[video]

[Opera hasn't shown up too much, but she decides to make an appearance today, looking a little less than pristine-she's sopping wet-and greatly annoyed.]

These "wild places" don't do anything to be warned about. It's just a-

[Her face twists, softens, and her tone does as well.]

It was kind of exciting to see it.

[Her eyes widen, and she looks down at herself, back to the snappish tone.]

That was not what I meant to say at all. I was trying to say that they weren't that spectacu-

[And again, with the change to softness.]

They're beautiful.

[She shakes her head, moving to end the post, but before she does, it can be heard:]

...What the hell?

[[ooc: Her wildcard is the inability to lie for 24 hours.]]

[If you look for interaction with someone today, on the vine, you may instead find the mirror opening to drawn picture of mistletoe. It's there for a few seconds before it's pulled away, the one behind it being Alice.]

I believe it's that time of the year again, and I just want to make sure. Has anyone seen this plant yet? It hangs from above and if you happen to walk, or simply be, under it while with someone else, the two of you will be locked into place and can only be free if the two kiss. It is called a mistletoe and this is basically enforced tradition of a holiday.

I just want to know if I have to keep eyes above me now.

[Ky knows her last question didn't exactly go well, or get her the answers that she wanted, but this time it's not about religion, so it should go better, right?

She thinks about filtering it from Dizzy, but she doesn't need to hide from Dizzy that she's working on this, not when she'd promised Dizzy she would.]

What do you do when you know what you're feeling is wrong, in order to stop feeling it?

Just trying to focus on other things isn't working.

[just after the sun sets, a seemingly unnatural lightning storm appears to the north of the gardens, and slowly moving towards the central part of it. At the center of the storm a tanned woman, sitting on the air like she is in an invisible throne. The lightning seems to be striking at random, but if the woman spots someone, it starts to target them.]

Hahaha! Dance you lowly peons!

-Just a voice this time around, Lady Gardens. And one that sounds very, very unsure. But she's been turning this over in her head for awhile now, and she needs help.-

Um... H-hello... I don't usually use this thing for this sort of business, but...

Um...

What do you do when you have someone you care about... really and truly do... someone you are in love with, and... They can't return your feelings because of some conviction that has nothing to do with how their heart may or may not feel? We had a fight, and haven't talked in awhile, and... I want to see her again, but that argument still lingers in my heart...

I just need to know... that I can be loved...

[End of the month is right on the corner, but that doesn't really concern the unknown person who just wrote something rather odd.]

Everyone, let us talk about swords. What kind do you like? Are you someone that uses them, or just looks? Do you even like them?

I have no opinion on them, but I thought it would be good to know what others think.

[Why was this appearing to everyone as a piece of writing with no identification on it? The person who wrote it was just bored and thought 'why not'.]

The Queen's power has to be less than God's... So why do you think He lets us be brought here? This goes a little beyond giving us free will, don't you think?

[Ky's unsure herself, but there's no way to gain certainty. She can only find out what other people are thinking, and that for some reason feels particularly important.]

What purpose are we serving here?

Anyone up for some sword practice? I can't let my own skills waste while I'm doing nothing and I'm sure that goes for everyone else.

If you can't do swords, how about bows?

And if you can't do either and want to learn, I'm sure I can help you out. What do you say?

[video]

[When the Vine unfolds, it reveals a young woman standing there, hands folded behind her back, several scrolls in a neat stack on the grass next to her. Were it not for the blue hair and the lack of piercings, it would be entirely possible to mistake her for someone else. She is composed for now, a politely neutral expression on her face.]

This is Opera, checking in, and if possible requesting clarification on the current situation. Though these scrolls tell you much, there are some points that remain cryptic.

If this is some form of illusion immersion that is someone's idea of a joke, it's cute, but please cut it out.

Um...hi? Am I using this right? I mean...okay, s-sometimes I'd talk to plants, back home, but...th-they weren't such great listeners.

Okay. Um. I, I'm going to assume that I am. Just because...I-I don't know any better. So, um, hi. I'm Tara. I just woke up here. I think this place, um, kind of technically qualifies as the afterlife for me, at least if I'm remembering back home correctly, so...hope I'm in for a long stay.

It's nice to meet you all...whoever you are. I, I'll try not to get in anyone's way.

[Tara makes to hang up...but, after a beat, she hastily brings the vines back up again. After a moment of accidentally switching to text. What? Willow was the technologically inclined one in the relationship, after all.]

Okay. Um, so, this may be the afterlife, but I'm kind of tired from all this walking, so I guess I'll probably need a place to sleep. Does, um, does anyone know where I could look? I-I don't take up much space. Promise. I mean...can't be much worse than a dorm room, right?

I, I'm not that good with reading maps, so if I stumble into a private place...well, um, sorry about that. I'll leave, if I do, and you tell me. Just, y'know...telling would be good. Telling and not, um, attacking. Th-Thank you.

[A vine would pop up and in the mirror was a white haired woman holding what remained of a sword. She had already changed into a white tunic with some armor that liked like it had seen much better days.]

This place reminds me far too much of Ionia. I should find my way back before they try to summon me back. With those summoners it is far more likely that they will summon another being from the Void.

[The woman sighed as she ran her hand across the remains of her sword which glowed green slightly at her touch]

I am fortunate I still have my blade. Though I wonder why whoever brought me here changed my clothes in the first place.

Vine ||

[ Madoka is situated somewhere in the gardens, having just spent her afternoon tending to her own flowers and searching for others to help her garden. She usually keeps oddly busy, still in a happy daze after being plucked from her unhappy timeline, that this thought hadn't occurred to her before... She's been here for months and there are still so many people she doesn't know very well, if at all.  When it crosses her mind that she's been a bit neglectful, she's quick to tap a Vine. ]

Hello, everyone! Sorry, I hope it's not too early to use the vine? I didn't wake anyone up, did I? [ Her smile is a bit soft, dampened by thoughtfulness and a tinge of worry. ]

This is probably really sudden and kind of weird and random, but I've been thinking lately that I don't know everyone's names! I don't even know what kinds of foods everyone likes or what hobbies they have... I think it would be neat to see what we have in common and talk about things like that, or maybe try new things we never thought we'd try, you know? [ She giggles lightly, perhaps losing confidence in these random thoughts. ]

So... I'll start? I like gardening and crafts! And eating! And I guess I can play the recorder too, if that counts. Oh, and my name is Madoka Kaname! um... what about everyone else? I mean, um well, disregard this if you're too busy but I really am curious!  I really would like to become better friends with everyone...

[Sora has a question to contemplate over, and she can't figure it out. So she'll turn to the network, now that things have calmed down.]

So... Say I've been here, but left for a bit, only to come back. It wasn't very long, really. But... Since my birthday was the nineteenth... does that make me fifteen again, or am I sixteen now?

[This is important, okay?]

[1 - Action]
Ugh... my head... what happened?

[There's a girl you haven't seen before in the middle of the Gardens; she looks disoriented, and that white shift looks fairly familiar... If left to her own devices, she'll panic for a minute, then start to look around; it'll be easy to miss, but she's trembling, likely afraid of what happened to her. Once she finds someone, though, she'll immediately make her way over.]

Do you... know where we are? Or what happened to me? This... isn't what I was wearing when I was conscious last.

[2 - Video]
[The girl you're seeing looks quite a bit more calm than she did just a little while ago, though it's replaced by confusion; she's wearing a male school uniform, of all things, but it doesn't look too out of place on her. It looks like she's holding a scroll.]

Why is a plant...? Oh, is it doing- oh! I'm still not entirely sure what's going on here, but I guess I've been invited to your "Gardens". My name is Myoudou- sorry, Itsuki Myoudouin. Pleased to meet you. I've gotten some basic information on this place, but...

If anyone knows what's going on, I would appreciate information. I left some people in the middle of something important, and I should get back to them. It's... urgent.

[She looks exceptionally nervous, or possibly worried. Hard to tell.]

Wretch.

[It is a single withering syllable before the mirror takes form, the voice piercing through the silence with its anger. As the image solidifies within, the Warrior Princess waits, expression dark.]

You will return the Damsel to me, or I shall take out your still-beating heart.

[Again she waits for an answer, one which is not forthcoming. That stormy expression, shadows brooding across her brow, soon becomes hardened and stony. She is resolved, and her eyes lift, looking out at whoever has gathered as her audience.]

I will not tolerate this slight to our independence. These Queens, for all the good their 'nobility' does for them, have refused to resolve this situation. I will resolve it for them. I will lay waste on she who dares pluck the Damsel from this grove.

I call upon all of you, all of you who hold friends and loved ones near to your heart, to take up your swords alongside me. If you do not wield one of your own, then I beg you put your spirit behind mine: there is still much work for hands such as yours. The blacksmith is no lesser a warrior.

Come together and we will form something unbreakable.

[She takes something from her belt, a scroll that she begins to untie as she continues to speak.]

I need scouts to survey the Garden while preparations are being made, and I will need these. [She holds up the plans to what appears to be a flying machine.] She is quick and she is crafty, but so shall we be.

Who is with me.

[It is not a question.]

( Alessa awakens again )

[The Vine offers a new text to the residents. Unusually, the words aren't hand written, but singed into the parchment.]

Is this Paradise?

[ A giant, pleasant-looking mansion, loaded with an endless supply of tea? Mugi was not dreaming; she was in heaven.

Right now, the girl is standing at a counter in the Victorian manse's elegant kitchen, several containers of tea stacked in front of her. She is clutching a caddy spoon to her chest, the other hand cupping her cheek. Is she blushing... about tea? She is.

When she notices the mirror she makes a brief, startled sound but smiles all the same. ] Ah! Goodness. Hello there. I'm sorry to be calling again like this but... I have a dilemma.

[ Mugi brings her hand down to the top of one tin. ] Earl Grey.... [ Then the next. ] Irish breakfast... [ And another after another. ] Ginger, lemon grass, peach, hibiscus, ... I can't possibly decide! [ Tea is serious business, and she is having serious Tea Overload over here. ]

I do not know the name of this building, but if you seek the pastel-colored manor, I will be waiting inside. I will be glad to prepare some tea for anyone who might have some advice for me! [ Yes, that's all this was for. Mugi was calling out because she wanted to make tea for someone. Anyone. ]

Good evening.

[Ky smiles at the Vine, polite and distant.]

Is there anything I can do around here that would be productive?

Besides petting the cats or building simply for the sake of building...

[As a police officer she was used to being far more busy. Not that she wished for more crime, but she did need a better way to occupy herself than just going through the library. The contents of which were...questionable. She'd gone exploring, but in the places where she felt she might learn something from her senses tingled with the threat of unnecessary danger. That hadn't stopped her, but she wanted something more.]

Alternatively, does anyone wish to talk about the world they come from? Or what they do there?

[As a temporary distraction it might mean something, and perhaps she would learn a useful fact or two.]

( And filtered to Dizzy )