THE RETURN TO THE BEGINNING PARTY

[cookingninja]

It's been a while, hasn't it? So let's go back to where it all started - it's a reprise of the very first Cod partyYour character is going about their daily routine in the normal manner. And then suddenly it happens: they step through a door, walk over a bridge, or simply turn around too quickly, and then

Comments

[chocomancer]

It wasn't often that Wonka got out of the Factory, these days. So maybe it wasn't that undignified, when an oft-used door to the Bean Room suddenly dropped him in an unfamiliar banquet hall, for him to jump three feet in the air and shriek "Snorting Snozzcumbers!" at the top of his lungs. Or to subsequently spend thirty seconds fumbling with the door in order to get it to open back onto the Chocolate River.

Thankfully for him, though, he eventually found his head enough to decide that he'd better make the best of the unusual adventure he'd landed in - which is probably how he ended up, five minutes later, popping in and out of the doors on the far side of the room, stuffing things in his pockets as he went.

For an inexplicable extradimensional space, this was certainly one with variety!

[thedicearecast]

Amelia had seen a lot of things she would never have believed if she hadn't been taken from Gunsmoke. Rain, pirates, wings magically sprouting from her back, being turned into a mobile pile of hair: it had been a lot to take in over the past few months. Somehow though, she'd managed to cope, sometimes better than others, but still. The rule of thumb had become "expect the unexpected," and usually Amelia could abide by that

[cookingninja]

The impossible was clearly becoming possible on a daily basis, wasn't it?

Ayumu could be grateful for the fact that there was no apparent danger to be seen, unlike in some of the Malnosso's previous surprises, though she'd had any number of things she would have preferred to do this evening than spend time... wherever here was. It certainly wasn't anywhere within the village that she'd seen in the past, and as she shortly discovered, none of the doors led outside.

Once she'd been through the main room and investigated the smaller ones off to the sides she returned to the beginning and began to wander, pausing to frown in mild confusion at the sparkling fountain, the tables, and the assortment of beverages. Hopefully this experiment wouldn't last as long as they usually did; a week in this place would not be... ideal.

[screwthegods]

Of the company Homura could have found himself with, Ayumu was a welcome addition. Once he spotted the woman, he crossed the room to speak with her. Given her current state of appraising the room, she'd either just arrived, or already discovered that they were trapped.

"It's not the Malnosso's doing, for once." Or that of Landel, a name Homura had to wonder if Ayumu recalled. There would be time for such questions, however, should Homura decide to persue them. At present, Ayumu should at least have a few moments to adjust.

[cookingninja]

"No?" Ayumu glanced up from the assortment of bottles on the table, brows lifting in inquiry. So he had been brought here as well, though none of the others present thus far were people that she recognized- and none of the others had wings, either. He sounded as though he knew something about this place, though, which was more than a little interesting. "What makes you say that?"

[screwthegods]

"I've been here before." Homura took a moment to glance over the bottles as well, though he held no intention of drinking. Alcohol had been Zenon's pleasure, and Kenren's, but not his. "Although it's been quite awhile since the last."

"If I had to guess, I'd say this is something of another world besides Luceti. We won't be here long, regardless--no more than a few hours."

[perfectrecord]

As von Karma walked through the large double doors in the courthouse, he mentally prepared himself to stand behind the prosecutor's bench and crush the miserable defendant's lies into oblivion.

...He was not, however, mentally prepared for what he saw inside the room. It appeared that someone with a perverse sense of humor had transformed Courtroom 1 into this... this mockery of a formal ballroom! von Karma had attended many gala events throughout his life, but none of them featured jars full of glitter markers as table centerpieces... nor that garish fountain in the middle of the room.

After witnessing this hideous display for a minute, von Karma had had more than enough. Intending to find the building manager to demand the meaning of this nonsense, von Karma spun around on his heel and started to march through the doors back into the courtroom lobby... only to find that it had apparently been transformed into a janitor's broom closet in the meantime.

What in blazes was going on here

[screwthegods]

There was an immediate sense of disorientation when Homura attempted to enter his apartment, but one not only caused by his arrival to an unexpected place. In those first moments his mind was bombarded with old memories of this room and others, each forgotten until the moment he set eyes on that fountain. Of course the phenomenon had been common, in those times before--yet this time, Homura also remembered a completely different world, with its various trials and battlegrounds.

How interesting.

With the return of memories came the knowledge that there would be no escaping this area until whatever force responsible for pulling him there decided to release him. At present, Homura spent his time looking for other arrivals, both those he knew in the present, and ones he had been forced to leave behind.

[notachick]

He'd been on his way next door when things had simply changed. Perhaps it had to do with the pink glow or maybe it was just the peculiar statue that was becoming all the more familiar each time he appeared in these strange halls. Okita wasn't sure, but he felt as though it had been quite awhile since he'd last seen the glitter-spewing fish, and for some reason it felt rather nostalgic. He started toward it, wondering just what sort of strange magic was at work this time, when he saw him from across the room.

Okita froze halfway to the fountain, not sure what to do or say at the sight of Homura back as if nothing had ever happened. He'd lost Hijikata so many times that he'd almost become used to the idea of his vice commander and best friend appearing and disappearing over and over. There was an almost reassuring knowledge that somehow or another Hijikata would return. But with Homura, the man had simply vanished and Okita had known that, even with a return to his own world, he would never see the demi-god again.

Until now.

[screwthegods]

The sense of eyes on him drew Homura's attention to the side, toward a face that held dual memories in his mind. No wings were visible on Okita's back, nor their telltale shape under his cloak. The Okita from before, then? From that first world that Homura had forgotten. The demi-god smiled then, and turned to approach the man he'd come to consider his closest friend, for a time.

"I know it's been some time." Nearly a year for Homura, and perhaps even longer for Okita. He still moves with the same confidence that carried him through the Institute and Landel's both, however, that characteristic unchanged. "I suppose the first thing I should do is apologize for not staying with you."

[opposingheaven]

Well, wasn't this nostalgic?

Kenren couldn't help but smile when he saw the glitter spewing fountain. At least these places were rarely dull and well, it was better than oblivion or being a puppet for the masters of the Institute.

And there was a familiar face. Someone he hadn't expected to see again, but who was very welcome. He headed over casually. "It's been a while, eh, Homura?"