body in abyss

The Watcher laces her fingers together, and she bows her head. “I hereby invoke the Rite of Dreaming,” her voice turns solemn, uttering a prayer in an unfamiliar language.

When she finishes, she looks up at you with a smile on her face. 

“Freedom. Your reward for this Rite will be freedom. Win, and you will gain freedom from anything you wish.” She holds her hands out.

“Freedom from your obligations. Freedom from your oppressors. Freedom from your memories. Your worries. For yourself. For your family. For your country. 

“Win, and bring blood for the sleeping goddess. I shall free you.”

The Watcher giggles, and drops her calm, loving tone. “Have fun. I’m excited to watch what you all have in store,” she waves you all off. 

“Sleep well~”

It’s more than an off-hand comment. As soon as she finishes the sentence, you feel an unusual exhaustion pulling you into sleep. Your mind grows foggy, and your vision blurs until you lose yourself into slumber.

You will wake up in your rooms in the morning, as if all of it was nothing more than a dream.

Chapter One has started! 

The motive has been given out already–while this may seem unusual, this is only going to happen this chapter. Think of the prologue as more of the first half of Chapter 1! 

“Alright, you listening?” the Watcher looks up at you all, and waves her hand. “I’m an emissary from Lilium, and I have two duties,” she holds up two fingers, the back of her hand facing outwards. 

“One, to bring you there, to Lilium,” her index finger goes down, “and two, to watch as you play our game.” She looks so amused with herself.

“You’ve had plenty of time, haven’t you? Let’s start the game.”

Doesn’t seem like she’s one for ceremony, does she? 

“Now, now.” something calls out. You can’t tell where it’s coming from, as if the smooth, velvet voice is but a thought in your own mind. “Don’t leave them in the dark like that!” it seems to chuckle.

“Uuuugh.” The girl sighs like a grumpy teenager, rolling her head exaggeratedly. “What? You got a problem?” she grumbles, bringing up the cage she’s carrying, seemingly speaking to it. You can’t seem to see what’s inside the cage.

“For starters, you should tell them what’s going on.” the being within the cage tells the girl, who scoffs and puts the cage down on the floor. 

“Ahem!” the girl feigns clearing her throat, before gesturing outward, grinning.

Similar to the Western Observatory, the Eastern Lunarium very clearly displays the night sky. A bit too clearly, perhaps. It almost seems like that the whole room is placed in the sky, and everything seems so much closer. You can walk among the stars, and even individually hold them in your hand.

What you notice above all, though, is the bright, full moon dimly lighting the room in the only way moonlight can.

Under it stands a hooded figure. Perhaps because of a recent experiences, it might’ve prompted a bad reaction, but this one’s an unfamiliar, unmasked one.

On the third night of your stay in the Academy, waiting for the emissary of Lilium, you hear it. Rather, you sense it. A looming darkness piercing through the eerie silence, a thought comes to you. It can’t be denied. 

It leads you to the closed Eastern Lunarium in Tower Canopus, where you will notice that your peers have also found themselves.

This place was one of the most amazing things Hypnos had ever seen. Granted, he hasn’t seen much as most of his life has been spent confined in his bedroom, but that didn’t make it any less amazing! Everything he needed was right here, everything he had spent so much time searching for…

And then there was the garden and greenhouse. Beautiful and functional, with specimens he could use at his leisure. He could hardly have dreamt of such a place! It was enough to keep him up for most of the day, forgoing one of his usual naps as he ran on pure excitement.

“Hmm♪~ Hm hm♪~”

He quietly hummed a tune to himself, as he inspected a flower - gloves on, of course, as he was no stranger to rashes from the mishandling of poisonous plants.

Alone in his little world, he was completely unaware that someone else had approached the area. The dangers of the outside world were largely unknown to him, which caused his ability to remain on guard for potential threats be… well, nonexistent.

“That’uns poisonous.”

Lazarus cleared his throat after, the rawness of it starting to get to him.

“Ah, I thought so. It seems to have similar patterns to the nightshade family, but... I have not seen this specific type myself. Perhaps it is just not commonly used back home.”

He does not, however, put it down. He just keeps inspecting it.

“Do not worry, I am wearing gloves for a reason. And it’s not as if I am eating or inhaling it. I should be fine.”

This place was one of the most amazing things Hypnos had ever seen. Granted, he hasn’t seen much as most of his life has been spent confined in his bedroom, but that didn’t make it any less amazing! Everything he needed was right here, everything he had spent so much time searching for…

And then there was the garden and greenhouse. Beautiful and functional, with specimens he could use at his leisure. He could hardly have dreamt of such a place! It was enough to keep him up for most of the day, forgoing one of his usual naps as he ran on pure excitement.

“Hmm♪~ Hm hm♪~”

He quietly hummed a tune to himself, as he inspected a flower - gloves on, of course, as he was no stranger to rashes from the mishandling of poisonous plants.

Alone in his little world, he was completely unaware that someone else had approached the area. The dangers of the outside world were largely unknown to him, which caused his ability to remain on guard for potential threats be… well, nonexistent.

Safely or otherwise, you finally find your way to your destination: Astral Tower Academy. The North Indian branch of an international association for mages based in Britain.

Ordinarily, this place is unreachable–even invisible–to those who aren’t aware of it. Even then, it’s normally closed to those who do not know the means to make it here. But sensing the invitation to Lilium that you carry with you, it’s opened up and accepted you.

You’re welcomed openly. Or rushed into the infirmary. 

Something you notice is that everyone seems to be aware that you have been invited to Lilium. You can never underestimate the amount of information the Academy can gather, but even they have no idea how to get to the legendary city of Lilium. 

For this, they only have you and your fellow chosens to gather knowledge from. So of course, you are all valued guests here. 

However, it seems the emissary from Lilium is not here yet. Perhaps you can use this time to explore the Academy and meet the others.

Once more, welcome to the Astral Tower Academy.

Welcome to Lilium Lies! In the prologue, you are free to explore the Academy and interact with your fellow chosens! 

Public threads are held on tumblr. Submit your starters to the blog.

Private threads can be held in your dms. Make a group and invite a mod.

We of the city of Lilium invite you to play a game. An intensely exciting game where you will stake your life for many desirable rewards. Its grand prize: the granting of your dearest wish.

Make your way to the North Indian branch of the Astral Tower Academy within a year’s time. There, our emissary will meet with you and the other players. She will then guide you to our humble city.

Thank you, and we sincerely await your visit.

The words of the invitation you were given by a masked messenger. Whatever your reasons, you have made your way here, to the North Indian Branch of the Astral Tower Academy. You are aware of the stakes in this game: that you might lose your life.

These 18 souls have been chosen to participate in the Rite of Dreaming for a wish to the sleeping goddess.

Welcome to Lilium!

“Oh, Rose-san, multumesc. I just didn’t recognize you.” He smiles apologetically. He glances at Hoshimi, wondering for a moment why Barako was addressing him instead of the one she had come over to talk to, until she started talking.

His smile drops instantly, and his brow furrowed a little. With each word that Barako said, it was almost like he deflated just a bit more.

His chest felt tight, and for a moment he was really glad that he didn’t have a heartbeat – if he had, it would hurt even worse against that awful crushing feeling. He opens his mouth, once, twice, his fangs obvious despite this being real life.

“… Really?” Lucian finally asks, his voice small. “You… why?”

He crosses his arms over his chest and looks down at a spot in the middle of the table. “I don’t understand. If you aren’t a robot, why did you pretend to be one?”

“… well…” Barako begins as she rubs the back of her head and looks away apologetically.

“I guess the initial impetus was that I didn’t know we’d be in a killing game of all things,” Barako admitted, “and I assumed things would be over quick or wouldn’t escalate as bad as they did but… well look at where we are now.”

It was the truth! It wasn’t like Barako would know Lucian would get his legs paralyzed or that Reina, Katsumi, Keiko and Emiko would all die. Things as they were now were drastically different than when Barako made the lie… though partially she can’t help but still internally blame Lucian a bit for buying something very obviously fake.

It almost felt even more rude to have to treat Lucian as a child about these things but… well here we are.

“Lucian… I’m sorry about what happened. To your legs and about my suspicions of you at the trial. If I offended in that regard, that’s my own fault and I’ll accept that,” Barako sighed.

“And I’ll also accept that telling you all that was also not something I should have done so casually… but it does all stem from a larger issue I have with you. As an… acquaintance,” Barako inhales and lets out an exasperated sigh.

“Domnul Ravenholm… I can’t accept that you’re a vampire,” she states simply, “it just raises too many questions. Like… okay, say you are immortal and over 200 years old. Are you the only one? Or are there more? If there are more than… where are they? Why does no political or scientific establishment talk about them? Why aren’t there official newspaper articles and webpages dedicated to discussing what’s going on in the immortal undead creature community?”

“Do they hold a masquerade to keep mortals from knowing of them? If that’s so then… why do you walk into every room dressed as Lestat going ‘Hello I am vampire man I am undead and immortal let me suck your blood’! Shouldn’t they have stopped you by now!?” Barako’s pupils have dilated a bit and she’s gripping her head. The thing here is… she doesn’t even sound accusatory or desperate. Just confused.

“And if you’re the only one then… why hasn’t HPA’s associates or some medical study come out about you? The literal MIRACLE OF MEDICAL SCIENCE. Most movies and indeed anything have taught me that if there’s something that defies normal convention science would do all that they could to know more about it! And again, you’ve never once attempted to hide or cloud this fact so… why is there no agency looking to dissect you? And yes I say dissection because if what you say is true they would technically be opening up a dead body,” Barako continues with an exasperated tone.

“There’s just so many things your claim makes me question that I can’t really accept it without something… very hard and concrete on top of that,” Barako admits, “It’s not that I don’t believe you. It’s that I can’t believe you. Because to believe you would be to change my understanding of the world itself on faith alone which is… a lot to ask someone.”

This is Barako’s honesty. She might still think Lucian a fool, but a pitiable fool. She isn’t showing hatred or malice or… anything toward him other than the simple fact: she disbelieves. She disbelieves him just as much as if he were claiming to be Santa.

And then… she looks to Hoshimi. She certainly has a relationship with Lucian but given her talent… she’s not entirely sure WHY she’s so close to Lucian. Is there really something unique about him?

They pick up a fork and angrily tear at the food they’d gotten for themself. Oh yeah, this type of stuff was why they had a problem with Barako.

“What yer doin’ shows no concern fer others. And what ya’ve done in th’ past shows that this’s more than just disbelief. Ya’ve gone out of yer way t’ make fun a him, and made comments that were incredibly innapropriate, ‘specially considerin’ the situation we’re in.”

They glance over to Lucian as they say that, avoiding being specific about those instances in an attempt to prevent him from getting more upset.

….

Who was that?

His smile dropped and was immediately replaced by confusion, and he tilted his head to the side while he tried to figure out who he was looking at. As for himself, he looked… surprisingly the same. Long blonde hair, wavy. He was notably smaller and very thin, and strangely enough he was wearing a BITE ME t shirt and skinny jeans instead of the extravagant stuff he wore in VR, but it’s no wonder that Barako identified him to herself quickly.

Misunderstandings in the trial… someone that Hoshimi thought it was nice to see…?

“Salut, uhhh…. Sssenchamoto-san…?” Wait, no, Ochako was paler, wasn’t she? Hrm. “You can join us if you like.” He nodded towards another seat at the table. [CW: eating disorder] A plate of food was in front of him, but despite it being a small amount he didn’t really seem to be eating much. [/cw]

Oh how to approach this. Damn. Damn damn damn damn… he still thought she was a robot didn’t he?

“Uhm…” Barako began as she coughed a bit.

“Domnul Ravenholm?” Barako says nervously before approaching the two, “It’s me… Sekise-san? You know… the uhm… robot…”

She takes a seat across from the two and swallows the bile in her throat before continuing.

“Domnul Ravenholm… the truth is. I’m not a robot. I wasn’t made by ‘Doctor Magnar’. And I don’t protect the earth from Aliens. All of that was… a lie,” she admits.

The Communal Dining room was open that day as Barako walked inside. Her eyes wandered about and she spotted someone familiar. The figure of Hoshimi was there, looking as she did before when her avatar form was removed. It seemed she was sitting with someone although it didn’t register to Barako who that could be yet.

She thought back to the trial and how the two had a… bit of a prickly relationship up until now. Perhaps it would be for the best to speak to her in real life?

“Ah! Abe-san? It’s a pleasure to see you in flesh and blood!” Barako greeted as she approached the two.

“I wanted to speak with you about the trial and some misunderstandings-” it occurred to Barako at this point that the individual sitting next to Hoshimi was Lucian. Lucian… and she was approaching him as a human.

“Oh, it’s, uh, nice to see you too...?”

“Let’s see… Who shall be revealed today?” The bear entered the crowd, pacing back and forth, stopping briefly in front of a student on occasion, just to inspire a little fear. “Ah.YOU should do nicely.” He stopped in front of the remaining giant, Suu. “With height like that, you stick out like a sore thumb, let’s knock you down a peg or two.”A dull blue light surrounds them briefly before…

While Suu does lose a little over a foot in height, they’re still pushing 6’0” when their avatar is done reverting. Though part of that could be the thick-soled combat boots. Unlike Yun and Keiko, they don’t look shaken and they make no attempt to flee. Instead they heave a sigh and roll their eyes, an action that’s fully visible now.

[Image later]

“And here’s the part with the pause for effect. Very dramatic.” Suu’s voice has changed as well, becoming a lighter tone more suited for a teenager, an androgynous drawl with a faint rasp to it. Sticking their hands in the pockets of their coat, Suu makes an impatient sound. “Just get it the fuck over with, will you?” There’s a level of defiance and bravado in their narrowed eyes and their slightly raised chin as they glare down at Kurokuma. But there’s also notable tension in their shoulders, even though the layered clothing, which looks too big on their narrow, almost scrawny body. They may be wanting this scene to end already, but they clearly aren’t looking forward to whatever else Kurokuma is planning to reveal about them.

“I apologize for making you wait. I wasn’t aware you were so eager to let everyone know… Haruko Kin or should I say Ren Watanabe! Ohoho~”

“A fake name, on top of a fake name? Very dramatic.”

“I suppose it’s necessary when your every waking moment is spent researching how to murder your uncle and get away with it…”

When Kurokuma says their name, Ren twitches slightly, as if just barely restraining themself from attacking him. “I’ve sacrificed too much and come too far to be intimidated by a goddamn teddy bear. I’m going to get out of here, I’m going to make my shitstain traitor uncle die screaming, and then I’m coming for you.”

“Let’s see… Who shall be revealed today?” The bear entered the crowd, pacing back and forth, stopping briefly in front of a student on occasion, just to inspire a little fear. “Ah. Perfect. Keiko Nanako. Would you please step forward?” The bear pulled the girl up in front of everyone. “Yet another classmate hiding their true appearance…” 

“Let’s see who you REALLY are!” A dull blue light surrounds the girl briefly before… Her true appearance is revealed.

The unfortunate nature of this world is that if you agree to do something, you have to do it.If you say you are something, you have to be that. So when she said she wasn’t scared, or at least implied it, Keiko had to take this on the chin. However, it was much harder to hide in this form that it was in the other. These big eyes and tiny form expressed things too easily.

“This doesn’t mean a-anything, I am… I’m still…”

She wrapped her arms around herself. Despite her age, her small stature made her seem a lot younger. The oversized sleeves of her suit made her look like a child playing dress up. Despite her angry expression, tears were gathering in her eyes. She really was pathetic, wasn’t she?

“This doesn’t mean anything to me!”

She whirled around, a feat that would be much cooler if she still had her cape. She began to  stomped, though anyone who took a second to look would realize she was doing her best not to break into a run. However, maybe running would have been the better choice.

“Uh uh uh~” He scolded as she turned to run. “I’m not finished~” That… didn’t sound good. “You know… Just expecting you to learn more about them from their appearance is… a terrible practice really. Judging a book by it’s cover as the expression goes. So… I’ve decided I’ll give a fact about the people I reveal… For example… Not only has Keiko been hiding her appearance, but her talent as well! That’s right! She’s not the SHSL Hematologist! She’s something much less impressive.” Okay, ouch, that was unnecessary. “She’s the SHSL Game Master! Ohohoho~” His eye gleamed brightly. “I wonder what kinds of games she has been the mastermind behind? Have any mutual killing games under your belt? Clearly I know the answer, but do the rest of you?”

At some point as Kurokuma spoke, whether due to fear of punishment or due to what he said, Keiko has come to stop. Not a sudden one, but a jittering one, as if she was deciding whether this was worth stay or not. It seemed to stupid, but she could not help but force down tears as she spoke. It was just so frustrating.

“O-of course I haven’t! I don’t play anything sick like that! I just… Want to have a bit of fun. And I can do that and study hematology at the same time. I’m not… This doesn’t mean anything to me, you- You damned VR beast!”

“How fuckin’ dare ya suggest - ”

It isn’t the motive that has Hoshimi angry. It’s Kurokuma’s words to Osama Yunica that has them so absolutely livid. They knew already, Suu had told them. Speaking of Suu, he probably had the threatening covered, but Hoshimi had their own two cents to put in.

“Suu’s right - If any a ya harm ‘er in any way, th’ shit that’ll happen t’ ya in yer execution’ll be nothin’ compared ta what I’ll do t’ ya, never mind what they’ll do.”

And then they’re by Yunica as well, the waves of dangerous energy they’d been been putting out completely melting away as she approached the young girl, for once glad to be on the short side so she wouldn’t have to crouch over.