BETA ROUND 1 WEEK 4: RETURNING TO THE HUB

[worldkeys]

Who: The White Rabbit and the Alices.
What: Ken's World has concluded, and everyone is probably in awful shape. Surgeries sure are fun. As are vivisections!
Where: The World Hub.
Warnings: Probably talk of what went on, potentially violence knowing this lot. A lot of broken down people, maybe.

The White Rabbit seems exceptionally cheerful once they finally return, not at all the usual picture of impatience he tends to be.

"At last, we have only three World Keys left to get. His and his, and hers," he says, motioning to Lalli, a certain General, and Harley. "This is wonderful. Would that we could only be able to retrieve them at once... alas, we must continue as we have. A shame he ended up out here, but I see it served you well."

He nods to Sasuke.

"I am confident you all can retrieve the other three and return home."

He seems completely oblivious to the suffering you all have endured, it seems.

Comments

[miseris_socios]

Ken is in the Hub, staring off into space. His hands grip his Evoker, knuckles white from how tightly he's holding it, but he's not saying anything. Everyone saw. Everyone saw what had happened, everyone saw him acting like him... just what was that supposed to accomplish? Nothing, that's what. He'd hurt them, he'd reached into their bodies, and not just the other Alices but people he knew. People from Animus, and... and his own mother.

What kind of a person is he now? A horrible one, obviously. But he can't even bring himself to care. Is this what Apathy Syndrome was like from the other side? He blinks slowly, now-golden eyes unfocused, not caring about the thick black goop that's dripping off of him. It seems to disappear a few moments after it hits the ground, but if he could bring himself to care he'd be horrified.

... But he can't manage to do even that.

[apatheticguide]

The White Rabbit, on the contrary, has a pasty sort of smile on his face. He will observe Ken, watching curiously.

"Oh, dear. The Alices are beginning to dwindle. You will all have to hurry. ... Such apathy. I understand, hm..."

[miseris_socios]

He turns to look at the Rabbit, the corner of his mouth twitching. When he speaks, his voice is a little dry and raspy.

"You think this is funny, don't you?"

[apatheticguide]

"No," The White Rabbit replies, his smile dwindling. "I think it is tragic."

He places a hand to his chin.

"... I cannot do much. The World is affecting you. You must leave quickly, Alice. All of you are beginning to lose yourselves to The World. You. The one with two minds. You will all suffer if you remain here, you know. To be tortured by your own heart... it's grueling. That is why I cast mine aside years ago. Is apathy not better than experiencing pain and misery?"

[miseris_socios]

"... Maybe. But we..." They fought to try to leave behind apathy and despair, didn't they? In the Tower and at home... he'd struggled to keep hope alive. Isn't that what he'd promised to do? But here... he'd been shown just how futile it was. He had to keep others hoping, but that didn't mean the lesson stuck with him.

He had to keep the others moving. Whatever happened to him... this place was just going to make him start feeling worse and worse. "... They can push through it." As for him? He'd been trying to for years. Maybe he should just take on all of those things for other people, let them smile and be happy. He could deal with the unpleasant things.

[apatheticguide]

"Oh, Alice. For all your strength, you fail to see what you are turning into, do you not?"

... Rabbit finds this interesting. His good ear twitches, and his frown is firmly set back in place.

"Apathy is not so bad. You will become accustomed to it with time. If you want to stay here, I suppose I can take care of you. Unless you truly are going to go in like that?"

[miseris_socios]

"... Justice, not strength." The corner of his mouth twitches again, this time in amusement. Haha. Tarot jokes.

But there's more important things. "I'll... go with them. They've seen... what's in my Heart. I have a Persona. If there's things to fight... they'll need someone to help." It doesn't matter if he's like this. It just matters that he helps those who can't help themselves.

[apatheticguide]

... He pauses. Hmm. This is most inconvenient.

"Your form will cause problems... allow me to see how I can help."

He quiets for a moment. Nothing changes here, but... yes, in the Hearts. That is where his control is best.

"... While you are in there, perhaps, I will be able to issue a modicum of control. I have little power here without permission. ... It will not be as distracting, at least. A word of advice: there are only two paths left for all of you. Leaving, or never leaving. Time is of the essence."

[miseris_socios]

He goes quiet, letting Rabbit magic do whatever Rabbit magic does.

"Of course. We'll... get through these." His just took a while, because of course it did. He's not surprised. He tries to drag his feelings up, tries to pull them out from the muck of apathy that seems to have grown around them, and stares at the Rabbit.

"Why were we brought here in the first place? Why us?"

[apatheticguide]

"... You want to know why you are all here? Because, frankly, you chased a Cat. A terrible, disgusting, awful Cat that should be put down for what he does, but so it goes."

That is the short answer. Now for the longer one.

"The long answer is that this World seeks out those who are... abnormal, in some fashion. Ill, others might say. Look around you. Out of all the Hearts you have been in, can you say anyone here has been entirely well mentally? ... Well. Perhaps that has something to do with it. The World wants something like itself. It likes to build the sort of vistas of these people. Normally its chaos would be prevented, but... you know. My keys. He stole them."

[miseris_socios]

"The world's alive in some way... or sentient... ugh." Yes, that is a problem. "Will it keep doing this once we're gone?"

There has to be a way to stop it... since it sounds like there's been Alices before. If he can focus on that...

[apatheticguide]

"... That depends on if you can return my Keys to me, so I can go back to taking a nap for a few hundred years. This World was borne of people's Hearts. It cannot be shut down entirely. Only protected from others."

He's a lazy Rabbit. A very, very lazy Rabbit. And he's tired. Tired of all your collective silliness.

[miseris_socios]

"Why not?" There's probably a good reason, but he wants to hear it.

[apatheticguide]

"Our God resides here. We reside here. Our job is to protect people from this place. Or... it SHOULD be, but that Cat..."

He trails off. No, he won't go off on a rant, but it seems like he's cursing and muttering under his breath for a spell before he continues.

"... If it could be shut down, do you not think we would have already done that? ... Aside from which, this place's existence... well. Between dreams and reality, Alice. What do you think? As long as humans dream, it will be here. ... Naturally, there are rules in place. That is why there is little I can do to help you."

... Humans won't stop dreaming. That's not a thing you can do.

[miseris_socios]

Between dreams and reality... wait. "This better not have anything to do with that Philemon guy some of the others mentioned." Seriously, he's done with Persona-focused stuff for now. He doesn't need it popping up again.

"And maybe... I don't know. Some things are tricky to shut down. ... And that Cat needs a personality adjustment."

[apatheticguide]

"Ah... the Jungian concept? No, no. That is not our God, do not worry."

That... does cause a rare smile to sprout on his face, albeit briefly. He can't help but be amused, knowing what he knows.

"Of course he does. But little can be done. I tore his face off, but even that was not enough, alas. Perhaps I shall gut him from the inside out and make a decoration out of him. He would be far more useful, then."

[miseris_socios]

"Something like that, I think? I never met him."

Hm... well. That's... one way to stop him. "If we can come back after dying here then maybe he can, too. So I doubt that would stop him."

[worldkeys]

"Alas... I wish to, but there is little I can do to that filthy mongrel."

That is all he has to say on the matter of the Cheshire Cat. It's clear they don't get along.