thousand dreams, lotus boats upon the waters

[promittere]

NEW MOON ADAGIO

Between the constant requests from the North and the sense of tension that pervades the manor, Sage Tatara makes an executive decision: we're going North, baby.

Of all the things that have happened thus far, let this be the ultimate test of your magic. Even as we near summer, it's frigid. Protect yourselves and your allies from the cold. Protect yourselves while also fighting off monsters (or other territorial wizards, should you make the terrible mistake of wandering into another's territory), flying through the vast wilderness, or protecting the poor humans who need your help to survive. Time to blow off some of your steam. Just be sure to obey Tatara's one rule: don't kill each other.

One particular problem of note is in the Forest of Dreams. Without its guardian, many of these rogue monsters and dangerous predators, displaced from their normal habitats, have found their way into the forest. Many of them, however, are unable to survive against the fatal toxin, and there are plenty of animal corpses and mana stones that litter the forest. It might be best to clean these up before the forest guardian returns...

That said, the toxin is yet another thing you must protect yourself against in addition to the cold. While you can likely keep yourself from dying from the toxins, you may not be immune to its effects. This deadly toxin causes anyone who breathes it in to dream and hallucinate vividly, be it images of the past, imagined futures, thoughts of the present processed and warped...

Strangely enough, those nearby may end up sharing in your dreams... Did you want the darkest recesses of your thoughts, hopes, and fears unearthed for others to see?

Those who decide to venture far past the more populated (in relative terms) parts of the North may find themselves stumbling upon what looks to be an abandoned bandit hideout. It seems it's been abandoned for quite a while—nothing to loot here, sorry!—but there sure are a whole lot of monsters that have decided to make this hidden corner of the North their home.

While you're at it, you may find a nearby cave. Beautiful crystals dot the walls and the floors, and there are small pools of hot spring water free for relaxing. It seems to be relatively free of monsters, too. So maybe this wouldn't be a bad spot to relax, away from everything else?

However, there's one thing that makes this cave truly unique, and it isn't the vistas or the springs—it's the bats. These bats hear echoes of the past and replay them for visitors. Should you stay a while and listen, a bat may pay you a visit. And when it does, it may play for you the voices from the memories of visitors past, whose stories may hold a clue or two to your circumstances...

While the Forest of Dreams is a memory/dreamshare free for all, the aural memories replayed by the bats in the Cave of Time will come from one of the original wizards only. If you'd like an audio replay of a perhaps significant moment either in their personal life or a clue as to what happened to them (it will be randomized), then please reply to this comment!

JOB BOARD

Clean-up and repairs. While thanks to the hard work of your Eastern friends the worst was prevented, the City of Rain emerged from their short ordeal a little worse for wear.

Buildings need repair, blood needs to be cleaned off the streets, the injured need help. This is, perhaps, the only time you will be allowed to use magic openly in the city (you've been given permits and everything!), but you still are not allowed to talk outside of designated zones. Please, please don't get arrested...

As for the scrap that litters the streets? Unfortunately, you'll have to take it back to the scrapyard. But this time, there's a big, roaring bonfire out there. Just chuck all the scrap and debris in the fire. The city isn't taking any second chances—extreme situations call for extreme measures.

Reverence. Several Northern villages are currently outside the protection of a wizard, and have requested the sage's wizards' presence. They're terrified of the monsters and worried the barriers for their villages will fail sooner than later. They don't simply ask for help for free, however, and these smaller villages are steeped in their tradition—they'll pay you their respects, praying to you, offering you gifts, groveling at your feet, in hopes for a modicum of your time and protection. Do their offerings please you? Then assist them with what you deem appropriate for their worship to you: kill a few monsters for them, or a lot if you're pleased. Strengthen the barrier a lot, or not at all if you're displeased. It's up to you! You have the power here. What's it like to be a god for a day?

Ladies' night. The monthly lady officers' gathering is coming up in the City of Affluence—it's an exclusive meetup for the women involved in and related to Western military and bureaucratic affairs. Anyone is welcome, so long as they meet two requirements: they are outwardly presenting feminine, and they have an invitation to the gathering. Here's your chance to flex your transformation and glamour spells! Infiltrate the meetup with a disguise and a fake invitation, mingle, enjoy the drinks, the jazz, the entertainment, and find out what you can... What's the Western army up to? Be careful, though—don't get caught and kicked out!

The attendees seem to be excited about the new phantasmagoria technology and the upcoming display, and many whisper about the upcoming Venator meteor shower...

G'RAHA TASKS

Greetings, new friends! I am G'raha Tia, and while I hesitate to call myself a mentor or a replacement for the one you had, I am eternally grateful for the assistance I received and will do my best to help your cause in any way I can. To that end, I feel I may need to be caught up to speed on the events and get to know all of you.

We can have some tea and sandwiches and have a discussion! That's the best way to learn, sometimes.

TATARA ACTIVITIES

Even if we're not here for very long, I think we should leave our mark (not literally! Don't paint on the walls!). I got paint and big paper in the dining hall, but no brushes... Do you know what that means? Finger paint! Finger paint a portrait of yourself with your name and I'll hang it up in the library when they're all done!

Thanks to Cid and Khun, my camcorder works now. The thing is, what's the point of filming anything if we have no way to watch the film?! Could you guys work together to make some kind of projector? Or like...VHS player? We could have a movie night together!

OOC NOTES

🌙 Welcome to your fourth event! It's your dreamshare and memshare event! Ready to open up with your deepest and darkest secrets?
🌙 We're halfway through the game. How do you feel?
🌙 Back at the manor, Kurapika and Maya have set up a bulletin board! Leave comments, argue with your neighbors, have fun. Be nice. Don't set it on fire.
🌙 On the admin side of things, Lav has swapped out Wanderer for G'raha! Please say hello to your new mentor NPC.
🌙 Your OOC plotting post is here! Remember to keep all wider plotting to the post, and remember to check back frequently, since not everyone checks plurk or discord all the time.
🌙 The next country to go on their mission is North. Do you think a PVP-enabled mission will go well?

» NAVIGATION

Comments

[1145pm]

[ Tatara slips from Solomon's hold. He seems surprised he's been given permission to roam, and so he glances back at Solomon, just in case he changes his mind. But then slowly makes his way towards the figures.

Solomon and his apprentice. This Solomon exists a world apart, but still makes up the man he knows today. As he stalks closer, his eyes remain on the man, trying to map every little change in expression to memory. Many of the words he says are unfamiliar to him, but he recognizes dedication when he hears it. Tatara wonders if this is what he sounded like when he would ask the guys not to do something, because it would upset his king. Entrusting another entity's wellbeing to someone else isn't easy.

Speaking of, he pauses to look at this Ibuki, but only briefly. Regardless of how important they might be to Solomon, he looks just to know. But after that, he looks back to Solomon.

The real one. How is he reacting to all of this? ]

[impacter]

[Tatara looks back, and will find Solomon's eyes still trained on Ibuki, even from the distance he keeps. Exhausted, fond, and somewhat mournful. A complicated sense of regret.

His eyes flick to Tatara. But he doesn't speak. This is not something he's having an easy time remembering, but he's not going to interrupt it.

...

Thirteen comes crashing back in and slaps the phantom Solomon across the back of the head once again before Ibuki has any chance to respond.

No!
She stiffens her jaw, pointing at Ibuki as well.
No, no promises, no oaths, no pinky swears, nothing! Don't you dare! Solomon, you know better, that's against the rules.
Ah... right, right. Sorry.

Ibuki looks confused, hesitating as though trying to ask something. But Thirteen interrupts again, swatting Solomon away to go fetch blankets. He absconds with a tired laugh and leaves Thirteen to speak with Ibuki alone.

The memory shifts, with the faint request from Thirteen:

Solomon. Hey, you're coming with me. I've got intruders in my maze, and they're YOUR problem, so I'm not going to make it MY problem. Got it? Go clean up your mess, and don't start an incident with the monarchy on my property or I'm finding your candle in Candy's things and using it in my next machine, got it??

Time blurs with passage. Hours, a fight, an escape. The feeling of being cornered.

They're back at the fountain. Thirteen stands off in a corner with disapproval. Solomon stands in front of Ibuki. A few blurred figures of distorted shape and color now occupy the space.

And one specific creature - a demon, and a powerful one at that - is advancing towards the two humans. Lucifer.

You are one thoroughly disgusting human... do you know that?
Well, what do you expect? You've made it very clear that you consider me your enemy.

Lucifer sneers towards Solomon, even as the sorcerer smiles, the same smile he always wears.

Ibuki. You're the one I'm looking for.

They try to placate him. They say they can explain.

Explain? What could you POSSIBLY have to say worth hearing? It's far too late for that now.

He advances, with an energy that shakes the room.

Why did you show up when you did? Why did you appear before us?
Lucifer. That's enough. Don't get any closer to Ibuki.
Quiet.

Lucifer snaps his hand up, and Solomon's entire body is drawn to a halt, frozen in place with a grunt of pain.

Just because you're lauded as the greatest sorcerer in human history, you think you stand a chance against me?! You think you could defeat the Avatar of Pride? You? A human???

There's protests from the others around the space. Other demons, though it seems their voices and appearances aren't the importance of this memory.

Ibuki speaks up through the mess.

You're not actually angry, are you? That's not it.

Lucifer goes quiet. He advances on Ibuki, in words you cannot hear... before Ibuki starts to choke, crushed under the force of Lucifer's magic without him even moving a muscle. The other demons continue to protest, but none move to stop him. All are too scared of the consequences.

Cowards.

Ibuki. I don't care whether you are a demon or a human. It doesn't matter. But you possess the power to force every single one of us into submission. You can extract our power against our will, and use it as your own. Regardless of who or what you are, you are a threat to us.

Lucifer's stance grows taller, wings spreading wide.

I resolved never to put my family in danger again. No one harms my brothers. I won't let that happen.

There's a holler. It's from Thirteen. In her hands she holds a book. A grimoire.

Everyone in the room freezes. Some of the demons are confused, and others explain its purpose. A book of magic, created by a human, with information to summon and subjugate a demon against their will.

This is where every grimoire on every demon out there is born. It all happens right here. Because this is the Fountain of Knowledge, after all. Which is obviously why that sham of a sorcerer over there decided to come here. He was after this...

Thirteen's eyes narrow towards Solomon with barely veiled disappointment.

Weren't you, Solomon?]

[1145pm]

[ Tatara watches quietly, taking it in. He's a very good audience, for how distracted and flighty he usually is, he does a very good job at holding his attention on the scene before him. His eyes mostly rest on dream-Solomon, occasionally flitting towards others as they speak. But they're not important here, really.

He doesn't quite get it, though he tries. For one whose only concern was a smallest slice of one world, to be presented with yet another new one is a lot for him. But still, he listens. Solomon is protective of this Ibuki, isn't he?

His attention drifts slightly upon the appearance of Lucifer, but it doesn't stay there. He tilts his head, watching the back and forth between him and Thirteen and the appearance of the book.

Her question turns to Solomon, and Tatara's eyes turn to the real Solomon. There's no judgment in his eyes, just curiosity. Watching his reaction to the accusation, to how his past plays out in front of him. ]

[impacter]

[While Tatara's eyes are on Solomon, Solomon's eyes are on Ibuki. Only Ibuki. Tired, mournful. Bracing.

There's a flare of magic, one that Tatara can feel in his own body like it had emerged from himself without any effort at all - an echo, of what the phantom Solomon does without even moving. Lucifer has wavered at the site of the grimoire, and it is enough for the sorcerer to snap the spell that binds him, the outreaching of one hand all that is needed to free Ibuki as well, who stumbles back down to the ground coughing for breath.

Wow, Lucifer. Did you lose your composure?

The demon sneers in his direction as Solomon skirts his way over to Ibuki to stand between them, his voice lowering as he speaks over his shoulder to his apprentice.

Are you okay?
I could have handled that on my own, you know.
Haha... sorry for robbing you of the chance, then.

You feel a rush of pride at their confidence.

Thirteen tosses the grimoire. Ibuki catches it. The demons in the room are frenzied to a panic. Some yell at Thirteen for not maintaining a neutral status. She just shrugs and says to stuff it. It doesn't surprise you. Thirteen always walked her own path.

Well, now. Things have gotten interesting. So.

What are you going to do, Ibuki?

You know what you want them to say, even as they hold the book out in front of them. But it is never your choice. You are here to guide. To assist. Not to act on their behalf.

...

And yet, you still feel your chest constrict, as they lower the book from a protective hold.

...I won't.

I love all of you.

Of course they do. They always have. It's that enormous heart you love so much about them.

They hold the grimoire out to Lucifer. Your fear climbs.

Ibuki--

Lucifer stares down at them, wings still spread, still furious... but laced with deep confusion and hurt. Do they understand what they're doing?

...

There are more important things than this.

More important things than control, in the situation they're in? It unsettles and confuses the demons. Thirteen looks baffled.

Solomon's fear could not be higher. But he merely watches, eyes flicking to Lucifer. So he does not see, and he cannot stop, when they say:

I promise--

The rest of the statement feels so distant. The reason a blur. Because what matters to you isn't what they just told a demon. It's what they just did to themselves.

Your heart jumps into your throat, and you hear Thirteen start forward. The demons don't react. They don't know.

And just as the promise leaves Ibuki's lips, their entire body locks up, skin going deathly pale, as they crumple straight to the ground.

Solomon moves forward. Of course he does. The master is responsible for the apprentice, his apprentice, his...

Thirteen shoves him aside. She barks at the demons who now start to swarm. The sound is rushing through your ears like a river, with the pound of your heart. No one can rouse them. They're fading, Thirteen says. And Lucifer, of all people present, is the one that immediately grabs them in his arms and shouts for attention, for people to follow.

That ache in your heart only grows as you follow along in suit. Their love for the brothers, always warm for the brothers, always present for the brothers, even now. This beautiful, wonderful part of them, chosen over instruction and warning. Chosen over the good of humanity. That heart you love so much.

The memory starts to muddle. A pale body laid down onto a bed. A blessing attempted, with no response. A deep knowledge that, in all of the knowledge within the Fountain, there is no knowledge of the Fountain itself... nor of the curse it places. There is no way to break it. It's nearly impossible.

But you will try, you say. You promise you will find a way. No matter how impossible.

Because you love them.

Even if, with that loving and open heart, they will never, ever, love you back.

---

The memory fades gently, an empty chasm, away from the bedroom and the body and back to the endless white. Solomon's expression falls. Tired. Incredibly tired.

But with an exhale, he gestures for Tatara to follow, his voice even and cold.]

...Come. We shouldn't stay.

[1145pm]

[ Ahh, he knows this feeling.

Emotions that are distinctly not his own swirl in his chest and Tatara places a hand there, as though trying to calm them. Solomon feels quite a lot, doesn't he? Maybe that should be a given, but there was a part of him that thought someone as old and wise as Solomon could float through life unaffected. But it's the other way around, it seems. Tatara, a leaf dislodged from his branch at 22, stares at the scene before him, and wonders if he'd feel this strongly in a situation like this.

That one particular feeling, though. He knows that one.

His attention flits among parties, but ultimately rests on the real Solomon for most of the time. Through what he feels he analyzes, studies, tries to understand him better.

Even as the memory fades, he doesn't move or shift his attention. Even when Solomon gestures to follow, he only takes a few steps, ultimately stopping far out of his reach. ]

Did you save them?

[impacter]

[...

As Tatara drifts to a halt, so does Solomon, looking back at his Sage with a tense expression.

A beat, two, and he shakes his head.]

Not yet.

That is the state I left them when I was summoned here instead.

[1145pm]

[ He meets Solomon's tense gaze with sad, sympathetic gaze.

He thinks about the way he's acted throughout their time here in this world—has this been something he's carried with him this whole time? Tatara wishes he remembers the conversation about apprenticeship better, one they had towards the beginning. He'd been so caught up with trying to figure out his age, that's...all he can remember. ]

I'm sorry. Keeping that in the back of your mind...can't have been easy.

[ He knows he ultimately had no control over who he picked, but he still feels bad. ]

You still love them?

slides back in here with a rose in my teeth cause i wanna see the king

[impacter]

[Ah. That's the first time he's seen that sort of look on Tatara. Is that.. sympathy?

Hm...

There's a tremble, slight, in the hold of his eyes, letting the firmness of his expression settle. Fatigue takes it further. He doesn't want to make this a problem, because it is not a problem. Or rather... it's not Tatara's problem, and Solomon's not going to make it his problem.]

Yes. I always will. No matter what happens.

[Because they are, and always will be, his dear apprentice.]

There's nothing to apologize for, Tatara. We have to choose our priorities wisely no matter the state of our hearts.

:nyan:

[1145pm]

[ Tatara's eyes soften when he sees the tremble in Solomon's. He gets it, in theory. But a part of him wonders if he'll truly ever understand how he feels. He's relentless and aggressive in his affections, but always the one being protected, never the one in Solomon's shoes.

He'll smile at the affirmation. At least there's that. ]

Yeah. That's true.

[ He thinks about Khun, Tatara's own position as sage, and holds that close to his heart. ]

I think you'll find a way to help them, though, especially since you care. It'll work out in the end, I think.

[ As things always do!

In the blank space of the forest, there comes the faint smell of cigarette smoke... ]

:nyan: :nyan:

[impacter]

Mm.

Thank you, Tatara. I'll believe so as long as I need to.

[He promised, after all. The importance of that in every aspect hasn't escaped his memory.

The sharpness of burning cigarettes on the air is an unmistakable break in the topic, though, and it perks up his attention, looking in the general direction of the scent.]

...Tobacco?

[1145pm]

[ The tobacco drifts and on the air is the sharp cold of winter, the bland smells of concrete and city life. The sounds in their ears fill with the nondescript buzz of city nightlife, but it's distant, indistinct.

Tatara looks up, and above them is a cloudy night sky, a dull reddish-gray from the light pollution. But peeking through the clouds, faint, are the stars.

He breathes, and something about it calms him. It shows in his posture, in the way his shoulders slope slightly, in the way his eyes soften. He doesn't need to look past the sky to know that this is home.

He doesn't look when a low rooftop forms around them, when a mirror image of himself and another man, tall with a fiery burst of red hair, manifest a short distance away. ]

[impacter]

[How long has it been, since he stood inside the boundaries of a modern urban landscape, the pollution and the plaster and all the sights and sounds and smells of human progress, human destruction, a fingerprint in time that left a mark, like the lingering of tobacco in the back walkways of an old motel.

He drifts to his Sage's side with a gentle touch to his arm and a nod to the side.]

Nostalgia hits hard, doesn't it?

Stay alert, my Sage. We have company. [A polite request. He's not going to barge into the memory of a dying man without his proper consent.] Who is that standing next to you, over there?

[1145pm]

[ The touch draws Tatara's attention back, and slowly, a distant smile crosses his face.

He drops his gaze to look at their two guests, and his answer comes after a short pause. A pause where his eyes rest fondly on the redhead. ]

That's Mikoto Suoh. The Red King. My king.

[ The dream figures stand in silence for a little while—Tatara's camera remains focused on the city lights, and smoke lazily rises into the air from Mikoto's cigarette. ]</small. I remember this night. It was one of the last we spent together.