saturations | Week 6 cyoa: hei, jiuqing, vin, and kashuu

[ ever thought about letting other healers heal, jiuqing. There are conjurers about, but. ]

If you need mana potions.

[ He fetches it from his inventory (which is magical in ff14) and offers her the consumable. When she accepts, it gives... 20 of them. Don't ask about ff14 inventory magic. Since she isn't battling anything, even if she's in the fray, she isn't necessarily using her charges. Pats you.

This is a very short pleasant moment until the some of someone yelling for help can be seen... It is. Itsuki Kagami and a dragon is about to crush him with a stomp. ]

[i mean maybe she would have if the game's other doctor hadn't died so early and she'd gotten used to letting other people take care of her! alas, that's not how it happened.

she takes the mana potions.]

...thank you, Sir Aymeric.

[...but!

wow!

that sure is itsuki!

jiuqing's eyes go wide, and she darts away from aymeric, toward itsuki and the dragon, firing off three of her standard light attacks in quick succession, aiming at the dragon's eyes and hoping to force it back so that it doesn't stomp on him.]

ITSUKI, MOVE! Hey! Dragon! Over here! Leave him alone!

[he's mandated roll was a 19 and i don't know what it was for but in case it wasn't "roll to save your cr" i rolled again and got a 14]

[ For some reason, the air feels heavier now than when she first arrived, but she is doing fine with a 19. Aymeric is also go come to help since, while he doesn't recognize Itsuki, he knows to save any innocent. The dragon backs up some, but roars at them. It may not be able to see well enough, but it comes at them with a swipe of its claws.

Aymeric is able to block the incoming slash with his sword, letting no harm come to both of them for the time being. The dragon tries to add more force, but he stands his ground. ]

Get to him swiftly!

[ That is to Jiuqing.

Itsuki is on the floor, shaking in fear as he watches the sight... Some grey starts forming around him, wisps. In his panic, he can't find any words. He can barely even move. ]

[britt 🧃 sip juicing Roll: [18] Result: 18 Reason: hei roll
britt 🧃 sip juicing Roll: [20] Result: 20 Reason: saving itsuki's twink ass

hopefully an 18 is still high enough to be okay. jiuqing nods when aymeric advises her to get to him, and she sets off as quickly as she can despite her injuries which she really should have let someone heal but it's fine itsuki is in much more imminent danger of dying if this dragon gets to him.

she reaches him quickly, leans down, and hauls him up to drag him back to safety. she is dead-set on getting him to the vault.]

You're okay. You're going to be okay, Itsuki.

[she is trying to convince herself of this as much as she's trying to convince him.]

[ She's good for this round. Aymeric will continue to fight this dragon in the background. Metal meets claw and fangs in many successions, but we'll turn focus to Jiuqing. The longer they wait here, the more likely they will come into danger.

There doesn't seem to be any bodily harm on Itsuki! There are maybe scrapes and scratches from falling here and there, but... the grey wisps grow in number around Itsuki. They almost cover him and he whispers her name as he's being dragged to safety. There, in the vault now with other people, she will see the grey ribbons around him make a turbulent cocoon, like an orb of grey gales hide him. She only knows that he's in there because she has her hand on him.

...

"I'm scared."

And like that, the flurry of grey consumes him. With his earlier 2 roll, Itsuki turns into a colorful monster, but much more monstrous in appearance than lisa frank monsters. Instantly, "Itsuki's" tendrils reach out to harm the refugees in the Vault. It catches the knights guarding the Vault off-guard, but they quickly mobilize. With an 11, "Itsuki" only crushes one woman and Jiuqing hears every crack, but she's still alive. She can still be saved.

With this 11, it tries to grip onto Jiuqing, too. ]

[nat 20 on the hei roll so here we are, continuing.

...damn.

she can't even bring herself to fully believe that it's not the real itsuki - because last time, he'd transformed into a monster. she had, too. it could be him, but that time, killing the both of them had freed them.

she didn't want it to come to this, but - it's only temporary, isn't it?]

I'm sorry, Itsuki...

[sorry he was scared. sorry she couldn't do more to save him.

but she'll end this swiftly.

a roll of 12 beats the roll of 11, so she twists painfully and avoids the tendrils. i'm not rolling for the woman - she's using afflatus solace on her, a lily sparkling down to tend to her wounds.

she attacks, then - multiple shots of the light magic in quick succession, trying to get him to release the woman, to stumble back, to be blinded so that the knights can get the upper hand. (she rolls a 16 for this.)]

[ Su Jiuqing taking out her cane and cocking it like it's a gun. She apologizes to the monster, but it isn't hear her and with her ff14 senses she can feel that there is no longer any aether in "Itsuki." Whatever this creature is, it had no life.

... But he had looked at her with such sad eyes, spoken to her with a shaking voice. He relied on her.

But it's time for her to attack him. Jiuqing really is trying to heal people. The lilies help the pain and it's fortunate that "Itsuki" is head empty. Thinking it's done with this limp toy, it drops the woman and a knight comes for her. The rest of the knights usher the refugees deeper into the vault while Jiuqing has two fighting the monster with her.

"Itsuki" lets out a high shriek! This is when the grey wisps that circle around Itsuki also show on some of the refugees who watch this fight in terror... With an 11, they do not turn instantly. If only that was the incoming attack. "Itsuki" uses its voice and attacks Jiuqing and the knights with its 20, but the damage is spread across the three. It will leave them paralyzed every couple of seconds (meaning something like 1 action every 3 actions is lost). ]

[rolled a 10 for hei's roll, so uh, that's cool! what's the sitch, hei.

but. before whatever that is, she takes the hit from the itsukimonster's voice, and she flinches. her head is pounding, and her ears are ringing? what the hell. she hates this. there are people here who are scared, who are in danger - maybe she can lead the monster out of the vault--

she manages a few steps, but with a roll of 5, the paralysis freezes her.

unfortunately, this just puts her closer to the monster, unable to run. oops!]

[ touches your paw... Jiuqing will find herself feeling the weight of her situation. It's horrible, terrible, and she's risking her life in this illusion to survive, but. She's scared. These people who are not real, but maybe Itsuki was real? Somewhere in that lifeless monster, colorful as a rainbow, he's there and like before she's killing him.

Jiuqing gets some despair and will notice the grey wisps circling her, too... Only a bit. Her hope in the situation, her hope to escape and survive the Prism, dims a reasonable amount. With a 1, the appearance of the wisps will not instantly force her to spiral into frantic worry.

"Itsuki" wails more after it has paralyzed the party attacking it, but... I guess with a 1 it wiggles and touches one of the knights seductively. This one kind of looks like Buzen, I've decided.

With the previous roll of 12, the people who have wisps in the Vault are being consumed by the grey. Only two or three—they are adults, but the panic spreads faster. The knights on that side try to control the situation part 2. This is really a mess in here. ]

[17 for the... panic/grey wisps roll. jiuqing shudders, gripping the lily cane like it's a lifeline, and tries to use it to propel herself forward despite the paralysis.

she manages a few steps, and then fires off another few light spells at the itsukimonster while it's occupied with feeling up an elfish buzen.

however, she got a 6 on this roll. love cannot be stopped. it's probably just giving them some shoujo sparkles.

...

right. well, they have other problems - those wisps, and the panic among the people...

jiuqing will try to reassure them and calm them down.]

All of you, please calm down! We are in safe hands - you have the knights of Ishgard here to protect you, and the Lord Commander is just outside the vault as well! We will keep each other safe and survive this chaos!

[ cocks my gun. With her 17, she remembers a voice... "Meeting you, being with you—it is the Prism's only blessing. Jiuqing." It comes from the depths of her mind, but she doesn't remember where it's from. She doesn't remember when she heard it, but it gives her hope. The grey wisps stay, but they do not increase.

Thank you for the shoujo sparkles. Itsuki/Buzen romance redux is here.

"Itsuki" is done with touching the knight and this knight is done with losing his turn to paralysis. He slashes at the tentacle that touches him, and it lands because they are so close, but the 7 has "Itsuki" gripping the onto the knights neck. It's a light choke, but it provokes the other knight to be able to land her sword into the monster's flesh. It doesn't do much as she's shaken off.

with two tendrils free, one twists itself to be sharp and aim at Jiuqing. It needles through the air and tries to pierce her. The new monsters, too, are rolling out to attack the other knights and the leftover people.

Jiuqing's calming reassurance stops from more turning. :thumbsup: ]

Edited 2022-03-31 03:52 (UTC)

[another 17 for the hei roll. why do i keep rolling so high on these? let me die.

...jiuqing's eyes widen slightly as she remembers those words. not knowing where they came from is a little disconcerting, but - she'll hold onto the hope it gives her, because she needs to get out of this.

the sharp tendril comes her way, and with a roll of 18 she dodges it - maybe it cuts her cheek just a little? i don't know, man, she's already bleeding a lot. it's fine. she fires off a few quick shots of light magic at it (roll: 13) to try and finish it quickly, since they've got other monsters to contend with, too...]

[ The knights are paralyzed in their movements here, not that it matters to "Itsuki." It is a ranged attacker and it goes at her with another tendril. The last one still lingers there, but then it wraps around her to keep her still alongside the paralysis.

It doesn't stop her from hitting it with a couple of quick shots. One of the knights is able to land a blow, too... But these monsters made from the children that turned come after her. With their 17, they grip onto her legs and bite. We will go with there's three of them.

Seeing this the people are descending into panic again, worse than before with a 3. More monsters are being birthed here in the Vault, the most holy place in all of Ishgard. ]

[well.

dice maiden heard my pleas. with a roll of 1 for hei's special roll, i'm sure something bad is about to happen. jiuqing does not immediately realize just how bad things are going to get, because these kids monsters latching onto her legs and biting hard has her crying out in pain, because hello? that hurt? one of them takes a chunk out of her.

help.]

Stop—!

[she's trying to nudge them away with her lily cane because they were just kids, she can't just blast them? but with a roll of 8 that's pretty ineffectual.]

[ The wisps around her grow in number, darker and more opaque, and they circle her fast like a tornado, but she's still herself. She's still Su Jiuqing even though she feels hope is lost as these children monsters chomp on her. She should blast them. if she doesn't, they will kill her. They're not too bothered by the light, but there is pause as they hiss, shutting all of these gross red eyes.

Her vision blurs when she looks ahead, barely seeing "Itsuki" eat one of the knights. It unlocks its jaw and snap, just like that. Sometimes, you learn you have an appetite for men when you join a murdergame.

May this turn the tide.

The dragon eye in her inventory glows brightly. ]

[turn the tide.

why was she here, anyway? to help? who can she help? what can she even do? isn't it just ego, to run from place to place, thinking if she involves herself, she can make it better, somehow—?

because what has she ever done for anyone here? she couldn't save itsuki. she couldn't save these people. here in the vault, the people have turned to monsters, and those who haven't are terrified. words won't save them. healing magic won't save them. why is she here? what did she really think she could do?

she can't even make herself better. she'd been given a second chance at life, but what can she really say about the person she's become? it's a doctor's job to help people, she'd repeated, so many times, but when it comes down to it... she's selfish. she learned medicine for selfish reasons, and she continues to use it for selfish reasons. maybe there's been some benefit in it for other people, when she's used her medical skills, but - it's been for herself, too.

i want to learn medicine to protect myself and people that i love. nothing more than that.

she wanted to save her mother, because she was afraid to live without her.

she wanted to save herself. her fate had been to die a miserable death, never knowing anything until it was too late, but she's defied that.

she wanted to be a good person. but she's used her knowledge of her first life, over and over, to hurt her aunt and cousin before they could hurt her. the best defense is a good offense, but that's not all -

i will slowly torture them, she'd vowed, the same way they tortured me.

yao qian and su waner were snakes, but she'd become one, too, to fight them. and she won't - can't - regret it, but sometimes she does wonder what sort of person that makes her. she hasn't outright murdered them, but only because that would be too easy.

they're snakes, and she is, too. she's just better at hiding it.

but no more.

the dragon's eye in her inventory glows. she feels herself shifting, changing. who needs legs? scales run down them, and they fuse together into a tail - half snakelike, half draconic. it's dragon scales and not markings that run up her skin, and though it's mostly her own features, they're still obscured - she's still absolutely covered in blood that has congealed into something black and tarlike, staining her hair and her skin. it's just her eyes, glowing an eerie green, that stand out from it.

she bares her teeth, and venom drips from her fangs.

this will turn the tides.

the question is - against who?]

[ This was not what Hraesvelgr meant when he said turn the tides, but her despair is too strong... It has taken her and she, too, ends in a different way. In this draconic serpentine hybrid, covered in blood thick and dark as tar, she is but a shell of all of her sins, her hurts, and her pain.

... At times, she will murmur a regret. She will cry out. But that is simply mimicry of when she was alive. She has no emotions, no thoughts, either. When you're without hope, it's better to not feel the sorrow, isn't it?

Right now, she is without aether. Like "Itsuki", "Jiuqing" is dead. She only knows one thing and that is to kill.

The smaller monsters stop biting her entirely, having no interest in their own. They only attack those with aether, thirsting for the very thing that made them alive. The remaining knights look at her, frowning deeply to see this woman who tried to help them turn into a monster. They hesitate at first, but attack. It's too late for their friend that "Itsuki" has devoured, but they must save the rest of the refugees.

Those refugees are locked away deeper in the vault. However, she doesn't have object permanence. She kills what's in her path. Out of sight, out of mind, but these knights in front of her are not. Empowered by the dragon eye, she can kill them swiftly if she wanted to. ]

[out of sight, out of mind - perhaps these knights should have turned and ran when they had the chance.

a roll of 9 means that even a mimicry of who she was before isn't enough to get her to hesitate for a moment or two. she pays no heed to their weapons, or to the way they're trying so hard to protect the people further in - she just wants to see them dead, wants to drain the aether from them as if it will replace the aether she lacks.

she lunges forward, fangs sharp, and sinks her teeth into the skin of the nearest knight. there's poison in her fangs, unfortunately, so this knight is going to have a very rough tiem of it.

it's fine. maybe kashuu and vin will walk in on her draining this poor knight of their blood. i don't know their lives.]

[ They do not... Instead, Jiuqing gets to kill all of these pitiful knights that she can see! They struggle and try to stab her with their weapons, but to no avail. She's too quick. Some escape her gaze and slip through the gates deeper into the Vault, but it's closed. There is no sound to beckon her to them, so she's left with nothing to kill.

...

This leads her to roam aimlessly in the main room a bit before she ends up outside, then. She will kill all in her path, anything that moves, then the stars align. ]

Week 6 cyoa: hei, jiuqing, vin, and kashuu

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