Day 1

[mirror_mod]

The first sign is maybe different for all of you – the hard ground underneath you, the lack of a body next to you, or no blanket to pull over your shoulders when you reach for it. Either way, when you open your eyes you know for certain you aren’t in the castle.

It’s a little too quiet here, except for the sounds of people around you moving about. There is a strange, unreal quality about everything, as if were viewed through the grimy patina of an old piece of film or photograph and half-realized blurs of images and words seems to hang suspended in the air like solid smoke – there but not quite there.

The group seems to be at the edge of a dead forest, the trees dark and twisted and the ground swirling with mist. A path seems to lead into the depths, but the sky that way is cast with dark umber and hanging shadows that don’t seem terribly inviting.

Not far off, however, is a long stone bridge stretching over a chasm of nothingness and leading to what looks like a city. Far beyond the rooftops, there is the briefest glimmer of dazzling light, gone almost as soon as you see it.

((OOC: WAIT FOR SECTIONS PLEASE! Aaaaaand GO!))

WAKING UP | THE CITY

Comments

WAKING UP

[mirror_mod]

[Time to rub the sleep out of your eyes and get a look at where you are. And who it is you're stuck with, while you're at it]

[messin_with_my_zen_thing]

[Flynn's eyes slide awake and he stares at the sky for a moment. Okay. That's new. Moving slowly, he brings his hands to his sides and sits up. His eyebrows crease as he looks around, concerned. Yep. This definitely not where he fell asleep and even more concerning is the fact that it's nowhere he's seen before and he most certainly does not recall moving anywhere. And unless he's one hell of a sleep walker this is a definite problem.]

[youhavebeenflynned]

[Harry rubs his eyes as he sit up. This was most definitely not his room. He has no idea how he got here wither. He looks around and takes in the scenery. It doesn't look like Paradisa, at all. He quickly glances down on his person and notices that he's only wearing a pair of boxer shorts and a tank top. With panic in his eyes he looks around but his gun is nowhere to be found.]

Bloody heck...

[chippedcup]

[Belle wakes up suddenly, and knows she's not in her bed. For a minute, she thinks she might have gone home but no, she realizes this looks nothing like it. It all looks...wrong. And she's in her pajamas.]

...Now what has this place done?

[honorinflames]

[Zuko's sitting up fast as soon as all the wrong registers in his brain and shoves him out of sleep, and then scrambling up to his feet right after.

At first he's automatically falling into a defensive stance... but as the unreal quality of his surroundings really starts to sink in, he slowly lowers his arms until they're hanging uncertainly at his sides]

...Am I dreaming?

[cloakand_danger]

[Waking up on cold hard ground is not a completely new thing to Yuan, but generally when he does it, he's wearing more than his castle nightclothes, which consist of dark blue boxers and a black tank top. Opening his eyes produces a vision of nothing but bright blue, and he irritably brushes his hair aside as he sits up so he can get an actual look at their new surroundings.

He blinks a few times to make sure his eyes are clear - everything seems so fuzzy - and then shakes his head hard as if trying to wake up the rest of the way. Things are still blurry and weird, so he gives up trying.]

...This is bizarre even for Paradisa. Anyone seen anything like it before?

[save_the_souls]

[Allen is shirtless so you can see his mess of scars and sadly he is pretty calm when he wakes up. He's actually assuming this is still a dream since it looks pretty similar to the scenery he dreams about a lot, haha whoops. He does frown a bit in confusion when....other people are here.]

Eh...?

Re: WAKING UP

[sixguns]

[Noah awakes just as he'd been when he'd fallen asleep. On his side, one arm resting under his head. A pistol barely touches his arm, having been under the pillow (always sleep armed, kids). He's wearing only a pair of grey pajama pants. Many scars cover his chest and arms, old bullet wounds and knife blades.

[He's not pleased when he wakes up. It's not the church. Not the castle. Nowhere he's ever been before.

[Perhaps God has seen fit to send him where he belongs. But--there are others here. It has to be the city itself.

[Noah sits up and rubs his head.]

Bloody hell.

[There was nothing for it. He stood up, noted his gun out of the corner of his eye, and took it with him to take a look around.]

[ironlady]

[Caterina is awakening thanks from the cold ground. She is dressed in a long white nightgown with her hair falling loose. Quite a change from her normal appearance for anyone who knows her. Caterina adjusts her nightgown before standing up and assessing the situation. She has been in the castle too long to be afraid by the change in environment. Though the look of this is certainly troubling.]

Is everyone alright? [She asks softly as she takes in the surroundings.]

[gevurah]

[ Waking up on the floor is the last place Kate expected to be. This isn't a rooftop on the City Royale and she's not in costume when she should be. Instead, she's in a regular tank top and shorts, and she doesn't recall slipping back into those.

She's immediately vigilant and scoping out who else has been brought here. She does not look very pleased as she checks out the surrounding area. This doesn't look like the forest near the castle... ]

Now what?

[schrodingersghost]

Danny jerks awake suddenly, jumping to his feet even before his eyes finish opening. His gaze flicks around the clearing nervously, taking in the situation.

Then of course he adds up his unconsciousness and sudden change in location. And comes to a completely logical conclusion.

"Oh come on! This isn't even original anymore!"

Danny rolls his eyes and speaks aloud to the general vicinity. "Look, can we just skip to the part where I derail your evil plot, whatever it is, and kick your butt? And then get back to my real problems? This so isn't a good time for me."

Re: WAKING UP

[fredless]

[Fred rolls slightly, fingers curling around nothing as she immediately knows something is wrong. Old habits rush and tumble to life as she jerks upright, visibly willing the weight in her chest down. The one that makes it hard to breath and what air she does take in come quick and fast.

This isn't Pylea. And she's alright. For now.

Her curious gaze starts to analyze her surroundings]

Re: WAKING UP

[succubitch]

[Lilah stirs rather easily. Years at Wolfram and Hart has taught her not to be an easy sleeper, you never know who might be coming to stab you in the back.

But as she wakes up, she's quickly aware of not being in her apartment. She wasn't even dragged back to her Castle room, but someplace new.

She stands up, alert and worried. She's only wearing the nightgown she had fallen asleep in, but she's not going to worry about it for now with everything else going on.]

I suppose we were overdue for one of the Castle's pranks.

[demontobeloved]

[The first thing Cole can sense as he wakes up is his total lack of powers... And a sense of panic. He sits bolt upright.]

No powers... Can still feel...

[There was still that sense of his demonic side, but Belthazor still sleeps, and he doesn't need his strength to keep him at bay. Seems this place does more than depower...]

Thank god...

[dontpatr0nizeme]

[Let's see...

Waking up in a completely strange place, with only his pistol and his sleepwear? Check. Looks like Castle life as usual.

At least he's not alone this time?] Son of a bitch.

[He's up quickly, starting to looking around...]

[fistfullofmagic]

[The first thing Dhaos notices upon awakening is that his magic has been stripped from him. Again. He sighs irritably as he sits up. Every month in Paradisa it had happened one way or another without fail. And he'd so been looking forward to at least sleeping in his own bed for the duration of one of these events... At least he'd managed to keep his sleeping attire. Not that most people would realize it was that considering that it consists of a long sleeved shirt, pajama pants, tabi socks (all of them black), and a cloak that looks an awful lot like this one.

He surveys the area with mild interest.]

[whathedoves]

[Yuuya's first response is, naturally, flight. It was his initial reaction upon arriving in the castle, too.

As soon as he becomes aware that something is amiss, Yuuya is off the ground in an arc of feathers, bolting for height and cover (two advantages that might save anybirdie's tail long enough to keep them alive).

The forest is unwelcoming (and dark, to boot, and pigeons have terrible night vision), and being unable to hover for very long, he comes down to rest on the ground again, eyes narrowed.]

Wow, am I dead for real?

[Plenty of other people here, though.] I suppose not! [Coo . . . ] This is cheery.

[hellshaped]

[Hellboy wakes up, confused and concerned. This really isn't where he went to bed last night. It isn't a bed, for one thing.

He sits up, pauses for a moment, then stands, taking a second to brush the dirt off himself from lying on ... well, apparently a forest floor. Okay.

Obviously he doesn't sleep in his coat so he has no cigarettes to smoke, but he feels like he could really use one right about now.]

Haven't had this happen in awhile.

[catsong]

...and so the cat was late to waking up. Worried, he looks around with wide eyes, not sure what just happened or why. Then the unreal feeling registers, and Konoe's ears flatten in fear.

Devils? Was this another trick?

The panic lessens, however, when he quickly realizes that there are other people around him. Hu Mans. Not devils. In fact, he recognizes some from the castle. "Um... what is going on?"

THE CITY

[mirror_mod]

[Crossing the bridge, the buildings of the city come into the view. Up close they are dark and dingy and dilapidated looking, and no lights can be seen other than the lamps that line the main thoroughfare. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be anything else living in this city, unless you count the school of silvery fish that occasionally swim through the air overhead.

But for those who know it well enough, it almost looks like the City Royale, except for the little ways everything is just slightly off. The facades of the buildings are a patchwork of materials, the windows off-kilter and the rooflines just slightly tilted. Anything beyond the main street seems laid out in a haphazard fashion.

It's only likely to get stranger, deeper in, but where else can you go?]

[persequor]

[ Don't mind Arya being the first across. She creeps up to the closest building to peek inside the windows looking for any sign of living people.

Maybe an adult should go after her just in case an adult proves necessary. ]

[cloakand_danger]

This is...

[He shakes his head, disturbed. He's been in Paradisa long enough to know what the city's architecture looks like, but it's different here. As if it was constructed by someone who had a picture but didn't know exactly how buildings were supposed to work, and that in turn reminds him uncomfortably of some of the creatures of Paradisa and the world beyond.]

What is it playing at now?

[wolfuncaged]

[Fenris is just standing there, staring at it, with a deep frown forming on his face]

This place reminds me of the Fade. If it is anything like that... it would not be wise for us to linger here.

[chippedcup]

[Belle is in the city with the others now, walking about and looking around at everything in the place. It's actually...very unsettling, all the crooked buildings and the flying fish.]

This doesn't make me feel any better about this. If anything, this makes me feel worse than the forest.

[fredless]

[Fred's made her way across the bridge now, walking along with the rest of the group. She's keeping up, but there's no mistaking her curiosity for her surroundings. It's there as she examines the buildings. Tries to calculate some sort of map in her head. Even, at one point, tries to reach out and touch the silvery tail of a fish]

[succubitch]

[Lilah's made her way across the bridge, trying to look for something familiar, something she can gather information on. Anything, really. She's not the type to enjoy being trapped. She's already trying to wrack her brain for a way out of this mess. As she walks around, taking in the surroundings she finally does notice something familiar.

Fred.]

I see you got dragged into this mess too.