cancry | Invidia Underside Log

INVIDIA DUNGEON LOG
For the Executors who've travelled down to an Underside before, today's trip isn't out of the ordinary. But for those of you new to all this... well, buckle up because it's a bit of a ride. Though the cold green light makes it hard to see, if you squint through the glare, you'll spot a wide, steep staircase leading down from the fissure into the light below. As you descend, it feels for a frightening moment as though you might be walking blind but eventually the light gives way to the sight of the Invidia Underside waiting a great distance below you. By some trick of perspective or just wonky Purgatory logic, however, it seems to take hardly any time for you to descend the stairs and set foot in the Invidia Underside.
THE UNDERSIDE
♪♫ Lyx – Sakuzyo The only saving grace of the Invidia Underside is that its layout and structure is more or less the same as Invidia itself. Some of the paths have turned a little twisty and there are buildings here and there that have gone missing, but if you can navigate your way around Invidia then you can more or less find your way around the Underside. The atmosphere on the other hand is where things really start to feel different. Where Invidia is bustling with life, the Underside is just as quiet in contrast. Some sounds filter down from the city above but they sound not just distant but muffled, too. This, coupled with the eerie green light that illuminates the city from above gives the feeling of being trapped at the bottom of some sort of lake or seabed. But more notable than all that is the screens that usually blast Esme content into everyone's eyeballs. Down here in the Underside, all of the screens are either apparently dead or displaying looped clips from TV talk shows, vlogs, movies and the like starring a person none of you have ever seen before. They have a vague similarity to Esme, but they're clearly not the same person. There's a shine to them and a sense of authenticity that was missing from everyone's least favorite Envy Authority that just feels... correct. If Esme was some kind of counterfeit then this is undoubtedly the original. There are no clips of Esme – or any sort of media with her at all, in fact – anywhere to be found in the Invidia Underside. AREAS OF INTEREST ⚝ Park: The park seems to have fallen victim to the same odd spatial distortions at play in many other places in Purgatory. While from the outside it doesn't seem that much bigger than it was originally, once you actually enter the park you'll find that it stretches on far enough that you can't quite see all the way to the other end, not helped at all by the fact that the area seems to have become fogged over, thickly enough to make it hard to detect the presence of Revenants here. Usually, the glowing trees would be enough to guide you through, but thanks to the presence and occasional outbreaks of violence of the Revenants, the trees are looking, uh... a little busted. Many of them have been gouged or even completely uprooted from the ground with wires spilling messily out and all over the ground. And... the less said about whatever the hell that colourful liquid coming out of them is, the better. Just tell yourself it's the stuff you see inside glowsticks and move on. Of course, moving on might be a little hard, as when you reach the very center of the park, you might just stumble across exactly what had the Revenants here so worked up in the first place... ⚝ Mall: Those of you who were fans of the conbini in Limbo: congratulations! Those of you who were fans of the mall in Invidia being normal: my condolences. While the mall hasn't changed much physically down here in the Underside, the shopping experience certainly has. The items up for purchase have fallen prey to the same effects as the ones in Limbo and so everything is a little... off. Food comes in strange shapes and flavours, clothes don't look quite right and any books or written media you pick up to try and read will just be a jumble of text that only occasionally becomes discernable. The same unfamiliar person who was all over the screens outside can also be found here, looking for all the world like the average celeb. It won't be easy finding anything to read, though, because the mall is crammed full of Revenants who seem to be doing their level best to full on loot the place. Take great care in your investigations, because if they get the idea that you're trying to steal anything from the mall, they'll set on you quicker than you can blink. ⚝ Rooftop Stage: Given that the rooftop stage was the last place you all saw Esme, it's not a bad idea to check there again to see if that's where she's ended up. There's an eerie similarity between the rooftop here and the one back in Invidia, too – just like that one, the rooftop here is in disrepair, as though it's been subject to some sort of violent tantrum, with all the equipment smashed to bits and the stage itself almost completely demolished. At second glance though, it becomes a bit more obvious that this place has been systematically broken down to allow as many of its components as possible to be harvested to construct what looks to be a gigantic cage right on the stage. And what's inside the cage you ask? You'll have to see for yourself... ⚝ Mansion: Esme's mansion seems to be the only part of Invidia that has escaped the warping and confusion of the Underside. The gate at the front is locked again but the outer walls no longer grow in height to keep outsiders at bay, so if you want to get in then scaling the wall is your best bet. No problem for the Executors, of course! Once you're inside, you can look around and see that not only has the interior escaped the uncomfortable twisty-turny distortions of the Underside but it also looks... lived in. Like "the bed still isn't made from being vacated this morning" lived in. There's food in the fridge. Was she... living here...? ⚝ Broadcasting Station: See for yourself. HAZARDS ⚝ On The Spot: Though there seems to be no actual source for them, large spotlights sweep through the streets of Invidia. They're easy to see coming and not too large that you can't dodge out of the way if there's one coming at you, but take care – if you happen to be caught in the glare of one of these spotlights, then you'll be plastered all over the screens that are scattered about the city and find yourself beset by Revenants who all want a very literal taste of you. ⚝ Structural Damage: Many of the buildings around the city have fallen into disrepair due to the presence of the Revenants here. Some have taken extreme structural damage and are on the verge of collapse so be careful not to end up trapped in a collapsing building, or you might be stuck waiting for a fellow Executor to fish you out. ⚝ Revenant Types Present: Henricus, Rigaud

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Ah....

[ Oh dear. It's Rei. Monarch touches one of the pneuma splatters, self-conscious. ]

Rei-san, I'm sorry. I didn't...take very good care of my heart today.

That's okay. Mine's a work in progress too.

[ She manages to hold a bitter sort of smile for a moment before her expression softens a little. ]

How's the rest of you doing?

We beat Esme. I...

[ Can he really say it, when Lion had done ~~[ pun redacted ]~~ the brunt of the attacking? Had endured so much, and Veil had done all she could, up to kicking Esme?

But from the way they'd reacted to him afterwards, they hadn't seen what he'd seen. And the blood (or pneuma, as the case may be) is on his hands. He doesn't regret that, somehow.

They all beat her. But the one who struck the last blow... ]

I defeated her.

Edited 2021-01-14 01:19 (UTC)

[ Ah...

Esme's gone.

Rei wonders if she should be feeling triumphant instead of this vague sense of unease and discontent. It's never good to have to fight someone and even worse to have to... if not kill them, then as close as you can get here in Purgatory.

And here is Monarch, the newest and least experienced of the Executors and he's had to do that terrible job for them. What can she say? "Good job" sounds horribly callous, but not acknowledging the awful effort he's put in is worse. ]

... I'm... I'm sorry... that you had to. Monarch, I'm sorry...

[ Monarch shakes his head; that's not the part that bothers him (okay, it bothers him a little, but the alternatives were worse). ] We had no choice. And....

[ He's a child. A child, in Purgatory. He has no way of knowing what his life was like, but for that to have happened, he must be... ]

It's better...that it was me.

[ Oh. His stomach just clenched. That must have been a lie. But he believes it, doesn't he? If anyone's going to suffer, it should be him. If anyone's going to bear the burden of her memories - he's the one who goaded her, who wanted to know. Why should anyone else hurt because of something he did?

Why? ]

[ Rei doesn't say anything more – mostly because, at this point, she doesn't know what to say. Because – because Monarch is obviously in pain and even if he did explain why, Rei couldn't help him.

So instead of saying anything, Rei just throws her arms around him in a tight, if clumsy hug and it's only there that her tongue comes unstuck and she finds any words to say. ]

N–no, don't say that...! No matter who gets hurt, it's never any better than if it was someone else!

[ He's being hugged....? He's being hugged. ~~(And it's an odd sensation because she's shorter than him.)~~ He's being hugged because - she's hurting for him?

Rei-san hurts when he hurts. He feels bad about that, but instead of that making this hug another agony, it's...warm. How many times is he going to be surprised that he's a part of this group just by existing?

This is so odd. He's sad, but he's happy. Monarch still isn't the kind of person who hugs back, but he also doesn't resist. ]

I'm sorry.

[ Still clinging onto him fiercely, Rei shakes her head. ]

Don't apologize...! This– this isn't something you should have to apologize for, to anyone. If anything... I should be the one saying sorry, that you had to do this, that you got hurt–

[ She's babbling. Rei forces herself to take a deep breath and... try to calm down, at least a little. ]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry, but... thank you.

Mm.

[ The awful feeling is receding and leaving only the warmth. Is that strange? The negative feelings are being drowned out by how glad he is that....that someone cares what happens to him. ]

It's all right.

[ He is not all right, but that's not because he had to kill a monster that used to be a person....Should he say that? Maybe he should say that.

Maybe he shouldn't. He doesn't know what to make of it yet. ]

[ She gives a half-sick laugh. It isn't even the slightest bit alright and both of them know it. But what can she do? Shake him until he admits it and try to force it out of him? Probably not. ]

Even if it's not... we'll all be here until it is alright, Monarch.

[ And that's when Monarch starts to cry. Not from fear, or sadness, or even exhaustion, but because he's just realized that what he wants above everything else is someone who does exactly that. Someone who's there, who cares, even when it's not alright. Who's willing to wait for it to become alright, who believes that he'll get there.

He wants someone to just be, with him, when being is tough. ]

.....Thank you.

[ Despite what a mess the day has been so far, Rei holds firm. She might be small, but she can hold Monarch up, at least, when he needs the support. And it's clear that right now, he absolutely does. ]

You don't have to thank me for it. If anything, I should be thanking you. If it wasn't for you and everyone else...

[ Well. He knows. ]

[ He does know. He knows, and he'll even admit: ]

It's good we aren't alone.

Invidia Underside Log

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