GRAVEYARD 2.0

[retellers]

GRAVEYARD Well, that sucked. But no matter what your death was like—whether it was something peaceful or traumatic, you'll find yourself waking in a completely white room on the floor. Small and empty, there isn't anything else there besides an open door to walk through. But before you do that, you'll probably notice that whatever injuries you may have had, including whatever may have been the death blow, are now gone. That's exciting. Stepping out of the room, it seems that you're in a large... house? with three different floors. Everything from floor, ceiling to furniture is completely white, except for the drawings that are plastered to the walls in each room. These are all colorful, drawn in colored pencils and crayon, and resemble a child's drawing. The other notable thing are the windows. While they're present all around the building, looking out of them only shows TV static. Besides that, everything is furnished with the absolute bare minimum of each room. The first floor is all typical common areas one would find in a house. There's a kitchen, living room area, laundry room, dining room, and a main hallway where the stairs are. There are also helpful drawings in these rooms that show the rooms much more lavishly decorated than they actually are. There's a door that appears to be the way to exit the building, it's locked. The second floor consists of nothing but twenty bedrooms. Each room has one queen sized bed, an empty dresser, and an attached bathroom with only a sink, toilet, and shower. Like the first floor, each bedroom has drawn pictures that show it looking much more lavish than it actually does. Thanks for nothing, artist! The third floor only has two rooms. One appears to be a home office with nothing but a desk and two chairs, one behind it and one in front of it. While there's blank pieces of paper and crayons on the desk, the note that was previously there is gone. The other room is much larger, and it's completely empty save for the many drawings lining its walls— in fact, the walls are covered in them, much more than in any other room. On closer inspection, though, it seems like these aren't actually drawings? The papers seem to be showing scenes from the living area. Everything from inside the hotel to the areas beyond the bridge are visible here. However, when curfew hits on Thursday nights, they revert to being normal drawings! Except for the fact that they're all drawings of stick figures being murdered in various ways. Well. At least there's plenty of things to draw with, if you get bored. Also, a handy link to the previous post.

NAVIGATION locations ₓ˚. statuses *+:｡ ic profiles :ₓo ic rules ･ﾟﾟ･｡ audience requests murder proposals ｡✧o private conversations ･ﾟo｡ curfew ･ﾟ✧ memories

Comments

[laid]

[Raven really would like to get off this wild ride, tbh. What is happening. Who are these people, what are these outfits? But hm. He remembers, he thinks, Hikaru telling him she went and became knights with two friends. Is this just... Are Claude and Karol standing in for them in her memories? Because surely thats what this all is. What does that make him? Why is it Karol? Hikaru doesn't even know him. He never even told her about him. Just Goat, and even then not by name. Anyway. He's just gotta live through this memory, maybe? Do what needs to be done. SOMETHINGS up, so he runs up ahead, sword at the ready.]

What's the matter?
[Right now specifically. Less than in general bc thats a lot.]

[heartablaze]

[Hikaru seems to hear it as well, slowing down.]

Eh? Mokona?

[There's an unintelligible voice, a rain of icy blades, and out in front of them, right outside the exit of their forest, Karol falls into a bloodied heap, cut to ribbons.

Hikaru screams, but she's already running for him.]

Umi! Umi, no!! Umi!

[Beyond the reach of the forest, perched up on an outcropping of stone, sits someone that Raven is far too familiar with, Alexei lowering his hand and gazing out at them without a word.]

[laid]

[UH? Raven's immediately running to Karol's side. He knows it isn't Karol. He knows this isn't-can't be real. He's falling to his knees at the boy's side.]

Hey, hey, kid, s- it's gonna be-
[Trying to reach for Karol's hands, even though his are quivering likes leaves in a storm. This isn't something that can ever happen. If he lets something like this happen... What was the point of any of it. Hadn't he given his life to protect Karol before? He can't let this happen now.

The form of Alexei hovers in his periphery, in the back of his gaze and mind, the feeling of it heavy. He made his choice. He's never going back to that. He can't. But he's not strong enough to face him on his own.]

[heartablaze]

[He's just chilling.

Foolish Magic Knights.

Karol's in bad shape. Claude's on the other side of him, trying to stop the bleeding, saying they need a healer or something or this kid's not gonna make it. Alexei chuckles, and Hikaru's head whips around to glare at him ferociously. She'll meet Claude's eyes, long enough to tell him to take care of Karol (Umi?) before stomping to her feet with an almost electrical aura about her.]

How DARE you hurt Umi!!

[Alexei regards her, like a speck on the grass.

If it isn't the miniature magician.

Do you know who I am, little girl?]

[laid]

[Honestly this is kind of how Alexei talks so it isn't that jarring. Raven really wants to try healing Karol but... restrains himself This isn't real!! He needs to save this for when he really needs it.

He needs to stand up. He can't let Hikaru face Him alone. He's sure it's not really Alexei, just as "Karol" is apparently "Umi"... But.

When he looks up, he hates seeing that face again. He wasn't ready, not right now. Not without Yuri and Estelle, without Karol, Judith, Flynn, and Rita. He can't do this without them. But he has to try. Because he's not alone. He has Hikaru to worry about. He knows it's wrong, but;]

Alexei.

[heartablaze]

[Alexei meets Raven's eyes with a bit of a scoff, before gesturing vaguely, a see, there you go sort of response.

"I see one of you still remembers."

He straightens to his full height.

"To find them in the depths of the Forest of Silence, and to lead them to my ambush. Useful to the bone."

Raven will feel the stir of something, not quite his artes, but something similar enough, a warmth fueled by will that pricks at his fingertips.

"Zagato has called for no survivors. Remove these children, or this world will suffer for their actions. Two left should be hardly a task."]

No.

[There's a sudden rise in the temperature as the wind blows out from Hikaru's feet in a wave, the ground starting to spark into flames.]

You hurt Umi... and you're talking to Oji-san like he's a thing??

Raven is a person, and he's precious to me! Umi and Fuu, they're my sisters! We're going home, together! All of us!

[Now might be a good time to ready an attack, Raven, since it looks like Hikaru's ready to do the same.]

[laid]

[He.... lead them here? This... what's happened is because of him? Just like Estelle before, he betrayed them again. Karol got hurt because of him. The Don died because of him, if he'd never gone to Dahngrest, if he'd never met everyone... He hurt Karol again, like before;

Raven, why? Why?

He walks forward, one hand on his sword, the other rising to pull the tie from his hair.

And since you survived, Schwann, I will use you again. Return to me like the tool that you are.

He stands between Alexei and Hikaru. And he turns to face her, sword at the ready.]

Understood. I'll ask you to stand down, Hikaru.
[The accent's dropped. Hm!]

[heartablaze]

...W-What?

[Her fire sputters out.

The entire world flickers with a rumble. Claude yells at him, asks him what the hell he's doing, still trying to desperately keep Karol in one piece.

Hikaru looks at him, heartbroken, confused.]

Oji-san... you can't believe him! You helped us that whole time, you've done nothing but help us!!

You're not a tool! Why are you letting him call you something that you aren't, Oji-san?!

[Alexei doesn't seem to react.

Kill her.]

[laid]

[Schwann's expression doesn't falter. That's what he's good at. He just stares at Hikaru for a long moment, before he pulls the trigger on his sword, shifting it into a bow. He has no arrows, but he doesn't need them when he has artes. And he can tell he has them now, somehow. He can feel it in the thrum of his blastia in his chest. He knocks an arrow of pure magic in his bow, still silently pointed at Hikaru.

And then he tilts up, straight to the sky, and releases.]

Azure Heavens!

[The kick of the aer cycling through his blastia, into his bow, and out as the arte is used, is almost comforting. Such a familiar feeling he hasn't felt in weeks now.


The arrows don't rain down on Hikaru. They fall on Alexei.]

[heartablaze]

[The arte rains down on Alexei, and a full out fight begins. Alexei, furious, lashes out with magic he had not possessed in their previous life, ice materializing in a sphere of knives around Schwann before launching forward to pin him and Hikaru both to the ground. Hikaru dodges, her uniform being torn up as she tucks and rolls and makes some rather impressive jumps, before the fury of her anger kicks in. Her arm draws to the sky with a flash, then back behind her with flames that rapidly star to billow around her.]

Honoo no Ya!!

[She launches her arm forward, like a slingshot, and hundreds of flaming arrows materialize. Alexei quickly throws up a shield, but several of her attacks break right through, burning at his flesh.

They fight. But even with the two of them, Alexei seems to have the upper hand. Schwann is nearly tossed into the trees as Hikaru is slammed down against a Cliffside.

It's then that Schwann will see that Karol has regained his footing. That he's weary from bloodless, but there's visible distress at watching Hikaru and Raven, at not being able to do anything. Claude tries to keep him down, but Karol pushes to his feet, grabbing at Mokona.

"I need magic, you dumb eggrabbit! I need magic to help them, please!! Please!!!"

From Mokona's jewel shoots a blue beam of light straight through Karol's forehead. That's normal.]

[laid]

[This is all very intense! Even though he's done this before, technically it was Raven who opposed and fought Alexei. Never Schwann. Schwann is dead, really, but none of this is real so it's fine.

But then he is distracted by the sound of Karol's voice, turning around to tell him to stay down, but then when the egg rabbit thing shoots a blue beam of light at Karol he has to take a moment to just stand there, dumbfounded???]

[heartablaze]

[Hikaru's knocked head over heels by Alexei, just as Mokona bounces off to Claude's arms, Karol's eyes clouding for a moment as he lifts his own hand to the sky.

A raging surge of water materializes in the shape of a dragon and rushes at Alexei as his back is turned towards Hikaru, ripping at his armor and knocking him prone. Karol flickers for a moment to the image of a girl with long blue hair, torn up in the same way from the same attack, before he crumples immediately. Claude rushes forward to catch him, bickering at Mokona before motioning for Schwann to move. Go, go, he'll take care of Karol, now's your chance!!!]

[laid]

[Right, right, weird but good! Schwann nods at Claude to keep Karol safe, or whoever to keep Umi safe, and he rushes in to take his chance. Shifting his bow back to a blade, he runs over to the downed man.

It's bad form, he knows, to hit a man while he's down. Alexei doesn't deserve such an ignoble end, didn't deserve the one he got, either. But none of this is real, anyway, so it's fine.

He drops to a knee over Alexei, taking a moment to look him in the eyes, because he knows he's never going to get to again.]

I'm sorry. I wish things could have been different.
[And then he plunges his blade into the man's chest, right into his heart.

He doesn't notice the dying man raising his sword with the last of his strength until it's already cutting into his side.

Schwann will hiss and pull away as soon as he realizes, but wow that is a not insignificant amount of blood! He starts to get to his feet, but immediately collapses back down, clutching at his side.]

[heartablaze]

Oji-san!!!!

Oji-san, Oji-san!!! [Her blade is vanishing into thin air as soon as Hikaru loses the will to fight, stumbling over to Schwann.]

O-Oji-san, you... you and Umi, you saved my life... you...

[She's crying bitterly, battered and exhausted with fear in her eyes. Karol has grown unresponsive in Claude's arms, and Claude is now calmly asking for his turn, being shot in the forehead with a green light just as Karol did before.

Hikaru presses her forehead against his, gripping at his hand tight, like maybe she could save him if she held on hard enough.]

Please... I promised, I promised we'd do this together, please don't go... please don't go away again--

[laid]

[He groans, which is arguably good since it means he's not dead yet. Or double dead? Honestly who the fuck knows. right now!]

Hey, hey, there's no need fer that.
[Ah, he's back.]

Just gimme a minute ta catch my breath and I'll be fine.
[Sir your flesh wound???]

[heartablaze]

[SIR YOUR FLESH WOUND

She doesn't budge, and doesn't seem to notice that Claude has swept up Karol in his arms, bringing them over before casting a spell of his own that he hadn't had before, the wind coming to his own outstretched hand. Raven will feel his wounds stitch shut, and Karol will sit up in a daze.

Hikaru lets out a gleeful yell as she jumps on top of both of them.]

Y-you're okay.... you're okay, you're both okay...!!! Does it hurt anymore??

[Karol shakes his head with an awkward laugh.]

[laid]

[Blinking!? He was putting on a brave face before, actually, obviously. But now... he actually is fine. And so is Karol???]

No, I feel fine, actually?
[He's as surprised as you are!!!]

Looks like Karol's fine too. Thank goodness.
[Or whoever it is. Whatever. He's tying his hair back again, in any case.]

[heartablaze]

[They're all fine. They've had a battle, together as one team, and they've come out the other end together.

Together.

"Just thinking of our friendship, I know we can do anything!"

...

Time warps. The longer they're together, the more the images of both Karol and Claude start to fade. There's a girl with a sharp tongue and a temper to match, long blue hair and a piercing gaze. There's a girl with a polite demeanor, clever mind and compassionate heart, blonde hair in a bob with an owlish stare behind her glasses. They fight together, and they gather their power together.

They shed blood together.

Raven will see in his mind's eye, the three girls, donning their Mashin - piloting enormous robots made from will alone, storming their castle, fighting and killing their villain to rescue the princess beyond. The princess erupts into a fit of anguished rage, calling for her beloved. She attacks her Magic Knights. She loathes her Magic Knights. And her heart, what little of it that has not been consumed by anger, begs for her Magic Knights to kill her, and send her to her beloved Zagato.

Raven blinks, and they're back in the observatory. The crowd is still mumbling, asking what in the world that bright light was. The three girls have collapsed into a pile in the center of the floor, clutching each other, weeping. Their classmates stare, they ask what in the world happened. For the girls, and for Raven, it has been months. For the world they'd been snatched from, no time has passed at all.

He stands next to the binoculars, which tick the same timer he'd left before running towards Karol. And he looks out the window, and the landscape of the city flickers, to a darkened sky, to a land crumbling apart. No one seems to notice.]

[laid]

[Just when he thought they were getting to wrap things up. Now the binocular hell vista is just what's actually outside. Bad!!!]

Uh, girls...?
[GESTURING TO OUTSIDE.... Sorry to interrupt the feeling sharing time but.... stuff is still happening.]

[heartablaze]

[Hikaru looks up with anguished, puffy eyes, looking out the window.

Her arms fold tightly to herself as recognition blossoms with a painful twist.

Time warps, but they both stay put. The seasons pass. It's been an entire year. They're back in the observatory, Hikaru still on her seat on the floor in tears, but alone. The land outside has only gotten worse.

It's only when Hikaru calms down enough that she finally speaks up, her voice weak.]

They don't know right now, Oji-san. None of us... none of us knew, that that's what was gonna happen. We tried so hard to go back, to help fix what hole we had to leave, but... we couldn't, for a really long time.

[laid]

[He remembers, what now feels like ages ago, Hikaru asking him what you should do if you do something you can't take back. That you can't fix.]

... Hey, it's ok. You didn't know, right?
[That's what she said. No one knew the truth of the situation with Emeraude.]

[heartablaze]

[She shakes her head.]

I didn't know with Shuuya, either.

Not knowing isn't enough an excuse, Oji-san. You... have to decide, what it is you did wrong, and what you wanna change.

[laid]

[Sighs because she's not WRONG.]

Well I dunno about you, but right now the only thing I wanna change is you kids and everyone else bein' dead.
[And instead we're stuck in memory hell.]

[heartablaze]

[For a moment, the scene flickers - to the three girls standing behind them, to a mirror image of Hikaru clenching her fists so tightly that they bleed.

"I want to go back. I don't want to leave them like this, with nothing ever changing... I want to go back and really help the people she loved...!!

The Hikaru still curled up on the floor wipes at her eyes.]

Why, Oji-san?

[laid]

[He already knew, but man. Hikaru has really been through far too much for someone her age. She's Karol and Rita's age, and they'd been through a lot too, but at least they'd had adults like Yuri and arguably him around to rely on. Hikaru and her friends had been forced to make decisions that would be difficult for adults.]

... Why what?