gocirclegogo | Clash of Cults

[Tonight on Victorian London: Emerald edition, we bring you a normal everyday ritual.

For the most part.

Under an abandoned church - the remains of the Order of Dagon - a new group has set up their own gathering. Shrouded in dark hoods, at least twenty people have been separated into groups of three or so with an overseer for each.

In short: it's sort of like a classroom for cultists. Most of these people are new and trying to harness the energy from the rift that infamously goes through London. Surely their god will be pleased. But before they try the main event, they really need to get their newbies into shape. Just going through some basic summonings and magical exercises, nothing that should be too bad.

Enter a problem: See that weirdly shiny relic in the center of these destroyed, watery ruins? Another cult happens to believe that belongs to their God. That cult is currently waiting in the shadows for a moment to strike and attempt to steal it. So maybe they ruined this harmless practice session on purpose or maybe the rift in spacetime was too much for the newbies to handle. Either way, their summoning doesn't go...right. It gives cult number two over there a chance to run in, magic ready.

So where does this leave you?

Maybe you were just summoned in. Maybe you were spying. Maybe you were invited as a witness to the training session. Maybe you were passing by when fireworks started blasting out of the church ruins.

Either way you should probably get out of here. There are strangely spacious sewer exits against the right wall, definitely wide enough for people to go through. There are crumbling stairs and doors going to winding catacombs. Maybe you can follow some of the escaping cultists and hope they don't turn on you. Maybe someone will rescue you.

All of it is up to you.]

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[Like his older self, Rin can't help but think the attacks above him are stars. Streaking across the sky. But once he realizes they are moving too fast he groggily sits up, rubbing his eyes.

Most people would be scared. Freaking out. Something. But Rin just assumes he's dreaming. And as such the people fighting around him are more fascinating then dangerous, and the kid just... takes it in, ruby eyes huge but otherwise making no move to get to safety.

Someone might need to get him before a cultist realizes a twelve-year-old is pretty sure to be a prime virgin sacrifice]

[The older, wiser version, thank you very much, is meanwhile occupied with very practically and gingerly sidling his way along the wall while keeping his head down while watching out for any projectiles coming his way. By some miracle of small mercies, they're glowing projectiles, but at the same time that really does not make him want to find out their effects firsthand.

It also means that keeping his sights on them in the dark impairs his peripheral and general vision, so there's no way to spot someone lower down than himself and completely unmoving near the outer edge of the fighting.

That is to say, Rin manages to fall quite gracefully and literally over himself.]

... Ow! Hey, you! [His vision is still adjusting, so he doesn't quite make out the obstacle's features in the darkness, other than that it's smaller and person-shaped. He barks at it anyway, just out of principle.] Don't just sit there blocking traffic!

[Rin yelps as he's tripped over, glaring at the teenager that stepped on him. Even this close up he can't tell it's HIM... of course not, he has no way to know how his features would age. And while he'd probably recognize an older Haru or Makoto or Nagisa, he doesn't look at HIMSELF that much.

So there's just a super rude redhead yelling at him]

YOU watch where you're going!

[The voice, at least, gives him pause for a moment. Not because it's familiar, he hasn't heard that voice in years now and he'd worked pretty hard to forget a number of small, important details; it's because it's a distinctly younger voice.

The shape is actually pretty small.]

--Shut up for a second. [He's suddenly off-balance, can't help but betray it, but it comes out as brusqueness.] You're not supposed to be here, are--

[It really does take him that long to notice.

Rin abruptly slams his mouth shut, nearly biting his tongue on the way, eyes widening. If he'd been off-balance before, he's pretty much facefirst on the floor by now.

Metaphorically, for the record. Never mind five seconds ago.

So, he's dreaming, a quiet corner of his mind decides. Same old dream. Same old flashbacks. Same stupid, wide-open, thoughtlessly discarded face. These don't usually take very long, but they always feel much longer. He isn't due to wake up for a while yet.

His mouth moves without him.]

--Are you?

[For the first time Rin REALLY looks around. If this was real it'd be pretty damn scary. But instead he just shrugs, so convinced of this dreamstate.]

I dunno.

[He does rub his arms though, his cocky tone dropping to one more unsure]

It feels... weird here.

No shit.

[Swearing in front of kids isn't usually at the top of his to-do list, but he's pretty sure it doesn't count if it's himself. Actually, it kind of pisses him off that he even considered that.

It puts a little more force than necessary into the light shove Rin gives his younger self with his shoulder.]

It doesn't matter, because I'm getting out of here before one of those-- [several of the jets of light flash by overhead, leaving behind the scent of lightning and raising their hair a little on end] --hits whatever smells like that. Would you move?

[He scowls up at himself for the shoving, but this teenager is bigger and older then him, so he steps aside with a huff.

But that ozone smell and the prickling on his neck spooks Rin a little- finally the first real touch of fear. A detail like that is a little too much for a dream.

So when Rin passes, his younger self follows him. Cuz yeah, don't wanna be alone and this guy is weirdly familiar]

... Keep your head down.

[Rin isn't moving very fast in the first place, sliding along at an awkward mostly-crouch, but progress is even slower now that he has somebody else to keep an eye on.

Normally, in dreams, he wouldn't pay much attention to his younger self. He's already done with that -- he has to cut the train of regrets somewhere. There's something about this time, though; maybe it's the fact that this version of himself talks and reacts and simply refuses to be ignored.

Or maybe it's just that crawling sense of unease that he can't put a name to, that tells him this is definitely more nightmare than dream, echoed in every stifled cry and frantic footstep crowding too close for comfort.

He leads them towards the nearest opening. The stairs, at least, look promising.]

[He nods, moving to practically cling to Rin's back. He can feel his older self's warmth under his shirt- all of this is too detailed for a dream, but accepting otherwise is currently not an option... though he's starting to tremble just slightly]

This... is a dream right? People don't really have magic lasers. That's stupid.

[Having an entire sixth-grader (presumably) practically riding piggyback makes the moving situation even worse. Wonderful. Rin considers throwing him off more than once, but the urge passes as quickly as the next jet of light does -- they don't need to be tussling right now.

He grits his teeth instead.]

Yeah. Of course it's a dream. [Do dreams ask you if you're a dream? This is getting a little too surreal even for him. There's a pause in his crabwalking as they hit the stairs.] ... You go up first. Hurry up.

Clash of Cults

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