T̃ͯ̃ͦ̐ͥ̀h̸̿̿͒̄͋̈́e̛ͥͫͧ͐͊̃ͨOͥͤ͗͞the̸̿͂̂r ͪ̑̂ͣ̊ͣSͭͪͭi̧d̍ͭ̓ͧe͑͗ͪͭ̄

[dramatispersonae]

[Many of Aather's Alumni elsewhere will notice their candles suddenly light, and the Legacies who did not heed the Call from earlier will notice their keys light up. Through the light of both, Snow White's voice can be heard, desperate and weak, as she urgently pleads for their help:]

The Darkness found its way through the tears in the Story and is running a game of it's own, and your friends are in grave danger! I— I tried to help, but it's captured me here and my power is waning.

I can open the door so that you may fight it head-on, but I'm afraid that will be the limit of what I can do. Please, Heroes, help—!

Comments

A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[dramatispersonae]

[As you cross the barrier, you feel a moment of weightless -- but it lasts only a second before your feet land on torn paper and you feel a distinct pressure in the air all around, pushing down on you as though trying to drag you down to your knees. Everything around you has the distinct feeling of wrongness as you look around and see the torn paper all around you with dark ink splattered all around; as though you're looking at something that shouldn't be seen…]

[As if in response to your sudden arrival, the ink begins to pulls itself off the pages, taking entire words with it, and pools around on the floor before you. With all the ink collected, you find yourself staring at a shapeless mass of shifting feathery tendrils...and you realize you're not looking at mere ink at all.]

[For those of you who look for her, you find Snow White is collapsed on the ground before the small bonfire that brought you here, and you see that she has grey colorless patches all over her body, something that looks quite like stone. You can also see a small iridescent seed in her hand, but you may need to focus on the matter at hand first…]

[virtuallyroyalty]

... I didn't think coming back was going to be like this.

[ Kazuki stares at the ink-creature warily! Before looking around, taking a note of other alumni and legacies and Snow White too, trying to make sense of the situation and not cave to the pressure. ]

[mirroredvalue]

[Being a shapeless mass of tendrils is rude, don't you dare try impersonating Saya any more.]

Guess that's the form the darkness is taking this time, then?

Still, ink...? Is that how the Darkness managed to get placed into the story?

[blackjacked]

[aaaaah, it's been a while. . . this song and dance is familiar]

Whoa-- hey!

[FIRST THINGS FIRST: TEND TO UNFAMILIAR PERSONA. he rushes towards Snow White's side, his hand resting on his healing materia]

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[isfet]

Hohhh? Is this how weak everyone's gotten since I left?

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[knockingdowndeathsdoor]

--seriously?

[ but first things first is tending to the new persona! ]

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[aberdevine]

What the hell is this--?

[no, I'm pretty sure I want to focus on the seed. is it, in fact, a hope seed?]

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[floorcandy]

Helping's what we're here to do.

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[bunny_ears]

[taking stuffed animals out of her belt pouches with one hand, and holding her key with the other] Fucked up times infinity...

[keeping her eyes on the ink creature while sending out a few stuffed animals as winged scouts]

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[hakutaku]

[This guy is putting his jacket around Snow White.]

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[karlsefni]

[ pulls a knife out with one hand, and a hope seed in another - he's taken to keeping a few of these on his person at all times. ]

Disgusting.

Re: A̵n҉d wh̸at wa͡s̴ ̶fou̵n͢d͡ ͜t͏her͘e̢

[glorious]

[IS ALSO TECHNICALLY HERE though is mostly quietly observing to get an idea of the situation and also to OOCly make my life easier]

o͜n̕cȩ ͟u͡po̶n ͘a ͞t̛i͝m̛è

[dramatispersonae]

[The area lights up, suddenly, in a massive burst of flames from the direction of a certain Coral, setting the creeping feathers alight and charring the paper scraps in the dark void. There is a sharp keening sound that feels like a needle straight through your eardrums, and the feathers scatter apart, trailing smoke and ash.]

[Ink spills down on either side, gushing out like a fountain of blood—but it moves too fast, zig-zagging around the group of knights and heroes. It's black-on-black, but you can make out the glitter of movement in the light of the fading fire. It seems like the ink is trying to surround the heroes, encircling you.]

[reaction]

[dramatispersonae]

[action]

[dramatispersonae]

[The dark ink is spreading out around you in a circle. What do you do?]

[result]

[dramatispersonae]

[The entire area is vividly illuminated by Mikage (better not look directly at that), making it much easier to see the ink creeping about. The solid feathery mass also splats apart as his mine goes off, shooting zig-zagging balls of ink and feathers in every direction. Luckily, most of them don't seem to be able to head towards the heroes—Kit (and Lark)'s wall of fire, Bonten's shields, and Velma's stuffed animals take the hits instead. Toki's squid helpfully siphons any of the ink that tries to cling to the shields or the toys—what goes into that thing doesn't seem like it's coming out again.]

[Meanwhile, the pile of Velma's clothes and fabric that she tossed at the ink have become soggy and ink-soaked, and are pulling themselves together, upright, like some sort of grotesque puppet, lunging forward—luckily, Star and Shes are hype to attack the darkness, with Kazuki right behind it on the other side, so it's going to get cut down pretty damn fast.]

[There's a loud noise again, like nails on a chalkboard, or something ripping, tearing, and then—quiet. Any remaining ink zig-zags away in a hasty retreat, over papery shreds of wall, forming words—]

coming

get them

devour

i̢n̛comi͜ng̛

[dramatispersonae]

[There is a harsh ripping sound, like paper tearing, and the illumination from Mikage's light reflects off the peeling ceiling as it buckles—and you can hear incoming sounds getting louder. Are those screams . . .?]

[Before anything else is even visible, blood splatters down, spraying the group below. Something else is coming—someone? They're falling . . .]

[reaction]

[dramatispersonae]

[incoming]

[dramatispersonae]

The seed blossoms and spirals out a dozen vines, Tiger's Eye golden with a rainbow variety of glittering gemstone leaves. Each one coils around a falling hero or knight as they fall down, gently coiling and twisting under the sudden weight and stop, letting each person gently down on the ground.]

[Each . . . bleeding and probably gross person . . . Hello, friends!]

c͝r̕e͘ep̧̀in̨g̴

[dramatispersonae]

[As the Legacy and Alumni help heal everybody, there is a . . . scritch, scritch in the darkness. Skitter, skitter. Something—many somethings—had escaped from the falling heroes, and now they're making their way back. Squiggling black tendrils merge with blotches of feathery, inky darkness, growing—creeping, with too many dripping legs, too many blinking bottomless eyes, too many surging and twisting appendages. Creeping back, and looking for someplace warm . . .]

[reaction]

[dramatispersonae]

[if you choose to be bitten, body horror will follow. this is optional. squishing them or saving your friends or doing anything else is legit]

[and then]

[dramatispersonae]

[The remaining parasites seem to reconsider their options after getting stab stab stabbed a whole lot, and the remaining mass of them begin to burrow abruptly into the ground, leaving splattered black ink messages gleaming in the light reflected from your keys.]

fall

fall

fall

[. . . a low, ominous rumbling begins and parts of the ground begin to suddenly collapse in on itself, like sudden sinkholes.]

v͠oi҉d

[dramatispersonae]

[The hope seed shines like a tiny illuminated star in the darkness—which is good, because any 'ground' has completely dissolved. In fact, so have 'walls.' So has anything except the pinpricks of light, and the high, dark shaft above your head. The plant has sprouted into a massive, twisting mass of vines, holding heroes and knights suspended in an endless void. The words 'rise' and 'live' occasionally flicker against the vines, pulsing with color like the rainbow gemstone leaves, before fading, only to appear somewhere else a moment later.]

[All along the 'walls'—or more to the point, in the darkness surrounding you, words seem to flash and glitter in the reflections from your keys.]

show me a hero and I will write you a tragedy
s̴ho̴w͏ ̧me ̵a̴ ̛he͜ro an҉d I͢ ̕w͢il͞ļ w̶r̨it̴e ͞y̶ou͜ a͞ t́ráǵed̵y̵
sh̷̨ò͝w͟ ͟m̸͘e̡̕ ́͢à̶͞ ̸h̵̛͡e̵r̵ò̡͝ ͏a̢͏nd͝ ҉̨I҉ w͜͡įll̷̶͜ ̵w̴҉̛r̨i͘͟͝t̶e҉͟ ̴͜you͞ ͏̸ą̶ ̧̢t͏r͏҉à͜g͡͠e̴̴d̛ý͞

[. . . there is another ominous tearing and screeching sound from above—you have more guests incoming, and they don't have anywhere solid to land. Luckily, they seem to be falling slower than the previous groups—their freefall broken by occasional gusts of wind, glittering a pale Kunzite pink.]

[reaction]

[dramatispersonae]

(frozen comment) [up and out]

[dramatispersonae]

[There are flashes of color in every mirror as dozens of faces appear and turn and flicker, adding their voices and warmth and thoughts to yours. Your keys feel like they're burning up, power spilling over in every direction as it gets brighter and brighter and brighter and more colorful—until a rainbow splash of words begin to race over every surface:]

and they lived happily ever after

[The starry hope seed seems to burst, and vines pour out everywhere, every which way—smashing mirrors, crushing the darkness, pushing out, pushing up, dragging you higher, higher, higher . . .!]