentioned this once before, hasn't he?]

Considering you tried to kill a goddess and take her place, I pretty much figured you could.

[Not that she looks the least bit concerned about this.]

[Now he notices she's naked. Intellectually he knows that it isn't that big of a deal, but some societal norms are more deeply ingrained than others. Unsure where to look, he settles his gaze on the line of powder she's making. He's heard of the superstition of warding off vampires with lines of salt or rice, but that doesn't seem a logical course of action in the present situation. Then he remembers reading the fluff about how wards are made in fantasy universes, which seems more reasonable given the circumstances.]

Is, uh, is that some kinda barrier you're making?

[Anya doesn't understand his sudden awkwardness. He didn't seem to care that she was naked half an hour ago.]

Yes. To discourage anything from bothering us.

[He was too busy watching pieces of the Bastion sink around him.]

Sounds like it'd be a good skill to learn. Though, uh, if the Bastion can't be fixed then conserving the material components'd take priority, wouldn't it?

If the Bastion can't be fixed, then we're not going to stay camped in such a vulnerable position. Besides, I'm sure the hero types are already working on a plan to save us all.

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