WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE

[retellers]

WEEK SEVEN: MINGLE (21 remain) Rise and shine, gremlins. The sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and it's the start of a new week. To the participants, yesterday's events may seem distant now—albeit not as distant as their life before this. Whether or not they notice, they will have lost a memory upon waking up. As usual, the participants will find that their lodgings have changed, and should anyone check their PHS, Chiron, Ochako, Soo-won, and Dorothy's profiles have been removed. They may also find that they have difficulty recalling complete details of the past weeks. Furthermore, it looks as though the rules have updated. Not everything is the same as the previous pattern, though. The barrier to the north is back up, and once more, what lies beyond is an empty field. In contrast, however, participants may notice that they can finally access a place they haven't been able to before... Additionally, it looks like the Leaders aren't around. No matter where the participants look, they're nowhere to be found. Should anyone try calling for them in the Planetarium, there will be no response—not even a message telling the participant that they're busy. Finally, everything around the participants begins to... glitch? Buildings may suddenly blink out of existence and then back in, random items like chairs or cups may suddenly distort even while they're being used, and looking at any particular thing for too long may give someone a headache. It's worse than it was that one week, though: participants will find that it's happening to themselves as well. Body parts might suddenly glitch out of existence then back in, and there will be a shot of pain when it occurs. It'll happen randomly, but it also seems to occur more often if they're touching something or another person.

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

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[papasha]

[Oh noooooo, Eiji. He's absolutely distracted by the exchange despite the fact that maybe hunting a vampire down would do him some good. When you see your son being soft!

The pause for his own answer is what gets him to focus again.]

Oh, ah... Yes, I suppose I did have a little fun. [Emet-Selch is the only old man who didn't have fun.] Maybe we should have let Aides do the hunting.

[Watching Hansa be a jock had to at least be some fun.]

[retellers]

[ Clearly Emet needs to work out more. But this attitude is why you got banned from Kaiza's school premises, Hansa. ]

Um, try not to kill anyone on school grounds? [ noooooooo fighting ] But that's good to hear! When you're actually a teenager, you think stuff like this is completely lame, especially when you could be doing stuff like studying for university exams instead... but when you grow up and your daily life turns into listening to horrible bosses and that sort of thing, you kind of miss it once in a while.

[ Not sure how many of the people here can relate, though. ]

[robopriest]

It's a vampire.

[Like? Not human? Threat to humanity? Jester has the rights to die????]

And uh...okay. [Random...adult rant from this high school girl? He stares at her.] Your problems are...not very relatable there, little lady.

[arkitect]

... I cannot say I have ever truly missed it, no, as this is not entirely similar to my own experience.

[I'm so sorry he keeps being like this I really am, god.]

But I suppose I can see where others would find it nostalgic-- that much is a familiar enough sort of desire.

[papasha]

[Inwardly, he closes his eyes. It's fine. He's the normie out of the three of them. So he offers her a small smile.]

I understand. I think it's less you miss the things you did when you were younger--sometimes--and more you miss when life seemed a lot simpler. At least, what you think now is a lot simpler.

Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. [He gives Hansa's chest a light sort of punch, kind of affectionate.] Kids like us shouldn't be in a hurry to grow up so fast.

[retellers]

[ Thank god at least one person here is a normie. ]

Pretty much! Well, regardless of your life experiences, I think everyone can agree that you shouldn't take things for granted. You never have as much time as you think do. It'll always run out, in the end. Nothing lasts forever.

[ She smiles, her expression somber. ]

... Your time here is running out, too. Knowing there's a chance you may never see the people around you again, what will you do with what you have left? I hope you can be happy with whatever answer you arrive at.

[ It seems to be mostly a rhetorical question, however, as the three of them will find themselves falling asleep. The dream they have this time is odd, though, if even more so their first one: it's nighttime in the Realm, and a woman with purple hair slits their throat.

When they wake up, they're at a Japanese shrine—the kind one would visit on New Year's. They're not alone, either. Around them are the familiar faces of Alex, Chiron, and Lup, dressed in winter clothes.

As are the three! They're out of their PE outfits and appropriately dressed for the cold weather as well. ]

[robopriest]

What do you mean, we may never see the people around us again-

[And he falls asleep, just like that.]

[And then, there's a slash to his throat, the blood pools, and Hansa opens his eyes with a start, panicking- and then realizes it was a dream. But this too...is it a dream? He's still a teenager, but he's in a nice winter coat, and gloves.]

[The appearance of the other three are also a surprise - Hansa blinks, before reaching out to Alex and Chiron.]

...You're here too? Where....where are we?

[arkitect]

[he doesn't have anything to say to that, only a nod-- it's something he's already given some thought to, honestly. he's considered before that the end of all of this truly might be the end, because for some of them in particular, nothing else has ever been promised.

but then there's the sudden sleep, the dream; he doesn't quite startle back into consciousness, he's already familiar with the sensation of death, so he just exhales a very relieved sigh at the more appropriate clothing. he is much comfier like this, thanks.

... emet-selch does reach out to place a hand on hansa's arm, though, brow furrowed.]

We do not know that they truly are here, wherever this may be.

[papasha]

[Oh. The smile slowly fades from his face at that. It isn't he hadn't considered it. The fact is, he has.

He's thought about it more than he'd care to admit.

The sleep is one of the strangest. Like being put under, but being able to dream. He's not sure if he is actually awake when he opens his eyes.

He doesn't like that it's maybe New Years. He doesn't like that Lup is here because of him, and the implications of the others here, too.] Lup... [But he also looks torn between doing exactly what Hansa does, and thinking this is just a dream.]

...a shrine?

[retellers]

[ This is where your mod RPs other people's characters and pretends not to be horribly OOC.

Lup reaches to take Blanca's hand, as if to pull him along. ]

C'mon, big guy. There's a place where you can get your fortunes, so let's go grab ours and laugh over how wrong they are.

[ Alex smiles at Hansa and Emet-Selch. More so Hansa, but it's fine. ]

We might as well get into the spirit of things, right?

[ Chiron adds his two cents as well, smiling in that knowing way of his. ]

Though accuracy isn't to be expected... it is tradition, and there is little harm in it.

[robopriest]

...

[He glances down at the hand on his arm, and stays put. It says a lot that Emet-Selch is one of the few ones who can stop him in his tracks, if he rushes first and thinks later.]

[But still...its hard, seeing all three of them, knowing that this might be an illusion made by the Realm, just like everything else. He lets out a short sigh, his gaze lingering on Chiron and Alex, especially, before shaking his head.]

...A fortune, huh? I've heard about that kind of tradition. [He turns his head back to the other two.] I guess...we might as well see what it's about.

[arkitect]

[he has the feeling it might be difficult; it's strange for all of them, he's sure, glancing over to blanca as well. his hand stays settled on hansa's arm for now, as he gives alex and chiron a small nod.]

We may as well, yes. Shall we?

[it's not a familiar tradition to him, but he'll go along with the rest of them.]

[papasha]

[Oh, he HATES that.

He lets Lup take him by the hand, but glances over between Hansa and Emet-Selch. Even with how... innocuous this seems, he still looks a tad concerned for the three of them. Like he thinks it isn't going to turn out great.]

No harm in trying.

[He will tuck Lup's arm under his, still holding her hand, since it's what he'd do anyway, and walk with the rest to go retrieve a fortune. Haha.]

[retellers]

[ Everyone goes to draw their fortune! Alex gets a Great Blessing, Chiron gets a (Regular) Blessing, and Lup gets a Curse.

While Chiron congratulates Alex on her fortune and gently teases Lup for the opposite, Lup takes a moment to point out fuck y'all, getting a curse is so rare that it means the opposite? She's going to have GREAT luck? That's how it works.

Anyway, on Hansa, Emet-Selch, and Blanca's fortunes is something a bit... different.

If you forget something, does that make it no longer real? If everyone forgets about your existence, what does that make your time with them?

Which would you choose, if you had to: staying stagnant but remaining among the memories of others', or moving forward even if you are the only person who will ever know what you went through?

Looks like we're back to existentialism! How did all of that fit on the slip of paper? Don't ask. ]

[robopriest]

[It's nice, just letting himself enjoy this moment, but there's always that feeling that this is just sand running through his fingers. He looks down at the fortune in his hand after briefly smiling at the others, and lets out a groan.]

Oh, this again. [He shoots a sort of unamused look at the others.] More questions...

[And this is a hard one. Sure, he's been forgetting a lot. He even forgot ever being civilized. But the people, the things that happened...forgetting them doesn't mean they never happened in the first place, right?]

...I'm the only one who remains from my village. I'm the only one who remembers their names, even their faces. I can't live in the past, as much as I miss it. To move forward, even being the only one that holds those memories, even if it hurts...that's something special. Because you hold histories in yourself that will never fade, in your own heart. That's what...really matters.

[arkitect]

[none of us can fault lup's flawless logic.

but emet-selch frowns down at that slip, brow furrowing as he reads it and listens to hansa speak.]

... I cannot disagree, but moving forward may well not be an opportunity I have.

[it makes this both easier and more complicated to think on, in different ways. but--]

Forgetting does not make it no longer real. Still-- I would prefer to be the one forgotten, than to lose my own past. We have been unknown to history before; 'tis not entirely unfamiliar.

[papasha]

[Yet again, he's being gaslit by pretend dream Lup sounding exactly like the real Lup. Maybe this ISN'T a dream, wow.]

What a soft thing to say, Mister Cervantes.

[He's teasing, as lightly as he can given the current circumstances.] You're a difficult man to forget, you know. [Just so Emet-Selch is aware that, like, not everyone is going to want to simply forget him.]

I suppose I've been stagnant before. In a life of routine, rather. Looking back, it wasn't fun. I was just a cog in a machine. I can accept the burden of being the only one to remember, so long as I can move forward. Not that it wouldn't hurt.

[retellers]

[ I'm glad that they're just talking about feelings without any real prompting. I'm actually not sure what I would've done if you all had refused to say anything?

As Alex, Chiron, and Lup chat in the background, and Lup possibly steals Chiron's fortune while Alex laughs a little, the words on Hansa and co.'s fortunes fade. New ones take their place.

Now, they say: What do you see in your future? ]

[robopriest]

[Look, they've been through this song and dance before in this CYOA. Its to be expected.]

[At the next question...his expression softens.]

I'm not one for predicting the future. Whatever happens, happens. But after I finish this job I have, I'll...just do the things I always do, in my role. But I'll have others by my side this time.

[He looks at Chiron, then Alex, and then lastly, he looks at Emet. His smile is intensely fond as he reaches out to rest a hand on the other's hand.]

Just all of us, together. I couldn't ask for anything more.

[arkitect]

[yeah they've learned by now that they can't get out of talking about it, they're good, they're behaving...

and while there's a certain fondness in him, at hansa's answer, he still can't help but temper it with some caution.]

...if we are lucky, yes. We do not know for a certainty there will be any opportunity-- Archer and I may well not have one.

[a slight shake of his head. he recalls the things both of them have said to him, things he cannot in good conscience give them in return, but despite that-- he still accepts hansa's gesture.

for now, they are here. if that's all there ever will be, this extension has not been a bad one.]

I do not know if there is a future. But if there should prove to be a chance to continue to exist, then I do know where I intend to be, until I eventually return to where I now belong.

[papasha]

Even before coming here, I'd learned... you don't always have to follow the role you've been given. At least, someone I know taught me that. I guess the teacher became the student then.

[He doesn't say this directly to Hansa, but that's who it's for. He's looking at Lup instead, endeared, but also a little sad, a little wry.

What future do they really have, separated by very different world, a rapidly aging human man, and a (un)dead elf? But she's told him differently so many times, he thinks he believes it.]

I don't know. Maybe somewhere on a warm beach with a little red ruby when she feels like paying me a visit.

[retellers]

[ This is all so sweet and cute and I'm sorry I have to make you all suffer another question:

If they were to forget you, would you still seek them out again? ]

[robopriest]

[More questions for the question god! Hansa glances over at Blanca at his statement. Not always follow his role, huh...but he wants to have his cake, and eat it too. He wants to enjoy life, and everything it has to offer, but...]

[If they forgot him. If they looked at him, and saw a stranger, what then...?]

[He smiles, lightly.]

Yeah. Of course I would.

[Because despite everything, even being close, and making sure they're okay...is enough for him, he thinks.]

[arkitect]

...I cannot say for certain that I would.

[he's not looking at hansa when he says it.

because there was the offer from one to remain at his side, no matter what; there was the admission that one just wanted him to be happy. there's the fact that, despite everything, he is comfortable in their company, even if he cannot ascribe a particular emotion to it.

but then there is the reality of who it is they have offered to tie themselves to, the way that any sort of future existence is twisting fate. there's the fact that some things are best left alone, once there's a rift there, and that things happened to line up just so. there's no guarantee they ever would under other circumstances, and there is no certainty he would tolerate being looked at as a stranger by someone familiar again. he is tired, has been for a very long time.

in a very literal sense, he is not going to exist without them, so if they forget-- then what will there be?]

[papasha]

[Fifty First Dates for all of them.

He is quiet while they both seemingly answer so easily, even if they are very different answers.

He's a normie. He's aware there isn't much he can do exactly if that were the case. What's he going to do, dimension travel? In his economy? Please.

His eyes look away from Lup, but also away from Hansa and Emet, too, his lips thin. It isn't just Lup either; there are others, obviously. It'd be nice to see how they're doing.]

Perhaps if I could.