[IC] Tower of Fable

---

_{"Find the hearts distant from yours..."
[ ♫ ]}

---

On that fateful day, the skies were blotted by the behemoth of another world. The great monolith defied law and contradiction, floating high above the citizens of Miso City. Yet only a select few could see the massive structure that cast a shadow over their beloved city. Those who could see it had been blessed, visited in their dreams by unknown and invisible beings, each one offering up the chosen individual a choice. A choice that would determine their days to come.

And now those select few would be drawn to what could only be described as the Tower. The Tower beckoned like a melodic hum, one that whispered promises of glory and power to the idle and abled. Yet there were other promises, offers of wishes fulfilled and dreams to come true if one bested the Tower’s challenges. And so they go forward, those small few, to conquer the Tower and seek what truly lies at the top where all things converge.

Rumors abound. Some have bore witness to a girl at the Tower’s peak, one who has summoned the monolith to the mortal planes. Some mutter utterances of an artifact waiting to be coveted at the Tower’s conclusion; the King’s Crown. Still, some seek the Tower for merely the thrill of adventure, the excitement of seclusion that they’ve brought upon their peers driving them forward.

Regardless of any ambition, the Tower draws them all closer with each step.

---

Event Log

The First Awakening
The Shattered World
The Umbral Games
The Crimson Pact
The Grimmest Grotto
The Harlequin’s Hospice

[TheWendil]

---

_{"So long as the light remains bright, the shadow remains cast."
[ ♫ ]}

---

---

A heartbeat lasts forever. Lives are consumed in soundless balls of fire. No one can tell when the world is displaced, but it was. Nobody knew when the Tower first arrived or if it had been there since the beginning; and it was only now people could see it looming over Miso City. Nobody knew, that much was a fact. But people tried to know. Those who sought greater aspiration tried to understand the secrets of the Tower, its overwhelming presence casting a shadow over Miso City despite its luminous gaze.

And those who wanted to know were visited in the land of their dreams. Even now in their slumber of darkness, the light of their dreams showed them the way. Average as they all are, unaware of each other’s existence, three cycles of light shined down before them in the abyss of blackness. An item each floated before them, no words spoken for direction of their purpose.

Instead, the Sword, the Shield, and the Rod remained in their places until each person would pick what their Hearts desired. The moment they did, a shining light blinded the world around them. It engulfed every crevice of the dark-stained realm each person found themselves in and then, nothing. Absolutely nothing could be found in their senses and once again they were brought back to the precipice of sleep and slumber.

When they next awoke, it was in a place most unfamiliar and with people they had perhaps never met before. None of them may have known it, but each had experienced the same dream, a dream that had drawn them to the same place. The lower floors of the Tower. Perhaps, in their deepest of desires, they had each chosen to brave the Tower’s secrets from the inside.

Whatever the case, they were stuck with each other now, adorned with new clothes that reflected each person’s personal wishes of adventure. Whether the armor and weapons they had wished for were accurate to the threats looming inside the Tower was yet to be seen. Even so, they were stuck in the Tower now with no other direction to go but up. Was this still a dream? Or had they been transported away? Either way, one truth remained clear.

The Tower’s interior remained still.

---

[Flood]

She Awoke To A New World.
It Was A World Of New Beginnings.
A World Of Adventure.

Rose paced back and forth around the room, observing every nook and cranny as she waited for the strangers around her to wake up. This was it, this was the place, this was her time to shine. She patted down her body once again, feeling the rigid and unfamiliar armor she was adorned with. Her hand brushed the rapier and dagger on her belt and she squealed with giddy excitement once more, the sound echoing through the empty room and likely waking up a few people. This had to be the place, it just had to!

This Was The Tower In The Sky.
That Same Tower That Changed Her World.
That Same Tower Upon Which Sat An Angel.

She had fallen asleep like any other day, yet this time she had fallen asleep thinking about that wonderful thing in the sky. That beautiful Tower that just screamed Adventure. She dreamed of swords, shields, and staves, each one carrying a weight behind it that spoke to her. Those words held the kind of weight that could tear the moon from the sky and make even Atlas tremble. The words were few, but they were important words nonetheless. They were words that would determine her future, nay, the future of the world itself!

What Is The Path Thou Treads?
Dost Thou Seek The Power To Smite Thine Foes?
Dost Thou Seek The Strength To Shield Your Allies?
Or Dost Thou Seek The Wisdom To Unearth Lost Arcana?
No, I Want Everything And More.

"Ok Rose, take a deep breath. You don't know how in the world you got here, but you definitely know why you're here. You have to find the Angel, this is the first step of your big adventure. Don't have a heart attack before you've even taken a step out of the first room." She breathed in deeply, holding her breath until she was practically blue in the face. Then she screamed loudly, stomping her feet on the floor as she laughed like an absolute madwoman. "Oh my god I can't believe I'm here! I gotta go, I gotta go right now!" And with that she ran up the stairs to go look around for cool new exciting stuff on her big adventure.

This Was The Beginning Of Adventure.
Let Your Heart Be True, May Your Will Blossom Forth.
Go Forth And Make This World Beautiful.

[Ryonara]

_{You with the sad eyes
Don't be discouraged, oh I realize
It's hard to take courage
In a world full of people
You can lose sight of it all
The darkness inside you
Can make you feel so small}

Umi felt like she was sinking. Way different from her falling dreams, she usually couldn’t tell she was falling until she hit the ground. But this sinking dream she could feel the water flowing around her body, almost drowning her. Her breath was short, it was oddly warm, and she couldn’t move her body. It was almost scary. But soon Umi came to a stop. Slowly she opened her eyes and saw three rays of light. In the light were three different objects. A sword, a shield, and a staff.

It felt like Umi watched the three objects for hours before she approached them. There was no voice, no description of what these things were for. They were weapons, obviously, but for what purpose? Where even was she? Umi looked around and noticed, in an off and foreboding way, that the darkness around her was closing in on her. Umi wasn’t sure how she knew or felt this considering there was nothing but darkness around her. It just felt like the longer she was here, the smaller the space was getting. Like she’s be slowly crushed if she doesn’t act fast.

Without hesitation Umi grabbed the sword. She charged towards the darkness without any further thoughts as the world around her then became engulfed in light. The weight of the water around her vanished, her breath became clear, and Umi’s sluggish body became filled with vitality. She wasn’t even sure what she was doing but whatever it was, she was full of energy.

And then she woke up. Umi say straight up and reached out as if she was swinging a sword, but she was empty handed. But she wasn’t in her room. She wasn’t sleeping on her bed or dressed in her pajamas. Biscuit wasn’t nearby, and this certainly didn’t look anything like the Maiden’s Redeemer. It looked like some sort of fancy mansion’s hall. She thinks she saw this place in a movie once.

She heard a scream and saw another girl. She didn’t seem in trouble, just excited. Umi cracked a small smile. She must have come to the same conclusion as Umi did: they’re in the Tower. She had to admit, she didn’t expect to arrive like this. Granted it’s not as if Umi knew how to get to a floating Tower in the sky, but she had wished she could have made some preparation. Get some supplies or something. Looking down at her outfit it was… Cute, sporty in a fantasy sort of way, but she didn’t have any of her stuff with her. No cellphone, no wallet, no gum. She felt oddly defenseless right now.

But there wasn’t really any time to worry about that. Seems like the others were starting to wake up too. Umi wanted to try and wait for them instead of exploring on her own. She wondered if she would recognize anyone.

”H-Hello! My name is Umi! How are you all?”

[Lauder]

-Hiding Behind A Shield-

A sword, a shield, and a rod.

These were the choices presented to Tokuda in his dream, and he felt the desire to pick one but which one was a matter of much deliberation. He was lost and afraid, this dream certainly brought an unusual air to it and that was something that he did not like to feel in an unknown environment. However, a choice had to be made and the choice he made, rather hesitantly as his hand reached out, was the shield. His hand stopped mere inches away from its surface as his breathing quickened before Tokuda closed his eyes and thrust his hand on the shield, turning his head away from it as he did so.

The darkness gave way to a blinding light, causing the young man to raise his shield to stop himself from being unable to see. However, his actions meant nothing as even the darkness around him became one with the light and Tokuda could not help but scream in terror. A cold sweat ran through his body as he gasped for air and suddenly sat up, it had obviously been a nightmare. Such dreams were not uncommon to him but the dream he had just escaped felt far different from the other nightmares that he had. Nonetheless, Tokuda let out a relieved sigh before he shifted his legs to curl his arms around.

Then, he realized that he wasn’t in his soft, comfortable bed anymore, nor was Tokuda in his equally soft and comfortable llama pajamas. His feet had slid across cold, hard stone and his legs pressed against a leather that covered them. Tokuda sprawled his legs out to see polished metal strapped to them, his chest, his arms, even his feet. Under it was basic leather, but it made him feel like he was looking at a fantasy cosplay that he had no say in trying on.

His brown eyes then darted around to take in the room, but he focused on two girls and instantly the worst from his mind began to take hold. Tokuda thought that he had been kidnapped by the two, but he noticed that they also looked like they were fantasy cosplayers. Had they done this to him? He didn’t know, nor did he care to go as he scrambled back as before his back his the welcoming wall of the room. Tokuda wanted to disappear, to hide.

Everything was off.

[Gardevoiran]

---

"Hm. This was certainly a wake-up call." Akiko stepped closer to the tower. "Not the one I was expecting, certainly, but it will do." It was only a short while ago that she had seen the choices in front of her, though she didn't exactly like any of the options she had been provided, leading her to reluctantly choose the Rod in hopes it would help her with her approach to everything. There wasn't any need for someone to heal you, nor any need to fight as long as everything went according to her actions and plans.

In front of her laid three others. One was decorated in gear similar to a pirate, only she gave off a little more of a Mage vibe than what Akiko had read about in her stories. She'd probably have a boring history, but maybe she would be a little more gullible and willing to submit to Akiko than the others that she'd meet around here.

Beside her was a younger girl, merely a teenager, but sporting an interesting set of equipment on her body. It's quite interesting to see, someone as young as her being up here ready to scale the tower to see what kind of horrors and power it could grant. Ultimately, Akiko wasn't sure how she felt about the girl, outside of a vague feeling she could probably do some real damage. Nevertheless, she addressed everyone around with her name, followed by a question.

”H-Hello! My name is Umi! How are you all?”

"Umi"

Akiko didn't know how to respond at first. Did she want to go down the authoritative route and spearhead control of the party? Likely not, that'd cause for some terrible sway later. Instead, she decided to play it up to be someone who could be trusted, like a close friend. Someone not in power immediately. Hopefully, that'd help out in securing her a spot as the bard.

"Fairly decent. A little confused, but I guess we all are, eh?" Akiko said before offering a hand down to the only boy present in the area at the time, wanting to help him up. She didn't get much of a vibe, if any at all, from this person, but she wasn't too afraid that he'd be unhelpful. The ones that are quiet and shy are normally the best to count on, in her experience.

"Need a hand, mister...?"

[Lonewolf685]

"You're a remarkably selfish person."

The words struck her as funny, and she made no secret of her amusement. The shapeless mass of darkness stood in stark contrast to the glass tablou she stood upon. Just looking down at her feet made her want to snort at the monument to vanity her dream had conjured. Or was a monument to introspection? Kanbaru didn't know, and it didn't matter whose visage they stood on.

"You say you're ready to move on, but your heart...your heart aches for it. Such self delusion could only be called selfish."

"Hmm, perhaps your right." The bluenette conceded with a nod, an undercurrent of energy tingling from her curled toes to her crown of her head as she stepped closer to the mass of concentrated malice. Her doubts made manifest, the lingering will of a Dark Mahou Shoujo who feasted on negativity for many happy monthes. If she squinted she'd see the coat billowing in a breeze that wasn't there and a mask pushing out puffs of chilled breath that never was. "Or maybe, I know my heart all to well."

Her hand thrust forward, uncaring of the feeling of wrongness creeping along her skin as it breeched the darkness.

"This changes nothing!"

The darkness seethed, roiling with anger and creeping along her arm to swallow her in its bitterness. Only for Kanbaru's hand to clench upon a solid shaft, and with it came a blinding light. Without sight she wrenched her arm back, the darkness evaporating into the air as a peculiar rod was held before her. A peculiar...wand.

"No, I guess it doesn't."

---

Kanbaru awoke from a nostalgic dream, and found herself upright before a monolithic hall. Her body shifted and she realized she was garbed in elaborate fabrics and armor, her hand curled fiercely around the handle of the biggest key she'd ever seen, yet instinctively she knew what it was and what it could do.

Or rather, what she could do. This was her Heart made manifest, after all. Finding a warmth suffusing her chest as magic was once more a part of her life, she lifted her gaze to those around her and let her disappointment show. They weren't her friends. Heck, they weren't even her enemies from before. They were one and all, strangers in a strange land.

"Nice to see we're all friendly here. Howdy there, Umi." The bluenette waved to the shy girl who introduced herself, strolling over towards the others as she got a feel for the new clothes. They were far less billowy and menacing then what she was used to, but the lack of drag was at least good for not getting snagged in a scuffle. "I'm Kanbaru. I take it everyone else had an interesting dream too? Don't suppose you know any cats with televisions for heads in them, did y'all?"

[Lauder]

Tokuda

Others spoke, introducing themselves and asking other questions as if this was supposed to be normal in everyday life. Though, given the context of Miso City, everything and anything was fairly normal for the great game that was life. The realization soon dawned on his face before one of the other women came to him to offer a hand up, no sign of threat or malice. With a sigh, Tokuda looked down and shook his head as another realization of where they were crept into his mind like a cryptic message.

Tokuda’s gaze went back to the lady in front of him before hesitantly outstretching a hand to let her own, however, he stopped a few inches away. His hand went back to the floor as he pushed himself up, his legs lifting him up. The metal of his armor shifted a bit, Tokuda could feel the weight dig into him through the leather straps that held it tightly to his form. He looked over the lady with a skeptical look before letting out another sigh before his gaze shifted to the others as he stepped along the wall.

”Why can’t I live a life that’s comparably normal to the rest of the world,” Tokuda said with a hint of disdain, before giving a paranoid look to everyone else. He let out another sigh as he looked down, his hair pointing to the ground as gravity dragged it down. ”Why is this normal for Miso City?” he asked himself brushing his hair back with a hand, feeling the leather from his gauntlet touch the top head.

He threw up his hand in defeat as he gave into the situation at last and began to rattle off how much he did not like being in the situation. Tokuda slouched against the wall as he buried his head in his hands continuing to talk to himself and hide from the others.

[TheWendil]

---

“Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you.” Before Rose could stray away too far from her would-be companions, she was halted by a voice from the darkness. As if stepping out of the room’s background the air in front of her turned corporal and stared back at her. The figure raised two arms up to shoo Rose back down the stairs where she came. “Wouldn’t want to leave the rest of you hanging, right? Stick around a little!”

The being draped an arm around Rose’s shoulder before slowly leading her back down to the others. “See? Everyone’s waking up from their hangover. Crazy kids you are.” Thankfully it looked like there didn’t need to be too many setbacks. All on their own the kids were beginning to deduce the most logical conclusion, as logical as one could get in Miso City. Where else had they landed in but the Tower of their dreams? Wasn’t this what they wished for.

Letting go of Rose, the mysterious figure turned his head down the line to get a good look at each of the Tower’s newest occupants. Or at least, of the ones who had awakened. “There should be more of you. Don’t tell me you’re still sleeping on the job,” he mused. And indeed there were still some of them unconscious on the ground but they couldn’t stay that way for long. Probably.

“Oh, I like her a lot,” the mystery man said, pointing at Umi directly. Then he moved on to Tokuda. “Huuuh….not much of a thinker this one. How come he gets the harem though, lucky bastard….” His arm was pointed next onto Akiko. “Wow. You’re kind of scary-looking. Remind me not to poke you at night.” Last of course was Kanbaru, who the mystery man cocked his head at curiously. “Sheesh, I think you’re the neediest one here. Nope, nuh uh. Not even touching your business, Sea Salt.”

The mysterious figure crossed his arms and shook his head, mumbling words under his cloak and ignoring whatever responses the kids could give him. For a certain amount of time that is. “Hmm? Oh, right, right. To gain is to lose. To lose is to gain. That is the law of the Tower….it’s what I always say.” The man whirled his arms in a majestic flare of motion.

“This place is crawling with all kinds of monsters and things that’ll blow your mind sky high! But I wouldn’t be too worried about what’ll you meet. Or who you’ll meet,” he continued, eyeing certain members of the party. “Just so long as you don’t have your head in the clouds, you should be fine. The rest is self-explanatory. Oh, right. I almost forgot. Head's up Sea Salt.” The man cusped his hand before tossing something light and small right at Kanbaru.

Assuming she caught it-this man was full of contradictions today-she would find a blank card between her fingers. “Whenever you want between travel floors, just think real, really hard to imagine the place you want to go. You’ll get there eventually,” the man said. With a wave he turned on his heels to leave the kids to their desires. “Go on, be adventurers. That’s the kind of thing you all wished for, right? It’s what you all wanted.”

---

[Ryonara]

_{But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful}

Umi felt nervous seeing everyone awake and almost as confused as her. Some people were taking it better than others, namely the girls. The only guy here seemed quiet but frantic. It made sense though, if Umi was by herself she’d be pretty scared too. But with other people here she felt there was safety in numbers even if she didn’t recognize anyone. Only one girl told Umi her name though so she went over to her, Kanbaru.

”I didn’t dream of cats. It’s fuzzy but if felt like... I was sinking into the ocean, and then I grabbed a sword. Everything became bright and now I’m here.” Umi’s memories of her dream was starting to fade with only major details like the sword being something she remembered. She looked to everyone else and seemed a bit calmer now. ”If... If what I think is right, I guess we all got a dream like that? It must have something to do with the Tower! I don’t know how or why we’re here but I guess we’re in this together now! Nice to meet you all!”

Suddenly a mysterious cloaked figure arrived, escorting the excited girl back down. Umi was immediately on the defensive, raising her arm instinctively. Unlike everyone else this person just appeared out of no where, so he wasn’t one of the many people who awoken. Probably. He said a lot of mysterious stuff, saying he liked Umi but had more negative comments about everyone else. She didn’t know how to feel about that.

He said a lot of confusing stuff afterwards, stuff that probably makes more sense if Umi knew more about the Tower. He gave Kanbaru a blank card, but before he could leave Umi stepped forward and tried to get his attention by grabbing his robe. ”Wait!” She tried to face the mystery man and speak face-to-face with him. She looked much more determined now. ”We aren’t the first ones here, right? And you know about our desires too. Then you must know where my friend is! Her name is Mamori Heiwajima, she has brown eyes and black hair. She was gone a month ago, she must have come here! How do I find her? How can I save her?”

[Flood]

”H-Hello! My name is Umi! How are you all?”

Umi!

Rose turned around quickly, ready to respond to the recently awakened girl who was now identified as Umi. Actually several people had woken up! And she was now being escorted back down the stairs by a mysterious figure in a black cloak! Neat! She described him as mysterious mainly because she couldn't see his face despite the fact that they were in such close proximity, only seeing a mysterious shadowy void where his head should be. Spooky. "Well hey there mister spooky cloak man! Were you aware that your face is missing? Your whole head actually! It's super wild, like straight out of an anime wild!" She rambled as the mysterious dude (that's his name now, no changing it) put his arm around her shoulder and walked her back down the stairs. Well then, looks like Mr. Mysterious Dude was a very touchy feely kind of guy.

Well he let go soon enough once they hit the bottom of the stairs, judging each of them individually as what she assumed were his eyes scanned over each one. They all seemed pretty cool. You got Big Sword (Umi), Coward, Shady Girl, TV Cat Girl (Kanbaru), and some more sleepy bois! Shady Girl was a little shady, but you shouldn't judge people by first impressions! Mysterious Dude called TV Cat Girl something else, Sea Salt, which was actually a funny nickname when you think about it. She'll keep that in mind for later. Then he shot off some mysterious words about losing and gaining, something something bodybuilding, many gains. Also monsters, fun! Then he tossed a card at TV Cat Girl and went off on his merry way. "Ok Mr Mysterious Dude! Have fun doing whatever mysterious dudes like you do when you're not trying to grope teenage girls!" She paused for a moment as a thoughtful look crossed her face and she put a single finger to her chin. "Unless that's all he does... Don't grope teenage girls Mr Mysterious Dude! Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" She waved goodbye at the weird guy before turning to the rest of the group who was currently awake. "So that guy was weird. Anyhow, I'm Rose! Nice to meet y'all! I'm a pirate! Wait no, I'm not a pirate yet. I'm a Rose Mage!" She struck a pose as she pulled out her rapier and dagger, flourishing both blades with a grace she knows she didn't have previously. A few fancy tricks here, a few twirls of the dagger there, she ended the little show by pointing the blade of the rapier at the ground and the bottom of the hilt upwards, attaching the dagger and rapier together for a nice red glowing effect. "I have no idea how I did any of this haha! I've never taking a fencing class in my life!" This tower sure is weird. Yet despite it's strangeness, she had this smile on her face that just wouldn't go away. Weird was good, weird was romantic in a way.

"So what's your guys' deals?"

[Gardevoiran]

---

"... this is going to take some getting used to." Akiko pulled her hand back up to her side as she sauntered forward, listening to the newcomer speak. Kanbaru, she said her name was, and seems like she had a dream about cats with televisions for heads. Honestly, compared to some of the rumors that Akiko had heard about Miso City, it seemed pretty right on for one of them, being the rumor of a weird organization in the city. They were very secretive, though, so she literally only caught very slight wind of the existence of the club.

Then, there was the arrival of the mysterious cloaked figure, who had spoke to Rose before anyone else, following that by escorting her down the steps of the Tower's entrance. Afterwards, he went about talking about the various different people in the area. First about Umi, then going to the sad kid, then going to herself ("You're not much of a looker either, pal."), then to Kanbaru, and then he turned to leave. He turned once more, flicking something at Kanbaru, then trying to leave. Umi grabbed him and said something about her friend being in the tower, which seemed... rather odd, all things considered. Had the tower really only been there for a month?

Then, Rose piped up once more. Sheesh, she was a talkative one, wasn't she? Regardless, she had intentions of being a pirate and described herself as a 'Rose Mage', whatever that means. Interesting development, that, but a welcome one regardless. What was more interesting than that, however, was the blade show she put on before telling everyone she didn't know a thing before about knife tricks. Seems like the dream might've awoken some powers within these people, herself included.

Then Rose asked about the schticks of everyone else. Akiko figured she better get it over with, so she extended her hands out and pulled her fans out of... somewhere. She knew what they were from, that very thing being her Heart, but she didn't know (or very much care) about how she manifested them.

"Well, if we're all getting cozy with eachother, I'm Akiko." The brunette twirled around on the ball of her foot before descending into a bow, bringing her body back up and holding a fan in front of her face as she continued. "I'm looking forward to working with all of you, if you'll gladly have me as your bard~!"

[Lonewolf685]

Kanbaru Otoko

"Oh hey, is that a mysterious benefactor granting us amazing powers for unknown reasons~? I think it is!" A twinkle of girlish glee beamed from Kanbaru's eyes with an intensity to match a certain geriatric British wizard with a penchant keeping secrets till later books. There was even an overwhelming level of snark and sarcasm wafting from his cloaked visage, his ambivalence breath taking to behold as her went through them one by one. The feeling was downright nostalgic and she couldn't contain a dopey smile as she saw right through to her heart.

"That's Sea Salt-Chan to you, and don't you forget it" Kanbaru said with a wink to the retreating figure. Her hand then shot out on reflex and caught the card which bore no visage, a blank slate that eyed curiously until Umi spoke up from beside her. The girl was rather straight forward and Kanbaru saw no issue with her, finding her rendition of dream curious. It confirmed that it was rather individually tailored as a dive into one's own heart should be.

Umi had ran off in a hurry to try and catch their benefactor with curious questions about a missing person. Her excitement gave way to a cold gleam for only a moment before she pushed out the cheer once more. A girl who went disappearing a month ago. There certainly wasn't a Tower that she had scene...but that could mean it had been there all along, picking people up for who knew how long? This place was a mystery to say the least, but the prospect of it got her heart pumping with a desire to let loose just as she watched Rose and Akilo demonstrate their own skills.

"Nice knives, Rose. It looks like I'm the resident Water Mage here. I even have a really big wand to show for it!" The bluenette said, twirling the overly large key before pressing it to the ground and setting her elbow upon the hilt, propping herself up with the weapon. In the other hand she turned the blank card over, making a show of looking it over before sweeping her gaze across the relative strangers around her. "What say we use this card to find ourselves some monsters to fight? Ooh, or go straight to a treasure room!"

[TheWendil]

---

"That’s cute. You’re cute kiddo. I’m gonna call you Ruby,” the Mysterious Dude said. He paused in his departure to turn back to the overenthusiastic Rose, giving her finger guns with both hands. “Later little red-whoah, stranger danger!” The Mysterious Dude cycled his arms in mad motion as he was borderline tackled by Umi and then interrogated. A few tugs away confirmed she wouldn’t be letting go of his coat, not until she had answers that satisfied her.

“Sheesh Poppet, I think I take back what I said earlier! And I’m pretty sure I don’t know any Mamori Heiwajima too.” The cloaked man paused before he leaned closer to Umi. Behind his hood and the void that was his face, it was impossible to read his expression, if any at all. “But even if I did, I wouldn’t say that would be the real Mamori Heiwajima. You catch my drift Poppet? See, things in this Tower work different than your usual reality.”

The Mysterious Dude nodded to himself, raising his voice so the rest of the group could hear. “The people and creatures you encounter here are nothing more than replications of the outside world. Nothing in here is real; for the most part. Everything you face is comprised of data so knock yourselves out in exploring, kiddos.” He turned back to Umi now, slowly yanking his cloak out of her hand. “And for the real version of your friend…who knows. But honestly, copy or real, wouldn’t you be satisfied either way?”

The man slowly backed away, making sure Umi didn’t try to get the jump on him again. Once some distance was finally placed, he faded away entirely and melted back into the darkness of the staircase. “Be a good girl now, Poppet,” were his lingering words. Hopefully that was enough to sate Umi’s curiosity and desire. But probably not. Either way, it was her problem now, not the Tower’s.

Speaking of which, as the group rounded together and discussed their various newly acquired skills, Kanbaru’s card glowed with an ethereal light. A beam shot forward, curving up the staircase, and hit the door to the next room. The doors opened, revealing to the group a sunny backdrop and the sound of birds along with the scent of familiarity. Was that Miso City? It couldn’t be a way out of the Tower, could it? Or perhaps it held some other twist.

Likewise, a second beam emitted from Kanbaru’s card. This one snaked behind the group to the front door, splashing out and coating the barrier like the other door. Only, when these doors opened to beckon forth the group, they could see nothing but a night sky burning with stars. A menacing tension that spiked their heartbeats flourished outwards like a wave. Two doors lay open before them now, but it was up to them or whoever they chose to follow among themselves which they were to traverse.

---

[Ryonara]

_{Show me a smile then
Don't be unhappy
Can't remember when
I last saw you laughing
If this world makes you crazy
And you've taken all you can bear
You call me up
Because you know I'll be there}

More vague stuff. Umi listened and tried to make some sense of it though. So this place was basically like a dream, or maybe a video game. She’s heard about VR stuff before but this was way more realistic. She looked down at her hands, checking her pockets and messing with her outfit. All real. Nothing here felt like it was just in her head. But maybe he wasn’t wrong either. This place is super weird. As much as it didn’t make sense Umi just had to accept it for what it is.

More importantly even though he didn’t know who Mamori is, he also didn’t say she wasn’t here. And Umi didn’t believe in coincidences: the fact she saw this Tower the day she committed herself to find Mamori wasn’t just a fluke! She had to be here, imagination or not. Even if she wasn’t physically here Umi can at least find her in spirit and maybe together they can get out of here. Umi can bring her home. To that end Umi was going to have to explore this place and brave its many dangers.

As the mystery man left she looked to the others. They had weapons and armor, but aside from the strange claw thing on Umi’s left arm, she didn’t have any weapons on her. No knives, no bats, just herself and the clothes in her back. She messed around with the claw on her left arm a bit but it seemed pretty robust. She didn’t know what it was for, maybe it’s a shield. Either way she didn’t seem too bothered; weapon or not she’ll fight if she had to. She wondered if Mamori had some way to protect herself here. Unlike Umi she actually knew how to fight, so surely she’s okay.

The other girls seemed pretty excited for adventure which comforted Umi. She was worried they might be hesitant but if everyone was ready than Umi would be too. There was Rose, who seemed like some sort of musketeer type person, Akiko who had fans and called herself a Bard so Umi guessed she used music or something, and Kanbaru called herself a water mage. Umi smiled a little; a water mage with a girl named after the ocean. The only person she didn’t know was the boy with the big shield who seemed the least excited out of everyone. He seemed tough at least. She just hoped he was willing to help them instead of staying behind.

That’s when Kanbaru’s cars shot two beams of light out and hit the doors. Some sort of barrier fell and opened the doors, revealing two separate locations. One was sunny and reminded Umi of Miso City, it the other was dark and she didn’t recognize it at all. She guessed this is where their adventure begins. She looked towards the others and pointed towards the darker door. ”Let’s head over there. It might be dark and mysterious, but if we have to explore we should go somewhere we haven’t been to, right? That other doorway might just lead us back to Miso City. Or worse, could be a trap to make us think it’s Miso City!” Umi pumped her fist and put in a winning smile. She was confident with this group. ”If we stick together and cooperate, even newbies can handle whatever they throw at us.”

[Gardevoiran]

---

Akiko straightened up as she looked at the mysterious stranger once again as he lingered off. No doubt that the crew would probably find their way back into his company before long, with a character like that. Oh well, whatever goes on shall go on, and there's no telling if he'd actually be useful enough to be remembered by Akiko later. It was once the cloaked stranger was gone that the card Kanbaru was holding glowed, showing off two doors that previously Akiko hadn't actually noticed. There was one very bright and cheery door, then there was the darker and gloomy door.

Looking down at the only boy there with a sigh, she folded her fans back up, and walked forward towards the nicer looking door, inspecting it with a finger to her chin. This was... quite the option. After all, why would anyone go through the other door when this door clearly offered a nice way through the tower. It was either that, or it was a way out, which also intrigued Akiko. Why would they bring someone who was worthy here only for them to...

... she looked at the boy again, and immediately stopped her train of thought. Gods, he needed to find his spine, or else he'd be deadweight.

"You guys think this one is an actual exit? Maybe it's a harder room than the gloomy one over there. False sense of security, y'know?" Akiko said, sauntering herself over to the other girls already converging near the gloomy door. "I'm all for going through this angry door, to clarify, but I'm just throwing it out there that the other door might be tougher than this one."

[Lauder]

Tokuda

Tokuda watched, his original unease slowly dissolving as he realized that none of the people he had woken up with, nor the hooded figure who had come in, really cared that he was there. It put him at ease and he slowly stepped away from the wall before he saw that the other people pulling out weapons by some magical means. Initially it scared him, however, the fear was quickly taken by an overbearing sense of curiosity if he could do the same thing as well. With a baited breath, Tokuda outstretched his hands and focused on trying to pull out whatever it was he had.

Then a great, towering shield was then attached to his arm and he looked at it in a mild awe, namely due to the fact that he could even do such a thing. Tokuda looked to the others and let out a laugh of disbelief before he slipped his arm out of the shield’s straps. The shield instantly dissipated and caused another laugh of awe, he never thought he could do such things as he had planned to live a rather normal life. Though, in Miso City there were many odd things that one would consider to be normal.

Tokuda then returned to the conversation, there appeared to be a debate on which door to go through; a door that led to darkness and one to light. The idea seemed fairly obvious at first and when Tokuda went to speak, the one known as Akiko spoke about how the lighter door may have been a trap. It was a very valid point and it seemed that everyone was intending to go through the gloomy door anyways. Tokuda twiddled his fingers as he silently thought to himself.

”W-well… that’s a good point,” Tokuda said, hesitantly stepping towards the group of females before speaking again, ”Wherever you guys go, I’ll go. S-strength in numbers and all.”

[Lonewolf685]

Kanbaru Otoko

A part of her expected the arrayed people to clamor for the door to what appeared to be Miso City at a glance and that she'd have to split off to explore the Door to Night on her own, but it seemed that the others shared more then just powers in common. Plastering on a cheery smile once the majority of the waking people made their desires known twirled her wand before settling it towards the Door to Night.

"Alright then, it sounds like we have a party ready to explore, so let's get a move on and see what creepy crawlies this tower has waiting for us!" The bluenette said, marching ahead to be the first through the breach and welcome the mysteries of the Tower. Better to set aside the peculiarity of the Benefactor's speech till later, and not question how a duplicate of someone could be here if the original was still missing from reality...assuming, the world they knew was real and the Tower was the oddity. One could question if the inverse was true, but that way led to madness. And circular logic puzzles.

Kanbaru would much rather confront an issue she could smack witha key and drown in boiling water, thank you very much!

[TheWendil]

---

And so the second door was chosen. Despite its aura of unpleasantry and intimidation, the majority consensus seemed to agree on choosing it. Kanbaru, the card bearer, lead the way without so much as a breadth of hesitation. Assuming the others chose to follow her lead and not have hesitating thoughts, the doors slowly closed behind them. There was now no way back, only the path forward.

Much like the external view, the space the group found themselves in was hoisted with stars. A fair, night sky hung over their heads like a backdrop or perhaps a realistically styled painting. The ground beneath was grassy with flat areas all around. The door had led them to outside, though whether this was truly outside the Tower or some pocket dimension was up for debate.

More than likely, it was probably the latter, given the Tower’s properties. The field was quiet, only disrupted by small breezes of chilly air. It would only take the children a few steps however to realize there was one other occupant inside the chamber. The air in front of them shifted and, much like the Mysterious Dude, someone else stepped out of the air as if they had blended in with the background.

“…….” The newcomer certainly looked like the Mysterious Dude however they were significantly shorter in height, around Tokuda’s size. Likewise, there was no sarcasm or exasperation wafting off this person. There was only the silence of night, a quiet that persisted in all the figure’s movements even as they raised a hand and pointed it right at the group.

In swift movements a card each manifested in the figure’s palms. Defying physics, both curled and twisted into themselves, elongating with an unearthly glow until they were about the length of blades each. The ends of them were much thinner than the portions held by the figure’s hands, further eliciting the image of swords. If there was any doubt this figure wanted to negotiate peacefully, it was perished now as it slowly approached the group.

There was no rush in its steps or maddening flurry of menace. There was only the calm it invoked as the figure closed the distance between itself and the children. Well, not entirely. While the rest of the group may have seen the figure walking towards them, Kanbaru could feel it had already struck. In fact, it was by her side even now, smacking her with a flurry of swings from its hands. Only some of them cut, but most only stung with an intense pain that separated reality from the dream.

---

[Ryonara]

_{And I'll see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show
Your true colors
True colors are beautiful}

Umi was one of the first to step through with Kanbaru, taking a careful look around her surroundings. It was nighttime, but it wasn't very dark thanks to the open field and the stars. She looked around to see if she could find a moon around here and get some sort of bearings about where she was at. She doubt that time moved conventionally around here, so assuming that this place wasn't actually just outside of the tower, the moon could make for a useful navigational tool. Aside from the sky, the area around them was a wide, open grassland. The grass wasn't too tall, maybe about ankle high, but there wasn't anything around as far as Umi saw. No hills or trees or buildings. She supposed if they kept moving toward though, they'll find something.

But before the group could get too far a new figure showed up. Once more Umi was surprised and raised her arm up, but maybe this one was friendly? However this person didn't say anything as he just raised his hand out as had some cards floating in front of him. At first Umi thought he was going to give them some cards just like Kanbaru, however instead he had summoned swords and used them to attack! He moved faster than Umi had thought he would and in a flash he was already on Kanbaru. In that flash Umi acted, letting her body carry her swiftly.

First thing she did was go low to the ground and scooped up a handful of dirt and grass. A dirty trick for sure, but it was one that Umi had learned during her earlier years protecting herself. She didn't know how to fight, but she had quick hands and keen aim as she hurled a handful of dirt into the face of the unknown assailant. but this was just a feint for her real goal; a swift leg sweep to knock the attacker down and give someone else an opening to strike. With one hand throwing dirt into his face the other reached out to grab the man's ankle and with uncanny strength, pulling his leg out from under him so he'd drop to the ground. Umi of course knew better than to engage an armed person in hand-to-hand combat, so shortly after her attack she'd try to move away and keep a safe distance.

"This guy is bad news! Someone get him while he's down!"

And in the distance, a certain star seemed to shine particularly bright...

[Gardevoiran]

---

Akiko followed behind Umi and Kanbaru, looking out at the mysterious stranger with a bit of a puzzled expression. Another cloaked man? In this Tower? Similarly so, he used cards like the one Kanbaru was holding. Interesting indeed, though Akiko had already pulled out her fans as the new stranger attacked Kanbaru! Christ, they were jumping into action quickly, and the stranger had already seemed to want to fight the "heroes" without so much as starting with an opening monologue. The audacity to not go for peace was certainly something to be relished, though Akiko despised it so.

She unfolded her fans as Umi ran forward, fanning them in front of her face as she darted to the side of the area. Without so much as thinking, Akiko started to shout at the hooded stranger, finding her voice to be projecting a bit louder than most. "Hey! Hoodwink! Why don't'cha come get a piece of this tasty ass!" Akiko {Taunted} the hooded stranger with as much of a sassy and annoying tone as she could, trying anything in order to get him to get his attention away from the real damage dealers of the party and onto her. As for if she could actually outrun the guy... well... she was just hopeful.