Phantasmal Rift Mods (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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phantasmalrift2018-12-19 11:39 pm
phantasmods) wrote in phantasmalrift2018-12-19 11:39 pm
DUNGEON - BELLMARE ENCLAVE (BELLMARE MOUNTAINS, PT 2)
The shadows are starting to grow very long as you crest his particular ridge - it's not night yet, but it will be soon. In the shadows of the afternoon, with a tall mountain already blocking the sun, lies a snow-covered valley that is different from the ones you've come across thus far in your investigation.
This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.
Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.
Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.
[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]
This valley is home to a town, and unlike all the settlements you've seen so far - Incendia, the Telovia mining town, and the manor - it's very much active. There are actual people in the streets, visible from above, going through their days on snow-free streets, bundled up against the cold.
Those of you who asked were told of the handful of people who didn't go into the slumber of stasis as the Fissure conditions of the world grew worse and worse, instead isolating themselves and trying to continue living their lives as they could. Now, it seems, you've found exactly such a group.
Welcome to the Bellmare Enclave, and enjoy your stay.
[[OOC: Welcome to part 2 of the dungeon! For the most part, interaction with the town's NPCs can be handwaved as described on the main information post. Worth noting are the following major things: The Bellmare Enclave isn't expecting visitors, though the people are generally friendly to the new arrivals. They don't know about the time dilation effect of their Fissure - to them, it's only been about eighteen years since the Slumber Plan was put in place and they withdrew from the world. And finally, by a similar token, they have no idea how far the Fissures outside of their own have grown - while it's not uncommon for them to find odd objects from time to time, they'll assume that the characters are just arrivals from other places within their own world, rather than outsiders, until told otherwise.]]
no subject
Not really. I've known far too many that would not have acted remotely as you did. [So yeah, Kurama kind of agrees with Goro.]
I did, and I still think so. You're welcome to be as forward with me as you like. [Flirting? Probably. Will Minato realize? That's the real question here.
That last apology, though, that actually gets Kurama to glance away, a very faint tinge of pink to his cheeks. It's nothing on the blushes the amnesiac version had been capable of, but more than most people could cause in him as he really is.]
You don't need to apologize for that. I was the one jumping to conclusions. If anything, I should be apologizing for Inari. They didn't forget anything and definitely took advantage of the situation.
no subject
The permission to be forward... Minato studies Kurama's face for a moment, studies him like a work of art. Then the corner of his mouth curves upward in an almost mischievous smile. He will remember this.
He will also remember that blush. It...seems like a treasure, almost, with how wise and composed Kurama almost always is.]
....No, it's... [Hm. How to put this....] Should've realized it would be confusing. And- don't, it. If Inari hadn't, probably wouldn't have realized or believed it. Akira and Goro are... I'm not... [...] Anyway, Frolic has a risk of inflicting Charm.
Glad it happened. [...Um.] ...What....did you mean you 'liked the idea', though...?
no subject
He doesn't really manage to pull it together until those unfinished sentences. Kurama might not know exactly how Minato would have finished them but he's got a general guess.
So he is going to finish one of them entirely differently, fingers brushing over Minato's cheek gently.]
You're not anything less than someone who is special and important to us. All of us.
[....ah. Amnesiac him did, in fact, say that. Kurama's blush deepens, actually, at the question. He gives a quiet cough, biting his lip briefly before deciding to just answer honestly.]
I...don't know how much my buried memories and feelings influenced how I responded to people, but... It didn't take long at all before that version of me was more than a little enamored of you. The thought that you might be my fiance...wasn't a bad one.
no subject
Is it alright if I call that cute? [Kurama without memories was pretty different....but there's no denying he was cute that way. Minato still sees hints of it now, and he certainly wouldn't trade this Kurama for that. But that doesn't mean he won't appreciate the memory.] And instead, we were just friends... Pretty big difference. [...Although.] Or. Less big. Kind of...a thing, now.
[They are, he means. He'd kissed first, and it went over much better than he ever would've dared dream. There's a small smile as he rests against Kurama.] Felt good to take care of you for a change...
[As if on cue, the wall lights up with another vision. The mood of this one is somber - people dressed in black, hushed voices, low, serious music. A funeral. Two portraits are on the table at the front, surrounded by flowers: a woman with short-cut dark blue hair and eyes like she knows a secret, and a man with glasses and long dark hair pulled back into a ponytail that hangs down over his shoulder, and a smile that promises everything will be okay.
A boy who is certainly a child version of Minato sits alone in the front row, still and silent as the grave. The portraits of his parents have more life than he does - it's like looking at an empty shell, or a corpse that yet draws breath. There's no sign of light in his eyes.
The whispering from the gathered adults behind him should be familiar. To be completely uninjured, but sleep so long anyway... they say with distaste, and What kind of child doesn't even cry at his own parents' funeral?. Some express relief that they won't be saddled with him, and some even say his parents deserved better than him in voices he can almost certainly hear - or rather, they get mid-way through the sentiment before shutting up in a hurry.
The child Minato doesn't react or respond to anything they say, but he does look up when one person finally approaches him. Tall, with long red hair and familiar green eyes. He kneels, to speak at Minato's level, in a gentle and friendly voice.
"Your name is Arisato Minato, right? My name is Minamino Shuuichi. I'll be taking care of you from now on." He extends a hand to the boy, the gesture carefully offering rather than asking. The boy doesn't take it, even his expression doesn't change any. He opens his mouth as if to speak, but then lowers his eyes and closes it.
The vision fades as the Kurama in it starts gently speaking, presumably explaining what's going on to the child.]