domain of eventide

[beautifuldreamermods]

♫ . . . ?

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17/06 - Zeke (Chaosbringer), Sam (DropD-Tune), Connor (Chiaroscuro), Ben (Saber)

[beautifuldreamermods]

[ Grass. The sickly sweet smell of roses. When you open your eyes, the world is drenched in the vivid amber of a summer sunset. The ever-present moon, usually so distant, hangs low and eerie in the sky.

Something is wrong. Or... perhaps what's wrong here is you.

The world is still, here.

Explore? ]

[trickyjedi]

Saber sat up and grimaced, looking around in confusion. It felt cliche to say it, but sometimes you just have to say the expected thing.

“…where are we?”

[thezekeinator]

Zeke's eye snaps open abruptly at the words.

He gets to his feet without delay, though when nothing immediately shows as a threat he quickly checks on his fellow Dreamers. Luckily, no one seems to be hurt from -- whatever the heck just happened.

"Sound off if you're still with us, chums. Chaosbringer's still good to go."

[noonecandestroythemetal]

Sam sits up, rubbing at her face. She stifles a groan and shakes her head, but that's more to clear it. There's been no permanent damage done.

"...did anyone get the number of that truck?"

[yourattention]

Go on an excursion, they said. It'll be fun, they said. Well. Connor's not having fun on this trip and he's rethinking the entire idea of being a Dreamer right now. This would have never happened to him in America.

"... I'm here." He is extremely disgruntled and currently swaddled in shadows like a blanket, but he's here. "Please tell me this is what's supposed to happen."

It's not. He knows it's not, because other people find cool things like gothic mansions and beaches when they go through the Dream Sphere.

17/07 - Zeke (Chaosbringer), Ango (Decadence), Sam (DropD-Tune), Amane (Hanako)

[beautifuldreamermods]

[ The sickly sweet scent of flowers fills your nose.

When you come to, you find yourselves sprawled out in a meadow of lilies, pure and white under the deep orange sky. Once again, you have made unwelcome visitors of yourselves.

The world is still, here.

Explore? ]

[thezekeinator]

[Hey, he's getting jolly good at this Finding Dreamer Crimson thing. Apparently. Somehow.]

[Zeke weighs the stabilizer he has yet to use in one hand, rolling it back and forth along his palm as he debates whether or not to use it. But this place -- it is stable, without a doubt, and yet however they get here, they can't seem to find it properly or remember it...]

[He closes his fingers around it, and puts it back into the pocket of his coat.]

Let's try not to wake up this time.

[darknesshotpot]

Uh... are we dead? This is still the Dream Sphere, right?

[The cloying smell of lilies is thick in the air, reminding Ango of all the funerals he's skipped going to. He rolls over and scrambles to his feet, crushing more flowers in the process.

Ango's not much of a fighter, at least when it comes to magic - if this were a second-rate isekai fantasy anime, he'd be the party's rogue. An open field offers very few opportunities for stealth or disarming traps, though, rendering him (predictably) useless. He shoves his hands into his pockets and slouches, wishing he had a cigarette.]

[hanamane]

[Honestly, Hanako hadn't even wanted to go looking for Crimson in the first place-- sure, he was curious about the turn of events that had gotten the DU into a tizzy, and he was always happy to have a reason to head out on an Excursion, but... this seemed like a problem for the adults, not for him. He was only about three years old when she had originally vanished, after all, so he didn't have quite the same level of knowledge or attachment to her compared to the other Dreamers around him at the moment, so it didn't really seem like his place to go and investigate. But, as usual, Chaosbringer had decided to drag him along, despite his protests, and now they've found themselves...

... wherever this is.

Reading the bulletin about this was one thing, but actually experiencing it for himself... it felt off, somehow. Like wandering down a hallway during the dead of night, or an abandoned shopping mall, all silent and still and horribly tense. Even the moon seemed to be bearing down on them in this place, and it gnawed at his instincts to up and run and LEAVE, before someone realized they were here. This was no spooky mansion with poisonous miasma, but somehow it felt ten times worse.

But instead, Hanako forces himself to stay calm as he sits up from sea of flowers beneath him, reaching for his cap that had rolled off his head upon arrival. Dusting it off, he rises to his feet as well, hovering just above the lilies as he observes the surroundings, his face and tone uncharacteristically serious]

Pretty sure we aren't. If we died, we'd be back in our beds right now.

[That much he knew was true, at least. Quietly, he summons his Haku-Joudai to his side, the twin orbs hovering close to their master. There might not be anything to fight here that he could see, but at least their presence helped him feel a bit more secure.]

[noonecandestroythemetal]

[Sam wakes slowly--and with a sneeze, too. Lilies. Ugh. She sits up, rubs her face vigorously, and looks around. And sneezes again. Even in the dream world, she can't quite escape allergies...]

Oh. It's this place.

[Again, she doesn't say out loud. At least it's the weird place and not the place with all the fire and choking ash. So it's a bonus, at least that far. Though she squints at Zeke.]

Maybe I ought to try going someplace without you, for once...

[It might be safer. D-Tune isn't saying this was Chaosbringer's fault. She's just saying she'll blame him. She shoves herself to her feet, though for the moment, she's keeping the battleaxe in its place.]

We're not just going to wait here and hope she appears again, are we? Or hope she does? That didn't have a lot in the way of results last time...

22/10 - Ai (Ai-Doll), Zeke (Chaosbringer), Jeannette (La Pucelle)

[beautifuldreamermods]

[ Water. The cool, gentle lull of waves.

As you stir awake, you find yourselves in a shallow, endless ocean, the water barely deep enough to lap at your ankles. Lily blooms, delicate and vibrant, sprout from the glistening sand beneath you. The sun hangs low and bright in the sky, turning the water into a sheet of glittering liquid gold.

The world is still, here.

Explore? ]

[thezekeinator]

...Oh, great.

[This feels like the field with the gazebo, in attitude and air -- which means it's either connected to Crimson as it is, or it's someone else's entirely. Wouldn't it be just their bloody luck to stumble into the secret Dream Sphere abode of Dreamer Reverie?]

[Either way, though, all this water threatens dangers of all kinds. Drowning, sinkholes and pits, sea creatures, and that's just normal stuff. Dreams can be a lot worse.]

[darcangel]

It is so peaceful.

[ So different from the last place they'd sought Dreamer Crimson. Which is worrying in its own way.

La Pucelle dips her sword to drag it gently along the surface of the water, to see whether contact with a Sandglass changes anything. Her angel has told her about "experiments", when one is in need of more information. ]

[liedol]

[ Ai-Doll's up and on her feet as quick as she can manage it but with no indication of where to go... they're stalled. ]

It really does feel like Mio's dream... [ She shudders a little. ] Is this what it looked like last time you were here?

[ That's directed to Zeke. ]

[thezekeinator]

[Chaosbringer shakes his head, then folds his arms (by bringing one way out, then rotating them around each other as he draws it in.] This is the weirdest yet. It was fields and meadows before. A change like this... well, it means something, and I have no jolly clue what.

[He's hoping it isn't, and thus betting it is, an intruder deterrent...]

Let's pick a direction and go. Either we have no chance of finding her, or she'll be wherever we head.

05/02 - Hubert (Bishop), Amane (Hanako), Sam (DropD-Tune), Ageha (Butterfly)

[beautifuldreamermods]

Roses. The cloying, overpowering reek of summer blossoms.

When you finally come to, you find yourself laying out across your back, cushioned by a thick rosebed, the blooms saturating the air with an almost tangible sweetness. The sun looms ominously low in the sky, drenching everything in eventide colours and the air is eerily still, as if holding its own breath.

This place is... familiar. To some of you, at least. This time, you seem to have found yourselves deposited at the base of the towering bandstand.

The world is still, here.

But before you can explore, an familiar voice rings out from its usual high ground.

"Why can none of you just stay away...?!"

Glaring down at you from the peak of the bandstand with an intense, pained expression on her face is Dreamer Crimson herself.

Explain yourselves?

[pegasinister]

[WELL THAT WAS HORRIFYING, reminding him of the disjointed fever dreams of his long ago Awakening.

Still, this is his mission, he must not show a hint of anxiety or fear. So Bishop dusts himself off, staring up at who he can recognize as Dreamer Crimson with set shoulders... and...]

Well. First off you now owe me a Stablizer. Those are not easy to acquire, I hope you realize.

[chousaikou]

[ Butterfly had done her best with her shield to try and protect them all from… that, but there was only so much she could do against… well whatever that was filling the cavern. While Bishop is busy with Crimson, she’s got her attention on Hanako and DropD-Tune. ]

Are you guys okay?

[noonecandestroythemetal]

I'm fine.

[He probably doesn't know it, but Bishop isn't the only one recalling a (not so long ago for Sam) Nightmare. The only thing lacking was the accompanying flames.

Well, that means she's not panicking, at least. Yet. Outwardly. D-Tune gets to her feet, tilting her head one way and the other, to the sharp sound of cracking vertebrae. And finally, she lets out a sigh, the faintest hint of a smile crossing her lips.]

You're just too damn compelling, Crimson. Can't stay away.

[hanamane]

Yeah, I'm good, too.

[Except... no, that's not entirely true; the dark and chilly cavern they had found themselves in before had felt almost uncannily familiar to the tomb they had found in Reverie's cathedral-- the tomb he had unfortunately met his end in only a mere month before. Perhaps he had gotten too optimistic, heading out on one of these things so soon after that horrendous failure, but he hadn't expected them to land in someplace like that right out the gate. One couldn't blame him for being a bit shaky as he finally gets to his feet, abruptly shoving down the bubble of anxiety that emerged from that hastily scabbed over trauma. There wasn't time for any of that right now-- there was a much bigger threat in front of them at the moment, and luck just so happened to have landed them upon her gazebo-step.

Hanako levels Crimson's glare with a grim, cautious expression of his own, a look that was at odds with his usual carefree demeanor. He remembers all too well the damage she did to his Hakujoudai during their last encounter, and it hadn't necessarily endeared him to her-- let alone all the other weird dream nonsense she may be responsible for at the moment, either. But even he knew that picking a fight with her wasn't a good idea right now-- they needed answers, not a battle.]

We're not here to rescue you-- we just want to talk. Will you allow us that?

17/04 - Chaosbringer, DropD-Tune, Tycoon

[beautifuldreamermods]

[ Waves. The gentle rhythm of water lapping at your back.

As the group stirs, they find themselves laying in the waters of a shallow ocean that expands out seemingly infinitely in all directions. The moon's glow pours out across the water, tinging it and the lilies blooming from the sand a pale gold. Strange as everything here is, to Chaosbringer, at least, this place will seem familiar.

The world is still, here.

Explore? ]

[i_peace]

[Why does it feel like they're waking up when they're still dreaming?

There's a splash as Tycoon abruptly gets up into a defensive crouch, tail puffed up and ears standing on alert as his Sandglass weapons appear in his hands. He's tensed and ready for combat but it doesn't take long for the stillness of their environment to bring his guard down again]

Where... are we? [he turns to look around for his fellow Dreamers] Chaosbringer...? D-Tune?

[thezekeinator]

Shit.

[That probably isn't what either of them hoped to hear out of Chaosbringer as he quickly flails to his feet, weapon already out as if drawing it was instinctual.]

I was hoping we'd avoid this place, but since we're here, can you guys remember this? Coming here, ever? Walking through a door?

[noonecandestroythemetal]

Shit?? [That makes Sam stare at Zeke, even as she rolls to get to her feet. It's extra awkward, because why is she wearing Chaosbringer's outfit? Save for a belt that wraps around her chest, because no. She doesn't have the pecs that he does, frankly.

At least she's managed to figure it out enough that she's not flashing the boys.]

No, I've been to a couple really weird places before, but...not like this.

[i_peace]

Eh? [seeing Chaosbringer flail jump to his feet causes Tycoon to tense up again. The only time he's seen the older man look this ruffled was for that Nightmare they fought back in February]

N-no...? [he looks around, nervous] Nothing like this. The only thing I can think of like this were the Disturbances...