kaisou | August Event Log

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August Event Log

August Event Log
Dominant Element: Fire
Waning Element: Wind

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It's the final month of summer! While the humidity has thankfully dropped, the strong presence of fire element has made the temperature skyrocket. Expect numerous days of triple digit temperatures and a severe lack of rainfall. Those using fire this month will have to be cautious to not let any fires get out of control.

Kaisou County Fair

As the city enters into the final month of summer, the city is a mix of enjoying the summer while they can, and preparing for the coming fall. Students will receive their class schedules and school supply or textbook lists in the mail, so they'll know what classes to expect in September. There are shops all over town having sales on school supplies and back-to-school outfits. It's not time for school just yet, but it's on the horizon. Best to make the best of your summer days while you can!

But with the end of summer comes the proud annual tradition for Kaisou: the Kaisou County Fair. Out on the fairgrounds at the edge of town, the county fair will be running throughout the month. Advertisements for this fair are everywhere, often featuring the mascot Oxmund the Ox. Admission is affordable and there's free public transit for anyone who needs to get out there. There's plenty of carnival games and rides that you'd typical find at a fair. But there's more than that! The Kaisou County fair is where food vendors really stretch their creative muscles, offering such unique items as unusual animal meat (camel, alligator, yak, etc), cotton candy noodles, the garbage plate, and literally anything on a stick. And if you're looking for some fun local activities? You can learn and take part in the fine art of butter sculpture, participant in a talent show, ride in some go-karts, or take part in a Grunty race. There's even a whole section of the fair devoted to farm animals that have been brought in from surrounding farms. You can have a chance to feed some goats, pet some cows, learn to ride a horse, or vote which sheep is the most attractive!

Yeah we're not sure what's up with the contest runners on that last one either. It is somehow a thing.

Help Wanted!

At the start of the month, a new feature will appear in the Libra App, a job page! On the page, there's a list of jobs you can sign up to do. Sign ups are easy enough, just select the job that interest you and you'll be sent information on what you need to do!

Some of these jobs or clients may seem a little...strange. If you ask the Zodiac representative at the office about them, they will explain that they advertised this feature on various platforms (there's other platforms?) for people looking to get odd jobs done. As for the clients, Zodiac tends not to turn away people who are requesting jobs unless it something that seems extremely dubious by their standards. In other words, you probably won't get murdered doing these jobs. Probably.

The jobs are entirely optional, best for folks who are just looking for something to do or a little extra cash. This month, most of them seem pretty feasible and low-risk and are mostly just around the town rather than going into any spirit realm. Strangely enough outside the cash and other rewards given by clients, sometimes it seems like the universe itself rewards you for doing some work - or curses you, depending on where your luck falls. How about that!

A Tear into Reality

On the morning of August 7th, everyone's phones will give a sudden high-pitch alert sound, regardless of if you have your phone on or not. It will not turn off until you check your phone. But unlike the typical Zodiac corporate message, a bold text warning message is displayed:

WARNING WARNING. UNAUTHORIZED ATTEMPT TO BREACH SPIRIT REALM HAS BEEN DETECTED IN WAREHOUSE DISTRICT. HIGH LEVELS OF INSTABILITY DETECTED FROM SPIRIT VEIN. APP USERS VARIAN AND FERN DETECTED NEAR ANOMALY SOURCE. SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. WARNING WARNING-

Characters will only have a minute or two to ponder the meaning of that message before all hell breaks loose. In spots all across the city, red cracks appear in the middle of the air. These cracks can show up anywhere: out in the street, in your living room, at the county fair, in the middle of the Waffle House. The cracks grow larger and larger, until they're easily two to three meters large. Anyone who is close enough to one of these cracks may hear a distinct animal call - right before dinosaurs begin rushing out through the cracks and into the city itself. Pterodactyls, Triceratops, Stegosauruses, Gallimimuses and Dilophosauruses are all present and dangerous in their own right as they spill into the city and begin causing chaos in this strange new world. However the most dangerous and fearful are the Velociraptors, who are less causing chaos as they explore this new world and more interested in hunting the humans they find.

It will be up to everyone to try to escape to safety and help other citizens from meeting a bad end. The dinosaurs are not easy foes by any means. Their hides are so thick and tough that normal weapons don't do much good against them. You'll need either weapons designed to be armor piercing or powers that can do the same thing if you want to directly fight them. While they are animals, the Velociraptors are intelligent to figure out basic doors handles, so make sure to lock and barricade any doors you put between you and them. The spirit realm cracks are all over the city, though there are some areas that remain unaffected. If you rather avoid any dino trouble altogether, it'd be best to hunker down in one of those safer spots for awhile.

(Mod Note: The Zodiac apartment building will not have any dinosaur portals opening up in the building itself for the sake of OU players who wish to opt out of this part of the plot. As for characters living in other locations, you can have dinosaurs show up in your home but please check with all your character's roommates BEFORE you do this to make sure they're onboard. The type of dinosaur can vary but it can be no taller than a triceratops or stegosaurus- aka no t.rex/sauropods/etc)

Eventually the characters will be joined by agents of Zodiac, who'll bring plenty of weapons, and even better, barrier devices. When set up, these devices will create a forcefield that'll make it impossible for any being from the spirit realm (meaning the dinosaurs), to pass though. Help the Zodiac agents set up the barrier devices around any areas infested with dinosaurs- preventing them from getting deeper into the city. If you're on Cathedral Hill or one of the nearby neighborhoods, instead than Zodiac agents it'll be some of the Black Order members from May helping rather than Zodiac.

But even with all the help the city is large and the dinosaurs are dangerous, so it won't be until the morning of August 8th, a full day after this began, that all the dinosaurs have been successfully contained. And if your home happened to be within one of the areas that have been sectioned off by the barriers? Well congratulations! You now have dinosaur roommates. Notably, any unchaperoned character that's 15 or younger will also find themselves unable to step past these barriers.

Spare No Expense

Well after all that chaos, most people will probably have a lot of questions about what's going on. Zodiac will send out a message in the late morning of August 8th. The message will detail what happened, that it was an attempt to make a portal by Varian using god's blood as the fuel and that chaos erupted from it all. In other words, a t.rex showed up, wrecked the portal, and took the bag of god blood with it when it went back into the realm. It will also detail how Zodiac and the Black Order were now asking for assistance to help close up the portal from the app users. The barriers set up were only a temporary stop-gap measure after all.

Should you head to the Zodiac office, the atmosphere is extremely tense. In addition to the usual Zodiac employees and Professor Willow, the Black Order guardian Ienzo is there to act as a representative. Both Zodiac and Ienzo are in grim moods and taking this matter seriously. As for Professor Willow, while he is taking it seriously ... it's also pretty clear there's a part of him that's psyched about getting to see real life dinosaurs. Dinosaurs were a childhood love of his, unsurprisingly.

The plan the group has worked out is a two-prong operation. On one side, they will need people in the city to help deal with the dinosaurs that have been coming through the cracks - either by eliminating the dinosaurs or otherwise incapacitating them. Once the dinosaurs have been dealt with, Zodiac and/or Black Order members will use sealing magic to help close up the cracks. Characters who have taken time to study magic can also be given this sealing spell, so they can also help with sealing cracks. It's a complicated incantation that takes about 3 minutes to cast, and requires holy water or similarly blessed items.

The other operation is going into the spirit realm itself. The T.rex had gone back into the realm once it had obtained the tank full of god blood. God blood, as they explain, is a powerful enough substance that could cause all sorts of problems and further cracks if left alone. Thus they need people go into the realm and track down the T.rex that took the blood, as well as neutralize any god blood that happened to spill along the way. To do this, they will give characters a special mixture of bleach and holy water to pour on any god blood they come across. Zodiac will also rent out enchanted weapons and high powered tranquilizer darts (which will take several shots) to help against any dinosaurs. Black Order guardians are willing to assist within the realm, though they have limited numbers as only a few of them remained in the city after the May incident (the rest are in Florida, dealing with numerous other crisis per usual). Professor Willow and the rest of POKEGO meanwhile has set up a dino-hotline through the Libra app that can be called and texted to ask any dinosaur related questions. The people running this hotline will give any and all dinosaur-related information. Curiously, all of them are professors with tree names, and are prone to go on excitable tangents about dinosaur facts.

Dinotopia: Helping in the city

If you choose to help in the city, there's plenty to do to help. There's cracks all over the city that have been barriered off and need dealing with. Some sectioned off areas are no bigger than a room, while others cover an entire city block. You'll have to sweep through the area to make sure all of the dinosaurs are dealt with, either by tranquilizing them, corralling them somehow, or through violence. Once that's done, it's a matter of watching over either the Zodiac/Black Order member or a character that was given the sealing spell to make sure no dinosaurs break out of the crack while they are casting.

Normal residents aren't sure what to make of this situation. Some will perceive the dinosaurs as escaped zoo animals, while others will see the dinosaur for what it is in the moment - only to forget that they saw the dinosaur later on. The damage and sectioned off areas are being played off as damage from a bad storm on the news, and that's the rumor spreading around town. Which...whatever works, it seems.

While there are cracks all over the city that the characters can deal with, here are some noteworthy cracks to be dealt with:

County Fairgrounds: The crack opened up in the cattle pen, and a triceratops came out of it and is currently hanging out with all the cows like it belongs there. This triceratops is proving very popular at the fair, especially among young children who flock around the cattle pen to look at it (though many adults seem to keep assuming it's just a large bull). The triceratops has been dubbed "Trimund". Try to handle this one without traumatizing the children.
University Track Field: A crack has opened up on the university's track field and a small herd of Gallimimuses have come through. You will have to find a way to chase them down and herd them.
Kaisou Beach: A crack on the beach has releases a number of Pterodactyls, who are now acting like giant seagulls from hell. They will need to be dealt with as they keep swooping at people and trying to snatch up any small creature.
Blue Fish Lake Park: A large swath of the park has been sectioned off due to a pack of Velociraptors running loose. Be careful not to let the predators surround you. The goose has become allies with the velociraptor, because of course it has.

Once the dinosaurs and crack has been dealt with in an area, Zodiac will send in a clean-up crew. With any dead dinosaurs, interested characters will be allowed to harvest their meat and scales to either use themselves or turn in for profit. Any living dinosaurs will be escorted off with Zodiac, who will give rather vague answers about what they plan to do with them. Which. That should probably be fine...right?

The Gate: Welcome to Jurassic Park

With the dinosaurs and cracks around town being taken care of, it's now time to head into the main gate to track down that T.rex. The gate is located in a junkyard in a warehouse district. When you arrive, even though it's a junkyard so it might be hard to tell, but there's clear signs of destruction and debris caused by something large. The gate meanwhile, has shifted form overnight. Rather than the metal gate that Varian had constructed, it has morphed into a much larger wooden gate with torches. Impressive!

When you pass through the gate, you will find yourself on the beach of a tropical island, lush with jungle vegetation. The environment is abuzz with animal sounds and life - a mix of familiar animal sounds, and completely foreign ones from a bygone era. You don't want to hang around on the beach though, since there's plenty of dinosaurs that'll attack if you linger too long. Besides, you have a job to do.

As you head into the jungle, you will notice three paths. The first path seems to be a paved road that is half overgrown with vegetation. The second path is some large tracks that go downhill towards some grassier areas of the isle, and the last path is another set of tracks that go deeper into the jungle itself. It's impossible to tell which path is the right way, so you just have to pick one and hope for the best.

Route A: The Visitor Center

Some might choose to follow a paved road, more broken up from vegetation than the other routes. Perhaps the road most taken is the best route here? Along the way, characters will find abandoned jeeps in the undergrowth. They are pretty beaten up and have obviously been there for a long time, but they still work (somehow) - some might still even have keys in the ignition like they were abandoned in a hurry. Under the seats, characters can find useful items such as flares or night vision goggles- handy!!!

Eventually, the path will lead people to a large abandoned building, while the interior is very overgrown, as characters wander around they can figure out this used to be some sort of visitor center. Given the number of faded dinosaur murals there are on the walls, and the broken dinosaur skeletons scattered on the floor it's clear the dinosaurs were not only intentional, but they were the main attraction of this place.

Characters can stumble into what looks like an auditorium. Once characters are seated, a janky movie where an anthropomorphic cartoon D.N.A strand will excitedly tell them that this place is called Jurassic Park, and the dinosaurs were genetically created for this theme park- come zoo. It doesn't tell you what happened here, but after a while of animated hijinks, lap-bars come down on the seats. There's a sound of grinding gears but nothing moves - it's clear this used to be a Carousel of Progress kind of ride but age has broken the moving components. Characters in their seats will be well and truly stuck. Which is kind of a shame as that distinct call starts again.

Uh oh, the Velociraptors are here. Those who didn't choose to sit in the seats will need to either help their companions get out or fend off the Velociraptors from making an easy snack from those poor souls who are trapped. Or they can flee and save their own skins, that's always an option. Characters can also fight the raptors head-on, or try and lead them away from the auditorium. A safe route leads into a kitchen with some walk-in freezers. They're not exactly cold anymore, but the locks are pretty solid if someone could lead a Velociraptor into them.

However they choose to deal (or not deal) with the Velociraptors, the characters eventually escape. Those observant will notice one or two of the raptors left footprints of blood - god's blood specifically. Seems they stepped in the stuff at some point. Best to neutralize it while they can using the bleach concoction before we get dimension traveling raptors! Characters might find some old tinned food in the kitchen, but otherwise there's nothing else for them here.

Route B: Lets Get Crackin'

Choosing to follow the tracks that go down to the grasslands will be mostly a downhill trip. Along the way, you'll also find some jeeps that have long been abandoned but are also still working somehow (please don't ask). Driving these will make the trip much easier, otherwise you got a long walk ahead of you. Several miles long.

Eventually characters will find themselves happening on a vast open area, occupied by a large herd of Brachiosaurus. They are massive and majestic creatures, easily towering over land creatures you'd find on Earth these days. It's hard not to be awestruck by their presence for a moment. You can certainly approach them, as they are peaceful herbivores, but be careful not to get stepped on by them.

For those focused on the mission, with a bit more tracking you'll spot a large T.rex size dinosaur up ahead and the source of the tracks you've been following all this time. It certainly looks like a T. rex, right? But for those who have paid attention to POKEGO's professionally curated dinosaur facts (or to honestly any 6 year old) - they will notice something off as they approach. Don't T.rexes have two fingers on their hand, not three? Turns out, this wasn't a T.rex you were tracking, but her close cousin the Giganotosaurus! While they are just as big and dangerous as a T.rex, the characters may quickly notice a very alarming difference - they're pack hunters! That's right! There's multiple Giganotosauruses hanging around this stretch of savannah. Great!

The Giganotosaurus tend to prefer the giant long neck dinosaurs for meals, so it's possible for you to sneak past unnoticed. Or you might try to confront them head-on if you're insane. Otherwise, your best course of action is to drive or run to a nearby alcove of jungle near the savannah. Once you're in the relative safety of the trees, you spot something oddly colorful on the ground. It's...a jellybean? No, not just a jelly bean. but rather a whole trail of jellybeans. What the heck?

The trail of jelly beans will go on for quite some time, until eventually it leads to a small, puppet size, cave entrance. As you approach, a strange blue puppet guy pops his head out. He's covered in mud and who knows what else, but boy is he glad to see some people. He explains that he is The Professor and he teaches history! But one of his students BETRAYED him and sent him to this place, where he's been struggling and living on a diet of jellybeans and spiders (which he admits is his regular diet but still-). He'll ask if he can go with you guys back to the city, and surely you wouldn't say no to the guy, would you?

Route C: The Painful Way

Huge, ominous dinosaur tracks lead into a particularly dark section of the forest, offering a third path for intrepid explorers to pursue. The vegetation is thick and overgrown, blocking out the sky. The ground is rocky, broken up by thick ferns and mosses, and more of those large footprints. Vines and more of that moss have even overtaken a large number of jeeps that have been left to rot. While the jeeps aren't in any shape to drive, those who are curious may be able to break open some doors or windows and search around inside for old equipment - medical kits, flares, that sort of thing. Sadly, there are no bazookas or grenade launchers, but it's better than nothing, right?

Along with the jeeps, that vegetation also offers plenty of cover and hiding spots for hungry or territorial dinosaurs. Make no mistake, this route is a dangerous one. Partway through a soft chirping reverberates through the trees, and explorers will suddenly find themselves face-to-face with crested dinosaurs that happens to be the source of the chirping. Definitely not the t-rex but be careful, these little guys are carnivorous and hungry, and you don't want to be in their line of sight when they expand the frill around their neck and start making a rattling noise.

The dilophosaurus will ambush and attack characters. They're smaller than raptors and not quite as strong, but they're able to spit a venomous substance and aim for the face. If characters are struck, the first aid kits have some eye rinse that will neutralize it to prevent any permanent damage. Water found in a puddle can also be used in a pinch, though it won't be as effective.

Thankfully, for those who can make it far enough into the forest, a glimmer of hope appears in the form of god blood splattered on the footprints and some nearby leaves. It's a sign they're on the right track, though just leaving it alone may not be the best idea. For everyone's safety it might be smart to neutralize the blood using the mixture supplied by Zodiac so no other dinosaurs are affected. It won't take very long, and then it's best to keep on moving to avoid any other aggressive dinosaurs.

Eventually, deep in the forest, characters will be met with a sudden thump, thump, thump. Some rainwater in a puddle ripples ominously with those footsteps. Something is coming towards them - something big. It crashes through the trees a moment later: one big, gnarly t-rex. She lets out a monstrous roar and the fight begins!

There's no running from the t-rex. She's a dangerous, highly aggressive beast on a good day, and unfortunately for everyone it seems she's gone and made a meal of Zagreus' god blood, ramping up her speed and strength. Her arms might be too short to be a threat but she won't hesitate to lunge and try to chomp down on some unlucky character, or stomp on them, or swing her massive tail as a very effective blunt weapon. On top of that, Zagreus' eternally helpful cousin Ares has seen fit to grant the t-rex with a boon. Every so often the t-rex swings her tail and lets loose massive, slow-moving blade rifts. On their own they might not be that hard to dodge but they're big, and along with avoiding the t-rex herself and the trees closing the area in this won't be an easy fight.

If characters choose to fight, that is. Killing the t-rex is one option, but a more pacifist option of tranquilizing her and then purifying her of the god blood may work, too. Either way, characters will need to work together to avoid getting killed.

Aftermath

With the god's blood all neutralized and the cracks sealed, it's time for everyone to say goodbye to Jurassic Park and return to the city. The three factions and any characters who want to assist will perform a spell to seal off the main gate into the realm, bringing this prehistoric chapter of Kaisou to a close and reverting the gate back into the (now broken) metal one that Varian had constructed. A few dinosaurs remain in Kaisou after the fact. Trimund, for instance, has made herself a new home in the Kaisou Zoo. As for the ones that were hauled off by Zodiac - you know what let's not think about that right now because that will surely never come up again.

The Professor is just happy to be free from dinosaur land and will begin teaching history classes over at the ENKI school. The Black Order meanwhile will once again disappear off the radar, now that the danger is past. POKEGO will try to insist their dinosaur hotline should continue on because who doesn't want more dinosaur facts, but will eventually be convinced to go back to their normal jobs of research.

Unfortunately, it's not all tied up loose ends and happy endings. The city experienced a great deal of property damage from the dinosaur rampage, and there were a number of citizens that were injured or killed from everything (though much less than there would've been without everyone's help). Normal people are quickly coming to rationalize that the entire incident can be chalked up to a giant storm that let some zoo animals loose, even if that doesn't line up with the type of damage at all. It's going to take time to rebuild everything, as well as a good amount of money. For some, it might be a good idea to see where you can help with the clean up and recovery efforts. Unlike previous incidents, this time the blame falls much closer to home.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Fire! Anyone with an affinity to the fire element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Wind will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like.

If you are interested in having a thread with Black Order NPCs, you can request for a thread here! Threads are restricted to one per player. Other NPCs such as the dinosaurs, Zodiac, and the Professor can be handwaved and controlled by the players at will!

Characters who have their homes destroyed by the dinosaurs will be allowed to stay in the Zodiac apartment building along with the OUs still residing there. Since most of the city's repairs aren't being done magically, expect it to take a few months for things to be fully repaired - though this will be more in the background and free for players to play wish as they wish. If you wish for your character to avoid dinosaur mayhem all together, you may! Just simply say they were in a part of town that wasn't hit by dinosaurs.

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up August 7th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Oh RIGHT, just like hers when she first got here, it wasn't at full capacity.

"Of course, dang it! I should have remembered that. Ok then, in that case, you can at least help me get the glyphs set up. We'll set up plant glyphs around, and them I'm going to use the fire glyph to keep them away. With luck, that'll give us enough time to get on Owlbert and escape for now."

They could worry about maintaining the dinosaurs later.

"I know I can count on you," Luz said warmly, "and I won't let anything happen to you either."

"Right, I can do that!"

But the moment a bush stirs, the entirety of the abomination clay flows forward as a mighty, extended punch, and the raptor in the bushes screams in surprise, darting deeper into the foliage.

Amity looks over a Luz, a bit sheepish.

"Sorry, I didn't really...you know, sleep last night."

Frankly, she wanted to beat the hell out of some raptors, but she gestured to Luz to hand her some paper so she could get to glyph-making.

"I knew you could!"

Luz gave a little cheer when she saw the punch as she loved seeing Amity in action, and she'd also missed seeing Boiling Isles magic again!

"Aw, baby," Luz said, putting a hand to her girlfriend's face. "I'll make it up to you, I pro-watch your back!"

Luz struck her glyph and another ice platform knocked the advancing velociraptor a good twenty feet.

"That was for my girlfriend you jerky lizard!" Luz roared, even though technically her actions might have contributed to them coming here.

Luz all over. This is why she was, in the strictest terms, wildly nuts about her. She believed enough in things - including you - to make them absolutely true.

For her part, she got to work hastily drawing glyphs. One after another, she rapidly drew the shapes onto paper, thankful for all the teaching Luz had given her in glyph magic.

Luz certainly did believe in Amity, and was still in disbelief that she was here, and was not about to let any dinosaur do anything to her! She'd get in-between them in a moment's notice!

Luckily, Amity was not helpless, and her glyphs were enough to keep the dinosaurs at bay. Luz couldn't help but stare at her girlfriend with awe and pride, doing what she could to help in a fight she barely understood.

"I really missed you," Luz said finally, when they had a free moment. "Did you know I was gone?"

And she doesn't look up at Luz, in that moment, because she's stockpiling glyphs in case they need them. And it's still too quiet around them, which tells her the raptor-things are probably somewhere around.

"We were just on your mom's doorstep yesterday," she replied, curious, before it clicks in for her and she does look up.

"Wait, Sweetie - how...long have you been here?"

Yup. They were probably watching them somewhere in the underbrush. Knowing that alone was pretty scary.

Then Amity said that, and Luz froze, and turned to her girlfriend.

"Wait, what do you mean 'on my mom's doorstep?' How could that even happen unless..."

And now the color drained from her face. "W-when Hunter and I were in the Emperor's mind. Are you from after that?!"

She gasps as the full implications become clear to her. They'd been drawn in from different times...were they even the same people, or...the right pair of people or...?

No, she waved that away. It didn't matter, one way or another. She was Amity. This was Luz. They were a thing and she wasn't about to let the universe make her doubt the apple of her eye and the target of her smooches.

Instead, she stood up, pushing glyphs into Luz's hands but standing slightly behind her - to keep those same hands clear - and wrapping her arms around her shoulders, pressing tight.

"A little bit, yeah. From...the end of the Day of Unity, actually. I'm...I'm not sure how much you want to know."

It was sure a good thing Luz couldn't hear those immediate thoughts, because that would have thrown Luz into a full on depressive state. For now, she could just feel very, very panicked.

So Amity was from even farther than her. Ok. That meant the Day of Unity DID happen, but seeing as how Amity wasn't bawling her eyes out or absolutely torn apart, something must have happened, right? It couldn't have gone through, could it?

Luz swallowed, placing the glyphs about them, then looked up at Amity, putting on her bravest face.

"Tell me everything."

She sighed, taking Luz's hands in hers.

"The plan didn't work," she said, after a long silence, voice strained. "It...looked like Belos was going to win, and my Mom just...Titan, she was almost as bad as Belos, and..."

She quieted a moment, swallowing thickly.

"You...fought Belos, and he was...this...this thing, I don't even know what he was, but all of us together couldn't stop him, but...it was King who saved us all. Who saved you."

Silence drew out for a moment.

"King freed the Collector, Luz. And the Collector just...splattered Belos like you or I could throw a vegetable but then he wanted the entirety of the Boiling Isles to be in some kind of...kind of giant game? And you were holding the portal open so that a few of us could escape. Willow, Gus, Hunter...me. And King...King's last act was to get you through. The five of us, into the Human Realm. I don't know what happened to them all after that. To my..." her voice broke a bit. "To my brother and sister, or my dad. To Eda or anybody else."

Luz was silently preparing herself, taking a breath, but very noticeably tightened when she heard the "plan" didn't work, even though she had no idea what the "plan" was to begin with. Either way, knowing that Belos was going to win and kill everywhere had Luz on her toes, and her eyes widened.

"Yup, your mom would be that bad."

Look, Odalia had happily almost killed her, Luz was not exactly surprised at how ruthless she was. Fighting Bellos ALSO sounded like something Luz would do, and had certainly felt like that after everything with Hunter. She also guessed what Bellos looked like because she already saw what he looked like with all the Palisman in his mind.

But King? How?

The COLLECTOR?! She remembered hearing about him in Bellos' mind, but she couldn't begin to understand how King would be the one to release him. Granted, hearing about Bellos being splattered was at least a tiny bit of comfort, though she imagined Hunter would be pretty torn up about it.

But then that last part was mentioned, and Luz's eyes widened, and she looked very concerned for her girlfriend, and even her eyes were stinging. Thet couldn't go back, ANY of them. Oh no.

"Amity..."

And that was cut off when she felt the movement behind them and made a noise of frustration, tapping the glyph to knock the dinosaur out with an ice platform.

"NOT NOW!"

"I'm sorry, Luz," she says, flinching at the reaction It's...actually more than a little scary, how casual it is.

"We did everything we could."

Was it casual? For Luz it was more annoyance and aggravation than anything, and at Amity's look she sighed.

"I'm usually not so agitated, but those guys hunt in packs. They're actually pretty vicious. Also, me being blinded by another dinosaur a few hours ago has made me a little less tolerant toward them."

Luz was actually caring about the dinosaurs FAR LESS than the thing Amity told her about.

"But that means we're ALL stuck on Earth! And you..."

Luz trailed off, her eyes shining with tears. "...You're away from your world. How are you apologizing to me? This has to be my fault! I should have done something, THOUGHT of something..."

It might be, but right now, Amity is sleep-deprived, disoriented, scared of the raptors - and more than a little scared of everything right now, including how incredibly easily Luz is wielding such power.

"I don't know! I'm tired and I don't know what to say! Nothing is going the way it's supposed to! I've been in three universes in two days, Ghost isn't waking up, my magic is...is...bugged, and the first thing I thought of was if you were safe and here we are fighting...lizard-things!"

She shook her head, her own tears welling.

"It's bad, Luz, it's all bad."

Luz knew that for these raptors, holding back was a death sentence and after what happened with Hunter at the soccer game, the last thing she was about to let happen was seeing her girlfriend get eaten!

Of all of the bad things that happened this month, that would have been beyond awful.

"Amity, I'm sorry. There is a lot to take in, and after we're out of danger, I swear that I'll explain everything. I know it's a lot, I was dealing with all of that myself, but now you're here and...everything's messed up."

She took her girlfriends' hand and held it to her lips.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise."

Oh, no, you don't get away that easy. Her free hand grabbed Luz's lapel, and pulled her in for a kiss, short but fierce.

"Ok. I trust you. Let's get this done."

Whatever doubts she might have? That was not one of them. The trust that they could overcome.

"Wha-"

And the kiss happens and Luz, who was agitated and anxious, has a totally NEW feeling of shock and bashfulness come across her face.

"Amity!" Luz is blushing hard. "Y-yes! We'll do it together!"

Guess who has some renewed confidence.

"Sorry," she said, blushing fiercely. "It's just...thought I lost you. Or you'd lost me. After just seeing you safe the idea of being torn apart again was...really not great."

She turned around then, shifting the abomination clay and concentrating, forming them into spider-like legs, lifting her upwards to get a better view.

"Ok, I can see over the bushes," she said. "Shall I direct your fire?"

"No, no, it was...nice." Luz was blushing too, but she looked like she was glowing, MUCH better than how agitated she'd been a minute ago. And the same goes for you! I still can't believe how much you've seen!"

Sadly, there was no time to talk about that now.

Ooh, they were in fighting mode. Good! Also, she'd gotten her glyphs strength back this month, just in time. "They're coming..." Luz put her hands to the ground to feel the movement, "southwest and then some are coming north. We're going to have to be perfect at this or we'll have to scramble very quickly. They're pretty swift."

She's not terribly worried, moving on a set of needle-like legs.

"I can see their eyes," she said, thickly, swallowing her fear.

"Me too," Luz said softly, her hand on her girlfriend's back. "But they can't see us yet, which is good. Just be ready to fight when they get close enough to jump."

Which, from the look of things, was going to happen very soon. Luz's head was swimming with questions and desires, mainly to just sit and look at Amity, but one bad move and all of that was going to be a nightmare.

"Hand me some glyphs," she said, quietly, just keeping her eyes on the jungle. Once equipped, the abomination legs lifted her up as high as they would go.

"I'll go high, you go low?"

"Ok," Luz said, and handed Luz the fire and plant glyphs, keeping her eyes focused on any attacking dinosaurs. At Amity's prompt, Luz nodded, and soon there was a screech as the dinosaurs jumped int view, attempting to attack Amity.

Luz was going low, and started with an ice glyph platform that knocked it into the sky as several other followed suit toward the pair of them.

Looks like it was Amity's turn now.

A second lurched into view and was immediately met by thick vines, wrapping it up against a tree and sticking it there, kicking frantically but unable to dislodge itself.

A fire glyph was used to throw a fireball at another, driving it back into the underbrush again.

"Get away, stupid lizards!"

Amity was doing well, considering the circumstances! Every time a dinosaur came forth she worried that it would try and get to Amity, so she was doing her best to give her girlfriend the backup she needed. When the dinosaur attempted to sneak on them, Luz hit the ground with ice to slick up their trail, and when she saw them readying to pounce, she knew what to do.

"Amity, close your eyes!"

Luz let loose an exceptionally bright light glyph, blinding several of the would-be attackers and causing others to draw back.

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