OPEN PSL ❖ paradoxium fragment.

[moes]

At some point in your day, whether you're working on a school project, have found yourself tuckered away after a long battle, or even if you're just already dead - you find yourself falling asleep, even if you may not have the normal capacity for it.

The world turns pitch black, darkness overtaking their sight.

In this world of dreams, filled with nothing but the void, all there is left is a light.

It's distant, sparkling. You can't help but want to reach out for it -

But it is simply out of reach. Too far from your outstretched hands. You try to run, to get closer... but it never does.

And eventually, a voice can be heard from the depths.

"Please," it begs. "won't you help us?"

The voice, strangely enough echoes familiarity in your ears. But you cannot seem to place the voice in your memory. You just get the sense that this is someone kind, gentle. A person you can trust.

Regardless of whether you respond to the voice, it continues.

"If you help us, we will grant your one true desire. A wish."

While many may have doubts, you get the feeling that what this voice speaks is the truth.

"There is a curse that plagues our land. We offer you a choice: to come and save our land. To help us. We are the kami that reside over this land. But fear not, child of man. We will not leave you alone in this journey. We shall make sure to protect your soul as you traverse each Fragment until our land is cleansed of the evil that befalls it.

It may be difficult.

However, we believe that you will be able to help us."

Just as you open your mouth, trying to answer back or protest -

You find yourself submerged completely into water, hearing the sound of ringing chimes as you finally open your eyes.

--

You blink awake as the sunlight hits your eyes - ending up on a stone pathway. For some strange reason, you find yourself feeling a little uncomfortable, as if you had been sleeping on solid ground for quite some time.

The chirps of the hummingbirds can be heard in the distance, loud and clear, as you find your bearings.

The weather is nice and temperate; typical for a spring morning in the city.

When you check your person, you find that most of your items have gone missing, but in its place are three mysterious things that you swear are not yours: a sleek, silver touchpad cellular phone, a striking red debit card with the symbol of a hummingbird that graces it, along with your full name that denotes that it is yours, and a key. And regardless of whether or not you have knowledge of these items, you find yourself intimately familiar with their basic workings.

Looking around, you notice soon enough that you have awoken at what seems to be a shrine. And while the building is mostly intact, it seems to be old and worn down. Dried leaves pave the entire area, too.

There also seems to be a small garden nearby, but all the plants there just seem to be withering away.

It takes a couple of minutes before someone finally arrives to greet you, but you get the feeling that leaving the shrine grounds immediately is a very bad idea.

The doors of the shrine eventually open up -

Who they see revealed depends on the person. They may be familiar face, or perhaps a stranger. But what is clear, regardless of who this person is that they seem to be wearing the typical shrine garb, that of a miko.

Eventually, they speak up:



"Welcome, everyone, to Yawara-cho.

Many of you may have questions, and I am here to answer many of those that may be plaguing you, as well as any additional ones that may come up.

I am the temporary miko here at this 'Tokimoto' shrine, and I, like many of you, am not from this world. I simply act as the mediary between all of you and the kami, so any questions you have for myself personally or the kami will go through me.

All that the kami wants is one thing: to get rid of the curse that plagues these lands, and in exchange, they will grant a single wish.

That is the gist of it. I will now open the floor to any questions."



[ OOC: Welcome, everyone to a long form PSL in the form of Paradoxium Fragment! This is a timeloop horror mystery PSL that has elements from the When they Cry series and Iwaihime, but will also loosely incorporate other series as well.

Horror elements will primarily be psychological, but body horror may be incorporated depending on the player.

In terms of moving things along, I will try to make sure that things move smoothly at least once a month. If you need to contact me for any questions/comments/concerns, please ping me either on plurk (tsundereban) or Discord (tsunderebans)! As this is an open PSL for my timeline, characters who participate may also interact with each other if they'd like, or keep things separate. I'm willing to run with things either way.

Locations can be found here for any investigative purposes. ]

Comments

[likememore]

Our music is powerful. It's helped me, and I know I'm not the only person.

[She means it as much to reassure Kanade as to agree with the point; Ena doesn't know where she'd be right now without Niigo. Without Kanade.]

I just... yeah, like you said. I don't know if we're up to writing boss music, let alone music to fight a boss with. I still- [She hesitates, but after a moment, she shakes her head.] I have a long way to go before I'm that good. But if we're together, maybe we can manage it. That's what I'm hoping, anyway.

[composalvation]

[Writing boss music... even with the situation hanging over them like a blade ready to fall, there's... a glint in Kanade's eyes at Ena's words. Like the idea is somewhat exciting. And it is - Kanade gets a lot of her inspiration from games, so composing something like that...

Ah, but Ena...]

That's not true.

[Her voice isn't firm, isn't demanding to be heard. It's as gentle as always, but filled with oh so much honesty.]

Even someone like me who doesn't know a lot about art can see how much your art's improved over these last few years, Ena. In your work with Niigo, and in your own personal projects... it's amazing, you know. I'm sure whatever you create will turn heads here.

[likememore]

[Of course Kanade would take issue with that, and Ena smiles despite herself. Her own sense of her talent - or lack thereof - is screwed up, but at the same time-]

Thanks, Kanade. I know you're right, and I'm happy to hear it, it's just something I have a hard time accepting sometimes. But, uh, I don't think I know an artist in our world who's ready to take on a world-ending threat with their art. I've gotta practice as much as I can before then.

[composalvation]

And then you'll be able to say that you were the first person to save the whole world with your art.

[There's a note of pride in Kanade's voice. It's not really about bragging rights, or acting superior, but... the knowledge that more people can finally see Ena's art for what it is, that they can see the passion and talent that Kanade saw even before they really knew each other... it makes her really happy.]

It's a tall order... I don't know if my music has reached that level either. But we've made it this far and improved so much over the past years... there has to be some way to achieve our goal here.