chroma | WEEK SEVEN: ENDGAME

ENDGAME

Sunday morning starts peacefully enough. After the events of yesterday, it was probably a relief to go about your evenings, reveling in the presences of your friends and loved ones, grateful to be alive and well. Everything is quiet until around noon when alarms start going off on your phones. It’s a gentler sound than the noise that once alerted you to the executions to take place on Sundays. You can always ignore it until 1 PM, but then you’ll blink and find yourself back in the Central Node once again.

The color in the node seems a little brighter as the archway where the Tree once stood continues to shimmer. The fog has gently blown back, revealing an opalescent area just past the entrance. It’s warm and it’s inviting, little tears in the air around it showing off different places you may know as home.

You get the feeling that perhaps, finally, the Prism has listened to your wants and desires. Nothing is forcing you out right away, though nothing is making you stay either. The clock from the Tree continues to tick, counting down to twenty-four hours from now.

The Prism isn’t what it used to be, though all of the nodes have reverted to somewhat pleasant locations albeit drab. Take a tour of places you haven’t seen before, or say goodbye to the places you grew fond of in your time here.

Take your time to say goodbye. There's nothing stopping you from going to someone else's world - but you'll find you need to be careful. The Prism is a delicate thing, constantly in need of balance. You'll need to maintain it, if you're going to use it to go from place to place. All it takes is color - something strong, both positive and negative. When you come through to visit other worlds, you have to offer something that you have faced from home, big or small. A good day, the happy vibes from a birthday party, the sad vibes from a funeral, the pain of an injury. Coordinate, and take care of the space you have cultivated. It's your responsibility now to make sure the Prism doesn't try to hurt itself in its confusion.

You could even stay here if you wanted, now that the Prism’s cleaned up again. You'd slowly forget, just like the Residents did, but it'd be a long process. You could live a normal lifespan in peace.

Or don’t. So many of you are ready to return from where you once came. And that was never really the point, right? You have to face the music. It was always about taking your problems head on, and not running away.

Your phones will still work no matter where you go. You may not always be able to be together in person, but you'll always be in each other's contact lists.

As for your Residents, both current and past? It seems that Thinker, Revenge, and Scout have all vanished, their items mysteriously missing and pieces of themselves left to be regained. As for Dreamer... you don't know what happened to him.

For the living Residents, well. Fret, Rindo, Caduceus and Ei have a decision to make, too.

Make good choices, now. Balance is key.

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[fret's just sitting here, that's all. he's not quite ready to go... he's staring at the archway with a coin in his hand.

is this bitch flipping for whether he goes home or not? maybe]

Fret.

[quiet, as he takes a seat next to him.]

Emet-Selch. [he leans against emet.] ... Are you going?

...I will be, at some point. I must return to my duty, and to my people.

[he lets fret lean against him, an arm around him.]

But not yet.

(no subject)

fretbro - 2022-04-10 21:15 (UTC) - Expand

ktiseos - 2022-04-10 21:21 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-10 22:10 (UTC) - Expand

[RUNS UP FOR A TACKLEHUG]

[i love that yasusada is NOT having fret be a moody boy

he squawks and probably gets knocked down, laughing]

[LISTEN he can still be moody but!!! For now it is hug time.

It's good to hear him laugh, though, even knowing that he's got to be feeling so many complicated things.]

Are you staying a little longer?

fretbro - 2022-04-10 22:37 (UTC) - Expand

aitou - 2022-04-10 23:48 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-12 03:45 (UTC) - Expand

aitou - 2022-04-12 05:14 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-13 15:35 (UTC) - Expand

aitou - 2022-04-15 02:39 (UTC) - Expand

[ fret, your coin

anyways, Meteion will come to sit beside him, also peering at the archway. she will only gently bump against him. ]

[he has a smile for her, at least.]

Hey. You thinking about heading out?

Not yet. ..Mayhaps once Emet-Selch is ready. [ bird will likely be in trouble if she left without tbh.

she turns a bit more to him, holding her hands out.] If it's alright... I want to share your feelings. Know your thoughts.

[ let her empath, you bottled up teen ]

fretbro - 2022-04-10 22:14 (UTC) - Expand

meteion - 2022-04-10 22:28 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-10 22:36 (UTC) - Expand

meteion - 2022-04-10 23:20 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-12 03:51 (UTC) - Expand

meteion - 2022-04-12 05:44 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-13 15:42 (UTC) - Expand

[...he eventually wanders into the central node, lingering back for a moment before he approaches and softly bumps his shoulder into fret's. he doesn't quite say anything yet, but he's also looking at the archway uncertainly.]

[just gently links their arms together.]

Hey, Rindude.

[well. he allows it and steps a little closer.]

Hey. [. . .] ...weird to think we can actually leave, right?

fretbro - 2022-04-13 15:36 (UTC) - Expand

rindude - 2022-04-13 16:52 (UTC) - Expand

fretbro - 2022-04-13 16:55 (UTC) - Expand

rindude - 2022-04-13 17:01 (UTC) - Expand

[he is so valid

...jiuqing smiles a little when she spots him.]

Hey...

[a little wave.]

... Hey.

...

[looks between him and the archway]

There's a lot on your mind, huh?

fretbro - 2022-04-13 15:40 (UTC) - Expand

countermeasures - 2022-04-13 18:46 (UTC) - Expand

[Walks over and DUMPS ANOTHER FLOWERCROWN ON HIS HEAD. This time he can enjoy it instead of being a refracting melting snake creature about it.]

[he startles - and then laughs, adjusting the crown.]

Hey, Kashdude. You going home?

[TRAPPING HIM IN A ONE-ARMED HUG. It's leaving day, he gets to be mushy.]

Mm. We gotta make a report to aruji... [Him internally sweating like oh boy I do not want the Time Government to hear about this.] --After that, you still need a hand?

fretbro - 2022-04-13 15:37 (UTC) - Expand

slashay - 2022-04-15 03:42 (UTC) - Expand

[You thought you had escaped the one-sided awkwardness. But you were wrong...

She comes up beside him to stand, holding her hands together behind her back. She glances from him to the archway then back to him again.]

After you go... will you come back? If thinks work out, I mean.

[disgusting

he glances at her.]

You mean like, to the Prism?

Yeah, to the prism.

[She is watching him carefully.]

fretbro - 2022-04-13 15:38 (UTC) - Expand

[ coming over and just

putting a hand on top of his head. ruffle ruffle. ruining the 420 by tagging flurry feels right ]

Heads or tails?

[laughs god]

You know how like... when you assign something heads or tails, and then you flip, and you get tails but you really wish you'd gotten heads instead? I feel like that's going to happen.

[nervously fidgeting, here.]

In the end, that's you choosing your fate, isn't it?

[ he's got some strong feelings about fate, after all! vax glances past him for a moment, over to wherever rindo is, and then back.

the hand ruffling his hair comes down and squeezes his shoulder, lingering - and then, quieter, more reflective. ]

... always feels like you just want another moment of time.