PHASE I [ 9 00 ] You open your eyes, and there is a chicken pecking at your face. It's not a very happy chicken, either, but if you can manage to fend it off, then it will be clear that you are in a village. It is... medieval-esque, in that video game sort of way; the details don’t seem too clear, but if you look to your left, there’s a cow! And to your right, a well! Ignore the clear evidence of modern technology in the buildings such as lights, gas, and 21st century plumbing; CERES is dedicated to authenticity.
Looks like the new ViViD level has finally been released, and everyone is invited to play, whether they want to or not.
The game (because this time, that's surely what it is) will start simple. Everyone begins in the same place and every NPC villager will say the same thing: to get out of here, you have to go through the caves. They’ll shove a stick at you (“take this, it’s dangerous to go alone”) and off you go, into the caves… !
Which are full of tiny rats and more chickens. They will try to fight you, but it’s really not very effective when they’re perfectly small and average (especially when everyone still has their typical powers and abilities -- CERES didn't mess with those at all this time). The caves are winding and circular and maze-like, and to make matters even worse, the only ones around are the other poor saps stuck in this situation.
But if you kill enough of the rats, you’ll get to hear the satisfying level up jingle. Congratulations! You are now level 2. It's probably satisfying just for a minute or so until you finally find your way out of those maze like caves and -- You're back in the village again. Great.
PHASE II [ 930 ] You’re carrying a bag. No matter what you do, you can’t take it off, either; it’s stuck with you through thick and thin. But it is awfully heavy. Maybe you should actually open it and see what’s inside?
The problem is, it’s going to take a while.
The bag has clearly tapped into its true hammerspace nature; there are items for days in there, and they’re all very, very strange. You might end up covered in hats of all sorts, buried in logs as you pull out one after another, or look like you have an odd fetish for pickaxes.
Maybe there’s 1/3rd of an evil turnip, half a piece of pie and an egg.
Geez, what in the world are you supposed to do with all of that?
PHASE III [ 1200 ] Eventually, you make it out of the caves the right way despite the harassment of the rats and chickens and the fact you'll keep perpetually getting lost. Hooray! You come out into a large, peaceful, scenic meadow, with a small river bubbling off to one side, and a house.
You'll immediately notice that there’s a bridge to cross the river, but there’s someone standing in the way of that bridge. When you approach to go past him, no matter what you try to do, you won't be able to. Asking him why he won't move will only get one thing in response -- “Bring me a fish. Cooked.”
Then he’ll shove a fishing rod at you and expect you to get to it. You can’t attack him, you can’t get past him -- looks like the only thing to do is to catch and cook that fish. Time to sit back, relax, and get to work. Or maybe you’ll team up with someone else and be the person in the house making sure that the fish gets cooked properly. For some reason, if you leave it too long it turns right into a pile of ashes.
Weirdly though, no matter how good you are at cooking or fishing usually, it’s as if you’re right back at the metaphorical level one. Any sort of seasoning or effort to cook it faster falls flat and in the end you'll only be able to place the fish in the pan and set it on the stove, whole. This may take awhile.
And if you try to cross the river itself, well... no, really, don’t try to cross the river.
At least if you get eaten, you’ll just respawn back in the village, but do have fun traveling through the caves again!
PHASE IV [ 1430 ] You made it through the caves. You made it across the river (with a slightly burnt fish). You’ve made it to the wide open world, and you can finally adventure to your heart’s content. You take a step forward on the road and --
A message pops up, bright red and in your face.
[ Restricted Area: Members Only ]
No matter what you do, you can’t go past that point. In fact, if you’re not careful and you’re going too fast, you might run face-first into it like it’s an invisible wall (which it is).
Then, just like that, you're back in the village. Again. Only this time, there's a nice, blinking message -- Pay a small subscription fee to access member's content. Oh well. No big deal, you can just start again.
Except then you see a cool sword and when you try to pick it up, you'll get that same message, and end up transported back to the village yet again. And again, with some shiny new armor. And again, with that attention-grabbing NPC over there. Looks like you're caught in an infinite loop here but no matter how much you inspect the pop up, there's no... actual way to pay the subscription fee (and why would you want to?). But at least you have company, because you can't be the only person who thought that sword was cool.
(It was really, really cool.)
BONUS [ xxxx ] What’s that on the ground in front of you? It looks like… some bunny ears? Or maybe it’s a chicken head, or a pumpkin head. Either way, the moment you touch it, you have a strong need to put it on your head -- and once it’s on, it’s not coming off.
To make matters worse, each hat has an effect associated with it; the bunny ears will, in fact, randomly turn you into a cute fluffy bunny for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour before you pop right back to yourself, whereas the pumpkin hat will, in a complete reversal, turn you into Cinderella for a bit -- complete with beautiful ball gown and the ability to talk to all of those cute fluffy bunnies.
Also the rats will love you, so maybe you should go back to the caves again.
Meanwhile, the chicken hat won't transform you into any odd creature, but it will inspire in the people wearing them a very real, persistent desire to build a nest. This will involve picking up twigs, trash, shiny things and whatever else catches your eye to try to build a nest out of it. You'll also try to pick up whatever food you find on the ground to eat, have the weirdest desire to lay an egg, and basically have all sorts of odd chicken-like instincts inflicted upon you.
At least you look festive!
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Kairi | Kingdom Hearts | OTA
[Well this is new. She's been to a few worlds before and she's dealt with the stray seagull now and then, but when she wakes up she pushes the chicken off and immediately sets out to find her way out. Nothing makes sense, but she has to find Riku. That's who she was last with, Riku had brought her to Master Yen Sid's tower and then…and then what? That's what she remembers but now she's here.
She's pretty much done with being separated from her friends.
So she runs. She runs and she circles the caves and goes deeper and deeper before she eventually ditches the stick. It's not helping fend off the animals and though she looks a little apologetic it doesn't stop her from summoning a giant, flowery key.
Head's up, that may be a chicken or a rat flying right toward you as she swings and makes contact!]
[Phase 3]
[She's out of the caves, thankfully, but as she tries to cross the bridge she finds that she's met with a strange request. Simple, sure, but strange…and seeing how this is Kairi even if she could have crossed she would have helped anyhow. It's in her nature and really, it's not hurting anybody. So she'll take the fishing rod and settle somewhere further down the river. Usually she sends Sora to catch fish, but she can be found messing with the rod and trying to attach bait to catch a fish.
Anybody passing by will be greeted with a smile as she gestures to the river.]
Are there really fish here, or just more chickens and rats?
[Phase 4]
[Well…now what? Anyone else nearby will find Kairi standing face to face with the blinking message. She hasn't tried to pick up any of the stuff but she's absolutely eyeing them trying to figure out a way out of here.]
Subscription fee? [She's not sure what that has to do with this, but okay. Eventually she'll venture forward to look at everything. Careful, she may wind up accidentally bumping into you, at which point you'll be met with another smile.]
Sorry. I was just trying to find a way around this. Any ideas?
phase one!
Uaaah!
[ Poor chicken. Sora's reflexes are good enough to swing the little guy straight back where it came from, only it ends up hitting the ground and rolling until it hits a wall, KO'd. Sora's got the stick lowered, tip hanging near the ground. ]
Chickens aren't supposed to fly, right? [ Sora, who are you talking to... Maybe he's just not used to Donald and Goofy not being there. ]
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Really…who else could it be? She pauses, nudging a rat out of the way with the tip of her Keyblade before bolting around the corner.
That chicken sure does roll near her feet and she stares at it first before she looks up and spots that boy. Despite everything and how weird this is? She can't help but give a teasing grin.]
Not like that, I think. [Hi Sora. You're about 1.5 seconds away from being hugged but she's gauging his reaction first.]
man i hope i read that arrival experience page right
Sora blinks hard in shock, the memory of himself in that "final battle" coming into his memory. Riku and Kairi and all of his friends' bodies had been lying on the breaking Destiny Islands beach while Sora fought those monsters. He hadn't saved them, and they told him the only chance to reclaim his world was to work for CERES. But here she was, and so is he.
Sora's hands loosen, nearly dropping the stick as it slips from his hand, but his grip quickly reaffirms. Fists tight and held out to his front, he leans forward, his voice strained with disbelief but bursting with joy. ]
Kairi!
[ Hope she's ready for a running hug, since Sora is already bolting for her! He won't knock her over or anything, and he slows down just as he gets to her, but if she's not already inviting him in for the hug, Sora is going in for one himself. ]
well there's no pile of bodies to land on so I think you're okay...:P also curse you lack of jugglr
Like she's ever denied either of her boys a hug. She'd been moving forward the moment he breaks into a run and she's quick to dismiss her Keyblade before he bodyslams into her, wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. He's in one piece. He's safe. That's one of two and that's important to her. She keeps a tight grip on him as she looks him over.]
You're okay! [She's pretty much in a state of disbelief and joy, too. She hadn't expected to find him so soon but…it helps. A lot. She doesn't let go, but there is a pause.]
Sora? Did you hit that chicken with the stick?
WE DONT SPEAK OF THAT... you're not using chrome? :o there's an lj juggler extension
Earnestly: ] So're you! [ There are so many questions he wants to ask, but let him bask in the fact that one of his best friends in the entire world is there and alive. Let's ignore all the rats and chickens still skittering around elsewhere. They can wait while they have a tender KH cutscene moment.
Except that goes out the window pretty quickly. Sora blinks, like somehow Kairi had said something to him in crazy alien gibberish. ]
Huh?
[ Then his eyes go to the heap of chicken behind her. Then to the stick in his hand. Then back to her. ]
I mean... I had to! [ He did it. He's a chicken abuser. ] I wasn't sure what it was until I hit it. It was coming right at me!
[... Hang on. His brows furrow as he tilts his chin. ]
Hang on. Did the chicken come from you?
this is me wishing I could use the extension on my work desktop still lalala...
But it's not like his worries aren't justified. Instead...there's a giggle at his indignant response which turns into full-on laughter as he puts the pieces together. She re-summons the Keyblade with a little smile when she calms down again.]
It wouldn't leave me alone, so I had to, too. [That's a totally legit excuse.] Where are we? I haven't seen anyone else in these caves so far.
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phase iv;
which means that by this point, roxas is just sort of done with this game. and that's why he isn't looking where he's going. kairi manages to apologize before he does, though.]
It's fine, I wasn't really paying attention either. [he follows it with a sigh before actually looking at her.
...
...
?
she looks... so much like someone he knows that it's kind of uncanny. it's hard to miss the facial resemblance to xion, but roxas can obviously tell it's not her. so even though he gives her a puzzled look for a moment, he shakes it off to actually answer her question.]
I haven't found one either. Knowing them, it's probably just broken or something. [his life is often being salty about the way things go around here, and this is no exception. at least this is just annoying and not worse.]
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The puzzled look clues her into something very important though. Kairi, of the trio, may be the one who picks up on context clues the fastest and it's for that reason she seems to get that Roxas has zero idea who she is. Instead of asking or commenting on it, she simply smiles. She'll…figure something out.
She always does.]
Things like this break a lot? Seems sort of silly to send us here if there's no other way out.
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despite that familiarity that comes with who she is and how it connects to him, roxas is able to put it to the side and focus on the totally more important things.]
There's probably some way, but we'll have to find it. I've never seen this place before, so it's new. [if he making a bit of a face? you bet he is.] Maybe that's why it's weird like this.
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The way the caves were going I wasn't sure we'd actually find a way out. But this is a game, isn't it? There's always a way to win a game. [She can't help but giggle a bit at the face he's making though.] What kind of places have you been to then? Maybe that will give us some ideas, too.
Phase 3
Yeah, there's fish in there. And something....
[Mikleo frowns.]
Bigger. Much bigger. I'm surprised it can even live in this odd river.
[He doesn't know what the heck it is, so he's just going to not chance crossing it with any other method than across the bridge the fisherman is blocking. Stupid game with its stupid rules....]
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That something isn't a fish, is it? [She seems oddly okay with that. After her run-ins with Heartless and Nobodies and, y'know, losing her own heart, she has a surprisingly high tolerance for Weird Things.] How can you really tell?
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[Right, this human doesn't know about seraphim. Okay, good to know she's not from his world.]
I'm a seraph. Humans compare us to gods or spirits, and each seraph is aligned to one of the fire elements: wind, water, fire, it earth. Since my element is water, I can get a general sense of whatever is in a given body of water or if there's something wrong with it. Same with snow and ice.
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A seraph. [Worth repeating, at least.] Are you the only one of your kind, or are there a lot of water seraphs where you're from? [It's rude to ask "where do you come from" but she's curious enough to want to know.]
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No, there are other water seraphim. Just as there are other seraphim in the other elements. It'd be a pretty lonely existence if I was the only one. I mean, it's rare nowadays for humans to be able to perceive us at all.
[Mikleo sounds a little sad at the last remark.]
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Phase I
Ah... a unique challenge! [He then punches the chicken to send it flying right back where it came from! Because clearly this is a game?!]
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It wasn't a challenge! [She doesn't sound super distressed but she's now moving a bit quicker to find her opponent...and be on guard for wayward birds.]
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[He wails as he volleys the poor virtual poultry back with a roundhouse kick.]
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Now he punches it right back at her...]
Ah, but you raise an interesting point! Do you have any cool ideas on how to work the rats into this spirited challenge between youths?
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3!
That sounds like a question I'd expect from Sora, not you.
[said with that typical teasing tone, one that holds an underlying 'yes, kairi, fish live in rivers and chickens and rats do not' commentary. he knows she wouldn't just ask something so, well, stupid without solid reason; that said, it doesn't mean he can't be friendly jerk in response. it's what friends do.]
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3...
2...]
Riku!
[Shut up, Riku, she's dropping the rod and bait (sorry little digital worm) before turning and practically vaulting at him for a hug. Much like when she'd found Sora it's hard to hide how relieved she is to see him and really see that he wasn't destroyed with their world.
...then again, the last time their world was destroyed they all turned out fine. Oh well, minor details. Even though she's still much smaller than he is her grip is tight and fierce...before realizing he's teasing her and sending a retaliating with a little pinch to his side.]
Very funny. You still didn't answer. [There's a reason she's asking of course, but it can wait. Friendship time now, that's what's important here.]
Phase 3
He's eager to know who she is, but the question makes him stop gawking for a few seconds, and he comes to a stop beside her.]
Well -- it's a river, so why wouldn't there be fish?
[He feels a little foolish for giving such an obvious answer, but he's still too busy staring at her to really concentrate on it anyway. She doesn't just feel like a Princess... she feels like someone has passed her the power, too. Who is she?]
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The same reason that there were chickens inside a cave. Usually you wouldn't find them there, would you? [She looks down at the water again.] This place hasn't been short of its surprises.