[ENTER THE PALACE]

[warpweft]

[You find yourself with a sensation like floating in water.]

[Above, the sky is dark. You can occasionally see things shifting, like gusts of wind, or perhaps waves of water. Is it…even a sky above you? Or is it some kind of giant ocean? Whatever it is, you can’t make it out very well. All around you, you appear to be floating in what appears to be water. It looks like a great, wide ocean of…space in every direction around you, with stars and lights twinkling in the distance. It looks like water and feels like water, but it doesn’t make you wet. You can reach your hand into it and pull some out, the purple and violet water and the tiny points of light inside it will even rest in your hands if you cup them to carry it, but once you’re not trying to hold it anymore, it’ll flow off of you, not a single drop remaining behind. You feel something similar if you go underneath the surface. The “water” doesn’t touch your eyes, mouth or nose when give the chance, it merely drifts around you, allowing you to breathe and see unabated. And you can see for a great distance, the twinkling stars illuminating the ocean of space all around you. Though perhaps less dark and empty, it feels every bit as vast as the sky above. You feel like you could swim forever and never reach the edge.]

[It’s quiet, here, with little noise around you but the starry ocean’s waves crashing back into its surface. It’s peaceful. In another situation, it might even be comfortable.]

Comments

LANTERN COVE

[voidhearts]

[Traveling through the forest, you eventually find another stream of water-like space in the ground. As you follow it, the forest grows misty until you can’t see any of your surroundings except the gradually widening stream at your feet. The stream starts to widen out and eventually, the mist begins to part and you’re somewhere else. You take one step on dirt and brush and your next is on rock. There are trees nearby, so you’re still in the forest, but you’re no longer on the ground, now standing on a rocky platform…floating above a large lake of the starry water. There are other rocky platforms within stepping distance heading in the direction of a waterfall. There’s nowhere to go but along the floating rocks or backwards, back into the forest.]

[As you climb the rocks, they bob up and down slightly, just enough to keep you guessing and make you worry you might tumble into the water below. The further you go, daylight rapidly fades away and before you know it, night has fallen. But you don’t lose your way just yet - the further up you get, bright orange lights carried in lanterns float by you and start to fill the air, lighting your path along the rocks and to the waterfall.]

[Once you reach the waterfall, you notice something. There’s more light coming from behind it. It looks like there’s an entire cave back there. Maybe if you’re careful, you can slip around the waterfall without being soaked.]

[Roll a 1d6, 4 or higher doesn’t get soaked.]

[messianic]

[ honestly, if not for the danger and the blood still on Minato's clothes and the knowledge that Nessa is suffering so much... this would be a really nice gay little walk with his boyfriend! It's really quite mystical and amazing...

Minato keeps his hand tightly in Akira's, carefully but relatively fearlessly climbing the rocks, not a shred of fear of heights in him.

So once they get to the waterfall? He's pretty ready to see what's lurking back there, meeting Akira's eyes and nodding. IN THEY GO.

(With a 5, Minato is Not Wet.) ]

[survivaltricks]

[Akira was thinking the same thing. . . their surroundings are legitimately beautiful; it's just impossible to truly appreciate them when there is so much on the line]

[with his fingers similarly linked with Minato's, Akira carefully picks his way across the rocks, gaze affixed on the glowing light behind the waterfall as they pass right through same]

[Akira rolls a 5!]

[voidhearts]

[You avoid the space waterfall before remembering that the space water doesn’t get you wet anyway, so why did you put so much effort sneaking around it—

SPLOOSH!

A bucket of water tips over and dumps its contents on the ground inches to your right. Okay, so maybe it was a good thing you went around.]

—

[Inside the cave, there’s more magical lanterns illuminating everything in a soft orange light. The cave isn’t particularly large but is surprisingly well furnished. There’s a table (the simple folding kind you use to play cards or something) sitting in one corner, there’s a trunk with a padlock on it in another, there’s a corkboard hanging from a wall with papers attached to it. There’s two bean bag chairs, one purple and one blue. Somebody went to the trouble of making this cave their little hideaway and if they rolled as poorly as you, probably got wet doing so.]

[Somebody on the younger side, apparently, because there’s also a lot of junk food, games, comics and other stuff young people typically enjoy strewn about. It definitely seems like this cave was jury-rigged into a clubhouse for at least a couple kids, but there’s also notes on the corkboard and the table that at a glance at least imply they weren’t here just goofing off.]

[There’s a purple sphere sitting on the table, out in the open. Another memory.]

[messianic]

[ .............. wow. Minato just huffs out a faint breath at that, quirking an eyebrow at Akira. But they are both luckily safe and dry, so onwards into the cave!

... ... ... huh. He's really curious about the notes on the corkboard, and, of course, that memory. Well. ]

Wanna look around first or go straight for the memory orb?

[survivaltricks]

[meanwhile, Akira's attention is immediately drawn towards the trunk with a padlock. THIEF. . .]

I feel like we need to get to the memory orb pretty quickly, but--

[hmmm]

Maybe a small look around wouldn't hurt?

[messianic]

[ thief... (affectionate)


Anyway, Minato just nods at that, finally letting go of Akira's hand so that they can go poke at different things. He sees the direction of that gaze! ]

Okay--let's see what we can find first.

[ he's gonna go snoop on the notes on the corkboard. ]

[voidhearts]

["I found some of mother's notes in the attic
Something about a possible teleportation spell.
I think with some practice I could attach it to something.....
Maybe a painting or a mirror?
How do I convince Agnis to get a painting big enough for us to put up in the house....."]

[You acquired Teleportation Notes!
Use the Notes on a painting in the Courtyard to establish a shortcut directly to Lantern Cove.]

[survivaltricks]

[MEANWHILE!!]

[Akira is fiddling with the padlock on the trunk, trying to see if he can jimmy it open with a lock pick wire]

[messianic]

[ oh interesting.......... he'll tuck those away for later, and while Akira is being a THIEF, he moves over to the table to see what they were working on. ]

/2

[voidhearts]

[On the table, there's some black cloth, string a ruler, scissors....it's not immediately clear what they were making, here.]

[Meanwhile, as Akira fiddles with the padlock....]

GOTCHA, PRICK!

[A net springs up from the ground and snags him, hoisting him up into the air?!]

[gravitonn]

[Someone leaps out from behind a rock. A diminutive young man, wearing a large red jacket and an eyepatch over one of his eyes. He has a hand pointed at Akira with black and violet energy crackling over it.]

Hope you’ve been wanting to see what the mantle looks like, ‘cause here’s a gravity well, you bitch — oh.

[His expression becomes less excited as he stares at Akira. He looks at Minato. Then he looks back at Akira.]

….you are not who I was expecting to grab that.

[….he hasn’t lowered his hand yet.]

[survivaltricks]

[the MOMENT the net springs up, Akira lets out an undignified, strangled yelp. he finds himself bundled into a tangled mess of limbs as he's lifted unceremoniously into the air, and without the purchase to right himself, he just has to suffer in this uncomfortable position until he's freed. sucks to be a thief!!]

[he also stares at this new guy with a slack expression, before speaking]






Well, this is embarrassing.

[HE'S A PROFESSIONAL?]

[messianic]

[ oh my god. Minato jumps when all of that happens, equally startled--and then he slowly rubs the back of his neck with his hand. ]

Um... we don't mean any harm. Do you mind letting him down...?

[gravitonn]

You think it's embarassing? I just wasted a perfectly good net.

[He flicks a wrist. Something shifts somewhere and the net unravels and drops, freeing Akira but also, y'know, dumping him on the ground.]

Sorry, I guess. Thought you were Esmau.

What're you guys doing here?

[Hey. Does he...look familiar?]

[survivaltricks]

OOF--

[. . . and onto the ground he goes, landing in the same heap into which he was gathered in the net. this sucks]

[but truthfully, his ego is far more bruised than his body, and it only takes him a second to stand up and dust himself off with a huff]

We're here trying to help Nessa.

[. . .]

Wait-- do I know you?

[gravitonn]

Do I look like someone who might owe you money, 'cause if so, no, we've never met.

[messianic]

[ ...?

Minato is mostly focused on heading over to Akira's side to make sure he's okay, but otherwise, yeah. He's glancing between them curiously.

??? ]

... Are you related to Nessa-san?

[gravitonn]

Caesar Houghton.

Older brother. You guys are her friends, right? Pleased to meet you, I'm sure.

[survivaltricks]

[. . . hm. . . he knows he recognizes that face. . . but of course the construct in this Palace can't recognize him in return, right? so he just shakes it off]

Yeah; we're her friends. We just came from Agnis's place.

[a nod in greeting]

It's nice to meet you, too.

[messianic]

[ Minato is still just kind of looking between them quizzically, but he can ask Akira later. ]

That's right. Nice to meet you too. I'm Minato, and this is Akira. We're... trying to do what we can to help her.

[gravitonn]

Well, that's serendipitous. 'Cause I've got an idea on how to help her.

I think I know how we can find the Voidheart, but I'm gonna need your help.

[It's starting to feel like Lyra and Lilith aren't in this forest. But, either way. Your phones beep.

You're being offered a quest. Accept?
> Yes
> No]

[survivaltricks]

[blinks, then pulls out his phone to go ??? at the screen]

. . .

You know, I’m starting to feel bad for picking up all these quests without finishing any of them, but I guess that's life.

What do you have?

[sure, he will say yes!!]

[messianic]

[ minato feels that. their quest log...

anyway he is also hitting y, of course. ]

[gravitonn]

Yeah, Nessa loves that RPG bullshit, sorry. If we were in the inner sanctum of my mindscape, there would be a lot more kicking. And a motorcycle level.

[Just gonna go ahead and slander RPGs to the two RPG protags....]

[Quest: The Brother
The story of a brother, a teacher, a mistake and a promise.]

Alright. Finding the Voidheart is obviously the most pressing thing, but it's also true that at some point, we're gonna need to fight Esmau and as you guys are right now, obviously, you wouldn't even be able to touch her. I'm betting she's already smacked you both around a couple times by now. We're going to needs as much power as we can get, so we're going to build a spell from scratch.

Some of Nessa's memories have Spark Fragments within them. I believe if we collect all the Spark Fragments, we'll have a spell that will reveal the location of the Voidheart AND be able to fight back against Esmau. I already found the first memory and was using it as bait for Esmau, but that was probably never gonna work anyway. I dunno why I thought a net would stop her when she's got that giant fucking spear thing of hers, but to be honest, I'm getting kinda desperate here.







So anyway, go ahead and touch the memo -- oh. Wait.

[He walks over to the table and taps his foot on something. A net falls from the ceiling and drops on the table. He picks it up and throws it off of the table.]

Okay. Go ahead and pick it up.

[Step 1: Collect Memory
Collect the memory and the Spark Fragment inside it.
Shadow Nessa: Ohhhhh….using Spark Fragments to try and gravitate yourself to the Voidheart….clever, clever, Caesar….hurry up and do what he says. I want to see how this goes. ]