logs | ( closed ) sharp enough to kill a man

Yes, let's.

[ at least for rosa, the effect hasn't hit her nearly as hard. it's probably a blessing on many levels, but as much of a blessing that not being attached to too many people here can be.

still, though... she casts lumine a worried glance. she doesn't know her that well, but lumine's demeanor kind of implies that she might be the type to run into danger no matter what. it's very admirable, and there's a small surge of jealousy that hits rosa at the thought. she'll try to ignore it. ]

I wonder how many guards are posted...?

[ a blessing, indeed.

and there's a part of lumine—the noisy, naggy, unrelenting part of her that hasn't shut up since she's woken up in this world—that somehow revels in her cursed suffering. she probably should've remained alone, unattached and unaligned. everyone's existence has always been a pain, and even more so no—

lumine takes another deep breath, pushing down the desire to hack out a lung and away the thoughts slowly filling in her head. she has to think, and rosa's musing is a much-welcomed inquiry to settle on. ]

There's one guard patrolling the top of each wall surrounding the Gallows, two in the main corridor leading to the cells, and two in a room overlooking the cells.

[ she closes her eyes, recalling the map she's drawn for kokomi and the guard routes. how she even got out and why she's even back here is a mystery—or masochism—on its own. ]

The rest are scattered in the dayroom and outdoor areas just in case someone breaks out.

I see... so, we move as quickly and quietly as we can. Hopefully we can avoid the guards, but if not then we should try not to make a commotion. [ ... ] Although that may be easier said than done.

[ it would be best to slip past the guards without alerting anyone, but if that were simple then there wouldn't be a point in jails. and the risk of knocking one out is that another might uncover them. but it may be a risk they'll have to take.

rosa sighs at the messy attempt at planning; she can't say she's an expert at this sort of thing, and she can only hope her inexperience doesn't get in the way. ]

We can take your lead, but if something seems drastically different from how it was setup before, we may need to back out to somewhere else.

[ messy, but there's not much that they can do. and despite having had the chance to check things out during her arrest prior, lumine isn't certain if they've changed anything with the patrols or the schedules of the guards; she can only go by what she knows and make adjustments from there.

not the first time she's had to make plans in the heat of the situation. ]

There are passages in between the walls of the Gallows, but I didn't think to explore them.

[ there was no time, anyway, when she's in the middle of escaping and trying to help out other people. she gives rosa a slight nod. ]

We can use those to back out if we're caught. [ or if the situation goes out of hand. ] I'll distract them first in one part of the prison, and then we can try to slip in. Ready?

[ if lumine had time to explore them, then rosa would seriously question the security of this prison. so, she can't really fault her for not-- one of the last things on your mind should be taking the scenic route when you're escaping. ]

Ready.

[ there isn't much point in dragging it out even if she wasn't. the longer they stay in one spot, the higher chance they are to get caught-- might as well rip the bandaid off and get moving. ]

Just be careful, okay?

[ lumine takes another deep breath, stifling further desire to cough and possibly give their spot away. surely, her own body will at least try to cooperate even for a bit of time until this entire mission is over. she'll cough her heart and lungs out after, she inwardly promises.

quietly summoning her sword and creeping towards the closest turret she could see from their vantage point, she spots a few guards standing sentry. she passes a hand across the silver blade, purple electro arcing across the steel. hopefully, hopefully, her power will cooperate for a few minutes.

and it does, a bolt of lightning directed from a point of her sword striking the turret, causing a wave of panic from the guards all around. ]

Let's go.

[ that should give them a few seconds to slip in. ]

[ oh, that was neat-- rosa wants to ask how lumine's power works, but they're still too close to the guards for idle chatter to be remotely a good idea.

so, for now, she'll hurry towards the direction of their destination, sneaking a glance behind her to make sure that they aren't being followed.

once they've established that they're somewhat safe, she'll speak. ]

Good thing that worked.

[ powers have been so finicky here.

they've reached a fork in the path. rosa, unsure of where to go from here, will wait for lumine to choose the right way; she really hopes the other girl has a great memory. ]

I'm honestly surprised it did ...

[ considering how this world seems to make a mess of their abilities and the fact that the gallows has its own barrier that completely blocks her access to them. but she supposes the barrier doesn't include the area outside of the prison, which is why her elements are still accessible.

no guarantees later on, which is also why she's loathed to dismiss her sword.

lumine quickly follows rosa further into the prison, only briefly pausing when they find the fork in the road. she doesn't hesitate to move towards the left path, though, nodding at the other girl over her shoulder. ]

Is there anyone you know who was also captured?

A few people. I recently moved into a building, and it feels like half the inhabitants got captured.

[ actually, it probably really was at least half? it's more than a little shocking, to be minding your business one moment, and in the next, witnessing guards shoving away people you were only just starting to get to know.

while rosa never thought living here would be easy, having to attempt a potential prison break was not exactly high on her lists of things they would have to do. ]

I think they are very capable people. But if we can offer them help, I'm sure they won't think we're doubting their abilities.

[ any capable person becomes incapable inside the gallows. ]

There's something suppressing people's abilities inside ...

[ anything supernatural, anything magical. her magic fluctuates in certain parts of stygia and the netherworld, making it difficult for her to use any of her elements properly. but inside the prison, there seems like a heavy blanket weighing down on all of them, keeping her from even summoning a simple breeze.

any kind of help is definitely necessary if anyone wants to break out.

lumine creeps towards a wall near the mouth of the corridor heading further into the prison, peering down the path. when the last guard passes by and everything's clear, she gestures at rosa to go in. ]

There's a bit of an alcove near the other end. We can hide there when the next guard walks past.

I know that abilities are already unstable here in general, but...

[ the fact that it's even worse? rosa wonders what exactly is doing that. is it magic, or some type of device... if it's the latter, it would probably be easier to deal with than someone's ability. she's sure people would love to break stuff. ]

Got it. I think--

[ she stops talking as the guard pauses and looks behind them; they might have still been in hearing range. when the guard finally starts to move again, rosa shoots lumine an apologetic look before going to the alcove. ]

[ lumine stops in her tracks too when the guard pauses, standing so still she might as well have turned to stone. she waits until the guard in question finally moves on before slipping into the alcove with rosa. she shakes her head at her apology; it's fine, they weren't heard anyway.

she counts in her head and listens intently until the footsteps have completely faded away before she peers out of the nook to check if the coast is clear. ]

You were saying something?

[ maybe rosa has better ideas? she'd like to hear them since she's pretty much going in here blind, ah. ]

I was wondering if these look like the same exact guards that you saw before? It may be easier if we had a rough estimate of their numbers...

[ but that would probably be difficult to remember for all of them, especially when you're trying to hide from them... a little tricky to get a decent look at faces when you're diving behind walls. ]

But it would be one way to see if we could potentially outnumber them once everyone is out.

No, I don't think they are ...

[ then again, she doesn't really remember all of their faces. she remembers the direction where she was dragged through, the halls and corridors she passed by, the number of footsteps she needed to take to get from one point to another. but not the faces save for the ones who captured and took her in.

kinda hard to forget the people who burned that brand on her arm, really. ]

I do know there seems to be a change of guards around the cells at a certain time every day. When I was here, it was never the same guards though ...

[ probably to keep people from befriending them? who even knows. ]

( closed ) sharp enough to kill a man

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