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

First Puzzle Found

[worldkeys]

[ The library itself is perfectly normal. However, Rei will notice that the stained glass windows all depict her. There are six in total, but only one of them seems to accurately depict her as she truly is--the rest are all lies. The others show her in various situations. One displays her in a wheelchair. Another displays her kissing the back of a hand reaching in from off the side of the image, a gentle but genuine smile on her face. Yet another displays her sitting in a coffee shop with some unknown figure with a rabbit's head. Yet another displays her standing over a rabbit-headed figure, with her clothes and the knife both soaked in blood. A fifth displays her just barely hiding a blue rabbit behind her back, with a speech bubble saying that the rabbit is red. The final stained glass window shows her hanging off of someone with a rabbit head as if they're lovers. Many of the stained glass windows have random crosses, wolves and rabbits across them as decoration. She will find that she can tell everyone except Ankh which one is accurate and which ones are lies. She--and anyone else who knows--won't even be able to point to the correct one or mimic it in drawing in Ankh's presence. ]

[dolosa]

[ SNICKERS ]

So this is this world's game? How interesting. I wonder which one it is...

[notsogreedy]

[He makes his way to the library, pausing as he enters to survey the room. His eyes scan the stained glass, then flick over to Rei.]

They're all you. Why?

[He barely knows anyone here so there must be some trick to this. If this is his heart, then things relating to people he doesn't care about at all don't belong.]

[dolosa]

[ She can't help but shrug. ]

Perhaps this is one of their games. "Find the real Hazama Rei" -- or something like that. I can't tell the answer, unfortunately, so you'll have to make a guess based on what you know.

[notsogreedy]

So only one is real, then?

[He looks at them again. He barely knows anything about these people other than who's likely to be violent, so how is he supposed to figure that out? And what is he supposed to do with it once he does?

His gaze turns back to Rei, and there's a moment's silence, before he takes a step closer and reaches out to grab her chin threateningly.]

You know, don't you? So what do you mean, you can't tell?

[dolosa]

Exactly. I know the answer, but it's a secret.

[ Perhaps she should expropriate. ]

It seems that I just outright can't. Like if I try saying that [ she's speaking but no words are coming out; it's just utter silence ] -- well, you see what I mean, right? It seems that the rules for this game is that I can't show you the answer. But you might be able to rule out several of them out immediately, probably.

[notsogreedy]

[The illustration is clear enough, and he lets go with some frustration.]

Tch.

[He glances up at the windows again, and a couple seem obvious. She's not in a wheelchair, and she didn't want to kill anyone herself in the last heart, so he doubts she murdered the rabbit. Outside of that, he doesn't have much to go on.]

What's with all these rabbits, anyway?

[dolosa]

It's probably in reference to a game I used to play -- Rabbit Doubt. Or the plush rabbit doll that is the only thing left from my parents. They're my favorite animal.

[ Well, at least she's allowed to give hints, just as long as she doesn't tell him te answer outright. ]

[notsogreedy]

Rabbit Doubt?

[dolosa]

Essentially a game of mafia, if you've heard of that. It's a mobile game in my home world where there is a wolf in rabbit's clothing. They kill one of the rabbits at night, and in the morning, you have to guess who the wolf was. If you're right, the rabbits win. If you're wrong, the wolf wins. The end.

[frozentear]

[So there she is, in her own room. Sebastian approaches and holds out a pen to her.]

Mark the true window while Ankh is out of the room. It'll make getting out of here easier.

[dolosa]

I'll pass. "Easier" doesn't necessarily mean fun. It's a game after all -- giving the answer like that is cheating, don't you think?

[frozentear]

[Shrug. He lowers the hand holding the pen.]

I'd say the point of the game is figuring out how to win it. But you want to watch him guess?

[dolosa]

There are other ways to figure out how to win than just outright giving the answer. It isn't as if I haven't given hints.

[frozentear]

...So you're having him play two games, then. One with the heart, and one with you.

[dolosa]

It doesn't change much, though, does it? I'm not tricking him or confusing him or lying to him.

[frozentear]

[Sigh.]

Well, that's true enough. Have fun?

Re: First Puzzle Found

[notsogreedy]

[Ankh returns to this room once Sebastian has finished talking to everyone, and he's seen all the rooms and knows which windows have been marked. It doesn't surprise him that Rei has refused to mark anything. It also doesn't matter. He's sure he knows which one is the right answer. He picks up a book and hurls it at the window showing Rei kissing a hand.]

Puzzle: Solved

[worldkeys]

[ The glass shatters easily. At the same moment, Rei herself will shatter. Another medal will be dropped where she was, and another chunk of memory will be returned to Ankh. As well, he will find he can no longer taste anything. A second light on the lock will brighten. Rei will awaken in the hub to a very annoyed Rabbit who will usher her back into the World. ]

Re: Puzzle: Solved

[notsogreedy]

[Ankh is entirely unsurprised this time as Rei shatters, and he immediately moves toward where the medal fell... and then pauses before picking it up. That was when everything happened last time, wasn't it? Presumably he needs to pick all these up in order to get the lock open, but maybe he can avoid losing anything else before he gets the windows open. He stands there looking at the medal on the floor for a moment, then without touching it, turns to leave the room and find Sebastian again.]

[frozentear]

Fine, fine. [-Is muttered as Sebastian enters the room. Why can't Ankh pick up a medal himself? Does it do something weird? He wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. Going over to the medal, he picks it up. Hmm, it's kind of pretty? He holds it up to the light coming through the windows, turning it to examine it.]

[notsogreedy]

[Yes, it does something weird. But probably not to Sebastian-- or maybe it really would take the senses of whoever touched it. That would be convenient... but Ankh knows better than to assume that would be the case. It seems like Sebastian is able to pick it up, at least. So far so good.

Until a split second later, the image of Eiji having transformed fully into a Greeed is all too vivid in his mind, and when he comes back to reality, there's no taste in his mouth. His eyes go wide for a moment and he clenches a fist, but that's as much reaction as he'll show.]

[frozentear]

[Sebastian was facing the wrong way to notice that reaction, so as far as he knows nothing has changed. He turns and holds the medal out towards Ankh.]

Here.

[notsogreedy]

[He just looks at the medal, almost wary. He had been planning on having Sebastian collect them all, but now it doesn't seem to matter who's holding them. So after a moment, he reaches out and snatches the Hawk medal from Sebastian's hand, then turns to go back out the door.]

Keep following me.

[frozentear]

Why do you need me to pick them up for you, anyway?

[He will follow, though.]