TEST DRIVE 003

[phantasmods]

Hello, and welcome to the third test drive for Phantasmal Rift!

Test drive threads are assumed to be game canon for accepted characters unless otherwise noted, so don't feel like you'll have to introduce yourself a second time to everyone you meet! As an added bonus, participation in the test drive comes with the chance to earn up to two items of loot for your trouble! Characters who are accepted can earn one item for having a top level, and one for tagging out to someone else's top level! Your SWEET LOOT will be included with your acceptance notice.

Additionally, characters currently in game can earn themselves a piece of bonus loot for the dungeon by tagging people's top-levels on the test drive! Existing characters get their bonus loot along with the rest of their loot at the conclusion of the dungeon.

This test drive takes place in the Fissure known as Amesta Forest - a forest filled with silver mist and shrouded in eternal twilight, where your dreams become real! For a certain limited definition of real. This is significantly less awesome than it sounds. On the bright side, anyone within the mists will find themselves with no need to sleep, as though trapped in the same spring evening as the rest of the forest.

OPTION ONE: DREAM A LITTLE DREAM

This first option might happen to you just about anywhere. From the swirls of silver mist comes a shape - or perhaps more than one shape? Who knows, it's your dream -

Well, probably. It could also be someone else's.

Those who stay too long in any one part of the mist will find their subconscious minds influencing it into shapes - the exact sort of things that appear in their dreams. As with their real dreams, the details are sometimes strange - too much detail, or not enough, depending on where your focus is. The character who 'created' the dream specter will instantly understand what it's supposed to be, but other viewers might have some difficulty with it.

Fortunately for those of you prone to violent nightmares, these dream figures are incapable of doing harm - any blows struck by them simply leave behind the dampness of walking through thick mist. A hard enough blow will similarly disperse them - or, in most cases, you can simply move quickly and leave them behind.

OPTION TWO: THE MOVEMENTS OF THE TREES

A forest filled with mist is honestly a kind of spooky place, isn't it?

Well, it's about to get spookier, when you notice that there's a tree... somewhere there wasn't a tree, before. Or maybe it's that you were looking around and realized that a tree wasn't there here there was one before, instead leaving behind only a round, torn-up patch of earth from where the roots were buried.

Either way, there's only one conclusion to be drawn - the trees are moving.

Those who pay close attention will soon realize that it's only one kind of tree that moves - an absolutely unfamiliar kind, with mist-silver bark and thin, almost translucent leaves in large handlike shapes. They aren't very tall, and their branches split low to the ground, the structure something like a less crooked Japanese maple. The Wanderwoods seem prone to following specific people, usually only moving when out of sight, though you might catch them shuffling along if you have quick reflexes for looking over your shoulder.

What do they want? Well, nothing, really. They're just attracted to sapient beings and, especially, the way the mist forms into their dreams. So while they won't do anything in particular to the characters themselves, anyone with a dream-form hanging around them might find that manifestation suddenly papered in thin, grabbing leaves... and swallowed up.

OPTION THREE: WHAT NOW IS FOUND?

Not all of the forest is trapped in eternal spring. One part of it is held in exactly the opposite - a brilliantly colored autumn morning, just before dawn, with the trees overhead colored in brilliant reds and oranges. Leaves drift down in a slow breeze, and pile up in random places among the trees (which never seem to run out of leaves to drop), and silver pools of water gather at the bases of the trees and in any other depressions, their surfaces perfectly still mirrors.

The mist is quite a bit thinner here, too, which allows you to see... What is that familiar shape in the distance, between the trees?

While dream manifestations are uncommon in the region of Fall's Heart, it's not only dreams that manifest here. Instead, characters will see the figures of those they've lost - instantly recognizable, but unreachable and nearly impossible to catch, running through the trees heedless of how you call after them. It's impossible to catch up to them by mundane means, and those who use supernatural means to do so -

- will find that, at their touch, the vision crumbles into silvery mist-water, forming another of those perfect, reflective pools at their feet.

Comments

Ardyn Tenmyouji | FFXV | Airlocked CRAU

[burninglight]

[dream a little dream]

[The man who stood in the forest looked perhaps a little less like Izunia than he once did; his hair was a bit longer, in even more of a disheveled mess and tied in a low ponytail. Dressed all in black and gray with an orange scarf looped around his neck, he wandered the forest vaguely--this was a little unusual for one of his dreams, but 'unusual' had been redefined so many times in the past year that he didn't question it.]

[The dream began to shape itself as a distant, indistinct sound; that of a crowd, the quiet white noise of a memory that was at once far-away and yet clear. Shouting, calling out something...]

[Kill the Accursed.]

[Ardyn's blood ran cold and he stopped by a tree, shaking hand resting on it as if seeking out some form of stability. The figure that came from the mist was...himself, dressed in something far more ornate and with black miasma coming off of him in waves like some malevolent aura. A thick black ichor marked the pallid gray skin of a walking corpse in some mockery of tears and a smile, expression twisted into some cold approximation of a smile.]

[The real thing, looking much more alive and human, staggered back with a clear expression of shock and even fear on his face.]

[what now is found]

[Ardyn hadn't 'lost' anyone, strictly speaking. He was with everyone who mattered to him, or would be once he woke up from this miserable nightmare. It was fine. It was fine, so why did he feel that weirdly cold sensation of anxiety twisting in his chest when he saw someone he couldn't reach?]

[A pen appeared in Ardyn's hand, and he threw it only to disappear after it in a streak of magenta light and reappear a few feet away, hitting the ground running and warping a couple more times as he gave chase--only for the figure to fall apart and vanish the second Ardyn reached out to grab his hand.]

[...but that was fine. This was fine. It was just a dream, so the feeling of having just been stabbed in the heart would surely wear off as soon as he woke up. Right?]

What now is found

[misanthropicprinciple]

...Dad...

[Oh, man. That's upsetting to see. But at least this familiar figure is perfectly visible between the trees, and instead of running away, he's trotting closer, dismissing a knife back into the Armiger so he has a hand free to put on Ardyn's shoulder, kneeling.]

Dad, talk to me. You all right?

[burninglight]

Wh-...

[It was just a dream. Just a dream, just a dream, just another stupid nightmare. He'd wake up, everything would be fine, everyone would be there--]

Junpei-?

dream a little dream

[matchmakes]

[The man backed against the tree looks familiar to Robin, of course, but that's not what draws the tactician's attention to start with. Needless to say, it's the being that emerged from the mist...

By the gods, what the ever-loving hell.

But Robin doesn't dwell on that thought actually. Robin steps forward without even really thinking, swinging his sword in an attempt to bisect the figure. It's only after that he gets a good look at Ardyn, eyes trailing down to the scarf briefly.]

Hey... hey, are you alright?

[burninglight]

[The Ardyn-shaped monster disappeared as the sword cut through them, the real thing pale and breathless. Usually he recognized everyone in his nightmares, so who—]

I...I’m fine. [The scarf on his neck was just the same as Izunia’s; but red-orange instead of blue.]

what now is found! ... well, more like lost.

[beguiledcard]

[ Yet again...

He'd been in the middle of his own chase, yet again - the figure of a woman with black hair, this time, that...

... well... sure enough, managed to vanish into a puddle, just like the others had.

It's as he's turning, a look of something between pain and frustration on his face, he sees another familiar face warp into view. The man is just feet away, reaching out for another (unfamiliar-looking) man's hand. Heh... how many of them are going to be dealing with this brand of illusion?

For him, it hadn't been painful, until... this time...

Akira walks over to the familiar-looking man, his expression softening. What... to even say... ]

... Hey. [ a good start as any... ] We can't let it win, all right? We're stronger than this place.

[burninglight]

[Ah—that voice was a familiar one. Not family, but definitely that of a friend. That was comforting in its own way, pulling him out of whatever uncertain despair he threatened to get lost in.]

[That resolve really was so like him.]

I...of course. Right.

what now is found

[riderofcharlemagne]

[From a distance, Astolfo recognised the man before him, which brought him here, running to him with an excited energy.

As he draws closer, however, he begins to slow down. The face is familiar, but not too familiar, but not too not familiar.]

You're-

[He blinks, processing the situation, despite how there's only one person it could be.]

His brother?

[burninglight]

Wh...what?

[He looked up dazedly, as if processing that he was looking at someone who was also speaking to him proved difficult. He did in fact exactly resemble Izunia, if Izunia hadn’t slept a full night in weeks, had even messier hair, and wore an orange scarf.]

I...what did you just say?

dream a little dream

[induality]

[Time has proven that much as she'd like it to be, this is more than just a dream; much as she'd like to pretend it is still. It hasn't helped her understand exactly what it is either. But-- the fact that there are people here she recognizes that don't know her, has been eating at her a little.

So when she hears that crowd-- and it's familiarity, in some small fashion, she scowls. She doesn't face the sound directly and yet--]

I've had more than enough of all of you.

[Only-- when she does look... at the real thing, not the mist (because she could care a whole lot less about that) she gets a whole lot quieter.]

Father...?

[burninglight]

You can hear them, can't you? [Ardyn's own voice came from the twin monster in front of him, the real thing backing off even further.] How long until their call is echoed by those who came to follow? How long until they realize you're still this, deep down?

[Distantly, the noise of the mob continued; calling for blood, for execution, kill the Accursed, kill the Usurper-]

[Ardyn shook his head, ashen pale and shaken.]

They...they won't. They would never--they're not-...I'm not like you.

[Dozens of swords appeared in the air behind Ardyn, phantoms of magenta light pointed at the duplicate with the miasma-stained face and blackened aura.]

dream time because i'm here to get fucked up

[serrata]

[ She hears the sound, first, before she realizes there's anybody there. To Yuuri, it's just the distant roar of a crowd and she follows it thinking that she must be about to find some manner of civilization. But then the dull chatter coalesces into something more and she hears the word Accursed – and that's all she really needs to hear.

Mindless of the stab of pain in her injured foot, she immediately takes off in a run, trying to find the source of the sound. Maybe she's a fool, about to run into danger (because again, who's to say this is Ardyn Tenmyouji?) but the idea of leaving him to face this alone distresses her vastly more than any sort of trouble.

She sees a flash of red in the mist and comes to a stop, gasping for breath and fogging out mist like a dragon. Her eyes struggle to focus and pick out anything solid and when they do she opens her mouth to call to him

but then her breath catches, silent, in her throat when she sees the other Ardyn (that one must be the Accursed, she thinks, numbly). She wants to approach, to do something but her feet stay rooted where they are.

Frozen out of helping by useless fear. How pathetic. ]

[burninglight]

[It wasn't hard to tell which was the real one, at least; Ardyn Tenmyouji looked just as he usually did, ponytail and simple black clothes to contrast the mess of layers his other self wore. The look of frozen moderate terror was probably new.]

[The other one looked as Ardyn had back in the mansion a year ago, but the aura of malice in the air and staining corpse-gray skin...that was probably less new to her than she'd like. His voice was condescending and cold, in much the way Ardyn's only sounded when anger took hold, when he'd spoken to Xander in the simulation and faced him with mocking hatred.]

You think you can just be forgiven? Allowed to move on with the life you don't deserve? How long can you outrun the dark that stains your very heart and soul? Your appeals to hope and loyalty will all come to naught in the end. As they have once before, so shall history repeat itself.

[The real Ardyn's hands curled tightly into fists at his sides, and he echoed the sentiment he had once heard after speaking those words himself.]

You're wrong. Fate can be rewritten. I am not--

-a monster? Oh, but you are; you know deep down this is what lives in your heart. You would have killed Price the instant everyone's back was turned, had he not been arrested before you had the chance. To say nothing about what you want to do to Nina...oh what would Nari ever say to that?

dream a little dream

[promittere]

[It's the shouting that draws his attention, words hitting a familiar chord. Only something he's heard once before, in a vision he never asked to have of what must be done to save their world.

The Accursed, who could only be destroyed by the Chosen King at the cost of the King's life.

But...perhaps it's not the same. Accursed is a vague description, not just something the Draconian would use. It might not be Ardyn Izunia. (Lucis Caelum, his brain unhelpfully supplies.)

(Though it might be. It could be.]

I was under the impression the Accursed was immortal.

[It's a test, for lack of a better thing to do than run in knives swinging, the man drawn up tight. His face turns towards Ardyn and the illusion of him, eyes still unseeing but the man has had no choice but to learn how to find other's with what senses remain. The swarm of demons separating them from Noctis made sure of that.]

[burninglight]

Goodness, you think monsters just come out of thin air? [A too-familiar voice, mocking and cruel in its cheerful tones.] Even this wretched thing was mortal once.

Stop- [Another voice, the same in pitch but shockingly different in tone and cadence; the second Ardyn sounded afraid. And if there was any thought that he was talking to himself...this one was audibly a few feet to the left.] Shut up, I don't...I'm not like you, don't say anything else-

And would you just look at that? He thinks he's still human. My, it's a tragedy that chooses to repeat itself. I wonder how long it will be before he should fall again. Perhaps you'd like to have him die at your hands? It's certainly what's deserved- [and then, to the second Ardyn:] ...isn't it, now?

I-I...that's not...

Dream dream dream...

[foolishjustice]

[Well, that's...no good. By now, Goro is well aware these figments are insubstantial, the Noise that attacked him earlier leaving nothing but damp spots and a feeling of utter terror. Beyond that, he doesn't know any details of what he's seeing...but he does know he doesn't like the looks of that undead thing.

A thin, golden pillar of light streaks down from the air, aimed to disperse the figment. Standing behind it is a young man, dressed casually, holding one hand out.]

...Ardyn, I assume? Don't pay the violent figments any mind, they can't actually harm anyone.

[burninglight]

[holy FUCKING shit what-]

[Ardyn staggered back a step or two at the light, blinking at Akechi and trying to figure out just what the hell he was looking at. Yellow eyes drifted briefly to his hand, but didn't take it yet.]

You...must know my brother. [If Astolfo had been anything to go by, that was the only explanation.]

what now is found

[nightcure]

[ There is, approximately, a single moment in which their eyes lock, once Ardyn's finished warping.

And then Noctis is throwing a blade at Ardyn, face contorted with anger and something close to grief. Certainly, there's a touch of hatred there, along with murderous intent, and Noctis himself feels his blood boil. This isn't Izunia, he can tell. ]

You!

[burninglight]

[He'd been lucky enough to have been warned that Noctis was here, the Noctis of ten years ago--still full of justified rage, not yet truly a king but a frustrated and furious child.]

[He'd been warned. But it still hurt--not the blade which was met with the Shield of the Just in red tones and scattered crystals, but the fact that this wasn't Noctis as Ardyn knew him. Not the one who had actually mourned his ancestor's loss, comforted their friends in the wake of it all-]

['He didn't want anyone to forget him. Ever.']

[-...the one who, despite everything, Ardyn had found himself considering family in blood and more than that.]

[So when he faced his brother's descendant, it was with a deadened and exhausted look on his face, full of resignation and regret.]

...hello, Noctis.

what now is found

[founderinglight]

[It takes a long time to admit the possibility. Junpei's warping had been something he didn't want to think about, didn't want to risk hoping for. But Yuuri's sword and the words of that young man - between the two, there can be no doubt that Ardyn is here, somewhere, beneath these trees. Beneath the same sky.

For all of the thinking he's done, lately, for all the friendships he is beginning to build, once the thought takes hold of him Izunia is utterly helpless against it. He may as well try to fight a whirlpool, sucking him down until he drowns.

Ardyn is here, and Izunia has to find him. Should he die for it - it would be no less than he deserves.

But so it is. And so Ardyn will likely see the flash of blue light, first - a warp trail in the air, much longer than Noctis could probably manage, high up in the trees. It's a better vantage point to find that which he seeks.

And careful looking will reveal the shape in black, with hair the color of the falling leaves in the massive maple he stands in. Now that he's here, Izunia is frozen, unable to say or even think anything except - ]

Ardyn.

[It is not angry it is not fearful it is just, longing, two thousand years of love unreturned compressed into two small syllables. All of the stars, now hidden by the light of the sun.

He wishes, distantly, that the world would stop re-orienting itself for just one day.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn wanted desperately to chase that figure again, even knowing...knowing he wasn't hear, knowing he was again the only Glaive that wasn't. Even with the hope Akechi had given him that no one would register them as being gone...it still ached, deep in his chest, to be separate once more.]

[Ached more to know he was here, and there was no Shield to save Ardyn from his own thoughts and fears, no one to ground him and stop him from falling into memories two thousand years old, of execution after execution after execution and Angelgard and I have lived in darkness for ages--]

[He stared at the figure with wide yellow-gold eyes that didn't quite see him, and said nothing.]

dream a little dream

[byanyother_name]

[It was the crowd sounds that first caught his attention. There weren't enough of them for that, which meant it had to be someone's dream manifestation. And while Kurama was open to the possibility of someone actually manifesting a good dream, so far he himself had mostly encountered nightmares.

As if he didn't have enough of them when he actually slept.

His ki reached out to find one of the wanderwoods, the strange trees never seeming to be very far away from anywhere people were. Kurama supposed that made sense, as they seemed to feed on these mist figments birthed by sentient minds. They were also very agreeable to being guided towards 'food', and the tree kept pace with him as he strode through the forest.

He caught sight of Ardyn and his dark mirror just as the real one staggered back, and his expression settled into controlled anger and determination.]

Go.

[The wanderwood obediently rushed past him, straight for the horrifying specter. Leafy branches whipped out around the Accursed and swallowing him into itself. Only a few brief wisps of fading mist were left behind.]

Are you alright?

[burninglight]

[His back pressed to a tree, Ardyn blinked a couple of times at the living tree devouring his other self in an instant. He'd raised his arms slightly as if to defend himself, but seemed unarmed; in simple dark clothes and what might have been a familiar scarf in an opposing color.]

I, er...thank you. I'm fine.

[If Izunia had gone without a haircut for a while and suddenly decided on wearing yellow contacts, the result would probably be who regarded Kurama with stunned confusion now.]

A Little Dream

[seafoamgreen]

[Does Undyne know this guy? No.]

[Is this any of her business? Also no.]

[Does she have any clue whatsoever about what's going on here? Definitely not.]

Hey, back off! Can't you see you're scaring him?

[...Is that stopping her from stomping out in front of him and shaking a finger at the Accursed like she's scolding somebody for bumping into her on the street? Nope.]

[Undyne's tone and bearing are oddly lacking in fear- but why wouldn't they be? She doesn't know this man, and nonhuman appearances certainly don't scare her. If anything, they're a lot more reassuring than humans are to her. Without being close enough to catch the palpable aura of malevolence around him, she doesn't get that this is supposed to be someone terrifying, she's just telling him off for being a jerk.]

[burninglight]

[Ardyn had seen far weirder than Undyne, so her appearance didn't even faze him in the slightest. It was concern that got him to call out, taking half a step closer to Undyne as he did.]

Don't, he'll--

My, how sad. [The creature that was and wasn't Ardyn tilted its head, scourge-stained face twisting into a mockery of a smirk.] Now you pretend to care for collateral damage? Hiding behind the innocent, how far you've fallen.