Headphones

6 AM . . . Yesterday

The sarcastic remark aimed at Rasui did not even tickle. Albeit he listened to the human named Kai, the Key had no intention of admitting his own mistakes, merely because he did not consider those actions his faults. There was nothing in this or in the other world that could make him utter a prolonged ‘s’ at the beginning or the end of a word. It was embarrassing, due to the fact that the sound would come out as a hiss and the likelihood of his tongue unconsciously sticking out was high. When placed in the middle, the task caused less strain, yet still required attentiveness, especially those wretched “assassin”, “assassinate” and the like. He was thankful that this new master of his did not dwell on this subject, nor on the one concerning the label “dump”, which the Leviathan Chronicler had stamped on the apartment. The conversation would have taken far too long and would have definitely diverted them from their job at hand, which in turn would have provided a possibility for outside interference. In the worse case scenario, the boy would go to school or work and forget all about him.

music

Whilst Kai stumbled out of the room, most likely in order to retrieve his phone, the green-eyed spirit took his time to look around carefully, not a single song playing in the background. A dull grey space it was, with figures and boxes scattered on the floor. The toys were of various characters, which belonged to different animated shows, and the boxes were of DVDs and CDs that held the said animations or their soundtracks within them on disks. Posters hung on the walls, displaying games, some of which Rasui knew. There were no family pictures, no guitars or cigarettes, no skateboards and no medals.
The Internet history in the browser did not contain anything that strayed from the themes that decorated the earthling’s dwelling place. MyAnimeList, Animefreak, NetChan, Zerochan, Pixiv, Reddit, Booru. It can not be denied that some links were perverse and not for a young maiden’s eyes. They intrigued the snake and made him glad that humanity had yet to obtain the knowledge of how to install a smell sensor in their mobile devices, because his sensitive nose would have not tolerated even for a second the repulsive smell that he presumed flowered in the being’s home.
The tapping of raindrops was the only sound to be heard. Everything stood still, in a chaos as if frozen in a monochrome time. Thunder ringed in the distance, but was a mere echo and did not make the windows shiver. These signs, as well as the fading access to the Web, were enough to enlighten the Key on the current weather condition. Staring blankly for a moment at the room illuminated by grey light, he wondered if he could quickly slip out and enter a security camera. The building was bound to have one, unless it was in a poor area. However, the outworldly being discarded the idea, for he was waiting for a certain someone to come back, as much as he disliked it. Thus he stood on screen with eyes gently shut, silently enjoying the natural music of the Human world. As always, this side never ceased to amaze him. In his dimension water almost never fell from the sky in any form. Only creatures older than three hundred years could recall such an amazing occurrence. He himself had only witnessed it through the invisible wall that divided the worlds, which was the reason why he loved and was so curious about it. How could transparent liquid come pouring down like how sunflower seeds did? Would it feel oily? Or maybe it was like jumping into a river and coming out of it? Rasui could not tell. After all, most elements in the Human world were completely illogical in Cell City terms. Hotaru had told him it was like being sprinkled on by a sprinkler and Ronda had compared it to being spit on, but he did not believe either of the two, the first because he did not know what a sprinkler was and the second because he couldn’t accept that something so beautiful could be like spit. Only Lidia had agreed with him that rain was wonderful, for she was a kind and understanding person. The rest either disliked or brushed it off. His most recent owner was probably the same as the majority. That boy wasn’t a difficult equation. Simply looking through his files and browser history was enough to understand what kind of person he was.

’Ah, I hate this kid already.’ Rasui sighed in his thoughts as he opened his eyes only to watch the one on his mind enter the room.

“Okaeri, kid. Key Shop’s exactly where you last saw it. Don’t mess around with it just yet, cuz I don’t want to fix any messes this early on.” the Key spoke in nonchalantly.

Kai sat down on the chair amidst the ‘ruins’, but before he opened the program, the lad looked at the monitor, directly at his new companion, and spoke:

Kai said “Look, to be honest, I have no idea what’s going on here and you haven’t helped with that. So, if we’re going to get along here, I’m going to need some answers, so let’s make an agreement. I choose a decent name for you and I do this whole process of choosing a username or whatever and you’ll give me answers as soon as I’m done. Real answers too. Honest explanations. Am I understood?”

“Yah, yah, yah. Just hurry it up! You’re slower than a grandma snail on a non-discount day.” was Rasui’s response. Throwing a fit over a petty little bargain like that would waste too much time. He did not see a reason to disagree in the first place. If he could get a good name as easily as that, there was not a chance he would refuse. Of course, he would have to explain to this kind master what he considered “real” and “honest” a bit later.

With that, Kai entered a name and muttered under his nose after he hit the “enter” button:

Kai said “I hope ‘Loki’ is good enough for you. If not, then tough.”

“Lo...ki.” Rasui pronounced his new name and immediately began contemplating on it. ‘Heeh, not bad. Not bad. The Norse god of trickery and mischief. Can’t say we don’t have things in commo-... Wait… is this kid… giving me a hint?’

It just so happened that one of the Leviathan Chronicler’s previous owners, a young eighteen-year-old named Alim Mehr, had been keen on learning about Norse mythology and a key figure, such as the god that killed one of Odin’s sons, was not one to be missed. Because Rasui loved learning about the human world, he himself had indulged in the fairy tales of the people of the north and found them comical, if not interesting. Loki has been a favorite anti-hero, yet there was that one little moment in the trickster’s biography that disturbed the Key. To shape-shift into a mare and distract a stallion, only to become pregnant and give birth when he himself was male, just so that giant could be distracted and the other gods wouldn’t pay it was a story Rasui tried forgetting and succeeded, until the moment he was given the name “Loki”.

Kai said “There, ‘Blitz Sylph.’ That work for you?”

The character on screen flinched when the boy’s words brought him back to reality. There was the possibility of this human not being aware of the events in the Norse god’s life, but he was a shut-in, thus the chances weren’t high. Rasui made a mental note for himself that either this child was trying to mock him, was giving an indirect message or hadn’t done his reading right. In either case, dealing with it would not be hard.

“Sure. Just fine.” the newly named Loki responded with a bit of unease. “Just so we’re clear, I’m not giving up my other name.” he told him and vanished from the monitor. A small zap twitched above the phone and it lit up, unlocked. “There’s not much we can really do here. Most of the info’s not inserted, since you haven’t logged in yet. But hey, you can look at my awesomeness~” Rasui spoke, now on the phone’s screen, and got the “Owned Keys” page out in the app. There was only one there and that was him, thus he promptly continued by opening his own page. “See? Neat right? Psyche at 7. Sanity at 5. Speed and Agility at 6. Heck, even my Endurance is up! Consider yourself lucky. You could have gotten one of those wackos with low Sanity. I’ve got some amazing skills, too!” he ranted cheerfully, while displaying the page. “All the info about you will be up when we log in. So, how about we do that. Get my key and unlock a door.” he told him and vanished, only to return a split second later. “Just don’t unlock the bathroom door! No joking here! I’ve got bad memories from the last time that happened and, trust me, it wasn’t pretty!”

6 AM . . . Yesterday

music

The key appeared rather plain both in person and on camera, yet the wing keychain was a beautiful work of art. Whoever had created it must of worked for weeks on end to craft each and every feather to perfection. These little details baffled the young girl, who toyed with different filters, in order to take the best photograph possible of her newest possession.

However, when someone let out a yelp nearby, she was startled and had to play “Hot Potato” with herself, the phone in her hands being the potato. When she regained a proper hold of the object a few seconds later, the camera had been closed and the home panel was being displayed before her, yet not everything was as it should. A peculiar figure now stood on screen, a beautiful woman with long brown hair and stunning blue eyes, dressed in what appeared to be armor. This was certainly not an advertisement, nor a video being played, due to the fact that all their attributes, such as a “skip” or “pause” button, were missing. This entity simply stood there, as if it were one of those adorable shimejis, and even began speaking. Whilst it gave her a greeting and a small speech about something regarding an app, Sophie kept quiet and observed as it did so. The student had pulled her face away from the phone, the distance between the two now capable of being considered normal and nonthreatening for the eyes, and her expression had gained that same attentiveness, which she had during class when she hoped that taking the role of the thirsty for knowledge child would allow her to avoid the teacher’s questions. Quite frankly put, this little lady was completely blank in her thoughts, despite having a small spark in her eyes. Nothing logical could explain this strange predicament. This was so random and unusual that even she couldn’t handle it. How did the box enter her room? How had they found her address? How did they come here so fast? Questions had piled up in her mind for a second and in the text became so many that they caused a malfunction and a blackout followed. Yet she did not allow herself be overcome by fear and anxiety, for Sophie pulled out from the annals of her memory that day of her very first test in Physics back in the 7th grade. Back then she had sat on her desk with confidence, but once that sheet of paper had been placed before her, the poor lass had had to come to the realization that she could not do a single thing. Try as she might, not even one of the answers came to her naturally. It was the same as the current situation. Nothing made any sense. This being said, Sofia Soleil made the same decision as she had in that unfortunate school day. She had to wing it. Go with the flow and see what comes out of it. Not doing anything would be the same as failing, thus there was nothing to lose from trying. In the end, the test results showed that she had gotten 57 points out of 100, which she considered amazing for a person who had not studied at all. Her luck rarely played tricks on her and being given the opportunity to receive an accessory for free was definitely a strike of luck. Everything else that came along with it was surely part of the blessing. That is why, after about a minute after her new acquaintance had finished speaking, the girl responded in a cheerful manner.

“Nice to meet you, Valkyrie” Sophie was smiling, as if she had met a new classmate, with whom she wanted to be friends with. “My name is Sofia Soleil, but you can call me Sophie, since Sofia sounds too formal. Oh, and this is my buddy, Tori.” she turned the screen of the phone towards the little dog, which tilted its head while its tongue was sticking out. “He’s a pembroke welsh corgi and such an adorable puppy~” she fawned for a moment and Tori wagged his tail in response. “Now, lets see here...” Sophie began by pressing the Key Shop app while walking towards her laptop, which had been placed on the desk. A window immediately appeared, asking for her to enter a username. “Hmm, what should I be, what should I be” she swung her legs back and forth as she sat on the chair in front of the dest, her free left hand stretching out, in order to press the “start” button. “ “Morning bird” sounds cute, but I like “Kitteeen21”, too. I’ve never been good at picking names.” she sighed. The laptop’s system was now running. “I’ll be...hmm...um...” Lightning struck and made her jump in her seat. “Sheesh, I hate storms. I wish the clouds would go away already.” she complained, but suddenly brightened up with the arrival of an idea “I got it! “Lucky Sun”! I’ll put a star symbol between them, too! Hehe, this is so sweet.” Then another window appeared, asking her to enter a name for her key, the default being Valkyrie. This was a bigger dilemma than the first. Sophie was never a professional name-giver, but wanted to give this new friend a nice name, one with meaning and an elegant touch to it. “Excuse me for a second.” she quickly excused herself and placed the phone on the desk. What followed was her opening Mozilla Firefox and entering the address of a site she knew and loved, 20000-names.com. Once inside, she clicked on “Special Categories” and, after some thought, continued by clicking “Light names”. A few minutes of debating passed and then she smiled, for she had found a suitable name. “Alright! I’ll give you the name “Candra”. It means “glowing like the moon”. Hope that’s alright with you.” she said as she typed it in and entered it.

Someone knocked on the bedroom door.
“Sophie. Breakfast.” her mother said without entering and then headed for the kitchen.
“Coming!” the child responded.

Sophie put the phone on loud-speaker and placed it on the bookcase headboard. While taking off her sleeping gown and putting on a nice set of home clothes, she chirped to her new companion.

“I wonder what we’ll be having for breakfast today. I hope it’s not one of those bread in water things. Toast with jam would be the best. Oh, cupcakes would be nice, but mum doesn’t have that much free time. She’s a good cook, always tries her best, despite the little time she has. I can’t cook, so I don’t have any other choice anyway. Can you cook? What’s your favorite dish? I dislike stuff with too much oil. You know, those greasy things. So unhealthy! TheY opened another fast food place just two days ago in our area! Seriously, we have five already! What’s their plan, anyway? If we get too fat, we won’t be able to go out and buy anything in the first place. Then again, we can order online or use the phone. Still, it’s immoral to fatten people up like this! Other than that, I don’t like fish. I know it’s healthy and all, but I just don’t like it. Too slimy for me. I don’t mind fish as pets, though I find them a bit boring. Still some of them are very pretty with all those colours and all.” She was ranting and did not even notice that she was already dressed. At present, the girl was just walking around her room, checking various things, such as her bag and her closets absentmindedly, looking for something she didn’t even remember what it was. “Speaking of colours, that Key Shop app is really nice. Love the design, but could use something brighter. Are you from the app’s crew? Like, a service worker or something? But you said I’m your “master” or something, right? Is that what you call your clients? I like serveys and helping out with stuff like that, so I’ll be happy to help, if you need something like rating or reviews. It’s a sweet app and the key came super quickly. Is there anything you’d like me to do now? I’ll have to go get breakfast, so if it’s something that needs time, you’ll have to wait a bit.”

6 AM . . . Yesterday

Alright~ I had some difficulties, but I also posted with Sophie =3 I hope you're prepared for a normal day.

Shin is working on his two posts. Thank you for posting, Four. I know just how tight your schedule is, but you still found some time for this role-play X3 I'm glad you're here. Loving the Librarian's introduction. Can't wait to see how he and Gabe will bark at each other, if they do, of course.

By the way, everyone, I call Rafale Shin and John Four, since those were the names I first knew them by and they stuck to them as nicknames. =3 Just a note so you all don't get confused.

Also, if you would like of course, do send me your Skype names so I can add you. We have discussions every day in the Skype group, both about random things and about the role-play. It's an easy way for you to ask questions, if you have any, and not wait too long for a reply.
For instance, Shin/Rafale asked me the following:

Rafale said I have a question about when Keys are in the real world. Seeing as they don't have a physical form, how would they see? I'm guessing either through the cameras of the device they're synced with or the eyes of their master, but I'm not sure.

My answer is that the Keys see through the screen of the device they are on. Even if you lock it, they can unlock it so they can see, but when locked or out of battery they can still see what is happening through the camera.
When inside a phone or a PC, Keys don't see everything inside it was 1es and 0es. They see it as an actual world of folders. Much like what you see on the screen.
It's rare but Keys can see through the eyes of their masters. In order to do that, they first need permission from the human. In other words, the human has to be aware that the Key will be looking through their eyes. This rather exhausting and it's not entirely convenient for Keys, so they mostly stick with the device.

Oh, and I would also like to mention that we kind of picked an OP and ED for the role-play in the Skype group X3 I would like to hear what everyone else thinks, if you are all still here. Any suggestions for a change?

Opening theme:

op

Ending theme:

ed

This feels like an anime already XD

6 AM . . . Yesterday

Birds playfully chirped their blissful tributes to the fine morning as the hour of dawn came upon the city. The sun was slowly climbing upwards from the horizon, much like a sleepy child, unwilling to get out of bed and go to school. Similar to the guardian of the day, many of the residents were enjoying these early moments leisurely. Either having breakfast at a relaxing pace or still strolling through their dreamworlds, the majority was resting peacefully, gathering strength for the hurdles of everyday life that were yet to come. Despite being a special one, today had a beginning like any other, which was not to be fretted over. It was, after all, only five in the morning.

The rays of the firstlight shyly peaked from behind the lavender pink curtains of a room, which belonged to an average apartment, one of the many within the flats of the particular simple residential area. The said space had a calm atmosphere, a light sweet essence floating in the air. Sunlight illuminated the wooden desk in front of the window, not a single speck of dust atop it. Textbooks, notebooks and other study materials lay neatly ordered upon this piece of furniture, ready to be bidded goodbye and be placed in cardboard boxes, in order to be stored away for the future generations. On a chair by the desk was a lava-coloured tracksuit, whilst on a hanger on the coatrack was a lovely floral dress, which had yellow buttons at the end of each strap. Both sets of clothing were properly ironed and set, waiting for their mistress to pick them up and put them to good use.
Speaking of the little angel, the young lady was still asleep, curled up under the thin cover on her single bed, not flinching once. Her soft inhales and exhales were quieter than a needle falling in a room of sewing machines and were the only signs the girl was alive as she soundly slept, her head on a soft feather pillow. Tori, the welsh corgi owned by the family, was also in an imaginary world of his own while lying next to his owner’s arm, muzzle pressed next to her hand.
Not a sound was made to disturb this oasis of serenity. Even the serenades of avians coming from the open window were mere echoes, distant reminders of the outside world. Everything remained perfectly still in harmony, apart from the gentle sunlight, which steadily crept inside, giving the interior a brighter tone.

Yet it was not to last, for time waited for no one. With the carefree strumming of a guitar and the playful “da da da” of a soothing male voice, the song “Take to the Sky” by Owl City began. The cheerful tune came from the white frost Samsung Galaxy S4, which slightly buzzed on the white maple surface of the bookcase headboard. Two bare arms stretched upwards, seemingly grasping thin air, as the human yawned simultaneously with her dog. Pushing herself to a sitting position, the girl rubbed her eyes and tossed away the sheet that had covered her. She was wearing a celeste sleeping gown with a white heart pattern, a rather short and fine dress that barely reached her knees. Getting out of bed without hesitation, she immediately put on her puce slippers and went to the bathroom, attempting to be as quiet as a mouse. Even if her footwork was not audible, however, it did not work as planned because of the simple fact that she brought along her phone, which had yet to stop playing the song. Thankfully, it did not truly matter whether or not she made this noise, for her mother was already up, smoking a cigar while drinking her morning coffee, and her father slept like a log, only a shake or a kick could wake him.

After refreshing herself, the girl went to the kitchen and spoke with a sunny smile:

“Good morning, mum! How did you sleep? Any interesting dreams?”
“Oh, you’re already up, Sophie. Good morning.” the woman replied kindly with the same expression as her daughter. “I slept well. No dreams, sadly. I guess I’m getting too old.” she chuckled “Breakfast will be ready when you come back. Now hurry up, don’t make Tori impatient.”
“Alright, alright.” the youngster agreed and turned around, but continued speaking as she walked back to her room. “What are we having today?”
“Pancakes.” her mother replied from her seat.
“Super!”
“Sophie.”
“Ops, sorry, sorry.” she giggled in apology.

With Mr. Soleil working night shift he needed all the sleep he could get during the day, which limited his time with his family, but at least fed them. Despite knowing that he wouldn’t wake up from a simple burst of joy from their lively daughter, Mrs. Soleil wished to build in her child the habit of speaking with a low voice when someone else was sleeping, even when the said person was in another room. Ever since her husband had switched shifts a year ago the training was going well and she presumed it would take only a few more instances and remarks to set things right. Taking a sip from her cup, she finished her cigar and decided to get cooking. After all, she had to go to work after two hours and preparing a healthy meal was something she had taken upon herself and would continue doing until Sofie understood how to crack an egg and not make a mess.
In another corner of the apartment, the young lady got dressed in her tracksuit, something she did not fancy wearing, but did so after figuring out this was the best she could possibly wear for her jog and P.E. However, she did not dislike the suit as much as the sneakers. The girl truly felt disgusted wearing that big pair of shoes that sometimes made her feet smell, yet necessities were necessities. Putting on as much deodorant as possible, she grabbed her phone and pink headphones and rushed to the antre. Tori sat patiently by the front door, waiting for his master with the leash in his mouth.
“Sorry for the wait, Tori.” Sofie said as if the short dog could understand her. Once she had reluctantly placed her feet in the running shoes and tied the shoelaces, she took her keys from the coatrack and called out “I’m going out.”
“Bye, bye.” her mother’s voice came from the kitchen.
When the leash was securely connected to Tori’s harness, the two of them went out for morning exercise.



It was fortunate that there was a small park near the apartment complex the Soleils lived in. Every day when the weather was forgiving the only daughter of the family went out with her dog for a run. It kept her fit and drained a part of the small animal’s seemingly endless supply of energy. It was also the only time the harness was used, seeing as a collar could choke him, but the aforementioned could spoil him if used regularly, thus was only placed on him during training.
What was not quite as pleasant was that this everyday occurrence took away any motivation for further physical labor during the rest of the day, unless it had something to do with shopping, hence her poor performance in P.E. It was truly a double-edged hobie, but if not done, Tori would destroy the house from boredom, not to mention make the bathroom smell awfully.
The two early birds first took a stroll, in order for the canine to do his business, and then proceeded to making a couple of rounds on the long paths of the park. There had been rainfall during the night, judging by the puddles that had accumulated here and there. This made the dirt tracks unfavorable, despite typically being a better choice for the skeleton compared to solid concrete or pavement.
Sofie was on her sixth run on her usual route when the music coming from the headphones on her ears briefly stopped, in order for there to be a quick ring, and then continued on wards. This made her halt in her tracks and take out the phone from her pocket and check what had happened.

“Oh, it’s 6 AM! Oh, wait, it’s the 21st?! It’s the summer solstice today! I almost forgot! Tori, why didn’t you remind me?!” she complained hopelessly and the only thing Tori did was tilt his head while his tongue stuck out as he breathed through his mouth.

Indeed, that day, the 21st June, was a special one for Sofie Soleil. The astronomy club had decided to hold a gathering, in order to watch the solstice at ten minutes to seven in the morning. There wasn’t much a school club could do, so it wasn’t surprising that by “gathering” they meant to simply get together, laugh away some time and go to an amusement park. The only reason Sophie had joined this group in the first place was because they fitted her lazy style of doing things, but the main cause of her desire to be a part of them was the fact that the vice-president of the club was Morty Selwyn, a black-haired boy with blue eyes. He was from the same class and was her one-sided love ever since she entered junior high school. Helpful, charismatic and confident, every time they met butterflies would flutter in her stomach, but a rock would also get stuck in her throat, making her unable to speak properly. Never having had a boyfriend until that point, the girl was naturally shy and unsure of how or when to make the first step or if she should at all. Despite this helplessness, she pursued encounters with him and tried getting to know this person better. So far, her eyes became hearts the moment she saw him and couldn’t notice any bad traits.

Realizing that she could miss this wonderful opportunity to spend time with her crush out of school, the 15-year-old swung herself into high gear and ran back home, the corgi barely managing to keep up. When she returned, the girl didn’t even give her mother an “I’m back”, but slammed the door, locked it and ran straight for the shower. Tori had the pleasure of slowly crawling to the kitchen where his water and food bowls were so he could have a drink and breakfast, whilst his mistress multitasked to the extreme. The poor pup hadn’t even finished licking his dish clean when Sophie consumed her pancake. Hair clean and dry, floral dress on, sunglasses on, headphones in the bag, phone too, purse, notebook, lucky charm, hairpins, eyeliner, handkerchiefs, flashlight, etc. Check, check, check. Everything was ready in the span of fifteen minutes.

“Alright! I’m going out again!” Sofie announced as she put her dirty dishes in the sink.
“Alright. Have fun.” her mother told her as she got up after getting the harness off of Tori and putting on his collar.

It was a sunny day, with only a few white clouds floating in the sky, yet the student decided to take the bus to the meeting place. It was already getting rather hot, not to mention Tori no longer had the energy to bolt forward with her and she needed to get there fast. Thus taking public transport was for the best. She bought herself a ticket and had a doggy card that allowed her pet to ride with her. Once on the bus, Sophie frantically looked at her phone, worrying that she would be later. It was then that she noticed that she had a new message, one which had arrived at exactly 6 AM. This certainly explained the sudden stop of music. The contents of the message puzzled her, but when she opened the app, which miraculously installed itself, the lass felt like she was in heaven. Fancy beautiful keys and all of them were free! She couldn’t pick just one, yet the requirements were such. The words from the unknown sender were now forgotten as she drooled over the wonderful artworks. She had seen these kinds of items being sold at relatively high prices, but her mother never allowed her to buy one, stating that it was a completely useless accessory that would bore her after the first day. The girl could care less about her future self and longed for a chance to get her hands on one of those decorative keys. Now one was being presented to her.

‘Ah, my guardian angel heard me~’ she cried from joy in her mind. ‘Now, which one to- OH NO! MY STOP!’

With the halt of the bus all was forgotten again. Sophie closed the app, put her phone away and jumped out of her seat, the corgi in her arms. If Tori had not gotten movesick or bussick by now, he was certainly getting hugsick.

“Good morning, Sophie.” a tall girl with long black hair greeted her.
“Took you long enough. We’ve been waiting, you know.” another shorter girl complained, green strands shining here and there between her brown hair.

These were two of Sofie’s best friends, Linda and Kathie. Despite not being from the astronomy club, the first being in the cooking club and the second - in the athletic club, they came along for support. They did not stand out either, seeing as they knew the rest of the club members well and were either acquaintances or friends with most of them. They were honorary members, so to speak. However, one person from the usual quartet was missing.

“Good morning, everyone.” Sofie greeted them with a smile. “Where’s Megan?”
“That girl will never wake up early on a Saturday morning.” Linda sighed. “She’ll join us later at the amusement park.”
“I would have done the same, if I didn’t want to see things through. So, what’s the plan?” Kathie smiled deviously.
“Plan?” Sofie questioned
“You’re going to do it today, right? Should we hint at the others to scram or should I just push them out of the way?”
“What?! No, no, no, no, no. I’m not gonna do it!”
“Oh, come on. What’s the hold up? You better hurry up or someone else will take that cupcake.”
“You’re no better, Kathie. Why haven’t you made your move on Markus?” Linda stepped in.
“I-I’m still testing him! That guy hasn’t given me enough proof that he’s worth my time.” Kathie protested.
“How about we just go meet up with everyone else?” Sofie suggested.

The three girls had met up in front of a fountain near their school, where the rest of the group was. Once they were all gathered, they went to the rooftop where they drank sodas, discussed theories about different dimensions and enjoyed the view. Just as promised, at 6:51 AM was the summer solstice and everyone took a picture with their cellphones, both of the sun and of themselves. That was the end of subject-related club activities. Next on the list were club activities related to physics, such as discovering how light bent in the drops of a water roller coaster, how fast a spinning wheel could go and how the structure of ice-cream changed in high temperatures. A normal day out for a bunch of students in the heat of the first summer day.

Albeit they were enjoying freedom together from seven in the morning until three in the afternoon, Sofie did not dare to utter a word connected to love or confessions. She would laugh at Morty’s jokes, went with him on every ride he chose, but remained in the friend zone, which he apparently had no intention of leaving. Linda, Kathie and some of the members who knew about this unrequired love tried helping out by intentionally leaving them behind, but nothing worked and the button-lover sulked from three to six in the afternoon on a shopping trip with her besties, now joined by Megan. In her downcast state she ended up buying a skirt, a cute T-shirt and four boxes of buttons. Thankfully she got over it, but her financial state was already in the red by the time it was over.

By the time they got home, both beings were exhausted. Tori only needed to have a drink and his dinner before falling asleep on the youngster’s bed, while Sophie chatted online and frolliced in the Internet until half past ten before brushing her teeth and hitting the hay. It had been an emotional day near the end of June.



The jolly tune of “Take to the sky” sounded through the room once more, yet it was not the same as before. The light which entered from outside was faint and barely illuminated the contents within.

“It’s raining.” the girl remarked as she looked through the window. “Seems like there’ll be no jogging today.” she said while looking at Tori, who yawned in return.

Sophie had woken up later than usual, but it was not an uncommon event. Rainy weather always had a bad effect on her, thus she disliked it. Everything would become gloomy and you couldn’t go out. It was good when it rained in the evening or in the morning, since most people were at home, but a short hard downpour in the middle of the day, such as the one that had happened yesterday whilst the gang was still shopping, was not to a lady’s taste. Hairstyles and makeup would become ruined, not to mention shoes would get wet. To top it off, it wasn’t rare for Internet and phone signals to get lost. Raindrops were beautiful, but thunder and lightning ofttimes scared her. That is why she did her best to ignore storms by distracting herself, which would happen naturally even if she wasn’t doing it on purpose.

When the song ended, Sofie picked up her phone to turn the alarm off, but when she unlocked it and saw the Key Shop icon, as well as a new message notification, she suddenly remembered the accessory site from yesterday. Smiling joyfully, she flumped back into bed and started scrolling through the app. To her surprise, the lovely “Que Sera Sera” key was no longer in stock, nor was the “Titan Guard”. Frowning, the child accused herself of being so forgetful, but continued browsing. None of the remaining keys looked that appealing, except for one, which had a lovely angel wing for a keychain. It was the one she decided to buy, seeing as her mother would probably accuse her less if the item looked more modern or would simply not spot it, due to the fact it wasn’t overly decorated. Tapping once, the girl made her purchase. This deed now done, she got up and headed for the bathroom. She hadn’t even crossed half of the distance when there was a ring at the door.

“I’ll get it!” she quickly called and ran for the door, stopping for a second to look herself in the mirror and fix her hair a bit. The fact that she wore only a sleeping gown didn’t bother the lass the least.

Upon opening the door there was no one to be found on the other side. Locking it, she turned around and looked at Tori, who had come to check what the fuss was about.
“Strange.” she commented.

Letting out a sigh, Sophie continued to the bathroom, wondering who could have played a prank so early in the morning. After finishing up, she bid her mother good day and returned to her room, since breakfast needed only ten more minutes to get ready. Lightning struck and the thunder startled her. Out of fright, she spit in her chest and let out a complaint:
“Uhhh, I don’t like this at all. So scary.”

The surprises would keep piling up, for a cardboard box now lay atop her bed. Despite knowing about how her air-headedness could reach ultimate levels, Sophie swore it had not been there before, nor had she heard her mother’s footsteps. Stepping cautiously and then with just as much care opening it, she discovered it was not a Jack-in-a-box, but the key she had ordered.

“Woah! Amazing!” she exclaimed in surprise and hurriedly rampaged the contents.

What she found was a little metal box for the key, the item itself and it’s keychain, as well as a sheet with instructions.

“5. To link up the key with your phone or Ipod, simply get them close to each other.” she read aloud and then looked at Tori. “Sounds easy enough.”

Brimming with excitement, the young girl took her phone and got ready to take a picture and send it to her friends. Meanwhile, something was loading...

6 AM . . . Yesterday

*sigh* Sorry for not appearing for so long, guys. Had some business to take care of -.-" Well, with a certain matter in my life now taken care of, I do believe I can give this role-play the attention it deserves =3

So, just so you all know, Oblivion will be away until the 16th, due to her exams. Well, she might come around for OOC posts, but she won't be capable of creating an actual post for the IC. Thus, sadly, El, you'll have to wait a bit more =<

The only pair that has so far gotten together is Kai-Rasui and the only human yet to be put into action is Sophie, mine. I'll get to work on a post for her, but it's already the Key's turn, so feel free to post =3

But, in other news, how are you all? Do you enjoy Japanese songs? =3

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Hello, everyone =3

Headphones reporting in. This message saddens me quite, yet it has come the time to say goodbye.

Ever since the new guild came out in January I have been finding it hard to post for the Train, mainly due to the fact that one month had to pass without writing a single word. It is something that couldn't be helped. When everything started running again, I no longer had enough motivation and my posts became slower and I completely vanished from the OOC at one point, barely making an appearance afterwards. Honestly speaking, I believed it was merely a phase that would pass by, but it is now June and I am still lacking the inspiration to create posts. I truly dislike writing something just for the sake of writing, since I want it to be worthy in quality for the story I am writing for and not simply a scrap of jumbled up words. With there being no signs of improvement and the three day rule being impossible to meet, I have decided it is time to take my leave.

It was bliss to be with all of you up until this very moment. Truly, this was happiness, because never up until now have I ever been part of a role-play that has run for so long. "The Midnight Train to Nowhere" will stay in my memory as a remarkable journey. The story world was amazing and its randomness was fun to observe.

I am sorry that some people found Hakuren and myself bothersome. However, I shall do no such thing as apologize for making my character as such, because he was no "perfect snowflake". He was simply not cut out for a role-play with such a fast pace, due to his planned character development being slower. I will apologize for irritating you, but not for being who I am and for him being who he is.

Blame should not be placed on anyone, because there is no reason for it to be placed in the first place (intended play). I have no hard feelings for Fox-chan, Kathi-cha, Kei-chan or anyone out there. There is no point in being angry, nor accusing.

I am thankful for you all to offer me such a wonderful experience and I hope The Train continues onwards into the uncertain future. May you reach the good end! =3

And one last thing:

Last Music Night with Headphones presents: This song, since the Lost Souls will one day lose all their memories =3

6 AM . . . Yesterday

A world devoid of light. A world consumed by darkness. It was like a night without the moon and stars, like a bottomless chasm of utter nothingness. There was not a single path, not a wall or any surface for that matter. A space where one could float in tenebrosity, forget all they ever knew and lose all meaning to themselves. This abyss of oblivion, however, was not completely empty as it seemed. Many vague murmurings could be heard from every side, despite directions not clearly existing in this dimension. They were the whisperings of those who inhabited this place, known as the Keys Shop and who, quite suitably, bore the name of Keys for their species.
Within this neverending evening ball, these souls spent their eternal time chattering among themselves or dwelling in their own thoughts, but nothing more, for they could neither see their compatriots, nor their own bodies. They could not find each other in the darkness, they could not touch each other, thus they could not be certain what intentions their companions had or if they were not simply talking to themselves. An existence of isolation it was.

It was in a moment of rest, when he had decided to give himself a break from babbling with others, that the Leviathan Chronicler suddenly had to face the brightness of the message he had longed for.





“Well, FINALLY!” he shouted enthusiastically. There was no method to calculate just how much time had passed since the last ‘take off’, yet it had certainly felt like ages and one thing this Key was known for was the lack of patience on many occasions. “Oi, Vinny boy! I’m hitting the road!” he called out to his friend. “I’ll see ya when I see ya.”



Loading Profile…
Loading Stats…
Loading Key…
…
[ Error ]


The phone’s screen went black and stood still for a moment, before a small “error” box came up on the upper left corner and, soon enough,...

...

“Error” boxes flooded the screen, to the point where there were so many layers of them that the surface went white. Once this was complete, the phone suddenly flashed for a split second and unlocked itself. The first panel appeared normal, the same way Kai had last seen it. However, the situation quickly changed when a voice spoke in the young man’s head:

“Heeeeh, those are some pretty nice girls you have there.”a very short pause followed before the stranger, who was nowhere in sight, continued “Hey, I’m not against 2D, but what the hell?! That’s, like, the only thing you’ve got! What a virgin!” he laughed.

Music applications started opening rapidly one after another, without the human even doing a single action in order to do so. Playlists were scrolled through, a few songs playing for merely five seconds until they were switched for for something else.

“Boring. Slow. So totally L.A.M.E.” the unknown individual spoke in irritation. “So not what I want.”

With that, YouTube quickly opened and the first song was searched.
Nightcore - Getting away with murder

The little circle skipped right up to the twentyeight second of the piece by Papa Roach in its “nightcore” version, when the lyrics of the first couplet were being sung.

“What creates my own madness.
And I’m addicted to your punishment
And you're the master
And I am waiting for disaster”

During that span of exactly ten seconds, the volume was being increased by an invisible force at at precisely 0:38 of the song it hit the maximum and the chorus began.

“I feel irrational
So confrontational
To tell the truth I am
Getting away with murder
It isn't possible
To never tell the truth
But the reality is I'm getting away with murder.”

The mysterious person from before screamed along with the singer inside Kai’s head, obviously enjoying himself to the fullest, yet, at the end of the chorus, he sighed briefly and spoke again:
“Next.”

What followed was another speeded version, this time of Blue Stahli’s “ULTRAnumb”. In this case, a whole minute and seven seconds were skipped in favor of a rapid escalation of notes, which made the phone slightly jump in place.

“(Three, two, one)
Violated
So degraded
The show has just begun

(Three, two, one)
Dominated
By all you hated
This will make you ULTRAnumb
(Three, two, one)”

“Awesome, but I want something else. Hmm, what should it be...” the bizarre entity mused as he looked at the sidebar of videos next to the one currently running, whilst the Bret Autrey continued:

“Three, two, one
Reality's a plague
We're the medication

A new manipulation
Oversaturation
Take advantage of what you deny”

“Oh, what’s this?” the spirit questioned in the lad’s head as the song “Blackstar” by Celldwer (Nightcore) was seemingly tapped, in order to replace “ULTRAnumb”. The beginning was in the electro style and interested him enough to keep it running, until about a minute passed and he felt annoyed by the guy’s voice.

“Uh, not bad but not my style. Sheeeesh, there’s nothing on this thing! And it’s getting kinda slow, too. Time to take a little trip!”

Having voiced out this decision, a miniature green flash of lightning zapped over the mobile device and the item calmed down. Unfortunately, this was not the end of today’s oddities. The microwave on the worktop in the kitchen commenced beeping and the light bulb inside it went on and off. The same happened with the lamp above the human’s head afterwards and a light cracking along with snickering could be heard. Then all became silent in the confines of the kitchen, until a booming sound came from the bedroom.

The computer had miraculously turned itself on and now files upon files were opening up and closing, whilst a window inside the browser had the AMV “COLOLOR” running on YouTube, once again at maximum volume. Numerous items were bouncing, due to the intensity of the sound, a couple of stacks of video game boxes and figures falling off from the shelves to the ground below. The windows and the glass desk were vibrating with the beat and the colourful LED lights twitched along as well. Chaos was turning this room into a mess and a certain someone, who was the cause of this all, did not care the least.

“Hehehe, seems like my new master actually has a thing for the 2D. What a bummer~ I’m stuck with a total virgin agaaaain. What a loser.” the same voice, only a bit more digital, could be heard coming from the speakers. “Can’t be helped, though.”

As sudden as this disturbance had been, it just as quickly died down with the depleting of the volume to no more than a whisper of the instrumental of “My crush was a monster boy”. Each and every folder was abruptly minimalized down in the toolbar strip, in order to clear the stage for the devious villain, who had not even knocked on the door of Kai’s peaceful everyday life before tearing it down and letting in the nonsense.

“So, you’re this Kai person?”

A young man, probably in the middle of his twenties, appeared out of the blue on the computer screen up to his waist. He wore a black jacket, underneath of which was a white shirt, and a grey scarf loosely tied around his neck. Staring straight at the youngster in front of him, his short black hair did in no manner get in the way of his strikingly sharp green gaze from piercing through the human, who had entered the bedroom only moments ago.

“Your face has loser spelled all over it.” he let out a sigh of disappointment, one hand on his waistline. “Well, whatever. Time to get these stupid formalities out of the way.” With that, he smiled and began the explanation he knew by heart after all those years of repeating it again and again. “Nice to meet you. Shut up, so I can tell you what’s going on. Today you received a messa-” the man was cut short when the antivirus window suddenly popped up and hit him in the face, the words “Virus Detected” written on it. “**** you! Stupid antivirus ****!” he cursed and promptly deleted the antivirus system. “In aaany case” the ring of absolute annoyance now in his voice “Long story short, I’m the key you bought. The Leviathan Chronicler. My Code Name is Rasui. The other fellows from my place call me that. It’s like a second first name or whatever.” he waved his hand dismissively, but then became serious and pointed at the human “Let me get one thing straight here, Kai Maav. There’s no way I’m going to waste my time in this dump. This place’s a mess, totally not my kind of hang out. So, lets not waste any time and get with the program. Open the Key Shop app on your phone, choose a username and lets get cracking.” he told the boy, but added with less irritation. “Oh, yah, and then there’s the name you’re supposed to give me. I’m not all that picky, but no lame girly stuff or random objects!”

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

Well, I don't know if I can count myself as here or not here. I don't mean to sound like some upset little child, because I know the fault is all mine, but demotivation has conquered me to the point that I find it bothersome to even think -.- I'll see what I can do, but don't expect anything spectacular in my next post. Without the proper muse, my writing is as good as a piece of that advertisement paper they pass on on the streets.

Twisted Redux: Recruiting

And I'm still not done -.-" Sorry, Maiden. The past week's been a sort of roller-coaster for me. I'll so my best to finish the sheet soon~!

The Midnight Train to Nowhere

[I’ll be adding a bigger text here in the morning. I’m posting simply because I wish to get this specific reaction placed before anyone else and because I feel ashamed of myself for not having posted in the last 8 days. I apologise for the inconvenience of this short post. An adequate description of the events from the castle to the point of the dragon attack shall be added from Hakuren’s perspective in due time. ]



Sudden wind cut through the calm atmosphere. A deafening roar pierced the already tense air. It took a moment shorter than a blink for the source of the disturbance to become evident.
There it was, the mighty beast. Soaring through the sky, the sheer size of its wingspan could make you gaze in awe. It was horrific. The dragon was tremendous in size, greater than what anyone could ever imagine. Despite its colossal titanic figure, it carried itself gracefully, as if it were but a feather in the sky. All hearts stopped at the sight of the monster, many jaws even gaped wide open. Indeed, this was a magnificent creature, worthy of the title “ruler of the welkin”.

Spirits fell into a state of panic. Generals yelled out orders. Soldiers began running left and right. Many did as they were told and headed up the steep slopes, dashing forward like antelope escaping a lion’s claws. Bowmen fired the first line of arrows, yet none reached the winged lord, for a mere flap was enough to send those little sticks away. However, the reptilian had not entered the stage simply for making itself visible. An attack awaited the two-legged land-lovers. Opening its mouth, the dragon let out a breath of blue flames, which rained down upon the army. People dodged and ducked out of the way of the incoming firedrops, yet not all were lucky. Numerous were hit and could only roll in desperation as they burned alive within their armor. A symphony of screams of agony and pain played on the mountain side. Such was the song of battle.

someone said "Get up this moment now! Find solid ground. If we stay here, we'll get blown off the mountain side."

Harper said Harper nodded then turned back to his friends. "You heard him, let's go!"

Hakuren could not object to the suggestion. It was a completely agreeable one, after all. Leaping from rock to rock, he ran along with the group, not once allowing himself to fall behind. Only once did he turn his head to look upwards at the dark sky above and in that moment he thought:

’Took you long enough.’

Fortunately for the humans, the dragon had concentrated its attention at the big cluster of shining soldiers and had not pinpointed the little gang of outworldly beings as its target, thus very few balls of fire came down on their way. This would provide a safer route to the cave or to a stable sniper spot. The ice mage fancied the idea of observing the spectacle as a viewer, yet also had the craving to engage in battle at least indirectly. To his delight and most likely to everyone else’s displease, a guard came and gave Harper an amulet, telling him and his team to put it on the dragon. Naturally, the glasses-wearing warrior lost colour and it seemed as though he could crumble down any time soon. The sudden halt was unfavorable in the green-blue-eyed young man’s opinion and watching Riddle’s shivering self only made him wonder if the boy would even survive this even. If the magic didn’t kill him, stress and depression certainly would.

“Alright, lets get to work then.” Hakuren said with a smile.

Riley said "We'll be okay, if we stick together."

Out of nowhere, the ground below their feet shuck restlessly, as if it were a squirming child, which did not wish to have a bath, and every living being was pushed downward by an unknown force.

‘Gravity magic?’

Countless individuals, apart from the lost souls, were pushed off the mountain and fell to their death, their surprised and terrified yawls echoing with the distance. Harper had clung onto a tree, whilst the black-blue-haired magician had created a small ice wall big enough only for himself, in order to avoid a fate similar to those, who had lost their footing.
After the gravity spell wore off, everyone regained their former stature and brushed the dust off their clothing.

“Well, that was interesting.” Hakuren commented, that smile of his still in bloom. “In any case, how about we get into formation, rather than run like little chicks from a shadow?” it was a rhetorical question. “We’re supposed to get on that dragon. Leon get ready to-” he began, yet cut himself short when the only knight among the band left and scurried up the mountain. “Sheesh.” he sighed and followed suit.

It had not been a hard task to catch up to Harper. The student’s feet were still unsteady because of his fear, making it all that more easy for the ‘ice king’ to reach him.

“Hey, Riddle, where’s the fire?” Hakuren joked once he was finally running alongside his companion and proceeded to cut the youngster’s path. “We need a plan here, not chaos” he told him, but added nonetheless “Although the second would be of use.” Once a couple of the others joined them, he continued “We can’t ask that thing to come down to us, so we’ll be going up. What we can use to our advantage is the reaction between hot and cold air. Leon can create an air current, but it will take far more power to single handedly move the flow with the necessary speed. Currently, the air around us is hot, because of the dragon. If I cool the air around the hot flow, it will naturally push us upwards, since it would want to escape to lower levels. How’s that for a start?”

(have to go to school x_x might edit the end)