come_sailaway | END GAME: THE COUNTDOWN STARTS

[These tropical symbols seem... suspiciously familiar, but before Natsuno can think about it further, the giant hand reaches down.]

He's reaching out - !

[They can't fight him here, with only Natsuno able to see. Run, hide, but where?]

Cardboard box behind Valdis. We can break in, hide -

[He grabs Fever and Steve by the hand to drag them in Valdis' direction. His ankle throbs in pain from the tight cloth, but he ignores it, he has to.

He has every intent of slamming his shoulder into the cardbox, and maybe slam Steve and Fever too.]

[break in? to the box? no time to process that before she's being used as a blunt object - and if it's this or get grabbed by unseen god hands, well.

she's got nails, she'll start tearing at it. inside, befofe they can get plucked up and subject to who knows what.]

[the cardboard tears as easily as cardboard should. the inside of it is entirely empty, with no way out except for the way they came in, where a massive hand feels around blindly.

to escape, they will have to sacrifice one of their own to the hand, enough to distract it.]

Edited 2024-03-16 01:37 (UTC)

( when natsuno says the hand is reaching for them, it’s as something inside steve clicks into place and he knows, without a doubt, what he needs to do.

people don’t always make it out when things get this bad. he knows that as well as anyone. he also knows that the three people he’s with stand a better chance at helping the others than he does. what he’s planning to do makes the most tactical sense.

because, in the end, it’s not about whether or not steve makes it out alive. it’s about everyone else. arthur, cassandra — hell, even darcy, skulduggery, all of them. this is bigger than one kid from indiana, and steve knows it.

so he lingers behind the others, hesitating as they realize they have to go back the way they came. )

I’m right behind you, ( he says, pressing the sharpened feather cassandra had given him into natsuno’s hand without explanation. then, once the other three reach the spot where they'd fallen through, he hesitates again for only a second, reaches out towards whoever’s there for what, he doesn't know. a brush of their fingers, a pat on the arm, just one last bit of contact, maybe. )

You guys go. I’ll be okay.

( he doesn’t give them time to protest because as far as he knows, there isn’t time for anything at all except a diversion if the other three are to make it out. he turns on his heel and darts into the darkness, intending to draw the giant’s attention that way.

he hopes it’s enough. )

Edited 2024-03-16 14:51 (UTC)

[the hand plucks Steve by his collar like a wayward kitten, raising him to the giant's face so buttoned eyes may peer at him more closely.

a boon, for those left behind: somewhere above them, a light has turned on, revealing the seemingly endless rows of cardboard around them.]

( what do you do when you're about to get your ass fe-fi-fo-fummed by a giant? steve doesn't have incredibly high hopes that this is going to go well, but all he can really do is try to talk his way out of it — the best he can, anyway, what with being picked up by the collar. he grasps at the man's hand. trying to stabilize himself the best he can. )

Hey, sorry, man. I was just looking for the bathroom. Didn't mean to interrupt whatever uh... whatever it is you've got going on here.

[the red-haired giant looks at him in silence for a moment.

uses his other hand to pull open a pocket on his shirt.

and drops Steve inside of it.

there's a mint lifesaver in there but it's still wrapped.]

( ... huh.

okay. definitely preferable to getting crushed but not much to do right but chill and try to tear the lifesaver open. it's not like they've had access to toothbrushes lately, you know? might as well take the chance to freshen his breath if he can. )

[Valdis isn't going to argue with Steve's decision, it's the most logical solution, but she's not pleased he tricked them! She releases a growl, but blinks quickly in the sudden light. She quickly whispers to Fever and Natsuno, not wanting to watch Steve potentially get smooshed.]

We have to keep moving. If we can save the captain, maybe he can save Steve. But we have to go.

[She can tell Fever is injured, but the woman wouldn't want her to fuss and they don't have time for it anyway.]

Now.

[she nods, though her heart gives a twinge to know the boy left. still, if he wants this, she cannot stop him, cannot dictate the terms of his atonement. and they need to move, to get out and find something - the way to free the god siblings, the key to their powers, something.

blessed, beautiful light. it makes everything bearable. glancing up as she exits the box, she catches the tail end of Steve getting...kidnapped? maybe? and can only think it's better than walking out to him crushed in the giant's hand.

so much cardboard. her eyes dart around, looking for anything amiss apart from the box they tore open and the one they fell from. a door, a color out of place, anything. just pick a direction and keep going.]

Just stay close. We can't lose each other.

[if she stays upright, she can keep walking. it's fine, she's not bleeding or anything.]

If you see anything weird, say it.

[they can scurry in the shadows now, sticking close to the edges of the boxes to remain less obvious. meanwhile, Fever's listening to everything to try and see if there's going to be another giant coming in, or if any other sounds are going to pop up.

fuck it. left and onwards. that had been Guatauva's last statement.]

[He opens his mouth to protest when Steve slips the sharp feather into his hand, but the words catch in his throat. Maybe he's being unfair and a coward by not saying anything. It's wrong to let Steve stay behind, when he's not as culpable in this as Natsuno's is.

But Steve is already moving, and Natsuno can't stop him. He's no longer the boy who accepted that his life matters less that everyone else's. He made a promise to come back.

He braces himself for a terrible sight, for screams and sounds of splatter and crunching bones, but none come. Sounds like Steve is... talking his way out of it? Yet another thing he will have to wonder about later, or never, because the lights are on and this is their chance.]

When he's free of Malin's control, we can get Steve back. [Much quieter, as he sees the giant deposit Steve in a pocket:] Guess he's taking him to the bathroom...

[Natsuno follows along, clutching the feather tightly. Like Fever, he keeps his eyes, ears and nose peeled for anything suspicious. Left and onwards.]

[Valdis glances at Natsuno when he mentions rescuing Steve, she had doubts about them being able to rescue themselves, much less Steve. Luckily Fever is taking over again, and with everything she's lost, Valdis is glad she doesn't have to think too hard.

Just give her something to fight and she'll be useful again.

They keep to the edges and the shadows, making their way through the maze of boxes]

We need to find a wall. Maybe we can follow it to a door.

[after some time of running through the cardboard jungle, the group runs into... something, on the ground in front of them. it appears to be some sort of food: a cake, or maybe a cookie, about the size that they currently are, with hard icing. written on it in additional icing are the words "EAT ME."

there's also some sort of folded note next to it? also the size they currently are. maybe they can fold it into a plane and fly.]

..."Eat me."

[that's pretty clearly an invitation, right? and there's also the big piece of paper...

she decides to work at trying to break off a piece of the big cookie. Valdis or Natsuno might need to go for the big paper.]

It's from a book. The main character eats a cake that turns her into a giant.

[But whether they can trust it... Natsuno grabs the edge of the note and starts unfolding.]

[so the first thing he'll notice when he unwraps it is a large, childish scrawl reading:

POISON

... and then, unwrapping it a bit more reveals a neat hand has added:

NOT POISON]

[huh. not poison. it's as if someone knew that one of them might be concerned with poison. not Fever, of course, but if this is like a book...hadn't someone said something about things being inspired by stories? or something. she wasn't really paying attention then.]

If I become a giant, hopefully it'll wear off at some point.

[okay. she's going to eat the little chunk she broke off. here goes nothing. if it ends up being like that time she ate apples from the swamp and got really sick, then at least she knows that much goes away.]

[Valdis helps Natsuno unwrap the note, though she's not sure if she's please or displeased. The writing does look familiar, and she feels they have no choice but to trust Friday.

With a breath she also breaks off a piece of the cookie.]

Only one way to find out.

[She takes a bite alongside Fever.]

I think Friday wrote the "not" part.

[She freed Siffluer, passed Fio a note and now this. Hadn't she always tried to help them through every loophole in her programming?

He takes a bite as well.]

[eating the pieces of cake returns them to their normal sizes. you've seen movies.

so, here we are now: four people, one ensorcelled, in a rather small storage closet full of empty boxes.

for a moment, the man just stares at them, halfway between lifting a cardboard box up above his head.]

[So they are now in a suddenly small space, with a brainwashed man who can drown them or blow them away through the wall, and has their tiny friend in his pocket.]

...Hello. Would you like some help with these boxes?

[a pause.

then the man throws the box at Natsuno's head.]

[rip Natsuno, hopefully that box had nothing heavy in it.

diplomacy has been tried, which means now Fever gets to move in. the sharpened quill Phil gave her is in her hand, and don't ask how she maneuvered herself to be facing Coatrischie in this small space but she did, and the point is pressing into the soft underside of his chin, where a major artery usually is in humanoids.]

Back up and outside. Slowly.

[she might not have magic, but she does have the unending frustration of being locked in that cell, and her tone says she's not playing, staring into those button eyes. you don't need to be huge to be intimidating, you just need to seem like you absolutely will stab into flesh and walk out over his incapacitated body.]

[a tang of ozone, and the feather bursts into flames. they lick his skin where the quill had made contact, but leave no trace.

Fever might not be a fireproof storm god, though.]

[one day, if she eats all her greens.

she hisses in pain, and she knows he wants her to drop it, but she clutches it close to her chest instead to try to snuff out the flame. she can't drop this, even if it's just a withered piece of ashes. it was a gift - she can only see that expression on Phil's face in the cell.

it hurts, like fire will, and it'll hurt after. but whatever's left of it, she wants to keep.]

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