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TEST DRIVE MEME #1
1. now it's fun to wake up in a strange chateau
[you wake up.
it doesn't matter where you were before. going to bed? dying? opening the door to face a great evil? same result. you wake up in a soft bed with starched sheets in a cool, darkened room, sunlight peeking out from behind thick curtains. maybe you're alone; maybe you aren't. maybe you immediately notice the folded paper on the bedside table near your head. if you don't, you better fix that real quick: you won't be able to even open the door before you read it.
the note itself is written in a neat hand on white card stock; there is a stylized logo of a ship with the words SERENA ETERNA printed underneath. the note reads as follows:
Dear Passenger(s),
As your cruise director, it is my great honor to welcome you aboard the Serena Eterna, your destination for fun and adventure! We know you could have chosen any cruise line for your vacation, and we're very grateful you chose ours! On behalf of the Captain, I would like to assure each and every passenger that will we do whatever it takes to fulfill all your needs and desires during your journey with us.
At your earliest possible convenience, please attend the mandatory lifeboat drill by the end of the day. I'm sure everyone is very eager to get started on all the fun and sun, but safety always comes first! You can find your life jacket in your cabin's closet; carry it to your assigned muster station on deck one, where I will take you through the drill. If you can't find me in the crowd, just look for the gal with the winning smile!
See You Real Soon!
Sincerely,
Gal Friday
you walk to deck one. you have no other choice: every time you try to step in a direction some unseen being considers "not towards deck one," you find your legs no longer move, staying stock still, frozen. whether compelled quickly by curiosity, or delayed by pure stubbornness, the result is the same, and you are left milling around with other similarly curious or stubborn people.
you see someone in uniform near the front of the crowd. she seems to be a gal, but is missing the winning smile, along with most of her other features. she seems to see you, though, rushing to your side and placing a lei around your neck with great formality. a voice, cheery but artificial, sees to come from nowhere and everywhere.]
Welcome aboard! We're so glad to have you!
[you touch the lei. rooster feathers, lotus seeds, and a carved circle of something white and hard, linked onto a silk string.]
2. messing with my mind was fun at the time
[freshly lei'd, your legs are forced to lead out onto the deck and towards your muster station. the same woman is there, carrying a clipboard. this time, she introduces herself as Gal Friday, the cruise director, before immediately going into the muster drill spiel. it is very boring, and you are not allowed to move, except when you are required to show you know how to put your life vest on. you could try to not do this, but Friday will move to stand in front of you very closely and just. look in your direction until such a time that you decide to do it. and I'm sure your fellow passengers want you to just get on with it, too.
but, once it ends? she reiterates her desire to welcome you aboard. and, then, you're free.
well, free to move about the ship at your own leisure, of course. which is a kind of free, and probably the best one you can hope for. you could try to escape, maybe, if you have the means to; Friday certainly won't be one to stop you. that's what the barrier is for, after all.
but, wouldn't you much rather have fun?
the buffet is full. the pool is open. the casino jingles and chimes.
welcome aboard.]
3. lots of mystery in the history of the devils I knew
[you were never alone.
a few days have passed since you first arrived on the Serena Eterna. perhaps you've made yourself a little routine, and settled in a bit. or maybe you haven't done that at all. either way, you're here, and it looks like somebody is pretty pissed off about it.
it starts small. sometimes nearby plates skid off tables, or a pool chair upends while you're walking next to it. and sometimes that chair is aimed right at your head. objects are moving with quickly increasing frequency, and a wide variety of styles: some are dropped, or pushed, and others and others are tossed, but a few of the items are thrown, with great force and odd accuracy. if Friday is around during the lighter moments, she simply titters and cleans up whatever mess is made. if a pot of soup sails off the buffet line and nearly drenches you in boiling minestrone, she simply walks away.
and then there's the voices. hundreds, maybe thousands, calling out. not all are intelligible English, but you seem to understand them anyway. some sound scared, or angry. some are screams, others whispers. some sound entirely strange, while others are achingly familiar. and they're all saying the same exact thing:
Get Out.]
no subject
[ Fio releases a gasp of surprise when she no longer feels her feet touching the floor. She shuts her eyes briefly, initially afraid, then opens them... wow, everything is passing by them like a blur! And she can see more of those glossy spheres bouncing about in flurry above them.
...Hey, this is actually kind of fun?
There are numbers on the doors to serve as indicators, luckily. Was that her room just now?
Oops, they just passed it. She pipes up, before they get too far. ]
Wait, wait, Mr. Monster! It's that one! Room 116!
no subject
it only makes this endeavor slightly easier however, because he has allegedly missed one of the many identical doors he was supposed to have been at. handprints protrude through the wall as the voices grow louder. 116, damn it, 116… ]
Rgh… [ he scans each door as quickly as he can, but he’s growing impatient, running back and forth as if he were a restless chicken. and then— ]
This one. [ 116. he almost sounds excited. levania lunges for a second, preparing to break through…until he realizes he uh, likely should not do that.
so his claws wrap around the door handle and slowly tinker it open…
he slams it shut once they’ve entered. unceremoniously, he plucks fio off of him and places her onto the small little cot they’ve offered her.
the voices have mostly dwindled into nothing. ]
It’s over. Finally.
no subject
Swaying her arms slightly, back and forth, a little shy. ]
It wasn't this scary before...
[ She was hoping she would find him, so she can talk to him again and play together. And they did find each other! Not in the way she imagined. She wouldn't mind being carried like that again sometime. Minus the ghosts. ]
How did you get here from the Cage?
no subject
he supposes that this is what one would call "friendship".
levania shifts awkwardly at the question, unsure of how to answer it. for a moment, his wings flit and twitch idly as he raises his claw against his face. ]
I, uh, don't actually know.
[ a beat. ]
I made a wish. [ his head cranes down slightly to look at her. ] And it was granted.
[ in the darkness of his voice, there is an ember of pure, genuine fondness. ]
I'm... I'm glad you're alright. [ he has pried open the hearts of monsters and humans alike, devoured whatever dwelled within no matter how grueling its contents were, fought to survive his entire existence as a monster--
and yet uttering those words was a struggle unlike any other. ]
You weren't harmed, were you?
sorry if her canon point seems ambiguous here. i did not think too hard when I wrote this toplvl ;;
It's difficult to discern from Levania's lack of facial expression. But in his words, she senses the warmth and kindness. Yet even during those earlier times together when he would sound cold towards her, she had fun. And she has always looked forward to seeing him in the other world.
It has been unsettling in the beginning, not waking up in the Cage for once... ]
I'm not hurt. You showed up right on time!
[ She continues to beam with joy. ]
Riding on your shoulders was pretty fun...
dont even worry about it! always happy to see her /not/ miserable
happy.
that alone is enough reason for him to stay here. in this foreign world that makes little sense to him -- maybe there was something greater than he ever imagined to be found here. his shoulders raise slightly, and in a manner that could be uncharacteristically described as sheepish, levania gradually extends his claw towards her. ]
Did you, uh...want to get back on?
[ a beat. ]
Not like I have much to do here...so...
no subject
And hardly does she ever ask for much. She might have been secretly hoping that he would invite her to sit up on his shoulders again. Her smile just can't get any wider. ]
Yeah! Let's check if it's safe to go back out first.
[ With the silence outside the door, she would like to assume that it's safe. Best to check first. Plenty more space to run around and rooms to explore. ]
I've never been to the beach much back home. But now you can see it here all the time! [ A small gesture towards the window. A nice view of the sea. ] It's so pretty!
[ She doesn't know if he actually cares about that sort of information. Perhaps it's not very important at all. She just wants to talk about all sorts of things with him. ]