Graveyard

[lesmodsalouette]

Graveyard

The garden is still sprawling and green – despite having entirely lost all its riotous flowers and colors, along with any sign of wildlife or birdsong – though one thing stands out more than anything else: from Monday to Thursday, you can’t see the castle anymore. All that remains where it once stood (or perhaps, usually stands) is an incongruously large tree that towers over everything else and somehow looks larger and more imposing than the castle ever did. The tree’s branches are bare, without any hint of life nor leaf – however, on the weekends (that is to say, Friday through Sunday) a faint projection of the castle appears around it, cradling the only things that the denizens of this alternate garden can see in detail from the other side: the flurry of activity around the investigation, the circus-like dimension that holds the trial, and the mirrors and the grassy dimension that display the execution.

For those curious what the land of the living are up to, a mirage-like and upside-down reflection of the castle garden in its original arrangement can be spotted occasionally overlaying the sky. This strange illusion may sometimes show those in the garden on the other side, flitting in and out of view like stray clouds; but much like the weather, their appearance is mercurial – they cannot be reached and cannot be heard.

Water, Flower, Everywhere

The fountains remain active somehow, though their features seem to have eroded, obscuring the identities of the deities and the wings of the birds, cracking pottery down into nothing but worn shards and handles. At night, only maybe half the lights work (and here they are real candlelight, rather than magical), plunging most of the garden into crepuscular darkness. The trellis walkway looks quite overgrown (mysteriously, bamboo is taking over), entirely covering some statues and other features along its length, and it’s no longer walkable – a miniature canal runs the whole length underneath the arches, feeding into other new waterways around the garden that cut off footpaths seemingly at random. There are small footbridges here and there, but the lack of logic to the whole arrangement makes falling into one of the streams or canals a real hazard.

The waterways do all manage to converge at the pond by the pavilion – neither of which are all that soothing or classical anymore. The pond is only half-full, and entirely lacks water lilies or any dragonflies; its banks sit jagged above the dark waters, and perhaps that’s why the pavilion, too, is half collapsed down into it all. Gone are the curtains and ivies; only dead curling vines and half-collapsed columns are left, but there’s still someplace to sit if you put your mind to it.

Most of the flowerbeds sit fallow or overtaken by weeds – there’s signs here and there that someone might have tried to clear them out, but the bulk of the effort seems to have gone to the orchard by the gardener’s cottage. It might be more accurate to say cottages, given that there are a few of them dotted around that area for some reason. None of them are locked, but all of them have only minimal furnishings apart from the original; they’re also all provided with the full complement of gardener’s tools. Next to them, there are new saplings and half-grown flowering trees: some pear and apple, but also some not. There are new shoots in the kitchen orchard that have just barely taken root, the dirt recently turned.

Hedge Maze(?)

The other most eye-catching feature is what once was an ornamental hedge maze: instead of being a tame height here, it has seemingly grown wild and completely unchecked, towering above the rest of the garden almost like its own overgrown mountain. The hedge walls go up and up and up, making it entirely impossible to see the center or even how far it goes despite the fact that sections of the hedges have also died, reduced to the branches underneath, bristling with interlocked thorns.

Part of it had even spilled over into the garden itself, huge gnarled branches spreading out like burnt-blackened fingers all the way to the edge of the pond – wherever the branches touch, even the greenery is withered, and any statues look more ruined than those in the rest of the area. As of the end of Week 3, however, the branches have retracted entirely and the way into the hedge maze has opened even more. However, there is now a storm brewing over what might be the center or the general area of it. Getting close to the hedge maze or any of the hedge(?) branches is... unpleasant, though it doesn’t usually go beyond a buzz of wrongness and a slight headache.

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Comments

gathering of souls

[siffriend]

[ Siffrin has

such experience with this now but frankly, it is not getting any easier, even with... such belief pushing him forward, not wishing to disappoint those with expectations. Maybe it's because of those that it's still hard, actually.

(You think your family members wouldn't recognize you. Or they'd be surprised; they'd always said that as long as you weren't worried, there was nothing to worry about. That as long as you were quiet, the waters were too. That sort of thing.)

Regardless! As the tree comes into bloom, as Siffrin's heard out Sabo's deal, it's important, to him, that... everyone is accounted for, and maybe they cannot stop Shiv from stabbing Hickey every chance she gets, or from Andrew wanting to do the same, but that's going to be future Siffrin's problems and present Siffrin's problems only include trying to make sure he has everything he wants to put out in mind.

Everyone is sought out to sit in the gardener's cottage, mostly for Yamanbagiri's benefit since he's going to be central to this, and they will make sure everyone has their drink and snack of choice before taking the floor with a quiet clearing of their throat.

(Back on stage, with a script of your own making. How novel!) ]

So, um. There's... a few things I wanted to bring up. And talk about. Sabo's wish, the meeting we... all mostly saw and everything from that, um. The memories in the maze. Ours, and...

[ Their gaze turns to Yamanbagiri. ]

Yours.

[ ... Back to everyone at large. ]

We're connected to the other side. By our objects. So we should try and make as much contact with them, too. That's another point. Um. And...

[ ... ]

And... I want to go back. [ Softly. ] I have to. For my family members. So we should... figure out, if maybe... we can contact The Witch, catch his eye, and... work out a deal, too. For all of us.

[ They know that not everyone feels the same. Especially with empty hands. But Siffrin needs to go back, and that's fact. They're sure that Yamanbagiri wants to too, and the reflections... Maybe. As well. Just in case, for all of them. ]

[vivens]

[ ...the object lore. ]

Some of the last things that I spoke to Ish about was that he would try to bring...us back if my wish for him worked the way I hoped it would.

[ which i, naru, have no idea when this meeting is taking place, so if this is before ish makes his announcement (though i guess they wouldn't be able to hear it..? or maybe. STARES IN TIMELINES.) then they can keep guessing. or if this is after then maybe there's less guessing. regardless, the point that siffrin is making here is what should be focused on anyway. ]

Regardless, I'm sure that getting his attention to know where to look for us—if he's able to do something about it—would be a great place to start.

[ hmmm. ]

Should we coordinate a sort of game plan so that we're all on the same page as to what we want to communicate when we're given an opportunity?

[ but sabo doesn't want to speak for everyone or tell them what to do. ]

[distain]

What's the price of that? [Whatever magic would bring them back, if Sabo's wish had worked the way he planned it to.] Did he say what it would cost him or someone else?

[Sabo has a pretty strong investment in Ish's suffering and experiences, so she is careful to include him.]

He said he likes being outdoors. [And they are the most outdoors you can get, it seems.] That might get his attention.

[vivens]

He made it sound as though he would be able to do it with whatever he gains from having access to the record. What would be impossible could be possible...

[ what do you mean by this shay? sabo has an equal investment with everyone here?? he wants everyone (maybe not necessarily himself) to get out of things alive and well? that was not a lie? ]

Explains why he was either at the grotto or in the greenhouse.

[ thinks. ]

Could we do something with this tree and the hedge? Form something that could make it obvious that it's us trying to communicate.

[siffriend]

We should decorate it.

[ Why not. ]

[distain]

[She is contentedly drinking tea and not entertaining any thoughts of stabbing. Probably. For the time being. Come sit down, Siffrin.]

We want them in the garden as much as possible, right? That's where the veil is thinnest, more or less. [It's an extremely abbreviated way of describing the link between spaces, but the nuance is probably less important right now.]

[siffriend]

[ Please and thank you they will. ]

Yeah. Then we might be able to communicate better, too.

[distain]

I think my object is a rat. How on earth am I supposed to communicate through that? [Deadpan.

She's probably calling them rats on purpose at this point. It stopped for a while there, but now, well, come on.]

Point them to the shed?

hey chat it's your friendly(??) neighborhood sword spirit, AMA

[fillintheblanket]

We all have somewhere to get back to.

[It's matter-of-fact, without the nostalgia that Siffrin put into it, but whether that's because of Yamanbagiri's flat affect or because he's pulled down his blanket hood to muffle it is anyone's guess.

Either way, he's here, tucked on a couch and back down to one layer of cloak. He has a cup of what looks like wine, holding and turning it now and again. He doesn't really sip from it for now.]

... If you think contacting the Witch Ish would be useful, then that can be a strategy. There's also... [...] Something that we could offer him. It has to do with me, and all of you, and being here in this place.

[siffriend]

[ Oh.





Well, that was easy-- ]

I've been all ears since I lost my eye.

[ They will use this joke until they get tired of it, so never. ]

[fillintheblanket]

[Yamanbagiri stops tugging his blanket down and there's a flash of a raised eyebrow for a moment.]

You have some interesting ears.

[Deadpan. He pauses, and then goes on casually.]

Those on the other side learned some new things. It confirmed what I was already suspecting about how this place works -- it's probably connected to me. And now, to you.

That's part of why the maze works the way it does.

[vivens]

[ squints.

sabo isn't a fan of people offering themselves up for things but, at the same time, it's not like he knows what's the deal of things going on down here. "down"??? wherever the fuck they are. ]

Something that you could offer him?

[fillintheblanket]

[Yamanbagiri looks placid under all the gazes including the squinting, even though he looks like he's hiding under his blanket most of the time -- you don't get the sense that he's actually actively hiding except in certain instances.

He nods after a moment.]

I probably don't know as much about his magic as you do.

[He isn't always in the graveyard ceiling, but sometimes y'all are yapping out in the gardens.]

But usually, magic and rituals done as a group is more powerful than just an individual. That's how it works where I come from. A lot of it has to do with me, but all of you are connected, too.

[outdistanced]

Does that include us, too?

[ say no that's the funniest answer ]

[fillintheblanket]

... The Witch Ish might know that better than me. I don't know if he remembers you all, either.

[Y'all are Schrodinger's super-ghosts until further notice. Maybe Schrodinger's super-ghosts in super-graveyard.]

[distain]

Does it have anything to do with the memories we no longer have of being here - or there - before? I suppose even if we hadn't died, we've given up pieces of ourselves. [The shared memories of the interviews... the thin-but-now-dimensional Deeper Ghosts around them...]

[fillintheblanket]

You could say that. That it has to do with those memories that have seemingly disappeared with the loops -- even if you don't remember, something remembers. That's the basis for tsukumogami, in some ways, and it's the way things work where I come from.

Which is why I think that it has to do with me, and in turn with you.

You're here, and you can affect this place. That will be important for our negotiations.

[outdistanced]

[ hello there is a ghost here with y'all. he's perched himself on the arm of a chair, hands in his pockets. sit normally. ]

What "deal?"

[siffriend]

[ No keep it up, Siffrin respects the disrespect of furniture. ]

I'd like all of us to be able to leave. That's all.

[ A simple wish. All, including him and the other super-ghosts. And maybe it's impossible, but-- he'd still like to try.

No promises, to someone alive. But they can try. ]

I don't think it has to be too carefully worded. He's fine with ironing out details, too. And... The Witch might be a jerk, but...

[ ... ]

But he isn't impossible to get through. Not like someone else I've dealt with before.

[outdistanced]

"Not impossible" is still setting a pretty low bar. And it's not much of a deal if you don't have anything to offer, is it? Sounds like all you've got is some way to talk to them?

[ that said. hm. ]

...I do want to go home, if I can. [ gestures at manba over there. ] Sounds like we're a little different than you guys, though.

[vivens]

[ waves!

here's a face that he knows but also doesn't at the same time. ]

I suppose you're from a time before our's?

[outdistanced]

I guess so. I don't remember a whole lot about it.

[thesharpestroy]

[Well, Shiv is used to making deals. She folds her arms in thought.]

If Sabo's bargain works like it's supposed to, then Ish doesn't have any more reasons to keep us here. What I'm wondering is if it's gonna be as simple as it sounds. We might wanna think about a backup if the record ends up full of shit or he renegs on the promise. Just to keep our options open.

[There's something nagging at her, anyway: if it's just a clean "send everybody home," isn't that the same as saying the fact that Ayaka and Richard got away with murdering her is okay? Is she supposed to accept that?]

[siffriend]

The Witch won't go back on his word. If he promises something, he'll keep it. But... it might not be fully within his power, so... a back up would be good.

[ But what... ]

If we can connect with things there, then... I wonder... if maybe, like how some of the others here were before, [ with a gesture to Lawrence, ] we could show up in reflections, too. The windows and clockfaces. Stuff like that.

[ And then, maybe, a little easier for a firmer connection to...

...

Draw them back...? ]

[inefficient]

...I would like to go home, as well. I have people to return to.

[ It's probably the most emotion Nano's shown here. It's also probably the most anything she's shown here, considering that she, like Laurence, has now appeared in the same physical space as the others. Still a ghost, but at least she's a ghost who knows how to sit on chairs. ]

If there is anything I can do to assist, I will do it.