The Escapist Avatar Adventure: An Open RP (Now Re-Opened!)

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

[hr]

End of an Era

story of dusk

​

[hr]

...Well, that could have went down better.
His sails were slightly less full of wind after such comments but he kept up his resolve, silently nodding in agreement.
"...I-...I understand...More often then not, I find these events leading to a battle so it's a hard habit to break. Still, I'll take point, stay behind me in case Alice strikes out at us." Rugal answered, looking a bit less in his comfort zone after doing so.
"It's time then. I'm ready to do this..." The Aging King of Fighters finally said, bracing himself for whatever was about to come.

 

[Zepherus14]

[hr]

End of an Era

Story of Dusk

​

[hr]

"Frankly it might, you do have more experience than I would, I just really hope this doesn't have to come to that. And don't worry, I plan on it..." Nina said, noticing the praying crew members. The Nina of yesterday would have let out a long groaning sigh, but the Nina before them was much more sympathetic. They were scared out of their gourd just like she should be.

"Christ..." Nina huffed, looking around and up to the ship. "I don't know, I feel like I'm missing something but... just waiting here's not an option either, I can't stay on this station for the rest of my life, we can't do that. Nor can I just bugger back to Anazorzia. I guess we gotta-"

Phillip burst through the doorway on the far side, his sudden appearing felt by everyone else before Nina turned. "Phillip? I thought you were with the other group?" She asked as the noodle monster crawled his way forward, that ebony cookbook hovering just off the ground in his grasp. It was dripping some unknown substance onto the floor but unlike the ink that'd leaked out of it many times prior. It didn't last long however as it evaporated into the atmosphere soon after.

Phillip stopped by Nina's feet as she stooped down to the ground for him, adjusting his large chef's hat as it to look up to her. "Well ya, I finished talking with... the boss here and we were going to- No, it's complicated." Nina groaned as she shook her head only to look back up as Phillip offered the cookbook to her. "I- Phillip, I know this is important to you but, we've gotta deal with this Alice thing. Maybe someone else might be able to-" Nina started to explain only for Phillip to offer the book again. "You did and what did she say?" Nina asked only to have her face grimace in a grossed out manner.

Listening to the rest of his story, Nina nodded and turned to Vihaan. "Apparenly... um... was it Melissa? The redhead with that nice broach. She's apparently passed out in one of the main halls near the area the rest are gathered in. Poor thing must have let the stress get to her." Nina lamented, feeling honestly bad for her. Who throws up after looking at a book? Looking back to Phillip, Nina tried to put on a brave face for the little guy. "I'm not gonna be able to convince you to stay with them here, am I? It's gonna be dangerous and... I don't know how this will end, I don't want you to get hurt." To which Phillip responded by climbing onto Nina's shoulder, shrugging as his influence swung around the room as if to look at everyone there.

Nina stayed there for a moment, trying to wipe some tears from her eyes as she stood up. "You heard him, Phillip can't cook things if we let all the ingredients get erased. He said he was gonna go see the Miriams after. He's not breaking that promise and neither am I! Ready or not Alice, we're heading your way!" Nina shouted, punching up at the air.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

[hr]

End of an Era

story of night

​

[hr]

Vihaan sat down on his chair with a heavy air around him. Outside of the observation windows, the cavernous maw of the Soul of Tomorrow's hangar array yawned open. It's thick black tendril swept away from the steel enclosure as air drained from around them back into the pressurized storage containers in the space station's ballasts. The Inquiry was silent, absent of the usual hum of the engines. He breathed in deeply.

Rugal sat down in the seat to Vihaan's right. Nina and Phillip sat down in the seat to Vihaan's left. The gentle green light of the living metal in the Dimensional Starship shimmered above them. The Inquiry was operating on a skeleton crew. For the first time since it's journey began two long years ago, Vihaan was the sole pilot of the vessel. They stocked no provisions of food nor water. They had just enough fuel to get to their destination and their capacitors were holding only the bare minimum of power to hold the aging vessel together.

This truly felt like a suicide mission.

Vihaan held out his hands and summoned the hardlight console of the ship. With a stroke of his fingers, the ship lurched forward. The thrusters were silent. The energy of the engine was being funneled into the blood gem resting at the center of the pulsating black mass of bio-mechanical flesh, and in turn the gem was gripping the space around them and moving them ever so much forward.

"Okay." Vihaan said quietly. "Beginning scrying protocols."

>Use Item Command Selected
>>Item Select: Momento of Duty, Momento of Clarity, Momento of Splendor, Proof of Empathy, Proof of Voyage, Momento of Temperence
>>Selected: Momento of Duty.
>>>Are you sure? Using this item will consume it permanently.
>Yes
>>Item Used: Momento of Duty
>>Item: Momento of Duty has been removed from Inventory.
>Momento of Duty: What would you like to find?
>Alice Marlow
>>Momento of Duty: "Alice Marlow" discovered.
>>Momento of Duty: Add "Place: Core of Creation" to destinations list?
>Yes
>>Momento of Duty: "Place: Core of Creation" is now accessible by dimensional breach.

The ship had drifted forward enough to be outside of the Soul of Tommorow's gravitational influence. All that was before them was the unnatural darkness of the artificial universe they had taken refuge in. "Preparing breach." Vihaan announced.

For a while nothing happened. Then more time passed and nothing continued to happen. Vihaan closed his eyes, his hands were shaking. "Preparing to breach..."

Then he brought his hands down on top of the hardlight console.

Unlike the violent lurching jumps they had experienced when using the Desire Drive, the Inquiry simply faded into Eternity. The space around them was beautiful. It was full of a myriad of colors and lights, a dazzling display of wonder and they drifted through the raw materials of creation. Thick tendrils of red and black reached forward from the ship and dragged it through the medium like some sort of grotesque machine octopus. It's hands dug deeply into the web of light outside, leaving thin distorted streaks as the Inquiry passed through the primordial realm.

Then they faded back into existence elsewhere.

---​

 

[BlackHarte]

[hr]

End of an Era

story of night

​

[hr]

I watched as Nina, Rugal, and Philip fell into the seat of all creation. They landed gently in a dark abyss. All they could see in all directions was blackness. It was not dark, for there was enough light for them to discern both their own forms and the forms of each other, there was just simply nothing for the light to reach nor express. The world was empty. Their feet touched ground only because they expected to touch ground, that their subconscious yearned to be standing. In the same way was their light, for their desire to see.

I don't know if I expected them to arrive or not. I couldn't remember. The plan had gotten too convoluted. I couldn't even remember which timeline they were from. In the end it doesn't matter. It's all the same. They all have to end the same way. I clapped my hands.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

>1
The Core of Creation
You find yourself in a dark expanse. You can feel the ground beneath your feet, but can see nothing but each other.

>

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

>1
The Core of Creation
You find yourself in a dark expanse. You can feel the ground beneath your feet, but can see nothing but each other.

>

"....Huh...this is-....unexpected..." Rugal remarked as he examined the expanse around him.

[>Look at Dark Expanse]

Finding nothing (Least at this moment in time), he slowly began to walk forward while keeping his eyes peeled for any signs of live or movement.

[>Move North]

[footnote]North or whatever direction is in front of him[/footnote]
"...This mission gets more and more bizarre...Nina, you going alright over there?..." He asked, being sure not to let her leave his visual range.

[>Look at Nina]
[>Talk to Nina]

He then attempted to make sense of this strange realm they were in, kneeling down and running his hand along the "Ground" they were standing on.

[>Examine Ground]

Part of this investigation included testing the "Rules" of this new world, prompting him to timidly strike at the surface beneath them with his fist.

[>Attack Ground]

 

[Zepherus14]

[Examine Area]

Looking around at the place they'd found themselves in, seeing that there was a whole heck of a lot of darkness all around them.

[Request Item: Flashlight]

"Phillip, we still have that emergency kit right? I'm pretty sure we didn't take it out when we were setting up our place in the ship? Maybe we could use that?" Nina asked as she continued looking around and watched Rugal head on ahead.

[Answer Query]

"I'm okay, a little weirded out we're suddenly not in the ship anymore, but I'm okay." She answered and after a short pause. "Phillip's okay too, he says this place is kinda familiar." She added, sounding perplexed by that, not understanding what place Phillip had seen that'd resemble such a oppressively dark place.

[Touch Ground]

Seeing Rugal examine whatever they were currently standing on, Nina did the same. Where they standing on the same metal flooring of the ship somehow or something else entirely. Phillip did one step further as he extended several tendrils outwards as they pawed at the ground.

[IF Request Item: Flashlight > True]

Nina happily took the light and flicked it on, shining the light around to see if anything happened, or if they truly were in an void of darkness.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

>2
The Core of Creation
The area around you is dark. It is impossible to discern anything at a distance. There does not seem to be anything that obscures your view.

>3
The Core of Creation
You move Northward. You travel some distance but the environment around you does not change.

>4
The Core of Creation
You look at Nina. She is a young woman. She has blonde hair and noticeably large breasts. She wears a dress woven from starlight. The Proof of Empathy rests in a broach at the base of her neck.

>5
The Core of Creation
You examine the ground but are unable to discern anything with your eyes.

>6
The Core of Creation
You attack the ground. Your fist connects with something solid, but you cannot discern anything from the contact. The ground has no visible reaction to your strike.

>2
You turn the flashlight on and shine it around you. The darkness continues to expand in all directions. The area around you seems no brighter than it had been. It seems that the are is already well lit.

 

[Zepherus14]

"Damn... it's not helping at all... It's kinda like that van black stuff I saw on the internet once. So dark it eats light." Nina suggested, walking up to Rugal as she turned the flashlight off. "Let's see if this does anything." She said as she grabbed Rugal's shoulder and then attempted to activate her Proof of Empathy, trying to correct this lack of anything despite them being on something.

>Retrieve BaseBall
>Hurl BaseBall

Phillip seeing these different attempts at figuring out where they were shrugged and upon feeling no determinable difference in the floor decided to see how far out things might go. Reaching inside himself, he pulled out a ball and YEET'd that poor thing as hard as he could!

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

"Hmmm...I've been to several realms before but-...this is a new one..." Rugal mused as his efforts didn't seem to amount to much.
He still seemed to be intact thankfully, as was his ki energy reserves so he attempted to try something different.
One of the first steps of learning how to harness most kinds of energy in martial arts, be it ki or straight up magic, was being to sense and detect it.
Pausing for a moment, he focused to try and detect any traces of energy he might be familiar with, Living, Spirital or even Electrical, just anything he could find.

[>Sense Energy: All]

Once he was done with that, his next test was turn his attention to figuring out just how large this place was, if it could have a ground, perhaps it could have walls or a ceiling?
Philip seemed to have the same idea as he threw a baseball of all things into the void.
"Hmmm...I wonder..."
As for figuring out if there was a ceiling, he used a Ki attack, namely the "Shakunetsu Hadoken!" as he used his energies to send a flaming ball of Ki energy up into the air like a makeshift firework.
Hopefully the extra power of this kind of attack would give it enough travel distance to hit something before it faded.

[>HCF + H+L.P (USF4 EX-Shakunetsu Hadoken)]

"...This reminds me of a old training simulation I was in once. They'd just put in a void instead of scenery. Good for training, terrible on the eyes if they made it too bright or too dark..." He remarked before Nina (Attempted to) put her hand on his shoulder.
Seeing this, he kindly knelt down slightly as he watched her use the gem.

[>Crouch]
[>Look at: Proof of Empathy]

"They said our gems would be used to bypass barriers. Perhaps this is one of them?" He suggested as he pulled out his own Memento of Temperance.
"Ahhh, I miss the days where the fate of the world or such could be decided in a slugfest..."

 

[NotYetForsaken]

>7
The Core of Creation

You sense an immense amount of raw energy coming from all directions. It is not immediately clear what the energy is coming from, but it should be possible to identify it if more effort is spent to pinpoint the exact nature of the energy.

>8
The Core of Creation

Your attack flies into the distance. It reaches a point in the distance and then vanishes.

>9
The Core of Creation

The Proof of Empathy sits on Nina's chest. It is a blue mineral polished to a mirror shine. Small white veins run through the azurite. It is an exquisite piece of work. You sense great power stored within it.

>1
The Core of Creation

You throw a baseball into the darkness. It lands some distance away and bounces before disappearing.

>3
The Core of Creation

You summon the energies stored within the Proof of Empathy. A brilliant light envelopes the area around you. Suddenly, the world around you seems less oblique. You feel accepted into the world...

The world around you materializes. You are in a stone chamber underground. The air is cold. There are doorways in each direction. What is this place? The smell in the air reminds you of the earth. Perhaps you are underground?

 

[Zepherus14]

Nina had her eyes closed as she activated her gem, not really sure how she was supposed to use it persay, but impersonating Sailor Moon felt right. As such Nina didn't notice Rugal staring at her chest, and only noticed when she was told the scenery had changed from her noodle friend. "Thank goodness that-" Nina started to say until she stopped abruptly, taking a step back before putting two and two together.

"Oh my god!" Nina started laughing, still blushing profusely but at least she was taking it in stride. "I-I can't believe- ahaha~" She tried to say, a bit caught up in herself and trying to wipe a couple of small forming tears from her eye. Phillip brought a tentacle up to poke at Nina's cheek, which she lightly pushed it away. "No no, I'm okay." She reassured him. "Maybe I'm just stressed from all this and- someone finally gawking at me feels actually reasonable for once. It's okay Rugal, I know you didn't mean it." She said patting his chest as she looked around at the stonework before snapping her fingers. "Also, just adding to what you said there, hopefully we don't, because the three of us can think our way out of problems, but only one of us knows how to fight our way out of one."

"Anyways, this place looks familiar to me..." She said as she looked at some of the doors and specifically the stone walls, touching at her head a little. "Mmph, I can't remember what exactly, but... I think it had something about hands?"

>Inspect Doorways, indicate to approach the Northern door if all are identical

Phillip didn't say much as he watched the ball disappear into the darkness and not reappear with the rest of the room. Hopefully Nina wouldn't ask about that ball, it was something special but he wasn't sure exactly what. Regardless, Phillip was able to watch their backs, and fronts for that matter. He hadn't been there when Nina first fell into that space between space and was torn apart by entities within the space.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

>The Core of Creation
>4 ...You inspect the doorways leading out of the stone room. They all expand into nothingness. You feel a cold breeze blowing in from the north doorway.

>The Core of Creation
>5 You approach the north doorway. You feel cold air rushing in to meet you. You can smell the distinct aroma of falling snow. Perhaps each of the doors lead somewhere different?

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Despite the situation, Rugal felt a lot calmer when the world around them turned into something far more understandable.
"Ahhh, a dungeon? This. I can work with..." He smiled, rubbing his hands before getting to work.
It was now that Nina had her "Reaction" to his gaze and, while Nina was able to add things up, Rugal-...not so much as he seemed to have not noticed the implications, least not until she spoke of him "Gawking" at her.
"...Excuse me? You think I was leering at you? I was just looking at the gem!...[sub]Bah, like you'll believe me. The youth these days[/sub]..." He grumbled before following her north though the dungeon, examining the passage for any signs of life.

[>Examine North Passage]

While he did this, he also used some of his Ki to spark a flame in the palm of his hand, using it to provide both heat and light as he attempted to find the exit down the passage.
"The cold air seems to be coming from that direction. Might as well see where this one heads off to first. Nina, stay where I can "Gawk" at you." He quipped before walking north towards the cold.

[>Walk North]
[>QCF+LP (CvS2 2001: 114 Shiki: Ara Gami "Wild Bite"]

 

[NotYetForsaken]

>Winter
>1 The darkness swallows up the flame you send through the doorway. It seems that the lack of light is not an indication of darkness, but rather of the fact that no light is able to enter the room from the other side of the door way.

>Winter
>2 You walk North. You can smell the air grow cleaner. The aroma of pine trees fill you as you traverse the darkness, unable to see back into the room and unable to see forward. After some time you exit the corridor and find yourself in a forest clearing, surrounded by tall trees. Gentle snow drifts down from high above.

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

Upon going through the doorway, he quickly noticed the sudden darkness that covered his vision, attempting to double back the way he came just to make sure that he could.

[>Walk South]
[>Walk North]

Once he got out into the clearing, Rugal felt the most at ease since this journey began.
He had fond memories of winter training over his lifetime, much of which took place in old forests like this one.
The cold didn't bother him much as he noticed the figure in the distance.

[>Look at Figure]

Softly pacing through the snow on the ground, he attempted to wave down the stranger stating "Hello? Can you hear me over there?"
He kept his guard up naturally, half expecting an arrow or some sort of projectile to start racing towards him.
"Excuse me, I think-heh-I'm a bit lost? Can you give me some directions?" He then asked in a faux tourist tone, trying to come off as non threatening until he needed to be.

[>Talk to Figure]

 

[NotYetForsaken]

 

[Diablo1099_v1legacy]

"Rugal Bernstein. I'm not from around here...wherever here is." Rugal kindly answered, looking as relaxed as he could be in this strange realm.
It went without saying he wasn't convinced that "Allison" was her real name but until he knew what he was getting himself into, he could play alone for now.
"So Allison, you're..."Local" to this place are you? Perhaps you might be able to help me, I'm not really meant to be here. Or I am and I don't know it yet..." He spoke in his best "Lost Tourist" impression.
"Why, I don't even know where "Here" is? Don't suppose you could tell me what this place is? I was in a dungeon, then I walked a bit and suddenly I'm out here."

[>Ask Allison about forest]

 

[Zepherus14]

"... What the hell was that about..?" Nina gave a disgruntled look at the open doorway that'd swallowed up Rugal. "I even apologized to him and he's acting like a-" Nina cut herself off as Rugal popped his head back in. "Wonderful. Yep, be in there in a sec." Nina waved at him as he disappears back into the darkness.

"Well, at least we know it's not a one way or a trap..." She shook her head with her hand to it and glanced at the other doorways in the room. "Hopefully this is the right way and we don't need to head back to these other doors." She thought out loud as Phillip shifted around her shoulders. "Ya I can't see him either... What if it's too dark in there and we get lost?" Nina suggested, only for Phillip to extend a tentacle out to the other side of the room. "Hehe, a good idea but really that's not gonna work. What happens if you need to retract it?" Nina said, rattling her brain on what to use.

[>Use Butcher's twine spool]

"What we need is something strong, thin and really really long... like a string or..." Nina said looking to Phillip who seemed very offended. Offended enough to hop of her shoulder and point an accusing tentacle at her. "But it'd be perfect! We got that pack of twine not too long ago, you can't have used a lot of it." Nina argued to which Phillip threw even more arms up into the air. Nina pinched the bridge of her nose, let out a long sigh and stooped down to sit on the floor with him.

"Look, we can't be arguing about this right now. We need to think about this smart and if we gotta ruin $14 of- okay $14.67. Point is, I will absolutely buy you more later. This is not the universe's last spool of twine." Nina stated her case. "And just so we're even, you can tie it to that big coat rack mom sent you think's tacky. We need to weigh it down anyways." She suggested to which Phillip quickly pulled out both and threw to the ground unceremoniously. "... No need to throw it like that..." She smirked offering a hand to him and soon stepping through the doorway with her buddy dropping the line behind them.

[hr]

It was cold but other than her uncovered face Nina actually felt pretty warm. Despite how sheer her outfit was, it was strangely insulating, not letting the cold in and yet she wasn't cooking in it either. "If you get cold I'm pretty sure we didn't unpack the winter stuff?" Nina suggested as Phillip just grabbed a large amount of her hair and used that to wrap himself up. "Or you could do that too. Now where did he get off to?"

Nina followed after Rugal's footsteps through the snow but kept an eye out just in case something popped up. And pop up they did as Rugal called out to a third party, Nina ducking behind a tree on the outer ends of the path. 'Shit, what is he doing?!' She thought as she tried to listen on the conversation and nearly fell over herself when she heard 'Allison' state her name. 'And her last name's probably Snow. I leave you for 5 seconds and you go and find Alice! Wtf Rugal!?' Nina's chest pounded as she watched him looking around like a lost puppy. 'There's no way she's buying this! Why are you lying to her?' She thought, getting ready to have Phillip linch Rugal outta there if it came to that.

In the meantime, Nina tried looking back where Allison had come from, trying to spot if she'd been standing there this whole time or if she had left a trail behind. If there wasn't a trail then there wasn't a doubt, no one could be out there with that little clothing to wait for the snow to refill her steps.

 

[NotYetForsaken]

Wonderland
>You inspect the area around

Allison

. The snow beneath her feet is as fresh as can be. There is no evidence that she had walked to where she was standing in the immediate past. Her face seems to spark a familiar recollection within you, of a woman once glanced in a scrapbook a long time ago.