Quiet Mounds: heart game

[flamingprick]

[So you fell asleep! It's okay, that happens. Everyone's gotta sleep, after all.

But what's important here is that, instead of waking up wherever you were, you will wake up in a rather dark hallway. There are no windows, so the only light comes from the occasional chandelier hanging down from the tall ceiling, casting long shadows that may look like they're moving if you catch them out of the corner of your eye.

Despite how long this hallway is, there are only five doors in total. Two on the left, two on the right, and one right at the end of the hallway. On the left there is a simple wooden door with '1-F' written on it, and a little further down is a sliding rice paper door. On the right there is a steel gate leading to what looks like a dark forest, and then further down is a wooden door with a cross on it. The door at the end of the hall looks like it's made of gold, and there is a bloody handprint on it.

The first four doors are unlocked, but the fifth can't be opened for the time being. You also can't go backwards down the hall, it will eventually end in a solid wall.

Where do you go?]

((OOC: the first four rooms can be explored in any order, so feel free to go about this in whatever way you want! There will be differences depending on the order in which you explore things though.))

Comments

[flamingprick]

[The inside of the little temple is just one large room. Despite being dark from the outside, inside there are several candles placed about on small shelves on the walls, providing some light.

In the middle of the room is a long table with five seemingly identical swords in a row, all placed in sword stands. They all seem to have been made the same, but there are minor differences between each of them.

Kevin can inspect the swords to see the differences (including touching them), or he can just pick up one of the swords. What will he do?]

[rightwingman]

[Kevin's actually going to inspect... the candles!

He's going to pinch them out one-by-one and relight them with a snap of his own magic.]

[flamingprick]

[It works just fine! The candles are normal candles, just there to provide some light. There's nothing magical about them, besides any magic from Kevin's fire.]

[rightwingman]

[It's someone else's shrine, but it's a small habit from his own churches where the tapers act as small omens, sensitive to other powers acting in the area.]

There we go.

[Satisfied with that, he'll go to look at the swords now, checking them over without picking up any one yet.]

[flamingprick]

[Fortunately Rin doesn't mind sharing his spaces, so long as nothing's being destroyed. One of the fun parts of being a twin is having to learn to share pretty much from birth.

The five swords look mostly identical, but with small changes. Going from left to right, these are the differences:

1: This sword is cold to the touch, and has a bit of condensation on all of the metal trimmings.

2: This sword is warm to the touch, with the metal parts being hot enough to sting if touched.

3: The strap on this sword has rotted through, though the handle and sheath look to be in good condition.

4: This sword will give a small electric shock whenever touched, not unlike trying to touch a doorknob after removing a sweater.

5: This sword has a thin layer of dust on it.

That is what can be observed without picking any of them up, at least.]

[rightwingman]

Hmm... Well, I don't need a magic weapon.

[He has his own powers over fire and lightning, so he's going to pick up the dusty sword.]

[flamingprick]

[The ground underneath Kevin's feet suddenly turns into quicksand and he will start to sink into it.

And to aid in the sinking, the sword turns into an angry-looking rock and grunts at him as it pulls him right down into the quicksand.]

[rightwingman]

Ah.

[drops the rock]

[flamingprick]

[The rock stares up at you with a look of utter betrayal as it slowly sinks into the quicksand.

But no really once the rock sinks out of sight the puzzle resets and Kevin is back in the room with the five swords.]

[rightwingman]

[pats the dusty sword, sorry friend but no]

[picks up the static-y sword]

[flamingprick]

[As soon as Kevin touches that one, the wind starts to pick up outside. It howls louder and louder, rattling at the walls and tearing off loose tiles on the roof.

Then the roof rips off entirely, and Kevin will be able to see the giant tornado spinning around outside. And flying around in that tornado are several really large moths, all of whom are eying Kevin.

Looks like you didn't pick right again.]

[rightwingman]

My! Aren't you an ugly group!

[cheerily, while he gauges his own strength. how much of his power is actually available to him here?]

[flamingprick]

[Kevin's fire and lightning powers are available, as is anything holy-based since Rin knows he is an angel. But transformations won't happen since Rin doesn't know about those.

But then again these are demons, so if Kevin can find a way to reach them he should have an easy fight. Since holy beats demon and all.

Except they're like 50 feet up in the air and flying on the winds of a tornado, so good luck getting to them.]

[rightwingman]

Ahh, I want to show off, but that wouldn't be appropriate, would it!

[he's reaching for the tornado, trying to wrest it into his control]

[flamingprick]

[If tornadoes could talk, this one would be going 'what the fuck'.

But yeah Kevin can bring it mostly under his control. It is decidedly still in tornado-form, but he can direct it around and stuff.

Of course the downside is that those giant moths don't appreciate this, and they're going to come down closer to give Kevin some grief. There's three in total, and as they get closer they'll shoot out their long tongues to try and grab Kevin.]

[rightwingman]

[not so gently steering that tornado after the moths]

You filthy creatures. Don't you dare touch me.

[the cheerfulness drops flat and hard out of his voice and his glare is literally blazing, smiting the moths with holy energy]

[flamingprick]

[The moths are at first just annoyed by this turn of events, and adjust their flying to keep from getting blown away by the tornado. But then the holy energy hits them and they are blasted to pieces, unable to protect themselves from it.

As soon as the moths die, Kevin is returned to the temple once more, with the five swords in front of him. This time, however, he may notice that the building is becoming more worn down with each unsuccessful attempt.]

[rightwingman]

Hm... One more time.

[reaching for the fiery sword]

[flamingprick]

[As soon as the sword is lifted up, bright blue flames erupt from it. They quickly spread, flashing over Kevin's body and to the entire room itself, threatening to turn the entire building and everything in it to ash.

Except the fire, it isn't hot. It's...warm.

When the memory is done playing, the fires flash brightly once more before dying out entirely. Kevin will find himself back in the hallway once more, but this time the sword comes with him instead of disappearing. It does have a strap on it too, so he can carry it on his shoulder and free up his hands for more puzzle-solving. How lucky!]

[rightwingman]

You have some good friends, don't you?

[straps the sword to his back and leaves the shrine, heading back to the main building]

[flamingprick]

[He really, really does.

Kevin won't be able to go back to the temple, though, because he is back in the hallway at the start once more. There are two more doors for exploring, though!]

[rightwingman]

Ah! Let's see...

[going to the steel gate]

[flamingprick]

[Sorry, no backtracking allowed in this heartgame. 'Keep Moving Forward' and all.

The gate opens up into a forest that is right near what looks like a small city built up on itself. It's hard to see through the trees, but Kevin can catch glimpses of it if he's looking carefully.

It's pretty dark in there, what with it being nighttime and the trees blocking most of the light pollution from the nearby city. But he is on a path through the forest, and said path forks in front of him, so the most obvious ways to go are left or right. Though he's not limited specifically to that, since this is a forest and he can probably handle any nasty demons lurking in the trees.

Those are definitely around, by the way. Keep an eye out!]

[rightwingman]

[He's not paying much attention to the lurking woods at all. He's got a cool new sword, he'll be fineeeeee.]

A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid, is it?

[taking the right fork]

[flamingprick]

[YOU KNOW IT'S FUNNY YOU SAY THAT...

But anyway, before he can get too far down the path, a rather strange-looking fellow shows up. Normally this is where there would be a description about how creepy and weird this guy is, but Kevin is an angel so we get to bypass all of that.

It'a Amaimon. Probably not the Amaimon Kevin might or might not be familiar with, depending on how many high-ranking demons he's come across in his life but yeah. It's Amaimon walking around in a human body being creepy as shit because that's generally what he does.

And now he's taken an interest in Kevin.]

"You made it pretty far already. I didn't expect anyone to move through his mind so quickly."