nysalogs | ❪ march event log: taken! ❫

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❪ march event log: taken! ❫

CW: This event log will contain descriptions and threads involving extreme violence, torture, and possible death. While we do not intend to push beyond any boundaries indicated in sign ups, players may opt out of any aspect of their group write-ups that they find uncomfortable.

Characters who have been assigned a role for this month's plot will find specific information about their groups and locations in headers below. We encourage that you thread among your groups within these headers, and as a reminder, only characters with plot roles may participate in rescue threads or hostage situations. All characters, however, are welcome to toplevel and tag in this log.

To receive special commendation and be recognized as heroes in a future post, hostages and rescuers must submit a short summary of their event participation HERE by March 24th.

OVERVIEW

While the riots and fanatic celebrating in Olympia and Wyver have subsided, neither city is naive enough to believe that life has yet returned to normal. There remains a tension among the citizens: not the slow simmer waiting to boil over that had preceded the aforementioned events, but an apprehension and fear that, despite the Royal Guard and Knightryder’s best efforts, the worst is yet to come.

In Olympia, as night falls on the 18th, their fears are proven true.

With their previous attempts at revolution through the riots having fallen short, the anti-Simwe radicals in Olympia carry out a more covert operation in their efforts to seize power. Having compiled a list of persons of interest, observed them, gathered intel and taken efforts to ensure that their movements will not be tracked, the radicals strike on the night of the 18th. The entire operation is discrete, and one by one people go missing from streets, homes, and businesses.

News that the kidnappings were a large scale operation doesn’t break in Olympia until the following day, but whispers have already travelled to a similar group of radicals in Wyver, who, fearing what a political coup in Olympia would mean for Wyver—or, more specifically how this could affect their chances to stage their own coup should Shanrian choose to step in—launch their own gambit for power with a similar scheme in the early hours of the 19th before dawn. Many are taken straight from their homes, or on their way to work.

For all their historical tension and division, Olympia and Wyver aren’t that different once the authorities become aware of what has happened. Both cities remain on the alert. In Olympia, Simwe orders immediate action from the Royal Guard, eager to win over the loyalty of her citizens by showing her commitment to freeing the hostages, while in Wyver, Shanrian is equally quick to take action with the Knightryders. The Altar of Volkkra is one of the most sacred institutions in Wyver, and the threat of the radicals drawing followers using its banner is too great to ignore.

ABDUCTIONS AND THE SEARCH

1. Radical groups in both cities have decided that certain citizens of their respective cities would prove to be valuable hostages. Perhaps you've been traveling between cities. Or maybe you've drawn their attention by being outspoken, excelling at your city job, or being an active citizen with a great reputation. What were you doing before you got snatched up? Did someone attempt to stop this terrible thing from happening, to no avail? Did you put up a valiant fight? Regardless of how it happened, you will be forcibly outfitted with an accessory that renders you completely powerless. The extremists are no strangers to magic, either.

2. Those that didn't sign up can still witness characters being abducted and attempt to stop it, though in the end they'll fail to stop the radicals. Characters who either witness these kidnappings or notice the absences can spread the word via missing persons posters, making calls to action, or embarking on searches. Characters that would ICly look for hostages but did not sign-up for the event can still go investigate, but will ultimately not find any kidnappers. All characters may also conduct investigations in locations not included in the clues.

3. With key figures around the cities abducted, several shops and organizations are left stressed and short-staffed. Characters may find themselves working long hours, and can volunteer to help the Guard/Nightryders as they're stretched thin, as well as other key locations such as the Institute, the Fields of the Exalted, etc. There are also children, elderly people, and pets who have been left without care, due to their guardians being kidnapped. Everyone is asked to lend a helping hand.

TAKING CARE OF BUSINESS

1. As rescues take place, extremists will be fleeing the following locations: Simwe Institute, the Sanctuary, and the Royal Guard Academy for Olympia, and a cave high on Namarak Mountain, or an island tower off the coastline for Wyver. Characters that did not sign-up can still catch and round up fleeing radicals as hostages are rescued, with additional details on what the extremists in a particular region are capable of in the group details below.

2. Hostages, both NPC and PC, will be gradually found and recovered between March 18th to the 24th. With how harrowing the experience is, rescuers and abductees alike may require medical attention and a helping hand. Perhaps you hope to support them with a shoulder to lean on, or by being there on Natha Station when any dead awake. Either way, the extremists may be defeated, but morale across both cities has taken a hit.

3. Healing doesn't always mean taking care of just the physical harm. Affected people in the cities, both PCs and NPCs, may have significant emotional scars from their experience. These are much harder to heal, and may not be going away anytime soon, but the people are doing their best to provide happy distractions to those who were taken hostage. Acts of kindness are encouraged and appreciated. Perhaps you can cook a few meals to take a burden off their shoulders, organize a fundraiser to help with relief efforts, or read a book to someone in recovery. A little bit of your time may go a long way.

FINAL OOC NOTES

Once again, hostages and rescuers may find detailed info on their scenarios in subheaders below. These may also be used as top levels for each group! Additionally, all characters, including those that did not sign up, are welcome to toplevel in this log.

For characters that are dying, please be sure to review the FAQ on death! We've updated it to provide more details for everyone this event.

Don't forget to submit a summary of your event participation to guide our plot forward and earn influence with the NPCs!

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Lousy day… yea that's definitely a way to describe Riku's last week, not inaccurate but definitely understating it. The last week has been more than just lousy... but Riku isn't about to argue that. He's spent too much time thinking about the caves and the torture in the last few days as it is.

He listens to Axel's words without interrupting (though he snorts when the other calls himself a lousy villain, if only because well… he's seen worse), and then stays silent as he considers the offer… there isn't anything he would want Axel to bring him, or at least nothing that the other has access too… The texts at the Altar shouldn't be removed, and even if they could be borrowed, Axel would just get lost in there, probably.

But there is something else, something Axel can do…

"…You can get me out of here."

And knowing how this sounds and that he's still recovering, he adds: "Just for a little while."

Yes, the understatement was kind of deliberate, Riku, try and keep up.

When Riku makes his request, though, Axel startles, making a noise in the back of his throat.

"That... isn't... quite what I had in mind," he admits, rubbing the crown of his head. "Ah..." He blows out a sigh, then steps inside and closes the door behind him, just so nobody can overhear anything. "Have you got your Black Coat here with you?" he asks. He doesn't really know the extent of what Riku's been through, but going by the state the younger man is in, visibly, he's pretty sure it was awful. The last thing he wants to do is risk Riku's heart being swallowed up by the Darkness in the Corridors in his weakened state. Sora would absolutely annihilate him, for starters, and that's never something he wants to think about, but the truth is he would just genuinely feel bad if he allowed something like that to happen.

Or, well, he would... keenly remember what feeling bad feels like. Or something. Give him a break, this is complicated.

"Where would you wanna go, anyhow?" he asks, moving a bit closer to the bedside, but not too close. He knows Riku still doesn't really trust him, and frankly he can't say he blames him for that.

Well excuse him for not being quite able to read that level of sarcasm just yet again.

He nods at Axel's question – his coat is in the closet with the rest of his belongings, and he agrees; Riku wouldn't dare traveling through a corridor without protection right now anyway. After what happened, and giving just who is still lurking within his heart… it's definitely not a risk he wants to take.

Riku pushes himself off the bed and walks towards the closet, his steps a little more unsteady than they used to be, his carry a far cry from his usual confidence. It might take a while until he gets those back, but at least he's determined not to stop even with cold and pain still dominating dreams and recent memory. He dons the coat, turning back to Axel to inform him of what he is planning.

"Just out. I want to walk a little around the city… without someone constantly fussing."

Much as he appreciates Sora and Terra worrying… it is kind of grating at him too, just a little.

Riku indicates that his coat is in the closet, and when the younger man gets to his feet and sort of shuffles in that direction, Axel watches, but doesn't move. Riku's one of those stupidly proud, independent types; he'd probably be offended if he offered him help, so unless he actually falls on his face or something, Axel will just wait and watch. He gives a soft laugh then.

"I guess Sora is the fussy type, isn't he?" he asks, and then glances back toward the door again, just to make sure no one is passing nearby and could peer in and see what's happening.

After some experimenting with the Corridors, Axel has discovered that they still work here, but their range seems to be limited to a fairly small radius of his current location. Making sure there's no one in the hall, he moves to the window and squints a bit, trying to see if there's a secluded spot within the travel radius where they can exit the Corridors, and he spots one behind one of the secondary buildings. It doesn't seem to be in a direct line of sight to most things, so it'll do. Turning to glance at Riku, he frowns a little. He doesn't look like he's in the best of shape, really, but that's to be expected, he guesses.

"All right, let's do it, then," he says, waving a hand and opening up a Corridor. The black and silver tendrils whorl in the air, a gaping maw of black and purple energy yawning into existence, and Axel makes a sort of sweeping gesture, an invitation for Riku to enter. Before he does, though, Axel drops two fingertips against Riku's shoulder--not his whole hand, just two fingertips, enough to beckon him to wait for just a second--and meets his eye. "Don't... run away or anything," he says, his brow crinkled a little. "I know you don't really like me, but if Sora found out I jailbroke you and then you ran off and got yourself busted up or something, he'll beat me up, and that looks super bad on my Man Card, okay?"

Axel has got him pegged right – though right now it's not so much pride as it is anger that's motivating Riku; there is so little that he's managed to do by himself right now, so much help that he needs (he couldn't even walk out of those goddamn caves by himself) and for all that he's grateful for what he's given… he wants to be able to do this by himself too.

He needs to really, because how else is he ever going to grasp at the strength to protect anything, if he can't even get his own coat?

When Axel touches his shoulder, he tenses but stops, turning to see what the other has to say, then just snorts.

"I have no doubt that even if I was planing to run, you'd have no problems catching up to me."

Riku has no illusions about his current state – he can't outrun Axel, not unless he dared to open up a corridor himself, and honestly… that seems too much a risk, for now. As for the other thing, there is something he should correct about Axel's perception of Riku's thoughts on him.

"And it's not that I do or don't like you–" Because really, Riku only knows second hand information about Axel. "It's that I don't know you."

So between that and Axel's history, excuse him from being a little wary.

Of course he's got him pegged right: Axel's spent ten years of his life just learning how to read people at a glance, and Riku's kind of a classic case of Must Not Burden Others, Must Do Everything Myself. Honestly, Axel can kind of relate, though his fierce independent streak was always a bit more a consequence of working and cohabitating with a bunch of literal fundamental sociopaths.

He gives a soft laugh when Riku admits that he'd probably have no trouble catching him if he did try to run, and he buffs his fingernails against the front of his coat.

"Well, I mean, that goes without saying," he says with (slightly) feigned bravado. "I'm the fastest the Organization ever had, you know. I was just giving you the benefit of the doubt."

At Riku's gentle correction, though, Axel hesitates a moment and frowns.

"Oh." He's not even quite sure what to say about that, but he guesses it's true enough. He knows that he knows a lot more about Riku than Riku knows about him; the Organization kept tabs on Riku and Sora for a long time, so he's had a bird's eye view of a lot of Riku's combat techniques and conversations that he... probably thought were private at the time. Well, he wasn't spying on purpose, it was just orders! He pulls at the back of his neck. "Ah... that's my bad, I guess," he says, shaking his head and then making a gesture to usher Riku into the Corridor.

Axel has always liked the feeling of being needed, and even if this is a bit of an odd request, it's reassuring that Riku at least seems comfortable enough to know that he's not going to just abandon him in a Corridor or shank him in the back or anything. He's not completely sure why it's reassuring, because really, he shouldn't care what Sora and Riku think about him, but... well, he kind of does. He knows it'll probably be a long time before Riku considers him a genuine ally, if it ever happens at all, but he's a little surprised to realize that's kind of what he wants out of this. The Organization has done little but use and abuse him, and his loyalties really only ever extended as far as they had to in order to stay alive. All things considered, Axel really would have much preferred to just spend the rest of his life in Twilight Town eating ice cream with Roxas and Xion, and... well, in their absence, he can't deny that there's a pang of loneliness somewhere in the hollows of his chest. Or the memory of loneliness, anyway.

Er. Anyway.

"Well, whaddaya wanna know?" Axel asks then, following Riku into the Corridor and closing it behind them. He glances around for a second, his eyes scanning the familiar blue and green swirling void, then points in the direction of their exit. "I'll give ya two freebies, how's that sound?" He chuckles softly. "I reserve the right to veto the question, though, so choose carefully."

Well, for one, Riku has his outs even if Axel were to abandon him in the Corridor… though maybe it is true that he's extending a certain amount of trust by turning his back to Axel. Then again, trust once broken can't be regained, especially where Riku is concerned, so really… Axel would have only exactly one chance for that move.

In any case, off into the corridor they go, Riku's steps a little slower than he would like, as he mulls over that offer… two questions, huh? He really ought to make those count… though he suspects that any question he asks about the Organization would promptly be vetoed and therefore void.

Hmmm.... Maybe he should spend his first question on something innocent.

"…Is sea-salt ice cream really that good?"

Nailed it!

Axel knows all about trust being broken, and how hard it is to repair. He would do just about anything to make things up to Roxas and Xion, but... he knows there's nothing he can do about it now. He keeps his stride slow and even; long legs mean he just always seems to walk faster than everyone else, but he's not about to just speed-walk through the Corridor and leave Riku struggling to keep up. He's not that much of a jerk.

At Riku's question, though, Axel bursts out laughing.

"Really?" he asks, shaking his head. "That's... You're gonna use one of your questions for...?" Another laugh and he smears a hand over his chin. "It's kind of an acquired taste, I think," he says after a moment, waving a hand and opening up the exit. "I wasn't sure what I thought at first, but after I tried it a few times, it grew on me." He shrugs and waits for Riku to step out of the yawning mouth of the exit before following and closing it behind them. He glances over his shoulder to make sure they weren't seen, then looks at Riku again. "Now it's my favorite," he says, sliding his hands into his pockets and giving a shrug. "Ya gotta give something new a fair chance, right? Even if maybe you don't like it the first time."

What? No, that totally wasn't a veiled allusion to this whole tenuous cooperative movement between them or anything! Not at all!

Riku shrugs, he's spent his first question on something he's wondered about anyway – he's stalked Roxas and her enough to know that sea-salt ice cream is their favorite, that it's something they have likely picked up from Axel… and well, he's been sent on the one or other errant to get some himself by DiZ…

(And, though he won't tell Axel that… he's once asked Roxas nearly the same question.)

In any case…

"I suppose there's no getting anywhere by just staying stagnant."

That was after all what Riku had cursed the most about the Islands so, so long ago when he had been hellbent on leaving… the fact that everything about their home was same old all day long. There is nothing new to discover on Destiny Islands, not for someone who knows all the secrets since age eight or so. Even so, even though Riku agrees with what Axel is saying (and totally picking up on this allusion this time)...

"Still… I'm not in a position where I can just jump ahead blindly anymore."

Sora does enough of that after all, and if Riku does the same then they'll both jump off a cliff that there's no coming back from one day. Now that would be a shame.

Axel gives a slightly sheepish smile at Riku's reply--oh, good, he caught the metaphor, at least. And he guesses he can't really blame him for his caution.

"I guess that's fair," he says. "Sometimes the 'I'll Try Anything Once' sort of attitude bites you in the ass, it's true." He gives a sigh then, and ventures a shallow grin. "If I can find it anywhere around here, I'll bring ya one sometime, okay?"

He puts his hands on his hips then and casts a look around them.

"Well, where do you wanna go?" he asks, turning his eyes to Riku again. "I haven't been here as long as you have, so... you lead the way, okay? With my luck, I'll just get us lost."

He nods at Axel – this is half the reason why Riku can't just jump ahead into anything… especially a friendship with a Nobody.

"That and Sora does to much of it as it is. Someone's got to watch his back."

And that someone is Riku now and always (except for that time when he hadn't, the time that he still regrets from the depth of his Heart). In any case, he hadn't had much of a plan beyond Escape The Clinic for a couple of hours maybe, so now he needs a moment to think.

"I figure we could take a walk towards the East End. Maybe see if anyone is fighting right now, or so."

He starts leading the way, silent for a minute before he says: "I still have one question open, don't I?"

One that he already knows exactly what to ask for.

Axel laughs. Riku certainly has a point: Sora is way too trusting for his own good. He can't say that Riku's mistrust is misplaced--he has certainly spent enough time pestering them in Castle Oblivion, even if hurting them hadn't exactly been on his agenda. Wearing this coat, though, he knows guilty by association is definitely a thing. He didn't ask to wind up in the Organization, but he guesses if the other option was to just lose his heart and disappear, like most of the denizens of his home world did, it was the better option.

"Fighting?" he echoes, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Like tourneys, or like... knockdown dragout style?". He snorts a laugh. "I guess either way, that's entertainment."

He's always preferred flight over fight, personally, but that doesn't mean he doesn't enjoy watching someone get their ass handed to them. He gives Riku a look then, eyebrows lifted.

"Yup," he says, pulling a hand from his pocket and lifting one finger. "One left. Choose wisely."

Riku shrugs, he's never entered the ring himself – while he doesn't exactly keep his magic and abilities a secret, he isn't about to advertise them either. Better to be underestimated, than to reveal too much of what he can really do. Still, he's watched often enough to know:

"Usually, it's Everything Goes."

It can get pretty entertaining, if the pair is equal in strength.

As for his second question… Riku lets silence reign for a moment before he stops and turns to look at Axel, knowing the importance of the question he's about to ask… for himself and for Axel.

"Do you remember her?"

"Everything Goes, huh?" He blows a raspberry. "Sounds like fun to watch, but I think I'll stick to spectating." He likes it better where there are rules he can find loopholes in.

At Riku's second question, Axel actually stumbles in his steps, turning sharply.

"'Her'?" he echoes, holding Riku's eye a moment and then actually taking a step toward him. "You... you mean Xion, right? You're talking about Xion." He almost grabs Riku's shoulders, but stops himself, knowing Riku would probably see it as threatening instead of just urgent. "Sora had no idea who I was talking about, when I brought her up."

Riku tenses for a second when Axel comes closer – he knows exactly what kind of can of memories he's opening here (or well… almost. His own memory is a little fuzzy at some parts already, after all).

His hand goes up to touch his forehead when Axel mentions her name, a sharp pain shooting through his head as those fuzzy memories become a tiny bit clearer again. "Xion… that's right. Her name was Xion."

He shakes his head at the not!question that Axel is asking – because well…

"Of course, he doesn't. I shouldn't either, but ever since I got here the memories of her stopped from disappearing."

Maybe it's because of the Storm, Riku thinks, but that's really just speculation.

His eyes narrow a little when Riku seems to be having trouble with the name, and when he he explains, it's... well, everything Axel feared it would be. He sighs and lowers his eyes.

"I'm surprised, honestly," he admits, furrowing his brow. "I figured you would have forgotten, too, but... I dunno, this weird timeloop thing is confusing." He presses his thumb against the ridge of one eye. "I still remember, but... sometimes even I seem to forget. Like if I'm not actively thinking about her she just kind of fades into this... weird background noise." He shakes his head. "But I know Sora's from some point in my future," he says, shaking his head, "and if Xion's been forgotten by then, I wanna make sure I stop that from happening, at least here."

He meets Riku's eye, then, before looking down again, frowning at the earth between his shoes.

"I guess I should be a little grateful," he says, almost sullen. "Part of me wondered if I hallucinated her. This place has shown me memories of other people, shown me other worlds being swallowed by the Storm, I worried, for a minute, that... maybe Xion wasn't part of my past at all, that she was just some fabrication these Orbiters put in my head to make sure I'd behave."

Riku just looks at Axel for a moment, gut twisting with sympathy… if he were in the other's situation… if it was him clinging to the memory of Sora or Kairi… he'd want to cling to that too. Even so…

"I don't remember her entirely clearly, but I still remember what she and I talked about and that she made her choice. The choice that was the best for everyone involved."

For Sora and Roxas… and everyone else too.

"I'm not sure there is anything that can be done to preserve her memory here… or if it should. If I ever fall asleep and wake up with knowledge of Sora's future… then I'll probably have forgotten her too."

"Not everyone involved," Axel mutters darkly, but he can't really indict Riku for what he says. He knows that even though it meant Xion's disappearance, her return to Sora had been her own choice, and... ultimately, it was the right choice. He doesn't like it, but he has to acknowledge that. Without her sacrifice, both she and Roxas might have just disappeared, or worse, and as much as he hates to admit it, he knows that's the truth.

He shakes his head firmly.

"Sora can have those memories back," he says firmly, a tightness to his voice and something like pain in his eyes, "but he can't have mine." He holds Riku's gaze for a long moment, as if daring him to refute. "If my future holds nothing but her disappearing, then... I'm not gonna just let it happen, if I can help it," he says. "I won't forget her. I'll write a whole damn book about her if I have to. My memories of Xion don't make a damn bit of difference to Sora or his narcoleptic inclinations."

He understands why those memories of Xion would fade away, but... if he can hold onto them, even if he's the only one, even if it's only in those moments when he reads the words he writes down about her, that'll be enough.

Riku looks at him without commenting at first – neither of them will have any say about what memories stay and what disappear. Xion’s entire existence was built on Sora’s memories after all, so returning those memories inevitably means for those of Xion to disappear from all of them.

Still…

“I hope you’ll succeed with that. Xion didn’t deserve what happened.”

That much is true too… she had been a good person, someone who had loved her friends and had wanted to protect them the best she could… and ultimately it had cost her existence.

All because of the Organization.

Axel is quiet for a long moment, then heft a sigh and just shoves his hands into his pockets.

"No, she didn't," he agrees, but that's all he really has to say on the subject. He lingers where he stands for a moment, then clears his throat. "S... so, ah... East End." He glances in one direction, then the other, then at Riku. "East is this way, right?"

He's legitimately not sure. Are the cardinal directions the same here as he's used to? Which direction does the sun rise? When Riku does indicate which direction they should go in, he just takes an easy pace, and after a moment he gives the younger man a sidelong look.

"I guess, since you used your first question on something kinda silly, I could give you one bonus question, if you really want." He lifts his chin a little. "In the interests of fostering knowledge, and all."

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❪ march event log: taken! ❫

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