songerein | { Moon's Haunted }

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{ Moon's Haunted }

MOON'S HAUNTED

Elimei, the female winged kirin twin from the Tree of Stories, was suddenly taken by a large, gruesome figure wielding a butcher's knife with a bear at its side. They appeared from a black portal and everyone in the room at the time was unable to move due to a sudden increase in gravity and heavy weight of nightmare energy. The figures disappeared into the black portal leaving behind no trace—except Elimei's feathers tinged with nightmare energy. Using Elimei's feather, researchers in the Observatory were able to pinpoint her location within a foreign moon. By this time, the moon mirror created by the fae has collected into its glass the stories of various moons gathered by Madhuri. Powered by this enchanted mirror and with dreamotion energy, they are able to create a dreamscape-like gateway to this foreign moon.

Unfortunately the power was so great it acted like a dreamshift and sent in everyone. Now everyone finds themselves on the surface of this strange moon, but fortunately they have allies in the form of lunar wolves to help guide them. To help combat against the noctasers, which are an evolved form of Erasers that have consumed great amount of nightmare energy, the special potions that were created back from Halloween and are effective against Erasers will be available. They will work in conjunction with dreamotion energy and other items useful against nightmare energy; perhaps a new solution can be made.

For more details on the event and to ask any questions, please refer to the Game Notes. Reminder that this is forward dated to the end of the month.

I. MOON PHASES

At random intervals, the moon will change between full and new phases. When the moon is full, the moonscape becomes ghostly white; when it is new, it becomes pitch back. There are both advantages and disadvantages for each phase, and everyone needs to be mindful as it will change without warning. Although we have some generic prompts for each phase, the phases and effects carry over through all the prompts, they can be used at will.

A. Darkest of Nights: New Moon. Whenever the moon phase changes to the new moon, it becomes so dark it's almost difficult to see. Light sources will need to be found to help traverse through the moonscape unless one uses dreamotion to help guide them. The new moon phase is also when nightmare energy is at its peak, the ground seemingly seeping with it and noctasers lurking. Some characters might find themselves transforming into some nightmarish creature in response to it. Perhaps into something that reflects their greatest fears or anger; some may even start to relive or have nightmares. Those who are easily influenced by nightmare energy should take caution, but must also remember that nightmare energy can also be harnessed here. For those who want to try and control it, the new moon phase is the best time.

B. Light of the Full Moon. Whenever the moon phase changes to the full moon, it is almost blindingly bright in some places. During this time, dreamotion is at its peak and it'll be easier to fight off the noctasers should they be encountered; of course during this time the noctasers will go into hiding. The black goopy puddles scattered around will be most suspicious, and this is the perfect time to clear them up with dreamotion. Just be careful not to get trapped in them or it'll be like quicksand. Anyone who was transformed during the new moon phase will slowly begin to transform back but will still need assistance; otherwise they'll just remain and continue transformation when it changes back to the new moon phase.

II. LUNAR WOLVES

For those who wish to help the lunar wolves that inhabit this moonscape, they live in a brightly lit temple that is impossible to miss. With a unique "wolf blessing," characters can transform into a wolf to help blend in with the environment as well as gain temporary powers: ability to conjure moonlight to use against noctasers; powerful howl attacks capable of knocking back small objects and creatures; ability to see clearly in the darkness during new moon shifts; increases speed and other heightened senses; ability to see the leftover "moon dust trail" from the moon fragments to track them down. Appearance of the wolf form can be whatever the player or character wishes and while partial transformations are allowed, whole transformations will be stronger. The blessing will last for up to an hour, and characters can willingly change back at any time. However, they'll need another blessing to turn back into a wolf unless they can do so on their own through their own dreamotion ability. The wolves will also be around to help give aid when they can.

A. Defend the Temple. Noctasers are becoming more aggressive as they attack the temple the lunar wolves are based in, aiming for the collection of corrupted moon fragments the lunar wolves have been guarding in hopes of later purifying. Some may even notice the moon fragments depict certain images or have unique characters that may look like the moon from their own world. Maybe that fragment is from their home world. Characters need to use everything they have to help protect these fragments and fight alongside the wolves.

» BONUS: DEFENSE BARRIERS. Shoring up defenses and creating dreamotion barriers to help keep the noctasers at bay will also help. The wolves will inform of special flower that needs wishful based dreamotion energy to make it grow large enough as a shield that can help repel the noctasers.

B. Retrieve Moon Fragments. Some of the noctasers still manage to break in and steal several moon fragments, scattering them all over the forests surrounding the small temple the wolves dwell in. While some have been dropped and can be found a little more easily, others are still in the clutches of the noctasers that must be destroyed, especially if a noctaser consumes it. While safe to handle, the moon fragments must be collected into small glowing jars to ensure their protection.

C. Save the Wolf Cubs. In the chaos, a few wolf cubs got separated from their families and ran into the forest, with some having the bright idea to try and find the moon fragments on their own. This is a disaster waiting to happen, so they need to be brought back quickly! Wolf transformation will be mandatory as the cubs will be wary of anyone else who approaches. They are also clever cubs and will hide in deep thickets and tree hollows. Luring them out with mooncakes will help win them over.

III. ITEM COLLECTION: ELIMEI

Certain items are needed to help defeat the Mutton Man and its Bear steed, as well as to find and heal Elimei. Thankfully they won't be going in blind and Baba Yaga will make an appearance to inform them of what they'll need. Although primarily to be collected and given to those who will go out to find Elimei, all items can also be collected for personal use to be against noctasers and other effects. There's plenty to go around! All items will be found in the swamp area.

A. Follow the Moonflies. In the outskirts of the swamps, there are special fireflies called "moonflies" where they produce pure moonlight from their bulbs. They are attracted to darkness as they will absorb it to produce their light. Gathering these moonflies in special jars will allow those seeking Elimei to help track her down as the moonflies will fly towards the darkest area of the swamp where she is being held. They will also be useful in blinding the enemies as they will fly up to them, attracted by the darkness the nightmare energy brings. They are also great to use as lanterns during the new moon phase.

B. Lunar Honey. The petals of this flower can be crushed up to create a delicious sweet honey that can help soothe any tormented soul. While not a cure all for nightmare energy, they work similar to the Glowing Dawn flowers back in Songerein and will be valuable for those affected by nightmare energy and monster transformations. Although ineffective against the Mutton Man, the Bear may find the sweetness irresistible.

» BONUS: KEEPSAKES. Collect the flowers to eventually bring back to Songerein so they can be used for additional treatment.

C. Moon Crystals. Special crystals which illuminate in the darkness and turn black during the full moon phases. They will absorb nightmare energy and convert them to potent dreamotion energy to a poisonous degree. Thus those afflicted with nightmary energy will be good sources for these crystals but must be handled with care. Anyone who is punctured or cut by a crystal risks becoming crystalized and will need to be taken back to the wolves to be cured. The crystals will serve as the main "weapon" against the Mutton Man and the Bear, and can be deadly against noctasers as well.

D. Swamp Threats. Beware: the swamps are filled with not only noctasers but also hostile moon creatures, mostly of the reptilian side, such as snakes and alligators. At least the latter can be soothed with dreamotion unless they have started to corrupt from nightmare energy. Be careful not to follow the red wisps as they will lead unsuspecting rescuers deep into the swap to black pools where kelpies in them, ready to pose as Elimei and drag them under.

IV. ITEM COLLECTION: KAGUYA

To help get Songerein's moon fragment back, certain items will be needed to help evolve the moon mirror and purify the corrupted Rabbit Kaguya. All items can be used for other purposes and will be found around the bamboo forest.

A. "Holy Hand Grenade." This has a few steps as the "grenade" needs to be made. First, a golden bamboo stalk must be found and cut down. The crystals that pour out of it must be quickly collected in a crystal globe provided by the wolves. Dreamotion must then be channeled into it to melt the crystals and then the globe must be capped off. To use, one must count to three and then throw it at the target. This only has a purification effect, but it's very potent. It should only be used on anyone who is fully corrupted and is either close to or has become a noctaere. Even then care must be given as it will knock them out completely. Using it on someone with only a small amount will cause them to have too much dreamotion energy and make it more of a poison, requiring the excess dreamotion energy to be drawn out or counter balanced with nightmare energy. Handle with caution.

B. Bamboo Slicer. To get through the corrupted bamboo thicket to chase after Kaguya, special tools will need to be made. Cutting silver bamboo stalks well produce various metals to pour out, and with these metals blades can be forged via dreamotion. The blades can be of any shape and form, they just must carry enough fortitude, strength, and tenacity to cut through the stalks. Blades lacking that kind of dreamotion will remain dull and brittle.

C. Mooncakes. One of the easier items to collect, the mooncakes can be found growing off the leaves of the bamboo stalks. The trick is being able to climb high enough to get them; alternative cut or shake down the stalk to reach them. Just beware the lunar bees—they find the mooncakes delicious and will angrily attack anyone who gets in their way.

D. Don't Get Lost. Everyone will be warned to avoid entering the bamboo forest until everything has been gathered and designated groups are set, but should any accidentally further than necessary or get lured in somehow, they will need to find stone lanterns and light them up with dreamotion to help guide their way out. It will be relatively safe during the full moon phase, but during new moon there is higher risk of those trapped to hallucinate their worst nightmares and be lost in them until someone helps them.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She turns and is surprised to find him standing so close to her, but even as she bites down on her lip to stifle it, a smile blossoms across it. The idea—of a new puppy!—is incredibly terrifying, but somehow, at the same time, it doesn't seem so bad? She could see herself with one, maybe two later down the line—new pups!—and funnily enough, or maybe not so funny at all, she could see herself raising them—the puppies!—with Eustace.]

Honestly? Me, too. [Maybe three... She wouldn't mind it so much.] Gotta let the first one grow a little, though.

[The puppy.]

And with the dogs around to help, it might not be so bad.

Mmm...

Boy or girl first?

[Puppy.]

A girl.

[The answer comes so quick that Tifa surprises herself. She didn't even have to think about it, but her mouth already knew what her brain had taken an extra second to comprehend. Growing up, she always wondered what it would be like to have a little brother or sister. It might have been fun, she thinks, if her mother had been around longer...

And it only makes the blush in her face deepen.]

And then a boy.

[Because that would be cute! For the puppies.]

[He can only hum and smile a little at how quick she answered. Having had an eldest sister and him being the second born oldest son in his own family, he finds her answer a little amusing.

Of course they are talking about puppies—]

I don't really have a preference either way...just as long as you're happy.

[His pace slows as he takes her hand, leaning a little closer to her ear as he whispers those last words.

And of course.......this is just about puppies. After all...anything other than that is likely a pipe dream. More than they could have even here.]

[She gives his hand a squeeze in return.]

Then I guess we'll have another thing to talk about when we get back.

[Though, that ache begins to spread through her heart because yes, anything more than just new pups is a pipe dream. No matter how badly they wanted it, now or later down the line, they never could. It's not even an option for them... And while she hadn't had any plans for it anytime soon, at least knowing that she could one day would be a comfort.

But she tries not to think about it too much because this really is just about puppies...

Tifa turns to face him and takes his other hand in hers.]

I am happy, though.

[She doesn't need to say it to convince either of them of that—she knows it in the deepest parts of her soul that she is truly happy these days, but she still felt she should say it. Just as a reminder.]

[It is bittersweet. Despite it all, there is definitely a double meaning here, one that he had thought about briefly since the beginning and had been literally shoved in his face during the Flower Festival. Of course to even find himself considering for even a second at this point in his life... Really is something only found in dreams. So even if reality says otherwise, it's at least nice to know they share the same feelings about such things.

So he just looks at her warmly before he leans in close, lips brushing against hers—]

...Me, too.

[—before he gently kisses her.]

[She leans up when he moves in, rising on her tiptoes to meet him halfway for what she already eagerly anticipates. And when their lips finally meet, she smiles into the kiss, a happy giggle bubbling up in her throat. Relief, contentedness—it all comes to a head in that one tender gesture. After everything they had seen today, after fighting their way through the darkness, it feels nice to finally smile.

The kiss has to end quicker than she would like it to, because as her hand rests on the back of his neck, there's a pair of very pointed whines right next to them, and when Tifa blinks an eye open to peek, there are two wolf pups sitting there, staring at them...

...

....???]

Ah... [She turns away from them, nuzzling her face into the crook of Eustace's neck, embarrassed at being caught.] Not in front of the kids...

[They bark and then trot away to join the others again, and once they're gone, she looses the breath she'd been holding in with a laugh.]

We should check on those fragments anyway.

[He can't help but laugh in amusement as Tifa expresses her embarrassment, and he just watches as the pups leave, surely thinking "Gross adults" or something. But he just smiles in contentment as he gives her one last affectionate nuzzles.]

Sure.

[Even if there are dire situations right now, having this moment of bliss does a lot of good for him, especially after what had been inflicted upon him earlier.

Of course...as is their luck, things can never just stay peaceful for them. Although they never truly split up too far, there were times when they had to separate to help finish tasks faster. While at the bamboo forest, Eustace informs her that he'll be help out in finding some of the bamboo shoots that provided the materials needed to create the other items. It had just turned full, so it should be enough time to get in and get out before the next phase change.

However, when the shift changes, Eustace has yet to emerge from the forest...]

[Like him, their moments of quiet together after all the chaos are just the thing that Tifa needs to recover. Physically, she's still exhausted, but emotionally, she feels... uplifted. Energetic. Like she could take on the world after a single kiss. So, after some time of helping out around the temple—feeding her emotions to the flowers, playing with the pups—she doesn't let Eustace too far out of her sight as they finally wander out again. Not after that wound of his.

She journeys to the bamboo forest at his side but splitting up to gather as much as possible before the next phase change felt like the best plan at the time, as long as they would keep their promise to return to the edge of the forest before the new moon. Tifa is out there waiting with mooncakes in a sack, the stalks of bamboo suddenly feeling taller and imposing as the darkness creeps up them. The light is disappearing, and she's getting restless. He said he would be here...

He said he would be here, and he isn't... and Eustace never breaks his word...

Tifa leaves the bag behind and pushes the bamboo aside, and immediately, she's met with darkness. Glancing up at the skies, she has maybe a minute of the full moon remaining, but... Her lips press together and with a deep breath, she rushes into the forest. Her feet carry her faster, her urgency and desperation rising as she pushes past the bamboo, ignoring the scrapes that the stray pieces leave behind.

She has no longer has an idea of which way is left from right, so after some running, she stops...]

Eustace!?

[Her heart is thundering in her chest faster than she can breathe air into her lungs, and she can feel tears starting to burn the corners of her eyes, the panic having already set in.]

Eustace...! We said we'd meet outside... Where are you...?

[Please? A sign? Anything?]

[As if in answer, she'll hear a loud crackle of thunder, lightning cutting through the pitch black darkness. Fortunately, it's not too much deeper into the forest from where she is, but it's a pretty good sign of who it's coming from.

And when she clears through the thicket of bamboo, she'll find jagged black ice spikes covering the floor, electricity sparking off each of them as lightning continues to strike down haphazardly. The storm clouds swirl high above, thunder deafening. But the loudest of all is the anguished cry of the source of it all.

In the center, down on his knees is Eustace, the black mist of nightmare energy thick around him. His face is contorted in pain as he grips his arm. She'll arrive in time to see it darken before scales erupt, tearing through his sleeve to reveal a familiar, hideous clawed arm.]

No...not again...dammit...don't—!

[His voice is strained, desperate, eyes unfocused as what he sees is completely different from what Tifa sees—although it may not really be that much better. For in his mind he is staring down at the bloody mangled corpse of Tifa, the reason why he had stopped short and caught in this mess to begin with.

He had tried to be careful, even had a few crystals on him, but the direct infection of nightmare energy had been exacerbated by the previous two incidents, but they had been milder in comparison. This? Before the new moon had fully arrived, he had felt that prick in his shoulder, an uneasiness as if trying to warn him to hurry out. He didn't have much farther to go, but somehow the illusion had caught him, digging deep into his darkest fears. In fact he thought the body had been the real one—her seemingly lifeless form enough to make him divert from his original course to see.

But it was just an illusion—there's nothing there, not even a rock or anything to even pretend that it was Tifa's body. And now he's trapped as that memory begins to replay itself, his emotions running amok.

What killed her? How did this happen? Why wasn't he there? How could he have failed her? All his fears gathered in this one spot.]

[Her heart does a leap when she sees the storm, and it's a strange mix of emotions that well up within her. Relief, on one hand, for having a way to find him, but fear on the other because she knows what those thick, black storm clouds mean. Something is wrong, and he's in trouble. Tifa takes off through the forest, the stalks rustling as she forces her way through them on her way to the brewing storm. His cry makes her pick up her pace, and just as she thought earlier that she's never run any faster than she had been then, that's proven wrong. This is the fastest she's ever moved. The arcs of lightning that strike help to light the way, along with the fiery ash that flutters up in her trail, until she finally stumbles upon him.]

Eustace—!

[But she stops dead in her tracks the moment she sees them. Sees the scales spreading like wildfire over his arm, tearing through his shirt. Memories flood back of that dreamscape, and Tifa freezes and her breathing stops, as if all of the air has been sucked out of her lungs. Those scales... Those silvery scales. The claws... the very same ones that had crossed over her skin and opened her up. Her own fear gets the best of her, and she staggers, her knees suddenly about to give out beneath her as it threads deep into her heart.]

Eustace...?

[Her own voice crackles with worry. She wants to move closer, but she can't. She's trying to make sense of what she sees and how to approach this, and the things that he mutters in that hastened, broken voice of his. He's looking down at his claw, and at the ground, but... there's nothing there?]

... What's going on?

[Can he even hear her?]

[He can and can't.

He hears her voice calling his name, but he doesn't look up. Instead he's staring at the illusion beneath him, the blue, cold lips moving as the voice seems to come out of her mouth instead. It's painful for even now he cannot hear any blame—only sadness.

He killed her.

That's the only thing that reverberates through his mind.

Even if he had briefly returned to his world, no matter how long he had stayed there the memory of what occurred before remains so vivid and fresh—a nightmare that might have carried over even there and he just forgot upon awakening. There had been a few times like that where he felt himself turn into a monster, but he always passed it off as just some wild nightmare.

But it wasn't.

And now it's happening again.

He doesn't know how, but even if he may not have directly killed her, her body lying here is proof enough that he somehow failed to protect her, to keep her safe. In his mind that's the same as if he had tore her heart out with his own hand.

When he tries to reach out to her he jerks back upon seeing those bloodied, clawed fingers. But one of those nails "touch" the illusion, and now she begins to crumble into ash and dust.]

—No!

[It's a strangled cry as he plunges his hands down to try and grab her, anything, but it all just...disappears.

Lightning shatters through the sky as the ground shakes, more of that black ice shooting outward from where he remained hunched over the frozen ground.]

[The ice and the cracks of lightning through the skies frighten her, but nothing scares her as much as the pained cry that bellows out of him. She has to fall back to avoid the sharp peaks of ice that spreads out around him as if to chase her away and all she can do in that moment is watch, horrified, as the clawed hand grasps at the ground and the dirt, reaching for something that isn't there.

What is he seeing...?

Tifa falls to her knees, and the blackened ice on the ground bites at her skin. It's so cold that it hurts, leaving behind a sharp pain that spreads quickly from her toes all the way up to the ends of her fingers. There's another roar of thunder over her head that startles her, her gaze snapping away from the claws as she's finally able to piece it together.

This place... it's making him see something. Creating a nightmare that he alone has to suffer through, and that hand and those silver scales... There was only one other time she's ever seen them. Is this place making him relive that moment? Is that what's flashing before his eyes?

She remembers how cold her body felt when his teeth had pierced her skin. How the blood ran hot, and then how everything had gone black. She could hear his pained cries then before she'd lost consciousness... How he'd called out to her to return when she couldn't. And somehow, those tender words he'd sung to her before she had woken up... Tifa had been so frightened, but how horrifying it must have been for him...

How horrifying it must be now, even many months—years for him—later.

Without realizing it, her hands had begun to flicker with a scorching red heat, her fingers trying to melt away the ice that she touched, but it's resilient against her weakened magic, and it grows back thicker and blacker than before.

She's not going to reach him this way. If he's stuck in that nightmare, then...

Any caution that Tifa might have had is lost to the wind, her own fears of being struck down again pushed aside so that she might be able to free him from the clutches of his. She had promised him a long time ago that she would never be afraid, and she never intends to break it.

Ice be damned, Tifa reaches out and takes his clawed hand between her own, even as they tremble. The scales burn just like she remembers them doing, even through her gloves, but she holds fast, gripping it tight as she uses it to pull herself to him so that she can call out in a shaky voice...]

Eustace. I'm right here.

[He's starting to have a mental breakdown.

There's very little that shakes him, little that he really fears. While he is afraid of Tifa returning to her world without him, that's something he's already accepted. It will still hurt, but he can hold onto one important fact: she will be alive and safe. She will be able to live on and continue to find her own happiness and dreams...even if it's without him. The sting of her not having their memories would be great, but he'd actually prefer it so that she would not be living in agony of not being able to reunite. If they have to part like that, then as cruel and bitter as it is, it's better that way.

However, Tifa dying is a whole other matter. No one knows what happens if someone dies in this world. Is it permanent? Does it cause damage to their original bodies? Are they just forced back to their original world? Can they be revived since they're all just dream versions of themselves, bits of their soul? What happens? In the end, none of that happens because there's something more pressing that Eustace would fear more.

The pain. The suffering. The terror that precedes death.

He almost lost Tifa once before on that frozen lake, an incident that jump started those more intimate feelings towards her. Being able to save her and feeling the warmth of her being alive made him realize how much he treasured her life. Treasured that warmth she always shares with him.

And then in that dreamscape with Romeo and Juliet, when they had reached the height of their mutual feelings for each other.... When he killed her and watched helplessly as her life slipped away from him... It was as if his already worn and fragile heart had completely shattered, all hopes, future, dreams, love—undone by his own hands. Because he couldn't keep control, because he failed to protect the one person he had begun to treasure most.

He had thought he had moved on, overcame that guilt. Never forgotten, of course—it was something he was always going to carry—but the nightmares had finally subsided, that guilt lessened. But now it's back in full force and unlike the nightmares he had in this place before, this one was harder to see through. This one was possible.

When Tifa finally grabs his clawed hand, he jerks back wide-eyed, hot tears still flowing freely. At first there's a flash of clarity. She's alive? Was what he saw an illusion? But that ripple of relief is torn apart when he sees her holding his hand, hears the voices in his head like he had back in the dreamscape—and feels the nightmare energy spreading up from his arm further into his body.]

—Keep away from me!

[It's all he manages to shout as he wrenches his hand free from her grip, staggering back up to his feet as he tries to put distance between him and her.

His mind spins.

Is she real or not? Is this an illusion or not? If it's an illusion then it could be the source and he needs to destroy it to break free from it. But if it's not then he would be hurting Tifa again, and let's face it—even if it was an illusion could he really bring himself to attack her? To once again relieve that moment that's deeply scarred him?

He also doesn't want his nightmare energy to spread to her. If she were to become corrupted because he couldn't control this...!

Another dark bolt of lightning strikes down between them, a strong electric current rising from the ground as if to create a wall to try and force her to stay back.]

[He leaves her kneeling on the ground when he wrenches back, and she wants to go to him—she's pushing herself up to follow after him, but the lightning that strikes only inches from her feet sends her falling back again, putting a distance between them that feels wider than it actually is with the barrier that it creates, but she's learned not to fear it. It's a part of him, and she's accepted it all, but when Tifa reaches out, her fingers graze the static wall and she jerks back, a pain tingling from her fingertips all the way up to her chest where it leaves a white-hot ache that spreads.

One foot comes forward, planting firmly on the ground.]

Eustace, what is it?

[She takes a step towards him, biting down on the inside of her lip, jaw tightening, as she forces herself through the current and extends her hand out to him again in an offering, even if she doubts he'll take it.]

What is it you're seeing?

[It isn't just the clawed hand, is it? There was more, and she dreads hearing the answer... but if she can get him to tell her, or even acknowledge that she's there, then it will be a step in the right direction. A step towards pulling him out of whatever this place is forcing him to suffer through.]

You can tell me.

Edited 2022-06-26 01:53 (UTC)

[Her voice is like a lifeline he desperately wants to latch onto, but he just shrinks back instead. Even if he sees her, one moment she looks safe and unharmed but in the next she's covered in blood, her neck torn.]

I said stay back!

[He feels the pain spiraling up his arm, both cold and hot as his thoughts and vision continue to fray. He clutches his arm with his other hand, but it's trembling, as if fearing it will start to change as well. Will his body change again? Is he going to become a lindworm again filled with rage and hatred and despair?]

If you get too close... If I can't control—

[He's desperately trying to keep the nightmare energy from spreading further, but its claws have already sunk in deep and he can feel his thoughts and emotions twist and turn towards a darker place.]

I don't want to kill you again!

[He almost sounds unhinged as the black shadows start to converge upon him, the nightmare energy growing ever faster. He already lost his arm to it, at this rate it will only be a matter of minutes, possibly seconds before he completely loses himself.]

[She doesn't listen to him. Even as he warns her not to approach, Tifa pushes forward slowly, her hand stretching out further for him. Her eyes remain fixed on his face, but she doesn't miss the way that the shadows are drifting over him, enveloping Eustace as if to take him away from her. They move quickly like snakes, and she doesn't know what it means or what will happen, but she doesn't want to find out. All she knows is that she's running out of time...

Tifa's about to offer him some words of comfort, to reassure him that she isn't going leave him, but then...

"I don't want to kill you again!"

And she finally understands. The claws, the cries, the tears falling freely over his face, and the ice and the panic... Her heart shatters into a thousand pieces for him, because she finally knows what it is he's seeing—the end of the script. The end of the dreamscape...

Tifa looks around them, still seeing nothing but the spreading ice and now the black, shadowy wisps of nightmare energy that creep towards him. She knows her time is limited, and... she doesn't know what else to do...]

You won't, I promise. Because you're better than this. Stronger than this.

[With that, she lunges at him, and the moment her body crashes against his, her arms wrap around him, tight, and no matter how much he struggles or tries to push her away, she holds on...]

[He gasps when she crashes into him, his eyes wide in fear as he immediately tries to push her away.]

Don't—!

[But then he feels his claws digging into her arms and he has to pull back his arm as if it touched fire, face contorted in anguish.

He knows it's the real one, that the warmth he feels is hers. But now that just makes him all the more desperate to try and pull away from her.]

Tifa, please—

[His voice is strained before he buckles over in intense burning pain, gasping for air.]

[When his claws dig into her arms, she cries out with a strangled sob as they pierce through her skin, but she doesn't let go. She won't. She refuses. No matter how much it hurts, no matter how much he makes her bleed, she knows that this isn't his fault. It never was. This world is too cruel to him, and she isn't going to leave him behind to fight it all alone.

And when Tifa feels him buckle, she catches him with her arms tightening and buries her face in his chest. Her own tears streak hot from her eyes when she screws them shut.]

No.

[They promised each other that they would never. Through thick and thin... sickness and in health... They promised. He's told her that there are times when she would need to leave him, to get to safety, but she also reminded him that there would be times she wouldn't listen.

She readjusts, pulling him closer to her, and with a small, trembling voice, she begins to sing.]

How do we rewrite the stars...? Say you were made to be mine...

[His breath catches in his throat, a sharp gasp as he hears her words.

Their song.

It brings up so many bittersweet and painful memories, especially at the end when he could only hold her cold body as his own life in that dream began to fade. It's soul crushing, how deep those words truly meant for them. A perfect reflection of their relationship and how it came to be. The difficulties they continue to face.

With what little strength he has left, his good hand grasps at her back, clinging to her. He still wants to shove her away so that she doesn't get caught in this, but at the same time he doesn't want to let her go.]

...Nothing can keep us apart... You are the one I was meant to find...

[His voice is a hoarse whisper, but Eustace feels so desperate, clutching her tighter.]

Edited 2022-06-26 04:39 (UTC)

[His arm around her releases another sob from her chest, this one breathing some of that worry out of her. She's fought past the illusions. He knows that she's real, she's here, and she's unharmed, and that's a start in chasing away these nightmares of his. Ones she's sure have always been there, laying dormant in the back of his consciousness and waiting for the perfect time to strike...

As he sings back the song—their song—she doesn't, and can't, stifle a sad smile against his chest.]

It's up to you...

[A steady hand reaches for his clawed one, and she wraps her fingers over the scales, the warmth in hers igniting a warm glow around them as she continues the song, her voice carrying the weight of the words that she's sure were written for them.]

And it's up to me...

[Tifa rises on her tiptoes, and her hand searches until it finds his face, and she pulls him down to meet her halfway for a firm, desperate kiss, in a dire attempt to chase away the last of his nightmares.

She's had enough. She's seen him suffer too much. No more...]

[His clawed hand flinches at her touch, immediately withdrawing to try and pull away, but the warmth igniting from her touch sends a strange tingle up his arm, different from the hot and cold pain he had been experiencing before. It's like a soothing like piercing through the darkness that had taken over it, giving him another rope to try and grasp desperately to keep his fraying sanity.

As such when she pulls him down to kiss her, he doesn't fight back this time. Instead he returns it in full, desperate for that reassurance that the body in his arms is alive and unharmed—safe. To feel her heartbeat against his. To know...to know he hasn't hurt her. That he hasn't fully lost control yet.

He doesn't want to lose her, ever, but he definitely doesn't want to lose her like this. By his hands. By failing. She's become too precious for him, and while some things are inevitable, not the nightmares.

With all his love and desperation for even a little bit of hope starting to push back against the fears and anguish that had once consumed him, the progression of the nightmare energy is at least slowed if not stopped completely. At the very least although the storm clouds linger, the lightning has stopped as well as the spread of ice.

He's suffered more than what Tifa herself or even Eustace can reverse, but now there is an opening. And an incoming full moon shift will help, too.]

[Desperately, Tifa clings to him when he returns the kiss with equal passion. She molds her body to his until there is no space left between them, so that he might be able to feel her warmth now that they're together, and the way that her heart beats—only for him. Even as he tries to take back his cursed hand from her, she holds his wrist tighter, not wanting him to run or push her away anymore. She would never forgive herself if she let him succumb to the nightmares again simply because he feared that he would harm her. She's strong, but not strong enough to watch it all happen again, to let him be hurt again.

She allows herself to deepen the kiss as her fingers card through his soft hair, because where words have failed her, she can at least show him that she's still there... Prove to him that he could never hurt her. Even if his claws struck at her again the same way they did in those fiery, war-torn fields, Eustace could never hurt her.

When she parts with a soft gasp, Tifa takes him by the hand and guides it to her chest, pressing it over her heart.]

Look. Listen...

[It may be beating fast, but it's beating.]

It's okay...

[She's here, and she's alive, and he has nothing to fear.]

Tifa...

[Her name almost comes out like a sob as he feels that warmth, that life under his hand. How real it is. And it does help to continue bring his mind back.

However.]

...!

[He can see the nightmare energy starting to spread, inching towards her and he hastily pulls back. With his mind more clear he makes a more concerted effort to try and control it and pull it back, but he's so worn down it's difficult.]

It's too much... It'll spread to you if you're too—ngh!

[He grasps at his shoulder, the same one that had been wounded earlier, and tries to fight off the surge that came as a result of his fears.]

[Her name falling past his lips gives her that glimmer of hope that she needs, and with it, a bed of star flowers bloom, spreading from their feet and stretching outwards through the bamboo stalks. In the darkness of the new moon, it bathes them in their glow—blue this time, as if to serve as a beacon for him. A guide for him to tether himself back in this world rather than the one he's been stuck in.

But when she feels that trickle of cold on her skin, and him pulling back, the light of their petals dims as they slowly die away. The black, shadowy wisps drift over them as the nightmares seek their life, draining the flowers of it to take for itself...

Tifa follows him as he moves away from her, and her hand reaches to rest over his where it clutches at his shoulder.]

What can I do to help?

[There isn't much out here, and she doesn't think the mooncakes will do a whole lot for him. If only she had some of those damn crystals on her...

She will get him out of this one way or another, consequences be damned, though. If that nightmare energy dares to touch her, then she'll give it the fight it so desperately wants if it means pulling him free from the fears he's had to live with for too long.]

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CW: DEATH/BLOOD/TRAUMA/ETC NOT COOL STUFF

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