ercookies | TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

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TDM 009: I'M IN LIKE WITH YOU

00. Arrival

This time, you come out of the water, the Nameless Island's own inherent energy drawing people in. It's like being suspended between realities and abruptly pushed from behind through a rift in dimensions. It may make you sick, or that might be the motion of the ocean, lifting you to the surface and carrying you to shore.

Waterlogged and covered in sand, new arrivals will be greeted by robots who welcome them with towels and bracelet devices. The A5 card is already loaded up. Feel free to explore the Island, though there isn’t much to see. Most of the buildings are abandoned and in dire need of repair, and beyond the city lingers a thick fog that obscures much of the wilderness from view. Wander too far into this fog, and you will find yourself mysteriously looping back to where you began, your memories of what you were doing and how you got there erased.

With that in mind, it may be wise to stake your claim on a rundown apartment, a tent on the beach, or a bed in the “comfortable” new barracks. Your inventory will be found a day later, wrapped up haphazardly and delivered to each person's makeshift home.

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I. STARGAZER

On the first night that new arrivals wash ashore, the moon rises. It's full and beautiful and surrounded by stars.

The robots quickly bring old, dusty telescopes out of storage and line them up on the beach to help people get a truly spectacular view.

"Look to the heavens! Behold, the chicken, the cat, the owl, the donkey!"

It's... the cock, the pussy, the hooters, and the ass. For the rest of the night, characters will become fixated on the specific asset associated with the constellation they've gotten an eyeful of.

Whether this leads to some body worship or just casual appreciation is up to you.

You can learn about the stars and constellations later this month in some of the rare, non-pornographic books in the library. (More info will go up soon, so please be patient!)

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II. STIMULATING CONVERSATION

An ancient courting ritual has been announced! It involves the give-and-take of candy hearts with slogans printed on them. Of course, since these hearts are being manufactured by robots, their sense of taste is a little... off? Or perhaps off-putting?

"You'll do."
"5/10."
"Acceptable."
"Sloppy Seconds."

Receiving a negative heart makes one feel insecure, jealous, and submissive.

"Be mine."
"Nicest ass."
"Swell bulge."
"They're good lays, Bront."

Receiving a positive heart will make one feel confident, boastful, and dominant.

Your friendly neighborhood 'bots will give them out to anyone who asks - and maybe even those who don't.
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III. Eat Or Dare

The robots have set up a stall by the beach with a banner that reads: Eat Or Dare. They have procured bigger candy hearts than ever before -- fist-sized and larger -- with actions written on them instead of derogatory slogans.

"Take a dive."
"Lick me."
"Get handsy."

The name of the game is to follow the instructions or forfeit the challenge by making the evidence disappear into your mouth. Delicious!

Those who eat the candy hearts will feel themselves getting giddy and unreasonably invested in the love affairs of others. They will feel compelled to play matchmaker to spread the cheer.

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N A V I G A T I O N

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Pyrrha had made it a habit to come by the beach regularly when it was about time for new arrivals to appear. She remembered how she had felt, confused and distraught. She wanted to help others not feel that as intensely.

While she appreciated that Colette had dropped down a respectable distance she still looked surprised as someone with wings just came down out of the sky! She hadn't met anyone who could fly quite like that yet so she was surprised.

However she calmed as the wings faded and the girls approached. She clearly wanted some help. "Hello there, are you a new arrival?" Pyrrha still sounded a little startled, but she could accept someone flying easily enough.

Spooking someone wouldn't do, unless it was a friend who she knew would find it funny, or a way to avoid picking a fight. No one seemed to be attacking the people coming out of the ocean though, so friendly and careful it was.

"I just washed ashore, somehow. I don't know where this is, but I was on my way to Asgard... I don't know how I could fall into the ocean." She didn't trip while flying really fast, did she? Fast enough to... fling herself miles and miles to the ocean? She was pretty sure that wasn't possible, but her klutziness was some kind of super power.

"I'm Colette," she introduced herself in addition.

Oh no... it sounded like the robots hadn't exactly filled her in properly. At least from what Pyrrha was understanding it sounded like the blonde thought she was still in her own world.

"Hello Colette, I'm Pyrrha." She returned the introductions, absently trying to think of how she explained all this to someone.

"Colette did the robots explain anything to you when you got out of the Ocean?"

"Pyrrha! It's really nice to meet you!" she chirped. If she was just a little closer she'd probably even reach for Pyrrha's hands.

"They... tried, but it was a lot of information, and they didn't seem to want to repeat themselves," Colette said, a little embarrassed. "So... so this might not be my world at all, but I'm still not sure how I ended up somewhere else."

She shakes her head "Well that's great, they bring us here, but don't have the patience to explain this."

Pyrrha smiles "Don't worry I'll explain it, why don't we go sit down?" She motions to a bench not too far from them looking out at the beach.

Assuming Colette follows her she'd take a seat. "So I'll explain everything I know and if you have any questions we can figure it out together."

She was happy to be patient with the shorter girl "We are in a world called Erku. This world is barren, or perhaps even dying. The one managing it, or at least leading the robots, is known as the Augur. I'm a little fuzzy on if it brought us here specifically, if I had to guess I think it's reaching out to other worlds randomly. Either way The Augur wants us to assist in restoring this world."

For now Pyrrha would stop there, waiting for any questions Colette might have.

"I'm sure they were just busy with everyone else who showed up." Always giving the benefit of the doubt, even if she'd have rather had a full explanation. Apparently there are people here to help too!

Colette follows and takes a seat, and nods her assent. So far, this isn't too complicated, really. Multiple worlds... normally are much closer, but she's not sure how close this one is to hers.

But the explanation... resonates with her, eyes widening. A dying world. A world that needs... healed. "...this is..."

...can she do it? Restore a world without... messing up over and over in the process? "...what needs to be done, here?" Hopefully no one has to be sacrificed or there will be many stern talks.

Pyrrha felt like Colette was giving them a little too much credit, but she doesn't voice it. Thinking well of others wasn't a bad trait to have as long as you were careful.

That question managed to get Pyrrha's cheeks to turn light red "Ah... that's the difficult part, other than us not being able to go home."

She has to gather up the courage to explain this, but Colette deserved the full explanation "In this world there is this energy called Eros, it's what's needed to revitalize the place. The way Eros is created is... um- there's no easy way to say this. Eros is created by two people engaging in... intimate activities. It seems the more intimate the activity the more Eros is generated."

"You're not forced to of course!" She stammered out before Colette gets the wrong idea "However there are things that go on here to encourage it."

Colette is absolutely, positively, one-hundred percent not careful about who she trusts whatsoever.

Please someone protect her.

Still, her mind is on the question of healing a damaged world. She's accomplished so much, and yet she has so far to go in her own... but this place looks like it might just be worse off. So, maybe, it's fine to stay here and help this world for a little while? But people will think she abandoned her own home again...

Right, she has an explanation to listen to. Colette perks up and listens intently and her face scrunches up in confusion and concern as Pyrrha explains 'Eros'. Intimate activities. Intimacy... intimacy.

"...so... hugging... holding hands... k-kissing?" No that's a different game Colette. "That... generates energy?"

Oh no oh no Oh no This girl was incredibly innocent! Could she be more blunt with her? She'd have to be to make sure Colette got the full story.

"Well... kissing generates a little bit, but I meant a bit more intimate than that." She clears her throat "W-what I mean to say is... sex." That was hard to say to someone like Colette who really looked like she never swore a day in her life.

"T-that generates energy that revitalizes the land. There's places that weren't here when I first arrived that are now more vibrant."

Colette is very sweet and innocent. Oh, sure, the birds and the bees were explained to her - you couldn't very well risk a Chosen getting pregnant, she's an animal lover, and she's a young adult now - but she's got precious little beyond the factual explanation.

That is to say, she knows enough to be wildly scandalized. Her cute little face almost instantly turns red at the further explanation. Sex. She knows what 'sex' refers to, of course. It makes babies, and people who love each other very much do it, and sometimes people who just... well... like how someone else looks... those people can do it too, she supposes?

"H-how?!" is the first word she spits out, and she's not even entirely sure where that question is going - how can they just do it? How is sex magical? "W-wait, no, they... I think they got the wrong Chosen, ha... haha..."

Of course! They meant to pick Zelos for this and got her by mistake!

That reaction made it all the more embarrassing. Her own face going a few more shades of red.

She didn't understand what Chosen meant, she'd have to ask about that later. For now she would have to explain the how. At least as much as she understood.

"Like I said I think it's reaching out randomly. As for how um... I'm not sure of it if I'm honest, but it's something that definitely exists. Being here I've found out some worlds are very different."

She gestures towards Colette's back "There's no one who can just sprout wings and fly in my world. Some worlds have magic, mine has semblances and some don't have anything like that." So all in all Eros wasn't so far-fetched.

"If you want I can take you to one of the areas that only appeared after I arrived." Maybe that would make it a little more real for her.

At some point, Colette will be happy to explain, and happier that she's in a world where every single person she meets doesn't already have a preconceived notion about her. That's later. Right now is sex energy. Sex energy, to repair a world. With random individuals.

"At random... so they probably can't pick who would actually be a good choice." Otherwise they'd just get married couples, or people like Zelos. Instead they got a flat-chested virgin. Phooey.

"But you're still very sure that it's real..." The last time she went to other worlds, they were aware of the Chosen, of angels - not a complete curveball where the very sight of a person flying is shocking. "Well, not a lot of people can fly where I'm from." Fewer still after... everything.

"Getting a look around is probably a good idea." To let her think, too, about what's apparently going to be expected of her.

She nods "I've been here a few months now and I'm certain of it existing. Just don't feel like you have to do anything you don't want to do." Pyrrha wanted to stress that. She feels like Colette could be talked into things way too easily otherwise.

Pyrrha stood up at the agreement. "Alright you can come with me, and this way you can get a better idea of where you want to stay." She smiles though still a bit embarrassed and begins to walk.

Now though she had to try to figure out something to talk about on the way. "So what do you do back in your world? Are you a student or do you work?" She figured it wouldn't hurt to get to know Colette better.

A few months. Colette could be here for months? "But if it takes that long... everyone will worry, or think I abandoned them." There are still people who hold it against her that she didn't finish her journey the normal way...

There's nothing to do for it but to do her best here, though. Then, if the chance to go home crops up, she'll make a decision. "Lead the way!"

"I guess you could say that I work. A lot of things have changed in my world recently, and I'm traveling the world doing what I can to help it all go smoothly, especially because I was part of those changes." It's a complicated story to sum up, that's for sure.

"Oh! You actually don't have to worry about that." She reassured her "This part might sounds more strange than the Eros energy actually but..." At least it wouldn't be as embarrassing to explain.

"The teleportation... thing that brought us here doesn't just bring us from a certain place, but a certain time too. There are other people from my world here, but they're from two years in my future. So the way it'll work it seems is when we get a way back it'll send us not just to the exact place we were taken, but the exact time too." Which yeah was a lot, but it did make it convenient that they didn't have to worry about what was going on in their own worlds.

Pyrrha smiles at her explanation "Wow that sounds like a lot, but it sounds like you're really dedicated into making your world better." It sounded complicated so Pyrrha decided it might be better if she learned in bits and pieces.

"I was training to be a huntress in my world. You see there are these monsters called the Grimm and it's up to Huntsmen and Huntresses to defeat them. Sometimes we might be asked to deal with criminals that are hurting people too, but it's mainly Grimm."

"I don't?" Colette's pretty sure she should be worried, and that explanation is actually kind of sketchy, but if people are literally here, who she knows, but older, then Colette's not sure she can complain.

Granted, there are other problems. Like what if she could return to before they tried their tree plan... frowning, she shakes her head quickly. That sounds like its own danger, right? "So then I won't miss even a second, no matter how long I'm here." Which means that she can focus a lot more on saving this world! Great! She just has to... do... that.

"I fought a lot of monsters too. Monsters, and all sorts of other people who were trying to hurt people." Often for reasons she couldn't really hold against them... "That sounds like you're a really cool huntress though!"

There were definitely complex thoughts that came with the concept of time travel. For now she just... tried not to think about it. She'd just accept it meant that things would go as they should instead of people just ending up missing from their worlds.

"Right, I was never reported as missing in my world, and I'm aware of things that would have gone very differently if I just vanished from the point I was taken." She grimaced for just a brief second at that.

However she quickly perked up and smiled "Well then it sounds like you may as well be a huntress yourself Colette."

She rubbed the back of her head nervously at the compliment "Thank you, though I haven't gotten my license."

The past is the past, and their mistakes... are things they have to learn from and live with. Trying to fix things by cheating like that can't work out, right?

Still, it is obviously convenient.

"Do you think?" she perks up at the idea of being a cool monster hunter. "I wouldn't stop what I'm doing, but I guess I could be, huh? I still don't think I'd be as cool as you, though, Pyrrha."

"Wow Colette you're really going to make me blush with compliments like that," It was very sweet actually, all the more so knowing Colette probably couldn't be anything except honest.

"Alright we're here." She gestures ahead. As it turned out here was a resort fitted with hot springs and clearly with trees and nature surrounding the place.

"I've been exploring this place since before this appeared. This path, these trees and that resort weren't here when I first arrived." She explained earnestly.

"So I have to assume somehow that this Eros energy exists and can help restore this world." Unless this Augur thing really did have the capacity to restore this place all along, but it seemed like such a bizarre thing she couldn't even really fathom why it would go to the trouble.

Literally, she's only competent at lying when it's serious business. "You've already been so nice and helpful, and you even explained something that was making you a little uncomfortable to talk about." Mostly because it was making Colette uncomfortable, too, granted.

"Wooow..." Such a huge resort too! The hot springs are way bigger. You wouldn't even need to take turns, right? Or... would they rather have men and women share the bath here?

"Eros energy must be amazing if it can make this happen!" It's hard not to be enthusiastic about it, even with where it comes from. Imagine if her world... ...that would've been a VERY different Journey of Regeneration.

"Well someone needed to explain it, I couldn't leave you in the dark about how this place worked. I'd imagine that'd be frustrating if not a little scary." She certainly wasn't happy having to piece it together with no help at first.

Colette's enthusiasm was cute. She smiled warmly "Do you want to go in? You don't need permission, and I could help you wash that sea salt out of your hair." She didn't want to say anything before now, but she could really tell poor Colette had just taken a dive in the sea after getting close to her.

"I'm glad it was someone like you, though." It could've been someone using it to try to hook up with her, and then she's not sure what she'd do. Possibly just fly away, though?

"Ah, I'd be worried about all this sand and salt ruining the nice water though. I don't know if that's a good idea, right?" Even if they're allowed to walk right in - that just puts even more of the onus on them to be responsible guests.

"Well I'm glad I could help." She knew Colette could protect herself, but she was glad it didn't have to come to that.

"Oh don't worry there's a shower you go into before you actually go to soak. As long as we wash your hair thoroughly it should be fine." She does appreciate that Colette was that worried about a place she was a stranger to entirely. It was an admirable side of her.

"Oh good. I might need a little help with that?" Girl's got a lot of hair. "If you don't mind?" And she's also already decided to trust Pyrrha far enough and then some, too. There's nothing untrustworthy about her - about these springs - and if she can get her clothes washed then she'll have almost everything she needs to start actually thinking about her situation here.

"Of course, I was going to suggest it myself already." She smiled easily, she was happy to help Colette. She was already planning on going hunting with Colette for a good place for her to stay and making sure the girl had food for tomorrow at least.

So with that she'd go with Colette down to the resort and into the shower room where there were stalls with shower-heads lined up along with soap and shampoo.

"Have you been to a hot spring before Colette?" She decided to make small talk.

00. Arrival

I. STARGAZER

II. STIMULATING CONVERSATION

III. Eat Or Dare

0 Colette! I don't have a Tales character right now, but have Pyrrha

Pyrrha is good!

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