melodiesoflife | Endgame || Apocalypse

Characters: Anyone
Where: Pandaemonium
When: March 05th
Summary: The first phase of endgame begins! The Heroes of Light are on their way to deal with Garland as they’ve left their unfinished businesses in the hands of their friends amongst the NPCs. How will it end? The mingle threads shall not be modded, only The Guardian will be modded. Please do not start individual threads for The Guardian, reply in a single thread. Starting from now on, the game is officially in endgame. Please do not post any new posts on Mognet or in the Log Community, unless they’re backdated to before this event. The second phase of endgame will be posted once The Killer Of World thread will have been unlocked and completed.
Warning: ̩̼͋ͬͅ.̷̳̗ͦͣ͐ͭͣͬ̈́ ̤̙ͫ̉.̨̯͖̗͓̥̭̣̂̄ͣ̏ͯͫ ̶̼̻̳ͫͧͥ̆.̭͎ͮ͂ ̳̤͓̖̫͌ͪͥ̄͗̐̌.͚͍̀ ͈̻̠̥̜ͦͦ̆ͨ͋.̼̹̹̠̟͚͎ ͙͇̲̘͖̉̌̒͂̈ͮ.͇͙͑̍̽ ̪̭̹̤͓̯̜ͦͣ̒̾͆͗ͦ͟.̝̯̲͗͊̽ ̛̙͌̈ͤ̚.̪̮̰̘͚̏ͦͤ ̲̼̺͓̣̝̐.͗ͨ͜ ̧́̑̄ͥ.ͬ͊̋ͣ ̝̠͍̭̯̽.́ ̊̽̈.̡̥̖̣͓̬̠̰͗͑͂ ͍̭̩̝̉͊̑̃̓ͤ̇.͆̔̀̈́̐̋ ͇̬̤̲͉̜͙̓̍ͦͯͤͥ̔.̯̻̺͔̰̞̙͋͡ ̻̼̣̮͖̮̋ͬ.̖̝̞ ͕̦̙̞̹̲̖̓̃.̌ͯͯ͟ ̺̘̪͊̊.̲͖ ̧̼̙̋ͦͧ̂́̑͑.̷̼̬̭͔͙̹̫ͦͧ̔̄͐̏ͫ ̱͎ͥͥ̈͝.̲̣͖̪͓̯ͩ̓̈̿ͧ̅́ ̪͈͚̺̦̝͎̒ͦ̇̚.̂̆ͯͦͩ̃̀̀ ̬͕̼̆.͎̃́͐̄͒̑ͪͅ ̠̳͎ͬ.̛̭͓͗͌ͪ ̴͉̱͉̘̯̟̔͐.̫̣̥̔͑͛́ ̝̭̤̜͖͎̙̈ͪ̿̓ͯ͂̚.̟̲̥̥͈̭̳̈̋ͥͦ ͔̩̈͋͐͗̚.͓̝̼͍̈ͧ͊ͅ ̥ͥ.̷̬͍͙ͥ̓͋ͅ ̪̯̠ͨ́̂.̱̙̘̫̰͕͈̎̓̊ ̧̻̃̎.̬̇̄ ̘̣̺̼ͯ͋̀.̯ͬ ̆͗͆̆̋͝.̴̞͖̫́ͬ͌̉̍̿ ̪̹̥͙̑ͅ.̵̻̮͓̉̃ͯ͑̊̈́̚ ͚̽̒̚͘.͇̮͇̻͍͈̠͂̓ͣ̀͡ ̩̠̖̋.̺͎͈̦̺̈́ͮͬ͌̋ͧͩ ̳̠͕͙̎ͩ͜.̛̆ͥ̒͑ ̘̠͓͚̱͗͜ͅ.̢̠̠̥͍̬̂̊͋͊̂̄̐ ̦͛.̰͚̫̱͙̩̅̓ ̲̜͌̒ͭ͑͠.̠̆̈̏͆̉ ̰̹̳̻̥̮̬ͨ̍̐̆͗ͫ͜.͕̥͔̳ͩ͞ ̣͓̥̑̍͊̽̄̀.̳̘̭ͭ̔̎̍͜ ̟̞̯̏.̙̯̦̞̱̘ͬ͐ͩ ̯̠̣͉̪̅̅ͣ́ͅ.̡͗̍̿͊͐͊ ̲̙́̽̽́.̝̟͇͈͚̿͝ ̑͜

Mingle Thread
The Guardian
The Killer Of Worlds

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Jaune grunted as the guards haul his and Mary's asses back to safety. That went surprisingly well; for a second there he was sure he had screwed up royally and had been about to kill them both. He rolled over onto his back and caught his breath for a moment before looking over to Mary to see how she was faring.

"Are you okay?" he asked, still panting a little. Who knew how much of a strain it would be holding someone like that? It sure beat the alternative, though.

There was a touch of fear on Mary's face but it was quickly giving way to that adrenaline rush of thrilling survival as she caught her breath and pushed aside the brief pain of her impact with the way.

"Aye. Fine and happy to be back on more solid ground." She glanced at Jaune and chuckled, "I guess you've paid me back for that morning on the rooftops." Granted, this was a much more dire drop, and she wouldn't actually let her debt to him slide so easily.

Jaune let out a huff of laughter. "You remember that, huh?" Not one of his finer moments. He sat up and rubbed his shoulder. Yeah, that's going to be bothering him for a couple of days. Worth it, though.

"Well, you know what they say: friends who rescue each other from plummeting to their deaths should probably reevaluate their life choices." Happening to Jaune was just his luck, but to Mary too? Seemed like the two of them were just tempting Death at this point. Which they were, given what they were setting out to do. "I'm glad you're okay."

She chuckled and gave him a comforting pat on that shoulder as she sat up. They were alive, and a little pain wasn't so bad in the long run. "Mmmm, I've not heard that saying before but I might have to use it myself."

She took a moment to savor the thrill of their little misadventure, but it wasn't long before her face took to steel once more, "As much as I'd like to keep this the biggest peril of this outing, we have other things to attend to." She rose to her feet and then offered him her hand, "Are you ready to go meet Garland?"

She hadn't said 'thanks' for his worry, but this was the way she was going to say it for now. Working together and trust in each other meant more to her right now than kind words. They could relax and be merry when the job was done.

Well, looks like the "fun" was over. Jaune took her hand gratefully and hoisted himself up. "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." He frowned, clenching his hand while he thought about what was to come.

"Do you think we'll have to... I mean, are we going to give him a chance to change his mind?" Jaune came along for the ride because, well, everyone was going. He wasn't sure what the overall plan was, but it seemed this was something he was supposed to do as a Hero. But if their plan is to just outright murder someone, he's not so sure this is the place for him. "I've never... I've only ever killed grimm before. Monsters."

He signed up to be a Hero protect people, not slay them.

"I'm sure we will." There was some exasperation in her tone at that though. "We seem to give all of our foes a fair few more chances than they deserve, but we've always tried to find the peaceful way out."

Looking down, she flexed her wrist a few times to test that her hidden blade wasn't damaged by the recent athletics. All told it looked like the mechanism was still working just fine. "But it will likely come to a fight. At least he's certainly not going to stand down if we can't prove our worth. But we also need to put an end to things if it seems like there's no other way."

She glanced at him and smiled. "If you don't think you can take another person's life, don't worry. There are those of us here who can take a bit more blood on our hands. Especially so others don't have to."

Jaune nods grimly. "Yeah, I figured as much. If this was going to be a diplomatic discussion we wouldn't all be here armed for a fight. I just wish there was another way." He's only fought others for practice. It was never serious. He's not even sure what to expect; no one's ever really gone for the kill against him, either.

He picks up his sword but doesn't sheath it yet, instead staring at the blade and tightening his grip on the hilt. He's not smiling back. "Is standing back and allowing someone else to perform a killing blow any better, though? Maybe we could just incapacitate him and lock him up or something. Just... not kill him."

Maybe he shouldn't have come. If he's not able to strike him with all he has, would he just be a burden?

"Under another circumstance, perhaps. But due to the way this world works, the only way to end this in our favor is to either kill him and halt the magic involved that way, or to make Garland relent under his own free will. And I imagine that would still involve him throwing himself on his sword. He and his life are linked to all of this, as are ours. For him to achieve his own goal, he has to cut us down."

She gave Jaune a stern look, "We all know the stakes here, and what we're fighting for is a dwindling continuation of what has been, or an attempt to risk everything to try to save it all...and there's the chance we're all wrong." She sighed and looked on ahead, "That's why it's okay to leave the hard parts to others. So long as you're true to yourself and act with conviction. That you give your best, even if it's not in battle. Garland isn't going to try to kill us because he's evil. He's going to do this because it's what he believes needs to be done to save this world."

She looked back at Jaune and looked him up and down, focusing on his garb, "You were training to be a warrior back home, right? Even if you disagree with what your enemy stands for, you still need to acknowledge what they will do to reach their goal. You need to meet them with an equal sense of purpose. Any less and you won't survive."

"But locking him up could stop him too! Unless... You think he's going to force our hand. That a fight to the death is inevitable." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I guess I know it will too. I just really don't want to admit it." Because admitting it makes it real. It's one thing to risk his lie to fight mindless Grimm, but this is Garland, a guy who's apparently so powerful that every damn Warrior of Light in this place is needed to take him down. People were bound to fall, and he's not sure what he'll do if he sees someone stuck down before him. If he doesn't go down first, that is.

Not that he plans on going down without a fight.

"I have people to protect here, though; people I care about. So, if that's what it takes..." He shook his head, accepting what lied ahead of them, but not liking it. "I'll try. I can't make any promises that I'll be able to do it, but I'll try to not hold back. You're right; he needs to be stopped, no matter what the cost, and no matter how much I dislike it. So I'll try to fight him with all I've got, for everyone else's sake."

Damn being the burden. He was going to stand on his own two feet this time.

Endgame || Apocalypse

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