APRIL EVENT: AND HARDSHIPS UNNUMBERED (LOCKED ROOM POST)

[sailmods]

[it happens in less than the blink of an eye.

April 10th. 10:47 AM. no matter where they were, no matter what they were doing, most passengers previously aboard the Serena Eterna find themselves in an empty room. not a very large room, but not a very small one, either. stone floors. stone ceiling. mostly stone walls. whatever they were wearing before, they aren’t wearing it now; all of them are now in one of two outfits, with no real seeming rhyme or reason as to who gets what. there is a large wooden door in the center of one wall, locked with a heavy drawbar. there is an LED display above it, like you would see at a sports arena; it’s currently turned off.

and then there are the heads.

the walls are mostly stone. mostly, because seeming every square inch of every wall has a head sticking out of it. human, animal, mixes of both and neither. passengers may recognize friends, or family. fellow passengers, specifically the dead (and anyone living that opted out). themselves, if they’ve ever died during the voyage. every head ends just at the top of the neck, and every one has their eyes wide open, expressions glassy and unseeing, but entirely neutral. just staring forward.

the display flickers to life, displaying the following information:]

NEXT: DAISY TONNER

64 LIVES

[has anyone seen Fio?]

Comments

[busball]

Klaus looks at the heads again for a moment. "I mean, they're definitely doing better than the people that tortured me that one time." They shrug. "But that was a lot more physical than psychological, so...maybe that's what's up."

They look over. "See anyone you know?"

[damn_kitsune]

"Well, psychological torture does leave a more lasting impact." It's why he uses it for interrogations back in his home world. "It's easier to heal from a physical wound."

He gave a bit of a chuckle. "The only one that I care to recognize was Lord Nobunaga's and that was because the living Nobunaga was literally trying to stand on it."

[busball]

"Guess that's the school of logic my dad took notes from." Klaus makes a face and then laughs, expression shifting quickly. "Probably why all of us are so fucked up."

There's another soft laugh. "Well. I guess that does sound like him. I think I saw me somewhere around here." They're not clarifying that it was them at age eight. "And a version of my brother."

[damn_kitsune]

Mitsuhide arched a brow at that as he turned to the other. "No offense, but your father sounds like a bastard." Which is saying something when that statement comes from him. He may use such torture on prisoners to get information, but he could never imagine using such things on his own children.

He turned his attention back to the walls. "I haven't seen my own head yet. I'm actually morbidly curious about how it would look on these walls."

[busball]

"You're probably neither the first nor the last person to say that to me." They shrug. "But you know. What else is new?" There's a moment where they consider adding to it.

"I've died like...over a hundred times already. So I guess that's not super surprising that at least a version of me would be here." They shrug. "Probably the same as the other faces. Blank, glassy look. Like James Van Der Beek in that Kesha music video." A beat. "You won't even understand that reference, but...it's basically this."

[damn_kitsune]

"You're right, I don't get that reference. But I am aware of what a 'video' is. It's a form of entertainment, correct?" At least, that's what Nobunaga told him. It wouldn't surprise him if his lord got a few things wrong in all his excitement.

"But having died a hundred times already... I'm a skeptic when it comes to things like gods and the afterlife, but what you just said sounds what I would imagine Hell to be like."

[busball]

Klaus shrugs. "It's okay. I'd show it to you, but I don't really have a way to do that." They smile a little. "But yeah. It's a form of entertainment. She wrote a song and did a music video. And it's just really funny and weird."

That's a fair assumption. "Apparently it's part of my powers? Also God doesn't like me? Which is like...you know...whatever." Who cares what some judgmental girl on a bike thought anyway? Not Klaus. "Um. But yeah. Just my life. I didn't find out till I was like...35? I repressed a lot of shit. Did not remember all that. Anyway. Found out when my brother's son that wasn't actually his son shot me in the chest with a harpoon. Hurt like a bitch."

[damn_kitsune]

"People with blank glassy looks are considered funny back in your world?" He can think of a few people who would find it humorous. Namely Nobunaga.

"I imagine anything being shot into your chest will hurt like a bitch. Unless it's done in a way where you die instantly." Mitsuhide has been shot before, mainly being grazed by bullets and arrows, and those always felt like something burned him when they happened.

"So, you have the ability to die and come back to life at an earlier time in order to relive your life again? And this was something you could do even before you came to the ship?"

[busball]

"More just weird music video things. It's hard to explain. Mostly cause it's not real, so it's hard to take it seriously."

They nod at that. "Yeeeaah. It's terrible. I'd explain all the rest of it, but I'm told that I have a habit of oversharing. So...yeah." It's probably not necessary to explain it all anyway. There's waaaay too much to get through.

"Well, I did. But I just came back. I mean, when I got hit by a car, my body had to fix all the injuries while I was coming back. It was weird." So much for not oversharing. At least they didn't explain that this was an experience over multiple times and was a game of catch that his dad set up. "But then my dad did something and Allison pushed the button to restart the universe and then we didn't have powers anymore."

[damn_kitsune]

"The more I hear about your reality the more confusing it sounds." And that's saying a lot coming from Mitsuhide! This is a man who usually figures things out right away and is usually a few steps ahead of everyone. But there is still a part of him that is having a hard time accepting things that are supernatural or can't be explained logically.

"But you are saying that you no longer have the ability to come back to life in your own world?"

[busball]

"It's okay, buddy. I get that a lot." But their home world doesn't feel confusing. Maybe it's just because they've lived it, but still.

"Yeah. I don't have the ability to see or control ghosts either. That one, though, that's probably fine. Until I go sailing through the air and need one to catch me so I don't die again...then I'll probably miss it." Ben's already gone, so it isn't like they can miss him. And dick!Ben is the one that's around now.

"It's a very long story. Like I can tell it to you, but like...yeah."

[damn_kitsune]

Controlling ghosts... As much as he used tales of ghosts to manipulate people (mostly enemies) he himself didn't believe that ghosts were real. So he was a bit skeptical about the Klaus being about to control or see them. Guess he still needs to get used to being in a different reality and that things that he thought were impossible are possible now.

He arched a brow some. "Usually when someone says 'it's a long story' it's their way of saying that they don't want to talk about it."

[busball]

It's different here. Back home, no one really questioned them. Probably cause they didn't ever talk about it and if they did, they were able to point out being part of The Umbrella Academy. Except back in time. Cause it didn't exist then.

"I mean, it's not so much that I don't want to talk about it. I just logically understand that it is a long story and there's a lot of information overload. Usually." A beat. "Like I grew up in a house with six other kids, my dad, my mom that's a robot, and Pogo. He's a talking chimpanzee. And like we were trained to be superheroes. You know. Fight crime, save the world. All of us were bought. One might say adopted, Peter would fight me if I ever said it again and would say...illegally obtained through like...coercion or something like that."