wizardseason: (Hope)
Hope RP ([personal profile] wizardseason) wrote in [community profile] pajamabox2021-07-20 09:13 pm

Day 9: Twilight

Twilight: 12:00noon - ??:00 Unknown

[ IRL Timeframe: July 20th - Onward, 2021 ]

In the past, the heroes had found themselves face-to-face with the Protector and the Wizard on year 0. They'd found the shattered pieces of Sxicq. They'd found the story before anyone had polished it into what it was today. It was free of all the lies, save for the ones coming from an alien's mouth.

The heroes influenced the past in subtle ways: Confronting the Protector with questions. Shaking the Wizard's solid foundations and instilling curiosity about the truth. Most importantly, Sxicq had seen all of their faces.

After chasing the crystals around the town and mountain, the heroes were pulled back into the room beneath the mountain. There, to their huge surprise, they were hidden behind some incredibly convenient piles of rocks to watch the events unfold that would define the next forty years. Floating over twelve of the platforms in the cavern were twelve of the crystals with kids inside of them that had been floating around the mountain. In the center of the circle stand two figures: Sxicq and the Wizard. The two appear apprehensive, but it's the third figure at the edge of the circle that's ruining it:

"Contain it! What are you doing!" The Protector shouts, stomping a foot. The air feels heavy, like it's made of electric cotton, and the hairs on everyone's arms stand upright.

"Get-- out! Of the way!!" He continues, stomping forward into the circle. As he does, a familiar blade slides out into his hand. Its shape is a tear in reality, a hole in the very makeup of the world itself.

The only thing that keeps the heroes from leaping forward to change history is the twelve small, glowing forms that are holding their hands. Smaller than children. Animals. Twelve of them, pleading in whispers: Stay. Watch.

True to their word, there is something to watch. The Protector rushes in, swinging his blade in a high arc before plunging it downward into the center of the circular floor of the platform. From it: A blue beam of energy, like lightning, fires forth through his chest. It pierces out from him, through Sxicq, through the Wizard, through the twelve crystals, and finally through the twelve animals where they're sitting around the heroes.

One bright white explosion later: The animals are gone. The crystals are gone. Sxicq is gone. The Wizard is gone. Only the Protector remains, standing over the circular rings in the floor. Slowly, he retracts his blade from the center. The edges of reality start to go to static.

"It is done." He declares with an air of finality. The static creeps in on the edges of everything, fading the vision as Sxicq descends into slumber.

The Protector's wrist beeps in defiance. He looks down at it, his face scrunching up in disgust. "It has to be done! Acknowledge: Mission complete!" He nearly yells at his wrist, only to be met with a response that stuns him.

"User not recognized, access privileges locked down." Says the same voice that came from within the ship. The static finishes pouring over everything, fading the vision of the cavern into nothing but noise.

And then everyone wakes up.

Everything feels wrong: The clocks all say it's sometime after noon, but the sky is an ever-churning, ever-shifting muddled mess of blues, purples, and darkness. The sun is missing. Weather outlets everywhere didn't have any explanation for the phenomenon. News stations were being careful to avoid referring to it as a sign of the end. The Protector had told them things were dire, after all, but they couldn't cause a mass panic.

And, most importantly, a small handful of news headlines on the planet were talking about time travel being real. They're talking about the blip to forty years ago. They're talking about the very same things that the heroes had just experienced, like they had experienced those exact same things. What effect would this have on the carefully-crafted story that the Protector had pieced together over forty years? Just how many people had shared this experience too?

Unknown to Luka, Gyre, and Olivia: Terrence had been to the past and had an experience much like the one they'd shared as a trio. He ended up with two regular people from the world who didn't recognize him as one of the heroes from this year.

What would happen now?

Ninth Afternoon Event: Afternoon Twilight


The Weather

  • The birds aren't chirping.
  • 68°F
  • A little breezy.


Prompts:

  • 12:00noon The Return, The Garden: When Gyre, Luka, and Olivia return, they're placed on the ground around the portal arrival in the garden. Nearby, Terrence has also been deposited: But he's in a tree about three feet up.

    At least the gang's all here?

  • 1:00pm Onward, Around the Garden: Once the heroes start making their way around the garden and inside the monster house, they'll realize that, for the first time, all of the monsters are here either inside or somewhere nearby. If the heroes wanted to find anyone, now was the chance for them to do so!




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.


eutychia: (huh)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-13 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
Luka is no farmer by any stretch of the imagination. He can't even recall the last time he watered a plant. But he knows enough to know that this is not normal behavior!

"Oh, they're intelligent? And walking around?!" He asks in bewilderment as he takes the basket from Six. "I suppose they don't mind us taking their fruit, then."

As if the unexpected flavors and textures weren't alien enough, apparently these crops were much more self-aware than the ones back home.

"Do they care about the weather in here?"
eutychia: (annoyed)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-15 06:02 am (UTC)(link)
The pile of jello remains concerning. Perhaps doubly so now, if Luka knew its exact origin. But Luka doesn't have a moment to spare for those particular concerns as even more pressing ones seem to be arising.

"No way. Seawater...? Up here?" He jumps back in surprise when the ocean waves reach him, depositing something heavy up on the cliffside sands.

He investigates the object with a few tentative kicks - discerning that it's some kind of container - before he tries to open it.

"Why is this dumb cube so intent on tainting my memories?" He says, an annoyed urgency to his tone as he tries the latch on the treasure chest. "You should make better cubes. Ones that don't try to kill you."
eutychia: (Default)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-16 01:52 am (UTC)(link)
Luka stops and kneels down to carefully examine the chests contents, despite the ocean waves continuously licking at his feet. He recognizes the items as Four's, with the announcement and Nine's comment only confirming his suspicions.

"It's a lot easier to blame the cube, though, isn't it?" He sighs, turning the signed DVD in his hands. He's unsure what he's meant to do with it, if anything.

"Did you know Four very well?" He sits himself on a rock underneath the switch, feeling the ocean water pooling at his feet. At least it was a pleasant place to wait. "You think they'd be mad?"
sustainer: (😯)

[personal profile] sustainer 2022-05-17 12:55 pm (UTC)(link)
That's fine. He just wanted to let them know he was here first. The moment he's acknowledged with that finger, he turns and heads out to where the tables have been set up for later this evening, carefully lowering his plate stack down on top of it. He watches it a moment... and then decides to split the stack in half creating a new pile next to the first.

By the time he returns, Eleven is tucking that flower into the cover. He can't help but glance at it, noting what kind it is before he looks up and... pauses. Their eyes didn't glow before, right?

"I... uh, if we invited the animals to dinner, would the Protector know?" he asks after a beat, his attention lingering on the monster's face curiously.
sustainer: (😨)

[personal profile] sustainer 2022-05-17 01:00 pm (UTC)(link)
"Yester--?!" he chokes out, straightening up and snatching the can off its spot. He offers it to her immediately, this time tapping it against her hand so she literally can't miss this time.

"Eat."
sustainer: (⚙️)

[personal profile] sustainer 2022-05-17 01:07 pm (UTC)(link)
"I couldn't bear to see you ruin your clothes, princess," he answers, giving the hem of his shirt a playful tug, trying to pull him a little closer.

Regardless whether he's pulled or not though, the second bit makes him pause. He puts a hand on his shoulder gently, unsure if the other is looking for comfort here or not.

"Why not? I--" he pauses, biting down on his lip. "I don't think we should split up anymore. Not unless we have to."
eutychia: (nya)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-17 10:33 pm (UTC)(link)
"These clothes have been in much more immediate peril than that." He assures him, allowing himself to be pulled in and bringing one hand to rest on Gyre's shoulder.

Luka's face falls when he's reminded again of his current dilemma.

"No, you're right..." He admits with a soft sigh. He knows he'd be in trouble if the Protector made an appearance, as much as Luka wanted to confront him about certain things. "But, like, am I supposed to stay in their house...? It seems weird, doesn't it?"
eutychia: (thonking)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-21 06:01 am (UTC)(link)
Luka giggles, amused at the thought of the plants coming inside and making themselves at home in the house.

"Well, I'm glad they won't mind us, then." He says with a smile as he keeps pace. "I'd hate to be on their bad side."

He listens with interest as Six describes - or attempts to describe - the weather process in the ship.

"Oh... is it not, like, self-contained?" He asks. "I thought perhaps you could go somewhere and hit a button if you needed rain, or something like that."
eutychia: (Default)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-21 06:18 am (UTC)(link)
Luka doesn't particularly like having wet feet, or ankles, or knees! But the rising water doesn't give him much choice, even if he scrambles further up the rocks.

He's quiet for a moment after Nine answers, considering her choice of words carefully and making a mental note on them for later.

"Yeah... they didn't seem like the type to be. Even when it was happening." He sighs as he recalls the grim memory, and his own misplaced confidence in his choices at the time. "Well, when you get them back, we'll see. Five's mad enough for the both of them, anyway."

He perks up when he feels something new and unusual wash up beside him, and he pulls the heavy rope from the ground until he reaches the hooked end.

"Hey, you think this can reach the switch...?" He asks, though he doesn't wait for an answer before he's already winding up an attempt.
sustainer: (😢)

[personal profile] sustainer 2022-05-24 02:10 pm (UTC)(link)
He glances down, clearly frustrated and disappointed when Eleven says the Protector can see through their eyes sometimes. That would rule out them coming, wouldn't it. He lets out a short sigh, turning his attention back up to the other, resigned to this answer.

"I do. Did. Five was saying you haven't gotten to talk to them much, even though they're..." A vague, all encompassing gesture. They're all of you, but also that's not exactly right either, so he just trails off from there.
sustainer: (😨)

[personal profile] sustainer 2022-05-24 02:13 pm (UTC)(link)
Weird! Fucking weird! He's slightly taken aback, pausing with his mouth just gaped open like a fish for a second. What happened? Did she eat it? The can too??

"Uh, oh, I, yes, uh, they did," he stumbles out, taking a short breath through his nose. "Did you... are you full? Do you need, more?"
sustainer: (😯)

[personal profile] sustainer 2022-05-24 02:19 pm (UTC)(link)
When Luka's expression changes, he shifts his hand closer, along his shoulder until he's cupping the back of his neck, rubbing his thumb gently over his skin. He looks over the other's face, trying to read his worries a little clearer in this moment.

"Does it?" he asks, after a beat. He doesn't really want to stay in there either but he's pretty sure his reasons are different from Luka's! "You're helping them. They're offering shelter."

The exchange seems clear to him, but he also offers after a moment, "I could help you build a place to sleep, out here. If you'd prefer?"
eutychia: (Default)

[personal profile] eutychia 2022-05-25 03:50 am (UTC)(link)
"I don't doubt they'd let me stay there. It might not even bother them, really." He hesitates a moment as he tries to find a way to explain his reluctance. "Being here feels like an imposition already. It's their private space, for just the twelve of them... you know? I don't want to invade it, especially if it means taking up the space for one of them we killed."

Luka isn't sure if it makes sense, particularly to Gyre, who probably wasn't intimately familiar with guest etiquette in the first place.

"Buuut if you want to teach me to build a camp..." Luka perks up at the suggestion. He was still not one for camping, and he'd never choose it over staying inside - in a normal situation. But their situation is markedly abnormal, and he can't reject the opportunity to spend time with Gyre. "It might be a skill I'll need in the future."
eutychia: (???)

[personal profile] eutychia 2023-02-12 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
Luka blinks, processing Six's rather unexpected instructions as he takes the vine in one hand. The fuzzy texture of the vine provides a momentary distraction, and he runs his fingers over it in fascination, before his attention is pulled back to Six's words.

"Wait... uh..." He feels for the aforementioned net over the basket. He hadn't noticed that detail before. "The basket needs to be... upside down?"

As if to reinforce his confusion, Luka flips the basket as he says it.

"Won't the net do the job of stopping them?"
eutychia: (sigh)

[personal profile] eutychia 2023-02-12 05:20 am (UTC)(link)
"Grumpy is a generous way of putting it." It's going to take Luka a few good tries before he can hook the switch, so he fills the dead air with complaints about Five's behavior. "You'd think she'd never been ---"

His train of thought is cut off when he finally feels the satisfying tug of the hook snagging on the switch.

"Oh! I did it!" Luka grins. He's rather proud of himself as pulls on the rope triumphantly, and the drain stopper is yoinked out of it's place.

He's not expecting the water to rapidly start draining out from all around him, and before he can get his bearings he's suddenly swept away with the rushing tide.

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