middleofsomewhere | What their Eyes See: Start

What their Eyes See: Start

"Good Morning Voidtreckers, today is day five of the month of Llama." The voice echoes through the train as passengers wake up in their beds. Not long afterwards their SCA’s glow with the colour of the void and a holographic image will appear.

Preperation and Arrival

As usual they have a couple of hours before arrival to ready themselves for the mission ahead. As promised the dressing carriage is open for them to find suitable clothing. Trench coats, a lot of leather, a lot of black with neon colours thrown in here and there. There is a lot of choice in a variety of sizes so everyone is bound to find something to fit. Hopefully something they like, though some passengers may be more comfortable with the fashion choices than others.

A couple of hours after the announcement of the mission the voice speaks again. "Shortly arriving in system #93426194992. Arriving in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." The train shakes as it leaves the void, colours fading to be replaced to a grey thick smog outside the windows.

The train bumps slightly as it hits rails, snaking its way towards the city before entering a tunnel. A few moments and they come to a stop, the doors open onto a platform. Stepping out into the station the first thing to hit them is noise, it sounds like there are ten different advertisements blaring, someone or something is playing loud music. There's a lot of flashing signs, screens with advertisements, bright lights that change colour for no real apparant reason. Heavy on the senses as they make their way to the gates.

They will find that their SCAs allow them through the barriers and into the wider train station, which is somehow even louder. It is busy as well, people hurrying from place to place. There are signs declaring this to be Tier Three, Home of Manufacturing. as well as signs pointing the way to lifts, to take them to other tiers.

Tier One

Mapping

For those travelling up to tier one the first thing they will notice when they leave the lift is, it is a lot quieter up here. Peaceful even, there are people around, all looking official and busy. None will pay the Voidtreckers any mind unless they are acting particularly suspicious.

The air feels better here, probably because the whole tier is encased with a dome that they will be able to see as they enter, coming from a lift near the edge of the tier. The buildings are all harsh dark metal, almost uniform in design. The streets are clean and there has been an attempt at greenery with some shrubs and simple plants.

The buildings all need to be accessed using their SCA's. Their SCA maps show them where the buildings are but give no information about them, nor do they have maps of inside. Once the voidtreckers enter they will find that their maps fill in as they explore.

There are plenty of different buildings, offices, labs and meeting rooms. There are also a lot of security staff and anyone acting too suspiciously will be approached and questioned. Hopefully they have a plan, blend in or sneak around.

Flickers

Sometimes though that is a little harder, they might enter a room to find themselves on their old street, in a world they have visited before on the train or somewhere else that is decidedly not here. These illusions get more common as time goes on and people will begin seeing the illusions of others or find the two scenes merging together.

Voidtreckers who are immune to illusions will not see these strange visions and those who are particularly strong willed will be able to fight them off. Once people know they are illusions they can focus through them to see reality even if it is overlaid with what their minds want to see. It will take a lot of concentration to stay focused and get an accurate map.

Tier Two

A Mystery

The lift here brings them out into a glass covered corridor. Outside the glass the air is thick with smog but the filtration systems means that the air seems fine inside, especially with their SCA's helping out. Outside the tunnels they will be able to see the lights of hovercars zipping around and the silhouettes of buildings. Office blocks and large houses make up this sector. Large billboards blare out advertisements at all hours, neon lights shining through the smog.

The atmosphere of the sector is one of fear, people hurry about their business, keeping an wary eye on their surroundings. The newcomers won't get too much scrutiny but people are likely to be very wary if approached or questioned.

But they will talk once they guage them to not be a threat. Murders. Six people dead, from inside their own houses. Locked doors, security systems, all for nothing. Is it a serial killer? But the reports suggested an animal attack? From what animals?

Getting access to the houses will take some negotiating or breaking and entering. The bodies themselves have been cleared by law enforcement, caution tape still up to keep out any nosy public.

The rooms the bodies were found in were all rooms that used holograms as decoration and the voidtreckers will realise when they enter them that these holograms seem a lot more realistic than some of the others they might have seen in their stay in the sector so far.

Creatures

As they talk to people, or overhear gossip they will hear more about animal attacks. Someone swears they saw a lion prowling the streets. A hovercar crashed and the driver swore they had been attacked by an eagle. Neither of those creatures live in the city. Neither of those creatures exist on this world anymore.

But the Voidtreckers will quickly learn there is something to these rumours, especially as dark falls, the feeling they are being hunted. A paw tread, a tail disappearing around a corner. As days go on they may get attacked by a bear, a tiger or perhaps a creature from their own world, one that should not exist here at all...

Tier Three

A Crisis

Leaving the station brings them into crowded streets, air thick with smog, Up above them is the floor of the plate above, set with bright lights to offset the lack of natural light getting through. Billboards and screens blare advertisements, traders yell their wares. Life is fast and swirls around them as they step out into the streets.

Here also there is an air of worry. The talk is all of Spectura, kids unconcious after playing video games, hospital overflowing. Spectura's fault, there are calls for accountability, claims of sabotage. No person gives the same story and it becomes clear that most people don't know what has happened but almost everyone knows someone who has been affected. Fear, blame, tensions are high.

But life must go on, the factories never stop, people can't not work and with so many people unconscious people have to pick up the slack. The whole sector feels at breaking point.

If they try and buy Spectura systems they will not be stopped though they will need to sign a waiver, to take on all responsibility for what might happen to them if they go into the system.

Spectura

There are a whole range of games to look through, though the two most popular ones where the majority of players can be found are an open-world farming MMO called AgriTopia VI Ultimate, with bright landscapes and calming diegetic music, and Aegis Force, a tournament team shooter with short battle scenarios and smaller maps.

Those entering the system will fall unconscious in the real world and as they enter the problem will be pretty obvious straight away. Red vines, covering everything, tangling trees, creeping up buildings, coming straight for them to attack.

Anyone who gets overwhelmed by them will be stuck, unable to move or progress. It is possible to fight them off and for those voidtreckers who have faced the vines before they will find their soothing powers will work here as well.

People are tangled throughout many different games and once they are freed will need some help to find the next save point or exit. They need to help plant the final hundred potatoes, or team up to take down the level boss or solve the next puzzle, keep the vines away and free as many people as they can.

Tier Four

A Way In

As they leave the lifts they will find this tier is dark, dim lighting barely penetrating the smog. Homes are makeshift and all on top of each other. The streets are crowded, loud and people don't stop to chat. It is incredibly claustrophobic, with large support columns, exposed wires and large pipes running alongside and over the 'roads'.

Here there are plenty of stores selling anything and everything, certainly not above board. Credits are sometimes accepted but more often store keepers will prefer to trade in barters, food is popular. Anything that isn't nutri slime or the even worse unbranded basic version.

Bars and other seedy establishments are open all hours, neon signs beckoning. It is here that they will find the entry points to the fighting rings.

People don't talk about it openly but you look big enough, mean enough or dramatic enough then it will be slipped into conversation. Have you heard? Winners get a dream come true.

The fights are a mix of one on one and group fights. All terms are negotiated before hand with an overseer and fights are to the yield. The crowd wants a show and so dramatics are encouraged.

What was that?

The rumours about people going berserk are spoken in whispers. No one really knows what has gone on. A few fights have gotten out of control, a couple of fighters broke down after fights, at least one has quit for good. Most spoken about is The Crimson Fist. The best fighter in the ring who two days prior just left. Left the city with no protective gear, no word to anyone. No one knows what happened to them.

As the voidtreckers get further into their fights they will begin to realise something strange is going on. That opponent you are facing? They now look like your worst enemy, or perhaps your best friend, your lover. Sometimes you're no longer in the city but in a place of fond memories or your worst nightmares. Fights can very quickly go south when your opponent believes you their greatest foe.

Advancing the ranks now seems like it might be more difficult than first it appeared.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His body isn't that bad, all things considered. Aches and hard landings, but nothing more than what will leave him sore in the morning as opposed to dead. So he doesn't take too long with the magic, though it's always bizarre to heal himself and for his brain to acknowledge what's been done, fixed up, and not have his limbs still feel stiff after.

But it'll be easy to tell when Tidus is done, lifting his head and taking in a deep breath, to let himself settle. But then Inigo is moving him, or himself, and their faces are immediately close; Tidus blinking at it and unsure what to think, until he sees the smile on the other's face, ... an expression that he's seen plenty times before, but that makes him docile at the words that follow after.

(Where the lips that are speaking them might go--what Inigo might do, after everything that's happened between them.)

It makes it hard for him to speak immediately, rare as that might be; side glances taken, getting his brain and mouth both to work again.

"Who's keeping score?" ...sure, brain, go for the half-hearted jokes when he can't deliver them well. He rests a hand on Inigo's chest, tries instead for sincerity. "...I'll always look out for you - like I said I would, even back on Gyueran. I know you'll do the same."

So don't worry about it.

"You're not alone."

Isn't that just like Tidus? The two of them may gloat or act super petty at times when they're jokingly bickering, but when it comes down to this, he's always this generous. So selfless in the way he's looking out for Inigo today, in the way he's always looked out for Inigo, always carried him during his lowest moments.

"I know," he acknowledges, ".. but it's a nice reminder anyway."

Especially since it's a reminder Inigo can use, considering where his worst fears and anxieties often lie. But he is trying to be better, trying to actively remind himself. (Even if that isn't very hard to do right now, with Tidus so close by him. It's driving the fear of the Risen out of his mind slightly, if not just for the moment.)

His thoughts linger for a moment on the moment where it feels like Tidus helped him the most. Back on the marketplace in Irivar, lips on lips.

Should he kiss him now too? No -- it'd probably be too weird, right? Tidus would find it weird. It's not like they're..

So Inigo decides on conveying the same sentiment, but instead verbally, rather than with his lips. A smile more fond than even his usual ones, tender around the edges.

"I'm just really glad you're here with me."

Inigo's always so soft. No--that's not exactly true. He has edges as much as anyone else does, but this tenderness here, sweet and honest, is a being that's so him to Tidus, a state that he treasures to see without considering it. It warms him though at the same time, embarrassing, or is that because of...? No, no - he'd feel like this even if there weren't certain activities between them, his eyes averting, his smile pinching into his cheeks.

Get it together, man! C'mon!

"Well you're stuck with me for now!" He gives Inigo a friendly slap on the back of the shoulder, jovial and bright, always too weak to moment like these to turn to anything else. But while his hand is there, he rubs that spot he patted, a small gesture of comfort before stepping away. Straightening himself, ready.

"We should get going! Ah--wait, but that body--"

Tidus turns back to it, forgetting nearly all about it. Except--

"--eh?"

There's nothing there to see, the street occupied by no one else but them.

There's an absolutely unnecessary - considering Tidus didn't even hit him that hard - 'oof' in response at the friendly backslap, probably born out instinct more than anything around the other.

But before he can say anything else, Tidus sounds surprised.

And Inigo, in turn, follows the other's gaze.. only to spot the same thing.

The body is gone. There's not even any sign left of it, or at least nothing that Inigo can spot at first sight. And it's not like it had been some small Risen. It couldn't just disappear.

"It didn't.. get up, right?" Of course that's Inigo's first fear. Even though it doesn't make sense, since there's no way that Risen would just have left them alone, nor is there any way the two of them could just have missed the sounds that'd make despite still standing relatively close to the body.

But even though it's irrational, what else is Inigo supposed to think when the body is suddenly gone? When getting up when you think you're done with them is exactly what Risen do all the time? "You didn't see anything either, right?"

There may be something desperate in Inigo's eyes as he looks at Tidus, some of the only barely surpressed fear bubbling up again.

"No way -- it woulda attacked me! Right? And you didn't hear anything - there's no way!"

No way that the thing just got up and walked off, not after how keen it was to grab and chuck him around like a blitzball. There's utter disbelief in his tone, but worn on his face too, as Tidus takes a few steps away from Inigo to try and look down one way of the right, then turning back and looking down the other way.

But there's nothing, no one. No thing, no nothing.

"Where did it...? What the?"

"But it's not like it could have disappeared.."

Risen don't do that. Inigo has never seen it happen, and he's seen fields absolutely full of Risen corpses. They don't just fade away, or turn into dust, or do anything else that would mean they wouldn't leave behind a corpse.

Inigo follows the few steps Tidus took, putting a hand against the side of the other's arm, like he's trying to find some calm in himself with the physical contact. He's determined to be at least somewhat more useful now, rather than flying directly into another panic.

"It appearing here was odd, and now its disappearance too.. What is going on in this city?"

Edited 2021-05-18 18:47 (UTC)

Tidus doesn't move away from the touch, still searching for some kind of answer where he stands, and - there is a thought, not concrete as it is, but it's there in what Inigo said. What they know about the murders in the houses, Tidus turning now to look at his friend.

"Isn't everyone saying the people that got killed were all done in their own houses? You can't get in without a key - their own kind of SCA. And some kind of storybook animals attacked them... no one here keeps animals. They're all used in food."

Except for the bugs.

"Is there a connection? I mean... why would we see a Risen? Why would Ryo think he saw something from his world too? I know it doesn't make sense, but... a risen wouldn't just sneak off 'cause we attacked it, right?"

Someone is attempting to use the shared braincell.

He shakes his head instantly. Even if he doesn't know the answers to much else, he does know this - knowledge that's ingrained in him so deeply that it practically resides in his bones.

"Risen don't just sneak off. Most of them are mindless. They will just keep attacking whatever is closest until they can't anymore." That's what makes the disappearance of this one only more odd. It's not like a Risen in any way, and that makes Inigo look concerned.

"But that.. was a real Risen. I mean, it acted exactly like one, and looked exactly like one. And it was able to hurt you." So it's not like it couldn't have been there. Tidus couldn't have gotten hurt because of nothing. "Still, that explains nothing! Risen are connected to Grima, and Grima is not here, so.."

They couldn't be either.

There's no logic in any of this: why the risen was there in the first place, where it went off to. How there could be a risen even temporarily, and Tidus has nothing else to offer Inigo than a mystery already plaguing them, that threatens to upset Inigo all the more with the answers they don't have.

He walks, nowhere to go, pacing. But he comes to a stop, a decision in his mind, the only one that's going to help them at this time.

"Look." He spreads out his hands. "Nothing about what's happening is making any sense, but we know what we saw, and you know a risen doesn't act like this one did. It's not here now, it's nowhere near here, and it couldn't have sneaked off! We're not gonna figure things out like this, so if it isn't here, we should talk to someone, tell them what happened. Worrying about it here isn't gonna help anyone!"

They can't get stuck on what they don't know - they have to keep moving forward, even if that forward isn't clear to them.

When Tidus says 'we should talk to someone', there's only one thing that pops into Inigo's head immediately.

"Should we tell Roland?"

Maybe it's a little ridiculous, like Inigo being a parody of himself. But at a moment like this, where he feels so incredibly unsure, like this entire mission has been thrown upside down compared to what his initial expectations of it were, of course the first thing Inigo is going to lean towards wanting to do is seeking comfort by confiding this to his dad, hearing that Roland thinks they should do.

He trusts the other's judgement, even if Roland is busy ridiculously LARPing this mission away.

Well, when it came to talking to anyone, who else would Inigo want to? And Roland was their lead - a consideration that takes a moment for him to have to remember. Some of us team hop for a living, ok.

"You wanna call him now?" he suggests with a gesture at Inigo, indicating to his SCA. There wasn't a rush, but Tidus doubted the old guy was up to anything much. ...or maybe he's projecting their ability to get involved in this mission onto someone who was actually strange thrilled with being part of a real life murder mystery.

"He's probably getting some news we aren't," Tidus adds, like that might be a thing that happens. Lead privileges??

His head dips into a nod without much thought.

Yes, he wants to call Roland. He wants to hear his voice and make sure he's alright, and maybe see if he's figured out something about all of this - all comforting things. So Inigo raises his arm with the SCA on it, looking for Roland's name and calling him.

.. and in the meantime, while he's waiting to see if Roland will pick up, he's definitely moving to grab Tidus's hand with his free hand to hold it.

Look, you're his emotional support bestie in this moment, okay.

When the call connects through his SCA, the timing couldn't be more perfect. Catching his breath from a narrow escape, beasts prowling and finally making themselves known, Roland ducks through an inconspicuous corner hidden from most bystanders. The few civilians who do notice him don't pay him much mind despite the shady figure he cuts, leaning against the wall, but that's to his benefit.

Inigo? What could-

His finger presses down on the earpiece.

"Hey pup," Roland answers, chin tucked close to his collar. "I'm here. What's wrong?"

It probably say something that there's no immediate joking from Inigo and Tidus's side. There's no Roland alert or anything. There's just the relief of hearing Roland's voice, of knowing that there's still something normal and consistent in this place.

"Father.." Inigo says, and there's about ten thousand other things he could say right now, but he realises being direct is probably for the best. (Also so he doesn't make Tidus gag from all the sap.) "Have you seen some of the creatures the mission description was talking about? Did any.."

He pauses, realising how ridiculous the thing he is about to say must sound, considering what the whole 'creatures' thing implied.

"Did any look.. like humans? Human-shaped, I guess.." Since they definitely encountered one of the relatively less regular-human-looking Risen just now. "With red eyes?"

Tidus is being on his best behaviour and not rolling his eyes or gagging right now. And if his hand wasn't occupied at the moment (in the role of 'Inigo's emotional support hand'), then he'd be checking up and down the street while Inigo spoke to Roland.

But for now, he's fine keeping a look-out from where they are while listening in on the conversation.

"Human-shaped? With red eyes?"

Roland looks up some, wondering where this line of questioning was leading to. Then again, if Inigo's been solving Purple's assigned mission, he wouldn't have missed it either; that something definitely wasn't right regardless of which house they investigated. That things were more familiar than any of them would have liked. Judging from Inigo's call, the way he describes his encounter, it could only really infer one outcome.

Best to reassure him then, if he can. I'm just glad he's fighting little Grima's, of all things.

"No." Roland answers promptly, shaking his head even if the motion is unseen. "I haven't seen anything like that yet. The ones that manage to catch me off-guard are the multiplying slimes from back home. Let them live long enough and they start thinking more is good, so it's been frustrating."

A beat.

"Inigo. Are you okay?"

Back home.

Inigo glances over at Tidus. He had been right - about the whole thing with Ryo saying he had seen creatures from home as well. Because now the two of them saw a Risen, and apparently Roland saw creatures he knew from back home as well..

He doesn't like it. None of this feels right. It feels weird that the mission report didn't mention anything about the creatures being otherworldly.

Although Roland's question snaps him out of his thoughts a little.

"Oh. Of course." It's an instinctive reflex. He doesn't really feel okay (though holding Tidus's hand makes him feel infinitely less bad than he would have felt without it), but it's easier to say this. It's a relief to hear Roland, but he doesn't want to worry the other either.

"Tidus and I are here together, but we fought a being from my world. The situation could turn really ugly if there were a lot of them around, but it seems like that's not the case then."

Tidus can see the way the event still hangs over Inigo, clings to him, despite some form of reassurance that at least - at least it wasn't risen just filling the streets. A different problem entirely, somehow, but they'll figure that once they understand more. And Inigo for now continues to be shaken in the dry replies that he offers.

And so, once Inigo finishes speaking, Tidus takes a step in to lean in to the SCA, to be the reassurance for Roland, to give it also in place of what Inigo can offer right now without forcing it:

"Don't worry, we'll keep an eye on things here, see what else we find and take it out. You and Ranny take care on your side! We'll talk about everything later - so don't get done in by a bunch of slimes, you hear?"

There's a teasing lilt to the end there, and Tidus glances up at Inigo, offers him a smile and nod.

"Inigo..."

He knows that sound too, the way his voice falls limp at the end, or how it lacks even the charged energy of typical worry. It's enough to convince Roland that he did in fact, meet the zombified humans risen from Grima's corruption. Tales he's spoken of in nightmarish recollection against his embrace; nights when Inigo does seek him out for comfort so he can fall asleep. Roland lets out a quiet sigh. Even the undead? In a place like this?

None of it made any sense. The more he proves his theory correct, the less answers he's unraveling.

At the sound of Tidus's voice crackling through the other line, Roland feels his shoulder grow more relaxed. He voices it out as much, with some amusement peeking through. "Thank goodness. Watch each other's backs as always, okay?" It's not meant to sound the way that it clearly does, paternal even when he doesn't notice, but what else is he to say when Inigo calls him worried over his well-being? That between the lines, Inigo wanted to know if Roland had been attacked by the Risen?

"This detective's not gonna go down without a fight, don't you worry either. And-" He looks around some. The light overhead flickers suspiciously. Roland's eyes narrow and he starts to walk. "-Keep a lookout from behind. I have to go in a bit. I'm being followed and they're not trying to hide it. Might be the same for you two. If you find monsters from my world, they have elemental weaknesses. Slimes don't like fire. Wyverns hate water. Faeries are tricky. Call me if you find faeries."

He walks faster, evident only by the rapid pace of his breathing. "Stay together. Take a deep breath, pup." Then, he falls back out the line.

Edited 2021-05-23 17:17 (UTC)

That wasn't the most reassuring thing to hear from Roland right before cutting the line like that, but Inigo knows he has to have a little bit of faith in the other. Roland knows how to handle himself. Whatever could be coming for him, surely he'll be alright.

(But maybe it's his natural worry, or maybe it's his and Tidus's encounter with the Risen, but a part of his mind fusses all the same, like an uneasy feeling sitting in the pit of his stomach.)

He glances over at Tidus, seeing that smile on the other's face. It's a reminder that he has to be stronger than this too, even though it's hard.

".. sounds like something really strange is going on in this city," he just concludes, his voice still lacking energy. But he shakes his head, trying to somehow force said energy into it all the same as he lowers his arm and continues. "Sorry. I'll.. I'll do better."

The call isn't enough to assuage the anxieties hanging onto Inigo, but for the concern that stays with Tidus in turn, he isn't going to hold that against the guy. No matter the apologies that come after Roland drops the call - not as dramatically as he could, but now isn't the time for dramatics - with the dangers that lurk.

Tidus sets a hand on Inigo's shoulder.

"Hey, none of that," he says close to a chide, but loosening as he continues. "Listen to what Roland said, take a breath. Okay? It's going to be..."

The street lights flicker too, for them. Or, no -- they blink out, a long long, but more as if something covers them, sweeping past their light and causing shadows to fall down the street behind Inigo.

"Inigo." Sharp, telling, in his name he gives the warning of trouble, his brotherhood blade returning in hand, a step back being taken. Where did it go? Tidus searches both sides of the street, seeing nothing directly in his line of vision--

--but Inigo will see a large form in the air behind Tidus, a large winged ball that comes spinning straight towards the pair like in a swoop meant to knock them over.

Even with the unease that sits in Inigo's heart, he doesn't hesitate, springing immediately into action. That's what he's best at, after all, right? No matter how crappy he feels, he just keeps fighting, keeps protecting with all he's got. That's what he's done for years now.

But he knows there's no way he's going to be able to attack whatever is coming at them in this short of a timespan. The thing would have reached them before his sword would be in his hand.

So instead Inigo quickly puts an arm around Tidus, pulling the other down with him towards the ground, but keeping him from falling over in case the sudden movement startles him.

The thing only barely swoops over them, almost scraping them, and Inigo quickly uprights himself again.

"Jumblie, come on!" He calls out, and as he pulls out the levin sword, the higgledy is quick to jump into it, making the blade shine with light - this time managing to illuminate the area even as the creature soars across the lighting again.

And even though he doesn't look at Tidus, instead quickly turning his head until he spots the odd thing in the air again, he still says: "Watch out, it's on the rebound!"

Being pulled down does startle Tidus some, but it's better than the sound of swooping that pasts by their heads, loud in their ears, Tidus not seeing anything until he manages to pull himself back up and the light that shines from Inigo's blade illuminates the street.

There was no being subtle now - but then, the large winged eye flapping in place only so it can turn back to them is far from inconspicuous. Tidus stares at it, stunned in a second of confusion that's dispelled with Inigo's call, and as the fiend - the fiend - wraps it wings back around itself in that called-out rebound.

There's no time to exchange anything else, the fiend swift in its sweep in, this time attempting to knock into them full force. It may be thinking they'll try ducking again, but there's a chance they have with both their blades if they're quick enough; Gibbers inside his blade to activate its water-element, and Tidus slashes out before it can hopefully get its knock in.

Inigo is way too focused on their enemy to notice Tidus's reaction to it. For now he just wants to make sure that there's absolutely no repeat of earlier. He won't just be standing there again as Tidus gets hurt, or he'll never be able to forgive himself for it.

Which is why Inigo stands there right alongside Tidus, slashing with his own sword at the creature at the same time. He only quickly sidesteps when he realise they're practically in the perfect position to both hit one of the creature's wings on each side.

And they do get the hits in, just in time. The creature now barrels past them through the gap between the two of them, crashing down onto the ground.

Without hesitation Inigo runs over towards the creature, stabbing his sword straight into the thing's eye, hoping it'll be enough to make it fully stop moving.

(Why does it have an eye that big? Why only one? Inigo has so many questions, but look, taking care of this thing takes priority.)

why so jugmental, Inigo.

There's a reason for that giant eye - a reason that Inigo won't be able to ponder upon, where an exchange happens just as his sword comes to plummet into the giant target. The eye flashes, bright a burning, a spell of confusion inflicted on the one within its sight. The fiend still screeching, batting its wings, hoping the attack will be enough to throw off Inigo's sense of what he's doing.

"Inigo!" --but he isn't the only one jumping in, missing the immediate beam of the light but jumping in with his blade to stab, eyes squeezed tightly as he sinks in his sword too, shoving it in deeper and deeper until all he has is the hilt to hold onto.

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