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

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[ her heart skips a beat; she's not sure if the feeling is joy or relief, but either way it's a bright spot amidst all this. the smile she directs up at him is warmer and more brilliant than any she usually shows. ]

You know... I chose that name for myself because of you.

[It's hard not to smile in return, in spite of everything.] Ah? I cannot say if I've simply forgotten or--forgotten, but either way, please, remind me. However did I inspire Mona?

I never actually told anyone. [ and now that she thinks about it more— ] It's... a bit embarrassing.

[ more than a bit, maybe. back then, her feelings were still hazier, and she didn't have the self-awareness to be embarrassed. now, after everything she's regained of herself, she can feel herself blushing before she's even explained. but maybe... maybe it could make Chiron feel a little better, even just in this moment while they wait. if she can take his mind off of the bad things for the smallest amount of time, isn't it easily worth the embarrassment? ]

When I asked what "magnum opus" meant, Medic told me that it's a term for someone's masterpiece, like an artwork. I was trying to think of famous artworks where I come from... and one of the most famous is the Mona Lisa. It's a painting of a beautiful woman, but mostly people talk about her smile. They said that it's eternal, and...

[ her words start to slow down, and the next part comes out halting and awkward: ]

Um, back then, you said that you wanted to see me smile more. So, I was thinking... about...

[ alright. she knows she decided it was worth the embarrassment, but this is — actually a lot more embarrassing to confess than she was expecting. she's started to curl in on herself gradually, like she physically can't fight the impulse to hide her burning face. ]

[It's sweet. Sweet in the way that everything Mona does and says and thinks and feels (when she feels) is. As she explains, his pallor eases into something less deathly. The scourge doesn't disappear entirely, but he looks less like a shambling horror.

And by the time she stumbles to the finish line, he wraps an arm around her. The hold isn't tight, both not wanting to harm her and simply not having the strength or effort, but it's most certainly there.]

Your smile could light up any overcast day. Beat back the clouds in the sky and melt every snow. I...am glad to have inspired you, even just a little bit. It's very thoughtful. Do you... [She's trailed away in uncertainty, and while that's not necessarily unusual for Mona that he's aware of, he still wants to make sure.] Ah, do you regret it...?

No! [ it's not a shout, not in her soft voice, but it's immediate and very fervent. she twists in his hold to meet his eye, visibly dismayed at the thought that he thinks she might regret her choice. ] Of course not, I'm very happy with it! I... I like my name a lot.

[ she does. but— ]

It's just embarrassing to think about how shamelessly I decided that by myself...! Back then, I didn't have a lot of feelings, but I knew that you were someone who made me feel safe... and I was probably happy that you wanted to see me smile... so when I thought about the Mona Lisa and her smile, I just— without even saying anything...!

[ she covers her face with her hands and groans. if she were making that decision now, with the memories and the emotions she's gained, she would have asked first. she would have told him before so that he knew — what if he hadn't wanted her to choose a name for that reason? it's not that she thinks Chiron would have rejected it, but the fact that she just made that decision on the spot and declared it to everyone without even thinking... is so mortifying. ]

...[His chuckle comes out as something more hoarse and wet than normal, That's Okay.]

My dear, whyever would you have said anything first? It's your name you wanted to change and to choose for yourself. Why shouldn't you have chosen it by yourself as well? You say shamelessly as though there should have been any shame to it in the first place.

[Try as he may, he thinks he'll never fully understand her. But so too does he think that he'll never stop trying.]

[ she peeks at him through her fingers, and seeing his expression, she relaxes. with a sigh, she drops her hands in her lap and leans back into his side. ]

What if you didn't like it? What if you didn't want me to have a name that I chose because it made me think of you?

[ those are things she would have worried about now. she didn't have enough awareness of herself to feel those kinds of anxieties and insecurities back then; her self-esteem couldn't be high or low because she simply had none. it's strange to look back on, and unsettling in a way that she can't put her finger on. she really was... empty, when they first woke up, in a way that nobody else was. ]

I... was the one who chose the name Chiron for you, too. But I can tell you about it later, if you'd like to take some time to rest first. Or — I don't have to tell you at all, if you...

[ if he doesn't want that name back. ]

Edited 2021-10-31 00:55 (UTC)

My thoughts on your name shouldn't have mattered, and Mona is a fine one. [Unlike, apparently, Your Majesty!] I don't, I'm afraid, have this painting in my own memories, no cultural or contextual clues, but I find it quite pretty a sound. And choosing it because you thought of me is...it's humbling.

I think, dear Mona, that you worry quite a bit too much. The opinions of others don't deter you or distract you from trying your best to save those you can without violence; so should it be in the rest of your life and your choices made.

[This isn't an unusual amount of talking for him normally, but Everything Happens So Much, and it's more exhausting than he'd like. Does he want to know about his name, the chosen name, the name Mona apparently chose? Certainly. Yes, please. But rest also sounds good.]

A story for later, I think. When things have...calmed a bit. Is that all right?

Maybe... But I'd rather worry than upset someone else. I could have named myself anything, so it would have been okay if you said you didn't like it.

[ she's sure he must be exhausted beyond imagining, if even she's this tired. definitely a story for later. she nods, eyes closed. ]

Yes, of course. I'll tell you about it, and... I'll help you figure out everything you've forgotten, and I'll explain all of it even if it takes a long time. We can... We'll write it all down. So that you can't lose it again.

...If you've the patience for such a thing. It might take a while to discover all that's been taken from me.

I upset you. Didn't I. I-I've been upsetting, and I apologize, but I...cannot help with that which I have no clear memory. I don't recall feeling anything other than a blade running through me at the time, but...

[He seems to deflate some. And with a trickle of magic, the tinkling of crystal, the Executor Mona's leaning on dissipates into Chiron's usual form, from white robes to red and black mish mash, from long locks to shorter. It at least means there's no hole in his clothes.]

She didn't even give us a name...

[ she leans more heavily against him, and the arm she had tucked into his side moves to cross his back, fingers grasping his shirt. ]

Please don't apologise for that. It's not your fault. It did hurt that you couldn't remember... but I was never upset with you. More than anything, I'm worried about you.

[ that this person can take their memories away so easily is — a frightening thought. and they don't know yet if that's the only thing to fear. if Chiron wasn't even aware his memory had changed until others pointed it out, it means there could be something else they aren't aware of too. ]

... I'm sure we'll see her again, eventually. But we can... we can think about that later.

I will do my level best not to forget you. You are what I imagine having a daughter feels like. I don't have any memory of children, but it must be something alike to this.

And when we fight her again, because most certainly we will, I will try to keep out of reach.

Ah... [He glances over at Phoenix.] That young man might blame himself for directing me to fight her, but I was the only one who could have gotten in range.

[ well. at least her eyes are already closed, so she won't cry. ]

I don't... know my father at all, either. So you're... um, you're the closest thing I have. Even if I remember him someday, you'll still be that to me.

[ she looks at Phoenix too, and has to squeeze her eyes shut again at the sight of him lying there. ] ... I wish... we didn't have to do any of this.

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Superbia Underside Log

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