thenearshore | 016 | The Good Old Days

Entry tags:

016 | The Good Old Days

Who: Everyone!
What: Ageswapping
When: July 15-17
Where: Everywhere
Summary: A breach in the space-time continuum is messing things up.

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!

The Far Shore has been dealing with a lot of space-time pulsating through the past week or so and everything is culminating on the night of the 15th, even though the Heavens are preparing for an all-out Obon bash. They had planned to have the celebration on the 15th itself, but Amaterasu asked to postpone a day due to the horrible feeling that is permeating the Far Shore.

And it turns out she was right to postpone everything. In fact, it will have to be postponed another whole month at this rate...

Before

Late in the day on July 15th, the new batch of shinki will arrive to a Far Shore with a thick, tense atmosphere. All night on the 15th it feels like something is about to happen - and it's difficult to tell whether that something will be good or bad. Any attempts to contact the management of the Far Shore have fallen on deaf, slightly harried ears and so everyone is left to their own devices to try and figure out why things are so tense.

July 16

Just after midnight, an explosive shock wave rips through the Far Shore, bringing on the age changes with it. Even the spirits of the Far Shore seem to be affected - for example, the library goblins are either toddling around on wobbly legs or are dragging themselves from place to place and looking decrepit. There are a few gods and shinki that seem to have been exceptions from the change, though it is not clear why.

July 17

Another wave of energy comes in the early morning of the 17th. Fewer people are affected this time and it seems to alter those people's ages a second time. There is no rhyme or reason to who is being affected further. Several of the library goblins have just dropped dead from severe old age. Oops.

Aftermath

Late on the 17th brings about one final burst from the energy that has been plaguing the Far Shore. For a short moment, every new temple glows with a soft light, seeming to beckon to their owners. But the light is gone quickly and everyone will find themselves back to normal with complete memories of everything that happened during their age adventures. The goblins that died, though, are still very dead. Looks like the library will need to get some new help soon.

In Summary:

Meet the newbies
Get aged or de-aged
Deal with other too young/too old people
Try to handle the consequences
Have fun~

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July 16th, early:

[ He's old. Jay awakes in the middle of the night when the shockwave passes through the Far Shore, but he doesn't leap out of bed, knives drawn. No, he barely manages to sit up under his own power. His joints aren't responding, he's out of breath and dizzy from the effort of sitting, and it's like all the strength has been drained from his muscles. Which, when he holds out one skinny, spotted arm, is exactly what's happened.

He's so old. Wrinkled and hunched, he sees, when he's finally able to get to his feet and find a mirror. He has to be, what, eighty? Ninety? What sort of a trick is this?

He falls on his way to Tot's chamber, bruises welling up beneath his skin, and it takes a humiliatingly long time for him to haul himself back up. He's forced to brace himself against the wall in order to get to her glory's side, but if he has to crawl on hands and knees, he'll do it. ]

Either day, midday into evening:

[ His left arm is bound tightly against his chest, bruises covering his shoulder and down onto his upper arm. His right arm is leaning heavily on an improvised cane made from the cut-down handle of a garden shovel. His visible eye is milky with cataracts and his walk is a shuffling, hunched thing and he'll still kick your ass if he decides it needs kicking. Approach with caution. ]

[Yeah, that's...

[How exactly did you get snuck up on by the oldest man in the world?

[Blame the fact he has no idea what's going on. Blame the bit where Ken caught sight of his own reflection - oh, hello, who are you? - and felt about as much connection to it as to any other unfamiliar face. So: dark hair, dark eyes, late-teens/just-maybe-very-early-twenties, ordinary. Well done, you're completely average, except you're also noticeably short. Well, he's seen girls with pink hair before now. He really could have done with the extra inches, but ordinary is kind of a relief--

[And there he is: the oldest man in the world. And he's glaring at him like Ken has done something to offend him personally never mind that he'd remember running into this guy. He has an eye patch, for Heaven's sake.

[Yes, ordinary is a profound relief.]

Um, can I help?

[ He needed to hear the voice. The face is the same, more or less, but his vision is suffering from the age he's been cursed with, and he couldn't have sworn that Ken was truly Ken.

But the voice cinches it. He's returned from wherever he fled to, and he's got the absolute gall to stand there instead of running back to Tot's forgiving side and begging to come under her protection again.

His cane is a sturdy piece of inch-thick wood, grey and splintering from exposure to the sun, and it'll hurt like hell when Ken gets walloped with it. Jay approaches, until he's within arm's reach, and then he lets the cane fly at the side of Ken's head. ]

Apostate!

[Yeah that sounded about right--

[That's about as far as he gets before a million-year-old man has a very good go at killing him again (can you do that? does that work?) and doesn't that just about figure, too? Ken may not know who the Hell he is right now, but he's getting the feeling that he's never been overfamiliar with good luck--

[But the unluckiest man in the world has got the reflexes of a bloody cat.

[Catches the blow on his forearm.]

Whoa! The fuck?!

[Actually he figures he's being quite restrained. Fuck fuck fuck that hurt you mad old bastard and there'd been something about his reaction, something both reflexive and calculated that Ken can't begin to get his head round: his blood's up, his heart's racing and isn't frightened enough, isn't anywhere near it. It should be shocking and it isn't. It just... isn't. He's thinking he should grab the stick.

[Holy shit. Whose body is this?]

Edited 2017-05-25 00:39 (UTC)

[ Will he catch the second blow on his forarm as well? And the third? Jay is breathing heavily by this point, his shoulder (and back, and elbow, and knees, bless it but advanced age is not for a weak man) creaking ominously with every movement. A wave of dizziness takes him as he raises his arm for that third blow and he staggers, nearly stumbling into Ken as he swings at him, the blow weak and poorly aimed.

His rage, however, is not so puny a thing. ]

Traitor! Coward! Blasphemer, how dare you return!?

[How's Jay's hearing because it's about to get tested. As far as Tot knows there are only two people in the temple and neither one of them are strange old men. So her first instinct is to grab something to use as a weapon (there's a small statue on one of the tables nearby that will do the trick!) and scream.]

[ Even as he falls to the floor, his knees going off his gunshot as he presses his forehead to the cool hardwood, Jay's heart leaps with joy. It's not right for him to take pride in her actions -- it's pure arrogance for him to feel anything other than obedience -- but even in her terror she's armed herself. Truly she is the pinnacle among the heavens.

On the other hand, though... he's frightened her, which means this isn't of her doing, which means that somebody has used him to frighten his god. There will be blood for this. ]

It's only Jay, great Tot!

[There's a strange man in her house, and she doesn't like strange men (or rather strange unknown ones, she knows several strange men). His words make it through the panic and she stops screaming to look him over.

Okay, maybe it is him. But it's not...]

You're old.

[ It takes tremendous effort to raise himself up onto his knees... and when he gets there, they settle into place with a disturbing crunch that makes him wonder if he'll be able to stand after this. ]

I am very old, my lady. And I do not know why.

[ She's not changed, though, praise her. At least whatever curse hit her temple it only affected him. ]

I did not mean to frighten you.

[She sets the statue down and rushes over to help him because that sounds really painful.]

It's okay, you didn't do it on purpose. Tot doesn't understand what happened though. You didn't look like this last night... Did you?

[She's pretty sure he didn't, but sometimes she forgets things.]

[ His heart races when she touches him, and he's careful to put as little weight as possible on her as he struggles to his feet. Still, he can't rise without her assistance; his hands are even more coarse and calloused than usual, his skin dry and cool. ]

I most certainly did not. [ He'll need to lean against the wall for a few moments before he can walk, but he's fine now, thank you. ] There has been something magical building for several days, and it seems that this is the result.

[ He glances at her from beneath his lashes, the gesture oddly shy. ]

I am... relieved, that you are not affected.

That would be really weird.

[It's hard enough remembering she's a god but to imagine herself as old? Nope, not possible.]

And it's a good thing Tot isn't since someone has to take care of you now.

[ Weird is not the word he would have chosen, but it's clearly the best choice. It would have been weird, yes. Very weird. ]

In your hands, blessed Tot, I have no doubt that I will be cured quickly.

[ If she wills it, that is. And if she's powerful enough to do so. There's faith, but Jay also has to recognize that there are mighty magicians here, with abilities that seem greater than even Tot's.

But that way lies doubt and blasphemy, so he puts the thoughts from his mind (which is surprisingly easy -- his old brains seem to want to drift, rather than holding tight to a single thought) and instead focuses on the more important matter at hand. ]

If I am affected, perhaps others have been as well.

There should be messages if so.

[Because apparently, no one can do anything around here without posting on the BBS about it.]

Let's get you sitting down somewhere before checking.

[Because what is she going to do if he falls and breaks a hip or something? Her medical skills aren't that good.]

[ She's so wise. Yes, of course, checking the internet is a much better plan than going directly outside... especially given how slowly he's moving. He's going to have to figure something out, and fast, because he can't be trapped inside until this problem is resolved. Either this is a Far Shore-wide problem and he needs to get out there and take advantage of the confusion, or he's been targeted specifically, in which case staying put would be beyond foolish. ]

Thank you.

[ He'll have to lean on her pretty heavily in order to get to the kitchen table -- note to self: no more kneeling. And once he's there he'll have to sit for a moment and breathe until the spots floating through his vision fade. This is a highly effective way to cripple an opponent. He'll have to remember this trick. ]

[ Speaking of a brat who could use his ass kicked, here's one who starts walking nearby Old Man Jay and is trying to figure out if he can actually see at all or if he's completely blind, but without asking - just staring. A lot. ]

[ The brat can stare until his eyes dry out for all Jay cares. The red hair is bright enough that he earns a second glance, but Jay has no interest in children. No, he's on a mission, and no kid is going to interrupt him. He's going to Amaterasu's temple, and he's going to demand that she restore him. How is he expected to serve his

bright gilt radiant mother of colors and passion blossoming brilliant

god if he's been made so old that he can barely walk? They have no right to alter him this way, no right to change him and scare his

no words this time, just a kaleidoscope of petals and the warmth of the late spring sun

dear god. She was scared, and he cannot forgive that. ]

['Joseph' doesn't know the things that Schuldig does about how bad an idea it is to looking that deep into Farfarello/Jay's head. So as soon as he gets the impression that a vivid picture is coming to the forefront of the man's mind, compared with words, he mentally kind of leans in closer...

And starts to blink at how intense the picture was. He doesn't know how to quickly detach his connection though, so then the next one comes and--]

AH!

[Joseph trips over his own gangly feet and falls face-first into the road more or less in front of Jay. Not that he expects the man to stop and help him, but all of a sudden he worries he's about to literally get stepped on and his instinct, unlike Schuldig, also isn't to immediately teleport out of danger either.]

[ There's a... he can't describe it other than a tap in his mind right before the boy falls at his feet. It's like somebody reached out and touched the surface of his mind's lake -- there are ripples there now, and it's disorienting enough that Jay pulls up short, barely avoiding stumbling over the boy.

Something just happened to his mind, and here's a boy that just fell over. Is somebody out there attacking them with mind-bullets? He kicks the boy in the shoulder (gently, although not from any care for the boy's well-being -- rather he can't lift his foot that high or put that much effort into the kick without falling over himself). ]

You. Boy. Did you feel that?

Yeah I felt it!

[He grumbles as if he's answering in reference to hitting the ground. Of course he felt that fall. He didn't feel so much as see the burst of intense thoughts. He rolls to one side and scrambles onto his feet with hands brushing his knees and pant legs. He's still reeling.]

You'd hurt if you fell on the ground after getting blinded in your brain too.

[No filter, oops.]

Hmm.

[ Blinded in his brain? What an odd way to describe the sensation. Not completely inaccurate, though, especially not if the boy was struck hard enough to fall.

Jay closes his eyes briefly, and concentrates on the area around the two of them. He doesn't really know how to detect mental connections or presences, but the alternative is standing still like a stunned rabbit, waiting for the fox to pounce.

Show yourself! ]

You really think someone's going to show up just because you do that?

[Even if he didn't clarify what 'that' was, he was definitely referring to the words Jay was thinking. There's an air of incredulity in his voice, because he's the know-it-all.]

No one's around here except for us.

[He'd know if there was. He does manage to at least stand back up.]

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016 | The Good Old Days

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Age 9 Midday/evening

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