Isn't this where.....

[strangerpeople]

REUNITED AT LAST

[Living and dead have reunited. That is all well and good. However, all these trains and cars and starships mean nothing by themselves - many of you may be wondering precisely where they are headed, and the answer presents itself soon in the form of a yawning portal in the middle of space. Yawning, calm, so as not to be mistaken with the writhing and twitching of the wefts - it seems to belong, or at least to be accepted as a cosmic inevitability. And this is what all of the dubious spacecrafts sail into for now - it is just barely large enough for all of them to go in one at a time, and to come out on the other side of the wormhole.

That appears to be some kind of airspace. Those curious about the place they're going may want to open the stained glass windows of the trains to get a much better view of the scenery they're descending on. The landscapes are mostly gorgeous, looking from a distance as though they were painted with watercolors, although some may think it also looks a bit, well, haphazardly patched together. For the trains, there is a floating dock above the land that looks brand new, and an elevator to take down to the ground. All other ships can find an easy landing space in the meadow, like the weird UFOs they are. Nevertheless, there is a path to follow from there, leading to a castle in the distance. It is a path lined with wonderful flowers and trees... and also a chaotic smattering of other trees that don't look like they quite belong. Sheets of dry lasagna make up the bark of the spaghetti trees, their inexplicably cooked pasta hanging like a weeping willow as marinara drips from their meatball fruit. The smell is overpowering, but don't let that ruin the trip. "In fact, it would be better if you let it work up an appetite", the cheerful voice of 707 suggests as he leads the pack up the trail like a hyperactive boy scout leader.

Finally, the doors of the castle open up. The halls are full of doors, each glowing from within - some of you may recognize the names of your homes, and others may not. But going past them, there is an enormous arch that is named The Hall of the Beginning as indicated by the carvings on it. Inside is a table that will be familiar to one of the strangers. It is the table that the original 15 Titled met at the beginning of Nirn, and it's overflowing with a feast even more grandiose than the last time. All of the drinks and cuisine you've been missing for so long is here - from sugar-spiced coffee and bubble tea, delicious scones as good as an aunt's, ridiculously spicy takeout wok, popcorn, philly cheesesteaks and the most perfect star shaped peanut-butter-jelly sandwiches known to man, a big toblerone on a long silver platter, three types of ramen, beer, so many grapes, melon bread, something labeled "dead chicken" that is obviously just a regular roast chicken.... it definitely seems like there were too many cooks here, but cooks with their heart in the right place. Some other favorites of the strangers will also be among the chaos if they look hard enough, but certainly, somewhere, it was deemed that they should have a celebration feast.

But then, you are not strangers any more, are you? Everyone here is a familiar face now, and there are even more familiar faces waiting around the table. The ones who wrote the letter, 707, Halley, Maka, Alexis, and Cardia are already there coming and going, but occasionally many others will stumble through one of the many doors. People from the games who had not fallen to IT. People from home, people you love. What we have here is a nexus and a party all in one. Here, there will be as much time for goodbyes as you like - or, as the hall suggests, new beginnings.]

Comments

[touchsensors]

[Halley says she's working on restoring abilities, but Lala still can't help but feel some concern about her sensors. She can go home anytime she likes, now, but it doesn't seem like there's much point if she can't be the Precures' pilot.

Although at least she can be a Precure again, now that she's managed to wrestle her Star Color Pen and Pendant away from that goose.

None of that is particularly on her mind at the moment, though. No, Lala is busy pigging the heck out. She'd had a relatively small amount of time to appreciate how good food can be before she ended up in The Sand Zone and she is so relieved that period of her life hasn't actually ended.

Star Donuts and Cosmo Gummies both feature prominently in her feast. Some things never change, apparently.]

[zackthekiller]

[ Zack did see her fighting a goose over a pen and a necklace earlier, but it takes him a while to think about it... Sure, those two things looked childish, but it kind of reminded him of the stuff he saw in Magical Girl Hell... And didn't she keep complaining about her powers?

... He connects the dots around the time everyone's eating. ]

So uh... About that pen and stuff... Are those supposed to be magical girl weapons or something?

[touchsensors]

Oyo?

[What's he asking... oh!]

They're what I use to transform-lun.

[zackthekiller]

Oh! You mean like this- Hang on.

[ He digs around in his pockets for... an egg looking thing. ]

This thing?

[touchsensors]

[Lala peers at the weird egg thing.]

You can transform too-lun?

[zackthekiller]

Yep! First time I dealt with this murder bullshit, it involved everyone becoming magical girls... And boys.

[ He looks at the egg thing for a moment. ] Before you ask, we weren't turned by any Kyuubeys, but one of those bastards did show up for a motive once.

[touchsensors]

They sure have things like this in a lot of worlds-lun.

[pause.]

Can I see-lun?

[zackthekiller]

Uh... Why, were you gonna try to do something to it?

[touchsensors]

Oyo?

[...wait, yeah, she sees where that went wrong.]

No, I mean can I see you transform-lun.

[zackthekiller]

OH.

[ Taking that phone back then. ] Sure, whenever I get my old powers back.

[poorlovefool]

Oh, more of those donuts... I got so many of those. What a waste, but I'm glad these look like they're okay.

[He's also glad she looks like she's okay... for the most part.]

[touchsensors]

You should try one-lun. They're really good when you can taste them right-lun.

[So is she!!!]

[poorlovefool]

I guess I am pretty curious. Then don't mind if I do!

[he takes a donut... and eats it!!!!!

are they just regular donuts or what]

[touchsensors]

[I mean they're especially good donuts, but yeah, they're regular Earth donuts.]

[mermaidkin]

Oh, wow, this is more color than they had on all of Camazotz.

[Hiyori is walking past with a big cafe drink with whipped cream that you could totally stick those gummies on top of.]

May... may I?

[touchsensors]

Lun!

[Here have some!]

It's good to see you eating real food-lun.

[Lala you are literally handing him a tastier version of the food pills as you say this.]

[mermaidkin]

[They have spirit... He's sprinkling them on in a delightfully chaotic pattern.]

It's good to see you with all your Sparkle... Cure... Whatevers. Sorry, I can't look that stuff up anymore. But it's just as good as any Soul Gem, right?

[touchsensors]

Star Color Pen and Pendant-lun. And they're definitely better-lun.

[mermaidkin]

They suit you.

[Beat. He really did not think he would get this far. Things to... talk about with cute young girl.]

Swimming isn't big on Saman, is it? If you ever want tips, well—

[OPPORTUNITY FOR CUTE OUTFITS WITH HIKARU?? YEAH?? YEAH????]

[stavros]

[Hey, fellow magical girl (well, sort of... Gradian tech is complicated). Kokoro looks over at Lala's pile of candy.]

The food here is indeed beyond the scope of any world.