Wednesday's Heart Game » Session One

[idolpro]

At first, there is nothing.

And then there’s a voice, saying:

I need your help.

     … look, I don’t have time to explain. Hold this.

And something, ready or not, is thrust into your hand. Maybe it’s a pen, or a brooch, or a watch or a phone, or anything at all so long as it’s small enough to hold, and looks too important to lose.

Maybe you try to object, but a small, winged creature wreathed in iridescent sparkles darts into your view, and clasps your hands, and curls your fingers tight about the object in them.

     You’re just, the creature says, going to have to trust me. Now: raise your hand, and say:

Power of a Dreaming Star – Metamorphose!!

Maybe you know these tropes, or maybe you don’t.
Maybe you’re about to protest that no, you couldn’t possibly, this is ridiculous and you’ve got the wrong person—

But you can’t resist the call. Nobody ever can.

And then?

     Then? It’s not dark any more.

         And an awful lot seems to be happening at once.

[ ♡ ooc information & combat rules ♡ ]

Comments

♡ a girl's homeroom

[wefoundwonderland]

So, you’re back in school.

Once the light show is over, once you’ve had a moment to acclimatize to your new look, you find yourself stood in a high-school classroom, dressed in unfamiliar clothes. The room is sunk into darkness, illuminated only by the white pillar candles burning at the teacher’s desk, and in clusters at the sides of the room. Outside, all is darkness: stand close enough to the windows and you may be able to make out the outlines of the quad, the high wall, the open gate. From a distance, however, the glass swims with reflections that don’t seem to be your own. Other than that, the room appears entirely ordinary – save the vase containing two small white flowers with drooping heads sat on one of the desks, and the winged bear (is it a bear?) fluttering by the blackboard, surrounded by a corona of light.

From here you can head down the corridors to the School Library, upstairs to the School Roof, or downstairs to the Courtyard… but you might want to talk to Michelle and get your bearings first.

♡ talk to michelle

[wefoundwonderland]

Re: ♡ a girl's homeroom

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ Let's just assume that at some point he gets his shit together... After getting his bearings (great, more schools, yippeeee....) he's going to head up to the roof. Might as well get a full lay of the land. ]

Re: ♡ a girl's homeroom

[overworker]

[ Well that happened. Serenity's still not quite sure she's seeing what she thinks she's seeing, but she's not the type to sit still either. Time to move forward-- to the school library, for starters. ]

Re: ♡ a girl's homeroom

[backstory]

[ Once Levi and Hiryuu have met up and discussed things, they decide to head downstairs to the courtyard! ]

♡ the school roof

[wefoundwonderland]

You push open the door at the top of the stairs and walk onto the school roof. The skies overhead are midnight-dark and moonless, the city laid out before you sunk in shadow, with nothing to illuminate it but the pale light of the stars. Vines of flowers are twined about the railings and spreading out across the flags. Dark though it is, you can still just about make out the silhouettes of buildings – the hunched roofs of family homes, the taller towers of the city center. Further off, you can make out the tops of towering trees, and, more distantly still, the line of the shore.

From here, you can fly Downtown, to a Quiet Street, or to the Dark Forest. You can also return to the Homeroom by retracing your steps down the stairs.

Re: ♡ the school roof

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ Frowning. The Dark Forest seems like a most likely nest of whatever bullshit is happening here. But... it also seems like maybe not a good place to go alone.

...

After some thought, he's going to try the Quiet Street. It's probably not nearly as Quiet as it claims to be but it might still be a more fair gauge of how fucked up this place is. ]

Re: ♡ the school roof

[worldlyafflictions]

[Flying is neat! He'll head downtown.]

Re: ♡ the school roof

[we_meet_again]

[Wow. This place is spooky.]

[If he's looking for a house, it would probably be on a quiet street, right?]

[Idk how this works, I guess he just leaps off the roof and floats down there using his cape as a sail or something. Whooosh]

♡ the library

[wefoundwonderland]

You walk into the school library. Like the classroom before it, it is illuminated largely by candles, largely clustered about the librarian’s desk, but unlike the classroom, these are all in lanterns. There’s a lot of paper in here, after all. The high shelves and stacks form shadow-haunted alleyways, the candles huddled on top of them. A book drop is visible at the door; returned volumes sit on a trolley, ready to be put back in their places upon the shelves.

A tall, well-built man with antlers and a scar across the bridge of his nose stands at the librarian’s desk flipping through a book on wild animals. Despite his imposing build, he has a friendly smile on his face, and it feels comfortable and natural to draw near to him. A handheld lantern with a candle inside it is on the desk at his side.

You can head back down the corridor to return to the Homeroom, or take the stairs to the Courtyard.

♡ talk to cobalt

[wefoundwonderland]

Re: ♡ the library

[overworker]

[ Well, there aren't any of the unwanted flowers here but-- might as well do a quick check.

She'll take a moment to scan over the returned books sitting out. ]

♡ the school courtyard

[wefoundwonderland]

The scent of flowers hits you, heady and sweet but too much so, as you step into the school courtyard. A riot of blossom and vines spill in tangles from concrete planters, twist in skeins around the trunks of trees, peep through the leaves on the boughs, covering them in false bloom; they knot about the closed gates, holding them every bit as fast as locks and chains ever could. The school buildings loom behind you, the flowers crawling like ivy up its concrete façade. From here, you can see the side of the school gym, a short distance away across the grounds: candles burn in here too, and yellow light flickers and dances behind the windows. Behind the buildings, you can also see a high chicken-wire fence, wound about with flowers.

From here, you can fly to a Quiet Street, to the Downtown area, or to the Dark Forest. You can also choose to visit the School Gym or the Competition Pool.

Re: ♡ the school courtyard

[dragonheartedgirl]

There's so many flowers...

[ Like. TOO many. It's kind of pretty, but.... Is it supposed to be like this? ]

Re: ♡ the school courtyard

[overworker]

[ Once she's finished in the library, she moves to the courtyard. Ah-- the flowers. Well... before she decides to go moving on, might as well take a quick look with the scanner to see if there's anything she's missing that can help her do something about the flowers. ]

♡ the school gym

[wefoundwonderland]

The side doors to the school gym open at a gentle touch, the doors swinging open in the slight breeze. Inside all is silent, chairs lining the sides of the room, basketball nets and the apparatus, unfolded and garlanded with blossom, casting long shadows across the varnished floor, the white-painted walls. Candles cluster at the edge of the courts, they line the front of the stage, they burn bright on the balconies and the empty lectern standing on the stage. An electric clock, set above the stage, quietly ticks to itself. Gym bags cluster about the closed doors to a storeroom, a forgotten bottle of water sits by the legs of one of the chairs. Maybe it’s just the wind, but you could almost imagine you hear the falls of sneakered footsteps on the courts.

From here, you can return to the Courtyard.

Re: ♡ the school gym

[dragonheartedgirl]

Let's look around here. Michelle said the flowers and darkness are connected, so maybe it's a good idea to see what happens if we put a candle next to some of them.

[ She's going to make to grab a candle and check out one of these bags first. ]

♡ a quiet street

[wefoundwonderland]

A chill wind is blowing as you land silently on an ordinary suburban street – ordinary save for the riot of flowers growing over front yards, twining about lampposts and gateposts and the trunks of trees, climbing the lengths of front walls, springing freely from the cracks in the paving. The cool night air (is it night, or is it simply dark?) is heavy with their scent. The houses sit silent, blank-faced, apparently empty: all save one, a short way down the road, where warm light dances in the downstairs windows and, behind the drawn curtains, the silhouettes of people can be seen passing before the illuminated glass.

From here you can fly to the Dark Forest or School Courtyard, or head to the Family Home.

Re: ♡ a quiet street

[neverbeentogeorgia]

[ Well... there's light in the houses, at least. He plans to get to that in a minute, but first....

He's going to try flying up to get a better look at the inside of one of these lamp posts. Is it empty, or have the flowers just covered the glass? ]

♡ a family home

[wefoundwonderland]

You did knock before letting yourself in here, didn’t you? The room you find yourself in, for all it’s illuminated entirely by candlelight, is if anything disturbing only in its sheer ordinariness. A couch in front of a television set, a low table covered with spread-out schoolwork, shelves laden with books and keepsakes, pictures and an empty pin board mounted on the walls, a clutter of small blue storage boxes by the skirting board. It leads into an open-plan kitchen and dining area where a tall woman, her hair pulled back into a low ponytail, stands before the range stirring a pot with a wooden spoon. The couch, as you walk in, is also occupied, but at the sight of you the small, dark girl sat holding a cellphone springs to her feet and points an accusing finger straight at you.

From here, you can return through the front door to the Street, or – if you can get past its tiny guardian! – head upstairs to visit the Girl’s Bedroom.

♡ talk to moxie

[wefoundwonderland]

♡ a girl's bedroom

[wefoundwonderland]

The door opens on a neatly-kept girl’s bedroom, illuminated by candles and sheltering under the sloping eaves of the roof – but, colorful and cheerful as it looks, as the door swings to behind you, you become aware of how close it feels in here, how oppressive. Stuffed animals line the foot of a single bed; a white student’s desk is tucked neatly into an alcove; the walls are hung with cheerful prints and studded here and there with photographs and postcards. A clean, pressed school uniform hangs on a hook on the wall. A glossy, verdant pot plant, a white-painted closet, a bookcase, a full-length mirror and, stood on the sill by the windows, a shrine.

You can head back down the stairs to the Living Room.

Re: ♡ a girl's bedroom

[we_meet_again]

[Wow. There's a lot to take in here. He kind of wants to look around a bit before he starts busting it up.]

[Shrine first. What's up with you, shrine?]

♡ downtown

[wefoundwonderland]

You arrive on an empty city street. Maybe it’s midnight – who can tell here? – but the perfect desertion of this place seems somehow different from that, more fundamental. The street is abandoned, it does not sleep. Flowers twist about the lampposts, they spring from the cracks in the paving, they grow in tangles up the facades of the shops, roots burrowing beneath brick and paint. A chill breeze skitters down the street, sending leaves and flower petals and old receipts dancing in the gutters. Once-cheerful window displays look nothing but tired, fraying at the edges, and strange ripples swim across the glass. Warm, flickering light spills from a single storefront – a café, with a swinging sign and a rain-washed chalkboard stood before its front door. Further down the street, a shopping center is visible, revolving doors still spinning slowly as if to urge you inward. Bill posters, scattered here and there along the length of the street, advertise a show at a local live house.

You can visit the Café or head through the revolving doors to the Shopping Center. A back alleyway leads to the Live House.

From here, you can fly to H͟͏ę͢͝l̴̡̢͠l̷̵̛͟ơ̴̧͝,̴́̕͡ ͟͠H̀̀a̢̛̛͝pṕ̵̡̕y͟ Land!, or back to the School Roof.

Re: ♡ downtown

[worldlyafflictions]

[Well, he'll wander over to the Cafe first, then. Seems occupied, maybe?]

♡ h͔̲͕a̢͞z̸̧̕a̕w̸̵̛a͡͠ coffee

[wefoundwonderland]

Pushing open the door (it sticks, just slightly) you enter the coffee shop. Candles burn in the windows and on each of the tables, and in huddles at the counter, where a lean, dark-haired young man in a black apron stands sipping coffee from a large white mug. He raises his eyes disinterestedly to glance up at you as you walk in, judging your frilly outfits with a jaundiced eye, then goes back to gazing out of the window. Flowers curl about the edges of the closed doors to the kitchens.

It’s cosy, for all that: close, warm, decorated in shades of brown and cream. The air smells of coffee and cake. Chairs cluster about pale wooden tables, some still laden with teapots and coffee mugs and plates of food. Mugs and plates are stacked neatly behind the counter, a blackboard lists the day’s specials and invites you, in cheerful hand lettering, to try the seasonal items. There are pastries and slices of cake on display, and in spite of all logic they look fresh, even tempting. As the door swings to behind you, you can faintly hear a bubble of companionable chatter.

You can leave through the café door to return Downtown.

♡ talk to senpai

[wefoundwonderland]

♡ 〇〇 live house

[wefoundwonderland]

Though it’s wreathed in overgrowth, the door to the Live House swings open easily – someone has taken a knife to the vines that covered it, though they show no ill-effects as a result. You step into the lobby, illuminated as ever by the golden glow of candlelight: there’s a lounge area, couches and chairs arranged around little low tables, where pillar candles burn; there’s a display of CDs and flyers and posters for upcoming shows, with a stack of cardboard boxes stood next to it; a candlelit reception desk, with a guest book and a magazine rack and, on the wall behind it, a display of instruments and equipment to rent, next to a door to the studios. A flight of steps leads downstairs, to a small auditorium. The windows ripple with strange reflections.
And there’s a girl sitting on the Live House counter, her feet bare, picking at her nails (claws?) with a knife. She glances over at you as you walk in, the disdainful oh-hi-I-see-you-but-I-choose-not-to-acknowledge-you eye flicker common to all felines. She’s dressed in leather pants, a strategically ripped red-and-black-top, fingerless gloves. This, it would seem, is her place.

You can go Backstage through the corridors, take the stairs to enter the Auditorium, or leave the Live House to head back Downtown.

♡ talk to sabre

[wefoundwonderland]

♡ a dark forest

[wefoundwonderland]

You find yourself in a forest clearing. Did you bring a lantern? It’s incredibly gloomy in here, a fairytale before the Happy-Ever-After makes everything better, the trees a tangled labyrinth of bough and branch, the canopy tight-woven, blotting out what little light there is. How much that is to do with the riotous overgrowth of flowers here, strangling the trunks of ancient trees and spreading in promiscuous tangles overhead, it’s impossible to tell. The air hangs heavy with the too-sweet smell of flowers. A slight break in the treeline to one side of the clearing suggests the presence of a narrow, mossy path, almost forgotten; another, slightly wider path lined with round cobblestones leads to a pair of iron gates almost hidden beneath a tangle of flowers.

A small campfire flickers up ahead, two cloaked figures huddled close about it for what pitiful scraps of warmth and light it can provide. The darkness eats away at it, the shadows clustered too close about and stealing away its brightness.

You can take the cobblestone path to the gates of the Ruined Mansion, or the overgrown footpath to the Forgotten Shrine. You can also fly back to the School Roof, the School Courtyard, or the Quiet Street.

♡ talk to hiryuu

[wefoundwonderland]

♡ a ruined manor

[wefoundwonderland]

Pushing open the overgrown gates, you find yourself in the grounds of a once-grand manor house, now fallen to ruin and thick with flowering vines. The vines crawl up the lengths of the walls, they wind about broken pillars, they choke the life out of the plants in their mossy beds, they even wrap about the fountain in its circular pond, roots trailing in the still, dark water. A footpath twists about the house and through a wrought-iron arch in a crumbling garden wall.

The house itself is a wreck. The roof is gone, and the tops of the ornamental towers: one is little more than crumbling walls no taller than a man. The grand window that once commanded the front of the house is now set in nothing at all, the stained glass shattered in places and held up by nothing more than its own frame. It ends – though spars of the roof remain, jutting up darker still against the night sky – abruptly at the second-floor balcony. A single statue still stands proudly upon it, but the rest are sadly disfigured, or fallen. The front doors gape open, and perilous though the place looks, you could probably still go inside…

You can return to the Dark Forest through the mansion gates, or head to the Overgrown Garden through the iron archway.

Re: ♡ a ruined manor

[overworker]

[ Despite it's look, she didn't come here to be scared away. She's going to go inside the mansion. ]

♡ the golden ending

[wonderlandgirl]

[It's simple, after all that.

[They join hands, the three of them - Peach, Rose, Pearl. They kneel, hands raised, forming a ring about the sleeping girl. They close their eyes.

[That's all it takes. There's a gentle glowing of rosy light, suffusing their three bodies. There are points of light glowing where their clasped hands meet. And then they vanish - gently, painlessly - into the light, which falls in shimmering sparkles over Wednesday's - over Aya's - dreaming form. Because they wanted to be joined, so they were. It really is that easy.

[And so Wednesday, Aya, stirs, and slowly opens her eyes.]

Re: ♡ the golden ending

[we_meet_again]

Good morning.