soulping | Canis's heart

Canis's heart

The moment you step through the mirror door, you seem to - slip, as if the floor were made of wax, but when you fall there is no floor to catch you; only darkness.

You fall for some time. Eventually, it feels as if you're not falling at all - but rather, floating . . . and some time after that, it almost feels as if you have no body at all. The light from which the entrance of Canis's heart is disappears quickly, and you're left with nothing - not even your own screams, if you have any; nothing seems to leave your throat, and there's no sound at all, besides. Even the rushing of wind is gone, and your own pulse seems to fade away. . .

. . . what penetrates your consciousness next is the soft sound of music. Someway or another, you find yourself on a white platform; you're dressed in plain clothes of your team color, all items gone from your person. In front of you, four stones float; all perfectly square and identical to each other. Each have images - a sword, a staff, a bow and arrow, and a sparkling circle . . . you understand what you must do.

CHOOSE YOUR CLASS
WARRIOR - MAGICIAN - ARCHER - ACOLYTE

CHOOSE YOUR CLASS | IRC: #swordheartonline! | PORT BAGHENNEN | LOCATION SELECT: 1 2 | AREA O█E: S█RE█G█H | AREA █WO: DU██ | AR█A THR██: █MOT█O██ | AR█A THR██: █MOT█O██: 1 2 | ██E█ ██U█: B███████: 1 2 | ?????: ███████ | TRUE HEART

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[ while Mira investigates the bedroom, Sparrow will... check out the kitchen! ]

In the kitchen is a certain person humming to himself as he cheerily cooks food! . . . . in the nude, wearing nothing but a pink apron. You get a really nice view of his ass here, huh.

[ OH MY GOD I DIDN'T NEED TO SEE THAT ]

Um!

He doesn't seem to notice you~ he's just happily doing his thing.

[ BACKING UP SO FAST BEFORE SHE SEES ATLASWANG

once she's out of the kitchen she just. hides her face in her hands fpr a second. ]

I am so, so sorry.

[ RUBS FACE and then tries to get a better look at the pillow pile ]

Lupus and Lepus snuggle each other happily, and Cepheus hangs a little ways from them - awkward, but smiling. If you looks hard enough, Mira's in the back, with his arms hanging over them all and his head between Cepheus and the other two . . .and of course, the wings are connected to him. They're still quite transparent.

[ ...this is really cute and makes her feel really happy. ]

Love? You're here, right?

There's no response.

[ :|a time to snoop around

nothing terribly intrusive, but curious investigation, more or less. ]

It seems pretty normal. . . . everything seems to be. . . cold? At least that's the impression you get. There's only one bedroom door that can be opened; the others are locked.

[ investigating the locked doors and knocking on them ]

Hello? Is anyone in?

No answer! . . . the doors are flat, other than the doorknob, and it feels somewhat like they're not even actual doors but just. . . . walls with knobs. You have a feeling they'll never open, ever.

[ hmm :|a where else is there to look... ]

Just the one door that can be opened. . .

[ then I'm going in there! whoooo ]

It looks like. . . . ? It looks really familiar, but not the sort of familiar you'd find in Canis. The shelves are lined with booze, there's india ink on top of the drawer, and there's a motorcycle inside of the room. In place of a bed, there's an occupied soul pod. . .

[ ...??? why is Bella in Canis' heart...

slowly investigating the room for any notes or anything more unusual than before. ]

Nothing's unusual, except for the fact that you can't pick up anything at all and it all feels just as the door felt - completely flat, completely immovable. Just a game construct that cannot be interacted with.

[ what about the soul pod? ]

You can look into it - and sure enough, there's Bella there - but you can't really. . . . do anything with it.

However, upon touching it, you do happen upon a memory: Canis's first day back, particularly Mira's threads, firstly of him returning and then of them fighting. What you get from the entire memory is pain, fear, and a sharp hostility and a grief that chokes you, grips your heart and makes you feel stone-cold. Failure. Rejection. You realize, although you know you're not wrong, the room you stand in is full of strangers. You don't know a single person here. Lepus and Lupus—they've changed, you don't know them at all anymore. . . and they don't need a protector anymore. They don't need you anymore.

Before you can take in the memory, another memory passes. You're looking over "Bella's" soul pod—you think it's Bella anyway; she's the only woman you don't recognize. Your hands ball into fists, tight enough to draw blood, and you bite your lip. Sorry, you think, you must want to get out of there. Sorry for waking up. They'd like you a lot better anyway. You've got a place there.

You're sore, bitter, and hateful—and it's unfair, but you're hateful toward this person, this "Bella". How could she sleep? How could she abandon them? How could she do the same as you did, and yet she's missed and you don't have a place? Maybe it's better if you would go back to sleep, then she could wake up and it would be better for everyone. She'd be welcomed back, to a place of familiar people, to a place of family. And you—you'd go back to the place you belong. The comatose graveyard is where you belong, where your family is, where you're welcomed.

You're sore, bitter, hateful—to Bella, but to yourself, too. What are you doing out here. . . ? It would be much better to sleep. It would solve so many problems to sleep, wouldn't it?

You retire between two soul pods, wrapping your Barghest cape around yourself; you're between Sirius's and Aquila's soul pods, where you belong, and you will yourself into a deeper sleep than possible.

[ she bites her lip and lets out a very soft sob as she starts to cry.

it was even worse than she had thought it would be for him, to wake up surrounded by people but not the ones he remembers and loves so much, and be choked by grief and guilt and longing for familiarity so intense it hurts.

how stupid was she, to have never really noticed? ]

I'm sorry, Canis.

[ for not being able to help him more.

she wipes the tears off her face and moves to leave the room in search of Mira and Devotion. ]

They're here.

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Canis's heart

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