melodiesofeternity | Event || A History of Light and Darkness

Event || A History of Light and Darkness

Who: Brave Explorers and/or Those Poor Souls Being Dragged Along by Friends
When: Oct 15-30th
Where: Thilmit Border Post, inside the Old Heranean Doll Museum
What: The Heroes of Light received a strange letter, and are now being asked to investigate the strange occurrences at the old doll museum.
Warnings/Notes: OOC Post Warnings for Spookiness, Creepy Dolls. Post toplevels for each group. Please post warnings as needed for memory fragments and exploration. For random numbers, use the dice functions on Plurk or Discord.

The Old Heranean Doll Museum is a small building, but somehow the dark, dusty windows and poorly maintained roof give it a menacing feel as you approach. The sign says, "OPEN"...although, as you approached, you think it might have been turned to "CLOSED".

The door creaks as it swings open, though there is no one from the museum to greet you as you enter. A cold breeze blows in behind you, sapping any lingering warmth in the room. The building is dark, and cobwebs are starting to form in the corners of the lobby and on the velvet rope stanchions that guide the flow of traffic in and out. Out of a shadowy corner, a large centipede skitters across the floor and into a crack low on the wall.

At the reception desk, one of the antique dolls sits, unmoving, unblinking. That goes without saying. Its eyes do not follow you as you enter.... The hairs prickling up on the back of your neck are just coincidence, that's all.

There is another doll perched on the wooden brochure display stand near the door. It's strange that the curator leaves the display pieces out where visitors can touch them....

As you enter, you hear something whistling through the air toward you a moment before it makes a impact. A tiny pebble, too small to do any damage other than a brief stinging. During this moment of distraction, the door slams and locks.

When you look at the spots where the dolls were perched a moment ago, there is now just empty space. There is movement in the shadows, and the nearly imperceptible sound of tiny shapes creeping around.

As you move past the lobby into the exhibits, a sign above the entryway declares:

Welcome to the Old Heranean Doll Museum. We hope you enjoy our historic Heroes of Light displays.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But he could be the man who's eaten haunted house wall chicken. Then again, he'd never met a Belmont. With two pairs of eyes burning away at the back of his head, any ideas of reaching for the meal and helping himself had slowly begun to fizzle.

He frowned. What a waste of perfectly good food.

"Okay, but... hear me out: What if it attracts monsters? I mean, there ain't nothin' that says we can't take it, right? Ahh, but we don't have somethin' to really pack it in, do we...?"

With the saddest face, his mind was reluctantly made up. He nudged the case closed, trapping the aroma of baked herbs and perfectly crisped skin.

"...Sorry, suspicious chicken."

Exchanging a look with Shiva - who seemed a little more lenient than Naoto - the detective stood for a second long... and then sighed. He had a point if it attracted monsters, but then, it would be better for it to stay in this room while they moved on.

But there was a possibility they weren't the only ones here. Others would have to pass through here given the way the museum was structured. Monsters seeking out food would be in here and then...

"... Look, if you can figure out a way to pack it, we can take it."

She was going to regret this. She just knew it.

He scratched his chin, puzzling a way to hide the thing for now. He had no means to wrap it up and take it along, but... he glanced to Suzette.

"You're... you're kidding me, kupo. You want me to hold your haunted, shady chicken dinner?"

"Yeah. You could fly it out a window and keep it somewhere safe."

Suzette puffed up. She was no delivery girl!

"I remind you that I'm workin' on a holiday line of clothes for you."

"YES, of course, right away, kupo...!" She fluttered down and got to work gathering up the chicken, case and all. Surely the museum won't miss the whole darn thing.

He nodded to Naoto, idly cracking his knuckles. "There. I guess this room's got nothin' for us. Wanna move on?"

Waiting for the two to finish their exchange, she look at the display placard again. It's... not a name she recognized, but it was supposed to be one of the Heroes of Light apparently. Well, she would keep it in mind, but without the doll, there was no face to give the name to.

With Suzette taking off with chicken in tow, she rose back to full height and turned to look at Kanji, nodding once.

"Yes. Surely we'll find more clues in the next room and not more... entrées..."

"Same. But, c'mon... y'gotta admit it: Ya never seen random display case chicken before. That's gonna be a 'you should've been there' story."

They weren't held back from crossing to the other end of this vast hall of displays, each and every one of them empty save for the stray smell of chicken.

The next room, depending on how you slice it, was either better or worse: Blocks of wax, strips of leather and stray pieces of dolls remain on display, littering abandoned tables covered in various tools. This seemed to be a room where they were repaired, and with each table in the open like this, live demonstrations were used. Judging by the nicks and dust prints on various surfaces, it seemed the living dolls may have pinched some of their weapons from here.

All along the walls were diagrams showing how many types of dolls were constructed, revealing a timeline of complexity, an attempt to bridge the Uncanny Valley into dolls that were more cute and child-like rather than tiny adults with not-quite-human features. Even a few plush dolls were here, rag-types with yarn hair, but they remained silent and still, placed neatly on their work tables to oversee each repair and lesson.

"While that may be true, they'll still likely assumed you prepared it later."

Even if the chicken was now in their possession, Kanji could cook. Though, if the individual were none the wiser, then it would be a plausibly confusing story to entertain.

Within the next room, she felt a minute shiver down her back. A preservation room alright... the various materials stored in here both new and used sat waiting relatively organized around the room, stacked on tables and beneath, but there were no tools. Stolen by their earlier assailants likely. And while Naoto could normally appreciate a good diagram, seeing the actual repaired products did not make her want to look any closer.

"... Hold on." Or maybe they should look closer. Seemed like there was a chart tracking the repairs...

He swallowed thickly, the air so dry but his stomach rather queasy. It was like watching bodies being assembled.

"What? What's up?" Ugh, another chart. Maybe it was how to make dolls out of human skin, or something just as creepy. But it was in fact a log of some kind, reporting types of repairs done to keep tabs on potential mishandling by employees.

"Okay, they've been repairing lots of dolls lately..." He blinked.

"Wait. Since April? But... that's when we showed up, ain't it?"

"It is..."

Placing a hand on her chin, she considered this information. Their arrival started making the dolls active... or was it something else that just coincide with their arrival?

"... this museum houses the Hero of Light dolls. It isn't too far to assume we play some role in their activation. Whether the dolls themselves individually... or a Puppet Master looking to impede us."

That was an Asterisk after all. And if it was someone like that, they were presently in their domain.

"Puppet Master..." He stood taller and looked around, as if expecting one to pop up out of nowhere and challenge them.

When none came, he frowned and scratched his head.

"If that's the case, they've been workin' for weeks. Or months. Maybe he's lookin' for somethin'. Otherwise, those puppets are lookin' for shit on their own... but what?"

"... I don't know. Besides that chicken, we haven't found anything else significant that might provide an answer."

Leaning away from the chart, she crossed her arms. Now, was it with them? Were they more active this month in particular because of the haunts? How long did it take for a Puppet Master to control so many puppets anyway? There were so many details missing that she could form hypothesis, but not come close to an answer.

"... Let's try moving to another room. Perhaps we'll locate another clue."

"Somethin' to take away to somebody that would know more about the museum." Too many connections of things that started up and got worse the moment they arrived. How much of it was connected to the summoning, and was this one of them? Kanji couldn't shake that maybe the dolls were looking for something. They always had dirt on their feet, so they went outside... but to where?

But that was a backburner kinda thing. He nodded, and led the way around the work tables to the double doors on the left.

Beyond was a small theater, unlit save for the lone projector showcasing the history of the Heroes of Light and the dolls' creation. The only stray light coming in overwise came from heavily tinted windows, revealing bits and bites of activity outside...

"Ooh. Never seen 'em this small."

"That's right." But who would they speak to. There were people that knew about the museum of course, but many of them were also disinterested. They would need to find someone older, someone familiar; but they also had to be willing to divulge the information. That would require some convincing likely.

That aside, she followed Kanji into the next room.

Just like the first room discussion the History of the Museum, this Multi-Media room was covering similar albeit with video. A bit cramped, but it would get the job done for those who paid attention. For a moment, she did look towards the window, but turned back soon enough as the puppetmaster began to regale about the Heroes of Light on his tour.

... Hm, who was that Puppet Master?

Having spent as much time as he had, so little compared to the classes that had to take tours through here for educational purposes, he was finally beginning to realize those rumors that many essays had to be written here. Many kids had fallen asleep here, after spending restless hours wondering when it would all be over.

It was the drone of the voice. The story had no spark! The preservation room was filled with repetitive, honestly kinda boring shit too. The theater was pretty warm as well...

Kanji had to stop and shake his head to wake himself up. "Shit, those poor kids... no wonder they hated it here. Anyway, I don't think there's gonna be anything here, neither."

"And they had to write a report after."

Naoto was all for learning, but... there were better methods and more engaging features that could be done. This was taking it's time, but she was doing her best to pay some attention. Maybe if the voice over was better?

"... Right. We can learn about the Heroes of Light elsewhere and with better pacing."

"I'll make sure to grab the reel on the way out if we don't have anything better, but if there's somebody behind this, I think we should find 'em while we're past their defenses."

He also didn't wanna find out if the dolls were catching up. He hurried down the stairs and went to get the door for them. The minute he cranked the handle, his ears were filled with the sound of shattering glass...

Then emptiness. The film had paused, flickering upon the same frame. The world had taken on a sickly green hue, the air thick and oppressive.

Kanji recoiled from the door. "...Wait. Wait, what the hell's goin' on!?"

She nodded. They really didn't have any other plan at this point - and the sooner the mastermind behind this whole ordeal in the museum was apprehended, the better. Whatever they were doing, and whatever their intention, it needed to be stopped.

Taking her time down the stairs, she raised her head when shattering glass seemed to reverberate in the air - or in their ears? Suddenly, there was no sound. The film had stopped and the world had become muted by green. Taking another glance out the window, the people who had been moving around were no longer doing such.

"... It appears we're experiencing the Dark Hour."

"Okay, you sound way too damn sure about whatever this 'Dark Hour' is... y'mind tellin' me what that even is?"

There were coffins outside, and he swore they'd entered during the day. With the moon hanging low and large, wreathed in greenish clouds, he wasn't sure if he was suddenly in the world of a graphic novel or something way worse.

"Do you recall that... incident that occurred back in Inaba? With the 'fighting tournament'?"

That was still ridiculous to talk about... though, now she had to wonder. Did Kanji remember anything? She thought him from the same time as her, but what if things were actually different?

He paused, expression soured. He tried to forget being told to take his clothes off by a weird shirtless man, and tried to forget running into his shadow again. "...Ya mean when I thought I was dreaming and everyone had a laugh about it?"

But, softened now as he fought to think of the good times he had back then, he sighed. He missed poor Labrys.

"Yes, that one..." Had everyone really laughed? What was funny about that; Kanji could've ended up in serious danger and been unaware until too late. Her brow ticked, but moving on.

"It wasn't that initial part, but after they returned the following day. Of course, Inaba was consumed by a red fog; whereas when I asked Kirijo-san later, the fog was green in Iwatodai. I assume this happened because the source of its influence was different."

"Wait... I remember everybody was talking about some weird thing that happened in Iwatodai that was like our TV world stuff. So they called it the Dark Hour..."

Creepy. The coffins weren't a very good touch. Neither was the blobby mass that was beginning to ooze out of the projector.

"Shit... heads up!" He reached back for his greatsword.

Her nod was cut short when she became aware of the danger now before them. The Dark Hour was where Shadows naturally roamed - and without their Personas in this world, they were vulnerable. Not that Kanji wouldn't try fighting, but this wasn't a battle they should waste their time on.

"Actually, I think it would be in our interest to move on...!"

Raising her foot, her intention was to kick through the door, hoping it wasn't enforced... but Kanji was still blocking a good amount of it with his body alone. Whoops.

He was so sure of himself until the blobby mass began to shape familiar crawling creatures, the masks hardening over their faces. Long, spindly claws pulled themselves along, faces turned to regard them.

"Shadows... The fuck...!?" Okay, wasn't Rule #1 that Shadows could only be defeated by Personas? But he had to be on his last legs before he could get Takeji-

"Wha? Oof-" He wasn't ready for a solid kick to the hip, sending him tumbling through the door and sprawling on the floor in the next room. The moment his body flew through the threshold, the world shattered, the green melting away back to darkness. The Shadows dispelled into smoke.

And while the world broke around her, Naoto was frozen with her foot still up, eyes wide, and staring down at Kanji. It took her another few seconds to lower said foot, feeling her face heat up.

"... My apologies. I didn't... mean to do that. Well, I did mean to kick the door, but..."

She raised a hand to cover her face and to stop herself from prattling on. This was already embarrassing enough.

"Ow..." He slowly opened his eyes. "You got a helluva kick."

With his armor on, he had to struggle for but a moment, but he would eventually come upright and fix the circlet that guarded his forehead. Beyond him the tables were a bit shorter, the air smelling strongly of markers and craft glue. The scribblings on the wall and the cut-outs taped up alongside screamed 'room for kids', and thankfully it was mercifully silent, no videos or the ilk.

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Preservation Room (Clue!)

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Multi-Media Room (Trap!)

Oh boy!

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Children's Fun Corner (Trap!)