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let fury have the hour,
WHO? Everybody!
WHAT? Agoge's third TDM! And the death of an important guy. And some very upset royalty.
WHEN? Late 1792, Paris.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
WHAT? Agoge's third TDM! And the death of an important guy. And some very upset royalty.
WHEN? Late 1792, Paris.
ANYTHING ELSE? Violence, as always. Please warn in subject lines for anything beyond physical violence, and move to a personal journal if things go beyond PG-13.
IT'LL BE FINE;
Paris, 1792: revolutionary france.
read the France setting infopages
arrival for new recruits(Note: If you were one of the people who used the previous TDM and want to use that as canon while still participating in this one, feel free! The following will still happen, though the guide will apologize for a malfunction in your BCE causing you to zap through the intervening month instead of joining your comrades like you should have. You'll be assured the glitch is fixed now, and it probably is. Probably.)
You wake up in a Parisian hotel room with a kind woman standing near the door, waiting for you to awaken. You have none of your clothing, just black military-issued underwear, and none of your previous possessions beyond the one you chose (if you remember choosing) to bring with you.
The woman by the door speaks French, and if you didn't understand the language before, you do now. If you have questions as to what's going on, she'll answer: you are a member of COST, a paramilitary organization of time travelers fighting against the Regency, a tyrannous kingdom of the future who are trying to stamp out freedom and individuality in the name of peace.
She will provide you with the clothing necessary to fit in at this time, and show you how to use your BCE implant to look up information on this time period and its social and political mores. She won't let you leave until you're properly dressed to fit in, but once you are, she'll wish you luck.
KILL THE KINGIt doesn't matter if you're new, or if you've been here a while. You'll hear about the execution going on today. It's as though the barely restrained urban chaos of Paris has ground to a halt. Everything is about the king. Is it really going to happen? Are they really going to do it? Can they do it? Is it even possible?
Anyone out of the loop will be filled in, but with no small amount of ridicule: Today is the day of the king's execution. His trial has wrapped up, and the National Convention voted to execute him for treason and tyranny.
The crowd at the execution is enormous, a riotous mob of passion barely restrained. Everyone is jockeying for a better view, with children and adults climbing up on nearby statues, lampposts, the sides of houses, rooves, some even hang from windows. Everyone watches the scaffold.
The prison cart arrives with no fanfare save the yells of the crowd. Within it sits a small, fat little man, looking like he's doing his best to remain composed. He's brought to the scaffold, and his crimes are read out: colluding with foreign powers, and the crime of royalty, which is anathema to the republic of France.
When asked for his final words, Louis Capet, known to some as King Louis XVI, speaks in a quiet voice. "I forgive my enemies."
When the blade comes down, the crowd errupts into cheers. Many rush forward to touch the blood of a king, dipping bits of cloth in it in an attempt to save it.
I PREDICT A RIOTIt's as though all the built up tension in Paris exploded when the king was killed.
Who knows what started it. Rumors spread like wildfire, and it doesn't matter, does it? In the end, most of Paris is swarmed with chaos, especially in the areas nearest to where the king was executed. There's no doubt that the riot and the king's death are directly related; no peasant currently throwing stones and breaking windows will deny it.
Fights are happening with great frequency. It only takes a word, a half sentence, for someone to decide you're some kind of counter-revolutionary. There is a current of anxiety in Paris that hasn't gone away; after reaching a fever pitch, it has expressed itself with violence and chaos.
let's visit the tuileriesThe Tuileries was the royal palace in Paris, the last residence of the king before his death. Of course the people of France end up clamoring at its gates, screaming profanities and attempting to scale them.
The majority of the guard let them do this, making only the most token of efforts to keep the peasantry back. But one guard, a man by the name of Antoine Colin, seems to become spooked and shoots repeatedly into the crowd before someone knocks him out.
By then, though, it's too late. The crowd was rambunctious, but not murderous. Now it's bloodthirsty, and the gates are stormed. It isn't long before the common people of France are trampling through the corridors of power. Inside, they'll mostly find servants running and hiding, and lots of valuables to steal.
Most are content with that, but not all. Some clamor for the deaths of the queen and the royal children-- per the laws of inheritance, Marie Capet's remaining son is now King of France. Should he not die as well?
The queen is hidden in a safe room, a hollow wall inside her apartments. Do you try to find her? Try to save her? Try to kill her yourself?
...And what about those kids hiding in there with her?
BRING IN THE TROOPSThe riot in the Tuileries lasts several hours, well past nightfall. It's beginning to peter off, people loosing their energy or vigor, when the sound of gunfire echoes from the front courtyard.
General Lafayette has arrived to save the queen, and brought with him a retinue of personal soldiers. All on horseback, brandishing firearms and sabers, they stream through the expansive halls of the Tuileries and attack anyone who looks out of place. They're here to clean up this mess with no concern for more filthy peasants getting in the way.
AftermathThe night is a long one. Several fires break out in various parts of Paris, shops are looted, and several die in the Tuileries. The queen has disappeared, along with Lafayette. Some say she and Lafayette died, and they'll show you the bodies for a couple sou. Others claim they saw them riding off into safety just before sunrise. There are already talks of hunting them down, trying to find the traitors.
Only one thing is known for sure: It may be advisable to stay inside for the foreseeable future.
read the France setting infopages
no subject
It makes his eyes sting and he immediately averts them from the source as soon as the realization hits him, grabbing for his collar to lift it over his nose and mouth. ]
Damn it... [ He doesn't gag, he can't gag, he's faced comparable odors of decay in dank ruins and he will again in the future.
So he finds the far wall instead, keeping his body angled towards Hei and away from the bodies as he slumps against it in a weary slide down to the floor. Never has he worn exhaustion particularly well. ]
I'm Noctis. [ Another attempt, after a heavy swallow. ] What's your name?
no subject
Hei. (a dry throat makes it a quiet rasp of a reply, but he doesn't seem very bothered.
with evac confirmed to be en route in the next few hours, all of them can hold out easily till then so long as they keep their heads down and save their energy. water isn't necessary but — despite the stench and the fact that food isn't needed either — he'd have the stomach for something warm. freshly baked bread, steamed rice, thick soup, the burn of alcohol.)
...
Are you injured?
no subject
No. [ Finally. ]
What about you? You look like you're holding up pretty well in here... [ Despite--
Blue eyes find the floor now as he leans over his knees, brow furrowed in concentration. ]
... hey. Did you sign up for this? I mean do you remember it. [ This. ]
no subject
hei's arms ache, heartbeat throbbing in the joints from a particular rough bungee from a caving roof, but it's not worth mentioning when he's experienced so much worse. he's kept going under grim circumstances and will again, par for his life's course -- but this is only the tip of the iceberg for them. who knows how long they'll be with COST, fighting their battles for them?
nods before too long, an answer he adds to after a moment more.) Yeah. A recruiter approached me and I accepted after a short briefing. (doesn't know how to explain his mindset at the time; he would've agreed to anything.
glances over.)
I take it you don't.
no subject
No. I don't. Just suddenly woke up here. [ And the fact that he supposedly had agreed doesn't sit right with him; it's out of character and it's an abandonment of his people, no matter the reasoning behind it. He had a goal, they had a goal, and he's supposed to believe he just threw it all away in an agreement he doesn't have any recollection of? ]
... I've got a little food if you need it. [ He doesn't trust his own ability to eat around that. ]
no subject
he wouldn't blame anyone for finding this situation jarring, more willing to consider his own reaction wrong and, frankly, concerning. it's a natural, normal thing to be opposed to this and to find fear in it, but there is a stark difference between not knowing where you've come to be and not caring. hei has struggled the last few hours with many things and none of them have been plans to find his way "home". logically he shouldn't be here, but if he wasn't he'd be dead... of that he's sure.)
Follow orders. Survive. That's all you should be thinking. (this is as far as his sympathy can stretch.) They had the technology to bring you here, they have the technology to send you back when your service is up.
(a pause, silence bearing down like a physical weight, before:) What kind?
no subject
[ There's something tiredly bitter in how he says the word, but nevertheless resigned. Yeah, he understands that, and he understands that this is now what he needs to do. But still he has so many questions, trying to puzzle out if asking them is just distracting himself further.
No, he decides, not when his real duty is waiting back home. Gladio would kick his ass for even thinking of getting complacent, and Ignis and Prompto would be disappointed. ]
Cheese, an apple, and some bread. Not exactly gourmet. I'm not too hungry.
no subject
(life without duty... he's never known one. he sits with the question and thinks about it himself, keeping noctis in the corner of his vision. they all have their own jobs, tailored to them, something only they can do. now, however, what is his? now that he has nothing left, is this his purpose? to help some ragtag group of rebels ensure a chaotic multiverse?
he doesn't deserve anything different. maybe he doesn't deserve peace either.
food, on the other hand...
hei shifts a little before replying,) I could eat. What do you want in exchange?
no subject
A lot of stuff... isn't about duty, I mean. I don't want a lot of stuff in exchange. Doubt you've got much more. [ But he's rummaging for the items now in the single bag he'd managed to lift from a rioter he'd had to knock out earlier, attempting to go about things peacefully but that hasn't been much of an option through most of this. ]
Here... I'd go for some water if you've got it but I don't know, don't really need much else. A nap, maybe.
no subject
a grunt, shoulder dipping in his comrade's direction, eyelids low.) I'll take it, then. The best I have to offer is the fact that I won't attack you or let anyone in if you decide to sleep. (and even that's generous for what the man would normally offer someone he's only just met: nothing.)
no subject
no subject
If the mission's number one, shouldn't you want to keep other COST members safe too? You can just say you'll watch my back.
1/2
(despite how wry it should sound, there's only an impression lended by the words he uses -- the rest is toneless and matter-of-fact.
reaching for the sack of food, hei drags it towards him unhurriedly. he has to seem in control of this, he can't let on that he's weak or debilitated in any way, but the hunger gnaws painfully at his stomach and he swallows an excess of spit when his mouth begins to water. slowly. slowly.
lifts and bites into the cheese.)
2/2
he feels like his hands are shaking. takes extra care, then, to still them with his fingers curling into fists against his thighs in between grabs of food.)
no subject
Oi, be careful. [ With a little push against the wall, sitting up straighter. ]
You're not supposed to eat cheese fast; everybody knows that. [ do they ] You're going to make yourself sick.
no subject
he hasn't felt anything for a while now.
just nods his understanding, clearing his throat on one of the his final bites. clearing that much food in such a short amount of time makes his stomach ache in response, but, despite this, it's spoken through.)
... It doesn't matter. Are you going to shut up and keep quiet like I told you?
no subject
If Hei's words offend him this time it doesn't really show, head thunking back against wood as his gaze now tilts upward in a critical study of the ceiling. His brow's furrowed, expression one of conflict. It's obvious he has more he wants to say in rebellion against his current situation. This isn't... This isn't fair, none of this is, but that's such a childish and shitty thing to think right now. ]
Yeah. Sure.
no subject
noctis' plight is one shared by many right now, but it doesn't make it invalid. he should say something like that aloud.)
...
Don't cry.
die
Instead he hears that, something which causes his attention to return to his partner with an unguarded look of incredulity. ]
Hah? Where the hell did that come from?
i wish
(noctis looked like he was looking to the gods for answers and he looks a little soft. crying wouldn't be the most surprising thing to happen today, but it wouldn't be the most bothersome either. he just doesn't want this situation to get anymore tense than it already is.)
If you're not going to, fine...
no subject
[ An immediate sharp retort even if his eyes seem to sting, more quietly overwhelmed by this whole situation than anything else. Getting called on that fact is worse, bringing it to the forefront when all he wants to do is rest and forget about the corpses in the next room. ]
If that's all it takes then you look like you need to cry too.
no subject
but he doesn't care he's here. noctis, on the other hand, might have a life and comrades and goals waiting for him. actual prospects he could lose by being here. he understands what it means and how it is to long for and miss something — that's the sentiment he applies to this situation detachedly, giving him another once over.)
Anger's what you need to hold onto. Sad nostalgia isn't a useful fuel.
no subject
Not like anger's gonna' do a lot of good anyway. But if you want me to get mad at you then I can. [ It fizzles out of him fast, leaning back again. ]
... I just want to get some sleep.
no subject
(that goes for the anger, the sadness, the sleep he craves— hei's gone through with his second benevolent act of the day and that's all he has in him to give. he'll keep noctis safe while he sleeps and he owes no more than that.
true to his word, he lets him do what he likes. he'll remain silent for the rest of it, eyes trained on the door.)
no subject
His eyes close, willing away the stain of viscera and the stench of sweat, sewage, and blood, and he thinks of his friends as he finally gives into his exhaustion. ]