[Video]

[Souji is lying on her back in her bed in the Apartments, looking up at her right hand, mark of favor from the Incarnae clearly visible from the video.]

You know, I never did believe in wishes. A lot of people only go as far as wishing for stuff, and it never gets done. I guess the Incarnae girls have the power to grant them, but it still seems kinda suspicious for a reward. Especially since they aren't telling us what went wrong, or how grabbing those crystals helped it. What exactly are they, anyway? The stones, the phantoms, or the Incarnae? Anyone got a theory?

[Kuja is dressed in her usual garb, and the tail which was evident when she first arrived seems to have disappeared. She offers the Vine a bow. It is a bow without a particularly respectful air, more a dramatic gesture than anything else.]

Now that I have been here for some few days, I've decided to make the attempt to discover whether there are others here like me. Not of my kind, as I sincerely doubt that could be the case, but of a similar bent.

I am a poet, and an actress of no small renown, and I wish to know if there other artists here, like myself. Painters, sculptors, writers, or perhaps musicians? Even a patron of the arts. It would be a great pleasure to discuss aesthetics, as well as the passion and wonder of creation, with like-minded individuals. We might collaborate, combine our talents to reach ever more lofty creative heights. I don't doubt that this Garden would benefit from a stage performance, a concert, or a gallery.

[She pauses, and it is a practiced pause.] Relatedly, I have been browsing in the library, and there I found many volumes of verse. Having read them all, I am curious--does anyone possess more such books? This is a rare and most likely unique opportunity for a poet such as myself: to read verses from another world.

[As a side note, some may find that the library's collection of poetry has mysteriously decreased, as Kuja has stolen borrowed a large number of the books.]

*Vine*

*the picture cuts to the mirror being poked with a Gohei*

What the heck am I supposed to do with a vine? That cat could have made more sense.

*Action 1*

*Reimu is flying about, trying to find out where the exit is. If she spots you, she'll come zooming at you.*

Hey you! Tell me whats going on right now! Where is the person responsible for this!?

*Action 2*

*Reimu, while flying around, spots what looks like her shrine, only bigger.*

Ok, come on out Yukari, I know you are behind this!

[It's nighttime. The vine shows what appears to be a disoriented young lady, oblivious to the presence of the mirror. In truth, that's not exactly the case; the mirror had been deliberately called, and the apparent confusion is mostly an act. Grace is just doing her best to establish herself to anyone who might be watching as a poor, helpless little girl, pathetic and in need of coddling. She stands from where she had been seated, blinking owlishly and distractedly smoothing the skirt of the white arrival's dress.]

Am... Am I dreaming...?

[No, of course she's not dreaming—that would be too convenient. But it's not like she really has a home to return to, so rather than being upset or enraged by her abduction, she merely finds it annoying. Still, it's annoying in the worst possible way, so she has to fight to keep the helpless stutter in her voice when she speaks next.]

B-but... I thought this place was just something I imagined...

[She turns then, pretending to catch sight of the mirror for the first time.]

Oh! H, hello. [She smiles an uncertain smile.] I d-didn't realize you were th-there. Are, are you showing this to everyone? A-are the people I met before still here...? Please... I d-don't want to be alone in this place...

((ooc: Yeah so I got bored sooner than I expected. Tags will still probably be a bit slow, sorry!))

[ Action ♡ Arrival ]

[ Etna woke up in the area all the newcomers find themselves in, at first mostly frustrated by the intense amount of light; mornings in the Netherworld aren't very bright, after all. Once she adjusts and quickly comes to the conclusion that she is no longer in the Netherworld, much less the castle.

Even worse, she is definitely not in her own clothes. Ignoring the implications of that, she quickly finds her own clothes and discards the far, far, far too constricting and restraining dainty white nightgown.

And, yeah, she'll just get changed right there. ]

[ Video ♡ Public ]

[ The Vine turns on to show a tail with a spade-shaped end twitching in front of Mirror. A voice from off-screen but very close chimes in. ]

Eh? Oh, heeey~! I think this thing's working.

[ The owner of both the voice and the tail stands up into view. ]

Hey, not sure what kind of totally lame attempt at a practical joke this is, but I'd reeeally like to get going. The happy, fairy-tale gimmick isn't exactly my thing. Sooo~! If someone could point me in the direction of a Dimensional Gate or at least a nice place to get some sweets, I'd appreciate it.

...Oh! By the way. The name's Beauty Queen Etna. Don't forget it♥

And Prince? If you can hear me and if this is some crappy attempt at a prank, I'm going to crush you~

[ Action ⋗ Arrival ]

[ Upon awaking, it takes Lamia a few moments to register her surroundings. Trees, animals, her clothes...

A very strong sense of déjà vu hits her. It is as though she had returned somewhere that she left long, long ago, but at the same time she felt she has never left. ]

The Gardens...? What's happened to me?

[ Video ⋗ Public ]

[ Having been here before, even if she felt inexplicably hazy about it all, makes it much easier to figure out what to do.

...Which isn't much, to be honest.

So, a beautiful, busty woman still clad in her default wear appears on the Vine. ]

I am Lamia Loveless. I've been here before, but it seems like I've been gone for a while. I'm not sure how long...

[ A beat. There weren't many people she knew from before, so she wracks her processors to think of someone she remembers from here. ]

Signum. I think that's--are you still here?

( action )

[ The last thing Amanda remembers is having fallen asleep in Clarice's cabin, but there's grass underneath her, not a mattress. She wakes slowly, squints against the sunlight as she pushes herself carefully into a sitting position. She's wearing white, a white dress that doesn't look like anything she ever owned, and the space around her, beautiful though it is — she barely registers that through the haze of confusion — is completely unfamiliar.

The cats bring her scrolls, and she must really be going crazy now — this is a hallucination, it has to be. Darius is mysteriously absent from her vision this time, but really, it must only be a matter of time before she'll see him, hidden among the trees or running down one of the garden paths. She reads the scrolls and fights the urge to laugh out loud. This is ridiculous. Her mind has really done a number on itself.

Amanda starts to push herself to her feet, and hisses out a curse at the sudden stabbing pain in her bad leg, reaching for and leaning against a nearby tree. ]


( video )

[ And that would be where the Vine finds her, expression tense with pain as she carefully shifts her weight onto her good leg, using the tree trunk to balance herself. She isn't going to be able to walk like this, that was why she'd had the cane, but it's nowhere to be found here, at least so far as she can see. Then she notices the mirror, and for a few moments she just stares. Then she gives a soft, hysterical little sound almost like a laugh, and looks away, rubbing her hand across her face. She thinks she can feel a headache coming on already. ]

I have got to stop taking so many frakking drugs—

[ It's muttered to herself, because she can't imagine there would be consequences for anyone hearing her. She shuts her eyes for a few moments, composing herself, but when she opens them again the mirror is still there. One corner of her mouth twists, a little bitterly. ]

You're not even real. You can't be.

[ Because talking to a hovering mirror that just bloomed from a sentient vine makes complete sense when you're hallucinating. ]