#pythonissam despair

・゜۵ “I wonder if I've been changed in the night. Let me think. Was I the same when I got up this morning? I almost think I can remember feeling a little different. But if I'm not the same, the next question is 'Who in the world am I?' Ah, that's the great puzzle!” ― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland ۵ ゜．

W̴̩͌E̸̳͐L̵̢̀C̴̜͑O̵̺͐M̴̰̓E̸͍̚ ̷͉͐ T̷̤̐O̷̡̿  ̷̩͆Ẇ̵̳O̴̖̽N̴̙͝D̸͈̋È̷̺R̶̩͠L̸͙̓A̵̘̽N̵̻̏D̵̘̄

The scent of sugar fills the room, but you notice there’s a hint of something else. Something more sinister. Unease settles into your body, like cold fingers crawling across your skin. Once your anxiety settles, you spot a figure, along with a familiar black jacket.

And then you see it. 

"You... might wanna be careful, you know? This isn’t something that’s easy to understand but... Maybe try this? You know, if you want. You’re the ones who make these choices.”

Ever since making your contract, you never got the impression of more than one of them existing in a single place at a time. While normally a blur of black and white fur, you had started to notice them around the academy following your Soul Gem Contract. 

Who knew Chuubey needed a helper?

[Sketch by Mints and Line/Color by Los!] [Template from SPDUDE18 on DeviantArt]

♢  ♢  ♢  ♢  ♢  ♢

Hello, hello to everyone! With the extension giving everyone some more breathing room, we decided it was time to finally introduce you to Minibey, who is one of the faces you’ll be encountering during PD! 

Good day to you all! The Pythonissam Despair mod team has been discussing among ourselves and given the state of current events and unexpected schedule changes as a result, we have decided to allow all player applicants a 1 week extension on deadlines!

Power Role Contracts are now due April 25th

General Contracts are now due May 2nd

We hope that these extra weeks will allow both our hopefuls and our mod team some more breathing room! With that being said, the mod team understands that everything is uncertain right now; so if anything unexpected comes up please don’t be afraid to message the pythonissam-despair blog or Mods Lila, Kat, or Jules on Discord with concerns!

We hope everyone is staying safe and healthy and we can’t wait to read about your characters! We plan to introduce everyone to some new faces very soon, so keep your eyes peeled!

In the quiet since the trial, the group had taken to issuing final goodbyes, warnings, and gratitude to one another in equal measures. For some, there wasn’t much to say that you hadn’t said during the trial. You had put your lives and hearts on the line to survive and, like Mnemosyne had promised, your efforts were rewarded.

Of course, it would still come at the cost of three individual souls: but the ones in question didn’t seem to argue against it.

Hiro Shiroyama, Akane ‘Rosetta’ Taoka, and Atsushi Teshigawara would be sacrificing themselves, it was agreed. What fate truly held for them was uncertain, but they didn’t consider it a harsh goodbye.

The ground gently shakes beneath you, just for a moment.

“You know? I never thought the end of a world would feel so relieving.” ‘Heart’ smiles up at the cracks in the sky as they walk back out of the dark edges of the rooftop. “I’m glad I can see the stars one last time. The real ones, that is. It’s been a while.”

Looking at them, you notice their signature star clip is gone. Following them is Mira Shiroyama, who is clutching something large and glittering in her palm. The corners of her eyes seem red with irritation, but she puts a hand on the fragment’s shoulder and follows their gaze. It seems the estranged siblings did find some final moments of quiet together.

“It is really pretty, huh...?” clearing her throat, she looks around to those gathered. Her serious expression finally eases into a soft, easy smile. “While it’s sad to say goodbye... it appears it’s about that time. Moriko-san, and the rest of the dearly departed, I ask that you gather around me.”

While you hadn’t noticed it before, the group that arrives at the angel’s side is larger than you may have realized. Some of the ghosts walk hand-in-hand while others stand with their arms slung around one another. A handful linger with the living for a few more moments, reluctant to let go but content with their final chances to say goodbye.

Were it not for all of you, these thirty-odd souls would have never had this new chance at happiness in the first place. Most notably though, you will notice Atsushi and Moriko standing with them.

Another tremor shakes the ground, stronger than the first. However, this one does not stop shaking the tower which the Magi had reluctantly lived for the past few months. Instead, it grows more violent.

“Well,” says Minibey. “That... that should do it-”

The sky overhead fractures like a pane of glass. As it comes crashing down, raining in a million shards of prismatic colors, the fake Incubator’s voice can be heard over the cacophony.

“The wish is complete. Consider me getting you home safely, erm... to be free of charge. Good luck out there.”

A dome of white energy forms over the Magi from the third killing game, lulling killers, victims, and survivors into a state between awake and dreaming.

While the Witch of Memories had stated that you all would only have a few hours to investigate, time was difficult to track in the Mastermind’s Mind Space. Wandering the city of uncanny shades and places that could have been familiar once upon a time, you were always aware that this was at least a portion of someone’s psyche. 

The mind of the traitor who’s trapped you here, for whatever reasons they saw fit enough to sacrifice you to. 

 ‘Heart’, the fragment of Wonderland’s progenitor, had made the occasional appearance to you all throughout your travels -- but the next time you hear them is over the newfound wind.

“That is… all we can provide to you. The City is growing unstable, so you’re best to leave now!”

“The final trial will be held on the Rooftop of Wonderland Tower. If you gather in the Plaza, we can spirit you up there.”

It takes about ten minutes for you all to reconvene in the imposing shadow of the tower as you’re left standing there quietly. You had all been told that you would be taken up, though it’s not immediately obvious how. You may even begin to walk towards the Tower itself to begin climbing, but another, familiar, shadow looms to the south.

The enormous Witch of Memories appears seemingly from nowhere as their form twitches and shudders. Slowly, their form lowers themself to kneel before you all as one arm raises higher into the air. The space around you fills with that glimmering, iridescent miasma and swathes you all within it.

You blink and, after a few seconds, you find yourself much higher up. With their mostly-featureless face and hands resting on the edge of the arena, you realize that you now stand on the Rooftop of Wonderland Tower.

Area Unlocked: Wonderland Tower Rooftop

You’ve made it. At last, the top of the tower is unlocked. A sea of stars in the clearest sky you’ve ever seen floats above your head, twinkling yellow and white on a background of the vast purple expanse of space.

Unlike the previous trial rooms, the top of the tower only has eleven podiums. Eight for the living students stuck in Wonderland, neat and strong but otherwise lacking distinctive features. Spread throughout the eight: three crumbling podiums for the surviving Magi of the previous killing game rescued through your stay here. In front of the podiums of Masami, Masumi, Nene, Katrine, Fuyu, Moriko, Yukio, and Atsushi: a single gold star, about the size of a fist. It glimmers with otherworldly light. In between each podium floats several white candles of varying sizes, illuminating the area with cold light.

A teddy-bear sized throne sits in the middle of the room, elevated on a podium. It seems that Chuubey gets a prime location to watch your final debate.

When everyone has chosen their podiums, Chuubey takes a seat on their elevated throne, rings around their ears clinking softly.

Do your best. Any less spells disaster for you all.

Given their earlier order to all of you, there seems to be little point in defying the Grand Witch a couple of hours after you’re allowed to leave. With their threat of your own fall into witchdom fresh on your minds, the current survivors are all ushered North.

Pressing your way through the fog that once led to Cheshire Crossing, you can feel the atmosphere shift as you meander through the iridescent miasma -- similar but somehow unlike the one you have grown accustomed with. As the signs and the semblance of trees begin to disappear completely, you find the ground beneath has hardened with your footsteps.

The mist thins and you find yourself in a place totally unlike anything you have grown accustomed to in Wonderland. Standing in the middle of a street paved with asphalt, you find yourself staring up at a massive, spiraling city. From the looks of it, this appears to be a downtown area, despite the fog encapsulating the road almost a hundred feet away on each side.

The City

So this was the Mastermind’s Mind Space…?

Looking forward, you spot the smiling face of Heart with their hands clasped together.

“Impressive, is it not~?” the silence following their words is telling and they chuckle awkwardly, “...Sorry. I realize you don’t care! Regardless, this will last as long as it can be sustained -- which will be a few hours. That should be enough time for you to host a trial-?”

Suddenly, an all-too-familiar voice cuts through the quiet. You realize that it’s been a moment since Chuubey has addressed you all.

“This is quite an enormous usage of power, hm..?” 

The Moon Rabbit’s expression is always difficult to read on account of them not having one beyond neutrality.

“Apologies to you all. I did not realize that one of the Powers was… enacting something of this scale. Though, it appears they have already filled you in on the apparent situation…”

The King and the Incubator stare at one another for a moment before Chuubey turns their attention back to the group.

“My information is… limited, in a way. You are at the monster’s mercy. We will reconvene when your trial will commence. It will be at Wonderland Tower, yes…?”

The fragment of Mnemosyne’s smile strains as they cross their arms, almost as if they’re ready to bare their teeth.

“Yes, yes! I’ve goooot it! Now go on, shoo! Go, go!” they scrunch their nose, flicking their hand at Chuubey, “Mnemosyne helped create this, so we will handle any questions here. I don’t get to talk much~!”

“...Hm. As you wish…”

With a final, very long stare through you all (are they looking at someone in particular?), Chuubey finally departs. Likewise, as you all turn back around, Heart has also disappeared. Though, their disembodied voice reaches you.

[Goooo get them, then! You don’t have long, so it’s recommended you split up~ This is your one chance… so don’t waste it!]

Coming off of such a harsh battle, it’s natural that emotions and tempers are high. Between the newest face in a string of many recently and the horrific implications of what Wonderland is supposed to be: the Magi were quick to begin interrogating the lilac-haired Witch while also running to check on the fallen Moriko and Fuyu.

Checking the death duo over, both appear to be barely breathing. Fuyu lays there in their strange new outfit, their Soul Gem fractured in places and completely crumbled in other parts. Moriko, likewise,  is also nearly encrusted in crystals, ranging in color but most the oily black of their and Fuyu's attack. The ones on their chest do rise and fall, as if in deep sleep.

There was some relief that both seemed to still be among the living if indicated by their breathing. But, when checking their pulses... only Fuyu possessed one.

While the implications of that was terrifying enough, it looked like the group had a new enemy to deal with. Currently, they were arguing over the logistics of killing their partner, the Red Queen.