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

[chaoscontrol]

Um... well....

[Shadow flips through to the omurice story and recipe]

... At first, just the beginning of the story showed up... then there were choices. Like a choose your own adventure book. I guess with this one I chose the right one, because the bookmark that was here burned up with blue fire. I was doing well until the sushi recipe!

[foundfate]

And that one burned up with grey fire.

[He saw that one, at least.

He's also reading through the omurice story, which is still there, exactly how Shadow answered it.]

Well this one is correct, this is what actually happened. I am guessing 'blue' means 'right', but it begs the question of why it's multiple choice anyway.

[Watanuki will reach over and flip it open to a pink bookmark with a feather on it.]

I might be able to see what magic is at work. Try doing this one.

[chaoscontrol]

Yes. It was disappointing. [and lewd.

Shadow seems a bit incredulous that Watanuki doesn't know what's up with this book and he suspects the witch is playing dumb to mess with him... but he'll play along for now]

Let's see...

[how does this story go?]

[foundfate]

It's disappointing because what really happened is that I said 'thank you' through my cooking and the two of us became friends. The truth is always better than fiction.

[There. Might be a touch of pink to his cheeks too. Because he sure read those paragraphs over Shadow's shoulder too.

But anyway, here's the story!]

She's just like me. Her name has a double-meaning for an actual date, like mine does. She sees ghosts, just like I do. She wants to be liked, just like I do.

She has trouble expressing those feelings, just like I do.

...she's all alone, just like I am.

No, just like I WAS. And it will be her past too, I'm sure of it.

[While reading that, Watanuki suddenly looks sad.]

Ah...it must be about that time with Kohane-chan.

[Here are the three options that Shadow has to choose from too:]

1: Bring her food so she can have home-cooked meals and feel that familial feeling for once.
2: Teach her how to cook, so she can express her feelings through cooking.
3: Leave her food on her doorstep, but don't interact with her unless she comes looking for me, to respect her shyness.

[chaoscontrol]

It's not like I know your life...! [WE'RE JUST NEVER GOING TO SPEAK OF IT AGAIN]

[Shadow reads the story, then hums thoughtfully at the answers. Then, he peers at Watanuki from the corner of his eye]

You're not going to give me any hints, are you.

[foundfate]

If the pattern holds true, option 1 should get you blue smoke. But option 2 is a thought I had at the time, though ultimately I did not go for it. Someone else taught her how to cook.

I have no idea what option 3 is even going on about. Kohane-chan was shy, but not that shy.

[chaoscontrol]

[oh.

Well just tell him the answer, then. ]

Yes... three didn't seem right to me at all. I was between one and two for this one, but one seemed more logical.

[he picks one, because he doesn't really want to mess with Watanuki's soul cookbook that much]

[foundfate]

[Look he wants Shadow to make an informed decision here, and he thought he might be curious enough to try an answer he knows is false. On the one hand, he's disappointed by Shadow's lack of curiosity. On the other, that respect for Watanuki's personal agency is touching and definitely wins him some friendship points.

And just like before, the options go away, and more text replaces it.]

Her mother didn't cook with her heart. She's never known what 'love through cooking' is. So, I'll show her. And then she can see that she's not really alone, that there's people who care about her and want her to thrive.

[And then there's a recipe for katsudon.]

[chaoscontrol]

[there are times when taking a risk for the sake of curiosity is warranted.

When that risk may put his and everyone else's only chance of getting out of this bonkers game in one piece in danger or at a disadvantage... Well, that's part of what set him apart from Sonic, wasn't it? He didn't always just jump in recklessly.

Only most of the time.]

It's strange... any idea where this book may have come from? Or what it means?

[foundfate]

Well, you're basically in my soul right now. I'm guessing my subconscious is trying to do something? I can't figure out what though.

[Probably because there's not enough test data to really figure out what's going on.

If Shadow is paying attention, though, he'll notice that the blue fire was the exact same color as Watanuki's left eye.]

[chaoscontrol]

Maybe it's trying to remind you of something. Important parts of your life? Or moments when you were the most human, perhaps.

[he has noticed that... but he doesn't know what the significance might be]

[foundfate]

That...could be. I haven't been feeling particularly 'human' as of late.

[Maybe ask him about his eyes you absolute egg]

[chaoscontrol]

[OK, MEAN META TEXT, I WAS GETTING THERE.]

It's important to hold on to things like that. [he tilts his head. YOU KNOW. YOU MIGHT BE ON TO SOMETHING ABOUT THE EYE AND THE FIRE AND WHATEVER MAPLE] ... The one in the third story. Is that why your eyes are two different colors?

[foundfate]

You mean the one you got wrong?

[You mean the douwata 18+ lemon don't like don't read?]

Yes, actually. The whole story is long and confusing, but I lost my eye as a result of a grudge carried out by a spider demon. I would have been blind in that eye, but Doumeki gave me half of the eyesight in his corresponding eye.

Ironically, that's probably the most 'human' part of me, since it didn't come from me in the first place.

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow just sticks out his tongue] I think I did pretty well having only known you a few weeks.

[he didn't like he didn't read]

So, now you're only half blind in one eye... [so... 3/4s blind over all??? what does that even mean watanuki] So which one is his?

[foundfate]

To be fair, they weren't that hard of questions to answer.

[Actually that's the funniest shit. Doumeki had better-than-perfect vision, so getting half of Doumeki's eye actually improved Watanuki's eyesight.]

The brown one. My eyes were blue before that.

[chaoscontrol]

You are bound and determined not to give me any credit, aren't you!

[what even is your canon. Between this and the "my clone is my dad" shit Syaoran dropped on him a week or so ago, he has only been more confused one time in his life, and that's when he was a total amnesiac.]

Hm... blue like the fire.

[foundfate]

Blue is 'my' color. My magic is blue, and things associated with me tend to be blue. It's in contrast to Syaoran, whose color is green.

...but...it's been tinted with orange lately.

[chaoscontrol]

[it's a bit odd that Watanuki and Syaoran have different soul colors despite coming from the same essence, so to speak, but Shadow is Done Questioning that shit tbh]

With orange? And what do you mean, lately? Since starting this game? Or before?

[foundfate]

I suspect it might have been a while ago, but I really noticed it during that first week here. Wisps of orange can be seen in my magic, and they definitely weren't there when I first became a witch.

[chaoscontrol]

So it's probably not Nirrti's doing... that's the wrong color, anyway. Hmmm..

[there wouldn't happen to be an orange bookmark in the book, would there?]

[foundfate]

[There actually is! It has a lilypad on it. Care to open to that page?]

[chaoscontrol]

[SURE WILL.]

[foundfate]

She has her face. She stole her face.

She stole her name, her title!

I can't leave it like this. I have to do something.

[It's...a rather short and to the point story, and Watanuki sucks in a breath when he sees the options.]

1: Fight her for the identity.
2: Talk with her and see why she did it.
3: Wish for her to be 'taken care of'.

[chaoscontrol]

[Shadow furrows his brow at the book, then turns his gaze to Watanuki behind him]

Orange is Yuuko, isn't it. The real one.