1897/CatP - Discolor

CatP - Discolor
Date of Scene:	28 March 2015
Location:	A Quiet World
Synopsis:	The 'easiest' number is recovered from the Candy Sea.
Cast of Characters:	2, Arthur Lowell, Priscilla, 152, 183, 253, Riva Banari, Eryl Fairfax, 570
Tinyplot:	A Chime at the Precipice

---

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    In this singular instance, Mizuki asks the group to venture into one of the bleak, destroyed sections of her world for a purpose. The difference between this absent realm, though, is that it has been as blank and plain since the day any of them had first come here. Indeed, the Monochrome Desert might have been the first to die, or it might be the last. In a sense, it might be both at once.

    Still, the last spot of color and substance outside the Clock Tower and the Silent City lies at their feet. That swirling vortex of pink and yellow lies etched into the ground just as it did the last time they visited Melody's domain, but there is something... noticeably, eerily different. The colors are distorted, grayed-out, dull; it's as though the puddle has been tainted by all the unsavory browns and blacks left over on a painter's palette after a sky has been wrought. Given how vivid it once was, it might be a bit unnerving to see how deeply and how well it reflects the white atmosphere that surrounds it... but it is likely not surprising. Though the group might have reserved this number because they had expected its retrieval to be the easiest, this world has a tenacious habit of adhering to a certain set of morbid patterns.

    And those 'morbid patterns' dictate that this venture will be the antithesis of 'easy'. Mizuki says nothing at all, but gives a brief, apprehensive glance back at the group once they gather before the entrance to the Candy Sea. She shuts her eyes, shakes her head briefly, and sighs, allowing those gestures to communicate her apologies and laments pre-emptively. Then, without another moment of hesitation, she leaps into the vortex.

    Like before, she and any who follow would find themselves on a floating wafer landmass gliding softly over a mighty ocean. Only, that ocean has lost its pink hue entirely; the color here are all wrong and diluted as they were in the vortex. The colors are bizarre and dank enough of hue to suggest the viewer had become colorblind, or that this whole land were being viewed through a half-broken television. The water is a sickly gray-green, and the ground upon which they walk a sort of garish chartreuse. In other words, even where the bland stone colorations relent, one would almost wish that they did not.

    At the epicenter of all this waste is a familiar throne of candy canes and plush animals. Unlike before, though, the crucible of Melody's microcosmal 'kingdom' is littered with something far more disturbing than candy -- something far more odious. The most apparent colors still left in this world are reds, to be sure, but not the sort that any living being who can fear their own mortality would ever wish to see.

    Yet, it's everywhere. Wooden figurines and flesh dolls alike have been wrought and strewn about the landscape, all of them matching figures from the past. One such figure - a hybrid of sticks, gore, and the plush from several eviscerated bears - has been organized in the rough shape of the Arch Curate, or so the blond wig mounted on its makeshift head would have one believe. Then another has been fashioned to resemble the Queen from the Township, at least as well as anything could manage.

    In the center of all this would sit a girl. Her posture is hunched, allowing her silvered, disheveled locks to obscure every aspect of her face. Still, she sits in the most demure spot possible, hands folded at her crossed legs. She would not move as the others approach. Mizuki, likewise, would make no effort to interact with her, though she would gladly look back to her companions for some guidance. She possesses the number, so she must be addressed in some capacity, but --

    -- but Melody acts first. She would grab the hem of Mizuki's dress, tugging her closer. Mizuki would oblige and offer her a quick pat on the head, but for the moment she's still at a loss for words. Melody, though, isn't:

    "Hey. I thought you guys would never come back."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko, now clad as a magical girl, does not really recognize the portal, and it takes her a moment to recognize the land on the other side of it. She makes a wordless, concerned "Hm," as they approach. Her expression is calm, as it ever is, but if, only if, one watched carefully, they'd see that her mask is not quite as perfect as some. The distinction is heavily muted, but this land's transformation brings out a look of--sadness? Regret?

    And yet, her tone remains professional in its surety. "Inevitably, we must." She approaches further, glancing down.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "I liked it more when you lived in a magical land of Candy Oceans and Rainbow Bullshit," Psyber says dryly in regards to the new landscape. Here's here to help Mizuki after a haitus of not being around to deal with... personal matters. He doesn't look happy, per se, to be here. But lately he doesn't look happy to be anywhere, so it's nothing personal.

    "This place is much more crap-sack-y," He adds, as if clarifying his original point. He's not carrying much today, just a big orange envelope that says 'Akemi Homura' on it. He appears unphased by the landscape, though internally he's very displeased to see the declined and grim state of the world. It doesn't bode well for the full state of things.

    "Has the world really degraded so far?"

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja Senra has been remarkably silent, though given all the other times he's been here, the prayer-face he's adopted on these pre-mission travels might be well warranted. Right behind Mizuki does the armored Inquisitor go, already flanked by the lumbering form that is the fire-esper Salamander. He's riding upon its back this time, playing at cavalry, and when they arrive at the candy-and-plush world that is Melody's domain? The Burmecian's eye goes wide and he very nearly falls off his mount.

"WHAT IN THE BLOODY ABYSS HAPPENED HERE!?" Demands the rat quickly of Melody, Salamander huffing gouts of flame threateningly.

Melody receives a horrid death-glare from the Burmecian, trembling in pure zealous fury at the horrid works around him.

"Art ye the maker of them? Or shall we begin hunting the Heretics responsible for degredation of Lady Mizuki's realm!?" The fact that Melody has Mizuki so close in the macabre surroundings isn't helping his temper.

HOpefully calmer souls like Riva or Psyber can help matters here.

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    "I don't know, this isn't that bad," Homura comments, walking alongside Psyber. She'll take this borderline desolate and dark land over candy and rainbows, but then that's probably just her. She's transformed, today-- presumably the risk of battle and the state of their current locale was enough to prompt it.

    "We must be running out of time if it has," she adds to Psyber's last question, taking a shot at the answer being yes.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber, related to nothing else going on, hands Homura the big envelope with her name on it, "I graded your last term paper. Here."

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva's here. You can't keep her away, even now, with the world cracking and shaking, in the throes of a slow oblivion. Riva hurls hersrlf forward, her gaze still hungrily watching and observing what is going on around her, as if trying to etch everything in her mind, no matter how unpleasant or horrific. The artist hangs on the edge of the vortex, looking into it with wide eyes as sh looks at the unpleasant, sick coloration of the area. "It's wrong. It's gone all wrong..." She whispers, reaching out to let her fingers brush against the surface of the vortex. That hand clenches for a moment... And then she stands, pushing through it.

She arrives in the twisted, dystopian land and looks around, shuddering. She approaches some of the... companions, and stares at them for several moments, before turning away, her jaw setting. "How long... has it been?" She asks, aloud.

When they finally reach Melody, Riva quickly skips forward, approaching Melody and giving her a nice big hug. "I'm sorry it's taken so long." Riva says. "You've been lonely. But we're here now. Everything will be all right, okay?"

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     While his face is a passive and blank as usual, Eryl is actually kind of moody today. Not just because all this impossible space is setting off Original Face like nothing else. But just from looking around, seeing this amazing place dying before his eyes... he is failing right now.

     And Eryl Fairfax does not tolerate failure.

     So, he stands on the shore of the once bright and cheery beach, taking in the grisly figurines. While morbid, it's something he's seen before. A child desperately trying to make the memories of lost ones physical once again. Thus, he does his best to not let his disgust show.

     Something that cannot be said of Faruja though. Immediately, Eryl goes to him, standing between he and Melody, hand on the priests shoulder. "Peace, Father Senra. We are here to /help/, remember? Screaming at a lonely child is not help." His voice is that even, understanding tone, but there is some audible strain to it, like it's an effort to keep it that way.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur remembers this world! And he remembers how things were, before... This. Arthur has an EXTREMELY negative reaction to gore in all its forms, unfortunately; the boy is a little squeamish. And so when he floats on in, all swagger and bluster and positivity, he's immediately caught off guard and stumbles back onto the ground heavily, grabbing at his mouth for a moment with the expectation that he might vomit for a moment. First thing he does is try to calm Faruja. "H-hey." he says, trying to put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey. Look, she's a kid. There's something wrong here." Homura gets a strained, wincing look, distressed to an extreme. Riva gets a nod, and Arthur tries to back her up a bit.

    He summons up his best coolkid bluster. "Y-YO, kiddo! WHAT UP? That YOUR art project back there? Ayyyy, you KNOW we wouldn't just LEAVE YA in the LURCH here, we gotta get our SAVIOR on up ins. You ALRIGHT there? We gonna get GOING to the CLOCKTOWER now or how's this WORK?" He asks, tilting his head and trying to maintain that grin, unsteadily. Nausea, revulsion, and disgust are all shaking him and he's eager to not acknowledge that gore in any way if they can just get this done without thinking about that.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Gulp. Faruja lets out a huff similar to his esper-mount, as both Eryl and Arthur apply diplomacy.

"R...right. Sorry, old habits. Jumping to conclusions."

Then he's looking much more cautiously at Melody.

"Still, the point bloody stands. What happened here and whom is responsible?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody's head raises slowly when she hears Kimiko's voice. As though she were waking from sleep, she brushes her bangs out of her hair and rubs at them gently, conjuring a smile when she's finally able to greet the older girl's eyes properly. A tiny smile graces her face, and a small resurgence of color flashes across her features. Her blackened eyes briefly glimmer azure, and a pink wave briefly weaves through her hair. Once that effect has departed from the girl's own body, it would reverberate throughout the entire Candy Ocean, calling the realm to shine briefly. It's as though the sun had come to grace the world a final time in a place where it had long since ceased to shine.

    "Kimiko!" Her posture straightens, and when her eyes close again the gesture is a component of a warm smile. "I was really hoping you would come back. I missed you! Where have all of you been? Did you find the thing you were looking for?" With every word, it seems that some of her color comes back. Certainly, she's becoming more zealous with each breath she takes. This ebbs somewhat as she turns to Psyber and tilts her head faintly in his direction, though what he says doesn't -reverse- the healing effects, quite. It just inspires a large amount of confusion. "... I-I don't really...? Isn't this world still filled with rainbows and stuff?" She would point at a horizon where there is, indeed, a rainbow -- a rainbow comprised of all the colors ranging from swamp green to black. "See? It hasn't changed. Maybe your eyes got messed up!"

    Where Psyber confused her, though, Faruja would make her -jump out of her skin-. She would leap from her place on the ground with a shrill cry, moving immediately behind Mizuki. It would be some time before she would emerge to glance at him again, and she must undergo several attempts before she is able to respond properly. "R-Responsible for what...?" She would glance around herself, eyes misted over in genuine unknowing. "Miss Nightingale, do you know what he's talking about?" She would stare directly at the effigy of the Arch Curate, which naturally gives no response. Then her eyes would scroll to the figure of the Demon Queen, who would likewise remain silent.

    Where they do not offer feecback, though, Melody speaks for them: "See, see? Neither of them know what you're talking about either!" Her face would contort into a pout. "So please don't yell! I'm sure if you stay calm we can all figure it out together..." Poking her fingers together, she would add, 'Whatever it is you're upset about... weirdo...'

    Homura would get a small smile and a wave, too, and by the time her eyes have reached her things are looking... quite a lot healthier. There's still the matter of the dark art in the center of the world, but the girl's eyes and hair have almost fully regained their color. Her complexion is far less ruined, too, and all at once it seems that things might be back to normal. With... strong proviso, but it's something. Then she would look to Riva... who seems to finally, finally say what she was waiting to hear.

    Immediately, she would release Mizuki she would run over to Riva and hug her. Tightly. After some time of hiding her eyes in the embrace, she would raise her gaze back to Riva' countenance with a pleading connotation. "It's... been a long time. Or it's felt like a long time anyway. It was really quiet, so I got scared. Miss Nightingale came back, so it was okay, but!" She would hug her again with renewed force. "Never leave again! Okay? I missed you guys! I missed you guys a lot!"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Still holding on to Riva, Melody would look to Eryl and give the man a -very resolute- nod. "Yeah! Listen to Eryl! Eryl is cool!" She would beam in his direction briefly before looking to Arthur. She would break away from Riva to clap her hands together and bounce in place. "And the superhero! Hi, Mister Superhero! I'm really glad to see you, too!" A wave of complete bafflement returns as he mentions an 'art project', though, and her head would cant again to one side. Her arms would fold. "... what art project? You mean the chair? That was here before, silly! There's nothing new... not really." The only time when there's a noticeable pause in the 're-coloration' of the world, as it were, is when Faruja again insists that there's something wrong.

    "... you're making it sound like some crime happened." Her expression straightens until it looks almost... severe. "I told you. Miss Nightingale and the Queen came back. We've been playing here a while since you guys have been busy. Okay? Now stop making it sound like I'm doing something wrong." She would look back to the ghastly scarecrows again and ask, "I'm not doing anything wrong, right, Miss Nightingale?" There's a long silence. Eventually, though, she spins back around, hands on her hips.

    "See, see? I told you!"

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla has not travelled to the Candy Sea previously. It was a little before her time of involvement in this whole mess that Mizuki has found herself in, now far too deep to go back, and with certain oblivion awaiting if they don't go carry on all the way through. That might make the state it is in now a little less heartrending to her than others, but knowing Mizuki as well as she does, she can easily imagine what it once was. She can visualize the vivid pinks and pastels without trying, seeing them simultaneously with the greys and off-greens. That alone makes her feel a little pang of regret.

    However, she is so incredibly desensitized to gore, especially in strange and ritualistic configurations, that she fails to so much as blink at the obscene sights awaiting at Melody's throne, despite how jarringly out of place they are. What she can deeply sympathize with, is a young girl left all on her own, with everything around her going wrong, and no thoughts of seeing anyone ever again. Were this a few years ago, she would have kept it to herself, stewing in the background as her heart aches for the girl. Today, she reaches down and picks Melody up, hefting her into one arm level with her shoulder. Stranger danger! "I believeth this line of questioning shalt not be productive. The girl hast done nothing wrong. Find another subject or do not speak at all." She's being remarkably firm about this.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "No it's not," Psyber says. This may be an illusion the girl requires for some sort of mental stability, but Psyber isn't really all that afraid to break it, "This place is a-," He cuts off when Priscilla gets firm, but mutters: "... makes me feel like I stepped into one of the Rulebooks for Battlemacing 35,000."

    Psyber looks around to the rest of the group and crosses his arms with a sigh. He actually isn't sure what to be doing here, people want to talk to the child, and the last time he was actually here it went non-optimally for him anyway. So instead of doing anything, he opts to fall back and do nothing. Hanging out like a wallflower.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja just /stares/ for a moment at the girl's reaction, and associated playing with /meat puppets/. The Inquisitor is looking increasingly green and regretting eating lunch earlier. Gulp.

There's a glance to Priscilla, and slowly he just sighs.

"...Right. Nay, nothing at all mine dear. Just ignore the idiot priest kindly."

Cue Faruja becoming intimately acquainted with his hip flask for a good minute. There's a /look/ to Mizuki of pure exasperation.

"Let us start over then. /God's blessings/ Lady Melody. Might I ask if there hath been anything...unusual about as of late? Aside from me. Any changes, any new visitors?" He clamps his mouth down to avoid asking 'Any filthy Heretic scums performing necromantic rituals'. The rat still looks pretty bad on the stomach front. Ugh.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko takes a walk over to look at the effigies. If she has any reaction to what she's seeing, she's not really showing it. Perhaps less experienced in this matter, is she, than Priscilla, but there is another aspect preventing her from shouting about any of it, which is that, "There is nothing to say that one vision is more real than another, in this place. Thus, always." In all aspects save one. There is something the mutability of Mizuki's world still does not allow. There can be no true people within this scarecrows. That, at least, is a deceit, and her eyes narrow at it.

    Her expression has cleared by the time she turns around, and walks again toward Melody, this time also toward Priscilla. "I said last time, didn't I? I cannot stop... my work. I cannot take vacations. Even now, we have a task we must complete."

Homura Akemi (2) has posed:
    It's unfortunate that for all the girl looks healthier she also seems to be... well, this. Homura avoids making a loud comment about it-- though she does return Arthur's concerned stare (even if it was about something else altogether, most likely the fact Homura didn't mind the landscape so much) eventually.

    Rather than push into the questioning, especially since Priscilla asked to stop, and that's not entirely unwarranted, the Puella Magi instead takes the envelope from Psyber and idly opens it.

    It seems like a productive thing to do while waiting for people to stop babying the girl around.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    The envelop contains Psyber's revenge on Homura:

    Her term paper is returned to her in fully unmodified form and has been graded. But whereas a perfectionist like Homura, who strives to excel in all things surely expected an A+, Psyber has instead given her the Asian C: an A-.

    There's only one comment written across the top of the paper, which says 'Solid Theories, Could Use More Work'.

    Homura is so far ahead in her class this will not impact her grade whatsoever or change her GPA in any way. It's just meant to be a very tiny thing that nags at her.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl's heart begins to lighten as the world brightens up... but, no good feelings have ever come from this quest. It rapidly becomes clear that Melody's grasp on reality has slipped. He bites on his lower lip a little, quickly plotting out the possible effects of the two paths they have here: play along or force the issue.

     In his mind, it begins to become clear that, for now, playing along would be ideal. It would make the retrieval of the number more painless, and they can get help for Melody if they evacuate her from this world before it collapses.

     So, he's going to play along, for now. He kneels down to be at eye-level with Melody. "Don't worry about Faruja, he's been under a lot of stress lately. Priestly duties and all." He forces a grin, and reaches out to ruffle the girl's hair. "It /has/ been a while hasn't it? We missed you too. I wish I could say that we are here to spend our free time, but we have a duty to do." His face becomes serious and he looks around, like he's making sure it's safe to let Melody in on a secret. Building trust.

     "Do you remember? We're looking for the numbers from Mizuki's clock tower. Have you seen one?"

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva gives Melody an honest hug, her eyes closed for several seconds. When Melody breaks away and gets picked up by Priscilla, and looks away, trying to hide wiping her eyes as a casual rub of the face. She looks to Psyber and Arthur, gnawing her lip absently as she tries to think of a way to deal with this. They couldn't just let her keep deluding herself, right?

But how? She rubs her chin, glancing at Eryl and watching him intently for several moments, before looking back to the others. She seems paralyzed for the moment, a smile hanging on her face in the most brittle fashion.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur looks a bit queasy. He shakes his head. "HAHAHA, yeah, NEVER MIND, no big deal." He says, waving a hand dismissively. The "Curate" is winced at, but Arthur tries to swallow down his distress. Faruja gets a quick pat on the shoulder, meant to reinforce his willingness to have some self-restraint here. Eryl is the one he backs up now. "YEAH, we had to go HEADBUTT some BOOKS for a while 'till we SOLVED ALL THE PUZZLES. I got trapped in WEIRD DREAM HECK for a bit, can you believe it?" He's actually censoring his own words a bit there, it seems!

    "So HEY! Yeah, ERYL knows what's up. We were gonna HIT THE ROAD, start FIXING THE WORLD and all, y'know? Wanna GRAB the NUMBER and we can PACK UP? The GANG can hang out here while we get our WORLD-FIXIN' on, y'know?" He refers, of course, to the gore-dolls who he is desperately trying to purge out of his mind. "You ready to HIT THE ROAD? Or do you got anything you gotta do to WRAP UP here?" Arthur knows what removing the number from this place and from this person will do, so he ABHORS lying to Melody, but right now his desire to leave the unsettling, uncanny environment is really overwhelming that. The weird perception issues are messing with him badly.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody seems -extremely- receptive to supportive physical contact in pretty much all cases, and her response to being picked up by Priscilla is absolutely no exception. She would smile broadly as she's raised and hug the halfbreed gently around her neck as she reaches the peak of her height, apparently completely unafraid of being lifted as high as the older woman is certainly capable of lifting her. This would be followed by a surprisingly vindictive gesture toward Faruja wherein she pulls at the skin beneath her left eye and sticks her tongue out at him. "OverrruuCounterclockwise (talk)llleedd, Mister Inquisitor!" She half chants.

    She only stops when she hears Psyber. Like the inquisitor before him, the guardian angel would receive a surprisingly baleful look. Some gray returns to her hair. His instincts would likely alert him to the presence of a number of 'creatures' behind him which, if he should look, would be revealed to be a number of malformed... food-beings. A pair of 'donuts' walk together on spindly legs, though each of them are covered in something akin to mold or moss in lieu of frosting. Many other, similarly decayed foodstuffs begin to mass together behind the group, standing perfectly still as though they are watching the lot of them. Or, rather than the lot, there seems to be a particular focus on Homura, Psyber, and Faruja. The others are spared a bit of the malicious sensations inherent.

    But. Start over? She would briefly tap a finger to her cheek before nodding happily to the nezumi. "Hmm... sure! I didn't really like the way things were going before, so starting over is fine." She would... blush? at the application of the title of 'Lady', and place her hand at her chest with a flowery flick of her wrist. "Greetings, Mister Faruja~! 'Tis lovely to make your acquaintance this eve." Again, her head would tilt as he asks about 'new visitors'. "We," A royal We, "do not /recall/ any new visitors. Sheep came here a little earlier, but she got all scared and left almost as soon as she came. That was a little while after Miss Nightingale came back. I... er, I mean, /We/ wonder if people are afraid of her or something." She would end with a giggle. "Playing princess is fun~."

    She glances to Kimiko next. Her hands would lower to more neutral positions at her sides. For a moment, it looks like her smile might fade away, but instead she just begins to kick her legs in Priscilla's grip. "But work is booo~~rriiiing. It must be really awful to have all these things you 'have' to do all the time. You should take a break! It's okay to relax sometimes. It's okay to have fun!" Her legs stop kicking, and she glances off to some indistinct area in space. Her smile evaporates into a surprisingly deep frown. "Actually, nevermind. You wouldn't listen to me anyway."

    With an eerie fluidity, she looks to Eryl next. "Duty, duty, duty. I don't like that word!" An idle comment she makes as her eyes flit about the area, making an extremely pronounced effort -not- to make eye contact with Eryl. When she finally does, though, her eyes would have completely lost their blue sheen. Rather than being grey again, though, they would almost look... red. Certainly in such a way that would raise warning bells for Faruja.

    "Can't see numbers. Can you see yourself if you don't have a mirror to look into?" She bats her lashes a few times before adding, a bit impatiently, "So, you guys want the number? What are you gonna do with it?" Her legs begin to kick again. "Gonna do your 'duty'? That doesn't sound like fun. Especially since you guys are just going to leave after I give it to you. It'd be better if I waited to give it to you! Then you could stay longer. In fact, maybe I should /never/ give it to you. Then you would have to stay here forever." She smiles a tiny smile before burying her face into Priscilla's shoulder again.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As Arthur starts talking again, the slightest quivers that would tell of life would leave her form. She would stay perfectly still and inert a moment before slowly turning to Arthur. The red of her eyes has deepened so that they almost seem to gleam neon. "WE aren't going to hit the road -- YOU guys are gonna hit the road. The second we leave, you're all gonna go home and be heroes without me. Again. I'll be alone again." Her hands curl into fists. "What if I said no? Huh? What if it makes me upset that you guys come here and don't even /ask/ if I want to play with you a little before you go? That's not fair! That isn't even a little bit fair!"

    Off in the background, candy and other debris seems to lose gravity and become attracted to the portal leading outside. After several moments, so much rubbish has collected there as to obstruct the exit entirely. At that point, Melody would have hidden her face in Priscilla again.

    The color is draining everywhere.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja has Inquisitorial Dignity to care about when Melody sticks her tongue out at him. Salamander isn't so mannered, and sticks his own tongue out, complete with esper-spit in her direction. Faruja whacks the creature with his cane.

"Manners!"

But he keeps a keen ear on floating deformed donut-people, and other assorted sugary death-sundaries. Faruja is /smiling/ here.

"Always a pleasure, my Lady...Ladies? Your Highness?" Faruja sounds just a little lost at this point. He didn't, after all, have much of a childhood.

"And ye make a most wonderful princess! Mayhaps we aught dance, hmm?" Dancing always helps, right?

Then his smiles fades away, Melody's eyes going from red to neon, and a hand reaches into his robes for a stop-watch. Just in case.

He prays that Psyber can pull this one off, because the rat isn't liking his own options here.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    Psyber can tell Riva is looking at him. The half-angel sighs a bit and rubs his face with both hands. He really doesn't want to be involved in the death of this girl, nor risk a direct confrontation. He also doesn't feel it would lead to the most ideal outcome. So fine, fix it. Or salvage it.

    Psyber takes a long few moments to think and then comes to a decision. It might be a misleading one at first, because he brushes back his coat and takes out the 1911 he's most often seen carrying. The classic, vintage original one. It's the same one Apathy enchanted to break the illusion of Heaven for him, in fact, but that's less immediately relevant. It's most importantly just an object that is very iconically 'Psyber'. He has many firearms like it, but to him it has a certan importance.

    He then removes the magazine a moment later and places that into his pocket. A moment later, two fingers grab the slide and pull, removing the chambered round and locking the gun in an open position. So his 1911 is entirely disarmed and effectively harmless.

    "This object is very important to me. It is more than a simple weapon, it is the only thing I have been able to unfailingly rely on for over a century. It has never betrayed me, used me, let me down, or attempted to harm me. It does not judge my actions, it does not blame my choices, and it does not betray my beliefs. It is my oldest friend, more than many people which come and go from my life, and I would like you to have it in exchange for the number. Of many things in my life which inevitably have or will let me down, this gun has never done so."

    It may be weird offering a gun to a young girl, even an empty one, but there's a reason we promise. He holds it out towards Melody.

    "I would like you to take it in exchange for the Number. It will be my promise to you that, if I am capable of doing so, I will return for this gun and for you. It will be representative of the fact that I do not intend to see you abandoned, and that if possible I will do what I can to preserve or improve your condition."

    "I cannot promise you that we will save you, but I will leave you this as a simple reminder: You were not and will not be abandoned or forgotten, nor will your sacrifice to this cause be in vain. And if we cannot succeed, if we cannot save you, it will serve as a reminder that you do not fade away to be forgotten. If you go, I will see to it that I am with you in your final moments, if not in person than in weight."

    "I am sorry I cannot offer you more. This is all I have."

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    "If," Kimiko says, stiffly, "you understood and respected my duty, then I would be inclined to listen to your advice concerning it. I think you do not. Yes, I must do awful things, sometimes. If I do not, then more people will be hurt. More people will be sad. If I can suffer in their stead, I will do so. I have chosen this path. And to those that respect that choice, I will listen."

    She turns, pauses, and looks back over her shoulder. "If you can come with us, we will have you. If you can or will not--goodbye."

    There's nowhere for her to walk to that isn't part of this world, but she's still going to walk away. She won't lie, as she said. Nor will she arrange truths in an effort to deceive. Nor will she reveal only what is convenient. She is practically incapable of doing any of these, and is therefore not diplomatic. She is also annoyed, which shows more in cold than in heat.

Riva Banari has posed:
Riva watches the environment change as the others talk to Melody and try to impress upon her certain things. The arrival of the degenerate food is noted, as well as the sealing of the gateway out through layers of rock hard candy and masonry. The shifts in Melody herself cause Riva to take a step back when the eyes turn red, then glow with the verge of pure, childlike fury. But one step is all, despite her flesh cringing at the environment which continues to grow more terrifying by the moment.

Little wonder why Sheep bailed.

Riva tips her head, thinking intently, trying to think of a way to solve this problem. She's trying to come up with ideas, but... She doesn't want to overload Melody. She has to wait to see her response to Psyber.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur, for now, keeps to himself. Psyber's making his play. Arthur sympathizes, a bit, with her. The idea of just escaping from what he had to do was tempted for a very long time. But he notices the lack of gravity. The portal being sealed off. He bites his lip and sheepishly explains, on the side from what Psyber's doing, "HEY! Y'know, figured like you might be PARTIED OUT, what with all the... Y'know, COMPANY." He winces again. "You wanna spend a little TIME here, that's FINE! Just, you know, there's STUFF that NEEDS DOING eventually, and all. Figured we might KINDA need to HURRY, but HEY, if you DON'T WANT that, that's FINE!" He'll leave the bulk of this exchange to Psyber, though.

    The color draining gets him distressed. He's looking around, especially at those terrible pastroids. He tries giving them a friendly wave, and also tries stepping away a bit, unsettled.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl suppresses his worry at Melody's words as best he can, but the ghost of a fearful expression crosses his face for a brief moment. Being stuck somewhere forever is... a point of contention for him. He still has a mission to accomplish, after all. His eyes glance at the spindly donut people, quickly calculating firing solutions in his head if it comes to that.

     But, Psyber had asked over the radio to take a crack at it, so he steps back so the detective can speak to her. Listening to his spiel (while staring hard at Kimiko. Now is not the time), he gives a satisfied nod. Not bad at all, but best to strike while the iron is hot.

     "Princess Melody," he begins, playing along with her game. "I understand your distress at us leaving you. Your distaste for the word 'duty' is understandable, as it took us away from you. The fact is - and I realize this is a deeply unsatisfying answer - sometimes being an adult means you have to do dull things rather than spend time with those you care about."

     He gives an exhausted sigh, one that is not faked at all, and continues. "I hope that that is something you never have to experience. Just having to tolerate it is hard enough. But, all of us are not like some adults." He gives a sweeping gesture at the gathered Elites, and grins at Melody. "For we understanding the unbreakable rules of the pinkie swear."

     At this, he goes back up to her, and extends his right pinkie. "If you agree to give us the number, I will pinkie swear, here and now, to come play with you whenever you like."

     "But!" He pulls back the pinkie for just a moment. "I can tell what you're thinking. 'I can just keep them here forever and they'll have to play with me all the time anyway,' yes? I can understand that, but let me explain why that would be a bad idea." His face grows stern. "People will come looking for us, and just constantly ruin that playtime. And that's no fun at all, right?" He extends the pinkie once more. "So, what do you say?"

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody gives a small giggle in response to Faruja. "You're a very silly knight, Mister Rat~." His attempts of nicety seem to satisfy her at least in part, though, and she soon resumes kicking her legs playfully. There's still a distinct wrongness at the level of her eyes, but aside from that, any anger she might be feeling doesn't make itself quite so evident as it had moments ago. This seems a good preface for what Psyber says, too, and ensures that she gives him all the rapt attention he needs to make his point.

    At the culmination of the speech, she would take the gun into her hands and observe the thing from several different angles. She would eventually mutter a long, trailing 'Wooooow...' under her breath as she examines it. Once she's had her fill of its physical appearance, she would fold her arms behind her back -- the gun still in hand, naturally -- and glance up to Psyber. She's smiling again, but oddly dissonant is the fact that her hair has yet to regain any of its natural color. Luckily, she wouldn't leave him -- or the group -- to wonder about this for very long.

    "I trust that you'll come back, Psyber." She would close her eyes briefly, conjuring her pleasantest grin. "... buu~uut... even if you do. You're so busy. You're -all- so busy. Mimi has barely visited me 30 times in 10 years, and she -lives- here! That stinks! If I let you go now, I may see you one more time... or even two more times, or three... but I could never keep seeing you forever. No promise matters if it can't be forever, does it? No promise can -be- a promise if it isn't forever!" Her smile fades somewhat. She draws the gun out from behind herself again and runs a finger across its barrel.

    "But this is a really important thing. There is a lot of Time in it, right? It's seen a lot... it's been through a lot. If I kept this while you weren't here... I guess that would make up for some of it. Would it ever run out of memories to share with me, though? Then that couldn't be permanent either... hmm." In a slightly lowered voice, she whisps, 'I wonder...'

    Then, Kimiko. The girl turns to her with a single, rigid motion of her neck and just -stares- for a very long time. When she finally speaks, though, the tone of her voice isn't any more harsh or exacting than usual. "You know," She idly turns the gun in her hands, preferring to look at it rather than Kimiko, "most people would never tell me that they would just leave me here if I couldn't go with them. I mean, I -can-, but it seems really mean to just tell someone that. Like..." She taps a finger to her chin, and then begins anew in an almost mocking tone distinct of her usual: "'Oh, gee, I guess I can't save you! I'm just going to leave you here chained to this wall while a bunch of mean animals eat you alive. Sorry, that's just the way it is!'." She frowns, and the legions of foods all turn to her at once. "It's fine if you go, I think. I don't think we could ever be friends anyway."

    After saying this, she would go back to playing with the gun in her hands for a while. There would be a long silence in which she bounces the instrument of war back and forth in her hands. Throughout all this, she would adamantly refuse to make eye contact with any others until, finally, she tightly grips the gun to stop it from spinning. When she does, she looks up to Psyber very seriously.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    "Okay. Fine. I'll give you the number. 'Cause obviously, if I didn't," She would eye Kimiko with as much harshness as she is capable of, "you would just kill me anyway. So I guess I would rather live and be lonely most of the time than to die and be lonely forever. I don't really know if there is a Heaven for thoughts like me, so I don't really wanna try that out. But." Suddenly, a sound akin to metal emerging from a sheathe would emit from her. Psyber's gun would clatter to the ground as her... arm extends, becoming a painfully sharp, polygonal iteration of what it once was. It almost looks like it could've been a sword.

    "But in exchange," She says, tone the same as ever, "you've gotta play with me a bit. You really upset me. Revenge is a good thing when you're upset! It makes the angry feelings go away." She looks to Kimiko again now, smiling.

    "Ready or not~!"

    Melody herself doesn't move, but her blade-arm cuts across the air as though it were drawing upon a celestial etch-a-sketch. It would attempt to capitalize on the situation to slice across Kimiko's torso. It's obviously meant to be non-lethal, but it's certainly intended to hurt her.

    The food armies would attempt to leap at the others. If they're allowed to climb on to them, they would begin to bite them with teeth that emerge from nowhere in particular.

    All of them, that is, except for Eryl. She would regard him with a smile for a moment. "Prove it, then~! Play with me now, and then I'll trust you foree~~eeveerrr!" At which point her other arm would transform into a corrugated blade itself, arcing through the air in its jagged patterns to slice across his back.

    This is her 'game'.

Faruja (152) has posed:
"Mine mentor always said I aught move to Lindblum and take up the local calling, mine dear!" Comes the faux-cheer in the rat's voice. God he's bad with kids. But it seems to be working.

And then the rat gives Psyber a look like he wants to hug the man. Even as things seem to devolve into violence, the twin work of Eryl and Psyber's diplomacy bears fruit. Sort of.

"My, my, doth the dear Princess want to play Knights and Heathens? Well then! AHEM!"

Faruja draws his sword-cane, and points it at Melody. "HARK, OH YE PRINCESS! For I am the Evil Bandit Faruja, come to steal all of your booze and gold! Defeat me if ye can, oh filthy blueblood!" Faruja /is/, however, a pretty good actor as he plays along. A pile of decayed pastries come at him, and he wheels around Salamander to let out a burst of flame towards the creatures to try to ward them off.

Then he's charging towards Melody.

Then his voice drops towards Melody. "...A child like ye aught be out playing. What keeps ye here?" He whispers to the girl, mind racing over what happened to the /other/ Sentinels.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    "No," says Psyber flatly.

    When the food armies move to attack, Psyber doesn't even move to stop THOSE, so adamant is he in his declaration of 'no'. This means that a donut manages to lunge towards him and gain purchase on the back of his leg, teeth sinking in through his pants and pulling out a bloody mouthful of fabric, flesh and muscle. It creates an open and gaping wound in his calf that oozes blood to the ground.

    Still, he takes no offensive action. The only change is a shift in his stance as he moves to favor his less-damaged leg. His personal regeneration means that, while painful, the leg will ultimately heal itself. Hopefully by the tomorrow, since he has plans. But overall, he's taking a stance of carefully-calculated pacifism.

    "Violence is not a game. People will get hurt. People risk death," He drones a bit, turning so that at least his voice can follow the girl as she darts around. Psyber seems fairly monotone in reaction to the whole thing, half-lidding his eyes as he watches her move.

    "I refuse to fight you as a game. That is a purposeless application of my skillset. If you wish to play, do so non-violently."

    He may also simply be stubborn and not wish to fulfill the prophecy of Loud Arthur, who declared Psyber a murderer of little girls. Who knows?

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Faruja gets an almost good-natured giggle from her. Through all this violence, she's smiling. She doesn't seem to particularly enjoy seeing others in pain -- rather, she seems entirely apathetic to it. It seems -calming- to her, if anything, and that's likely the entire point of this. This is her equivalent of screaming into a pillow for a while. Still, she's more than happy to play along with the 'bandits and monarchs' game he's laid out. "Oh, woe!" She would say, "Oh, fright! Whoever will save me from this creepy man? Who will be my knight in shining armor?" Then her eyes turn to the skies above her, from which a teddy bear falls. His head is covered by an upside town, earthenware pot. his 'armor' is comprised of dishes which are joined by black liquorice.

    And that plush toy would attempt to parry Faruja as he approaches. If he succeeds, he would repel him, and renew his stance in front of the 'princess' before turning his blade and thrusting in Faruja's direction. Again, this seems intended to hit a non-vital region, but is certainly meant to hurt. Naturally, the bear does not speak -- it is entirely silent as it engages him.

    She glances to Psyber, though, and frowns. The food armies would back off in that instant, receding to simply watch him instead. When she's given a free moment, Melody would reply, "Oh, okay. I'm not really mad at you anyway. We can play a different game! Later." At this point, though, she would begin to levitate. her right leg would transform into a sort of blade as her arms had, looping through the trigger area of the gun. Her leg would then proceed to carry it over to him, dropping it at the guardian angel's feet for safe keeping while she... does what she does. It seems she's willing to ignore -him-, but not necessarily the others.

Priscilla has posed:
    Priscilla is still catching up with the situation, partially through Mizuki's explanations over the radio. The sickly colours, the shambling entourage, the ominous red eyes, the fluctuating physical laws of the world in which she finds herself; all are manageable. What draws her attention -- what is actually, severely unnerving -- is Melody's textbook childish innocence. Any warm and fuzzy feelings she had experienced at seeing the poor, lonely girl cheer up are snuffed out instantly by the creeping realization that she is dealing with someone completely, totally and perfectly naive. After all, it is through sheeir naivete that children are known to be so impossibly cruel.

    Her body tenses as Psyber makes his play, growing stiffer still as Kimiko says what is precisely the wrong thing, despite Eryl's and Arthur's best efforts. So wary and on-guard is she that by the end of the exchange, she is able to instantly drop the girl the moment she sprouts her living blades, stepping well clear so as not to be caught up in the crossfire when someone inevitably retaliates. Calling her scythe to her hand, she rushes towards Psyber with a cry of exasperation, swinging to split the aggressive pastry clinging to his leg in half. What does she even say at this point? He's in one of /those/ moods again. There likely isn't much she can do but cover him.

Psyber (253) has posed:
    When Priscilla rushes in to cut the donut that attacked him in half, Psyber limps slightly on his injured leg. He looks to the Crossbreed and says, "Thank you. I appreciate the intervention on your part," If nothing else, she can see what Psyber goes through any time he protects Nathan in Lordran or anywhere else. The half-angel manages to give her a slight smile, "I also apologize if my current demeanor is giving you undue stress. It's not a permanent state, I promise."

    And then Melody calls off the attack on him and the rest of the food army seems to back off. Psyber sighs in relief slightly, nodding his head to the girl while his leg slowly starts to heal itself up, recovering bit by bit, "Ah. Thank you." He notes, starting to use the injured leg a bit more.

    "See Priscilla," He smiles widely, relaxing his demeanor a bit more, "You don't have to protect me. I'm fine. It worked out in the end. She wants you to go have... fun, I guess?" Psyber looks perplexed, but shrugs at the girl.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As Faruja draws close and asks Melody what 'keeps her here', though, he elicits another cant of her head. Her eyes grow wide with curiosity. "You... wouldn't wanna leave your home behind, would you? Even if your home was lonely, there are still lots of good memories there. Home... is still home. And once I leave here..." She frowns slightly. "... once I leave here, I'll never be able to come back again. I'll miss being here."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl's heart begins to lighten again when it seems that he and Psyber's efforts were successful. Poor thing just doesn't learn does it? The sudden shift from limb to sharp steel pushes Original Face's buttons, making Eryl wince. As such, he is caught flat-footed when Melody turns her bladearm on his, a gash opening across his back.

     He slumps to one knee, mulling on the situation. He /hates/ fighting, and Psyber seems to be getting away with saying 'no.' But he did promise, and Melody did say she would believe him if he played... His mind flashes back to a talk on the radio he had with Nathan Hall just last night. About how, when negotiating, one should never give up too much, even if the outcome is desirable.

     Was fighting nonlethally for a short while too much? He has a lot of experience with it after all; he could ensure that no one got seriously hurt... yes. This was not too large a price, not by a long shot. He stands smoothly and dusts off his pants. "A fine strike milady, caught me off-guard you did. But now it is my turn!"

     He suppresses the pain that Original Face causes as Melody begins to ascend, bending his knees to leap after her! He goes to grab her around the ankle of the leg that is not returning Psyber's gun and drag her back down.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko is still listening. She's not interrupting, but his attention is there. 'Revenge' is a word that's good to pay attention to. She's already turned, looking back at Melody with--no, not hostility. Something else.

    The blade does not reach her flesh. Her shield is in the way, the steel being cut into deeply, but the whole not quite breaking. Even past that, her armor is a direct expression of her will to fight. Or, perhaps more literally, her refusal to be hurt. Still, she makes no immediate effort to counterattack.

    "I do not save those who refuse to be saved. Blame your own choice." She advances, sword now in hand, midst a flash of light. "Do you know how many children I've left to die?" Still, no attack, but both sword and shield are ready to defend her. "I've lost count. I truly cannot remember. But they made their choices, to the last. They fought and they won, or they died." Her eyes, again, narrow. That expression is becoming clearer. "Can you understand that? Can you even see past yourself?"

    Ah, there it is. "Melody, you disgust me." When she says it clearly, even with that oddly controlled tone of voice, trained to not betray her emotion to the point that she still seems apathetic while stating she isn't. "You show no care for anything beyond yourself. You speak of revenge for slights you bring upon yourself. That we cannot be friends is a truth you have created. You chose this path, knowingly."

    She twirls her sword in her hand, then thrusts it into the ground, hard enough to leave it standing with a good foot of the blade hidden. Kimiko taps her chest and continues, "I do not play at war. Come at me to kill me, and I will respond as is needed. Otherwise, we will part, just as you wish."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur knew there was gonna be something awful coming from those things. Unsettled as he is, he can't really dodge away. it's a little known fact that for a Normal Human Boy from a Normal earth, seeing gore is enough to fuck with their heads such that they lose a bit of clearheadedness. "Shit!" He declares, articulately, as one of the awful confectionoids sinks its teeth into one of his arms. Arthur's immediate response is to, in a panic, attempt to wrestle the thing while he bleeds profusely.

    Immediately falling back, he attempts to slam the elbow into the creature's jaw and mouth, ideally dislodging and stunning it, though if it's weak and has donut-like consistency, it might just slam the head right off. "Kid! God... Dang it, I was using that blood." He tries to be entertaining and fun but the decay and the thoughts of the gore dolls are making it difficult. "Hey, look! You wanna get in fights, fights can happen! Just... Ghhhh, gimmie some warning, y'know?" He's trying to take off above the hordes, but his flight's a little unsteady. "Kid, the fast food gimmick bites hard. This what you like? The... Moss glaze stuff? You into that?" White and black energy flare in each hand, and he launches a bombardment of starlight bolts down from above at further pursuers, hoping to try to use aerial superiority that likely won't last long.

    As he does, he's... Trying to establish some kind of connection with Melody. On a more naive level. "This really your favorite kinda snack? You sure you don't got anything a little less greens and a little more sweet? C'mon, what's the real favorite here?" His voice, though, is... Strained. He's fearful of the psychological effect this is gonna have on Melody, even and still more so at the idea that she might die. He continues to hate the necessary evils here. "I know this is home and all, but I was thinking that after we do the number thing, we could get a nice candy shop set up. You wanna try passing off the responsibility thing, head out of here? I know it's home, but I've made a new home before, don't you wanna try it?"

    Kimiko gets a tense noise, briefly. "Kimiko, /please/!" He says. "She's just a kid! Rules and principles like that, you can't just force them on a kid! Nobody even /taught/ her about that crap!"

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja frowns, even as he has to deal with Melody's 'saviour' of a Teddy Bear.

The look he gives her is one of sadness and sympathy. "I lost mine home a long time ago, Miss Melody. And those good memories, like many things, turned to ash. But when I left, I found /new/ memories, and a new home. One's home /is/ one's memories, and where one lays their head down with companions and friends. I still miss it, sometimes. But ye canst make greater memories outside of this place. Nay, mayhaps even this world if 'tis too painful. 'Tis what I did, and I came out alright. Good enough to play a bandit, mm?" He smiles at the end, trying to be warm with the girl, a foil to Psyber's mood and Kimiko's outright agression.

Faruja, as a rule, isn't the best swordsman in the world. His strike gets deftly parry, Salamander and rat alike pushed back by the massive toy. Then he's being stabbed at. Right in the bad leg, and he squeaks in pain.

"Bah! Ye pious scalliwag! Have at ye, scum!"

Faruja isn't quite as nice about things, and instead just pulls out his Blaze Gun. Salamander and his weapon alike try to light the fuzzy teddy bear on fire.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    With another break in activity, Melody would look to Priscilla and emit a long 'hmmmm'. That was a pretty nice hit with her scythe just then! But actually, if she isn't going to make Psyber play, she'll ask: "Hey. Hey, Miss Priscilla. You were nice to me, too! Do you not want to play? If you don't, that's okay! You and Psyber can just watch. All royal Colosseums need spectators, right?" She would smile faintly before looking to Psyber and adding with a small frown, "I'm really sorry for hurting you when you were trying to be nice, Mister Psyber. I hope you can forgive me some time!" For the time being, the warrior-pastries would just watch them, waiting for a response. It seems they're being -asked if they want to fight-. This... isn't something that happens every day.

    As Eryl leaps toward her, though, she would smile. He's playing along, too! In a way, she feels like she's won a lottery. Before he can latch on to her untransformed leg, though, it gain a blade of its own and stakes itself into the ground. This effectively lacks her into place in the air, but also prevents her from fighting back in any other way. This... would not appear to bother her, though, and she would just smile down at him from her slightly elevated position. "Oh, nooo~! Another foul ruffian is upon me! Somebody! Anybody!" And yet another plush toy answers her call. A rabbit this time, likewise clad in china and cookware which it wears as armor, would brandish its lance at Eryl. It would attempt a quick flurry of strikes at his sides.

    But! Her sword arm doesn't reach Kimiko. Instead, it would collide with her shield. That elites a very loud "Ow!" from Melody, and her arm would zip back to her person and reconstitute itself in its normal shape. Afterwards she would flail it around a bit, perhaps even sucking on her thumb to nurse it back to health. She would study Kimiko a moment through moistened aperture as a gaggle of the sentient pastries would watch her. There's a veritable staring contest before Melody would let her arm fall to her side, neutrally. She would return with a deep frown... and her eyes begin to well with tears.

    She falls silent.

    No more attacks come to the puella. Or at least, not for the moment.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody's head would eventually raise from its dejected incline to regard Arthur, though. Eventually, his banter manages to get a smile out of her. "Ewww~! No, no one like to eat -moss-! That's disgusting!" She would break into a small fit of giggles, and the food army... would quake as if they were laughing as well. As such, there would be a pronounced lull in the fight on his end. When she's able to cull her laughing, however, she would rubs at her eyes and comment idly, "... I like cherry-flavored things. Ice creams and lollipops and things like that. Really, I like anything! ... as long as it lemon or lime flavored. Yellow and green candies are awful." Seems this conversation has brought some of her spirit back.

    And the next thing he says! -That- really gets her going. Her eyes would light up like the star on a Christmas Tree as he proposes the creation of a -candy store-. "R-Really? REALLY? You would -do- that? Oh my gosh, that would be like a home away from home!" She would quickly move her untransformed hand to her cheek, shaking her head back and forth in some combination of shyness and excitement. "Wow, that sounds so amazing. Y-Yeah, I might want to be a part of that. That sounds fun..." All at once, the pastries gathered around him would fall, inert. Seems like she's 'played' as much with him as she feels she needs to.

    Though, with what he says to Kimiko? It... would elicit a tiny smile -- a ghost of one, barely visible to the naked eye. She wouldn't respond out loud, though, and might actually make a conscious effort to hide the fact that she had heard him at all.

    Faruja, for his part, would deftly ignite the teddy bear. Already dilapidated, the thing can't stand for long, and swiftly evaporates into a pool of ash. "Nooo, my knight~..." Melody would echo, halfheartedly. It seems that she's already getting tired of this game, so it's easy for her attentions to wander toward the other thing he was talking about. About homes. "... that sounds nice. I left an old home before, and that wasn't that sad. Both places are gone now, but I guess I'll always have the memories. And..." She studies some arbitrary point on the ground. "Other stuff. I think it'd be nice to see more of the world. I wouldn't mind. I don't mind leaving, I just... wanted a little longer..."

    Her words would trail off, here. Her limbs would all regain their normal shapes, and she would gingerly fall to the Earth. The rabbit that had been accosting Eryl throws down its spear to catch her, gently setting her on the edge of the throne. She whispers her thanks to it... before a fairly strange thing happens. The rabbit mimes the arms of a clock, using it paws to demonstrate the hands of one. It moves one paw to indicate the movement of seconds. Then it would place a paw gently to Melody's chest, beating against its own with fortitude.

    More succintly, it's requesting to take responsibility for the world from her. It wants to be a martyr.

    Even the plush toys have feelings here.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko just ignores Faruja and Eryl. They're playing along, and she won't. The very idea is revolting to her, but she won't get in the way of their fun--or, more likely, their attempt at active diplomacy. Arthur's words are what get through to her, as she realizes that at least an essential part of what he's saying is infuriatingly correct.

    To someone who remembers such a world as she lived in, age is hardly an excuse for innocence. Reality is far too harsh for such words. But that isn't this world, and, "No, no one taught you any of this, did they. You have been spoiled in your ignorance." There's nothing left in her expression but traces of pity.

    She opens her mouth, as if to say more, but then she sees that--it's over. And so she turns, and again walks away.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    As Kimiko approaches the portal back to the desert, the debris that had gathered to block it earlier slowly begins to disperse. They... do so with an almost human reluctance, though, and Melody herself might peek open an eye from her throne to regard her. It's likely not audible to Kimiko, but she would mumble quietly to herself, 'I'm sorry'.

Faruja (152) has posed:
Faruja sighs in relief, and dismisses Salamander. There's a tiny smile on his muzzle.

"'Tis bloody annoying, mmm? But that is the way of the world, mine dear." Comes the rat, taking on his 'eccentric uncle' voice.

"Homes come and fall, but so long as we maintain their memories, then even visiting their ashes canst be soothing. And better yet, at times, /rebuilt/. That is the hope I cling to. It might be impossible, but 'tis enough for me." Faruja shrugs.

"Take it as ye will, Lady Melody."

Then a glance to the poor rabbit. God. There's a mournful look in the rat's eye as he takes off his necklace, placing it over the bunny-plush's neck if it'll fit.

"May God keep ye in His arms, ye brave soul. I declare thee free of thine sins, my Child, and may ye go to the Lord with head held high!" Comes the rat, even sprinkling holy water on the faux-bun.

And the preacher means every word of it as he prepares the 'knight' for his martyrdom. It's no the first time, and he trembles just a bit. He /hates/ doing this.

Riva Banari has posed:
When the food descends upon Riva, she screams, the degenerate confectionary biting into her just as easily as she gets swarmed. She flails, trying to pull the exceptionally nasty pastries off of her and gain some distance. With some bleeding, Riva works on getting some distance. "I'm sorry..." Riva says with a little quivering voice. "I like... different kinds of games more." She says, looking at the nasty 'food' with a shudder.

She turns back to Melody herself. "We can visit the shop, and maybe help out sometimes. Make up new candies and other things."

She pauses, trying to brush off crumbs. "You can let your bunny friend have the Number, and then you can come with us to the Clock Tower, and you can meet everyone else there."

Riva looks over to Kimiko, and frowns for a moment, but doesn't say anything. In the meantime she heads back over to Melody and gives her another hug. "Maybe we can watch some movies too! And maybe someday you can come over to my place and hang out." She chuckles. "We'll see what happens, right? The future has unlimited possibility if you just keep your chin up!"

Faruja's production causes Riva to giggle. "Amen."

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Things settle down. The big brother approach works! Arthur slowly drifts to the ground, cautiously. "CHERRY and ICECREAM, huh? Was always a GRAPE and CHOCOLATE kinda man myself, but I can RESPECT a bit of TART to go with it. Here, when we FINISH with the NUMBERS, we'll get a BIG CANDYSHOP. I've got the GREATEST CANDYMAKING MACHINE you've EVER SEEN and I'll drop some stuff off every WEEK. I've got the TIME to do it for a WHILE, y'know. You can OWN the place and GIVE IT OUT, how's THAT sound? It'll be a REAL home, and THIS one you won't have to DITCH 'till you're READY." He assures, slowly drifting a bit closer. With things settling down, he's a little less strained and stressed. "You want another HOUR OR TWO? We can WAIT. Give you some time to... Y'know." He swallows and gestures to the rabbit. "FINISH UP and all."

    He goes onto both knees and kinda sits there, putting a bit of pressure on his bleeding wound. "Your rabbit there's a real man, lemme tell you. You take all the time you need with 'im." He's gonna give them space, and he's gonna just sort of settle down until it's time to flee. "Kid, gimmie a shout if you need anything to give them the proper respect on the sendoff."

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl winces as Melody's leg grows to root her to the ground. Stupid impossibilities. It's almost enough for the plush lancer to catch him, but he's able to dodge the first stab, and begin to parry the following ones with his arms! To keep up with the game, he extends his Ungraspables and begins making a show of putting up an offense, trying to sneak in a few slashes against the plush. All of them seem to come just short though.

     All the while, he's monitoring what is being said, and it seems... it's over. He immediately stops attacking when the plush does and smiles as it rushes to catch Melody. "I will admit, that kind of game is not to my usual tastes. But I do hope you had fun, Melody."

     He actually gasps softly as that same plush seems to offer to take Melody's place as Sentinel. Such selflessness... Eryl is moved enough to salute it using the salute of the ReGenesis Defence Force. Left hand to the temple with the palm facing outwards. "Your sacrifice will be remembered. I promise."

     The overwhelming catharsis of all this ending in the best way possible, combined with the cut on his back actually causes him to fall onto his behind, exhaling a long sigh of relief.

Priscilla has posed:
    Inwardly relieved that even measures of stubbornness and childishness have somehow paved the way to a bloodless victory, Priscilla allows some of her confidence in her allies to return, loosening her stance and dismissing her weapon. She had been fully prepared for a bloody, all-out brawl, as much as she had been hoping to avoid having to kill Melody. It seems that whatever misgivings about her the others have, they were at least attempting the same. Grateful looks go out to Arthur, Eryl, and Faruja in sequence, followed by a slightly sheepish one at Psyber, and then a faint, hard stare at Kimiko.

    The heroism of a simple plush rabbit however, takes her completely off guard. She had assumed the stuffed animals to be mere props, and the Sentinel entirely incapable of creating true life. The fact that it can even be considered a candidate for stewardship of the Candy Sea is flooring. She's never been very good at expressing gratefulness, and she doesn't even know the first thing about this heroic toy, and so the best she can do is offer it a stunned and uncertain half-bow. "Yes, I . . . I am gladdened thou thou feel so, Lady Melody. Truth be told, I was worried." She leaves it pointedly unsaid that she was more worried about what Melody would do rather than how she would feel. She refrains from touching the girl this time, more intent on leaving before she can change her mind, and wary of a repeat incident.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody and Mizuki would both smile to Faruja as he gives his sendoff sermon, but the former would reach out her hands and make grasping gestures in Mizuki's direction. "Hey, Miss Mizuki? Could I borrow your sword?" Now it's Mizuki's turn to tilt her head. Confusedly, though, she -does- materialize Aelinos, handing it off to the girl. As Melody takes it in hand she gradually, almost sleepily raises it skyward and speaks, in a playfully deepened tone, "Edward of Candyland. Kneel before your princess!" And he would. The bunny would silently fall to one knee, inclining its head toward her.

    "By the rights vested in me by the people of the Pink Sea, I, Melody, dub thee -Sir- Tulane. We will never forget the great service that you do now for our land, and we will forever hold your story in our hearts." By the time she's finished speaking, her eyes have begun to water again. She rubs at one eye a little, and Mizuki sets a hand on the little girl's shoulder. The lady might be smiling faintly, too. Once she's had her good time to appreciate the prideful stance that Edward takes as he rises from his kneel, she would turn to Riva and smile again. She might note that her hair is as pink as it was the day she first met her, and her eyes are just as blue.

    "I would love all of that, Miss Riva. I really look forward to it."

    To Arthur, Melody would give a small shake of her head. "Nah. I think I'm ready, Mister Superhero." Almost symbolically, she would rise from the throne. She would hand the sword back to Mizuki before wrapping her arms behind her back and swaying back and forth on her heels. "But... um. Hey. Since you offered, can your powers do anything... pretty? Like fireworks? Can you guys make fireworks?" She grins a bit. "I think it would be really nice if Edward could see something nice like that before he moves on to bunny heaven."

    Eryl's next, though! She would widen her smile just a bit more and bob her head up and down. "I don't know if it was really ffuuuu~~uunnn, but... well! I'm not angry anymore! So that's a good thing. Thanks for helping me not be upset!" She rests a cheek in one of her hands. "I usually don't like fighting either, but that really helped me to get rid of... uh. Stress? Yeah! I think that's what you guys call it. Oh, and, I got to spend some time with you before you left! I'm happy about that, too."

    In the background, though, the debris would finally finish clearing for Kimiko. Two wafers would move from vertical positions to horizontal ones, essentially signifying bows to the puella. Melody herself finally works up the courage to wave to her again, here, and she would call over to say: "Goodbye, Kimiko! I'm really sorry we both got so upset... but I hope you're okay! Or that you get okay later! You can feel free to stay for the fireworks, too, but I'm..." She links her hands together and begins to squirm in place. Quietly, she would conclude, "... b-but I'm guessing you don't want to..."

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody would give Priscilla a lingering smile, herself completely unaware of the internal conflict plaguing the halfbreed. Mizuki, however, might pick up on it a bit more readily, and would move closer to the woman with a distinctly relaxed sort of smile on her face.

    She would fold her hands together at her waist, draw in a deeep breath, and exhale. Under her breath, she would simply say, "No, I'm fairly certain she has no desire to butcher us. Don't fret."

    This would, of course, just garner another headtilt from Melody. Huuuuh?

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Kimiko stops, and turns, because she was addressed, and that is polite to do. Oh, Priscilla is staring at her. She looks back, but doesn't say anything for that glance. The Puella Magi looks entirely uninterested in what is happening, if anything. It's calmness to an extreme.

    "I am okay." She is upset, but not for any reason that is a likely first guess. For that matter, she doesn't believe anything she's said or done is wrong, except on a tactical level. She would rather have avoided the situation entirely, but that had been made a non-option. It's frustrating, but only to a vague, manageable level.

    Oh, but she was asked a question... sort of. "I will see you again," she says, 'If we both live that long,' she doesn't add.

    Then, she goes.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    Arthur winks and grins. "KID," He says, snapping his fingers. "I GOT YOU COVERED." Arthur Lowell is the king of hype. With a flourish, he casts dozens of fission constructs out into the distance, in a chaotic design that initially seems incredibly disoriented and random. "Guarantee you, they're gonna SEE THIS ONE from BUNNY HEAVEN." And then, kneeling briefly to the noble bunny, he sets them off. God damn does he have a hell of a show. Vast clusters airbursting lights, streams of glowing orbs crisscrossing ahead, twisty trees of recursively splitting streams, globes of fire and popping trails from spherical detonations that flash and glimmer in the air. On the ground, geysers of sparks twist in elegant patterns and slowly shrinking concentric circles around the bunny.

    It's all elegantly quiet and muted, though. Respectfully gentle and quiet. It's a send-off, but not quite a celebration.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Melody and Edward would both respond to the fireworks in their own ways. The former, of course, would appreciate them in the most animated way possible, interspersing little jumps with copious amounts of clapping. 'Sir Tulane', for his part, would simply cross an arm horizontally over his chest and raise his head high -- his version of a salute.

    At some point, the Bunny Knight would turn to Arthur, give him a grateful nod, and even offer him a paw to shake.

    Oh, and he might rub at an eye with a paw. But you didn't see that!

Faruja (152) has posed:
At Priscilla's relief, Faruja discretely looks to her with equal amounts relief and exasperation. 'Bloody /children/.' He mouths to her with a shake of the head. God help him if he and Ainsley somehow have kids.

And then the bunny is being knighted, and Faruja stands back with his arms behind him. He settles into a proper stance, like he's done a thousand times for Templar and other religious knights gaining their titles. The serious air isn't being feigned. It might be a game to Melody, but this bunny-thing is off to die for real. There's a slight nod to the bowing bunny-plush. Made out of stuffing or not, there's one hell of a heart in there.

He'll whisper to the newly made knight. "Godspeed."

Then Arthur produces fireworks, just right for the occasion. Faruja just looks more severe, to avoid crying. It's a bit emotional in here right now.

He is, however, for the record still clutching a timepiece. Because he's ready to get out of dodge with Melody at a moment's notice. He'll not see a girl dead if he can help it.

Arthur Lowell has posed:
    PAWSHAKE.

    Arthur executes an incredibly complicated coolkid handshake dynamically created for a stuffed rabbit. There's five different brands of daps, one quick high-five, a pair of lateral pounds. He somehow manages to execute it in a way that is both somber and really slick. It ends with a firm grasp and a traditional shake, with a heavy, serious nod. "You're a great man, sir." He says, seriously.

Eryl Fairfax has posed:
     Eryl chuckles and nods to Melody. "It is important to vent stress. If you allow it to build, it can be hazardous to your health and wellbeing." He grunts as he stands up, the slash on his back already clotting. "But, there are better ways to go about it. Talking about things is far better."

     But, now there are fireworks, courtesy of Arthur. Eryl looks up to take them all in, recording the event with a small smile on his face. That he is able to produce something so elegant and subdued... There really is more to Arthur than meets the eye, and Eryl is starting to suspect it might be deliberate.

     But, as all things do, it comes to an end. Eryl smiles as Arthur and Edward do a cool handshake, and offers another salute to the plush. "My memory is eternal. You will go down in history, Sir Edward, even if I have to carve your shape from a mountain," he says with the utmost seriousness.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    Edward would step back from the handshake with Arthur and give the boy a final, parting nod. He would then take Melody's hand and watch the fireworks until they conclude, at which point Mizuki would gingerly step in front of Melody, coax a ginger mote of light from her, and place it in Sir Tulane's outstretched hands. The Bunny Knight would accept it, pressing it into his own body until the light disappears from view. It would leave one thing behind in its wake of transference, however: the number. The final number. Mizuki would reach out and tap the numeral with a finger, causing that telltale white to spread. The colors of the Pink Sea, only so recently returned, would be consumed by it. Slowly but surely.

    Mizuki would alert that others that it's time to go, careful to keep Melody's hand held. She would lead the little one out of the area and wait at the portal for the others. Edward would kneel before Mizuki at the precipice of the portal, take the girl's hand, and kiss her goodbye. Just before the white overtakes the area where the portal lies, he would remove his kitchenware helm and wave it in the group's direction. It would be best to say that they left here to avoid the more grisly details of things.

    On the other side, though, Melody would begin to cry. Mizuki would retrieve a kerchief with an elegantly embroidered 'M' from a concealed pocket on her dress, dabbing at the girl's eyes with it. 'Come, now,' She would chime, 'there will be more friends at the tower. It's time that you came home with me.' The girl would do her best to smile and nod in response, giving each person receptive to the gesture a hug. Yes, that absolutely includes Priscilla and Psyber. And Kimiko! ... or it would, if she was still around.

    Mizuki might steal a glance over Melody's head as she moves to hug her at the portal, now completely white. She would hold the girl tightly and stroke her hair, just as much for her own comfort as for Melody's.

    So little of her world remains now.

    And, funny as it may be for her to say it, there's so little time.

    So, precious little time.