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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Dec 27, 2015 1:41:56 GMT -5
"Oh... Well, truth be told, it isn't merely a personal preference," Sanuta answered. "My family has always paid due respect to each god and the gifts they provide us with. We simply place emphasis on Kitomo for the direct impact he has had on my family. Not only is this his land, but this garden would not be as prosperous without his guidance. And while the personal history of each god has more or less been uncovered by archaeologists and philosophers, my ancestors were personally taught by Kitomo, and his teachings have been passed on through generations and are now mine to preach and uphold. He taught us about the power of belief, how our dreams and outlook affect our reality and outcomes. He said we must remain strong and optimistic even in the darkest of times, a principle I have clung to through every peak and valley of my life. ......Evan, are you alright?"
No sooner had Sanuta inquired about the wellbeing of the considerably pale young man than Evan had tumbled down the hill and splashed hard into the pond.
"AHH!! EVAN!!!" Swift immediately chased after him, too late to catch him before he hit the water and just barely stopping in time to not fall in herself. She grabbed him by the arm and hoisted him out of the pond, panic clearly etched onto her face... albeit only slight more so than before his crash. "Evan! Aw, crap, are you alright?!"
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Post by DMis on Dec 27, 2015 2:01:22 GMT -5
Forsaken chased after Evan and Swift. "You okay Ev?" she asked. The others could see she was going into 'protective sister' mode.
"I think he's just a bit over excited to explore and see a new area," Todd offered trying to avoid harming Sanuta's point of view of the world. "May I ask about Chima? Since I wear her symbol?"
Yang stayed close to Alex as she gave a gasp.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Dec 27, 2015 2:11:25 GMT -5
"WHOA! Evan! Hold on, kid!" Carter ran alongside Swift, anxiously examining his fallen master.
By the time Swift pulled him out of the water, complete with a frog comically slipping off of his head, Evan was already out cold. Whether it be the jarring impact Sanuta's tale had on his mental grip or simply the blunt force of his collapse, it was clear that he was too far gone to snap out of his stupor just yet.
Besides, he had gone somewhere much deeper.
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"GAH-!!"
THUNK
WHAP BONK THWUMP CRASH
At long last, his tumbling came to a halt and Evan laid sprawled out in an awkward, painful position with his body on the floor and his legs propped up against a wall.
"......OW."
Jeez... Just how far had he fallen anyway? It took Evan a while to shake off the pain and work up the energy to sit up. Once he had, he took another few seconds to rub his pounding head and pull himself together. His nerves seemed really rattled for some reason. What was he so worked up about again?
Oh well. Probably didn't matter.
A better question was, what happened to the garden?
When Evan took a good look around, he could not find any evidence that he was still in the garden. Everything seemed too... yellow. And much too dark for a sunny mid-morning. And maybe it was just the dizziness he was still getting over, but it felt like everything was at an angle, which he was currently sitting in the vertex of. On top of that, he quickly came to realize he was indoors, in what appeared to be a bedroom. There was a bed –which, judging by his current position, he had just fallen out of– and a desk, a dresser and a bookcase... and at a quick glance, he saw a great number of his favorite books stocked on the shelves. Dune, To Kill a Mockingbird, the Harry Potter series...
Wait a minute...
Evan scrambled to his feet, blown away by the realization that this was his room. His old bedroom back at his parents' house in Marietta, the one that he had long left behind...
What was he doing here?
Desperate to know the cause behind his sudden homecoming, Evan dashed up the slight ravine of his crooked bedroom and looked out his window. What he saw was most definitely NOT home...
It was that familiar black void, illumined only by the white and yellow glow beyond the golden gates that imprisoned him.
"...Prospit?"
Wow. This was only his second time dreaming about this place. It felt like so long ago when he had walked this path up to those golden gates, and yet he felt right at home in seeing it again. But why was he back here? Why now? Why were he and his bedroom separated from the rest of the city?
...And what was up with these pajamas he was wearing? So weird. Yellow and silky with poofy sleeves and a crescent moon logo... The color and material were nice, but since when did he wear pajamas?
E̷̡͘v̷́a̵̢̛͜ń̸̴̕?̸̀
His eyes shot back up in dread. Oh God... Not this again...
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Post by gantzgun74 on Dec 27, 2015 17:12:28 GMT -5
The others had been quick to rush down to Evan after he passed out. Swift, thankfully, had pulled Evan out of the water, eliminating the need for anyone to play the hero for his sake and potentially reveal godly powers to Sanuta. Alex had barely managed to sell that they had been unknowing of the symbols true significance, it would not have done to reveal too soon that they were gods themselves. Alex did, however, check for a pulse... Normal. Breathing seemed normal too. "He's okay... Just passed out."
Lizzie could barely blame him. This new discovery was enough to truely shock her.
Erin meanwhile, once she was aware of this and thankful for that, turned to continue taking in the garden... Now that she thought about it, there was a few other flags dedicated to this mysterious Hope Player around the estate. No-one had just been able to take notice since these flags were at their backs and elsewhere on the estate... Still... They needed answers.
But first, they needed to see to Evan...
"I'm really sorry for asking Sanuta but... Do you have a bed we can borrow for a bit? Just until Evan decides to rejoin the land of the living?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Dec 27, 2015 18:49:11 GMT -5
Swift anxiously took Evan into her arms, lightly shaking him and slapping his cheeks in a sad attempt at rousing him. "Evan...? Come on, everything's alright... Wakey-wakey..."
Sanuta looked between Alex, Todd and Evan, profoundly nervous and confused but managing to keep himself together for the most part. "W-We can keep talking about this later. I have just the thing for Evan. Let's get him inside!"
Quickly taking the initiative, Sanuta grabbed Evan's other end and helped Swift carry him back up the hill. At his polite request, the front door to his house was slid open, allowing the group to step inside and into the living room. Once there, Swift and Sanuta gently laid him on a couch, after which the latter continued, "Sit tight. I'll be right back." Then he raced down the hallway and disappeared into another room.
Though not as spectacular as what was outside, the living room was quaint in its own right. The walls were painted a warm off-yellow and the floors were polished wood with a black rug in the center. Two black couches rested perpendicular along the walls, and in the corner between them was a side table with a simple gas lamp. In the middle of the room was a plain coffee table surrounded by four floor cushions. A few potted plants sat here and there, and the entrance to the kitchen was apparent on the far side of the room.
If there was anything truly noteworthy in the living room, it was probably the tapestries that lined three of the walls.
Predictably, there were eight in total, six of which were fairly simple. One banner was red with a red-orange gear, one blue with six navy swirls, one orange with a yellow sun, one fuchsia with a pink heart, one tan with a green plant, and one brown with a red, dripping slash. The two remaining banners were much more intricate...
Between the tan and brown ones, hanging right above Evan's sleeping form, was a crochet tapestry of a young man with black hair and deep brown eyes, wearing a white mask, a golden hood, and a pale yellow tunic adorned with the white angel wing emblem, surrounded by white, angelic beings, and standing before a sunset-drenched mountain range in what could only be described as a crucifixion posture.
Between the red and blue ones, the final tapestry portrayed a blond-haired man with his eyes concealed by a gleam, as if he was wearing glasses, adorned in black robes with a silver swirl emblem, surrounded by stars and the faintest images of frogs, standing before what appeared to be a volcano, light pouring from his heart and open hands, within which he held the island.
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Post by DMis on Dec 27, 2015 21:19:27 GMT -5
Todd, Forsaken and Yang followed in.
Forsaken looked to the tapestries. 'Well this has just got difficult to hide....' she thought seeing them. "Are the tapestries heirlooms?" she asked calmly.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Dec 27, 2015 21:41:16 GMT -5
Carter dashed in and sat down on the floor near Evan's head, sniffing the boy worriedly. When he noticed that pretty much everyone else's attention was on something else, Carter looked up to investigate, letting out a startled yip when he noticed the tapestry presumably portraying Kitomo.
"HOLY JESUS."
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Evan cautiously climbed out through the window and touched down on the golden path. When he turned around, he saw that the yellow replica of his bedroom was housed within a great spherical structure that, judging by the damage it had both received and dealt to its surroundings, must have somehow fallen into this voidial prison. After taking this in, he turned back around and walked up to the gate.
All the while, that voice continued to whisper to him... That voice that sounded eerily similar to Kendall...
E̴̸̛͜v̸̨̢͡҉a̡͏̴͢n̶̶̨̡͢.̕̕͢.̨͟͞.̵͘͞͡
That voice that seemed to project from all directions at once...
E͢͜v̡͟͢͠a̷̕͜͜͞ń̴̨̕͟,̵̸̢͢͜ ̧̛p̢͢͡l͏҉̕͝e̶̸á̸́̕͏s̴͢e̷͢͢.̵̕҉̸͠.̸̷̡.̛̀̀
That voice that constantly echoed, even before it had been spoken, as if lingering in a tangled web of space and time...
È̕̕v̡̕͟a̷̡͘͟͠n̷͘.҉҉̷͘.̶̶́͠.̵͝͞ ̴̢Y͏̡͟͠o̢͞ù̡̧̢́ ̷҉m̷̸̷̷̀ú̧̨́s͘t̵̕͢͜ ͏̶̸́͞ư͟ń͡l̢҉҉̵ǫ̸̸̸̶c͜͠ḱ̢̛͝͏ ̸̷̀͝͞t̵̶͘͝h̨͡͞͞é͏̶̨͢ ̶͘͜͞g͢҉͞a͏̸̧t̶̷͡͡e̸͝.̨̨́͠͏
Slowly, Evan pulled the Paramount Key out of the neck of his shirt. Before he could pull it off, however, he softly asked the surrounding darkness, "Who are you?"
A̡҉̧͘ ̨f҉̶̵ŗ̵̀͠i̧̛̛͟͠ȩ̵́͘͢n̷d̵̵̸͘.̧̀͝
He took a deep breath. That wasn't really anything to go on. "What is this place?"
P҉̢̢̡͠r̸̶͘͝͞o̷̸s̷̸ṕ̴̕i̧̢̕t̷͘͟.̸̷̸͢͟
"Why am I stuck in here?"
I̷̕̕͜ ̡͢͏̧s̸͢͞a̧͏̵́v̸̨͟͡e̛͢͝d̵̶ ̴̸̀͘y̛͞҉͡o҉́͞u҉͏ ́͢͟f̸͞r҉̴̶ǫ̢̛m̵̡ ̵̛t́͝҉̧̛h̷̴e͏̢̛͜ ̢͘͘͝S̢͘͟c̶̡͢͟͠r̡̛҉a̡͘t̛́ć̨̀͘͡h̕͘.̡
Evan looked over his shoulder, trying to hide his nervousness. "What's out there?"
E͘҉v̢̢̀ȩ͘͡r̛͟y̴̨͢͜͠t̴̢͞͠h̶͟͝i̛͏̶̨̀n͝҉g̨͘.̶̧͢
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Post by gantzgun74 on Dec 28, 2015 1:18:34 GMT -5
................
This...
This wasn't possible...
Yang took notice of Alex's expression, as the realization finally hit flash forward. Before? It had been easy to simply presume that the island had been created by another set of God-tiers, in another game, in another time, in another life...... But... This confirmed it didn't it? This completely confirmed that this wasn't just another set of god-tiers. This island, this game...
IT WAS THEIRS.
Or rather, it was THEIRS IN ANOTHER TIMELINE...
THEY WERE THE GODS IN THE MYTH.
...........
Now ALEX wanted to faint...
"....." He pulled out his scroll and snapped a picture of the tapestry of the god of space, before sending the picture and a message to another friend on the island... One he was sure would be very interested in this discovery...
---------------------------------
-- gantzGun [GG] Started pestering shadesofGrey [SG]
GG: [INSERT IMAGE HERE]
GG: Apparently according to an informant a friend pointed us too...
GG: Pieter... A VERSION OF YOU CREATED THIS ISLAND. AND HE'S WORSHIPPED AS A GOD FOR IT.
GG: For our safety and the wellbeing of the natives, I would suggest you stay away from Bonsai Village. Someone might recognize you...
----------------------------------
As Alex continued typing on the scroll frantically, Erin looked at the tapestry with wide-eyes. "UM... WOW-??" She also recognized a version of Pieter when she saw one. She had met one of them before at the Ghost Town during the fog... She was quick to turn to her twin brother with disbelieving eyes. "Alex-?" Lizzie looked equally distressed-
The bunch hear footsteps.
"Shh. Let's talk about this back home.... Okay, poker faces everyone. Poker faces." As he said that, he continued typing at his scroll as Sanuta walked back into the room. At the sight of the machine, Alex waved off the odd look. "Sorry Sanuta. I just figured I'd take a couple notes. I'll be finished in just a second."
Cool as a cucumber. You'd've think he'd done this before.
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Dec 28, 2015 1:48:59 GMT -5
Swift kept her hand on Evan's as she looked around the room. Seeing all these banners was... well, to put it bluntly, it was freaking weird. As far as she knew, regardless of whatever actions they had or will carry out, these were ordinary people being treated like deities. And the lengths to which Sanuta was taking his beliefs was getting slightly more uncomfortable the further they delved into it.
But everything else, along with practically her entire world, came crashing down when she saw the tapestry of the god of hope.
It was obvious who it was trying to emulate.
And for some reason, seeing this image of her beloved in such a glorious light was... oddly captivating.
"Okay. Okay okay okay okay..." Sanuta rooted through his medicine cabinet, quickly snatching an herb that resembled a stick of green cinnamon. Then he quickly returned to the living room, blissfully unaware of the torrent of emotions his guests were cycling through. "I'm sorry. This may smell strong and none too pleasant, but it will do its part to help him."
Sanuta then knelt down next to Swift, snapping the herb in half directly beneath Evan's nose. Swift had to reel back as he did so, not only from the overwhelmingly potent scent of the herb –God, it was like shoving your nose in a jar of cloves... cloves that were on fire– but from the realization that he wasn't going to catch on anytime soon. As her gaze shifted between Sanuta, Evan and the tapestry, it was clear to pretty much everyone that she was resisting the urge to scream HEY GENIUS, DO YOU NOT SEE THE RESEMBLANCE?!
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Post by DMis on Dec 28, 2015 2:17:23 GMT -5
Yang gulped. 'Now there's a giant elephant in the room....' she thought seeing the tapestries. She gave a slight gag noise with the scent of the fire cloves.
Forsaken was scribbling in her sketchpad. Seeming more interested in the brown tapestry with the red gash and the details than the chaos going on near Kitomo's picture. The girl seemed to not mind the scent as much as other people did. 'Smells like something out of the Wax Warmer.'
Todd coughed severly as the scent reached his nose. "Well that certainly cleans out the sinuses," he offered.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Dec 28, 2015 10:25:06 GMT -5
Carter whimpered and backed away, the strong herbal scent a burst of olfactory torture to his canine nose.
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Without giving it much thought, Evan pulled the Paramount Key off and drew it close to the gate's lock. And yet he continued to hesitate. Sure, he was excited to see what awaited him outside, but more than that, he was scared. Scared of whatever it was he was sharing a cell with. Scared of the consequences of letting himself and his guest go free. He couldn't even contemplate the possibilities; all he felt was a simple, primal fear, like a child afraid of the monster in his closet.
"If I unlock this... and we both go free... what happens then?"
W҉̛͘͝e̸̵̕͜ ̵͝͞b̨҉ó̕t̶̡́͞h̴ ̨̀̕͡ḩ͞͞a̵̛͘͢͟v̸͏̶͢e͡҉̨ ̷̢m͏̶͘̕i͏̶̸̧͡s͏͜͝͠s͡i̴̛̛o̴̢n͜͞͏͘s҉̛̕ ̡͘͝t̵́̕͟o҉͜͟͝ ̨̢̀͡͡c̕̕o̷̶͠͡m̀̀͘҉p̵̵̀͢l͘͜ȩ͡t҉͜e͏̵͢.̴͘͠
"W-What...?"
Y̷̸̢̨̡o̷̶͟͠u̵͠͠ ̶̡w͢i͏̴͝l̢̕͡ļ͘ ̨́́ṕ̧͟l̴̀҉á͝͠͞y̴̨̧͟ ͟͜҉t̶̷̶͡͝h҉̀͞͝í̵̛͘s̡͟͞ ͏͘͏̷g͡͏a̧̛͜͟m͏̷ȩ̸́͢,̸̴ ̸͘͢͜a̷̧n҉d̨͜ ̶̨̢̡͜I̧͟'̶l̸͢͠l̵̡ ҉̢̕͞͡t̀͞á͟͡͡k̢͞e̶̢̨͘ ͜҉͟t̀͏̵̕͜ḩ̷̡́͠e̢̧͟͟ ̨͢l̷̕a̵͘҉͞s͜͝t̷̡͞ ͢͏t͏̴h̸͘͜͞͞i̵̵҉̶͢n͜҉ǵ̵̨͜ ͜͟Ì̢̡͠ ͜n̶͏e̢͏e͟d̵̢.̕͞
Evan's nose twitched. Something stunk in there. Something... really stunk. It was disorienting just how powerful this stench was.
A̛҉̢͝n̶̷̛͜d̶̢̕͝ ̢̛I̸̕ ̸̛҉̧͞c̸̡̨͟a̷͜͜n̡̡̢͜͞ ̵̛͠͠t̵́͟͏ȩ̶́͡l̷̢l̶̨̢ ̢͘͘ỳ̸̴͢͟ó̢ù̶͜͏ ̢̛̕͘t̨͘͝h͏̶͢͟͠i͟҉҉s̢̛͡,̢͜͡͠ ̷̶̕͢Ę͠v̛̀͞͡a̛͠n̢̡͟͠.̢͝͡҉̀.͏̷.̵̀͞͝
The more the scent overwhelmed him, the more drowsy and yet simultaneously wide awake he felt.
O̸̢̧̕Ņ̕͢͠E̢ ͟O͏͏̨͢F̵͘̕͠͝ ̧͢͢U҉̡̨͘͟S̴̨̕̕ ̕͞W͝͞҉I̶̶̡L̶̡̀͢͠Ļ́͘ ҉̡̢̧S͜U̢͏̕C̵͢C̵̀͠E͝͏̡̀Ę̶̴D̸̵̢͜͟.̶͟͡͠
Finally, his senses pulled from this reality, Evan's dream body seemed to vanish.
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"Uuuugh... Uh... ACHOO!!"
Evan shot up on the couch, dizzy for only a few seconds and then suddenly wide awake. He rubbed his nose, the herb's scent still lingering in his nostrils, then he turned and faced his friends, blinking in awkward silence.
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Post by gantzgun74 on Dec 28, 2015 18:31:44 GMT -5
Alex and Erin were probably the only ones not reviling back at the smellingsalts, though that was more because their sniffers were not that finely tuned. Still, the strong smellingsalts did at least appear to irritate them somewhat. Alex held his nose, looking only mildly irritated, while Erin turned and walked off to do the same. "WOW THAT STUFF'S POTENT..." Lizzie said nasally as Sanuta went to work.
Thankfully it appeared to work, Evan awoke once more, looking about in awkward silence at what had just occurred... When Sanuta put up the herb, that at least ended the horrible smell....
..... All was silent a moment...
"Hey buuuuddy." The Kunoichi said with a oddly genuine smile for the teasing sounding tone. "You have a good nap~?"
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Post by Pink Moon Wolf on Dec 28, 2015 23:34:19 GMT -5
"Eheh... Sorry," Sanuta murmured just as Evan came to. "Ah! Thank goodness!"
"Evan!" Swift was quick to worry over him. "A-Are you okay?"
She opted to return to silence as Evan pulled himself together. All the while, Sanuta put away the herb and got to work evaporating the water off of him. Swift wasn't even sure what to say at this point. She just... hoped Evan wouldn't turn around.
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Post by DMis on Dec 28, 2015 23:51:43 GMT -5
Todd looked to Evan. "You gave us quiet a scare back there. Fainted into the pond. And I only thought Ray did that," he offered to the waking Evan.
Forsaken continued her sketching. The pencil seemed to furiously scribble on the page.
'Don't turn around. Please don't turn around,' Yang mentally uttered still looking like she had seen a ghost.
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Post by ParamountKeymaster on Dec 29, 2015 0:01:56 GMT -5
Evan rubbed his head, not from disorientation but from confusion. There were so many questions in his pounding skull about his newfound knowledge and the dream he was just unceremoniously awakened from, but for the sake of avoiding another mental breakdown, he opted to save those questions for later. "Uh... Yeah, I'm alright. Sorry about that spill..."
"Hey, you've had worse," Carter chuckled. "Then again, you had them under worse circumstances. Bearing that in mind... maybe don't look behind you."
Evan could only blink at his dog, further confused but obviously curious now. Nonetheless, he resisted temptation and continued, "Not sure what came over me there."
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