#alnst oc: aurien

[season39]

VERMILLION VS AURIEN

( Please select your preferred contestant . )

SONG :

VERMILLION & AURIEN : hanahaki syndrome

———————————————————————————

[ Please secure perimeter and distribute guards to the stage afterwards . ]

[aurienneirua]

all alnst oc character’s zodiac signs !

( just for fun ! if i miss a, and or your character, please tell me ! i want to include everyone ! ( some of them won’t be included if i don’t have their birth date ! ) )

azure ( @4listr ) : leo

jae ( @kofeedoggo ) : pisces

evon ( @kofeedoggo ) : aquarius

solei ( @shakingparadigm / @solei-eclipse ) : pisces

khoi ( @junebluues ) : pisces

aurien : virgo

rose ( @rosedeleca ) : pisces

toon ( @nottoonedin ) : aquarius

lang ( @pwippy ) : virgo

sai ( @junebluues ) : gemini

ellie ( @junebluues ) : virgo

vera ( @junebluues ) : scorpio

ryu ( @starry-skiez ) : aries

vii ( @starry-skiez ) : cancer

minori ( @minori-dash ) : leo

ji woo ( @starry-skiez ) : taurus

stasya ( @billwasnot ) : taurus

saachi ( @starry-skiez ) : capricorn

tallis ( @bluemoonscape ) : sagittarius

tov ( @ivanttakethis ) : gemini

flor ( @sotogalmo ) : libra

castor ( @bluemoonscape ) : virgo

noora ( @kamersona ) : aquarius

onyx ( @rockwgooglyeyes ) : aquarius

lark ( @kamersona ) : virgo

cirrus ( @yunoftheclouds ) : scorpio

aegaeon ( @paradisedisconcert ) : pisces

moran ( @geospiral ) : libra

himei ( @bluemoonscape ) : gemini

kyo ( @bluemoonscape ) : capricorn

akane ( @aakaneeee ) : gemini

vermillion ( @subzeromoron ) : gemini

daiki ( @teapotuser ) : aries

( 2 leos, 4 pisces, 4 aquarius, 5 virgo, 5 gemini, 2 scorpio, 2 aries, 1 cancer, 2 taurus, 2 capricorn, 1 sagittarius, and 2 libras ! )

[pwippy]

@solei-eclipse @aurienneirua

[rockwgooglyeyes]

POST ROUND 21 LOG (POV Dian)

Please, just this once, keep singing for a bit longer Even without a melody, even with this loneliness - Please, just a little, keep talking for a little longer Even without words, even if it's just memories

After last time, Dian makes sure to take time to sit down and watch Himei's round. He doesn't really know why Teneb still lets him watch these, when they've obviously effected him so, but he is not one to question her judgement, especially when it works in his favor. He finds himself smiling as he watches Himei, her long hair flowing out behind her as she spits out caustic chords. He's so proud of her, she looks stunning and she gives a different impression than she had in her previous performances, a cold air of superiority and calm. He huffs a laugh to himself at the way she sneers and rolls her eyes as she dances across the stage, but he can see the tears in the corners of her eyes as she belts out the chorus, his stomach twisting. Dian can no longer say that he doesn't understand the naked desperation in her eyes. He, too, has been broken by circumstance, by the clash of tectonic plates against each other, the cause of their pain inevitable but no less painful for it. In every flash of teeth up on stage lies latent threat, when muscles twitch there's no telling whether it tells violence or collapse, every breath has a little bit of a tremble in it, exposing the cracks in the foundation.

Perhaps that's why Dian isn't surprised when Noora throws Himei to the ground and beats her black and blue. He could see the tension in Noora's every tendon, she bit out every word as if it hurt her, acid on her tongue. She fought fiercely but even the audience could see the way her jaw trembled, her ankles buckling underneath her own weight, her eyes flashing whenever the scores pitched in Himei's favor. It's more or less expected that when Himei is declared the winner, Noora goes for the throat, pummeling Himei into the stage floor. He does have to cover his mouth with a hand to keep himself from vomiting when the bullet cuts through Noora's neck, gore exploding all over Himei's bruised face.

It's selfish but he wishes he could talk to Himei. He knows he will have to wait, that the embargo will be over soon and he can finally visit her (and the ghosts of those who didn't make it this far.) All he wants is to pay his respects, kneel at the altar of the Great Anakt and sob out apologies, whisper out prayers of happiness in an afterlife that Nyx always said never existed. Is that so much to ask?

I will, just a little, keep loving you for once Even without you saying anything

Sucking in a shaky breath, Dian turns off the livefeed, the screen going dark.

There are eight of the competitors left alive. Himei is only one of them. She is undoubtedly set to die, soon enough, like the rest. Solei is a fugitive, Aurien, too, something that makes Dian's head hurt when he thinks too much about it. Rose died, the head of a flower chopped off with no remorse. The ghost of Flor still haunts him, glimpsing her in crowds and catching her in the mirror only to blink and she's gone, again. He didn't think it would hit him this hard, to see his classmates' corpses strewn about on the floor. No wonder Teneb came to test him, it only makes sense to think he might lose his nerve.

"Funny how this dressing room has a window," a familiar voice remarks. Dian shakes his head, closing his eyes and trying to ignore the voice. It is just his subconscious taunting him. Nyx isn't really here. Nyx is dead and gone. "Too easy to break into, really."

"Not today, please," Dian says underneath his breath, finally opening his eyes and meeting the gaze of this impostor. The impostor raises an eyebrow in question and Dian nearly smiles at the action that's textbook Nyx. "Look, I can't do this today. You're not real, and I don't have the time." The Nyx lookalike frowns, pursing its lips.

"Mmkay," it acquiesces. "Test me, then. Let me prove to you that I'm real." Dian sighs and beckons the Nyx lookalike forward. If this Nyx is a figment of his imagination, then this will go well. If this is the real Nyx, well, who the fuck knows what will happen. The Nyx lookalike blinks and comes closer.

"C'mere," Dian tucks his finger into Nyx's belt loop, reeling Nyx in. Nyx's face pinks slightly at the intimate proximity and he goes completely still when Dian kisses him. He pushes Dian back, gently, just the palm of his hand against Dian's shoulder.

"I, Di," he stumbles over his words, pale face turned a deep pink. Huh. Real Nyx, then. Only the real Nyx would react like this. "Why was that the test? What if someone had been pretending to be me?!" He demands, voice pitching upwards.

"It wouldn't have been," Dian explains absently, smoothing out Nyx's hair. He feels detached, separated from his body, which is the only reason he's not breaking down right now. Or he could be breaking down, right now. Maybe this is what a breakdown is. "You have a certain way of talking that you only use with Cas and me." Aurien, too, his mind adds, but she's gone.

"Then," Nyx hesitates, looking down at the floor before glancing back up to meet Dian's eyes. "Then, why did you kiss me?" Ah, yes, the most difficult question of all to answer. Dian might as well be honest.

"I kissed you because if you kissed me back, then you wouldn't have been real," he answers, sighing and stepping past Nyx to look out the window. "It's a more efficient test than asking you a question. If you were a figment of my subconscious, you would know everything I do."

"I don't understand." Dian turns around, trying his best to keep his face blank while he replies,

"I'm in love with you." Nyx takes a sharp inhale, his platinum eyes widening as he stares at Dian in shock. Dian swallows down the bile rising in his throat though it does little to actually help and he soldiers on. "I'm in love with you and I have dreams about you, sometimes, and I've been having more of them since you've been gone. Do you understand, now?" Nyx opens his mouth, reaching out with a hand before he stutters in his movement, mouth closing with a click of his teeth. He turns his eyes to the floor and chews on his lip, silent and all too reserved.

That's the breaking point, the straw breaking the camel's back, the final nail shooting out of a dam's exterior and letting the water course through- Dian can't help the tears that stream down his face, ducking past Nyx and darting closer to the doorway. His heart has been ripped out of his chest, he gave it to the person who always had it but never knew and they won't even take it. His head throbs and he wants to hide, curl in on himself in some dark nook or cranny and be forgotten, no one is really around to miss him now, anyways. Not when he just burned his last bridge. Not when Himei and Tov are both set for the noose. He feels a hand tentatively touch his shoulder and he hunches in on himself more, shying away and hugging himself as he tries to stop crying.

"You should leave," Dian rasps, his voice hiccuping on sobs. "They're coming to do my makeup in an hour."

"Do you really want me to leave?" Dian freezes before turning around and he knows his bewilderment has to be plain to see on his face. Nyx is watching him with a forlorn expression, lips twisted into something that looks like a smile but isn't, it drips with regret. "I can leave." Nyx takes a step towards Dian and touches their foreheads, sharing the slightest amount of weight and letting his eyes slip shut.

"Of course, I don't want you to leave," Dian laughs wetly. "But you should." Nyx shrugs.

"I should do a lot of things," he points out, opening his eyes and giving Dian a little half smile. He brushes Dian's bangs out of his face and presses the briefest of kisses to Dian's mouth. Dian stares at Nyx, wide-eyed. "I want to try this, with you," Nyx says.

"You," Dian stammers. "You what?" Nyx huffs a laugh and rolls his eyes.

"I want to try this," Nyx repeats, taking Dian's hand and tangling their fingers together, holding up between them. "Y'know, us."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really," Nyx replies, raising an eyebrow as he smirks ever so slightly. "But you gotta fuckin' talk to me next time, alright? Promise?" Dian stares at their hands, interlocked clumsily but still connected, irrevocably. He pulls their hands closer and kisses Nyx's knuckles.

"Promise."

-

GOD its finally over I'm so sorry this took so long funnily enough apparently Dian is kind of hard to write I don't write him for a really long time and then suddenly I have to figure out his confession scene to Nyx. . . anyways now to work on the next thing (scampers away) taggin time

@lookatmysillies for Cas & Himei! @kamersona for Noora! @apriciticreveries for Aurien (im getting to your ask im sorry its taking me a bit sweetheart). @solei-eclipse for Solei. @sotogalmo for Flor!! (siblings siblings siblings, i chant in the background). um and right! @ivanttakethis for Tov mentions and because you asked me to tag you in this hehe. lmk if i missed anyone!!

[apriciticreveries]

some aurilang and solauri doodles / wips i did in class and forgot to post . .

[ lang : @its-langgg / solei : @solei-eclipse ]

[azureitri]

MADE IT! SORRY THIS WAS RUSHED!

@aurienneirua @its-langgg @ivanttakethis @solei-eclipse @bittersweet-adagio (did them first because that's all i can do atm)

[its-langgg]

i feel like i actually never properly asked . . but what does lang actually think of aurien ? im gonna include some of auri’s thoughts about her in a ( long overdue ) ask : D anyways, i hope your having a good day when you get this plip ! love you ! !

i found a new multicolored brush please take this :D

tldr lang likes aurien!! shes a wee bit envious around the interpersonal relationships auriens developed around anakt + how lang failed to. yippay

[paradisedisconcert]

AYAYAYAYAYA I LOVE AURIEN

(I HOPE I GOT HER RIGHT)

@apriciticreveries 's oc!!

[ivanttakethis]

End of Round 6 - Tov’s Log

Vermillion vs. Aurien - ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR

————————————————————

Solei had been the sun to Aurien’s moon for as long as Tov could remember.

Their light illuminated every fiber of Aurien’s being. She shined because they shined.

But after Solei disappeared, after Aurien’s daylight gave way to endless night, she let the darkness swallow her whole too.

She was never quite the same.

Even the way she sang was different.

It was haunting.

To the audience, it probably sounded beautiful.

But Tov knew the ghost behind Aurien’s voice was real.

Vermillion sounded haunted too, though in a slightly different way.

His ever present charm had melted away, raw emotion flooding his voice as he sang.

Tov knew right away that this round would be close. Aurien would have to give everything and then some to avoid a repeat of Round 3.

She couldn’t watch another friend die.

She couldn’t.

But Vermillion was Aurien’s friend too, right? Tov didn’t know if Aurien would ever betray a friend in the way that was necessary to win.

She ground her teeth.

The song finished, and the scoreboard totaled the points.

Vermillion 54. Aurien 46.

Her heart thudded once, hard enough to bruise. She stopped breathing altogether.

The moon would crash to the planet’s surface, and the tide would rise wild to meet it.

Tov thought of Solei. For the first time since they disappeared, she hoped they were dead.

If only so Aurien could reunite with them sooner.

“Vermillion Win” was projected in big letters on the scoreboard.

Then the screen went black.

“What the—”

A gun fired.

An emergency alarm started blaring.

Then the audio cut out too.

No! Aurien!

Something fast and sharp shot through Tov’s system, seizing her still weakened heart in its brutal grasp.

It wasn’t adrenaline, she knew that chemical reaction well.

No, this was something different. This was something worse.

Cassio, her mind screamed, I need to call Cassio now.

Tov fumbled for the phone and punched in her guardian’s number with a bit more force than necessary.

She held her breath as the line rang.

As soon as Cassio picked, Tov was assaulted by the panicked cacophony in the background.

Aliens were screaming, guards were shouting orders that fell of deaf ears, and that damn alarm was still wailing too loud to think.

“Tov?”

“Cassio.” Tov never thought she’d be relieved to hear their voice. “The broadcast lost the video feed and then there was a gunshot. Is everything alright?”

“Alright” definitely wasn’t the right word to describe the lead up to Aurien’s execution, but she couldn’t think of anything else.

“Everything’s gone to shit.” They hissed. “Someone cut the power to the whole complex and triggered the emergency alarms. There’s a stampede of aliens trying to get out of here and I’m currently stuck in the middle of it. We’re all trying to get to the backstage tunnels now.”

Tov’s mind was spinning. Was there an attack on Alien Stage? If so, what — or who — were they after? The judges? The audience? The contestants?

Himei and Tallis were still there.

What if something happened to them?

What if something already had?

She would have no idea until the lights came back on and someone sorted through the carnage.

Tov’s medical band beeped.

“This place is swarming with AREPH agents.” Cassio muttered, yanking Tov out of her spiraling thoughts.

AREPH. The Agency for the Recovery of Escaped Pet Humans.

Tov remembered a few AREPH agents showing up at Anakt Garden the morning after Solei disappeared.

The agent who interviewed her wore a silver badge with the agency’s seal. She could still recall what it looked like; how it gleamed when it caught the light.

Tov frowned.

Why would AREPH agents be there?

“Oh fuck—” Cassio’s voice shook.

“What? What is it Cassio?”

Their tone turned grave, “Tov, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I’m only going to say this once, and then I’m going to hang up.”

“What’s going on—”

“JUST LISTEN TO ME TOV!!”

Tov recoiled from the receiver. Cassio had never so much as raised their voice at her before. Her medical band beeped again.

They took a deep breath to compose themselves, then spoke in a very deliberate and deathly even voice, “Lock the doors. Turn off all of the lights in the house. Draw the blinds.” They instructed. “Don’t make any noise. Don’t pick up the phone. And don’t answer the door for anyone. Stay put until I get back.”

Tov finally had a name for the emotion that had a vice grip on her heart.

Fear.

She’d felt it so infrequently in her life that it was hard to identify amidst the chaos. But she felt it now.

Strong. Overwhelming. Terrifying.

A chill ran down her spine. Ice surged through her veins. She couldn’t move.

“Why?” Tov could barely get the words out. “Why do I have to do all of this?”

Cassio took pity on her.

“It’s about Solei. They’re here.”

And the line went dead.

————————————————————

Round 6, amirite?? <- (is definitely failing to cope)

Shit got real this round. Lots of chaos. Lots of blood. Lots of thoughts and feelings. Honestly I’m still processing most of it.

It’s a good thing Tov stayed home for this round too because the ensuing panic probably would’ve given her a heart attack (not joking btw).

If you’re wondering how Cassio knew it was Solei at the competition, they passed by a monitor backstage that had the emergency message from this post flashing on it and recognized Solei’s ID number.

They tell Tov to act like she’s not home because AREPH agents could come looking for her since she is thought to be withholding information about Solei’s Anakt Garden escape.

Aurien belongs to @aurienneirua and Solei belongs to @solei-eclipse.

Himei, Tallis, and the Agency for the Recovery of Escaped Pet Humans (AREPH) belong to @lookatmysillies!

[sotogalmo]

10:50

Sun and Moon! (Also wanna say that Solei, Aurien and Flor all have Triple Baka in their playlist.... For the silly.... And Hatsune Solei, Akita Aurien and Teto Flor)

~15 hours and 40 minutes. / Title is from the same song that shares the title by Mothy or Akuno-P — @solei-eclipse (more will possibly be added, so in the future it might not be right) ~most of the songs here are more video game like. Solei is atmosphere to me

~15 hours and 40 minutes. / Title is a lyric taken from Military Fashion Show by AND ONE — @apriciticreveries (more will possibly be added, so in the future it might not be right) ~i hope I got the Vibe™ of Aurien right,,

I'm of course open to do more ocs! I have three others in the works, but they get done pretty fast so-! (The icon art is made by @/solei-eclipse)

[season39]

R O U N D [ —— ]

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

S O L E I VS A U R I E N

( Please select your preferred contestant . )

SONG :

SOLEI & AURIEN : MY CLEMATIS

[aurienneirua]

daily oc question ! :

who was your oc transported with / placed next to during transportation to anakt ?

( in the way seen in the mizisua video, mainly, where mizi’s box is placed next to sua’s during their transportation to anakt . id recommend to choose a bit specifically since this is the first person your oc sees before actually being at anakt . )

im not able to provide an example, because im still thinking myself . though i did make an art piece showcasing auriens mesmerization with a certain someone during her transportation . maybe it would be someone that she likes or is interested in ? a close friend, mayhaps ?

( maybe solei ( @solei-eclipse ) was auri’s little transport buddy, since aurien is mesmerized by them, often comparing them to the sun which like ivan to shooting stars, she often took as comfort because of how the sun slowly emerges from darkness and brightens the sky, but let’s be real, I can’t put solei as every answer haha . . )

( random note : high ponytail solei when ? ? )

[solei-eclipse]

the mainframe

[pwippy]

. . plip what’s happening . . i just woke up . . went to para’s sideblog for solei . . to find . . bird solei ? ? ?

HI APRI!! i might be a little late since @solei-eclipse already posted some info behind whats happening but i'll try to theorize the timeline/explanation

OURO. ALL THEIR FAULT. Solei was sent to Anakt as a study/experiment. Ouro's main job/occupation involves bioengineering with animal copies in a simulated environment (a garden) + mimicking life on Earth

2. Solei gets to Anakt!! I don't think Ouro would send Solei *before* doing the modifications so their transformation seems to be a slow, timed sleeper agent kinda deal. In the weeks leading up to Season 39, Solei likely was going through slow changes. The physical changes didn't appear too much (greying hair + eyes) until the night they escaped (BIRD MODE), but mental changes were pretty prominent and likely noticed by Aurien and the other classmates. (paranoia, pain)

Also, their mindset changed a little? At least on what they focused on. They were afraid of death but for a few weeks could NOT stop thinking about it. Again with the slow time thing, this might be where their feathers + talons started developing? Having those under your skin would be immensely painful. Not to mention the bones might be moving around. They're literally decaying (which is another thing Ouro is interested in)(life to death argh). At this point they might've realized they were an experiment/shifting? The warped perceptions of others could've come from how late the changes started, as in it would be Anakt's fault rather than the other garden's that this was happening to them, then jump to "it must be happening to the others." Also the way a lot of our ocs are veryy self destructive 😭 sorry Solei

Not sure *why* Ouro wanted to send Solei as a study but I'd guess it would be related to relationships within Anakt and humans/other life forms? Like how Solei's relationship to Aurien would be affected after their transformation. Ouro was interested in the way humans adapted to the garden so it's possible they were interested in how a human would adapt to themselves and their own form rather than the environment? They were close enough for Solei to risk their life AGAIN to get Aurien out of Alien Stage.

It's pretty common for birds (SORRY SOLEI..) and. well. sometimes humans to stay together for life. Crows will mourn if their partners die! Swans will dive into cars headfirst if their partners die! And Solei will fight talon and wing to save Aurien regardless of their form.

It's mentioned that Solei can see in the dark. I've brought it up before that the way Solei's pupils change look a little like an owls so I would like to bet that this was the life form Ouroswas trying to mimic. (Important to note that it's likely not ACTUAL owl DNA as they don't have access to Earth owls and the word mimic/simulation has been brought up multiple times in regards to Ouro and their job)

Ok. Ouros' thought process behind this. They're fixated on life and death, and their name is a literal homage to the Ouroboros, a snake/dragon-like creature that eats itself in a circle/cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

It's incredibly specific how (maybe) an OWL was chosen as the life form to mimic in Solei. A nocturnal creature. Isn't it funny how Solei, a being who LOVES warm yellow, the sun, their eyes literally mimic a sun, their name means sun, transforms into something that mimics darkness? Something that flies under the moon? (this is the part where i lose any coherence because im obsessed with soleis LORE) ECLIPSE IMAGERY. OURO. PARA. YOU CANNOT BE KIDDING ME. Solei's disposition and sense of self (sunny) is literally being covered by darkness and the living embodiment of the NIGHT. THEYRE BEING ECLIPSED. (by the way this anon was me ohhhmygosh para para para para) GRIPPING EVERYONE BY THE SHOULDERS RIGHT NOW. GUYS. GUYS. DAY TO NIGHT. SUN TO MOON.

It's also very interesting on how the sun is essential to life. The base for almost any ecosystem to thrive. But Solei's placed in a space with an ARTIFICIAL SUN when their whole gist is loving nature, loving animals (THE LITTLE COMPARISONS OF THEIR CLASSMATES TO CREATURES.. OUGH), loving anything natural and being incredibly off putted when something artificial is introduced. Even though they're average in music/singing, OURO, THE SYMBOLIC MF, LIKELY THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY SILLY TO TAKE THE SUN AND FORCE IT TO TRANSFORM. IN AN ARTIFICIAL WAY. IN THE ARTIFICIAL GARDEN. ECLIPSE IMAGERY......... (ALSO something about Ouro playing God and using that whole really cool coincidence on how the sun is 400x bigger than the moon but ALSO 400x farther away so they can line up heheh) absolutely obsessed with how the eclipse imagery plays into the lore and how it affects the story line!! its so well written and drawn arghh. speaking of the story line though:

3. The Rescue. This section will be a little less detailed since it hasn't finished yet but!! Despite losing their sanity Solei's plan was actually very well thought out. Their night vision grants them a significant advantage over the guards, so it was much easier for Solei to get onto stage by knocking out the lights. They also have gained other abilities that have been yet to be seen!! One that more implicitly comes into play is how silent owls are when they fly/move. There's no footsteps in the audio of their escape!! Also, it didn't seem like Aurien noticed when Solei was behind her. She was likely more stressed at the time since she was about to die. Solei setting off the alarms? Also good! To an extent. It's possible more guards were sent out to search for Solei when they arrived, so ones present on stage (increased security) may have left to scope out the venue. This could've created an opening for their escape. (THE BLOODY HUG THE BLOODY HUG THE BLOODY HUG AHRNFKXKFNJSJ)

Very excited to see how the rest of the season goes!! I wonder if Solei can glide/leap? Please Ouro please don't tell me you gave them the ability to swivel their head 180

[rockwgooglyeyes]

Although this is extremely late, what would you say happens during and after Nyx’s and the other’s escape?

HI (I am assuming) PARA!! I'm so sorry that I never wrote something for the aftermath of Nyx's round, I had a draft but I just moved into my flat at uni and my flatmates moved in last Sunday and it's been kind of super chaotic since. I haven't had much time to write. But the finished product will be in this ask-response, for simplicity's sake. If that's okay with you

LOG (SUBJECT: Round 18 - ONYX LOSS)

SPECIMEN: 001247 (ONYX)

When the lights go out, fear is the furthest thing from Nyx's mind.

Why would he be afraid? Lang won, she won, he's so happy he could cry. She deserves it, she deserves the world, he wants to hug her and kiss her forehead and tell her that he loves her before he goes. He clutches onto her, their dance stuttering to a stop in the muddy black. He can hear the alarms going off, the panicked screams of the crowd, the footsteps clattering through the arena and the gunshots ringing out, but it all feels far away. Lang starts to push him away, her hands shaking, but he holds fast.

"It's just me, please," he rasps, voice breaking on the last syllable. She goes still in his arms, wariness clear in the steely potential energy of her limbs. He finds her forehead with his hand and brushes away her bangs from it, bending down to press a kiss to the revealed skin. "Thank you, Lang, for being my friend. I love you." She hesitates, hands twitching where they rest on his chest, before hugging him. She squeezes him tightly and lets go all too soon, distancing herself from him. She takes one step and then another, getting farther and farther each time.

Letting out a shaky breath, Nyx lets her go. Lang doesn't turn, she doesn't run away, she watches him unflinchingly in the murky darkness. If there really is an afterlife, he thinks, I will miss her when I get there. Maybe I'll get to see Kyo, or Cas. Tov might even name a constellation after me. He doesn't follow her, simply standing there and waiting for death to come. He doesn't care how it's done, whether it be a bullet through the chest or someone slams him to the ground and bashes his head in, it doesn't matter. If his last memory is one of pain, then so be it. He deserves it, after all this time of living past his expiration date.

See, it was as soon as he realized that Kyo would never love him back, it was when he first set his eyes on Asahi, it was when he stood on stage at graduation- those were the moments that told Nyx that he wouldn't make it past twenty. Here he is, though, twenty and something months, however many days over his allowance. He doesn't regret it, the moments he had in that stolen time. He was able to tell Tov he loved her, he got to tell Vera goodbye, he saw Aurien one last time and Solei, well, Solei is still alive. He just hopes that they're happy.

Nyx can't help but laugh- Tov will be absolutely furious with him for dying. For losing. At least, he hopes she hates him for it, that it makes it easier to accept that he's gone. Part of him still wishes he had done something other than laugh. He wishes that the last thing he said to her was something gentle, sweet, but he supposes it wouldn't have been true to form. He's not a sweet, gentle person. He's brittle and sharp around the edges and cruel when it counts, bitter when it hurts. Still, he wishes that he had done something better than laugh when she told him to win. He laughed because he had nothing to say, because he was surprised, because he was astounded that Tov thought he even stood a chance. After all, she knows the truth, that Cas threw the round, that he'd done it as some kind of sacrifice, some sick act of love.

(Really, Nyx should have known from the beginning, that something was off, that Cas wasn't trying as hard as he should have been, that he wasn't pouring his heart out into it like he would've been had the circumstances been different. He should've known that the calm, the acceptance in Cas' eyes was a harbinger of doom, an omen for what was to come. He didn't. He was too foolish, too naïve, too stupid to see the truth.)

When a hand clamps down over his mouth from behind him, he doesn't scream. He doesn't fight. He waits for the end, no resistance, no questions, no fear. Maybe that's why it takes him a moment to make out Aurien's voice, pleading with him.

"Nyx? Nyx, can you hear me?" He blinks, turning to see his little sister, standing stark in the darkness. Inky strands of hair is dripping into her wild eyes, she pulls down a mask covering her mouth, breathing heavily as she watches him.

"Aurien," he murmurs, breathing her name in a hushed whisper, reverent as a prayer. He takes a step forward and tucks her hair behind her ear, cupping her face with a hand, stroking his thumb down the delicate curve of her cheekbone, the gentle flutter of her eyelashes. She leans into his touch, smiling slightly and releasing a sigh of relief. "You're not supposed to be here." What happens next doesn't make sense, her eyes flashing open, fury flashing in their obsidian depths.

"Nyx," she intones, warning obvious in her tone. She places her hand on top of his, her jaw twitching with barely constrained rage.

"I've already stayed too long," he tells her, running his fingers through her hair, just as he used to when they were children and he was comforting her while she cried. "Please, save Lang instead. She doesn't deserve to die." She jerks backwards, ripping his hand away and stumbling, looking shaken to her core.

"What are you talking about?" She demands, throwing her hands up in the air. "You don't deserve to die, either." Nyx barks out a laugh, shaking his head.

"Of course, you would say that," he sighs, looking down at the ground. "But Cas died. He died so that I could live. Kyo is gone, Vera too, that's not even mentioning Tallis. You and Solei are happy, now. I'll just drag you down, with my cynicism, my baggage. You're better off forgetting about me."

"You-"

"I don't deserve to be saved."

"Well, good thing that I don't fucking care whether or not you deserve it," Aurien snaps, eyes flashing dangerously. "You're coming. We're saving you. No buts."

Of course, right after she says that, a whistle pierces the air and punctures her in the side. Right where she was shot the first time. Right where Cas was shot. Nyx catches her when she falls, grasping at her arms with shaking, sweaty hands. She coughs out blood onto his shoulder, trying to push herself back up and failing. Nyx should be helping her, he knows he should be helping her. After all, she's real.

But his vision is flickering in and out, Aurien's hair turning curly, the color of dried blood, hemoglobin on silk. She looks up at him, says something, but he can only see Castor's face, smiling at him with bloodied lips. Nyx can only hear the laugh that bubbled out of Castor in his last moments. Nyx's heart is beating the drums of war in his ears, chest heaving and tears budding in his eyes. He presses his hand to the wound in her side to stem the bleeding (like he did with Cas) and she hisses in pain just like Cas did.

Nyx chokes on his own breath, stuttering backwards, unable to do this any longer. Aurien makes a noise in surprise, crumpling to the floor, just like Cas did. Just like Cas did.

"It's not, real, he's gone," Nyx hiccups out, shaking his head, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes. "He's gone, he's gone. Please, please," He repeats it, a broken record catching again on the needle, attempting to self-soothe in the face of a fracturing psyche.

"Onyx," a voice cuts through his delusions. He barely hears it and when a hand suddenly grabs his forearm, he flinches away on instinct, eyes wide, panic taking over every other faculty of his mind. The owner of the hand is he doesn't recognize, with white curly hair and a face mask just like the one Aurien was wearing, and they're looking at him sternly. "We need to get out of here."

"Wh- I- alright," Nyx acquiesces, too tired to fight anymore. "Where're we going?" His voice is hollowed out and rough, broken by his crying.

"Surveillance room," the white-haired person grunts out while picking up Aurien gingerly and holding her over their shoulder. "You know a way there?" Nyx nods, scanning his mind for the shortest route from the stage. He beckons them to follow him and darts off, lowering himself down off of the stage and going to the undercroft beneath the stage through a hidden panel. The person ducks in behind him, seeming surprised at where they end up, the racks of costumes, the tools and other supplies, microphones and cords strewn about. Nyx weaves through the mess quickly, leaving his companions to catch up as he rewires the lift to bypass the security lockdown.

"I wouldn't risk the lift if we didn't have someone injured," Nyx says quietly, fingers tangles and disentangling the cords he pulled from the outlet. Finally, the lift dings, the light turning on as the doors open with a hiss. The person holding Aurien nods to him and enters the lift. Nyx presses the button inside and opens up the admin panel to program a no-stop straight shot to the surveillance room. "See, the thing is, the undercroft and the surveillance room are directly connected because they're both backstage work areas." Nyx doesn't know why he's talking, not really, but the words are spilling out of him and it feels good to fill the silence up with something other than the hum of the electricity and the whispers in his head insisting that this isn't real either, he's already dead and this is some grandiose delusion of heaven.

They actually reach the surveillance room before the person holding Aurien even responds to his rambling which feels a bit like a blessing in disguise. There are two people already in the surveillance room, one of which whips around to face them while the other stays hunched over the admin panel, presumably doing damage control. Funnily enough, they look like Ryu and Ji-Woo but that's ridiculous. Those two went missing.

"Nyx?" The person that looks and sounds like Ryu exclaims, amber eyes widening. "Shit, what happened to Aurien, Bunny?!" The person carrying Aurien, Bunny apparently, lets out a sigh and walks out of the lift, dragging Nyx with them.

"She got shot, Ryu, obviously," Bunny answers. "Now, where's our muster point? We can't just hole up in here."

"I'm working on it," Ji-Woo barks out. Nyx has decided that they must be the real Ryu and Ji-Woo, no matter how ridiculous that is, because they both sound like them and look like them and Ryu got called Ryu by Bunny and Aurien is the real Aurien and- fuck, he should really just shut up. Ryu glances at Nyx out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, are you okay?" Nyx blinks, frowning at Ryu in confusion. "You seem shaken up." Nyx stares at him for a moment longer before trying to smile.

"Never been better," he lies through his teeth. He's definitely been worse but suffice to say, this not one of his better days.

"I've got a muster point from Solei, c'mon, we need to go," Ji-Woo says as soon as he sends out a command for a system wide 24hr shut down. "We meet at docking bay 4D in the Φ wing. You know where that is?" Ji-Woo glances to Nyx who blinks in surprise before nodding. He finds his way to the front of their pack before darting ahead, scanning the hallways for any guards as he slowly orients himself and takes them through the weird back alleys of the arena.

"How do you even know these are here?" Ryu asks at some point while they're in an abandoned fuel cellar in Φ wing.

"Uh, trial and error mostly," Nyx replies as he tries to remember whether they go right or left from here. "Oryon took me to the last two seasons of ALNST but it didn't really supervise me well so I wandered around."

"And you never got caught?" Bunny inquires, skeptical and for good reason.

"Oh, it's left," Nyx realizes, beckoning them to follow him through the gap between two walls where there used to be insulation, before the wing was decommissioned and set for demolition. "I mean, I haven't gotten caught doing this yet." Finally, they emerge in the bay after going through the vault in the ceiling, where all the old electrical is still hanging from the rafters.

"You would have been useful to have when we did this before, Ji-Woo and I kept getting lost," Ryu remarks. Ji-Woo blushes and elbows his partner before breaking off to find Solei. He waves them over to a bulky object covered by a dusty tarp after a moment. He and Ryu drag the tarp off and Solei pops up from the bed of the truck, eyes huge and wary in the dim. Bunny settles into the bed of the truck as well, putting Aurien down gently in the pile of bedding there so that she won't get jostled too much. Solei chirps, panic obvious in their tone and Nyx feels guilt pool in his stomach. He gets into the passenger seat after Ji-Woo settles behind the wheel, unable to face his sister who he was unable to help when she needed and the friend who loves his sister as much as he does.

Nyx thinks the best thing that happened tonight was Lang surviving.

Perhaps, Nyx is not good at accepting good things.

I will tag @starry-skiez because Ryu & Ji-Woo belong to him, @bluemoonscape because Castor & Kyo belong to him, @apriciticreveries because she's Aurien's mama, @solei-eclipse is Solei's creator, @rosedeleca for Bunny & Rose. um. @zerostyrant because he asked to be tagged <3 oh and @ivanttakethis because i mention Tov <3