CRESCENT

ADVENTURE LOG - CRESCENT (April 21, 2023)

Violet lands in the city looking around at the new sights.

The city is about the same as she remembers it. Lots of buildings, signs to various things. While walking around, Violet sees the usual gaudy skyscraper, one that leads into Solaire's Meridian branch. Directly next to it, however, is a massive chapel. A stained glass window faces the street, of which has a yellow full moon designed within it. A nameplate out front calls it "The Cathedral of the Full Moon." Very gothic inspired, almost edgy even. Like a villain from Final Fantasy built it!

Perhaps it's something that can be investigated later, for right now, she should head inside of Solaire.

Violet looks at the cathedral for a moment before heading over to Solaire, making her way inside the building

The door is about as she remembers it. Big door, lots of steps leading to it. On opening the door, nothing but darkness shrouds the entrance.

The entrance hall is exactly as she remembers it. Sterile and white. Calm classical music playing in the speakers. And a pretty woman in a flowery dress sitting at the receptionist desk. As is usual, the nameplate on her desk reads "Rebecca Sienna Wright".

What's different is the flowers. They seem to be real sunflowers as opposed to the fake ones previously planted. They face the window outside to the sunny skies, inviting all those who enter. The Hinata4U plushies still exist, but there's only one on a shelf above Rebecca.


Violet walks up to the desk of Rebecca, noticing her outfit is different with a light green dress and short white top. Her left arm seems to be robotic as well "Evening Rebecca, I'm here to see Hinata and Luna."

Rebecca looks up from her magazine with a smile. "Ah! Of course!" She presses a button on her console, one Violet will remember sent people to see Jan, and speaks to Hinata.

R: Lady Hinata, Miss Luna, your friend is here.
H: Ah great! Send her up!
R: Of course, of course. She'll be up shortly.

After releasing the button, she looks over Violet, confused about a few things. "Ah, nice to see your sunburn finally went away, and uh beautiful dress!"

"Why thank you Rebecca. Glad to see you are doing well too." Violet eyes the button but brushes it off. "I will see my up then. Unless you have anything else you wish to speak about?"

Rebecca thinks it over and sighs. "Actually, yes. Have you heard from my father? I know you two were in contact with each other. It's... been a while since I've heard from him."

"You mean Toby? Oh... well... I don't know how to say this but someone by that name of Catherine um... killed him."

Violet looks awkward towards Rebecca, a sorry look on her face for her loss

"...oh..." she says silently, tears spilling from her eyes. "... I guess.. what he told me was true then..."

Violet looks saddened at her friend. "Would you like hug? Also what do you mean what he told you?"

She shakes her head. The sunflowers seem to wilt as her tears flow. "He warned me not to get involved. To stay away from Solaire." The elevator arrives and opens.

"Anything I can do for? Would like me to just go?"

She's silently grieving and doesn't respond. The sunflowers wilt further and close up, even despite the sunshine coming through the windows. The elevator awaits. It doesn't seem like Rebecca is going to be alright any time soon.

She makes her way inside the elevator, letting Rebecca grieve, saddened she can’t do anything

Luna and Hinata chill here for a while and watch anime together. A thin layer of dust covers much of the room. Considering Hinata hasn't been here in a month, that's not too surprising. They're watching the honestly good dub of Nichijou. While watching Hinata gets a feather duster and starts cleaning up.

As Violet reaches the penthouse, Luna and Hinata stay on the couch in silence. They wave, but it doesn't seem like they're particularly happy to see her. Regardless, Hinata breaks the awkward silence. "So you wanted to see Avengers #1 right?"

Violet waves back “Uh yea. If you don’t mind that is.”

Hinata gets up and walks over to the bookshelf behind her massive wooden desk. She scans through the collection until she finds it. "Right. Luna, come over here please. You're probably going to want to see this too. Toby... left us something."


Luna walks over and stands next to Hinata as she pulls out a sealed copy of the comic. Just then, a click is heard and the bookshelf opens up. "What. What is this Hinata?" Luna looks dumbfounded


"Please follow me." Hinata walks into the room and beckons the other two to join her.


The room is rather small, but it contains some rather expensive looking comic books, lots of CGC 9.5's and 10s, plus a box full of mint trading card slabs. Magic the Gathering, Pokemon, YuGiOh! It's incredible. A nerd's paradise. On a small table in the room is a notebook. Luna's eyes widen at all of the anime figurines and cards. It's nostalgic as hell.


Violet looks around in awe with the collection Toby had, curious about the notebook but dares on to advance or touch it


"Luna, we were like family to Toby. But uh, before we continue on with the tour, Violet, can you read the first entry in the notebook?"


Luna nods as tears flow.


“Of course.” Violet picks up the notebook, flipping to the first entry, starting to read

Atonement - 8hs1zwwQuUo

-----
To Hinata and Luna, if you have found this notebook, it means I've died. As a fail safe to my memories and my legacy, I've prepared this room around you to hold all of my most valuable collectibles. Hold onto them if you wish, or sell them. It is fully up to you to do as you wish.

I am not exactly who you think I am. My full title is Church of The Full Moon ADMIN Crescent. I worked with ADMIN Chandra to experiment on you two and attempt to break through the AAA's magical ban. I am no better than Chandra, and for that I apol-- no, I cannot. No apologies, no excuses, can EVER fix what I have done to you two. You two were innocent and deserved nothing more than lives of your own. And for that, for... hurting you two and pushing you two to the brink of mental break, I deserve the highest punishment. This also goes for Chandra.

That is... except absolutely no one knows what happened to Chandra. Even working directly under them, I am unaware. I hope she suffers.

I wanted to rescue you two from the Hell that is Solaire and The Full Moon as an attempt to reconcile my mistakes, to give you two a chance at a normal life. I couldn't even do that.

To Hinata, I am sorry. There's absolutely nothing I can do to rectify my evils.

To Luna, Jane knows a lot more about who you are than she is willing to admit. If anyone is capable of breaking through her, to... break through her own mental locks, in a way. It's you. I believe in you Lunes. You're incredibly smart. And if you can't, then I know by now that you have friends and allies who can.

I am sorry I am unable to do more. Not like... it would matter in the end.

Take care of each other, Luna and Hinata. You two are stronger together than you realize. Your magicks may be able to finally unravel this world we live in. I believe in you.

Toby "Crescent" Wright
-----


Luna's eyes flicker purple and blue, as if they fight one another for control. Her hyperfocus is set aflame, seemingly stronger than ever before, as she grunts in heavy pain and sadness.


Violet is shocked but saddened more as she reads it out loud "I... I don't know what to say... just... wow."


Luna's eyes eventually steady to blue. "... what now? Even Jane... Krystal?" Her tears flow, and she's not quiet in the slightest. Hinata hugs her to support her.


Hinata's voice is growly. "...I'm sorry Luna. Toby was.. like a father to us. But in actuality, he was no more than one of the two Admins that hurt us. That destroyed our minds. Broke us. Rendered us unable to leave." Hinata cries as well. She slams her fist into the ground out of frustration.


Violet is unsure if giving a hug would be the appropriate thing to do at the moment. She offers one anyway, moving her hands.

"You guys... need a hug?"


Luna gets up and hugs Violet. The effects of the hyperfocus aura continues to rage on, burning away Luna's remaining mana. The flames don't hurt Violet though. Luna's body feels like it's vibrating. Violet hugs back, rubbing her back hoping to help calm her down


Eventually, Luna's hyperfocus aura dies down and her eyes close.


"Out of mana." Hinata says.


Krystal's voice comes from the previously unconscious Luna. "Usually, if one runs out of mana, it means they're close to death. But LUNAs are built differently. They regenerate their mana, as if created specifically to be a vessel for Magic."


"I see... well make sure that she rests please." Violet looks over to Hinata. "Now what..."


"There's another entry. Please, go ahead." Hinata looks conflicted. She braces herself for the next one.


Violet flips the page to the next entry and starts to read.


The second, and seemingly final, entry reads as follows:

----------
About the Mental Locks:

Chandra theorized that severe mental trauma is the best way to go about unlocking someone's potential. But for most, one jolt isn't enough. So instead, she had me design a multiple step process that could break the mind multiple times over. This way, the mind is unable to get used to it and thus rebuild its wall against mana. And with Solaire's help, we had a near limitless amount of potential subjects to work with.

Was it cruel? Absolutely, but Chandra was focused on one objective: breaking through the ban. Many subjects died due to our work. And two of them, Hinata and Luna, had the mental fortitude to stay alive and fight back against our work. They became smarter and smarter, stronger and stronger. Their will was fiery. Regardless, they were still just weak enough to not be able to fight back head on. They were perfection in Chandra's eyes.

And so we continued to try to break through. To figure out what exactly would be their breaking points. It was stupid. It was unthinkable. Horrible. To think, these two are the reason why the old sun set and the new moon rose. The lawsuit destroying Solaire's previous iteration happened solely because we were able to bring Luna out and prove to the World the evils happening within Solaire Enterprises. I went down with the ship. Jane told Luna that we had broken up, but that is incredibly far from the truth.

I was imprisoned, sentenced to spend the rest of my life in jail. But, then I was freed. By Jän. I do not understand his motives. I committed countless sins of non-consensual experimentation, abuse, and murder of innocents, and yet I was given one final chance.

And thus, with that final chance, I want to come clean about everything. I want… to stop Solaire and the Full Moon from hurting others any further. It's my life's goal. Unfortunately, my time is incredibly short. Like many others, my mana does not regenerate. I am nearly out of mana. And soon, I will perish.

As for who Chandra is, I have never seen them before. Never even seen their face. I know they use feminine pronouns, but--
-----------
The paper seems to have been ripped.

"I found the paper like that. I do not know who would even know about this room aside from Tob-- Crescent." Hinata sighs, tears spilling from her cheeks.

"My gods... I would have never thought this about him..." Violet is curious yet saddened by Toby's afterlife betrayal.

"I knew. I mean how couldn't I? We dated for years." she scoffs. "But... to think he was responsible for the Locks. That's just."

Krystal puts her hand to her head. On her ring finger lies a gem mood ring given to Luna by Bunbun. It currently shows amber.

Hinata looks over at Krystal and tilts her head in confusion. "Anyway, that's all he left us. Well, not exactly. There's one more entry but uh." She flips to that page, but it's also ripped out. "I don't get it."

"Hmm, that's weird. I wonder why? Did someone break in?" Violet ponders.

"Impossible. There is only one entrance and exit into my penthouse, plus whoever broke in would have to know about Avengers #1. The room is only accessible by pulling that comic out." Hinata tilts her head left and right. "Do you have any theories, Krystal? Violet?"

"Maybe Chandra? I mean she knew Toby really well, and now that the Church is here, who knows if they could be around." Violet asks.

"But how? As far as I know, the original avengers refers to the four of us. Toby is Thor, I'm Iron Man, Hinata is Hulk, and Lunie is Ant Man."

"Wait what? I'm the Hulk in this relationship???" Hinata says weirded out.

"I'm unsure... wait-" Violet thinks for a moment. "Rebecca knows."

Krystal's mood ring turns black. "Maybe?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last time I came here, I spoke with Rebecca and she wrote something down on a Solaire Enterprises informational pamphlet. And guess what it was? 'Avengers #1, Hinata's Office - Rebecca Sienna Wright'."

"I told her about that. That's her father. It was only right that she knew about everything." Hinata 1    explains.

"Hmmm I see. Well maybe she told someone? I mean she has been sending people to see Jan. Who knows if she had to tell someone, maybe forced?"

"Hm. Guess it couldn't hurt to ask?" The mood ring returns to clear.

The three of them nod and walk back to the elevator, taking it down to the bottom floor. The flowers are back to their usual state and Rebecca is watching something on the television. The elevator arrives back down to the ground.

Violet steps out of the elevator, looks to the group, and makes her way over to Rebecca. Hinata and Krystal follow right behind. Rebecca notices the trio and clears her throat. "Can I help you? Lady Hinata, Miss Violet, Miss Luna?"

"Hello Rebecca, we were wondering if you told anyone about the comic book?" Violet looks to Rebecca with curiosity.

Rebecca leans in close and whispers, only loud enough for the three to hear them. "Never. Us four are the only ones to know of it. would've been five, but..." another tear drops from her eyes. "I trusted you with the information because I heard you were trying to help. I want to see--" her eyes scan the room, "them be defeated."

"I see... we ask because we found that a part of Toby's journal was ripped out, and we are trying to figure out who could have done so."

"I was the first to find it, even before Dad died. The three entries were all intact. It seemed Dad had a lead on Chandra's identity." Rebecca says. Hinata and Krystal both tilt their heads.

"what..." Hinata

"...was it?" Krystal

Rebecca writes something down on another pamphlet and hands it to Violet. "Break through them."

Violet tilts her head, looking at the pamphlet. The pamphlet is exactly like the other one, except there's an advertisement for The Church on the back. In red ink on the moon, the words 'Cheated Death' are written and circled.

"Anyway, I must get some rest." she yawns. Take care, you three, I know you can break through and beat them." Rebecca says as she walks to the hallway. The door is closed.

"I see...Thank you Rebecca." Violet looks curious to the pamphlet, wondering who cheated death.

Luna's eyes return to their usual blue. "Hey Hinata, wanna head back? I'm tired."

Hinata nods. "I need some food. I guess we'll see ya around Violet?"

"Of course! I'll see you guys later!"

Violet waves bye to them, looking around before leaving. The two disappear. The room is quiet. Soft lo-fi plays on the speakers. The desk is available to investigate.

Violet walks over to the desk, investigating its contents.

It's a fairly standard secretary's desk. There's a computer, a small tv screen in the desk, and an array of buttons. None of the buttons have labels though. Above Violet, one of the HINATA4U's seems to stare at her, but it's just a plushie... right?

In the drawers, stationary. A few Solaire directories as well.

Violet reads the directories, eyeing the buttons

It shows the locations of various rooms in the complex. The factory floor, Rebecca's chamber, various offices. Oddly enough, however, Jan's office is not found. Just then, one of the lights on the console turns red.

Violet looks to the console, curious about it turning red. It blinks. As if begging to be pressed. When Violet presses it, a feminine voice speaks from the box. "Rebecca? Can you send my order to my office? I can't come out and get it. I'm stuck with paperwork.

A small box is on one of the couches. And there's a portal system on the floor which lights up when the button is pressed. It doesn't seem like it's big enough to transport a human though.

Violet walks to the box and takes her claw and uses it as a box cutter, opening the box and looking inside. Inside is the office worker's UberEats meal. Great smelling chinese take-out wafts in the air. She opened her food. What a monster.

Violet sighs as she looks for some tape to seal the box back up, then she throws it into the portal. There's tape in the drawer. It's sealed up properly then as it lands in the portal, the food disappears. The feminine voice replies, "thank you! I gotta get these reports done before the ceremony!" Violet looks for the button for Jan's office but as there are no labels, it all looks the same. Instead of testing her luck, she looks around the lobby once more. Now two HINATA4U'S stare at her. She feels watched. Violet leaves stares at them for a moment, then leaves. Four HINATA4U'S watch her leave.