the graveyard

[mewreview]

the graveyard



You wake up in your bed. At first, it might not seem as though anything has changed...until you try to leave the room. You'll quickly discover that while you can phase through the interior walls of the building, you can't open doors, pick up objects, or alter the environment in any way. Worse, the only people who can see and hear you are your fellow ghosts; to everyone else, you may as well be so much empty air.

That said, there are still a few other things you can do besides just observing those who are still alive. You now have the ability to conjure any food, drink, or reasonably small object out of midair, although anything you conjure will go unnoticed by the living inhabitants. More interestingly, there is now an intricate iron door embedded in the wall of the main room that you're sure hadn't been there yesterday. If you open it, you'll find that at long last you've exited the building...and the world outside looks quite familiar.

In fact, it's your world. Though...it might not be exactly how you remember it when you left.

You won't be able to get far in the area before you feel some kind of barrier preventing you from taking another step, but it's enough for you to know that something has Gone Terribly Wrong. Perhaps it's the bombed-out shell of your building, or the monsters screeching nearby, or the corpses of your army scattered on the ground; whatever the situation is, it's clear that you would have been in grave danger had you still been back home. Luckily, your ghostly status is still in effect even here; while there may be danger still lurking about, none of it will be able to affect you.

The building behind you has taken on a translucent, almost insubstantial appearance; only the iron doors remain as solid as ever. You can simply open them again to return to the cat's domain.

(OOC: Here's how this will work! Whenever someone new arrives to the graveyard, the world outside will change to their canon's world. We'll leave the exact location and situation up to you to describe; the only thing that matters is that it should be clear your character would have been in enormous danger had they been around. Everyone in the graveyard will be able to explore the area, which will at maximum be around the size of a large ballroom; you'll be able to see things outside the area, but you won't be able to take another step forward. You can interact with the setting, but you won't be able to affect anything living, and anything that might pose a danger such as bullets will pass right through you.)

Comments

New arrival #2: stupidity boogaloo

[bloomnobly]

[ Yuyuko's entrance into the main room is as grand as her antics were in "life"--mainly in that she descends through the ceiling in a suitably dramatic fashion. Although once she sits down, she yawns loudly. ]

Ara, ara...I wonder if this is how ghosts in the Outside World feel, with no one able to see them. I've been living a cushioned life... or is it deathing a cushioned death?

[ She seems way less bothered at her gruesome death than she really should be. ]

[obeytherod]

[He wrinkles his nose at the pun, but otherwise looks pretty awe-stricken. The only flowery fights he's ever seen involved holograms children's trading cards.]

...You sure put up a fight.

[bloomnobly]

Heh heh...it is only natural for the last remaining head of house Saigyouji.

[ despite her prideful statement, she actually bows deeply ]

[obeytherod]

[He has no idea what that means, so moving on...]

Those two wouldn't have any trouble killing the others... Let's hope they only end up killing each other.

[bloomnobly]

[ IT'S A HUMILITY THING YOU SQUARE >8I ]

Indeed, I didn't think Kaoru-san to be that tough. To think he was bluffing the entire time; I should have guessed. [ small sigh ] As much as I wouldn't like Maya-san to perish as well...

[obeytherod]

[MAYBE IF HE KNEW WHAT THE HOUSE OF SAIGYOUJI IMPLIED...]

Neither did I. I knew he was good with a sword, but I didn't expect...that. [The part where Kaoru leveled up and his hair turned white.]

Then again, I also expected Maya to return to normal by now. I thought channeling meant she had control over it, but she seems more possessed to me.

[bloomnobly]

[ a nod ] I'd never heard of channeling before this, honestly. It all just seemed like possession to me. Maybe it has something to do with Kouha-san's... [ waving her hand in search of the word ] "equip" or whatever it is that he called it.

[obeytherod]

It's new to me too, I just though from the way she did it that it was something she had more control of. [He does say it with a bit of attitude--but look what happened!]

Now if she dies, none of us can get through to the others! [Not that there's much time left. Or that he expects her to channel him. Just that...there were a lot of things he forgot to tell Harriet before he died.]

[bloomnobly]

Yes, that is rather unfortunate...I'm curious, though, what good do you think it will do us? We don't have much time left, I'm afraid.

[bladebender]

Incredibly boring, isn't it.

[ Mai doesn't seem particularly bothered by Yuyuko's gruesome death either, but internally she is WOW OKAY THAT SURE WAS A THING UM ]

[bloomnobly]

[ YOU'RE FINALLY SPEAKING HER LANGUAGE, MAI ]

Incredibly! Suddenly I feel quite sorry for the ghosts outside of Gensokyo. No amenities, completely invisible and intangible...

[scientificinvestigator]

[Ema pulls herself away from screaming at watching the fight briefly when Yuyuko arrives. She's grateful that Yuyuko fought for her--especially since the two weren't super close--but also feels incredibly guilty that the fighting led to her dying.

Finally, she manages:]

I'm sorry you got killed because of me.

[bloomnobly]

[ Yuyuko simply reaches out to take Ema's hands in her own. ]

Don't even worry yourself over it. As upset as I am, [ though she sure doesn't look it ] it doesn't appear it was an effort in vain.

[ glancing back at Athena and co. rushing into the graveyard... ]

[scientificinvestigator]

[Yeah she's not sure she can bear watching everyone's reactions to this.]

B-but I... I told him he could, he wasn't lying...

[bloomnobly]

[ said in her usual smiling face ] From what I've gathered, Kaoru-san is a slimy, manipulative, son of a wh-- [ catching herself ] Oh, dear, that's not proper to say.

He convinced you through clever wordplay, I'm guessing.

[scientificinvestigator]

...

[Earlier, she would've insisted that he hadn't. Now, though...]

Everyone here seems to think so.

But I still agreed to it.

[bloomnobly]

If you'll allow me to play the fatalist for a moment--there's not much you can do about it now. So you shouldn't be beating yourself up over it, dear.

[scientificinvestigator]

I guess there's not. Scientifically speaking, I'm dead.

[She still feels really bad about it all, though.]

...I guess I should thank you, too. For caring enough to do what you did.

[hakurouken]

Lady Yuyuko!

[At the door to the main room stands a certain familiar someone. Taking short, sharp breaths her legs are shaking, from exhaustion or emotion it's hard to tell but she throws down the two short swords she had with her and falls to the ground in front of her, pressing her palms and forehead to the floor in apology]

I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect you then and I couldn't protect you now. I... I've failed as your bodyguard and I know I could never deserve forgiveness b-but...

[From the sobs that pepper her apology it's clear that she's crying]

[bloomnobly]

[ she frowns deeply ] Oh, stop that. What could you have done, anyway? You were a disembodied spirit this whole time.

What's the saying...'second time's the charm'! [ she kneels in front of Youmu, trying to get her to raise her head ]

[hakurouken]

[The truth was, she had been fighting along side Yuyuko the whole time, trying to force Kouha out of Maya's body, trying to block Kaoru from attacking her, but not a single blow connected, not a single bullet his its mark. There really was nothing she could have done.

Yuyuko's words don't seem to inspire much comfort in her. She looks up for a brief second, tears rolling down her cheeks before she averts her gaze again. After seeing her die in such a traumatic fashion she can't bring herself to look Yuyuko in the eye]

B-But... But I put myself forward because I thought I would hurt you, but I only ended up hurting you anyway. I even gave up my Hakurouken for another chance to protect you. I... I've lost so much, and all for nothing...

[bloomnobly]

I said stop it. [ her voice grows weak, all of the cheer abruptly draining out of it ]

I was just as foolish, challenging both of them at once. If there's even a hair's width of a chance of us returning to Gensokyo unscathed, I'm going to get the world's worst tongue-lashing from Enma-sama. [ man, even she doesn't like Eiki's lectures ] So if you absolutely must blame yourself...at least realize you're not the only one at fault.

[hakurouken]

...

[For a moment she stays silent before letting out a shaking breath. Shyly, Youmu looks up. In all the emotion somehow it hadn't quite clicked that they were together again. She could be seen and heard and a small smile creeps onto her face]

You... You always did lack a little caution.

Heh, you and me both I guess. I don't think you'll be the only one being lectured.

[bloomnobly]

[ she still looks emotionally drained, but manages a smile ]

I hope the rod won't be too heavy. [ because who's betting they're both going to get smacked with it ]

[hakurouken]

I'm sure she would get an extra heavy one just for us.

[Something halfway between a sob and a laugh bubbles up from her throat and she shifts into a kneeling position. It's still a little hard to look Yuyuko in the eye completely but occasionally she'll catch her gaze]

I've missed you...