YAN-PARA au master post

[earthflames]

WHAT IT SAYS ON THE BOX.

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[beautymark]

[SO YOU KNOW WHAT SEEMED LIKE A GREAT IDEA AT FIRST? Taking a very high-paying job to go somewhere intensely dangerous and report on what could be found. "Somewhere Dangerous" being the depths of what was once a real "city". In there are unknown things, the skeletal remains of the highest skyscrapers and the deepest basements, the government buildings and restricted areas that are so full of strange old technology and chemicals (and, as rumored, living things warped to unrecognizable by it) that it's incredibly rare for anyone to come out of it alive.

But of course they're a highly capable and stupidly brave sort of troupe, and so all four of them crept into the dark and foggy inner belly of the city.

After some exploring, they ended up several floors down, in what must have been a lab of some sort a long, long time ago. They've been hearing and seeing movements for awhile now, and they're all on edge. After all, what kind of creature (or people?) could live in a place like this? Yet it turns out they weren't on edge enough, as between one step and the next the group suddenly found itself split by the slamming of an electric door. There have been strange, dim emergency lights here and there, but this is something much higher voltage than that.

With the metal-and-glass barrier separating Cu & Shirou from Archer & Diarmuid, the two in the hall get a full view of the bizarre machine inside springing to life. It's spider-like, all spindly robotic arms and creaking joints, but its movements are sudden and precise, and Diarmuid finds himself pulled in towards the center of the thing before he can even start to fight it. He struggles, at least until a bright, pin-point light is shone right into his eyes.

At that point he ceases moving entirely, staring as if entirely captivated. The monitor on the wall suddenly comes to life with a plethora of strange moving charts and graphs, lines spiking and skittering across the screen. There's a puff of purplish gas after a few moments -- something that should make Archer feel dizzy and strange, before the room spirals out of his consciousness and is replaced with a barren, rocky wasteland of a landscape.]

[tracings]

[In hindsight, perhaps "incredibly dangerous," "extremely risky," and "labyrinthine and unmapped" should have raised warning signs early. Perhaps he should have insisted on sending Diarmuid in first as the proverbial canary in the mine. Perhaps he should have made any decision at all that wasn't "come down here and get inevitably fucked up."

But he didn't and that is probably why he'll never be able to disown the rest of his family and change his name - he's still fucking stupid, just like the rest of them.

Of course, of course when the wall went up, he instinctively pushed Shirou towards Cu. Of course his last moments of consciousness were spent shouting at the two in the hall to get back and find somewhere safe, and he'll take care of this. Had to be such a big, fucking hero, didn't we, Archer? Sure did.

Fucking Emiya habits.

He feels his himself hit the ground, but when he comes to, he's perfectly awake, perfectly upright, and definitely not in the abandoned fuckhouse that they'd been trapped in.

He's on guard immediately, hands on his swords.]

Diarmuid! Hey!

[beautymark]

[There is no answer!

At least not at first. It's just the nothingness, stretching out forever. For a few beats, nothing changes.

Then, suddenly, the world explodes into colour. There's an open field, sunshine and a river. There's also childlike drawings of fish and weird, whimsical creatures floating everywhere. All the colours are oversaturated and unnatural, and there's a pleasant, crystalline hum filling the air.

Diarmuid is by the riverbank, staring down at crayon-coloured fish with wide-eyed fascination.]

[tracings]

[This is all about seven colors of "you have to be fucking kidding me" - enough so that Archer remains on guard, even as he approaches Diarmuid.

Some day, he might look back and question why he found floating crayon scribbles more threatening than a thirty-times-condemned skyscraper, but for now he needs to stay alert and not be distracted by how fucking stupid he is]

...Diarmuid. What's going on?

[beautymark]

[He jumps at Archer's voice, looking up at him with the same expressing he tends to carry when he's caught interacting with things that aren't there. Somewhere between surprised, confused, and guilty, his eyes dart around as he tries to find something "real" to look at.]

I don't know.

[tracings]

[That's real helpful.]

That's real helpful.

[He pauses, watching Diarmuid's gaze shift, directed at things that are mostly definitely there, in a "I put a beer bottle up my butt last night" sort of way. Curious, he waves a hand in front of Diarmuid's face]

[beautymark]

[It takes him a moment to focus, but once his does he zeroes in on Archer's hand, staring at it however he moves it. He's sure Archer is real, but for once that's the only thing he knows is real.]

...Everything's in my head.

[tracings]

That would be a convenient explanation, wouldn't it? Unfortunately I can see it too, so our predicament isn't that simple.

[beautymark]

[Keeps watching Archer's hand, a little afraid to look anywhere else.]

You can see it? The fish? And all the colours...

[tracings]

[He doesn't miss a beat - he keeps waving is hand, but after a couple beats he starts pointing very deliberately. Left. Right. Up. Up again. Down.]

Regrettably, yes.

[beautymark]

[You have his complete attention, Archer's Hand.]

But it's not real.

[tracings]

[Sloowwwly starts drawing circles in the air with his fingers. He's almost curious to see if you'll get dizzy from this]

Well if you have another explanation for this, then I'm all ears. For now, it's real enough.

[beautymark]

[He might. He might just.]

It's not. I know it's not. You shouldn't be able to see it.

[tracings]

[yeeepp, gonna keep that up, then. For science.]

Look, I know they say insanity is saying the same thing and expecting a different result, but you don't have to live up to that.

[beautymark]

But--

[He'd argue, but he's busy suddenly stumbling sideways.

Victory for Archer's fingers.]

[tracings]

[Watches Diarmuid list to one side, almost in disbelief.]

...are you serious?

[beautymark]

[Just

Sits, heavily. And yet he's still staring.]

Can't look at it...

[tracings]

[He has half a mind to haul Diarmuid back to his feet, pick him up, and drag him off, but Archer thinks better of that plan. He can't let impulse get the better of him again, and for all his mocking he knows that at some point, he'll be kicking a hornet's nest.

So instead he lets Diarmuid stay put, choosing instead to watch Diarmuid's back, because he doesn't like the look in these fishes eyes.]

...we can't sit here. Something wrong, and we need to figure out what sooner than later.

[beautymark]

Of course something's wrong.

[Reluctantly, slowly forcing himself to accept looking at the scenery.]

I told you, it's not real. Only usually there's only a few things that aren't real and a lot that are. But now there's just fake things, and you.

[He reaches out and grabs a fish, rolling it between his hands like dough.]

....I usually can't touch it, either. But you always bring these.

[tracings]

I bring those things?

[He grabs at a fish himself, because he's critical.

Also why fish]

[beautymark]

[They feel like they're made out of construction paper, only if you squish them it's more like play-dough.]

All the time. Everyone has something... When you do something bad, they have teeth.

[tracings]

...then I'll do my best to not unleash the kraken.

[a sigh]

Are you ready to go now?

[beautymark]

A kraken?

[Good job, you have given him ideas. There might be something big and shadowy in the river now.]

[tracings]

[Oh my god no you did fucking not]

...I'm not explaining that further, you'll get more stupid ideas.

[Yep, we're going. Now. Grabbing Diarmuid's arm. Come on. No krakens. Please.]

[beautymark]

[He only gets up because Archer is pulling on him. But of course he doesn't like being suddenly grabbed, so the world is instantly plunged into a stormy kind of darkness.]

Wait, don't--