Day 3: Evening

Evening: 5:00pm - Midnight

[ IRL Timeframe: June 16th to ~~June 26th~~ July 3rd, 2019 ]

No matter when the heroes defeated their monsters, or when the sixth monster was defeated and there were none left, everyone will be treated to an unfortunately familiar feeling. The world of the past will fade, slowly at first but gradually increasing in pace until they pass out to blackness.

Everyone will wake up on a beach, and not a beach in the town their residence is in. Looks like everyone will need to take the train back home or go for a really, really long walk.

More unsettling than that is that every hero will either have a decent suntan or a mild sunburn. Social media is abuzz with comments about the island "going still" and the knights "dead on the beaches". There are reports that all twelve knights and the princess were all defeated at the same time and left on the beaches as an advertisement that the world was over this year.

Naturally, the heroes will realize that they are not, in fact, dead. Better do some damage control, there. Anyone who tried to make any recordings in the past will find that the files are corrupted and unavailable. Looks like whatever happened is going to... stay in the past.

The heroes who are due for an evening visit in the Princess' Dream Citadel or in The Wizard's House will arrive there the moment they sleep.

The Weather
Warmer than yesterday.
77°F / 25°C
Everyone's in a bit of a panic!

Prompts:

05:00pm Beach Wake-up Call: Every hero will wake up laying on the wet sand of the beach. There's waves gently lapping at them, waking them up slowly from their abrupt return from the past. Everyone will feel a little groggy and their clothes will be uncomfortably crusted in sand. Here's to hoping that saltwater and sand will wash out? Make sure to remove the little crabs that have started crawling over you!

5:00pm, Craydon: The residents of Craydon are all safely at home up the mountain by now. The only people still lingering around the Craydon beaches are fishermen working to prepare for their sunset runs. The offshore cages aren't going to empty themselves, after all! Fortunately this means they have, and can offer, blankets and hot drinks while they're heading out. It's not much, but they're here to help. At least the heroes are hopefully not alone?

5:00pm, Bamborough: The residents of Bamborough are really just the locals, concerned for the future of the world and of the heroes. Instead of waking up alone, they'll find little boxes of dry towels and bottled water beside them. Looks like the residents were pretty sure they were going to wake up at some point because they've left little kits to help them wake up with. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. The boardwalks of Bamborough are empty, with not a single soul out and about. The local shops, though, are pretty much business as usual. They'll immediately bustle in excitement when the heroes show themselves. Also: Free showers near the beach boardwalks! Better get all that crusty sand cleaned off.

5:00pm, Far Haven: The city of Far Haven is simultaneously the most cold and impersonal and the most immediately helpful. Each hero in Far Haven will wake up with a little walkie talkie beside them. If they pick it up and reach out, they'll be immediately told to come to the Far Haven hospital for immediate medical assistance. Once there, they'll be offered a free shower, water, hydration, a medical checkup, and a free coupon for the Craydon hot springs. There are even little kits set out for the knights in other towns. But... there's no one to bring them to the other towns, whoops. Guess they're carry-out only?

5:35pm onward, Train station(s): The train has a pretty reliable schedule for the evening, ending in Far Haven at 11:25pm. One way or another, the train is going to be how your hero makes their way back home to sleep for the night. Will the ride be uneventful, or will it be spent with others?

• Bamborough: 6:45pm, 8:30pm, 10:15pm.
• Craydon: 7:20pm, 9:05pm, 10:50pm.
• Far Haven: 6:10pm, 7:55pm, 9:40pm, 11:25pm.

6:00pm, Bamborough: In the outdoor seating area of Slyder's Wizard Sliders, a Wizard-themed burger restaurant in the most touristy area of Bamborough near the waterfront, the Wizard herself is seated at one of the tables under a big umbrella. Despite the big umbrella, she's still wearing her massive hat: Double shade from the setting sun. Sitting on the table is a small wizard-themed drink with little lightning bolts sticking out of the blue liquid.

8:00pm, Far Haven: Social media is quick to add the #wizardsighting hashtag to posts made by officers at the police station in Far Haven. The Wizard is seated up on the rooftop ledge of the police station, legs dangling over the third floor edge, surrounded by fireflies sparkling in the night. All a hero has to do is tell an officer they'd like to go up to talk to the Wizard and they'll be escorted to the elevator to the roof. Up you go, heroes!

Procedure:

Reply to the appropriate toplevel comments for events below. Indicate if a post is a private conversation with "Private" in the subject otherwise all threads should be open to interaction with others. Plan OOCly how you'd like to toss everyone around.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

If the Wizard were one for social media, she would've responded to the #wizardsighting hashtag with a #yesitsme and a selfie.

But that isn't this Wizard. This is the Wizard that wears pajamas in broad daylight and looks like she hasn't slept in about seventy years, she's easy to outshine even on her best day.

Every officer in the police station dodges out of Luka's way, intimidated by the fact that he looks like the Winter Soldier on his way to kill Captain America. They're quite certain there's going to be a fight on top of the building and they have to get citizens away from here, uh, now.

The Wizard, meanwhile, isn't moving an inch from her position on the edge of the building. Though she doesn't move, she does turn to look over her shoulder so she's not speaking away from Luka. She'll wait for him to be closer for a conversation.

"Good evening, Princess."

In the back of Luka's mind, there's the feeling of the Protector trying to insist he not be here and run and, all of a sudden, the Protector's presence is just gone.

The Protector's strange vibes and sudden disappearance give Luka pause. There were few things that could make Luka stop in his tracks in that moment, and this was one of them. But he shakes the doubt out of his mind. Obviously the two weren't on good terms. Maybe it was just an awkward situation The Protector would rather not be present for, Luka concluded.

He comes to a stop a couple feet behind her and folds his arms.

"Lets skip the formalities, yeah? I want to talk about what happened today. I can only assume you were responsible."

If the Wizard is thinking anything in this moment, she doesn't show it on her face. She's as stoic, and sleepy, as ever and she still has that tiny little smirk on her face as she answers.

"I wasn't." But she can't just give him that, she wanted to see him struggle through it.

"Though it was fun, wasn't it?"

"Fun was not the word I'd choose to describe all that," Luka says, tersely.

He invites himself to sit on the ledge near her, but still keeping a relative distance. Unlike the Wizard though, his feet are staying firmly planted on the roof.

"Don't bullshit me. There's no one else who could have been responsible."

A part of her wonders if she should diffuse that tense aura of his, this is their first interaction after all, but on the other hand she's curious how he'll handle himself in this moment.

Nah, she has to mess with him. When she speaks again, she's standing behind him. She isn't moving, but she's absolutely right there.

"Why would I lie? Do you want to meet the one who's responsible?"

Luka's unnerved by her sudden closeness, but attempts to keep his surprise under wraps.

"Not without a little explanation first." Luka crosses his arms. "You really think I'd accept an offer like that without the fine print?"

He wants to turn around and face her, but frankly, he's not even sure she's still there and Luka isn't about to risk looking like a fool in front of the Wizard.

"So, if you're not the one responsible, tell me who is. Maybe I'll meet them."

Well, she's impressed. She lets a little of that emotion slip into her voice, the slightest uptick in her tone as she speaks again. His show of confidence, even when he was initially unnerved, is quite something.

"You will meet them." She starts, taking a step so she can move around to his front. She's absolutely looking him over.

"Tomorrow morning, Princess. May I know your name?" She asks, sounding quite curious. She's never met him, after all.

Luka sighs at her non-answer. If the gesture meant anything to him he might have rolled his eyes, too.

"Hmh," Luka grunts. "You didn't even do your research before the Wizard Season this year? I'm Luka Eutychia. 5 seconds online would have told you as much."

He notes what she says about the responsible party as something to ask the Protector tonight, and Luka hopes he'll be a little more forthcoming than she's been about it. He wasn't getting his hopes up, though --- these entity types were big fans of vague answers.

"I prefer meeting you face to face." She offers, first, and then follows up with a slight note of what she intends as a gentle reminder.

"Do you think I spend time online, Luka?" She knows full well that he's likely seen the pinstagram page that's exclusively pictures of ramen and actually posted pictures of a ramen bowl-shaped slider no more than two hours earlier.

That slider had tasted really good, actually.

"I just thought you were the type to come fully prepared." He corrects her. "I know this is more than just a game to you. Or, at least it was at some point."

Clever wording, Luka. She makes a little "Hm" after he counters her pretty effectively, but then he says something that's so far off base that it's ridiculous and she can't just let it slide now can she?

"It was never a game, even in the hopeless stretches where nothing went to plan."

"You don't come off like you take it very seriously. I appreciate the... presentation of it all, but the stakes are pretty high for us."

Luka taps his foot, somewhat impatiently.

"And knowing your end goal is letting the Earth eat itself, I can't muster much sympathy in regards to your plans not going well."

Oh, Luka, don't ever rush the Wizard. She operates at her own pace and impatience won't help anyone. But she actually gives a little "heh" after he describes it as the planet eating itself. The stakes were high every year, but fortunately the stakes on the table had an 'insert coin to retry' feature and someone had taken the cover off of the coin tray.

"So far, this year is going well. Some of the prior years I knew were lost by the second day." She takes a step back, settling herself back down on the ledge so she can make her legs dangle again.

"Would you believe me if I told you I want everyone to live?"

"If you want everyone to live, trying to destroy the Earth --- or letting it destroy itself -- has to be the worst way of going about that I've heard of." Luka says. "And don't tell me you're just playing along with the contract. You genuinely want the Protector dead, don't you?"

"For them to live, they won't be here when it all ends." She offers, clarifying his seeming misunderstanding.

"I haven't always, but there's no end where he's still alive. Not now." She starts creating little crackling wisps in the air in front of her. Each one fizzles for several long seconds before it vanishes.

Luka's quiet, thinking on her words. When she puts it like that, it doesn't seem so bad.

"So where would everyone be instead?" He asks carefully. "The Protector said there weren't any other ways to save us."

"A magic space, at first. A new world, if one can be found." She turns slightly, watching to see if he'll give away what he's thinking. He's one of only a handful of Princesses that had been this curious.

"He wants to save this world as it is, at any cost."

"And what if one can't be found?"

"Then one can be made from nothing."

"And why do you think the Protector's so opposed to this?" He knew he could ask the Protector himself, but Luka was curious as to what the Wizard would say.

"He created the loop we're trapped in." She answers, shifting slightly on the edge of the roof as she decides to tell Luka something that could get him killed.

"And kills any knights, and princesses, who try to change that."

The statement leaves Luka taken aback. He's still as his thoughts race, processing the information. Would the Protector really kill him, in those circumstances? Is she even telling the truth? The Protector did say she would try to manipulate him, this could just be part of that.

"He.... he wants to save the earth." Luka says, finally. "The loop we're 'trapped' in is the only way to do that. A person who tried to change that would be someone aligned with you, someone who wants to kill him."

The Wizard doesn't rush him through his thoughts, and she doesn't interrupt him as he works through the impossible scenario she's saddled him with. Nothing quite like offering up information that would break his worldview. Or at least make him question it.

"Most of them were with him." She answers, shifting back to look out on the streets below. It's obvious in her voice that her characteristic smirk is nowhere to be found right now.

"He made up his mind about what has to be done." She lets out a long breath. Does she even need to breathe? Has she been breathing this whole time? It doesn't matter, but she's thinking about what does matter.

"When he asks, tell him I threatened to kill you early."

"Ugh," Luka clenches a fist in frustration. "Why do you both have to be so... vague all the time! Why is the Protector so adamant about this method?! And why would I want to tell him you said that?!"

She could be more vague, but there was only so much she could say. He does ask two questions that she can answer, though, so she'll give him that much.

"He wants this planet to be saved, so he can repeat this solution again and again." She offers, before clarifying: "I know we haven't found the solution yet. It's not this."

And then there's that second question and she pauses for a moment to decide how best to phrase it...

"Because he will kill you otherwise. If you can't lie, I can actually threaten you."

The Weather

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