kaisou | EMERGENCY ZODIAC BROADCAST

WHO: Everyone!
WHERE: Libra App
WHEN: August 8th, morning after the dinosaur attack
WHAT: Zodiac Network Post
WARNINGS: None!

[It's been a harrowing day with the tears appearing all over the city and dinosaurs appearing. By now, thanks to the combined efforts from Zodiac, the Black Order and app users - they've managed to trap most of the dinosaurs into barriered areas throughout the city. The damage done by all this is immense, and there's more than a few questions left unanswered.

The phone will ring its usual ringtone that it gives when there's a Zodiac broadcast. It will not stop until it is read.]

Hello Everyone.

As you're likely aware by now, there was an incident this morning that resulted in the attack on the city. This was caused by a manmade portal. While many of you may be aware that manmade portals are considered dangerous due to the inability to predict what realm they will open into, there is a lesser known reason why they are considered so dangerous. Unlike normal Spirit Gates who serve as doors into the Spirit Realm, a manmade portal is like punching a hole into the barrier that separates our world from the Spirit Realm. Doing so often results in a weakening of the surrounding barrier, causing the tears we saw today.

Varian has taken full responsibility for the portal incident today, with Fern as a bystander. He constructed a portal and used God's blood as fuel. During his attempt to open a portal, a T-rex appeared and damaged the gate, as well as took the god's blood.

Despite Varian's insistences that he acted alone, considering the scale of the project, we suspect he had accomplices assist him in the project. As a consequence for his attentions, Zodiac will be monitoring Varian more closely moving forward. In addition, him and anyone else who is found to be involved in this project will be expected to do community service as well as assist in resolving this situation.

Speaking of resolving the situation, while the Black Order has agreed to assist, we ask for your assistance as well. The barriers that were placed are a temporary stopgap measure. We need to seal the tears throughout the city, and travel into the realm itself to neutralize the God's Blood that was taken so it doesn't continue weakening the Spirit Realm barrier.

If you are able and willing to help, please come by the Zodiac offices for more information.

Our sensors have also picked up on several more Isekai who arrived around the same time as the portal incident. We're still investigating if they are related to the damage done. Anyone who has arrived are welcome to contact Zodiac for any housing arrangements.

Stay safe out there.

[Users will have the option to choose their own display names and userpics if they haven't already. If nothing is chosen, the app will use their real name and a quick photo taken of them from their camera's phone. Zodiac will not respond to this message, but anyone who confesses to invovlement will get contacted about community service at a later date. Going to the Zodiac Office is covered in the event log and is handwaved with the NPCs. This post is also visible to anyone who just arrived! ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But it's not fair.
Even if you did the hard parts, it's something we did, it's not something you did.

[Rapunzel's always been a bit stubborn, since she started adapting to life in Corona. But now, after everything she's seen and been through, she's even more so.]

You don't want to see me get hurt, and I appreciate it. I really do.
But I don't want to see you get hurt again, all alone.
You don't deserve it.

A lot of things aren't fair, Rapunzel.

[He doesn't need to tell HER that, he knows, but he says it anyway.

I don't want to see you get hurt again, all alone. That sticks somewhere in his chest- and he finds he can't shift it. ]

...Thank you. For saying that. But I'm pretty sure I do deserve it. I should have been smarter about this and instead I just...made a bigger mess.

But you don't deserve them talking about monitoring you like you're dangerous, because you're not!!
That's what's not fair, and things like that don't help at all.

[She knows she doesn't need to tell him of all people that. But still... friend or no, it doesn't sit well in her gut. The talk of Varian being monitored, like he could snap at any moment, kind of makes her a little queasy.

She talked him through his deepest, most raw fears - the fears of forever being branded a traitor and an outcast by the people of Corona. The last thing Rapunzel wants is to see him treated as such again.]

Being monitored, being punished, trying to fix things all on your own...
When you're trying to help everyone, you have to help you, too.
And this doesn't help you.

I think we both know that's not true, Princess.

[That he's not dangerous. As much as he's taken steps forward, a part of him still fears falling into that dark pit again. He doesn't want to, not at all, but it happened before. Logic dictates it could happen again, with the right amount of force. ]

I don't know. I've been trying so hard, both here and in Corona. I've been trying to be better and I'm still making mistakes like this. I'm still hurting people. Maybe I shouldn't be helped. Maybe there's just something broken in me that's gonna come up again and again no matter how hard I try.

[It's been on his mind since the portal broke, and it scares him to put it into words. Like writing it down will make it absolutely true. He wouldn't voice this to many people, but Rapunzel? Well. She's seen the absolute worst parts of him at this point. If anyone can confirm that his worries are correct, or reassure him that they're not, it's her. ]

[The little bubble that usually notifies that someone is typing had popped up immediately after his first comment. But after the second, it stops. Rapunzel's comments had been quick, barely a few seconds after his, but there's a lack of any kind of response coming from the device.

It's not because she can't say anything. It's because there's a sound coming from elsewhere in the house - the sound of Rapunzel's door opening, the determined footsteps not quite stomping towards Varian's room, and then the sound of his door opening.

Rapunzel's there. Of course she is. She doesn't say anything immediately, though - just crosses the room in a few quick strides and pulls him into a tight hug.]

[Varian really should have been expecting the hug. He absolutely should have been. He'd heard her crossing over the apartment to his room- hard to miss the sound of bare feet on the wooden floor. He wasn't sure if she was going to yell at him (possible but not likely) or lecture him (maybe a little more likely).

He lets out a soft oof as she pulls him into the hug- hesitating for a moment before returning it. The tightness in his chest releases as he buries his face in the crook of her shoulder. His breath hitches as he fights back tears. Of course, Rapunzel would be here to provide comfort. How could he have ever imagined anything else? She really was the best person he ever knew, and would continue to be. ]

I'm sorry.

[For worrying her. For making such a big mess. For everything else he's ever done. He's just sorry ]

Don't...

[Her voice cracks with just that one word. It sounds - no, it's clear that Rapunzel is close to tears, and it takes a few moments before she's ready to pull away from the hug so she can look at him. But she doesn't pull away entirely, leaving her hands resting on his shoulders as she looks him in the eye.]

Varian, you don't have to apologize to me. Not for what you did. But- [She squeezes his shoulders, not tight enough to hurt, but as a reassuring sort of pressure.] Please don't ever say you're broken again. You're not. I know it hurts, when you feel lost, or when you feel like you've failed...

[God, she really does know. She knows that sharp sting deep in your heart - when she'd seen his bitter, angry expression as he piloted his automaton to fight her, when she saw Cass destroy the (literal and metaphorical) bridge between them, eyes burning with anger and hurt. Rapunzel's failed the people she loved most in this world over and over, and she knows a part of her will always remember that pain.]

There's nothing wrong with you.

[The crack at that don't makes his chest tighten. He's upsetting her, he knows he is, and guilt surges anew. He's been delving so deep into his self-loathing he hasn't really looked outside himself to see how much he's hurting the people outside himself. The people who love and care for him. He almost flinches- he should have known better.

It takes him a moment to meet her eyes when she pulls back to look at him. Anyone else here might have been met with a wall of resistance. With him standing firm that he's a terrible person, that he is broken and wrong and...

But not with her. Rapunzel has been through so much with him. He tried to destroy everything she cared about and still, still she stood by him. She might have failed, but she never gave up, and that makes all the difference. He can feel tears prick at the corners of his eyes. ]

I just keep messing up. I really, really tried this time and people still got hurt. I just wanted to get people home.

[Then, a little quieter because it's a selfish thought and he's been trying to push it back because it's selfish. He shouldn't be doing this for him.]

I wanted to go home. I miss my dad.

EMERGENCY ZODIAC BROADCAST

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