[This queen, clad in black and gold, stares at the mirror and gives it her most judgmental look possible. The sheer amount of disdain here could probably melt steel if applied appropriately. Like, in a laser maybe. Still, she's not pleased.]

You piece of trash who calls herself queen. What right do you have bringing myself here? I have no wish for your disgusting invites or anything to do with you. Show yourself so this queen can properly sentence and execute you like the dog you are.

Tch. And the rest of you? I have no wish for your thanks when this fool is destroyed. Consider yourself lucky that this queen has even decided to grace you with your life.

[Holding her newly recovered Subspace Suitcase in her lap when the mirror feed turns on. The zipper is undone, and Ramona's arm is halfway gone inside the opening.]

So, I was going through my stuff this morning and I found some of... [Rummages, withdraws a small plastic baggie full of dirt] ...this. It's dirt from the last time I went exploring in the jungle. I've heard some people talk about creating stuff with it? How exactly do you do that? Anyone wanna enlighten me?

[A lot of rustle is heard before a Vine is tugged close up to a sign]



[It pulls back to reveal Alpha, smiling widely and her shop behind her.]

It's done! Cafe Alpha is finished! Now, all I was able to find was tea, but I found a few coffee packages so I'll definitely save those for special occasions until I figure out how to get more. In the mean time, I found some tea leaves and will be growing my own plants in the back to make tea with.

[See this? She is proud. Proud of herself.]

So! Now that the storm is over, anyone want a nice hot cup of tea?



[OOC: Christmas kind of took over, so I waited until the event was over to post again. ^^;; This is forwarded to tomorrow morning as I'll be a little busy tomorrow. Mods, I hope this is okay! If not, let me know. :)]

[The Vine's tentative creepers inside every stone building unravel slowly to reveal a mirror. The picture it reveals is rather more comforting than what lies outside: a maternal-looking woman sitting in a rocking chair, with a fire burning in a fireplace behind her.]

Good evening, my daughters. I would ask if you are well, but I'm afraid I know the answer to that question. Don't fear. When the storm ends, you will be safe here. I have made it my business to take care of you. Stay warm. Stay close to each other. This, too, shall pass. You must not go outside...

Ah, but children don't listen. If you do go outside, don't go alone. You'll have no chance. The things in the storm are vulnerable to the bonds between you. Defeat them together.

But really, my daughters, you should stay inside.

[ America is snuggled into the sleeping bag as much as she can possibly be. It's too damn cold where is the Sun.

She groans, tossing and turning, eventually grabbing onto the nearest person. She has not yet noticed that there is not supposed to be a person there... Or, in fact, two. But hey, she has people who will listen to her complain! ]

Someone turn the Sun back on, OK?

[There are noises--shuffling mainly. The video feed takes a while to pop up, but when it does, it reveals a girl with bright pink hair and blue eyes. It looks as if she is still wearing the white shift, but she has, at the least, put her uniform jacket on over it. She looks startled at the appearance of the mirror, and stumbles backward a bit.]

O-oi! Geez...this is really weird. Weirder than usual. I guess that stuff in the scroll was right... [she briefly looks annoyed, and mutters to herself:] Is this another trick?

[Her expression sobers.] I still don't get what's going on but...my name is Utena Tenjou. I'm sure this place is nice, but I have to get back to Ohtori, right away! Himemiya, she--

[She trails off, and looks troubled:] I need to get home.

[Kouya wakes early. There is only so long she can make her body rest when there are so many things she could be doing, so many things she needed to do...

But no, she mustn't think of those yet. There was something even more important that she had to do first, as necessary for her as any sustenance ever could be. Kouya needed to know.

Among the possessions that had been stacked neatly outside the clearing she had arrived in and the clearing she had spent the night, Kouya had found her school uniform and the cellphone that Nagisa-san had given her for communication purposes. The day before, the Vine had distracted her from checking it. Or rather, if she were to be honest to herself, she had kept herself from checking it.

Now, Kouya reaches for it, unable to keep the tremble from her hand as she picks it up and slowly flips it open. The screen is black. Kouya closes her eyes as a feeling of nausea comes over her. No! She squeezes her eyes shut, taking a deep breath, two. Gradually, the nausea subsides for a bit, still not quite suppressed. But manageable. She will continue.

Kouya summons the icy-cold demeanor she used when talking to other people (other people who were not her). She steels herself, steeling her features into one of cold blankness. She's good at it. Her fingers move to the phone's power button. Presses. She waits. The screen remains blank, dead.

The breath she's been holding comes out slowly. ... She should have expected it.]

... Yamato.

[T-there were other ways! Other things that could have happened! But Kouya's mind was already supplying the worst situations for her.

'What if she's not here?! What if they really were separated?! Her other half, her other self, her lo--']

NO!!

[She stands abruptly, shakily. She must calm herself, no, there was no use in panicking-- But she swoons, staggering. The nausea is overwhelming. Kouya has enough presence of mind to make for the bushes at the edge of the clearing before she crashes down, throwing up. It's at moments like these that she hates herself for being so weak.]

[Yet another newbie has appeared in the Gardens! This woman appears to be quite tall (six feet to be exact), and she does not look amused.]

Where's the shithead that kidnapped me and took my weapons?

[Xanxa likes her guns. And her liger. She wants them back.]

I may go easy on you if you confess.

[She really won't.

That is, if she actually was kidnapped...]

[Ramona appears in the mirror holding scissors and a flat iron. She has cut her hair shorter (into a bit of a bob) and straightened it, but it's still the same blue it was before. Several different boxes of hair dye sit on a table next to her - red, pink, mauve, magenta, purple, green, pine green, lime green, sky blue, navy blue, midnight blue, black, sable, orange, tangerine, blond, platinum, gold, silver, crystal, ruby, sapphire, emerald, and a few that might not even exist on the color spectrum. She pauses for a moment before starting to speak.]

Well, if I'm gonna be here a while, and from the looks of things, I am [glaring off to the side, presumably at the absent Queen] I figure I might as well try to keep things interesting for myself. Haven't touched my hair in a few months now other than to re-dye it, and by my standards, that's like decades.

So help me pick, people. Which color says "Help, I'm stuck in an alternate dimension and I can't get out" best?

[EDIT: Later in the day, Ramona eventually decides on a vivid reddish-pink, seen here.]

[There is a young woman wandering around the Gardens, still dressed in the plain white shift of a new arrival, although she has in her hands a red and white cheerleader's uniform. She's also holding an armload of scrolls she took from the cats, but she still looks rather... lost. She hasn't actually read any of the scrolls, you see.]

This is nicer than last time I got abducted by aliens.

... Am I in Heaven?

[The mirror turns on to show one wide-eyed redhead gaping with a scroll in hand. She is still wearing only the default white gown because, well. She hasn't found her things yet.]

Whoa. The cats were right! Wow, that sure was a lot of stuff to read, but I guess it was worth it! Even if I did skip most of it, but I got this thing to work, so I won't worry about the other things and just--

Um, hello! My name is Sora. Can anyone actually hear this? I think I'm very, very lost. Or dreaming. I don't feel like I'm asleep, but I think that would explain a lot, especially since I've had dreams like this before. I guess that, uh, if I'm lost, I'd like to know how to get back to the academy and if I'm dreaming I'd like to get woken up--no offense to the Queen! She seems really nice and I bet this place is great even if it's only in my head, but I have have to hurry and get back to saving the princesses.

Time is very important!

Am I supposed to pay this thing quarters like a pay phone...? Crap! I don't have any change! I don't even have pockets in this.

[The mirror opens to a sunny morning, and a girl sitting on the ground. Her wings would probably be reflecting a rainbow of colors in the sunlight if it weren't for the fact that she's sitting under a good-sized parasol - her one actual wish from the stars. It's pink.]

I don't get it.

[She looks around suspiciously at the trees and flowers and other such foresty things.]

Nobody's attacking me. Nothing's that confusing. Even the sun isn't bad as long as I have a parasol.

Living outside is really easy.

So why did sister say I was only safe inside the mansion?

[When night falls on the Gardens tonight, something different happens: instead of the bright-as-daylight sea of stars, a more normal sky eventually fades into existance. Stars can still be seen, though they're nowhere near as bright as the wishing stars.]

[Video]

[And then, not long after night fully envelops the Gardens, the Vine's mirror unfurls, revealing a rather serious-looking woman.]

I hope you all learned something from this. Simply wishing for something isn't going to make it happen; wishing for things from home, wishing to bring the excess stars down... you put no effort into this.

Contrary to what most people may think, this holiday is not some festival celebrating light; it's a celebration of a military victory against overwhelming odds.

As a final note: Damsel, you pronounce Chanukah wrong.

What the fuck is with the fucking wolves?!

FUCK!

[Any ladies who check the vine today are greeted to a new face. She's wearing the default white shift, although she's carrying other clothing in her arms and has put a hat and rose-lensed white glasses on top of her head. The first thing she does when the video begins is gasp dramatically.]

Ah! It worked!

[She leans in closer to the mirror, her eyes wide and her expression inquisitive. It's almost as if she doesn't really believe that the Vine is actually recording.]

Well, if anyone can hear me, my name's Ema Skye. Does anyone know how this whole thing works? It seems really... unscientific.

[Judging from the girl's expression, being unscientific is a crime--right up there with kicking puppies and punching babies.]

Ms... Queen of Hearts lady, I have a flight back to Europe in a few days and I need to continue studying science so I can become a forensic investigator, so I'd like to pass on your invitation. I asked the cat how I can get home, since that's what you suggested--although I have no idea how they understand me--but it just curled up and went to sleep.

Cats are kind of fickle. Maybe you should consider getting better pet-servants.

[Germany's first priority, upon arriving, is to take in all of the information provided. When trapped in a strange environment, having all the facts is vital, regardless of whether or not said facts were provided by a cat.

However, her second priority is to quickly change out of the awkward white sheath into her proper clothes.

Finally, she'll try the vine once she's gotten rid of the sheath and is buttoning up her shirt.]

H-hallo. Germany speaking. I would like to be put in contact with the person known as the Queen?

[muttered] If this is some type of joke...

[Vanille is smiling at the screen, greeting anyone watching with a wave.] Hello, Gardens!

Uhhh, I just have a question. Did anyone... hm. [She purses her lips, giving herself a minute to figure out how she is going to ask this. It is quite random, after all.]

Well... did any of you ladies have, say, a power of some sort before you got here that you no longer have now or has changed a bit?

[ Death is out in the ruins, putting the falling stars to good use. Behind her, on a half-crumbled wall, are six wooden frames, each one different in style. There's no picture held by any of them, but on the backing where a photo or painting would be placed, the letter D has been scratched onto the surface. Beneath each frame is an item; a heavy, moth-eaten book, a helmet made to resemble the skull and spine of an unidentifiable being, the handle of a sword, a rock in the shape of a heart, a hooked ring, and a small glass vial, containing a liquid made up of ever changing colours; and they are all quite useless. The book has no words, the helm is too small to wear, the sword is clearly harmless, the rock may well have always been there, the ring has been cut and no longer forms a circle, and who would even considering drinking whatever the liquid is? ]

[ apparently pleased with her lot, Death is sat on a rock, legs crossed as she tends to the “table” in front of her. It is, in fact, only another piece of the ruins, but she's thrown a sheet over it, and set up a small tea set on the surface. She pours and stirs the piping hot water, adding in leaves and sugar and honey, and while she seems to have no interest in drinking it herself, she may well be waiting for company ]

[ after a moment, she speaks into the vine ]

A long time ago, when the skies were still pitch-black, the First Man set about placing all of the stars in the sky. It was, as I'm sure you can all imagine, a long, arduous task, and he set out to do it the only way he knew how: methodically, with a sense of complete order and control. The First Man decided that he would place all of the stars in rows and columns, each an equal distance apart, so that the night sky might resemble a grid, no matter which way anyone or anything gazed upon it.

But! – and here's where it gets interesting – he spent so very long mapping the position of each and every star that the trickster god Coyote was able to steal them from him! Now, on the surface, Coyote appeared to be less serious about his work than Loki, and less frightful than Wisakedjak, but a trickster is as a trickster does, and it isn't very smart to assume that how they present themselves is anything close to their true nature. For the First Man and all those who followed, Coyote was the portal through which chaos bled into the world, and with it, the ability for mortals to gain wisdom and differentiate between what they should and shouldn't do. Morals, if you will.

Now Coyote, he took the stars, and threw them without care into the sky, scattering them in clusters and constellations across the heavens. Ever the wise fool, Coyote didn't particularly intend for anything to come of his unruly behaviour, and yet, with the way that the sky appears to be falling, I can't help but be reminded of him. Not that I'm suggesting you're a trickster in any way, shape or form, Ms. Damsel, but it'd be nice if everyone could be at least a little careful.

And remember, the inverse law of wishing: the more you want something, the less likely you are to get it.

[The mirror fades in on a woman seated on a smooth rock, a sword almost the same size she is strapped to her back. It's unclear whether the post is deliberate or not. She has a slightly faraway expression in her eyes, and she must have been sitting like this for some time, because a large star capsule from the night before is sitting in front of her, popped open. Inside it is a smaller version of this statue. After about a minute, Teresa's gaze shifts just slightly, and she notices the mirror.

She smiles. Faintly.]

I'm sorry. I've become sentimental.

[She gets up, casually pulls the statue out of the capsule, settles it in a small open space on the ground, and kicks the capsule away into the undergrowth. Then she touches the Vine, and the mirror fades out, leaving only a voice, for a moment.]

How I've changed...

Let's see.

I wish for a tea set, full-size sign posts, my purple dress, fancy silverware and dining sets that match, and...the black white.

[She doesn't even move as it CRASHes]

[When she opens the capsule she places them all in a gap that she uses as a storage space. However, she holds up the result from the last part of the wish]

A broomstick. You mock me.