#hwevent11

Kili sighed softly, eyeing the colourful cocktail in his hands. The drinks in this world were far too sweet for him - he would have been content with a mug of mead, but that didn’t seem to be a common option here. Tauriel was off with Arwen, and Kili was happy to take a break from the dancing. He couldn’t remember the last time he had been at such an event. In fact, he wasn’t sure if he ever had been at one. Their stay in Rivendell, whilst pleasant, could hardly compare to this. Tacking a sip of the drink he grimaced, and turned to look at the man next to him. “Have you had one of these? Pure sugar, I’m sure of it.”

Antonin couldn’t deny that he was enjoying himself. Spending time with Dora and just letting himself be. Not worrying about pasts but trying his best to be present in this moment in time. He caught a glimpse of Sev and went over to him with a big smile on his face. 

“Having fun here cousin?” This was probably the most carefree Antonin had been in a while. 

“i knew i shouldn’t have tried to find those little hot dogs,” klaus said weakly, not knowing what hope would think of him. he knew that she knew of his past. if anyone knew of his past, they would surly think him guilty. he didn’t know what had happened and it seemed that he was now tasked with trying to convince everyone of that. could he have done it without remembering? was this the magic of the city all again? 

“Hey musical girl,” he grins and calls out from across the dance floor, before unnecessarily pointing to himself. “It’s flute guy.” He turns back to the bartender and asks her to pour two glasses of wine instead of one, then grabs one in each hand and heads over towards Stevie, holding one out towards her as an offering. “Happy… cruise ship party,” he says, since it’s not technically Valentine’s day yet.

there’s no need to panic. please resume your evening and enjoy the rest of your night. the captain’s words ring out clear, but it’s too late. the dance floor is empty, the area by the bar deserted. for the individuals who are suspected of killing wei wuxian, it’s becoming harder to ignore the pointed stares and whispers. their loved ones defend their innocence, but no trust can be spared to anyone. the word of advice traveling quickly on the odyssey? stay away from those three if you want to stay alive.

as frustrations grow, there’s a silver lining. surely wei wuxian will be able to shed some light on the matter, having firsthand knowledge as to what happened. those familiar with the magic of the city do their best to keep fears under control and reassure people that he’ll be coming back. so many have already been affected by death in the city, and they know well enough that it is not permanent - it only takes some time for things to change. any minute now, they say. any minute and he’ll be back just as he’d been before.

and yet, nothing changes. minutes turn into hours, and wei wuxian still remains lifeless. there’s questions of something being wrong - if they’re too far away from the city, if something’s preventing him from coming back. slowly, a new fear blossoms, for what happens if the resurrections no longer work? what happens now if death is irreversible? but what they don’t know is that the magic of the city, still remaining hidden away as the true culprit, is feeding off of their terrified reactions, growing stronger with each second. it thrives and leans further into the suspense that’s covered the ship since the first scream pierced the air. the goal had been to make death something that was feared once more, and it’s been accomplished with just one person - so there’s no reason to stop.

there’s no warning as the lights drop again, plunging the entirety of the ship into darkness. panic chokes the people on board, knowing exactly what happened before. and when the lights go back up moments later, everyone scans the room, looking for answers. the silence is short-lived, though, as shouts and commotion quickly come from multiple places aboard the ship.

on the upper deck, asami sato desperately tries to see if there’s any signs of life from the body that’s in front of her. identified as eleanor crain by some of the people that rush to help, but it’s clear there’s nothing that can be done. meanwhile, down below in the smaller rooms, kate bishop has been looking for any clues that might exonerate her friend - but ends up stumbling on something far worse. a body, one that’s later recognized as roxanne weasley. as it seems like the fatalities will continue to grow, dale cooper yells for help as he tries to support the weight of gideon prewett in the main stateroom. across the room, ginny weasley can quickly be seen doing the same for yennefer - both of whom are badly injured, but still alive.

the captain makes an announcement that they’ll be turning around immediately and making for the city, as people aboard now require medical attention. and the question finally comes to the only ones who are still standing, eyes on gideon and yennefer - but they saw nothing, and they know nothing. while it’s comforting they’ll be off the ship soon, there’s still concerns. how someone saw felix mckinnon in the same area of the deck by eleanor before the lights went out, how wanda maximoff was the last one seen in the same room where roxanne’s body was found, how gideon had been chatting with dinah lance before the lights outage, how ezra bridger seemed to be moving quickly away from where yennefer was found injured.

as those who are grieving the loss of the people they love struggle to understand, they try to keep hope alive that the magic is still strong enough to bring people back to life. the night is almost over, but it’s a long trip back to the city and things seems to be growing worse with every moment that passes. the only thing left to do is try and make it off this ship alive.