The Cosmic Express, Diner Car -> Following Alek to Personal Rooms
"That's rough, buddy!" Arsa said, her eyes shining with sympathy as she (seemingly) reached over to briefly give Red's shoulder a couple pats. Her human body may have been an illusion, but she could still fake the sensation of being touched, so nothing would feel off. "But hey, at least it sounds like it was quick and less painful than it coulda been, right? I mean, imagine if the dragon had bit off the bottom halfa ya first!"
"You mean to say you're a living library, or the embodiment of one?" Sapio telepathically questioned the woman-who-had-been-a-blob as he turned to regard her. "Now, that is something I was not expecting to encounter! How interesting! If you are still here after our tour, I would like to ask you about where you come from, or if you are not, then I would be happy to talk with you at a later time, Miss... Sinaar Lekhidur, if I overheard correctly? Ah, my apologies, I should introduce myself! My name is Sapio; pleased to meet you, Miss Lekhidur. My boss over there is Eric, the golden-haired woman is Arsa, and the one on Eric's shoulder is Veni." The Alakazam offered her a cordial bow, having finished off the remainder of his smoothie and stood in the meantime.
"We're pleased to meet you as well, Miss Lekhidur," Eric offered, nodding to Sinaar with a smile after draining the rest of his mocha and standing to ready himself to follow Alek. "It's good that there's the kind of library we're more familiar with on the train, though. Sapio would go stir-crazy without any books to read, haha!" He was joined by Arsa a moment later after she also downed what was left of her own drink with a satisfied sigh.
"Thanks again, Alek, that was really great!" she chirped, grinning at the elf, then waving and beaming to Sinaar. "Like he said, I'm Arsa! Good ta meetcha 's well, Sinaar!"
"Veno! Venomoth!" ["Yeah, same here! A living library, how cool!"] Veni contributed.
Edited by darksidevoid on Apr 15th 2025 at 12:07:43 PM
GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire."No problem!" said Nikki, with a smile. "I hate to cut our chat short, but I think I should see about getting my power armor removed. I'd like to feel fresh air for the first time in days."
Her screen locked on the ^-^ face again, as it did when she made an expression it wasn't programmed to show. The enemy who'd taken her out hadn't given her a chance to go down swinging. He'd found some way to immobilize her armor and waited patiently for her to die inside it. She'd always expected to be slain by an enemy, but not like that.
Now her world was likely in danger with one less hero to defend it.
Dining Car
"Whatever stories I like, huh...I told you about the magical girl I rescued from prison, but there's a good story that takes place a little later about how she and I took on a big Hexed together. Wanna hear about that?"
Now that she's thinking about her past and remembering things, Yukino looks to be perking up, and she can be seen leaning forward to try and get herself into a storytelling vibe.
Proud member of the AGOG community.Arion smiled, noticing that Yukino's mood seemed to be improving by the moment.
"That sounds like a wonderful story, go ahead and—" he started to say, when someone who looked like a metal woman with pigtails approached and started ranting excitedly.
"Mine also," Arion told her, not understanding "magical girls" were a specific thing. "And magical men as well. As far as I know sorcerers don't transform in my world. But I'm sorry to say that all three of us are probably from different worlds," he sighed. He looked at the newcomer more directly. "What world do you hail from, maiden of metal?"
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.The diner car, with most of the active player characters.
NPCs: Molly the skull-faced anthropomorphic wolf and bartender, and Idalia the anthropomorphic Glaceon.
Idalia gave Yukino and Arion an understanding nod. "Well, you speak up if you think you need anything. Or if you just need some space," the Glaceon mentioned, meant more for Yukino, but Arion as well.
"Yep, the bar is open!" Molly answered in an enthusiastic tone to Yukino and Arion. "What kind of drinks would you like?"
Idalia then took a little surprised step back as Nikki rushed over, then nodded in agreement with Arion. "It's not impossible, but it's more likely than not that you're from different worlds. There's a fair number of them with coincidental similarities, it seems," Idalia noted.
Meanwhile, Alek turned to the door and seemed to focus on it for a moment, then said, "alright, this way to one of the passenger room cars." He opened the door, reached forward and opened the door for the next car over, then stepped through, leading the way into one of the passenger cars...
A passenger room car, with Eric and co. (Plus whoever else follows.)
NPCs: Aleksandras "Alek" the Elf guide.
The passenger room car still had the same layout it would have in the train's normal form, though it did seem a bit less inviting in its modern subway, used-looking form.
"The train is normally nicer than this; once we depart this world and it no longer is changing itself to match this place, it will likely be more like its normal self," Alek explained as he moved into the little hallway and focused on the first door for one of the rooms. After a moment, the letters on the nameplate shifted and momentarily scrambled, before settling on reading, 'Eric Richter, and team'.
"There we are," Alek said, stepping past the door so Eric could get to it without having to squeeze past the Elf or push him down the hall. "Next I will lead the way to the library car, once you are done inspecting your room. Take all the time you would like," the Elf mentioned, and moved to the far end of the train car to wait by the door to the next car over.
Just outside the train, where Colette is eavesdropping. (And maybe Storm is still around too?)
NPCs: Frederick the still alive man, Rakan the chief of staff, Calysus the deer-skull-headed and shadowy head of security, some background passengers, and some masked spirit residents on the sidelines.
Just as before on the diner car, the first sign of Calysus was his glowing red eyes appearing amidst the flickering light, then the rest of his shadowy form after the light gradually returned to normal. "You called, Rakan?" Calysus said in his spine-tingling voice, while looking at the short figure.
"Holy shit!" Frederick said in a hushed tone, taking a step away from Calysus.
"Heh heh, yeah, Calysus is a real nightmare, and that's not a metaphor," Rakan said in an amused tone towards Frederick, before turning his attention to Calysus. "So as you no doubt already noticed, this guy is still alive," the short green fellow started, motioning to Frederick. "Some of the passengers wanted to know if we can get him out of this spirit world and back to his home."
Calysus turned his head and his frightening red eyes towards Frederick. "Hmm... Tell me, what happened when you first came to this world?"
Frederick stared at Calysus, looking almost ready to crap in his own pants, and reluctant to speak. "... I uh... I went up to my apartment building and opened the front door, but instead of the lobby it opened to a weird hallway. I saw this lady suddenly appear in front of me walking down the hall, and I followed her; turned out she was one of them, but I didn't see her mask until she turned to look at me," Frederick explained, pointing to one of the masked spirit residents over on the sidelines of the station area.
"You were already familiar with those spirits?" Calysus asked.
Frederick shook his head. "N-no, that was my first time seeing any of them. Took me a bit to work out how things work here; it's lucky I had this mask on during my walk home... Um, when I turned around and tried to go back outside, thinking maybe I got the wrong door to the apartment building, the door just went into a different hallway here. Really freaked me out at first."
Calysus' eyes went out, seemingly his equivalent of closing them, and he lifted his head a little as he let out a hum. "Mmm, this would line up a little with the memories of the spirits here; those few that still remember it. When they passed away in that world of the living, their spirit is drawn to a door; when opening the door it takes them to this world. The door acts as a gate between the worlds temporarily, only while open; it is not that unlike how our passengers first arrive on the train," Calysus mused aloud, opening his eyes and turning to Rakan again. "Finding one of these gates in use should not be too difficult, however I believe the connection is normally only one way; getting this man through from this side back to his living world will be difficult. It may require the assistance of our engineers... Or perhaps, our current eavesdropper."
"Huh?!" Frederick looked around, already on edge just from Calysus' voice and general appearance, but did not notice Colette. Rakan just let out another amused chuckle.
Edited by FirockFinion on Apr 20th 2025 at 8:38:53 AM
You are reading this.Colette, eavesdropping in the Train dining room. (And not so stealthy anymore!)
While eavesdropping on the events going on outside the train, Calysus arrived in his usual fashion. This was expected because Rakan called for him. Frederick (Known as Mortal to her, not knowing his actual name) not reacting well to Calysus's arrival is also expected. He was startled and frightened a bit.
Frederick confirmed his method of somehow entering the wrong door (The concept is the same no matter the exact method) and ending up in the world of the dead. He somehow ended up being able to access the one way trip meant for the dead. And entered it.
In a way, Frederick got lucky. If he did not have a mask on at the time... he would be properly dead by now. Probably torn to pieces by a hostile entity or an empty shell without his memories. Or a fate far worse than that.
Calysus's explanation fills in the gaps and this world makes much more sense. Now how would she make one of these doorways go in both directions...? Probably brute forcing it as a last resort (As in literally slicing the door open on the dead side to let Frederick through, them repairing the door afterwards). There has to be a way that does not involve literally destroying a doorway's one sided barrier temporarily. Again (LAST TIME: The predicted repair cost was rather high. Fortunely, there were plans to destroy it anyways and she just did it sooner than planned. To this day, she swears that everyone was relieved that she did that first).
To locate one of these doorways, is the easy part. The hard part is making it work for both directions. And then reversing the effect. The Train engineers could help... or herself according to Calysus.
Calysus noticed her. This is not good. Frederick is currently nervous and failed to notice herself. Good. Rakan was amused for some reason (A later problem).
She prepares to act gracefully (For a Connection). One quick adjustment to her mask and she steps outside to meet the group.
"And why am I listed as the second option as a way to get Mortal back to the world of the living?"
A neutral tone, and her posture suggests that she knows what she is doing in the eyes of mortals.
"It's reasonable to assume that the Engineers could find a way as well. If they can make the Train work... this task should be easier in comparison Calysus."
A true point, and to see what the Staff are thinking. She does a thinking gesture and- where are her hands? Her hands are currently... nonexistent. As in her arms suddenly end at her wrists on her humanoid appearance. As if she has no hands and is able to function as if she has hands.
"I'm not sure how I would go about making a doorway temporarily being accessible on both sides without any leakage so to speak. On both sides."
This is her main concern above all else. A gesture that shows the idea of the doorway being used on both sides freely is done despite her lack of visible hands. And then she gestures the idea of bad things happening if it stays open on both sides.
"You would need to make it one sided after letting Mortal through somehow. And ensure that it stays that way. No one wants to see an Entity enter the world of the living after all, including myself."
An Entity entering the world of the living is a Bad Idea. There are worse ideas, but this is in the middle of the long list of Things Not to Do.
Edited by sci300768 on Apr 18th 2025 at 10:07:14 AM
Sinaar Lekhidur, Dining Car
"A living...Okay, in our—in my world, 'library' is an occupation. I don't know enough about what a library is to you to say much else about that," Sinaar said to Sapio. "...I...don't really have anywhere else to be right now, so I'll probably still be in this car when you get back. Nice meeting you all too."
After Eric and co. left, Sinaar mulled a bit on what she felt like doing next. She fairly quickly decided she wanted to keep talking to Nikki, who it looked like had started talking to two of the people from the dice game. Yeah, she didn't really make the greatest first impression with them, did she?
"She's not actually made of metal," Sinaar called out as she walked over, in response to Arion calling Nikki a "maiden of metal". "It's—she called it aarmr. Based on what she said about it, I believe it's combat-related." Sinaar had a bad habit of explaining things when people who knew more about those things were around.
"Oh, I'm Sinaar, by the way," she continued, realizing her form had changed since she'd last spoken to Arion and Yukino.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.Just outside the train, with Colette. (And maybe Storm is still around too?)
NPCs: Frederick the still alive man, Rakan the chief of staff, Calysus the deer-skull-headed and shadowy head of security, some background passengers, and some masked spirit residents on the sidelines.
"Th-that fucking thing again," Frederick complained in a freaked out tone as Colette stepped into view.
"It is not uncommon for our passengers to wish to make themselves useful in some fashion. Like the contribution to the creation of Chef," Calysus replied after Colette's initial question. "Was I mistaken in thinking that you might be feeling the same way? Then why eavesdrop on the situation?" the skull headed figure asked in what seemed to be a slightly cheeky tone.
"The gates are already temporary. As soon as the door is shut, the gateway is severed. That is how this man was trapped on this side to begin with," Calysus then pointed out, briefly extending an arm out of his shadowy form to gesture at Frederick. "There should be no issue... Unless you think I am incapable of keeping anything else from passing through the door before it closes," the skull headed shadow continued as he retracted his arm, sounding potentially offended in a way.
Edited by FirockFinion on Apr 20th 2025 at 8:39:05 AM
You are reading this.Colette, formerly eavesdropping outside the train
Th-that fucking thing again," Frederick complained in a freaked out tone as Colette stepped into view.
Frederick's reaction is not worth dealing with.
"I strongly suspect that an outside force made it possible for Mortal to enter this world. Because that doorway is normally only accessible to the dead. Yet alone perceiving it."
She does a thinking gesture.
"I have dealt with cases like this before, and it seemed like something I could aid in at least Calysus."
The doorways being inherently temporary is a good thing. She can't feel bad (Due to the lack of worry about leaks) about brute forcing one open because it's not going to exist for very long anyways! Calysus gave info that confirmed solutions which were worth trying.
"Knowing that, I do have a means of getting Mortal back to the World of the living. A leak will not be a problem if the doorway is temporary."
"That, and I doubt anything could get past you Calysus without painful consequences at best."
After going through the loooong list of solutions... she picks one.
"I would locate a doorway and brute force it into functioning in the reverse direction wise. So that only someone in the World of the dead could enter into the world of the living. This is the most reliable way using what I already know about this world. It would still be one way trip, but reversed."
Edited by sci300768 on Apr 20th 2025 at 8:49:28 AM
Dining Car
"I dunno, something like whisky or tequiLAAA!" Yukino said before her eyes widened as Nikki all but materialized before her. "Personal space, girl!"
Once she'd noticed that Arion and Sinaar were not too bothered by her arrival, Yukino put a hand to her chest as if trying to calm down her heart before fixing Nikki with a look. "Gotta warn someone before you just get in their face like that...anyways, yeah, my world has magical girls. I'm one of them. We transform, though I don't know about elements."
Proud member of the AGOG community.Storm - Boarding the train
Nodding at Rakan's approval, Storm grabbed their mask by the speaker ears and lifted it up and off from their head, the lights shutting off when the mask could no longer detect Storm's eyes. They had a rather conspicuous case of mask hair — if one were to ask them, they'd say it resembled the coppery, blue-tipped pelt of a certain species native to Noahsland's nature reserves, commonly spotted in zoos throughout the Inhabited Planets.
Storm grimaced. This... wouldn't do at all.
"...I ought to go to my room and tidy myself up," they sighed to themself, slipping away just as the light returned to the train and Calysus began to speak. They almost let their mask slip out of their grasp at the sound, but they managed to keep it in both hands. They could only imagine the kind of racket it would have made if it hit the floor, not to mention the costs and resources involved in repairing such sophisticated technology. Leaving Rakan to help Frederick get acquainted with the train, they headed for the same door Alek used to access the passenger cars and crossed their fingers...
"Hark! For your greatest fears manifest in yours truly!" (She/Her) (Current focus: Image Pickin')"Sorry, sometimes my enthusiasm overpowers my common sense," said Nikki, taking a step back. "I'm Nikki, formerly Science Girl Taranis. I was just excited to encounter something familiar."
She paused and took a deep breath. She'd let a very uncool and unheroic side of her show there. She needed to regain her composure, even if she wasn't hiding her identity anymore.
"In my world, magical girls or magians are people that transform into a different form in order to use magic without needing a ritual. Channeling magic directly through a human body has about a 20% chance of accidentally..."
Nikki paused here, wondering if describing what could potentially happen to a spellcaster if they botched an attempt to directly channel magic was too graphic.
"... well, ending badly," she said. "As for what world I'm from... I dunno how realms are categorized. One of the monsters I fought from the Pit of Despair called it the 'Land of 666 Rivers', if that means anything."
The Cosmic Express, Diner Car -> Passenger Room Car
With one last set of friendly nods to Sinaar, the former Rocket executive and his pokemon followed their elvish guide and departed for the next car over, which just so happened to be exactly the car they were looking for...
"I see! Good to know! We'll take a look, and be back with you shortly," Eric said after Alek's explanation. Opening the door, he entered with Veni on his shoulder, and Arsa and Sapio quickly followed. Inside, they found the space to be surprisingly modern, if a bit run-down to match with the decor outside the room. A large bed with fresh sheets, a sizable desk with chair, which a little investigation revealed had drawers full of grooming tools and spoons — "Ha! For TK practice, I suppose!" — as well as charging ports, a large window with blinds, and even a miniature bonsai berry tree, currently ripe with bright red Cheri Berries. At the sight of the last of those, Arsa immediately snagged one of the crimson fruits with her telekinesis and popped it into her mouth, even as she jumped up onto the bed with her real body and tested its comfort.
"Awww yeah, that's a good Cheri Berry! And this bed is super comfy, Boss!" she transmitted while she chewed. "By the way, why don't you open up that briefcase and see what's inside? I've been wondering about that, but you probably didn't want to do so in public in case it's got anything incriminating in it, right?"
"Right in one! Let's see..." Eric set the case on the unoccupied part of the bed and went about opening it, revealing his trusty laptop and charging cable, numerous fake IDs, and lock-picking tools. "Hmmm, useful! ...Laptop is fully charged, good. I suppose I'll leave the tools for defeating locks here, as well as the IDs... Actually, do these rooms remain locked for everyone but the proper occupants, or can anyone enter? That would be problematic." Shoving the troublesome items into a couple of empty drawers in the desk, he opened the door to the room again and poked his head out to call to the elf:
"Question, Alek: Can only staff and the proper occupants open the door to their respective room, or will I need to worry about potential thieves snooping around?"
Edited by darksidevoid on Apr 22nd 2025 at 8:51:53 AM
GM: AGOG S4 & F/WC RP; Co-GM: TABA, SOTR, UUA RP; Sub-GM: TTS RP. I have brought peace, freedom, justice, and security to my new Empire.Arion looked at Sinaar, eyebrow raised in confusion.
"Armor? We have armor in the Realm," he asked. "But her armor has a face. Armor doesn't have faces, not ones that move and emote." He turned towards Molly, still leery about making direct eye contact.
"Wine, please. Watered down, if at all possible. I have heard that some people here do not do that," he told her. He then turned back towards Nikki. "That is certainly odd. In my world, magic is the latent aether of the cosmos permeating all things. Certain individuals with a spark of the divine in their souls can harness this magic with proper training, we call them sorcerers and sorceresses," he explained. His eyes widened, however, when she explained about what kind of monsters she fought. He stood up.
"You've fought monsters from the Pit of Despair???" he asked with astonishment. "You must be a mighty warrior indeed. Well, as I have said, my world is called The Realm. It is a land of kingdoms and wandering monsters, where knights like myself, and heroic sorcerers, strive to protect the populace from danger."
Edited by AllHailThrall on Apr 22nd 2025 at 8:56:22 AM
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Dining Car
"I don't think my world really had a name. Not one I knew, anyway. I mean, obviously it was on Earth in the Milk Way galaxy, but beyond that...topic for another time maybe. Name's Yukino, and this is Arion. He knows his stuff about knights and fighting." Yukino said, clapping Arion on the shoulder once she'd introduced him.
"Magic was something given out by visitors from another planet...but it wasn't a good thing. Especially not with how I got it. But I used it anyway, did my best to do some good with it." Yukino continued, her expression turning more serious as she looked at Nikki and explained her world's circumstances.
Proud member of the AGOG community.Arion turned his head towards Yukino, looking quizzical.
"Earth? Milky Way? Galaxy? What do you mean?" he asked. "It's a planet? You live on a planet? But planets are lights pulled across the sky by the gods. No one can live on a planet," he murmured.
I can still hail the Horde even though the company has shamed us. Strength and Honor even if Blizzard has neither.Red
Red, who was gulping down the last of his lemonade, coughed it out after hearing Arion’s words. He burst it out laughing, a mix of amusement and disbelief. “You… don’t really believe that, do ya? Because… we all live on planets. Far as I know, at least. Right?”
It builds character."Oh, does your world have a Gate to the Pit of Despair too?" asked Nikki. "My world has a lot of Gates to other realms, but all of them are one way. It's how magic flows in and out of our world. One of those Gates used to go to a place called the Pit of Despair."
She went quiet for a moment as she remembered her encounter with the Hopeless Hound. Her hand visibly shook for a second.
"My hometown had the misfortune of being right near the Despair Gate when all the magical gates started opening again. One of them dragged me into the woods and tormented me by letting me try to escape and recapturing me over and over. They like their food filled with despair, you see."
As she described this, the screen on her helmet returned to a solid ^-^ face.
"Thankfully, I got rescued by a magical girl. She just yelled 'Great Lance of Midas', threw a bolt of magic at it, and it was turned into a golden statue," she said. "After that, I wanted to be a hero that could fight beside her. But I would later find that I couldn't cast magic. So I had to improvise."
She tapped on her metal helmet to indicate what she meant by that. As she spoke of the magical girl, the screen on her helmet changed to a much happier expression.
"...that's a whole other story though," she said.
Sinaar Lekhidur, Dining Car
"Well, from what I've heard, in his world, the 'Pit of Despair' is his religion's version of hell. It's where you go when you die if you were really awful," Sinaar said to Nikki.note "If the one you're talking about is the same thing...that...would have some implications." She didn't want to say "that would imply it's real" in front of the guy who earnestly believes that.
Speaking of things Arion believes... "Planets may look like tiny lights in the sky, but they're actually really, really big. Millions of miles across. They just look tiny because they're also millions of miles away. The thing you live on is the same kind of object, you can just see it for how big it really is because you're so much closer to it," she explained. She punctuated her final point by gesturing from her eyes to the ground, lengthening her arm in order to reach.
"Then again, you guys all believe magic is real, so..." Whether this meant "you guys all believe in magic so there's no use explaining anything to you" or "it's looking more and more like I just don't know how reality really works" wasn't even clear to Sinaar as she was saying it.
Suggested wine pairing: pinot noir.Just outside the train to elsewhere in the sprawl, with Colette.
NPCs: Frederick the still alive man, Calysus the deer-skull-headed and shadowy head of security, and some masked spirit residents on the sidelines.
"Whether an outside force is responsible or not is not my concern at this time. You may investigate it yourself if you would like," Calysus said in a slightly dismissive way. Though he did go on to suggest, "perhaps check the gate we use to send him back for clues."
Calysus then slouched his posture slightly, as the shadowy base of his form started to spread over the floor around him. "This must be done before the train departs. I will find a gate in use," he stated as long, triangular shadows extended out rapidly, covering floors and walls down the various corridors from the station area. His eyes glowed a bit brighter, and his head seemed to faintly vibrate.
"... There," Calysus announced after a few moments, his head vibration stopping. The shadows shifted slightly, and seemed to coalesce and get darker underneath Frederick and Colette. Frederick glanced down with a worried expression as he noticed his feet seemed to be slowly sinking into the shadows. "This will not be pleasant," Calysus warned, turning his glowing eyes towards Frederick. "But you will not be harmed."
"Good luck out there!" Rakan said with a wave of his hand.
"Wait wait wait wa- aaaAAHHH!'" with his scared yell, Frederick and Colette were both sucked downward into the shadow, which Calysus then dove into...
...
There was a large room, half of which had aisles set up like a convenience store, but the other half had desks and chairs like some kind of office space. One of the doors had opened seemingly on its own, then a masked spirit woman materialized into place just in front of it, her hand still on the knob. She turned her head back and forth, her body language seeming curious and perhaps a bit confused. She let go of the doorknob and took a step forward, the door slowly swinging closed behind her.
Then a light above flickered out, and a shadow shot downward towards the door, shaping into a long, spindly arm with clawed fingers. It grabbed the top of the door just before it could fully close, and yanked it back open as the rest of Calysus' form came down from the shadowy ceiling, his eyes burning fiercely and his antlers looking larger and more menacing than before. "GOT IT," he announced loudly, startling the masked woman, who came close to tripping and falling as she scrambled away.
"-AAAAAA-ogph!" Frederick's continued scream cut off as he fell from the shadow in the ceiling and landed on his back on the floor. Colette would be coming out of the shadow about the same time, a few feet away from Frederick.
"Until this door closes, the gate is open," Calysus said, turning his head to them. His antlers were creaking a bit as they slowly shrank down to their normal size, and the intense glow of his eyes was dimming as well. Of course, to a regular, mortal observation the door was simply opening to one of the other, many hallways of the sprawling spirit world. However, Colette would be able to tell that it was acting as one of the temporary, one-way gateways from the attached world of the living.
The diner car, with most of the active player characters.
NPCs: Molly the skull-faced anthropomorphic wolf and bartender, and Idalia the anthropomorphic Glaceon.
Molly seemed to think for a moment after Yukino's half-made request. The skull-faced wolf woman then grabbed some things from behind the bar, and made her way over to their table while faintly humming to herself.
After reaching the table, first Molly poured out some wine and water both into the same cup and placed it in front of Arion with a happy, "here you go!" Then she picked what seemed to be transparent but brown-tinted ice cubes from a little shaker container, plopped them into a glass, then poured a clearer liquid over it. "How about you give this a try," the bartender suggested to Yukino as she placed it in front of the magical girl.
"This is tequila with cubes of frozen whiskey. It's a bit colder than living humans would typically be comfortable drinking, but of course that's not a problem for you!" Molly explained, still in a cheery tone. "Plus when the whiskey starts melting, it gets slushy!"
Meanwhile, Idalia looked at Red and Sinaar, and shook her head. "I've already experienced enough on the train to tell you that while many of the worlds of the living are planets, not all of them are. Like, one we stopped at was a flat disk on the back of a titanic, uh... They called it a 'turtle' if I remember right," the anthropomorphic Glaceon explained, putting a hand to her chin.
"And of course they believe in magic! There's plenty of worlds where magic is real!" Molly added in a somewhat boisterous tone. (She clearly wasn't trying to put Sinaar down; she was just talking with her usual enthusiasm.) "In some worlds, what they call 'magic' works in specific ways that can be measured and explained and stuff. However there's other worlds where what they call 'magic' is something that doesn't always work the same way, and can't really be measured either," the bartender went on, her tail wagging a bit.
A passenger room car, with Eric and co. (And maybe Storm will show up.)
NPCs: Aleksandras "Alek" the Elf guide.
"There should be a simple lock you can turn on the handle from the inside if you simply wish not to be disturbed while you are within your room," Alek answered, with a little motion of his hand. "However, there is nothing magical or otherwise to keep others from entering your room while you are not present. Our rules and capabilities of our staff are sufficient to dissuade all but the most reckless and or foolish of potential troublemakers; if anyone did enter your room and take something without your permission, it would be quite simple for us to figure out who it was and rectify the situation," the Elf explained in a professional polite and confident tone.
"Now, if that does not satisfy you, you may petition to be granted a special lock that could seal your room from the outside. It is up to security, Rakan, then the Conductor in that order for the ultimate decision on whether you're granted the lock. Plus of course, all us staff have means to bypass the lock regardless," Alek continued.
Edited by FirockFinion on Apr 25th 2025 at 10:01:32 AM
You are reading this.Colette, outside the train
She watched Calysus get to work and a door is located. A glance down reveals the shadows being used as a way to travel for Calysus (He is made of shadows after all).
One trip later... and Frederick screamed on the way as she simply stood there impassively.
Colette, Somewhere in limbo.
She feels a gate being opened by Calysus and then the gate being kept open by force. One exit later and she gracefully lands on her feet. Frederick did not land so well.
Looking into the door reveals that there is a convivence store of some sort on the other side. She makes a point to keep the door open just in case. And then goes to work scanning this side of the world (the living world) AND the doorway quickly. A deep scan for both. The doorway is linking both worlds right now.
"Mortal before we go... may I know your name now? You will be safe and back in the world that you belong to soon enough."
Still keeping the door open though. Calysus indicates that the door will stay as long as it is not closed.
Edited by sci300768 on Apr 28th 2025 at 7:43:41 AM
Storm - In a passenger room car with Eric et al & Alek
From the door into the passenger car came the sound of boots pressing against the floor. Storm scanned every door they came across, trying to find their own name and head on inside to set down their mask and freshen up.
"Please don't look at me," they grumbled as they walked, expecting there to be at least one other person in the car with them. "I just need to get my hair sorted, and then I'll be able to function in society, please God et cetera..."
Storm’s eyes were partially obscured by their mask hair — it wasn't until they brushed some of it out of the way with their hand that they could get a good look out in front of them. Alek was no surprise to see again, but who was this suited individual and their golden-haired companion, and what were the strange creatures in their vicinity? Yes, they were in quite a state right now, but Storm's eagerness to meet someone new niggled at the back of their mind until they just had to say something.
“Oh, hi!” they said with a wave and a smile. “Almost missed you. Do you need a hand getting settled in?”
"Hark! For your greatest fears manifest in yours truly!" (She/Her) (Current focus: Image Pickin')

Colette, Train Station in the Fading world -> Train diner car
Looks like the Soldiers are humans of some sort? Well, they want to hunt hostile entities. That's not a problem. She listened to the others talk about various things, but nothing really stands out too much.
Details of interest are noted though, and stored accordingly.
(She went inside the train to the diner car)
But, she had a question... Mortal's fate. Hopefully Frederick gets the best possible outcome for what is a massive screwup.
Some more details are noted accordingly again.
So... she stands near the door to listen to Rakan and Calysus to see their solution for Mortal's problem. Positioned in such a way that she is keeping an eye on the passengers both on and off of the train, and to hide her eavesdropping at the same time.
While doing this, she sheds her disguise but keeps the mask on just in case she has to go outside again. Her current outfit is all black with a hooded cloak hiding her nonexistent face. The clothing underneath is just a long sleeved shirt and pants with boots (Yes, even the boots are all black). Black is an easy color to work with, as she did not feel like fiddling with the hexadecimal codes to get the right colors (well her way of doing so). Her weapon is still on her just in case.
Edited by sci300768 on Apr 12th 2025 at 9:12:53 AM