middleofsomewhere | No Place Like Home: Outside

No Place Like Home: Outside

NO PLACE LIKE HOME: OUTSIDE

HOME SWEET HOME

You find yourself not on a wide station platform, in the clothes you last remember, holding what you were when you went through the glas door. There's no longer a train behind you, no sound of its whistle, with no other passengers around you in similar style of clothing to your own.

You're somewhere familiar, or just - the last place you remember being before your life became tethered to the Voidtrecker Express. A field, a city, a kingdom, or perhaps even a space station. You should be nowhere, yet you find yourself somewhere, despite all odds.

People - if there are people - don't at first notice you; but attract enough attention to yourself, and that will all change. Friends, family - are they near, a phonecall away? It's either everything you wanted or everything you imagined (for good or worse), and it could seem unbelievably real. But it is real - you're off the train, back somewhere you know.

Finally - the journey is over...

...If only.
You're moving away from where you arrived, for whatever reason. Who wouldn't? You may be far from home, have business elsewhere, or want to go sightseeing. It's time to return to - and live - your life, and that doesn't include sticking to one place.

But you'll find that when you reach a point, the world becomes...foggy. A fog that you hadn't seen in the distance before it appears, and when you walk through it, you'll find yourself in a place some have already found themselves in.

Because for some passengers, there was nowhere for them to return, and so the barriers lead only to fog, and then straight back onto the platform. The Voidtrecker Express may be stationed, or there may be a blanket of fog where it should be; sometimes, it can be caught trying to leave the station, only to come back a few minutes later. The doors are shut tight, and the windows are obscured, showing nothing inside.

Those who came from somewhere can go back, should they go through the turnstiles again. And if they want, they can take people along with them, too...

But sometimes, they go to a world no one knows. They go through the barriers into nothing, a black emptiness. Not space, for those that know space, and it doesn't seem to be the void either. But it is a void, devoid of anything at all. Just a darkness so complete they will not be able to see anything at all, they will only know their companion is there through touch and sound. How they are breathing, how they are living at all, is a mystery; one probably answered only by the SCA on their wrist.

Being there brings an unease deep down inside them. This place is not natural, not somewhere that they should exist in. Not a place that should exist at all. Luckily they are never there for more than a few moments before they return once more to the station, fog covering them like a safety blanket.

A DIFFERENT CORNER: LOCATIONS

In the first couple of days (whatever that means, when time doesn't match up between most places), the only way to move to another's tethered location is by them leading another there. But after that, individuals will show up in other locations when they reach close to the distance limit. Indeed as time goes on everything gets a lot less stable. They may know their five miles perfectly but still one step to another leads them back to the platform. Attempting to return to their world leads them somewhere else entirely.

And there's quite a few places to end up.

SETTLEMENTS

Buddhist Temple, China ( Koumyou Sanzo | TL )
Rebel Camp, Lothal ( Hera Syndulla | TL )
Homestead, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA ( Nell Ingram TL )
Capsule Corp ( Trunks | TL )
School Grounds, College ( Idia Shroud | TL )
City Ruins, beach ( Najaran | TL )
Hakkei Palace, Tai ( Taiki | TL )
Gusu Lan, mountain sect (China) ( Lan Jingyi | TL)
Lotus Pier, riverside, China ( Jiang Cheng | TL )
The Endless Abyss, Hell ( Shen Qingqiu | TL )
Hyrule Castle Town ( Zelda | TL )
Haven Palace ( TL )

COMMUNITIES

Spaceport ( Yondu | TL)
Mobile Station Base ( Kiyoiri )
Arkwood, Town (Ryo | TL )
Techstead, Town ( Devero | TL )
Tatsumi Port Island ( Ken Amada )
Mor Dhona / Town, Mountain, Lakes ( K'zeka Tai | TL )
Hyrule Field & Lon Lon Ranch ( Link | TL )
Ishigami Village, Japan ( Senku Ishigami | TL )
Aether Paradise/Artificial Island/Natural Preserve ( Katsuya Jonouchi )
Nautilus ( Spark/Clef TL Clef | TL Spark )
The Underworld, Hades ( Zagreus and Thanatos | TL )
Sanctuary ( TL )

CITIES & KINGDOMS

Saillune City ( Zelgadis | TL )
New Mantle, City ( Ruby Rose | TL )
Brooklyn, New York City, USA in 2017 ( Jake Peralta | TL )
Azabu-Juban District, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan ( Usagi Tsukino | TL )
Hau'oli City ( Eva Iden'no | TL )
Gauig City ( Little One/Buttercup | TL )
Kyoto, Japan ( Masumi Sera | TL )
Shinjuku, Japan ( Yosuke Otoha | TL )
Kingdom, Evermore ( Roland Crane )
Garlemad, Kingdom ( Zenos | TL )
Kingdom of Knothole ( Mina Mongoose | TL )
Domino City ( Yugi Muto | TL )
Amnity Park ( Danny Fenton | TL )
Garlemald ( TL )
Lothal ( TL )
Los Angeles ( TL )
The First - Crystarium and Lakeland ( Elidibus | TL )

OOC NOTES

OOC post. Ask questions here.

LOCATION TOPLEVELS: Since it'll be easier for players to engage with settings presented by those offering them, when we see a toplevel for one of the above locations put up, we'll add it to the list! We've also included the OOC comments for settings to the side, so any questions can be left with the player, as well as extra details. Please always speak with the player first if you intend to do anything drastic to the setting!

A REMINDER: Time of log is Poi 22-25, but time within worlds can last up to a maximum of two weeks. Minimum is whatever you want it to be.

During Poi 22 and 23, characters will need to be led to a location to be able to access it. From Poi 24, people will show up in locations regardless of invitation.

The second half of the event will go up during 20th to 25th February (Poi 26-28). But as always, play around in here and do as you like!

If your character's setting isn't above, link us to it in the Questions post, along with your toplevel! We'll add it.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Thanatos turns toward Kiyoiri and recognizes her from the train even if they haven't had too much occasion to interact previously.

"I need to return to my world. Have anyone been able to do that once arriving here?" Even if he was very limited in what he could do, the presence of his real body and his soul in the same location brought back Death. The tethering issue is a problem, but Thanatos is thinking on a different scale.

"That was too short of a time." He's working on being both Thanatos and Death Incarnate, but the ability to help relieve many mortals of their suffering was right there!

"...Returning permanently right now doesn't seem possible; for those with bodies, our bodies are still separate. That means the forms we have now are what the Train created- it relies on the train," she emphasizes.

"Returning in this way to other worlds has been happening, but it's no more stable than before. ...I can't find a way to guess which direction leads to whose home either." In other words, while she'll gladly help Thanatos find whatever mist brings him back to his home, she can't be sure that anyone will be able to...well.

Remain there. "...Right now... ...I'm worried about what will happen if the train gets too far from here because of that."

How long will they exist, if the train separates from them? ~~It's a good thing they'll never have to find out.~~

"I have to make it back. Even if I can't stay. I have to." Thanatos doesn't fear what might happen should his tether snap while he's back home. His true body is there, safe under his mother's vigil. And Zagreus is there.

He looks out towards the fog. "If I have to travel through the fog blindly, so be it."

There is...something of a tired smile.

"...I never said it wasn't good to go back for now. ...just that we need to be aware that it won't be the permanent option. If anything, going back to see what can be done between when we have to leave again, and when a permanent option is found, is best. As you said, what you need to do is too important to leave without warning."

It goes without saying that if Thanatos did leave again, it wouldn't be by choice either. Which only makes finding some kind of temporary solution even more vital.

"I was aware that my return wouldn't last, but my presence there allowed some of the mortals to die. Hermes is fast, but even he can't collect everyone in one go. In that short period of time when I was there." The mortals who should be dead but haven't been collected yet are once more waiting, suffering.

Thanatos sighs. If this is what happens when he tries to shift to the surface, that means he won't be able to help collect the souls to bring to the Underworld. It'll all have to be Hermes and Charon. "And now I know I probably can't leave the Underworld, but I can still do something to help them."

It's a strange thought. On the one hand, Thanatos returning allowed death. On the other, his absence means the dead are somewhat unobtainable. It seems a brutal cycle in the making- he has to be there for anything to happen, but being there is causing the problem in the first place.

Well.

"Let's look while we talk," she determines with a slow nod, already looking about the platform. "...When you're gone entirely, what occurs from there? You said that being present allowed others to die- but what happened when you were absent before, then?"

Thanatos will float alongside Kiyoiri as she walks. His eyes scan the foggy platform for any sign of something different. Any hint.

"No mortal can die, but that doesn't stop them from feeling pain. Falling ill. Hunger. My world is plagued by an eternal winter. Little grows and the ability to hunt is taken away from god, man, and beast. Fights break out among neighbors for what few resources they can gather."

He turns to her there. "There has been no Death for seven months. Be thankful you cannot feel the pull of their threads or hear their cries, what should be their last words."

Death is not greedy for people to die. Thanatos trying to end their long suffering in a cruel surface world.

There's bound to be something at least...hmm.

"...In other words...it is an ongoing issue." One that Thanatos is understandably desperate to grant a bit of reprieve for, but it'll perhaps make the issue sting that much more when the inevitable happens.

"...Can aspects and roles not be shared? Naturally, 'Death' cannot be replaced...but at least at home, within the Greek pantheon, there was sometimes overlap between the roles of the Gods; is it possible to find any to do that in this case- even just partly, to prevent the worst later on?"

"... If that were possible, I would not be worrying about this in the first place." Death had already stopped once in his world for an entire month. Any way to alleviate that burden, create some kind of failsafe to prevent a lack of death from happening again, would have been put into place then after a godling threw the world out of balance.

If there was a way, Thanatos might have had a life beyond his role back home.

"Mortals can find another to do their job. The case is not so simple for gods."

"Mnh. I had hoped maybe there could be someone with overlap available...at the very least, enough to help, but if no one came to mind to begin with then getting creative isn't the answer."

Hmm. Well, at least they're still looking for the way back to Thanatos' world, but...

"...what will you do when they find a way to stabilize the tethers?"

Thanatos tried to explain it once to Alice how mixed his feelings on the matter is, and it's even more complicated now. He's felt the despair of losing almost everything that was besides his duty. It's not something he can put into words and convey correctly.

"If I have to return to the train... I'll fight it as long as I'm able to." He has contacted the Ministry, and they have arrived on his world. However, their capabilities are painfully slow, and there is no telling what the gods of Olympus will do. Olympians are not above punishing mortals trying to interfere in the business of gods, and they won't hesitate to declare war against another god, which ultimately puts more mortals in danger.

Thanatos has to give the mortals, Hermes and Charon, as much time as he can. "I stay as long as possible."

Kiyoiri stops moving. Just for a moment.

"....Even if it delays the real solution?"

She won't argue it further, no matter his answer. No, she knows the fruitlessness involved in arguing with most gods. It's something everyone at Chaldea knows, by now.

But she has to ask all the same, even as she stares toward a gate among the platform fog.

"If everyone is returned to the train at once, then there's nothing to be done for it. However, if the process ends up being gradual, I want to be among the last to give my world more time before I'm forced to go."

And he will fight anyone who tries to bring him early. Thanatos has a duty to his world, and could anyone really blame him for wanting to bring the mortals an end to their suffering? Or help establish some kind of plan with his mother that might loop in the Ministry?

Not great. But not her place to really argue it either. Kiyoiri simply looks at the deity from the corner of her eyes, before closing them with a nod. There's only so much anyone can do or convince with gods involved after all, and more than that, she hardly has any idea how this will end.

What else, then, can she say.

The girl blinks at another 'gate'. "...Is this one it?" With how many haven't been, hopefully one is right, right?

Is it really so bad that he just doesn't want to be first in line?

"I don't know. I did not appear here by gate." If he had, then he'd just turn around and go straight through it. Thanatos walks forward and reaches out, hoping for that something will feel "right" about the gate. He doesn't immediately sense anything of note.

Mother please, guide him back home.

And so, Thanatos walks through the gate.

Of course it isn't.

It's his duty, his role, his home, his people. At this time as it is, Kiyoiri can't even tell if delaying will be possible at all, let alone a risk.

She can only ask, hypothetically on the matter, and leave what his answer is to sit on the air and on her mind.

Kiyoiri watches Thanatos walk through the gate.

She watches and quietly prays for whoever fails to pass in time for however long Thanatos has to grant that death.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No Place Like Home: Outside

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ties this off with a bow while laying down....wueh