Video | Isekai Veteran Tips #1 (Blue Flash Quest)

[mayoninofukucho]

[CW: Death on Livestream (but he'll be OK!)]


[While Ellipsa has been good to the otherworlders so far, it's still been a rough adjustment for Hijikata, and for one reason only: Nobody got power-nerfed!! Back in Edo, Lunatia, and Camelot he was considered a fearsome powerhouse of a swordsman, but here in Nightwake City... not so much.

He decides, however, to not let this break his stride, all the less once he takes notice of the 'Blue Flash' quest. At first the situation doesn't really ring a bell, but some research brings up previous similar incidents that saw people disappear in the same area, and the few blurry photos of the mysterious blue lights make a lightbulb go on in his head. He knows what these are!!

And so, a few days later, a stream goes live on the network. Despite the late hour and the creepy location (why does the airship station have to be in between the border to the cold Winter Segment, the Abandoned Mansion, and the Great Tree of Death?!) he looks confident as his phone floats in front of him (he got better at levitating things recently, and this way he'll have his hands free!).]

This is Hijikata, reporting in from the Autumn Segment. Some of you may have seen the 'Blue Flash' quest on the quest board. I'm here to confirm what happened.

[He wanders towards the dark forest behind him, still talking into the phone.]

I'm a bit of a veteran at being sent to other worlds, so I'm familiar with some creatures most of you may not have encountered before. When I looked into the case I noticed that the "blue flashes" can really only be one thing: will'o'wisps.

[As if on cue a couple of pale blue, flame-like wisps come into view, playfully circling around each other, and he makes the phone float past him to properly capture them.]

They're harmless fae beings that lead lost people out of the forest... ideally. I have an inkling that these might be spectral will'o'wisps. They're the corrupted version, if you will, and can create illusions to lure people to their doom. That's probably what happened to the missing individuals.

[The two wisps suddenly chase away into the distance, truly looking like mere blurs in the darkness. Another one, though, floats out from between the trees, so Hijikata heads towards it while keeping on talking into the phone.]

I'll confirm what kind they are! Even if it does throw an illusion at me, I'll be fine. I've seen it all by now.

[In the background the wisp moves towards him... and then a much larger thing made of the same pale blue flames bursts out from between the bushes, comes at him like a massive cannonball, opens enormous flaming maws before Hijikata even manages to turn towards it, and-- there's a tumble of night sky, trees, and then darkness as the phone lands on its face on the ground. A few moments later there'll be some clatter as the wisp spits out his swords and the other non-organic stuff, and then silence.

He sure got to the bottom of this!]


1) Who Can Do This Better?

[Hijikata can't take any calls right now, but he'll respond to messages and comments in 3 day's (in-game) time... and since that's a long while to wait, please feel free to tag out! Maybe based on this super professional research some better-prepared teams can assemble (Hijikata won't want to join, thank you very much)!]

2) Summer Flower Yard

[Anyone who knows that Hijikata is a summer power holder and wants to either congratulate him on solving the case (really?!) or is simply curious to see if the Flower Yards work as designed can of course stop by there. A blue iris will have popped up in the yard, emitting a strong cigarette smell. It'll spend a while budding, but on the 3rd day it'll bloom!]

Comments

un: Hermes voice

[blazeoflife]

--- DID WE JUST WATCH A DUDE GET EATEN??

un: abnormalitylover, voice

[abnormalizes]

First time?

[Sounding sympathetic, but not overly distraught.]

un: pasdechat; voice

[romeras]

[Ayah's breathing is a little ragged. Maybe she didn't call you up just to scream at you, but screaming? Yes, she definitely just got done doing that.]

I - what - is that what happened!?

Text | mayorinfan35

[mayoninofukucho]

[3 days later Hijikata comes back online... damn, he has many missed voice-, video-, and text messages. Initially he wants to ignore Junpei's (even though his was the first one!) since, well, he doesn't want to revisit the whole incident more than necessary, but the boy seems so rattled in every call recording he's part of, Hijikata ends up feeling like he owes him an update.]

Hijikata here (from the 'Blue Flash' quest). I wanted to let you know that I revived in the Summer Flower Yard as we were told. Thank you for your concern.

[The short message may come across as a bit terse and/or flippant, given the horror Junpei felt thanks to that livestream, but this is as good as it gets with Hijikata!]

video: un: jean

[rustyhonesty]

[After the initial shock of seeing Hijikata be eaten on camera, Jean makes an unimpressed announcement.]

This is Hijikata. Hijikata got too smug for his own good.

Don't be like Hijikata.

un: Hermes voice

[blazeoflife]

HE GOT ATE!!!

Does this USUALLY happen to him or something?!?

[mayoninofukucho]

[When Hijikata eventually catches up with the various messages and recordings in his inbox he can only sigh at Jean's deadpan snark - in relief. He's grateful that his friend was able to take his fatal mishap in stride! That's one person less he inadvertently gave nightmares (or so he hopes). Jean has seen enough gruesome shit in his life already.

Sure, whenever he next runs into Jean he'll probably still bitch at him for adding insult to injury, but he knows damn well that he deserved this one.]

Video; un: fenrirfang / Action (tw murder/danganronpa spoilers)

[corpsewarblade]

[Mukuro had seen a lot of death in her time. But whilst she was indifferent to the deaths she'd seen and caused back home, this hit very differently- she knew Junko would be delighted at the despair and numbness in her at his sudden demise.

These things were obviously more dangerous than they first seemed.]

...If anyone else intends to deploy against these creatures, they should make sure they are equipped for their ambush tactics. Fire magic and explosives are unlikely to be effective.

[And, well, Mukuro's going to go lurk at the flower yard. Her priority for the time being would be to provide defence should anyone try to harm the flower until he was revived. Yup, that smelled of cigarettes...that was Hiji's alright.

Once he's back, she can tell him what an idiot he was.]

[ooc: Feel free to either reply on network, or come help/hinder her attempts at making a defensive perimeter!]

action side

[totallycalledit]

[Of course Sun wants to see for himself that his new friends' flower is there and maybe see if there's something he can do about it.

There is, indeed one (1) flower on the Summer Flower Yard. And someone watching over it...]

Hey. You here checking up on Hijikata too?

[Video; un: shoto - roughly 30 minutes after]

[itsmypower]

[He hasn't grasped a single thought yet.]

You're not thinking of getting near them, right? Any idea if he's still with those things by now?!

[We have to find him something says. Now, now, right now. He has to run; he's too far out.]

Video; un: ushiromiya_eva

[angerintomiracles]

[Well, this is the first time she's seen someone just get outright killed, so she is looking rather pale when she replies. It looks like she's about to snap that pen she'd got out to make notes with...]

What- what were you thinking- you idiot, look where you're going! You weren't supposed to just get eaten and die like that!!

...Someone check the flower yard already. If what the Guides have said is right, something should have popped up there. Guess we should see if it's true.

un: dojima - Video - Flower Yard

[detectiveforhierophant]

I got you. I was working on the area when I saw that dumbass video go up.

[ You'd get a slightly out of focus video of Dojima staring at the camera, looking particularly grumpy, before pressing a button to turn it towards-- ]

[ A large flower bud, glowing.]

Smells like cigarette smoke.

--You alright, Ushiromiya?

[ Not something he wanted teenagers to see. Fucking dumbass-- ]

Text | UN: mayorinfan35

[mayoninofukucho]

[3 days later Hijikata is working his way through the messages left on his post, and Eva's blunt bossiness immediately pisses him off... but since it's a video recording he can see how startled she is, trying to keep her composure despite the shock. She is still a child, and he feels distinctly bad for making her see something like that.

He feels similarly about Dojima's commentary that follows - his frank criticism raises Hijikata's blood pressure, but the man is absolutely right in every regard. He shouldn't have gone alone, he shouldn't have been so convinced that he had the right idea about the wisps, and he should have been a lot more vigilant. Damn it, he's really been slipping a lot, hasn't he? But he can dwell on that later. First he writes a short message to Eva.]

Hijikata here. Apologies for the video from earlier this week (the 'Blue Flash" quest). It didn't go as planned (as you saw). I was revived in the Flower Yard and am OK.

« video » un: foxlike

[foxtouched]

Oh... this was not the way I wanted to know you were here, too...

video; un: godking

[pyramidsmash]

You know this idiot, Kitsuno?

Private Video | UN: mayorinfan35

[mayoninofukucho]

[Hijikata feels much like Kitsuno when he finds the recording of her video message 3 days later: It's wonderful to see her here (it is a small multiverse!), but why did this shitshow have to be the first she saw of him?!

It gets worse, though: Who else would enter the call but Ozymandias! Hijikata already clashed with the prideful Servant thrice now, and each time he proved to be infuriatingly untouchable. Why is that guy talking to her in such an overly familiar way?! Why is she calling him her lord?!

Hijikata finds out soon enough (and he doesn't take Kitsuno's assessment of his death badly; it was foolish). "My other concubine"... so she is one, too?! He originally wanted to write her a text message to apologise for the disaster of a livestream, but by the end of the recording he's so incensed, he just calls her. Someone needs to tell her what kind of guy she signed herself up for!! As soon as she picks up he pretty much snaps out his greeting.]

Kitsuno-hime! I'm alive again!

[Way to barge in!! Sorry, Kitsuno, his temperament got the better of him once again.]

un: abnormalitylover, voice

[abnormalizes]

To whom it may concern: please don't film yourself in the Segments for exactly this reason. Some people here are sensitive to deaths on camera.

[Obviously she's used to it, but you've got to be considerate of other people.]

[mayoninofukucho]

[3 days later Hijikata catches up with all the responses to his messed-up livestream, and this call-out makes the crappiness of the whole idea sink in even further. The kids he knows back home in Edo might just have gotten out the popcorn, but the thought of him, a policeman, being responsible for traumatising innocent civilian children makes him feel truly shoddy. He met some kids on arrival and helped them find their way around... hopefully none of them saw that!

He doesn't contact Evangeline because he doesn't want to be chewed out further, even if it'd be deserved, but he'll heed her request. The Isekai Veteran Tips series ends after the first installment!]

2) Summer Flower Yard - 3 days later!

[gentledawn]

[You bet he is in the yard, kneeling by the iris, hoping he has found the right one.]

Hijikata? Can you hear me? [He is very worried, okay? A basket of food waits beside him. Will his friend really return from a flower?]

[mayoninofukucho]

[He does hear him! Xingchen's voice wakes him up rather gently. Where the hell is he...? He's been curled up in his sleep, and the hot sunlight outside is being filtered through soft blue fabric(?) all around him. No, this isn't fabric. Is it a cocoon..? Wait, a flower? Is he back on Avalon? It is the spring equinox? Was Ellipsa just one of the shared dreams in the communal consciousness? They felt so real each time...

He's really disoriented, but when Xingchen calls for him again he starts moving to try and open the flower somehow. It was already opening anyway, so his wiggling finally makes it bend over and dump him on the ground. He's dressed in the same white kimono he arrived in, but otherwise he looks completely fine.]

Ugh... Xingchen? Sorry, what happened?

[Hang on. This place... this isn't Camelot. He sees the vine-wrapped fences surrounding and protecting the Flower Yard. So he's really on Ellipsa? But wasn't the Flower Yard barren..? He turns his head in all directions and only sees the one tree-sized flower, now standing upright and ingesting sunlight into its open blossom. Oh no.]

un: vainglorious | video

[erschlagen]

...I know you didn't just give me an epic duel only to end up getting eaten by some measly firefly.

[You can just hear the disappointment in his voice. Rosen is so aggravated right now.]

Video | UN: mayorinfan35

[mayoninofukucho]

[Naturally Hijikata doesn't respond for quite a while... but when he does, days later, he actually video-calls Rosen, which is a rarity for him. Once the other man picks up he'll see the samurai looking no worse for the wear.]

Hey. I just wanted to tell you that there's no interim underworld with monsters to fight here in the time between our death and rebirth. I didn't want to tell anyone the real mission behind the silly little quest I broadcast, but I thought you'd want to know.

[This is such blatant bullshit, he doesn't expect Rosen to believe it for a second - but either he'll roll with it and have a laugh, or they can argue about it and meet up for a rematch! (Didn't he die enough for the time being?!)]

un: echidna_2 | video

[lost_soldier_echidna]

Oh, Ancients... We have a kid! Someone find Anya and make sure she didn't see this!

And the next one of you idiots wants to do a livestreaming like this forgetting we have a kid here, I'll personally kill you myself if this happens again!

[mayoninofukucho]

[By the time Hijikata catches up to Julie-Su's message he's already gone through several other responses or conversations that (more or less politely,) chewed him out for his recklessness and carelessness. He knows he fucked up!!

Anya, though... he met a little pink-haired girl named that on Avalon. Would Ellipsa have pulled the same kid in? But then again it's a common name... he decides to take the message (he definitely won't livestream another quest!) and not contact Julie-Su because he's scared of being yelled at pretty sure this is just a coincidence.]

Video | un: briar-king

[tsunotaro]

[Scoffs]

There is no such thing as a "harmless" fae beings. How foolish to underestimate them.

video; un: carmine

[scattershot]

Yes, of course you're right, it is simply--

[Something has been troubling Alisaie, since she was told of the worlds with no magick. No other peoples, but only the Hyur. Where the beasts have been chased to the badlands, and men may walk in safety, and such dangers as are commonplace to her are simply stories, told to children, that the grown count themselves too sensible to trouble with.]

Those people who come from worlds where there is naught of this. How are they to know of the dangers? They think the Fae just words on a page, to frighten children with.

voice; un: carmine

[scattershot]

Well, I would say thank you for the warning, but...

[Alisaie sighs, deeply and audibly. This? This is exactly the kind of thing the Adventurers' Guilds should have made obvious, if only to prevent the underprepared from putting themselves in harm's way. She's rattled; she's only glad that in voice only it's far harder to see it, and call her on it. Okay, deep breaths.]

At least - at least - we now have a clearer idea of what we're up against.

[And, she supposes, a way to confirm if what they've been told about the Flower yards can truly be accurate.]

Text | UN: mayorinfan35

[mayoninofukucho]

[When Hijikata finally listens to Alisaie's messages days after his fateful little livestream he's honestly just grateful that she seems to have taken it decently well. He'd leave it at that, but her last comment makes him wonder... he ends up sending her a text message.]

Hijikata here (from the 'Blue Flash' quest livestream). I missed a few days and didn't see any network posts about people having defeated those things while I was gone, so I wanted to ask if you know whether anyone figured out what their weaknesses are.