1673/CatP - The Past

CatP - The Past
Date of Scene:	27 February 2015
Location:	A Quiet World
Synopsis:	A group of people take a trip into Mizuki's past. THIS SCENE IS SO LONG AHHHH
Cast of Characters:	2, Arthur Lowell, Staren, Priscilla, 152, 183, Riva Banari, 570, Ayako Hasekawa
Tinyplot:	A Chime at the Precipice

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Mizuki (183) has posed:
    The world has grown extremely sluggish. No winds blow as the visitors approach the Gothic steeple of Silent Night, but one might certainly find within the atmosphere a sort of unpleasant chill. It's the cold a hand might feel if it were to rest itself upon the brow of a corpse, or upon entry into a mausoleum cloaked in Winter. Rather than awaiting the withdrawal of a number, the ever encroaching white that has long since set upon this land's consumption beats but miles away from the furthest extremes of the so-called 'Silent City' which contains this library, so the 'why' of that may quickly become clear. The world, of its own devices, is dying. Its expiration is visible and steady in its approach, and if one were to but glimpse the distance between the ivory-stained grass and the Clock Tower they would immediately know the time they do not have.

    There is no life anywhere now, and each of the visitors would know this intuitively. The distinct warmth one feels in a space occupied by other people is absent, and any traveler would know that nothing beyond themselves lingers any longer. Nothing native to this place, at least; they might still find some life within the walls they seek, but that would be the extent of it. More unnerving still, the most astute among them might realize splotches of a like absence that have begun to eat at the shapes and colors of the skyscrapers that carve the narrow passages and streets. 'I am near,' Would whisper the End, 'and there is no escape from Me.'

    As is the custom, the doors to the building proper have been left open wide, the expanse hidden beyond a welcoming fire to ward the frost gathering on the world's glass. Unusually, though, Fenestra is gone; nowhere can she be seen tending the books. Another noticeable loss in the atmosphere is that of the gentle trickle of the fountain which used to pervade the area as its only clear, continuous noise, though this is for a much more apparent purpose; the statuettes at the fountain's peek have been moved aside to reveal an opening. Like a well, it is thin and cylindrical, only wide enough for its ladder to be traversed by one person at a time.

    Still, once people are through to the other side, they would find themselves in a stone alcove built into an infinitely larger spiral. Shelves upon shelves of books stretch infinitely down into the heart of creation as though their collective record had been kept since well beyond the origin of all recollection. Metal-clad lights lie ensconced on the wooden interstices between each horizontal collection of volumes, extrapolating themselves just so much as to light the stairways down and, perhaps, to hint at the existence of an equally endless scroll that finds itself hung in the room's central abyss.

    One could walk on forever and never find an end to this place, so it's a good thing that Mizuki catches them just a slight ways down. She would pull the group aside to another notch in the walls of leather and page, revealing from an elongated sleeve a keyring. She would choose a platinum one ending in a crescent bound by a thin metal circle, placing it into the complementary keyhole of an ornate door lain into the wall. It would slide open to another hall and door which would emerge again into another, and another, and another, which persist in this fashion until the group has surpassed seven such barriers. At the end of it all they would reach a smaller room with a dome-shaped ceiling and another massive tome levitating above a pedestal as the tome of the future before it.

Mizuki (183) has posed:
    This one is not brilliant at all -- rather, it's in dismal condition. Its pages are tattered, its binding worn away to reveal mold that has grown upon its brown-gray covering. This ragged exterior is inlaid with a tarnished gold frame that conceals the portrait of a lady within shattered glass, though her features have long since been obscured by the rot of time and the anonymity of the innumerable. More like those before it, though, it's bound by belts and locks that keep its thoughts from mingling with those of the larger realm. Only when they are ruptured would one be allowed to glimpse its insides, but before they can be, Mizuki would incline her gaze and sigh.

    "Most of you are accustomed to this pattern by now, but for Staren and Ayako, a primer. This book is currently sealed. When I am given your indication, I will unlock it. The moment it opens, it shall absorb you into its midst. I cannot accurately predict what will happen when this transpires, so if you fear any lasting harm to your mind or body, this shall be your only warning not to persist in this endeavor." She would give each mentioned personage a lasting look before proceeding. "Now, the part the majority of you has not heard yet. This book is perhaps the most insipid of all -- rather than hinting toward my reservations and desires, it will show, outright, things that have actually transpired. To the fullest extent that anything can be, these are Facts. Come what may, I feel a need to be candid about at least this much."

    "Be that as it may, though," She would continue, arms wrapped behind her back, "things are a bit more complex than one might expect. Certainly these are all my memories, but they are not all -mine- either. That's to say, some of them belong to previous incarnations of myself. I do not fully understand why these alternatives exist, but it is and has been my assumption that they entered into battle with Apathy in the past and lost. Consequently, their thoughts were erased, and the world flung back to tabula rasa. As such, there is a very good likelihood that you may emerge from this venture with a greater understanding of my past than even I possess. A... somewhat unnerving prospect, if I may say so without committing some grave offense."

    After that last word she would take a deep, deep breath, and exhale. The extremely astute may realize a slight quiver to her features, and a slight jittering of her left leg. "... this is the penultimate number. Once it is in our grasp, there is only the one we have reserved with Melody awaiting our retrieval." Another, fretful pause is given. "I've no doubt you all noticed it when you came in, but time is of the essence. The whiteness has begun to spread forth from the dead tissue of my beating heart, and in the span of but a month it will reach my Clock Tower. If this occurs before we've done what we must, I must assume... we fail. Whatever that entails will transpire, and there is a morosely high probability my world and I will be lost to you forever in that happenstance. Knowing the danger of my circumstances, I cannot help but thank you all, again. You are quite literally fighting to save my life with every move you make, and I am thankfully not to callous as to be able to overlook the gravity of that."

    Her voice finally spent, she would lower her gaze and step off to the side. She would retrieve her ring again and pick out a silver key ending in an elliptical mirror. This is presumably the one she will use to open the bindings of the book. "At your ready," Would be the final, solemn utterance she gives before releasing her guests to their deliberation.

Kimiko Shinobu (570) has posed:
    Despite all--or because of it--Kimiko is here, once more. Arrival without reservation, but for that of her ever-present nature. The cold must be continuing in her little corner of another world, for her expression is yet further hidden by a generously wide scarf, wrapped over chin and lips, her hair's tails coming down over it. Just a silver-haired, winter-clad girl, nothing to see here.

    "Ready." Confirmation was requested, and is therefore given.

Staren has posed:
    "Well, /that's/ creepy..." Staren mutters to the cold an emptiness as he arrives. He starts shifting shapes, but his heart's not in it -- he shifts back to normal, with winter clothing including a parka in place of labcoat and heavier pants.

    "What /happened/? What about all the people we saved from the floating island?" Staren asks, as he descends into the secret chamber.

    Learning that there may be... lasting harm gets a >: