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 Posted: Mon Oct 09, 2023 7:16 pm
The weather was cooling, which meant Ymir was more easily coaxed outside. He rarely went alone. Either Surtur encouraged him along, or he met up with Varuna. Even after a year on Earth, Ymir did not see much of a reason to bother with the responsibilities that once took up so much of his life, but he enjoyed the time he spent with them. Surtur’s company was a comfort, and Varuna, though not the sister he remembered, had quickly become a steadying presence.
Tonight, Ymir was with Surtur and Eupheme, who, against Ymir’s better judgment, had become something of a protégé.
For a time, they walked without concern. There were no youma in the vicinity, nor any other sign of Chaos. In fact, the evening seemed almost idyllic. The air was fresh and cool. A gentle wind blew. The leaves rustled. An owl called through the dark somewhere in the distance.
Then they came upon the dice, and, after a sudden strengthening of the wind nearly took them off their feet, found themselves in total darkness, with a dimly illuminated path stretched before them.
Ymir clutched at Surtur’s arm, heart racing within his chest, eyes darting around the dark, seeking any sign of danger.
“Where are we?” he whispered.
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:38 pm
With one arm around Ymir, and his other hand on Eupheme’s shoulder to keep her from getting lost in the darkness, Surtur squinted around them. He was startled by the sudden change in scenery, but he’d been in concerning situations before.
Right now, he didn’t feel like there was anything particularly dangerous, but there was definitely something that they seemed to have to do.
“It’s okay,” he promised both Ymir and Eupheme. He was glad that he got to spend time with the children, and while he was certain Ganymede would be furious if she found out, he felt a strong sense of responsibility to make sure the Chibi Senshi was prepared for anything.
Like the strange things of Destiny City. Eupheme squeaked in surprise when a harsh wind seemed to come out of nowhere, but she was grateful that both Surtur and Ymir were there to keep her from being blown away.
She blinked through the darkness, trying to figure out what was going on. And then…
“A gameboard?” she blinked in surprise. And there were dice, too.
Cautiously, she stepped away from her current guardians and reached down to pick up the dice. She rolled them in her hand curiously, and then turned to the others.
“I think we need to roll to see what spaces we go to,” she chirped, and then shrugged. “Unless you have a better idea. It’s like a game. We’ll have to play on a smaller scale sometime.”
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 5:44 pm
Ymir knew what a game was. What he didn’t understand was how they’d ended up on one.
When there didn’t seem to be any immediate sign of danger, Ymir released Surtur’s arm. If Eupheme wasn’t afraid, then he had no reason to be — or so he told himself. It was rather embarrassing to startle more easily than a child.
Ymir looked ahead, from one square to the next, trying to determine how long the path was. He stepped forward, but could go no further, stuck at the beginning, unable to move on or go back. It didn’t take long for him to accept the fact that Eupheme may be right.
He looked from Eupheme, to Surtur, then swallowed. “I’ll go first…”Quote: Space 2: Something pale and ghostly slams into your back; you don’t see it, but it feels like it’s trying to push you forward–or to the side, or off the path. Thankfully, the magical glass walls stop you from going too far, but this is jarring–and might hurt.
“There’s something here,” he said.
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Guine rolled 2 6-sided dice:
2, 2
Total: 4 (2-12)
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:01 pm
A game? But why? What was the point of this? Although he seemed to recall that this was the season for trickery and such. Maybe the city was tricking them into playing what seemed to be a pretty simple game.
He took the dice from Eupheme, who looked ready to rush forward, but he didn’t like that Ymir seemed to have gotten hurt and fell, and said there was something there.
“You okay?” he called, and when it was evident that Ymir wasn’t in need of immediate treatment, he nodded to Eupheme. “Alright. Go ahead and I’ll catch up.” If it even worked like that. Whatever this was, it was definitely strange. But she didn’t have to worry because both Ymir and Surtur were pretty awesome and could protect her from anything bad. Why would she be afraid of anything when they were with her?
She didn’t like that Ymir seemed to get hit by something.
Quote: Space 2: Something pale and ghostly slams into your back; you don’t see it, but it feels like it’s trying to push you forward–or to the side, or off the path. Thankfully, the magical glass walls stop you from going too far, but this is jarring–and might hurt.
Oh… and she also rolled the same number of spaces. That was okay. She would just be careful and--
Whatever hit Ymir hit her, too!
Eupheme let out a breath of surprise and stumbled onto her knees. She whimpered a bit, but after looking around, she pushed herself back up.
“I don’t like this game,” she frowned, moving closer to Ymir while they waited for Surtur. As it turned out, Surtur also rolled the same number. He was ready to punch whatever was hitting them, though. He stepped backwards towards the other two, holding his hand out against the barrier that kept them from getting off track. That was fine, they would all be together for now.
He saw something. Ghostly and pale, but he made sure to keep facing it. Ymir would watch their front, after all.
“It’s alright, I won’t let it hurt you. Not really a funny trick,” he grumbled.
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 6-sided dice:
2
Total: 2 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:08 pm
Ymir steadied himself, then helped Eupheme do the same. It was a relief to all be on the same square, but he knew that was unlikely to continue. With six possibilities each time, the odds would not be in their favor.
Futilely, Ymir tried to move again without rolling his dice, but he was unable to leave the square they’d all come to. If they wanted to make it out of here, they had no choice but to continue.
“Do you think it’s a trap set by the Negaverse?” Ymir wondered aloud. “I don’t sense any Chaos.”
He rolled again and moved two spaces further along. The faster they got out of here, the better.Quote: Space 4: Something smells rotten. You can’t see very far into the darkness, but if you squint closely a dark form seems to be dragging itself along the ground. Sometimes you see a pale hand almost close enough to grab you–or, maybe something does grab you. It’s cold, and frightening, and it’s trying to drag you out of bounds.
“Be careful!” he called to the other two, hoping revulsion came through his voice more than the fear.
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Guine rolled 2 6-sided dice:
6, 6
Total: 12 (2-12)
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:26 pm
“I don’t think the Negaverse has proven themselves capable of elaborate magical trickery such as this,” Surtur scoffed, clearly not the biggest fan of the Negaverse. Or a fan of them at all. Still, it was best they kept on their guard.
Quote: Space 8:Something slithers across your foot, so fast that you might have thought you imagined it. Except, a few seconds later, it happens again. And then, again. Snakes keep moving across your space. If you move, they see you–and they might bite. Some of them hiss, some are capable of spraying a poisonous liquid that can cause itchiness or burning.
Another roll of the dice from both him and Eupheme meant leaving Ymir behind. He was not happy about it, especially when it looked as though something was trying to grab him.
The faster they went through this, the better.
Something moved across his foot and while Surtur’s first thought was to let whatever it was be, he was not about to put the small child in harm’s way.
“Come,” he offered, holding out his arms to her, quickly trying to get her out of reach of the slithering snakes. Eupheme let out a yelp when the slithering snakes started spraying stuff at them, and she quickly let Surtur pick her up and put her on his shoulder.
“Ymir, are you okay? Hurry up and get over here!” she called to her friend. She didn’t want to leave him behind!
“It probably was the Negaverse. They set up dirty tricks all the time. And they’re not really good with it, either,” she huffed, but it was clear she was doing her best to stay out of reach of the snakes. They wouldn’t crawl up Surtur, right??
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 6-sided dice:
6
Total: 6 (1-6)
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:35 pm
Quote: Space 10: A swampy smell fills the air. You take a step, and you seem to sink into it. Mud creeps over your feet, and you sink rapidly. Ankle deep, knee deep. Whether or not you squirm and fight against it, you are sinking. The mud is crushing and painful, and if you sink too deep it steals the breath from your lungs. There’s nothing to grab onto; you have to roll your dice quickly before that too gets sucked into the muddy quicksand.
The sentiment did not last long. Another roll of the dice took Ymir past Surtur and Eupheme. No sooner had he stepped onto the square than he sank into it. Mud covered his feet, then his ankles — then, before he could stop it, his knees. In seconds, he’d plummeted down so far he had no hope of climbing out. Ymir shouted and scrambled for some sort of surface, any leverage to heave himself out of the mud, but it seemed to suck him in, rising to his chest, crushing the air from him.
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Guine rolled 2 6-sided dice:
1, 6
Total: 7 (2-12)
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Posted: Tue Oct 10, 2023 6:51 pm
This time they rolled two different numbers. Surtur cursed under his breath. They were already separated from Ymir, and now this?
“You go on ahead,” he nodded to Eupheme, carefully setting her down on the ground. Although he was trying to keep his eye on Ymir as well. He didn’t like that this, be it an illusion or real, was trying to harm them. This was no place to bring a child, and he didn’t really want to be there, either.
Quote: Space 9:The smell of saltwater fills the air, and you can hear the water lapping against the shore. You hear boards creaking, and bells in the distance. And then, a song. Haunting. Ghostly, and calling you. For a second, you fall in love. And then, water fills your lungs. You’re choking, you can’t breathe. The song is loud and seems to caress you, even as a wet chill gathers in your square. Scaly hands reach for you, you gently caressing, and try to lure you into an endless sleep.
He could already smell the air changing, and there was something in the distance --
No, it had to be an illusion. Even as he felt water fill his lungs he knew-- it had to be magic. What he loved he could never get back, so the temptation wasn’t so strong to lure him. He stumbled back a little, but focused on the other two as he coughed the faux water from his lungs. Quote: Space 14:The ground is sticky. You land on this and immediately dip, as though you’ve stepped on a trampoline. Close inspection reveals that you are standing on an intricately woven web–and your shoes are stuck. And something is skittering just on the horizon.
“Okay, but be careful,” she called back to her guardians and hurried ahead.
It didn’t take long for things to change.
“Ew!!” she whined when her shoes felt sticky on the ground. Gross!! And then -- A spider!
“Eeek!!” she screeched, and all but ripped her shoes from the web so she could get away from the creepy crawly.
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-6)
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 12:10 pm
Quote: Space 14: The ground is sticky. You land on this and immediately dip, as though you’ve stepped on a trampoline. Close inspection reveals that you are standing on an intricately woven web–and your shoes are stuck. And something is skittering just on the horizon.
Ymir flung his basic magic at it, but his magic proved defective this time. It seemed to explode, half striking the spider, while the rest backfired on him, sending sleet into his face while a thin layer of ice creeped halfway up his arm.
Still, it should allow Eupheme the chance to get free.
“Go, quickly!” he told her.
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Guine rolled 2 6-sided dice:
2, 1
Total: 3 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 5:37 pm
At least the other two were ahead of him now. That was good. He could keep an eye on both of them, while also trying to avoid whatever obstacle he had in his way.
Quote: Space 11:You hear a frantic flapping above you, but that’s all the warning you get before a hoard of bats descend. They scratch and slap and screech, but you avoid getting bitten. For now. You’ve invaded their space and they seem keen to defend it. You can try to fight them, but the only way to escape them is to roll again.
It turned out this time it was some kind of swarm of small, screechy flying creatures. He growled at them as they swarmed around him. He even tried using his magic on them, but that didn’t work. He wasn’t sure how much damage one could do, but a whole cloud of them? That was a bit worrying. Eupheme squeaked in distress when Ymir came to her rescue and urged her to keep going. Except she tripped.
Quote: Space 15:Bats. Maybe you missed them attacking earlier, but they’re back again, and angrier than ever. Instead of just screeching or scratching, they’re swooping down and biting now–and the effects are instantaneous. The little teeth are sharp and painful, but once bitten you might feel agitated and prone to violence, and you might feel perpetually cold and hungry with no relief in sight. The effects might last when you leave the square–or they might linger for a few hours or days after you get out of here.
Not only that, but apparently the bats that had been attacking Surtur had turned on her! Maybe they liked her hair more? Or her clothes? Or maybe they just didn’t like her!
“Ow!” she cried when one bit her. She flapped her arms to try and get them away. She shivered with a chill and looked desperately to her guardians for what to do. Keep going, or wait for them to catch up?
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 6-sided dice:
4
Total: 4 (1-6)
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:13 pm
Ymir rolled and, on his way to his next space, tried to stop and assist Eupheme, but whatever kept them stuck on the path also kept them going. He threw magic at the bats that swarmed her and felt the cold creep further up his arm for his troubles.
“Keep going!” he encouraged Eupheme. “We’re almost to the end!”
Surtur was further behind, but Ymir was less worried about him than he was about a child. Ymir glanced over his shoulder to find Surtur several spaces back, clearly harassed but seemingly uninjured.Quote: Space 18: You smell something poison, something noxious. You pass through a haze of strange, green gas as you enter the square, but it fades after a few seconds. You feel cold. You feel empty. You start to decay. Maybe a part of you knows it’s an illusion, but in that split second when your body feels like it might go limp and when you look at your hand and see skin melting. You see bone. You’d best roll the dice so you don’t wind up a skeleton prop for the next player.
Perhaps this game would.
Suddenly Ymir could not fight the weakness in his bones. He fell to his knees — tired, so tired. He blinked, then blinked again, slow, lethargic, and stared at his frozen hands.
Only they weren’t his hands any longer. Everything that made them living seemed to have melted away, leaving only bone.
Well, he thought, there are worse ways to die.
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Guine rolled 2 6-sided dice:
4, 1
Total: 5 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:30 pm
He didn’t even know what he rolled, but the path allowed him to rush after the bats that swarmed around Eupheme. He used his magic again, knocked them out of the air. He got bit as well, but that didn’t matter as long as they stopped attacking Eupheme.
Quote: Space 15:You hear a frantic flapping above you, but that’s all the warning you get before a hoard of bats descend. They scratch and slap and screech, but you avoid getting bitten. For now. You’ve invaded their space and they seem keen to defend it. You can try to fight them, but the only way to escape them is to roll again.
And he needed to make sure Ymir was okay, too. He didn’t look okay.
“Get up!” he practically roared over the screeching of the little winged creatures. Whatever was forcing Ymir to his knees needed to be dealt with.
“Go, get to him if you can,” he urged Eupheme, who was still trying to keep the creatures at bay. Eupheme was more than happy to move forward. She was so done with bats!
Quote: Space 16:As you step into your square, something cracks. At first, you can’t tell what it is, but as your full weight moves onto the square, the ground shifts beneath you. It’s cold, and it’s ice, and a hole falls underneath you, plunging you into frigid waters. There’s enough floating ice that you should still be able to roll the dice to get out of here, but you have to go quickly–you’re soaked, in chilly water, and something just swam by your feet.
But was clearly, literally, on thin ice.
She felt it crack beneath her feet and--
“Float!” she squeaked in desperation, using her magic to push herself off of the ice and away from the frigid waters. Sure, she wasn’t going to stay in the air forever, but it would be enough to get to the other side of the square. She hoped.
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Sunshine Alouette rolled 1 6-sided dice:
3
Total: 3 (1-6)
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:43 pm
Quote: Space 20: The end; once you have arrived here you are free to leave. You will see be basked in the glow of a beautiful, opalescent aura that will take you back home. If you arrived with a guest, you can leave without them or choose to stay until they make it to the end as well. When you arrive back in Destiny City, you may choose to keep the six sided die–if nothing else, it’s pretty! Though, it doesn’t seem to have any magical qualities, that might be for the best.
It was like gasping for air after spending too long beneath water. Ymir’s strength returned to him, and though he didn’t have much of a will to go on, he could rise to his feet, stumbling unsteadily. Something glowed beautifully, promising an end to this ridiculous game; Ymir somehow knew that if he allowed it to take him, he would be brought back to Earth.
But he stopped at the last square instead, turned, and waited for Eupheme and Surtur. Without them, there would be no point in returning at all.
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Guine rolled 2 6-sided dice:
2, 6
Total: 8 (2-12)
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Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2023 6:56 pm
Quote: Doubled = Space 20:The end; once you have arrived here you are free to leave. You will see be basked in the glow of a beautiful, opalescent aura that will take you back home. If you arrived with a guest, you can leave without them or choose to stay until they make it to the end as well. When you arrive back in Destiny City, you may choose to keep the six sided die–if nothing else, it’s pretty! Though, it doesn’t seem to have any magical qualities, that might be for the best.
Somehow, when she managed to toss the die onto the ground in front of her, she rolled enough that it would let her catch up to Ymir. Thank goodness!
“I was so worried about you!” she practically sobbed, throwing her arms around Ymir’s waist when she landed as light as a feather. She couldn’t see everything that he’d been going through, but it was enough!
“Hurry up!” she called over her shoulder to Surtur. Quote: Doubled = Space 20:The end; once you have arrived here you are free to leave. You will see be basked in the glow of a beautiful, opalescent aura that will take you back home. If you arrived with a guest, you can leave without them or choose to stay until they make it to the end as well. When you arrive back in Destiny City, you may choose to keep the six sided die–if nothing else, it’s pretty! Though, it doesn’t seem to have any magical qualities, that might be for the best.
“Working on it,” he growled through gritted teeth. Not at her. At everything around them trying to cause them harm, mentally or physically. He would be quite happy to never experience something like this again.
He didn’t waste any time, though. He had to get around some more obstacles but managed to catch up to the other two, at long last.
There was such a bright, beautiful aura that seemed to circle around the three of them, and then…. They were back in Destiny City.
“Let’s go. And I don’t think I’m in the mood for any games after that,” he grunted, quickly putting an arm around Ymir and hand on Eupheme’s shoulder to guide them away from… whatever strange dimension they’d been pulled into.
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