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[avcnturine]

SHADOW AND SMOKE, STARRY PORTALS, and pyrotechnics burst one after the next — who needs the wall sconces? they put off enough light themselves. he barely resists the urge to clap for the show, each of them certainly putting in a fair share into disposing effectively of their obstacles. but it's still not fast enough. the two rabid beasts barely look like they're starting to tire, and the clock of this invisible oppression is ticking. he's looking at the imprisonment the little faerie'd been able to conjure, and the odd. . . reaction, or something, that'd been happening so far whenever fire met ice, or the other way around. seems like it packed more of a punch that way.

with that in mind. . .

miss arlecchino'd been saying something about going light on the protection, but despite his encouragement, that second go at imprisonment was a dud. whatever her reason for wanting to feel the fire and fangs lick right against her skin, he wasn't going to question it ,　　—— but, sincere apologies, he won't be listening to you right now.

energy roll ,⠀3. AVENTURINE shields all allies with CORNERSTONE DELUXE. 　　　↳⠀aventurine 8/8SP ; arlecchino 4/4SP ; lyney 8/8SP ; paimon 8/8SP ; sedene 8/8 SP

( anyway, didn't look like she was in much of a position to complain. )

"that would make our lives easier, wouldn't it," comes idle chatter to paimon's outburst, light with nonchalance as another cavalier gesture of one arm sweeps them all in a second hard, golden shine, this time studded in verdant gemstone. that might be enough to keep them going if his suspicions about what may be coming their way are well-founded.

"i'm afraid though, miss paimon, that they might see us as the answer to that very problem of theirs. what a shame. have you ever been seen by someone as food before?"

from where he stands comfortably out of harm's way, prismatic eyes keep watch on the skirmish like it's a sports stadium and all this a scuffle between practiced hands — as though it were happening at a distance, behind a partition of bulletproof glass, simply performance to be enjoyed — but the indifference belies the careful underbelly of that vibrant, bicolored glow almost auroral in the flickering torchlight, and the calculations that run beneath ;

assessing and guessing, devising and betting.

⠀🝊　◟ next⠀...⠀@sedena , @feliscus

temple of betrayal - big dog

(requiem of seasons end | week 2)

[avcnturine]

WORTH A SHOT ; YOU NEVER KNOW what might happen when you try your luck. unfortunately, this time— no dice. the bristling firehound and its reptilian friend don't look too keen on letting them through easy, and with that feeling of oppression, like they're a second away from being buried alive along with whatever else had first laid in this tomb, getting heavier by the second, they're short on the luxury of taking their time.

doesn't take a genius to figure out that collaborating'll get them through faster than not.

at point, the fish-horse girl gets right to business, throwing out something he can't make out entirely in the shadows, then pulling out sharp, piercing shots from a gun he hadn't realized was on her person. the hound lunges in retaliation, crashing itself twice against the shield he'd thrown her earlier and cracking it in just as many motions with a snarling ferocity that even makes him tense. tough little sucker. guess he'd better do his part then.

energy roll ,⠀3. AVENTURINE shields all allies with CORNERSTONE DELUXE. 　　　↳⠀aventurine 7/7SP ; arlecchino 4/4SP ; lyney 4/4SP ; paimon 4/4SP ; sedene 4/4 SP

"fire away," he goads the others with a smirk— and a glimmer of adamantine gold envelops them each with the invisible, but nonetheless shimmering impression of everlasting wealth and stability.

feels good, doesn't it.

measured steps take him back a few paces to observe, quick eyes never leaving their surroundings and the flickering forms of the twin marauding beasts. this corridor's narrow and there's five of them squeezing through ; best to let anyone more suited for bigger motions take the space.

"i can take some of the heat off for all of you, but don't let it make you reckless. haha, unless you'd prefer to wager your life. fine by me."

⠀🝊　◟ next⠀...⠀@entwinefates

temple of betrayal - big dog

(requiem of seasons end | week 2)

[avcnturine]

PITCHED WAILING DISTRACTS HIM TWO STEPS IN to following the monochrome-haired woman, bringing his eyes up, then back down to the spot of fluttering white rising unsteadily from the floor. the cries of lament and the new heap of debris are enough to tell the story. "careful, little flying one," he calls amicably in passing, "the monsters haven't even shown up yet."

though assuming she'd been looking for something up there, the idea itself wasn't bad. he chances his own glance skyward, noting the patches of light peeking through that hadn't been there before. but it was just an ordinary temple ceiling, as far as he could make out from here. if anything really was up there, the distance and the shadows kept their secrets.

might as well take a look at this doorway then.

hand on one hip, aventurine hangs back, staying a couple paces behind the lady in case she decided to do anything drastic. the stone making up the barrier looks notably new ; he wouldn't say shiny, but compared to the rest of this structure, it might as well have been put in yesterday. nothing immediately out of the ordinary about it, though truthfully he's not sure what he's expecting to see. more carvings, incomprehensible sigils? he's picked up the odd eclectic fact here and there, but he's no intelligentsia guild scholar.

in the absence of knowing what to look for — and assuming that the people from teyvat would have a better chance at any of that — he falls back on the search again. third time's the charm. like before, it feels like a shot in the dark ; but like before, he's rewarded for the company's lucrative relationship with the guild and their obsession with knowledge.

doors upon doors upon doors. but none of these are what interest him, not as much as a buried text entry on yet more geological samples, easily missed if he weren't paying attention. AREA 4450B, records suspended, it reads boldly across the top. which almost always meant that they'd eventually lacked the funding to keep going. he scrolls. MINERAL 79, SAMPLE 242. and above this caption is a picture of a dark, glittering crumble of rock and its reduced powder, and beside it a large outcropping of the source specimen surrounded by snow and craggy topography. not unlike the look of jarilo-vi after the stellaron had done its work.

arlecchino pipes up while he's still skimming. "extremely cold to the touch. i don't see any easy way to open this." a beat. "what is that device of yours doing now?"

head lifts to indicate he's listening, but eyes continue moving over the text, digesting the heavy scientific jargon with some effort.

eventually, he answers: ". . . looks like this door was added later. and its material was deliberately sourced from some other place." he flicks a finger across the screen a couple times and, finding nothing else, closes it. "which means it was made for a purpose." only then does he notice the black scrawl down the length of her forearm, and what looks like ice forming on her fingertips. "hm? what's with your hand?"

"just a touch of frost from the door."

. . . he'll take that for now. "that cold, huh. so then, what do you want to do now? you said earlier you prefer ' calculated risks '." a faint smile. "how about it. what are your calculations telling you?"

but whether she takes the bait for something more ambitious, it's hard to say. her reply stays as level as it's been since she walked up to him outside. ". . . that we may need to open the door regardless of what may be behind it if we want to understand what's going on here well enough to leave." she crouches down next to the hanging chains scattered across the floor, and his eyes follow, ". . . perhaps these could be reattached."

he looks up at the wall mounts. "doesn't that defeat the idea of opening the door?"

"would you propose another way to pull it open?"

so that's what she was thinking, then. it's not the worst idea ( chains were surprisingly versatile ), but kind of overkill, wasn't it? "have you tried pulling or pushing it yourself?"

"i'd rather not touch something giving off this powerful of an enchantment directly, especially with how it may respond to me in turn." brows arch. "but if you'd like to risk your hand, be my guest."

he wouldn't mind, ordinarily. actually, he might try just that.

"enchantment? when were you planning to tell me about that?" tone stays friendly, but he moves a little closer now, giving the door and its immediate vicinity a second, more in-depth once-over. a light scuff mark on the floor catches his eye, enough that he doesn't bother saying anything to her remark about having already brought it up earlier. so it's been opened before. . . though not far. discerning gaze slides around its border again, looking for weaknesses. so it was possible. but from this end, with no handle. . . and whatever'd opened it first had used enough force to snap the chains at the same time. would even all of them combined be able to replicate something like that? aventurine thinks about the individual beside him — a good chance she was someone interesting; maybe she could, if no one else.

well, one more idea before they give it a try. always good to have backups. turning without word, he gives two fingers a snap— echoing at the same time as a decorated turquoise die bounces crisply off the top door hinge, clattering to the floor then vanishing.

". . . looks like you had the right idea, friend. these hinges at least are pretty solid. but if your plan doesn't pan out in the end, then brute force is always an option."

♠　⋮﹒ temple of betrayal　—　first ordinance.

　　 　　　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　requiem of season's end　❫

[avcnturine]

HE DOESN'T THINK HE'S FELT A TEMPERATURE CHANGE this drastic since being marched into the company starship with his hands bound after that gamble on egyhazo. instinctively looking for the source of the freeze, attention lands on the conspicuously bright veins spidering across the stone floor like thin fissures, spanning the length and width of the vast chamber from wall to wall.

after a retesting the preservation's protection to make sure it holds, he takes a few preliminary steps inside while miss arlecchino rejoins the others, up to one of the most prominent of the glowing ley lines — pausing briefly to offer a congenial smile at his introduction. the cold notably deepens in those few short meters from the entrance, the outdoor heat all but siphoned out as though warded to stay beyond the threshold.

crouching down, he hovers his palm over the glowing vein, and the amplified chill confirms the suspicion. so this is some kind of enormous icebox. looks like it's sustained by magic. possibly the same energy that powered the ' visions ' this planet's so proud of. ice here is called cryo, isn't it.

but was this all really needed just to keep the place cool?

legs straighten again, and a perusal of any other nearby features beckons him next to the wall on the left, drifting further distant from the small congregation to examine more of the place on his own. not that he's completely disinterested in what they have to share ; one ear stays out for the muted conversation for anything of interest ( he hadn't missed the part about paimon trying to leave earlier ; what had that been about? ), and he's careful to stay within its radius, though unfortunately the high ceiling makes it so that anything but the loudest sounds are swallowed quickly.

visibly, a carving greets him as he sweeps his gaze over the crumbling rock, and he lifts his right arm again to re-input his security codes. as the system loads, he takes in the mural in its entirety, lingering on certain details nearly faded out of sight: an antler-headed girl, the faint outline of stems and petals from the tines, hands cupped around something eroded and what looks like water spilling down. but of course none of that is as prominent as the gash across her face. this, aventurine steps a little closer to study.

a single slash, old but judging by the state of material underneath, likely much newer than the tableau itself. and made by something big, no doubt, if the scale of destruction on the rest of the temple was any indication — it didn't take anything too impressive to blow out a door, but to leave signs of damage all over the structure? but that wasn't the oddest thing about it. on a second look, the claw mark doesn't seem. . . right. hard to put his finger on it. —manufactured, somehow?

oh, the system's up.

like before, he doesn't expect any hits — either in their repository on teyvat or otherwise ; so he's surprised when he scores a couple this time. opening them names PLANET: TAVYET and provides a few archeological pictures. ( he submits his own for evaluation, of course. ) relics, tokens, but the most interesting are the carvings looking like they'd fit in a collection right at home with the one he's looking at. even the same antler girl shows up in one. . . or several.

lucky him, the scientists had even managed to date the specimens. 2,000 years old, by radiometric sampling. now how many amber eras was that?

across the way, the others are still talking in their huddle, but he calls out pleasantly nonetheless. "pardon the interruption. but. . . was this planet ever called ' tavyet ' before?"

after a beat, it's the same tall woman who responds. ". . . i've never heard such a name for teyvat, but i'm no historian." her kid supplements a nod, and the little fish thing ( mesine? —melusine. ) adds: "do you mean teyvat?"

hm. aventurine looks back at the records. it's not an impossibility, but best to put in a note to get that reviewed again.

♠　⋮﹒ temple of betrayal　—　first ordinance.

　　 　　　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　requiem of season's end　❫

[avcnturine]

A LITTLE DISAPPOINTING — nothing new to see on the way back down the other side. the marks of struggle and destruction begin to reappear as gradually as they'd faded earlier, and once more as he nears the front, the temple becomes a gradiented picture of wreckage. who knows how structurally sound it even is anymore on the inside ; if he intends to go in, he should be prepared for anything.

. . . oh? as he turns the last corner, a figure strides towards him— one of the ones he'd seen earlier, right after noticing ratio's disappearance. but it doesn't look like the others are with her.

as she greets him, he dons a smile— wearing the cool amiability of synthetic warmth. but it looks like they've managed to mistake him for someone else ( now that's something that doesn't happen often. ) maybe he should go along with the play. sure, he could be the bookworm type if they wanted ; it could be interesting.

". . . a scholar from sumeru? haha. . . you do me an honor. unfortunately, much as i'd like to claim that title, i'm afraid there's been some misunderstanding." maybe another time. he bypasses the raised brow cocked at him with an effortless composure: "it's my pleasure, miss arlecchino. ' aventurine ' is fine."

and as for whether he'd found anything interesting: aventurine looks again to the monument, inspecting the sloping line of the roof that looks ready to cave in. "there certainly are a lot of interesting things about this structure. but unfortunately, concrete answers are still out of reach." vibrant eyes pan back to the woman. "it's clearly beautiful for a prison. pity it didn't do its job too well. but i wonder how serious that intention really was. . ."

a beat passes between them.

"mister aventurine," her cool voice slides in once more. "likewise a pleasure — my apologies for the misplaced identity. i take it you are unfamiliar with miss paimon, then?"

he suspects his bemused blink is indication enough of the gap in his knowledge. now which one was that?

but she doesn't elaborate. "hm — interesting to conclude that this structure is a prison. i was suspecting this was a tomb ; very different purposes, but perhaps that would explain the reverence its design seems to convey."

"reverence?" he can't completely help himself ; the echo rings soft with disbelief. he supposes it could very well look like that at a glance, with all those trappings of luxury. "mm. possibly." but the way he saw it, it was more like a thin coat of gold paint, just one layer deep.

semantics, right? ( he'll keep it to himself for now. )

"if you're saying it's a tomb. . . then are you implying that whatever broke out was previously dead?"

"it's hard to say for sure from the enchantments that seem to seal something in." now it's his turn to raise a brow. "perhaps it was thought to be, or maybe meant to be dead? but with those measures in mind, you prison theory holds much more weight."

she turns her back to him then, and that interestingly impenetrable expression away — though it glances back expectantly over one shoulder. "one of my children is investigating inside with miss paimon and the melusine. there's several decorations inside the structure as well."

he takes the cue, falling in step beside and just behind. but his thoughts are still on her distinction about a tomb versus a prison. blithely, he slips in: "nobody said there's a reason it can't be both. a tomb and a prison, that is." so, into the crumbling edifice he still goes ; only with an unexpected escort. how nice of them to come out and fetch him. "i take it the kid in the hat who was following you so closely was your child. as for the other two, i've never seen them before. you mentioned ' paimon '. . . ? and ' melusine ' is a word i'm also unfamiliar with."

"fair point. the two may not be mutually exclusive. and yes, that is correct ; his name is lyney."

two at a time, they ascend the steps to the entrance, dodging the broken and blasted craters in the marble. "then i suppose you've not spent much time in fontaine, if a melusine is unfamiliar. the small one that wasn't floating was one of them." that must be the fish-creature then — ' melusine ' its race, and common in the nation of hydro. fortunately, teyvat tended to be more logical than most of the planets he'd come across.

was that it? he's about to confirm that the white flying one was then ' paimon ' when the woman continues after the unwieldy pause, as if suddenly remembering where she was: ". . .and miss paimon is the small one that was floating. both may be able to provide unexpected insights."

. . . unexpected insights, huh?

mild, inscrutable eyes regard her with a pleasant look— and a moving, ever-beating calcification beneath. he'd have more he'd love to ask, but they're at the doorway now, and the deep cold inside beckons.

"then i look forward to everyone's performance."

♠　⋮﹒ temple of betrayal　—　first ordinance.

　　 　　　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　requiem of season's end　❫

[avcnturine]

FOG PEEKS OUT FROM BEYOND THE ROCK FACE, wispy and rolling. wait. no, not fog— clouds. he's looking at cloud cover. a frown almost contemplative comes over the stoneheart as he pauses to study the view anew, tracking it out to its end at the glowing horizon. so they're much higher up than he'd thought. at least that explains how thin the air's gotten.

steps start up again, taking him further towards the rear of the dilapidated structure, noting the dead and dwindling greenery as he goes. unnaturally silent landscapes aren't all that unheard of to him, but it's still true that, outside of sigonia, they usually are a sign of something out of the ordinary. the absence of birdsong and the dull hum of insects — these things that flew under the radar of normal attention until it was gone — points to something pretty wrong about this place if the atmosphere and the unexplained way he'd arrived didn't already.

opposing that, however, is the fact that the farther he's gotten from the front, the lesser the signs of overt damage to the building. the wear and tear is still there: erosion, some overgrowth, some natural decay, but as he draws closer to the other end, the signs of violence disappear almost entirely, leaving behind only the relic of what once must've been a rather lovely building.

coming to a stop once he's reached the anterior, aventurine turns to look at it properly, head craning back to follow the sleek, towering columns up, up. . .

hmm. actually, the more he looks at them, the more the columns don't look as sturdy as he'd initially assumed. elegant, for sure — parallel furrows carved perfectly equidistant in the stone, gilded with what looks like the remains of painted patterns long since scuffed away by exposure — but aren't they concerningly slender? and the foundation. . . he's no architect, but it doesn't look all that well-rooted into the earth either, though again the intricate gold and ivory inlay running all around its circumference and the sheer quality of the veinless white limestone almost make that easy to ignore.

something intended to be portable? . . . no, not with luxury decorations like these. more like a beacon, a display of cheap wealth placed here like a trophy. he looks over one shoulder at the sharp dropoff behind him — it makes sense then that they'd display it at the highest point of the land, above even the sky. an offering? a show of prosperity for the envy of distant neighbors? maybe. but it'd also clearly been used to house something ; or rather, to keep something in. why would they use something so delicate, then?

. . . " they ". who's " they "?

"hmm. . . " thinking, he lifts his left arm and enters a few codes into the system on his watch ; a blue hologram springs to life, casting its soft light across his face. a few more codes. . . nothing. mm, what if he tries to search for " destroyed omen temples " instead?

　　　　　　　　　　　　　𝚗𝚘 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚞𝚕𝚝𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍.

not necessarily disappointed, he shuts down the screen, stepping away now closer to the edge of the cliff face. that's about what he'd expected ; their files on teyvat were still few, and even he doesn't recall any similar incidents from other planets listed in their archives. maybe he'd set aside some time to do a deeper search later ; might as well see what else this place was asking him so eagerly to find first, so eagerly it'd even trapped him here until he did it.

overlooking the crashing waters far below, aventurine smiles and pulls in a deep breath of salt and frothing sea spray. the drop is far, far down, and the lashing rapids beat against the rock with relentless, crushing force. definitely enough to kill anything foolish, or brave, enough to risk it.

he's almost tempted to spread his arms, and. . .

. . .

heh. best to head back for now.

♠　⋮﹒ temple of betrayal　—　first ordinance.

　　 　　　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　requiem of season's end　❫

[avcnturine]

HE LIKES TO THINK HE'S SEEN ENOUGH BY NOW to know when something's not right. that infallible instinct, a hyperawareness — survival sense brutalized into its signature hard shine, just the same way gemstones are made.

brows drop and mouth loses the curve of its smile. ". . . ratio?" eyes blink and glance around, then behind, but just like that, there's suddenly no trace of the doctor's purple and gold that'd been with him a moment before. no sharp remark reflects back either, which might be the more disarming part. only silence.

. . . well, not complete silence. his attention does fall on movement — other people, coming to. that is: two people, one. . . fish-creature, and one flying miniature, who starts darting around in the next moment, yelling something with increasing frenzy. someone's name, probably. anyway, not a single familiar face to him, but all of them looking, even briefly, just as disoriented as he feels.

head turns then to the towering structure behind him whose shade he'd found himself unceremoniously standing in. the temple itself appears much bigger up close than it had on the climb. just an issue of perspective, or was there something else at play? then again, who knows if it's even the same temple he and the doctor had been climbing to in the first place; the same was always true when making landfall on a new world, when the bridges between stars collided: anything could happen. humorless smile twitches some ways back into place again, keen with new satisfaction. looks like whatever they had all been spending these past few days waiting for. . . was finally about to happen, then. about time.

first things first. the temple's vacant door stands open like a gaping wound, clearly inviting them inside. a scanning look up reveals ample evidence of wear and tear, both natural and. . . possibly otherwise.

the whole area screams with menace. but why bring them here to witness it?

"hm. welcoming, isn't it?" he remarks to no one in particular, uncaring if the others answer or even hear as he turns to regard the side of the structure, the decrepit path of green extending alongside a sheer drop into the distance. "now. . ."

without waiting, he sets forward, instinctively adjusting the switches of his wristwatch. an indisguishible adamance hums just under his thoughts— good to know qlipoth's protection still worked here.

⠀🝊　◟ @balemouns , @feliscus , @entwinefates , @sedena

♠　⋮﹒ temple of betrayal　—　first ordinance.

　　 　　　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　requiem of season's end　❫

[avcnturine]

THE DOCTOR'S SHARP GLARE PUTS A SWIFT END to any pleasant conversation, including hearing what'd exactly happened with the previous employees and why, of all people, veritas ratio had saddled himself with an ordinary job like this, supervising others and pushing papers. he'd always thought the man ( rightfully, if he's honest ) considered his exceptional mind fit for better things. shouldn't he be out there, solving impossible equation strings or contributing to yet another miraculous humanitarian solution?

"all right, all right. you're really not in a good mood, are you." not that it ruins his own ; the tonal lilt of amusement, barely shadowing laughter, suggests as much. one hand pulls open the driver's seat door finally and he climbs in, sliding comfortably into form-fitted leather seats and deeply inhaling the crisp, chemical smell of new vehicle.

as requested, both hands pat the steering wheel. "buckled in?"

dashboard symbols flicker on. the vehicle whirs to life with a melodic startup sound reminiscent of the soulglad tune and the blinking and shifting of its numerous gadgets and lights. after craning to make a few adjustments to the mirrors and seat placement, aventurine kickstarts the engine with a satisfying purr, then takes them smoothly out of the parking space. less than a minute into the drive, turning out of the lot and waiting to pull into the main street, he rests back, one arm draping casually over the central console as other hand drums long, bejeweled fingers against the wheel. "you're not planning to sit in silence the whole drive, are you? how about a request? since you've given me an hour — anywhere you'd like to go, or see? there's a new gallery that just opened off glaux avenue with a promising eatery i've been meaning to try."

　♠　⋮﹒ right of way

　　 　　 　 　 　　 　❪　comm. bloom　/　driving school　❫

[avcnturine]

CELEBRATIONS HAVE WOUND DOWN, booths have closed. the day's exuberant energy has dwindled to a slow and quiet pause, and the inky stretch of night extends its reach over this strange island getaway. most people have settled into wherever they're staying for the night ; no doubt some parties are continuing behind doors. and maybe on another day, that's where he'd be — among gold and glamor, drinks and the clatter of coins, until the night lengthened out the other side into morning.

some inkling brings him this time to the beach instead, a dark sandbar abandoned by the day's earlier revelry, evidence of it still scattered just out of reach of the tide. shells, buckets, and plastics ; half-eroded mounds of sand and artificial furrows of stagnant seawater.

and in the distance, the remainder of that bonfire still burning down to the last of its fuel, a flickering ember eye against the starlit black. cinders compared to its roaring of a few hours back, but the long spiraling snake of smoke that rises from its dregs draws him in anyway like a signal, smelling of old, burnt cedar and damp salt as he comes close— only to see, in the firelight shimmering in a ring over its immediate surroundings, that he's not the only one who'd opted to stay out. that tail of ragged, ashen grey framed in a silhouette of broad shoulders and imposing stature could only belong to a distinguished figure.

one that's still a surprise to find here on such an occasion. "general." he announces the word slow, lets it roll of his tongue, pleasant and caramel, a detached warmth and welcome.

"this late, and you're still out here? they didn't put you on some kind of clean up, did they?"

⠀🝊　fancy seeing you here​,　◟ @sweepingthunder

♠　⋮﹒ time past and to come

　　 　　　 　 　　 　❪　event. solstice　/　ghost stories　❫

[avcnturine]

LIFE HERE AT THE FORTRESS IS HABITUAL in a way he hasn't experienced for a long time. wake up at the same time every morning, work for half the day, get in line for a shot at the one ( for many, only ) salvageable meal, the afternoon and evening spent putting things in place. repeat. guards line the cold iron floors every fifty or so meters, each strategically within sight of at least one other. finely-tuned machine dogs patrol where they're not. and at night, floodlights pierce the dark of the fortress bowels, swiveling and silent amid the groans and bangs of this giant metal container settling deeper into its roots at the bottom of the ocean.

what can he say? it's almost. . . nostalgic.

prisoner 7662, his movements monitored, hands proverbially bound. but even then, there's a surprising amount of freedom here, far more than he'd expected. people still made decisions for themselves, decided between choices for themselves, spent their hard-earned credits however they pleased — whether fueling it away on the cheap, sweaty thrills at pankration, or trading for the lucky delicious quality meals that one prisoner always seemed to get.

and in the meantime, he enjoyed the small luxuries as they came. a trip with the maintenance guards through the pipes, a multiday queue at the mail room. it was the ideal time to get to know the other inhabitants as much as he could, and make countless, indispensable new " friends ".

this had gone on for weeks. but now it was coming up towards its end — to the great gamble ; the first of a number. he could, he'd thought to himself a number of times, have gone about this the same way he had with the IPC. it probably would've been faster ; it definitely would've been riskier. but there was considerable value this time in the slow game, step by step, stopping to smell the rust. there was no reason to antagonize the residents of meropide or their elusive overseer, and anyway, they said no good trick ought to be played twice.

the chip sails in the air, turning over and over. which side will land face up?

"how much to see the duke?"

"that's not something you can buy."

"oh? i remember being told that anything's possible in meropide for the right price. in fact, i think it was you who said it — just last week, at lunch. isn't that right, friend?"

". . . you can't be serious. i know you've been raking in a lot from the ring, but there's no way you have enough in two months."

"seven hundred million."

" . . . ?!?"

"no less."

"that's— is that everything you have?! that's a fortune."

"let me talk to him for fifteen minutes. seven hundred million."

you're insane, the look on mahaut's face says clear as day. and aventurine just smiles, the same he does to everyone who's looked at him that way. after all, it's easy to see the answer before it even comes, written across every line of his face. the people here have respect for this kind of thing. so all his chips are on the table— and he's all in. ". . . i'll go ask him. just stay here."

　♠　⋮﹒ leave no traces

[avcnturine]

"both miss sparkle and the eminent sampo koski? who would've thought aha's followers were such reliable fans of free giveaways. i should've just gone ahead and invited the whole tavern."

[avcnturine]

SOLSTICE EVENT PSA .　want aventurine to be your sugar daddy? 

even among the stars have rumors spread of this place, with buy-one-bring-a-friend-free tickets being handed out like candy for this once in a lifetime experience!

so here's the idea: aventurine bought out a slew of these vacation tickets early on ; between that and all the bogo deals he gets from each ticket, he's been inviting a bunch of people he knows to the getaway, free of charge. ( "i got extra tickets and they need to be used" ). he'll handle your transportation too if you need it. what a guy.

if you'd like for your muse to be here on aventurine's dime because of his offer, please like this post!

this works best for hsr muses since aventurine wouldn't go out of his way to reach out cross-universe, but it's not impossible for other games' characters! see potential ideas in the next point

if you haven't met aventurine before, no worries! maybe you got wind of his offer through word of mouth and asked him, or he offered it to your friend who included you on the bogo, or he posted an ipc blast notice for anyone interested in the last few tickets, etc.

we don't have to chat out specifics if you don't want to ; liking this post just means you'd be game to incorporate this into your muse's setup for being here, and letting this potentially influence any event dynamics with aventurine down the line

either way, let's have fun! cheers !!

[avcnturine]

AN UNCHANGING EXPRESSION WEATHERS the doctor's litany of unimpressed retort, every word as usual flat with dry disdain. woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning? or, much more likely — ratio was just always like this. and here he went around giving everyone else health recommendations ; maybe it's his own blood pressure he should be watching out for. wasn't it someone who said, that doctors made the worst patients? those frown lines in ratio's brow ; he'd get permanent marks on that charming face looking like that all the time.

but there, in the end, it is. a soft chuckle greets the arrival of the answer he'd been looking for — and knew was coming. "one hour is more than enough. your graciousness is always commendable, professor. you wrap things up here then, and i'll meet you in the lot." that settled, aventurine turns and starts to leave, taking the same way he'd come in.

ding. a poker chip flips high in the air over one retreating shoulder, sailing edge over lazy edge before being snatched again effortlessly in a gloved hand.

　　　　　　　　　　　　♠

penacony, land of dreams. the weather always perfectly adjusted to suit the occasion was just one of the many perks to come with that. on the other side of the barb-wire fence, the busiest street in the golden hour churns and blares with crowds and traffic, blooming with luxury beneath skyscraping phosphorescence and billboards. but the lot itself is quiet, left in the shadows with a few manicured patches of green. several rows of resting dream vehicles await their test subjects, wide eyes staring ahead in lightless discolor. aventurine leans against the side of one pale-golden one, looking up from a flickering holograph of articles and messages only when the rhythm of approaching footsteps signals the arrival of his extempore instructor.

amusement immediately shimmers on his face as he pushes off the car's chassis, if just to recognize the annoyance still lingering on the other's. "no need to keep pulling that face, ratio. haven't i just rescued you for an hour? . . .speaking of, i really wasn't expecting to find you in the middle of all this." more wryly still: "i heard you kicked everyone else out."

　♠　⋮﹒ right of way

　　 　　 　 　 　　 　❪　comm. bloom　/　driving school　❫

[avcnturine]

All or nothing, is it? You gamble your life away; is it that worthless to you? //HELLO SORRY GOTTA HAVE ACHERON BUG YOU

HE MUST'VE REALLY DONE SOMETHING worth noticing this time, for her to go out of her way to find him.

"hm? is that you, galaxy ranger?" fine, velvet threads of even cadence, harboring a joke for just the two of them to enjoy — before feet pivot, bringing him face to face with the stoic woman and those still, incomprehensible pools. at once shallow. . . and depthless ; as indigo as THEM, a watery stagnation, like an inkstone long abandoned by their artist, yet never able to run dry.

what a funny thing fate was, running them into each other again.

vibrant eyes blink wide with amiable surprise, extending a friendly benefit of the doubt. "what a question to ask someone. but it sounds like you have the wrong idea. precisely because it's priceless, is why i'm willing to use it as needed." his smile invites examination— yet never wavers.

"but you already knew that, right?" a card flipped, passed back to her across the table, returning the words she had handed to him not too long ago in a river drowned by the blackest sun. "you and i know each other so well, after all."

"emanator, there's no need to talk in riddles. if there's something you need my help with. . . go ahead and use me as you see fit."

[avcnturine]

does aventurine's personality reflect more of his innate traits or the environment he's been exposed to? how have these factors played a role in shaping his character?

��　　　from　　∶　　　　𝐁𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐌𝐈𝐂　/　🇦​🇨​🇨​🇪​🇵​🇹​🇮​🇳​🇬​　　〉

this is a tough question to answer i think because we don't really get much sense of what is aventurine's " innate personality ". we don't know what he was like as an infant or toddler to try and make an argument ; the earliest we see him, he's already likely around age 7 or 8, which is more than enough time for beliefs and behavior to be shaped by his surroundings.

i think one of the things we do see is that a lot of his worldview is shaped by the tenets he was taught growing up :

—　aventurine himself tells us that before his parents ( mother, specifically, since his father died before he was born ) passed, they taught him that " friends are the weapons of the avgin people " — an " us vs. them " worldview that condones and encourages the necessary leveraging of people in the out-group to ensure one's own survival.

even though, frankly, i think his flashback scenes give us too much of a watered-down view of the avgins ( in a very black and white ' jrpg ' kind of way to make the player feel sympathetic for aventurine ), i don't think aventurine is lying about where he picked up this worldview thanks to other texts giving us hints that the avgins do appear to value deception, cleverness, and theft. their prayer to gaiathra triclops makes this apparent, as well as the avgins' worship of gaiathra triclops herself being as, among others, a deity of trickery.

it's clear that despite how far behind him aventurine has left his former life on sigonia, and the various other environments that've impacted him since ( his enslavement, the ipc, becoming a stoneheart ), he still roots a lot of his core beliefs in that early formative culture taught by his family and his tribe. but that doesn't mean all of his present personality is shaped by it.

—　the other thing i do want to talk about in terms of how aventurine shapes himself is the self-fashioning he does ; and in particular, the way he fashions himself after identities and events that should be heavily traumatic. did you ever notice that so much of aventurine's current persona comes directly from his former slavemaster that he himself brutally killed in order to end his own imprisonment?

from his character teaser, we see that said former master wore a thumb, middle finger, and pinky ring, and a wristwatch, on his left hand.

aventurine wears middle finger and pinky rings, and a ( fancier ) wristwatch on his right hand in an almost perfect mirror.

indifferent male: sorry, but that won't do. don't forget your place, slave. you're not qualified to be at the table. indifferent male: you're just a chip, a life thrown away in someone else's hands. either you come back with more chips for your master, or... you never come back. indifferent male: it's all or nothing. don't embarrass me, my lucky hound.

using gambling metaphors and terminology, referring to people or knowledge as chips to be leveraged, and even his signature motto also all were part of his former master's vernacular. i don't think it's a coincidence that this language was used identically by the first individual who shaped and defined his sense of self-worth outside of the tiny pond that was sigonia.

for the first time, aventurine saw what he was worth in the scope of the whole ocean — and we see this continue to bind him mentally even after he's physically free ( he continues to seek the remaining thirty tanbas of his purchase cost from jade, to the point that he set up an entire enterprise to deceive the ipc in order to get in front of her to ask for just that ), and long past that as well, as i'd argue that he still struggles to wash out the sense of that stain.

taking up his former master's outward flaunting of wealth was a conscious decision — it was a way for aventurine not only to demonstrate that he could match and surpass the person who'd been above him, but also for him to compartmentalize and exert control over a situation in which he had none and was subject to others' whims. the only other option is to continue living in the shadow of that time. but possessing those trademarks of his master allows him to do just the opposite: he reclaims a situation in which he had no agency and turns it into something that belongs to him. i would argue this is a form of ptsd.

taking up his former master's way of talking was less conscious, and instead more an indication of just how deeply the man's treatment of him, as well as the culture and mindset of his slave holdings ( since he does mention being a prolific slave buyer who pimps out his possessions to rake in money rather than using the slaves himself, so i'm assuming he had numerous at any time ), embedded a certain view of self, view of others, and view of the world in aventurine subconsciously. this is more indication of how deep of a psychic impact that period of time had on him.

[avcnturine]

JUST THE STATE HE'D EXPECTED TO SEE HIM IN. aventurine wasn't like some of his other colleagues back at strategic investment ; he didn't get any particular joy out of seeing people suffer, and so couldn't in good spirit be called a sadist. all the same, when someone like the doctor put himself in these kinds of situations, what could he do but enjoy the show? the notoriously sharp-minded and equally sharp-tongued ratio might sooner wish him gone, but unfortunately for him . . . ( gratified eye drifts from the masses back to the man at their head ) . . . he'd make a good wager that he's more welcome company than anyone else here.

"peacock?" he parrots with faux-surprise, a picture of innocuous gratification. a huff. "you really must think so little of me. i came here to get my driver's license, same as anyone else."

and since you're the only teacher. . .

pleasant smile garnishes the silence that lingers, punctuated only with the shuffle of the attendees just behind him. their burgeoning impatience doesn't go unnoticed ; aventurine glances back again over one shoulder. "unfortunately, i have very little time to waste, and i'd previously been informed that there'd be more than enough instructors to meet the demand. because of that, i had all my paperwork already completed by my assistants and sent in ; all that's left is a quick in-person driving test to tie everything up."

once more, a smile — cutting and gracious. "i've already done my part. and it looks like you've taken full responsibility here for the staffing shortage. so how about it, professor? i understand how complicated these things can be, so i'll be sure not to take much of your time."

　♠　⋮﹒ right of way

　　 　　 　 　 　　 　❪　comm. bloom　/　driving school　❫

[avcnturine]

　　　　◟ ♠　canon point update　/　2.2

as of last night, i've completed the 2.2 trailblaze quest, so we can now bring an end to schrodinger's aventurine, aka. " how tf is he taking part in gh stuff while being in the shadow realm ", to which i've been so far responding " just don't think about it it'll hopefully be cleared up soon 😭 "

aventurine will now be pulled from post—2.2. this is effective immediately in all ongoing threads, though i'll of course keep spoilers out if the other mun hasn't finished yet.

if you haven't finished the 2.2 quest: the spoiler-free tl;dr is that nothing about interacting with aventurine will change in any huge way. carry on, business as usual. characters who met him in the penacony story may now factor in and reference any events, including the boss fight at the end of 2.1 and after.

further details concerning the interpretation and incorporation of new content below:

heavy 2.2 trailblaze quest spoilers ahead. highly recommend not reading until you've finished the whole quest.

aventurine's intent was not just to unearth the secrets that the family was keeping about the other side of the dreamscape ( i.e. the memory zone meme and the existence of dreamflux reef ) but also to unearth the big secret: the existence of ena's dream. so there's two layers of " get to the other side of the dream " that he was performing here 　

thus, the ipc — and aventurine — knew of the existence of ena's dream at the outset, and the angle was always to find a way to expose it and wake everyone up ( and in a way that would give the ipc leverage for negotiations or seizure of penacony — this was the crux of aventurine's plan with how he stages his own death ). this means that the ipc's goal and acheron / black swan's goal through the story was the same, just that the ipc also had an ulterior motive 　

to that end, aventurine was at least partly lucid dreaming throughout the events of penacony's story, in a similar fashion to acheron. i think that he slips back and forth between how aware he was of this at given moments, with the moment that it definitely clicks again for him being the conversation with sparkle after being trapped by sunday 　

acheron severs him from ena's dream with the blade slash, and the nihility space he ends up in afterwards, and their conversation there, all take place outside the loop of ena's dream. we don't know what he does in the time between that scene and the end of the quest, whether he returns to ena's dream or not, and i'm choosing not to try to fill that span of time for now because it's just a complete black box and there's just nothing to extrapolate from EDIT: according to his daily text, aventurine then fell into the "primordial dreamscape", apparently a place with heavy nihility contamination, enough to have shattered the remnants of his cornerstone. this is also where he meets argenti who seemingly rescues him. i believe this all takes place outside ena's dream 　

aventurine no longer possesses the aventurine stone. it's destroyed. with that, he's lost preservation's blessing as a stoneheart. what that exactly entails is unclear. the only tangible change in powers / abilities i can guess right now is that he is probably(?) no longer capable of doing his foul legacy gundam transformation, but unless otherwise shown, i'll be assuming there's no impact on his normal pathstrider abilities