[a heart field trip]

[antreegonist]

*you're back on the island of Mithos's heart, on the dirt path through the meadow. the sky's still clouded and glassy, but it's no longer storming: you've arrived in the middle of a sunshower.

the freestanding door is there in its pool. the surrounding fog has thinned to translucence -- you can see a couple of large, four-legged shapes moving in it.*

Comments

[brotagonist]

[wwweird :|a goes back to the tree to look at the clock!]

[antreegonist]

*the clock would fit neatly in your palm, and can be removed from the branch. it's gold with three identical black hands. instead of numbers, the words PAST, THEN, and NOW are etched around its edge. it ticks faintly, and you can see all the hands moving.

on the back of it is a small keyhole. seems like the white key could fit in there too.*

[brotagonist]

[yeah no way I'm not putting the key in the clock.]

[antreegonist]

*there's a feeling in the air like an indrawn breath. the floor becomes transparent under your feet, revealing the sky, clouds and distant land. cities, forests, lakes, a wide blue sea, desert to the east...

the three mirrors change colour to milky white, faint ripples passing over their surfaces. the watch's hands have stopped moving.*

[brotagonist]

...did I break it?!

[pokes at one]

[antreegonist]

*you can move its position with your finger now*

[brotagonist]

[MOSTLY CHECKING IF IT FEELS BROKEN.]

[antreegonist]

*it's not broken. your minigame senses are tingling.*

[brotagonist]

[...circles his finger carefully around the clock face, taking the hands with it]

[antreegonist]

*when all of them point to PAST, the HISTORY mirror glitters. ditto THEN and HORROR, and NOW and HOPE.*

[brotagonist]

[huhhh. goes over to stand next to the mirrors to watch this as he repeats it, more slowly.]

[antreegonist]

*it happens again! and as you hit each word some sort of image stutters into life on the clear floor too -- you can't make it out clearly.*

[brotagonist]

[what if I was pausing at each flicker, which I was but neglected to state clearly]

[antreegonist]

*HISTORY's is a world map! HORROR's is clearly a very similar map, but with the world separated clearly into two parts -- one on the left and one on the right. HOPE's map has been combined again and looks similar to HISTORY's, but with changes -- coastlines have shifted, various environments have moved, et cetera*

[brotagonist]

[what about on the mirrors]

[antreegonist]

*the mirrors just glitter on their respective words :B*

[brotagonist]

[...yeah, idk what to do with that. walks around to look at "HISTORY'S" map some because it's unfamiliar.]

So this is what it looked like...

[antreegonist]

*since you've stopped decisively at PAST to look at that, four blinking red dots appear on the map.

FOREST
RUINS
@#%54393%#@^%$&sskd!!##
SONG*

[brotagonist]

...what the hell's up with this one?

[going to look at the ONE OF THESE IS NOT THE SAME.]

[antreegonist]

*if you touch its dot the HISTORY mirror turns into a pool of molten light, like the doorway you originally took in here.*

[brotagonist]

[...I will return to this mirror then yeah.]

[antreegonist]

*do you go through y/n*

[brotagonist]

[SURE.]

[antreegonist]

*you are on the ground floor of a pale, narrow tower. raw power crackles in the air. feelings linger in the air here: vitality, renewal, confidence . . . and utter, aching sadness.

a trapdoor, large enough to admit a person, is set in the middle of the floor. atop it is a round table. the Eternal Sword has been stabbed deep into the middle of the table.

a spiral stair winds up the inside of the tower. along its length, nine brilliant stained-glass windows wash the inside of the tower with rainbows--you can't quite make out what's on any of them from where you are.

there is also a white door across from you on the ground floor, and another one just visible at the top of the stair.*

[brotagonist]

[eyes the Eternal Sword, then climbs the stairs.]