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Realistic or Modern Zodiac Arc 1: Rise of a General

Dough and Terra’s Collab

Gravity’s a-door-ing fan
​

Ray didn’t dream much, and he had never had something this lucid before...so waking up on a pillar above an endless abyss with some weird voice preaching at him about choice was...weird. To say the least. Was this because of what The professor had said earlier? Arlindou had talked about making decisions in his future, maybe this was some weird dream based response to that sorta thing. Ray glanced back and forth between the cottage and the mysterious floating door. These were his choices? Not a lot to go off on really. But at the end of the day this was just a dream right? Ray temporarily entertained the prospect of just trying to wake himself up or falling off the pillar intentionally, jesus fall style. That said, he’d never gotten to experience a dream like this before, and the curiosity ate at him. He’d play along for now...what could happen? Maybe it’d be fun.


So which door to take? Well, the cottage was certainly warmer and more enticing...but Ray had had a lot of safe options lately, everyone had been telling him he needed to make choices. His parents were always on about it, and even the professor and some disembodied voice told him he had to make a call. The words he heard earlier that day came back to him.


There’s something in your life you do feel ready for, which is happening right now, but there’s something else behind it. It’s not important yet but could catch you unaware if you’re focussing too much elsewhere.”


Well...if he focused too much on the obvious, maybe there was more to the floating door than was apparent? He glanced over at the cottage as if to second guess himself before setting a determined smile on his face. Taking a deep breath, he collected his energy and jumped, arms outstretched as he tried to move through the open door. “I won’t be afraid of the unknown!” He cried as he jumped, trying to fight back his nervousness at the abyss below.

~~~

As soon as Ray’s fingers touched the door he was enveloped in a bright light. All feeling of momentum disappeared as did the wooden surface beneath his fingertips. After a few moments the light cleared and he could see again. The first thing that struck him was the intense cold. His feet were buried in a foot of snow. An icy wind blew over him bringing more snowflakes with it. The ground rose sharply before him and dropped off behind. He was now on the side of a mountain.


Following the curve of the mountain to the right was a thin ledge. At its end was a circular platform upon which two ladders waited. One rose up into the sky, suspended by nothing, until it reached the clouds above and disappeared. Only the top of the other was visible as it descended directly into the ground. A reddish glow was reflected off the ice coated stone around it.


There was a rumble from above as the mountain seemed to shift. The snow that had been happily clinging to its side just moments earlier was now in motion, a deadly avalanche that would reach him soon unless he reached the ladders.

~~~

Ray grit his clattering teeth together as soon as he saw the avalanche coming. That didn’t leave much time to question how he’d gotten on a mountain side had it? Still. He was in his element. He might be freezing to death, but slowly freezing was a sensation he was used to. This was just...faster is all. Pushing through the cold that rattled him down to his bones, he did his best to dash through the snow towards the ladders. Adrenaline pumped through his veins, fighting off the chill that was flowing through his bones and creating a weird hot and cold sensation at the same time. He had to get the ladders, and he needed time. Climbing or descending wasn't’ going to be fast, and he needed every precious second to get as far away from the avalanche as he could, he remembered the videos in class back in high school...the last thing he could afford to do was get caught by the full force of this thing in the open. He made it to the ladders quickly, and although he instinctively grabbed the one that would take him up and above the snowy death. He still looked down, hoping for some solution that would help him out. He couldn’t neglect every option.

~~~

Down the hole he could see that the bottom disappeared into darkness before the ladder ended. Despite that a warmth radiated upwards from the hole, the red glow was clearly from the heat.

~~~

Ray froze as he tried to decide between climbing up above or down below to try and outrun the avalanche. Most of those videos hadn’t had ladders as his only option. He could climb up and try and get on top of it, but there was no way he was going to be able to make it all the way to the top, and he doubted even dream clouds would be able to support his weight. That meant if he went up, he’d just have a long fall back down into the snow...and while he’d be on top of the avalanche, rampaging piles of snow tended to be difficult to stay on top of, even if he did his best to swim through it. That was a...tough option, but if he went down the ladder, there was a chance some of the heat would help slow down the snow...this was a dream, that’s how it worked right? Knowing he was running out of time, he took the faster option- it was always easier to go down a ladder instead of up one, and who’s saying the up one would even take his weight?- Grabbing the ladder that slid into the hole, Ray let out a defiant yell and starting sliding down into the darkness below.

~~~

The ladder down was as long as it had looked, and this time there was no nice light to cut his journey short. Fortunately the ladder’s surface was smooth and didn’t burn or splinter his hands as he rode it down. The only difference during the journey was the gradually rising temperature the further he went down, until he would be sweating profusely from the over forty degree heat.


At long last, after more than five minutes of sliding, he arrived at the base. It came suddenly, as his feet hit the ground the moment he emerged from the tunnel. It was as if he’d appeared in hell. He was standing on a small circular island surrounded by lava. A vast cavern extended around him supported by the occasional pillar. The lake of molten rock bubbled and spat in the background. Worse, the moment he had touched down on the island it began to shrink as the lake devoured it. There were other islands around him, but none were close enough to jump too.


HIs only salvation lay in the lever in the centre of the island. It was currently in the middle, but could be pulled to the left or the right. In front of the island were two metal cages attached to a see saw. Currently they were perfectly balanced but a chain was attached to each end and reached up to the ceiling.


In the left hand cage was his father, who stood stoically in the centre, trying to show no emotions.


In the right hand cage was … himself. A little older, a little bulkier, but undeniably it was Ray.


The voice appeared once more. “Now choose.”

~~~

Ray wiped away beads of sweat from his forehead as he walked towards the lever, sweating from more than just the oppressive heat of the molten rock. What kind of twisted dream choice was this? He loved his father dearly, and killing his older self just seemed...impossible. How the hell was he supposed to choose this? He looked on in dismay, confusion and pain echoing on his face. This was no choice, just some twisted death game. Ray’s fists balled in anger. Tears welling in his eyes. His father simply smiled sadly. “It’s okay son.” He said with the expression of a man trying to hide his fears. “I’ve...lived a long life, you have so much longer to go. It’s just simple math, just like we always taught you do to. There’s nothing to worry about.”


“No!” Cried Ray, backing away from the Lava which was slowly enveloping the island. He stared in confusion before turning his gaze to his older self, which only gazed inquisitively back at him, silent, judging. Ray could handle doors, handle avalanches...but choosing who to die? What kinda fucked up dream is this?


Wait.


A dream.


Ray’s emotions swelled into anger. Just what was this disembodied dream voice trying to do anyway? All these choices. The world didn’t need to be black and white, and sure sometimes things ended up like that, but this wasn’t the real world...this was a dream.


His dream.


His world.


His choice.

“I CHOOSE FOR NOBODY TO DIE.” Ray declared defiantly, roaring up at the magma. “THIS IS NOT HOW THINGS HAVE TO BE. NOT WHILE I HAVE THE POWER TO CHANGE IT.”

~~~

The world froze. The island stopped shrinking. Goblets of lava hung in the air. His father and doppleganger locked in position. Only Ray could move.


“But what if you can’t?” the voice asked. It sounded like a young, adolescent male’s. “Not every world is a dream. Not every action is possible. Sometimes the choice not to make a choice is worse than anything else. What happens when you find yourself on the precipice with nowhere else left to turn, with no good path ahead of you? What happens when your power is not enough?”

~~~

Ray hadn’t been expecting a response, so the world freezing shocked him at first, the voice’s question he took seriously, and so thought for a moment before responding. “I know I’m not strong.” He started off with. “I can't’ solve every problem that I come across with some amazing third option, but I’ll be damned if I don't’ at least try. If I find myself on the precipice with nowhere else to turn, I’ll fight my damndest like a cornered rat. I will not go gentle into the good night, and I will rage against the dying light!” References to Dylan Thomas aside, Ray’s voice suddenly became lower, more solem. “And I know that one day...that still won’t work. Nobody can do it alone.” He seemed to pause for a long time, but before the voice could comment, he spoke again. “But that’s...that’s what others are for. Working together gives you more options, more angles. When I’m standing on that precipice with nowhere else to turn, I’ll have people standing beside me, helping pull me up.” He smiled sardonically. “But I’m not a fool. That’s just dodging the question isn’t it? Sometimes...there’s just no right answer. I know the world ain't’ that easy. Lemme respond with a question for you disembodied voice, you seem to be talking a lot about choices and sacrifice, so you tell me. You seem so damn sure there’s a correct answer. You tell me what you’d do on that precipice? I can tell you for sure what I’d do though. I’d damn well try.”

~~~

There was silence for awhile after Ray spoke. When the voice returned there was a sadness in its voice. “No. You misunderstand me. I don’t know. That’s why I’m here. That’s why you’re here. That’s why … I need to see.”


There was a snapping sound as time returned, and the see-saw piece that had held the two cages together suddenly broke, leaving them only supported by the chains. And both chains began to slowly unwind, lowering both cages towards the lava. The island began to melt, twice as fast as before.


“Show me how you fight when you’re backed into a corner.”

~~~

Ray cursed under his breath, but he didn’t have time to debate anymore, his hand was being forced. Even if this was a dream, he couldn’t just let his future self or his father die. But what was the choice? His father was calling out to let him die, to save himself. He was pleading for his son to save his own life. Ray didn’t feel the panic from before, hearing the voice’s sadness had seemed to instill a sense of...determination in his voice. He played the situation out in any number of ways. A Gun aimed at his father, the only thing he could do would be leap in the way. Trying to save someone from a fire, smoke poisoning his lungs as he carried them out. Even giving food to someone in need if he was starving. Ray knew what he’d do in those situations...and that made things simplified in a way. He stepped forward, lava creeping at his heels, and grabbed the lever. “Leaving someone to die to save myself is like murder, and I’m not a murderer.” He heaved the lever left, towards his father. He’d save the man who gave him life, even if it cost him his future. Even if it cost him his self. “Dad.” He called out as his future self continued to plummet. “I love you.”

~~~

The cage with his future self in it plummeted towards the lava even as the one with his father locked in place. The metal base touched the lava. And then both figures disappeared. The empty cage plunged beneath the surface and disappeared, while the other continued to hang in the air. The island stopped disappearing, leaving just enough room for Ray to stand.


“I see. I understand your choice.” There was a pause. “Even though you chose what you had to, you didn’t choose because you had too.”


The world began to fall apart around him. Rocks fell from the ceiling. The pillars were shattered. Snow began to leak through the roof, turning the lava into stone where they met. The cavern began to disappear.

~~~

Ray did his best to dodge the falling rocks and call out questions, trying to get answers for what was going on, but silence seemed to be his only answer, and he quickly ran out of room to dodge. The last thing he remembered was a cry of pain as one of the boulders struck Ray’s head, sending him sprawling to the ground, and knocking him out cold.
 
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Skylar was no stranger to strange and scary dreams, but this one was stranger than most. The fact that she could recognize that fact for one. Usually everything made perfect sense, even while the waters rushed in through the lime jello or the toast soldiers got up and ran away on their golden crispy legs. The teeth dream was particularly sickening, when she woke up to remember it. But this was something different. Those words... they had appeared first, utterly disconnected from all that now surrounded her. 'Learn'. That meant that whoever had set this elaborate thing up, they had an agenda for her. That meant this wasn't just aimed at whoever was available, this was personal.

And (seeing her host) this was even stranger than she realized. She looked from the so-called demon thing to the exhibition and as she took in a myriad depictions of her at and beyond her worst a singing calm came over her. She went from painting to photograph, photograph to painting, a coloured catalogue of hatred of all things Skylar. Finally she came back to the curator, strode up to stand scarcely a foot in front of its nose and shot it a piercing blue look of scarcely suppressed anger. "And what's all this in aid of, Red Eyes? Some kind of art critique? A call for more self portraits?" Her voice dripped sarcasm. "I knew the selfie was seen as the lowest form of art, but some of these are delving to new lows."

She was not going to ask what she was supposed to 'learn'. She was not.

The curator turned to Skylar when she spoke, clearly able to hear her. It shuffled towards her and reached out with one hand towards her chest. No matter how she tried to dodge it the index finger would find its way unerringly to her heart, where it tapped just once. Immediately a hollow feeling appeared inside of her body, as if her organs had disappeared and left nothing behind.

The gallery was not well lit, the area existed in a musty gloom. Where the actual light came from was a mystery. But the entire area began to brighten. From the centre of her face in each painting golden light burst into life. The ones near her emerged first, and like a virus it spread throughout the entire building until every painting had its own light.

The curator withdrew its hand and returned to standing by silently, though its eye tracked her constantly.

In some circles, Skylar's evil eye was legendary and she unleashed its full force upon the curator as it approached. She didn't even try to dodge, and when its finger penetrated her chest she merely staggered as her body emptied out from the inside. Was this... not a dream then? Her sense of disbelief ebbed -along with all her other emotions - and she drifted in some kind of haze toward the nearest gold-cored image.

The image was unchanged. The painting was entirely different. The golden light seemed to be pulsing somehow; a rapid heartbeat that showed the fear the violet-haired girl no longer felt at her core. Her heartbeat. Did that mean... she stepped back, looked across at the gallery of matching golden pulses. Were they her now? Had Red Eyes done something that she wasn't even herself any more?

She sank to her knees and gave the curator a dull, muted look. "Give them back," she grated. "Give back my heart." She was a husk. Did that mean it wasn't just her emotions? Was her soul in danger as well?

The Curator merely tilted its head at her demands. Then it lifted its hand once more to indicate the paintings. There was a gurgling noise as two shadowy hands began to slide out of its surface. They were similar to the Curator's, but thicker, firmer, in appearance. Where the Curator's finger had passed through Skylar's body without incident, these new arms looked like they would collide with her body.

The first two arms fully emerged, prefect replicas of Skylar's own up to her shoulders, then flopped down, letting gravity take over. Just like the light the effect spread like a virus until every painting was sporting its own pair of arms.

Silence.

And then every arm sprang to life at once. Without any target in the immediate vicinity they raked the air wildly, grabbing at nothing, scratching at emptiness. If Skylar approached any of the paints they would make to grab and hold her, trapping her movement. The Curator's form began to shift, the smokey substance moving around rapidly within the clothes.

Skylar could feel something, as if the room itself was becoming impatient.

The violet-haired girl had begun to cry, and wiped a hand across her eyes. She still couldn't feel anything. But maybe that was just numbness, not a sign that her soul had been wrenched clean. Maybe she didn't have to accept that these paintings with their shadow-arms were the new her. Why was she giving up? She never gave up. She looked at the floppy waving arms with marked distaste, but nothing about any one of them cried out to her any more than any other. She rose to her feet, then gestured to the whole abhorrent lot of them and looked the curator in the eye defiantly.

"These things have nothing to do with me. I know what I am and I know what I am not, and I know that I haven't painted or photographed myself since I was seven!" She spat on the floor in the general direction of the nearest picture without letting her eyes leave its own. "You won't give me back my core? Fine. Then I'm taking me back."

She led with her left hand, taking quick steps toward the curator and trying to get a grip on some of its black substance in what ought to be its chest. If she got hold of anything she followed with her right in a sharp jab at its eyes. Otherwise both hands tightened into claws and she lunged for its throat.

At Skylar's defiant words she felt the impatience ebb slightly, but when she attacked the Curator it returned in full, if not greater. While Skylar's hands could grab the clothing the Curator wore there was nothing about its actual body she could touch. Her jab passed through the red eyes as if she'd punched the smoke above a fire. Its throat proved just as immaterial, the only things her hands would hit were each other.

"Fool." the word was hissed at her from everywhere in the same voice.

And then she felt something in her mind, a softer voice yet one with power behind it. I'm not you. it said.

The Curator lifted one of its ghostly arms and indicated the paintings and pictures once more.

For a long time Skylar simply locked eyes with the Curator-thing, her jaw iron and her face unyielding. Then... understanding, of a sort. "The portrait is not the woman. The mask is not the man. The book is not its cover." She looked around at the glowing golden pictures with new eyes. "I refused to choose from four hundred bad options, lashed out at you as the one who did this to me. But maybe I don't have to."

Releasing the Curator's clothes, she stepped over to one of the paintings - one that showed her with long and twisted black horns smothering another girl under a blanket. "Maybe the truths here are simple artifacts of a point of view." If you are ever going to help me, please do it now. She reached out and took hold of one of the groping hands and yanked, pulling the picture from the wall. She avoided the other hand with difficulty and drew the hand up to her mouth - but despite all her will to the contrary she seemed to be bound by human limitations and the hand grabbed her lower jaw painfully and began to shake her. Startled but not defeated, she took a firm grip further down the forearm and sank sharp white teeth into the hand with every intention of chewing and eating this thing. If there were truths here she had to accept about herself, she would do it one bite at a time. Even if it killed her.

Skylar's teeth sank into the shadowy arm. She managed to bite through its shadowy flesh and the chunk in her mouth dispersed into gas. But the wound had no effect on the arm, which thrashed just as wildly as before.

A hand grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the painting. The Curator, now fleshed out the same as the arms on the walls, stood beside her. It took its other hand and raised it to the golden light. Reaching out, its fingers passed into the painting through the golden area. When they returned, a small chunk of red meat came with them. Across the gallery the shadowy arms disappeared and the golden lights faded. From within each painting a similar chunk of meat fell out.

A bitter sense of failure filled the room. "No matter how ugly, how hideous, you must always look past it, and see what lies within. Everything is art."

The Curator dissolved into gas and disappeared.

The voice appeared in her mind once more. Collect your heart, and return to your world.
Skylar felt bruised, physically and emotionally. She didn't understand the rules of this place. She didn't understand what was expected of her, and no matter how she had floundered towards one "solution" or another, somehow she sensed she had only made matters worse.

She sat empty and alone in the Gallery of Madness until she felt ready to move. Then she crawled over to the nearest hunk of pulsing red meat and consumed it. She wasn't sure what damage had been done in its division and was reluctant to harm it more with her teeth. She hunted down and consumed each portion in turn, choking each down when it quivered in her throat.

That phrase echoed in her mind as she crawled around the floor, the lesson that at last she was learning. "No matter how ugly, how hideous, you must always look past it, and see what lies within. Everything is art." Everything is art. Everything is art. She had always prided herself on seeking out true art in the unlikeliest of places. Had she been blinding herself to whole worlds of art simply by limiting herself to that which was arbitrarily "good"? Had she been so hypocritical?

As she swallowed down the twelfth chunk of heart, she felt the organ at last begin to beat in her chest and passed out with a thought still echoing in her mind.

Everything was art.
 
“Mmm…?” Alixe stirred, “Sure, where are we goin…” But there was no-one. A sleepy eyebrow arched as she pushed herself up, palms against cold metal, I couldav sworn-- wait. Where was this?


The first thing it brought to Alixe’s lips was… a smile. Brilliant colors of so many shades, she saw as she scanned, it reminded her of a joyous book-- “Rrrr…” The smile pulled straight, a hard look locked her features. All hints of grogginess vanished. Her hand went immediately to her waist, but of course, her firearm wasn’t sitting in wait there. Those… are… she’d never seen anything like that. Not in reality, no. Fear blossomed only to be twisted in and quelled by years of training. Go up. She was already on the move before the thought finished. She needed the high ground. Gravity would have helped her descent downwards, as opposed to the snaking and squeezing the climb demanded of her, but it would have given the construct dogs too much of an advantage.


“Shit,” she breathed, feeling the heat now on the colorful pipes. Part of her would have cursed the dogs for fire was sure to damage such beautifully colored metal, but that part was a whisper, seated under her drive upwards.


They’re gaining, she assessed matter-o-factly. To her, it was a simple. Get to the door, or die. Oh, yes, she would fight. But… dogs on a frenzy, she’d seen what they could do. And fire, well. There was a reason why beasts feared flames. Someone had gone on and put those two things together. And I don’t even have my gun. Her eyes kept alert as her hands deftly pulled her higher.


The dogs reacted like their living counterparts. Three of them remained in the corners of a square that slowly closed in, forcing their prey into a corner. The fourth on the other hand, shot straight up, racing Alixce to the top. Being faster than her it soon caught up to her in height. But rather than close in the beast turned its attention to a nearby pipe. Metallic teeth bit straight through the casing. The dog then clamped its mouth around the opening and fire surged directly into the pipe. A pipe that was connected to one Alixce was currently holding on too. Within seconds the pipe was suddenly glowing red hot.


“Agh!” Alixce cried, instinctively pulling her hand away. One look showed it had been burned, to what degree she didn’t assess, couldn’t, that mutt was on her. Using the grip she had on separate pipes with her feet, she maneuvered just away from the glowing hot pipe, their mouths, they’re built for this place… wait. Were they defending it? That would make sense, this place was alien to her, how farfetched was it she was the intruder?


Grabbing a pipe with her off hand, she aimed, then hurled it between pipes at the metal dog. The revelation changed little. Get to the door… Luck meant the owner, or maybe some controls in there… Barring luck… But the construct gave her little choice. The plan now was to get up there and shut them out. For how long, with how hot they’d made the pipe in a matter of seconds, Alixce couldn’t be sure. But one crisis at a time.


The pipe flew true, but bounced harmlessly off the dog’s flat body. At the same time it appeared to anger the beast, who howled into the air, releasing a great burst of flame skyward, scorching the pipes above Alixce. And while she had been paused by the heat and throw, the other dogs had closed in to be dangerously close. The closest was even nipping at her feet, the heat of its mouth smouldering her shoe.


Alixce slammed her fist against a pipe, “Quit it, will ya!” she yelled, her face twisting in anger. It had even cut off her path! “Fine,” she spat, “If ya want to fi-- Ugh!” she drew her foot away, feeling the heat still there.


“Looks like things are a bit too hot for you here. Time to cool off.” It was the same voice that had awoken to her, that of a young man.


“You agai--...” Still, no body to accompany the voice.


The scalding pipes disappeared. The dogs were gone. She was underwater. Heavy pressure squeezed her from every side. A single mouthful of air remained in her lungs. The door above her had disappeared, replaced by a door that was now far below. One that was ringed by a trio of tiger sharks. The smallest of them noticed her first, and immediately broke off from the group. It swam straight for her, mouth opening wide with the intention to kill her in a single bite.


Another door… she felt almost compelled to it, but now it became even more difficult. As if the water wasn’t enough, the pressure was intense. Alixce hadn’t even a moment to think her next move when the undersea predator gunned right towards her. The moment of reprieve was an illusion, her mouth twisting into an ugly scowl, her anger not forgotten. She twisted away, she knew it had the advantage but hell if she wasn’t going to make it regret preying on her. Balling her fist, she aimed the inner side towards the shark’s gills.


The punch hit and the shark squirmed in pain, shooting off to the side and away from Alixce. But the other two sharks had now noticed her presence and were lazily making their way up. The larger of the two was twice the size of the first, with the other being somewhere in between. Neither made any aggressive moves towards her. Instead they took up position circling around her, just like they had been doing to the door when she arrived. Both kept a single eye locked on her as they swam as if waiting. The third one reappeared below near the door and keeping its distance.


As they closed in, Alixce realized how much larger they were. She seized up for a moment, lizard brain assured of her demise here, now, in a mess of crunching bones, blood, and water. But instead tearing her to shreds, they… circled… Are they toying…? She didn’t know enough about marine life to say one way or the other… I’m sure that Professor would, she wouldav laughed at herself for thinking about class at a time like this, except that would deplete what little air she had left.


She had a to choose a path, and now. Her lungs were beginning to burn. The one that had attacked her was by the door but… As if drawn by an invisible string, she pushed to it. Who knew where the surface was, how far up. The door was a sure thing… Or so she told herself, her doubts too starved for oxygen to plague her.


It was the move the sharks had been waiting for. For a few seconds after Alixce kicked off they remained circling. Then as the larger one swung around it shifted and shot down. It closed the distance between them in moments. The enormous mouth opened, and then slammed shut down on Alixce’s ankle. The sharp teeth swiftly sliced through her flesh and muscle to the bone. The animal didn’t let go as it suddenly spun around, dragging Alixce with it through the water.


Bubbles shot out of her mouth, her cry muffled and distorted.


“Sounds like you could use a change of pace.”


Bright lights. A cacophony of sound. In her burned hand she held a violin bow. The main part of the instrument was in her other grip, nestled against her neck and ready to be played. She was dressed in a nice suit that matched what the other orchestra players were wearing around her. They were all in the middle of the song on the sheet in front of her. Her foot still throbbed with the pain of the bite and the blood was beginning to leak onto the floor. The stage itself was an enormous semi circle facing out onto nothingness. A literal abyss faced her.


Wincing, Alixce breathed, focusing out and away from the pain caused by the severe wound on her leg. Yet, the sound brought a smile to her face. It was beautiful. A harmony of different instruments created by a sea of professionals in sleek, tidy suits. Not one wrinkle or speck of lint. Her eyes focused in on the sheet in front of her. She let out a small, tired breath through her nose, a laugh. It was amazing, she could actually recognize some of it. A string, G string, half note, whole note… She put the bow atop one of the strings, why not give it a whirl? when she realized there was no way to know where the rest were in the song. She looked up.


Floating in the middle of it was the conductor. Yet instead of a baton he held a long chain, with a wicked looking barbed hook on the end of it. It was already covered in a layer of blood. From her left a discordant note blew out. Instantly the conductor's eyes found the culprit. The hook flew from his hand, impaling the unfortunate young man. With a yank he was pulled from his position and thrown down into the abyss. Satisfied the conductor began scanning the room once more, looking for the next issue with his performance.


Alixce was only able to watch as the suited man was thrown off, his instrument clattering on the floor. What! That was! “Hey!” she called out loudly. She winced again, the pain from her foot flooding upwards, but still faced the blood conductor, “You!” She firmly gripped the violin, the bow in a less solid grip thanks to the burn, ready to defend herself. She was hurt, but what was any of her time training, her time overseas for if she didn’t stand against the unnecessary injustice she’d just witnessed? Alixce trained her eyes on the barb, sure it would strike for her next. If she could use the instrument to block and pull it to the side, she’d have a chance to close the gap between herself and the man in the middle.


Alixce’s interruption had no effect on the rest of the orchestra, too controlled by fear to ever risk stopping. The conductor’s eyes focussed squarely on her and he began spinning the hook in his hand. The players around her did their best to move out of the way without interrupting their play. The conductor made no sound as he launched the hook in an underhand throw. There was nothing fancy in the throw, it flew straight for her torso on the left side.


The blonde simultaneously sidestepped while bringing the violin in close to her left, trying to catch the flying hook with the polished wood.


The hook shattered the violin’s wood with the force of the impact, but was slowed down significantly. The strings became entwined with the barbs, slowing it further, and for a few seconds as the conductor processed the predicament, the hook was stationary hanging off the ruined violin.


Now! Go now! She was already on the move, bow in hand. Passing the music stand, she shoved it down onto the already hindered barb, hoping to buy more time. Rushing through the players, who seemed to shift just slightly to avoid her as well, Alixce smashed the top of the bow onto the ground, CRACK! Splintered in two, either side was held together only by the bow strings. Around the longer piece, her grip tightened, causing more pain to fire through her arm. He isn’t standing on anything! So it wasn’t a trick of the light, the conductor was floating. This just got harder, then again, she wouldn’t have described any of it as ‘easy’ to begin with.


The conductor saw the woman rushing him and reacted the only way he knew how. He pulled as hard as he could on the hook. The weapon caught the music stand and pulled it along, grinding the metal against the floor. With a strong upwards yank on the chain the stand and hook went airborne, both flying towards Alixce’s back.


KRRR! Alixce looked back, seeing only a black blur hurling towards her. With almost no time to react, she threw herself onto the ground.


The music stand flew harmlessly over Alixce and disappeared into the abyss below. The hook followed, but returned to the Conductor’s hand. It was instantly in motion again, soaring up high into the air before it peaked, and then came crashing back down towards where Alixce lay.


She rolled, but not fast enough as it tore through her side, suit and skin, freeing blood to spray out. “Ugh!” she exclaimed through grit teeth, shoving herself up onto her feet. Rushing ever forward, she tore the smaller part of the splintered wood off the bow strings and threw the piece towards the conductor’s head.


The conductor didn’t even flinch as the broken bow part hit his head. Because Alixce had made a fatal mistake, forgetting the hook’s position. WIth a single tug he pulled it across the ground and caught it around her good ankle. With a tug and twist it locked in as the smaller inner barbs pierced the skin. A final pull and she was swept off her feet and thrown down into the abyss. The orchestra quickly disappeared as all was replaced by darkness.


“My my what a performance.”


What do you mean? I never pulled the bow… Alixce thought woozily.


She landed hard in a chair and her injured legs both smacked the hard floor. The darkness disappeared to reveal a classroom. She was sitting at a desk near the back of the room, with a pencil in hand and a sheet of paper before her. There was a loud sigh to her right from a fellow student who was stumped.


Alixce felt pain surge from both legs, darkness creeping in the corner of her vision.


*Twang*


A crossbow bolt pierced the girl through the heart, throwing her back against the chair. A small line of blood leaked from her mouth. The teacher began to reload the weapon. On the paper the words became clear.


Shit! Stay awake, think! She reached over, putting her two fingers on the girl’s neck. No pulse. Focus, she thought, but her vision swam.


If a teacher with a 100lb draw crossbow stands at a distance of ten feet from her target, how quickly must a student move after the trigger is pulled to avoid the bolt? Assume 0 air resistance and a wind free environment.


That was easy. Faster than the ****** can reload-- She stood, whoosh! Blackness stirred around her. Pain, surging, from her legs, her eyes dropping tears from the sheer intensity. She dropped back into the seat. Alright, well, scratch that plan. She had no good leg to rely on, and adrenaline was not enough this time.


Okay, if she couldn’t go to the crossbow wielder, and there was nothing in range to throw… Worth a shot. Gripping the pencil in her only uninjured limb, she slowly brought it down to her lap before, “Yo. Over here. Why don’t you stop hiding behind that cowardly weapon of yours and come face me one on one?”


The teacher paused and looked at the interrupting student. They paused, and a flap of black fabric fell from their hairline to cover their face. Two white dots appeared over the eyes, and a white, crescent moon shape where the mouth would be. “Climbing, swimming, fighting, and let’s call it guile. Quite the variety. You pass!” the voice said, though it came from everywhere, it wasn’t the teacher speaking. The teacher passed a hand over the crossbow bolt and it changed into a blunt arrowhead. The weapon fired and collided with Alixce’s forehead, knocking her unconscious.
 
Her thoughts slowly came flooding back to her. Was she paralyzed? No, it was only momentarily. A voice hissed into her ear, she couldn’t turn to face it or fight it back. The voice was ambiguous, Mori was unable to tell if she was even fighting back a person or not. It felt like Mori was kneeling down, as soon as the presence left her side, she was able to move again. Brass instruments blared around her and a sturdy voice told her to rise.

Biting back the sudden weakness in her knees, Mori’s legs wobbled as she stood up to face the disaster in front of her. She could see a figure sitting sloppily on the throne, her brother’s face was vibrantly clear to see. He was resting his head on his knuckles, with judging eyes piercing through Mori’s soul. She looked away and in the process of doing so, she managed to catch sight of the kingdom and its inhabitants.

Mori felt incredibly small and insignificant. While one could look back at the crowd and see the nobles and townsfolk disguises her teammates have taken upon, she saw everyone that was on her brother’s side. Escaping from her brother’s shadow seemed to be much more troubling than she had originally thought. As Mori’s thoughts settled down and the calm washed over her conscience, she began to think somewhat logically. Where did he take me? Am I in a dream..?

Her brother spoke to her and came strutting down from his pedestal. She glanced down, her appeals seemed to weigh her down much more than before. She was donning a servant’s uniform. Mori gripped the clothes and began to pull it away from her, attempting to rip it, “Accepting what? Nice to see you up and about. What happened to your legs?” Being as close to him as she was, she noticed that he seemed a lot older and taller than before, “Don’t you think this is a bit unfair to do to your sister?” She frowned and crossed her arms.

“Unfair?” her brother smirked, “No, I don’t think so. For someone like you, always second rate at everything she does, never at the top, I think you should be thanking me for giving you a chance. After all, there’s plenty of people who could take your place and do the job just as well.” He turned around with a flourish of his cloak and started climbing the steps back up. His walk had an odd gait as he put most of his weight on his left leg. When he turned back around, he she had been staring at his leg, he would wink.

“Why do you think you never lasted long on any team? What did you bring that someone else couldn’t? Nothing. You were useful to them for a time with your raw power, but after awhile, well, it was better to get someone who added something.” He dropped back into the throne and stretched out. His left leg rose and hooked over the armrest, displayed prominently. “Like me for example. When you actually add something to people’s live, they’re willing to keep you around, and give you something in return.” He stroked a hand down his leg and gestured to the magnificent room they were in with the other.

Mori gritted her teeth as she watched him proudly display his success and his no longer limp leg. Years ago, he met with a somewhat fatal incident that damaged nearly all of the nerves in his left leg. Did he fake the incident and feign a cry for help? Or did he actually get better and wanted to show it off to her? Either way, it pissed her off, “Were you just acting through all of that? Becoming more and more of a burden to our parents?” She watched his feet dangle off the armrest and felt herself fume on the inside. She finally noticed the pair of Chinese people at his side. A woman with golden hands and a man with a military uniform. Mori felt enraged that it seemed like Ryan was pitying her. It was always the other way around, “Calm down..” She whispered to herself.

She wasn’t actually ever angry at her brother before, why was she furious with him now? She knew why she was angry. It was because of every awful thought she had about him whenever she was upset was all true. Had he always been this horrid? Taking in a short breath, “What..” She started off by saying, “What did you do to be relevant in all of my teammates’ lives?” Mori asked in a mocking tone. Years of pent up emotions flooded into that small statement.

“Why don’t you look at them yourself dear sister.” One by one the ‘noble’ teammates spread open their cloaks, or pulled on the ribbons around their necks. Flashes of gold and silver filled the area as they revealed the copious amount of medals. “I did what you never could. I brought them success. And I brought them joy. While you threw your efforts into your mediocre play I was their friend, their confidant. The moment I walked again I was a symbol that anyone could achieve the impossible. Anyone except you that is.”

She glanced back at everyone, they were important people to her. She knew what he was saying was correct, Mori couldn’t bring anything to the table. All she could do was what others can exceedingly do better at. She could feel her heart sink further into her chest. Mori wanted to burst out crying and tell him that he was right. At least that’s what the old Mori would have done. She would have accepted the fact that she was second-rate at best and quit.

This felt like a bigger risk than quitting a team. Clenching her fists, she took steps closer to her brother and reeled back her hand. It seemed like she was going to punch him. Mori bit down on her lip and undid her hand. She slapped him across the face. A burning pink mark quickly bruised his pale face. Mori took a step back and pointed at him accusingly, “Don’t tell me I’m nothing! You have no idea what I’m capable of! Don’t pretend to know every little detail about my life!”

Her brother slowly twisted his head back to face Mori. He looked in pain, but not surprised. “That’s the one thing you always did better though isn’t it? Never the best at any sport. But the best at violence. Pretending you were doing it to help others when you just enjoyed being the biggest, toughest person around. I have been remiss in my duties.” He raised a hand and flicked the fingers at her. A heavy weight appeared on her chest. A gold medal was now pinned to her clothing. Upon its surface was the image of a fist punching another person’s face.

“Congratulations Mori, you’re finally the best at something.” He laughed, a cruel, mocking noise. “Of course, everyone has to defend their achievements.”

The woman with the golden fists stepped forward and struck without warning, throwing a punch at Mori’s chest.

While Mori was preoccupied in the fact that she had to defend her only achievement, the woman with golden hands puffed her chest out a bit and took steps towards her menacingly. Taken by surprise, Mori was thrown back by the sheer force. The golden hands....it was definitely real and huge threat. The moment the fist collided with her chest, she could feel her heart stopping for a solid second. Blood rushed up to her ears and she could feel her head getting extremely dizzy from the solid punch. Mori scrambled up to her feet and brought her fists up in a defensive position. The next punch, she was sure to be ready to dodge it.

The golden handed woman raised her hands up to mirror Mori’s. There was a whirring sound and the fists broke open. They began to unfold into long, thin blades of gold, each two feet in length.

A hand grabbed Mori by the shoulder. “Untamed violence only spreads like an infection.” the Chinese man said, before releasing her.

The other women leapt forward, she threw her arms out to the sides, then swung them inwards to slice Mori in half.

As she leapt forwards with the clear intentions of killing her, Mori quickly lunged to the side while avoiding the rush attack.

The makeshift swords collided with the ground, tearing things in the process. Mori quickly regained her balance and ran backwards, attempting to create a large enough distance between the two. She circled around the Chinese woman.

“How can you have pride when this is an unfair fight!” At least give her a sword too. Mori ran back in once the other woman’s back faced her. She kicked her behind the knees and moved back from any rebuttal.

Mori was fast, but so was the woman. As the kick was landing her torso was spinning around. The blow was enough to knock out her knee, but the sword simply continued on an altered course. Instead of striking her torso it hit the meat of her leg below the knee, slicing clean through to the bone.

“Fairness?” her brother scoffed, “This is a fight to see who is the best. My warrior is only using her own body, just as you are.”

The woman turned to Mori and advanced slowly. There were no massive swings now. Her arm blades moved in carefully measured acts. A stab at her torso. A chop aimed at Mori’s arm. A low slice at her other knee. Always keeping one blade at the ready, waiting for Mori to make a rash move.

Mori slowly backed away from the woman. She desperately searched through her head for anything to back her up. The Chinese man’s words repeated through her head. She glanced at him before taking another hit at the knee. Screaming in pain, she dropped to the ground and looked up at the woman.

Bleeding out from her wounds, she slowly crawled away and towards her brother. Leaving a long trail of blood and feeling the eyes of the crowd on her, Mori stumbled onto her feet, “I..-” She coughed, “I will overcome everything you have to throw at me!”

The golden armed women followed Mori’s crawl. When she managed to regain her footing she placed the tip of the sword on the back of the girl’s neck, waiting for the order. Before her brother could open his mouth, the Chinese man placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You have the determination, but lack the understanding. You have the will, but lack the compassion. Your path begins.”

A wind blew through the building, tainting the air with a green colour. It swirled around her brother and his throne, dissolving both. Half the crowd and building went with him leaving behind empty white space. A red wind joined the first, eating up the rest of the crowd and slowly dissolving the woman. The man turned and walked away, and soon faded into nothing.

With her last act the woman thrust her arm forward, piercing Mori’s chest with the blade before she and it were blown away by the red. The man’s voice floated through the air, “See now, the consequence of your actions.” Mori was left alone in the empty white room, slowly bleeding out.

Mori’s vision blurred as she dropped to the floor. Feeling the cold tiles soothe her cheeks. With no strength left to do anything, she was left to her thoughts. Each word echoed in her head, swirling her despair with each letter. Her thoughts copied the man’s last words, I have the determination, but lack the understanding. The will, but lack the compassion... And with that, Mori closed her thoughts.
 


I raise my sister’s phonograph,
Up high, as if I will put it away,
Lay it on a shelf for the memory to fade,
But I carry it through. My mind –
Loosened by the choice –
Feels lighter every step.
​

Scream was the first thing on Lois’ mind. The light was wrong, the air was wrong, her body was wrong and this entire experience was… was…

She screamed. It was impossible not to. Her mouth - did it open? - and her throat echoed the scream throughout her body, her veins feeling the vigour of terror. If she had veins. If she had them. Under this non-flesh flesh, under this plaster body, under this ugly cascade of horribly smooth and hairless wood-like skin, did she have veins?

But Lois couldn’t scream forever. No lightheaded feeling came to her though - it was all some sort of floating dream with no risk of passing out. Probably. This could never be real, could it? Possibly not, definitely not. Even so, she felt weak. In herself. Like this form was too heavy to handle.

Her breath came. The words from some voice were vanished into Lois’ mind, and she had only a brief idea of what had been said. Something about freedom, a true freedom? The true freedom?

Clouds created a familiar set of features above her. Some nose, some eyes, some mouth, discernible against the tumult that they were born from. And that mouth parted into a cavity big enough for a poly-textured voice to soar through them. If it was a physical thing, Lois felt she may have been killed by its question:

“Who are you?”

And how could she answer, how was she supposed to? Was she crying? Was she not? But she tried, she opened what felt like her mouth amidst the incorrect form she was housed in, the shell of her psyche, and tried to say her name. Just her name. That one syllable.

“I don’t know.”

A few metres ahead of her the ground began to shift like unfired clay. It gathered into a pile which extended upwards. Two arms split off to the sides, a head formed on top, and the lower half split in half to form the legs. When the clay had finished moving it was a bare doll, a mirror of Lois’ current form. Another figure grew from the ground behind it. But this one came out with its features intact. And was very recognisable.

Her brother reached out and, starting with the doll’s face, began to draw her. Greyish blue eyes, a nose, ears, mouth, black hair with blue highlights. His hands moved down the doll, modelling her entire body. When it was done she was staring at a mirror of her real body, perfectly replicated. Lull reached an arm around its shoulders and looked to Lois. “You know who you are Lois. You’re my sister. That’s all you need to know, right?”


This
walking corpse, this living carcass, do they
all fool themselves this way? Pretending that time,
In its terrible glory, is on their side, an ally.
Oh, rue this day, time. You shall not lay your gnarled
hand on my sister’s shoulder.

I lay mine.​


“That’s… all? But…you made me, no one made you,” she said, voice an ugly mixture of choking, sincerity and tears. Lull had formed out of that ground like nothing. From nothing. He’d been himself since the beginning, since Lois could remember. And yet here he was, forming her, making her what she was. She didn’t learn anything herself, she was taught everything. How to talk, how to walk, how to steal, how to eat, how to quieten, how to run, how to hide. How to whistle, how to write, how to sleep, how to lie, how to like. How to hate.

And even here, even earlier - and she remembered her emotions from the barbeque, those hateful doubts - she acted on nothing that was her own. There was one thing she knew how to do and that was how to run back to him. She had been the one to decide to further her own education, she had been the one to do that, against his judgement. He stayed with her.

Surely he’d stay with her even if she had to turn her back? Form herself. With her odd feet, her off-balanced self, she managed to just about turn away from him. From his picture-perfect representation of what he made her look like. She had to grow up.

Lull frowned as she turned away. “You’d abandon me? After everything I’ve done for you? After everything I’ve sacrificed?” The doll he had created began to melt and dissolve, the features running like molten plastic. “I gave you this life Lois. I did make you. Without me you wouldn’t be here!” His voice grew panicked, desperate.

On her own body Lois could feel something grow. One eye, then another. A mouth split open on her face. Fingernails erupted from beneath the clay skin, knuckles and fingertips formed. But at the same time Lull began to shrink. He sunk to his knees in the ground and began to struggle, unable to escape. “You can’t leave me.” There were tears in his eyes now, “You’re my sister, that’s all you need to be. I’ll protect you!”


Basic humanity –
Conservative, but,
Without the main heat of the warm and
Fulfilling gaze of the Needee,
the Needy pushes on.
​

He would protect her still, or was it a threat? Lois hoped one more than the other, but knew it was not to be. Whoever this man was, be it her brother or not, it was a threat. A threat formed by his lips. Her new mouth tightened. Her eyes, visible and bright, shone with a scowl. He could threaten all he wanted, complain and cry and sob and hate her all he liked, but she was going to walk away.

But then she was holding him. The ground, swallowing him up, she was on her knees and - this time - she was holding him. Tightly. One unreal hand behind his head, pulling his brow to her shoulder, the other curved clumsily around his large figure. She couldn’t do it. She--

She wouldn’t do it. No. If being with him was going to destroy her then so be it. And perhaps, somewhere in her head, she hated herself for remaining his. For remaining Lull’s sister and not Lois. But it didn’t… matter. This was what she knew, he was what she knew. He was the only thing - the only person - she’d known through her life. But now she held him. Held him with unreal arms.

“Yes, thank you Lois, thank you.” Lull sobbed, as he wrapped his arms around her in turn. For a few moments nothing moved, it was simply two siblings embracing each other in love. Then, in a natural way, Lull pulled back to look at his sister. His hands moved to hers, gripping them tightly. “Let’s go Lois.” he said.

He began sinking into the ground again. And as he was swallowed he pulled on Lois. But her physical form didn’t move. Instead all the features that had grown onto her doll body felt the force of his actions. The nails and prints slipped off the tips of her fingers, trapped in his hands. Her eyes and mouth slid down her body to her neck and threatened to move even further as Lull continued to pull. Even her mind felt like it was being pulled out of the body sending sharp pains through her head. “Come with me.” he said, “Come away from here. We can escape, just like we escaped our parents, and you can walk this path with me.”

“Will you remain his forever?” the voice in the clouds spoke, but now it was from beside her. The Doll that Lull had drawn the features onto now wore the face she had seen in the clouds. It reached a hand out towards her. “There is another path ahead of you, if you can choose it.”


So, I urge her,
The words never leaving my head, never casting a bitter taste
to my grey tongue, Be rid. I’d whisper.
Follow your half. Learn to bask in yourself and to reject humility.
For no matter who winds up hating you
No one will hate you as much as yourself.​


“It hurts,” she told him weakly, but it didn’t appear as if he was listening, or maybe he just could not hear. His hands emerging from the ground, holding hers. There was something between her and her dream of him. Love? Maybe not, maybe something more dangerous. But it wasn’t…

She looked up at the new-faced woman, and still felt weak. Hurting, at least. “But,” as he’d told her perhaps a decade ago when he was mopping blood from a wound she’d sustained, “if it hurts it means it’s healing.”

Was that true? Lois didn’t know. Still gazing up into that face with white light and stars behind her eyes from where the pain was being born. Still staring up, still his. But not for long.

She didn’t get up, didn’t try to move away, but she closed her eyes and said, with all the strength she could muster that this was her fucking choice. The word sounded so dirty from her lips, and now she knew why Lull had always told her how ugly curse words were. But so what? The word had emphasis. Anger behind it. She’d chosen to say it. Just like she’d chosen to not - never - let go of his hands.

“Sometimes little bird, it hurts because it’s getting worse.” The doll walked around and knelt by Lull’s head. The rest of his body had disappeared, only his face and forearms remained above the earth. It stroked a hand across Lull’s forehead, then looked back at Lois. “To believe in one thing, and never look beyond it, is dangerous. You must leave the nest one day little bird, or risk falling when it breaks.”


And she goes to speak. But I quieten her.
Everything you need to say has been heard. Before you even move
your tongue or your teeth, everyone hears you, everyone responds.
And I respond.​


So what if it was getting worse, Lois didn’t - couldn’t - care. He’d given her everything and all he wanted in return was her. But that was his choice. It was Lois’ choice follow. It was Lois’ choice to not let go. She ignored the voice. The “little bird” and the offers of another path… the truths it was telling about things getting worse… ignored if it was right or wrong. Her streaming eyes kept focused on his eyes, on his hands, and she could almost see her own blood on them. Like he was healing her.

His hands were still tugging her. Her body couldn’t go with him, and he was making her feel lightheaded… he was doing it. Not a lack of breath this time. Eyelashes seemed to vanish, her nose was no longer in the way of her vision, and all it took was a searing pain for about five seconds. But Lois could not scream as she wanted to. The hands, however, acted as if she had screamed, and then she was being pulled by the arms. Just a little bit closer to him.

The lightheadedness increased in a powerful crescendo as her body entered some husk-like state while she vacated it. Lightness flowed through her, but his palms, his fingers, his subtly nicotine-stained nails, kept her anchored. Lower than the ground. That is where she went. Down. And her mind spiralled. And she kept going down. And her mind would scream if it wasn’t impossible. She didn’t breathe. His grip was the only constant, right until the end. Right until the end.


And raise.
Higher than this material Earth, where your
spirit will attach itself to the clouds. You are deserving.
Let them see you. Let your hair become darker than the night sky.
Let your eyes be the sun and moon, and your sweat be the stars.
Only have yourself. Everything else is polluting.
Tumble and sleep in the empty universe and fill it
with yourself. You are purer than nothing.
So raise yourself.​
 
7/11/17
Free Posting Mode
Today’s Schedule
8am - 10am (Duration of Post) – Waking up
10am to 11am – Meet and Greet for the new students with the Student Rep Council
11am to 1pm – Mori and Skylar have miscellaneous classes
2pm to 3:30pm – Ray, Alixce and Lois have miscellaneous classes​

When Ray woke up he found his nose scraping the roof of his bedroom. And then he fell back down onto his bed with a thump.

Alixce woke up surrounded by golden sparkles. Which then exploded harmlessly in her face.

Mori woke up to find her sheets had been shredded as if someone had gone at them with a knife.

Skylar woke up feeling refreshed, full of energy, she felt stronger than she ever had in her life. And then it drained away in an instant, leaving her tired and groggy.

Lois woke up, trapped inside a shell of her body, unable to move. A few seconds passed before her features and muscles grew back, releasing her from the paralysis.

And with that final touch, the Night of Terrors was over.

~***~

A dream? Was that all it had been? It had felt so real, as if someone else had been in control. But that was impossible. A new school, new faces everywhere, worry and homesickness, the most likely combination. Nothing to do now but look ahead to the day of classes and, if they were interested, a get together so the new students could meet with the student representatives.

For most of them at least.

As Ray moved about the dorm room a shape slithered across one of the open windows. It paused and looked inside. Five eyes arranged in the shape of a pyramid on a furry face looked straight at him. A v shaped mouth opened up and hissed, revealing dual rows of tiny but sharp teeth. A three fingered paw raked against the window but could not penetrate. With a second hiss it continued on its way, snake like body and six legs disappearing as it continued upwards.

OOC Note: I have 0 self control and decided to get this out before bed. The schedule past 11am may be subject to change when I wake up and start thinking clearly
 
7/11/17
8:00​

Skylar woke up alone and feeling fantastic despite her sweaty and tangled sheets. Really amazing, like the best night's sleep in the world. What had she- The dream hit her then like a sackful of bricks into the stomach and with predictably similar results. The little violet-haired girl gagged, flopped to the side of her bed and threw up onto the floor.

9:14​

Young Ms Rieman sat alone at the table in the living room of Dorm 12, staring into her white coffee mug with its ceramic "wooden" handle. The slogan had struck her as entertaining and witty when she picked it up at a flea market. She couldn't remember why. After she'd loosed her guts, she had spent the next thirty minutes trying to clean it up before the acrid scent seeped into her floorboards, but now it seemed as though that was all she could smell. That and blood. She shuddered, saw the motion reflected in her liquid black mirror and did so again. She'd made coffee out of some kind of vague impulse to go through the motions of a normal day but when it came down to it she couldn't make herself lift the mug to her lips. She couldn't even smell it, though she had nearly touched her nose to the scalding liquid. She had warmed her hands on the sides instead, though she could barely feel the warmth through this awful numbness that filled her skin. Maybe some of her heart had been left behind. There were hundreds of pictures there, and she'd only been able to swallow what, twelve of the broken pieces?

She shuddered again, put a hand to her chest and froze. She couldn't feel her heartbeat. She couldn't feel her- She grabbed urgently at her wrist, then at her throat. There at last she could feel her heart racing and burst into tears of mingled fear and relief. Abruptly she grabbed her mug, lifted it and smashed it down to the table where it broke into a dozen china islands in a sea of dripping black. The black, the black.

Pushing herself up from the chair, Skylar fled the dorm room with her tail between her legs. Hopefully she could make more sense of things under the open sky. She needed trees around her.
 
8:40

Lois woke up with the word "Hell!" in her mouth. Grey eyes welcomed the real world gratefully, but her body refused to move. Her eyes though... they would, they obeyed her. And that word vanished into the air, and her tongue felt like a clamp in her mouth, immovable. No crying for help, no crying at all, when she saw that hard mould around herself had carried through into this awakening dream.

Before her eyes, though, fingers emerged, pretending like they'd always been there. Windpipe heaved and Lois finally breathed. She rolled onto her side immediately, and pulled off her pyjama shirt, afraid it might restrict or suffocate her. Her knees were trembling, but held her weight as she meandered into the bathroom, clutching the shirt to her chest.

When she was done, she stared at herself in the mirror. And she realised how similar her jaw was to that of her brother. No other features seemed to be common between them: his lips were thinner while she had shapely ones, her eyelashes were naturally dark and moderately long, his were rather short. But their jaws... Hers gave her face a rather more circular look, but it was not a harsh angled jaw, nothing masculine. She swallowed, breathed out, and applied the usual makeup. But today she left her cheeks the way they were, she left her jaw the way it was.

9:00

Better. Though she still tried not to think about the... paralysis... as she dressed for the day. Violet and black dogtooth-patterned jumper today, she decided, though kept the skirt from yesterday.

She stooped to swipe the skirt from the floor, and her phone toppled from it. She blinked; it had been a week, and she'd still forgotten to set the alarms... or charge it, for that matter. But she wasn't going to beat herself up about this though - not after the... the dream or the morning. And what a dream it had been.

As she pulled up her skirt over her tights, she woke up the phone. A missed call. No, not just one. Three. Of course she'd missed them. Of course. She gripped it quickly, and knew they'd all be from Lull. She was right - one at ten last night, the last two at half-past seven and eight.

She didn't even think about calling him back. Telling him about the dream would be embarrassing. Worrying. Insulting? Flattering? She didn't know how he'd take it. All she did was slip the phone into her bag and trudge into the main room. The table seats looked inviting, but she decided against it. Would she wait for Mori? No, likely Mori had already gone. She woke up early, after all...

So Lois left. And today she would feel the cold, she knew. Even under the jumper that made her look a little too top-heavy, she knew she'd feel the cold. But maybe the trembling was the after-affect of the dream. Of waking alone. Of waking up alone.
 
The young Aoki hunched over her bed, feeling a bit of joint pain and her muscles straining. As awful as her dream was, she had the curse of waking up bright and early. With dark circles under her eyes, she collected the shredded bedsheet in her hands. What could have occurred for her sheets to be in complete ruins? Her first thought was that the Chinese woman visited her. Mori wanted to completely ignore the dream. There was no way that the Chinese woman’s gold hands came out of her nightmare and sliced the sheets up. It was just a dream, right? She could feel her body curl up with fear building up inside of her. If anyone asked, she would probably nod it off. How could she let them see her fear? It would be like dragging them down with her.

She heard shuffling beyond her door and quickly gathered the scraps of fabric up at the edge of her bed. Mori quickly pulled a shoebox out of her closet and tossed the sneakers aside. She scooped the evidence up and placed it all in the box before throwing it back into the closet. Feeling slightly nauseous, Mori left her dorm room. She glanced at her roommate’s closed door, it seemed like she wasn’t up yet. She seemed slightly relieved, Mori didn’t want to explain her tattered sheets and her less than friendly tired face.

Slipping into the kitchen, the girl grabbed the can of salt and coconut oil. In a small steel bowl, she poured out a handful of salt into the bowl. Taking a spoon in her dominant hand, she tried to pour the oil out. Her hands were unusually unsteady. Every time she tried to pour the oil, her fingers would shake and the liquid would spill, “Fuck,” She lowly cursed and dropped the bottle back on the table. Mori tried again and spilled a bit a more. She slammed the spoon in the sink and decided to pour the oil without any proper measurements.

Her uncle always told her about little herbal recipes to soothe her muscle pains or how to stop nosebleeds. Salt with a bit of oil would help with her muscles. Mori sighed and locked herself inside the bathroom to soak herself in her thoughts. Just a dream? How did that explain her bedsheets?

After a quick and thorough wash, Mori put on her shorts and shirt that read “I hate running,” over the chest. She occupied herself with her phone in her room. She might as well wait for her roommate to wake up so they could walk together. Nearly falling asleep at the bed, Mori quickly heard more shuffling on the other end of the door. Realizing that it was Lois, she grabbed her track jacket and left her room. Just as Lois left the dorm, Mori caught sight of her and impulsivly called her name out. She quickly shuffled around the pots of plants on the floor and left the dorm.

“Lois! Hey!” She sprinted towards her and caught up to her side, “Hey..! I-...uhm! Did you want to get something to eat from a vending machine? We have...” She glanced down at her wristwatch, “A solid hour.”
 
8:30

"What the fu-AAH" Ray shouted in suprise as he fell back towards his bed, gravity taking over as he woke from his slumber...and some form of suspended state. he hit the bed with a grunt, confused and slightly pained. Fortunately the crowtree bed manufacturer was being paid for by super rich people who seemed to not quite understand what it meant to cut costs. As such, what could have been a serious pain in the neck (literally) just had him groaning from superficial falling damage. He'd be fine, but the wind was knocked out of him and he was in a bit of a state of suprise. He...hadn't been expecting that to happen. What the fuck was with that dream? Did it mean he could fly or something? Ray pondered quietly to himself. That was incredibly stupid of a conclusion. Maybe his head was hurt...He gingerly felt around, then did some neck exercises. Nope, everything seemed okay as far as he could tell, and there was no mark from the rock that had knocked him out. Did that mean it was all fake? It had felt real. Ray let out a frustrated sigh and relaxed into his sheets. Regardless of weather or not it felt like he had experienced that...it couldn't have been real. There was no way! But...why did it feel real? He sat up from his bed, a frown on his face.

He spent the rest of the morning like that, contemplating what the hell had him going on. He had a single moment of clarity however, while munching over a bowl of frosted flakes he suddenly pulled out his phone and texted his father. He didn't have long distance or anything, so he was supposed to save it for emergencies if he had too. His text was simple, quick, and to the point.

"I love you guys."

After that, Ray went back into his pondering state. Choice had been a major theme of his dream, but what did it mean? Was his subconscious trying to tell him something? Occasionally he broke out of his stupor and resolved to leave it well enough alone, but the what if's kept coming back to him. What was in the cottage? Up the mountain ladder...what if he HAD picked himself over his father? He found himself muttering quietly to himself about it even when he left the dorm, pausing to knock for Shun, but no response...ah well, he must've been out already, he'd catch up later if he could.

9:14
Unfortunately, a distracted Ray wasn't the best at keeping his head up. he had managed to focus enough to get ready for the day, throwing on a reassuringly familiar hockey jersey with some black jeans. It might not have been the nicest looking outfit, but he liked it, and that's what mattered just then. He wandered aimlessly for a bit, wanting to pace and get some fresh air in his head and some confused thoughts out, Ray wasn't paying attention to where he was going. This...mostly ended up okay, with much wider awake and concentrated students simply stepping out of his way while he kept his head down and his hand partially up to his mouth as if he was debating with himself. This whole thing was stupid, he really should ju-

at that point, Ray hit a sprinting Skylar, or rather, she hit him. Because he stepped into her path, it was kind of complicated. All Ray knew is one second he was in mystery land trying to fit things together and the next one his ass was sprawled on the ground, all he had seen was a flash of white coming into his view before he was falling to the floor for the second time that morning. He groaned and held his head, he had instinctively gone ot protect it like a fall from the ice ,but he still bumped it a little Did gravity just hate him or something? he turned his head up to look at his fellow accident victim and began to speak.

"Ow...looks like we both need to watch where we're going eh? Sorry bout that." Ray chuckled sheepishly before suddenly cutting it off as he realized who it was. He still felt bad having run into Skylar, but confusion entered him as he saw what she was wearing. A simple white top and some pajama's with pictures and cameras on it. What the hell was she doing running with her PJ's on? "Hey, you okay?" Ray said with concern in his voice. He didn't...really know Skylar that well, other than her being one of the girls from the club. But she had seemed nice enough in the brief contact they had shared. Was she in trouble? Or...just walking around in her PJ's. Only way to know for sure was to check.

"Hey, it's me, Ray. From the photo club yesterday remember?" he shoved himself to his feet, brushing dirt off his jeans. "You okay? We hit each other pretty hard." he held a hand out to help her up. "If you don't mind me asking...why are you in your Pj's? You sure you okay? There's no creep chasing you down or anything right?"
 
9:16

A fire’s gotta burn / The world is gonna turn
Rain has gotta fall / Fate is gonna call
But I just keep on breathing / Long as my heart is beating

Skylar's heedless flight from Dorm 12 and her terror-wracked slumbers took her all the way from her dormitory hall, through the square they'd been at the afternoon before and into the dubious safety of the copse of trees beyond. If asked later she would claim that the trees had masked her view until a certain great galloping lout of a Canadian had jumped out from nowhere to tackle her to the ground. Bloody hockey players and their full-contact ways.

Someone's gotta hate / It's never gonna-

She wasn't wearing headphones. The music came from somewhere else, some half-forgotten memory of what it felt like to be normal. To feel human. To not be bowled over by 200 lbs of fellow student like a pin, head over feet. The memory music cut off and she looked around in blind fear until at last recognition seeped back into her features. "...Ray?" She didn't know him that well, but he was gratifyingly normal and even before she coaxed the air back into her lungs she leaned over and wrapped her arms around him. Her fellow student made a gratifyingly solid anchor, and after a few beats of desperate cling she was able to pull herself far enough above the surface of her emotional sea that she could at least see the shore and relax to a casual hug. Around his knees. Suuuure it was.

The violet-haired girl shook her head twice quickly, then took his hand to stand. "I'm ok. Sorry I wasn't looking where I was going." What. She looked back over her shoulder and frowned. "Where even are we?" She glossed over the jammies she finds herself wearing with magnificent disregard. The bare feet not so much, and rather than talk about those she found herself wandering back to his first real question. "I'm alright, I think I just spooked myself you know?" Her weak smile then was utterly unconvincing but pleaded with him to just take her word for it. "There's no creep, unless you really did just jump out at me. Maybe I'm coming down with something." Blue eyes focused again. Actually... "Are you ok?"

TerraBooma TerraBooma
 
Ray...hadn't been expecting that. He was fortunate he had something else to think about, but a sudden leg-hug from a fellow student was a...werid way to bring his mind out of the murky mire he had created for himself. He didn't really know what to do at first while she embraced his legs. She seemed to be figuring stuff out, so he sat in a semi-awkward silence until she pulled herself up with his hand. He was glad there was no creep, he had gotten into a fight from time to time back home, but that was mostly just heat of the moment stuff on ice, not some creep trying to hurt someone off of the ice. That meant things probably weren't immediately dangerous. He breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could continue to question her, since the "spooked" thing seemed like it needed explaining to do. Still, her question about him himself being okay caught him off guard. he stammered a bit, trying to find the words.

"O-oh? Me? Pfft I'm...I'm...not really okay. It's a long story, let's just say I had a really crappy dream. It's probably nothing." He laughed sheepishly to himself. "Gravity seems to just hate me this morning, it's probably nothing." He looked at her outfit again, and then down at her bare feet, before raising a concerned brow. "Listen, I know you...probably don't want to talk about whatever spooked you, but it's still cold out, and let's be real, no campus is safe to walk around in bearfoot. Besides, if you walked all the way here...or ran, your feet got to be aching a little." He gave her a reassuring smile, since she seemed to need some kind of anchor to work with. Before turning around and kneeling down, turning his head around. "I'll give you a lift, just tell me where your dorm is, and we should be able to get there...decently fast, right? Not like we're in a rush or anything."

After she accepted or reject the offer, he'd start moving towards her dorm with her.

"So...listen, I know you probably don't want to talk about it, but talking is good you know! if something's bothering you, maybe I can help with some advice or...I dunno, just listening in. Trust me, I had the weirdest dream last night, I could use something to get my mind off it."

Segue Segue
 
Skylar prided herself on not being entirely predictable, but leg hugs were a first for her too. In truth she hadn't entirely registered which part of him she was holding at first - she had just needed something real, and there. This wasn't the first time she had had bad dreams, although compared to her usual fare of flooding and screams this one had kicked like a wicked bitch. She hadn't thrown up from her dreams since never. That said, she'd become wary of the strange looks she received when she talked about her dreams while she was still in school, and taken the simple tack of not talking about them ever since. That changed in a moment at Ray's explanation and her head came up. "You had a fucked up dream too?" Ok, maybe she was going to talk dreams with someone.

"Yeah, I'm- I'm sorry," she said unsteadily, then went on in a tone of sudden discovery. "It is cold!" Possibly that was part of why she hadn't felt her feet getting scratched and raw, though she definitely did now. Seeing the tall student who had felled her so casually now kneeling for all the world like some knight in shiny armor did what nothing today had managed to do; she smiled, a little of yesterday's spirit showing at last. "Well sure, if you're willing to be my horse. I've always wondered what it would be like to be tall." She crisscrossed her skinny arms under his collar and climbed onto his back, all 84 lbs of her. When he stood once more she kicked her heels with excitement but after one awkward heel to his ribs managed to keep still. Her voice still bubbling with laughter she apologized, "Sorry. I'm over in dorm 12 in the Hawking Building, on the ground floor." Even at her weight stairs would have been unpleasant she suspected. Though not at all impossible. "It seems like I'm always apologizing to you."

Once they were off (a few minutes' blind flight seeming much longer from her perch) she crossed her heels in front of his stomach and sobered as they returned to their original conversation. "I had a bad dream." Wow. That sounded really pathetic. Kicking herself mentally, she tried again. "Really bad." Double wow. "Like... seriously fucked up. If dreams are the mind's way of processing what happened in your day, I don't want to know how I missed that yesterday." She shuddered and buried her face in the back of his neck.

They were back at the dorm hall before she lifted her head once more. "There was this smoke demon and he tore out my heart and then made me solve riddles to find it again, alright? Only I was dead, and I couldn't work anything out and it was like cynosure, like everyone was just looking at me and judging me and there was nothing I could do." She started shaking again, and though they were back in her living room it was a little while before she was ready to climb down from his back. "...I'll go get changed," she said quietly. Skylar disappeared into her room and closed the door, leaving Ray with a shattered mug and a thinning puddle of cold black coffee. She half suspected he'd be gone before she got out of her room.

She was The Weird One again.

TerraBooma TerraBooma
 
5:00am

Alixce woke up in a shot, sitting stick straight in her bed. For a moment, she was reminded of the forests of home... Marvelous... she thought, the golden sparkles of light floating about her. It was as she began to question them that they poof! Exploded into a final, soft burst of light. Unsure, but grinning, Alixce sat still for a breathless minute, and then added a few more, with breathing this time, a small hope that they would appear again...

Five minutes after, they had not, and she set forth for the morning. Grabbing her phone in one hand, she unlocked and texted a quick,

What did your grandpa say about spirit dreams?

As she used the other hand to load her brush before shoving it in her face. One top row of clean teeth later, Blip.

A lotta things. Why?

Alixce gave it a moment's thought, then, I'll vcall 1700

That was an intense dream, it came back in pieces. What glorious wonders, and what terrors residing in those places. Part of her wondered if such places existed, while the other part threw on her running clothes and went to making her bed.

(If Alixce knows Lull is asleep, this is done in minimal noise, if she knows Lull is awake, she isn't noisy persay but doesn't take extra precaution, and will greet/goodbye him as she's leaving the door)

At the door, she took one last look at her room, neat, blinds closed, she nodded once at the closet, and left satisfied.

7:00am

Return, pop the coffee machine on, shower, add more clothes to the hamper.

Brisk and ready, Alixce threw on the clothes she had laid out for the day, and grabbed her bag. The coffee was hot and ready, which she poured in her thermos (and if she knows Lull drinks coffee, will leave a cupfull in the pot).

Closing the front door behind her, Alixce stopped for a moment on the apartment's stoop, and pulled the top off the thermos. The steam against her face challenged the early morning chill. Sighing in content, she listed the coffee to her mouth.

8:00am - 10:00am

Alixce found another new cafe to try out, mentally comparing and contrasting the coffee served there, and then heads to the school grounds.
 
9:15

"Oh... M- Mori...!"

So how was she expected to feel? Glad? Scared? Unsure? Mori was acting fairly normally, Lois thought, at least in comparison to how Lois herself was acting, and asked about food. As if there was nothing more normal in life, but gawping at a vending machine for five minutes before deciding what to buy. But, as Mori came within reach, Lois grabbed her, an impromptu hug, a hug that Lois was unprepared for.

This was real, though, real body. Real flesh. Soft, warm, Lois could feel her friend's shoulderblades under her palms, but she let go fairly quickly. No good would come of looking strange this morning, of acting strange.

But, as she let go, a hand snaked to her hair and twiddled it. No, more than twiddled, but twisted. Twisted pretty hard as well - the twisting started to hurt her scalp, so she stopped and merely held the ball of hair in a fist. There was no acting normally now.

So she turned, trying to walk naturally at least, and shrugged at Mori's suggestion, "I... was going to see what they had for breakfast today in the cafeteria... Wanted to get used to the stuff they have. I'd rather have toast or something, but I'll stop with you at the machine if you like. I don't mind... I'm not really that hungry..."

That last bit was a lie, Lois was hungry. But she couldn't eat. There was no way she would be able to choke down food happily. No, despite the black-hole-like feeling in her stomach, her throat was tight, her eyes were sore. Eating a time like this would be a massive chore, and Lois didn't feel like it. She knew she might regret it, but she just couldn't. Not now.

"Actually, I'll just come with you to the vending machine. I don't really feel like anything," she forced a laugh, "Maybe I ate too much at the barbeque yesterday... that's very unlike me to eat so much. My brother always said, eyes bigger than my stomach..."

She put that last sentence out of her mind, but her shoulder shifted her bag slightly. Where the phone lay. Where the unanswered calls remained unanswered. She walked with Mori, but her own mind was off food. No matter the direction she took, she tried to keep at least half her mind on her friend, while the other half stayed fixated on her dream.

AiDee AiDee

At 7:30, Lull heard the front door close. He immediately tried to call Lois. When he received no answer, the scowl that accompanied his dry-lipped semi-snarl got darker. At 8:00, when he recieved no answer for a third time, he mentally composed his agenda for the day. It was not a healthy one.
 
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Ray grunted as they got underway and her knee dug into his side. She was surprisingly light, but carrying people wasn't exactly a specialty he worked with, he listend in silence as she talked about her own dreams...more of a nightmare really. He nodded reassuringly, doing his best to be a supportive person...in more than purely a physical stance as he held her up. He shook his head with a laugh when she commented on apologies. "Pft, you know your talking to a Canadian night? That's like. Our thing. You don't have to worry about saying sorry, it sounds like you've had a hell of a night. I thought my dream was bad...all I had was a weird series of choices, it was kind of like a really crappy philosophy class with some fucked up answers at the end. What you went through though...that's gotta be rough. I got knocked out by a rock?" He said jokingly, trying to allieve her fears by normalizing a bad dream. From what she said, he figured he'd have been pretty freaked out too. He tried to comfort her when she started shaking again, but there was only so much you can to when your holding someone up piggy back style. He ended up just kind of rocking back and forth out of not knowing what to do, which...sorta seemed to help? He looked sadly at her as she quietly sunk into her room. Ray might not have known her very well, but she was clearly hurting. He sat down outside and gazed about in the meantime, a new set of mysteries running through his head. HIs dream sucked, but hers was way worse...by a lot. Was there any way to help her?

His gaze came across the pool of black liquid and the shattered mug. Did Skylar do that? Ray sighed and pushed himself to his feet, the least he could do is help her out. He piled up the shattered mug, smiling softly at the obvious pun that was on the front from what he had managed to piece together. After tossing it into the trash and making a mental note to let her know later, he then found a cloth by the isnk and started cleaning up the coffee. It had managed to stain pretty good, but he figured he had a bit of time, so he set a determined expression on his face and started scrubbing away at the mess on the floor. Hopefully, he'd be done by the time she had finished changing, he had an idea forming in his mind. His parents prooobably wouldn't appreciate him ditching some of today's classes, but between his fucked up dream, and Skylar's even more fucked up nightmare, maybe some sightseeing would be a good distraction. He already had a few ideas. He'd only been in the Raven's Nest once, but it was a cool place. When Skylar came out again, he'd either spin around from his seated place or stand up from cleaning the coffee, depending on how long she took.

"We're going on an adventure!" he suddenly declared, hoping to distract her from her thoughts. "There's a cool place in town I've visited, it's a little curio shop called the Raven's Nest. It's got...everything, we are going to go explore it!" He grinned. "Class is later this afternoon anyway. Plus, I bet this place has some good dream stuff, we could both use that, so you in?" He smirked. "I'll even give you another piggy back ride if you want."
 
Albeit she was surprised at the sudden embrace, Mori wasted no time in hugging the other girl back. She had that kind of effect on people, where they would pour out emotions on her and seek her for comfort. It was convenient for Mori, this way she didn't have to dig around too much about what was bothering them. This hug was tight and dragged on a bit, it was no greeting hug.. She had something on her mind.

Lois balled up her hair in a fist as if something was clearly bothering her. Lois turned away and walked in certain direction. As she talked about getting food from the cafeteria, "Oh! We don't need to go to the vending machines. I was going to head down to grab something to eat." She murmured the last bit.

Lois insisted on not going to to the cafeteria. Feeling a bit guilty about dragging her away from getting something to eat, Mori realized that she had to make it up to her. She had a feeling that she knew how. She smiled and grabbed Lois' arm as she dragged her to a vending machine. It wasn't too hard to find one, there was a machine posted at nearly each corner. Mori glanced back at Lois and gave her a lopsided grin, "What do you want? My treat!" The machine was filled with all sorts of candies and chips. The most promising item seemed to be the glazed honey bun.

[If Lois gives an answer as to what she wanted]

"Whaaaat?" Mori punched in the numbers for the item on the vending machine, "That can't fill you up! Here I'll just buy...ten of it."

[If Lois doesn't reply to Mori]

"...I'm going to buy everything."

She swiped her card and continuously punched in the row and number about ten times, "Grab them all!" Mori proceeded to drop her backpack down and then squatted in front of the machine, "There it is...The most delicious item in there! Honey buns. Those suckers are about 350 calories each. Let's see...If I run three laps around the block I could probably eat one."

Mori ended up getting five honeybuns.

"Fifteen laps." She repeated to herself. The athletic glanced back at Lois' full hands and gestured to her backpack, "Here just stuff them inside! We can go to the meet and greet and chomp on this...grub." They shouldn't get into too much trouble. Mori could just fake that she was very new and couldn't expect to learn every rule that the school had.

Feeling the lack of energy coming from Lois, Mori grabbed her wrist and turned her around. Mori had her days of moping around and terrible sleep to add to the damage. However, her philosophy of bouncing back from anything was absolute. Whatever Lois was facing, Mori wanted her to be able to fight back, "Is everything okay?" She asked before tilting her head at her roommate, "You can tell me." She assured her as they walked towards the meet and greet.

Mori would probably believe anything she had to say after her dream and the shredded blankets.
 
7/11/17
Free Posting Mode
Today’s Schedule
8am to 10am – Waking up
10am to 11am (Duration of Post) – Meet and Greet for the new students with the Student Rep Council
11am to 1pm – Mori and Skylar have miscellaneous classes
2pm to 3:30pm – Ray, Alixce and Lois have miscellaneous classes​

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The meet and greet was, unsurprisingly, held in the Square. Where the barbeque had been held the previous day there were now a series of large hot plates onto which various staff members were pouring copious amounts of pancake mixture. Arlindou was the only one there the photography club would recognise. Maple syrup flowed like a river (though it was store brand) alongside butter and some spreads. When it came to food Crowtree wouldn’t be outdone by any other university.

Of the fourteen representatives on the council ten were there. Two members, a boy and girl, from each year, the treasurer and one of the two presidents. The secretary, second president and both staff liaisons were absent due to other commitments. Having got there early they were all happily eating the first servings of breakfast as they waited for the event to begin. The only exception was the president, Aaron Elmhart (male picture), who had devoured his meal in seconds and now stood at the centre of the area, a bright smile and friendly handshake waiting for the first years. He was a popular young man with the student body, and had made a name for himself working part time as an accountant with the university, earning the nickname Mr Monopoly.

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Nearby was Nikolas Morris, an American born Russian and close friend of Aaron’s, known as Uncle Pennnybags. A lesser liked member of the council for his quiet, fierce demeanour and obsession with money. Coming from a family who had made their fortune in Russian oil only to lose it all in the USSR’s dissolution it wasn’t surprising. He was currently talking to Eliza Willems, a German born chemistry student and serving as a third year representative. Their relationship was a mystery to all, as the witty, carefree woman had nothing in common with her boyfriend.

Just finishing her meal was another very recognisable student. Ariel Korhonen (female pic), a Finnish citizen studying the dramatic arts currently in her second year. Despite her slight accent she had played the female lead in last semester’s university performance as well as taking a director’s spot. She was known for her ambition and unrelenting drive to improve. Also apparently an arts and crafts type person, judging from the tiny teddy bear badge she had pinned to her blouse.

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At the edge of the Square, far enough away to be separate but also close enough that he was clearly interested, was an older Asian man in a suit. As the clock ticked over to 10am he pulled out a cigarette and started smoking. The older students who passed him by gave a respectful nod, and wondered why the Chancellor had bothered to attend the meet and greet.

Seemingly invisible to everyone else except the photography members that were in attendance, a shadowy figure moved through the crowd, carefully avoiding contact with anyone. Their lower body and torso were perfectly circular, rising up like a cylinder. At the neck the shape curved forward and converged to a single hook like point. Though it had no eyes it distinctly turned its attention towards Mori when she arrived.

A second shape was sleeping underneath the hot plate Arlindou was using, basking in the warmth. It had a dog’s head and an oddly long body, but looked fairly normal apart from that fact. It was even covered in brown and white fur and could easily be someone’s pet.

~***~​

The first shape was waiting for Ray and Skylar as they left the apartment, perched on a tree opposite and facing away. An enormous bird, far too heavy to be sitting on the branch it was without bending on even snapping it. When it heard the door to the dorm close it turned around to look at them. A human face, yet one that had clearly been sliced off and was now worn as a mask. Burning orange eyes stared through the holes and an upwards curving beak poked through where the mouth should be. It merely watched them for now.

Above them, still clinging to the side of the building, the six legged beast began making its way down, three eyes tracking the pair as the other two kept an eye on where it was going. Unlike the bird thing it followed them around the dorm and all the way to the Raven’s Nest, where it paused outside, before climbing the walls of the shop and disappearing onto the roof.

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The shop itself had been built to look small. The outside had been painted a dark brown and it had a flat roof, a single antennae poked up over the lip. There were four individual windows that let in light and revealed the contents, two to either side of the door. Inside the shop had just enough illumination to see clearly. There was a very earthy feel to it all. An empty corridor ran straight from the entrance to the counter. A sign upon it informed customers the shopkeeper was deaf. A board to the side explained some basic hand gestures. It listed all the numbers, “how much”, “I want X of this”, “When will the next copy be in” and other general phrases.

On the left side was the general side of the store. On the right things took a distinctly Japanese theme, and in the corner closer to the counter on that side were the shelves of manga and anime. The shopkeeper popped out from behind the shelves on the left side and stared at the two new customers. She swept her hand out across the store, gave a small bow, and then disappeared back into the shelves. Though she wouldn’t obviously follow the pair as they looked around, she somehow always ended up close to where they were as they looked around.

(Picture of Hotaru shamelessly stolen from Ai's gallery)
 
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9:36​

Skylar took her time about getting ready, not even listening out for the sound she expected; the sound of a door closing behind her friendly visitor. She left her jammies on the chair by her bed and washed her feet, then donned some blue leggings and a black shirt as well as a matching blue jacket. Finally and without forgetting socks, she put on one of her pairs of printed shoes and snatched up her unicorn and storm carry bag. She walked back out to the living room and had her third big surprise of the day. A good one; the corners of her mouth turned up as Ray span around from his seat at the table and made his enthusiastic announcement.

"You stayed..." she murmured half to herself, then her smile bloomed into full life. "Raven's Nest sounds fantastic!" She knew she was meant to be at the meet and greet with the school council, but her tolerance for administrative formalities was at an all time low (even for her). A whimsical adventure halfway across the city to explore a curio shop that had 'everything' sounded like just the ticket. She met his smirk with a broad smile and half-shook her head. "Let's start out walking, yeah? I promise I'll let you carry me if I get tired." She helped him to his feet then elbowed him lightly in his side. "So long as we're back by eleven I won't miss anything I can't afford to." A quick dimple then they were off, she walking three steps to Ray's two until they laughingly managed to synchronize their steps.

Her high spirits lasted all the way out the front of the building, when her eyes widened as she saw an enormous dark bird. It gave her the heebie jeebies just looking at it, and when it turned around she half-swallowed a scream; it came out more as a squeak. Fearful blue eyes flicked across to Ray's face but looked back before he could spot her attention, hopefully. She had been greatly reassured by his shared experiences earlier, choices and philosophy and heavy rocks didn't sound exactly like her dream, but close enough that she felt he might at least understand her. But freaky birds with skin faces hanging off in broad daylight when she knew she wasn't asleep (didn't she?) might put their newfound rapport to the test. If he could even see that thing, and somehow she didn't want to ask. She walked on without mentioning it, and without noticing the spider cat thing at all.

The shop intrigued from the moment Ray led her in through the door and Skylar's first port of call was the sign by the counter. She made a few practice hand-gestures to herself, then fluttered over to the Japanese section, wandering the shelves and showing Ray some interesting and curious finds that range from the kitschy to the cute to the truly odd. One was a multi-tailed fox with a raised paw and an apparent expression of mischief on his features, but the one she eventually picked up was a kind of elephant/tiger thing called a Baku. She took the small ivory talisman over to the cleared counter and after a second glance at the sign turned to the shopkeeper, raised an upturned fist and then fanned out her fingers.

e0967835506f58e0841d942d0a10e8d1--kirin-dream-catcher.jpg


TerraBooma TerraBooma
 
Ray was glad Skylar's spirits seemed to soar when eh suggested going to the Raven's nest. To be honest, he wasn't reaaaally sure what he was expecting to find. He'd walked past the store a couple times, and even looked inside once, so he knew it had some cool stuff inside, but he didn't exactly know what he was supposed to be looking for. He figured he'd find something cool on teh way in. He matched steps with Skylar, silently glad she refused his offer. He was willing to do it if he had to, but carrying anyone no matter how light for that long would probably have sucked a little bit, especially if hills were involved.Or stairs. Or...any obstacle really. So Ray was in a good mood as they left the dorm, one that was only the tiniest bit soured by the monsters that seemed to have appeared outside.

The bird freaked him out a little, but since it didn't really remind him of an aspect of his dream, it was just kind of creepy. What kinda bird was that thing? To have part of it falling apart but still be okay? It went against what he knew from the animals back home, but after staring at it for acouple seconds he went to check Skylar's own expression. Seeing her simply take hte lead towards the Raven's Nest, it seemed to be something normal maybe? He wasn't sure. As the pair kept walking and turned a corner, he caught a brief glance of the spider-thing, causing his step to falter for a moment. He managed to recover before Skylar noticed at the least, whatever was going on, weird animals in the corner of his vision weren't worth bringing up. From what Skylar had told him, she didn't need the added stress of a weird ass spider creature. It'd be fine!

He spent his time quietly inthe Raven's Nest, making conversation with Skylar but clearly deep in thought at the massive difference with what he knew to what this shop carried. He walked around for a bit until Skylar flagged the shop lady down. Ray had seen the hand sign language instructions on the wya in, unfortunately, he was still rubbish at making hand signs, so instead of simply wrote down some questions in a memo.

1. Good tea?
2. Ward against bad dreams? Both of us had bad nightmares.
3. Any anti monster stuff?

The latter was more for the coolness factor than anything else, he kinda wondered if she had a katana. Katana's were cool! Could he buy one? He'd...probably have a hard time bringing it home.

But it would be really cool...
 
9:30

"I'm fine, honestly, I couldn't eat. I can carry things for you," Lois offered, trying to act herself. It was hard, and Lois was no actress. Had she previously been put in a situation where she had to hide her feelings under a thin layer of lies? No. She hadn't. She never had to. If she had to cry, she'd cry. If she had to laugh, she's laugh. If she had to pretend to be an aeroplane she'd... well, pretend to be an aeroplane.

But now was the practice, apparently, and she took some of the food - whatever it was, Lois didn't recognise it. Honey buns? It was a pet-name made edible - and placed it all gently into her bag. As she withdrew her hand, it brushed past her phone and that wave of guilt hit her again.

She swallowed painfully, and with it swallowed that guilt. The guilt of not calling back, the guilt of the dream... why was she feeling guilty about the dream? She'd made her decision and done what he'd said.

Mori grabbed her wrist, waking her out of the susurus in her mind. Her words fell like wet concrete in Lois' mind, hardening until she couldn't shake the question out of her head, even as they walked. With her bag full of sugary treats - treats a certain someone would relish - and her mouth full of unsaid words, she bit her lip.

But her mouth couldn't keep all the secrets in. It simply wasn't big enough.

"I... dreamed... last night that... my brother, you know him, don't you, he came up to see our room last week. But he... no first... first my body went all weird, like I was a doll. Like, you know those posing dolls artists use? The wooden ones? I was sort of like that. And then my brother he... rose out of the ground next to a pile of something. And he was detailed, it looked like him, but then he made me next to him out of the other pile," her explanation was muddled, she knew, but it was all coming out at once. No stop signs, no pauses. It was vanilla, organic, raw. Emotive. Real.

"He made me, he made me. Then... it was like the world said I shouldn't go with him 'cause he was controlling me or something. Because he started sinking back into the ground a bit later and I was holding his hands. I could either chose to let him go or to go with him. But the world treated it like if I said I wanted to go with him that I was wrong. And it hurt, it hurt a lot but... I still... went with him. Into the ground..."

That wasn't all though, was it?

"And I woke up, and it looked like my body was still that doll thing, and I couldn't move or anything," she glanced at Mori. "That's... what happened. To me. It's bugging me. A lot. I know it means something but I either... can't figure it out or I don't want to acknowledge it. I... don't know. I feel stupid telling you this, it was just a dream. But it wasn't just a dream."

She felt selfish, spilling all this to Mori. The girl had her own problems. She wasn't Lull, she wouldn't just take the problems like he did. And even when he did listen to her, she knew he wouldn't let them burden him. He'd nod, he'd say very little while she was talking, and send her on her way. It was hardly a comfort when he did that, but whatever it was was enough for her. Mori though... she was more than he was, she was a friend. Lois wondered what she'd do - there was no way Mori wouldn't do something, after all - and what she could do.

AiDee AiDee

On his first cigarette-break of the day, Lull made a point to walk a few minutes away from his place of work. Nothing of interest was in visual range, though the direction he was walking in was clear, and determination was hot in his eyes.
 
Mori had briefly met Lull. He seemed protective of his sister and it seemed like he meant well. The dream seemed haunting enough, Lois seemed tentative to tell Mori about it. As she listened, she couldn’t help but remember her own dream. From the sound of it, it seemed like Lois was harboring internal conflict between herself and her brother. Mori’s dream revolved around her brother as well.

“Hey, hey, hey…” She placed a hand on Lois’ shoulders, “Dreams can be...scary, but you shouldn’t take them to heart. Sometimes...it’s just your head messing with you.” Mori wished she could talk more to help her out, “I...had-...Have had bad dreams before. You just need to be resilient and..forget about it.” her voice trailed off. Thankfully, the two were able to make it to the Square before she had to say anything else to the girl.

The entire place smelled a lot like pancake batter, “Too bad Ray isn’t here….Didn’t he want pancakes?” Mori joked with her. Maybe if she didn’t focus on what happened in the dream, she would be able to have a better time. Mori should have said something else to Lois, it bugged her that she was unable to say something better. When morale was down with her teammates, she would use her intense and happy demeanor to force them to see a different perspective. Silently frustrated with herself, she moved away from the entrance. At the corner of her eye, Mori noticed a shadowy figure emerge from the crowd.

It was probably her eyes playing tricks. Mori glanced back at the crowd, her eyes shifting back and forth, searching for the figure again. She nearly missed the big shadowed humanoid. Mori felt herself staring, if she blinked it would probably disappear or get closer. She took a few steps back and bumped into the tabled behind, shifting the table just a smidge. She quickly turned away to take a look at the potential mess she could have made, “O-oh! I’m so-...It’s my bad!”

She dipped away from the table and took a look at the crowd. Mori lost sight of whatever she saw.
 
7/11/17
Free Posting Mode
Today’s Schedule
8am to 10am – Waking up
10am to 11am (Duration of Post) – Meet and Greet for the new students with the Student Rep Council
11am to 1pm – Mori and Skylar have miscellaneous classes
2pm to 3:30pm – Ray, Alixce and Lois have miscellaneous classes​

Hotaru held up all ten fingers in response to Skylar’s question. The figure was small but the material was expensive. As she waited for the girl to produce the funds she turned her attention towards Ray’s questions. She moved over to the closest shelf and browsed a few boxes before pulling out one. She dropped it off at the counter before disappearing deeper into the shop. The box contained a green tea called Sencha that helped with weight loss and sleeping.

She was gone about a minute before she returned … with a katana.

A two inch long, blunt miniature, but at least it was made of metal. It wouldn’t be getting rid of any monsters except those in the mind. She also had a cloth and wood Omamori and two cherry blossom themed dream catchers in boxes. She put them all down on the counter and pulled out a strip of paper which she tore small squares off of. A number went on each square and was placed next to one of the items she had gathered. The tea was $8. The Katana and Omamori were each $2.50. The dream catchers were a little more expensive at $12.50 apiece but looked to be good quality.

She pulled out her own phone and typed a message in a note which she then showed the two.

“The tea will help soothe your sleep. The Omamari and katana will protect you. The catchers will keep the nightmares at bay.” She pulled the phone back then typed some more. “It should pass once you settle in. Evertine’s reputation plus moving messes with a lot of student’s heads.”

~***~

“You ok there? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!” asked an accented voice at Mori’s side. Having noticed Mori bump the table Ariel had made her way over to check on the girls. “None of them here though! The town has been a real supernatural let down. The only actual spooky mystery is how those two are still dating.” She made a gesture towards Nikolas and Eliza. “Truly no one knows.” She said, sighing and lapsing into a short silence as she looked at the pair.

The shadow reappeared in the crowd to Mori’s right a fair distance off, and headed directly for her at a slow crawl.

“Oh, my apologies, thinking too much about the gossip. I’m Ariel Korhonen, 2nd year rep. Here, take these.” She reached into her handbag and pulled out two more teddy bear pins, handing one to each Lois and Mori. The stitching was well done, with no loose threads or exposed stuffing. But the limbs were mismatched in size and the details of the face were similarly asymmetrical. Not the work of a complete amateur, but plenty of room to improve. “I’m still new to it. No need to wear it if you don’t like them, they’re paska. When I’m better you’ll get cuter versions.”

A shape resembling a weird, multi coloured, balloon animal rose up from the north edge of the Square. It floated a metre above everyone’s heads, with thin black tendrils hanging down barely brushing the hair of the tallest attendees. Rather than heading for the two women it circled around the gathering, showing no interest in either.

“What are you two studying here? Oh and don’t forget to eat!”
 
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10:20

"Ariel? As in... well, obviously not the Little Mermaid but... like that?" she said as she accepted the teddy pin. To her, it was adorable. Very human in spite of its bear-ness. She gazed at it, feeling her anxiety about the dream slip away a little. This was human, wasn't it? Gifting things made with the hands and the heart with no thought to getting something in return. Lois supposed Lull had done that. Her whole childhood was one big gift he didn't expect repayment for. Although, speaking of the Little Mermaid, Lois had to admit Lull didn't allow her any fantasies of fairy tales. He'd told her the "true" story of the Little Mermaid, and now she didn't like thinking about it.

But still, she knew how to enjoy a good Disney adaption now. And she did so on a regular basis. That was her own gift to her. Attaching the pin to her jumper, on the left, she thanked the girl and looked at Mori with a renewed smile.

"It's gonna be okay here," she said. "We've got the pins to prove it. No more scary stuff. And I don't want a cuter version, I like this version," Lois pouted playfully, raising her hand to protect the bear from its creator's promise. But she laughed - improving was always good. But she didn't want her little pin to feel unloved.

"I'm studying... oh geez... Environmental Studies. Almost forgot... I, uh, always liked flowers and things. Mori can tell you that. I know Environmental Studies isn't just flowers and things... but you know, volcanoes and biomes and whatever... they're still cool. I'm still finding my niche in life so..." her voice trailed off and she looked at the coloured something that had sneaked into the corner of her eye. Right above everyone, a while away from her but...

"What's that?" she pointed dumbly up in its direction, like a child wanting to know what a kite was. "Is that another arts 'n' crafts thing? I can't tell if I like it or not. What is it?"

AiDee AiDee DoughGuy DoughGuy

By 10, Lull had called several WikiHow articles on lockpicking "shit" and had also verbally shunned the complicated new locks everywhere seemed to have. In his days of theft, he'd been adept at manipulating a simple lock with a small, hardy piece of slate. Well, he'd only successfully used the slate once. But he knew slate wouldn't cut it, nor would any makeshift tool he could conjure up. He cursed that fact, too, before getting back to work.
 
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Ray was surprised that he actually got a katana, when he asked for "Anti monster weapons" his mind had jumped to a katana or other such japanese themed weapon given the type of shop this was. The fact that it was what was ACTUALLY there was...suprising. Sure, it might've been a bit...dinky, but if the shopkeeper lady said it'd protect them...well, it was worth a shot right? Sure he might be wasting what money he had, but worst case scenario he got some nifty looking tourist trap type items, best case scenario? He'd never have to pick something like himself vs the life of a loved one in a nightmarish dream ever again. He breathed a sigh of relief, hoping this would work, if not for his sake, than for Skylar's...he didn't know the girl very well, but her nightmare seemed to have been on a totally different level from his own. "I think they're worth a shot." He said to her with a shrug. "These things won't make it worse anyway right? They should help. I'm down to try." He grinned and turned back to Hotaru. "I'll take the Katana, one of the dream catchers, and some tea. Sounds like a pretty good deal to me."

After buying his own stuff, he turned curiously to skylar. "You going to get the stuff too? Price on a piece of mind and all that right? He picked up whatever bag or box Hotaru would have put his items in and gave her a smile. "Thanks by the way" He attempted to sign, somewhat disastrously. Before turning to Skylar to explain. "Being in a new place is pretty rough, especially coming across country and all." He chuckled sheepishly. "It might sound dumb, but getting used to the way you guys do things down here can be draining, it's reeeally similar, but not quite the same. You want to check anything else out in this place? I'm stopping myself before I spent my entire monthly allowance and need to eat out of dumpsters." He motioned backwards to the merchandise. "All this stuff is really cool! But uh, I can't afford it."
 
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