[META 4 START] A hole in the world

[saedusk]

If it weren't for Shiloh standing with him, experiencing with him, holding his hand too tightly, Jamie would've been completely overwhelmed. Any sense of self was gone, replaced with Sunny, replaced with a presence he'd never felt and yet always felt all in one. From there he squeezed his eyes shut, he tried to block out everything that ate away at what he was, who he was. It was hard, how could you block out everything?

"Shiloh..." he mumbled, likely too quiet to be hurt. What he got in response was a slew of <********> but that was okay, that was familiar, that was something strong enough to wrench him away from the sudden urge to completely withdraw. They were both scared and confused and probably ********, but Shiloh kept standing and Jamie would keep standing by him, too. Finally, after what felt like an honest eternity, he squeezed Shiloh's hand back again. It wasn't nearly as strong as his grip, but it was a sign he was still there.

With a deep, shuddering sigh, he opened his eyes to the word, to Sunny, all over again. In the chaos he saw Shiloh and Zac, he saw Kaleb and he understood that sort of body language, that discomfort. It was something he'd dealt with for years. Sucking in a breath, he called out the way Shiloh did, "D-Don't separate. It'll be okay." Even though it'll be okay was probably a lie, it was a white one. They'd have to face what they'd have to face and there were no other options, but that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to try comfort.

But Kaleb wasn't the only one who needed it. "S-Shiloh! Please don't fight them." It was something Jamie said not to hold Shiloh back, but instead because it was familiar, it was something he'd told his best friend countless times. Even if it was an awful situation, at least there was a spark of familiarity to warm him.

Except then he went cold again, his eyes landed on Zac, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. Was it like he simply didn't exist to Jeremiah? Would it be like that forever? That sounded awful, worse than awful, horrible, terrible.

"W-Why would he make a promise if those were the odds?!" he asked, genuinely distraught at the notion. "What was even... worth that kind of gamble?" Had Jeremiah known this would happen? If he had, Jamie found the thought wholly upsetting.

Melancholies

endejester

Grey Dragon

 

[Grey Dragon]

Kaleb hadn't recognized the other teen until that shout, telling him to stay back. Then all the little details clicked into place, the blonde hair, the plants practically oozing from his pockets, the abrasive commands. Yet it was at another's urging, a brown-haired youth he didn't know, that he nervously gravitated towards the first familiar face he had been able to recognize in the dark woods.

When he got closer he finally saw exactly what the group was facing, and realized that all his fear was entirely too justified. The teen had never seen anything like it. Judging by the way some of the other people around him clung to each other, holding hands or linking arms, they were afraid of getting lost in the chaos as well.

"What... what is that?" He asked, finally finding some frightened words. Whether he was referring to the giant rift or the terrifying figure in front of them all.

Melancholies

endejester

saedusk

 

[azuredreams]

Jeremiah eyes snap towards Jamie and he knows, he knows Zac was likely talking about his deal with Sunny again-

"No one knew the odds, me most of all when I met her the first time," he replies. "I promised- I failed-" He shakes his head. Jeremiah had not known the cost and had he-

His world still spins and Algie's grip gives him the only focus.

saedusk

iloveyouDIE

 

[iloveyouDIE]

She was lovely and terrible and Algie, very desperately in his own method of coping, wished desperately he possessed the words to write what he saw. Overwhelming his own senses was one thing, but between Jeremiah near seizing at his side and his own powers working overtime to keep his husband here, it was taking every bit of effort he had to stay still and standing and quiet.

He heard yelling and like bells in his head he heard Jeremiah's name and suddenly focusing on that tore him from the terrible of abyss of Sunny.

Alg had shifted, his free hand grabbing out for Jamie and the Professor was staring at him intensely with his very green eyes. His face was all restraint and a straining effort to keep himself and his husband from being overwhelmed, while at the same time oozing that soothing into the young man he'd grown to call a friend. His tone was emphatic, "Jeremiah offered her his heart to take... and she took someone from him instead."

azuredreams

tagging people

saedusk

he's touching

anyone else around obv

 

[Blade Kuroda]

Shun braced himself as the ground began to shook. It also seemed that Jeremiah was struggling with something at the moment, judging the way he spoke.

He couldn't exactly tell the older man to take it easy. None of them should be taking it easy right now.

In response to 'do whatever needs to be done,' he nodded firmly, then began to look around the area. Could they try to shove Sunny through the rift?

Meanwhile off on the side, Zac was going off about the whole situation. The detective pointedly ignored the teenager. He didn't think things would have been that much different regardless of how the cage broke. Yes, he was more than aware of his part in all of this, but he had far bigger things to worry about than having fingers pointed at him.

He looked over at Jack.

"I did what needed to be done," he stated solemnly. Details could come later. Right now wasn't the best of time to go over that.

azuredreams

Medigel

 

[cibarium]

"In summary, everyone here has ******** up in some way and now we're witnessing the Grand ********," Leila offered.

Eve nodded in agreement, raising a hand partway to signal that, yes, she'd ******** up too.

show spoilerhide spoiler

azuredreams

blade kuroda

iloveyoudie

the semblance of unity

medigel

 

[endejester]

“Would you tell my father, that I was just explaining why I was trying to text in the middle of this please? He dosen’t need to think that we’re over here judging him. Please.”

azuredreams

saedusk

iloveyouDIE

 

[kuropeco]

Nathaniel, still standing beside Jeremiah and Algernon, was really starting to question his life choices.

His own, that was. The Mercers probably knew what they were doing. He also was starting to wonder what on earth he was doing here because already - and unsurprisingly - he was in way, way, over his head.

Nathaniel said nothing at all and simply watched. For now.  

[Melancholies]

Suddenly there was physical contact all over him, but it helped—it soothed him, it brought him back down and tore him away from everything that was Sunny. Zac was touching him, Kaleb was answering him, Jamie was talking him down; he took a deep breath. Algernon was there, his voice familiar but his name escaping him, his face only a vague recollection of the ball. They were all phantoms of the court. It felt like his body was dissolving and bursting and being stitched back together.

"It's—" he wheezed, the flowers still growing en mass, leaves and vines and petals overtaking his body as quickly as the panic in his blood. Chokecherry flowers bloomed across his throat. Ivy grazed across his wrists and his sleeves. "It's Sunny—Sunny—She's—"

She's what? Horrifying? Incredible?

"The source of our magic, the source of everything—you—do you feel it? Can you?" was it because of a noble, that he felt so much more tied? The magic in his veins were like her claws in his body "It's, ********> he couldn't breathe, but he could, but he couldn't, and he was digging little half crescent shapes into Jamie's hand with his nails. Unintentional, but desperate. His other hand grappled for Zac's arm. He held onto the two of them like chains to his mental sanity.

He wanted to let go. He wanted to feel empty. He wanted to feel nothing. Give up. Be strong. Release. Confined.

Break the cage.

Seal it.

Break it.

Stop this.

"That's what I mean." his voice was a wisp, faint and airy with his lack of oxygen, "We know nothing. We rush in blindly. We make deals with things we don't understand." Shiloh's eyes were wide, desperate; they turned to Zac, and then to Kaleb, and then to Jamie. "We lose." he murmured, "We lose the things we care about. We've already lost, we—"

He felt eighteen again. He felt like the reckless, wild punk he used to be. He felt like what he was before the Court ruined him, before Melany tainted him, before this.

saedusk

endejester

grey dragon

show spoilerhide spoiler

iloveyouDIE

azuredreams

 

[quite uneventful]

"No, it's quite alright," She murmured, rattled. Honestly, how she was able to muster any response at all was beyond her. Looking over at the guy once more, Veronica tugged the cape a little tighter around her, watching a few others interact nearby. While she couldn't exactly understand or hear most of the conversations, just watching a few others grab onto someone they knew was enough to leave Vero somewhat nervous. They seemed to be getting ready for their end, or something. Which... definitely wasn't the case, right? Turning on the other, she hoped asking questions would lessen at least... Something. "Do you happen to know who or what she is? And..." Veronica paused. "...No, I'm sorry. I'm just confused, and everyone seems to know what's happening, but--" Veronica sighed, lifting her arms in confusion. "This feels more like a dream and less like real life."

Smerdle

 

[lizbot]

Magic is Sunny and the world is Sunny and her friend is vast, stretching toward the horizon with manic intensity. Terrifying, awe inspiring, and tragic. Always the one left behind, trapped and trying and betrayed. America loves Sunny a lot, at that moment, even as she's overwhelmed by her very presence and the world seems ready to either explode or collapse in on itself. She's small, a fish suddenly fighting the sea...

See.

Sea.

America wants to, suddenly and with the force of will that had her crossing the country sea to sea, had her seeking out the Other Place, hand brushing doors and hoping. Before she'd realized it, America was already in the thick of those gathered, within reaching distance of Jeremiah and pulling at her own magic as her hand sought his arms. It's magic of comfort, of warmth and homey smells and lazing about in a patch of sunlight. It's hers but it's Sunny's, too.

Ever since that day on the docks, America's known that magic was good, even if bad thinks lurked just out of sight and the cornerstone of that belief had been Sunny. It's not something she was going to let go of any time soon.

America thinks about riding on a wave of magic, pulled and held up by something greater than herself, and she tries very, very hard not to get caught in the undertow as she seeks the surface and tries to see.

azxuredreams

shibxrogane

Quote:

America is trying to call up her magic in a general non-specificy Power way

 

[AMItotic]

Lily was, by all accounts, at a loss for what to say or do. There was a girl, the witch on the beach, and she was cracking and breaking, and the world was cracking and breaking and people were shouting, screaming, wailing. It was about as far from the full moon as they could get, but Lily's instincts screeched from the source, begging her to run, to climb, to get small, but she couldn't, this was the real world and her powers didn't work like that, so she just stood there, eyes wide and makeup ruined and drifting like a stray wind might blow her away.

It wasn't wind but the growing threat of earthquakes that brought her back to her senses, and her arms shot out in an attempt to keep some semblance of balance. She tried to make sense of her surroundings, taking stock of the assembled group, some faces familiar, some new. She saw Eve and Leila, kept strong by each other, and her heart seized when she caught sight of Jamie, still there with Shiloh after everything. She knew better than to interfere anymore, and her eyes darted away to Zac, to Juniper and Preacher, and her eyes darted again when she thought she saw Ashton.

What a fine assembly to watch the end of the world.

When her gaze settled on Nathaniel, she let out a little disappointed sigh, putting a hand on her make-up smeared cheek. It was her fault he was here, it was her fault that he had to be privy to any of this, and more than the fear of what was to come she felt guilt, burning deep and dark in her gut.

She waved weakly, and when she shuffled close enough to him she said, "For what it's worth...I'm sorry."

kuropeco

Quote:

Anyone else is welcome to interact~

 

[saedusk]

Silence was Jamie's first response beyond a jump, a startled jolt away from the hand that found his shoulder without warning. It landed instead near his elbow and he let it there, staring at Alg and Jer without words until they'd finished their explanations. There was some comfort to be found in the soothing touch, though weakened, but it didn't completely settle Jamie's stomach over the matter at hand.

"Zac... wanted me to tell you he was just explaining to Shiloh why he was trying to send a text. No one is judging," except even as he said so to Jeremiah, he wasn't ready to completely laugh it off with an it's okay for good measure. Though he meek and kind, Jamie was far from perfect. Beneath it all he was selfish, impulsive, and so many things he hated to let anyone see. In that moment they were that much more obvious, and later he'd likely hate himself for it, but the stress made keeping up a filter a little bit harder.

"I know it's... not really my place, but..." he was muttering, but hard to hear or not he continued, "I still hope whatever you would've gotten in return would've been worth it."

Jamie knew he was lucky to have parents who cared and loved him like no one else ever could. He knew that Jer probably cared for Zac that way, too, but it didn't halt the sympathetic pang in his gut when he realized Zac could hear and see his father at the very least. How torturous would that be, knowing it was like you weren't even there while being forced to watch it all unfold?

Letting himself feel the sting of Shiloh's nails digging into his hand, he sighed and added, "But I guess... it was Sunny who did it." He looked at her as he spoke. "I-I... I really don't understand anything that's happening..." As he spoke and was reminded again of his own inadequacy, his voice shook. In that moment, he was too overwhelmed to think straight.

Melancholies

endejester

azuredreams

iloveyouDIE

 

[The Semblance of Unity]

Temperance felt caught up in something bigger than herself, something faster, like a hive mind all thinking things at voice. Strong enough that her voice would be drowned out. She looked at Jack, at Connor, at the people she knew. It wasn't enough. Vivien had said to do something, but even she didn't know what.

She moved and reached out, entwining her arm with Zac's. "Hey," she said. She'd heard his voice and gravitated. "What do you think Vivien meant?"

endejester

idk ppl round there