scarecrow

the boss of the underworld

[chuchelo]

Scarecrow // BUSTAFELLOWS

“I may be an idiot, but I’m not stupid” – crow, probably

calls himself boss of the underworld but can barely handle a short conversation with a girl he thinks is cute

once tried to cook a (whole) turkey in a microwave, when that didn’t work he considered putting in the dryer

yup, this boy is full to the brim with trauma [slaps his back]

writes comic books in his spare time and NO he WILL NOT show you

will attempt to desperately befriend animals who for some reason just keep attacking him

w-we drank from the same cup…that’s kinda like an indirect kiss 😳

everyone bullies him so he’s used to it

[chuchelo]

salxnja·:

He laughs at Crow’s reaction and waves his hand, “it isn’t too bad. In fact, they even have flavored drinks! My favorite one is the peach flavored one. That one is pretty popular~.” Ilseong nods with another light laugh, “It’s pretty light despite its taste. SO because it’s light, it’s easy to down and people get drunk pretty quick. Taste like rubbing alcohol but goes down smooth. Pretty cool, right?” Maybe he can one day introduce his new friend to such a drink. He’ll have to go hunting for it. 

“There’s even different kinds of drinking game as well. You can do drinking games with all kinds of drinks though, but a lot of people from my world will do it with Soju and beer.”

“Smooth and rubbing alcohol don’t go together, but I’ll take your word for it.”  Crow had a feeling he’d only believe it if he drank it himself, and he definitely wasn’t planning on try peach flavored rubbing alcohol anytime soon -- no matter how easy the other man claims it goes down.

“Soju -- that’s Korean, we have that back where I’m from too.  But I never tried it; I kinda figured there was not point in drinking soju if it wasn’t actually in Korea.  It wouldn’t taste nearly as good...at least I assume so.”

[chuchelo]

inazumiko·:

     ✿ Her ears perk up at a certain word, already forming a somewhat mischievous plan in her mind. “Anyone, you say?” If the only requirement is for the other person to exist on this island, then the plan is rather simple. Comically so, even. She need only find her name on the list. ( How great would her disappointment be then, if that name was nowhere to be found? )

     The demonstration he gives on how calls work almost leaves her stumped, but she understands well enough. To cover even the greatest distance, that is how it works. Simply put; she would be able to call upon anyone from the comfort of her home without having to wait for them. “How terribly convenient.” It would greatly expedite any business she has. In fact, it would change her approach to everything. Her plot against that tengu would never work if it were like this.

     “What did you say your name was, boy?” Completely ignoring the fact that it’s displayed on the screen as the timer on their call keeps ticking, she closes the distance with a few confident steps. “Ah, how rude of me. I ought to introduce myself first this time, no? I am Yae Miko, head priestess of the Grand Narukami shrine and owner of Yae Publishing House.”

      There is an odd pause of sorts, where she seems to be in deep thought about something. “Perhaps you can scratch that last part. Those titles have no meaning here, do they? Fufu, maybe I’ll reopen my business then. I do so enjoy reading those stories, after all. But I digress~ You have my thanks for showing me how this thing works. Name your price, and I shall pay it.”

Crow was starting to feel that perhaps he made a great mistake showing her how cellphones work.  He could see the cogs turning in her brain; whether she used the phone for nefarious purposes or not wasn’t really his problem, but he would feel bad if he managed to totally ruin someone’s life with a simple demonstration.

He tapped the end call button on his phone as she closed the distance between them.  “Er-- Uh, I go by Scarecrow.  Pretty sure I’m the only one in Spirale, so it’ll be easy to find me.”  As she introduced herself as well he had an overwhelming sense that he was dealing with someone who was mighty important back home.  That was...concerning, for him.

“Well, they might not mean anything here, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important to you.  Back home I’m the boss of the underworld but here...yeah, not so much.  Still, a title is a title.  You should reopen your business, though.  If anything, it’ll give you something to do.  It can get boring here if you don’t have a job.”

He totally forgot that she was going to give him something in return for showing her how to use the phone.  Agh, he didn’t have any idea what to ask for!  “Uh...well I can’t exactly ask you for money.  Wait!  I know.  Er-- well you’re about to think I’m a bad person, but I’m sort of banned from this place...I need help getting inside so I can get some money back that they owe me, but the bouncer knows my face and will kick me out the moment he even senses I’m around.  So if you go in for me-- yes, that plan might work...”

[chuchelo]

asernolonger​:

Selenie ends up rolling her eyes at Crow’s explanation. Oh, how she’s heard that tune before. 

“Sounds a lot like the Garleans, and probably the Allagans when those bastards were still kicking. Swiving whoresons, those lots, and I’m sure those Romans weren’t any different. I’d kill them all the same.” She scoffs, before sighing heavily.

“Hmph. I’ve seen that before. People being left to die just because they’re sick or weak or whatever. Was all too common back home. Hells, if I wasn’t half the woman I am, I’d probably be dead in a ditch somewhere. Or maybe I’d be wolf chow too, depends on where I died.” She muses. “I never said anywhere that getting stronger was easy. I wasn’t born a god-slayer-I had to work my arse off to get to that point, and in truth, it’s not like I really wanted to go out and kill gods. I would’ve been fine with normal monsters, but fate had other ideas, and it’s too late now. Besides, I’m the only one who can do it safely.” 

No doubt he thought she was mad by now, given the fact he seemed to line up what she’d said with shite out of stories from his realm. But, at least he seemed to recognize he was in no position to act on it, if he thought that at all. 

“Is it really that far of a stretch? And if it is, surely you could find someone who could help you out? The fact of the matter is, you need to be able to take care of yourself in this chaotic shitehole of a realm. If something comes pissing ‘round, you could be dinner, and no one else would be able to save your twig arse.” She insisted. 

She rolled her eyes. 

“Like I give a rat’s shining arse as to what it’s called.” Selenie deadpanned. She did, however, find some small comfort in that even those in places where such technology was common would sometimes struggle with the devices. “Good to know I’m not alone in that regard. Not as if I need what seems to be some sort of overglorified linkpearl to do whatever needs doing. I’ve gotten this far without something so needlessly complicated, so I think I’ll be fine without using the thrice-damned thing.” She further added. 

Okay, maybe she was being a bit dramatic with her claim that a child could kill him, but to be fair, an Eorzean child could use magic to cook him alive, or freeze him, or… well, there were plenty of ways to die via magic, to keep it simple. Hell, part of Selenie’s own combat prowess was rooted in magic. 

“Well, I guessed that much-those who favor advanced technology tend to do so because they don’t have any sort of magic or similar powers. And yes, knives are weapons. Can be very effective ones, in the right hands. Hells, in the right hands, a bloody book is an effective weapon. If you can kill someone with it, it’s a weapon as far as I’m concerned. And something tells me that anything much heavier than a knife would be too much for your scrawny arse to even lift, let alone use properly. The guns I’m used to would probably blow your arm clean off, so that’s out of the picture too for you.” 

She isn’t sure what this shrimp of a man could do besides build a machine to pilot, and pilot it. No magic, too weak to lift much beyond a knife, too frail to effectively use a knife… but she wasn’t sure who she could ask to help the twig build something… hells, he had friends. He could figure it out.

“If I could figure out how to use the Echo to at least temporarily blind them, I would. A woman deserves her privacy to rest in peace, damn it! Good to see I’m not the only one who thinks those Stars need to learn to mind their own damn business. Hells if I know exactly what all those things you mentioned do, but if it teaches them a lesson, I say go for it.” 

@chuchelo​

Kill the Romans?!  Man, if time travel were feasible he’d absolutely figure out how to get Selenie to fight a Roman phalanx.  Certainly a battle for the ages, although without having even seen her fight before he had a strong feeling that she’d slaughter them all without mercy.  Agrippa vs Selenie?  He’d pay the big bucks to see that.

“Well I guess I just find it hard to believe that you were a shrimpy weakling at any point in your life.  Maybe not break bricks with your teeth strong, but I doubt you ever struggled to lift a 25lbs box is all I’m saying.”  It wasn’t an excuse as much as a cold hard fact.  Although now that he thought about it, part of it was definitely learned helplessness.  It was easier to pretend he was too weak to get anything done than actually try to work at getting stronger.  Easier to sit behind his computer, that’s for sure.

“Okay, okay.  I’ll go try to find an engineer somewhere.  I mean, you’re right, there’s no way there isn’t someone who can help me build it considering how many people are here...I’ll look into it.”  If only because walking around in a massive mech suit would be the coolest thing he could imagine.  Who could possibly ridicule him when he could crush their puny bodies with a mechanical arm.

Man, her implication that all tech geeks were hopeless in magic and might hurt -- but it was true.  He didn’t know any other computer whiz that could be considered ‘strong’, except maybe their odor.  At least she didn’t shoot down his knife suggestion.

“I mean, back where I’m from there’s lots of different knives.  Like butterfly knives, Bowie knives, shivs, throwing knives, switchblade, combat knives, uhh...well, there’s probably like 30 more types but I don’t remember off the top of my head.  So, like, it’s a total valid weapon that I could handle.  Also, it’s one of the only weapons you can hide, anyway.  No offense, but I don’t think many people would take me seriously if I carried around a spear.”  He gestured at her own weapon.

“Hmm, although I think we have pretty powerful guns back home too...there’s a few that can totally tear you apart in a few seconds.  I dunno if you have automatic weapons where you’re from...but they’re pretty lethal.  Still, the knife is a better idea.  I don’t think I could aim straight...”  Crow shook his head; what was he saying -- a knife is a terrible idea!

“Wait!  No, no knives!  I’m going to make this mech suit thing!  It’s all in the cards now.”

@asernolonger​

[chuchelo]

salxnja·:

“Whaaaa~aaaat? are you serious?” He’s amazed! Ilseong shakes his head, downs the last bit of his drink, and then does the same asking for a refill. Both their glasses are refilled immediately  and Ilseong speaks again, “I’ll have to take you out more! We can be drinking buds in no time and beer won’t taste like battery acid much longer.”

“Where I’m from, we have a drink that tastes like rubbing alcohol.”

Finding a drinking buddy after sitting in a bar for 30 minute alone was something Limbo would do -- actually, scratch that, Limbo would never be at the bar alone.  Regardless, it was quite un-Crow-like of him to make such a fast friend.  But he could use more of them, at any rate.

“Eugh, rubbing alcohol?  Why would you even drink it.”  He felt a little ill just thinking about it.  Crow took another sip of his new mojito.  “I hope it at least gets you drunk really fast...that’s the only reason I could see someone drinking it.”

[chuchelo]

rxsurgcnt·:

Honestly she feels rather lucky to have him here to help her in this mission she has planned on for Lionheart. “I suppose you’re right.” She remembers her husband’s saying ‘do it right the first time’. He always told himself that and always made sure to put his 100% into everything he did. In that sense, this guy reminds her of him. 

“Also, don’t eat your ice cream all in one sitting.” She’s only teasing. “You know where to find me if you have any questions.” She’s going to get started on that portrait. The sooner she gets it done, the faster Crow can get what he needs finished!

Crow eyed the container of ice cream again.  Damn, she clearly knew his plan was to get in front of his computer and scarf down the rest of the tub.  Ah, well.  “Of course I wouldn’t eat the ice cream all in one sitting.  I’m not 10.”  He laughed, but it sounded more nervous than he hoped.

“A-Anyway, I’ll get right on it, just bring me the portrait when you’re done.”  Crow skedaddled to the back room and stuck the tub back in the fridge.  No need to disappoint Corvus right after she so graciously purchased him the mini fridge.  He cracked his knuckles and did some quick arm stretches before plopping down in his chair.

Ugh, this was gonna take hours.

[chuchelo]

rxsurgcnt·:

There’s SO much she has to explain to him, but all of that can wait as soon as they get in—!?!?!

“Crow!” 

She expected something like this to happen, but not when they’re so close to entering what could potentially be a safe haven for Scarecrow. Corvus only has a moment to act and when she realizes what’s going on, she’s shoving the doppelganger OFF of Crow with strength that had been stored away by the Stars. This has happened before. She at one point could see what Feniks could see. This must be because of the Mist. “Crow, get up.” She says once she’s successful in pulling the Past Crow off of him. Corvus will help the guy up. 

“We’re not here to hurt you.” Corvus decides to say. She can only hope that this may ease the Doppleganger. 

Crow coughed as he scrambled to his feet; he clutched his throat as if to protect it as he scurried behind Corvus.  He had no idea what the hell was going on -- today just kept getting worse.  His doppelganger was taking heavy breaths as he looked between Crow and Corvus.  His eyes seemed glazed over and faraway; it was like he wasn’t even seeing the two of them in front of him.

“C-Corvus...?  Maybe we should just back aw--”

“Dammit!  You don’t know anything!  I won’t let you take me back--”  Evil Crow charged at the pair of them; now it didn’t seem like it mattered whether he grabbed Corvus or Crow.  He ran his shoulder into both of them; Crow stumbled backwards but managed to stay on his feet this time.  The other Crow rounded on them like a charging bull.

“I don’t even know what he’s talking about!”  Well, he had an inkling, and it was making his stomach flip just thinking about it.  He barely managed to skirt around the evil Crow before he clotheslined him again.  “Should we just run??”

[chuchelo]

inazumiko·:

· · ·✿·“I know what I said.” she says without missing a beat.·“You do not know me, nor do I know you. So far, you haven’t done anything to earn my ire just yet. Keep it that way, and you will remain respectable, boy.” Were her words not uttered with that singsong voice, one might mistake them as a threat — but they are _far _from it. If asked, she would answer she was merely stating facts.

· · · Nevertheless, it took nothing to negotiate with him. She would say immediately agreeing to her proposition was a foolish thing, but she will come out on top of this whole thing, so who is she to complain? Just another fool, so she holds her tongue.·“So it is called a cellphone, I see.” If she sold these in Inazuma, how much money would she make?

· · ·The initial instructions are nothing worth her interest just yet, but once he mentions the ability to talk to people, her ears perk up after all. There is a certain glint in her eyes as he continues with his explanation while showing her, causing her to be oddly quiet and only respond with the occasional nod.·

· · ·This device, it would be revolutionary. Regardless of what kind of magic makes it work, the thought of the Traveler having access to this during their journey strikes her as hilarious enough to elicit a small chuckle.

· · ·“It was a shot in the dark, but you are actually rather adept at explaining this kind of thing, are you not? Umu, I was right to choose you. You have my gratitude. Basically, you are saying I can use this device to communicate with people within an instant, right?”

“Aha...right.”· He felt like he was being talked down to, but in a way that was pleasant enough that he was willing to forgive it.· At least she called him·‘adept’ and not·‘a complete nerd’.· He managed a smile as she summed up his explanation in a short question.

“Yeah, you can talk to anyone on the island at the push of a button.· There’s a lot of people here, so it can be hard to find names sometimes.· If there’s someone you know you’ll need to talk to a lot, then just hit the little star next to their name and they’ll get added to your favorites.· Then you can just pull up the favorites page,” he did so as an example,·“and you’ll have a much shorter list to deal with.”

Crow handed her phone back over and clicked his tongue.··“And that’s about it.· Once you’ve been here a month you can do tons more stuff on it, but for now that’s all you need to know.”· He paused as he mulled over her question once again.··“Er-- I guess I should show you how a call works.· If you’ve never used a phone before it might be...alarming.”

He tapped his own name on her phone and turned up his ringer so that she could hear the noise it made.· Crow tapped on his own phone to accept the call and put the phone up to his ear as he took several steps back.··“So you just put your ear up to the phone and you’ll be able to hear me clear as day.· Just as if I were standing next to you!”

[chuchelo]

asernolonger​:

Selenie was honestly wondering how this tiny excuse of a man was even alive. At best, he looked malnourished. A single flick of her tail in his general direction, and he’d fall on his arse and then some for sure. At least his reactions have made sense so far. He knows he’s weak physically. Nothing without his technology. 

“Left on a hill? More like you would’ve been kicked down a cliff. Or tossed into the frozen abyss. Or tossed into the ocean. Or any other number of ways to die. There are plenty to be had where I’m from. And who in the hells are these ‘Romans’ you mentioned?” She’s rather quick to point out. 

“Not hard to believe that you’d get someone else to come up here normally. Weak link is being nice about it. And, given that things can go to shite in this godsforsaken realm at any given moment, you need to be able to handle yourself. You can only run and hide for so long, half-pint. You need to get stronger.” She further added.

His reaction to her pointing out the fact he shares a name with a sky rat is somehow more intense than the repeated times she’s pointed out his frailty, and she has to admit, it’s not exactly what she expected. 

“Tch, at least you knew who your mother was…” She muttered very softly, practically inaudible. She then rolls her eyes. “Not exactly a high bar to clear, Tiny Crow.” She drones. She’s running out of insults at this point, and, to be fair, at this rate, she’s getting bored. 

“Well, surely, if you’re half as good with advanced technology like you say you are, you could just bloody well build one! And I wasn’t even aiming to stop by-I was just resting my wings! And people say I’ve got a thick skull!” She fires back at him. Whether it’s because she’s finally starting to feel tired or she’s just annoyed with his stubbornness, she isn’t sure.

“In all truth, I don’t care that much, but I’d rather not be left in the dark. And it sounds like it isn’t something worth worrying about. I never use the… whatever the hells that thing was that I was given when I got here. The device. Don’t need it.” And not like I can bloody fucking read it anyways. She doesn’t say that last bit out loud, not wanting to be reminded of her utter inability to read a single written word. 

“I’m worried because a godsdamned child could snap your neck, the way you are, and the last thing I want for you is for you to die, especially in such an embarrassing way! You’ve clearly never lifted a weapon in your life, and you don’t seem to have any sort of magic or anything like that, so you’re a sitting duckling waiting to be killed! There’s only so much others can do for you, Crow! You have to be able to take care of yourself!” She finally snaps. 

A part of her is insulted that he thought his little lie would actually fool her, but at least he seems to realize just how pathetic the attempt was, and that he was only digging himself deeper into a metaphorical grave. Still, when he explains himself, she can’t fault him. If anything, she shares the sentiment in her own way.

“Guess it’s a good thing I don’t really use any devices like that. Still, it’d be nice if there was a way to keep them from watching our every move… hells if I know if there’s a way to pull that off though. I’d rather some bastards I’ve never met before who want gods-alone-know-what not being able to watch my every move and know everything about me.” She agrees. 

@chuchelo​

Oh jeez, he kept forgetting all of his references were going to go straight over his head.  “The Romans...uh, well they’re like this specific group of people from history that colonized a majority of Eu-- er, one smaller section of my world.  They were known for having a really strong military and stuff.  Also people are obsessed with their leaders, but I don’t know much about that.  Their military and government are just super important to our history.”  Crow lost his train of thought; why did he bring them up again?

“Oh!  Yeah, and they were known for leaving sickly babies on top of hills for like, wolves to eat or whatever.  So based on your multiple and piercing observations, I probably would’ve been wolf chow back in the day.”  He sighed.  “Well it’s easier said than done -- getting stronger, and stuff.  Some people just aren’t built to gain muscle mass anyway.  But after this eye-opening conversation, maybe I’ll go try to lift weights at the gym or something...”  Anything to get her off his back.

Man, this lady was insane.  There was a big jump from computers to mech suits!  But she probably doesn’t know the difference between an engineer an IT guy anyway, so he wouldn’t fault her for it.  “Well I would love to build a mech suit of armor to prance around in, but that’s way out of my league.  I’m good with computers, not mechanics.  I could probably program it to do stuff, but I wouldn’t be able to build the actual robot-suit-thing itself...”  Although now he was curious if this was something he could feasibly find someone to make here.  There were lots of people with weird skills, now that he thought about it.

“The cellphone?”  Crow held back a laugh at ‘the device’; he was going to get slapped upside the head if he wasn’t careful.  “Yeah, cellphones can be hard for people back where I’m from too, if they’ve never had a smartphone before.  I can see why you wouldn’t want to bother with it.”  He really wanted to make a joke about getting her a Jitterbug phone instead, but he valued his life too much to go for it.

He was a bit taken aback as Selenie insisted a child could snap his neck.  He might be weak, but he was fairly confident he could fight off a toddler.  If he were that helpless then he’d definitely stay locked in his bedroom all day.

“We don’t have magic where I come from so that’s not even an option for me.  I mean, what’s your definition of a weapon?  I could totally stab someone with a knife or something -- I’ve held knives before!  But where I’m from, people don’t really carry swords or spears around all the time...or ever, in present day at least.  They use guns and stuff, but I’m not really a fan of them...”  He trailed off, choosing not to elaborate.

Crow gave her a halfhearted smiled as she agreed that they didn’t need the Stars watching their every move.  “They’re crafty, but I think I’ll get it soon.  I might not be able to block them completely, but I think I can at least make it harder to access some of our stuff.  Like, disguise what we’re doing, or play back old camera footage.  I dunno, it’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever tried to do.”

@asernolonger​

[quiet-or-die]

@chuchelo

When Ukoku appears in front of him, Sanzo doesn’t hesitate to shoot him through the skull and then walk through him. 

Sanzo’s really tired of seeing his face here. Whoever is in charge of these “events” is sure lazy, using tactics that they’ve already used over and over. Rehashing memories of people and events that occurred in another place entirely. 

What’s the point of bringing him here if they’re just going “study” how he reacts to things he’s used to. 

(He knows the answer to that. Always has. “Studies” and “experiments” here are just a shoddy disguise meant to give their power trips some kind of greater purpose.)

[chuchelo]

Crow was stumbling through the mist again; if he was going to certain locations he could get there without issue, but the moment he tried to go somewhere different he realized he was screwed.

He froze as he saw two figures in the mist in front of him, but relaxed when he realized it had nothing to do with him.  That is, until he saw a gun was being drawn; Crow hit the ground as a bullet went whizzing over his head.  The man who shot the gun began to walk past him in a very nonchalant fashion.

He scrambled to his feet and stomped after him; he was actually quite irritated for once.

“Hey!  I know those weird things in the mist are annoying, but don’t go randomly firing guns when you can barely see two feet in front of you!  You totally almost hit me!  And word is that you can actually die this time around, and I’m not trying to die in this place -- no way!”

[chuchelo]

rxsurgcnt·:

She’s not entirely sure what he’s talking about. Stuff like that were Arthur’s things. Sure, she may have watched a few scary movies (That’s what she’s going by based on what Crow said), but she never really paid much attention to them. 

“Yes. This is just….I’m sorry, but the tip of the iceberg.” It’s probably not something he wants to hear, but she doesn’t want to sugar coat anything. Not with Crow. “We can get there together. It’ll probably be safer.” Her goal is to get Crow into LionHeart as quick and safely as possible. Avoid as much of just about anything that can be deemed dangerous as possible. She’s ready for anything as she has her hand closed around the hilt of her sword. 

“I’m sorry you had to see something from your past that you probably didn’t want to see. Keep your eyes peeled okay? Anything can happen. We can be attacked and we want to make sure we’re not in the element of surprise.”

He felt immense relief as Corvus ushered him towards LionHeart; he just hoped she was right that it would be safer.  Nothing had happened until he stepped into the mist, so hopefully all these apparitions were only able to manifest outside.  He didn’t think he could handle it if he went home later and was met with the same fate.

“A-Attacked?  You mean it’s not just like...visions or whatever?”  This was already worse than he imagined.  Whatever, they just had to get inside.  They surely had to be somewhat close to LionHeart by now.  Crow made sure to keep an eye out, but he didn’t expect to be clotheslined from the side so suddenly after Corvus’ warning.  He fell hard on the ground and looked up to see an enraged doppelganger of himself staring down at him.

“W-Wha?”  He only had a moment to process it before the other him clamored on top of him and wrapped his hands around his neck; he grabbed the evil Crow’s wrists to try to pry him off, but he was too weak and already felt lightheaded as the air left his lungs.

“I won’t die!  You can’t hurt me anymore!”  What the hell was he saying?!  Crow felt himself losing consciousness as he tried to wriggled out from under evil Crow’s grasp.  “Just shut up and die!”

[chuchelo]

schwrzer·:

somehow when his feelings were pointed out loud, he couldn’t help but feel a bit embarrassed. “ah, yeah… i didn’t. our rooms were right across from each other in the dormitories, so we were around one another pretty often. i was… used to having him around.” and he definitely wasn’t used to the feeling of loss yet.

there really was no way, back then, that he’d know everything that he experienced would happen. his only worries were his grades and becoming a better swordsman; things were simple.

what happened to crow after he graduated… rean didn’t even realize he was frowning, too caught up in thinking back on what happened right after that memory. the attack to garrelia fortress by crossbell… and then the day after, the chancellor’s speech.

he shook his head at the other man. “he didn’t graduate, actually. the day after, i went looking for him because he was missing from class and we were supposed to listen to the chancellor’s speech… but he had gone to the capital to…” a pause, and then his eyes went to the ground. “he went to the capital to assassinate the chancellor with a sniper. he was the leader of the terrorist organization we had been dealing with the entire time, and i never even suspected it. just that single shot that went straight through the chancellor’s chest meant the start of a civil war.”

it was clear he didn’t particularly like talking about it. the civil war was behind them, but he still couldn’t forget the lives that were lost. duke cayenne used crow and rean hated it all. he especially hated how things ended…

he was snapped out of it by the question regarding his class. ah, class vii. he still remembered how confused he was back when he first arrived at the academy and realized his red uniform was only worn by a select few.

“class vii, well… it’s a special class formed of students that show a high aptitude with the arcus. ah, uh. the arcus is a device we use to insert quartz, which allow us to use orbal arts, which are basically magic spells. if that makes sense to you.” he didn’t really know if crow’s world had anything like that. “it was also the first class that mixed nobles and commoners. things didn’t go too smoothly at first, but we are practically one big family now.”

a chuckle escaped rean’s lips at the worry about an ‘evil crow’ roaming around. it certainly relieved some of the tension. “i don’t think we’ll have to worry about that. crow was a terrorist but he was never evil.” even when he lost his memories he wasn’t evil, just bored out of his mind and saying cryptid things.

Crow nodded as he explained the dorm situation.  The Fixer’s hadn’t been living together for much more than a year, but he could understand the feeling.  He would miss everyone quite a lot if they just up and disappeared; they were a part of his daily routine whether they liked it or not.

He raised his eyebrows as Rean admitted other Crow was -- technically speaking -- a terrorist.  “Wo-o-o-o-ow, that...that’s a lot.  Although, I guess I can’t judge him.  I’m also sort of, kind of a terrorist back home myself.  I didn’t really think of the consequences of my actions until after it was all said and done and nothing could go back to change it.”  Crow winced.  “Must be a Crow thing.  Inevitable terrorism, or something.”

The joke didn’t even land for him, so he doubted it landed for Rean.  “I didn’t start a civil war, but I was tortured after trying to leave the place that convinced me to do it so-- er, I guess we all have our moments.  Let’s just say I’m not new to the concept of being used for nefarious purposes.”  Crow was desperate the change the subject, but luckily Rean gave him an out with his explanation about his class back in school.

“W-What?  You guys have magic powers and stuff?  Oooh, I’m jealous.  The best I got is my computer skills; I guess some people think it’s magic.  But if you’re talking about actual magic -- well, we don’t really have that back in New Sieg.  Talking to people around here has really got me in the dumps sometimes.  Everyone has cool weapons or crazy powers, and then I’m just here...being me, I guess.”

Crow finally gave a sigh of relief as he revealed there was no second evil Crow wandering around.  “Thank God.  I haven’t seen the evil me in a minute, but he was scary!  The last thing I need is to worry about two Crow’s running around wreaking havoc...”  He felt a bit chipper at the revelation.  “Hopefully that means you don’t have some crazy stuff following you around too.  I’m getting tired of trying to fight off these insane tulpas or whatever they are.”

[chuchelo]

@timestained​

The unfortunate thing about the mist was that you had to walk through it to get most places.  The paths only worked out about a quarter of the time in his favor -- and even on the paths he’d had a strange moment or two -- so he was stuck trudging through the mist praying he didn’t get caught by his evil twin or some Constantine jerks.  Crow was a bit tired of running.

He was once again attempting to get to Lionheart.  At this point he’d mostly memorized his way there; he was also careful to walk as quickly as possible so that nothing could sneak up on him.  So far he’d managed three treks out into the mist without getting himself into any trouble -- he was hoping for a fourth.  He didn’t really feel like dealing with traumatic memories right now.

As he rounded the last corner to Lionheart, he saw a figure heading down the path to Savior’s Respite.  Oh, that was a terrible plan on her part.  Crow booked it after her; he managed to catch up while she was still on the path leading to the large cliff.

“W-Wait!”  He put his hands on his knees as he panted, trying to catch his breath.  “Y-You really don’t want to go up there.  I dunno how thick the mist is, but you’re heading up to Savior’s Respite and I don’t think you’d enjoy accidentally taking a dive off the cliff.  Also...who knows what might appear up there.”  Crow shuddered at the thought.  “There’s only one path, so if something blocks the road back then you’re kinda screwed.”

[schwrzer-deactivated20220728]

the last thing he expected when he ended up surrounded in the mist was to be met with memories. he had a lot of them he didn’t particularly like thinking about, but there were also many that he cherished, especially the ones he had from his time in class vii back when he was an inexperienced and naive student.

one of the memories he found himself watching was from that time. before he found out what crow’s goal was…

―

the celebration after the school festival. a bonfire lit in the middle of the courtyard as students and their families filled the space to talk and dance. but the scene focuses on a certain duo. it looks like a younger rean, donning the school uniform, and an also younger crow, wearing his own uniform.

a sigh escaped rean as he scratched the back of his head. “this year’s festival’s been a blast. i’m kinda hoping we can do the same thing next year, too. though who knows if class vii is even going to exist next year…”

noticing that the other wasn’t saying anything, he gave him a confused glance. “crow…?”

crow seemed to finally realize he was being talked to. “oh, uh, yeah… generally people stay in the same class from their first day to their graduation, but… class vii’s one giant exception to everything the school’s ever done, so who knows…?”

rean closed his eyes and thought for a moment. “i guess that has its pluses and its minuses…” then, when his eyes opened, he appeared sad. disappointed. “…but no matter what, it’s not going to be the same. we won’t have you.”

“IF i manage to graduate, at least.” crow reminded him. “barring any nasty surprises, i’ll be in class vii till the end of the month.” a cheeky expression came to his face as he looked at rean. “which means our time as classmates is almost up.”

ah. right. back then he already had an attachment to crow, and the idea of graduation was scary. he wanted to continue to see crow every day in class and during their field studies.

rean’s surprised face, followed by a sad frown only confirmed that. “now that you mention it… yeah.” he quickly tried making the topic more cheerful however. “we’ll have to see if we can throw you a farewell party around the end of the month, then. can’t let you off easy.”

“trust me, you’re still gonna see more than enough of me next year.” crow simply said, as if he didn’t know what would happen. as if he wasn’t planning to start a damn civil war. “sure, i’ll have moved outta the dorms, but i’ll be sure to stop by once a week to steal some of sharon’s cooking.”

a laugh escaped rean’s lips at that. “you better. oh, by the way…” he scratched his face, feeling a bit awkward at bringing this up. “i’m not going to have to call you ‘mr. armbrust’ or anything after you graduate, am i? i mean, we’ve spent so much time together that treating you like a proper adult just wouldn’t feel right.”

“of course not. and if i ever catch you calling me ‘mr. armbrust’ again, i’m gonna smack you.” crow answered in a joking tone, then reached into his pocket. “oh, yeah. guess it’s about time i gave you this back.”

he threw something in the air, which rean caught and saw that it was the 50 mira crow had taken from him when they first met. “isn’t this…? i completely forgot about it. you’ve done so much for me since then. saving elise, helping with the concert… compared to all that, 50 mira is nothing.”

and yet he clung to that coin for years to come, as it reminded him of crow. how ironic.

“heh, the feeling’s mutual. besides, i never return the mira that i borrow. makes that coin extra special.” a wink in rean’s direction. “so go on! take it.”

after that, crow turned around as started walking away.

“i…” no, no, no. he didn’t want crow to leave for good. to graduate and only see him once a week. he had to find an excuse to see him more often.

“oh, by the way…” rean made a face. “…you know there was interest on this, right? how much do you suppose you REALLY owe me after half a year?”

upon hearing that, crow came to a halt, scratched the back of his head and looked back at him. “aww, man. what kind of racket are you running here, anyway? i thought you were supposed to be a good kid!”

“well, there’s this one second year who’s taught me a thing or two about making money…” a pause, and then rean looked to the side, a clearly sad expression on his face. “…to be honest, it feels kind of lonely to think that everything between us is completely settled and done with. so, what do you say? you still owe me?”

crow let out a sigh. “i swear, the things i do for love… all right, all right. you’ll get your stupid interest someday. maybe.”

at that, crow finally leaves the scene and the memory ends there.

―

“i sure was naive back then.” having no knowledge about the fact he was valimar’s awakener, and that crow was in fact c and was planning a civil war. truly, back then he didn’t have much to stress about. “that was back when i told crow to pay for interest for the time he spent with my 50 mira coin. who would’ve thought i’d still be talking about him paying it up years later…”

@chuchelo​ | mistified starter

[chuchelo]

Crow attempted to keep an eye on Rean and the memory at the same time.  The memory was innocent enough to him, but he could see that Rean seemed both nostalgic and melancholic as he watched it all play out.  It might not have been a stereotypically traumatizing scene, but it was clearly a painful thing for Rean to relive.

“You really didn’t want him to leave, huh?  He seems nice.”  Although Rean’s comment about naivety seemed pretty loaded.  “Some friendships are hard to let go of, I guess.”  ‘Friendship.’  He didn’t know the full story, but he assumed something happened between the two men later that was a story in itself.

“I think the mist is showing all of us stuff that’ll bring back stressful moments in time -- like they’re testing us, or whatever.  Comparatively that wasn’t so bad...but I can imagine there’s more to it than that.  This other Crow guy...what happened to him after he graduated?”  He was pretty sure the answer was ‘nothing good’, but he didn’t want to presume anything over the top.  “I’m guessing that’s the part that’s important, but the mist is just...I dunno, drawing out the memory in a convoluted way.”

“And what was so special about your class?”  Other than Crow.  “I guess I have a lot of missing background info here, but as long as you don’t have a mental breakdown in the middle of the mist we should be fine.”  His head swiveled around as he looked for distant figures and lowered his voice.

“Also -- please tell me there isn’t a second evil Crow I have to be on the lookout for.  Just the one is stressful enough.”

[chuchelo]

rxsurgcnt·:

If it hadn’t been for Feniks flying overhead and having eyesights that could pierce through the fog, Corvus wouldn’t have known about Crow being out in potential danger. It takes a moment to track his exact location even with Feniks’ help, but there he is! She sees him through the distance, through the thick fog. Just  an outline of the man. 

“Crow–,” She places a hand on top his shoulder and her eyes moves and they focus on what he’s looking at. She’s been through this already. When she witnessed her past over and over again. 

“It’s the mist. We should keep moving.” She lowers her gaze to Crow, concern on her face. Ah….She’s quick to kneel down on one knee and place a hand onto his back for some kind of comfort. The other hand still on his shoulder, “Let’s find a way out of here, Okay?” The faster they get out of here, the safer he’ll be. 

He twitched as she placed a hand on his shoulder.  The comforting gesture barely managed to pierce through his delicate mental state.  It was just enough to get him to stand as she attempted to get him off the ground.  Crow shakily stood, but stumbled as he backed away again.  Although he couldn’t see it anymore, he could still hear it.

“T-The mist?  How…?”  He let Corvus guide him away from the scene; he could barely stand up straight as his footsteps fell heavy on the ground.  “This is, like, way worse than Stephen King’s Mist.  I’d rather fight weird monsters than see that ever again.”  Crow still felt a little green, but they finally were far enough away that he couldn’t hear nor see the outline of his memory.

“S-So…I guess this is the sort of thing you were talking about when you hired me.”  He gave her a weak smile; the last thing he wanted was Corvus thinking he was even more of a weakling than she probably did before.

“I was trying to get to Lionheart to see if I can keep an eye on stuff on the cameras since I finally finished setting them up…I was sort of hoping that giant robots would attack the city next, or something, ‘cause that would’ve been easier on the psyche.”

[chuchelo]

@dawnpyre​

Mist, mist, more mist.  Those Stars guys were completely and utterly insane; Crow couldn’t figure out what their game even was.  What purpose could this crazy stuff possibly serve other than leading to everyone having a mental breakdown in the middle of the street.  Worst of all, he needed groceries!  There was no way in hell that even the usual slaves to capitalism would manage to get to work after fending off these hell spawn and visions that plagued the mists.

Whatever, he’d go check anyway.  Managers were insane like that.  All he had to do was be careful and not approach anyone or anything that appeared in his vicinity.  Should be easy enough!  Crow carefully crept down the street, his head constantly swiveled around as he desperately attempted to keep a 360 view of his surroundings.  The grocery store was a five minute walk away, but it’d taken him ten minutes just to leave the townhouse complex.

He could see the door to the grocery store slowly phase into existence; the chrome handles took on an eerie crimson color from the eclipse that endlessly appeared overhead.  Mission accomplish--

“There he is!”  Crow whipped around to see three figures bounding through the mists towards him; there was a crackle of electricity as they prepared what he knew were the tasers at their sides.  Of course he had to run into these Constantine idiots again -- he was so close to getting his stupid peanut butter too!

Now that he was prepared to see them, Crow turned tail and booked it down the street.  He could hear their heavy footsteps as their boots pounded the ground after him; they were very quickly gaining on him despite his best efforts.  Crow turned his head to look behind him, but missed another figure emerging from the mists in front of him.  He clobbered him head on and they both ended up sprawled in the middle of the street.

“So sorry, but we gotta run if we don’t want to get electrocuted by 50k volts.”

[chuchelo]

@rxsurgcnt​

When Crow woke up to see a majority of the town covered in the mist, his first thought was that this was one of those things Corvus had been mentioning when she first hired him.  Which meant he needed to get his ass to work so that he could be Lionheart’s eyes and ears -- this was easier said than done.  The moment he stepped out of his townhouse he realized he was going to have to walk straight into the mist; there were no paths winding around it.

As long as this wasn’t Stephen King’s The Mist it was probably fine...he hoped.  Crow was just praying that he’d walked to Lionheart enough at this point that he could find his way despite the thick, swirling mists.  He thought he was getting close -- he’d at least walked 20 of the 30 minutes it normally took to get there -- but he was getting nervous as it dawned on him how empty the streets truly were.  Maybe he was the only one dumb enough to be walking around.

As he mused this, he finally saw some figures in the distance.  Phew, okay he wasn’t the only idiot walking around out here.  They were in the direction he was headed anyway, so he approached them without caution -- they at least didn’t look like massive monsters laying in wait to attack him.  When he approached, he realized that there appeared to be a chair plopped down in the middle of the road that someone was sitting in.

His pace slowed as the mist cleared enough for him to see the situation in front of him.  It was his younger self, strapped to a chair with his head pulled back; a cloth was draped over his face and he was sputtering and coughing as some of the Constantine security guards were repeatedly dumping buckets of water on him.  Crow stumbled backwards until the mist hid them again; he fell to his knees and wretched repeatedly, although nothing came up.  A familiar set of shoes suddenly appeared next to him and he looked up at Corvus with a disturbed look on his face before he wretched again.

“What the hell is going on?”