Wednesday's Heart Game » Session Three

[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: ♡ talk to michelle

[widenessofthesea]

...........magical girls?

Re: ♡ talk to michelle

[protectshisown]

[Listen, he's willing to listen to a strange creature Once to see what happen and so he went along with the transformation, but WOW, that all got real wild, real quick.]

[He's also now in some tight shorts, and plenty of frills and I might poke at a doll maker for the full look while waiting my turn, shhhh and he is almost as red as the clothes he's wearing.]

Um.

I think I missed....several steps.

♡ the school roof

[wefoundwonderland]

You push open the door at the top of the stairs and walk onto the school roof. The moon soars high in the starry sky, line of predawn light is visible on the horizon, but the city laid out before you is still sunk in shadow. Vines of flowers are twined about the railings and spreading out across the flags. In the light of the moon, you can 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; the Shopping Center and the Beach and H͟͏ę͢͝l̴̡̢͠l̷̵̛͟ơ̴̧͝,̴́̕͡ ͟͠H̀̀a̢̛̛͝pṕ̵̡̕y͟ Land! as well: you can see them all clearly. Stranger still, they make 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

[widenessofthesea]

[ hmmm

where is the spookiest darkness. ]

Re: ♡ the school roof

[protectshisown]

[Wow, that is definitely a sky.]

[He walks along the edge of the roof, looking around, careful to not touch the vines at first.]

[Hmmm, let's try some magic and]

[Maybe. Set some vines on the railing on fire, whoops. Whoops???]

Ah....that kind of magic.

Re: ♡ the school roof

[nutsandrevolts]

[Leaning out--]

So those're all lit already. . .?

♡ the competition pool

[wefoundwonderland]

Mostly hidden behind a chicken-wire fence wrapped about with vines of flowers, the school swimming pool stands silent beneath the night skies, shadows casting a strange dance across the cool, dark waters. Numbered starting blocks stand in line at the near end of the pool, reels of lane markers, a pile of forgotten covers, shadowy heaps of are gathered beneath a lean-to near the changing-room doors. The air smells heavily of chlorine. There’s nothing to hear but the gentle lapping of water, the quiet gurgling of drains – and yet, carried on the wind, you can hear the faint chatter of youthful voices, the shrill of a whistle.

Head back across the grounds to find the Courtyard.

Re: ♡ the competition pool

[widenessofthesea]

[ ALL RIGHT

what horrible monster will we encounter next, ]

♡ BOSS BATTLE

[wefoundwonderland]

[You arrive back by the School Pool with your fellow explorers.

If you've been here before, you'll see nothing immediately out of place... but the wind is gathering speed, whipping dust and fallen leaves about your ankles and, in the churning sky, a single point of brilliant light is visible. And it's small, but even as you look, you can see it growing larger.]

♡ 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, the grounds beyond basking in the summer sun.

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]

♡ talk to leviathan

[wefoundwonderland]

Re: ♡ a dark forest

[nutsandrevolts]

[She did, in fact, bring a lantern! But she trots up to the campfire folk first to get the skinny.]

Yo! Some saviours have appeared~!

♡ a forgotten shrine

[wefoundwonderland]

You head up the path and through the torii gate to a lonely temple. Moss and lichen surrounds the fountains; vines twist around uprights covered in flaking scales of red paint. Ema hang on an aging wishing board, the wooden plaques strangely startling by their apparent newness. And flowers, flowers, flowers: springing from the cracks in the flagstones, winding over the fences, hung heavy over the sloping eaves of the roof, covering it as if with a carpet of snow.

Inside, candles burn inside red paper lanterns, casting the large, echoing room in a ruddy glow. The screens stand torn and open and the floor, once polished to a high sheen, is littered with petals and leaves and fallen twigs, and warped where rainwater might have washed it. The shrine itself stands empty save for a stray taiko drum, a few shide wands stood on a small table, their white pennants fluttering in the chill breeze, an old broom standing against one wall, a gong. Whatever might once have watched over this place, it seems it was chased away long ago. There’s nothing to see but a huddle of makeshift altars where the sanctuary might once have stood.

You can head back to the Dark Forest down the overgrown path.

Re: ♡ a forgotten shrine

[nutsandrevolts]

[Well. She tries raising her lantern -- it was supposed to do something about revealing hidden things, right?]

Re: ♡ a forgotten shrine

[protectshisown]

So there is an Aspect somewhere.... [He's moving closer to the shrine, looking along the plants for any oddities.]

Re: ♡ a forgotten shrine

[widenessofthesea]

[ well, this won't do.

even if it's not her religion, she's going to try and tidy up a bit, and also peek at the wishing boards. ]

♡ 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

[bondsofsuffering]

[Peering at her! After everything there's no reason she should have been harmed, but it's good to check.]

Re: ♡ the golden ending

[overworker]

Oh--!

[ Serenity smiles, relieved. ]

You're awake.

Re: ♡ the golden ending

[softlyfalling]

Oh—oh thank goodness.

Re: ♡ the golden ending

[widenessofthesea]

Do you feel better?

Re: ♡ the golden ending

[protectshisown]

Wednesday?

[Kneeling near her, giving her space.]