004 - Lucid Dreaming

[tabularasa_mods]

Lucid Dreaming Event Info Pt.1 ▲ Event Info Pt.2 ▼ Comments Please see the two info posts linked above for details on the nature of the event, the nightmares within, and the setting it takes place in. You may ask any unanswered questions in either post. If your character dies at any point during the dream event, please leave a comment in the death report thread to notify the mods.

As a final reminder, all characters will fall asleep for the full duration of this event whether you decide to take part or not. You may continue tagging threads that take place before the event, but everyone will fall asleep simultaneously.

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Falling Asleep, Waking Up
The shift happens without warning, much like the first time people appeared in the world. Perhaps you remember what you were doing in the last moments before a strange feeling of exhaustion overwhelmed you - or perhaps you remember nothing at all. Whatever it may be, you've appeared somewhere new. A seemingly ordinary train station, if not for the bizarre walls of flesh blocking the only exits. The only path forward is down into the pulsating depths, a humid breeze pushing at your back.

There may be others here with you, or you may be alone. Could there be more people trapped in this strange place? You won't find them just by standing around.

Nightmares
The screeching of a distant train will echo through the tunnels on occasion, shadows flicking through the translucent flesh of the walls. Sometimes, however, instead of fading away the noise will only grow louder, closer, until it sounds like the train should be upon you. It never appears, but something else always will.

The train is a siren call for nightmares, and you're unfortunate enough to be their victim. The shadows turn alive, twisting and growing as they rise up from the ground and begin to transform. What form they take varies, but the shadows of the mind know the true fears of those who walk among them. Are you prepared to face the darkness?

Volcanic Panic

The shadows congeal at the edges of the floor, and soon after a hot orange glow begins to fill the room - molten lava is pooling in from the other end of the tunnel. It rolls slowly forward, devouring everything it touches with an unquenchable searing hunger, leaving behind only the charred bones of its victims... although, strangely, the tunnels themselves appear to be completely unharmed.

Outrunning the flow of lava shouldn't be a problem, but there seems to be no end to it. How long can you run from something that never stops? Or worse, what happens if you find yourself surrounded? You'll need to find a way to higher ground before that happens.

A Radiant Plague

The shadows rise up into familiar shapes, and at first glance it'd be easy to mistake them for people. They may even share the faces and voices of people you know, stumbling towards you with wide, open arms... and empty, glowing eyes filled with an orange light. Something smells sickly sweet, and it's only once they're close enough to grab you that they begin to attack.

These are not your friends, and they'll do whatever it takes to make you one of them instead. Unfortunately, it's not an experience you'll be able to survive. Your only hope is to fight back before the plague can take hold, lest you become another mindless husk that knows only to further spread the infection.

Trust No One, Not Even Yourself

The shadows stretch and fill the air, choking everything in a thick blanket of darkness... before dispersing just as quickly as they'd appeared. A few moments pass and nothing else seems to be happening. You must've gotten lucky this time!

... Or did you?

Surely it can't be that simple. Nothing else here has been, so something must have happened just now. It's only you and the person you're currently traveling with... but are you sure that's really them right now? How do you know they haven't been possessed by another nightmare, waiting until you let your guard down to stab you in the back? Should you interrogate them to be sure, or start with restraining them and ask questions later? Wouldn't it be better to just kill them before things get out of hand? The sooner you strike, the safer you'll be when their true form emerges.

Yes, that must be the real explanation. It has to be them that's been possessed by a nightmare. What else could it be?

Joker’s Wild

There’s no limit to what form the shadows can take. The world may have its own perception of fear, but your nightmares are something only you could understand. What darkness lurks in the depths of your heart?

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code bases by tricklet

Comments

[anciently]

[ Her jaw tightens in disagreement, but she doesn't voice it...yet. ]

It means we're free to choose our own path. Not one that's been walked before.

[ Maybe Zack could survive, now. Maybe she could, too. ]

Just because things are different doesn't mean you have a chance. We'll beat you every time, Sephiroth. One way or another.

[sefirot]

You cannot defeat me no matter how hard you try.

[Cloud can and Sephiroth is far too obsessed to deny it. He'd actually fully agree that he can and will probably defeat him every time, but that's just another indication of the depths his mind has ended up now.]

But you are still also in denial of the possibility. Fate could still shift in my favor. Then again I'm not sure why I'd want to give up all those moments as it would take away what belongs to me.

[One day maybe he'll realize Cloud does not belong to him but that's not going to happen any time soon.]

[anciently]

[ She doesn't acknowledge the first part; surely neither of them are picturing Aerith herself taking up arms against Sephiroth on her own. ]

Maybe it could, but I don't think so. Either way, you won't be there. You're not the same Sephiroth we left behind.

[ Crucially, she thinks. This one doesn't seem to be exactly the same as the one who'd found his way into their Midgar.

He could become 'that Sephiroth,' but... ]

We can't do anything about it now, anyway. We're all stuck here. It's out of our hands.

[ At the moment... ]

[sefirot]

Perhaps not. But you also aren't certain of that, are you? We don't know what will happen. The fact that I am here, and not just a fading memory of my time says one of three things.

[Is this conversation even relevant at the moment? Maybe. The more he knows about their timeline the more he might be able to change things for himself.

When he gets back.]

Time has not caught up with the future. Or perhaps you fail all together. ... Or the timeline split all together. For me, you're still dead.

Now I suppose a fourth option could be in effect. This place --

[He gestures slightly at their surroundings.]

Could be out of the bounds of time all together and no effects will be felt until we return. Which leads to another hypothesis ... would killing you here effect time there? Curious isn't it?

[anciently]

Doubt it. [ Comes the crisp reply, though whether she's saying it because she means it, or because she doesn't want to die, is another story. ] I'm not even sure anyone can be killed here.

[ Not that she wants to find out. As such, she'll be covertly looking for a way out of the tunnels that doesn't cross his path, because this conversation...isn't especially pleasant. ]

Maybe you should stop hypothesizing and start trying to find a way out of these tunnels, first.