I̝̻̣̱͖͚͗̈̆̕T̤̞̠͎̘̜̤ͬͭ̋ͬ͂̃̇́ ̣̱̳̗̋̾̑ͥͥ̀B̮̺͇̝̼̺ͯ͌̾͗̿͋Ē̝̞̼̣̻͙̙̒ͭG͓̜̅͐̽̐͞Ï̜̳̥ͯN̯͙̮ͧ̀Sͫ͐̂͏͖

[strangerpeople]

I͔T̫͉̄ͮͮͪͧ ̲̜̪̥̓̈́͂̚̚B̫̲̼͕̦͓͕ͩ̏̊͆E̥̱͚̦͓̍G̠̬͓̟̥ͪͣ͆ͬ̓I̅ͯͣ̿N͐̉̎̂ͫͧS͑͆̒ͣ̆


[There is a blight in the vineyard.

It started without warning, deep into the crop. No one noticed. The blight was an insidious little thing, cultivating itself in the weaker vines over the long winter. Then, when summer came, it struck, and there was no stopping it.

The farmers could only watch the blight ravage their gardens. Grapes shriveled up by the bunch, day by day. Sometimes, it would be hours between the time a perfectly healthy vine caught it, and the time when the fruit was little more than black ash and slag. The problem was so serious that it threatened the very future of the business. It was all the farmers could do to try and isolate the sections of the vineyard still healthy, and the parts that were as good as dead.

Then, one day, it happened. The business recieved a phone call.

The blight was no longer just in their vineyard. It had spread to neighboring farms, and everyone was demanding answers. Yours could not have been where it started. It just couldn't have been.

Where did this pestilence come from? Could it be stopped?

You do not know, and you fear what the answer may be.



-



Good morning, Strangers.

Wake up. Look around. Do you feel like this might be familiar? Not your surroundings, but the circumstances. Do you feel the fear in your stomach? Do you sense the wrongness that permeates the air?

You should. Because your gut is right. You are exactly in what you think you are. Right now, there is no other explanation. There is only the sureness of experience informing you that you have been plunged into a game, once more without your consent. A game where blood will be spilled, and death will happen.

The only other thing you are sure of are the thoughts that pop up when you think of your circumstances. No matter what you do, you cannot shake the finality, the truth of what you are thinking. You cannot deny your own beliefs, after all, when they are so embedded, so imprinted on you, that they are as a part of you as anything else, like your face, or fingers, or hair.

And so perhaps you remind yourself, as you ready yourself to leave the house, of the truths you know to be real.



So steel yourselves, Strangers. You know what to expect; there will be others like you, trapped here. Maybe it will, this time, be for forever.

So welcome, one and all. Welcome to the City at the very End, in the eye, the center. A City that gave in long before the code distorted and collapsed and unleashed a virus on reality. Make yourselves comfortable.

You are not going


an̛͡y͠҉w̸h̢ȩ͢r̸͝e̸.]

Comments

[illusionarymelody]

What in the goddess' name are you doing here, Link?

[champion_link]

I am here to help you be comfortable, Vita. We only want you to be happy.

[illusionarymelody]

I'd be far happier if I was allowed to continue to the honeymoon Jonathan and I have planned.

[champion_link]

The two of you will be very happy here.

[illusionarymelody]

I'd disagree. Liberl is quite a nice kingdom at this time of the year and I was looking forward to relaxing at some hot springs.

[champion_link]

You will be happy and relaxed here. Give it time and I am sure you will agree.

[illusionarymelody]

I doubt I will. I'm sure you'll come to your senses long before that happens.

[Because seriously, how is a witch to be happy without her powers?]

[champion_link]

Nonsense. There is nothing to 'come to my senses', as you call it, about. I am happy here. We are happy here.

[illusionarymelody]

[And that she knows is a load of crap. It is really giving her the impression that he's had his head messed with just like they are because she definitely recognizes these commands for what they are even if she has no way to break the control right now.]

Did you get home and save your world at least then? I just can't see a hero like yourself being willing to abandon that.

[champion_link]

[He stares at her for a few seconds.]

Everyone will be safe and happy.

[illusionarymelody]

This isn't my idea of happy.

[incendiarize]

....wait, his name is....Link?

[Link. Golden hair. Pointy ears. ....oh no.]

[illusionarymelody]

Yes, he was among the captives on the airplane Jonathan and I just recently escaped. The other's name is Hiyori. But this isn't at all like how Link would act.

[incendiarize]

....um. He looks kind of like someone who...

[He turns his head to make eye contact with Osomatsu and Ambrosine.]

Didn't Zelda say Link died?

[relieable]

[he's kind of been in a haze because, well, things. he's been listening to everything, at least]

You think this is the same Link?

[well. he has ears like Zelda's? maybe?]

[incendiarize]

Could be. They've got the same ears! And if he died, couldn't that explain why he's not acting like the blue lady says he should?

[illusionarymelody]

He wasn't one of the ones who died and came back though. But he was pretty shy and didn't talk much and worked just as much as the rest of us to find a way out. Also, I'm Vita, no need to call me blue lady.

[incendiarize]

Vita, got it. I'm Arthur. ....this isn't really adding up, but time isn't a straight line anyway.

[illusionarymelody]

It often doesn't. It isn't even impossible that he's a double or from a different timeline and was given the information about us.

[necroyalty]

They are both elves...

[ NOT ALL ELVES KNOW EACH OTHER and she knows this, but still. ]

[illusionarymelody]

[She doesn't know what an elf is, but she just remembered something.]

Wait, I think I do recall a Zelda among the hostages on the plane. Everyone we were reasonably familiar with, even if in some cases were enemies, were hostages there. In the end they were all freed.

[relieable]

[a plane... a memory flickers. he remembers talking about a plane to...]

Hostages?

[illusionarymelody]

Yes, all fifteen of us had hostages taken and we were threatened that if someone didn't kill that the hostages would fall victim to the many venomous snakes on board. We got everyone out safe and sound though.

[relieable]

[oh]

I see...

[so the plane probably did not crash]

I'm glad, then.

[champion_link]

... Hylian, not elf, actually.