FINAL INVESTIGATION

[strangerpeople]

FINAL INVESTIGATION


[Fifteen X-Passes. Six weeks. Freedom at last.



But it's not the end. Of course it's not. There are questions to answer, and souls to save. And now that the group is outside, they can see where they are.

They are inside a massive cavern, illuminated in an eerie green light, standing on a stone path. On one side is the ship-or rather, a massive, ship-shaped tangle of bloody branches, the trunk-like roots snaking out and into the river its buoyed on, as well as into the ceiling of stalactites. Said river is wine dark, but it's clearly not water. No-it is blood.

And on the other side of their little pathway? A root-encrusted palace. It sits over a labyrinthine city, bathed in emerald, and all is eerily silent save for some sounds coming from within the castle. It's clear the infestation somehow started here. And it is here that answers are likely to be found.

The doors are right in front of the group-and they are already open, covered in branches. From the outside, it seems little more than a ruin. Once everyone goes in, though?




It's even worse. The tree has taken over. Whatever lives here is no longer in charge. There's no easy way to disentangle the Qilphoth from this place. But there is life here, somehow. You can see figures entangled within the roots as you explore. And-they are still, somehow, alive. More than alive. They are beings that bleed ichor instead of blood-beings of incredible divinity and power. They are gods. And they are hostage to the tree, forever and ever, trapped in induced ennui, unless something is done.


So welcome, Strangers, to the House of Hades.]







[Once you enter, the investigation shall begin.


Good luck.]



((OoC: And here are team assignments!))

Comments

[lovedthemost]

Yes, but they're a bit more apparent now! [if a shade could gesture wildly at the situation they're in, he would.

Unfortunately, in his current state, it just ends up looking like erratic wiggling]

[superstylishsquid]

I've known they were there since the end of the second week.

Besides, literal demon from Hell? Kinda used to bloodthirsty flora.

[lovedthemost]

That explains you, but what about the others?! I bet they're not used to bloodthirsty flora!

[superstylishsquid]

After the past couple weeks? They probably are.

It's gotten pretty visible on the ship.

[lovedthemost]

[Oh, well that'll pull Brain out of his yelling, attention temporarily diverted]

Eh? Really?

What was the ship like when you left?

[superstylishsquid]

I mean, you saw the flowers growing on the walls, right? And I've been catching glimpses of vines for weeks.

But more than that, we found out the ship is at least partly organic. There was even a room that looked like it was made of flesh, holding everyone's corpses.

[lovedthemost]

[oh ew]

...to think that we've been living in that place with it for this long.

[he shudders, which honestly comes off less serious and more hilarious in blob form]

It was simply holding everyone's corpses? I was under the impression that our bodies were destroyed.

[superstylishsquid]

Some of them were, the ones we went out of our way to keep from the tree. Most of them, though...have been in pods connected to the ship. Dunno what it wants with them, but...

I know a Witch went out of her way to make sure the demonic victims couldn't return to their bodies, even if their souls made it back to the ship.

[lovedthemost]

[Brain hums a bit, contemplative]

I see.

One of the opponents we faced on our way up said that our bodies were gone. I wonder if this is what it meant...

[superstylishsquid]

'Gone' as in 'stolen', you think? We left them behind on the ship, though it's possible Moriarty could get us back there now.

[lovedthemost]

Possibly.

Perhaps we might have to go back there eventually, if that's what's housing our bodies.

[superstylishsquid]

If we do...sorry about yours and Kaito's. Though, yours...wasn't in any state to be reused anyway, by the time we found it.

[lovedthemost]

[....]

What do you mean?

[lol, lmao, someone doesn't know about what happened to his body post-death]

CW: Talk of dismemberment

[superstylishsquid]

All of your limbs had been hacked off, and one was even left in the oven.

[lovedthemost]

[...well. Brain goes very still at that for a very, very long moment]

....I see. That was Val's doing, then?

[superstylishsquid]

Yeah. Made for a pretty upsetting scene for the mortals.

[lovedthemost]

[hhhhhhhh]

I suppose that makes any retrieval of my body a useless endeavor.

[superstylishsquid]

Ritsu needs a new one anyway, so I've already talked to Gai and we've figured out a way to get spares. So long as we can take your souls with us, getting you and Kaito functional bodies should actually be easier than getting Ritsu one.

[lovedthemost]

Yes, Gai-san mentioned to me that, if body retrieval wasn't possible, then he would be able to help if we went back to his home.

Admittedly, I am not interested in spending any more time in this form than I have to.

[somuchshipping]

[Hermes looks to Alastor. He wonders if he should tell Brain.]

[lovedthemost]

[unfortunately, it seems the beans have been spilled]

[somuchshipping]

[No, about the other thing.]

[superstylishsquid]

[He just nods. Brain should remember what happened with Kaito's body, after all.]

[somuchshipping]

Brain, I... I made sure your body was nothing but ash.

[Hermes summons a fireball on an upturned footclaw, but doesn't release it or throw it anywhere.]

Alastor wanted to limit the number of bodies feeding the tree.

[lovedthemost]

[. . . ]

I see. That was probably wise, as it wasn't salvageable anyway.