New World New You

[holographica]

-> (1)

It begins with a bang; then, disorientation, darkness, dismayed voices, and spells that weigh down your limbs like heavy shackles...

The people keeping you captive seem as unsure as you are of what just happened, and argue and mutter amongst themselves, though they don't hesitate to restrain you, chain you to a pipe in the wall of this bottom floor of an underground parking garage, or lock you alone into a smaller room of the abandoned building where the summoning was held. You seem to unnerve them; they don't want to look you in the eye, and if they have to touch you to lock you up, they do so gingerly, nervously.

But maybe, once they leave you to yourself to go and argue and regroup in private, you're not quite alone? You weren't the only person to come out of the array. You have at least one companion in your confusion, one person restrained like you and not wearing the cultists' strange masks. Take comfort, take inventory, and prepare for anything.


-> (2)

The Joyous were prepared for you to attempt escape. Their preparations don't quite match what they got, but even poorly calibrated spells will do something, and the effects of knockout darts and magically reinforced walls don't discriminate. It's time to blow this popsicle stand...

...But you may want to take a moment to comb the area - once the Joyous have had enough time and reason to weigh their options, they'll run, leaving behind the incriminating results of their "botched" summoning. Those less able to escape confinement under their own power may need a hand, or to band together, or, at worst, to wait quite a while for locals to stumble across them...


-> (3)

You step outside into an unfamiliar town; small, sparse, just off a major highway running through the Neloi Flats. A perfect place for a cult looking for an unoccupied building, because there are a lot of those here, as though the town's peak has come and gone, leaving behind rusty signs for roadside attractions and a main street retinue of shops made of sheer stubbornness and spite.

There's not much direction here. There are locals, who will be confused by you, possibly wary and disbelieving. There's a temple, small like the village but likely to have charity you need right now. There's a highway, and following it in either direction will take you to one of two very different cities.

There's a whole country of possibilities before you, in fact. What ones will you chase, and will you do it alone?



[[As of this mingle: go forth and RP! You can treat this post like a game intro, or like a meme post; follow the prompt/s exactly, or alter the details to suit your tastes, or pitch a completely different scene in your own top-level. Let's get some stories started.]]

Comments

I SAID I WASN'T GONNA TAG THIS TILL LATER...

[photoshooter]

[Oh. She's not making fun of him. Well, not vocally, anyway, and that's good enough for Prompto's head to pop back up, as interested in ditching his lonely existence as she is.]

My name? Oh. I'm Prompto. Prompto Argentum. But you can call me Prompto.

[What... else was she going to call him, okay moving on.]

Uh, so how are you doing? After all, you know. That, back there.

oh you actually believed yourself when you said that, I see

[missleadingquestions]

Prommy. Got it.

[Because she can't not be at least a little facetious. The second question gets her to hesitate for a moment, though, and she rocks from side to side as she looks for an answer.]

I'm okay. [Things have been worse.]

Are you still hurt from earlier?

: ( I have a problem

[photoshooter]

[Aw, crap. He ducks his head and laughs a little, though it's more self-deprecating than actually mirthful.]

Oh. I mean, that? It's nothing. Seriously, nothing to worry about. [Shrug!] You should see the train.

[Actually, the train IS a wreck, but Prompto doesn't know that, seeing as he FELL OFF OF IT.]

gently pats

[missleadingquestions]

[Maya's quiet for a moment, blinking slowly, before reaching out to poke him in the side. It's not an exact point since she doesn't quite remember what position he was in when he was in pain before, but, whatever. It's fine.]

You're kidding, right?

A train?

[photoshooter]

[Oh, sorry, was he supposed to answer that? He's too busy DOUBLING OVER WITH A STRANGLED WHIMPER, THANKS.]

Nnnmghh?!

[ W H Y ]

[missleadingquestions]

You're still hurt.

[She points out. No shit, Sherlock.]

[photoshooter]

Hghh, you didn't have to stab your finger into my ribs to prove your point! Owwww...

[He considers falling over again, but no, it was such a hassle getting up the first time when she was around, let's not and say he did. Instead of fronting, he's just being an enormous baby. Suc...cess?]

[missleadingquestions]

[She shrugs.]

I thought maybe you forgot.

[yeah, because the little smirk on her face totally backs that idea.]

You should get some rest or something! Or go to a clinic!

[She scolds a little, before getting up to check on his cooking, too. Apparently he's going to get mommed at a little.]

[photoshooter]

Well, you know, I would, but I don't have any gil. And it looks like I left all my health insurance paperwork in my other universe. What are you doing?

[First she assaults him with her pokity fingers, next, what, she steals his fake potatoes??? Gurl??]

[missleadingquestions]

So go to the temple. Devotional services are free!

[She frowns, twisting the roots around and wondering if they're even truly edible, but hey, they're not in Kansas anymore. Or London, apparently. Either way, they're too close to the fire to cook evenly through without charring the outside, so she pats down some of the ash nearest the fire for them to rest on as though roasting sweet potatoes.]

Too bad we don't have any paper... [She mumbles to herself.]

[photoshooter]

Seriously, what are you doing? Those are mine, I dug them out of the ground myself.

[But he doesn't make a move to stop her. Partially because she has proven herself Dangerous, but also because she, uh, kind of looks like she knows what she's doing? And Prompto doesn't. Know what he's doing. Or look like it.]

[missleadingquestions]

I hope they're not poisonous.

[Maya tells him despite not... seeming too concerned, dusting off her hands and returning to his place, standing over him this time.]

Don't you ever cook sweet potatoes in the fall? You gotta let 'em sit in the ashes or they won't cook in the middle before they burn outside. My big sis taught me how to do it aaages ago.

[photoshooter]

Oh, uh. Iiiiii don't really cook.

[At all. Ever.]

It's kind of Ignis's job. My friend, I mean. He's kind of like the mom of our party, does all the safe driving and stuff. Or. Did.

[He blinks and looks down, then away.]

A-anyway. Do you cook a lot?

[missleadingquestions]

Kinda.

[When she was home. It's not like Morgan was going to cook for her.]

Not lately... but we used to roast sweet potatoes together up in the mountains every summer. Me and my sister.

[She sits back down next to Prompto, getting a sense that being friendly is at least getting more information out of him. And if there's one thing she's used to doing by now it's CRIMINAL PROFILIN-- i mean, Witness profiling. Er, profiling.

...Making friends. yes.]

[photoshooter]

That sounds... really nice.

[Doing things together, as a family. He wouldn't know anything about that. But with the guys, making camp--it's kind of like that, he thinks.]

So... do you get along well, you and your sister?

[missleadingquestions]

Oh yeah! Especially since she died.

[nonchalant.]

It's pretty easy to get along with someone when you're only on long distance terms.

[She even giggles about this... completely morbid joke.]

[photoshooter]

[photoshooter]

[photoshooter]

[uH,,,]

[photoshooter]

I... okay? I guess? I, uh, wouldn't really know.

[MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM]

[missleadingquestions]

[This gets Maya to burst out in a short fit of giggles, quickly covering her mouth.]

You look like you've seen a ghost!

[She comments, to add insult to injury.]

Come on, you don't want me getting all sad about it, right?

[...She doesn't want to be sad about it, right now. She just wants to keep moving.]

Relax.

[Maya adjusts her sitting position so she can pull her knees up and rest her elbows on them, crossing her arms at the wrist and bouncing her hand to loosely watch the time.]

[photoshooter]

It doesn't bother you, though? That... I mean, that your sister...

['Cause it sounded like Maya loved her a lot, or loved being with her, if they spent time together doing soft things like cooking sweet potatoes in the mountains.]

[missleadingquestions]

Well, it's not like I don't miss her. But why would I be sad when I'm thinking about her?

She was the most important thing in my life, so... I just look forward to seeing her again.

[ . . . ]

That, and I'm a medium.

[photoshooter]

So you... fit into the clothes she left behind?

[S M H]

[missleadingquestions]

[She looks at him slowly, as if in disbelief, before snorting and giggling again. She can't even be serious if she tries with this goon.]

No!

[She tells him, getting up to go turn the potatoes over in the coals. As she stands again she turns to Prompto to explain--]

I mean, I can channel ghosts.