December Event Log #1: Someone App Tails So He Can Get Trolled

[magicademymods]

December Event Log Now I Face Out The thunderous boom that shakes the academy on December 24th isn't all that unusual, considering Diatu's penchant for magical mishaps. But the way the air shifts and warps in an imperceptible way afterwards definitely is. The sky-spanning purple nebula that traps the magicademy in its expanse is a little suspect too. And then there's the yellow-eyed duplicates of yourself that rip themselves away from you in a burst of violet, starry smoke. "I am the Shadow, the true self!" the duplicate proclaims in a distorted voice, pointing dramatically at the original. What happens next depends on what the wizard the shadow spawned from is repressing, though. If you have an urge to cut loose and wreck shit, the shadow will be immediately destructive, tearing apart the academy around it. If you refuse to acknowledge a deep trauma in your past, the shadow may perch on a tower and radiate waves of sadness and apathy to get everyone else to feel their pain too. And so on and so forth. Whatever aspects of themself the character refuses to acknowledge, that they feel shame over, the shadow will embody to its most destructive extent possible. Oh, and the guiltier a character feels about whatever they're repressing, the more powerful their shadow is. I Hold Out The only way to stop your shadow is to accept them as a part of yourself. But seeing an embodiment of everything that you hate about yourself and having to reconcile with it is difficult. And at the slightest sign of rejection, the shadow will change into a monstrous form representative of the repressed feelings they were born from and begin lashing out. Violently. While going on an overblown motive rant. Oh, boy. But hey. Getting to literally fight back against all of the worst parts of yourself is generally cathartic enough to begin the healing process? Right? No? Well, too bad, because this thing isn't going away and somebody needs to take care of it before the situation gets worse. Thankfully, your friends are there to help you through it! Hopefully. I Reach Out to the Truth Of course there's the matter of what caused this phenomenon in the first place, and the calamitous nebula that's keeping Diatu sealed off from the outside world. Close friends of Tyzias may also notice that she's completely vanished as well. Once characters reconcile with their shadows, they can see and interact with a spiral staircase leading up to the heavens. However, considering that the staircase is crawling with hostile, mindless generic shadows and that the presence of whatever's at the top can be felt, they may want to bring a few friends before investigating. We Really Wanted To Include A Gif And Apologize For Ruining This Post. No, This Isn't a Prompt

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[darkenedmoon]

"I do not know for certain," Yotsuyu rasped. She coughed a little. "I had one of these creatures attack me, as well--from what I have come to understand, intimately, is that it is a part of ourselves that we would much rather never see the light of day again..."

It had certainly been so for her, at least.

"As to the why is it happening? I cannot tell you, as I do not know myself. Things like this happen from time to time, and those of us who are mere mortals must simply suffer through such things." Though she was more than a bit wryly--or perhaps dryly amused by it.

"I am certain it shan't leave you alone for long. And what you must do to vanquish it? 'Tis between you and your Shadow. I can only advise, I cannot do it for you." Just as she'd had to deal with her own Shadow--the Witch--herself.

"I can, however, give you as much room to breathe as you need." Though for the moment, she kept them both running away from where they'd left his Shadow behind in the dusty snow.

[princepallidus]

Pallidus glanced back again at her words. Did a part of himself think so lowly of others? Or was that just part of the puzzle? Pallidus felt as though he were missing something important from the picture she painted.

"Ah, I suppose we can't expect anything less than pandemonium from a place that brings us here at its own whimsy." Pallidus grimaced, trying to keep up. He wasn't out of shape but he hadn't expected such activities so early in the day.

"Thank you," he said, realizing he had failed to say those two important words in their haste to escape. "You-"

"You're in my way!" hissed the Shadow behind them, racing to catch up on legs elongated by darkness. Reaching out, a vine snaked into the ground, then a wall of briars burst out in front of Pallidus and Yotsuyu, attempting to block their exit.

Pallidus turned, ready to clash with the Shadow as it zeroed in on him, the yellow eyes blazing. "Look at me!"

[darkenedmoon]

"Oh, 'tis naught that I would not do for any other--" Well. Most others. Other students, certainly. She'd surprised herself by discovering she actually had a heart, once she'd been out from the scrutiny of family and countrymen...

But then the Shadow sent a plant wall rocketing up before them, and Yotsuyu turned to glare at it, her own yellow eyes snapping in rage.

"You were not invited to this little tete-a-tete!" she snarled at it. ""Have you never learned 'tis impolite to disturb a lady and her guest??"

Even if in truth, she were no lady, and Pallidus was a guest only at the furthest stretch of that particular word. No matter. It gave her an excuse. But for the moment, it was time to speak swiftly.

"I am not certain what this...creature has to do with you, but it is something you must accept about yourself. Distasteful, most likely--mine certainly was." Not a thing she wanted to admit to a relative stranger, either. "Still. You cannot come to terms with what it represents if you are dead, so take that as you will..."

She gave him a gentle pat on the shoulder, before turning to his Shadow once more, giving it a glare that would cow a lesser being.

[princepallidus]

"Like I care about your opinion!" the Shadow scoffs, dismissing Yotsuyu rather rudely. Pallidus, if he wasn't hopped up on adrenaline, would probably have the shame to feel offended on Yotsuyu's behalf for the ungentlemanly response, but as it is he's a bit too busy for that.

"Accept...?" That seemed beyond Pallidus at the moment. He didn't want anything to do with this monster, but there was no choice. He would have to face it, or die. What an ultimatum.

Taking a calming breath, Pallidus glanced to his companion, gratefulness shining in his gaze before squaring his shoulder and rushing forward to meet his Shadow in a flurry. The Shadow grinned, happy to at least be acknowledged in this way. They locked claws for a hot moment, then the true battle began, claws flashing while vines twined around them in a stunted arena, trying to keep out foreign influences.

"Finally decided to look at me? To witness the greatness We could be? The greatness that We are?"

"How great can you really be?" Pallidus mocked, matching the Shadow hit for hit. "You can't even land a blow on me!" And it was true. They were too much alike, too even, and that infuriated and frightened Pallidus. Was this the end, fighting an endless battle against his pseudo-self? Was this true Hell? A punishment for his personal sins?

What was the answer? Acceptance, Yotsuyu had said, but how could he? It seemed the rose vines around them grew even more tangled the longer they batted at each other, thicker and thicker, blocking out all else.

[darkenedmoon]

Pity this foreign influence was not about to be pushed aside so easily.

Voice hoarse, she called out to Pallidus--but not exactly to get his attention, even as she cast another mathemagical diagram into the air, black brows furrowing.

"There was once a woman. A witch, if you will. She so hated her own people--the ones she felt had betrayed her--that she betrayed them in turn. Betrayed them for power, power and revenge. The power and station to grind them beneath her heel, scorn them as she had been scorned."

A murmur of spelled words beneath her breath, yellow eyes narrowing and flashing in anger as she swung her fan in an arc at the vines. A distraction, nothing more. This fight was not one she could win, Yotsuyu knew. But if she blasted a hole in the vines, her words might strengthen Pallidus, at the least.

"She died, broken and betrayed by her own kin, a sacrifice to his arrogance. But not alone; the one who brought her low? They would have spared her, but her own brother slew her. Sometimes, you are only trying to find your own way in the world. Your experiences can be shared, mayhap, but they will always be yours. No more, no less. And mayhap you cannot forgive yourself for wrongdoings you have done--" The kami knew she was still working on that!--"but if you are alive, you may try to make recompense. Can you not?"

The Shadow was going to have to try harder to cast her away. Its betters had tried, and failed.

[princepallidus]

Adrenaline pumping through his sludgy veins, Pallidus could barely hear anything over the flurry between himself and his Shadow. They met each and every blow, too in sync to do much than match. This wasn't getting anywhere, but Pallidus had a sinking feeling that he would tire much quicker than his doppelganger.

Words trickled into his ear, flooding past the sound of his own heartbeat and breathes, coming into focus a few seconds later but painting a gorgeous, hideous picture. There was another flash, somewhere in Pallidus' peripherals, just enough to distract and he had the Shadow by the throat in that instant. Instead of phasing it, the Shadow only grinned, using that single-minded action to take one of its own, digging claws into Pallidus' shoulder. Locked in that position, pain cutting through the panic, Pallidus heard the rest of Yotsuyu's story and her lesson.

He had to try, at least. Didn't he owe that to everyone else he had belittled in his mind? To himself?

"What do I need to do?" Pallidus asked, trembling. The Shadow didn't answer, still smiling at him with that same sneer, but something flickered in its eyes. "Beg? Ask for forgiveness? Tell me!"

Again, a flickering, a weakening. Emboldened by Yotsuyu's faith and his own determination to set things right, Pallidus released the hold on its neck, holding his arms out in surrender. "I want to fix this. Please, help me..."

And all of a sudden, everything just stopped, as if suspended in motion until slowly, slowly, the claws in his shoulder began to retract. The twisted vines around them melted down into the ground and for a moment there, his Shadow just stood there, blinking, as if confused he would ever really say such a thing.