kaisou | November Event Log

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November Event Log

November Event
Dominant Element: Shadow
Waning Element: Light

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An unnatural darkness blankets the city this month. The sun will not rise for most of the month, leaving the city in a state of perpetual darkness. Thanks to the Shadow element's dominance, this darkness will seem even deeper than usual. Plants die and the weather turns cold. There's a state of unease throughout the city as the nights wear on.

City Night Life

While in the past many unusual incidents have gone unnoticed by the general populace, it's a lot harder for the local people to shrug off the disappearance of the sun. According to the news, the entire area around Kaisou is caught in this endless night. And what's worse, as time passes, the phenomenon only seems to be growing in size. Theories to what's going on are flooding everywhere, from skeptics attempting to use science to explain what is scientifically impossible to conspiracy theorists touting...well, the usual array of conspiracy theories. Aliens, government experiments, ghosts, birds - you know the drill. No one has a clear answer to what may be causing this though. The general atmosphere among the city's populace is uneasy at best, with occasional pockets of panic popping up as the nights wear on. It doesn't help that the normal folks still keep noticing the unusual things going on around them. Wasn't this supposed to stop after Halloween? All the Spirit Halloweens have vanished from the city, so why hasn't everything else?

Without the sun, the plants begin to wilt and die, while the temperature keeps getting colder and colder. The crime rate begins to climb, and sun lamps quickly sell out in every store. Some places in the city try to make the most of the situation, by having sales on glow-in-the-dark items and special happy hours. In Undertown, there is a plethora of vendors selling light-enchanted items and scrolls, though none of them are very strong due to light element waning this month. As for everyone else, they are just trying their best to continue on as normal. School is still in session, with all the usual activities.

Even if one travels to the stable gates, they will find their own day cycle has been disrupted. Both Kanto and Stardew Valley are stuck in perpetual nighttime. This causes a lot of anxiety among the folks of Stardew Valley, as they thought they'd had one more month of harvest. Meanwhile the nighttime in Kanto has caused all the nocturnal Pokémon to be out and about at all hours.

The Other Side

According to several cultures, early November is the time of the year that one is more able to communicate with the dead. With the Spirit Vein acting as unstable as it is, this will more than hold true. During the first half of November, AU characters will swear they see signs of folks that have passed either in this life or their past life. Sometimes it's subtle, the smell of their grandpa's cologne or a sensation of receiving a loving embrace when you're alone. For others, the signs will be much more obvious: a ghost standing in their living room or taking any plate of their favorite food that's offered to them. Attempts to verbally communicate with these spirits will be limited, at most they can only communicate a couple words. You can offer them things they'd like, such as their favorite foods or drinks. They'll gratefully take these items and the things will become as incorporeal as them as they take it back to the afterlife.

Most of these visits are friendly in nature. That is, unless you've gotten up to some real bad things (murder, I mean murder) and made yourself some enemies in the beyond. Then your visits will be a lot closer to terrifying hauntings, complete with thrown furniture, deathly wails, and bloody messages on the walls. It's rough, but you did kinda bring this one on yourself.

Further Tearing

Just as the normal people continue to notice the strange things going on around them, the tears from last month are continuing to appear. Tears full of demons, spirit realm creatures, and monsters from other worlds will keep appearing throughout the month and attempting to snatch anyone who is nearby. Best to continue up your patrols and do your best not to get trapped in the spirit realm yourself. And that's not the only problem. Once again random items are falling out of the sky and at your character's feet. If they aren't falling, they are appearing out of thin air in front of them whenever the Spirit Vein above flickers. Some of these items are useful, sure, but a lot of it just seems like it's random junk that happened to fall into this world.

On top of everything else, a new type of tear begins to appear....or rather, reappear. OU characters may remember the labyrinths they woke up in when they first arrived on this crazy ride. These labyrinths had closed themselves off back when you reached the city, but now? They are reopening themselves in various spots around the city, possibly open for anyone to wander in and see for themselves what's inside. Some of these labyrinths remain unchanged from the day you first saw them, especially for people who are newer or haven't been strongly affected by their time here. However characters who've grown and changed since their arrival in Kaisou may find their labyrinths shifting and changing to reflect that. These labyrinths after all are reflections of their own states of mind, and will change to reflect that. (note: in other words, OU players can use the labyrinth given to them on their app or modify it to their liking). While those who have a peaceful state of mind will have a rather peaceful labyrinth? Those with more confliction might fight more danger within.

Down the River

During the first week, all one can do is wait anxiously for news as Zodiac and the Black Order searches for answers. Finally, on November 7th, word comes in the form of the familiar text alert .

ALERT: SHIFTING GATE LOCATED IN THE SPIRIT VEIN.
Element Classification: Shadow
Danger Level: Very High
Designation: Duat
A Spirit Gate has been detected within the Spirit Vein. We have evidence that this gate is connected to the disappearance of the sun and the increased paranormal activity. Assistance has been requested to resolve the situation within. Please stop by the Zodiac Offices for more details. This mission is considered highly dangerous and should only be undertaken by those prepared.
It is also highly recommended you do not bring any symbols or items connected to YHWH.

Visiting the Zodiac offices, things are different from months previous. Professor Willow is still nowhere to be found. Instead, the more fuzzy professor is here in his stead, sitting in a doll-sized armchair someone got for him, and seeming starstruck by the other new person in the room. Standing in the room is an Egyptian woman. She's dressed in modest garbs, not unlike the kinds of clothes you'd typically see in the Middle East today. Despite her modest appearance, she carries herself in a way that only a queen could. Anyone who can sense the supernatural can read an immeasurable amount of power from her, so much so that it can feel suffocating or maddening if you look for too long. Possessed characters will feel a sense of fear or reverence towards the woman, as their patron immediately recognizes who this woman is. At her side there is a scorpion the size of a large dog, watching any who approaches her like a vigilant guard dead set on protecting her - as if she actually needs it.

The woman calmly explains that the reason the sun has stopped rising is because Ra's nightly trip through Duat has been disrupted by a interloper. The interloper is hoping to get Ra to use his power to do their bidding, and has made a deal with the god Set to help them set up countermeasures to prevent any of the other gods in their pantheon from intervening. Unfortunately, this dramatic upset of such an essential cycle is having clear effects on the mortal realm, effects that will only get worse as time passes. And so, they require outside assistance to resolve the situation before things get any worse.

The characters will be instructed to go to the Kaisou River, a river that cuts through part of town. There they will find a boat that will help them travel to Duat. Then she pulls out a deck of Yu-Gi-Oh cards and gives a character a single card from the deck. She explains that these cards have been showing up in her realm recently, and being ever the resourceful one, she decided to infuse them with some of her magic to make them useful tools. Carry them with you and have faith, and they will help you through.

Overall despite her power and regalness, the woman's demeanor is wise, kind, and motherly. That said, anyone who failed to heed the warning not to bring anything connected to YHWH will find themselves getting either wary treatment or the cold shoulder, while her scorpion companion will raise its tail threateningly at you. Should you ask, the Professor will explain that the Egyptian pantheon is "just still a little salty over the whole, you know, ten plagues fiasco".

At Kaisou River, there will be an ornate boat docked and waiting for them. The boat is lined with gold and seems to almost glow from magic. Anyone who is younger than fifteen will find they are unable to get on the boat unless they are accompanied by an adult. Characters with powers that come directly from YHWH or His faithful servants (either by canon powers or possession) will have those powers stop working when they step on the boat. Once there's enough people onboard, the boat will silently set off down the river. Slowly as it travels, it'll begin to ascend out of the water and into a river of stars that flows directly into the Spirit Vein itself in the sky. As you reach the Spirit Vein, everyone will see an overwhelming amount of spirit energy floating around....before you all immediately black out. Whoops.

The Kingdom of Night

When you wake up, you find yourself still on the boat which is now sailing through a dark cavern illuminated only by fire breathing snakes hanging around the cavern. What's worse, is some may notice that you...aren't breathing and no longer have a pulse. In other words: you're dead. You flew into the Spirit Vein and died. That's probably a lot to unpack, so take some time to do that by the light of the fire-breathing snakes.

The boat will continue on through a set of gates, docking itself on a landing on the side of the river. Climbing out of the boat, you'll spy several buildings done in the style of Ancient Egyptian architecture. Around and inside these buildings are the dead spirits of kings, pharaohs, other influential elites throughout history, and so many cats - all of whom seem to be in the midst of having a never ending party. Which aside from the lack of modern technology, it's about the same as any rich influencer party. There's plenty of food, drink, people pretending to know each other, and games. Those patient enough can learn the rules of Senet, otherwise those Yu-Gi-Oh cards do seem to have gotten pretty popular in this realm, so you might be challenged to a card duel by an ancient king. Those those not interested in human interaction, you can instead opt to play with the cats that are roaming or napping all over the place. You might as well play a few games or scratch a few kitty ears, as you need to wait for the other ships of fellow app users to catch up before you're ready to move on.

When the last boat of freshly dead people have arrived, numerous gods and goddesses will herd the app users back towards the boat. It gets explained that to pass the next leg of the journey, your soul will be judged by Anubis. Wanting to make sure you present your best-self to the god of judgement, they will insist on giving you a quick makeover - sitting you down to apply make up and do your hair. Once you look fantastic and ready to slay, time to head back on the boats to get your hearts cut out!

The Hall of Truth

The boats set sail once more, carrying everyone past another gate and deeper into the underworld. When the boat stops again, everyone is ushered into a grand hall. In the center of the hall, stands the jackal-headed god Anubis and a large golden scale. Everyone is instructed to get into a line, and when it's their turn? Anubis will approach them and methodically remove their heart with expert precision (good thing you're already dead huh? you barely feel a thing), and place it on the scale against a feather. Those who have lived good lives (aka none of the major sins) and didn't do anything to muck up your makeover will have their heart returned back to their chest with no scarring and be allowed to return on the boat to continue their journey.

On the other hand those with major sins, or found a way to mess up their makeover (yes I'm serious), will watch as their heart drops lower on the scale to the feather. Anubis will give a shake of the head and the floor will open up beneath the person's feet, sending them down a trap door. Anubis will also throw their heart down into the trap door, so anyone who attempts to evade this fate will need to go down there to recover their heart. At the bottom, you are reunited with your heart that returns to your body (thankfully no scarring). But now you are forced to make the rest of the journey on foot through treacherous passage ways full of crocodiles, snakes, and the most dangerous of them all: hippos.

Tread carefully and swiftly, sinners. There's no telling what will happen to your soul if you let yourself get trapped down here. You aren't completely alone down here though. Remember that Yu-Gi-Oh card bestowed to you by that woman? If you have faith in it's magic, you'll be able to summon either the monster or the ability that's on the card to assist you on your journey - it should hopefully make things a little easier.

The Confrontation

Those who lived lives approved by Anubis will have a peaceful journey back on the boats. You pass through several more gates, and sure, there is a borderline absurd number of snakes in this underworld, but most of the snakes leave your boat alone. You're free to pass the time talking to other passengers, playing cards, enjoying refreshments magically provided on the boat, or getting some rest for the trial ahead. It even seems like some of the cats from the earlier spot has sneaked on board, so you can even spend your time enjoying kitty company. Eventually, the boats will make another landing and wait for those sinners who had to take the long way to catch up to you before moving on.

With everyone reunited, it's time to to head to your reason for being here. Further down the river, you eventually come across another boat that was currently trapped within a magic barrier. Within the barrier, there are two figures. The first is a hawk-headed figure that could be no other but Ra. Ra is bound by chains, and seems rather weak from poison. The other person Professor Willow, standing over the captured and weakened god.

Yeah, that's not good.

Breaking through the barrier will take time, but you can shout at the professor for answers. As it turns out? The app users weren't the only ones with memories of a past life. Many members of POKEGO also could recall a previous life, one in a world that was full of Pokemon before it met its end. This is how he'd been able to identify what the Pokemon were despite them not existing in the world before. The stable gate of Kanto? Was just a fragment of what that world once was.

"But by using Ra's power to create worlds, we can restore that world to what it once was! For years, that's been one of the true goals of POKEGO!" Willow proclaims passionately, all while Ra mournfully shakes his head.

You can try to reason with Willow, but it seems there's no getting him to back down from his goal. Eventually, he has enough with talk and pulls out a Pokeball. He tosses it through the barrier, and once it lands? A massive serpent Pokemon called Giratina comes forth and begins to attack. This foe is more powerful than any other Pokemon you've encountered before, in fact it's very presence seems to make the realm itself quake. Work together to fight it off, and eventually the creature will decide to flee - creating a tear that opens to an unknown part of the Spirit Realm and slipping into it, the tear closing up behind it. Willow will shout after it, trying to call it back, but his calls go unheeded.

Well, that was freaky. Good thing that's the only massive serpent in- oh. Wait.

Before you can have a chance to catch your breath, the area will rumble once more. Apep, the famous serpent of the Nile and even larger snake, heard all the commotion and has realized this is his time to once again try to devour the sun god. Hope you didn't use up all your stamina on the last fight, because this is the true final boss of this realm. If you need extra aid, you can always call upon the aid given by the Yu-Gi-Oh card- you just have to believe.

Aftermath

Upon defeat of all the snakes, Professor Willow will realize he's out of his league and lower that barrier. As he does so, the woman from earlier appears once more, except now in her full winged goddess form. For those who hadn't pieced it together earlier, she was the goddess Isis all along. She thanks everyone for their assistance, and says that it'll take time to heal Ra and also deal with Set's treachery (from her exasperated tone, this is NOT the first time), but things should be righted once more. This was just a borrowed trick from her own book, after all.

As for Professor Willow? Her scorpion companion is quick to sting him, poisoning him with its venom, and Isis gives him a scathing look before she lifts him up with one hand and chucks him into everyone's boat. He'll live, should he get treated for the venom, though she says that won't be the case should he ever try to come near her pantheon again. And in one final act, she summons a swarm of glowing golden scarabs before disappearing with Ra. The scarabs will fly over to the boat and try to land on everyone. As they do so, their glow will brighten and you'll feel the warmth of life...before passing out once more.

When you wake, you'll find yourself on the river shore back in Kaisou, alive and well. Some Zodiac agents are there, shadowing Willow as he gets put into an ambulance. It's still night out, but...you swear you can see the first rays of dawn starting to pierce the sky, at least for a few minutes.

True to Isis's words, it takes time for things to return. It remains dark for the rest of the month. But as the second half of the month starts, the sun will slowly start to return. First by only a few minutes, then by a few hours. Then, by the end of the month, the daylight hours will fully return to normal. All the while, the Spirit Realm will slowly begin to calm itself. Tears will become less frequent, and soon the normal population will once again stop noticing things. It seems just in time for the holiday season, things will finally return to some semblance of normal.

OOC Notes

The dominant element this month is Shadow! Anyone with an affinity to the shadow element will find themselves boosted throughout the month. This could mean a boost to their power, having more energy, feeling more inspired with creativity, having better luck on different attempts -- the boost can manifest in all sorts of different ways. By contrast, anyone with an affinity for Light will be experiencing the opposite. Perhaps their powers will be weaker, they have less energy, they're having a creative block or general worse luck - again it can manifest in all sorts of way and players are free to play with this mechanic as they'd like. It should also be noted that while YHWH is often associated with light/holy, characters with light element won't necessarily have their powers blocked in this month's spirit realm- so don't worry about that! It'll just be the general weakening.

Players can obtain free gacha through all of November by commenting here. The Yu-Gi-Oh card will only have power this month while in the Spirit Realm. After this month is over, it will go back to being a normal card!

The original OOC plotting post for this event can be found here. Another Zodiac Post will be going up November 15th to serve as an intro post for new characters and allow characters to react to developments over the network.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Varian can be like a powderkeg, a fact he's aware of. He needs to learn to temper it better.

"It's so much bigger and honestly there's stuff about it even I don't understand."

It's complicated and messy and it's something he is still trying to wrap his head around. If only so he could help Fern out more with his...everything. He manages a tired little smile.

"Yeah. I guess that's it. We do and don't. I'm honestly impressed you've managed to handle this twice now. Once is enough for me."

Luz was starting to learn that! It was surprising, since she'd not seen it before, but she figured there was bound to be parts of people she didn't know until they were provoked, and Luz had unknowingly done just that.

"Ah. Well, that's on me. I should figure already that there are going to be people here who's stories are ones that are way out of my depth! Reading about intense backstories are one thing but learning about them firsthand is another. Bad enough that I actually CAN do that, thanks to this place."

Luz held up a hand. "Few months back, I got this strange ability that if I touch someone, I can see some of their past. I only did this with one person, but that's kind of enough, you know?"

It felt TOO much like spying.

Luz looked a little awkward here. "It's...something. It's sort of a cheat someone I know is here, even if it's not quite how I remember them. Amity being here too was unexpected, and changes everything too. It makes some things easier, and some way harder."

Edited 2022-11-15 13:15 (UTC)

"Yeah, there's uh... well, people are all from different kinds of worlds here," he shrugs. "Stands to reason there's people's pasts here beyond any of our normal understanding."

As Luz talks about her ability, Varian visibly tenses, shifting a little away from her. After all, he has a pretty dark past, one he doesn't share willingly, and the thought of someone being able to touch him to get that out of him without him having a say in it is pretty terrifying.

He relaxes a little more when Luz says it's enough - but he's still on his guard.

"Yeah that's- that's probably not an ability a lot of people would appreciate, people uh...like to keep that sort of thing to themselves, y'know?" he clears his throat. "And um...yeah, I can get that. I sometimes still see Catalina around."

"I'm still wrapping my head around exactly how bad things can be outside of this world. Really, I ought to know better: things aren't exactly in the best of situations where I was coming from to begin with!"

Luz does notice that Varian is getting a little withdrawn at what she was saying about her abilities though and sighed.

"Trust me, I'm not trying to use it at will. To start, I only hug people I know, and I've been practicing keeping it at bay. No one needs to have someone poking around in their memories. I can't even imagine WHEN would be a good time to use it other than when my girlfriend had memories that went beyond mine."

Luz did look a little sad. "Right, her. I used to see her more than this. I hope she's doing ok."

"Yeah, I was getting that impression."

After all, he's spoken to a few people from that world- what he's gleaned has made it clear things are really dang bad in the Boiling Isles.

"That's- that's good. That you're keeping it under wraps. I uh... I expect it wouldn't be a welcome intrusion, no," he sure wouldn't appreciate it. "Or maybe if someone was amnesiac and needed help? Hah."

That's a dry, nervous little hah. He's not sure how much it would help the people with other lives here...would it unlock memories lost? Would they want it to? He rubs his arm, uneasy.

"Me too. She doesn't remember anything, anyway. I know the...the her back home is fine, at least."

"...Any now my girlfriend is here telling me about FUTURE stuff that I didn't even see happen yet, which is weird, but she did let me use her powers for that."

That brought its own sort of crisis there, but Luz was doing her best not to think too much about how getting BACK seemed to be necessary in more ways than one.

"You know, I'd like to say that was unlikely, but this place has definitely ranked up the 'it could happen' list to just about anything. I've been a pirate, seen ghosts, dealt with dinosaurs...and then there's still all of that stuff with people and their past lives! How is an amnesiac anywhere close to the weirdest thing?"

Not to mention the powers! That was something Luz was still learning about and wondering exactly how it factored into things.

"It's kind of a scary power in a way. You'd have to know what's the right moment to actually use it so it's not a thing that just makes everyone uncomfortable. Maybe I should start wearing gloves."

She'd resemble Hunter there, which wasn't so bad. She always liked his coven outfit. She just didn't like what it stood for.

"Nothing? Not even, like glimpses? Because some of the people here do have those."

She knew Eda, Moana and Danny did, for sure.

"Oh...yeah, that happens. When there were people from my world here I was ahead of them in the timeline," he waves his hand, palm-flat. "Time is...complicated, sometimes."

Trying to understand it isn't easy- just like understanding why the veil between realms is so thin here in the first place. There are mysteries wrapped in mysteries, and he's not sure he'll ever completely understand them. At least not to a level he'd be satisfied with an answer, anyway.

"I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen? We have plenty of people who's memories of their past lives are...gone. And then they start getting them back, slowly. It happens here."

He shakes his head.

"Not since coming off the app. It was like one minute she knew herself and the next it was all...gone."

"I was too. Well, I was. That was what made things really complicated. Hunter, who you know, I'm from a little later with him, and Eda and Raine don't remember ANYTHING, so that just made things really difficult. I guess Amity coming here was me having to get used to that!"

Which, really, was another thing that was more on HER than anything. She couldn't tell Hunter anything about what happened to him later, and Eda flat out only vaguely knew things as some kind of a different life. Amity was the first person who was caught up with Luz and even farther.

Why they weren't all from the same spot was anyone's guess though.

"Yeah, I've heard that from some people. I can't even imagine what that's like, for people who're supposed to have been here all the time. But maybe I can use it to help somehow."

It sure beat "spying."

"Well I guess we can add that to the pile of mysteries this place gives us," Luz said dryly. "I wouldn't even mind that so much if we had anything close to answers instead of MORE questions."

"So Amity is from a point in your timeline after you?"

He's making mental notes to try and make sense of this. He's never been in Luz's position- being behind someone from home. Only ahead.

"Might be a good idea? I mean, so long as they're okay with it...obviously," he doesn't think Luz would do it without permission, but he can't help himself voicing the thought. "And yeah, every time I think I've got an answer to anything, I just... I just unearth more questions. It's so frustrating."

Luz nodded.

"Some pretty crazy stuff happens back there. I mean, things I probably can't fix, but I have to try."

It was pretty weird, especially when Eda wasn't even from the Isles and Hunter was from earlier.

"Right, of course! I wouldn't want to just go listening into other people's conversation."

Luz nodded, sighing

"How do we even go about finding answers anyway? That special library place again?"

"I guess all you can do is try. As long as you do that, then...well, you can say you did what you could."

Because that's important, he feels. Trying to fix things, even if he's not as good as allowing himself the failure that sometimes follows yet. At the comment about the library, he blinks at her, utterly confused.

"The Great Library has gone, the spirit gates change every month? There's only two permanent ones. I- have you never noticed that?" because that's one of the few solid known facts about this world. "And besides, I'm not allowed in there, remember?"

"I wish I could do more," Luz confessed. "I've only made a portal once, and it didn't even take me to where I needed to go. I wish I could try to get back in some way I know I can help."

Luz wanted to help, NEEDED to be part of trying to fix the injury to the Boiling Isles. It may not have been earth, but it was still a home to her.

"No, I know that, that's the annoying thing! But the library would have been the best place to get that information, that was why I mentioned it! We NEED more places like that. But if the gates keep changing, there's no guarantee we find what we're looking for."

Wait a moment.

"Because of the failed portal attempt?"

"Yeah, the one I made back home was...well, it was supposed to be a prison," he sighs. "I wish it would have gone better. Zodiac say it won't work at all, and if I do try again I- I gotta test it somewhere safe, first. I don't want to cause any more damage to this world."

Because people died due to his failed attempt. He can't let that happen again.

"That's just how this place works. The gates move all the time- it's- it's only sometimes they stick," he shrugs. "Yeah, I was barred from it. Those were the consequences I had for...that whole mess. I couldn't enter the gate. It-it was like there was an invisible barrier there."

"A prison?" That definitely got her attention. "The portal? For who?"

Luz was taking in what he was saying though. Of course he wouldn't want it going wrong again. He'd have to be more careful, even pause what he was doing.
Which just brought them right back to square one.

"How did they manage to do that? I didn't even bother to think about it, but is it through the app that they can target specific people? And now that I think about it, why IS it that some places stay and some don't? What makes the ones that stick so special in the first place?"

And they were right back to MORE questions again!

"A demon. Her name was Zhan Tiri. She was trying to destroy...well, everything," he frowns. "It ended up getting destroyed before we could use it, so she had to be uh... dealt with another way."

If 'using the power she stole to vaporise her' counts as 'another way'.

"I don't know. The same way they can stop anyone under the age of sixteen going into the gates alone, I expect," he shrugs. "They have recourses we don't. But I'm not sure what makes a stable gate stable. We've only got two right now and they're not exactly...similar."

"Oh. Man. I'm sorry. That's a pretty different situation from why we want to make portal. The sad thing is I actually wanted to use the portal I attempted to make to travel back to my home, since the one that actually brought me to the Isles had be destroyed. Unfortunately, I wasn't any more successful at making one than you were."

At least Varian's had "sort of" worked, while Luz's had brought her to a kind of "in-between" sort of place.

"So they have a way of restricted access to places that randomly appear, somehow, though not a way to make the places themselves stay. That is something I'll bet we need to start paying attention to. Why these places were MADE stable in the first place."

"It's fine. It was probably better to make sure she could never come back, anyway- if she was captured we'd always just be worried about her...coming back," and that's the last thing they wanted. "I'm sorry it didn't work out for you, either."

He hums softly.

"Yeah, I don't think even Zodiac fully understand what is going on. I'm pretty sure if they did, they would have found a way to profit off it by now," he's been here long enough to get a good idea of how they work. "But yeah, we need a pattern for what makes realms stable, but with only two...it's hard to do."

"The bad thing is that wherever she gets trapped, she'd make trouble there too, right? Unless it was a place where you were sure she could never be able to do anything."

Luz sighed. "It was a big mess that got bigger in the end, actually. I kinda wish I DID know how big it got, but I only have what Amity told me. I don't actually know about it from my own perspective."

She nodded. "That's the vibe I'm getting from them too. Like they're showing us what they know will make us the least upset because they have plans in the works."

Between living with Eda and seeing how Tibbles worked, she got that vibe too.

"We'd probably have to look them over really thoroughly. See if there's anything they have in common with Kaisou, or with each other. And that might be something you'd be better at than me."

"You couldn't really do anything. It was a...place between dimensions. It was just...weird."

He didn't have a fun time in there, -0 out of 10, will not go there again.

"I guess there's that, you'll just have to be comfortable with not knowing...I guess. Unless you go home. That does happen. I hope."

He's still not completely sure if people go back or not, he likes to think so. After Rapunzel and Cass...well he needs to believe that.

"Yeah, that's the plan. I guess I'll have to visit them and see what I can see. Hopefully once this mess is sorted and we don't have to worry about survival so much? The sun thing is a priority right now."

"Oh. Like...oh. Ok. I think I've actually been to a place like that."

She sure didn't know what anyone else would call it. A mirror way? You couldn't actually GO anywhere, you were just seeing certain people's points of view.

"Me too. I've had friends do that and...someone I know from my world doesn't seem to be around. I think I might have to imagine they went back home."

Even saying that felt heavy for Luz though. She hadn't seen Hunter in some time and figured that meant he wasn't in their given circles, but something felt very off now.

Like she might never be able to see hunter AFTER what happened in Bellos mind at all.

"Right, good point. Hey, how is Fern managing? I know WE shouldn't be without sun, but I can't imagine this is going to do anything good for him either."

"You have? What did it look like?"

It's possible it might be the same as the one he knew, after all. Stranger things have happened. Varian doesn't think she means Hunter when she says this- as he has seen the other boy around school. But he knows Eda seemed to vanish for a while before returning.

"Yeah, that...happens. I wish I understood why it happens to some people and not others."

But that's just added to the list of things he doesn't quite get. There's just so much to understand. Her query about Fern makes real worry creep into his expression as his gut twists uncomfortably.

"He's...bad. He's- I'm really worried about him. That's why I'm here. I need to find a way to fix this. I can't lose him."

"It's like something out of a dream," Luz said after much thought. "Not one of the dreams that gives you a clear idea of a place. More like, it's really hazy and you FEEL like that too. There are these really tall, kinda strange structures around, but I couldn't really tell what they were. The important thing was that there were these pools, and out of them were these floating cubes that let you see the reflection of the person who's name you spoke out loud."

That place, to Luz, was the literal definition of an inbetween world.

"I don't get it either. Some of my friends lost some people they care about too. The Mardigals...they got it real bad."

Just thinking of Luisa's face made her feel sad, and then Varian mentioned Fern's current fate.

"Oh no! So there's a part of him that IS reacting badly because of the plant stuff! Is there any way to give him artificial sun?"

"Oh wow, that's...yeah that's definitely unique. The Lost Realm was like...clouds? I guess? Full of very strange creatures. The place changed us the longer we were there," he rubs the back of his neck. "My hair stripe turned into a snake. It was weird. Buuuut definitely no floating cubes."

That was definitely different. He nods, he knows Luisa, but he never really got to know the rest of the family that well, he does remember there being a lot of them though.

"There is. I- I did a video message about it last month? I've been making grow lights, but they're...not gonna be enough long-term."

"Your hair stripe turned into a snake?!" Ok, wasn't Varian the one who was all about logic, and he got to go to places that really took reality for a ride?

Maybe that was why he was so squicked about magic?

Luz made a mental note to go visit her friend sometime soon. She'd need it.

"Right, when we were, uh. Fighting. I mostly tried to stay out of your way then. Also, I think that was when I was doing Halloween decorations with demons and humans? Man. It's rough to try and offer a solution when I was just starting Biology."

"A talking snake. It has little goggles on and everything."

It was such a horrible time and definitely one of a long line of reasons why he didn't like magic. It didn't make SENSE. He hums in acknowledgement, yes, when they were fighting. He shrugs, not wanting to get defensive about that again.

"It's...fine. It's only a short-term solution, anyway."

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I never get to use this icon and that is a crime I'm rectifying now.

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