synopsychic | (no subject)

Genevieve scrambles back, but doesn't look away until it's all gone as quickly as it came. She's struggling to make sense of any of it, confused as to whether she found it frightening or somewhat pretty, and all of the complete and utter strangeness of that moment manifests in one of the few moments Genevieve has ever lost her calm, cool mask.

She says, voice building to a panicky screech, "What in all of the gods' names just happened here?!"

Naoto runs over, hat almost flying off of her head, and hair streaming behind her.

"Are you alright?" She's not exactly certain what just happened either.

Genevieve is staring in bewilderment, holding out her hands towards where the star once was. "I... I'm. I cannot form words to describe what I saw or what I'm feeling, pardon me, I--" Oh. "I am making a horrible first and second impression."

Edited 2015-10-30 03:42 (UTC)

"No, do not worry, this is... unsettling at the best. Did... whatever just happen negate the King? I didn't think even the Trumps could overpower that particular entity."

What the actual fuck.

"Yo!" Thorne calls, a good fifty feet from the campfire. "What the fuck just happened with that star?"

"I have no goddamn idea. As far as I know that's the first time the sigil's gone away like that - doesn't someone usually, like, rope it off?"

There's something else niggling at the back of Claudia's mind, but it doesn't hit home yet.

"I wish that I was more well-informed, because I'm struggling to figure out exactly what or who just potentially took care of whoever the King may be. I'm already completely clueless about who the King is in the first place! Was?" Don't mind her, she's just a bit frustrated that she can't help with much of anything right now. "Why me?" Not negative. Not complaining. Just confused.

Edited 2015-10-30 03:54 (UTC)

Armin skids to a halt the beach, having run all the way from Leo's workshop. He's out of breath and doing his best to ignore that fact - looking a little scared and slightly frantic, but also determined. Whatever's happening, they're going to need to be calm and controlled to deal with it.

"What happened!?"

Naoto takes a breath. "The King is a malevolent entity that seems to oppose the Trumps. Whatever that power is just... removed the connection between the King and Liminal Space. My guess as to why you is that you just happened to be here at the time."

Naoto thinks for a moment. "Was that... Star? Could that have been Star? But... we were informed that Star was dead."

She pauses for a moment, and then steps back and Summons. "Sukuna-Hikona! Shield of Truth!" A shining white wall crashes down in front of her. "I'm going out there." Before anyone can say anything, she walks off toward where the sigil was.

A swirl of sand is simply missing from that area, deeper in the center, slowly degrading under the attention of the waves.

Thorne's moved closer now, although she's still about twenty feet from the campfire and looking spooked. "Maybe it was just in tor-- Naoto!"

Oh god, why do you do this shit when she's supposed to protecting and shielding you.

Armin can wait to get the specifics of what happened later. At the moment, Naoto's investigating - and as far as Armin knows, she doesn't have any knowledge of eldritch defense. Whatever her shield is, it won't be a match for the King in Yelow - so that means he's coming too, just a step behind her.

Genevieve scrambles after Naoto without any hesitation, standing by her with her fists clenched. "I can regenerate, so please let me shield you, at least."

Edited 2015-10-30 04:05 (UTC)

"CHAOS CHRYSALIS!"

One unreasonably shadowy dark magical girl transformation later and Thorne is flying in after on shadow-butterfly wings, coming to a halt to hover next to Naoto.

"My shield should be fine. It is a negation of all damage. However, please keep an eye out while I do this."

She takes a breath, and kneels in the water, closing her eyes for a moment. Her eyes turn blue for a moment, and a blue pixellated light comes from her outstretched hands and surrounds her swirling in the sand, in the water, and in the air.

A moment passes as she kneels there, lost in the data and the information. The light dissipates as she swears sharply. "Damn." Standing, she turns to everyone else. "There is no more harm. It seems that a great amount of energy was expended... by Priestess." She seems a bit stunned. "This is... extremely unexpected."

Claudia doesn't catch up as quickly - for one thing, she's pretty sure Naoto can take care of herself - but she gets there in time for the big reveal. (Damn, but Sift looks handy. Note to self, look into that shit.)

"Almost a letdown, all things considered, but it makes more sense than a postmortem cameo, I guess. Did she get rid of the thing entirely, can you tell, or was it just this instance?"

"A shield won't protect you from the King..."

He stands beside her in a protective position, outstretched hands forming the sign of Koth as she Sifts, briefly seeing if he can detect any hint of the King through the network. Finding nothing, and hearing Naoto's answer, he slowly stands down.

"We've never seen a direct confrontation between them before. Can you tell what it is she did?"

"By-- the High Priestess did this?" Thorne's voice is quavering and her wings are beating almost as fast as a humming bird. But anyone who's behind her still might be able to see the top of a blue tattoo peeking out from her sleeveless Adversary's dress, despite the extra cover the beating shadow-wings give it. "Do you think she's okay?" Then, after another moment, "You didn't have to go in without back-up, Naoto. I'd have gone with you."

(Not that she has Eldritch Defense or anything like that, but still.)

"I... I'm stunned. Did the High Priestess seriously make an effort to save all of us from something that horrible? Was a Trump actually kind for a moment?" She seems calmer, a bit relieved at the fact that they may have mercy, but her worry seems to ebb back almost instantly. "Could they all be doing this to make room for something worse?"

Edited 2015-10-30 04:38 (UTC)

"Why wouldn't she?" Thorne argues. "Just because some of them were dicks doesn't mean they all are. High Priestess is cool."

She seems very sure of this.

"The King was no ally of theirs, that was clear from the beginning. And liminal space is their domain. We don't have any evidence this was about saving us."

"The Trumps are as worried by the King as we are." Naoto turns around, looking out over the water and thinking. "The first of the Trumps' deaths was caused by an 'outside force', one that I have always believed was the King or something like it."

She falls silent, collecting her thoughts for a moment. "We are the Trumps' allies. Sun told me that they have enlisted our help. If the Trumps did not wish to save us, why would they constantly bring us back when we die? Why would they give us powers to make us more useful, and more helpful? We are not something to be tossed away to them."

Another pause. "Also, Liminal Space is their connection to us. If the King were to get out in Liminal Space, everyone would be in danger, themselves included. This is... beneficial to everyone."

She hisses in a breath. "I'm going to stick to 'neutral but uneasy' when it comes to them, then. I wonder, how could Priestess on her own manage to eliminate something that, until a few minutes ago, was a major threat to all of them? What could have changed with her?" Less openly panicky now. More queasy and inquisitive.

Edited 2015-10-30 04:48 (UTC)

"Hanged Man told Helena the same thing, about us being here to help them. She... also added the dead ones to the Song. I don't think that alone would be enough to give Priestess this kind of boost, but it could've been a factor, maybe? Something that just happened in the jaunt doesn't seem all that likely, considering it wasn't hers."

Naoto why did you turn around everyone's still back here.

"And we still don't know if she just got rid of him in this instance of Liminal Space alone, or everything going forward."

Armin glances at Naoto for a moment, an uneasy expression on his face. "...You have a very different definition of ally than I do. We are the Trumps' tools, perhaps - but many of them have shown on a number of occasions they have little regard for our lives or our wellbeing. All else being equal, I'm sure they'd spare us - but try not to get an inflated sense of our importance to them.

"Genevieve's right, though. The more important part right now is how this happened. What's changed?"