[ yeah, he's noticed this girl. He's also noticed that she smells like Akira, and Akira smells like her, and he's just been waiting for the eventual explanation of this whole thing, because Akira's been weird for a few weeks, and -- well, quite frankly, it's sort of getting on his nerves. Mostly because he's worried that something bad happened. The two of them are alike in that neither of them like to talk about things that are bothering them very much; Morgana's realizing that being on the receiving end of it, for once, is actually really annoying. And stressful.
So he's already on edge when he hears a weird noise coming from downstairs. Immediately, he assumes that whatever bad thing has been stewing for weeks has finally boiled over, and he bolts down the stairs. All nine pounds of him, meowing at the top of his lungs to chase off whatever intruder is down here. ]
Oi!! What the hell are you doing down here?! We're closed right now!!
[ he assumes she won't be able to understand him, but... ]
[his shout is enough to get Magilou's attention, at least! which is good because she was in the process of yanking on Bienfu's cheeks. who, Morgana will now see, is the source of the distressed cry. you have saved this normin's life, Morgana. be proud]
[everything freezes for a good five seconds. Magilou takes one look at Morgana, and--]
Aha! The mascot character!
[she lets go of Bienfu (who goes floating in the air above her with a relieved biiiien. . .) and immediately goes to scoop Morgana up without answering his question]
one of the things that he always comes back to is how he looks like nothing else in the world, how his "true self" is bizarre and doesn't fit in with the rest of the world, but -- that thing floating up next to the bar sure looks like him?! It's enough to make him freeze in his tracks. ]
Woah! W-what is tha-- hey!! Let go!
[ and freezing is enough to give Magilou a chance to grab him. Naturally, he's immediately struggling, pushing his paws against her face with all his might. (It's not a lot of might, because he's a cat.) ]
[ also don't worry, he didn't have his claws out!! he wouldn't scratch someone unless they really deserved it, which Magilou doesn't. Not that he's seen. Yet. He springs away and onto the counter as soon as he's able, immediately licking at his fur a little bit in a very catlike way. Don't point this out to him. ]
Geez!! You can't just grab someone like that! Kids these days are so rude. [ how old are you morgana -- in any case, he's quick to turn towards Akira, and quicker to stride towards him, eager to be near someone who's safer and less likely to manhandle him. ] Who is this girl? And what's that... thing?
[ bienfu, reduced to a thing. ]
You've been leaving me out of the loop, haven't you?!
but hey, akira won't point out his catlike behavior, because he really never does? it's okay, morgana. instead...]
She's Magilou. With her is Bienfu—he's kind of like you. Sort of.
[in a vague way, but they can explain that later.]
I wouldn't call it "leaving you out," Morgana. [honestly? he sounds a bit hesitant. yeah. he's been putting this off for a reason, even if morgana has clearly been able to tell that there's something going on here.]
It might be easier to explain now that she's here.
[ this is... a lot to take in, frankly. His tail is wagging back and forth in agitation - both from the previous situation he just escaped from, and from the one he's in right now. Magilou? Bienfu? Mascot character? (Cute? Should he be flattered?! He feels a little offended.)
More than anything, he actually does feel a little left out. It's rare that he doesn't know what's going on in Akira's life; the two of them tend to stick together almost all the time. And for Morgana, who has little else anchoring him to this place - or any place - it's a little unnerving to feel like they're drifting apart. He stares at Akira, then at Bienfu, then at Magilou.
They're not cognitive distortions, at least. He can tell that much. But he has no idea what could explain a being like that in the "real world." ]
Like me... huh. [ the thought comforts him, but only a little bit. Magilou's comment only riles him up further, even if it's not her intention. He'll have to deal with Bienfu's existence later. ] He hasn't told me anything! You've been acting really weird ever since you woke up from that bad dream few weeks ago... Something happened to you, didn't it?
[ for the moment, he also doesn't seem to notice that Akira is talking to him in front of a non-Phantom Thief, and that she seems to be included in the conversation. ]
[akira offers magilou a bit of a weak smile.] You're just Magilou to me. You can do it your way later.
[... well.] I didn't tell him, or the others yet.
[which probably isn't making morgana feel any better? but it's not intentional; akira's definitely a bit conflicted about the situation. having to address it still is... difficult. there's a lot to unpack, a lot akira's still not even sure about addressing—it's probably a bit telling in itself that akira doesn't pay much mind to the fact that magilou's ability to communicate with morgana should be brought up.
one thing at a time.]
A lot happened, Morgana. [he knows he's been acting strange; he definitely hasn't been the same since he woke up from that "dream" he brushed it off as.]
I just didn't know how to tell you. [well. that's an interesting admission, huh?]
[ah. the atmosphere sure is getting heavy all of a sudden]
. . . Bienfu.
[the normin snaps to attention, before hopping onto Magilou's shoulder and then vanishing in a ball and ring of blue light. she affixes Akira with a lidded stare, folds her arms, and cants her head to the side slightly]
Hey, Trickster. You want me to start?
[asked in a very business-like and to the point manner. she knows how rough the story is for him, and she knows how rough it'll be for him to recant it to someone he cares for so deeply. but if she can give the gritty, gruesome details in her usual detached manner. . . perhaps she can help?]
[ Bienfu suddenly turning into a ball of light startles him a little, too?! He's suddenly standing back up again, inching even closer to Akira. She can't just do that to people like him, right...? For the moment, he tries to put it out of his mind... There's definitely something fishy going on. Something that Akira didn't know how to tell him. Him, of all people! ]
I knew it... [ though he can't emote very well in this form, he looks a little disheartened somehow. Did he think he wouldn't be able to handle it? Or he didn't trust him, maybe? Either way... Well, he looks to Magilou this time. ] I want to know. This guy's supposed to be my...
[ and then, all of a sudden, he realizes that Magilou's talking to him and apparently understanding him. ]
W-wait... Hold on a second. You can hear me?
[ Akira went to the Metaverse without them - or without him, anyway? What the heck is going on here? He feels so lost, and he really hates it. ]
...It might be easier if you did. You're better at that exposition thing.
[it's a quick interjection, though—
yeah, morgana probably deserves an explanation.]
She innately has a resonance for things most humans can't. Kind of like her cognition is a lot stronger than ours. [...] Strong enough that she wouldn't have to have it changed in the Metaverse to hear you properly.
[he knows enough about her, but:] And I told her about you a while ago, so she was ready for it.
[ if she's calling him "Trickster" and he's mentioning the Metaverse in front of her, she must already know most of the story. Morgana trusts his judgement on who he tells about their group, so he relaxes a little bit, even if he can feel the tension in the air. It's not that strange for Akira to let someone else do the talking, but... ]
Yeah, of course! [ HE KNOWS WHAT MOVIES ARE TOO, AKIRA SHOWED HIM ONE!! THEY'RE GOOD AT THIS. ] Like "Hint," right? What does that have to do with anything?
[ did Akira go into her palace alone? Was her palace a murder mystery movie? honestly, that kind of falls in line with how palaces are, so he's ready to accept it. ]
[since akira is obviously familiar with the movie in question. but the fact that morgana eases on his suspicions a bit and continues to trust akira's judgment...
well, it matters a lot.
he isn't sure he'll be entirely deserving of that once this story is told, after all. this is unsurprisingly pretty stressful, even if magilou's already offered to take some of the weight off his shoulders here—but then, she knows better than anyone how hard this story is for him to tell, anyway.]
[stares at Akira like. wtf. but that seems to get the point across, so. . .]
Well, imagine one of those, staring forty-two strangers, hm? Forty-two people, all from the far reaches of the universe, brought to a deserted island and told to kill each other for the right to return home.
[that's. a blunt way of putting it, but. it's also the best way of putting it]
... Are you trying to tell me that happened to him?
[ it sounds too outrageous to be true, but Morgana's no stranger to outrageous things, being one himself. Still - that's radically different from anything they've dealt with so far. He narrows his eyes at Magilou quizzically, trying to figure out if she's telling the truth or not... but he can't read her at all, so he ends up looking over to Akira, instead.
Trapped on an island with a bunch of strangers and forced to kill each other? Really? ]
[that's directed at Morgana, just so can kind of gain an understanding of how they met in the first place]
The island itself was a dream, but the people linked to that dream were all very real. I'm evidence of that much.
[there's a joke here about how Akira dreamed up a cute girl and then she showed up on his doorstep one day, but she passes on it. for now]
A lot of people died in that dream. [s-so blunt] But it being a dream meant their deaths weren't permanent. "Winning" that game meant that everyone could wake up, and-- well!
As you can see, we won, and now everyone is awake and no longer suspended in a world between dream and reality.
[to. borrow Igor's phrasing? not on purpose, though-- sorry Akira]
[ the mechanics make enough sense to him, at least - he doesn't question the idea of a realm just outside of reality that has both permanent and not-so-permanet effects on its inhabitants. Morgana listens intently, looking troubled, at least as much as he's capable while in this form. ]
... So you went to a place like a Palace in your dreams, and while you were there, you had to kill each other?
[ he knows it's not actually a Palace, but it seems like the best point of comparison. It's a pretty bleak story, if it's true. Imagining Akira in that situation by himself is depressing. ]
Joker... How did you get out? If I had known, I would have come to save you.
[ he considers taking care of him and the others in the Metaverse to be his responsibility, even if he doesn't act like it. ]
Everything I did was to keep you and the others from being brought in to play that game. Or... see those things.
[there were too many of those things, and the things he did aren't ones he's proud of, so he just closes his eyes and shakes his head.
magilou can explain how they got out, he guesses. akira can only be adamant about the fact that he definitely did not want the phantom thieves to be there.
especially after what happened to the other phantom thief who was.]
[Akira's words earn him a silent stare from Magilou. perhaps it's because she knows the truth behind them, but. . . she thinks even someone out of the loop like Morgana could pick up on the subtext]
[she turns her attention back to the cat shortly afterwards. Akira will talk about it when he's ready; there's no rush at all]
Five people on that island were given specific instructions to murder. Kill at least one person each week, or the volcano will erupt and everyone will die.
[a small sigh]
That was a lie.
The way to "win" the game was to kill off each and every one of those five people. And that's what we did-- not this guy and I, personally, but the other thirty-seven of us.
[ the movie comparison was apt, because this definitely sounds like someone's murder mystery screenplay. If Morgana didn't know better, he'd assume it was made up. But it's not like Akira to play tricks on him - and even if he doesn't know who this girl is, he seems to trust her, and thus, so does Morgana.
His insistence on keeping Morgana "safe" is so typically him that it kind of annoys him. ]
So you'd rather just suffer alone? We're a team, you know! Helping each other is what good teammates do. [ he has to say it - his sensibilities won't allow otherwise. But he can understand the gravity of the situation. He has to assume what Magilou is saying is exactly what happened; he looks back to her, ears flicking back in unease. ] ... You had five people get murdered?
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So he's already on edge when he hears a weird noise coming from downstairs. Immediately, he assumes that whatever bad thing has been stewing for weeks has finally boiled over, and he bolts down the stairs. All nine pounds of him, meowing at the top of his lungs to chase off whatever intruder is down here. ]
Oi!! What the hell are you doing down here?! We're closed right now!!
[ he assumes she won't be able to understand him, but... ]
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[his shout is enough to get Magilou's attention, at least! which is good because she was in the process of yanking on Bienfu's cheeks. who, Morgana will now see, is the source of the distressed cry. you have saved this normin's life, Morgana. be proud]
[everything freezes for a good five seconds. Magilou takes one look at Morgana, and--]
Aha! The mascot character!
[she lets go of Bienfu (who goes floating in the air above her with a relieved biiiien. . .) and immediately goes to scoop Morgana up without answering his question]
[hi kitty]
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one of the things that he always comes back to is how he looks like nothing else in the world, how his "true self" is bizarre and doesn't fit in with the rest of the world, but -- that thing floating up next to the bar sure looks like him?! It's enough to make him freeze in his tracks. ]
Woah! W-what is tha-- hey!! Let go!
[ and freezing is enough to give Magilou a chance to grab him. Naturally, he's immediately struggling, pushing his paws against her face with all his might. (It's not a lot of might, because he's a cat.) ]
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[he was going to condone it, because magilou is definitely welcome even if she is a troublemaker.
but then magilou is scooping him up and just.
(aaaaaaa.)]
Magilou!
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Hey--! Those are paws in my face! Watch your claws, bucko!
[she holds Morgana out from her body and just]
[plops him onto the counter, right next to Bienfu]
[rude mascot character!!]
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[ also don't worry, he didn't have his claws out!! he wouldn't scratch someone unless they really deserved it, which Magilou doesn't. Not that he's seen. Yet. He springs away and onto the counter as soon as he's able, immediately licking at his fur a little bit in a very catlike way. Don't point this out to him. ]
Geez!! You can't just grab someone like that! Kids these days are so rude. [ how old are you morgana -- in any case, he's quick to turn towards Akira, and quicker to stride towards him, eager to be near someone who's safer and less likely to manhandle him. ] Who is this girl? And what's that... thing?
[ bienfu, reduced to a thing. ]
You've been leaving me out of the loop, haven't you?!
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but hey, akira won't point out his catlike behavior, because he really never does? it's okay, morgana. instead...]
She's Magilou. With her is Bienfu—he's kind of like you. Sort of.
[in a vague way, but they can explain that later.]
I wouldn't call it "leaving you out," Morgana. [honestly? he sounds a bit hesitant. yeah. he's been putting this off for a reason, even if morgana has clearly been able to tell that there's something going on here.]
It might be easier to explain now that she's here.
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[her image as a dramatic and villainous witch, she guesses]
Bienfu is my mascot character! Though I suppose you are cuter, Morgana.
[Bienfu, who is still perched on the counter, lets out a gasp]
M-Miss Magilou. . . you've shot me through the heart!
[and in response, Magilou plants her hand on top of Bienfu's. . . hat]
Hey, don't worry! It's just a flesh wound. [then, to Akira, her tone sobering somewhat] You haven't explained anything to them yet?
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More than anything, he actually does feel a little left out. It's rare that he doesn't know what's going on in Akira's life; the two of them tend to stick together almost all the time. And for Morgana, who has little else anchoring him to this place - or any place - it's a little unnerving to feel like they're drifting apart. He stares at Akira, then at Bienfu, then at Magilou.
They're not cognitive distortions, at least. He can tell that much. But he has no idea what could explain a being like that in the "real world." ]
Like me... huh. [ the thought comforts him, but only a little bit. Magilou's comment only riles him up further, even if it's not her intention. He'll have to deal with Bienfu's existence later. ] He hasn't told me anything! You've been acting really weird ever since you woke up from that bad dream few weeks ago... Something happened to you, didn't it?
[ for the moment, he also doesn't seem to notice that Akira is talking to him in front of a non-Phantom Thief, and that she seems to be included in the conversation. ]
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[... well.] I didn't tell him, or the others yet.
[which probably isn't making morgana feel any better? but it's not intentional; akira's definitely a bit conflicted about the situation. having to address it still is... difficult. there's a lot to unpack, a lot akira's still not even sure about addressing—it's probably a bit telling in itself that akira doesn't pay much mind to the fact that magilou's ability to communicate with morgana should be brought up.
one thing at a time.]
A lot happened, Morgana. [he knows he's been acting strange; he definitely hasn't been the same since he woke up from that "dream" he brushed it off as.]
I just didn't know how to tell you. [well. that's an interesting admission, huh?]
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. . . Bienfu.
[the normin snaps to attention, before hopping onto Magilou's shoulder and then vanishing in a ball and ring of blue light. she affixes Akira with a lidded stare, folds her arms, and cants her head to the side slightly]
Hey, Trickster. You want me to start?
[asked in a very business-like and to the point manner. she knows how rough the story is for him, and she knows how rough it'll be for him to recant it to someone he cares for so deeply. but if she can give the gritty, gruesome details in her usual detached manner. . . perhaps she can help?]
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I knew it... [ though he can't emote very well in this form, he looks a little disheartened somehow. Did he think he wouldn't be able to handle it? Or he didn't trust him, maybe? Either way... Well, he looks to Magilou this time. ] I want to know. This guy's supposed to be my...
[ and then, all of a sudden, he realizes that Magilou's talking to him and apparently understanding him. ]
W-wait... Hold on a second. You can hear me?
[ Akira went to the Metaverse without them - or without him, anyway? What the heck is going on here? He feels so lost, and he really hates it. ]
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[it's a quick interjection, though—
yeah, morgana probably deserves an explanation.]
She innately has a resonance for things most humans can't. Kind of like her cognition is a lot stronger than ours. [...] Strong enough that she wouldn't have to have it changed in the Metaverse to hear you properly.
[he knows enough about her, but:] And I told her about you a while ago, so she was ready for it.
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[she shoots Morgana a sly grin]
You two must be similar, or whatever counts for "high resonance" in your world. That's the reason you can see Bienfu.
[but! that's an explanation for a later day. she leans her hip against the counter and lapses into thoughtful silence]
Hmm, let's see, how to put this into words. . . oh! Have you ever watched a movie about a murder mystery?
[SHE KNOWS WHAT MOVIES ARE!! AKIRA TOOK HER TO ONE!! PRAISE HER KNOWLEDGE]
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[ if she's calling him "Trickster" and he's mentioning the Metaverse in front of her, she must already know most of the story. Morgana trusts his judgement on who he tells about their group, so he relaxes a little bit, even if he can feel the tension in the air. It's not that strange for Akira to let someone else do the talking, but... ]
Yeah, of course! [ HE KNOWS WHAT MOVIES ARE TOO, AKIRA SHOWED HIM ONE!! THEY'RE GOOD AT THIS. ] Like "Hint," right? What does that have to do with anything?
[ did Akira go into her palace alone? Was her palace a murder mystery movie? honestly, that kind of falls in line with how palaces are, so he's ready to accept it. ]
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[since akira is obviously familiar with the movie in question. but the fact that morgana eases on his suspicions a bit and continues to trust akira's judgment...
well, it matters a lot.
he isn't sure he'll be entirely deserving of that once this story is told, after all. this is unsurprisingly pretty stressful, even if magilou's already offered to take some of the weight off his shoulders here—but then, she knows better than anyone how hard this story is for him to tell, anyway.]
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[stares at Akira like. wtf. but that seems to get the point across, so. . .]
Well, imagine one of those, staring forty-two strangers, hm? Forty-two people, all from the far reaches of the universe, brought to a deserted island and told to kill each other for the right to return home.
[that's. a blunt way of putting it, but. it's also the best way of putting it]
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[ it sounds too outrageous to be true, but Morgana's no stranger to outrageous things, being one himself. Still - that's radically different from anything they've dealt with so far. He narrows his eyes at Magilou quizzically, trying to figure out if she's telling the truth or not... but he can't read her at all, so he ends up looking over to Akira, instead.
Trapped on an island with a bunch of strangers and forced to kill each other? Really? ]
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[there's no pride in it though, so akira just closes his eyes.]
An island that existed in... a collective unconscious. Not the sort we know, but a dream. [...]
More a nightmare, really.
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[that's directed at Morgana, just so can kind of gain an understanding of how they met in the first place]
The island itself was a dream, but the people linked to that dream were all very real. I'm evidence of that much.
[there's a joke here about how Akira dreamed up a cute girl and then she showed up on his doorstep one day, but she passes on it. for now]
A lot of people died in that dream. [s-so blunt] But it being a dream meant their deaths weren't permanent. "Winning" that game meant that everyone could wake up, and-- well!
As you can see, we won, and now everyone is awake and no longer suspended in a world between dream and reality.
[to. borrow Igor's phrasing? not on purpose, though-- sorry Akira]
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... So you went to a place like a Palace in your dreams, and while you were there, you had to kill each other?
[ he knows it's not actually a Palace, but it seems like the best point of comparison. It's a pretty bleak story, if it's true. Imagining Akira in that situation by himself is depressing. ]
Joker... How did you get out? If I had known, I would have come to save you.
[ he considers taking care of him and the others in the Metaverse to be his responsibility, even if he doesn't act like it. ]
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[akira says that simply and quietly.]
Everything I did was to keep you and the others from being brought in to play that game. Or... see those things.
[there were too many of those things, and the things he did aren't ones he's proud of, so he just closes his eyes and shakes his head.
magilou can explain how they got out, he guesses. akira can only be adamant about the fact that he definitely did not want the phantom thieves to be there.
especially after what happened to the other phantom thief who was.]
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[she turns her attention back to the cat shortly afterwards. Akira will talk about it when he's ready; there's no rush at all]
Five people on that island were given specific instructions to murder. Kill at least one person each week, or the volcano will erupt and everyone will die.
[a small sigh]
That was a lie.
The way to "win" the game was to kill off each and every one of those five people. And that's what we did-- not this guy and I, personally, but the other thirty-seven of us.
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His insistence on keeping Morgana "safe" is so typically him that it kind of annoys him. ]
So you'd rather just suffer alone? We're a team, you know! Helping each other is what good teammates do. [ he has to say it - his sensibilities won't allow otherwise. But he can understand the gravity of the situation. He has to assume what Magilou is saying is exactly what happened; he looks back to her, ears flicking back in unease. ] ... You had five people get murdered?
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[though he really did shoulder so many burdens alone in that time—well.
he'll get to his reasons eventually. he's still not sure how he wants to tell that part of the story.]
It was more than five. Those five had to die for the game to be "won," but... in total, it was. 33.
[thirty-three people died. it was a lot, and it was brutal.
and he was one of them but hey. minor details.]
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1/of like. idk. morgana why.
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okay done now i'm so sorry
i'm love magilou
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