WEEK 1

[strangerpeople]

WEEK 1

[Well, this is...happening. This is a thing. This is your life now. The Commander is expecting you to just up and kill one another, and then try to get away with it. No big deal, right? You guys can handle this. You won't fall for what she has. She's clearly an idiot. A loud idiot, but still an idiot. She's not going to get one over you.

...Right?

In any case, the Commander's quarters are now open for anyone who decides they can actually stand to be in the same room as her, but beware - any favor you might ask of her is going to come at a price, and who knows what she'll ask you to do if you decide to gain a boon from her. Unless you're a suck-up like Baku - then she'll apparently be flattered. Maybe that's a good tactic to use?


Whatever you do, try not to murder the bread again. The Bread Did Nothing Wrong.


There are fifteen strangers in this place.]



MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY | FRIDAY | SATURDAY

Comments

[illusionarymelody]

So that's why you asked me if this was my first time. Did you also gain some power you didn't have before?

[beguiledcard]

[ A nod. ]

I did. Last time, I was The Nagging [ har har ] and my power was to draw people and things into a vortex.

[ His brow tenses. ]

There was exactly fifteen of us last time, too...

[illusionarymelody]

[Se snickers at that title.]

Were any of the powers similar or the same as the ones we have?

[beguiledcard]

[ honestly, that's part of why he prefers the title this time around, even if he hates literally everything else about this situation. ]

Britt could create a powerful sword made of energy... Joey could animate a single object, Karma could gather energy to execute a devastating uppercut, Loewe could summon a sharpened pillar of ice, Ren could summon an invincible aura around himself, Torri-... could summon floating orbs of water, Yuuri could move faster than the naked eye can track for 5 seconds, Helena could summon a bolt of lightning, and... ...Kurama could shoot combustible bullets made of dark magic.

[ He's frowning hard as he thinks now. ]

There was a guy who could throw things with his mind, and another guy who could summon fire...

[ But this only accounts for thirteen people/people's powers. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

[Nagisa has mostly been quiet so far, brooding on something that's taken away the cheer he's maintained. Now, he shoots up from where he'd been sitting, because that sure is something potentially relevant.]

Karma... You mean Akabane Karma? [He has to make sure.]

[beguiledcard]

[ Akira initially doesn't look at Nagisa, instead letting his gaze rest on the floor. ]

... He wasn't a bad artist, you know. The picture he drew of you and Korosensei--

[ Now he's giving Nagisa a smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes. ]

Karma was my best friend in the mall. We-... were partners, during the last fight. I'm-

[ ... sorry I couldn't protect him. ]

... positive a guy that stubborn and strong will find a way to get back home.

[theserpentsmiles]

[Wa...sn't...? Wasn't a bad artist???]

He isn't a bad anything except maybe angel, he'd be a terrible angel...so that's how you knew about Korosensei.

[Nagisa is wincing as he says it. It's been difficult, being in a room with everyone, and he doesn't know why. His head is spinning. And, watching Akira now, it's only getting worse, like flashing lights when you've already got a headache. There's something else going on here.... Something Nagisa isn't getting. Would be nice to know where he wasn't getting it from.]

...Yeah. He's unstoppable.

[beguiledcard]

[ His mouth opens just slightly, and then closes... He's belatedly realizing he used past tense. ]

Yeah, we talked a lot about him and about... you.

[ It's hard to swallow, suddenly. ]

Karma is the reason I got through the hardest time I can remember experiencing. Without him- [ a smile that isn't quite 100% stable ] -I'm not sure how I would have done.

[ A pause... is what he originally intends for; it winds up leading to him going silent. ]

[theserpentsmiles]

...Karma-kun talked about me? [That....doesn't feel right? Why would he do that? Unless he was just bemoaning the lack of a Nagisa to mess with, that doesn't seem too out of character... It's been a long time since they've actually been friends.]

I wouldn't usually think of him as someone to give comfort...

[beguiledcard]

Really?

[ Clearly he's surprised. ]

You... were someone he missed most of all, actually. And... [ a wry chuckle ] He kind of... went out of his way to protect me and keep me from doing anything reckless or stupid.

[ Another pause, and then he speaks in a firmly serious tone. ]

He did more than just give comfort. He's the one who reminded me that I had a lot left to fight for.

[theserpentsmiles]

Why would he miss me? [Karma's the one who'd gotten bored, after all... Why else would he have started pulling away like that?] We were close friends, once, but...

[The rest of that...that makes sense, when he thinks about it.] Sounds like he was emulating Korosensei a bit.

[beguiledcard]

[ He has to think about it for a moment... Considering what he's hearing, and then considering how Nagisa seems to be telling the truth... ]

Maybe... it's a case of you being from a different point in time from the Karma I met. I can't say too much on it, since I don't have either of your memories-

[ At that, his words come to an abrupt pause. The next part is said with some hesitance, and only after carefully thinking it over. He only has his own experiences to go off of, and this is the sort of thing that had directly affect him and a few others, during the second week, as far as he can remember. ]

Or, maybe that's part of what they messed with, for you: any memories that might have that kind of behavior for him... making sense.

[ For all he knows, it could have been Karma was from before whatever happened... happened, with Nagisa. But, here's the thing: Akira will force himself to sound like an optimist right now, if it means even a fraction of a chance at giving Nagisa hope to get through here. ]

All I know, is you're someone the Karma I know... really, really cares about. You and Korosensei, both. And you two are people he was eager to fight to get out of that place for.

[theserpentsmiles]

He's the one who-... [Got bored of Nagisa.]

...So our memories have been tampered with? I thought that would be over with... [There's not a lot of point in abiding by the government's policy of strict secrecy anymore, not when the whole story's blown and the threat of the planet blowing up is gone. And yet...here they are. Anyway, there's no fighting for Korosensei anymore.]

[beguiledcard]

Who... what?

[ He'll at least try once to get Nagisa to finish that sentence... ]

And why were your memories being tampered with before?

[theserpentsmiles]

[....He seriously considers not answering. It's not something he's brought up to anyone before, not ever, and it.....still hurts. He's used to it, but... Something about Akira is easy to talk to, and maybe Nagisa is just a bit tired.] ....who got bored of me.

They weren't - but we were under threat of it. It's...probably fine to talk about now, since the cat's out of the bag. [Unless that's why Nagisa is here, in this base. That's a very sobering thought he'll come back to later.]

[illusionarymelody]

[Wait a second, one of those names sounds familiar. She's heard enough complaining about that person's death from McBurn to last her a lifetime. Combined with some of Akira's reactions to her speaking of her world, she's now wondering if they are the same person.

She'll have to be careful probing about this since she's not quite as open to revealing her true line of work and he's not the sort of person she should know in her public face.]

You seem to be missing a couple. Also, how long since that has it been for you? A few years, perhaps?

[beguiledcard]

[ NVM his mun can't count, and it's supposed to be twelve accounted for, and not thirteen, but we can pretend it was right!!

There's a tensing of his brow, and his gaze shifts away from her. ]

Apparently, my memory of three of them was taken away, completely. On top of not remembering their names, I can't even remember a single detail of each of their profiles...

[ It's a decent pause before he finally adds: ]

I never officially left the mall before waking up here.

[illusionarymelody]

Ah, then it must be a coincidence that one of those names sounded familiar. After all, there must be many out there with the same name who are still alive.

[beguiledcard]

... Alive, huh?

[ His smile doesn't reach his eyes at all. ]

It's complicated... but... [ holding a blink, releasing a tense breath ] Which name?

[illusionarymelody]

Only if you promise not to pry about how we know each other. That's... complicated.

[beguiledcard]

[ A nod. ]

Deal.

[illusionarymelody]

The name Loewe is familiar to me, though I shorten his actual name to something else, but many prefer to call him that. But he's been dead for three years.

[beguiledcard]

That place... [ jawline tightening a bit ] It had the ability to pull people from any point in time, from many different worlds and universes. And... being dead didn't hold the same meaning there, as it does for most other places. None of us were meant to leave there alive, anyway.

[ He holds a blink for a moment... ]

Enforcer of... Ouroboros?

[illusionarymelody]

[For a second after Akira mentions that title Vita's eyes narrow and she definitely doesn't look pleased. But she quickly recovers and smiles.]

Oh, I wouldn't know about something like that. Silver hair, violet eyes, completely grim and dour and seemed incapable of any emotions?

[beguiledcard]

[ His eyebrows lift just a tiny bit. ]

Seemed... [ a nod ] Yeah, that's the guy. He was called The Winds.