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

[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..."

[livlaughlove]

[a church, huh... livio glances up at wolfwood and speaks for the first time in a while.]

You found an old church, right?

[in the meantime, he sets to counting the suns and moons for himself. that might be relevant. it honestly never occurred to him that their numbers are different from those on no man's land, or may be significant. people have said sun and moon shards are helpful against corruption...]

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood nods, folding his arms over his chest.]

Squirt and me, yeah...but that was Nene's old church. Her plants and old stuff was still there and everything.

[And he hasn't forgotten that awful hallucination of her he saw up in the belltower. There's definitely more to it than what he was able to glean on the surface, he's reasonably sure.]

We came back with a journal from there, actually. It had a map in it, but we didn't get a chance to show it to anybody yet. We were gonna at the next meeting, or whatever.

[livlaughlove]

[the next one, huh?]

When's that scheduled, exactly? [he probably could time being slightly petty better than while they're trapped in heimr's heart, but... that seems like a big thing to have kept from everyone for so long.]

[lupusxylem]

Hell if I know. I guess it's supposed to be once a month, or somethin'? But that's only if somebody decides to do it. Dunno if it's really structured or anything.

[LISTEN LIVIO ITS NOT ENTIRELY HIS FAULT I ALSO FORGOT ABOUT IT-]

[livlaughlove]

[... well.]

Feel like we're gonna need one after this for sure.

[lupusxylem]

Yeah. We'll get that sorted once we get this sorted.

[Said as he nods towards the building.]

Maybe we should keep watchin'. See what they do.

[sticksandbonesmods]

Things can't be once a month if time is fake and the moon is full every few days!

Evan doesn't go anywhere near the door, while others are mostly just examining the outside.

"Is it a shrine, d'you think?" someone asks.

"Something like that. Maybe the tomb of something? Or... a lot of somethings? It's very big. But with the Guardians being shown on it, maybe it was important." Evan muses.

"Maybe don't cut it. It's like a chest almost." Aldric says.

The air feels even heavier as Aldric slowly approaches the doors. It's cold, and while he has no intention of opening anything, he gently presses a hand against the stone and in an instant his world- and thus the assassins following him- goes white save for two pale blue eyes.

Some things are best left forgotten, little lion.

A soft, feminine voice whispers, difficult to hear and yet impossible to miss.

And then it's gone and the temple and forest and his companions are back. Aldric's eyes are wide, and he's broke into a cold sweat. That was- that was a God.

[lupusxylem]

[Memory or not, the past or not...Wolfwood heard that. He felt it. And he's pretty damn sure Livio did too, without even having to look over at him.

He takes a short step back, managing to keep his footing, but...just barely.]

Fuck...what the fuck...?

[livlaughlove]

[while it isn't a tangible threat, how much it feels like it breaks reality is enough to set livio immediately into fight or flight. and, well, he's been extensively trained to react with fight. wolfwood surely feels the same, or at least knows without needing to see him that every muscle in livio's body tenses as it searches for an enemy that isn't there. or even an enemy, for all his mind knows.]

I -- Fuck. How the hell'd those merchants get past that? [like, MENTALLY? they're two assassins and it's almost too much for them.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Ain't that the question of the ages? How, how, how?

Aldric, at the very least, gets the message. He watches over everyone warily, never letting his son get too close to the stone. Others seem to have similar revelations, all with harrowed looks in their eyes and heavy shoulders before Aldric finally makes the call:

"Let's head on back. This ain't for us."

Whatever supplies for this odd hike are packed back up, and Aldric gives the temple one last weary look before he gently ushers Evan back into the woods.

[livlaughlove]

[judging by the way the first memory and the transition to this one played out, livio thinks it's best to follow aldric back out. but, just in case... he looks to wolfwood first.]

Think we should follow...?

[lupusxylem]

[Wolfwood is thinking the same thing, but even beyond that...he's not sure he likes the thought of staying near this building, now that they know what's within.

It shows in his expression, if Livio looks. Wolfwood looks genuinely rattled.]

...guess so. The memory ain't gonna stay intact if he leaves this place anyway, is it?

[livlaughlove]

I don't think so, no.

[there's possibly a chance that they might see another, later memory if they stay, but... honestly, livio doesn't have any desire to find out. clearly aldric didn't know what act released the false god, and surely any other memory he might have of the place would be horrific.

better that they meet back up with the others, if they can, and move on.]

[sticksandbonesmods]

It'd be a pleasant walk if not for how heavy the air is. The foreboding feeling slowly alleviates, bit by bit but those who saw the vision are still pale, shaken and almost in a daze. Aldric himself seems to keep his hand on Evan's shoulder both to keep the boy close in the woods and to ground himself.

...

Everything fades back to smoke and cinnamon.