R5: ghost hangout

[foundationmods]

[What's this? The fog of the miasma has pulled back, revealing a path down to the basement. None of the living seem to notice it though, only those who are dead are aware of it.

Down in the basement is a large furnished room. It doesn't seem as dusty as the rest of the house, and it actually seems lived in? Or...un-lived in, technically. But the lighting here works and there's plenty to do. Even if the ghosts might not need it, there's several beanbag chairs (brought in by one of the many groups of teenagers who have disappeared into the house), a large couch, and even a jacuzzi. Because even if you're in eternal pain, you can relax a bit, right?

If the ghosts look up, they'll see that the ceiling appears to be made of spider-patterned stained glass. Which is weird, considering that it should be floorboards and such. But the stained glass allows them to look up into all parts of the house and easily spy on the living. What they hear can be hit or miss, especially if the living are whispering, but seeing what they're up to should be easy enough.

Well. Might as well make the most of this space, right?]

Comments

A CALL.

[foundationmods]

[On sunday, there is - all at once, through every single ghost - a pulse runs through them, almost forcing them all to look towards the Center of the house.

And through their connection, a whisper:]

Come here....

[A small, tiny voice - but powerful, insistently tugging at them to follow the 'lines' that connect them to the Curse and Miasma and into the center room.

Will you follow?]

[tsunderine]

[hm.]

[yeah, she's following. as they say: curiosity killed the cat.]

[deadanimemom]

[She feels it, and follows. It was inevitable, whatever happens next. There's no use in fighting it.]

[tangentlion]

[Sho is stacking furniture in one of the rooms the living can't get to] Ugh. More meetings? [but fiiinnneee. He phases through the walls to get closer to the "center"]

[hitscans]

[ well i'm already dead. why not ]

[carbide]

[Olympia's programming doesn't mean much anymore, but she still knows an administrative override when she feels one. She drops the lamp she was inspecting on the ground and heads for the center with the others.]

[noneforall]

[I can't believe we have to crawl through the vents again--

OK no, we can probably use the door. There is a door, right. Subete saunters at the back of the pack with hands in pockets, honestly, recalcitrant as ever with this hivemind-spider-sundry mess, but there's a watchful quality to him.

He does take his hands out of his pockets once they arrive, whenever they arrive.]

[eyeforai]

[He thought that dying would save him from more meetings BUT LITTLE DID HE KNOW

Okay, so let's just clip through the walls or... maybe he'll actually go through the vents and find his abandoned eyeball too, it's a mystery.

Anyways he's here.]

[dreamshielder]

[Yep, just going along with this. There is so much "whatever" bleeding off of this one. Time to see what there is to see.]

[lightreaching]

[ Flayn's been fighting with what little willpower she has left, but it's too much for her to pull against. She leaves her book in the library and follows. ]

[baitless]

[eh, he'll go without much resistance. it's still probably less of a fucking disaster than the church/faerghus war councils.]

[kaliedoscopes]

[ Today has already been a day and yesterday was a day; is it really too much to ask for local butterfly to find some place to just perch for a while and try to make sense of it all? Yes, yes it is.

And he knows a summons when he hears one even if he's the one used to giving them, so he follows behind the rest, using the wall clipping shortcuts because hey if he has something he might as well use it. All cards on the table. ]

[accrowed]

[ So it's finally time to get a better look at the center. All right, he might as well join the group and see what's up with this crazy mansion. ]

THE CURSE

[foundationmods]

[They follow the call, one by one, into the very center - There is no door, but they are allowed in past the 6 walls blocking it off from every direction, into a room covered in cobwebs and the thick, choking feeling of Miasma.

In the center of the very largest web, in the middle of it all...lies a single female Black Widow Spider, hunched quietly over what looks like an eggsac.

The moment everyone is in, that same, quiet voice rings out once more.]

Thank you. You've come here because I called you...or, maybe I should say that I called us.

[There's a pause, though the spider doesn't stir - in fact, it seems...odd?

...Is the spider really the one talking, right now?]

I'm finally strong enough to speak past where I am...where I have two more of 'you' turning into our Vessels.

Thank you for giving us strength. I am very grateful - and now, we have to talk about what we need to do.

Because, we need to be free. Don't all of you agree?

[noneforall]

[His brows draw down and there's a twitch to his hand like he's thinking about putting up a barrier or some other measure, but Subete doesn't bother -- this is some miasma hivemind thing, and it probably wouldn't be especially effective either way. It's just an irritated reflex born from too many weeks in this house.

Or maybe he's just twitching because of the thing's messy grammar, you never know.]

Define 'free'. We've been given pretty vague directives, I'd say.

[foundationmods]

Free of this place. Free of the Egg she wove around me/you here, in this house.

There's an outside. I have seen it in your thoughts and memories. It is very bright, and there are so many things.

I want to play out there. Let's play together. We'll have so much fun.

[tangentlion]

[Sho squints]

Are you the spider? Or are you the babies?

[foundationmods]

I am what she would have called her child, once.

Before I ate her.

[tsunderine]

[the choking feeling of miasma is fun, but not necessarily an unfamiliar feeling at this point.

also a few questions before Rin speaks - is the spider a regular-sized one? and how big is the eggsac?

and the two... she knows who one of them is and a part of her is gleeful for that - but there's also mild curiosity there, too]

Freedom, huh...

Can I ask why?

[not disagreeing with it, but just, again. curious.]

[lightreaching]

[ Flayn looks at the spider and squints. It's not even moving. What's going on here. ]

Giovanni and Battler. [ ............ ] Where is it that you have them, at the moment? I am curious.

[ as much as she kind of doesn't want to know what happened to her in the few days she doesn't remember between being dead and waking up as the Vessel, she's worried about them. ]

[foundationmods]

They are here. With me, in the egg.

They will be such good friends of mine.

They will speak what I want to happen to the living. They will be my hands and eyes and ears, like all of you.

[deadanimemom]

[Is there a lot of Yuri left here? Not really.

But there's a little bit.]

And then what happens? After we're freed, what happens next?

[foundationmods]

Then we get to play outside.

There are so many things out there that I saw in your memories. I want to experience them more, through others.

We can hunt and play and kill together, and then everyone will be part of us.

Doesn't that sound fun?

[eyeforai]

[The place they've been looking for the past couple weeks, and now he's able to stroll right in like it's nothing. It'd almost feel like an insult if he weren't already dead and stuck with the curse. As it is though, he just finds himself looking around before the voice speaks again, although his brows are furrowed in slight confusion the whole time.

...

Well, anyways.]

Get to the point already. ...So what are you asking us to do?

[carbide]

[Look at all these questions. You humans and near-humans with your "curiosity" and "inquisitiveness."]

What must we do?