Your Friends Have Turned To Stone

[missrecalled_mods]

It happened one fine spring morning. A sudden - and brief - windstorm reduced visibility outside the school to nothing for all of a minute right at dawn. Anyone down by the docks or asleep indoors would never have noticed anything amiss at all.

When the storm passed however, the front quad of the school was now filled with exquisitely detailed statues. Most were human. Or humanoid. Each looked captured mid motion, with stone looking as though it had moved as cloth and hair and feathers had. A perfect likeness, each of them, of someone caught in a moment of joy. A laugh, a smile, a toss of the head. The statues were utterly still and yet managed to convey a sense of life and motion and happiness.

The statues seemed to be made of stone at a first glance. Alabaster, marble, jet, and lots of precious and semi-precious stones rendered each in full colour as true to the person's actual coloration and clothing as stone can go.

However, despite looking like they were formed of stones, the statues would be impervious to any and all magic that might affect normal stone statues. No stone magic could move of break them.

Which is a bit of a problem because as lovely as they are, there are a lot of them crowding the grassy area, and they are all randomly every which way, like they formed a lose maze. In other words... they were too jumbled up to properly appreciate them the way one in a museum and they were in the way.

A closer look however would reveal one detail more. The various Missrecalled would find that they know who some of the statues are of. Because every statue is a representation of a friend or loved one of one or more of the Misrecalled. These could be people from their pat in canon or CRAU or even just someone they met.. once upon a dream. But they are all people who a Missrecalled has positive memories of. From fondness to love, there is affection there.

While there seems no normal way to move them, for they are too heavy for even the strongest to budge, they can instead be moved emotionally. If someone who knows the person the statue is of tells a positive story or recalls a memory that could be seen as happy about the person to someone else in front of the statue... The statue will fade away slowly in a cloud of harmless pink and blue glitter. When the statue is fully gone gone what remains where the statue had been is a small non-magical keepsake to remind the Missrecalled of the friend partially covered by the glitter. This keepsake could be a mini-fig sized version of the statue, or a photograph of them, or maybe a copy of a hair clip they always wore. Nothing high in fiscal value or of use in a practical sense. But something likely to be loved and cared for all the same.

When The Glitter Fades - A week later.

A week after the statues arrived, any that remain would vanish, as would the abundance of glitter in the grass. The keepsakes would remain, however. Each person, when they next either woke or returned to their room would find a small plastic jar of glitter for each statue they removed. Each jar of glitter would be in the colour or colours the Missrecalled most associates with the person the character the statue had been of.

Comments

Prompto OTA

[kings_knight_rocks]

Prompto had indeed missed the storm, slept soundly through it in fact. However, he spotted the anomalies it brought with it rather quickly. He liked to go on walks in the early morning now that the weather was turning around. Not so early as to have caught the predawn storm, but early enough that the new stone lawn decorations were still bathed in soft pink light and stretching shadows when he pushed open the school doors.

At first, he startled at the seeming silent crowd scattered about the yard, but after a heartbeat too many of stillness, he looked close enough to realize they were all made of stone. Bizarre. He shivered, unnerved, and debated turning and heading back to bed. Though, the laughing face he could just make out on the nearest statue gave him pause. She nearly glowed in her obvious joy, or maybe that was the glittering stone catching the sunrise. Either way, it eased some of his discomfort.

He shook his head at his own stupidity and stepped out into the morning, letting the heavy door close behind him. If the statues came to life, he would tell himself he told him so, but his curiosity was undeniable.

Besides, a little ways into the yard, he could just make out the carved likeness of a painfully familiar pair of dappled wings. They were spread wide, the only reason he'd noticed them from here. He as-close-as-he-could-to-cursed himself under his breath and started carefully towards them. He had to duck and weave around sprawled limbs and grinning faces frozen mid laugh. It was a surreal picture, and he thought he should maybe be more frightened than he was. But something about the expressions made it hard to be afraid. The statues' joy was nearly palpable in the air. He pushed himself over someone's hunched form, the stone surprisingly warm under his palm, and finally rounded to the front of the statue he was looking for.

His breath caught in his throat. It was him. Cor. Why was he here? Well, a stone statue carved to look like him at least. Who had put it here? How It wasn't just like Cor either, the details were unfathomable. The colouring of his wings had been recognizable from across the grass, he wore the same casual Kingsglaive garb Prompto was so used to seeing him in. Down to the last button. The loose thread on his left cuff that Prompto had been telling him to fix. He stood with his wings spread and arms crossed, weight leaning into one hip and a warm smile on his face. He'd turned this exact expression on Prompto right before Prompto left to accompany Noct to Altissia.

Prompto reached out a hand, letting his fingertips brush over the unreasonable detail of the faint stubble across Cor's jaw. The man's face so rarely left the severe frown he usually wore, when he smiled like this it wrinkled all over his face. It was only a small smile, but that was a grin on him. It folded the skin at the corners of his eyes, pushed creases into his cheeks. His eyes shone with all the warmth his expression kept hidden.

Suddenly and completely Prompto felt sick. Grief, homesickness, longing, more emotions than he could name twisting up his stomach and around his throat. He didn't care if it was just a stone statue, he flung his arms around rigid, unmoving shoulders and let his weight fall against the stone. One thing this statue had in common with the real Cor was it's unwavering support. Cor never flinched in the face of Prompto's hysterics, and neither did the stone likeness of him. It brought a fresh wave of grief and tears. He tucked his face against a hard shoulder and let the emotions shake him apart.

Kaylin Neya | Elantra | CW: violence, racism, murder mentions, abuse....

[kaylinneya]

A rude awakening

Kaylin was not one of nature's early risers, so she was probably one of the last ones out the door. She was till yawning and wondering where everyone was when she saw the statuary and stopped dead. The spell effect keeping them from successfully swearing had to work overtime as she saw the statues. Fury filled her and was visible on her face and audible in her voice as her words were rendered into random angry babble. Without thinking about it, her hand went to the tattoo on her face and she mentally reached out for the first True Name she had ever learned.

Of course neither did anything but tick her off that she'd reached for him at all. Even if it was in anger. She forced her hand down. She never could reach her Namebound in places like this, but it ticked her off that she tried calling him first of all of them. Ocean wall it when she got home she was going to have a serious talk with the Cohort and if Mandorian still wanted to give her his Name, she was going to argue for it. If anyone could reach her in place like this, it would be him and Terrano.

Hope, the small dragon on her shoulder gave a hissing sound that sounded like a laugh.

"Shut up, I can still strangle you," she muttered to it.

But it helped calm her down some. Enough to realize that these couldn't be Nightshade's statues. Because he said he had needed to use the power of his Castle to do it. Then again lying to say he couldn't do something so he could do it later was very Barrani.

Shaking her head she started to walk through the statues, but stopped dead when she saw one she recognized. "What the actual happinesses?!" she asked as she rushed towards the winged statue. A man, taller than her - not that that was hard at all. Dark skin, grey eyes, long feathery wings at his back, wearing a less wrinkled version of her tabard, one adapted for his wings. His shirt under it was short sleeved, his pants and shirt both neat. His weapons' belt was similar to hers, but he also had a glinting helm and carried a polearm.

"Clint?! What the actual happinesses, how the..." She looked at the dragon thing on her shoulder. "Don't you dare bite him! He's not a dagger!"

The Barrani

There were a number of statues out there for Kaylin that looked very nearly identical. They were all of the same height - with one exception. The same slender lean build, that same one exception also being slightly broader. They all had the same fair skin, the same elegantly pointed ears. The same long hair that fell in a perfect cape of raven black. With a different exception, as one of them was blond. They all were somewhat androgynous except where clothing made gender clear. And really the only differences between most of them were in their clothing, their eye colour, and their expressions. One knot of statues had expressions, the rest of them didn't.

Feel free to encounter Kaylin as she came up to any of the following:

1 - The one with blond hair and eyes so sharp an ice blue they looked as though they could cut. She wore a long fine gown with embroidery, and an elegant sword on her hip. No expression, unless you counted her uplifted chin. "Blue... of course," Kaylin muttered.

2 - There was another one in long red and orange robes that hinted at the shape of fire. This one wore a tiara with a large red stone in it, and the eyes were a darker blue than the last, though the blue was just as hard. The face had a slight expression of disdain. Kaylin's face was clearly disgusted. Wasn't being stuck here bad enough without having to see him here?

3 - Another one in robes of green with a green cape almost hidden under his hair. He had a faint smile, and was holding a sword with one hand and had an eagle on his other arm. His eyes were a shining emerald. Kaylin actual smiled seeing him, though she did glance down at herself first in a panic like she expected herself to have magically changed somehow.

4 - One was in blue and grey robes, a sheathed sword on one hip, his blue eyes cool, his gaze even and aimed at the exact correct angle to have made eye contact with someone of Kaylin's height. She shuddered and without realizing it, she had cupped the tattoo on her cheek.

5 - There was one in a uniform that matched hers, he was leaning on a tall stick, his face actually showing a toothy smile, that smile showing that one of his teeth was actually chipped. The only imperfection on any of them. His eyes were blue green. Kaylin shook her head a bit. "You're a pain in the horse, you know that?" she told him.

6 - Then... there was a group of twelve of them. Two of them stood to either end like they were guarding the others. One also wore the same uniform as Kaylin and carried a tall stick, her face was expressionless, but her eyes were green and glancing back at the group behind her. The other bookend was in a regal looking gown, her eyes a chilly blue, her expression haughty. A sword was in her hand and her shoulders were back. She dripped with jewelry but looked ready to go to war, gown and all.

Between them were the only statues of Barrani so far that were sitting. The ten of them practically on top of each other. One of them was reading a book, eyes green. Another with green eyes was looking over the shoulder of that one, his hair mingling with hers. Two behind the one with the sword had their heads together and expressions that clearly meant mischief. The one who was slightly larger than the others had a hand on each of those two's shoulders, as if restraining them. He looked exasperated.

One of them had his arm around two of the others but was looking across the grass to where the statue in the blue robes was, or had been. The rest were all just mixed in with the group, eyes uniformly green, faces with open expressions of joy like you might see on children.

The Leontines

There were also people who looked like upright cats, in one grouping there were several sitting on the floor almost piled on each other, they were so close to each other, with three smaller ones clearly caught mid tumble. They all had golden eyes. Most of them had grey and or brown fur, though the one clearly most focused on the kittens had a russet tinge to her fur. One of the grey ones was kind of ratty looking, her fur every which way. Sitting next to her, one of the others had her fur immaculate. Of the five one was at the furthest edge, a hand protectively on the shoulders of the ratty one and the red furred one, but she was looking over their heads at one that was facing them, one of her ears twitched to the side as she smiled a fiercely protective smile.

The one who was facing them was broader than the others, his fur neat but not perfectly so. He wore a uniform like Kaylin's, though his ranking markers were different and he didn't have daggers on his belt. He was staring at the group of others with an expression almost as fierce as the expression aimed at him.


Then away from the rest was another Leontine woman, she too had red fur. She was holding a small infant Leontine, and two human kids stood beside her, holding onto her robes. One was a little boy, maybe 10 or 11 years old with the expression of a Kid who knows he did wrong but is hoping no one noticed. The other is a little girl about a year older than him with wild red hair fraying out of her braid every which way, one hand holding the cat woman's robe, the other curled as though she could convince her hand to grow claws just by willing it, her expression intent. Both children and the baby wore neat well mended well cared clothing of undyed grey linen.

Human and human looking people

A - There was a man who looked about five years older than Kaylin, his short hair brownish red. His face was scarred as though he'd been in many fights that he just barely survived. He wore a less wrinkled version of Kaylin's uniform, and around his waist like a decoration was a fine chain looped multiple times, the ends vanishing into a sheath on either hip.


B - Then there was the woman who even in her living form had been called statuesque. Kaylin's face wrinkled with disgust as soon as she saw her. The woman had red hair piled up artfully atop her head, and violet eyes. She wore a low cut dress with a slit up to nearly the hip on one side. Her expression oozed false charm. "Ugh, anyone know how to kick over a statue?" Kaylin asked whoever was near.

C - There was a woman who despite having no wings at all looked birdlike in her build and her face. She was in the same uniform as Kaylin, though hers was pin neat and looked pressed. She had a warm smile on her face and looked like she was about to ask if you were eating enough dear.

D - There was an older woman, looking to be in her 50s maybe, possibly a little older, her brown hair back in a bun. She had a motherly expression and she was holding a tray with tea and snacks.

E - An even older looking woman with silver hair in a braid down her back, carrying a basket on one arm and a kind face.

F - A man who looked ancient, bent into a stoop, wearing dusty clothes with a leather apron over them. There were pins stuck into the top of the apron, his thinning hair falling to either side of his head as he had his neck craned to look up at whoever the statue might have been designed to be facing. He looked irritated.

G - A man who looks older without looking ancient. His eyes a lambent gold, his hair and long beard both white. He wore age as if it were a garment he had chosen. His actual garments were fine robes.

H - A man who looked much like the last, though even older. His expression was pinched, his eyes a deep orange. His expression made it clear that even though he was a statue... you were clearly wasting his time. And he didn't appreciate it.

I - A man who looked to be in his 20s or 30s. Neat as a pin version of Kaylin's uniform, with higher rank markings and a sneer on his face like everyone was beneath him.

Tha'alani

There was a woman who would have looked human if not for the stalks coming out of her forehead, over her honey brown hair. She had a warm expression, her amber eyes gently, and her arms open as if for a hug. Her robes were sleeveless cream, and her feet were bare.

Dragons

There was a large golden dragon, scales shining, wings folded against his back, his eyes a pale gold. Standing beside him was a small girl who would have looked human except for the fact that she had ash grey wings and that her eyes looked like they were carved out of white marble. She was in what looked like smudged gardening clothes. The dragon's neck was arched slightly, as if ready to protectively shelter the small girl. The girl was about Kaylin's height despite looking 13 at oldest, and the Dragon, even compact as he made himself, towered over them both.

Not too terribly far away was another dragon, and the differences between the two mostly came down to pose and seeming temperament. This dragon's muscles were bunched in her hind quarters like she was about to either rear back or take off. Her wings were spread wide and her eyes were a dark orange bordering on red. On her back was a man that would have dwarfed everyone in Auradon had he been standing on the ground.

And then there was the third dragon. He was facing the second gold dragon. This one had black scales and eyes so red they looked like molten lava. His claws and bared fangs glittered ominously and he was in the middle of breathing out what one would assume should be fire, and it was... if fire was a black smokey thing that still managed to glow.

Aerians

Aside from the man at the top of the post, there was also a woman, in her 40s or so, her wings were speckled and pulled in close to her back. She wore a similar uniform to Kaylin's, though hers was neat. She held a small bottle of pills in one hand and a glass of liquid in the other. Her eyes were grey blue, and she had a very no-nonsense sense about her.

There was a man, also in his 40s or so, his grey wings spread wide. He was in a more formal version of Kaylin's uniform and was impeccably turned out. His arms were crossed over his chest and he looked like he was about to hear a student's excuse for why they were running in the halls this time, his blue eyes narrowed from a weathered face.

((OOC note: I think... I hit all the important ones? Maybe. Considered Gilbert and Kattea... but... we'll see. Pick whoever you want to start with, just let me know, then we can jump around a the thread progresses.))

[3wingedangel]

Cloud

Sephiroth is semi-used to bizarre things happening here by now. And yet he still manages to be surprised when he looks out the window and sees the statues everywhere. Of course, he has to go down for a closer look at this bizarre phenomenon.

It’s only when he gets outside that he realizes something is terribly wrong here (wrong aside from the statues being so haphazardly placed, that is), seeing the reactions of others to the statues. And then he sees ...

“Cloud?!”

A spiky blond-haired young man, captured in the act of flight, ragged red cape billowing around him and bat wing unfurled on his left shoulder. Really, Sephiroth doesn’t remember ever seeing Cloud look happy, but here he seems at peace, somehow.

It is a statue, isn’t it? It’s not really ...

Sephiroth goes closer, horrified, heart aching as he searches for any sign of life, any way to break the spell ... if it is a spell.

“What manner of sadism is this?!” he snarls at last.

Zack

Sephiroth has almost managed to convince himself that these were always statues. And maybe, hopefully they were, but the sight of a familiar teenage boy, laughing and running to someone with arms outstretched, shreds his heart in pieces.

“Zack . . .”

He approaches in further horror, allowing himself to be caught up in the sight, remembering when Zack really used to run at him like that . . .

Overcome, he draws his arms and his wings around the statue and hugs it close.

[queen_butterfly]

Sia/Merlin

She's shown his image to everyone already, some specifically, and all, in general, when she'd told them her version of the Sleeping Beauty story, as he'd been the "mage" friend, who'd shown up again as Merlin after: blond hair, ice-blue eyes with the same slightly-too-big-to-be-human look that Mallia's have, and the same subtle points to his ears. His statue has him holding his staff... a distinctive pole that twisted around itself in multiple lengths that'd grown into itself until it was all one solid piece, the ends of the wood cradling a sphere of crystal.

Aurora and Philip

The two are depicted here as well -- apparently she'd been entirely faithful in showing everyone how they'd appeared, when she'd told their story. Aurora had one of Mallia's deep, dark indigo roses in her hair, holding it back with its black leaves, and she wore Stephan's crown, even as she wore her peasant clothes, complete with soil on her knees and the pendant "Vina" had given her around her neck. Philip was in his civilian disguise as well, his own father's crown merely hanging from his belt, held but not actually worn. Their attention was on each other, expressions entirely happy, relaxed and adoring....

woodworker-grandmother and other fae

Only Mal might recognize the grandmother in particular, but it's easy to tell whose statues these are. Aside from Aurora and Philip and three others, every otherwise-human-looking figure had slightly too-big irises to their eyes, and slightly pointed ears, just like Mallia's -- all elves, or at least taking on their images. None seemed to wear all that modern a style of clothes.

There were unicorns -- thin, long-legged deer-looking creatures, rather than big strong horse-type ones, with long tails which were mostly bare until the big tuft at the end. They had the usual long manes and silky-looking fluff around their hooves... and their horns, twisting up from their forehead, occasionally had a secondary little horn poking up as well, kirin-like.

There were dragons, as well -- long thin serpentine creatures which probably only weighed twice, maybe three times at most as much as a human would, their wings all (literal) extensions of their forelimbs, from the wrist. The statues agreed with the times she'd depicted them with her illusions: scale-less, with sometimes a little bit of fur here or there.

And there were a few poppets among them -- one of them, a life-sized patchwork doll, one as tall as any adult, who had stitches practically covering their quilt-like body to the point of rivaling the fabric itself. Another was an obvious and somewhat newer-made-looking cloth doll, matching the size and stature of the elf child that was hugging them....

At least it was pretty easy to tell whose statues they were?

a trio of "humans"

The three seem to be humans: no slightly-too-big eyes, no pointed ears. All three of them are fairly young adults. The first is a blond guy, the second, a tall brown-haired guy, and the third, a black-haired lady. They stood together, one of Mallia's roses in the lady's hair, what looked like a black butterfly with purple wing edges on one of the guys', and an ornate black wine bottle between the three of them, roses adorning the surface of it. Whatever the bottle is made of, perhaps moonstone and amethyst were thrown into the mix, because it actually seems to shine silver and purple, where the light hits it just right... as if it were holding some of that black entberry wine Mallia's so fond of and always keeps available at the table for everyone.

Mallia herself can be found wandering among the statues, inspecting other people's in silence, expression unreadable, lost in thought. If she's spotted by the statue of her friend Sia/Merlin, they might find her messing with the orb of his staff a bit, seemingly discontent with it.

Approach her?