War with D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast, any/all characters of Xistentia!
Summary: D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. comes to Xistentia for the first time, bringing with it violence and havoc. Combat against enemy agents, healing, emergency sanctuary, and "Drift Compatibility" happen here. Refer to the OOC plotting post and the mod announcement!
Date(s): November 4-18
Warnings/Notes: Violence, death, psychological themes, trauma. Please warn for anything else in your subject headers!

WAR WITH DESTINY

By headsman's blade or battle-axe

Fight For Your Life

Everything is, in short, super fucked. Era Ra's warning came at the right time, forewarning of some of the weapons and fighting styles that could be expected from D.E.S.T.I.N.Y.'s agents, but still, the people of Xistentia have not faced a force like this before. The ragtag combination of fighting styles and tactics promises both versatility and confusion.

For better or worse, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. is in similar chaos.

The first to come are ships from the Western sea, bearing a mix of warriors in and monsters. Some wield old-fashioned steel swords and others bear laser blasters, and their armor is just as varied. Some creatures appear domesticated, while others are feral and snap at their own. However, one primary feature identifies the enemy: their war color is red, which adorns flags and uniforms. Interestingly, the sea and sky of Xistentia seem to be fighting back in their own way, massive waves and a storm, even animals pestering them as they attempt to land the beach. However, it's only a matter of time before the mainstay of their forces reach land, some two hundred fighters. It's then that sentient fires start to whirl into the forests, leaping from tree to tree.

You have the home court advantage. Even the foliage itself seems to cooperate with you, aiding in efforts for stealth by keeping you downwind, twigs failing to crack when you misstep. Soon, you're joined by Xistentia's other forces-- a handful of battered ships taking air, an odd assortment of elves and talking dogs, demons and aliens from outer-space, coordinating counter-attacks.

BATTLE MODE: ATTACK

You're locked in combat with a woman who seems oddly familiar, though you don't know her face and can't think of her name. You hit her in the head, and now a narrow slice of her face shows through her red-rimmed helm. She wields a rifle tipped with a heavy blade, though it crackles with electrical energy. She is a proficient swordswoman, deftly parrying and striking against you, her face eerily expressionless. Her blade has a switch that, when activated, will send out a net that numbs your limbs and drags you to the floor. Here's hoping you won't face this demon alone.

She's not your only problem. You may have noticed, that in every epic battle with evil wizards, there's always some kind of a problematically gigantic elephant. This is one of those days. At least, there's only one, its trunk as wide as a car, its feet moving slow, so that it might crush the trees rather than trip over them.

Fight one or both, or fight the hordes of nameless minions around them. Either way: there's plenty to do. Those of you who thought things were too quiet here? You'll be busy today.

SEEK SANCTUARY

Fighting isn't for you? Well, you'll want to get out of the way, then. The "wards" protecting the city are failing, and people are heading toward The Temple where the protections remain the strongest. Here, the injured need healing in the stone beds. The civilians do their best, comforting children, cooking food, trading intelligence, repairing weapons and armor where possible. Feel free to pitch in; they need all the help they can get.

BATTLE MODE: SUPPORT (PSYLINK)

And here, you've reached the Temple, you've laid yourself down on one of the many glass-and-stone beds within the safety of its stone walls. You know what the other Xistentia residents have told you about it— this is the next phase, after the memory share had raised shields against the psychotropic rain. This is the PsyLink. Through this bond, you are said to be able to activate special defenses. No one seems to know exactly what they are, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And beyond the Temple walls, times are desperate indeed.

Each drift requires at least two people. Your daemons will find and connect you, seemingly at random— and you may find yourself with the unlikeliest of partners.

Drift Compatible

The Kissing Booth participants find it easiest. Everyone else-- it's a wild jumble, finding yourself caught up in a firehose of not only your own memories, but that of someone else. Everything they think, everything they feel, is intertwined with your mind.

You can't get caught up in it. You have to let the memories of the past, your predictions for the future, and the terror of war flow in and out of you, without neither resistance or pursuit, gently tuning them out. And in this serenity, this psychic silence, this acceptance of not only yourself but the other other, you find perfect connectivity— harmony with your PsyLink partner.

In this space, you find yourself having strange conversations. You and your partner will share ghostly images, some of which seem to be images from the past— while others seem to be present-day moments from the battle outside, fighting the enemy, as if you are somehow in two places at once. You must find traction and stay in the now and stay calm, but it's harder than you think.

The instant you latch onto that memory or emotion, it's a mistake... but you forget.

Your shadow is here. Whether out-of-context, or right here where it was meant to be, it's trying to kill you.

But you're not trapped here alone. Someone is calling your name, a familiar voice in the pandemonium. That voice comes from your drift partner. It's up to them to pull you back, remind you of who you are, and balance you. Hold on to them - they're your anchor, but you'll have to do the same for them. A successful drift means helping each other. Do it well, and you'll help to power the temple's defences. Fail, and there'll be trouble for everyone seeking sanctuary here.

Comments

nico di angelo ▪ open

[deathkid]

𝗳𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 ➨

[ when the battle begins, nico is at his and will's apartment. but he feels the sudden oncoming of death and destruction in his very bones, making them sing as if he's being called. it's a sensation he hasn't felt since the war with gaea and as soon as it hits, wave after wave of it, nico is moving around the place, gathering what he knows he'll need. he shouts for will, quickly catching the son of apollo up on what's going on before grabbing his sword. he doesn't have his stygian iron armor, but the last battle he fought, he hadn't had it then either. what he does have is a fantastic medic for a boyfriend and a keen sense of battle skills. so after giving will a kiss and making sure his boyfriend has his own items gathered, he cloaks them in shadows and transports them to the beach.

just in time for one of the many feral monsters to bound towards them both. nico side-steps away from will, drawing the beast's attention and in a matter of seconds, has his sword swinging, slicing through the monster with deadly accuracy. to his surprise, it doesn't disintegrate into gold dust, blood splattering everywhere, but that just makes it more clear how dangerous everything is. ]

Get to a high spot, Will! There should be a few places to hit them with those arrows of yours. I'll handle it from here. Keep the ambrosia and nectar ready, but I don't plan on pushing myself into a shadow coma today.

[ with that, he dissolves back into the shadows, finding a new location to take up a fighting stance, just in time for a soldier to come bearing down on him. holding out his sword, he closes his eyes, keeping his senses keen and aware as he stabs the ground and mutters a quick serve me in ancient greek.

the enemy soldier is knocked off his feet as the beach begins to tremble, as though the earth itself is moving underneath the sand. but it's not the earth. soon enough multitudes of skeletal hands are clawing their way to the surface, one by one breaching the sand to stand before nico in a perfect battle formation. they all seem to be dressed in cobbled armor, as if from ages past, but where they came from, even nico couldn't tell you. besides, he's focused at the moment, watching with slitted, dark eyes as one of the skeletal soldiers decapitates the enemy. ]

Go.

[ and they're off, wading into the battle along side nico as he whirls around, taking out monsters and soldiers alike with his keen, sharp stygian iron sword.

come fight at his side? ]

𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 ➨

[ at some point, nico will have to take a break. raising the dead, shadow traveling here and there, it tugs at him and drains him of energy even though he's at the strongest he's ever been. so with a shadow jump to where he feels the most life, he finds himself in the temple.

unfortunately, this isn't really his scene. granted, he knows a few tricks of the trade when it comes to bandaging wounds, thanks to will solace, but nico has always been more of a fighter than a healer. still, sheathing his sword and settling down, he takes a moment to assess things ( and catch his breath ) before getting up again and offering his callused hands in bandaging people up. ]

Here, hold that out and I'll wrap it up.

𝗮𝗻𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗴𝗼𝗲𝘀 ➨

[ want something else? ping me at alkahestic or in the discord chat! ]

[healingdork]

[You can take the medic out of the field, but you can't take the medic out of the medic. Even if there hasn't been that many situations where Will's needed to pull on his combat medic experience, he's still always kept a bag ready to go at a moment's notice. You never knew what could happen. So it doesn't take him long at all to be ready to go, bow in hand, quiver of arrows across his back, medic bag over his shoulder, dagger sheathed at his side. He flashes Nico a smile after that kiss and says:] Just like old times, huh? When this is over... I have something to give to you, so don't get hurt, okay? [Then they're off and on the battlefield.

When Nico instructs him to get to a higher spot, Will does so, pulling an arrow out so he'll be ready to fire at any moment.] I've got your back.

[He doesn't need to do a whole lot though, because his boyfriend is a complete bad ass, he thinks with pride as he watches Nico summon up some skeletons and start decimating the bad guys. Anything that starts getting closer to Nico that the skeletons don't pick off though, he shoots an arrow or two at with a child of Apollo's accuracy to drop it. He might not be the best archer, but in the heat of battle when there's no room for error and the love of his life's safety is on the line, his focus is sharp enough to aim true.]

[deathkid]

[ something to give him afterward? hearing that leaves nico a little bewildered, but he doesn't have time to focus on what will might be thinking. there are monsters to slay and soldiers to stop, so he pushes the thought from his mind and sets himself ready for the next wave.

when it comes, nico makes sure to stop and scoop up will's arrows between slayings. his boyfriend is spot on with his aim, even saving nico a few times when his back is turned. but his arrows are limited, so between him and his skeletal crew, nico makes sure will is always restocked.

it's when the soldiers with blasters appear that nico knows he's in trouble. he doesn't have a shield and those laser sights are as deadly as will's arrows. with a hand outstretched, he draws his skeletal soldiers in to shield him as he thinks about what to do next.

he realizes then that he'll have to rely on the shadows in order to avoid some of the soldiers. will might get pissed, he thinks, but this is for his life and he's sure will would rather he stay alive, if wear himself out, than get hit by one of those blasters.

so nico pulls the shadows in toward himself, cloaking himself in darkness for a few seconds as the beach goes pitch black, and then ejects all the shadows at once, with a shout he ejects it with a bang, tendrils of darkness impaling soldiers and making them drop. when it's over, nico is panting, feeling a bit light headed, and stumbles a little. ]

[healingdork]

[The moment Will sees Nico stumble after that display, he's shooting towards him to check on him, keeping an eye out for anyone that might be coming their way.] Nico! [Once he gets to his side, he reaches out to grasp his hand, immediately checking for how he's doing health wise.]

[deathkid]

[ for the most part, nico looks like he could be doing better, but isn't weak like he had been on the morning before the battle at camp halfblood. nico isn't fading, fortunately, and he certainly isn't leaking shadows. but the display of power has left him a little off kilter and when will reaches him, he's grateful for the shoulder to lean on. ]

I'm fine. Just- Just did a little more than I maybe should have.

[healingdork]

[It's some relief, at least. He wraps an arm securely around Nico's shoulders and looks around for some place that looks like a safe spot to rest for a awhile.] Come on, let's sit down for a bit, drink some nectar. A short break won't hurt.

[deathkid]

[ spotting a place before will does, he points to where there's a lull in the fighting. ]

Over there. So is this a doctor's order?

[healingdork]

[He can't help it; their in-joke makes him smile, even in the middle of a big battle, as he helps Nico over to the spot he points out.] You bet it is.

[deathkid]

Lead the way then, because if it's a doctor's order, I better follow it. [ tugging on will, he settles on the knocked over tree, before looking over at his arm, checking it for any wounds. ]

[healingdork]

You better. [He says it with affection though.] I can do things like make you sleep on the couch if you don't. [And that bit is said absolutely jokingly. It's rare he's gotten seriously mad at Nico, but he's the kind of person who likes to resolves things after cooling down, the kind of person who doesn't like going to bed angry at someone.

Once they're settled, he'll look Nico over more thoroughly.] Does anything hurt or feel off? [Now he gives him a pointed look.] And be honest.

[deathkid]

Sleeping on the couch, yikes. [ the corner of his lips quirks. he knows it would take a lot to get will angry, but he also knows will is stubborn about keeping him healthy, so he relents, with a sigh. ]

I think I've just worn myself out a little. All that effort. I don't think it's as bad as the battle at Camp Half Blood; I'm not about to melt into a puddle of shadow, but I do need to take a break.

[healingdork]

Good. You rest and I'll keep watch, for a little while.

[He sits down next to him on the tree, resting his bow by his side so it's easy to snatch up, then subtly pats a hand against his pocket to make sure the little box that's tucked inside is still there.]

[deathkid]

[ noticing the way will fidgets, he glances over at his boyfriend and scoots closer. ]

Checking your supplies?

[healingdork]

[Crap. Will actually blushes a little at getting caught.]

... Sort of? [He says it a bit sheepishly.] Remember I said there was something I wanted to give to you later? Just making sure I hadn't lost it.

[deathkid]

[ ohhhhh, it must be something important if will's checking to make sure it's secure. nico wonders what it is, raising his brows. ]

Now's a good time as any. We're alive but might not last the night. The battle's far from over, so we should take the chance now.

[healingdork]

If you die here, I will break my vow to never go to those robot doctors to make them to revive you, I hope you know. [See how much he loves you, Nico.]

Was hoping to use it as motivation so we would make sure we wouldn't die in the first place but... I suppose you're right. [Is Will Solace actually looking flustered? Yes, Will Solace is actually looking flustered.]

Just, uh... don't laugh, okay? It's kind of cheesy.

[deathkid]

[ seeing will flustered puts a few ideas into nico's head. especially when will admits that what he's about to ask is a bit cheesy. what could the son of apollo possibly have in mind, he wonders and shifts a little to lean closer. ]

I won't laugh. Swear it on the Styx.

[ which is a pretty hefty oath, considering it's such a small thing to promise. still, he wants his boyfriend to feel comfortable asking whatever he wants. ]

[healingdork]

[He reaches into his pocket and pulls out the silver-colored ring, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand a bit sheepishly.] I took the metal pieces of my guitar and had them melted down into this.

[deathkid]

You took apart your guitar? But- [ and then what will is offering him registers. dark eyes widen in disbelief as he feels his heart begin to race. it's not because of the battle still being fought nearby. it's because of the magnitude of what will is essentially asking. ]

Are you... Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?

[healingdork]

[Will smiles softly and gently, fondness in his expression as he takes one of Nico's hands and cups his own around it, pressing their palms together with the ring resting in between them.] I wanted to give you something that had some meaning to it and well... [He gives a little shrug, still with a hint of sheepishness.]

It can mean whatever you want it to, Nico. I never want to push you into doing something you genuinely don't want to do or something you're genuinely uncomfortable with that's also something that won't do any good to push you into. Do I know I want to stay with you for the rest of my life? Yes. Does it mean we have to be anything more than we are now? No. We can just stay boyfriends and never get married or we can get married at some point in the future, whether that's in 5 minutes or 5 days or 5 years or even 50 years... Whatever you want. Would I like to marry you? Yeah. But that's not what makes me happy. Just being with you is what makes me happy. The only thing that matters to me is that I get to stay with you. So seriously... [And here he looks at him with a hint of earnestness and also maybe a twinge of barely bidden nervousness too.] Whatever you want, Nico. It means whatever you want it to mean.

[hasitsthorns]

[ There's currently a bandage trapped between her teeth- Ah, her fangs. While most people are familiar with the sunsine-colored Rose, they're all likely getting quite well-acquainted with her other appearance during this conflict. White wolf ears atop her head straighten up tall at the sound of Nico's voice and eyes of amber glance up at him. ]

Sure, [ she finally agrees, dropping the cloth from her mouth with a flick of her tongue. She hands off the roll of it to him, not needing his help but knows the importance of keeping busy or allowing others to assist and feel useful. The woman holds out her arm where a deep gash - likely from a sword - is laid across her forearm. She doesn't seem too worried about it. Though, really, Rose doesn't seem to be feeling much of anything compared to her usual energetic and happy-go-lucky attitude. ]

Is is still super fucked out there?

[deathkid]

Styx, how did you get this? [ he gives the gash and rosie a look of concern as she holds out the bandage and her arm. it's been rough, benched like he is for a few minutes, when his friends are out there fighting still. he's worried about them and that worry gleams in his eyes as he begins wrapping the bandage around her wound. ]

Yeah, yeah it is. I came in for a bit because I needed to refuel, in a manner of speaking. But I'll be heading back out there soon. You should stay in here, though.

[hasitsthorns]

This is nothing compared to what I did to them, so don't worry about it. I heal in the third of a time most people do. It'll be fine.

[ Or so she'll keep telling herself, until it isn't. ]

I'm not staying here, [ she's quick to respond. ] Maybe for a little bit, but- I can't stand sitting idle, "resting," when there's way more I could be doing to help.

[deathkid]

[ a sigh. heroes and their tendency to think with their muscles and not with their brains. ]

I get the feeling, Rose, I really do. But this is pretty deep. If you heal quickly, maybe give yourself a few minutes to let it do just that before heading out there. Gods know I'm not sticking around in here by myself the entire time either.

[hasitsthorns]

[ It's

kind of a problem, yeah. Rose uses her brain but seems to most often in a pinch. When she isn't pressed to think fast, well... ]

I heal in a third of the time mortals do, dude, I know my limits. This isn't anything new.