acatalepsy_logs | PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

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the great escape.

The Circle has quite a lot on their plate, this time around. Multiple players are fighting for the control of Akvos, and many difficult choices to make. No matter what path you choose, though, one thing is for certain: it is a bitter fight to the death to ensure that Akvos remains standing, one way or another.

There are three main areas for the characters to explore in the final log of Akvos: (1) The Kingdom of Akvos, where the King is fighting to seize control; (2) The Rift, where the characters will encounter the Dreamscapes; and (3) The Kingdom of Polankos, which is where King Ka'pouli has reigned since his arrival in the pocket dimension. Decisions made in all there areas will affect the outcome of Akvos, so get to exploring.

THE ASSAULT ON WAHINE.

The King’s forces will attack in three different fronts. There will be mermen attacking from above, riding saddled giant seahorses and manta rays, launching spears at the mermaid-warriors below with terrifying precision. They seem to be indiscriminate, in their aim -- the weaponry, charged with the same dark energy that the shadow creatures seem to be made out of, find their target in civilians and warriors alike, raining down a sea of terror upon the central stronghold of the Kingdom of Akvos.

The mermen will also be attacking at the ground-level, attempting to burst their way through the Palace Gates to flood the city with numbers. While the mermaids outnumber the mermen, the mermen are certainly more brutal than the mermaids. Some of them, though, in finding the city, are more concerned with looting it than with senselessly murdering everyone inside. Indeed, this is the most food they have seen in a long time -- and markets are destroyed in grabbing as much food and riches as they can, pressing closer to the Palace, and toward the Queen's stronghold.

And, finally, they will be attacking from below, navigating their way through a network of tunnels meant to transport goods and bursting their way into people’s homes, to sneak their way closer to their ultimate goal, which seems to be the Palace itself.

The Circle's main goal, here, is to protect civilians, usher theminto the underground strongholds beneath the Palace, and fight for their own lives should they attack the mermen first. Man the wall, if you so choose, to attempt to block the air attacks from the mantas. Fight on the ground, to protect Akvos from destruction. Or make your way to the underground strongholds and tunnels, to block access to the Palace. All of these will certainly assist in keeping Akvos safe.

In addition, please remember that shadow creatures (which can only be killed by magical means) are still making their way through the entirety of Akvos. While King Ka'pouli's forces are targeting the Palace of Wahine, the shadow creatures are still present everywhere. Get to killing!

INTO THE RIFT.

Some of you, however, have elected to traverse into the mysterious rift that appeared in the midst of the Fields of Akvosia. It looks like a black hole into nothingness, crackling with odd energy . . . and passing through it feels as though you have stepped through an icy waterfall. For a moment, you cannot breathe -- and then, you are treated to beauty.

The gaps between time and space are full of sparkling lights, bolts of rainbow starlight winding around you as you move through the uncertainty that is the void. It seems endless, but something inside you is tugging you forward . . . and, suddenly, there is a soft voice in your ear. A familiar one, to those who reside within the Circle . . . the confused voice of Astoria.

"Hello? My Travelers? How are you within the Void?" The Void? That word hadn't been used to describe whatever this magical place is before, but . . . well, a witch with the ability to send you all across the universe probably knows what she's talking about, right? "That should not be possible . . . who opened this doorway?"

You can tell her, or you can not. It seems to matter not, because: "Is this not getting through? Why can I not hear you . . . but I can feel you, I can -- please, if you can hear this, be careful. The Void is not something for mortals to interact with, and it can show you terrible things -- terrible things, so please--"

And, right before you have the opportunity to respond to our benevolent witch (or captor, depending on your point of view), you see a bizarre glass-like surface in front of you. It looks like a mirror, and you see a perfect reflection of yourself. It is absolutely captivating, and it beckons you . . . almost urging you to touch it. And Astoria's whisper grows a bit louder, more urgent:

"My dear Traveler, be careful what you encounter here -- can you hear me? Can you see me? I am trying to get you out of there, to bring you back home--Akvos is--"

But it is too late.

Your fingers graze the edge of the mirror, and you are pulled -- a sensation that is familiar to you, the same pull in your stomach that you feel whenever Astoria thrusts you across the universe, into new realities. And, when you blink your eyes again, and look around . . . you are no longer in Akvos, or the Void. You are somewhere entirely new.

Welcome to the Dreamscape.

THE KINGDOM OF POLANKOS.

Once the Circle emerges from the Rift and the Dreamscape, they will stumble into another world . . . but this one's wateris shallow, in comparison to the massive depths of the crystal-clear kingdom of Akvos. You can quite clearly see the surface, here, and there are shallows that allow you to come up onto islands, tropical in nature with fruit, odd creatures that appear to be multiple-headed monkeys and parrots, and sandy shores. It's a bit jarring to see, after spending so long underwater. Indeed, you emerge to trudge onto land, and look around, somewhat mystified that the deep-dwelling mermen would be from a place like this.

However, exploring the islands (which is not very difficult to do, as they are all small and will not take very much time) will yield the discovery that on the islands themselves are tunnels -- underwater caverns that thread through the islands to much deeper water. It's almost as if the islands themselves are barriers to the underwater caverns below -- shallow water, a layer of land, and then a (mer)man-made bubble of water below the barrier of land. And that whoever lived on these islands tunneled through them to find deeper water. Princess Kea, (who will attend on these journeys, while remaining in the water), will tell the Circle members that King Ka'pouli told her that when the mermen were cast out, they landed on solid land, and had to slowly dig deeper to their salvation.

Navigating through these tunnels will be somewhat perilous -- and the Circle members will need to carry Princess Kea to the nearest tunnel to get her into some water, because while she can breathe on the surface for a certain period of time, she cannot navigate the land as quickly as you people with legs. Additionally, underwater caving isn't exactly a blast, but the deeper you go, the more clues of civilization you can find. And, eventually, once you go deep enough, you emerge into a massive underwater cavern to find the small Kingdom of Polankos.

In comparison to the Kingdom of Akvos, Polankos is witheringly depressing. It is not brightly colored, nor open -- indeed, it is tiny, with mermen huddled together waiting patiently for the forces that went through the rift to return. There is not a lot to find here, save for some interesting weapons that possess a dark energy, versus a lightning energy -- and those weapons will be given to the Circle members who ask for them, because those who wield them are in no condition to fight. There is little food, little room to sleep, and these are a people clearly in need of assistance.

In order to get them out of Polankos, you will need to usher them through the tunnels back up to the Rift above -- it seems that King Ka'pouli opened the Rift on the surface, rather than risk the city below in case it did not work. The mermen there (who seem to be elderly and weak) will be eager for the assistance to get out Polankos, and at the promise of being brought into Akvos, they will happily go. There will be no resistance from them.

You may also see Princess Kea, who has filtered in and out of the Rift to assist on the journey -- teary-eyed, heartbroken at the sight of these individuals who require rescue, organizing the mermen with the promise of keeping them safe in Akvos.

"Hurry," she tells you, as she rouses another merman into getting to the nearest tunnel. "We do not have a lot of time to pull this off, and we must work quickly."

Additionally, please feel free to write up and work with your own prompts! These areas of the world are presented as jumping off points for your characters, not limitations. The idea of this world- as with all the others- is to explore -- you may use as much leeway as you want in order to come up with what your character will do, especially in the Dreamscapes.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to ask them back on the various threads back in the OOC post from before!

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[ He's reluctant to admit it, to himself most of all, because it means giving up on that sliver of hope that he had, that they might actually save this day. It was a silly idea anyway...but still. His heart sinks in his chest. She's right. This can't be his world. Not really. ]

I-I-I dunno. Before we came in here...I heard Astoria. Did you?

[ Why didn't they end up in the kingdom of the mermen? ]

[ She nods in response to that. ]

Yeah ... She told us to be careful, didn't she? Do you think she meant ... this?

[ Whatever "this" is. Maybe this world is meant to make him as upset as it's making him — but wouldn't that require someone purposely showing him it? Man, she doesn't know, all she can do is work with what they've got and heed Astoria's warning. ]

[ ...Maybe she did. When he had heard Astoria's message, he assumed she just meant about the rift itself, and the world they were heading into — the mermen's kingdom couldn't be too safe if they were so eager to leave it. But now that they're here, like Kairi, he has to wonder if this isn't what she meant.

His brows draw together, tight with worry. ]

If she was...what do we do now? How do we get out of here?

[ Though even as he says it, the landscape around them begins to shift, almost as if it's melting, darkening, reshaping into something and somewhere new. Prompto jumps back, eyes wide with alarm. ]

W-what the — ?

[ She's about to answer that when the world shifts into something else. Maybe they're getting their answer? Maybe it's letting them out on its own.

But the strange melting sensation of their surroundings is ... well, alarming, and she can't risk it, so she quickly stands close to him. ]

S-Stay close!

[ Just in case. The last thing she wants right now is to be separated, because they really can't tell what's going on at all.

And then it happens. The world shifts and darkens and before she knows it, it's switching over to something she recognizes. Something she wishes she didn't recognize, but it's here nonetheless. A large, castle-like room, dark and filled with strange tubes, electricity from them lighting the room along with the large, heart-shaped hole at the end of it, filled with colors and electricity of its own. It's an otherworldly feeling that the room gives off, but it's one of familiarity for her.

More important than its strange architecture, however, is a younger version of her laying lifeless on the ground, as a boy rushes to her side, cradling her in his arms and practically begging with her. "Kairi! Kairi! Kairi! Open your eyes!"

And the real Kairi just winces when she hears his shouts. ]

No way ...

[ No way they're here now. They're in the past. And it's strange ... seeing herself like that again. The first time, it was through Sora, but now ... ]

[ Whatever happens next, they definitely need to stick together, and so Prompto stays right at Kairi's side as the world begins to shift, grabbing onto her arm just in case. Where are they going now? Has this dimension finally righted itself, sending them to the mermen's world they were supposed to end up in in the first place?

But as the world begins to solidify around the once more, he has a sinking suspicion that that is definitely not where the ended up. This place doesn't seem at all like the one the princess described. It's...dark, and foreboding in a way that gets right underneath Prompto's skin. Whatever's going on here, it's not good —

And then he notices Kairi laying on the ground. Not the same one that is at his side, because she's still there. What...is this? ]

K-Kairi? Where...where are we?

[ Are they in her world now? ]

[ She half turns to address him when he asks that, still keeping her eyes mostly on the scene before them, before trying to break her gaze from it to look at him. ]

This is ... Hollow Bastion. Or ... maybe it's not.

[ She can't even describe this as her world, because it's not, technically, her world. She sees the worlds a bit differently from how Prompto might, considering she's traveled to a good few of them (mostly through Sora, of course). This isn't Destiny Islands. And while she knows, vaguely, that this is the world she lived in before she went to the islands, she can't really consider it her world.

But from what they've learned through Prompto's world, this can't possibly be the real thing. It's different, somehow.

The scene just continues before them, as another boy shows up, speaking to the smaller one and telling him about how Kairi won't wake up, because her heart isn't inside her, but rather inside him, and the pain the smaller boy feels when the older one forces her heart to respond from inside him proves it. ]

Sora ...

[ She knows what's going to happen. That this'll eventually turn out okay. But that doesn't mean it doesn't hurt to see him like this again — to see the both of them like this again. ]

[ He can only guess that her answer means that yes, they are in her world now — as if the events that are unfolding aren't enough of a reason to think that. Kairi — or the Kairi in this memory, anyway — continues to lay still on the ground, while the two boys talk about her heart. Prompto can't even begin to understand what they mean, but whatever it is, the danger seems to be real. Something is very wrong here.

He turns an alarmed look at Kairi, his brows lifting. ]

You — y-you're not...

[ She's not...dead, is she? But after he forms the question, he realizes that can't be the case. How could this be her memory, if she were dead? ]

Is he your friend?

[ She shakes her head, a small yet heavy smile on her face, when he asks the obvious. ]

Don't worry, I'm okay.

[ Obviously, since she's here, but she knows how bad it must look.

And then she nods, peering over at Sora, before looking at Riku, as well. Even if, at this point, that wasn't the real Riku. ]

Yeah. Sora ... and Riku. They both are.

[ Which might be a little surprising, considering how they're both acting. Well, more how Riku's acting. And then, he's coming at Sora, with the clear intent to harm him. And Kairi flinches as his Keyblade comes down on Sora's. That's when she warned Sora, wasn't it? She remembers it clearly. Even if only Sora could hear it, at the time. ]

[ Even if it should be obvious because she's here, it's still a relief to hear her say as much. Whatever is happening in the scene unfolding before them, things...must get better. No matter how bad they look right now.

Eyes narrowing, Prompto nearly runs at the boys to stop their confrontation, before he remembers — right, this is a memory. No matter what he does here, he can't change it. But why would her friends be fighting like this? And how did it involve her? ]

...Why are they doing this?

[ It's difficult for him to understand. He and his friends had had their points of disagreement, but it had never come to a confrontation like this. Something feels deeply wrong about all this. ]

[ That's because something absolutely is deeply wrong. While the two of them begin their battle proper, Kairi glances back at herself, before moving out of the way of where they're fighting and turning to Prompto. She doesn't ... want to look, honestly. At the fight. Watching the two of them hurt each other — even if that's not Riku, it's still his body and he's still in there somewhere — just ... hurts her. She loves them both so dearly. ]

It's ... a long story, I think. But ... [ placing a hand on her chest ] my heart was taken. They were both just trying to get it back. But the Riku there — he's not the real Riku. He's the one who made all this happen.

[ And then she realizes how dark this all feels. How bad it looks and how she'd rather something light be tacked onto this, so. She shakes her head, trying to smile for him. ]

We're all still best friends. He can't tear us apart — no one can.

[ The story itself may remain difficult for him to understand — how could her heart be taken? — but friendship...that he can understand. And even if something pushed them to this point, to this kind of terrible situation, their friendship still remains. Prompto may not know Sora, but he can see how much he cares about his friends in the way he fights. It reminds him of Noctis. ]

...Yeah, I get that. [ He says softly and sincerely, a wan smile on his lips. ] And...it gets better, right? I mean, you're okay, so...

[ So they didn't wind up hurting each other, did they? Things all worked out in the end. ]

[ She nods in response. ]

Yeah. We'll all be back together, someday. Happy, too.

[ That last part is most important. They've been through so much, apart and together, and it means a lot to her to know that they got to spend some time together again — smile together again. Even if the boys had to go off for their Mark of Mastery exam, Kairi cherishes their time together more than anything. ]

...Then that's what matters most. Even if the road to get there is a little bumpy.

[ That's usually how life's journeys go, anyway. Likely they'll be stronger friends for all the hardships they had to go through, much as she might wish this never had happened. There's a lot of things Prompto wished wouldn't have happened to him and his friends, but he can't deny that their bonds grew stronger because of it. Like chains forged in a fire, their relationships are unbreakable now.

It's the same for Kairi and her friends. He just knows it. ]

We're pretty lucky to have such amazing friends, huh?

[ She smiles, giving a nod. ]

Yeah ... [ Glancing back at Sora now, who's won the fight and is getting his heroic (stupid) idea to stab himself with a Keyblade to free Kairi from his heart. She knows exactly what's coming, and she knows how much he truly cares for her, and it fills her with a light that no else can.

At least, knowing he'll end up safe after it. Boy was that frightening to go through the first time. She won't let him go ... not ever. ]

We're really lucky.

[ It's a little alarming to see Sora turning his Keyblade on his own heart, but Kairi doesn't seem concerned about it, and so Prompto doesn't draw attention to it either. Whatever he's doing it for, it must have something to do with her, right?

They'll be okay. She said they would. ]

...Yeah. We really are.

[ He waits a moment longer, before asking: ]

...Do you wanna stay? Or...should we see if there's a way out of this place?

We ... should try to find a way out. It won't do us any good, waiting around. [ They've got people to help, anyway.

There's no real reason to stay, and she doesn't mind getting out of here before she has to see Sora disappear again. So she takes Prompto's hand, and leads him back toward the steps to leave the area. ]

Come on, let's go look around.

[ Turning him and herself around before Sora can manage to disappear like before. But the lights of the various Princesses of Hearts' hearts can be seen flying overhead to return to their respective bodies.

Not like Kairi has any idea where the exit would be for them. But they did a lot of running around in Prompto's world and it eventually worked, right? ]

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PHASE 3: AKVOS: THE END.

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