seasonsrpg | NEW YEAR'S CONCERT/PARTY MINGLE OTA

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NEW YEAR'S CONCERT/PARTY MINGLE OTA

WHO: Everyone! Members of the Music Club who want to perform, everyone else who volunteered their services for the party, and anyone who wants to see them or just party for New Year's.
WHAT: The Music Club End-of-Year Live and New Year's Party
WHEN: Night of December 31
WHERE: Sunwaning Theatre
WARNINGS: None so far

After the ad had gone out, Rinku got to work organizing. She worked things out with the Sunwaning Theatre and booked both a concert hall and a meeting hall, got a permit from the city for fireworks, and got food and games sorted. Hey, maybe Eve had been right when she told her to pursue a career in party planning. Rinku would think about that later.

When people started arriving from 6 to 7 was the dinner and games. Guests would be directed to one of the theatre's meeting halls, where the performers would also be able to mingle around and eat. Food tables were there to sit down at, serving end-of-year Sunwaning standards like shrimp, fried fish, pickled lotus root, and plenty of mochi and candied chestnuts. The theatre's catering staff put a lot of work in!

Once the meal was finished, there was an array of games to go around and play. Some may be familiar from other parties and concert after/pre-parties, such as ring toss and Pin the Tail on the Human (the human has been reprinted after a few too many parties), but one stood out as new: the scavenger hunt! A selection of items were hidden around the meeting hall for people to mark down the locations of; some were easy, like a big ribbon tied to one of the tables, but others took more thought, like a cheki from a Riki concert sticking out of the frame of a painting on the wall. Everyone got candy who won one of the games before the time came to file out of the meeting hall and up into the theatre.

The concert ran later in the night, featuring the assorted talents of the Music Club both together and separately. From live remix covers to acoustic instrument solos to whatever Stelle was doing with that otamatone, everyone who wanted to was there with one goal: keeping the audience hyped to celebrate the new year. A giant disco ball hung over the audience, scattering the stage lights around. At the end of the night, the talents on the stage counted down to midnight, and the disco ball broke open and scattered paper confetti onto the audience as the cheer began.

Finally, as everyone filed outside at the end of the show, there was one more performance: a firework show, contracted out to Wylan. The colourful fireworks lit up the sky over Sunwaning for everyone to watch as they headed back to their homes (or other parties, or wherever else they wanted to go).

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[ Her smile broadens—and while there's a slight tilt of her head, an expression of curiosity, when he offers to stand behind her, it fades quickly in favor of an even brighter smile yet as she recognizes the warmth coming off him, protecting her from the wind and warming her at the same time. ]

Oh, that's right—you're Summer, aren't you?

[ With a brief wave of her hand, she extinguishes the flame she was carrying. ]

I could have made the fire bigger, but I didn't wanna scare anybody, so... thanks!

[ And, as to his question: ]

I've been okay. Just trying to keep myself busy, you know? How about you?

[He nods - he's a summer power holder alright, and a proud one! Once she's properly warmed up, she can turn around to face him again, but it's easy enough to talk like this in the meantime.]

Same here, pretty much - between work, quests, and expeditions, it doesn't get boring. Do you have any new year's resolutions?

[Are those supposed to be shared..? Honestly, he'll happily tell anyone who asks (or doesn't) about his!]

[ She nods in response to his words. Realistically, she hasn't been here for that long compared to some people, but even the short time she has been here has been busy, not felt as long as it has been. It's a sharp contrast to the Void, where after the initial exploration, she had to make her own days up, many of them spent doing nothing but spending time with people.

At least here, there's less time to dwell on those left behind—there, and at home.

She's silent for a moment as she thinks about it, and then for a moment more in response to his question, her head tilting curiously. Has she ever made a New Year's Resolution before? Maybe not, and she hadn't thought to now, but... ]

Hmm... I guess I'd like to make more friends. Animal and human alike. And... maybe explore Ellipsa more. How about you, Hijikata?

Me? I already got my Avalonian death magic back, so next up is Earthlandian Dragon Slayer magic! I'm excited for that - it's one of the most powerful magics I've ever seen in the multiverse, and believe me, I've seen a lot!

[Boisterous much?! He doesn't seem to see anything wrong with his ambitious boasts...]

Animal friends, though? Have you made many here?

[When he aided her at the Frozen Falls, she didn't have any animal companions with her - of course not, after all he also didn't bring his pokémon or winged bull on such a dangerous mission wth him.]

[ Rinoa raises her brows, a curious expression on her face. As someone with a remarkable grasp of her own magic, even if it doesn't always quite work as intended in this world, there's a part of her that is curious to know what the most powerful magic is that he's ever seen.

And isn't that funny? A little over a year ago, she'd never have dreamed of wanting to know. Her own magic, back then, was terrifying enough.

But that's a story for another place and time. A question, too, as he's already moving on, asking her about her animal friends. Rinoa smiles. ]

I have my dog Angelo here with me from home, and Felix, from the place I stayed before this. They usually come on missions with me, but I kept them home last time. [ Something had told her it would be too dangerous. ] I'm hoping to make more friends. We work well together.

[Granted, he's only seen Wendy's Sky Dragon Slayer magic, and since it's unique to her, he'll have to choose a different element, but he'd gladly gush about its versatility if he knew that Rinoa was curious! For now, though, he smiles as she tells him about her animal friends.]

You brought one from the last world you helped? You know, I didn't even consider that... but then again, the ones I had on Avalon were dinosaurs and pretty feral. I bet they'd only have misbehaved here, and the archaeopteryx would've felt lonely without its flock or swarm or whatever it's called.

[It remained a wild animal, only tame to the point where it'd respond to his call and carry him on its back - much like his winged bull here.]

Have you considered trying to tame one of the winged mounts that live in the Spring Segment? Or maybe a fairy dog? With as huge as those get, it could carry you too, and Angelo'd have a new friend.

[Then again, he's pretty sure that the dog isn't lonely. Rinoa and Felix aside, people here are generally good to pets and will entertain them if they meet them on walks.]

[ An archaeopteryx...? It sounds like a dinosaur, like a T-Rexaur, but she doesn't say as much for now. Instead, she listens to him, nodding her head in response to his question. ]

I'm glad they're both here. When I woke up in the Void, I was alone. I met Felix after some time, and then Angelo came later. It... would have been really hard to do it all over again, you know?

[ But she likes the ideas that he has too. A winged mount—sure, she can fly, but it would make it easier for Angelo and Felix to travel with her, if she had one, no need for Float spells. Fairy dogs, too... ]

Maybe I'll have to try looking around a little more! See what I can find. Those both sound like really good ideas, though.

[With how animal-friendly she is, he's sure that she'd have little trouble finding a mount of either kind to choose her. He wants to recommend getting a pokémon, too, but her mention of the Void attracts his attention.]

The Void? What was that like?

[He feels like he missed a memo there. Sure, she mentioned having come here from another world, but that name doesn't sound hospitable at all!]

The Void...

[ Rinoa falls quiet for a moment, and her hand reaches to her necklace, fiddling idly with the rings hung off the chain. ]

It was entirely different to Ellipsa. It never had an official name, or even its own people. We called it the Void because that's what it was, you know? When we first woke up there, there was nothing at all, just white space and a small group of us pulled from our worlds. And then, little by little, things started to appear. Places that belonged half to one of our worlds and half to another. Creatures that were the same. Felix, I adopted him from there... he's part rabbit, part cat, and part Pidgey—which is a type of Pokémon! Over time, more people appeared, and more places started to appear too. But compared to Ellipsa it was still so empty.

[ She smiles, her expression fond. ]

We... all of us there, I mean. We really grew to rely on each other. I was there for about a year, you know, and I changed a lot in that time.

[He listens attentively, always interested in other people's experiences across the multiverse. Once more, he counts himself lucky to always have been called to pre-existing and populated worlds. Prismatica, Avalon, now Ellipsa have all been very hospitable, all things considered.]

That sounds challenging alright. I've never been to a world like that that builds itself based on who visits it. How were you guys able to survive? I mean, what did you eat and drink?

You know, that's a really good question—at the start, a lot of us had it too, because... there actually wasn't any food or drink, anywhere. But... we also just... didn't feel hungry, not at first. It was like the Void didn't understand the human concept of needing to eat, and so we didn't need to either.

[ There was also no physical exertion, she remembers, thinking back to the day she hiked up a mountain with no effort whatsoever. ]

It wasn't until a while later that suddenly, we all got really, really, really hungry. It was around the same time that a marketplace appeared, so it was like the Void learned about food and also realized that we need it often, and suddenly we were all punished for having not eaten.

[ She laughs, shaking her head. ]

See what I mean? It was a really strange place.

It really sounds like a simulation that learns and develops over time. I'd have hated that. I'd have kept wondering if someone put us in there and was observing us.

[It'd have been such an unsettling feeling!]

It's good that you guys were able to make the most of it, though. Adversity does breed strength! How'd you get out in the end? Or were you sent here straight from there - or back home first?

[ She nods in response to that, offering him a small smile. ]

A lot of us wondered the same—if we were being watched somehow. Especially when the time came that this horrible place opened up with the ability to tap into all our worst nightmares. It was awful. But... we made friends, we found people. In the end, I felt lucky to have met them all.

[ As to his question, though? She shakes her head. ]

I went to sleep in my apartment there and woke up here, in the Spring Segment. No going home first. No saying goodbye to my friends there, either.

[What she describes reminds him of the memory portals they dealt with here, well before Rinoa arrived. Given what she's been through, he's glad that she was spared that experience. Even so, to have been torn away from that place without warning, without a chance to say farewell...]

I'm sorry. It's hard to understand, sometimes, how the multiverse works, pulling us here and there and everywhere. I hope you'll see them again, someday - and hopefully in a nicer place.

[It's all he can offer, along with the summer warmth still emanating from him. Actually--]

Why don't you make a wish for that?

[ She's still smiling fondly when he makes a suggestion for her wish. Her brows raise, her smile broadening in the next moment as she nods. ]

You know... that's kinda perfect, isn't it?

[ She looks up at the fireworks, silent for a moment as her hand lifts to her necklace. Her eyes close, and he'll see her lips working over some silent words, as if in prayer.

When she opens them again, she smiles up at him. ]

I feel a little better now, actually.

[ Not that she was unhappy before! But it's amazing, what a wish can do. ]

Edited 2025-03-09 11:28 (UTC)

[Oh, he knows how she feels. All of them had to leave loved ones behind, even those for whom this is the first multiverse adventure, and while he's returned to Prismatica multiple times with the portal crystal he was given at the end of his stay there, he wouldn't have a clue how to return to Avalon. He puts a hand on her shoulder for an encouraging squeeze (and is pleased to feel that his summer heat has warmed her skin to what should be a comfortable level).]

I'm glad. You never know, some of them may even find their way here!

[Whether they'd arrive from the same timeline and remember her, of course, is a whole other question.]

[ As much as Rinoa knows that many of her friends have important things to do, both those from her world and from others, there's a small part of her that can't help but smile at the thought of them coming here too. It's selfish, but... ]

That would be nice. We worked well together, you know? I learned a lot about myself while I was there. I don't think I'd be managing as well with all of this without the things that I learned from them... To be honest, when I first arrived there, I was still afraid of myself and the things I can do, just like the other people back home.

[ A pensive expression crosses her face briefly, but she shakes it off, and smiles. ]

Ah.. that's nothing to worry about, though...!

[Having seen what she might have become, back in the ice cave, he can't blame her for those lingering apprehensions, but it only makes him want to encourage her more.]

Damn right it isn't. From what I can tell, you've made all the right choices.

[Keeping his hand on her shoulder, he looks up as a particularly spectacular firework arrangement explodes in the night sky.]

Keep trusting yourself, and you have nothing to worry about.

[Does he know her well enough to make such a judgement call? Arguably not, no. But the strength she's shown in that confrontation with "herself" left no doubt in his mind that she has what it takes to face whatever other obstacles life will throw her way - all the less when she plays so well with others.]

Edited 2025-03-29 21:50 (UTC)

[ Whatever hint of pensiveness was left on her face is quickly gone; Rinoa smiles, genuine and honest, and offers Hijikata a nod. She's not sure that all her choices have been right, but to have someone back her up and support her... well, it's always made things a little easier in her mind when people do.

Still smiling, she turns her attention to the fireworks, and she nods. ]

Keep trusting myself, huh? That's something I think I can do. It's gotten me this far, right?

[ In curiosity, her head tilts, and she looks back to him. ]

Have any of your friends made it here?

Friends from home? No. But honestly, it's better that way. I'm glad to catch a break from those people.

[He grins, not entirely serious - yet on some level he is glad to not have to constantly herd and damage-control his poorly hinged peers here (~~even if that freedom may have brought ought some of his worse personality traits~~).]

From other worlds, though? Yes. A good number, even. The three who became my sworn sibling on Avalon all made it here - from the same timeline, with all their memories.

[Now, there's fondness in his voice. What were the chances? He'd already resigned himself to their goodbye having been forever when he left them behind in that magical world to return to his own - but even so, at least they got to say goodbye, having accomplished what they'd been called for. Rinoa, who was pulled away without warning, must have felt heartbroken for a long while.]

[ Her head tilts in curiosity. He does seem to be joking, but on the other hand, she has to wonder if it's been hard for him, not seeing anyone from his home...

although...

she thinks that if she could see one of her loved ones from the Void, that might be almost as good, too. ]

It's good that you have some people here you can rely on, then. I mean.. making new friends is good too, of course! I wouldn't have met you otherwise. Right?

[ But also, there's that longing, still. ]

That's right. Whether the powers that be will one day reunite us with those we left behind or not, we can only cherish the memories we've made and move forward.

[The final fireworks exploding overhead underline his words - even in this world of unchanging seasons, time moves on, and they're on the brink of a new year full of new challenges and opportunities. Wanting to encourage Rinoa, he raises a hand and sends a green fireball into the sky, where he makes it explode among the larger lights.]

Here's to us otherworlders working well together in the new year!

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NEW YEAR'S CONCERT/PARTY MINGLE OTA

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