kenoslogs | TDM + GAME OPENING 🎉

Entry tags:

TDM + GAME OPENING 🎉

Who: Shard-Bearers, new and old
What: Seeds take root
Where: The Tree of Life, Highstorm, Springstar
When: October 14th and onwards
Warnings: Potential for (mild) body horror, death, dismemberment

I. BEARING FRUIT (new characters only)

It starts out as a pleasant dream. You’re in your favorite place, with your favorite people. It’s a moment of idyllic comfort.

And then, it goes wrong.

The sky turns dark above, and as you look up, you see the black expanse of space spotted with faraway pinprick lights of stars. Yet, they’re not stars. You’re certain. They’re watching you. A billion eyes all looking down, and they spill forth as if sky itself was a dam holding back those dark waters. You reach back to the people you’re with, but they’re frozen in place. Their eyes are black, reflecting only the expanse of dark eyes.

So you run, even though you know you won’t escape it. You glance back and see it not overtaking, but consuming. The landscape around you is being devoured, and you can see it cracking apart. The world itself is breaking, and it cracks under your feet. You fall, and the billion eyes chase after you until the darkness swallows you whole. There’s agony as if you’re being ripped apart, and then—

You cannot see. You cannot feel. You simply are. Yet even so, impossibly, a woman’s voice speaks gently.

I’m sorry it couldn’t be saved. But, come, it’s time to wake.

You wake with a start, cradled by soft, velvety plants, and sticky with a sap that smells faintly of honey and iron. You can see the veins of the leaves that hold you, lit warmly and gently by what looks like a crystal embedded above you. Yet, it’s odd, because that crystal calls to you. When you reach out to touch it, it’s warm. Familiar. Important. You don’t know why, but you know you must hold onto this, because now it feels wrong for it to be suspended in these leaves. So, you pull it out.

The light starts to fade, but only in time to see as the leaves cradling you immediately start to soften and crumble, and with it comes a torrent of dirt. Soft, loamy soil starts to fill the space around you in the dark as you’re buried. Or, rather, you already were. You reach out through the dirt desperately, and your hands finds a root, so you pull while you clutch that precious crystal so close that it almost feels like it sinks into you (in your panic, you don’t notice that it does). You reach out again, and this time, your hand hits open air and plenty of sturdy roots around to grab.

From a seed you’re born, and like a sprout, you make your way out of the ground.

And once you’ve clawed your way out of the soft earth and the roots, nearby, you see the soil shift. Another hand comes up to grasp desperately for something, anything, just as you had been.

II. MORAL HAZARD

There are new Shard-Bearers at the Tree of Life, and Yima has asked that the earlier arrivals go to greet them and help them. These aren’t people from Horos, after all, so they’ll have many, many questions. As Yima explains, the roots of the tree rise up to create caverns underneath, and it’s there you’ll find the new Shard-Bearers. And indeed, with careful steps to not slip on the mossy roots, down you go. Perhaps Communion will help you find the new Shard-Bearers, but it might be a confusing process for them.

The roots all start to look the same, to the point that you’re sure that you’ve already been through this passage. You turn around, and most of the people you had come here with are gone, if not all of them. It’s confusing and unsettling, and strangest of all.. You’re starting to feel ill, even if that wasn’t something normally possible for you. But continuing forward, you do eventually find an unfamiliar face of a new Shard-Bearer. They look no better than you feel.

Before introductions, however, roots around you shift suddenly until you’re enclosed in a room together. From the roots, a face forms in the wall. It speaks in a creaking, uneven tone, as if it weren’t used to speaking at all.

Give to take. A sacrifice. To live.

LET'S PLAY A GAME...

As the Dryad will explain, characters are now trapped in a room and have been poisoned by the spores that the lichens underfoot release. An antidote lays beyond the roots the dryad has curled around you, but to access it, you must make a sacrifice.

Characters can pick one of the following options, but the decision must be made unanimously. If one character takes a drastic action (such as murdering another), it’s counted as a failure for the group.

Each of you must offer up a personal/treasured memory. The memory will be shared in Communion with all characters assembled, and then will be destroyed. No character will retain the memory or memory of its Communion.
Each of you must offer up something physical. A finger, a toe, an ear, it’s your choice. The dryad will offer a knife if this is chosen that will sever the body part of choice cleanly and immediately stop any bleeding.
Offer up another. Kill one person in the room.
Refusing is also a valid option. Characters will get more ill as they debate until they start to find it difficult to breathe, and they’ll die quickly after.

The following is OOC knowledge that will not be known IC: The consequences of this game are about intent, and thus are not real. When characters are freed from the tree’s thrall, they’ll have their memories/body parts/life intact.

This can be done in groups of 2 to 4 players, and Loremasters recommend three if you can swing it! It’s more fun when you get in philosophical debates, right? Regardless, when your group comes to a decision, please record it here. These don’t have to be fully threaded out to be recorded, so the conclusion can be discussed OOC if you prefer. Actions can be submitted until October 21st, after which groups will be informed of what comes of their choice…

When a group receives the antidote, they'll be released from the tree's thrall... But will have a hard time waking up. It feels like something has grabbed onto their spine.

III. DREAMING OF HOME

You may wake with a start from your deliberations (or arguments) with a jolt of pain from the base of your spine as something is pulled away rapidly. A dark-haired man who looks to be in his thirties or so holds you carefully, but as soon as you start to regain your senses, he sets you back and holds up his hands.

Woah— Woah there, it’s fine! The tree was, uh, trying to take you back is all. You’re fine now.

As long as you’re not going to attack him, he offers a friendly smile and a hand to shake.

Name’s Cyrus. Sorry about the rude awakening. Let’s get your friend here unhooked too.

And indeed, glancing over, you can see the person you met in that room laying nearby, and it looks like a vine has snaked underneath them to exactly where something had just been pulled from you… Best not to think about it, maybe. Or if you've been unlucky enough to be one of the last people rescued, you might find vines and roots starting to grow into your skin. It's fine!

CYRUS, THE TRIBUNE

Cyrus is the NPC heading up the Meridian Faction, and is available to thread with under this header. Cyrus has come to the Tree of Life to help rescue the Shard-Bearer’s from the Tree, so he’s not going to be inclined to explain too much right away, since he’s on a mission, but he’ll stick around once everyone is successfully freed from Prompt 2 to speak with anyone that wants to. The following is just an OOC summary of information in case you do not need to thread with Cyrus:

Cyrus will gladly introduce himself to everyone, and will further explain his position in Meridian and Springstar (see the NPC Page) and the goals of Meridian itself (see the Faction Page, save for the italicized section). But most importantly, he’ll explain that he knows it sounds like something overly optimistic. It’s fair to be skeptical. He’ll produce a small glass bead from a bag he’s carrying. It looks like the necklace he wears, though not lit up. He’ll explain that the force of Meridian is a gift and can be a tether to your home, if you let it. As his fingertips light up, the energy is infused into the bead, which he’ll hand to you.

Taking the bead into your hands, you’ll take a bird’s eye view of your home world as if your consciousness is split, since you’ll still perceive standing in front of Cyrus at the tree. Rather than a vision, the view of your world is absolutely real, you’re certain. It’s a glimpse at the world that you thought destroyed, and if you focus on a particular place or a particular person, you’ll find the view shifting rapidly to it. No one you watch is aware of your presence, but simply continues about their daily life, whatever that is. But after about a minute, the view will fade as the light in the bead also fades.

That’s an iliachtida, a sunbeam, and when infused with Meridian’s light, allows someone Harmonized to it to check in on their world, he explains. It also acts as an anchor that tethers their soul to their world in the Timestream. With it, their world can’t entirely disappear, so eventually, they can go home. It’s a gift he’ll allow anyone that wants it to keep it, but indeed, they’ll be unable to use it again without first Harmonizing to Meridian.

To help manage threadload for the Loremasters playing Cyrus, we ask that you only tag him with the character you are most likely to app. Similarly, new tag-ins will not be accepted after Monday, October 17th.

III. SPRINGSTAR, αιώνιος ήλιος

After your ordeals at the Tree of Life, perhaps you’re drawn to Springstar, the city of eternal sun and the seat of Meridian.

It’s currently (and fittingly) Spring in Springstar, and the bustling city is coming back to life after finishing up winter. It’s not as if the winters are especially harsh here, but you’ll quickly get the sense that the people of Springstar are vivacious and happy to celebrate. You’ll find the Entertainment District to be the liveliest, whether it’s at a rowdy bar or a brothel, but no matter what, you’re welcome with open arms and without question.

Of course, if you’d just like to use the chance to explore the city alongside your fellow Shard-Bearers, that’s fine too. It’s easy to get lost in the crowds of Springstar and see all the city has to offer.

IV. HIGHSTORM, луны-близнецы

Or maybe Highstorm, the city of twin moons and the seat of Zenith is more to your liking. It’s certainly the quieter of the two cities and is a relaxing, meditative place if that’s what you prefer. The chill in the air is constant, since it’s Autumn in Highstorm and the eternal night doesn’t help keep things warm, exactly. Snow isn’t out of the question at this time of the year, but it’s beautiful in the moonlight.

Because of the cooler weather than Highstorm is prone to, you’ll find many of its delights inside rather than outside. Libraries and museums are popular in the more introspective city, though it’s easy enough to find something that might please you. For example, the indoor hot baths are popular at this time of the year too. You’ll find the people are kind, if cool-tempered, though if you mention the fact that you’re a Shard-Bearer or allied with Zenith, they’re more likely to warm up.

Though much like Springstar, it may just be more interesting to explore the city with a fellow Shard-Bearer. And as a resident may warn you, it’s best to stay in the city. Wandering out into the marshes and forests isn’t advised. Of course, if you do, just contact a Loremaster to find out why. ♥

NOTES

Welcome to Kenos! As a reminder, all players are required to fill out an application, which are now open. This does include characters/players from Aion Teleos, so please don’t forget to fill one out! Any character/player that does not submit an application will be swept from the communities and the Discord after applications close.

Activity Check is optional this month, but is highly recommend ~~so Christy can check her fancy program~~ so that you can earn Activity Reward Tokens! Activity will be able to be submitted shortly after applications close. You can find more about how we do AC here.

This log is Game Canon. Any characters who are not apped to the game will disappear. If Cyrus or Yima are asked, they’ll explain that this happens sometimes, since not every soul has a strong tether to Kenos and sometimes return to the Timestream. They’re fine and may even return to Kenos one day, but for now weren’t able to make the full journey.

As a reminder, your character has a Shard somewhere on their body that encompasses their soul, so keep note of where you're sticking it on their person for reference! Additionally, they have a tattoo of their Aspect somewhere on their body. Please be mindful this Aspect will be assigned to you upon approval and whatever you choose for the TDM may be temporary (for new characters)!

For the Highstorm and Springstar prompts, both cities will be fully open and accessible to all characters once they are saved from their rather harrowing ordeal at the Tree of Life. For prompt ideas and any general information about the cities and what you can find there, please see the Navigation page and check out the locations!

FOR NEW PLAYERS:

New players are welcome to join our Discord Server if you haven't already!

When they emerge from their cocoon/the ground, characters may be wearing their normal clothes, or they might be nude. Up to you!

At some point in the days after leaving the Tree of Life, new Shard-Bearers will have a dream, even if they're usually not capable of sleeping. All new players should read this post, since this details how they'll learn about both factions and their goals and should help them make a decision in which Faction they'd be drawn to.

New characters will not have access to any canon abilities on the TDM.

Your character will be offered temporary housing either at the Heliopolis district or Yima's manor for the first few weeks after their arrival. They will also be given a stipend for basic supplies like clothing and personal effects, and food is served in the cantina (Heliopolis) and at regular meal times in the Dining Room (Yima's manor). Once they Harmonize, they will get personal permanent chambers and a fancy retainer in their Faction's city. Wow! 🌈

FOR OLD PLAYERS:

Characters may be Harmonized to their Faction (if that makes sense for the character, of course!) by the time of this log. This is more for IC reference, and just wait until application acceptance to do the OOC paperwork!

General reminder that your character won't have access to their powers until they have Harmonized.

CODING

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

i. bearing fruit: ouroboros is broken

[Mio digs frantically.

After being freed from her own confinement, she’d searched her surroundings with increasing desperation, looking for any of the familiar faces she couldn’t imagine not being at her side. The acceptance that she is alone doesn’t come quickly. If she emerged here, then surely the others can’t be far off. They could have freed themselves and run, as she had. Sena, strong enough to pull herself out far faster than Mio had, or Taion, clever enough to find his way, or even—even anyone else.

So when she finds another hand grasping for the air, she digs, unearthing the person buried beside her as quickly as she can. When the loose soil is pulled away enough that Mio can retract her leaf-scratched, dirty hands, pulling someone else out with them, she sighs in soft relief.]

There you are. Been trying to pull you out for nearly a term-

Oh… [Her expression wavers, if only for a moment. Recognition—or, more accurately, a lack of one—passes over her face. ] Ah, sorry; I thought you might be…

[No one wants to hear that their rescuer wanted to save another person. Mio shakes her head, then glances down at whoever she did manage to free. She begins to pull her puffy silver jacket from her shoulders, ready to offer it (and she’ll do this especially quickly if the other arrival is in the nude).]

You’re all right?

ii. moral hazard: how much time do you have left?

[Mio is already swaying on her feet, chest rising and falling in erratic, short little motions. Her hands ball into fists at her side, and despite what is obviously now a great deal of pain being caused by the "game," she speaks with passion.]

It doesn’t have to be like that… No one has to get hurt. No one has to die!

[Her eyes clench closed, the agony half from the poison’s advancing spread and half from the thought of letting anything precious slip from her grasp. When she’s gone from the world, everything she’s ever thought or loved or remembered will be gone as well. How could she willingly give anything like that up so easily?]

But if it comes down to it… if it’s the only way. I—

[Of everyone, she’s sure to have the least time left, but Mio’s voice struggles in her throat. She can’t quite bring herself to say it. She’s already running on one borrowed life, one she doesn’t want to squander.]

iii. in springstar, psychagogia: wonderdome

[Mio has been wandering around this eclectic, cramped city-island in an overstimulated daze, jostled constantly by others as she makes her way through the sensory overload.

So this is what the city is like…So this is a city. Are all cities the same? It truly isn’t anything like a Colony, especially with so many people who look so different from one another crammed together in the same space. Should she expect the same everywhere?

After an indeterminate time of wandering, carried past dance halls and entertainment venues on a slow, dissociative wave, she’s stopped outside of Starlight Park. Like many of the other establishments in the district, she hasn’t gone inside, and faced with the experience promised within, she hesitates to walk any closer. In fact, Mio keeps a fearfully reverent amount of distance from the main attraction itself, as if behold a relic or a dangerous weapon. As she senses someone else standing nearby, Mio finally wrenches her gaze away to look at them directly.]

They say it lasts for a month. Whatever’s on display, that is. [She looks back at the dome, her eyes glossy with a memory of a far-off place.]

One month… Think that’s enough time?

iv. in highstorm, the tomes: truth is stranger than

[The collection of books here is a novelty, one unlike anything she’s ever encountered. Records where she’s from are kept by necessity; soldiers of Agnus learn what they need to in order to fight for the Queen. Essentials are passed through Irises. There’s no need for fictional accounts, so she has no idea what to expect from a title from the “Indulgences” section. Is it any wonder that she takes many of the contents here at their face value as well?

Mio is seated, so enraptured in the book spread open in her lap that her ears twitch constantly with every page read, her lips silently forming the words as she scans them. She turns the page again, then…

She squeaks, jumping out of her seat.]

...Did something like this really happen? [Mio mutters to herself, unaware of any other visitors to the stacks. A quick glace at the book now dangling from her hand reveals the title: I Was a Teenage Snake Alien Who Conquered the Universe. ]

v. wildcard

[Something else you’d like to do with Mio? Hit me up! I can be reached on the Discord or

antiquating. For the moral hazard prompt, I’m certainly open to subjecting her to multiple sacrificial games! While I’m especially interested in putting her through sacrificing an important memory, I’m honestly very game to explore any and all options. If you’d like to rope me into something on another toplevel or set up something new, don’t be shy and let me know!]

Edited 2022-10-15 22:12 (UTC)

[ Rosaria had assumed she was alone, left to the dredges of the quietest parts of the library so she could smoke in peace. Oh, how wrong she was. The squeak and the voice draw her out of her quiet repose, and she frowns as she peeks around the shelf that had been concealing her presence up until now, catching a glimpse of light hair.

The girl looks young... possibly another outsider or a native. It's difficult to tell, and as much as Rosaria would like to ignore the matter and return to slacking off, the title of the book does catch her attention. ]

Who knows? If I'd learned anything since I'd woken up in this world, it's that there are more universes than we can count on both hands. Maybe there's one that had been conquered by a snake.

[ Snakes are basically dragons without wings. A strong and large enough one could theoretically accomplish– ...why is she expending braincells thinking about this? She's not going to have a pointless debate over it. ]

...I wouldn't believe everything you read in a book. Even historical writers fabricate events all the time to make their archons, kings, or military leaders seem more influential and powerful than they actually were.

[With how enraptured she'd been by her reading, the reminder that others are here is a sudden shock to her system. Mio shifts her weight to one side, leaning far enough to get a better look at the woman addressing her.]

Really? I wonder what's the point of writing it, then. It doesn't get confusing?

[She holds the book out at an angle, as if tilting it from side to side will unlock a few of its secrets. Then again, she supposes it makes sense. Mio thinks of all the things they'd ever been told about their world, the Consuls, their Queen. She's troubled by the thought of how many other lies might have been fed to them all. Equally troubling is the thought of how she must be coming across in this conversation.]

Sorry, [Mio adds. She might lack familiarity with so much art and culture, but she realizes she must sound ignorant and foolish.] Haven't had all that much time to read, in my lifetime.

...Not that it matters, I suppose. You're right: I'm pretty sure there's a lot I have to learn now.

Some people write just to make their own opinions seem important and so naive readers take their word as fact.

[ She fixes a pointed look on the young woman as she takes a drag of her cigarette. ]

Think of those people in your life who thrived on hearing the sound of their own voice –only set to paper. It's self-important garbage most of the time.

[ There aren't a lot of tomes in Rosaria's own world that aren't full of pure nonsense. Probably because most of the ones she'd been made to read had to do with their religion and the archons, and they had all been so dry and boring, she could hardly bring herself to pay attention to any of it.

Essentially, Rosaria had found the whole endeavor tiresome. She'd take napping over poring through books any day, which she's aware is mostly a Rosaria-only problem and not an opinion that's universally shared, as this young woman is demonstrating. ]

[Point taken. Mio supposes she is naive, especially when it comes to things like this. It might not be anything she could have helped before now, There's still so much she'd like to experience and learn. As she folds her hand around the spine of the book, it snaps closed.]

Right. Easy to control others when you control the narrative.

[Putting down the conquering snake alien novel for a moment, Mio turns to take in all of the other shelves that she can see from her position here.]

...Can't imagine they're all like that, though. I think...there must be some people out there who had something important to say. Somewhere.

[It'll probably take a while to get through all the fluff and find the heart of it, though. And Rosaria's critical emphasis on not believing everything she's told rings true, no matter how acerbically it was delivered. She cycles back to something else important that Rosaria had said.]

You're an outsider as well, then? What's it they call us...a Shard-Bearer?

[ Is that what they're calling them now? Sort of makes sense, considering the presence of a shard now in place of where her vision used to sit. It's still taking some time getting used to and is probably something she ought to look more deeply into her just to ascertain if it has any additional effects or if it's just there for decoration. ]

...I suppose. We seem to have a knack for attracting one another.

[ She thinks she's ran into more shard-bearers than natives at this point, probably because the latter regard them all with more skepticism and suspicion and the former are more inclined to ask her for directions. ]

I doubt these books can tell us much about why and how we ended up here. As far as I know, the first batch of those resurrected only showed up a few weeks ago.

[ If there was anyone who woke up here earlier than Kaeya and the grizzly old man, she's yet to find them. From what Kaeya had told her, the destruction of Horos wasn't even that long ago, so the two evens could have coincided, meaning there really weren't any shard-bearers in Highstorm before that point in time. ]

[ Gray is now in the very odd and unexpected position of being the less panicked person in a pair. She's pulled from the spiral grip of the poison and her own futile efforts to struggle free of the roots binding her. The other Shard-Bearer's passionate outburst pulls Gray free from her mental restraints, her mind slogging toward a response. Ultimately, she looks toward the face in the tree with a lethargic roll of her head. ]

What do you mean by... sacrifice?

[ The split of the Dryad's mouth opens:

An offering. Of the self. Of memories. Worth for worth. ]

[Mio places a hand to her chest, over the crystal embedded there. Her energy is waning rapidly, but at the Dryad's words, her sharp teeth dig into her bottom lip.

She turns toward the young woman trapped between the roots with her, and, with shaking bearings, tries to reach out for her. Get closer. Anything. She's afraid, yes, but the emotion trembling in her voice reveals itself to be as my protectiveness as it is panic.]

Our memories? Those are just as important - they're just as much as part of us!

[Of course, that's the entire point in the end. It's a sick game the dryad's playing - toying with their lives. Mio doesn't want to let herself be a plaything so easily... but she can't let someone else fall because of that.]

Is that...something you'd be able to do so easily?

[ The woman is correct, of course. With all the world-bouncing Gray has done in the past year, she's felt more than ever that her memories are the only possessions left to her aside from the scarring that now crosses her face. The thought of giving up one of the few things she thought were sacred to her is dismaying to say the least, an invasion of the self. But... ]

I don't know if we have much choice...

[ If there's something the woman can come up with, then Gray is all ears, but she herself isn't that clever or inventive. Maybe the woman is; she's certainly willful enough by the way she struggles to reach Gray. Meanwhile, Gray can barely muster the will to look between the woman and the Dryad. ]

Maybe... if we tell each other our memories... we can help each other remember afterward?

[ The Dryad continues haltingly and not at all helpfully:

Choose. Together. Give. Together. ]

We're working on it!

[Mio snaps, but it's half-hearted. The pressure from the Dryad is almost worse than the crippling weakness already beginning to drag her down. But the poison is making it harder to decide, harder to even see what's in front of her face.

It's...so much like that day, actually. The memory she least wants to give up is the one that keeps centering itself in her mind now. That's what she'll have to let go, isn't it?]

I made a promise, that I'd always carry this with me. Live on for them. But if it's to protect someone else...! [Any of them would understand. Miyabi would want her to keep moving forward and not let anything happen to this girl she's found herself trapped with.]

Right. We'll do it, together. Tell me - I'll do my best to remember it.

[ Gray nods slowly. Drags her feet a little despite the circumstances. Because even if she knows it must be done — no memory is worth the lives of both herself and another — it feels truly like she's about to give up something that's made her who she is for the better. It isn't the memory she wants to give up, but it's the only one that comes across strongly anymore as the fog of poison shrouds her mind. ]

When I met my mentor... Lord El-Melloi II.

[ The scene will paint itself in Mio's mind: an ornate, well-kept church, the old black statue of a Madonna looming over its interior, Gray wary and weary, Lord El-Melloi II tall and gloomy. Gray's emotions at the time bleed to Mio via the Communion that establishes itself between them. ]

It was about a year ago. He came to my village... We spoke in the church. He asked me if I thought people were capable of changing.

[ She thought he was strange. He was self-deprecating, vulnerable. She found him a little disgusting — but only because she could see herself in him. He openly admitted to being selfish, and he made her an offer with little by way of recompense. Even so...

"I want your help. I want you to come with me."

Those words along with an impression of a tall, long-haired man with deep creases etched in his brow will come across loud and clear via Communion. And so will the hope that trickled into Gray's heart when he spoke to her.

She thought,

If you'll worry with me.
If you'll suffer with me.
If you'll hurt with me.
If it's you, your guidance will be better than the advice of any sage.

The memory ends there, and the recollection of it wells up in Gray's eyes now. The Dryad says nothing but seems to emit and air of acceptance, as well as expectation that Mio should answer in kind. ]

Edited 2022-10-19 05:38 (UTC)

Ah... [She can feel how important it is, in the moment it spreads through her mind. It really is something so important... it seems like she's sharing a time where someone finally reached out a hand to her for the first time.

Even as the memory weaves itself into Mio's consciousness, she tries to grab onto its slippery form, wanting to do as she had pledged and help Gray maintain it once its given. It's like trying to hold onto a palmful of water.

It's already fading. But so is she, even if the slight twitch of acceptance that emerges from the Dryad is an encouragement. This could be enough to save them.]

... Her name was Miyabi.

[It's not the memory that Mio initially thought of, but perhaps that one is too painful to share now. There's an ugly peace to the scene that projects itself across the Communion they share. Pre-dawn, on a battlefield that's quieted down from the fight that preceded their arrival. Mio and another girl, flutes in hand and dressed in similar uniform, stand overlooking the carnage.

"Mio...have you ever touched a mote of light from a Kevesi? ...They're the same as ours."

As the two young women speak, the nature of their work becomes clear: They attend to the dead, and the Mio in this memory chafes against the restraint imposed on her by her position. They live to fight, after all, but the only difference they make is after everyone else is dead. No one else will ever see them.

But is it really recognition that she wants? Instead, the memory seems to be saying, what they do for the lost is worth any amount of commendation they could have received...a moment of significance in a life of endless service. The girl named Miyabi stands up and faces the fallen. "If we're forced to live this way, the least we can do... is this."

The memory begins fading as innumerable motes of light rise from the husks collapsed on the ground, music guiding their rise.

In the prison of roots and earth, Mio's face is wet with tears.]

[ Even if Mio's world takes a different shape, Gray innately recognizes the familiarity of Mio's work; no matter the fashion, technology, or circumstances of the time, death among humans is the same. People die and the ones that live are tasked with tending to them in the solemn border where they meet.

It feels like Gray watches Mio and Miyabi for a long time, the melancholy tone of their flutes soaking in like liquid to a cloth. But all at once the memory itself too turns to water, and it slips through Gray's fingers; and with that, she's brought back to the fog of the present.

The Dryad speaks no more, but its acceptance of their offerings comes in the slow retreat of its roots. When they're gone, the antidote will be uncovered for the taking, and the face in the wall melts away without further explanation. ]

Enough time for what?

[ it's a good thing Johnny's already met a few people with animal ears - Mio's only get a cursory second glance. Apparently, that's a common trait on other worlds.

He's just gotten here, too, and was scoping out the place. Memories, they say. After investigating, he knows they won't be his; it's not like he's had time to volunteer. Even so, he finds himself hesitating. The idea of walking in and seeing his childhood home is terrifying. So, instead, he's sitting outside in his wheelchair, staring indecisively. ]

[His chair gets an equal amount of inspection: It's unusual for her to see, but she thinks she understands quickly enough. She holds one hand over her chest, fingers curled.]

Dunno. For all of it, I suppose. To know that you've seen everything that you wanted to see. To get used to the thought of not seeing it again when the month passed.

...To say goodbye.

[With so many people here, it must be unlikely that the same person ever has their same precious memories brought to the park more than once. Maybe it would be better to never have them featured at all, if only to not carry the weight of losing them again after.]

It's just such a short amount of time, you know?

[ he tilts his head. ]

... Is your memory the one that's in there or something?

[ he's a practical thinker; he assumes that she's considering all this so deeply because she needs to make the choice now. Maybe it's because - were he in her shoes - he wouldn't even be thinking of saying goodbye. ]

It's not like it'll be goodbye forever. You'll go back someday. [ Probably. ]

Huh? Oh, no. I've only just got here. I've no idea what's in that dome right now.

[Given when she's been told, though, what he says is a possibility...it's braided into the philosophies of this place. Even if it took a long time, several months of memories and stories replaying in the park, they're betting on the hope of restoring what once was.

Mio touches the side of her neck gingerly, as if running her fingers over the waning mark there might cause her pain. It feels the way it always does, and she lowers her hand.]

It'd be nice. If I could see them again. Even so... I think I'd like to be a part of making sure others have the power to restore their worlds.

[ the touch to her neck doesn't go unnoticed, but he doesn't comment on it. It's plain to see that she's clearly got some complicated memories of home, which means she's got some kind of complicated history in turn. He gets it. ]

Even if you can't see 'em? That's pretty generous of you.

[ he has so many problems of his own that seem nigh-insurmountable; he can't even start thinking about trying to help other people with theirs. She's probably a better person than him. ]

[ The whole unearthing - unbirthing? - thing goes a lot faster than she expects.

Probably because she's not alone; even as she frantically digs and reaches, she can feel hands nearby scraping away clumps of dirt and pulling at her wrist. Not once does Huiwon think to question who it might be. Having been with her companions right before all this, it's only natural that the one(s) helping her out would be those same companions.

Except....it's not.

When she finally wipes the worst of the dirt off her face and blinks her eyes open, the face before hers isn't one she recognizes. And while the apologetic words make plenty of sense, that's not a voice she recognizes either.

Huiwon opens her mouth to speak. A dusty croak comes out instead. She grimaces, coughs a few times, and then tries again. ]

It's okay. I thought you were someone else too.

[ So surely it's fine then, if they were both misled. ]

Do you know what happened to—us, by any chance? Where we are?

[ She is pretty sure she was not remotely close to any trees before this. ]

[She smiles just a little, thankful for the other woman's understanding. The situation is dire, though, and her expression just as quickly returns to a serious and thoughtful one. The horrifying shadow that dropped over her world, her friends, is still a sharp stab in her mind.

Mio sits back on her heels, a worried hand still hovering toward Huiwon as she coughs and struggles to regain her voice and breath. She looks completely unfamiliar, not only as an individual but in her nature. Mio cannot place her on Aionios at all.]

Everything became so dark...like it was all falling apart. Everyone else was frozen, even when i tried to reach out to them.

Then, I heard a voice... [It sounds mad, something that she only realizes now that she's saying it out loud. In some ways, it feels as if it happened in another lifetime; in others, the horrifying things she saw are embedded in her.] Apologizing.

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mio | xenoblade chronicles 3 | unknown (exalt??????)

iv;

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ii

i'm tagging you back now but if we wanna make this a 3- or 4- man dilemma anyone is welcome to join!

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presume some level of late-game xenoblade 3 spoilers from here on out

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more spoilers!

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iii... i haven't beaten xbc3 so [backflips past spoilers]

sib...finish the game 🗡️ also no spoilers! i think i glazed most of them in my tl too tbh

i didn't see any!! ur good

she is from ch 4!! for when you PLAY THE GAME (and i might app caren first so you have time)

yeah i'm on like chapter 2 cries... I'M WEAK

i. i am finally here to touch your catgirl

my catgirl is about to get thanos snapped but i'm gonna tag you back anyway