Teenagers Scare the Living Shit Out Of Me etc. etc.

[dyingtohealyou]

[Characters passing by the bulletin board may notice a new message tacked to it!]

Drinking party at the bar at 8pm. Under 21 only. Adults will be persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Fun and games included, party hats optional. Don’t be late!

[Sure enough, there’s a gathering of teens (and maybe some not-so-teens?) to be found in the bar! While the posting mentions this is a teen only event, adults are in fact allowed as long as they are cool. OOCLY please be aware there are going to be teens drinking alcohol and possibly smoking! Also additionally, please let the teens/players have fun; again, adults are allowed but only if they’re cool enough to play along without snitching them out!

All party game top levels are going to be made under Ahito’s account but please assume ICly that Akira instigated/explained them! Once the game toplevels are up you can also post your own toplevels to mingle freely if you like IDK IT’S A PARTY HAVE FUN]

Comments

[lustro]

[ Easy. Ginger grins, bright as a flash. ]

I think you’re unforgettable.

[impacter]

[He is enjoying his little appley juice yes thanks for asking.]

Setting me up with a high expectation? I see, I see.

[Where he lacks in his magical flair and energy for the time being, he makes up for in the deliberate play of his tone, of volume and cadence, a shaping and twisting like an artisan.]

Then, my dear Jing Yuan. My old and young alike. Draw in and listen close to Solomon the Wise.

"There is only one way to stop an ouroboros."

[

--

Once upon a time, there was a child.

Born of man, the child knew not of how strong their fate intertwined, and their life stayed simple and happy.

One day, the child was taken. Brought to the realm of demons, against their will, to test their power and the strength of their resolve. Though frightened, the child was brave. They would not be devoured. They would not show weakness.

In their studies, they found power they did not know that a human could possess. In the grasp of their new experience, they were challenged to the source of their heritage - not just from a human, but from an angel as well.

And, over their time under the watch of the demonic, their heart softened, for they had found connection, and affection, with both the angels they had come to meet, and to the demons they were meant to control.

In this, with the birthright of a human, the bloodline of an angel, and the heart of powerful demons, they blossomed. And once again, they returned, to that life of simple happiness, now stretched across realms they never knew possible.

However--

As they continued in their growth, like the roots of a tree, their power stretched beyond the space of its anchoring. As they reveled in their happiness, the world around them started to shudder under their inexperience. Like a pot boiling to overflow, their body could not stand as a vessel for the many avenues they'd opened... and it was the world that was quickly paying the price.

Like the maw of a great beast, the ground started to open under the roots of their power. Forests of humanity started to collapse. Ancient tombs in the firey pits of hell crumbled. Even heaven itself was not left untouched, the rivers of its bounty drying and falling away.

For the three realms are a ring. An ouroboros of balance, of death and rebirth. And as one child grew so quickly, so erratically, across the stretch of all worlds, the ouroboros strengthened beyond itself.

The worlds began to devour each other. Those demons the child had once considered so dear began to forget them as the beast of their power devoured their memories as well. The angels that loved them so watched and waited from a distance.

And, as the kingdoms of heaven and hell moved to intercept, a man appeared from the depths of candlelight. He wore the cloak of the reaper, and carried in his hand a book. And on that book was a label. The Prison of the Soul.

"I have brought you salvation, my dear Ouroborus", said the man to the child. "For I come from the depths of that which controls life, of every angel and devil and human that exists. I see the light of their candles fading under the great storm that is your presence."

The child begged the man for help. "These are my loved ones! This is my home! These are worlds I do not want to see devoured! Please, what must I do?"

The man looked at their plight, and nodded in understanding, opening the pages of his tome. From it emerged a blade as black as night, whose presence chilled the air even as the man continued to speak.

"There is only one way to stop the cycle of an ouroboros. For you can never stop it from eating, nor can you take away its meal. So you must sever it completely, from head to tail.

This is the power of death itself, my child. A dagger which can sever anything. But I warn you that it does not come without a price."

"What is your price?" cried the child. "Please, I must know!"

The man took the dagger, and pointed it towards the demons the child had loved so deeply.

"There is your price. Drive your blade through those powerful beings so close to you. Their deaths will grant you pause, and you will be able to sever the power that roots you to the world's destruction."

The child grew hateful of the man. They spat and cursed. They wept and pleaded. And their loved ones grew further, their worlds grew emptier, and their heart ached more and more.

So they took up the knife. They found their most beloved, the most powerful under their control, who barely remembered their name. And though they warned him of their actions, he only looked on them with love, and bowed his head in allowance.

As they raised the blade to drive it forward, the light of heaven shot down, through earth and hell alike. For the demons' hearts were not the only ones the child held so tightly in their hands. And as an angel fell from the heavens, a sin against his Father tearing his wings, he used what love he kept for those below to pass along a blessing of his own. An artifact, stolen straight from the thrones of the archangels, whose power alone shattered the motion of their magic.

In stasis, the worlds shifted. Their balance rippled. And the roots so deeply ingrained began to withdraw, for the sacrifice of the angel had turned their boiling pot into a lake, hungry to be filled, eager to accept the flow in and out of the world.

The former angel hid his scars, hiding his intent so that the child might keep their happiness. The beloved demon embraced the child, keeping their anger at bay so that the child might keep their happiness. And the man cloaked like the reaper withdrew, dissatisfied and biding his time to return, but refusing further intervention, so that the child might keep their happiness.

And from the bottom of its new lake, with all the time in the world, the cycle still continues to spin. Between human and angel and demon alike, in a delicate balance, devouring and growing. Potential and disaster in every gulp, masked with love and companionship.

For, truly, there is only one way to stop an ouroboros.]

[lustro]

Mmmm… I think that could work, too. I like the idea of working with you because I think you’ll kick my butt.

[lustro]

No, it has… in bits and pieces. I think we talk so much, we just get distracted. But I can hug Mika and um - you know - when it gets rough. I don’t know if you’d be comfortable if I hugged you, so…

All I have are words, I guess.

[impacter]

[Chair-locked as he is, Solomon can't snoop with how Ginger blocks Mika with his broad back. So he waits patiently, Ginger getting his full attention once he slips back--

Ah. Well, that expression sure says a lot. He has to wonder what went wrong.

His eyes soften apologetically, but he'll nod his understanding.]

That's perfectly fine, Ginger. I'm sorry if my little exercise was more upsetting than helpful.

Thank you for coming to talk to me.

1/2

[troublereduction]

[ It was at this moment he knew, he played himself. Godsdamnit.

(Ginger still has a nice smile, too. He nearly forgot.) ]

[impacter]

I certainly wouldn't go easy on you.

[We look far away from the memory of him vaporizing thousands of demons... its fine......... he won't do that to ginger.............]

Normally I'm not used to being able to help cultivate the powers of a supernatural being like you without a pact in place, but with how the magic here works... maybe we can find a workaround.

[troublereduction]

[ Day isn't quite blushing, but he is still pretty flustered from how he got caught off-guard. ]

...I walked right into that one, huh.

[lustro]

Riiiight into it. But it’s good - you need to get used to hearing it.

[lustro]

[ Ginger in a later thread: (unsure) about that,,, ]

Cultivate - Solomon, it’s just practice. Don’t make it complicated…

[ He doesn’t think he’s weak or anything, but… his powers aren’t used enough. He knows he can be strong. Stronger. ]

[impacter]

Hahah... Sorry, sorry. Force of habit. [He waves it off.] I'm used to having a role more like the Sage than like I do now.

[troublereduction]

It ain't quite true yet, though. [ A wry smile. ]

Truth.

[lustro]

… I think you would be a good one. But - when Tatara sneaks off, it’s not that bad. He’s pretty harmless.

[ … ]

But when you did, you came back like this. I think if you were our sage, it would be worse and then at that point we’d worry more about you than the moon.

[impacter]

Mm.

If I were the Sage over twenty six souls, dear Ginger, I would not have chosen to do what I did.

It is precisely because of the freedom and stubbornness that I have in this new role that has led to my consequences. Perhaps that's exactly why the spirits brought me in as a wizard only, and not a Sage.

[shortleash]

( Kisses along his knuckles, a vow along his ring finger - Ginger spoils him so terribly, he doesn't know what to do. )

... Thank you. ( Ginger's lips are at his fingers, so he instead presses a kiss to Ginger's temple. hehe ) ... Thank you, for protecting our heart.

( It means the world and more to him that Ginger would protect himself in this way - because, it's true; should Ginger's heart bleed, Mika will bleed with him, too. Mika knows he has to learn how to protect himself somehow, too, in turn.

The remark on the dare surprises him slightly - but the kind words curve his lips. He wonders faintly if this is a dare from Solomon, but he banishes thought of other people from his mind right now. )

... That'll make the two of us, alone together.

( He'll part one set of their linked hands - the ones Ginger isn't kissing - so he can take better advantage of Ginger's lowered height - he brushes back his hair, just a little further than the temple, and presses a kiss there. The hair falls back over it, as if hidden, for Ginger only. )

... Is the dare to talk about you? Because I have more to add to that.

( Another kiss at the top of his head with his hair brushed back. )

You're so sincere. Your feelings are so vibrant, I can almost taste them. ( Another kiss, another place. ) You're super cute and funny, and you're really, really thoughtful. You're fun, too. ( Kiss!! ) Everything is fun with you. You are patient, devoted, and resilient— more than anyone I know. And I love you so, so much that I don't want to let you go back.

( Kiss...! )

I want to keep you here so I can keep listing things I like about you.

[lighthaus]

Pretty much, yeah.

[lighthaus]

[ he'll try to keep this simple. ]

It's what governs where I'm from. Where I'm from is one giant Tower, and everything is built around reaching the top. Each floor has an exam, which test your skills and ability to survive.

Education beyond the basic sense isn't even considered a luxury, but unnecessary.

[lighthaus]

They're personal. [ and no amount of alcohol will get him to spill on that unless he wants to. ]

But I don't regret it.

[lighthaus]

Very.

[ fine he will allow himself a smile here. ]

[dadsandals]

Yeah. You can ask me - truth or dare?

[ And, well, he's already got the answer. Even if that's not how that's supposed to work. ]

My answer's truth, by the way.

[fellheart]

Very well. Truth or dare, Joyous Day?

[shortleash]

—What??

[fellheart]

I wouldn't know, I don't think. It isn't as if I'm aware of their exact aural acuity?

Mostly, I believe I might be able to hear things from further away like this. I suspect certain pitches that might elude normal perception would be audible as well.

[ going to start hearing the equivalent of shrimp colors, or something. ]

[lustro]

[ Unfortunately, true, and it dims his smile. But that also reminds him... ]

… Can I ask… something a little more difficult?

[dyingtohealyou]

I really don't need a hug or anything. It's long in the past by now.