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

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.

[For all Sword was going to leave, he...really couldn't, not when everything's a mess like it is. When Phoenix suggests regrouping, he nods and goes for Chiron--Majesty, whatever he's going by right now, and starts to haul him to his feet.]

Get up. We need to get out of here, try to get back to at least the school. I've got this one, Achilles you get Phoenix, someone help Etoile.

...I've said something wrong. [He's not blind (sorry, Phoenix), can see the devastation on Achilles' face. Has he truly lost so much? He can't...piece together all that he's lost, and he doesn't want to hurt anyone.] I've forgotten something else important.

[And everyone's here and worried about it when they should be worried about the injured. The other injured. Crowds had never bothered him, to the memory he does have, but now it simply feels like too many eyes on him in a state he'd rather not be seen in. He's exhausted and mostly healed and breathing unsteady and thankful for Sword's assistance in getting up.]

It's...there's--ah, yes, we should...regroup, later. I--I'm going to go rest.

Don't tell me what to do.

[Wolfsbane stalks over to Etoile and goes to drag her up, though, de-summoning her halberd so she has both hands free.]

Come now. Even if we haven't got our home base anymore -- unless the stairs up have unlocked, given somehow Ariel's showed up -- we do have the school at our disposal. And someone's going to have to find Rei, a civilian -- [she gestures to the nameless Eidolon who came in with her] -- followed us down here and he'll need some help.

Well, Ariel's arrival could certainly suggest- [...wait, hold on a sec.]

Ariel! [Aaaand the penny finally drops. In her defense, she was kind of mentally glossing over anything that wasn't battlefield triage when she walked in here.]

[Enjoy getting suddenly hugged by a girl covered in a lot of other people's pneuma, Ariel. She missed you a lot.]

[She blinks and-- oh, gross, that is a lot of pneuma. But, honestly? That's fine right now. She even laughs a bit.]

Hi, Medic.

I looked for you everywhere! I'm so glad- what happened- tell me everything- [Yeah, she's extremely excited. So many questions, so little time.]

[Lion is just off to the side looking... honestly hurt that Chiron forgot who he is... only to finally give a bitter laugh and walk away. That witch was not returning and Medic was healing what could be healed.

He needs to not be here]

Etoile hisses in pain when she’s yanked to her feet; Medic hasn’t had the chance to check her out yet, and she’s hurting from the fight. She didn’t want to speak up for herself, not when Chiron and Phoenix were in worse shape, but the adrenaline is wearing off and she’s starting to feel weak on her feet again. “Be a little bit careful, I am still not all in one piece,” she says, almost ashamed of her own weakness. There’s something tugging at the edge of her memories, not fully formed, but the idea that she’s hated not being stronger than she is feels familiar. “Sorry, I just needed to make sure everyone else was all right first.”

[ Phoenix saying his name again and reaching for him snaps him out of his despair. For a moment he just stares at him, trying to ground himself, and by the time Sword is stepping in, he’s found enough of his calmer self to gently take that hand. ]

O-Of course…

[ That’s all he can bring himself to say. Even when he hears Chiron’s response to his reaction and feels guilt over how similarly those words echo the ones he said to Patroclus before. He just focuses on helping Phoenix… because that’s all he can really do. ]

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[Medic gently places one hand on top of Etoile's own, pouring healing into her.]

There's nothing to apologize for- that's why we work in a team! [She smiles, cheery and professional.] I can't say they're unscathed, but we're at least down to walking wounded, now- no one's in critical condition.

And you're part of this team, too.