camppetoskey | All these wet noodles, good lord.

All these wet noodles, good lord.

[ So sometime late into Sunday, right before sunset, Cielo can be seen running through camp, soaked, and bleeding profusely from one of his arms. He's just screaming like an idiot, out of breath, making hand gestures at anyone in the cabins or the lodge. He doesn't stay long in one area, looking for help wherever he can.

He is also, incidentally, looking for Stan if he can find him. ]

Help--de clearin'--everybody real badly hurt, we need first-aid, I can only do so much, bandages...! Anythin' you got! An' pain medicine! We gwon need a lot!

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Meta... metaverse. Sol, the Lord's Palace. Their heart...

Mitsuru. Wait.

Ren.

[Lenka's going to reach over and close a hand over his shoulder, leaning carefully over so that he can see him. He's not sure what Petoskey stone vision is like, but he's trying to get his attention and focus.]

Slow down. Who is Sol?

[He wants to ask about the real ones more than anything right now. But one thing at a time.]

The... the rock. The one in our heads. It's alive. They're... just a kid..

[He bites back questions as Lenka speaks, but--]

They're really holding onto those souls, then?

[He nods]

Yeah, think so. They didn't seem to be... hurt or anything. Just in another version of the camp.

You said before you saw other versions of the dead campers in Red's palace. You're absolutely certain these are their real souls?

These didn't look like constructs, more like... ghosts. We couldn't understand them, they were arguing with each other about us. Talcott... tried to give me something.

I can't say for sure, but I think so. Constructs don't usually act like that.

Why is Sol doing this to us?

Don't... know. The ritual maybe? I remember something. I think it's what Tal was trying to tell me.

"Bodies for food, souls for growth. Nearly 100 souls caught between."

[Mitsuru makes a disgusted sound before standing abruptly.]

Useless. I'll deal with the others now.

[Talcott's been kneeling by Ren's head, not really understanding all that's going on but at that he freezes, shuddering like he might be crying if he were capable of that anymore.]

My notebook! [He struggles to pull himself together enough to speak clearly, reaching out for Ren.]

It was my notebook, I wanted you to know- I'm sorry, love

I'm sorry

[Ren hugs him- it's weak but he's trying]

I know, I know... it's okay.

[He squeezes too tight, too hard. It'll hurt but he can't stop himself. And then the hug gentles and he smiles softly.]

You know it's dangerous to stay out too long in this heat, darlin.

[Just reaching up to brush some of those damp curls away from Ren's face now.]

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le_mat - 2018-07-02 01:50 (UTC) - Expand

The rock god. Are Sol and Asin-manidoo the same?

I... I think so.

You said 'the Lord's Palace'. Then they're also the same as the Lord in the chapel. The one the dead here talk about.

Huh?

[He frowns.]

I mean, yeah, I think so.

You said, 'it's alive', too. What does that mean?

[I mean, presumably gods are usually alive, he kills them for a living.]

It's... aware. Like a person. They're scared of being killed or put in a... a dark place. They thought we were going to hurt it...

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He's right. He... dey? Dey jus' a tiny little one, an' dey's so afraid of dyin' an'...

[ Cielo buries his face in his hands. ]

We jus' scared 'em more. We was tryin' to help. But--dey were dere, we saw 'em. Lance. De othas. Like... weird shadowy versions of 'em, but dey couldn't speak to or hear us.

A child god...

[The pain of timelines, where he hasn't met any other child gods yet. But Lenka thinks it over, now that things are settling a little and people are being put back together.]

How did you scare them?

... Ren touched de kid. Didn't wanna be touched, said as much.

[ He winces, they messed up. ]

He was tryin' to comfort dem.

... I see.

[He's not especially surprised, even if he isn't the type of touchy-feely person who would instinctively reach out as much as a lot of the others seem to. If the god had appeared as a child, then all the more -- it made all the more sense for them to want to reach out.

He doesn't know what it means, though.]

And then... they attacked you?

Sure did. Dey were lashin' out, afraid. Thought we was gwon hurt dem, I think.

[ He sighs. ]

Dey really strong. ... An', de otha dead campers, dey were dere too. I had to kick Heat right in de face, he was tryin' to drown me.

... The other campers, the souls, they attacked you when Sol did?

[That's... interesting. Worrying, when it comes to trying to understand what they are and what Ren was telling them, but... it might have had something to do with Palaces, too. He still doesn't entirely understand those.]

I guess Heat would be there. I didn't know he could drown.

[Thought he was a fire guy.]