[ $ 1 ]

[strangelyliteral]

[Action]

[Waking up unceremoniously in Luceti with no idea of where she is and what she is doing there is of course a disorienting experience. Anya finds herself out on the beach, lying prone on the sand. It could be Sunnydale, except the area she's been deposited in doesn't have much surrounding it besides sand and blue skies.

Her back hurts, and by the time she sits herself up and reaches back there...] Wings? Is this a joke?

[Some more time passes with her half-ranting to herself, trying to get oriented and squinting at the placement of the sun. She almost misses the fact that the journal is there completely, save when she finally starts to walk and nearly trips over the thing, half buried in the sand.]

[Accidental voice]

- Ow! I have sand in places that I don't want to think about, there's no sign of anyone - what is this, a book? I don't even get a pair of shoes, or even suntan lotion, I just get a lousy book? [She turns the journal over in her hands, pages rustling, her image still not visible, though there's the sound of the ocean's waves in the background.] ... my name is on this book. This just entered a new level of creepy.

Comments

[herotypical]

The General. [ because she figures she ought to explain that much, at least. ] He -- he leads the Cultists. Maybe even poaches the babies once they're...not-babies. He wasn't too clear on that part.

[strangelyliteral]

You defeated their leader, but you're still talking about him in the present tense. He's still out there?

[herotypical]

...Mmhm. The dead rise here, too. The prices are just different.

[strangelyliteral]

What ... not by zombie, vampire, or overpowered wicca means?

[herotypical]

It's hard to say. It seems like a natural part of living and dying, here. It's all cycles. Over and over again.

[strangelyliteral]

But that's ...

[She's not even sure how to process this one. And thinking of back home, and the body count there ...]

How is that even -- you've ... seen this kind of thing happen yourself?

[herotypical]

...I know a guy who's had it happen. Well -- I knew a few guys who've had it happen. But this one -- hmm. I was here for the week before he returned. And then he came back. And it was almost...almost as if he'd never died in the first place.

[strangelyliteral]

... But?

[There was something that warranted the double-almost.] What changes when you die here?

[herotypical]

You do. The hypothetically dead you -- [ who, buffy realizes just as she says the words, isn't so hypothetical at all. whoops. ] Coming back comes with a price. So...I guess not everything's free, here. You lose a sense or a a set of memories or a power or a skill. I know a guy who lost the ability to digest dairy. It...

[ it was andrew. ]

[strangelyliteral]

That's... awful. [The dairy thing. What would she do without her cheeses.] So coming back... sort of takes you apart. A little bit. Until there are no more parts...?

[herotypical]

...A red hermit man in the tunnels will fix you, if it gets that far. But from what I hear? We're unique in that regard. Outside our bubble, people eventually just go veg from all the things they've lost.

[strangelyliteral]

... a red hermit man. Like a demon?

[herotypical]

Like someone from Disney decided to draw a demon in a labcoat and the best they could come up with is tomato skin? Yeah.

[ she made a gentle gesture with her hands to bring anya into the beach's ruined fort, which housed the teleporter. ]

[strangelyliteral]

[She tries to imagine that.

... Though what she comes up with is a person with a tomato for a head in a labcoat. That doesn't seem right though.

Still, she's distracted from that line of thought by the appearance of the fort, and she frowns at it. The inside looks like it was once sparcely decorated, but fell into some disrepair after years of disuse.]

... What's in here?

[herotypical]

...Our way to the village.

[ buffy breathes deep. wrecked as the place seems to be, she relished the smell of damp stone and salty sand. this area and how it connected the village to the shore is entirely pregnant with memories, associations, and little pavlovian reactions along her spine. visits and sails and cool nights filled with mischief. it's hard not to feel just a little careless here. ] We teleport. It's science, not magic. But I'm guessing the basic principles are the same.

[strangelyliteral]

[Somewhat wistfully:] I do miss being able to teleport.

[The science, not magic part gets a raised eyebrow.] I guess that explains how you got here so fast.

[herotypical]

[ she steps up onto the platform and waves a hand at anya, implying the other woman should follow her. ]

Yeah. I take this route a lot. At first? It was pretty hinky. I mean -- who wants their atoms scattered? [ leftovers of bones mccoy, right there. ] But it's better than the hike through the tunnels. Underneath the mountains.

[strangelyliteral]

... yes, I'll take teleportation over that, thanks. [She peers at the structure first before stepping up after Buffy.]

[herotypical]

[ and after the deed is done and the magic-slash-tech is engaged, they find themselves somewhere wholly...different. the smell of straw and sawdust and old steel. buffy hops eagerly off the platform and casts a gesture 'round the room. ]

Welcome to the Luceti barracks. I don't know why we call it that. No one sleeps here. At least, I hope they don't.

[strangelyliteral]

[It's a little disorienting at first, mostly because of her newly-arrived adjustment period. She steps out after Buffy, then looks around at what's visually available in the building, blinking a little. Weapons, dummies...

There's also a new sound, the pitter patter of rain drumming on the roof.]

Is this like one of your special training rooms?

[herotypical]

I use it. I don't own it. It's...everyone's. But plenty of people prefer to get their kicks at the very flashy Battle Dome. That's big-B and big-D, bee-tee-dubs.

[strangelyliteral]

[This face is the 'you're losing her again' face.]

Is that... good? Bad? Weird?

[herotypical]

[ she turns on a heel -- walking backward so she can face anya. ]

Definitely weird. The jury's still out on the good-slash-bad debate. Personally? I could do without it. Simulated violence just...isn't the same.

[strangelyliteral]

Sounds like it cheapens it if you're used to the real deal. Dungeon boy would probably like it.

[herotypical]

It can conjure up some okay illusions for parties and stuff like that. Very...Holodeck.