Eternity/Fatality (IC)

[Mormarth]

Clyde Madison
Madison Estate – Clyde’s Room
Thursday 7th of November – First Dream, First Phase

I sucked my teeth and looked around where I happened to find myself, it certainly looked a fair bit like my room, down to that chunk taken out of the back corner that I hoped no one ever asked me about.

There was a carpet, of course, which was new, and I was pretty sure that the only person who would come into my room and start gaslighting me for cheap laughs wouldn't be here for another few weeks, so I was reasonably sure this was some sort of bizarre dream.

The ominous red light seeping in through the gaps in the curtains helped in that assumption.

So, let us operate under the assumption that this was some sort of dream, and interpret all those garbled images and vague warnings as we go.

So, red light= bad? Or whatever set it off was bad, maybe. So some sort of intense emotion could be the cause of some bad things happening, so I needed to take this all carefully, and not be a hot-head.

Which was much easier to have an internal monologue about than to actually do, but I digress.

Some sort of monster coming through the roof of a house, and writing on the wall says 'don't go in the attic'.

So, analyzing that, some sort of bad mojo is intruding on my day to day life, but confronting it head-on, according to whatever (my subconscious?) might be a bad thing.

Well, should probably start getting a feel for what's going on, do some further investigation.

So I paced across my room steadily, stealing a glance out the window as I did so, and casually opened the door to the hall.

Can you pee in a dream?

Might just wet the bed, don't wanna risk it.

I glanced up and down the hall, on the look out for any horrible burn-victim child molesters.

[Airen]

Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Heavy.

Olivia Grace knew that she was making too much noise, far too much noise for the situation that she was in, but nevertheless, the weight of her breaths was such that most would think she had been choking for air. Knees stinging, a sharp pain of a fall slowly falling away to a more dull ache, the raven haired girl was breathing as if her life depended on it, as if she had just run a marathon and had only now stopped to catch her breath after hours of turmoil, or as if she had awoken from a dream, a catapult nightmare, and was taking in fresh gasps of reality, cementing herself in what the world actually was and should be.

But she was still sleeping.

She didn't know how she knew, lucidity was a strange phenomenon from the start, but she knew, one hand raised to her throat as if convinced something had been trying to strangle her, the young woman takes the time she needs to calm down, to slow her rampaging heart, even as her eyes instinctively scan everything around her for signs of foul play, of hidden dangers, things that should not exist in her home, but common enough occurrences in nightmares.

What she finds is murky glass, and air that is far too humid, far too unnatural, to let her shake off the sudden shift in atmosphere without a fight.

But, in the end.

She does calm down.

Breathing returning to normal quickly, the untamed raw emotions that always came with dreams pushed back by a more lucid clarity, the raven-haired girl rises to her feet silently, with a surprising sort of grace, a look of strained acceptance on her face as her attempts to wake herself up, to go back to the actual waking world instead of this little nightmare, prove to be fruitless.

"..."

As far as she could tell, there was nothing here.

Naturally, she does not trust this conclusion to be correct.

Lucid Dreams where control is lost are often quick to become nightmares; the subconscious relishing in the rare chance to smack the Ego around a bit.

"..."

Still, staying quiet now, feeling that she should and thus doing so, the girl glides over to her computer with the intention of turning the monitor back on. She doesn't know what she expects to find, in reality, she doesn't expect to find anything at all, but at the same time...

She didn't really want to open her door.

Too obvious a trap set by the subconscious.

[palad1n]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Lumina Aurora woke up inside a dream.

She breathes heavily, still terrified from the last dream that she experienced. The white masks and that strange song is still clear and vivid in her mind, and hugging the blanket to calm herself down and shield her from the extreme cold, the pink(?) haired girl closes her eyes and took a few deep breaths.

One. Two. Three.

When she has finally calmed down, Lumina opened her eyes and scanned her room.

All her attention was immediately taken by a single entity.

It was a cat - of what race she didn't know - but it was very pretty, perhaps the prettiest cat she had ever seen. Its hair is that of a strange color - whether it's a strange shade of pink or white she didn't know - and its eyes was that of a brilliant blue. Somehow it felt intelligent, and Lumina could felt something between them...

She blinked, then looked at her own hair which is long enough that it's sprawled on her bed before looking back at the cat.

'It's the exact same color... The eyes too...'

It's definitely surreal, looking at what seems to be a reflection of herself in the form of a cat. But then again, this is a dream... Right?

"Hello there, little one." Lumina quietly said as she slowly crawled to the edge of her bed, trying not to startle the cat as it meowed and purred, seemingly welcoming her in its own way. The girl debated for a second whether to approach and try petting it or not, but in no time at all she had gotten off bed and crouched before the strange feline, captivated in a way she doesn't understand.

Blue eyes meet a reflection of itself, and for a second she was still.

She then slowly reached her hand out, trying to pet the cat.

[Frantic Author]

David Baudelaire
Baudelaire Estate – Dave’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Phase

Really, it was more par for the course for Dave to randomly be attacked and then have the entire world shatter, as well as his goddamn window. The maid would be extremely disappointed in him, for allowing such a thing to happen. Never let down your guard, she said, and what did he go and do? Let down his guard. Creeping tendrils of darkness were more his father's thing then his, and as such, he should really have been more prepared for the inevitable (and unenviable) circumstances that his idiot father had summoned eldritch monsters from beyond the beyond for a lark.

Ah well. It's important not to dwell on the past.

He stared at the ceiling for a moment, watching as words appeared with a frown. Really, his subconscious could have done a better job at not being a total dick.

“yes you’re dreaming you awful moron”

“try to not die”

"I'd love to make the effort, words on my wall, but its kind of hard when I don't know what's happening."

Whatever. Inventory time.

Phone. Check.

Sword. Check.

Clothes. Check.

Dave held his sword in one hand, staring around his room, and realizing there was no point in staying in it. It was kind of a terrible wreck after the abomination decided to destroy it. So onwards, to victory.

And possible inevitable death. But that was also par for the course. He texted the Maid anyways.

our house just blew up and there are monsters inside of it
i really didn't expect this when you were doing apocalypse training it seemed unlikely

With that done, he walked out the door, with his sword in front of him.

[arkturus]

Alice Levitts
Levitts Residence – Alice’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

​Alice lay there--half in bed, half out, and feet in the air--clutching her throbbing head. Soon though the pain subsided and she rolled over on the floor so she could stand up. Upon surveying the state of her bed and clothes she blushed a little before straightening it out. She didn't normally toss and turn so violently. In fact, Alice was quite proud of her good bedside manners. Normally she slept like a rock or a log, some type of inanimate object. At least that was when she actually did sleep. Sometimes stress or bad dreams would keep her up and she'd do something else until she passed out, like review notes or listen to music or play with Mr. Fluffles.

Speaking of which, where was that cat?

Somehow her room seemed darker, colder; as if a black fog had settled in the air. It reminded her of the old woods and she shuddered a bit. Actually, now that she thought of it it felt too similar to the old woods. Almost like... She rubbed the sleep from her eyes frantically but the blackness and heavy air of the room persisted.

Was she still dreaming?

Somewhere in the darkness, a scratching noise was made. The same scratching sound as before, from earlier in the day. Alice looked down at her hands and experimentally flexed them. It's fine. Everything's fine. It's probably just Mr. Fluffles.

She breathed in and out slowly before groping towards the door. She stumbled slightly as she bumped into the lamp. She thought about it for a second before grabbing it again.

It was just Mr. Fluffles right?

[hero]

Julia Miles
Miles Residence – Julia’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase


"Hah... Hah..."

I desperately glance over my surroundings, searching for a threat that may no longer be there, my breathing rythm impossible to slow down. Slowly, my brain begins to pick down the pieces of the puzzle that is my current situation. When I realize that I'm actually in my room, the first thought that runs through my mind is that what I just experienced must've been another of those disturbing nightmares I've been having lately. For a moment, I'm able to breathe out and relax a little: Whatever that was, it's already gone. With the sun up, it's unlikely that I'll have to go back and confront it anytime soon. I should check the time and get ready for the day ahead of me.

... Or at least, that is what I try to tell myself to do in an attempt to deny the reality in front of me.

Something is just not right about this room. On one hand, it definitely looks like my room... On the other, it appears as if it had been a victim of frantic looting, as my clothings and accessories are scattered untidily within its domain. My brain is quick to jump to the wrong conclusion: Maybe something happened while I was asleep? Perhaps a burglar broke into the house? Are mom and dad okay? What should I do?

But that makes no sense, either.

If it were just robbery, the natural thing would be for my electronic devices to be missing, yet they are still where they should, and display, at first sight, no signs of use besides my own.

"..."

I take a moment to collect myself. If this were a dream, I wouldn't be able to question things like these. How many times have I done unreasonable things inside a dream without a second thought? If that is the case, then I should focus on what happened and stop wondering whether this is real or not.

Choosing to ignore the window, I sneak my way towards the door.

I need to find out if mom and dad are alright...

... But if there is someone else in the house, I want to make sure I'm not spotted.

[RacingeR]

Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Quickly moving through the heavy, still air, you sit on your computer chair, feeling slightly off. Your body is light, lighter than normal, and that makes you feel odd. The dreamlike consistency of the air contrasted so hard with the realistic sensations transmitted to your body that it almost gave you a headache.

Turning the monitor on, you quickly notice two things: Nyx is open, although nobody has spoken to you, and DreamWeave’s tab is softly blinking in your start bar. You click on its icon, and you notice it has already loaded.

The rectangular screen is now says thusly:

“Welcome to DreamWeave, the premier tool for dreamers to ease their transition through the Nightmare.”

Once again, the letters were teal over a black background. However, while this screen had nothing else of note, a tab bar had appeared over it. Said tab had a number of buttons:

“Resource Cache”, “Improvement Allocation”, “Specialization Details”, “Elemental Scales”, “Agent Integration”, “Agent Cache”, “Advisor Cache & Assignments”, “Alchemy Procession”, “Artifact Museum”… there seemed to be more tabs, but it didn’t let you scroll further through them. Perhaps they needed to be unlocked somehow.


Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

The cat let itself be petted, meowing pleasantly upon contact with your hand. You petted him once, twice, thrice, and then the cat moved forwards, nuzzling against your body, before softly crawling up your pajamas and finding its perch over your shoulder.

You felt its warmth made you feel slightly safer, even though it was still incredibly cold in your room. It was as if the cat had always been there.

It nuzzled your cheek affectionately.

[Airen]

Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Mouthing out the words of the many different tabs, the only thing that Olivia can call it is bizarre. While she knew she was dreaming, this was the first time her dreams had gotten to this level of consistency. She had expected some sort of distorted nonsense on the screen, but instead she gets a message that implies her nightmares are a bit too aware of themselves, and options that remind her of something out of a video game...

But then again... Hadn't Abby said DreamWeave was a game...?

Vaguely lost, but determined to at least be moving forward in some way, Olivia, after a moment of contemplation, clicks on "Specialization Details."

Might as well do things the way she normally would, fight back against the subconscious with the force of her ego.

Maybe she could turn the beginnings of a nightmare back into a dream this way.

[palad1n]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Giggling as the cat nuzzled her cheek, Lumina couldn't help but feel safer, even if only slightly. She loved cats - they are her favorite animals - so to have one here in this dream accompany her is reassuring.

Maybe she should also give this cat a name.

"How about Cressela?" She asked the cat. "It's derived from 'crescent', quite matching with the name my friends called me with. Together we'll be Luna Cressela, or 'Crescent Moon'. Quite nice in my opinion."

She's aware that she's likely talking to herself, but it's also nothing new. She used to talk to herself all the time in the past, and even now she sometimes did it whenever she's alone or just want to talk.

Still, now that the cat is on her shoulder, she finally noticed something she only glazed over before: A pure white light that is coming from the outside. It is a rather curious thing now that she think about it, and with the warmth of the cat on her shoulders boosting her confidence Lumina slowly walked to her window, if only to take a peek at the outside world in her dreams.

[RacingeR]

Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

It was another black screen, although the words here where white this time.

This tab was rather simple: it said first, above everything “Level = 1”

Then it said “Specialization 1: Select Object”. The part that said Select Object let you scroll down a list that seemed to be the objects you were in contact with: your shirt, the mouse, your pajama pants, the chair…

It was quite bizarre.


Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

The cat meowed in affirmation.

As if its name had always been Cressela.

With it on your shoulder, feeling a bit more confident, you walked through your room, admiring the contrast between the ethereal quality of this dream and the very real sensations experimented by your body. It was as if your senses had been augmented tenfold… you felt the texture of your pajamas over your body, the scent of shampoo from your own hair, the cold air contrasting with the warmth of the cat over your shoulder. It was scary and exhilarating at the same time.

Then you looked out your window and were left breathless.

As far as you could see, there was only snow. Pure white snow, reflecting the light of many, many stars that hung over a pitch black sky. Your house’s neighborhood was gone… your house was in middle of a plain covered in so much snow it reached halfways to your window, as far as you could see (which wasn’t that far, thanks to the snowstorm) there was only that.

… For a moment, you thought you saw a white mask amidst the white darkness, but it might have been just your imagination.


Alice Levitts
Levitts Residence – Alice’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Breathing was hard. The atmosphere pressed upon you like a mantle. You stumbled around almost blindly, handling your lamp while you reached towards the door. Your body felt strangely light, and that made it harder to maneuver precisely. It was odd. This whole situation was wrong, nightmarishly wrong.

You took a deep breath somehow, feeling the weight of the air as you put your hand on the door’s handle. Then you flung it open.

In the impossibly dark hallway, there was nothing at all.

You breathed in relief.


Your window exploded, raining crystal shards everywhere.

[palad1n]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

It was a breathtaking sight.

Pure, white snow as far as her eyes can see. Gone were the neighborhood, replaced by snow piling up so tall it reaches halfway through her window. There is a snowstorm too, so really going out doesn't seem to be an option.

Luna is okay with that. She'll just stay inside the safety of her home and her room.

Still, it is quite cold. She could just return to her bed and cover both herself and Cressela with blanket, but if she's not going to sleep anytime soon she might as well make something hot for herself, like a hot tea. Tea seems nice.

"Do you want something too, Cressela? Maybe there is some snacks for you below."

Luna keeps on talking as she walked to the door of her room, fully intending to go downstairs and make some tea while grabbing some snacks for the cat. She is confident, her mind only filled with that single objective.

Trying to forget that white mask she saw in the snow.

[Airen]

Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

"..."

It really was surprisingly video gamey.

Seeing an inventory screen that even included the things she was wearing, as well as a soft implication that she was only level 1 (the subconscious had no mercy, maybe she should have taken those classes with Abby after all) the raven haired girl is still a bit confused, but also the slightest bit amused...

...Although the general aura of the place soon replaces that amusement with the usual sense of paranoia.

Still...

Reaching around her room, feeling like this decision is a bit more important than the black screen was implying, she tries, somewhat fruitlessly, to find something more suitable than just her clothes.

If it was an equipment screen, then it was asking for a weapon right?

But when she fought she just used her hands and feet...

No play swords, or staffs...

"Tch..."

In the end, a bit annoyed at her subconscious for not tossing her more of a bone here, the girl finds her shoes... Boots, new, and lined with metal...

And tries to select them instead...

[RacingeR]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Cressela meowed softly when you talked to it, remaining in your shoulder. You opened your door, and exited to the hallway. It was still extremely cold, and one step in, you were already regretting being still in your pajamas. The cold made you feel heavy, despite the dreamlike lightness of your body. It made you feel sleepy, and you could already feel it weakening you…

You were distracted by the cat suddenly standing up in your shoulders, its nails slightly biting into your skin. It hisses, its tail rising, its eyes looking straight ahead.

This is the hallway that connects your room, your parents’ room, and a study, before taking a corner further into the house, with some stairs that allow you to go below to the living room, or upwards to the terrace. You see nothing here but…

You start feeling a slight wrongness in the cold air.


Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

You select the boots, and a prompt appears, asking you to confirm. You click in the yes button, and a lock appears after… Footwear, apparently. You notice you can’t select or change it anymore.


Clyde Madison
Madison Estate – Clyde’s Room
Thursday 7th of November – First Dream, First Phase

First you look through your window, and you are amazed at the alien landscape outside.

The red light pouring everywhere came from a sky that seems to be frozen in a permanent twilight. The light illuminates an huge ridge a few kilometers away from your position, and you think you can see flying shapes around the ridgeline. If you are seeing them from here, then they must be huge.

You blink, go away from your window, and look through the hallway that connects your room with the rest of your house.

Nothing. Just more ominous orangeish light and a current of wind.

[palad1n]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Wincing in pain at the rather sudden nails biting into her skin, Luna looked at her shoulders to see Cressela standing up, tail rising while its eyes are staring right ahead. A sign of intimidation and ready-to-fight mode for cats.

And she trusted the cat's instincts.

She quickly took steps backwards to return to her room, eyes scanning the direction Cressela is looking at. She doesn't go so fast that it turns into a run, but its not a walk either.

It's cold, and she started to feel scared.

She wanted nothing more than to return to the safety of her room and quickly wrapping herself with her thick, warm blanket with Cressela at her side. Maybe even waking up from this dream.

But somehow she got a feeling that it won't end anytime soon...

[Airen]

Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Well, it seemed that there was no going back on that decision now.

A little alarmed that her dream was still chugging along with this sort of consistency, Olivia scans the tabs again with a critical eye as she puts on her shoes, knowing that it was probably a little silly to be giving this much thought to this sort of thing, but also knowing that she had come this far, so she might as well see it through to the very end.

Of course, the exact shape of what this is was in question...

"..."

So...

'Advisor Cache and Assignments' seemed like the next logical step.

[RacingeR]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

By the time you retreat to your room, the sense of wrongness had increased to outright alarming levels. The air had become thicker and charged with danger, and you… just closed the door and locked away whatever was wrong with this dreamscape.

However, the cat jumped off your shoulder. It didn’t seem that alarmed now, yet… it moved towards your computer, and then meowed, circling it a few times.


Olivia Grace
Grace Residence – Olivia's Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

This tab was empty, except for a phrase that said “No Advisors have been contracted yet.”


David Baudelaire
Baudelaire Estate – Second Floor’s Hallway
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

You sent your message, but… there was no answer. You exited your room, and into the dark hallway of the second floor. It was terribly dark, with no light whatsoever in sight, the hallway covered in shadows. The air was heavy, musty, cavernous, like a monster’s breath.

Your hands tightened around the sword’s handle as you felt the rising tension in the air, a feeling of wrongness assaulting you in waves. The hallway you were in connected your room (there was still that dumb Cthulhu statue in front of it), the rest of the second floor, and a door on the other extreme of the hallway that went to the covered hallway that connected with the second floor of the annex.

And between you and the rest of the second floor, in middle of the hallway, you thought you had seen some sort of movement.

[palad1n]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

"You... want me to look at the computer?"

Seeing no other options, Luna followed Cressela and turned her computer on. Hopefully there is something helpful; if not, she just wished it would distract her enough that she wouldn't be this tense and terrified.

She pet the cat again while waiting for the computer to come to life, if only to gain more confidence no matter how temporary.

When it's on, she immediately noticed that the DreamWeave tab is softly blinking. Clicking on it out of curiosity, she found that it's already loaded, seeing the same screen that Olivia Grace had seen just a few moments ago.

"So many buttons..." She murmured as she scanned her options. She doesn't know which one she should try first, but if she had to choose...

Luna clicked on the "Resource Cache", hoping to find something useful.

[arkturus]

Alice Levitts
Levitts Residence – Alice’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Alice stumbled forward into the hall as the glass exploded into her room. Quickly she whipped her head around to find the source of the noise but to no avail. No matter how hard she peered into the darkness she couldn't discern the cause of the crash, not even a rock or something.

The whole situation was weird. First the scratching noises then this. It seemed almost like someone or something was toying with her.

She had to find out who was behind it all. And maybe get her shoes on so she could clean up the glass or something. Slowly she made her ways downstairs.

[RacingeR]

Lumina Aurora
Aurora Residence – Luna’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

You blinked when you saw what the tab contained.

All the elements in the periodic table, organized by number, were in a column at the left. Above it, slightly to the side, was a file full of question symbols that divided this… table in various columns, of element x whatever these unknowns signified. However, you quickly noticed you had… no resources whatsoever except for…

Ten of Neon… you looked up again and noticed that scrolling a bit to the right, some of the unknowns were filled… Ten Neon spheres and five Nickel cubes.

Whatever this meant.


Alice Levitts
Levitts Residence – Alice’s Room
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

You turned around to go downstairs to the living ro-

It was luck more than anything else. Perhaps you had felt a current of wind on your back, and because of that, despite the fact that with the window broken currents of wind wouldn’t be unexpected, you looked back…

And saw a blur coming straight at you from your room.

[Frantic Author]

David Baudelaire
Baudelaire Estate – Second Floor’s Hallway
Thursday 7^th of November – First Dream, First Phase

Dave stared suspiciously into the hallway, finding nothing to see. He waggled his sword in front of him, preparing for some sort of combat. He began heading down the hallway, prepared for the inevitability of some sort of monster jumping out, with a chant.

"somethingsgoingtojumpoutatmesomethingsgoingtojumpoutatmesomethingsgoingtojumpoutatme"