avalaughs | EVENT ✨ Nightmare on Elph Street

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EVENT ✨ Nightmare on Elph Street

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The ritual-wiping ritual wasn't the best news for Avalon and magic has been wacky for everyone since it was performed. However, if there was a time for it to happen, it happening before the Spring Equinox was just about the best time it could happen. The Spring Equinox, after all, is a time of renewal and rebirth. It's what you'd call a silver lining. As long as enough people participate in the Spring Equinox rituals, it should be fine... right?

CONTENT WARNINGS:

1st Prompt: --
2nd Prompt: --
3rd Prompt: --

This part of the event takes place on March 20th.

Though there is no Spring Masquerade this year as there had bene the last, there is a much smaller token of appreciation from the castle of Camelot to all of those who live within its borders: a gift basket with a salad of edible flowers, eggs, breakfast sausages, and a small bottle of champagne (or sparkling seltzer for those underage) and a bottle of orange juice to make mimosas with. Those of the vegetarian through vegan persuasions will receive vegan white chocolate eggs filled with coconut cream frosting and a mango puree 'yolk' and Avalon's best plant-based sausages. It's not quite a feast, but no one should go hungry on this day of celebration! Brownies will help to deliver these overnight, so you'll find them on your doorstep in the morning with a special spell to keep everything fresh through most of the early afternoon. Since there is no party this time, everyone will have the chance to see Avalon's plants begin to overgrow at a rapid pace within the city.
Those who saw it last year or locals who are normally residents of Avalon will tell you not to fear, this happens every spring. The plants grow around and not through structures, the buildings still safe and sound beneath large vines and leaves and pools and flowers. Most notably, huge beds of vines, open seed pools, and giantic flowers large enough to take a bath in have started cropping up around town, and they all seem to be filled with a vibrant, glowing liquid of some kind. Each of these floral wonders, locals will tell you, is called a vernal soul pool. Upon entering one, you'll enter a lucid sleep state that connects you to everyone else in Avalon and the island itself. Doing so will cause your magic to be amplified and grow and stabilize, but also allow you to be cleansed and refreshed as a person. How much detail the person you're talking to gives is up to you (in case your characters would back off of it if they had the following details but you still want to experience it). Once someone enters, they will immediately feel as if they are at home and the pod will close over them gently, leaving them in a pool of that mysterious glowing substance-- vines grow further to encase, the pool closes, flowers close into buds instead of open blossoms. Under normal circumstances, the pools would remain closed and in this state until the witching hour and slowly and gently awaken those within. However, even the magics of the spring aren't stable right now, and what ends up happening is the pools suddenly spill open before anyone's dream sharing can truly get underway, dumping their passengers out onto the ground into a state of jarring awakeness. With them, they will find they are unable to access their Avalon magics but instead have one of the following: Unstable, uncontrolled access to their canon powers. They may start shooting off random magic, they may be unable to shut down a normally passive ability gone into overdrive, or when they try to use their abilities, it goes outright wrong-- "Accio Excalibur" in an attempt to save the multiverse might result in all figurines of Excaliburs within 10 miles to come hurdling toward you, for example. Access to the beginner, untrained level of canon powers of someone whose shared consciousness you entered. Even if you don't have canon powers of your own, you will be able to access someone else's with this option. This part of the event takes place late night on March 20th through slightly past midnight on March 21st.
	The fairy queen's envoy, Princess Bluebell, sends out a panicked emergency message (complete with the obnoxious alarm that sets off phones even on silent) after a couple of hours of this, and casts a mirror-travel spell to Nicnevin so that any may quickly arrive just outside of its borders, next to the river. The message states that the dream world and reality have melted together due to the majority of magic being funneled into the time freeze spell or the equinox ritual, which uses Queen Mab as a vessel through which the vernal soul pools channel everyone's magic. The Spring Equinox renewal did NOT go as planned, needless to say. Otherworlders must head to Mab's Cavern to locate Queen Mab and absorb some of her energy by touching her to stabilize their magics and drain the spring equinox's out of her before even bigger disaster strikes!
Mab's Cavern is typically a place forbidden to enter under normal circumstances. It is the world of dreams and nightmares takes from our subconscious what we most desire and what we most fear and our memories and turns them into reality. This is what your character will have to face without their Avalonian magic and the above either unstable or beginner-level powers. Mab normally goes into a slumber and connects herself to the whole of Avalon during the Spring Equinox to allow the vernal soul pools to utilize her magic, so she cannot let everyone in or help anyone navigate her realm. Mab's Cavern looks like a normal mountain from the outside, covered from head to toe in pink cherry and plum blossoms trees, shrouded in a fog that's pink itself from reflecting the petals. The entrance to the inside of the cavern is an ancient door, carved from white marble and enchanted to be impassible without an offering and engraved says: "Offer me your most secret dream and enter this forbidden realm. Dream with me for eternity." The offering, in this case, is simple: speak your most secret dream out loud for the door. The open door will allow one person to pass through per offering, and leads into a hall entirely coated in flowers of a variety of colors. These flowers speak, and will ask you how you are, warn you to turn back, tell you and whoever you're walking with that you make a cute couple, sing the national anthem of their people, whatever. They seem to get more and more chatterbox-y as you head inward and the lights grow dimmer until there is no light left. Even if you light one, it seems as if you are in a black space where nothing exists but you and whoever you walk with (if anyone), and voices.

This portion of the event contains a FOURTH WALL EVENT element and takes place on March 21st.

That is, until you hear a new voice and the chatterbox flowers hush. Anyone from any canon can appear and team up with you within Mab's Cavern as this is a fourth wall event. Guest characters will have access to their canon abilities, but cannot leave Mab's Cavern or affect the environment outside of it.

Your new party member can accompany you through Mab's Cavern, which takes the form of a location from in-game characters' memories. Within it, their darkest fear will turn into a physical enemy and attempt to hunt them down. (How you interpret this is up to you as a player-- please create your own monsters based on your character's fears, even if they are more conceptual than physical.) Within it, their deepest desires may find fulfillment (we leave this to player

glowy cave water

interpretation again, but be sure to ask permission if it involves another character who is in the game or a part of the fourth wall) and their new party member may need to convince them to leave instead of staying in the dream world forever.

Characters who are able to get past both desires and fears will find themselves able to see a door that wasn't within their memory before. Upon going through it, they will be able to find Queen Mab, asleep in the center of what appears to be a glowing, underwater pond with stones that raise above the surface that lead to her bed some hundred feet in. Beneath the surface, more of the talking flowers start to cry about their woes-- unveiling that they failed against their fears and desires, and those who do will find themselves turned into flowers within Queen Mab's cavern, only able to escape if they are able to touch another living person!

If you've trusted the flowers, you'll find yourself in trouble. These are actually souls who crossed Queen Mab and attempted to steal their desires away from her cavern and bring them into reality. Their curse? They can escape if they trade another soul for theirs. Now would be a good time for a partner to help pull you out because as soon as you touch one of the flowers, they will turn into vines and attempt to wrap around you to pull you under the water and drown you! The "water" itself is the same liquid used within the vernal soul pools, so you'll find your life literally flashing before your eyes as this happens, making it very difficult to escape without someone else's help. If you die in the water, the flowers who did it will transform back into their original selves and flee, and you will be transformed into a talking flower yourself.

If you make it to Queen Mab, you'll need to place a hand on her and all dreams and reality will sort themselves out within you-- that is, your broken powers will disappear and your Avalonian magics will return. As you head out again, the guest character brought in to help you will begin to fade away slowly enough that you can say your goodbye before they are gone. There is no way to stop this. All memories of fourth wall visitors will be retained as part of game canon.

After enough people have come to take Mab's powers enough to deplete the effects of the Vernal Pools, the Fairy Queen herself will come to Mab and run a strange-looking dagger through her heart. All of the Spring Equinox magic that was being filtered through her will be released into the land and stabilize magic for everyone, and a flower will blossom out of Mab's heart around the dagger. Within the center of the bud glows a small child version of Mab, and anyone still in the cavern will find themself just wandering around in a dark cave. The Fairy Queen glows in the dark and will lead them out with little magic glow bubbles that try to make them follow if they get separated from her vicinity, but is still not speaking to anyone. She will also transport anyone who has been turned into a talking flower out of the cave via some kind of levitation spell and give them to someone they know-- whether they know them in a positive or negative light is up to you, she can only register connection on sight with magic, not emotion.

A little research will reveal the following solutions to restoring your character:

Siphoners and countercurse potions can remove the curse to get them back to 100% normal.
Animal mages can transform them back into their original species (but they will still smell like flowers for the rest of their life).
Green mages can use their magic to cultivate them into flower people-- who look like themselves, but now require sunlight and water to survive instead of food and occasionally sprout a flower or two in their hair.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I haven't forgotten, Than. [He says it in a quiet voice. He's not ungrateful for the help, but Thanatos's extended presence here just serves to underline how abnormal this situation is, and that most likely, he doesn't think he can handle it on his own. It also makes it harder for Zagreus to hide his frayed nerves compared to the usual banter before Thanatos is on his way again.

But it's a comfort all the same. If there's anyone he'd want on his side at this moment, it's him. He takes a breath to compose himself.]

But I don't have a plan at all, and I doubt your training with Lord Ares involved dragging him into nigh impossible battles. What are we supposed to do?

[Something about what Zagreus says has Thanatos cracking a wry smile. It only stays on his face for a moment but the idea that he would not have thrown the young god of war into nigh-impossible battles is amusing in its own way.

Of course he would have done that.

Thanatos, though, is not someone made for war. That's Ares' sphere. Nor is he someone made for strategy. His existence has never relied on either of those things and yet he finds a strong need for them now and wonders, just for a moment, if he might be more of a liability than a help in this situation.

He shakes that off quickly and tightens his grip on his weapons.]

We're not giving up, to begin with. [That doesn't feel like an option in any case.] We're going to take this brute on, and we're going to take it down. Together. Agreed?

[Okay, so maybe Zagreus's perspective is a little skewed by how Thanatos treats him, but still...!

To the question he still looks reluctant, unable to meet Thanatos's eye and instead gazing along the hallway ahead. It could be waiting for them there, it could be some ways away yet. Regardless, they're on borrowed time.]

...Agreed. [He forces himself to look back to Thanatos, to indicate he means it. That he believes in him.] But on the off chance the Fates are against us and I fall, I still want you to leave me behind. I'll just-- figure something out, like always. [Even if, admittedly, that 'figuring something out' is usually someone else bailing him out, this time he'll just have to do it on his own.]

If that creature is really his doing, I underestimated how much Father despises me.

I will not--

[His jaw snaps shut with an irritable, audible click as Zagreus keeps talking, because how could the prince think for even a moment that such a thing was acceptable? When he could be seriously hurt here, he might even die here, and there was no Styx for him to walk out of to be greeted by Thanatos' bubbly twin brother?

Death Incarnate gives a small twitch of his head and steps forwards. They will gain nothing by simply standing here.]

I'm not going to leave you here. [More measured. More like himself. Or perhaps not, with the fondness wrapped up in those quiet words. Even if this is only temporary, or a complete figment of Thanatos' imagination, he will not leave Zagreus behind and he will hold on to every moment that he gets to spend at his side.

Such things, over the course of his time in Avalon, have become far more important than they used to be.]

Come on, it must be somewhere up ahead.

[Zagreus looks surprised for a moment; there's something subtly different about Thanatos from the last time they spoke, and he has an inkling it's not just the stress of their present circumstances doing the talking. Regardless, it brings a smile to his face, immeasurably fond, and he also has to silently kick himself for opening his big mouth and hurting him again. He's better at being hurtful than he ever intends to be.]

Thank you. I mean it. [But he's right, they should get going. He can't procrastinate on this confrontation any longer. Zagreus turns to head down the hall, and he can feel a chill beginning to seep into the air that he'd usually associate with the surface. It's close, so he speaks in a hushed voice.]

Since it's after me, I'll keep it distracted, while you try to flank it. Once you see an opening, go all in, and that's when we'll take it out. Together.

[There's no time to iron out any further details than that, because the rattle of chains greets them as they enter the next chamber, as does an ungodly groan, the giant's shadowy form lumbering towards them. Zagreus grips his blade, and not for the first time in his life, tries to put on a braver face and more forced cheer than he really feels.]

Hello! We're done running away, I think. So why don't you come over here and fight me? [It's very obviously bait: the creature is vaguely his father's size and shape, but it certainly doesn't possess Hades's intelligence. So it shouldn't catch on that he's just creating a distraction by calling it in his direction, he hopes.]

[There hasn't really been the time to talk yet. He hasn't been able to tell Zagreus about how long he's actually been here, about how close they had grown before, and how his time away from being the God of Death has changed him... for the better, he thinks, even if it has only been for a short time.

He would like to tell Zagreus about these things, but first they have something else to take care of.

'Thank you', the prince says, and Thanatos nods shortly. Could anything else be expected of him? Despite everything, he would follow Zagreus anywhere and it seems as if everyone except for he and Zagreus had noticed it. As for the plan, he isn't sure how much he likes it, but...]

Fine. [He replies before they enter the chamber and are greeted, once again, by the monument of all of Zagreus' fears. The prince baits the creature and Thanatos moves swiftly to the side, his steps quick and his weapons confidently held.

More confidence than he feels, with his Avalon-based magic defunct and his own not up to par. Getting Zagreus killed is not an acceptable outcome of this encounter.

When he sees his opening, Thanatos darts in and strikes at the creature's unguarded back.]

[Zagreus, thankfully, still has his borrowed Olympian powers intact, which means he's the better of the two to distract the creature. Hermes's swiftness helps him evade it, Athena's shields glance off the worst of the blows it manages to strike with its shadowy spear, and he can counterattack with Zeus's thunder. Still, it's fast too, unreasonably so, and at one point it manages to snag a chain around Zagreus's ankle and yank him to the ground.

I see I was too merciful. Why bother imprisoning you? He can hear the creature, using his father's voice and yet not, seemingly filling his head and the entire chamber all at once. Trying to drain his will to fight once again. I'll tear you limb from limb and toss your remains through Tartarus, just like your ancestors. It raises its shadowy spear, preparing to finish him off.

This time, though, Zagreus pushes down his panic. He recalls their plan, and sees Thanatos move. Once he does, Zagreus leaps back to his feet as well, the chain tightening and weighing him down enough that the spear comes down and bites into his side, painting the floor red. It doesn't stop him, though-- he raises his blade and pushes it up into roughly where the monster's heart should be. A crackle of burning electricity tells him he's hit true, and dark ichor bursts from the wound Thanatos inflicts on its back.]

Go back to whatever pit of Tartarus you crawled out from, monster. [Zagreus says through gritted teeth. The giant bellows, tries to grab at Zagreus, who twists his blade in deeper still. He can't retreat when he's caught-- he just has to trust Thanatos will finish it for him.]

[How long had Thanatos stayed silent, lurking around the corner from Hades' desk while he avoided making eye contact with Achilles and listened to the endless beration being heaped upon the young prince Zagreus? How long had he listened, knowing none if was true yet too numb within himself to find any fire to speak up against it?

Not this time. He hears those words and feels the anger at them stoking up in his chest.

In the moment before he moves he looks Zagreus' way, but from that brief beat he is fully focused on his task. Zagreus will do his part, he's certain of that, and sure enough he sees the jolt of the electricity fizzing through the beast as he hops back for a moment and adjusts his hold on the his scythe. His sword drops to the ground with a clatter and his signature weapon is taken in two hands, and with a wide, arcing swipe he cleaves the creature's head clean from its shoulders.]

That's enough out of you!

[Thanatos snarls the words out. Ichor spatters across the both of them. A death-spasm in one massive, flailing arm knocks Thanatos off his feet. He scrambles up again, winded, immediately looking to find his companion. A small cut on his cheek oozes reddish-gold against the grey-tan of his skin.]

Zagreus!

[Zagreus drops to his knees to avoid it thrashing around in its death throes, until the creature dissolves into a black fog, the chain binding him disappearing along with it. Once he's sure it's gone, Zagreus lowers his blade and stops to catch his breath, pressing a hand to his side. He's not severely injured -- no more than he's used to, at least, even if he's still bleeding -- but it's more the shock of the situation sinking in. He still almost died, and if he'd given in to his fear in that brief moment and hesitated, he probably would have been speared clean through.]

We did it. [He breathes with relief. Then he looks up at Thanatos, and he's startled.] --Than? You're hurt.

[Not badly, it looks like, but he doesn't even remember the last time he's seen Thanatos get so much as a scratch in battle.]

[He's in the middle of stooping to pick up his sword again when Zagreus says his name and Thanatos glances over at him, appearing faintly startled in turn. After sheathing his sword he touches the tips of two fingers carefully to the small point of pain on his cheek and blinks, then shakes his head.]

I'm fine, Zag. Don't worry about it.

[It could have been worse. Thanatos knows he can die here and he dislikes thinking about it even as much as it remains a constant concern when it comes to his twin. Besides, he has far more pressing concerns as he strides over to his companion and looks him up and down with what would no doubt be a familiar frown.]

I don't think you can say the same for yourself. Let me see.

It almost got me, but it's nothing too serious. [He gets to his feet so Thanatos can take a look at the cut, dismissing Stygius in a burst of flame.] If there's a fountain ahead, I can patch myself up.

[Just business as usual! Even if the stakes were much higher this time around, it's a little easier to be lighthearted about it now it's over, so he smiles to show him it's really not that bad.]

You were perfect, you know. I mean-- carrying out the plan, that is. [agh this is the worst possible time to get tongue-tied]

I'll be the judge of that. [The stoic death god mutters as he examines the cut, but it looks like Zagreus is a good enough judge of his own injuries and he can't find any way to argue against the assertion that it isn't too serious. Red blood just always looks so alarming.

He meets Zagreus' gaze, the eye contact lingering for a few beats. There's no way for him to ignore the slight clenching sensation in the centre of his chest at hearing that, even though Zagreus tries to cover it.]

It was your plan. [Thanatos points out levelly, a faint smile briefly softening the edges of his stern features.] I knew you could do it.

Still, I might've kept on trying to run away if you hadn't encouraged me to face it. So... Thank you.

[Perhaps encouraged, too, by that lingering gaze, he reaches up with his unbloodied hand to wipe at Thanatos's cheek with a thumb. An affectionate gesture, but still a concerned one, as he studies his expression closely.]

You're sure you're all right?

[A small nod is given at the thanks and then Zagreus' hand is up close to his face and he doesn't flinch away, but his eyes widen just a little. Enough that Zagreus would be able to see the subtle shift in his expression.]

I'm fine.

[He takes hold of Zagreus' wrist with a light touch, sliding his thumb against the heel of the young prince's hand. His face is probably going to bruise, but he'll live.]

I always am, don't look so concerned. [Actually, please don't, because he isn't sure how much longer he can cope with seeing Zagreus looking at him like that.] It's just a scratch.

[Zagreus looks like something is on the tip of his tongue, but then he huffs out a laugh and averts his gaze, and the moment passes.]

I'm just not used to seeing you hurt. Even Death isn't always invincible, I suppose.

[He gives Thanatos's hand a quick squeeze, before looking ahead of them to the other side of the chamber, where a door has appeared. It looks out of place here, but it's not exactly the strangest thing to happen today.]

We should get moving.

... Not always.

[He's been bested before, on more than one occasion, but such things are always a sore topic for Thanatos and often best left well alone. The squeeze to his hand is lightly returned before their fingers part and he looks to the door with a suspicious frown.

Well... it's that way or staying in here, and with no other options...

Thanatos sighs.]

Let's go, then.

[And through the door it is.

On the other side is... somewhere that Thanatos immediately recognises. A wide field of gently swaying red poppies, the rushing sound of a river in the distance, and a cave just in view. The air is heavy with the scent of the flowers and sitting in the middle of them is a tall, slender god with white hair.

A god who cocks his head when Thanatos and Zagreus draw closer, and speaks up in a chirpy voice.]

Oh! You made it! And he hasn't left you yet, Thanatos. That's neat.

[Zagreus is surprised when he sees just who's waiting for them in the next room. For all his forays into Tartarus, not once has he run into Hypnos there. It's not the cosiest place for a nap, after all.]

Hi, Hypnos. You're not at the House?

[He's not sure what he meant by that comment addressed to Thanatos, so he ignores it for now.]

It isn't Hypnos.

[Thanatos knows his brother. Even in Avalon the threads that bind them are not something so easily severed. Whatever that is sitting in front of them... it may have the appearance and voice of his twin, but that is not his brother.

He puts his arm out to stop Zagreus moving any closer, and his other hand tightens around the handle of his scythe.

The thing that looks like Hypnos appears unfazed. Thanatos' jaw tenses.]

Nope! I was just waiting for him, but it looks like you've stuck with him longer than he thought you would.

What--?

[He looks between them and wants to ask how Thanatos can tell, but if anyone could, it would be his twin. So he stays where he is, more wary now, but doesn't call his weapon just yet.]

We're just passing through. Let us go, and we won't bother you.

[Thanatos stands silent. Not so strange for him, perhaps, but there's a tension in him that isn't usually there. He keeps his arm up across Zagreus' chest even though the younger god has stopped moving.

No one knows Hypnos better than his twin. No one knows better what Hypnos is capable of than his twin. He's a god, after all, and cut from the same cloth as Thanatos himself. Between the two of them, they could bring Olympus, the surface, and the Underworld to their knees if they were so inclined.

'Hypnos' lets out a giddy little laugh and slowly rises to his feet. When he's upright there's something uncanny about his posture, and it takes Thanatos a moment to realise that it's because he isn't carting about his usual quilted blanket.]

Why don't you go, Zag? Then me and Thanatos can have a chat. [The creature's voice comes out saccharine-sweet. Thanatos feels his heart start to race. If the thing in the room before was a sum of Zagreus' fears... then what is this?]

Don't worry about hurting his feelings. He barely has any to hurt. Or-- whoops, he didn't at least, until you tried to run away.

[That stings, coming from Hypnos of all people-- or a thing with Hypnos's face and voice, he reminds himself.]

Don't mock him like that. I know I hurt him, and we've already talked about it.

[Thanatos can no doubt stand up for himself, and he doesn't want to rise to whatever bait this is, but he has to say it, regardless. He looks to the other god beside him, more urgent now. His nerves were already frayed from the previous chamber; he doesn't want to deal with whatever this too.]

Come on, Than. Let's go.

[He should do what Zagreus tells him, but finds himself rooted in place as this thing that looks like his brother continues to blithely smile at the both of them.]

Go on, leave. It's what you're both best at doing.

[Thanatos' hand is on his sword-hilt before he realises what he's doing but then he stalls, looking momentarily at a loss. This isn't his twin, but it looks and sounds like his twin, and he can't...

He can't do anything.]

You know he's going to abandon you, Than. He can do better than you. What do you have to offer, anyway? You should just stick to what you're good at.

What does he have to offer? [Zagreus lets out a small laugh of disbelief, as if he even needs to ask.] Than's always risking himself for my sake. Even if that means betraying his lord or getting hurt, I know he'd do anything to stand by me. He's kind, and thoughtful, and deeply caring, and--

[And right there, Zagreus realises belatedly, so he should probably stop. Faintly embarrassed, but nonetheless determined to emphasise he means it, he draws his blade, stepping around Thanatos to point it at "Hypnos".]

I think it's high time I return the favour. You can wear Hypnos's face all you like, but if you say another bad word about him, I'll run you through.

[He's smiling, but his tone and the rest of his body language are anything but, tensed and prepared to strike. Unlike Thanatos' misgivings, Zagreus is used to cutting down people he cares about, and a pale imitation will do even less to stop him.]

[Zagreus is facing this down like a trooper, but something in the combination of the words being said, 'who' is saying them, and Zagreus being here to hear it is keeping Thanatos peculiarly frozen. Silence from the stoic death god is not unusual but how quiet and still he is right now is not normal even for him.

This isn't the first time he's heard accusations like this in Avalon, though the last time they had come from a twisted reflection of himself, and not his brother. He hadn't known what to do about it then, either.

The thing that is not Hypnos just giggles again.]

Look at him. Have you noticed you're the only one trying to defend him?

[Could Thanatos stand by and watch while Zagreus cut down something that looked like his brother, even if it wasn't him? His hand is still on his sword hilt, but he's still not drawing the weapon.]

He knows you're going to leave him. You'll find something better, then off you'll pop! He didn't even tell you he was trying to leave Hades, Than, remember?

[Zagreus' grip on his blade doesn't falter, but he does look over his shoulder to where Thanatos is seemingly frozen in place, and his bravado fizzles out. Maybe brute forcing his way through this won't work after all, so he chooses his next words with care.]

Than... you know why I had to leave. And I'm sorry I didn't do it right... That I didn't tell you. But I couldn't stay in the House forever and not know the truth. I couldn't live with myself that way.

[He lowers his sword, turning to Thanatos properly.]

I never wanted to leave you. Truthfully, I don't know what I'd do without you. I can't convince you with just words, I know... but I still want you to trust me.

[Tentatively, he rests a hand on Thanatos' arm, as if it might help bring him back from the haze of dark thoughts the illusion is trying to drag him under.]

Please.

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