[ voice ; open ]

[ghostlighter]

[ Chris has been in the city for half a day already before he breaks down and pulls out the cell phone he didn't have before he arrived. Some reconnaissance, both conventional and ghostly, keeps him from having to do the confused newbie routine. ]

All right, let's skip the chit-chat. I've got the basics already, so how about this? What the hell is

Comments

[video]

[she_was_a_gift]

They fell away, died for wishes people made.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

Wait... seriously?

[ If he were anyone else, coming from any other family, he probably wouldn't give this answer credibility right off. As it is, he's skeptical, but... alternate pillar dimension just randomly dragged him in. ]

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

They right themselves after, when you see them from your own front porch. All of them twinkling where they should be. But they're dead and gone here.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

Wait. The stars literally died?

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

That's not relevant.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

Stars dying sounds pretty relevant to me.

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

You can't bring them back. Only the hand-picked pieces get to come back to the board.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

I'm a little more worried about what would be strong enough to kill them in the first place.

[ ... it sounds worryingly like Wyatt, actually. ]

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

The city lacks equilibrium. Powers fluctuate, tear off pieces of each other and try to keep the tower from falling...

Too many lions roaring at one another. Not worried about killing us.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

... Okay. You've officially lost me.

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

We're all lost. Sometimes the edges aren't meant to match up.

If they did, we wouldn't be here.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

So... you're not making sense because nothing else here does?

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

There's logic in threads. The pattern wasn't even and it doesn't hold together under the strain, but you find it now and then. Bit of cord like cause and effect and the weather on the rooftop, but they're short and frayed. Unreliable.

You twist yourself in knots asking 'why' when 'why' won't matter. 'Who' has a mask and 'how' hides under your perspective like blinders. They're tricky. Got to ask the right questions.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

We're playing a guessing game now? [ Does he get a hint? ]

[ voice ]

[she_was_a_gift]

You won't like the games the city plays.

[ voice ]

[ghostlighter]

Now, that? I can believe.