[your very voice is in my heartbeat]

[founderinglight]

Who: Izunia and various [CLOSED!!!]
What: Palace log and associated prep; catchall
When: Primarily the day of April 28th, with some lead-up in the days preceding (forward-dated; OOC date is Thursday)
Where: uh, Izunia's room, technically
Warnings: Numerous.

Comments

PRE-PALACE NETWORK CHATTER

[founderinglight]

NOCTIS; text

[founderinglight]

Might I trouble you to let me borrow the Ring for a few days?

[nightcure]

are you gonna tell me what for?

[founderinglight]

I can, but it will likely sound nonsensical to try to explain.

JUNPEI; text, elevencrows

[founderinglight]

[It takes a bit of doing to figure out which handle is Junpei's but you know what we're just going to assume he got the right one here.]

Might I trouble you for a moment?

TEXT; t_junpei

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Does it really take that much to figure out which handle is Junpei's? Does it, Izunia?]

Maybe. What do I get for it?

[founderinglight]

[Look, Ardyn's going by light-bearing skylight, he makes no assumptions.]

An education in Lucian history, the chance to see me suffer, and snacks.

IGNIS; voice

[founderinglight]

[Because making him use voice to text for this is just stupid.]

Ignis? This is Izunia, have you a moment?

[Perhaps surprisingly, his voice is nervous.]

voice;

[promittere]

[But the androids worked so hard on it!]

I do. Is something the matter?

[He assumes it has to do with Ardyn, or perhaps Noctis - what else would he be nervous about?]

[founderinglight]

Not exactly. Or, perhaps more accurately, nothing yet pressing.

[He's very distinctly nervous, yeah, from the way he sighs into the phone. Seems like it's on speaker.]

I'm sure you're aware enough that I have... some difficulty, in regulating my thoughts and emotions, in regard to Ardyn especially.

PRE-PALACE MINGLE

[founderinglight]

[Hello, squad, welcome to Izunia's room - number 11's door is standing open, and the desk is occupied with some very teenager-friendly food. Considering that this group is, in fact, the majority teenagers and young adults (plus one Servant and one cat), this probably does not go amiss.

Those interested can also wander to the back of Izunia's room to look at the map and sketches there tacked to the wall with magnets. Someone dearly loves the pre-photography version of family photos. His shelves are also full of a number of crystal specimens from the caves beneath the station.

As for Izunia himself? He's chilling out with his journal in the desk chair, doing his best to not look too nervous.]

[misanthropicprinciple]

[Junpei's checking out the map and crystals with interest as he shoves snacks in his face, and also in his Armiger. Who's this joker supposed to be, anyway? Why's he coming along?]

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Who is this joker? Astolfo taps him on the shoulder, mid-snack-shoving.]

Hi, hi! You're one of the new guys, right? I'm Astolfo!

[He offers a hand in greeting.]

Are you a friend of Izunia's?

[He sure caught on quick with the friend making thing. He's proud. He did that.]

[misanthropicprinciple]

Haha, not even close.

[But he does shake the offered hand with his cool robot prosthetic. It's rad.]

I'm Junpei. Let's call me... something like one of those removed relations.

[See, it's funny because Izunia's actions removed Ardyn from recorded history.]

Izunia invited me along as a learning experience.

[beguiledcard]

[ He is, in fact, very curious about this joker. This town ain't big enough for the two of th- okay, but in all seriousness, he's going to stand next to him and study the sketches for a moment. After that, he's releasing a quiet: ]

Huh...

[ Then, he's glancing over to the new guy. ]

Sooo... are you somebody related to Izunia?

[ The, uh... the hammerspace thing.

... He's starting to think he needs to make some kind of chart. He could draw color-coded lines from one person to another, to help him keep up with who's connected to who, as well as how! ]

[misanthropicprinciple]

Depends who you ask. He certainly seems to think so.

[Ah, he knows this kid. An older version of him, certainly, but he remembers watching the rerun of his season. He offers a hand to shake--his left one, since the right's made of metal and not so great for friendly greetings.]

Tenmyouji Junpei. I'm one of Ardyn's, actually.

[His son. His retainer.]

[ladytakamaki]

[ ann is here! and this is a new face she doesn't recognize. she's gonna take some chips because chips are clearly teenager-friendly food, right, and go up to the maps where junpei is. ]

Sorry, don't mind if I butt in!

[foolishjustice]

[Don't mind Goro shoving some snacks into his inventory as he approaches Junpei...]

You're new here, right?

[byanyother_name]

[Kurama isn't going to fuss much about that joker (not to be confused with that Joker) is; if he's here, then Izunia invited him, and probably for a reason.

As interesting as those maps look, Kurama is going to walk over to Izunia instead, resting a gentle hand on the older man's shoulder. He's hesitated to even talk to Akira and Goro about his own Palace, let alone invite them in, and they are his boyfriends.

Half of this group are strangers to Izunia. Kurama thinks he kind of has a right to be nervous.]

[founderinglight]

[Izunia has finished writing and seems to be just waiting for the ink to dry before he closes the journal. His handwriting is neat, but it seems he's been journalling in some other language; Kurama being who and how old he is, he might recognize the Latin. It won't automatically translate unless he concentrates on it, though.

At the touch, Izunia looks up and gives Kurama a somewhat weak, somewhat forced smile.]

I'll be alright. It's waiting that's most difficult. Easier to put on a brave face when I'm doing something.

[meowna]

[One of the few people who isn't congregating around the snacks or map, Morgana means business, especially with all these newbies coming along. (He'd fussed a little about it, when they'd initially discussed the party going in..... still, what was done was done, right? He couldn't just veto the people Izunia had chosen.) What if they ended up getting separated from the party? Or lost, or badly hurt? It's his duty to mentor newcomers to the Metaverse! Anything that happens to them is his responsibility.

That's why Morgana is approaching everyone who isn't a part of the Phantom Thieves (they'd already gotten theirs earlier) to offer them one of the Goho-Ms that he, Akira, and Akechi had made--a sleek, shining, silky soft ball of tightly wound yarn.]

Hey! You should take this with you, just in case.

[founderinglight]

Hmm?

[Well, grandpa himself is giving the yarn a funny look... before shrugging and tossing it in his Armiger. Sure, why not.]

let's get this show on the road

[founderinglight]

[Once everyone's wandered their way in and the snacks are mostly eaten through or shoved into some inventory or another, it's time to get down to business. A bit of throwing around guesses - made much easier with Izunia's actual input - lands the final keyword on "stage," and away they go.

The stone theater that forms the Palace is in decent enough repair; the building itself looks like someone took a milliennia-old building and rehabbed it to add modern lights, security, and sparkle. Thirteen statues are arranged round the outsides, with the largest and most central, easily four stories tall, flanked by curved staircases leading up to the theater proper. Where normally colored banners advertising the show would be hung from the lamp posts that can be found among the statues, keeping the area almost overwhelmingly well-lit, there are only black banners with a gold crest on them.

Aside from the theater and its associated surroundings, there's nothing really to see. There's perhaps fifty to a hundred feet of extra pavement in any given direction from the building itself - even the front is no more than a distance of "across a wide street and a bit" - before the ground itself drops away to a swirling blue void.

Even before trying to get the steps, it's apparent that there's ticketing and security at the top before one enters the theater proper.

As for Izunia himself, he glances around, dismisses the swirlvoid, and looks at the statue with a tired sigh. it's clear he recognizes it - as, indeed, will certain persons who have seen 'The Mystic' in other contexts.]

Well, this certainly does seem to be the place, doesn't it?

[riderofcharlemagne]

[Astolfo gives the place a good look around as he enters, soaking up and piecing together just exactly what he'd walked into. He's not all that concerned over the swirling blue void, or in general, regarding the statues and architecture with wonder and curiosity more than anything else.]

I have to say, this wasn't what I expected.

[Whatever that may have been, he hardly sounds disappointed about it.]

[beguiledcard]

[ His eyebrows are lifted as he gives a nod, a look of fascination on his face. Though it might be clear this is far from his first time in one of these... as unsurprising as that may be to a select few. ]

Seconded.

[ Well... ]

Let's see how the inside compares.