hello (heart)gamers. im here w some special guest stars

[finalbows]

WHO: all who dare enter angie's literal mind palace. it's OPEN HOUSE! no invites needed!
WHERE: in front of miku's salad (and yours)
WHEN: evening 73.

[ in the middle of running a perfectly innocuous miniquest, Angel Devil falls down.
His clothes have twisted away into bone-white rags, leaving a body covered over with only thick swathes of red fur, and downy feathers. His long tail is curled into a tense arc, banded fur standing on end.

The air wavers like he’s a heat mirage, not a man. He’s boiling away with absolutely stupid amounts of arcane power… and, most frighteningly, he does not seem in control of the fact that it is there and being brought to bear. It’s impossible to get any closer to him.


When he speaks, it’s quite timid. ]

Oh.
Oops.
...Thought I had... a little more time.

[ (and in a blinding flash of light, there is the sound of something breaking.) ]

~KRRSHHK~

[any observers will see, strangely see-through and superimposed on the scene, some kind of vast tree, illusionary roots twisting over and around to frame a door.  the door itself is wrought of opaque stained glass in blacks and whites and greys; a stylized rendition of Angie in that strangely ragged, feathered form, curled in on himself, eyes closed.  Angie himself is nowhere to be seen. ]

instead, a shadow . . . steps into view from behind the door.  for a moment it looks like nothing so much as a second genome – then it turns, gaining features and definition with the movement.  The monkey tail separates into three plumes; a ponytail unfurls into wings that lift up from the sides of the head.  

Teleute(?) is here, dressed in her customary black, but there is colour in her skin, and her hair and eyes are blue.  she’s frowning.]

. . . well.  This is the least I can do before I go, in exchange for the safe harbor.

[she lifts her head, nodding to any observers, and gestures at the door.]

You’ll want to head in there now if you don’t wish to lose your flockmate, I think.  Even the false-death of this place won’t be much help to him, if his soul is left to finish pulling itself apart.

My sisters and I can maintain the way into and out of it for you, but we were not made to knit such wounds by ourselves.  Have a care.

Comments

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[finalbows]

"U-um... hello. Are you here for the show? S-sorry... I don't know where everybody else went, so... it's just me."

[ the little stagehand is wearing the same blue, hole-ridden mask as Miku. ]

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[0hp]

[ God, Zagreus is breaking open everything that looks breakable. shoving assorted busted knick-knacks into his inventory space. He is just trying to figure out if he can attack the half of a gold mask to his current Eternity Mask when- oh FRIEND SHAPED ]

Am I? I suppose I am. And you?

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[finalbows]

[ as he's taking in the absolute LITTLE GUY in front of him, this.. happens.. to the masks.

Gained MASK OF FATE & ETERNITY. ]


"..."

[ kiddo takes a second to nervously adjust his hat after watching that happen. ]

My name's... _{[ lmao. lol. like angie ever actually paid enough attention to learn it. ]} "Uh... I don't want to break character. I practiced... really hard, to be ready for tonight. But I was gonna be.... one of the hero's companions..."

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[0hp]

[ Perfect, the way to solve problems is to shove more power-up together until you die. re-equips the mask. ]

Oh ho, the tale of a hero then? Delightful.

[ if Miku's been cast, it's surely as the disreputable scoundrel, but better not to assume ]

Who's the leading man . . . or woman? Other?

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[finalbows]

"He's a thief, and he's the bad guy's younger brother. Oh, but... H-he's not, um... one of those heroes who's mean, or anything. He's nice. He helps people all the time if he sees them in trouble, and says you shouldn't NEED a reason to help others, if you ask him why he does it."

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[0hp]

He sounds like a wonderful hero.

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[finalbows]

"Uh-huh..."

[ ...looks down at his boots. ]


"I just wish I could find him...
It's fine if he doesn't wanna do the play anymore... I-I don't mind.
I just want to know if he's okay. Everything suddenly got really scary in here..."

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[0hp]

. . . he's missing? Does he have an understudy?

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[finalbows]

"I don't... think so? But I guess we could teach somebody if we have to... Maybe there's still some pages of the script in his room?"

Re: ONWARD 2/2

[0hp]

[ OH HELL YES OH FUCK YES ]

Then there's no time to waste. Lead on!

[finalbows]

[ the stagehand helpfully conjures a flame in his hand to help light their path, and begins leading the way with lil waddly shortstack steps.

the tree roots gets denser. leaves on the floor, bird calls and bugsong in the distance; they're nevertheless still walled in to either side with planks of wood. ]

[ finally, he stops by a particular door. ]

"I think... it's this one?"

[ though.. he seems nervous about what they might find inside. ]

[0hp]

My thanks.

[ TRYING THE DOORKNOB IMMEDIATELY. ]

[finalbows]

[ as you open the door, though you can't see it, your MASK OF FATE & ETERNITY glows on the golden side, and one small chip of gold paint flakes off to reveal the black below it.

door opens up without a problem. ]
[ wow, what a mess in here. looks like someone took the whole room and shook it like a snowglobe. mirrors, broken glass, cute costume props, if you want to give yourself a useless cosmetic upgrade... papers, papers, where could those papers be...

meanwhile, the stagehand plods over to the bottom bunk to check it for his lost friend in vain. ]

"I guess he wasn't just taking a nap..."

[0hp]

[... looks like his room tbh. anyway, as per every room full of Stuff he enters, he is absolutely mannerless in the way he rifles for papers or further mask chunks ]

Pity.

[finalbows]

"H-hey, be careful... There's a lot of stuff that's already broken, but... please don't break any more."

[ MIKU'S LOOT, THIS TIME:

> 1/2 blue MASK OF RESIGNATION.
> Six pages of the play "People of Gaia Versus The Angel of Death."
> Ten pages of the play "The Tragedy of Garland of Terra."
> One ripped page of the play "A View of the Sky."
> The entire script meant for the leading man of the play "Destiny Odyssey IX."



> one entire MASK OF PERSEVERANCE, awarded after checking literally every goddamn thing in the room. ]

[0hp]

There's eight more Odysseys?

[ ok he pauses from equipping every new mask to read this script in its entirety. time stops running while you read, right? ]

[finalbows]

[ "sure," "it" "does"

This odyssey has a remarkable lack of Odysseus, and also Greece:

Destiny Odyssey IX ~ Melodies of Life

Zidane, the roving thief, is in search of his crystal. After parting ways with Squall, he continues on his exciting adventure with his partner, Bartz. But the strong bond between the two travelers is about to be threatened by deadly music. Will he find his true treasure beyond the trials that await him?

...Separated from the wanderer and the lion, what can the thief steal from the world?...

...Only those who understand how difficult it is to face consequences can overcome a crisis...

...A castle towering above the heavens... It's strength calls forth a new source of courage in the warrior...

...A moment of negligence commands the warrior to a solo performance. Thus is the nature of battle...

...He cannot stop going forward. Because he knows, someday, he will return to that place...

By the end of the story, the hero's brother, a wicked and lonesome magician fighting for the other side of the war ^{(whose description is remarkably similar to the man who gave him a cricketquest)}, has been defeated, fading away... though he shall surely be faced again another day. ]

[0hp]

[ . . . this is all EXTREMELY STRANGE characterization for Master Chaos, but it's not that abnormal for mortals to find the greater powers to be simple, malicious forces to be resisted. Which is fair from their perspective, he supposes. Can't really judge. ]

OK, got it. What's next?

[finalbows]

"Rehearsal...? Or, I guess... we need to make you a costume..."

[0hp]

Costume!

[ FUCK REHERSAL ]

[finalbows]

"Okay! ...I know Zidane really well, so... I can help you!
Um... since it's his room, maybe... there's SOME of his clothes... oh! Here!"

[ the little stagehand picks up a perfectly ordinary little blue ribbon. ]

"On his neck! He wears.. a lot of blue. And...! He's got a, um. Fancy... neck thing, too. I-I don't know what you call those..."

[0hp]

[ putting the ribbon on at once am i immune to all status effects? ]

Necklace? Choker?

[finalbows]

[ Equipped Ribbon. EFFECT: makes you look jaunty and cool. ]


"Uh... like a.. handkerchief? But on his neck."

[ somewhere, angie's brain is screaming it's a JABOT! at the top of its lungs. not in this room, though. ]

[0hp]

[ . . . ]

What's a handkerchief?

[finalbows]

[ angel devil('s mental construct of vivi) has literally never had to contemplate answering this question before. ]

"...a... square. Made of fabric. For, um..._{blowing your nose.} Crying into. Stuff like that."