#The truth is learned.

[cyten0]

A Symphony In Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 17

… You can’t sleep. Still worrying about Sif. They're alone right now, dealing with… whatever is happening to them. Crab. You wish you had stuck it out a little longer, saw if you couldn’t get through to them. Helped them, somehow. It’s tearing you up inside, thinking about it.

You tried sleeping, and ended up with a nightmare. Sif crying blood, as something rips them apart from the inside. Crab. Nightmares aren't usually that close to reality. Guess your brain couldn't come up with anything worse.

Maybe you need some fresh air. You quietly get out of bed, so not to wake the others. And head out- Huh?!!!

You’re greeted with a message written in blood right outside the door!!!

I am sorry.

The king will be dead by morning.

My final act.

Farewell.

Oh. Oh No. Crab NO.

▲ “Everyone wake up! We have to go, NOW!!!”

✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸✸

You’re resting at the tree. You don’t need sleep, but your mind still wants it. At least rest. Trying to process this. Trying to figure out what to do now. You haven't even checked on Stardust. Why bother? They won’t want your help anyways. Not anymore.

You don’t feel bad about doing it. Never did. But blind it all. They shouldn’t have had to know. Not yet. Not till it was over.

You’re awoken from your musings by a familiar voice, approaching the tree.

▲ “Sif?! SIF?!!! Where are you!!!!”

The fighter? Up this early? They look desperate.

✸ “Oh my, What has dear Stardust done now?”

▲ “H-Huh?!? Who’s that?!”

You shift yourself outside your realm, right in front of them.

✸ “A friendly helper of our local white cloaked Traveler~”

▲ “W-What the!... Wait really?!?”

✸ “Of course! Was quite frankly made for that purpose~”

You take off your mask, briefly, showing the fighter your face. He seems surprised! You suppose wearing the same face as stardust has SOME perks! No need to spend time convincing them of your relationship~

✸ “With that in mind, I assume they’ve gotten into some extra trouble, if you're searching so frantically!”

▲ “I-! He left a note, outside our room and-!”

✸ “Oh? Let me see really quick~”

You shift your otherworldly eyes towards the clocktower… Oh. That. Is not good.

✸ “Oh dear, quite dramatic of them! They’re probably already at the house then~”

▲ “Crab, I thought so. I better get the others. We have to do something.”

You can’t sit idly by at this point. It’s all coming to a head! And if Stardust's mental state is this bad, the house might be...

✸ “Allow me to help! I’ll round up the others quickly, and I’ll help guide you through the house. You’re going to need it~”

▲ “Alright, I’ll start heading over!”

You suddenly have an idea. Yes, This could change things.

✸ “...Actually, could you do something first? Something that might give us an edge~”

▲ “Huh?”

✸ “You want to save Stardust, right? With all your heart?”

They look at you. And nod.

✸ “In that case, Let me teach you a ritual! To make the favor tree help grant that wish…”

◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉◉

You’ve been searching around for a bit when the strange person showed up, and told you where they are. So now, You’re just waiting for the others. Oh, Siffrin…

You can’t leave them to do this. Can't leave them alone. Not when they're going to risk their life for you all…

Oh! There they all are!

◉ “O-Okay! We’re all here! It’s… Earlier then expected, but we were planning to fight through the house anyways!”

✸ “I’m going to stop you there, dear housemaiden~ Don’t be expecting this to be ANYTHING like what you were preparing for!”

◆ “What does that mean?”

✸ “Stardust's unique nature can do quite a bunch! They've likely reshaped the entire house! Even worse, there's some extra timecraft thrown into the mix~”

▲ “More timecraft? Did the king do something to them?”

✸ “Nope! I will explain as we go, but Stardust has done this day a few times now~ But during those attempts, they made some changes to the sadnesses”

Changes? Siffrin can change a sadness?

✿ “Wait… Is that why that sadness before was movin funny?”

✸ “Very observant, Kid! Yes, stardust can control any living thing he puts a piece of himself inside, like a living virus~”

◆ “Should we be worried about infection?”

✸ “Oh no, don’t worry, you don't! I honestly don't think they will, not even a reason to bother! Besides, It's a fairly obvious transfer, and easy to clear out, at least early on~ Honestly a bit of Pineapple juice works just fine, and the Kid has plenty!”

✿ “...Why pineapple?”

✸ “Stardust is Allergic!”

✿ “Oh okay!…. Crab, that means I can’t make pineapple stuff for them.”

Hehe, kind of relieving a little to hear such a normal answer to something scary like this! Just allergies! Helps remind you this is still Siffrin…

Feels bad, thinking about that? You've barely seen anything, and you're still struggling with all this.

✸ “Regardless, the problem is control isn’t all they can do~ If they just eat the sadnesses for strength, we should be fine. But if they changed them further, put them fully under his influence… be prepared for this house to be far, FAR more horrifying~”

Okay, so you’ve read enough horror stories to get the idea. Kind of a zombie hivemind thing? Um.

◉ “I-I mean! If Siffrin’s controlling them, we should be fine! They’d never hurt us!”

Right? They shouted a bit yesterday, and got upset, but never actually hurt?

✸ “Yes, that was the reason they infected the sadnesses in the first place~ But they ARE still sadnesses, and stardust’s not consciously controlling them right now… So, keep on your toes?”

◆ “...The warning is welcome, thank you… I’m afraid I didn’t catch your name?”

✸ “Call me Loop! It’s not a very creative title, as you’ll find out, but it’s what I have!”

You nod. And head towards the Houses gate. It’s been closed behind itself, but not locked. You use a little craft to activate opening systems for the massive door and…

…You stare down the corridor. The walls are darkened with the King’s curse, yet living flesh seems to creep through the cracks of the stone, growing out of it like mold, yet beating like a heart. You see eyes stare out at you from the growths, looking around erratically but with the majority focused directly at you all, staring you down. The air seems to shudder within, with a rhythm you can feel but not hear.

You feel the others shaking. Even you need to take a second and steady yourself. But. You can’t afford to hesitate. You HAVE to press on.

◉ “… Let’s go. We can do this.”

The others steel themselves, and you march in.

… The strange growths continue, all the way inside. The eyes follow your movements, and it kind of makes you worry a little. But then… You hear singing?

You look for the source of the sound. And see something moving up ahead, in the darkness.

✸ “Looks like I was right. Get ready everyone.”

The creature starts shuffling towards you. As it approaches you can see it more clearly.

It looks like a sadness at first. But… There is a pale white mask, fused onto it’s face. The openings for it’s eyes are a lightless void. And it’s body… dark tendrils seem to peek out from it’s edges, it’s limbs seem skinned the way flesh has fused itself onto it’s liquid body, it’s hands are formed into cutting blades of bone and sinew, and it moves like it’s being picked up by invisible strings.

Yet it doesn’t stop singing. A perfect, unnatural voice, rings out from it's body in time to the unheard rhythm you feel in the air.

You ready your rapier. The others follow suit.

You charge forwards, piercing it’s heart, and filling it with craft power. You watch as it barely flinches, even as the injury rips it apart. You back off, as it takes a swing towards you. It’s blow cracks the ground as it hits, but Isa takes the opening to knock it off it’s feet. It falls to the ground, unmoving for a few seconds. But then lifts off the ground, and it’s body twists around towards him. Odile then fires off a paper craft to blast it into the wall.

◆ “Please let that be it.”

You watch as it doesn’t move for a bit.

Before it suddenly raises it’s head and charges at you all like a feral beast! It’s so fast, you don’t have time to-

BANG

A hole pierces through the creature's mask, and it stops dead, before dissolving into water and blood.

You turn, and see Bonnie holding a strange device.

✿ “… Eyes glowed funny whenever it got up. Gotta be a weak spot.”

◆ “...Huh. Good eye, Boniface. But also, more importantly. What was that?”

✿ “Oh, yeah, Frin gave it to me. Said it’s a craft revolver. I wanted to help fight, so...”

▲ “Huh. Sif gave you that huh?”

✸ “That they did. You’re a good shot, Kid.”

✿ “H-Huh!? No, I… I hit Frin last time I used it. I didn’t wanna use it but…”

✸ “You only did that because you were scared!… Look, you might not know it, but you have a very good track record! You once went through the entire house without ever missing a single shot~”

✿ “Huh? What’s that mean?”

✸ “Like I said, Timecraft~ This day has happened a few times!”

Bonnie looks at the craft revolver.

You look at the stain where the sadness was. You've read a lot of horror stories but. It's usually just walking dead, or ghosts, or serial killers. This... This is way beyond anything you could have come up with on your own...

◉ “S-Sorry to change topics but… Did Siffrin… Really do that? Did they make that... thing?”

✸ “Yes~ I hope you’ve gotten used to it! There’s almost CERTAINLY more where that came from!”

▲ “Well, at least we know their weakness. Hit them in the face!”

✸ “Fire would also probably work. Stardust had that fear for a reason, after all!”

◆ “Not that we have much access to that right now. But worth knowing, I suppose.”

You nod. Alright. You have a plan! So. Let’s keep moving.

You go a little further, and- Wait, something’s moving above you!

A sadness drops down next you you, and starts to make a swing!

…? It. Stops. Inches from your face.

It stumbles backwards, and starts to twitch and writhe. It’s singing devolves into screeching!

And then it… stabs itself. Over and over. Until… it drops dead….

✸ “… It seems Stardust is still subconsciously controlling them. Good!”

▲ “Holy Crab... That was… brutal.”

✸ “Still, too close for comfort! Best not drop your guard, anyways~”

You can’t move. You… heard something. While screeching. Just for a second… it…

◉ “It sounded. Almost like Siffrin…”

✸ “… At this point, I’d say these things are basically half Stardust… Don’t let that stop you! They’ll still try to kill you, even if part of them will try and hold back~”

You… Nod. And keep moving on… What could have pushed things this far?

>>>

◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆

You all have been making good progress through the house. The deeper in you go, the more odd growths there are, and the more twisted the sadnesses. You’ve even seen entire hands and maws growing out of the walls. This... cannot be healthy.

Moreover, that eerie rythmic feel in the air just keeps getting worse. The sadnesses singing seems to keep to that invisible tune.... But despite everything, Loop has been guiding you through the paths well.

Loop. Strange character, they are. Oddly cheerful during all this, or at least faking it. They know far more about all of this then you. Best get information, while you all are making your way towards Siffrin.

◆ “So, Loop. You said you were here to help Siffrin? I presume with this?”

You gesture at... Everything, really.

✸ “Sort of! I wouldn’t need to exist if the monster deal was the only problem~ They've been handling it very well so far! But a different issue exasperated it significantly~”

▲ “Really? Mind telling us?”

✸ “Of course! First of all, I should mention the forces at play~ The first being wishcraft! It’s the power to turn desires into reality, with the right rituals~

▲ "Like that favor tree thing you asked me to do?"

✸ "Correct! There’s more to it, but The king used a different ritual to gain their powers over time. But they're not the only one! Another desire gave stardust the power to turn back time in desperate situations~”

✿ “Woah, Really?!?”

✸ “Yes! Stardust knew the rituals of course, they were born in the land that made wishcraft~ But a simple wish they made on a favor tree acted as a lightning rod for a much, MUCH bigger wish!”

◉ “W-What wish was that?”

✸ “Why, The wish of all of Vaugarde! To be saved from the king~ A desire as strong as that was MORE then powerful enough to rewrite history! I think we’re a little over a hundred attempts at this point?”

A hundred?! Awfully casual about that!

▲ “That many times?!? Did we never beat the king?!?”

✸ “That’s the Issue. You did! Rather early on, actually! But, things couldn't go that easily! By that point, a little flaw in this time traveling turned the whole situation on it’s head~”

◆ “What would that be?”

✸ “Two things. One, Stardust's hunger carried over attempts. They're not very human, and need flesh to survive~ And without hunting, Bonnie's snacks just couldn't cut it!"

✿ “What! No wonder they were a crab!"

✸ “I could cover their food somewhat, pulling in prey for them from elsewhere, even if options were limited~”

Loop rounds a corner, and snaps his fingers, as a sadnesses falls down, it’s head vanished from it’s shoulders, only to appear at Loops feet, who promptly crushes it. Efficient, aren’t they?

✸ “Sadnesses aren’t nutritious, but it’s not exactly like there was a lot of wildlife in Vaugarde to hunt~ Which led to the other issue! By the time Siffrin beat the king, they were too weak to keep up their human disguise for much longer.”

▲ “Disguise? Wait... Were they always like… this?”

✸ “Indeed! Since as far back as they can remember! Their face and name is borrowed from before they swore off their more… Disastrous tendencies.”

◆ “Disastrous? Compared to this?!...How bad was it?!”

✸ “Well, Their old home was a certain Island north of Vaugarde~”

You all take a moment. Hunting your memory for anything… Wait. You. DON’T remember it. But. You remember that’s a thing, isn’t it? That everyone forgot?!...Were they-?

✸ “I see it just clicked~ They didn’t make people forget, probably! I'd guess that was the survivors doing~ ...But what we do know is that, from what little they remember..."

Loop turns towards you all. Eyes grim. Voice cold.

✸ "Everyone there is dead. Every. Last. One.”

T-that... no way!!!

◉ “Change!”

▲ “Crab!”

◆ “Gems!”

✿ "...h-huh?"

No wonder Siffrin hid this! They're a walking Calamity! An entire COUNTRY wiped out overnight?!?!!

✸ “They don’t remember why they did it. But they’ve held that guilt ever since. Trying to make up for it.”

...None of you know how to respond to that. It’s terrifying, thinking little Siffrin is capable of that. Would ever do something like that. You'd suspected they had SOME kind of bloodied past but. Gems, this is something else.

You remember your mother. How when you were younger, you sometimes felt it was your fault they left. Your fault you lost those roots. You can’t imagine how that must feel for them…

✿ “...But Frin wouldn’t hurt anyone now, right?”

✸ “Not willingly, no~ And it would take a LOT to push them past that point!"

You figured not, but it's still a relief to hear.

✸ "Again, over a hundred loops, and only NOW are they even willing to do anything like this, even to the KING! They’d rather just be human… Which gets to the issue we’re dealing with now.”

◉ “O-Oh, right. You said… they were weak, after the king? What happened then?”

✸ “Stardust’s own wish kicked in! I can’t remember quite what it was! It wouldn’t be my place to say even if I did~ But they believe they’d need to be human after this all in order to do it. And because that wasn’t an option, The wish forced Siffrin back, to try again~”

'Believe' they would? Worth looking into. But you can see how that turned out.

◆ “I see. Since they only ended up like that because of going back so much…”

✸ “You catch on quick, Researcher! For the past two days, Stardust has been in an unending loop of the same two days, slowly starving to death~ We only recently figured out the cause!"

Just recently? Not a lot of time to test options then. Meaning you have a chance to help.

✸ "And now? ...Stardust is desperate. So they're making a last ditch effort to end things.”

▲ “Does it have something to do with the king? Is that why they came here?”

✸ “Correct! The king can stop time, prevent it from going forwards. And potentially, backwards! What would happen if Stardust stole the King’s wish, and shoved it into their own?”

Hm. There’s a certain logic to that. You aren't sure how this works, but colliding opposing crafts CAN cancel each other out, if done correctly. Though it's more likely to just blow up in your face.

◉ “Can that even work?!?”

✸ “Maybe! It could also permanently kill them, since they're doing it by force! Which I suppose solves it either way~”

What!?!… So that’s what they meant by their final act! They aren’t planning to live through this!... Gems, your head is running a mile a minute.

◆ “… This is a lot to take at once. And we barely know you…”

Loops cheerful demeanor gives way to dead seriousness.

✸ “I was based on stardust. I showed you my face. I have a share of their memories. I was sent to help them through this mess, and I’ll happily die to get them out... But I also understand these actions. The alternative is far worse…”

✿ “No it’s not! Nothin would be worse then Frin getting themselves killed! That’s dumb!”

You’d like to agree. Everything aside, Siffrin shouldn’t have to die for this. Not when they've tried so hard for your sakes.

✸ “You sure? Because if they kept going, eventually there’s only one food source left. Like I said, sadnesses won’t cut it, and there are no animals. Normal food isn’t enough, not unless supplemented with something bigger. Tell me, what do you think that leaves?”

You think. It’s a given it needs to be a living creature, given what you know of their diet and how meat based it is. But the only unfrozen things living at this point are…

◆ “… People.”

The others stare at you. Not knowing what to say. You know who would have been on the menu eventually. And the very idea of that...

✸ “...You get the desperation now, don’t you?”

None of you know how to respond to that…

...They’ve been looking at you all this whole time, their body telling them to kill you all. Fighting it every second. For hundreds of versions of today. Yet..

◆ “… They never did it though, did they? The way you talk about it, they’ve had ample opportunity. Not like we would remember.”

✸ “But They would remember. They'd know. They’d happily die before that. Before ever losing someone again.”

You look over the twisted house… Siffrin is willing to die to protect you from this…

You would do horrible things for your allies here. But. It seems you're not the only one. This twisted horror show that you stand in, it’s always been there, this entire journey. But Siffrin threw themselves through this hell for you all. And kept it all bottled up inside them, so you would never see.

...If they’ve taken things this far… What can you do at this point?… They understand it far more then you do. Even if you stop this timecraft, this will still be there. And… They’ve already accepted death...

◉ “… We won’t let it come to that.”

You look at Mirabelle.

✿ “Yeah! Frin don’t gotta get hurt for this! T-They aren’t a bad person!”

▲ “Yeah! We aren’t letting anything happen to Sif!”

...Heh. Gems, despite everything... You believe them.

◆ “I daresay we can think of SOMETHING.”

You look at Loop... Hm? Are they… Crying?

✸ “… Stars, I half believe you when you say that... Well then~ First we have to go save them from the king!”

Right. Best pick up the pace! No idea how much time you have left. You start searching through your notes as you move, for any crafts that might help.

◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉◆▲✿◉

You'll get Siffrin out of this! You WILL save them!

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned about Shiniuzhai, a convenience store hanging on a cliff in Hunan, that’s been nicknamed “most inconvenient convenience store” in China (x)

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

Of the 19 hijackers who carried out the Sept 11 attacks:

15 were from Saudi Arabia (a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

2 were from the United Arab Emirates (also a powerful/oil-rich country the U.S. works hard to maintain diplomatic relations with)

1 was from Egypt, 1 from Lebanon.

None of the hijackers were from Iraq.

None of the Sept 11 hijackers were Iraqi.

None of the 9/11 hijackers were from Iraq.

[shellshooked]

but i’m a creep

[in-tenebris-et-in-solitudine]

Master Your Emotions..

[spoopdeedoop]

when the duo has bees

[americanmarketplace]

Time for a reminder: We are a (CONSTITUTIONAL REPUBLIC) NOT A DEMOCRACY LET IT SINK IN !!!!!!

[verenvuoto]

what if i just drew kokichi in his beta outfit (which i then also redesigned)

[magicpiano]

DCxDP AU where Dani fakes being an alien.

Dani's obsession with travel also left her with a desire to know more about the places she couldn't travel to, like Krypton and Mars. Considering the vast majority of both those populations are dead, it was easy enough for her to befriend some ghost aliens. From them she learns about their culture and language.

At some point one of her new friends jokes that her ghost powers kind of function like a mix of Kryptonian and Martian biology. She laughs. It is just a joke.

At least till she is in danger. The GIW finally found her. She is scared and desperate and tells a lie. Dani screams out, "Superman, if you can hear me, I am Kryptonian too and they are trying to capture me. Please help."

She doesn't actually expect this plan to work. It was a last ditch hail Mary. She figured she would (fully) die here, but even if he was on the other side of the earth he hears her and comes to her rescue.

But see, actions have consequences and now that she is safe she needs to keep the lie going. It is a good thing her alien ghost friends are willing to help her create a fabricated story about how a Martin and a Kryptonian managed to get to earth, have a child, and for some reason aren't around anymore.

It is not an ideal situation, but being an alien is legal while being a ghost isn't, so what's a girl to do? If there is one thing a child who travels the world alone knows how to do, it is lie and bullshit their way through any situation.

Meanwhile, Clark and J'onn are thrilled and fighting each other for custody.

[charlottesolstice]

[whichcouldmeanothing]

“fangs lungs ankles” – Adrianne Lenker

[foreignswaggersession]

yes louis and armand had filthy kinky sex between this:

and this:

y'all felt this, don't lie. feel free to argue with the wall. and don't just take it from me:

[i-was-today-years-old-when]

i learned that there's a Japanese beetle that when eaten by a frog will haul ass through its digestive system and escape out the back end unscathed (x)

[canonkiller]

do it all for love

[angelbitezzz]

[It was becoming increasingly clear that he wasn't her Sans. He sure looked like him but-this was different. HE was different. Sure, maybe affection hadn't been his forté, maybe his sense of humor was darker than what was generally acceptable, maybe he'd always been cagey and distant but...not something like this, never this. Nobody ever wanted to find out they had been dating a murderer.

"aaaaangel."

The soft sing-song of her name usually made her perk up. All it did now was send a bucket of ice water down her spine. There was something so utterly terrifying about knowing that you're a hairsbreadth away from death. She presses her hands harder over her mouth, squeezing further back against the counter, silently willing him to keep walking...

"tell you what, kid," Sans starts, too close. She suppresses a flinch as she hears him lean against the counter. "you're being pretty damn stubborn about this. but i do like you...so tell ya what! you make it to dawn without getting caught, i'll take the hint and leave you be. how's that sound?"

She doesn't reply, but he takes it as a yes anyways. He always liked doing that.]

Reposting this as a GIF!! It really ups the intensity, doesn't it?

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

Get Their Ass.

[First] Prev <–-> Next