kaisou | Open log + video

WHO: Varian and you!
WHERE: His labyrinth then outside the Zodiac apartments
WHEN: 1 May
WHAT: Alchemy boy arrives
WARNINGS: Some PTSD in the arrival log.

Varian doesn't recognise the alchemy lab he's wound up in - he's not even sure how he got here. He remembers that weird, uneasy being watched feeling the night before, but that's nothing new. People watch him plenty. Then he went to sleep and found himself...here. The one good thing is that Ruddiger is here too, the raccoon perched on top of his shoulder and chittering anxiously. He wanders around the space, finding upturned flasks of strange, green liquid or broken automaton parts and the realisation that something is deeply wrong starts to settle in his chest.

"H-hello? Um- anyone there?"

He stills for a moment, chewing his bottom lip, waiting for an answer. When one doesn't come, he starts walking again and recognises more and more of the discarded experiments around him. It's like someone put together the worst museum in the world and it consisted only of his failures. Varian's...pretty used to having nightmares about the darker sides of his past, but it's never been like this before.

His anxiety has already been slowly rising, but the second he walks into a man encased in some sort of crystal, it spikes up exponentially. His breath catches in his throat, his eyes wide. He's DEFINITELY experienced this in his nightmares before and it hurts every single time. He backs away from it, into the opposite wall, where he slides down onto the floor, squeezing his eyes shut and covering his face with his hands. Ruddiger slips down to sit in his lap, trying to pat his arm reassuringly, but to little avail.

"Nonononono, not again!" he tries to even out his breathing, but he's not doing a good job of it. "Wake up, wake up, wake up!!"

VIDEO - UN:NOT SET

[Once he's free from his labyrinth and has been shown the way to his new apartment (which is a wild concept, a little house inside a building???) Varian has decided to check out the strange pocket communication device. Ruddiger is behind him, rummaging through the garbage as he stands outside the Zodiac apartment building. Not that anyone can see this, because Varian has his thumb over the camera. So there's just audio and the occasional flicker of light as his hand shifts. ]

Okay, so, apparently I fell through some sort of trans-dimensional rift and now I'm here. I've got some questions I really need answering and apparently, this little device allows me to talk to other people who are similarly trapped in this world. Right? Right. SO!

One - Can someone explain what this electricity thing is? How does it work? How does it generate light? Power? If you can't explain it, can you point me in the direction of a library where I can learn this for myself?

Two - Bouncing off from one, what's with the horseless carriages? I've built automatons in the past, so I'm assuming they run on some sort of internal device, but I've never seen anything like it before in my life. What fuels them?

Three - Where can I get alchemical supplies? My backpack usually has plenty in but I've got nothing for some reason. Is there an apothecary around here somewhere? Equally, does anyone know a good lab space I can use? I have my kitchen in my...home? But I really do need a better space for my future projects.

Four - Speaking of, I have experience in building trans-dimensional portals. I'm going to try and get the supplies needed to figure a way out of here. This is a very different world to what I'm used to, but I'm sure I can figure it out.

Five- Who is Denny? Does-does he own the brightly coloured tavern? They won't accept silver or gold coins there and I need to feed my raccoon. I guess I need to speak to this Denny for that? How do I get in touch with him?

Okay, that should be it for now. I'd appreciate any help you can give me...assuming this thing even works.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[...Wait what?]

You too, huh? This place sure likes having people from other worlds fighting against demons or gods to prevent them from ending the world.

[It's fine, bud. It's fiiiiiine.]

Really? That is a pretty weird common denominator. I'd wonder if the demons-slash-gods had anything to do with it, but I know my one is super dead.

[She got obliterated definitely no coming back from that.]

You're lucky. Mine will always reappear as long as people are around.

[Not that he wanted to say anything bad about people as a whole but...]

It's not really easy when one of them is the god of death.

Really? So they're attracted to humanity...existing? How are you ever supposed to win?

[That's worrying. ]

Um. Which one? I think there's a few mythologies surrounding death gods.

By making people not wish for death because that is what Nyx wants.

[With that, he gave a sigh. Because it sure is a difficult thing to handle.]

But anyway, does the name Nyx sound familiar to you? Or what about Erebus?

...Yeah, that's probably easier said than done.

[Because sometimes, people definitely wish for that. He hums.]

Nyx is the goddess of night in Greek mythology and I think Erebus is...darkness? Or maybe they're the other way around. It gets confusing.

Oh it will be a big hurdle but I like to think it can be accomplished.

[Of course, this was him being optimistic. He really couldn't afford to allow himself to think so negatively with the weight of someone's life on his shoulders.]

No, you're right. Nyx is the goddess of the night and Erebus is the darkness! I'm surprised you know it.

Optimistic, but I guess we could all use some of that sometimes.

[He's not as great at the optimism. That's Rapunzel's remit. ]

I read a lot of books. I wouldn't be able to tell you a lot about them, though. Just what I've picked up from research.

[Research for what? Nothing. Just for funsies!]

Oh really? Then tell me, what other things have you researched? Any other mythologies you know?

[Especially if they're ones that might be related to the other Personas he knows.]

Because I do want to be surprised!

Only casually, really. Most of my research is more towards science. There's a demon in my home world I read up on a lot, but I think she's pretty much only known in my world- Zhan Tiri?

[God, he HOPES she didn't end up in other worlds, that would be...bad.]

She was surprising in the...literally suck the life out of the world way? Does that count?

I don't think I never heard of her name before. Although, I wouldn't be surprised if I met someone in the future who would have her as a Persona.

[Granted, if she was a demon, then probably they won't. However...!]

But that counts. At this point, anything that involves ending humanity in some way counts as ending the world. They're just getting creative.

A...Persona. So those are the demon-gods in your world? Because...yeah, I really don't want her to come back in any capacity.

[It damn near killed them all to stop her - he's not sure they'd be able to pull it off a second time. He groans. ]

Great, fantastic, sure love to hear that.

I don't think that she'll come back that strong? It'll probably be a different version of her because I doubt my Persona is the same exact one from Hindu mythology!

[Just saying!]

That's...something, I guess. I'd rather her not come back at all, but if she does, I'd rather her be way less of a threat than she was. I don't wanna go through all we went through to try and beat her last time.

How did you beat her? If you don't mind me asking.

[Pause]

Because how I defeated Nyx and Erebus was through pure force and probably with a lot of good luck. [Not to mention how he and his friends also had to fight a Malevolent Entity but...!]

There were these two ancient artefacts she needed to destroy...well, everything. But they couldn't touch. She had one on each wrist. My friends managed to smack her hands together and she...uh- exploded.

But I'd say a lot of good luck was on our side for that. A few...fortuitous things happened to put them in a position where they could do that.

Sounds a lot easier than trying to fight the thing 12 different times. It wasn't exactly the easiest battle when there were a lot of barriers involved.

[Especially when Ryoji kept changing his arcana all the time!]

Although, there was a sacrifice in order to seal Nyx away.

No that...honestly sounds like a really bad time.

[Uh oh.]

Like... a metaphorical sacrifice or...someone dies kind of sacrifice?

The latter.

[Pause]

While he didn't die per say, he physically did. [It's complicated.]

[Just the longest heckin' pause here.]

So he's...like, a ghost?

[Look, he can get ghosts, ghosts exist in his world. Ghosts make sense. ]

More like a ghost who is a barrier and preventing Erebus from coming into our world.

[Because that also makes sense, right??]

Ohhhh okay. So like... a guardian? That...I guess that makes sense.

More or less? Although, it just makes me work a little harder knowing that he's watching over me.

[And honestly...?]

Even if it is slightly complicated right now. [Especially when said person is in this world and doesn't know who you are and has no memories of you.]

...I can understand that. We all want to do well for our heroes, right?

[Varian would actively jump through fire for Eugene. Or his dad. Without question. ]

This place makes everything complicated, I've noticed.

For better and for worse, I suppose. Either way, I just hope that I can get back to my world as soon as possible. The faster I go home, the faster I can help my friends.

[Pause]

And for him too.

(no subject)

droptheious - 2022-06-24 18:53 (UTC) - Expand