Welcome.

[trustfellowship]

The last thing you remember hearing is static. There were words in there, perhaps, quiet whispers like the rustling of leaves, like the crinkling of paper, like rust being scraped off a knife. The words aren't anything you'll remember, but they're there, and there are a lot of them washing over you, and it might be concerning if it weren't so warm where you're lying. You wake feeling disoriented, like you've been asleep for a long time. Of course, it's probably odd that you're waking up just now - perhaps you were in the middle of something important, perhaps you were waiting for something, or maybe you were just going about your day, but even before the whispering came you can clearly remember doing something back home. Can't you? Something else. Something that wasn't looking around the room you've found yourself in. It's not your room, either. Not the one you're used to. The room here is grey and white and tile; even if the bed is nice (and the bed is nice, it feels like it's been designed to cater just to you, maybe if you keep your eyes closed you can pretend it's a favor), the room itself is spartan and oppressing. The walls are cracked and the floors are in disrepair, but despite that there's not enough noise - it's silent, the quietness of it pressing in on you, and even if you can't see any cameras you get the distinct feeling that for good or ill, someone is watching over you as you get up. That might be enough to make you move, to make you not want to stay there. But even if you stick around for a while to look around in there, the walls hold firm despite their decrepit state and the pervasive silence isn't going away - if anyone's in the rooms near you, you can't hear them. If you want answers, you're going to have to leave. Be sure you grab the key sitting on your desk on the way out. Once you step out of the room into the hallway you'll most likely find yourself face-to-face with other confused people who feel as though they don't belong here either. Maybe you'll find something if you explore together; maybe it's safer in numbers. Wherever you end up going - and there are several places to go - you might want to check the large room toward the center of the communal area of the building. A subdivided foyer is here; at first glance, it even seems to offer you a look at the outside. Of course, once you've gotten over that particular disappointment, you might want to check out the walls, where you'll find some very interesting information about yourselves hanging on the walls. There's some other framed information that you'll most likely want to get a look at as well, seeing as how it could be the key to escaping this place. Although, speaking of keys... Despite your best efforts, you won't find any doors. The windows you find here and there are far more durable than they should be as well, and any attempts to break out won't work. It seems you're stuck here for the time being. Maybe your fellow captives have some thoughts on all of this. Welcome to Beacon General Hospital.

Comments

profiles

[nachetanya]

Yes, I think so.

[ The one-armed woman in bunny armor answers with a slight frown. She herself has been going to study the profiles for a second time now, to go over them again and commit them more to memory. Answers...?

Yes, answers. ]

[halleberry]

[ While it would normally be in poor taste to ask (and she certainly has quite a few questions here, between the arm and the armor, and the princess and saint bit...aren't you supposed to be dead before you become canonized as a saint?), that wound seems...a bit more fresh than one would expect...still, it's clearly been healing for longer than one night, or even a couple of nights, so it most likely wasn't caused by their captor.

Still, to kidnap someone with one arm like this... ]

Would you mind answering a few questions about yourself for me? It won't be anything too personal, I assure you...

[nachetanya]

[ Actually it did happen the day before but she had super healing at the time so it has healed more than it should ]

No, I wouldn't mind, if you think it will help us get answers.

[halleberry]

[ Perhaps she's going to help fill our vampire quota? ]

I certainly don't think it would hurt. It may lead to us finding some kind of connection between the thirty of us...and, if not, there's no harm in at least trying, right?

[ At least she seems a bit chipper about it-- ]

First of all...er, actually, let me introduce myself. My name is Tsubasa Hanekawa. Please take care of me.

[ Even though her name is right there on the wall, it'd be improper to ask anything without at least giving a formal introduction. ]

Secondly...

[ What...is all this, she wants to ask, in reference to her armor, but she holds her tongue, because it'll probably come up at some point-- ]

Would you mind telling me where you're from?

[nachetanya]

[ WHO KNOWS ]

I'll do my best to look after you, Mr. Hanekawa. I'm Nachetanya Loei Piena Augustra.

[ She'll even part-curtsy. As best you can with one arm. She nods, and then... ] I'm from Piena. Though I last remember being in Gwinvale, more to the west.

[ And honestly, that should, in her world, answer something or another. ]

[halleberry]

[ Mi...ster.....???? Note to self, maybe try those twintails after all-- ]

Will Augustra-san be alright, then? Forgive me, I'm not quite familiar with either of those places, so I'm not very sure of the proper customs...

[ At least one of them here is, most certainly a long way from Japan. ]

[nachetanya]

[ She hums... and...!! ]

You don't know Piena... Well, then, I actually have two questions for you! First, could you tell me if you've ever heard of the Wailing Demon Territory or the Evil God that rules it? And second... How would you prefer I call you?

[ She motions with her hand- ]

It's probably easier for you to just call me Nachetanya, isn't it?

[halleberry]

[ Amazingly enough, Tsubasa Hanekawa is completely and totally stumped here, with not even the slightest idea of what this girl is talking about, so either she's entirely talking nonsense here (a possibility?), or there's some kind of undiscovered part of the world where...this is a thing. ]

I'm afraid I have no clue what or where this Wailing Demon Territory is...and I certainly don't know its deities, though it sounds quite...

[ Sinister? Abysmal? ]

I...suppose you're right. If you're going to let me call you Nachetanya, then simply Tsubasa is fine with me.

[ Whatever makes it less of a hassle on her, even if it's not quite polite, especially to refer to royalty like that-- ]

[nachetanya]

Then I'll call you Tsubasa... [ She clicks her tongue, her one arm going up to run her finger over to the other girl's profile. A student, and the same as as her. Based on the likes and dislikes, a very diligent student at that. ] But wow, this is very strange! It's impossible for anyone in the known to humankind to have not heard of the Evil God! Which means, if your'e a human, you're from an entirely different continent, or a place unknown to all of us.

[ She laughs at this, turning her head - ]

Isn't that strange?

[halleberry]

Well, I can assure you, I'm absolutely a human being. There's no doubt about that.

[ After her Spring Break, she certainly has more than enough experience with apparitions to say that much with confidence. There's no way she could be capable of the kind of things they do...

She catches herself hanging on those words, though, until Nachetanya's laugh snaps her out of it. And she can't help but smile, right back, because this is absolutely interesting... ]

I most certainly agree! Of course, that's not to say that we don't have gods that are connected with evil, of a sort. Amatsu-Mikaboshi, for example, is an ancient Shinto god associated with chaos and the stars...

[ But to get back on topic-- ]

What continent would that be? It's certainly not Asia, I would imagine...it's certainly fascinating, though, for neither of us to have any knowledge of each other's people. If only we had a globe, I would ask you to locate it...

[nachetanya]

[ No doubt about that... Huh. Well, whatever, Nachetanya shakes her head, ] Have any of them tried to end the world?

[ She's actually genuinely curious about that. Either way, ]

Piena, my county, could be said to control all the known lands. But I don't believe the continent has a particular name! After all, it's not as if, aside from the Wailing Demon Territory, we know of anywhere else beyond the sea.

[halleberry]

Not quite out of malice or anything like that. I recall one story in particular about the sun goddess, Amaterasu...She once went into hiding after her brother, Susanooh, god of the storms, played a particularly nasty practical joke on her. She decided to hide in a cave out of anger, and plunge the world into darkness, letting evil things rise up in the night...she didn't want to shine upon a world where her brother would give her flayed horses as tributes and ruin her crops. The other gods did lure her out, though; they had this big meeting, and decided to trick her by planting a beautiful tree covered in jewels and a blessed mirror outside her cave. And when she peeked out of the cave to see the tree and her reflection, they yanked her right outside and made her shine above the world again. It's a bit of a silly story, but...

[ It's been passed down for quite some time. ]

If they have control over so much land, though, it's a wonder that we haven't heard of it...

[nachetanya]

[ Oh wow!! ]

Oh my, what a story! I've never heard it, but that's fascinating, to think that the gods might be that petty and lunge out like that. The gods I know of are sometimes random, but they often know best.

[halleberry]

Well, Susanooh was always a bit of an impulsive troublemaker! He was born from the snot of Izanagi's nose, and his personality sort of matches, in all fairness. It's quite hard to blame poor Amaterasu for deciding one day that she'd had enough...though, after that incident, he was thrown out of Heaven, and sort of redeemed himself by slaying a dragon. So he did turn out to have a soft side, after all, in spite of his rough spirit...

[nachetanya]

[ . . . Snot? Really? She laughs again, going to clap, only to realize before she raises her arm - oh, right. She lowers it, but, ]

Amazing! I wonder what sort of saint Susanooh would produce!

[halleberry]

Ah, I had actually been meaning to ask about that! A saint where you're from must be quite different from our traditional definition of a saint. If it's not too much trouble, would you mind explaining?

[ A story for a story. It's only fair, isn't it? ]

[nachetanya]

Not at all. It's fairly simple.

[ And...

Well, it would be, if not for the fact that as Nachetanya raises her hand, she frowns at the results, looks around, and then presses on... ]

Saints are women who have been chosen by the gods to inherit some of their power and use it in the mortal world. There are dozens of different saints, each relating to a different god, and thus with different powers. Actually, seventy-eight in al, organized under All Heavens Temple. I'm the Saint of Blades.

[halleberry]

Oh, I see! So every God has a chosen emissary, of sorts, to act on their behalf...

[ Huh. That is surprisingly straightforward; she imagines the process is rather selective, though. Seventy-eight "chosen ones", huh...

Her previous motion, though... ]

But...does that mean that your power isn't working here, for some reason? Are there limitations?

[nachetanya]

... Maybe.

[ Her expression is almost, almost pouting. She shakes her head. ] I awoke with my armor on, but my rapier wasn't around at all. I've rarely had to use my abilities without a sword to focus them through. But for nothing to happen...

[ ... Her frown deepens. ]

They might not be working.

[halleberry]

...Well, that doesn't quite bode well for us.

[ Could this place be more complicated than they had initially thought? For it to dampen someone's supernatural abilities...if that's the case, would even a vampire like Heartunderblade be able to act here? It's hard to imagine something much more powerful than that, having witnessed it firsthand...

Perhaps there's some kind of oddity that nullifies people's abilities like that, or something of the sort? If only she had the chance to do more research... ]

Has...that ever happened to you, before?

[nachetanya]

[ she considers... and ... after a long moment: ]

The powers of a saint weaken from using them too much, but I don't feel the exhaustion I should have to feel to produce nothing at all. [ She paces over closer to the profiles again, running a hand along them. Tgurneu- hmm ] I've never experienced it outside of that, but I know it's possible to cancel them out with certain other abilities. For example, if I made a promise to the Saint of Words that I could never use my powers again, then that could prevent me.

[halleberry]

So we may be dealing with someone who's capable of using an ability on that level...

[ It sounds a bit frightening, in all honesty. For the first time all conversation, she lets worry show on her face, though the expression is brief. ]

I think we need to do a bit more of an investigation into this, if possible. There must be some way we can determine our captor's identity...

[nachetanya]

[ They got a little off topic, but now looking at Tsubasa;s profile again- ]

We're allowed to by rule number four, after all!

[ A hum, ]

Was anything missing or taken from you, Tsubasa?

[halleberry]

I intend to make full use of that rule, if nothing else.

[ Her expression goes back to an optimistic smile at that, at the very least! It almost sounds like a challenge, when this "Transmitter" puts it that way. ]

Other than my phone, though, and my schoolbag, nothing that I would normally have on me is missing. I have my glasses, and my uniform, and that's more or less all I need.

[nachetanya]

I see. [ Hmm. Tap once more, and then she faces her properly again. ] I was missing both my arm and my rapier, so I wondered if other people might have similar problems. that's fortunate that you didn't, though...