A Reckoning...

[strangerpeople]

[You are dead.

Where you awaken is not of your cabin on the train but rather firm earth, the skies above you being nothing but an inky blackness as for as you can see. And yet throughout the darkness, you are surrounded by soft lighting and peculiar music playing all around you. When your senses become less muddled, you will notice that the music playing is upbeat and joyful almost. But let's face it, you are probably thinking this is some sort of creepy hell that you got yourself into after biting the bullet.

It all depends if you find circuses to be such a place because that is where you find yourself. The setting feels more antique than what you may assume a circus to look like, more Victorian themed than what one can be called. First the sound picks up and then you can smell something delectable in the air, catching popped corn and fried sweets and maybe something to drink? It's more than likely here.

Going down the main way, you can see some classic carnival games such as skee ball, ring toss, balloon popping if you are inclined to try and take your mind of the fact that you didn't have a choice in coming here. But despite the joyous air of the circus, there are not many people here that can help you out...or are there?


Lost souls just like yourself who met with the same horrible fate...perhaps an accord can be struck. After all, it looks like you will be here for awhile.]


((OOC: Map for reference.))

Comments

[awitchdidit]

[Well.]

[Well well well.]

[Of all the deaths Beatrice has experienced, that was certainly the most...concerning. But she's here now, and Purgatorio in this land appears to be...a circus.]

A dead end two weeks in. Tsk, tsk. It's a good thing Battler wasn't here to see that after all.

But really, a circus? The Witch of this land is making me look downright well-adjusted.

...

You going to come out yet, Victoria Misericordia? I believe I caught a glimpse of you before my eyes boiled, but it's impolite to keep your guests waiting even after you've killed them.

[She sighs, pats herself down to see if she can find her pipe, then starts wandering. Maybe there's cotton candy.]

[silvertongueheir]

[Franciscus is standing at the edge of the carnival, peering at the new islands that appeared. After that fight with the monster last week, he's been on the lookout for anything new. Still, from behind, his figure might look quite familiar to Beatrice...]

1/2

[awitchdidit]

You!

[After a moment of shock, she storms right up to him.]

[awitchdidit]

[And that's going to be all the warning Franciscus gets before she grabs him by the shoulder, spins him around, and throws a right hook worthy of a demoniacal boxing match between man and goat at his face.]

Bastard!

[silvertongueheir]

Do I- [And that's all he manages to get out before her fist hits him in the face, sending him crashing to the ground with a surprised yell, rubbing his cheek. Beatrice might notice his eyes are gray instead of blue, or the lack of the One-Winged Eagle on his suit collar here.]

What-what exactly was that about? [This rates quite high on his list of "inexplicable things that have happened to me."]

1/2

[awitchdidit]

I killed a robot for you, you incompetent moooooroooon! I got turned into glass! And you couldn't stay alive for another five minutes after--

[awitchdidit]

[Beatrice blinks, and stops seeing red long enough to actually look at the guy she just decked.]

Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I had you confused with someone else.

[She offers him a hand up.]

[silvertongueheir]

[Um. Well. He'll take that hand, then. Though he's still very confused. But...killed a robot for the man he was mistaken for? Turned to glass?]

Were you also trapped in some unescapable place, and given motives to kill?

[awitchdidit]

[She scrutinizes his face a little harder once he's up. Yes...definitely the wrong eyes. And possibly a little too short? She's confident she'd recognize Battler through any disguise, but there were enough small differences to add up to a totally different person, now that she looked closer.]

I gather that that's endemic to this universe. I went from a plane to a train, but it was the same story on both, yes.

[silvertongueheir]

[A plane...? That seems like an odd coincidence.]

We were in a mansion, ourselves...but a plane, you say? Were there any snakes on it?

[alwaysgonnatry]

[ She really hadn't expected that more people were going to show up, honestly. So when she spots Beatrice, there's a small bit of shock before she moves forwards to greet her with a smile. ]

Hey there! I know this is gonna sound crazy, but you weren't part of some weird game before you showed up here, were you?

[ Akko really hopes not but with new people arriving it didn't make her feel happy at the prospect and what it could mean. ]

[awitchdidit]

[Oh, someone friendly. And not dressed as a clown, in either the literal or Battler sense. That's a good sign.]

My dear, my existence is weird games. I suppose you were another contestant, and not part of the Empress's staff?

[alwaysgonnatry]

The Empress? I've never even heard of that person before now so I'm gonna go with the other one since that's how I ended up here.

[ Something about this lady gave off this air of sophistication and she wasn't even sure why. Maybe it was how she spoke. ]

[awitchdidit]

[It's difficult to do justice to the elegance of Beatrice's speech, frankly. If she's being heard in Japanese, her vocabulary is positively antique, although her inflection is that of the modern upper class. For now.]

I see. I was most recently aboard a train, allegedly a personal guest of Her Thrice-Renewed Majesty Victoria, ruler of the British Empire, which seems to be in space now for some reason. I was assuming I'd meet her here, but either I'm mistaken, or her avatar is both inexplicably adorable and playing ignorant.

[icanhearscreams]

[He's not saying anything, but the young man who was talking to Protoman does glance over at Akko and this woman and step slightly behind Akko. He's watching you.]

[alwaysgonnatry]

You were on a train in space? That's so cool!

[ Yeah that's about what she took from most of that whole thing. Sounds WAY cooler - and better - than how she'd been trapped in an old mansion before. ]

Noone like that's here and it's definitely not me.

[ She puts on a smile and in her usual fashion, extends a friendly hand out to the older woman without a second thought. ]

Name's Atsuko Kagari, but you can call me Akko! Nice to meet ya!

[awitchdidit]

Ahaha, what a cute nickname. I'll have to introduce you to my friend Nappi.

[Somewhere, somebody gets a headache.]

You can call me Beatrice.

So...if this isn't another level of the game I was playing, where precisely are we?

[alwaysgonnatry]

[ She simply just smiles brighter at the compliment. ]

Thanks! If we ever find a way out of here, I wouldn't mind that at all! Think they'd have a problem meeting me, even though i'm a witch?

[ The last place she was in saw witches as bad, so she had to cover all her bases. ]

Well... As far as I can tell it's essentially some kind of weird afterlife so I wonder if that makes us spirits or something...

[hexposition]

[A gentle voice pipes up from behind Beatrice.]

"The Witch of this land?" I hardly know if I count as the witch, but I can promise at least that I had nothing to do with this. I find the whole thing rather unsettling, myself.

[If Beatrice turns to look, she'll see a somewhat meek-looking girl in glasses, somewhere in her late teens, with a pair of black skeletal wings extending from her shoulder blades.]

And if there is a "Victoria Misericordia" among us, I have not caught sight of her.

[awitchdidit]

[Beatrice turns to address her, and raises an eyebrow. Aesthetic as fuck, lady.]

Ahaha, I'll settle for "a" witch, if you can help explain what's going on.

Perhaps to be more general, I was expecting to meet the mastermind of the game I was part of before arriving - something that I understand is a common background here? She was supposedly an immortal sorceress, and I fully expected her to keep my spirit hanging around after shuffling me off the mortal coil.

[It's what she'd do, after all.]

[hexposition]

[She didn't ask for these, and she'd gladly give them to you if she could!]

Hehe, well. I think I can do that.

I was a part of a horrible game before arriving here, as well. Motivated to kill each other week after week, and then forced to find and execute the guilty in trial. I suppose that sounds similar?

As far as I can tell, we all woke up here once we passed on from our games. I do not believe the masterminds of such actually appear here, though. I am not even certain they know of this place's existence.

For the best. Our masterminds were quite foul.

[awitchdidit]

Indeed. This seems like a whole cluster of quite similar Fragments, with the same afterlife somehow. Although I think Eddie might have been improvising the whole trial game to stall for time. The one on the train was much more organized.

[hexposition]

[...]

Eddie?

You... you don't happen to mean Eddie Kim, do you?

[Welp. This is going to be awkward for her and awesome for Beatrice.]

[awitchdidit]

Sadly, yes. I was a hostage of the multiverse's dumbest terrorist for a few hours.

[hexposition]

I... huh.

I admit I never really got to know him, but, ah... he was in our game with us. Died within the first week. And he was here, as well... until, um. He met his rather gruesome end a couple days ago.

So, if it's any consolation, you are forever free of him?