cancry | Superbia Underside Log

Superbia Underside Log

SUPERBIA DUNGEON LOG
Third time's the charm for the Executors, it seems. Their confrontation with Miss President ended peacefully and with the Superbia loop ended, the school was finally able to enjoy its hard earned festival. But it's not quite a straightforward happy ending – the way back up to the previous layers is still sealed and regardless, if the Executors want to progress, they'll have to make their way through the Underside. Finding the entrance isn't too hard. After all, it's where all of this began. At the spot in the gymnasium the previous Student Council President was corrupted, a familiar stairway stretches down, down, down into the darkness. It's been a long time coming, but it's finally time for you to graduate Superbia.
THE UNDERSIDE
♪♫ Maze Fortress – Sakuzyo ... or so you expect, anyway. Entering the Superbia Underside is just as disorienting as always, but for totally opposite reasons to the other Undersides. While the other Undersides have been vaguely recognizable distortions of their Layers, this one is so similar to Superbia that for a second it's almost unclear whether or not you really are in the Underside or not. It almost feels like a repeat of heading down to Superbia for the first time as you descend the stairs but as you get closer, your intimate familiarity with the Layer allows you to pick out the subtle changes. It's more run down than the school itself and you can see Revenants flitting around to and fro in all directions. A few locations seem to have been switched around and warped but for the most part, Superbia stands as you've always known it, frozen in perfect stasis, just the way a certain someone would have wanted it. AREAS OF INTEREST ⚝ SUPERBIA LOCATIONS: As mentioned above, many of the locations from the Pride Layer are in place as you know them here, carved into place by the repeating loops. They're run down and overrun by Revenants but assume that any locations not mentioned below seem to be the same below as they are above. ⚝ STUDENT COUNCIL ROOM: Given how things started, it seems like the logical place to go. The Student Council Room isn't a big place, so it shouldn't take long to examine, right? Or so you might think. The instant the door opens, dazzling light pours out, blinding you for a second. It takes your eyes a moment to adjust but when you do, you'll see the reason for that is that the walls of the room have been replaced with thick, almost perfectly transparent glass with the summer sun pouring in aggressively from the outside. As you follow the curve of the glass up, you realize this isn't just a room – it's a giant glass birdcage. And... I don't have to tell you it's occupied by a bird, do I? ⚝ CLUB BUILDING: Once a monument to the delightful inanity of high school life, the club building has been completely taken over by Revenants. To call it an infestation would be an understatement – the instant you open the door, you find yourself utterly swarmed by them and in the confusion, you'll be chased away from the exit! All you can do is keep climbing and fighting your way up to the third floor, and from there the roof, which is made a litttle hard by the fact that the Revenants seem happy to weaponize the equipment of the club rooms against you. Watch out for that falling piano!! Make your way to the top roof and you'll find a particularly grouchy Revenant on top who doesn't seem eager to let you go! ⚝ GYMNASIUM: See for yourself. HAZARDS ⚝ Structural Damage: Similarly to the Avaritia layer, many of the buildings around the city have fallen into disrepair due to the presence of the Revenants here. While some of the bigger structures are fine, Revenants may burst through walls to get to you and letting them go on a rampage in an enclosed space could bring the whole building down on top of you! ⚝ Revenant Types Present: Charles, Metrodorus

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Calling back over her shoulder:] Also bring me that hand, please!

[Either she'll reattach it or she'll find something else to use it for. Waste not want not.]

That's- the name you picked... hm. [She frowns.] Possible confusion and short-term memory loss. That's a new symptom, not entirely consistent with normal pneuma loss.

Do you remember the last thing you were doing?

[Everything just... happens so much, so quickly, all of a sudden. Yep. That's about how she remembers it being.]

...Um, I did a heroic rescue, so not it on touching any severed body parts.

[Please.]

[Veil's been in no particular hurry since she has no relevant-seeming abilities, but if everyone else is gathering here then of course she'll come over too, and--]

Gracious, did you say memory loss?

[Like... more memory loss than they already have?

Listen she will react to things one at a time as her poor brain processes them. This is a Lot that she's walked in on. For instance:]

--Dame Ariel?!

“…how did you know we were fighting a girl, Lion? And yeah, Wolfsbane, it was a rough fight. The girl we were fighting was like some cross between a Revenant and an Executor. She came close to killing all three of us, despite all of our best efforts. She was the one that sealed off the door with that crystal. It took me two tries to get enough of it off the door for you all to break it down. One of those holes in the ceiling was me; I hit the ceiling trying to hit our attacker.”

Etoile’s voice is still weak, but she manages to try and make herself heard.

“And what happened, Chiron, did you hit your head that badly on your way down from up there? I knew you took a hard fall, but…”

She tries yet again to get onto her feet, this time using her sword as a support. It helps a little, but only a little. “I…don’t think I can walk all that far just yet. Can someone give me a hand getting to Medic?”

... I did not?

[Yeah he was totally Edelgarding]

[ ....While everyone else deals with what sounds like a complicated personal situation, perhaps he should handle the practical aid?

The former Superbia soccer coach is fairly certain he shouldn't touch someone else's severed hand with his own sliced-up ones, so he pulls out a handkerchief and decides to use that for appendage retrieval instead.

This girl is the healer...? ]

[...okay, yeah, Veil's gonna go help Etoile up, since that's a) an immediate problem b) that she can help with.]

What in the Great Tree transpired here?

Thank you! [Does she know who this is? Nope. But that's no reason to be impolite. Besides, she always appreciates someone willing to lend a hand.]

[She channels healing into him as she reaches up to take the severed hand from him, letting it pass through as their fingers brush, then returning her touch to Phoenix as she carefully applies the hand to the stump.]

Good, it's still fresh... this should reattach smoothly. No nerve death yet at all!

[Sword follows the others in, just in time to hear Chiron say that. That, on top of the pure carnage in the building, just has him turning right back around. He is not paid enough to deal with this.]

You changed it, you idiot, because "Your Majesty" is a terrible name. It's a title. Am I actually needed here any more? I brought Lion.

[He shakes his head, looking woozy even for that motion, taking on the tone of someone who was just asked what 2 plus 2 is.] I was attempting to help fight that girl who is much more than she appears. Best that Ariel sent her away; we weren't doing the best.

As you can see.

[He's apparently baffled by the name thing, and just, like, in general, so don't mind if he stays here on the floor doing his own touchy healing thing in this healing circle of heals. He blinks at Sword.]

Who in Shiva's name is Lion?

Okay, long-term memory loss.

Amnesia squared...

Goddess.

Fortunately, on top of reattaching his hand, Medic's healing seemed to be doing a lot for the absolutely awful charcoal grey state of Phoenix's everything. At least to the point where he was approaching some semblance of consciousness, sharp hearing starting to catch the general worried chatter.

"...there was something--" A cough, Phoenix trying to find his voice with a throat that still felt burned out. "...something about that girl. With...one of her swords, it felt...wrong somehow. Is that...the one that hit Chiron?"

“…it must have been. One of them was colored weirdly, and while I didn’t get a great look at it from the angle I was at, I think that’s what happened.”

With that said, she turns to Veil. “Thank you. Like I was saying before, we had a time with her, even with three of us fighting her. She had us all on the ropes until Ariel came in and bailed us out. I was surprised that our enemy was still in one piece, after I aimed to strike a blow that I was sure would be the final strike.”

"She was talking about...sending us back sleeping and unaware. Removing our status as Executors...that must be it. That sword was..." A ragged breath, Phoenix still in a lot of pain despite Medic's work. "...was what she meant. We'd likely all be Spectres now if she had her way."

And under his breath:

"...Next time I'll start with her head."

The blade...was deeply unsettling. I can't begin to explain why, but it was difficult to even look at properly.

[He shakes his head again, slower this time.] So you're saying I've forgotten things? I didn't...feel anything different in the moment.

But to be fair, being run through by such a blade is distracting.

Dame Rei may be able to further enlighten us.

Let’s hope so. Where is she, do you know?

[ Achilles had rushed in not too long ago now, completely panicked, but the scene before him had shocked him into silence. It’s only out of wanting to give Medic space to work that he doesn’t immediately fall to his knees at Chiron and Phoenix’s sides.

But… the more Chiron talks…

Fuck it, sorry Medic but he’s going to crowd the scene a little, as if hoping that getting closer - letting Chiron see him - will help him remember. ]

This… surely this is all just in jest… isn’t it, my friend?

Achilles-

[That was about all he could say, whether due to exhaustion or...whatever he was really feeling about the situation. (And right now, Achilles was the only one here that would really know the heart of the issue, wasn't he?)]

...

Jest? [He blinks owlishly at Achilles, eyes still a very bright gold with the darkness of his sclera only beginning to ease.] I may be fond of inappropriately timed jokes, Beast, but I can assure you, I wouldn't care to joke about such a thing in this situation.

Probably. Wouldn't be in good taste, would it?

Of course it wouldn't be this simple, would it.

[Wolfsbane walks in from the door, taking everything in with a frown.]

So from all you've said, I gather that you fought a woman, or, it appears, a girl whose sword causes memory loss to Executors. Which almost certainly means it's the same one who stole and scattered Rei's memories, and if the running theory is correct, not just Rei's. For all we know, what you've lost -- which would appear to be the good part of a year -- is flying around as a butterfly just the same.

[ Beast

That one word. That one word alone pierces his chest, just as it did all those thousands of years ago when Patroclus said it. Though the context be different, nothing confirms to Achilles more than this is truly real.

Chiron knew how uncomfortable he’d become with the name. If anything he knew better than anyone else after the things he told him. And yet now…

His eyes widen, clearly distressed but most of all heartbroken. Not just for himself but also for Phoenix, who calls his name and says just enough with that. ]

No, this… this can’t be, it…

Achilles.

[As usual, Phoenix pushed back and locked up whatever he might have felt; the distress in his friend's voice was enough to tell him they both needed grounding right now. He extended his hand--the one Medic hadn't needed to reattach--a little shakily.]

...Could you help me? Medic's done a wonderful job, but...I don't know if I can stand on my own right now.

Wolfsbane...I think you're right. She made mention of something sounding like she knew Rei, but...no, there's too much to sort through right now. I can...I can try to recount it all later, but we need to regroup.

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