Be brave enough to burn

[notsogreedy]

Who: All the Alices (and Ankh, his name is Ankh)
What: Just a mysterious castle built on top of a restaurant. What could possibly go wrong?
Where: World Two – Wings to the Sky
Warnings: Who even knows? Will update as necessary.



Ankh wakes up at the edge of the water, his arm draped over a rock and his face cushioned by a bed of sand and seaweed as the edges of waves wash over his body. The first thing he notices upon waking is that it's uncomfortable. The second, upon lifting his head and starting to pull himself out of the water is that it's familiar. Awareness dawning, he scrambles to his feet and looks around wide-eyed half expecting Eiji to be there somewhere. Of course he isn't.

But this... this is his last memory. For a moment he wonders if somehow this whole thing came to an end and he wound up back home, but that's wishful thinking. No, this is just his world. His heart, as the guides like to call it. It's only more obvious that this isn't real as he scans the horizon and finds Cous Coussier where it shouldn't be. And then on top of it... that's-

His eyes widen, and then narrow. He's not sure what to expect out of this other than nothing good.

But, after wringing the water out of his clothes as best he can, he makes his way to the restaurant and curiously to the freezer, where he finds the ice pops he expects to be there. Pulling one out, he gives it a skeptical look for a moment—does he dare assume it's really the same or even safe to eat?--but ultimately pops it into his mouth and discovers it tastes exactly like he expects. That much is something he can appreciate. But as for the rest of this...

With popsicle in hand, he continues exploring.

Comments

[mearry]

[ Well, there's no doubt about whose world it is now. He'll be chuckling quietly as Ankh walks away. ]

[mearry]

[ With his hand in his pockets, he points to the girl with the short brown hair. ] Her name is B-ko. She's one of the most popular girls in my school-- she's smart and pretty enough to do so. She's an amazing actress; you wouldn't believe her true nature unless you saw it herself.

[ He chuckles quietly, as if making fun of her...and he is. In fact, C-ta feels some sort of resentment while he talks about her, as if she he had done something to him. However, whatever she's done, he can't remember.

Then, he turns towards the other girl, and his smile turns empty. ] She's D-ne. Uhm...I don't really know much about her, actually. [ He does. He knows a lot about her, but he's not going to say anything. ] She's quiet and has a pessimistic air to her, but you could always see her with B-ko. She's like her little lap dog.

[zinit]

Ah. Uh. Alright, so that's a thing.

Qilby's hit with a flash of embarrassment - secondhand or not, he's not sure, but he's never been too comfortable with displays like this - before the humor of it hits him, and he's left laughing with his forehead in his hand.

"If your lover's underwear are that important to you, aah..." He's not quite saying it to Ankh, but rather to the air around him.

Fourth Puzzle Found

[worldkeys]

[ When Otoha enters the armory, it's exactly what you'd expect out of a medieval castle's weaponry, various swords, maces, and the like inside it. Aside from that, there are four stained glass windows depicting Otoha himself. A theme of various buildings, strange eye-shaped amulets, and being on the tops of tall skyscrapers is omnipresent. The first window depicts him with a girl, sword in hand, covered in blood. Her corpse is obvious and decaying. The cityscape around the two of them is destroyed. The second window shows him and another man running from a destroyed Shinjuku, flames spreading throughout the city, neither of them looking overly bothered. The third window shows Otoha and various yokai mobbing several obviously weak humans, with little regard or care for their safety. In the image, he is smiling. The final window depicts Otoha with the girl from first window again, although, this time, the two of them are sitting atop a building at night time, looking at the city's lights together, and both smiling.

He will find that he can tell everyone except Ankh which window is accurate and which ones are not. He won't even be able to point to the correct one or mimic it in drawing in Ankh's presence, nor will anyone else who knows. ]

Fifth Puzzle Found

[worldkeys]

[ When Qilby steps inside the office, he will notice that it is mostly normal, if a bit modernized for being in an old castle. There is a large grand piano, as well as a station to... make cakes inside it. There is also a gramophone on a table near some chairs, that... only plays the happy birthday song. It isn't playing when he enters, at least, not at first. ... But aside from that... normality, there are five stained glass windows that all depict Qilby. Only one of them is accurate to who he truly is, however.

Nearly all the windows seem to carry some sort of theme of greenery or technology and test tubes in the background, as well as space being featured in some form, either in monitors or as the 'sky'. The first window depicts Qilby standing over a dragon's corpse, although he doesn't look too broken up about it. He appears to be walking away from it in this picture, and smiling. There is blood on his clothes, making it noticable that, perhaps, he may have been involved in the dragon's death. The second window depicts him sitting alone on a hillside surrounded by lush greenery and various flowers. He is playing some manner of board game by himself, and seems to be thoroughly enjoying the lack of company. The third one displays him talking with an older figure's silhouette and shrugging. The figure stands next to a vacant throne, and Qilby appears to be facing away from it. Yet another window displays Qilby by himself, surrounded by the hands of many others similar to his own. The background is filled with flames and destruction, the greenery and technology present in other backgrounds now destroyed. The hands are all an arm's length away from him. The sky shows not blue, but the cosmos itself. In his hands is a cube-shaped object. His eyes are shadowed, and he has a thin smile on his face. The final stained glass window depicts Qilby as a hologram-like projection, distorted and corrupting. The lab around it is decaying and falling apart, as if abandoned or purposefully left unkempt. Various test tubes are broken with fluid leaking out of them, and all sorts of sensitive equipment appears to be malfunctioning.

He will find that he can tell everyone except Ankh which window is accurate and which ones are not. He won't even be able to point to the correct one or mimic it in drawing in Ankh's presence, nor will anyone else who knows. ]

[notsogreedy]

Is this the second answer he's heard that he thinks deserves a punch in the gut? Why yes it is.

"He's not my lover." Thoroughly giving away whose heart this is if it isn't already obvious by now, but some people have already figured it out independently so it's not like he cares.

[zinit]

[This wasn't supposed to be his heart. It brings up thoughts of how their hearts might be connected while they're here; are they linked in some way?]

[But, looking at these, he can't seem to focus on that. He can only think of home (some home it was), of family (family that's forsaken him), of the Krosmoz. He thinks of how the Eliacube felt in his hand that first time, pulsing and alive, and how disturbing it is that he can't remember what came before.]

[(He remembers those few happy years spent on the Zinit, though. It'll have to do.)]

[The others: speaking to Chibi by his empty throne, a disturbing picture of him with the Eliacube (and isolated, of course), manolias on their homeworld, the labs he left in the Zinit... And yet his eyes keep wandering to the crafted image of Shinonome's corpse. He misses her more than anything, his sister, his other half--]

[And without thought, he finds himself stepping to that image, pressing his hand and then his forehead to it for a long moment. In a low voice, meant only for himself, he mutters:] Shinonome, sister, I'll be with you soon.

[zinit]

Don't punch this clearly defenseless old man in the gut! That'd be awful.

"Maybe not your lover now, but he's important to you in some way, clearly. Though I can't imagine--" He suppresses another burst of laughter. "Sorry, it's just... You understand."

(He's not sorry at all.)

[notsogreedy]

Ankh really doesn't care if it's awful or not, but he at least doesn't have the same history from the last heart here that he did with Sebastian. That said, laugh one more time and Qilby is definitely getting punched.

"He's my enemy." And he practically growls that. Not a lover. Not a friend. Not even an ally. Someone he was using for a while, who he underestimated, and who destroyed him. Or so he assumes. "I don't know what the hell his stupid underwear is doing here." Mocking him, clearly.

[notsogreedy]

[This earns a skeptical look.]

Is everything games where you're from?

[notsogreedy]

[He doesn't say anything back to that for a moment, just processing the information. He's not sure any of it helps, really. After a moment, his eyes fall on the rabbit in the one picture. Really, does everything around here have something to do with rabbits?]

What's the pink rabbit about?

[mearry]

[ Oh, he knows that one! His smile brightens again, and he begins talking: ]

It used to be mine. My parents bought it when I was young, but I gave it away to some...one...? [ Or maybe...he doesn't know the answer to this. C-ta once again feels troubled, trying to reach into a pool of memories that...he just can't find.

He gave that rabbit away, no? Didn't he? That rabbit is important to him, C-ta knows this, but he doesn't know why. Why has he forgotten about such a special thing? Why had he given it away? To who had he given it away?!

With eyes wide in shock, he stares at the stained glass, distraught. ] ....that thing stole my memories...

[dolosa]

Not everything is a game. Life doesn't work like that.

[notsogreedy]

They seem to be important to you, though.

[notsogreedy]

[He watches as C-ta's internal crisis is written all over his face. He makes a quiet sound that's half derisive, half amused.] You're only just now figuring out something's missing?

[He's seen enough here to guess by now that all of them lost something. His, at least, was obvious from the start.]

[dolosa]

Something I created would be important to me. As is the place I met Hajime.

[mearry]

Shut up. [ C-ta's voice is tight, as he does his best to try and control himself. ] Of course I knew that that...thing took something from me but--!!

[ But it was someone...someone like that. Someone important to him. How dare him, how dare him, how dare him--!! ]

I don't know. I can't help you.

[notsogreedy]

Is "real life Rabbit Doubt" what you meant before about being used to killing?

[notsogreedy]

[He just makes some vague sound of acknowledgement in reply. He's not likely to get any more useful information from C-ta, and the turmoil over whatever memories are missing really isn't his problem. Instead, he looks around the room for something to use to break a window. The thought seems reckless, and until now he's hesitated to act on any such thought, but by now, he's looked around the whole place and he doesn't think there are any other clues. Just windows and games about which one is right. Maybe there's some validity to the idea that something might be behind them.]

[dolosa]

I'm used to death and seeing people die. I've never actually murdered anyone with these two hands myself, I'm just an observer and ex-puppetmaster

[mearry]

[ Between his thoughts ( each one walking further into violent territories ), C-ta manages to glance over whatever Ankh is doing. He's not exactly interested, but there's a sense of urgency to get this stupid thing over with. The faster this finishes, the faster he can get his memories back, right?

He needs this to finish quickly. C-ta draws in a shaky breath, and steadies himself. ]

... I would never talk to B-ko willingly. She's too...too dangerous. Too popular. Just being around her makes you the target for any school rumor and I never want to deal with those.

[ And then...D-ne. He glares. ] D-ne doesn't like anyone that isn't B-ko. And we don't like each other either. I annoy her, or something like that. [ And she annoys him back, but he has to keep some things to himself, no?

He's going to kill that stupid cat when he gets the chance to. ]

[notsogreedy]

[Ankh listens to what he's saying, but doesn't respond. The words only confirm the guess he'd already made. It's obvious, isn't it? The window that caused that strong of a reaction would have to be the relevant one.

After a moment of searching, he finds a pair of metal cuffs that seem like they might have been chained to a wall at some point. They're heavy, but not so much that they're hard to carry. Perfect for breaking a window.

He moves closer, only hesitating a second to wonder whether this is really a good idea. It might not be, but he's already tried everything else he can think of that wasn't as drastic. There's no point in just waiting around for clues that aren't there.]

Let's see if there's anything behind here, then.

[He throws the cuffs at the window with the rabbit and the blood. He's not sure what to expect out of this. He only hopes it's something useful.]

Puzzle: Solved

[worldkeys]

[ The window shatters easily, although there is nothing behind it aside from outside. But in the same moment that the window shatters, so, too, does C-ta. As if the boy were made of glass, he breaks into pieces and then dust. On the ground, left from his remains, Ankh will find a medal. Along with this medal, a small chunk of Ankh's missing memories will return--and he will find that he no longer has a sense of touch. Meanwhile, one of the lights on the mysterious lock will light up.

C-ta will awaken in the hub moments later, aware he died a rather painless and sudden death, but none the worse for wear. The Rabbit will usher him back through the Door, complaining loudly, within moments. ]

[notsogreedy]

[Ankh's eyes widen as he he watches the window shatter in front of him and hears something else shatter off to his side. He whips around in time to see the pieces of C-ta fall to the ground. Interesting.

The medal immediately catches his attention, and he moves closer to find it's a Peacock core, clearly one of his. Also interesting. With the way this place had made him something more human, he couldn't tell whether he already had any of his medals or not. He leans down to pick it up, and as he does, he's struck with a sudden memory. He knows now that he wasn't immediately destroyed when his core was cracked, that he made his way through a forest bleeding out cell medals until he collapsed against a tree. When he comes back to reality, he looks at the medal in his hand... and realises he can't feel it there. There's no texture when he runs his thumb over it, like his hand has gone numb.

His eyes go wide and he throws the medal across the room, watching it bounce off the wall with a small clinking sound. He can see and hear fine, at least, but... but. He looks at his hand, clenching it into a fist, trying to feel where his fingernails scratch against his skin. Throwing away the medal didn't help at all. ...so this is how this is going to go, is it? Slowly, he goes and picks up the medal from where it landed on the ground, stashing it in a pocket, and then he makes his way back to the restaurant. He wants another popsicle.]

[notsogreedy]

[It says something about him, probably, that he doesn't seem especially bothered by any of this. If she wants to admit to leading people to their deaths, then he'll treat it with the same mild curiosity as everything else she's said.]

Why did you start it?