all tween heartthrobs are angsty as hell

[ourtomorrow]

A-ah......AAUGH!

[ It happens because of sunlight.

The boy had been drifting through Limbo, as he does every day - reporting to a school without any sense of how he gets there or how he returns, or even where he returns - when the sight of sunlight shifting against a wall had caught his eye. He'd paused, for the first time, reflected upon this. Sunlight means it's gotten warmer, doesn't it? And warmer means....seasons....

....wait, do seasons exist here, so then how does he know what they are

where is he going

why is he going there

what is he doing here

he's

he's

It hits him like a slap to the face, and he's running through the streets now, pushing past people (sorry), trying to make sense, for the first time, of the roads and the paths and route he's been gliding down every day without thinking, but it doesn't, and the MORE he thinks about it the more lost he gets, this isn't normal, this isn't right, and the reason it's like this is because it's....because he's....

I'm dead, the boy realizes, and that knowledge comes coupled with another thought. He doesn't know where it's come from, but only that it opens a pit in his stomach that he feels himself falling into.

I've failed. ]

I-it can't be...It can't be!

[ Someone will be hurt, if he dies - it's burned into the core he's only just realized he has, an aversion to being dead, an aversion to doing harm. To whom? He doesn't remember. Who has meaning to him? What meaning does he have to himself....?!

Oh. This stops him. And he finally falls to his knees. ]

W-who am I....?

[ Weird that a kid this bland-looking could be so dramatic. But here he be. Good luck with that. ]

Comments

[ourtomorrow]

I don't remember. I don't remember anything.

[ There's nothing. Nothing. Nothing except a vague sense there used to be something, because why else would he be so upset? He's regained the ability to have emotions, but if he doesn't know what's sparking them, how is he supposed to do anything with them? Like this he's just - what even is he?

Sad, maybe. Scared.

Guilty.

Angry he still has to feel this way, when he doesn't know why? Does he want to go back to how he had been?

--No. But he doesn't want this, either.

The boy starts to curl up into a ball, having successfully(?) thought himself into a corner. ] I have nothing.

[schardynfreude]

A-ah-- [Yep, there we go, it seems no matter what approach he tries, he fucks it up somehow. He reaches out a hand, careful on the boy's shoulders.]

Now, that surely isn't true. You may not remember who you are or your life before...

Well. Your life. [sorry bud]

But I would not say you have nothing. In fact, this seems to me a start of something new. You have potential, possibility, a chance to regain what was lost.

[ourtomorrow]

[ He starts, slightly, when he's touched, looking up in confusion. Searching, as if this man's face will mean something to him if he just stares long enough.

--That doesn't work. But. ]

I can regain things....?

[ His life?

No. No, that doesn't seem to be what this man means. ]

[schardynfreude]

Memories. Slowly, but- You may yet remember pieces of who you once were. Now that you have woken from your meandering slumber and come to realize the truth of your situation.

[ourtomorrow]

I can't reclaim my life. [ Ouch. That hurt. What is this guilt? Was there something he had to do, someone who would be sad? Being dead means he has failed. He can't escape that feeling, only....

Only what? Try to ignore it? The more he tries that, the larger it looms.

What's he supposed to do with it...

Except that's not what this man is telling him about. He turns his inner gaze to that, and he feels a little calmer. ]

But I can reclaim myself.

[schardynfreude]

[There's a good lad. Chiron smiles, small and soft, but there.] Just so.

[He pulls the hand away only to offer it to get up off the ground. If he wants it. Won't be too put off if it's declined/ignored.]

You're part of a bigger world, now, with the potential for powers and responsibilities, if you want them. You aren't alone.

[ourtomorrow]

[ The boy looks at the hand, considers it. Almost lifts his own, but hesitates. It's clearly a Him Problem that he ends up picking himself up instead.

All of these things he's being told - is he believing them because this man is trustworthy? Or because, for some reason, they're the sorts of things the boy wants to believe?

But it's something to hold onto - just like the man had said, it's something where he'd had nothing. ]

I want to know why I'm here. What I did, while I was alive. What needs to be done to atone, now that I'm dead.

Whether a future exists after death.

[ It's like - fire, almost. Something welling inside of him. A certainty, a boldness. Is this the kind of person he was? Which is him - the one who's afraid, or the one who sees a lifeline and grabs onto it with all his might, caution to the wind? Which boy is the boy he used to be?

There's only one way to learn. ]

I want this.

[schardynfreude]

[He blinks at the boldness and draws himself up to his not-as-impressive-as-Beast's height.]

Well now. That was significantly easier than others like you I've run into. Hold that thought, hm? There's someone you need to meet.

[just. give him a second to text rei FOUND ANOTHER ONE]

Rei will be able to explain things better than I can, I'm afraid, but the gist of it is...you, unlike the vast majority around us, have awakened to the realization that you are dead and in some form of afterlife. You have also, I presume, awoken with a sense of something utterly wrong inside you?

This place is created in layers. As I understand it, each layer down is a chance to atone for some sin or another. And at the very bottom are the Cogs of Renewal. A rebirth, reincarnation, for those that make it through. They are, however, stuck or broken in some way, letting all here to wallow and stagnate.

Rei has given us a choice. To exist as we are, however you see fit to spend your time, or to have power bestowed upon you in an effort to fight the wrongs of this strange place and put right the proper flow.

[ourtomorrow]

[ So no one can move on. That's....unsettling. Is that why he's so upset by his own death? Something's lingering there--

Ugh, nothing but fog in his mind. The boy frowns. He's awoken, and that means he can be granted power, thus... ]

And this "Rei" can do that?

[ He has to search. He doesn't know why, or rather, there's a whole mess of void and mist in the way, but he has to know.

Who was he? And, now -

Who is he? ]

HERE COMES A SPECIAL GIRL

[phantasmagorial]

[ She'd been in the middle of idol business rehearsal when she'd gotten Chiron's text but thankfully for everyone involved she's not dolled up in idol gear, since that's about the last thing this situation needs. When she comes charging up to them though, she's dishevelled and out of breath in a way that makes it pretty clear she ran all the way here without stopping. ]

I–I'm here! I got... your message...

[ She's... pretty winded. Give her a second to get her breath back. ]

I WANT TO SEE MY LITTLE GIRL (HERE SHE COMES)

[schardynfreude]

[Today's just full of surprises!] Goodness, my dear, you needn't have overexerted yourself! You know I could always come to you instead.

[He rubs the back of his head, which honestly doesn't make his hair any messier than it normally is.] Well. Here is your gateway to the world of being what we call an Executor, if it's truly what you wish. Just, ah, give her a moment.

Re: I WANT TO SEE MY LITTLE GIRL (HERE SHE COMES)

[ourtomorrow]

[ The boy stares at the newcomer, unsure what to make of this. She's...young, too. Is this "Rei"? And she...

Ran? Why?

He can't think of a single reason why anyone would do that. Why anyone would do that for him. ]

.....Ah.

[phantasmagorial]

[ Even as she's panting for breath, she shakes her head. ]

N–no, I had to hurry right over! It's important to get people caught up as soon as we find them. I wouldn't want anyone feeling lost any longer than they have to.

[ Okay, now she's a little more put together, they can actually proceed. ]

How much have you explained so far?

[schardynfreude]

You always put me on the spot like this, don't you?

[He casually counts off on his fingers.] Dead, awoken, wrongness, Cogs broken, can be granted power to help fight our way to fixing it. Memories that can be regained, however slowly. [Which does seem to be some form of sticking point.]

[ourtomorrow]

[ What is this? Are they...bantering?

--No, he mustn't lose focus. The boy shakes his head. He doesn't want his mind to cloud again. This is another thing of which he's certain.

When he's sure he's on-track, he turns to Rei. ]

He said there's a way I can discover who I was. And to make my crimes right.

[ Whatever they are. ]

Please grant me that.

[phantasmagorial]

Crimes...?

[ He says it with such certainty that Rei is thrown off for a moment, but then she realizes – ah. He's talking about sin. The reason any of them are here at all.

She hesitates, but only for a moment, before beginning with her usual offer. ]

I... I can't promise you you'll be able to make anything right. And the things you'll remember... they might be painful. They could hurt you badly enough that you wish you'd never remembered them at all. Is this still what you want?

[ourtomorrow]

[ His expression, if not crumples, at least wrinkles when he hears making things right might not be possible. Yet there's also some part of him that feels....like this is expected? What's done can't be undone. This is another thing, like I have things I must do, that's not in question.

As for the things he may remember....

The boy swallows. But he replies anyway. ]

Yes.

[schardynfreude]

It's a place to start, at any rate, and most of us seem to think it beats running about trying to talk to the rest of these people who don't even know they're dead.

[He gives a playful bow to Rei.] If you would do the honors, my lady.

[phantasmagorial]

[ As uncomfortable as she still might be making the offer, Rei's brisk and businesslike when it comes down to it. She lightly tugs at her sleeve to pull it back and uncover the Executor marking on her wrist. As soon as it's uncovered, it begins to glow with a pale golden light that blots out everyone's vision for a moment. There's a beat of quiet and still before the world jerks back into motion.

Contract established.

With that, you're free to claim both your freebie starter power and you also have a free Memoria Regain, and a free Idea to use as you'd like! ]

... It's done. Um... are you alright?

[ourtomorrow]

Uh.......yes.

[ From the way the boy is blinking and staring at nothing, though, he clearly is not. That had been - that had been so much. The fog had blown
away a little, and what had laid beneath it only dredged up more questions, more confusion. And he's not sure he can pick through it all, right now, so, then......

One thing to hang onto. One thing he knows. He has that. Maybe that's the start? ]

I'm....

[ Lost. Why lost? ]

...."Monarch."

[ a perfectly normal title for a grade-school child ]

[schardynfreude]

Hello, Monarch. [sure!!!] I'm Chiron.

Well. I awoke as Your Majesty, and someone decided to find a more fitting name for me, so Chiron it is.

And this, as you may have surmised, is Rei. You're one of us now.

[ourtomorrow]

Chiron-san. Rei-san.

[ He's Monarch and Chiron was "Your Majesty"...? Is there a connection, or significance? What causes these titles to arise in their minds?

He'll have to investigate. That's....that's another thing that's possible. He is an Executor. He's going to make things right. Together with these people?

...Possibly. So he bows. He's...pretty sure that's what's expected when people older than you do something for you, and he's also pretty sure both these people are older. Rei looks a little older, even if Monarch is taller. ]

I'm in your care.

[phantasmagorial]

[ The smile Rei gives in return is a little sheepish, like she's not quite sure how to handle being bowed to like that. For all the noise she makes about being the leader and being responsible, she really doesn't think she's quite the right fit to be leading these people.

But... who else could even fill in for her if she wouldn't? ]

It's good to have you with us. We all keep an eye on each other here, so there'll always be someone who has your back while you're working things out.

[ourtomorrow]

Thanks very much.

[ He...doesn't need to ask why? She gave it to him already. The Executors look out for each other. Just by being an Executor, he's....

No matter what he's done? Even if he doesn't know what he's done?

That's strange, and part of him hesitates to accept it, but there's another part of him that is encouraged. No one here fully knows what their sins are yet, do they? He's not alone.

He's not alone.

You could probably revitalize a droughted field with the pure, healing peace radiating from the smile that prompts. ]

[schardynfreude]

Rei, I do believe you could part the clouds on a rainy day just by being yourself. [Look at that smile! Rei's good at this.]

We'll have to introduce you to the rest of us, and give you some space to test out your powers, whatever they may be. And give you a crash course on the, hm, unfortunate social politics going on here, but- well, it isn't as though we lack time. [Time is a fake concept but at least Invida has some kind of day/night cycle!]