When You Made Wishes: start! (player plot)

[deuteranope]

Imagine Wist's surprise when April rolled around and their plan for a great prank was foiled on account of all those students just...leaving??? Truly, they have become the April fool... It's what they wanted, of course -- for the pitiful humans to find freedom -- and sure there are some stragglers around, but...in the end, they decide to take the win and enjoy a short break of their own. Good thing, too, or they might have pulled out all their hair in frustration when Spring Break comes to an end and the swarm of students and faculty willingly return to their prison.

While settling back into the academy and resigning themselves to a routine, the people of Daybreak will be soothed by a gentle tune rising up from the forest. It isn't a song they've heard before, and yet, somehow...it's nostalgic, isn't it? The soft notes of the pan flute stir up something in their hearts, tugging at old memories and drawing forth a feeling of dissatisfaction and longing out from under them. Let the song lull them into taking a moment to withdraw from the hustle and bustle -- hey, turns out they sort of need it. Maybe they're coming down with a cold, or just some quick little bug...
--
>> user M3G4M4G1CH4XX posted on April 6th, 2019:
Why did you come back? You don't have to live like this.

Weren't things better back then? Try to remember what it used to be like.
--
The odd message from an iris account that doesn't exist isn't up for long before the spell kicks into the next phase. However they manifest and from when differs from person to person, but those affected will all have the bizarre experience of watching some ghost of themselves from their past be born from their soul's memory. Don't think there are those that can escape this fate just by returning at a later time, either -- Wist can keep up this panpipe nonsense all day, every day if they have to. If that what it takes to get their point across...

Good luck trying to comprehend whatever point that may be, because now Daybreak is the new home to a bunch of familiar-looking rugrats and has to contend with whatever complications they may bring along with them.
---
[For more information on this plot, please see this ooc infopost!]

Comments

[subconmodo]

[It IS pretty neat. He's never seen a mask like that before. It's a little weird that he can still see her eyes, but at the same time so much of her face is hidden that he figures it'd still be as effective as one that hid the top half of her face.

He thinks. He is admittedly no mask expert.]

I'm from Subcon!

[nor_iron_bars]

[The fact that it's got a big, fanged grin painted across the front of it probably doesn't hurt the cool factor. Jail, in many ways, has the aesthetic sense of a little kid at heart.]

[The name Subcon rings a bell, faintly, though it takes a moment for her to place it- it was on one of those mission reports pretty recently, wasn't it? Some haunted forest in... Germany, that was it. The one Avery lived in, she remembered that now. He'd been complaining in the staff room about people digging through his stuff.]

Huh, no kidding? I know a guy from there.

[It's weird- from the impression she was getting, Avery sounded like the only person who lived there these days, or at least the only one who could still count as "living". ...this kid's floof looks weirdly familiar. It's the wrong color, but... nahhhh, couldn't be.]

[Right?]

[subconmodo]

[gasp] Really?! Were they a kid or am adult? Are they going to school here like everyone else is?

[Because he is going to AGGRESSIVELY BEFRIEND THEM]

[nor_iron_bars]

[Aww, that's kind of adorable.]

He's one of the other professors. [Yeah, they actually made this woman a teacher. In fairness, they also hired a daemonic guy from a weird murderforest, so we can infer that Daybreak's hiring standards are... interesting.] Teaches the contracting class.

[subconmodo]

[And just like that all the excitement within him has perished, blown away like dust in the wind. He slumps, pouting behind his mask.]

Tell me it's not the creepy guy who keeps trying to chase me. He's weird. And kind of a jerk.

[he curls his hands into circles and holds them up to his eyes like glasses]

The guy with the glowing yellow eyes who shouts a lot?

[asks the kid with no indoor voice]

[nor_iron_bars]

Dark hair, pointy teeth, dresses like a lawyer who's been dead for forty years?

[She nods.]

Yeah, that's him. [A thoughtful pause, and then:] Ain't a bad look, mind you- he found his aesthetic and made it work, I can respect that.

[Okay, so not only is this kid suspiciously similar to her theoretically adult coworker, he's also actively trying to find him... yeah, she's pretty sure there's some bullshit going on here. Cool. That's just gonna be awesome, she's sure.]

So hey, don't think I ever asked- you got a name I can call you?

[And she's betting the last piece is about to fall into place in three... two... one...]

[subconmodo]

[Yep. That's the guy who's been chasing him all right. And if he's from Subcon, that can mean only one thing: creepy guy knows he's the prince. And if THAT'S the case, that means he's just going to have to avoid him all the more. If he gets caught, that means his fun is over. And he can't have that.

But then this lady works with that guy. And this lady is cool and all, but what if she tells Creep that he's here? It seems like it might be a good idea to keep the truth hidden. At least in this case.]

Um... Max?

[nor_iron_bars]

Huh, really?

[She looks amused. Not that bad a lie, as lies go, but she's been around a lot of liars in her time.]

Sure it ain't... Avery, maybe?

[Jail winks.]

'Cause the guy who's looking for you, that's his name, too. Kinda thought maybe that was why, you two having so much in common, but maybe not? Funny, him getting it wrong like that.

[Does she believe him? No. Is she willing to see how long he'll try to keep bullshitting her? Eh, why not. There's nothing on TV right now anyway.]

[subconmodo]

No! I mean... yes! I mean! I mean, it's Max!

[RED ALERT, SHE KNOWS WHO HE IS. SHE KNOWS HE'S THE PRINCE AND CREEPY JERK'S TRYING TO STEAL HIS NAME AND THIS IS NOT HELPING HIS SUSPICIONS OF THE GUY IN THE LEAST]

And you shouldn't trust that guy anyway! He's a jerk and I don't have anything in common with him at all!

[nor_iron_bars]

[Yeah, okay, that looks like a hit to her. This kid is officially "basically impossible, but also clearly Avery, somehow?"]

[It's a blatantly absurd conclusion to come to, but she's learned by now not to ignore the answer to something just because it's stupid and ridiculous.]

Well shit, that's gonna make our next staff meeting real awkward. [She shrugs.] Guess it's better to find out ahead of time, though. Thanks for letting me know. [The great and terrible secret, revealed: Avery Atchison is a jerk. However will she cope with this forbidden knowledge.]

Sure you don't wanna try and talk to him, see if you can get that little misunderstanding all cleared up? Since you know he's looking for the wrong kid, and all.

[subconmodo]

[Avery shakes his head. That's a vehement no there, Jail.]

I don't want to see that creep ever again. I'll run away if you try and make me!

[nor_iron_bars]

[Normally, she'd be pretty inclined to just let the kid roam free, but the part where he's somehow also her adult coworker seems like an extenuating circumstance. Presumably, Avery has a reason for wanting this kid where he can find him, whatever it is.]

See, now I got a dilemma, here. [She leans back casually against the bench, shrugging slightly.] You seem like a sharp kid, probably got a real good point about all this. But I gotta work with this guy, and screwing over your coworkers is bad for business.

[This next part's a gamble, but if the kid is even slightly like the guy she knows...]

So how about you and I make a deal?

[She pulls a deck of cards out of one of her many pockets, and shuffles it with a wink.]

We play a game, one round, winner take all. You win, I keep my mouth shut and you go on your merry way- if he asks, I didn't see anything. I win, I give tall, dark, and cranky a call and tell him where you are, and you don't run off before he gets here.

[After he gets here... eh. Avery's a grown-ass adult, he can wrangle this kid or not, she did her part.]

Sound good?

[subconmodo]

[That catches his attention. One of those things that have always been part of him, it seems.

He sits up straight and eyes her cautiously.]

What game?

[nor_iron_bars]

[There it is. Like dropping a toy mouse in front of a cat.]

[She grins.]

Ever play blackjack, before? We can do a couple practice rounds before the real game, if you wanna make it fair.

[subconmodo]

[If his parents ever learned that he was about to play a game like this, they would be mortified. Avery's never even played Go Fish before now, much less a gambling game.]

Yeah. Let's practice. I don't know this game at all.

[nor_iron_bars]

[It's okay, Jail is a very qualified bad influence, she knows what she's doing.]

Okay, so it goes like this:

[She proceeds to explain the rules of blackjack in a clear and reasonable manner, shuffling the deck with creative flourishes while she talks.]

[The game is pretty straightforward- just get dealt cards, add up the numbers on them, try to get as high a number as you can without going over twenty-one. So it's probably not too hard for a kid to get, she figures.]

[The good news: she's not actually planning on cheating by doing anything sneaky with the deck.]

[The bad news: she can count cards.]

Any questions?

[subconmodo]

[Avery shakes his head]

I think I have it.

[For now anyway. And it's not like he has to be good. This is a game of luck, right? Luck and a little bit of bluffing.]

Do you want him to win or lose this one?

[nor_iron_bars]

[Luck, bluffing... and the ability to make an educated guess by keeping track of who's gotten what.]

[Jail deals the cards. Flip it over, and what does your first hand reveal...?]