TEST DRIVE MEME ⚔️️ 8

[avalonmods]

✨ Greet new players on the OOC intro while apps are processed HERE! ✨

{ QUICK NAV } Premise ⚔️️ Rules ⚔️️ FAQ ⚔️️ Taken ⚔️️ Reserves ⚔️️ Apply ⚔️️ Locations ⚔️️ Bestiary ⚔️️ Top-Levels Only ⚔️️ SUMMARY: New arrivals drop into the lake and have to climb up a cliff to the Rent a Ride, where they are given their device and some headphones and can retrieve their personal materials. They travel to Camelot, which is a multiple day journey, so they stop at the Red Springs along the way and stay at an inn there. A ⦿ Soaking in Your Arrival KERPLUNK, SPLASH! Regardless of what you were in the middle of, you and your familiar have been magically pulled into the world of Avalon just above the Bay's waters. After a brief plunge into the Bay, the rush of water filling your ears and soaking up into every creak and crevice of your body, you may need to cough to clear your airways when you rise above the surface. It's still chilly, but not enough that you can't manage on your own. The Lady of the Lake is swimming around under the water, helping to rescue any wayward travelers who look like they're struggling in the water. This month's helpers are giant pillow jellies, a species of jellyfish that is capable of ballooning itself at the surface to create bouncy pads for characters to hop across to the shore, should they choose or not be able to swim. They come in a variety of bioluminescent colors, but do not seem to be very talkative even to animal magic users. Those who try may find themselves being ignored, even if they hear the jellies talking amongst themselves about this and that. If anyone tries to ask the Lady of the Lake for directions, she will direct you to Archimedes at the Rent-a-Ride. The shores themselves are littered with new arrivals complaining their way up a staircase carved into the walls of the White Cliffs. There is no railing, so be careful, but if you do fall, be prepared for a mysterious sand hand to reach out of the side of the cliffs to catch you. The hand will pat you atop the head twice before retreating back into the wall. This is the Cliff Beast; despite the name, he is quite friendly. (Though.. given how hot and muggy the weather is this first week, maybe you might want to ask him to toss you right back into the lake where the waters are still cool.) *Reminder: Your character's familiar may or may not be with your character in their initial plunge. If the familiar isn't partial to water, it may meet your character on the beach or sit atop their head while they swim. Or if they are, they might splash about and swim alongside your character. Familiars have different personalities and body specs and we leave those up to the players. B ⦿ The Caravan to Camelot Once everyone is wrangled up to the top of the White Cliffs, the handsome owner of the Rent-a-Ride, Archimedes, will distribute smart phones and a pair of ear buds (the supplier was out of the regular ones) and tell them to "Check the Shit Box." The "Shit Box" refers to wardrobe more formally known as the Wardrobe of Finding, a hammerspace-like wardrobe that opens to each person's items and pets when the person touches the handle. It was recently enchanted by Merlin to prevent people from having to fish their waterlogged possessions and pets out of the water with them. From there, Archimedes directs everyone to settle in groups into modernized carriages pulled by horses and gives them a basic explanation of why and how they've been brought to Avalon: The rest of the universe is frozen in time and your character has been brought here by a familiar that was able to bond with them. They'll have to learn magic to help save their own world from destruction, but first they've got to get them to Camelot. It is here that you have the first opportunity to decide who they will be in their new home. You'll have about an hour to wander around here, meet and greet, and pet the horses before it's time to go. These carriages use fae technology that combats weight, so your character will be able to get in regardless of whether they're light as a feather or weigh two tons. The carts have air conditioning when it's hot, heating when it's cold, and a mystical shield to protect from bugs. There is also a mini-bar that pops out of the console with nip bottles. Characters can use their smartphones to connect to Camelot's internet service, avalononline (AOL), to chat with other characters, watch dumb videos, learn about the world, contact Camelot Support (they'll answer any questions they can for you, from how to use a smart phone to where to find quests and resources to learn more about your magic). Be careful if you decide to use your phones while in the caravan-- if you don't use those earbuds and start forcing everyone to listen to your nonsense, Archimedes may make you walk. C ⦿ The Red Spring The journey from the White Cliffs to the City of Camelot is a long one, and the first evening you arrive you'll end up spending at the Red Spring, a booming resort town. Because of the volume of new arrivals and vacationers, inn rooms are assigned two-to-a-room. The rooms have two twin beds, a bathroom, a mini-fridge and microwave, and a TV equipped with a couple of entertaining video games and a few free movies. If you don't want to relax in the room, try taking a dip in the spring for another chance to meet your fellow travelers. The waters have restorative properties that help horses and travelers recover quickly when drunk. It is known to relieve stress, improve energy levels, and mildly accelerate healing. It may be a little chilly when you get out though, so make sure you don't slip rushing back indoors when you get out! The springs are also home to a large training grounds just outside town limits, where there are teachers who will teach basic magic safety and help you discover what kind of magic you have together with other new arrivals. Try target practice, obstacle courses, meditation circles, and other ways to try to figure out just what you can do... if you didn't already have an accidental discovery on the ride there. SUMMARY: Merlin has a Plan B in case Camelot failed the trials: raise a sunken ship and offer it to the Elphame Traders on their way out in exchange for permission to travel their waters. Characters prepare for ritual magic to raise a sunken ship and travel underwater at the empty Camelot docks to gather ritual ingredients for it. After they've done all they can, Merlin sets up a little beach party with a bit of master magic for anyone who came along for the trip. After arriving, people may have heard about recent events-- the people of Camelot voted against war and to instead accept the trials of the people of Celliwig. The trials are now concluded, and a good number of people are emotionally exhausted and taking time to recover. Word from Celliwig has not yet arrived, but across multiple social media platforms, including AOL, there are clips of Merlin's cryptic addendum to Arthur's announcement along with notes that the meeting date was delayed a couple of days due to the awful weather and a need to rest after how bleak the trials were to some people. With people down and out, it won't hurt to have the new arrivals pitch in and learn a thing or two. "Lucky me, we've got a decent group. Celliwig's out of our hands now, but what isn't is a back-up plan. Vote was close enough I figured we'd have enough people to get a head start. Celliwig is closer and much less dangerous to deal with, we'd be able to communicate much faster with the faeries' queendom. They're not big on internet. Big followers of the Old Ways. T-L-D-R, we can't just text the queen and ask if drop-bys are on the table. We'd never make it past the leviathans without permission, so here's the plan: There is a... fixer-upper of a vessel sunken about a hundred yards from shore tossed out from Bermuda. We tried to build docks here forever ago, but you can guess the Bermuda triangle spitting out stuff in the lake all the time didn't go great. We just keep it up for visitors now, but there's plenty to explore in the immediate area that we can magic back into business." A ⦿ Shipwreckers He goes on to explain that the fairies value items that were once lost and refound, so step one is exploring the shipwreck with fellow magic users to find what amounts to a scavenger hunt list of items from the ship. He sets everyone off with a quick spell that essentially transforms their clothing into swimsuits that best fit their preferences and personality-- that means no one's going to get a swimsuit that makes them horribly uncomfortable, he's not harassing anyone. After that, magicians will be directed to use their magic to get down to the ship. It's not as convenient as underwater breathing and not as easily sustainable, but there's definitely different ways to go about it. Light magic users will find they can create a forcefield above the surface of the water and go under the water, though they may run out of oxygen quickly. Elemental users can find they can create a similar bubble by pushing water out of the way, though may run into the same diminishing air without a more advanced elemental user already in the game who can pull oxygen out of the water or an alchemist who can create chemical reactions to generate oxygen. Animal mages may be able to convince local lake life to help push bubbles along, and healers will be instrumental in healing oxygen deprivation if anyone stays under too long! (Note: If two characters can't create a bubble, you can put in a third NPC to do the bubble while your characters handle other roles during the search.) No matter what, make sure you bring someone who can watch your back. Rumors have it that the Fuath are harassing anything that comes near the area. Fuath are intangible spirits that may present as giant humanoids at about 8-9 feet each, but with the mane and tail of a yellow horse, with no noses and keen eyes. They hold grudges against anyone who takes advantage of their surroundings, even if not their own, and will come to attempt to throw those who try to take from the ships and flying through the air to land somewhere else in the water. Be very cautious about using names around the Fuath, as though they do not speak in human tongue, they have a particular ability to draw people and animals in using names that makes them very difficult to escape once you've been found. They've been known to turn familiars against their partners. They can be deterred, dissipated through attack to buy you time, but they'll keep coming so get in and out of the ship as fast as you can and definitely stick to more combat-heavy magics like dark and cognitive mages! *Note: These magics are all examples of ways to use primary magic, but feel free to get creative with your character's magic if you think of something else! B ⦿ Hoist the Flags Once all the ingredients are gathered, the ritual is underway! With the mementos from the ship, swim to a protective circle formed at the top of the water by Merlin that will keep the Fuath out. There, you need to take whatever item you gathered from the ship and try to find someone with a similar item. This "sister" item will allow you to pull the essence of the item up from the ship. It takes a load of people to raise a whole ship, but pouring your magic into the item and chanting the spell will cause the ship to resurface and restore itself to its original state before the crash, using residual memories from all the different items on the ship. Of course, finding a partner with a matching item while swimming around could be a challenge, especially if you don't get along-- it may take a while for everyone to get on the same page. It certainly won't clean up all the algae and kelp and wayward flopping fish, it brings the ship back to a livable state.. and a much cooler, more explorable one. Get a quick exploration of the ship and help clean up some of the lake slime before Merlin flags over the traders. Or goof around until then, and learn a sick free spell called (Recipe) Cool Firework: create a rocket firework from your fingertips. Make sure you're aiming it into the sky when you cast this spell, or Merlin will set off a Camelot totem right beneath your feet. No sinking the ship when they just got it up. The fireworks will attract the Elphame Traders, who are leaving the day after they close up shop to head back to Elphame, before the set out to leave. Merlin negotiates offering the ship to them as an offering for Queen Elphame to give them permission to travel in the Elphame territory. At that point, the ship is pulled into the docks and Camelot citizens are ushered out for the fae traders to take over the ship. C ⦿ Beach Episode Once everything's said and done it.. really only took a couple of hours, so the whole group is done around 4pm. There's plenty of time left for dinner and a good time at the beach a short walk away from the docks and the sun doesn't go down until around 9pm. Before Merlin leaves everyone to themselves, he conjures up a buffet-style table with loads of fresh food and drink, watermelons and bats for smashing. The swimsuits provided earlier wear off at midnight, though you'll probably want to leave before then since it still gets chilly in the evening, especially if you're all wet from playing with the chest full of waterguns or the beach balls distributed around the beach. The docks are nearby, so feel free to call your friends over to come hang out with you, even if they didn't help. It's a beach party, enjoy it! SUMMARY: Unseelie faeries and unseemly humans have teamed up to kidnap a small number of otherworlders in the chaos of the trials to fight in an underground fight ring. Play as a victim or be part of the squad to put an end to it if you're more good-leaning, or villains can choose to participate as audience and pay for "gifts" to be given to their favorite fighters during matches. CW: These prompts contain kidnapping, illegal and forced fighting, and inhumane treatment of fighters. Just because people are tired doesn't mean that the world stops for them... crime certainly doesn't. Throughout the start of the month, people are going missing. Exactly what's happening.. well, finding the truth out about that is going to depend on your perspective. A ⦿ Cursed Kidnapees Kidnapping victims will find themselves suddenly blinded by a spell, and then chloroformed by a floating cloth pressed against their face. (Smart kidnappers don't touch their victims if they have magic, you know!) When they wake up, they'll find themselves in a dungeon with at least a dozen other people. There's definitely not room to lay down, and sitting down as you had been propped up immediately starts you with a potentially uncomfortable view. Don't worry, someone's peeks in from a window at the top of the room-- an extremely handsome-looking man with long, wavy hair and pupils slitted like a cat's. "Let's see.. You two, you'll be the first fight of the night. Winner gets dinner, gyahaha!" It's a fighting ring. You've been kidnapped into a fighting ring and there's no obvious escape! Fight against fellow captives and monsters for your dinner and to buy time to figure out what you're going to do... At least you start hand to hand, so there's nothing lethal... right? (See Audience for more details.) B ⦿ Audacious Audience Maybe you're a less scrupulous sort and saw an invitation to this event hidden on the dark web, or got invited by a particularly sketchy friend. Either way, you've got cage-side seats close enough to chat with either fellow audience members or interact with the cage fighters. As a bonus point, audience members can spend some of their G on betting or on purchasing "boons" for their favorite fighters, such as weapons or enhancement spells. They can also bid against other audience members for special sabotages that make it harder to fight-- foot weights, strange masks, roller skates, hinderance hexes.. get creative with it! It's the biggest fight show that you can interact with your wallet... newbies may find it's a very lucrative way to make a pretty penny very fast. (As always, remember to communicate with anyone you're helping/sabotaging so you don't go past anyone's OOC comfort level.) C ⦿ Roaring Rescuers Thankfully, the fae who want nothing more than to sow discord and the greedy humans who joined in their venture are a bit disorganized. Even the beginning-level heroes among us will be able to track them down and topple them with a little bar hopping to gather information from the locals. Eventually, one of them will give up having overheard some "scary looking fellows" talking about which of the patrons of the bar looked like they'd be good in a fight before getting extra hush-hush. Follow all the leads, and you'll find yourself at an outlying, smaller-scale castle with a dungeon tower and an underground fighting ring built beneath its floors. Sneak in and unlock individual fighter dungeon doors while the fights are providing a wealth of distraction. Maybe you'll find a grateful Fogueria who casts a temporary fire-immunity spell on you to allow you to do ride them into battle to bust up the fight going on right now. There's definitely gratitude going on, regardless of moral compass, and you may find gifts of food and drink (non-alcoholic if you're not old enough) placed at your door over the next week for your deeds. MOD NOTES: • All test drive prompts are open to anyone in the game at any time to create your own logs with, but this post should have top-levels by potential new characters only. Current characters may reply to any threads, but should not top-level comment on this post. • If your application is accepted, you may accept TDM threads as game canon as long as both players consent. Characters may begin threading as soon as their journal is accepted to the communities. • We are testing out formats for key points displays, to be voted on for player preference based on what seems to work best for the most people. The other options were used here (end of post summary format) and here (start of post preview format). The format featured on this post is the last option, which will provide small summaries under the banner of each prompt set. A poll will be put up before the next event to see which format will be used going forward, so please keep in the back of your mind which seems most comfortable/makes the content more easily accessible. •If nothing here tickles your fancy, try one of this month's Quests for your TDM prompt. • The first "Arrival" prompts are present on every TDM, but contain seasonal tweaks for flavor. All other prompts will change monthly. • Questions about this TDM's content? Comment here! If you have a question about the game at-large, please head over to the FAQ.

Comments

[foolaround]

[ shit. kotone takes a breath of her own, trying not to cry. if she's going to cry over this, and she doesn't believe she has the right to, it'll be once she sees mitsuru face to face. ]

I'll, um... figure out a way to get there. Or... I don't know. I just...

[ she huffs out a humorless, watery little laugh. ]

I've really missed you. [ she knows that can't begin to cover the weight of what happened. ]

[kirijo]

[ Another rush of air forces its way out of Mitsuru. It's difficult to tell whether it was a gasp of laughter or a sob -- to the point that Mitsuru herself wasn't sure which. ]

I've missed you too ...

[foolaround]

I bet. [ she lets out a sound that's hard to mistake for anything but a sob, curling up a little in her seat. her grip tightens on her phone, she's gone through this with yukari already, but that doesn't make it easier. things were a little different, with ken and shinjiro. she had been able to sidestep the worst of it with them.

the next words come out in a rush, voice cracking: ]

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

[kirijo]

Don't. Please ...

[ Mitsuru's voice cracks, and a few of the tears threatening to spill over finally roll down her cheeks.

[ She shifts in her seat, turning away from the two or three other people in the carriage in a vain attempt to have some semblance of privacy. ]

You don't have anything to apologize for ... you did nothing wrong ...

[ Her voice was a hoarse whisper. Hearing Kotone in such pain ... hearing her try to apologize for what had happened ... ]

[foolaround]

[ even now, this was so... unconditional. not for the first time, it strikes her just how lucky she had been to find their broken, disparate family. she takes an unsteady breath, needing a moment before she can speak. ]

Still, I... [ she pauses again, shaking her head. ] We can... we can talk about it when I see you.

[kirijo]

Alright ...

[ She nods. Less of a signal of her own acceptance, and more an attempt to steady herself. ]

I ... I should be arriving at the inn within the next few hours.

[foolaround]

I'll... I'll figure something out. I don't think I'll beat you there, but I'll be there as soon as I can, okay?

[kirijo]

Alright.

[ Another nod. The journey from Red Spring to Camelot was long enough to justify stopping for the night, so she'd ... she'd have some time to sort through what she was feeling and perhaps find some semblance of composure. ]

I'll be waiting.

[foolaround]

[ she's already scrambling to make arrangements. ]

Okay. Um, I can stay on the line, if you want, or... or you can just text me? I should be there an hour or two after you get in. Let me know your room number once you're there?

[kirijo]

Texting may be best for now ... I don't have the carriage to myself.

[ She wants to keep talking, but she's only just managed to claw herself back from the edge of tears. She isn't sure that she'd be able to maintain that if they pressed into the the topic hanging between them in any greater depth, and she ... she needs time. ]

I'll let you know as soon as I've been assigned my room.

[foolaround]

Okay. Um, I'll see you soon, then. Promise. [ she adds that assurance on maybe too hastily, wincing at how her voice sounds. ] Text me if you want, ok? About anything.

[ she's already getting an overnight bag packed. ]

[kirijo]

I will.

[ About what, exactly, she isn't sure. Not because there's nothing to discuss, but because she has so many questions. She doesn't know where to begin, or even how to parse them all. ]

And you do the same.

[foolaround]

Right. See you soon. [ she repeats that promise as she ends the call.

as she makes her own trip from camelot to the red springs, she... doesn't actually text mitsuru. there's the occasional logistical thing they need to sort out, but mostly, she sits in silence with her patchwork bunny familiar, listening to her headphones.

finally, well after nightfall, she finds herself at the familiar inn. kotone goes in and makes her way to the room, the hare of inaba bounding at her heels, before knocking twice. ]

[kirijo]

[ Mitsuru passes the wait in much the same way.

[ The only texts that she sends Kotone are the ones required to arrange their eventual meeting. She wants to send more, but she's just ... at a loss as to what to say.

[ She hopes that, as time passes, it will become clear. That all the thoughts and questions and emotions chasing each other around her head will distill into something that she can actually put to words, but it doesn't.

[ She just ... winds up sitting in her room, waiting for Kotone to arrive, growing steadily more anxious and disquieted as she does. Hippolyta senses it quickly and settles in at her side in a silent show of sympathy, and Mitsuru ...

[ Mitsuru feels tears well up in her eyes.

[ She cries.

[ She cries, and she doesn't know why because she should just be happy, and the fact that she can't make any sense out of what she's feeling frustrates her so, so much ...

[ She buries her face in Hippolyta's fur and cries until she's spent, and when she is ... she feels a little bit better.

[ She probably looks like an absolute mess, though, so after petting Hippolyta a little to try and reassure her familiar that she'll be alright, Mitsuru heads to the bathroom to wash her face. She doesn't look entirely like her usually self by the time that she's done, thanks to her fall in the lake having washed her make-up away ... but she doesn't look as though she'd been crying, and she considers that a victory.

[ And then she hears knocking on the door, and her heart starts racing in her chest all over again.

[ Mitsuru takes a deep breath to steady herself, and then goes to open the door. ]

[foolaround]

[ nothing really could have prepared her for seeing mitsuru again. and like this. plain-faced, visibly tired, just...

it strikes her, then, that this is a side of herself that mitsuru had always tried to keep from them. but the thought passes as quickly as it comes, because: ]

Mitsuru. [ she breathes that out, closing the gap between the two of them and throwing her arms around her friend, as her familiar bounds into the room. kotone presses her face into mitsuru's shoulder, drawing a shaky breath. ]

[kirijo]

[ The last time that Mitsuru had seen Kotone alive, she'd been in a hospital bed.

[ A mechanical ventilator had been breathing for her. Numerous I.V. lines and wires connected her to machines that worked to monitor and sustain her increasingly faint vital signs.

[ She had looked so pale ... so small ...

[ It looked as though she was gone already. As if everything that Kotone was had already left, and what lay in the bed was simply her friend's remains.

[ That ... that wasn't true of the girl standing in front of her, and seeing Kotone whole again stunned Mitsuru into silence. She just stood there, staring in disbelief until Kotone threw her arms around her.

[ She heard Kotone's voice without it being filtered through their phones. She felt her touch, and the warmth of her body.

[ It felt real suddenly, in a way that it hadn't before. ]

Kotone ...

[ She slowly brought her arms up and wrapped them around Kotone in a tight embrace. She could feel herself beginning to tear up again as she buried her face in the other girl's hair. ]

I missed you.

[foolaround]

[ kotone pushed the door closed behind both of them with her foot.

the last thing she could remember before finding herself in the lake was slipping away in aigis's arms. the gentle feeling of the wind, the sakura petals on the breeze, the sound of the city... her friends' voices, in the distance. it was a nice way to go out, all told, even if it wasn't what she had wanted.

reuniting with her friends hadn't been easy. living on after she had died wasn't easy.

this wasn't easy.

kotone felt her own eyes tearing up, feeling her walls begin to break as she finally began to sob into mitsuru's shoulder. she had promised to live at mitsuru's side, with aigis and yukari and all of them, and then...

she had left all of them behind. and no matter the choices that led her there, it had been an easy enough thing to accept in death.

it wasn't easy to face with a second lease on life.

even with yukari and shinjiro, she hadn't quite let herself so openly show this torment, this weakness. but none of her old masks were up to this task, and had been cracking since she first came to avalon. ]

[kirijo]

[ Mitsuru's weren't proving to be any more resilient, especially not when Kotone began crying too.

[ She had learned to read Kotone's moods well enough to understand when her friend was hurt, or when something troubled her, but Kotone always tried to hide that side of herself away. Whatever pain she felt, she buried it down bright smiles and jokes -- often ones that came at her own expense.

[ She'd never seen Kotone cry before. Kotone had never allowed her to.

[ Mitsuru didn't hide her pain behind a smile, but she'd built up plenty of walls of her own, and seeing that barrier drop obliterated all of them utterly.

[ The tears flowed freely, she shook with each sob, and the circle of her arms drew tighter around Kotone - as though Mitsuru thought she might slip away again if she didn't hold her here. ]

[foolaround]

[ she tightened her own embrace as much as she could. kotone hated herself for crying, for burdening mitsuru with this so immediately, and she'd told aigis not to cry at the end, so how did she have the right? shinjiro said she looked better when she smiled, that crying didn't suit her, so why? why now?

that thought only made her cry harder, hands clutching the back of mitsuru's top in a deathgrip. she wanted to stop. why couldn't she stop? ]

[kirijo]

[ Mitsuru was finally beginning to comprehend why. Not the whole of it, perhaps, but ...

[ She'd felt many things in the wake of Kotone's passing.

[ She was heartbroken at the loss of one of her closest friends, and at the fact that she hadn't been able to say goodbye. She had been angry - furious - with herself for failing to remember the events of the previous year, for failing to recognize when Kotone had tried to say goodbye herself, and for how cruelly unfair it was that Kotone was denied a chance to experience the future that only existed because of her actions.

[ But more than anything, Mitsuru had felt numb.

[ Heartache, anger, despair, powerlessness ... it had ​always lapsed back into that same terrible feeling of emptiness that had consumed her in the wake of her father's death.

[ Seeing Kotone alive again ... Mitsuru should be overjoyed, and even though it might not seem that way, she was.

[ But that sight had broken something loose, too. Something jagged and painful, that dredged up all the misery of the past two weeks, and that was what Mitsuru still couldn't comprehend.

[ Why hadn't those feelings just ... left? Why was she feeling them now that the loss had been undone? ]

[foolaround]

[ because the loss hadn't been undone, of course. kotone shiomi had still fallen comatose on march 5, 2010, rapidly declined, and died the next day. nothing that avalon had done changed that. kotone remembered fading on the roof, and knew what came next. she was dead, she was gone, and any life she might have had with those she loved was far behind her.

this place was all there was for her.

she stood there crying for minutes without saying a word, tightly holding onto her friend as if to reassure her that she wasn't going to go anywhere. finally, voice shaking, she spoke, trying to force a humorless and wet laugh. ]

I just can't manage a good reunion, can I?

[kirijo]

[ Kotone coaxed a laugh out of her with that. Small, equally humorless, but a laugh all the same. ]

Under different circumstances, perhaps.

[ Mitsuru smiled, but it was tight-lipped. A sign of the effort invested in holding back more tears. ]

I ... I know how it seems, but ...

[ She was happy to see her. So happy, despite the tears. ]

[foolaround]

[ under different circumstances. yeah, if that wasn't the story of her life. ]

I know. [ kotone finally pulled back a little to look at her, even if she was reluctant to let mitsuru actually see her this way. even without a persona of the empress whispering in the back of her soul, she knew mitsuru's mind quite well by this point. she let out another shaky breath, trying to get it together. ] Me too. It hasn't been the same, without everyone around.

[kirijo]

[ Mitsuru feels a bit of that same reluctance. It's easier around Kotone that it would have been in front of anyone else apart from Yukari, but knowing how disheveled she must look still made her somewhat self-conscious. ]

Amada-kun said that he's been here for six months ... have you been here all that time as well?

[foolaround]

[ she shakes her head at that. ]

No, um... three months? It was March here too, when Yukari and I got here. Shinjiro showed up in April.