[He doesn't know how he wound up here. That's about as terrifying as actually knowing the course of events that unwound, preceding it, but the last thing Ryuji can remember was working for the Ghost Hotel here. Why? Something about arguing with management. Something about finding a decapitated head in a fake haunted house. His gem had glown darker than garnet, and the worst thing about any of this was that... it wasn't unfamiliar.

Losing spaces of time, not having recollection of where he was or what he was doing. He's sitting down in a chair, and his feet can't seem to move. He's gained darkvision since taking up the Ranger's cape, and that's not doing him much at all. There's something in the outline that he can almost make out. A crowd of people, maybe?

He's been here before. He looks down at his arms and they're darkened with an inky substance filling him, and for one, truly fucking horrified moment, he catches his breath and nearly loses it. Loses everything. All of this wasn't real. He's been on the station ever since, and everything that happened in Faerun was a wild fever dream. Once before, he had looked down at his body as it began to decay, and here he is again. Right where he started. Doomed to complete the same cycle over and over again. He died up there, didn't he?Ryuji doesn't want to believe it-- he struggles in place to get out of here, to take the people he loves and just. Get anywhere but here.

And the lights turn on; he's on stage.

A curtain between him and presumably three other chairs.

"Ryuji Sakamoto, you're the next contestant on... THE DATING GAME!"

What?

You're either on the other side of that curtain, or somewhere in the audience. Ryuji has this gut-wrenching reaction that he's supposed to play this right. Compelled to, even. His body perks up without him wanting it to. He's excited! Except, he's not excited at all. The audience cheers loudly.

[Making it further away... or further into Wonderland, Ryuji can't really quite tell, eventually he'll find himself on a road. While still within Yggdrasil, he knows that this isn't quite right, but what can he do? He's walking, trying to figure out how to get to the elevator that'll get him out of here, but he has a hunch that with a gem this dark and this much debt, that he's not going to be able to make it out of here without the fight of his life.

Hands in his pockets, he continues down further, eventually stopping at a lamppost. There's a bench here, and as far as he's gone, it's the only thing that he's actually seen in what has to be miles.

A brief look into the light burns against sensitive retinas.

He could've sworn there was someone near him just hours ago. Something about a game show. Something other than this? What happened to them? Everything is so hard to figure out, and Ryuji has a moment where he thinks he felt the same way when he traveled along the Astral Plane for what felt like years. No, that's not quite right.

Or is it?

He takes a seat, resting his weary feet for a moment, and cups his hand under his chin. He just wants to go home. The light flickers, pulsating, and he figures he's about to get round two of whatever this is supposed to be. Except, there's something wet around his lips, and as he brings the back of his palm to his mouth, he wipes away a black sap.

It keeps coming, as he tries to breath inwards and only more of the liquid appears.]

HELP!

SOMEONE?

ANYONE!

[He rubs his eyes.

There are mirrors everywhere, long halls, and then suddenly, a black cat.

A familiar looking black cat, and even though they've never gotten along on the best of terms, seeing a teammate right now, illusion or not, is a welcome feeling.]

M...Mona?

[Seeming to notice him, he continues to lick his paw before scurrying off into the distance.

Some say a black cat crossing your path is bad luck. Ryuji chases anyway, and eventually lands into something hard. A person, your mirror, a world reflected and owned by your own universal truth, maybe. Or maybe his own. Somehow, something tells him that deep within, getting to the center of the maze will cure him. Who knows if that's the case? But hope is all he has right now.]

Shit, sorry- I didn't mean to. Hey, are you like... are you really here or is it just my mind playin' tricks again?

[He's pretty cursed right now with how red in debt he is. Someone probably needs to help him find his body or his senses in general, because otherwise he'll be chilling in tropey horror scene after horror scene. If you have an idea to throw my way, let's do it! I'm down for anything.]