RECORDING 10: THE FOURTH WEEK.

[foundationmods]

A fourth week in this place begins, with less of your number among you. The last trial took it's toll, along with the death of an innocent person - executed at behest of the rules of this game.

When you wake up - it's clear the Miasma has yet again gotten thicker. Everyone, including those who were divinely protected until this week, are now even more deeply affected by the curse - though those who possess nullification powers are still safe. Arguments will be flaring up more, along with negative thoughts and feelings...and even more worrying is now that occasional flashes of bad memories will come to the forefront.

Any magic that touches the house itself will corrode over time, just like last week. If a barrier is put in place and touches the floor, walls, or ceiling, in half a day it will be completely consumed by the miasma and fizzle out. Spells or seals will also corrode, and now healing has been drastically reduced to even the most powerful of spells only healing minor injuries.

You will not be able to save a grievously injured person from death through spells anymore.

The Temperature still remains in about the 60's, thankfully - though it is staying on the 'lower' end of the scale. As before, the rooms have changed, so hopefully you kept anything essential in the static area.

21 of your number still remain.

...What new horrors await you this week?


WARNING: Some investigations of new areas will contain traps that may be harmful or even lethal.
MIASMA LEVEL: 3
Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday
Main Navigation - IC rules + info so far - Dossiers - Locations

Comments

ii

[kaliedoscopes]

[ Hikage may not be an exercise enthusiast, but he does flit about the house as he doesn't sit terribly well in the absence of a library. So on one of his tours through the halls he spots the scene in room 1 and huh, isn't this nostalgic. Not that he really knows what nostalgia is like but details.

There's commentary to be made here of the sarcastic variety, but as he tries to step in to do just that he gets a door closed in his face. Well then. This is also nostalgic for different reasons. Guess he's just waiting to see what will happen because he's stubborn. ]

[noneforall]

[For The First Time in Forever.mp3 starts playing on loop--

Okay, more seriously, after a moment there's the soft sound of a graceless thud from the other side of the door, followed by more total silence. The door remains quietly shut and seemingly innocuous. Try the door again, perhaps?]

[kaliedoscopes]

[ wtf frozen doesn't exist yet in butterfly land what kind of time space continuum is this?

But uh, huh that sure is a sound. After waiting to see if any more shoes drop, both metaphorically and literally, Hikage tries to open the door again. ]

[noneforall]

[We're in the year 2000 noclipping straight to 2013, it's fine. 🦋

No shoes are in evidence, but the door opens easily when he tries it, no shenaniganry or kanji or anything. Inside, Subete is in the exact same spot, just curled up on the floor now -- his hands are up over his head and it looks like he's kind of frozen there? There's a soft, continuous mutter of something into his knees, but it's much too muffled to catch even in the silence. Hm.

The glow seems to have faded, though, so maybe it's safe to approach...?]

[kaliedoscopes]

[ Nostalgia hat trick achieved, then—even if this is the inverse. Hikage pans the room before stepping inside, even with the relative tranquility. Once he's satisfied that nothing else is afoot he walks in and closes the door.

There's a faint hum as he really takes in the situation, and not so long after he moves even closer and crouches down. It would be easy to reach out but he doesn't, for one reason or another or maybe several. ]

Subete.

[noneforall]

[There's no reaction at the actual approach or the sound of the door, but the sound of his name gets a faint one -- the muttering abruptly stops. There's a tension running through his frame that ratchets up from where he's digging his hands too hard into his hair and curls him in a little tighter where he's sitting. Luckily, his hair was a rat's nest in the first place.

No verbal response, but no more door-slamming either. Progress, perhaps.]

[kaliedoscopes]

[ Now that he's closer, the humming is more distinct and melodic, something to fill the air as Hikage watches and waits.

He stops abruptly in the middle with a sigh. ]

I didn't think I'd regain the job I lost yesterday so quickly. But hopefully you're a better client than Tohsaka was. [ Mmkay, time to reach out and touch Subete gently on the shoulder. ]

[noneforall]

[There is a small tilt of his head when the melody catches on, so at least he's stirring.

The silence remains, faintly more lived in this time until the contact; there's something like a full-body twitch at that, but hey, still no kanji! And no repeats of that one time at trial. Finally he uncurls a little after a moment or two, looking kind of like each movement is relearning a muscle. It's very awkward-looking so maybe that's why he stops.]

... Hmm. Better wake-up than last time. But what year is it?

[Seriously, how old are your music tastes. His voice is a little hoarse, but it's there.]

[kaliedoscopes]

[ He draws his hand back once Subete stirs, crouched there like a particularly vibrant bird sans an abandoned melody. ]

Last time? It's 2000. [ Wow, maybe he's just old at heart! Could you really picture him listening to j-pop anyway. ]

[noneforall]

[He does raise his head, and kind of... blink-blinks and then quirks an eyebrow at Hikage like he actually is some kind of exotic bird that crashed through the miasma window and landed on the miasma floor to the tune of Morning Musume or some shit. After a moment the funny expression abates a little, returning to his usual baseline bemusement.

He's still a little too pale but there's enough color there now to differentiate him from all the pages of the books fluttered across the floor. That's going to be a mess and a half to clean up.]

Nesta.

[It's a mutter under his breath but the steel in it runs deep, crackling of old pages and deep dark ink of old hatred. A deep breath and we're back to the present, a little more.]

I was hoping I knocked myself out and landed back in 2015. The soundtrack wouldn't fit, though.

[kaliedoscopes]

Nesta...Nesta's hope... [ A flutter on the wind as he dives into the memories he read not that long ago, searching the words and connections. Subete may have begun to lean into the present, but Hikage is now leaning into the past; diverted attention quipping out a casual response. ]

That would be forward, not backward. [ And then he blinks, not so much coming up for air but being popped out of the water by a breaker from below. ]

Soundtrack?

[noneforall]

Don't say her name.

[Irritably, with some of that same cold quality it had before but also probably because Hikage keeps doing this and though this time he's snapping for a different reason -- Subete still manages to dredge up old grievances. That's just the way it is.

It's maybe a testament to the fact that he's still waking up, in a way, but Hikage is still allowed to remain where he is and Subete just shakes his head and closes his eyes again.]

It would be back. Home, that is. [...] What was that music?

[kaliedoscopes]

[ He might have pushed back if he wasn't distracted in several different ways, but acquiescence is acquiescence, particularly when it comes to them. But maybe he knows not when to push his luck too, if only sometimes. ]

That's almost cheating. [ Rote, like his mind can't let him concede two points in a row. Even his tone is mechanical and flat, more so than it was just moments ago. A hand goes up to rake through his bangs and there's a lengthy silence that fills the air. When he finally speaks, a clear softness in his voice eclipses everything else. ]

You heard it? I thought it was just....it was just familiar. [ This isn't him being stubborn or dismissive like so any times before, nor is it laced with the singsong of that night in library. This is the entire truth, some thing he let slip through the space between the past and present as everything comes back into focus. ]

Someone used to sing it to me.

[noneforall]

[He's still mostly curled in on himself, gathered in bits and pieces in the darkness hiding behind his eyelids and under the pile of pages next to them and skulking the halls between the house's spaces; he settles back into himself like a stone in the stream of today letting pushbacks flow and fade. These currents are far older, though -- like the melody, like the grinding quality of his voice before he drops it further.]

I can't help it, if cheating is how you play.

[It's absent, less mechanical and more blurry than Hikage's retort, perhaps not as pointed as the words should be. Sound washes over him, clear enough to burn without his sight to diffuse it, and perhaps that's just the way it should be right now.

He leans his head just a little into the yielding truth flowing between the cracks they've both created.]

But of course I heard it. It was the only thing... [the sentence fades to nothing after a moment, not quite a stumble but he takes a breath like he needs to pick it back up, like the rest of him] Ah. A piece of a memory for a piece.

It's been a long time since I've heard such a thing.

[kaliedoscopes]

[ He can let that note go for several reasons: it's not two points in a row anymore and he's latched onto another point, or rather its latched onto him like a particularly troublesome burr he brushed up against. And that's really all it was, a minute action and a brief hum between his lips.

He opens his mouth to deny it and it digs deeper. He takes a breath and he can feel it there too, a tightness in his chest that somehow feels familiar. There are so many things he's kept to himself here and in the past, even in the future (though the reasons will be different then), and here it should be much the same. Opening his mouth is simply another way of trying to dislodge what's now stuck in his core.

His words are delicate, thin and transparent like crepe paper. ]

It was like that for me too. It was the only nice thing she ever... [ A pause, a breath; the dam can't break just yet. ]

How long ago?