USER: #A5211F - Bogeyman (Forward dated to the 26th)

[swordfucker]

(color)

The bogeyman that was hiding in town has finally been defeated, but it was at the cost of three lives. Dave, John and Dextera. I couldn't save them. I'm sorry.

Okuyasu and Asuka are badly injured, but are currently being treated for it. [He is too? He's bleeding all over his laptop, but it's fine.]

Dextera's body changed into something else, but the other two are still remaining. I think they both have family here, or something close. You can contact me and I'll tell you where they are, so you can arrange a burial or whatever you think is best.

I take full responsibility for this. There's still going to be a defense force meeting at the beginning of next month, so we can talk about it then. I know there could still be people missing from the werewolf thing, too, so keep your eyes open for them, alive or otherwise. If you have questions, I'll try to answer them.

That's all.

[Of course, after this, he'll be in his room at his laptop, so people are free to come bother him. He's covered in blood, most notably a stab wound straight through his chest at the heart, and it looks like he's only partially been able to deal with that. He's not bleeding out as quickly? But his healing isn't working. He's only just barely come back to consciousness from Mahiru taking over.]

Comments

#1A2367

[nascere]

[ what the fuck, what the fuck? why dex, of all people? and isn't dave ignis' friend -- how did that -- ]

what happened? where is he now?

[swordfucker]

[Because he's kind of bleeding out and emotional, all of his replies are delayed.]

Which one? The bogeyman was out of the forest and in the town. I thought we could use its reflex to flee to corner it. Two teams of three that come together in the end, like a pincer attack.

Not everyone made it to the end.

#A30414

[eusford]

Oh.

Well press F to pay respects.

[swordfucker]

I'm going to kill you.

[He's bleeding out and people died?? HE'S NOT IN THE MOOD]

#03B2F7

[withwisdom]

(color)

How did the Bogeyman get into town? I thought the monsters did not venture out of the forest?

[ there's a lot to process. people she knows are dead and injured - she will grieve in her own privacy. ]

[swordfucker]

They didn't, before. This one was different. As soon as someone went in to try and attack it per the quest, it fled into the town. It's been hiding out and drawing out people's fears, putting lives at risk. We had to take care of it.

#2471A3

[unfatalist]

Dave and John both?

[Sweet Shiva, what the hell happened out there.]

What do you mean, Dextera's body changed into "something else"?

[swordfucker]

Unfortunately.

Have you ever seen that glowing rock he carries around? Or turn a monster into one of those? He turned into that. It's his pure essence, from what I understand.

#FFDF00; private message/action

[inheritance]

I'm coming over.

[Sorry, Guren, you don't even get a choice in this. Izuku doesn't bother waiting for a reply before he starts packing a few things into his backpack and heading out the door.

Normally, Izuku would knock, polite as he is, but this time he just checks if the door is unlocked and lets himself in.]

...Sensei? [He'll drift from room to room until he finds him.]

[swordfucker]

If you want.

[But it doesn't even matter, because Izuku comes over anyway. Guren is upstairs, and though there's no blood trails throughout the house, when Izuku enters his room, he'll see him drenched in it. He has a stab wound straight through his heart, extremely visible in these peasant clothes, along with gashes across the front of the rest of his chest, and his side. He's bruised all over.

And he's still at his laptop. Relatable.]

...Hey. [He doesn't even look at him, looking at the messages right now.]

#3630FF

[messianic]

( Color )

[Minato is the same as many of the people in this post, of course; as soon as he sees this message, he's sitting bolt upright, reading it over once, and then again, feeling a little sick. Okuyasu is injured. He's sure Guren is too. But--Dave, and John, and Dextera, all...dead?

Just like that, they're gone?

It's almost hard to breathe, and yet--]

I'm coming over as well. I'll be there in a few minutes, Ichinose-san.

[It's in his nature to start with the problem in front of him. He can grieve after Guren's been taken care of.]

[swordfucker]

If you're sure.

[He doesn't have the heart to stop anyone, since that's too cruel, when he's taking responsibility like this, but he's not sure it'll help anyone, either. He'll answer the door, and Minato can also witness him bloodied in these peasant clothes. A wound through the heart, gashes on his front and side, bruises all over.

Most of all, his eyes are distant. Hollow.]

#A2F9FF

[satanslash]

[Shit... Dave is gone? And Okuyasu... Fuck.

Reading all that makes his heart hurt, but he keeps his composure enough to reply.]

flavo was a mess
we held together as best we could but nyx got bit by those damn things

whatever keeps throwing this shit at us was really out for our heads this time guren seriously dont beat yourself up too much over it

i think we could prepare for everything we could think of and something new would still try to fuck us up

[swordfucker]

Yeah. I tried to help him through that as much as I could. But it was everyone else who found the cure. Good job taking care of things.

But this is something different. It was a risk, but I took a team and I went after something. I didn't do a good enough job, and we lost lives. That's on me.

#FF471A

[brightlyshines]

[The fact that this announcement is over text is perhaps fortunate-- Estelle covers her mouth with her hands, a sob escaping her alongside tears. The other two she'd met.... but Dextera....

It takes her a bit to gain composure, longer still to compose a reply that isn't a mess.]

What happened? Why did he change? What did he change into?

[Can they change him back? Maybe, if they did, he'd--]

[swordfucker]

He's dead. I'm sorry. He was killed, and all that's left is his crystal, his essence. It means he's gone. He told me himself.

#BD1864

[robosmith]

[ his heart is in his throat, but he's cool as a cucumber as he types out: ]

Bear with me, this question is going to sound weird as fuck, but it's important.
Or maybe it won't depending on what they already told you.
But could Dave's and John's deaths be considered heroic?

[swordfucker]

[He's right, this is weird as fuck]

Maybe? We saved the town from the bogeyman. But they were both on Okuyasu's team, so I couldn't see how they died, exactly. You might have to ask him.

#FF8080

[queenofminiskirts]

[Honestly, the moment she saw this she had wanted to curl into a ball and cry. Dex, whom Shiho had been able to trust with her secrete and Dave and--

But the feeling was there and gone because tears won't fix anything, because she wasn't going to be the little girl she had been at five who could only cry when the people around her are hurting.]

i'm coming over. is there anything you need?

[Like medical supplies??? Don't think she didn't notice you didn't say anything about how you're doing, Guren.]

[swordfucker]

Bandages, maybe.

[Maybe, he says, bleeding out... Plenty of people are bringing them, but these are bad enough that he'll have to keep changing them.]

#0000B2

[dualtone]

Do you need anything?

[ Fushimi is going to barge into Guren's room regardless, but he wants to be armed with medical supplies or food or even just coffee before he does it. Something to do with his hands.

Fushimi isn't great with emotions, but he understands grief and guilt. ]

[swordfucker]

Something to clean up all this blood.

[He doesn't even joke about Yata, this time.

Notably, he didn't come in through the front door. There's no blood trailing up to his room. Mahiru had used the last moments of her possession to jump up to the second floor and enter his room through his window.

So, if Fushimi wants to enter, maybe he can help Guren who's honestly just as close to passing out again. His heart itself is healed, but the wound going straight through there is still there on either side of it, there are huge gashes on his front and side, and he's bruised all over. He's lost a lot of blood already.]

#B9536C

[scooptimistic]

(COLOR)

How are you feeling?

[ this is... a lot to take in. Dave seemed like a good kid, and Dextera?? It's obvious enough just by reading this post that Guren's blaming himself, but...

Well. She'll do what she can. ]

[swordfucker]

[As with all the other messages, he's slow. He knows she means well, but his response is blunt, meant to be harsh on himself rather than her.]

What I'm feeling doesn't matter.

#E07CA0

[thriftea]

(Color!)

[She doesn't know every detail, but she's heard enough from Okuyasu to know that Guren probably—no, definitely—needs some assistance. Is he going to ask for it? Probably not, no, so after she's made sure that Okuyasu is taken care of—]

guren, i'm bringing you food and my first aid kit! do you need anything else right now?

[Other people have obviously been offering to help, but still! Still!]

[swordfucker]

No, nothing else. Thanks.

[Not even a refusal... Because even if people are helping, he's going to need more and to keep changing his bandages and to make sure he doesn't try to just get up and walk around. Which he will keep doing.]

#FF1493

[nipzips]

( color. )

[ He's definitely bummed out about Dave, but before he addresses that he has a bone to pick with Guren. ]

you're so full of shit, mr. guren


where the fuck did you go??? you're not still running around, are you???

[swordfucker]

I'm in my house. Just take care of the others first.

#FFE094

[crowsigliere]

[ Color ]

Can it really be considered a defense force if it can't even defend those involved in it? This is ridiculous...

[swordfucker]

[YOU KNOW, Crowley and Zelda both had complaints and those were fair, but this one doesn't really have anything Guren can reply to. Besides, he's bleeding out, so he just leaves this on read...]

#900014

[doublecrowss]

Our numbers are truly dwindling.

[ ... ah. That was probably not a very empathetic thing to say, and definitely not all that Pleasant, but it slipped through his fingers before he could stop himself. And he doesn't mean it because of any of those guys, either.

Ah, well. Let's try this again: ]

You went along with this group to take on the boogeyman, correct? There's no way you were the sole person to come out unharmed.

[swordfucker]

[You got him, Akechi]

Yeah, I'm not unharmed. But I've got a demon. It's not working well right now, but I'm used to this sort of thing. It wasn't worth mentioning.

[skatebird]

( color )

[ Yata is downstairs experimenting with new weird food combinations when he glances at the network. He's a little started to see a new post from Guren - he wasn't even aware that Guren was home - but the contents are what really catch him off guard.

Being a master of tact, Yata has an immediate and heartfelt response. ]

whasdff

[ And then he gives up on typing and just charges upstairs instead. Knock knock, Guren - except that Yata doesn't knock, just throws open the door and charges into because what the fuck. ]

Guren?!

[swordfucker]

[Yeah, Mahiru was considerate enough to jump through the window before giving control back, if the blood smeared from that direction says anything. Wasn't that nice? No blood stains all over.

But they sure are all over Guren's chair, table and laptop. Stabbed straight through the heart, out the back, and gashes on his front and side, he's bruised all over and a complete bloody mess that doesn't look like he should be alive, let alone conscious.

Still, he just gives a tired, half-dead turn of his head to Yata.]

...Hey. [That's all he's got to say for himself]

#D32F2F

[girod]

Are you all right?

[ He's hurting, because he knows at least two of those are kids. And he hates it, hates it, but he's kept his distance since he was a wolf, kept out of violent encounters. He knows he has self control, but he also knows how effective magic can be against him.

More than anything, he knows that Guren is more than likely hurting more than anyone over this. The guilt is clear in his comment. ]

[swordfucker]

I'm alive.

[Barely, somehow, and no, he's very much not all right, but what does that matter? In this situation, where he failed these three, failed the other two survivors, failed everyone in town. He doesn't get to say he's not all right.]

#33CCFF

[underworldpianist]

[ He feels as though he should look for those three. To make sure they've moved on. Being killed in such a way can lead to great feelings of despair. But... ]

Let me know what I can help with.

[swordfucker]

[Oh yeah, that's his job huh. Though, Guren doesn't recognize this hex code yet.]

Thanks. Which one are you, again?