revenance_rpg | What's this, what's this?

"Horror cliches are some of the most ridiculous in fiction." And frankly, Sora didn't like horror stories anyway largely because the protagonists of those stories made Pete look smart. "Unless we were suddenly stripped of all powers and weapons, I'm pretty sure we'd be fine if we did get split up. But staying together is probably better anyway."

Empty places tended to be creepy on principle. Especially since they weren't always as empty as they seemed to be. Sora wasn't so sure what could be here besides possible Nightmare encounters but the Nightmares were reason enough to be on guard.

"I would be inclined to agree with you," Celestia said, casually pacing up the stairs without evincing any trouble at the human staircase, "but then, a few weeks ago, I also would have been certain that no power could simply kidnap me into a world of dreams, at seemingly no effort. There is a power here that has exceeded us all, after all."

"Nothing's been too challenging so far," York admitted. He was perfectly fine with that not changing at all, too. Empty dilapidated houses were fine, as long as they were sans creepy surprises. He pushed the door open to the next room.

This is a stark white room, very lightly furnished: a long white table in the middle of the room, a wardrobe against the far wall, and curtains in the window. The table is littered with papers, crayons, and a single book. What brings the spark of personality to this room is the makeshift decor. The walls are covered in brightly colored crayon drawings depicting, for the most part, people. Those familiar with the mansion might recognize some of the drawings: a blond boy and a redhead man eating ice cream at the top of a clock tower; three friends sitting on an oddly shaped palm tree; a boy, a duck, and a dog all ready for adventure. There are, however, a slew of new pictures as well: three figures in brightly colored armor; a boy in a bright green hoodie; two alicorns, one blue and one white. Look closely - you may find yourself or other familiar faces among them.

Sora recognized all the pictures that had been there last time he'd seen the mansion. The new images weren't entirely surprising and it made sense that the world's dream made them match Namine's drawings. They did remind him that they never had figured out what was up with the photos, however.

"Huh... It's mostly how I remember it," he mused, looking around, "But some of the pictures are new." Other than that, he really didn't see anything different. The familiar pictures were even in the same place. They made him just a little bit uncomfortable, though. Reminders of the friends he was missing and how he was pretty well stuck.

A brief flash of the memories from Roxas prompts him to check out the table. He's not sure why, but he thinks there was something Roxas had taken with him upon leaving this room in the fake town. Maybe there was something of interest there now?

"Only some?" Celestia said, glancing from Sora to the wall. "Perhaps the person who drew them might have some answers?"

"Yeah, who's the artist?" Probably Namine, he thought, the moment after he asked. That would make sense. This room felt creepy in a way entirely different from the rest of the place. It was cold and sterile. And somehow this one being untouched while everything else was so messy was weird and offputting.

"I don't think she'd have any more answers than we do," Sora replied, "Namine drew the ones that were already here in the waking world."

Offhand, Sora was guessing that the room had been fixed up and touched up when the decision had been made to hide out there while they were fixing his memory. That meant the world was dreaming of some point between then and what he knew as the present. Or... it could even have been dreaming of a time after that...

For the moment, Sora was looking over the drawings lying on the table. Was there some clue there?

"So you don't believe she drew these other ones? Then their appearance here is most likely a reflection of the fact that we are in dreams, not the waking world," she mused.

Which meant they were either key, or unimportant. She too joined the search, looking for patterns and meaning in both the drawings on the table and the walls.

York looked through the drawings. It was...weird to see themselves in crayon pictures all over the room. Though it worked if, in the waking world, Namine was drawing pictures of her friends. He headed over to the table. "I guess this is where the crayons came from downstairs. Maybe the dream eaters have been moving them around."

He set down the crayons he was carrying so he could pick up and take a better look at the book; it didn't look like anything he really recognized from home, but maybe it would have a clue about this place.

The crayons glowed with a golden light and a chime sounded from somewhere within the mansion.

Items glowing and sounds elsewhere usually meant something interesting or important or both was going on. It was kind of interesting that it was the crayons that were doing it.

"Okay then. I wonder if that noise came from the library..." He wasn't sure what else they could do besides checking out the library. They didn't seem to be finding any clues here...

"Curious... what could the connection be? There's no logical cause and effect," Celestia said, lifting her head up to try to place the sound. "It might also be from downstairs, but I think the change will be obvious when we see it."

"All I did was put the crayons down." York frowned. In a game, a chime and glowing meant you did something right, so apparently putting the crayons down had made something happen. He opened up the book and leafed through it. "I don't know this language...if there are any clues in here about we need to do, I wish it were more helpful."

"You... put an out of place item back where it should have been." Sora wasn't computer savvy, but he was familiar with video games and sometimes they had puzzles of this sort. Come to think of it, there had been dinner dishes in the foyer and now York had found a book. "Hmm... maybe putting other misplaced things back where they should be will do something too?"

It was a guess, but it seemed like it might be worth trying.

Celestia struggled with this idea for a moment before putting her sense of logic aside. No matter that cause and effect had no connection; she had seen it work, so denying that it did was foolish.

"Well spoken. Let us observe the other room up here first, then?"

"So what's in this room that shouldn't be here?" York asked. He was ready to be out of the creepy white room and on their way, but if this were going by videogame logic, he didn't want to backtrack. If this were a puzzle, they might just be getting another clue at the end, like the one they'd gotten after the post office battle.

"Probably that book. There is a library here." Now they were running video game logic in addition to dream logic. It was almost amusing. Still, it was a kind of puzzle Sora could actually work with. It was a little bit like that book puzzle in the library in Radiant Garden, where returning books to their proper shelves have caused bookshelves to move. So, if it was misplaced items... "Say, weren't there some broken dishes in the foyer?"

It was possible that there was another item elsewhere that belonged in the foyer. He couldn't even begin to guess what so it would have to wait until they actually saw it if there even was anything.

Celestia nodded. "By that logic, if we can't read the book, then it isn't meant to be read, merely returned. It also suggests that the objects we are seeking are not hidden, at least for the moment. Do we wish to return the items directly and then check for changes, or check for progress after hearing each noise?"

She favored the latter, but recognized that it would take more time, and that the patience given to a centuries-old alicorn was not necessarily given to humans in the same measure.

"We can listen for the chime and see if we can find where it's coming from, next time," York suggested. "That might lead us to where whatever it is is supposed to happen." If they put the book back where it belonged, it would at least give them a hint, he hoped. "And if there are dishes in the foyer, and a book here, there's probably something in the library that belongs in the foyer, right?"

Edited 2013-04-11 19:38 (UTC)

"Checking every time we return something might be a good idea or it might be a waste of time," Sora said thoughtfully, "If it is working like a video game, then it's possible that even if there is some progress there might not be anything useful yet. So... as far as I'm concerned, we can do it either way." Indeed, some games would let solving different parts of a puzzle show the opening of various gates or barriers without actually giving any access to anything. That part in particular reminded him of those emblem pieces in Hollow Bastion, making for a lock that the Keyblade actually can't open. Perhaps this was similar. The memories he had from Roxas pointed to a puzzle needing to be solved to allow access to the computer room. This was no different.

As to York's question, it was more or less what he's been thinking. "Most likely. Assuming the rooms hidden under the library aren't also... part of the puzzle."

"Then we should proceed to the library next," Celestia said, tucking her wings back in better fit through the door as she led the way. She was still quite suspicious of how unassailed they had been thus far, and had not relaxed her guard despite outward appearances.

York scooped up the book and headed after Celestia. It looked like they'd be able to make it through this without tangling with any annoying dream eaters. There'd been enough outside, anyway. "What's the point of a puzzle like this anyway? I know it's all dream logic here, but it's still weird."

"You know... I don't really know." That was mostly true. Sora really didn't know why the puzzle was there. He knew that Roxas had had to solve a small puzzle to find the computer room and the halls and pod room beyond that, but that had been in a digital copy of the world and the clue he'd found in the white room had probably been left there by Namine. But here in dreams, they had a different puzzle and no such help in working it out. Not to mention the mixing of dream logic and video game logic.

Further discussion would have to wait as their luck with Nightmare encounters ran out. On the mezzanine, about halfway around to the library, they ran into their first battle since entering the mansion. If Sora had known of York's thoughts on their luck, he might have scolded him for jinxing them. Admittedly, he'd appreciated the lack of combat himself. It wasn't a large party, but being mostly Toximanders made up for the lack of numbers a little bit. What with the specialties in poison and confusion and all...

"Watch out!" Celestia reared onto her hind legs, flaring her wings instinctively to form a barrier between the Toximanders and her comrades. She meant no offense to their capability by it; her first response to danger was to protect.

Her second response was to gather magic around her horn, then shape it into a brilliant ray of sunlight that slashed towards one of the Toximanders.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject