Dreamland (round 3)

[foundationmods]

[A strange house of some sort sits in the pitch black nothingness that exists around it. For those just now wandering in, they will be drawn to the building, finding it lit up in a way that it should not be. It's as if the whole area- house, yard, fence, and giant sakura tree- all give off their own light, and the newly-arrived are drawn to it like a moth to the flame.

Inside the boundary of the yard, the familiar faces of those who have passed on already will greet them. Depending on who is asked, they might give an accurate explanation. But even if they don't, one thing is clear: you don't want to leave this place. The area outside feels Dangerous, and it is probably best to stay put.

Fortunately, the house is built in an old style, and there are many rooms to explore. One room on the second floor seems locked, but the rest are open to explore as desired. The standard rooms are easy to find: kitchen, a W.C. and a bathroom, a sitting room of some sort, and a couple bedrooms (with plenty of futons for the dead to use). There are also several tatami mat rooms with nothing in them currently, but it seems like there might be some use for those rooms.

Around the house, perches for birds can be found. No birds are on them currently, though.

Sometimes Watanuki can be found in the house, but most of the time the dead will be left to their own devices. The question is, what will they do here?]

Comments

Week 3

[foundationmods]

???

[foundfate]

[Before now, the only people ever seen in this area have been Erika, Karen, Makoto, Shadow, and Watanuki. However, starting on Monday, a fuzzy snake-like creature can be seen crawling around the house.

Should anyone try to talk to it, it will get excited. Then it will slide off into the house, stopping every so often to look behind and make sure someone is following it.

it seems the fuzzy fox-snake wants to show everyone something.]

Wednesday, after the puzzle event

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow tracks down Watanuki as soon as they are both asleep. He's loud enough that Erika and Karen are welcome to hear him, though]

What in the HELL was all that?! What even... what happened?!

Oh look it's a thing

[foundfate]

[In the kitchen, there is a book on the counter. Said book has several bookmarks sticking out of the top of it. It appears to be a cookbook of some sort, but there are no words on the cover, and this book definitely wasn't there before.

What do?]

POST-TRIAL

[foundfate]

[Not long after the trial, Watanuki comes back to the shop, and he's dragging two familiar people along with him.

Ryuji he just drops nicely into the courtyard by his feet, but Akira is getting thrown across it, so that he ends up over near the Sakura tree. Or possibly he ran into it, who knows.]

Say hi to your new friends.

[Someone's salty.]

SUNDAY

[foundfate]

[While Watanuki is not around for most of the day, Mugetsu can be found crawling around. Any time he comes across someone, he's going to try and get their attention. Maybe he's sniffed something out again!]

Week 4

[foundationmods]

Re: Week 4

[kiddatheart]

--What the heck?!

Monday

[chaoscontrol]

[Welp.

Shadow went to the mansion and there was... no speech from Nirrti, and no rebuttals from Watanuki. Neither of them seemed to be anywhere to be found. Shadow couldn't care less about Nirrti, but had something happened to Watanuki?

He heads back to his room and enters a meditative state. Back at the shop, he starts looking around]

[oceanicbutterfly]

[Karen spends the first few days of this week sulking.]

Wednesday after puzzle and book

[chaoscontrol]

[Lots of meetings, lots of new information... and more evidence that Watanuki still isn't shooting straight with them.

But why would he. If the "witch" part of him was dominant, then they were all just tools to him, weren't they? And you don't explain to a hammer why you're bashing it against a piece of wood.

But something about Ann's discoveries when she had "stolen Watanuki's heart", whatever the hell that meant, had resonated with him in regards to something Watanuki had said. Maybe it wasn't right and wrong.

.... and he needed to get his mind off of Gerald, besides.

Shadow snatches the cookbook and his notes and heads outside to sit beneath the cherry tree, where he flips to the first remaining bookmark]

Wednesday

[foundationmods]

[The sakura tree in the front yard will suddenly drop about a third of its flowers, leaving some bare spots and a shitload of petals everywhere.

Hm.]

THURSDAY

[foundationmods]

[It's time for some

motha

fukken

~*~P U Z Z L E S~*~

Everyone will know something is up, because one of the doors on the first floor is cracked, not unlike broken glass. It can be opened, but it's weird to look at.]

POST-TRIAL

[foundfate]

[YEAH SO.

After all of that trial nonsense, Watanuki is just going to drop Natsuno and Syaoran in the no-longer-flooded courtyard.]

Keep them busy, I need to go take care of something.

[And with that, he's gone.]

Sunday

[excavated]

[ For most of the day, Syaoran can be found in his pure white yukata sitting up high by the sakura tree; it's a place where he finds solace because of the name of the tree reminding him of people that are so important to him.

He feels a little guilty about what happened to it, but...

He's more worried about Kimihiro. Of course he isn't exactly going to approach anyone in particular - he needs space - but he won't say no to others wanting to talk to him, if they'd like to. ]

Week 5

[foundationmods]

[The tree seems to be healing, and the air seems to be lifting a bit? Though throughout the week, Watanuki will look tired and also appear less frequently.]

Monday

[excavated]

[ In spite of not necessarily needing to eat, force of habit dictates that Tsubasa be in the kitchen - plus, it's a good distraction from seeing things through the eyes of Caim, because he knows exactly who he's emulating there and it is giving him war flashbacks in a way he didn't think he'd have-- especially now that he has literally all of Syaoran's memories now, too, so that's fun. ]

So that's the kind of person he is...

[ He is honestly talking more to himself than anyone else, here. ]

MONDAY

[foundationmods]

[For several weeks, the shop has existed in a black void, a perpetual night with little sense of time passing. But Monday afternoon, suddenly everything shifts, and in the blink of an eye the shop is in the middle of a downtown area. Tall buildings frame it on all sides, and from the front gate you can see the bustle of a busy downtown area.

What will you do?]

WEDNESDAY - Book Club

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow will gather the dead in the sitting room late on Wednesday night. Sorry if you were sleeping. No, he’s not. Deal.

(At least there’s some tea and coffee set out? The coffee is stiff enough that a spoon will stick straight up in it)]

Right. I’ll try and make this quick. So. As usual, another “demon” made an appearance and a new coin was found. To the surprise of absolutely no one, the human Nirrti was burned at the stake for the crime of being different. The villagers crumbled her remains and fertilized their fields with her ashes. As it turns out, her soul lingered there as an earthbound spirit for years, becoming more and more angry. Finally, she saw the man she had loved, and he had taken that girl from before as his new wife. She said something about how no one except the flowers cried for her before her despair finally drove her mad. She discovered the gift she had for healing in life could still be used in death, and for more nefarious purposes — she cursed the villagers and the land with her misfortune, and embraced the delusion of the Witch.

trial watching on saturday

[excavated]

[ FOR YOUR TRIAL SHENANIGANS, DEAD PEOPLE tbh Tsubasa looks a little worried since he heard that Kimihiro got hurt yet again but he is paying attention to what's going on here, especially given that his demon - Caim - was involved, but he doesn't seem to be notoriously angry or anything about that in particular ]

post-execution

[foundfate]

[There is a gap of like 30 seconds during which Watanuki shows up just long enough to toss three souls into the shop's yard.

Anon is getting thrown hard enough to bounce off of the back fence, by the way.]

Stay put, this isn't going to be pretty.

[And he's gone again.]

Week 6

[foundationmods]

[literalidiotball]

[Well, to be perfectly honest, Wheatley got used to seeing two things at once. It's like having a live stream of your other self going on in a HUD in the corner.

That's not what Wheatley takes issue with.]

A GOAT?! She turned me into a GOAT?!?

WEEK 7

[foundationmods]

MONDAY - ENDGAME PREPARATION

[foundfate]

[The last week is here, which means it's time to tie up all loose threads. And that means letting everyone in on his grand plan to save them all.

And there is one really, REALLY big loose end that needs to be tied up.

A loose end that is currently in the yard, prodding at the closed gate.]

Come on, open up already! They gave me plenty of energy, I should be fine to wake up now! Why are you being so stubborn?

Apocalypsemi (now with extra Fragment Seasoning & sake)

[anonnomnomnom]

[The cherry tree is now in full bloom thanks to some judicious work on seals and pictures and whatnot, and there's probably a zillion petals flying around all over the place. In the koi pond beneath it, their counterparts on the side of the living -- not the literal ones, since those have apparently dissolved into the ether now -- are still scrambling and flailing their way through the Sea, and then the Labrynth.

Anon is sitting near the very top of the tree, apparently unfazed by the distance from what they're actually supposed to be watching -- he's in another appropriate outfit for the occasion (see: right) because he's just apparently adopted this style for now, his hair in a long braid and sprinkled here and there with stray petals because you can't escape those, really.]

Ahaha, I really thought some of them would fall into the Sea! I really, really want to go swimming in it right now.

[Honestly, he just really, really wishes he was there instead of here. It looks exciting, okay?? He likes apocalypses, in their own way, because of course he does. There's some sake with him since the branch is wide enough, and probably sake at the base of the tree, too.]

But I guess we're looking at Nirrti's diary? She and Watanuki really do like to do things the long way around...

[youkaiwatch]

[ And Emi's in the left variation one branch down. (I'm not sure how she got up there in this kimono and I am not going to dwell on it.)

She's still a little annoyed that she's stuck here having to rely on everyone on the other side, and is a little bitter about the fact that she would have actually been pretty useful there this past week, contrary to some people's evaluations of her.

But she can't do much about that, and she's at least got some good company in this tree, so she'll just watch. ]

They do seem to make things needlessly complicated.

[ She holds a cup up to the branch above. Hook her up with some of that sake, buddy. ]

The final trial

[foundfate]

[Watanuki has dragged all of the gigai out of storage, and he has them piled up by the gate. The gate is still closed, but the seal is gone from it. ]

Alright everyone, it's almost time. You can't challenge the Witch, but you can help the living. Point out details they miss, clues they need to craft a blue truth to defeat her. But most importantly, show them they do not fight alone.

Think you're all up for it?

[cryosurgeon]

[They're not alone. Not the ones on that side, nor the ones on this side. They're connected, even when parted.

For the first time in ages, there's no sadness in Erhard's eyes, only determination.]

Yes. Let's end this nightmare, for all of us.