Wednesday's Heart Game » Session Two

[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]

Hey, before we start--

[She holds up a paw.]

When you get out there, you're gonna notice the sun shining in some places. If you see that, it means that one of your friends already went there and sorted out all the really bad stuff. I'm not gonna tell you not to go there, but it'd be kind of a waste of time, so... yeah, that's a thing to watch for.

Oh, and before you all run off into trouble, I got a few things here that might help you out, in a pinch.

Re: ♡ a girl's homeroom

[softlyfalling]

Ah, does anyone want to go with me to look at the roof? It seems this lantern is good for guiding one to areas that need assistance, also, so if anyone thinks they might need help knowing where to go...

♡ 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 dark and star-scattered, an eyelash of a crescent moon sailing high above, the city laid out before you sunk in shadow. Vines of flowers are twined about the railings and spreading out across the flags. Dark though it is, you can still 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…

That’s not all, though. Far from it. The sky above you is torn – shafts of sunlight pierce the shadows, falling with pinpoint accuracy. Dazzling pools of brilliant light are scattered across the city, the forest. The School Gym, the Ruined Mansion, the Quiet Street: you can see them all clearly. Stranger still, it makes no difference at all to the surrounding areas, which still lie sunk in shadow.

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

[softlyfalling]

...hm.

So... it seems like the city or the forest are places we should go...?

♡ 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

[bondsofsuffering]

[Scanning the room!]

♡ 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. Behind the buildings, you can see a high chicken-wire fence, wound about with flowers…

You might not notice them straight away, though. A tear in the clouds reveals a patch of blue sky, a shaft of dazzling light falling to land on the School Gym, which stands in ruins. No flowers bloom there, or anywhere the light touches: just crumbling walls, and broken glass, and the flapping of torn curtains in the chill breeze.

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

[bondsofsuffering]

[Face scrunching a little at the scent.

Is there anything of interest here if he looks around, or is this just a place to travel to others from?]

Re: ♡ the school courtyard

[justfuckingtryit]

The fuck happened here?

[Nods at the gym]

♡ the school gym

[wefoundwonderland]

You walk in brilliant sunshine to the ruined gym, picking your way across the rubble left by the collapse of the roof and rear wall. Singed, tattered curtains flap in the breeze; girders and glass strew once-pristine court, render the stairs and the balconies impassable. A warped basketball net hangs lopsided from its backplate, the apparatus – save one set of wall bars, inexplicably whole – reduced to splinters. The doors to the storeroom, one blown clear off, gape open, revealing gym horses and a folded trampoline and baskets and baskets of varying flavors of sportsball. Chairs and school bags, some spilling clothing from their zippered mouths, lie scattered across the floor. Mercifully, whatever happened here seems to have caused the myriad of candles that once illuminated the room to burn out.

From here, you can return to the Courtyard.

Re: ♡ the school gym

[bondsofsuffering]

[Can he use his scanner here?]

♡ 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. Bright light pure as summer sun spills from a single storefront – a café with its front window broken. A swinging sign and a rain-washed chalkboard stand 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

[send_noods]

Do we try to shine more light?

[looks toward the cafe]

I'm fine with looking around though.

Re: ♡ downtown

[bondsofsuffering]

[Okay well.

He's here now.]

Re: ♡ downtown

[justfuckingtryit]

[A-downtown we go]

♡ h͔̲͕a̢͞z̸̧̕a̕w̸̵̛a͡͠ coffee

[wefoundwonderland]

Pushing open the door (it sticks, just slightly) you enter the coffee shop. Unlit candles stand 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 looks up disinterestedly to glance up at you as you walk in, shielding his eyes from the sunlight that suffuses the room. He judges your frilly outfits with a jaundiced eye, then goes back to gazing out of the broken window.

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]

♡ the shopping center

[wefoundwonderland]

You enter the shopping center. It’s even darker in here, and eerily still; your footsteps echo as you walk into the central square, flanked on either side by the darkened windows of forgotten stores. What little light there is creeps in through the skylights above the courtyard, half-illuminating a display of sorry-looking hothouse plants strangled beneath the tendrils of the ever-present flowers, a fountain wrapped about with leaves and vines and blossom, their roots tangling in the still, dark water. A faint whirring noise can be heard on the edge of hearing: the sound of the escalators to the second floor, still turning endlessly and uselessly, forever.

You can go down the hallway to the Gift Shop, or up the escalators to visit the Fashion Boutique. Head back through the revolving door to return Downtown.

Re: ♡ the shopping center

[softlyfalling]

Hm... ah, should we split up to check each one and then report back? That would probably be faster, right?

...a couple minutes alone can't be that bad, can it?

♡ the gift shop

[wefoundwonderland]

Just off the shopping center’s central square, a small gift shop waits with its doors gaping open. Inside, the shelves are full of trinkets and accessories of the kind that would appeal to teenage girls – key chains, cute purses and pass holders, mugs and glasses, lanyards, hair clips. From a display toward the back of the store, a familiar face can be seen: a pink-and-white sign reading ‘Happy! Lucky! Everyone’s Favorite Michelle!!’ heralds the presence of a wide array of Michelle merchandise, from pencils and stickers to plush toys and figurines. The cash desk stands empty, with a collection of cardboard boxes stacked behind it.

You can go back through the doors to the Shopping Center.

Re: ♡ the gift shop

[softlyfalling]

[ ah, cute...

is there anything strange here? anything that doesn't look right? ]

♡ the fashion boutique

[wefoundwonderland]

The boutique stands with doors thrown wide. A display of mannequins in the windows show off cute, fashionable outfits – so fashionable it’s obvious that whoever designed them doesn’t expect anyone over the age of 25 to so much as step inside the store, still less try anything on. Inside, illuminated by candlelight, racks of cute, colorful clothes line the walls and lie folded on central tables, along with displays of underwear and shoes and accessories; a stand of mannequins wound about with flowers cluster in the center of the room, every inch as intimidatingly well-dressed as the ones in the window. A cash desk stands by the door, a huddle of candles blazing in lanterns; changing cubicles line the rear walls. Faintly, you can hear the sound of an upbeat song playing over hidden speakers.

You can travel back down the escalators to the Shopping Center.

Re: ♡ the fashion boutique

[send_noods]

[He approaches the mannequins wound about with flowers. He's pretty well versed with flora, so he should know what kind they are]

♡ h͔̲͕ę͢͝l̴̡̢͠l̷̵̛͟ơ̴̧͝,̴́̕͡ h͔̲͕a̢̛̛͝pṕ̵̡̕y͟ land!

[wefoundwonderland]

H͟͏ę͢͝l̴̡̢͠l̷̵̛͟ơ̴̧͝,̴́̕͡ ͟͠H̀̀a̢̛̛͝pṕ̵̡̕y͟ Land!, a short trip from the city proper, looks like it’s seen better days even from the air. It is the kind of fairground that might appeal to a child too young to realize how unambitious it all is, or an undemanding teenager who just wants somewhere to go to hang with their friends that won’t throw them out for loitering. At least the lights appear to be working?

You land in the central square, surrounded by shuttered sideshows and unmanned concession stands wound about with flowers. The rides, though there’s nobody to run them and nobody but you to ride them, are still working: Baby’s First Roller Coaster weaves lazily round a tiny track wreathed in overgrowth, a fleet of bumper cars cluster at one side of their overgrown rink, lights flashing listlessly, a large and incongruously impressive carousel spins slow circles, carnival horses bobbing wearily to the sound of a barrel organ. There’s even a half-sized Ferris wheel, though what market there is for getting a brief look across a dilapidated funfair and the deserted beach beyond it there might be is anyone’s guess.

You can fly back Downtown, or take the promenade to the Beach.

Re: ♡ h͔̲͕ę͢͝l̴̡̢͠l̷̵̛͟ơ̴̧͝,̴́̕͡ h͔̲͕a̢̛̛͝pṕ̵̡̕y͟ land!

[bondsofsuffering]

[Letting out a low whistle.]

Not much, huh?

♡ the beach

[wefoundwonderland]

The beach at night: it feels more desolate than romantic. You step out upon a barren stretch of sand studded along its length with empty shells, illuminated by nothing more than the slick and sickly glow of fairground lights from the promenade. No moon. No stars. The sea is eerily, preternaturally still – millpond-still, disturbed only by the play of the wind across its surface. No other figures, no voices, not even the lapping of the waves. Just you and the ocean, ink-black and yawning, and yet it somehow feels as if you are being watched…

From here, you reach H͟͏ę͢͝l̴̡̢͠l̷̵̛͟ơ̴̧͝,̴́̕͡ ͟͠H̀̀a̢̛̛͝pṕ̵̡̕y͟ Land! along the promenade, or fly to the Overgrown Garden.

Re: ♡ the beach

[bondsofsuffering]

[Heeeeeeeee does not like it here, and looks more on alert than usual.]

♡ an overgrown garden

[wefoundwonderland]

You’re in a garden, beneath a sky that shimmers with a shifting rainbow of light. It’s lush, beautiful, and almost too wild with growth to quite merit the term ‘garden’. There are fruit trees here, their trunks twisted and knobbled with age, their branches still low enough to easily reach. The ground is carpeted with colorful wildflowers, and flowering vines and wild roses twine around trees and golden trellises alike. If you're of a mind to pay attention to these things, you might come to realize that no two flowers are exactly alike in color or breed.

Some yards away stands a single tree, its boughs heavy with blossom. Its swaying branches beckon you to rest beneath them, if only for a moment - to join the white-clad girl already lying there, wound about with lotus and chamomile blooms, completely lost to slumber.

You can return through the iron archway to the Ruined Mansion, or fly to the Beach.

Re: ♡ an overgrown garden

[widenessofthesea]

Ah—there.

[ she walks over to the tree—to go and sit down in the shade under the tree next to Aya. ]

♡ 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.]