EVENT #3: THE COST OF INNOCENCE

[aionmods]

The Cost of Innocence

INVESTIGATION

As the Aions arrive in Venera, they will find the natural beauty of the city in sharp contrast to its uncomfortable aura. Though the sun still shines and flowers still bloom in a place filled with physical vibrancy and life, the air itself is impossibly still, as if wind no longer blows. You can taste the stagnancy of it when you breathe, and the pleasant sights only make that feeling of absence more haunting. The streets are mostly empty, with most of the city's residents hiding away in their homes, fearing the touch of whatever illness has caused this. That is, all the citizens besides those most affected, who wander the streets in a lifeless and painless daze.

Normally, Venera would be occupied by both Hylician and Achamite soldiers, but it quickly becomes apparent that both have abandoned the city, only guarding its furthest outskirts. Their reasons vary: the Achamite soldiers seem to take religious objection to the feeling of the city, believing it to be some trickery of the Innocent, while the Hylicians simply see it as a plague they have no interest in catching or spreading. Because of this, it will be easy for Aions of both sects to explore with little pushback from any form of law enforcement. The Kenoma will be directed into the city with warnings about the potential physical and spiritual danger while Pleroma will be able to sneak in mostly unbothered. After all, no one is eager to follow you.

Most shops and businesses are currently closed, though some uninfected individuals still nervously keep watch over their workplaces, fearing potential looting. It's difficult, but not impossible, to find people to talk to, and while the most plentiful wanderers are the infected, the reactions from those with their minds still intact will vary. Some will be eager to speak to anyone who looks like they're trying to do something about their situation, desperate for any source of outside help. If revealed you are an Aion, this may either entice them even further or cause them to retreat, as if fearing that you are somehow to blame for their plight. For those that are enticed, it will become clear that they hold onto faith that Aions are in Horos to save them, and will tell these new arrivals whatever they can without discriminating between sects.

The base level information that can be found is thus: the infection began at the same levels it has been in the rest of Horos, only for the numbers of the afflicted to rapidly accelerate upon the coming of the Innocent's Moon. Some see it as a form of divine punishment for their cooperation with the Regent, while the less cooperative citizens see it as a malady brought about by the Aions themselves, their only hope being that they will be able to clean up the mess they made. Some citizen have managed to corral their inflicted loves ones into their rooms and will be willing to introduce you; most of these individuals are past the point of conversation, and seem fully lost to whatever fantasy world they are experiencing. They are disinterested in eating or drinking and it seems like, without help, they are destined for a slow death of starvation and atrophy. That is, if their apathetic state doesn't result in a severe accident, as it has in many cases already.

Any other clues will take more dogged investigation. It will be a day or so after the majority of Aions have arrived in the city that the first signs of their own infections become clear.

HEAVENLY BODIES

The first to feel its effects will be the Innocents, Lovers, and Celebrants; like a voice has fully awakening to them, whispering of how their touch can be the cure to the others' pain. It bids them to take their fellow Aions into their loving embrace, to share this gift, as only suffering lies ahead. It expresses without words that it will be a shield for their Aion kindred, and that those that accept will become their outstretched hands to a cosmos that craves peace. Any form of physical contact with those three Legacies will either introduce or rapidly accelerate the infections experienced by the others, this effect only becoming more intense if the wielder intentionally forces the power of this strange entity into their victims.

Even without that accelerating touch, however, other Aions are not necessarily safe; the infection will still seep in, albeit more slowly. All Aions may experience a growing feeling of connection to the infected Venerans, as if the energy within them is being drawn into their their own bodies. As the Aion's symptoms worsen, the the ones suffered by the Venerans will gradually lessen, though not go away entirely. It seems that the Aions soaking up this strange power is enough to take the edge off of what is happening to the citizens: but at what cost?

Various symptoms will manifest in afflicted Aions with outcomes far more diverse and devastating than what the Veneran civilians have experienced. Visionaries, Firebrands, and Artisans will suffer the most catastrophic symptoms, the clash between their spiritual natures and that of the Innocence being the most extreme. This malady is characterized by its innate desire to quell its victims of their resistance, smothering them in artificial peace, even if it has to deprive them of their bodies and minds to do so.

It is not without treatment, however. It will gradually become apparent that feelings of intense suffering or upset are capable of purging the infection, that clash with painful reality seeming to wake them up from their trance and reduce or eliminate physical symptoms. The more intense the distress, the more effective it will be. Fortunately, this heightening of Aion spiritual energy has the added consequence of making empathic communion connections far more acute. Instead of just transmitting and receiving emotions and thoughts, Aions will find themselves more easily able to enter the delusions and memories of their kindred, drawing them out and manipulating them for this purpose. The catch is that they will only be able to access what is on the surface of the other Aion's mind.

When an infection is reduced or expelled this way, the energy causing it seems to be dispelled from the city, lowering the intensity of its ambient effects. While similar can be done to Veneran citizens to help treat them, the energy will not leave, and will either go into the Aion casting it out or return to the nebulous source of Innocence and eventually infect someone else. Something about going through the Aions specifically seems to act as a filter, as unpleasant of a way as it is to help.

IN THE SILENCE

For those unlucky enough to develop complete, or near complete, infections (IE. a full Innocence petrification) a presence will awaken within them regardless of their Legacy. It will urge them to join with it, to embrace the peace it offers, and to become the extensions of their will in this ravaged world. With an infection of this intensity, there will be little they can do but to hear its call. What exactly this would ultimately entail is unclear, but there is the sense that his entity is looking to join with you on a spiritual level. If your character becomes infected to this degree please let us know under the Committed Actions toplevel below along with the context of that transformation and whether or not they are being cured from it. You may receive some additional information in return!

QUESTIONS

What is the best way for Aions to travel to Venera?
The quickest travel paths are for Kenoma to take a boat from Achamoth, which will take about a day, and for Pleroma to teleport to the Celebrant's shrine and take either a carriage or river boat to the city (there are offshoot rivers not marked on the setting map). The riverboats would be the faster option option of the two, and would also take about a day. The carriages/delivery carts would be slower and take a couple days, but have relay access to horses and therefore could keep going overnight. Characters with flight are also able to use that, though flying right into the city might cause a bit of spectacle. Then again, none of the local law enforcement is eager to chase you at the moment.

Are Veneran civilians experiencing the same symptoms as the Aions?
Veneran civilians are only experiencing apathy/loss of self/daydreaming and maybe the loss of pigments/color for advanced cases. The more body horror orientated effects are Aion only and are being caused by their body's spiritual makeup.

Can 'cured' Aions be reinfected?
Yes! Even if cured or treated, symptoms can return or worsen again. This will keep happening until the build up of Innocence energy in Venera is entirely expunged, at which point the illness will fade away across the continent. Whether or not the Aions mere presence will be enough to trigger that is yet unknown, but it does seem to be helping lessen the effects suffered by the civilians, at least.

How long does the infection period last in Aions?
Chronologically, we are considering the infection period of the plot to last 2-3 days.

Comments

[gravings]

[ To her credit, the rocket takeoff only gets a meep out of Gray along with a death grip on Hiccup -- but she manages not to fly off like a grocery bag in the wind, which she'll consider a victory. She's no stranger to sudden leaps and bounds or tall heights, but there is something more immediately unnerving about submitting herself to those things while at the complete mercy of other people.

But she's able to adapt surprisingly quickly; after a few minutes of burying her face into Hiccup's back, the powerful beating of Toothless's wings and his smooth, serpentine glide through the air begins to feel comfortable and confident, and her own body begins to adapt to his movements. Slowly, she pulls her face back from Hiccup and chances a look around.

He may be able to hear her surprised intake of breath as the view opens up around her. Her eyes are wide as she realizes how much life there is around them: tiny dragons, fat dragons, air dragons, water dragons. Her meager imagination had only ever conceived of a narrow image of dragons, and to have her preconceptions blown wide all at once is a minor shock. But she can feel how calm Hiccup and Toothless are, so she feels herself calming as well, molding to the wonderful coexistence of so many kinds of creatures.

It doesn't take long for her to find herself enjoying the ride. Toothless's assured flying up, down, and around the seastacks is impossible not to be thrilled by. For the first time since she can remember, she begins to laugh. It's small and modest, much like her usual tone of voice, but after a particularly daring drop, laughter bubbles out of her as if the force of flight were pressing it out of her. She's so absorbed in her delight that she doesn't notice how her hood has blown back, standing no chance against their speed and torque.

The motley village that rears up in front of them is almost just another extraordinary sight in a series of many, but it's especially breathtaking to think that people live there in that organized chaos. ]

It looks like an amazing place. All of this... feels amazing.

[ She isn't eloquent enough to express herself better than that. But she can see why Hiccup would retreat to this place, and subsequently why his aura felt so different back in Horos. The static earth must be a bleak place to return to.

... But return he must. ]

Mr. Hiccup... Thank you for showing me all of this.

[ He's shown her something personal and wonderful, which makes her next task all the more difficult. But she steels herself -- and draws the sword at his side from behind. With her free hand, she braces him at the shoulder, and with the other she drives the sword deep through his torso at an angle, deep enough to pin him to Toothless beneath them. ]

[dragon_rider]

[ Perhaps a Hiccup more in his senses would be prepared for what was to follow. The Hiccup escorting Gray through the skies isn't, though, as in the air he searches for no more than freedom. Too often, he's run away from responsibilities up here. Too often, he's simply been free of all other expectations —

Of course, here in a space where that's always been his place, when another seems to readily accept it he can't help but relax. Grin lively and easy when he hears her laugh, glancing down at Toothless who lagged a tongue out the corner of his mouth in agreement. A pat then, as they watched over Berk. A thousand colors of a whirlwind — a chaotic and free wonder. A distant thought, one of a forest with its people; Not quite the same, still freedom. He doesn't follow the line of thought, assumes it's Atali and the Wing Maidens.

Instead he laughs quietly, breathless and joyful all at once.]

Yeah. It is amazing.

[ Everything they'd worked for. Everything he'd worked for all that time — And in an instant, as so many instances have, everything changes. He feels but doesn't see the other move, doesn't think about it until something pierces all the way through flesh. It forces a shocked gasp out of his mouth. Toothless whines and struggles; The world somehow seems to darken, clouded above and fire below.

Hiccup's hands goes to move for his side, but finds the blade lodged deep in. His breathing catches once more: ]

What are you — You don't have to do this —

[ His pleading is more an attempt to reason. Do what? Try to kill him? She was pretty significantly doing that right now, wasn't she? But even so somehow, even now, he seems to sound less concerned about himself than the girl and the dragon beneath them. The dragon that's now near hurtling to the rushing waters below. ]

[gravings]

[ Gray has cut through bones and spirits before, and with the Holy Lance, she's punched through her opponents. But this is the first time she's pierced through a humam being so intimately, and it feels as serious as she might have expected. Dream or mindscape or whatever this is, the sensation is still very real — and she discovers that unlike a malicious ghost or mindless beast, when you kill a thinking being, you can feel that being's thoughts and emotions seeping into you as thickly as their blood.

She thought he would be angry or violent, but in the end he seems to be pleading with her. As they plummet from the sky, the wind roars in her ears and the lightness of rapid descent becomes dizzying, but she hangs on tight to Hiccup and his sword with his pitiable voice sinking straight into her heart as if her flesh and bones weren't in the way. ]

Wake up, Mr. Hiccup!

[ Now it's her turn to plead with him, her voice a desperate urging. She hugs him from behind with her free arm, her face buried into his back deeply enough that she can't see the water beginning to rush up beneath them. For a girl literally stabbing him in the back, her hold on him lacks malice; she's simply trying to hold him still, with a small squeeze of apology thrown in. ]

[dragon_rider]

The winds picked up, roaring around them. Below, the artic waters creep dangerously fast. It was funny, Hiccup had once been afraid of such dives and saw them as dangerous — Normally, he'd know with Toothless they'd make it through anything. There wasn't any dangerous flying they couldn't do.

But something in the back of his mind rings true: It's not right. Toothless can't stay forever. Why? He has to protect himself — No, he's gone. It's a split second of a thought, a thought that crashes through the sound of a voice Wake up, Mr. Hiccup! A distantly familiar voice, one he recognizes now is not of Berk. One a place far way. Despite all reason, it's the voice that tears at him — the sudden overwhelming sense of loss —

They continue to plummet, hitting the artic as if it were a wall and yet, as soon as they hit it, it's like a fire going out. The world disappears with the abruptness of something being put out; Then there is nothing to cling onto in the imagined world and only the real to slip back into. ]


[ And when they do slip back, Hiccup is dazed for a moment. His mind still lingering in that strange in-between before he realizes he's crying; And while he presses the back of a hand to his eye, he doesn't try to hide it as he breathes out, slow and sharp: ]

What was — Did you —?

[ They're questions that seem to not be able to fully be formed. ]

[gravings]

[ Even though they were in a theoretical space, the sensation of an uncontrolled fall is no less unnerving. It's with real relief that she opens her (real) eyes to find herself back in Venera as she left it, blessedly unsplattered against the ground.

Her relief is swiftly muted when she looks up to find tears in Hiccup's eyes. The feeling is understandable. Being ripped out of such a wonderful world in such a violent way — who wouldn't be upset? Though her intent was good, the pain she imagines she caused him settles heavily over her like a blanket of dirt over a grave, cold and suffocating. ]

You were dreaming. I'm sorry, Mr. Hiccup. I wasn't sure how else to help you.

[ She nearly whispers, the wretched turning of her heart robbing her voice of its already modest volume. If her mentor were here, he probably would have been able to break Hiccup's dream with pinpoint precision, but she isn't nearly as smart or elegant as that. Someone as simple as her can only ever rely on brute force when it matters. What a fine way to repay Hiccup for showing her something wonderful.

Not knowing what else to do, she channels her guilt into a small bow, unable to look him in the eye. ]

If you aren't hurt, I'll leave you alone now...

[ She assumes he doesn't want her to stare at him while he cries. ]

[dragon_rider]

[ Hiccup's fingers grasp at the fabric against his chest, closest to his heart. There's a lot to process - to think about - that he's not quite sure he understands. Fingers that were once pale as plaster have sharpened to normal color, though cracks linger now.

Cracks, like the one in his heart. Why? It wasn't the dream — He thinks. It's loss. Loss that's so tangible he can't put it into words (loss he's avoided). And it's almost enough to keep him lost in his own head — To forget the small girl now, smaller know, that she buries herself in wrapped guilt as if it were the dark cloth. ]

It was a dream.

[ It's as much a statement as it is a question — No, what lingers wasn't the feeling of a dream he thinks. Too sharp for that. He rubs at his eye as he turns back when she speaks. For a moment, the instant knee-jerk reaction of telling her she should go away wells.

And then he shuts it aside, regrets it nearly as quickly as he thinks it. His fingers lift away, he releases a breath: ]

... It's a different kind of hurt. You don't have to go. How about you — Are you hurt?

[ Because, it's not like she isn't going through the same thing, even if the Innocence attacks his legacy more aggressively. ]

[gravings]

[ She isn't really sure why he would even ask that question. He's unequivocally the victim here, and so she shakes her head. She won't attempt to elevate her guilt to the heartache he's probably feeling. ]

You don't have to worry about me. You were suffering an advanced stage of the disease. I think you should improve from here... though it seems to affect us a little differently.

[ Being an Innocent, she caught it early. But at least it means she can provide a tiny bit of guidance to the Aions still continuing to run into its effects.

After a couple seconds of looking at his vaguely unnerved self, she gently maneuvers to his back and begins herding him to the nearest sitting surface, which happens to be an artistic-looking bench. She nudges at him delicately with only a light touch from her fingertips. ]

You should rest for a while, though.

[dragon_rider]

Yeah, but —

[ Hiccup cut himself off, a hand rubbing at the bridge of his nose in thought. His heart still hammering on in his ribcage, the constant reminder of his own feelings — He still feels the bloody creek of plaster and feathers, but the pain is dulled by the other far more crippling one.

The truth in being, that he's refused to believe that Berk — All of it, was gone. I can't imagine a world without you in it, he'd once told Astrid, and firmly stood by, but now he's failed them all. It's something that sinks further into his chest, settling like a mountain lion holding its pray in place, keeps his mind fully from the young girl until he feels her behind him. Maybe, it's just a shocked breath — surprise, phantom memory.

But for whatever reason, he relents, doesn't question it as they move to the bench and he settles like a rock is lodge deep in his stomach. His hand moves from the bridge of his nose, to sliding down his face as he takes a deep breath. ]

... Thank you. You didn't have to do what you did. [ Because he's not unaware of what others have to do or, especially, that in the Pleroma-Kenoma division she has no reason to help him. Can't believe she did it out of malice, not when she held on so tight at the end. He waves a hand, dropping it to his knees: ] I would have stayed there. [ He would have died. A short laugh, more crackling: ] I've always been very good at running away.

[gravings]

[ He really wears his heart on his sleeve. Gray isn't completely sure what to do with that; she's usually the one struggling with her composure. She stands there uncertainly until the threat of awkwardness begins to loom, then resorts to blurting out the first things that drifts to mind. ]

I understand. I'm the same way.

[ Which, she realizes, probably doesn't make him feel better at all. What kind of grown adult wants to compare himself to a meek little girl? ]

Do you want to go back to dreaming?

[ That can probably be arranged, if he so wishes. ]

[dragon_rider]

[ If Hiccup is supposed to be offended or feel worse about her agreeing with him, he doesn't show it. Doesn't react to it any further way then a glance of consideration — Perhaps it doesn't matter since he knows himself and has to admit it. He spent so long running away from his father's talks as a teenager he almost missed too much. ]

[ Instead, he simply nods in quiet understanding. He remains so as he listens and considers. If it was Hiccup alone, maybe he would prefer to keep dreaming, he thinks. The sky was bluer and more free than this one, where they were always tied down by the weight of being an Aion.

By a loss that keeps him fighting and it's that loss that makes him frown, fingers tucking into each other as elbows level on knees. ]

No. I know when I make it to Valhalla I'd get yelled at for that one. [ There's a hint of wry humor to the tone, just a touch - more for her than him. He still has to hold on to something more being out there or he'd never make it here. ] If I make it to Valhalla.

[ That addition is quiet as he fixes his green eyes dead ahead, mouth grim as he thinks: ] Dreaming doesn't take the loss away. If there's anyway back to them, then I have to move forward. And if there's no way... Then it'd be a dishonor to all of Berk to just give up.

[gravings]

Then I don't think think you're running away at all.

[ It sounds like it isn't even a question for him, that he has plenty of reason to keep moving forward. She isn't sure if she could confidently say the same.

In any case, she feels satisfied that he's a bit more back on his feet, mentally speaking, so she doesn't feel like she has any more reason to stay. (Look at her, always so eager to escape.) ]

I'll be going now... but please be more careful from now on, Mr. Hiccup.

[ He probably won't be, but she can hope. ]