[OPEN] For Want Of Some Ruby Slippers

[atypical_echo]

Who: Mark Bryant atypical_echo, Sephiroth unkindled_madness, Open
What: Getting Lost In The Multiverse
When: August 12th through 17th
Where: The Multiverse (each starter has a link to information)
Content Warnings: If needed


I. Surely I'm Only Dreaming| Open | Premise & Setting

There he'd been, minding his own business as he worked at the small table in his new shitty apartment, flipping through photos to review his final image selections for the disastrous wedding contract. And then...

And then he had awoken in a park, out of nowhere. A beautiful park with fountains and staircases and so much he didn't really know what to do with. A woman with vividly crimson hair and a gentle smile talked and talked and Mark was just in too much shock to listen, even when a small man (was that a literal hobbit?) had rushed up, handed him a gray satchel, and left. In it, keys, a tiny bit of money, and a flip phone.

"Okay, but who even uses a flip phone these days?"

Well, it's not the first random place he's been dropped in, so he supposed he could do his best and keep going. So Mark started walking. And soon had to jump out of the way of a giant fucking bird that someone was riding.

"Someone pinch me. I think I'm sleeping."

II. Unda' Tha Sea! | Open (CW: Panic Attack) | Premise FAQ

It had taken him days in that last mess of a place to find the break in space-time. Of course Mark hadn't been looking for it. But it had called and with the shivering sense of right calling to him, and Mark had gone toward it. Which was why he had awoken in a strange bunk bed in a strange place. An abandoned seeming place, for there was no sign of residents in the strangely rounded dorm.

Of course, Mark had then come outside and... Well, he'd made the mistake of looking up. Looking up high above where there was a shine where the sky should have been. Glass. Distant glass. A dome. And...

"Oh fuck," he gasped as he looked upward. "Am I...?"

Underwater. He was trapped in some fucking dome underwater? In a panic, Mark found himself running forward, finding a glass tunnel. Through there, another dome, this one looking like a central square with a market. Or what would have been a market if anyone were around. Instead it was... empty. There were lights, there was air, there were even a few trees growing up in places that were clearly meant for him. But otherwise.

"No," he said, already starting to hyperventilate. "No. No no no no no."

He was panicking, shaking, his heart racing like it was going to beat right out of his chest. No.

"Please, I can't be alone. I can't. Please," he said, his voice raising to a shout, "is someone out there!?"

III. Let's Go To The Mall | Closed to Sephiroth

He just wanted to go home. Was that so wrong? Perhaps it was, because here Mark is, slamming at the doors of the food court, trying to get out. Which, of course, he couldn't. Ever since the latest portal had dropped him here, he'd been stranded. Which had been almost eight hours now.

"Let me out!" he shouted, still slamming his fists against the door. "Oh come the fuck on. I don't even like malls! The chairs in the food court are sticky! The fashion is from the nineties. I look horrible in grunge styles!"

There were people staring at him, of course, from the different food stalls. Mark didn't care.

"I swear to fuck, there is less interesting happening here than in Regency Britain!"

Comments

[atypical_echo]

The point of looking good is that he could elevate Mark's art, and get him more work?

"Alright. Lead on, Sephiroth."

[unkindled_madness]

It's the arcade he doesn't understand. But that, too.

He heads for the nearest stairs down, because he doesn't trust the escalators. They'll pass the Spicy Subject on the way to the arcade, and yes, he bought his gloves there.

[atypical_echo]

Oh, well that's silly. And just Mark's thoughts.

"Wait, why aren't we using the escalators," Mark asked as he raced after Sephiroth to the stairs. This is the worst.

[unkindled_madness]

"Some of them are cursed," is the explanation that Sephiroth will provide. Sure, it's probably only the ones into the parking garage that are cursed, but let's not take any chances.

[atypical_echo]

"Cursed? Wait, are curses real too? Fuck, there are gods and curses?"

He doesn't like any of that. At all.

[unkindled_madness]

"I don't know why curses surprise you when your body has the ability to mimic abilities based simply on proximity to another being."

[atypical_echo]

"Yeah, that's just an Atypical thing. I literally knew," and maybe sorta loved, "a guy that could force his desires on others. If he wanted, he could make you want too."

[unkindled_madness]

Sephiroth grimaces at that. "That sounds not unlike a curse, to me."

[atypical_echo]

"I suppose it could be," Mark admitted, his voice dropping away. This...

"I'm sorry. It makes me uncomfortable to talk about. I shouldn't have brought it up. I hope you can forgive me that, and let me drop it. I made a mistake."

[unkindled_madness]

Sephiroth eyes him. Forgive him? For electing not to talk about something?

"There's no need to be so formal. It makes no difference to me whether you speak of it or not."

[atypical_echo]

People like to pry, a lot.

"Huh. Guess I'm used to people being super nosy."

[unkindled_madness]

"I don't care to pry into things that don't concern me."

[atypical_echo]

Huh.

"You might be a better person than some I know."

[unkindled_madness]

That makes him laugh.

"You may not wish to base your assessment on my lack of interest."

[atypical_echo]

"Nah man. You respect privacy. So much of the world doesn't. HEll, so much of the Meta people, and the people who care about Metas don't respect that. It's a mess."

[unkindled_madness]

"It's one of the reasons I've chosen to remain unaffiliated," he remarks. If the guilds are monitoring him anyway... at least he didn't sign on to make it easier for them.

[atypical_echo]

"Me too. I don't... I don't want to be a hero. You know? I just want to live my life and go home," he says with a sigh. "I don't get people who want to be heroes."

[unkindled_madness]

"I suppose some see it as an expression of compassion," Sephiroth reasons, "but I think they imagine the experience will be different than it is."

[atypical_echo]

"It strikes me as fucking prying," Mark sighs, shaking his head. "And they don't seem to like us much."

[unkindled_madness]

Sephiroth tilts his head. Heroism is prying? And who doesn't like them?

"Do you mean the guilds or the people meant to perceive us as heroes?"

[atypical_echo]

"Honestly? Yes. Both of them. Geez. Holy fuck geez. They don't need to know what I'm doing if I'm not making a mess, right?"

And a mess would be a thing that describes what happens to people.

[unkindled_madness]

"...on that we're in agreement."

He did not expect to start sharing opinions with this panicky weirdo.

"Frankly, I think even most messes are none of their concern."

[atypical_echo]

"I mean, I can respect the idea that people should have repercussions for their powers if they're helping others. But fuck."

It's all just a very strange mess, isn't it? But he sighs.

"How much further? Damn, this mall seems a bit too large."

[unkindled_madness]

"Are there not laws already?"

Why should they need an entirely separate set of rules?

"It's just up here. The size was... welcome, when spending so much time here."

[atypical_echo]

"There are, but... Well, people that aren't going to follow the law already aren't going to follow the laws. And so they make rules so they can get the ones that would follow rules and could stop the ones that won't. Basically, they make these rules not to be fair, but to give themselves weapons, while making those of us they can't leash into second class citizens."

ANd Mark hates that. So damn much.

"Wait, how long were you here?"