[Endgame: rise or DROWN]

[warpweft]

[How long have you been exploring Nessa's palace now? You've met her family, viewed her memories, learned how to fight as a witch and tried to find the source of her power and the Treasure of her palace: the Voidheart. And along the way, you've tired your best, with mixed success, to avoid the incarnation of her eldest cousin and the representation of her trauma and fear, the Nightmare of Esmau.]

[Wherever you are in the Palace right now, you feel the ground briefly shake under your feet. Little shakes here and there haven't been out of the ordinary - Esmau is trying to blow the place down to the studs, after all. But that felt different. That felt....worse.]

[Your phone beeps as you receive a message.]

Comments

PLAYER ACTION

[voidhearts]

[survivaltricks]

[gonna be real honest, Akira is just giving Minato this LOOK before he casts well of life, because? really!!!!]

[voidhearts]

[As the energy leaves his hands, Akira sees a small green spark appear in the air.

He perceives the Harmony Network only for a second. A vast array of nodes, all connected to each other. A voice within the network tells him something - points him to one. He reaches out and turns it. The node opens.

A huge amount of energy is released beneath him and the allies. The voice tells him, 'We hope it helps.' before it fades and he can see the network no longer.

All allies healed for 19 HP

Minato: 79/100 HP
Sprezzatura: 99/100 HP
Akira: 99/100 HP
Tsumugi: 99/100
Nell: 50/50 HP]

[survivaltricks]

[. . . WHOA. . . THAT WAS ACTUALLY PRETTY NEAT]

[messianic]

[ whoa that was neat.


Minato blinks as he straightens, before he flashes Akira a thumbs up. ]

[velluminous]

Thank you...

[cosplayed_out]

[Just hearing the Junko-cosplay talk is a bit of a psychic cosplay weapon with how much emotion Tsumugi puts into it, and this right now is Junko in teacher mode.]

Ahem! Pay attention class. It is time for your next lesson. Repeat after me: Wherever there's hope... there's most definitely despair. And despair? It doesn't choose sides.

Now, individual study: practice your own despair! The despair of being reminded you're a loser who's already been defeated before!

[voidhearts]

.....e-even me?

[cosplayed_out]

Cuties like you are *totes* exempt!

Re: PLAYER ACTION

[velluminous]

[ Nessa is reaching out to her? then she reaches back, tenfold, thinking of her joy when Sprezzatura offered to mentor her. thinking of her bravery standing toe to toe with Svetka, not just recently, but when everyone was being cannibalized, too. thinking of her every time she's seen the girl around Reverie, helping others, guiding them. thinking of whatever sacrifice she made to become the young girl she knows, and not the witch she's met in here. thinking of her reaching for her, bleeding, just moments ago.

now she looks at Esmau. ]

Idiot.

[ and shoves ALL OF THAT in ]

Re: PLAYER ACTION

[voidhearts]

[The crystal absorbs your memory and is...overwhelmed.

Nessa was overjoyed when Sprezzatura agreed to mentor her, to the point it made her forget her despair over her brother being trapped in solitary confinement, for just a while. She was terrified every time she stood apart from Svetka, but she tried to think of Sprezzatura telling her "I will outmatch her, lapochka."

Through the crystal, Sprezzatura can feel the little flutter Nessa felt in her chest every time she heard that work, 'lapochka'. She likes that word. She...really likes it.

The excess of memories makes the orb burn white hot in Sprezzatur's hand. Once they're pressed into the crystal, they overload it to the point that it's overwhelmed and EXPLODES in a flash of white and purple light. Esmau squawks as her shield flickers, the explosion almost rocking her off of her feet.]

NELL

[voidhearts]

[Nell is at 50 HP.
Nell is currently visible.
Nell's Invoke will be charged in 170 damage.

You can command Nell to Gather Intel, Heal, Go Invisible or Attack. If you do not command her, she will make her own decision.]

[survivaltricks]

NELL PLEASE HEAL MINATO. AGAIN.

[voidhearts]

Cute.

[She complies, casting Harmony Bolt on Minato.

Roll 1d5+3 to heal: 1+3 = 4 HP restored.
Minato: 73/100 HP]

[survivaltricks]

[he's gonna yell at her to heal minato every round just watch]

[messianic]

Ah--thank you, Nell-san. I appreciate it.

[messianic]

[ is akira gonna kill him if he does this for him....... yeah probably.


anyway it's another Void from Blood to charge Akira right back up!

he's braced for what'll happen this time at least? ]

[survivaltricks]

[YES AKIRA IS GOING TO KILL HIM]

[messianic]

[ ( ˘ ³˘)♥ ]

[survivaltricks]

[｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡]

[velluminous]

[ I'LL HELP ]

[voidhearts]

[You feel something like the prick of a needle sinking into your body. It stings for several seconds. Then you feel woozy for a couple seconds, then you're....fine-ish. Void spark travels from your body over to Akira, charging one of his spells.

Minato: 69/100 HP]

BONUS ACTION!

[voidhearts]

[Esmau stumbles on her feet. After Sprezzatura's crystal exploded, she looks a little disoriented and...something falls out of her shield. Another crystal. No points for guessing, but this one...



Those who see their faces on the crystal...you can feel something coming from it. You can feel Nessa. She's still holding on. She's still fighting. She's still reaching out to you.

You feel a warmth building in your hand. If you focus on it, a memory orb will appear inside it.]

[messianic]

[ ... ah. Of course. He absolutely reaches for that crystal, and focuses so, so hard on the first memory that comes to mind.

It's a recent memory, with the mistletoe forcing them to stay in place, but Nessa so firm and so certain and so kind. She doesn't want to do anything that could jeopardize Minato and Akira's relationship, because she's a good friend to the both of them--the best of friends, not just to Minato, but to Akira too.

He's always felt so, so grateful for that.

He's so grateful that they both have Nessa in their lives--and he hopes that he can get that gratitude properly across. ]

[voidhearts]

[The crystal absorbs your memory.

....okay.

Cards on the table.

Nessa has been crushing on both Minato and Akira for quite a while.

But she also thinks they're her really, really good friends. Possibly her best (human) friends. And she thinks it's so romantic how they were pulled from different worlds to fall in love with each other. And she didn't want to risk turning this into some kind of weird love triangle, because love triangles are overplayed and hacky and she refuses to be a part of one! Because Akira is her friend, and Minato is her friend, and....

Minato is a great friend.

Seeing him act so selfless all the time makes her want to be like him.

She's grateful that he's in her life too.

The crystal SHATTERS brilliantly, sending purple shards everywhere. Esmau suddenly hunches over--]