I - I've been -- [ Buffy seems... off, a little. Or, a lot. Her hair is longer. She didn't just wake up, but after being gray, she fell asleep. She fell asleep, and she spent an entire lifetime's worth, at least to her, in Heaven. And then she woke up in a casket. Her casket. And she dug herself out, and she crawled out of the earth, and she was convinced she was in Hell. She was torn out of Heaven. And then she woke up back here. Confused, unsure of how much tie has passed... Having a torrent of new memories rushing back to her... She's been back a day or two, but she's been making sure to avoid everyone, as much as possible. She's done a lot of thinking. ]

I took my bracelet off, but then I - I, um... Went home. I was gone for awhile, I think. I don't know, not for sure... Can -- can anyone tell me how long?

[ Though she's not sure she wants to know, because for her, it was probably longer. Much longer. ]

No!

[ Aqua sits straight up in bed, in so doing turning her bracelet on. She sits for a moment, breathing heavily, staring around her in open confusion. ]

... Is this ... Asgard? I'm still here? But how? I was just...

[ She looks down at the little bracelet, to see it recording. ]

That's right... I was lost. When I finally found my bracelet again, I was so tired... I must have fallen asleep. Did I dream all of that? How long ... was I gone?

[ A moment's thought, and she swings her legs off her bed. Her eyes are narrowed in thought. In some sadness. ]

I can't believe... The Master... Ven--

[ ... wait, he's --

Aqua springs off her bed, alarm and urgency lending her a sudden adrenaline surge. ]

Ven! Are you there? Can you hear me? Please tell me you're still here!

[ The feed turns on to a scruffy looking Englishman with a pipe wedged in his mouth. He is dressed in a rather ratty and disgusting looking red dressing gown. If you do approach him, he smells faintly of chemicals and tobacco. His eyes bare the faintest hints of lethargy. ]

Duly taking the time to praise our gods on their impeccable performance thus far. Their writings imply that they will ensure our entertainment yet there has yet to be neither a cocaine solution in front of me nor casework. Surely, this should stand as a mark against them.

[ His tone has a hint of dryness, perhaps bite a bit mocking when the gods are mentioned. He takes a puff perhaps to calm himself down. His eyes fix on the device, intensely – scrutinizing – analyzing. Holmes means business. ]

I have questions Asgard. Questions that are in need of answering. Do not regale me with trivialities. Idiocy will be ignored.

[For those who are currently landlocked in the castle as well, they're going to be spotting a hooded female figure pacing around the castle as if looking for something. Or, perhaps, she's more accurately inspecting and observing everything she can. Whatever it is, it doesn't seem like she's in a very cheerful mood while doing it.]

[For those inspecting the network at this hour, however, the same hooded figure is going to show up in what seems to be an accidental video. Judging from her squeak of surprise, it looks like she accidentally activated her bracelet's holographic screen and is now staring at it in what can only be assumed to be surprise.

The staring goes on for a couple of seconds, with her hand coming up to touch the screen as well, before she so eloquently starts to speak.]

I... [A pause, trying to figure out what to say now that she realizes it's recording.] ...Hello. Can someone please tell me more about this place? I'm... I'm not supposed to be here.

[...aaaaand, then she just proceeds to stare awkwardly for another second before shutting this video feed off. Mostly because she's worried sick about what's going to happen if she's here and partly because what is she doing what is going on this is hideous.]

[text]
Surprise!

I thought I'd have a more of a challenge, but I guess I was mistaken. Vanitas, your bite isn't as bad as your bark. There's still so much I could learn about the rest of you, though.

What about you, Ventus? How do you fight?

Sora, do you like breaking things?

Oh, and for that anonymous poster who said "Anomalies should be erased," how true do you want that to be? I have the time.

Anyways, I'll keep in touch.

( [Video] cut for mild violence )

(ooc: This is a followup to a log that'll be posted later (yeah, we're doing it out of order); both Vanitas AND ???(key_illusion) will be responding. And for reference, Vanitas is in a basement of an unused shop in Thor district.)

Sora? Riku... I know you're here. If you can hear this, let me know, okay?

[It seems someone has figured out the bracelet's functions very quickly.]

I tried to leave, but it's too foggy... I can't see anything. I was told to go to Sigyn house, but until I can go outside, I think I'm stuck here.

If anyone else is with me here in this castle, I guess we could meet up and keep each other company while the weather's bad? There are a lot of names on this list on the bracelet, so some of you must be here, too, right? My name is Kairi. I don't really understand what's going on here, but until I figure it out... It's nice to meet all of you!

[ Things have really changed since she got here.

She still remembers Keine's words - about trusting the gods who have done them no real ill - and feels very naïve, and wonders what the other is thinking now.

Her face is very grave as she turns on the video to address the whole city. What she's about to say might get her in trouble with their unkind patrons, but she's ceased to care. ]

... it's become clear to me -- and, I think, to many of us -- that the gods of Asgard are not our friends, and they can't be trusted. They're willing to hurt us, bully us, and even kill us just to get what they want, and they'll do it over and over. They said as much to me themselves. In fact ... I hate to say it, but I think we need to consider them our enemies, and plan accordingly.

[ She shuts her eyes for a moment, in deep and troubled thought. But she is calm, and unafraid. She opens them again, and there is steel in every aspect of her. ]

To be honest, I'm not too sure what that means. It's a big task to undertake, and possibly a dangerous one. But I think what we can do is try to be ready for anything. That means working on our powers, on self-defense, and possibly even a warning system. Maybe a designated safe-house for anyone who can't fight. I'm open to ideas.

... thank you for your time.

[ added several minutes later: ]

One last thing. I am aware that saying these things might make me a target for the gods, if they're willing to go that far to punish us. But I wouldn't wish that on anyone else. Please, even if you agree with my belief that they are our enemies - think twice before admitting as much.

( Private to: Sora, Riku, Naminé, Roxas, and Ven )

I'd like to speak to all of you. Soon, and in person. You especially, Ven, Riku. But I expect all of you to come. No buts, and no backing out of it.

[ Is she upset? ... yes. All this death has been too much. ]

Tomorrow, in front of Odin.

[Well hello, everyone! At about noon, one of your Gods has appeared in front of you again, cheerfully addressing the network from a nicely furnished living room somewhere (the decor matches the castle, perhaps?) Loki is completely chill about this, nowhere near as uptight as Odin was.]

Hey there, Travellers! This is your captain speaking. One of them, anyway. The name's Loki.

Are you having a good time? How about a miserable one? Either way, we hope you're not bored. The whole point is to keep you going, isn't it? The more you laugh and cry, the better the city gets. Have you noticed yet? It's working. Some things are getting pretty colourful by now, so we really have to thank you a little.

Good thing it's a special time anyway. See, it's the first day of Spring, so for our little world of Yggdrasil, it's the beginning of a new year! Welcome to year 416 of the Last Era, everyone!

To celebrate, to get the year off on a good leg, and to thank you, we'll be allowing another little Q&A here. You can ask us whatever you want as long as you follow a few rules.

One, we don't have to answer repeat questions. We might, but if you're all asking us the same thing we aren't going to explain it over and over. That's boring, and I'm sure you're all perfectly intelligent enough to look at the answers we give other people.

Two, we don't have to answer stupid questions. Self-explanatory, right? If you're repeating a stupid question you're breaking two rules, so don't do that. You might end up regretting it.

Three, you're not entitled to answers we aren't ready to give you. If you can't handle hearing "no", we just won't argue with you.

Simple, right? Now for one last thing, here's a couple of questions you can answer for me, if you want to.

How would you like it if we socialized more? Would it make you more or less comfortable?

Also, what's the #1 thing you think this city is lacking?

Ready? Go.


[OOC NOTE: The mods will OOCly be following the gods' IC rules. This means that if your comment gets skipped we aren't mad at you, it's just that we are all people with limited time too. ;)

This is also the post that will trigger the proving a point plot. If your character was chosen (the list is below), they should comment here asking about their powers. If you don't have time to do so, you're welcome to handwave that they asked and it was ignored, but characters who didn't ask won't be punished. If you were chosen and changed your mind about participating at all, it's fine to just not do it (it doesn't have to be an exact 10 that die), but if you want us to find an alternate, PM us asap so we can do so.

Now for the 10 victims, we chose 5 with more mental powers and 5 with more physical, and tried to pull from the biggest variety of canons as possible. The characters chosen to die are as follows:

Dying from physical powers: Buffy Summers, Cheriour, Dante, Rin Okumura, & Ririchiyo Shirakiin

Dying from mental powers: Charles Xavier, Kainé, Rose Lalonde, Shiki Ryougi, & Sweden

Characters chosen can die anywhere from now til March 31. It honestly doesn't matter if it all happens in the next few hours or if they're all at once on March 31, so don't agonize too much over timing. Just have with it. Check the linked plot info for more details! :)]

( CUT FOR STABBY )

[ And then she's backing up, starting to meld back into the crowd even as Roxas drops to his knees. He's not sure whether to pull the knife out or try to keep it still--either way he's hastily fumbling to hit the jewel on his bracelet. ]

[Audio]

S-someone... Olette, she... She's gone, someone--the knife, s-someone has to find her... [ His voice comes out strained, weak; and understandably so for a stabbed person. But his biggest concern isn't himself right now, it's the girl that's gone: the one link he has between Asgard and Twilight Town (besides Naminé). And she's gone and vanished, like she was never there at all ]

Olette...


[ ooc; action/audio is fine c: it's a non-lethal stab so long as he...gets help LMAO sdjkfsjk yes ]

[ there's a bit of dry, relieved laughing before the video feed focuses on the Doctor. he looks tired, worn out, but bubbling with happiness.

he sobers quickly, flustered, fumbling with his hands. ]

Right! So, had to knock around on my own for a bit, testing out that bracelet theory. [ he makes a face. ] Thought it was a bit of a myth, but actually--true!

Looks like you really do fade into the crowd once you take it off, so be careful with that. Yes, yes, I know, probably a few people already figured that one out. Best to get different experiences with it, though! Never know if there's an anomaly running about, and chasing down anomalies is a specialty of mine. Well, space-time anomalies. But I'll settle for normal anomalies for now. (Is that an oxymoron?)

[ he claps his hands once, moving towards the Odin kitchen. ]

Right! So, what's new with you all? I mean, could go look out and check up on every one of you, but my legs're about to give out and I'm beat from what seems to be walking too much.

Anyone got some boots? Size 10?

No. Nevermind. I'll get myself another pair.

[Hello, Asgard. We interrupt your creepy old man, owl and lion woes to bring you this.... thing. This trolling thing. Vanitas has had a few days to peruse the educational material Euri lent to him--enough time to get to the first sex scene and promptly laugh himself hoarse.

Oh, but this is too good to keep to himself. Way, way, way too good.

It's hard to miss this video of Vanitas sitting calmly in a chair somewhere in Hel's house, one leg crossed casually over the other with a book in his hand. There's an eerie little smile on his face, as he opens it with no lead-in, and starts reading aloud in a very even tone.]

The Treasure or the Trophy, Chapter seven. Page sixty three.

( Cut for NSFW of the trashy romance novel variety )

[He makes it through without a hint of laughter, or flinching. Just dry, and a little amused. Once he gets there, Vanitas abruptly stops, and closes the book.]

So, this is what it's all about? Stupid... How do you guys keep from laughing yourselves to death?

Hi, my name is Sora. I'm new here! I know we're supposed to bring life to this world, but how are we supposed to do that? I wonder if it's one of those smiling things, like no sad faces. If we're happy and smile a lot, maybe things will get better. We should definitely test it.

I have another question. Does anybody know if any of my friends are here? Whenever something weird happens, my friends Donald and Goofy are always with me. I have two other friends, Kairi and Riku. They're my best friends and I can't believe we got separated again! All my friends are really important to me so if you see any of them, you have to let me know!

Okay, thank you. I'm going to stop this thing now. I'm gonna ask someone around here to show me how to use it. Hope they don't mind!

[Look who's finally on the network. He isn't the most social and became a hermit shortly after his arrival but now with the arrival of his daughter and so much more he's feeling more readily able to address the masses.]

I have a question. [Jimmy pauses and squares his shoulders.] My daughter just arrived, she's twelve, and in eighth grade. I don't see any reason why this place should distract from her education and honestly I'd rather it didn't? [He looks a little unsure as he ends the sentence with a question but continues anyway.] I was wondering if anyone experienced could continue her lessons one on one like an in house tutor. She's in Heimdall and I'm in Sigyn. Wherever you're comfortable.

It wouldn't be long. Maybe two hours a day. She's bright. [He presses his lips into a hard line and shuts his eyes. Still a little ticked off with his circumstances and now even more on edge because his parental instincts have him worrying over Claire, what happened there, and the knowledge that sprouted from their outing after she showed up.] Thanks.

Does anyone know if you can change the settings on these bracelets to make them more like...a journal I guess? Or know where to buy one? It feels kind of weird to just type everything up and post it instead of writing it down.

Oh and, uh...can anyone tell me more about the dragon attack that happened? I mean someone sort of told me the details but I don't really understand what's going on. Do we need to get ready for...war? Should we be walking around with weapons or trying to defend this place?

That's...it I guess. Thanks.

[ NOPE THAT WASN'T AWKWARD AT ALL..... ]

This is an outrage! How dare you kidnap the kingly me and bring me to such a dreadful place! I demand that I be brought back to my home at once or there will be dire consequences! [There are no consequences. He just wants to make a point, and it wouldn’t be like Tamaki if he weren’t dramatic while doing so.]

I was in the middle of something very important and I will not stand being absent for one second of it! if it is money that you are after, then you may name your price. My family is extremely wealthy and they will not hesitate to pay any amount in order to make certain that I return home safely! Yes, I can almost picture the tragic sigh now! Everybody gathered around the table, worried and waiting for news of my well being. [It’s a gift, really, to be as dramatic and over the top as Tamaki is.]

I must admit, however, that I am flattered to have been chosen by the gods themselves to help them rebuild this world! In fact, with my god-like looks, who else would be a better fit for a job like this than I? Why, my looks are already heaven sent! This must be just another way of bestowing other gifts on me!

Ah, but it is almost cruel that I have been blessed with such great beauty and wealth in a world where so many have neither! It is really no wonder that anyone would desire to hold someone captive when they had the fortune to be born into such marvelous circumstances. My captors must have been awed by me and that is why they choose to capture me like this! Perhaps catching even the slightest glimpse of my wonder probably provides even the smallest satisfaction for them – it must comfort them to know that it is possible for someone like me to exist in the world, and maybe, just maybe, some of my greatness will rub off on them.


[Someone clearly has no idea what he's talking about.]

Yes, I have decided! That is exactly what must have happened and now that I know this, perhaps I may be able to rest just a little easier as I wait for this terrible punishment to end.

Everyone---[Oh no. Not this public speaking thing again. Shu's nervous. He hopes he doesn't make a fool out of himself in front of all these people.] I'd like to know something.

I thought that maybe someone here might know the answer. Is it, normal to meet someone from your own world but....they don't have the same memories as you?

Inori.

Inori remembers something different. She says I protected the school with Ayase, but it doesn't make sense. I don't think she's lying either, so. She wouldn't do something ...like that.

[At least he thinks so. Segai's words manage to bestow a sense of insecurity on him.

Beware of those who tell you to believe in yourself, Shu. Inori might very well wish to use you and removing anyone who might take away that control through this manipulation.

Is it really alright to believe in her and the Funeral Parlor? He doubts them for a minute.]

[Pause.]

For those of you who just arrived, I guess.

Please, be careful. I don't want to see any of you get hurt here. There's a hospital in the Sigyn district and... [Wait, he's in no position to be telling them what to do. Stop right there, Shu.]

That's about it.

[What on earth did he just say to everyone?]

[ Here is a young woman walking slowly through the streets of Asgard, noticeably new if only by the concerned look on her face as she glances about, her surroundings obviously unfamiliar to her. But perhaps of greater interest is the armor she wears, though her helmet is off and tucked under one arm, her strange key-shaped sword clutched in her other hand.

She's got a lot on her mind. The first thing she'd noticed is that her armor wasn't responding to her, only to lead very quickly to the realization that her Keyblade was ... inert. It felt dead in her hands, like all the light and all the power had gone out of it.

And as she walks, she notices other senses deadened, too. She cannot feel the Light or the Darkness. The only magic she's been able to produce has been a bit of ice - none of her normal spells, and nothing of her own personal magic, either.

When she finally stops, she stands before the Welcome Hall of Odin, staring up at it with more than a little uncertainty. She shifts her Keyblade into the hand also gripping her helmet, and presses her free hand to her mouth. ]

Restoring this world... and the one from whence I came.

Something about this is not right.

[ With a final sigh, Aqua lowers her arm and moves towards the door of Odin house, letting herself in to find "her" lodgings and perhaps come across anyone who might be able to explain things to her.

When she later does make it to her room, she will use her bracelet to make a video post to the network -- by now, she has managed to take off all of her armor and store it and her Keyblade out of sight, leaving her dressed in her normal clothes. ]

I've been told I can use this bracelet to communicate with all the other travelers in this place. My name is Aqua, and I'll be staying in Odin. Please, if anyone could help me, I'm looking for my friends. Their names are Terra and Ven. It's really important that I find them, so if you've heard anything at all, I'd really appreciate hearing it.

[ A beat, before she continues. ] Is ... it true that each person here is from a different world?

[ She remembers her charge: "do not tell anyone there are other worlds." But it was one of the very first things mentioned in the welcome letter she was given. Perhaps she can find out more about this strange place, what could very well be a nexus of all worlds -- the first thing of its kind that she's ever heard of.

How very strange indeed. ]

[She feels a little too formal making this post but she has questions and she wants to confirm her suspicions about this world. With all that's happened, it would be foolish of her not to take every necessary precaution about the gods and the people.]

There's a lot of us out here...so I wanted to ask a few questions of everyone out there.

Has anyone explored this place to its full extent in the time they've been here? I know that most of us have only been here for a day or two, but I was wondering what people had found. Have the gods said anything about what lies beyond the city? I tried to ask one of the maids but she wouldn't answer me.

[She glances down at something in her hand and then looks back at the screen.]

I also wanted to know how many people have arrived with others from their home. Are there faces here you recognize or did you come here alongside anyone? If so, are you and your friends in the same "house"?

[She looks like she's going to say more, perhaps her name, or perhaps she's going to inquire about her own friends...but she decides not to say anything else for now. Beyond that, she's going to keep exploring and looking into the various houses and locations that she can find.]