MATTERS OF THE HEART

[sticksandbonesmods]

Who: Livio, Wolfwood, Elsword, Mizuki, Add, Heimr
What: heimrquest
When: several days after the bar is built, late in the evening
Where: ???????
Warnings: mentioned child death, mentions of plague, paranoia, supernatural-driven insanity, survivor's guilt, death, possession, impersonation, body horror. more will be added as needed.

The General Store isn't always the most bustling place, least of all in a small make-shift town of only a handful of people, each one more troubled than the last. But at some point, each and every one of you has needed something from Heimr today. Maybe it was just a bag of candy. Maybe it was something more pressing, or some groceries. Regardless, one by one he's tended to your needs, and you leave the store with little fanfare save for the fact that it's unusually foggy out this evening- not enough that you can't see other buildings...

Until you can't.

All around you is a heavy mist, and the scent of a wood fire and warm spices floats through the air. There's no turning back, so all you can do is move forward.

On an OOC note, the Choose Your Own Adventure threads will eventually merge into one group thread. Once this occurs, mod tags will occur after each involved character has tagged, or after 24 hours have passed. That said, if it looks like good banter or development is happening, the Mod will hold off a bit or until dramatic irony strikes.

LIVIO | WOLFWOOD | ELSWORD | MIZUKI | ADD
LAYER ONE
LAYER TWO
LAYER THREE
LAYER FOUR
LAYER FIVE

FIN?

Comments

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki is sticking close to Elsword, and even idly reaches a hand up to grab Livio's hand, if just to get his and everyone else's attention for a moment. Even though his voice is fairly flat to match his uncharacteristically blank expression. ]

The temple is where the thing that's possessing the forest is from. Like I said, these are the people who released the creature and are the catalyst to all the bad things that happened.

…They're not good people, and I don't really want to watch this, actually. [ Beat. ] Can I eat them?

[livlaughlove]

[sure, livio will take mizuki's hand. and shield elsword. and --

.......................................... HELLO???]

... Can you wait? If we see what they did, maybe it'll help us figure out how to undo it.

[harmacy]

[Add doesn't bother moving because he can just send Dynamo around the Livio Barrier and watch that way. He hums at his tiny holoscreen.]

I agree that we should wait. First-hand accounts like this are valuable, and there may be details here that would otherwise be difficult for Heimr to recall... once we've acquired enough data, we can dispose of the unneeded elements.

[simplicitas]

I'm fine if Mizuki wants to eat them after, too. [Just like, used to this shit.] Maybe it'll fix what's wrong with them.

[Elsword they're not real]

Isn't the Temple where Zahliya came from? I think he said that. On the map I have at home, there's the old church, [not the new and improved Catholic Church brought to us by Saint Father Daddy Wolfwood,] and there's the Temple. The old church was Nene's, and the Temple is what they made the gargoyle statue to stand in front of until stuff went south. ...I think.

[what if the church is garg and the nene is temple?]

[lupusxylem]

Maybe we should go over this later, if we’re gonna follow them they’re leavin’ without us!

[Wolfwood boutta walk ahead without you guys-]

Plan: follow ‘em, listen to what they have to say, figure out some lost secrets about the past or whatever, let squirt eat everyone.

Do I have it all right?

[mooninthewater]

[ He thinks that they he should just eat them right now. Whatever there is to find out is probably not worth it, but… whatever. He’s not one to argue, and especially so because he’s usually in the wrong here, so…

He lets go of Livio’s hand and cloaks himself in his invisibility before he saunters behind the merchants diligently. ]

[livlaughlove]

[liv definitely gives add a sideeye at "disposing" "unneeded elements" like these merchants still weren't people, but uh, he doesn't really have a leg to stand on, so he doesn't mention it out loud. he's more worried about mizuki, honestly. he'll follow, too.

closely, because he doesn't trust that they will stay intangible to the denizens of this memory forever. some kind of attack feels inevitable.]

Everyone try to stay on your guard.

[sticksandbonesmods]

Aldric doesn't keep with them for too long, only going with enough to see off his villager. Olivia joins him, glaring venomously at Callisto the entire time- who returns the animosity by blowing her a kiss.

"... Whatever I may think of you, come back safe, at least. And please don't piss off the spirits." Aldric says softly, which makes one of the merchants snicker.

Olivia wants to punch him, but with her twin brother gently squeezing her shoulder, she refrains. Callisto offers the first genuine smile, though it still feels off.

"You worry too much. We will be more than fine."

As the merchants and their guide set off into the woods, Aldric watches from the edge before he turns around, jaw clenched.

Mizuki and Livio may find that as they try to follow, the forest becomes less a real forest and more... like a watercolor painting that they happen to be standing in. Even the merchants take on that sort of appearance, and whatever conversation they try to make feels a bit garbled.

They can continue going forward if they wish, as this isn't the end, but Aldric's memory cannot clearly provide what he wasn't there for.

[harmacy]

[Add frowning thoughtfully from the back as he types "not omniscient" into his notes, so much for that idea]

We can't perceive events that Heimr wasn't aware of. Figures...

We should go back. Mizuki?

[the merchants aren't useful anymore, so !]

gagtag

[livlaughlove]

Fuck it. Mizuki, eat 'em.

replies to the gagtag for tag flow reasons- cw: cannibalism, bones crunching, gore, etc. dead dove

[mooninthewater]

[ Neat! Mizuki sort of stops and wait for some kind of "go ahead" or idea or… something. And it comes in the form of Add's "Mizuki?", of course. He should probably eat… all of them, right? Not just the really mean lady? Sure, he's eaten more in one sitting before, that's fine.

He whips out a couple of his tentacles to grab Callisto and her crew as Aldric turns around, covering their mouths so noises are muffled. He's not sure if memory people are edible, but it's worth a shot, right? He's going to attempt to drag them back into the more real looking forest, in hopes they become less watercolored themselves. If they don't, it's fine, he can just munch them anyway. He does instinctively sting them with his tentacles as well, as he usually does with his prey, so if there's any nerves to be affected, then have fun with the hallucinations.

Callisto is first, of course, as Mizuki sits down by her and pulls her head up by her hair. The other merchants are, at least, quickly put out of their misery. They're squeezed so tightly that the crunch of their bones breaking is all too audible. ]

I know you're not the real person. I don't know if you're just something fake — a puppet of some kind made up for this memoryscape, but… I'll try to fix you, anyway. It's a bit of a coincidence that we meet twice. It seems only right this time I do something to try and help.

[ He leans in, and there's a glow about him that's probably usually comforting. The light blues and pinks aren't supposed to be that scary, but perhaps, now, they're a bit more menacing than they should be. ]

Thanks for the food.

[ And he digs his teeth into her neck to pull out a chunk of flesh from there. ]

we love mizuki in this house

[harmacy]

[... yeah, okay, he appreciates Mizuki's efficient use of resources but this doesn't get any easier to watch. He clears his throat, turning his attention back to the path they came from.]

Right, I'll go back to check on Aldric... if any of you want to keep exploring ahead, we should be able to regroup at the next "layer". It'd be useful to know how much we can explore beyond the memory's limit, or if he might recall something useful about the temple.

[and then he's just gonna start walking back towards the Grove so someone else has to be on Mizuki Watching Duty... party split party split party split]

i love a little guy :)

[simplicitas]

[Spins on his heel to follow after Add—]

I'm going to go with Add, since I figure Wolfwood-hyung and Livio-hyung will be fine on their own. They know how to fight.

[Backhandedly says that Add cannot sorry Overmind DPS weaksauce]

cw: cannibalism in the first paragraph

[sticksandbonesmods]

There's the crunch of bones and then the world returns to 'real' from the watercolor painting with a sickening tear, and Callisto screams. As Mizuki feasts, he'll likely note that it's less like eating a person and more like tearing into oddly thick cotton candy. That happens to be savory.

For a moment the world pauses, and everyone will see a vision. The merchants never reach the temple and their guide returns to the Grove, confused and afraid- Aldric sighs and marks it up to the spirits of the woods not wanting anyone to touch the temple. He brings the guide into his home for some tea to calm him down, asks he go talk to Grace, and... life goes on.

Edward and Nene raise a garden that she soon plays with a young Vash in while teaching him how to harvest cucumbers and eggplants and fresh tomatoes. The children go to school and thrive, as best they can- a dark skinned man can be seen teaching the kids drama and flynning while a woman who looks like BB runs regular classes.

Helputt happily teaches those who ask swordplay with the guards.

Astarion and Taliira tend to the school flowers.

Wolfwood and Livio and the twins bond, and little Mizuki remains in frail health but is so very loved by his older sister.

Lucian and the theater debut with a small but adoring and loyal crowd that eventually grows larger.

Life continues. It thrives. They grow older, and the town grows more and more but always respectful of the forest lest it tear into them too. Before your eyes, everyone gets to live, and be happy together, finding love and whatever else.

And eventually the five of you find yourselves standing in a warm sunset while an old and grey Aldric saunters over, hand in his pockets. He looks at the clocktower that's been built in a small plaza with a smile before giving the boys a wistful look.

"Coulda been nice. ... Sorry this wasn't what you had. Now, go on back and we'll see what else you bring forward."

... And just like that, they're in the watercolor forest again, everyone- even the memories- safe and sound.

[livlaughlove]

[... okay. so liv is now completely confident that mizuki can defend himself. zero room for doubt there. and that's all. nothing else taken from that whole... thing. nope. moving on.

at least there's a palette cleanser. that... then needs its own palette cleanser, because seeing their happy ending strikes livio so deep in his heart it nearly takes him out at the knees. before he realizes it, he's holding his head in his hand because of the wetness of his cheeks and the throb in his temples.

he knows there's no time to dwell, though. having been given instructions, relieved to not have to make the decision himself, he follows after the restored figures of the merchants. at least he doesn't have to worry about the others' abilities to look after themselves. and if wolfwood tags along, then good, but livio doesn't force or even outright ask him to.]

[lupusxylem]

[It’s uniquely difficult for someone like Wolfwood to be presented with anything resembling a “happy ending”. A happily ever after, as it were. Because it only ever feels like a sweet lie. These sorts of lives don’t exist in reality. No one, least of all the people from the place he calls home, would ever get a life anywhere as happy as what this is presenting. The best they can do is survive. They survive until they die young, and the cycle- if they’re lucky- continues a scant few generations more.

He’s motionless as it plays out before them. Wordless, his gaze hooded and dark. He didn’t shy away from the carnage of Mizuki feasting on the merchants, and he doesn’t shy away from this either.

Yet, this is harder to watch.

It’s gone as soon as it happens, yet it somehow manages to feel like an entire lifetime just played out before them. And when Livio starts forward?

Wolfwood follows behind, the absence of the punisher leaving him missing it’s weight.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

The watercolor merchants and forest are pleasant in temperature at least, and while they can't understand the gossip and chatter, it fills the air almost comfortably. If not for the discrepancy in everything, one might assume they're just part of the caravan.

... But they can't just wander after watercolor ghosts for days, so eventually time seems to skip and with a jolt, their vision is clear again. Except... there are no merchants. And the color of the tree leaves have turned vibrant warm colors, while a soft chill is in the air compared to the cool spring.

Instead of Callisto, Aldric stands before a statue of a familiar gargoyle, his young son at his side and a few others curiously looking around.

Behind the statue likes an old building. Aside from some decorative spires and pillars, it almost looks like a box more than anything- and the door a lock. Suns and moons and stars are carved into the exterior, alongside a moose, a man, a dragon, a fish with extravagant fins, and a bird. All of them look as if they are holding something closed.

Aldric frowns. Livio and Wolfwood may realize he looks a bit younger than the last memory they saw him in.

"... Looks like it's supposed to stay shut..."

[livlaughlove]

[it makes more sense, livio supposes, that they find aldric's memories, not a random merchant's, in heimr's heart. clearly aldric must have learned something significant here, enough to convince him to maintain some level of respect and wariness for this place and the forest, so he tries to pay attention to what aldric's group might have to say.

he does, however, step around the building, particularly to note the various carvings. more guardians. by the look of it, he hasn't even met half of them yet -- at least, not the ones on the building rather than the statue of zahliya. unless he's meant to also be the man, or perhaps the dragon? definitely not the bird, as far as liv thinks...]

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood is keeping something of a distance himself as Livio examines the building up ahead. It's not hard to guess that these figures do depict other guardians of some kind, and that the ones they recognize- such as the moose and the fish- are ones they're familiar with. Had they been lurking in the forest this entire time, then? And given what the door itself is depicting...

Staying shut is an understatement. Wolfwood huffs.]

So these idiots somehow opened this door when they weren't supposed to, I'm guessin'.

[sticksandbonesmods]

Aldric watches for a moment more before Evan seems to run forward with a journal, sketching. He's a smart boy, but- Aldric still hovers, to be honest. The air feels heavy and thick and still, like the intrusion of man is going to destroy something, or call the gaze of something great and terrible upon them.

"Dad, look. There's twice as many suns as there are moons... And, I think that church Nene found is older than this place." Evan muses as he scribbles.

"Y'do?"

"Mm. They're both horribly worn from outside, but the church lost a lot of it's features compared to sketches of it's build before. This, though..."

[harmacy]

[Dynamo catches him before he trips, head swimming with false memories. He wasn't expecting that to happen so quickly—making a mental note to brace himself next time, if they make another drastic change to the script...

But it seems to have passed, for now. Add sighs, running a hand through his hair as he straightens his posture again.]

So that's his ideal ending... a cute fantasy, but I doubt it would be that simple. [he's mumbling in that "talking to myself but also don't care if you hear me and want to answer" kind of way] If it attracted one group of adventurers, more would probably follow. Those types hear about mysterious deaths and take it as a challenge. If the seal could be broken by regular people, I doubt it would've held up much longer regardless.

[Natural disaster, human curiosity, who's to say someone from the Grove itself wouldn't eventually cave? He knows what his own friends are like. The more you try to keep people away, the more they'll wonder what's hiding there. And back then they didn't even know, so why work so hard to protect it?

It's not Heimr's fault, in that sense. He could have delayed it if he was more paranoid, maybe, but even then it was never a guarantee.

... he should tell that to him later, once they're all back in the real world.]

[mooninthewater]

[ Mizuki doesn't take long — never does, really. He has to be quick about these things usually, especially when dealing with multiple people and in the bits of time crunches he's been subjected to back home. Unfortunately, this means that everyone will have to just deal with him being a messy eater. It's good, at least, that his clothes are waterproof. Most of the blood and other mess just slides off of him. Sans his face, anyway, that's easily going to be stained red for a bit.

When he gets up, though, he does do his best to try and wipe away the remains, to very little avail. He doesn't even seem surprised about the memory, even, and more just… sad he subjected everyone else to a timeline that never was meant to be. Maybe if he had taken matters into his own hands when it was just him and Heimr, that would've been better? It's hard to say for sure.

Still, he makes his way over to Add before anyone else, eagerly waiting to be told what to do next as he does his best to clean his face. ]

[simplicitas]

[Elsword thinks the version of himself in that fantasy is nice. Normal. Not like him now. But it's too idyllic and uncomfortable to deal with, thinking that he could've been someone functioning and not a walking nightmare who forgets his own name and the faces of people dear to him, so Elsword lets that thought go. He'll lose it, and the associated memory, eventually. Right?

There's a sigh, and then he steps over to Mizuki and starts scrubbing at his face. Helping.]

Yeah. Let's head back. I think Livio-hyung and Wolfwood-hyung went the other way, but they'll be fine. They're strong.

[harmacy]

And Mizuki... [oh. Mizuki already caught up to them? Sure, okay.] Nevermind. Let's go.

[backtracking, so it's pretty uneventful. He's expecting the scene to be the same as what they left, but maybe it'll be different since some time as passed...? It's hard to know for sure, since this isn't a physical space.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

The watercolor painting effect fades back to normalcy, and things look to be not long from where they left off- everyone is moving back into getting their day going and Aldric looks tired- maybe he'll go see Grace for a cup of tea if she's not busy. ... And he immediately looks even more tired when standing outside of the clinic is a man only Add will recognize.

He's demanding Grace open up- keep the girl but give him back his heir, he won't amount to anything in this backwater village, and how dare the leave to begin with? They can see a younger Nene watching from the upstairs window before a younger Edward quickly tugs her back.

Aldric is so, so very tired. By the time Asker notices he's there, his fists are balled up tight- he looks frazzled and drained himself.

"You- do you know what you even did, bringing my wife and son here? What's so good about this place?"

Aldric doesn't answer him, but politely offers a correction: "Your ex wife. And rightly so. I'm going to give you to the count of three to back away from the door and leave- I ain't havin' this conversation again."

Asker does not leave at the count of three. He does get in Aldric's face to yell more about how his heir needs to come home so make Grace open the door. He doesn't see it coming when Aldic just punches him in the stomach, and then again, much harder, right in the nose, and he's stunned when he falls flat on his ass, nose broken and bleeding, and glasses shattered.

"I said, out."