recolle | [OPEN] world’s gone insane

WHO: Ragna and YOU
WHERE: Places all around Recollé
WHEN: Throughout October
WHAT: Nightmares, fog stuff and being a Halloween killjoy
WARNINGS: Blood, violence, giant monster of nightmare fuel variety

A. trick or treat?

[Finally, the time everyone has been waiting for all year has arrived: Halloween! Or, more precisely, October, but let's be real, people have been getting into the spirit of the holiday since mid-August. Now they can shamelessly put up decorations, pick and try on costumes, order nothing but pumpkin spice stuff and even do some early trick-or-tricking to their hearts content.

Ragna, however, is not one of those people. In fact, he loathes this dumb holiday and everyone who makes such a big deal out of it. He gives every person who's wearing a costume a stink eye and grunts every time he passes by some decorations (or shivers, if they depict ghosts). Long story short, you'd have to be either crazy or really desperate to try and play the good, old trick or treat game with him. And perhaps you are; or maybe you're around watching someone else try that with him. Either way, his response remains the same:]

Do I look like I'm into that shit? No? Good, 'cause I ain't. Now get lost.

[This is the worst. Why can't October be over yet?]

B. why does it always have to be ghosts

[He's heard the rumors alright. About Those Things He Does Not Speak Of. But as much as he hates it, that kind of stuff is normal around this time of the year. Of course people are gonna talk about zombies, vampires, werewolves and... them. Ragna has always found all of that stupid, though this year is slightly different: thanks to his memories he got back a few months ago, he's fairly certain he's known both a vampire (who was a spoiled brat) and a werewolf (who was an old geezer) at some point; as such, he can't help but listen to conversations about those, if only to check if what he remembers matches the common interpretation (it hardly does).

Ghosts, however, are an entirely different matter.

It's not unusual for him to be a little more... jumpy than usual when Halloween is just around the corner, but the ghost rumors only make it worse, especially when they're accompanied by seemingly innocent but inexplicable incidents. The door opening on its own. Utensils at the café he works at being misplaced. Items falling from shelves sometimes. Ragna stubbornly chooses to remain in denial about those being the work of the supernatural, but to be frank, he's running out of excuses for why those things happen in the first place.

Given all that, it shouldn't be a surprise to see him shiver nervously when a trash can falls over next to him as he's walking down the street.]

What the eff was tha─

[He stops mid-sentence as he turns around just in time to face a semi-transparent spirit floating above the fallen trash can, giggling at its own prank.

Ragna's high-pitched scream that follows startles the poor ghost which fades into the darkness of the night, leaving you to deal with one traumatized idiot.]

C. nightmare fiction

[Dreams are weird; one never quite remembers how their begin, and instead find themselves right in the middle of the action. It's no different this time ─ when Ragna comes to, he's standing in the middle of... what is this place, exactly? A cathedral of some sort, if he were to guess. It feels like he's seen it somewhere, but he can't quite recall where. Before he can figure that out, a low grunt near his feet draws his attention and he glances down, his eyes widening at the grim sight before him.

The floor is practically littered with bodies, all covered in cuts and dark blood seeping from the injuries. Some of the corpses appear to be dressed in identical, blue uniforms, quite possibly of a police or military force. Others, however, are the residents of Recollé ─ both users of Retrospec and those unrelated to it. A person who enters this nightmare might even recognize some of them as people they've seen around the city, friends, family...

Ragna feels sick. He wants to avert his gaze from the carnage, to scream and run away from here, but finds himself unable to do so. Finally, he forces himself to look down at his hands, desperately hoping it would prove him wrong, but that hope crumbles to dust as his suspicions are confirmed.

His hands are covered in warm blood.]

That... wasn't me. I didn't─

[If only he could believe his own lie.]

D. number of the beast

[This month hasn't been kind to Ragna. Between the ghosts roaming around the city and the overly realistic nightmares, it's no wonder he hasn't been getting much rest. In fact, he's pretty exhausted and pays the surrounding fog little attention until he finally realizes something about it feels off. Ever since stepping into the fog, his body has been feeling lighter, and at this point it's almost like he's floating instead of walking. Or is it more like growing numb? It's hard to tell. Blaming it all on being tired, Ragna sighs and turns to the nearest shop windows, expecting to see his pale, weary face and shadows under his eyes.

Instead, he finds himself facing what appears to be a huge, blood-red eye.

"What... the fuck is that?!"

Ragna yells─ no, he thinks, because try hard as he may, his voice won't come out. He tries to step away, but his body won't move ─ at least not the way he wants, almost as if he no longer has control over it.

Anyone wandering in the fog might hear a loud growl as a giant shadow raises above the streets. Approach at your own risk; it will attack anyone it comes across, Ragna's personal feelings on his own (?) actions be damned.]

E. wildcard

[Come at me with anything October-related or hit me up at psychelocks to discuss if there's something you wanna do!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Tonight, the fog creates a dim,
eerie hallway, with flickering lamps reflected in the mirrors along the walls and the shards of glass littered all over the floor. Footsteps can be heard in the distance, and it doesn't take long for the maker of the footsteps to come into view.

It's Miles Edgeworth, and he halts in his tracks at the sight of Ragna to catch his breath, and also in surprise, as he was not expecting to find someone else here...but somehow, he knew Ragna was not part of whatever was going on and was more likely to have walked straight into this new apparition.]

[The fog is bad enough on its own, but once it clears up just enough to reveal a hallway completely unfamiliar to him, Ragna stops dead in his tracks. The approaching footsteps aren't helping and he really hopes it's not a ghost (do those even have footsteps??) ─ and for once, his prayers have been heard, since the man that emerges doesn't look even remotely transparent or spirit-y.

Ragna frowns at the newcomer, folding his arms as he speaks up.]

So I'm guessing either the mart has overdone the Halloween decorations or I took the wrong turn left and this ain't Kansas anymore.

[For all his sarcasm, he really wishes this turned out to be the former; he's not exactly in the mood for any supernatural bullshit right now, much less when it takes the form of a creepy corridor that looks like a horror movie setup.]

I can only wish it were the former. [Being an athlete, Miles recovers relatively quickly from his sprint and straightens up.]

But if it were the latter, both of us must have taken a wrong turn. [He glances around, his heart still racing in his chest. The feeling of being watched makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Luckily for both of them, the hallway seems deserted save the two of them...for now.]

[Ragna pays his surrounding little attention, knowing focusing on it too hard would only unsettle him. It looks pretty damn spooky in here and he wants nothing but to get out of here.]

Then I guess all that's left for us is to turn around and leave, no? No way in hell I'm staying here.

[He tries to keep his voice casual, like this isn't a strange and extremely unnerving situation to find yourself in. He's never willing to admit he's scared, not even to people he knows, so of course he's gonna play it cool in front of a stranger. With a resigned sigh and a shrug, Ragna does as he said, spinning around and walking in what he hopes is the direction of the exit.]

I don't plan on staying long, either.

[Miles watches Ragna go before following him at a brisk pace. That direction seems to be a good idea, if only because he doesn't want to go back from where he came and see what was chasing him. He tries to keep his composure and suppresses a shudder rippling through his body. There was no point in freaking out, especially if there was a way out.

Hopefully that WAS the way out.]

I've never seen this place before. I don't make it a habit to visit haunted houses.

[He figures that must be it. Miles was not fond of haunted houses (if only because he mostly thought they were dumb and people were weird for walking into them for a scare) but he knew they'd be designed to instill suspense.]

[Ragna isn't the type to make small talk, so he rolls his eyes when Miles speaks up. He's not in a mood to discuss their surroundings, and he's ready to snap back at the other man, but instead he jumps a little when he hears the word forbidden in his presence, especially under current circumstances.]

H-Haunted? D-Don't say shit like that!

[There isn't anything else this place could be, really, but the denial is strong in this one.]

What?!

[When Ragna jumps and suddenly cries out about haunted houses, Miles is startled and halts abruptly in his tracks. What the heck, man.]

So what if it is? Whether it is a haunted house or not, we need to leave it.

N-Nothing. C'mon, let's hurry up.

[Obviously. There's "nothing" suspicious about how his voice is trembling. Ragna picks up the pace, now wanting to leave even more than before.]

I take it there wasn't any exit where you came from?

[He'd only been walking down the corridor a few minutes before bumping into Miles himself, so they should be out of this place any moment now... yet the street is nowhere in sight.]

No.

[He blurts that out before he could point out the other man's trembling voice. But after a moment...]

Something...or someone...is following me and came from that same direction.

[Miles jerks a thumb over to where he had been.]

[The cathedral isn't anywhere Rose knows, but aside from that, the situation is almost sickeningly familiar. Blood on their hands, people both familiar and strange dead at their feet. She sees the face of one of her sisters among the bodies here, and she quickly turns her gaze away from it, but again, it's nothing she hasn't seen before.

She's dreamed something similar too many times herself.]

Hey. [She calls out softly, none of the usual roughness in her voice. Like this, it's not hard to believe she's an older sister.] It's okay. I know it wasn't you.

[Of course she doesn't think Ragna would do something like this, no matter what their old "memories" might lead them to believe. But she also thinks that if she can think that way for Ragna, maybe she can convince herself of the same thing.]

[OPEN] world’s gone insane

WILDCARD just like we discussed

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c. and five million years late oh my god