Event Blossom Ball - Trial of Orpheus

Graphic by Leonard Oaksworth

Interacting with: @Evelynn Decipio

Stats:
Stamina 6 | Evasion 5 | Strength 8 | Wisdom 5 | Arcane Power 5 | Accuracy 6

Abilities:
Fearless

Apparel

In truth, it was hard to feel emotion of any kind. The blackness that filled the area seemed to choke all senses but those that communicated a sense of dread, an undeniable feeling that this darkness would enshroud the students for all of eternity. All hope seemed like fallacy, light but a distant memory that one would hold dear in the course of their eternal damnation.
There was nothing but the void.

Approaching the bridge, Marshal experienced these sensations, though more as vague suggestions than the crippling fear that might drive sensible thought from most minds. From his point of view, the area merely seemed like a glorified haunted house, albeit more effective than any he had previously seen, with a distinct aura of magic and mystery hanging in the air.
He had to give the event organizers props for almost making him feel nervous. No simulated sense of doom had ever come this close, though the hairs on the back of his neck remained flat. Better luck next time.

He lent an ear to the given instructions, as spoken by a girl he had never before seen.
"That's it?" he scoffed quietly to Eve, who stood by his side. "Just walk across a bridge and don't look back? Is this one of the Trials, or just a warmup?"
As he had done his entire life, he allowed the warmth of brash confidence to grow, chasing away the chill that clamored to seep into his bones. He rolled his neck and shoulders, loosening the muscles that threatened to tighten there. After all, he could hardly hope to perform if his body succumbed to the mindless call of his nerves. It had never happened before, save for the very real moments of imminent death that he had experienced in the past, and he wasn't about to let it happen now; not when he had the chance to impress Evelynn, to show that he wasn't as useless as she surely believed at this point.

"I'll go first." He flashed her a cocky grin, his white teeth likely the brightest thing she could see. "If anyone jumps out and shoves me off the bridge, whack em' from behind for me, will you?" At that, he left his date in the darkness.
He nearly glanced back to offer a last smile of encouragement, but caught himself. How unfortunate it would be to fail the trial because he couldn't take his eyes off of her. It wasn't inconceivable, seeing as he had hardly managed to do so before now, but it really would be an underwhelming result of participation.

Setting foot on the bridge, the first-year paused, half expecting some unsightly creature to appear and block the narrow path. Yet nothing of the sort came to pass. The bridge, though dark and cast in morbidity, remained clear, with no conceivable obstacles upon it.
Surely it couldn't be this easy. Was he about to get murdered, his bloody screams swallowed by the cloud of gloom surrounding him? Would Evelynn be forever haunted by his fading image as he waded into the shadows, never to be seen again?
Of course he hoped that wouldn't be the case, but he found himself more concerned with the possibility that Eve wouldn't care too terribly much. Now, that was a scary thought.
Shaking off his musings, he picked up his feet, striding purposefully across the bridge, eyes on the spot where he expected the other side to appear. If he focused only on his goal, the temptation to turn around would be limited. And it worked, for a time.

Suddenly, he stopped dead. Bowing his head, he listened for what he thought he'd heard.
Drifting softly through the air was the tune of an old song. The twang of acoustic guitar bounced off of the mist, almost seeming to surround him and filling his ears with a song that he knew all too well. Accompanying those soft notes came the thoughtful voice of Eric Clapton, singing the lyrics to Tears in Heaven.
It was a melody he wished he didn't recognize, wished he couldn't relay every word, even as his mouth moved to the gentle beat. It had been one of Fawn's favorite songs, and was now the song that made him think of her the most, made him wonder if he would ever see her again; if he would be able to enjoy the music with her, rather than mouthing the words quietly to himself while nobody was listening.
Along with the song came something he couldn't bear to hear. His heart jumped into his throat, hazel eyes immediately fringed by tears as he heard his sister's voice behind him. It took every ounce of strength he had not to look back right then, to prevent himself from sprinting back the way he'd come, in search of that joyful face he hadn't seen in what felt like a lifetime.
Don't look back, The only instructions for the Trial rang through his head, acting as something of a conscience, its role to fight against every instinct he had.
It couldn't be Fawn; he knew that. He hadn't seen her on his way here, and any explanation ignored the simple fact that it just couldn't be her. She was no longer in this life; he no longer had the privilege of giving her a hug, or laughing with her as he told a stupid joke. That had been taken from him two years ago.
But no amount of logic could erase the tremble of his chin, nor the pain as his fingernails dug into the palms of his hands, despite the cartoon-ish trident held in one.

"Mini-Marshal."
The nickname hit him like a truck, almost knocking him over, as though it were a physical blow. His head flew back, eyes getting lost in the blackness where the sky should be, hot tears stinging his cheeks.
"Come sing with me," her voice haunted him. "It's been a while."
"It's been so long." The words escaped him in a choked whisper, his tongue completely dried.
His feet begged him to return, his heart had forgotten how to beat, and his stomach felt sick, nearly forcing him to vomit.
It was all he wanted. Sound wasn't good enough; he needed to see her face.
Closing his eyes, he released a steadying sigh, though the way it wavered made it sound more like a cry of pain.

Were he able to resist the temptation to turn around, he would open his eyes once more, focusing on the same spot as before. Knuckles white as his fists remained clenched, he would take it one step at a time, paying homage to his sister in the form of the music she had loved so much, his broken voice cracking with emotion as he sang along to the tune, offering a fragmented harmony to Fawn's sweet tone.
"Would you hold my hand, if I saw you in heaven? Would you help me stand, if I saw you in heaven?
"I'll find my way, through night and day; cause I know I just can't stay, here in heaven..."

Trial Tracker:
Orpheus | Apollo | Hecate | Hades | Persephone | Hermes

speech #bf0040
action trying to resist the temptation to turn back
abilities prodigal charms leaner, fearless
stats stamina 7 | evasion 6 | accuracy 8 | strength 6 | wisdom 6 | arcane power 9

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[font=times new roman]S[/font]carlett was flying through her trials. Two down, three to go. Sure the Hades one with its tricky questions was quite hard, but at least she had finished them. She only hoped Cassie was doing as well as her, as Scarlett whizzed to the next area for the Trial of Orpheus. Deepest desire? Pssh, that was nothing. She didn't even know what her deepest desire was, and it was bound to be something shallow. This would be a breeze, and then she could move on to the cool magic one - Hecate, was it?

Anyway, Scarlett confidently strode through the bridge, undaunted and ready for anything. Well, anything except the voice that she heard behind her.

"Hey Scarlett."

Scarlett froze in her tracks, her heart beating so fast she thought it would burst out of her ribcage. She barely choked out, "Anna? Is that you?"

"Course it's me Scar. Who else? Don't you recognise this fabulous voice?"

It was so realistic, so cocky, so Annabeth - that Scarlett wanted to sprint back and fling herself in Anna's arms. But she forced herself to keep walking, shaking her mind out of her stupor. It was fake. An enchantment or something. If she wanted those points for her and Cassie, Scarlett had to keep going.

She kept on walking.

"Aw, Scarlett, why are you walking away? I'm right here. Well, we're all here. Me and the Troop. Fiona as well. Even your mum and dad turned nice somehow. We're waiting for you!"

Scarlett didn't - couldn't - say anything.

"Oh, and there are some other kids here as well. I don't know 'em, but there's someone called Lucia, and Rose. Apparently a few others are coming as well. Some Lindsey kid? And of course, Henry's here. Oi, Cassie, that's my elbow-"

No, no, no, no, no.

Scarlett forgot how to breathe. There were people behind her. Real people. Her friends. Fiona. Her parents - nice again. And Anna.

How could she not turn back? How?

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[ @Scarlett Aden • @Henry Knight as Charles • @Rose Moon as Drew • various Beauxbatons iNPCs ]

hear her deepest desire • attempt to keep going

English #26687E • French #72267E

[ Note: as I only have one colour for dNPCs, I've written a note when it's in French. If language isn't specified, assume it's English. ]

Okay, so maybe loosing Charles and Drew as soon as the last Trial had ended wasn't the best start to this one. Still, though, Cassie found that she was having fun with them and Scarlett - although she would definitely like to see a broomracing-based or even muggle-knowledge-based Trial. She'd do brill at those. She and Scarlett would beat the boys hands-down (Cassie would give Scarlett all the answers in order to maximise their points as a pair) and maybe Cassie would even be crowned Queen of the Ball; which would be ironic seeing as she'd spent approximately three minutes at the ball in question before leaving to participate in the Trials. Alas (ooh, Cassie loved the word alas), the Beauxbatons student's ideas seemed unlikely to come to fruition today, at least.

This Trial was, apparently, a test of not-looking-back. Wasn't there some kind of Greek myth about that? A sad one. Cassie was pretty sure it ended in death - but so did most Greek myths, so it wasn't all that hard to guess. Well, that was fine. Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin had practically invented the art of never looking back. She punched Scarlett's shoulder lightly and gave her a smirk, followed by joking bow. "Stand strong, Apollo." Then she pushed through the veil and stepped on to the bridge.

The first few steps were easy. Nothing prompted her to turn back. Ha-ha! thought Cassie. The bridge has met its match in-
"Cassie!" Wait. That was her mum's voice. What was Cassie's mum doing at Hogwarts?
"Mum?" Cassie stopped. "Why are you-"
[FRENCH] "Cassie! Oh, my dear Cassie Heather, I thought we'd lost you!" And that was her papa! Cassie urged her feet to move forwards - surely, this was all an illusion - but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She hadn't heard her parents' voices since... Oh, Cassie couldn't even work it out right now. Too long; that was true if nothing else. In any case, Cassie had a certain hunger to listen to their voices now. Even if it wasn't really them...
"Papa?" Cassie asked, fighting the urge to turn around. "Why are you and Mum here?"
Her mum answered. "We have wonderful news for you, Cassie. Oh, I thought we'd lost you! You'd miss the opportunity if you crossed the bridge..."
"What opportunity?" Cassie blurted, bewildered.
"A broom race," her papa explained, his voice fast and excited. "You've been invited. It's an international affair - not just Beauxbatons and Hogwarts and the-other-one (the one your friend... Charles goes to), but all of them. But that's not even the most exciting part. They've only invited one racer from each school-"
Cassie's brain was spinning. "And they invited me?"
"They invited you," her mum confirmed, pride shining through her words. Cassie could just imagine her nodding, and wished she could turn around... but no. She scrunched her eyes shut, and took a step forwards. Just one step. "You've been recognised, Cassie - oh, I'm so proud of you."
This was huge. If Cassie could win a race like that, she'd practically be famous. This could open doors for her which would be open for the rest of her life.
"Harriet," her papa said softly, so Cassie had to strain to hear him. "Read her the letter."
"Yes- yes." Cassie heard the rustle of paper and felt her eyes opening again of their own accord, almost. She could see the end of the bridge. Right there. But surely it wouldn't hurt to listen to this first? She closed her eyes again, even tighter this time, as her mum spoke in shaky French. [FRENCH] "Dear Monsieur Martin and Madam McGregor, we write to inform you that-"
[FRENCH] "Oh, don't spoil it. She'll want to read it herself; won't you, Cass?" Cassie's breath caught at her grandmére's voice. She was the only person in her family who called her 'Cass', but she shouldn't be here... She didn't even know about magic...
"Grandma? No - how are you here? How do you-"
[FRENCH] "Don't worry about it, Cassie my dear." Her grandpére's voice this time, exactly as Cassie remembered it. [FRENCH] "Your mum and papa explained it all for us. We're so proud of you." Cassie felt like fainting, and that was saying something. [FRENCH] "But Cassie, you have to do something for us. You have to accept this. Just turn around, and you can read the letter. This is too good an opportunity for you to pass up... It's all down to you now, Cassie..."

And then other voices joined him, so close that it was like they were standing right behind Cassie, just out of reach. Her parents and grandparents. Her aunt and uncle. Her cousins. Her friends from Beauxbatons. Her friends from home. The Troop. Scarlett. Charles. Sylvie. Berry. [MIXTURE OF ENGLISH AND FRENCH] "Come on, Cassie... Just turn around and see the letter, Cassie... You can't miss this, Cassie..." Cassie pressed her hands to her ears. All these people. All these people.
One voice broke through the rest. Her mum's. "Come and see, Heather..." Heather. It was Cassie's second forename, but barely anyone called her it - apart from her mum. She'd chosen it, so she'd told Cassie on many occasions, because of how strong heather bushes were. How they could survive and thrive practically anywhere. How they were wild and beautiful. Harriet McGregor had wanted her daughter to be strong, wild and beautiful. Strong, wild and beautiful. Cassie's mum wanted her to be strong. Yes, that was it. She had to be strong, strong enough to let this victory go so that she could have a greater victory another day. Wait. No. She had to be strong to resist this, to cross the bridge. She had to-
"Cassie..."

[ sixth sense • fearless • sta 9 • eva 6 • str 8 • wis 7 • arc 4 • acc 7 ]

Banner Credit: Violet

As Approved iNPC Iris Fields Mentioning/Interacting With The Voice

Outfit English: BF8080

Iris was fairly pumped from the previous trials. Sure, she had been scared out of her wits multiple times, but she was still excited. It was almost like all of this had activated the usually dormant part of herself that desired fun and adventure and fright. Adrenaline was pumping and Iris was sort of getting into all of this. Sure, she had zero Greek knowledge so most of it didn’t make that much sense, but it was still fun nonetheless.

This one seemed just as eerie as the maze one. You couldn’t look back. Seemed easy enough, and Iris wasn’t at all apprehensive. She got let into the trail and saw the bridge she had to cross, she took her first step and somewhat dramatically shifted her weight onto the bridge. She wasn’t too far along before she heard something.

Her grandmother’s voice. Iris’ first reaction was to spin around in fright, she wasn’t doing anything remotely related to what her grandmother would want. But then she called her Iris, not ‘child’ or an insult. She went on speaking in a gentle and comforting voice about how she was proud of Iris, that Iris was exactly who she wanted to be, she started apologizing, begging Iris to come and hug her, promising she wouldn’t ever be mean again. Iris paused in the middle of the bridge, hands tightly clenching the rope handles. What if it was really real? What if her grandmother was actually there? Being nice to Iris for the first time in her life. It was so tempting to turn and look, see if it was real or not. But it wasn’t, Iris knew that.

Iris was desperately torn, standing in the middle of the bridge. She could easily turn, see her grandmother actually comforting her and apologizing. Or she could continue forward, win this trial. What to choose, what to choose?

Action: Doing the Trial!

Interacting With | @Henry Knight as Charles Alluring
Mentioning | @Scarlett Aden | @Lucia Fox as Cassie Heather McGregor-Martin

"Yeah, we got this, Charlie. Good luck!" Drew said to his competition partner with a wide grin. He sure hoped the girls, Cassie and Scarlett, weren't doing any better than he and Charles were. Not that he didn't want them to do well, but he also wanted to absolutely annihilate them in their own four-way competition.

Okay, now to cross this bridge thingy. Drew stepped onto the bridge. There was one rule. Don't look back.

He stepped forward a few steps, but stopped when he heard something behind him. It was a girlish giggle, and it sounded like his mom. "Drew!" she said. He could hear the smile in her voice. Drew swallowed and kept walking. "Drew, honey! We have something to tell you!"

"It's very important!" His father's voice said, in an excited way. "You might even say it's life-changing, buddy!"

"You... you're gonna be a brother, Drew."

He froze. "What?" he whispered. A sibling- a sibling! Drew had wanted to have a sibling for the longest time. As long as he could remember, he had wanted a sibling. A brother or a sister. He just wanted somebody to share everything with. Somebody to grow up with. Somebody to confide in. Somebody that knew everything about him, and he could come up to and joke with. Somebody to be a part of his family, taking all the attention away from him all the time.

"Yeah! Isn't that just great, bud?"

He told himself to not look back. He squared his shoulders. This was not real. He lifted his chin and kept walking. He balled his fists up to stop them from shaking violently.

"Drew, come back! You'll get someone who loves you, who you can spend time with!"

Don't look back.

"Somebody you can do everything with!"

This isn't real.

"They're going to love you!"

Don't look back.

"Look up to you!"

This isn't real.

"Honey, you've wanted this all your life!"

Don't look back.

"Right? Now you finally get to have it! Aren't you excited?"

Drew squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back the urge to look back at his parents. Or, rather, the fake parents that must have been conjured or something. This was some kind of sick joke. How was he supposed to not look back when his deepest desire was being called after him? The boy gritted his teeth, and broke into a sprint.

"Drew! Drew! Come back! Please!" he heard his mother plead with him. Don't look back, he told himself. This isn't real.

For Moderation
More Information about Drew is here
Action: Doing the Orpheus Trial

[1] | [2] | Hades Trial | Hecate Trial | Orpheus Trial

This one seemed deceptively easy. Cross the bridge, don't turn back. Why would she?

Of course, they would have prepared something to tempt them, but Dee could hardly imagine there was anything they could do that would make her so curious she had to turn around, without managing to wait another minute until she had completed the task.

What had it been for Orpheus? Seeing if Eurydice was behind him, when he'd been unable to hear her footsteps. She doubted something like that would work on her, but she was curious what they had come up with.

Her first steps onto the bridge were confident, her attention focused behind even as her eyes were staring ahead, and at first there was nothing. Her ears strained, trying to pick up a sound, and failing.

Then, a couple steps later, "Dealla!" It was a woman's voice, one unknown to Dee, and she frowned. A random person calling her name, was that the best they could do?

The next one, however, was as familiar to her as her own. "Dee!" Her father. "Come turn around, there's someone here who wants to meet you."

Dee started, her steps faltering, and her frown deepening. Someone who wanted to meet her? Why was her father even here, randomly showing up at this ball? It made no sense. Of course, if he was here, he'd obviously try and help the organisers in making her fail this test. Typical.

"They came and apologised." Her mother's voice, and shock rushed through Dee's body, closed around her lungs. Her steps ceased completely.

They. Her grandparents? That was impossible, couldn't be true. How in the world had they orchestrated this? It must be some sort of illusion, but still. How?

"Please, we just want to get to know you." A man's voice, deep and tired with age. Her grandfather, then, although she didn't know if he actually sounded like that, and Dee closed her eyes for a moment.

Keep walking. If they're here, they will still be when you've completed the trial. But it was harder than she had imagined.

1 2 3 4 H H O H P A

Action | It's Trial Time

Sta 5 | Eva 9 | Str 3 | Wis 10 | Arc 6 | Acc 8
Evasive Maneuvers | Charmer

Reducio

Charmer Allies: All Hogwarts students/staff except Ileen Knight, Percival Rainwood, Thomas Lestrange, Henry Knight, [Isaac W. Pincus ,] Vladimir Athanatos.

This trial didn't seem so bad, he knew what he wanted and he wasn't gonna make Michael turn back. The boy knew that this was going to be easy, just walk.

So that's what he did, slowly making this way across the bridge. He smiled as it seemed like nothing was going to tempt him. Maybe he already had his deepest desire, maybe there was nothing-

"It's not that easy" said a voice from behind him. He swallowed as he recognized it. "Is it? You're not like me" said the voice. His voice. He could feel it, the confidence coming off the other boy, him but not him. "Little Michael can barely walk three steps without getting hurt, because you're weak." It said, Michael bite his lip.

He longed to turn back, to see what this boy looked like. This boy was so cruel but he was right. Michael just knew it.

"Come along now, Michael, your brother misses you" said a feminine voice. Michael stopped cold. He almost turned, to see his mother actively wanting him to come along with her.

He swallowed as tears threaten to fall, and the urge to turn became greater. Oh he wanted to take that boys place. To be the Michael whom his family would be proud of. Who would be wanted.

Reducio

Active: trying not to turn
Stamina|8
Evasion|4
Strength| 6
Wisdom| 3
ArcPower|5
Accuracy| 4
Health: 800/800
Hades Trial

posts i. ii. iii. iv INTERACTION───────────── - info─────── Reducio action | doing the trial! health | 600/600 stats | sta 6 eva 7 str 0 wis 7 arc 4 acc 6 abilities | seer year 1 • 10% autododge, 10% autohit

trials i. ii. iii. iv ────────────────MENTION - Reducio link ───────outfit

Don't look back.

The phrase that echoed through her head. Seemed easy enough at first, and Everly was ready to charge headfirst. Then it became eerie, almost, as if a warning. But Everly shook her head to clear her thoughts. She could do it.

And so she stepped forward.

The whole first half of the bridge was the most easiest thing she had ever done. Everly was sure that she could do the rest, her pace quickening as if daring 'the voice'. She couldn't quite possibly know what her deepest desire was, anyways. She was barely even old enough to travel by herself. Then she heard something. Something that made her stop directly in her tracks, something she could hear but couldn't hear. Something she wanted to know, but she couldn't. It was her deepest desire, but she couldn't tell what it was.

Everly was left, and she had to urge herself to keep going. The sound of a sweet, light-hearted melody, something Everly could place but she couldn't tell what it was. She wanted to know, but she couldn't. Everly couldn't turn around, and she wrestled with herself inside.

Was this her deepest desire? Everly felt cheated. She couldn't even find out what exactly it was? Raggedly breathing, clutched hands, shuffled feet. Everly wanted to know. She wanted to know, but she couldn't turn around. But she could... but she couldn't. She had to keep going.

Close your eyes, Everly. Breathe. And keep walking.

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