1: Waking up

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Characters: Aradia Megido and you
Setting: Early morning on the dormitory levels
Format: Starting with brackets but will match to anything
Summary: Aradia wakes up and would like to know where she is.
Warnings: None for now


[Waking up petrified is one of the scariest things she's ever experienced, the complete lack of control putting her on edge. She systematically tries to move her limbs without success. Just before she starts panicking completely she regains control over her body and he muscles spasm under the strain of her efforts.

She falls to the ground, unfamiliar with the dimensions of a bed. She groans as her head hits the floor, groping around for the bed so she can pull herself to her feet again. She manages to get her hands around the footrest after a few times and straightens herself. So far so good. Good thing no one else was in the room.

She takes a look around, four beds in the room, all the same as hers. There's a trunk at the foot of each bed but her intention is drawn to whatever is lying on top of it.

Two letters explaining her how her world is destroyed and where she is now and neither of them satisfactory.

She moves to the door and opens it carefully, peeking outside. The light catches her off guard but the clouds filter it enough to make it bearable.]

Hello?

Comments

[true_noir]

Hello indeed.

[The response came from a woman who was half stalking, half slinking through the halls of the dormitories. She wasn't, admittedly, being completely foolish about it in some cartoonish fashion. However, she was definitely trying to avoid too much attention for now.

However, this one drew interest. Gray skin. Yellow horns. 'Not human' registered quickly with the assassin. She was not surprised to find herself in yet another realm where things that were clearly not human persisted. Was this a demon, or something else?

She smiled impishly, pausing where she stood, a doorway away, wrapped in a thick green cloak. Just peeking, it was hard to tell if she was still wearing the white jumpsuit of a new arrival, or had pulled something from her trunk as Chloe had. Still, this one practically reeked 'new.']

You look a trifle lost.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She stepped out of the doorway fully to get a closer look. Her hand pressed against her brow to shield her eyes from the daylight. She blinked a few times until she could see properly.

The woman seemed careful around her, maybe she had never seen a troll before. Aradia however recognised her as human, wondering if she had come to Earth somehow. Or perhaps it was just another weird dream bubble.]

Quite a bit lost actually. Do you know where we are?

[true_noir]

Yes... and no. There is never an easy answer to that question, not in a place like this.

[She smiled enigmatically, shrugging at that. Chloe did like to keep an effected look as if she were completely in control of a situation, even when she wasn't. Keeping her hands out of view, she took in the sight of the Alternian.

It was not something she had ever seen before. None of these had ever arrived in Atia's domain, and there had certainly been none in her homeworld. Curiouser. It demanded answers... eventually.]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Have you been here for a long time?

[She is completely oblivious to Chloe's curiousity, all the humans she's ever met were somehow already used to trolls.

She does notice that Chloe keeps her hands out of sight though, and in response makes sure her own are visible at her sides, palms outwards in a sign of peace. There's no real reason for her to be scared of a human, right?]

[true_noir]

[She lifted one hand and counted on the fingers. The action showed hints of the black body suit beneath the cloak and the heavy leather and steel gauntlet she wore over her hand. It was, however, a short act, one done for show.]

Three days. An eternity in a way, and but a sprinkling of the sands of time atop the mountain that is yet to come.

[geometry]

[Equius was having a pretty horrible day, all things considered, but all days were pretty horrible when you were Equius Zahhak.]

[Aradia's hunching behind the door didn't offer much to passersby hoping to maybe see her face, or species, or really identify her in any way other than the sound of her voice. Unfortunately, voice couldn't tell one if the speaker was a troll or a human, and Equius couldn't recognize her voice anymore even if his Aradia did speak with the uncertainty this one did. So Equius stopped in his tracks and regarded the door with mild curiosity, as if wondering whether this person tended to hide behind things when speaking all the time.]

Um, yes?

[If Aradia decides to open the door at look at whoever had spoken to her from the far side, she would notice that Equius was holding a certain relic covered in runes. It'd been given to him during the Christmas regain, and he's more or less never stopped carrying it around since. In any case, she may recognize it as the same one she sent to Sollux that he used to code the game.]

[Well, and the fact that he was an Equius with unkempt hair and no muscle whatsoever. That is a thing too.]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She did decide the open the door, having determined that the hallway wasn't especially dangerous or deserted. She didn't expect to find Equius there though.]

Equius? Is that you, you look a bit different.

[She studied the diferences in his face and build, only glancing at the tablet in his hands, not paying any special attention to it.]

[geometry]

[Give him a moment to just... stare. Uhh. Aradia, okay...]

Um.

Y-yes, it's me. I mean. Kind of.

[Urgh why does he have to get stammery NOW. This isn't even the real Aradia.]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She's just going to sort of, touch his muscles. Or lack thereof.]

You used to be a lot stronger! Did something happen?

[knightime]

[Dave was heading to the cafeteria at the time, but he stops when he sees Aradia peak her head out. From his point in time, he hasn't spoken to Aradia, never having a chance to see passed the Green Sun before arriving here. But he recognizes her as a troll, so there was some kind of familiarity there.]

Sup. You playing hide n' seek or something?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She knows who Dave is though, and she's really happy to see him.]

Dave! You're here!!

[She walks up to him, smiling brightly.]

I wasn't playing, I was checking to see if the hallway was dangerous. I guess it isn't!

[knightime]

[Oh, so she knows him. This is constantly a problem that he's gotten used too.]

Been here for awhile, but yeah. There's a bunch of us kicking back.

The dormitory level is pretty harmless most of the time. A lot of the other floors, not so much.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I'm glad you are here though! I haven't seen many familiar faces yet!!

So I keep getting told, but no one has told me why it is dangerous yet. Although I heard that some of the other people living here could be dangerous.

[starofpleiades]

[Kazumi blinks and looks around, seeing the girl peeking out of her door]

Hello?

[What an intelligent response]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Oh, hi! I wasn't sure anyone was out here.

[She steps out of the door to take a closer look.]

Maybe you could help me with something?

[starofpleiades]

Sure, what do you need?

[Kazumi smiles cheerfully. She seems new, but Kazumi will wait to hear her out]

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

Well, I'm not sure where I am. Could you tell me that?

[Kazumi seems friendly enough, so Aradia smiles back at her.]

[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya's on her way to the stairs when she sees a familiar pair of horns attached to one of those awful white jumpsuits. it looks like someone's about to make the same mistake she had, and she couldn't let aradia suffer that same embarrassment, so she quickens her pace to catch up and tries to cross in front of her, cutting her off from wandering too far before she gets lost. ]

The first thing to know is this isn't a dream bubble. The second is that you have clothes in your trunk and don't need to wear... [ she grimaces as she gestures to the same outfit they all woke up in. ] that thing.

The third is, uh. [ that's it, she's lost steam and ran out of things, clasping her hands in front of her and frowning awkwardly. ] ...Hi.

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She is so happy to see a familiar face here she only barely resists hugging Kanaya.]

It's not? Than what is it?

Oh is that what the trunk is for? I haven't looked inside it yet. Still, [She tugs at the stretchy material of her jumpsuit.] these aren't that bad! They're easy to move around in.

[Instead of hugging she decides to clasp Kanaya's hands between her own.]

I'm so happy to see you!

[glowsferatu]

[ oh, that was a bit unexpected. she doesn't know why it should be, she hasn't seen aradia in over a year, there's no reason not to be excited for the reunion! she glances down at their hands, then back up to aradia with a smile. ]

Well, it's...the Tower. [ her shoulders shrug slightly, knowing the inadequacy of the answer, but having nothing better to give. ] We're in some sort of closed environment independent of our earlier dreams and operated by administrators I have been informed are malicious. The arrival garb would seem to testify to this, as yes, it really is in fact that bad. [ one corner of her lips turns downward thoughtfully, looking aradia over. ] Though I suppose you're lucky in that your skin hasn't adopted a tone closer to the shade of the garment itself.

[ her attention turns back to the other girl's eyes, vibrant and full of living color. ] But at least you aren't as far back as some of the others. At least, I don't think so. Are your recent memories anything worth speaking of?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[She just smiles back, it's really nice to see a familiar face in an unfamiliar place.]

But how did we get here? Did Alternia really get destroyed? After all it's been to I find it kind of hard to believe that.

I suppose it wouldn't look very good with your glowing skin, good thing you have your other clothes with you then!

The last thing I remember is Sollux and I sending you guys of on the meteor. Do you mean we've all come from different points in time?

[wweh]

[Eridan's walking through the doorm halls, probably looking to visit someone (hopefully), though he sees Aradia poke her head out of one of the doors. At least now, he has someone to go and hang with.]

Ara? That you?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

[Now that's a face she hasn't seen in a long time.]

It's me. Hello Eridan.

[It's probably bad form to ask someone why they aren't dead, right?]

[wweh]

[god, this is awkward. Eridan's never been good at small talk...unless it's about him.]

Guess you're new here, huh...?

[fiesta_de_los_muertos]

I guess so!

[Let's talk about him then.]

What about you? Have you been here long?