seaofhearts | Be brave enough to burn

Be brave enough to burn

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.

Threaded | Flat

This is a lot more what I'm used to.

[ In regards to the scenery, at least. To Rei, it's a rather nice change of pace in all honestly, and it makes her feel a bit more at ease. But since there doesn't seem to be any strange feelings, she might as well investigate on her own, heels clicking as she decides to head towards the library. Anything out of place to see here at first glance? ]

[ It's already starting off bad for C-ta, who woke up face flat and with a mouth full of sand. His mouth still tastes of sand and salt as he makes his way to the strangely placed castle. ]

There's ought to be something interesting around here...isn't that always the case with castles?

[ He, like the dumb, curious teenager he is, will head downstairs and into dungeon. Knock knock, no one's there and the door is open, so he'll be trying to check that out. What's in there? ]

The restaurant portion of the building is as he remembers it, complete with a bizarre theme to the decorations for the day. What isn't so normal is... well, the theme. He's used to Chiyoko coming up with anything from history or fantasy or other countries, but this...

Right now, there is underwear all over the walls. Extemely colorful, glaringly bright underwear. Hung up in neat frames on proud display. Ankh recognises it. In fact, it's all so familiar, it's disgusting. What is Eiji's underwear doing in something that's supposed to be his heart?

"What the hell?"

[From the outside, the castle is an impressive size. It's not quite as big on the inside, but it's still amazing. He's never been inside a real castle before. He pushes open the door to what turns out to be a bedroom. What does he find?]

[Otoha grunts as he picks himself up off the sand. His muscles are sore... like he was lying there for a while. Annoying. Whatever. His sword is still there, so he heads up to... a restaurant?]

[Whatever. Food is food. He glances up at the... decorations... and shrugs. Not his problem. He's seen weirder fetishes. He wanders around for a bit before coming to the door. He opens it, and steps inside.]

[... A castle? Interesting. He wanders around a bit before finding the Armory, gazing up at the stained glass windows.]

[A beach... Alright, he can handle this. (Or, well, he'd be a lot better at handling this if there weren't sand in his beard.) Unfortunately, there's no time to go exploring the native flora and fauna; he's got to find out what kind of puzzles this heart has for him.]

[So through the restaurant he goes, then up to the castle. (What a weird layout, he thinks, ignoring that the Zinit had an even weirder layout.) He picks a door at random, opens it, and finds:]

An office... [But it's the windows that get his attention.]

[ You know, at least this death was much less painful than the other one. It all happened in the blink of an eye-- one moment he was with Ankh ( or whatever his name is ) and the other, he was laying on his back at the Hub.

The desire to not move is strong in him. Realization of his lost memories hits him once more like a ton of bricks, and he feels unsure, as if he's walking on a thin line. The hollowness in C-ta heart feels painful-- emptiness is not a nice feeling. There was no other way around it. The disappearance of the memories of that person is the reason for this, like a pebble in his shoe.

Besides emptiness, the anger boiling inside his stomach has only continued to grow. If it wasn't for that stupid Cat...!!

Bringing himself up into a sitting position, C-ta stays silent, staring at the floor intently. He'll be fine soon. Maybe. ]

[After he and Sebastian had come up with a plan, and Sebastian had left to go inform everyone else, Ankh found himself with very little to be doing for a while. In fact, he quickly decided that if no one can say anything while he's around that he should avoid all the windows as much as possible until Sebastian comes to find him again.

So for now, he's in the kitchen, eating another popsicle. How many is that at this point? But he doesn't plan on stopping. He was always addicted to these things, and he likely won't see another one until he gets home. If he gets home. If home is even the right word.

This isn't a terrible substitute, he realises. For a moment at least, he considers the possibility that maybe there's no need to leave. No reason to solve the puzzles he dreads the results of or to ever get through that locked gate and into someone else's personal hell. He could stay here. Cous Coussier, with all the food, and even some people around to watch and to toy with. They aren't the ones he's used to, but maybe that's a good thing. He can't go back to them, anyway. They're the ones who wanted him gone, despite all their outward friendliness.

But he can't help thinking about them, or this place, or the last time he was there. Stupidly sentimental, but he had missed it. And then there was Hina, almost concerned, almost wanting him to stay. He'd asked her... and of course she said no. She always had her brother first in mind. How could have even for one second have thought...? (He almost feels the now contextless memory of his core shattering. If she had just said yes...)

He doesn't notice until he hears the snap and looks down that his fist has clenched hard enough to break the empty popsicle stick in his hand. He glares at it for a second, then throws the broken stick to the other side of the room. So now he's stuck here, where he shouldn't even exist, trapped in a memory without the ability to feel anything. And he was thinking about staying like this? What a joke. Stupidly sentimental, even now.

With a scowl, he goes and grabs yet another popsicle out of the freezer and leans against the counter with it. He pulls the Peacock medal from his pocket and stares at it while he licks at the ice pop. Five more of these, and he can be done with this place. What the hell's taking Sebastian so long?]

[ Within the chapel are six stained glass windows, all depicting Alice Liddell. She is performing various tasks in them, all with varying clock and heart motifs. In the first, she is pulling another woman's hair while laughing cruelly. In the second, she's openly flirting with a man while the same woman looks on. In the third, she's walking over the broken clocks littering the ground of the now-familiar Land of Clover. In the fourth, she's crying over a grave while a man in an obnoxiously plaid jacket turns her head, as if trying to distract her. In a fifth, she's quietly standing by while two people with guns fight, as if she refuses to do anything or doesn't care. In the sixth, she sits alone under a tree, seeming content with this turn of events. Like all the others, the truth cannot be spoken or otherwise communicated in Ankh's presence. ]

Edited 2016-08-02 01:02 (UTC)

[ Well, that was quite entertaining. Of course, now that coming back from the dead a second time is said and done, she's going to be checking the fridge for some ingredients and start cooking some food. Just because it's a dream doesn't mean she can't get some food.

She's actually a rather decent cook, so don't worry -- it's not poisoned. (Unless you want it to be.) ]

[ When Ankh arrives up the spiral staircase, it will be in a familiar room. One in which he was betrayed by a King and stabbed in the back. But the stained glass here is different than he remembers. It depicts the people of his memories, often in horrifying situations. There's no way to tell if any of this is real or has happened since his arrival here. The Cat is standing there, all casual as he watches him with a smirk. ]

Hey... Alice.

Threaded | Flat

no subject

no subject

Because new silly information

no subject

no subject