Feburary Spirit Realm Log

[kaisoumods]

February Spirit Realm Event Log
Dominant Element: Fire
Waning Element: Wind

Full Moon: February 11th - 13th

※
With the arrival of February, the worst of winter is finally past. In the sky, the Spirit Vein will take on the colors of fire, blazing across the sky in hues of red and orange. As such, the temperature will begin to warm to much more bearable weather. While it's still winter, as the month moves on it'll step closer and closer to spring with rising temperature and melting snow. Most of the days are sunny and bright, bringing much needed warmth to the town.

The Train

♪- Running Away

ALERT: SPIRIT REALM ANOMALY DETECTED
Element Classification: Fire
Danger Level: Various
Designation: The Train
Zodiac has detected a Spirit Gate at ????? Further investigation shows a number of missing city residents - contact has been established with them. Please visit the Zodiac offices for more information.

After that unsettling announcement, you head to the Zodiac offices to find the place in confused chaos. You can find some employees desperately speaking or typing on phones - worriedly asking for locations and "no, tell me exactly what you're seeing right now". The Professor (Barbie) doesn't look any less frazzled when you find her. She explains that the latest spirit gate keeps inexplicably moving - it doesn't seem to have any set entrance in the entire city. The Zodiac employees who keep track of spirit realm movements say that it will pop up in one location, and then blink away again, leaving only a faint magical sense that something was there.

Worse still, people all around the city are disappearing in the exact spots the gate moves to. Thankfully, they are still able to be contacted over their cell phones. What they're getting from these people is that they're trapped on some sort of train with no means to get off it. They keep rambling about numbers and talking animals and it's all a little confusing. Professor Barbie admits usually they have a means of finding a way to get app users into a realm to help out, but this time they have no idea how people are getting onto the train in the first place- she just asks that you please wear a Zodiac tracker and keep an eye out for anything unusual to report back.

Eventually, something unusual does happen to you. Perhaps you've hit a particularly low point in your day, perhaps you lashed out at someone or felt a dip in your mood. Something in you felt unsettled, unhappy, and that is when The Train comes for you. You hear a train whistle, and no matter where you are, a long train pulls up in front of you. It doesn't seem to matter if you're near any train tracks or not. You could be inside an office for all it matters. But The Train comes regardless. It looks differently to everyone at first-perhaps you see a subway train, perhaps you see an old steam locomotive, perhaps it's a bullet train or elegantly decorated transport for the super rich. Regardless, it's inviting. The doors open to a swirling yellow light- and despite yourself, you feel drawn to it. You step through the doors and everything goes white.

The Cars

♪- Cracked Reflection

The next thing you know, you're waking up in a white pod, which splits in half to allow you outside of it. You find a green, glowing number on your hand - generally at most these are triple digits, but some people might find they have a much, much higher number. These higher numbers can come off a person's hand and start to snake around their arm- sometimes reaching the rest of their body. You might be pretty confused about what's going on with you, but luckily, help is on the way!

A video overhead you in the pod plays- where a robot scatter-brainedly tries to explain to you exactly what has happened to you. The whole experience is fairly confusing and likely leaves more questions than answers. What you do get to glean from the terrible PSA is that you're on a train filled with cars that hold their own little worlds within, designed to help you "grow as a person". It also explains the number on your hand is "numerical algorithmic judgement"- it tells you the only way to leave the train is to get the number down to zero. What the video does not do is explain how you're supposed to do that. Seems like that is up to you!

So now it's time to look around you. Like the insane video said, you'll find you're inside a little pocket dimension. The car you wake up in can be anything, as can any of the cars that follow it. The train truly is infinite. The world you find yourself in can be fairly large - taking the better part of a day to traverse. Some are pretty small, only about thirty feet in length. Regardless of the world you find yourself in, at the end of the car you will find a door. Sometimes it seems to be sat in a wall, or in a tree, or just floating out in the vast nothing- but you cannot travel past the door, it is the end of your car. Turning the infinity symbols in the centre should open it- letting you out of the car and into the next (see "the outside" section). However, it might not always be so simple.

Some cars expect you to solve puzzles. Perhaps you have to convince a literal squabbling family tree to resolve their differences. Perhaps you have to put yourself through a debutante ball. Perhaps you need to work together with someone else to make a perfect meal for a giant anthropomorphic piglet. Whatever the puzzle, it is designed to help you understand yourself and your hangups better, to help you grow as a person. Simply beating the puzzles and traversing the train is not what will bring the number on your hand down - this isn't a competition. Understanding what the train is trying to teach you about yourself and starting to make steps towards bettering your own emotional hurdles is what does it. You start figuring yourself out and trying to grow as a person? That number trapping you here goes down fast. Conversely, if you continue to lean into your worst habits (or pick up new ones) the number will rise, keeping you trapped here. Should your number come down to zero, a new door will appear before you, filled with the same swirling yellow light that brought you onto the train. Step into it and that light pulls you into it, depositing you wherever you were when you first entered the train. Time has passed - however long you were on the train collates to the time passed outside of it. Luckily, your phone has been working this whole time, so unless you left everyone who cared about you on read, people should have known where you've been.

Example Cars

Each car is designed specifically to help you with your own personal problems, and as such can be anything. There truly is no limit to what you might find in a car; OOCly, players are encouraged to get as creative as they want with them. However, here are some cars you might find on your travels:

The Crossword Car - This car is a giant crossword. To escape this car, you need to fly a mobile stamper around, completing the crossword. If you're smart enough, you might find the words reflect things that have happened in your life, and the emotional state they have left you in.

The Cat's Car - Appearing as a room filled with knickknacks, with little ladders scattered around the towering bookcases, as if designed for a small animal to clamber around them. There is no puzzle to solve to escape, though you might a tape with your name on it, along with the means to play it. That's... probably safe to do, right? (It isn't: see "the memory tapes" section). As the name suggests, this is the primary dwelling place of The Cat.

The Art Gallery Car - This car is an art gallery. There is no obvious exit door, though eventually, you will come across a hanging perceptual art piece- look at it at the right angle and you will see they form the shape of a door, letting you out. This is also the realm of The Docent - a monster made out of painted severed hands and arms, which will attack you if you linger overlong in the car.

Corginia - AKA the BEST car. Here you'll find an ancient roman town populated entirely by talking corgis (plus one golden retriever named Ugly Irwin). There is no puzzle to solve, and it will only take about two hours to travel the whole car, however the corgis inside will LOVE it if you played ball and perhaps gave them a belly rub! This is the kingdom of King Atticus.

The Toad Car - A small, completely blank room, with only a toad sitting next to a sign stating you have to kick him to escape. The toad will ask you to please not kick him. If you're the sort of person who struggles to do what's needed to be done, or tends to people-please above your own mental well-being, it's likely you will end up in this car. You really do have to kick the toad to get out. He won't thank you for it.

The Chrome Car - A car filled with metallic surfaces. While seemingly a straight-shot to getting out of this car, you will soon find your reflection is another version of you. Your reflection will do everything in their power to switch places with you, to try and be free while you're trapped in the mirror dimension forever. You're going to have to do your best to ignore their promises and sometimes all-out begging and cross the reflective car to get out.

The Denizens

♪- The Cat That Knows The Conductor

As the introductory video told you, you will find residents of the train known as denizens. These beings can be as varied as the train cars themselves, and while some genuinely want to help you, some might be more a hindrance than anything else. Some key denizens you might come across are:

The Cat - Also known as Samantha, this cat is a traveling con artist. She can traverse the train in her own personal shuttle craft. She will pretend to be your friend and will offer aid in your journey. She has lived on the train for hundreds of years and is quite possibly the most knowledgeable being on board. However, her help always comes at a price. Be it a precious trinket you carry with you for her "collection" or for a favour she will call in later (which usually involves having to deal with someone else she's conned) her help will cost you.

King Atticus - The elected king of Corginia. Atticus is a regal, loyal corgi famed for uniting the cardigans and the pembrokes. While he is unwilling to leave his kingdom (the last time he did that, he had a rather traumatic experience and he'd rather not repeat that, he explains) he has a whole wealth of information in what you need to be doing in order to get your number down, and is happy to provide a listening ear and pointers to what's keeping you trapped here. He's a Good Boy.

Randall - Sometimes water is just water and sometimes it's Randall. A liquid being who can split himself into many, and exist as a liquid, gas or solid, Randall (or splits of him) can be found all over the car. He's excessively cheerful, if not extremely dim. He can't help with any big thought problems (or any thought problems) but if you need gas, water or ice/snow for something, he's your Randall!

Amelia Hughes - A human woman in her 60s. Amelia is not a true denizen, but rather a passenger who has been trapped on the train for decades. Her body is covered in numbers. She is brisk of temperament and carries the air of someone who is just exhausted from her situation. If you ask her about the train, she will sigh tiredly and pull out flashcards, and in a monotone voice tell you that you are important and the train is designed to help you. She will explain she works for "One-One" the train's conductor (she will confirm that is the insane robot from the video) and that she is trying to get her number down after making a lot of "bad choices" on the train. She will gruffly point you in the right direction you want to go, but don't expect much from her in the way of camaraderie. She just wants a goddamn nap.

Grace Monroe - Another human and long-term passenger on the train. Grace is 18 and has been trapped on the train since she was around 9 years old. Unlike Amelia, Grace is a lot more personable and happy to help you. She runs a car that looks like a mall, where the younger children on the train reside. She explains once upon a time, they'd lost their way and were a destructive group on the train, she is trying to atone for everything by making sure these kids get their numbers down and finally get home to their families. She will give plenty of emotional support if you need it, coming from a place of understanding that the mistakes of your past should not define your future.

The Outside

♪- Wheel The Void!

So! What's the world like outside of the train? Stepping through a train door will bring you to the outside world, as you have to cross a metal bridge between the cars to move onto the next train car. From out here, you can see the train really does seem to stretch on forever- with no end in sight from either the front or the back. You see the space around the train is a vast lifeless desert under a deep red, never changing sky. There doesn't seem to be night and day here. Just a constant state of red. A few black withered trees crop up from the ground here and there, seemingly the only life outside the train. On occasion, the train lurches to a stop, and you might see a swirling white vortex coming out from one of the clouds, dipping down to the train and scooping up a person, taking them up into the clouds- once they're gone, the train starts moving again. While terrifying at first, this is how people exit the train- something a Denizen will helpfully explain.

You might decide to make a run for it into the desert. After all it can't really stretch on forever, right? And it has to be better than the endless games and expectations the train offers. While the train only stops to allow people to leave via the vortex, it's not going too quickly if you want to jump off. You will only make it a few feet form the train, however, when the ground starts to tremble nearby. Black, otherworldly creatures, which look like a strange mix between a dog and a mosquito burst through the ground and give chase. These are ghoms and will feed on any living thing that they sense. They can fly frighteningly quickly and use long, slender feelers from their mouths to sniff out prey. Should they catch you, they will consume your soul. This is an agonizing process, as the ghom uses it's tentacles to suck you essence out of you. When it is done, you will crumble to dust. Being killed by a ghom WILL result in character death, and you will need to fill out the death form and accept the normal death consequences if you choose this route. A ghom will follow you onto the train, so your best bet is to use the car against it or attack it with your own abilities. They are fast, and seemingly don't die, but if you make yourself enough of a problem, it will retreat back into the wasteland.

The Memory Tapes

♪- Tulip's Tape

Perhaps you found it in The Cat's car, perhaps you just stumbled upon it on your adventures, but if you're unlucky enough, you might come across an old tape with your name on it. They are always found near and old player and TV for you to watch these. Any Denizen with you will vehemently advise you not to watch your own tape (except for The Cat, The Cat is a dick), that it's what was used to determine your number, and watching your own tape is exceptionally dangerous. Should you decide to ignore their warnings (or don't have a Denizen nearby at the time) you can put the tape into the player and hit play. If you're watching your own tape, your body will become stock-still, as you stare unblinking into nothing, catatonic. Anyone else with them will be able to view the tape and be unaffected by it.

Inside the tape, you will find your memories. Specifically, these are memories which caused whatever emotional turmoil brought you onto the train in the first place. AU characters can find they have a mixture of memories from both their current and past lives. You will be able to walk around your memory as if you were there again, watching your younger self. Anything outside of the memory is just static, preventing you from leaving it. If there are jump in memories, this happens with a bust of static, like a skip in a VCR. You cannot interact with the people in your memories- that same static bursting up onto your hand if you try to touch them. All you can do is watch them play out. Anyone with you will be able to walk around the memory space too - heck of a way to learn something about your friend, huh?

Sometimes, memories lie. Perhaps you rebuilt how the memory played out in your own mind as a defence mechanism. Maybe you tried to take a much more optimistic outlook on something that was pretty dire to ignore the severity of it. Perhaps something small was made into a bigger deal than it was with your deteriorating mental state. Should you notice a memory is incorrect, you can call it out as such, and the memory will automatically reset itself to play the truth. You need to be able to understand what these memories are telling you, what the train is trying to teach you, in order to free yourself from them. If you don't, you will remain trapped in them, the cycle of memories going on and on. So best start figuring yourself out.

Aftermath

Should you make genuine attempts towards a better understanding of yourself and start making better choices, your number will slide to zero. You will be able to exit the train and go back to living your life. You don't need to be cured overnight - even the train knows that's not possible. You just have to start trying. If you don't mange to grow from the train, it will spit you out as it leaves Kaisou's spirit vein on the 28th February. You will be left with a feeling that you failed something important here. Regardless, by the time the train vanishes away again, everyone is free of it and can move forward with the lessons they have learned... or try and understand why they didn't.

OOC plotting post can be found here.

Comments

Zelos Wilder | Tales of Symphonia | OTA

[wilder]

I. All Aboard
[It should be no surprise to anyone who knows Zelos that he got picked up by the train. In fact, this is probably a surprise to absolutely no one except for Zelos himself. Especially considering his numbers are so high that it's very much snaking up his arm.

He'll listen to the orientation video, rolling his eyes and scoffing.]

Man, this is so uncool. [He holds up his very green arm] And what's with this look? Neon green? C'mon! It doesn't go with my outfit at ALL!

II. Crossword Puzzle Room
[Getting Zelos to do this is like trying to drag a cat on a leash. Eventually, he winds up in one of the rooms reflective of a big crossword puzzle.]

Is this supposed to be some kind of puzzle?

III. Memory Tapes
[Ah the memory tape room. They gave him a lot of warnings not to watch his own tape, which Zelos couldn't help but snort at as he searched for his tape. Yeah, he was NOT interested in reviewing THOSE memories]

Watch them? Nah, I got a different idea.

[Tape in hand, he is now looking for the nearest window to throw it out. Why are you like this Zelos]

IV. Wildcard
[Got another prompt for me? Hit me up!]

Jax | The Amazing Digital Circus | OTA

[jaxoff]

[The Cars]

[Jax doesn't know why he got onto the train. It felt like a good idea at the time. Now, when he's looking at glowing green number that snakes up and around his arm, vanishing away under his shirt to somewhere around his chest, he's starting to think that was... probably a mistake. He only partly listens to One-One's little introduction, instead, getting out of his pod and making long strides towards the door. Fine. He can walk through doors. Any idiot can walk through doors. Any idiot can complete stupid puzzles, too. And so that's what he does. He storms his way through them, ignoring the desert of the outside, just focusing straight ahead. His number doesn't budge an inch, but who cares? He just needs to get through enough doors to find the exit. There can only be so many doors, after all.

He gets about seven cars in when he finally comes across a roadblock in his fantastic plan. He comes across a deep mesa, the door can be seen poking up out of the plateau on the top. He first pulls his SWORDLE out of his hammerspace, turning the letters to C-L-I-M-B. It forms a climbing hook on the end of it, but no amount of scrambling gets him up it. The only way up is by climbing up a long strip of rock- clearly designed for two people to climb up, back-to-back. Not even stretching his limbs to the extra foot they can do now does it. No matter what he tries, he can't do this alone. ]

What the fck is this?

[He's trapped. The exit is right there and he can't get to it. Jax has been trying very hard to not think about the past life memories that have started pressing into his skull since he got the stupid app, but being trapped forces something through. The exits aren't real. They're just there from an accident of design. There's no actual way out. He's stuck, dealing with nonsense forever. It was all just some sicko's game he was stuck playing. Day after day after day after day after day after day..... Jax makes a soft, frustrated noise, pressing the heels of his hands into his eyes, sliding down the rock to sit on the dirt, trying to stave off the panic trying to edge its way into his mind.

You really can't leave and constantly chasing an unobtainable goal will start driving you a bit crazy...and when you reach your breaking point something really terrible can happen.

The doll lady's (Ragatha, her name was Ragatha) words rattle about in his head and for one, brief, terrible moment he wonders if all this, if his entire fucking life had just been eye-teeth (Caine, Caine, Caine, CAINE) fucking with him. That none of this was real. That this was just one of his adventures. But no. That was stupid. This is exactly why he never wanted anything to do with the app. This is exactly why.

He's... probably fine. (He is not fine). ]

[The Outside]

[Faced with the idea of actually dealing with the trauma ratting around in his skull or just... not doing that, Jax finds the latter really appealing. At this point he's come across his colleagues, or other people he's seen around on the app and honestly having them around makes him feel worse. He doesn't like the idea of people learning anything about him. Seeing a sliver of weakness behind the mask he carefully puts on so people can never learn how fucking sad and tired and lonely he is.

Which is to say the desert spreading around them as he leans on the bridge looks... inviting. A memory, half-a-thought presses in, unbidden - it's like the void, but Caine isn't WATCHING this one. ]

Y'know. I think I could make it. Sky's brighter over there. Bet there's an end to this.

[The Memory Tapes]

[Jax can be found in one of the cars, standing stock-still staring into nothing as his memory tape plays. If you look at it, you can find Jackson Hopkins written on it. Maybe you'll enjoy this rare moment of peace from the man. After all, he can't make your life difficult if he's just staring into nothing, right? Or perhaps your conscience (or curiosity) will get the better of you and you'll move to see what Jax is watching, stepping into his memories. ]

It All Feels So Small (AU)

[This memory opens up outside a home, anyone who's been in Kaisou long enough will recognize this as part of the city- one of the small neighbourhoods in Midtown. A man stands at the doorway of the house, his hands on the shoulders of a boy of about nine. It might be hard to know the kid is Jax, after all, the kid is very human, but he looks deeply upset. His eyes are fixed on a woman, who is packing boxes into a U-Haul parked in the driveway.

This memory seems... wrong. The woman's face is covered by static, if she says anything, it's hidden away by loud crackling. Present day Jax glances at this whole scene, body tense. His hands open and close for a moment, as if he's struggling to process what is happening. His long ears droop back as the woman comes over, it seems like she's about to say something to the man and boy, but instead she just hands some house keys to the man, before tuning on her heel, heading back to the U-Haul. Present day Jax snaps out of his stupor to raise his hands skywards.]

No. Fck this. I'm not doing this sit.

[The memory crackles as static busts, and then it replays. The same woman with her static-ed out face, the same man, the same boy. Jax makes a noise of frustration, stalking as far away as he can, arms folded. The number on his hand shifts. Up. Down. Up. Down. Like he's trying to work out how to process this. Again. And yet the memory keeps repeating. ]

And We Don't Know Why (Canon) TW: Talk of mental health breaks

[This memory finds you inside a circus big top tent. It's brightly coloured and extremely overstimulating to be in here. A eclectic group of characters can be seen standing together over a hole in the ground. Jax is among them. The memory Jax looks pretty fucking mad about something... which, if you follow his line of sight, you will soon find what that is. A man in a ringmaster outfit (but distressingly with only teeth and a set of eyes inside them for a head) is lowering a black, jagged creature with too many eyes into the hole. The present-day Jax watches with his arms crossed, brow furrowed.

"And into the cellar you go!" the teeth-guy says cheerfully as the creature vanishes into the hole, the tiled floor closing behind it like it was never there at all. Present day Jax shifts uncomfortably as something sharp and painful wrenches in his chest, musing quietly to himself.]

I remember this. He dropped all of them down there. Never thought I'd see Kaufy get sent down, though. He deserved better than that.

[Just for a moment, his number scrolls- going down. But the memory plays on, catching his attention again. The memory Jax still looks annoyed as the others talk.

"Man", says the person with detachable limbs, putting their head back onto their shoulders, "I can't believe Kaufmo just gave up like that. I mean, no offence Kinger, but I always thought you would be next."

"Thank you!" says the man who looks like a chess piece- seemingly taking it as a sincere compliment.

The memory Jax seems to snap out of his anger, instead the fixed, large grin anyone who's been around Jax long enough would know only too well crossing his features .

"Just goes to show you can't rely on Kinger for anything." he says.

The present day Jax snorts in amusement, whatever vulnerability had crept out in watching that creature be dropped into the depths well and truly hidden again. ]

Hah! Classic me. I should do stand up, I'd make bank.

[And lo, his number goes back up again, losing any progress he'd made. Sisyphus, thy name is Jax. ]

[Wildcard] [Want something else? Let me know! ]

Zulius | Centaurworld | OTA

[bebest]

[The cars]

[Zulius is pretty affronted about being brought onto the train at all. Like, okay, sure, he had a few issues rattling around in his head, but ANYbody who grew up in Hollywood does! That's just what Hollywood DOES to people! It's no big deal! But here he is anyway, apparently needing to LEARN STUFF about himself. His number isn't very large, a green 68 glows on his hand, which he'll show off with a snort.]

Wooooooow they couldn't even give me sixty-nine? Ouch, that feels like a PERsonal attack.

[Or perhaps you'll find him in one of the cars. This one is made of crystal with the exit door high above them on a piece of rock. Zulius absolutely tried to get up there with his wings- and then with his HAIR- but the door was locked. Which... freaking rude, honestly. So now he's standing with a crystal, who is trying to mime things at him.]

Look, OKAY, I GET you want me to sing an emotional song, I worked that OUT! But I've sung SO many to you already. Like REAL showstoppers and none of them opened the door? What more do you want from me?

[He crystal man puts a hand to his chest, and then raises it up to his mouth again, before raising it skyward. Zulius makes a soft annoyed noise, his number edging slightly up, before turning to you. ]

Okay, what about you? Do YOU know any emotional heart songs or...whatever this guy is soooooo hung up on?

[The Denizens]

[Zulius LIKES people! He likes talking to people, but he's sure having a time with Randall. He doesn't like getting wet, so he gives the sentient water a bit of a wide berth as the water creature babbles happily about how he has a great idea for Zulius' future ventures in the train. ]

Okay, so I HEAR what you're saying oh god why are you so wet, ew but I'm kiiiiinda struggling understanding how making a whole room "Randal" would help me?

"Because when everything is Randal, you've always got a Randal to talk to!"

[Zulius looks at the water, then at you, then at the water. ]

Yeah okay that cleared up literally nothing thanks.

[Memory Tape: I Don't Know Him AU/Canon]

[ You will eventually find Zulius lost in a memory. This one is marked Zulius Bunter and if you should delve into it, you will find a confusing mix of memories. His past life and his current overlap on each other like a confusing mix of extremely similar feelings with different scenarios.

Sometimes, the memory Zulius looks like he does now, just a little younger, sometimes static busts over him and he looks like he did when he was still human - anyone who's seen his human illusion would recognise it in a moment. Regardless, the memory Zulius is having a blazing argument with another man. Sometimes the man looks very human, others he looks like a tigertaur. However the men change between their different forms, the argument seems to be around the same. The memory Zulius is packing a box of things, tears streaming down his face- hurt, more hurt than he ever shows in Kaisou. Gone is the glitter and sass, his heart is breaking and it's clear on his face.

The real Zulius glances between himself and the tigertaur, folding his arms, pawing the ground with a hoof uneasily. ]

Heeeeeey, noooo. This. This isn't cool. I don't wanna see this one.

[The train doesn't seem to care, pushing on with the memory regardless. The memory Zulius is trying to breath, to stop himself from sobbing as he continues to pack.

"I can't BELieve you did this to me! This was my CAREER and you just- you just TOOK it. Like it was YOURS. Like I don't MATTER."

The tiger/man chuckles, it's a purposefully cruel, mocking sound.

"Come on, Zulius, you know you're past your prime on this one. It's time a new star took the leading role. Besides, you KNOW I fit the costume better than you. I didn't wanna say anything but you did let yourself go a little. It's okay to admit it's time to retire.

"I'M THIRTY!" screeches Memory Zulius. "And no, STOP it. You stole my whole freaking LIFE out from under me, don't make me the bad guy here."

The tiger/man shakes his head, like Zulius is some poor deranged soul just screeching away-

Before he can continue speaking however, the present day Zulius steps in your way, trying to block it off. He laughs nervously. ]

Heeeeeeeeeeeey how about instead of seeing THIS sad mess that I'm SOOOOOOOOOO over we go find a different memory? I know I've got some good ones! You should see the one where I get a hula skirt and a coconut bra on and-

[ His number starts rolling up, it's... clearly not what he's supposed to be doing here. ]

[Wildcard] [ Want something else let me know! ]

Memory Tape

[end_singer]

[Nito tilts his head at Zulius, expression on his fluffy mothman face just as unreadable as his true skeletal one, save the slow, thoughtful twitching of his antennae.

He's never witnessed a breakup in person before, much less a messy one like this. It's... a lot. Emotionally charged in ways he can't help but think that mortal and immortal alike would pass judgement on.

Decision made, Nito steps forward and places a gentle hand on Zulius's head.]

The wound he dealt you has yet to heal.

[There is no judgement in his voice. After all, it is not le mort's place to judge.]

The Cars

[wilder]

[At this point, Zelos is sitting on a rock cross-legged with his chin resting in the palm of his hand while Zulius is dealing with this crystal. Like always, he's been trying to brain up some scheme to get out of this situation-- but he's coming up empty here. Unfortunately, he's finding again and again this train is prepared for his little tricks. ]

If I knew, do you think we'd still be here?

Yugo (and Zarc) | Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V | OTA

[oneracetrackmind]

1. Welcome to the Train

Oh, come on! I don't have any issues!

[Says Yugo as he takes in the welcome video and the number on his hand. He stares around the car, automatically drawing on his wind abilities to manifest his little spirit companion on his shoulder.]

You agree, right? I don't have any issues. [The tiny dragon just cocks its head.]

2. The Headcount Car

[The car Yugo has found himself in is deceptively simple. It's a plain white space, with a locked door at the far end and a sign asking the occupant to state how many people are currently in the room. Seemingly easy.]

I've told you, I'm the only person here! Why won't you let me out?! [Of course, there's some sort of trick to it Yugo isn't seeing. He huffs, then goes to try the door again only to find it's still locked.]

What kind of trick is this?! I'm alone here!

[The number on his hand slightly ticks up. Hmm.]

3. Sometimes Violence is the Answer (feat. Yugo's brain ghost Zarc)

[After finally escaping the Headcount Car, Yugo hesitates on the metal bridge between cars. He doesn't want to keep doing this, not if the train is going to keep insisting he's possessed.]

...I'm gonna find my own way out.

[With that, he leaps down onto the ground below. For a few moments, as he starts to set out, everything seems fine-

-then, not far from the train, the ground starts to shake and a horrible dog-fly thing bursts forth.]

Fuck! [Yugo makes a break for it back to the train, even putting on a burst of speed from his speed boost ability despite his element being on the wane, but the ghom is faster, and it looks like Yugo will be caught-

-then, from Yugo's perspective, he hears a draconic scream, feels something pushing his mind aside, and blacks out.

From an outside perspective, what happens is Yugo suddenly whips around, lime green and black draconic wings and tail bursting forth from his body as he swipes at the ghom with new claws. Paying close attention will reveal a manic grin plastered across his face as he fights off the ghom, seemingly enjoying this a little too much.

Turns out he really is possessed. Surprise!]

Noa Kaiba | YGO DM/Ryslig | OTA

[blueeyeswhitedoppelganger]

PRELUDE

[There is something incredibly ironic, he thinks, about being picked up while walking his dog right in the middle of deciding to tease someone for getting picked up while walking their dog. He'd just stepped outside of the tower. The leash was in his hand. He had a smirk on his face, phone in the other palm as he prepared to polish off a message.

And then there it was.

He was out like a light. He feels like an idiot when he wakes up- he can practically hear his Mother berating him already and honestly the fact that he can't doesn't actually help this time.

Anywhere else and there'd be the chance of it after all. Draining perhaps, painful even, but outside of 'dinner time' she could at least do something to advise or empower in a worst case scenario. Here?

Well.

The video playing in front of him is something he's been idly logging information from in the back of his mind. There's a number on his hand that doesn't change in the slightest if he shifts form from human to sphinx, and his thoughts are split between focusing on the screen and focusing on his surroundings. Life challenges, endless cars, and Oh, he hates this So, So much, why is this happening right after he had to get through that Fucking String-

He's tired.

He hates this.

....

He looks at the distant corgis, adds a bit to his message, and hits 'send'.]

CORGINIA

[It occurs to him in the middle of the informatic tape playing in front of him that there are dogs barking.

By the time the tape is finished in fact, he realizes that he's actually in a fairly idyllic place. A little....Greco-Roman for his tastes, mind you (though that might be his Mother's influence talking), but it's...nice.

And there is barking. From tiny, cute dogs. How...how nice. How...]

...........I'm being pitied on by a train.

[How wonderful.]

WALK LIKE AN EGYPTIAN

[Ever wonder what it would be like to go to a party in Ancient Egypt? Really ancient? Back before the pyramids were a sparkle in their Pharaoh's eyes, the land evidently looked like what the train car here does, right now. Lush reeds, a beautiful nile- full of creatures that Will try to chomp on you of course- and most importantly..!

A simple palace. Well, simple compared to all those latter dynasties anyway. A magnificent banquet is being prepared in any case, and a sphinx is running around sorting name cards. This seating arrangement isn't going to handle itself!

And the minute that sphinx notices who just walked in, he groans.]

Ugh, now I have to start over, thanks so much for that..!

SILENT HILLS

[He's started trying to go through these puzzles on autopilot more or less. The number flickers up, the number flickers down. It's like a see-saw, and the worst part of it all is the passage of time.

Because it's definitely a passage, and he can definitely tell; after stubbing his toe one too many times and having to track down a decent supply of food and a river for an apology, that much was apparent.

Mother seems strangely forgiving, today. Or perhaps simply aware that geese do not simply appear on life-coaching trains.

Nor are bodies of flowing water a guarantee.

This car is foggy. It's dark. It seems to go on, and on, and that's without moving from the spot where he's finally managed to send a proper offering off.

It's silent. Lonely, foggy, entirely. Silent. Not a sound comes forward, and even Mother felt muted when she gave her simple command of 'Fight well, child of my heart.'

It's Silent.

He sits in the dark and practically begs for something to make a sound.]

THE VIDEO TAPE

[It seems that Noa's reason for being here takes the form of a clipshow. His memories of his past life have never been clear memories- more like sensations. Feelings. Even facts, at times. He knows he had friends- their monstrous forms smear across his view and across the screen for anyone to see, harpies, vampires, faeries, all twisted and grotesque and all molded into the shapes of killers.

He knows he had loves even, at least to a point. Crushes, really. Touya and his 'were-dewott' form comes to mind not that he realized it at that age, but also Haku, who he damn well rebuilt an entire faulty network for, who disappeared a mere month after he'd worked up that courage-

He knows so many of them vanished. Constantly, they vanished. There one moment, gone the next, the 'Fog God' claiming to have no power over if they could come or if they could go, and then it was the end of the world and so many of them just-

Such a clipshow skips. Sputters. Grinds its way to the current life where he scrambles his way from humanity and into the wild with the body of a cougar cub. Did he have friends? He was only ten. Did he have any friends? Anyone who cared?

Could it have ever mattered, if like in the past, all are destined to Vanish?

Sphinx or man, whatever form he's in it's crying as it stares at the screen of memories Noa is trapped in. He doesn't want to be alone. He doesn't want to be alone.

h̵͆̐e̵̾͋ d̵̈́͠o̵͛́ë̴́͝s̵̔̀n̴̾̀'̵̿͝t̴̒͐ w̸͒͝a̵̔̒ǹ̵͝t̸̽͆ to be alone͘

[bebest]

[Zulius doesn't want to watch this. He doesn't want to relieve this. It was one of the first days of his life and he hates that it's being put on blast for everyone to see. This was one of those times him leading with his whole heart turned around and bit him, it's a memory he'd rather keep buried under a pile of sass an glitter. He sure as hell doesn't want to talk about it.

His ears pin back, a soft frown crossing his features as Nito puts a hand on his head and states the obvious. Because it was obvious, as much as he liked to pretend otherwise, it was crushingly obvious. And oh boy does he hate that. ]

He doesn't matter, he didn't hurt- [he watches the number on his hand start to rise, huffs softly out again ] I mean. It's been eight years. This is stupid. I should be OVER this by now.

[His number slides down, just a little, gooooooooood he doesn't LIKE this emotional vulnerability stuff!]

[bebest]

[ Honestly extremely rude of the train. It could at least reward them for thinking outside of the box. Everything doesn't have to be about therapy, and talking about what hurts you, right? He clucks his tongue lightly in Zelos' direction. ]

Well SOMEthing's gotta work. I've already done the greats, I even did The Greatest Love Of All, so I don't know what else it could possibly want from us. Like, that's the biggest from-the-heart song I KNOW!

2

[bebest]

[Zulius is trotting his way into this car as Yugo is yelling at the sign. He glances around them, then at the sign, then at the kid. ]

Iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii mean I just walked my fabulous self in? Maybe it tripped it up! Try again!

II

[jaxoff]

[ Jax has been steadily moving through the cars. His number hasn't moved and the horrible, prickly feeling of being trapped and the resulting past memories that comes from it keeps nipping in the back of his mind, but he's trying his damned best to ignore all of that. He doesn't want to unpack any of that bullshit and if this train thinks its gonna make him, it has another thing coming.

Caine couldn't break him, he's not gonna let a bitch-ass train do it, he thinks to himself.

When he steps into a car and sees Hot Guy just fucking standing there, he almost turns on his heel and goes back. Sure, the last car with the water and the eels had been miserable, but it's gotta be easier than handling being stuck in a car with this guy. Probably. But Zelos speaks and it's clear he can't just... fuck off, so he sighs, folding his arms. ]

Looks like a crossword. Y'know, like boomers do from their morning paper? "A four letter word for only having a word game to give your life meaning anymore" That kinda deal.

Riku Sekido | Kingdom Hearts | OTA!

[fightbydawn]

1. Arrival | The Ball Pit Car
[Riku's no stranger to being spirited away to other worlds, though it is strange to have that phenomenon happen in this lifetime. So when he wakes up and the pod opens, he's not too alarmed. He'd seen the approaching train, knows he had stepped into it, he knows he's somewhere he's not really supposed to be...

But that doesn't mean he's happy to be there.

The video finishes its explanation of where he is and why he's there, and Riku glances down to the glowing 13 on his palm, staring at the numbers for maybe a little too long before closing his fist, standing up and looking up at the mess of a padded play structure extending out in front of him.] ... okay. Just gotta move forward, then. That's.... easy enough.

[He moves forward to start looking around the various entrances into that mess of ropes, tubes, slides, and stairs, not... entirely sure what he's supposed to be doing, here.]


2. Dinosaur Baseball Car
[The cheering, the roars! The makeshift stands are full of dinosaurs of just about every size and shape, all packed around a baseball diamond and the extensive fields. The home team is on the field, tossing a ball back and forth to warm up, running laps and waving to the adoring crowd.

From the away team dugout there's a voice, stressed and confused as a small raptor in umpire gear starts pushing and pulling a very reluctant new player out onto the grass.]

But I don't know how-- [Riku is cut off, standing in a striped shirt with Sekido 17 emblazoned on the back, the outfit finished off with cleats and tight white pants, his hair tied back and a baseball cap on his head.] Seriously, there's probably someone better to ask, its--

[The little lizard ushering him about hisses and points towards a bat leaning up against the wall before stomping back towards home plate. And as Riku stands there, confused and tense, staring from the baseball bat to the dinosaurs on the field, the number on his hand begins to tick up.]


3. The Toad Car
[The room is purely white, void of windows, furniture, decorations-- the only thing within it is the toad sitting awkwardly in the center, the sign next to it, pointing at the toad and instructing you to kick it......... and Riku. Sitting up against a wall, slumped forward with his head in his hands, the number that had been starting to get towards the single digits now starting to tick up and snake around his wrist.

When he notices there's a newcomer to the car, he looks up, frazzled and exhausted, like he's been in this car for days without being able to eat or sleep (it's been maybe two hours).]

If you can, go ahead, but-- [He gestures towards the toad, who immediately starts shifting nervously in place.]

Ohhh... no, man, please don't kick me...

[Riku just gestures more in a See What I'm Dealing With kind of way, before letting his head fall back forward into his hands.

He's never getting out of here.]


ooc; feel free to hit me up with some other scenario, as well! and if anyone is interested in a video tape thread, let me know! :3c you can PM me or DM on discord at secretofthekels!

Ace D. Portgas | One Piece | OTA

[goldace]

1. The Definition of Insanity
[This car is pretty simple, all things considered. Or, at least it should be. There's a speaker swinging back and forth above the door at the other end of the room, the ceiling in front of it a series of panels that look like they can open. The wall by the entrance to this specific car is decorated with words, all of which seem to be negative, pained in bright, bold, unmistakable letters.

COWARD. WEAK. SCARED. LOSER. WORTHLESS.

On and on and on, repeating themselves to fill up the space, the floor in front of that wall pained green, while the rest of the the floor is red.

Ace stands in the middle of the room on a spot labeled START HERE, soaked from head to toe and mad. He cracks his neck, his knuckles, and braces himself as that swaying speaker crackles into life.]

YOU RUN, YOU'RE WEAK! [Is the simple, childish taunt that starts everything off, the ceiling creaking open, a flood of water rushing down and towards Ace.] RETREAT AND YOU'RE A LOSER!

[Ace grits his teeth, stands firm in the face of that water..... and is completely bowled over, washed back until he's left sputtering and flat on his back just at the edge of where the water runs down and into grates in the floor of the car, just at the edge of the very dry green space at the front of it.]

Damnit-- [He picks himself up, wiping his face and getting up to squelch-stomp his way back to the center of the room, ready to face yet another wave of water.] Bring it on! I'll get it this time!

[From the way those numbers have worked their way up Ace's arm and are currently starting to move across his chest....... this is probably not what the room wants him to do.]


2. The Tapes
[If you think Ace wouldn't immediately put a tape with his name into a player, you clearly don't know this dumb boy very well.

That being said, there's a few different times that you can catch Ace in the midst of a memory while on the train:

i. The Devil We Know (AU) cw: fire, child in peril, burns

[The room has become smaller-- a modest little kitchen and dining area in a narrow condo, space enough for a single mother and her young son. A mother who is currently being held back, screaming and reaching for her son, desperate and terrified, held in place on the far side of the kitchen by figures in dark cloaks.

Ace, young and frightened but still so definitely Ace, is on the opposite side of the kitchen, terrified and being shoved to the ground, calling for his mom and asking what's going on even as the palms of those cloaked figures light up in flames that shoot forward, enveloping Ace in an instant as he screams and curls himself into a ball, his only escape from the onslaught.

The woman screams, fights, and manages to get free, running to the ball of fire that's been made of her son, reaching into the flames despite the pain, desperate to help, to save him-- all while those figures stand and look on, silent--

And then there's a burst of static, the scene shifting. The figures are gone and Ace is frantically calling 9-1-1.
He's unharmed, untouched, his clothes a singed mess hanging off of his body, but his mother is on the floor, unresponsive and burned from the tips of her fingers up to her temples.

In the corner of that memory room stands Ace, watching his mother on the floor, watching as paramedics rush in and the child in the memory stammers half-remembered facts about what happened. Watching as static begins to trickle in and the memories of that night begin again. The men in cloaks, his mom, the fire--

He's been thinking about this night a lot, the past week or so. Since he'd brought it up to Sabo when they were talking about scars. But it's...] ... off. Something's... off. [He's muttering to himself, seemingly unaware of anyone else who has wandered into this memory with him.]

ii. The Devil We Don't (canon) cw: fire, death, war, body horror (donut flavored)

[This... wasn't something Ace thought he'd have to live through again. He thought he'd had enough of it flickering in during October, thought he'd understood everything that happened, everything this memory of his past life had meant to tell him.

Ace stands, tense and rigid, watching the scene play out in front of him. Watching people fight and die to the fringes of the scene, static over the faces of every marine while those who they fight are in such crisp detail.

The memory is of a battlefield, extensive and brutal, rubble and dust and blood, the harbor behind him filled with ice and broken ships, the land before him cracked and scarred, fires burning in scattered patterns. He stands in front of himself from another world, nearly identical, the tattoos that had shown up on his body a few months ago on proud display on this beat up, exhausted, but vibrant man escaping his own execution. Walking away, following his brother (that's who that is, he knows that now) to safety--

And then the thundering footsteps of a man towering above almost all the others around them, magma dripping from his arms, anger radiating from a scowl and furrowed brow. In an instant, he cuts down dozens of retreating pirates in a single blast of molten rock, before...]

As soon as you rescue Fire Fist Ace, you run! [The man taunts, as the Ace of that other world grits his teeth and runs past where the Ace born in Kaisou is standing, fists clenched so hard his arms shake, staring at the man in front of him with nothing but anger in his eyes.] Well your captain is that guy so you can't help it, can you? Because after all, Whitebeard is just a loser from the old times!

[In the memory, Ace stops, fire sparks around his limbs and he turns back to face the man so clearly taunting him. In the memory, the Ace watching everything play out screws his eyes shut, frustrated and angry but-- he knows what comes next.

As fire meets magma in a mighty class, and fire recoils, burned for the first time in years-- he knows what comes next. As the Ace of Marineford is on his knees, exhausted and beaten, watching a molten fist come flying for his brother, oblivious and powerless-- he knows what comes next.

As bursts of static erupt around him, as the words and actions in these next few moments are blurred by memories that haven't quite come next, as Ace is on his knees, choking on blood in his little brother's arms, a hole burned through the center of his chest..... he knows... what comes next.]

It's no use-- My organs-- I can tell that my life is ending-- [The voice of that Ace, muffled and layered with static, the voice of his brother, crying and screaming and desperate echoing bitterly through the static.]

What do you-- you told-- that you would never-- no matter what, Ace!

[Words that slice like a knife through the Ace trapped watching, head tilted down and tears just barely held back.]

I know-- I know I did-- [He mutters, unable to not respond to the pain he remembers being in his little brother's voice.]

I wouldn't even have a will to live if it weren't for-- high maintenance br-- you [The Ace of the memory continues, the static bursting and peaking until... the end.

The end of a memory. The battlefield around them getting smaller and smaller, the edges eaten by static, faces blurring or becoming pure white, until all that's left is two brothers kneeling and holding on to each other, crying and mourning.]

Like we promised that day... I have no regret in my life.

I can't raise my voice to let everyone hear me anymore--

[There's nothing, no sounds, no sights, even the edges of the boy kneeling and holding a dying Ace are fraying.

The only sound other than the rasp of a dying man is the quickening breathing of the other forced to watch this again, to remember again. To live through this over and over and over until it's clear and vivid and him again.]

Could you tell them... what I'm about to say? [The Ace of the memory rasps, tears filling his eyes as the last energy left in his body goes into the words he's about to say.]

Pops! Everybody! And you, Luffy. Thank you for loving someone like me who is good for nothing and who has such bad blood in his veins... up to today. Thank you!

[As those words leave his mouth, the last emotional cry of a man hated by the world he was born into, Ace's expression softens, his lips curl upwards, and as static takes over everything around them, his eyes close into a pleased and peaceful smile.

Leaving static the only sound to accompany the desperately stifled tears of the man left tense in the wake of the memory.

A memory that, after a few more minutes left in static and quiet, will begin to repeat itself, the static fading into screams and explosions, the sound of boots on the ground growing into pirates running desperately for the ships in the harbor.

And Ace is left to remember the faces around him, the injured and the dying. The family that went to war for him. The family he left behind.]

[wilder]

[Zelos meanwhile continues sitting at his spot, staring at Zulius with an unimpressed expression. It's easier to point out someone else's damage rather than his own, so-]

Ah, but did the songs come from your heart?

[wilder]

[Lucky for Jax, Zelos doesn't recognize this guy due to Jax keeping himself on text. So he just gives a glance, makes a mental note that that sure is a talking rabbit, before focusing back on the puzzle]

A word puzzle? Damn, was hoping for a number based one, I'm good at those.

[But nooo, that'd be too easy. Gotta have a word base puzzle that'll no doubt be thought provoking.]

Well I don't wanna go back to the eel room so-- let's give this a shot! [He wanders around until he finds a sign posted with a long list of clues for each of the areas] I take it these are how we figure out the answer?

MEMORY TAPE

[poisontippedcure]

[Zulius came for Rose when she was taken, and she still hasn't forgotten that.]

[She's one of his tribe. They're ride or die. And when they both end up on the thrice-damned therapy train, Rose doesn't hesitate to seek Zulius out.]

[It doesn't take long to find the memory. She realizes, as she watches it roll, that she's rarely (if ever) asked about Zulius' past. For how outgoing the centaur is and for everything he's done for her, it still doesn't shock her there are some things he'd rather keep hidden.]

[But he helped her, so she'll help him.]

[She wraps an arm around him. Running away doesn't work. Running away has never worked.]

It won't make the memory stop hurting, you know.

III you aren't free of me

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose has been here before.]

[Maybe not in the train, but forced to rewatch old memories. Stuck in a hell of her own making, as all of her failures are played in her head again and again.]

[When she sees Zelos, she understands his hesitation. But she also wants him to learn from her mistakes.]

You shouldn't do that, you know.

[end_singer]

[Nito hums understandingly. To him that amount of time is frightfully brief, but to a mortal whose life may amount to but ten times that, eight years is a long time to be bleeding.]

...One does not simply "get over" being stabbed in the back, be it literal or figurative. The wound will heal in time if time is taken to attend to it, but it will leave a scar.

[And then, more softly:]

...And the scar will ache at times, whether it be eight or eight hundred years old. Mine still do.

Dante | Devil May Cry | OTA

[advivo]

─ the cars

[ freed from the white pod and utterly boring orientation video, Dante can be found examining the green numbers snaking up his arm. while he complained, loudly even, about being snatched up by the train while his dearest twin brother wasn't, Dante doesn't seem all that surprised. or annoyed even.

he just seems... resigned, almost. maybe you catch him in this unguarded moment though it doesn't last very long if you do. the devil hunter's demeanor shifts within the blink of an eye, smile finding his ragged features as he shifts his weight from one foot to the other. ]

So you buying any of that? [ he jabs a finger back towards the car behind them. ] Sounds like a bunch of baloney to me.

─ the outside

[ so the way out is facing and dealing with the traumas rattle around in his skull? yeah, he'd rather not open that can of angry hornets anytime soon. things in his life are good, great even, so he doesn't need to start digging around in old wounds. naturally, that leads Dante to staring out at the endless expanse that is the outside of this never ending train.

he could make it, he's pretty damn sure he could make it. but it means leaving Vash behind which isn't something he is willing to do. so, instead of making any sort of attempt to leap off the train and make a run for it─ he sits his ass down, watching the desert pass them by. ]

Wouldn't suggest jumping off if I were you.

[ eventually you end up at the same place as Dante, looking out at the desert that just goes and goes and goes, sharp blue eyes falling on you as he gives you a friendly smile. ]

It'll hurt like a bitch, not the mention you'd only last a couple of days before dehydration gets you.

─ the memory tapes

[ at some point you'll find Dante in one of the cars, arms crossed and heads tilted to the side as his memories play out in front of him. he doesn't reaction if you join him, nor does he stop you from stepping into his memories if you really want to. ]

and every color illuminates (cw: fire, parental death)

[ the mansion burns, cracks and crumbles under the unyielding heat of the fire that consumes it. a blonde woman darts into the room, breathless, and quickly pulls a young boy, a young Dante, to his feet. he coughs, eyes clamped tightly from the smoke, as she moves him directly to the nearby closet. ]

You have to hide, Dante. [ Dante looks up, eyes widen, mouth agape in protest and questions he doesn't get a chance to ask. the woman shakes her head, holding a finger to his lips with a smile. ] No matter what happens, no matter what you hear, you mustn't leave!

[ something cracks loudly in the distance and she turns, her grip on the closet doors growing so tightly the color drains from her knuckles. Dante moves toward her as she turns back to him, her expression determined and sad at the same time. as though she knows how this will end, that this is the last time she will lay eyes on her son. ]

I have to find Vergil. I promise I'll be back. [ letting go of the door she holds his face, making him look up at her. ] I know this is hard. You must listen to me. Be a big boy... a man, huh? If I don't return, you must run. By yourself, alone. [ she moves away from him, taking hold of the closet doors again and begins to close them. Dante's panicked gaze flicking to the door, then back up at his mother. ] You must change your name. Forget your past and start a new life as someone else. A new beginning.

[ she closes him in there and turns, running back into the fire and death as she calls out for her other son. for Vergil. making it only into the next room before a loud crack is heard and the woman cries out. Dante flinches, collapsing to the floor of the closet and curls in on himself, sobs drowned out by the fire that engulfs the room. time passes the fire long burnt out, and Dante shakily climbs out of the closet knees bruised and cheeks stained with soot and tears. ]

Mama?

[ the sound of static fills your ears, surrounds the memory, and then replays it all over again. ]

[oneracetrackmind]

Right- There's two people here now!

[Yugo waits, tapping his foot-

-but nothing. That still isn't the answer the car wants.]

What's wrong with this stupid train?! [Yugo huffs out, glaring at the sign.]

2 (The Devil We Know)

[oneracetrackmind]

[Yugo has walked in on the memory, watching with undisguised shock at a kid (obviously Ace) being burnt alive and the aftermath. After a moment he finds his words, asking the first thing that comes to mind.]

...How'd you not get burned by that? [Zero tact with this guy.]

Maxima quo Priscus | Final Fantasy XIV | ota

[moderni]

[The Cars]

Prologue

[It seems obvious, when Maxima thinks about it for a moment, that people don't know how exactly the isekais go home. It's not as if any of them come back to explain what happened to them. That's the first thought that occurred to him, when he saw an impossible train approaching, looking exactly like the express commuter trains that no longer run the length and breadth of the Empire's capital: perhaps it was here to bring him back there.

He hates the reluctance that crawled through his chest before the doors opened, hates that his first thought was is it really over already? But the light was warm and inviting, so he took a deep breath and stepped through, ready to return to his duties with a pang of regret for the things he's leaving unfinished back at the Fortress-

and the next thing he knows, he's watching the introductory video, sitting up from his pod in the aisle of what looks very much like the interior of the train car he expected. He glances at his hand, takes note of the three glowing digits of the number on it, and slowly gets to his feet. Checking his pocket, he still has his phone, and once again he hates that he's relieved by that.]

Self-improvement. Am I really faltering so badly in my duties?

[Silently, the number on his palm ticks upward.]

[Still, solving puzzles and fixing problems is a long way from the worst thing he's ever been put through. He's a helpful sort of person, after all, he can do what's needed to make his way through these train cars.]

...Another one?

[In this car, little fairy creatures have asked him to help move their balloon homes to the other side of the car. Their wings push against the balloons too much and so they need someone who walks on the ground to help. At first it was just one, but as he's made his way along, they've run into more and more little fairies, each one asking the kind human for the same help. And after all, the balloons weigh next to nothing, so it's no trouble at all to grab one more - but they're huge and jostle against one another, until he's barely progressing at all, fighting to drag them ponderously through the air without letting the strings tangle with each other too badly.]

Well, all right, give me the string for that one.

[You ever had task brain keep you from noticing an obvious metaphor?]

[The Tapes]

[Maybe no one warned him; maybe he just couldn't resist the temptation to know what, exactly, in his memories, has brought him to the point that this train needs to set him on a better path. Either way, the tape in the player says Maxima quo Priscus on it, and he's staring blankly at the screen, lost.]

The Funeral (cw: parental death, references to politically motivated violence)

[It's a small funeral service. There are two wooden coffins at the front of the room, each one decorated with flowers made of black cloth - real flowers are much too hard to come by in Garlemald. There are no recognizable religious icons, of course, but the Garlean flag emblem appears tastefully emblazoned on some of the decor.

The mourners are quiet even for a funeral, and few in number, keeping to themselves as if afraid to catch anyone's eye. Maxima stands near the center of the crowd: he looks a good deal younger, ten years or more, and his glasses are different. The attendees approach him in ones and twos, blurry faces offering vague condolences for his parents' passing, until the memory dials in on an older man, probably old enough to be his father, who seems to move with more purpose than the rest.

"What will you do?" he asks. "No one will fault you if you choose to back off, not after this. We'll never know the full story, but we don't have to guess it was the damned Optimates behind it."

The memory Maxima seems hesitant, brow furrowing as he glances between the coffins and the older man. "I don't know," he admits. "Give me some time to think about it."

"As long as you need, lad. Remember, they'd want you to live on."

Present-day Maxima is watching the scene play out, too, looking less checked-out but still anguished.]

In the end, what choice did I have but to carry on their work?

[The wake continues, and the conversation plays out again, though it's a little hard to tell exactly where the loop is looping.]

The Burn (cw: violence, airship crash)

[The next memory starts in the cockpit of an airship, metal walls and metal floors and armored soldiers all around manning the various controls. The front viewscreen shows vast white sand dunes stretching to the horizon.

Maxima in this memory is wearing his combat armor, and standing next to a young man dressed in blue, whose long white hair is bound back in a neat braid and showing off his pointed ears.

"I have read something of The Burn," the young man is saying. "It was described as a desolate wasteland, bled dry of every last drop of aether..."

The armored Maxima nods his agreement. "Aye. It is believed that a succession of eikon summonings was responsible. When Emperor Solus first came to Othard and beheld this blight, he is said to have reeled at the scale of the devastation. He declared eikons a threat to our very star's existence, and issued an Empire-wide decree ordering the eradication of all such entities."

But before they can continue with history lessons, the ship is rocked by an impact, nearly throwing them both off their feet. "Report!" barks Maxima at the nearest soldier.

"We're under attack, sir! Magitek armor─no visible designation."

The ship continues taking hits as Maxima orders fire returned, and the battle doesn't last long at all. Despair is visible on his face as he stares out at the attackers: Imperial army regulars, sent to prevent his delegation from ever returning from their mission. "Damn it! ...They knew exactly where to hit us. All hands, brace for impact!"

The memory starts over before the ship can hit the ground. Current Maxima, dressed in casual Kaisou clothing, grimaces as he watches.]

The worst irony is, I was wrong about the entire thing. That history was what they told us in school. I wouldn't know until later that it had been a total fabrication.

[Wildcard]

[Open to other ideas! he's going to be sincerely trying to make progress once he understands the problem he needs to unravel, but getting to that point will take a bit of doing.]

tapes | funeral

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose seeks out Maxima.]

[He may not have been here when she was kidnapped, but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s her friend. And on top of that, he’s someone that she desperately wants to protect.]

[Maxima has done nothing wrong, but suffered during his time in Garlemald anyway. Maxima wanted nothing more than to help his fellow man. If she really was the hero of the realm everyone claimed her to be, isn’t Maxima exactly the person she should be helping?]

[But when she finds him, something catches in her throat. It’s a funeral. His parents, from what she can see.]

[What does she even say? Her usual witty barbs would be inappropriate, but she can’t think of the right words to comfort him either.]

[Instead, she just rests a hand on his shoulder.]

You aren’t alone here.

[moderni]

[He smiles sadly down at her.]

It was a long time ago. It was... [He takes a deep breath, lets it out slowly.] ...I always held out some hope that one day we'd find out the truth. Something about who had given the order, what the last straw had been.

[But then again, he tilts his head, brow furrowed slightly.] ...Ah, but I don't remember if I've even told you about them.

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose does her best to listen, even if she can’t fully comprehend what it is he’s saying. The government of Hingashi might not have been perfect, but they’d never put her family in harm’s way.]

I don’t think you have, no.

[And then, after a bit:]

It might help. When I was somewhere like this before, I had to face it to let me out. The feelings—-the regret, I mean.