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

[dolosa]

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? ]

[mearry]

[ 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? ]

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...

Second Puzzle Found

[worldkeys]

[ The dungeons are largely just lined with empty and barren cells down each side of the room. However, on each end of the room is two stained glass windows each, although the ones by the door cannot be seen on the outside of the room. Each stained glass window depicts C-ta. One depicts him holding onto a pink rabbit and smiling while in his other hand is a box cutter dripping blood. Another depicts him hanging off of a girl as if they're best friends. The third displays another girl as they peacefully have lunch together, although it's hard to tell if this is just platonic or romantic. The final one depicts him happily surrounded by many people, as if this is something he is content with. Like Rei, he will be able to point out which is the window displaying the true him to anyone who isn't Ankh and so long as Ankh is not in the room. Otherwise, should Ankh be present, he will find it impossible to tell him which one is correct. ]

Because new silly information

[notsogreedy]

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?"

[dolosa]

Okay that's pretty hilarious.

[ And she's been through strip searches. Don't mind that she's laughing here... ]

[mearry]

[ Immediately, C-ta is able to recognize the two girls faces, a tinge of irritation bubbling at the pit of his stomach. But along that, is a strange feeling of dread that he's not sure what to do with.

It's all so familiar...but only one of them makes his heart skip a beat, leaving his mouth dry. He can't help but stand still as a statue, eyes wide open. ]

What...what do I do with this?

[mearry]

Wow. [ C-ta is definitely snickering quietly. ] I believe that this is what some people would call a fixation.

[notsogreedy]

It is one, but not mine.

[The next words are under his breath.]

What are his stupid pants doing here?

[notsogreedy]

It's disgusting.

[He doesn't really want to be reminded of Eiji at all, much less his ridiculous underwear obsession.]

[dolosa]

It could be worse, you know. There could be blood all over them.

[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.]

[notsogreedy]

[Another room, and again he's found the person who's on the windows also looking at them. Unfortunately, he seems confused, and that means he's unlikely to be any help.]

I was hoping you could tell me that.

[mearry]

[ He may not have heard that, but C-ta can still come up with his own conclusions quite splendidly. ]

Ah, then I suppose we will have to find out whose world this is. I'm sure they'll want to answer us.

[notsogreedy]

[Who's blood? Eiji's? In some deeply hidden part of him, he finds that a disturbing thought, but he squashes that feeling quickly. The last time he saw Eiji, they were trying to kill each other. As far as he can tell, Eiji succeeded, and now Ankh is here being forced to stare at his underwear. His expression gets a dark tinge.]

I might prefer it that way.

[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.

[frozentear]

After looking through the rest of the building... there's only one person left out of the windows, just like how the only person without a clock for a heart in the last heart was Alice. It seems like a pretty safe guess that this heart belongs to Ankh.

"...I see. So this is what your heart is like."

...There are worse things to say to someone who basically admitted he'd shoot you again, right?

[notsogreedy]

He's pulled from staring wide-eyed in disgust by the sound of someone else approaching and making... that comment. Of course Sebastian had to come in here and get the wrong idea. And you know what? Ankh may not have been so violent in that last heart, but he is absolutely not opposed to punching someone in the gut over an insult. Enjoy the consequences of your annoyingness, Sebastian. Ankh has a pretty solid punch.

"I didn't ask for this."

[notsogreedy]

[Ankh glances at him, frustrated. He can't deny that this is his own world, but he's not sure he wants to advertise it, or to explain what the stupid underwear is about.]

Tch.

[And with that, he's actually just going to walk away.]

[mearry]

[ Well, Ankh, it seems that it's two confused guys looking at windows.

C-ta looks at him, and then back to the stained glass, but now...something is off. No, everything is off. Everything seems so realistic now, so possible. The feelings of dread and disgust are still there, but now he can't pinpoint them to any of the artworks.

Great. ] I...I don't really know. Could something be behind one of these?

[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?

[frozentear]

Well, that's a yes. A very painful yes. Sebastian doubles over, the air knocked out of him. He probably deserved that. On the other hand, that really is an amazing amount of framed colorful underwear up on display. Once he recovers, he backs out of Ankh's reach, over to near the back door of the castle.

"None of us asked for this, but here we are."

[frozentear]

[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?]

[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.