JohnWolff

Multiverse Exhibit

There is no such thing as a "good morning"

@Mtntopview

It's a good morning if you don't wake up until noon.

@Entropsy

Then it's good afternoon.

@Mtntopview

But it had been a good morning.

@Entropsy

Unless nightmares.

Multiverse Exhibit

Good morning y'all~

@TiredNihilist

Do you wish me a good morning, or mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not; or that you feel good this morning; or that it is a morning to be good on?

@XxLyraxX

Good morning is an oxymoron.

@Mtntopview

This. So much this. I can't remember many days, if any day at all, when the phrase just clicked accurately and I went, "Hm, he's right. It IS a good morning!"

Multiverse Exhibit

Moments after she had departed from Gorrendil, his story lingered on at the back of her mind. Though it was true that Sayaka was suicidal once like him, she had moved past that part of her life and had accepted it. She was happy, surrounded by wonderful friends, unlike Gorrendil. The knight's tale made her appreciate her life all the more, and a grateful smile spread across her face. As she felt the love for her friends burning in her heart, her desire to escape this place was reignited, her determination rekindled. After taking in a breath of confidence, she looked around once again and scouted the place for any clues. She knew it was pointless - if they could be free from here, they would have been by now - but she looked anyway, and saw the few other disturbances that had recently occurred. A fireball was launched out from nowhere upon the newly arrived guest - a bearded man wearing a hoodie from medieval times. It caused a small explosion, but its only victim was the cratered wall the flaming sphere of doom had landed on. On the other side of the hall, the horned Gigantor who had previously smashed himself against the wall was now literally tearing up the theater seats in search of something. Sayaka shook her head at the both of them. The destruction of their kidnapper's residence was not going to earn any tears from her, but she also doubt that the host would take kindly to their actions either, and they might earn themselves more trouble than they knew. But as she began her casual approach towards the two confused beings, more out of her own curiosity than her urge to lecture them, she soon heard the sound of cracking wood. Turning towards the latest commotion, she noticed that the blonde soldier from the exhibition room had burst in from a door she had forced open. A little startled, but nevertheless pleased at by the sight of her beauty, Sayaka approached to greet her... till the soldier started firing her pistol at the Gigantor without reason. She worryingly spun her eyes towards the full-metal titan, but quickly realized that he had not even paid heed to the fact that he was being fired upon. She returned her gaze onto the soldier, but by then, the medieval man out of time had already confronted her. Despite his friendly expression, Sayaka began stepping towards them, her pace picking up in speed, as did her heart-rate. Her gut told her that the situation before her might turn ugly, and moments later, it certainly did. The soldier had turned her aim towards the bearded man's forehead instead, and the man in turn, became agitated by the action and was generating an orange glow within each of his palms. As soon as he did, however, two shimmering blades had also materialized beneath Sayaka's white gloves. She was a mere five feet from them by the time she willed her cutlasses into existence, and she proceeded to raise one of them in Integra's direction. But before she could swing the full arc towards the woman's cranium, the knight whom she had shared a connection with before, Gorrendil, had already pointed his own firearms towards Integra, with the wizard's head in between his twin pistols. Sayaka sighed lightly at the way Gorrendil was adding to the already chaotic mess, though she could understand the motivation behind his actions, as she too was pointing a lethal blade at someone. As the Mexican standoff came to a standstill, with all parties pointing their weapons at one another, the woman with the flaxen hair began to speak. She spoke of her confusion about this place, she mentioned an intriguing thought about her mortality that almost made Sayaka questioned her own, and she also sounded out her mistrust towards the others. All of that, she could relate and understand, as she was sure most people here shared the sentiment - but it was the casual way she talked about killing another that bugged her a little. Those words gave Sayaka a bitter distaste, but she shrugged it off quickly. She was used to putting up with such disregard for life. As Integra civilly withdrew her weapon without another argument, her cool eyes staring down the magic wielder before her without fear, her steady hand inserting a cigar between her lips, Sayaka did the same and lowered her sword, breathing a sigh of relief as this conflict approached a closure. She signaled her eyes towards Gorrendil, and in a way, the wizard as well, hoping both of them would take up an equally peaceful response. When she turned her stern glare back onto Integra, she noticed the group of spectators that had been drawn to the commotion, and she saw an open opportunity for her to speak with these people. "Look, I know all of you are confused and on edge... I am too." Sayaka voiced herself loudly but clearly to ensure the echo of this hall would carry her voice throughout the entire structure. She made sure to look at each of their faces to let them know she was addressing everyone there, not just individual parties. To let them know she was of no threat to them, she also made the swords in her hands disappear, leaving behind a puff of tiny blue spheres that illuminated the air around her hands. "Someone has obviously kidnapped us here, but we can't get anything done on our own... let alone fighting each other. Our enemy is our kidnapper, not each other. So we need to work together, keep our cools, and maybe, just maybe, we can return to our lives. Alright?" As soon as she finished, in hopes that she could at least knock some sense into some of them, a scream suddenly echoed from the hallway and jerked her head around towards the source. It was a child's voice, sobbing. Sayaka gave the group another look, offering a polite nod, before she began making her return back to the hallway.

Multiverse Exhibit

Also, I am sorry for the low quality post. I'm feeling tired.

SgtEasy

Heh. I'm sorry I kept on reediting my last post. It just bugged me how preachy the original version of my post was, how I wrote a lengthy backstory that dived into Sayaka's past again when she was supposed to have a conversation with Gorrendil. It felt like I was writing a Sayaka fan fic, and it didn't feel natural at all fitting it into the conversation like that, so I had to change it. But when I did, the whole sentence structure didn't feel right - and it still doesn't, frankly speaking.

Multiverse Exhibit

In a way, Gorrendil's words reflected Sayaka's life. Though he had used jargon she was unfamiliar with, Sayaka felt that they were both looking at the same picture - a life of solitude serving an abstract oath, only to be crushed under the unreasonable demands. But there was a big difference between the knight and herself - his suicidal tendencies were spurred by the death of his loved ones, while hers came from the delusion that she was unloved. She bit her lips. The distinct irony that further revealed her hypocrisy stung Sayaka. Though she had long moved past that part of her life, and had since cherished the love her friends had given her, it didn't make her feel any less shameful about her past foolish ways, nor any less embarrassed about lecturing a man who obviously valued his friendship more than she did. "You are a better person than I am," Sayaka panted, brushing away the dust from her skirt as she stood herself up. "I'm sorry for your loss, Gorrendil. You love your friends and you appreciate them. It's a cliche platitude, but I know they would want you to live out your life, not join them in death." As she stared intently into the man's eyes, a reassuring smile gradually cracked through Sayaka's glower. "Trust me - I would know." She gave light nods to acknowledge the newfound friendship, and as she began walking away, returning to her patrol, she turned back and gave one last look with that same earnest, warm smile on her face. "By the way, my name is Sayaka. It's very nice to meet you." With a short, polite bow adhering to the traditional ethics of her people, she walked away once more.

What Are You Listening To?

Rules of Nature - Jamie Christopherson This is my earworm.

Multiverse Exhibit

Good morning (it's morning for me)

Mtntopview

It's almost noon for me xD

XxLyraxX

It's 2 in the morning for me. Haha. Man, I'm feeling sleepy. z_z

Multiverse Exhibit

Does anyone mind that Gorrendil is slightly suicidal?

SgtEasy

Hahaha... suicidal. That's cute. :P

My Hider

Multiverse Exhibit

Sayaka was frantically patrolling the place. She had calmed down a little since the apparent demise of Tatsuya, but she remained worried, her eyes running across the structure of the large hall. "Who's going to die next?" she wondered. Naturally, her own life was the least of her concerns at the moment, but such bravado was not necessarily a mark of her selflessness, for she was merely ignoring whatever cowardice or selfishness hidden within her subconscious. Obtusity and a reckless attitude helped in such matters. “Quick question everyone! Does anyone have the current time as of now?” Such trivial questions lulled Sayaka into a sense of complaisance. She instinctively pulled up the cuff of her school uniform's long sleeve to look at her watch; a quick glance told her it was 6:34. She knew an analog watch was a dumb idea, but felt bad about not wearing it when her classmate, Hitomi Shizuki, had given it to her as a birthday present. Its face had the drawing of a cute anime cat across it; typical of Hitomi to pick something this sweet and fluffy. She sighed, once again, putting out the memory of her friend. When she looked up, she could had screamed were she not gasping for air. The one who had spoken to her before, the one who shared as eccentric a language as the big green ogre, had knelt on the ground and was about to pull the trigger on his head. There was no time to think, hence she merely reacted. A blast of sapphire light exploded from her ring for but half a second, and a picturesque swordswoman instantly stood in her place, with a white cape and a shoulderless blue top. Anyone watching the scene would think himself dreaming, for as instantaneous as her transformation was, she had disappeared from the spot just as quickly. Right before she zipped through the air and began diving in Gorrendil's direction, a blue magic circle of musical notes flashed in mid-air to help propel her across the room like a spring. She used to do this a lot slower, and one could even see with his naked eye the magic circle she had used for support - but not anymore, for she had trained herself to zip through so fast she might as well have teleported. "Not one more!" she screamed in her mind, just right when she shoved Gorrendil across the floor. Her panting matched the rapid acceleration of her heart-rate. She was not used to such high speed travel, despite all her training. As she slowly recovered from the pulse-pounding action that had just taken place, she struggled to turn her gaze towards the suicidal knight, hoping in her heart that she had saved at least one life tonight. "What the hell were you thinking?!" she yelled at the top of her lungs when she saw movement coming from Gorrendil, her furious eyes glaring at him as she awaited an answer. Having learned to control her temper and her heart-rate ever since her witch transformations, it didn't take long for her to regain her composure, along with her rationality. She realized that what she had spat out were yet again the words of a hypocrite - she had been suicidal once herself, after all. In fact, she had been suicidal throughout the numerous cycles of her reincarnation as Sayaka Miki the magical girl turned witch. Whenever a magical girl fell into despair, it was similar to a state of depression, only that one had no mental control over it, regardless of her willpower. When she had turned into that witch of despair, it was almost no different from cutting herself, over and over again, repeated through several lifetimes no thanks to the time-reversal performed by her 'good friend,' Homura Akemi. She knew, she had no right to complain. She was an idiot, possibly a bigger idiot than Gorrendil. But she knew what the experience was like, what the consequences were. After being resurrected through the kindness of the ex-goddess Madoka, she had the memories of her past actions restored - actions from every single time she turned into a witch and died. Madoka used to be an ordinary girl, but through the devious actions of some, Homura was forced to travel back in time repetitively to save her from becoming a magical girl, and inevitably, a witch. Unfortunately, said time-travel also caused events to repeat, events that involved Sayaka's heart being torn apart by a boy named Kyousuke, or her best friend, Hitomi, taking the boy she had loved since childhood from her, or her countless falling from grace that turned her into the monstrosity that was Oktavia von Seckendorff. "Don't waste your life..." she moaned, her tired eyes now staring at the ground instead. "I'm sure there are people out there who would be saddened by your death... Don't selfishly throw your life away."

Multiverse Exhibit

Sayaka had just finished up checking Cal's vitality when one of the two armored knights, part of the late arrivals, came marching to her with a large, goofy grin. "Hey Mon'keigh girl next to that unconscious one! Yeah, you! You wanna get out of this white boring as the warp piece a khorne dick room? Let's go!" "Great, another eloquent speaker." As she rubbed her aching forehead, she exhaled another sigh. This place would run her breathless by the end of the day. "Erm, look," she began while putting on her warmest smile, "I'm a bit busy at the moment looking for a way out of here. The one who brought us here wouldn't just let us off the hook that easily, but that doesn't mean we should just fool around and do nothing. You can come with me if you want to. I could use any help getting these people out of here." Having said that, Sayaka swiftly walked past the warrior without waiting for an answer, the friendly grin still hanging from her face. After a couple more steps, however, she was forced to a halt once more, this time by a familiar voice coming from inside her head. "Many people would have done the same thing, Sayaka. You did not commit something anywhere near as heinous as you imagine." She half-smiled at the kind words, but the grimace that was quickly becoming a trademark of hers resurfaced on her face. "Maybe..." she replied in thought, unsure of the technicalities of telepathic communication, or whether if her wise friend would even hear the reply, "but I can't just let it go, not like this. They were my sins... Whether I was at fault does not matter; their blood was on my hands. And that's that. It is not a matter of self-loathing; it is a matter of duty." Sayaka moved on, trying her best to put the conversation out of her mind. She was grateful for the feline's words, and she knew that her self-blame was nonsensical, given that when a magical girl falls into total despair, she would have no control over her transformation into a witch. It was an inevitable fate all magical girls had once shared till the grace of Madoka saved them all. Given all of that, she could not let it go, and especially not now. Such internal conflicts and moral dilemmas were better left for another time if they ever escaped this place. After being held back more than a handful of times, Sayaka finally came upon the other side of the room. And she was at awe. A theater a bit larger than a football field appeared right before her eyes, with rolls of high class seats aligned across the entire area, and at the very back, a breathtaking movie screen sitting grandiosely above a stage. It had been a while since Sayaka visited a theater, a decade even. She would always attend every performance of her childhood crush, Kyousuke Kamijou, watching him playing that violin. But after the accident that took away the motor control over his arm, Sayaka had not visited a theater since. The painful history that would lead to her contract as a magical girl was one that she had long moved on from. Shrugging off the annoying recollections, Sayaka swiveled around and surveyed the room, memorizing the layout in case it became helpful. While doing so, she noticed that Ib had arrived before her, probably when she was held back by her new companion and her telepathic conversation with Darkhunter. From afar, she could observe that Ib was trying out the exits labeled with the blatant neon signs, and while she too wish that it was that easy, she too knew as Ib knew that the result of such an attempt would probably be disappointing. And as it turned out moments after the twisting of those knobs, it was. Another sigh. Had she a yen for every of these she breathed out, she could probably bribe her way out, and probably even everyone else's too. Exasperated, Sayaka slumped down a random seat in the room, her chin resting upon an elevated palm. In her idleness, however, she failed to notice the pistol-boy from earlier opening one of the doors Ib had tried earlier. He was sucked in, and the door closed up immediately. Sayaka jerked out of her seat. "What... what the hell...?" was all she could articulate. It took her seconds to comprehend the situation. Another one was gone. Another man she could have saved. Another weight on her conscience. "Goddammit..." she cursed bitterly, a clenched fist slammed onto the seat in the row before her. And then she looked around at the eyes that she had attracted, and she wondered how pathetic her state of anger must had looked. She heaved another sigh and began marching across the theater. "There's gotta be a way out. Time's running out."