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Post by Ariadne on Jul 13, 2020 4:27:35 GMT
[attr="class","dialogue"]
Addy was hanging out with Haji, eating at the outdoor area of a cute hipster cafe. The sun was low in the sky, and this was a part of the district that was more niche and artsy, with colorful graffiti lining the brick walls of the buildings around them, and old jazz playing on the wind. It was a pretty quiet day, some odd Sunday afternoon, where most people were indoors winding down for the evening, making it a quiet, peaceful atmosphere.
Ariadne was wearing an oversized sweater and corduroy shorts, one leg pulled up on her seat as she ate some strange, flowery pastry. Across from her was Haji, who she'd invited out to take a walk on this side of town, since it was what she was most familiar with. The outdoor setting of the cafe had cute, iron tables and mismatched chairs, giving the area an antique sort of feel.
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 13, 2020 4:33:10 GMT
Wearing his usual suit, tie, and vest, but foregoing the coat, Haji would be sitting at the table with Ariadne. In his hands were a tiny plate and appropriately tiny fork to go along with it, with a lovely little cake that seemed far too big for the plate on top of it. Using the fork with his dominant hand, Haji was taking calculated, careful scoops of the pastry and shoveling them into his mouth bit by bit.
"Oh, this is simply wonderful." He would say, chowing down on the cake like nobody's business. It had been a while since he had something sweet, and it was nice to kick back and enjoy something like this and be absolutely undisturbed. A relaxing day was needed after everything else.
His katana rested on his side, he brought it along where he went just to be safe.
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 13, 2020 4:49:07 GMT
Loie decided to visit to a quieter more artsy corner of town. The past week had been hard. She'd worked long shifts every day and still barely had time to socialize. She hadn't made many friends yet seeing as she'd just moved to Anthem City, and it was hard to reach out to people seeing as she was still rattled by her recent loss. No one really had her back either, so she made ends meet herself. She had to be strong, there was no one else who would catch her when she fell but herself. The terrifying and mysterious occurrences she'd experienced lately didn't help things. Hopefully a little self care day would have her ready to go for the next work week.
Loie stepped out of her favorite little bubble tea cafe dressed in culotte shorts and a retro cable cardigan over a graphic t-shirt. She decided to switch things up today and get the Taro tea. The sweet taste brought back happy memories and provided a good temporary distraction. Maybe she'd go look at rabbits in the pet store next? That would be cute. Loie began walking past a restaurant with outdoor seating, clutching her drink with both hands. |
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Post by Ariadne on Jul 13, 2020 5:03:19 GMT
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Familiar pink hair entered Ariadne's eyesight. Wait-- was that the girl from the mall? And the festival? It was crazy seeing her here, a weird coincidence Addy hadn't really anticipated. This must surely be fate. Seeing the girl now three times in the past few weeks is nothing short of uncanny, and the blue haired woman wondered if perhaps this was some sort of sign.
"Hey!" Addy called out as Loie walked by, gently catching the girl by the sleeve. She gave a sunny, inviting smile. "You're the nuts-kicking girl, right?" For some reason, that memory stuck out in her head.
"My name's Ariadne," she introduced herself, and gestured to a seat beside her. "Come sit with us, I don't think we've ever really had a conversation before-- and I think it's absolutely bonkers that we haven't, considering how often I've seen you around lately."
She hoped Haji wouldn't mind a third member to their party.
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 13, 2020 5:08:21 GMT
Haji looked up as Ariadne called out, and he would look over to see a somewhat familiar woman. After thinking for a moment, he realized he saw her at the mall. The way Ariadne described her was most curious though, and he would lean close and speak to her in almost a whisper.
"...Nuts-kicking? Like almonds? Does she have allergies?"
He was completely serious, and trying to make sure not to offend her by bringing up anything nut-related. Still, if the woman came close, Haji would stand up out of politeness, giving a proper bow.
"And I am Haji Morei. It is a pleasure to formally meet you. We did not get to speak when we last saw one another."
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 13, 2020 5:28:45 GMT
Loie stopped when someone caught her sleeve and turned to see a familiar blue haired girl. She was in the middle of chewing a boba pearl as the two introduced themselves and her heart began beating out her chest. She had to slightly release her grip on her cup or it definitely would've exploded in her face. Social interaction!? This was unexpected. Loie almost choked as she swallowed. Her spike of anxiety seemed needless as the two appeared friendly and probably fun too. She was just a little taken by surprise.
Nuts-kicking girl? Wow, she never wanted to hear that moniker again. No more nuts kicking for her. The young man she was with introduced himself as well in a sort of odd way. It was extremely polite, just unusual. Then again, perhaps all three of them were a little odd. Ariadne and Haji, huh?
"Oh! Alright..." she shuffled to an unoccupied chair at their table and awkwardly sat down on the edge of the seat.
"I'm Loie," she continued, "It's nice to meet you both! I guess we have been ending up in the same place a lot lately..."
It was really nice of Ariadne to invite her to join them but Loie just didn't know how to act natural yet. Especially since she was worried that she'd interrupted a date, but Haji didn't seem to mind. Just calm down. Loie took a breath and smiled.
"At least it's on a peaceful afternoon for once!" |
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Post by Zi on Jul 13, 2020 6:21:03 GMT
Out of random, when they blinked, the three would see things incredible differently. Loie would see, as she looked upon Haji and Ariadne, that they took on the appearance of two of her long-dead classmates. Their clothes were in tatters, and they were covered in blood and dirt. Ariadne would see Loie looked like her little sister, who was staring up at her with tears in her eyes, and Haji appeared as one of the most recent men to be lost to her caravan's customs. Haji would see as Loie took the shape of his mother, pale in skin, staring at him through a veil of death, and Ariadne looked just like Mina, the wound still fresh in her body as she bled. Across the way, he could see as Haru approached them. When they all blinked once again, the visions would fade, and things were back to normal, but Haji could see there was still someone approaching them. "Excuse me," a voice called out, and they could see a tall man approach. Just over six feet tall, athletic build, objectively good looking but otherwise unremarkable. He held up a camera as he approached. "Sorry to bother. My name's Sebastian, and I'm doing some work for the Anthem Annals on the beauty of everyday life in our city. To try and, you know, cheer people up with all the weird stuff that's been happening. You three have kind of the perfect look for some shots. Would you mind if I took a couple pictures, maybe shot a couple minutes of video? I can pay if needed."
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Post by Ariadne on Jul 13, 2020 15:49:09 GMT
[attr="class","dialogue"]
Ariadne's heart nearly stopped-- stunned-- as she saw the images of her two companions change into something terrifying and unexpected. Daphne crying made Ariadne want to go and comfort her, but the other face filled her with horror. No... she never knew their names... but the faces staring up at her when all were said and done was something she could never forget. She felt a surge of guilt, but before she could properly react to what she was seeing, she blinked again and the visions ceased.
Maybe this was the Gods punishing her for having run away. Or maybe it was just her imagination playing tricks on her. The images were so vivid, but there's no way they could've been real.
Unless Loie's reappearance wasn't just mere coincidence, and some weird stuff was about to happen again.
Addy would hear the voice of a stranger, and she turned her head to see the man that had approached them. Oh, thank goodness for friendly strangers. Sebastian was his name?
Maybe taking some pictures would distract her from whatever the Hell she saw.
"Yeah, go ahead!" Addy said eagerly, glancing to her other companions, reminded again just how relieved she was that they were real people and not illusions right now.
She looked back over to Sebastian. "Need us to be in poses or is this like a candid sorta thing?"
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 13, 2020 16:12:34 GMT
Haji's eyes widened in shocked. He blinked, and in that instant, he was met with a most terrifying sight. His mother, skin pale and looking as if the life had left her long ago. Was this how she looked in her final moments, when he wasn't there for her? And Mina... giving him that same look she did when she lay dying in his arms. The two reminders of his guilt and inability to be happy lay before him, and in the distance, he saw him... the catalyst for it all.
At the sight of Haru, Haji's hand reached to grab his blade, but as he blinked, everything looked back to normal.
Haji looked around uneasily, visibly sweating. Everything seemed back to normal, but in Haru's place was a man who was still approaching them in the same manner...
Easing his guard and releasing the handle of his sakabato, he remained silent as the man came up and introduced himself as Sebastian, a photographer for the Anthem Annals. He wanted to take photos or video of them, and while it was a normal cause, Haji felt immediate discomfort at the idea.
The visions gave him a grave reminder. He could not let his guard down, and his name and visage could not be publicized for fear of his family from Japan finding him here in Anthem. It would not be safe, not for him or anyone around him.
"...I am sorry, I must respectfully decline. I need some fresh air. But you two may take part if you wish." Haji would say, standing up and taking a few steps back as he tried to remain calm. Sebastian seemed perfectly fine, but the fact he saw his brother in him briefly had him completely rattled to the core. Why did the Kami deign to show him such a vision? Was he not allowed peace as long as he drew breath?
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 13, 2020 19:17:20 GMT
Seconds after her last comment, Loie blinked and saw something spine chilling. Nina and Adler sat at the table with her, just like they did during lunch period so many years ago. They looked... so young. Loie wanted to scream how sorry she was but instead she just sucked in a sharp breath and the next moment they were gone. She slowly exhaled and tried to calm the pounding in her chest.
So much for a peaceful afternoon. Then again, she was just seeing things. She had been ever since that masked man blasted her with the mist. An unfamiliar voice shook her out of her stupor and she became aware of a slight dampness on her cheek. Loie took off her glasses and quickly wiped away a stray tear with her sleeve before replacing them and looking at the newcomer.
Loie was still a bit on edge after what she'd just seen, but this seemed like a pretty normal guy. Photography was a cool skill too and Loie always liked supporting the arts, even if it was technically just for the Anthem Annals rather than a personal artistic project. Haji bowed out but Ariadne seemed fine with it. Loie imagined Haji must've been camera shy. Admittedly, so was she, but the guy had asked so politely she would feel bad saying no.
"Of course, it's no bother!" Loie smiled sheepishly at Sebastian, "I'm just not the most photogenic..."
Loie shuffled and knocked over her boba for a second, thankfully the top was sealed. She quickly moved it upright again and let out a nervous chuckle. Gosh, she was going to look so dumb in these pictures. |
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Post by Zi on Jul 14, 2020 1:55:01 GMT
Sebastian smiled at the women, but cocked a brow at the man's response and took on an apologetic look. "Did I offend?" he asked quietly, concern apparent in his tone. "That was... far from my intention, I apologize." A respectful bow of the head, and Sebastian took a couple of steps back and away from the table. If the women were still okay with it, he'd lift up the camera just a smidgen.
"Candid is fine. Preferred, actually. We want to show people some folks are still living their lives and posing defeats the purpose of that, I think. I really appreciate this."
A warm smile tugged at Sebastian's lips as he spoke. But the next time the trio blinked, they would see the same things they saw moments ago. Only, behind those figures, they would see the people in the background tearing into each other, quite literally ripping one another apart. Just like before, blinking again would make the strange sights go away.
Sebastian took a few steps back and held up the camera over his face, ready to snap away. "I'll just do a few, if that's alright. Be done in maybe a minute and you all can get back to your day, so it's not a drag for your buddy."
Haji would feel a chill run down his spine, and what felt like hot breath against the back of his neck. "You can't hide from me, Haji," a voice rang out in his head. If he turned to look, there'd be no one there, but that feeling did not go away.
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Post by Ariadne on Jul 14, 2020 2:52:57 GMT
[attr="class","dialogue"]
Addy looked over at Haji, concerned, when he stood up. "Haji, what do you mean 'fresh air'? We're already outside." She gave a worried smile. "After this we can go home, okay?" She was worried about him, but didn't understand his hesitance. Was he camera shy?
Ariadne turned her attention back to Sebastian. This dude seemed pretty chill, and Addy was ready to go back to just chatting with Loie, eager to get this done with so that Haji wouldn't be uncomfortable, but she blinked and was momentarily stunned by her vision.
If the tearing of limbs wasn't a horrifyingly familiar sight, she might've been sick to her stomach. There was no elation in what she saw, no joy or love or celebration. It was violence in its purest form, the conscious, sober decision to maim and mutilate other human beings.
And the fact that it was an image she recognized, ingrained in her brain for the ten or eleven years of her life that she's witnessed such horrors, was a thought that that not only shook her and disturbed her to her core, but also reminded her of every reason she had run away in the first place. Seeing it so vividly, without the blur of drugs and alcohol, was all the more scarring.
She blinked and just like that, the visions were gone. Her hands were shaking, and she had to clench her fists to keep them steady. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong. If this was anything like the other weird occurrences happening around the city, then they needed to get out. Now.
She turned to Seb, going to stand up. "Actually, I'm not feeling great right now, sorry about that." They'd already paid for the food, so Ariadne figured they should just leave. She gave Loie a wide-eyed look that said 'we need to leave NOW' and gestured for her to follow. She gave a small wave to Seb, just to be polite. "Good luck with your thing!"
She'd grab Haji's hand and would proceed to leave the outdoor seating area, going to walk down the street going south in hopes that they could get as far away from whatever the fuck is happening as soon as possible. She didn't say a word, not even sure what she would say if anyone asked what was wrong.
[newclass=.dialogue b]color:#95a1eb;[/newclass]
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Post by Haji Morei on Jul 14, 2020 3:12:07 GMT
Haji shook his head.
"No. No offense at all. I just..."
Haji blinked, and his eyes widened in shock as Mina and his mother were there once more, Haru standing next to them, katana replacing the camera. In the distance, people could be seen tearing each other apart like savage animals, a darker entity seeming to have possessed them. It was bloody and dark, and his eyes would turn towards Haru. Anger flared up in Haji's chest. Was this his doing? Was he using the desecrated corpses of his lost ones to torment him on his failures even more?
Haji blinked again, and everything seemed back to normal. Sebastian was there with his camera, instructing the women to just act normal. He took a deep breath, sighing in relief as he used his hand to fan himself. His heart was racing, and he wasn't sure what to think. None of this made sense... He felt a chill run down his spine, and felt as if someone was breathing against his neck.
"You can't hide from me, Haji."
He turned around in a hurry, ready to grab his katana, but nothing was there. Still, he could not shake the feeling that he was being watched, haunted even. He was shook from his thoughts when Ariadne grabbed his hand, pulling him away. He hadn't paid attention to what was going on with them, and was surprised to see her in such a hurry to leave just like that. Did something happen with the group?
"Ah, my apologies... I wish you well with your duties." Haji would say to Sebastian with a small wave before she dragged him off too far, wondering if Loie was coming as he turned back to Ariadne once they were far enough.
"Wait. Ariadne. Where are we going?" He'd ask, his tone more quiet than usual. He was still trying to shake off the images shown to him.
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Post by Loie Prim on Jul 14, 2020 3:33:21 GMT
Candid pictures? Was that when you pretended the camera wasn’t there? Man, she was gonna suck at this. Loie forced a cheesy smile and turned towards Addy, hands still tightly wrapped around her drink like a security blanket. She blinked again and then she was staring Nina Lewis dead in the eyes. Adler was back too, standing just a few steps away from the table. Past them was a scene of carnage pulled straight out of her worst nightmares.
Even after the vision faded Loie kept staring out to where all the people had been, fingers slipping off of her cup. Her vision swam and she couldn’t move. Was it happening again? After everything she’d seen, was she finally losing it?
The words of everyone around her seemed muffled like she was submerged in water. It didn’t occur to her that Addy had stood up until several seconds had past. Once it set it, Loie lurched out of her chair and her boba went flying. Her ankle caught on the chair leg and she slammed into the ground next to her small violet explosion of bubble tea.
“Nina, Adler... I-I didn’t mean to—” Loie whimpered, and scrambled to her feet. She probably scraped something but didn’t feel it for the time being. Ariadne and Haji were booking it. Had they seen things to?
Loie looked back at the photographer man. She didn’t want him to get caught up in this just like they had.
“I’m so sorry! I don’t know what’s going on,” she said, “But I don’t think it’s safe here! You should probably go home too!”
With that, Loie turned and went after the others, but her legs were still shaky and she couldn’t stop thinking about what she’d seen. It was her fault. Everything was her fault. They were all dead because of her.
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Post by Zi on Jul 14, 2020 3:44:55 GMT
The camera dropped, and Sebastian was left with his mouth agape. The lot got up to leave, just immediately after they accepted. "What-" he started, and then they were off. Dropped boba and all. He stepped forward, just to clean up the mess, and made a motion to the waiters that they didn't need to worry about this. "Sorry - guess I startled them, let me..." As the others walked, his voice would fade away. Before they could get too far, however, a young man stood up from the tables and walked in front of them. He was short, far shorter than any of them, but he stood before them wearing a bright smile. "You can't do that, you know?" the boy said, laughing a bit at the tail end of the sentence. "You can't just say yes and then back away like that. You've already agreed. There's no stopping it. He's going to find you, Haji. You abandoned her, Ariadne. And Loie -" he started to laugh a bit more, black mist pouring out of his mouth as he spoke. "You're beyond fucking worthless. At least this will let you make it up to them, so sit the fuck down and listen."People nearby seemed to be taken aback by the boy's outburst, but for now only observed. From behind, Seb was approaching once again, likely due to the scene being drawn. "Hey - what's goin' on?"
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