2nd Event: Choices We Make

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Arrival


Not all characters (known as Wickie, singular or Wickies, plural) arrive at the same time, surprisingly enough! That’s life for you. Some Wickies find their way to the island at a pivotal (or very mundane) point in their life, or even after or during their death.

Wickies who were standing or walking often find themselves entering the town South Sister, located on Lighthouse Isle, through an open doorway. Those that were laying down, or sleeping, tend to be found lying prone in beds, bathtubs, showers, couches, and similar places within the cottages on Cottage Row. There’s no rhyme or reason to it all! To Wickies familiar with the era, they will realize that everything looks as if it’s come from the ‘90s.

The house which a Wickie finds themselves within could already be occupied. This includes walking into a fellow Wicke, waking up in the same location, or accidentally scaring a room full of people with their sudden appearance.

Oops.

C-C-Changes

Thankfully the fog has gone down to what it was before, a slow creeping crawl over the ground. And too, the monsters of before are gone, leaving the town much like it was before. Well...close to what it was before.

For now the season's have changed, from a lingering summer to a cooler fall.

There’s new foods to try, even if some things like lattes cause people to slip into warm boots and tie up their hair, and soups make people curl up under blankets on the couch. And it also means decorations of all sorts, made of the leaves from the forest, orange, yellow and red things and...we can not forget...

Pumpkin overflow

Pumpkins! They're everywhere. Wickies will find pumpkins infused into all sorts of things, like coffee, ice cream, even spaghetti options! It's wild.

There’s also many jack o'lanterns. They have been placed everywhere in town, outside homes, and even small ones have been made into table decorations. The Jack o lanterns have very cheerful faces, and seem to watch Wickies every single move.

That is, until a Wickie bashes or otherwise abuses a pumpkin. That's when it changes- there seem to be more of them. Their expressions change to that of anger, sadness and disgust. None of them attack- yet. But their faces become more and more horrifying, as they follow the Wickie more and more- outside of the bathroom perhaps, or found on top of them as the Wickie wakes up in the middle of the night.

It shouldn't matter right? They're only pumpkins.

What a ride

Funny enough, with the pumpkin invasion, there also comes a dull colored horse wandering about the island. Its head is drooped, and it looks depressed and lonely. The horse is tame on approach and will accept pats and treats, even from those who are obviously not human.

But it also wants something, for all that it seems to be begging for attention. It wants someone to ride them, seems to even be begging for it with its big eyes. The horse will help Wickies to figure out how to mount; it will even stand beside the Town Center benches, rocks, or even go down in order to make it possible for the Wickie to get onto the horse’s back.

That’s when it changes. The Wickie is immediately wrapped in chains from their barrel to the Wickie’s waist. The horse turns a coal black and the Wickie’s clothing changes into that of a soldier's uniform, with a hand either holding a whip modeled after a human spine, or a jack o'lantern.

The Wickie cannot get off the horse on their own, no matter how much they struggle. As the horse moves throughout the town, they will go anywhere from a walk to a full canter, seemingly impervious to any magic or physical attacks. The same cannot be said for their unfortunate rider.

If the rider is hit, or simply in pain, the Wickie will feel an impulse that grows and grows until they scream a name of someone in town, someone they know.

And the named will drop, paralyzed. Paralyzed wickie are likely to die within minutes, more so if they are too close to horse and rider. The horse will happily trample anyone on the ground to death.

Even without the impulse, should the Wickie rider use anyone’s name, that person will drop, paralyzed, and unable to breathe.

There is only one way to possibly save the rider: scatter golden objects in their path. The horse will shriek, and promptly buck the rider off, before running away. Just make sure to catch the rider, or at least cushion their fall: they have no way of saving themselves until they hit the ground.

Heart game: confession

Current residents of the island may remember this particular beeping alert, and how it doesn’t go away, no matter what they do! That is, unless they open up the Heart Game, and answer the question.

Welcome back everyone! It’s so good to see you again! Now let’s play that game, Confession! And the question isssssss…

How do you celebrate the changing seasons! Don't be shy!

Comments

[coraza]

[he's about to complain about the slap to his shoulder, but referencing him as her bodyguard all but puts that display of frustration to the side. there's even a smile, too, to go with it.]

Better luck next time in trying to get rid of you, then.

[he means it playfully—and, well, it's one of the first few times he's allowed himself to keep his guard down while here. the weight to her hand on his shoulder is proof enough that she's really here, and boy has cloud missed everyone.]

How about we sit? [motioning towards the room he just came from.] No one else is here right now, and we should talk about what's happening.

[flowertalks]

[ she lets out a soft giggle at his remark. she knows at this point he wouldn't try to get rid of her anyway, but good luck even if he tries! she's glad to see that smile on his face, though, and hear him joke. that at the least proves he's marginally all right.

so she nods. ] Sure, lead the way. Sounds like you have a lot to tell me.

[coraza]

[lead the way he does, into the living area of the cottage where a couch and a chair sit cozy before a lit chimney. there's not much to this place, really, clearly not one soul that lives here to liven the place up (and who can, with the tension?).]

[he takes the chair and pushes it so he's facing the couch when he sits. his sword rests against the chimney, and cloud glances back at it as if to reassure himself—and it's not until aerith sits that he starts.]

What's the last thing you remember from Gaia?

[flowertalks]

[ then she'll sit down on the couch, placing her hands in her lap comfortably. sure, the place isn't well-decorated, especially not in comparison to her own home, but she doesn't mind it. she's just glad to be with a friend. it takes a great deal of the edge off of arriving in this place so suddenly.

she looks a bit serious again at his question, as it's not exactly a moment to be happy about describing. ]

We were on the expressway. Outside... Destiny's Crossroads.

[ the big, unforgettable void of whispers and uncertainty. it makes even her frightened to think about. ]

[coraza]

[cloud frowns, but nods regardless. he remembers that—how could he? a moment in time where they stepped forward and things became all too convoluted to sort through. their fight with the arbiter of fate, the whispers, sephiroth.]

...far as I remember, we already went through. [how does he explain the crazy stuff that happened? maybe if she asks.] We even fought Sephiroth. I — was with him last.

[at the edge of creation.]

And he's here, too. In this place, but he's from five years ago, before he became what he is now for us.

[flowertalks]

[ this is all kind of wild for her to try and piece together in her mind. people all being (unwillingly, she assumes) brought to a place from different points in time says a lot about the flow of time and plenty of other things. maybe it's best she not try to work it all out in one go right now. instead, she'll work with what's right in front of her. and what's in front of her is... ]

Wow... [ she does sound genuinely shocked there. ] What a mess, huh? [ yep. an absolute mess, it sounds like. sephiroth not only being here but from years in the past. cloud being here but from who knows how long ahead of her.

which means he knows what happens to them. and while she has a great deal of nervousness about the uncertainty of all that, she's conflicted on whether she wants to ask about it. conflicted enough to want time to think on it. so she diverts her attention to the present situation. ]

So... what does this mean for us? Being here, that is.

[ why? how? what are they supposed to be doing here? what's he been doing? her feeling of uncertainty about the future here feels the same as how she felt standing before that void of whispers. ]

[coraza]

[it fills him with relief, the way she responds to his explanation which—to be honest—could be better. what a mess sounds about right, and cloud is tired of feeling like the only one who understands just how fucked it is.]

That's... one way to put it.

[he leans forward, putting arms to his knees as he dips his chin towards his collar. he shakes his head before he starts speaking again.]

I have no idea. We haven't really been told why or how we're here. It's all cryptic. [.....] Even though most people are not from Gaia, they're nice. All things considered, we could be in a worse position.

[flowertalks]

[ that's not the most encouraging of answers, but it has its good points. they don't know what's up at all, which is dangerous, to say the least, but if the people here are nice, that's a silver lining, she supposes. ]

Well, they can't keep it from us forever, right? [ right! she hopes. ] We'll just have to take advantage of the good and overcome the bad. Like we always do.

[ acting like they've known each other forever when it's not even nearly that. but if there's nice people, it means others to work together with. so that's a start. someone's got to be the optimistic one here. ]

[coraza]

Suppose that's right.

[...at least, aerith can be the one in charge of making friendly with others while cloud stands intimidatingly in the background to make sure no funny business happens. it's what he does as a bodyguard, after all.]

...you can't stay here. Sephiroth is also in this cottage.

[..mumbled.. it's a bad time all the time...]

[he makes to stand, though, and goes to grab his sword.]

We'll find you a place. I'll go to you any time you need me.

[sword clipped at his back, he looks back at her.]

[flowertalks]

[ she'll work her magic on everyone they meet. cloud'll have so many friends by association, his head'll spin!

but okay, what he says is actually concerning, and she stands not long after him, looking concerned and taking a couple steps after him. ]

Wait a minute, Cloud, why're you living with him? Some kinda SOLDIER thing?

[ who knows, maybe there's some weird rule for SOLDIER comrades to stay together in situations like this. she's kind of concerned for his safety like this, even if she does trust him with her life and anyone else's. and he did say sephiroth is from a different time, so maybe he's safer from that time, but... ]

[coraza]

[wait until aerith meets cloud's new best friends: naruto and sora. she'll be so amazed.]

[he keeps walking despite her questions, though, wanting to keep her away from whatever danger sephiroth might pose even if he means no harm to them at all (how can one be so sure? cloud has his doubts). opening the front door, he forges a path, waiting for aerith outside.]

It wasn't by choice, but I figured staying would be the best way to keep an eye out on him. In case anything changes.

[poor cloud, the sacrifice to make sure sephiroth doesn't burn the place down.]

...he sounds all wrong. Making sense, and not knowing about anything, not when we met him at Destiny's Crossroads, either. It's strange.

[flowertalks]

[ she'll have so much fun teasing him to his friends. oh boy!! (she's proud of him, though)

well then she keeps following after him. not like she's just going to sit there alone anyway waiting for sephiroth to come home. ]

If that's what you think you need to do. [ she'll defer to him. while she's still concerned, it's not like it's a bad idea to watch over sephiroth. ]

I guess that's just how he was five years ago. But if he could turn into the man we know, then he could do it again.

[ he's the biggest threat to the planet, after all. ]

apologies! work got the best of me

[coraza]

[his sense of responsibility over sephiroth is not ill-placed, considering, but it is an amount of responsibility that is—perhaps—unnecessary in this world, wherever they may be. he somehow manages to altogether ignore the mention of how much time has passed since, his brain managing to keep him from thinking too hard on the matter.]

[he moves on, to something else, turning slightly so that he can speak with her as they walk—] What have you got with you? Most of my equipment is gone, and I'm down one wind materia and my sword.

aw no worries! hope you're doing well ;w;!

[flowertalks]

[ she's fine with this subject change, going along with it. there's not much they can say about sephiroth unless something changes in him. (she doesn't intend to let cloud handle that alone, though.) ]

I've got about just as much. Staff, healing materia, and... what you see.

[ she holds her arms out a little to show that all she's got on her are those and her clothing. ]

hangs on for weekend

[coraza]

[he stops to, well, see as she holds her arms out to show the bangles on her wrists and the accessories here and there. healing materia is always good, no matter the circumstances, but cloud stops short and just blurts out—]

And the one in your hair?

[listen, he paid attention. he figures it's important to her.]

i believe in you ;----;

[flowertalks]

[ she smiles at that question. ]

You remembered. [ gold star for him. she sounds pretty impressed with him!

but then she gives a nod in response. ] Don't worry, it's still there.

[ maybe because it doesn't do anything and only really acts as an accessory for her. but who knows! she's just glad it's there. ]

[coraza]

[a proud moment for mister strife. he tries not to look too content as she smiles, nodding instead and letting himself go with the flow of the action, his boots catching onto the loose dirt as he starts walking again.]

There's a garden in the town center.

[this is almost reminiscent to their walk around sector five slums.]

You can have a look at those later.

[flowertalks]

[ she's honestly having fun with cloud as her little guide. it reminds her of that time as well, and she can't help but be put more at ease thanks to it. having him mention there's a garden she can check out makes her happy as well. ]

Hmm~. I wonder if they need help tending to them.

[ you know her, ever the helper. especially when it comes to flowers. tending to them is a comfort to her. ]

[coraza]

Maybe the flowers will tell you.

[he knows, understands, that it's different—this connection aerith has with gaia, and cloud doesn't suppose it is the same with this world, but he's curious as to whether she will be able to sense something nonetheless.]

And before you ask, no. I haven't tried talking to them.

[in case she remembers that one (1) moment back at her garden. the question he asks next is because he's thinking of her comfort, and he's aware that the houses are much better in that regard as opposed to the cottages.]

...would you rather be in a house or a cottage? The houses are a little further away. More privacy. Cottages is a lot of sharing in a small space.

[flowertalks]

[ she laughs softly at him telling her he hasn't spoken to them. of course he hasn't — she wouldn't expect him to unless she were bringing it up to him. but still. ]

Aww, just when I thought you were being a bit more sociable.

[ a joke, of course.

but at that question, she ponders for a moment. mmmm. ]

Houses sound nice and all, but it's probably best if I live closer to you. What if you need my help?

[ ... also a joke, as she is wont to do when comparing their strength and then blatantly ignoring the difference in it. ]