cryovision | Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

When you enter the light, you find yourself hovering weightless in a void, as if caught in a moment of falling inertia. In the distance, you hear a voice that seems to shift and twist, familiar and yet unfamiliar.

"You shouldn't be here. But since you already are, let's make a wager. If you can uncover the truth, you'll find me. If you can't, you may be hopelessly lost... What a shame that would be."

You begin falling, and your vision blacks out--

[OOC NOTE: your goals are "reveal the truth" to "find the true heart". All images in toplevels are for general inspo, please make sure you read the flavourtext cause things are not exactly as they are in the images.]

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[ Obtained: Sheer Cold status effect. Thanks, he hates it.

Turns to Childe: ]

If the last room is any indication, perhaps one of us should turn on our Sight and one should be without so we can see both what we are meant to see and the reality of the situation.

[ snezhnayan origins,
+10 resistance to sheer cold. ]

[ nods. ] I agree. But let's communicate a little bit better, alright, since I'd rather not be launched across this room too. [ ribs him. ] Do you want to use your elemental sight again or should I take the lead?

My apologies. You know how I am around----

. . .

[ He coughs into his hand and straightens his posture ]

Perhaps you should take the lead this time. We can take turns since the one without the Sight is at a disadvantage.

I know Xiansheng. I'm sure you couldn't help it, but it did come as a bit of a surprise... [ his smile softens. ] But at least we're no longer in that room, and here's to hoping there are no more tentacle monsters to encounter.

[ he activates his elemental sight. ] Alright, let's see what this place has in store for us.

[with Elemental Sight, the wind blows all the harder and all the colder, chilling you to your bones. Other than that, not much seems to change...

Except, are you hearing whispers? They're unintelligible and quiet, tickling at the back of your mind, making you feel watched and judged.

Something flickers at the edge of your vision, but if you turn to look you see nothing but your own reflection.]

[ childe steels himself as soon as the cold becomes that much more frigid. at least he's use to this sort of thing... but that doesn't mean he likes it. frowns, doing his best to ignore the whispers, but it's difficult. ]

...not much has changed, Xiansheng. [ he looks over his shoulder... and then again... is there something here? he's going to summon his hydro blades just in case. ] Let's try to find the switch and get out of here ASAP.

[ Zhongli sees Childe summoning his blades and keeps his own spear ready in hand before approaching their reflections. ]

[The reflections are... silly funhouse distorted reflections? At least, for Zhongli, they do nothing out of the ordinary.

In Childe's view, Zhongli's reflection suddenly makes eye contact with him.

In the back of his head, there's a clearer whisper:

"Why are you even trying?"]

[ childe is sticking close to zhongli and he hadn't taken interest in the reflectins, so he's just kind of chilling ( LITERALLY ) ...at least until he notices zhongli's reflecting looking back at him. ok, uhm, much creep. he's about to look at zhongli, because did he turn or??? but then he hears the whisper and the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. ]

[ ... ]

[ he looks between the reflection of zhongli and zhongli, himself, frantically, because he couldn't possibly have heard that right. ]

[ childe clenches his teeth and nudges zhongli aside none too gently as he slashes at this particular reflection. ] Say that again. I dare you.

[ KER-SHOVED.

And Zhongli was going to step closer to put a hand on Childe's shoulder before he started attacking the reflection.

Oh.

Oh, this is probably not good. ]

Cheri. . .

[ let him kill it, zhongli. he doesn't want to have to hear that again, especially not from something wearing your face. he growls in the back of his throat in response to his name, pulling away so he can follow through with his attack. ]

[The ice cracks and frosts over, and the reflection is gone. But behind it are more shiny pieces of ice, creating more reflections.

"It's pointless. You can't win. No matter how strong you are, you're nothing but a fake."

So the whispers say, in voices Childe will hear as ones he knows and loves. His family, his comrades, a growing tide of disparaging remarks that begins to fill his ears with chatter. Their reflections look at him with disgust and disdain on their warped features. But Zhongli hears nothing.]

. . .

[ for a moment he freezes... like he had hoped he would get a bit of reprieve from the whispers, but, nope, instead it gets worse. a lot worse. he tightens his grip on his weapons and starts attempting to destroy anything & everything. ]

[ lies! it's all lies! ]

[ but then he remembers the arrival of the other childe and that *he* had died and that maybe... no. ]

I'll show you weak! [ SUMMONING A MOTHERFUCKEN WHALE TO TRY TO CRASH IN ON YOUR MAZE. ]

[ Did he just summon a hydro whale in the middle of a frozen wasteland? ]

[ Just. Going. To.

Attempt to hook one arm around Childe's waist and pull him back so that they don't both get drenched with water when that thing makes contact and freeze to death. ]

I do not know what they are saying but I ask that you not listen to them.

Edited 2021-05-16 23:29 (UTC)

[The whale smashes into the ice, splashing water everywhere. Thanks to Zhongli they don't get soaked, but every drop of water that touches them does in fact instantly freeze.

The impact breaks a few spikes, but it also creates a whole new layer of reflective ice all over the ground and the previously too-rough-to-reflect surfaces. Due to the water seeping outward, this reflective puddle has trapped their shoes a little. But more important is the roar of criticism in Childe's head, accusations of lying and faking and worthlessness and inevitable death.

And then, fully visible to both of you, the reflections suddenly reach their twisted limbs out of the ice. They are emerging as distorted clones of the both of you, their shapes inhuman and their movements jerky and unsettling. Due to the new ice, there are now dozens of enemies, and more emerging as the others leave the ice free to reflect again. You will be swarmed, and quickly, if you're not careful.

You could try to fight them. You could also leave the way you came, or further into the maze.]

[ childe can't stop making shit worse for himself... but that's nothing new. causing a stir is all he's good at, and sometimes it backfires onto himself. LIKE NOW. he scowls in response to all the shit being slung at him and starts shouting back, in snezhnayan, as he starts attempting to flood this room. he has no interest in fighting these stupid things, but if he can summon more and more water, then he can freeze them all into a block of ice. ]

[ he keeps himself pressed into zhongli and backs them both up toward the door, inevitably shoving him out and slamming it shut as soon they're back in the main hall. ]

...

[ he dispels his weapons and just stalks back and forth like an animal for a bit, trying to clear his head of all of the negativity. once he sufficiently manages he'll just head for the door with the favonious emblem on it. ]

[ Zhongli watches him pace without comment.

Considering all that has happened to Childe in the past few days, perhaps now is not the best time to pry... ]

[You have created a lot more ice. Rather than a block it flows and splashes amongst the spikes, making more and more reflections with more and more shittalking and--

--and then you escape. Your next destination is the Acting Grandmaster's office.]

... [ as soon as he's finished pacing he crouches down and just remains hunched there. ] ...sorry. I don't think we'll be finding the lock in that room. [ and he's not going back in anytime soon. maybe a bit later once he's cool off ( ayyy ) but... he needs a bit of a break. ]

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Pavo Heart Game: Sunday Session

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