[farm, inside barn - Tsadro, Min, Varris, Seilaan, Vince, Mazra, Ren Yangchao]
"I wish," he said to Ren Yangchao, making it sound like he was jesting a bit. He... couldn't wait to get out of there. To not have to waste hours of his life that he could be spending on publications and more research listening to their stupid voices.
Following this, Mazra piped up and tried to change the subject. He glanced away for a moment, now suddenly captured by the notion of how he wanted to explain aitherotech. Technically, it was all aither. Making his telekinesis and the stuff his company made... about as related to one another as neurons to electrical engineering. "Other than they're both powered by aither... not really."
He looked away and met Tsadro's gaze. His chief of staff's telepathic voice spoke in his mind, asking, simply, why.
Vince looked back to the girl and her wyvern, letting out a quiet sigh, sending back to Tsadro to look at her, who did as instructed. She's poor, Vince continued, and she seemed a bit more at ease with him compared to the others. Probably thought he was just a farmer, which would make this a betrayal of sorts. It'd come up eventually, he told him, so why lie at a direct question?
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Ruins]
"Well," Nick said, "I didn't dream this, either, and Jacky probably didn't either, so we're-"
He stopped when he and Jackson noticed the creature. Nick looked slightly taken aback, while Jackson seemed mostly curious (and confused).
Seeing that Gwen was familiar with it, Nick looked at her. "Mind telling us what the fuck that thing is? Cause, I'm a little lost."
For once, Nick took the words out of Jackson's mouth, so all he did was examine at whatever the thing was.
Drummer Boy
[Ritter Clinic (kitchen)]
It looked like Henry wanted to speak to him alone. Friedrich put down his glass. "Right, that's the kitchen. Lemme show you where the cups are."
Once they were both in the kitchen, Friedrich shut the door and leaned on it. "Something bothering you?"
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
It's a bird.
[Ruins] (Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson, Rin)
"Just a graveskitter," Gwenafer replied, kneeling down to take a closer look at the large crack in the wall. "A small one, too." Judging by the others' reactions, this was another thing that didn't exist wherever they were from.
"They suck up magic from corpses, to make 'em stay dead."
She got back up, and scratched her chin with a curious look on her face. A nest of re-killed revvies, or a tomb full of thaumic artifacts?
"I don't know if this is a good sign or not."
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Mr ship
[Clinic(kitchen)/Henry]
Once in the room Henry looked around the room real quick for possible bugs before looking over to Friedrich.
"Okay first a bomb that never made it past the design phase and now your dead brother comes back to life acting like he just went to the corner store to get some milk. There's something going on here. I don't know if it's this place or the beings getting back at me for trying to mess with them. What I do know is that we need to keep our guard up."
[Ruins] (Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson, Rin)
Putting away her weapon, Rin cupped a hand around her chin, thinking about what the appearance of the graveskitter meant. She frowned, she had never heard of such creatures before. While it was implied these graveskitters were harmless, the fact that they consumed magic, specifically that of the dead, concerned Rin. She lifted her gaze, "If that is the case, we are likely to find someone's remains around here."
Making her way over to the wall where the crack was, Rin examined it for anything that might be out of place, "This place could very well be a tomb, or connected to one." Looking over to entrance to the room, she realized the walls weren't exactly structurally sound. While she continued to stare at the wall, she realized that with some application of her powers, she could create doorways through the ancient stone walls.
edited 21st Oct '16 6:58:06 AM by WillDeRegio
[Ruins]
Nick face twisted up.
"Oh. Nice. Corpses." he said, "I think I'm gonna vomit."
Jackson also looked visibly uncomfortable. If what Gwen said was true, then they probably weren't too far from a dead body. Who's body it was, that remained to be seen. For now, he just cleared his throat and turned to Gwen.
"Uh," he finally said, "We'll follow your lead, then. You're more familiar with this then anyone else in this group."
"No kidding." Nick said, "You didn't freak out when you saw that thing. And you said it eats dead bodies like it was another Tuesday."
It's a bird.
[Ruins] (Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson, Rin)
Gwenafer turned her head towards the boys, raising her single intact eyebrow.
"Good Merwon... you're making it sound like you've never seen a dead person before."
She shook her head. For all she knew, maybe they hadn't. She ran her hands along the wall, searching for smaller cracks, or signs of a walled up doorway or something similar.
"Well, we can always hope, right?" she continued, glancing over at Rin with a bit of a smirk. "Help me see if we can find a way through, will ya?"
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Drummer Boy
[Ritter Clinic (kitchen)]
"Well, can't say I know of any possible explanations for the bomb, but Heinrich's kinda—well, it can take a while for a point to get through to him. And hearing 'you've been dead for seventeen years'—that's a lot for anyone to take in, yeah? Maybe Heinrich's right, the Light was real all along, and He's sending back my brother in these trying times to encourage me to take solace in going to church again. Who knows. That being said, I'm always in favor of keeping one's guard up regardless of circumstance, so...."
Friedrich's voice trailed off and he frowned deeply. "I'm still hesitant to leave the house when it's still snowing so hard out there, but I've got half a mind to find the cemetery and see what happened to Heinrich's body. Assuming the cemetery is even out there. See, normally I'd just say 'let's head to the cemetery at the edge of town' but, well, the town's gone. Speaking of which, how even—"
He furrowed his brow. "Alcohol's still in our systems. Would it do any good to keep thinking about it now?"
edited 22nd Oct '16 11:06:33 AM by SnowyFoxes
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
the cutest lizard
[Farm – Barn (Min, Varris, Seilaan, Vince, Ren Yangchao, Mazra, Tsadro)]
Varris looked around the room, tail and wings twitching. So that’s how it was going to be. Just brush past their questions and change the subject. As if they would be too stupid to notice. Why had he even expected anything else?
“You have money, though. Why would you choose to live in some- some run down shack like this place? Do you need to take breaks from your vast wealth or something?” Varris’s voice cracked slightly, and he turned away from Vince, murmuring, “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
Gently, Min picked up Varris and let him back up onto her shoulders. Then she stood up and, giving Vince a withering glare, said, “Don’t try to make excuses. You lied to us. And say what you want about her-” she jerked a thumb at Mazra- “at least she’s honest about her status. She doesn’t go around playing dress-up as a farmer for kicks. How don’t you get that that’s a problem?”
edited 22nd Oct '16 3:09:34 PM by Collen
Gave them our reactions, our explosions, all that was ours For graphs of passion and charts of stars...
[Ritter Clinic Parlor]
Iveya was entirely happy to listen and take mental notes. What was it with outlanders and homosexuality? She'd forgotten how soft and fearful the cultures who had not been tempered in the forge of Uel could be, that something so simple could terrify and enrage them. Although not, she noticed with a certain condescending approval, most of those here. And even the last had found her way.
And she'd also sneaked in a few more sips of whiskey, so her next words were, "so I'm glad we've all established none of us are utter savages." Then she tilted her head as she looked at Ruth again. "You mentioned movies about gladiators?" She raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious. "Like, how so? Recordings of actual matches?" She'd seen some of that — the Temple at Uelshu had gotten their hands on an old Kykzavi film camera and even hired some exiles to work it. They'd used it to record the championships at the Festival of Xeqa so the rest of Uel could get to see it. "Or just, recorded plays?"
Mr ship
[Clinic(Kitchen)/Henry]
"I think it's best to go now and see what's there now before something else happens." Henry said looking out the window. Friedrich was right the snow was coming down hard and he was still injured. However he knew that if they didn't do something about it now 'they' would do something else, it might even be worse than an atomic bomb.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
Misery Manor (Sinistrina, Gabe, Half)
Sinistrina was momentarily relieved, for Gabe seemed to legitimately understand the importance of the balance between darkness and light, even acknowledging the unpleasantries of either side. When then she remembered what he said about being raised as a soldier of sorts to fighting against the forces of Hell (or whatever his world's version of Hell was), she understood exactly why he mentioned this.
So, Gabe was bound to the light against his will. Likewise, I was bound to the darkness against my will... it seems we are bound to similar fates after all.
Then she heard Gabe thinking aloud about only being good for vanquishing dark forces, inwardly smirking at his mention of "the largest and smelliest fiend in the room". Is this his way of retaliating against my spider web remark? But his comment brought up another thought for her, also a form of sympathy...
She was just about to go over to where he leaned (defeated?) against the wall, when Half asked Gabe about being bound to an inescapable fate, as if he had read her mind. And then he mentioned that this was not the real manor... how did he know? The ravens had told her that this was a dream world - could they have told him as well? But this made her realize something...
He's right - this is not the real Misery Manor. I wonder... if just for a little while... there may yet be hope.
Hope... it was something she had all but abandoned just prior to her "death". It was the first time she had considered such a thing in a long while. She took a glance behind her at the painting of her former self. Was there a chance of there being a way, if only until the dream ended, that she could go back? Initially she dreaded the thought - it was just as she said, in her current form, she could not survive very long in a world of light. However...
She walked over to Gabe, gently placing a hand on his shoulder (even though she experienced a stinging sensation in her hand when she did so). "You are much more than an agent of Paradiso..." She hesitated for a bit, hardly believing she could say such things now. "You... you said you were also a cosmetologist. I can only wonder if a part of you wants no more than that, to be free from this deal with those upstairs. It's like saying that all I'm good for is arousing fear and despair in even the most kind-hearted of people... and yet, somehow I still hold onto my true passion of giving sentience to the dead and the lifeless, like those dolls."
While Sinistrina was speaking, the lights in the cellar began to dim, the flames on the torches turning blacker and blacker, casting a dismal grey light on the place. There was something of a deep trembling sensation echoing throughout the walls of the manor, enveloping it, even distorting it somewhat. Abruptly, the torches all went out, leaving the manor in complete darkness, darkness that even Gabe could not light up if he tried. Occasionally, images flashed in it, images that were different for everyone present. For example, Sinistrina briefly saw a doll, then a very brief image of her childhood self harvesting nightshade from a garden, several oversized spiders... images from her very nature or her very past.
But it was fleeting. Within just a few moments, the torches on the walls flared back to life, illuminating the manor once more. Just in time for Sinistrina to spot a black widow spider scurrying across the floor and then up her tattered robes. When it reached her shoulder, Sinistrina's eyes briefly widened, and she glanced around for a couple of moments.
He's here... he has returned to the Deathly Glade...
The Graveyard
Somewhere off in the distance from the group, a dark mist swirled around, just briefly, before settling. There was a scurrying of tiny little thingsnote , hundreds of tiny little things which formed into a structure. Specifically, a large and shabby-looking wooden house, holding up surprisingly well despite it being on the verge of rotting. A bit of the dark mist wafted out from the ground around the manor, lending a foreboding quality to it, inspiring misery in all who looked upon it.
Just after it rose, the pocketwatch-like clasp on Friedrich's capelet shook and then burst open, and a black widow spider scurried out of it and away from the group.
"What- you get back here!"
Friedrich ran after the spider, but knew it was hopeless, for the spider was too fast for him - in fact, it was moving much faster than a normal spider could. It was then that he noticed the manor off in the distance, and stopped short - so this was why.
"She's here..." he muttered, mainly to himself although the others could likely hear him. "So this is an extension of the Deathly Glade..."
A few moments later, the spider came scampering right back to him, crawling up his coat and locking itself right back in the clasp it came out of.
Beta Town (Gon, Ari, Ruka)
There were bigger robots where Ruka came from? At least what she said confirmed Gon's suspicions about her encountering aliens and such. He had to wonder if any of them looked like floating jellyfish. Gon listened both intently and worriedly as she described the robots and especially the messengers, while Ari got distracted about halfway through and fiddled with her Scanner. After a bit of thought, she pointed said Scanner at Ruka and shot a data-infused scanning beam over her, just like the one Gon used to scan the V-Bots they just defeated.
"Don't jinx it!" Gon blurted out upon Ruka's casual mention of hoping they didn't encounter any messengers. "This is a dream after all, so those could very well show up! If they do, it'll be game over for us..."
Ari looked to Gon while scanning Ruka. "We're in Safe Mode?" Gon didn't reply, but there was no doubt behind his eyes. "If that's true, it's possible that viruses from other networks can infect this server if we're not careful."
Gon saw the scanning beam. "Ari, you know that Scanning doesn't work on hu-" He stopped himself as a familiar little beep sounded on Ari's Scanner - the mark of a successful scan. "Wha- that worked?"
Ari raised her eyebrows, then gave a quizzical look at Ruka before turning to Gon. "My scan says Ruka is Ghost class for some reason. And has high Magic and Will."
Gon also raised his eyebrows, though more dramatically. "Whaaaat?" He looked at Ruka. "You're a ghost? You don't look like a ghost... how does that make any sense?" He looked back at Ari. "You sure that scanner's not malfunctioning?"
Ari shrugged. "I saw her hand phase through the V-7E during the battle, though I thought that was just a hacking trick." She looked back at Ruka. "I think since our location is in Mystrica, all things will be inclined to abide by its mechanics. Is Thunder strong against Earth in your game?"
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
To dream is my right
The Graveyard:
Like a crumbling glacier, the wasteland now was. Each second, each thought, even the beat of each and every heart was a countdown, the chilling of the air and the quiet rumbling marks of decay. Decay? No, not decay, but collapse. And each thought became clearer, each heart beat louder, like the flame that dances and rises before slowly burning out. The other signs were even harder to notice, Like how the dust footsteps lifted floated shortly in the air before falling, like it was immersed in some kind of thin liquid, or how voices echoed in the distance despite the lack of walls, or how movements became slower and more precise. The process was centered on each person who set eyes on the one that was not to be seen, and was more internal than external, as if each onlooker had their own nature changed slightly.
Reality was weak on those parts, thin enough for the spirit to seep through the boundaries of life and death and body and mind to touch it, malleable enough to be pulled apart with little force. Again it manifested, this time projected high in the sky. A falcon appeared beneath the clouds, carrying a small bag on its claws, and dropped it close to the porcelain boy before rising again to circle above the group of drifters. The bag was made of cloth and tied closed by a leather strings, and hid three secrets, messages from the other side: a pocket-watch, a roll of paper and a porcelain shard.
Sharp enough to break through the sounds coming from the center, a loud crack came from Sentinel's hardened cocoon, marking it with six symmetrical lines cutting it from top to bottom, signaling that her awakening was nigh. The original form of the spirit was no longer there to be seen.
edited 23rd Oct '16 6:20:44 AM by EternaMemoria
"The dried flowers are so beautiful, and it applies to all things living and dead."
The Prince of Foolish Relevations
The Graveyard, (Friedrich, Sentinel, Patches, Moreena, Caleb)
Tilting her head in curiosity as she listened to the little boy named Friedrich, she slightly frowns as he mentioned the Deathly Glade. Poor kid, growing up in a false afterlife... You're really dedicated to the notion of being a hero aren't you? Yeah, cause that really worked out.
Yet as Caleb asked more about Armory Knight, the young girl tensed up. Neutralizing... I don't... He's not himself anymore. Maybe... However before she could answer, Patches' attention was caught by Sentinel- Her eyes widened as the woman shed her own skin.
However as her transformation became even more gruesome Caleb suddenly blocked her line of sight, causing the strangely dressed girl to "Eep!" in surprise. Yet because she could no longer see, Patches began to shiver- Looking confused by her growing panic. "I-I, what, why- What's going on!?"
Her shivering coming to an end as she notices the cocoon where Sentinel stood and a figure before it, she nonetheless jumped in fright as she was asked about Armory Knight again. Turning to Moreena and then Caleb, Patches was fidgetting- A little nervous panicked whine softly coming from her as she shrunk in on herself.
Yet it wasn't until Friedrich once again mentioned the Deathly Glade that she stopped. "B-Bad place, a h-hell... I don't want that..." So the princess can swear, its a miracle! Hell... My brother doesn't belong there... I... We need to hurry then, shouldn't we?
Letting out a deep breath and straightening herself out, she looked out to Sentinel's cocoon- And a smile came to her face as she noticed the cracks. Rubbing at her face and noticing mositure again, she shakes out her body before facing Caleb & Moreena.
Smile on her face and hands folded together, she calls out friendfully. "The Armory Knight, he's... He's special, ya know? I don't want him to be neutralized, because in the end... I think he's just confused. But with the fact he can manifest any kind of weapon, he isn't gonna be easy to deal with. He's tough and he hits hard- So we have to be tougher and hit harder, ya know?"
Though, having just noticed the newly arrived house, Patches shuffles uncomfortably as she looks at the design- Before finally asking the group as a whole "Is that new? Cause I don't remember seeing that before..."
"The Omniverse is the collection of all possibilities, and all possibilities must eventually come to pass."
[farm, inside barn - Tsadro, Min, Varris, Seilaan, Vince, Mazra, Ren Yangchao]
He stared at them in disbelief for a second, then sighed and set his coffee aside into his psychic arm's palm.
"So, there's something wrong with a politician who doesn't display their wealth and position at all times? Huh." Vince slipped his hands into his pockets, a near-inquisitive look in his eyes. "You know, I see where you're coming from. It clues you into what they might be like pretty quickly. Kinda reassuring, until you meet someone like me who just shoots that to hell," he said matter-of-factly, as the rain stopped and left the farm in silence.
"I take offense at the notion that I just 'play' farmer." His eyes thinned ever so slightly at that word. That insinuation that he was little more than a manchild playing make-believe. "I've been a farmer for most of my life." He took a step towards them. "I'm not in politics because I like losing weeks of productive time sitting in a room full of people I can't stand. I'm not a senator because I like knowing there's pundits on national television who think that makes it okay to talk shit about my wife, children, and family. I do this because I have to. To fix problems that nobody else is bringing to the table." A small shrug, a sideways frown, as a twinge of steel crept into his quiet voice. "And I know what you're going to say to that. That I've made myself no better than the very people I dislike. But when politics is how things get done, there's no honor in gambling innocent lives against whatever fancies your sense of pride. Achieving what is right has little to do with what you find easiest or most pleasing. That's not politics. That's life."
Tsadro knew where this was leading. The original reason why Doctor Acquati became senator. He flipped open the cover on his watch and casually scanned the cluster of dials on its bright red display, idling the moments away before he'd need to be brought into this. What kind of place must they live in for a run-of-the-mill politician to be comforting? It almost made Tsadro want to casually drop a mention of Feidren or Hiywa just to see what they assume of him.
edited 23rd Oct '16 6:53:55 PM by CrystalGlacia
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
Drummer Boy
[Ritter Clinic (kitchen)]
"So you're saying we should go out. In a blizzard. Somewhat intoxicated. Looking for a cemetery that isn't where it's supposed to be."
Friedrich looked out the window, eyes narrowed and feeling the hint of emerging stubble on his chin.
"Fuck it. Let's go. I have a backup plan in case things get too dangerous out there anyway. It's a last resort, though. My powers have gotten harder to control with age. I'd have let go of it by now if it weren't so useful. You saw those lights I had outside, right? The gold and white? That's what I'm talking about. If we get in trouble, the light will keep us warm and lead us back if I summon a lot of it. But only if we need it, understand? I'm not saying it has to be a life or death situation, but...."
He scowled and adjust his glasses. "So I was thinking, either you or Iveya have to stay here with Heinrich and Ruth. We're not making the poor kid go outside, and I want someone holding down the fort in case there's anything weird about Heinrich. Not that I think there's anything weird. We're just being cautious. Like you said. And just so we don't worry Heinrich and Ruth too much, how about we tell 'em... we tell 'em we're putting more lights outside so people can find their way here if they need help. Yeah. We'll be placing small markers outside anyway to find our way back. It all works out, yeah?"
[Farm (inside barn)]
Seilaan hastily set down her teacup, scrambled to her feet, and cautiously extended her hands toward Min and Varris, palms up, but keeping her movements very, very slow to make sure they didn't flinch.
Wait, what? She stared at her hands, which were beginning to shake. This wasn't him. She didn't know if this was what they wanted. Then why was she doing this? Why couldn't she put her hands down?
Ren Yangchao took her wrists and looked at Min and Varris.
"Instinct," they said gently. For some reason it always surprised Seilaan when they used this voice. "You reminded her of someone she used to comfort often. You don't have to touch her. She will understand."
They let go of her, but Seilaan stayed exactly how she was, staring at her hands, frozen except for her rapid breathing. This was a mistake. She was the last person who ought to be trying to comfort them! She was a wealthy politician, too! But she couldn't just do nothing, could she? If she really was better than the people that had made Min and Varris so wary, she would help them. Just... how? What if she took their side, backed them up, started arguing for them? It wouldn't come off as sincere, would it? Not with Seilaan being who she was. The Ren family thought itself different from other nobles and politicians, but to Min and Varris, the difference probably wasn't so great. But they heard her arguing with Mazra earlier. Did that change anything? Seilaan did notice that Min didn't use her as an example just now like she did with Mazra.
Ren Yangchao straightened up and gave Vince a slight frown. Bold words. But they're just that—words. Will they believe you? Can they believe you?
The last battle's curtains will open on stage!
Mr ship
[Clinic(Kitchen)/Henry]
" I should come with you. I'm getting too paranoid these days to be left here." Henry said as he adjusted his torn suit a bit. He was definitely going to have to get it retailored when he got home.
"We'll tell Iveya to keep an eye on him while we're gone. I wish I had some of the FBI equipment I stole on me. We'd be able to keep in touch with her."
He looked out the window at the storm. "It's pretty bad out there we're going to need some heavy coats."
[Ruins] (Rin, Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson)
"Find a way through the wall? Hmph, stand back." Rin motioned for Gwenafer to step away from the wall. The admiral stepped up to the wall, tracing the shape of a doorway on it before stepping back away. Then she extended her arm, gently touching the wall, and focused her power.
The wall cracked, stone spider-webbing as it was subjected to extraordinarily low temperatures. Flakes of ice and stone began to fall to the ground as layer after layer of the wall succumbed to rapid weathering. Soon, the last layers collapsed, leaving behind a pile of rapidly crumbling pile of ice and rock fragments.
Rin turned around, dusting sand off her uniform, quite pleased with herself despite having an unamused look on her face. She crossed her arms behind her back before peering into the new room, "Yet another darkened room..."
[Beta Town] (Ruka, Gon, Ari)
Ruka twiddled her fingers, "Yeah... I'm actually half-ghost. Actually, closer to part-ghost. On my mom's side. It's... complicated." She scrunched up her lips and looked down at the ground. "As awesome as that sounds, I can't fully control my powers yet without this suit."
She lifted her head back up to look at Ari, "Actually, it wasn't hacking, it's called hexing. I specifically can cause bad things to happen to mechanical things, especially electronics." She thought about the other thing Ari mentioned, "Soil tends to resist electricity, cause its an insulator or something... I never really did well in Science class. It's kinda the same with magic and stuff. So no, Thunder is not strong against Earth where I come from. Like I said before, I had to brute force my Lightning Fang to have it even work against that robot."
Ruka continued to look at Ari, "I don't mean to be rude, but, why do you speak like that? Did something happen to you?" She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head, "It's starting to weird me out a bit, and I work with some pretty weird people."
It's a bird.
The Graveyard, (Friedrich, Sentinel, Patches, Moreena, Caleb)
"I would recommend a bit more caution than that," Moreena commented as she watched Friedrich run off towards the newly manifested building, before glancing up as a bird appeared and dropped something next to him. She scratched one of her horns. More oddities of the Dream?
"If possible, I'd rather go with reason over violence," she said, turning her attention towards Patches. "Though if that fails, this b..." She stopped herself, briefly looking down at the spiked crown in her hands. "I could handle a fight."
Hearing a loud crack, she spun around to look at where the Sentinel had stood before.
"Oh, it looks like she's nearly done."
edited 24th Oct '16 8:25:53 AM by Corvidae
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
Friendly Neighborhood Lich
The Graveyard (Friedrich, Sentinel, Patches, Moreena, Caleb)
As Friedrich gazed at the spirit, he began to feel a sensation that was vaguely familiar, and yet indistinguishable. Rumbling? Echoing? A slowing of time? Perhaps all three, though they all seemed to blend together like paint droplets in water. When he closed his eyes, he saw the Deathly Glade proper more clearly, and the same house that lay in the distance, very slowly falling apart and crumbling to the gray earth below. As it crumbled, so too could he feel his very existence unraveling. The substance that held together the porcelain pieces of his body vanishing into black smoke along with his very spirit, the pieces along with his clothing falling into a pile, the clasp on his capelet cracking and splitting open and the spider within turning to dust.
Friedrich knew what this black substance was, the glue that held him together and gave him something like a life. As he saw his unraveling, so too he saw, briefly, his creation, those same porcelain pieces and glass eyes and clumps of black hair painstakingly being pieced together, the black substance imbued with the ambient ether of the Deathly Glade. And a spider, once dead, rising and becoming part of the charm that would be a surrogate for his soul. He was aware of every crack in his "skin", every warped and floating footstep in the unearthly ground around him, and also a deep connection to the old dark house that stood so far away, yet so near to him.
And then he heard something fall right next to him, prompting him to open his eyes and discover a small drawstring bag at his feet. But just as he picked it up, he heard cracking noises, and saw that the Sentinel's cocoon was about to burst open.
Well, that is an extraordinarily quick metamorphosis. Time flows differently here after all.
He also heard Patches talking about Armory Knight and how tough he was, yet was not to be destroyed. And also asked about the large dilapidated house in the distance. To Friedrich, the two subjects seemed oddly connected, but yet, he decided to answer Patches' question.
"I'm not sure whether it was here all along or not, but that is Misery Manor, home to a powerful curse cast by a powerful lich who resides there, and originating in the Deathly Glade. I would not advise entering if you don't want to relive your worst nightmares. I would be all too glad to assist you with Armory Knight, though. Though I am afraid that with a being that powerful, at least some force may be necessary." He knew that last part from experience, but decided not to mention it, instead merely letting the mix-and-match not-doll dwell on his words.
Meanwhile, he opened the pouch and discovered three objects. One was a porcelain fragment not unlike part of his body, though looking to belong more to a bowl judging by its curvature (or maybe a doll head or leg?). Then there was a piece of paper, and a pocketwatch. The latter interested him, as he inpected it alongside his clasp, which was also a pocketwatch. This one, though, although its hands barely moved, made a ticking noise that seemed to echo within his hollow body. At least it had a normal-looking face though - the face of his own pocketwatch clasp was obscured by a thick black substance, kind of like tar but not quite. The spider was still inside, though it appeared to be dead.
He took another glace at the paper, for something about it seemed unusual. When he removed it from the bag, he noticed that it was covered with symmetrical lines and bore a note that looked to be written in runes. He couldn't hope to decipher it, but as he looked at it, he kept hearing the watch's ticking. Were the two somehow connected? Did it contain some sort of magic, even?
There was only one way to find out. Grabbing the fingers of his right glove, he began to pull the glove off, but not before saying, "Patches, I would advise you to look away, as my hand is rather unsightly." He wasn't kidding - his hand was made of a mottled mess of porcelain shards, gray earth, and the same black substance inside his clasp, which from out here seemed to have a texture resembling clotted blood. Anyone perceptive to magical energies might notice minute dark wisps floating about it. As he placed his hand on the paper, black ripples moved out from his hand, slowly turning the whole paper black... but only briefly before returning (maybe) back to the way it was before.
And once again I don't have time for a Gon/Ari post... again, hopefully tomorrow.
Come, my child of the devil. Your mother is calling you. Hear my call in Hell's grand hall, where all our dreams come true.
It's a bird.
[Ruins] (Rin, Gwenafer, Nick, Jackson)
"Nice," Gwenafer said with an approving smirk as the wall crumbled. "Let's take a look, shall we?"
She carefully stepped through the opening, her eyes blinking - and whirring, respectively - as they tried to adapt to the even smaller amount of light. It turned out to be unnecessary though, as she was suddenly met with a bright flash.
Four large lanterns hung from golden chains in the room's corners, with bright orange flames hovering inside of them, spreading warm light across the room through their intricate metal lattices. The room itself looked decidedly out of place compared to the rest of the ruined city, with walls of black marble carved with strange symbols and decorated with swirling patterns of gold and a not-quite-silvery metal Gwenafer didn't know the name of.
Three massive stone slabs on the floor along the far wall showed that this place was indeed some kind of tomb, but the graveskitter was nowhere to be seen. Both the stone slabs and the floor itself were worn, cracked and overgrown with plants, in stark contrast to the undamaged walls.
What really caught Gwenafer's attention though, was the object at the center of the room. A small but very sturdy-looking metal box resting atop a stone plinth, with it's lid left slightly ajar.
"I... I've been here before," Gwenafer said, her voice beginning to shake a bit. "But it wasn't... here, you know?"
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[Ruins]
When they got into the room, the first thing Nick noticed how completely not ruiny the area suddenly became. He also noticed that the graveskitter had suddenly vanished, and now he felt a little unnerved. Just what on earth did they stumble into.
But what really got his attention was Gwen's sudden change in behavior when she noticed the metal box. It was a red flag; he reacted the same way when he saw his dead brother in the dream world. Something in here triggered something from her past.
"Gwen?" he asked, "What is this place? It looks like you know more than all of us."
Jackson shot Nick a glare. "Give her a bloody moment; she's in some kind of shock."
Graveyard
When he heard the cracks Caleb looked back to see the cocoon, and kept an eye on it while Patches explained. He saw the mansion materialize but saved commenting on that for later. Still, he got the sense that this was the other house he felt with his eidolon back with the Dragon's Daughters.
Patches seemed to panic for a bit, but calmed down while looking at the cocoon and told about Armory Knight. Him being tough and dangerous was something Caleb expected, but not him being able to form any weapon; he supposed it made sense with the name.
Caleb nodded to Moreena, "Right, I got the idea that she wanted him alive. Full disclosure though, I'm not any more durable than most humans. If he attacks I'm all offense."
Then he looked at the house again. He new what kind of things the Dream did at this point, but he would have hoped Moreena recognized it. Then something inside him lurched towards it, like it was calling out to reunite with an inhabitant. This cause Caleb to fill with a great dread, "we shouldn't go there," he said, "I don't even want to stick around to see who comes out."
After Friedrich spoke he continue, "and it does that and is called 'Misery Manor. All the more reason!" He wondered what was going to end up leading them there eventually. With the doll's next comment, Caleb watched him change a piece of paper. "What exactly are you doing?" he asked.
You say I am loved, when I don’t feel a thing. You say I am strong, when I think I am weak. You say I am held, when I am falling short.
[Clinic/Henry]
Henry noticed Friedrich stop mid sentence and look around at Heinrich and the pictures.
He had a feeling this place was messing with them. First the bomb and now Friedrich's dead brother coming back.
Deciding it would be best to talk to Friedrich privately he subtly looked at him and pointed to the kitchen. He then got up and headed for the kitchen.
"Excuse me one second I need some fresh water. Whiskey has a tendency to dry my throat out. It's this room here, right Friedrich?"