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...
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>> 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]

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...?]