016 | The Good Old Days

[godsoffortune]

Who: Everyone!
What: Ageswapping
When: July 15-17
Where: Everywhere
Summary: A breach in the space-time continuum is messing things up.

Edit: OVERFLOW is here!



The Far Shore has been dealing with a lot of space-time pulsating through the past week or so and everything is culminating on the night of the 15th, even though the Heavens are preparing for an all-out Obon bash. They had planned to have the celebration on the 15th itself, but Amaterasu asked to postpone a day due to the horrible feeling that is permeating the Far Shore.

And it turns out she was right to postpone everything. In fact, it will have to be postponed another whole month at this rate...



Before

Late in the day on July 15th, the new batch of shinki will arrive to a Far Shore with a thick, tense atmosphere. All night on the 15th it feels like something is about to happen - and it's difficult to tell whether that something will be good or bad. Any attempts to contact the management of the Far Shore have fallen on deaf, slightly harried ears and so everyone is left to their own devices to try and figure out why things are so tense.

July 16

Just after midnight, an explosive shock wave rips through the Far Shore, bringing on the age changes with it. Even the spirits of the Far Shore seem to be affected - for example, the library goblins are either toddling around on wobbly legs or are dragging themselves from place to place and looking decrepit. There are a few gods and shinki that seem to have been exceptions from the change, though it is not clear why.

July 17

Another wave of energy comes in the early morning of the 17th. Fewer people are affected this time and it seems to alter those people's ages a second time. There is no rhyme or reason to who is being affected further. Several of the library goblins have just dropped dead from severe old age. Oops.

Aftermath

Late on the 17th brings about one final burst from the energy that has been plaguing the Far Shore. For a short moment, every new temple glows with a soft light, seeming to beckon to their owners. But the light is gone quickly and everyone will find themselves back to normal with complete memories of everything that happened during their age adventures. The goblins that died, though, are still very dead. Looks like the library will need to get some new help soon.

In Summary:

• Meet the newbies
• Get aged or de-aged
• Deal with other too young/too old people
• Try to handle the consequences
• Have fun~

Comments

[erogappa]

[ Gojyo's at the end of the lane, staring up at the sky and wondering if he knows how to make a kite. He knows what a kite is -- he's not stupid! -- but more than that, he knows that there's a bunch of different ways that a kite can look. And he's pretty sure that one of those ways is a homemade kind of thing, with... with a piece of newspaper, maybe? And some straight twigs? And...

But then there's a golden-haired little boy bounding up to him, and Gojyo forgets about kites. ]

Hi? [ Do they know each other? ] I'm Gojyo.

[solaris9]

[ He smiles brightly. ]

​I'm Goku!

[ Nope, they don't know each other ... yet! But he sure wants to get to know you. He looks up at the spot in the sky where Gojyo was looking. ]

Whatcha lookin' at?

[erogappa]

[ Goku introduced himself, so apparently they don't know each other! That's a relief. He'd feel really bad if he went out to meet a friend and they didn't know him! ]

The wind. See? [ There's a bird of some kind soaring way high up in the blue, the lazy circles of a predator. ] If birds can fly like that way high up, then it means it's a good day to fly a kite!

[solaris9]

Ooh.

​[ Goku likes birds. He's quite sure about this somehow, as he watches the one in the sky soaring above their heads. The sky is so wide open. He wishes he could fly, too. ]

You have a kite?? I wanna see!

[erogappa]

Not yet.

[ Gojyo slides easily into the role of big brother, grinning at Goku with the pride of an older boy who knows a really good secret. ]

I'm gonna make one. [ Because he's just that awesome, okay? ] You wanna help?

[solaris9]

​Okay!!

[ He's never made one before (not that he remembers, anyway). But he can learn, right? Gojyo is already cool for knowing how. ]

What color's it gonna be?

[erogappa]

Depends on what kind of paper we can find!

[ He knows how to make it with newsprint, and can readily picture a brightly colored kite made from a sheet of the funnies drifting through a clear blue sky. But maybe there's other kinds of paper around here that would work?

He points behind Goku back at the temple. ]

Is there anything in there we can use?

[solaris9]

[ Because of course, the color of the kite is important! Goku is big believer in colors. The more and brighter the better. He likes yellow a lot. And green, and blue, and orange.

He looks back in the direction Gojyo points. Oh. That's the house he just snuck out of. But if he was sleeping there, then maybe that's where he lives? Yeah, probably. The place looks big from here, so he just assumes it's got some paper. It has to! ]

I guess we can look. Come on!

[ Which is how Goku ends up inviting his brand new friend into his probably-house to look for colorful paper. The day is going way better than before. ]

[erogappa]

[ If Gojyo knows one thing, it's that houses have paper in them! The disaster of a house he woke up in (that wasn't a house so much as a tower with a clock in it, which would have been the collest thing ever if he weren't too busy at the time freaking out) was full of paper. And screws. And rubber bands, and bits of metal and plastic and colored glass and anything else a boy might want to build a truly amazing something with.

Ah, but then a thought occurs to him, halfway up the walkway. ]

Is there anyone else here?

[ Because then they might have to sneak into the house. Like thieves! Or spies. ]

[solaris9]

I dunno, [ Goku says in a hushed voice. He really doesn't. He just hid stayed in his room until morning and then hurried out of there without checking. He'd actually like it if people lived there, too. It's such a big house and all for just him. ]

I didn't see anyone.

[ But he didn't go around checking all the rooms, either... ]

Do you live with someone?

[erogappa]

[ WELL THEN guess they'd better just sneak into the house like thieves, just to be safe. Tiptoeing. Peering around corners before stepping around them. Pausing every now and then and listening hard for footsteps. ]

There was some guy there when I woke up. [ And, totally casually: ] I beat him up. [ Oh yeah. He's badass. ]

[solaris9]

You beat him up?? [ Goku is in awe! Gojyo has just shot up on the coolness scale. (He doesn't ask if the guy deserved it or not...he already thinks Gojyo is cool beans, so it's not like he'd just go around kicking people for no reason!) ]

You must be real strong!

[erogappa]

I guess.

[ Yup, he's the coolest! ]

He wasn't a kid, either. I mean, he was practically an adult.

[ Hey, what's down this hallway? ]

[solaris9]

[ They sneak inside the house, and it looks a lot less spooky in daylight. And walking the halls with Gojyo, who beats up grown-ups, he feels bolder. ]

I dunno any adults, yet. Are they mean here?

[ He reaches for a doorknob and tries it. It turns. He opens the door slowly and peeks inside. There's no one in there, so he sneaks in, holding the door open for Gojyo. It smells like paper and books in here. ]

[erogappa]

Well, somebody kidnapped us and brought us here, right?

[ What's this, a library? What kind of a house has a library with so many books? One shelf of books, sure, that sounds normal, but lots of books? That's just weird.

Maybe they're spies. Maybe whoever lived here had all these books because they were a spy for the enemy! Gojyo sneaks over to the nearest shelf and takes down a thick, heavy book, flipping through the pages of dense text. He can only read about half of it. ]

Bet they wanna do experiments on us. I bet that's what this is.

[solaris9]

Oooh. I guess. [ He hasn't thought about being kidnapped! Or being experimented on, whatever that means. Goku widens his eyes and follows Gojyo around the room as he pulls a book off and opens it. ]

Like ... how? Have you been expe....rimented on?

[erogappa]

[ These pages are thin enough to make into a kite, but they're kinda small and not nearly colorful enough. ]

I think so. I can't remember anything before this morning, so that's probably from the experimentin'.

[ But there's some larger books on that bottom shelf over there, much taller than the one he's got. Shoving the book back into the shelf (upside-down, but who cares about things like that?) he pulls one of the bigger books out, and voila! Pictures! ]

There! That's better.

[solaris9]

​Really??

[ How can adults do that? They can experiment the memories out of your head? Now Goku's eyes are as big as saucers. He can't really think about picture books while thinking about the kidnapping and everything else. ]

Cuz I can't remember anything either. I didn't know anyone at all. [ And yeah, he ran out of the house just so he could look for the other other people in the world. ]

[erogappa]

See? That's what I'm talking about! They probably took all your memories out, too.

[ Gojyo, your bedside manner is atrocious.

He flips through the book, looking for a good page to tear out and turn into a kite. But the more he flips, the more he has to accept that these pages are still too small, and they're pretty heavy, besides. He really needs big sheets of newsprint for this to work right. ]

Hey, do you see any newspapers?

[solaris9]

[ Oh no! What kind of bad people go around stealing memories from kids anyway? Goku stands there unhappily, not sure what to do about this terrible thing. ]

Are you sure, Gojyo? Why would they do that?

[ He's not going to cry, of course not. Even though trying to think about his lost memories and WHY someone would take them makes him feel very bad. ]

[erogappa]

[ What? No, hey, it's not that bad! Gojyo abandons the search for newspapers (maybe in the desk? ...He'll check the desk in a minute) to come and drape an arm around Goku's shoulders. ]

It's gonna be okay! You just stick with me, okay? I won't let any of those assholes do anything to you, promise.

[solaris9]

[ But he just said they already took away their memories...

Still, Gojyo is being nice and Goku hates being totally mopey in front of his new friend. He nods and nods. ]

Okay, you promise.