dead hearts are everywhere

[goodforsomething]

[Stan arrives at the chapel early. It doesn't take long to re-create his ghost summoning setup from yesterday; he left all the materials stowed under one of the middle pews, where the hymnals should have been. He sets it up exactly as it was, right down to the angles of the candles. Honestly he suspects the mirror was the only really important part, but he's not about to risk technical difficulties. Not tonight.

The rest of it was all gathered up earlier: there's some coffee, to ward against people falling asleep outside the rooms, and a lot of extra notebooks and pens taken from the storage room. He didn't tell anybody what to bring, after all, or what to expect. Secrets are easier for one person to keep, even if only for a day. Some of the rest might have gotten excited, the Kingmaker might have gotten curious, and then what?

As the meeting time draws near, he tears a page from one of the notebooks, scribbles his little symbol and a message on it, and slides it in front of the mirror.]

You there?

[To the others, he turns with a grin. In a voice somewhere between a gravelly whisper and his Mr. Mystery act, he says:]

Thanks for comin'. Our friends on the other side have been waitin' for us.

Comments

[cherryblooded]

[Cherryblod isn't sure what he was expecting, but this - actually, after the Glory thing? This is pretty close.

He takes a notebook and taps on it with a pen idly.]

Wouldn't miss it for the world.

[...He knows already what he's going to ask first.]

[sleepingkogoro]

So what, somebody like Glory contacted you here?

['Friends on the other side' is kind of vague and Mouri doesn't make the connection. It also doesn't help he's half asleep right now, it is almost 1 AM, god damn it]

[goodforsomething]

Somebody like Aqua, more like.

[notjustawriter]

["Friends on the other side" makes this sound menacing as hell, but he's not about to turn down a chance to know for certain that the others are still around.

...Still around as ghosts, but that just means they need to get out of here for their sake, too.]

...I hope this works.

[goodforsomething]

Worked yesterday. They said they'd be around.

[sleepingkogoro]

Like Aqua? Do you really think they're going to be here at this time in the morning?

[Okay, that gets Mouri to be more awake. He saw Stan put that piece of paper with text onto the mirror. He decides to follow Stan's lead, to the point where Mouri drew Stan's odd symbol too. For all he knows it's an occultism emblem, what does he know.

His first message is kind of generic]

Who is there?

[trustharder]

[After a moment you'll find another message in the mirror. It's written backwards, but it shouldn't be too hard to make out what it says.

"HERE NOW, GATHERING AS MANY AS WE CAN IN HERE."

Below this are a good number of doodles. We've got:
- A little crown like the one on Yato's robes
- Two fish that form a circle
- A Wayfinder
- A shell with wings, like a certain mermaid's pendant
- A fancy cross surrounded by little sparkles
- ...okay who drew another knife
- And another poorly-drawn cat with the words "zagi would you stop" nearby.]

[goodforsomething]

You think I just randomly decided to drag everyone outta bed? We set up a meet!

[cherryblooded]

[Time to seance. Cherryblod's done backwards reading enough to not struggle too much when he gets up to the mirror and puts his paper down.]

This is Cherryblod.
Is everyone who's died so far around as a ghost?

[Look at him, not being specific.]

[pokexplorer]

So...you were being literal when you said "friends".

[Colress came with his Pokemon, ready for some more cool ghost action when Stan finally said what this gathering was for, but...

He didn't expect to hear about their own. They're...they're still here?]

[trustharder]

["I'M SORRY."

Followed by the much more blunt "HE'S NOT HERE."

And finally: "TO CHERRYBLOD AND SIGRUN: I'M SO SORRY."]

[cherryblooded]

[...yeah, that's what he thought. It takes him a second to replace his paper.]

I'll tell her.
Do you know anything about what's going on in the pit?

[goodforsomething]

Sure! They're friendly ghosts, it's fine!

...oh, they wanted to know if any of your Pokemon can sense ghosts or somethin'? Could help them out.

[trustharder]

["WHATEVER'S KILLING US, IT'S NOT OUR VICTIMS, OR AT LEAST THEY DON'T REMEMBER IT. WE'RE NOT SURE WHAT IT IS."]

[pokexplorer]

[Colress starts nodding in understanding- of course they're friendly, he'd hope so! But then gets thrown off a little bit by the next part.]

Oh? They did?

Hmmm...Beheeyem may be able to if he concentrates on it. A Ghost-type would probably be best, but...being a Psychic-type, he is at least spiritual in nature.

[cherryblooded]

[That's his two main questions out of the way. What else?

...oh.]

I can't think of much to ask you as long as you're doing okay, so...
Don't tell Sigrun I said this.
Are any of you mad at her?

[goodforsomething]

They said it might be easier to talk if they could. Apparently they can't see us most of the time - usually during trials.

[goodforsomething]

Long as we're all here - the ghosts think they've found the Kingmaker's control room. They're the ones who set off the alarms before.

[trustharder]

["THERE'S NO WAY I COULD BE ANGRY WITH HER."

"ABSOLUTELY NOT."

"STAY STRONG."]

[cherryblooded]

We'll do our best. Thank you.
I'm going to let the others talk now.

[pokexplorer]

How interesting...I wonder why only during trials?

[It's more him thinking out loud, he's not sure if they'd even know.]

Well! I will ask them what they would like me to have Beheeyem do. We'll see what happens.

[cherryblooded]

Was wondering about that. Where is it?

[goodforsomething]

No idea. I don't even know that much about how ghosts work back home. Maybe it's somethin' about that room - we all know the pit's got weird stuff in it.

[pokexplorer]

Unfortunately, I too only have experience with Ghost-type Pokemon, and they don't have limitations like this as far as I know.

But then again, this place is...strange, to say the least.

[goodforsomething]

There's a hidden room on the second floor, behind some wall panel. Slides to the side.

I think we oughta go check it out pretty soon. He's probably seen us lookin' for hidden rooms already - we need to get in there before he realizes we're close.