Round 1 [new characters and round announcement]

[utopiamods]

You're falling, and you can't remember why. It's a sickening feeling that makes your insides lurch; the darkness and the vertigo combine, and all you can think of is a story you heard once, somewhere.

- I remember now. It's a simple story that everyone knows. A legend of a Princess, the Demon Lord who kidnapped her, and the Knight who fought to save her.

The Demon Lord had kidnapped the Princess countless times, but every time the Knight bested his challenges and rescued the Princess.

No matter what tricks and ploys the Demon Lord used, the Knight would always triumph in the end. This was because--

The world tilts on its axis one last time, and the dream slips from your mind as easily as it arrived. A new voice intrudes on your sleep.

"Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. This tramline terminates here; all change. Next stop: Academy Main Entrance. All change."

Sunlight streams through the windows of the long carriage, making the seats almost uncomfortably warm beneath its waking passengers. The air is muggy and thick, the atmosphere deeply tired. Your nausea settles, slowly. The last of the dream fades.

"We have arrived at Utopia. Repeat, we have arrived at Utopia Academy. Could all passengers please leave the tram, as it is terminating here."

The tram pulls to a stop outside the academy station, and the students onboard are ushered off and directed to the front lobby of the school. They can't miss it; there are signs up pointing toward the main entrance, reading "New student orientation" in big, bright letters. If anyone should care to move off the path, try exploring somewhere else, a teacher will conveniently appear to shoo them back toward the lobby, assuring them that "all your questions will be answered inside".

The lobby is big and spacious, looking more like a university or perhaps a fancy international hotel than a high school. Stood around are any number of students in the uniform of the school. Some of them even look awake. There are several receptionists at the desk towards the back of the lobby, but for now they seem busy with paperwork.


[ Note: the round announcement will go up in a thread once you've all mingled. ♥ ]

Comments

[greennotgold]

"W-wait," Fletcher stammered out, grabbing onto Russel's sleeve again; his hand had gotten dislodged from its grip when Russel moved his arm. "You're Edward, aren't you? Edward Elric? You're a-alive?"

[aureus_veritas]

Both of Ed's eyebrows arched up at that reaction. What the hell was that?

He looked down at the younger boy when he spoke, brow furrowing. Alive? What was THAT supposed to mean?! "Yeah, but... How'd you know that? Have we met before?"

[veepofchess]

He paused before he responded about Euphie. "...Perhaps. Some of the details still remain to be seen."

"At any rate, I have a source for you to look in to," he began. "Tsuki Aoi. She seems to know more intimately than the rest the program at hand."

[chainedbyred]

But Russel pushed Fletcher's hand away and just kept walking. He had a plan. Fletcher wouldn't like it, but he was going to do it anyway. He needed his glove.

[aureus_veritas]

Ed nods slowly, making mental notes of what she's telling him about these buildings and that he should check them out later. His lips quirk to one side while he thinks, trying to keep his thoughts as organized and rational as possible. Which involves expelling a lot of anger and trying to slow the rush of blood into his head.

She has a point about the pretending. At the very least, that would keep suspicion off of him in case the penalties here were more intense than they thought. So he nods again, letting out a sigh.

"...Fine. Guess that means I'm gonna need a weapon."

[idkmybffxiao]

"They are?" If Ed was saying that, it had to be true, right? He wouldn't lie about his brother's wellbeing. His own, sure, but Al's? At least she could set that worry aside for now. She sighed and got back to her feet, brushing her school uniform off in case of dirt. "Maybe it's weird to you, but it's important to me."

But not to dwell on saddening things.

"Right! I've already been here for three rounds... though..." Mei wouldn't call Round Zero an actual round. She shuddered just thinking about it. "I don't know how we can leave yet."

[greennotgold]

"Brother..." Fletcher stared after him worriedly. Was he that upset...?

He turned back to Ed. "Um, s-sorry... He's just..." He nodded. "We've, um, met... in Xenotime, and in Central. Did they make you forget?"

[eidetic]

"And I had fallen asleep on the plane..." he mused to himself. He wondered about the others.

He supposed his only way of getting answers was to play along, for now. "Listen, what do you say you stick with me? We'll find out together, and I can keep you safe." From what he wasn't sure yet, but he would find out.

[aureus_veritas]

Ed rolls his eyes a little. Of course it's an important memory to her. But at least he got her straightened out on that one, right?

Back to business.

"Did you check all the buildings for any kind of weird machinery? Or even strange arrays drawn out somewhere? Someone mentioned that there are locked off areas around here that might have something, do you know anything about that?"

[summerstars]

It takes her a bit to decide, but he seems reasonable enough, so why not? Grenn shrugs and gives a lop-sided half-smile.

"If you want to try mine, I won't mind." Better him than if it'd had been Tougyu, probably. It's not as if she can't talk to Yuki anyway.

[aureus_veritas]

Ed frowned after the older boy before turning his attention back on the younger. He had a few words to describe the older one to fill in the sentence he'd started to say, but the kid had moved on before he could volunteer them.

"I don't remember any Xenotime..." He suddenly looked irritated, running his good hand through his hair. "I guess that could be something they made me forget."

[discarded]

"Ah, um, okay." She nodded. She didn't know him, but he seemed trustworthy enough... like a professional. So she'd stick with him.

"My name is Miwako Ihara. Um, I'm a second year in high school."

[aureus_veritas]

Ed blinks, eyes wide in surprise at the sudden offer. "Your- We've only just met."

Then he takes on a slightly more wary, almost suspicious look. In his experience, people didn't just offer things like this for nothing. "...What's the catch?"

[greennotgold]

That was disappointing. So, so disappointing. "...they made me forget his name," Fletcher offered, in hopes of helping illustrate just how horrible the memory loss could be. "My brother's, I mean. So... there's not really any limit to it..."

[aureus_veritas]

That instantly made Ed more sympathetic toward the younger boy, eyes widening. He couldn't even imagine what life would be like if he'd forgotten something like that. Something as simple and important as someone's name...

Alphonse. He of course remembered Al's name. And his own, since he'd responded just as he should when this kid had called him. His damn father's name was Van Hohenheim, and his mother's was... his mother's was...

Oh, shit. He'd found one. How sick were these people?

With a frown, Ed pulled his mind back into the present, looking over at the boy. "That girl in the video said there are ways to remember, though."

[greennotgold]

Fletcher nodded a bit. "The--the memory charms we can buy will get them back. Brother already has one so far. But we have to fight each other to get the money for them."

What else had Fletcher forgotten? Aside from his brother's name, the periodic table, certain transmutation circles... He didn't know what to try to think of in order to come up against that mental fog, that feeling of utter frustration. And that, itself, was frustrating too.

[dreamcandies]

"Is a friend of yours here?" She asks, turning the rest of the way to face Mai.

[summerstars]

Grenn has to scratch the back of her head and blink at the blond for a bit. While she can understand the suspicion, she's not sure at all how to ressure him. In the end, she just shrugs.

"... The catch? That people who don't know each other have to work together, I guess? I... think that's catch enough... Considering we have to attempt to trust each other?"

[idkmybffxiao]

"The one where everyone..." Mei didn't want to say it, so she lets that trail off and finds something else to say instead. "I think everyone had the same problem." Whatever that problem had been. The jury was still out on it being just a dream or a mass hallucination or whatever. "Grenn and Gino and I all remember similar things. They said people in their rooms did, too."

[aureus_veritas]

"Right, right. The tokens."

He made a face. He still wasn't too keen on playing by the rules of their captors, but as he'd learned a few moments earlier, there wasn't a whole lot of choice.

"...So what's with your brother reacting like that? Was I his idol or something?"

[greennotgold]

"Huh?" Idol? Fletcher hadn't quite thought of it in those terms, but... "You, um, you and Al really helped us out back in Xenotime," he replied, though now that he thought of it... he couldn't really think of what Alphonse had done. He'd been there when Ed and Russel had fought, and he'd helped them escape from the collapsing mansion... it felt like there was something else, though. Fletcher frowned. It seemed he'd found another lost memory...

"You helped us a lot," he repeated, trying not to think too hard on it. He knew it would do no good. "It's... it's a really long story, but if it wasn't for you two..."

[idkmybffxiao]

Mei shot him a glare at the eyeroll. She saw that, mister! She doesn't bring it up, though, and only crosses her arms with a grumble. Even as Ed thought the matter was settled, the update on which brother she had liked was already slipping away from her memory...

He wasn't going to be happy when she greeted him at breakfast with another shriek and hug.

"Ah, no weird machines. I haven't been able to get into the locked buildings. I thought I might try to just break a window in on one of the higher floors." Mei wouldn't have a problem getting up there. "Though I think the entire island has an array laid down on it. I don't know how else to explain what's blocking alkahestry, if it isn't something like that."

[aureus_veritas]

Ed raises an eyebrow at her. Well... It's at least true that this girl doesn't know him well enough to want something specific from him. It's also true that she's been pretty damn helpful, and only because he's new and aside from what the girl in the video said, he doesn't know shit about how this place works. So Ed sighs and nods.

"Guess so. We should start with names, then." He extends a hand for a handshake. "I'm Edward Elric."

[aureus_veritas]

Ed blinked. From the sound of things, the story seemed sort of vaguely familiar. But he still couldn't place it. The memory was just out of his reach, locked behind a metaphysical door.

"...all hell would've broken loose?" he offered with a shrug.

[greennotgold]

Well, maybe... Fletcher tried not to look too worried. "Y-yeah." If they'd lived, anyway. "Um, I'd try telling you all about it, but you'd just forget again after I was done..."