Once Upon a Waking Nightmare [Event Mission]

Mission Deets:

 
It would be a month now since All Hallow’s Eve has past, as the legends of the Grimoire have said, so was the time when the veil to the spirit world was lifted most. This year in particular, that was true throughout the entire time frame, and that was without a shadow of a doubt. Well; somewhat. A spirit world. It was a place where the manifestations of things, dreams and nightmares in particular; would come alive, so in a relative term, anyone with enough inference and this information would be able to glean that the Dreaming Realm and Nightmare Realm were technically spirit realms by general term alone.
 
This all was learned while Hotaru was still back in Key Country, she had some minor run ins with some wanderer’s nightmarish bat. Nothing major, but, it was also the talk of the town. And, even now, after she was waking up within these new lands…it was still the same old nightmares. Every night, when she’d fall asleep, Hotaru would have the same dream. One of her stepping into a new realm, something was wrong with the place. Something was beckoning her there. But, in these dreams though, before they could come to any kind of reasonable conclusion they’d always be cut short. Rivers of blood would have her waking up in a bit of a panic. Not so much that it in and of itself is outright disconcerting, but after a few times it does become noteworthy. A week or so after her arrival in the fishing village on the coast of Waterfall Country, one of the locals fell asleep one night and has since been in a coma. Another outright disappeared, before turning up again out of the blue a few days ago, rambling about some ‘nightmarish dreamscape ruled by a king with a grin that made reality melt’. With all of this put together, and that of the use of her grimoire, she was able to defer to a legend, which spoke on a similar instance. The veil between two realms becoming so thin, that people or things slip in between them at random or purposefully. With her skills and expertise in Space-Time, the Koutaishi pureblood was even more than sure that she could open up a rift to travel there. Maybe this was the place of her own nightmares even?
 
She wouldn’t even really volunteer to check out this place really, she’d just decide to investigate of her own accord. Hotaru knew she’d still be able to get payment after, assuredly because her presence was more beloved than that of most people. The Shikigami Summoner would make sure that her book was holstered at her side in it’s little leather bindings, then be off to one of the groves in the area. It was a rather hauntingly beautiful spring. In this part of the land, it was rather snowy at this time of year; so the pools of water within this grove were frozen over, but the water rushing down from above had yet to solidify into ice. It would give off a bit of a mist-like effect which would creep around the ground in their small, swirling masses. There was an energy about this place which made it shimmer with chakra almost. In this moment, the blonde could almost physically feel the energy of this wonky space-time shenanigans via her Chakra Sensory. It was like a gravity well, pulling her towards it. And before she knew, some of the mists would begin to enrapture all around her; forming a twister of smoke which blocked all line of sight.
 
WC: 602

And when this spiraling mass had disappeared into the air from whence it came, it would start like her dream.

Looking down upon her arms and torso and legs, she was a blank sheet of paper; literally. Currently, Hotaru was nothing more than a cut out of a person. She could feel a power within her that would let her be able to change the manner and shape of her form while within this realm. Making the body transmutable; much like paper is in and of itself. With this information, and that of knowing this was all just a dream…she would dream herself to look how she wanted. Angelic, with a strikingly subtle hint of darkness within. Her once papery body, would begin to fold out into it’s new form; wings unclipped, yet sheets still flying outwards off of them for another set of wings to emerge. Disconnected from the rest of the body, shining like a starry night sky underneath a brilliant golden haze. Crowning around her blond hair was a halo at first, but she’d ultimately spice it up, settling upon a diadem shaped as another ‘set of wings’. Clothing would be dark in tone, with any and all attention being garnered and given to the gold detailing; from the trim to the boots.

Stellar Eidolon:

When the Shikigami Summoner would be finished with her look, her eyes would shift to scan the surrounding area instead. Immediately setting to find out the nature of why exactly she was supposed to come here, and what the reasoning behind this dream even was about. They would be the same of the one where she entered in, but more ethereal in nature. Twisted and corrupted to a degree. But not necessarily frightening. There was still a touch and sliver of its true nature from the waking world which lingered, but because this was the place of nightmares and dreams, its presence was amplified. The pools for example, weren’t frozen over, for snow and frigid temperatures didn’t seemingly have that affect in this plane of existence, at least at this time. But their waters instead of clear and pristine like the ice from before, murky and black. Fouled from the looks of it, but by what was the question.

Before moving on from the area, she would encircle the cluster of pools, trying to gain any clues to determine what all could have happened here. The only thing that stuck out was that three of the eight had seemed to be left fully unaffected by the major discoloration. So whatever was doing this, was doing this to each pool individually instead of all at once. But why though? The matter of what exactly was causing this still wasn’t gleaned from this. Nor was it’s importance. Nevertheless, she would venture forward, Hotaru was determined to make an attempt at making sense of this.

Making her way back towards where the small settlement would be, she would hear something off in the distance. Through the faint hushed whispers which murmured incoherently. Though there was nothing to be seen. Whatever it was, it was big. And loud. Like footfall, but long and exaggerated. BOOOM! There would be a pause…one, two, three; BOOOOM! And repeat. They would be coming towards her direction and the springs, but it must’ve been more than 50 meters out. Through the trees, there was nothing discernible from the noise. This would quicken the pace of the lass, if that was whatever was bringing her here she didn’t want to miss it; however the village still called to her. Echoing out like a baby wailing during a siren’s sweet song, it was a mix of melancholy and bliss. It was in eyesight now…there was still the possibility that she could catch up with that thing, it was moving slowly after all if she managed to be quick here.

She would start with the house closest to the outskirts, a single building with only a single floor and modest in size. Single bedroom, but it seems to be untouched like that of the rest of the landscape. For upon looking around at the rest of them in eyesight, some houses were starting to turn gray and decrepit, whilst a select few seemed full-on abandoned, devoid of any occupants. No lights would echo out from those unlike the rest, as if their hopes and dreams had been completely stolen. Six within view were currently like this, while another had it’s light dimming. The one she was standing in front of, actually. She’d calmly approach the door, and would enter into the building.

Walking inside, the interior was starting to become much worse for wear than that of the exterior. It was the beginnings of a house starting to crumble at the very seams. Nothing even decorated it but a single couch and coffee table, two people sat atop the piece of furniture. They looked so lost in the conversation they were having, they didn’t realize the state of the place they were in or the fact that someone new had entered into it. The Koutaishi would linger at the door for a moment, listening in on what they were saying. It seemed as if they were once married, the wife had since passed. She was making attempts at convincing the husband to stay and start a new life here with her, one were they could be together. To which the husband would only keep uttering the phrase ”But what about our family…our name…our house…our former glory…” Each utterance of it would only cause the cracks to become more and more noticeable even by the second.

And in this second, Hotaru would then be noticed. The woman had turned her head, and in the shock of the realization that there was a guest in their home, her visage would flicker at the sight. In a flash, it would appear much more old, and wrinkled. Hag-like, with a long crooked nose and sodden eyes that were bitter and cold. Devoid of any hope or desire. Before quickly flickering back again, and then the kunoichi would realize what all was going on. ”You’ll keep this man trapped in this nightmare no longer.” And before anyone could react, she’d throw a kunai at the wife. Her appearance would change into it’s true form right before she was about to be hit, and this time around the husband would finally see too. Right before she would laugh maniacally, seemingly freezing time or the passage of it in this realm; but not in it’s entirety. More like things were being frozen in time, as the kunai would halt an inch away from hitting the crone square in the forehead, with the husband’s face petrified in fear. With a twirl of her ashen feathered cloak, she’d transform into a dirty and aged snowy owl, taking flight through the open door and off into the distant sky. And time would slowly come to a start once more after her departure

”So, you must be the man in the village who’s been in a coma for the past month or so…” And the pureblood would go onto explain the situation to the man. Apparently he had been unaware of the time he has spent here, and the ruin that was about to come to his family because of it if he remained any longer. He was able to wake up then and there, as was Hotaru without even needing to go back to the springs. The family would reward her for snapping him out of his coma, and relatively handsomely too. Hotaru certainly wouldn’t be complaining about it, and wishing them all the best before being on her way. Still not sure of why it was up to her to solve the mystery, but; that could still possibly seen in the future as that was a mystery to be solved in and of itself.

WC: 1322
TWC: 1924

Claims:

3750 Ryo x2 for Beloved Presence; Total Ryo: 7500
18 AP x2 for Beloved Presence; Total AP: 36 (Mission AP)
15 Dream Tokens
WC to AP (100:2): 19 -> 38
1500 words to Shikigami Flutter, completing it for B Rank
250 words to Genjutsu Release, completing it
Dropping the remaining WC

Hotaru Koutaishi wrote:
WC: 1322
TWC: 1924

Claims:

3750 Ryo x2 for Beloved Presence; Total Ryo: 7500
18 AP x2 for Beloved Presence; Total AP: 36 (Mission AP)
15 Dream Tokens
WC to AP (100:2): 19 -> 38
1500 words to Shikigami Flutter, completing it for B Rank
250 words to Genjutsu Release, completing it
Dropping the remaining WC

Approved!

Note: Bonus AP of 40 (as of 12/14 on stat page) is now 114 AP