[As your senses clear and you stop falling, you find yourself in a grand courtroom, filled with various objects--all of which appear to be cat plushies. There are cat plushies littered all over the place with various accoutrements on them--badges? Stupid ahoges? Cute team-colored clothing? You name it, you’ve got it. Sitting on the witness stand is a girl no older than ten, kicking her legs idly with a wide smile.]
[. . . well. he's not on trial, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? he frowns, glancing at the young girl, before he crouches down to pick up the nearest cat plushie]
[ Ren starts looking around once she orients herself. She's highly on guard because this is... kind of strange. But also a little familiar. The plushie cats definitely catch her eye (especially the themed ones), but what really weirds her out and gets her to finally do something is... ]
Sen... er... Z... Zani... ah? Is... [ N-No, it can't be! ] Is that... you?
[As you go down the stairs, the architecture changes abruptly. Cement foundation becomes rough-hewn rock, glowing lichen visible upon it dimly lighting the way forward. A light can be seen from below, and when you reach it you can see a security checkpoint. The path forward has a one-way spinning glass door you can easily walk through… but to go back out there appears to be a very tight security checkpoint to come back. Manning it is Belt, bandages just peeking out from under her trademark Amalthea blue outfit.]
[Your chosen path leads you to what looks to be the entrance of a Japanese shrine temple. The steps leading up to it are immaculately clean, and there’s even a donation box over to one side. It’s all very peaceful. The door seems unlocked and inviting, and the paths back lead you to the security system and down to another area.]
[She has never really seen a temple in exactly the same style, but it's not unlike the shrines she's seen in her memories. So she approaches it, a little bit reverently.]
[The cavern opens up to a dimly lit warehouse. It’s cold in here, like everything is being kept on ice--there’s even frost on the floor. There’s countless storage crates piled high up to the roof--but there seem to be two ways further into the crates--a left and a right opening into the crates, in addition to an exit back to the caves is available on either side--one going up, the other going down. Of course, there’s also a way to the security station... but why go there?]
[ The blood along the way is freaky, but Ren's mind is on that message as she pauses to look around first. '"The spider's body..." But it should be too cold for those, so...' She concludes that it's either a message just to scare people, or... 'It's symbolic.'
Considering the way she just came, it's no wonder she lets a puff of white air out and mumbles: ] Symbolic.
[ That said, she proceeds very carefully due to the frost on the floor. She doesn't want to slip and then crash into everything! She's glad for her winter wear as she proceeds to go to the left, looking, but not touching. ]
[Iron doors shut the way forward. On them is a simple etching in blood: Treachery]
[It’s actually rather warm down here. If you don’t feel like going forward there’s only two other ways to go--up inside the caverns and back to the security station.]
[You land in a frozen, empty nothingness. Everything is dark. It’s incredibly cold. There’s light coming from the glowing stone of the dagger in your hand--yes, it’s in your hand now--but even that only gives a bit of visibility--a thin radius of light around you that reveals nothing but the frozen storm of sleet everywhere. The world itself seems to be trying to force you out--at least by the variety of terrible feelings welling up in you.]
[Paranoia. Fear. Loneliness. Self-hatred. Raw pain. It’s easy enough to tell that each has its own direction--and then there’s one more, a direction in which all the sudden sensations seem to fade a bit.]
[Unless you wore your trusty scarf, of course. Then you don’t seem that much different than usual, and the feelings are more 'suggestions' than anything.]
[The black and freezing cold lasts for only a moment as you push through it, before suddenly you’re on a… waterslide? The tube goes down, twisting and turning and rushing you along on a stream of steadily less and less cold water before you splash down into a warm pool.]
[Outside the pool is a tranquil cobblestone path through the forest. A few red Torii can be seen dotting the way down the path, and a large rock is off to the right, roped off by ropes with paper charms on them--the shadow on it seems to waver and twist in ways that it shouldn’t in the sun.]
[As for Zaniah, she’s right there in front of you, sweeping fallen leaves from the path and humming to herself. A little dark blue-haired boy grabs her leg for a second and looks up at her with a laugh. She pats him on the head, and he goes toddling off… It’s uncharacteristically serene.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
START HERE, GO... SOMEWHERE?
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Hello?
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Re: START HERE, GO... SOMEWHERE?
Hey, there.
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H-Hello, there.
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[. . . well. he's not on trial, so it shouldn't be that big of a deal, right? he frowns, glancing at the young girl, before he crouches down to pick up the nearest cat plushie]
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Re: START HERE, GO... SOMEWHERE?
Sen... er... Z... Zani... ah? Is... [ N-No, it can't be! ] Is that... you?
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...We are inside of Belt's soul?
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Where is this?
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Excuse me?
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SECURITY CHECKPOINT
[She is rubbing her throat from all the yelling.]
"There you are."
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[ hurrying forward! ]
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Are you okay?
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[He scuttles forward to see what's wrong.]
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[ Pauses. ]
Are you okay?
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Belt?! Are you injured?
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E-Eh? Er, well... [ also looking around for Legion ] I, uh... f-fear not doing what you say over anyone else, so...
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Belt!
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—Belt! Hi!
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DERE TEMPLE
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Careful steps, careful. Approaching the donation box.
He sort of wishes he had brought something to contribute.]
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SELF STORAGE
Re: SELF STORAGE
Considering the way she just came, it's no wonder she lets a puff of white air out and mumbles: ] Symbolic.
[ That said, she proceeds very carefully due to the frost on the floor. She doesn't want to slip and then crash into everything! She's glad for her winter wear as she proceeds to go to the left, looking, but not touching. ]
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FRIENDSHIP VAULT
[It’s actually rather warm down here. If you don’t feel like going forward there’s only two other ways to go--up inside the caverns and back to the security station.]
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[ YAY ... ]
Um ...
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Cocytus
[Paranoia. Fear. Loneliness. Self-hatred. Raw pain. It’s easy enough to tell that each has its own direction--and then there’s one more, a direction in which all the sudden sensations seem to fade a bit.]
[Unless you wore your trusty scarf, of course. Then you don’t seem that much different than usual, and the feelings are more 'suggestions' than anything.]
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???
[Outside the pool is a tranquil cobblestone path through the forest. A few red Torii can be seen dotting the way down the path, and a large rock is off to the right, roped off by ropes with paper charms on them--the shadow on it seems to waver and twist in ways that it shouldn’t in the sun.]
[As for Zaniah, she’s right there in front of you, sweeping fallen leaves from the path and humming to herself. A little dark blue-haired boy grabs her leg for a second and looks up at her with a laugh. She pats him on the head, and he goes toddling off… It’s uncharacteristically serene.]
Re: ???
Okay, before he addresses this Zaniah, two important things needs to be figured out.
1. CHECK SELF FOR ORGANS
2. CHECK EVERYWHERE FOR ... LEGION........ did he lose her in here. ]
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