WEEK 6 DAY 1

[wonderful_mods]

[A few hours pass since everyone has arrived in the ruined Shibuya, and during that time everything was deathly still. With dark buildings and no phone service, they may even have thought they had been abandoned in this place. But now, anyone standing in the Scramble Crossing will see it - light sputtering to life in a few key windows, shutting off, and appearing in a different place. Even the huge overlooking TV screen lights up with static for a brief moment before everything goes dark again... and then finally, a few very dim lights stay on, and the phones come online. It seems that somewhere, the Composer has been trying to revive the city with their own power.

After that, everyone receives a mysteriously passive-aggressive message:]

"The Reaper's Game is cancelled. Do whatever the hell you want."

[No signature.]

Comments

Scramble Crossing

[wonderful_mods]

[the pavement of the Scramble is cracked through in several places. It's incredibly eerie to walk through - one might think that's because of the lack of crowds the Scramble is famous for creating an unsettling contrast. Or perhaps it's because the dormant Soul is particularly dense here, as though one crowd had never left at all.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[Zecora has taken up a silent vigil here, sitting in the center of the Scramble with her eyes shut and every ounce of her being attuned to the dormant Soul. What she hopes to accomplish, only she knows.]

[wonderful_mods]

[Meditating can do wonders for one's sensitivity to the world around them, can't it? Who can say if her plan is working, but Zecora may come to notice a torn piece of paper beneath some of the rubble. Upon closer inspection, it seems to be a journal entry. A lot of the ink has smudged and the paper is rotten at the top. Still, much of it can be read.]

Something really weird is happening. ----- I know----
One by one ---- like they were possessed ----
---- countless wrongs of our------ true redemption----
What a wonderful world such would be." ----can it be? It feels more like hell---
------mean it's the 'rapture'? Then why am I------ can't accept this --- figure it out!
Until then ------ all in this journal. I think as long as I remember words to write, I can stay sane.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

[After reading this a few times to commit it to memory, Zecora tucks it away inside her cloak. It raises questions, and yet the answer seems obvious -- somehow, something horrible happened. Perhaps remembering words is the key...]

if this isn't cool just tell me! c:

[needsmorezippers]

[Neku's still in shock from their surroundings... so much so that for the first time in a very long while, he doesn't know what to do with himself. On the one hand, they really needed to explore and see if they could find anything, but that's easier said than done. For him, anyway.

The Crossing's about as far as he gets before sitting on the ground with his head in his hands.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

You look wrought with misery and despair.

[Zecora speaks long before she's close enough to alarm him otherwise. Here in this deserted city, she doesn't want to startle anyone.]

Is it the state of this place, or the feel in the air?

[needsmorezippers]

[It still startles him a little- but he's not very good at paying attention right now.]

Hi, Zecora. [He sighs, messing with his hair and trying to think rather than just be depressed.] Kind of... both. [He pauses, and then elaborates.] This is where I'm from. Or... some version of where I'm from.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

Then I've found something you must see.

[She tugs the note back out of her cloak with her teeth, then offers it to him.]

Read it, then give your thoughts to me.

[needsmorezippers]

[Neku frowns, taking the piece of paper and scanning over it. His eyes stop dead (no pun intended) in the middle of the page, before he goes back and rereads it to make sure he's got it right.]

...Damn it.

[yup. that pretty much sums up his thoughts right now.]

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

...I suppose my request has not been failed
But I was hoping for something more detailed.

aka neku still doesn't know he was an important plot point

[needsmorezippers]

...Yea. Sorry.

[Neku sighs, reaching up to mess with his hair again, so forcefully this time that it ends up even more of a mess than usual.] I... think I know what happened here, but I'm not sure how. ...Joshua would have a better guess.

[zebrarhyme_everytime]

I know he knows more than he's told.
Can you persuade him to guess at what might unfold?