August 28th - Downward Spiral

[zenoh]

[ Nothing has been the same since she returned. No matter how many dinner parties and picnics, no matter how much she tries to distract herself with hobbies and trying something new, it all leads to the same thing. Ayame finds herself feeling restless, lonely, and frustrated. All of a sudden she stops contacting her friends. She goes to work and gets things done without talking to people. She goes for walks while also purposely avoiding people she knows, only watching them from afar with people they've grown close to in this world like Sonico and Mobius, or people being reunited with friends from their homeworlds. This loneliness only gets worse when it's quiet and Ayame is left alone with her thoughts. She's been back for months; and the time has come when her frustrations grow to a point where her her facade of a kind and composed woman is beginning to crack... ]

A.) Genessia City - Memoria Park

[ Ayame had been visiting Memoria Park every day since she returned without fail, always stopping by the wall with the name Yuyuko Saigyouji on it. She always shows up to eat breakfast there, reading the newspaper, or just to use the name as a venting post for her anecdotes and frustrations. Lying down on a next to the wall with Yuyuko's name on it, and still clad in her combat outfit with a sword on her side, she'll likely be needed to get waken up. If not, she'll just do it herself. A jolt causes a gasp to leave her lips and pry her eyes open, looking around with watery eyes in confusion and groaning. Her hand flies to her head to nurse her headache, but also to shield her eyes from that bright sunlight from above. Muttering to herself, she struggles to look for her sunglasses that she swears is just on the ground. She mutters to herself as she finds it difficult to get up ]

Ah, damn it. Sunglasses. Ugh... Where did I put those?

[ It's on her head ]

B.) Genessia City - Burgatory

[ Burgatory is a rather new burger shop, known for opening up early and serving gourmet burgers even during breakfast hours. She was supposed to go to Cake Town to bake with Orihime, but from the looks of it she's still wearing her combat outfit from yesterday, not even bothering to come home after her shift as a Deputy Guardian. As the sun rises, Ayame can be found on the roof of Burgatory, sitting at home on top of the large B sign with some hamburgers and a bottle of bourbon beside her. Her eyes are shielded with some cheap sunglasses, with her messy bun hairstyle even messier than it should be. Her stunt causes a little commotion on the parking area. Curious people gather to watch this hungover woman continue to ignore the staff that start pleading for her to come down.

"Miss? Please, can you get down from there?" the young staff member asks, tired and pretty much done with Genessia's shenanigans. He doesn't get paid enough for this shit. ]

C.) Fayren - Marketplace

[ Clad in modern clothes in the form of a track jacket, running pants, and sneakers; Ayame stands out from the local crowd in Fayren's streets. But it was mostly because they see Ayame on a moped. Down the narrow market streets, they saw her rolling and they were hating. Currently parked outside an apothecary where the locals observe it in curiosity. Ayame feels sick as she steps out of the store, coughing and placing a hand on a wall for support while she gets her bearings with deep breathes, Ayame slowly walks to the moped, leaning against it as she takes the herbal remedy from the store and wash it down with some water. She's getting a lot of curious looks, so she looks at them in return until she notices someone with a soul/pendant, raising her water bottle at them in greeting ]

I hope I'm not ruining the rustic scenery.

Comments

for Winter Schnee

[zenoh]

[ As night begins to creep up over Fayren, Ayame has reached her favorite camping spot by the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It's become her sanctuary should things feel too stressful elsewhere, and given how this morning went it's definitely time for her to get away from all that just occurred. Her tent is set up, and her pets are just resting around the campfire. Ayame sits on a folding chair with a book in hand and a glass of whisky with the other. That was when she suddenly feels danger from within the forests. Focusing on where this might be using her psionic senses, she pinpoints the location of where the ground rumbles at the rushing feet of trolls, and the cries of despair from a small party of adventuring humans they have in tow. Hesitating for a moment to decide whether to bother or not, her conscience eventually won out. Ayame stands and shields her campsite in a barrier and heads off to intercept these trolls...

Moving from tree branch to tree branch in silence, Ayame keeps her distance from her quarry. Her expectations were surprised as these trolls were much different from the usual one. These were more intelligent, standing up to 20 feet tall, and armored in blackened plate over their spiked scales akin to a crocodile's hide. They were armed with brutish weapons of spiked clubs and crude swords fit for their great size. The party of trolls moved at a quick pace with captured humans in tow, bound in ropes and carried on their person as human shields from archers. This is curious; she feels magic coming from both the prisoners and captors even if their consciousness are starting to fade. The trolls arrive at a very secluded bandit's encampment, protected by palisades that are poorly reinforced on some parts. The camp is ran by humans as evident on the guards that allowed the trolls to enter, and the location of the camp is only a mile away from the beach, giving Ayame an idea that these could be a pirate den.

As the party of hulking trolls enter the encampment, the wooden gate closes. Ayame thinks of a way to get in. There's always her portals and just crashing in, but she didn't want to risk the hostages' lives with that approach. There's a myriad of ways she could get to these people without having to resort to using her combat skills, but with the way she's feeling right now using her powers would only make her feel worse. She's very much reduced to a more human level right now, and a part of her felt excited at the idea of having to use her blade. With her katana Shinkiro floating over her back, Ayame crouches down behind a boulder on a hill with a good view of the front gate. Feeling a presence behind her, Ayame's hand flew to the handle of her sword. Her grip eases when she sees a familiar face, one she has not seen in a very long time. ]

Winter?

[ As far as she knows, Winter is still with the Royal Guard, and the Royal Family is still safe and sound. She hasn't been going to Fayren much, and didn't bother keeping up with the news since she lost her business here. But this is one hell of a way to meet again ]

Genessia City; B

[orlokbutterfly]

[Gale was out for a ride and was coming back from Attleton of all places. He was racking his brain while driving along, but he couldn't help but notice the crowd at that burger place. "Burgatory"? Why hadn't he heard of this place? He'd hit it up all the time with a name like that.

But he decides to park his bike to see what all the commotion was about, walking up alongside the staff member who was trying to coax someone down. He raises an eyebrow and looks up, seeing...

... Ayame?

He frowned a bit. He couldn't help but notice she was acting a little odd at the office, but now seeing her up there was just weird. Reaching into his coat pocket, he hands the poor staff kid a couple bills. The kid really doesn't get paid enough.]

I'll deal with this, that's my associate up there.

[He leaps up, using some wind magic tricks to carry himself up to the establishment's sign. His heels clicked onto the roof as he landed gracefully and he rested his hands on his hips.]

Honey, I'm gonna have to pull you out of Burgatory.

[That was probably one of the funniest things he'd ever said, even trying to hold back a bit of a smirk.]

A

[alwaysimpaled]

[Dante didn't usually find himself in Memoria Park, but he did visit occasionally to keep tabs on who left the city. Today just happened to be one day when he saw Ayame. As she looks for her sunglasses, Dante will just walk up behind her, and tap the sunglasses on her head.]

Sometimes I wonder if you would lose your head if it weren't attached.

A

[gamerrep]

[One thing Chiaki always did without fail was going to Memoria Park, usually with headphones on and music playing in her ears. Sometimes it was even the music from one of her friends that had been here and did music for a time. But today it wasn't. It was just any kind of music.

She had also brought along her lunch, which she had been planning to eat here before going back to Nova City for work. As she was slowly reaching the place she finally looked up and found herself a little puzzled.]

Are you here to see people who have gone to? [As she spoke she moved to take out her headphones, switching the player off for the time being.]

C

[maidaein]

[ Among those of Fayren, Micaiah was used to standing out. Silvery hair, bright eyes, and strange magic that betrayed her frame. But apparently that pales in comparison to the stranger struggling to stand up, decked in clothes more appropriate for one of those other cities, and... ailing.

Once she realizes that, Micaiah approaches without a second thought. She even goes along with the other's dialogue. ]

I doubt you could do that without getting violent.

[ Whatever that medicine she just took didn't finish, Micaiah felt she could try to herself anyway. Before she could really think about it, she was using her old Sacrifice ability, channeling her own energy to try and heal Ayame's sickness. If not stopped though Micaiah might exhaust herself a bit. ]

C

[censorshipnutkin]

A beauty such as you ruining the scenery? I think not.

[Thancred offers some more water, his nutkin perched on his head and looking down at Ayame.]

Are you feeling all right?

A

[im_gonna_heal_u]

[ She's heard of this place, especially in the context of people disappearing. However, Konoka had never really made the trip until now. The marble monolith was just like the big memorials she'd seen on her world.

This time around, it wasn't just a heavy statistic... Konoka had personal things to see. Setsuna's name was surely among them. Even if Setsuna really wasn't... dead per se, she wasn't coming back, and Konoka missed her. How long would it be before Genessia let her go? Should she hold this candle, or move on for a little while?

What did that last one even mean?

Though speaking of, she wound up spying Mariko's name too, and that had its own, more complicated feelings involved. Something negative actually threatened to show up before she heard Ayame, apparently not too far away.

Her "big sister" was apparently looking for her sunglasses. ]

Ayame, they're on your head though.

[Action - C] - Fayren

[prideofhoshido]

Not at all.

[Ryoma stated with a slight smile. The days of searching were getting tiresome, but at least meeting other people in this place was nice]

Are you feeling alright? That cough sounded quite vile.

[He doesn't know the double-edgeness of that word, but he had good intention..!]

[Action - Genessia City Park]

[allforthem]

[Sayaka had saw the woman scrambling everywhere about sunglasses but..????

The blunette came over to the other, wanting to confirm]

Excuse me, what..are you looking for?