Sixth.

[azumods]

NIGHTMARE. Riley has been largely absent for the past day; he's needed the time, he's said, to try to sort out what should be done about Darkrai and Cresselia. Whether they can be contacted from a safe distance; whether there's something he can do to ensure that there's no risk to the rest of you. You fall asleep on Friday night. You don't remember deciding to fall asleep on Friday night; perhaps you were in the middle of doing something. Perhaps you were keeping watch over the rest of the group, perhaps you were talking to someone, perhaps you were unable to drift off and sitting up poring over notes or books by flashlight. Perhaps you were already well asleep by the time it happens. Either way, Friday night begins to slip into what's technically Saturday, and that's when you drop off. And you are, quite literally, falling. The sensation is a strong one, somehing that disorients you almost immediately, the sort of thing that happens in dreams only to be accompanied by a hypnic jerk that wakes you up safely in your bed, only that moment of awakening never comes. The landing isn't a hard one, however, wherever you've ended up; it's one you're aware of, but not one that hurts you in any way, there's no physical pain. There's only you, and the ground, and the absolute darkness surrounding you. You should get up. Get your bearings. The darkness won't last long, but what it reveals to you when it breaks might not be as welcome as you might think it is...

Comments

GROUP ONE.

[azumods]

[As the darkness recedes, the first thing you'll notice is the grass beneath your feet as you stand up; the area you're in is surprisingly calm, it looks to be a meadow of some sort. In front of you is the gentle slope of a hill, likewise grassy and soft-seeming; you're aware of a few others around you, but they seem less urgent in your mind than seeing what's beyond the crest of that hill.]

[thunderwolf]

[Well.

This is...fine...

Once he's on his feet, Eustace makes it his priority to investigate the unfamiliar territory he's somehow ended up in. He glances around, taking note of the others before advancing toward the top of the hill. What sort of view is beyond it?]

[radiantflame]

[Elysium is the name that first comes to mind. Rex has spoken often of his vision of the supposed paradise- a calm, endless field of green. The kind of place a native of Mor Ardain could only dream of. But this can't be Elysium, because she's not in Alrest.]

Where...?

[Morag takes a few cautious steps up the hill, glancing around slowly to search for signs of anyone else nearby.]

[omissions]

[This place... it almost reminds Ari of the fields outside of his village of Tenel. He looks around a little for anyone else, before he takes those few steps to look down over the hill here.]

[divinedescendant]

[llllook. look. no, she is not hurt, and yes the meadow is very pretty and all, but Emmeryn is absolutely not here for this falling shit at all so, like, give her a minute or two to collect her bearings and calm down enough to actually let herself interact with people before she actually gets up.]

Is everyone all r...

[...okay no they're already gone so here she goes up the hill, too, regrettably.

And okay, the thing is—there's a very natural progression of events that would lead to the sight waiting for her over the hill; the others (her awareness of their presence at all has dimmed, and she's distracted from the shame of that for now) may have to ask what has happened, what they've done, but Emmeryn can so easily fill in the timeline of her absence well enough to understand. When she had thought of this ending as a possibility, she hadn't truly believed in it—and yet.

Softly, distant-sounding,]

Then I was wrong.

[Ylisstol has fallen.

The thought of turning around occurs to her next to some awful knowledge that there is nothing to be done, but she cannot abandon her people again. With one quiet, more reflexive than anything,] Excuse me, [as if there is anyone to hear it, she makes her way down the hill to the wreckage of the ruined city.]

GROUP TWO.

[azumods]

[As your mind attempts to cut through the darkness, eventually something will come into focus; it's something familiar to you, a place you recognize, a place you and those you love know to be safe. You're standing alone in a room you know, all of your partners and friends from Sinnoh outside of your awareness for now - for now, you're in a place you find familiar, and something in you knows that just a room away there's someone you care about. It hits you that it's been a while since you've checked on them; you should go check on them.]

[enjoymyatelier]

[Ah, Kayneth's study. It's nice to be back here, and perhaps there's something tugging at the back of his mind that he shouldn't just... you know... be in his danged study, but eh. It's nice. It's comforting. He's home, and he should probably head out and see what Sola-Ui's up to.

This is probably going to be a pleasant experience!]

[takestheblame]

[There aren't that many places Kiryu is attached to. Only recently he got one -- his home, with Haruka. His bedroom looks the same as usual, and for a moment all he can think is in Haruka. He wants to see her.

Which is why he exits the bedroom. Haruka should be in the kitchen, still trying to get a handle on how to make breakfast. She was always enthusiastic about that, he should help her with that]

[greydients]

[There's always been something welcoming about the aged corridors of the Millenium Falcon, and Rey feels herself relaxing as the main lounge comes into her view. It feels like so long since she's been here, and even though their circumstances aren't the best...the most important people in the universe to her are currently located on this ship.

That reminds her - Finn had been tending to Rose after the battle on Crait, hadn't he? She should probably go and see them, make sure everything is alright. If she remembers correctly, Leia suggested they move into one of the more private rooms, with a bunk she can rest on. Maybe Poe is with them!]

[hyruglyphics]

[ Most of the rooms Zelda is most familiar with are long, long since destroyed. A hundred years passed with only minimal awareness of what happened outside of her struggle for the princess, and so there is a nagging sensation at the back of her mind that her little laboratory and study that she kept up the ramparts from her bedchambers at the castle shouldn't and can't be considered anywhere near safe anymore.

To be honest, other than the wilds of Hyrule, the stars under her, not many places in Hyrule can be thought of as "safe" - and as such where she comes to be is somewhere that she's only really been to once, at least in its current form - that is, a guest bedroom in Impa's house. But the smell more than anything is familiar. Incense and other trappings that feel quintessentially like the woman Zelda knew when she was a hundred years younger and had re-met in the present. But more than that, she knows that just down the stairs is--

... Well, needless to say, she's going to head right for the stairs. ]

[heritrix]

[How did I...?

There's a niggling buzz in the back of Rin's head; the fuzzy sensation of purposefully walking into a room to fetch something, only to forget what you were looking for the moment you cross the threshold.

There's no wayward item out of place here, however. Happy housewife that he is, Shirou's living room is clean and tidy much like always. The simple table that ties the room together is spotless, and—oh, perhaps that's what's out of place.]

Shirou, will there be anyone besides Fujimura-sensei joining us for dinner? I'll set the table.

[It's close to dinner time, after all. Shirou will be in the kitchen cooking for everyone; Saber is no doubt there as well, to curiously observe and no doubt nobly volunteer herself for taste testing. Smiling to herself, Rin makes to join them in the kitchen as well to fetch the plates and silverware they'll need.

Enough for four people... Maybe five, if she can be hopeful?]

GROUP THREE.

[azumods]

[The darkness draws back slowly; it takes a while for something to come into focus, but after a while something will - for all of you, Ignis included. It's the interior of a building, the sort usually associated with a village of some sort, all stone walls and modest wooden furniture, and low lighting provided from a small, dying fire in the hearth. You're aware of a few of the others here with you; there's a large wooden door set into the wall in front of you. You might want to see what's outside.]

[discutio]

What-

[Blink. Blink blink. Ignis took off his sunglasses, rubbed at eyes that were now bright green, and...actually looked at the others.]

...Something's wrong.

GROUP FOUR.

[azumods]

[As the darkness pulls away from the edges of your vision, you'll find yourself separated from your group, standing alone somewhere that's both familiar and not at the same time - you recognize the area as somewhere you know from home, but it isn't quite the way you remember it. There are subtle differences, things that make this place feel not like yours anymore, though it's difficult to say at first glance what's wrong with it. You can hear people speaking, however; perhaps you might want to see what's happening.]

[gekkaju]

[Atsushi has had plenty of falling dreams before, but this one feels so real that he thinks he should be waking up by now...except he's not.

Maybe he really is falling?

He doesn't have much opportunity to think of how or why, only enough time to feel a cold spike of fear just before he hits the ground. Thankfully not a hard enough fall to be particularly painful despite what the falling would have suggested. He groans, realizing he's standing before he had made to actually get up just as the darkness fades and reveals...

It's the river. Where he met Dazai...but it feels wrong. He feels like he, perhaps, shouldn't actually be here right now at all.

The voices snap him out of his reverie and he starts forward towards the speaking before he can stop himself, along the edge of the water in the direction of the bridge.]

Daz-...guys? Where are you?

[Maybe he'll find Dazai in the river again...wouldn't that be something.]

[eudaimonikos]

[Welcome! Everything is fine.

Michael's standing in the doorway of his office, like he's been a thousand times. But there's nobody waiting on the couch to be invited inside, and something feels...wrong.

He designed this entire reality personally, down to each individual blade of grass. It should not feel this unfamiliar. He's sure that if he stopped to investigate, he could determine what the problem is - is the shade of green on that wall off by a few values? Maybe the plants in his window are missing a couple of leaves. It's not an obvious bug; he'd have to really look.

But there's voices outside. That seems more pressing. Michael's building is one of the more central, prominent ones in town, facing right onto the cobblestone square with the big fountain. He's careful as he opens the front door to peer outside. Something is wrong, and if the neighborhood is genuinely malfunctioning for once, things could very easily start to slip out of control.]

[perfectselfie]

This is the live house. This is CiRCLE...?

[This doesn't feel right. Aya recognizes it, of course. She's rehearsed here and played here before. But...something definitely isn't right. The rehearsal space's walls aren't black normally; they are red. That's the first major difference she notices.

She hears someone speaking, and she calls out.]

Hello?

Re: GROUP FOUR.

[swiftasacoursingkawa]

[This is...Deimon High School? The corridors seem right, but wasn't he just...falling, or something? These posters on the wall, those are definitely recruitment signs for the Devil Bats, but Hiruma wasn't recruiting anyone anymore, was he? They were more focused on building their skills for the Christmas Bowl....]

Eh...? Guys...?

[Sena timidly looks around the halls. The time on the wall, it says...this is just after the final bell. Shouldn't the halls be full of people by now? He can hear them talking...]

Mon...ta...?

[...he's not entirely sure which Monta he's calling for, now.]

[redbellion]

[ keith is standing inside of the castle of lions, just as he remembers it. he's in the middle of the lounge area, standing in the midst of the circle of couches that surround him.

it's not right.

the castle feels...smaller. more closed in. keith feels like the walls, for some reason, are caving in on him. but he hears people talking. the paladins? shiro? ]

Guys? [ his heart's pounding in his chest. ]

ENCOUNTER.

[azumods]

[Once the darkness seems to sense that you're aware of it, there's something about it that seems decidedly more aware of you - some of that sense of foreboding that Ignis sensed in his first nightmare, perhaps, though it doesn't seem malicious this time. And as the darkness spreads around you, it seems almost as though walls are coming crashing down - you can simultaneously see less and more all at once, the area you're in completely mired in pitch black nothingness but at the very least the rest of you are visible to each other again (even to you, Ignis; your vision may not work anymore but your mind's eye is fine, take in what these people look like while you can). The scenes you've been playing out by yourselves or with the few friends you had with you have completely melted away to reveal all members of your group in more or less the same limitless, empty space.

Riley is here as well (as are Jake and Yuri), seeming just as dazed as the rest of you and definitely looking like he's seen better days - not like he's been crying, per se, but like he's been strongly considering the merits of it. He also is probably considering the merits of shaking Cynthia very roughly for voluntelling him into doing this, but he manages to get himself together eventually either way.]

Attempting to make contact didn't go very well. Or maybe it went too well, depending on how we're going to interpret this.

[Riley's words are very, very flat; he doesn't have time to dwell on it, however - and really, neither do you.

There's something you're suddenly aware of, there in the darkness - it's strange, almost a shadow, something rippling and vast that seems to be darker than pitch. A void, something that's present in the back of your mind just as much as it is right in front of you, and from that void rises something you've never seen before.

It's approximately human-sized, and seems to be formed of wisps and tatters, a single piercing blue eye staring straight at you, seeming almost to see through you in a way that's likely as uncomfortable as it is complete; it doesn't speak to you, but rather seems to be waiting for you to do or say something, and there's a definite sense of pressure radiating from it as it does so.

Address it if you wish; you've already come through some of the worst this creature can do to you, after all.]

[semistableman]

[That is absolutely one of the scariest-looking creatures he's ever seen. He actually takes a step back, because while the Guardians were very cute, if terrifyingly powerful, this one just seems to be... scary.

Someone else can take over for now, he's too busy being incredibly intimidated.]

[anythingforyou]

[Gods, seeing everyone again has never been so gods damned relieving yet terrifying. Have they all been going through this shit?

True to her word, Camilla's staying back some; she's still plenty pent up and red in the face, but the creature gets almost an immediate response, Camilla recoiling back and glaring as hard as possible.]

What is the meaning of this?

[Camilla's not sure if communicating's going to go well, but damn if it isn't the sole thing she has at the moment short of killing intent that's barely restrained.]

[eudaimonikos]

Alright, everybody, let's just back up here.

[Michael's not including himself in that; he's mostly reaching out to push Aya (and whoever else is closest, but particularly her) a few steps behind him.]

Hey, man. [.......] What the fuck?

ENCOUNTER.

[azumods]

[There's something in your mind, then, that seems to simply let go - not like a tether being snapped, more like an anchor being untied; something that will let you drift away and up, free from Darkrai's influence as well as its presence, at least for the time being. What's left behind is warm, and it's soft and welcoming even though the surface you're lying on is decidedly not.

Oddly, you won't wake up on the ground in the mines of Iron Island; when you awaken you're on the lobby floor of the Harbor Inn. It's hard, and it's wooden, but it's likely better than sleeping on solid rock. All of your belongings and your Pokémon are here, tucked back against the walls and easily able to be found again; there's also undeniably something else here with you, settled on the floor in the middle of your group.

The light it gives off is soft and pale, similar to the full moon on a starry night; it's fortunate, really, given that it seems to be nighttime outside and there's still no electricity in the inn. It will stay among you even after it's obvious you've awakened; unlike the strong pressure given off by Darkrai, the sense she gives off is light and gentle, and despite her appearance she seems to be covered in soft down.

She seems willing to hear it, if you have anything to say; she'll wait until spoken to, but she does seem receptive.

Hello.]

[perfectselfie]

[...AYA LIKES YOU A LOT, CRESSELIA.]

Hello, friend.

CONCLUSION.

[azumods]

[While it was something of a harrowing experience, you've found what it was you were looking for and then some; what's perhaps more important is the fact that you've earned the favor of two more of the local deities. While Darkrai and Cresselia are stark opposites in more or less every way, they do agree on one thing - balance and spirit need to be restored to the world, and they intend to help you do it in any way that they can.

For now, however, Cresselia will leave you eventually, disappearing into nothingness and her pale, calming glow fading back into the darkness of the inn; what you do with the rest of the evening is up to you, but when you sleep eventually tonight, know that your dreams will all be pleasant ones, and you'll awaken fully rested the next day - moreso than you have in quite some time.]