...?

[idolpro]

[ At once, whether you were going out somewhere or you were starting to head home— everything stops. You can tell, for the birds in the sky have stopped mid-flight, the trees have stopped rustling, and even the breeze has stopped.

Time itself seems to have stopped, save for you.

At the same time, you hear it—the sound of something, someone, something?, calling you. Toward the direction of Honmachi Sakura Park. ]

Comments

START

[idolpro]

Re: START

[crossmyheartandhope]

Hey.

You hear that?

Re: START

[unbr8kable]

You do?

[She looks up to the sky, and the streets, and to him]

...We should go.

Re: START

[crossmyheartandhope]

I can't even tell who it was.

[But he's turning that direction already, toward the sound of whoever-it-was]

Re: START

[idolpro]

[ The path and direction are familiar enough to you by now—it's not precisely the park itself that calls for you, but the castle in the sky with its glistening anchor. ]

Re: START

[unbr8kable]

Feels like...

[And she trails off, not talking about how similar it is to invaders whispering at the back of one's mind after all. Since either way she's going to investigate, whether it's Heaven or some Hell trick or something else completely]

Well. One way to find out.

[Tugs his wrist, heading for the park, and the chain beyond]

Re: START

[crossmyheartandhope]

Yeah.

Almost feels like it's...

[A pause, holding tight to her hand as they head toward the sound]

Guess we better see.

THE GATEHOUSE

[idolpro]

[ At the end of the chainlink "ladder", there are, of course, the two gates. The first pair, filigreed and pearlescent, is open to you. Something glints in the distance, inside Heaven—something that calls for you, something that must belong to you, surely.

But the sound—harsh metal scraping against metal, you can identify it better now—comes from behind. From the abyss below. Does it beckon you, or does it warn you? What is it trying to say?

Will you proceed further in—to that which belongs to you—or will you abandon it to jump into the abyss? ]

Re: START

[unbr8kable]

[Doesn't let go until they're at the chain to Heaven, barring anything blocking their way]

Re: START

[idolpro]

[ Proceed. ]

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

[Looks over the edge, squinting into the abyss. Is there anything she can see at all?]

What is that sound...?

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[crossmyheartandhope]

I don't know.

But don't it sound sort of like...?

[Heading closer to the edge, to try and listen to it better]

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[idolpro]

[ You stare into the abyss—and nothing stares back at you.

It is so incredibly empty, so incredibly void, such a sheer drop with nothing there that you almost feel compelled to jump down yourself—even moreso if you have corruption. This is where you belong, Heaven tells you; the emptiness and void, though not whatsoever welcoming, seems to beckon you anyway.

You hear the sound again, harsh metal scrapes that sound something like squawks, and it is a headache to listen to.

But you know, instinctively—follow the noise now, and you'll never make it back to Heaven. ]

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

[She looks for a long time, the pull of the abyss vying with the pull of whatever in heaven is supposedly theirs --whatever it was that had called them here in the first place.

Slowly she continues]

Don't it sound like what?

[Though honestly, the cacophony begins to sound familiar to her as well, and she listens harder, as if perhaps she could make some sense of it]

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He stares down into the abyss for a long few moments, just listening]

Elly.

It sounds like Elly yelling about something.

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

Yeah...yeah, it does.

...Think maybe we been looking in the wrong place?

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[crossmyheartandhope]

Only one way to find out.

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

...You sure?

After last time--well, you know how it went. And--

[She looks back to whatever shining thing is calling to them, just past the pearly gates.]

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Turns to follow her gaze, looking back through the gates, toward whatever it is that shines so brightly -- toward whatever it is that promises to be theirs]

[At length, he turns away again, peering down into the abyss]

We didn't come this far to give up now, did we?

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

...It'd be pretty disappointing if we did.

[Takes his hand again]

You ready?

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[crossmyheartandhope]

[Takes hers, too, and gives it a squeeze]

Yeah.

Hold on tight, kay? I'll call Rav as soon as powers kick back in.

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

'Course. I ain't afraid.

[Unsure on that given how tightly she does hold on, but her words and expression don't falter any]

C'mon. Keep your ears out. This time, we'll find 'im.

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[crossmyheartandhope]

[He's holding on no less tightly -- take a breath, and steps right up to the edge]

'Course we will.

This time for sure.

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[unbr8kable]

Yeah.



[Swallows]



...Here we go.

[And she steps off the edge]

Re: THE GATEHOUSE

[idolpro]

[ it is

a l ｏ ｎ ｇ

way







down.

The further you fall the colder you feel, as if the things you'd taken for granted—the warmth of your blood, the beating of your heart—have been revoked, meager blessings that they are. You are cast out. The abyss below you is dark and the lights that burn in the distance are pinpricks that get diminished as you fall from them—and none too soon. Even those weak lights feel as though they are too much for you, like you've lost your ability to be looked upon. You didn't have much, but you lose even that.

But your mind stays intact.

And you feel the shadows of other's losses. A grace you never had, a love that once coupled keenly to the essence of their existence is cleaved from them, leaving only loss and a question not of why but a rejection of why. For so long, they toiled! For so long, they loved, and felt it return! But then, silence.

Through the rebellion, silence.
Through the siege, silence.

Silence,
Silence,

And a rage that couldn't be suppressed. A loneliness. As heaven emptied out, without end.

This fall feels like that, everything that was good and kind leaving until there is just your power, and a shell.

As you fall, the shrieking gets simultaneously louder and more distant, as though you've been swallowed into the ocean—as though sound does not travel reliably here.

The ground is coming up— ]