warpweft | [popdrop] H4: Vermillion and Hospitality

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[popdrop] H4: Vermillion and Hospitality

[The first thing you notice is how dark it is. It’s really, really stinkin’ dark. You can’t see anything. Even if you naturally have the ability to see in the dark, well, not anymore. Which may be the second thing you notice - any powers you have, any magic is gone. Silenced. You can’t feel it, similarly to when you’re in the theme park, with an additional sense of anxiety and loss surrounding the inability to tap into it. Even a heightened sense of emotion won’t bring them back, like it might in the theme park. If you have other powers of some kind, enhanced physical capabilities or the like, they’re either gone or significantly reduced as well. You feel extremely normal and it doesn’t feel good.]

[Whether you stay still or stumble along in the dark, at least it’s not too long. You eventually catch notice of something illuminating the darkness. You find yourself drawn to it. It's a small spherical glass object. Near the edges, it's black, but bits of purple and violet appear, gradually brightening and swirling together in a spiral shape at the center. The spiral at the center is bright enough to bathe you and the surroundings in a soft violet light. As you get closer, you can feel voices coming from the sphere. You can’t tell what they’re saying, but maybe if you were closer. You feel a deep desire in your stomach to just…reach out….]

What are you doing?

[The voice, a woman’s voice, comes from behind you. You didn’t hear anybody approaching, but you’re immediately filled with an intense sense of foreboding. You turn and look, but you can’t see anything. The darkness is once again overpowering, the violet glow from the object next to you being the only thing that isn’t swallowed up by it. All you can make out in the darkness is what may be someone’s face and…two eyes. With nothing in them. Pitch-black.]

You touched the Heart…

You touched MY Heart!?

[There’s a lot of anger and it’s not making that sense of foreboding go away. The darkness and the person(?) inside it advance towards you, slowly engulfing the violet glow around you. Just when you’re thinking you’re gonna have to decide between fight or flight, here — something moves.

Towards you.

You feel something punch into your chest and before you know it, you’re on the ground, searing pain running through your upper body. A few things briefly pass through your senses. You hear a loud scream. If you tilt your head up, you can see a long black spike…embedded in your own chest. And you can taste… …yup. That’s your own blood.

That’s about as far as you get before consciousness leaves you.]

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[It’s a dark and stormy night. Wind blows in your face. Lightning crackles in the sky, briefly lighting it up before thunder booms in the distance. Fog gathers around you. Visibility is low and the elements are getting worse, but there’s a single light in the distance. You push on towards it and you can hear a loud cackle echoing somewhere, like nails scratching a chalkboard. You’ve gotten through enough of the fog that near the light, you can see the silhouette of a castle in the distance. The storm has become truly awful at this point, leaving you no choice but to keep trekking towards the castle and, hopefully, shelter. You go a few more feet through the fog find yourself in front of a huge castle, but the gate blocks you from going further. There’s a metal knocker attached to the gate. You reach out and grab the knocker.

CLANG. CLANG. CLANG.

The noise echoes for a few seconds, and…]

[The fog and the storm all immediately part and the castle is gone. You’re standing on the street in front of a nice, upscale looking apartment building.]

”Oh, hold on one second! I’ll buzz you up!”

[That’s a voice coming from the buzzer. A couple seconds later, you do indeed her a buzz and the door opens. Entering the door leaves you in…a hallway. That seems a little off. Maybe it’s just for pacing reasons. But either way, there’s a door on your left.]

[Listen

despite living for the last month in a fairy realm, she's still not entirely used to how magic works. This feels more like a dream, and it's only the visceral memory of pain that reminds her that perhaps it isn't.]

[She squints at the door, and looks up and down the hallway. Is there anything else of note out here?]

[Nope, nothing else in the hallway besides the door.]

[Then, she guesses this is where she's supposed to be.]

[What is human etiquette in this situation? Who knows. She cautiously takes the knob and attempts to let herself in.]

[When you reach for the door, someone opens it.]

Hello! I’ve been — ooh, I guess the storm got you pretty bad. Uh, come in! I’ve got some towels!

[It’s the same voice as the one that let you. It’s a young woman, she immediately moves out of the way to let you into the apartment. It’s…a pretty nice apartment! There’s an open door leading out into the balcony (which will by the way confirm that you went from ground level to several stories up if you look out over it), a big TV hanging on the wall and an exceptionally soft looking couch, equally comfortable easy chairs positioned around it. The couch must be as comfortable as it looks, because there’s a black cat napping on it, currently catching a sunbeam from the open balcony. It regards you for a second, then goes back to lounging immediately.]

[Up on the wall, there’s a kitschy little carved wooden sign - it reads “WELCOME TO THE WITCH’S CASTLE” and it has a little painting of a witch on a broomstick on it. Three guesses who lives here.]

[You’re currently in the Living Room. You can also explore the Kitchen or the Hallway.]

[She steps inside and looks around. This scene is intimately unfamiliar to her, and it's only due to her exposure to Chocolat's cottage that she can guess what kind of function this building serves.]

[She just watches where this lady goes, cautiously following her just enough to keep an eye on her as she goes off to retrieve towels from wherever those live.]

You know who I am?

I'm afraid I haven't had the pleasure.

Oh, well.

[She comes back with a towel and hands it to Vermillion. Then, she fishes a phone out of her pocket.]

Cornelius texted me that you were coming.

I’m Nell. I’m █████’s cousin. [Her mouth is fogged over whenever she says….whatever that word was.] Uh, this is her apartment! Our apartment, I guess. I live here with her. And this… [She reaches over the couch and places a hand on the cat napping there. He lets out a ‘mrrp’ and rolls over.] Is Puck!

[She takes the towel, still somewhat suspicious (sorry she's like this) ...]

...Thanks.

[... and finally uses it to wipe some of the water off her face and hair, still keeping an eye on Nell while she talks.]

I see.

Cornelius said the reason I'm here is due to a "significant impulse." Does that mean Hex—your cousin—wants to see you?

Edited 2021-05-23 00:38 (UTC)

Oh... ...maybe.

She may also be thinking of our apartment. She...spent a lot of time and effort. And money. Getting it just the way she wanted it.

She may be thinking of some of the stuff she keeps here...some of it is pretty important to her.

Like what?

Well, like...

[...she's suddenly fidgeting and appears hesitant to answer.]

[she cocks her head, waiting expectantly]

“Mmn…well...don’t get me wrong. I’d like to help you and I’d like to help—“ [She pauses for a bit, she was about to say something else, but instead says:] “Hex too. But…she can be a very private person about some things. I just don’t know if I should share too much or it’d be violating her privacy…”

[Puck jumps up on the back of the couch and lets out a little ‘mrow’. He walks towards Nell, who gives him a couple scratches. This seems to give her an idea.]

“Oh, well, what if…” [She looks at you.] “Um. This might be asking too much. But um. Would you be willing to maybe. Share something of yours first? Um. I’m a witch, too, so I know a little bit of magic and Puck is pretty good for a cat, too!” [She picks up Puck. He lets out another ‘mrow’.] “We can take an important memory of yours and share it with Hex…I think that’d probably make her trust you to walk around in here a little bit more, right? If you put a bit of yourself out…you can get something back!”

[She considers this for a moment, rolling it around in her head.]

...Sure, why not.

What do I have to do?

Oh, well!

[She picks up Puck and holds him out. He stares at you.]

Just hold on to Puck with me and think deeply about what you want to share! We can handle the rest!

[She does as told.]

[Today's the day. You've fought your whole life for this moment, and so few make it this far. But you did it. You made it. Today's your day.

You're standing in a line of your peers in a long, dim hallway. All of you are in exceptional condition — healthy, strong, passed every mental and physical test they gave you, exceeded every standard. You all look the same, with hardly any variation between you.

This is what quality looks like, you tell yourself.

You can barely contain your excitement as the girl ahead of you gets processed, and a moment later, it's your turn.

A bored, sour-faced woman taps your serial number into the holoscreen as you recite it to her, and she loads a new bean-shaped implant into the tip of the gun in her hand. You lean forward, dropping your chin to your collar, and she roughly pinches up the skin on your nape and presses the tip of the gun against it.

There's a sound of a spring as she squeezes the trigger and the pain explodes through your neck, all the way from your teeth to your chest. Your breath locks for a moment, the feeling of the pain is nothing compared to the overwhelming sense of pride you feel.

The woman waves a scanner over the back of your neck and you hear the machine peep as it correctly detects your microchip and accesses the file with all your credentials, your history, your quality. Everything is working as intended.

You made it. Today you have obtained proof of your value and become an adult. Today's the day you take your first step into the world.]

[Nell murmurs an incantation. Puck brings up a paw and lightly waps it on your forehead. A moment later, both of them are covered in a soft violet glow. You can feel something in your mind, but it's...gentle. Nell doesn't want to hurt you or cause stress while she's getting the memory, so she takes a very deliberate pace as she touches your memory, eventually dredging it up. The process is gradual, but when it's done...]

[She looks slightly confused.]

Oh, was that...something akin to a graduation for you?

[Off in the hallway, you can hear a door open.]

Something like that. Only so many are allowed to make it to adulthood, so they only take those who truly earn it.

[She reaches up to touch the back of her neck.]

This is the proof of my value to the Empire, such as it is. I'm not worth much more than this microchip, but this is still an achievement earned by fewer than half of those I started out with.

Anyway.

[She flaps her hand, fanning all that away like a bad smell]

That was one of my fondest memories. I hope it will suffice...?

....oh....I see.

[She looks down. She looks like she has something more she wants to say about that, but. She keeps it to herself.]

Um. Yes! I think I heard the door open over there, hopefully you can explore the other rooms in the apartment now!

Excellent. Thank you.

I'll poke around and see what I find.

[First stop, the kitchen!]

[There's not much of note, initially. There's a pretty damn expensive looking coffee machine and a bunch of fixings for various kinds of coffee, but that's pretty consistent for Hex at this point. There's also a lot of take-out menus organized by what they serve. There's enough food in here to indicate that Hex knows how to cook but a lot of the time she simply chooses not to.]

[In the fridge, however, there's a section that says 'Witch Stuff. Don't Eat.' And there's, uh. A bunch of witch stuff. Weird looking potions. What looks like a very tiny head of some kind floating in a jar. A bowl of gelatin that's darker than the blackest night.'

There's also a bottle of some kinda drink that looks pretty good. Maybe it'd be fine if you just....]

[You acquired Witch's Brew.]

[Vermillion acquires Witch's Brew!]

[What does it smell like? Can she smell around the edges of the... cork? lid?]

[It's a twist-off lid. It smells fizzy, kind of fruity aaaaand definitely alcoholic.]

[Oh hm. That's good to know.]

[She puts the lid back on, nice and tight so nothing spills, and takes it with her.]

[Time to poke around. Anything else of particular interest in the kitchen?]

THE WITCH'S CASTLE

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