yogen | may missions

[ Simple is best, puppets and dolls and eyes that watch their every movement. It makes Ranger's skin crawl. He wants to bash in the heads of each and every one, tear them off the walls and ceiling and crush them underfoot for the sake of not having to look at those lifeless gazes anymore. But that would be a waste of time at best and a danger to their well being at worst, and so despite the way his fingers curl at his side he keeps himself in check. He flips to the ice cream cone card now, carrying his set and hiding his face behind them even now. ]

Yeah, well, it's gotta compensate for the creepy factor somehow. Who do you think decided to start a doll collection and lock 'em all up?

[ Not that it matters. It seems unlikely that anyone did, really, as this entire place seems far too off for that to be the case. It's like an amalgamation of different themes and ideas, none of which fit together as nicely as he'd like. Still, it does seem straightforward enough. ]

Sure, sure... Let's fix father time. Maybe it's practice for fixing the big guy.

[ Since the clock tower itself has come to a sudden halt. ]

[ The clock does have hands! It might be difficult to tell from where they currently stand, but the hands appear to have stopped just after midnight. Fortunately, this room does seem to be free of any immediate danger, and so no floating head will pop out at them. ]

Ahaha. As cliche as it is, a person might say these are here to house lost souls.

[ the souls as they know it would return to the wisteria and be reborn after a few months still applies doesn't it? what about those who have only appeared once, never to return? that would mean they still rest within the tree even now. what about before the tree came into existence when it was but a sprout, what housed souls then...? midori could think of millions upon millions of theories, but they won't know unless they check what's in the room. at least there's no danger, and he's confident enough to cross the distance between father time with ranger alongside him.

once they meet face to face, he notes the whiskers, he appears pleased that something is wrong, it would have been tedious if it was perfectly working. ]

A winding key could set this back in motion! Disassembling doesn't sound too out of the ordinary, if we remove the hood first, we can see the mechanism of how it ticks!

[ with that said, he's already lifting up one hand to grab at the hood, wiggling it from left to right to see if it'll even want to come off. most grandfather clocks around this area feels sticky as if it doesn't want to come off, but it takes a bit of hand movement to be successful. ]

[ The tiles that take up the center half of the room are large enough to step on comfortably while still leaving space on all sides, perhaps the size of a large safety step, and as the pair continues along to the other side they'll find that some of the steps depress as they step on them. There's no sound or indication that this does anything at all, but it might be a bit distracting to suddenly feel one's foot sinking into the floor before they lift it to take the next step.

This happens five times before reaching the end. Nothing has happened so far, aside from the creeping feeling of being watched intensifying to the point of being suffocating, but there's only one way to find out what happens at six or more.

It's a beautiful mahogany clock, one which comes complete with a moon phase dial, and the hood will come open with a little wiggling. A closer inspection will reveal that there are three holes that a winding key might be stuck in. Looking down, it does seem that it hasn't been wound in some time, as all three weights have sunk to the bottom. Unfortunately, none of the keys they collected before are a winding key, so they'll have to figure something else out. ]

[ Sous, huh...? If he understands right, this world is older than the counselor and those who came to colonize it. They made it into a world in which souls could live and thrive freely, rather than the other way around, and there was even a class before them. He can't discredit the idea that this slice of the world has more to it than they know of for places to be sealed off and hidden away like this, including the counselor's apparent anxiety about letting them into the forest.

The feeling of being watched is unsettling, and he's not a fan of the way some of the tiles had depressed either - that reminds him of the gimmicks they might have added to some of the attractions. It makes the room feel suffocating, and he fidgets a little as he inspects the clock and tries to piece everything together. It still feels like they're missing something important. If the bastard weren't so cagey they probably wouldn't be here. ]

Hmm.. None of the keys we found were winding keys though. You think it's hiding somewhere else?

Probably so.

[ and that's a shame that none of these keys work, there was a key lodged inside the one clock but that wasn't coming out no matter how much he pulled it. that key might not even work for the grandfather clock before them, so they'll have to find another way to adjust the time. placing the hood back, he spins the keys around his index finger before accepting them as useless before slipping them into his pocket. there's a vibration at that moment which he pulls out his pda instead, reading what's written, and slips it back where he got that as well. ]

Miss Bonnie will tell us if she finds anything in the décor.

[ who knows, maybe she'll stumble upon what they need.

which admits that she's not going to stick around for the fight, and that's for dito to handle since he's thrilled from it. though, it seems none of them are truly alone at this moment. between the monster outside, and the lingering sensation of eyes watching them, it's not enough to spike midori's paranoia. instead, he thrives off the attention, it's only a shame that they don't know where they're being watched from and that stepping on the wrong tiles (or maybe the right...?) had something to do with it.

once again, he scans the tiles, looking at which colors had sunk in, and what others nearby keep the shape of a normal floor. ]

The rest of this room can't be ignored. [ because it's focused on them, unsettling as it is. midori's normally the person who keeps his eye on everything and everyone. ] There's a life-sized doll on both sides, we can split and check for clues. If they mirror one another, or if they're familiar.

[ wouldn't it be funny, but probably not. either way, they'll have to inspect them since the clock has nothing for them at the moment. ]

The floor, however...

Edited (WAIT MY MIND LAGGED) 2022-05-28 21:47 (UTC)

You noticed it too, huh? This entire place seems to have been designed to keep people out of it, so I dunno if I like it. See anything unusual about them?

[ Though it's possible that finding the right ones was part of the puzzle and they were instead a switch meant to unlock something. But he doesn't like that explanation enough to experiment and see what happens without first trying other avenues. He doesn't need to ask if Hiyori agrees when they're both too cautious to act without reason.

That said, their group is growing pretty divided at this point. Ranger's not sure if he likes that, but there's nothing they can do about it. There's too many pieces to this puzzle for them all to stay together, but he had at least thought that somebody would stick around to help Dito... Oh well. That just means he gets to keep whatever rewards one gets for defeating a horrific monster like that to himself. Maybe that's fine when the only reward will probably be blood and guts.

Putting those matters aside, Ranger sets about with his own task of examining the left side of the room. He starts with the life sized dolls, checking pockets and other places to see if there's anything hidden on their person. When he looks to the one across from it, there doesn't seem to be any major differences between them. It almost makes him wonder if they're just there for the atmosphere, but while he's at it he'll give the face a closer look. ]

[ The Ultimate Lucky Student would be delighted to come across this room because at a glance there is no discernible difference between the tiles that are pressed down and those which aren't. Unfortunately, neither Hiyori or Ranger have his luck, so careful examination is the best they can do. From examining the five tiles that sink when stepped on, he'll be able to see that after raising back up, they are very, very slightly lower than the solid tiles beside them.

The doll that Ranger inspects is a male wearing a black robe over their normal school uniform with his hands bonding in front of him. The doll is slightly warm to the touch, as though it had been left to bake in the sun for the time, but aside from that it seems to be a fairly normal doll. The only objects of interest on its person are the compass pocket watch and camera in his pocket. The camera looks to be quite old, the type that requires processing the pictures taken in a dark room. There are no photographs to accompany it. ]

[ they could solely just be decoration, but migrating to the opposite side of ranger means that midori's glancing at the life-sized doll before him to see what stands out. it's difficult to tell if that doing anything to these dolls will cause the room to come off even more uncomfortable with the set of eyes watching over them, and his next thought is to check the eyes against the wall to see if any of them are moving. in most horror scenarios, that's normally the unnerving gaze that follows a person as they're wandering through a room with no idea of what to do or where to go (but he wouldn't admit to that). he has to figure out what to do next, so he crouches down to inspect under the seat while keeping a hand on the arm rest of the chair that the doll is sitting on. ]

Hiding keys and other foreign objects would normally be inside the body, it'd take only so many cuts to get through the flesh and retrieve it... ♪

[ if the doll before him was real, yet he knows better than to keep his guard down around as his eyes glance up from time to time to make sure it hasn't moved. ]

[ The warmth is certainly odd, but there's nothing to suggest that the doll is organic in nature. The weight alone is enough to tell him that. He turns the camera over in his hand, looking through the lens and finding nothing of interest to be seen through it save the dolls ahead of them. ]

Why don't you try shaking it and see if anything rattles around in there? Anyway, it'd be easier to just bust it open.

[ It wouldn't be that much of an issue to cut through, but it's faster to just bash a hollow object. It saves time, and they can just pluck out anything out of the shattered pieces that are left behind. Looking at the figure before him, he's sorely tempted to do that. It's not the best idea, as if the dolls here are sentient (unlikely, but it's hard to discount the possibility given their background) they probably won't appreciate one off their own being "murdered." The temptation remains though, and his stare is burning a hole in the one on his side. ]

... Do you wanna hold onto this? Might be useful later.

[ The camera, that is. ]

Edited 2022-05-30 03:03 (UTC)

[ It's difficult to say if the eyes are watching him. They're nothing but pure white orbs. They should be both unblinking and unseeing, and yet who can say for sure? The dolls' gaze remains upon them, watching every movement. The doll in the seat doesn't move, or at least it doesn't seem like it.

It's harder to say with the dolls hidden in the back of the room. The pair will think they seem small flickers of movements out of the corner of their eye, always just on the edge of their peripheral vision, but when they look they'll find the dolls to be exactly where they were before. Regardless, beneath the seat is an empty space, though if Hiyori touches the doll he'll find that this one is also slightly warm to the touch, but perhaps that's just an effort to make it seem more realistic. Will he inspect it further? ]

Oh, boo! That's just making a mess.

[ scattering the body of a doll all over the floor may mock whoever is watching them, or whatever is interested in their movements, but that mean he doesn't contemplate the idea. for now, he'll take a step back to take the object that ranger has brought knowing that the other has already inspected it, but he is curious about one thing as he looks at it from the front and behind. ]

Say cheese...! ☆

[ holding it against his eye, he takes a picture of the mannequin before him. for what reason? who knows, maybe this camera will show them something way after, and he needs to check if there's any film inside. he'll place it around his neck afterwards if there's a strap, and if not then it'll rest on the floor.

done, he can follow up on ranger's idea with a quick shake of the body curious of if there's anything inside the mannequin before them. ]

[ The photograph will show show the same figure, but this one seems to be decidedly human, or at least the copious amount of blood clinging to its body would suggest that. It's face down on the floor, and while it's difficult to tell with the dark lighting, it looks as though her body had been pierced in dozens of places. There is a trail of blood behind her. It looks like things did not end well for the last person (people?) who visited this room.

That horror aside, he'll be able to spot a locked box behind it. It looks to be similar to a jewelry box, elaborate and decorative, with a pair of double doors shut tight in the front. If he chooses to look, he'll be able to find it in the back hidden behind the rows of dolls.

Shaking the mannequin does not reveal anything inside of it, but it will reveal that the doll is no longer warm. It will also cause a necklace with a silver cross on it falling off of her neck and onto the floor. Lucky! ]

Edited (forgot a detail) 2022-05-31 01:20 (UTC)

Whatchya see? Anything good?

[ Good is a stand in for useful here. Ranger's not so naive as to expect anything more than that, not when this place is a walking booby trap. He supposes there's a reason it's been locked up tight and hidden from view, as most anything in here would kill someone who wasn't paying attention. That Arata kid comes to mind for that one.

Come to think of it, isn't it a common superstition that having one's photograph taken will lead to a piece of their soul is lost? ]

[ with the click of a silver cross down on the floor, midori takes a step back to pick it up from the floor. looking at the face then flipping so he can check behind it, he pawns it off to ranger next. he's seen enough crosses or thought of the idea of them on his two floors due to the theme, and he doesn't need it at the moment. someone else could use it, he believes. ]

There's nothing important about this one.

[ a camera from one, a cross from another. it brings him back to the camera again to check the picture he took only to be met with something else. ]

Wait...

[ good is one word for it, but when it's used by ranger it's meant to be useful. the image presented to him is strictly that when it doesn't match the reality before him— either what they're seeing isn't what they're really seeing, or this is an alternate reality in the image, or the fate of the person before him of the future or past. he can't say because photographs can mean so many things. it puts him in the mind of the one final destination move when the protagonist used a camera to figure how people were going to die.

midori has never been fond of his picture taken, and so it crosses his mind to avoid doing so here, and the same with ranger along with the group. ]

It's interesting. [ tapping the photo while showing it to ranger, he'll bring him along towards the row of dolls in search of the mysterious box to check out. ] What do you think, a pretty useful camera, hm?

[ he does wonder if dito and bonnie are fairing well, probably nothing compared to the little puzzle solving these two have to work with. ]

[ dito is dying because of you

If he moves the dolls aside, he'll find that the lock box is in fact there! There compartment on the top has a lid which can be flipped open to reveal an indentation where something can be placed. It seems to be just the right size for the number with the key attached to the back that he had found before. Once he does so and flips the lid locked once more, he'll hear the click of a lock, the tiny doors swinging open to reveal a winding key! If used to restart the grandfather clock, it will reveal a moonstone at hidden within it.

Incidentally, there's a breaker box here as well. He may want to lower the handle once he's done. ]

Edited 2022-06-04 04:50 (UTC)

Huh. That is useful. We'll have to play around with it more, ahaha... Wonder if it belonged to one of the kids here before?

[ Not that it really matters. It's theirs now. ]

Sure hope this is the most annoying thing we're gonna find in here.

[ While his coworker is taking care of the jewelry box (or at least, an object similar to one,) he'll examine the breaker box for several seconds, eyes trailing to see where the wires go before pulling it down. ]

[ dito is dying because of lonnie's 1!

between the camera and jewelry box, and fiddling with the grandfather clock— they're given so much to work with. he does leave his coworker with the breaker as he inspects the stone in hand. must be one of the items they need to use within the main hall. ]

Do you want the jewelry box? You can fit all your belongings inside.

[ which he saw all of that when inspect ranger's body during his malfunction, and they must be important pieces since he doesn't really wear much jewelry aside from clothes. if he wants to, even his gloves can go inside, as he doubts the other's partner wears anything worth putting inside. ]

This might be all there is here, as we're dealing with clocks and obtained something inside of it.

[ he gives everything a good look over as he watches ranger pull down the handle. ]

[ well maybe if hiyori were there he wouldn't have rolled a 1!

There's no immediate change when the handle is pulled down, but a close inspection will show that the wires run in the direction of the wall with the eyes on it. It would be safe to assume that it's connected to the devices present in this room. If they walk across the tiles once more, they'll find that they no longer sink down. The room is silent save the ticking of the grandfather clock.

They are free to leave once ready. ]

Edited 2022-06-04 21:21 (UTC)

[ Well, that was anticlimactic. Still, he'll take that over more excitement at this point. Ranger shakes his head in response to the question. ]

Nah, I don't need it. Don't people tend to get in trouble when they steal from places like this?

[ Granted they're already taking three items, but they probably shouldn't test their luck by continuing to take more... Then again, maybe he'll just come back for it later. For now though - ]

Seems like it. Should we get going back? Dito should be be done with his part by now.

Absolutely! ☆ There's no way Dito can be bested by a creature with no eyes.

[ then again, he doesn't want to comment on the lack of brains the participants had on his floor. it's still a sore spot for him even with those who muddled between his plans, causing everything to backfire when he had planned, prepared, and gambled to get a foolish teenage girl to sign a contract to keep every person alive.

he sets the jewelry box down finding it a shame when it doesn't look damaged at all. well, that's for ranger to take and not not for midori as he holds onto the moonstone, and places the camera around his neck.

midori will start moving along with ranger so that they can leave the room. ]

Take a closer look.

[ he's handing off the moonstone since ranger actually likes little space trinkets. ]

[ Fortunately, he thinks Dito will have an easier time handling the situation without the prerequisite handholding. Ranger takes the moonstone and looks it over. There doesn't seem to be anything unusual about it, especially not enough to warrant going through such efforts to hide it, so he supposes there must be another reason that it had such efforts were made. Really, this entire set up seems rather needlessly elaborate. ]

Hm? It just looks like a normal moonstone to me... You think it goes out front?

[ It's just idle chatter as they make their way back. If Bonnie took the west wing, then there should only be two left. ]

Edited (why is my brain empty today) 2022-06-04 22:07 (UTC)

With everything else found in the rooms.

[ since there were more directions for them to take, but they're just chit-chatting while bonnie and dito work unless they have to go into another room. ]

What other stones do you think we'll find? Could they all represent night time...?

[ interesting, interesting. ]

If it's a moonstone for the north, then it'd be a sunstone for the south.

[ The moon that captures and reflects the sun's light. They've been natural companions for all of human history, really, and for good reason.

The other are harder to say. It could be water and earth, or blues and blacks for the night and day skies, or a continuation of the abstract symbolisms that the two names jewels would bring with them. ]

What's the point of hiding them behind such a complicated mess? This some sorta trial of courage? The reward better be worth it if so.

Edited 2022-06-04 23:07 (UTC)

You know why they would hide them! Fetch quests are common, and we did a little ourselves at our old job.

[ miley allowed that doll body of hers be put together by everyone. now that wasn't a test of courage, but it was a fun, little game for them all which this could be as well. ]

If it were me, I would have hid one inside one of the players! They'll have to cut themselves open to get it out.

[ then that's the cutest heliotrope made by the human body. sun, moon, body returns to the earth so blood would work.

as they're talking, they walk walk walk walk. ]

Can't go wrong with Helio—-

Edited 2022-06-05 14:59 (UTC)

may missions

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