(no subject)

[badend_replay]

Character: Rika Furude and you!
Setting: Various!
Format: I'll match you as best I can.
Summary: Rika is a newbie and has decided to do what newbies do: want aimlessly.
Warnings: Um... Rika may reference death?

Room 1-07
Days in her previous residence had become repetitive. As hopeful as recent events had made her, Rika knew to keep her expectations realistic. The end of the maze called Mayfield seemed to be in sight, but she should not expect it to end immediately.

Except that it was quite immediate. Furude Rika woke that morning not in a house with drones and cliched 1950s decoration but in a room she did not recognize. The disorientating feeling was familiar: she'd experienced it when arriving in Mayfield and after her various deaths. It occurred to her very quickly that she had slipped into another fragment. And that once again, she would have to adapt. The sixteen year old cautiously glanced around before retrieving the notes, reading them, and getting to her feet.

Third Floor
Rika almost dismissed the library. Her days in Mayfield had taught her that libraries were mindless bullcrap and conformed to stereotypes. It was partially as a joke that she decided to take to exploring the shelves, expecting to find books that described what kind of person this new gameboard wanted her to be. She had not expected to find any books with actual knowledge printed on the pages.

"Hm. How long has it been since I read something interesting?" She mused out loud, thumbing through a fiction novel now. Then she closed the book and put it back, peering over her shoulder. This was no time to be wondering about checking out fiction books, she reminded herself. Now that she knew they were vaguely useful she began weaving among the selection again. Perhaps a book there would help explain better where she was and what had happened to Mayfield--- she would have no such luck, but Rika was at least determined to try.

Tenth Floor
After deciding the library would not help her much, Rika became determined to simply reach the top of the tower. A quest stalled by the tenth floor. The aquarium there was something she had not ever seen before. The floor prior had been terrifying and unnerving. This floor seemed almost... surreal. Magical. Mind blowing, really, even when Rika tried to bring it in perspective by reminding herself what crazy things she had gone through in the past.

"Mi... how does this work?" She approached the water, observing it for only a moment before curiosity got the best of her and she put her hand in. Only to pull it back just as quickly from surprise. "N-no glass? What kind of place is this?"

Comments

floor ten

[wittlich]

[There are two things wrong with this situation, to the one called Bernkastel.

One, Rika was here. Rika was here. In this Tower. Trapped as much as she was. After the whole Shadow week fiasco, any vision of this girl gave her a growing sense of dread. She had not felt anything like that in the longest time. She wanted it to go away.

Two...Rika was not the same. She was not the same little tiny cutesy eleven-year-old that Bernkastel remembered. It was her, of course. She'd recognize Rika anywhere, not her appearance, but her presence...her 'self.' She looked too much like Bernkastel herself and that unnerved her more.

Well. If there was a time to say anything, it was now. She apparates into the room behind Rika, her eyes blank as ever.]

You don't want to know.

[badend_replay]

[ Oh, of course. She could wander across the multiverse, be kidnapped to any terrible of magnificent place, but Bernkastel would always follow her. If she was Bern's shadow then Bern was her shadow. It was just a reality that she begrudgingly accepted.

So Rika made an assumption. That this Bernkastel was the same as the one she feared in Mayfield. The cruel, horrible witch born from her tragedy must have come with her. ]

Oh, really? Is it worse than Hinamizawa or Mayfield, then? Surely not. It cannot be more horrible than what gave birth to you?

[wittlich]

[She pauses. She's tempted to come back with a snarky remark, but...]

I don't know of any place called Mayfield.

tenth floor

[restitchtime]

The kind that'll take your hand off if you stick it anywhere stupid.

[Rose steps out from where she'd been partially blocked from view by one of the exhibits she'd been viewing, tone harsh but not particularly unkind. as much as she talked about people deserving what they got for stupidity on the network she wasn't exactly keen to see one of the fish in the aquarium jump through and swallow this girl]

[badend_replay]

Ah... this sort of thing again?

[ She sighs, lowering her hand to her side again. Perhaps disappointed... but living in a peaceful place where something this beautiful did not threaten her safety would be strange. ]

Is it the fish or the water? Or this entire structure, I suppose?

[restitchtime]

Mostly the fish on this floor. [she inclines her head slightly in the direction of the tank] They like to switch tanks and they're not picky of what they have to swallow to get to it.

[a shrug] But there's usually something on every floor that'll kill you if you don't watch your ass. It just wouldn't be clusterfuck tower if it didn't live up to its nickname.

1-07

[clumsyjesus]

[Colette was in huge disbelief when she had read the letter that her world had been destroyed. Sylvarant....gone?! Really?

Or was the tower talking about Tethe'alla, the world Colette had been in before it was destroyed? But she did not want that gone, either! She wanted both Tethe'alla and Sylvarant saved. Professor Sage, Genis, Sheena, Zelos, her father, her grandmother....Lloyd....they couldn't possibly be all gone. She had just seen Lloyd and the others yesterday when they were on their way to the Temple of Earth. Had they all died? Just like that?

Colette was not sure what to believe, but she decided to find out more by exploring this strange new place. So when she was exploring, she opened a door to a dormitory and...]

Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't realise someone was in here!

[badend_replay]

[ Rika was in as close to srs bsns mode as the girl can get. It was enough that she had been ripped out of Hinamizawa, but now Mayfield as well. That it had been destroyed--- that was karmic justice, probably, at the very least-- and all of its captured residents erased with it. And her dear friends, who she wanted to protect and save from that place, were gone too.

No, Rika wasn't happy. She was frowning a huge frown, fists clenched at her sides. But this was all corrected when the door opened. On her guard, since she did not recognize Colette. Was this girl a threat or someone in a situation like herself?

Her frown fades. Or at least tones down. And she tries not to appear as suspicious as she is. ]

N-nyao... nn-nn, it is okay, Miss. Are you looking for something?

[clumsyjesus]

W-well, I suppose I am....

Um....can you tell me where I am? [Since Colette doesn't know about this place at all, she assumes that Rika might be a resident of this world. Perhaps she could tell Colette where she is, why she is here and.....well, if Tethe'alla or Sylvarant really was...]

room 1-07

[blackwitch]

[ There's another girl in the room, actually. Except she's wearing a somewhat poofy dress, sitting on her bed and staring at the other girl with a mix of curiosity and amusement on her face. What was this, this girl almost looked a little like that one with, right? Older, and definitely more human, but even so.. maybe a possibility to pull a prank on Bernkastel somehow since that granny witch had been so annoying to her earlier?

Either way, Evatrice doesn't speak up - she just watches with an unsettling grin. ]

Re: room 1-07

[badend_replay]

[ Rika is suddenly made aware of Evatrice. That hair is hard to miss. That unsettling grin is hard to ignore. It's impossible to just look away from her and pretend to have never noticed. Especially when they're in the same room... this must be similar to assigned families. She must be expected to live with this girl and cooperate with her.

I must act accordingly, then. This girl would be either Rika's first ally, first enemy, or simply an acquaintance. Rika is aiming for an ally, or at least a useful acquaintance. ]

M-mi... this letter... [ Her firey spirit fades. A fake fade, as she tries to tone down her personality and sweep anything undesirable under the hypothetical rug. It's time to act like "Furude Rika", a likable girl. ] ... Is this letter true?

[blackwitch]

Hmm..

[ She hums, as if she's actually still trying to think of it, even as her eyes never leave the other girl. It doesn't help that she still looks somewhat amused - it takes away from the whole fake innocence she's thinking with. ]

Do you think it is? It's no fun giving away the answers, you know, you should work yourself to find those.

tenth floor

[titties]

[ Battler himself had decided to check out the library that day -- if not because he wanted to find a good mystery novel to distract himself with, but to find anymore information he could about this tower--he wanted to find a way out, after all ]

You too, huh? [ He offers the small girl a grin ] Ihihih, there's a ton of books I haven't seen before in this place!

[badend_replay]

[ Rika nearly jumps out of her skin. She had thought she was alone... but apparently not. ]

M-mi. There are, very many. I do not know if I will have the time to read them all, even!

[titties]

Heh, that makes it pretty fun picking aome out then, huh? But, you seem like a pretty fast reader to me!

[ She scratches his head a bit and offers a chuckle ]

Guess I scared you a bit, huh? Sorry, sorry.

10th floor.

[thebigsister]

[If Rika pays attention, she might just see a tall, tall figure swimming around in the tanks, seemingly chasing fish at random. But when she sees the girl at the other side of the water wall, the figure pauses and waves a little at her.]

[badend_replay]

[ This startles Rika at first. She stares, her eyes wide and blinking. Wondering if she's seeing things...

... then she cautiously waves back. ]

[thebigsister]

[The figure approaches... it's very tall, with long limbs and portholes that glow, but it doesn't seem particularly aggressive. When it's close enough, it seems to step out of the water, dripping down into the floor.]

Hello.

tenth floor

[justiceerror]

[He was exploring, as usual, everything was so interesting in this tower he couldn't help it. So much to see and everything.

Upon reaching this floor, he turned and spotted what could only be.... Bernkastel? But she seemed different in a way. He walked over to her, that sadistic smile on his face as usual.]

Aah.... is this held up with magic? I wonder I wonder.... but how are you, Lady Bernkastel? [might sound like he's mocking her a little.]

[badend_replay]

[ Magic and Bernkastel... Lady Bernkastel. Rika puts up a little red flag in her mind. This person knows of Bern, likely knows she is a witch... And seems to feel he can mock that fearsome woman that little Rika will one day create. ]

That is what I want to know as well. [ It's tempting. Acting like Bern would be tempting. She'd probably play along in Mayfield, if only for information, but this is a 'new' Bernkastel and Rika is not sure where their similarities begin or end. ] But I am not Bernkastel. Not the one you believe you are addressing.

[justiceerror]

...Heehhh?

[Not Bernkastel? Then... what exactly?]

Are you her piece? [that happened, right? He had heard of that before. she looks like she could be....]

tenth floor

[mayatama]

Well, it's a really weird tower, that's for sure!

[Maya is pretty much going to pop out of nowhere, giggling a little bit.]

[badend_replay]

ah-!

[ Rika turns, then stumbles away. Her back presses against the water that isn't there, her eyes wide. That voice... and then that face, that girl! Her mouth drops open. ]

Ma... Maya-mama? [ Her voice is small and frail. No way. She hasn't been with Maya in forever. She'd written her off as a thing of the past, a small 1% that would never come up again. ]

[mayatama]

Well, my name is Maya, but I'm definitely no mom. At least, not yet.

[And with Pearly shipping her with Nick, she'll probably become a mother eventually.]

floor ten

[sixthsense]

It doesn't make any sense, does it?

[Mio approaches Rika, glancing at her, but never taking her attention off of the tank for too long, as though it might collapse moment she were to do so. It's a small comfort to see someone else as surprised by it as she was. She speaks again, voice softening while gaining a nervous edge,]

There are a lot of things like that, in this place.