I just want to help!
Despair nodded slightly. "Good, good, then. This one...is intriguing. And perhaps...perhaps she could help us with Rex as well. I recognize her. Let us go to her."
He started moving, still guiding Arcade along, with seemingly renewed determination, a fierce grin coming to his face. "We are going to help someone else, Arcade. We are going to teach them how free they can truly be. You can tell them how much better this is. It is going to be wonderful."
Library
"Hm." Garrett answered Miss Tairee. "Food for thought. Though I suppose, if I ever talked about this back home, the Hammerites would declare me a heretic... and they find that more unforgivable than thievery—"
At that moment, an outburst from Ben caught Garrett's attention. The boy was holding one of these communication devices, and yelling frantically at whoever was at the other end. That name... "Ghostfreak"? Wasn't that the creature that escaped from the boy's transformation device? And now he had apparently kidnapped the boy's love interest. Garrett couldn't hear exactly what Ghostfreak was saying, but the victim's chilling screams were audible even from this distance. Ben—shaking, distressed and at the verge of tears—said that he had no choice but to confront Ghostfreak alone, and proceeded towards the exit.
"Damn! What a bastard", Garrett muttered under his breath. He wasn't exactly a paragon of morality, but... tormenting little children? He couldn't help but feel disgusted.
He went after Ben.
Outside the library
"Wait!" he shouted after Ben. "Where do you think you're going? What do you think you'll be able to do to him on your own, without using that gadget of yours? You know this is certain to be a trap, right?
"Tell us where he is... we may be able to assist you without him noticing."
edited 26th Jun '17 1:32:10 PM by Korodzik
Happy Box Hater
Camp Site
Well, nothing bad had happened yet. Morty had, as Lucas suspected, been completely fine... unless one counted the seemingly endless depths of discomfort evident in him at all times. More importantly, the woman with the odd name was a newcomer. Clearly it was time to tell her about the City and direct her to the library... Yoshika noticed the day theme.
Thoughts of being informative left Lucas as the reality of the situation set in. They needed to be very careful. There was no telling what she might do if they lost sight of her for even a moment in this environment. He turned to Ciri and said in an urgent tone "I think Yoshika is eating everything... she might just run off if we aren't careful. I know you can teleport, but surrounded by all this food we can't be sure she won't wander off if she's not watched for even a moment."
It would be bad if they lost her on the day she was going to try getting adopted. They needed to get her to the library, after all. Lucas didn't have high hopes for his chances, but sometimes a person needs to do things as foolish as getting between Yoshika and her all you can eat buffet. He walked over to where she was indulging in dirt and tested the waters by saying "Excuse me, Yoshika, can you hear me? You know we're trying to get you adopted today, right? Can you stop eating for a tiny bit?"
Why is a yam attacking me?
That One Gal
It seemed that a lot of folks had spent the night in the library. Among them were Ben and...
Phoenix could swear he met that other kid someplace. In the jungle? Yeah, he was there after Phoenix almost got trampled. Remembering his near-death experience, Phoenix shuddered.
They were talking about something, but it was hard to make out without getting too close. Though Ben was definitely animated, maybe even agitated. As Phoenix watched, Ben talked into his radio. While he still couldn't hear much of the conversation, but Ben's trademark loudness helped fill in the gaps.
"Maya, I think someone's been kidnapped."
The medium looked curiously to Ben. She neglected to take her pillowy treat out of her mouth. Before they could say anything else, Ben rushed off, alone. Phoenix, after a second's wait, followed.
By the time Phoenix caught up to Ben, the kid was already talking to Jack. Phoenix slowed down, staying just far enough behind so he didn't intrude too soon. Luckily, he was able to catch the end of their conversation.
Phoenix stepped out into the sun. He then stepped back into the Library, rubbing the light out of his eyes. He walked out again, squinting through the blinding sky. "Hey, Ben?" He cautiously approached Ben and Jack. "Hey. I know we didn't exactly start on the right foot yesterday, but it seems like something's going on. I was wondering if I could help at all."
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
HIGH NOON Morning Haze
Something shoved my side unexpectedly. Still holding the locket, I flinched and readied an attack before realizing it was Seiga and calming down.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm awake," I answered in a half-teasing tone, a tad homesick from the smell of my locket and as ever awed to look at her but mostly just...indifferent, for reasons I couldn't place.
She asked me if I'd dreamt well, which brought the dream I'd been having back to the fore of my thoughts. It'd already begun to fade as a result of my being distracted from thinking about it, which...actually was pretty alarming, for some reason. What had happened in that again? Being suspended in a void by strings, and strolling an endless walkway, while talking with someone named...Chise...?
I'd already forgotten what we'd talked about, but it felt important, not to mention alarming. What was it...?
"Uh, no, not really," I answered, looking at nothing in particular. "W-why? Did you?"
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Lizard Metabolism
Chinglish At A Camp
"No worry, boy, you embarrassing enough by yourself." Shenhua had no mercy for Morty's little explanation, though her smile didn't turn mocking or falter. As far as she was concerned, the poor bugger was just a teenager surrounded by strangest circumstances.
Something more intriguing however was the man called Rick who obviously tried to take a swig from his flask. She tapped her knives and frowned; it looked like the cold steel was replaced by marshmallows shaped like one. "Wanted to say good morning is just be polite, but you right, nun girl. This day suck ass." Of course, that nun looked like no nun at all. Certainly no nun of any faith Shenhua was aware of.
The ashen-haired girl with a sword covered the distance between the nun and the embarrassing teen in a blink of an eye. As if the fact that they were surrounded by confectionery wasn't strange enough. Good thing neither of her roomies were around to see this; they would probably throw a fit like the girl eating chocolate dirt right now. "So, name is Shenhua and I just appear in here, yes, what's up with that?"
How do lizards fly?
Annoyed Mode: ON
"Ciel..." the child-like voice called out, begging for his attention. "Ciel..."
Ciel was not in any hurry, however, He felt the soft tap on his shoulder, and turned around only to find a small, adorable face staring at him from very close. It did throw him aback a little, but he was able to suppress the urge to pat the little girl in front of him in the head.
"Yes? What is it?"
The white-haired girl smiled at him, took a deep breath, and then...
"CIEL, WAKE UP THIS INSTANT!"
The bodyguard's eyes shot wide open that instant and gave him a perfect view of the walls, the ceiling, and the wooden floor that he ultimately fell face first on after all his midair spins. It took him a few moments to recover from the landing and acknowledge the girl next to him, looking at him impatiently while she tapped her red shoe.
...red shoe?
Well, upon closer inspection, her entire attire was different. There was significantly more red instead of blue, all the usually black frills had turned to white, and her ribbon had become green with a completely black middle. Even her crown was now a solid gold, and judging by the look on her face, she did not like it one bit.
"What happened to your clothes?" Ciel asked, pointing at Lu's outfit with his black... black glove? "...and what happened to mine?"
"I don't know, and I don't care," the little demon responded harshly. "Have you forgotten I told you I wanted to get up early today?"
"You should make sure to rest well. Yesterday was a long day, and-"
"I don't care what yesterday was! We need to get going, and we need to get going now!"
"Right, just let me get ready."
It took him roughly two minutes to get ready, but it was more than enough for him to notice that the wood they were standing on was in fact green, and had some sort of herbal scent. Mint, perhaps? Well, it did not matter, since they would be leaving either way. So soon enough they were ready to venture outside, but when they did...
"...what kind of place is this?" he asked to himself, taking a good look at the bizarrely colorful scenery. "This all looks as if-"
"Ciel, get moving! We need to go find some breakfast and then head to the library already!"
edited 26th Jun '17 2:00:47 PM by Katarsus
Ciri - Campfire
"Information is the only true currency in this City," Ciri said to the Priest. "It is unlike any world I have ever traveled to.""I am very sorry ladies," she added to Priest and Senhua, not exactly seeming all that sympathetic. "This is a rather bad time to make new acquaintances for us. We are in the middle of resolving a crisis that is coming to a head rather soon."
She cocked her head towards Lucas when the boy spoke. "Alright Lucas, fair point - we're going now," she added to the bat-wielding boy, stomping over towards Yoshika and clearing her throat to try and get the girl's attention.
"Hold on, we need to go to the library," she said to the two children, holding her left hand out for them to grab onto. "You can join us," she added to the new arrivals as she realized something. "The librarian is not keen on violence in her presence, so if you truly wish to converse and have no ulterior motivations, hold on."
She stretched one leg out and bent the other, and went for the toe-touch. Turns out a jiangshi's stretches work for the living, too. "I think. I can't remember what you did, but...if dreams are normally that nice, I can see why people look forward to sleeping."
"Besides the actual rest part, that is."
Yoshika gargled out something that ended in a S sound, muffled by all the chocodirt in the background.
You know you're getting adopted today, right?
Yoshika stopped shoveling food into her face suddenly, and slowly looked back at Lucas in surprise. "Mouh. Phat's righg."
She quickly tried to disgorge whatever was in her mouth, coming out as a melted glob of with the consistency of wet cocoa powder, before dusting herself off (and getting a lot more dust on her front in the process) and turning to her dear friend. "I totally forgot, that's actually important! We've got a whole day to eat!"
"Yeah, we're going! This is gonna work, Ciri, you can trust me on that," she said to her current guardian, offering her an assurance she probably didn't need. She firmly grabbed hold of her by the arm, and looked eagerly at her.
In love with an Uptown Girl
Library > Outside
Joel and the bots looked around, confused at the sudden arrival of new people.
"Wait, hold on, someone is being held hostage?" Joel said, holding up his hand as he tried to understand what had happened.
"We kinda just got here, and have no idea what is happening," Tom pointed out.
"Mind filling us in?" Gypsy asked.
edited 26th Jun '17 2:51:20 PM by Vampireandthen
Please allow me to introduce myself, I am a man of wealth and taste. Nice to meet you, hope you can guess my name.
Dark Sun, what choices have I...?
Apparently I was right to guess that Seiga had slept well. It was nice to know that she cared enough that I'd show up in one of those, I guess.
"You say that like you don't need to sleep," I commented offhandedly as she stretched.
I went quiet for a while, trying to remember more details about that dream. I think there was something involving Cole in there, and...my memories? But I still felt like I was missing something that I couldn't reach as much as I needed to. Though, to be fair, I was a bit distracted.
"...Hey, did I ever tell you about where I came from?" I asked eventually, faintly wondering if batting around the bush would draw it out somehow.
i guess you can watch me shitpost i guess
Arcade followed Despair, wondering who they were going to be helping. He hadn't talked to many people about their history. He wasn't even sure what would qualify as "intriguing".
Still, he was pleased with Despair's job for him. Whoever it was would need some help transitioning from hope to being fixed, so he'd gladly make it easier. He just hoped his terrible bedside manner wouldn't hinder him too much.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
I think I'm a sofa
Digger - Outside the Library
It took forever, but I finally made it to the library. At least, I think it was the library. I'd been here before, but with the constant shifting and day themes, it was hard to tell for sure. I approached the entrance, desperate to get out of the sun, until I noticed a pretty big group forming outside. A lot of them were dressed in garish bright colors, and I didn't really pay attention to them until I saw one of them dressed in brown; a helpful comparison against all the obnoxiously bright candy colors. As I got closer, I recognized the kid in the brown shirt and immediately felt guilty. He was the "self-proclaimed hero" from yesterday that I told off. I would've gone past him, but I felt like some kind of apology was needed, and I didn't know when—or if—I'd see him again. Plus his friends were blocking the entrance.
I pushed past the...robots? Robots and tried to get his attention. "Hey, you're the kid from yesterday, right? Ben, was it? Look, I'm sorry for what I said yesterday, about the whole hero thing. You actually did pretty good with the dino—wait, are you...?" Aw, crud, he was crying. Great job, Digger, you're making a half-ass apology to a crying kid.
Today was gonna be swell.
(holds pool noodle threateningly) Do you want to know what we do to artists?
Rex was surprised to see that Morty's freakout had attracted a new person to the site. She looked like a woman in her twenties, with a revealing attire no less. Rex was hit by a sudden wave of embarrassment over his clothes but he decided to shove that thought out of his brain and zip his jacket to hide his pink shirt. Not that a yellow jacket and green pants was any better but, you know, slightly more manly.
Even better, there was another woman in her twenties wearing revealing clothes. But she didn't look like a nun and her English was... well, let's just say pretty bad. But charming in its own way.
The situation was under control since Morty was just freaking out about the day theme and wasn't actually in danger. Even Rick pointed out how dumb that was but before drinking from his flask, he noticed that something was wrong "Looks like someone replaced your drink" Rex joked, obviously not knowing the kind of anger he was surely about to witness.
But enough of that, there were two ladies here that needed information and Rex had been here since day one so it made sense for him to help "Hello there" he addressed the newcomers "You must be new here. We're here because some idiot needs us to write a book"
Meanwhile, Yoshika was busy digging to China only with her mouth until Lucas and Ciri momentarily stopped her from thinking about eating to go on with the adoption plans. It was a good thing but Rex was a still a bit worried about Seiga's whereabouts. She was probably still in the city given that Yoshika hadn't left but was obviously keeping a low profile for the moment. He would have to take care of kicking her ass later, though, because right now it was flirting time.
"Welcome to the city. Name's Rex and, is it just me, or did this day get even hotter already?"
As she had said before, Ciri didn't have time to meet new people at the moment and was ready to leave to the library with Lucas and Yoshika but anyone could follow her. Way to kill the mood.
"Wait, you guys are leaving already?"
edited 26th Jun '17 3:59:21 PM by DeisTheAlcano
feeling blue
I kept walking through the desert city, trying to see if I can find anything or any familiar faces. Eventually I saw other people coming from the opposite direction I was going and, upon closer inspection, those people were... Arcade and Cole? What were they doing together? Lewis had said that Cole tried to help him and had his power limiter taken by his "girlfriend", but considering how sinister he looked right now... Was that what happened when that power limiter was taken off?
"D-Dr. Arcade?" I said, stopping in place as I saw them approaching.
I suddenly began feeling that wave of melancholy all over again. There was no doubt about it, Cole was the one doing it. It was probably a result of his current situation, but why was Arcade with him? He had left after Eve and Rex yesterday and after what happened in the hospital, why would they be together?
I just want to help!
"I see you know each other then," Despair said, offering a bit of a kindly smile. "I don't believe I have been properly introduced, young lady. I am Despair...though it would seem...you already know me, don't you? Yes...I can see it written all across inside of you..."
He tilted his head forward slightly. "What a terribly, terribly unfortunate mother. To have made such heinous actions against you and...all for naught. Here you remain. Still struggling against her accusations...and yet, somewhat proving them, aren't you?" He glanced to Arcade. "After all, I had to come along behind you and help this friend of your's...you should have seen the shape he was in before I reached him. But now...now he is free. And he...he wants to help you, the way you didn't help him."
edited 26th Jun '17 4:07:55 PM by ColeMinor
feeling blue
Despair? That's what he called himself now? That explained the feeling I was getting just from being close to him but... How did he know about mother...?
"H-How do you know-"
I stopped myself. He had done the same thing to Silanea back at the hospital, that was what led to her attacking him and ending up having to be knocked out to stop. He must have been looking inside our memories, just like Nevin did when I first talked to him, except in this case I didn't even need to be in contact for it to happen. He could just see right through me. Not only that, but it seemed that he was "helping" Arcade after what happened when he left the hospital, just what had happened in that room...?
"W-What do you mean?" I asked, still not sure of what to make of all this.
"Ah, that much is true. When humanity is thrown into a place where monetary value is naught more than pretty rocks or colorful pieces of paper, they tend to rise above base greed... or drown in a different kind altogether." Pondering on the words and wondering if she should also follow along with the women who spoke of a structure that sounded most informative (the best libraries tended to be great epicenters of learning and guarded by mighty mages or monsters after all), the woman found her attention being taken by another young man with a bit more years on him than Morty though about the equivalent amount of Lust.
Tilting her head slightly to the side with a thoughtful expression as the boy started talking about the weather and temperature, the Priest waited a few seconds before answering the question. "No, I don't think the overall heat index has risen. It's quite a level if stifling amount of heat though so we should do as you suggested and get out of the direct sunlight lest heatstroke hit the more frail members of the group." The epiphany that quite a few people here was simply due to a being writing a book was a novel experience (pardon the pun) but with that kind of power it seemed more or less about the level of an Apostle or a straight up deity. Food for thought that (yet another pun).
The urgency and almost frantic momentum displayed the almost Slayer-looking youth was enough to make the woman of faith ruminate a bit longer, weighing the pros and cons of taking the offer. On one hand she would be taken to a library where all could be made clear though who was to say that the owner of such a place had strange behavioral patterns that would be hard to deal with... on the other hand, there were people around who could surely provide the same amount of answers that she sought, even if they were quite currently afflicted with no small amounts of Lust and Pride. Decisions were to be made. "How many of you are heading to the Library?" A compromise, the path taken will be the one with more people.
Arcade glanced up at Chise when she called his name. He seemed apologetic for a brief second before all emotions fled his face. He didn't look at Chise as Despair talked about her mother. He repeated to himself that the temporary pain led to the freedom from hope.
"You remember what I was like yesterday," Arcade said, lifelessly, "I was so hurt that I couldn't even hear about my family without breaking down." He shrugged robotically, "but Despair helped me move past that. We want to help you move past your pain as well."
He looked right at her, without any spark of life in his eyes. "It will hurt— and I'm sorry for that— but once you stop wasting time hoping for anything good, pain becomes manageable."
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
Lizard Metabolism
Chinglish Is Immune To Flirting
"Aiya, looks like dork virus spreading." Shenhua shook her head, stifling a giggle at the nun's confusion being a deterrent to Rex's lame attempts. Another kid being awkward, this time with these half-assed flirts? Frankly, his earlier explanation was of more importance to her. "So, this the place that Sawyer talk about after all, yes?" She muttered more to herself than to anyone else, though likely loud enough for Rex - a person perhaps familiar with the cleaner - to hear. "Well, library beats desert. Lead the way, ash-hair girl." Then she turned her attention again to the Priest. "You come along, nun, yes?"
How do lizards fly?
I just want to help!
Despair just offered Chise a small smile, the multitude of fangs growing through the mouth bisecting his face all but glinting. "We just want to help you, Chise. After all, you don't have much left in you...do you? Wouldn't you rather spend the time left able to rest, to not be weighed down with desires to help those who could never accept you?"
edited 26th Jun '17 4:42:51 PM by ColeMinor
feeling blue
Moving past pain... by stopping to hope for anythign good? Was that really how he felt? Or was he was just being tricked into thinking that was what he wanted by Despair? He was definitely trying to push me into giving up as well, I could see that, it was as clear as the skies above.
"I've already moved past my pain." i stated simply. "And even if I hadn't, this is not the way to do it."
Happy Box Hater
Camp Site
Oh, Yoshika stopped eating fairly quickly. Good to hear that she was focused on this. He smiled at her and then grabbed on to Ciri's hand. The sound of his approval meter kept ticking down for Rex every time he opened his mouth, but Lucas could care less about that.
Why is a yam attacking me?
Arcade's head snapped back to Despair when he revealed Chise didn't have much time. She was dying? His sympathy was beating out his lessons from Despair. He found himself contemplating what illness she had and what he could do to help her.
His head slowly turned to Chise, however. "You... you have?" He asked, shocked. She was dying and she'd found a way to come to peace with that? That... He wanted to... He looked slightly lost.
I say that aloud too sometimes, just: "man, no life."
She got up and started stretching her legs because, hermit or not, it was hardly an easy place to sleep on. They were sore like nothing else! "Did you have any good dreams while you were out?" she idly asked.
Soooooo...Dr. Kick's nephson was screaming, and then he was staring at a lady, who was wearing not that much, but then there was also another lady and both of the ladies weren't wearing things and Yoshika wondered if she'd really approve of that, and whether or not her approving of something meant it was a bad thing...so, in conclusion...Morty must like pretty dresses. That seemed logical.
Yoshika wondered if he thought that all this armor, which was now strangely a lot more vibrant,
◊SURGEON GENERAL'S WARNING would look pretty too. She decided to take her hat out of storage and put it on to make it even better. Not because she missed her hat or anything.
In lieu of any kind of personal greeting, Yoshika stared past everyone and waved in Priest and Shenhua with a hearty "Good Morning!"
Though, on her hand...there was a strangely familiar brown substance. She probed this discovery with her tongue, to find that it wasn't the usual dirt she expected to taste...but chocolate powder.
In fact, as she turned away from the group and started to sniff the ground...and eat it outright. Right now, she was just shoveling dirt into her mouth.
Something in the back of her head reminded her that she had something to do today, but she couldn't remember.