Returning Island: Umui

[lifeaftr_mods]

RETURNING ISLAND: UMUI

Who: Everyone!
What: Umui returns to the archipelago of LifeAftr
When: January 20th, and onward
Where: It'd almost be beautiful, if you didn't know it could kill you
Warnings: Please mark if anything comes up!

I Found a Plot of Weeds Instead
Perhaps some of you remember the island of Umui...its mysteries, its dangers, its eerie quiet. Almost everything here was both overgrown and Overgrown - remnants of an old civilization were buried beneath layers of the flowers that eventually killed them. And travelers got to unpack and hunt down whatever clues they could find about just what happened to the people out here, until the answer became all too obvious.

When Umui resurfaces on January 20th, you might be startled to discover that everything has become even more overgrown than before. No, really - almost every landmark and building has been rendered more or less totally unrecognizable. It looks very much as though centuries of growth has now overcome this entire area, as though you've left it like this for a period of millennia and not merely a period of months. The buildings have been utterly buried beneath grasses and flowers, and if there were any of those automatons left lying about, they're probably buried pretty deep under the ground too. It's not recommended that you go digging too deep. You probably don't want to awaken any old strains of the Overgrowth, right? You already dealt with that earlier in the month! And that's the good news in all this. As long as you don't go digging too deeply into the island, you won't have any fear of encountering the Overgrowth again.

Well, unless you're after something or someone in particular. Some of you might remember robotic entity that several of you worked together to save. They're probably underneath all this stuff somewhere, right? Still deactivated, but...maybe there's something you can do to save them...?

If anyone has questions about what you might find if you poking around Umui's landscape, you're free to ask them here! It's worth noting, however, that except for the flora, this place is almost completely devoid of other life. Nothing sentient lives here...anymore.

Buried Deep Underneath the Tree
That doesn't mean Umui is bereft of any of quirks entirely, however. While you might recognize some of the flowers poking up from the humps of moss and greenery, a certain type of bloom is definitely new...and definitely not one of your standard types of flowers, either. If anyone thinks to ask one of the gods about these flowers, they will receive an assurance that they are not innately dangerous - but they are innately linked to the dream island of Mu. They glow with a strange, vaguely ethereal light, and if you get too close, they'll waft some thick spores of pollen in your direction.

These spores have all sorts of ways of latching their effects into you. Whether they get breezed into your mechanical parts, inhaled, ingested, if they land in your eyes, whatever the case - pretty soon, they're going to start working their magic. And once they do, you'll soon find yourself feeling inexplicably and incredibly tired. Inexorably, you'll find yourself settling down for a nap, regardless of whether you're not one for sleeping, or even if you're one who requires it. The moment you close your eyes, you'll find yourself entering a dream state on Mu, and one that is linked with all other dreaming entities. This means that it's highly possible that your dreams will be bleeding into other people's, or that you may end up wandering into another's dreams. It's very probable, in fact.

The dream-state you enter may vary in depth. You might end up completely beholden to Mu's wishes, or you might find yourself in a vaguely lucid, almost "sleepwalking" state, where in the following effects are "projections" visible to the waking world. Most likely, you'll all be bumping up against one another's heads within Mu's vast and comfortable shores. Whichever of these it is, once you're caught within Mu's grasp, you'll find that it's a trove of memories that await you - your memories. You may find yourself re-enacting them or simply watching from afar...but the same may be said for others who might stumble upon your mind. Perhaps they find themselves in place of another character, or watching invisibly from the sidelines. Either way, Mu tries to make each instance as close to the real thing as possible. When it has completed, it may either restart itself, or simply fade entirely.

Should you be affected by Umui's pollen, any one or more of the following will occur:

[ ♆ ] True Bliss: Mu recreates a memory or a time in which you were truly happy. This may be as simple or as grandiose as you may like, but it had to have really happened.

[ ♆ ] True Judgment: Mu recreates a memory or a time in which you felt exceptionally guilty. And no matter what you do, you'll find that it is impossible to change. Try as you might, you can only ever witness the same end result that has stricken you with so much guilt. And the same can be said for whoever might have gotten caught in this instance, and is watching it happen...

[ ♆ ] True Peace: Mu recreates a memory or a time in which you felt the most at peace, whether with some aspect of yourself or the circumstances around you. Perhaps this sense of peace bleeds into your own consciousness as you witness or act it, or perhaps it only serves to unsettle you...or maybe it affects those who go wandering into your dreams.

[ ♆ ] True Balance: Mu selects a memory or a time in your life...and warps it so that it is experienced in the opposite manner that it was initially. For example: that happy memory of you rescuing a bunch of kittens from a burning building? When you experience it this time, it will be in a relentlessly negative light - you absolute monster, traumatizing those kittens by carrying them through the fire like that! You should have been more careful! What if the fire was your fault all along? That horrible memory in which you slaughtered a bunch of innocent people? Well, it was all for the best, wasn't it? It was good that you did this. You have nothing to be sorry for. There's a bright side to everything - even this.

[ ♆ ] True Fate: Mu creates what it understands to be your final destiny, whether it be the place where our story ends, or the circumstances under which you perish. Perhaps this is something that is known to you, or to others. And perhaps it isn't.

You may pay witness to any one or more of these dream-states at a time. Perhaps you visit the island five times and receive the same "effect" each time, or perhaps you visit only once but find yourself looping through all five "effects" in the same space. The memories may vary, as well; for example, you might experience the "True Bliss" effect three times, and experience three separate happy memories each time. The choice of what your character experiences is up to you! While there are no inherent risks to this dream-state, it should be worth noting that your body will not be immune to entropy should you stay in it too long. Your body may suffer from hunger or thirst, or require recharging at a mana pool. For the most part, however, the only things you have to fear are the, uh, trauma that this might inflict. Or the trauma of other people seeing some of your most private memories.

Where My Friends Plot to Bury Me
Of course, there's a lot going on in the background as well. Characters are not required to go to Umui; you're free to explore any other minor events listed on our Monthly Rundown post. You are also always free to create your own individual logs and posts as needed!

Also remember that if you died this month, to fill out the corresponding form over on our Deaths page!

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask them over on our Monthly Rundown post!

LOGS ● OOC ● STORIES ● MAIN NAVIGATION

( CODED BY BOOTYCALL )

Comments

[scourgingstars]

Enough of it does, we both know that. And to stop Bahamut before things went so far...I should have known better and gone against him when I yet had the chance.

[Ardyn sighed quietly, pulling back and looking skyward.]

...The end of this--it is far from a pretty one. Even knowing that, will you come with me? It would...mean something, I think, if someone else knew what transpired that night.

[shatteredlenses]

Of course.

[As always, there is no hesitation to his answer. There is a future version of him who, he has no doubt, will never forget this night. What he knows of it, that is. The very fact that Ardyn and Noctis fight alone right now means something has happened to the rest of them to prevent them from joining the battle. It also means, that once more, they will never know the full story.

Someone needs to. Someone besides the two sacrificial lambs who are not meant to live out the night.]

None of this is pretty, but that doesn't mean it should happen without witness.

1/2

[scourgingstars]

[As usual, 'something happened' meant 'Ardyn happened'. Not that the details were important; he hadn't even caused any lasting damage, for reasons that rather escaped him even now. If he was asked, maybe he'd come up with some answer, but...it felt like so long ago now that he didn't really care. Instead he pulled on Ignis' hand, leading him down the road to the Citadel. Walking a road Ardyn knew and yet didn't, one on which he'd fought and defeated his brother in a capital that had long since ceased to be home.]

[They stopped in the courtyard to the Citadel itself; he'd fought Regis here once, confronted Bahamut himself. Odd how a place could feel so familiar and yet so far removed from anything he could ever truly recognize.]

[Streaks of blue and red crashed to the ground, thoroughly exhausted. Overhead, a glow of familiar blue magic--Ardyn's hand squeezed Ignis' slightly, not daring to turn around knowing his brother's spectre was behind them now.]

['You know those kings will not protect you.'
'I know--I am the protector.'
'The Crystal uses you. Drains you of life. It plays you all for fools.'
'I accept it...if it means driving out the darkness.']

[The Sword of the Father and Rakshasa Blade clashed with what little strength was left to their wielders; Ardyn's voice was as mocking and derisive as ever, while Noctis spoke in defiance even now. At Ignis' side, the one who had already lived through this said nothing. He had gone very still and scarcely even seemed to breathe, the words only now starting to sink in properly. To hear his own ancient rationale thrown back at him...that it was fine, if it were just him to suffer. If it meant the rest of the world would live free of the darkness that plagued them.]

[How stupid they all were.]

['I will drag you from that darkness. Out of solitude. Out of emptiness. Return as you were...a kind and noble king!']

[Who did he think he was? Noctis knew nothing of the truth save only what his blessed god had no doubt bothered to tell. He knew nothing of what Ardyn had been through, how long he had suffered, and now he spoke as though such a thing was salvageable. As though that darkness could ever be dispelled.]

['-when your beloved died, you lay watching, powerless to stop it!']

[Of course he'd killed her. That woman with Aera's face, with the same gentle smile--he'd always hated to so much as look at her. Of course he'd killed her the first chance he had, because why should any of the Lucis Caelum line ever be granted what Ardyn was so ruthlessly denied? An eye for an eye, an Oracle for an Oracle, and both of them useless to save the women they loved so dearly.]

[Magic flared in one last brilliant cobalt rush, weapon after weapon lashing out against one who could barely register the pain of a dozen mortal wounds. He lashed out in turn, counter after counter broken through as he snarled in rage and anguish to Noctis, the past spirits before them, and the dead city in which no one was listening.]

['Curse you kings and your iniquitous Crystal--vengeance was to at last be mine! If not for you--!' Then...to Noctis or to the silent observers overhead, Ardyn finally lashed out in all the rage and fury he had kept from his voice for so many centuries. 'I hate you, with all my being--!]

[A final sword flashed, striking a last mortal blow where Somnus had struck his first, and Ardyn's no longer human body finally gave out and collapsed.]

[scourgingstars]

[But of course, that wasn't yet the end of it. Above, the kings of old faded--with the Founder seeming to hesitate for just a moment longer before he followed--and it begain to rain.]

['Now it is over, Majesty.' The rage and derision was just...gone, now. Ardyn was exhausted body and soul, with nothing left to him now. He'd been utterly defeated, and now more than ever he understood...this was what he'd wanted. Let everything burn along with him, let Bahamut's will be done, but let him end with it. 'What will you do...? Banish the daemons and bring peace? Erase me from history once more?]

[None of it mattered. He'd won, even in death. Especially in death. Fulfilled his purpose, the fate he'd tried and failed to escape from.]

['This time-' He'd expected a sword put through his chest again, expected to look up and see his brother staring down at him with the Blade of the Mystic raised to finish things. But Noctis simply knelt down next to him, and when he spoke it was...sympathetic. In a way that Ardyn, who had lost all his capacity for kindness and sympathy, could never truly comprehend again. '...you can rest in peace. Close your eyes...forevermore.']

[That was it, then. There was nothing else to be done for it, and it would all be over the moment Noctis ascended. His part in all of this..was finally, finally finished.]

['I will await you...in the beyond.']

[A fabled monster vanished into wisps of smoke and miasma, and at Ignis' side did Ardyn pull his hat down a bit further over his eyes.]

[shatteredlenses]

[This whole thing is a twisted chaotic mess. How fitting that the only witness to it is one who cannot see the events as they play out. Yet, as focused as Ignis is on what is happening, he perhaps is recording it even more accurately than one with sight might. The smell of blood, sweat, and ruin. The smallest sounds from a pained exhale to the pattering of the rain as it begins to fall. Taste. Astrals, he can taste the magic in the air it is so thick. Does fate have a taste? The moment that destiny's last cards are laid on the table? He's fairly certain he can taste it as well.

It's a struggle to take it all in. Not just because of how much he wants it not to be, but also because he feels as if he is taking all of it in twice, once through the filter of the man who loves Noctis as a little brother and once through the filter of the man who has fallen in love with the one who his brother is suppose to kill to make everything right.

None of this is right, though. At least the man behind each filter can agree with that. All of the sacrifice, all of the pain, to come to this moment where nothing is left. They have all given all they have over the years--over thousands of years--and this...

Ignis clenches his teeth, hand tightening around Ardyn's. Noctis has learned so much. Hearing him speak now is almost like listening to his father speak, but Ardyn is in no place to accept the heartfelt attempts at comfort. Even if he were, Noctis has grown up so fast--had to grow up so fast--that there are gaps in what he knows. No time to explore the truth. No time to even learn most of it. Why should Ardyn think he understands or is even trying to understand?

Once things finally fall silent, once Noctis has released Ardyn from this world and Ardyn has gone to wait him in the next, Ignis takes a deep breath. He's not entirely sure where his words are going to take him, but he has to speak. Not just to Ardyn, but to the ending of the world as it has played out in front of them.]

I, Ignis Scientia, bear witness to the battle that has just transpired before me. Those caught within play parts assigned to them by another. Parts they did not wish for nor want. Parts that took all they held dear and twisted it. This is a battle of salvation and yet, who can say if what was lost was worth the new day that will come.

The architect of all this took the mission of a good man and used it to destroy him. To take all he loved, to darken the world and with it the future of thousands. He took the life of a child and erased it, leaving only pain, fear, and battle for he and his family. A whole world for two? Some would say that was a good trade, but those who know and love those two cannot agree.

[Ignis turns to Ardyn then, using their linked hands to draw him into a hug. What he says next is not spoken to the world, but only the man he holds close.]

I witness this version of your soul going to rest. I witness it so that you will never be alone again. I witness it and will remember no matter where we go and what is done to remove this time from our minds. You will not be forgotten again.

I witness this and I love. If you must seek rest like this, then it will be so, but I will fight with every ounce of my being to find someway for your rest and his to come more easily than this. All I ask is that you continue on this path with me for a while longer wherever it may take us.

[scourgingstars]

[It would be a lie to say the dramatic flair wasn't...comforting, in a way. Gods above knew they'd thrown around their share of dramatics that night.]

...you really are such a fool, sometimes.

[Still, he had to say it. Had to acknowledge how pointless the endeavor almost certainly was. No one knew what Bahamut did to those who defied him in the way Ardyn knew as much. He'd never condescended to even speak to his chess pieces save for two, after all. No one would have blamed Ardyn for fearing Bahamut's wrath if this path were truly followed.]

[Even so, 'fear' wasn't quite what he would have called it himself. Hopelessness, despondence, despair, that sort of thing felt closer to the truth. It had been easier to give up and take revenge on the bloodline in what little ways he still could, to burn everything down if burning it down was his true purpose after all.]

[Logic said that empty resignation was what Bahamut wanted. Everything else said it didn't matter if it was or not.]

...I don't believe any of this will work. I don't, and I can't. At the end of the night, a dream is going to evaporate into nothing regardless of how prettily made and thought out it might be.

[And that was all this felt like to him, sometimes. Just another deluded dream amidst thousands more he'd held in darkness and solitude.]

But I've no plans of turning from it, or from you at this point. When this ends in disaster, I'll be there at the end of the world just to say that I told you so.

[shatteredlenses]

Only sometimes?

[Ignis can't help but poke at Ardyn, glad to hear him sounding at least a little more like himself. With the island throwing things like this at them, backslides and dark moments are bound to happen. As long as he doesn't lose Ardyn back to them, then Ignis won't complain.]

Oh, nothing about this will be pretty. I'm certain of that, where I am not certain of much else. Nonetheless, I am not asking you to continue blindly on hope--that is my specialty. I am just asking you to continue and once the end arrives, we will see who has the right to say 'I told you so' then.