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"This is so cool!" Juniper grinned as she waved to the newcomers. "I'm Juniper!" The woman was visibly excited, bouncing on her toes as she fidgeted with the zippers on her bag. She turned her head towards Charlie for a moment, before shrugging and going back to conversing with the others. "Are you guys excited for the tournament?"
(Oh I should clarify, only Crypt is a gaurdian, the others are different types of non humans)
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Kiyo furrowed his brows. So much was happening at the same time. The raven-haired person –Crypt, they were called– was explaining what the whole "Guardian" thing was, the girl with the braids was sobbing enough tears to fill an ocean, Juniper was still loud and rambunctious… Kiyo just didn't know what to make of the situation anymore. Was he to comfort the weeping girl, or ask more questions to the Guardian? To inquire about the others, or to tell Juniper to calm her tits? So many ultimatums, but Kiyo was never the greatest decision-maker. After a bit of thinking, he knelt on the ground beside the weeping girl, hesitantly placing a hand on her back. He wanted to comfort her, not startle her, but in this place, comfort seemed impossible, especially from a stranger.
"Hey," Kiyo started, stroking the woman's back gently. "Everything will work out alright, I promise. There's no need for tears, okay?" Comforting definitely was not his strong suit, but he'd give it a try, for once.
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Felix's gaze had wandered back over to Charlie, and in consequence to Kiyo, who was trying to soothe her. Perhaps he had some potential allies here- people who seemed human. Unless it was an act. But those tears seemed very real.
He moved over with the two of them.
"We're going to figure this out," he promised, "Most of us are rational enough that we don't want to be here, yeah? Much less at the expense of others."
He knelt on Charlie's other side, and found his eyes set on Kiyo. While Felix wasn't touching Charlie, he also tried his best to comfort her.
That guardian stuff had been a bit much for him to wrap his mind around at the moment, so he was glad he was able to reasonably distract himself by doing something else.
"That–" Avlynn started to speak to Crypt, but stopped when the girl started to break down. She approached and gently placed a hand on her shoulder. "Everything's a lot, I know… Best to let it out now, though, rather than in the middle of something," she said in a sympathetic tone, wondering to herself what the girl had left behind in her past life. If she knew that, she might be able to help… but it would be insensitive to ask right now.
The half black and half white haired person broke away from the small group of them and the two others, making their way to the crying girl and kneeling down to sit next to her. They pulled something out of their bag and handed it to her, a small handful of purple candies. "They help calm. Only one at a time."
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(da [possible] homie .o.)
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Curtis was quite conscious about his surroundings. He reached behind to grab his knife’s handle, not yet pulling the blade out. Of course, a lot of them— the participants— were focused on the girl who was quite literally breaking down. The man, however, was focused on the three figures, especially the one who was referred to as ‘Crypt’.
“So… what are we tasked to do here? Tell me exactly what we’re tasked to do,”
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Felix stared at the handful of candies.
"What the hell are those?" he demanded, his voice falling into a low growl.
He was very wary of most of the others here, and taking a suspicious candy-like thing from a stranger was certainly not a good look.
Felix's muscles tensed up. He wasn't going to strike, but if he felt he needed to stop this, he was ready.
Crypt just tilted their head at the man holding the knife. "No. I don't think I will answer that. I do not take kindly to people threatening me, it usually ends well for me, but not well for others." They brushed some sand off their feathers. "I am of The Protector, but that does not put me above feasting on your flesh."
The half and half person frowned. "They are calming candies. Herbs in a candy form to help make it taste better." They opened one and showed it off, it had small flecks of lighter purple in it. "These are lavender, they also help with coughs. I would offer to take one, but I am already calm and do not wish to rely on them."
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Kiyo held out his hand in a gesture for the two-toned haired person to give him one of the candies. "Here, I'll try it. Worst that could happen is I might make the world record time for a death in a tournament, right?" He chuckled, trying to hide how absolutely uncertain he was about this decision. I mean, even if the person was lying, at least his nerves would still go away.
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"If it's just herbs, the effects won't be the most powerful for such intense emotion," Felix reasoned, "It's not worth it."
"No offense to you," he said, turning to the half-and-half-haired person, "but we just met, and under these circumstances, I find it hard to trust you. I wouldn't take food from anyone here."
They nodded, placing a closed candy in Kiyo's hand. "If you are allergic to lavender please do not eat it, I haven't figured out how to cancel out the allergies for that plant yet." They slid the rest of the candies back into their bag, keeping one out so the crying girl could take it if she wished. "I am able to up the affects, which is what I did. I thought they might've come in handy if I got panicked during the games." They paused. "My name is Achike, most people just call me Ach. I'm a devotee of the god of balance, medicine, duality, and judgement."
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Curtis sighed and let go of the knife handle, turning the sheath slightly so that the knife wouldn’t fall when he started walking around. He looked over at the situation going on not too far away from him, rolling his eyes at how pathetic everyone over there looked. With a loud sigh, he crossed his arms and whispered to himself—
“Such a crybaby…” he turned to his backpack and grabbed his notebook and pen, taking notes of what everyone was talking about, especially about the figure that had called themself Achike.
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Kiyo put the candy in his mouth, the effects taking a little bit to set in, but setting in nonetheless. His body relaxed a bit and his breathing steadied out. He gave a small nod. "Yeah, unless this candy is made to kill people really slowly, the candy is legit." He offered a smile of reassurance. "Thank you…uh…" He took a little bit to try to remember their name. "Uh…Achike, right?"
"Yes, that is my name." They gave a pleased smile. "I'm glad it works on humans, I've really only used it on human-like people." Achike placed the wrapped candy next to the crying lady and stood up, brushing sand off of their pants and adjusting their bag strap. "It would not kill you, it is mostly lavender and magic, no poisons."
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Kiyo raised an eyebrow. "You can use magic to make candies? That's amazing." Kiyo had been aware of the existence of magic, but he was unfamiliar with quite a few of its uses it would seem. For some reason, his brain always defaulted to making things go 'poof' or making stuff float. There were plenty of things he had yet to learn about magic, apparently. "What else can you do with magic?" he asked, standing up as well and brushing the sand out of his hair again. Perhaps he should cut it sometime. Kiyo dusted his hands off and slid them in his pockets, his left hand fiddling with the black chess bishop that was there.
(Yo, magic is like a,,, common thing. I think I might've not made it clear lol, magic is really common and you're all basically paladins and clerics, channelers of your gods magic. Not fully, of course, that won't happen for a bit but)
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(not to be that guy, tf is a paladin? ohk)
(Oh lol, it's a dnd class. A warrior who can harness a god's power)
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(it sounded arabic lolololol)
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Charlie didn't expect anybody to come comfort her. She expected sneers and glares, not soft words and uh, calming candies. She could feel their questions hanging in the air. Is she okay? Why is she crying so much? Why can't she pull herself together and woman up?
"James," The choked word escaped her lips before she could stop them. She closed her eyes tight and let the tears flow from under them. She didn't care about the smudged make-up anymore, all she cared about was getting home to her little brother. She lost her mother and father already, she was NOT going to lose her brother. Two of the non-human participants, the crazy green-haired girl, and the dark haired detective all shot her annoyed glares like she was a fly that refused to leave them alone while they were trying to eat. Others gave her distant expressions of pity, as if she was a starved dog on the side of the street. The ones that comforted her treated her with comforting words and reassuring hands on the back.
You'll probably have to kill some of these oh-so-kind people, The voice taunted and Charlie felt her heart squeezing, as if an anaconda snaked it's way around and constricted. They don't deserve it, oh no. But what will happen if you don't take that knife and drive it through their hearts? What will happen if you hesitated like last time? Think of James, Charlotte. Think of your little brother that YOU left all alone.
"James," She sobbed again.
"Perhaps we should give her space? She isn't a patient, but most of the time patients want some space when they're thrust into a new place." Achike suggested, head tilted downwards to look at Charlotte. They didn't really have any sort of bad expression on their face, just curiosity and a bit of worry.
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Felix sat back next to Charlie, nodding at Achike's suggestion. He hadn't been that close in the first place.
"James," he repeated, "Someone you love, I'm guessing?"
He tried to relax his words and posture, so as not to come off too cold.
"What can we do for you?" Felix asked.
His eyes went from Charlie back to Achike. He would apologize later. Maybe.
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Charlie nodded, her shoulders and body shaking. "James," She whispered through quivering breaths. "Little brother- can't leave him." She sniffed violently and buried her head in her hands.
What can we do for you? His kind words echoed through her mind.
What can they do for you, Charlotte? The voice whispered in a mocking tone, slicing through the echo like a red-hot blade. What can they do for you?
Charlie just shrugged. "Top pocket." She moved her shoulders to indicate that she was talking about her backpack. Hopefully, if it was where she last put it, the picture of her and James at the Shrine should still be in there.
Magnolia shivered, feeling slightly overwhelmed. She wanted to comfort the sobbing girl, but felt like she’d be an intruder, since others had already gone to comfort her.
Her eyes drifted to the strangers again. She wasn’t sure what to make of them, but the one named Achike seemed well meaning enough. She also looked over the other devotees. She’d taken a liking to the older, golden-eyed woman. She reminded her of her Aunt Willow, in a way. Aunt Willow…
She’d said goodbye to her earlier, but she felt like it wasn’t enough. But she took a breath, resolving not to let the past keep her down. She remembered something she was told when she was a newer devotee.
We don’t control the past, and it doesn’t control us. The past is simply something to acknowledge, to honor, and to preserve.
She turned to Sterling. “I don’t know what to do,” she confessed. “I feel numb, but overwhelmed at the same time.”
Achike nodded. "I have a cousin I watch over. Your god will protect him." They assured, stepping up to the backpack and fishing through it to grab the picture. They handed it to her with a soft smile. "Keep him in your heart, use him as motivation."
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Felix bit his lip and looked at the picture.
"Motivation…" he echoed.
What was his motivation anyhow? He didn't have anyone who needed taking care of. His family would probably be happier without him. His friends would move on. All he knew was that he didn't want to die. Not like this.
A faint smile passed over his face.
"Y'know… in my family, I'm the little brother. And I'd have given anything to have an older sibling who cares as much as you do. James is lucky to have you. You clearly love him a lot, and we'll do everything in our power to make sure you see each other again."
Ah… Avlynn resisted the strong urge to pull the girl into an embrace and tell her that everything would be okay, that she'd be able to see her brother again. As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't. For one, she didn't know if the girl was comfortable with that, and Achike's suggestion definitely had some merit. There was also the fact that Avlynn couldn't promise either of those things, not when she knew very well that they weren't for certain. Her heart ached at the idea, and again she questioned whether the god hosting this tournament knew or cared how much he was hurting the participants in more than one way.
"Be strong for him. I'm sure he believes in you, so have a little faith in yourself," she said. There was sympathy in her voice, but also something more. Sorrow, as she realized another reality of this Tournament: even the winner would be separated from their loved ones for a long time, for gods–even minor ones–weren't often able to mingle with mortals.
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Motivation… Charlie's sobs slowed and she could finally breathe normally, the tears still flowing out of her dark eyes. "He-he's all alone," She muttered, staring at the photograph with glazed eyes. "Ever since our parents…" She trailed off, but the message still hung in the air.
Oh Charlotte, you are well aware that that was all your fault! The voice cackled. She dropped the picture onto her lap and grabbed her braids near her temples and pulled at it, as if she could physically yank the voice out of her head.
She looked down at the picture, a few tears falling onto the creased paper. It was James's eleventh birthday and the Despereaux duo had made their daily trip to the Shrine, where an old man volunteered to take their picture with his expensive camera. The old man told James that it was a gift to him and wished him a happy birthday. In the photo, James was leaning into Charlie with a broad smile on his face. Charlie had a protective arm around his shoulders and her head was resting on top of the younger's. Two of Charlie's bright pink braids hung in front of James's forehead and he held an arm up to keep them out of his face. In the background, you could see the silvery pool that rested in the center of the Shrine. The dark grey walls looked warm in the picture with the afternoon light drifting in from the perfectly polished glass windows.
"I don't deserve your kindness," She whispered to the people comforting her, letting her head hang.
