event pt 2 | another dream

[moustre]

Event Log: June, A Midsummer Dream's Nightmare

THE STARS ABOVE You feel like you're floating. Around you, colors and sounds and smells swirl as if trapped in a whirlpool, vibrancy and hue ever shifting. The more you watch them, the less solid they are; they only become clear out of the corner of your eye. The area around you begins to feel more solid as well, until your feet are on the ground, the wind brushes playfully against your face - and you know one thing, and one thing alone: this is a dream, and an incredibly realistic one at that. It is so very cold, and it is so very vast. Millions of stars stretch out across the still wasteland, the water unforgivably frigid to even those covered in fur; for those without, there's still a chill that expands in your chest as you turn and find absolutely nothing in the massive, shimmering lake. As you begin to walk, shapes shake out of the water; the ground rumbles with their rising, the outlines and shambles of buildings covered in stains and thorny plants. As more rise, inscrutable in their original purpose or shape, you begin to realize this is - or was - a city. You realize something else: you're not alone. Not the way you weren't alone in dreams before, with those who came through the mirror or who might later come through - but around you are the natives of Aefenglom itself, dressed thin rags and looking exceptionally confused. Almost immediately, the sky fills with red stars, and the voice of Nerissa Bell rings throughout the empty space: "Will all members of Parliament, the Guilds, those who have mastered and are mastering divination, and my Mhairi dearest please come to where the red stars fall? Thank the lot of you very much!" There's a beat, and she continues. "Everyone else, keep your wits about you, won't you? Take care of each other." She sounds a tad bit more serious than usual - and it's no wonder, given the circumstances. There's not much else to do though, and with this dream shared among all residents of the city... You might as well take a look around and see if there's anything to be found out, just like any other time. But be careful: Magic seems to be on the fritz, more liable to backfire regardless of one's experience with it - and the same goes for more magical traits of Monsters as well, such as water manipulation, illusions and charms, finding magic, dragon breaths, and etc.

I. THE CITY As you make your way into the city, navigating the wreckage of what once was, it becomes all the more apparent how overtaken it is. To call them ruins would be gracious; you walk in a tomb, now, atmosphere filled with all the gravitas and dread that comes with the stillness of one. And truly, it is still. There doesn't seem to be any other life, besides these new visitors, at least not as you begin to investigate, your companions approaching this with more trepidation. Because while it may take some exploration for arrivals to realize where they are, many natives know right away what this place is with a grief that's palpable: a. IT'S HOME The dawning realization is stark for everyone, as they find familiar cobblestone streets cracked, in disarray, dead and dying grasses and caked "oil" filling the cracks. These streets lead to just as familiar places: a bakery you've grown attached to since you arrived, a store that once carried knickknacks that was passed by every day, the Coven, the Haven itself. Perhaps now it's easier to understand what those inscrutable structures were, at the edges of the recognizable shapes of what had been buildings, once upon a time - after all, even those that are freshly minted as arrivals this Iuneril have spent enough time within the Bright Wall to surely be able to know this gate was once here, and that portion of the wall wrapped around the city there. What remains of the Wall is charred, broken, stained in an oil-like substance that still glistens at just the right angle, and overgrown in those thorny vines to the point that some sections must have been destroyed because the growth came from within. The track of the magitech engine that runs the city is uprooted, gnarled in places as if it were bent by large hands or crushed underfoot, the bridge and the engine itself collapsed into the canal of the River Temese. Even from the higher banks it's easy to tell the metal is rusted and corroded, but also charred like there was an explosion or fire; the inky murk of the river consumes the rest, and it's not recommended to try and brave the waters, given the unsettling feeling they give off. It's not unlike the sensation of the cave... Homes and businesses are destroyed, or in ruin, and it becomes clear that they met this fate in different ways. Burnt down, collapsing in upon themselves from the weight of neglect, overtaken by the thorny vines, covered in the inky black of what is fast becoming obvious as signs of the Cwyld... even the Haven has suffered these conditions. The barracks, once flush against the Wall, are completely destroyed and exist only as rubble now. One might find traces of themselves in what had become their homes in Aefenglom, if they look close enough. The natives certainly are, in their upset and confusion. b. ONLY REFLECTIONS LEFT All roads in Aefenglom lead to the Coven and Parliament, in the end. No walls remain around where the Coven once stood, and there's barely any rubble to indicate that they did. The gate that always stands open, as you know it, is nowhere to be seen - at least, initially. A glance around the entrance will show that it was likely blown off its hinges; it's embedded in the earth a dozen yards away into the city proper, gnarled, a monument in and of itself. Stepping into the scorched courtyard shows that the blast came from within the grounds itself, though it's hard to tell what the source might have been. The building itself is more or less completely caved in; the infirmary is in particularly bad shape, with the stairs leading to the ICU - the basement below the infirmary, where those heavily infected with the Cwyld are taken care of - are full of debris. The floor of the infirmary itself is largely collapsed into the floor below, blocking all means of access. None of the runes that are typically visible in the halls, across the ceiling, or along the floors are activated, and there's a distinct lack of the warm and homey magic that would always welcome one into the Coven. In its place is an oppressive stillness, smears of the Cwyld visible across the ruins, spilling out across the yard from the building itself. A garden once sprawling with ingredients and food is dead, and the stables and livestock pens lie in wreckage. There are no signs of the animals that many became familiar with. But amongst all the wreckage, the Looking-Glass House stands. The cabin is a little charred on the outside, wrapped in layers upon layers of the thorny vines that have woven their way through the city itself, but still intact. Getting inside is a challenge in and of itself, but not impossible, if one manages to avoid the thorns of a clearly infected plant. But the interior? Dusty, certainly, but not an ounce of damage. Mirrors are propped up against surfaces as always, hanging on the walls, and the building feels endless as always. Some of the mirrors are shattered as if something struck them, but not a single piece of glass touches the floor. The stillness is just as unnatural as that of the city itself, but different. While still eerie, there isn't a sense of dread, of oppressiveness, of being watched. It simply... is. c. BURNED AWAY TO ASH Taking the other route leads to what remains of the Parliament building. Much like the Coven, its floors have collapsed into itself - but the building has always been a tall one, so the collapse is even more stark, like all of the top floors fell into the underground records. No signs of the Cwyld are apparent, save for the infected vines sprawling here and there, but they seem more recent than anything else. Wood and stone are charred, to the point that it becomes clear with enough investigation that fire was the sole cause of its demise. The smell of smoke still lingers, with both ground and air around the wreckage feeling hot compared to the chill of the world around you, a fire still burning within the Parliamentary Records themselves. And if one moves the rubble enough - though care should be taken, as it's precarious, and further collapse is inevitable rather than preventable - smoke rises from cracks and openings. Even the clocktower wasn't spared, the broken face now in further wreckage, burnt with its metalwork hands locked to 3:00. The bell is nowhere to be seen; if it fell, it fell through the building and into the records beneath, lost to a fire that's still burning unseen beneath your feet. But if one listens closely, maybe they can still hear its ringing... But it becomes clear you're not truly alone, no matter where you go in the city. Forms pass through out of the corner of one's eye, there and gone when you turn to look too closely at them. Humans and Monsters alike in shape, but faceless, sometimes wisps of color, sometimes shadows in the shape of people. Regardless, they can be seen disappearing around the corner of an alley, walking by the broken window of a storefront that's been ransacked, coming and going when you least expect them. A whisper of a ghost. Some of these faceless shadows seem to be caught in the motions, reliving their day-to-day, the ones that they took the most. Others fade in and out of strange actions; fighting unseen foes, throwing equally unseen things at buildings just as much as what must have been people, running and running through the streets - and then, eventually, through you. Passing through these specters, these shadows of people, leaves a clammy chill on your skin that permeates to the bone. And then they're gone, and it's silent again. Nessie and Mhairi will be around for talk once they're through with the other leaders of the city- but we're only allowing for OOC summaries this time, rather than any IC threads! Their thread is here.

II. THE WASTE Turning from the city, you trek your way further into the waste. Walls continue to rise around you, but none block your path, and they get further and further apart as you continue. The dread within your chest builds the farther you go though, until it's a struggle to lift your feet - but at the same time, some strange momentum keeps your legs moving. The water slowly rises from ankle to knee height, to waist, to mid-chest... or for the small, it might be treading dangerously close to shoulders, to head. Eventually, something changes - whether due to your continued march ahead, or due to turning around to head back towards the city. a. THE STAIRWAY TO THE STARS As you continue on, the water level begins to lower again - or is that due to the stairs that appear without warning beneath your feet? Made of solid white quartz and seeming to float on their own, the air gets colder and harder to breathe as one makes their way upwards. Turning back once you begin isn't possible either: the stairs have disappeared behind you, dropping with a solid splash into the water below. Those able to fly feel an odd pressure that keeps them grounded, and attempts to do so will simply give them the same experience the stairs have: right into the murky sea, which is much deeper beneath the stairs. One good thing about this heavensbound stairway is this: it offers a good view of the waste, which seems to expand forever, as well as the blood red twilight peeking over the horizon - not to mention the distinct absence of the sister moons that share the sky. With a keen eye (or simply letting your vision adjust) shows shadows lifelessly milling about the waste and its air; they're harmless, but bring with them soft crying and pained whimpers, limping with obviously broken limbs. Those familiar with the Wilders and the Witches of the Coven will notice the one solid-seeming thing about them: the pins for their cloaks, the Coven's symbol barely being able to be made out. It'd seem the only way to get down is to fall, as the stairs simply continue up and up into the sky until one is completely unable to breathe or move, either due to gravity or due to ice coverage. b. THE LABYRINTH Attempting to turn around and head back to the city works, but not for long; where walls would stay from one's path, walking back yields the opposite. The walls slowly bunch together until finally, they surround you - with an ugly sound, a low ceiling slides on to complete the area, and without warning sconces light themselves. The water remains knee-deep, sloshing loudly in the utter silence as one moves through it. The labyrinth is long and winding, with some walls broken enough to enable stepping through them, and shadows cast long by the torches lighting the walls. Bones of unlucky explorers roll and rock underfoot, breaking easily with too much pressure. To put it lightly, it isn't a very happy place. The center of the labyrinth is completely dark, no sconces in the area lit - none with torches in them either, on closer inspection. No treasure is left to find here, though the source of the labyrinth's water is: a spring formed by a massive fissure in the ground, ever bubbling, so loud it's a wonder you hadn't heard it anywhere else in the stone maze. The culprit of it lay nearby, long dead: a Minotaur, or its massive skeleton, at the very least. Some of its bones are blackened, specifically its arms up to its elbows, legs up a little past its knees, and its right eye socket. The rest are a mix of normal yellowed and similarly infected grey, black-spotted bones. Touching the bones starts an infection on the character that did it, though it only covers the same spots found on the Minotaur's skeleton.

III. THE DEPTHS Going the way of what had once been the harbor shows an endless sea, nary a wave in sight in the absence of the Sisters. It reflects the red twilight of the sky, each and every of the millions of stars above you, almost glass-like in its stillness. But there's a call that the sea has, and once you've set sights on it, the urge to continue is powerful, hard to resist. Succumbing to that call has characters stepping off what remains of the harbor, walking along the beach, even jumping down, just to reach the water. But rather than sink immediately into it there's firm footing on what seems like ice, the chill seeping through raggedy clothes, skin, fur, feather, down to the very bone. It's sturdy enough to allow even the largest Monster to begin the journey forward into the depths, angled deeper and deeper, until it suddenly drops off and you're submerged without a foothold. It's there that clarity returns, and the fear of drowning might fill every sense. But you can breathe. You can speak. It is a dream, after all. a. THE SHIP GRAVEYARD All around you, at first, is the remains of the harbor. Everything is encased in coral and aquatic plantlife, but there's very little life otherwise. No fish, no dolphins. Nothing. The world is all the more silent beneath the waters, especially with their absence, and the skies above grow dimmer the deeper you go, but always there's the unmistakable red hue to everything below. Some of the plants provide paltry light, bioluminiscent and lighting the way to a grisly scene. Buildings that have fallen into the harbor's waters, the remains of docks, various dinghies and boats, all sunken and lost to the world above. A few ships are visible, their hulls blown out as if attacked, both from the inside and out. There's no treasure, if you're brave enough to explore them, but there is the black oil caked to the interiors just as much as the exteriors. The wood is charred, and it's easy to tell that these ships were sunk from within just as much as they were from outside attacks. But the further one goes into the depths, the truth is revealed: beyond, there lies a ship graveyard. With Litha in full swing, many of these ships may be familiar, having set off on their voyages for the season. Here they lie, in similar states of destruction as the ones in the harbor. Exploring them answers few questions, and raises greater mysteries; what had been supplies, weapons, magic tools and wares, all loaded into their cargo bays, as if they were setting off on a great journey. And it isn't just a graveyard for ships, either. Many of them have passengers, unidentifiable save for small trinkets here and there. The Coven's insignia, a badge of the Parliament, possessions that might speak of their professions. They're nothing but skeletons, now, man and beast alike loaded onto the ships and heading for a destination that's lost to them now. Ice forms along the hulls of some ships and the wreckage beneath, pathways woven throughout the underwater world. They're walkable, allowing characters a choice between swimming, dreamily floating, or walking as they traverse the depths. b. WHAT LIES IN DEPTHS Beyond the graveyard come soft cries, which could almost be mistaken for a whale song if they weren't so... so sad. Following the call, though one won't be compelled to through magical means, reveals the source: various dark shapes in the gloom beneath the water, shadows, listless and drifting. They swim without much purpose, and come in a variety of aquatic shapes. Some could be mistaken for the missing marine life, for Merrow, but their dimly glowing white eyes tells of something worse. There are very few of them, and they don't seem to register the presence of anyone around them. An explanation, perhaps, for their numbers comes as the red of the distant sky above is blocked out by a great shape. A veritable Leviathan drifts with an almost laziness through the open waters of the ocean that you've reached, greater in size than any ship in the graveyard. Its hide is marred from fights long since forgotten, but mottled in oily black, smudged grey, its algae, coral, white cracks in the black illuminating the waters around it. Its plated head moves to and fro, massive flippers disrupting the patterns of the creatures around it without notice.

Welcome to the second part of the event! As a reminder, this takes place on the 22nd - or rather, 3AM on the 23rd if we're being technical and not following the logic of "It's not tomorrow until I sleep". If you have any questions or need any clarifications, you can ask them here! And as always, while we do encourage you to use this log, you can feel free to thread things out on your own log or elsewhere. Regardless of what you choose, we hope you have a good time!

And as a final parting note: If a character dies in the dream, they'll simply reappear at the beginning rather than waking up like normal.

Comments

OOC QUESTIONS

[moustre]

IC QUESTIONS

[moustre]

If you wish to interact with Nessie and Mhairi, please comment here. For this log, there is no IC thread option; only OOC summaries will be given!

Prompto Argentum | OTA | cw: mentions of chocobo death

[clickclickbang]

I.A - It's Home

[Prompto's on edge the entire time he spends wandering the city, which makes the whole "suddenly I have pointier teeth than I did two seconds ago" a bit harder to ignore. He occasionally runs his tongue over his new teeth, trying to distract himself from the terror of seeing the city in this state.

He saw the ruins if Gralea. He saw the videos and pictures of the fall of Insomnia. He already had nightmares like this.

Aside from wandering, though, eventually Prompto will make his way to his house completely on accident. Once he recognizes the ruins, he can't resist the urge to explore a little, see what happened.

You'll find him kneeling on some of the rubble, clutching a single yellow feather.]

I.C - Burned Away To Ash

[Prompto decides not to go look at the wreckage of the Coven and goes straight for the Parliament building. He has less of an attachment to this one, so he's just gonna...go there instead.

He stands outside the rubble, trying to find a way in. When you walk past, he'll flag you down.]

Hey, mind helping me out here? I wanna see what's further in, but I'm not going it alone.

II.A - The Stairway to The Stars

[So guess who's afraid of heights? That's right, this guy. But going up seemed way more intriguing than going down, so Prompto heading for the stairs rather than trying to go to the harbor.

Unfortunately, at some point, he looked down.

So there is now one terrified Prompto, crouching and hugging his knees to his chest as he tries to urge himself to stand and go on.]

This was a mistake. This was such a mistake, why did I come up here...

Wildcard

[Hit me with your best shot.]

Harry Dresden | Dresden Files | OTA

[iminthebook]

Waking Up is Hard To Do

Waking in the weirdness, Harry swore, and did his best to find his way toward those Red stars. A master he is not yet, but both back home and here, he has a proclivity toward divination and finding people, and this is definitely all hands on deck. So he girds himself and starts in that direction, teeth chattering some from the cold, and stopping occasionally to reassure others, both fellow arrived and natives alike.

He wants to know what he can do, and he needs to do something. Has to do something. He uses his concentration and passion to try to create a warm wind to warm himself, and the air literally lights on fire, then his spell fails, and he cries out in surprise, staring.

"Hells bells!"

***

I. THE CITY

a. IT'S HOME

Seeing his house, the home he shares with Justine utterly ruined and broken, oily and turned into something out of nightmare fills Harry with rage and confusion. He feels a need to make, and to rebuild, but he knows something is off. This feels like a dream, but why are they here? Why is anyone here?

Staring at his house, he cries out, and shudders, and looks around at the city. Why?

"What the hell is going on?"

***

b. ONLY REFLECTIONS LEFT

Seeing the Coven in ruins now, that is even a bigger shock. It has been a new cornerstone for him since he arrived, a place of a solidity and feeling of home that was almost more than his actual house. And now? It feels like a slap to the heart and face and a kick to the gut.

He stalks inward, hands almost glowing with the unpredictable magic of this place, rage and worry and a kind of fear alight in his eyes and expression. He looks for those he knows and for classrooms he has been in, and he worries as he see the ruins that he will find bodies, too, and when he does not, he is thankful.

Sight of the Cwyld everywhere fills him with a sick feeling, a sense of unreality worse than the rest, for this infection should not be here, not in the center of all.

Sighting the Looking-Glass House, he heads that way, fearing what he may see. It is still intact, and that sends a shiver of fear and pain through him. Why is this place still whole? Why is it contained? Why did nothing touch this? There is a mystery here and he aches to find answers.

Flickering ghosts of images and senses of something else being there, fade when he looks at them, but they are there and he chases them, stalking them deliberately, with an intent that fills him, an anger that flows like a flickering fire. Clues or ghosts? Either way, maybe there are answers?

And they vanish suddenly, and that leaves... nothing.

What does one do in a nightmare world? And how do you wake up?

minako arisato | persona 3 portable

[complementing]

I. BETWEEN DOORS
checking out the coven

[Minako isn't a stranger to staying up at odd hours of the night, even when she's sleeping more than ever. In what seems like a blink of an eye, she finds herself standing in the street instead of her room as soon as the dream hits, surrounded by natives just as bewildered as she is. This can't be good news. Time to get to work, Arisato. She shakes off the gray dust of the ruins she can feel settling over her shoulders, and sets off.

The Coven is a familiar place to her now. She spends a few hours every other day helping in the infirmary, and even if this is a dream, especially because this is a dream, she has to make sure the doctors and nurses there are okay. Just because the building has collapsed doesn't mean she's not going to try and wiggle her way in. Someone might see her slipping through the wreckage and calling out for survivors.

She knows everything looks dead. But that doesn't mean everything is. And yet the further along she goes, and the more obvious that there aren't survivors, the more she wonders.]

So did all of the natives get teleported to someplace else? [She starts dusting off the grime from the papers on the floor nearby, hoping for a list of patients or something similar.] We should start making sure people are accounted for...

[She can also be found lingering near the edges of the collapsed infirmary floor where peeks of the wreckage of the floor below are most visible, staring into the darkness below.]

The Cwyld-infected were in the basement right below us. [She really hopes they weren't killed by the collapse, but at the same time...] Hey, do those Cwyld smears on the walls look like hand or monster prints to you?

[If everything looks like it'd exploded, then...what if...what if...]

II. SHADOW
watching the ghost population

[Her magic burns her badly when she tries her summoning spell for stationary, and she can be seen nursing the wound on the side of the street where she isn't bothering anyone else walking around.]

Okay, ow, lesson learned. Does anyone have a piece of paper and something to write with?

III. THE PATH IS OPEN
exploring the waste

[It doesn't seem like a good idea, but if you want to get to the bottom of things, it usually involves doing the opposite of what sounds like a good idea-- so here she is, climbing a stairway to heaven with no way back down except the vague plan that, despite her magic not working, if she can manage to teleport closer to the ground whenever she decides to jump down, she'll probably be okay.

So lesson not learned, clearly.

Especially unfortunate when that pesky witch paranoia seems to be creeping up on her, too, her steps getting less bold with each stair up, and her red hair whipping back and forth as she constantly checks that the stair behind and in front of her are disappearing and reappearing respectively.

She's lucid enough to make out the Coven-cloaked shadows, at least, but the longer she stares at them, the twitchier she gets.]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I wanted to help. I wanted to save you--!

[She sways dangerously close to the edgee as she reaches out, expression devastated.]

IV. DEEP_BREATH_DEEP_BREATH
checking the ships

[Minako's mental protections have always been average at best, for all that she was the magic powerhouse of her team. When she hears the silent call of the sea, she can't resist it, and it's only until she's well and truly in the sea that clarity returns.

On any other occasion she'd be happy for a (non-permanent) chance at being a mermaid, but as it is she can't even manage a smile. Though she does look extremely frustrated and even pouty as she flails around in the water, trying to figure out the best way to move.

Please send help.

Once she figures it out, though, off she goes, swim-walking towards the ships. Her ever-present exhaustion is starting to really set in, so as soon as she gets to the ship, she finds herself a seat next to the deceased remains of the passengers and sits down to rest.

Morbid? Possibly. But Minako is looking at the trinkets they'd left behind, and there's something in her expression that says she's had to look after the belongings of the dearly departed before, several times over.]

I think we should take these back and see if any of their loved ones would want them.

V. WILDCARD
feel free to make a new starter or message me at raynestorm to plan something out!

souji seta ★ persona 4 ★ota

[socials]

I. despair, emptiness, and hope
the city

[ Suddenly finding yourself standing in the middle of and endless world full of stars and ominous, red twilight isn't exactly the strangest thing that's ever happened to Souji, but it certainly hits the top three. His clothes look worse the wear, but he doesn't focus on that. Because as he reaches the city, feet carrying him there with a feeling of dread, he takes it all in. The destruction, the emptiness, the grief that hits the people he knows are natives of this world just from their faces, how they react.

It's a lot to take in. It's a lot, to just be a dream. A nightmare, more like.

Every street that he walks, that he sees, is full of such despair that he doesn't know where to begin. Souji does see the ghosts, and he watches them for a moment each time. One passes through him and he visibly shudders, but regardless tries to push through it to understand. Something happened to the city of Aefenglom, leveling buildings and allowing the Wilde to creep in, it looks like. He pointedly avoids the slick oil and vines where he can, not wanting to come in contact with them, but regardless wanting to learn more.

Because he has to hope that they can do something. That's why Izanami chose him, isn't it? To act as hope in the face of Namatame's despair, Adachi's emptiness. So Souji is going to try.

While you can find him anywhere in the city, trying to follow ghosts or dig through the rubble of familiar shops that he's taken quests in, you can also find him:
a. He starts in the Haven, at the house that he shares with Lux and Akira. The fountain is destroyed, and he worries about Paris next door, about Aeto, about the neighbors on their street that he hasn't had the chance to meet yet. He climbs through wreckage, trying to dig through it with his bare hands. His magic is still so new that he doesn't want to risk more damage, but he has to know.

He has to make sure.

b. Anyone that tries to dig around at the Parliament building is going to get some help from Souji, as he comes to quickly join them. ] Careful, this doesn't look very solid -

[ Because for as much as he wants answers, and is willing to take the risk... well, he doesn't want anyone to get hurt. Especially not with how the air seems so different here. While the rest of the world around them is frigid, the heat that rises - he's going to err on caution, here. ]


II. through the maze
the waste
[ Of the two, the path to the labyrinth seems like the better option, whether Souji knows it or not. (The stairs would pang too familiar of Heaven, of rushing to Nanako's aid, of climbing higher and higher up to find her.) He sets his left hand on the left wall as he walks, thinking of the lore of the original labyrinth. If only had a ball of string, he muses wryly.

But he sees someone in the dimness, perking up a little. ] Hey, excuse me - which way are you trying to go? [ Back the way he came from, or onwards, where he's trying to go.

If anything, they can go together into the depths. Especially since it's so dark, and so, so cold. ]


III. wildcard
[ I'm also up for doing any of the other prompts! Feel free to drop a starter here if you'd like to explore any of the other options with Souji in tow, or contact me at folklores or folklorist#9385 if you want to plan something out. ]

Connor | Detroit: Become Human | Merrow (OTA)

[plasticasshole]

It's Home

[Connor stands by the ruins of a particular cottage, and scanning it shows traces of fire that had consumed it. It's almost completely collapsed, but he starts to venture inside where he can. It's dangerous, and a piece of rubble falls and skims his shoulder, tearing the fabric of his white shirt and drawing blue blood, the circuitry inside exposed slightly and crackling with electricity. He barely seems to notice, too caught up in what's left of the place he'd started to call home. Maybe if someone sees him going inside, they should stop him. It's not safe.]

Only Reflections Left

[The house of mirrors seems more eerie to Connor than the rest of the city. Maybe it's the way it's still standing, untouched, or maybe it's the way some of the mirrors have shattered. His own has too, and he's filled with a sense of dread as he considers what would happen if it did so in the waking world. He taps someone close by on the shoulder, murmuring quietly.]

Do you think we would be trapped here if our mirror broke?

[He likes it here, but the thought of a way out is nice considering the ruins he's just witnessed.]

The Ship Graveyard

[It's odd to be here, under the water where he's spent many hours now as a Merrow, seeing it in this state. It's like even the place he felt the safest hasn't been spared of whatever happened here. He halfheartedly swims, though notices that it's slow going without his tail, and heads down to a particular ship where the crates are filled with weapons of sorts. He picks one out, though it seems useless now, rusted and falling to pieces. Damn... a weapon might have been nice given where he is. Anyone who has similar thoughts will be met by Connor shaking his head.]

There's no point. They're falling apart.

What Lies In Depths

[The creature that drifts past could almost be considered beautiful if not for the situation. Ever curious, Connor starts to swim towards it, though he stops several times as though reconsidering his actions.]

Do you think it's hostile?

Wildcard

[Hit me up at novicecity to hash out any other options!]

paris mercout | original | OTA

[oceanschild]

It's Home

Were this just a dream, Paris would be coping with it just fine- it's not like he's never had a nightmare before, even a realistic one like this. But this is... too realistic. Too familiar. Too tangible, in a way that's genuinely upsetting. And hearing Nerissa sound so serious... that doesn't help his nerves at all.

Wandering through the pathways of the city, it's disturbing when he starts piecing together why it's familiar, and at that point he actively avoids the places he knows best- his home, the bakery, the Coven. He doesn't want to know what they look like right now, and if he doesn't know what happened then it can't hurt him.

Of course, theoretically ghosts can't hurt him either, but they do frighten him. He makes a startled, deeply unhappy noise whenever he sees one, and when one passes through him he shudders, wrapping his arms around himself as if they will help with the terrible cold. He looks like he might be sick.

The Graveyard

The call of the sea is hard for Paris to ignore at the best of times, and this is definitely not the best of times. He winds up bypassing most of the rest of the city without a thought as he's drawn towards the shore- it's possible to try and stop him, but really it only delays the inevitable.

When he dives in, his head clears and he's momentarily upset by the lack of his tail before he finds that there are much more pressing concerns. Feeling a bit braver under the water than above it, he swims to investigate, shuddering at the black oil coating everything. "What... what is that...?" he asks, though it's unlikely anyone nearby would know the answer.

What Lies In Depths

Perhaps there's no magic compelling them to follow the song, but Paris is too familiar with the cry of wounded or otherwise hurt sea creatures to ignore it. Of course, what he finds is nothing so straightforward. His attention is split between the creatures below and the Leviathan above, trying to decide what to do. "I... should we try talking to one of them?" he asks, looking pained. He wants to help, always tied to the creatures of the water, but... can they? Even if this is just a dream...

Cloud Strife | OTA | cw: mentions of chocobo death

[actuallyadork]

I. A - It's Home
[The place that Cloud had now gotten used to reminds him of the night in Nibelheim. The town back then had burned. Here? There was signs something similar happened and it fills him with the same sense of dread and loss. Except this time around there was no Sephiroth to blame. This was something else...

As he makes his way through the once beautiful city to his home, Cloud already misses what it once was. It might be a dream. An awful dream. But it could also be a reality. One he dares to hope they can keep from happening. Especially when he sees what was once the home he shared with Zack.

The area he had kept his dear chocobo in, the small backyard that they had picked this place for, was ruined. It was the first place he went to. Not because he wants to avoid seeing the other rooms... he wants to see what happened to Sunshine. The answer he gets? A small pile of ruined gold feathers. He stands there and stares at it, not caring if anyone sees him as he silently mourns a once faithful companion.

This dream sucks.]

I. B - Only Reflections Left
[After the stark discovery, Cloud is understandably irritated. He strikes out and makes his way to where the Coven once stood. It's there he heads to the Looking-Glass House. Sword in hand, he looks ready to take down the vines to get inside. He doesn't trust himself not to get hurt to try and get past them. Stop him or help him, Cloud wants to see just how much damage has been done to that room.]

II. B - The Labyrinth
[Grrreeeeeeat. Getting lost in a labyrinth is not what Cloud had in mind. It's nothing like the Temple of the Ancients, but it evokes the same annoyance as he wanders around. His boots were soaked, there seemed to be no end to twists and turns, and he even managed to wipe out and fall into the water as he stepped on a bone.

All in all, anyone coming across this waterlogged blond will find he looks about as happy as a cat who just got a bath. But that won't deter him from joining anyone who is looking for someone else to explore with. He might just be a little snippy until dry.]

Wildcard
[Hit me with anything or shoot me a pm/a plurk @ chromatus]

Lady Maria | OTA | CW: Death and dying and blood and maiming... and also Maria's fishy PTSD

[whomthebelltolls]

[1: It's home]

[It's a nightmare. Oh Maria knows very well about nightmares, how they feel, what to expect, even if it's always horrifying in the end, all the same. She had thought Aefenglom itself a dream before, but now, with a stark, and sickening clarity, she understands maybe it was a real thing after all, because this is a nightmare. A town you thought you knew - home, the homes of those you knew, maybe your friends, maybe just passing acquaintances, all in disarray or changed. Yharnam had suffered that fate. Where once there had been buildings, the earth had twisted and heaved and swallowed them whole. Where a thoroughfare was a river of blood, being lapped at by blood bugs, their stomachs distended and bulging with their constant meal. Where the Workshop had been collapsed upon, and the Upper Cathedral Ward could be walked to, easily.

It's so familiar, it's sickening. The water lapping around her ankles, as well. The Fishing Hamlet had flooded after they'd destroyed it. The Fishing Hamlet was flooded in the Nightmare, as it loomed above the city of Yharnam, a constant reminder of her and the other Hunters' sins.

It's dizzying. Maria has to take a moment, to collect herself, her thoughts, her feelings, to settle her stomach lest it upturn right here. Then, finally, she starts forward through the frigid water, splashing with every step.] If this is a nightmare, we may well need to slay the source to end it.

[2: Stairway to the Stars]

[She goes up first, because going back down toward the coast is out of the question, as far as she's concerned. So she heads inland, toward where the worst of the corruption should be, and realizes the water is getting deeper. Until she's slogging through it. Until she has to stop and catch her breath, and look around. It's a terrible thing, a terrible sight. It's all so terrible to her recollection from her time before, and she wants out. Now.

The stairs are a welcome sight, though, as they start to clink into place in midair, and she mounts them two at a time, heading upward toward the blood-red sky. (The blood red moon... she knows of this. Laurence and the others contacted a blood red moon. They made a contract, and the Nightmare sprang to life...), until she pauses, and looks back. Whoever might have followed her might have to be careful, lest they run right into her as she abruptly pauses to look back over the city.]

... We have to wake up. [That's all she says, before she starts upward again. She's sick, so sick. How does one feel so violently ill in a dream? Oh, but she knows. She was in a nightmare, a hellish wasteland where pain and emotions could wreak havoc just as much in a dream as in reality. She needs to get out... but it's just getting colder, and harder to breathe, and she can't keep going up. They'll never surface. They'll never come out of the bulwark above the city (into the fishing village, and the fish-men and their harpoons, diving clumsily at her, throwing fire-bombs, and cursing... oh she can hear the curses, still. "Byrgenwerth... Byrgenwerth... blasphemous murderers, blood-crazed fiends...") but she has to try.]

[3: The Depths]

[So it comes to this, and she's back exactly where she absolutely never wanted to be. The ship masts, broken and scattered (a ruined village, and the blood washing down the shore and into the sea, dripping from the sides of the vessels they'd tried to use to escape the coming doom), the sea as it rises, the briny smell and feel, the knowledge that something terrible happened here.

There's no way to go but forward, and she wades deeper, then deeper still, until the sea closes above her head and she can yet continue on. There's a monster down there. There are a lot of Monsters down there, but the merrow are dispatched handily ("Mother Kos save us! SAVE US!!") and she is as dangerous now as she had been before, flashbacks and physical illness to their presence or not.

Except the leviathan is even more dangerous. Maria goes to challenge it because it's the largest creature here. It's also the only thing that still seems to be alive, when everything else is dead and milling about restlessly all the same. Clearly, this must be the thing that is origin of the nightmare ("Oh Mother Kos! Save the child! Oh, rescue the child! Mercy!") and must be taken down. Except, Maria finds out the hard way, as the teeth tear through her flesh and the jaws crunch her bones, and she's left tasting her own blood - not for the first time, but in so much more volume than she is used to before, and now she can feel the light fading - that the beast is very, very powerful.

And then she wakes up, right there near the beginning, standing up in the water, and she tilts her head back toward the sky. No injuries, nothing else going on.] ... Dying will not wake us up. Curious.

[Time for round 2. Given this is going to be Bloodborne Hard, this also may be round 10, depending on how long your character's been sitting there watching her die and resurrect. And yes she does just jump right back into the fray every time, marching back down to the docks and into the water.

It gets easier every time, at least.]

[4: Wildcard!]

[Hit me up on Plurk most likely at Reslari to plot anything else out you want to do!]

closed to steven; cw: death

[topslug]

It had all seemed simple enough, at the beginning, finding themselves transported into a dream that felt all too real. As much as part of Yako wanted to try to calm the unsettled residents of Aefenglom, a third lucid dream meant an opportunity to try to learn more about where these could be coming from, so after a few minutes of quietly listening in on the conversations between the more senior members of the Coven, she'd decided it would behoove her to go exploring.

Not that she was foolish enough to go unaccompanied. Steven seemed about the same mind as her about the dream, and she was glad for the company once they stepped past the city's ruined walls, struggled past the near-suffocation of the rising waters yet compelled to move forward, and then finally the strange, quartz-like stairs that begin appearing beneath them, step by crystalline step.

The higher they climb, the more out of breath she gets, feeling weighed down by her own limbs, and it's while she's trying to catch her breath again that her gaze sweeps out to the horizon.

"That's ... quite the view, huh?" Her voice, however, makes it clear she doesn't think it's a good one.

Toby Hamee | Animorphs | OTA

[horkbajir]

Ib
Toby spends some time cutting through the vines wound about the Looking-Glass House. Being an over-six-foot reptilian alien with blades of various length, she can do it without being gouged by thorns, it just takes more patience and time than someone with a good sword. She'd be perfectly happy with the assistance of someone like that, of course.

It's the most intact of the buildings, and it's the place where she and all the other newcomers arrived in this world. That warrants a look, doesn't it? Before clearing the entrance she says to whomever's come by, "My namesake told me of a vision like this - of wandering a ruined future where our enemy had been victorious. That one structure still stood in a ravaged city was a message."

Wildcard
Toby will wander the rest of the dream, probably not doing anything spectacular. Find her just about anywhere, big and concerned and difficult to read.

hiccup haddock iii | httyd | ota

[thisisamazing]

[i. It's Home : Toward The Wall/Slums]
[In the brief second before Hiccup opened his eyes, feeling the chill on the air, he almost believed he could be back on Berk. It's not Berk at all, though - and it's barely the Aefenglom he's come to know. Worse, too, than everything being in ruins, his dragon is missing. He's so used to Toothless's presence at his side that his absence now is a gaping hole that makes it hard to breathe. The first place he goes, scrambling over ruined chunks of building spilling out into the streets, is toward the Bright Wall - or where it once stood. He needs to get back to Wilders' Edge fast, but he feels inadequately slow on his own two mismatched feet, with no wings to carry him over the wind.

He's easy to find, gasping for breath, running for everything he's worth... and tripping, clumsy on his prosthetic like he hasn't been in six years, skinning his knees badly on the cobblestones.] No, no, no, c'mon Hiccup- [There are shadows at the corners of his eyes, and he whips his head around.] Who's there?!

[ii. Burned Away to Ash]
[His trip out to Wilders' Edge produced no results, only a scrap of red leather, which he has tied around his wrist. He has no idea where Toothless could have gone, but setting back out into the ruins of the city, he feels hideously inadequate and alone. So, too, does he feel suddenly determined to figure out what's going on in this horrible nightmare, hoping like hell that he'll eventually wake up and everything will be okay again.

He finds the Parliament building, blown to wreckage, eerily sunken in on itself and strung in crawling, infected vines. The lingering smell of smoke burns his lungs, but something significant happened here, he's sure of it. Calling out to someone else who has chosen to investigate here, he says,] If we go in before it collapses more, maybe we can find what started the explosion.

[closed to Percy]
[The city is in ruins. The city is in ruins, and it's freezing cold, and Hiccup knows one thing - his dragon is gone. Toothless isn't here with him. There is a rising sense of panic lodging thickly in his throat and stealing his breath.

He moves through the city recklessly, quickly, heedless of the spots of thick oil or his own safety as he scrambles over pieces of the broken wall, prosthetic foot slipping a little on stone. Clutched in his hand is a ragged scrap of red leather bearing some white markings, but it's hard to make out what the design might have been.

A little desperate, he nearly trips on a chunk of building spilling out into the street, and curses, kicking at it in useless frustration. Percy is the first person he spots, and he calls out, still hanging on to that scrap of red leather with a near-panicked expression on his face,] Hey! Hey, have you seen a black dragon anywhere around here? He has green eyes and he's- he's missing a tail-fin!

[Wildcard me!]

Balthier | OTA

[misadventuring]

i-b. Only Reflections Left
Balthier will be damned if this is just a dream. The scene is simultaneously all too real and not real enough; whatever it might be, it’s a bad sign and warrants the closest of study. He neither trusts nor understands the magic of this world, and it’s a bad spot to be in. Right now, the best he can do is listen and investigate.

The Coven, ultimately, is of paramount interest. No telling what there is to be found there. For a time, he can be found sizing up the Looking-Glass House with great caution. He’s not above observing others as they work, or taking advantage of some path someone else might have made. Getting inside is critical, of course, but not at cost to himself when there’s others that might do the path-finding nicely for him.

i-c. Burned Away to Ash
Later, Balthier is moving more boldly to investigate the Parliament. The danger of collapsing rubble around a fire-destroyed structure is a threat he can manage, practically mundane in comparison. It’s quite unfortunately clear the place is a total loss, but he’s still curious if there’s anything worth inspecting.

“Move lightly,” he cautions when he hears someone, not changing his focus.

ii-b. Labyrinth
On the bright side, it’s hardly as if such labyrinthine surroundings are an unfamiliar setting for the pirate to find himself in. Usually, however, Balthier would hope to find some sort of fine treasure at the end of it, but right now he’s focusing more on not being murdered horrifically. His every instinct is telling him how foolhardy this venture is when he’s entirely unarmed, and all he can do is attempt what stealth he can manage in the dirty, debris-strewn water. The occasional crunching bone underfoot provides that highlight note to add to the ambiance, really, and he huffs under his breath as he keeps on.

He’s carefully working his way through a crumbling wall, footing somewhat perilous when he catches sight of something that has him backing up rather quickly to flee before he registers. He’s not alone, no, but that’s—

“Ah, another audacious adventurer,” he greets mildly, perfectly content with pretending that he’d not been so wound up. Better to play at being distinctly dignified despite all evidence that he’s not at his best here.

bucky barnes | marvel 616 | ota

[anotheroldsoldier]

[i. Only Reflections Left]
[This is another dream. He remembers the first, the caves, the siren in the water. Something in him knows that none of this is real, but he doesn't like what all this destruction and infection could mean. Bucky doesn't panic when he first wakes up here in the ruins of the city of Aefenglom; his expression sets into grim determination, and he chooses a place to start first of all - where it all began, the Looking-Glass House.

There is no such thing as coincidences in his line of work. He wonders if the house of mirrors has anything to do with this, or will provide some kind of clue as to what's going on. The Coven itself is a wreckage, falling into the basement, and he passes it by with a grim look, continuing on.]

Well, I had one thing right. [Bucky can be heard grumbling to himself as he approaches the Looking-Glass House. It's still standing, which has to be significant.] Why is this building the only one still standing?

[ii. The Labyrinth]
[He heads out to the wastes after, and isn't totally surprised when instead of moving away from where he walks, walls form and close in on him, becoming a maze like something out of mythology books. Sludging through knee-high water, Bucky is scowling, occasionally stopping to mark the walls by digging his vibranium finger into the stone, leaving a scratch - and letting out an unpleasant little nails-on-chalkboard screech each time, sorry everyone. Needs must.

Bucky doesn't look down at the piles of bones he keeps finding. Dream-logic, right? They're probably just atmosphere for whatever this nightmare is about. As he comes upon what he doesn't know to be the center of the labyrinth, the torches become more spaced out, leaving bigger and bigger spaces between with very little light.] Jesus. How much longer is this gonna go on?

[iii. Wildcard]
[Feel free to wild card any of the other scenarios!]

Justine 💗 Open [Witch]

[ishisstrength]

I. THE CITY; LOST IN A DREAM

She reached out towards the sea of stars, her fingers splayed as she floats aimlessly through the sky.

'A dream?'

The sensation ebbed and Justine knew that she was dreaming. It wasn't something she'd been told but a simple clear fact that she felt deep within her very being. She knew it like she knew how to breathe and it was as innate as the feelings of panic welling in her chest. The knowledge was a part of her.

It wasn't just that the city was a dream but that it was her city. The place she had slowly begun to recognize as home was gone. It was destroyed and she felt like a piece of her had been destroyed with it.

Justine wandered through the city. Lost and listless but not alone. A shadow followed at her heels as if to follow her in the wake of her steps. Not a shadow but a nightmare.

She was dressed in white, her skin as pale and perfect as porcelain. Her hair as black as the darkness that surrounded them. If those didn't know better, someone might mistake Justine for one of the ghosts that echoed in the rubble of the city. She understood the world around her but she felt so irrevocably lost amidst the chaos in both her mind and the world around her.

She didn't respond to people calling her name but the touch of a hand or the shadow of a ghost passing through her would make her pause and gasp as if waking up to a cold morning chill.

Memories stirred uncomfortably beneath the surface, memories of home, shadows, ghosts and manipulation. It was hard for her to pick out what was real and what was part of the dream.

II. THE CITY; LOSING CONTROL OF MIND & MAGIC

It didn't take long for Justine to finally feel herself tumbling over the edge of madness. Even the touch of things around her felt like it was all part of the dream. Magic sparked at the tips of her fingers as energy pulsed through her slender frame. It was only a dream but she felt magic surge through her like a fire igniting at her core.

'Stupid weak slut.'

The voice began to claw at her thoughts as she struggled to hold it back. It'd been easier lately, easier since she'd found help but the dream had cause her magic to surge and Justine felt her control slipping.

Her mouth parted and she tried to speak but only managed to form the name with her lips.

Kravos's voice echoed in her thoughts as the memory of pain and ghosts shook through her. 'Oh but she's fine. She's happier like this. She can't hurt anyone, you see. Or herself. Her ranting emotions can't compel her to act. That's why the Whites love her so much. They feed on emotion, and this little darling is positively mad with it. It's rather exciting actually, Madness.'

Those standing near by could hear the dark cruel voice echoing in the shell of their ear and feel a stifling choking sensation curl around their throats. Other sensations accompanied the oppressive sensation: weak limbs, a feeling of being drained, wrists bruised and mangled from sharp teeth. Magic sparks in the air and Justine stiffened as the memory became more and more real.

Justine didn't know what was real and what wasn't. Her magic was surging, reacting to her unstable thoughts and affecting those in the area around her.

If left to her own devices the sensation of being controlled, possessed and captured ends with the echo of a sweet familiar voice. It was a deep, velvety tune filled with promise and need. 'Relax.' Justine swayed on her feet making mindless sounds between quick breaths before crumpling to the sidewalk.

The magic didn't disperse right away and neither did that all encasing euphoric sensation of pleasure that forced its way through her.

III. WILD CARD

[ooc: come at me with either the depths or the labyrinth. (I really want her to just disappear after walking across the ice and freak someone out.) I'd be totally interested in Justine dying too if anyone wants to have anything with killing her be it her losing control or yours losing control. Hit me up on plurk mizuyoko. I'm also game with linking your prompts or having a blank wild card with a general OOC idea of what you want and I can do it!!!]

America | OTA

[fifty]

A; the city
[America, fire-aligned as he is, is relieved to be done sloshing around in the water once he finally reaches the ruins of the city. That relief is short-lived, however, as it becomes clear that there are ghosts all around him. The first time he sees something out of the corner of his eye, whips around, and finds nothing, he assumes he's imagining things. It happens too often, though, and soon he's jumping even at things he imagines. It's an unfortunate time to be scared of ghosts.

He gets more and more obviously agitated, growling in the back of his throat without realizing, until when the shadow of a child phases through him he yelps and hisses in a distinctly inhuman way.

It might be a good idea to calm him down a little.]

B; burned away to ash
[The fire draws America in--it's eerie and comforting at once (and then unsettling all over again, to realize fire is comforting now), but more importantly, since fire doesn't do anything to him now, he should be able to search around and maybe find something here.

Well, theoretically fire doesn't do anything to him. He hasn't tested it. That's the problem, as he stands there in the parliamentary records, hand outstretched but not yet touching a smoldering, clearly still hot pile of rubble.]

Okay, it's fine--it should be fine. Yeah. Haha, it's just a little fire, right? [He's trying to psych himself up.]

C; only reflections left
[By the time America gets around to checking out the Coven, someone has already gotten through the vines on the door. He's looking for his mirror, though he feels a little dumb for being worried about it. This is a dream, and anyway, the whole mirror thing doesn't make much sense.

Eventually he finds it, recognizing the carefully-carved eagle atop the frame as he always does. The mirror itselff, though, has shattered. He feels dumb for caring, but he still does.]

Guess that's seven years bad luck, right? Haha...

Han Solo || Star Wars || OTA

[runningscams]

I. The City

It was this magic, Han thought, that made him so acutely aware that life was missing from it. Even as he knew that he was dreaming, he could sense a void of energy. It was an emptiness unlike anything he had felt since he’d been here and that nothingness made him shiver despite the temperature being mild.

Han wanders around the ruins of the city that he had been stuck at. It could have been hours or moments, both seemed equally as likely in this vivid dream state. Han had gotten a little more comfortable with death in his time in the military, but it wasn’t an easy thing for him to look at. That time hadn’t prepared him for ghosts, though, which is something he’d written off at age twelve as ‘childish’.

This place sure had a way of proving him wrong, but then, he wasn’t quite sure if he could assume that magic was everywhere just because it was very much a thing here.

“Hey there.”

Han approaches the ghost of a baker delivering loaves of bread at each of his customers homes out of a basket that remained full in spite of every stop that he made.

“Aren’t you tired? Wouldn’t it be nice to take a rest?”

He said the words without expecting an answer, which was just as well because he didn’t get one. The phantom carried on while Han grew bolder, getting closer to his unseen path and trying to stand what would be it’s line of sight.

“I see, you’re a live for your work kind of guy, I understand.”

That was when a phantom hand swinging naturally in his brisk walk happen to graze Han’s thigh and he jumped back out of the path of the ghost, startled by how violently cold the touch had been.


II. The Waste ( Stairway to the Stars )

It’s an odd sensation to hear yourself stepping into a pool of water, but not feel the sense of your body getting wet. He marveled at his legs making ripples in the once glassy stillness of the waste.

Being ankle deep in water reminded him of the sewers of the homeworld he was still trying to forget. There was nothing in the past that he felt particularly good about reliving — even thinking of Qi’ra only inevitably made him think about being left behind by her. He was still trying to shake those thoughts out of his head when he happened upon the stairway.

For reasons he didn’t understand, he felt an urge to climb that stairway that he couldn’t see the end of from here. Maybe a little time on it would reveal where it ultimately would end? He wasn’t sure. All he knew was that there was only so much to see down here and he doubted he would miss much of anything if he took a detour up some steps.


III. The Depths

Han spent a lot of time at the docks when he found out Qi’ra had turned to a merow. Oh, he told himself it was because listening to the sailors and merchants made him feel more connected to his life as a smuggler, and maybe that was a part of it. It sure wasn’t the only reason that he went there, though.

There was some part of him that knew he was just hoping for a chance to see his old flame again. Even now he looked out into the ghostly sea hoping that he would see her shape in the distance, wading into the water. Or better yet, coming back to land after an exploratory swim.

She had been a pretty strong swimmer when they had been kids, but he was pretty sure that nobody liked the water near Coronet City. It wasn’t clean the way you saw water on tourist holos of other planets — like Naboo or Glee Anslem.

It takes him a while, but he talks himself into going for a swim. Mainly, because he had been here for what seemed like an agonizingly long time already and he thought that it was about time to break up all the looking at ruins and ghosts. It doesn’t occur to him that he probably can’t get wet in a dream. If he had, he probably wouldn’t be stopping to take off his shoes and the jacket he was wearing.

giorno giovanna | jjba | vampire | ota

[digiorno]

[I've added Giorno's prompts for this log to my catch-all for the month! You are welcome to respond there or here. If you would like to catch Giorno elsewhere in the dream, feel free to do so; if you would like a custom prompt, PM this journal or catch me at passiones. ♥]

Caren Ortensia | Warning for morbid behavior | OTA

[showsnopiety]

A: A bridge

[She had been wandering through the town since she woke up. And there was the call for witches and her bondmate, and everyone else was left to find homes and the rubble of the town.

She didn't go to the mansion. She knew it would look awful. Instead, she went to the bridge, staring down at the forbidding waters.]

I suppose these waters are dead too...

B:Whispers of the past

[She couldn't see them when she looked directly. So she had to stay still then.

It was then, and only then, looking through the corner of her eye, she was able to see what was happening. They weren't ghosts that she knew them; they were more residuals, harmless, impressed into the earth because of strong emotions or events.

Or from what she recalled from her books anyway.

Normally she was still, but when she spotted them fighting and falling...she couldn't help but smile, watching. This, at least, was something.]

C:Wasted stars

[This was her first time in the Wastes. And, it seemed, she made a mistake: like when she first arrived, that first dream before the mirror, there was the compulsion to keep moving forward.

It didn't take long for the water to raise, almost to her head, and she had to tilt her head back-

Until a stair rose underneath her. She forced herself to drop onto her knees, avoiding falling off of it and...she looked up.

There was still more. She started shaking with silent laughter, slowly shaking her head.]

This again? So soon...?

D: Wildcard

Anything else goes! You can catch me on nammah for questions!

Kai Gracen | OTA

[halfbloodhatchling]

I.a

[ Kai can't say he's surprised at what he sees, but maybe that's because Kai's tolerance for these sorts of situations is stronger than most. Some kind of future where everyone he's met, even just in passing, is dead, while he lives on? That sounds about like a normal life for an elfin where almost all of his friends are human.

Not an easy thing to adjust to, but the violence in it brings its own familiarity for Kai. ]

Right.

[ This isn't the sort of problem that can be solved by shooting at it, which means it's outside of Kai's particular expertise, but different people have different skills. He's going to approach the nearest person. ]

How are you with a seance?

III.a

[ Kai can't swim. Possibly that concern should have raised its head before now, but to be fair he's been very distracted and nothing about this situation is normal. For now he's going to walk along the path. ]

Okay. [ He's both surprised and not to find that speaking at all seems to work. ]

There's got to be information here somewhere.

Qi'ra | Star Wars | Merrow

[syndicators]

( it's home )

[The wreckage of this place seems so real, like she can reach out and feel the hollowness that this dream has left behind. Magic is too unpredictable for her. She had been trying to calculating, even when she started turning into a merrow.

But this is a dream-- like the one she had before coming here. It seems real, and she's not sure what she can do. She's searching for anyone she knows, heeding the warning that Miss Nessie gave. For now she won't stray.]

( the ship graveyard )

[But eventually she does start to wander, going back to something that's familiar to her. The docks spread out, looking just as empty as the rest of the city. There are some ships still docked that she decides to check out. She sees the pieces that are left behind. Stopping she picks up a ring that was clearly from the Coven.]

What could have left this all behind?

[There wasn't even technology that could wipe everything out like that-- well that she's aware of.]

Sansa Stark | ASOIAF/ GOT | witch

[mislike]

( it's home )

[After she leaves the small group of Parliament and witches, Lady Denholm tasks her with trying to keep the newcomers calm and as safe as possible. So that's what she does. Getting a small group together, she takes to the steps of one of the buildings, blackened and hollowed out.]

My name is Sansa Stark. Some of you do not know me, but I have been working closely with Parliament. They do not yet know what this is, but we need to stay vigilant and safe. If there are any who need assistance with anything, please let me know.

[She does not have a need to explore and will step down, making herself available for anyone to approach her, hands poised in front of her.]

( burned to ash )

[She finds herself stepping lightly up into the Parliament. It reminds her of when they returned to Winterfell. Only this is different. There's something else here, but what she doesn't know. Her steps are careful, looking out over the charred remains.]

Where I am from, there was a story about the Doom of Valyria.

[It's the only way she can relate this. It's just massive destruction.]

Dave Strider / OTA / Harpy

[timeriffs]

one: it's home
[He acclimated fast to this being a dream that was different from normal dreams. He had many nights for 3 years passing through dream bubbles and interacting with dream worlds in ways that one normally wouldn't. So all of that wasn't bothering him. No, it was the general state of everything.

He keeps it all nicely bottled up inside for him, as any doctor would tell you is healthy to do, and decides to just...wander off by himself. He could follow the important folks and see what was being said, but he was never one to abide strategy meetings, even if it was for his own good. They'd probably eventually tell them all what to do, and then Dave would do it. It was always as simple as that for him.

It seemed his meandering led him right back to the home he had claimed as his own, just enough landmarks to point him there. It seemed to mostly be leveled, and he kicks around the rubble, not really looking for anything in particular since he hadn't anything he cared about here--Wait, what's this?

He crouches down and pulls out a scrap of faded red cloth from some ash and dirt, a section of a clock gear on it. It was dirty and singed, but it was definitely his dumbfuck godly-but-not-godly-anymore pyjamas from home, mangled because they were nothing but normal clothes now.

That seemed to have done him in. He doesn't make a sound or even a different facial expression outside of Too Stoic, but he somehow gets even paler and starts shaking without realizing it, the feathers around his neck standing on end. It was too much, having to face the destruction of all things again, facing inscrutable foes, having to fight again after having finally convincing himself back home he would never have to again...

He remains crouched, shuddering while white-knuckling a piece of fabric in his hands, unaware of anyone, or anything, approaching.]


two: the stairway to the stars
[Gathering himself back up from his mini-break down, Dave turns and continues on his way out into the waste. He's not sure why he goes that way, aside from it being the opposite direction of his destroyed house. It barely registers in his mind as water starts accumulating at his feet, only until it's up to his shins does he pay it any mind, yet he just keeps going because he apparently has no free will currently and he has no gumption to fight against it right now. Someone could name him Insufferable Prick at this moment and he would just accept it with relish.]

Hello, I'm Insufferable Prick, Prick for short. I'm a dumb feathery asshole who just loves water-logged underwear so I'm going to keep on walking until it's more water than it is fabric. [He rambles to himself as he goes, until he realizes someone as compelled as him has waded up behind him. He just turns and looks at them, realizing what he had just accidentally introduced himself to them as.] ...S'up.

[If you'd like to continue on this journey with Mister Prick, you can discover the stairs ~together~.]


three: leviathan
[Dave was on the very last ship in the graveyard, perched on the bowsprit.

Wait, he shouldn't think of it as perching, that's too bird-like. Except, he totally was perching, like some fucking bird, but if you asked him what it was he was doing he would answer, "Definitely *not* perching." But he was. And he's looking up at the sky, watching the giant creature list around slowly in it as the creatures in the water sang.

Anyone was welcome to join him, even perch beside him, especially if you also weren't a bird-creature so that way he wouldn't feel like he actually *was* "perching" (which he was).]

It's almost familiar...

[He muses to himself, or whoever chose to join him.]


four: wildcard
[If you want a unique starter, feel free to hmu through PMs or plurk! Or feel free to right your own prompt for me to respond to, I'm open to just about anything!]

Bendy | Turnskin | OTA

[figmentpigment]

① It's Home

The demon stands very still alongside the river--so still, it could perhaps have been mistaken for a statue, if not for the constant flow of dark, dark fluid dribbling down over its face and dripping down its tall, skeletal body. It stands, looming, baring a mouth full of sharp, sharp teeth in a leering smile.

A dream, it's supposed to be a dream, but last time it had a dream it became true. It had been a fool, a naive little nitwit, to think that it could be anywhere without bringing destruction upon it. It had never truly escaped, and it was never meant to find a home anywhere else... it had just opened up a path for its real home to come along after. It should always have known this was coming--nothing ever changes, not really.

Except now there's a sensation of pain, of tight and cold and screaming agony, pitted deep in its emaciated chest, scratching at the inside of its ribs. It didn't have to feel things, before. Emotions had been numbed and stripped away, and only now does that feel like a mercy. The misery and shame and regret overwhelm it in waves of agony and despair. All it can do is smile, still.

The demon stands, its breathing heavy and ragged, and it could well have been another shadow of the city were it not so very, very solid.

³ Only Reflections

This had been a place people went for answers, once. Despite its destruction, there still may be some left to find. The demon had its suspicions, and upon seeing he Looking Glass House whole and still amidst the remnants of chaos, they solidified.

The grinning demon descends upon the thorny vines, its claws tearing at them without pause, ignoring the way their barbs tear right back. Something inside this building will have answers, the demon is sure of it, and it's so much easier to take out its overflowing dam of anger and despair on these vines than to sit in them any further.