04 ☄ Video ☄

[waterformybath]

[Howl finally feels brave enough to show his face (and his lovely dark hair) on the communicators. You may catch a glimpse of a mirror in the background, floating behind his head.]

While I quite enjoy looking at myself in the mirror, I think having one follow me around is a bit much. Is this the sort of punishment the Rulers typically deliver?

Comments

[eldestdaughter]

So you've no idea what's going on either?

[Sophie has one behind her too, but somehow she looks much more lovely then before.]

[waterformybath]

I certainly didn't conjure them.

[He can only summon light winds right now, and-- hey, wait. Since when did Sophie look so...bewitching?

Howl stares for few seconds longer than normal then tears his eyes away, glancing at his mirror (which has come around to hover beside him). The grinning, one-eyed man in the reflection is wearing the same clothes he wore when he arrived here. Does that mean that's who he'll become?]

[eldestdaughter]

Don't look at it!

[Sophie's voice is sharp and startled.]

They have strange people in them!

[They remind her of the Witch of the Waste, as if those mirror people were going to take over somehow. Especially with how they move.]

[waterformybath]

[He looks at her quickly, startled by the yell.]

Blood and bloody ashes, Sophie! He seems friendly enough. Why...?

[eldestdaughter]

[His reply seems to make her even more upset. Her beautiful brows furrow with worry.]

Just don't ... look at it. I'll be over in a minute.

[She's already running over to your house. You're going to give her premature grey hairs Howl!]

[waterformybath]

All right...

[He doesn't realise anything is wrong. To him, saying that phrase is completely normal! When he hears rapid footsteps approaching, he starts to get up and meet her at the door.

(She'll notice that his hair isn't completely black any more though it's dark enough to pass for it. And his eyes are tinged slightly hazel.]

[eldestdaughter]

[When he opens the door she stares deep into his eyes, her own blue eyes seeming bigger and more inviting then they normally are. Her hair windswept and loose over her shoulders. She wraps her arms around his shoulders and hugs him tightly.]

Don't you dare look in that mirror again.

[seeringlight]

The mirror is following you? [She took a quick glance at the one in her room. She had been home all day, so nothing seemed out of the blue with hers. She didn't look at it long, though. It was suspicious and she was glad that her cynicism made her automatically wary of receiving an unwarranted gift.]

Mine has yet to move, but I haven't lingered to see what it will do. I am sure that my reflection is trying to bore its eyes into me as we speak.

[waterformybath]

[Since Howl has been moving about, yes, the mirror has begun to follow him.]

What does your reflection look like, if I may ask?

[seeringlight]

I rather not. Mostly, because I would not want to see what travesty the mirror would try to relay to me as my denizen is usually described as an elderly man who rules the many realms and I am but a young girl who enjoys fine literature.

I hope you realize how weird that would be to look at. I will either be a rather gorgeous, old man or perhaps something even odder.

(Video or text...?)

[waterformybath]

I can't imagine a young girl such as yourself wouldn't like to see her reflection showing anything but her youth. To see an old man instead...

[Sorry! It was meant to say Audio]

[seeringlight]

I'm not all that bothered about it. It's probably another ploy from our generous caretakers to keep us flabbergasted. At the very least, it's nice to know what I could end up looking like.

Actually, that is far less pleasant.

[no problem o7; oops, then Howl can't see her...]

[waterformybath]

It's strange though: I thought this island would transform us into some sort of fairytale characters, but I've never heard of the name of this man I'm meant to be turning into.

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[fools_journey]

... yes. When I first arrived there were packages following us around. They exploded in glitter. ... I just hope the mirrors don't explode, too.

[ Minato's mirror is following him, too, though the boy is ignoring it for the moment. It seems he's been looking in it a bit, though, as his own hair has started to turn black. He periodically reaches back to scratch between his shoulder blades, too - something's itching there. ]

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[waterformybath]

It would be dangerous if these mirrors exploded, so I sincerely hope they don't. Glass can leave infected cuts.

[He doesn't notice the slight colour change to Minato's hair, attributing it to the lighting. Howl's own eyes though, while mostly blue, have a tinge of hazel to them.]

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[fools_journey]

Mm. Me, too. ... if people get cut, though, I think I can heal them. Teddie can heal, as well.

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[waterformybath]

[Not for the first time, he wishes he had his potion ingredients with him...]

You're a magic user as well?

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[fools_journey]

Sort of, yeah. We ... didn't exactly call it magic where I am from, but I guess it is.

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[waterformybath]

[It's all the same thing to Howl, no matter how this 'magic' is used or manifests.]

I usually can't heal, myself. I have to make potions. In any case, it's better if no-one gets hurt to begin with, so let's hope the mirrors don't explode like those packages you mentioned.

[Video]

[beautifulmemory]

[Mia is always a strange cat lady, but with the image of the cheshire cat in her mirror nearby, it may seem like the mirror is affecting her dramatically. Whoops.]

A punishment? What a strange punishment. I wouldn't assume that it would be.

[Video]

[waterformybath]

The note the Rulers left says it is a token of their appreciation, but it surely can't be. Not after they tried to imprison and kill us.

[Video]

[beautifulmemory]

Kill? I must have missed that. Mind telling me about it?

[Video / filtered]

[waterformybath]

[He turns on the filter option, just in case the Rulers get angry at something he says.]

Francis and a friend of his organised the building of a ship to take us away from the island. But just as we had begun to sail, two of the Rulers - I think they were Justice and Judgement - appeared on the beach with a hoard of minions and captured us all. They took us to the castle but someone called The World locked them and the rest temporarily in a dungeon and let us explore. Only they broke free and still imprisoned us, trapping us in a dream.

I'm not sure what happened next, but we were all woken up and then the wall disappeared, letting us escape into the forest. I'm fairly sure the wild animals in there were meant to kill us.

[Video / filtered]

[beautifulmemory]

[A filter! Fascinating. Mia's looking strangely amused and intrigued by this.]

I see... the Arcana, huh?

[Strange, she never quite thought of the arcana when she heard the phrase "The World". But maybe it did have some significance, in a somewhat irrelevant way.]

Sounds like they're fairly set on us staying. It could be worse, of course.

[Video / filtered]

[waterformybath]

How could it be worse? They kill us if we try and get away from this island!

[Howl hasn't been in Arcanarum long enough to realise the significance of the Rulers being named after the Arcana. He doesn't even know the island is named after that.]