A New Platform [Intro Post November]

[voidtreckermods]

On the Train

The morning after the Halloween party passengers are once again woken by a familiar voice.

"Good morning passengers, it is day one of the month of Imagination. Points have been updated on the system and new stock is available."

They have indeed and everyone can spend the morning shopping. Those who have been on the train a while will be expecting the second announcement that comes a few hours later.

"Shortly arriving into a designated void platform. Exit from void in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one." A lurch and a jolt and they are soon surrounded by the fog that means they are at a platform. But through the fog comes sunshine, causing patches where the light shines down to warm the concrete. Looking up passengers will not be able to see the sun through the fog, or much of the sky at all.

As usual the first to leave the train notice nothing as they walk silently, rucksacks on their backs, towards the barriers. Bryn Pendragon, Bucky Barnes, Colden Rollins, Elena, Fai D Flourite, Jiang Yanli, Juliette d'Aubigniy, Misa, Peter Parker, Samata Mahto, Satou Kuroneko, The Doctor, Tohru Mutou, Zuko, 10 Vigilant Gaze Purges The Horizon. They all walk silently and do not look back as they disappear through the barriers and into the fog beyond.

But on the platform itself there are new faces. Wearing hoodies in all four colours in various states of confusion.

For New Passengers

At first all they can see is steam. Billowing around them as they come to their senses. The second thing they will notice is the thick fog, penetrated by beams of light. As their eyes adjust they will see they are on a platform, behind them are a set of barriers and in front of them is a single track.

They are standing, in clothes that are not their own, styles they might not even recognise. They are carrying a rucksack on their back. For a moment it seems to just be them, alone in the white haze but then the steam begins to fade and they realise they aren’t alone.

The platform is not large and it holds five figures all facing the tracks, all dressed in cargo trousers and hoodies. Both left and right the tracks disappear into the mist. Then there is a roaring sound and out of the fog arrives a train. Jet black with gold writing on the side. The Voidtrecker Express. There is a hiss as the doors slide open and out into the gloom step a selection of people. Some are human, some are less so. Most are wearing the same hoodie in one of the four colours, red, orange, blue and purple though some are sporting different clothes in a variety of styles.

The Train

The doors hiss open. Those from the train may encourage those on the platform to board. It’s not like there is anywhere else to go and even if there was, you feel a pull. A need to board, a feeling that staying on the platform would not be a good thing. If that is not enough, there are plenty of people on the platform now, to encourage them onto the train.

Each ICP shows the same message and next to the screens there are stacks of leaflets written by those on the train, with further information. The store rooms have been restocked and Honey is the newest ingredient, jars of honey stock the shelves and the ICP's in the kitchen have recipe ideas for the month.

A new carriage has been added, those that go to investigate will find a small but function-able spa, complete with a small hot tub and even a steam room. It is a relaxing room with sun lamps and relaxing music or nature sounds available through the ICP. There are a couple of massage tables, with a course for how to give massages for those eager to learn.

New passengers will find their tickets allow them into their cabins. They may need to negotiate for beds, especially if they want a top bunk!

Room is tight but there are storage cubbies at the head of each bed, beds fold up and the bottom bunks double as benches for the small table. There is storage under those benches and you will hopefully find a pillow for your bed if it has not been nabbed by a roommate, there are also spare blankets for if it gets cold.

Departure

A second horn sounds to encourage any stragglers braving the snow and the doors slide shut. Veteran passengers know what will happen next, they may wish to brief their new companions.

The train sets off, the fog obscuring the view as it picks up speed.

"Welcome aboard, passengers of the Voidtrecker Express." A female-coded artificial sounding voice echoes throughout the train. "Please take the time to read the passenger information displayed on the Information and Communication points and familiarise yourself with the layout and emergency exits."

The train begins to tilt, leaving the ground and rising up into the fog filled sky.

"Entrance into Voidspace imminent. New passengers are advised to remain seated. Entry into Voidspace in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one."

A shudder, a jolt, a lurch to the left. A flash of light, colourful and blinding. As quick as it happens it is done. The train seems to steady. The fog from the windows is gone now, replaced with a kaleidoscope of ever changing colours.

Welcome to the Void!

Comments

[sunbloom]

Itsuki couldn't help but notice that Tsubomi had a package; the other girl had arrived at the same time as her, so what had she saved up to buy? She was curious, so she headed for the luggage car to investigate and-

-blinked. Blinked again, seeing the floating plushie. "Chypre?" she couldn't help but breathe, incredulous. "That's. That's something we can order?"

[bloomingblossom]

Tsubomi turns at the sound of her friend's voice, and beams, holding up Chypre as if to see.

"It is, Itsuki-san!" she said. "Isn't this wonderful?!"

"Hello!" Chypre said with a wave.

[sunbloom]

The whole thing was a little surreal, honestly, but seeing Chypre was a step toward normalcy, and Itsuki smiled. "It's fantastic. Good to see you, Chypre." A beat. "Hmm, that makes me wonder if I should order Potpourri to join us. I'd like to see him, but it'll make keeping up the masquerade harder."

[bloomingblossom]

Tsubomi's eyes widened. She... hadn't thought about that at all. "I-I didn't realize," she said. "It's... it's going to be really inconvenient if we're seen together in both forms, isn't it?"

Chypre, however, was immediately helpful. "It's okay! I can just turn into a mantle or stay out of sight if you transform!"

[sunbloom]

She hated to be a downer here, but... for all her near misses and occasional lax decisions, they'd managed so far. Their secret identities were only known to Roland and... Madoka. Which was a separate problem, but. Later, when she could get both her teammates in the same place and without things exploding.

"I'd say people would question why Blossom has a mantle and Sunshine doesn't, but I'm not certain anyone's looking that hard," Itsuki admitted aloud. "So it might be okay. And even if it does come up, none of these people could even find Kibougahana on a map. They don't know if talking plushies are normal for us, right?"

[bloomingblossom]

Tsubomi nodded. "That's right," she said. "That's... lucky for us, I guess."

After a moment, she frowned, and decided to speak up about something.

"Uhm, Itsuki-san. I talked to a girl named Madoka-san, and... she told me something really surprising..."

[sunbloom]

Itsuki started at that subject change, surprised. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about what that conversation could have entailed... and most of it really wasn't, well- good.

"I'd been meaning to get you and Yuri-san together to talk about some of that, but I just never seem to find the time to get both of you in the same place... It wasn't about magical girls on her world, was it?" Because she both was and wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

...as soon as she thought about conversations she wasn't looking forward to, though, she realized what Tsubomi probably meant, and while her eyes widened in recognition, she didn't open her mouth to continue.

[bloomingblossom]

Tsubomi blinked. "Huh? No, all she told me about her world was about how time seemed to pass now that she was here," she said. "She said nothing about magical girls in her world."

She frowned. "What she said was... that she knew about you being a Precure. And I imagine she also knows about Yuri-san and I, too."

[sunbloom]

"We had that conversation too, for a probably different reason," Itsuki supplied. But she froze at the confirmaion of their other topic. She'd meant to say something, sure, but... that didn't help her now.

"Yeah. Madoka-chan saw my memory of being turned into a Desertrian, months ago, from beginning to end," she went on, voice a little raw. "She knows about Blossom and Marine. And we swapped notes about magical girls on our worlds because of something I saw in hers, which I need to talk to you and Yuri-san about one of these days, so she knows about me. I don't think I said anything about Moonlight, so I don't think she knows about Yuri-san, but she probably suspects." After a brief glance aside, she added, "She probably doesn't know anything about Chypre, either."

[bloomingblossom]

"... I see."

Tsubomi has to think, to process all of this. So that's what Madoka probably knows. That's... reasonable, and it can't be helped, given the experience of just how she found out. That's not what Tsubomi is concerned with.

"That's all fine, Itsuki-san. I just wish... I hadn't found out about it like this, is all."

[sunbloom]

"I'm sorry, really," Itsuki immediately blurted out, almost before thinking about what she was going to say at all. "I've been meaning to say something, just- there's never been time, and I didn't want to have the conversation twice." The initial excuse sounded lame even to her, and she deflated.

"If I actually have any control over it, I haven't been saying anything to anyone. I just..." She shuddered, unable to control it as her mind unhelpfully reminded her what she'd seen at the same time. "I've been a little apprehensive about that conversation in this case, admittedly, because there's a lot that needs to go into it. But that's no excuse."

[bloomingblossom]

"It's not an excuse," Tsubomi agreed, her tone level and firm. She had to make sure Itsuki knew how frustrated she was, without making Itsuki feel any worse than she already did. For her own sake, as much as her friend's.

"Just. Let's find Yuri-san and go over the whole thing, alright?" she said. "No more keeping things to ourselves."

[sunbloom]

Itsuki sighed softly, shaking her head. Admittedly she didn't have any room to complain, but... "Mm. I'm trying to be better. I just need to stop jumping into things, I think." Boy, wasn't that the understatement of the month. "Let's... find Yuri-san. This is going to be a big thing to go over and it's going to be unpleasant enough to do once." She'd resolved herself to do it quickly enough, but there was a certain edge to her tone that suggested she wouldn't enjoy it.

[bloomingblossom]

Tsubomi nodded.

"Let's go, yes. I need to explain to her about Chypre being here too, so let's get it all over with at once."

[sunbloom]

Where would Yuri be...? Well, starting from 'home' would be as good an idea as any, and if that didn't work they could pick a direction and go from there. That convinced Itsuki to lead the slow march from luggage to her room, a curious mix of anxious to find her senpai and relieved to be returning to her room to maybe relax for a second. Maybe she could snag a chunk of syrup to help keep her calm...

But, of course, it wasn't a long hike the few cars from luggage to sleeper five, and while it was her room, given they were there for business, she decided to knock. "Ah, Yuri-san, are you in? Something's... come up," Itsuki finished lamely, before she shook her head and just opened the door with her own ticket.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Yuri has a raised brow the moment Itsuki opens the door, her arms crossed.

“Itsuki, why are you knocking on your own door?”

[sunbloom]

oh no she's actually here-

Well, no, that's not quite fair. She has work to do. She'd just hoped not to have to do it. So Itsuki stepped into the room, leaving the compartment door open for Tsubomi, and let out a long sigh.

"Because I was looking for you, Yuri-san, rather than just coming back. We need to talk, all three of us. And it isn't going to be a fun conversation. I've-" She stumbled over her words, but pushed herself. "-made a mistake or two I need to correct."

[bloomingblossom]

That was when Tsubomi made her presence known, stepping into the room behind Itsuki. In her arms, she carried Chypre.

"Hello, Yuri-san," she said. "Uhm... I have something I need to explain too."

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Yuri raises an eyebrow, leaning back where she’s sitting. She eyes them both carefully, and tilts her head curiously.

“You two sound like you got your hands caught in the cookie jar or something—-”

It was THEN she noticed the fairy in Tsubomi’s arms. She blinked once and then smiled. “Hello, Chypre. But where did...?”

[sunbloom]

Itsuki couldn't help herself, as she winced at Yuri's comparison. "That may not be too far off, if the cookie jar had little balls of despair inside that happened to look like a cookie," she admitted. "Oh, but just me. Tsubomi-san hasn't done anything wrong. She's the one that caught me, though."

She hesitantly stepped the rest of the way in, before finding a seat somewhere, not wanting to hide in her bunk as much as she really wanted to. "I'll let you decide if you'd like to hear about Chypre or my news first, but as an introduction... at least one more person knows about, um, us. And that's not the worst part of it," Itsuki continued nervously.

[bloomingblossom]

Chypre nodded and said hello to Yuri, bowing her head politely.

"Uhm, well..."

Tsubomi looked nervously from Yuri to Itsuki, before taking a deep breath and nodding. "I don't know if I didn't do anything wrong," she said. "I should at least have asked you all first, but... I used coins to get Chypre back. A number of people have already seen and talked to her."

She sighed. "I'm sorry, everybody. I just... wanted to see her again..."

"Tsubomi..." Chypre said quietly, looking concerned.

[alilyinthemoonslight]

Yuri stares at them both for a long moment. She blinks a couple of times. She then leans back, looking quizzical.

"...this is what you're upset over? I get that, yes, we're supposed to keep our identities to ourselves and I cautioned it given we didn't know what we were dealing with. To some degree we still don't, but..." She sighs. "I think we've been here long enough to know it's difficult at times."

[sunbloom]

Itsuki shook her head. "No, don't apologize for that, Tsubomi-san. That's the last thing you should apologize for. This is kind of a stressful situation - I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to make it easier to deal with." Traveling space and time to save foreign lands? No, there's a lot of stress there. Boy, did she know that.

"I'm upset because it's something I meant to bring to you months ago, when it happened, and it shouldn't have taken getting caught to make this meeting happen. I'm also upset because..." How much to say...? "Well, because of the memories of another passenger I saw, at the same time she saw mine and learned about us. I'm wondering how much trouble it would be to pick up Erika-san and the Mirage and go take care of something that scares me as much as Dune did, and involves magic and maybe a world-ending disaster." There. That was perfectly innocent and- wait, Tsubomi knew it was Madoka. Uh. Uh-oh.

[bloomingblossom]

Tsubomi... knew about some of that, but at the same time, she couldn't really speak towards the specifics of what Itsuki knew. Madoka hadn't told her that. So she frowned in concern, and reached out to put her hand on Itsuki's arm.

"Itsuki-san, you're getting ahead of yourself," she said. "Can you please start at the beginning? Yuri-san probably has no idea what you're talking about."