FINAL EVENT: FAREWELL

[spoofer]

Characters: Ensemble cast!
Summary: The final event in Xistentia is necessarily one of farewells. Characters will be given a forum to decide where they go and with whom, or if they want to be part of the skeleton crew that stays. There is also a lantern festival, mingling Tanabata and the Chinese lantern festival.
Date(s): Month of July
Warnings/Notes: Feels, possibly sexual content, please warn in subject headers!

Farewell

a million billion trillion stars

The Battle Won

Late Sunday evening, a notice goes out across all the daemons. With critical blows struck against D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. during the prison world missions, F.A.T.E.S. is prepared to go into maintenance mode. That means only a skeleton crew of one hundred citizens needs to reside in Xistentia at any given time. The rest of the populace is free to return home. Or...

Destination Forum

Perhaps it's not your own home that you want to go back to.

Hence: the forums.

Public meetings take place at the Citadel, where larger groups and individuals can offer safe harbor for those looking for a fresh start and a new change. F.A.T.E.S. will offer each individual a change of powerset if they so wish to blend better into their new world. Though most of these decisions will be voluntary, a vote of all travelers following majority rules will determine significant changes likely to affect others, such as the nerfing of god-like individuals or weapons, or whether compulsively malicious individuals may be allowed into other worlds at all.

To enforce transparency in a discussion, a truth zone encompasses the gleaming tower, preventing anyone from telling a lie.

However, characters also have the option for private meetings— in which groups of travelers smaller than 5 individuals may be able to negotiate the terms of going to worlds outside the Citadel. This, you may do in whatever informal circumstances you like— from the privacy of a home to the local knockoff British pub. And if you aren't taking your friends home with you, perhaps too, it's time for your own personal good-byes.

D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. Lurks

As for D.E.S.T.I.N.Y., they seem to be gone. There's been radio silence ever since F.A.T.E.S. made their announcement. Any attempt by their Agents to contact them results in static - but not, strangely, in disconnection. It seems they aren't so much defeated as licking their wounds. Make no mistake, D.E.S.T.I.N.Y. will be back. Agents, be ready; this isn't the last you'll hear from them.

Festival of Lights

Such occasion asks for more than logistics; we also have reason to celebrate.

In true Xistentia spirit, the festival that ensues is a mix of traditions from around the multiverse. It all kicks off with a spectacular fireworks show over the city, amid raucous sharing of alcoholic beverages and food aplenty.



From Japan, we have Tanabata, where characters are encouraged to write down their dearest wishes for the future on tags of colorful paper and then tie them to the forest trees. With a little luck, your character will get their heart's desire.

From Thailand, we have Yi Peng, where your characters will send ill feelings, grudges, regrets, and old mistakes up into the air in the form of paper lanterns. It is the tradition of letting go and welcoming in the new. Don't worry about the fire hazard— F.A.T.E.S. has you covered.

And Diwali from India signifies the coming of a new time, a transition. Candles lit and traditions such as decor and sweets represent the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and hope over despair.

The Marriage of Vanyel Greyborn & Hanako "Rosie" Nurumi

It's probably a little more slapdash than most weddings people are used to. When the bride had never anticipated getting married and the groom is from a place and time before most wedding customs people are familiar with, maybe it's to be expected. But, just like them, it all seems to come together despite everything. It makes for a beautifully unique ceremony.

The flowers are a mix of Rosa rugosas and Dragon's Tongue. A pink and gold motif that's warm but elegant. It's set at night so that everyone they both care to be there can attend. While not a full moon, Rose's ears are out anyway beneath a veil of matching white lace. It was important to both of them that they marry each other true; that they loved every part of each other and symbolized it in some way on this day.

The vows they exchange are simple but heartfelt. They agree to be bound together, in love, now and forever. Rings are exchanged. It all goes according to plan, which is probably the multiverse giving this particular couple a break after everything else. And while the ceremony is all well and good, it's the reception that most people are likely looking forward to. Everyone is invited to attend this part of the two's union.

By Vanyel and Rose's standards, it's probably pretty tame. They host a giant feast in which most food was provided by the groom himself. The meat of choice is mutton, which just so happens to be the bride's favorite. It was also a show of being able to provide for their future life together. Meanwhile, the alcohol was supplied by the bride so everyone knows its quality. If it's enough to get a demon drunk, it's likely enough to get just about anyone drunk. Non-alcoholic and vampire friendly drinks are provided as well since they want to make sure everyone is accommodated and having a good time.

The reception lasts well into the night and rays of early morning light are creeping up on the horizon by the time its time to wrap things up. All in all, they'd call it a successful event and a high note to end hopefully many people's time in Xistentia on.

Footnotes

1. Please ensure that threads are marked with appropriate content warnings!
2. The original announcement with some other details is here.
3. You are loved. Farewell!

Comments

Rafa | OTA

[mordacita]

i. Wedding

---

[ It's time to leave. Rafa feels it, has been feeling it ever since the announcement. It tingles through him like an itch, a need to be away from here and be home again. He might have gone already, except...

Except that he couldn't miss the wedding. He couldn't miss seeing Rosie and Vanyel's day, because he expects it'll be the last time he'll see any of them. He dresses in his best suit, the nicest one he's been able to find here. He can be found at the reception with an alcoholic something in his hand, but he isn't drinking much. ]

It was a nice ceremony. [ He says, in passing, to those around him. ] Have you seen the bride?

ii. Closed to Vex

---

[ This takes some working up to. Rafa means to go for days, and puts it off and off, until finally he can't anymore. It's the morning before he's planning to leave, meaning he appears on the beach in his sunglasses. Wearing them has been a rare event since he got burned in Panultima, but necessity makes an excellent motivator. He's at the door, but even so, he sends a text instead of knocking. ]

vex, i need to see you

[ Then, a second later: ]

please.

iii. Closed to Kavinsky

---

[ That seem evening, shortly after sundown, Rafa arrives at Kavinsky's place. This time he does knock, but he climbs to his fledgling's bedroom window to do it. When he catches his attention, he gives him a bright smile, and a cheerful wave. ]

Kavinsky! Let me in, there is something I must say.

[ Do it now or he'll start calling you Joseph!

iv. Festival of Lights

---

[ Finally, before he leaves, Rafa can be found around the festival. Diwali, Tanabata, Yi Peng. Some he's never even heard of before. He goes around them all, anyway, trying to take in as much as he can. His wish is written on a page that he shows to no one, but he might tell it to you as he ties it to the trees.

After that he moves through the streets, taking everything in, watching lanterns fly. He feels strangely sad, and yet it doesn't at all change his eagerness to go. It's not quite the deadline for leaving, but he's made the decision anyway. If he knows you, and sees you while he wanders, he'll stop you with a gentle touch and a smile. ]

I will be gone tonight. Now is the only time left for goodbyes.

v. CREATE YOUR OWN

---

[ Prompt Rafa! I'm available on plurk for plotting at halfbloodly ]

ii

[vexy]

[ It was honestly a text he hadn't been expecting, and he might have never seen it if not for his persistent daemon nearly tripping him as he packed up what few things he had. He sighed as he stared at it, then eventually gave in: ]

ok

[mordacita]

[ Rafa pushes the door open. Vex probably hadn't been expecting him right now, but he hadn't wanted him to change his mind. And also there was the chance that he might have changed his own mind, if he thought about it for long enough, and he doesn't want that either.

He follows the faerie's very familiar scent to where he's packing, and he stands in the doorway, his daemon unicorn clipping up beside him. ]

Vex.

[ He sighs. ]

Can we sit down?

[vexy]

[ No, he hadn't been expecting that at all. He nearly jumped to the ceiling when he heard the front door open, his heart hammering as he swore out when he saw Rafa. ]

Bloody hell! Warn a fae next time, eh?! [ He exhaled a frustrated groan, then gave a shrug before he sat down on the edge of his bed. ] Yeah, alright, kick up your feet 'n all that.

[mordacita]

[ Well at least that takes some of the tension out. Rafa breaks into laughter, and then instead of sitting comes right up to take Vex's hand. ]

I scared you the second time we met. Do you remember? We were outside Pandemonium. I caught you, pretended to bite. You screamed out to the sky.

[ That was a happier time, and Rafa hadn't even known it. His smile softens now. ]

You sit. I have something for you.

[vexy]

You scared me the first time we met too. Nearly pissed myself when you looked like you were about to launch over the table 'n rip my throat out. You always scare me.

[ Vex replied, his voice a little less surly now that Rafa seemed to be in good spirits. He gave a hand and shrugged, because he couldn't be sitting anymore than he already was. ]

Yeah, what is it?

[mordacita]

[ Rafa's smile stays. He turns over the hand he'd taken and places a small, shiny bead into the centre of it. Then he holds Vex's hands with both of his. ]

It is my bead. From Eudio, one of the ones I earned with my incentives. You are going back there, are you not? That is why you are packing.

[ He doesn't really need an answer to that. He knows that Vex will. Eudio is where he last saw Mark. If Mark is anywhere alive, he'll be there. ]

I want you to keep it. You can use it to visit me, when you get there. It will be your Doorway back to me.

[vexy]

[ There were about a thousand questions which ran through Vex's head in that moment, but he'd lived long enough to never look a gift horse in the mouth. He wasn't the sort to question any form of apparent forgiveness, be it big or small, and for him this was a very big gesture that he wasn't about to deny.

He nodded, his brows furrowed and while his expression was confused the only thing that came out of his mouth was acceptance. ]

Yeah, alright. Once I go back 'n see if everything's as-is... I'll... we'll stop by.

[ Because Mark had to be there, right? Right.

Right. ]

[mordacita]

[ That's the first sign of hope he's seen from Vex in their whole time here. Rafa squeezes his hand, smiles, and nods. ]

Good. You must give him my best.

[ He makes to turn away, but stops halfway through the move. He turns back, eyes warm and fixed on Vex. If he doesn't say this now, he never will. ]

I love you, Vex. I have loved you for a long while, and I know that it was not enough, because I love others, too. I accept that. But I still love you, and you must never doubt that. I miss you every day.

[ He touches his hand again, fingers brushing over knuckles. ]

Every day. I miss you, I want you. I cannot bear the thought of never seeing you again. I know that you will never stop loving Mark. I hope that you find him, I have never believed he was gone. So find him, and then come to me. Never doubt how I feel, and when you do, use the bead and find me so that I can tell you again.

wedding duh

[hasitsthorns]

Oh, have I!

[ The exclamation comes from nearby. It's not long behind it that Rafa will be crushed by a surprise hug. She's not usually so affection, of course, but hey. It's her big day. She's allowed to be excited.

Don't worry though, she's careful not to spill his drink. She pulls away, smiling big and bright and genuine. By now, Rose has dressed in a lovely lavender number for the reception. ]

I'm so glad you stayed to make it, Rafa. It... means a lot to me.

[mordacita]

[ Rafa hooks an instinctive arm around her, pleased to be hugged and eager to return it. He turns his head to kiss her cheek, which he's hoping Vanyel won't mind. ]

I wouldn't have missed this. After all we've been through, I couldn't miss your big day. Do you remember that day you came to the Wolf's Den, Rose, after you ran away? Everything that we spoke of then, and now here you are. I am proud of you, little wolf.

[ He sets his drink down on a table (death to anyone who dares to try stealing it – he's not done, thank you) and wraps both arms tightly around her. ]

[hasitsthorns]

[ She highly doubts that he would, considering what their original plans for this wedding were.

At his words, she can't help the sheepish tinge her smile takes. His embrace is returned just wholeheartedly with a tight squeeze. ] It's wild, right? I never thought...

Dude, if you would have asked me even a year ago if I saw this happening I would've said no. [ While the centuries before seemed to go by in a practical blink, the last two years have been so rich with experience. It's a little hard to wrap her head around sometimes. ]

I'm kind of proud of me too, all things considered.

[mordacita]

[ Rafa smiles. He knows Rosie would've been the one to run away from this a year ago, probably literally. She would've been in the wind, cutting off her own nose to spite her face. Instead, here she is, seeming genuinely happy.

He picks up a fresh glass of wine, and takes a sip before continuing. ]

So, what will happen next? Have you decided which of your worlds you will go to? Will you stay here for a while?

[ Rafa won't, for the record. That's probably well enough known already, but at any rate he's making no effort to hide it. ]

[hasitsthorns]

Ah, about that- [ "About that" never has good connotations, does it. ]

We're actually... gonna' kind of go to our own worlds? We both got stuff to take care of, so. We'll find each other again. No doubt about it but for right now it's not...

It's not possible.

[mordacita]

[ Rafa looks startled, and for a moment just stares at Rosie as if he expects her to take it back.

Then, lifting his eyebrows, he shakes his head. ]

That makes for a strange honeymoon. But Hunter and I separated after our first wedding, in Eudio. It was more of a promise to us, and it worked.

[ He touches her arm. ] I am sure it will also work for you.

[hasitsthorns]

[ If only she could. She would, he probably knows, but it isn't possible. ]

I hope so. [ It's a small smidgen of doubt. Not something that she might admit to many that there is doubt there. Vanyel has... a lot better than her out there. She wouldn't blame him, if he didn't find a way to her again. But she wants to have faith that he would. That he wants to, just as she will. ]

I guess all we can do is wait and see. Hope for the best.

[mordacita]

You must not lose faith in him. As long as you love each other, it will not matter how long it takes.

[ That's the theory. It may not work that way for everyone, but Rafa can only speak for his own experience. Centuries have passed while he waited for those he loved. That's his truth. He doesn't know if it will be hers, but he can hope.

He gives her hands a gentle squeeze. ]

I hope that you will endure. I would like to know if you do, but I suppose that will depend on you. It is time for me to leave, Rosie. I must return home.

closed to rafalfa;

[pillz]

[kavinsky is fucking around in his home. it's felt rather empty since amanda left xistentia, but he's managed to make it feel like home by expanding his garbage pile of dreamcraft and extra belongings slowly until her tidy little space has been enveloped by spare televisions, bongs, sexually explicit stuffed toys, random car components, pill bottles, and assorted nails and knives. they are kind of loosely sorted, though. he has that going for him, for a given quantity of 'going for him.']

Yo what's up?

[he's either pretending he doesn't know, or he hasn't been checking his daemon. the latter seems imminently likely, considering he's currently standing over the big, fluffy white dog with a brush in hand, apparently trying to stencil bright orange dicks into her fur as she talks brightly about the weather. it is debatably an improvement over his relationship with his daemon in the past, back when he used to hate that she seemed to be a robot wearing his true dog's skin.]

[mordacita]

[ Rafa slides the window open and climbs in. For a moment he just watches Kavinsky, and then he goes to sit beside him. He gives the poor daemon a sympathetic look, before touching Kavinsky's stencilling hand. ]

There is something we must discuss; we cannot avoid it any longer. It is time for me to leave this place, Kavinsky. My kingdom is waiting, and it is long past time that I should have returned.

[ He'd been ready to go when he left Eudio. Xistentia has been a difficult, and often painful experience for Rafa, and he can't say he'll miss the place. The people are another matter, and this one in particular…

Well. This is one he hope he doesn't have to miss. We'll just have to see. ]

Apologies for any typos, my new apartment only has vague internet

[pillz]

[scff scff scfff, says the market in kavinsky's hand. scff. the orange dick forms elegantly on the dog's fur, and then kavinsky tossed aside the pen with a flourish. the next thing he tosses across the room is inevitably himself, flopping his skinny vampire bones against the bed.]

Hey mom, [says the worst fledgling in the multiverse,] why don't you tell me some shit I don't know? Three century time jump and you know how to use fucking emojis. Who knows what you got to go back to now? First undead hovercar racer. First vampire on the fucking moon. Gotta get that seventy third husband, try some iridescent space age hair dye on your pubes, and mine all of Faerie with iron shells.

[he smiles convincingly, then holds up his dick stencil to pretend he's interested in how it looks against the ceiling instead of appearing upset his mom is ditching him!!!!]

no worries

[mordacita]

[ Rafa goes to sit on the bed. He knows Kavinsky well enough by now to not be troubled by his mood. Instead he pushes his legs to the side and settles there. ]

We could do all of that. [ Pause. ] Except perhaps mining Faerie. We are supposed to be at peace, after all, it would send the wrong message. But I will not complain if you wish to make me a flying car, or a Space Shuttle. I always did wonder how the sun would affect us if we were in space.

[ He's getting ahead of himself. And getting distracted. He leans forward, wrapping his arms around Kavinsky's leg and leaning his chin on his knee. ]

So, then, I suppose you had better say if you will come with me at all. It is best not to make plans that cannot be fulfilled.

[pillz]

[maybe kavinsky had known that rafaello would ask him. maybe it's stupid to pretend otherwise. after all, long before axel had told him off for keeping secret his incentive, long before delusions of marrying vex and all the rest, he had been 'joking around' with rafaello about going to the vampire's world. and it'd always been 'joking around' for exactly the same reason axel was angry with him, of course; he'd never thought it would really happen.

and core in the core of his reasons why he thought so, was he sort of thought rafa couldn't possibly mean it. not after everything he'd known, everything he'd found out about kavinsky. after tales of ronan, then grisly endings with vex, idiot mistake after mistake with-- aric, then kurt. when you're a king who's built piece from the ashes of thousands of years of interdimensional war, is that what you want in your life, really? a child fuckup. kavinsky knows that rafa could have any husband he wants ok!!!! (besides the various ones that he tragically can't.)

some sassy remark dies on his lips. something brilliant and sharp and sarcastic and stupid; some vulgar equivalent of yeah right.

instead, he stares down at rafaello's face, his own as blank as a board.]

Seriously?

[his voice is quieter than rafa's ever heard it, as if coming to the vampire from over a long distance and a strange land.]

[mordacita]

[ The change in Kavinsky's mood is evidence enough that he's surprised to be asked. Rafa really thinks that he shouldn't be; why would he expect anything else after all this time, particularly when Rafa had mentioned it before. Would all their closeness, all their friendship, come to nothing? Not if Rafa had anything to say about it. For him it's a simple issue, and there was never any doubt. ]

Of course. You are family, and I do not leave family behind.

[ That's not true, not really. There are plenty of people he's had to leave behind, including almost everyone else in Xistentia. But to Rafa's way of thinking, that's not his fault. That's not him leaving them; that's them choosing to leave him, and if that's their choice he'll deal with it. For his own part, he doesn't like to leave anyone – especially not those he's turned, those he's come to care for.

He lets go of Kavinsky's leg and slides up the bed to sit closer to him. He puts his hand on his arm. ]

If you…wished to stay with Kurt. I would understand, and will not be angry with you. But if you would come, then I would take you to my Prague and you would always have a home with me. I do not want this to be our end, I do not want to say goodbye to you.

[pillz]

[it is like he's sitting on the bed, talking about the future, to his real dad. a real dad. it's a scene out of context, or in strange context; a house that's as far as you can imagine from the one he grew up with, a parent who never knew him as an infant, a relationship fraught with odd wars and weird sex.]

I ain't talked to Kurt about jack shit, [is his smooth response to all that, even as his eyes dart away, and he drops his spiky head onto the vampire's shoulder, like he's trying to hide his face in the nook of rafa's neck, embarrassed twice over. if it is, he'll never admit it.] What year is Prague? You fuckers invented flushing toilets and true love yet? You know I'm a fan of one, but not the other.

[his tattooed fingers ring around rafa's wrist, greedy for affection even as he avoids looking at it too directly. rafa wouldn't be wrong to be a little offended, that his fledgling still plays little games of hard-to-get, convince-me-you-want-me, sarcasm, the lot. but he probably isn't surprised.]

Which house am I gonna live in?

[mordacita]

[ Rafa easily puts his arm around him. His hand comes up to scrub through his short hair. He leans his cheek against his forehead. ]

It is 2016. And you will live in the castle, my castle, where I can keep an eye on you.

[ He says that dryly, but he's also serious. He has no intention of setting this young vampire free on his world without his own supervision. He knows Kavinsky's history, and while he knows how much he's changed, he also knows that it's only happened while he had the support of others around him. If he's left to himself again, who knows what might happen? Rafa doesn't want to see a recurrence of the self-destructive behaviour he's seen in the past.

He pulls him closer. ]

You do not have to decide now, but I am afraid that you must decide soon. I cannot stay away much longer. I think that you should talk to Kurt. You should decide what you want, and whatever that is, I will support you. But I would like it, very much, if you would come with me.