Realistic or Modern death//reDefined | A Urban Fantasy Adventure - Open

[TheAdventureBegins]

Juniper
Location, date, and time: Unknown
Mentions: Azukai
♦♦♦♦

Juniper was lost in just putting one foot in front of the other; it took her a few moments to realize the only noise left in the forest was that of her own beating heart. It thrummed in her, attempting to keep her warm amongst the cold. Slowly she lifted her head up in the breeze to notice the smoke had begun to fade out as well. Yet even with this she continued her steps forward for there was nothing left to focus on in the bitter cold of the world.

Silly. Silly. Silly. Such a silly little girl with no control.

Juniper shook her head, trying to clear the negative thoughts that began to bombard her. Feelings of failure started to suffocate her, but she kept moving forward.

“No-” It was a whimper in the empty world, “I am in control of myself.” She stepped forward again.

Silly. Silly. Silly. Such a silly little girl with no control.

“No-” Another whimper and step forward, “I am in control of myself.” Tears would have fallen from her eyes if they hadn’t simply all frozen up.

Silly. Silly. Silly. Such a Silly little girl with no control.

The words consumed her, filled her to the bone and settled in nicely next to the cold. Juniper tried to fight it, tried to lift her foot to take another step.

So weak. So useless. What would you have done had there been true cries for help? Would you have watched them suffer and die like you did your friends?
You have no power to save anyone. Perhaps your desire for the cold is better in the end?

Juniper’s body couldn’t take the step no matter how hard she tried to fight with her last bit of strength; she fell, and didn’t even have the will to catch herself. Instead of hitting the hard packed Earth her knees crashed into the concrete of the basement from the night before. Her breath came ragged and painful in her chest.

Even now within a building the cold grew, seeming to come from inside of her. Horror filled memories from the night before slammed into her as once again cries began to fill the room- this time from her companions; Two girls that even though she had known for just a night, Juniper felt a strong connection with. While they could move, and did, crawling closer and closer, Juniper was literally beginning to freeze into the spot she was in. All the horrors unfolded in front of her, the monster from before lurking just on the fringe, she knew doom was on them, there was nothing she could do. . . Yet, she still tried, still longed to at least offer comfort.

“No!” She cried with all her strength, her voice reverberating around them, and with the last bit of strength she tried to reach out to them, her fingers instantly freezing in the strained reach. As this happened the monster seemed to feed on her pain, and ripped into her friends.

"NO!" Juniper screamed with every last ounce of strength she could.

 

[Azukai]

TheAdventureBegins

Location: ???

Juniper's struggle left her in excruciating physical pain, in addition to the emotional turmoil which afflicted her soul. Frozen fingers snapped off at random joints and fell to the ground where they shattered into shards of ice. Furthermore, the strain of her body stretching forward had severed her feet at the ankles and left her body toppled onto the ground. Areas of her severed fingers and legs that hadn't yet froze began to profusely bleed; though the torrent remained temporary as the blood and skin soon iced over.

The monster at the end hall seemed to have little interest in Juniper, and instead, opted to go the other way once it had gorged itself upon the bodies of its victims. This left Juniper alone in the ruins of the dark basement--unable to save herself, nor the friends whom she had pitifully struggled for. Once again, silence befell the area, but as expected, the usual voice overpowered her conscious and came bearing a new set of taunts. Different, however, was the weight which suddenly pressed against her back.

"I-I actually have no words right now. You are not silly, you are just...sad." The voice no longer spoke in a mocking tone, but rather one that was apathetically shocked. "Penelope knows not why you struggle." With every word, the voice became less of a conscious vocalization and something that was more tangible and real. This was accompanied by a sudden deconstruction of the local environment as it broke down into individual particles of mist, which then began to group in a tight, swirling ball. Once again, Juniper was laying on the dusty ground of the forest path; however, gone was the cold. Also, gone were the injuries she had sustained from before.

Sitting on Juniper's back was a short, peculiar girl. She couldn't have been more than five feet tall, wearing a rather drab, gothic dress and similar accompanying attire. From the sides of her heads, two moth-like ears drooped towards her shoulders, while swishing around her body was a rather fluffy tail that held a dimly lit lantern. "Come." The girl whispered through a soft, faint breath and caused a sudden absorption of the mist into her lamp. With everything back to a relative norm, she turned her attention back towards Juniper with another set of questions.

"Y-You knew not these humans for more than a day. Why would you struggle for them? How do you find love for them? Penelope does not understand how your mind is so...gross..."

 

[Azukai]

Orikanyo HumbugPie

Location: ???

The Oni's response to Mike's charge was not to counter or guard. Instead, he began boisterously laughing at the top of his lungs. "Splendid, Mike! Absolutely splendid! Your passion grows your arsenal yet." Sure enough, the dagger had extended to the length of a short sword, having grown an additional ring off of the first. Nonetheless, the sudden evolution of the blade made it no more effective against the Oni. There was no need for him to even defend himself since the hovering masks around his body acted as intercepting shields. The short sword was easily countered by one of the masks, which proceeded to shove outward, staggering Mike.

All while this was occurring, the edges of the room were beginning to fray. Literal cracks began to form in the air and ground, leaving naught but an empty void in the wake of its crumbling pieces. The Oni, blind to this event, remained focused on the opening he saw in Mike's defense. With a booming shout, he sent his great sword arcing upwards in a finishing blow, yet found himself noticeably confused when his blade came to a sudden halt, cushioned by wool. The air between Mike and the Oni had shattered, and from the void had emerged a rather full woman--one who had a pair of ram horns jutting from the side of her head and a fluffy stave, deflecting the Oni's sword, nestled in her hands. She made the block seem entirely effortless, despite the wave of force that blew past her body and knocked Mike onto his ass once more.

"Shuten-dōji, your rebirth as a Transcendent has to have been the biggest blunder in the history of our existence." She announced in a calm, yet intimidating tone. The Oni, seemingly named Shuten-doji, towered over the woman by several feet, yet still seemed to cower under the weight of her rather commanding presence. "First, you allow yourself to be influenced by the meddling of that woman, and now you fail to see your opportunity in closing this Limbonic Rift. Does your testosterone-filled brain know anything other than smashing whichever unfortunate soul comes waddling your way? Absolutely preposterous..." She finally concluded with a huff.

Shuten-Doji opened his mouth to protest, but his words fell upon empty ears as the woman had already turned her attention away from the Oni and entirely on Mike. "Child, soon all of your questions will be answered; however, now is not that time. You are being given a second chance to rewrite the misfortunes fate has dealt you. This time, however, you are prepared. Shuten-dōji may be a idiot, but he has still chosen to entrust you with his rather...overbearing power. Heed his lessons well."

The ground under Mike's body shattered, and his body began to plummet into the abyss. And with that, his conscious, once again, faded to black...

-------------------------

Location: Union Basement

"Quite the demonstration of technology, huh?"

Mike was back. His body was laying on the forest floor of the orientation room. Gone was the damage, gone were the monsters, gone were the peers he had come to know over the course of the last two days. Now, there were only two people in the room--one was a girl who looked to be about his age, and the other was Miyuki.

On his wrist, the same from before watch still existed; however, noteworthy was the date it was displaying on its screen.

Sunday
September 10, 2027

 

[Orikanyo]

Mike Anderson.


".....Bruh...." Its really all Mike could say. "Brrrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhh." Mike didn't bother standing up, Shuten Doji had spoken to him in that wierd ass dream. Then this cute goat lady showed up and just sorta screwed up his plans. Seems she was stronger too.. perhaps the words For now could be added in there but who knows what would happen now. The world was litterally uptilted and thrown into the trash. He was in looney toons land and he was a new character of the show.

His eyes scanned the room at the moment, looking around before looking at the Miyuki woman.

"...Out of all the trips I've been on...

This...

Wasn't the worst..." The slowly pulled himself back up, his back was... Painful... Felt like he was sleeping on stone for the longest time. "So... That wasn't some.. vivid shared hallucination... I'm here now after the twat shwoed off his powers and... your MAYBE here..." He was slouching, looking abit more feral than his usual sense. In truth, he was more or less starting to claw onto something in this whirlwind of bullshit. "Oni dude... Ain't gonna let him down by just falling back now.. Not sure where that sword went, sure as hell some weeabo katanna thing... No offence Mr.Shuten... Wherever you are." he paused, looking around for onyx black skinned oni around, seeing none, jsut yet, he shrugged.

"Aight, so, whats good Miyuki? You got, my undivided attention." his body was slack, in truth, it's almost as if after all this, it just sort of stopped careing about being stiff and ready all the time.

 

[TheAdventureBegins]

Juniper
Location, date, and time: Unknown
Mentions: Azukai
♦♦♦♦

Pain and cold was everything, Juniper’s vision swam in and out at the effort it took to just exist. There was so much pain no scream could come, it filled her to every bone and broke them all at the same time. Her vision was so narrow, almost blackened, she couldn’t even see the monster in front of her anymore, just her broken fingers; nothing other than the stream of frozen blood holding her down to the ground-not that she could move anyways.

Why was she still alive?

Why would her body keep going?

Why was she so, so heavy? Was this death?

“I-I actually have no words right now. You are not silly, you are just...sad.”

How could she be sad if pain was all there was?

"Penelope knows not why you struggle."

To struggle is to be human, to overcome those struggles were what made you.

Juniper hadn’t even realized the other voice wasn’t her own conscious mocking her, and hadn't even processed what she was thinking back. How could she really give her all to her thoughts when everything was painful?

The world began to fall apart around her, and Juniper knew this was it, the pain would be gone and she would finally die. She closed her eyes and took one more pained breath-



Her eyes opened to the same forest path as before, her next breath was easy, pain-free, and warm. It took Juniper only a moment longer to realize the pain hadn’t been death, something (someone?) was on her. Shifting enough to get a good look, Juniper was dumbfounded for a moment. Had she fallen into Wonderland? Was she dreaming? She hadn’t had such vivid dreams since moving to the city. Juniper closed her eyes and tried to take control of her dream like she had learned how to so long ago. . .Nothing happened, this wasn’t a normal dream, or she truly had lost the skill.

The magical mist seemed to listen to the girl and quickly everything became very clear it wasn’t just a dream, or her consciousness. Juniper turned from the girl to look at the dirt path still underneath her, contemplating the first part of the question, when the last part sharply sat wrong inside her.
Gross? How was her mind gross for this? Juniper pushed herself up, struggled with the weight on her back, then managed what she could.

“A mind is only gross when one has to ask questions like that, it shows a mind that lacks empathy.” Juniper hadn't realized she was speaking at first, didn’t realize she could speak after her voice had been lost to pain. Then she stopped herself, that wasn’t true either, a mind wasn’t gross, situations that mold a mind were what were gross.

“No, I’m sorry.” Juniper huffed out a breath, still marveling she could do so with ease once more.

“I believe everyone deserves help, especially if they are asking for it. We have been a selfish species for so long, it won’t get us much farther, and if I die for that belief. . .” The words were more honest than she had expected of herself, and she didn’t expect the wonderland denizen to understand; who would truly care about mortal feelings when you were very obviously not mundane?

 

[HumbugPie]

Samantha
???, September ?, 2027

Sam picked up a napkin from in front of her and wiped her mouth as the woman placed the ornately decorated Tarot deck onto the table. Its golden gilding sparkled in the pastel sunlight of the woollen realm, casting beams of gold onto the walls of the Pantheon. Samantha could hardly take her eyes off of its beauty; tracing her fingers along the sparkling trim of the deck. It was an instant connection, like these cards were calling out to her. She picked up the deck and thumbed through it, to find that the Major Arcana cards and the courts of each suit had been removed. She knew there were meant to be more cards here, but due to not ever really reading Tarot before, she couldn’t point out the cards that were missing. Still, it was perfect in every way.

Samantha lifted her head, her expression turning from that of awe and amazement to a questioning yet concerned one when her eyes met with the woman’s once again. Transcendent? The Lost? All of this is just adding to the questions I already have, she thought as the sheep-like woman spoke. But one comment really drew Sam’s attention: “the power you are about to wield”. What power? Is this some kind of real life superhero movie? “Please, tell me everything. I will sit here and listen for as long as you need to answer my questions. I can’t leave without knowing; I’ll be questioning everything nonstop if I don’t know,” Sam uttered in an increasingly hurried way, knowing how much her overthinking will increase if she’s left guessing. But unfortunately, her fears became true when Shun abruptly burst through the balcony doors, causing Samantha to jump back in her seat, clinging onto the arms of it. Her chest rose and fell in quick succession as the two spoke in their increasingly cryptic way. “What’s happening? Please, someone tell me what’s going on!” she cried out as it was becoming clear something untoward was about to happen.

As Shun lifted his revolver and loaded it with the strange bullet, Sam gasped for air and instinctively lifted her hands up in front of her face. Before she could scream out for help, Shun had pulled the trigger. In those moments as the bullet hurtled towards her head, time seemed to move in slow motion. Sam reflected on what the woman and Shun had just said - The Transcendent, The Lost, her powers and the cards. The cards! Without any chance to move her hand that was holding the Tarot deck to safety, her vision had turned black and then twisted and mutated until a doorway appeared in front of her. She looked down at her hands, touching them, patting herself down and gently slapping her face to check if she was still alive. As she did, she felt the Tarot deck inside her trouser pocket. It’s still here. But how? I need to buy a pouch for my deck to keep it safe. I wonder if the metaphysical shop has one? If it even exists… she thought as she looked around.

She walked through the doorway, past some trees and into the clearing of the forest. Examining her surroundings, she noticed that the bonfire in the middle of the clearing wasn’t actually smoking and that instead of a ceiling there was a sky full of stars. Sam made her way over to the table and seating stumps where the Shun-look-alike was sat; taking a seat herself across from them and taking a moment to study their face. She was still clearly shaken by her experience of being shot. “What on Earth was that? Is it a common thing here to shoot your students?” she asked, trying to test the waters to see if she truly was hallucinating. But everything from the past however long felt so real, realer than real in fact. Plus, she had the Tarot cards that were given to her… so, it had to be real, right?

Azukai

 

[FiveElemental]

Peter(?)
???
???

Smelling the putrid iron drenching the room, the heavy, musty air weighing down on me as I waded through the coagulated blood pool, heading straight towards the wannabe me. Lifting one foot up, and planting it down into the shallow pool, as a slimy blup was all that could be heard as my foot penetrated the slimy membrane of the pool. Wanting to throw up was a very common occurance in a chefs, life but I had to hold it.

Oh there it goes,

As a gag expelled out of my mouth, in a futile attempt to belched out my guts. Yet, nothing came out, my stomach remained empty, as it growled in pain, food, I needed food, badly. As he got closer, wading through the viscous body fliuds, realized something, the closer I was getting, hungrier I got. The emptiness grew even, my thoughts were very empty, and so was my stomach, it was as if my heart and will, no... It was as if was soul was completely ripped out of my vessel. But, I was compelled to move forward, as if pure instincts were pushing me forward.

Stepping out of the lukewarm, red pool, and onto the alcove full of butchered human bodies. I began to spoke.

"Hello... me."

"Oh...? You're not denying that I'm not you this time?"

"...There is no point in deny it." I spoke weakly.

"..." He retrieved a plate and shoved it into my hand, a plate full of red rose meat blossoms, I knew immediately where it's from, but I'm so... I can't. I can't eat this.

"Eat."

"..." I couldn't resist any longer, I felt so hungry... and so alone... as I reached out for the meaty blossoms as I...

Volition: What kind of Chef are you?

Those words rang through my head one last time... and I was truly alone, that even my psyche was gone. Yet, still. It gave me just enough, just enough willpower to push though.

"N....no" As I fell into the ground, my weakening body, not being able to hold it up anymore. "I don't... want to be the kind of Chef that hurts people..." I weakly replied "I... won't hurt those who'll be there... to try my dishes... I won't... succumb to the... loneiness like you did..." As Peter closed his eyes. Once more.

 

[KapMcflow]

Azukai
Nari inflated her lungs like balloons before she released a deep slow breath. Her demeanor changed. She straightened up, stiff almost. All willpower Nari had once possessed was gone. Her thoughts rattled around her mind profusely like maracas. The forceful attempts to gain control of her body were futile as she walked herself back to the dainty scholar. Nari looked like a psychotic zombie as she returned back to the place from which she ran. Placidity laid across her face, yet her eyes stirred in all directions in sync with the rapid speed of thoughts that flooded her mind.

Run. Run!

What th-

Why am I numb?

Run, Nari.

I seriously can't feel my body.

Run! Jump! Skip! Play dead?

All physical sensation returned back to Nari once she arrived. Although clearly losing her patience, the majestic scholar watched Nari with curious eyes. Nari felt uneasy with the gaze of the woman on her. She figured her escape plan would either lead with death, or with assistance of the scholar. Nari shook off the feeling as best as she could before speaking. "Useful, hm?" Nari sighed, "Well, I suppose I fought and survived two demon attacks, a traumatizing first meeting with you, and I'm running off one crepe and no coffee right now. If I'm not the poster board for 'useful' then I don't know what is. So, now that I've answered your question, I have some of my own. Starting with two most important ones--Who are you? And what do you mean by my 'future ends there' ?"

 

[Azukai]

FiveElemental

The environment reacted to Peter closing his eyes. Everything in his surroundings faded to black and left him sitting in a void of his own consciousness. The sudden change was a direct result of his choice in words--namely, his shaky defiance which left the corruption of his mind both amused and intrigued. Cackles began to envelop his senses, right before the entity began to speak in its usual sinister way.

"If that's all you've wanted from me, then why have we been bickerin' all this time?" The cackles grew all the more louder, but mysteriously, the entity's tone became somewhat sincere for the words which soon followed. "You've spent all this time attempting to fight against me, yet here we are agreeing with each other. I don't need you to hurt everyone person we come across. Just those who...deserve it..."

The void began to fade away to a previous scene in Peter's memory. He was laying on a cold, tiled floor, pinned by the monster which had murdered him the night before. Once again, the scene played back in its entirety--his arms were ripped from their sockets, pain shot throughout his body which grew increasingly more cold, and finally his conscious faded back to the void having once again experienced death. This time, however, the surrounding environment seemed much more fragile. On the edges of Peter's periphery, cracks were beginning to form in the darkness, and through the cracks spilled a gentle light.

"I've said this before, but there will come a time where you'll call upon me out of your own volition. Remember that, cause I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other a lot sooner than you'd hope."

The cracks grew larger and more frequent in number, and soon, light overcame the darkness of the void and brought Peter back into a more sensible environment. He was laying on the floor of the orientation room's forest with a few tuffs of golden wool surrounding his blood-stained clothes and body.

 

[Azukai]

KapMcflow

A small smirk formed on the scholar's face, yet it was a fleeting display of emotion as she returned to her stone-cold state. There were no immediate answers to either of Nari's questions, and frankly, they never came from the Scholar herself, but rather from the new entity who emerged in a rather comfortable fashion. All around Nari, cracks began to form in the air, and from the rifts exploded copious amounts of fluffy, golden wool.

"To put it frankly, you cease to exist in any plane." A soft, mellow voice announced. Standing directly behind Nari was another woman--one who had two large goat horns jutting from her head, and hooves acting in place of her feet. In her hands, she held a twisted stave with a ball of golden wool situated upon its top. "Yet all is not lost, child, though time does not give us opportunity for the answers you seek. Rather, we must act with haste in closing this Limbonic rift, before the memory is lost."

The latter of her words were not meant for Nari, but rather directed at the Scholar whose eyes lit up with sudden understanding of the situation. She began tapping her spare fingers against the armrest of her chair, while her brow further furrowed from the multitude of thoughts which began streaming through her mind. Eventually, however, she rose her chair, waltzed over to where Nari was standing, and began circling her with further inspection.

"You have not yet proven to me your aptitude, but if there is a still chance to undo the transgressions at play, then perhaps I shall give you an opportunity...a trial if you will." The scholar came to a halt directly in front of Nari and proceeded to toss the quill in her hand at the girl. "Take it and show me the authority your are capable of."

Without any further chance for action or words, the entirety of the space shattered into a temporary void, seconds before Nari was once again standing in the forest orientation room with both Miyuki and her peers--this time, however, with a quill and scroll in her hands.

 

[Azukai]

KapMcflow FiveElemental Orikanyo HumbugPie

Miyuki stared at Mike with a curious, yet apprehensive smile on her face. "I don't believe I follow..." She said with hesitation. His monologue had made her somewhat uneasy, yet such feelings remained entirely short-lived as confusion overtook her emotions instead. "Again, I don't believe I follow what you all are saying. A student was shot...?" She questioned, this time towards Samantha. "...Also, are you even a student in my class?"

She reached into her pocket and retrieved her phone, after which, she began browsing through the directory of the students who were scheduled in her orientation. Sure enough, Samantha's face was not present in the list of expected students. "I believe you have the wro--..." She began to say but was quickly interrupted by the abrupt manifestation of Nari and Peter's confused and traumatized existences. For the first few seconds, she reacted appropriately to the situation--a mix of shock and panic at what should have been an impossible occurrence--yet soon, the façade faded and instead, she stood with a bored, smug expression on her face.

"I'd introduce myself, but I reckon almost everyone already knows who I am. Perhaps, I should say, welcome back to the past instead?" Her words were noticeably sarcastic, made increasingly more so by her incessant claps which filled the air. "I take it my brother has convinced you that I am a scourge upon this world that needs removed?" She eventually added, her question and attention directed at Samantha. Her stare didn't last, however, as she began examining each and every student in the room. "It's quite the opposite than what you think, though. I have assisted everyone individual in this room--or at least I would have, if not for your meddling in irrelevant affairs."

With a sigh, she waltzed over to the nearest stump, where she sat with her legs crossed and chin cupped in her hands. "So what it is you all intend to do?"

 

[HumbugPie]

Samantha

Sam was busy pondering her own question. Everything about her experience here had been odd and she hadn’t even attended a class or moved into her dorm room yet. It all felt so real yet dreamlike. The uneasiness of thinking it all through made a shiver dance down Samantha’s spine, making her shiver and grimace. If her existential dread could be made worse by anything, it surely was starting a new school and then being transported through time and space to different realms that felt so eerily real; too real. While all of these thoughts jumbled around in her mind, all you‘d be able to see was a girl staring off into the distance - glazed eyes, no blinking, still and trance-like.

It was only when Miyuki began to clap that Sam was rudely awoken from her existential daydreaming. The first clap made her jump and look around frantically. She was clearly startled. Though no one else knew it, that ricochet of sound bouncing around the room only reminded her more of the bullet hurtling towards her head and those final few seconds before the darkness encapsulated her vision. Realising where she was, Sam’s breathing began to calm and slow down again, but her paranoia certainly wasn’t about to go anywhere. Meddling in irrelevant affairs? What affairs? The being transported from one absolutely mind boggling existence to the next? Or the being shot in the head but not dying? Sam thought. This comment only made her more suspicious and paranoid about what was truly happening here on the campus. Whatever it was, she was sure something terribly wrong was afoot.

 

[KapMcflow]

Mentions: Azukai HumbugPie

The quill and scroll felt like boulders engrossed with great power in Nari's hands. Nari watched the faces of Miyuki and others as she and Peter had apparently appeared in thin air. A flash of memories in the basement flooded Nari's mind for a moment, causing her to stagger back a bit from the overwhelming emotions of that night. If of course that ever happened. Why am I here again? Is this some sort of inception? False waking of an everlasting dream? She pondered. The shock value of it all had began to lessen, regardless of the protest of Nari's logical mind. It was obvious that she had interrupted an exchange between Miyuki, Mike, and-- who's that? Nari's guard rose as she saw an unfamiliar face present. She had no recollection of this new student and realized this was the only thing out place from the first orientation. Nari shook off her suspicion towards the new-comer momentarily as there were bigger fish to fry.

"Miyuki", Nari said with sternness and authority, "It is clear who the enemy is in all of this. We've played your game long enough. Give up the facade. Tell the truth." Nari held the quill and scroll tightly in her hand. A wave of courage washed over her as she stepped up to Miyuki with purpose. "Whenever something bad happens at this school, you are always present or mentioned in one way or another. Now, we were chosen to be here for a reason, and one of them was not for lack of intelligence. I can just smell the wickedness oozing from you." Nari turned her attention to the newcomer who held a deck of cards in her hand then back to Mikyuki.

"This must be one of your cronies I presume?" Nari narrowed her eyes at the dazed and confused student. "Trying to throw a wrench in the mix, huh Miyuki. A wild card perhaps?"