The corpse was still, in this basement. For some reason, though, it looked like its eyes were closed - or rather, it's eyeholes. At the sounds, its eyes opened.
And seemed to widen. With a shout of "NYEH!" the skeletal figure jumped to its feet, scanning the surrounding area. It seemed like eyebrows started to crease in a nervous style on its face. "W-WHERE AM I?" it stammered, in a male voice that was high, yet whimsical. Then it - or rather, he - shook his head. "NO, CALM DOWN... I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE FINE! I'VE JUST... M-MISPLACED MYSELF, IS ALL! NYEHE...HEH?" The skeleton noticed the other in the room. He blinked, then smiled. Extending his hand, he spoke. "HELLO! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! IT IS A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU!"
Such was the skeleton's self-introspection that he never noticed the quiet relief of his present company, relieved he had not tried to identify whom he thought was dead. Considering what he'd heard in conversation and what little he'd seen, the child stifled his chuckle as he pondered if his friends would have been taken aback as he was.
Stepping forward as Papyrus offered him a friendly hand, the child spoke his mind on the skeleton's previous topic. "Don't fret too much about being lost, wherever this castle is seems to have been quite shaken up and thrown us about." Taking the gloved hand in his own, he paused slightly—unsure if he should shake it if it would be any issue for the smiling personage without muscles or tendons. "Riku. Nice to meet you too, Papyrus."
*Ba-dump* *Ba-dump*
"Where am I?"
The voice was soft, as 「」 got to his feet, armour rattling ever so slightly. This wasn't... exactly where memory had ceased, but it wasn't where he had last been, was it?
"Fou, Fou."
"Yes, yes, I know."
A small little creature darted about 「」's legs, settling on his haunches and looking up at the armoured form.
"So... where is here?"
"Fou?"
From what the knight and their companion could gather judging by the room they hadn't left the castle, but for all the appearance of traps or even an earthquake there were no signs of why or how they'd managed to move here.
Judging by the groans of difficulty from the knight's ally as he stirred with clear stiffness, they might have been out long or dark enough to be transported somehow.
His vision flickered, layers of colour - first blue, the shortest wavelength, filtering through cyan, greens, yellows and finally reds - appearing, one after the other. The tiniest hint of static trailed across from left to right, faded memories flickering in mind and heart.
The darkness at the edges of his vision was gone, as was the sunset that rested above the clouds. Those common colours of white, gold, bronze and silver... all of them were gone now.
"What... where am I? What happened?"
A ringing remained in his head as he slowly pushed himself to his feet, a two-fingered hand held against an iron temple. His whole body creaked as systems of every sort whirred back to life, the faint orange glow that emanated from the intricate patterns on his skull and eyes causing just the faintest traces on the dark blues and grays that surrounded him in those strange and foreign rooms.
He gazed around, scanning every strange machine and pipe, thoughts trying to organize themselves and scenarios being calculated to every possibility.
"Was I ambushed...? But that seems uncertain, this technology isn't Space Pirate in origin, nor is it Sky Town or Federation derived. An unknown third party, perhaps...? Fascinating... and worrisome."
He leaned closer to one of the machines, a rounded and roughly human sized chamber attached to a console of some sort. A life support system? Or a containment structure for scientific experiments of some sort...?
Schematics, blue prints, scientific essays and mathematical formulas littered the metallic white desks and surprisingly low-tech display boards on the walls and corners of the room, and the machine couldn't help but scratch his head again.
His focus changed, however, as he heard the sound of footsteps. He tapped his right arm, fear slowly creeping into his mind as he suddenly realized he no longer had his weapon with him. My plasma cannon, did they take it? Was it damaged? And where's my battlesuit?
He slowly began to turn around, tapping a few more times on his right arm to trigger its transformation, metal plates sliding away to reveal the empty connection components. It was useless in every way shape and form, but he was making a simple bet - that they didn't know that.
"Who are you...? Where am I?" he slowly asked, raising his right arm ever so slightly into a defensive posture, as he tried to make eye-contact with the stranger.
I hope they don't call my bluff.
He had never been a confident or talented gambler.
The footsteps stopped out of view as a wizened voice reached him. "Ah, so you
do have some life in you. I seek not to harm but to learn, and I assume you have many questions. At this stage it would seem even I cannot be sure of everything, but I can offer what I can if you can do the same. Would that be acceptable?"
The duck pulled out a handkerchief, and polished his spectacles before setting them back on the bridge of his...beak? No, a bill.
"Well, this is an inconvenience," he said to himself, as he examined his surroundings. He didn't like the looks of some of the odds and ends that were laying around the room, and he couldn't tell if there were any means of entrance or exit in this darkness.
"Hmm... maybe I can do something about the lack of a lighting situation here," he continued, as he started groping around for some of the less dangerous-looking pieces of technology. "If I could improvise some sort of power source, then it should be a trivial matter to construct an illuminating device."
As he worked, the duck started feeling uneasy. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about this technology worried him. Who had made it? And for what purpose? And for that matter, where in blazes was he?
But those issues could wait until he could see a bit better, he supposed.
As the duck worked and his eyes adjusted behind their aides, he could see that the room's walls had no doors or windows. Sadly, the slow improvement of his vision did little to comfort the deepening knot in his gut at the gizmos around him that continued to rebuke even his own considerable—albeit general—expertise.
The boy tumbled through the air, unresponsive and unmoved as unkempt hair whipped in the wind.
"...an." The NetNavi in his PET, secure in a holster clipped to the waistband of his shorts, was more concerned. "Wake up, Lan!"
The boy murmured unintelligibly in response, one arm moving in search of a blanket.
The voice from the device groaned in frustration, briefly, before inspiration struck. "Breakfast's getting cold!"
Lan's eyes snapped open, immediately trying to seek out the promised food before taking in his (lack of) surroundings and yanking the blue terminal free. On its screen, a boy in a blue helmet and bodysuit stared out, clearly annoyed at how long it had taken to get his attention. "Why are we falling!?" Lan shrieked.
It was then that Lan realized that his descent was far from normal—indeed, had he not known better he would have thought he were being pulled through the air by some thread.
The unusual sense of gravity dragged them through seemingly intangible walls as his limbs failed to catch upon their faded white surfaces as they rippled over them with a steady acceleration that could not possibly bode well by either of their standards...
Daud pulled himself off the ground facing his benefactor. His body may not be as young as it use to be, but his strength was quite apparent. An aged wolf is a wolf which has survived countless battles.
"You really need a better hobby. Don't you have more interesting people to peak at rather than me? I can't imagine my days of cooking pasta could be any sort of riveting."
@Wizard_Marshall
Daud then noticed the other man. Now that was a mask he would never forget. After all who could forget the face of the their brother? While they may not share any blood, what other word could be used to describe two man cut from the same cloth, marked by the same man, and fates were so closely intertwined? Cut from the same cloth? No, that is not quite right. Corvo preferred the poetic justices.
What is worse dying with a sword to the neck, or decaying away in the basement of a love crazed stalker?
But then, why was he allowed...... Never mind, the Outsider was probably getting a real kick from his face.
"Heh, I suppose after all this time you still would find our interactions amusing wouldn't you?"
Corvo didn't know how long he felt weightless. A moment, an eternity? It was difficult to tell with the Outsider's tricks.
The Imperial Protector landed in a crouch like a bird of prey. Then his hawk-like gaze took stock of his surroundings. There were two others with him. The first was the one who had likely brought him here. The Outsider, a being of untold power and mystery and Corvo's mysterious benefactor.
The second was a less welcome sight.
"Daud."
This was the man who had killed the Empress and kidnapped Emily in front of Corvo's battered body. How many nights had he been kept warm with thoughts of vengeance and justice? In the end, Daud was just a tool. Corvo had wanted the puppet masters behind Daud that had orchestrated the tragedy. He found them. Back then he had spared Daud for various reasons; now, those reasons felt like ash in Corvo's mouth. Seeing Emily's killer again, remembering how Daud's blade had stolen his beloved majesty's life...
From behind his mask, Corvo's eyes narrowing was the only hint of his feelings, but mentally, he was already planning how to deal with Daud if he turned hostile. A part of Corvo was just itching for an excuse to act, but that juvenile feeling was squashed as soon as it was born. He hadn't spared Daud just to kill him now. Corvo disdained killing unless it was absolutely necessary; for now, it wasn't necessary just yet.
"Outsider, why have you brought us together here?" Corvo asked, a hint of respect in his tone. It wasn't because of the Outsider's power; it was due more to the powers he had granted Corvo. Without the Outsider's blessing could Corvo have rescued Emily? Perhaps, he would've tried regardless. It didn't matter if Corvo didn't trust the Outsider; he owed the being a debt.
There was a strange moment of twisted levity as The Outsider grinned ever so slightly at the Master Assassin's grim joviality; neither would have recognized it had they been anyone else—even among the select few bearing his Mark—and each of their silent reactions were not lost on anyone present in solidifying the simple yet extraordinary expression.
The Royal Protector's curt attitude saw to the end of that.
"Nice to know I can count on my old friends for a bit of housekeeping. My dear old friends, Corvo and Daud. One way or another you each would have come here—" The fluttering darkness almost seemed to shake with glee as the otherworldly benefactor glanced but an instant at the Master Assassin. "—I simply thought we'd have a little chat before you entered and catch up. Consider this a favor to you especially, dear Corvo, much the same as I once did for Daud while you lay in Coldridge...
"Before you lies another world, one far closer in nature to my own power. Fear not for Dunwall and the world as you both know it, for in bringing you both together there are some rules even I must abide by. Alas, context is one of the few things I'm afraid I cannot offer for the...human...struggle about to take place within by comparison: too much goes spoiled for time here already, like apples rotting before they can even be plucked from their forefathers..."
As The Outsider pondered silently for a brief moment, the Saviors of Dunwall notices the floating debris of the realm about them was slowly moving back into something resembling reality, while the white-blue ethereal light below began to fade to black.
"I suppose I ought not delay my good company too long; you've many choices to make, and I'd hate for either of you to feel you made the wrong one on my account. This shall be quite a show no matter where or even how I look, but you two have become something of a ringer I suppose: the favorite number to count upon, be it horse races or guerilla warfare. Will this race break you, I wonder...or will you old stallions pick up new tricks...?"
Letting his arms uncross, The Outsider gave his Marked Men a bow and shattered to nothing as he always did. Beyond, the world had darkened as the castle and its path sat reformed. The echoing of a door's lock prying open to mystic power echoed from it, while the shadows behind the two men grew darker and solid.
It takes a moment, for the boy to become aware of his surroundings. Mostly because he never expected to be aware of his surroundings again. He was supposed to be dead, so being aware of anything was a surprise.
As the boy came to realize that he was present once more, fear shot through him. He was alive. He was aware. But... He couldn't be. His presence meant that the end was coming. His entire purpose was to be the Appraiser of Death. If he was alive, then soon, humanity wouldn't be.
But... That didn't make sense. That boy had died to ensure that The Fall wouldn't occur. His sacrifice couldn't have been for nothing, couldn't have been undone.
So how was he here?
The boy who was the harbinger of the end didn't know. And given his nature, that was a terrifying thought. It meant that he could have doomed everyone simply by existing, but it wasn't for certain.
...He couldn't simply let himself not know, however. It was too dangerous, and if Nyx really was coming, then perhaps someone else would be able to stop her. His teammates might know what to do in that regard, but the boy's surroundings didn't look like they were in Japan.
...Where was he, anyway?
He was on the roof of a castle of some sort, he knew that much. But other than that, where?
He'd need to look around. Hopefully, he'd be able to find something that would tell him where he is quickly enough.
Tightening the yellow scarf around his neck, Mochizuki Ryoji began looking for an easy way down from the roof.
Luckily enough, he seemed to be on the lone flat rooftop... In fact, the white cobblestone at his feet seemed to be the only flat surface in sight, save for the distant snake-like pathway towards the castle itself... With the rest of the yellow and green towers shooting out every which-way, the patch of pavement was rather out-of-place.
At the edge of the roof behind him, Ryoji found a pair of stairs going inside tucked away from view beyond the roof itself.
