and then they fell. [rakuen revolution opening post]

[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.

Ah, 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. Mechanical, monotonous.

"Next stop: Rakuen City. This train terminates here. The next stop is Rakuen. All change." The train rocks steadily as it winds its way through white drifts of now. Sunlight streams through the window, heating the air and making the seats almost uncomfortably warm. A puff of steam from the train winds its way lazily past the windows when the wind is right.

It's strangely difficult to shake off the sleep; the rhythm of the train seems to lull you back into slumber and the air is warm and heavy, making it hard to keep hold of a thought. Finally, though, the nausea settles, the last of the dream fades and you can take in your surroundings. And, perhaps more importantly, those around you in a similar state.

"We have arrived at Rakuen City. All passengers must leave the train. This train is terminating here. This is Rakuen."

Comments

[sciioniic]

[Sollux sits up with a start; he stares around him in brief, empty-socketed confusion before he remembers that, oh, right. He's blind.]

[It's a recent development. There's still blood on his shirt, although if you're accustomed to blood being, say, red, you could pretty easily take it for mustard or something.]

[he fumbles his hand along the edge of the chair, trying to work out where the hell he could possibly be, but he has no idea. Maybe it's a dream bubble? But it's definitely not his memory...]

[duchy]

[Not that Sollux can see it, but Lithuania is gaping at the boy in open-mouthed confusion. Not only does he have no eyes, he's got horns and grey skin and there's something yellow stained on his shirt and--Lithuania just does not know what to do with this except blurt out the first thing that comes to mind:]

Are you a monster?

[sciioniic]

[Sollux turns his head towards the voice, blinking pointlessly.]

Uhh. Are you talking to me?

[he's pretty sure he doesn't look particularly monstrous. But ... oh man, there is totally blood all down his front, isn't there. He can feel it where his shirt clings wet and cooling to his skin. Ew.]

[duchy]

[Lithuania backs up a bit.]

W-what are you?

[sciioniic]

What do you – 

[oh geez, right, if this is a dream bubble then there is literally zero reason to assume he's speaking to a troll. Perhaps it's one of the humans? It sort of sounds like whoever he's talking to is younger than the humans looked, but he didn't pay much attention to any of them, really, and he only ever spoke to one of them. He sighs, a little impatiently.]

I'm not a monster, I'm a troll, totally normal example of my species, okay. [He seems a little distracted, as if he's waiting to hear something or other, but whatever it is it isn't coming.] Who are you?

[duchy]

[Lithuania isn't sure troll sounds any less scary than monster, but he does recognize he hasn't yet been killed or eaten, so that's a plus.]

I'm Lithuania.

[He hesitates, uncertain.]

D-do you know where we are?

[sciioniic]

[well, that doesn't sound like any name Sollux recognises. He frowns.] I haven't got a glubbing clue. It sounds like a rail guided transport cubicle ...

[he looks around again, out of habit, but obviously this does not help.] Look, dude, can you give me a grasp prong here because I'm kind of visually boned right now, what does it look like?

[duchy]

[Oh, apparently trolls aren't just naturally blind. He looks around.]

There's a lot of chairs in rows, with some of them next to each other, and there's windows, it's a really big--train?

[He hesitates on that because Sollux called it something different.]

[sciioniic]

Train, whatever. [highblood vernacular, w/e.] Okay.

[He thinks, how big? and where's it going, and, as he finds the window pane with his hand and splays his fingers across it, what's out there?]

[Then he decides it probably doesn't matter. Whatever's going on here, it's not his responsibility, is it? Knowing what the inside of this transport cubicle looks like isn't going to help him any if he can't see anything at all. It's obviously a dream bubble, so here he might as well just go along with it until either he wakes up or someone explains what's going on.]

[There's not much else to do, after all. It's kind of a relief.]

[hugling]

[Teddy gently nudges Sollux's hand with his own. This kid is definitely gray, and he definitely has horns that look like candy corns, but Teddy's seen all kinds of mutants and aliens, and he's over it pretty quickly. Besides, it's not like he looks human all the time, either.]

Hey. Hey, I think it's okay.

[sciioniic]

[Sollux jumps a little, pointing his ears straight towards Teddy, but he settles down pretty quickly.]

You do? Great. [he doesn't sound that skeptical.] How come? Is this a dream bubble?

[hugling]

[Teddy shrugs.]

No, it just doesn't look like we're in considerable danger right this second. What's a dream bubble?

[sciioniic]

Uhh, never mind. Where are we?

[hugling]

A train. A train in Rakuen apparently, which I've never heard of in my life. I think they want us to get out, though.

[sciioniic]

Oh. Yeah, okay. Cool. I'll just fumble ineptly around this packed transport cubicle until I find the door, no big.

[hugling]

[making this exact face.]

Or, you know, you could ask for some help, or something. Just a thought.

[sciioniic]

Are you offering? Dude, I don't even know who you are.

[what kind of suspicious individual offers help to younger strangers? seriously]

[herplaceinthesun]

[Welp, she hasn't seen anyone that looked quite like that before. Obviously the thing to do is to . . . ooooh, there's a stain on his shirt, he must be holding out on food and she is starving. Starving!]

Do you have any left? There's gotta be something!

[sciioniic]

[blank stare]

[made extra blank by the fact that he's not actually staring at her, he's just sort of ... pointing his face in her direction.]

Uhh, what? Are you talking to me?

[herplaceinthesun]

[It'll catch up to her that he's sort of eyeless in a minute. Hopefully.]

Yeah, you with the stain on your shirt!

[sciioniic]

[blinks, unnecessarily]

... Oh. Right. [he lifts a hand to the stain in question, and grimaces a little.] Dude, that's my blood.

[herplaceinthesun]

[She grimaces, that sucks pretty hard. And since that means there's probably not any eating to be had for a while, she guesses she can talk.]

Your blood kind of looks like a condiment, it makes me hungry. But what happened?

[sciioniic]

I -

[... pause. Sollux frowns.]

I ... don't remember.

[herplaceinthesun]

I guess that's something we have in common then! The not remembering thing, not the bleeding thing. Aisha doesn't really do that much.

[She's way too upbeat-sounding for someone suffering from memory loss. Or for a kidnapping victim for that matter.]

So, where are you from? You don't look like anyone I've ever seen, especially with the not having eyes thing, but I guess you could be Corbinese. Do you have a metal shell around here somewhere?

[sciioniic]

Yeah, apparently that's usual for dream bubbles or something. At least, I think so. [he's really not sure, mind you. his experience of dream bubbles is not extensive. it certainly didn't really go quite like this the last time he was in one... he rubs his blood-damp fingers together and grimaces a little. he's not entirely sure he wants to remember how this happened, but he is, unsurprisingly, pretty curious.]

... And, uh, no. I'm from Alternia. I don't think that really matters any more, though.