deercountry | November Catch-All (Mostly Closed)

Hm. It may be that he really had failed to keep the zealots from kidnapping Lumine. Or, perhaps they were both here to free any one who had gotten caught. But the fact that Aether seems a bit out of it, and not knowing what happened to her puts him on edge. There's a lot of speculation to be made there, and normally he'd try to sort it out but his mind still wasn't completely clear of whatever the zealots had done to him, and exhaustion was starting to settle in. Plus, Aether doesn't seem to even want to look at him. He's not sure why, perhaps it was because of his status as a Fatui Harbinger and the terrible things he'd done- but he knows that having trust issues with him right now is really not what the two of them need right now.

"I can get around just fine, there's no need to worry about me," he responds, glancing up at the door that they both now stood in front of. "But I'm not leaving yet. If the two of you can be separated so easily, then there's a good chance she's still here. I've been through the entirety of this place so far, except in there."

He nods his head towards the door, fearing the worst behind it.

"Tell me, were the two of you brought here against your wills, or did you come her on your own?"

"We came here ourselves. Specifically looking for you and the others. You, specifically, got yourself kidnapped in front of her, didn't you?" Seriously, the hell is he going on about not needing to be worried about! "So, yes, I need to worry about you," Aether says matter-of-factly. "Glad to hear it, though."

He stares at the door for a moment longer before feeling uncertain. "I'd rather go find my sister than enter without her. But I'm not leaving you by yourself, either."

Basically, it's up to Childe whether they retreat to look for Lumine or go through the door first.

Well, they can thank their lucky stars they don't have to make a choice that very moment, Lumine coming up to them looking worse for wear than what Aether probably remembers. Her white dress is stained and her face spattered with blood–not hers, if she's asked–and her sword brandished in her hand, she looks exhausted and terribly harangued like she's just run a mile chasing after her twin brother while being chased by monsters.

Though to be fair, she's been looking for him for what seemed like ages, navigating the confusing and ever-changing corridors of the farm and avoiding the zealots crawling all over the place. And while she's more than confident of her brother's abilities, a part of her still despaired of finding him as one of the bodies scattered around, mutilated and lifeless.

"Aether!" She breathes his name, hugging him tight and feeling the pressing weight on her chest finally lifting. She mirrors his expression, however, frowning at his look of dismay. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

It's really only after she's made sure that her brother is safe and secure and in one piece that her gaze finally lands on Childe. A look of relief crosses her expression upon seeing him (see, he's fine) before it twists into annoyance when she recalls what happened the other day. And if it weren't for the fact that she's still hugging Aether, she would've lobbed a punch at him already.

"And you. I need to hit you when we get out of here."

Never in a million years did he think he'd end up in a situation with both of them mad at him like this, and if he's being honest with himself he's touched that they care enough about him to be irritated with him. He can only laugh, his hand coming up behind his head while being mildly amused by them both. He doesn't miss Lumine's look of relief either.

"Wow you two, were you really that concerned for me? How kind of you both. As you can see, I'm still up and running."

But he's not in perfect shape. There's wounds beneath the jumpsuit that are hidden by blood, and he's ignoring the pain. They were fierce foes alright, and made to be that much harder to fight without the aid of his vision or delusion.

"But could I request that you hit me a little later than immediately after our escape? I'd like a little time to recover before getting into a fight with you."

Aether nods to Lumine, feeling relief flood through him that she's fine, as to be expected. She didn't look that great, but he can mostly tell from how she carries herself as she approaches them that the majority of that blood doesn't belong to her. He wraps his arms around her in a comforting hug, quietly assuring her between the two of them that he's fine and nothing happened in their short time separated. He's glad she found him, he's sorry for separating from her, even moreso that he didn't seem to realize it. The onset of this confusion is a little concerning, but he's in a place where the air is soaked in blood amongst a very many other things. It's not too hard to believe he feeling a little bit off from it.

He glances silently at Childe when Lumine turns to him and threatens him, offering a small smile at the Harbinger's mention of their concern but that's all. If it was his Childe, he'd be reacting very similar to Lumine right now, so it's reassuring to see he can easily identify they have at the very least a good relationship. There's no reason to butt in on their hashing out the details of when the Harbinger is scheduled to take a beating from his sister, afterall.

Aether's not alone in that, at least, the heat and scent of the farm making her lightheaded and dizzy, so much so that Lumine's more than willing to give an arm and a leg for a cryo slime to hug. It honestly reminds her too much of the Delusion factory back in Inazuma, where she can almost taste the thick scent of darkness and blood lingering in the area, and the desire to leave the farm now that they've found Childe is growing more and more.

Rolling her eyes at Childe's dramatics as she pulls away from her twin, she turns towards the door as well with a questioning look on her face. She supposes beating him up can wait until they've returned to the Trench, as is assessing his current condition and dragging him to a Blood Minister.

"Is that the exit?" she asks them, glancing between the two. "Shouldn't we go, or are we still waiting for someone else?"

Is it Diluc and Kaeya? Considering they've already passed through all of the levels of the farm and haven't found either of the two, Lumine wonders if they've already managed to escape–or if they weren't captured at all. In which case, isn't this the best time for them to leave this hellhole?

When Lumine isn't looking, Childe gives Aether a smile back. Along with that, he gives a shrug that suggests that he's accepted his fate, in whatever way Lumine has deemed fit to serve it to him. He really hadn't meant to upset her, and he hopes that Aether can understand that he hadn't meant to mess up and get caught the way he did.

He looks over to the door, still curious what lie on the other side. It feels as if they have to go in there to find their way out. But still, on the other hand, he also gets a foreboding feeling from it.

"I don't know if that's the exit. I'd just arrived here when I found Aether standing here. Considering that none of the other floors have a way out, it's safe to assume we have to continue to find out way out of here. That being said...let's go."

He steps forward, opening the door to the next room. What lies before them is one macabre image after another, the statue of The Tower in the middle of the room with organs sacrificed to it- the doors that lead off to more tables of Sleepers with their insides removed. The Sleepers being hung from the ceiling with their blood being siphoned off. It also appeared to have no exit, either.

He stops dead in the doorway, surveying the entire room. Is this what the zealot was talking about...?

Aether knows Childe well enough to know he didn't go let himself be kidnapped on purpose even if he has a flair for theatrics. While Lumine is complaining, Aether will silently mouth a 'thank you for protecting her' in response to the smile before he's looking away as if he wouldn't be caught dead thanking Childe. In truth, he probably wouldn't, especially with his sister mad at the Harbinger.

With Childe in the doorway, Aether peeks around the older (looking, anyway) male, wondering what has got him to stand there still. Aether's eyes widen in horror as he takes in the carnage and gore, but overall he's speechless.

He imagines this shouldn't be a shock for a place such as this, and he does recall the zealot that explained to the sinkings something about protecting the city with blood. Is this ... real? Furthermore, is it really protecting the city? Surely that's just a fanatic's warped viewpoint or outright lie... right?

Calling the sight shocking would honestly be an understatement, even in a city like the Trench. Blood may run through its streets but nothing like this, and it's enough for Lumine to momentarily take a step back in horror, forcefully pushing down the bile that threatens to rise up her throat. She remembers the words of the zealot, the pieces of the puzzle finally falling and fitting in place.

Is this really what they meant by protecting the city? By sacrificing its people?

"We should try to save them, shouldn't we?" she whispers under her breath, shaking her head to bring herself back to focus. "At least those who can still be saved."

But is there anyone in that room who's still alive? Lumine doesn't know, but they have to try before they find a way out of this hell. In any case, she moves past Aether and Childe into the chamber, her footsteps echoing against the metal floor, as she checks each and every room it branches out into.

"C'mon, you two!"

He isn't as optimistic as Lumine might be in this moment. Surveying the room more, it seems even more grim than on the first glance. Childe seriously doubts that there's anyone alive in here, given that most of the Sleepers that he'd come across who were alive were on the lower levels.

Probably being prepared to be brought up here.

It gives him a moment to shudder- this was to be his fate too, if it hadn't been for Manabu. Once again, he finds himself in the debt of others for being able to retain his own life, and Childe is pretty sure he needs his toes as well to count how many times this has happened in the last nine months or so. It would be embarrassing if it wasn't situation after situation where he was left absolutely powerless to do anything.

He begins crossing the room to help Lumine search for survivors and search for clues, leaving a trail of bloody footsteps from his bare feet behind him. He inspects the ones hanging from the ceiling, being pumped for the very last drops of their blood as he passes by- no dice. There wasn't any help to be had for them anymore. He forgoes searching for survivors for the moment, approaching the grand statue.

"We need to make sure there's an exit out of this place," he says to the twins, as he feels that same anxiety come back after he'd escaped from the Lab back in Deerington. This statue, and what the zealot he and Diluc had interrogated...it was starting to make sense.

"Listen you two; I have a feeling that we're not just walking out of here. Confirm that there is or isn't a way out of this room besides the entrance we just came in through."

"There's no exit," Aether says flatly. Although he had entered after Childe and Lumine, he'd become entranced to wander away and ended up searching the other rooms. He's not surprised, he highly doubted this was a ground floor anyway. It would have been unusual architecture for an exit even if this place wasn't a sleeper farm for blood and organ harvesting, he imagines.

Aether is looking around at the floor, noticing the footprints in blood and caked up gore and grime. He winces at the sight of the corpses (or what's left of them) hanging from the hooks when he glances up from noticing a puddle of red receiving drippings from above.

No way out and no one alive is pretty much what Lumine learns as well as she opens every single door she can find, the sight behind each one more and more gruesome than the last. It's a miracle that she hasn't upchucked anything she's eaten that morning after all the sights, sounds, and smells her senses have been assaulted all day.

She takes a turn about the room one more time before she comes to a stop in front of the statue, coughing harshly once more behind a hand as the smell of fresh blood becomes stronger. Not surprising, with the organs and blood littering the surroundings of the statue.

There's something strange about it, however.

"You two, come over here." She's crouching on the floor, her scarf and hem soaking the blood on the floor. She summons her sword, poking at what seems to be a fresh and beating heart. She makes an accident, however, the organ rupturing from the sharp point of her blade. Sorry, little heart ...

"I've never seen something like this before."

Then again, she's not entirely familiar with medical practices or the internal workings of a human body, so.

He rounds around the statue, meeting her in the front to see what she was looking at. He doesn't have much medical knowledge either, but he has recently seen some of the insides of a body before. It wasn't but a few days ago he was in a basement using a zealot for blood manipulation practice...

"I had a feeling we were going to find something like this here," he states, turning to Aether. "Did the bodies over there look as if they were being prepped for sacrifice?"

And, to the both of them:

"Do you two know what this statue is?"

He speaks like he's finally put two and two together. A question he already knows the answer to, and he sounds mildly unnerved, yet unsurprised about.

"I'm not really familiar with what bodies 'prepped for sacrifice' look like, but if you mean were they being drained of their blood and having prep for organ removal or already missing, then yeah," Aether says quietly, his brow creased as he observes his sister as he's come over at Lumine's command. At Childe's question, he glances up at the statue before shaking his head.

"I don't, it's just a statue of The Tower to me."

Aether hasn't really put anything together other than this place is even more morbid and grotesque than he had imagined.

Her brows furrow as she stands up, shaking the blood from her blade before recalling it.

"Isn't it strange, though? All of these things are scattered around this statue ..."

Lumine falters, lifting her eyes to the statue once more and then back to the organs and blood all around it. Why is it that these things seem to have been extricated carefully, handled with much precision–to the point that a heart outside of its body is still beating, a pair of lungs seemingly inflating and deflating? Compared to the mutilated, mangled corpses in those rooms ...

Her expression twists when things seem to start to fall into place, the words of those creatures slowly starting to make sense in a way. She glances at her brother, biting her lower lip to stifle the rising need to cough again.

"Ae, do you still remember what that thing told us before we went here? How they're protecting the city with blood?"

So, it sounded like she'd began to put the pieces of the puzzle together as well. Childe doesn't know how much information they'd gotten out of a zealot before they'd all met up, so he will gladly share the rest of what he knows with them. He doesn't like it. He's sure they won't either.

"Allow me to add to that. Master Diluc and I managed to...extract some information out of a zealot prior to arriving here. Apparently, there was no way in aside from being transported here by one of this place's fanatics. It called this place a tower too, saying it was eternal and forever."

And now that he sees the ornate statue in the middle, the sacrifices of organs to it, the blood being stored inside of this place; they were inside of the Pthumerian itself, The Tower...

Aether perks at Lumine's question, nodding as he starts to recall, but his thoughts are momentarily interrupted by Childe speaking up. He listens to what the Harbinger has to say, then considers what the zealot said to him and his sister. In truth, it doesn't make a whole great deal of sense to him. So, the zealots are corrupted but technically still trying to protect the city, just going about it in an unnecessarily sadistic way? They are loyal the Pthumerian the Tower, it seems, or at least obsessed with it. Is this a twistedly sadistic scenario demonstrating the idea that for the good of the many means it's acceptable to damn the few?

Perhaps it's because he's only just gotten here, but none of it comes together as easily as it seems to be for Lumine and especially Childe. To him, the more pieces he puts together just make him have more questions not less.

"This can't be good," he mutters to himself before coming up beside Lumine to get closer to the statue. "All right, let me try something."

Without another word, he pulls one of his gloves off before wrapping his hand around his blade to slice open his palm on it before reaching to press his hand flat against a part of the gold statue.

Any attempts to speak to him for about thirty seconds will be useless as Aether will seem as if he doesn't hear or feel anyone else around him. Luckily, after those thirty seconds, he will finally pull his hand away from the statue and step back moving to put his glove back on.

"I don't really understand how," he says quietly, "...but apparently if we bring an organ to sacrifice to the statue, we should be able to leave." Except, there's no way in hell Aether is touching other people's organs and sacrificing them for his own ability to escape. That's just as bad as aiding the zealots, isn't it?

Childe and Lumine he won't judge, though, so long as they get themselves out safely.

She still has a lot of questions too despite a handful barely given any answer, running through her head. After all, this is simply a statue; what use would there be to offer all this blood and carnage to what's essentially a figure? And how does this help the city in any way? Blood runs through its streets, with or without these cruel sacrifices.

Before she can say something or protest, she's watching Aether cut his palm open, reminiscent of her actions just a month ago, and smearing the statue with his blood. When he finally steps away, Lumine moves closer to him, taking his injured hand gently in her grasp. Honestly, if he needed to find something out, he could've just asked her; no need for him to make these sacrifices.

Her expression darkens once more with every word he utters, the information about their way out a little too on the nose. She supposes that with the kind of the place they're in, it's something to be expected, demanding them to show a similar form of fealty to this unknown god.

"What happens if we just destroy this thing, then?" Can it even be done?

They both like cutting their palms open; maybe it's a twin thing? Either way, he finds Aether's method of somehow having information revealed to him like that interesting. Perhaps there was more to their blood that they hadn't even realized. Childe hadn't even considered doing something like that, or maybe it was a special property that Aether, and subsequently Lumine, had. Maybe that's why the zealots were so bent on taking her.

The Harbinger shakes his head at her question however, ready to bear some mildly horrifying news to them both.

"I don't think so. This place...it's the Pthumerian itself. We're inside of The Tower. The blood sacrifices made, if those zealots are to be believed, must be giving it the power to dampen the blood corruption in Trench. So, at the end of the day, is this really an operation to be condemned when the sacrificed return to the realm of the living anyway?"

He doesn't agree with this, but he can't dismiss that it was mostly likely the reason why the city wasn't overrun with citizens who had mutated into beasts. Childe turns on both of the twins, walking over towards one of the doors and entering the room for a few moments. He comes back, an organ he'd cut out of a dead body in his hand, and looks at the two of them. Would they join him?

For Aether, it's more like it's the easiest way to get a lot of blood with minimal deepness of a gash. It also hurts quite a bit which means it keeps him from getting careless with playing with blood. So no, it's not a twin thing. Most likely. He also wouldn't have any idea if Lumine can do it, since he only found out he might be able to do it himself by accident while they were trying to hunt down a zealot that could could take them to where they took Childe and neither he nor Lumine were eager to have her actually touch one of them to use hers.

He shakes his head at Lumine's question with a small shrug of his shoulders having no idea the answer to her question. Childe is then directly answering her, so Aether remains quiet and simply looks at his hand in his sister's as he listens. However, at Childe's question about whether this is to be condemned, he turns to look at the other incredulously. "What are you even saying, Childe? Of course it is!"

Childe has already walked off, though, so Aether just turns back to Lumine silently fuming at the Harbinger saying such a thing. He guesses he can chalk it up to Childe being Childe, except for the fact this is what would have happened to him if he hadn't been let free by someone! One would think that he'd at least be a little more Kate about his own situation.

Aether steps back behind his sister when the other returns with the organ, silently letting go of her hand so she can go follow if she wants. He's not playing this game, especially not if that means he can't argue against this damning situation they've come across.

Aether's not alone in that, at least. Her livid expression mirrors that of her brother, disbelief written across her face at Childe's question. And if he weren't out of commission, she would've made her point very clearly right there and then.

"'The sacrifice return to the realm of the living'? One of those sacrifices could've been you."

They've all seen what the zealots have done. Offering themselves to the Pthumerians is one thing, same as asking people who would be ungrudging to offer themselves to these deities–but to capture unsuspecting individuals, even little children, and sacrifice them in the cruelest way possible is another. Even if it's for the greater good, the end doesn't always justify the means of getting there.

Lumine looks at the organ, freshly cut out of another person's body, in Childe's hand before she turns her head away, stifling the cough that starts to bubble up her throat. Their only way out of this oppressive place, and she's balking at it.

"You should go, Childe, and drag yourself to the nearest Blood Minister in the Trench." One that doesn't require her to cut up a person, dead or alive. She glances at her twin brother, offering him a tired smile and her hand. "... I'll stay here and keep Aether company. Make sure he doesn't do something stupid."

Overall, their answers are unsurprising, and quite frankly he looks unimpressed with their effort to cling to a higher morality in this moment. He didn't expect anything else though, but in his opinion they aren't being smart about this right now, feeling irritation starting to creep into his features.

"Both of you can be cross with me all you want. I hope you don't think that I'm happy with this outcome," he bites back. "If it were up to me, this isn't how I'd address this issue. I don't know what problems you're going to solve by staying here. It's likely The Tower is using this power to quell the blood corruption in Trench, so what would you rather have now? Keep those here from being sacrificed, or watch our new home be systematically turned into beasts?"

He pauses, looking directly at Lumine with a piercing gaze, laced with worry for her. She's been coughing a lot, and that hasn't gone unnoticed.

"If you want to change it, you need to learn the rules of this world. You two, of all people, should know that."

"You don't know anything about me, so stop acting like you do," Aether scoffs at Childe, a mirror image to Childe's feelings even as he refuses to look at him while answering.

"The Tower needs blood," Aether says coldly. "Does it need to get that blood from zealots that kidnap and torture even children? Do you really need a child's blood to keep a city protected? What's even the point, then?

"Now, let's say it absolutely requires the life of someone, as well. Does that mean it has to be done like mindless and excessive slaughter? The end has a purpose, but the means employed are excessive and unnecessarily so."

The older twin is clearly agitated, but despite verbally lashing back at Childe he doesn't seem particularly angry at him specifically. Exasperated, certainly, especially when the relationship between them is inevitably one-sided.

"...It's true you need to get out of here, though. And so does Lumine." Aether brings a hand to gently rub on Lumine's head reassuringly. "Lumi, why don't you go on ahead? I still need to confirm something and I haven't been having as bad a reaction to the blood as you." Or he's better at hiding it. Either way, though, he offers a reassuring smile to her. "I won't do anything stupid, okay? I should be back within the hour. Besides, this idiot is worried about you," he points to Childe. "And I'm way less likely to do anything stupid than he is. I don't trust him to go get looked at all on his own. Worst case scenario you know where I am."

What.

Lumine whirls around, turning towards her twin with an expression of bewilderment and confusion. Any argument on the absurdity of this place that she's about to sling at Childe dissipates on the tip of her tongue, her focus entirely on Aether. She shakes her head, squeezing his hand as if imploring him to say that he's just joking.

He can't be serious, can he? Staying here, knowing what's outside of this hall, all by himself. "I don't— I feel fine, Aether."

She shakes her head again, somehow stumbling through her words. Through assurances that she's fine, that she can stay with him on this farm and help him confirm whatever it is he needs to confirm, that her reaction to the blood pollution isn't as bad as they think. But even she's aware that her own brother will not hear any discussions on this matter, as she's wont to do if their situations were reversed.

"... An hour is too long." It's the one concession she's willing to make if her twin won't allow her to stay. "I don't want to come back here again."

Stubborn, just like his sister. Childe stands and takes the argument and insults from Aether and lets them roll off his back, almost as if he hadn't really heard them at all. Making a fuss right now wouldn't help anyhow. He's more concerned about leaving this place, unless of course, there were more zealots to fight.

It's surprising to him that Lumine would leave her brother's side, and considers that to do. Aether is correct, he did need to see a doctor and Lumine needs to leave this place. He also would hate to miss out on another battle, the adrenaline still running through him. So, maybe there is a better solution right now that will benefit them.

"Let's consider this- we could assist Aether in finding whatever it is that he's still looking for here, but limit ourselves to an acceptable amount of time as to make sure we don't collapse in this place. Perhaps we'll be able to find an alternate way out of here as well. That way should be able to satisfy everyone, no?"

November Catch-All (Mostly Closed)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

(no subject)

(no subject)

(no subject)