deercountry | Real & Half-Real: Chapter 1

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Real & Half-Real: Chapter 1 - The Portal and the Plan

Who: The Committee to Rescue Illarion from His Very Stupid Mistake
What: Building a portal to bust into a pocket dimension and strategizing what to do once they get there. All extremely advisable science.
When: Early-mid April
Where: Throughout Trench, and in parts beyond it

It's been weeks since Illarion's disappearance in the fight against Leviathan, and scarcely fewer weeks since his Omen Iskierka began papering Trench with notes on his whereabouts. The shrike's friends and loved ones have not been idle during that time, and now their plans begin coming to fruition.

It's time to get him out of the nightmare he's trapped in--but first, they've got to break their way in, and they've got to have a plan.

[[ Part of the Real & Half-Real player plot! Navigate to other plot posts: [OOC] Interest Check | [IC] Prologue | [IC] Iskierka's Notes ]]

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"...and those are our thirteen targets." Sayo finishes her briefing, having spent the last several minutes pointing to (surprisingly accurate) sketches of the thirteen "dramatis personae" of Nephele-that-isn't, i.e., the thirteen main characters of the "story" that they have to assassinate, and explaining what she knows of their role and abilities based on her own time there. Sayo has described the barest bones of the ritual; the need for the sacrifices, the time limit, and the difficulty in taking down each member of the false world's cast. However, she has been reticent on how, exactly, the ritual works and why she knows of it—which may be concerning for something both so crucial to the plan and so fundamentally disturbing and callous.

"In our first attempt to enact this ritual, Illarion and I successfully assassinated the Prince of Pleasure and the Swan Sorceress, but fell short when we attempted to secure the Prince of Noon's airship for our own use due to a simple lack of firepower. I have more detailed information on the domains and abilities of each of those targets, but... it may be outdated at this point." She sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "The most precarious part of this plot is that Nephele-that-isn't's topography, structure, and even history seem to be... in flux. While Illarion and I traveled its expanse, it always seemed to be changing, expanding even, as the world built itself up. If we're particularly unlucky, some of the characters that Illarion and I pinpointed as good targets will be unsuitable or dead—twice over, in some cases—when we arrive. That initial 24-hour reconnaissance period will be crucial, as well as any information we can glean before then."

A short pause. Then... some of the stern, professorial facade cracks, revealing someone fundamentally very, very tired and very, very scared beneath. "And... thank you, everyone. I was worried it'd just be me, Kaworu, and Paul for some time, but it's, um. It's reassuring, seeing how many of you have shown up to help."

Deep breath. The mask comes back on. "Now. Any questions?"

Ask her anything.

Oscar had been quiet.

This wasn't his fight. He barely knew most of the people involved, but he was also someone who upheld his word. Although their meetings had been both brief and under duress, he remembered a promise he made to someone with Sayo's fave:

Keep an eye on her.

Oscar may have seemed like an innocent, but he knew the full effects of being in the aftermath of someone else's self destrution on a personal level. Lives had been destroyed in Remnant because of it; his body still carried the scars.

Quietly, he raised his hand.

"If you can get me on the airship, I think I've got the controls," he said firmly. Although he only had experience in crashing airships, a part of him knew what to do. Oscar was confident he could figure it out.

"Also... Sayo." He hadn't spoken her name often, but he made a point to say it now. "Is the reason you know all this related to what happened to you and... Our Mysterious friend--"

They really needed a better name for this bird.

"-- after the beast that attacked the town was defeated?"

Oscar is still a mystery that Sayo can't solve, at least not yet. She doesn't understand how someone so close to Ange, who's seen all the scars that the shrapnel from her self-destruction inflicted on her, can have so much sympathy for her. Even knowing that he was acquainted with Kanon for a brief time doesn't explain it—while Sayo is unfortunately aware of how easy it was to get attached to him, whatever passed between the two of them couldn't made a bridge across that gap. Right?

And yet Kanon, the soul bound to Sayo's butterfly Omen, is currently draped across Oscar's lap like a lazy cat and not an insubstantial giant insect.

"I'll keep your skills in mind. We'll definitely need somebody who knows how to pilot that thing; killing the Prince of Noon only to crash the airship and fail the mission five minutes later would be embarrassing." Sayo sighs at his question, looking away from the audience. "...and yes. While... many of you were not aware of it at the time, my soul had departed my body and went with Forneus to Nephele-that-isn't. A small fragment of myself was already operating my body since I was concentrating on the battle with the leviathan as much as I could, so almost nobody noticed anything was amiss." Pause. "And before you get concerned about what happened to the part of me that suddenly gained independent will and free thought, he's currently napping on Oscar's lap."

"You mean-- Kanon is--?"

Perplexed, he looked down at the butterfly that was nestled in his lap like some weird forest creature that had found a favored human. He recalled Kanon's own promise to return however he could and couldn't help but smile despite everything else that was happening.

This was exactly why he extended a branch of neutrality towards Sayo in the first place. He knew the frustrations of having others inside his own mind all too well, and knew that the situation had to be far more complicated than what was being let on. It wasn't his business, but he didn't care to make enemies unnecessarily.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean to distract from anything. I only noticed because I walked in at a weird time-- otherwise he was very good at being... Shannon."

Even while he spoke, he gently ran his fingers over the delicate butterfly wings. Their structure was a marvel on this large of a measure, because the individual scales he had heard word of in science class that made up the wings were evident with an almost feather-like appearance and fragility.

It was yet another reason to not judge Sayo so quickly.

Sayo rubs the back of her neck, looking away from Oscar. Despite the surreality of Kanon's existence and her refusal to ever admit it out loud in an unironic way, Sayo's glad to have her "little brother" in the real world at last. Even as a weird magic shadow butterfly that they were still workshopping how to give him a way to talk. "It was the least I could do for putting the burden of, um, existing on his shoulders, especially to play a role that we both hated. He can't really talk right now, but it seems as though he's glad to see you."

There's an odd, bony structure to Kanon's wings now that Oscar is looking closely, as if it was closer to a bat's than a butterfly's. And of course, there are the skull patterns on the wings. Thanks, "Sasha."

"Speaking of Kanon," The butterfly turns his antennae to presumably give Sayo a dour glare, "Nephele-that-isn't's... unique metaphysical properties may make it possible for him to join us beyond a limited capacity as, well. A butterfly." Kanon's "glare" now looks significantly less dour and significantly more hopeful. "If all goes according to plan, we should be able to share minds, and as such coordinate across vast distances. Consider that a very, very large 'if,' though."

A nod. Oscar understood these variables all too well. Although he was glad for Kanon's existence in a physical presence, he knew that it was likely a situation similar to what he currently shared with Ozpin. Although they were two bodies, a part of them would always be linked in a manner that was inseparable.

"Regardless of how it works, I'll happily help both you and Kanon. Just tell me where you want me to be. You should know enough about my capabilities to have ideas about that already."

After all, anyone who had spent any time in the Clockhouse would have noticed Oscar's tendency towards mimicking the body language of a certain wizard whose shadow stretched longer than anyone else's in the house in the moments when he wasn't consciously monitoring himself. The odd, unsettling stillness was unmistakable-- as was it's similarity to the wizard Sayo had threatened at gunpoint.

Sayo taps her temple, reviewing what she knows of Oscar. His connection to Ozpin, his unusual worldliness, his nigh-unbreakable composure- even though he had little to offer in sacrificing the thirteen dramatis personae, Oscar's temperament and knowledge were an invaluable asset. Something that needed intense concentration, a talent for thinking on your feet, a well of odd trivia and bizarrely specific knowledge...

A smile tugs at Sayo's lips, and she snaps her fingers.

"Tell me. How well do you think you could pilot an airship?"

"...I can figure it out. I think."

There was no reason to explain how he had previously crashed an airship that had been shot down with zero casualties-- nor reason to explain how he likely did fly such a vessel in another lifetime.

"What are you thinking?"

"Even if Nephele-that-isn't retains its odd... compressed properties, we'll still need some way of getting from place to place quickly."

Sayo crosses her arms, grimacing as she remembers that brush with death when she and Illarion grappled with the Prince of Noon; the battle that nearly rent her apart and that Illarion had sent her back to Trench to let her escape from.

"While getting it will be... a labor all on its own, there just happens to be an airship we can hijack that belongs to one of our first targets..."

Oh, she is looking forward to getting revenge.

Michael clicks his tongue thoughtfully, leaning back in his chair as he reads over the notes available. "Swan Lady sounds fun," he comments dryly. What a basic playbook. He went through that phase too, sure, but it turns out that manipulating everybody is a shitty way to live your life.

He could manage that, he thinks. He knows those tricks. But there's plenty of people who can handle a little trickery, and fewer with his more unique talents. Best to focus on what he, and he specifically, can do. Illarion's world isn't too much like his own. Their demons sound extremely different. But he's seen Illarion - actually seen him properly - so he thinks he's got a good understanding of how their higher-dimensional beings operate. It really doesn't seem that different from back home.

"I'll go after these shrike people," he concludes. "I'm not going to go insane or whatever when I see them." Despite being, to all outward appearances, a normal human? He does not provide any further explanation!

Sayo nods along with Michael's assessment of the Swan Lady, face twisted with distaste. "I don't say this lightly, especially with what Trench has made all of us, but she's a monster. Given my stake in this, my grudge against her is... of a more personal nature, but it's still true." She grinds her teeth thinking of the sick dance she put her thralls through, what Illarion told her of what she did to his child, the slick, oily words that had nearly seeped their way past her ears and into her mind; every part of Domnika seemed to be designed with malicious intent to get under Sayo's skin.

"Although the island will naturally be on higher alert due to the size of our party if nothing else, assassination will likely be our best strategy against her. The same strategies may not work, but... my own talents will still likely be useful in infiltrating her estate and killing her quietly. It'll be one of the few arenas where I'll be directly useful in a 'sacrifice.'" That, and Sayo really, really wants to do the deed herself, and make it stick this time.

She nods when Michael volunteers his capabilities. If nothing else, she knows not to judge by appearance by now. "Now here's an important question: how well can you handle being shot? Repeatedly, in all likelihood?"

"Pfffft." Michael waves a hand dismissively. "I'll be fine. If I lose enough blood, I might lose this human shape, but I can survive that. This isn't even my final form."

Now, is he excited about going squid mode in front of a bunch of virtual strangers? Of course not! But here in Trench, it feels slightly safer - they've all got squid shapes somewhere deep down. He'll just play it off as something to do with that, or some weird quirk of the mindscape. No big deal.

"I'm not whatever the hell these guys are, but I'm also an extradimensional being. This is all fairly standard where I'm from."

Sayo just... looks at Michael. He has almost definitely received more deadly deadpan stares, but this is impressive for a mortal human. It could probably kill adorable bunnies on the spot.

"Does it not occur to you that it may help me leverage your expertise if you actually shared what, exactly, your capabilities are instead of making jokes about them?"

"I just did," Michael replies, shrugging. That's plenty of information to go off of, in his opinion; he doesn't see the point in baring his soul. "Human form goes splat, I get more extradimensional. My powers are pretty much the same then, I'm just bigger and...a little more consistently on fire. Easier to wrestle other weird monsters that way."

"So in case of an emergency, I should put a bullet through your skull to expedite the process. Understood."

There is an uncomfortably long pause.

"I'm joking."

Was she? Was she, really?

Another pause.

"Because my weaponry would probably negate that property of your... whatever it is. I don't want to be down a competent fighter."

Michael just laughs. "Better not to risk it, then. But in theory, if anyone's got normal weapons - sure." It would be pretty quick, enough so to not risk too much pain, and since this is in a mindscape he's only partially sure that the damage would carry over to his real suit anyway.

"I can do it at will, though, so don't worry about setting me off."

"That's good to know. If nothing else, you should feel right at home among the shrikes. ...which I suppose was the point of your suggestion."

Sayo pauses, almost leaving it at that, then frowns as she remembers an important detail that she'd found sifting through Illarion's rambling both in-person and through Iskierka's letters.

"We need to make sure not to overuse your other form, though. It's low risk, but I don't want to attract attention from the Pillars... we need to plan where, when, and how to activate it as precisely as we can."

"Ah, right, the funky Time Knife." Michael nods thoughtfully. Best not to tangle with something like that - even back home, you've gotta be careful with outside realities generally. "Well, there's really no reason to be popping in and out of it. It'll take me a second to...you know, get out of this form, but I can do it whenever. We can just do a quick tactical strike, once I get close enough to grab enough guys."

"That's the plan, then."

Sayo pauses, realizing that she's probably going to regret asking this question, but unable to resist her curiosity anyways.

"...what's a time knife, by the by?"

"Oh! That's - there's a place in my universe where, if you look out, you can see millions upon millions of parallel universes layering over each other to sort of form a multidimensional razor's edge of space and time." Michael gestures idly with his hands as he describes this. "We've all seen it. Best not to go near it, though."

"I have to admit, I'm curious..." Sayo sighs. "But unfortunately, I need to stay sane enough to plan properly for for this operation, so I'll save letting my mind disintegrate under the weight of the cosmos for later."

"Oh, I know a human who saw it! He was fine."

Michael considers, then waves a hand. "Mostly fine. He got over it - honestly, I've seen him have like a hundred panic attacks about almond milk, it doesn't tell you that much."

L's been particularly quiet throughout the explanation. He received a note and is committed to breaking in, but once inside, there's precious little he could do. He could even be a liability, given the dangers that have been related in this strange other world.

"If our mutual acquaintance has been trapped in this Nephele, but his omen has been here in Trench to communicate and assist us... it stands to reason that it could work the other way around, doesn't it? Those of us who are better off remaining behind could at least do that much, and send omens in with the away team."

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Real & Half-Real: Chapter 1 - The Portal and the Plan

Briefing and Ask the Golden Witch

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probably cut it soon?

Sure

bang, there

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wrap soon?

sure!

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