The Town and Municipal of Umber Village - Part 3 - Date with Ophelia

[nohalation]

Date time!

Evening rolls by, and Early Rockenhurst (the apparel shop owner who just asked you to spy on the date on his behalf to make sure he can turn this lady down properly, basically) leads you to the graveyard east of town.

In contrast to the lively, bright, and very warm town, the graveyard is cold and perpetually dark. Headstones for miles, one could think, but everyone knows that this is just a room with dark walls and a dark ceiling. This scene would be enhanced by a full moon, but alas, no such thing exists. Nary a star in sight either, which explains why this room is just so dark.

Numerous bushes and shrubs lie along the mulchy path that crunches beneath your feet. The long path branches off, and heads towards a golden tomb that stands out—I mean, nothing else is golden in this room. The light from Early's torch adds shadows to his worried features.

"Ophelia," the girl he was set up with on this blind date, "wanted to meet me here..."

Nobody's here.

"This certainly... is an interesting first date location," Slot casually remarks. He's got hands in his pockets and he's casually rocking on to the balls of his feet as he looks around the graveyard. If there was a moon, he'd be tempted to howl at it.

Early rubs the back of his head nervously, paying mind to the torch and keeping it held out in front of him.

"Ahaha... well, it's a better proposal spot..." He sounds serious, if not a little embarrassed.

Clima pats down his dress. He looks very cute.

Dusk is also wearing a cute dress. She's just staring at the empty sky.

Juno is also wearing a cute dress. They're somewhat intrigued by the custom of dating and proposing in graveyards. "Really? Why?"

Early gives everyone a scrutinizing look—like the mother who's about to have guests over and her children STILL haven't done their hair or changed into their Sunday best; he's looking at you guys like you're doing something wrong.

With a nervous sigh, he turns to Juno.

"Huh? Maybe it's different for you, but it's common here to keep those who have passed connected and part of our lives. So, proposing in front of your family's graves is momentous. It's... hard to explain, just very significant, so it's embarrassing that this is what she wants for a date..."

"You think she wants to move this fast?" Slot says, waggling his eyebrows.

HE NEARLY DROPS THE TORCH.

"I really really hope not! She'd—have to be a money digger, probably! To want to move that fast!"
There's a blur of movement over the golden tomb you stand before.

"Well, why else would she want to have this date her-" Slot cuts himself off when he sees that movement. He stops bouncing and stills just ever so slightly. "What was that?"

Juno: "Huh?"

Dusk: "Ooooh, a kitty?"

Early doesn't understand the confusion.

But you all feel it—someone, or something's, watching you from where you can't plainly see it.

Coughing a small ember into his gloved hand, Early glances away.

"I guess, y-yeah, maybe... she did choose my father's grave, after all." He holds the torch over the tomb's plaque. It reads:

"That's pretty weird for a date!" Dusk looks around her, hmmmmmm.

"Dusk..." You're a little slow, huh? Is what Juno's expression says.

You try to see what it might have been...

Well. Dusk and Slot don't see anything. You're haunted with the feeling that someone's watching you when you can't catch any hint of them at all. It sends a bout of shivers down your spine.

Juno isn't quite as unlucky, and catches another blur moving quickly behind the golden tomb.

"There was something!!" Juno says, pointing at the golden tomb, "I saw it!"

"Did you see what it was?" Slot asks.

"Just a blur... it's fast!"

"That sounds promising..."

Dusk exclaims, "Whoa, your eyes are really good... should we go find it?"

Early looks between everyone, baffled. "What's going on? What?"

Slot: "We're not exactly alone, right now."

"Eh? So she's here? Wait, if she's here, you guys need to get in the bushes! She can't see you!"
He's still really confused, but that must clearly be who it is.

Clima tries to follow along, owl eyes glowing bright yellow, but he doesn't see anything. Still, he's trying to look. . . #Too busy trying to look to listen to Early.

Slot: "I know I said something about her working fast, but... do you know if she can move fast?"

clima ur r00d, but Early's only mildly offended. "What?!"

Just then, a sultry voice comes out from behind the tomb—and stepping out is a woman. Juno will notice she comes out from the opposite side of the tomb from where the blur ran over.

"Oh, dear Rockenhurst, I didn't mean to leave you waiting..."

This woman with long, green talons and a low-cut dress that reveals the scaley skin of her large chest, saunters over to you. The tips of her ashy brown hair barely graze her shoulder, and her smile is amused. Pleased, really.

"And you brought friends."

"Um, yes!" Hastily agreeing, Juno doesn't think twice about her coming from the other side of the tomb - it was VERY fast after all. "It's... a... a group date!" It's the only thing they could think of to maybe save this situation!!

Dusk exclaims, "Ooooh, sexy!"

Slot blinks once. Then sighs and nods.

Chance. Clima moves to take Dusk by the arm, wrapping his arms around hers. "Triple date." Juno and Slot can pretend to be on a date he doesn't give a shit.

Just as Early was about to nervously ramble at the lady—presumably an apology, then acceptance of her apology, then apologizing for realizing that he just apologized—his face instead burns red, eyes going wide at Juno and steam emitting from his burning ears. "G-G-G-G-G-GROUP DATE?!"

The woman presses a sharp finger to her bottom lip in thought. Then, smiles, speaking in a pleased and soft voice. "That sounds wonderful. I would love company."

"Triple date!" Dusk just exclaims, going with it. Not even phased by the arm wrap.

Why are none of my three boyfriends here right now?, Slot thinks to himself.

"Um... we... can think of it as practice?" Juno says to Slot. Unsure.

"TRIPLE DATE!?!?" The reaction when Early realizes what Clima just said. He's going to explode, whAT IS GOING ON!!

But the woman, presumably Ophelia, laughs. So much smiling from her end.

"Hmm... Yeah, that works!" Slot says a bit more cheerfully. "I'll teach you how to act on a date."

The woman smiles, this time a bit more darkly. Her voice is taunting. "Oh, Mr. Rocklehurst needs practice? I expected a daring young man, as confident as his relatives, not a mere mouse."

Early doesn't response except by throwing his hands over his face and hoping he could disappear.

"Fortunately, I brought food. It's behind the tomb, because I hadn't want to stride up with a picnic basket. It wouldn't have matched my outfit." She turns around, and looks over her shoulder with a glint in her eye. "Please excuse me. You can have a word amongst yourselves, if you'd like." And so, she saunters to the back of the tomb smoothly.

Early sits down.

And just like that, Juno gives Slot that NATURAL BEAMING SMILE. That falters at the blind date's words, "Oh, um, I should've said it was for me... sorry, Early."

Muffled whining from behind his hand is all you catch. Slot just pats Early on the back.

The woman returns with a perky little picnic basket, one lined with lace and even artificial flowers. It really does contrast her "sexy seductress" image. "Now then... I hope nobody minds that we enjoy our dinner here. This date was our own first, so Mr. Rocklehurst's family comes first." Again, she smiles sweetly. She looks towards the sitting Early. "Oh! I see he's already prepared. Yes, yes, that's fine." Neatly and carefully, she too sits on the ground, looking up at the remainder of you expectantly.

Clima sits down, pulling Dusk down with him. Sit on his lap, Or don't, like, he can sit on your lap,
or we can not have any lap sitting at all, we'll just be here? cuddling? Don't mind us.

Dusk's pretty big but sitting on Clima's lap can happen. But she's like a foot taller probably. Or at least she's 5'6".

Slot gallantly offers Juno a bow and extends an arm. "Shall we take our seats?"

Blinging a little at Slot, it takes them a second before Juno goes "Oh!" and do take the arm.


The woman begins pulling food out from the basket. Mostly, finger sandwiches with toothpicks through them—instead of olives, it's blinking salamander eyes. As she pulls the food out, setting it within everyone's reach, she carries conversation in a pleasant tone. "A triple date... it's very exciting for me, being as this is my own very first date. Still, it is such an honor to share this date not only with Mr. Rocklehurst, but with Clima the Patient, Juno the Aesthetic, Slot the Rumored, and [CENSORED] the Miserable." Food set aside, she pulls out a bottle of champagne, and a couple glasses. Then, she folds her hands up neatly and brings them just below her chin, smiling brightly... hiding the metaphorical fangs. "It truly, truly is just an honor."

Early looks over you four, a little confused.

"Ohhhh..." Juno says. This is bad, right?

"Oh, so you know us?" Slot says lightly. He picks up a finger sandwich and just removes the toothpick from it, rolling it between his fingers.

Ophelia's smile widens. "Of course. Anyone who is anyone important would know this naive bunch... no wonder you lost your kingdom."

Early's confusion heightens, his brow slick with sweat... which may or may not have already been there.

Clima: Who gives a shit Dusk is on his lap right now.

"That... that's pretty mean." Juno frowns, more and more uneasy, "We're just here to help."

"Dear Juno, it's honesty. Everything I do, despite my true intentions, is utterly and irrevokably honest. I find fault in people because they have faults. My name... do you know my name?" Again, she smiles. It's sickening. It's sweet, but there's nothing honest about that kind of smile. There's nothing well-intentioned about it at all.

Dusk makes another empty face that seems to stare up, maybe Clima can even feel her body tense up.

"... I don't." Juno admits, but! Since the lady seems like such a fan of honesty! They turn to Early with large eyes and a well-meaning smile.

"If you want honesty, then you should know that we're here to support Early in telling you something important. Right, Early?"

Early looks over to Juno uneasily. He shoves a little sandwich into his mouth. He wants to go home he wants to go over to one of the graves and put himself in one without digging them up he's just going to merge with the ground and become one with it and whoever is under there like some weirdass fusion of very dead corpse and uncomfortable existence.

The woman gives Dusk a knowing look.

"Is that so? I'm glad, because he will need the support. From here on out, shall we truly communicate in honesty? For starters, my name is Ophelia."

Dusk just says, "Hi."

"Hello, former Ruler," Ophelia replies smoothly.

Early chews his sandwich at a snail's pace. He's not swallowing the sandwich.

Ophelia: "There's just so much we could be honest about... why, Mr. Rocklehurst, why don't you tell these people about your family?"

Ah. He looks lost, and he's forced to eat the sandwich. If it's his date's request, well, he might as... well... maybe it'll help. "R-right. Yes. Uh-huh. But, I don't talk about my family..."

"For any reason?" Ophelia's viper-like smile returns. Early fiddles with a piece of mulch.

"After my father died, my great grandfather cast me away... aaahh, this isn't date conversation, Ophelia!" Early breaks the piece of mulch in half. Ophelia's smile is so wide it might just pull from her face.

"Mr. Rocklehurst, can't you just come out and say it: your great grandfather was the one who bought them and put them away?"

Early freezes. His face pales, in stark contrast to the redness it took on before, and his eyes are wide. Slowly he looks up at her. "...what?"

"I'm still a ruler." Dusk casually blinks, ignoring everything else that's been said.

"Parsley and Snippy run your kingdom now~" Ophelia says, pulling a salamander eye from the sandwich and pressing on the pupil. It almost squirms.

"Oh, it's nice of them to run it while we're out." Dusk suddenly smiles. "But I'm still the ruler though."

Ophelia laughs behind her one taloned hand, and waves her other taloned hand in Dusk's direction, oh, stop it you! Early is still in shock. Utter bafflement at this point. Maybe his soul's left his body for another realm. So, Ophelia continues. "I don't know if this is news, but one's title... is of utmost importance. Just as you are Dusk the Miserable, I am Ophelia... with a title of my own. Tell me, did you think to ask Parsley's and Snippy's title? I wonder, why did they hesitate to provide that in the first place?"

"Titles don't have to matter if you don't want them to." Dusk tilts her head like, duh? Don't you know that? "If you like them, that's okay. But if you want a new one, you can get a new one. So if they have titles they didn't want to share, that doesn't matter to me much."

Smile.

You did it, you caught Ophelia off-guard. Her smile falls, ever so slightly, but you definitely catch the way the corners of her lips lower.

"I see... then, to continue on a new note: my full name is 'Ophelia, Who Died.'"

Early looks over to HER confused... clearly he didn't know her title either. Whatever significance it might bear doesn't reflect on his face. Maybe he doesn't understand either.

Ophelia continues.

"Just because your name doesn't matter doesn't mean nobody else's does, dear."

Dusk just blinks. "Oh. Okay."

...

"But I SAID if you liked it, you could keep it."

Ophelia smile tightens. "Whatever does that mean, Miss Miserable? I died, so I deserve this title. In fact... I so desperately want it over the one I had before."

Meanwhile, Juno is going to nudge Early a little and talk to them as an aside, "Um... you really should maybe talk to you date about... not wanting to date, now..."

Early hunches his shoulders.

"Then keep it?" Dusk tilts her head. "I threw mine away, too, so I understand. I just don't know what you're trying to say. I don't mind if you're a ghost, ghosts can be fans of mine too."

Slot slides up to Early's other side and just whispers into his ear, "We're gonna have to talk about your great grandpa once this is handled, by the way."

EARLY LOWERS HIS HEAD, PLEASE , WORLD, ABSORB ME LIKE YOU DID THE REST OF THE WORLD 100 YEARS AGO!!

Ophelia isn't done yet. She scoffs, smiling widely. Her voice is cold. Stiff.

"A ghost? I'm no ghost. My spirit lingers on another plane, one without the people who made me so. I'm a much greater existence..."

Just then, she holds out a talon—a heavy ink gloops from it, dripping onto the sandwich. You catch it soon after: her talon, and her finger, are disappearing with each heavy drop, as the ink grows large. Quickly, very rapidly, her arm is disappearing as she melts onto the sandwich.

Ophelia's eyes are glazed. She's looking past you, past the graves and the shrubs, her grin unwavering. Her voice sounds euphoric. "I am something greater now."

"...if you're an Old One, you should've just said so." Juno sighs, moving back from Early. Really. What's with the dramatics?

Dusk is just, "A sandwich?" ????????????????????????/

Suddenly Ophelia's entire body liquidates into the puddle, which grows and expands into a large pile of slime that towers at 12 feet tall—the ceiling is taller than it looks, huh. This being absorbs the picnic, or what was left of it. Several white eyes dot its "face," and its "hands," as malformed as they are, strangely have sharp tips. Ophelia, Who Died, makes a grab for Early.

"Hey, you should ask him first!" Dusk shouts. "Don't be mean to him!"

Well, I mean, Slot and Juno are RIGHT NEXT TO EARLY! So! Juno grabs for him too! "I...I'm pretty sure kidnapping isn't a good date idea!!"

When Ophelia began to morph, Slot began preparing. He starting thinking about everything good he was looking forward to after solving this whole kingdom issue. He has two dates afterall and he wants to hold on to them. He can send Ophelia away and hopefully she's sent to someplace they've already been or don't have to go to. "Banish!"

Clima notices - it isn't as if they haven't been friends for nothing, as much as he would never admit it. There's something off with the way that Slot's using his technique. Without explaining it though, he's swiftly moving to kick Slot in the butt, as if that would help literally anything at all? Dusk is still on his lap too, sorry for the jostling.

Magic courses through the air, giving everyone an odd bit of static to their hair and clothes. No, that isn't normal.

It all happens in merely seconds.

Juno grabs Early, pulling him away from Ophelia's slimy grasp, then Ophelia... Welll. Half of Ophelia, is warped away with a colorful burst of light. It's of note that this light only entraps the top half of this fiend's body, split it from the bottom half that explodes into a thick ink all over each and every one of you.


"...we just got these clothes." Slot says as he looks at the mess they made.

"...but we saved Early from the date, at least!" Juno quips, not so disturbed. Look. When you grow up in a Temple to The Old Ones, this isn't all that bad. Considering.

Early rubs at his eyes. He blinks a few times, looks around. "Ah... ah, yes, I will do it. I will really dig up a grave... father, I'm coming home..." He stands up, wobbily, intent on heading for the golden tomb.

"E-Early?" WHAT'S THE PROBLEM? Juno gets up to trail after them!!

"Nooooot so fast, Early~" Slot says in a sing song voice, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Clima huffs, sitting back down to cuddle Dusk more. Whatever his job is done.
Early shudders, and sits back down. He speaks in the smallest voice. "Y-y-yes?"

"Are you okay? You were quiet for a while, and..." Juno doesn't know how to articulate the rest. They're just GENUINELY CONCERNED. For their new friend! Who they had to save from a date! Literally!

"Whatever that woman was, she was scary... b-but, before we go any further, can we please go back to the apparel shop? Please? Then I can—tell you what I know... what little I know..."

A beat passes.

"And clothes."

"..." Dusk continues back into Clima's face, but her face still seems a little off. "Okay."

Slot casually slides his arm around Early's shoulders and just. Holds him. It's a Friendly hold and totally not one that's meant to ensure that Early can't escape at all. "That sounds like a plan."

Juno's going to take Early's talons and hold them reassuringly, actually friendly.
Surely the only reason Early is spooked is because of the date, right?